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Of the 272 films that have earned lone acting Oscar nominations – meaning they were each recognized in one performance category and nowhere else – a whopping 101 (or 37.1%) accomplished the feat thanks to lead actresses. Whereas just 60 examples have occurred in the Best Actor category, the corresponding female one reached that benchmark in 1991 and is on track to double it less than two decades from now. Its triple digit total has now been intact for one full year, having directly resulted from the simultaneous nominations of Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) and Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”).

Although an Oscar bid was generally expected to follow de Armas’s 2023 BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations, Riseborough very memorably came out of nowhere, having defied precedent by benefiting from an enthusiastic grassroots campaign. While most of the earlier lone Best Actress contenders belong in de Armas’s camp, many align with Riseborough in having pulled off major surprises.

Robert De Niro will go down in Oscars — and cinema — history as one of the best actors of all time and could solidify that status by winning a third Oscar for his turn in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” By so doing, he’s set a new record for the longest gaps between Oscar wins.

Earlier this year, Judd Hirsch set a new record for the longest gap between Oscar nominations after he reaped a Best Supporting Actor bid for “The Fabelmans” 42 years after his nomination for “Ordinary People” in the same category. However, the record for the longest gap between Oscars wins has stood firm for some time and is held by Helen Hayes. She won her first Oscar in 1932 (for Best Actress) for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet.” She won her second Oscar almost 40 years later in 1971, for Best Supporting Actress for “Airport.”

De Niro could extend that...

Four years after “Black Panther” became the first Oscar-winning film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” cast member Angela Bassett has made history as the first person to achieve academy recognition for an MCU performance. Included among the numerous actors with whom she reunites in the 2022 sequel is Lupita Nyong’o, who first played her role of Nakia four years after earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “12 Years a Slave.” If Bassett ends up prevailing in the same category this year, Nyong’o will be the 16th woman to have acted in a film that won the same Oscar she previously received.

Until this year, “12 Years a Slave” was the only acting Oscar-nominated film Nyong’o had appeared in. Two of her cast mates in the 2014 Best Picture winner – Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender – respectively competed for the male lead and supporting prizes but eventually...

Wrapping March 26, the 25th Malaga Festival and its Spanish Screenings delivered another confirmation of Spain’s build as a fiction force in a new platform era.

Following, nine final takes on what may prove a historic edition.

A Vibrant Spanish Screenings

Málaga’s plus-size 2022 Spanish Screenings fairly rocked. Extra funding from Spain’s Avs Hub Plan, covering far more buyers’ flights, meant attendance skyrocketed. Screenings delegate numbers shot up to 609 by early week, overall industry attendees to over 1,100 . It showed. “They were highly successful,” said Latido Films’ head Antonio Saura said of the event. “Buyers were able to see movies which at other festivals they often just can’t catch,” he added. “There was a lot more dynamism to trading, taking the Screenings to a new level,” agreed Ivan Díaz, Filmax head of international.

’Lullaby,’ ‘Utama’ Sweep Awards

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s finely observed mother-daughter relationship drama “Lullaby” and Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s “Utama,...

Two hotly-favored competition frontrunners, Spain’s motherhood-focused “Lullaby” and “Utama,” shot on an awe-inspiring Bolivian Altiplano, swept the board at a historic, 25th Málaga Film Festival which said a lot about the current state of the Spanish film industry.

Running March 18-26, the Festival proved a vibrant affair, galvanised by renewed interest in the Spanish cinema after a buoyant reception for its major movies at Berlin, as well as the joy of proving the first time many industry attendees had seen each other in person in two years and backing from Spain’s Avs Hub plan for a vastly larger industry presence.

In Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby,” coming after Sundance hit “Piggy” and Carla Simón’s Berlin Golden Bear triumph “Alcarrás,” Spain would look to have a third art pic breakout in just the first three months of 2022, all driven by a young generation of women cineastes, directors and producers.

Some of the best award shows are from the 1970s, when the greats from Hollywood’s Golden Era and the (at the time) new generation of entertainers mingled and celebrated the medium they loved. And this was clearly evident 50 years ago, when the films from the beginning of a new decade were recognized. Held on April 15, 1971, this was the third consecutive year in which there was no host; instead, “34 friends of Oscar,” including Goldie Hawn, Harry Belafonte and Steve McQueen, presented the awards. There are quite a few legendary moments from that ceremony half a century ago: a groundbreaking documentary made Oscar history, there were some firsts in the acting categories and two legends were honored.

Although Marlon Brando‘s Oscar refusal in 1973 is better remembered, George C. Scott was actually the first actor to decline the award, following a Best Actor win for his performance in “Patton.” He believed that actors shouldn’t compete,...

It’s seventh heaven for Renee Zellweger. She took home her second Oscar on Sunday, this time for her lead turn in “Judy,” which now makes her the seventh person to win Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

The first six are:

1. Helen Hayes: Best Actress for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1931/32) and Best Supporting Actress for “Airport” (1970)

2. Ingrid Bergman: Best Actress for “Gaslight” (1944) and “Anastasia” (1956), and Best Supporting Actress for “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974)

3. Maggie Smith: Best Actress for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for “California Suite” (1978)

4. Meryl Streep: Best Supporting Actress for “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979), and Best Actress for “Sophie’s Choice” (1982) and “The Iron Lady” (2011)

5. Jessica Lange: Best Supporting Actress for “Tootsie” (1982) and Best Actress for “Blue Sky” (1994)

6. Cate Blanchett: Best Supporting Actress for “The Aviator” (2004) and Best Actress for “Blue Jasmine” (2013)

See Here’s the full list of Oscar winners

Zellweger,...

Seven could be a lucky number for Kate Winslet at the Oscars. This year she is a strong contender to reap a seventh bid for her supporting turn in "Steve Jobs" and she could become the seventh actress to claim both acting Oscars. Back in 2008, she had became the youngest actress ever to earn six Oscar nominations at age 33 and she finally won when she set that record, picking up the Best Actress prize for "The Reader." -Break- Dish the Oscars with Hollywood insiders in our red-hot forums  if Winslet prevails for "Steve Jobs," she'll become just the fourth Best Actress Oscar champ who went on to win again for a supporting role:  Helen Hayes won Best Actress in 1931 for "The Sin of Madelon Claudet" (1931) and then Best Supporting Actress four decades later in 1970 for "Airport";  Ingrid Bergman won Best Actress twice ["Gaslight," (1944) and "Anastasia" (1956...'...

'Sorrell and Son' with H.B. Warner and Alice Joyce. 'Sorrell and Son' 1927 movie: Long thought lost, surprisingly effective father-love melodrama stars a superlative H.B. Warner Partially shot on location in England and produced independently by director Herbert Brenon at Joseph M. Schenck's United Artists, the 1927 Sorrell and Son is a skillful melodrama about paternal devotion in the face of both personal and social adversity. This long-thought-lost version of Warwick Deeping's 1925 bestseller benefits greatly from the veteran Brenon's assured direction, deservedly shortlisted in the first year of the Academy Awards.* Crucial to the film's effectiveness, however, is the portrayal of its central character, a war-scarred Englishman who sacrifices it all for the happiness of his son. Luckily, the London-born H.B. Warner, best remembered for playing Jesus Christ in another 1927 release, Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings, is the embodiment of honesty, selflessness, and devotion. Less is...

'To Each His Own' movie with Olivia de Havilland and John Lund 'To Each His Own' movie review: Best Actress Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland stars in Mother Love tearjerker Olivia de Havilland, who had starred in the 1941 melodrama Hold Back the Dawn, returns to the wartime milieu in To Each His Own (1946), once again under the direction of Mitchell Leisen, who guides the proceedings with his characteristic sincerity while cleverly skirting the Production Code's restrictive guidelines. In To Each His Own, de Havilland plays Jody Norris, a small-town woman who falls quickly in love – much like her character in Hold Back the Dawn – but this time during World War I, when Jody's brief liaison with daredevil flying ace Captain Cosgrove (John Lund) results in an out-of-wedlock child. When Cosgrove is killed in battle, the young mother anonymously gives up her baby to a childless couple in her hometown, remaining...

Oscar Sunday is three months from today, March 2, 2014 and this year, it’s anyone’s game. The Academy has a history of playing up all the glamour and suspense, and this year should be no different.

As of today, Gold Derby‘s Top 5 Best Picture predictions for the 86th Academy Awards are: 12 Years A Slave, Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips and American Hustle.

Hit Fix’s Top 5 are: Gravity, 12 Years A Slave, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips and Inside Llewyn Davis.

In what’s classic TV, take a look at the opening of the 43rd Academy Awards in 1971, featuring an introduction by Academy President Daniel Taradash.

The big A-listers of the day all appeared at the Oscars – Goldie Hawn, Jeanne Moreau, Melvyn Douglas, Ryan O’Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young, George Segal, Jennifer Jones, Lee Grant, Maximilian Schell, Ginger Rogers, Jack Nicholson, Ali McGraw, Robert Evans, Quincy Jones, Sally Kellerman, Jim Brown,...

Ramon Novarro is Ben-Hur: The Naked and Famous in first big-budget Hollywood movie saved by the international market (See previous post: "Ramon Novarro: Silent Movie Star.") Turner Classic Movies’ Ramon Novarro Day continues with The Son-Daughter (1933), on TCM right now. Both Novarro and Helen Hayes play Chinese characters in San Francisco’s Chinatown — in the sort of story that had worked back in 1919, when D.W. Griffith made Broken Blossoms with Lillian Gish and Richard Barthelmess. By 1933, however, the drab-looking, slow-moving The Son-Daughter felt all wrong. (Photo: Naked Ramon Novarro in Ben-Hur.) Directed by the renowned Clarence Brown (who guided Greta Garbo in some of her biggest hits), The Son-Daughter turned out to be a well-intentioned mess, eventually bombing at the box office. And that goes to show that Louis B. Mayer and/or Irving G. Thalberg didn’t always know what the hell they were doing with their stars and properties.

If "Argo" wins Best Picture as Oscar prognosticators are predicting after its sweep of the DGA and SAG awards, it won't be the first time a film won without having its director nominated. Granted, it's rare: The last time was in 1989, with "Driving Miss Daisy." However, there are other ways that the 85th Academy Awards, which will be held on February 24, might set several Oscar firsts. 1. If Daniel Day-Lewis wins Best Actor, he will be the only actor to have won three Oscars in this category. Jack Nicholson is currently the Oscar record holder with three wins, but one of those was for Best Supporting Actor (for 1983's "Terms of Endearment.") 3. If Emmanuelle Riva wins Best Actress for "Amour," she will be the oldest Best Actress winner in history. At 85, she's already set a record as the oldest Best Actress nominee. Jessica Tandy, who won for "Driving Miss Daisy" when...

My usual explanation in this space: I am especially interested in piano and choral music, plus symphonies, so that’s what I get the most promos of. Other stuff obviously gets through my filters, but the percentages of what comes in inevitably affect what comes out, i.e. this list. That said, in terms of number of centuries spanned, rather than genres or formats or whatever, I think I'm covering as much or more musical territory than most critics. By the way, look for a shorter list of my favorite classical reissues of 2012, to follow in a day or two.

1. Tokyo String Quartet, Jon Manasse, Jon Nakamatsu Brahms: Piano Quintet, Clarinet Quintet (Harmonia Mundi) There were recordings this year that were more important in terms of bringing new repertoire to light, or featuring young artists, or bringing classical into the 21st century, or being more controversially newsworthy. Examples of all of those follow.

Ten years ago tomorrow, the bad cop / good cop drama Training Day debuted in theaters. It was a relatively inauspicious debut (for our purposes) in that, though the film was an instant hit, Oscar fanatics weren't really breathlessly awaiting its debut like it was a 'prestige picture' per se. The film surprised and wound up with two nominations for its leading actors, one in lead (Denzel Washington) and one in supporting (Ethan Hawke) because that's how Oscar do.

All it took was a couple of awesome soundbites and a sense that Denzel Washington was peaking as a movie star with that loss for Malcolm X still a regularly discussed Academy embarrassment and *Boom* Julia Roberts was all

I love my life!"

.... and it was Oscar Number Two for Denzel!

Were you watching? 

King Kong ain't got shit on him.

Oscar #2 let Denzel into the slim ranks of actors with two competitive gold men.

Adrien Brody in Roman Polanski's The Pianist Major Oscar Comebacks Below is a list of 28 actors and directors who had to wait 20 years or more for the next Academy Award nomination in their respective categories, i.e., actors/acting categories; directors/Best Direction category. That's why Henry Fonda is listed first with a 41-year gap between nominations, even though he was shortlisted for the 1957 Academy Awards as one of the producers of Best Picture nominee 12 Angry Men. Also, unless otherwise noted, the acting nominations are for leading roles. Years in bold represent Oscar victories. 41 years between nominations Henry Fonda (1940, The Grapes of Wrath; 1981, On Golden Pond)   38 Helen Hayes (1931-32, The Sin of Madelon Claudet; 1970, supporting, Airport) Jack Palance (1953, supporting, Shane; 1991, supporting, City Slickers) Alan Arkin (1968, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; 2006, supporting, Little Miss Sunshine)   35 Ralph Richardson (1949, supporting, [...]...

Eleven actors have won Academy Awards in the lead and supporting slots. Below: six of them. Can you name the other five? (Hint: Their last names follow the letter "L" in the alphabet.) To see the answer, click on the "Continue Reading" link below. Ingrid Bergman: Lead ("Gaslight," 1944; "Anastasia," 1956), Supporting ("Murder on the Orient Express," 1974) Robert De Niro: Lead ("Raging Bull," 1980), Supporting ("The Godfather, Part II," 1974) Gene Hackman: Lead ("The French Connection," 1971), Supporting ("Unforgiven," 1992) Helen Hayes: Lead ("The Sin of Madelon Claudet," 1931), Supporting ("Airport," 1970) Jessica Lange: Lead ("Blue Sky," 1994), Supporting ("Tootsie," 1982) Jack Lemmon: Lead ("Save the Tiger," 1973), Supporting ("Mister Roberts," 1955) Jack Nicholson:...

Meryl Streep's nomination for "Julie & Julia" increases her Oscar record to 16, putting her even further ahead of Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson (both at 12). Though Hepburn won four lead-actress Oscars and Nicholson a pair of lead-actor Academy Awards as well as a supporting one, Streep has just one lead Oscar and a supporting prize to show for all her nominations.

Though Streep just broke Hepburn's record of an even dozen nods in the lead-actress race, she should take inspiration from Hepburn's Oscar history. Hepburn won her first Oscar bid, for "Morning Glory" in 1933, but she lost her next eight Oscar races. It was only after Hepburn turned 60 in 1967 -- the age Streep is now -- that she prevailed again with nod No. 10 for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." Hepburn credited that win as a way for the academy to honor her late love and frequent costar Spencer Tracy,...