⭐ Meryl Streep is Group’s Latest 'Timeless Star’ Honoree
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 - Hollywood, CA — The distinctly unique GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of over 200 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally entertainment journalists in the U.S., Canada and U.K., has announced its ninth annual Dorian Award winners. This year’s 26 TV and film categories, again running from mainstream to LGBTQ-centric, include inaugural awards for Supporting Film Performance. A handful of select recipients will join the group for GALECA’s annual Winners Toast on Saturday February 24th in Beverly Hills.
Call Me By Your Name, which led with nine nominations, was named 2017’s Film of the Year. The bittersweet story of two American men — a teen and a 20something — falling for each other in Italy also earned Timothée Chalamet a Dorian for Film Performance of the Year — Actor. Chalamet, seen in Dorian nominee Lady Bird as well, was also the group’s Rising Star pick. Meanwhile, Greta Gerwig, writer and helmer of the aforementioned Lady Bird, a female-focused coming-of-age drama, was named Director of the Year.
Jordan Peele, formerly of TV’s acclaimed Key and Peele sketch comedy series, earned Screenplay of the Year for Get Out, the heart-stopping thriller and acidic satire about a black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who discovers his white girlfriend’s “liberal” parents are secretly murderous racists. Peele was also crowned Wilde Artist of the Year (nominees included Gerwig, Patty Jenkins, David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro) and Wilde Wit of the Year (in a tie with Saturday Night Live fixture Kate McKinnon). For the second year in a row, the talented McKinnon scored TV Musical Performance of the Year for her wowza impersonation of Kellyanne Conway taking her "alternative facts" act to Broadway.
Film icon and feminist activist Meryl Streep was the group’s latest choice for Timeless Star, a career achievement honor previously won by such equally beloved stars (and human-rights champions) Jane Fonda, Dame Angela Lansbury and Sir Ian McKellen.
“Who doesn’t love Meryl Streep outside of non-feminist Donald Trump?” quipped Diane Anderson-Minshall, GALECA’s president as well as editorial director of The Advocate magazine. “Streep’s latest film, The Post, speaks to her commitment to playing, and supporting, strong women who push for or at least embody the need for equality. As The Washington Post’s firebrand Katherine Graham, she inhabited the role of the first female publisher of a major American newspaper — a woman who went from housewife to overseeing the revelations of both Watergate and the Pentagon Papers at a time when most of the men around her were too afraid to take on either. And this was all long before the #MeToo movement.”
Adds John Griffiths, GALECA’s Executive Director, "From Sophie’s Choice to Postcards from the Edge, Streep’s an incredibly stirring and affecting actress who transports, delights and nails various accents like no other. I’d say she definitely qualifies as a timeless star — and amid all the headlines about sexual harassment in Hollywood, she’s also a very relevant current voice.” Fun fact: Streep won a Dorian Award for The Iron Lady back in 2012.
In additional trademark races, God’s Own Country — 2017’s other visceral love story involving two gay men — won as GALECA's Unsung Film of the Year (the competition included director Angela Robinson’s Professor Marston and the Wonder Women). Awards-season darling The Shape of Water impressed as Visually Striking Film of the Year. And mother!, Darren Aronofsky’s over-the-top psychological chiller starring Jennifer Lawrence, was deemed Campy Flick of the Year.
Among TV categories, HBO’s sleek murder mystery Big Little Lies took TV Drama of the Year, with star Nicole Kidman (as a battered wife) triumphing too. Kyle MacLachlan was Kidman’s male counterpart for Twin Peaks: The Return. Starz’s provocative gods-among-us fantasy American Gods took Unsung TV Show, fittingly as its future the freshman series’ future is reportedly up in the air. And programs each celebrating their second win in a row: TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (Current Events Show of the Year) and the Lady Gaga-loved gay performance contest RuPaul’s Drag Race (LGBTQ Show).
GALECA’S MISSION Home of the Dorian Awards for the best in film and TV, GALECA aims to generate camaraderie in an unsettling media environment, and elevate professional entertainment criticism and journalism, all while bolstering art and humanity. Via panels, screenings, events and its occasional “Ten Best" lists, this 501 c-6 organization also strives to remind the everyone from at-risk youth to bullies that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people have a rich history of putting great movies and TV on the radar. How would the world fare without knowing what's campy?
GALECA 2017/18 DORIAN AWARDS — FULL LIST
FILM OF THE YEAR
BPM (Beats Per Minute) - The Orchard Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics (WINNER)
Get Out - Universal
Lady Bird - A24
The Shape of Water - Fox Searchlight
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR (FILM OR TELEVISION)
Sean Baker, The Florida Project – A24
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird - A24 (WINNER)
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk – Warner Bros.
Jordan Peele, Get Out - Universal
BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTRESS Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight (WINNER)
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Fox Searchlight
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya - Neon
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird - A24
Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman - Sony Pictures Classics
BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR – ACTOR
Nahuel Perez Biscayart, BPM (Beats Per Minute) — The Orchard Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics (WINNER)
James Franco, The Disaster Artist – A24
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out - Universal
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour – Focus Features
SUPPORTING FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound - Netflix
Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip - Universal
Allison Janney, I, Tonya - Neon Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird - A24 (WINNER)
Michelle Pfeiffer, mother! - Paramount
SUPPORTING FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTOR
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project – A24
Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name- Sony Pictures Classics
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Fox Searchlight Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics (WINNER)
LGBTQ FILM OF THE YEAR
BPM (Beats Per Minute) — The Orchard
Battle of the Sexes - Fox Searchlight Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics (WINNER)
A Fantastic Woman - Sony Pictures Classics
God's Own Country – Samuel Goldwyn Films
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR BPM (Beats Per Minute) — The Orchard (WINNER)
A Fantastic Woman - Sony Pictures Classics
First They Killed My Father - Netflix
The Square – Magnolia Pictures
Thelma – The Orchard
SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR (ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED)
James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics Jordan Peele, Get Out - Universal (WINNER)
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird - A24
Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
(theatrical release, TV airing or DVD release)
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story – Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson - Netflix Faces/Places – Cohen Media Group (WINNER)
Jane – National Geographic/Abramorama
Kedi - Oscilloscope
VISUALLY STRIKING FILM OF THE YEAR
(honoring a production of stunning beauty, from art direction to cinematography)
Blade Runner 2049 – Warner Bros.
Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics
Dunkirk – Warner Bros. The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight (WINNER)
Wonderstruck - Amazon
UNSUNG FILM OF THE YEAR
BPM (Beats Per Minute) - The Orchard
Beach Rats - Neon God's Own Country – Samuel Goldwyn Films (WINNER)
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women - Annapurna
Wonderstruck - Amazon
CAMPY FLICK OF THE YEAR
Baywatch - Paramount
The Disaster Artist – A24
The Greatest Showman – 20th Century Fox
I, Tonya - Neon mother! - Paramount (WINNER)
TV DRAMA OF THE YEAR Big Little Lies - HBO (WINNER)
The Crown - Netflix
Feud: Bette and Joan - FX
The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu
Twin Peaks: The Return - Showtime
TV COMEDY OF THE YEAR
Better Things - FX
GLOW - Netflix
The Good Place - NBC The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - Amazon (WINNER)
Will & Grace - NBC
TV PEFORMANCE OF THE YEAR – ACTRESS
Clare Foy, The Crown - Netflix Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies - HBO (WINNER)
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan - FX
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies - HBO
TV PEFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTOR
Aziz Ansari, Master of None – Netflix
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us - NBC
Jonathan Groff, Mindhunter - Netflix Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks: The Return - Showtime (WINNER)
Alexander Skaarsgård, Big Little Lies - HBO
TV CURRENT AFFAIRS SHOW OF THE YEAR Full Frontal with Samantha Bee – TBS (WINNER)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - HBO
Late Night with Seth Meyers - NBC
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - CBS
The Rachel Maddow Show - MSNBC
TV MUSICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga, “God Bless America,” “Born This Way,” etc., Super Bowl LI - Fox Kate McKinnon, “(Kellyanne) Conway!” Saturday Night Live - NBC (WINNER)
Brendan McCreary, John Mulaney, “I’m Gay,” Big Mouth – Netflix
Pink, “Beautiful Trauma,” American Music Awards - ABC
Sasha Velour, “So Emotional,” RuPaul's Drag Race – VH1
LGBTQ SHOW OF THE YEAR
Difficult People - Hulu RuPaul's Drag Race – VH1 (WINNER)
Sense8 - Netflix
Transparent – Amazon
Will & Grace - NBC
UNSUNG TV SHOW OF THE YEAR American Gods - Starz (WINNER)
Dear White People - Netflix
Difficult People - Hulu
At Home with Amy Sedaris - TruTV
The Leftovers - HBO
CAMPY TV SHOW OF THE YEAR
Dynasty Feud: Bette and Joan (WINNER)
Riverdale
RuPaul's Drag Race
Will & Grace
‘WE’RE WILDE ABOUT YOU!’ RISING STAR AWARD Timothée Chalamet (WINNER)
Harris Dickinson
Tiffany Haddish
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniela Vega
WILDE WIT OF THE YEAR AWARD
(honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
Samantha Bee
Stephen Colbert Kate McKinnon (WINNER - TIE)
John Oliver Jordan Peele (WINNER - TIE)
WILDE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
(honoring a truly groundbreaking force in the fields of film, theater and/or television)
Guillermo del Toro
Greta Gerwig
Patty Jenkins
David Lynch Jordan Peele (WINNER)
TIMELESS STAR
(to a living actor or performer whose exemplary career is marked by character, wisdom and wit) Meryl Streep (WINNER)
• • • •
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics
2017 Dorian Award Film/TV Nominations Announcement
Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, Shape of Water Lead Film Categories
Feud, Will & Grace, Glow Highlight TV Races
Seth Meyers, David Lynch, Tiffany Haddish, Michelle Pfeiffer Also Vie
Wednesday, January 10, 2018 - Hollywood, CA — GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of nearly 200 critics and journalists in the U.S., Canada and U.K., today released its ninth annual Dorian Award nominations for the year’s finest in film and TV.
Call Me By Your Name reigns with nine nominations, starting with Film of the Year. Earning both best actor and rising star nods: Timothée Chalamet, who plays the film’s teen protagonist besotted by 20something Armie Hammer — who received a nomination for supporting actor. The Shape of Water, director Guillermo del Toro’s fantastical love story coupling a woman and a creature plucked from the Amazon River, landed seven nominations. Meanwhile, the horrors-of-racism drama Get Out earned six nominations, four for writer-director Jordan Peele alone (in addition to helming and screenplay nods, he’s up for “Wilde Wit” and “Wilde Artist” kudos).
Also ranking high with GALECA members: Margot Robbie, a nominee for Film Performance of the Year — Actress for her gritty turn, twist and twirl as ice-blooded figure-skater Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. Joining Robbie on the ring is Chilean actress Daniela Vega for her work as a transgender waitress dealing with loss and indignities in A Fantastic Woman.
As for epics, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk did not get a best film nomination, but Nolan made GALECA’s Director of the Year short list — and the WWII epic is also up for Visually Striking Film of the Year alongside the likes of Blade Runner 2049. Meanwhile, BPM (Beats Per Minute), French director Robin Campillo’s dramatic account of friends facing the AIDS epidemic in 1990s France, scored an impressive five nominations, from Foreign Language Film of the Year to Unsung Film.
In TV categories, awards-season darlings Big Little Lies, Feud and The Crown — as well as women surnamed Kidman, Witherspoon, Foy and Lange — obviously delighted GALECA members as well. The male actor race includes a couple of nice surprises: Kyle MacLachlan for Twin Peaks: The Return and Jonathan Groff for Netflix’s droll crime thriller Mindhunter. Other shows getting some love include Hulu’s departing Difficult People, Netflix’s series version of Dear White People and Starz’s electric and provocative fantasy American Gods.
And, for TV Musical Performance of the Year, Lady Gaga, Pink, RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite Sasha Velour and comic John Mulaney all vie against Kate McKinnon’s Broadway-worthy sendup of Kellyanne Conway on Saturday Night Live.
The final Dorian verdicts, including GALECA’s latest pick for Timeless Star (a career achievement honor), will be announced Wednesday, January 31. Then, on Saturday afternoon, February 24, the group will gather to celebrate some of the winners at its annual, intimate Winners Toast in Los Angeles.
GALECA 2017/18 DORIAN AWARDS NOMINEES:
FILM OF THE YEAR BPM (Beats Per Minute) - The Orchard Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics Get Out - Universal Lady Bird - A24 The Shape of Water - Fox Searchlight
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR (FILM OR TELEVISION)
Sean Baker, The Florida Project – A24
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird - A24
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk – Warner Bros.
Jordan Peele, Get Out - Universal
BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Fox Searchlight
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya - Neon
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird - A24
Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman - Sony Pictures Classics
BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR – ACTOR
Nahuel Perez Biscayart, BPM (Beats Per Minute) — The Orchard
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics
James Franco, The Disaster Artist – A24
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out - Universal
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour – Focus Features
SUPPORTING FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound - Netflix
Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip - Universal
Allison Janney, I, Tonya - Neon
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird - A24
Michelle Pfeiffer, mother! - Paramount
SUPPORTING FILM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTOR
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project – A24
Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Fox Searchlight
Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics
LGBTQ FILM OF THE YEAR BPM (Beats Per Minute) — The Orchard Battle of the Sexes - Fox Searchlight Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics A Fantastic Woman - Sony Pictures Classics God's Own Country – Samuel Goldwyn Films
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR BPM (Beats Per Minute) — The Orchard
A Fantastic Woman - Sony Pictures Classics First They Killed My Father - Netflix The Square – Magnolia Pictures Thelma – The Orchard
SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR (ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED)
James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics
Jordan Peele, Get Out - Universal
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird - A24
Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
(theatrical release, TV airing or DVD release) Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story – Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson - Netflix Faces Places – Cohen Media Group Jane – National Geographic/Abramorama Kedi - Oscilloscope
VISUALLY STRIKING FILM OF THE YEAR
(honoring a production of stunning beauty, from art direction to cinematography) Blade Runner 2049 – Warner Bros. Call Me By Your Name - Sony Pictures Classics Dunkirk – Warner Bros. The Shape of Water – Fox Searchlight Wonderstruck - Amazon
UNSUNG FILM OF THE YEAR BPM (Beats Per Minute) - The Orchard Beach Rats - Neon God's Own Country – Samuel Goldwyn Films Professor Marston and the Wonder Women - Annapurna Wonderstruck - Amazon
CAMPY FLICK OF THE YEAR Baywatch - Paramount The Disaster Artist – A24 The Greatest Showman – 20th Century Fox I, Tonya - Neon mother! - Paramount
TV DRAMA OF THE YEAR Big Little Lies - HBO - HBO The Crown - Netflix Feud: Bette and Joan - FX The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu Twin Peaks: The Return - Showtime
TV COMEDY OF THE YEAR Better Things - FX GLOW - Netflix The Good Place - NBC The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - Amazon Will & Grace - NBC
TV PEFORMANCE OF THE YEAR – ACTRESS
Clare Foy, The Crown - Netflix
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies - HBO
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan - FX
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies - HBO
TV PEFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -- ACTOR
Aziz Ansari, Master of None – Netflix
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us - NBC
Jonathan Groff, Mindhunter - Netflix
Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks: The Return - Showtime
Alexander Skaarsgård, Big Little Lies - HBO
TV CURRENT AFFAIRS SHOW OF THE YEAR Full Frontal with Samantha Bee – TBS Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - HBO Late Night with Seth Meyers - NBC The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - CBS The Rachel Maddow Show - MSNBC
TV MUSICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga, “God Bless America,” “Born This Way,” etc., Super Bowl LI - Fox
Kate McKinnon, “(Kellyanne) Conway!” Saturday Night Live - NBC
Brendan McCreary, John Mulaney, “I’m Gay,” Big Mouth – Netflix
Pink, “Beautiful Trauma,” American Music Awards - ABC
Sasha Velour, “So Emotional,” RuPaul's Drag Race – VH1
LGBTQ SHOW OF THE YEAR Difficult People - Hulu RuPaul's Drag Race – VH1 Sense8 - Netflix Transparent – Amazon Will & Grace - NBC
UNSUNG TV SHOW OF THE YEAR American Gods - Starz Dear White People - Netflix Difficult People - Hulu At Home with Amy Sedaris - TruTV The Leftovers - HBO
CAMPY TV SHOW OF THE YEAR Dynasty Feud: Betty and Joan Riverdale RuPaul's Drag Race Will & Grace
‘WE’RE WILDE ABOUT YOU!’ RISING STAR AWARD
Timothée Chalamet
Harris Dickinson
Tiffany Haddish
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniela Vega
WILDE WIT OF THE YEAR AWARD
(honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
Samantha Bee
Stephen Colbert
Kate McKinnon
John Oliver
Jordan Peele
WILDE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
(honoring a truly groundbreaking force in the fields of film, theater and/or television)
Guillermo del Toro
Greta Gerwig
Patty Jenkins
David Lynch
Jordan Peele
GALECA’S MISSION
GALECA, a 501 C-6 nonprofit, aims to generate camaraderie in an unsettling media environment, champion constructive film and TV criticism and elevate entertainment journalism. Via panels, screenings, events and its occasional “Ten Best" lists, GALECA also strives to remind the world, and our at-risk youth that LGBTQs have a rich history of putting great movies and TV on the pop culture radar. After all, how would the world fare without knowing what's campy?
CONTACT
Diane Anderson-Minshall, GALECA President
diane@retrogradecommunications.com
John Griffiths, GALECA Executive Director
jdgriffiths@earthlink.net
• • • • •
Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Name
Ten Best Actresses of All Time
Group’s members give thanks for an array of impressive women and unforgettable performances
HOLLYWOOD, CA, Wednesday, November 23, 2016 – The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association today announced its members’ collective picks for the organization’s latest “Ten Best” list: GALECA’s Ten Best Actresses of All Time.
The 160-plus members of GALECA, a nonprofit group comprised of professional film and TV critics and entertainment journalists in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., were each asked to name their 10 choices for the finest female actors throughout the history of film and television, without ranking the stars. The actresses with the most mentions are noted below.
Note: Actresses who did not make the top 10 here but came closest among the 100 or so listed by members include Joan Crawford, Judi Dench, Sally Field, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Lange, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Taylor and Kate Winslet.
The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association’s Ten Best Actresses of All Time (again, in alphabetical order) are:
Ingrid Bergman: The Swedish star is best known to your average Joe as misty-eyed Ilsa in Casablanca, but Bergman devotees know that she starred in many more, including a trio of Hitchcock films and George Cukor’s stellar thriller Gaslight. Bergman is also responsible for another gift to cinema: her daughter, actress Isabella Rossellini.
Cate Blanchett: Whether she’s playing a tortured 16th-century monarch or having clandestine glove lunches in 1952, Cate Blanchett radiates. She’s the kind of actress that demands your attention, and you gratefully give it. She’s picked up a host of Oscar and/or Golden Globe nominations (and a few wins) for her stunning performances in such modern classics as Elizabeth, Blue Jasmine and Carol (the latter two also earned her GALECA Dorian Awards).
Bette Davis: The grande dame of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Bette Davis commanded attention with her striking visage and powerful performances in films like All About Eve, The Little Foxesand What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Davis’ off-camera battles with costar Joan Crawford in the latter fuel the upcoming TV series Feud). But from the get-go, she was blazing trails as one of filmdom’s most distinct, eye-expressive actresses.
Viola Davis: Bette’s not the only Ms. Davis to stand out on the screen (big or small). This Juilliard-trained powerhouse has shown there’s no role she can’t conquer, winning two Tonys, two Oscar nominations (for Doubt and The Help) and, finally, like Stanwyck, an Emmy. That parade of awards will only keep growing as she lends her trademark thoughtfulness to more juicy roles like her current one as Annalise Keating in TV’s How to Get Away With Murder.
Jane Fonda: Fonda (a GALECA Timeless Star career-achievement honoree) may have come from Hollywood royalty, but she’s been paving her own way with intelligence and subversive wit since the sixties. Be it in the daring crime thriller Klute, feminist office comedy 9 to 5 to or gray-haired sitcom Grace and Frankie, Fonda is a nervy, magnetic presence. And few actresses have such a knack for shedding light on important issues with her brave performances. Witness her Oscar-winning turn in Coming Home.
Katharine Hepburn: Few actresses, or actors, have the sort of self-possessed presence that came so naturally to Kate Hepburn. Even after her early success in was deemed a flash in the pan by the 1940s, she showed that talent and a hell of a lot of moxie can’t be quashed. Hepburn picked up three of her four Oscars later in life (see On Golden Pond), working until the age of 87. Her dedication to her art and her iconoclastic personal style translate to indelible.
Isabelle Huppert: The French-born Cannes’ darling Huppert has been making waves in the film industry for over 40 years now, with no signs of slowing down. Her haunting performance in 2001’s The Piano Teacher may be her best known work in the U.S., but the BAFTA- and Cesar-winning chameleon has over 50 films under her belt, a testament to her status as one of the world’s most spectacularly natural acting talents. See her cast a spell in the current drama Elle.
Julianne Moore: Moore has the makings of a modern legend. She landed on the radar with her high of a performance in 1997’s Boogie Nightsand she’s been building a noticeably meaty list of credits ever since. Her subtle and natural style has made her a household name and a favorite during Academy Awards season (and she won a GALECA Dorian Award for Still Alice). While Moore is usually cast in dramas like the heart-wrenching The End of the Affair, her comedic timing in The Big Lebowski is proof she has the chops to do it all.
Barbara Stanwyck: The stunningly "real” Stanwyck rose from a childhood filled with poverty and strife to become one of early Hollywood’s most dynamic actresses. The former Ziegfeld Follies dancer elicited tears in Stella Dallas, mesmerized in the noir classic Double Indemnity and delighted in the screwball comedy The Lady Eve. “Missy” later turned heads in television, winning three Emmys, including one for her gutsy performance in The Thorn Birds.
Meryl Streep: Enigmatic, brilliant, timeless. Meryl Streep’s career is as varied as can be, with Oscar-winning performances in The Iron Lady (which also earned her GALECA’s Dorian Award), Sophie’s Choice and Kramer vs. Kramer to fun frolics in films like Mamma Mia and The Devil Wears Prada. Streep completely loses herself in her roles, making her not only fascinating, but (shhh) GALECA’s number-one Best Actress of All Time.
• • • • •
Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Fete Carol and Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy at Annual Winners Toast
Transparent, Grace and Frankie Cast MembersDiscuss
Their Awarded Shows
MONDAY MARCH 7, 2016 - HOLLYWOOD, CA Members of the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, comprised of nearly 150 entertainment journalists nationwide, gathered Sunday in Los Angeles to celebrate their 2015 Dorian Award winners across film and TV.
GALECA’s top titles and performances of the year were announced January 19, but the group eschews the award show format for an afternoon party where select winners enjoy champagne and some lighthearted questions before the crowd at its annual Winners Toast.
This year, Oscar nominee Phyllis Nagy, presented her Dorian Award for Screenplay of the Year for Carol, was asked by GALECA Board Member Trish Bendix (AfterEllen) about adapting novelist Patricia Highsmith’s classic lesbian romance for the screen. “Retaining the novel’s sense of mystery” was key, said Nagy.
The writer also noted that the film, an international success, seemed to ruffle feathers in some circles. “Hollywood still isn’t used to seeing strong lesbian characters. Carol is a woman who knows what she wants,” Nagy said of the determined divorcee (Cate Blanchett) who intrigues younger Therese (Rooney Mara) in 1950s New York.
GALECA obviously responded to the film — Bendix and the organization’s president, John Griffiths (Us Weekly), had to jump in to help Nagy pose with Carol’s five awards in all. The movie, hailed by GALECA as a work “of precise beauty and huge emotional impact,” also had won Film of the Year, LGBTQ Film of the Year, Director of the Year - Todd Haynes and Film Performance of the Year - Actress for Blanchett.
Alexandra Billings, the groundbreaking transgender actress who costars on Amazon’s Transparent, accepted that show’s awards for TV Comedy of the Year, LGBTQ TV Show of the Year and TV Performance of the Year - Actor (Jeffrey Tambor). Billings, asked about her place as the first transgender performer to play a transgender character in a TV production, had fun roasting that turn in 2005’s Romy and Michelle: In the Beginning. The comedy prequel was “awful!” Billings had higher praise for her current gig, in which she plays Davina, a warm transgender woman who helps show Tambor’s character Maura transition. Transparent is “funny because it’s real and true. And [creator] Jill Soloway is a nut!”
Accepting on behalf of Jane Fonda for the Grace and Frankie’s star’s Timeless Award — GALECA’s career achievement honor previously given to the likes of Sir Ian McKellen — her sitcom costar Baron Vaughn raved about the legendary actress’s “approachable” charms and professionalism.
On the Netflix hit, about the unlikely friendship between fastidious Grace (Fonda) and aging hippy Frankie (Lily Tomlin) and their suddenly out husbands, Vaughn plays Tomlin’s adopted son Bud. “When I’m in scenes with Jane and Lily, I’m thinking I’m basically the new Dolly Parton,” quipped Vaughn, referencing a certain Fonda/Tomlin/Parton comedy classic.
Other swells attending GALECA’s Hasty Pudding-esque Toast, held at Wilde Wine Bar and Restaurant in Los Angeles, were actor Jason Stuart (Unsung Film of the Year winner Tangerine and the upcoming The Birth of a Nation), rising star Corey Craig (Pee Wee’s Big Holiday) and reality star/actor Massimo Dobrovic (Euros of Hollywood). The afternoon was capped by Natalie Denise Sperl of the L.A. rock band Kill My Coquette, who sang a tribute to the late David Bowie.
GALECA, an established 501 C-6 nonprofit, aims to generate camaraderie in an unsettling media environment, champion constructive film and TV criticism and elevate entertainment journalism as a whole.
Via panels, screenings, events and our occasional “Ten Best” lists, GALECA also strives to remind the world that the LGBTQ-munity has a significant history of helping improve pop culture at large. After all, how would the world fare without knowing what’s campy?
2017 FILM OF THE YEAR
“Call Me By Your Name”
CLASSIC WINNER: “Moonlight”
FILM OF THE YEAR (2016)
CLASSIC WINNER: “Carol”
FILM OF THE YEAR (2015)
CLASSIC WINNER: “American Horror Story”
TV DRAMA OF THE YEAR (2011, 2012)
CAMPY TV SHOW OF THE YEAR (2013)
JESSICA LANGE, TV PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR (2011, 2012, 2013)
Call Me By Your Name photo copyright Sony Pictures Classics Moonlight photo copyright A24 Carol photo copyright The Weinstein Company American Horror Story photos copyright Fox Cable Network
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