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Click Here to See the Full 31 Days of Oscar Schedule
TCM’s annual 31 Days of Oscar programming returns for its 26th year, kicking off on April 1 with a month-long showcase of films recognized by the Academy with either awards or nominations. This year, in anticipation of the Academy Award ceremony on Sunday, April 25, we will be celebrating the Oscars from A to Z, with the featured films running in alphabetical order over the course of 31 days.
Titles range from Adam’s Rib (1949), an MGM comedy starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and directed by George Cukor, to Z (1969), a French-Algerian thriller starring Yves Montand and Irene Papas and directed by Costa-Gavras. Adam’s Rib was nominated for Best Story and Screenplay. Z won for Best Foreign Language Film and Film Editing and was nominated for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Along with scores of Oscar favorites from our past tributes are eight TCM premieres. They are shown below – in alphabetical order, of course!
Carol (2015, airing April 3) is a romantic drama directed by Todd Haynes and starring
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as women who develop an intense relationship in 1950s New York. The film was nominated for six Oscars, including those for Best Actress (Blanchett), Supporting Actress (Mara), Adapted Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy), Cinematography (Edward Lachman), Costume Design (Sandy Powell) and Original Score (Carter Burwell).
The End of the Affair (1999, airing April 4) is a film version of the Graham Greene novel, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Julianne Moore and Ralph Fiennes as adulterous lovers in post-war London. The film was Oscar-nominated in two categories: Best Actress (Moore) and Cinematography (Roger Pratt).
Leaving Las Vegas (1995, airing April 14) brought a Best Actor Oscar to Nicolas Cage for his performance as a screenwriter who, after an unhappy marriage, is determined to drink himself to death in Las Vegas. Elisabeth Shue was nominated as Best Actress for her role as a prostitute who falls in love with the screenwriter. Scoring a double nomination for this touching drama was Mike Figgis in the categories of Best Director and Adapted Screenplay.
Mona Lisa (1986, airing April 17) won a Best Actor nomination for Bob Hoskins in his role as a London gangster who, after serving a prison term, is reduced to working as a driver for a prostitute (Cathy Tyson). Michael Caine costars in the drama, written and directed by Neil Jordan.
Nebraska (2013, airing April 18) is a combination character study and “road film” in which an estranged father and son (Bruce Dern and Will Forte) reunite for a trip from Montana to Nebraska. The film won six nominations including those for Best Film, Director (Alexander Payne), Actor (Dern), Supporting Actress (June Squibb as Dern’s longsuffering wife), Original Screenplay (Bob Nelson) and Cinematography (Phedon Papamichael, shooting in black and white).
Passion Fish (1992, airing April 20) won a Best Actress nomination for Mary McDonnell as a New York actress who returns to her Louisiana home after an accident leaves her partially paralyzed. Another nomination went to John Sayles (who also directed) for Best Original Screenplay. Others in the cast include Leo Burmester, Angela Bassett and Alfre Woodard.
The Truman Show (1998, airing April 29) offers an acting tour de force by Jim Carrey as a man who is the unwitting star of his own television reality show. Carrey was not nominated for his impressive performance, but the film scored three other nominations – Best Director (Peter Weir), Original Screenplay (Andrew Niccol) and Supporting Actor (Ed Harris as the show’s creator).
Twice in a Lifetime (1995, airing April 29) stars Gene Hackman as a Seattle husband and father who has an affair with a local barmaid (Ann-Margret). Amy Madigan won the film’s only Oscar nomination, as Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Hackman’s daughter. Bud Yorkin directed a cast that also includes Ellen Burstyn and Brian Dennehy.
