You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Best Actress’ category.
Over the past two weeks we’ve been revealing our choices for most of the Oscar categories. Here is a handy recap of those picks! Refer to this page often during tonight’s telecast to see if you should be agreeing with the winners! (Hint: use the “John” column)
| Adam | Brian | Jared | John | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture | Hugo | The Artist | Midnight in Paris | |
| Director | Allen | Scorsese | Havanavicius | Malick |
| Actress | Mara | Mara | Williams | Streep |
| Actor | Dujardin | Dujardin | Dujardin | Oldman |
| Supporting Actress | Bejo | Bejo | Spencer | Chastain |
| Supporting Actor | Hill | Nolte | Branagh | Plummer |
| Original Screenplay | Midnight in Paris | Margin Call | The Artist | Midnight in Paris |
| Adapted Screenplay | Hugo | The Descendants | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | |
| Art Direction | Midnight in Paris | Hugo | Hugo | Hugo |
| Cinematography | The Tree of Life | Hugo | The Tree of Life | The Tree of Life |
| Costume | Anonymous | Jane Eyre | ||
| Film Editing | Hugo | Moneyball | The Descendants | |
| Makeup | Harry Potter | The Iron Lady | Harry Potter | The Iron Lady |
| Score | The Artist | The Adventures of Tintin | ||
| Song | The Muppets | The Muppets | The Muppets | |
| Sound Editing | Transformers | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Transformers | Drive |
| Sound Mixing | Transformers | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Transformers | Transformers |
| Visual Effects | Transformers | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Harry Potter | Transformers |
| Animated Short | A Morning Stroll | A Morning Stroll | A Morning Stroll | Wild Life |
| Live Action Short | Time Freak | Time Freak | ||
| Documentary Short | Saving Face | The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom |
The 84th Academy Awards is almost here! Leading up to the event, we’re going to put all the hours we spent watching these films to good use by giving our thoughts on all the categories, big and small. We may not be experts on everything, but I daresay that’s never stopped anyone from blogging before. On the (very remote chance) you disagree with us or the (much more likely chance) you want to applaud our picks, please chime in below.
Actress in a Leading Role
The nominees are:
- Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
- Viola Davis, The Help
- Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
- Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
JOHN
This is a tough category this year. I think, by a hair, the best performance of the year came from Meryl Streep. Not only did she have to tackle playing a real person but at a variety of ages in different stages of mental decline. This film calls for her to dodder around in her senility and jabber with the ghost of her dead husband but she handles it well. I shudder to think how bad The Iron Lady would have been without such a good central performance.
But if I’m being honest I’m rooting for Viola Davis. She’s always awesome and maybe a win would land her some more sizable, and meatier, roles. Streep already has two Oscars and I don’t think she’d begrudge her pal Viola a win. If I have any complaint about Davis in The Help it’s that she painfully out-acts Emma Stone in too many of their shared scenes!
I didn’t like My Week With Marilyn and I wasn’t looking forward to seeing it, but hell if Michelle Williams isn’t very good in it. She does a good job channeling Marilyn Monroe, including her insecurities and playfulness. I suspect I enjoyed Glenn Close’s performance more than my colleagues. I’m not sure she would have made my list but she really sells the restraint and social ineptitude of her character. And while I’m fine with Rooney Mara, I wonder how much of it is that she gets to sport an accent and wear a bunch of leather. I can’t recall ever being particularly taken by her performance.
And if I had my druthers I’d stick Elizabeth Olsen in.
JARED
Oscar did well here. It would have been hard for them to do poorly, but they’ve shown a certain capability for that. I’ve now seen Rooney Mara in four movies (this one, Youth in Revolt, The Social Network, and The Winning Season) and I’m very much impressed with her mutability. I’d love to see her in an action spy show like Alias, or, at least, what I’m assuming Alias was. She’s good here, but given what the character did for Noomi Rapace, I wonder if the love here is actually for the role.
Albert Nobbs is a challenging portrayal to reward. The character has devoted his or her life to staying in the background, inconspicuous. So Close is all small, controlled mannerisms here. I think it is a performance that needs to sit a little bit to really appreciate, to get how she played at being a man, not really sure of her place in society when not at work.
I may have Davis third, but she’s absolutely deserving of the statue. I’m not really one for race debates, especially when it comes to Oscar, because then you end up with Crash. All I want to say is that should Davis take home the trophy, regardless of what caused people to vote for or against her, she’s a fantastic actress who earned the award on merit.
Not like I have anything new to say about Meryl Streep. Other than that I hope she’s in the sequel to RED.
It isn’t news that I’m in the tank for Michelle Williams. I’m assuming something was planted in brain when I saw Dick in theaters, but my love more directly stems from The Station Agent and The Baxter. Anyway, Michelle’s Marilyn is a heck of a performance. To take such an iconic figure and breathe such life and nuance into it? Man. She did Marilyn when she was on, when she was drugged, when she was nervously trying to act. She dominates the film and is such a joy to watch.
BRIAN
Rooney Mara
ADAM
Rooney Mara
I saw Albert Nobbs the other night and rather enjoyed it. I wasn’t expecting much but found the story and characters entertaining. I liked both Glenn Close and Janet McTeer in their nominated performances and it’s safe to say I haven’t seen another film like it. It’s also quite an uncomfortable film, not due to the gender politics but because Albert’s secret life has made him excruciatingly socially inept. It’s not an instant classic or anything and I’m not sure I came out of it with anything deeper to ponder, but it was still a good time and I’d recommend it.
But one thing kept sticking in my mind. Like the Ryan Phillippe forehead bump issue of 2007, I warn you that once I point this out the film may be ruined for you.
Janet McTeer looks just like Ms. Botz, aka the Babysitter Bandit, from The Simpsons!
It’s the hair that really makes it but they kind of stomp around similarly too.
Here’s hoping I’m not nuts and this post attracts like minded people Googling “albert nobbs babysitter bandit” for years to come!
Well this look at the successful performance showcases, the complement to my earlier look at the failed ones, is ridiculously late. But it’s been sitting on my hard drive for a while so why waste it? Plus many of these are now available on DVD so you can go judge them for yourselves. Though you may as well leave the judging to me, right?
Animal Kingdom
There was a good chance that this one was going to land on the “failed” portion of these posts, but happily Jacki Weaver eked out a Supporting Actress nod for this very low profile film. Animal Kingdom is an Australian crime drama centered around a family of bank robbers. The opening credits made me think I was about to see The Town: Down Under with its images of bank heists. Instead, it’s a character-focused drama about the family unraveling as the crooked cops close in.
Weaver plays the family matriarch. She’s outwardly sweet and caring, but in reality is chillingly ruthless. Her daughter dies of a heroin overdose so her estranged grandson comes to live with her. Meanwhile, her son is hiding out from the cops while the Melbourne police become more brutal with their tactics. The cops begin killing off members of the gang, the gang retaliates, and the heretofore innocent grandson gets entangled in it all.
The movie is very good. I think some people may find the grandson character frustrating as he waffles between his family and the police and seems to willfully put himself in danger. But I think the film does a good job establishing the character and his passiveness. Weaver is quite memorable. I think it’s a role ripe for scenery chewing, but she dials it back and it makes her actions even more chilling. Hopefully her nomination will cause more people to seek out the film.
Rabbit Hole
This story of a couple mourning their recently-deceased son works in parts. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart grieve in their own ways, which drives a wedge into their relationship. Kidman is prone to awkward public outbursts that can be quite uncomfortable to watch. The film is filled with these scenes and it can be hard to take.
But some scenes are just wonderful. Most of the scenes Kidman shares with her mother, played by Dianne Weist, are terrific and insightful. Eckhart has a nice scene in his son’s bedroom with a family looking to buy the house.
The film is a series of mostly successful individual scenes while some overall plot points fall a little short. I found the relationship between Kidman and a young man sort of contrived, but it yielded several nice moments.
I think your mileage may vary in a heavily dramatic movie like this. What rings true or connects emotionally for one will feel wrong to another. And that is fine, considering the film is about people who express their grief differently.
Kidman is very good and she grabbed the film’s one Oscar nomination for Best Actress. I enjoyed Eckhart, and he did land an Independent Spirit nod, though a few of his showcase scenes didn’t work very well for me. How much was him and how much was the writing, I don’t know. Finally, Weist is also very good and it’s too bad awards momentum for her stalled so early.
It’s a good film that I would recommend, but given its weight I’m not sure if there are many people I’d specifically recommend it to.
Biutiful
We all severely despised this movie. Javier Bardem landed a Best Actor nod for his role as a Barcelona black marketeer who is severely down on his luck. His illegal immigrant workers get deported and he has the heart to care about their families. His own ex-wife is unreliable, leaving him to worry for his children’s safety. He is sick. His dreams are full of tiresome artsy fartsy imagery.
The film received some critical malign for being such a downer. I contend that to be a downer a film must make the viewer care enough to feel the depression and Biutiful fails miserably at that. I wasn’t saddened by Bardem’s slog. I was bored. Very, very bored.
It severely drags. I started looking out for the ending, constantly expecting for the finale to be right around the corner and pondering if I liked certain developments as the denouement. In hindsight it turns out I started doing this about 45 minutes in. That is a bad sign.
Blue Valentine
I anticipated this being up my alley but it started losing me pretty quickly. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are a married couple with a young daughter. The film starts with their relationship in trouble and watches as it crumbles. Interspersed are flashbacks showing them meeting and falling in love.
It reminded me a lot of Revolutionary Road from a few years back. It could be a poignant look at the strains that are put on a relationship, but it’s really just about two people that shouldn’t be together. And at least one is a douchebag. It becomes pretty clear that there isn’t a lot of depth to their relationship and I began rooting against the pair because it seemed like they’d both be better off alone. By the end it was just tedious.
Williams got a Best Actress nomination but it’s surprising that Gosling was barely even in the picture. He didn’t even score any recognition from the Independent Spirits. Maybe the field for Best Actor was just more competitive. But I have a hard time imagining someone responding the movie and Williams’s performance but not Gosling’s.
Another Year
This one isn’t a successful performance piece but at least it did get some Oscar attention, receiving an Original Screenplay nod. Lesley Manville really should have been in the mix for Supporting Actress, but at least she was a contender.
My colleagues liked Another Year considerably less than I did and I understand why. It’s slow with a very understated plot. But it’s all in service of its themes. I’m not sure why, but I’m drawn towards films about the passage of time and the transient nature of lives in this permanent world and Another Year has these in spades. Four segments corresponding to each of the seasons follow English married couple Tom and Gerri as they host family and friends at parties and events over the course of a year. They are in love and appear to have a happy life, but the same cannot be said about everyone else in their coterie. Manville stands out as Gerri’s lonely middle aged coworker who drinks too much at the get-togethers and fancies her hosts’ much younger son.
The film does sacrifice plot for theme. In fact, it would be hard to claim there’s much of a plot at all as the action is all conversation. We do see the characters’ progression throughout the year though much of the action occurs between the seasonal meetings. Mary’s excitement to buy a car and subsequent troubles with said car later in the year is one more light-hearted example.
The slowness did get to me a little as some of the scenes aren’t the best at advancing the themes. I’m happy to accept subtlety when warranted, but sitting through some of the scenes that seemed pointless to me was harder to stomach. With a little tightening it could be more entertaining and packed a heftier punch.
The Oscars are less than a week away and we’re taking a look at all the categories we care to. Today it’s Actress.
- Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
- Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
- Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
- Natalie Portman, Black Swan
- Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
John:
This is the most unflattering image I could find. I hate you, Natalie Portman.
Two ladies compete for my pick here, but truthfully none of them blow me away. Williams and Kidman are both good, though undermined by some weak material. It’s hard for me to tell what doesn’t push me over the top for Williams. I think the film isn’t successful enough to make her performance connect with me. And Kidman has to deal with a bunch of phony scenes so it kind of feels like she’s Acting Very Hard.
Bening is terrific in a role that takes some range: caring wife/mom, icy household leader, betrayed spouse. But Lawrence and Portman lead for me. I’m glad Lawrence got in; it seemed like her star was falling by nomination time. She’s delightful with her tough, stubborn façade that only occasionally cracks to reveal the unsure teenager she actually is. And at this moment I’ll choose Portman, though maybe I’ll go back and forth a few times. What can I say, she’s fierce! And I think the over-the-top scenery chewing is kept at the right level.
Snubs: My dream ballot would include Hilary Swank for Conviction and Sally Hawkins for Made In Dagenham, both discussed here.
Jared:
I’ll echo the sentiments of every other Oscar-watcher out there and say this year was and extremely strong one for leading ladies. Honestly, the next five actresses on the list would likely stack up favorably to most other years.
Jennifer Lawrence would probably be the first out of my top five, though I’m certainly not upset she’s here. I guess I think people are confusing their admiration for her character with their admiration for her a little. A young, attractive woman struggling to take care of her family against all manners of hardships? Yeah, that’s a trope the Academy eats up. That said, she did a very fine job, and I look forward to seeing what she takes on in the future.
Annette Bening is being pipped by some as an upset pick to take home the trophy Sunday night. In my mind that would be a (deserved) career achievement win. Something the Academy has <sarcasm> never ever been known to do </saracasm>. She’s clearly very good in this role, but I’d look to her turn in Mother and Child as the performance that should have been nominated. To be sure, at times it is hard to separate the character as written from the actor’s performance, but I just didn’t get enough there. Maybe I needed to see an Oscar Scene (TM).
In Rabbit Hole, Nicole Kidman broke her nearly decade long streak of appearing in forgettable movies. The tough thing about her character, I think, is that she had to tiptoe such a fine line to retain some of the audience’s sympathy, but almost as little as possible, since her character was so frequently lashing out in an effort to bring some sense of normalcy back into her world. While she obviously benefited from being a big name (since really, how many people actually saw this film?), Kidman’s nomination was certainly a valid choice.
After The Baxter (and OK, sure, The Station Agent), I’m wholeheartedly in the tank for Michelle Williams. A sentiment not shared by all of my fellow Grouches. I didn’t love Blue Valentine because I think the script failed to make me care about the couple. But I almost shudder to think what the film would have been like in lesser hands. Perhaps the thing I most like about Williams is that her characters never feel like caricatures. It is really difficult to describe any of the in a word or two, because they feel like such normal people.
And the second most unfortunate. Damn, she's pretty.
Natalie Portman is dead to me. Maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh. I guess I could have been a little more aggressive in pursuing her. It was actually a little surprising how much of the internet blew up when the news was announced. She could have had her pick of any nerd out there and she goes with a ballerina? Anyway, if she weren’t dead to me, I’d probably say that in a year of strong performances, I’m not sure it is particularly close among these nominees. The role required such range and such ability. And she pulled it off magnificently. Black Swan really wasn’t all that special, in my opinion, but a good chunk of the reason it is doing so well is squarely on the shoulders of Portman, who has carried the film on the back of her memorable performance.
Adam:
Is completely unoriginal and also picked Natalie Portman.
Oscar nominees are announced on the 25th. Yay! So let’s summarize what we (the royal we, at least) know. Keeping in mind, of course, that when it comes to the Academy, no one knows anything. Especially me. This time: Best Actress.
VIRTUAL LOCKS
- Natalie Portman, Black Swan
- Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
- Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
I remember the good ol’ days when I could talk about Portman‘s riveting and undeniably Oscar-worthyperformance of a ballerina in a yin-yang struggle for perfection. Too bad she’s dead to me now. I’ll be honest, I don’t quite see why Bening should be nominated for her portrayal of a lesbian Mama Bear protecting her cubs, but she appears to be in a two horse race for the statue. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a slight on the actress (I would probably give a nomination this year for Mother and Child), probably more a reflection that everyone else in the world seems to see something in the film that I don’t. I’m also maybe a little bit lower on Lawrence than others, but that may be more due to my issues with the script and my belief that people have just zeroed in on the concept of a backwoods girl struggling to keep her family afloat than looking at the actual movie itself.
LIKELY IN
- Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
I haven’t seen any prognosticators leave Kidman out of the final five, but her place just feels a little shakier to me than the others. Maybe it is because I’m not really sure Rabbit Hole has registered with voters. Or me, I guess, because I haven’t felt like being mortally depressed for two hours yet.
LAST ONE IN
- Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
The last spot in this category is huge crapshoot. I changed my pick a few times before settling on four-time Oscar nominee Moore, who I think gave a more memorable performance than Bening. John bemoaned the traditional Oscar wave of films the Academy loves racking up nomination after nomination, but it does seem like it will happen again and seems as good a reason as any to pick someone for this slot.
FIRST ALTERNATES
- Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
- Lesley Manville, Another Year
- Hilary Swank, Conviction
- Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Yeah, there’s a lot of them, but I don’t think anyone would really be surprised should any of these four women pull down the last nomination. Michelle Williams stole my heart in The Baxter, so I’m probably rooting for her here. Mike Leigh has a well-established history of getting his actresses Oscar noms, so Manville has a great shot even if she may be the least recognizable name on the list. I’m really hoping I don’t have to see Conviction, which probably means that Swank should be the leading contender here. We’ve discussed Steinfeld‘s category fraud, we’ll just have to wait and see if she ends up the category she should be in, the category she’ll win, or if the confusion made her miss in both.
DARK HORSES
- Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Tilda Swinton, I Am Love
Rapace has been mentioned on enough lists that maybe she’s a bit more than a dark horse, in a weaker year she might have been able to break through. A bunch of people are obsessed with I Am Love, the film clearly isn’t my cup of tea, but Swinton turns in her usual solid performance.
SHOULDA BEEN A CONTENDER
Emma Stone, Easy A (duh)
Naomi Watts, Mother and Child
Patricia Clarkson, Cairo Time
The following is a post we originally set out to write in February. Only Adam and I responded to the call, so I never posted it. But since I ranked Zombieland #1, I figured I’d do so now. Plus, it’d be a shame to waste something that Adam wrote.
You probably remember, from our wildly popular pre-nomination series, that we mysteriously exempted one film from our discussion the films and performances we’d nominate, if we ruled the Academy. Well, it just isn’t fair to keep you on the edge of your seats any longer. We’ll hopefully maybe eventually get to our favorite films of 2009, but so far, one film stands heads and shoulders above everything else (in terms of what the group as a whole thought of it). It failed to register with the awards circuit, other than than a Critics Choice nomination for Best Comedy Movie. Granted, comedy films rarely do well with awards, but this film does boast three Oscar nominees, including one actor nominated this year.
Obviously it is clear by now that I’m talking about Zombieland. Below we are going to advocate for the film to have received a number of Oscar nominations.
Adam:
I couldn’t decide what I liked more about this movie, the writing or directing. I guess it comes down to how much of what I liked about the movie was ordained by the script and what was added in during production & post-production. I would like to believe it was the script, since it was a phenomenal one – much better than most/all of the ones nominated for an Oscar. The rules, the narration, the guest appearance by BM, and, of course, the play-of-the-week-type zombie kills made for an extremely entertaining movie. Add to that a well written and executed (if not entirely fresh) story, with some terrific dialogue and you have a thoroughly enjoyable movie…which apparently makes it immediately ineligible for an Oscar.
Since I chose writing as my focus, I won’t talk about the acting in this movie, but it was actually pretty great as well. I’m sure Jared will more than make up for my lack of treatment with his not-stop praise of one Emma Stone.
Also, in light of the fact that it has been awhile since I actually saw Zombieland, I will now focus on why the Academy proves year-after-year that it is archaic and lacking taste. So, what is it about Zombieland that makes it un-votable? Is it because it is a comedy? That probably factors into it. That it has zombies as its subject matter? That also probably factors into it. But I don’t understand why that detracts from its ability to be a great movie – at least in the Academy’s eyes. They have no problem voting for movies ranging from mediocre to horrible if they fit into the mold of plodding, overly “artistic”, dramas (or period pieces). But give them something the masses might enjoy, or even something new and different, and they completely shut it down. Some may argue: “But look at Avatar. The masses loved that and it is up for a ton of awards.” That’s true, but even Avatar gives the Academy something comfortable to vote on. It’s uses (and doesn’t even attempt to modify) and well-used (and I’ll grant, beloved) story, and relies heavily on CGI. “But CGI is new and different.” No, it’s not. It may have been 15 years ago, but it isn’t anymore. It’s something the Academy can look at and pat themselves on the back for voting on because it is “hip.” They think because they voted for something the masses like, and something that they perceive as “revolutionary” that that absolves them of voting for any other type of fare – that they can continue picking the same (type of) movie over and over again. It is disheartening, and worse, it is destructive. How many more great movies would be made if the few great ones that are put out every year were actually recognized? I mean, really, how many people would like to see more Benjamin Button’s, or Frost/Nixon‘s, or, heaven forbid, more Frozen Rivers?
In our own ranking, Zombieland easily had the highest average score of any movie in the last two years and the second highest score since we started recording – behind Juno. That’s not to say this was any individual’s highest ranked movie, but across the board, we all loved it – and that is saying something given our wide-ranging tastes in movies. Also, of the 10 movies nominated for Best Picture, only 4 of them have an average Grouches score above an 8 (out of 10), and one of them doesn’t even break 6. I don’t understand how the Academy can continue to justify voting mediocre movies as “Best Picture of the Year” and still look themselves in the mirror. I look forward to the day when these types of movies are considered the “classics” and are eligible for the recognition they deserve.
Jared:
In all likelihood, Zombieland will be my favorite 2009 film. In the interest of full disclosure, I did see it at a drive-in, with some of my fellow Grouches, hopped up on an embarrassingly large amount of candy, giving it, perhaps, an unfair advantage. Still, the film itself is darn close to note-perfect. It sounds vague, but maybe the film could best be described as “refreshing.” The film is so different, and so good, that it washes away the bad taste of whatever movie rut I was in, and has me excited again to watch movies.
I could go on, but I’ll stop gushing about the movie and start gushing about one of its actresses, Emma Stone. Now, again in the interest of full disclosure, I’m madly in love with Emma Stone, perhaps best known (for now) as Jules from Superbad. I actually have a whole different post in my head about her that I’ll get to someday, but the money line is that…remember in 2008 when The House Bunny came out, and everyone was talking about how Anna Faris was one of the funniest women in Hollywood? Emma Stone actually stole that movie. Now, lest you think I’m completely nuts, let me refer you to this recent Vanity Fair cover story. In case you are too lazy to click, the article details nine women set to rule the upcoming decade. It includes two of this year’s Oscar nominees (Anna Kendrick and Carey Mulligan), near-nominee Abbie Cornish, Kristen Stewart, Evan Rachel Wood (both of whom creep me out a little, I think), Mia Wasikowska, two actresses I’ve probably incoherently raved about before (Rebecca Hall and Amanda Seyfried), and, of course, Emma Stone.
If I had filled out an Oscar ballot, Emma Stone would be at the top for Best Supporting Actress. Frankly, in this admittedly weak year, she blows the other contenders out of the water, and really, it isn’t very close at all. And while I never seriously thought she had a shot, the odd thing is that her performance (and her character) have all the hallmarks of an Oscar performance. She’s a tough, independent woman who repeatedly outsmarts Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. She’s stronger than Eisenberg, and has managed to survive on her own, while looking after little sister Abigail Breslin. Yes, ultimately, she’s the damsel in distress, but doesn’t Oscar still kinda love that? In my mind, Stone’s Wichita is everything, say, Gyllenhaal’s Jean Craddock is, except a more developed character who faces actual problems. It is therefore confusing to me that Stone is penalized for being funny as well. (Not to belittle Ms. Gyllenhaal, in my world she’d already have a statue for Secretary.)
If there is one thing the Academy has never been accused of, it is knowing how to kick back and have a good time. It is easy to believe that they believe a film must be fraught with Meaning to be Cinema. Zombieland has no meaning. Not really. But I’ve still yet to hear any convincing argument why that should prevent such a zany, goofy, funny, sweet, action-packed, taut, amazing film from receiving recognition.
Nominees:
- Sandra Bullock, Blind Side
- Helen Mirren, The Last Station
- Carey Mulligan, An Education
- Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
- Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Brian starts the discussion:
Unlike the Best Actor category, where all the nominations made some modicum of sense, there are a couple of headscratchers here. On the other hand, I can’t really think of many other strong female lead performances from this year, so maybe its just one of those years. Perhaps I’d include Emily Blunt in here for Young Victoria, but otherwise, it was a lackluster year, unfortunately. There are two nominees that are clearly superior to the rest of the batch — and its a shame that they are not the two expected to duke it out on Sunday night.
To dispense with those two first: Streep is the second best actress in Julie and Julia — Amy Adams shows a wider range of emotions and is the heart of the film. Streep does a fine impersonation — and is good filler for the non-Julie Powell moments — but I found myself much more caught up in the modern day love story than Julia Child’s background. Which is odd, because I’m a history dork and all. I’m more interested in Julia’s next phase of life — when she became a television star.
Sandra Bullock is the best part of The Blind Side — but thats truly faint praise. In a bastardization of a solid, nuanced book by Michael Lewis, The Blind Side is a poor-man’s Erin Brockovich. I think Dana Stevens said it best over at Slate: this is Bullock’s “Least Objectionable Thing She’s Made in Years.” Ergo, since this may be her only shot ever at a nomination, give her the career achievement award now. Her actual acting in the movie is good — but much like the rest of the movie, its cliched and devoid of any intrigue.
Helen Mirren was fed a filmful of Oscar-worthy scenes, and she did her usual bang-up job with them. Unfortunately, when you’re dealing with material as weak as The Last Station‘s — your performance has to transcend crap. And Mirren, this time, did not — and I’d also question her position as a leading actress on this one. If they had pushed her for supporting — I think that she’d have gotten a lot more recognition than this film — which I am still convinced that no one actually saw before nominating Mirren. Now THAT is the power of a strong brand.
My two favorites: Mulligan and Sidibe. Carey Mulligan was brilliant as the young teen taken in by Peter Saarsgard’s creepiness. Stuck in an era when her parents (and society writ large) told her she could be a wife or a teacher, and thats it, she yearned for something more. It was a trite subject, but Mulligan expressed the highs of love and the lows of devastation with great aplomb. I cannot wait to watch what she does next.
But my vote goes for newcomer Gabourey Sidibe. It’s hard for me to judge what she’s like in real person — and how much of her performance was “ACTING!” — but wow. I never once doubted the pain and hardship that Precious had to deal with — and watching her eventually open up and tread a path away from her current life situation was heart-wrenching. I place the success of the film’s bittersweet and ambiguous ending on Sidibe’s shoulders. Had she not been so good — I think the film would have fallen a lot flatter, with no hope and only despair for Precious’ future.
John adds his two cents
I think too much as been said about this being a “weak” slate of actresses. It’s fine. I’d say not weaker or stronger than average with three terrific performances.
Nothing against Helen Mirren, but without a better constructed film she’s just wailing and chewing scenery aimlessly. It’s hard to show any nuance when the material doesn’t allow it.
The way this year has turned into The Year of Bullock is perplexing. Yes, I know she was snubbed for The Net, but is this the way we want to make up for it? The Blind Side is not a good movie though I did like Bullock’s performance in it. But I can’t help but think a lot of her support comes from playing a strongly-written character with an accent. Sure she dominates the movie, but with the other elements so underwhelming that’s pretty easy.
Sidibe is swell in Precious and I’m really interested in seeing what she does next. Her performance is so monotone, which I know is what the role calls for, that I think it opens the door for some others to outshine her. She does a very good job of leading the film despite being a new actress and her range is impressive.
I’m a little surprised I’m not choosing Mulligan because it’s the type of performance I’m so drawn to. It’s a restrained performance, but perfectly-crafted and we totally understand how her character could get into the mess she finds herself. She’s so enchanting on screen and can do so much with just a look. It’s true she’s helped by playing a character that’s so well-written, but she nails it.
But I choose Meryl Streep. She’s just such a delight to watch and brings what I’d say is just the right amount of camp to the role. And it’s more than an impression; this really is a full-throated performance. We gave Morgan Freeman a tough time for (partly) adapting a South African accent and walking like Nelson Mandela. Streep shows how you play a well-known, real person and put your mark on it.
I’m pretty perplexed by Brian’s assessment of Streep and the film. I thought I was going out on a limb by saying the Julie half of the film was not significantly inferior to the Julia half. He’s the first person I’ve ever seen assert that Julie was better. This is dumbfounding. If anything, Streep is so dominant she overshadows the rest of the film.
Adam is the charmer, as always:
- Carey Mulligan
- Sandra Bullock
- Meryl Streep
- Gabourey Sidbe
- Helen Mirren
Will Win: Sandra Bullock. There was a pretty big push for her throughout the Awards season and I believe it will pay off. While I don’t think this role was all that taxing, Bullock still put on an impressive performance so I’m not upset that she will win here. I’m more excited that Meryl Streep won’t win…for some reason, I just don’t like her.
I Want to Win: Carey Mulligan. She’s beautiful. But that’s not why I want her to win (ok, that’s not the ENTIRE reason I want her to win). I had major problems with the script (e.g. plot, flow, dialogue wasn’t too bad, etc), but I will admit that despite its faults, it generated two strong performances from Alfred Molina and Mulligan. Given her less than bulky resume, she puts on a surprisingly strong performance…and she’s beautiful.
Dark Horse: Carey Mulligan. While not out of the realm of possibility, there is little chance she would be able to overtake Ms. Streep or Ms. Bullock – much to the audience’s dismay.
Ranking:
Grouches Critiques: Since only Brian has written one so far, I will confine my review to him – lucky him. First off, some praise, his introductory statement is accurate enough. Actress this year was pretty weak. I have to question writers as a whole’s ability to write strong and/or good female leads. His review goes downhill from there though. I hate to say it (because I like Adams MUCH better than Streep), but Streep definitely outshone in her half of the movie. Adams’ character and storyline were, overall, quite boring. Adams played an uninteresting, selfish bitch…and not the fun kind.
His comparison of The Blind Side to Erin Brockovich is confusing and incorrect. I have no idea what part of which is comparable. It’s much easier to compare it to Precious, in fact, though, in my opinion, neither is as great as people seem to believe. Even his review of The Last Station is off and we both disliked it. I am actually a big fan of Mirren, but while her performance most likely fit the role as written, it was a horribly written script so her performance suffered the same fate. There was not one “Oscar-worthy” scene in the entire movie. I also can’t say I agree with his view of women striving for more than being regulated to a wife/mother/teacher as a “trite” subject. Guess we’re seeing the “real” Brian.
Finally, his conclusion is way off the mark. Don’t believe the hype , folks. Precious is not that good. Sidibre does a fine job, but ultimately there isn’t a lot of range required in the role and the script was pretty weak in both story and dialogue – and the lackluster directing didn’t help either.
Now I can sit back and bathe in the glow Brian’s hatred of me will give off.
Random Notes: Write better female characters Hollywood writers. There is a ton of talent out there and few good characters for them to portray.
Jared has had a little to drink and is writing at 4 in the morning:
Finally, I get to both go last and disagree with Brian. It is a bad call to say it was a poor year for lead actress performances. Add Blunt and Deschanel in here, and you are hot to trot. Relatively weak year for mainstream performances? Maybe. But one you get into Julia and Cheri and Trucker, I’m not so convinced. Hate to say it, but I kinda agree with John. Probably about an average year.
I’ve loved Sandra Bullock since Love Potion No. 9 (here’s where I totally geek out and make a Donovan Tate joke (that’s some baseball prospect humor for you!)). I really don’t understand the Oscar love for her this year. Thrilled that’s she’s in the running. No clue what makes this role so special. Honestly, and I’m completely serious here, I don’t understand why she wasn’t up for an Oscar for Miss Congeniality. I dare almost any former Oscar nominee to pull off that role. I gotta question Brian, though. ”Devoid of any intrigue?” You read the book and know the story, dude. What intrigue were you expecting? Oh, and the book isn’t nuanced. Sorry. Not like I needed to bring all this up. The minute you cite Slate in an argument is the minute you lose.
And while we are ragging on Brian, I’m totally with John about Julie and Julia. Brian, you are no longer ever allowed to make fun of my appreciation of romcoms. The Julie side of the film was better? Bold statement there, boss. I heart Meryl Streep to pieces, I just think we could maybe hold back on the automatic check next to her name. Though, hey, she seems to be the only one who can get nominated for comedies. So more power to her.
Unsurprisingly, Helen Mirren was pretty great in The Last Station. It is unfortunate that the movie was roughly seventeen hours long. That’s how it felt at least. The unsteadiness in the script came through as Mirren’s character was not only a biatch, but sorta all over the place. Mirren salvaged it admirably, but still. I’ll agree with Brian here (since I made the point first). No one saw Last Station. No one.
Top two are really tough for me. I’ve gone back and forth numerous times. So screw it, I need to get some sleep, I’m calling it a tie between Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan. Sidibe is all kinds of powerful asPrecious. Maybe few established actresses could have pulled it off for physical reasons, but I also think few could have so completely owned the character. Sidibe took a relatively weak script and turned the character into something magical.
I’m madly in love with Carey Mulligan and not ashamed to admit it. No one who saw An Education should be afraid to admit it either. Again, she took a subpar script and created a character I won’t forget for some time. Maybe she had it easier because of how attractive the character was (both inside and out). I dunno. I do know that she took a character who had been seen time and again (smart pretty girl who loses her naivete) and made it her own.
Stupid work getting in the way of this. Seems like every year people say it was a bad year for the Best Actress category, which is generally hogwash, and I especially don’t really think it is true this year. Sure, maybe my list for Best Actor possibilities was longer, but I’m fairly certain the next five women off the list would have still made a very strong category.
1. Patricia Clarkson, Blind Date
Nobody does sullen and deadpan like Ms. Clarkson. Just no one. And here, to pull off that underlying sadness while playing a variety of personalities, well, it was pretty perfect.
2. Zooey Deschanel, (500) Days of Summer
I swear, it wasn’t intentional to have my top two actors and actresses match up. Maybe it is fitting, though. It was pretty fascinating to see Deschanel’s character morph from The One to a biatch and all phases in between, at least through Gordon-Levitt’s eyes. Sure, the role was right in Deschanel’s wheelhouse, but she still knocked it out of the park.
3. Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
To me, at least, a monarch at a young age is a fascinating topic. And here, a terribly difficult role to play, as Victoria learned to play the political game while going through adolescence. Which is insane. I mean, think about Adventureland, only if instead of learning to survive on his own, Jesse Eisenberg had to rule a friggin’ country. And I think Blunt didn’t get a nomination here for exactly that reason. The Academy wasn’t comfortable with a ruler who showed such humanity.
4. Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
I think I may have discussed her elsewhere, but wowza. When going through the best actress nominees this year, I’d be stunned if voters didn’t take at least a second to think about writing in her name. [Edit: To clarify, I meant choosing her as the nominee they think should win.]
5. Carey Mulligan, An Education
It isn’t just that I fell madly in love with Ms. Mulligan after the film, it is that I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with her. I think she took a weak script and ran with it something fierce, and with many other actresses, this film gets shut out of Oscar completely.
Just off the ballot: Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia) and Tilda Swinton (Julia). And not just because that’s funny.
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