tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3886661442132948372024-02-21T03:05:31.610-08:00The Performance ReviewSam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-81447113008860987662009-03-21T19:52:00.000-07:002009-03-21T20:12:46.670-07:00Duplicity (2009)<span style="font-weight: bold;">Clive Owen = B</span><br />I haven't really seen the appeal of Clive Owen, except for his brilliance in Closer, and this movie moves me slightly closer to believing that he's really, really great. That being said, Owen is simply good and decent in this film; he's more than a match for the cheeky dialogue that Gilroy sets up for him, but this isn't a film that sets him up for a truly great performance. It's an understated, slyly comic turn that doesn't aspire to anything greater than the movie does. It's a fun romp, like the movie. I think Owen fares a little bit worse than his co-star simply because he's often the butt of her character's jokes and has the less overtly acting-strong scenes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Julia Roberts = B+</span><br />Roberts returns to her comic roots; she is one of our most gifted mainstream comediennes, and I think it's absolutely wonderful to see her in a movie that is worthy of her talent. Roberts has the most fun with the script I believe, and she also gets the juicier scenes and lines. I think the true beauty of Roberts in this is that she doesn't try to make her character as serious as a lesser actress might, she definitely realises that this has a significant comic edge and plays her character as such. This is clearly evident in her scene with the travel agent, where her cold expression is the best microcosm of the film; a dramatic situation given a comic vibe by the context. I really want to see more of these types of roles for Roberts, clearly in her prime in this kind of role and movie. A big thank you to Tony Gilroy!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Notable Performances:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Paul Giamatti</span> - I only mention him because he's technically in a supporting role, but he's not very notable here. I found him very irritating, which I credit to both his performance and the character.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tom Wilkinson</span> - I found Wilkinson to be better, but he has about three scenes in this movie and doesn't make any real impact.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carrie Preston</span> - Preston makes much more of an impact in her two-scener than Giamatti and Wilkinson do combined, we cringe when she's introduced to Ray, and even moreso in her scene with Claire. A comic delight.<br /><br />Overall Movie Grade = B+ (a very high B+, mind.)Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-38923502409794922792009-03-14T15:39:00.000-07:002009-03-14T17:18:36.411-07:00Supporting Actress Oscar: The Best of the Bests<span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton (10 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpjB5Eoc83i07s4j0AosFt1SPwrlLBboZdWNMsbIw9saPh3vxzA2nPueQv2kQBI2xs2JCwPRRFOp7c70GkYmlFZCc2A3kYvblDRck1iU8NFubHl3SxfVNwXie9d5sk-sm6G8bnDRvgvc/s1600-h/photo_17_hires.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpjB5Eoc83i07s4j0AosFt1SPwrlLBboZdWNMsbIw9saPh3vxzA2nPueQv2kQBI2xs2JCwPRRFOp7c70GkYmlFZCc2A3kYvblDRck1iU8NFubHl3SxfVNwXie9d5sk-sm6G8bnDRvgvc/s400/photo_17_hires.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313195068316597650" border="0" /></a><br />I was surprised that Tilda Swinton got enough points to rank this high on the list, considering how recent it is, but I think that considering the talent of the actress involved and the strength of this performance, I should be less surprised. I'm more surprised that Swinton even won the Oscar, considering that this is her only real mainstream performance and when there were more likely candidates (overdue Dee, genderbending Blanchett and critic's favourite Ryan). <span style="font-weight: bold;">Robbie Kendall</span> says, "I’m voting for this as my favorite, in spite of it being so recent because it truly is the best supporting performance to have won and though Patty Duke and Rita Moreno come close the only real competition is from Frances McDormand in Fargo." And I completely agree with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeffrey M. Anderson</span>, "2007 was a great movie year, and in selecting Tilda, the Academy showed something they rarely show: cool."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Hattie McDaniel – Gone With The Wind (1o points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEn8QEB0LDI_kzs0a3Sg3G4V3RG7Zs-4JucFLMw1wgzfk6tuin9q8i-wLJa8TQDpYkcsTV-Qyi9d8ZrigG1oR44yvnQqXJ2mpaXBg3fAJpbNu5gY4wWsjdUIDCIFHr0bLBdsfmr_JARU/s1600-h/GoneMammy1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEn8QEB0LDI_kzs0a3Sg3G4V3RG7Zs-4JucFLMw1wgzfk6tuin9q8i-wLJa8TQDpYkcsTV-Qyi9d8ZrigG1oR44yvnQqXJ2mpaXBg3fAJpbNu5gY4wWsjdUIDCIFHr0bLBdsfmr_JARU/s400/GoneMammy1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313195583115811138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When I remember the history of this award, McDaniel's name comes to mind most readily as what a supporting actress should be; she supports and elevates the film without making her scenes all about her. And seeing her grateful, polite acceptance speech wins me over every time. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Robbie Kendall</span> says, "I adore her in this. She, and Olivia de Havilland to an only slightly lesser degree, made this film for me." I think this was another example of the Academy choosing the right performance when nobody expected them to.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Kim Hunter – A Streetcar Named Desire (1o points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxcTMtkCR3Pgv8X_or3pD2TP1UEERkwAg5HNTpiXAgg3rDPYkQ9IofSIp09zDgbD6et8RJi_Q71bvZPHu7hqyGLJ96PycPvZqIvj48lPfD_e5qR2fH1v5YuZuh3Z9wu-VshyGKW7D2Ys/s1600-h/Streetcar2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxcTMtkCR3Pgv8X_or3pD2TP1UEERkwAg5HNTpiXAgg3rDPYkQ9IofSIp09zDgbD6et8RJi_Q71bvZPHu7hqyGLJ96PycPvZqIvj48lPfD_e5qR2fH1v5YuZuh3Z9wu-VshyGKW7D2Ys/s400/Streetcar2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313195919306718674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Although this performance was loved, nobody commented on it, so I'll provide my own comments. Hunter provides a steady base for this film, a very temperant balance between Leigh and Brando at their best. While they may sometimes tip over into excess, not to the detriment of their performances or the film, Hunter's Stella stays very calm and steady throughout the film. I think it's a very neat coincedence that Hattie McDaniel and Kim Hunter both won, deservedly, for performances where they supported Vivien Leigh.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Estelle Parsons - Bonnie and Clyde (1o points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgblIRmxNg-FooVj_zANTts_S82x6TeNrPaFZBWxXXb4r16rtrWXJ2BR-XDonNUji0AGZNuBnwLaFLI78x1eCO8XpXv-gDfuIQ91Xj2nkKTTuOXQcM5viK4tmUgzzq7pgO4KiA9wKcuk/s1600-h/EP-estelleparsons-bonnieclyde-sh-1-799778.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgblIRmxNg-FooVj_zANTts_S82x6TeNrPaFZBWxXXb4r16rtrWXJ2BR-XDonNUji0AGZNuBnwLaFLI78x1eCO8XpXv-gDfuIQ91Xj2nkKTTuOXQcM5viK4tmUgzzq7pgO4KiA9wKcuk/s400/EP-estelleparsons-bonnieclyde-sh-1-799778.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313196918424665314" border="0" /></a><br /><br />From what I've gathered around the blogosphere, this is a love-or-hate performance. Parsons isn't understated in her role, and she is often shrill, but she still managed to gather enough lovers to score this ranking. (Personally, I love her in this role and although she isn't the strongest actor in this film, I thinks she taps into what must have been a very difficult to achieve balance between simply being shrill to tapping into a genuine feeling of terror.) <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tripp Burton</span> praises her, "Yes, she is larger than life, but she is so in a wonderful way. A perfect performance." with <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Henry Roberts</span> conceding, "It helps that she’s in one of the best films to win this category, but Parsons hits the right shrill notes to keep everyone (on screen and off) on edge."<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Vanessa Redgrave – Julia (12 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHclnwM6IyHMUwkXzTdQgzbkB4MnJ6GcBlGWnbSVyoowdDy-L51MXqrEQNTR-zMqEPMjojOuafeFlPkRBgb5Rk-TCryppXdO-UQH_Hao9rYi0q5sHFAzO6E32lHJ7TBzJR2LaHX6qN7Fo/s1600-h/71638-004-DF4C581C.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 341px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHclnwM6IyHMUwkXzTdQgzbkB4MnJ6GcBlGWnbSVyoowdDy-L51MXqrEQNTR-zMqEPMjojOuafeFlPkRBgb5Rk-TCryppXdO-UQH_Hao9rYi0q5sHFAzO6E32lHJ7TBzJR2LaHX6qN7Fo/s400/71638-004-DF4C581C.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313197433464485794" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Vanessa Redgrave's Oscar win for Julia is what I believe to be a rare case of an actor winning for a performance at the peak of their career, she had a few good-to-great performances before this and many great performances after this, but this was the right performance for her to win for, if that makes any sense. The performance itself is a thing of beauty that leaves us guessing and wanting more and she more than satisfies the high expectations the film sets for her and the character. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Svanur Petursson</span> says, "The film is named after Redgrave's character and the film belongs to her the entire time. At the time, Redgrave said it was the best work she had ever done. I agree."<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Patty Duke – The Miracle Worker (13 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8CoS9ndk8qn0B7O8jCySGGafP_IFKldMWTgc37ZP5j_d32FnYTwMC5ZaETma6wwEa6r-P7dPDBKxnSUdEf0r3Hgwfg_vbOUa_3EOkaoLnZ9Imf5rr7SWDiSGKcQqirLjj7NDyqm6TDsA/s1600-h/71628-004-64FF46CD.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8CoS9ndk8qn0B7O8jCySGGafP_IFKldMWTgc37ZP5j_d32FnYTwMC5ZaETma6wwEa6r-P7dPDBKxnSUdEf0r3Hgwfg_vbOUa_3EOkaoLnZ9Imf5rr7SWDiSGKcQqirLjj7NDyqm6TDsA/s400/71628-004-64FF46CD.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313197975810069490" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Patty Duke's win for The Miracle Worker has to be one of the most unconventional performances to win an Oscar, and it is one of the most unrelenting, powerful ones to do so. Nothing Duke, or any actress before or after will do will ever be able to duplicate this performance, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see it rank this high. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Robbie Kendall</span> agrees, "Patty Duke has "it" - that connection to the divine creative spirit just flows through her, yes, like water. There is such master in her performance."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Rita Moreno - West Side Story (16 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrtr70wKqWvZulAP-iD2pVf1jt7WW5tuzB4xAACGXpbibMj220Blhxzv0-DdQA7efRqR16m-_JZXVQLjqU0Lx6ltwQ1J1vNUzLBDOnqn5xQ_gN9rqC0kIjnaGtyeECUY7X-VuSJ6cygk/s1600-h/rita.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 395px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrtr70wKqWvZulAP-iD2pVf1jt7WW5tuzB4xAACGXpbibMj220Blhxzv0-DdQA7efRqR16m-_JZXVQLjqU0Lx6ltwQ1J1vNUzLBDOnqn5xQ_gN9rqC0kIjnaGtyeECUY7X-VuSJ6cygk/s400/rita.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313198623523610194" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am unsurprised to see this performance rank in the top five, a landmark performance in one of the best regarded film musicals of all time. I'll let the commenters speak for themselves on this performance: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Robbie Kendall</span> says: "Haunting and spellbinding and raw. The depth of her conveying the tragedy in this story is unforgettable." While <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shawn</span> enthuses, "Moreno knocks it out of the park; her work as Anita is not close to perfection, it’s beyond it." I can add nothing to these words: This is the performance by which all other musical performances are set against, and which few if any have matched.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Dorothy Malone - Written on the Wind (22 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBi1ZyVjHq0k6qokrIDSVtbkL0SeZkV1x9YKP81OKTlBpP7lnAhN8GWwP0_wSLI0Onp_RCzxs8zH24zpgcOBmZzFP2Pqbp1Lu7ToVZsP2O1eIIomvBXxSRSaelcjjdYDm67gYm__6giqY/s1600-h/written-on-the-wind-rock-hudson-dorothy-malone.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBi1ZyVjHq0k6qokrIDSVtbkL0SeZkV1x9YKP81OKTlBpP7lnAhN8GWwP0_wSLI0Onp_RCzxs8zH24zpgcOBmZzFP2Pqbp1Lu7ToVZsP2O1eIIomvBXxSRSaelcjjdYDm67gYm__6giqY/s400/written-on-the-wind-rock-hudson-dorothy-malone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313199997311360850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's been a few years since I've seen this performance, and I'm not that old, so I think I really need to revisit this. From this comments, it seems like this is the kind of the performance that people should've been complaining that it <span style="font-style: italic;">hadn't</span> won the Oscar, but it somehow did. I think that it, like Sirk, is much more appreciated now than it was then. I'll let the commenters sing their praises, though: " One of the few times the Academy showed foresight -- and a sense of fun. Malone wasn't a great actress, but this performance was irresistible, and it showed respect for Douglas Sirk, who wouldn't be considered a great artist until well after his death," says <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeffrey M. Anderson. Shawn</span> gushes, "It may not be the greatest work to win a Supporting Actress Oscar, but I once called Malone’s Marylee Hadley my favorite supporting performance, and I haven’t seen anyone who’s changed my opinion."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Diane Wiest – Hannah and Her Sisters (25 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClTejEWIEa5yUFWRAzsELuc4onHuTi86Hb3MTue6v5P_PH1sjzGMGyhXNz-cfhoMI5Rw8Dh28qwgZdawbu_UwlLBoijyVXztLuCGQLSSQ9l4d93wxJ50sZvifObTF3OM-6kcoLpgkvSc/s1600-h/preview_farrow_wiest_hannah.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClTejEWIEa5yUFWRAzsELuc4onHuTi86Hb3MTue6v5P_PH1sjzGMGyhXNz-cfhoMI5Rw8Dh28qwgZdawbu_UwlLBoijyVXztLuCGQLSSQ9l4d93wxJ50sZvifObTF3OM-6kcoLpgkvSc/s400/preview_farrow_wiest_hannah.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313200744685372626" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Another performance that I was unsurprised to see rank this highly, a perfect win for one of our most talented supporting actresses, and a performance that I personally adore. The comments ran wild with this one, so I'll let them illuminate the performance:<br /><br />"The glue that holds this delight of a masterpiece together." – Matt Kilgore.<br /><br />"Her win for Bullets Over Broadway may be more fun, but it is also the kind of performance that has award written all over it. In Hannah, she gives the kind of performance that is just as challenging, and even more rewarding, but doesn't get Oscars. Her subtle charm and graceful tenderness is a wonder on the screen." – Tripp Burton<br /><br />"She won twice, both times for Woody Allen films, and for two remarkably different, comic performances. In this one, she's hilariously damaged goods, and heartbreaking in the scene when she slowly realizes that the architect prefers her friend April." – Jeffrey M. Anderson<br /><br />"If you ask to 10 movie fans who would be their favorite Woody Allen character, I'm pretty sure that 9 of them will say: Annie Hall. But I'd rather not follow the majority and confess that the one who would deserves the first spot for me is Holly. Not because she was wonderfully written: Wiest deserves her credit! Her construction of the confused and junkie, yet lovable sister is great that it's impossible not to be captivated by her. I remember watching this movie with a friend of mine and in the surprising ending, she said: "well, did she slept whit someone else? That's nasty!" And I replied: "oh, well, I forgive her! She's so damn funny!" – Celso Oliveira.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath (26 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclXx2-SNlw-kevkwHj7OIz9ijQmfETVvmDU3mvWRCAjZIHhZlYr7KB3lj6-89sWZXWJM_4YVyAbnsNtUvQO5FKVEz30D8Uwz8ndlP1fKsB7CpAh9QrUUXJvA8okCH8coRpzfcmX_Ocaw/s1600-h/Annex+-+Fonda,+Henry+%28Grapes+of+Wrath,+The%29_10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclXx2-SNlw-kevkwHj7OIz9ijQmfETVvmDU3mvWRCAjZIHhZlYr7KB3lj6-89sWZXWJM_4YVyAbnsNtUvQO5FKVEz30D8Uwz8ndlP1fKsB7CpAh9QrUUXJvA8okCH8coRpzfcmX_Ocaw/s400/Annex+-+Fonda,+Henry+%28Grapes+of+Wrath,+The%29_10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313201470019165602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am a fan of this performance, but the voters for this performance muster up a love more eloquent than I can express for it, so I'll let them have at it:<br />"You can watch the movie without the sound and she will still wrench your gut." – MIKE SAVIDGE<br /><br />"One of the all-time great screen performances, the strength and tenderness she shows are amazing to watch. The only problem is if she is better than Judith Anderson in Rebecca, whom she defeated." – Tripp Burton<br /><br />"Darwell's strength almost single-handedly provides the fortitude the Joads need as they make their new start." – Edward Copeland.<br /><br />"So many actresses won an Oscar for playing the mother of the leading star but Darwell's is a true gem. Her presence on screen is powerful. Her eyes, her gestures, her dialogues with Henry Fonda – playing her son – are incredible and bring the watcher to tears." – Celso Oliveira.<br /><br />"She simply encompasses the pain and endurance of a nation in her every word, action and expression." – Matt Kilgore<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Sandy Dennis - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (31 points)</span><br /><br /><object height="505" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3lNZmMv9WTk&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3lNZmMv9WTk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="505" width="640"></embed></object><br /><br />Perhaps with a few more voters, another performance would have emerged victorious, but I am very, very happy that one of the my favourite performances of all time managed to nab the top spot. Unfortunately, a lot of the voters were the non-commentators, so I'll have to fill in the gaps myself, and with the YouTube clip above. a. I don’t know what the hell Dennis thinks she’s doing, but I can’t keep my eyes off her (very entertaining, and frequently inspired) neurotic ticking. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shawn</span> says, "An unmatched performance, whether one views Dennis' work in a good or bad sense." Celso Oliveira gives a lengthy write-up which I'll post in it's unedited glory:<br />"Dennis character in Virginia Woolf has less lines and scenes than any other on screen. Even George Sagall – who plays her husband – appears as much as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who plays the main couple of the story. Conclusion: Dennis plays the only real supporting role in the movie, an annoying and submissive wife who seems to prefer to alienate herself from the conversations than accept the hard reality that she is the victim of George and Martha's cruel games. So what's so great about her acting in this masterpiece? The answer is simple: she knows her place. In the whole movie, you don't see her struggling for getting more attention. Any other actress could just play the role above average, but Sandy's acting succeeds in every level! The result is a superb and captivating performance that captures the watchers from her very first moment on screen until the last scene leaving the public asking "oh, where is here? I want more of her!" The transformation of the submissive, silly wife into a exploding, brandy-drinking rebel who start questioning her husband opinions and orders is really one of a kind! And seriously, who never wanted to grab her hands and go round and round the room singing "Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf?... Virginia Woolf… Virginia Woolf…"? – Celso Oliveira.<br /><br />I think perhaps the best or at least the most unique part of this performance is that Dennis underplays the neuroses and tics of her character, all culminating in her climactic scene, heartbreaking as she crawls on the ground and pleads. Even as Dennis nails the most difficult character arc in the film, the only truly sympathetic character, she nails so many of the little moments, such as her terrified and broken reading of the simple word, "No." in the final scenes. I am completely okay with this perofrmance being voted as the Best Performance to win a Supporting Actress Oscar.Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-36533981189861868402009-03-08T13:32:00.000-07:002009-03-09T00:00:50.249-07:00Supporting Actress Oscar Survey: THE WORSTHere we have it, ladies and gentlemen, from the least worst to the worst:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">10. Jessica Lange – Tootsie (10 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflhf34l6lRaH2aW_-LomfopWapU5twQfcAoidkvl46_fWR6AKCLIGW4m1m22lx682J5WiO8ft99Zqu30HU8T0CkbUpK7SGpPv2XaZDWhBDE1T-j1ckJ9m0DVp62RMHy9sPgKXtkUl-Hk/s1600-h/jltootsie2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflhf34l6lRaH2aW_-LomfopWapU5twQfcAoidkvl46_fWR6AKCLIGW4m1m22lx682J5WiO8ft99Zqu30HU8T0CkbUpK7SGpPv2XaZDWhBDE1T-j1ckJ9m0DVp62RMHy9sPgKXtkUl-Hk/s400/jltootsie2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311073061750878418" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As I understand it, Jessica Lange's other Oscar-winning turn in Blue Sky isn't that well regarded either, and it surprises me and disappoints me that such a talented actress with such a sure-fire run of successes in the 80s has two Oscars for her most disliked performances. "Does anybody see anything special about her in the movie?" says <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike Savidge</span>, with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Svanur Petursson </span>concdes that it's 'not a bad performance but I have never understood the excitement behind it at the time. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Edward Copeland</span> gives a particularly scathing review on this performance: Another case of someone who wasn't even the best supporting actress in the movie she won for and in this case the best one (Teri Garr) was nominated. Her performance seemed absent-minded and so loose that at times I was convinced when she cocked her head backward, it would fall off. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carlos Oliveira</span> acknowledges the greatness of her turn in <span style="font-style: italic;">Frances</span>, but concedes that it was going to go to Meryl Streep that year.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">10. Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener (1o points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4NCgeqTJ87LFPan5XoqZ1zHXO0YhvuW2sBBQeLqqbV5J4goqPb51swhQgCLMq0RNGBDgQgTh90NvUeXO4XVO64sGS_xco8PyzeKzKmjbgcZdzZr39hXkAy6fkXBin-4vppQYORqc1x8/s1600-h/weisz.jpeg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4NCgeqTJ87LFPan5XoqZ1zHXO0YhvuW2sBBQeLqqbV5J4goqPb51swhQgCLMq0RNGBDgQgTh90NvUeXO4XVO64sGS_xco8PyzeKzKmjbgcZdzZr39hXkAy6fkXBin-4vppQYORqc1x8/s400/weisz.jpeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311073442269568994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I felt this choice might've been more noticeable of a general disapproval to the Academy's recent choices, but there seems to be a trend against that in this survey, which I found encouraging. However, it still managed to attract quite a disdain, with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tripp Burton</span> being quite blunt about it: "An actress I have never enjoyed in a plodding film." <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeffrey M. Anderson</span> recounts the Weisz's rather odd race to the podium, "I remember watching helplessly as this bad, overpraised film somehow crept ahead of all the other contenders." Ultimately, for me at least, Rachel Weisz is the actress I have the hardest trouble remembering when recounting recent winners in this category.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">9.Miyoshi Umeki – Sayonara (14 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIClSAqPFWjug0YbA3LJTDlHphQSCQRWB0Q6vkXc__FOBQFuk-QFxcNmtEeAdpUqF_3_UP_Vzpe_EdstcdUDaHLz8_Ipq_PPOYUIHLUkOXvkgNRLMgZhHw9Oq_6l_M-bvHpwIxOPMk-g/s1600-h/71624-004-6E08E748.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIClSAqPFWjug0YbA3LJTDlHphQSCQRWB0Q6vkXc__FOBQFuk-QFxcNmtEeAdpUqF_3_UP_Vzpe_EdstcdUDaHLz8_Ipq_PPOYUIHLUkOXvkgNRLMgZhHw9Oq_6l_M-bvHpwIxOPMk-g/s400/71624-004-6E08E748.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311073912436630338" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is one Oscar race I would love to go back in time and witness, because I have no idea how an Asian actress would win an Academy Award over the legendary Elsa Lancaster, two nominees in a Best Picture film and another actress who was a rising star. Even if the performance was excellent, which by all accounts it wasn't, it still bewilders me. Most commenters on this performance stray to one of the worst crimes a performer can commit: Boring. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Robbie Kendall</span> remembers less about the performance than he should whereas <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shawn </span>struggles to recall anything about her performance. (He does, however, recommend her in Flower Drum Song. Fire up the Netflix engines!)<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Edward Copeland </span>bravely states, "This was P.C. run amok. Umeki did absolutely nothing special to deserve a nomination, let alone a win and the rest of her career sort of bore that out." Perhaps <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tripp Burton</span> sums up this performance most effectively and succinctly, though: Eh.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Marisa Tomei – My Cousin Vinny (15 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7U_r8L3bT43eAFBgQjdzBdmc-GomL01FI-EJxS648ec0wK30dM0pBwjGOt1Jr_IP0F1ys1A7q96nlDWu3XBLVBehrmwUbT9KmOT2O0izoSQjUHFa-4f7ZgmXo1KdmYRZ-exqclM5Odo/s1600-h/cousinvinny1_502.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7U_r8L3bT43eAFBgQjdzBdmc-GomL01FI-EJxS648ec0wK30dM0pBwjGOt1Jr_IP0F1ys1A7q96nlDWu3XBLVBehrmwUbT9KmOT2O0izoSQjUHFa-4f7ZgmXo1KdmYRZ-exqclM5Odo/s400/cousinvinny1_502.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311074233709546434" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I was surprised to see this appear outside of the top 5, not because of the actual performance, but because of the reputation it has gained as an urban legend. Has any other win been so supposedly bad to generate suspicion that the presenter read out the wrong name? Many of the detractors to this performance note the strength of the field, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Svanurr Petursson</span> thinks that this Oscar should have gone to Judy Davis, a sentiment echoed by <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Henry Roberts</span>, who declares that she was "by far the worst of the ‘92 nominees, being the only American on the ballot likely won her the anti-immigrant vote. Amusing caricature in a broad comedy isn’t shameful, but favoring it over Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives, that is." <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carlos Oliveira</span> is more restrained in his criticisms, saying that it was not at all a bad performance, but not Oscar-worthy. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Robbie Kendall</span> holds no bars, though: "Try as I might, I have no words to convey the depth of loathing I feel for the Oscar going to this 'performance'." The one defence I can afford this win is that Tomei is one of the few Academy Award winners to improve upon themselves after their Oscar, and seems to have retroactively earnt it, a bizzare polarity to those who win it long after their prime.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Judi Dench – Shakespeare in Love (18 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUH3d2NvwAe9wx2VeZiXVnTqcdGNDN8CSN7dM-0WJ-Kfe9h-5Bb4uaRJUa4bnNYALn4-sa03uSdQ2_cS79d6w3dPzOtGJjT3AF9o2UJ647bzytmSMMts93-Wa8IipCkT1klkjRcDdHSp8/s1600-h/queen_peacockfeathers_judi_dench_Shakespeare.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 353px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUH3d2NvwAe9wx2VeZiXVnTqcdGNDN8CSN7dM-0WJ-Kfe9h-5Bb4uaRJUa4bnNYALn4-sa03uSdQ2_cS79d6w3dPzOtGJjT3AF9o2UJ647bzytmSMMts93-Wa8IipCkT1klkjRcDdHSp8/s400/queen_peacockfeathers_judi_dench_Shakespeare.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311074759810721970" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Criticisms of this performance revolve around two aspects; the screentime, and the 'fact' that the Academy was making up for not giving her the Oscar for Mrs. Brown. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jan Baart</span> calls the performance 'absolutely overrated', <span style="font-weight: bold;">Svanur Petursson</span> saying that she could 'do it in her sleep'. <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Henry Roberts</span> earned a chuckle out of me by snarking, "She’s a great actress, but this was a cameo and the wig did 90% of the work." <span style="font-weight: bold;">David Gaffen</span> is gentler on the Dame, however, "A give-back from the Academy for picking Helen Hunt over her in the previous year. There's nothing wrong with this performance, but it's a cameo, ultimately too brief to be worth anything more than a smile." Myself, I think it was a Kate Winslet case; this woman deserves an Oscar, but for the performance that most people don't consider her best just goes down like a bitter pill.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Jennifer Connelly – A Beautiful Mind (19 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJSUdBKi1ZE0YE3hTBkhowxRqaJEszAZE6UWaEKvbxWRRtF4p2-vXEb0b4LlHRAz-fTvutTEGvDi9gT3okdUffltN8Y6rlXlikfwyNbdAgk3C8Up7WZx9Ql5rFoTxBFe2t0dcbeeZ2tQ/s1600-h/beautifulmind.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJSUdBKi1ZE0YE3hTBkhowxRqaJEszAZE6UWaEKvbxWRRtF4p2-vXEb0b4LlHRAz-fTvutTEGvDi9gT3okdUffltN8Y6rlXlikfwyNbdAgk3C8Up7WZx9Ql5rFoTxBFe2t0dcbeeZ2tQ/s400/beautifulmind.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311075095549474834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Connelly is another one of those who I completely forget has an Academy Award. It just seems like a very odd moniker to attach to her name, especially considering the plummet in her career in the years since (no matter how good she was in <span style="font-style: italic;">Reservation Road</span>, me being one of the two people who saw it). Onto the commentators, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Matt Kilgore</span> places the blame on Ron Howard, "I guess it's not all Jennifer's fault that she had to act under the direction of Ron Howard." <span style="font-weight: bold;">Robbie Kendall</span> is much more harsh on the actress, "Just a piece of trash in a film that was not much better." And <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Henry Roberts</span> is a little bit gentler, "Connelly's refusal to be typecast as eye candy is admirable, but she's a limited actress. In the right role, her low energy plays as subtlety; here she's mush." To fill in the necessary void, I'll mention that Connelly was also much weaker than her fellow nominees, a beautifully underplayed Mirren, a hilarious Smith, a mercurial Winslet and a heartbreaking Tomei. Can we all pretend she won for <span style="font-style: italic;">Requiem of a Dream </span>instead?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Whoopi Goldberg – Ghost (21 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEpjYA_cXfIz4_n_LnNgsneeRKxOwIBttmGQ1qLIXBqy8d1Bcrr_ZmJscdJdZfuKX-WEMkkgy0UJpfLaB1_NRbTAPYnHYUKi_g3awWrXJwmAeh0uVPulXdbNU702o8oDY-BYVlxllYo8/s1600-h/WG-whoopi-ghost-seeingsam.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEpjYA_cXfIz4_n_LnNgsneeRKxOwIBttmGQ1qLIXBqy8d1Bcrr_ZmJscdJdZfuKX-WEMkkgy0UJpfLaB1_NRbTAPYnHYUKi_g3awWrXJwmAeh0uVPulXdbNU702o8oDY-BYVlxllYo8/s400/WG-whoopi-ghost-seeingsam.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311076022890962002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A performance I was surprised to see rank this high, but one of which attracted some of the most strong criticsms, so I'll let them: <span style="font-weight: bold;">David Gaffen</span> throws out, "There's nothing here to suggest that this performance is anything but a stunt. Talk about Marisa Tomei all you want, but at least she's acting in that movie. This is dreck." <span style="font-weight: bold;">Matt Kilgore</span> says, "She brings a certain annoying lining to this laughable romantic comedy." <span style="font-weight: bold;">John Henry Roberts</span> provides a reason for her win, "Press at the time figured Oscar owed Goldberg after her work in The Color Purple was passed over; compare the performances, it’s a sad decline." As an avid non-menopausal watcher of <span style="font-style: italic;">The View</span>, I will maintain my silence on this performance.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Goldie Hawn – Cactus Flower (25 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0ZMN9AsRdjGdISDQGXHIYNN7SSnSGjwYHHt1E_kNAIyPrvQjNrX2yA-IprPmvGNyCsmtjBgSvlqMX3w7IDYh_fylkfFRer2O33eXjmX8zh1CyEim6ndbpY172llgu8C1uWyI2yTtj5Y/s1600-h/GH-06-goldiehawn-cactusflower-tears.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0ZMN9AsRdjGdISDQGXHIYNN7SSnSGjwYHHt1E_kNAIyPrvQjNrX2yA-IprPmvGNyCsmtjBgSvlqMX3w7IDYh_fylkfFRer2O33eXjmX8zh1CyEim6ndbpY172llgu8C1uWyI2yTtj5Y/s400/GH-06-goldiehawn-cactusflower-tears.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311076508113188850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Another one of those actresses that I'm always surprised at when I remember that she's an Academy Award winner. It's a performance I personally like but can definitely understand the dislike for, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tripp Burton</span> quips: "It is nice to know that even 40 years ago they were giving this award out to whichever actress the voters most wanted to sleep with." While <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jan Baart</span> adds, "I have to include her because I just generally dislike her and her performances." Which I'm sure sums up a lot of the general opinion towards this win.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls (29 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaJOJqV5WawDOx6QJIzsjTHDhoSN1RfjGnTZv0oA6Rtzurp0Mvb48CPl5eHecFvpkTlJeX0s5QAgOH77OkmH1oZBaHCuQ3cfSuJ4UrhDW6eGMy0R2pEjdn1qcg8P15x0s8du2uhp3k2I/s1600-h/373977944_16f91f1d69_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXaJOJqV5WawDOx6QJIzsjTHDhoSN1RfjGnTZv0oA6Rtzurp0Mvb48CPl5eHecFvpkTlJeX0s5QAgOH77OkmH1oZBaHCuQ3cfSuJ4UrhDW6eGMy0R2pEjdn1qcg8P15x0s8du2uhp3k2I/s400/373977944_16f91f1d69_o.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311076789732760130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Jennifer Hudson's win seems more and more surprising as the two years since then pass by; how was it that this performance was considere a lock over the other four, worthy nominees? Not that I think it's particularly bad. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeffrey M. Anderson</span> makes a callback to that hype that seems so alien to me now, "Her tragic personal life aside, this was one example of hype overcoming reason. I mean, why wasn't Beyonce ever considered? Or why -- for example -- was Hudson better in this than Meryl Streep was in "A Prairie Home Companion"?" <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jan Baart</span> sums up the dilemma of her winning an Academy Award straight up, "I generally dislike musicians playing musicians and I haven't seen anything from here that puts her into the category of actors deserving an Oscar, including this work." Not a bad performance, just a very bewildering win for me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Helen Hayes – Aiport (36 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrqUQZbMMCdn2sjUJJH-CET6W2_GPBOtQdhyy0PkEWnlWNrtrvGY4a7tmdgaYirRUxo9Bqy33gogfvN9f06V-C5YppG1QpeZamBj9vdy00AhqHa4GzW0hPZ6u6Tfw7NWZk3Fhq6G7hJ8/s1600-h/Helen+Hayes+Airport.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 374px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrqUQZbMMCdn2sjUJJH-CET6W2_GPBOtQdhyy0PkEWnlWNrtrvGY4a7tmdgaYirRUxo9Bqy33gogfvN9f06V-C5YppG1QpeZamBj9vdy00AhqHa4GzW0hPZ6u6Tfw7NWZk3Fhq6G7hJ8/s400/Helen+Hayes+Airport.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311077157641816706" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Missing out on the top spot by only a single point, Hayes managed to attract a lot of disdain for this win. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shawn</span> starts us off with a little anecdote, "Give Hayes credit, though: in her autobiography she states she kept far, far away from the movie, until she was on a cruise wherein some (supposed) friends tried to force her to finally watch the 1970 blockbuster onboard. Hayes told them she had to go back to her cabin and throw up instead. Smart lady." <span style="font-weight: bold;">Svanur Petursson</span> was understandably harsh on the performance, "This was a comedy performance, and it wasn't even funny. Probably the only performance of those who have won this award that I actually didn't like at all." while <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeffrey M. Anderson</span> expresses exasperation at the win, "One of the Academy's worst gimmes. For "Airport"? Really? Why?" Finally, <span style="font-weight: bold;">David Gaffen</span> sums up exactly what is up with the Academy giving her this award: "The ultimate in giving an award to the "cute, plucky old lady."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Renee Zellweger – Cold Mountain (37 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhys7hZHNDZYwf-WWHTWzP_LY_WL4Mcgxt9FbXahfKVIfID0vBuwNzRdl9B7-8gbNCCxKywQeYwAt9VVPBvboTG3IUwXyGz73F4YXiyzifIxnVLZillTj8kaCn0MyeiiScCNdJ6xgiWqPo/s1600-h/image591481x.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhys7hZHNDZYwf-WWHTWzP_LY_WL4Mcgxt9FbXahfKVIfID0vBuwNzRdl9B7-8gbNCCxKywQeYwAt9VVPBvboTG3IUwXyGz73F4YXiyzifIxnVLZillTj8kaCn0MyeiiScCNdJ6xgiWqPo/s400/image591481x.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311077389517317826" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We have our winner, ladies and gentlemen, and I am not at all shocked. Here are the zingers to this performance in their unedited glory:<br /><br />Wasn't a fan of this performance at the time. Zellweger is a talented actress but her accent in this film was unconvincing. – Svanur Petursson<br /><br />Pure and simple, a make-up Oscar from the Academy to apologize for her not winning for Chicago. – Robbie Kendall.<br /><br />Really, Zellweger ought to be ashamed of this performance. (Didn't I see something just like it on "Hee-Haw"?) – Jeffrey M. Anderson<br /><br />Leaves me cold. – David Gaffen.<br /><br />It’s an awesome performance all right, but not in a good way. If only the concept behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was real, so I could erase this one from memory. I’m convinced an evil, untalented twin locked Renee up in a closet and took her place just before Mountain commenced filming, as I refuse to believe this is the same girl we all fell in love with in Jerry Maguire – Shawn.<br /><br />"Hey, look at me, I'm a hillbilly!" Nothing more to say. – Carlos Oliveira.<br /><br />And now something from your humble host: I consider this to be the worst performance to win any Academy Award for several reasons:<br /><ol><li>It's simply a misjudged performance in the context of the film. Every moment involves Zellweger mugging for the camera, every expression and line-reading calculated to draw attention to herself and away from the other performers in the film. She illuminates nothing about her character, and acts from disjointed shot to disjointed shot.</li><li>Zellweger is an actress who I considered to be talented. Her performances in Jerry Maguire, One True Thing, Nurse Betty, Bridget Jones' Diary and to an extent, Chicago all display her unique, if not particularly amazing, talent for her craft so it makes little sense that she would slum it for this role.</li><li>Her performance is actually very detrimental to the film; it actually degrades it to a level of farce and comedy, and it's not like it was on very steady legs to begin win.</li><li>The fellow nominees in the category would all have been worthy winners, particularly Shohreh Aghdashloo and Holly Hunter. The other two wouldn't have been amazing, but I don't think anybody would really be against an Aacademy Award for Patricia Clarkson and overly aghast at seeing Marcia Gay Harden win again.</li><li>A completely subjective point: The manner in which she received the Oscar seemed so smug and supercilious that it made me think that this performance was calculated, played the lowest denominator for the sole reason of winning it. It just made me think less of the actress.</li></ol>So, I can unequicovally call this the worst performance to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.<br /><br />Next up: The bests!Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-86574078948513688412009-03-07T14:49:00.000-08:002009-03-07T15:23:55.809-08:00Watchmen (2009)This review is not going to be a pleasant one. It's just not. So if you're a fan of this movie, just go away.<br /><br />I'm going to start off with the good part of this movie; the opening credits. A very sweet approximation of how good the old days were, with some very tender and genuinely felt moments. It set me up for some relatively high hopes for the rest of the movie.<br /><br />Now the bad part: The entire movie. Usually I can find something about a movie that I find redeeming, which I did above, but usually there's something that keeps me watching. In this, the only thing I could find was the unintentional humour of the angsty voiceovers, the ludicrous plot points and the abundance of both talky heroes and blue penis.<br /><br />You know that a movie has completely failed in whatever it intended to be when you're trying to notice anything else in the movie, like counting plot points that didn't need to be there, counting voice-overs, counting penis shots and counting how many times this movie could and should have ended right there and then.<br /><br />The characters range from being ciphers to caricatures, and a viewer can never really identify with any of the heroes or even being to empathise with them. The actors do no better with their characters, scaling the low walls that the script has set up for them without adding any real subtext or gravitas to the situations. There is literally one shot where I felt that this thing was well acted, which was Jackie Earle Haley near the end of the narrative. It's a testament to the movie's lack of gravity that I was thinking how great he's going to be in Scorcese's Shutter Island this year. Even the other actor's talents are dulled as they slum it to deliver the nonsensical lines the scripts hand up to them, particularly Patrick Wilson and Carla Gugino.<br /><br />The script is one of the movie's main problems, in that there is far too much of it. I counted at least four lengthy voiceovers during the film, all written like the multiple screenwriters thought they were writing All About Eve at the time. As a rule of thumb in a comic book movie, you would hope that although the dialogue is less than amazing, it would at least make up for it with some real neato fight scenes. Watchmen avoids that completely, serving up under-choreographed and over-stunt doubled fight scenes that have no real relevance to the plot. And dovetailing the problems, there is a fight scene late in the hour that is interrupted several times to deliver plot points. Ultimately, when a script hands up the line: "Will you just tell me how it ends?" and fails to deliver, you can call it a definitive failure.<br /><br />I also need to give special note to the film's choice of music. While it may work for the opening credits, it degrades into nonsensical juxtaposition later on in the film, with what I think might be some Beatles during a scene at the graveyard and some guitary folk songs scattered throughout. The worst choice of music is undoubtedly during a laughable sex scene, to the extent where it has ruined that song completely for me.<br /><br />I know I'm being very harsh and vague about the movie's actual faults, but just as it's hard to review a very good movie that doesn't have any massive failings, it's hard to review an awful movie that doesn't have any massive strengths. Watchmen is just a shallowly-directed, under-edited, non-acted and hackishly-written film that really does have to be seen to believed. It's one of the few movies that I can't imagine anybody liking for any reason.<br /><br />This movie is a great example of why things should be <span style="font-weight: bold;">adapted </span>to the screen and not fully translated. Films are not graphic novels. Graphic novels are not films. To make one suit the other, you need to make certain additions and removals to make it fit that medium. Zack Snyder has provided he can do that with some competence with 300, but shows with this film that he has neither the testicular fortitude to handle something with as much assumed importance as Watchmen does or to face the fans who would surely kill him for changing even one thing. Even Snyder's supposed strength, his visual style, is muted completely in his efforts to translate the graphic novel completely faithfully to the screen. The movie just ends up looking too glossy and like they were trying to save as much money as they possibly could and the lighting was sacrificed as a result.<br /><br />In the end, this film is a perfect example of why adaptations need to handled very carefully. In many ways, this is one of the laziest adaptations I've seen, Xeroxing the graphic novel onto celluloid (or whatever this was shot on) without any creative flair involved. It takes much more skill to adapt a text with consideration on what should be kept and what should not be (see The Hours, Lord of the Rings, Requiem for a Dream and many other movies which do this better than this). While I'm sure fans of the original will eat this up, I can't imagine anybody else liking it.<br /><br />The worst insult I can give this is when they make the [Movie] Movie of this, they can just use clips from the movie.<br /><br />Overall Grade: <span style="font-weight: bold;">F</span>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-29300953779195494892009-03-03T22:29:00.000-08:002009-03-04T00:12:57.428-08:00Supporting Actress Oscar Survey: The Worst Runner-Ups<span style="font-weight: bold;">12. Ingrid Bergman - Murder on the Orient Express (9 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXg29ta0BhDXC8NwhST9KmxRsUSjsZ-DKVyk7Z8M5tFbK-2_n_uvwdRbVDf1dSh3I51OcZXJ-9J0BS4W9TigxGKUB3qwoCFPEZJf3-oQtgaoXhkHtZvuObZ9vdcgbrwnNZUr-1za5gxgs/s1600-h/71635-004-A4A4493D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXg29ta0BhDXC8NwhST9KmxRsUSjsZ-DKVyk7Z8M5tFbK-2_n_uvwdRbVDf1dSh3I51OcZXJ-9J0BS4W9TigxGKUB3qwoCFPEZJf3-oQtgaoXhkHtZvuObZ9vdcgbrwnNZUr-1za5gxgs/s400/71635-004-A4A4493D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309220653680622354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Even the divine Ingrid agrees; she proclaimed from the podium that the Oscar that year belonged to Valentina Cortese for DAY FOR NIGHT. She even begged Valentina to forgive her. Ingrid was right. – Tim Hedgepeth<br /><br />I adore Bergman and I like "Murder on the Orient Express." But just watch it today and try to figure out why she was singled out for an award. Especially when Bergman already had two Oscars, and especially in that vital year of 1974 when so many other good films were contenders. – Jeffrey M. Anderson<br /><br />I love Ingrid Bergman, but she wasn't even the best actress on that train. She had two Oscars already, so why a sentimental pick? If that's what they were after, it should have been Lauren Bacall's turn. – Edward Copeland.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">12. Beatrice Straight – Network (9 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0yS9J2hRKcQHbT8JEiz8lZMxAhmuMSUwHL7WAnpabSFgLjp3rhiVPewf-wCjDr2YgThYNLbiOki0ZGoAL6lA8k1pfHzbD9Aknysv-1KG_6tikptXSxK2DWfEqWLM5maTjzB0xIHJmmg/s1600-h/BS-7-BeatriceStraight-Network.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0yS9J2hRKcQHbT8JEiz8lZMxAhmuMSUwHL7WAnpabSFgLjp3rhiVPewf-wCjDr2YgThYNLbiOki0ZGoAL6lA8k1pfHzbD9Aknysv-1KG_6tikptXSxK2DWfEqWLM5maTjzB0xIHJmmg/s400/BS-7-BeatriceStraight-Network.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309221285679530834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Don't blink or you'll miss her – Mike Savidge<br /><br />The same complaint as Dench, but at least her character is given a bit to do in her brief appearance. – David Gaffen.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />14. Gloria Grahame - The Bad and the Beautiful (8 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgos2-mHYr4i-7coKmcLBsSpkkNETFnrphKlryF55903QTAlxtzmpSSiosizpvU-vJcz8tKZDZ8xBjD7Pdsv0TH-wniJRr3oZkZlUoGx6XzTGKJE5XFcBxuY22KNSbWXDDVhJ3t-Sze1zw/s1600-h/Gloria_Grahame_in_The_Bad_and_the_Beautiful_trailer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgos2-mHYr4i-7coKmcLBsSpkkNETFnrphKlryF55903QTAlxtzmpSSiosizpvU-vJcz8tKZDZ8xBjD7Pdsv0TH-wniJRr3oZkZlUoGx6XzTGKJE5XFcBxuY22KNSbWXDDVhJ3t-Sze1zw/s400/Gloria_Grahame_in_The_Bad_and_the_Beautiful_trailer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309221771322144434" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A compelling and intelligent performance --although I prefer her work in OKLAHOMA! and for starters how can this performance begin to compare with Jean Hagen's brilliant comic turn in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN? – Tim Hedgepeth<br /><br />This is one of the more underrated films of the 1950s, and it should have won 10 Oscars, but can someone explain what Grahame does in this film that warrants any sort of award? – Tripp Burton.<br /><br />Grahame was a great actress and probably deserved an Oscar somewhere in her career but how and why she won for this don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-her turn still puzzles me. – Edward Copeland.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />14. Mira Sorvino - Mighty Aphrodite (8 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPT9LffXXX4kgo6xXhCsM4TEXXJ2A192BhG2W9HPs-dbdbJNd_BeIpqeTzw_q_y7saiNfKs5baOtEyFKo4w7YEuzWS4ruFNWYyhuYYVrZP4PJPID14DRUfPpkXfJPpQtuHduL_1rS3NU/s1600-h/feature_499_story.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPT9LffXXX4kgo6xXhCsM4TEXXJ2A192BhG2W9HPs-dbdbJNd_BeIpqeTzw_q_y7saiNfKs5baOtEyFKo4w7YEuzWS4ruFNWYyhuYYVrZP4PJPID14DRUfPpkXfJPpQtuHduL_1rS3NU/s400/feature_499_story.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309222300482639106" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Though it took a while to find the bottom, we could tell Woody was already in trouble here and Mira is caught in the middle of it. – Matt Kilgore.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />16. Diane Wiest - Bullets Over Broadway (7 points)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />16. Estelle Parsons - Bonnie and Clyde (7 points)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago (6 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcB47UNJR4fxjbdCKg7BP6QeBmBdWB6ZRSM4qmhupcBMUQGp37f_uuVUNKicQBn5X4HO8ed7Q9QbU9k97DN5cstZuM16eMhJo0v13J73BBawN_vfpuIzodYgM4cqhC_q5skyUmTjueCA/s1600-h/zeta_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcB47UNJR4fxjbdCKg7BP6QeBmBdWB6ZRSM4qmhupcBMUQGp37f_uuVUNKicQBn5X4HO8ed7Q9QbU9k97DN5cstZuM16eMhJo0v13J73BBawN_vfpuIzodYgM4cqhC_q5skyUmTjueCA/s400/zeta_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309223059226418626" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One of the most joyless musical performances of all time, she stiffly plods her way through the film without ever really understanding how Velma needs to work in the film. She has none of the pizzazz or comedic timing to carry the role. – Tripp Burton<br /><br />Zeta-Jones wasn’t even the best supporting actress in Chicago, let alone 2002. – John Henry Roberts.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />18. Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver (6 points)</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEFvqmN8rJV4N9DoO5u9a5HNBv28Piuv8iH204AAzbeHwEVUxiTGTDQSmAQBJcgGd0mGZgHzcinqtNuIKL72c6XBt2E_YoyUlGJR0RGtdPU02tm4a69gCxzI7PpU4pwoghZwwwS7cR2g/s1600-h/mrs-miniver.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 327px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEFvqmN8rJV4N9DoO5u9a5HNBv28Piuv8iH204AAzbeHwEVUxiTGTDQSmAQBJcgGd0mGZgHzcinqtNuIKL72c6XBt2E_YoyUlGJR0RGtdPU02tm4a69gCxzI7PpU4pwoghZwwwS7cR2g/s400/mrs-miniver.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309224134200123730" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A lovely performance in a shockingly overhyped piece of claptrap. Wright --along with fellow nominee Dame May Whitty -- might be the best thing about the movie, but she had no business taking the award from Agnes Moorehead for THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS. – Tim Hedgepeth<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">20. Shelley Winters – The Diary of Anne Frank (5 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2JeJaPOSwCDauTVYBCiKPEfDHZ6Fjp-9kxEl0Xh-yMAxjNUvxzAPDepvVIlmF78zcUyeQwFMo4NasTbRdVRa4CkKH019BW3YsJvUs7E13smaVyb_0uCBgskoPbHos-IZQGoEUZKF4Xg/s1600-h/c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2JeJaPOSwCDauTVYBCiKPEfDHZ6Fjp-9kxEl0Xh-yMAxjNUvxzAPDepvVIlmF78zcUyeQwFMo4NasTbRdVRa4CkKH019BW3YsJvUs7E13smaVyb_0uCBgskoPbHos-IZQGoEUZKF4Xg/s400/c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309226573853885506" border="0" /></a><br />Nice work here, and perhaps the least mannered actor in a surprisingly stagebound movie version of a pretty good play, but come on: this award belongs to Juanita Moore in IMITATION OF LIFE. Winters did plenty of great and award-worthy work in a remarkable career. This just wasn't one of the best. – Tim Hedgepeth<br /><br />I just feel this is one of those "we just got to honor this movie and it's participants" awards that's not actually justified by the quality of the work. – Jan Baart.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Anna Paquin – The Piano (4 points)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />21. Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon (4 points)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />21. Celeste Holm – A Gentleman’s Agreement (4 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zB7zMZPlr6UyOmuhyphenhyphenmmFanKDPrCoxI_IIwW6oKvaDB_1vGIzGkj1XvLhzQKDuj_TJoT9JXX9inXvHpio-tTxQniINqaUzfUhckXYKdsNcGCVlXm0YjE4V1bXCzblkcCS2GsaAhM4YIo/s1600-h/PEN1529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zB7zMZPlr6UyOmuhyphenhyphenmmFanKDPrCoxI_IIwW6oKvaDB_1vGIzGkj1XvLhzQKDuj_TJoT9JXX9inXvHpio-tTxQniINqaUzfUhckXYKdsNcGCVlXm0YjE4V1bXCzblkcCS2GsaAhM4YIo/s400/PEN1529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309227279730922946" border="0" /></a><br />Tepid Actress, tepid role – Mike Savidge<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />21. Donna Reed – From Here to Eternity (4 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfh1AI2hcE_AIukpkSqTzFi_l76iVlhRxJyYgU99t_y0QZMjIYWgcdDCGv6SdbdJqzahcUbVbSyutBEY-DqkDQG4XED6m_xDMwwNq2pS3Td8b-sBeA_pU8OcqlwlDD4Yv9SqGioiirqU/s1600-h/DR-donnareed-FHTEternity-cynicaleye.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfh1AI2hcE_AIukpkSqTzFi_l76iVlhRxJyYgU99t_y0QZMjIYWgcdDCGv6SdbdJqzahcUbVbSyutBEY-DqkDQG4XED6m_xDMwwNq2pS3Td8b-sBeA_pU8OcqlwlDD4Yv9SqGioiirqU/s400/DR-donnareed-FHTEternity-cynicaleye.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309235891249078610" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Josh R is fond of referring to this performance as the purest hooker in the history of prostitution and I think that about sums it up. – Edward Copeland.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />21. Cate Blanchett – The Aviator (4 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcBSQ5QKb_03WNsJq8fbrYohx1yfNcF_ffVMqdfc34VHOQGYW4Yw5prWkrLqkjs3aK_XBmIrFKKdUIGNOyVsunU4h4dGEkkRa9hLf4hi2kcW7dZQwT9wgTCqclfc0i1UGTNjsS7oHfiY/s1600-h/oscar_lead_wideweb__430x321.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcBSQ5QKb_03WNsJq8fbrYohx1yfNcF_ffVMqdfc34VHOQGYW4Yw5prWkrLqkjs3aK_XBmIrFKKdUIGNOyVsunU4h4dGEkkRa9hLf4hi2kcW7dZQwT9wgTCqclfc0i1UGTNjsS7oHfiY/s400/oscar_lead_wideweb__430x321.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309236255101885794" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I could hardly stand her performance as Hepburn. She tried way too hard be her and missed the goal completely. Almost ruined the movie for me. She wasn't anything like Hepburn to me, neither as an actress nor as a private person. – Jan Baart.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />26. Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath (3 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_8YhtuU_XxGkw936yvoFTWtXHp-I9T463xTBUrh0oA2sxXcUis5n6aBZVOd6Kz20wuxovDVZe8ubNU3Shyphenhyphenpq3JAD-dZ5ppm3L8mwWsIkmWcbKY-nF_psnFI2hJEPJt4HAIDrmLmwZxY/s1600-h/sjff_03_img1085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_8YhtuU_XxGkw936yvoFTWtXHp-I9T463xTBUrh0oA2sxXcUis5n6aBZVOd6Kz20wuxovDVZe8ubNU3Shyphenhyphenpq3JAD-dZ5ppm3L8mwWsIkmWcbKY-nF_psnFI2hJEPJt4HAIDrmLmwZxY/s400/sjff_03_img1085.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309236581028584354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She has some touching scenes that helped her nab the Big One, but her Ma Joad largely consists of a lot of cloying, one-dimensional acting. – Shawn.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />26. Shirley Jones – Elmer Gantry (3 points)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">26. Margaret Rutherford – The V.I.Ps (3 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPNKrsLnnhcAdemvoOYfmNU83NDVY2GQwzz2YBa9SZNwkln1zwG1EuF-wDoRERE95-I5LowOYDHg-Vie8Et_SOT3KzTGQ77VANszhB9rdQeechxP9eftJ4ktZDrZJnYRKWPcGeBLEvwU/s1600-h/vip1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPNKrsLnnhcAdemvoOYfmNU83NDVY2GQwzz2YBa9SZNwkln1zwG1EuF-wDoRERE95-I5LowOYDHg-Vie8Et_SOT3KzTGQ77VANszhB9rdQeechxP9eftJ4ktZDrZJnYRKWPcGeBLEvwU/s400/vip1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309238000662056914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I adore her and was looking forward to seeing the film just for this performance. It simply makes no sense that she won an Oscar for this. For Blithe Spirit certainly! – Robbie Kendall.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />26. Mercedes Ruehl – The Fisher King (3 points)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">26. Kim Basinger – L.A Confidential (3 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoiBJQAQwDz6yFV9TECzhQNae9D8CSvshud9b5bq2f2OAy6HUda832yhVl8DeRCv8q0ZwPE7h55b6EmOxDHp9bNFNT7ifm-Xt9xJMiEbQwZgZrzz8uoQqE2KTnIr3eVsGr3gn-KFk9yk/s1600-h/kim-basinger.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoiBJQAQwDz6yFV9TECzhQNae9D8CSvshud9b5bq2f2OAy6HUda832yhVl8DeRCv8q0ZwPE7h55b6EmOxDHp9bNFNT7ifm-Xt9xJMiEbQwZgZrzz8uoQqE2KTnIr3eVsGr3gn-KFk9yk/s400/kim-basinger.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309241467349462578" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Let's give Kim Basinger an Oscar for looking like Barbara Stanwyck - JSC<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">31. Geena Davis – The Accidental Tourist (2 points)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">31. Gale Sondergaard – Anthony Adverse (2 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaieN1wMQ_LSTL_2qTvTrI4nz-M49IRqPlEOKKWZA7t9MD02EgYgzaYg1Pr3XFq7aSyUUWoIFiTVlP11QLubjUbKpCAuOcSnZ_gqX31z_pm0MLxGuu3OGvEqIwPfi3PNXDTQD1mgEAwi0/s1600-h/Gale+Sondergaard+Anthony+Adverse.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaieN1wMQ_LSTL_2qTvTrI4nz-M49IRqPlEOKKWZA7t9MD02EgYgzaYg1Pr3XFq7aSyUUWoIFiTVlP11QLubjUbKpCAuOcSnZ_gqX31z_pm0MLxGuu3OGvEqIwPfi3PNXDTQD1mgEAwi0/s400/Gale+Sondergaard+Anthony+Adverse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309238521868332434" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The Supporting Actress category’s list of winners got off to a fairly undistinguished start, as Sondergaard also does a lot of showy one-note acting as the adverse villainess, Faith Paleologus. – Shawn.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Single Voters:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lila Kedrova – Zorba the Greek</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquVwkK5x6y-_TlPnUwTiZA8XH3XjlaM0lgIkgq-mANTkF8NghKq_SeeX4BTToqsSjPYuTxsAg609_71JuKvBSbwSzlIVZGv62-pH6fc7PpWnw1DUG9ixqA10oq_1Zd92u3Phzb-ch268/s1600-h/3220945623_bdea3e0b7e.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquVwkK5x6y-_TlPnUwTiZA8XH3XjlaM0lgIkgq-mANTkF8NghKq_SeeX4BTToqsSjPYuTxsAg609_71JuKvBSbwSzlIVZGv62-pH6fc7PpWnw1DUG9ixqA10oq_1Zd92u3Phzb-ch268/s400/3220945623_bdea3e0b7e.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309238815634288594" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Proof that you can win the Oscar by doing nothing great at all. – Celso Oliveira.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8miF8y3vB4oOkOPXhWhFUxIBlWxMzIGGjyxG9FmyMSAzOx76h-HjvlqfUseeI6wIz8HxPPtHTxpBNGbEHT-6JpNyn6KH2c5vb34Ci2IYMBpP6vGpaE91LEXpvqJQz8CIp58emy9TtlCw/s1600-h/2180096988_b622b286af.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8miF8y3vB4oOkOPXhWhFUxIBlWxMzIGGjyxG9FmyMSAzOx76h-HjvlqfUseeI6wIz8HxPPtHTxpBNGbEHT-6JpNyn6KH2c5vb34Ci2IYMBpP6vGpaE91LEXpvqJQz8CIp58emy9TtlCw/s400/2180096988_b622b286af.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309239769296980354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She does play Ruth Gordon very well – Mike Savidge<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anjelica Huston – Prizzi’s Honour</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB509lMx2oAXhQp4Zr81t9RYkyGQWkHTJfAFJ9OrKVx4WG44-hnqs-4qDm7i6RzFCdoR5jDFZO0jBaEcydhhb-iZ20dGblTiiJqFDxZaGkYl0f20LMlNU3eTMMIDcZXHMRNtXEE8Iz5Tk/s1600-h/PrizzisHonor3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB509lMx2oAXhQp4Zr81t9RYkyGQWkHTJfAFJ9OrKVx4WG44-hnqs-4qDm7i6RzFCdoR5jDFZO0jBaEcydhhb-iZ20dGblTiiJqFDxZaGkYl0f20LMlNU3eTMMIDcZXHMRNtXEE8Iz5Tk/s400/PrizzisHonor3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309240181569840994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A predictable performance that's a travesty to the Italian-American genre – Matt Kilgore.<br /><br /><br />Tune in soon for the best of the bests and worst of the worsts.Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-21784421482044434222009-02-27T19:01:00.000-08:002009-02-27T20:28:53.358-08:00Supporting Actress Oscar Survey: The Best Runner-UpsThese are the ladies who managed to garner the attention of some voters while never quite cracking the top 10. (Or eleven in this case!)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">12. Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby (9 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VG0Oc5mSAWB2rZ3nTN-zDY3q2we9BNx8w85K3Yosq7A5kQRvFI-eLdb4g7pJEb1p9DL3ra_YWwryLe0ZHHuJbxL5x7GV-pH-8EJkiodfhk91K0dZ29991dCWKVVbleLczQcQJOuYgR4/s1600-h/rosemarys-baby-mia-farrow-ruth-gordon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VG0Oc5mSAWB2rZ3nTN-zDY3q2we9BNx8w85K3Yosq7A5kQRvFI-eLdb4g7pJEb1p9DL3ra_YWwryLe0ZHHuJbxL5x7GV-pH-8EJkiodfhk91K0dZ29991dCWKVVbleLczQcQJOuYgR4/s400/rosemarys-baby-mia-farrow-ruth-gordon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307684615208897010" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A wry performance that's so disarming you can see how Mia Farrow would be suckered in and surprised to learn Gordon's working for Satan. – Edward Copeland<br /><br />Gordon was always a great actress and screenwriter, but few people know that. She remains known worldwide as the evil-lover-annoying-old-lady-next-door in Rosemary's Baby and it's not by chance. Gordon steals the scene every time she appears and no matter how many times I revisit this film, she always scares the hell out of me. – Celso Oliveira.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">13. Anjelica Huston – Prizzi’s Honour (8 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja11u8X1epesGXJ8P8_-yxzQgNcNNe506-7jFCKzBHMd28TOjaQYFlaYsry32Qy2lUWb4DqBtwSrt_HCY6s_7-09txkjdGYX3YogXFtITb7DQPVRB-e5fZhQXr6tcFBq3ffuUvItlzy1M/s1600-h/galmovies4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja11u8X1epesGXJ8P8_-yxzQgNcNNe506-7jFCKzBHMd28TOjaQYFlaYsry32Qy2lUWb4DqBtwSrt_HCY6s_7-09txkjdGYX3YogXFtITb7DQPVRB-e5fZhQXr6tcFBq3ffuUvItlzy1M/s400/galmovies4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307685189330257826" border="0" /></a><br />It's very hard to steal a movie from Jack Nicholson, but she does in this. – David Gaffen.<br /><br />John Huston directed his dad to an Oscar win and his daughter to one as well in the performance that was the equivalent of Anjelica's coming out party as one of our best actresses. Maerose Prizzi is manipulative, vindictive and a performance for the ages. – Edward Copeland<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">13. Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener (8 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PhIyLR6ms8-2u8L36-aTrQRlWHv67x-4N8g120g8vdYUsjtV3oRpsi2LM1RdmhtBgJ8i90-VPMlSkTk71FWP1k0jbc1DFBkVHM1yfg1OYu8L8bOQKIpVebuVrAE4ifPDleytuGeFYyY/s1600-h/weisz.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PhIyLR6ms8-2u8L36-aTrQRlWHv67x-4N8g120g8vdYUsjtV3oRpsi2LM1RdmhtBgJ8i90-VPMlSkTk71FWP1k0jbc1DFBkVHM1yfg1OYu8L8bOQKIpVebuVrAE4ifPDleytuGeFYyY/s400/weisz.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307685658396771586" border="0" /></a>She puts the audience exactly where the Ralph Fiennes character finds himself: you’re in love with her, yet not sure you know her. Her every gesture seems packed with meaning, yet you never catch her pushing. She and the cinematographer practically dance together, a perfect film performance. – John Henry Roberts.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Claire Trover – Key Largo (7 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tBYxVSc1q9QMt9552neiOlODTpfkNwbKt01vNQy6YkfJ5dl2X3sCZMDWeRmn5sIq4HfJFNr1UgS98V7KJT7PTW3sj8Ic2VaeZY71SqXl5bR_10uDytng7eDTxmjpfQdGsqW1WYhtad4/s1600-h/ClaireTrevor.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tBYxVSc1q9QMt9552neiOlODTpfkNwbKt01vNQy6YkfJ5dl2X3sCZMDWeRmn5sIq4HfJFNr1UgS98V7KJT7PTW3sj8Ic2VaeZY71SqXl5bR_10uDytng7eDTxmjpfQdGsqW1WYhtad4/s400/ClaireTrevor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307687828901860690" border="0" /></a><br />Trevor’s a film noir icon. Not even her best, still great. – John Henry Roberts.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Jo Van Fleet – East of Eden (7 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20WQsezP3AqevfubFB6AziO8sg07sfchU-mH3LAKVePkxdupVGo-c5o6MWQqHagje8p1GuMGd1jHphgAo8-Ju1bsBNOkzwOjhQl5XoN9vna_XYSdFhxhbDoVUXo7L53BU-VChhA2KfqQ/s1600-h/JVF-jovanfleet-eastofeden-blackmail.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20WQsezP3AqevfubFB6AziO8sg07sfchU-mH3LAKVePkxdupVGo-c5o6MWQqHagje8p1GuMGd1jHphgAo8-Ju1bsBNOkzwOjhQl5XoN9vna_XYSdFhxhbDoVUXo7L53BU-VChhA2KfqQ/s400/JVF-jovanfleet-eastofeden-blackmail.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307688282719892114" border="0" /></a><br />She completely walked in the shoes of what has to be a very hard character to play – Mike Savidge<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Diane Wiest – Bullets Over Broadway (7 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGYUWE74D5f3pBvwSLrhX1G78gWnHRrgOkSjluWs51EalfHUywPnh-lXTXrvvJCVsA2zHlx3YwVOtdET8CmHac1YsnaylgY-ZE2hvOdHIruumLT0sR0SrzMtP41FJmQOPpr8ie7k5Fro/s1600-h/392554_f520.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGYUWE74D5f3pBvwSLrhX1G78gWnHRrgOkSjluWs51EalfHUywPnh-lXTXrvvJCVsA2zHlx3YwVOtdET8CmHac1YsnaylgY-ZE2hvOdHIruumLT0sR0SrzMtP41FJmQOPpr8ie7k5Fro/s400/392554_f520.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307688620425496738" border="0" /></a><br />Seeing the always solid Wiest bust her patrician shell to play a drama queen (in both senses) is great fun. Hits the peak of hilarity without going over the top. – John Henry Roberts.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago (7 points)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">19. Meryl Streep – Kramer vs. Kramer (6 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOzpa3wjCneg-myyrujvWeg4uPWk2QpvZnzPzU8xvuRq6z9PWlFEwxMTzNsQGhlm27CFmF1F3LZL6HyqQCSTS0RlYsJQ6ZR6xAyByvEj2UKqktKP6WSMjHLUPYgmNScdjj0rM9Ea1rYw/s1600-h/kvk-streep.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOzpa3wjCneg-myyrujvWeg4uPWk2QpvZnzPzU8xvuRq6z9PWlFEwxMTzNsQGhlm27CFmF1F3LZL6HyqQCSTS0RlYsJQ6ZR6xAyByvEj2UKqktKP6WSMjHLUPYgmNScdjj0rM9Ea1rYw/s400/kvk-streep.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307689372213140066" border="0" /></a><br />A great performance from Streep and showed the world what was to come. – Svanur Petursson<br /><br />It's so easy to love Meryl Streep, but somehow she makes us hate her. – Matt Kilgore.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">19. Maggie Smith – California Suite (6 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIk5kFI7jvCbij8NgZXdl3N3GLF85GbPLmhYRn6WmCrbnDOBJGixS0-uxZRxQNzZEJ06JkWbYsY2o1XY113jdSVoEdnJXiBZ-GdOq9KgzOligw4BhSL5WiI_I0SVNBuCzuODhBxb5-I1M/s1600-h/MS-MaggieSmith-CaliforniaSuite-frie.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIk5kFI7jvCbij8NgZXdl3N3GLF85GbPLmhYRn6WmCrbnDOBJGixS0-uxZRxQNzZEJ06JkWbYsY2o1XY113jdSVoEdnJXiBZ-GdOq9KgzOligw4BhSL5WiI_I0SVNBuCzuODhBxb5-I1M/s400/MS-MaggieSmith-CaliforniaSuite-frie.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307690045247314546" border="0" /></a><br />A great Oscar-winning performance for playing a boozy Oscar loser opposite an equally good Michael Caine. – Edward Copeland.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Celeste Holm – The Gentleman’s Agreement (5 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-q8OGJbivBNw_IYFn7nrPongH7uMKcp_XyNl92z4QGM1xJX6_5GaaOPGPh4djsT5wJMmNr3MX72-iQDvSMdHJ9zhC9cRBddIjGvsflg90nGZvGbrvD616NmZNOI-eXX8Z6UIZ8EgwuM/s1600-h/20070728033644!Celeste_Holm_in_Gentleman's_Agreement_trailer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 390px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-q8OGJbivBNw_IYFn7nrPongH7uMKcp_XyNl92z4QGM1xJX6_5GaaOPGPh4djsT5wJMmNr3MX72-iQDvSMdHJ9zhC9cRBddIjGvsflg90nGZvGbrvD616NmZNOI-eXX8Z6UIZ8EgwuM/s400/20070728033644!Celeste_Holm_in_Gentleman's_Agreement_trailer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307690370026920482" border="0" /></a><br />It's easy to look at this dated film and find the central plot -- Gregory Peck's quest to expose anti-Semitism by going undercover as a Jew -- as a bit goofy. What is unfathomable is how 1940s audiences, having lived through a period populated by intoxicating female roles (much of it in the film noir genre) could have possibly not been bewildered by the ending, when Peck's character chooses the lummox played by Dorothy Maguire over the sassy, radiant colleague of his played by Celeste Holm. She owns this movie. – David Gaffen.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Cloris Leachman – The Last Picture Show (5 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WINJmuwBtA1jt0GV8usCUjHwbEabnYN5Dh8tHqtntI7DSACCbwZ2Re1nrqntUdNfzrkANQvRMKAQ_BiRW_v8Wq2yV-d9JjiYZjnqov2uimJYinawcPrh9eMQ1uiZntxFx3O0g0HxX2c/s1600-h/Last+Picture+Show+pic+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WINJmuwBtA1jt0GV8usCUjHwbEabnYN5Dh8tHqtntI7DSACCbwZ2Re1nrqntUdNfzrkANQvRMKAQ_BiRW_v8Wq2yV-d9JjiYZjnqov2uimJYinawcPrh9eMQ1uiZntxFx3O0g0HxX2c/s400/Last+Picture+Show+pic+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307690938833055410" border="0" /></a><br />What a great, sad performance, and she was never better. It's a classic, so well-deserved. – David Gaffen.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India (5 points)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Mira Sorvino – Mighty Aphrodite (5 points)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Kim Basinger – L.A Confidential (5 points)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Juliette Binoche – The English Patient (5 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_KYinHy12wK1DQq0dVwTEowMRttH21URxqIlWC_txpYV3I-SIrav3rf_XsoR48HqxtgOC9pT6Om4nSJw7ZC6UnBmBacSW4lI1eJyKtvh0EehCk2dX3cqna0Nw-0VTZ6DPUxw5a3ylnA/s1600-h/binoche1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_KYinHy12wK1DQq0dVwTEowMRttH21URxqIlWC_txpYV3I-SIrav3rf_XsoR48HqxtgOC9pT6Om4nSJw7ZC6UnBmBacSW4lI1eJyKtvh0EehCk2dX3cqna0Nw-0VTZ6DPUxw5a3ylnA/s400/binoche1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307691396086815810" border="0" /></a><br />Her often unpredictable character lights up this slow burn of a film every time she is on the screen. – Matt Kilgore<br /><br />This was such a happy surprise at the time. Everyone expected the showy Lauren Bacall to win, but Binoche's performance was understated and in more ways than one kept the film together. – Svanur Petursson<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Brenda Fricker – My Left Foot (4 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NmLRCQaQRPzjffcq_FFR5q0yY3bZnoNt3nR2883Zk0Z8IeufuQMasZHIDdBxgaOCvEVBPWJWASuEiNCXoVcrhP9_ATTD7h0cLHBxC-6kui16hxu_84eYTYR6AxoYCNMTktEyVSJa9AU/s1600-h/71647-004-592E9278.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 311px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7NmLRCQaQRPzjffcq_FFR5q0yY3bZnoNt3nR2883Zk0Z8IeufuQMasZHIDdBxgaOCvEVBPWJWASuEiNCXoVcrhP9_ATTD7h0cLHBxC-6kui16hxu_84eYTYR6AxoYCNMTktEyVSJa9AU/s400/71647-004-592E9278.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307691730405528594" border="0" /></a><br />Daniel Day-Lewis did amazing work with an extremely difficult role, but was nearly matched by her, the kind of woman every son would want for a mother. – David Gaffen.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Linda Hunt – The Year of Living Dangerously (4 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbjE8mVC7muudfR8YoEu35j5zetdRmFbgnfAcBRS-gWTeFV-rMDhNwGT0FGh3lIUmSAmY5oqc4PCySAEo1mgsqL8nMecKs8e_G6v8yANMseD4zrj2OgdpFeogCB8KNcQDIT3GG8d7NaQ/s1600-h/3226873879_93a4bf4fe3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbjE8mVC7muudfR8YoEu35j5zetdRmFbgnfAcBRS-gWTeFV-rMDhNwGT0FGh3lIUmSAmY5oqc4PCySAEo1mgsqL8nMecKs8e_G6v8yANMseD4zrj2OgdpFeogCB8KNcQDIT3GG8d7NaQ/s400/3226873879_93a4bf4fe3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307692205997216738" border="0" /></a><br />I wouldn't go so far as to say that I forgot Hunt was a female playing a man throughout the film, but either way, it was a great performance from an underused actress. – Svanur Petursson<br /><br />Regardless of the sex of the character she plays, she ultimately portrays a living, breathing, vibrant human being. – Robbie Kendall.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Shelley Winters – The Diary of Anne Frank (4 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5MryqCmOnwKV6PokFU8tnsmGQuS7czVXchgtkJJ8sqPl5MugQXmKuFA8tD4TO2y4tQYSgykGH8dwR7HosgHTRaKHa6csMMgckTfrDC01oh9n0vJCJLjoEIKQS1ZkhvHFCReARuc0udyE/s1600-h/3129650383_5eb57db70f.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 379px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5MryqCmOnwKV6PokFU8tnsmGQuS7czVXchgtkJJ8sqPl5MugQXmKuFA8tD4TO2y4tQYSgykGH8dwR7HosgHTRaKHa6csMMgckTfrDC01oh9n0vJCJLjoEIKQS1ZkhvHFCReARuc0udyE/s400/3129650383_5eb57db70f.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307692544780556994" border="0" /></a><br />When I first saw this film I could not stop thinking about it for days, she stands out in an incredible ensemble – Mike Savidge<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Fay Bainter – Jezebel (4 points)</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Eva Marie Saint – On The Waterfront (4 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFEnDms3b8dL6E2SEOMlP6rzq_6jymYJ5XVdmT2oAngqksxWn5QEr03CuVRPLupF5K1tYxiMQKS7635snv2s-44-8I1R-XJRbV2SzdN81sxvZWotIOLKcniUcfUTQbAjmU6_wYnXITQk/s1600-h/2274709463_f52e3772b8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFEnDms3b8dL6E2SEOMlP6rzq_6jymYJ5XVdmT2oAngqksxWn5QEr03CuVRPLupF5K1tYxiMQKS7635snv2s-44-8I1R-XJRbV2SzdN81sxvZWotIOLKcniUcfUTQbAjmU6_wYnXITQk/s400/2274709463_f52e3772b8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307693045052992690" border="0" /></a><br />She may just be feeding off Brando and Kazan, but Saint’s stuck playing the beauty who makes a sinner want to do better, and manages to come off like an actual person instead of a, uh, saint. Her light touch makes it a much better film than it might have been. – John Henry Robert.<br /><br />It's really a pity that Saint didn't have so many great roles in movies. She is a wonderful actress and her start on this classic is the proof of it. She is not afraid of sharing the screen with famous actors like Marlon Brando, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden. Her acting is as superb as her co-stars and well, she has an Oscar to show it! – Celso Oliveira.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">32. Gloria Grahame – The Bad and The Beautiful (3 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUuPjTjjfaYSoZCCxDByz1Ylpz4fi1MTftMvAXhEHw1nk0AZgbdQ7uWLse_8ZZq3oiZy958F5lhyQRsXUCxBjtBZGD8WZcrG_IfHpHDdTJEOK_crgVzcLz3mCfXT5T7ogBbMdA5oxFOM/s1600-h/180px-Gloria_Grahame_in_The_Bad_and_the_Beautiful_trailer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUuPjTjjfaYSoZCCxDByz1Ylpz4fi1MTftMvAXhEHw1nk0AZgbdQ7uWLse_8ZZq3oiZy958F5lhyQRsXUCxBjtBZGD8WZcrG_IfHpHDdTJEOK_crgVzcLz3mCfXT5T7ogBbMdA5oxFOM/s400/180px-Gloria_Grahame_in_The_Bad_and_the_Beautiful_trailer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307694647709298098" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Actors rarely win Oscars for their best work, but the unbearably sharp, sexy Grahame made lots of great movies, and this was one of them. – Jeffrey M. Anderson<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">32. Whoopi Goldberg – Ghost (3 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaDY34905PfKejlWRMYyEHc80ApH3WgwahJp9Jtx0rozBHLaT_AWw0Tf2At5rRuFjx4HL1Bye2FasOGQ0k0izCcU1WOiQChWAsYNjV1LLW_K2ktLGfs-hoIF5Kms2YYhDNS-qN4WrrIY/s1600-h/WG-whoopi-ghost-youindangergirl.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaDY34905PfKejlWRMYyEHc80ApH3WgwahJp9Jtx0rozBHLaT_AWw0Tf2At5rRuFjx4HL1Bye2FasOGQ0k0izCcU1WOiQChWAsYNjV1LLW_K2ktLGfs-hoIF5Kms2YYhDNS-qN4WrrIY/s400/WG-whoopi-ghost-youindangergirl.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307695261753651282" border="0" /></a><br />I can forgive any missteps in Whoopi’s career just for the scene wherein Oda Mae makes it clear she really doesn’t want to give away that money. She’s hilarious all-around, too. – Shawn.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">32. Goldie Hawn – Cactus Flower (3 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDR642cyzZc6i4Ev_4zkpFP9uBFiznySJPIX8T8ILhc0rNMzfZlTlP15wKibHxFCxuSMz_carSt-YxpBQrhOnF1kqu54QPEabTzDaogjJ429kXHT4Q9CbOyWMdpOEjPRx6w-MEAPgfpA/s1600-h/cactusflower.jpeg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDR642cyzZc6i4Ev_4zkpFP9uBFiznySJPIX8T8ILhc0rNMzfZlTlP15wKibHxFCxuSMz_carSt-YxpBQrhOnF1kqu54QPEabTzDaogjJ429kXHT4Q9CbOyWMdpOEjPRx6w-MEAPgfpA/s400/cactusflower.jpeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307695535096530818" border="0" /></a><br />Holding her own with Bergman & Matthau in a forgotten gem of a movie – Mike Savidge.<br /><br />Additional proof that work in a comedy can be as Oscar-worthy as any other kind of acting. The film’s not great, but Hawn is on-the-mark in sensational fashion. – Shawn.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35. Shelley Winters – A Patch of Blue (2 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndMqrdr0O3baUOF_4ag55TZFbKdxVixvERRXzdFE_RQOE02KIFyev7U95RfLCHSD9rRCU8GqvpAJpPEWvNlAWm6xm_YffnaFXZN1eewpr-VdLsXpH_zGZbQZ0jhWmmrDRynz0__0GF4s/s1600-h/shelleywinters2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndMqrdr0O3baUOF_4ag55TZFbKdxVixvERRXzdFE_RQOE02KIFyev7U95RfLCHSD9rRCU8GqvpAJpPEWvNlAWm6xm_YffnaFXZN1eewpr-VdLsXpH_zGZbQZ0jhWmmrDRynz0__0GF4s/s400/shelleywinters2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307696006332486210" border="0" /></a><br />I want to slap her whenever I think of the film – Mike Savidge.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35. Beatrice Straight – Network (2 points)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3uJ1fHucuBhIKxOorgnlGYEp2TKcw9rFj9coHGSg-4NSB-EJGpBdrOTZKiXVgw1efJQdGQfq9FP3AcPrMOXNR_5b5n_1PH5seYXu_cf0yjkztTORrWXLDREBNi2UngBTd10FDGZbjRI/s1600-h/BS-4-BeatriceStraight-Network.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3uJ1fHucuBhIKxOorgnlGYEp2TKcw9rFj9coHGSg-4NSB-EJGpBdrOTZKiXVgw1efJQdGQfq9FP3AcPrMOXNR_5b5n_1PH5seYXu_cf0yjkztTORrWXLDREBNi2UngBTd10FDGZbjRI/s400/BS-4-BeatriceStraight-Network.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307696437485348034" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A true supporting role, she takes 8 minutes on screen and nearly runs away with it, a marvel considering the wonderful ensemble cast of the film. – Tripp Burton<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35. Mercedes Ruehl – The Fisher King (2 points)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35. Marisa Tomei – My Cousin Vinny (2 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dh-rvdIviNcAmBRxiEk4Uxdtz4WUqNAxdMDpQYaVdUwehhf4n0scVo_dd8IJ4G8O9R_8drk_USBzBtezXwhhiwMCHcwu76lfA0I93QPJndESFV9YNgcIsUkolQKwmIy6HUbJMby5kUI/s1600-h/marisa.jpeg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dh-rvdIviNcAmBRxiEk4Uxdtz4WUqNAxdMDpQYaVdUwehhf4n0scVo_dd8IJ4G8O9R_8drk_USBzBtezXwhhiwMCHcwu76lfA0I93QPJndESFV9YNgcIsUkolQKwmIy6HUbJMby5kUI/s400/marisa.jpeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307696816320131266" border="0" /></a><br />Of course, everyone thinks this was some kind error, but Tomei went on to prove that she's the #1 supporting actress of the past 20 years with many other great performances, both comic and tragic. – Jeffrey M. Anderson<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35. Anna Paquin – The Piano (2 points)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35. Judi Dench – Shakespeare in Love (2 points)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfhO5ONLsEl0mBFXqyY6VUrWIRQSh0Pr_SNycn9Bu7cxNqBKMzvk9pwZcLcOAAOEOSYrpJZMG0122DkmZxdu13NpgWrMVgceIHV1UxZPxV5M8prtfsbWj0yUuCgkuPm7O4o_twWXNCNo/s1600-h/71654-004-cae7ad55.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfhO5ONLsEl0mBFXqyY6VUrWIRQSh0Pr_SNycn9Bu7cxNqBKMzvk9pwZcLcOAAOEOSYrpJZMG0122DkmZxdu13NpgWrMVgceIHV1UxZPxV5M8prtfsbWj0yUuCgkuPm7O4o_twWXNCNo/s400/71654-004-cae7ad55.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307697235316218082" border="0" /></a><br />She brings something regal, refined and darkly witty to everything she does. - Matt Kilgore.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Single-Voters:</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Mercedes McCambridge – All The King’s Men</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHu3-nNdmqUFDqGpFksDUxUlQRCEYNeD2OwZEU-co31VxbomT-4shcRMIXETSFbMzfg6-_vtrdG4sdkkx2shz4aesdb5y6ABQapbBZfbyw74aTU3zFqCgI6qmVYDCGQkhNbUd2mWyPvw/s1600-h/71639-004-15364528.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHu3-nNdmqUFDqGpFksDUxUlQRCEYNeD2OwZEU-co31VxbomT-4shcRMIXETSFbMzfg6-_vtrdG4sdkkx2shz4aesdb5y6ABQapbBZfbyw74aTU3zFqCgI6qmVYDCGQkhNbUd2mWyPvw/s400/71639-004-15364528.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307697809766585026" border="0" /></a><br /><br />What ever happened to Steenburgen? She has so much life in this film, and has turned in nothing like this since. – Tripp Burton<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maureen Stapleton – Reds<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJF9UOj2wJ26_k_HFNKpwSUUYwK-R55X3rs8oeq1_jqzA4fx3GTm9NrjCohaLDUZpvrTQO-C3Z2gaAVudB4xYs9rY_CQE3IR59nhdU6yR1QRHuSMu0SLIj2YUK5TxZN8u97hOq1r1iOEU/s1600-h/71640-004-61D99ACC.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJF9UOj2wJ26_k_HFNKpwSUUYwK-R55X3rs8oeq1_jqzA4fx3GTm9NrjCohaLDUZpvrTQO-C3Z2gaAVudB4xYs9rY_CQE3IR59nhdU6yR1QRHuSMu0SLIj2YUK5TxZN8u97hOq1r1iOEU/s400/71640-004-61D99ACC.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307698180118494834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Among many great performances in this film, Stapleton stood out. A well deserved win for a great actress. – Svanur Petursson<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jessica Lange – Tootsie</span><br /><br /><br />Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment either way!Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-20883785565306119012009-02-25T19:04:00.000-08:002009-02-25T19:21:09.908-08:00Supporting Actress Survey: The Beginning/The UntouchedIt's about time to get this show on the road. Even with the extension, I didn't get as many comments or ballots as I would've liked, but have ultimately decided to go ahead with the postign anyway. If you have yet to send a ballot, but wish to send your thoughts, please feel free to leave a comment. Over the next few days, I'll be posting the bests and worsts, along with the runners-ups to each.<br /><br />HOWEVER. To warm up to the occasion I'm going to post the names of those ladies that were untouched by our voters, good or bad:<br /><br />Alice Brady - In Old Chicago (1937)<br />Mary Astor - The Great Lie (1941)<br />Katina Paxinou - For Whom The Bell Tolls (1943)<br />Ethel Barrymore - None But The Lonely Heart (1944)<br />Anne Revere - National Velvet (1945)<br />Anne Baxter - The Razor's Edge (1946)<br />Josephine Hull - Harvey (1950)<br />Wendy Hiller - Separate Tables (1959)<br />Eileen Heckart - Butterflies are Free (1972)<br />Lee Grant - Shampoo (1975)<br />Olympia Dukakis - Moonstruck (1987)<br />Marcia Gay Harden - Pollock (2000)<br /><br />Any objections to these unvoted ladies? (I'm personally surprised that Dukakis remained untouched for both best and worst, though I would put her in the latter if I were to vote for her.) Is there anybody here that you think gave an awful performance? Or anybody that really deserved to be voted for? Feel free to leave a comment!<br /><br />Come back tomorrow for the Runner Ups for the Best!Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-10088670103082688392009-02-22T02:45:00.001-08:002009-02-23T22:55:08.613-08:00The Reader (2008)Kate Winslet = A.<br />Right off the bat, I'm not going to say that this is Winslet's best performance, but it would be in her top five. I'm also going to say that she should have won the Oscar for this, it's at the right time, the right performance, the right movie. Now, onto the actual performance. I must admit that it's hard to review, but I will say that Winslet avoids so many easy pitfalls for her character, she doesn't condescend to making Hanna just a victim and endearing herself to the viewer. Throughout the entire film, Winslet aims for the ambiguous treatment of the entire movie by not playing Hanna as though she is outright a villain or outright a victim. She is always the woman who is flawed and either not sure of the brutality of her crimes or not willing to accept it. I also give her massive kudos for not needlessly complicating Hanna and clinging to the simple concepts of shame and complicity in a way that only illuminates the darker shades of the character. And some of those small moments where her face just breaks are what kills me; such as at the train station when she learns of her promotion and at the trial, where she has one decision to make. It's just proof that Winslet is one of our greats and she's only going to continue improving.<br /><br />David Kross = A-/B+.<br />Kross shares a great many scenes with the formidable Winslet, but he never cedes them over to her. Even though the spotlight is clearly on Winslet, Kross never forgets that his character is at the centre of the piece and it is through him that we gain a very crucial knowledge of Hanna; Hanna the human being and lover, as opposed to Hanna the criminal. For such a young actor, Kross gets some of the much subtler comic beats of his character nailed down pat and even the difficult transition of his character from wide-eyed youth to jaded college student is handled with a mature grace and clear knowledge of the craft. Like Winslet, he grips the viewer's heart and gut with a vice in some of his scenes, "Do you love me?" being the best momment of any of these. An actor to watch in the future.<br /><br />Ralph Fiennes = B.<br />Fiennes got the short end of the stick in terms of plot and character; he has the most difficult and least actor-friendly parts of the movie. And when he doesn't have those, he has the some of the most cliched parts, such as the very tacked on ending. However, when he does hit the right notes, such as in his scene with Lena Olin, he does hit it. But it's merely a competent performance of a role that really exists for other actors to bounce off of.<br /><br />Lena Olin = A.<br />Olin is a chronically underappreciated actress who sadly very rarely appears in projects and roles worthy of her distinct talent and clarity, so when she does appear in anything, I eat her right up. The Reader is easily her best performance since her season-long role in Alias, not that there's a lot of competition. She has two distinct performances that are so different, so we get more Olin for our buck! In her first scene, she does a similar thing to Viola Davis in her role, lacking perhaps the same sumptuous dialogue and emotional hooks provided by the screenplay that Davis had. She still manages to bring up massive amounts of previously sealed torment and heartbreak without being overly loud or direct about it. In her second scene, she crucifies Michael with questions that leaves the film a lot more complex and interesting than it would be if the character hadn't graced the movie, or if the actress hadn't layered this character with that same scathing lack of sympathy and empathy with our troubled 'hero'. Two beautiful performances from an actress who plays from the edges superbly.<br /><br />Other Notable Performances:<br />Alexandra Maria Lara - Maria Lara has practically no screentime in this movie, but I found her to be vivid in her brief appearences, and her wink towards Michael took me aback a little and I wondered if the movie was trying to suggest anything by it. Still, an actress to watch out for.<br />Linda Bassett - It took me a while to remember where I recognized this actress from; Daldry's previous film, The Hours, but she delivers even more of an impact this time around with Daldry; she paints a regrettably but unavoidably sparse portrait of a woman just doing her job and trying to do the best for a woman with literally nothing left. Made me wish that this actress was given better parts.<br /><br />Overall Movie Grade = A/A-.Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-2236781810433190232009-02-16T19:35:00.000-08:002009-02-16T19:36:12.665-08:00Supporting Actress Oscar Survey: A Visual Aid<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I4dRiiLm0eQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I4dRiiLm0eQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />A neat little thing I found on YouTube. Keep those e-mails (and plugs) coming, people. Just one more week left!Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-71419913994485470032009-02-11T00:48:00.000-08:002009-02-11T01:06:56.326-08:00Supporting Actress Oscar Survey AnnouncementTo allow for some more ballots to be posted in, I'm extending the survey until the 24th! Please keep sending them in or telling your friends who would have an interest in sending one in or pimping this on your blogs. Thanks!Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-56362447022053573482009-02-02T21:53:00.000-08:002009-02-02T22:19:35.507-08:00Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)<span style="font-weight: bold;">Rebecca Hall = <span style="font-style: italic;">B+</span></span><br />I was pleasantly surprised by Hall in this performance, when I had expected a dull and lifeless performance, aka Johansson. However, Hall proved herself to be much more adept than her blonde co-star at making Woody Allen's dialogue spark with both flair and a naturalistic delivery. However, she is struck with a slightly unbelievable plot twist but she even manages to make that come off as believable for her character. Ultimately, this is a performance that is an achievement and bodes well for the rest of her career. For somebody who is such a novice to the screen, she adapts herself well to the role of the lead lady and shines with movie star-esque charisma. (She was also alarmingly underused in Frost/Nixon this year.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Javier Bardem = <span style="font-style: italic;">B/B+</span></span><br />In a total turnabout from his Oscar-winning turn, but not so much from his previous Spanish roles, Bardem makes his character believable. He's not asked to do much else, but with a character as ridiculous and ludicrous as Juan Antonio, that's a big ask. Even so, Bardem graces his scenes with a kind of serenity and sexuality that is alarmingly alluring and plays very well off Hall and the superlative Cruz. The only time he seems dull is when he is with Scarlett Johansson; not even he can sell that this man would be attracted to this wash of a woman and it seems like an awkward way of Allen writing his current muse into a glamorous part. However, for the most part Bardem is a gift to the film that adds a much needed male presence that many Allen films lack due to his own participation in them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scarlett Johansson = <span style="font-style: italic;">C-</span></span><br />Out of all of Allen's muses, Johansson isn't necessarily the least talented, even though she probably is, but she's definitely the one who has flourished the least under his direction. Prior to her movies with him, she was reviewed very well in Lost in Translation and Girl With A Pearl Earring, but while her career has blossomed and bloomed, her talent has only decreased. Interestingly, while her talent has decreased, Cruz's has increased. Just a thought. His next film makes it seem as though he's kissed goodbye to Johansson and moved onto a muse who has shown her talent in a few projects; Evan Rachel Wood of thirteen, Across the Universe and The Wrestler fame. Let's hope he's hit gold again with this one. If you're wondering why I'm not talking about her actual performance here, it's because there's nothing here. She's bland and lifeless here. She's not even appealing on the basest physical level. She says the lines and goes through the motions and that's it. It's not detrimental to the film in particular for some reason, but there's no way I can endorse this performance in any way.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Penelope Cruz = <span style="font-style: italic;">A+</span></span><br />Penelope Cruz, one of my favourite actresses of recent year. Granted, I liked her even before Volver but it was the film that gave me a good reason to legitimately liked her. In a move that nobody expected, she actually improved as an actress since then, with this performance and a dramatic performance in Elegy. Even more amazingly, she crosses the language barrier with little difficulty now which seemed to be her largest hurdle, (Sahara, Vanilla Sky, Gothika), to give a great performance here. And if her next films are anything to go by, another Almodovar film and the Academy Award winner and nominee studded Nine, she's becoming more discerning with her projects.<br /><br />However, she is a jewel in a film that I already like a lot. She enters the film just as it's beginning to lag and gives it a much needed energy that Allen's flims have lacked since Mira Sorvino won her Oscar. There's just so much to love in her performance here, her constant defiance to speak English, some of her perfect line-readings and the sheer crazy physicality of the role. It's one that is almost played to the rafters, but always in the service of the character; Maria Elena is the kind of character who does this just because that's how she is, not because she thinks anybody is watching. However, she also knows when to downplay the role, like at the table scene, with her hand rubbing against her face in sheer intolerance for Cristina and everything she embodies. It takes a good actress to keep the fires burning at full tilt throughout a performance, it takes a truly gifted and talented actress like Cruz to know when to dull them down in a way that it is service to the performance, character and movie. Absolutely amazing work from an actress that will only continue to improve over time.<br /><br />Overall Film Grade: B/B+Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-64300587747616550002009-01-19T23:37:00.000-08:002009-01-20T00:33:40.496-08:00Doubt (2008)<span style="font-weight: bold;">Meryl Streep = <span style="font-style: italic;">A.</span></span><br />I'm going to preface my comments on Streep's performance by saying that this is Streep at the top of her game, which is sort of redundant; you hand Streep a great script and character and you're guaranteed a great performance. Which is exactly what she gives here. She haunts the movie from the first frame and her presence lingers even throughout those few scenes where she isn't presence, you feel she could be lingering under any one of the many black habits seen throughout the film. I have no Cherry Jones with which to compare, so I'm judging the performance on it's own significant merits. Occasionally Streep is a bit too forthright, though never hammy; you genuinely believe that this is Sister Aloysius just losing her grip on the situation just a little whenever she yells. I give immense credit to Streep for not simplifying her character as the final scene attempts to do, she layers Sister Aloysius with her trademark knack for a character tic and movement; you see the both the compassion and irritability when she gives Sister Veronica the fork, she refuses to embrace one part of the character while excluding the other. A full-bodied and perfectly aligned performance from an actress that has been at it for three decades.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Amy Adams = <span style="font-style: italic;">A-.</span></span><br />In the space of three years, Adams has reinvigorated herself from an actress of an insane amount of charm to hold up a character to a talented actress with a knack for playing doe-eyed innocence. However, to dismiss her performance as being similar to those in Junebug and Enchanted is an immense disservice to her performances in those, which were completely different plays on somewhat similar characters, and an insult to this performance. Yes, Sister James is an innocent nun, but she's not a pushover. Adams imbues James with a noticeable spine and individuality that breaks away from the innocence, she stands up to Aloysius in a way that Father Flynn doesn't even succeed at; she attacks what may be at the core of Aloysius' accusations. I don't blame Adams for the odd scene in which James tries to assert herself in class, but she tries her best to make it believable. Still, Adams turns in a performance of clarity and believability where she could have quite easily glided on her natural gifts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Viola Davis = <span style="font-style: italic;">A.</span></span><br />I don't know what I can say about this performance that hasn't been said. Davis throws a massive wrench in the workings of the film with a completely heart-rending performance, that tugs and flays at any certainty that you may have had while watching the movie. Davis conveys the moral dilemma within Mrs. Miller, but also the guilt that she clearly has in seeing that, the self-inflicted ignorance. It's an incredible role that Davis gives an incredible reading of. She's breathtaking and powerful, nearly taking her scene away from Streep. An Oscar win would not be amiss.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip Seymour Hoffman = <span style="font-style: italic;">B+.</span></span><br />I don't like Hoffman. I know this much. I don't think he's ever given a performance which is in service to the film; he serves only himself as an actor, grabbing every scene and holding the camera so that nobody else gets a fair shot. How Keener managed to get a nomination opposite his most grabbiest performance is something that I won't understand. However, I find Hoffman to give a very delicate, if not particularly subtle performance. He's never actually quiet, even in scenes that might call for it; the scene in the gym. He's always acting and everything, but I think that works for the character of Father Flynn, he's constructing himself as a priest, a teacher, an opponent to Sister Aloysius, a friend to Sister James. It's a very canny performance of the most difficult role in the film; he has to inspire doubt without particularly asking for it. He never quite steals his scenes away from Streep, and there are certain moments during their more heated scenes where he achieves quite a tortured and genuine expression of hurt and hopelessness. My favourite performance by the man, who really needs to do this kind of subtle character work more often. (In saying that, I feel that the role would have been served by somebody who could have inspired doubt much easier. There's something inherently misanthropic about Hoffman that I couldn't get past even from the first scene.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notable Performances:</span><br />All The Little Actors - There's a lot of names to look up here, but I felt that all the little bit actors did their part well, sometimes making Shanley's sometimes hamfisty symbolism that more profound and heartfelt. Special notice to the boys who may or may not be overlooked victims of Father Flynn; aptly played reaction shots without being obvious about it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Overall Film Grade: A-B. I flucuate from day to day.</span>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-78069028636395480022009-01-09T21:56:00.000-08:002009-01-09T23:41:54.146-08:00Hysterical Blindness (2002)<span style="font-weight: bold;">Uma Thurman = <span style="font-style: italic;">A</span></span><br />Thurman gives her first Gena Rowlands performance, appropriately in a movie that features the actor. And by that I meant hat she is playing a woman who is quite tangibly on the edge, a woman who is so damaged for whatever reason that she can't even hold down a boyfriend if she tried. Thurman achieves grand, dizzying depths with the character of Debbie Miller, although the character isn't as layered as some of the Cassavetes 'heroines'. From the very first frame she's in, Thurman inhabits the woman, and she controls and dominates this sometimes uneven and messed film. She's awkward, she's too forthright, she understands far too little and she's pretty much an elegant mess. She doesn't achieve the same kind of greatness that Rowlands did with Cassavetes, but there's a lot to love here and Thurman does more than what the film asks of her. There's a tragic pathos in her second meeting with Rick that is so tragic, restrained and simply heartbreaking that it speaks volumes of what this woman can do on the screen. And nothing, nothing in this movie beats her much delayed and much needed realization: "What's wrong with me?" Can people start giving her more roles like this? (Kudos to director Mira Nair for using Uma Thurman's height to her advantage; Thurman has never looked so beautiful and yet so awkward on screen.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gena Rowlands = <span style="font-style: italic;">B+</span></span><br />For the majority of the film, Gena Rowlands is a non-factor; merely radiating warmth from the edge of the frame and providing welcome support to Thurman's antics. It's not until a plot turn late-game that Rowlands comes into her prime and transmits to us a harrowing scene on the telephone. (A lot of actors do some of their best work on the telephone. Streep in Adaptation, Leung in Happy Together. Just a note. Not that this ranks among Rowlands best work, but her best work in the film definite.) It's a perfect example of why Rowlands is still one of the best working actresses of her generation that continues to deliver very subtle and nuanced performances even in roles that are are almost barely there.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Juliette Lewis = <span style="font-style: italic;">C</span></span><br />Lewis is a weak link in this film only because she shares her scenes with Thurman and cedes every one up to her star, which works for the film but not her performance. Lewis is never overtly bad, but there's very little to cling onto here. It's a paper-thin character and one that you can hardly remember after the credits roll.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ben Gazzara = <span style="font-style: italic;">B</span></span><br />Gazzara doesn't have a great deal of scenes or a great deal of time within those scenes to make an impact, but he manages to transmit just as much warmth as Rowland's does and his closing scene in the film is a very warm and fuzzy moments in which he plays off Thurman well and almost steals a scene from her. But, this isn't a performance of greatness and it does what it needs to.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Overall Film Grade = <span style="font-style: italic;">A</span></span>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-35314354487289265072009-01-08T00:32:00.000-08:002009-01-08T00:50:50.076-08:00Six Degrees of Separation (1993)Stockard Channing = C+<br />I really don't understand why Channing got an Oscar nomination for this, to tell you the truth. Not that I don't like Channing; she's a fantastically gifted actress who worked wonders in The Business of Strangers, The West Wing and even Grease. But I don't understand the love or at least acclaim that this performance has received. Perhaps I don't get the movie, perhaps I don't get the performance; but I found Channing to be quite simply stagey and overly shrill. The only feeble defence I can put up for her is that the film is stagey and far too pretentious, or at least trying to hard to parody pretentious that it still ends up being the thing it tries to parody. Channing isn't asked to perform a character as much as she is a symbol of upper class phoniness.<br /><br />Donald Sutherland = C<br />Sutherland fairs only slightly worse than Channing in his role; which is a little bit more well defined than Channing's is, but it's a very stuffy character without any depth or detail to it. However, Sutherland aims for a more restrained performance than Channing does, but for whatever reason, he fails to achieve any nuance with that restraint. It's not to say that I don't love Sutherland, he's a supremely underrated actor who has been so since the 1970s. However, this performance should be one of his forgotten ones; it's not bad or anything. It's just not good.<br /><br />Will Smith = B<br />Smith gives the best performance in the film, which should more accurately be defined as the least dull in the film. Much like Jennifer Garner in Juno, this is because he's given the least hackneyed dialogue in the film. With the exception of his scenes with the above two actors and their characters, he's gifted with rather natural dialogue that he sells quite easily. His character is a little bit of a cipher, he's very hard to define and even by the end of the film we don't really know him, which isn't so much as a knock on Smith as it is, once more, on the script. However, Smith has brief moments where he lets his indelible charisma shine through, and this performance foreshadows his better work in the likes of Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.<br /><br />Overall Film Grade: C-Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-73825834835910673342009-01-04T22:20:00.000-08:002009-01-06T20:38:04.519-08:00Best Supporting Actress SurveyI have decided to take up Edward Copeland's open offer to continue on his annual Oscar survey; (see <a href="http://eddieonfilm.blogspot.com/2006/05/and-winners-are.html">here</a>, <a href="http://eddieonfilm.blogspot.com/2007/01/survey-results-part-2.html">here</a> and <a href="http://eddieonfilm.blogspot.com/2005/12/best-actor-survey-index.html">here</a>) for the ones from previous years. Continuing on what I see to be the pattern, I have decided to do a Best Supporting Actress Oscar survey. (It also helps that I have a personal interest in the category.)<br /><br />The rules of this survey as are follows:<br /><ol><li>You pick the <span style="font-weight: bold;">FIVE BEST </span>Best Supporting Actress Oscar performances that you consider to be the best to have won the award. Then, you also pick the <span style="font-weight: bold;">FIVE WORST </span>Best Supporting Actress performances to have won the award. You then rank them, from 1 to 5. 1 will receive 5 points, with each rank receiving one less point. (Note: These are more or less separate surveys run together; the points do not get counted together.)<br /></li><li>You then e-mail those choices to me at brookebrooks at gmail dot com. It would be a delight for those participating to comment on the performances in question and why you chose them, in as much length or brevity as you like. When I do the posts, I will corraborate all of the comments and integrate as many as I can into the post under each performance. If provided, names/pseudonyms and links will be added to the comments.<br /></li><li>You do this by February 10th, though I will extend this date if I feel it necessary to do so. I will streamline the posts at one a day, so that I will do the posts in groups rather than all at once (15 best, the rest of the best; 15 worst, the rest of the worst).<br /></li></ol> And that's how simple it is. I would also appreciate any word-of-mouth you can give this little survey; these things have been great back at Edward Copeland of Film, and I really want this to continue to be as much of a success as it has been in the past. So if you could link to it on your blog, or tell other film-minded people about it, I would be very, very indebted to you and you will be duly thanked in the final round-up.<br /><br />A list of all the winners, just in case you need some refreshing:<br /><br />1936 - Gale Sondergaard - Anthony Adverse<br />1937 - Alice Brady - In Old Chicago<br />1938 - Fay Bainter - Jezebel<br />1939 - Hattie McDaniel - Gone With The Wind<br />1940 - Jane Darwell - The Grapes of Wrath<br />1941 - Mary Astor - The Great Lie<br />1942 - Teresa Wright - Mrs. Miniver<br />1943 - Katina Paxinou - For Whom The Bell Tolls<br />1944 - Ethel Barrymore - None But The Lonely Heart<br />1945 - Anne Revere - National Velvet<br />1946 - Anne Baxter - The Razor's Edge<br />1947 - Celeste Holm - Gentleman's Agreement<br />1948 - Claire Trevor - Key Largo<br />1949 - Mercedes McCambridge - All The King's Men<br />1950 - Josephine Hull - Harvey<br />1951 - Kim Hunter - A Streetcar Named Desire<br />1952 - Gloria Grahame - The Bad and The Beautiful<br />1953 - Donna Reed - From Here To Eternity<br />1954 - Eva Marie Saint - On The Waterfront<br />1955 - Jo Van Fleet - East of Eden<br />1956 - Dorothy Malone - Written on the Wind<br />1957 - Miyoshi Umeki - Sayonara<br />1958 - Wendy Hiller - Separate Tables<br />1959 - Shelley Winters - The Diary of Anne Frank<br />1960 - Shirley Jones - Elmer Gantry<br />1961 - Rita Moreno - West Side Story<br />1962 - Patty Duke - The Miracle Worker<br />1963 - Margaret Rutherford - The V.I.P.s<br />1964 - Lila Kedrova - Zorba the Greek<br />1965 - Shelley Winters - A Patch of Blue<br />1966 - Sandy Dennis - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf<br />1967 - Estelle Parsons - Bonnie and Clyde<br />1968 - Ruth Gordon - Rosemary's Baby<br />1969 - Goldie Hawn - Cactus Flower<br />1970 - Helen Hayes - Airport<br />1971 - Cloris Leachman - The Last Picture Show<br />1972 - Eileen Heckart - Butterflies are Free<br />1973 - Tatum O'Neal - Paper Moon<br />1974 - Ingrid Bergman - Murder on the Orient Express<br />1975 - Lee Grant - Shampoo<br />1976 - Beatrice Straight - Network<br />1977 - Vanessa Redgrave - Julia<br />1978 - Maggie Smith - California Suite<br />1979 - Meryl Streep - Kramer vs. Kramer<br />1980 - Mary Steenburgen - Melvin and Howard<br />1981 - Maureen Stapleton - Reds<br />1982 - Jessica Lange - Tootsie<br />1983 - Linda Hunt - The Year of Living Dangerously<br />1984 - Peggy Ashcroft - A Passage to India<br />1985 - Anjelica Huston - Prizzi's Honor<br />1986 - Diane Wiest - Hannah and Her Sisters<br />1987 - Olympia Dukakis - Moonstruck<br />1988 - Geena Davis - The Accidental Tourist<br />1989 - Brenda Fricker - My Left Foot<br />1990 - Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost<br />1991 - Mercedes Ruehl - The Fisher King<br />1992 - Marisa Tomei - My Cousin Vinny<br />1993 - Anna Paquin - The Piano<br />1994 - Diane Wiest - Bullets Over Broadway<br />1995 - Mira Sorvino - Mighty Aphrodite<br />1996 - Juliette Binoche - The English Patient<br />1997 - Kim Basinger - L.A Confidential<br />1998 - Judi Dench - Shakespeare in Love<br />1999 - Angelina Jolie - Girl, Interrupted<br />2000 - Marcia Gay Harden - Pollock<br />2001 - Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind<br />2002 - Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago<br />2003 - Renee Zellweger - Cold Mountain<br />2004 - Cate Blanchett - The Aviator<br />2005 - Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener<br />2006 - Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls<br />2007 - Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton<br /><br />Happy surveying!Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-4908243280266069722009-01-04T21:11:00.001-08:002009-01-04T21:51:30.703-08:00SUPPORTING ACTRESS BLOG-A-THON: Natalie Portman as Leslie in My Blueberry Nights<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZ3O3S0ztQkCEWvcWLzL2NxkdJ-mjdDdO-d52L7g7DpRmLQ4fdBl2TjdSeArFVC6uV5EHvG-cjXUdtomVRxJNcGK1y0o47B00oxxP_Tyg287DIxDquHgWgOpg72ItFQhERugqaIj-ty4/s1600-h/myblueberrynights1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZ3O3S0ztQkCEWvcWLzL2NxkdJ-mjdDdO-d52L7g7DpRmLQ4fdBl2TjdSeArFVC6uV5EHvG-cjXUdtomVRxJNcGK1y0o47B00oxxP_Tyg287DIxDquHgWgOpg72ItFQhERugqaIj-ty4/s400/myblueberrynights1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287677693135444082" border="0" /></a><br />Film criticism is a subjective topic, which is why I find it so interesting. People get different things out of movies, directors and, in this case, performances. What one person sees in a performance, may not be the same thing that another sees in it. The same is true in terms of quality; where some people see a horrible performance, others see a thing of beauty, depth and clarity.<br /><br />Ironically, Natalie Portman's performance doesn't really fall into the area between that; she is one of the few parts of this movie that has been consistently praised. Which makes it kind of odd that it's getting none of attention at year's end. However; the movie is a thing of calm divisiveness. Nobody loves this movie, and nobody hates it. I fall into the 'sort of love' category, even though this is the 'least strong' of Wong Kar-Wai's films. (I just feel a little bit traitorish calling any of his films weakest.)<br /><br />Onto the point; Natalie Portman's performance in the role of Leslie is my favourite of hers, and she's had an underrated career with <span style="font-style: italic;">Leon, Closer </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Garden State</span> under her belt. But, this performance is all of the things I described above: A thing of a beauty, of depth, and of clarity.<br /><br />As a character, Leslie is a quiet mess. She's a gambler, with her cards held close to her chest. Excuse the pun. She has no big scenes, except maybe the confession scene, but Portman illuminates parts of her character with simple gestures, like the way she stands or even tilts her head and her line-reading of: "But always cut the cards." is my choice for the best line-reading of the year.<br /><br />To bring things full circle; Portman's performances is a thing of greatness to me because it touches me, it speaks to me. There's something about the character of Leslie, and how Portman interprets it, that makes me empathize. She's a bunch of contradictions; wanting to achieve but not wanting to compromise herself to get that; cynical but with enough core ideals that she's not flat, and much more overtly and to reuse the pun, to keep her cards close to her chest while bravely playing them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkWjDxYwkWUrrOYL0u73OaFkX-eJBVtOAcizCoxd8gi_k0pvm8eVJv_Tuoep2QoIoFnbqde3htkY2Yjvfd0HSGbCtOzRZKF-Wbtq54iFH0kRXbZSiJLRpsEINmzpwnqfEgo-uu-F4H14/s1600-h/ClassOf2008-poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkWjDxYwkWUrrOYL0u73OaFkX-eJBVtOAcizCoxd8gi_k0pvm8eVJv_Tuoep2QoIoFnbqde3htkY2Yjvfd0HSGbCtOzRZKF-Wbtq54iFH0kRXbZSiJLRpsEINmzpwnqfEgo-uu-F4H14/s400/ClassOf2008-poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287682913712271778" border="0" /></a>Come and see more performances at <a href="http://www.stinkylulu.blogspot.com">StinkyLulu's!</a>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-43594655152302864112009-01-03T22:43:00.000-08:002009-01-03T23:42:01.666-08:00SUPPORTING ACTRESS BLOG-A-THON: Sarah Brightman as Blind Mag in Repo! The Genetic Opera<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspa-lEwAsAoqbVbtGIm_lZqc5Q8XU11BFjFpul28qT1QzpL3ee9TRsCPGvu-C49KXF8qu19vlNw5Jnj-kd_51OX-jiirm_Xa6PWlD9S44heeUTAjCy0_Sb39Sxfj8qh7vUVUXZpRHyIM/s1600-h/repodvdforum2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspa-lEwAsAoqbVbtGIm_lZqc5Q8XU11BFjFpul28qT1QzpL3ee9TRsCPGvu-C49KXF8qu19vlNw5Jnj-kd_51OX-jiirm_Xa6PWlD9S44heeUTAjCy0_Sb39Sxfj8qh7vUVUXZpRHyIM/s400/repodvdforum2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287332766097639362" border="0" /></a>A few disclaimers before I go into why I chose this performance:<br /><ul><li>Repo! The Genetic Opera is not, by any means, a good or well-made movie. There's a very good reason why it was released practically nowhere: It sucks. It's a messy, shoddily made piece of trash that features a few decent-to-good performances from it's cast. If you can get it on DVD, I recommend just ignoring any bit that doesn't focus on Ms. Brightman.</li><li>I love Sarah Brightman. Her voice is one of the most unique, instantly recogniseable and gorgeous on this planet, and it doesn't hurt that she is one of the most beautiful people walking the earth right now. Both of these impact upon why I chose this performance.</li><li>This is a grand performance that could well go unnoticed without devotees like me.</li></ul>So, here I go.<br /><br />Brightman plays Blind Mag, an opera singer who is set for organ reposession and I can't really decipher any more of the plot than that. But it's hardly important, because Brightman is the shining spot in this mess of the film. If you haven't got it yet: This is not a good film. Unless you want to see Brightman, do not see this film.<br /><br />Brightman is good, perhaps even great in this role for several reasons. The first of these is obvious: She spends practically all of it singing. Brightman is an excellent vocalist, and she nails these songs with stunning ease; this is the woman who hit the high Es as Christine, remember. Still; the emotion and class she brings to songs such as "Chromaggia" and "At The Opera Tonight!" is to be admired.<br /><br />She also aligns herself physically to the role, and by that I mean that she moves naturally and looks natural. Here I must give note to the movie's best special effect: Blind Mag's robotic eyes. They really do look amazing and beautiful and Brightman's porcelain-esque face frames it neatly. Brightman also looks amazing in the role, not only in terms of her physical lokos, but her costume and make-up. I really shouldn't give her credit for this, but she manages to be the one vivid point among more shades of black, brown and red than I've ever seen.<br /><br />I find it hard to judge this along the standards of a normal performance, Brightman really doesn't have any chances to simply stand there and 'act'; she's almost always singing when she's onscreen and the movie is hardly calling for her to pull a Streep. But, the reason why I love it, and the reason why I'm doing a post on it for this blog-a-thon; is that she manages to be a truly unique part in a film that strives to be unique but ends up just being a pile of muck and disorder. And, even in some moments, she gives a palpably human and tragic layer to a character that should be so; but the film hardly allows her to act as such. Basically: Brightman works against the film to give a great performance, and I pray, I pray that this isn't her last venture onto celluloid.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_nMrTFXBhwAlxxrO0Rlx0CkuquSLzNHNI3qY8Kdd2Q4WAj1StYrcu6oe1M4inV8vyyXUxfynWkaap2u0vgNxgzErNQ3sLZqdQhqXUh2wXwwt4GJgXkbwyzJkCRp_suv1Nx-0E678DFY/s1600-h/ClassOf2008-poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_nMrTFXBhwAlxxrO0Rlx0CkuquSLzNHNI3qY8Kdd2Q4WAj1StYrcu6oe1M4inV8vyyXUxfynWkaap2u0vgNxgzErNQ3sLZqdQhqXUh2wXwwt4GJgXkbwyzJkCRp_suv1Nx-0E678DFY/s400/ClassOf2008-poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287340131820447458" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Go and see the other performances mentioned by bloggers at <a href="http://www.stinkylulu.blogspot.com">StinkyLulu's!</a></span>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-85157041009627434762008-12-30T03:45:00.002-08:002008-12-30T18:43:41.432-08:00The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)<span style="font-weight: bold;">Brad Pitt = <span style="font-style: italic;">B/B+</span></span>.<br />Brad Pitt has the most difficult role to navigate in the film; the title role. As such, he has a huge responsibility to make the character believable, which I think he succeeds in. Just to give you the scope of how difficult this must have been: He has to physically communicate the outer-age of his character while keeping his inner life suitably young. And even though there's no big moments for him, he provides a very plush wall for the other actors to bounce off of. I can't really find any real flaws with his performance, I must say that he is especially great in the last act where he may be overshadowed by his co-star, and I can't blame the monotony of the middle part of the film on him. Based on my limited viewing of the contenders, an Oscar nomination would not be amiss for him here.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cate Blanchett = <span style="font-style: italic;">A.</span></span><br />Let me say now that I am a fan of Cate Blanchett, but until this performance I wouldn't say that I was a huge fan, I felt she was amazing in Elizabeth, and has had moments of brilliance since but I would never call her a particularly amazing actress. But, this performance, while not being my favourite of hers, Elizabeth is still that milestone and she will never equal it, probably because she's a more experienced actress, it is the most unique performance that she's done so far. And, I'm horrified to see that she's being passed over for Oscar consideration. For the last hour, Blanchett carries the film and creates most of the heartbreak and emotional gravitas. But, even before that she is a captivating screen presence, and convinces with a character that's almost underwritten. There's just so much I can write about this performance, and that last hour may be one of her finest as an actress; I was just consistently amazed at how she lived in the character, physically, emotionally and with her voice. I must give special attention to her physical performance; her dancing is incredible and her voice; surely one of the best and most emotive in the business today, she is her generation's Lauren Bacall. Definitely a performance that will one day become legendary, and without seeing many of the contenders in this category, my favourite of the year.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Taraji P. Henson = <span style="font-style: italic;">B/B+.</span></span><br />Henson dazzles in her opening scenes and continues in the film with an aura of likeability. I place the blame on the writing here, she sort of plays like a stereotyped character, but she adds soul and reality to even that stereotype, and ably scales that obstacle. I blame the screenplay once more for not giving her a real exit scene, which would have completed her character arc quite nicely. Perhaps there was some reason for that, but I honestly can't see it. Henson has a difficult role to manage in that she's asked to provide very easy laughs and drama only some of the time, the movie seems like it doesn't know what to do with her. Still, I give Henson a lot of credit for pulling a character together from only occasional scenes, which she anchors with a warm homeliness and just a little dash of trademark sass. The performance seems slight for a nomination, but it's not exactly something I would object to.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tilda Swinton = <span style="font-style: italic;">B+</span></span><br />This role seems a little bit slight to place here, because many actors had larger roles than she, but she's significant enough to the plot for me to review the performance. And, it's Tilda Swinton; she's the most talented actress of her generation. Her performance in the movie is one of the rare few that gets an extended amount of time all at once. Her performance is fantastically subtle and nuanced, she conveys a great deal of amount of her character without being particularly forthright, she hints at the small inner tragedies and insecurities delightfully. As with any Swinton performance, there is beauty in the details; how she packs her cigarettes into her jacket when she first meets Benjamin, the small tea conversation, it's all in service of the character. But the biggest compliment I can give this performance is that it makes you wish that you could watch all of her and Benjamin's conversation rather than just the montage, even in this sometimes overlong movie. (For the record, there is not a five-second scene late in the game where Swinton delivers the worst line-reading of her career. There simply is not.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Notable Performances:</span><br />Julia Ormond - Makes the flash-forwards worthwhile. You can see flashes of her character outisde of the film. Once more; makes you wish it was just slightly about her.<br />Jared Harris - Vivid, if not particularly deep. Almost manages to make the whole seafaring part of the movie enjoyable.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Overall Film Grade: <span style="font-style: italic;">A-/B+</span></span>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-27989218249463775852008-12-26T04:59:00.000-08:002008-12-27T00:47:51.974-08:00sex, lies, and videotape (1989)<span style="font-weight: bold;">Andie Macdowell = <span style="font-style: italic;">B+</span></span><br />Now, this is not to say that Andie MacDowell is a talented actress by any stretch of the imagination; she's not. But, I think she gives a great performance in this movie, despite or perhaps because of her limitations as an actress. Anne is a mundane character, or at least I think she's written as such, and MacDowell is a rather mundane actress with an unspecific, wooden kind of charisma. So, this actress is rather a perfect fit for the character. Limited as MacDowell is, I will give her a tremendous amoutn of credit for guiding the audience through her two character shifts; before her video interview and after it. She makes them totally believable andn ot at all a stretch for this character. Still; I feel like I'm giving MacDowell a lot of credit for doing a serviceable performance of a great character, I can only wonder what a more talented actress might have done with the part, a young Julianne Moore, Linda Fiorentino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman or even Julia Roberts. I'll give MacDowell credit where it's due, though.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">James Spader = <span style="font-style: italic;">A</span></span><br />Is this the role that started Spader off on his chain of weird characters? And by chain, I mean Crash and Secretary. Which is more weird than many other actors put together. Anyway, this is really the kind of character that Spader excels at most. A lesser actor might possibly have played up the 'depravity' and made this character a kind of messed up, Norman Bates, kind of guy. However, Spader seems to empathize with his character and plays him as a human, he doesn't fall into the many pitfalls that he could have and creates Graham as a haracter that is plapably and ultimately real. I'm really going in circles with this, but it's a credit to Spader that his performance is so lived in and perfectly played that you can simply recognise it as a great performance, even if you can't describe exactly what makes it so.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Peter Gallagher = <span style="font-style: italic;">B-</span></span><br />How bad do you need to be in a movie to have your scenes stolen from you by Andie MacDowell? I kid, I kid; because Peter Gallagher isn't really bad in this movie. The only reason why his character reads as less of an achievement than the others in the film is because it's written as such; we're very rarely provided his perspective on things and the film skims over any big moments that John could have. Gallagher does very well with what he's given, and if I had a better understanding of the film, I'm sure he's quite perfectly representing something in particular, but I don't so I won't go into that. The one thing I count against him is that towards the end, he tends to demonize and simplify his charater a bit, the confrontation with John isn't really believable because of him, but Gallagher finds ground with this character again in his final scene and so I forgive him for it. A little bit. (As a side-note, because I can't mention this anywhere else, John has a single worst moment in the film when he punches Graham and an -awful- sound-byte makes it sound as though he's punched Graham down the stairs, rather than just onto the floor. It kind of takes you out of the scene, not that I'm blaming Peter Gallagher for that.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Laura San Giacomo = <span style="font-style: italic;">A</span></span><br />I really like Giacomo in this role, and it's sad that nobody capitalized on her vivacity and incisiveness after this film. (No, Just Shoot Me doesn't count. However much I like the show.) Giacomo has a heavy role in the film, she's the only character who really -does- anything, she catalyses the other characters and connects the links in the plot. She also acts the surrogate for the audience, it's mostly through her that we get an inside to all the lives and minds of these chaacters. However, my favourite achievement of Giacomo is that she does a reverse of what I love about many performances; she's not afraid to make her character likeable. That is to say, that I enjoy when actors don't make their characters particularly likeable and just play them straight. However, on paper, Cynthia is not a likeable character, but Giacomo makes her as such without seeming to strive to make her likeable. Major bonus points for the perfectly played video scene, all the little gestures and nuances in the performance mesh together to make it my favourite scene in the movie. (My personal best supporting actress of 1989, for the record.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Film Grade: <span style="font-style: italic;">B+</span></span>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-46984854119019072222008-12-23T19:59:00.000-08:002008-12-24T00:31:51.692-08:00Burn After Reading (2008)<span style="font-weight: bold;">George Clooney =</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> B+</span><br />The first of many performances in which the Coens have discerned the strengths of an actor and used them; and used them well. In Clooney's case it is his equal levels of charm, and in this case, smarm. However, one of Clooney's strengths that I hadn't seen before, even in his other Coen collaborations, is his gift for kooky and completely batshit crazy comedy. Nowhere is this more evident than his final scene, where he plays out the most hilarious mad scene of the year; deer in the headlights and all. He never quite disappears into the role, but that hardly matters in a role that was clearly tailormade for him; it's a riproaringly hilarious performance in a film full of them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brad Pitt = </span><span style="font-style: italic;">B+</span><br />Pitt is an actor I find to be both overrated and underrated at the same time; overrated because I don't find him to be anywhere near as attractive or as charming as his tabloid prominence would suggest, and underrated because he's a much better actor than people give him credit for. Without seeing <span style="font-style: italic;">The Curious Case of Benjamin Button</span>, I can call this my favourite of his performances ever. It's hardly a deep performance, but it's one that has a rich and detailed surface, and above that: It's a very intelligently comic performance of a very stupid and sweet character. To his immense credit, he doesn't try and make Chad seem smart in another way, this character is just plain stupid. And like Jennifer Tilly's inimitable performance in <span style="font-style: italic;">Bullets Over Broadway,</span> Pitt shows us what an achievement it is to play stupid in a performance with detail and nuance.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Frances McDormand =</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">A-</span><br />My favourite performance in the film, not by a long shot; but by a noticeable lead. McDormand's Linda is stupid in a way that is endearing and heartwarming. Not only that, but like the other performances in the film; this is a consummate comic achievement. Giving the Coens credit for what is a very funny character and script; the entirety of the Russian debacle cracks me up even a day after seeing the film for the second time; McDormand makes Linda so much more funnier than the script ever imagined her to be, I think. On top of that, McDormand's performance is full of little moments that speaks oodles of this woman's comic talent; both viewings of the movie, the phonecall, the car 'chase'. Move this movie up to a November release, and she would have cinched an Oscar nomination. (Speaking of which, can we exchange her <span style="font-style: italic;">North Country</span> nomination for this in the history books? Please?)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Malkovich =</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> C</span><br />Now we come to my least favourite performance of the bunch. I'm going to be blunt here, I don't like Malkovich as an actor, I don't think he's talented and although his specific brand of acting worked wonders in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dangerous Liaisons</span> and<span style="font-style: italic;"> Being John Malkovich,</span> it does not work all the time. His face is mysteriously inert, his line-readings far too forthright and his performance lacks any real depth. But, it works somewhat for the character that Malkovich doesn't aim for any comedy, instead counting on the script and narrative to provide the laughs. But, Malkovich is the weakest link in a hilarious cast. An extra point is taken away for being so far overshadowed by Tilda Swinton in the scenes they share.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tilda Swinton = </span><span style="font-style: italic;">B+/A-</span><br />I feel like this is a bit of favouritism; Swinton is the most talented actress of her generation. Bar none. The woman spins gold from straw, and when she's given gold, she spins whatever-is-better-than-gold from it. She's not handed a particularly funny role here, but her performance is hilarious in so many points. My favourite choice of hers is that she didn't aim to make her character sympathetic in any way; she's a 'cold stuck-up bitch' as the script calls her and we don't believe any different. Her deadpan style is hysterical in a way that Malkovich's is not; you get that she understands the gags and their meaning in a way that Malkovich simply doesn't. And, to borrow a term from Nick Davis, she completely 'Streeps' this performance; there's more moment-for-moment acting than the script ever imagined. Best moment: When she's asked to wait a day to see if she'll get divorced, she does this little movement with her head that I just giggled at. Overall; a great comic performance from an actress who doesn't do enough comedies.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Notable Performances:<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">JK Simmons - </span>Simmons is gifted with a very brief, but hilarious role around at the end of the second act and then closing the film; and brilliantly sums up the movie: "So what did we learn?" A very good turn around from his usual, admittedly decent, schtick on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Closer<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span>Overall Movie Grade: (A-)<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><br /></span>Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-35677497005323260452008-12-19T18:30:00.000-08:002008-12-19T20:58:20.144-08:00Pulp Fiction (1994)<span style="font-weight: bold;">John Travolta = <span style="font-style: italic;">B</span></span><br />Travolta fares better than Willis, perhaps due to an abundance of brilliant dialogue and a more interesting character but doesn't match up to his other two co-stars. The main obstacle which Travolta fails to overcome, as he fails to do in every single one of his performances except <span style="font-style: italic;">Hairspray </span>(and that performance has a whole other range of issues) is his monotonous, wooden voice. This is particularly glaring in the opening scenes, where every line is delivered with the same dazed speech and it sort of cuts his often inspired dialogue off at the knees. However, despite that, Travolta manages to be at the very least an ample springboard for his more able co-stars and reaches what I believe is his peak as an actor during the restaurant scene, which I credit more to Tarantino and Thurman than any input or innovation from Travolta himself. An adept, if flawed, performance from a flawed if occasionally adept actor.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Samuel L. Jackson = <span style="font-style: italic;">A-</span></span><br />In the years that have followed <span style="font-style: italic;">Pulp Fiction</span>, this performance is the one that Samuel L. Jackson has relied on for goodwill. And unless you've been sensory deprived for the last ten years, it's worked. Many of his performances, aside from his excellence in <span style="font-style: italic;">Black Snake Moan</span>, have been lame rehashes of this one (<span style="font-style: italic;">Snakes on a Plane, Afro Samurai</span>), sometimes toned down, occasionally dialed up and never with the same depth or aplomb that Jackson achieved here. It seems to be a little bit of a cliche to credit Tarantino with making this performance as great as it is, from both the standpoint of a director and a writer. However, a large part of the credit lies with Jackson, obviously; he has calibrated himself so finely to the material and the character that this isn't some lame creation of pulp fiction (no pun intended, shut up) but Jules Winfield is a fully realized creation that Jackson makes larger than life, inhabiting the movie even from the edge of the frame. My personal highlight here is the restaurant standoff; beautifully played, loud without being hammy and conveying what I can only describe as layers of coolness with characteristic style. Bonus points for actually using the dialogue he's given, unlike the actors above and below this paragraph.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bruce Willis = <span style="font-style: italic;">B-</span></span><br />Some of this may come from the fact that I simply do not like Bruce Willis that much; I mean, we all have actors or actresses that we find ourselves simply unable to like no matter what the role or performance. Bruce Willis is one of those performers. I may have misread the role or something like that, but I don't think that Willis adjusted his performance or his mannerisms to the film and it's style at all. He was stilted when he should have been expressive, overacting when he should have been more restrained. If I am misunderstanding the performance or the role, feel free to correct me; but Willis is merely adequate among a pitch-perfect cast, and I wish he shined throughout his whole performance as he does when he wields the katana, a rare stroke of genius for an actor who coasts too far on assumed charisma.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Uma Thurman = </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A-</span><br />And now we come to my favourite performance of the bunch, though Jackson is a very close second. Thurman commits her second best Tarantino character to film with this eccentric gangster wife; which is a performance I find very hard to describe and evaluate, but I'll try and do it anyway. Thurman's claim to fame as an actress, in my personal opinion, is a kind of offbeat charisma and persona that permeates into every one of her characters, from her legendary performance in Kill Bill to trash such as Paycheck; and it is rarely more effective than it is here. Interestingly, she delivers Tarantino's dialogue like it is dialogue, but that works for the character of Mia, trying to impress or work her way around a bewildered Vincent. Even more interestingly, she manages to dial down and dilute that eccentricity and charisma when she tells her corny joke, making it a surprisingly poignant moment in a film that plays at a frenetic speed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Other Notable Performances:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Amanda Plummer</span> - Plummer gets the film off to a great start with a hilarious switch from sweet and romantic to crazed with a few sides of wacko. She sets the audience up for this great film in an unforgettably unique way. (So good that it's done twice!) <br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Christopher Walken - </span>Walken ends up being another unique player in this film, adding equal shades of sadness and hilarious in a rather oddly placed scene.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rosanna Arquette </span>- Just as I dislike Willis for no real reason, I like Arquette for no real reason. One of many players that is counted upon to provide black comedy, but I like her brand more than some of the others, popping tension during the overdose scene with ease and managing to be shrill without being particularly offputting.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Harvey Keitel - </span>In one extended scene, Keitel rivals Jackson for 'coolness' factor, completely believable as a man who is sent to fix things. Something tells me taht maybe the character wasn't intended to be so deadpan, but regardless of whether it was or wasn't, Keitel achieves hilarity without being particularly comic.<br /><br />Overall Film Grade: A+Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388666144213294837.post-20978450184999813202008-12-19T18:26:00.000-08:002008-12-19T18:29:54.787-08:00The Performance Review: An IntroductionBasically, I decided that I write about the performances a lot in my reviews, so I've decided to create a blog dedicated solely to writing about the performances in any given movie I watch. Fun times! So stay tuned for several films each week as I make my way across them.<br /><br />First up, Pulp Fiction!Sam Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09456254953886041016noreply@blogger.com1