2. Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadi Behrani in House Of Sand And Fog: Aghdashloo is heartbreaking and, like Hunter, anchors her film. Both she and Kingsly work great together and it's a very beautiful, and powerful performance.
3. Patricia Clarkson as Joy Burns in Pieces Of April: Fabulous work. Clarkson is funny, warm, and sad as a woman who is dying of cancer and is the best thing about Pieces Of April.
4. Marcia Gay-Harden as Celeste Boyle in Mystic River: Even better then her work in Pollock, in my opinion. The subtle intensity of her performance is haunting and she's able to really knock this role out of the park, which in the hands of other actress's, could have been bland or over the top.
5. Renee Zellweger as Ruby Thewes in Cold Mountain: Oh, Renee. You were so much better in Bridget Jones's Diary and Chicago. Zellweger's horribly over mannered performance is just too much and although she gives some life to the film, it just comes across as bad.
What do you think?
18 comments:
I really don't get the hype about Hunter. I thought she was fine, but I hardly think she needed an Oscar for it. Besides the end, I was underwhelmed with her too.
Clarkson was fine, and Zellweger was just terrible.
Aghdashloo and Harden were the only deserving nominees for me.
Well, I think Hunter really nailed it, but to each his own! What did you think of Aghdashloo?
Totally, like you said, anchors her movie. Honestly, it could be between her or Harden for me, both were pretty perfect.
I still love Ricci in Monster :)
I think this is a fantastic lineup. I wouldn't have minded Ricci getting in and her performance did have great moments especially the end! What did you think of Ben Kinglsy in House Of Sand And Fog?
Oh yeah! I love the part when she gives Aileen that look in the courtroom.
Ugh, I guess he's fine...I thought he was outshined by everyone else.
I thought he was good, but a little too stiff. I'll probably do the 2006 Best Supporting Actress race next. What's your Best Supporting Actress lineup for 2003? And your Best Actress lineup?
I haven't made up my mind on who I thought she have been nominated.
Tilda Swinton would have been a deserving nominee for Young Adam (in supporting) and Yekaterina Golubeva would have been a great leading nominee for Twentynine Palms.
Would you give Evan Rachel Wood a nomination? And Uma Thurman gets a lot of love for Kill Bill so what did you think of her? I haven't seen either of the Kill Bill movies.
Oh lord, I couldn't stand Wood's performance. I guess it was her character...but honestly she has yet to impress me.
Uma is fine for the movie, but a nomination for that would have been out of this world.
What's your choice for Best Picture of 2003? I know Mystic River is your choice from the nominees. I'd vote for Lost In Translation, closely followed by Mystic River.
The best movie of 2003 was The Dreamers :)
I need to see "Cold Mountain" again but I wasn't particularly blown away be Renee's performance (who I think is a good actress). I feel she only won because it was a makeup Oscar for losing the first two times she was nominated and it also probably helped she was the biggest name out of the five.
My vote would have gone to Shohreh and I was hoping for an upset that night.
Sara919: I agree! From what I've read, she was getting some last minute buzz which led some people to think that she might surprise, but sadly, it didn't happen. What did you think of the other nominees?
Very good performance by Hunter in a film I quite admired but can't say I want to see again
House of Sand & Fog was a very good showcase for acting
Not seen Pieces of April (but did see her other 'major' film of '03 - The Station Agent, which I certainly enjoyed)
Gay Harden is a very smart actress..she deserves better scripts and roles
Zellweger was pathetic in Cold Mountain - sometimes an OTT character can be a nice relief or abit of fun, this was neither - the only major actor who had a postive influence in Cold Mountain was Jude Law.
Interesting call on Twentynine Palms Sage - that is an interesting film...are you a fan of Dumont generally?
Would like to see The Dreamers again, I remember admiring the depiction sexuality and it's energy but didn't think it was perfect...but I do own it, so there's no excuse to not watch it again!
Lost in Translation is also my favorite from 2003:)
Burning Reels: See Pieces Of April! Clarkson is great! I completely agree with you about Jude Law, Kidman was just okay, and Zellweger went too over the top, but I thought she added some life to the movie, but as I said, it pretty bad overall. Glad that you like Lost In Translation too!
it's marcia, patricia and renee and shohreh. i know you all seem to love it, but i wasn't blow away in any way and i like cold mountain. i wasn't backing renee but i don't hate it. it's not even my least favourite win this decade.
Andrew: I didn't hate Cold Mountain, but I found it slow and boring. Renee isn't my least favorite of the decade because Conelly and Hudson are and yours too I believe? I want do a 2001 ranking, but I probably will have to rewatch both A Beautiful Mind and Gosford Park to do that.
Sure, Zellweger wasn't that good of a winner. But she sure as hell doesn't deserve a score THAT low. I mean, one-half of a star?! Seriously?! Even her performance deserves a score better than that.
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