Hey Everyone!

Hey! So, I have a few announcments to make. The first and most important is I've decided to quit doing Best Supporting Actress 68. Why? Because I'm just having trouble being able to watch all the films in a fast way and the odds are that it'll take me too long again. And that all the films are checked out from the library or the library is closed, so....... So I've decided to do a Best Actor year, though I'm not sure what. If you have any requests tell me! And after that, I'll either do a Supporting year or continue with Leading (Again, any requests tell me). And I'll also be continuing with the Glee Meme, which hardly anyone comments on. Okay, I understand that when you comment on something that you haven't seen/don't know about , your comments are a bit boring but do it anyway! It feels great to get comments, they're the whole point of doing a post (At least for me), and when you comment on other people's blogs/follow, you get more comments that way! Plus, you don't even have to comment on the performance/film ect that the post is on, ask anything! I don't care if it's WAYYYYYYYY Off-topic, just do it! You can do just that in the comments below! So, comment away!

Best Actress 1968: The Resolution!

5. Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora: Isadora is a terrible film, but Redgrave plays Isadora Duncan superbly and always realistically. It's a performance I more respect then like, but she certainly is impressive.








4. Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl: Barbara Streisand's acting is sometimes lacking, but she comes out triumphant in the end, with a marvelous voice and amazing timing and presense.














3. Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel: Joanne Woodward gives a subtle, fascinating performance that grows and grows. She is able to keep her film from going into a mess and she's perfectly cast.








2. Patricia Neal in The Subject Was Roses: Patricia Neal gives a deep, devastating portrayal of a cold, and isolated/isolating woman. A haunting performance that everyone should get a chance to see (If you ever find it online, let me know!) .







1. Katharine Hepburn in The Lion In Winter: Katharine Hepburn is incredibly good and powerful as Eleanor, brining out all of the emotion in her.















What a great year! All of the nominees would have been worthy winners, though I wouldn't have been really happy if Redgrave won, since the other four gave stronger performances, but anyway, still a great year. The hardest part for me was deciding between Woodward and Streisand for the 3/4 spots, but in the end, I picked Woodward since I felt her performance had a stronger impact. It took me nearly a month to finish this year and I'm really sorry about that, but hopefully that won't happen again. But do you have any requests for the next year? I have a Supporting year in mind, but I'll take Leading and other Supporting suggestions as well.




My ranking of the nominated films:


1. The Lion In Winter


2. The Subject Was Roses

3. Funny Girl

4. Rachel, Rachel

5. Isadora

Best Actress 1968: Katharine Hepburn in The Lion In Winter

Katharine Hepburn received her 11th Oscar nomination and won (In a tie with Barbara Streisand) for playing Eleanor of Aqquantine, in The Lion In Winter.



The Lion in Winter is an overall excellent film, though it does get a bit ridiculous in a few scenes. But the acting is superb and Katharine Hepburn is fantastic in it. She shows Eleanor as a cruel and manipulative woman, but who has beaten down by long suffering. Her line delivery is simply fabulous: The script gives her the best, most delicious lines, and Hepburn nails all of them. She also shows all aspects of Eleanor: cruelty, deceitfullness, kindness (Yes, kindness), vulnerability, ect. She is great through out the whole film, but she is especially great during her famous scene in her tower room and the huge argument between her and O'Toole towards the end of the film. She and O'Toole work amazing together, both of them capture/disappear into they're characters so well, and you can really connect with they're relationship.



Katharine Hepburn gives a powerful, beautiful performance, which obviously gets

Best Actress 1968: Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel

Joanne Woodward received her 2nd Oscar nomination for playing Rachel Cameron in Rachel, Rachel. Rachel is a very sheltered person who still lives with her mother and is unable to connect to hardly anyone, especially herself. But when she starts to become closer to her friend (Estelle Parsons) and begins a romance with an old friend, her life begins to change, but not in the cliched way that these types of films usually to go.


Rachel, Rachel is a film that I originally found to be terrible and it's true, a lot of it is a misfire (Like the whole church scene, like what's that about?). In the beginning, I felt that Joanne Woodward was really bland and awkward, but I suppose that this is the point, since Rachel IS bland and awkward. But in retrospect, Woodward does a good job at showing how her character is so afraid of change, but she wants to be able to be more open in her life. Woodward does this all with her facial expressions and she is perfect.

The best thing about her performance is that she superbly handles Rachel's character development- She makes her build and build, and shows many facets of her character along the way, until we see who she really is inside. Her scenes with Estelle Parsons are excellent, very convincing as best friends, even better are the scenes with her mother, which are very sad.


Rachel Cameron is not an easy role to play, but Woodward was able to make her a fascinating character and delivered an outstanding performance.



P.S: I couldn't find a good enough picture for Woodward in Rachel, Rachel, so I just did one of her instead.

Best Actress 1968: Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl

Barbara Streisand received her first Oscar nomination (and won in a tie with K.H) for playing famous stage star Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.



Funny Girl is, as Malcolm said in his review of it, completely a star vechile for Barbara Streisand. Fanny is a difficult role, one that requires star presense and a marvelous voice and Barbara has both. She absouletly nails the comic requirements of the role,, though it gets annoying, but that is sometimes the point. She also is able to make us believe the romance between Fanny and Nick, despite the fact that Omar Shariff is miscast. Barbara does a terrific job of adding vulnerability and lack of confidence in Fanny, and every emotion she shows in her is genuine. She has great timing, both comic and dramatic and of course, her singing is great. "I'm The Greatest Star" is filled with a thrilling rush of emotion, and is brought to even greater heights in Don't Rain On My Parade, while she gives both "People' and "Funny Girl" just the right amount of desperation and longing.


But her performance isn't 100 % perfect though. After "Don't Rain On My Parade", Barbara's acting starts becoming a little amateur . She seems a bit off in the second half and as I said, amateurish. Also, the movie gets a lot worse in the second part as it goes down, it drags her along with it, in a way. You also get the feeling that Barbara sometimes relies too much on her star presense instead of actually acting. But Barbara still does a very good job in the 2nd part and she does get better towards the end, rising above the mediocre script, especially in the scene when she confronts Nick after two years being apart. And of course, her "My Man" is a brilliant scene, acted and sung perfectly by her. It's a hard performance to rate, but in the end Barbara does an outstanding job and is able to rise above her material and come out triumphant.

Patrcia Neal

Rest in Peace, Patricia Neal, You are a great actress. You were fantastic in Hud and brilliant in The Subject Was Roses as well. Again, rest in peace.

Best Actress 1968: Patricia Neal in The Subject Was Roses

Patricia Neal received her second Oscar nomination for playing Pat, a woman who's son has come home for war in The Subject Was Roses.


The Subject Was Roses is a great film, really underrated, well that's because it's so fucking hard to find! Honestly, I haven't been able to find it anywhere! And I've looked my hardest (mostly) at all the places I've been to! Anyway, Patricia Neal brings some of the earthiness to Pat that she brought to Alma in Hud, but Neal's performance her is even better then that. Pat is a very repressed and distant person, (though maybe some of her distance comes from the fact that her son has just come home after so long), but there is much more to her then meets the eye. Neal never lets us see all of Pat and that helps her performance quite a lot. In her face, we see generations of sadness and repression. She beautifully rips off layer after layer until we see who she is (Or at least enough after her) and she has many great moments, especially when her husband (Jack Albertson) brings her the roses and when they get into a fight after a night on the town. She is so haunting in the scene where she runs away, it's quite sad, and she never says a word through out the whole thing! Her monolugue when she comes home is a terrific moment as well.

Patricia Neal gives a brilliant, deeply layered performance which is quite haunting which gets

Note: I know I did Kate's profile earlier, but I decided to delete it and do Neal's instead because I didn't pay attention through out the whole thing and I was a bit disappointed by her and that might be because of the fact that I didn't pay attention to all of it and stopped it too much . So, Kate will be last instead.

Best Actress 1968: Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora

Vanessa Redgrave received her second Oscar nomination for playing Isadora Duncan, a controversial dancer with an out of control private life in Isadora.


Isadora is an extremely exhausting, and long movie which doesn't really work because it never tells it's story in a way that makes the story feel complete. Isadora Duncan is a selfish, annoying woman who is really unlikeable, but strangely, Vanessa Redgrave gives a superb performance despite being in a trainwreck of a movie. She pretty much plays multiple roles since the movie constantly flashes back and forth. Redgrave captures Isadora's free spirit and intelligence and how she treats her life as though it were a stage. Her best scenes, I think, are in the beginning, when Isadora is first starting out to be a dancer. Isadora catches people off guard with her unusual views and strange personality and Redgrave makes us see that Isadora is a fiery intelligent woman who does what she wants to do. She also is totally convincing as her older self, a washed up, unhinged woman who is very hard to control. She does show how Isadora is also a deeper person at times then she seems , like for example, when she has children, you can see she loves and cares about them deeply.


Vanessa Redgrave gives a superb, completely real performance which rises above her mediocre movie which gets


And I'm REALLY sorry about this huge delay which can be explained by one word: LAZINESS! I was bored and slacked off when I watched the film, but the fact that's it's so long added to my stalling of finally finishing it. Anyway, Kate's profile will hopefully be up tomorrow and I might do Neal after her, but I'll make one last try to find The Subject Was Roses before then.