oscarfan

Correction

2011-08-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

Due to problems, I deleted my blog that I just created and have made a new one again, lol: http://filmoscarsandmore.blogspot.com/

So, follow that one and enjoy!

Sad/ Happy news

2011-08-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! As these things usually go nowadays with my blogging, its been over a month since I've posted on here. It's been a repeating pattern for nearly a year, and I've realized you readers deserve explanation. The reasons why I have not been posting are because there were so many things I had to do in the school year, and because I had lost my motivation for blogging. The best Actress profiles simply wore me out. I thought that during the summer I'd be able to be more active, but clearly, I haven't been. The reasons for that are I have part-time summer job (Though it's a thinner excuse then the two other ones, because I would have had more then enough time with it to begin with(, laziness, and most importantly, I'm a singer, and I'm concentrating my energy on that right now , which is why I never had the time or the drive to commit to blogging this summer.

So, I have come to a decision that it's time to shut down this blog. I think that the blog was an amazing experience for me, I loved writing all the posts, coming up with all my ideas. I'd like to thank Andrew, who was the first person who ever commented on one of my posts. I'd also like to thank Sage, who was and is an inspiration for me, who I loved your comments on my work. And Twister, whose is always so nice and enthustatuic about my posts and my opinions. And Louis Morgan, who has always commented on my posts, even when it got to the end. And to Fritz, whose work I abouseletly love, and whose opinions I really respect, although sometimes disagree. And to Dinasztie, whose blog I loved from the start. It's been amazing being a part of our group together. I'll be sad to not posting anything on Oscarfan any more.

I suppose you're all wondering what the good news is. Firstly, I am not deleting my blog from the web. Too much fond memories and hard work are on here, and I know how much fun is to browse old posts (Anyone else agree with me?). So, Oscarfan is not leaving totally. Secondly, and most importantly, I am NOT retiring from the blogger world or leaving the amazing group we have in any sense of the word. Why? Because I've decided to create a new blog. A blog that will be very similiar to this, but very different at the same time. It;ll cover the oscars of course, but I also want to post just plain movie reviews, theatre reviews, articles, rankings, of anything else that'll come to mind. Why not just do this on here? Well, I could do that, but I think creating a new blog will revive my love of blogging, and it will be a new begining instead of just updating on here more frequently. I hope you'll follow me and i promise I'll commit. I don't know what will happen in the school year, but I promise whenever I can, to dedicate myself to that blog.

I'd like to thank everyone who has worked with me and inspired me on this blog, and although this is the end of Oscarfan, it is in no way the end of Joe Burns who will keep blogging with and for you in the blogger world. And expect new updates and posts soon at my new blog, http://oscarfanandmore.blogspot.com/

B.S.A.P: Mary Astor in The Great Lie (1941)

2011-06-29T22:51:00.000-07:00

Mary Astor received her 1st and only oscar nomination, and won for playing pianist Sandra Kovack in 1941's The Great Lie.

The Great Lie starts out terrific, with Bette Davis wonderful playing a young woman named Maggie who is in love with a man named Pete, who is married (Well, not legally) to famous concert pianist Sandra Kovack. Mary Astor is fabulous here, milking the rich, charismatic side of Sandra for all it's worth. She and Davis are terrific together in these scenes, showing their hate, yet respect for each other and their love for Pete. I also love her scenes where she is a pianist, unfortunately their not very elaborated on, but Astor make them grand and entertaining.

Unfortunately , the movie goes downhill when it is revealed that Sandra is pregnant, and Maggie , since it is believed that Pete is dead, wants the baby, for Pete's sake (No pun intended!, and will make sure Sandra is financially secure for the rest of her life. So, Maggie takes Sandra to a secluded cottage in Arizona, where she makes sure she is taking care of the baby and to keep an eye on Sandra. These scenes are the weakest and most unbelievable of the movie, and both actresses, despite trying hard to make the material work, are affected by it, and never recover. Astor's acting is still good, but a sour feeling of soapy melodrama hangs over her, which is unfortunate. Things improve though after it is revealed that Pete is really alive, because Sandra now wants the baby and Pete back. The material is still dreadful, but Astor is very fun to watch as she clashes with Davis.

So, Mary Astor gives a very entertaining and effective performance that adds to the film wonderfully at first, but falls down once the film took that awful plot twist. Still, a worthy winner. She gets

B.S.A.P: Peggy Ashcroft in A Passage To India (1984)

2011-06-13T19:55:00.001-07:00

Peggy Ashcroft received her first Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Mrs. Moore in A Passage To India. Mrs. Moore is an elderly woman who is traveling with her son's fiance (Judy Davis, my recent winner of Best Actress 1984), to meet her son and to see India. While there, she is disgusted by all the snobby English people around her and is appaled how they treat the people of India. She meets a young man named Doctor Asiaz, who she is enchanted by and he the same way.

As I've said, A Passage To India is a mixed movie for me. It's really lacking in the 2nd half, and it's not very engaging, but there's a lot of beauty and impressiveness about it too. Peggy Aschfroft's Oscar-winning performance is a big plus to the movie. She plays all her scenes with such dignity and strength, making Mrs. Moore an impressive, mysterious, and loveable character. She and Judy Davis work well together, though they don't really have correspond. Her scenes with Doctor Aziaz are terrific, both seem to have a lot of respect for each other, and their scenes have a special power to them that adds to the film. When they go into the cave, Ashcroft is able to convey her fears and the strange unsettling feeling that the echo in the cave gives her, it's very convincing. And there's another thing, Peggy Ashcroft completely disappears into this part, there's no sense of acting.

My only complaint would be that their some scenes with Judy Davis that don't really fit with the character, where's she's playing the "wise old lady". It doesn't feel true to the spirit of Mrs. Moore. Still, this is a great performance, whose presence is alive through the whole movie.

Best Supporting Actress Project

2011-06-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

As you might have read back in March, I decided to move on from Best Actress for now, and start covering the Best Supporting Actress category. But instead of covering it year by year, I'll instead cover two decades at a time, watching each winner from the decade. Like, if I did the 90's and the 60's first, I start with Diane Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway, and then I'd do Shirley Jones from Elmer Gantry, and then another 90's winner, then another 60's winner, ect, ect. I probably will rank all the performances at the end, probably in single-number sequence, but perhaps not, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'm so sorry for all the delays and empty promises that have been happening for the past nine months! I've just been so busy! It's been a hard year, but a rewarding one, and this summer, I'll make sure to do a lot of activity on here! And 1984 is FINALLY finished! Anyway, I'm extremely excited to begin this project and I hope you are too!

So, the first two decades I'll be covering are the 1980s and the 1940s! Hope you enjoy!

P.s: As for 2010, I think I'll wait until I get plenty of winners under my belt until I start it again, I want to focus on Best Supporting Actress

Ranking of Best Actress nominees and years so far

2011-06-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

1. 1974

2. 1969

3. 1968

4. 1976

5. 1988

6. 2006

7. 1977

8. 2002

9. 1993

10. 2003

11. 1984

1. Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven (2002)

2. Judi Dench in Notes On A Scandal (2006)

3. Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

4. Liv Ullman in Face To Face (1976)

5. Katharine Hepburn in The Lion In Winter (1968)

6. Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)

7. Kate Winslet in Little Children (2006)

8. Holly Hunter In The Piano (1993)

9. Diane Keaton in Annie Hall (1977)

10. Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)

11. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasions (1988)

12. Faye Dunaway in Network (1976)

13. Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo

14. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

15. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

16. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

17. Patrcia Neal in The Subject Was Roses (1968)

18. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

19. Valerie Perrine in Lenny (1974)

20. Genenieve Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days (1969)

21. Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel (1968)

22. Jane Fonda in Julia (1977)

23. Jodie Foster in The Accused (1988)

24. Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969)

25. Meryl Streep in A Cry In The Dark (1988)

26. Diahaan Carol in Claudine (1974)

27. Angela Basset in What's Love Got To Do With It? (1993)

28. Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl (1968)

29. Renee Zellweger in Chicago (2002)

30. Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending (1969)

31. Diane Lane in Unfaithful (2002)

32. Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora (1968)

33. Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl (1977)

34. Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give (2003)

35. Penelope Cruz in Volver (2006)

36. Emma Thompson in The Remains Of The Day (1993)

37. Judy Davis in A Passage To India (1984)

38. Marie Christine-Barrault in Cousin, Cousine (1976)

39. Signourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist (1988)

40. Helen Mirren in The Queen (2006)

41. Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point (1977)

42. Naomi Watts in 21 Grams (2003)

43. Jessica Lange in Country (1984)

44. Nicole Kidman in The Hours (2002

45. Keisha Castle Hughes in Whale Rider (2003)

46. Sally Field in Places In The Heart (1984)

47. Shirley Maclaine in The Turning Point (1977)

48. Samantha Morton in In America (2003)

49. Vanessa Redgrave in The Bostonians (1984)

50. Debra Winger in Shadowlands (1993)

51. Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988)

52. Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation (1993)

53. Sissy Spacek in The River (1984)

54. Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)

55. Salma Hayek in Frida (2002)

Best Actress 1984: The Resolution!

2011-06-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

5. Sissy Spacek in The River: Besides some very brief moments of depth, Sissy Spacek is a dud in this awful, extremely odd film. All she's saddled with is the boring part of a wife who just lives for her family and she fails to spark up the role miserably.

4. Vanessa Redgrave in The Bostonians: Though she has a few good moments, this performance is nothing special and the role is so limited that it becomes confusing. What did the academy or Redgrave herself see in this film?

3. Sally Field in Places In The Heart: Sally Field gives a very good, but inconsistent performance, on one hand, she does a good job of making us feel who Edna is and for her situation and some of her moments are terrific, but on the other hand, she never goes far enough with the part, not putting enough energy or going deep enough into the character. But she's stuck in a sentimental, confusing film, and I give her a lot of credit for trying.

2. Jessica Lange in Country: Lange has a very one dimensional part, but unlike Spacek, actually tries and surprisingly completely succeeds in commanding the screen with her performance. It's not perfect since the role really isn't interesting enough to become great, but Lange is great to watch.

1. Judy Davis in A Passage To India: My heart said Jessica, but my head said Davis, and I went with the latter. As with nearly all the performances this year, Davis's character is not that interesting, still, Davis gives a subtle, extremely strong performance that hits it's peak during the court scenes, where Davis shows how excellent of an actress she can be.

Wow, a year that is as weak as it looks! None of these performances except for maybe Davis, measure up to the usual standard that I expect from the Oscars and although they make some strange nominee choices (Talia Shire, Stockard Channing, Debra Winger), I think that they could have chosen better then this.

My ranking of the nominated films:

1. Country
2. A Passage To India
3. Places In The Heart
4. The Bostonians
5. The River

Best Actress 1984: Vanessa Redgrave in The Bostonians

2011-06-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

Vanessa Redgrave received her fourth Oscar nomination for playing Olive Chancellor, an overly controlling woman who is a member of a woman's rights society, and has taken a young woman named Verena Tarant (Madeline Porter), who is an extremely gifted speaker, under her wing, but seems to control her every move, and becomes extremely jealous and angry when Verena and her cousin (Christopher Reeve) begin a relationship.

The Bostonians was a film I found odd and tiresome at first, thought it grew on me, mostly due to Madeline Porter, who should have received an Oscar nomination for her performance. She was fantastic. But the movie is nothing very special, and the same goes for Vanessa Redgrave. I felt she was terrific in Isadora, though the film was a mess, but her role is very limited here and Redgrave just doesn't have a strong enough part. I'm pretty sure her character is supposed to be in love with Verena, and a problem with her performance is that I don't think Redgrave did a strong enough job showing her love for Verena. The love was more obesseive, and I know love is obessive, but it felt to me that it would have been better if Redgrave had portrayed her love for Porter more romanticly instead of obessively. Vanessa does do a good job of showing her anger and fear of losing Verena to her cousin, she plays it with a powrful subtlety that reminds me of Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasons, not nearly as good though. Her scenes with Porter are also good, but Porter steals and overshadows her performance so much that I just didn't care that much about her. That basically sums up my feelings about her, she has some strong moments, but it never takes off and her part is too limited to really become great. She gets

Open thread! #2

2011-06-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

Summer at last!!!! I promise I'll finish Best Actress 1984 this weekend! PROMISE!!!!!! Since it's summer, they'll be WAYYYYYYYYYYY more free time, so expect more on this blog, even though I do have a summer job, but it's only two to three days a week, and it isn't extremely demanding, so there definetely will be more stuff coming along. But what? Here's my topic:

Do you want me to a Best Supporting Actress project like I said? Or do you want me to do more Best Actress profiles, specifically finish 2010? Or do you have any other ideas?

Open Thread and a little note

2011-05-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

Given none of you commented on the first post, I've decided to try to do another open thread, which is when anybody can talk about anything you want to, and I want a really long one! Discuss, debate, ask questions! ! And I'm asking you to PLEASE, PLEASE comment on this one! Look, I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to be very active on this blog for nearly a year now, and the reason is that I have so much to do, give being in school, and being involved in drama at my high school. It's a demanding commitment, and frankly, we all have our own lives to live as well as doing this blog. The reason why I wanted/want to an open thread is to get the feeling of excitement back into blogging again and having an engaging conversation on here about anything you want, as long as it's not too personal. So, please join in! And I promise that during the summer, I'll be more committed to blogging. And I'm still planning on doing a Best Supporting Actress project, so that will be what I'm doing in the summer, which isn't that far away!

Best Actress 1984: Jessica Lange in Country

2011-04-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Jessica Lange received her third Oscar nomination for playing Jewell Ivy, a a woman who is struggling to keep her farm from foreclosure and to hold her family together (Yes, the third one in this category) in Country.

Country is actually surprisingly good. It might be something you've seen before, but it's well made and well-written for the most part and the acting is pretty good. I'd say it's worth seeing. But it's Jessica Lange we're talking about here and she does do a good job in the part. Country and the role of Jewell Ivy is very similar to The River and Sissy Spacek's role, but Jessica Lange's acting skills and the fact that Country is a much better movie help Jessica elevate the roles into something pretty good. In the beginning, the character of Jewell is pretty two-dimensional, simply a woman who seems to live for her husband, her kids, and her family, but Lange plays it so well she seems to override the fact that her part is underwritten. She has a certain radiance to her that sparks up the movie, and it's really her that's doing the lifting here, which leads me to a problem. Sam Shepard is very mediocre, and neither actors have much presence or chemistry on screen together, but I don't blame Jessica to much, because at least she put in an effort to make they're scenes work. Another problem is that her big scenes are played a little melodramatic and fake.

But during the 2nd half of the film, Jewell's character gets some development and here's where Lange really succeeds, making us feel her struggles and carrying her scenes with strength and dignity. If only the film story had been a little more exciting or interesting the performance would have been great all the way through. But still, Jessica Lange delivers a strong, competent performance that could have been flat and boring and is able to standout in a flawed, but very good film. She gets

Best Actress 1984: Judy Davis in A Passage To India

2011-04-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

Judy Davis received her first Oscar nomination for playing Adela Questad, an engaged woman traveling with her future mother-in law Ms. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft) in A Passage To India.

A Passage To India is a movie that is mixed for me, on the one hand, it's beautifully made and the acting is overall great. My father is a huge fan of the novel, and he says that it's a good story, but it's really how it's written that makes the book so good. I myself haven't read the book, but I can see how that could be true. The story often lacks that special spark that can really make an engaging, absorbing movie. But it's still worth seeing. Anyway, Judy Davis plays Adela Questad, a young woman who is engaged to the city magistrate of a city in India, and is rather bored by all the stuffy, english people who are making a living/taking over the country, and is slowly starting to see how appalling the British, her own people, are to to the Indians, and is starting to realize she doesn't really love her future-husband at all. in these scenes, Davis does a terrific job of subtly developing this character. She doesn't say much, but Davis does do very well in showing a change in her character, and her scenes with the doctor Aziaz are excellent, as are her scenes with her fiancee, and with doctor Aziaz.. Her scenes with Ms. Moore though are often stealed by Ashcroft, though Davis still is able to do a good job,maybe it's because Adela is not a very showy character.

During the 2nd half though, her performance changes. She accuses the doctor of raping her in they're expedition in the caves, and she disappears from the movie for a little while, until the trial. Her scenes here are fantastic, she really gives her all to these scenes, powerfully showing her guilt and fear, and eventual shame. Her testimony in the courtroom is brilliantly executed by her. And her performance continues to be overall strong throughout the rest of the film.

But my issue here is that the role of Adela Questad is underwhelming, we've seen this character before, and although Davis is up to the part, she's never amazing except during the court scenes. And also I found Adela' character arc somewhat frustrating: Why does she disappear from the 2nd half for like 20 minutes or so? Why doesn't the movie clearly address why she accused the doctor (Spoiler Alert!)if he wasn't guilty? I think the whole 2nd half could have been much better executed. Still, Judy Davis excels with her part, and is able to give an excellent performance in the end. I give her a solid

Best Actress 1984: Sissy Spacek in The River

2011-03-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Sissy Spcek received her third Oscar nomination for playing Mae Garvie, a woman who is in financial and marital troubles with her husband Tom Garvey (Mel Gibson) in The River.

The River is a well made, at times beautiful (Imagery-wise) movie, but is very boring, and like Places In The Heart, has little point to it. Some good moments, but a lot of it didn't make sense to me, partly because I spaced out in parts. But anyway, Sissy Spacek plays Mae Garvey, a woman with two children living in a very poor, town in the middle of nowhere. She loves her husband, she takes care of the kids, and is under a lot of stress due to the fact that they might have to sell they're land. And basically, this all of Sissy's performance. Mae is such a one-dimensional, dull role that any actress could have played, and despite the fact that Sissy is well cast, she adds nothing special to this part. But really, no actress could make a great performance out of this part, so I don't really blame her, but she could have tried harder to make it memorable and really work against her clunker of a movie, but unfortunately Sissy never does that. But she does have some moments of beautiful subtlety that help her performance. Her facial expressions are sometimes quite impressive, Sissy did know how to get across certain feelings to the audience . Her best scene is when her husband's enemy is making a move on her, and she pushes him away, saying that they ended up with the spouses they have. She plays it just right, and makes us see that maybe Mae had wanted a better life, and this is probably the only thing Sissy shows in Mae, apart from being a loyal wife to her husband and kids. Which leads me to the fact that she and Mel Gibson have zero chemistry, I never believed that they loved each other, and they''re scenes are mostly boring, just like pretty much all of the movie. But their scene together in a hotel after they haven't seen one another for about a month (due to that he worked on a mine because they can't get any other job) is pretty good, and as I've said, Sissy's face shines with emotion here. but it's ruined by the fact we see nothing much from her, except that she's a loyal housewife. This also ruins a scene where her daughter's
favorite cow has just died, and she, crying, tells them she tried her hardest to save them, but as I've said, it's ruined by the fact that Mae is such a caricature.
Sissy Spacek may have a couple good moments, but mostly she is boring, and un-believable, trapped in a mediocre movie. She gets

Best Actress 1984: Sally Field in Places In The Heart

2011-03-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Sally Field received her 2nd Oscar nomination and won her 2nd Oscar for playing Edna Spalding, a widow during the mid-depression struggling to make ends meet, in Places In The Heart.

First of all, I'd like to point out some strange similiarities between Field and another two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank: Both won they're first Oscars on they're first nominations for performances that are largely considered some of the best Oscar-winning performances in this category in both 9-digit number years (Field in 79 for Norma Rae, and Swank in 99 for Boys Don't Cry), and both received they're only 2nd nominations and won for performances that are considered mediocre and undesrving, and both won in 4-digit number years, both five years after they're first wins (Field in 84 for Places In The Heart and Swank in 04 for Million Dollar Baby). And neither have gotten another Oscar nomination since. Weird isn't it? I know I read about this somewhere , but I caught on to most of these myself.

Anyway, Places In The Heart is a movie I hated at first, but now my feelings have changed. It's not really terrible, but it's very boring and there really is no point in making this movie. It says nothing, it's not entertaining, sure, there's some good moments, but really it's nothing special. And the ending still makes no sense to me. Sally Field as I said, plays Edna Spalding, and surprisingly, her performance wasn't as bad as I thought it was the first time. She's actually very good in many scenes. In the beginning, Field does a good job of showing Edna's grief for her husband, and she does create a character out of Edna. She makes us know Edna does not know how to live the kind of life she has to lead after her husband's death, but finds the determination inside to accomplish her goal of being able to keep her house and making her children happy. Her best moment is when John Malkovich is asking her what she looks like: It's a powerful moment, and Field plays it wonderfully. Another great moment is when she, after both John Malkovich and the man Moses tell her there is no hope to her i business idea about her cotton planting, snaps at them and tells them that she WILL make sure the business works. You suddenly see the fire and life she brought so well to Norma Rae five years previously. But this performance never is great though, she's very good, but Field does not put enough life or energy into Edna, and sometimes I felt she played her too naive, or meek. Some of her moments are also a bit flat and unconvincing.

But I can't really blame Field for not being up to giving a great performance. She tried the best she could I guess, but the film is very mediocre, and she can't save it. Still, this performance is good, but not Oscar-worthy. She gets

Best Actress 1984

2011-03-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

Given how frustrated I am about not posting nearly anything and how slow my Rabbit Hole link is going, I've decided to put Best Actress 2010 on hold until April , and instead start another Best Actress year.

The next Best Actress year (and perhaps final Best Actress year I'll be doing before my B.SA project begin) that I'll be doing a profile/ranking on is 1984 and the nominees were:

Judy Davis in Passage To India

Sally Field in Places Of Heart

Jessica Lange in Country

Vanessa Redgrave in The Bostonians

Sissy Spacek in The River

I chose this year because, like 1994, it is considered extremely weak, but unlike, 1994, none of the nominees are ever really discussed, besides Sally Field, and ocasionally Judy Davis. Anyway, who are you rooting for? What's your ranking/predictions?

Best Suupporting Actress project

2011-03-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I'm just gonna publish this now, since my links to Rabbit Hole are going too slow right now, and I'm dying to post SOMETHING. So, I've decided to, after I'm done with a couple more Best Actress years, to try to see all of the Best Supporting Actress winners and do a ranking of them, like Fritz is doing right now with the Best Picture winners and Sage has done in the past. I've decided on Best Supporting Actress because I've seen very few winners, I need to re-watch the winners I've already seen, and despite the fact it would be fun to a Best Actress ranking like this, I like doing the profiles for that category more. Which is why I'm still going to continue doing them, yes, even when I'm trying to watch all of these movies. See, I'll publish reviews of some of the winner's performances to keep things going and to give you an idea of what my ranking will be, but not all, because that would defeat the purpose of doing the ranking. So, I'll still continue with my Best Actress profiles, but I probably will try to choose years where one of the nominees or the winner is from the same film as a Supporting Actress winner.

So, here are the winners I've seen so far, though,as I said, I will rewatch them all:

1939: Hatte MacDaniel in Gone With The Wind

1951: Kim Hunter in A Streetcar Named Desire

1954: Eva Marie Saint in On The Watefront

1957: Miyoshi Umeki in Sayonara (Though I haven't seen her in the context of the movie)

1960: Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry

1961: Rita Moreno in West Side Story

1962: Patty Duke in The Miracle Work

1966: Sandy Denniss in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?

1967: Estelle Parsons in Bonnie And Clyde

1968: Ruth Gordon in Rosemary's Baby (Though not in context of the film)

1971: Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show

1972: Eileen Heckhart in Butterflies Are Free

1974: Ingrid Bergman in Murder On The Orient Express (Though YEARS ago, so don't remember her)

1975: Lee Grant in Shampoo (Though not in context of the film)

1976: Beatrice Straight in Network

1977: Vanessa Redgrave in Julia

1982: Jessica Lange in Tootsie

1985: Anjelica Huston in Prizzi's Honor (Though not in context of film)

1986: Dianne Weist in Hannah And Her Sisters

1987: Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck

1990: Whooi Goldberg in Ghost

1992: Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny

1993: Anna Paquin in The Piano

1994: Diane Weist in Bullets Over Broadway

1995: Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite

1996: Juliette Binoche in The English Patient '

1997: Kim Basinger in L.A Confidential

1998: Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love

1999: Angelina Jole in Girl Interrupted

2000: Judi Dench in Shakespeare In Love

2001: Jenniffer Conelly in A Beautiful Mind

2002: Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago

2003: Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain

2004: Cate Blanchett in the Aviator

2005: Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener

2006: Jenniffer Hudson in Dreamgirls

2007: Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton

2008: Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barecelona

2009: Monique in Precious

2010: Melissa Leo in The Fighter

So, that's it! Any requests for performances you want me to see first? Any Best Actress years requests?

Help!/Open Thread

2011-03-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

As you've probably noticed, I've been going slow on here again. Anyway, I wouldn't be if I could find a link to Rabbit Hole. It left my movie theatre, and the site I usualy watch movies on the internet is strangely updated, so I can't seem to watch it, without having to upload or pay to sign up for the links it gives me. I'm waiting on an email I sent asking for one, but if anyone has a link right now, tell me! If I can't find one, I might delay Best Actress 2010 till April, which is when Rabbit Hole comes out. It's your choice, really:
Do you have a link to Rabbit Hole so I won't have to delay? Or if not, would you rather me continue with B.A 2010 with Lawrence's profile and then delay Kidman's profile and the ranking till April? Or I could just delay all the unfinished aspects of B.A 2010 till April, and do some other Best Actress years I have in mind. I have to admit the latter one is tempting. I really want to do some other Best Actress years.

Anyway, how have you been? Are you sad the Oscars are over? Talk to me about ANYTHING! This is a semi-open thread. I'm willing to talk!

Oscar Results: My thoughts

2011-02-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, it's over. I'm sad, but it wasn't too exciting of a year, so I'm not as crushed as I am for some. Anyway, I'm fine with The King's Speech winning Best Picture, though I need to see it again, and I'm happy for Portman, and Baale. Leo's swearing was a bit rude, and her speech is phony, but really , is she really that bad of a person for doing it? No. It was weird, but not deserving of all this hate. Anyway,Oscar season is over, but not for us, of course. It'll go on forever. Best Actress 2010 will be finished this week, and a new project may be coming up soon as well, once I take a look at it.

Oscar Predictions

2011-02-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

So, it's the final day! Oscar season is nearly over.n I have to say I think 2010 was a good year. Much better then last year. I'm reallly sorry I've been sooooooooo slowwwwwwww this year, on my B.A profiles and on regular posts. I've just been loaded with a ton of stuff since September. Anyway, I'm planning to try harder! Here's my predictions:

Best Picture: The King's Speech is on a roll and i feel it'll win. I personally really liked it, but I need to rewatch the film soon, more for Firth's performance then anything else. The Social network stil has a chance, but I somehow don't see it. I personally would hate to see it win. I understand why The king's Speech's frontrunenr status angers a lot of people, but I think it's a worthy film. So, Will Win: TKS Should Win: TKS (Though I haven't seen Inception, or 127 Hours yet)

Best Director: This is harder to call then BP. Tom Hooper won the DGA, which makes him a very, very possible winner. David Fincher though will probably win, because he won the BAFTA, which is huge, since The King's Speech is a british film, that swept several other awards, but couldn't win Director. plus, the academy will want to honor The Social Network, besides Screenplay, and Fincher is much more overdue then Fincher. Will Win: Fincher Should Win: Darren Arfonsky, his direction was fantastic, despite the over the top special effects at the end!

Best Actor: Colin Firth is the biggest lock here, because he's overdue, lost last year, and has swept all the precursors. Early, early, on, James Franco was the runnerup, but Firth is now a total lock. Will Win: Firth. Should win: As I've said, I need to see Firth again. I found Jesse Eisenberg pretty good in retrospect, but i haven't seen the others, so I really am undecided here.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman is still the hot favorite, and the only thing really going against her is that Black Swan didn't do as well on the nomination tally as most thought, which could help Benning, who is overdue, but I think that that wasn't played up as well as it could have been this season and Bening just lost too much of her momentum to Natalie. I guess if they split, Lawrence could pull an Adrien Brody, but it's unlikely, and Williams and Kidman don't have much of a chance here. Will Win: Portman. Should win: I'm in the process of deciding that! Expect Kidman's profile by today!

Best Supporting Actor: Thoug Rush did win the BAFTA, I don't think he'll win the oscar. Bale is too big of a favorite to lose. i'll be happy to see him win. Will Win: Bale. Should win: I wouldn't mind if Bale, Hawkes, or Rush won, they were all fantastic. But in the end, it's Rush who I'd pick, though he's really a lead in my opinion.

Best Supporting Actress: Leo was the clear favorite for much of this race, but it was always somewhat open, and now that she put that add up, it is unpredictable. Steinfeld has been gaining speed, but hopefully she won't win, although it would be cool,I guess, since she's so young, But I don't think it will be her. HBC has been getting a lot of bets as well, and although she has a chance, I feel that she won't win either. Her performance isn't very Oscar-worthy, and The King's Speech will no doubt be honored in other places. I know this might sound stupid, but I really have a gut-feeling it'll be Jackie Weaver. Look at the facts: It seems to be a juicy role, but more importantly, it parallels the 2000 B.S.A race in not all, but some crucial ways: Hudson was the favorite, but seemed to lose speed (Leo), Dench won the SAG for a performance which wasn't considered that great (Helena), Frances McDormand split the vote with Hudson (Adams), and then Marcia wasn't considered much of a threat, but won anyway, and I just think that'll happen to Jackie Weaver. Will Win: I know it's silly, but Weaver! Should Win: Ironically, I've seen everyone but Weaver, and though I need to see Leo again, I really felt Adams gave the best job. A badly written part in some ways, but gives it the sould it needs and puts a lot of life into the movie. But my hope is that she'll get a lead role/win in the future, which may be possible, since she's supposd to play Janis Joplin!

Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech will win this one, unless Inception pulls an upset, but I think the academy will favor TKS instead. Will Win: The King's Speech Should win: The King;s Speech, though I haven't seen Inception or Another Year yet.

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network is a sure thing,unless the impossible happens like last year when Up In The Air lost to Precious.If that happens, then I guess Toy Story 3 will surprise? Will Win: TSN Should Win: TSN, I didn't care for it very much, but it had a brilliant, if annoying script.

So, there it is! I know Best Supporting Actress could be wrong, but I'm confident about the rest!

Best Actress 2010: Natalie Portman in Black Swan

2011-02-26T16:06:00.000-08:00

Natalie Portman received her 2nd Oscar nomination and is currently the frontrunner to win the Oscar tomorrow tonight for her performance as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.

The first time I saw Black Swan was over two months ago. I found it to be great, though not perfect. This time, I found it wonderfully directed, but about I don't like. Maybe it's because it's more of a vechicle for Portman who doesn't disappoint.

Nina is a very frigid, nervous person who has been isolated from everyone her entire life, presumably (More on that later). But she has great ambition as a dancer and when she finally gets the part of the Swan Queen, she is thrilled. But her insecurities start to takke toll and the film begins to plunge straight within her disturbed, paranoid mind. Throughout the whole film, the camera is focused on Nina, which is sort of strange, but actually is very effective and this really helps Natalie's performance. It is very subtle work, and so much of Natalie's expressions are facial. She remarkably shows how Nina develops, how happy she is when sge gets the part (A great moment!), how tightly wound she is, how she starts to realize she wants to escape the life she leads with her mother, ect. Natalie Portman is an actress who was terrible in the last two Stars Wars movie (Don't remember much of her in the first one), but here she excels in creating a unique character that goes from being incredibly trapped within herself to getting high on drugs and having sex with men she doesn't know.

The ending of the movie is rather campy and unbelievable for my taste, but Portman plays it with riveting strength and disturbing, yet breathtaking beauty. A fantastic performance which gets

Best Actress 2010: Annette Benning in The Kid's All Right

2011-02-24T23:04:00.000-08:00

Annette Benning received her 4th Oscar nomination for playing Nic, a lesbian doctor who feels that her family is falling apart due to her children's discovery of they're sperm donor, Paul (Mark Ruffalo) .

I've now seen The Kids Are All Right three times, and the first I found it good, the 2nd time bad, and the third time, good, but flawed in a lot of respects. It's flawed because the script is trying to tell us that people have natural urges.feelings but it comes across as random and just doesn't work. Paul, Lazer (the son), and Joni (the daughter) are all rather one-dimensional, though the actors try they're best.

Which leads me to Annette Benning. Her performance has been very mixed with me, but now I have some newfound respect and admiration for her work. First of all, the most impressive thing about it is that bshe puts so much energy and effort into her performance. Nic is a very talkative character, and Benning has so much presence on screen. One thing that worked with me that didn't before was she and Julianne Moore. They're chemistry is fantastic, both are believable as a couple, and they're scenes are the best in the movie. During the middle of the film, Benning subtly shows Nic's need for control, and how angry she is that Paul is seeming to be taking control of her life. She also does great in her humorous scenes too. But her best moment is when she is singing at the dinner table: We're finally seeing her let loose, and Benning nails this scene.

The problem with Benning's performance is that though she tries her absolute best, the material just doesn't give her a strong enough character. It could have been amazing, if only the script had given her a more three-dimensional character. It's like the scrript is a box entrapping Benning inside: She's pushing with all her might to get out, but she just can't. Julianne Moore though gets a more developed character and and is able to be excellent as well. Both could have been amazing with a much better movie. But I still find her extremely impressive, but I just can't really love it. She gets

Best Actress 2010: Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine

2011-02-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

Michelle Williams received her 2nd Oscar nomination for playing Cindy, a depressed, beautiful, selfish person stuck in a bad marriage.

Blue Valentine is a unique, well made film that is worth seeing due to, as I said, it's uniqueness and the fact it features two excellent perfotrmances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

Michelle Williams gives a very subtle, natural performance that is quite impressive. She uses her face and body movement to convey her feelings, whether they may be. She shows us that Cindy is a selfish, rather bitter person who only thinks of herself in most situations, but is still sympathetic given the fact that she is often trapped in bad relationships and can never seem to be liked for anything except her body. She completely disappears into her character, which is a huge acheivement because this role could have been terribly obvious. She has many extremely emotional moments, my favorite being the one where she is in the process geting an abortion. It's shattering, and sad, and revreals a lot about the character. Her chemistry with Ryan Gosling is fantastic as well, they just work so well together. But I had a problem with this performance and it's just that her character never seems to take off. No doubt there is a character varc, but the script doesn't give her enough dialogue mainly or character work to make Cindy a really interesting character.

But Williams still delivers a comletely realistic, and brilliantly done performance that was certainly worthy of it's nomination. I give her

Best Actress 2010

2011-02-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

The next year I'll be doing a ranking/profile on is this year, 2010, and the nominees are:

Annette Benning in The Kids Are All Right

Nicole KIdman in Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence in Winters Bone

Natalie Portman in Black Swan

Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine

So who will be my choice? Will they lineup with the winner, or the frontrunner? Who are you rooting for?

Ranking of the nominees and years so far

2011-02-08T10:27:00.001-08:00

1. 1974

2. 1969

3. 1968

4. 1976

5. 1988

6. 2006

7. 1977

8. 2002

9. 1993

10. 2003

1. Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven (2002)

2. Judi Dench in Notes On A Scandal (2006)

3. Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

4. Liv Ullman in Face To Face (1976)

5. Katharine Hepburn in The Lion In Winter (1968)

6. Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)

7. Kate Winslet in Little Children (2006)

8. Holly Hunter In The Piano (1993)

9. Diane Keaton in Annie Hall (1977)

10. Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)

11. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasions (1988)

12. Faye Dunaway in Network (1976)

13. Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo

14. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

15. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

16. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

17. Patrcia Neal in The Subject Was Roses (1968)

18. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

19. Valerie Perrine in Lenny (1974)

20. Genenieve Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days (1969)

21. Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel (1968)

22. Jane Fonda in Julia (1977)

23. Jodie Foster in The Accused (1988)

24. Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969)

25. Meryl Streep in A Cry In The Dark (1988)

26. Diahaan Carol in Claudine (1974)

27. Angela Basset in What's Love Got To Do With It? (1993)

28. Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl (1968)

29. Renee Zellweger in Chicago (2002)

30. Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending (1969)

31. Diane Lane in Unfaithful (2002)

32. Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora (1968)

33. Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl (1977)

34. Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give (2003)

35. Penelope Cruz in Volver (2006)

36. Emma Thompson in The Remains Of The Day (1993)

37. Marie Christine-Barrault in Cousin, Cousine (1976)

38. Signourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist (1988)

39. Helen Mirren in The Queen (2006)

40. Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point (1977)

41. Naomi Watts in 21 Grams (2003)

42. Keisha Castle Hughes in Whale Rider (2003)

43. Nicole Kidman in The Hours (2002)

44. Shirley Maclaine in The Turning Point (1977)

45. Samantha Morton in In America (2003)

46. Debra Winger in Shadowlands (1993)

47. Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988)

48. Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation (1993)

49. Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)

50. Salma Hayek in Frida (2002)

Best Actress 1977: The Results

2011-02-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

5. Shirley Maclaine in The Turning Point: Shirley Maclaine is excellent at first, but as the movie becomes a mess, her performance weakens and is just okay, sometimes verging on annoying or simply "Shirley Maclaine'' style.

4. Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point: Anne Bancroft's role is really supporting, but she still is able to deliver an excellent performance of an extremely interesting character. The movie might put a stick in her ability to give a great performance, but she makes Emma an incredibly bitchy and interesting character.

3. Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl: Marsha Mason delivers a wonderful, very funny performance that brightens up the film and has fantastic chemistry with Richard Dreyfuss. A few flaws, but wonderful all the same.

2. Jane Fonda in Julia: Jane Fonda gives one of her best that I've seen. She adds depth, beauty, and overall greatness to Lillian Hellman and is impressive all the way through.

1. Diane Keaton in Annie Hall: Diane Keaton gives a luminous, funny, completely natural performance that is comic gold. A memorable and perfect comedy performance.

A very good year, but a bit weaker then I expected. Still, Diane is the best, closely followed by Jane. It really could have been either of them, I wouldn't have minded. Marsha was great, though not as quite as good as Fonda and Diane. As for Anne, I think she should have nominated and I think she should have won there too, since the nominees I've seen from Oscar's lineup so far are disappointing, but I';ll have to see the other two to decide for sure. And Shirley wasn't worthy of a nomination, but that's the film's fault. Gosh, The Turning Point was terrible! Anyway, I've already decided on the next year and it's not that big of a surprise what it is. Any guesses?

My ranking of the nominated films:

1. Annie Hall

2. Julia

3. The Goodbye Girl

4. The Turning Point

Best Actress 1977: Jane Fonda in Julia

2011-02-05T22:18:00.000-08:00

Jane Fonda received her third Oscar nomination for playing famous playwright Lillian Hellman in Julia.

Julia is an intelligent, beautifully made film that I really enjoyed. It is about Lillian Hellman, a playwright, who has a lifelong friendship with a woman named Julia (Vanessa Redgrave). But they seem to have lost touch over the years, because Lillian decided to become a playwright and go to America, while Julia prefered to stay in Europe, fighting against the Nazi movement. The film is basically about how they both move further and further away from each other, and how Lillian is affected by her friend's choices over the years.

As I've said, Jane Fonda plays Lillian, and she does so wonderfully. Fonda makes Lillian a very real person, someone who is very intelligent and sophisticated, yet is naive about what is going on in Europe and Julia's situations . Fonda lets us know that Lillian really cares about Julia and is more and more saddened each time they see each other. Fonda also shows a lot of different sides to Lillian, such as the fact that she is easily angered or frustrated, and can be tough on others. One of her best moments is the cafe scene with Vanessa Redgrave. Redgrave may be the more interesting character in the scene, yet Fonda is remarkable in showing how Lillian reacts to what Julia tells her. And the way she looks back at her right before she leaves is amazing. Fonda completely controls this movie, and she does so such confidence, and excellent delivery. Plus, I don't think I've ever seen her in a movie where she is more beautiful then she is here, in some moments she's simply gorgeous.

The only slight issue I have is that the script doesn't develop the friendship between them enough. I knew they were isolated from each other for years, but I simply wanted more. I also found it unbelievable(SPOILER ALERT) that Lillian would have agreed to raise Julia's baby, just like that. I simply didn't believe it.

But this is more of a complaint about the film, and it doesn't change the fact that Fonda gave a fantastic performance, that is one of her best, which gets

Hey everyone!

2011-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Hey, I'm REALLY sorry about the massive delays that are happening on this blog, and they've been happening for a while. But I will have more time soon. I just have a harder school year then I did last year and it's finals week, so I don't have too much time. But 77 will soon be finished and a reviews of some new Oscar contenders, plus predictions about who will be nominated are coming soon....

But how are YOU? Do you have any questions? Anything you won't talk about? I'd love to have a conversation on here, it doesn't matter if there are like 30 comments on here. In fact the more the better!

By the way, you know how on facebook where you can send messages to other users? Is there something like that on blogger? Please tell me!

Golden Globe predictions

2011-01-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

Since the Golden Globes are today, I've decided to makke my prdictions:

Best Motion Picture Drama: I'll predict The Social Network since after winning the BFCA on Friday, it has all the momentum. But I wouldn't be surprised at all if The King's Speech surprises, given the Globe's love it, or perhaps The Fighter could pull a surprise upset. But I'll stick with The Social Network...

Will Win: The Social Network

Should win: The King's Speech (Though the only other one I have seen out of these is Black Swan)

Best Motion Picture musical or comedy: I'll say The Kids Are All Right, but who knows? This is an odd category to predikct.

Will Win: The Kids Are All Right

Should win: Burlesque (I've seen both Burlesque and The Kids Are All Right, and I thought Burlesque was indeed better)

Best Director: I'm confident David Fincher will win, Tom Hooper and David O. Russel lack buzz, and Fincher is overdue.

Will Win: David Fincher

Should win: Darren Arfonsky

Best Actor in a motion Picture Drama: Collin Firth certainly, I'm pretty sure.

Will Win: Collin Firth

Should win: Collin Firth (Haven't seen the others).

Best Actor in a muusical or Comedy: Gee, this is hard, I'll say Kevin Spacey. This category has gone to WTF places in the past couple years, and I just read he never won the globe.

Will Win: Spacey

Should win: Haven't seen any

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama: Natalie should be winning here, and if she does then her frontrunner status is assured. But I think Nicole Kidman has a really good chance at surprising, though it might seem unlikely. The globes love her, and she hasn't been in the spotlight in a long time. But Portman will probably win.

Will Win: Natalie Portman

Should win: Nicole Kidman

Best Actress in a musial or comedy:

Will win: Annete is said to be a sure thing, and I think she'll still win, but if she loses, her chance of winning is unlikely. She's lost a lot of momentum to Natalie, and she'll need a win here, and a good speech to get her chances of winning up. Who's the spoiler? Julianne could win, but it's not likely. My hope is that Emma Stone will surprise, and I think she might have a shot, but I think Annnete will triumph.
Will Win: Annete Benning

Should Win: Emma Stone:

Best Screenplay: The Social Network is the frontrunner, but The King's Speech could win as well. But the globes usually go with Adapted Screen[plays here.

Will Win: The Social Network

Should win: The King's Speech

Your thoughts?

Best Actress 1977: Diane Keaton in Annie Hall

2011-01-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

Diane Keaton received her first Oscar nomination and won for playing Annie Hall in Annie Hall. Annie meets Alvy Singer (Woody Allen), a neurotic-comedian who she falls for. They begin a beautiful, funny romance that might not work out in the end, but it is truly wonderful to watch.

Annie Hall has always been a favorite of mine, I just love the way it's directed, and written. The screenplay is golden, though Woody's character is pretty insufferable, which is the one problem I have with the movie, but more on that later. Diane Keatoin plays Annie, an odd, sort of social outcast young woman who meets Alvy on a sort of double-date with her friend and his friend. In the beginning, Diane Keaton is simply wonderful. She's natural, luminous, funny, and a joy to watch. She shows us Annie's fears, her passions, her shyness at first., her hope that Alvy might be the right guy. Her delivery is perfect, and she's just so real here. This performance has many great moments, her la de da, the scene in they're apartment, her singing, which is lovely. Diane Keaton also develops the character wonderfully too. She starts to let the audience see that she is starting to realize they're relationship won't work out because Alvy simply cannot change. Annie starts becoming more comfortable around people, and starts to try new things, and become her own person, and Diane nails all of this. Her break-up scene with Alvy might be a bit calculated, but Diane still plays it perfectly. THe chemistry between them is fantastic.

But one problem might be that although Diane does a great job developing the character, I think she could have been given a bit more to do. I think the film focuses too much on Alvy, and they should have given Keaton a little more to do too. But this is only a minor complaint because Diane Keaton still delievers a beautiful, natural, enjoyable performance that gets

Best Actress 1977: Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point

2010-12-28T22:27:00.000-08:00

Anne Bancroft received her fourth Oscar nomination for playing Emma Jackline in The Turning Point. Emma is a famous ballerina, who has been dancing in the company for 38 years. Years ago, she and her friend Dedee (Shirley Maclaine) were competing for the same part. Since Dedee got pregnant, Emma landed the part and became a huge star, but her life feels empty, and now that she is getting older, her stardom is going down.

The role of Emma is really a supporting one, the leading nomination is just weird, but I guess she was such a great actress, they couldn't deny her the leading nomination. Anyway, that didn't bother me. I was already prepared for the fact that she has small screen time. That isn't a problem really in her performance. Anne Bancroft does a wonderful job here, making Emma the most interesting thing in the movie. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, since she is starting to realize that she is too old for the very best parts in ballet. Anne shows us that she is a sad woman, knowing that she could have had a life with meaning, like her friend did, and not a life with just success. I felt all her scenes with Shirley were excellent, but a problem is that these two do not seem like old friends at all. I mean, they seem like each other, but best friends? The script really should have developed they're relationship more. I also thought it was so stupid how we never actually saw either of them dance. I know we saw a bit of Emma dancing, but this woman is supposed to have been dancing for nearly her whole life, she's supposed to be amazing. I might have seen more of that had she been given more dancing scenes. And although this probably should have been in Shirley's profile, but WHY did we never see Shirley dance? Throughout the whole film, we here that Dedee was a great dancer too, but we never see her dance. NEVER.

But these are more complaints about the film then about Anne's performance. The onlly real problem with her is that there should have been more character development. I just wanted more. But Anne Bancroft really gives a very good performance here, and for this , she gets

Best Actress 1977: Shirley Maclaine in The Turning Point

2010-12-28T16:19:00.000-08:00

Shirley Maclaine received her fourth Oscar nomination for playing Dedee, in The Turning Point. Dedee was once an extremely talented dancer in a refined dancing company, both she and her best friend Emma (Anne Bancroft). When both Emma and Dedee were auditioning for a major ballet role, Dedee got pregnant and she decided to have the baby and raise a family, while Emma got the part and became a huge star. 38 years later, they meet again. Dedee's daughter jooins the same dance company they both were in, and starts to climb her way to the top, prompting Dedee to think about her daughter's future, and the fact that she never became a star.

When The Turning Point begins, it is a an entertaining, interesting story. It really brings up our choices when we are young and how they affect us when we're older. The dancing is beautiful to watch, and I personally was excited to see how both Emma and Dedee's relationship would develop. Shirley Maclaine is wonderful here, showing us that she regrets how her life ended up and that she is afraid that her daughter will end up hurt or disappointed. Shirley has a captivating presence in these scenes, that are just beautiful. But when her daughter moves to New York, the air seems to come out of the movie and this damages both the film and everyone's performance. The movie is trying to focus on Leslie Brown exclusively, and sort of drops Shirley's character development. There are never really any good scenes afterwards, and when she has an affair, it seems so random and unbelievable. She picks up more steam in the end, I like her scene at the ballet with her old director, asking him whether if she had not gotten pregnant, had she had been picked for the role instead of Emma. Her arguement in the restaurant is also pretty good, but her fight outside is too screechy, and ridiculous, I personally felt that Anne Bancroft outshined her here, though I should rewatch the scene just to be sure. But she does have a lovely moment at the end, when she looks at her daughter, surrounded by admirers, getting the fame that she herself did not get, but Shirley shows us that Dedee is radiant with happiness about her daughter's success. But this is ruined due to the incredibly dumb ending scene with her and Anne Bancroft, which is glib and unbelievable.

Shirley Maclaine tries her best to get a strong performance out of this movie, and she does in some ways, but the awfulness of the screenplay drag her down until the badness of her performance overshadows what's good about it. She gets

The 80th Oscars, a look back: Part 2

2010-12-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem was the biggest lock that year, and everyone knew he'd win. The only possible spoiler was Hal Hoolbrook, due to sentiment, but I honestly feel that the Academy didn't like Into The Wild enough to give it an award. The other nominees never got enough buzz at all. I myself was dissapointed by Bardem's win, just because I hate sure-things, and because his performance didn't seem that great to me. It wasn't when I saw it two years later. Tom Wilikinson is my pick, but I should see/rewatch all of these nominees.

Best Supporting Actress: The years most unpredictable race, beating Best Actress. Everyone had a chance, except for Saorise Ronan.

At first, it was Ryan vs. Blanchett. Ryan had won all the critics awards, and received raves, but Cate had won her share of critics awards too, and the fact that she had convincingly pulled of playing Bob Dylan received great word of mouth. Cate had also won the globe too, which helped her chances. But on SAG night, when the Best Supporting Actress envelope was opened, neither of their names were in it. Ruby Dee won, for her short, yet memorable performance in American Gangster. People started to realize that she had quite a lot of sentiment,going for her, and the Academy easily could reward a veteran.

But what counted against all three of these women was that they're films weren't well received at all by the Academy. One's who was was Tilda Swinton. She had been a sure-bet for a nominee, yet no one ever really touted her as a winner. But she pulled a huge surprise by winning the BAFTA, and this led some pundits to predict her, spotting that Michael Clayton really didn't have much chance of a win anywhere else. This and the fact she gave a great performance tipped the odds in her favor, though in the actual voting, I bet it was a close race between her, Ryan, and Blanchett. I was rooting for Ronan at the time, and was totally shocked when Alan Arkin read Tilda's name I was predicting a win for Amy Ryan. When I saw Gone Baby Gone after the Oscars, I personally felt that Ryan's performance was more impressive, but Tilda is an extremely deserving winner. \

I loved her speech by the way!

Best Original Screenplay: Juno won, and it was a pretty sure thing. Everyone raved about the screenplay, plus it was the only way to honor Juno. It's only competition came from Michael Clayton, a terrific script, that in retrospect, probably should have won, though The Savages was great too. I was rooting for Juno at the time, and though I don't like it as much as I used to, I still think it's a worthy winner here. I felt the script did a great job of developing all the characters in the film and it was a pretty entertaining story . And some of that dialogue is really memorable.

Best Adapted Screenplay: No Country won here as well, this was an easy category to predict. Usually, though not always, the Best Picture winner picks up a Screenplay award. Diving Bell And The Butterfly and There Will be Blood were strong contenders too, but I suppose the academy really loved No Country.

My preference is Away From Her, a beautiful screenplay, and a great movie.

Overall, this was a good year for movies, not my favorite, but a good year none the less. But nearly all the winners didn't deserve it, at least to me. I personallly feel that 2006 and 2008 were better years for film, and I think I'll cover the 2008-2009 oscars next.

What werre your feelings/predictions then? What do you think now?

The 80th Oscars, a look back: Part 1

2010-12-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

Since Oscar season is coming up, I felt that we should take a look back at the Oscars three years ago, a much different Oscar year then this or last year. Let's try to remember how we felt about the nominees and who we wanted to win and what we think of them now. I'm only going to do the first 4 out of the major 8 categories and the next 4 tomorrow.

Best Picture: No Country For Old Men won this year, sadly. It was a pretty sure thing, having won all the main precursor awards, and given that the Coen's were overdue. There Will Be Blood was buzzed about, and many now call it a masterpiece. I personally liked it, but felt it was flawed. It was too dark and offbeat for the academy, I think. Juno had a chance, given that it was the highest grossing film of the five, and was an upbeat comedy, but comedies rarely win, they probably figured the screenplay win was enough. Michael Clayton never got enough momentum to ever pull off a win, and Atonement's buzz really faded before the nominations came out, so it had no chance either.

I personally was rooting for Juno with all of my heart at the time, and was disappointed, but not surprised when it lost. I had seen it five times, and loved it when it came out. Now, I've rewatched it and found it okay, but not really oscar-worthy. I loved Michael Clayton, loved the 1str half of Atonement, was disappointed by the 2nd half. About a year or two ago, I saw No Country, I didn't really like it. It was just alright. Not that strong of a year, but perhaps I'll rewatch in the future.

Best Director: The Coen brothers won, though they're win wasn't as locked up, given Julian Schnabel was a strong compepitor as well. I need to rewatch here, plus I haven't seen Diving Bell, but I don't really want too.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis was a sure thing. George Clooney was once a major compepitor, but Day-Lewis was just on a roll. I was rooting for Depp at the time,, but now I just don't know. I still haven't seen Tommy Lee or Viggo Mortensen.

Best Actress: Here was the most exciting category for me. I was rooting for Ellen Page, I totally wanted her to win. I was so heartbroken when she didn't. My hopes were too high, I suppose.

I was right though in predicting that Julie Christie would lose. I thought the film was too little seen, and I think that might have been a factor. When I first saw it, I didn't think she was that great, but I just didn't how to judge subtle acting then, and was angry about her beating Ellen Page at all the precursors that year. I really underestimated Marion, I just thought a foreign language performance wouldn't win. When I saw her, I didn't like her, but my sister said I was being unfair, so I sort of talked myself into liking her. As for Blanchett, I actually thought she was great, but the film was terrible. I saw Linney afterwards, and I really liked her! And she's grown on me since! But as you can probably see, I really need to rewatch all of the nominees before I can defintely say who should have won.

Part 2 will come soon! But what were your thoughts this year, and what are your thoughts on this year looking back on it now?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T14:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you have a happy Holliday!

True Grit and Winter's Bone reviews

2010-12-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

True Grit: I didn't really expect much from this movie and I actually thought it was alright. Well made, and entertaining, but nothing Oscar-worthy, and it had a ridiculous story towards the end. Jeff Bridges was okay, but all he really did was mumble and act tough. He had some pretty good moments, but as I say, this isn't oscar-worthy. Matt Damon was actually funny and entertaining, a nomination for him would be deserved. It's pretty ridiculous though, that Hailee Steinfeld is being campaigned in Supporting, she's in every scene, basically! But her performance wasn't that great, it feels annoying, and she only excels in the last 20 minutes or so. So, an entertaining film that is worth a see, just nothing amazing.

Winter's Bone: This is a movie I was really looking forward to. It's about a girl (Jeniffer Lawrence) who's father goes missing, and she has to find him, either dead (Preferably) or alive. This movie and Frozen River have a lot a lot in common. They are both about people living at the edges of society and have to use they're bravery to make things better. They're also pretty realistic in how they're made. But I personally prefered Frozen River because the heroine is more likable and I got a lot more out of the story then this one. As I've said, it's pretty real and well made/written, but I really didn't get anything out of the story. Jeniffer Lawrence was okay, in fact, very good in a lot of scenes, but she's also pretty bad in others, with her sassy attitude, plus her rather wearing accent. I plan on re-watching some of her key scenes though, ones I thought were good, but I could see the acting in them. I think John Hawkes was really good though. He should be nominated. A good effort, but it just never really affected me.

Have you seen either of these? If you have, tell me your thoughts!

And unfortunately, I can't do a B.A 1977 profile in a while, because I want to save Diane for later, and the library's closed for the hollidays, so I can't check out Julia or The Turning Point yet.

Oscar predictions part 2

2010-12-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

Now that the critics awards are rolling in, the odds have changed, though we still have no clear frontrunners yet in certain races.

Best Picture: The Scocial Network really has been sweeping these awards, and it will no doubt be a top contender. I haven't seen The King's Speech yet, but I doubt it will win, unless it's AMAZING. Usually, period pieces don't win, unless they're on the level of The English Patient, and this movie doesn't look like it is. But I'll decide when I see it. The Fighter is looking more and more to me like a strong possibility as an upset, but we'll have to wait till the Globes plus the B.F.CA to see.

Best Director: David Fincher , along with The Social Network, have been taking home all the awards, and I have a feeling that he could win, but his film does not get Best Picture. But it's still to early to say.

Best Actor: I just checked a precursor chart from an Oscar site that I follow and Collin Firth is in the lead, though James Franco is close behind, and Jesse Einberg in The Social Network as well. I still think Collin will win, but Franco is a serious threat. His performance got great word of mouth, plus he's an actor who's been very active these past couple years. Einberg is probably too young, though I still haven't seen the movie.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman's chances are increasing, but I'm afraid that Benning is still a threat, given her overdue status, and also if Sandra Bullock could build momentum out of nowwhere last year, anyone could. Lawrence will be nominated, probably, but I doubt she can win, though I still haven't seen her, UGH! I have it in my living room, but still haven't watched it. Nicole Kidman is a solid bet, but her chances of winning are very slim, though the role is quite interesting. I just read the play last week, and it was really good, though a bit bare. I wonder how they'll adapt to film. As for the last slot, I'm still unsure about. Neither Swank or Berry are going to make it, I think they're SAG/GLOBE nominations were just star-power. I'm going to say MIchelle Williams will get it for Blue Valentine . She's a hardworking actress, and the film looks wonderful.

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale will get nominated for The Fighter and he'll probably win too. Geoffrey Rush (The KIng's Speech) and Andrew Garfiel (The Social Network) will also get nominated, I think.

Best Supporting Actress: HBC, and the two Fighter ladies are in, but the other two slots are mysteries. I'll say Mila Kunis, (Black Swan) and Hailee Steinfelt will get in.

What are your thoughts? Have you seen any Oscar movies lately?

Best Actress 1977: Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl

2010-12-21T23:12:00.000-08:00

Marsha Mason received her 2nd oscar nomination forf playing Paula in The Goodbye Girl. Paula lives with her 10-year old daughter ( Quinn Cummings), and has just been walked out on by her boyfriend. She is so depressed, and frustrated with her life, and before she knows it, an actor by the name of Elliot Garfield (Richard Dreyfuss)knocks on the door, telling her that her ex-boyfriend rented the apartment to him. Given that she has no choice in the matter and that he has the decency not to call a lawyer, they both compromise, deciding to share the apartment. It's unbearable at first, but sooner or later, they begin to fall in love.

In the beginning, Marsha Mason does a fantastic job: She's believable, funny, and loveable. She could have made this character stale and boring like all the other roles like this, but instead she chooses to play Paula in a tougher, stronger way that makes the performance so strong. Both she and Richard Dreyfuss have brilliant chemistry, they never make one wrong move in making they're relationship believable. But there are problems in her performance, that is both her fault and the films. Marsha Mason is engaging, funny, and completely enjoyable in the first half while Richard Dreyfuss is alright, but annoying and over the top. But as they start falling for each other, it reverses. Marsha Mason is still wonderful, but during some moments, I really felt I could see the acting. It's not that it's bad acting, it's not obvious in a bad way. it's still delivered perfectly, but it felt obvious, on the other hand, Dreyfuss is able to be funny, but also really natural. Also, the movie starts to become predictable, and I really wanted there to be more development, things got too rushed. Especially the ending. It seemed so unbelievable to me. And I think that Quinn Cummings should have been given more material to work with, but that's the script's fault and it doesn't really affect Marsha's performance.

But Marsha Mason still delivers an excellent, entertaining performance that along with Dreyfuss, makes the movie worth seeing. She gets

Black Swan review

2010-12-17T20:58:00.000-08:00

After seeing both Requiem For A Dream and The Wrestler, I never thought I'd see something more gruesome or harrowing. Well, The Wrestler isn't that harrowing, but it sure is gruesome. Anyway after seeing Black Swan today, I have.

It is about a ballerina named Nina (Natalie Portman), who is a complete shut-in: She shows no real emotion, and is shut in inside herself. It's really her mother's fault (Barbara Hershey, who is quite good) who not only pushed her, but kept her feeling like a child, never a woman, or her own person) . But eventually, she gets the dual role in Swan Lake and she is extremely happy, but since she show's no emotion, her dancing is all techinque, but no feeling, it's extremely hard for her to dance the Black Swan, something the director constantly points out. Soon, a new dancer arrives, who is exactly the opposite- She's outgoing, funny, and dances with feeling, she is able to let go. Nina is constantly afraid that lily will take the role away from her, and the role itself soons becomes so much stress, she is barely keeping it afloat, and soon a whole series of things start to happen that make the film so unpredictable. This is a fantastic piece of work-superbly directed, it was so surreal, and visionary, it was indeed a fascinating experience. But it is truly disturbing- it's even more then requiem for A dream, and I had to close my eyes more then once. But Natalie Portman really outdid herself here. She perfectly sets up and balances the character, making us really feel her paranoi and her feelings of being preassured. Portman makes us see that she wants to be a star, but doesn't really think she fits the bill. That's why she wants to be ''perfect". Quite a lot of her performance is very subtle and Natalie truly disappears into the part, making it her own. Who else could have played it? No one.

But I have a slight complaint. I felt that that she could have maybe have given a little more strength in some scenes and I felt that could have the change in her character slower, but that's really the script's fault. Which brings me to something else: I felt the movie was a bit too abrupt, and the script could have been more carefully thought out, especially with the director's character. But it was still a great movie anyway, and Natalie Portman is definetly worth seeing...

Best Actress 1977

2010-12-11T22:55:00.000-08:00

The next year I'll be doing a ranking/profile on is 1977 and the nominees were:

Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point

Jane Fonda in Julia

Diane Keaton in Annie Hall

Shirley Maclaine in The Turning Point

Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl

So, who do you predict? Who are you rooting for?

What Oscar stuff is on your mind now?

What to do now?

2010-12-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hey! I'm REALLY, REALLY sorry about all these delays. It has been over two months since I've made a real post, and I stopped blogging for so long because my schedule has been so busy and I was burned out of of doing profiles. But I'm determined to start up again and although I said I would do 1958, my interest in the year has gone down a little and I've decided to save it. I'm not sure what I'll decide to do, but I'll decide by today. I'm olpen to any requests and anything you want to talk about it with me.

Random Post

2010-11-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

Hey! I'm just going to say that I'm really sorry about the continuing delays. I have a lot of work to do, and until I get on top of that, I'm not sure when my next post will be. I might post Shirley's profile on here today, but I'm not sure. I'm really sorry about this....

Anyway, november is almost over, and Oscar season is heating up. But rather slowly. Nothing is really gaining steam, excdept for The Social Network, which I think is the frontrunner at this point. So far, nothing has really come out near where I live, though Love And Other Drugs is coming out next week, so yay! I'm a fan of Anne Hathaway, so I hope she does a good job. I guess I'll go ahead and make predictions:

Best Picture: The Social Network and The Kings Speech seem to be the ones with the most buzz, though I heard that Pixar is going for Toy Story 3 for the win. I'm just going to predict T.S.N right now.

Best Director: David Fincher seems to be the likely choice, even if it doesn't win. He's overdue, plus it looks like a big visionary acheivement.

Best Actor: The King's Speech cvould easily lose it's Best Picture momentum, but I'm sure that Collin Firth will be nominated, and right now, he's a shoo-in to win. But I've heard that James Franco could be nominated, and I think he could ewnd up a dark-horse.

Best Actress: Annete Benning seems to have a lock on this award, for her performance in The Kids Are All Right. But I don't think that she's a sure winner. Natalie Portman could also win, for her performance in Black Swan. Portman has been an impressive actress since the 90's, and her performance could be the hearet-wrenching, revolutiuonary performance that the academy can throw a win too, though it;'s usually a surprise. I'm also predicting a nomination for Lesley Manville for Another Year, who could be this year's Melissa Leo, unless she's put in Supporting, but I just read Sony Classic's is campaigning for her in lead.

Best Supporting Actor: I read tat Geoffrey Rush is supposed to be the frontrunner, but I don't think he'll win. Gone are the days when one film wins two acting awards. He could though if the competition is weak. Oh, and can someone tell me about the guys in The Social Network and if they are leading or supporting?

Best Supporting Actress: The most exciting race this year, since, unlike last year's Monique, it is wide-open. Helena-Bonham-Carter will probably be nominated, but it could be a really small role. I'll predict double nominations for Amy Adams and Melissa Leo, both being campaigned for The Fighter.

So, what do you think? Who will win? And again, I'm really sorry about the delays.....

Back!

2010-10-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I know it's been a LONG time since I did a real post on here, but since Oscar season is starting up and now I'm getting back into to doing profiles, I've decided to go back doing posts.....

So, here's a few options for what year I should do and next and I want you to pick which one you want me to do:

1. Continue with Best Actor 2004

2. Best Actress 1958

3. Best Actress 1961

4. Best Actress 2007

5. Best Actress 1956

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-10-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday! Yay!!!!!!!!!

Greetings

2010-10-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know that it will be a very long time until I make a post again because I really don't have time, plus I want to take a break from blogging. So it will be around early November when I make my next real post. I'll do Best Actor 2004 then, then revert to Best Actress again. Have any requests for years you want me to do? Plus, do you have any interesting questions/comments? This an open post, so talk to me about anything you want.

P.S: This is just a random picture I did to make the post more interesting.

Hey!

2010-09-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm SORRY it's been so longggg since I last posted. It's just School started and I have a lot more work to do and I really don't have time to until the weekend, since I'm helping out with a play which takes most of my time.

Anyway, how have you been? Anything you want to know? Comment openly!

Best Actress post part 2

2010-09-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

1950: Here's a year that's considered one of the greatest ever, sometimes even the greatest, and it's certainly the most iconic. Both Fritz and Sage have done this year and both had both different and similiar thoughts. Sage's ranking: 1. Swanson 2. Parker 3. Davis 4. Baxter 5. Holliday. Fritz's ranking: 1. Holliday 2. Swanson 3. Davis 4. Parker 5. Baxter. Judy's win/performance is very controversial given she beat out BOTH Davis and Swanson! Those two are both loved beyond loved by oscar lovers and many say that they're among the greatest performances of all time. As for Baxter, I personally love her, but some think she's the only mishap in All About Eve. And poor Eleanor Parker gets hardly any discussion at all, but at least she made second on Sage's ranking!

Oscar winner: Judy Holliday

Overall winner: Gloria Swanson (It's difficult to decide between her and Davis, but I gave Gloria the edge here. Tell me if you disagree!)

1951: Sage has done this year as well and her ranking is; 1. Vivien 2. Winters 3. Kate 4. Parker 5. Jane. Vivien is, of course, the overall winner here, though both Kate and Shelley get a lot of love, while Parker is talked about only occasionally, and Jane not at all.

Oscar winner: Vivien Leigh

Overall winner: Vivien Leigh

1952: A year that's never much discussed, except for Shirley Booth, who most love, and Julie Haris, who surprisingly always crops up on best lists.

Oscar winner: Shirley Booth

Overall winner: Shirley Booth

1953: NOW, here's a year that really isn't talked about. Pretty much forgotten. Some love Audrey, some hate her, I personally am in the middle: Not bad, just not oscar-worthy. Deborah Kerr is discussed ocassionally, but not too much.

Oscar winner: Audrey Hepburn

Overall winner: Audrey Hepburn

1954: One of the biggest Best Actress upsets ever was when Grace Kelly in The Country Girl beat Judy Garland in A Star Is Born. It was strictly a two-horse race between them that year: On one side was Kelly, an actress who was the new thing in Hollywood, was starring in three succesful films that same year, and was in a film that got all the big nominations at from the Academy . On the other side was Judy, once MGM'S greatest star , who was dumped by them, made a comeback by returning through concerts, and was now making a film comeback with the performance of a lifetime. The sentiment factor was very powerful in her case, and most considered her a sure thing. But she didn't win....... Why? Well, here's what happened: All the pundits underestimated Grace, not realizing that her new popularity/her film's success was an important factor. But the biggest reason why is the fact that Warner Brothers undermined A Star Is Born, not campaigning for it at all, and most importantly, cutting many of it's scenes, which diluted the impact of her performance, and confused the voters (Which should they vote for, the full performance or the cut one?). Grace's win was such a tragedy, not only because Garland gave her best performance, but because it added yet ANOTHER hardship in her life which was already so traumatic . Nowadays, Judy is the clear winner.

Oscar winner: Grace Kelly

Overall winner: Judy Garland

1955: Another barely talked about year. Only Magnani is discussed, and everyone is amazed by her, so.....

Oscar winner: Anna Magnani

Overall winner: Anna Magnani

1956: A year that is considered very weak. Kate seems to have done much better, nobody talks about Kelly, Ingrid is hated by most, and Kerr isn't really talked about (Though she did win Fritz's vote. His ranking: 1. Kerr 2. Baker 3. Bergman 4. Kelly 5. Hepburn). The overall winner here is Carol Baker for Baby Doll,who I'm looking forward to seeing.

Oscar winner: Ingrid Bergman

Overall winner: Carol Baker

1957: And here we have another year that's not talked about. I'm getting sick of saying that. I'll just say...

Oscar winner: Joanne Woodward

Overall winner: Joanne Woodward

1958: Maclaine and Kerr aren't discussed, some love Russel, but the two who are most discussed are Elizabeth Taylor for C.O.A.H.T.R and Susan Hayward for I Want To Live. I haven't seen Taylor, but I was blown away by Hayward, and I'm not the only one. But some really dislike her, calling her ''obvious'' and 'over the top''.

Oscar winner: Susan Hayward

Overall winner: Susan Hayward

1959: Both Dinasztie and Fritz have done these years and they're rankings would be: Dinasztie: 1. A. Hepburn 2. K. Hepburn 3. Signoret 4. Day 5. Taylor. Fritz: 1. K. Hepburn 2. A. Hepburn 3. Signoret 4. Taylor 5. Day. Now, I'd say Simone is still the winner, though both Hepburns and Liz have they're supporters.

Oscar winner: Simone Signoret

Overall winner: Simone Signoret

1960: Elizabeth Taylor won this year, and she's one of the most hated winners ever. To me, she is pretty bad, failing completely in the first half and for most of the middle. This is not her fault, but the films, since the script is so terrible. But she does rise above at least for about a quarter of it, through out the end of the middle, to towards the ending. But she did not deserve the Oscar. I guess the overall winner is Shirley Maclaine since the other's aren't discussed.

Oscar winner: Elizabeth Taylor

Overall winner: Shirley Maclaine

1961: Sophia Loren won here, and she definietly was worthy: A great and very impressive performance. But she beat two widely loved performances: Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's and Natalie Wood in A Splendor In The Grass. Both are greatly admired, but in the end, i'd say Audrey is the overall winner.

Oscar winner: Sophia Loren

Overall winner: Audrey Hepburn

1962: Like 1950, this year is regarded as one of the greatest lineups ever: Lee Remick and Geraldine page are highly regarded, but most people seem to rally around either Anne Bancroft, Bette Davis, or Katharine Hepburn. These three are all worshipped, but Anne Bancroft usually comes out the winner.

Oscar winner: Anne Bancroft

Overall winner: Anne Bancroft

1963: Like 53, this has to be one of the most forgotten years ever. Dinasztie did this year and his ranking was: 1. Neal 2. Caron 3. Roberts 4. Wood 5. Maclaine. Patricia Neal is, indeed, one of the best winners and most agree, though the Leading/Supporting argument still continues. None of the other nominees are discussed at all.

Oscar winner: Patricia Neal

Overall winner: Patricia Neal

Agree/disagree?

Best Actress Post: part 1

2010-09-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

I just had an idea for a new post. In this post, I will be discussing every Best Actress year and telling what seems to be the overall opinion and winner around the internet. I'll be starting with 1936, since the years before that aren't really talked about at all. correct me if I'm wrong and I probably will be for some of these. So here we go:

Best Actress 1936: Sage has already done this year, and if you remember, Irenne Dunne was her pick, followed by Gladys George, then Louis Rainer, then Norma Sheer, then Carol Lombard. Dunne, George, and Sheer aren't discussed very much, but Rainer gets a lot of hate from nearly everyone, mostly because most say that she supporting and Lombard always gets raves. So........

Oscar winner: Louise Rainer

Overall winner: Carol Lombard

Best Actress 1937: Louise Rainer won again, playing a very diffferent character, in The Good Earth. It was an upset then, since Greta Garbo was expected to win, and like her first win, a lot of people hate it, myself included (To a degree). Now, most seem to feel that Garbo indeed should have won, though Irene Dunne has her fair share of supporters, and Stanywck and Gaynor aren't discussed at all.

Oscar winner: Louise Rainer

Overall winner: Greta Garbo

Best Actress 1938: I know absouletely nothing about this year, so I'll just say that Bette is the overall winner, and she probably is.

Oscar winner: Bette Davis

Overall winner: Bette Davis

Best Actress 1939: Uhhhhhh, Vivien Leigh of course! How could she not be???? Her win was a sure thing, though I heard one pundit predicted Davis. Anyway, Bette seems to get a lot of praise, but I'm not sure about the other three nominees. Please fill me in!

Oscar winner: Viven Leigh

Overall winner: Vivien leigh

Best Actress 1940: Ginger Rogers was able to win the Oscar, causing a surprise (At least according to one of my oscar books). her win isn't very well regarded these days. Fontaine has, I think, the biggest fan base, though Hepburn and Davis have theirs as well. Nobody likes Scott, it seems.

Oscar winner; Ginger Rogers

Overall winner: Joan Fontaine

Best Actress 1941: Joan Fontaine WAS able to win this year though, and ironically, she's one of the most universally hated winners. I really want to see how bad she is for myself, but sadly, Greer Garson's movie is so hard to find. As for the other nominees, I have seen Davis, thought she was great, as most people seem to as well. I never hear too much about Dehavilland (At least for her actual performance) Stanywck, though some think she should have been nominated for The Lady Eve.

Oscar winner: Joan Fontaine

Overall winner: Bette Davis (I guess)

Best Actress 1942: Fritz has done this year, and his ranking was: 1. Davis 2. Garson 3. Hepburn 4. Wright 5. Russel. According to him, this year was incredibly weak and nobody seems to argue that. In fact, this year is hardly ever discussed at all, though Davis does get some love.

Oscar winner: Greer Garson

Overall winner: Bette Davis (Wow, she's really raking the wins!)

Best Actress 1943: An even less discussed year. The two frontrunners were Ingrid Bergman and Jennifer Jones, and Jones won. The other nominees are never talked about.

Oscar winner: Jennifer Jones

Overall winner: Jennifer Jones

Best Actress 1944: Ingrid did win this year though and deservedly so, for her superb performance in Gaslight. The opinion on her is mixed: Some love her, others find her shaky. Plus, Barbara Stanywck was nominated for Double Indeminity and most seems to think she was robbed.

Oscar winnner: Ingrid Bergman

Overall winner: Barbara Stanywck

Best Actress 1945: Sage has done this year and it's one of my favorite years that she's done. Surprisingly, she did not go with Joan Crawford,but Gene Tierney for Leave Her To Heaven. Her ranking was: 1. Gene 2. Joan 3. Garson 4. Jones 5. Bergman. The only nominee who is discussed by Joan is Ingrid, who gets a lot of praise, but I guess not by everyone.

Oscar winner: Joan Crawford

Overall winner: Joan Crawford

Best Actress 1946: Another year that's not discussed at all, and I'm starting to think/know that the 40's years get hardly any attention. Olivia Dehavilland won for To Each His Own, and she's not really talked about all. But some internet users back Celia Johnson in The Brief Encounter, so I'll just go with her.

Oscar winner: Olivia Dehavilland

Overall winner: Celia Johnson

Best Actress 1947: Finally a year that's discussed! As we all know, Rosalind Russel was the sure thing frontrunner, but Loretta young shocklingly pulled a HUGE upset. Perhaps the biggest one in the history of Best Actress. Fritz also did this year and his ranking would be: 1. Hayward 2. Russel 3. Joan 4. Young 5. McGuire. Most feel that Hayward and Russel were the only worthy nominees and the others weren't good at all, especially Young and Mcguire.

Oscar winner: Loretta Young

Overall winner: Rosalind Russel

Best Actress 1948: Dinaztie did this year, and his ranking was 1: Wyman 2. Stanywck 3. ingrid 4. irenne 5. Olivia. It was a race between olivia and Jane I think, but Wyman won. Today, most back either of those two, and everyone hates ingrid!

Oscar winner: Jane Wyman

Overall winner: Jane Wyman

Best Actress 1949: Sage has done this year as well and her ranking is: 1. olivia 2. Hayward 3. Young 4. Kerr 5. Crain. None of the nominees are discussed, besides olivia who won and deservedly so.

oscar winner: Olivia Dehavilland

Overall winner: Olivia Dehavilland

And we'll just stop here since I'm getting tired and I've covered enough years for now. So, what are your thoughts? Agree/disagree?

Hey Everyone!

2010-08-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-16T16:24:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

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.

Best Actress 1968

2010-07-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

The next year I'll be doing a profile/ranking on is 1968 and the nominees were:

Katharine Hepburn in The Lion In Winter

Patricia Neal in The Subject Was Roses

Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora

Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl

Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel

Note: I couldn't find a good enough picture of Neal in The Subject Was Roses, so I just uploaded one of her instead. And speaking of her, I saw The Subject Was Roses on TCM in March or February, and since it's extremely hard to find, I won't be able to rewatch it. But I'll try my hardest to look for it at every video store I go to and it would be really great if I did find it. But odds are that I will most likely do her profile on memory, although I'll watch some of the trailer so I can remember more of her. But I can remember her really well though, so it probably won't matter.

Anyway, who do you predict? Who is your pick and who are you rooting for?

Best Actress 2003: Final Thoughts

2010-07-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

2003 was an okay year. Charlize was easily the best of the competition although Keaton would have been a worthy winner too. The rest did not deserve they're nominations. Well, not really. I don't have a problem with Watts and Castle-Hughes nominations, although I probably wouldn't have nominated them. I don't understand why Morton was nominated, but it's nice to see a surprise nomination. A weaker year then 93, but more interesting and the films are overall better, though that doesn't say much.

My ranking of the films:

1. Something's Gotta Give

2. Monster

3. Whale Rider

4. 21 Gramms

5. In America

Best Actress 2003: The Resolution!

2010-07-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

5. Samantha Morton in In America: Samantha Morton has some very good moments and is sometimes heartbreaking , but her role is very underwritten which really limits her ability to get an above-okay performance.

4. Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider: Keisha Castle-Hughes is very good for most of the film, and she's very real and convincing, but her approach to the character is wrong and she is very underwhelming at points.

3. Naomi Watts in 21 Gramms: Watts gives a great performance in the beginning, but loses her spark once the film starts becoming a mess, and starts to overract badly.

2. Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give: Diane Keaton's gives a luminous, wonderful portrayal which is totally enjoyable. Her chemistry with Jack Nicholson is superb.

1. Charlize Theron in Monster: Charlize Theron delivers a powerful, completely real performance which is haunting. An amazing achievement.

Best Actress 2003: Naomi Watts in 21 Grams

2010-07-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Naomi Watts received her first Oscar nomination for playing Christina, a woman who loses her husband and her daughters in a car accident in 21 Grams.

21 Grams is a very depressing film that has it's good moments, but becomes a huge mess. It's so confusing and honestly very unbeliavable. And Naomi Watts performance is a mixed bag. In the beginning, she is perfect. She subtly and beautifully shows her grief and depression over the loss of her family and when the doctors tell her that her daughters are dead, Watts makes us feel her pain and her delivery is excellent. Watts also makes us feel her loneliness and how she seems to be sleepwalking thorough every day. She is also great in showing how she seems to open up more once she meets Paul (Sean Penn), who wants to talk to her because her husband donated his heart to him after he died. In the scene when Watts finds about this, she is very angry and here's when her performance starts going downhill. On one hand, you can see why she is so upset, but she plays the scene too over the top and rings it false. And in the scene before that when she tells him that he can't like her a lot if he barely knows her, Watts feels a bit forced and again false. The film starts becoming ridiculous and this affects Watts because it makes her seem uneven and again, a bit over the top.

Like Debra Winger in Shadowlands, Naomi Watts starts out great, but stumbles in the second half, by overracting and the fact that her film is crumbling around her. But a good effort anyway.

Best Actress 2003: Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give

2010-07-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

Diane Keaton received her fourth Oscar nomination for playing Erica Barry, a playwrite who falls in love with her daughter's older boyfriend (Jack Nicholson) in Something's Gotta Give.

Diane Keaton is simply wonderful in this movie. She adds a lot of charm and humor to this role and makes it work wonderfully. Keaton is so luminous to watch and she just makes you feel so happy! (I know that sounds stupid, but it's true!) . Keaton adds a lot of depth to Erica as well, as we see that she is a sad, lonely person who hasn't been with anyone in a long time, and Keaton really nails that. Her best scenes are with Jack Nicholoson though and they both have brilliant chemistry together. I loved watching their relationship grow and both have an intimacy that screen couples rarely have. Keaton also really gets a lot out of the crying scene, as it is so funny, yet over-the top, in a funny way.

After Erica and Nicholson have sex though, the movie starts being slightly ridiculous and that affects Diane Keaton's performance because sometimes it feels a bit uneven given that too much seems to be happening at once. But Diane Keaton certainly gave a great performance that is a joy to watch.

Twister's Smackdown

2010-07-21T18:41:00.001-07:00

Hey, have all of you checked out Twister's blog, Moviemania? If you haven't, then go check it out! Because he is currently doing a profile/ranking for Best Supporting Actress 2000 and in the style of Stinkylulu (who has mysteriously vanished), is also going to do a Smackdown and the steps for one are: Rate each performance (Depending on how many you've seen.)from 1 to 5 and send it to Twister via email (moviemania55@aol.com). The 2000 nominees were:

Judi Dench in Chocolate

Marcia-Gay Harden in Pollock

Kate Hudson in Almost Famous

Frances McDormand in Almost Famous

Julie Walters in Billy Elliot

Participate! And we'll see the results at the end of July!

P.s: If you are reading this Andrew, I'm just going to say thank you. Because I wasn't sure how to write this, so I looked at your post so many months ago about Twister's 2002 smackdown and you made it easier. But I wasn't trying to copy you or anything, I just needed a few pointers.

Best Actress 2003: Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider

2010-07-21T10:06:00.000-07:00

Keisha Castle-Hughes received her first Oscar nomination and became the youngest Best Actress nominee ever for playing Pai, a young girl who yearns to prove herself as a warrior, in Whale Rider.

Keisha Castle-Hughes was supposed to be put in the Supporting category for her performance, but instead was voted into Leading. I don't really see how she's Supporting, even though she doesn't fill every frame of the movie, because her character is indeed the main character and we see the story mostly from her point of view. Anyway, Keisha Castle-Hughes is very good in this movie. She plays Pai very subtly, showing her stuborness and longing to prove to her Grandfather that she could be a great warrior. She's very convincing and realistic in the role and considering how young she was at the time, that's saying something. Like Samantha Morton, Castle-Hughes uses her face to show what she is feeling and she does it beautifully as we totally see the raw emotion on her face. A big plus to her performance is when she is giving a speech at her school concert and is crying through it because her grandfather didn't show up. She is simply heartbreaking. Another highlight is when she and her father are talking about how they can't be what their father/grandfather wants and Castle-Hughes again plays it beautifully.

But her performance is not perfect. A character like Pai should have been played with more fire and sometimes she is too subtle and underwhelming. She stays like this for most of the movie and I wish the screenplay had given her more chances to shine. But she is still very good and I decided to give her

Best Actress 2003: Samantha Morton in In America

2010-07-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Samantha Morton received her second Oscar nomination for playing Sarah Sullivan in In America. Sarah and her family move to America from Ireland after the death of the youngest child, Frankie. But they discover poverty and suffer greatly though the two parents try to pretend to be happy for the sake of they're two kids.

In America is an awful movie that starts out alright, but gets worse and worse since it becomes unbelievable and heavy handed. Samantha Morton tries to get something out of her role, which is very thin , and she does somewhat. Morton uses her eyes and her face to show how Sarah is feeling and she does it beautifully. Morton also shows us the internal battle going on in Sarah, how she is afraid of dying but is determined to have the baby anyway and how she is struggling with her grief over her dead son. She is also quite good in her scenes with her husband, as both of them are trying to keep the family afloat, both emotionally and financinally. But the problem is that the script never delves deep enough into the character and we never know enough about her or about her relationship with her family. The focus of the film is mostly on the father and the two daughters and there is little development between them and the mother.

But Samantha Morton did to do her best with the material and delivered a subtle, and at times beautiful performance that gets

Best Actress 2003: Charlize Theron in Monster

2010-07-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Charlize Theron received her first Oscar nomination and won for playing Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Aileen is a street hooker who meets Celby Wall (Christina RIcci, who is much better then the first time I saw the movie), a lesbian who she falls in love with. But after being being raped and nearly killed, Aileen kills the man who tried to kill her and becomes a serial killer.

Monster is a very interesting, even entertaining film that might stumble a bit once Aileen is being tracked down by the police, but is still worth seeing, much thanks to Charlize Theron's performance. Theron plays Aileen so realistically- You never really see any acting at all, which why when I watched it, I thought well it isn't really a performance at all. It's that believable. Aileen is an ignorant, uneducated woman, but we feel sorry for her and care about her despite her horrible actions. Theron completely brings Aileen to life- She captures her anger, her bitterness, and her determination and how she grows to care for Celby. It's very clear that Aileen comes to love and as I've said, care about Celby very much and it's she above all that gives her the strength to survive.

Some of the best moments in Charlize Theron's performance is when she is in-voice over. Theron digs deep inside her character and never lets go, forcing us to see the world from Aileen's eyes, and I have to admit it, that there is some truth in what Aileen thinks. Her chemistry with Ricci is flawless, both actresses are completely convincing and play each other off perfectly. Also, both Ricci and Theron do an excellent job in developing how their characters feel about each other- Celby starts out by being the one who feels like she's being used, but actually begins to be the one who is the user. While with Aileen it's the opposite (Although Aileen never used Celby, but just wanted to be friends with her).

Charlize Theron gives a fierce, brilliant performance which gets

Back!

2010-07-13T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! It's been a LONG time , yes, but I've been on vacation in France for the past two weeks! It was a lot of fun, but it was very hot and I did get really tired by the end of the day. But I did see Woody Allen twice (!) in the city walking with his wife and I almost saw Marion Cotillard but me and my father left because we had waited for about an hour and she still hadn't come out of her hotel, so bummer. Here are some things I did there: Went to the Eifle Tower, Went to countless museums and saw the original Mona Lisa, saw King Louis's palace, saw and toured Notre Dame and several other churches, and ect.

So, now I'm back! And I'll start 03 tomorrow with Charlize's profile. Anyway, I have the next three years planned, but if anybody has any requests for Best Actress years they'd like me to do, I'd be happy to take them! I was also thinking about some Supporting years and I'll either start with 89 or 42, depending on which one you'd like me to do first. So, give me some requests!

Best Actress 2003

2010-06-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

The next year I'll be doing a profile/ranking on is 2003 and the nominees were:

Keisha Castle Hughes in Whale Rider

Diane Keaton in Somethings Gotta Give

Samantha Morton in In America

Charlize Theron in Monster

Naomi Watts in 21 Grams

It feels nice not to have to upload all of those nominees pictures! Anyway, who do you think will win and who are you rooting for? P.s I'll be going on vacation until July 13th so it'll be a long time until I start reviewing. But I'll still be commenting on everyone's blogs and everything. There's a slight chance I might start it though , so stay tuned!

Ranking of the nominees and years so far

2010-06-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

1. 1969

2. 1974

3. 2006

4. 1976

5. 1988

6. 2002

7. 1993

1. Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven (2002)

2. Judi Dench in Notes On A Scandal (2006)

3. Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

4. Kate Winslet in Little Children (2006)

5. Liv Ullman in Face To Face (1976)

6. Holly Hunter in The Piano (1993)

7. Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)

8. Faye Dunaway in Network (1976 )

9. Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)

10. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasions (1988)

11. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

12 Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1976)

13. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

14. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

15. Valerie Perrine in Lenny (1974)

16. Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969)

17. Genevieve Ann Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days (1969)

18. Angela Basset in What's Love Got To Do With It? (1993)

19. Meryl Streep in A Cry In The Dark (1988)

20. Diahaan Carol in Claudine (1974)

21. Jodie Foster in The Accused (1988)

22. Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending (1969)

23. Diane Lane in Unfaithful (2002)

24. Renee Zellweger in Chicago (2002)

25. Penelope Cruz in Volver (2006)

26. Emma Thompson in The Remains Of The Day (1993)

27. Marie Christine- Barrault in Cousin, Cousine (1976)

28. Signourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist (1988)

29. Helen Mirren in The Queen (2006)

30. Nicole Kidman in The Hours (2002)

31. Debra Winger in Shadowlands (1993)

32. Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988)

33. Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation (1993)

34. Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)

35. Salma Hayek in Frida (2002)

Best Actress 1993: Final thoughts

2010-06-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, this wasn't too strong of a year or that interesting. My choice was pretty easy, despite my high rating for Angela Basset who was fabulous. Emma was great and should get more praise for her performance and Winger and Channing bring the year down by a lot. Still, not a terribly weak year, just not that great of one.

My ranking of the films:

1. The Piano

2. The Remains Of The Day

3. What's Love Got To Do With It?

4. Shadowlands

5. Six Degrees Of Separation

Best Actress 1993: The Resolution!

2010-06-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

5. Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation:

S.D.O.S is an awful movie, and Stockard Channing's role is very one-note and she never tries to rise above or even make something out of her material. Some good moments, but, in the end, the film destroys her performance.

4. Debra Winger in Shadowlands:

Winger is overall good in the beginning, but her strange accent and her lack of chemistry with Anthony Hopkins keep her performance from being great all the way through. She also lost her connection with her character and she should have taken time to develop her better.

3. Emma Thompson in The Remains Of The Day:

Emma Thompson plays Sally with all the right notes and despite being a little shaky in some scenes and the fact her character is a little basic, she gives a excellent performance.

2. Angela Basset in What's Love Got To Do With It?:

Basset adds a lot of passion to Tina which results in highly emotional, real performance which never is brought down by her fake , predictable film.

1. Holly Hunter in The Piano:

Holly Hunter never says anything in her performance (Except in voice-over), but is still able to show all of her emotions and actions perfectly and creates a strange, striking character.

Best Actress 1993: Holly Hunter in The Piano

2010-06-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

Holly Hunter received her third Oscar nomination and won for playing Ada McGrath in The Piano. Ada has been a mute by choice for nearly all her life and she and her daughter Flora travel to a strange island because Ada has been engaged to a powerful man (Sam Neil).

Without speaking a word, Holly Hunter is able to convey so much. She captures Ada's stubborness and sadness when her piano is taken away from her and we see the soul of Ada onscreen. Hunter and Anna Paquin are superb together- totally convincing as a mother and daughter and both show their love and anger for each other. Whenever Ada plays the piano, Hunter shows us so much passion on her face and it's an odd, yet fascinating thing to watch. Another thing that works so well about this performance is that Ada always remains a mysterious woman- we learn a great deal about her, but never know her completely or why she is so strange. Her scenes with Keitell are also very interesting- She is at first disgusted by him and the fact that he wants to sleep withy her, but Hunter lets the audience know that Ada is also fascinated and even turned on by the arangement. Holly Hunter also gets Ada's odd physical gestures and movements right, which must have been difficult to do. A beautiful, striking performance which gets

Best Actress 1993: Angela Basset in What's Love Got To Do With It?

2010-06-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

Angela Basset received her first Oscar nomination for playing Anna May Bullock/Tina Turner in What's Love Got To Do With It? Anna goes to live with her mother after her grandmother dies and meets Ike Turner (Laurence Fishbourne), a nightclub singer who discovers that she has a great singing voice and goes on tour with her and soon becomes a superstar. But when Tina begins to come into her own, Ike begins to abuse her and Tina feels trapped in the increasingly violent marriage.

What's Love Got To Do With It? is an average, predictable film but Angela Basset rises above it.Basset does a very good job in the beginning, building Tina's character arc from a shy person who is immediately wooed over by Ike's charms to a confident, talented singer, never making it seem like an imitation. Her scenes with Fishbourne are great, with both actors adding raw emotions to their roles which makes Tina and Ike seem especially real. When Basset performs, she is volcanic- Her presense on stage is a big plus as she feels the songs she's performing as well as performing them. Basset always hits the right emotional cords of Tina and her dramatic moments are brilliantly played and always honest. The material gets repetive towards the end, but she still gives a great, passionate performance which gets

Best Actress 1993: Emma Thompson in The Remains Of The Day

2010-06-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

Emma Thomson received her third Oscar nomination for playing Sally Kenton in The Remains Of The Day. Sally goes to work at Darlington Hall and meets M.r Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) and they soon befriend each other, despite not getting along at first.

Emma Thomson always plays Sally right- Emma gives Sally her usual trademark warmth and personality, but it never feels like she's just giving the same performance she always plays. Emma shows that she is an honest woman, that she knows how hard life can be and how she does not want to be alone. Emma and Anthony Hopkins work great together- Both of them play each other off very well and show that the do have feelings, but can never express them fully. Thomson also perfectly shows Sally's internal conflict between (Spoiler alert!) marrying another man or staying at Darlington Hall. At the end when the two finally see each other again, Thomson is especially great, showing that she doesn't know that she made the right decision or that she is right now. But there a few moments when she falters, such as delivering her lines in an over done way and sometimes her character seems a little to predictable. But Emma Thomson surely delivered a great performance and left her own beautiful mark on the role of Sally.

Best Actress 1993: Debra Winger in Shadowlands

2010-06-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Debra Winger received her third Oscar nomination for playing Joy Gresham in Shadowlands. Joy is a poet from the United States who goes on a trip to England with her son and meets famous author C.S Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) and the two begin to befriend each other and soon marry, but only because Lewis wants to make sure she can stay in England. But when she gets sick, the marry again for love, although they both know that it won't last.

In the beginning, Debra Winger captures Joy's tough, outspoken behavior and makes it very entertaining. We can see how taken aback Lewis is by her personality and how he comes to care about her. Winger also adds a lot of depth to Joy, showing that Joy is a sad woman with a somewhat bitter outlook on life, and how her her life begins to change when she meets Lewis. This could have been a great performance, but sadly, Winger doesn't seem to control her character very well. First of all, her accent ruins a lot of her performance, since it is unconvincing and goes in and out, not to mention is overdone and strange . There is a scene when Winger is talking to Lewis normally, but suddenly gets very angry with him and this is a badly written scene to begin with, but Winger makes it worse with her accent and by making it too abrupt. After this, her greatness in the beginning fades and though she is good in most of the scenes, I never connected with Joy like I did in the beginning. Another problem is that Winger never makes it believable that Joy is in love with Lewis (Although that might be more the scripts fault and Hopkins) and she and Hopkins have barely any chemistry. She is excellent when she tells Lewis that she is going to die and when she is on her deathbed , but it still isn't believable when she says she loves him in the latter scene. A performance that could have been much better had Winger hadn't stumbled so much in the second half and had made her accent work. A good, but mostly failed effort.

Best Actress 1993: Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation

2010-06-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

Stockard Channing received her first Oscar nomination for playing Louisa Kittredge in Six Degrees Of Separation. Louisa and her husband are rich, high class people who are conned by a charming young man named Paul (Will Smith) and soon discover that there are other people who are being conned by the same person they were.

Six Degrees Of Separation is a simply AWFUL movie. It has a terrible script which is insufferable to listen to, since most of it's characters are shallow, rich people who are completely full of themselves. The plot is ridiculous and totally unbelievable and as I've said, unbearable to sit through. Unfortunately, Stockard Channing's performance is nearly destroyed by the mediocre material. For most of the film, all she gets to do is be a rich socialite who is stuck in a bad situation. She stays on this note for most of the time and as I've said, the material is so bad that she never seems to be above it or even tries to make something good out of it. There are a few good scenes though such as when she is telling her daughter that there are six degrees of separation between people and when she is on the phone with Smith, telling him that they will be happy together. And at the end, when she is telling her husband that Paul was something good in they're lives (But her voice has a weird tone to it that ruins the effect of this scene). In these scenes, Channing taps into the emotions of her character very well and is sometimes very moving. Despite this, she just can't save her performance from being sunken by the horribleness of the film or from getting

Best Actress 1993

2010-06-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

The next year I'll be doing a profile/ranking on is 1993 and the nominees were:

Angela Bassett in What's Love Got To Do With it?

Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation

Holly Hunter In The Piano

Emma Thompson in The Remains Of The Day

Debra Winger in Shadowlands

So, who do you think will win? Who are you rooting for?

Ranking of the nominees and years so far

2010-06-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

1. 1969

2. 1974

3. 2006

4. 1976

5. 1988

6. 2002

1. Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven (2002)

2. Judi Dench in Notes On A Scandal (2006)

3. Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

4. Kate Winslet in Little Children (2006)

5. Liv Ullman in Face To Face (1976)

6. Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)

7. Faye Dunaway in Network (1976 )

8. Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)

9. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

10. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1976)

11. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasions (1988)

12. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

13. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

14. Valerie Perrine in Lenny (1974)

15. Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969)

16. Genevieve Ann Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days (1969)

17. Meryl Streep in A Cry In The Dark (1988)

18. Diahaan Carol in Claudine (1974)

19. Jodie Foster in The Accused (1988)

20. Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending (1969)

21. Diane Lane in Unfaithful (2002)

22. Renee Zellweger in Chicago (2002)

23. Penelope Cruz in Volver (2006)

24. Marie Christine Barrault in Cousin, Cousin (1976)

25. Signourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist (1988)

26. Helen Mirren in The Queen (2006)

27. Nicole Kidman in The Hours (2002)

28. Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988)

29. Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)

30. Salma Hayek in Frida (2002)

And now we're at 30 nominees. It's been very interesting and very fun to see and rewatch all of these performances and I will continue it all thorough the year. Julianne Moore's amazing performance in Far From Heaven is still at the top of my ranking, while Salma Hayek's dreadful work in Frida is still at the bottom. The strongest years I've done so far are obviously 69 and 74. Both were incredibly strong years, but I would say 69 was a little stronger, even though I think that the films from 74 were more interesting. The weakest year so far has been 2002, although by default, since I don't really think it was very weak.

Best Actress 1976: Final thoughts

2010-06-13T23:51:00.001-07:00

This was a very strong year. Not as strong as 74 and 69, but still very strong anyway. The fifth and the fourth nominee were easy to rank, but I had a very hard time deciding between Ullman, Spacek, and Dunaway. All of three them gave fantastic performances that are all unique and exceptional . I'm not even 100 % sure that this will be my final ranking, but if I change my mind I will change it.

My ranking of the films:

1. Network

2. Carrie

3. Cousin, Cousine

4. Face To Face

5. Rocky

Best Actress 1976: The Resolution!

2010-06-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

5. Talia Shire in Rocky:

Talia Shire gives a bland, nothing performance in which she never tried to expand her character, but instead gave in to the limits of the script.

4. Marie -Chrisine Barrault in Cousin, Cousine:

Although her character is a little too simple, Barrault still gives a subtle, wonderful portrayal that is very enjoyable.

3. Faye Dunaway in Network:

Faye Dunaway is superb as Diana, making her a fascinating, exciting character that never becomes a stereotype.

2. Sissy Spacek in Carrie:

Sissy Spacek gives a low key, beautifully portrayed performance that is simply a marvel. Brilliant work!

1. Liv Ullman in Face To Face:

Although it's never fully explained why Jenny becomes crazy, Liv Ullman doesn't let that bring her down. She gives a devastating, amazingly convincing and realistic performance that never goes over the top.

Best Actress 1976: Sissy Spacek in Carrie

2010-06-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

Sissy Spacek received her first Oscar nomination for playing Carrie White in Carrie. Carrie is an outcast at school, bullied by both the students and the teachers alike. At home, she is harassed and tortured by her fantatically religous mother (Piper Laurie). But soon she discovers that she has special powers and that she can control them and she decides that she wants to fit in with everyone else. When a boy asks her to the prom because his girlfriend asked him too, Carrie is at first skeptical, but then she is very happy about it, but things go horribly wrong at the prom and even worse consequenses are to come. Sissy Spacek delivers a beautifully executed performance in Carrie. She doesn't have a lot of show moments, but instead, subtly makes her character work. She is completely believable as a teenager and the eyes and facial expressions are a big asset, as we see what she is thinking and how she must feel being teased by everyone all the time. Her scenes with Piper Laurie are great as well, even though Laurie gets the showier part, Spacek holds her own against her. She is also entertaining in some scenes, handling the black humor very well. When Carrie starts opening up and being herself, Spacek is truly radiant. Of course I'm talking about the prom scene (Which I watched a little on Youtube before I saw the whole film), and Spacek wonderfully shows Carrie's joy at finally being popular and being happy. I won't spoil what happens afterwards for those who haven't seen it, but Spacek is scary and very convincing towards the end. Sissy Spacek took a simple, real approach to Carrie and the result is an outstanding performance that gets

Best Actress 1976: Talia Shire in Rocky

2010-06-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Talia Shire received her second Oscar nomination for playing Adrian in Rocky. Adrian is a shy woman who lives with her brother and works in a pet store. She goes on a date with Rocky Balboa (Syllvester Stalone) and she falls in love with him and when he decides to fight in a boxing match that he is sure to lose, she helps and supports him during his training. Rocky is an uninspired, boring film which isn't very special, and the same goes for Talia Shire. First of all, her role is a Supporting one, not a Leading one, since Adrian isn't really that much of an important part and she doesn''t lead Rocky anywhere. Her role is very underwritten, and she's given pretty much nothing to do in this movie, except support Rocky through all of his troubles and to love him no matter what. She has one great , if short, scene when she confronts her brother when he is yelling at her and Rocky, but this isn't anything incredibly impressive. Talia Shire gives a dull, nothing Oscar-worthy performance which gets

Best Actress 1976: Marie- Christine Barrault in Cousin, Cousine

2010-06-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

Marie-Christine Barrault received her first Oscar nomination for playing Marthe, an unhappily married woman, in Cousin, Cousine. Martha meets a man (Victor Lannox) whom she starts to have a relationship with, but they decide to keep it as friends, but they eventually end up together. This isn't a showy, Oscar-like performance at all, but is instead a subtle, engaging one. Barrault uses her charm and personality a lot in this performance and she shows her characters sadness and her longing to have someone to talk to. Her scenes with Victor Lanoux are beautiful and the two really make their relationship completely natural and real. She is luminous and I enjoyed her when ever she was on screen. There were some scenes though(Especially towards the end) where I wasn't paying attention and I finished it a long time after I started watching it, so I might have missed something, but I wanted more out of her performance. I had no problem that her performance was quite and charming, but I wish more had happened with her character and that the story hadn't been so simple. But still, a radiant, beautiful performance that gets

Best Supporting Actress 2002

2010-05-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

1. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in Chicago: I know she has her share of haters, but Zeta-Jones forever left her mark on me in Chicago, which is one of my Top five favorite films. She has an electric presence whenever she performs and I think she nails Velma's selfishness and sadness underneath her confident persona.

2. Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean in Adaptation: Meryl Streep gives a unique, perfectly done performance which is very memorable. It's a little hard to describe given that it's so weird, but Streep is no doubt wonderful.

3. Julianne Moore as Laura Brown in The Hours: Although I don't think it come close to the brilliance of her work in Far From Heaven and Boogie Nights, Moore still excels in this film. She perfectly shows Laura's frustration and sadness living in her situation and we feel for her. There's a few shaky moments, but her last scene is magnificent.

4. Queen Latifah as Matron Mama Morton in Chicago: The role of Mama is a small one, but in my opinion, not underwritten. Meaning that it isn't a thin role, just one that doesn't have a lot of screentime, and Latifah does a great job with it. She's perfectly cast and she makes Mama a three dimensional character. Great voice too!

5. Kathy Bates as Roberta in About Schmit: Bates is very funny and she does add some air to the film. But unlike Latifah, her role is too underwritten. We get moments of bitterness from her, but they're never developed enough and Bates isn't able to rise above the underwritten material.

I know I did this category a few months ago, but if you can remember, you can see my thoughts and ranking have changed somewhat due to rewatching some of them and changing my mind. Overall, I'd say that this wasn't a great year for this category, nor was it a bad one. I loved Catherine, and I liked some of the other nominees a lot, but I don't think they were amazing. But who would be your pick and what are your thoughts on this lineup?

Rent

2010-05-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

I decided to make this post due to Andrew's musical blogathon tomorrow, and I decided on Rent. The stage version was a smashing success, having won four tonys and gaining huge fans. But the film version was a critical failure and didn't do well with it's fans, except for me. I love Rent, and the film was what caused me to become a huge fan of it. It is about a group of eight friends living in New York in the late 80's, who are dealing with poverty, AIDS, drugs, homlessness, and other problems, but find love and friendship with each other in the course of one year. The director decided to keep nearly all the original cast members in the film (Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Jesse.L Martin, Wilson Jermain Heredia), but added two new ones, Rosario Dawson as Mimi and Traci Thoms as Joanne. All of the cast members do great work, but I thought Dawson, Menzel, and Thoms were especially great. The film is really entertaining and I think it works, although the "bursting out into song isn't realistic" thing sometimes becomes too noticeable and sometimes it lacks the soul of the original production. But the music is flawless. There are so many great songs and so many that I love! I don't think I could choose a favorite, but I love La Vie Boheme, Light My Candle, Out Tonight, Take Me Or Leave Me, I'll Cover You, I love them all. So, if you have seen it or heard of the musical, please tell me your thoughts.

Best Actress 1976: Faye Dunaway in Network

2010-05-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

Faye Dunaway received her third Oscar nomination and won for playing Diana Christionson in Network. Diana is an intelligent, yet ruthless woman who would do anything to get ratings up and is power hungry. When she discovers that Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is having an emotional breakdown and going into mad rantings on air, she immediately sees an opportunity to make a huge hit out of Howard's new "insights" into the world and this causes terrible consequences ahead. I couldn't imagine anyone else but Faye Dunaway playing Diana and Faye plays it perfectly. She make's Diana's monolgues about television incredibly mesmerizing and it's like she's grabbed us by the throat and never lets go. Faye brings Diana thrillingly to life without going over the top , and makes her a fascinating character. She never lets Diana become one-note or a stereotype, which any other actress could have done. She and William Holden work superbly together, making their relationship believable and interesting. When he breaks up with her, Faye shows that Diana does know, deep down, what she is and that she is completely immersed in the world of television , so much so that it has become her whole life. Faye Dunaway gives a fabulous performance that adds a lot of depth to both her character and the film, which gets

Best Actress 1976: Liv Ullman in Face To Face

2010-05-26T19:55:00.001-07:00

Liv Ullman received her second Oscar nomination for playing D.r Jenny Isaksson in Face To Face. Jenny is a doctor who deals with mental illness, but she suddenly finds herself dealing with it herself with horrifying things to come. In the beginning, Liv Ullman plays Jenny in a subtle, arresting way- Jenny doesn't seem to have any sense of self , or she doesn't seem to know herself, and Ullman plays it perfectly. Jenny is a very difficult role to play, since Ullman must make her mental condition 100% convincing and not to get lost in her disturbing scenes by overracting or not knowing what to do with her character. And Ullman nails this. Another thing that makes her performance so stunning is that not only does she make Jenny's illness completely realistic, but also makes Jenny's struggle with her condition and her relationship with those around her incredibly real and heartbreaking. Liv Ullman gives a towering, mesmerizing performance, a must see, which gets

Best Actress 1976

2010-05-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

The next year I'll be doing a profile/ranking on is 1976 and the nominees were:

Marie Christine Barrualt in Cousin, Cousine

Faye Dunaway in Network

Talia Shire in Rocky

Sissy Spacek in Carrie

Liv Ullman in Face To Face

So, who do think will by pick? Who are you rooting for?

Ranking of the nominees and years so far

2010-05-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

1. 1969

2. 1974

3. 2006

4. 1988

5. 2002

1. Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven (2002)

2. Judi Dench in Notes On A Scandal (2006)

3. Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

4. Kate Winslet in Little Children (2006)

5. Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)

6. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

7. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

8. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasions (1988)

9. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

10. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

11. Valerie Perrine in Lenny (1974)

12. Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969)

13. Genevieve Anne Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days (1969)

14. Meryl Streep in A Cry In The Dark (1988)

15. Diahaan Carol in Claudine (1974)

16. Jodie Foster in Accused (1988)

17. Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending (1969)

18. Diane Lane in Unfaithful (2002)

19. Renee Zellweger in Chicago (2002)

20. Penelope Cruz in Volver (2006)

21. Signourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist (1988)

22. Helen Mirren in The Queen (2006)

23. Nicole Kidman in The Hours (2002)

24. Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988)

25. Salma Hayek in Frida (2002)

Best Actress 1969: Final Thoughts

2010-05-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

WOW, another amazing year! Just like 74 , all of these women gave brilliant performances and strangely, I gave the same ratings for both 74 and 69 (My first pick and second pick got 5, the rest got 4, 5/5). But I have to say that none of their films (Except for They Shoot Horses Don't They?) reached the level of fantastic. Still, what a year! I've changed my mind and are now separating my final thoughts and my ranking of the films with the ranking of the nominees and the years I've done so far.

1. They Shoot Horses Don't They?

2. The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie

3. Anne Of The Thousand Days

4. The Sterile Cuckoo

5. The Happy Ending

Best Actress 1969: The Resolution!

2010-05-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

5. Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending:

Despite having a lackluster script, Jean Simmons still gives a subtle, honest performance which is beautiful to watch.

4. Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They?:

Jane Fonda gives a gritty, powerful portrait of a woman undergoing terrible suffering. Devastating work.

3. Genieve Anne Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days :

Bujold delivers a fantastic portrayal, always in control of her character, and always convincing.

2. Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo:

Liza is heartbreaking as Pookie, making her both loveable and unlikeable. She shows Pookie's emotions in a remarkable way.

1. Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie:

Maggie Smith is just amazing as Jean Brodie, never going too over the top. A performance for the ages.

Best Actress 1969: Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie

2010-05-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

Maggie Smith received her second Oscar nomination for playing Jean Brodie in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie. M.s Brodie is an eccentric, free thinking teacher who has a great influence on her girls, which results in both and good bad consequences. The film follows these events and the beginning and ending of M.s Brodie's prime.

What an achievement! Maggie Smith is amazing in this film! Every scene is played with sharp wit and she completely is her characte. r perfectly captures M.s Brodie's unique, larger then life style and makes it all fabulous. She makes M.s Brodie a loveable, iconic character that is always interesting. We see her love for her students and her passion for teaching and her chemistry with both her students and her lover (Robert Stephen) is wonderful. Nobody else could have played this role, and better then Smith could. She brilliantly shows M.s Brodie's denial at being having her prime be over, and her own responsibility in a terrible tragedy at the end. In her dramatic moments, Smith plays them with a dynamic fire that never wavers. Maggie Smith easily gives one of the best performances I've ever seen, which gets

Best Actress 1969: Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They ?

2010-05-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Jane Fonda received her first Oscar nomination for playing Gloria Beatty in They Shoot Horses Don't They? Gloria is a bitter woman who ran away from her home in Kansas in the Great Depression and decides to join a dance marathon. She is partnered with Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin), and they are both competing for a $1500 prize. But the marathon is a torturous experience and the people who run it are determined to keep the show on, even if that means lying about the contestant's conditions and making them suffer.

Jane Fonda blew me away in Klute and she gives another amazing performance here. She shows Gloria's bitterness and toughness and it all works. We see her determination to win , and her refusal to lose. Fonda and Sarrazin work brilliantly together, showing that all they have is each other. Fonda subtly shows Gloria's realization that they are just being used for profit and her scenes at the end are a marvel to behold, as we see Gloria's world crumbling around her. A triumphant feat which gets

Best Actress 1969: Genevieve Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days

2010-05-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Genevieve Bujold received her first Oscar nomination for playing Anne Boleyn in Anne Of The Thousand Days. Anne is seduced by King Henry Vlll (Richard Burton) and at first is unwilling to marry him. But eventually , she falls in love with him and marries him. But after she gives birth to a daughter, their relationship begins to go downhill and terrible things are to come.

Bujold is just brilliant in this movie. She is very theatrical in the beginning, but it works, and Bujold is totally convincing. She nails Anne's manipulative behavior and her hatred of the king. She brilliantly takes her characters transformation from a young woman to a strong, vengeful queen and it's mesmerizing to watch. She and Burton might not be O'Toole and Hepburn in The Lion In Winter, but they work extremely well together, showing their love and hatred of each other. The true highlights of her performance are at the end when everything starts to unravel and Bujold is a force to behold. So, a powerful, outstanding performance which really surprised me which gets

Best Supporting Actress 2008

2010-05-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

1. Marisa Tomei as Cassidy/Pam in The Wrestler: Tomei delivers a gutwrenching, beautiful performance which is very authentic. She and Rourke have brilliant chemistry and she never let her role become a stereotype.

2. Amy Adams as Sister James in Doubt: Adams gives a subtle, fantastic performance which might be her best. I thought she gave the strongest performance in Doubt and she really showed the internal battle going on inside her character.

3. Viola Davis as Ms. Miller in Doubt: Davis adds a lot to the film and steers the story in the right direction. She is heartbreaking and totally makes us understand Ms. Miller's actions.

4. Penelope Cruz as Maria Elena in Vicky, Cristina Barcelona: Cruz was the only reason that I didn't completely like V.C.B. Her presence drives the film and I really felt the passions of her character.

5. Tarajii P. Henson as Queenie in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button: Henson has a nothing role that is a complete caricature. There is nothing Oscar-worthy in this performance and there were more worthier performances that should have been nominated.

I thought this was a really strong year for this category. Except for Henson, everybody deserved their nominations and would have been worthy winners. My own personal choice though is Rosemarie Dewitt for Rachel Getting Married and I don't understand how she wasn't nominated. So, who is your choice for this year and what did you think of this lineup?

Best Actress 1969: Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo

2010-05-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

Liza Minnelli received her first Oscar nomination for playing Pookie Adams in The Sterile Cuckoo. Pookie is a very eccentric person who meets Jerry Payne (Wendell Burton) on the way to college and the two immediately become friends and eventually lovers. Liza won the Oscar two years later for playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret and while Sally and Pookie are very similar, Liza definitely doesn't give the same performance. In The Sterile Cuckoo, Liza gives a brilliant performance. In the very beginning, she is a little annoying, but that's the way Pookie is supposed to be played and Liza makes us fall in love with her. She really nails the cemetery scene and she and Burton have flawless chemistry through out the whole film. Liza always gives Pookie a beautiful vulnerability which is the key to her character and her performance. The scene with her on the phone is just outstanding. Liza always shows Pookie's feelings so well and that's what makes the phone scene work so well. Liza is great in every scene of The Sterile Cuckoo and she completely is the movie. So, a remarkable performance, which is great on every level , which gets

Best Actress 1969: Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending

2010-05-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Jean Simmons received her second Oscar nomination for playing Mary Wilson in The Happy Ending. Mary and her husband Fred appear to be happy, but she is an alcoholic and is suffocated by being a housewife. On their 16th anniversary, she runs away to spend a vacation to think things over and to get away from their marriage. Jean Simmons is wonderful in this film. She plays Mary in a subtle, honest way which is beautiful to watch. Her scene in the hospital is a heartbreaking moment as is the scene with her friend on the plane. She has a radiant presence whenever she is on screen and she elevates her film and makes it worth watching. I also really like the scenes with her mother and her friend Agnes because Simmons is so believable in these scenes. My only problem is that I think that the film didn't quite delve in it's characters enough and that brings down Simmon's performance a bit. But still, a terrific, very honest performance which gets

Best Actress 1969

2010-05-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

The next year I'll be doing a profile/ranking on is 1969 and the nominees were

Genevieve Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days

Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses Don't They?

Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo

Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending

Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie

So, who do you think will be my pick? Who are you rooting for?

Final thoughts and ranking of the nominees so far

2010-05-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, this was an amazing year! All of the nominees gave superb performances and they all would have been deserving! I think this was the best year I've done so far and from now on I'll be ranking the years I've done so far from strongest to weakest and I'll be ranking the films that the nominees are in from best to worst from the year I've just finished, not all of the films that I see for all of my profiles:

1. 1974
2. 2006
3. 1988
4. 2002

1. Chinatown

2. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

3. Lenny

4. A Woman Under The Influence

5. Claudine (Although I'd much rather watch it then A Woman Under The Influence, since A. W. U.T.I is an exhausting experience)

1. Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven (2002)

2. Judi Dench in Notes On A Scandal (2006)

3. Kate Winslet in Little Children (2006)

4. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

5. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

6. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasions (1988)

7. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

8. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

9. Valerie Perrine in Lenny (1974)

10. Meryl Streep in A Cry In The Dark (1988)

11. Diahaan Carol in Claudine (1974)

12. Jodie Foster in Accused (1988)

13. . Diane in Unfaithful (2002)

14. Renee Zellweger in Chicago (2002)

15. Penelope Cruz in Volver (2002)

16. Signourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist (1988)

17. Helen Mirren in The Queen (2006)

18. Nicole Kidman in The Hours (2002)

20. Salma Hayek in Frida (2002)

Best Actress 1974: The resolution!

2010-05-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

5. Diahaan Carol in Claudine

Diahaan Carol gives a very strong performance that is far and away the best thing about the film. She's always real and she and James Earl Jones have beautiful chemistry.

4. Valerie Perrine in Lenny

Valerie Perrine is the emotional heart of Lenny, giving a beautiful, very intimate performance that is an essential asset to the film.

3. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown:

Faye Dunaway gives a fascinating, deeply layered performance which shows how much talent she has (And how much talent she's wasting! Come back to film!)

2. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore:

Ellen Burstyn's portrayal of Alice is natural and simply terrific. She makes us love her character and Burstyn is always fun to watch.

1. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence:

Gena Rowlands never goes too over the top, but gives a devastating performance that is convincing and believable 100 %.

Best Actress 1974: Faye Dunaway in Chinatown

2010-05-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

Faye Dunaway received her third Oscar nomination for playing Evelyn Mullwray in Chinatown. Evelyn's husband is killed and she hires Joe Gillis (Jack Nicholson) to find out who's behind it and why. But Evelyn is hiding something very dark that is the key to the whole situation and results in terrible consequences. Chinatown is a great film and Faye Dunaway is fabulous in it. She creates a very layered , fascinating character and she adds a lot to the film. When we find out who Evelyn really is and what her real intentions are, Faye is simply brilliant, showing Evelyn's sadness and her determination to get out of her situation. In the famous scene "She my sister, my daughter, She's my sister and my daughter!", Faye plays it flawlessly and she Nicholson play each other off superbly. And she really nails her last scene and it's so heartbreaking (Spoiler alert!) what happens to Evelyn at the end. So, a fantastic performance that shows how much talent Faye Dunaway has, which gets

Best Actress 1974: Valerie Perrine in Lenny

2010-05-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Valerie Perrine received her first Oscar nomination for playing Honey Bruce, the wife of famous comedian Lenny Bruce in Lenny. Honey was a stripper, but she falls in love with Lenny, and they get married. But they start to have marital problems and they divorce when she goes to jail. The film cuts back and forth between his life and people telling it in interviews , including Honey, so you could say she is playing two roles, in a manner of speaking. But Valerie Perrine gives a beautiful performance in this film. She is natural and realistic and both she and Hoffman work wonderfully together. Her facial expressions are always fantastic, conveying her feelings wonderfully. Her best scene is when she is on the phone with Lenny in prison, and we really feel her pain and sadness. During the interview scenes, Perrine is so raw at points and intimate . It's wonderfully played. The only problem is is it Lead or Supporting? To me, I think she's more Supporting. I don't think that she leads the film anywhere, despite that I love her performance. I might even give her my win in Supporting, once I see more of the nominees from 1974. So, I'm a little torn on what to give it, but I've decided to give her