Best Suupporting Actress project

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?

Best Actress 1977: Anne Bancroft in The Turning Point

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

Ranking of Best Actress nominees and years so far

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 1977: Jane Fonda in Julia

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

Best Actress 1977: The Results

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: Shirley Maclaine in The Turning Point

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

My new favorite Best Actress nominees

This is pretty much the same list as I did two months ago, but I'm including my number ratings for each nominee. So, here we go:

1941: Bette Davis in The Little Foxes: 4,5/5
1950: Bette Davis in All About Eve: 5/5
1950: Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard: 5/5
1950: Anne Baxter in All About Eve: 4, 5/5
1954: Judy Garland in A Star Is Born: 5/5
1965: Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music: 5/5
1967: Anne Bancroft in The Graduate: 5/5
1967: Faye Dunaway in Bonnie And Clyde: 4,5/5
1968: Patricia Neal in The Subject Was Roses: 4,5/5
1974: Faye Dunaway in Chinatown: 4/5
1976: Sissy Spacek in Carrie: 4,5/5
1977: Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl: 4/5
1978: Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman: 5/5
1983: Debra Winger in Terms Of Endearment: 5/5
1985: Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple: 4, 5/5
1987: Holly Hunter in Broadcast News: 4,5/5
1988: Glenn Close in Dangerous Liasons: 4,5/5
1989: Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys: 3, 5/5
1990: Angelica Huston in The Grifters: 4/5
1991: Geena Davis in Thelma And Louise: 5/5
1991: Susan Sarandon in Thelma And Louise: 5/5
1994: Winona Ryder in Little Women: 4/5
1995: Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas: 5/5
1996: Emily Watson in Breaking The Waves: 5/5
1996: Brenda Blethyn in Secrets And Lies: 4,5/5
1997: Helena Bonham-Carter in The Wings Of The Dove: 4,5/5
1997: Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown: 4/5
1997: Kate Winslet in Titanic: 3, 5/5
1998: Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: 4,5/5
1999: Annette Benning in American Beauty: 4,5/5
2000: Ellen Burstyn in Requiem For A Dream: 4,5/5
2000: Laura Linney in You Can Count On Me: 4,5/5
2001: Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge: 4,5/5
2001: Sissy Spacek in In The Bedroom: 4,5/5
2001: Renee Zellweger in Bridget's Jones's Diary: 4/5
2002: Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven: 5/5
2002: Diane Lane in Unfaithful: 4,5/5
2002: Renee Zellweger in Chicago: 4/5
2004: Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: 5/5
2004: Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake: 4,5/5
2005: Felicity Huffman in Transamerica: 5/5
2006: Judi Dench in Notes On A Scandal: 5/5
2006: Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada: 5/5
2006: Kate Winslet in Little Children: 5/5
2006: Penelope Cruz in Volver: 5/5
2007: Ellen Page in Juno: 5/5
2007: Laura Linney in The Savages: 4,5/5
2008: Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married: 5/5
2008: Melissa Leo in Frozen River: 4,5/5

I will update this page as I see more Best Actress films. Your thoughts? Any ones you like that you see? Don't like? Any nominees you want to see on here?

Best Actress 1977

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?

Best Actress 1977: Diane Keaton in Annie Hall

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: Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl

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

Best Actress winners I have seen so far

I've decided to re-post this, since I'm going to start seeing the winners again. So, here we go. />1937: Luise Rainer in The Good Earth 1939: Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind
1944: Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight
1945: Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce
1949: Olivia Dehavilland in The Heiress
1950: Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday
1951: Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire
1952: Shirley Booth in Come Back,Little Sheba
1953: Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday
1954: Grace Kelly in The Country Girl
1955: Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo
1956: Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia
1957: Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces Of Eve
1958: Susan Hayward in I Want To Live!
1959: Simone Signoret in A Room At The Top
1960: Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8
1961: Sophia Loren in Two Women
1962: Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker
1963: Patricia Neal in Hud
1964: Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins
1965: Julie Christie in Darling
1966: Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf?
1967: Katherine Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
1968: Katharine Hepburn in The Lion In Winter
1968: Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl
1969: Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
1971: Jane Fonda in Klute
1972: Liza Minelli in Cabaret
1974: Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1975: Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest
1976: Faye Dunaway in Network
1977: Diane Keaton in Annie Hall
1979: Sally Field in Norma Rae
1981: Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond
1982: Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice
1983: Shirley Maclaine Terms Of Endearment
1984: Sally Field in Places In The Heart
1985: Geraldine Page in The Trip To Bountiful
1986: Marlee Matlin in Children Of A Lesser God 1987: Cher in Moonstruck
1988: Jodie Foster in The Accused
1989: Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy
1990: Kathy Bates in Misery
1991: Jodie Foster in The Silence Of The Lambs
1992: Emma Thompson in Howard's End
1993; Holly Hunter in The Piano
1994: Jessica Lange in Blue Sky
1995: Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking
1996: Frances Mcdormand in Fargo
1997: Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets
1998: Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare In Love
1999: Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry
2000: Julia Roberts in Erin Brokovich
2001: Halle Berry in Monsters Ball
2002: Nicole Kidman in The Hours
2003: Charlize Theron in Monster
2004: Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
2005: Reese Witherspoon in Walk The Line
2006: Helen Mirren in The Queen
2007: Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose
2008: Kate Winslet in The Reader

I will continually update this page as I see more winners. If you care to, you can check this post and see if there's an update and if you want to know what I thought about the updated performance, you can ask in the comments. So,what do you think? How many winners have you seen? Any winners you want me to see soon?