Best Actress 1994

1927/28 through 1997

Best Actress 1994

Jodie Foster - Nell
5
12%
Jessica Lange - Blue Sky
21
51%
Miranda Richardson - Tom and Viv
5
12%
Winona Ryder - Little Women
7
17%
Susan Sarandon - The Client
3
7%
 
Total votes: 41

dws1982
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by dws1982 »

Since This Had Oscar Buzz is doing an episode on When a Man Loves a Woman next week, I watched it last night (it's streaming on Prime).

I had never seen it before. It's not great, and it's at times not even good, it's over-reliant on musical montages in the way I feel a lot of movies from that era did, which also instantly dates the movie ("Everybody Hurts" is used non-ironically). It relies on some melodrama at times that doesn't really serve the material, especially around the subject of Meg Ryan's alcoholism. But to focus on the good, it's more than just a portrait of an alcoholic, which I thought it would be: I expected two hours of Meg Ryan as a drunk. The issue of her drinking is only in the first half of the film, the second half deals with her recovery, which goes well, and the impact that those life changes have on her marriage. It's also a surprisingly complex portrait of marriage--the thing that's meant to save the marriage actually becomes the thing that almost drives them apart--and Ryan and Garcia are, for the most part, very very good. Garcia never would've gotten nominated (although I definitely prefer him to Hanks and Travolta), but Ryan could have and should have over pretty much anyone in that lineup--certainly over Foster. It's one of those against-type performances that frequently gets actresses nominated, but there are also shades of her romantic leading lady persona as well.This would've been a good time for a career nomination, a nomination that will probably never happen now since she doesn't really work anymore. Worth watching.

Also interesting to watch it back-to-back with The Pumpkin Eater which I watched on Criterion Channel, since it was leaving at the end of the month, which is also a portrait of a very troubled marriage.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by Precious Doll »

Never heard of them but if that group are made up of people from around the world that explains Toni Collette's nomination for Muriel's Wedding.

Being an Australian/French co-production, Muriel's Wedding was released in Australia and France in 1994.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by Big Magilla »

It was bad enough when the Oscars for 1994 films were handed out, but there's an organization called the 20/20 awards which purports to include film professionals from around the world. In 2015, this presumably enlightened group voted and nominated Foster's performance as the only actual nominee among the five actresses they nominated in hindsight, giving the award to Toni Collette in Muriel's Wedding, a film that was not Oscar eligible until the following year. Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies, Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction and Natalie Portman in Leon the Professional were their other nominees.

Hilariously, they also nominated Meg Tilly in support for Bullets Over Broadway when it was her sister Jennifer who was in the film and, in fact, received an Oscar nomination for it.

http://2020awards.org/nominees/2015-nom ... 20-awards/
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by Precious Doll »

Nell - one of the worst films ever made or ever nominated for an Oscar. Jodie Foster's performance would have to be one of the worst if not the worst ever nominated for an Oscar.

When I saw it back in 1994 at the cinema when we weren't groaning at the badness of the film we were laughing ourselves silly. Can't believe that some critics actually thought her performance was good. I know its just opinion but that was just a bridge too far.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by Sabin »

dws1982 wrote
That score nomination for Legends of the Fall should've carried over to the Oscars, in my opinion. I could take or leave the rest of it, but I think the score is better than most (all?) of Horner's actual nominations.
I remember performing that score in band.

I had no idea that James Horner's score wasn't nominated for Legends of the Fall. That's pretty baffling considering James Horner's track record. It's also a bit surprising to see that Legends of the Fall only got three nominations (Cinematography, Art Direction, and Sound). It's the kind of big, dumb epic that usually cleans up. Maybe the score was too big and overshadowed the movie itself? Horner had previous nominations so it's not as though he was too new. Interesting, Elliot Goldenthal, Alan Silvestri, and Thomas Newman had their first nominations that year. The only person on their second (Hans Zimmer) won.
Last edited by Sabin on Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by dws1982 »

Big Magilla wrote:Foster's performance was well-regarded by the critics at the time, the film not so much.

The Globes also gave three nominations to the critically drubbed Legends of the Fall in the same categories that year, albeit substituting Best Actor Brad Pitt for Best Actress.
That score nomination for Legends of the Fall should've carried over to the Oscars, in my opinion. I could take or leave the rest of it, but I think the score is better than most (all?) of Horner's actual nominations.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by mlrg »

I remember going into Oscar night thinking Jodie Foster was the favorite to win. On paper the role seemed like a winner. Of course the ceremony was before the internet era and I had zero knowledge about buzz or precursors other than the Golden Globes.

Years later I saw the movie and thought it was dreadful.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by Big Magilla »

Foster's performance was well-regarded by the critics at the time, the film not so much.

The Globes also gave three nominations to the critically drubbed Legends of the Fall in the same categories that year, albeit substituting Best Actor Brad Pitt for Best Actress.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by Sabin »

dws1982 wrote
Ironically Nell is on HBOMax right now, so I watched some of it, and if Foster had won Best Actress, this really would be a bottom-five Best Actress win--maybe even the absolute worst. It's truly mind-bogglingly terrible work.
Crazy to think The Hollywood Foreign Press nominated it for Best Picture, Actress, and Original Score.
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Re: Best Actress 1994

Post by dws1982 »

I was searching for a song on YouTube this morning. The first two letters were "ta", and the predictive search was "tay in the wind", which probably shows what I sometimes search on YouTube for a laugh.

Ironically Nell is on HBOMax right now, so I watched some of it, and if Foster had won Best Actress, this really would be a bottom-five Best Actress win--maybe even the absolute worst. It's truly mind-bogglingly terrible work.
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Post by Hustler »

Lange, followed by Richardson.
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Post by dylanfan23 »

I voted for ryder...i thought she was good in an average film...but it was more for her reality bites role. I'm with the original poster who said they wouldn't nominate any of these. I'm also with those who liked jennifer jason leigh the best that year...if fiorentino is ineligible...if she was eligible it would have been her, with leigh, ryder(bites), streep...and probably turner or juliette lewis...i'll go with lewis slightly over turner, sarandon and foster.
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Post by HarryGoldfarb »

Voted for Ryder... everyone else fell short on the impression that I got from them. Foster was, well, terrible! Lange was a better actress than that role but actually I never liked the film, nor the character, nor the almost over the top performance. The Client was good as a film, and yes, Sarandon did a great job with that tiny and unchallenging role, but that was it. Tom and Viv is a film I don't remember that much, so it must be for some reason, not necessarily a good one. Winona was some kind of surprise in a better than expected film. I enjoyed it, which is more than I can say about the other films. And yes, Bale was very good too. The scene with his hands on her face is breathtaking... I liked the (I guess intentional) sugar-filled sense in the film, the music is a jewel and the artistic merits of the film are all over the place. It's one of those films I try to understand the popular hate towards it and everytime I watch it I failed to do so.
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Post by Snick's Guy »

My two favorite performances of the year were the non-nominated Kathleen Turner in Serial Mom and Meryl Streep in The River Wild.

Of those nominated for the year, I had no problem going with Lange, for which I consider the best role of her career.
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Post by Reza »

I love Jessica Lange's sexy performance in Blue Sky. Didn't care too much for the other ladies on the list.
My picks:

Jessica Lange, Blue Sky
Linda Fiorentino, The Last Seduction
Meryl Streep, The River Wild
Judy Davis, The Ref
Isabelle Adjani, La Reine Margot

The 6th slot: Kathleen Turner in Serial Mom




Edited By Reza on 1263017799
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