Best Actress 2008
Re: Best Actress 2008
Here too.
"Men get to be a mixture of the charming mannerisms of the women they have known." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Re: Best Actress 2008
Frozen River is a horrid, simplistic film, and Melissa Leo's insensitive performance is one of the reasons it flounders. The character is hateful but Leo does not make us understand her; we only resent her more. This is not realism, as many critics called it. I was scared that many thought a Streep-Winslet vote would lead her to win (I was also heartbroken that she won the Indie Spirit Award).
Angelina Jolie has a glitz that's totally, as others have said, anachronistic, not to mention that she doesn't really seem to know what subtlety is. She has lost her once electric screen presence and it shows here in this very one-note performance. I was so sad that AMPAS went for this performance over Scott-Thomas' towering creation, one of many beautiful characterizations in her great career.
What I remember of Kate Winslet in The Reader was a gimmicky performance that was crudely effective. I don't think she's an actress who's capable of being actively bad. Her intelligence always shines through.
Meryl Streep is hilarious in Doubt. I think she is starting to enter a stage in her career where she uses what people have criticized her for – this very methodical, studied, neurotic, chilly, whatever approach – to grand comic effect. She's wonderful here.
Anne Hathaway can be a very indulgent actress, and I have recently begun to find her quirks off-putting. Under the right director, though, she can be brilliant – and, thankfully, the Demme we're dealing with here is closer to the one who directed Melvin and Howard than to the one who made Philadelphia. He extracts from her a vibrant, persuasive performance. The level of insight Hathaway has into her character – how consistently she damages herself, how handicapped she is by this – is really the mark of a mature actress. The character is selfish, but that is not all we see – we understand the pain that fuels it. This is very much a performance like Jane Fonda's in They Shoot Horses Don't They – a complex interpretation of a misanthropic, totally dislikable character.
Angelina Jolie has a glitz that's totally, as others have said, anachronistic, not to mention that she doesn't really seem to know what subtlety is. She has lost her once electric screen presence and it shows here in this very one-note performance. I was so sad that AMPAS went for this performance over Scott-Thomas' towering creation, one of many beautiful characterizations in her great career.
What I remember of Kate Winslet in The Reader was a gimmicky performance that was crudely effective. I don't think she's an actress who's capable of being actively bad. Her intelligence always shines through.
Meryl Streep is hilarious in Doubt. I think she is starting to enter a stage in her career where she uses what people have criticized her for – this very methodical, studied, neurotic, chilly, whatever approach – to grand comic effect. She's wonderful here.
Anne Hathaway can be a very indulgent actress, and I have recently begun to find her quirks off-putting. Under the right director, though, she can be brilliant – and, thankfully, the Demme we're dealing with here is closer to the one who directed Melvin and Howard than to the one who made Philadelphia. He extracts from her a vibrant, persuasive performance. The level of insight Hathaway has into her character – how consistently she damages herself, how handicapped she is by this – is really the mark of a mature actress. The character is selfish, but that is not all we see – we understand the pain that fuels it. This is very much a performance like Jane Fonda's in They Shoot Horses Don't They – a complex interpretation of a misanthropic, totally dislikable character.
Re: Best Actress 2008
I hate to keep pointing these things out but there's more ballot stuffing here for Leo.
"Men get to be a mixture of the charming mannerisms of the women they have known." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Re: Best Actress 2008
ACTRESS
**Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married**
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Keira Knightley, The Duchess
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
**Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married**
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Keira Knightley, The Duchess
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Re: Best Actress 2008
My choices:
1. Sally Hawkins, in "Happy-Go-Lucky"
2. Kyōko Koizumi, in "Tokyo Sonata"
3. Michelle Williams, in "Wendy and Lucy"
4. Nicole Kidman, in "Australia"
5. Anne Hathaway, in "Rachel Getting Married"
ALT: Tae Kimura, in "All Around Us" / Rebecca Hall, in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
1. Sally Hawkins, in "Happy-Go-Lucky"
2. Kyōko Koizumi, in "Tokyo Sonata"
3. Michelle Williams, in "Wendy and Lucy"
4. Nicole Kidman, in "Australia"
5. Anne Hathaway, in "Rachel Getting Married"
ALT: Tae Kimura, in "All Around Us" / Rebecca Hall, in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
I was sure I was the only person to have voted for Angelina Jolie, only to see that another person - as yet unknown - had joined me. I don't think this is her best performance (for me, that would be her wonderfully touching work in Playing by Heart) but she works hard and delivers as a strong but desperate woman, and - for me - fits into the period detail most comfortably. Changeling is by no means a great film, but in a very weak year I do think this is a fine performance.
Kristin-Scott Thomas would have been my very easy choice had she been nominated. After all the build-up, her omission against such thin competition was a bit of a head-scratcher.
Kristin-Scott Thomas would have been my very easy choice had she been nominated. After all the build-up, her omission against such thin competition was a bit of a head-scratcher.
Meryl Streep is the only possible choice here. She's both formidable and slightly funny, the way that -- speaking from experience -- many teacher-nuns were back in the 60s.
As for the others, Angelina Jolie was okay in The Changeling but she always seemed too contemporary, never a woman of the 1920s, and her glamour shone through in ways that were detrimental to her characterization and the film.
I genuinely do like Anne Hathaway but Rachel Getting Married is a crime against humanity and even if Jonathan Demme is the chief criminal, Hathaway was very much an accessory.
Frozen River is nearly as bad as Eachel Getting Married, and director Courtney Hunt is just another of the myriad of contemporary filmmakers whose salient characteristic is contempt. Melissa Leo is not wooden. But she is too calculated by far in wanting the audience to find her likable. Everything about this character tells us she should be crude and volatile; instead she has a certain soigne aspect. Compare her work to that of Amy Ryan's in Gone Baby Gone and you see immediately what minor work Leo's performance is.
And then there's the actual winner. The pompous and dreary The Reader is a ludicrous movie, and Winslet's performance fits it to a tee. She's also too intelligent a screen presence to be believable as such dumb cluck.
Ye gods, what a horrible line up!
My Own Top 5:
1. Asia Argento in Boarding Gate
2. Kristin Scott-Thomas in I’ve Loved You So Long
3 Meryl Streep in Doubt
4 Juliette Binoche in Flight Of The Red Balloon
5. Kate Beckinsale in Snow Angels
Edited By Damien on 1270359578
As for the others, Angelina Jolie was okay in The Changeling but she always seemed too contemporary, never a woman of the 1920s, and her glamour shone through in ways that were detrimental to her characterization and the film.
I genuinely do like Anne Hathaway but Rachel Getting Married is a crime against humanity and even if Jonathan Demme is the chief criminal, Hathaway was very much an accessory.
Frozen River is nearly as bad as Eachel Getting Married, and director Courtney Hunt is just another of the myriad of contemporary filmmakers whose salient characteristic is contempt. Melissa Leo is not wooden. But she is too calculated by far in wanting the audience to find her likable. Everything about this character tells us she should be crude and volatile; instead she has a certain soigne aspect. Compare her work to that of Amy Ryan's in Gone Baby Gone and you see immediately what minor work Leo's performance is.
And then there's the actual winner. The pompous and dreary The Reader is a ludicrous movie, and Winslet's performance fits it to a tee. She's also too intelligent a screen presence to be believable as such dumb cluck.
Ye gods, what a horrible line up!
My Own Top 5:
1. Asia Argento in Boarding Gate
2. Kristin Scott-Thomas in I’ve Loved You So Long
3 Meryl Streep in Doubt
4 Juliette Binoche in Flight Of The Red Balloon
5. Kate Beckinsale in Snow Angels
Edited By Damien on 1270359578
Last edited by Damien on Fri Nov 04, 2011 2:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Best Actress 2008
Voted for Hathaway............she was such an incredible surprise. Didn't know she had it in her to give such a complex performance.
My top 5:
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep, Doubt
My top 5:
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Last edited by Reza on Sat Nov 24, 2012 2:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
Snick's Guy
- Temp
- Posts: 316
- Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2004 6:43 pm
- Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Even more so now in retrospect, Streep is the clear choice here.
I very much enjoyed the performances of Hathaway and Leo, and would have been happy with either one of them winning.
Jolie has no business being nominated (I would have substituted Sally Hawkins.
Winslet should have been nominated for her far better work in Revolutionary Road.
I very much enjoyed the performances of Hathaway and Leo, and would have been happy with either one of them winning.
Jolie has no business being nominated (I would have substituted Sally Hawkins.
Winslet should have been nominated for her far better work in Revolutionary Road.
-
FilmFan720
- Emeritus
- Posts: 3650
- Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 3:57 pm
- Location: Illinois
To me, there is only one choice here and that is Anne Hathaway. She is an actress I have always liked, but her work here completely blew me away. It is one of my favorite movies of the year, and a lot of that is due to her strong central performance. It has nuance and struggle that I had never seen from her before. I am glad to see her leading here.
As for the others, Winslet is the only one I would have nominated. I am not a fan of the movie, but she is far and away the best thing in it and brings much more depth and complexity to that character than the rest of the film has. I prefer her in this to Revolutionary Road.
The other three were bland choices. All were fine and serviceable enough but none could overcome the limitations of their film (except Jolie, who I think is the biggest limitation to her film).
I have never been a Cate Blanchett fan, but I think Benjamin Button is far and away her greatest performance. She is charming, sexy and heartbreaking in ways I had never found her before. It is a shame that she wasn't nominated for this (ironically the only performance of hers I would have nominated).
My top 5:
1. Anamarinca Marina, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
2. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
3. Emily Mortimer, Transsiberian
4. Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Kate Winslet, The Reader
As for the others, Winslet is the only one I would have nominated. I am not a fan of the movie, but she is far and away the best thing in it and brings much more depth and complexity to that character than the rest of the film has. I prefer her in this to Revolutionary Road.
The other three were bland choices. All were fine and serviceable enough but none could overcome the limitations of their film (except Jolie, who I think is the biggest limitation to her film).
I have never been a Cate Blanchett fan, but I think Benjamin Button is far and away her greatest performance. She is charming, sexy and heartbreaking in ways I had never found her before. It is a shame that she wasn't nominated for this (ironically the only performance of hers I would have nominated).
My top 5:
1. Anamarinca Marina, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
2. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
3. Emily Mortimer, Transsiberian
4. Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Kate Winslet, The Reader
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
- Minor Myers, Jr.
- Minor Myers, Jr.
Meryl Streep, who has a lot of fun with a silly role. Surprisingly, even though was Streep-resistant for many of her early nominations in this category, this is the third time I've voted for her (88 and 95 were the first two), and she'll probably get my vote for a Supporting nomination as well.
None of these made my top five. The ladies who did...
1) Galina Vishnevskaya for Alexandra
2) Famke Janssen for Turn the River
3) Tarra Riggs for Ballast
4) Sissy Spacek for Lake City
5) Amy Adams for Doubt and Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day
With Emma Thompson for Last Chance Harvey and Nina Hoss for Yella not far behind.
None of these made my top five. The ladies who did...
1) Galina Vishnevskaya for Alexandra
2) Famke Janssen for Turn the River
3) Tarra Riggs for Ballast
4) Sissy Spacek for Lake City
5) Amy Adams for Doubt and Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day
With Emma Thompson for Last Chance Harvey and Nina Hoss for Yella not far behind.
-
The Original BJ
- Emeritus
- Posts: 4312
- Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:49 pm
Not a tremendously exciting lineup. WAY better than '05, but given the possibilities, it could have been a lot more impressive.
Jolie is an actress I've never much cared for, and she was completely miscast in this role. The character required an actress more down-to-earth, less superstar glamorous. A really disappointing nomination.
Melissa Leo is a good actress, and it was nice that she got this career recognition, especially in the top-tier category. But Frozen River is a laughable film, and Leo can't make her character's ludicrous motivations make sense. ("Let's just leave this bag on the ice...")
What's interesting about Streep's interpretation of Sister Aloysius is that she brings out a lot of humor in the role. It seems like an original acting choice, which I like. But, like Mister Tee, I don't find it a very serious, deep choice either. Her dragon lady was certainly entertaining, but not a major Streep triumph. (I prefer all of her nominated comedic performances this decade.)
I was surprisingly impressed by Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married. Kym is a real attention hog, but Hathaway the actress is not. She knows precisely when to cede scenes to her costars, but still manages to make an impression with her prickly, human creation. Of course, the less dominant nature of her role is also what makes me less inclined to vote for her.
So, I will probably be that rare person who doesn't much care for The Reader but would still vote for Winslet. I have the same problems with the film so many do: I think it's a dull and ideologically muddled "issue" movie with no real grasp of the issues it attempts to deal with. But I do think Winslet is special in it. I felt she didn't shy away from the monstrous aspects that defined her character's past, but at the same time showed how that evil stemmed from a real human being. (The "What would you have done? It was our jobs" moment is probably the bit in which she most impressively negotiates these complexities within the character.) Obviously, I realize a lot of people around here take a lot more issue with this performance, on numerous levels, than I do. But for me, I thought it was typically solid Winslet.
I will, agree, though, that this performance was not up to the level of Winslet's greatest work, and even her best work that year in Revolutionary Road. And had Sally Hawkins and Kristin Scott Thomas made the lineup -- as both clearly should have -- my vote might have gone elsewhere. But in this field, I think she's the best, and I was quite happy she finally won on Oscar night.
Jolie is an actress I've never much cared for, and she was completely miscast in this role. The character required an actress more down-to-earth, less superstar glamorous. A really disappointing nomination.
Melissa Leo is a good actress, and it was nice that she got this career recognition, especially in the top-tier category. But Frozen River is a laughable film, and Leo can't make her character's ludicrous motivations make sense. ("Let's just leave this bag on the ice...")
What's interesting about Streep's interpretation of Sister Aloysius is that she brings out a lot of humor in the role. It seems like an original acting choice, which I like. But, like Mister Tee, I don't find it a very serious, deep choice either. Her dragon lady was certainly entertaining, but not a major Streep triumph. (I prefer all of her nominated comedic performances this decade.)
I was surprisingly impressed by Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married. Kym is a real attention hog, but Hathaway the actress is not. She knows precisely when to cede scenes to her costars, but still manages to make an impression with her prickly, human creation. Of course, the less dominant nature of her role is also what makes me less inclined to vote for her.
So, I will probably be that rare person who doesn't much care for The Reader but would still vote for Winslet. I have the same problems with the film so many do: I think it's a dull and ideologically muddled "issue" movie with no real grasp of the issues it attempts to deal with. But I do think Winslet is special in it. I felt she didn't shy away from the monstrous aspects that defined her character's past, but at the same time showed how that evil stemmed from a real human being. (The "What would you have done? It was our jobs" moment is probably the bit in which she most impressively negotiates these complexities within the character.) Obviously, I realize a lot of people around here take a lot more issue with this performance, on numerous levels, than I do. But for me, I thought it was typically solid Winslet.
I will, agree, though, that this performance was not up to the level of Winslet's greatest work, and even her best work that year in Revolutionary Road. And had Sally Hawkins and Kristin Scott Thomas made the lineup -- as both clearly should have -- my vote might have gone elsewhere. But in this field, I think she's the best, and I was quite happy she finally won on Oscar night.
Hathaway, easily. Though the weeks leading up to Oscar night, I wished that Streep woulda won the previous year to prevent her from winning for Julie & Julia.
1. Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
2. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
3. Ronit Elkabetz, The Band's Visit
4. Lina Leandersson, Let the Right One In
5. Meryl Streep, Doubt
Still sadly haven't seen I've Loved You for So Long.
1. Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
2. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
3. Ronit Elkabetz, The Band's Visit
4. Lina Leandersson, Let the Right One In
5. Meryl Streep, Doubt
Still sadly haven't seen I've Loved You for So Long.
"How's the despair?"