Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:58 pm
Okay, since we're running through these last few races quick and dirty...
I thought the year's best performance was easily Kristin Scott Thomas' in I've Loved You So Long. I've never got why the critics bailed on her in December after praising her so loudly in October.
Second choice would have been Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road. I have my problems with the film, but I love Winslet's work. Her monologue at the road-house is a particularly beautiful moment.
Though she wouldn't contend for my win, I agree with Magilla that Cate Blanchett deserved notice for Benjamin Button. She's better than most of those who did get nominated.
And that, unfortunately, brings me to the sub-standard group from which we have to choose.
Voting for Winslet in The Reader when Revolutionary Road was available is, to me, like opting for Liv Ullmann in Zandy's Bride rather than Scenes from a Marriage. The Reader, a dreary sex-and-Holocaust thumb-sucker, was on its way to well-earned oblivion until Oscar voters unaccountably gave it those four high-profile nominations and, ultimately, one undeserved win. Winslet is one of the most vital of our modern actresses -- able, in films like Jude, Iris and Eternal Sunshine to create fully alive, charismatic characters. Why Academy voters would choose to honor her for such an atypically dour, listless performance will always be beyond me.
Angelina Jolie far more closely meritted a nod the year prior in A Mighty Heart. She seemed adrift in Changeling. The meandering, no-clear-focus script didn't help, but Jolie -- submerging her dynamic personality -- did nothing to overcome the narrative issues.
Melissa Leo is the archetypal hard-working/unflashy actress, so I should have been pleased for her recognition. But Frozen River is so fraudulent -- so paint-by-numbers-indie -- that it's impossible for me to relish any honor accorded it.
I'm boggled by the seriousness with which some here seem to take Streep's performance in Doubt. She's a hoot, is all -- giving Shanley's claptrap script no more respect than it deserves, opting to have fun with her gargoyle character. That's amusing, but not Oscar territory, by me. (And I've given Streep many mental Oscars) Thank god she didn't win here; it would have quickly become a source of embarrassment.
The only nominee who vaguely edges into Oscar-worthy territory is Hathaway. She's hobbled by a script with Playhouse 90 dramaturgy, but she takes command of her character and never lets go (and of course in the process changes her image). In a good year she'd be a respectable "good start/come back with more later" candidate. But in this sorry bunch, she gets my final vote.
I thought the year's best performance was easily Kristin Scott Thomas' in I've Loved You So Long. I've never got why the critics bailed on her in December after praising her so loudly in October.
Second choice would have been Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road. I have my problems with the film, but I love Winslet's work. Her monologue at the road-house is a particularly beautiful moment.
Though she wouldn't contend for my win, I agree with Magilla that Cate Blanchett deserved notice for Benjamin Button. She's better than most of those who did get nominated.
And that, unfortunately, brings me to the sub-standard group from which we have to choose.
Voting for Winslet in The Reader when Revolutionary Road was available is, to me, like opting for Liv Ullmann in Zandy's Bride rather than Scenes from a Marriage. The Reader, a dreary sex-and-Holocaust thumb-sucker, was on its way to well-earned oblivion until Oscar voters unaccountably gave it those four high-profile nominations and, ultimately, one undeserved win. Winslet is one of the most vital of our modern actresses -- able, in films like Jude, Iris and Eternal Sunshine to create fully alive, charismatic characters. Why Academy voters would choose to honor her for such an atypically dour, listless performance will always be beyond me.
Angelina Jolie far more closely meritted a nod the year prior in A Mighty Heart. She seemed adrift in Changeling. The meandering, no-clear-focus script didn't help, but Jolie -- submerging her dynamic personality -- did nothing to overcome the narrative issues.
Melissa Leo is the archetypal hard-working/unflashy actress, so I should have been pleased for her recognition. But Frozen River is so fraudulent -- so paint-by-numbers-indie -- that it's impossible for me to relish any honor accorded it.
I'm boggled by the seriousness with which some here seem to take Streep's performance in Doubt. She's a hoot, is all -- giving Shanley's claptrap script no more respect than it deserves, opting to have fun with her gargoyle character. That's amusing, but not Oscar territory, by me. (And I've given Streep many mental Oscars) Thank god she didn't win here; it would have quickly become a source of embarrassment.
The only nominee who vaguely edges into Oscar-worthy territory is Hathaway. She's hobbled by a script with Playhouse 90 dramaturgy, but she takes command of her character and never lets go (and of course in the process changes her image). In a good year she'd be a respectable "good start/come back with more later" candidate. But in this sorry bunch, she gets my final vote.