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83rd Oscars Best Actress

5. Annette Bening as Nicole Allgood - The Kids Are All Right

She certainly knows how to play the strict parent and balances making the character tough while also injecting enough humour into the role so the character doesn't become too annoying to watch. She's good at playing up the awkwardness of the family and showcasing how the characters sort of the odd one out within her own family. You can really see her struggles and how hard she's trying to see things from her families perspective in order to find a way to fit in. I think the chemistry between her and Moore is just right like being able to show how they clearly love each other while also showing how the relationship is clearly under strain. I don't think the role is very showy which obviously isn't her fault but there's just something there thats lacking for me.

4. Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly - Winter's Bone

It was so fun getting to watch young JLaw act and I was really impressed by her dramatic work in this it felt so genuine and real. You can see that she's young and afraid but also her need to survive and protect her family overshadows those signs of fears where you almost forget that the characters just 17. But then you get to the scene with the army requiter or when she's holding her dead fathers hand and then you remember that no this is just a child and she shouldn't be having to go through all this. Great accent work as well feels very natural and never forced at all.

3. Michelle Williams as Cindy Heller - Blue Valentine

Very real performance and raw almost too real it felt like I was watching a reel of someones actual life. Her and Gosling work very well together and really distinguish the past of their characters so it contrasts with the present. Like two people so in love and in the very next scene the complete opposite and this roles clearly very challenging as it's only the two of them on screen for the majority of the film so if she's even slightly off her game then us the audience will be able to notice it. I think this is a really beautiful performance and a lot of moments from it will stay with me for a longtime, she's just very earnest. But once again it felt too real like yes the acting should be convincing but also it's a film and I guess in a way the film lets her down a bit.

2. Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers - Black Swan

Watching her fast descent into insanity was so entertaining to watch and the performance definitely lived up to the hype that I had set for it. The camera truly loves her and there's so many shots of her where the expression on her face is perfect. Her and Hershey are just magnificent in every scene they share together. Just seeing the shift from the white swan and watching her slowly embrace becoming the black swan and then those dance performances towards the end... She truly was perfect!

Nicole Kidman as Becca Corbett - Rabbit Hole

Just a very beautiful and devastating performance of a woman trying to find her way back to normalcy after a tragic loss. She manages her characters different moods perfectly as Becca goes from being insensitive to very tender and then from being invasive to very reserved and shut off. Very similar to Williams performance in terms of being natural and real but I think Kidman amps it up a bit and gives a performance that yes is natural but also entertaining enough for a film. Her chemistry with everyone on the cast is just great especially whenever she's on screen with Wiest or Teller. I think she takes a role that could've potentially been a little boring to watch and really makes something truly magical out of it.

Conclusion

I think the main link between most of the nominees is women fighting to try and keep their family together in order to survive and trying their hardest to keep themselves together also. Portman isn't really in that link since her movies about something completely different but the other four seem to match pretty well.

#83rd Academy Awards #Natalie Portman #Annette Bening #Nicole Kidman #Jennifer Lawrence #Michelle Williams

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49th Oscars Best Actress

5. Talia Shire as Adrian Pennino - Rocky

The character is meant to be awkward and shy and she does exactly that so technically she did her job but it never goes beyond that, which is more the fault of the writing than her but still. I think the entirety of her character just feels like such an afterthought like when she finally stands up to her brother was fine but at that point in the movie it just felt random and didn’t make that much sense for her character. The romance with Rocky was only convincing at the end of the film and we do see a little more confidence out of her at the end but because the character doesn’t have an arc it’s just all very confusing.

4. Marie-Christine Barrault as Marthe - Cousin, Cousine

Occasionally charming but overall annoying, the role isn’t particularly challenging but she’s occasionally funny and I did buy the chemistry between her and Lanoux. I don’t this performance is a little difficult to explain, I’m shocked it was even on the Academy’s radar.

3. Sissy Spacek as Carrie White - Carrie

I’m on the fence about this performance, Spacek is fine but I think the film length doesn’t give her much to work with. We have to see her character go from point a to z in a matter of 90 minutes and thats hard even for her. So one scene we see her in complete fear of her mother and then instantly within 10 or 20 minutes she’s all of sudden super powerful and able to stand up to her, there’s just a disconnect there for me. I also do think she’s overshadowed by her costars specifically Laurie and Irving, though she’s absolutely mesmerising in the final act of the film, all her scenes at the prom are sweet, tragic, shocking and also deeply sad.

2. Faye Dunaway as Diana Christensen - Network

She’s ruthless and also very excitable which I instantly loved about the performance. I think Dunaway is able to show us both the horror and the comedy of the character of Diana. It’s just a perfect performance and Dunaway is constantly on all throughout with every line delivery and facial expression, there’s just a lot of little touches she sprinkled in here and there that I really appreciated.

1. Liv Ullman as Dr. Jenny Isaksson - Face to Face

Like wow, I was so amazed watching this performance and I think it’s a very good portrayal of a woman going crazy. Like the scene where she’s simultaneously laughing and crying was just masterful as I think it’s difficult to find the right balance of both to where you can jump back and forth from doing one to the other. Then once she’s had her breakdown her movement and the way she speaks is constantly done with a bit of uncertainty. Then once she goes into her dreams she changes her voice to be very childlike as in her brain she’s still dealing with all her childhood trauma and it’s still her voice but it’s a little softer and a bit higher pitched but still very natural. I think she’s able to have emotional outbursts but still keep it restrained enough where it makes sense for the character she’s playing as Dr. Jenny has been repressing her emotions her whole life.

Conclusion

I guess the main thing I see when I look at this lineup is four performances about woman finding their own voice and trying to deal with all the trauma in their life and succeeding and also failing at it here and there. Dunaway is kind of the outlier of the group.

#49th Academy Awards #Oscars #Faye Dunaway #Sissy Spacek #Talia Shire #Liv Ullmann #Marie-Christine Barrault

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80th Oscars Best Actress

5. Marion Cotillard as Édith Piaf - La Vie en Rose

I think initially I really dislike this performance but as the movie went along I realised that my dislike was more towards the film than the performance itself. I think at the start everything felt very put on and off, the lip sync wasn’t quite right and the characters movements felt forced. But then eventually it started to feel more natural, also another problem I had is that the character is quite repetitive and Cotillard performed all her temper tantrums the same like there was never any ups and downs within those scenes. The standout scene for me is clearly the one where she finds out her lover is dead, that very much did emotionally impact me.

4. Laura Linney as Wendy Savage - The Savages

I think she conveys quite well how guilty she feels about what she’s having to do to her father and we can see the guilt of feeling bad for him and then also the guilt thats a little self serving as well. We definitely see her characters development like in the beginning she feels quite clueless but I think she shows us her characters arc of realising her lovers a loser and that her dad isn’t getting better and how it’s time to let things go. Kind of struggling to write about this performance, I made some notes on it but nothing about this performance has stuck with me.

3. Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I

I felt that this performance was emotionally deeper than that of the first film. As the character initially starts off very over confident and almost bored of being a ruler and then we see all her insecurity leak through not only about feeling scared of not being able to win the war but also this yearning for human affection. I think she’s really able to match the over the top drama of this film while also making sure that her character comes out at the end looking more fully realised than ever if that makes sense.

2. Elliot Page as Juno MacGuff - Juno

Very natural and comedic performance thats full of sarcasm and at first I thought it was going to be a very one note performance but as the film goes along you really do get to see a deeper emotional side of Juno and it’s very subtle work that Page is doing here. He really gets to Juno’s core and shows us the characters nervousness about everything going on. Page has terrific chemistry with everyone on the cast and the hospital scene at the end is both incredibly sad and sweet at the same time.

1. Julie Christie as Fiona Anderson - Away From Her

Christie is very British but here you would never be able to tell as that accent is so correct and it never not once slips during the film. Very expressive with the eyes and has great movement as we constantly see her pause to examine either an item or her surroundings and it’s always a well placed pause that isn’t done in an over the top way. I think she’s able to have great chemistry with Pinsent while also maintaining this distance from the character emotionally. Her screen time is limited but I think she utilises it perfectly.

Conclusion

The main link between these five films is that four of five nominees are in films where one of the main plot lines is a character has a specific medical condition and how everyone around them deals with it, Blanchett is the only nominee who doesn’t fit into that narrative. This was a pretty good group of performances, though some of them I’m in no rush to revisit any time soon.

#80th Academy Awards #Oscars #Elliot Page #Marion Cotillard #Laura Linney #Julie Christie #Cate Blanchett

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71st Oscars Best Actress

5. Meryl Streep as Kate Gulden - One True Thing

Not much of a character and more of a plot device for her husband and daughter. Though I do think she does the best she can with her limited screen time, especially at making the character endearing and full of positivity. Her big moment at the end was good, very heartbreaking but also subtle and restrained which I think matches the character she’s playing.

4. Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola de Lesseps - Shakespeare in Love

She fine, very ethereal, dreaming and beautiful with some great chemistry with Fiennes. But this is allegedly a romance thats so passionate and intense that it inspired Shakespeare to write Romeo & Juliet and I don’t buy it like there was something missing from the performance like a lack of fire. Yes we could tell she liked him but it never felt like an intense love and she never seemed particularly upset about not being able to be with him. Just a very unmemorable performance.

3. Emily Watson as Jacqueline de Pré - Hilary and Jackie

In the first half of her film, I didn’t really pay attention to her but by the second hour she really gets to shine. I think you can really tell how unsatisfied with her life she is and how she’s questioning the one and only thing she’s ever been told she’s good at and how that pressure is affecting her mental state. She’s also able to show her characters competitiveness and the passion she has for playing the cello. It’s also very physically demanding towards the end because she showed us how her character deteriorating mentally and then she also has to show it to us physically. Also very mysterious portrayal as I found myself constantly questioning whether she’s a selfish person or just very not self aware.

2. Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I - Elizabeth

I think she’s able to properly convey her characters arc from being quite a naive queen to a more strategic politician and she’s able to show us why these people would follow her orders despite being against her for so long as she is quite charismatic. She’s also able to show multiple different sides to her character like paranoia and mischievousness. I think her strongest scene is the one where she catches Cassel’s character crossdressing and you can see her struggle to physically hold in her laughter.

1. Fernanda Montenegro as Isadora “Dora” Teixeira - Central do Brasil

Able to show how mean and pathetic her character is while also able to occasionally show a softer side to her character and make us feel sympathetic towards her. Her desperation to form and hold on to bonds with the characters in the film was also very interesting like the scene at the diner where she’s just trying to hold hands with the truck driver but it’s sweet but also very awkward and embarrassing at the same time. She forms a great bond with the boy but doesn’t completely change her characters persona or get rid of Dora’s grumpy personality. There’s just a constant feeling of loneliness with her and her eyes are so expressive and observant that you’re very drawn to them.

Conclusion

Besides my chosen winners performance I would say this is a pretty unmemorable lineup with performances I probably will not be revisiting anytime soon if ever even. I guess the main link I can find between the nominees is obviously royalty and also family bonds but maybe not the strongest comparison I could get out of this.

#71st Academy Award #Oscars #Meryl Streep #Emily Watson #Cate Blanchett #Fernanda Montenegro #Gwyneth Paltrow

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85th Oscars Best Actress

5. Naomi Watts as Maria Bennett - The Impossible

Kind of difficult to give a good performance when you spend most of the film confined to a hospital bed. She was fine in the first hour of the film when she was actually given something to do and you could see how much she cared about her children and how much pain she was in from all the injuries she had but this just isn’t a  very memorable performance.

4. Jessica Chastain as Maya Harris - Zero Dark Thirty

Hard to describe this role because it’s not really a person it’s more like the personification of a whole operation. I think the writing for this character is pretty bland, Chastain is trying to be stoic and tough but I think overall the performance feels pretty flat which isn’t entirely her fault since the writings so bad.

3. Emmanuelle Riva as Anne Laurent - Amour

Clearly a very physically demanding role. One where she has to probably remember a lot of things about the limited amount of movement that she has as the character is paralysed so she has to constantly be showing us the audience how her characters unable to move the left side of her body and also gradually show her condition worsening from her movement to her speech and the energy she has. Personality wise I feel like we can see how she’s accepted her fate in life while also having great chemistry with Trintignant and also showing the hopelessness of the character too.

2. Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Kind of hard to put this performance into words because the character doesn’t speak a lot. But I found her very curious, stoic, unique and felt deeply moved throughout the film. Even when not speaking you could constantly see her observing the world going on around her. I think she was able to balance quite well in showing us that her character was tough and able to take care of herself and then in the next instance reminding us that actually this is a child and showing us the vulnerability of being so young and having to fend for yourself.

1. Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany Maxwell - Silver Linings Playbook

I think JLaw is able to expertly blend both her real life persona with the characters personality into a mixture that works really well for the film. Initially the performance is very serious and almost sombre and I think she’s able to make her characters sarcasm and rough edges very comedic while also not turning her into a joke because this is the type of character that on paper is a bad person but JLaw really helps to humanise her and help us take her struggles seriously instead of making her over the top and ridiculous. I thought she had great chemistry with Cooper and she was just constantly on it with every look she had towards the camera.

Conclusion

I think the main theme for this year is that all five of these characters are women in extremely difficult situations finding ways to cope and keep it together as they have no other choice because there’s a lot of pressure and responsibility on them to do so. I also really liked this year this is a great group of films that I enjoyed and even the ones I didn’t enjoy I still think are interesting enough to go and watch.

#85th Academy Awards #Oscars #Naomi Watts #Emmanuelle Riva #Jessica Chastain #Quvenzhané Wallis #Jennifer Lawrence

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79th Oscars Best Actress

5. Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly - The Devil Wears Prada

Very lazy performance with not a lot of depth which I guess you could blame on her lack of screen time but also she’s given a lot of opportunities to do something with the character and I feel like she fell flat. Yes the character of Miranda is meant to be a serious one but the films also a comedy and she just wasn’t very fun and she made the character bland and boring.

4. Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II - The Queen

Very stoic and serious and passive aggressive performance. I don’t think the role gives her enough to do but I think she does really well with what she’s given. She really disappears into the role though I have no idea what Mirren is like outside of film. I think she’s really good at restraining all her emotions and only have subtle bursts of showing her characters grief and her softer side.

3. Kate Winslet as Sarah Pierce - Little Children

I love how initially she plays the character very reserved and then as she starts gaining more confidence and letting herself be swept away into the fantasy that she might actually get to run away and leave her marriage you see the character shift to being more excitable and more sure of herself. Then at the end when the fantasy that she’s created is kind of running away from her you see her get very frantic and desperate until finally she just bursts into tears and realises that it’s not happening. I just feel like Winslet is usually such a movie star and for this she was able to make herself feel quite ordinary and normal like an average person.

2. Judi Dench as Barbara Covett - Notes on a Scandal

Very creepy performance but also sweet and tender in a way I can’t quite explain. I think she has great chemistry with Blanchett and she’s really able to show us the audience her characters intentions. Like being able to show to us how lonely of a person she is and how much she wants human connection. I don’t think she’s a sympathetic character but the way Dench plays it, it’s kind of hard not to feel sorry for her sometimes but not because we necessarily like her more because the character just comes across as really sad that you kind of pity her.

1. Penélope Cruz as Raimunda - Volver

Very natural performance and she makes her character feel real despite the very crazy circumstances that she’s in throughout the movie. Very expressive with her eyes and you can see the character constantly thinking throughout as she’s having to juggle many different secrets and a lot of pressure. Very serious but also you feel a lot of vulnerability from her and obviously a lot of maternal energy from the character. I also think she has great chemistry with all the women throughout the film and you feel a closeness between all of them.

Conclusion

The main theme for this lineup is clearly scandal, secrets and pressure. As all 5 of these characters have some kind of secret to keep or have immense pressure put on them to try and keep their life together despite the mess surrounding them. 

#79th Academy Awards #Oscars #Helen Mirren #Meryl Streep #Judi Dench #Kate Winslet #Penélope Cruz

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50th Oscars Best Actress

5. Jane Fonda as Lillian Hellman - Julia

Very bland performance where it constantly feels like she’s kind of emotionless almost. I thought the train scenes where she’s afraid of getting caught and we see her sweat those were all good and I think whenever she’s acting alongside Redgrave the chemistry is just excellent and so undeniable and it really elevates the performance a little bit. I just think Fonda has a tendency to just play herself within films and it always feels like she’s playing it safe.

4. Anne Bancroft as Emma Jacklin - The Turning Point

She plays the character very subtly paranoid and constantly trying to keep it together, we see her constantly observing the other dancers trying to see if they’re competition or whether they see her as competition and at the top of her game. A fading talent like really trying hard to hold on to her career and great chemistry with MacLaine whenever they’re on screen together. The bottled up anger displayed throughout was great and when we finally get to the argument scene we see her hold back a little bit as she’s still currently a ballet dancer and there’s still some poise within her. The moment when she throws the drink was amazing and still so shocking to watch the second time around cause it was almost very discreet the way she threw it.

3. Marsha Mason as Paula McFadden - The Goodbye Girl

I think Mason had a very difficult role to play as she’s playing a character who’s emotions are constantly all over the place and she has to go back and forth in between anger, happiness, sadness in the span of minutes throughout the film. I didn’t necessarily feel a romantic vibe between Mason and Dreyfuss but I did think the way they interacted with each other throughout the film was excellent. I think the final scene perfectly encompasses the character played with Mason showcasing her characters deep trust issues and how all she needed was some type of reassurance that Dreyfuss’ character wasn’t permanently leaving her.

2. Shirley MacLaine as DeeDee Rodgers - The Turning Point

We constantly feel her longing for a choice she didn’t make, every time she’s around people from her past yes she’s happy but we alway get a sense of envy from her. But she has to play all those emotions at once like with the scenes for her daughter she has to be both genuinely happy for her but also just a slight feeling of resentment that her daughter’s achieving all the things she walked away from. Obviously MacLaine and Bancroft were both great but in their scenes together I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on MacLaine more and during the argument scene you see her voice get higher in pitch and she was just so perfect at playing angry and uptight, a real scene stealer.

Diane Keaton as Annie Hall - Annie Hall

Amazingly natural performance, with great line delivery and thats hard as some of the lines in this film are so ridiculous. Great chemistry with the male lead and she somehow makes her relationship with the most insufferable person ever very believable. A character like Annie Hall is very insecure and goofy but Keaton is able to be comedic while at the same time not making the character of Annie Hall into a joke. I think she’s able to show her characters natural progression from being very insecure and easily convinced into doing things into eventually a more confident person who’s willing to state what she wants. She’s also up against someone who’s kind of a screen hog and a more prominent character within the film but she holds her own and make sure that she doesn’t fade into the background. Obviously Keaton is playing herself or someones perception of who she is but I think unlike someone like Fonda who’s just playing herself, Keaton is able to marry her real life persona to the character she’s playing.

Conclusion

I think the main theme is the entertainment industry as all 5 actresses played characters with jobs in the entertainment industry. I think it was a pretty good year for performances. I’m trying to find a deeper theme within the 5 movies but they’re all very different with a lot of different messages.

#50th Academy Awards #Oscars #Marsha Mason #Jane Fonda #Anne Bancroft #Shirley MacLaine #Diane Keaton

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38th Oscars Best Actress

5. Samantha Eggar as Miranda Grey - The Collector

In this type of role an actor might end up going too over the top but Eggar seems to do the opposite and instead decides to under act like under acting to the point where if you hadn’t been watching the film since the beginning you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that Eggar’s character has been kidnapped. Like she never feels panicked enough or desperate and terrified enough. I think the awkwardness she has with Stamp’s character in their scenes together work for the characters. I think another thing she did well was having good facial expression throughout the movie and I think towards the end of the movie her acting starts to better match the tone of film and we start to feel how terrified she is.

4. Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp - The Sound of Music

Excellent singing all throughout the scene and she keeps the character very animated and fun and genuine but the performance just feels very one note which is more of a problem with the script than with Andrews acting. It just feels like not very much is asked of her and especially in the last hour of the film where the performance really starts to lose it’s shine. Okay chemistry with Plummer, which once again is another problem with the script as the romance is so abrupt.

3. Elizabeth Hartman as Selina D’Arcey - A Patch of Blue

Very subtle performance and I think she does a great job playing a blind person as she moves very carefully and curiously as we know that her character hasn’t been outside of the house a lot. I think she was able to convey her emotions very well which is hard to do as her eyes throughout most of the movie are covered by sunglasses. I think she also portrays Selina’s cluelessness and naiveness very well as we see her go from talking about something traumatic and then instantly go back to being bubbly after she’s done. When we see her get angry towards the end she still keeps the outburst very restrained and natural as her characters demeanour isn’t a particularly angry one. Her chemistry with Poitier is amazing as they’re able to make their romance feel real and just so sweet to watch.

2. Simone Signoret as La Condesa - Ship of Fools

She’s not in a lot of the movie but her presence is always felt and throughout the whole film I’m constantly thinking about her and when we’ll get to see her next. Amazing chemistry with Werner, the way the two talk to each other is so smooth and natural. Signoret makes La Condesa very mysterious and seductive almost. Very subtle performance but you could still see how much her character was suffering and how much Signoret and Werner’s characters needed each other which is what makes their final scene so heartbreaking.

1. Julie Christie as Diana Scott - Darling

The character is constantly putting on a facade and trying to make herself look as charming as possible but Christie does this subtle thing where every once in a while she’ll let the characters face slip into a look of uncertainty, boredom or annoyance and the look will only be on her face for a second or two but still long enough for the audience watching the film to potentially notice it. She has the impossible task of making someone who on paper is a completely horrible and unlikeable person and is somehow able to bring the character to life in a way where the character is likeable and so much fun to watch which is essential in keeping the viewer interested in the movie. Amazing chemistry with Harvey. One of my favourite moments from this performance is towards the end of the film where she’s having a breakdown while also reapplying her makeup because she knows she’ll be seeing the press at the airport.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed this lineup, I think it’s a strong group of performances. I think the main theme for this year is control of ones life and situation and trying your hardest to find purpose or to find control of the things around you.

#38th Academy Awards #Oscars #Julie Christie #Julie Andrews #Samantha Eggar #Elizabeth Hartman #Simone Signoret

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74th Oscars Best Actress

5. Judi Dench as Iris Murdoch - Iris

She’s fine in the film just not given a lot of opportunity to show off her acting skills. Especially with the film only being 90 minutes long because with more time she could’ve shown her characters memory deteriorating while with this movie we saw her go from slightly confused to instantly memoryless in the span of five minutes. Dench had great facial expressions and did a great job at looking confused, lost and empty almost.

4. Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove - Monster’s Ball

Does the best she can with the little she’s given to do in the film. I thought she did a great job portraying a woman very frustrated with her life and the situation she’s in. The scene where she’s crying over her sons death was very over the top and felt fake. Amazing chemistry with Thornton and the two of them were able to find the right balance of romance and awkwardness within the characters relationship with each other. The final scene of the movie is so haunting as you just see the look of like confusion on her face.

3. Nicole Kidman as Satine - Moulin Rouge!

Instantly animated and very fantasy like and fake like an illusion. I feel like the first half of the movie she plays the character as if it’s a performance and then as she slowly starts to die the emotions start feeling more and more real. The chemistry with McGregor is pretty great and when they sing together it’s so perfect to watch. Everything’s perfect the singing, the dancing and the facial expressions are always correct. I think this is a very difficult role to play because she has to be dramatic, comedic, melodramatic and tragic and mix in some singing and dancing into it all, yeah I’m shocked she was able to pull everything off so perfectly.

2. Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones - Bridget Jones’s Diary

It’s still unbelievable to me that she’s not actually British. Such an iconic character and she definitely does it justice. Great acting and perfect line delivery and just the right amount of over the top mannerisms to make the character funny while not making her look completely pathetic because with these comedic roles a lot of people would be too much and make Bridget too over the top. Zellweger has great chemistry with both Grant and Firth and just makes Bridget Jones into such a relatable character with genuine emotions and insecurities it’s no wonder that the character is still an icon till this day.

1. Sissy Spacek as Ruth Fowler - In the Bedroom

The word of the performance is subtlety, thats what this performance is and it’s just so powerful. Like from the very beginning when interacting with her son about his new girlfriend you can hear the annoyance in her voice. Throughout the movie you can constantly see the resentment and anger building up inside and in scenes with others once her son died you can feel this facade being put on by her where you can tell she’s upset but she has this fake smile plastered on her face. When she finally unleashes all her anger on to her husband it’s like a relief for her but it’s also not too over the top as that wouldn’t fit the character she’s playing as Ruth is a very reserved woman. Her chemistry with Wilkinson is perfect as you can see that they love each other but can also feel all the resentment they feel. Very subtle, cold passive aggressive performance and it stays with you for a long time after the movies done.

Conclusion

I don’t know if there’s a main theme amongst the five nominees, I guess all the films are about women having to deal with very tough and trying situations and having to work out what to do with their life’s or how to handle the end of their life’s or others life’s. I love this lineup I think it’s such a fun group and it has three performances that could probably win in a lot of other lineups and obviously Halle Berry’s legendary win and even though I didn’t love the performance, I’m still glad that she won.

#74th Academy Awards #Oscars #Halle Berry #Sissy Spacek #Renée Zellweger #Judi Dench #Nicole Kidman

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27th Oscars Best Actress

5. Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina Fairchild - Sabrina

Gorgeous and ethereal but thats literally all you get from this performance. I think she was trying her best but just has absolutely zero chemistry with either of her costars but I don’t think she’s completely to blame there. Her character is meant to have undergone a transformation where she’s meant to be grown up and matured after coming back from Paris but the only thing thats changed is the wardrobe she wears other than that Hepburn’s characterisation of the character remains completely unchanged.

4. Jane Wyman as Helen Phillips - Magnificent Obsession

I think she makes the best of the little she’s given to do but whenever she is onscreen it just isn’t enough for me. I don’t think there’s any chemistry between her and Hudson and this is a melodrama and we’re meant to believe that these people are in love with each other but there’s just nothing there. I needed more energy from the performance, I thought she was okay at the blindness part of the performance. I just needed some more drama from it, like a little over the top.

3. Dorothy Dandrige as Carmen Jones - Carmen Jones

This is a performance that starts out very rocky and as the movie goes on gets progressively better. Initially I found the lip syncing and Dandrige’s acting very over the top and just not believable. I think the scenes where she’s not with Belafonte are her strongest and where she really feels natural, I think the scenes where she’s trying to be flirty and seductive just don’t work for me. There are scenes where she talks about wanting to be free and not be controlled by a men that I felt a lot of passion and energy from. But overall I just think the character is very contradictory and she doesn’t know what to do with Carmen Jones.

2. Judy Garland as Vicki Lester - A Star Is Born

Excellent at showing her characters transformation throughout the movie. Garland starts out the movie very awkward and unsure of herself but somewhere along the way a switch flips and we see Vicki become confident and sure of herself and her talents. I didn’t get any chemistry between her and Mason and they always felt more like best friends than two people in love. Clearly a very talented performer but I think I needed more emotion from her when she was singing the songs. I think she needed to take it there more emotions wise in general.

1. Grace Kelly as Georgie Elgin - The Country Girl

Kelly really disappears into the role better than I was expecting her to. She can’t hide how gorgeous she is but she does know how to change her voice and her facial expressions in a way that helps distract us from the fact. But in the flashback scene she’s able to quickly turn on that Grace Kelly charm and make herself into a completely different person. She makes her voice have be more snarky and tougher as opposed to her usually very sophisticated and poised manner. She plays the role desperately, desperate to help her husband get back to normal but also just as desperate to get away from him. Great chemistry with Crosby but absolutely none with Holden but I don’t blame her for that. The final scene where the song starts playing and she rushes out to check on him felt so real and raw and it was just perfection.

Conclusion

This year was kind of a mixed bag of performances, overall I wasn’t too impressed but I do think all these actresses are talented and that they were just given difficult movies that were basically impossible to work with. The main theme for this year is difficult men as all five films the main plot is the women trying to live their own life’s while also having to deal with their love interests problems.

#27th Academy Awards #Oscars #Grace Kelly #Dorothy Dandridge #Judy Garland #Audrey Hepburn #Jane Wyman

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40th Oscars Best Actress

5. Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker - Bonnie and Clyde

The film seems more focused on showing close up shots of her looking gorgeous then actually showing her acting and giving her room to make the character more than one dimensional. She has really amazing chemistry with Beatty, there’s a very flirty and seductive energy between the two of them. At first I thought I liked the accent but as the film went on it felt too over exaggerated and started sounding ridiculous to me. Great in the scenes where she gets to play mean and annoyed and there’s this very emotional scene with her characters mom at a family reunion and the acting is very subtle in it but here and throughout the film she’ll give a look of regret about the crimes she’s committing and I thought that was a good touch to add.

4. Audrey Hepburn as Susy Hendrix - Wait Until Dark

This was probably a very challenging role for her as Hepburn isn’t blind and she’d have to juggle all the acting stuff like saying the lines and facial expressions while making it convincing that she actually is blind to the audience watching. I think she was good with her eyes like even when she was looking at someone or something she was only vaguely looking at it and never looking directly at it. I also think that she did well at portraying the characters emotions and when the pace of the film speeds up we see her get more hysterical and more paranoid. When she has to trip over things or bump into objects it looks very forced and not realistic.

3. Katharine Hepburn as Christina Drayton - Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Playing against type here, because when I think of Hepburn I usually don’t think of warm and motherly but here she absolutely is that and I think disappears quite well into the role. Great chemistry with Tracy and just see the absolute devastation on her face when she finds out her husband isn’t accepting of her daughter’s man was interesting. I think Hepburn does the best she can with this role as it’s kind of thankless and it feels like her character is kind of ignored at a lot of points throughout the film.

2. Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson - The Graduate

The moment she appears on the screen it’s just instantly iconic like such a star and eats every scene up even with so little screen time within the film. The character is persuasive, manipulative, seductive, desperate and aggressive all at once and it’s just a thrill to watch all of it. It’s just indescribable like you just can’t keep your eyes off her and the chemistry she has with Hoffman is like chemistry in a very awkward way because that relationship is meant to be awkward and messy. I think it truly takes a very talented actress to make a character so memorable within such a small window of time.

1. Edith Evans as Mrs. Maggie Ross - The Whisperers

Very natural, I feel like with these delusional old lady roles a lot of actress make the decision to take it over the top and make it campy and I’m very glad that Evans went for a more subtle approach here. Just really phenomenal line delivery from her because a lot of her lines are just silly little delusions but she always says them in such a normal way like she truly believes what she’s saying. You just constantly feel bad for her and her situation and the scene where Evans finds the money and you see the excitement in her face you just can’t help but feel happy for her. The contrast in her character from when she’s in one of her delusions to when she’s thrown into reality and made to strip back all her fantasies is so good she becomes a completely different person almost.

Conclusion

I really can’t find a common theme amongst the five nominees, I guess Audrey and Edith are both in films where they’re being tricked and lied to by others around them but that’s kind of it. Honestly a lot of these performances didn’t pop for me and I felt very uninspired but I guess I wasn’t too uninspired as I still found stuff to write about with these performances.

#40th Academy Awards #Oscars #Katharine Hepburn #Faye Dunaway #Anne Bancroft #Audrey Hepburn #Edith Evans

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53rd Oscars Best Actor

5. Jack Lemmon as Scottie Templeton - Tribute

Has great chemistry with Remick and they definitely feel like a divorced couple who find each other annoying but still somewhat get along and you can feel the love between them. Completely fails at making the character sympathetic and yes the character is meant to be insufferable and he’s good at that but on the flip side we’re also meant to feel sorry for him and want him to reconcile with his son but I don’t really. Lemmon’s trying his best but there’s only so much someone can do with this disaster of a screenplay where every line of dialogue is unfunny joke after unfunny joke.

4. Peter O’Toole as Eli Cross - The Stunt Man

Subtle acting especially when it comes to how cruel the character actually is and his lack of care for others wellbeing. Emotions switch with every new scene so it’s hard to real tell what he’s trying to do with the role as he’s missing for large chunks throughout. I think he absolutely nails the way directors behave with how bossy and easily angered they get when things don’t go their way.

3. John Hurt as John Merrick - Elephant Man

Makes the character very childlike and full of curiosity and intrigue about the unknown world around him. I think he definitely had a challenging role because of all the prosthetics on his face which probably makes it harder to speak and also makes it so we can’t really see his facial expressions so it’s difficult for him to portray emotions. I think overall he did the best he could with the role and was able to somewhat use his voice to get the characters emotions across like when he’d make his voice go very tender and we’d know that he’s feeling nervous or emotional about whats going on around him.

2. Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta - Raging Bull

De Niro really disappears into this role and is so unrecognisable. Very aggressive throughout the entire movie and clearly trained very hard to make the boxing parts of the film as realistic as possible. He’s kind of lacking range in this film though as he’s very good at expressing rage and anger but in the scenes where he has to be emotional and cry it feels very fake and over the top and just not very realistic.

1. Robert Duvall as Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum - The Great Santini

He’s very aggressive and scary but as horrible as the character can be he’s still able to make the character sympathetic and get us to see the different layers that this father has. Like he’s able to be both a loving father but also old fashioned, lacking proper communication skills and also behaves exactly how you’d expect a marine to be. You get to see Duvall get progressively angrier as the film goes along and it’s very perfectly timed build up to the moment where the character finally explodes. His interactions with all the actors playing the members of his family are great, especially the scenes he has with O’Keefe and when he finally breaks down and cries it feels real and you can feel him letting all his emotions out.

Conclusion

This best actor lineup has three roles showcasing bad fathers and husbands and the lineup overall is showing how cruel people can be to each other and to the people closest to them those are the main themes I got out of this year. The performances were fine with only one real standout performance of the bunch. 

#53rd Academy Awards #Oscars #Robert De Niro #Robert Duvall #John Hurt #Jack Lemmon #Peter O'Toole

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66th Oscars Best Actress

5. Debra Winger as Joy Davidman - Shadowlands

I don’t really have a lot to say when it comes to this performance, the character has an accent that comes and goes and is never consistent. I think Winger can deliver the bold and rebellious lines quite well but her and Hopkins have zero chemistry with each other. She looked exhausted while her character was dying though I don’t know whether thats to her credit or the makeup team.

4. Holly Hunter as Ada McGrath - The Piano

Very little chemistry with Keitel but I think that was an intentional choice and I believe that was the right way to portray the relationship. It’s very impressive that she chose to learn sign language and how to play piano for the role that shows a lot of dedication as other actors would’ve probably not put in as much effort. I think out of the five she had one of the more challenging roles as the character doesn’t speak at all throughout the film therefore the performance is completely reliant on her facial expression which were fine but could’ve been a little better as it was a little too subtle at times though I understand that the character is meant to be restrained and trying not to give into her emotions and will.

3. Emma Thompson as Miss Sarah Kenton - The Remains of the Day

Super brief moments on screen but always uses the small amount of screen time she’s given effectively. Very stoic, but also playful while still being restrained and not showing too much emotion and excellent chemistry with Hopkins. Like in the scenes where she’s wanting Hopkins character to give her something, some sign that he has feelings for her like you can see some desperation in those moments it’s great. I also think she has really excellent range because I’ve seen her in quite a few period pieces and she knows how to change her acting to fit the social class that she’s playing and it never feels like I’m watching someone who usually plays upper class characters posing as working class.

2. Stockard Channing as Ouisa Kittredge - Six Degrees of Separation

Behaves exactly like how you’d expect someone who is obnoxiously rich. Just has that very upper class snob presence but can also flip the switch and come across as very motherly and caring. This constant conflict with herself throughout the film as to whether she dislikes or cares for Smith’s character who’s essentially tricked and embarrassed her. In the moments where she’s retelling her story she’s able to both look upset and outraged while also showing hints here and there that she enjoys all the attention she’s getting. I think the one weak spot in the performance was the final monologue near the end of the film, it was just too over the top and inconsistent to how she behaved throughout the rest of the film.

1. Angela Bassett as Tina Turner - What’s Love Got to Do with It

She’s lip-syncing which is something I’m against when it comes to musical biopics but I can kind of forgive it as she’s very convincing and the words always look like they’re coming out of her mouth. Just very high energy while performing and it absolutely matches with how the real Tina Turner is on stage. I think her and Fisburne act really well together and are able to keep up with each other. I think Bassett did very well at showcasing Tina’s gradually growing strength and independence and even when she was at her weakest still showing us that deep down she’s strong. I just have to talk about the performances again cause there was just so much energy around them and a lot of joy it was just so beautiful to watch.

Conclusion

Overall an okay year of performances and very interesting group of films. I think the main themes I got from this group is a lot about women being able to find their strength and independence and manoeuvring themselves within oppressive society and also a lot of themes about social class and how the rich treat the poor as dumb and clueless and easy to buy and sell and trade and get rid of.

#66th Academy Awards #Oscar #Holly Hunter #Angela Bassett #Stockard Channing #Emma Thompson #Debra Winger

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34th Oscars Best Actress

5. Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly - Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Incredibly miscast. I think she was trying to come across as alluring and mysterious but her acting just makes the character feel annoying and obnoxious, I don’t buy for a second that her characters meant to be 19 or that anyone would pay for her company. I also don’t think she had good chemistry with Peppard at all and I don’t believe they were in love. Just a very strange performance all around.

4. Sophia Loren as Cesira - Two Women

Another case of casting someone that clearly doesn’t fit the role at all. Her acting never comes across as motherly and especially in the scenes with Brown who plays her daughter her acting is very over the top. I think she’s overcompensating for the fact that she’s clearly too young for this role. Her and Brown seem more like sisters than mother and daughter. Also this was her attempt at trying to appear less glamorous and that clearly didn’t workout for her either.

3. Geraldine Page as Alma Winemiller - Summer and Smoke

Very mysterious performance that gradually gets steamier as the movie goes along. I thought she had great chemistry with Harvey and her singing in the film was very impressive. At the end where her character has meant to have changed and become the opposite of what she used to be, I felt she was too restrained like she should’ve been a little more extreme and really shown the shift in her characters persona.

2. Piper Laurie as Sarah Packard - The Hustler

She’s very good at doing like subtle things with a character that could’ve easily faded into the background because the role of the girlfriend isn’t always the most rewarding but she makes the best of it. She has great chemistry with both Newman and especially Scott. Initially when we meet her character she’s very distant and closed off but as soon as she lets Newman’s character into her life Laurie instantly switches the way her character behaves and makes her very clingy and needy. One of the subtle things I saw I did is in the scene where Newman’s character comes home with the cast off and his thumbs no longer broken her facial expression is happy but there’s a slight annoyance in her face which you can see which is very clever. I felt very sympathetic towards this character and her final scene where you can see she’s given up is so devastating.

1. Natalie Wood as Wilma Dean “Deanie” Loomis - Splendor in the Grass

I’ve seen someone mention before how Wood’s acting style is very Old Hollywood and I absolutely see it especially in the way she moves it’s very animated and it works for her. Like when she’s crying or when she collapses on to her bed. Her scenes with Beatty are great as she’s constantly looking at him with these observant puppy dog eyes and you can feel that she’s very much obsessed and in love with him. It’s a very volcanic performance and it all slowly builds up to the breaking point. When she finally has her breakdown it’s just the perfect amount of over the top that is needed to work and comes across very real and raw as opposed to comedic and silly.

Conclusion

This year was fine with two very excellent performances and two very miscast ones. I think the main theme for this lineup is growth as we see most of the films main message be about evolving and ultimately becoming a not necessarily better person but a less naive person who’s more aware of whats going on around them.

#34th Academy Awards #Oscar #Geraldine Page #Sophia Loren #Piper Laurie #Audrey Hepburn #Natalie Wood

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52nd Oscars Best Actress

5. Marsha Mason as Jennie MacLaine - Chapter Two

I think the acting in the first half of the movie was fine very basic and unmemorable but you can only do so much with a terrible script. Then out of nowhere in the second half of the film she just starts shouting all the time and it’s too over the top. There’s no like gradual build up to it, it goes from zero to a hundred out of nowhere.

4. Jill Clayburgh as Marilyn Holmberg - Starting Over

I don’t think it’s Clayburgh’s fault that the performance isn’t great, it’s more that she just doesn’t get anything to do outside of some small moments. She’s like nervous, shy and panicked which I think was a good way to play the character, didn’t feel like the chemistry between her and Reynolds was that good. Just a very unmemorable performance.

3. Jane Fonda as Kimberly Wells - The China Syndrome

I thought Fonda was very convincing as a reporter wanting to do more serious news and also thought she was convincing in her concerns to expose the truth of the situation. The scene she had with her pet turtle was really impressive because she played it completely serious which must’ve been hard to do since it’s so funny. I think she gives her character a very good arc as we can see Kimberly gradually evolve from naive and submissive to eventually more assertive and willing to chase after the stories she wants to do.

2. Bette Midler as Mary Rose Foster - The Rose

Midler is somehow able to make her character look like she’s both tired and full of energy at the same time. The character is full of contradictions and she has to juggle all that. Making sure to show us that Rose is very argumentative and impulsive but also a very genuine and sweet and vulnerable person. Sometimes a little too over the top but it’s not too bad. When she’s on stage singing it’s just like a constant star quality which makes the character feel even more real. The chemistry between Midler and Forrest is great and so adorable. Her final time on stage is so devastating because you can see how sad and lonely her character is but also how happy and desperate she is to be with the crowd.

1. Sally Field as Norma Rae Webster - Norma Rae

Just a very fierce performance, so powerful and inspirational which is everything we needed it to be. She has amazing chemistry with both Bridges and Leibman in very different ways like with Bridges it’s a sweet love while with Leibman it’s a passionate intense love. The character is very tough and Field always makes sure that the character has a very tough, determined expression on her face which tells us everything we need to know. But she also knows how to switch it and become very sweet like in the scenes with her two love interests, her dad and especially towards the end when she has to talk to her kids about her reputation around town, just very heartbreaking and pulls on your heartstrings.

Conclusions

I don’t think there’s a cohesive theme amongst the five nominees. Two of the films are about dating after divorce and the other two are very much political and about controversial topics like nuclear power and unions. I guess you could look at The Rose political as well in the way singers get overworked and forced to not take any breaks. The lineup overall was pretty mediocre, I guess three out of five good performances isn’t too bad.

#52nd Academy Awards #Oscar #Jill Clayburgh #Bette Midler #Sally Field #Jane Fonda #Marsha Mason

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89th Oscars Best Actress

5. Meryl Streep as Florence Foster Jenkins - Florence Foster Jenkins

Streep has great chemistry with her co-stars and is able to make us feel sympathetic towards her character and the struggles she’s going through in life. But she’s the title character and while watching it it constantly felt like everyone else around her was outacting her. I think she tried her best with the bad singing but I didn’t find that part of the performance all that convincing either.

4. Emma Stone as Mia Dolan - La La Land

Stone absolutely nails all the singing and dancing in the film but I think her and Gosling had very little chemistry with each other. I just also felt like there was something missing like some passion maybe and we got to see a lot of energy from her during the singing parts especially during the audition but not anywhere else. This is probably a weird way to judge the performance but it just felt like anyone could’ve played Mia, it just felt very basic and I wanted more.

3. Natalie Portman as Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy - Jackie

When I first started watching the performance I found the accent very weird and almost laughable but I think the switching of the voice based on whether she was in public or in private was clever though it’s not always noticeable. Portman played the character exactly how I’d expect a politicians wife to be, very calculated with long pauses to show that the persons carefully considering their words before answering. She was able to show that Jackie is a very mysterious and interesting person and help us the viewers who weren’t around during that era understand the obsession around her.

2. Ruth Negga as Mildred Loving - Loving

The role Negga is playing is very hard as she doesn’t always have a lot to say so she has to show us how she’s feeling with her eyes and I think she succeeded in that. The performance is very subtle and very authentic as she clearly understands what type of woman Mildred was and how she’d react and behave. It’s a very moving performance thats very calm and is able to draw emotions out of us without having to be overly sentimental. In any other year this would probably be my pick to win.

1. Isabelle Huppert as Michèle Leblanc - Elle

It’s just very hard to put into words what Huppert was able to do within this performance because it’s just such an achievement. I think a role like this thats so complex and has so many twists and turns could’ve easily been very campy and not serious if given to the wrong actress. Fortunately Huppert knows how to handle both the drama and the dark comedy that the script throws at her. She’s also always on screen so she always has to be on her game because whether the film works or not is completely up to her and her acting. It’s just such a natural performance that it doesn’t surprise me to hear that she was given very little direction on what to do. Just a stunning performance all around.

Conclusions

This was a year with two great performances and then 3 that were pretty good but needed a little something extra. The main theme of the five nominated movies was I guess dreams because thats what 3 of the movies in the lineup were about. The dream to legally be able to be with the one you love, the dream to sing no matter how bad your singing is and the dream to make it big and become an actress.

#89th Academy Awards #Oscar #Ruth Negga #Emma Stone #Isabelle Huppert #Natalie Portman #Meryl Streep

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59th Oscars Best Actress

5. Sissy Spacek as Babe Botrelle / Rebecca MaGrath - Crimes of the Heart

Spacek tries her best to make work the very little she’s given to do but ultimately I just I didn’t find the performance particularly strong. She’s giving the best performance in her film and the character is very strange. Her best scene is the suicide montage which she is able to make funny while also showing her characters reluctance to go through with it. She gave off a very like needy youngest sister vibe which I thought was a good way to play the character.

4. Jane Fonda as Alex Sternbergen / Viveca Van Loren - The Morning After

The character that Fonda is playing is clearly a caricature of what people think a washed up actress is like but I think Fonda constantly avoids taking her character to a place where it becomes over the top or too whacky. I think Fonda clearly thrives very well with material that is dark maybe even more on the comedic side and she clearly knows very well who her character is. She’s able to show us how desperate and pathetic the character is and also make us root for her and see ourselves in her. She plays drunk very well and is able to take a very messy script and get a good performance out of it.

3. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley - Aliens

I think out of five nominees Weaver definitely had the toughest role as she’s playing someone that the public is already familiar with and with that territory comes a lot of pressure. This film challenges her and asks her to show a different side of Ripley and essentially Weaver has to show us a more sensitive side to Ripley while also making sure that she’s still tough like she was in the first film. I think she’s able to show all the different sides of Ripley successfully like the bond between her and Newt and how it feels very Mother and Daughter. But she doesn’t lose any of the development that she got throughout the first film she’s still very tough and wary of the crew around her and we see through her acting how the trauma of the events from the first film have taken a toll on her.

2. Kathleen Turner as Peggy Sue Kelcher-Bodell - Peggy Sue Got Married

Turner also had a very difficult role to portray as she had to play her character at two different ages. The scene where she’s like looking around her childhood home after traveling back in time was such great acting and honestly made me emotional. Like her facial expression are displaying several different emotions at once, we see her happy, confused, excited and just overwhelmed by whats going on. I also hear a slight change in her voice from when she’s older to when she’s younger like it’s a slightly higher pitch when she’s younger which makes sense. I think her mannerisms and like the way she acted throughout the film were great because I completely forgot while watching the film that Turner wasn’t actually 18 and was actually older than 30.

1. Marlee Matlin as Sarah Norman - Children of a Lesser God

Matlin has no spoken dialogue throughout but when she’s signing she’s constantly doing facial expressions to constantly let us know how she’s feeling like whether she’s frustrated, angry, or shy. She’ll even change the speed of her signing as a way to tell us how she’s feeling like for example if she’s frustrated or upset she’ll sign very quickly or when she’s having a tender moment with someone she’ll sign slowly. There are some very subtle acting moments throughout the film like during the poker game she reacts to how others around her speak about her, she can’t hear them but her face lets us know that she knows they’re discussing about her as if she wasn’t even in the room. Matlin also has very good chemistry with Hurt’s character despite him constantly feeling the need to repeat everything she says back to her.

Conclusion

This lineup is a very strong one in my opinion and it’s also a very unique one in terms of the films nominated. Like a fantasy film and sci-fi both being nominated in the same year is something that very rarely happens and I think the fact that like four of the films in this lineup have basically been very much forgotten is also interesting to me. Especially Spacek and Fonda’s film which are barely if ever spoken about.

#59th Academy Awards #Oscar #Sissy Spacek #Jane Fonda #Sigourney Weaver #Kathleen Turner #Marlee Matlin