tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79880551399165663172024-03-13T13:15:32.772-07:00Film, Oscars, And Morejoe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-28682270209053847532019-02-25T17:47:00.001-08:002019-02-25T17:47:53.667-08:00You Go Olivia Colman!!!!<a href="https://imgix.bustle.com/uploads/image/2018/7/9/f39ebabd-2321-45f8-be09-2dbdde2daa41-screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-125857-pm.png?w=970&h=546&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format&q=70" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://imgix.bustle.com/uploads/image/2018/7/9/f39ebabd-2321-45f8-be09-2dbdde2daa41-screen-shot-2018-07-09-at-125857-pm.png?w=970&h=546&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format&q=70" width="640" /></a>joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-3897787051510563862019-02-10T20:03:00.003-08:002020-09-12T02:18:16.679-07:00Performance Review: Jennifer Jones in The Song Of Bernadette<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Jennifer Jones received her first Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Bernadette Soubirous in The Song Of Bernadette. Bernadette is a young woman who sees a vision of the Virgin Mary which results in her becoming the subject of worship, ridicule, and religious persecution only to come out almost completely unfazed.<br />
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Jennifer Jones appeared to have been For Whom The Bell Tolls's star Ingrid Bergman's main competition for Best Actress in 1943 with the latter being expected to triumph but given the strength of The Song Of Bernadette with the Academy (it got twelve Oscar nominations!) and Jones's Golden Globe win I wouldn't call her win an upset but hey I wasn't there so I couldn't tell you for sure :)<br />
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The Song Of Bernadette is a very admirable film although overly long and somewhat uncomfortable to watch. It is truly an awful and abhorrent thing to witness the town government conspire to destroy Bernadette's life as well as her borderline emotionally abusive parents trying to squash her faith. I also think it spends too much time on the conspirator's storyline; we get their motivations and their personalities right from the start so why do we have to spend so much time on them? Still the script is very strong, the acting also excellent, and its beautifully made in addition to being a highly engaging story.<br />
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Bernadette is another very interesting character from this category and arguably one of the most challenging. Bernadette needs to come across as sincere, steadfast, sweet, shy, strong, but polite and never terse. Playing someone with such unusual religious faith and devotion is tricky to get right but Jennifer Jones is able to do the trick. She imbues the character of Bernadette with a wonderful purity and innocence without making the character too sweet or saccharine. Jones adds such dignity, strength, and quiet fervor to her character that it makes it beautiful to watch as well as captivating as she is so beautiful that she lights up the screen. Bernadette is so wonderfully honest, innocent, sweet, and subtly strong that you don't wonder why so many people put their faith, their reputations, and their belief in her hands. As the film nears its end, Jones makes us feel her character's intense emotional struggle to leave her home and the possibility of a happy love life behind due to her knowing that she has been chosen by God as a vessel of wonder and faith meaning that she must leave her life behind and become a nun. The one issue with the performance is that it is a bit one note due to the nature of her character(therefore that is the point) but the last 45 minutes or so gives Jones more opportunities to portray different sides of Bernadette such as her genuine feelings of pity and compassion that she has for Sister Vazous's jealousy of her gifts, her pain as she begins to waste away on illness, her anger towards the men that continue to harass her about her faith. and her near loss of faith when she is on the brink of death. These scenes should have been a lesson to the filmmakers to cut some of the corrupt politician scenes and expand Bernadette's character a little more but Jones is still terrific.<br />
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It's a very captivating, strongly played, and luminous performance that is the center of the film.joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-92019082370822814852019-02-07T23:17:00.003-08:002020-09-12T02:22:13.132-07:00Performance Review: Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Loretta Young received her first Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Katherine Holstrom a young farm girl who moves to the big city to become a nurse only to then become a maid to a wealthy political family whose bright young congressman poster boy(Joseph Cotton) ends up falling in love with her. Eventually she gets persuaded to run for office against her love interest's political party and becomes a dark horse in the race.<br />
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Loretta Young apparently didn't have a chance in hell of winning Best Actress this year but she won beating all the odds. In a field which seemed to be filled with dramatic heavyweights it's not too surprising Young's charming and romantic performance pulled off an upset in addition to the fact that everybody loves an underdog which fit her character and her status in the race which voters must have been won over by.<br />
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The Farmer's Daughter is a pretty hokey film that like To Each His Own is pretty implausible but is still interesting and entertaining. It's a bit simplistic and rather dated but it still holds up today at least for me.<br />
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Young portrays Katrin with charm, intelligence, and radiance. She presents Katrin as a strong independently minded person who is blunt and straightforward simply because she's never known anything else. Her dedication towards becoming a nurse as well as her determination to make a better life for herself are aspects of her character that Young plays very well even though the film ends up throwing them out due to wanting a romance between Young's character and the male lead Glenn. Despite this rather old fashioned plot change Loretta Young still is wonderful to watch, showing a radiance and beauty that inhabits Katrin as she falls in love with Glenn whether it be her excitement at seeing him after so long or her feelings of pleasure and longing when the two spend time together. Both she and Cotton have good chemistry on screen due to the obvious contrasts in their characters given how each of those contrasts compliments the other. She also captures Katrin's sense of integrity and strength when it comes to politics even if it is clear that she definitely is not a political climber and only wants to run out of an obligation for what she thinks is right. When things go downhill for her and when her relationship with Glenn goes south Young makes us see her character's pain and hurt at her love's betrayal and then afterwards her joy at expressing the love she has for Glenn at last in addition to her joy of being given his love in return.<br />
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The second half of the film does get a bit too ridiculous and simplistic but it's so harmless and charming that it doesn't really effect Young's performance. I don't want to overpraise the performance as it really isn't anything that grabs hold of the screen but it's a charming and well played performance with wonderful simplicity and just the right amount of depth for material like this. An unfairly disliked performance at least to me.joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-15152485753041932472019-02-07T03:51:00.005-08:002020-09-12T02:27:36.663-07:00Performance Review: Brie Larson in Room<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Brie Larson received her first Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Joy Neesham, a young woman who was kidnapped by an older man at around eighteen or so and then subjected to sexual abuse by her kidnapper. She eventually got pregnant by him and had a son who she has been living with inside a live- in shed for five years. Joy has shielded her son(whose name is Jack) by making him believe that the room as well as it's day to day activities are the only thing real in the world.<br />
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Larson was the hands down frontrunner for the Best Actress Oscar three years ago although this was not always the case. Before the release of Joy as well as the official start of the awards season, Jennifer Lawrence was a definite possibility in regards to being the eventual winner given her popularity in Hollywood and the expectations surrounding her performance in the film. Once Lawrence became an also ran who had to struggle to be nominated, the race narrowed down to Larson and Saoirise Ronan in Brooklyn who gave a beautifully subtle performance in a very good film. Larson ended up getting the edge over Ronan with the precursors due to stronger industry popularity in Hollywood as well as the fact that her role is more dramatic although not by as much as one would think. Once the nominations were released Room snagged a Best Director nomination which strengthened Larson's chances enormously and after SAG and BAFTA awarded her there was no real chance that she would lose.<br />
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Room is a beautifully made film with a tough subject matter that is handled well by the filmmakers- it is largely the story of the boy Jack and how he sees the world in the child like wonder perspective that his mother has given him and how that slowly is shaken by the unfolding of the events surrounding him. I think it is a strong film that is worthy of praise although it doesn't delve deep enough into some aspects of the subject matter that I feel would have helped the film.<br />
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When we first meet Joy, she is a very depressed and withdrawn woman. I personally have read about real life examples of people in her situation and Larson convincingly plays a person who has become so accustomed to the horrors of her situation that there is almost no real life in her with the exception of the love for her son. Larson plays each scene with her son convincingly by portraying the true love that she has for him, her sadness of him not having a better life, and her frustrations with the reality of her situation. She and Tremblay both work extremely well together with both being believable as a mother and a son with the viewer naturally connecting with as well as rooting for them the whole way. Once things start to escalate Larson makes sure the very high stakes of her character's desperate struggle to escape come across to the audience in addition to displaying how much Joy is sacrificing for her son and how painful and fearful the mission she gives him is for her. Despite these strengths I have to say that personally I am not in love with Larson as an actress even though she does what is required of her in this film. Judging somebody's performance is so subjective that sometimes it just comes down to whether or not you find the character/the actress likable in the most fundamental way. I have to say that I don't even though that does not mean that I don't respect her work.<br />
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Moving on, once the two escape from Old Nick's(the kidnapper) clutches Larson is equally effective although the flaws in the script or perhaps the inherent nature of it become more apparent. The film is largely Tremblay's story which means that Joy's emotional journey and backstory are in the background to Jack's as well as serving as supplements to Jack's character arc instead of standing on their own. The film's vision and intentions are beautifully realized but both of those things are primarily involved with showing Jack's transformation in how he sees the world both outside and inside of the room. More details surrounding her family life, the relationship with her father, the abuse she had to withstand for all those years, and the day she was kidnapped are all things that were needed to create a fully rounded and developed performance. It's also difficult to sympathize with some of Joy's actions in the 2nd half without those details being shown(in addition to my dislike of the character) and the changes in her feel a little abrupt although still convincing.<br />
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It's a very real, authentic, and emotionally strong portrayal that fulfills the expectations of the role by executing the script's portrayal of this character well. If the film had developed Joy's backstory more and focused more on her the performance could have been on a much more powerful, emotionally charged level then it is. But even with these complaints Larson is still very strong in this film and her win isn't anything to rip your hair out over even though there was stronger performances that year that should have been honored instead. A very competent and admirable performance that is just a little underwhelming.joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-24665187780159940122019-02-05T22:14:00.003-08:002020-09-12T02:29:50.790-07:00Performance Review: Olivia De Havilland in To Each His Own <br />
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Olivia De Havilland received her third Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Jody Norris a woman who is forced to let her son live a life without knowing she is his mother in To Each His Own.<br />
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Given the legal victories that De Havilland won for herself and the industry against Warner Brothers and her pedigree as an actress it”s easy to believe that De Havilland was the favorite this year especially considering the fact that she had never won an Oscar before. I”d have to check some resources but I”m pretty sure now that it would have been an upset if she was overlooked in favor of someone else.<br />
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To Each His Own is a very typical soapy melodramatic movie from the 40s- none of the plot lines are really that credible and the movie isn”t really noteworthy even if it is entertaining and well crafted. The only real reason to watch it is for Olivia De Havilland who commands the screen while carrying the film completely without letting it”s implausible plot drag her down.<br />
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Jody is a very interesting character- she appears to be a strong willed, independent, and dominating woman who hides a great degree of loneliness and emotion underneath. De Havilland captures all of this extremely well in addition to technically playing the older Jody flawlessly- it”s amazing to think that this woman also was a southern belle in Gone With The Wine and a rich heiress in Tbe Heiress. As the movie enters into its flashback phase, Jody is shown as a very young woman. Practical and strong but also vulnerable, inexperienced, and romantic. We see her faith in finding the right happiness in her life as well as her passion for adventure. There is a great sense of spirit, of confidence and maturity that De Havilland brings to Jody that makes her wonderful to watch. As the film goes on we see Jody get pregnant with her dead lover”s child, her excitement and determination towards having the baby as her own, and her heartbreak over the loss of the child to an old friend of hers who will now always be known as his mother. Granted, Jody is a little bit selfish and overzealous in her attempts to become the baby”s mother(so much to the point that she bribes her friend into letting her have her son who becomes so lonely he gets sent back to her) but De Havilland wonderfully displays how Jody”s powerful love for her son motivates her to create a better life for herself and for him. Despite the ridiculous almost uncomfortable nature of the way the film portrays this woman De Havilland makes it believable and effective every step of the way even with the clunky script and sometimes unsympathetic nature of Jody.<br />
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It”s a terrific performance that rises above her film when another actress could have made it a complete disaster. Luckily, Olivia De Havilland had the right instincts and the technical as well as the emotional skills of a quality actress to pull it off making it something memorable. A deserving winner.<br />
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<br />joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-39111259785717507612018-07-22T02:43:00.001-07:002020-09-12T02:33:11.852-07:00Best Actress 2008: Meryl Streep in Doubt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Meryl Streep received her fifteenth Oscar nomination for playing Sister Aloysius, a domineering nun who suspects that a priest (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is sexually abusing a young black boy and enlists the help of a somewhat reluctant young nun named Sister James in order to help her put an end to the priest's actions.<br />
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Meryl Streep was always a shoo-in to be nominated for this film, but a win seemed to be somewhat of a long shot, given that Kate Winslet was considered extremely overdue for an Oscar at this point and Anne Hathaway was gathering great praise and accolades for her performance in Rachel Getting Married. Streep tied with Hathaway for the Critics Choice Award, but her absence from the ceremony didn't really make this seem like a big win and after losing the Globe to Winslet, her chances of winning her third Oscar didn't look that promising . However, she pulled off a Best Actress win at SAG leaving Hathaway in the dust (Winslet won in Supporting for The Reader) and Hollywood was widely reminded that it had been quite a while since Meryl had graced the Oscar stage. Her chances increased greatly after that but I don't think she had any real chance of winning due to Winslet being too strong of a contender to beat.<br />
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Doubt is an excellent film-powerfully executed and extremely compelling. Is it a little too overbearing with it's symbolism and devices? Yes. Is it a little stagey? Yes. But the film's compelling moral dilemma is too strong to resist. There is fabulous acting throughout and the writing is fantastic(besides the storm stuff lol).<br />
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The character of Sister Aloysius is one that is often felt to be a caricature or a vileness. To my mind, she most certainly isn't: She's someone who greatly believes in her faith and in her responsibility as Mother Superior as well as Principal of the school at large. She is someone who sees evil everywhere and believes in strict adherence to rules and to appearances. But she does have a heart and I honestly believe that it was in the right place the whole time. Little is known about her past besides the intriguing fact that she was married before joining the church. In my opinion, Sister Aloysius's certainty probably comes from some sort of past experience or trauma that makes her unwilling to even openly consider the possibility that he is innocent, at least that is how I interpret Streep's interpretation of the character. Streep plays this nun as a woman on a crusade, driven to stamp out all evil at all costs and is driven to setting a high moral standard for everyone to follow, especially Sister James, who is rather naive and oblivious to any possible wrongdoing by her pupils.<br />
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Streep's character may seem one-dimensional, but Streep shows us that she is strong, determined, caring, and extremely intelligent. Streep understands her character perfectly and nails all of the aspects of her- her vulnerability, her humor, her strength, her natural mistrust in others. She and Phillip Seymour Hoffman play extremely well off of each other as do she and Amy Adams and of course Viola Davis(in an incredible performance BTW). In her final scenes, she superbly shows how her strength is shaken by Father Flynn's resolve and how SPOILER ALERT that she is not sure that she has done the right thing by finally removing him from the school and the church. For me, it was easy to identify with her character more then anyone else in the film due to also seeing evil in many places where others may not believe it to be there. Streep is also very specific and detailed in much of her characterization, either it be her line delivery or her body language, showing us the Sister's reactions and thought processes wonderfully.<br />
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All in all, I find Meryl Streep's performance in Doubt to be extremely high in quality even though the material she is working with has it's flaws and her Bronx dialect can be a bit overly mannered at times. She gets <br />
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joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-2241920193746496352018-07-21T02:58:00.003-07:002020-09-12T02:35:17.007-07:00Best Actress 2008: Kate Winslet in The Reader<br />
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Kate Winslet received her 6th Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Hanna Schmitz, a German woman who has an affair with a teenage boy named Michael(David Kross) and through the eyes of the later, is eventually revealed to be a former SS guard.<br />
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When thinking ahead to the 81st Academy Awards 10 years ago, I had this image in my head of Kate Winslet's name being called as Best Actress was announced and receiving her long overdue recognition from the Academy. But for Revolutionary Road, which was one of the most anticipated films of the year that ended up coming out too late in the season to gain any traction in the BP and BD races. Still, Winslet's performance was considered to be a near-lock for a Best Actress nomination as was her candidacy in the Supporting Actress category for The Reader, a film that was mixed in terms of reception but was doing fairly well all the same, especially for Winslet who garnered the Broadcast Critics Choice Award as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Trouble was is that she also picked up the Leading Actress in a Drama award for RR, which made people wonder which film would she be honored for or would she somehow be shut out? Well, it turned out that the Academy made the decision to put her performance in The Reader in the Leading Category, snubbing her RR performance and making her the de-facto frontrunner for Best Actress, especially after triumphing at SAG and The Reader getting surprise nods for Best Picture and Best Director. Winslet was clearly overdue and while Meryl was great in Doubt, her momentum came too late to best Winslet while Anne Hathaway was hampered by her film's lack of support as well as the fact that she had other chances ahead of her. Neither Melissa Leo or Angelina Jolie had any chance of winning.<br />
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The Reader is actually a film that I greatly admire- Unlike a lot of Holocaust films that are honored at the Oscars, the film explores the aftermath of the Holocaust itself and the way that post World War 2 Germany views the actions of those who took part in and stood by the Nazi regime and how those two generations try to communicate in order to understand Nazi Germany's actions. The film is extremely well directed and well acted all around and is a powerful story, although too simplistic at times.<br />
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Anyway, Winslet plays Hanna, a woman who is very cold and calculated, yet also passionate, strong, authoritative. In the first half of the film, Winslet shows us her many shades both unlikeable and like-able- her somewhat callous treatment of Michael, her love of stories, her passion for romance and intimacy. Hanna is an enigma in many ways, but is also very close to us: We understand why Michael falls in love with her and why she falls in love with him. There are many superb moments in Winslet's portrayal of Hanna in the first half of the film, particularly the church scene which takes place on a trip that she and Michael take together. She is luminous and fascinating to watch.<br />
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The middle half of the film presents us with a much different view of Hanna, although it does not appear that she has changed much since she ended her affair with Michael. She is on trial for war crimes, that she allegedly committed in the course of her work as an SS guard. Hanna is the only woman out of all the guards who openly admits her actions, which eventually lead to her being scapegoated by her fellow defendants. Winslet is quite riveting here, showing sides of vulnerability that we have not seen the full extent of in Hanna before as well as Hanna's strength and reserved nature.<br />
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The third act of the film is where she is sadly held back a little by the ridiculous age makeup(LOL), but Winslet still shows Hanna's internal changes and reflections. Her choices and morals are still a mystery, but Winslet makes the character of Hanna Schmitz mesmerizing to watch. A fascinating and beautiful portrayal. She gets<br />
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joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-29181925744227650842018-07-21T02:55:00.001-07:002018-07-21T02:55:35.876-07:00Best Actress 2008The next Best Actress year I'll be doing is 2008 and the nominees were: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married </div>
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Angelina Jolie in Changeling </div>
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Melissa Leo in Frozen River </div>
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Meryl Streep in Doubt </div>
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Kate Winslet in The Reader </div>
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joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-82651202130059633022017-12-31T23:23:00.001-08:002017-12-31T23:30:56.474-08:00Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri And The Shape Of Water <br />
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Three Billboards Outside Of Ebbing Missouri: I came into this film knowing it would be good and did not disappoint: The film is a harrowing, extremely funny film with such perfectly funny details and an extremely good balance of comedy and drama throughout. The cast is filled with fantastic acting and it tells a strong impactful story that holds it's power all the way through. McDormand gives an extremely brave, powerful performance which is both extremely funny and riveting. You see and identify with her pain and her being at the end of her sanity with truly nowhere to latch onto. Harrelson is terrific as the police Sheriff dying of cancer, but still sympathetic and wanting to help Mildred(McDormand's character), but she won't have any of it. Sam Rockwell's character Dixon is perhaps the least sympathetic and most irritating at times, but he is great and progressively more like-able as the film goes on. Pretty much everyone in the whole cast is excellent. My problems with the film though are somewhat numerous: It stretches reality a little too much with all the violent actions the characters do and no consequences for them and the progressive violence goes a bit too over the top after a while and repetitive, but that doesn't bother me. The ending is also pretty flawed too, but I think that was the purpose of it. Still, it's a great film, even though it's problems make me frustrated with it because it could have been a masterpiece. It's still the best film I've seen all year though so far.<br />
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The Shape Of Water: This was the first Oscar contender I saw and it was certainly a beautiful achievement. The film is wonderfully directed and filled with such strong, great moments telling a really great love story that's unconventional, but entertaining. Still, the film's story is flawed: Michael Shannon's character is overall great throughout, but I thought he needed more backstory to his character or perhaps a different way of handling his character arc as the film ended because it came across as a little too much. Also, the Soviet storyline is really unclear and not well executed and (slight spoiler) the Doctor's choice at the end isn't credible to me. But the film is a luminous love-story that is also a great thriller with great acting. Hawkins gives a moving, well-developed, radiant performance and the aforementioned Shannon, Jenkins, Stuhlbarg,Spencer(although her character is like Minnie from The Help decided to move to Maryland) and Doug Jones as the mysterious creature are all excellent. I hope it gets honored somewhere on Oscar night and I hope it gets a bunch of Oscar nominations on Oscar Nominations morning. </div>
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joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-46625703486463127842017-07-25T00:24:00.002-07:002017-07-25T00:30:56.145-07:00Best Actress 1987: Holly Hunter in Broadcast News<br />
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Holly Hunter received her first Oscar nomination for playing Jane Craig, a T.V Network producer who finds herself caught between the handsome new news reporter Tom(William Hurt)and her best friend Aaron(Albert Brooks) in Broadcast News.<br />
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Broadcast News is surprisingly a kind of WTF movie for me- I couldn't really tell what the hell was going on for a lot of it and it's kinda stuck in the 80's LOL, but it still has its merits. The acting is overall quite strong, with both Hurt and Brooks turning strong work. Hunter, despite winning the N.B.R award for this film, probably didn't have much of a chance at winning the Oscar given her stiff competition. She was too new to Hollywood at the time and Cher took the romantic comedy votes away from her and Moonstruck overshadowed Broadcast News for these same reasons in the general Oscar race. Not to mention Kirkland and Close had more passionate supporters. So , I think Hunter came in fourth with Streep bringing up the rear.<br />
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Holly Hunter is an actress who I like a lot: I personally love her southern voice and she has great acting instincts and a real presence on screen. Here, she does a lot of great work. Her best moments are when she is listening to her co-stars during a scene or reacting/feeling on her own: With her facial expressions, she communicates exactly what Jane is feeling and we can read her like a book. She makes us care about Jane, admire her for her spirit and intelligence, and even love her when she is radiant and happy about her love life with Tom. She is beautifully natural and fiercely present at the same time, never making her work become too subtle, but letting the character speak for itself. She is perfectly cast in the role: who else can you imagine in this part? And she has great chemistry with Hurt and especially Albert Brooks. Their scenes together are probably the best in the film because the two character are so a like and have such a strong, passionate relationship that is extremely funny and moving.<br />
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But the problem that Hunter can't get out of is the fact that the character's whole purpose is just wondering whether or not she's good enough for Tom and the conflicts that she has over both him and Aaron. We definitely see her commitment to her work and to her job in the beginning, but in my opinion, we don't see enough of it. I wanted to see more fire in the character, more of a love/hate relationship between her and Hurt, and that just doesn't seem to come across. Jane Craig could have been a lot more opinionated and less needing of a man to define her, but the script cheats us out of this. It could have been a lot worse, but the writing and the acting is just three levels or so above this that it doesn't sink the film or Hunter's performance. But it still could have been better.<br />
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Still, though Hunter gives a luminous portrayal that is both funny and touching and beautifully captures the full range of her characters emotions and quirks, in the end creating an extremely memorable character. She gets <br />
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<br />joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-73118729723065447292017-07-24T17:01:00.000-07:002017-07-24T17:45:01.303-07:00Best Actress Overall Winners: Part 6 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Moving right along to the finish line! Please feel free to comment on and check out Part 5 below! I updated it to include Fritz's, Dinasztie's, Alex's, and my own choices for the years in which I've/they've done profiles on and which races I have opinions on who I think the winner should have been currently even though I have not done a profile yet. I would have included all of Sage's too, but since she deleted some of her Best Actress posts/rankings and a great amount of time has passed since she posted all of her rankings when she concluded the category, I can't definitively consider the majority of them her choices anymore, unless I get clarification from her. Anyway, we miss you Sage and hope you're doing well!!<br />
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Best Actress 2008: This one is hard, because I haven't heard too many opinions on the race in general- Some dislike Winslet, others don't, so I'd say she's split down the middle. Streep has more detractors then supports and Jolie even more so. That leaves Hathaway and Leo- I guess I'll go with Leo? Fritz picked Winslet, Alex picked Streep, I need to rewatch all of them to get a definitive opinion on my thoughts.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Kate Winslet<br />
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Overall Winner: Melissa Leo<br />
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Best Actress 2009: Sandra Bullock's win is one of the biggest WTF winners in many people's minds, but on a rewatch of a chunk of the film a few weeks ago, I personally liked the performance film much more then when I saw it the first time all those years ago. Who would have thought? Anyway, she still is no overall winner. I'll go with Mulligan, despite strong support for Sidibe and Streep. Dinasztie went with Streep, Alex went with Mulligan.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Sandra Bullock<br />
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Overall Winner: Carey Mulligan<br />
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Best Actress 2010: It's getting to the point that the more recent the winners become, the harder it is to judge who is the most popular winner these days. This is a strong lineup though, so I think you could find any of the nominees being someone's pick. I'll just go with Portman for now, but feel free to help me on this guys! Dinasztie went with Portman , Alex went with Portman, and although I never completed this year officially , I think Kidman was the best of the nominees.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Natalie Portman<br />
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Overall Winner: Natalie Portman<br />
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Best Actress 2011: Ah, the year Meryl finally won her third Oscar. I think you can find people that both love and hate the performance, but despite some support for Williams, I think Davis is the overall winner here. Dinasztie picked Meryl, Alex picked Meryl as well.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Meryl Streep<br />
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Overall Winner: Viola Davis<br />
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Best Actress 2012: Lawrence's win is largely disliked now it seems, unfairly IMO, but there you go. I think Chastain has some love out there, but Riva probably is most people's pick nowadays. Alex picked Riva, Dinasztie picked Riva as well. Sage has stated Chastain is her pick.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Jennifer Lawrence<br />
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Overall Winner: Emanuelle Riva<br />
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Best Actress 2013: Cate Blanchett won the Oscar and her win is hugely popular. Alex went with Blanchett and for me it's a tossup between Blanchett and Adams, with a nod to Streep. <br />
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Oscar Winner: Cate Blanchett<br />
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Overall Winner: Cate Blanchett<br />
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Best Actress 2014: I get the impression most consider Julianne's win a makeup award, but I don't think she is disliked for her win. I'll go with Pike as the overall winner. I haven't seen Witherspoon yet, but both Pike and Cotillard are amazing. I think Cotillard deserved it the most. Sage stated her choice is Julianne Moore.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Julianne Moore<br />
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Overall Winner: Rosamund Pike<br />
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Best Actress 2015: This is the second to most recent win, so it's hard to say who the overall winner is. Certainly not Jennifer Lawrence or Cate Blanchett. I'll just give this one to Rampling, lol. Alex picked Rampling.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Brie Larson<br />
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Overall Winner: Charlotte Rampling<br />
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Best Actress 2016: Stone's win seems destined to become unpopular, but as I've noted again and again, it's a bit too soon to be definitive about who most think should have won this year. I'll pick Portman and Huppert in a tie for now. Louis gave his personal Best Actress award to Emma Stone and Alex picked Streep.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Emma Stone<br />
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Overall Winner: TIE- Natalie Portman & Isabelle Hubbert<br />
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So, that's it!! Feel free to comment on your thoughts about these years and who your personal winners are, if you disagree with me, and more!joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-70531918630552336712017-07-24T04:01:00.003-07:002017-07-24T17:13:07.250-07:00Best Actress Overall Winners: Part 5 <br />
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Decided to finish this series!!! Here's a link to my third post in the series on here (https://filmoscarsandmore.blogspot.com/2014/02/best-actress-overall-winners-part-4.html) and a links to the second (http://oscarfan69.blogspot.com/2010/09/best-actress-post-part-2.html) (http://oscarfan69.blogspot.com/2010/09/best-actress-post-part-1.html) and first post from my retired blog, Oscarfan.<br />
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Best Actress 1995: Hmm, hard to say since I could see all the nominees besides maybe Emma Thompson having a passionate fanbase. I'll go with Elisabeth Shue, although I could be wrong. Let me know if you think so. Dinasztie picked Shue. <br />
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Oscar Winner: Susan Sarandon<br />
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Overall Winner: Elisabeth Shue<br />
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Best Actress 1996: Another tricky one, but I'm going to go with Emily Watson in Breaking The Waves. Her performance is astounding and her fanbase is strong and loud, despite the love for McDormand out there. Dinasztie picked Watson, Fritz picked Watson, I'd pick Watson.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Frances McDormand<br />
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Overall Winner: Emily Watson<br />
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Best Actress 1997: Oh, this is an easy one. Judi Dench clearly takes the crown here as the overall winner these days, with Hunt's win becoming one of the most hated and infamous in the Academy's history. Dinasztie picked Helena Bonham Carter.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Helen Hunt<br />
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Overall Winner: Judi Dench<br />
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Best Actress 1998: Another no-brainer and another queen taking the prize: Cate Blanchett has even been asked about her infamous loss to Gwyneth Paltrow, whose career immediately took a turn for the worse after this and she's now one of the most unpopular actresses around. Fritz picked Blanchett, Dinasztie picked Montenegro.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Gwyneth Paltrow<br />
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Overall Winner: Cate Blanchett<br />
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Best Actress 1999: Well, here comes a nice change of pace from the Oscar winner losing out in the last previous three years: Swank's win is regarded as one of the best winners in this category and one of the best choices the Academy has ever made. Alex picked Swank.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Hillary Swank<br />
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Overall Winner: Hillary Swank<br />
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Best Actress 2000: Sadly, we can't say the same for Julia Roberts, another extremely disliked win (and IMO, unfairly). People have been saying Ellen Burstyn was robbed for years. Alex picked Burstyn.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Julia Roberts<br />
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Overall Winner: Ellen Burstyn<br />
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Best Actress 2001: Berry's win/speech is ridiculed all over the Oscar fan world and beyond, but it's hard to say who the overall winner is. Perhaps the then perceived favorite Sissy Spacek? Or maybe even Nicole Kidman? I'll go with Spacek. Fritz picked Nicole, Dinasztie picked Berry, Alex picked Nicole.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Halle Berry <br />
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Overall Winner: Sissy Spacek<br />
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Best Actress 2002: Kidman's win is largely panned here, but in my mind, not as much as the previous winners I've mentioned, although maybe that's just around here? I think Lane and Zellweger have their fans, but in most people's minds, this is Moore's year, as it should have been at the Oscars as well. Fritz picked Moore, I picked Moore, Dinasztie picked Moore.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Nicole Kidman<br />
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Overall Winner: Julianne Moore<br />
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Best Actress 2003: Charlize Theron's win is widely regarded as highly deserved and her performance is indeed stunning. I'm sure the other nominees have their fans though. I picked Theron, Dinasztie picked Theron.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Charlize Theron<br />
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Overall Winner: Charlize Theron<br />
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Best Actress 2004: SIGH... Back to the hated wins. Swank's turn in Million Dollar Baby is another unpopular victory. Staunton has her supporters, but Winslet is no doubt the winner here. Fritz picked Staunton, I picked Winslet, Dinasztie picked Winslet.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Hillary Swank<br />
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Overall Winner: Kate Winslet<br />
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Best Actress 2005: And yet another disliked win this year with Reese Witherspoon's Oscar win for Walk The Line. Felicity Huffman is the overall winner easily.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Reese Witherspoon:<br />
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Overall Winner: Felicity Huffman.<br />
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Best Actress 2006: A hard one to call because most people don't feel that Helen should have won, but her win isn't hated either. And all the other nominees have their supporters: it was a fantastic year in this category after all. I'll go with Judi Dench. I picked Dame Judi, Dinasztie picked Dame Judi.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Helen Mirren<br />
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Overall Winner: Judi Dench<br />
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Best Actress 2007: Not everyone goes gaga over Cotillard's win, but that doesn't mean she isn't still the overall winner here. Many call her performance one of the best ever and I count myself as a fan of her work here. Fritz picked Marion, Alex picked Marion, Dinasztie picked Marion.<br />
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Oscar Winner: Marion Cotillard<br />
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Overall Winner: Marion Cotillard<br />
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And that's it until Part 6!! You guys agree with my analysis? Who do you think are the overall winners in each of these years?<br />
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<br />joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-36798164812702701742017-07-23T22:55:00.002-07:002020-01-21T23:42:01.818-08:00Performance Review: Kathy Bates in Misery <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Kathy Bates received her first Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Annie Wilkes, a very disturbed woman who is fictional writer Paul Sheldon's number one fan, "rescues" him from a car crash and saves his life, only to eventually force him to burn his new book out of retaliation for killing her favorite character in his romance novel series Misery. She forces him to write a new book resurrecting Misery while also both threatening and executing violence on him and continuing to hold him capture in her house, all the while making Paul greatly fear for his life in the process.<br />
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On the surface, it seems rather odd that the Academy decided to honor Bates's performance- Films like Misery are hardly ever recognized by the Academy in any way and characters like this had been passed over previously by the Academy(see Glenn Close's loss to Cher for Fatal Attraction 3 years previously). And Bates was no A-lister in Hollywood at the time. But Bates beat the odds. I think she had the always desirable advantage of too many things going against her competition: Woodward may have been the sentimental favorite, but the film may have been too slow for Oscar voters. Huston gave a great performance as another villainous character, but she had just won an Oscar five years earlier and she is more of a co-lead then a de-facto lead. Julia Roberts was not going to be honored for a film like Pretty Woman, the nomination was the reward for her. And Meryl Streep had no chance of winning. So voters rallied around Bates, who was helped by her Golden Globe win and her unforgettable character.<br />
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Annie Wilkes is certainly one of the more complex and memorable characters in this category: She very clearly has serious psychological problems, most of which are believed to be a mix of Bipolar Disorder, anti-social personality disorder, erotomania, ect. Given all these aspects, Annie Wilkes is a tricky character to get right for any actress, but Bates gets her to a T. When we see Annie for the first time, we believe, like Paul, that she is a sweet, eccentric, but well-meaning woman. Bates plays all these traits perfectly: She plays all the flattery, the adoration, the kindness, the hesitancy about asking Paul certain things, all wonderfully. Of course, we come to notice Annie is not what she seems very quickly, due to her erratic nature. She gets extremely angry about things that are relatively minor or not worthy of the amount of anger she spouts about them. For example, she loses it when Paul scoffs at her dislike of profanity and spills soup on his bed after going on an angry tirade about how she never uses profanity(at least not the normal kind, lol). And when she finds out Misery is dead, she goes completely insane and violent. She and James Caan work extremely well together, with Bates always commanding the screen in every scene she's in.<br />
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Bates is very convincing and terrifying throughout as Annie: She brilliantly shows her character 's cleverness, longing for control over everything she does, her charisma, her high status over Paul in their power struggle, her continued adoration over Paul, and eventually her obsessive, disturbing, unfathomable love for him. Annie Wilkes is a juicy role and a brilliantly written character and Bates milks her for all she's worth.<br />
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The one slight complaint I have is that some of Annie's outbursts come across as slightly cartoonish and overly mannered, but it doesn't take away from the power of her performance.<br />
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<br />joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-48589716723373117922016-08-09T23:47:00.000-07:002016-08-09T23:50:04.504-07:00Best Actress 1987 The next Best Actress year I'll be doing a profile/ranking on is 1987 and the nominees were:<br />
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Cher in Moonstruck<br />
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Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction<br />
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Holly Hunter in Broadcast News <br />
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Sally Kirkland in Anna<br />
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Meryl Streep in Ironweed<br />
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So who are you rooting for? Who do you think will be my pick? What is your preference/thoughts on the quality of this year and on the awards race in this category this year? </div>
joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-8398657949084970542016-01-17T12:39:00.003-08:002016-01-17T12:39:55.755-08:00Thoughts On The Oscar Season <br />
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Hello everyone!!! It's literally been forever, I know, but I'm very active on Golderby, covering this year's Oscar season and seasons from the past. I'll try to post as much as I can about my thoughts on the films I'm seeing and this year's Oscar race and there may even be some sort of profile activity in the future. I can't make any promises, but we'll see. <br />
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Anyway, this Oscar season has been very exciting in terms of how open this season is. With no clear frontrunner for Best Picture and Best Director as well as an exciting race for Best Supporting Actress makes a more interesting season then we've had in quite a while. I'm hoping that it'll stay that way, but we all know it could turn very predictable very quickly. Anyway, here's my predictions for this year. <br />
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Best Picture: A three way race between The Revenant, Spotlight, and The Big Short. It's all down to momentum- The Revenant has it with 12 Oscar nominations, box office success, and an epic sweep to it, but will the Academy embrace it enough to honor it? Spotlight most certainly recovered from its spotty precursor performance with being able to gain two acting nominations and that editing nomination, but it needs to do well with the guilds in order to win. The Big Short is very popular and I can see it winning SAG and then going on to win more at the Guilds, but we'll see. We can't make any confident predictions until the guilds happen.<br />
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Best Director: I can definitely see Miller winning this one, since Alejandro had quite a big year last year. It's not impossible for him to win, but right now I'm not betting on it. If Spotlight or The Big Short dominate the guilds and become the BP frontrunner, I could easily see McKay or McCarthy winning. Again, I think DGA will help clear things up.<br />
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Best Actor: Leo is largely locked here. If Trumbo was more well liked by the Academy, Cranston could have a better chance, but The Revenant is way too strong right now and Leo's extremely popular. I could still see SAG going for him, but I think Leo is too strong to lose right now.<br />
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Best Supporting Actor: Stallone has a lot going for him, but with no precursor love from SAG or BAFTA makes me not believe that he is a lock like others do. However, if the awards split between contenders whose support is soft, he most likely will win, unless Hardy can really ride the momentum of The Revenant here.<br />
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Best Actress: Larson seems to be winning this one. Ronan still has a slim chance, but she needs to beat her at SAG and right now, I don't see that happening. Room has stronger Oscar support then Brooklyn does and Larson seems to have a home turf advantage: She's much more popular then Ronan. If Larson wins SAG (and I expect she will), she's winning the Oscar.<br />
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Best Supporting Actress: A hard category right now that does come down to SAG. Kate looks like a really strong contender with her now being a 7 time Oscar nominee and after winning the Golden Globe, but she needs to win another precursor to get the Oscar. Both Vikander and Mara have shots, but both need SAG to win. I'm more skeptical about Mara since Carol was snubbed in Best Picture and she also gives a very restrained performance. I don't think Jennifer Jason Leigh is winning, but she's not out of it just yet. <br />
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Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight is most likely picking this one up unless white guilt causes an upset for Straight Outta Compton.<br />
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Best Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short is the likely winner here unless Room upsets. <br />
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What do you guys think? What films are you rooting for? Who are you not rooting for?joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-89305553628903207652015-02-22T16:23:00.000-08:002015-02-22T16:23:02.658-08:0087th Oscar Predictions <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello everyone! I have been long absent all season long and I honestly will not be doing too much blogging for quite a while because I am a full time performing arts student and I don't have any time for it unfortunately. However, this does not mean I haven't been watching films or following the Oscar season this year, even though I have not seen nearly as much as I would have liked. And I'll be posting my predictions here although it's an extradinarily difficult year for predictions and I may not do as well last year, but hopefully I won't do terribly. <br />
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Best Picture: Although Boyhood was the overwhelming frontrunner for most of the season and I know voters like the film, I don't think it will win. The across the board support for Birdman at the guilds is very strong and although it's not a loveable movie per se, that support I think will trump the reception to Boyhood, which many have been underwhelmed by. This is a close race though and if support for these films could split and The Grand Budapest or Whiplash could benefit from that. But I'm sticking with Birdman.<br />
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Best Director: The DGA award is a huge statistic that can't be looked over and I feel that Alejandro will win even though Linklater has a lot of admiration as well as winning all the other precursor awards besides the DGA, but the DGA is just too strong of a precursor to go against. I wouldn't be surprised if I was wrong here though.<br />
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Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne is most likely winning. Michael Keaton does have a chance of winning and there's a lot of support for him in the industry, but he has lost too much momentum to Eddie after his SAG win and the performance is so in the Academy's wheelhouse: It's such a baity, transformative role. Some are thinking that Cooper could surprise, but I don't think he will unless this race is much tighter then it looks.<br />
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Best Supporting Actor: J.K Simmons is winning. Moving on...<br />
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Best Actress: Julianne Moore will most likely finally wining an Oscar. Her performance is great, but I do wish Marion Cotillard could have won this year. It's bittersweet since Moore is one of the best actresses out there, but Marion was amazing. I'll be cheering though if Moore wins (Which she most likely will).<br />
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Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette is winning. Moving on...<br />
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Best Original Screenplay: Grand Budapest will most likely win here: I think the Academy will want to honor Wes Anderson and quircky comedies often win in this category (Her, Little Miss Sunshine, Midnight In Paris, Django Unchained). If not, then Birdman will win.<br />
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Best Adapted Screenplay: A very tricky category. I'm going with Whiplash, but the Imitation Game as well as The Theory Of Everything are strong contenders as well.<br />
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You can check out the rest of my predictions on Gold Derby! So what are your very last minute thoughts/predictions?joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-5002066773432253062014-10-10T14:46:00.001-07:002014-10-10T14:46:44.467-07:00Coming Soon: Glenda Jackson in Women In Love I saw Women In Love yesterday... such a weird, flawed, yet beautifully sensual film, love the imagery too. Have to rewatch it though, so I can follow Glenda's arc more clearly now that I understand more of the story. Also, expect a review of Gone Girl (Seeing it again tonight!) and Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter very soon! <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/STYiWIZ-2IQ" width="459"></iframe>joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-39804852740420091222014-09-29T20:48:00.003-07:002014-09-29T22:22:14.334-07:00Performance Review: Jane Fonda in Coming Home <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Jane Fonda received her fourth Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Sally Hyde, a wife of a Vietnam war captain who goes to volunteer for a veteran's hospital in Coming Home. <br />
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From what sources tell us about the 1978 Best Actress race, Fonda was in a close race with Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata. Ingrid Bergman had won awards at the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle , and the National Society Of Film Critics and Fonda won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress In A Drama. Ingrid had sentiment on her side given she was dying from cancer at the time, but Fonda was at her height as an actress and was starring in a film that was one of the frontrunners for Best Picture and Autumn Sonata wasn't nominated. I think that was what gave Fonda the edge. <br />
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Coming Home is a strong film, but its also flawed. There are some rather phony moments in the film that don't ring true and it feels so anti-vietnam that one can call it a preachy, soap box movie. That said, it is still very well directed and well acted, and the script does create a compelling entertaining story that reaches its target by the end. I don't think it fully deserved Original Screenplay, but Jon Voight's fantastic performance was more then deserving of the Oscar. I think its one of those movies that is flawed, but through its flaws, something powerful and even great comes out of it, even if it is a mixed bag. <br />
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Jane Fonda is an actress who has highly impressed me in her performances. She is fantastic in Klute and excellent in Julia, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, and Agnes Of God. She excels at playing strong, opinionated, and multi layered women that are also vulnerable and layered. So, for me, its hard to agree with the choice of having her play Sally Hyde, a perfectly ordinary army wife whose experiences change her for the better. I just don't think Fonda's extremely technical style of acting fits with such a simple character who could have used someone more natural and vulnerable. She fails to be convincing for the majority of the first half of the film, even though she is very good technically, using her face and mannerisms to convey Sally's awkwardness at caring for veterans. I just never feel she becomes the character in the beginning and it works against her heavily. <br />
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But Fonda greatly improves in the second half as she becomes closer with Voight's character. The growth and changes in her character that come from her volunteer work, from becoming close with Luke are convincing and Fonda is wonderfully natural and expressive in the performance. Her presence is quite strong and her relationship with Voight is beautiful to watch. Both actors are terrific and very believable as lovers and they both achieve a beautiful emotional connection that strengthens the film. But when her husband comes back home, her performance becomes less interesting given how cliched and also unbelievable the conclusion of the film is. She is still very interesting to watch and better then she was in the beginning, but the material sinks her. <br />
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So, it's a very good performance that is quite strong on a technical level, but unfortunately the role of Sally Hyde is too cliched and Fonda's acting skills just aren't the right fit for a role like this, which required someone who could create a more spontaneous, more emotional portrayal. She's still very watchable though. joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-35773859988670960992014-03-15T18:28:00.003-07:002014-03-15T18:34:51.207-07:00Performance Review: Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Christoph Waltz received his 2nd Oscar nomination and won his second Oscar for playing Dr. King Shultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.<br />
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Christoph Waltz's victory last year was slightly surprising, though not a huge upset. Best Supporting Actor was a wide-open category that year, but it narrowed down to a three-way race between Waltz, Tommy Lee Jones, and Robert De-Niro. Some cited Jones as the favorite given his long-term career and SAG award, but I just didn't see him winning a second Oscar for such an un-showy performance. Many pundits went with De-Niro and I did too at first, but what Waltz had over him was the fact that he was able to win two precursors, both the Globe and the BAFTA. None of the other contenders took home a second major precursor, and it just seemed momentum was with him. So, Waltz pulled off the win as I predicted (Don't mean to brag, but I'm still so proud of this prediction!).<br />
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Django Unchained is a fantastic film that I was really surprised at how much I liked : It's brilliantly made, it's entertaining, and it has great acting from all around. Tarantino highly deserved his 2nd Original Screenplay Oscar and I would have loved to have seen DiCaprio and Samuel Jackson nominated. <br />
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From the moment Waltz comes on screen, he holds your attention: There's just a dynamic focused quality to this performance which I think comes from the fact that this roles fits him like a glove. There's no one else who could have played this part like Waltz and it shows. He makes the character fiendishly devil-like, but charming and even loveable. Waltz nails his character's fake persona and he is convincing all the way through. He and Fox both are outstanding together, making them such a natural pair of bounty hunters that you root for, despite their immoral acts. <br />
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It's a great performance from Waltz, but unfortunately, it loses some of its impact because of the shifted focus: I loved watching Waltz take the lead in the film, romping through it with such confidence and humor, but he takes a backseat to DiCaprio, Foxx, and the rest of the ensemble because of how the plot shifts. It's dissapointing, because we as an audience love Waltz and don't want him to be away from the spotlight, even though all the other actors are terrific. It's a testament to how strong Waltz was in the first half of the film, how strong he made us like his character. But I just wish there was more.<br />
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But it's a still great and wonderful performance that I highly enjoyed, just like the film . His win was very deserving.<br />
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Congrats to Christoph Waltz for giving the first male performance to be reviewed on this blog! Next Performance Review: Forest Whitaker in The Last King Of Scotland. joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-70711426885606428042014-03-13T19:03:00.000-07:002014-03-13T19:06:15.473-07:00Performance Review: Julia Roberts in Erin Brokovich <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Julia Roberts received her third Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing the real life Erin Brokovich, a woman with a big mouth and no patience. She has three kids and is struggling to make ends meet. She gets a job working for her former lawyer and she ends up investigating a case where PG & E is responsible for poisoning a whole town. <br />
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Just like Cate Blanchett this last year, Julia Roberts was a huge lock for Best Actress that year: She had been nominated and lost twice before, she gives a very dramatic and entertaining performance , she was in a Best Picture nominated movie that voters were able to reward with her win, and Hollywood wanted to honor one of their biggest stars. I'm guessing she won in a landslide.<br />
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Erin Brokovich is a terrific film: It tells a very entertaining, moving story with excellent acting. Soderbergh's brilliant visual style does wonders to the film, making it have a very realistic and perfect look. I feel the movie is highly deserving of it's Oscar nominations, although Traffic was the best that year. <br />
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Julia Robert's win is one of the most hated ever. I guess I can see why: Erin Brokovich is hardly a likeable woman, at least the one thats portrayed in this film and Julia Roberts is a star whose usually considered obnoxious and arrogant. If we were judging her by her speech, I'd agree, but here Roberts hits a high note here, at least with me. Erin is <i>supposed </i>to be over the top, throwing herself around and being rude to people. And Roberts nails this. She is terrific and very convincing. Seriously, could anyone else have played this part? Her big scenes are excellent, she really shows us that she cares about what she's doing and that it means so much to her. We see the wonderful self-worth and confidence that her job gives her and Roberts is wonderful at showing the woman behind Erin's confident persona. The vulnerability and depth she gives to her is very noteworthy. I love the scene where Eckart is describing her baby daughter's first word. She beautifully shows the happiness this brings her and she does it so naturally. She has great chemistry with Aaron Eckhart and with Albert Finney, although she overshadows both of them, given its so much of her movie. <br />
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That said, I do think that the performance becomes a bit repetitive. It is isn't Julia's fault, but there are so many scenes where she has such a strong opinionated attitude that it gets a bit wearing after a while. It's still impressive, but it does take some points away from her. There are also times where I think she knows it, which makes some of her scenes unconvincing. <br />
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But overall, Roberts commands the movie with a wonderful performance. She is entertaining, she has energy, and she understands the character so well that the results are truly great. </div>
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joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-61977700441194098212014-03-09T21:21:00.001-07:002014-03-11T11:22:54.983-07:00The 71st Oscars: A Look Back <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Best Picture: This was one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history, but looking back on it, it's easy to see how it happened. Shakespeare's massive Miramax campaign and 13 nominations made it an incredibly strong contender that was able to gain enough steam to beat out Saving Private Ryan. I think that voters felt that they had honored Speilberg with Picture and Director too recently and it's early summer release date may have hurt it too. Shakespeare was a wonderful, enjoyable movie and I think the Academy enjoyed it more then they enjoyed a World War II film. Life Is Beautiful may have gotten third place, but voters probably felt it's other wins would be enough to honor it. Thin Red Line was overshadowed by S.P.R and Elizabeth was really just happy to be nominated. <br />
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Best Director: Like Ang Lee 7 years later, there was no beating Speilberg here even if Shakespeare won Best Picture (Which, of course it did). Speilberg was and still is a highly respected film-maker and people still felt he was overdue. Madden was probably the runner-up, but this was Speilberg's for sure. <br />
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Best Actor: A wide open race at first with McKellen and Nolte taking most of the precursors, but then Life Is Beautiful came out of nowhere and people started loving it which gave Benigni the momentum. His SAG win (As well as a BAFTA win) was also an excellent forecaster, especially since every Best Actor winner there had also won at the Oscars. I'm surprised that it wasn't clearer at the time, but i guess it was because it was a foreign language performance and that Benigni was also going to win Best Foreign Language Film.<br />
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Best Actress: Before the SAG's, it was a two horse race between Paltrow and Blanchett. But when Paltrow triumphed over her at the SAG's, it was clear she had the support, much like Lawrence over Chastain last year. I think Miramax's campaign as well as the fact that Paltrow was so young and likeable made her the winner. Blanchett, despite her BAFTA win, was too unknown at that time to take the prize. And Elizabeth had no real momemtum. Fernanda Montengro could have won in a split between them (Like Riva last year, wow!), but Paltrow was too far out in front (Like Lawrence!). Streep and Watson weren't contenders. <br />
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Best Supporting Actor: A big upset here. All the precursors were split: Critics Choice went with Billy Bob Thorton, Golden Globes went Ed Harris, SAG went with Duvall, and BAFTA went with Rush, not for Shakespeare, but for his work in Elizabeth. In such an open field, Coburn was able to sneak in, probably because of his career and his very dramatic role. As for the other nominees, Rush had just won, Thorton had also won a writing Oscar and some thought his role was too similiar to Sling Blade. Duvall was a possible winner, but the film was hardly loved and neither was Duvall. Harris was also thhe other possible winner, but I don't know if the Academy was passionate enough about the Truman Show or about him in general to give him the Oscar.<br />
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Best Supporting Actress: A race that was difficult to predict at the time, but Dench won, I think , because of the Shakespeare juggernaut and her Oscar loss for Mrs. Brown the year before and also because there were a lot of things going against her competition. Brenda Blethyn's work was considered too over the top and the film had no real Oscar support. Lynn Redgrave won the Golden Globe, but probably didn't have the buzz to take it and some said it her performance bordered on parody. Rachel Griffiths was in another film with no real momentum and was also too much of an unknown. Bates took the Critics Choice and SAG, but the film was a dud and her Oscar win for Misery was recent enough for voters to pass over her.<br />
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Best Original Screenplay: This race was a lock for Shakespeare, due to it being what makes the film a success. I'm guessing The Truman Show and Life Is beautiful were the runner ups, but neither could stop Shakespeare's momentum. <br />
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Best Adapted Screenplay: Bill Condon pulled off a surprising win this year over WGA winner Out Of Sight and The Thin Red Line. I guess voters weren't going to honor a film like Out of Sight which didn't do to well at the box office anyway and support for The Thin Red Line was not strong enough to pull off a win. The Academy must have liked Gods And Monsters enough to give it three nominations in major and felt that it deserved it here. <br />
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Well, I really need to watch more films from this year! It's usually easy for me to analyze the races, (Although some of my reasonings are more subjective then others) but this one I think was a trickier year in general to forecast given all the surprise winners. I really need to see Saving Private Ryan, Life Is Beautiful, The Thin Red Line, The Truman Show, Affliction, and Gods And Monsters. Anyway though, what are your thoughts? Did you predict/think Shakespeare would win? Were you shocked that it did and do you think Saving Private Ryan was robbed? Are you on Team Cate for Best Actress? <br />
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<br />joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-21233400406213683962014-03-02T21:58:00.001-08:002014-03-02T21:58:04.363-08:0086th Oscars After-Thoughts First, my predictions: Well, after my not so good showings last year, I've now made a comeback. 22 OUT OF 24! YES!!! I was thrilled to get Her winning Original Screenplay (Thought he would take it, the precursor combo was just too strong for him to lose), Gravity winning Best Editing (Didn't buy that voters would choose this category to honor Captain Phillips, knew it would go empty handed), Helium winning Best Live Action Short, Great Gatsby winning both Best Production Design and Best Costume Design (Knew that 12 Years and American weren't flashy enough, these wins prove that movies that aren't necessarily amazing can easily take both these categories), Matthew McConaughey winning Best Actor (Knew, along with everyone else, that he was too popular to lose, sorry Tom O'neil !), and 12 Years winning Best Picture (Gravity was just never as loved as people expected and 12 Years was too strong to beat). I did get Supporting Actress wrong though: I just felt the support for Lupita seemed a bit too strong, like Viola Davis a few years ago, it felt that it was more hype then about how Oscar voters would view the performance, which I was wrong about, but good for her! I also got Animated Feature wrong, thinking Get A Horse would take it. I was so close to going with Mr Hubolot, too bad I didn't, but ah well! I was also very happy for Cate Blanchett and Jared Leto, both are very worthy winners. <br />
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Secondly, the ceremony: It was good, entertaining. Ellen did well. That pizza thing was a little out of place, but I thought it was pretty funny and overall worked. Glad the stars didn't starve, lol. It was a pretty standard Oscar ceremony overall, but very enjoyable. There were no surprises, which is disappointing, but I did so well in my predictions that I don't care. I was happy for Frozen pulling off wins. Idina Menzel was good, but I could tell she was a little nervous. I love you Idina! Keep going!! American Hustle getting shut out is surprising to some, but I knew it could happen. Ah well.<br />
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So, what were your thoughts? Were you bummed that there were no surprises? Did you do well in your predictions? Were you pleased with the winners? What were your favorite winners? Your least favorite winners? <br />
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<br />joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-81733602063575355112014-03-02T17:18:00.002-08:002014-03-02T17:18:36.341-08:00 Final 86th Academy Award Predictions <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, here they are. I've published them every year on the day of the Oscars besides the 84th. I must say I did worse last year then I liked. I'm not too ashamed of my Riva prediction, but I should been smart enough to go with Django and Argo in the screenplay categories. I also should have been aware of Ang Lee gaining momentum in the final stretch, especially in such an open field. But at least I got Waltz! As I said then, I was proud of that prediction! I'm hoping the limb I'm going in one of the acting categories this year will prove to be right, though I'm still a little shaky. I hope that all the thinking and monitoring of the awards pundits and of looking back into Oscar's history will mean I'll do better this year. Find me on Gold Derby to get my predictions for the rest of the categories! <div>
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Best Picture: Who Will Win: 12 Years A Slave will win, I feel. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Gravity win, but I think 12 Years has just been holding a narrow edge at every awards show so far (Besides SAG, but A.H seemed like a clear winner there to me). It's importance and also it's quality will carry it to a win. I've also don't understand people citing the preferential ballot as Gravity's advantage: It could help it, but I think 12 Years and American Hustle have an equal chance of benefitting from that. Now, on American Hustle: I feel like it has a good chance of upsetting. It lost it's frontrunner status, true that PGA tie was a blow, but it's never really disappeared from being a strong contender. It could benefit a lot from this tight race, especially from the fact it's detractors aren't loud and it's supporters are head over heels for it. So don't faint if it does win. I had a temptation to predict it, but I think 12 Years is very strong. </div>
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Who Should Win: 12 Years is very deserving, but Dallas Buyer's Club was the best film I saw this year. It was an amazing story and it was brilliantly acted and written. However, I feel like I should vote for 12 Years because of the importance of it and it's a masterfully made film. Both would make very deserving winners, although I might lean towards Dallas. </div>
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Best Director: Who Will Win: Cuaron seems almost assured, but a win for McQueen is a possibility or even O'Russell if voters do love American Hustle that much, but that's VERY unlikely. Cuaron has won every directing award this year, so he looks like the winner. </div>
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Who Should Win: Haven't seen Nebraska or Wolf Of Wall Street, but McQueen should win. He brought out such brilliant performances and the way it was shot, the way the story was told. Gravity and American Hustle are brilliantly but McQueen should take it for making 12 Years such a quality film. </div>
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Best Actor: Who Will Win: Upsets from Dern, Ejiofor, and Leo are possible, but I really feel McConaughey has the support overall. His wins at Critics Choice, Golden Globes, and SAG create an incredibly strong awards streak . He has two other acclaimed performances as well as having such a baity role: He plays a real person, he has aids, he emotionally transforms from a homophobic man to a more understanding and moral one. People really appreciate the strides he has made this year. His win at the Independent Spirit Awards over Ejiofor and Dern doesn't matter much since Oscar voting closed already, but it proves he has overall industry support. I think that will carry him over to a win. Check out my last post for the things that are going against the rest, which will help McConaughey a lot. </div>
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Who Should Win: Haven't seen Dern or Leo, but Matthew McConaughey's performance was incredible. He should win and I sincerely hope he does. What an indelible and moving performance. </div>
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Best Supporting Actor: Who Will Win: This is most likely a win for Leto, but I'm a little less skeptical of an upset then others are. A win for Abdi is a possibility, given his BAFTA win/momemtum, the size of his role, and the admiration for Captain Phillips. But Leto is overall too strong to lose. His snub at BAFTA can be explained by the DBC not been seen enough, plus critics are loving it there now. </div>
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Who Should Win: Haven't seen Hill or Abdi, but Leto should win. There was no ounce of acting in that. He <i>was </i>Rayon. It was a heartbreaking and brilliantly honest performance. </div>
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Best Actress: Who Will Win: Cate Blanchett is a lock here and there's not a chance she'll lose. I thought Adams could be the spoiler and if there is a stunning upset, I would say it would be her. But it isn't happening. Look for Cate to pick up her second. </div>
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Who Should Win: I'd go with Blanchett in retrosepect. The rest are quite impressive, especially Adams, but they all have problems that get in the way of them putting out a flawless performance. Blanchett gives a brilliantly layered and wonderful performance. It may not be the masterpiece other people are saying, but unlike the others, her work has no minuses. </div>
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Best Supporting Actress: An extremely close one, but I'm going with Lawrence. I think her performance is the most showy and memorable, one that <i>steals </i>the movie, something that I've heard people be so impressed by. People feel that she is the best in show of that movie and her precursor wins are quite strong. People love her immensely and as Tom O'neil says, it's her honeymoon period. Which makes it a lot less harder then people think for her to win her second. I would not be shocked at all if Lupita wins and I am wrong though. I just feel that voters don't love Lupita in the way people think they do, especially since it's such a one-note and lacking performance in general. But it's close. </div>
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Who Should Win: Lawrence. I love Julia, but she is clearly a lead, so I refuse to vote for her. Lawrence gave a brilliant, incredible SUPPORTING performance that deserves to win. </div>
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Best Original Screenplay: Who Will Win: A close one, with American Hustle gaining a lot of steam towards the end, but Her just seems to have the home field advantage with wins from WGA, G.G, and C.C. This is another category I wouldn't be surprised I got wrong though. I just think people will wait to honor Russell in another year for the two big awards, Picture and Director. And people have problems with A.H's script, saying it's uneven and not cohesive enough. And Jonze is over due. </div>
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Who Should Win: DBC should take it, but A.H would be deserving as well. </div>
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Best Adapted Screenplay: Who Will Win: 12 Years A Slave is the frontrunner, but a Philomena upset is possible. It has the Weinsteins behind it and it has a great, sentimental, moving story. It's BAFTA upset could be telling as well, though it has a British advantage there. I'm still going with 12 Years, but watch out for Philomena for sure. Captain Phillips has the WGA, but 12 Years wasn't nominated there and Philomena triumphed over both of them at BAFTA.I'm m still going with 12 Years since a B.P usually picks up a screenplay award and because of 12 Years strong support, but watch out for Philomena for sure.</div>
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Who Should Win: Only seen two, so I can;t say. My rule is you must see at least three to name who your preference is, even though you clearly have to see all 5, still though, that's my rule! </div>
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So, what do you think? Do you think I will be right? Or do you think I will be wildly wrong? What are your predictions/preferences? What would be the win you would most want to see and the win you would most not want to see? Are you excited? BECAUSE I AM!!! </div>
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joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-59554476930927780612014-02-23T15:20:00.001-08:002014-02-23T15:20:13.604-08:00Best Actor 2013: Who Will Win? Just like last year with Best Actress, I've decided to do an analysis of Best Actor, which to some is a locked up while to others seem open. This is inspired by Entertainment Weekly's old way of doing predictions, naming the reasons why a contender will win and what's going against them. <div>
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The contenders are: </div>
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Christian Bale in American Hustle: </div>
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Why He Will Win: Bale is a terrific, long-working actor giving a very strong performance in American Hustle. And some say that hair comb deserves it's own Oscar.</div>
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Why He Won't Win: He won just three years ago for The Fighter. Out of all the performances in American Hustle, his has the least buzz. </div>
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Bruce Dern in Nebraska: Bruce Dern is the veteran in the race giving a performance that many love. They may want to honor Nebraska and with the race getting tighter, he could sneak in and emerge as the surprise winner. </div>
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Why He Won't Win: Many say it's a supporting role, and the SAG was really his last chance at getting some momentum. He may take votes away from Ejiofor and McConaughey, but he won't get enough to win. </div>
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Leonardo Dicaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street: </div>
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Why He Will Win: Dicaprio gives a wideley acclaimed performance that is gaining steam in the home stretch. Dicaprio is an A list actors and voters could very well feel it's time to give him an Oscar at last as well as honor the movie. Given his SAG snub van be explained by the fact that W.O.W.S didn't come out early enough for SAG voters to see it, his aggressive campaigning could pay off.. </div>
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Why He Won't Win: but it just could as easily not. The film has loud detractors and the fact that it's a comedy performance and that he's playing a very unlikeable character could stop him from winning. His BAFTA loss to Ejiofor deprived him of the last minute momentum that would have helped him go all the way. </div>
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Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years A Slave: </div>
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Why He Will Win: Ejiofor is a highly respected actor playing the most sympathetic character in this race. If 12 Years wins Best Picture, a win for him is a possibility. And his BAFTA win proves that. </div>
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Why He Won't Win: His BAFTA win helps, but can be explained away by the fact he had a home-turf advantage since he is British. Despite the sympathetic nature of the role, it's still a very subtle controlled performance that has no really big Oscar scenes. He may be too new to take it. </div>
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Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyer's Club: </div>
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Why He Will Win: He gives an amazing, brilliantly transformative performance in a role that is right up Oscar's ally: An aids patient turned hero. His precursor dominance helps tremendously and Oscar voters seem to love the performance. </div>
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Why He Won't Win: Dern, Ejiofor, and especially Dicaprio are right on his tail. Some are put off by his speeches, thinking he comes across as arrogant, while others doubt they'll honor both him and Leto. </div>
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My prediction right now is McConaughey, who seems to be out in front,but Leo's buzz is getting me a little nervous. Gold Derby expert Tom O'neil is predicting Dicaprio and he was able to get Waltz, Streep, and Cotillard winning and those have all been the most recent acting upsets. It's also hard to see both Leto and McConaughey winning, but it definitely has happened in the past and does not hurt his chances in a huge way. And unlike those three surprise winners, Leo didn't win the BAFTA over his strongest competition, which can be explained by D.B.C's snub, but it also means that Leo has no opportunity for the last minute steam that clearly helped those three pull of the wins that they did. Although I'll concede that Dicaprio's snub at SAG is because of voters not being able to see the film, the SAG award for Best Actor has an incredibly strong track record with the Oscar, having matched perfectly 15 out of 19 times. It's an incredibly strong statistic that can't he thrown out so easily. And McConaughey is on top right now. I hope he will win and think he wil, but an upset could happen. </div>
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What do you think? Do you see McConaughey is assured or are you on team Leo? Or even with Ejiofor or Dern? What are your thoughts on screenplay races? Those races actually seem the trickiest to me. I'm still at Her and 12 Years, but both seem vulnerable, especially Her which could lose to American Hustle. </div>
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joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7988055139916566317.post-56758732749901902112014-02-18T16:45:00.000-08:002019-03-27T00:43:18.410-07:00Performance Review: Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Marion Cotillard received her first Oscar nomination and won the Oscar for playing Edith Piaf, the famous French singer who captured the heart of a nation, in La Vie En Rose.<br />
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6 years ago, Julie Christie's performance as an Alzheimer's patient in Away From Her was easily the frontrunner for the Best Actress Oscar. She had swept the early precursors, taking 13 critics prizes including the B.C.C.A as well as the the Golden Globe for Best Actress In A Motion Picture Drama. Throughout the early season, Ellen Page in Juno and Marion Cotillard were her closest competitors, with Cotillard taking 4 critics prizes and Page taking 9. But when the G.G for Best Actress In A Motion Picture Musical Or Comedy went to Marion Cotillard, it seemed as if Marion had edged out Page as Christie's competition. When Christie triupmhed at SAG over both of them though, most seemed to think that Julie was assured. But when the BAFTA awards honored the French born Cotillard instead of British born Christie, it suddenly gave Marion a huge burst of last minute momentum that (as well as the fact that Oscar voters were wowed by her performance, thinking that she won't win, but easily should) was enough to put her over the top, beating Christie whose performance was probably too subtle and understated to take the prize. I also think that voters may have gone away thinking that Christie's role is too small compared to on-screen husband Gordon Pinsent.,who becomes the focus of the film after Christie is sent to a recovery center. <br />
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La Vie En Rose was a film I hated the first time I saw it. The film was a huge mess to me and at the time, I had no appreciation or interest in Edith Piaf's life. Now, my feelings have changed. It's strategy of throwing Edith's life around still is a questionable choice, but there are definitely things to appreciate about the film. It's extremely well made and it is sort of interesting to see the different moments in Edith's life, never knowing what's next. <br />
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Marion Cotillard's performance is an example of how an actress can brilliantly transform herself into a part and produce amazing results. During Entertainment Weekly's yearly article where Oscar voters give their picks annomoyously, an Oscar voter stated that "there was no trace of Marion in that. It was all Edith Piaf". Nothing could be a better description of this performance. Marion's fierce, blazing commitment to the role is so powerful, so immense that there is never any obviousness in her acting. It's an incredibly physical performance because Marion so totally throws herself into Edith, capturing all of her physical mannerisms and her style of performing. It may seem somewhat exaggerated in the beginning, but Marion easily makes this work in the context of the film. The fact that Marion can so convincingly play Edith as an old, drugged out woman, as a energetic, clownish like woman in the beginning, and then as a stage diva is a true testament to her abilities as an actress. As an actor myself, I'd love to know how Marion was able to change her body so tremendously and effectively.<br />
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The emotional aspects of the performance are enormously admirable as well. One thing that can be said is that Marion was not afraid to make the character unlikeable. Edith is a loud, abrasive woman whose diva-like antics are rather unlikeable and Marion stays committed to the character's truth. She also is wonderful in her scenes with Marcel. You can tell that Edith is so happy here and Marion is radiant and wonderful to watch. She perfectly captures the stubbornness that Edith had later in her life, the refusal to give up on her audience, the desire to keep going. Her huge, emotional outbursts can be considered over the top, but I thought that they perfectly ft the character and Marion plays them powerfully and with brutal honesty. I also love her scenes when she is having fun with her friends and the interview on the beach. There is, again, incredible emotional honesty and a wonderful, radiant quality to her scene on the beach, just quietly enjoying the sunset. It's simple, wonderful work. <br />
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The one thing that may hold her back is her film. She is incredible in every aspect of Edith's life, but the fact that the film's structure makes it so we are never able to see a full image of Edith Piaf makes me think how mind-blowing Marion could have been if her arc went from A to Z instead of from A,D, E, and B.<br />
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But it's an incredibly small complaint because Marion Cotillard easily gives one of the most stunning and greatest performances ever that is a testament to how realistic and amazing acting can be.joe burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01987519630654592530noreply@blogger.com4