The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 2007

2007

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Ellen Page in Juno
 I don't really know what to make out of Ellen Page's extremely weak performance. Although the character is incredibly annoying and as fake as possible, I really think that it's more due to Diablo Cody's  incompetent screenplay and Jason Reitman's forced direction. Ellen Page's only fault is that she's just not talented enough to make this character realistic and human. So after all, for me this work is nothing more than a failed effort.

4. Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Cate Blanchett's second Elizabeth is a real disappointment, but I'm much more forgiving about it than others. Cate is always such a force on screen that it makes up for the flaws of the character a little bit. Although there's no depth or real development in Elizabeth, Cate is able to prevent the movie from being a total disaster and she kept me from turning off the tv set. A flawed performance for sure, but not a real failure.
 

3. Laura Linney in The Savages
Laura Linney gives an extremely relatable, wonderful performance as a person who doesn't seem to be likeable at all at first sight and yet we get close to her and sympathise with her character. She never goes for cheap tricks to portray the neurotic personality of Wendy. She excellently mixes comedy with drama, creating the ideal dramedy performance while seeming effortless all the time (something that one of her fellow nominees didn't really succeed in). 
 

2. Julie Christie in Away from Her
 As Fiona Anderson, Julie Christie gives an amazing, heartbreaking performance that stays with you long after you finished watching the film. She portrays Fiona's pain and suffering with an incredible amount of grace and dignity and that's what makes this movie even more effective and heartwrenching. Although Julie's acting might be too subtle and seem too effortless for some, for me this is a true masterclass in acting, which is easily among the greatest achievements of this fantastic actress.

1. Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose
In what's one of my easiest decisions ever, Marion easily walks away with this year. She is nothing short of amazing in every possible way an actress can be. Her performance has the effect of an earthquake: it makes you go through Édith's journey along with her and get to understand why this woman was such a brilliant artist. It's very unusual, extraordinary and unbelievable work from a truly great actress who gives probably the most  brilliant portrayal of a real life person.

So I can proudly announce

that the winner is...

Marion Cotillard

in 

La vie en rose

Easy win.

Final thoughts: What an unexcting year! Everything went the way I expected and things went pretty predictably. Marion simply killed her competition, Julie was shining, Laura was fine and then there were the two other ladies, far behind. With hindsight, I can't see how Marion could have lost this, she's so damn good here. Congrats to Andre Lepaun, Louis and Nues20 on your predictions! :) You can pick a year, that I'm gonna do some time, hopefully. :)

Omissions: 

• Anamaria Marinca in 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days

About the next year: I really needed to go back to my favorite decade and my most special actress for some refreshment. :) I think this is enough clue. :) 


What do you think? Any thoughts on your mind?

HYDE PARK ON HUDSON

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Laura Linney in The Savages

Laura Linney received her third Oscar nomination for playing Wendy Savage, a neurotic, insecure woman who has to deal with a dying father in The Savages. Laura Linney was the surprise nominee of 2007 but that doesn't mean that she had no chance of winning the Oscar. In my opinion, she had a firm fanbase in the Academy and might have even received enough votes to be third. The screenplay nomination proves that they liked the movie and Laura Linney had already lost twice. I suppose, in the end, it was Marion's Oscar and nobody could do anything about it. 

The Savages is such a really great and memorable film, with lots of dark moments and real drama that has a great effect because of the performances of the two leads. Interesting enough, Philip Seymour Hoffman's work received more recognition than Laura's and yet Laura received the nomination. Hoffman had to make do with a supporting nomination for Charlie Wilson's War. Fortunately, however, the screenplay did receive a nomination even though I'm not saying Tamara Jenkins should have taken home the Oscar instead of Diablo Cody (Ratatouille was the best in the category for me).

It's also easy to see why Laura's performance was singled out for a nomination: she's a respected actress, a previous nominee and characters like Wendy are indeed Laura's specality. Some say Laura plays the same character over and over, but I have to disagree with that. The fact is that nobody else plays neurotic women with problems the way Linney does: she adds lots of humor and humanity to these character and this combination makes her performances such treats. She makes it so easy to sympathise with the women she plays: there's always a moment when you say 'Oh, I'm just like that.' Laura reveals the flaws of her character and yet those make them more likeable.

And in that way, this performance is a standard Laura Linney performance with a standard Linney character. However, even a standard Linney performance is something truly wonderful and memorable. Wendy Savage is a person who seems to be quite unlikeable at first sight, but as the movie progresses, she gets to become the most likeable and warm presence in the movie. Just like with every other character she plays, Laura reveals Wendy's humanity and flaws in a very unique way and as a result it's very easy to relate to Wendy. Personally, I got much closer to knowing this person than Philip Seymour Hoffman's character.

However, I must say that the two actors work excellently together. One can rarely witness the relationship between siblings portrayed in such a realistic and believable way. I could feel the connection between them and how they are the total opposites of each other. There's an odd mix of love and rivalry between them. The scene with the argument over Wendy's scholarship is just extraordinary: all the tension over the years between these two people come to surface in their petty argument, the jealousy, envy of Jon and the feeling of being ignored and underestimated of Wendy. Laura wonderfully underlines the insecurities in Wendy, as if she herself couldn't believe of herself that she'd be worthy of a scholarship (which she doesn't have anyway). One can feel the embarassment of Wendy when she's confronted with the truth by her brother. And Laura is just so darn human in those scenes. This relationship forms throughout the movie and I'm not saying that they get much closer or find complete peace with each other, it's just that they get closer to each other.

The thing I was missing from the screenplay is truly revealing the backstory of the relationship of the siblings with their father, Leonard. We get clues about Jon, but Wendy's story with Lenny is not completely told and I felt sorry for that as I believe it would have been explained a lot about Wendy's personality. Instead, Laura has to provide with some kind of an explanation and she offers some suggestions, from which the viewer has to choose. Wendy feels enourmously guilty about putting his father into a nursing home (unlike her brother) and in my opinion, she was the one who was more concerned about Lenny of the two. That's why the scene on the plane feels almost cathartic. A woman ignored by her father doesn't let him down in the end and I also felt some kind of a redemption in that scene.

This is probably why the way Linney tackles Wendy's relationship with men (in general) is one of the most intresting aspects of this performance. Is that older boyfriend of Wendy a kind of a daddy thing for her? That's why her scenes with the Nigerian nurse are so intriguing and important. Although Wendy experiences rejection once again, there was someone who really appreciated her for what she is and gave her some positive feedback about herself. And this sort of dependancy on men that Laura shows is not because of a sexist screenplay (a woman wrote it after all, though it could be a problem even then) but could indeed reveal something about the lack of love from her father, which Wendy desperately wants to create.

My only problem could be that there's no big scene for Laura. Although I loved her throughout the film and I was constantly pleased by her presence, I would have wanted to see her being more emotional. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like her performance had an emotional highlight. As a result, I felt her work was slightly lacking as Laura didn't get to display everything she had in her and basically show everything she knows about her character and actually, it's the movie that standing in her way. Sometimes the direction was desperate to impress and that prevented the actors (who actually carry the movie on their shoulders) from really shining. And in the end, I found that her performance didn't become as interesting as it could have been, which is proven by the fact that you really have to think what to write about her as her work didn't become that rich in the end because the screenplay actually cheated Laura out of many opportunities that she could (and should) have had.

Still, Laura Linney gives an extremely relatable, wonderful performance as a person who doesn't seem to be likeable at all at first sight and yet we get close to her and sympathise with her character. She never goes for cheap tricks to portray the neurotic personality of Wendy. She excellently mixes comedy with drama, creating the ideal dramedy performance while seeming effortless all the time (something that one of her fellow nominees didn't really succeed in). 

What do you think?(Sorry for making you all wait, but I was really invested in the Olympic Games and I couldn't really write. The next review {Marion} comes on Sunday or Monday)

The Next Year

2007

So the nominees were:

• Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie in Away from Her
• Marion Cotillard in La vie en rose
• Laura Linney in The Savages
• Ellen Page in Juno

A great-looking year, which I was lucky to follow at the time. Marion was a surprise winner over Julie Christie, let's see if I she'll be a winner here as well or I pick another fantastic lady. :) 

What do you think? Who's your pick? What's your prediction for my ranking? :)

128. Congo

128. (25 Jun) /Congo/ (1995, Frank Marshall) 46

I vividly recall seeing Congo in a theater when I must have been seven or eight-years-old. Jungle adventures were rare in those days and I remember being rather enchanted by this muck. Its charm remains today. From the woefully outdated monkey suits to the earnest performance from Laura Linney to the hamminess of Tim Curry, there's too much here that works when it shouldn't to deny it. It's a certifiable guilty pleasure.

Emmy Predictions - Comedy Series

I'm saving the best for last.  I actually watch most of these shows on a regular basis, and the others I've seen a few episodes here and there.  That, combined with "what's out there," is what I'm using to predict these races.  Also, I won't be predicting any of the directing, writing, or movie/miniseries categories.  See my Drama predictions here.

The real nominations come out on July 14th.  So, here we go!  All my predictions can be seen over on GoldDerby.com, where you can conveniently make your own.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Chris Colfer  -Glee

• 2

  Ty Burrell  -Modern Family

• 3

  Jesse Tyler Ferguson  -Modern Family

• 4

  Eric Stonestreet  -Modern Family

• 5

  Neil Patrick Harris  -How I Met Your Mother

• 6

  Nick Offerman  -Parks and Recreation

(Confession: this is my favorite category, if only for my Modern Family men, and that it's so fun and hard to predict.  So many theories abound!  Are they tired of NPH yet?  Will 2, 3, 1, or all 4 Modern Family men make it in?  What about Cryer; are they jumping ship entirely on Two and a Half Men?  Any chance for a much-loved newbie to make a splash?  Well I think we can all agree that Glee's stalwart standout Colfer is going to be nominated, and probably win this race.  As far as the Modern Family men go, I'm very confident in saying Burrell and Ferguson are safe; both have the industry support and the episodes, and specifically are standout comedy performances on their shows.  I'm wary of predicting Stonestreet again, since I'm conflicted over O'Neill presence in this race.  However, I'm sure Harris will be back for another fruitless nomination for How I Met Your Mother.  And with new blood and new love for I'm predicting for Parks and Recreation, I think Offerman is going to squeak in.  And between Stonestreet's obvious comedy and O'Neill's dry, I think they'll be forced to snub the veteran and nominate Fitzbo.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Jane Lynch  -Glee

• 2

  Sofia Vergara  -Modern Family

• 3

  Julie Bowen  -Modern Family

• 4

  Jane Krakowski  -30 Rock

• 5

  Betty White  -Hot in Cleveland

• 6

  Kristen Wiig  -Saturday Night Live

(Knowing that Betty White is all but a lock for a nomination is almost enough for me to stop caring about this race.  But she's assured a nod, if not a win.  Emmy host and last year's victor, Lynch, is very likely to return not only to the show but to the winner's circle.  Two people who threaten Lynch's crown is the duo of Modern Family ladies, Vergara and Bowen, either of whom could win too.  Krakowski has manages to make it in this race recently, and I don't see cause for not predicting her.  Finally, though something is telling me to go with Amy Ryan in The Office, I'm predicting for a Bridesmaids bump and the third consecutive nomination for SNL's Wiig.)

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Steve Carell  -The Office

• 2

  Alec Baldwin  -30 Rock

• 3

  Jim Parsons  -The Big Bang Theory

• 4

  Joel McHale  -Community

• 5

  Rob Lowe  -Parks and Recreation

• 6

  Danny McBride  -Eastbound & Down

(This race is uncharacteristically wide open, in terms of the nominations that is.  I think everyone knows who the winner is favored to be, if his name isn't already engraved on the trophy.  Anyway, five-time nominee Carell should be nominated for his final season on one of TV's most popular shows.  Past winners Baldwin and Parsons should be invited back, and with threats to win.  The last three spots are really a mystery, given there's no Monk or Larry David to take up spots.  Community had a strong season this year, and many were surprised when McHale was snubbed last year, so I expect him to safely make it in this round.  Emmy races are often about star power (see: Best Actress Comedy Series), and fewer stars on TV comedies are more famous than Rob Lowe, who, however, has had quite a tepid relationship with Emmy.  Alas, his questionable category placement may ultimately harm his chances, but I think his name, acting, and popularity of the show will be enough to push him in.  Finally, the voting is done with #1 popular rankings, which allow little-watched but heavily-loved show to make it in; McBride is such an actor on such a show.  If not him, then I'm thinking Louis CK for Louis.  A shame for Ed O'Neill, who could have easily made it in this weak race.)

BEST ACTRESS- COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Laura Linney  -The Big C

• 2

  Edie Falco  -Nurse Jackie

• 3

  Amy Poehler  -Parks and Recreation

• 4

  Tina Fey  -30 Rock

• 5

  Lea Michele  -Glee

• 6

  Courteney Cox  -Cougar Town

(Linney, the presumed winner, is expected to make it in, the third in Showtime's Women in Dramatic Comedies series.  Last year's winner, Falco, I expect to return, as with last year's nominees Fey, Michele, and Peohler.  The 6th nominee from last year, Aussie Toni Collette I'm predicting to get the snub, in favor of Friends alum Cox.  Out of the Linney, Falco, Fey, and Peohler, I think we'll have a winner.  I won't say who I'm putting my money on, but I am saying that it's not Linney, who actually has never lost an Emmy race.)

BEST COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Modern Family

• 2

  30 Rock

• 3

  The Office

• 4

  Glee

• 5

  Parks and Recreation

• 6

  The Big Bang Theory

(I think last year's winner easily repeats this year, but we're not talking winners just yet.  Modern Family, 30 Rock, and The Office are safe bets for traditional comedies, and everyone's favorite non-comedy Glee is sure to return as well.  I'm getting a feeling neither of Showtime's comedy submissions are getting in this year, and a surprising network comedy coup will take place.  You parents' favorite comedy show, The Big Band Theory, I think makes it in on popularity, unlike last year.  Finally, I'm one of the few fans of Parks and Recreation that thinks it has a real chance to make a presence at the Emmys; the show is in the zeitgeist, Ron Swanson is everywhere online, Rob Lowe was a hit, and EW named it the smartest show on TV.  I think it's the best comedy on television, and I don't see a reason why, if anyone watches a single episode of it, it won't get in.)