The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1986

1986

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Kathleen Turner in Peggy Sue Got Married

I thought I'd like her more and yet I feel quite disappointed. When I started writing, I thought I was impressed but after taking a closer look at this performance, I found Kathleen Turner less than satisfying in Peggy Sue Got Married. This works looks really good on the outside but there are big problems that cannot be overlooked. Still, an enjoyable performance.

4. Sissy Spacek in Crimes of the Heart

Although I feel that Spacek is really great as Babe Magrath, I think that this is not a fantastic or mindblowing performance and it's not one of Sissy's best. I really liked it and enjoyed all of the scenes but I feel that Sissy could do way better. She got everything out of this character that she could, it's just that I felt that she had way better works. Still, she's great.

3. Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God

This is great work by Marlee Matlin who didn't make Sarah the "ordinary disabled character" but she played her as a real human being instead. She beautifully portrayed all of Sarah's emotions and this was really a beautiful performance. Excellent, thought-provoking work. A bit incoherent work but otherwise great.

2. Jane Fonda in The Morning After

This is a fantastic performance by the amazing Jane Fonda. I know I'm not supposed to like this work that much and I might be biased but I was really blown away by Jane's work as Alex Sternbergen. This character is over-the-top and she's almost like an animal and yet Jane made me care about her and think about her.

1. Sigourney Weaver in Aliens

Sigourney Weaver is astonishing in Aliens giving not only the best action performances but also one of the most memorable performances evers. She's a real treat not only for Oscar maniacs but also for film buffs and everyone else on this planet. Sigourney created a beautiful, wonderful, strong character that is for the ages. It's really fantastic work by a brilliant actress.

So I can proudly announce

that the winner is...

Sigourney Weaver

in

Aliens

Get away from my Oscar, you BITCH! :)

Congrats to Fritz on his great predictions! :)

The prize: Fritz can pick the next year that I'll do after the next one. :)

Final thoughts: Not a great, but a VERY interesting year. I truly-truly loved doing it. Siggy Weaver had an easy win and I expected it. I LOVED Jane as always, I think if The Morning After had been better, she could have rivalled Siggy. I liked the others very much, too, especially Marlee even though I feel I overrated her initially. Sissy was very good but somehow I didn't like her as much as I usually do. Still, I liked her. As expected, Kathleen Turner was the weakest link. It's not that I didn't give her a chance, she was just the weakest one, that's all. But what I loved the most is that you seemed to be really interested in this year and I was incredibly happy that we could discuss so much. Thanks, again.

The ranking of the reviewed years:

1. 1944
2. 1969
3. 1974
4. 1989
5. 1959
6. 2006
7. 1978
8. 2010
9. 1996
10. 1964
11. 1939
12. 1977
13. 1997
14. 2009
15. 1980
16. 1941
17. 1972
18. 1963
19. 1966
20. 1973
21. 1983
22. 1986
23. 1937
24. 1990
25. 1954
26. 1958
27. 1948
28. 2002
29. 1957
30. 1940
31. 1998

About the next year: You seemingly like less discussed years, so the next two ones will be two of them. I know I solemnly promised to do 2003 but I'll still have to wait for In America. I won't make any more promises about when I'll do that year. I'll do my best. However, there are clues about our next year:

• This is one nutty hospital.

What do you think?

Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God

Marlee Matlin received her first (and to date only) Best Actress nomination and Oscar for her screen debut as Sarah Norman, an angry, stubborn girl in Children of a Lesser God. Nowadays, I would instantly predict her for the Oscar but that wasn't the case back then. Although she had already won the Golden Globe, most people predicted Kathleen Turner or Sissy Spacek. I'll never understand why, I guess they didn't know the Academy. You see, Kathleen Turner was a huge star at the time but I just can't see her winning for a comedy performance. Matlin's work was, however, really baity and Oscary.

Children of a Lesser God is a very nice, touching movie about deaf people and accepting them. The best word to describe it is indeed nice. It's nicely written, nicely directed and the actors give very nice performances. William Hurt received his second consecutive Oscar nomination for playing a teacher in a school for deaf children. He goes there and encourages his pupils to use their voices. Hurt shows the character's enthusiasm quite well but I think an Oscar win would have been a bit much. Piper Laurie is also very good as Sarah's mother, however, her role is a bit limited. The nom was deserved for her, though.

I don't know if Marlee Matlin is a very talented performer or a charming person full of star power. I guess the fact that she's deaf was a major drawback in her acting career, unfortunately, and that's probably why we can mostly see her on television and she rarely does movies. Nowadays, she's mostly a celebrity but she's really someone that you can look up to. I think what she does in real life is extraordinary. Still, I don't know if she's a really great actress.

The fact is that Marlee Matlin is really great as Sarah Norman but this is one of the cases when you can say "she just played herself". Indeed, the same criticism could be said about Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler or Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (though that criticism be REALLY argued) and yet both performances are considered nowadays iconic and fantastic. However, in Marlee's case that seems to be rude. Playing a deaf person must be easier for a deaf person but Children of a Lesser God is about accepting and realising that deaf people are really not that different. However, the movie (and Marlee) shows how hard it can be for them and they always have to struggle in life.

Marlee's performance here shows that struggle and fight so well. I think The Silent Scream could have been a great title for this movie. Marlee's work is extremely intense. This was her first movie so she was quite inexperienced and it fits these fierce roles so well. Just like Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone (BTW, that girl is amazing in X-Men: First Class), Marlee plays her role with this previously mentioned fierce intensity that could only be done by newcomers. She really had no vanity and always cared about what the best was for Sarah's character.

Newcomers tend to be very emotional an loud and starngely, that's the case with Marlee. She has only one line so she only has to work with her hand. Personally, I don't know the sign language but I didn't need William Hurt's interpretation to understand Marlee. Everything was in her eyes, gestures and it was a thrill just to look at her. Marlee was not afraid of making Sarah even unlikeable. I think the biggest problem with such roles is that the actors make the characters either saints or unbearable, demanding little bastards. Marlee, however, made a mor complex picture of Sarah. Sometimes she's unlikeable, sometimes she's romantic, sometimes she's angry. This whole thing is about making people realise that people with disadvantages are not different at all. Marlee wants to make us not look at Sarah as if she was something weird. And it's indeed beautiful. Moreover, the scene when she finally talks is unforgettable and it's so beautiful.

I guess my only complaint could be that sometimes the performance felt a bit incoherent and it was a little bit uneven. Still, this is great work by Marlee Matlin who didn't make Sarah the "ordinary disabled character" but she played her as a real human being instead. She beautifully portrayed all of Sarah's emotions and this was really a beautiful performance. Excellent, thought-provoking work.

I went for a very strong 4 in the end.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1986

So the nominees were:

• Jane Fonda in The Morning After
• Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God
• Sissy Spacek in Crimes of the Heart
• Kathleen Turner in Peggy Sue Got Married
• Sigourney Weaver in Aliens

This year is never talked about. OK, almost never. So it will be really interesting. I can barely wait.

What do you think? What's your ranking? What do you predict for my ranking?

Note: I know I posted 2003 already but it turned out that I have to wait a little bit more for In America, so I'm really sorry. I solemnly promise to do that year as soon as I can! I decided to pick 1986 because all the movies were readily available for right now. Sorry again.

The requested years that I've had: 1938, 1945, 1970, 1971, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2008. From these, 1938, 1945 and 1970 fall into the almost impossible category (1970 is the most likely). 1981 and 1987 could happen but I have to get Anna and Only When I Laugh somehow. However, I'll probably have access to all of the movies of the other years.