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Both years considered by many as two of the weakest field ever in Oscar’s best actress race.
1984’s lineup:
Sally Field, Places in The Heart
Judy Davis, A Passage to India
Vanessa Redgrave, The Bostonians
Jessica Lange, Country
Sissy Spacek, The River
1994’s lineup:
Jessica Lange, Blue Sky
Susan Sarandon, The Client
Jodie Foster, Nell
Miranda Richardson, Tom & Viv
Winona Ryder, Little Women
What’s went wrong?
ReplyIn 1984, ironically Sally Field was the weakest (and Sissy). Vanessa Redgrave gave such a superior, nuanced and elegant performance in that dull Merchant-Ivory movie. Judy Davis was also really good. I think Anne Bancroft should have been nominated for a very less-seen movie Garbo Talks. And Peggy Ashcroft was nominated in the supporting category though she won for the lead category at nyfcc and BAFTA. I think it should have gone to Judy or Vanessa.
As for 1994, Linda Fiorentino was ROBBED. She won almost all critics awards only to be deemed ineligible by the Academy. I think Jennifer Jason Leigh also deserved a nomination for Mrs. Parker.
ReplyCopy URLIf you see Blue Sky, you’ll see where Lange’s American Horror Story foundation came from. If you loved AHS, you’ll certainly love her performance in Blue Sky. That being said,yes 1994 was really weak. In contrast to just the previous year when we had two of the greatest performances in Holly Hunter (The Piano) and the evergreen Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got To Do With It?). Throw in Stockhard Channing and Debra Winger and you’ll realise that anyone of them would have been deserving winners had their films come out a year later.
ReplyCopy URLEmmy FYC
-Severance in all categories.
-Ted Lasso in all categories.
-The Dropout in all categories.-Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Margaret Qualley, Colin Firth
-Jung Ho-Yeon, Lee Yoo-Mi, Sarah Snook, Laura Linney.
-Jean Smart, Kaley Cuoco, Juno Temple, Sarah Lancashire and Martin Short.If you see Blue Sky, you’ll see where Lange’s American Horror Story foundation came from. If you loved AHS, you’ll certainly love her performance in Blue Sky. That being said,yes 1994 was really weak. In contrast to just the previous year when we had two of the greatest performances in Holly Hunter (The Piano) and the evergreen Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got To Do With It?). Throw in Stockhard Channing and Debra Winger and you’ll realise that anyone of them would have been deserving winners had their films come out a year later.
Yes. Stockard Channing is awesome in that ‘Cats’ movie 🤣. Her monologue at the dinner table is so well done and powerful.
ReplyCopy URLLess sure about the Oscar politics in the 80s, I know for ’94 a lot of the very best performances that year were either foreign or too small/independent (or disqualified, in Fiorentino’s case). All the following names would have been deserving:
Kathleen Turner, Serial Mom (my personal favorite)
Melanie Lynskey, Heavenly Creatures
Crissy Rock, Ladybird Ladybird
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (seems like the most glaring snubs amongst the precursors)
Irène Jacob, Three Colors: Red
Internationally there were also missed opportunities to give qualifying releases to Once Were Warriors and Muriel’s Wedding.From 1984, the only nominated performances I’ve seen are from Davis and Redgrave, both of whom are good. I would also cite Gena Rowlands for Love Streams and Nastassja Kinski for Paris, Texas.
ReplyCopy URLLess sure about the Oscar politics in the 80s, I know for ’94 a lot of the very best performances that year were either foreign or too small/independent (or disqualified, in Fiorentino’s case). All the following names would have been deserving:
Kathleen Turner, Serial Mom (my personal favorite)
Melanie Lynskey, Heavenly Creatures
Crissy Rock, Ladybird Ladybird
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (seems like the most glaring snubs amongst the precursors)
Irène Jacob, Three Colors: Red
Internationally there were also missed opportunities to give qualifying releases to Once Were Warriors and Muriel’s Wedding.From 1984, the only nominated performances I’ve seen are from Davis and Redgrave, both of whom are good. I would also cite Gena Rowlands for Love Streams and Nastassja Kinski for Paris, Texas.
I think Heavenly Creatures was close on a supporting nom for Lynskey and lead nom for Winslet considering it made AFI top 10s. Though I don’t understand why Winslet was campaigned as Lead and Lynskey as supporting then when Winslet was not yet a star.
ReplyCopy URLEmmy FYC
-Severance in all categories.
-Ted Lasso in all categories.
-The Dropout in all categories.-Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Margaret Qualley, Colin Firth
-Jung Ho-Yeon, Lee Yoo-Mi, Sarah Snook, Laura Linney.
-Jean Smart, Kaley Cuoco, Juno Temple, Sarah Lancashire and Martin Short.Jamie Lee Curtis should have won for True Lies in supporting.
I do actually liked Foster and Sarandon and especially Ryder in lead, though. But yeah, Kate Winslet was robbed big time.
ReplyCopy URLFYC 2022 Emmys:
Best Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh in "Killing Eve"
Best Actress in a Comedy Series: Sandra Oh in "The Chair"
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Kim Joo-ryoung in "Squid Game"
If only “WLGTDWI” were released a year later, sigh. Lange’s second win has aged pretty horribly. But in both years, that’s what the competition was, for better or worse. Nothing really to explain. Field’s win was the “year of the downtrodden farm wives,” so I mind it a bit less. Her second Oscar win though is < her first Oscar win.
ReplyCopy URLIf only “WLGTDWI” were released a year later, sigh. Lange’s second win has aged pretty horribly. But in both years, that’s what the competition was, for better or worse. Nothing really to explain. Field’s win was the “year of the downtrodden farm wives,” so I mind it a bit less. Her second Oscar win though is < her first Oscar win.
Only her second, though….? Teri Garr was unfairly snubbed for the win back in the day.
ReplyCopy URLFYC 2022 Emmys:
Best Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh in "Killing Eve"
Best Actress in a Comedy Series: Sandra Oh in "The Chair"
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Kim Joo-ryoung in "Squid Game"
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