[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203611097

Interesting set of nominations, with some shocking snubs and interesting inclusions. Watchmen seems like an easy winner in series, writing and directing.

King just leapfrogged Blanchett with Mrs. America underperforming with Slattery, Bryne and Paulson missing key categories. The later snub is particularly telling because it means many voters did not even get to her showcase episode at the end of the season.

Blanchett is a brilliant actress, however, Schlafly is not an undeniable role. She’s a conservative villain with very few redeemable qualities. The supporting actresses nominated all played real life liberal heroes that voters would likely support. Slattery also played a highly unlikeable character and he was snubbed in an extremely divided category.

She might still win because she’s Blanchett, yet I’m guessing she’s second at best. Haas is most certainly third. I’m disappointed that Wever and Dever failed to get recognized. I wish I would have had the guts to forecast a Spencer nomination.

Ruffalo, Jackman and Irons are probably battling it out for best actor. I’m still holding out hope that Mescal surprises everyone and gets the much earned accolades. I’m not picking any frontrunners in the supporting categories because at this point it’s an open field. I’m hoping for one of the Watchmen fellas to breakout and anyone but Taylor in supporting actress. Hollywood was the most tedious and ludicrous program I saw all year. I had hoped it would be completely snubbed in the acting categories. The Pope nomination was particularly embarrassing.

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[Army Of Me]

#1203454386

Win
Schindler’s List – Fiennes is absolutely terrifying as Amon Göth and this should have been an easy win. I have never supported a Jones win for The Fugitive. I would have preferred if he won for JFK, or even Lincoln.

The English Patient – I’m surprised that Fiennes was an integral part of two massive Best Picture frontrunners in the 90s and he still lost both times. Rush was an unbeatable winner that I have never understood. Maybe I have to rewatch Shine. I saw the film and was surprised he won because I thought the role was supporting. I am also a great fan of Harrelson in The People vs. Larry Flynt.

Nominations
The Constant Gardner (replace Terrence Howard)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Carell or Cooper)
A Bigger Splash (Michael Shannon)

Honorable Mentions
Quiz Show
Sunshine
The Duchess

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[Army Of Me]

#1203448725

1. Clayburgh – An Unmarried Woman is among my favorite films of this particular year and she is likely my favorite performance. I think she is a revelation as Erica Benton, as she brings such intelligence to the role. It’s unfortunate that she only won Cannes for her breakthrough. It speaks to the strength of this category that she lost most awards to Bergman or Fonda.

2. Bergman – Her last film role is absolutely devastating. She would really be my strong runner up. I would have supported a tie in this category. She might have had a stronger chance to win if she hadn’t won for Murder on the Orient Express a few years earlier, that win was an absolute travesty. I choose to pretend that she rightly won her third Academy Award for this performance.

3. Page – Geraldine Page is a favorite of mine and her role in Interiors is masterful. I would have given her the award in the supporting category without a doubt. The film mostly focuses on her three daughters.

4. Fonda – She had a strong year with Coming Home, Comes a Horseman and California Suite. She was probably at her peak with three straight best actress nominations and her film was timely and popular among actors. Coming Home is included in the select films to have received a nomination in all acting categories.

5. Burstyn – Ellen Burstyn won a Tony for her role in the play of Same Time, Next Year. She delivers a first class performance but the film role is probably too lightweight to genuinely compete with the dramatic works of the other actresses.

Honorable Mention:
Liv Ullmann, Autumn Sonata
She was the only other performance of those mentioned above that I would choose to be among the nominees. Page would go down to supporting and I would put Ullmann in her place. I’m a fan of all of these performances. I don’t really see a weak link among the nominees.

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[Army Of Me]

#1203447992

1. Duvall – Brilliant! Duvall was robbed as the film and his performance are legendary. He won the Golden Globe and BAFTA and should have been a slam dunk but I guess the film was too intense.

2. Forrest – He has a strong year with The Rose and Apocalypse Now. He won the National Society of Film Critics for both films and was considered for a few others.

3. Douglas – Legendary actor who had previously won this award and had a notable year with Being There and The Seduction of Joe Tynan. The former being a wonderfully satiric classic.

4. Henry – Solid work, but I wouldn’t have had him in the same conversation with the three actors above.

5. Rooney – The Black Stallion was a successful crowdpleaser and his nomination was the reward.

Honorable Mentions:
James Woods, The Onion Field
Paul Dooley, Breaking Away

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[Army Of Me]

#1203441047

1. Laurie – Spellbinding and impactful performance that elevated the horror aspects of her film. Her win was likely undone by the genre bias in the Academy. Piper also had the comeback narrative and she was more than worthy of this particular win. It’s unfortunate that not enough voters were able to get past the film being horror.

2. Straight – Great, but extremely brief performance. Her 5 minute speech was powerful and her character was the most sympathetic in her film. The vulnerability and relatability were likely key factors to her being rewarded.

3. Foster – Taxi Driver is greatly regarded in the present day but it was probably far too unconventional to win any major Academy awards in 1976. The character, her age and the film were all strikes against her winning. Iris was a supporting character and Foster portrayed an underage prostitute. She didn’t have the leading performance that usually secures victories for younger actors.

4. Grant – She was a previous winner and her film underperformed. Voyage of the Damned seems like the type of film that is historically important and is meant to be Academy bait. However, the film was mostly ignored with only three nominations, after receiving 6 Golden Globes nods.

5. Alexander – She’s a brilliant actress but I didn’t find much to this performance. I’ll have to rewatch the film to see if I missed a great amount of complexities in her brief role.

Honorable Mention:
Talia Shire, Rocky (my Winner)

I wouldn’t have known about the frontrunner because I wasn’t alive during this race but I have seen all of the films and can only speculate in hindsight. Shire would have easily won in this category. She had no chance against the powerhouse performances of Dunaway, Spacek and Ullmann.

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[Army Of Me]

#1203434235

1. Ronan – Saoirse is hypotonic in my favorite film of that year. Briony haunts the film. Unfortunately, her age likely made her win impossible. Younger actors usually only win for actual leading roles in the supporting categories.

2. Ryan – She deservedly won most of the critics awards and I would have her as my very close runner-up. Helene is a drugged drunk but not the sympathetic or pure scenery chewing villainous type (Monique) that usually wins Oscars.

3. Swinton – Brilliant actress but this is not among her best roles IMO. However, she is highly respected and has a reputation for being fearless, those factors probably contributed to her win in the highly divided field. Plus, she was still great in a very strong film.

4. Blanchett – I’m not a fan of this film and the performance is not even among the top ten of Blanchett’s career for me.

5. Dee – She was a great actress and legendary activist but her role in American Gangster was a glorified cameo. I might have supported a win if she had a few more substantial scenes in her film. I agree that Dee should have been nominated for A Raisin in the Sun, along with Rita Moreno and Judy Garland.

Honorable Mentions:
Kelly MacDonald, No Country for Old Man
Catherine Keener, Into the Wild
Allison Janney, Juno
Jennifer Garner, Juno

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[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203427302

1. Weaver
2. Turner
3. Spacek
4. Matlin
5. Fonda

Honorable Mentions:
Anne Bancroft for ‘night, Mother
Melanie Griffith, Something Wild
Bette Midler, Down and Out in Beverly Hills (maybe supporting)
Chloe Webb, Sid and Nancy

Weaver’s role as Ellen Ripley is iconic and should have been rewarded with this win. Sadly, the nomination for her “action” film was her reward. She was never going to win over something as baity as Matlin. Turner was coming off a hot streak and two back-to-back Globes but I suspect her film was not strong enough to secure the win. Spacek was absolutely hysterical but she wasn’t winning a second for this particular film. Matlin was serviceable but I’ve never been a huge fan of this particular film. Fonda was lucky to have been nominated for such an uneven film.

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[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203427185

Like. I voted for Love when pushed. She delivered a strong performance but was limited by the nature of her role. Witherspoon was borderline supporting in Walk the Line. She benefited from being in a popular film and having a solid career since being a child actress. Legally Blonde and Election are still my favorite of her best performances. Unfortunately, comedic performances like those are almost never rewarded with Oscar nominations or wins.

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[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203426700

30s – The Awful Truth
40s – The Best Years of Our Lives
50s – All About Eve
60s – The Apartment
70s – The Godfather (I & II)
80s – Tootsie
90s – Schindler’s List
00s – The Lord of the Rings (Trilogy)
10s – Brooklyn

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[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203425352

Stoltz and Cher were robbed that year. He would have been my personal winner and she was more than deserving of a nomination. Sadly, the negative publicity for Mask likely proved too much to overcome. Cher had crazy competition but Stoltz should have gotten a nomination in such a divided field.

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[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203423654

Cocoon was the sixth highest grossing movie of that year and Ameche delivered a lively performance. I agree that he wasn’t the best supporting performance in the film but for some reason he was the actor singled out. Ameche was much better as the villain in Trading Places, a few years earlier. That film helped revive his film career and might have helped secure his career award. He also benefited from entering a race with a weak frontrunner. Klaus Maria Branduer, the frontrunner, was in the best picture winner but I don’t think he gave an undeniable performance.

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[Army Of Me]

#1203423267

1. Bette Davis
2. Anne Bancroft
3. Geraldine Page
4. Katherine Hepburn
5. Lee Remick

This lineup is among the strongest of the 1960s. I agree that any of these actresses could have won the following year. Page won the Globe, Hepburn won Cannes, Bancroft won the Tony and Davis had the comeback narrative. Davis is my slight favorite because she elevated the campy aspects of her film with her sheer balls to the wall dedication.

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[Army Of Me]

#1203421369

1. Bette Davis – Margo Channing was the perfect role for Davis at this stage in her career. She was in her early forties and seen as being well past her glorious prime. It’s a perfect example of the right actress adding a great deal of depth to an already outstanding role.

2. Gloria Swanson – Norma Desmond is iconic and would probably be my winner in any other year.

3. Judy Holliday – Holliday delivered a masterful comedic performance. She benefited greatly from the vote splitting of the two titans above. The performance was also so different from the other four dramatic and heavy turns.

4. Anne Baxter – She deserved her nomination but was overshadowed by her costar. Baxter does deserve more credit than she usually receives because she was outstanding in many key scenes in her film.

5. Eleanor Parker – Great performance in a good movie that was elevated by strong acting. She was likely dead last. I’d imagine the subject matter was a turn off for voters.

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[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203419621

Davis as Muriel Pritchett was the heart of her film. The Accidental Tourist somewhat underperformed at the Academy Awards but it still received support in some key categories. Her performance was certainly showy, sympathetic and borderline leading. She benefited greatly from Weaver being nominated twice. I recently read an article about Melanie Griffith having to choose between the role of Muriel and Tess in Working Girl. They told her Muriel might win her an Oscar but Tess would make her a star.

Weaver was fun in Working Girl but I wouldn’t have rewarded her for such a lightweight performance. Pfeiffer was great but she was overshadowed by the two towering lead performances. Cusack was entertaining in her cameo performance but I would have nominated Mercedes Ruehl in her place. She was an absolute riot in Married to the Mob.

1. Geena Davis
2. Michelle Pfeiffer
3. Frances McDormand
4. Sigourney Weaver
5. Joan Cusack

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[Army Of Me Joined: Jan 11th, 2012 Topics: 1 Posts: 175 View Predictions]

#1203415170

1. Munich
2. Lincoln
3. War Horse

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