In Contention

Tag: Best Actress

  • Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the race for Best Actress

    Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy HeartIf I were a betting man, I’d have said Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance opposite Jeff Bridges in Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart” was a sure-fire Best Supporting Actress contender.  The role, after all, fits that unfortunately reductive “suffering spouse” template to a T, the sort that has fared well in this category in years past (Michelle Williams, Sophie Okonedo, Marcia Gay Harden — twice, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jennifer Connelly, etc.).

    Well I’d have lost that bet.  Fox Searchlight, perhaps due to that ever-present (and overstated) sense that the Best Actress field is “weak,” will be pushing Gyllenhaal as a lead for the film.  And despite my reservations, I think she should be taken seriously.

    This isn’t blatant category fraud, in my opinion, because Gyllenhaal has a healthy amount of screen time, we get plenty of her story — even if it’s always through the prism of Bridges’s Bad Blake character — and the truth is, it’s a pretty complex role.

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  • Just to get it off my chest

    Gabby Sidibe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Katie Jarvis, Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tilda Swinton and Penelope Cruz; some would say Abbie Cornish, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Monaghan, Emily Blunt, Audrey Tautou and Zooey Deschanel; potentially Marion Cotillard, Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep (again) and Natalie Portman — this is NOT a weak year for lead actress performances.

  • Helen Mirren talks ‘The Last Station’

    Helen MirrenAfter I saw Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station” at Telluride, it became quickly apparent that, should the film get a domestic release, actress Helen Mirren would find herself in the thick of the Oscar hunt for Best Actress.  She gives, to my mind, the performance of the film.  And now that Sony Classics has picked it up and begun to build a campaign, well…nothing is “truth” until everyone agrees, I guess.

    Mirren will be representing the established guard in the face of formidable competition from younger, upstart performers such as Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan.  It should make the race quite interesting, because as much as the media probably wants to frame it as Meryl vs. Carey all the way, there are lots of variables.  And plenty of potential line-ups (especially with contenders like Marion Cotillard on the way and others like Brenda Blethyn and Sandra Bullock jumping into the race as we speak).

    Anyway, in the pages of London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, Mirren has gone on the record with writer John Hiscock about the role of Sofya Tolstoy, Countess wife to world-renowned author Leo Tolstoy.

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  • Helen Mirren wins Best Actress at Rome fest

    Helen Mirren at the fourth annual Rome International Film FestivalEver since “The Last Station” entered the Oscar race with a Sony Classics acquisition, I’ve been saying Helen Mirren is a sure-fire contender for a lead actress nomination as the fiery Countess wife to Christopher Plummer’s Leo Tolstoy.  It looks like she’s made her first big step in that direction.

    Mirren took the Rome Film Festival’s award for Best Actress today, putting her right in the thick of a race that has seen Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan ahead of the pack.  Mirren adds another veteran play for Mulligan’s newbie appeal to contend with, while fellow fresh face Gabourey Sidibe is looking better by the day.  (“Precious” also took the Chicago Film Festival’s audience award today).

    Looking to join the quartet will be Saoirse Ronan for Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones” and Marion Cotillard in Rob Marshall’s “Nine,” but a number of indie performers could surprise, Abbie Cornish in “Bright Star” and Audrey Tautou in “Coco Before Chanel” looking like the strongest of those dark horses.  I wouldn’t say there is serious competition beyond that.

    The other winners of the festival (which is only four years old) include the Danish “Brotherhood” for Best Film, about a gay love affair between two members of a neo-Nazi group and Italy’s Sergio Castellitto for Best Actor in “Alza la Testa.” Streep, by the way, was right there in the mix, receiving career achievement honors from the fest.

  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Education’ lands, animation expands

    Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard in An Education• After a quiet week for awards news, this week’s Off the Carpet column contemplated the depth of the Best Actress race.

    • A topic that Kris and Anne also debated in this week’s episode of Oscar Talk.

    • Speaking of Best Actress, “An Education,” with its nomination-bound performance by Carey Mulligan, finally hit theaters this week.

    • And speaking of Mulligan, she placed highly in our list of the Top 10 actors under 30.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 5 — Oscar hosts, leading ladies and category placement

    Oscar TalkWelcome to the fifth installment of Oscar Talk between yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood.

    A somewhat streamlined show today.  Here’s what’s on the docket:

    • Spit-balling host ideas for this year’s Oscarcast, which seems to be a popular topic these days.

    • Doing the same on a potential producer for the show.

    • Our first fight!  Anne and I debate the merits of the leading actresses of this year’s films.  Anne says it’s a weak season, I say there are plenty of fine performances to choose from (and more on the way).

    • With “An Education” opening in limited release today, we discuss Peter Sarsgaard’s potential category fraud/confusion and debate the philosophies of what makes a performance a lead.

    • A brief tease of a topic on next week’s episode, Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger,” which I saw this week and Anne will catch up on before we chat again.

    Have a listen to this week’s podcast below (with a lead-in from the trailer for “An Education”).  And as always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.

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  • Who the hell was that?

    Meryl Streep in Julie & JuliaCoincidentally enough, the same day that Kris spotlighted the Best Actress race, the category has been on my mind too — as a thought hit me that could factor in what is potentially one of the tightest duels of the season.

    Almost every Oscar prognosticator on record has already boiled the Best Actress contest down to Carey Mulligan versus Meryl Streep, and until the precursors arrive to shed some light on the matter, there’s almost nothing in it on paper.

    Advantage Mulligan for being in a probable Best Picture nominee. Advantage Streep for playing a prominent real-life figure. Advantage Mulligan for being this year’s hottest ingenue. Advantage Streep for being, well, Meryl Streep. And on it goes, back and forth.

    But if there’s one area where Mulligan holds a clear advantage over Streep, it’s with the so-called “BAFTA block” … the British contingent of voters who seemingly make their presence felt more in the Academy voting by the year. (Recent BAFTA-led surges for “The Reader,” Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton are a case in point.)

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading ladies

    Helen Mirren in The Last StationNow is the time when everyone begins assessing the race at its beginnings, and the gist I’m getting is that no one really knows what to write about.  Stabs at analysis end up being responses to other takes or rehashed arguments, and nothing really insightful is being brought to the table.

    And let’s face it.  As we dip into what looks to be the longest early-season lull in some time, there really is nothing insightful to offer.  So let’s just spit-ball…

    I think the Sony Classics acquisition of “The Last Station” is more significant than most seem to be aware right now.  There are only a handful who have seen it (Telluride being the film’s only festival stop so far), so that’s understandable.  And the film isn’t a knock-out, one that will be damned as merely efficient in some circles.  But with Helen Mirren in the lead actress race, it’s worth noting that suddenly that category is further framed as the old guard versus the new.

    And I may be wrong in my conviction, but I have to say it again: Mirren is VERY much in this race.  As the fiery Countess wife of a literary titan, she brings equal parts passion and delicacy to a complicated, certainly flawed character.  She’s afforded a number of moments that give her room to chew the scenery, and if Christopher Plummer happens to ride a wave of sentiment to a nomination as well, part of me feels that he will owe something to Mirren’s coattails.

    My predictions for the leading ladies this week are Mirren, Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and, my weak link, Marion Cotillard (who is expected to be a lead actress push for “Nine,” but things could change).  In that collective we have three former winners, two legends of the form, two newbies and one performer shifting into the second gear of her career.  I think that’s a pretty good balance.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Foreign contenders and underdogs

    James McAvoy in The Last Station• The deadline for Best Foreign Language Film entries passed, as Israel and Italy bucked conventional wisdom with their selections.

    • Among the better-received contenders, however, were major festival prizewinners from Australia and Greece. A full list of submissions here.

    • As the smaller studios beef up their Oscar prospects, this week’s Off the Carpet column wondered if this could be the year of the underdog.

    • Speaking of which, Sony Pictures Classics acquired “The Last Station,” a potential awards vehicle for Helen Mirren amongst others.

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  • Here come the girls

    Saoirse Ronan in The Lovely BonesI know I’m hardly the first person to mention it, but as I was fiddling around with my predictions recently, I was struck once more by just how young the Best Actress category is skewing.

    At present, 15 year-old Saoirse Ronan is the only teenager being talked up for a nomination, but with three other solid contenders — Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and Abbie Cornish — all playing teens in their respective vehicles, you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. (As if that weren’t enough, in a perfect world, 18 year-old Katie Jarvis would be leading the field for “Fish Tank.” We can but dream.)

    Meanwhile, you can bet that a sizable number of Academy members are under the impression that waif-like 24 year-old it-girl Mulligan (the current frontrunner for “An Education,” in case you need reminding), and especially 26 year-old non-pro Sidibe (whose buzz for “Precious” has rocketed since Toronto), are even younger than they are.

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  • Get a clue

    Meryl StreepThere are so many things wrong with this Digital Spy piece about the Best Actress race, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Article writer Marcell Minaya seems to have filched gossip columnist Roger Friedman’s recent (largely baseless) statement that the category is bereft of contenders, and disguised it as Academy insider talk:

    The Oscars executives have allegedly been struggling to form a list of best actress nominees.

    An Oscar insider said: “It’s only just dawning that there’s a distinct lack of potentials in the best actress category. It’s been a pretty lacklustre year for movies in general but it seems that no one wrote any decent lead roles for women … There are many to choose from when it comes to supporting actresses but very few in the lead.”

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Inception’ unwrapped, ‘Shutter’ unseated

    Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception• One day after the film’s trailer surfaced, we turned up some fresh plot information about Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” Fan hysteria ensued.

    • Just in case you’d forgotten, “Shutter Island” was booted into 2010. Fan hysteria ensued.

    • To a quieter reaction, Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest” joined Scorsese’s film on the sidelines for next year.

    • In submitting “The White Ribbon,” Germany gave the foreign-language race its first major official contender.

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  • Scratch Mirren, Powell

    Helen MirrenOne of the films I’ve been keeping an eye on as we march up to the awards season is Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest,” a re-imagining of the William Shakespeare yarn with a female lead rather than male.  Helen Mirren seemed a great bet in the lead actress race and of course design heads Sandy Powell (costumes) and Mark Friedberg (production design) were going to be in the conversation.

    Well that conversation will now shift to 2010, as I just got confirmation the film would not be ready until next year due to the amount of visual effects yet to be included.  That effectively leaves Miramax with the already released (and mostly forgotten) “Chéri” for its lone awards hopes.  It looks like it’ll be a year away from the fray, since I don’t think Mike Judge’s “Extract” is exactly going to light up the circuit.

    This also whittles the lead actress race down even further, while giving Powell the go-ahead for a potential nod for “The Young Victoria,” now that the film has a US distributor.  Mirren’s “Love Ranch,” directed by husband Taylor Hackford, could still be a thread if it gets picked up by a distributor.  It’s getting to be that time…

    I’ll update predictions again on Monday, August 31.

  • 8/25 Web Round-up

    Charlize Theron in The Burning Plain• Jeff Wells speaks up on the Best Actress race. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • “Black Dynamite” goes to Apparition. [Variety]

    • Behinds the scenes of “The Burning Plain.” [Coming Soon]

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  • Did Michelle Monaghan just enter the Best Actress race?

    Michelle Monaghan in TruckerI haven’t seen James Mottern’s “Trucker,” which had a world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and was praised in many quarters, most agreeing that Michelle Monaghan’s lead performance was awards caliber.

    Ironically, the press release (published in part after the jump) quotes The Hollywood Reporter’s Roger Friedman front and center just a few days after he bemoaned what he perceived as a weak year for Best Actress contenders.

    The strongest contenders right now look to be Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia,” Carey Mulligan in “An Education” and, sight unseen, Hilary Swank in “Amelia.”  If enough voters see “The Burning Plain,” Charlize Theron certainly has a shot.  But the bubble is big on this race, I’ll give Friedman that.

    Monterey Media has decided to release the film up for an October 9 release, right in the middle of the awards season.  We all know surprise contenders show up sooner or later.  Maybe we’re looking at our first one right here.

    A snippet of the press release after the jump.

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  • Nathaniel Rogers boards the Mulligan express

    Carey Mulligan“An Education” and its breakout star Carey Mulligan continue to slay bloggers wherever they go. Chief cheerleader Jeff Wells hasn’t stopped talking about the film since its Sundance bow in January, and you’ll remember that Kris joined the fan club (with added props for Alfred Molina) in June.

    Sasha Stone was sufficiently dazzled by Mulligan’s work to place her at the top of a list of today’s finest young actresses. Now The Film Experience’s Nathaniel Rogers, the guy for whom Best Actress is the most holy of all award categories, has seen the film, and is rendered virtually speechless by Mulligan’s performance:

    just… WOW

    We’re still five plus months away from nominations but, for the moment, it looks like a Carey vs. Meryl showdown on March 7th, 2010.

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  • The see-sawing ‘Burning Plain’

    Charlize Theron in The Burning PlainThanks to the reader (modestly unnamed) who sent me a reminder of the recently released U.S. trailer for Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain,” a film that has endured a wildly uneven buzz trajectory since debuting at Venice nearly a year ago.

    Hailed out the gate as a strong 2008 Oscar vehicle for Charlize Theron, despite mixed notices for the film itself, it then dropped from view entirely, languishing in distributor-less purgatory for months on end. Its UK release came and went in March with zero fanfare and tepid reviews, and its U.S. prospects looked little better.

    I offered some thoughts on the film then, deeming it worthy as performance showcase (young Jennifer Lawrence, in particular, is a revelation) but dramatically thin and structurally obvious as storytelling.

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  • Ma belle

    Michelle Pfeiffer in CheriWhile I’m on the subject of Gallic-flavoured Best Actress contenders, I usually try not to get too invested in an individual’s awards hopes before I’ve seen the film carrying them, but I must admit to one sentimental wish this year: that Michelle Pfeiffer and “Chéri” will live up to the delicate beauty of their source material, and in that event, that Pfeiffer will be duly rewarded for her pains.

    Not to step on Nat Rogers’ toes, but we all have a fantasy list of people we want to see receive an Oscar one day — and nestled among the diverse likes of Mike Leigh and Samantha Morton, Pfeiffer is near the top of mine. Partly, I confess, because she was my first cinematic crush (I was nine, and our first date was “Frankie and Johnny”), but more because of the hope that an overdue career celebration might coerce her into working more often, and casting directors into offering her more tempting bait. (Why should Meryl Streep be the only woman headlining films in her fifties?)

    2002’s undervalued “White Oleander” offered an intriguing glimpse of how the actress’s advanced years actually added nuance and fragility to her trademark froideur; “Chéri,” if played right, should do the same, and then some.

    All of which is a long-winded way of pointing you towards this excellent interview with Pfeiffer in today’s Guardian, in which Geoffrey Macnab pays due tribute to her skill and versatility (I love his suggestion that she venture into the Western genre), and the actress explains that “Chéri” is a more complex beast than the bonbon depicted in the trailer:

    “The scope of the movie turned out to be bigger than any of us had realised at the beginning. We were on a limited schedule, but when you see the film, the scope of it is huge. Usually, you have a couple of scenes where you might have pages of dialogue – but this film, every scene was five, six, seven or eight pages of dialogue. It took a tremendous amount of concentration.”

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