winners in the eighties: sally field in norma raye; sissy spacek in coal miner's daughter; katherine hepburn in on golden pond; meryl streep in sophie's choice; shirley maclaine in terms of endearment; sally field in places in the heart; geraldine page in the trip to bountiful; marlee matlin in children of a lesser god; cher in moonstruck; and jodie foster in the accused. i've seen two of those.
lead actress roles i favor from that decade: sally field in steel magnolias. ain't NO. WAY. jessica tandy did a better job in driving miss daisy than field did in that film. her heart breaks, many times in that movie, and every time hers does, mine does, too.
the nineties: jessica tandy in driving miss daisy; kathy bates in misery; jodie foster in the silence of the lambs; emma thompson in howard's end; holly hunter in the piano; jessica lange in blue sky; susan sarandon in dead man walking; frances mcdormand in fargo; helen hunt in as good as it gets; and gwyneth paltrow in shakespeare in love. i've seen six of'm.
lead actress roles i favor from that decade: mary stuart masterson in fried green tomatoes and kathy bates in dolores claiborne.
the two thousands: hillary swank in boys don't cry; julia roberts in erin brockovich; halle berry in monster's ball; nicole kidman in the hours; charlize theron in monster; hillary swank in million dollar baby; reese witherspoon in walk the line; and kate winslet in the reader. i saw two of'm.
lead actress roles i favor from that decade: ellen burstyn in the divine secrets of the ya ya sisterhood; ziyi zhang in memoirs of a geisha; and toni collette in in her shoes.
this decade: sandra bullock in the blind side; natalie portman in black swan; meryl streep in iron lady; jennifer lawrence in silver linings playbook; cate blanchett in blue jasmine; julianne moore in still alice; and brie larson in room. i've seen four of'm.
lead actress roles i favor from this decade: lubna azabal in incendies; leslie mann in the other woman and helen mirren in the hundred foot journey.
which brings us to the nominees this year:
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| isabelle huppert in elle |
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| ruth negga in loving |
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| natalie portman in jackie |
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| emma stone in la la land |
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| meryl streep in florence foster jenkins |
the best instances in which the academy got it right: jodie foster in the accused and the silence of the lambs; kathy bates in misery; and hillary swank in boys don't cry.
Jodie Foster in The Accused. Seriously. As I look at this list, that may be the most compelling performance, for me, that I've ever seen from an actress on film. It gives me shivers just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteI gotta give a shout out to Frances McDormand in Fargo. Remember, I lived in that god-forsaken place. Her dialect coach should have won awards as well. Her accent was perfection.
Julianne Moore in Still Alice was definitely deserving as well.