Best Actress 2001

[bizarre]

My choices:

1. Naomi Watts, in "Mulholland Dr."
2. Isabelle Huppert, in "The Piano Teacher"
3. Sandrine Bonnaire, in "Mademoiselle"
4. Reese Witherspoon, in "Legally Blonde"
5. Catherine Keener, in "Lovely & Amazing"
ALT: Ronit Elkabetz, in "Late Marriage"

[Damien]

What a dreary list.

Halle Berry is flat out bad in Monster's Ball. Frequently wooden and never up to the emotional demands of the role. Dreadful.

Moulin Rouge was going to be godawful from the moment Baz Luhrman started conceptualizing it. But it might not have been quite as godawful if an actress of warmth and vulnerability been cast in the lead, Not to mention someone who can dance without looking like a mannequin being pushed around a soundstage. Nicole Kidman is even worse than Halle Berry.

Renne Zellweger -- instantly forgettable in an instantly disposable movie. She never convinced me she was British.

Judi Dench was perfectly fine in Iris, but there's nothing particularly memorable about her performance. Joanne Woodward was much more affecting playing a woman with Alzheimer's Disease in a wonderful 1985 YV movie, Do You Remember Love. The Kate Winslet scenes were more engrossing than Dench's. (And how in the world did Jim Broadbent receive an Oscar for THIS?)

So that leaves, Sissy Spacek. I don't like the film, but among these nominees she created the most original and convincing character. And SIssy Spacek having a second Oscar would have been a good thing in my book.

My Own Top 5:
1. Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive
2. Thora Birch in Ghost World
3. Kirsten Dunst in Crazy/Beautiful
4. Emily Perkins in Ginger Snaps
5. Cate Blanchett in Charlotte Gray



Edited By Damien on 1268792351

[Reza]

Some good performances this year though I have yet to watch Gillian Anderson (The House of Mirth), Bjork (Dancer in the Dark), Halle Berry (Monster's Ball) and a number of foreign ladies.

My top 5:

Charlotte Rampling, Under the Sand
Naomi Watts, Mullholland Drive
Nicole Kidman, The Others
Renee Zellweger, Bridgit Jones's Diary
Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom

The 6th Spot: A tossup between Tilda Swinton (The Deep End), Maggie Cheung (In the Mood For Love) and Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher)..........although the latter film was not eligible for Oscars until the following year.

Here I voted for Zellweger...........the only time I've enjoyed her on screen.



Edited By Reza on 1268731427

[Hustler]

I consider Berry played a convincing role.

[mlrg]

Halle Berry - Monster's Ball

[dws1982]

I do agree that Wilkinson is the dominant force in the film, and Spacek's last act absence is one of the reasons I never saw this as the must-win-Oscar performance some do.

To me Todd Field's (borderline sexist) decision to gradually close the film in around Wilkinson's character in the last part is the biggest problem with the film. Wilkinson is excellent, but the film suffers from Todd's abandonoment of Spacek's character.

It's a shame Spacek hasn't found another role like this in the years since. I know that she made a conscious decision to work sparingly while her children were growing up, but now that they're both grown hopefully she'll get another plum role that gets her back to the Oscars. She should be well on her way to a Guest Actress Emmy for her against-type role on Big Love this season.



Edited By dws1982 on 1268617180

[The Original BJ]

A pretty disappointing lineup. My top two were Naomi Watts and Tilda Swinton, and I'd love to know how close both of them came to the nominations which would have classed up this slate considerably. I also thought Thora Birch was a must-have.

Renée Zellweger was v.v. funny in Bridget Jones, but in no way did work this slight deserve an Oscar nomination.

I like Kidman a lot as an actress, but she was woefully out of her element in Moulin Rouge. Kidman's strength is cold frigidity, not the warm passion required for this type of romantic heroine. And she's not really a singer, either.

I think Sabin once described Judi Dench's performance in Iris as "Denchy" and I remember thinking, that's right on the money. She's a classy, intelligent actress, and brings a solid level of technique to her performances. But I wasn't much excited here, especially as she dips into the sort of easy, mental illness cliches Julie Christie so expertly avoided in Away From Her.

I'm right with Mister Tee on Halle Berry. I know a lot of people think this work is dreadful, but, sorry, I just don't see that. I think Berry has some powerful moments in the film, and is impressive in that last, wordless scene. The problem is that she's working with a director who has no concept of subtlety, and Berry doesn't have enough personality as an actress to overcome this, or really make the role special. Her portrait of a grieving mother is pretty much what you'd expect, lacking any of the nuances a much better actress on the ballot brought to HER role as a grieving mom.

Which brings me to Sissy Spacek, who is the only acceptable choice here. As I said, I thought she found fascinating subtleties in this character, many of which I didn't notice until a second viewing of the film. I'm particularly impressed with the moments she chooses to underplay, like "He killed our son. It was no accident," and that cold, simple slap to Tomei. I do agree that Wilkinson is the dominant force in the film, and Spacek's last act absence is one of the reasons I never saw this as the must-win-Oscar performance some do. But it's still terrific work, and I'm happy to vote for her.

[Snick's Guy]

this was the very first time i voted for sissy -- from this group of five, she is clearly the best

[ITALIANO]

Please, not Sissy Spacek again! How many times do we want her to win here, fifteen? Though I must admit that with such a competition, voting for Spacek's good, not great but certainly reliable performance in In the Bedroom could be tempting for me, too.

But thank God there's Judi Dench here. And this might be the only chance for me to vote for her (and this includes the Supporting category, in case we ever do that). Iris isn't groundbreaking cinema, but the acting is perfect, and Dench's performance especially is the kind of performance which could be shown to students of acting. This, of course, doesn't necessarily mean "new" or "exciting" - just very well executed, with a real sense of the character and without resorting to the easy tricks that actors often show in such roles - American actors especially. Dench's reserved, believable approach is a good example of what an experienced, talented actress can do when given the right chance.

[Mister Tee]

One of the rare years where my only honest act is to abstain.

For the second year running, my favorite was left off the slate -- in this case, Swinton in The Deep End. (Swinton's my winner in '01 and '09, yet I lament her win in '07. Ah, Oscar) My runners up, Birch and Watts, also failed to make the cut.

Of those who survived:

I like Zellweger pretty much in alternation back then -- praising Jerry Maguire, Nurse Betty and Chicago, but being unimpressed with One True Thing or Bridget Jones in between.

Iris ranks with Mrs. Henderson Presents as Dench's least earned nomination. Winslet and Broadbent easily outshine her.

Like many, I'd have nominated Kidman for The Others, but even there it'd've been a cumulative nod, not that the individual work was so outstanding.

I don't think Halle Berry is godawful, nor do I respond much to Spacek's work in Bedroom. Berry is, overall, an exceedingly limited actress, but I didn't feel all the false notes in Monster's Ball that others appear to have. I'd never have voted for her, but the very idea doesn't make me vomit.

I've loved Spacek down the years, from Badlands on, and would have been happy to see a second Oscar go her way had I thought she deserved it. But I found this performance overrated from day one -- cold in a completely uninteresting way. For me, Wilkinson absolutely carried the film.

So, as I said, an abstention. I assume Spacek will win here easily, given the enthusiasm so many have expressed. I only wish I shared it.

[Sabin]

1. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
2. Thora Birch, Ghost World
3. Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom
4. Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love
5. Emily Perkins, Ginger Snaps

...pretty open-and-shut for me. There is Sissy Spacek and then there are the other nominees.

[dws1982]

In the Bedroom doesn't totally hold up, but Spacek's (and Wilkinson's) performance completely does. Most people just remember her smashing the plate, but that's unfortunate. I think it's a tough role, one that has to seem introverted, tightly wound (and she is both of those things, and she's also someone who takes great care not to let anyone know how much she's hurting), and yet she gradually has to emerge, to the surprise of the audience, as the dominant party in the marriage. Another actress would make Ruth Fowler emerge as the dominant party early on, in those early scenes where she's trying to discourage the Tomei/Stahl relationship. But Spacek doesn't seem so dominant; she seems like an inoffensive nag, someone who they'll listen to out of respect, but she never begins to emerge as the truly dominant party int he marriage until that argument scene. It's there that we see how savvy she is, and that she knows exactly what buttons to push and how to push them. Best of all is that door slam--this is a woman who clearly knows how to throw her husband off guard. Spacek clearly knows who this woman is and how she operates. Few actresses would be willing to show that their character is undone so thorughly by her desire for vengeance, and even fewer would refuse to give the character any kind of emotional catharsis. Spacek does that, and the film is all the richer for it.

As for the others, one critic called Dench's performance "genuinely vulgar", and while I might not go that far, I can see where he's coming from. Kidman...if she were up for The Others I could endorse the nomination. Renee Zellweger is fine in Bridget Jones's Diary. Halle Berry's performance and win are both complete and utter embarrassments.

My five for the year:
1- Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom
2- Thora Birch, Ghost World
3- Kirsten Dunst, crazy/beautiful
4- Kim Dickens, Things Behind the Sun
5- Juliette Binoche, Code Unknown

[Big Magilla]

A lousy year with Spacek's performance the only one that is truly award worthy, though Berry and Dench make decent also-rans.

Kidman should have been nominated for The Others and Zellweger shouldn't have been nominated at all. Tilda Swinton in The Deep End should have gotten her slot.