Ronan and Dee were both good/decent.
Swinton had virtually no character to work with but filled her performance with delicious eccentricities. She shone.
Better was Amy Ryan, who took a showy role and played it beautifully with tough sass layered in subtleties.
Best Supporting actress 2007
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nightwingnova
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Re: Best Supporting actress 2007
My choices:
1. Tilda Swinton, in "Michael Clayton"
2. Leslie Mann, in "Knocked Up"
3. Saoirse Ronan, in "Atonement"
4. Ashley Jensen, in "Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale"
5. Amy Ryan, in "Gone Baby Gone"
1. Tilda Swinton, in "Michael Clayton"
2. Leslie Mann, in "Knocked Up"
3. Saoirse Ronan, in "Atonement"
4. Ashley Jensen, in "Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale"
5. Amy Ryan, in "Gone Baby Gone"
Solid line up with the exception of Dee. Any of the four other actresses deserve the statuette. I would hace preferred see Swinton winning for a better performance. What she does in MC is more conventional. Blanchett is always excellent and Ryan is the best ingredient from GBG but my heart is with Saoirse Ronan. She is adorable and delivers an Oscar caliber performance plenty of talent.
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Bruce_Lavigne
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Voted for Amy Ryan. One of my favorite supporting-actress performances of the whole decade.
Blanchett does extraordinary work; unfortunately, she does it in a film that either went over my head or was just too damn weird. Either way, I don't feel quite right talking about I'm Not There as a movie, that I can compare to other movies, as opposed to a strange experiment in Bob Dylan iconography. Swinton is impressive as well, and probably does more than most nominees to turn a boring role on the page into a fairly compelling one on the screen, but she doesn't compare to Ryan.
Ronan does perfectly acceptable work for a kid, and Dee is wallpaper until her big scene -- which, admittedly, she knocks out of the park, but not enough to justify an Oscar nomination considering how little she has to do before it.
Ryan would be my winner no matter who she was up against, but the lack of nominations for Catherine Keener (Into the Wild), Jennifer Garner (Juno), Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men), and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Margot at the Wedding) really hurt this category. I think I prefer Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl) to any of the other nominees as well.
Edited By Bruce_Lavigne on 1292647683
Blanchett does extraordinary work; unfortunately, she does it in a film that either went over my head or was just too damn weird. Either way, I don't feel quite right talking about I'm Not There as a movie, that I can compare to other movies, as opposed to a strange experiment in Bob Dylan iconography. Swinton is impressive as well, and probably does more than most nominees to turn a boring role on the page into a fairly compelling one on the screen, but she doesn't compare to Ryan.
Ronan does perfectly acceptable work for a kid, and Dee is wallpaper until her big scene -- which, admittedly, she knocks out of the park, but not enough to justify an Oscar nomination considering how little she has to do before it.
Ryan would be my winner no matter who she was up against, but the lack of nominations for Catherine Keener (Into the Wild), Jennifer Garner (Juno), Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men), and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Margot at the Wedding) really hurt this category. I think I prefer Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl) to any of the other nominees as well.
Edited By Bruce_Lavigne on 1292647683
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FilmFan720
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I broke the golden rule here and voted despite still having only seen three of the films. However, I so love Amy Ryan's work, and have a strong feeling that neither unseen performance will move me (Dee and the always-unimpressive-to-me Blanchett). Ronan is a very close second for me.
My Top 5:
1. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
2. Jennifer Garner, Juno
3. Saorsie Ronan, Atonement
4. Allison Janney, Juno
5. Kelly MacDonald, No Country for Old Men
My Top 5:
1. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
2. Jennifer Garner, Juno
3. Saorsie Ronan, Atonement
4. Allison Janney, Juno
5. Kelly MacDonald, No Country for Old Men
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Mister Tee
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I don't think that's quite what people have been saying. What I read -- and certainly what I intended in my post -- was that when two performances feel absolutely identical in appeal (as Ryan's and Blachett's do, for many), factors like ones you cite can go into choosing between them. Flipping a coin is about the only other way to make such a decision, so why not use some less random factor?Bog wrote:Cate Blanchett was the best in this category among the chosen ones, in what is quite a good selection of nominees. I like Amy Ryan too, but I'm not going to vote for her because Cate Blanchett gets an Oscar nom every 5 minutes.
No truly great performances here--I had to decide my pick through a process of elimination much like 2006; unlike 2006, this is still a fairly respectable group.
I love Tilda Swinton, but she is wasted in ridiculously overrated Michael Clayton. It's pleasant living in a world where she has an Oscar, but her acting style is all wrong for this part.
I suppose there are worse crimes than nominating Ruby Dee for her blink-and-miss-it performance; she's fine, but this is clearly a lifetime achievement nomination.
I was a pretty big fan of I'm Not There, but I don't think that there are any towering feats of acting in the film. I hate nominations for impersonations, which is how I categorize Blanchett's work here.
Ronan was given the daunting task of playing one of the most vivid literary characters in recent years. She's up to the task, even if her film is not. I was somewhat surprised she held on for a nomination after Atonement's slip-sliding in precursor season, but the fifth slot could have been much, much more embarrassing.
I'm going with Ryan, though. Gone Baby Gone (like the novel it's based on) is a disappointingly pedestrian affair, but Ryan takes what might have been a caricature and transforms her role into the film's centerpiece while she's on screen.
I love Tilda Swinton, but she is wasted in ridiculously overrated Michael Clayton. It's pleasant living in a world where she has an Oscar, but her acting style is all wrong for this part.
I suppose there are worse crimes than nominating Ruby Dee for her blink-and-miss-it performance; she's fine, but this is clearly a lifetime achievement nomination.
I was a pretty big fan of I'm Not There, but I don't think that there are any towering feats of acting in the film. I hate nominations for impersonations, which is how I categorize Blanchett's work here.
Ronan was given the daunting task of playing one of the most vivid literary characters in recent years. She's up to the task, even if her film is not. I was somewhat surprised she held on for a nomination after Atonement's slip-sliding in precursor season, but the fifth slot could have been much, much more embarrassing.
I'm going with Ryan, though. Gone Baby Gone (like the novel it's based on) is a disappointingly pedestrian affair, but Ryan takes what might have been a caricature and transforms her role into the film's centerpiece while she's on screen.
Went with Swinton. Michael Clayton is a watchable but forgettable film, largely due to flat direction - surely a stronger talent than Gilroy would have reigned-in Tom Wilkinson's ranting - but Tilda brings as much depth and complexity as she can to a thinly written villain part, and provides the film with its most memorable moments.
Ryan and Blanchett are terrific. I found Ronan rather robotic and wooden, to be honest - that regular awards clip "I saw him. I saw him with my own eyes" seems to me a model of poor direction of a child actor. Redgrave and (especially) Garai were much more memorable. Haven't seen American Gangster although I did watch Dee's brief performance on Youtube.
Edited By rudeboy on 1292961115
Ryan and Blanchett are terrific. I found Ronan rather robotic and wooden, to be honest - that regular awards clip "I saw him. I saw him with my own eyes" seems to me a model of poor direction of a child actor. Redgrave and (especially) Garai were much more memorable. Haven't seen American Gangster although I did watch Dee's brief performance on Youtube.
Edited By rudeboy on 1292961115
Yes, we have been here very recently and yes, this is a pleasantly solid selection. I wasn't that impressed by Ronan and Dee had just one short - though showy - scene, but the three others were really good.
Tilda Swinton's Oscar is one of those which honor the Academy as much as the winner - especially in a time of sometimes embarassing picks, one can't complain when they choose one of the most original and interesting actress working in films today. Was Michael Clayton a great movie? No. Was this her best performance? Again, no, but it was a good compromise between her unusual talent and the commercial fare the Academy often goes with. And she makes what could have been a cliched villainess interesting and surprising. (And by the way I find her better in this movie than in any of her Italian experiments, including the much-praised and much-nominated I Am Love).
So my vote goes to Tilda Swinton, though I can't deny that Cate Blanchett and Amy Ryan (in this order) are also tempting choices.
Edited By ITALIANO on 1292587285
Tilda Swinton's Oscar is one of those which honor the Academy as much as the winner - especially in a time of sometimes embarassing picks, one can't complain when they choose one of the most original and interesting actress working in films today. Was Michael Clayton a great movie? No. Was this her best performance? Again, no, but it was a good compromise between her unusual talent and the commercial fare the Academy often goes with. And she makes what could have been a cliched villainess interesting and surprising. (And by the way I find her better in this movie than in any of her Italian experiments, including the much-praised and much-nominated I Am Love).
So my vote goes to Tilda Swinton, though I can't deny that Cate Blanchett and Amy Ryan (in this order) are also tempting choices.
Edited By ITALIANO on 1292587285
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anonymous1980
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Haven't seen Blanchett's.
Totally out is Ruby Dee, who I believe got here almost solely out of respect for her career. Her role is almost as small as Beatrice Straight's and that includes the moments when she's just there, not really acting. She does have a couple of good moments (the slap and the dresser scene) but not enough to warrant even a nom.
Saoirse Ronan was pretty good in her role. Once again, Academy pretty quick to nominate little girls. She's not even the best Briony in Atonement. I strongly preferred Romola Garai.
This is between Tilda Swinton and Amy Ryan for me. Swinton's role is pretty challenging. She's the villain of the piece but she underplays it. She doesn't play her as a monster but simply someone who thinks she's doing what's best for her career with little concern for ethics and legality. You feel a bit of undeserved sympathy for her when Clooney pwns her at the end. I do not begrudge her win (besides, she's been doing great work in films before).
However, my vote goes to Amy Ryan. She plays a totally unsympathetic character but she manages to make you feel sorry for her as a mother who lost a child, a very difficult feat of acting. The moral ambiguity at the end of the film works precisely because of her performance.
A notable snub for this year -- and I might get some flak for this -- is Imelda Staunton for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I recently saw it again. She's simply magnificent as Professor Umbridge, one of J.K. Rowling's most delightfully evil creations. When I read the books, this character has all the qualities of teachers I've hated growing up increased tenfold and Staunton captures it without going too far with it. I'm kind of bummed she didn't get any awards traction for it.
Edited By anonymous on 1292584602
Totally out is Ruby Dee, who I believe got here almost solely out of respect for her career. Her role is almost as small as Beatrice Straight's and that includes the moments when she's just there, not really acting. She does have a couple of good moments (the slap and the dresser scene) but not enough to warrant even a nom.
Saoirse Ronan was pretty good in her role. Once again, Academy pretty quick to nominate little girls. She's not even the best Briony in Atonement. I strongly preferred Romola Garai.
This is between Tilda Swinton and Amy Ryan for me. Swinton's role is pretty challenging. She's the villain of the piece but she underplays it. She doesn't play her as a monster but simply someone who thinks she's doing what's best for her career with little concern for ethics and legality. You feel a bit of undeserved sympathy for her when Clooney pwns her at the end. I do not begrudge her win (besides, she's been doing great work in films before).
However, my vote goes to Amy Ryan. She plays a totally unsympathetic character but she manages to make you feel sorry for her as a mother who lost a child, a very difficult feat of acting. The moral ambiguity at the end of the film works precisely because of her performance.
A notable snub for this year -- and I might get some flak for this -- is Imelda Staunton for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I recently saw it again. She's simply magnificent as Professor Umbridge, one of J.K. Rowling's most delightfully evil creations. When I read the books, this character has all the qualities of teachers I've hated growing up increased tenfold and Staunton captures it without going too far with it. I'm kind of bummed she didn't get any awards traction for it.
Edited By anonymous on 1292584602
I'm with you Okri, and please do not apologize for simply voting for what you feel is the best performance in a particular year! I still continue to be baffled that anything outside of the performances of that year weigh so heavily into people's decisions (among so many other factors- politics, other nominations/wins, career points, etc.)
Italiano said it recently in another thread that he's sorry but he'd vote for a homophobe if the performance was the best. Cate Blanchett was the best in this category among the chosen ones, in what is quite a good selection of nominees. I like Amy Ryan too, but I'm not going to vote for her because Cate Blanchett gets an Oscar nom every 5 minutes. I also think Swinton has been a revelation in the recent past, but here she simply elevated nothing into a somewhat interesting villain very adept at looking deathly afraid.
I would have also gone with Redgrave over Ronan, and consideration to Gainsbourg, Schygulla, MacDonald, and Emma Stone for Superbad.
Italiano said it recently in another thread that he's sorry but he'd vote for a homophobe if the performance was the best. Cate Blanchett was the best in this category among the chosen ones, in what is quite a good selection of nominees. I like Amy Ryan too, but I'm not going to vote for her because Cate Blanchett gets an Oscar nom every 5 minutes. I also think Swinton has been a revelation in the recent past, but here she simply elevated nothing into a somewhat interesting villain very adept at looking deathly afraid.
I would have also gone with Redgrave over Ronan, and consideration to Gainsbourg, Schygulla, MacDonald, and Emma Stone for Superbad.
It's very rare that several of my choices receive nominations, but that was the kind of boon that '07 was.
Ruby Dee is the weak link, although she absolutely nails her scenes. Atonement is a weird film. The first chapter is absolutely masterful and in no small part because of Ronan. Swinton perhaps does the most with her role on the page. I could see any number of actresses turning in a very bland performance, but she truly - more than any of the nominated performances - enliven it up as much as possible. But it's still Michael Clayton, an entertaining piece of smart hokum that paved the way for the awesomeness that is Duplicity.
For me, it's between the two equal-parts fascinating and obnoxious bravados: Ryan and Blanchett. One is a stand-out in an ensemble, another is the definition of true support. I would usually go for the latter any day of the week, but this is Cate Blanchett doing Bob Dylan. She's my choice.
My Picks
1. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
2. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
3. Anna Kendrick, Rocket Science
4. Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
5. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding
Ruby Dee is the weak link, although she absolutely nails her scenes. Atonement is a weird film. The first chapter is absolutely masterful and in no small part because of Ronan. Swinton perhaps does the most with her role on the page. I could see any number of actresses turning in a very bland performance, but she truly - more than any of the nominated performances - enliven it up as much as possible. But it's still Michael Clayton, an entertaining piece of smart hokum that paved the way for the awesomeness that is Duplicity.
For me, it's between the two equal-parts fascinating and obnoxious bravados: Ryan and Blanchett. One is a stand-out in an ensemble, another is the definition of true support. I would usually go for the latter any day of the week, but this is Cate Blanchett doing Bob Dylan. She's my choice.
My Picks
1. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
2. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
3. Anna Kendrick, Rocket Science
4. Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
5. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding
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Quite a strong lineup.
The only one who really doesn't belong is Ruby Dee. She was powerful in the "She will leave you...I will leave you" scene, but she's barely in the movie, and one good slap does not a great performance make. Thank god she didn't win.
According to me, Saoirse Ronan was definitely the best Briony. And I thought she was very impressive -- she nailed the character as written, and, like Paquin in The Piano, seemed to display an understanding of this character well beyond her years. I think this charismatic and intelligent young actress she has a bright future ahead of her, but the nomination was reward enough for her this time out.
I was perfectly fine with Swinton's win, though more for her overall awesome work as an actress than for this specific role. But I still liked her a lot here -- particularly the way she suggests that her character is used to having to work just a little bit harder because she's a woman in order to get where she wants to go in the work world. For an actress whose career didn't seem like it would ever take her to a mainstream awards podium, I was happy to see her win; at the same time, it's too bad she won for the decent but generic Michael Clayton instead of one of her edgier, iconic roles.
This race for me also comes down to Blanchett vs. Ryan, and I think both are outstanding candidates. It pains me to think that one of them won't get my vote. Blanchett gave the best of her nominated performances so far in I'm Not There, easily the best film nominated here. And her riff on Dylan was supremely entertaining -- you can tell she's having a blast, using her old-fashioned movie star charisma to create a character unlike anything we'd seen her do up to that point. She's amazing.
But I sided with her last year, not only to settle my ambivalence toward the '06 field, but also to make me feel better about not voting for her here. And so I give my vote this year to the actress who I really wanted to see take home the Oscar that night: Amy Ryan. She's exactly the kind of performer I love to see honored in the supporting categories: she was a virtually a nobody, who didn't even appear on the poster for her movie, but who took her supporting role and made it THE reason to see her film. Her performance is extraordinary, a complex portrait of a horrible mother who also, somehow, loves her daughter very much. She was tragic, and funny, and a complete life force on screen. Given her competition, she doesn't get my vote with ease, but she does get it with enthusiasm, and I'm nearly as happy to vote for her here as I was for the other Amy two years ago.
The only one who really doesn't belong is Ruby Dee. She was powerful in the "She will leave you...I will leave you" scene, but she's barely in the movie, and one good slap does not a great performance make. Thank god she didn't win.
According to me, Saoirse Ronan was definitely the best Briony. And I thought she was very impressive -- she nailed the character as written, and, like Paquin in The Piano, seemed to display an understanding of this character well beyond her years. I think this charismatic and intelligent young actress she has a bright future ahead of her, but the nomination was reward enough for her this time out.
I was perfectly fine with Swinton's win, though more for her overall awesome work as an actress than for this specific role. But I still liked her a lot here -- particularly the way she suggests that her character is used to having to work just a little bit harder because she's a woman in order to get where she wants to go in the work world. For an actress whose career didn't seem like it would ever take her to a mainstream awards podium, I was happy to see her win; at the same time, it's too bad she won for the decent but generic Michael Clayton instead of one of her edgier, iconic roles.
This race for me also comes down to Blanchett vs. Ryan, and I think both are outstanding candidates. It pains me to think that one of them won't get my vote. Blanchett gave the best of her nominated performances so far in I'm Not There, easily the best film nominated here. And her riff on Dylan was supremely entertaining -- you can tell she's having a blast, using her old-fashioned movie star charisma to create a character unlike anything we'd seen her do up to that point. She's amazing.
But I sided with her last year, not only to settle my ambivalence toward the '06 field, but also to make me feel better about not voting for her here. And so I give my vote this year to the actress who I really wanted to see take home the Oscar that night: Amy Ryan. She's exactly the kind of performer I love to see honored in the supporting categories: she was a virtually a nobody, who didn't even appear on the poster for her movie, but who took her supporting role and made it THE reason to see her film. Her performance is extraordinary, a complex portrait of a horrible mother who also, somehow, loves her daughter very much. She was tragic, and funny, and a complete life force on screen. Given her competition, she doesn't get my vote with ease, but she does get it with enthusiasm, and I'm nearly as happy to vote for her here as I was for the other Amy two years ago.