Kerry Fox in 'An Angel at My Table' is an astonishing performance that doubtlessly didn't have a shot in hell. I believe Gong Li's 'Ju Dou' is a 1991 release; that would also be a strong contender in my mind.
I refuse to believe that I am the only person on the planet who thinks that Jodie Foster is overrated in 'The Silence of the Lambs'. She certainly rises to the task but doesn't demonstrate the emotional range of a bevy of other contenders. Lord knows, she gives some kind of implosive virtuoso but often times she just seems like she's giving the same kind of line reading again and again. Maybe I need to see one of Jodie Foster's child performances aside from 'Taxi Driver', but as an adult I've just never been terribly impressed. I think 'Contact' is bollocks but Foster's work there is pretty strong if only because it caters to her strong suits.
There is a lifetime's worth of nuance in the performances of Davis and Sarandon, and Dern as well. Lively, fiery nuance. As well as Pfeiffer and now several other contenders. In Foster's performance, I see shades that derive almost strictly from Demme's use of flashback and framing. In a way, her performance is as much a horror showcase as Hopkins, except the latter is clearly having so much more fun. I enjoy 'The Silence of the Lambs, but it peaks long before the end.
1991 Oscar Shouldabeens
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Big Magilla
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I did! I did! For me 1990 was the worst year in movie history as far as any particular film desrving a best picture award is concerned- GoodFellas gets my vote but only as a consolation prize. Dances With Wolves has some lovely moments, but goes on way too long. However, I did like Godfather III except for Sophia Coppola's godawful performance and I liked Awakenings and Ghost as much as most of the films of 1991.--Mister Tee wrote:I didn't think it was such a mediocre year for films. I loved Thelma and Louise, Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Europa Europa and The Commitments -- and, even if I didn't think Bugsy, JFK, Grand Canyon or Barton Fink were great films, they were infinitely superior to Ghost, Awakenings and Godfather III, which, lest we forget, were three of the five best picture nominees just a year earlier. Maybe you had to have experienced the year in real time.
1991's only really perfect film is Beauty and the Beast. Next to that, The Silence of the Lambs, JFK, Thelma & Louise and Fried Green Tomatoes are all deserving of also-ran best picture nods IMO. Rounding out my top ten are The Fisher King, Frankie & Johnny, My Own Private Idaho, Europa Euopa and Hear My Song.
I thought the awards season got off to a bad start from which it never recovered when the L.A. Film Critics were the first to announce that year and gave their best picture award to the over-rated Bugsy and elevated Mercedes Ruehl to best actress for The Fisher King.
Barry Levinson gets a lot of heat in retrospect for the mediocaracy of Rain Man, but that film is a masterpiece compared to Bugsy, which despite some strong acting is a little bit late in the modern gangster genre to to be considred best picture material.
I thought Ruehl was good, but not as good as Maureen O'Hara in Only the Lonly or Kate Nelligan in either The Prince of Tides or Frankie & Johnny, either of which she could have been nominated for in the supporting actress category, and I liked sentimental candidates Jessica Tandy in Fried Green Tomatoes and Diane Ladd in Rambling Rose about as much as I did Ruehl.
As for best actress, there were many better choices than Ruehl, most of them singled out in this thread.
At the time my favorites were Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in Thelma & Louise, but unable to choose one over the other I gave my award to Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs, though I always felt Michelle Pfeiffer deserved more credit than she got for Frankie & Johnny.
Why the film flopped at the box office, I don't know, maybe it was because audiences preferred to see her in a more glamorous role, maybe it was the nagative publicity about Kathy Bates having been overlooked, maybe it was they could only accept Garry Marshall films that were lighter like the previous year's Pretty Woman.
In any event, those four actresses were the only ones worth considering for the top prize, though many others vied for the fifth slot. I considered both Lili Taylor in Dogfight and Laura Dern in Rambling Rose but gave my fifth slot to Bette Midler in For the Boys. The film may be flawed, but Midler's performance is not. It was the last of the old-style musical biographies though the character she plays is fictional, and she got to sing a wide range of songs from Come Rain or come Shine to In My Life in superb fashion. Martha Raye later sued claiming the film was supposed to have been about her but that Midler took liberties with the story so she wouldn't have to pay her, which has put a further damper on the film's reputation, but it's worth one's time, far more so than a Mame or A Little Night Music, films that should have been great, but were torture to sit through due to the miscating of their leading ladies.
But, it's like, don't bemoan the lack of strong roles for older women and your own lack of success (and missed Oscar nominations) on one hand, then turn down the part of Georgia frickin' O'Keefe on the other. And while I might not have the entire story, I don't think she'd go all the way to court because she didn't want to work with Ben Kingsley. I'd venture to say he had little, if anything, to do with her decision to drop out of the project.
Edited By flipp525 on 1182803765
Edited By flipp525 on 1182803765
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Big Magilla
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These allegations are probably not the whole story. Besides, anyone who refuses to work with the self-important "Sir" Ben Kingsley for whatever reason can't be all that bad.--flipp525 wrote:According to Kevin Smith, who directed Fiorentino in Dogma, she was "very difficult to work with, sometimes to the point that she wouldn't even speak to him". Obviously, I'm just surmising that she's a total bitch but I really wouldn't be surprised. That kind of reputation can translate into a lack of available roles, especially for older women.
I also find it annoying that she refused to play Georgia O'Keefe (opposite Ben Kingsley as Stieglitz) because of lesbian acts she'd have to portray leading to a court battle and subsequent postponement/cancellation of the project. Just get over it, bitch. It's called acting. No one's gonna think you're a dyke.
As for Kevin Smith, the guy can be quite annoying. If she was so horrible why did he use her in a cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back three years later? They must have kissed and made up.
According to Kevin Smith, who directed Fiorentino in Dogma, she was "very difficult to work with, sometimes to the point that she wouldn't even speak to him". Obviously, I'm just surmising that she's a total bitch but I really wouldn't be surprised. That kind of reputation can translate into a lack of available roles, especially for older women.
I also find it annoying that she refused to play Georgia O'Keefe (opposite Ben Kingsley as Stieglitz) because of lesbian acts she'd have to portray leading to a court battle and subsequent postponement/cancellation of the project. Just get over it, bitch. It's called acting. No one's gonna think you're a dyke.
I also find it annoying that she refused to play Georgia O'Keefe (opposite Ben Kingsley as Stieglitz) because of lesbian acts she'd have to portray leading to a court battle and subsequent postponement/cancellation of the project. Just get over it, bitch. It's called acting. No one's gonna think you're a dyke.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Glenn Close really should have an Oscar at this point. It just doesn't make any sense. Maybe for Sunset Blvd?
Debra Winger dropped off and dropped out and Linda Fiorentino is just a grade-A bitch.
Debra Winger dropped off and dropped out and Linda Fiorentino is just a grade-A bitch.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Mister Tee wrote:Pfeiffer's strongest suit is precisely those injured-by-life, scrapping-to-get-by characters. Her solution to this casting conundrum has been to mostly sit out the last decade or so from films, which I think is a colossal waste. I, and many others, would have sworn she'd have an Oscar by now.
I absolutely agree with you. Pfeiffer's absence from the screen has really been a great waste. No doubt she would have won by now if she had continued making films.
Am amazed that Fried Green Tomatoes has so many fans on this board!
Mister Tee wrote:But, based on films like Frankie and Baker Boys and Married to the Mob -- even Into the Night -- Pfeiffer's strongest suit is precisely those injured-by-life, scrapping-to-get-by characters.
For me, Pfeiffer's singing "Makin' Whoopee" on the piano in The Fabulous Baker Boys could be described as semi-wholesome porn.
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Mister Tee
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How did I miss this thread for so long?
I thought Fried Green Tomatoes was partly a nice, lyrical film -- the flashback -- almost negated by an unconscionably broad framing story. I have maximum admiration for Tandy and Bates, but I thought their part of the story was buffoonish (when it wasn't being shameless, as when the empty bed suggested Tandy had died). It seemed ridiculous for Tandy to get the nod for the weak sections when, I agree, Masterson was wonderful in her scenes. But the Academy has had a propensity in recent decades for nominating recent winners in lackluster appearances (Rush in Shakespeare in Love, Theron in North Country).
In fact, most of the supporting actress slate that year seemed just a bit off to me -- in addition to Masterson over Tandy, I preferred Plummer over Ruehl in Fisher King, and, like many, Nelligan in Frankie and Johnny over Nelligan in Prince of Tides.
I didn't think it was such a mediocre year for films. I loved Thelma and Louise, Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Europa Europa and The Commitments -- and, even if I didn't think Bugsy, JFK, Grand Canyon or Barton Fink were great films, they were infinitely superior to Ghost, Awakenings and Godfather III, which, lest we forget, were three of the five best picture nominees just a year earlier. Maybe you had to have experienced the year in real time.
As for the best actress race: I never saw Bates as even in the running for a nomination. Foster, Davis and Sarandon were locked by Fourth of July. Once it became clear Dern's little film had entered beloved territory, her nod was also assured, and I was pretty certain it would come down to Midler or Pfeiffer -- both of whose films had been notable flops -- for the fifth slot. I much preferred Pfeiffer's performance, but Midler ran a great sympathy campaign: she persuaded people her film's failure had been because it was too good for audiences. In reality, it was a dreary soap opera, directed with in standard sledge-hammer style by Mark Rydell -- and Midler's old age acting was an embarrassment. Frankie and Johnny was no kiss for Christmas, either: it wavered uneasily between McNally's original (fine) play and Garry Marshall's "Life is a sitcom" sensibility. But I thought Pfeiffer (along with Nelligan) was superb, empathizing as fully with her lower-class character as she had in Fabulous Baker Boys. Unfortunately for her, she took alot of critical heat for "swiping" the role from a less attractive actress (like, to come full circle, Kathy Bates, who'd played the part beautifully on stage). Theron, Berry and Kidman win for de-glamming today, but Pfeiffer was pilloried for it.
I think Pfeiffer has a unique career problem. She's so extraordinarily beautiful, people are reluctant to accept her as middle or lower class -- the assumption apparently being, anyone that striking must have been born to the purple. But, based on films like Frankie and Baker Boys and Married to the Mob -- even Into the Night -- Pfeiffer's strongest suit is precisely those injured-by-life, scrapping-to-get-by characters. Her solution to this casting conundrum has been to mostly sit out the last decade or so from films, which I think is a colossal waste. I, and many others, would have sworn she'd have an Oscar by now.
I thought Fried Green Tomatoes was partly a nice, lyrical film -- the flashback -- almost negated by an unconscionably broad framing story. I have maximum admiration for Tandy and Bates, but I thought their part of the story was buffoonish (when it wasn't being shameless, as when the empty bed suggested Tandy had died). It seemed ridiculous for Tandy to get the nod for the weak sections when, I agree, Masterson was wonderful in her scenes. But the Academy has had a propensity in recent decades for nominating recent winners in lackluster appearances (Rush in Shakespeare in Love, Theron in North Country).
In fact, most of the supporting actress slate that year seemed just a bit off to me -- in addition to Masterson over Tandy, I preferred Plummer over Ruehl in Fisher King, and, like many, Nelligan in Frankie and Johnny over Nelligan in Prince of Tides.
I didn't think it was such a mediocre year for films. I loved Thelma and Louise, Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Europa Europa and The Commitments -- and, even if I didn't think Bugsy, JFK, Grand Canyon or Barton Fink were great films, they were infinitely superior to Ghost, Awakenings and Godfather III, which, lest we forget, were three of the five best picture nominees just a year earlier. Maybe you had to have experienced the year in real time.
As for the best actress race: I never saw Bates as even in the running for a nomination. Foster, Davis and Sarandon were locked by Fourth of July. Once it became clear Dern's little film had entered beloved territory, her nod was also assured, and I was pretty certain it would come down to Midler or Pfeiffer -- both of whose films had been notable flops -- for the fifth slot. I much preferred Pfeiffer's performance, but Midler ran a great sympathy campaign: she persuaded people her film's failure had been because it was too good for audiences. In reality, it was a dreary soap opera, directed with in standard sledge-hammer style by Mark Rydell -- and Midler's old age acting was an embarrassment. Frankie and Johnny was no kiss for Christmas, either: it wavered uneasily between McNally's original (fine) play and Garry Marshall's "Life is a sitcom" sensibility. But I thought Pfeiffer (along with Nelligan) was superb, empathizing as fully with her lower-class character as she had in Fabulous Baker Boys. Unfortunately for her, she took alot of critical heat for "swiping" the role from a less attractive actress (like, to come full circle, Kathy Bates, who'd played the part beautifully on stage). Theron, Berry and Kidman win for de-glamming today, but Pfeiffer was pilloried for it.
I think Pfeiffer has a unique career problem. She's so extraordinarily beautiful, people are reluctant to accept her as middle or lower class -- the assumption apparently being, anyone that striking must have been born to the purple. But, based on films like Frankie and Baker Boys and Married to the Mob -- even Into the Night -- Pfeiffer's strongest suit is precisely those injured-by-life, scrapping-to-get-by characters. Her solution to this casting conundrum has been to mostly sit out the last decade or so from films, which I think is a colossal waste. I, and many others, would have sworn she'd have an Oscar by now.
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I liked Shirley MacLaine's cameo in Defending Your Life best of all.--rudeboy wrote:Brooks is grand at getting glorious comic performances out of his leading ladies. Along with Streep, I adore Julie Hagerty in Lost in America and Debbie Reynolds in Mother. Rip Torn also richly deserved a nod for Defending Your Life - a treat of a performance.--Sabin wrote:For a mediocre year for movies, 1991 has a bevy of personal faves. Especially Albert Brooks' long-neglected 'Defending Your Life', which shows that Meryl Streep could be funny a decade prior to 'Adaptation.'.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
--Sabin wrote:For a mediocre year for movies, 1991 has a bevy of personal faves. Especially Albert Brooks' long-neglected 'Defending Your Life', which shows that Meryl Streep could be funny a decade prior to 'Adaptation.'.
Brooks is grand at getting glorious comic performances out of his leading ladies. Along with Streep, I adore Julie Hagerty in Lost in America and Debbie Reynolds in Mother. Rip Torn also richly deserved a nod for Defending Your Life - a treat of a performance.
Lili Taylor is wonderful in 'Dogfight'. So is Mimi Rogers in 'The Rapture'.
For a mediocre year for movies, 1991 has a bevy of personal faves. Especially Albert Brooks' long-neglected 'Defending Your Life', which shows that Meryl Streep could be funny a decade prior to 'Adaptation.'.
For a mediocre year for movies, 1991 has a bevy of personal faves. Especially Albert Brooks' long-neglected 'Defending Your Life', which shows that Meryl Streep could be funny a decade prior to 'Adaptation.'.
"How's the despair?"