The Original BJ wrote:And I also greatly preferred her costar. I get that a lot of people view Octavia Spencer's character as simply a sassy black maid stereotype. But rarely has a character of this type been imbued with so much anger and bitterness, so that her sense of humor becomes a clear coping mechanism for all the grief she goes through, at work and at home. And, yes, it's a definite crowd-pleasing role (complete with instant catchphrases like "Minny don't burn chicken!" and "Eat my shit"). But Spencer manages to make her well-rounded as well, delivering not only laughs but also outrage and heartbreak.
Exactly!
I think the performance is excellent but she gets extra praise from me for subverting a poorly-written and condescending role. After all, this is a character who actually says "I love me some fried chicken" in a non-ironic context.
Sabin wrote:Whether or not Sareh Bayet is supporting and Leila Hatami is leading is debatable, but 2012 is one of the few years where I would champion a film being nominated in all four acting categories. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that Sareh Bayet and Shahab Hosseini are have come in strongly on a lot of lists here. Here's hoping that Peyman Moaadi does the same when we move to Best Actor 2011. In my humble opinion, he gave the best performance of the year.
I think Moaadi is the only lead. Hatami's role "makes sense" as the lead but she's barely in half of the film. Bayat has a dominant role for most of the film but the film shifts to other perspectives in the third act.
The Original BJ wrote:But, as far as I'm concerned, [Bejo] was the worst case of category fraud no one even bothered to fight against -- you might as well call one half of the pair in any iteration of A Star is Born a supporting player.
I stand by my assertion that the platonic nature of their relationship pushed her aside. The entire film has Dujardin in every scene save the one where Peppy tries to convince Otto (John Goodman) to take Valentine back into the studio or he loses her as well. Otherwise, she's missing through the other important scenes. The entire opening inside the theater, the domestic scenes showing the Valentines' crumbling marriage, the auction up until we see her crying in her car, etc. Had there been an official love story in the film, Bejo would be lead no doubt.
"Men get to be a mixture of the charming mannerisms of the women they have known." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Whether or not Sareh Bayet is supporting and Leila Hatami is leading is debatable, but 2012 is one of the few years where I would champion a film being nominated in all four acting categories. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that Sareh Bayet and Shahab Hosseini are have come in strongly on a lot of lists here. Here's hoping that Peyman Moaadi does the same when we move to Best Actor 2011. In my humble opinion, he gave the best performance of the year.
We often hear griping about how the Oscars unfairly reject comedy candidates, but I see a lot of laughs on this ballot (both in comedic films as well as comic relief), and I'd have happily removed a lot of these lightweight performances for more dramatic heavyweights.
My clear choice for best of the year would be Carey Mulligan's lacerating Shame performance; I was crushed she was excluded. My silver and bronze medalists would be Vanessa Redgrave and Sareh Bayat, both of whom are electrifying in their efforts.
As to the nominees, Bejo is immensely charming and plucky in The Artist, though the role doesn't have much depth, even compared to Jean Dujardin. But, as far as I'm concerned, this was the worst case of category fraud no one even bothered to fight against -- you might as well call one half of the pair in any iteration of A Star is Born a supporting player.
So...my big dissent: I don't share the great enthusiasm for Janet McTeer's Albert Nobbs work. I'd loved her in Tumbleweeds, and was glad she finally got another solid film role over a decade after that screen breakthrough. And she's certainly the life of the party in Albert Nobbs...but what a dreary party it is! By me, McTeer delivers solid, professional work (though I, too, didn't buy her as a man), but nothing exciting enough that she'd get my vote.
I'd been a fan of Melissa McCarthy as far back as Gilmore Girls, and later, when she began to make a name for herself in the LA theater scene -- every time she performed at The Groundlings, the line would be around the block, with people clamoring to get a seat to see her. So I was happy to see her get this breakthrough. And I thought she was very funny in Bridesmaids, not only in her big scenes, but also in plenty of her throwaway reaction shots. But...while a lot of people in my real life were thrilled such a broadly comic role could be cited, all I could think was, I'd happily remove her from the list if it meant one of my dramatic favorites could have placed instead.
I'm going to disagree with ksrymy and argue on that, on The Help alone, Jessica Chastain would probably NOT have made this list -- I don't recall there being all that much buzz about her upon the film's release, certainly not compared to the other two acting nominees from the film. I feel like she became a player once she started winning all those critics awards, which were clear recognition for her big year. It's not that The Help was a bad film for which to cite her -- I thought she was quite funny, if a bit broad, and the miscarriage scene very poignant. But I preferred her earthy dramatic work in Take Shelter, and I anticipate more opportunities to choose her down the road.
And I also greatly preferred her costar. I get that a lot of people view Octavia Spencer's character as simply a sassy black maid stereotype. But rarely has a character of this type been imbued with so much anger and bitterness, so that her sense of humor becomes a clear coping mechanism for all the grief she goes through, at work and at home. And, yes, it's a definite crowd-pleasing role (complete with instant catchphrases like "Minny don't burn chicken!" and "Eat my shit"). But Spencer manages to make her well-rounded as well, delivering not only laughs but also outrage and heartbreak. As I said, Spencer wouldn't have been near the top of my ballot, but I think she delivers the most memorable work of this nominated batch, and she gets my vote.
Last edited by The Original BJ on Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
After having seen The Help, I'm kind of surprised Octavia Spencer got the traction that she did and became the awards season front-runner in this category. The only truly notable, unforgettable scene she did was the shit pie scene. I thought there was more to her than that and there wasn't. She wasn't bad and I'm thrilled that a hard-working character actress like her gained some recognition and will have steady work for a while. Her performance, however, isn't something I would nominate much less give an Oscar to.
Jessica Chastain is, for me, the best part of The Help (along with Viola Davis). Despite her minimal screen time, she actually created a believable human character. I'd probably have liked the film more had they made her the lead role instead of Emma Stone's character. However, I don't think she'd have gotten the nomination had she not been EVERYWHERE last year.
Berenice Bejo was great as Peppy Miller but I think that movie is Jean Dujardin's show all the way.
Which brings me to Melissa McCarthy. I have to be in the minority here and say that I think it's rather refreshing that a broadly comedic performance like that would get a nomination. I'm not the biggest fan of Judd Apatow's works. They tend to be overlong and bloated. Bridesmaids is no exception but there were enough big laughs and charming moments in this one to get me through the parts I didn't like and Melissa McCarthy is one of the reasons for it. She's such a funny, hilarious character and oddly likeable too. One should also take note that this is a film and a performance not really "designed" for an Oscar nomination. Audiences and critics simply loved the performance and it propelled it to an Oscar nom. She gets my vote.
Tree of Life is a good film, but nowhere near the great film many of its supporters purported. Of course, I feel the same about Hugo, whose praise was severely overblown.
In this poll, Janet McTeer is fantastic. Easily head and shoulders about her competitors with The Help ladies doing good, but not exceptional work and Melissa McCarthy is hysterical, but hardly the showpiece this category deserves. Bejo is something of a joke for this category.
I'll have to agree with most others that the best performances of the year weren't in the category: Jessica Chastain was damned good in Tree of Life even if I think the film was overwrought at times. Vanessa Redgrave is marvelous in Coriolanus and Shailene is a brilliant discovery in The Descendants. For me, though, Carey Mulligan delivers a stellar performance in Shame, a film unfairly shut out of the Oscars. If there was any doubt of Mulligan's talent, those fears should be completely wiped away after Shame.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Great concept. Too slow (indulgent) to hold my interest. Filmed beautifully and too pretentiously. Instead of a bland everyman family, I would have given them much more character - the message would still have been conveyed and the movie would have been much more interesting.
ksrymy wrote:
nightwingnova wrote:the insufferable Tree of Life.
You and I are the sole mavericks of the board who hold this opinion. We're in for the long haul.
I haven't seen Albert Nobbs yet; though the scenes of McTeer in it that I have seen do intrigue me.
Bejo was outstanding in a part that required less acting talent than sublime physical movement. She mined and mimed that faux silent film cadence and rhythm to complement those of Jean Du Jardin. Quite difficult to do and done with brilliant perfection.
Melissa McCarthy hammed it up to the point of being a sore thumb, imho. The others played the comedy superbly with subtlety. McCarthy was not believable being so overly crass and raw.
Octavia Spencer was standard.
Jessica Chastain was good in Taking Shelter and fine in the insufferable Tree of Life. I haven't been able to make myself see The Help; so I can't judge her performance here.
I will add that Carey Mulligan was good enough in Shame and Shailene Woodley was stupendous in The Descendants.
Last edited by nightwingnova on Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mister Tee wrote:But I never found her terribly convincing as a man (except when she and Close went walking in dresses -- suddenly McTeer looked like a truck driver).
Right?! Neither came off as capable of convincing anyone they were male and then they put on dresses and, suddenly... they're two of the three stooges!
