Best Actress 2011

[ksrymy]

I'll save you all from hearing another one of my Help rants. Davis is good, but she resorts to tears when she doesn't know how to act out a scene. My only interaction with Damien during the short time our presences here overlapped was him agreeing with this statement.

Rooney Mara was pretty alright in the adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel, but the nomination goes to the character of Lisbeth Salander who may be the best literary character of this young millennium. It's a no-holds-barred performance that helped the film succeed.

Glenn Close is very timid in Albert Nobbs, but she knows how to play him/her. She'd spent how many years trying to get this film off the ground again? Close and Janet McTeer are the only reasons this film is even worth a view. Close's chemistry with Mia Wasikowska, though, is terrible and unconvincing.

Michelle Williams got the role of a lifetime playing Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, the script held her back from an Oscar. If the film were about Marilyn's entire Hollywood career and whatnot then there is no doubt in my mind that Williams would have had an Oscar. She's sexy and convincing, but, since the screenplay itself failed, her performance seems nothing more than an impersonation à la Jamie Foxx in 2004.

So, by default, I'll vote for Meryl Streep. Her screenplay is also very shaky and, like Williams, she rises above it. However, we get that tacky, sentimental, seeing-the-dead-husband deal which gives us a little more insight into the Margaret Thatcher character. This allows Streep to take an even bigger hold of the film and command attention at all times. Her accent is spot-on and she deservedly won her third Oscar.

But, my oh my, Streep is the only worthy nominee from the list. Jeong-hie Yun (Poetry), Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Anna Paquin (Margaret), Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy), and the other four ladies listed below were all much better. With the exception of Mara, this lineup will seem, in years to come, very much a "these ladies always get nominated so why not again?" lineup.

My picks
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1. Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia
2. Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin
3. Leila Hatami - A Separation
4. Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene
5. Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady

6. Charlize Theron - Young Adult