Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

I think she stole Like Crazy from the femaole lead Felicity Jones whom I found insufferable.

dws1982 wrote:Like Crazy is by far my favorite Jennifer Lawrence performance.

She was very good in that, and I strongly disliked the movie itself.

Oh well, you can't please all the people all of the time. Not everyone is happy with Emmanuelle's BFTA win:

https://twitter.com/sam_clements/status ... 88/photo/1

Poor pampered babies.

What do you think of Amour, Big Magilla? Honestly.

I think BJ's comparison of Lawrence-Chastain-Riva to Paltrow-Blanchett-Montenegro is a good one if not entirely apples to apples.

Gwyneth Paltrow's back story of being a second generation Hollywood star whose personal life had been in the headlines for several years vs. an Australian actress most AMPAS members were unfamiliar with vs. a Brazilian actress they had never heard of either was a bit different.

I don't know anyone who doesn't like Jennifer Lawrence. She's a gifted young actress whose career is still in the ascendancy. I personally have a problem with the structure of her film and the believability of her character, but not her performance. Jessica Chastain has proven in only a handful of films that she is a versatile actress capable of doing just about anything. She is a force to be reckoned with but the controversy surrounding her film hurts her chances. Both will likely be in the conversation for years. The problem with Amour is that but is a very tough film to watch, but rings truer than most films in contention. I can't believe that any AMPAS member worth his or her salt hasn't at least attempted to watch the film and been moved by Riva's performance even in just the first few scenes. On basis of performance alone she should win even if she is not that well known in the U.S. She isn't that well known in France, either. But everyone has heard of Hirsohima Mon Amour even if they haven't seen it and can marvel at her most unusual comeback a la Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy.

And when is Hollywood going to wise up to Harvey Weinstein and his strong arming voters into believing his films and his films alone worthy of awards? How many of them are feeling a bit hoodwinked in retrospect after the last two years in which the history lite The King's Speech and the already forgotten silent remake of Singin' in the Rain won everything in sight? This year the choices are more diverse and the awards more spread out. Less than two weeks to the Oscars and anything is still possible although Argo, Daniel Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway seem unbeatable. Jennifer Lawrence does not.

The Original BJ wrote:So, the Best Actress race right now looks like this:

You've got a young starlet in her twenties in a romantic comedy, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical and the SAG Award, two years after she had a major breakthrough film role. Her detractors don't find her role very substantial, but the media loves her and she's gotten a big push from Harvey Weinstein.

Right at her heels is a slightly older actress, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, only one year after she had a significant cinema breakthrough. This actress is touted by many as the next great film actress, and is viewed by many as a more "serious" thespian.

Then you have a significantly older actress, in a foreign language film, who seems to be the favorite of the critical community, and who won many critics' prizes for her work. Many members of the UAADB find her work to be the standout, but most people in the states, even in Hollywood, have probably never heard of her before this movie.

I'd be interested to know how Cate Blanchett and Fernanda Montenegro think this race will turn out.

This is certainly a good comparison - and the race WILL turn out that way. Still, let me point out that there IS a difference between Emmanuelle Riva's career and Fernanda Montenegro's, and I hope that definitely not in the States but at least in Hollywood they have heard Riva's name before. Some, at least.

OscarGuy wrote:But haven't we always argued that it should be about the individual performance not that actress? Emmanuelle Riva may be an overall better actress than Lawrence, but we're not talking about overalls. We're talking about these specific performances.

Maybe you are talking about these specific performances - I'm not, Oscar Guy. And you should know by now that it's rarely just about "specific performances".

And Sabin, Jennifer Lawrence may turn out to be the next Greta Garbo, but at the moment I still can't understand what Americans see in her. Ah but they also think that Sandra Bullock is a great actress, true...

So, the Best Actress race right now looks like this:

You've got a young starlet in her twenties in a romantic comedy, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical and the SAG Award, two years after she had a major breakthrough film role. Her detractors don't find her role very substantial, but the media loves her and she's gotten a big push from Harvey Weinstein.

Right at her heels is a slightly older actress, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, only one year after she had a significant cinema breakthrough. This actress is touted by many as the next great film actress, and is viewed by many as a more "serious" thespian.

Then you have a significantly older actress, in a foreign language film, who seems to be the favorite of the critical community, and who won many critics' prizes for her work. Many members of the UAADB find her work to be the standout, but most people in the states, even in Hollywood, have probably never heard of her before this movie.

I'd be interested to know how Cate Blanchett and Fernanda Montenegro think this race will turn out.

Always remember the Harvey Weinstein factor. A lot of reputation is at stake here and I'm not ready to give up on his ability to turn things in his favor.

I think in order for Emmanuelle Riva to win, I honestly think that the only thing that has to happen is for enough Academy members to SEE her movie. Period. I believe people who see Amour will vote for Riva 9 times out of 10.

Plus I really never got the sense that there's a clamour to give Jennifer Lawrence an Oscar, or that it is her time to win. She's very young, even in the standards of Best Actress winners. Oscar likes his Best Actresses young, sure but usually not THAT young. She also only JUST became famous a couple of years ago and her career has only just begun. People may feel she may have other chances and winning an Oscar at this point in her career could be more of a liability than an advantage.


Just my 2 cents.

Like Crazy is by far my favorite Jennifer Lawrence performance.

Didn't see that. Was she good?

Sabin, there was also her strong supporting turn in Like Crazy.

ITALIANO wrote:

Big Magilla wrote: Very happy for Riva, hopefully this will cement her Oscar chances over Hollywood's golden girl of the moment.

I'm also happy, though this was always going to go to Riva. They may speak English, but they are still European, and for a European into movies voting for Jennifer Lawrence over Emmanuelle Riva would be unthinkable. These two actresses are worlds apart, really. In America it's different, of course. So I guess that this means that Chastain has no chance anymore, Riva will probably finish in second place, and Hollywood's golden girl of the moment will sadly triumph.

Best Supporting Actor is also getting interesting.

As for Best Picture, let me still hope that Argo won't win... I know, I'm the only one now...

If they were true European, they would have nominated Jean-Louis Trintignant over Ben Affleck.
Otherwise, I agree with you.

I don't understand comparing Jennifer Lawrence to Elizabeth Taylor. I also don't understand claiming to know Jennifer Lawrence as a performer very well. Unless one is a Jennifer Lawrence completist and has charted her through stuff like The Bill Engvall Show, The Beaver, or House at the End of the Street, we're basing our opinions of Jennifer Lawrence off of X-Men: First Class, Winter's Bone, The Hunger Games, and Silver Linings Playbook. And most likely not even First Class where she's buried in makeup the entire time and isn't given the opportunity to do much. It's really just three ridiculously high-profile engagements for an actress as fresh as she is. Comparing her to anyone doesn't make much sense to me because it seems like her rise to success is meteoric enough for her to stand out as an individual -- at least as a leafy lady. Working in the industry for her adolescence and then not just spiking in popularity with a mega-franchise like The Hunger Games but two Oscar nominations before turning 23 is pretty impressive.

I don't think she deserves to beat Emmanuel Riva, but I sure do hope she beats Jessica Chastain.