Best Actress 1988

[OscarGoesTwo]

Sigourney Weaver is my choice

Jodie Foster in 2nd

Meryl Streep in 3rd

Melanie Griffith in 4th

Glenn Close in 5th

[mayukh]

I thought Michelle Pfeiffer gave far and away the best performance this year in Married to the Mob – a gloriously sane, insightful performance.

Jamie Lee Curtis was very fine in A Fish Called Wanda, and Christine Lahti was the most affecting element of Running on Empty. The other name I haven't seen mentioned here is Natasha Richardson in Patty Hearst, one of the few times this magical actress (with so much of her mother's charisma) channeled her talent onto the screen.

Like many others, I voted for Glenn Close, though I think of this as a famously good line-up. I don't think she has the necessary sex appeal for the role, but Close is brave and funny in her approach here, very easy to connect to.

Jodie Foster is an absurdly intelligent actress, and for this reason she's good-not-great in The Accused. You can tell that the director she was working with didn't know how to shape her intense, messy anger into something believable and affecting. Her approach is too cerebral.

Upon my first viewing of the film, I thought Melanie Griffith was all wrong for Working Girl – Nichols needed an actress who could ably chart the character's ascent to success. Griffith was so passive, not cunning, that it seemed that her character got by on sheer luck (yes, she certainly succeeds because of luck, but also because of how well she maneuvers the system). But I do think that Griffith is a much better actress than people give her credit for, and I've noticed in more recent viewings she does some subtle, quirky things with her character (the frog in her throat, for example) that say a lot about her "journey". She totally deserved this nomination.

Part of the reason I like Sigourney Weaver so much is because she reminds me of the young Jane Fonda (the one we knew in They Shoot Horses Don't They, Klute, etc, at least) – a tough, no-bullshit kind of girl who might be more vulnerable than she'd let on. And I think this quality is very well-used in Gorillas in the Mist. The movie is pretty uninvolving, but she holds together with the sheer strength of her conviction and presence.

A Cry in the Dark might be the greatest summation of Meryl Streep's immense talents as an actress – how deeply she feels and how well she crafts. It is very brilliant work.

[nightwingnova]

A Cry in the Dark represents Streep's greatest performance. She is humanly cold and digs deep into the chasms of her soul to uncover and reveal all of the raw complexities of the woman at the center of the drama. No contest for me.

[Hustler]

Looking back at those years, I think that Close missed her last opportunity to win.

[Damien]

Hershey is excellent in A World Apart, but I think Jodhi May is even better. I still wonder why she's never had a bigger career.

She's in the latest Peter Greenaway movie, Rembrandt's J'accuse, looking like Jodhi May all grown up.

[dws1982]

Hershey is excellent in A World Apart, but I think Jodhi May is even better. I still wonder why she's never had a bigger career.

[FilmFan720]

Watched "A World Apart" yesterday, and Hershey was stunning, and even better than Close.

I taped it last night...looking forward to watching it.

[Hustler]

Watched "A World Apart" yesterday, and Hershey was stunning, and even better than Close.

You´re right. After choosing Close I was thinking that Hershey was another strong choice that year, unfairly ommited by the Academy.

[jowy_jillia]

Watched "A World Apart" yesterday, and Hershey was stunning, and even better than Close.

[mlrg]

Glenn Close - Dangerous Liaisons

[Uri]

Glenn Close perfectly delivered what Stephen Frears called for, but I find the film slightly too remote, and the same goes for her performance -- she's a bit too much of an abstraction. (I much prefer Milos Forman's version of the same material, Valmont -- it's richer, more empathetic, and Annette Bening's performance to Close's for the same reasons.)

Back in the '80 and early '90s, there was a movie theater in Tel Aviv which used to screen, during the weekend, different recently released movies every couple of hours. So once I managed to pursue some people to watch Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont back to back. Unlike me, it was the first time they saw these films and it made for a very intriguing experience, kind of an academic seminar about what an artistic interpretation is, since it seems Frears and Forman have intentionally, almost in full coordination, decided to make opposing artistic choices each and every time one was required to be made. From the older, less conventionally attractive actors playing the central couple versus young and glamorous and the surreal deserted settings versus the crowded, full of life universe to the unrelenting ending, faithful to the original versus the optimistic alternated one, where DL was harsh, ascetic, uncompromisingly cruel, V was genteel, opulent and acceptingly forgiving. And while one may aspire for real Life to be run with the compassion exhibited by Forman, it's the grim surgical like approach of Frears which made for better Art.

And I'm happy to say that among our gang, the (gently guided by you know who) consensus was in favor of DL.



Edited By Uri on 1260614348

[Uri]

I have a special affinity towards Jodie Foster. She was my first contemporary film star (she's 21 days younger than me). I became infatuated when I saw her for the first time in Tom Sawyer when we were 10. And The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane was a huge favorite too. (In retrospect, I guess it was about her being the kind of girl I would have like to be had I'd been one – tough, no nonsense and essentially not at all girlish – rather then someone I was enamored with. An approachable baby Hepburn, if you like). So I was extremely exited when, after a turbulence decade she's been through, she emerged as fully realized adult performer. But as much as I would have like her to have as many Oscars as possible, I'm afraid she will end empty handed on my list (at least as a leading actress – I'd probably go with her as supporting in '76). A fine performance which transcended the film it's in, but this year offers many more deserving options.

Streep gave THE best performance of the year (oh, she was cold, but it was ok – it's not like she played a character we're conditioned to accept only if the actress is giddy and coquettish, as should have been the case in Silkwood or Plenty, for God's sake). But - once one plays God, one wants to come up with a more balanced, comprehensive list, so she won't end up with double digit number of awards. I voted for her twice, I'll vote for her twice more, but not this year.

So I went with the other cold, emotionally remote option – Close was pitch perfect in a very good film – and it would have made for a well deserved career award too.

Griffith was charming in a very likeable movie which managed to make '80's greed look romantic. Her nomination would have been a very welcomed one in most years in the last few decades, but this year there were more deserving candidates, especially for the "lone Comedic Spot". And as I said before, she should have gotten her only career nod two years earlier.

But the one nominee I really have issues with is Weaver. A good actress giving an intelligent, heartfelt, even complex performance which is a fascinating one to watch – and yet, it's a complete misfire. So despite all the right moves she makes which indicate she really got the character, the Amazonian quality she projects makes it totally illogical. A case of an unfortunate miscasting.

Of all the worthy people mentioned here, there were two whose omission I felt was criminal. As it appears, on the set of The Witches of Eastwick, the 3 leading ladies made some pact with the Devil so each of them immediately followed that movie with a turn in one of the three best romantic comedies of the era. Cher had Moonstruck, Sarandon got Bull Durham and Pfeiffer Married to the Mob. But the fact that the latter two fell to receive the accolades they should have the way Cher did is still a mystery to me. For me the race should have been between these two. But since Sarandon will have an even more glorious opportunity to be honored by me, it's Pfeiffer this time. Not the ultimate best of the year, but my favorite one – I fell in love with her film and everything in it the first time I saw it and it remained dear to me ever since.



Edited By Uri on 1260608173

[Precious Doll]

I agree with most people here that this is a very impressive line-up. One of the best of the last 30 years or so along with the 1993 & 2006 leading ladies. Having to choose between Close, Foster & Streep in particular was a big ask.

My favourite of the year though was Diane Keaton for The Good Mother.

[Aceisgreat]

Fantastic lineup. Close almost doesn't need any dialogue to get my vote.

[Reza]

Glenn Close was supposed to win. She delivered the best performance of that year.

Nobody was "supposed" to win that year, it was too close to tell. Close, Foster and Griffith al had very strong support and it was anyone's guess who of the three would take it.

Although I distinctly remember the look of surprise on many faces in the audience when Foster's name was announced. This may have been because many thought that Weaver was going to get it especially since she had lost one bid earlier that evening. Double nominees had always won in the past so Weaver was probably a shoo in for any one of her two nominated performance....moreso for her supporting turn in Working Girl. Even Weaver seemed surprised when Foster's name was called.

Foster gave a far more superior performance that same year in a supporting role in Stealing Home, a film which unfortunately not many people saw.

Anyway I voted for Close here.

My picks:

Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons
Gena Rowlands, Another Woman
Susan Sarandon, Bull Durham
Meryl Streep, A Cry in the Dark
Jodie Foster, The Accused

The 6th spot: Pfeiffer, MacLaine or Weaver



Edited By Reza on 1260593123