I am not casting a vote for as I do not feel that any of the nominees performances warrant a nomination, much less a win. This is one of the worst line-ups ever.
Oprah Winifred's performance is the best of a bad bunch. She did manage to give a colorless film some life and made a pleasing contrast to the bland and passive Whoopi Goldberg.
Meg Tilly's nomination is the most baffling of the five. When she wasn't being hysterical in the worst possible way she was insanely beaming as I recall. I have never liked Meg Tilly and have always preferred Jennifer.
I've never understood the acclaim for Angelica Huston in Prizzi's Honour but as the role led to better performances in better films (The Grifters, Crimes and Misdemeanours & The Witches) it's nice to see that she has an Oscar.
All in all I can't be too critical of the Academy's choices in this category as I had a very hard time coming up with five candidates myself. Only my first two choices, both comic performances from black comedies, are actually award worthy.
1985 was a dire year for supporting actresses indeed.
My choices:
1. Lynette Curran for Bliss
2. Chus Lampreave for What Have I Done to Deserve This? (Glad to see that I am not the only person on the board to appreciate this performance)
3. Liz Smith for A Private Function
4. Ann Wedgeworth for Sweet Dreams
5. Tracey Ullman for Plenty
Best Supporting Actress 1985
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Precious Doll
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Daahh.
My favorite winner in this category. Ever. I sang the praises of Huston and the film many times before, but her onscreen transformation, preparing for dinner with her father is always worth mentioning. And her decorations tips to Charley. And her frustratingly biting the cookie her grandfather offering her. And the last image of her glowing when she realize she got what she wanted. I guess this is a win I'm rather emotionally invested in.
I haven't revisited Twice in a Lifetime for 25 years, but my memories of it are more favorable – maybe I was too young back then to know better – and I remember liking Madigan and the intense compressed energy she always seems to possess. I guess I believed her anger.
Speaking of anger – as much as I like Prizzy, I despise The Color Purple, but Winfrey's anger in it was the only thing I found even remotely creditable. The rest, including, or rather particularly Avery, was beyond ludicrous.
If someone from Agnes of God should be cited here it's Bancroft for her entertainingly showy turn. Tilly was, as always, sympathetic but somehow lucking film presence.
To the likes of the mentioned Ulman and Wedgeworth, I'll add Linda Hunt who was just lovely in Silverado.
My favorite winner in this category. Ever. I sang the praises of Huston and the film many times before, but her onscreen transformation, preparing for dinner with her father is always worth mentioning. And her decorations tips to Charley. And her frustratingly biting the cookie her grandfather offering her. And the last image of her glowing when she realize she got what she wanted. I guess this is a win I'm rather emotionally invested in.
I haven't revisited Twice in a Lifetime for 25 years, but my memories of it are more favorable – maybe I was too young back then to know better – and I remember liking Madigan and the intense compressed energy she always seems to possess. I guess I believed her anger.
Speaking of anger – as much as I like Prizzy, I despise The Color Purple, but Winfrey's anger in it was the only thing I found even remotely creditable. The rest, including, or rather particularly Avery, was beyond ludicrous.
If someone from Agnes of God should be cited here it's Bancroft for her entertainingly showy turn. Tilly was, as always, sympathetic but somehow lucking film presence.
To the likes of the mentioned Ulman and Wedgeworth, I'll add Linda Hunt who was just lovely in Silverado.
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Big Magilla
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I was going to make the comparison to Sophia Coppola, but I thought it was unfair.Mister Tee wrote:Magilla understates things when he says nothing had prepared us for Anjelica Huston's performance in Prizzi's Honor. She was, before then, a joke, in almost the same way Sofia Coppola was after Godfather III – her father, too, had cast her in a role (in A Walk with Love and Death) for which she was utterly unprepared and came off dreadfully. Huston has proven herself numerous times post-Prizzi, but at the time, it was not just a breakthrough (easily the category's best of the year) – it was a bloody miracle.
Anjelica was only 18 when she was awkwardly cast opposite Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan's son Assaf (or Assi as he's now known) in her father's 1969 take on Romeo & Juliet. By the mid-70s she was better known as Jack Nicholson's live-in girlfriend. I think they had already split when they made Prizzi's Honor. In the interim she had improved as an actress, but as respected as she had become by then, that performance was still a leap forward.
I probably shouldn't vote, because I haven't seen Twice in a Lifetime and I gave up on Agnes of God a half-hour or so in. But I will vote anyway.
Couldn't agree more with Damien on Mary Stuart Masterson, who is just wonderful in Heaven Help Us, and with Sabin for singling out Mieko Harada's sublimely scary Lady Kaede.
The Color Purple is a dreary, soft-focus mess and Oprah's ham doesn't help one bit. Margaret Avery is much better, and along with Danny Glover provides the film with it's occasional good moments.
What I've seen of Tilly's performance did little for me, I remember her as flat and unengaging.
I'm voting for Huston. I don't care for Prizzi's Honor overall - Jack is OK but Kathleen Turner was miscast (thank goodness she wasn't nominated for this) but Huston steals the film effortlessly with a genuinely amusing performance. Not a great winner, but far from a disgrace, and as the win led her to several more memorable roles in subsequent years, I can't begrudge her.
Couldn't agree more with Damien on Mary Stuart Masterson, who is just wonderful in Heaven Help Us, and with Sabin for singling out Mieko Harada's sublimely scary Lady Kaede.
The Color Purple is a dreary, soft-focus mess and Oprah's ham doesn't help one bit. Margaret Avery is much better, and along with Danny Glover provides the film with it's occasional good moments.
What I've seen of Tilly's performance did little for me, I remember her as flat and unengaging.
I'm voting for Huston. I don't care for Prizzi's Honor overall - Jack is OK but Kathleen Turner was miscast (thank goodness she wasn't nominated for this) but Huston steals the film effortlessly with a genuinely amusing performance. Not a great winner, but far from a disgrace, and as the win led her to several more memorable roles in subsequent years, I can't begrudge her.
For the third year in a row, it was What The Hell Are These People Doing In This Category? And it needn't have been like this, for in Heaven Help Us. Mary Stuart Masterson gave one of the most quietly moving, charismatic nuanced performances I have ever seen. Vulnerability under a tough-ish exterior has never been as convincing as in Stew's subtle acting here, and I still am moved to my soul just by the thought of her performance. Of course, there was no way that the Academy would honor her work, since the movie had been in and out of theatres in just weeks in the spring and had been mis-sold as one of those Teens-trying-to-get-laid comedies that plagued the 1980s. But those of us who have seen the movie have been very blessed. (As I'm writing this, I'm looking up at the picture of Andrew McCarthy and her from the film hanging in my office, and smiling.)
As for the nominees. The Color Purple is a travesty, and everything about it is an embarrassment. Oprah Winfrey is lumpen, Margaret Avery unconvincingly sassy.
Amy Madigan has given excellent performances before and after her Oscar nomination, but this wasn't one of them. Why she was nominated for her dreary turn in the dreary, justifiably forgotten Twice In A Lifetime is beyond me.
The only positive thing I can say about Meg Tilly is that, annoying and grating as she is, she's not quite as grating and annoying as her sister. Ridiculous performance in a ridiculous movie.
John Huston never had a light touch, and everything in Prizzi's Honor -- except for John Randolph's performance -- is off. The timing, the pacing, the line deliveries all miss. Everyone tried too hard, and they failed to amuse.
God what a terrible line up. I'd vote for Margaret Avery because she was a semi-regular on the greatest dramatic TV series ever, Harry O. She gets my vote not for Shug Avery, but for the TV show's Ruby Dome.
My Own Top 5:
1. Mary Stuart Masterson in Heaven Help Us
2. Melanie Griffith in Fear City
3. Chus Lampreave in What Have I Done To Deserve This?
4. Deborah Rush in Compromising Positions
5. Cheryl Campbell in The Shooting Party
Edited By Damien on 1285310295
As for the nominees. The Color Purple is a travesty, and everything about it is an embarrassment. Oprah Winfrey is lumpen, Margaret Avery unconvincingly sassy.
Amy Madigan has given excellent performances before and after her Oscar nomination, but this wasn't one of them. Why she was nominated for her dreary turn in the dreary, justifiably forgotten Twice In A Lifetime is beyond me.
The only positive thing I can say about Meg Tilly is that, annoying and grating as she is, she's not quite as grating and annoying as her sister. Ridiculous performance in a ridiculous movie.
John Huston never had a light touch, and everything in Prizzi's Honor -- except for John Randolph's performance -- is off. The timing, the pacing, the line deliveries all miss. Everyone tried too hard, and they failed to amuse.
God what a terrible line up. I'd vote for Margaret Avery because she was a semi-regular on the greatest dramatic TV series ever, Harry O. She gets my vote not for Shug Avery, but for the TV show's Ruby Dome.
My Own Top 5:
1. Mary Stuart Masterson in Heaven Help Us
2. Melanie Griffith in Fear City
3. Chus Lampreave in What Have I Done To Deserve This?
4. Deborah Rush in Compromising Positions
5. Cheryl Campbell in The Shooting Party
Edited By Damien on 1285310295
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Mister Tee
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Ah, the mid-80s – the nadir of American film (1985 may have been rock bottom), but a string of outstanding supporting actress winners.
Magilla, I have to take some exception to your characterization of this year's slate. I don't view this as close to an 80% solid slate. And if I were to make substitutions...Kelly McGillis would not be on the list. I'd liked McGillis in Reuben, Reuben, but in Witness – and pretty much everything subsequent – I found her work utterly shallow. (I didn't think much of Witness overall. To me, it was a seen-it-all-before, city-slicker-stuck-on-the-farm wheeze, which pretended to eschew violence while getting its little narrative kick from the constant threat of it. I couldn't believe the degree to which critics were snowed by this picture)
As for the subs I'd advocate – I really liked Tracey Ullman's leap from pop singing to believable actress in Plenty, and I thought the always-dependable Anne Wedgeworth had some terrific scenes with Jessica Lange in Sweet Dreams. (Yes, I'm going to continue to be that film's sole advocate)
To the actual nominees...I can agree with your take on Amy Madigan in Twice in a Lifetime. I, too, found her character and performance one-note – and obnoxious, to boot. It's a measure of how miscalculated the film was as a whole, that they evidently expected me to side or at least sympathize with this eternally angry, not-a-forgiving-bone-in-her-body daughter, when all along I was wishing somebody'd slap her silly. Madigan had been good the year before, and has been many times since. It's a shame this horror-show is the only time the Academy cited her.
Oprah...oy, Oprah. A ham's ham; responsible for some of the worst, hokiest moments in The Color Purple.
Margaret Avery took a lot of deserved ridicule for her tasteless trade ads, but, strictly in terms of what was on the screen, she far more more merited nomination consideration than her co-star. (Though she couldn't rescue that scene at the church with her father – a jaw-dropping shambles beyond any actress' reclamation) Nothing win-worthy, but respectable.
I suppose Meg Tilly was okay in Agnes of God, though she didn't bring anything like the oddball purity Amanda Plummer had evoked onstage. The film/play itself is pretty much claptrap, and derivative as well – it's pretty much the Equus template feminized and got to a nunnery.
Magilla understates things when he says nothing had prepared us for Anjelica Huston's performance in Prizzi's Honor. She was, before then, a joke, in almost the same way Sofia Coppola was after Godfather III – her father, too, had cast her in a role (in A Walk with Love and Death) for which she was utterly unprepared and came off dreadfully. Huston has proven herself numerous times post-Prizzi, but at the time, it was not just a breakthrough (easily the category's best of the year) – it was a bloody miracle.
I had some doubt she would win. Prizzi was a movie that was too cool for school, which made the NBR sector of the Academy feel so stupid, they thrashed about looking for alternatives when Huston swept the critics. Tilly won the Globe, and, in the final weeks, Lyons and Medved began pushing for a Winfrey upset. Fortunately, though I was right to suspect voters wouldn't go for the film as a whole (many people lost pools predicting John Huston for director), good taste prevailed and Anjelica won a well-deserved prize. Which I hope we'll replicate here.
Edited By Mister Tee on 1285306539
Magilla, I have to take some exception to your characterization of this year's slate. I don't view this as close to an 80% solid slate. And if I were to make substitutions...Kelly McGillis would not be on the list. I'd liked McGillis in Reuben, Reuben, but in Witness – and pretty much everything subsequent – I found her work utterly shallow. (I didn't think much of Witness overall. To me, it was a seen-it-all-before, city-slicker-stuck-on-the-farm wheeze, which pretended to eschew violence while getting its little narrative kick from the constant threat of it. I couldn't believe the degree to which critics were snowed by this picture)
As for the subs I'd advocate – I really liked Tracey Ullman's leap from pop singing to believable actress in Plenty, and I thought the always-dependable Anne Wedgeworth had some terrific scenes with Jessica Lange in Sweet Dreams. (Yes, I'm going to continue to be that film's sole advocate)
To the actual nominees...I can agree with your take on Amy Madigan in Twice in a Lifetime. I, too, found her character and performance one-note – and obnoxious, to boot. It's a measure of how miscalculated the film was as a whole, that they evidently expected me to side or at least sympathize with this eternally angry, not-a-forgiving-bone-in-her-body daughter, when all along I was wishing somebody'd slap her silly. Madigan had been good the year before, and has been many times since. It's a shame this horror-show is the only time the Academy cited her.
Oprah...oy, Oprah. A ham's ham; responsible for some of the worst, hokiest moments in The Color Purple.
Margaret Avery took a lot of deserved ridicule for her tasteless trade ads, but, strictly in terms of what was on the screen, she far more more merited nomination consideration than her co-star. (Though she couldn't rescue that scene at the church with her father – a jaw-dropping shambles beyond any actress' reclamation) Nothing win-worthy, but respectable.
I suppose Meg Tilly was okay in Agnes of God, though she didn't bring anything like the oddball purity Amanda Plummer had evoked onstage. The film/play itself is pretty much claptrap, and derivative as well – it's pretty much the Equus template feminized and got to a nunnery.
Magilla understates things when he says nothing had prepared us for Anjelica Huston's performance in Prizzi's Honor. She was, before then, a joke, in almost the same way Sofia Coppola was after Godfather III – her father, too, had cast her in a role (in A Walk with Love and Death) for which she was utterly unprepared and came off dreadfully. Huston has proven herself numerous times post-Prizzi, but at the time, it was not just a breakthrough (easily the category's best of the year) – it was a bloody miracle.
I had some doubt she would win. Prizzi was a movie that was too cool for school, which made the NBR sector of the Academy feel so stupid, they thrashed about looking for alternatives when Huston swept the critics. Tilly won the Globe, and, in the final weeks, Lyons and Medved began pushing for a Winfrey upset. Fortunately, though I was right to suspect voters wouldn't go for the film as a whole (many people lost pools predicting John Huston for director), good taste prevailed and Anjelica won a well-deserved prize. Which I hope we'll replicate here.
Edited By Mister Tee on 1285306539
Abstaining, as I've only see The Color Purple and Prizzi's Honor of the films nominated and neither in some time. I remember being rather floored by Oprah's performance. Today, I'm not sure what to expect from Prizzi's Honor but I absolutely adore Anjelica Huston and think she's one of the most underrated actresses alive. These days when I watch The Royal Tenenbaums (a film I've seen more than many others), I'm absolutely floored by the tenderness conveyed between she and Danny Glover.
Meiko Harada for Ran. All the way.
Meiko Harada for Ran. All the way.
"How's the despair?"
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Big Magilla
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1985 was the exact opposite of 1984. Instead of getting this one 80% wrong, they got it 80% right.
The only nominee who didn't belong was Amy Madigan - lousy film, lousy character - one-note performance. That slot should have gone to Kelly McGillis as the breathtakingly beautiful Amish mother in Witness.
Everyone else, however, was fine. Margaret Avery had the role of her life as Shug Avery in The Color Purple thanks to Tina Turner turning down the role.
Even better, though, was Oprah Winfrey as the put upon Sofia in the same film.
Golden Globe winner Meg Tilly was superb as the nun who didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth in Agnes of God, more than holding her own alongside those two acting powerhouses, Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft.
Best of all, though, was Anjelica Huston who deserved all the awards she won, including the Oscar, for her amazing portrayal of Maerose Prizzi, the discarded mistress in her father John Huston's late career triumph, Prizzi's Honor. Anjelica was not new to films, but nothing she had ever done prepared us for the knockout performance she gave here. Much to our delight, contrary to many winners of this category, she only got better after that, giving even more amazing performances in the next few years in such films as The Dead and The Grifters.
The only nominee who didn't belong was Amy Madigan - lousy film, lousy character - one-note performance. That slot should have gone to Kelly McGillis as the breathtakingly beautiful Amish mother in Witness.
Everyone else, however, was fine. Margaret Avery had the role of her life as Shug Avery in The Color Purple thanks to Tina Turner turning down the role.
Even better, though, was Oprah Winfrey as the put upon Sofia in the same film.
Golden Globe winner Meg Tilly was superb as the nun who didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth in Agnes of God, more than holding her own alongside those two acting powerhouses, Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft.
Best of all, though, was Anjelica Huston who deserved all the awards she won, including the Oscar, for her amazing portrayal of Maerose Prizzi, the discarded mistress in her father John Huston's late career triumph, Prizzi's Honor. Anjelica was not new to films, but nothing she had ever done prepared us for the knockout performance she gave here. Much to our delight, contrary to many winners of this category, she only got better after that, giving even more amazing performances in the next few years in such films as The Dead and The Grifters.