House Keeping Matters

In case you didn't notice, I've got a poll up on the sidebar. I actually hate polls (anonymity does not do it for me), I actually did two polls way back when when you picked Sweeney Todd as your favourite musical and Sense & Sensibility as your favourite nineties period piece. I reviewed both, as promised. I didn't do well in attempting to review An Education, so this is take on 2009 reviewing. I wrote various musings on three of the four, and very little on The Last Station and Up. So, you decide which I should review.
            
While you're on that, I'm accepting ideas for the newest LAMB Casting, we're recasting My Best Friend's Wedding, see more here.
 
Okay...as you were.

“Sister, Sister”

I love seeing sibling machinations on the screen. There’s something decidedly charming in seeing sturdy bouts of filial love and especially when that bond is between sister and sister. It’s something that pits actress against actress and often results in good performances all around. So today we're catering to the ladies - But what makes a good sisterly pairing? Well, obviously, they have to love each other – that’s a bit of prerequisite, so of course no inclusions of those Dubois women…few sisterly pairing are as true, and loving as these five that follow – well, I can’t think of any…

            

The Dashwoods 

There are really three Dashwood sisters in Sense & Sensibility, but only two of them get descriptive adjectives to their name. Sure, Emma Thompson’s age acts against the very reason for Austen’s title, but she’s a good enough actress to overcome whatever her age cannot. Sure, sometimes Marianne comes off as undeserving of her sister’s patience, but they do look out for each other. Like a clever diversion on a piano to prevent the embarrassment of Elinor and the dedication Elinor in turn pays to a sick Marianne. Dedication to sisterhood. 

           

The Magraths

Crimes of the Heart is such a forgotten one, but with Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange and Sissy Spaceck I remember it. A sister of Best Actress Oscar winners, what can be better? Sure one of them is washed up, one's suicidal and one's "never been kissed" but the chemistry these three women have make me wonder this film isn't more remembered.

                

Ms. Jane Bennet, Ms. Elizabeth Bennett, Ms. Mary Bennett, Ms. Lydia Bennett and Ms. Kitty Bennett

It’s one thing ensuring two sisters match the truth of an Austen novel, but it’s so much more difficult when it’s five. How does Joe Wright accomplish it? Well Mary is the odd one out, and is often alone. Eliza and Jane gravitate to each other as do Lydia and Kitty so we have the older pair and the younger pair. But, even more, moments when they must combine are just as honest. The film’s beginning with the five of them, and their fishwife mother, haranguing their father about Miss Bingley is handled nicely. Yes, the strongest moments of the film come when Rosamund and Keira interact – they are so very lovely together. But Wright tries to make each one have their moment, and for the most part, he succeeds.

   

The March Girls

Of course this list cannot be made without some incarnation of the March sisters. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are memorable characters of literature and cinema and the 1932 incarnation is the most memorable. Kate stars as a role that seems tailor made for her - that of the irrepressible Jo. Joan Bennett, Jean Parker and Frances Dee round out the foursome as Amy, Beth and Meg. It's a pity none of the actresses went on to fame other than Kate, and it's a pity that the fair but uninspired 1994 version is remembered more. Still, the March Girls are the epitome of sisterly affection.

   

The Schlegel Girls

Howards End is a delight, and more than anything else the reason for its beauty lies in the chemistry between Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson. Sure, they have a brother, but Tibby is incidental. It’s weird, considering the future controversy between these two women and a certain Shakespeare fanatic, but the bond these two seem to share is striking. Sure, halfway through the film they part ways, temporarily, but it doesn’t make the bond tenuous, they’re reunited at the end because the Schlegel girls know something about familial ties. It’s a unity that Ivory handles wonderfully. They are as different as night and day and of course this is why they’re so necessary to each other.

                      

Which actress pairing convince you most of their sisterly bond?

Performances of the Decade (Female)

It’s anyone’s guess why British actors are so successful in Hollywood. I suppose if you measure it there are more American actors in the business – obviously – but when we think of important thespians (Olivier, Burton, Leigh, Hopkins, Day Lewis, Dench) we often turn to that little island and with the new generation of actors coming up even though Australia and other parts of Europe have made their indelible stamp on it all, there is still a significant quantity of British talent continuing to impress on the screen. And few are more important than this lovely lady in this wonderful performance.

            

#10 Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Many single this out as Kate’s best. I wouldn’t go there, but with such an illustrious résumé there are a number of performances you could make the best of argument for. Eternal Sunshine was one of the better films from 2004 featuring a brilliant turn from Jim Carey as Joel Barish; but the performance that stuck with me the most was Winslet’s Clementine. It’s difficult to adequately analyse the merits of Carey and Winslet in this comedy since the film’s nonlinear format asks you to assess their performances in no stratified order, so it’s not until the end we can look back and fill in the blanks. A favourite part of mine occurs towards the beginning of the film – though it’s towards the end in real time – the trip to Montauk. It would probably rank somewhere in top 10 scenes of the decade and though Carey’s boorish discomfort is effective it is Kate – completely – who makes it work. The conversation may sound pointless and meandering to the less attentive but it’s filled with little clues that Gondry is giving us and Winslet sells it completely.

Clementine has a number of hangups, and she knows them. In fact, she reveals a key portion of her character early on. She says it herself actually – I’m a vindictive little bitch, truth be told. It sounds like a throwaway, but it’s not actually. But as moody as she is Clementine is she is also spontaneous, fun and honest. It’s sort of a tug-o-war between the good and the bad and it’s this irrepressibility about her that Joel adores so much and it’s the difficult task Kate is given. It’s an occupational hazard, but I always marvel at Winslet’s ability to do accents. It’s precise without ever sounding pedantic and I credit her Clementine with some of my favourite line readings – You’re freaked out because I was out late without you, and in your wormy little brain…you’re trying to figure out, did she fuck someone tonight? It’s to Kate’s credit that we want to slap and hug Clementine at the same time.

The thing is when an actor becomes renowned they’re often boxed into a particular niche. A free spirit like Clementine doesn’t seem like the “quintessential” Kate performance, but Kate is an actress – above all else – and it’s a credit to her talent that she makes Clementine work. Like my favourite performance of hers – Marianne Dashwood – the performance depends on the candour and sensibility of her character. We don’t often think of Kate like this, but it’s how I often remembered her. Whether with a British accent or an American one I love her playfulness and her honesty. When she says I’m just a fucked up girl looking for her own piece mind we're right there with her. She is isn't she? Her Clementine is real and absolutely perfect - flaws and all. Few do line readings are as well as Kate's and with Gondry’s brilliant script she’s exceptional.

                      

I don’t think anyone will argue against this. It’s one of Kate’s most beloved. It’s not my favourite of hers though. Is it yours?

The Nineties Revisited: Ep. 1

Dear reader, I'm feeling retrospective at the moment. I know, it's still two weeks before I get my best of 2009 up yet, but I'm seeing Bright Star next week and I have to see it before I choose my favourites. Still, that's no reason why I still can't make a list (you know I love them). So here's my own list of women from the nineties.
       
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1990-1999

So what do you think? Was the nineties too long ago for you to remember your favourites? Who'd be at the top of your list?

The Best Supporting Actress Nominees: Favourites

I’ve been tinkering with this list for a while, so finally I’ve completed it., which marks the final category, Check out the others, if you missed.

Favourite Actor Nominees

Favourite Actress Nominees

Favourite Supporting Actor Nominees

                 

Favourite Actor Winners

Favourite Actress Winners

Favourite Supporting Actor Winners

Favourite Supporting Actress Winners

                 

Here is the list of the thirty supporting nominees that have had the most profound effect on me. These are the women that I think are best, well not quite the best...I'm not sure I understand what that word means anymore. Here are the women that I like the most. Enough.

                 

TIER THREE

30 – Glenn Close in The World According to Garp

29 – Maggie Smith in Othello

28 – Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights

27 – Natalie Portman in Closer

26 – Meg Tilly in Agnes of God

25 – Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate

24 – Kate Winslet in Iris

23 – Ruth Hussey in The Philadelphia Story

                          

TIER TWO

22 – Judi Dench in Chocolat

21 – Margaret Avery in The Color Purple

20 – Marianne Jean-Baptise in Secrets & Lies

19 – Marisa Tomei in In the Bedroom

18 – Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias

17 – Cate Blanchett in Notes On A Scandal

16 – Oliva De Havilland in Gone With the Wind

                 

THE FINALISTS

15 – Shirley Knight in Sweet Bird of Youth

Along with Angela Lansbury above, Knight lost her chance at Oscar to Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker. All three performances were good so I can’t say that Duke’s was underserved. Knight’s performance, though in Tennessee Williams’ play is quite good. As the estranged girl friend of hero [Paul Newman] she plays a young girl Heavenly – as tongue-in-cheek as Tennessee can get, and her role though quite important to the film; is not excessively large; but she plays it well. With a team of future Oscar winners, she holds her own quite nicely. Her ‘big’ scene comes when she faces off with Ed Begley in his Oscar winning role as her father. It’s a nice, strong moment and she does well with what she’s given.

                

14 – Celeste Holm in All About Eve

This performance is often regarded as inferior, especially in comparison to the ostensibly better performances of Davis, Baxter and Sanders. However, I love this performance from Celeste Holm. She’s the first person we see in the narrative, and her expressive face is what leads us back to the memory of Eve Harrington so long ago. Celeste’s part is for the most part reactive. She watches while Margo goes crazy, while Eve changes her behaviour and as her husband dallies with the actress. And it is with that expressive face that she sells it. I love that scene in the bathroom with her and Eve, and it’s exceptionally well played. Never, do we doubt her love for Margo even though her actions could have suggested otherwise.

               

13 – Maggie Smith in Gosford Park

Maggie Smith is exceptional. That much we know. Even with those one-liners in Harry Potter she still excels. In Gosford Park she is given the perfect role for an aging actress. Her performance is hinged into the beginning and the end of the film. At the start, the absurdity of having her maid stand in the rain is sad and humorous at once; and her narcissism in shown again at the end where she laments how trying being a witness at court would be for her. And in between that he spot-on delivery of her lines is enviable; in particular those few scenes with Kristin Scott Thomas [with whom she shared an uncanny chemistry] where she changed the course of the narrative were done well. A beautiful job from her.

                 

12 – Patricia Clarkson in Pieces of April

For an actress that seems to be as ubiquitous as Patty I’m always a little bewildered at times when I realise that this is her only nomination. But then this performance is not as frivolous as it seems. The movie is enjoyable, if a bit trite but Patricia elevates her character to such a height that it’s amazing. There’s a scene that always sticks with me. It’s where she vomits in a bathroom on the road and replaces what we realise is a wig on her head. Then looking at her reflection in her mirror she gives her visage a knowing, deceptive smile. It’s a nice acting moment from her, and it’s little touches like that that make turn this character into a realistic character.

                   

11 – Helen Mirren in The Madness of King George

1994 in retrospect was quite a good year in this category. Although I was not enamoured with all the performances, it was a definite step up for the Academy from 1993. Helen Mirren’s Queen Charlotte is a Cannes’ winning performance and with reason. It is a bit of co-lead I suppose; she and Nigel Hawthorne are the driving force behind the film and she handles her role wonderfully. It’s a pity that this performance is not as remembered as it should me.

                 

10 – Judy Garland in Judgment at Nuremberg

I know that everybody in the world loves Rita Moreno’s vivacious Anita in West Side Story; but as much as I like the film and enjoy her performance I really was not gunning for her to win. I suppose that somewhere hidden there is an irony that when Judy went straight up drama she lost her Oscar to a straight up musical performance. Of course Judy has always and will always be remembered as an omnipresent musical star but this is my favourite acting performance of hers. As a pivotal witness in the Nuremberg trials there is an alarming weakness that she brings to the role which is unlike much we’ve seen her do before. Stanley Kramer handles her scenes very well and it comes off a deservedly nominated performance.

                   

9 – Dianne Wiest in Parenthood

There is something that just charms me about this movie; but more importantly there’s something that just charms me about Diane Wiest in the movie. As a single mother, who may be just a little crazy she imbues the character with so much good nature that she’s wonderful to watch. Never does it seem off, and never does it seem as if she’s trying too hard. Even in those silly moments with her daughter – it’s all done in good taste, so funny and yet so poignant. There’s just, as I said a charm about her that I can’t resist. She is a wonderful actress.

                       

8 – Joan Allen in The Crucible

As a fan of Arthur Miller I can’t say that The Crucible is my favourite play of his; but there is something amazing about the play nonetheless and the adaptation of it is able to capture the beauty of it. As Elizabeth Proctor Joan Allen towers above the cast [yes, even the talented Daniel Day Lewis]. Of course the effusiveness of her performance is owed to Miller’s original work; but there is just something outstanding about her performance that I just cannot put my hand on. It’s a pity that she had to go against my darling Binoche in 1996, a year earlier or later I could have seen her easily winning the populist fare that Oscar rewarded. And it doesn’t look as if he’ll ever get the recognition that she deserves.

                       

7 – Vanessa Redgrave in Howards End

Ruth Wilcox, more than any other character in Howards End, hovers over the film. It’s not the obvious type of hovering where a character’s death must be solved. But eventually we realise what it is, Ruth Wilcox is Howards End. At the end when Meg Schlegel finally gets the house, we can almost see the figure of Ruth smiling in heaven…and seeing that her character disappeared from screen almost two hours earlier, this is no mean feat. And that is because Vanessa Redgrave is so talented. I wonder if Merchant Ivory meant for this character to seem important. Even if he didn’t Vanessa certainly made it seem so. Her rapport with especially Emma Thompson is beautiful to watch and hers few scenes are just so well acted that there’s no doubt that her Oscar nomination was deserved.

                     

6 – Glenn Close in The Big Chill

I know that many are not as fond of this performance as I would like; but then many are not as fond of the film either. Glenn plays Sarah; one of a group of friend who meet for a weekend after the suicide of one of their friends. The group went to college and have met again after a parting of ways. The Big Chill is their story. You can click on the link to see more of what I thought of the performance; but with every thing she’s given and what is an ensemble film Glenn still manages to make Sarah seem more important. It’s a well deserved Oscar nomination.

                   

5 – Kate Winslet in Sense & Sensibility

I always felt that Kate’s first nomination [more than her most recent, obviously] was always the easiest; or should have been the easiest actually. With Jane Austen as her guide Kate played Marianne Dashwood, the eponymous ‘sensibility’ of the film’s title. She is the excitable middle Dashwood girls, who is Elizabeth Bennett of Pride & Prejduice – but with less morals. It’s a sweet performance from Kate, and a thoroughly English one. She plays well alongside Emma Thompson and even seems to make a convincing romantic connection with Alan Rickman, which ostensibly seems strange.

              

INTERNAL STRUGGLING: The Respected Women

4 – Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Liaisons

Mme Tourvelle. Michelle earned her first nomination in Frear’s Dangerous Liaisons, a nomination I wish had substantiated into a win. What I love about this performance is Michelle’s use of body language, but more importantly the use of her face. The internal struggle of Tourvelle is difficult to present cinematically, and wordiness would not be true to the character, but yet we are able to understand. Clichéd perhaps, but goodness is not something that we can hear and believe, it comes from inside and just happens to shine through. Michelle’s Tourvelle lets her goodness shine through.

                   

3 – Helen Mirren in Gosford Park

I watched this movie thrice one day. Just because, I knew on each viewing I’d pick up something new. When you know what’s going on, it’s amazing how everything falls into perspective. There’s a scene early, it’s actually the first time we meet Mrs. Wilson, she’s directing Clive Owen where he should be sleeping. He tells her his name and you see the slightest trace of surprise on her face that is immediately cast off. It’s both the genius of Altman and Mirren that make me love that part. It’s so subtle, and yet so telling. Mrs Wilson’s internal struggle in this role is so palpable, and that last scene where she breaks down her in her sister’s arm is never superfluous, but as tender and poignant as it should be. Only Helen Mirren.

                         

2 – Marcia Gay Harden in Mystic River

When Celeste goes to Jimmy we are to believe that this woman loves her husband. We must think that this is not a betrayal, no soliloquy is written for her to explain, we just have the actor there. And when that actor is Marcia Gay Harden, you can be assured that we’ll understand what she’s feeling – because she’s that talented. I won’t be covetous. Two Oscars in four years might have been too much, but it wouldn’t have been unseemly. No matter how much Clint Eastwood annoys me every now and again, I will forever respect him for directing this wonderful performance. Marcia Gay Harden in what could have been nothing but turned into what’s my favourite performance of her and of the entire film.

                 

1 – Julianne Moore in The Hours

I always find it strange that I love this performance so much. Because I never question that I wanted Catherine Zeta Jones to win her Oscar, I still don’t agree with Sage and Twister when the rail about her. But still, I cannot disagree that Julianne Moore is astounding in this film. It’s the sort of performance that only gets better with age. It’s the type of performance that so many of the supporting women must do – forced to keep their feelings inside. For a film so simple, there’s that one surreal moment where Laura is about to attempt suicide and we see her bed surrounded by a murky swamp. Laura awakes with a start – a newfound intelligence. It’s a moment that shouldn’t work, in the same way that crying in the bathroom or confessing to Clarissa shouldn’t. And yet…it does work. Is it Daldry, is it Julianne? I don’t know, but it is beautiful.

                     

Whew! That was a lot of writing. Thoughts?