Smackdown

So Best Actress 1988. I don't comment much, except that my pick is obvious, but #2 and #3 are not bad either.
So the ranking:

1. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons: Surprised, huh? In a career full of magnificent and unforgettable performances, Glenn Close did her (probably) finest work in Dangerous Liaisons, a beautifully made movie about decadence where she plays Marquise de Merteuil, a manipulative and bored aristocrat, whose only pleasures are sex and ruining other people's happiness. She's a strong woman, not afraid of anything or anybody, but after all it's herself who causes her ultimate and painful defeat. A magnificent work by a magnificent actress, robbed of an Oscar. And don't forget her last scene! :-)
Grade:*****(**)

2. Jodie Foster in The Accused: First I wanted to make her #3 but then I decided not to and that's all due to one of her courtroom scenes (when she says "Yes, that's fair!"). So to tell the truth, The Accused is a mediocore TV movie, but Foster is able to shine in it. She's not flawless, because at the beginning sometimes she was a bit unnatural, but in the end she manages to give an unforgettable and amazing performance which would immediately get my vote if it wasn't for Glenn Close.
Grade:*****

3. Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark: You know why I love Meryl? Because she's never disappointed me. Just like The Accused, A Cry in the Dark is also a mediocore TV movie (a bit better than The Accused) and these two performances are not very different either. Still, Meryl is so great, that it almost breaks your heart. She manages to say some awkward lines convincingly and makes this character much more interesting than she is. So it's a great achievement by one of the greatest actresses that ever lived.
Grade:****

4. Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist: As far as I'm concerned she was the frontrunner to win this award. I love her in general but I'm happy she did not win. Again Gorillas in the Mist is a mediocore TV movie and Weaver is simply good in it. She has some great moments (especially at the beginning of the movie), but her crazy scenes are quite overacted, but it might have been my dislike for her character, that I did not really like this performance either. But good job, anyway.
Grade:***

5. Melanie Griffith in Working Girl: What the hell was Working Girl doing at the Oscars as a Best Picture nominee and a Best Actress nomineee? Now Working Girl is not a mediocore TV movie, it's a boring TV movie. And Griffith did not do anything to earn this nomination. I mean, her voice is annoying, she is not a brilliant actress anyhow, so the succes of hers in this movie is some kind of a mistery for me. I guess she was very popular back than so this was probably a career-nomination (like Bullock's this year should have been).
Grade:*

So what do you think?