The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1980

1980

5. Gena Rowlands in Gloria

Gena Rowlands (despite her great talent) is not able to save this trainwreck of a movie called Gloria, but at there are some short, but quite strong scenes that ingrained in my memory. I wasn't very disappointed to tell the truth (I knew what to expect), but it's painful to write so negatively about Gena.

4. Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People

This is a fantastic performance, which is extremely haunting and captivating. Mary is able to make Beth a breathing, understandable human being, for whom you really feel sorry. Thanks to Mary Tyler Moore, I was perfectly able to understand Beth's emotions and feelings.

3. Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin

Goldie gives a great and extremely hilarious performance in Private Benjamin, which might very well be her best work, though it's nothing for the ages. The most important thing is that I loved her and the character as well, and she entertained me so well. I loved her, that's it.

2. Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter

I was quite pleased by Sissy's performance in this movie. Sometimes I was so captivated by her, that I forgot that I was actually watching a movie. It's a really gripping, powerful performance, which is extremely subtle, but is full of layers, quiet emotions and brilliant singing.

1. Ellen Burstyn in Resurrection

This extremely controversial performance was so healing for me. I loved every moment of it, though I doubt that love is the right word for it. It really made me re-think if The Exorcist is my favorite performance of Ellen. Ellen in Ressurection is thought-provoking, harrowing and unforgettable.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Ellen Burstyn

in

Resurrection

Miracle worker :)

Final thoughts: Wow, this decision was not easy. For a while, I thought I would pick Ellen, because her performance was so unique, but I figured that Sissy's towering, enourmous performance is the one for the ages and Ellen falls into the Liza Minnelli/Diane Lane category. I LOVED Goldie and I really want to mention her, because if her movie was made in 1981 or 1975, she would be my pick, hands down. She's so utterly charming and I'm so happy that it found recognition. Some may not like that I ranked her above Mary, but that's it. Mary was fantastic as well, though this time she let me down a bit. Just like Ida Kaminska, but to a lesser extent. Gena was the weakest link in this otherwise great line-up: she suffered so much from that shitty movie she was in (one of the worst ones I have ever seen and its memory still haunts me). Anyway, some of the movies could have been contenders for the non-film awards: Resurrection for some spiritual, religous award and Gloria for the Nobel Prize for being the perfect medicine for insomnia (though it's quite bitter to swallow).

Omissions: 

• Ildikó Bánsági in Confidence *My Vote*
• Jane Fonda in 9 to 5
• Dolly Parton in 9 to 5 
• Lily Tomlin in 9 to 5
• Mari Kiss in Duty-Free Marriage 

I really look forward to the next year. I have wanted to do it for so long and there was a miracle and I can do it! YAY!

• Do you want a glass of milk? ;)
• MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!

What do YOU think? Any requests, thoughts, suggestions?

Gena Rowlands in Gloria

Gena Rowlands received her second Oscar nomination for playing Gloria Swenson, a mobster's girlfriend trying to save a child's life in John Cassavetes' movie, Gloria. Wow, I'm wondering how the Academy reacted to Gena's performance. I guess they liked her to a degree, because they nominated her. I doubt it that she received many votes, she might have even been last, but she could have been third as well. It's not really the type of performance that's recognised award shows.

I'm an official Oscar Nerd. Capital O and N. Gee, Gloria is a real torture for any mentally healthy human being who has a common sense. I mean, this movie is literally about NOTHING. There's nothing new, interesting or exciting about it, the story is as lame as possible, there's no point, everything is extremely repetitive, they check into thousands of hotels and so on. And I'm an Oscar Nerd because I did not stop watching, I dealt with the whole torture of the movie and an awful child performance, which was by the way a bit better than I expected. I was always hoping that Gena Rowlands comes with her enourmous talent and saves me from boredom. She didn't.

Gena Rowlands is a superbly talented and extremely interesting actress. There's so much to love about her and her performance in A Woman Under the Influence (despite being one of the most unpleasant works in history) is just mindblowing. I haven't seen Opening Night, though I'm eager to watch it some day. OK, to tell the truth, I did not have many expectations from her in this movie as I have read not very kind reviews about her, so I guess I was prepared. And yet secretly, deep in my heart I was hoping to love her.

Gloria is a very clichéd character that could have been written much better and I think that Gena would have been able to play a more complicated role. There's absolutely no depth in her, there's nothing that you can identify with, there's nothing interesting. I know that I sound awfully repetitive with this "There is nothing...", but this summarizes Gena's performance here perfectly: it's extremely lacking. And gosh, I so hate being disappointed by great actresses.

The first problem is that her line readings are so weak and exaggerated: she's like a dog that's showing its teeth to say "I'm gonna attack" and she's barking constantly. She always says "yoouuuuuu... PUNkssss... I mean what is this? What was it supposed to be? I think that Gena Rowlands is a brilliant actress but she's not enough to make me believe that Gloria is able to turn a car upside down with one shot. Gena always suffers from this backstabbing, idiotic screenplay that makes absolutely no sense. It's so horrible that you can only make at least tolerable. She made it tolerable and that's one of the real achievements of Gena here. If she hadn't been there, this trainwreck would have collapsed even more.

The developments in the character of Gloria are rather rushed: first, she hates children, in 5 minutes she gets to like this boy and in the end she feels like a mother. I so wanted Gena to show more of the vulnerable side of Gloria: Gloria's loneliness is so obvious, but neither the screenplay nor Gena realized that this could made the audience sympathize with her. I guess, Gena had some bright moments since towards the end, there are some really strong and even memorable moments with her. In the end, her big scene with the gangster is solved quite well by Gena, who put some emotion into it and I was a bit relieved and this really helped appreciate more. At least I saw the potential, though it never really came to life unfortunately. Too bad that it did not last a bit longer. I could have put up with a less tough and more vulnerable Gloria, who's a bitchier or at least entertaining.

So to sum up, Gena Rowlands (despite her great talent) is not able to save this trainwreck of a movie called Gloria, but at there are some short, but quite strong scenes that ingrained in my memory. I wasn't very disappointed to tell the truth (I knew what to expect), but it's painful to write so negatively about Gena. A failed effort (?).

Gee, I rarely give 3 Meryls.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1980

The nominees were:

• Ellen Burstyn in Resurrection
• Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin
• Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People
• Gena Rowlands in Gloria
• Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter

I'm so excited to do this year. That's it. :-) The predicting contest is naturally on.

I wish you all a very happy new year! May all your wishes come true!

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1974

1974

5. Valerie Perrine in Lenny
I can say that I saw a very-very good performance, which might be more of supporting, but has such a huge effect on you with it's emotional honesty and naturality that you are certainly amazed. Memorable work, worthy of a nomination and deserving of a good rating.

4. Diahann Carroll in Claudine
Although the heavy drama was missing and her material was not the best one ever, Diahann was fantastically real as a struggling woman in Harlem. This nomination was richly deserved and in a weaker year, it could have earned Carroll a deserved Oscar win.


3. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown
Faye Dunaway's performance is one of the key elements in making Chinatown the chilling, harrowing masterpiece that it really is. She brilliantly plays this old-fashioned character with her fresh modern approach that reminds us of the greatness of the real golden age of American cinema. Faye's talent has never been used better than here and even if it was working with Polanski difficult proccess for both of them it was worth it.

2. Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence
Gena Rowlands gave a breathtaking, gutwrenching performance, which is not for entertainment purpuses, but it's thought-provoking, stunning and sometimes unbearable to watch. Rowland's courage and talent really paid off here as she was able to give an amazing performance. Haunting and terrifying job.


1. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
She totally grew on me in these few days. I can honestly say that I saw a very-very fantastic performance by an actress I love and I was quite impressed by her. It's not her greatest performance, but it's still an unforgettable and excellent portrayal of an ordinary woman.


So I can proudly announce 
that my winner is...  
Ellen Burstyn
in
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

What a surprise!!!

About the field: One of the category's finest - I wasn't as impressed by this year initially, but seriously, having Diahann Carroll's performance as #4 when in a year later she would be an easy pick of mine? Putting Faye Dunaway's harrowing, iconic Mrs. Mulwray at #3? Just crazy. As much as I love and appreciate Gena (and I probably appreciate her more than anyone here), I simply cannot not choose Ellen's beautiful, poetic performance, which (for me) is among her finest. I'd like to sing (hehe) praises about her work that works right inside your soul. It's sort of like Megan's experience with the dolphin in Bridesmaids for me. :) 

Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence

Art movie queen Gena Rolands received her first Best Actress nomination for playing Mabel Longhetti, a mentally ill housewife who has an ugly nervous breakdown in John Cassavetes' movie A Woman Under the Influence. Now, I'm sure that Gena Rowlands was the Edith Evans type of frontrunner that year. She got the Globe, several critics awards, but I don't think that she got enough votes as the Academy might have thought that her movie and performance was too depressing. I think the race was between Faye and Ellen.

A Woman Under the Influence is a truly-truly depressing and quite weird art movie about the troubles of a marriage. John Cassavetes was an excellent director, but I prefer Ingmar Bergman's type of art movies. Nevertheless, this film totally upset me and it was very uncomfortable to watch even for the second time (I don't think that there will be a third time). The directing nom is more than deserved and a Best Actor nom for Peter Falk would have been just as justified (I mean Albert Finney got a nomination but Falk and Gene Hackman didn't? Come on).

But, the most essential thing to this movie is a highly talented actress, who's far from being a typical Hollywood beauty queen. Gena Rowlands, in my opinion, was the perfect choice for this part. She's extremely credible as a simple housewife and actually I could not have imagined anyone else being as good as her. Nobody would have had as much courage throughout the movie as Gena.

The role of Mabel is an incredibly hard role to play. Originally Cassavetes intended to write a play, but Rowlands convinced him that it would be too hard to play every night. This was a wise thought. It's very difficult to perfectly catch Mabel and play her and it's good if she succeeds once. The screenplay gives so many layers and faces to this character, that it's almost impossible to show them all. But Rowlands was able to give a tour-de-force performance.

First of all she really makes sure that you will NOT enjoy her acting. She's not afraid to show the real nature of mental illness: it's ugly, disgusting and horrifying. It's nearly scary how fearless Gena Rowlands was when she created this performance. I can only think of Liv Ullmann in Face to Face as someone who was so brave. However, I must tell the they chose very different ways to show the isolation of these character.

There are many memorable scenes, but I must definitely mention her 15-minute-long breakdown in the middle. In that long scene, she such a dizzing combination of emotions: fear, anger, disgust, devastation, shock, hate, love, care and this makes it extremely hard to watch. Personally, I almost got sick of it. When she starts screaming while Peter Falk is hugging her or when the doctor is trying to approach her is very creepy and shocking. Such depth of that character is revealed to the audience that it makes those minutes very difficult to sit through for anyone.

In my opinion it's much more difficult when somebody has to create a character of a real world than out of fantasy (that's why I don't adore Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves). There are so many traps which can ruin the whole performance: first of all, Gena has to be on the edge of being unbearably over-the-top and hysterical to show this woman.

However, in the end this character goes through a big change: she becomes quiet, almost cathatonic, but she's just as confused as she used to be. Rowlands breathtakingly developed this character. She knew perfectly well how to handle the disease and Mabel's mannerisms. Again there's a horrifying scene, where she tries to commit suicide while her husband and children always run after her. It's totally heartwrenching.

So to sum up, I can say that Gena Rowlands gave a breathtaking, gutwrenching performance, which is not for entertainment purpuses, but it's thought-provoking, stunning and sometimes unbearable to watch. Rowland's courage and talent really payed off here as she was able to give one of the greatest performances ever put on film. Haunting and terrifying job.


So what do you think? The final conclusion comes in a couple of hours.

To watch A Woman Under the Influence click here.

The next year...

Until I'm able to start 2002 (which will be next week and thanks for offering help, it's a bit of scheduling problem I have) I do a very much talked about and strong year, whose line-up includes five very famous and loved performances, two of them might be even legendary. This time I did not give you clues, but I hope this year will be as exciting as people say. So right now you might have found out that it's 1974.

The nominees were:

• Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
• Diahann Carroll in Claudine
• Faye Dunaway in Chinatown
• Valerie Perrine in Lenny
• Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence

So what do you predict for my ranking? What's yours and who's your pick? The predicting contest is on.