The Riffis! Back to Best Actor for a second (Poll)

[Relaxing Dragon]

You'll be happy to know I haven't seen Boys Don't Cry, so I won't be voting for her either

Although I am happy about that fact....I don't get the feeling you will be voting for Annette so....

I vote for all copies of American Beauty to be loaded into a canon and fired into the sun.

*As someone who highly supports the trans community and thinks they need all the support and sympathy they can get (especially for one that was killed for being trans), I feel weird saying this. My human emotions are complex are annoying  )

While I've yet to see Boys Don't Cry, I do think I understand what you're getting at here, and I agree entirely. I've always been very wary when it comes to awards winners that go to someone portraying someone "different". A lot of it is me being cynical, but it seems like such an cheap and exploitative way to give faux support to those who need it while actually just doing something that'll win the "so brave" cred needed to take home the big awards. It's one of the (admittedly many) reasons I wasn't happy with this year's Best Picture winner.

Which sorta leads me to:

See, this is where I'm stuck, and it's because women have to do bullshit movies like those to get to play 'Oscar' roles.

I was thinking just recently how it's so much easier to recall all the great Male roles compared to the great Female roles. A lot of it likely has to do with the inherent sexism of the system (and, well, life) that makes it so much easier for men to grab the juicy parts, or how I, as a dude, just tend to notice/identify/enjoy them more, or how there are simply more male roles in movies, period. And probably a lot of other factors too. But yeah, it definitely seems that women need to go for a lot more of the cloying, desperate award grabs to even get noticed (a larger proportion of them compared to men, that is). Sucks, and needs to change, but it's where we are now.


Meanwhile, my list that I was able to cobble together:

Helena Bonham Carter - Fight Club
Jaon Cusack - Toy Story 2
Sigourney Weaver - Galaxy Quest
Carrie-Anne Moss - The Matrix
Melora Walters - Magnolia (this one's tricky, as it could go as a Main role or a Supporting role).

[Edward J Grug III]

I was thinking just recently how it's so much easier to recall all the great Male roles compared to the great Female roles. A lot of it likely has to do with the inherent sexism of the system (and, well, life) that makes it so much easier for men to grab the juicy parts, or how I, as a dude, just tend to notice/identify/enjoy them more, or how there are simply more male roles in movies, period. And probably a lot of other factors too. But yeah, it definitely seems that women need to go for a lot more of the cloying, desperate award grabs to even get noticed (a larger proportion of them compared to men, that is). Sucks, and needs to change, but it's where we are now.

You just need to look at most Oscars nomination lists.

Most big categories will be split between the same films. The Best Actress category will often be 4/5 movies not nominated in any other category (or just both actress categories).

This year:

Julianne Moore    Still Alice    
Marion Cotillard    Two Days, One Night    
Felicity Jones    The Theory of Everything    
Rosamund Pike    Gone Girl    
Reese Witherspoon    Wild

It's a real shame, but it is that there are so few great roles for women.

[anais.butterfly]

author=Relaxing Dragon link=topic=30457.msg899830#msg899830


While I've yet to see Boys Don't Cry, I do think I understand what you're getting at here, and I agree entirely. I've always been very wary when it comes to awards winners that go to someone portraying someone "different". A lot of it is me being cynical, but it seems like such an cheap and exploitative way to give faux support to those who need it while actually just doing something that'll win the "so brave" cred needed to take home the big awards. It's one of the (admittedly many) reasons I wasn't happy with this year's Best Picture winner.

This is especially wearing me down because I was SO adamant that Eddie Redmayne win this past year, but yea his role was Oscar bait. That being said, what he was able to accomplish physically portraying Hawking, and how he was able to act using only facial expressions, not to mention the regular crying because his body sucks parts, made me think Eddie deserved it.

Of course, now Eddie is playing a transwomen in his next film, so it's like....facepalm. But he can totally win next year too, because he is my boyfriend and I want to see him in many many more movies forever and ever.

[Relaxing Dragon]

You just need to look at most Oscars nomination lists.

Most big categories will be split between the same films. The Best Actress category will often be 4/5 movies not nominated in any other category (or just both actress categories).

This year:

Julianne Moore    Still Alice    
Marion Cotillard    Two Days, One Night    
Felicity Jones    The Theory of Everything    
Rosamund Pike    Gone Girl    
Reese Witherspoon    Wild

It's a real shame, but it is that there are so few great roles for women.

In a bizarre way, this is almost a good thing for awards. Because if there's one thing that's really killing these things, it's how every singly critical body, no matter how much debate and disagreement goes on in the year proper, always seems to distill the Best Of The Year down to the same dozen or so movies (though they always throw a bone to "alternative" features with the technical awards). Seems like stuff like this is the only hope something like Gone Girl or Wild really had. The system is unfair and incoherent in the weirdest ways sometimes.

Not to mention how much Pike truly deserved it for Gone Girl, but that's another matter.

[Edward J Grug III]

You just need to look at most Oscars nomination lists.

Most big categories will be split between the same films. The Best Actress category will often be 4/5 movies not nominated in any other category (or just both actress categories).

This year:

Julianne Moore    Still Alice    
Marion Cotillard    Two Days, One Night    
Felicity Jones    The Theory of Everything    
Rosamund Pike    Gone Girl    
Reese Witherspoon    Wild

It's a real shame, but it is that there are so few great roles for women.

In a bizarre way, this is almost a good thing for awards. Because if there's one thing that's really killing these things, it's how every singly critical body, no matter how much debate and disagreement goes on in the year proper, always seems to distill the Best Of The Year down to the same dozen or so movies (though they always throw a bone to "alternative" features with the technical awards). Seems like stuff like this is the only hope something like Gone Girl or Wild really had. The system is unfair and incoherent in the weirdest ways sometimes.

Not to mention how much Pike truly deserved it for Gone Girl, but that's another matter.

You don't think it follows that the best movies of the year are made up by the performances, the best scripts etc?

[RandyMistie]

I loved "The Talented Mr. Ripley". It was a magnificent performance piece for Damon, Jude Law, Paltrow, and the great, Phillip Seymore Hoffman.

What a great loss to us all.  What a great actor.

Plus there was a whole gay thing in there... What's not to love?!

[jonalame]

Whit-a-ker! Whit-a-ker!

[anais.butterfly]

So, should we have a run off for our run off.


That sounds so gross.

[Edward J Grug III]

I guess the Ghost Dog voters hold the power, only one of them says they haven't seen The Talented Mr Ripley...

[ScottotD]

Whit-a-ker! Whit-a-ker!

Sorry, I've got to give it to Damon

[Relaxing Dragon]

I guess the Ghost Dog voters hold the power, only one of them says they haven't seen The Talented Mr Ripley...

Working on it!

You don't think it follows that the best movies of the year are made up by the performances, the best scripts etc?

Strictly speaking yes, but even then, I guess it's the way these award shows always limit themselves and limit all these awards back to those base few movies. Because when you phrase is like that, it seems like the only award should be Best Movie, which encompasses all of those things. Which wouldn't work at all, of course, but even so, it's a weird set up. Some stuff is really tied to the movie (Best Director vs. Best Picture usually springs to mind; hard to have one without the other), while other times, there's outstanding work done in areas where the movie itself would never be recognized because it's a great movie but in a genre that awards shows always try to short change (consider a world where an Original Screenplay nomination went to Cabin in the Woods or Sam Rockwell taking Best Actor for Moon, stuff like that).

It's hard for me to articulate, but it all comes down to just how generally tiresome and ridiculous I find most award shows. Which usually goes down to it all being about the campaigning and politics and less about the quality of the actual movies in question, which is usually because we all need time to see what sticks and what fades, which is why we're here now doing what we're doing.

[anais.butterfly]

IMDB mentions that Emily Watson was snubbed with no nomination for her role in Angela's Ashes.

So that is another suggestion if anyone has seen it.

This website says the snub was for Reese Witherspoon (Election) (Note they also say Matt Damon for Talented Mr. Ripley)
http://www.filmsite.org/noawards2.html#3

[Edward J Grug III]

IMDB mentions that Emily Watson was snubbed with no nomination for her role in Angela's Ashes.

So that is another suggestion if anyone has seen it.

This website says the snub was for Reese Witherspoon (Election) (Note they also say Matt Damon for Talented Mr. Ripley)
http://www.filmsite.org/noawards2.html#3

I didn't like Election at the time, and part of me wants to revisit it, but I haven't liked any of that director's movies since either, so part of me thinks, why bother?

[Relaxing Dragon]

I have finally caught up with the exploits of one Mr. Ripley, and seeing as we have a tie that needs breaking, folks can go ahead and consider my vote switched over to him.

I still love you, Ghost Dog!

[Edward J Grug III]

I have finally caught up with the exploits of one Mr. Ripley, and seeing as we have a tie that needs breaking, folks can go ahead and consider my vote switched over to him.

I still love you, Ghost Dog!

Yay!

Does the other Ghost Dog voter want to voice their opinion?