Anna Kendrick

I'm doing this as part of StinkyLulu's blogathon, but I'm a teeny bit late!

Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air is just about the best thing to happen to supporting actresses this decade (so sorry, Mo'Nique!). What exactly is a supporting actress? Somebody whose presence moves the film from good to great? Somebody who makes a character with limited screentime? Somebody who executes every scene so perfectly it's almost as if the word supporting was made to honor them and them only? Check, check, and check! Anna Kendrick has it all.

Take the firing scene (via the webcam, that is). Tell an actor to do that scene for an audition, you'll get some bore of a performance. When you have Anna Kendrick completely understand Natalie Keener to the point of practically being her, you get movie magic. It's not movie magic in the sense that Avatar is a revelation in technical achievements, or Gone with the Wind is to the epics, but it is movie magic in its simplest sense: Being transported to another world where humans live, not impressions and knock-offs. Natalie, as so well done by Anna, is a real human captured on celluloid. She has ticks, she has a mind, and it's as if a script weren't even there for Anna to read. It's all of these reasons, and many more, that I salutre Miss Kendrick! Congrats. girl, you've earned it.

Precious

Not a huge fan of Precious. I'm going to give you my grade right off the bat for the movie instead of having you wait until the end to yell at me in the comments section (or possibly agree?)!


GRADE FOR PRECIOUS: B-

What I liked....

SPOILER ALERT.
Stop reading if you don't want some plot twists, turns, and 180s to be ruined if you haven't seen the film!


Superb acting. Honestly, Precious is better acted in one scene than other movies are in their entire length. Obviously, it's been said that they will get Oscar nominations and of course that only makes sense given the material given to these two women and the way they handle every painful scene. However, I definitely don't want Sidibe to win for this, not with Carey Mulligan in the race at least. Mo'Nique, while great, ends on such a meh note for me character-ly, so even if it's great acting I was distracted by the movie's poorly written character.

Lee Daniels keeps it from being a bit melodramatic, even if Precious deals with one too many problems. Good job, Daniels!

Tangent- This could or could not be the film's fault. The few dramatic lines that got a laugh from the audience (at least the one I was with). Example (and I'm paraphrasing):

Mo'Nique: Precious, your father died today.
Precious: Is that it?

Why the hell did this get a laugh? Now I would normally fault the audience for this, I mean, this isn't supposed to be funny. Her relationship with her father was sad and terrible to think about, and in my opinion this line should not have garnered a laugh. However, is this the film's fault? I need help with this one. I personally still don't see the humor in it, but to get such a "Ha!" from an audience and a few attacks from other reviews of "unintentional" humor, maybe the film should have approached that differently. Well, it worked for me.


What I didn't like....
Spoiler alert continues...

Mo'Nique's ending monologue. "Oh, it moved me to tears!" What? That moved you to tears? Am I missing something? How do I sympathize with this monster who spent the majority of the movie attacking Precious, both verbally and physically?

That horrific ending. Had the last 10 minutes of this film never existed, I would have liked it more. Precious walks out, triumphant after the last "showdown" with her mother, and a musical montage of sorts starts as she walks down the street, nowhere to go, no money, nothing to eat, with her two children. What? You must think I'm crazy for not liking this when I loved An Education, which has a pretty ambiguous ending. Precious just never ended though. She has HIV, a child with down syndrome, and an infant in her hands, and the movie ends? I know not everything can be resolved, but c'mon. That wasn't "uplifting," like others have said. That was just an easy way to make everyone feel great: have Precious storm out of the meeting with her abusive mom and play music!

Mariah Carey performance praise, namely the Oscar buzz. This is less the film's fault than the buzz's fault, but really? All she did was de-glam and deliver some lines. It's better than Glitter, but if this is ever considered Oscar/Awards in general-worthy, then that is terribly sad and pathetic. What she did was acting. What Mo'Nique and Gabourey Sidibe did was embody a character.

So, if this becomes a major awards winner, I'll be pretty upset. What about you?

Comment!

Best Supporting Actress

Having revisted the trailer for The Lovely Bones, I've been inspired to look at this year's Best Supporting Actress hopefuls...Here I will list who I want to be nominated.

Want to be Nominated (This is without having seen any of the films, but based on trailers, buzz, and the occassional favorite actress)

Julianne Moore for A Single Man - The trailer is genius and buzz has been strong. I know Mo'Nique seems to be the most-hyped actress this side of Nine, but Moore is consistently terrific and, from the trailer alone, I'm reminded of Moore's beautifully underappreciated (awards wise at least) work in Boogie Nights. Fingers crossed Moore, I'm sure more than just me want you to get nominated!

Penélope Cruz for Nine - Penélope should have two Oscars at this point, for Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Volver. The latter didn't come through, but at least she has one. Her work has become better with each new release and, taking the sexy, Tony award role from Jane Krakowski, I don't see how there can be any wrong. Also, Rob Marshall directs, and he knows his women.

Nicole Kidman for Nine - She'll probably be campaigned for lead actress, but with the ever-annoying Marion Cotillard hogging up the spotlight, I hope she'll be moved to supporting. Nicole's last musical was Moulin Rouge!, and if her work here is half as good, she'll deserve the nomination. I also love when big stars do go down to supporting performances. It's not always about being the lead ladies (See: Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago, which definitely could have been a co-lead).

Susan Sarandon for The Lovely Bones - Based on the trailer, Susan Sarandon seems her most Sarandon-y in years, no offense Speed Racer. It's hard to come by good parts when you're an actress over 40 in Hollywood, so this could be the comeback Sarandon needs. Hopefully audience affection will lean to her character, and enough momentum will build to beat that late release date in December (and even later wider release in January) to get Sarandon back to the Kodak since her win for Dead Man Walking back in 1995. It's time for a Sarandonssaince. Let's hope The Lovely Bones isn't killed by the late release date like Revolutionary Road was.

Sigourney Weaver for Avatar - James Cameron's first film since Titanic looks... interesting. At first I was anticipating it like no other, as mentioned in some earlier post where I tried to predict the Best Picture nominees, but now the interest in the special-effects bonanza has been fading. It's looking a bit video-gameish. However, my interest in Sigourney's part has been growing. She's great in everything, but I have a feeling that Avatar is going to be almost completely ignored in every category that doesn't deal with tech. I've barely even seen clips of her, but from what I can remember, it's traditional Sigourney, not so showy (The Ice Storm) but oh so good.

So fantasies aside, here's who will probably be nominated...
Mo'Nique for Precious
Julianne Moore for A Single Man
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air (why can't I get excited over this?)
Penélope Cruz for Nine
Mélanie Laurent for Inglourious Basterds

So, what do you think? Who do you want to be nominated? Who do you think will be nominated?

Best Best Supporting Actress

I decided to create a list of the Best "Best Supporting Actress" performances. I mean, why not? It's a lazy summer day and I have had some time to contemplate. So here, in order from amazing to most amazing, is the list!

10. Estelle Parsons- Bonnie and Clyde
There is a lot of criticism for the sheer shrillness of this performance, but i disagree. When you first watch the movie you certainly find yourself thinking "Good god shut up Blanche!" more than once, but repeat viewings allow you to realize how much Parsons adds to the already unbeatable ensemble. Her mannerisms and fiery feud with Bonnie give the movie a much needed boost during what could have been the dull, blah moments of the picture.

9. Jane Darwell- The Grapes of Wrath
Darwell is heartbreaking as Ma Joad in this Henry Fonda vehicle. She manages to steal precious scenes they share together and is a perfect example of what a supporting role should be.

8. Judi Dench- Shakespeare in Love
Her screen time may be minimal, but everyone who has seen the movie always seems to be fondest of this character. Why? Because Dench does so much with her scant screentime. She creates Queen Elizabeth as funny, strong, and wise beyond our years in just eight minutes. Bravo!

7. Cloris Leachman- The Last Picture Show
She's there, she disappears, and then she reappears at the end of the film. She's lonely, she's gone, she's heart-wrenching at the end of the film. A beautiful movie with a heavy performance by the typically funny Leachman.

6. Meryl Streep- Kramer Vs. Kramer
Not a huge fan of the film, making my love for Streep in it all the more confusing. There aren't many words to describe someone like Meryl Streep. My suggestion is: watch the movie. It makes trying to explain her easier.

5. Sandy Dennis- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Unlike her co-star, Dennis is a teeny bit more understated in her performance. She brings heart to the heartless film about a drunken romp shared between two terribly mismatched couples.

4. Kim Hunter- A Streetcar Named Desire
Stella! Stella! That now famous yell would have been a hell of a lot less believable if he had been calling for someone other than the criminally underrated Kim Hunter. Granted she was blacklisted, but still! She (And I can say this without even seeing other productions of Streetcar) is the quintessential Stella Kowalski.

3. Donna Reed- From Here to Eternity
Being paired with Montgomery Clift seems to bring out the best in actresses (i.e. Olivia de Havilland). Although Lancaster and Kerr may be the romance we are supposed to invest in, we find ourselves much more interested in Clift's and Reed's doomed from the start relationship.

2. Dianne Wiest- Hannah and Her Sisters
Wiest is one of the ultimate supporting performers of our time. Hannah and Her Sisters is definitely the better Woody Allen film, as Wiest gets to play a full character instead of a silly, comic-relief cartoon she had to play in Bullets Over Broadway, and boy does she excel. When actors like Wiest get a chance to shine, it's magnificent. Hannah and Her Sisters definitely contains the best supporting female performance of any Allen film I've seen, and that's saying a lot from a man who tries to create so many great roles for actresses.

1. Rita Moreno- West Side Story
Another performance hard to put into words. She just is Anita. That's it. She embodies Anita. She's funny. She's in love. She's singing. She's dancing. She's helping Maria. She's mourning Bernardo. She's trying to make nice with the Jets. She's terrified. She's strong. Simply put, one of the best female performances ever written that completely comes to life due to Moreno.