Thelma Adams: Novelist, Critic, Oscar Expert

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Oscars 2012: Best Actress Roundtable

September 18, 2011 By Thelma 11 Comments

Viola Davis,The Help,Bestseller,Kathryn Stockett,Best Actress,Oscars 2012,Best Supporting Actress

Davis has a lot to smile about…including being an Oscar frontrunner

For our first Oscar roundtable, I welcomed Sasha Stone of Awardsdaily.com, and USA Today film reporter Susan Wloszczyna to lay out the early shape of the Best Actress race. And, having posted a list of the serious contenders, I tossed out the first question:  Is Viola Davis going to be considered a lead role, and is she at the top?

Sasha Stone: I’m getting that winner vibe from Viola Davis this year. I know that Glenn Close is way overdue and this would be the perfect year to award her but I have a feeling Davis will win in whatever category she’s put in, supporting or lead. Partly it’s because the film is so successful but mainly because her character is so admirable.

Susan Wloszczyna: If she were in the supporting category — not that I think that where she necessarily should be, but she could be — I believe Davis would have a much better chance of winning at least at this stage of the game. But if Michelle Williams pulls off a miraculous incarnation of MM, she might get the edge for actress. Not only does she have two previous nominations, but if she is fabulous, she might outdo Cate Blanchett’s winning turn as Kate Hepburn.

SS: Susan, I’m not sure Michelle Williams is quite ready for a win. She’s going to have to top Glenn Close, who is running on overdue status, Meryl Streep AND Viola Davis…I can’t imagine a scenario, unless she gained 30 pounds and murdered people, where she could pull this off. Not feeling it quite yet for her.

Blanchett won in supporting, which is an easier feat to pull off for a role that’s exactly like another actress – in fact, Blanchett won as a win for that movie too. There was Aviator heat building that year. I am not sure the Marilyn movie is going to be a strong Best Picture contender. So I guess I have trouble seeing where the incentive to vote for her would be, over all of those other strong performances. I can’t see it happening. We’ll have to wait and see.

SW: Sometimes they go with the overdue. Sometimes they invest in the future. And sometimes the actual role counts as much if not more than the career status of the nominee. As much as I love Mamma Mia! I am not sure about Phyllida Lloyd’s skill as a movie maker — therefore to me Iron Lady is a question mark.

And as much as I think Close does deserve an Oscar, after seeing Alfred Nobbs, I am not so sure this role will do it for her. For one, Janet McTeer pretty much steals the show. For another, her performance did not move me as much as I would have expected. It’s not like how I felt after seeing Bullock in The Blind Side. Meanwhile, someone like Williams could be akin to Portman or Cotillard in terms of their preference. The influx of young actors who vote could also cause more shifts in the conventional wisdom side of things. Basically, I think it is too early to hand it all to one actress candidate.

Oh and my choice of overdue status this year is Vanessa Redgrave, who is astonishing in Coriolanus — but in supporting. Her Julia statue is pretty dusty too.

SS: Susan, you make great points. But remember, we’re still talking about a performance no one has seen in Williams. It’s sort of like talking about War Horse winning Best Picture – yes, if the stars align perfectly it will happen but it’s unknowable. It’s impossible, then, to really read the Best Actress race accurately without having seen everything. But I’ve not yet seen Michelle Williams turn in the kind of performance she’d need to beat Davis, Close, Streep, etc. I think she was wonderful in Blue Valentine but she wasn’t playing someone whose voice we all know so well, whose face we have studied for decades, someone whose relationship with the camera was second to none – and that’s Marilyn, and those are big, big shoes to fill. I’ve seen many actresses try to nail Marilyn over the years and somehow I am still skeptical that this one girl can do it that well. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s really good. But playing Marilyn is like playing JFK – almost impossible.

Cate Blanchett is a different actress from Michelle Williams. Blanchett can completely disappear into a persona, as she did with Hepburn and with Bob Dylan. That has not yet been what Williams has done – and it’s really hard to do. You have to be a mimic and a good actress at the same time.

I agree that McTeer pretty much steals Albert Nobbs and that Close’s performance wouldn’t win on its own. But then I think of Paul Newman in The Color of Money and that quiets my doubt. I still think Viola Davis has it in the bag but my next in line, at this stage of the game, without having seen Williams, is still Close.

TA: Well, Sasha and Susan, I’m hearing early buzz on Marilyn the movie is that it’s light, lighter than expected. That said, it’s still in the New York Film Festival. And the reaction to Nobbs at Toronto was, in general, respectful rather than passionate. And Susan raises a red flag regarding Director Phyllida Lloyd — can she pull off a movie about Margaret Thatcher that is as complicated as that world leader, or equal to Streep? Again, early buzz is that The Iron Lady is not The Golden Statuette material above and beyond the central performance.

Of course, only seeing the films will tell, but does the success of the movie overall (not just box office, but emotionally) have an impact on who wins? That’s an open question to those joining our virtual roundtable.

Filed Under: Movies & TV, Oscar Race Tagged With: Albert Nobbs, Awards Daily, best actress, Best supporting actress, Cate Blanchett, Glenn Close, Michelle Wlliams, My Week With Marilyn, New York Film Festival, Oscars 2012, Susan Wloszczyna, The Help, Toronto International Film Festival, USA Today, Viola Davis

TIFF11: Keira Knightley Kornered

September 14, 2011 By Thelma 1 Comment

Keira Knightley,Michael Fassbender,A Dangerous Method,Viggo Morntensen,Vincent Cassel

Knightley hysterical

 Where I jaw with Keira…

Knightley is every bit as intelligent, gorgeous and passionate in person as she is on screen. Many people will be disappointed to discover this. It’s just too damn unfair.

I caught up with her at the intimate Sony Classics dinner at Crème Brasserie, 162 Cumberland Street, in Toronto. Years of experience have taught me that the most interesting intimate conversations take place at the cocktail party before hand, and there was the female star of A Dangerous Method (out November 23rd), talking to associates, waiting for the night to begin. Her hair was in a Julie Christie bob, she wore an Elie Saab sparkly blush frock and she had a positive energy that I instantly connected to when I introduced myself .

Knightley was lovely, the kind of person that looked you in the eye and not over your shoulder. We talked first about the most arresting physical action in the introduction of her Russian Jewish character, Sabina Spielrein, who arrives literally hysterical at the elite Swiss clinic of Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender). Knightley does this thing where her chin, already prominent, juts out in a hideous way that resembles the alien from the Sigourney Weaver movies. It takes someone very secure in her looks to make herself so ugly, like a child pulling faces in a mirror.

It turns out that’s actually what the actress did. She told me that she read in Spielrein’s papers that the faces she made were demonic, or dog-like, and so she set about making faces in her mirror that reflected that demon/dog. In the end, she came up with two alternatives. She then Skyped director David Cronenberg with the options and he selected his preferred grotesque expression. He definitely got what he wanted!

Knightley and I, with interruptions from Vogue’s John Powers asking about her dress (that’s where I got that tidbit, although I had to spell the designer’s name for John), turned to the subject of the vibrant, troubled, masochistic character she plays. Spankings aside – Fassbender’s Jung pleasures Sabina in an unconventional way — we discussed how welcome it was to play a woman with her own narrative arc — and how rare that is in contemporary cinema. Her Sabina begins in jaw-jutting,limb-twitching hysteria, carried bodily into a forbidding clinic; she exits the movie self-possessed, pregnant, a psychoanalyst in her own right, having risen from patient to colleague in the Freud-Jung set.

Keira Knightley,A Dangerous Method,Viggo Mortensen,Michael Fassbender,Vincent Cassel

Knightley, soigne

We were discussing Keira’s historical research for the part, and her consultations with two psychoanalysts, when we were interrupted again. Viggo Mortensen steps up! Dressed formally, he is slenderer than he appears on screen, more boyish, devastatingly attractive. Despite his tux, he’s carrying a wrinkled plastic shopping bag. Like a kid on Christmas morning, he pulls out a present that he has for their director, eager to show it to Knightley. It’s a silly, bulbous knit hat with sparkles and, possibly, a rat nose. It doesn’t take much to urge Mortensen to try it on — preposterous and still handsome.

Keira Knightley,Viggo Mortensen,David Cronenberg,A Dangerous Method,Silly Hat

Knightley (left) and Viggo: Cat in the Hat

Then it’s Keira’s turn: the sparkles add nothing to the sparkles on her dress. But the obvious happiness of friends seeing friends in a sea of work bounces between them. The silly hat is just an external sign of sincere friendship, and a reminder not to take the tux & tiara thing too seriously, because ultimately it’s the work that matters.

And the work? Up next for Knightley, she’ll play Anna Karenina. She’s currently shooting with her Atonement director Joe Wright and co-stars Jude Law, Kelly Macdonald and Aaron Johnson. Ah, Karenina: Now there’s a female character with her own rich character arc and one created by a man: Leo Tolstoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Books, Celebrity, Criticism, Movies & TV, Oscar Race Tagged With: A Dangerous Method, Best supporting actress, David Cronenberg, Freud, Joe Wright, Jude Law, Jung, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, TIFF11, Toronto International Film Festival, Viggo Mortensen

Review: The Help

August 23, 2011 By Thelma 2 Comments

The Help, Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Oscar 2012, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Kathryn Stockett

Stone, Davis

 Before I get to one of my last Us Weekly movie reviews, let me just address the fact that the men I’ve talked to don’t want to see this movie. We’re not talking about a Jennifer Aniston – Gerard Butler romcom. The Help is must-see viewing, a drama dominated by female characters but universal in its message. Men you had better man-up and see The Help.

Us Rating: ****

Spunky rising star Emma Stone scores in this big-hearted, crowd-pleasing chick flick based on the smash 2009 novel about race relations. Recent college grad Skeeter (Stone) returns to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962,  then writes a book about the lives of the African-American nannies who raised her and her friends. While Stone sparkles with intelligence, it’s costar Viola Davis (Doubt) who truly moves the audience as a housekeeper who loves the plump white toddler she cares for, but who gets tormented by the girl’s steely mother (Ahna O’Reilly). This compelling, complicated story about love and hatred across racial lines delivers an instant classic that’s faithful the novel — an will also inspire new fans.

Filed Under: Criticism, Movies & TV, Oscar Race Tagged With: best actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best supporting actress, Emma Stone, Oscars 2012, The Help, Viola Davis

Peter Travers interviews Oscar-winner Melissa Leo re Red State

March 10, 2011 By Thelma Leave a Comment

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtZd3SUw8OM

Filed Under: Celebrity, Movies & TV Tagged With: Best supporting actress, Controversy, Extremism, Fundamentalism, Kevin Smith, Melissa Leo, Oscar winner, Peter Travers, Red State, The Fighter

And the Oscar goes to….

February 28, 2011 By Thelma Leave a Comment

2011 Academy Awards,Social Network,King's Speech,True Grit,The Fighter,Black Swan,Melissa Leo

Oscar the Grouch

Here’s the list of winners for the Academy Awards:

Best picture Winner:
“The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers

Performance by an actor in a leading role Winner:
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role Winner:
Christian Bale in “The Fighter” (Paramount)

Performance by an actress in a leading role Winner:
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role Winner:
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter” (Paramount)

Best animated feature film of the year Winner:
“Toy Story 3” (Walt Disney), Lee Unkrich [Read more…]

Filed Under: Movies & TV, Oscar Race Tagged With: 127 Hours, Academy Awards, best actor, best actress, best picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best supporting actress, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Colin Firth, goldderby.com, Inception, James Franco, Melissa Leo, Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Oscars, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone

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