And the Oscar Should Have Gone to...

[LurkerNan]

Hilary Swank is a novelty actress: she excels at playing butchy women.

If she can win an Oscar, so should Peter Dinklage for The Station Agent. Because they are both playing to their strengths within their physical constraints.

[Deleted]

I loved Bill Murray's performance in Lost in Translation. That year became a sort of three way race between Penn, Murray and Depp. I liked that Murray was upfront about wanting to win and showed his disappointment (I didn't think he looked angry or anything just upset that he didn't win) when he didn't. Of course, his actions probably did him no favors when it comes to future nominations.

I think I remember reading that you could see Samuel L. Jackson say "shit" (or some other curse word) when he lost the supporting actor Oscar to the odds on favorite Martin Landau. Hee! Not everyone is good at faking it.

I will never understand how The Pianist beat Adaptation for best adapted screenplay. The Pianist definitely resonated with Academy members (and I thought it was a great movie) but the screenplay was not part of that greatness. I remember being jarred while watching the film by several clunky lines. Adaptation, on the other hand, was brilliant. Perhaps it was a little too clever for its own good but seriously. After reading The Orchid Thief I was even more impressed by the way that Kaufman was able to craft such a strange and wonderful screenplay and was still true to the ideas being presented in the book. I am glad that Charlie Kaufman finally got an Oscar for screenwriting (for Eternal Sunshine) but he should have been winning his THIRD Oscar this past year, not his first.

[topher]

Finding Neverland and Depp were robbed.

[Deleted]

I just watched Vera Drake and now have seen all of the Best Actress nominees from last year and I have to say that Kate Winslet definitely deserved the Oscar for Eternal Sunshine.... In a career full of great performances, her portrayal of Clementine stands out as her best... ever! It helps that the part played to her strengths as an actress (the ability to easily gain audience sympathy, the extremes of emotion etc...) but she just went above and beyond what was necessary for the character. The fact that I didn't totally hate Clementine makes the performance remarkable, especially when you factor in Jim Carrey's (shamefully un-nominated - boo academy!) sensitive portrayal of Joel. In the wrong hands, Clementine is a bitch or a free spirit. In Kate Winslet's hands, she is complex, demanding, lovable, frustrating and completely understandable. God, what a performance.

[defaultusername]

Julia Roberts should hand her Oscar over to Ellen Burstyn. Ellen's performance in Requiem for a Dream was disturbing and heartbreaking. What did Julia do to win? Show up in a push-up bra, that's what. Ugh.

WORD WORD WORD!!! Door,that's just what I was going to post, word for word, when I saw this topic.

[stargirl]

Absolutely. I don't remember who else was up for Best Actress, but it was ridiculous that Julia won. (Maybe this belongs in Unpopular Movie Opinions but "Erin Brockovich" was not good at all, even leaving aside Julia Roberts.)

[Carolina]

stargirl said:

Absolutely. I don't remember who else was up for Best Actress, but it was ridiculous that Julia won. (Maybe this belongs in Unpopular Movie Opinions but "Erin Brockovich" was not good at all, even leaving aside Julia Roberts.)

ITA. Erin Brockovich wasn't bad, it just wasn't as fabulous as it was made out to be. And should Julia Roberts really have won an Oscar for "playing" an obnoxious bitch?

[Deleted]

Erin Brokovich played to Julia's strengths as an actress while making it seem like she was taking a "risk" and stretching herself by appearing in a non-romantic comedy. The press made it seem like Julia was all courageous for wearing a push-up bra while Laura Linney's subtle and heartbreaking performance in You Can Count on Me and Ellen Burstyn's excruciating (in a good way) portrayal of drug addiction in Requiem for a Dream were pushed aside.

[foxyepicurean]

The press made it seem like Julia was all courageous for wearing a push-up bra

That's what it takes? Wow, I must be braver than Superman, Batman, and Spidey all put together! I'm good at being an obnoxious bitch, too...where's my Oscar?!

[Deleted]

What no mention of Helen Hunt winning for As Good As It Gets (which, I will confess to never having seen).

If you ask me, that Oscar has Judi Dench's name on it. She OWNED Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown and it irks me that she was completely robbed.

And I much prefer Doctor Zhivago to Sound of Music. Both are kind of sappy, but the latter just grates.