Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Biggest Snub:
Nia Vardalos – My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Overall Thoughts:
This is a really weak year in this category and none of the nominees does amazing work here so it really could have been any of them who could win come Oscar night.
My Rankings:
Actress
5. Diane Lane
4. Renée Zellweger
3. Julianne Moore
2. Salma Hayek
1. Nicole Kidman
Movies
5. Unfaithful – Interesting idea that doesn’t work so well because it feels quite pointless. Lane, Gere and Martinez all seem wasted here in roles that could have been more than one-dimensional. The story itself follows a predictable pattern which takes away from any real impact that this story could have had.
4. Chicago – Hated this. Can’t believe it won so many awards. Couldn’t get into this movie at all.
3. Frida – Interesting biopic that is accentuated by the great performance by Hayek in the title role. This character is quite tortured both physically and mentally throughout her life yet still was able to find a way to express herself via her art. She was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her work here and this is truly a difficult role to pull off and she does as good a job as possibly given the constraints of the story. Hayek’s chemistry with co-stars Molina and Rush is fine bit something constantly feels lacking whenever she shares screen time with them. The story tries too hard to tell such a long tale and feels rushed at too many junctures which hurts things more than helps them move along.
2. Far from Heaven – Great look at how suburban life looked at scandals and racism back in the 50’s. Moore is great in the lead, but she is out-shined by both of her costars whenever she appears with them. Both Quaid and Haysbert are superb here and make us feel and understand the pressure and difficulties that they face every day in society. The story has a few lulls along the way that could probably have been snipped, but it does a really nice job showing us how secrets can cause so many problems for people trying to live life on the outside according to the standards of the location of where they live and not according to what their inner self tells them is right and proper. Moore was nominated for an Oscar for her performance here and both men were snubbed, but it is clear that Quaid’s performance is the better of the two. The story is set in the 1950’s really well and they are able to transport us to this time and place of over 60 years ago.
1. The Hours – Interesting portrait of life and death told in an interesting way. All 3 leading ladies are superb here,, but I think Moore is the best of the trio.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – I guess so! This was a really weak year and none of the nominees could gather lots of enthusiasm for their performances, but NK was as good a choice as any.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
MovieRob 