Did They Get it Right? – Best Actress – Oscars 1976

Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)

Marie-Christine Barrault (Cousin cousine)

Faye Dunaway (Network)

Talia Shire (Rocky)

Sissy Spacek (Carrie)

Liv Ullman (Face to Face)

Biggest Snub:

Barbara Streisand – A Star is Born

My Overall Thoughts:

This is a year with some very good nominees even though one of them give such an amazingly powerful performance that made her the front runner.

My Rankings:

Actress

5. Liv Ullman
4. Talia Shire
3. Sissy Spacek
2. Marie-Christine Barrault
1. Faye Dunaway

Movies

5. Face to Face – Extremely abstract film that doesn’t manage to stay interesting at all. Bergman was a master of these kinds of films and many movie historians love these kind of films, but I have never been in that camp. Certain parts of this film look beautiful, but the lack of a competent narrative is what completely turns me away from films like this.
4. Cousin cousine – Interesting idea that work due to the chemistry between the two leads who make us believe the friendship that blossoms between them as they both try to find someone who understands them.  The friendship between them moves along at a nice and realistic pace and it’s completely understandable how they become so connected over time. The film does a nice job depicting various humorous situations that occur which help make the character become closer and closer to a point where they both wonder what kind of friendship they truly want with one another. Barrault was deservingly nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her work in this film.
3. Carrie – Interesting idea that shows a different view of the effects of both abuse at home and abuse at school. The way that both situations are handled very differently works quite well in showing the realism of the situations presented. The cast is superb especially since most are actors and actresses who are at the beginning of their careers but would go on to much bigger things. Spacek was deservingly nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for this role.
2. Rocky – Had a new found appreciation for this film especially after watching the series as a whole. Really liked the way that this film deals more with going the distance than focusing n win or lose. Rocky is a great character and I loved his mild mannered way of courting the sister of his best friend. A great film, probably the best of the series, deserving of a Bets Picture nomination, but still not the best of the year.
1. Network – Excellent movie that truly portrays the lengths executives could possibly go to to get higher ratings. It’s movies like this that made Reality TV a possibility. Amazing cast which won 3 Oscars.

Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Absolutely!  FD is superb in Network and by giving such a powerful performance, she allows us to see such a great portrayal of how reality TV even in its infancy had so much potential.

Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!