The nominees for this year are: Amy Adams in Doubt as "Sister James" Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona as "Maria Elena" Viola Davis in Doubt as "Mrs. Miller" Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as "Queenie" Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler as "Cassidy/Pam"
My Ranking: 1. Cruz - This is the only one of the nominees I've seen so far, but I think she'd make a worthy winner. She acted excellently in two languages and she spiked the film with both humor and menace. A spicy, tangy, exotic performance that leaves you wanting more.
-.Adams -.Davis -.Henson -.Tomei
My Personal Ballot: I haven't seen enough worthy performances yet!
"Notorious was nice, but it’s not in the color purple range" "Angels and Demons may get nominated for cinematography the imagery was profound" "District Nine will definitely win for best foreign film it made money and everyone loved it" ~ 8movies
Posts: 2714 | Location: nz | Registered: January 12, 2009
1. Viola Davis--very few actresses could make the impression she did with such a short amount of screentime. She nailed it.
2. Marisa Tomei--a performance that is quiet, yet that is what makes it brilliant and deserving. In the hands of a lesser actress, Cassidy could have come of as crass and distance, but we are able to sympathize with her because of Tomei. Also, just think how different the three of Tomei's nominated performances have been....she has great range.
3. Amy Adams--Very effective and believable as the naive nun.
4. Taraji P. Henson--Decent performance, but something a number of other actresses could have pulled off.
5. Penelope Cruz--OVERRATED. The performance was charming, but nothing about it screams Oscar to me.
Posts: 10040 | Location: Iowa | Registered: June 09, 2005
Davis' performance is in a different league. Her performance gave me chills. For real. I felt shivers throughout my body in the theatre as I watched Davis.
I don't give a damn how much screentime she has; from a pure acting standpoint, Davis deserves this.
Cruz would make an excellent winner, too; she's fantastic in VCB. It's a ballsy performance and I just love how she speaks English and Spanish in the film.
I personally feel that this is a very strong category and even my 4th and 5th choices wouldn't be bad winners in my book.
#1. Viola Davis, Doubt -In a time where every seems to include obvious leading performances in the Supporting categories, it is always refreshing when the Academy actually recognizes true Supporting performances like the amazing work done by Viola Davis, who has about 12 minutes of screentime in "Doubt", and each moment is well-played. She steals her one long scene with Meryl Streep as they take a walk through the Bronx and she shows so much in her scene, which is chilling. To quote Meryl Streep, I say: "GIVE THAT WOMAN A MOVIE!!".
#2. Amy Adams, Doubt -After being snubbed for "Enchanted" and losing for "Junebug", I am now officially on the boat that feels Amy Adams deserves an Oscar someday, and I feel this is a performance that would be worthy of an Oscar. Amy Adams took a role that could've easily come across as average and bland and made it into a nice and very interesting one. While Davis' performance was more powerful and even chilling in her 12 minutes, Adams' role was easily the heart of "Doubt" and it was a great performance that I felt was even better than Hoffman's and Streep's.
#3. Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler -There seems to be a lot of great subtle performances this year and I would rank Marisa Tomei's up there with the absolute best of the year, showing that subtlety can do wonders. While the movie is easily the Mickey Rourke show, I felt that Marisa Tomei held her own rather nicely and she proves to all of us once again that she has such wonderful range. "My Cosuin Vinny" to "In the Bedroom" to "The Slums of Beverly Hills" and even more lightweight movies like "Only You" and "Untamed Heart" show she is a great talent. Her Oscar for "Vinny" wasn't a fluke and if she happened to win for this, I wouldn't complain.
#4. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona -I found this performance to be sparkling, almost like a firecracker, which is how many have described it. I think it is certainly worthy of awards notice and while she isn't my first choice to win the Oscar, her winning wouldn't upset me but I think she ended up getting overshadowed by these later Supporting performances.
#5. Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -I am a supporter of her nomination but I don't think she would deserve the win over the above four. If she pulled off the win, would I be upset? No, she wouldn't be a horrible winner in the slightest, but I do feel her winning would be more based off of vote splitting in a close race and if the voters really want to give "BB" an Acting Oscar. Her performance was definitely fun to watch and she had a lot of charisma but she just didn't match up to Davis, Adams, or Tomei....but she is on the same level with Cruz.
Posts: 1293 | Location: WV | Registered: October 23, 2005
Cruz and Davis are the only ones on the nomination ballot I care about, although Tomei was good and Henson, although somewhat stock, very warm and effortless.
My list would look like this:
Cruz Davis Swinton, TCCOBB Tea Leone Elsa Zylberstein
Posts: 13901 | Location: canada | Registered: December 22, 2005
1. Viola Davis, "Doubt" 2. Amy Adams, "Doubt" 3. Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" 4. Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler" 5. Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
I'm not overly passionate about any of these nominees. None of them would be my pick for the winner (that would be Hanna Schygulla, for "The Edge of Heaven"), though I liked all of them to a different extent. I thought Davis and Adams were almost equally strong in "Doubt." And Cruz was very funny in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Tomei didn't blow me away in "The Wrestler," which is a great film in which she gave a strong, subtle performance but not one I was riveted by -- I preferred her co-star Evan Rachel Wood.
As for Henson, I admire her greatly and thought she was much, much better in "Hustle and Flow" and "Talk to Me." What a talent she is! But what was Queenie but a mimic of Hattie McDaniel in "Gone with the Wind"? The characters as written is limited, and the performance is limited for the same reason. There's not much for her to play. If they wanted to nominate an actor from "Benjamin Button," they should have gone with the very touching Tilda Swinton.
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"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
"Notorious was nice, but it’s not in the color purple range" "Angels and Demons may get nominated for cinematography the imagery was profound" "District Nine will definitely win for best foreign film it made money and everyone loved it" ~ 8movies
Posts: 2714 | Location: nz | Registered: January 12, 2009
01. Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona 02. Ari Graynor, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist 03. Elsa Zylberstein, I've Loved You So Long 04. Olivia Thirlby, Snow Angels 05. Kate O'Flynn, Happy-Go-Lucky
Still have quite a few movies left to see from 2008, but that's who I like at the moment.
The results have been revealed, but now that I've seen all five of the year's nominated performances, I wanted to share my thoughts.
1. Penélope Cruz. Her performance is both dramatic and full of humor, and in true supporting fashion, she creates an interesting character with limited screen time. I am very satisfied with her win. 2. Marisa Tomei. Her Pam is completely human, and she shines in all of her scenes. 3. Viola Davis. She's responsible for one of the most memorable, haunting scenes of the year, and with only ten minutes of screen time. An actress deserving of more opportunities. 4. Amy Adams. Makes a stark transition from wide-eyed innocence to stern disciplinarian. Effective, but I didn't consider this performance particularly remarkable. 5. Taraji P. Henson. Creates a likeable and warm character, but I do not believe this role posed much of a challenge.
My ballot: 1. Penélope Cruz 2. Marisa Tomei 3. Rosemarie DeWitt 4. Viola Davis 5. Debra Winger
For your consideration, Oscars 2009: Best Picture: Inglorious Basterds Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds Supporting Actress: Mélanie Laurent, Inglorious Basterds Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
1. Penelope Cruz. There are many reasons but being spanish like me is a huge one. 2. Amy Adams. Love her since "Buffy" 3. Marisa Tomei. I start to like her more and more. She will eventually get a second oscar 4. Viola Davis. Her scene with Meryl was great. But it was her only scene 5. Taraji P Henson. She should be grateful of getting the nomination
My Ballot will have Debra Winger instead of Taraji
La violencia jamás justificará ninguna causa.
Teaching is cool, evaluating not so
Posts: 10165 | Location: Pucela city -> centro de desentoxicacion de Matematicas | Registered: January 15, 2005
1. Penélope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" - Stellar dramedic turn that elevated the film whenever she was in it. Bonus points for the English/Spanish mix.
2. Viola Davis, "Doubt" - Her big scene was worth the buildup and was quite devastating, but I just liked something more instead. "Doubt" could have been an exceptional film with a better director at the helm. But Viola Davis was the standout.
3. Amy Adams, "Doubt" - In another year, Amy Adams might have had the momentum needed to carry this role over into a win. Having a co-star that drew most of the supporting actress attention away from her didn't help matters much. I'm glad that she was nominated here though.
4. Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler" - I thought that this was a solid performance, but something was lacking here from making me flat-out love it. She had great chemistry with Mickey Rourke though. Her character felt underwritten.
5. Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - I'm glad that she broke finally through with a nod (though her first nomination should have been for "Hustle & Flow," and if not that, then "Talk to Me"), but her character only really existed to be Brad Pitt's mammy, and even in that vein, she wasn't in the film enough to have the kind of impact that she could have had with a stronger story arc of her own.
Congratulations, Primetime Emmy Winners!
Comedy Series: 30 ROCK Drama Series: MAD MEN Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 ROCK Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Toni Collette, UNITED STATES OF TARA Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, BREAKING BAD Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close, DAMAGES Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Ellen Burstyn, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
Posts: 24725 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: April 11, 2005
Davis - TRULY the best supporting performance of this year. If she was a bigger name in films she totally would have won and if the voters actually watched the film then they would have seen this, because what she did was amazing.
Tomei - She made a stripper have a heart and she was amazing. If it wasn't for Davis, I would have given her the Oscar.
Henson - She played a character, she was good, not my choice of the nomination from this film.
Adams - She was good, she needs to play something opposite because I am getting tired of her good girl films.
Cruz - Truly the biggest OVERRATED performance of the year. She only won because she had a Woody Allen film behind her. The performance was mediocre, the film was bad and she should have never even been nominated.
My personal lineup
Viola Davis - Doubt Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth Tilda Swinton - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Michelle Williams - Synecdoche, New York
My website and blog are taking a little break, since Geocities is closing and I now have to upload everything to a new site, so I am working on a new design and it is gonna take me a while, hoping to get it up by Oscar Season.
