A good year for lead performances.

The nominees for this year were:
Brenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies
Diane Keaton in Marvin's Room
Frances McDormand in Fargo
Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient
Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves

My Ranking:

1. Blethyn - Simply, an emotional powerhouse performance that is infinitely more pure and real than the other performances in this category. A great support cast help her shine even more.

2. McDormand - A cute little impression, she's often very funny but (with the exception of the lovely, human last scene) she often seems somewhat condescending to her character.

-. Keaton
-. Scott Thomas

5. Watson - I can't explain how much I despise this noxious, sordid, maudlin, manipulative performanec and this repulsive, exploitative, sensationalist film. I can see why some people bought into this film's cruel trick (as I definitely bought into the similarly cruel tricks of "Dancer in the Dark" and "Dogville") but to me her attempts at manipulating audience emotion were obvious and heavy-handed, without any of the innovation of "Dancer" or the subtlety of "Dogville'". Ridiculously overpraised and incredibly offensive.

My Personal Ballot:
1. Brenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies
2. Reese Witherspoon in Freeway
3. Makiko Esumi in Maborosi
4. Frances McDormand in Fargo
5. Janeane Garofalo in The Truth About Cats and Dogs

This message has been edited. Last edited by: puxzkkx,

I just want to say that I just saw "Maborosi" and I was amazed at what Makiko Esumi did there. The film's cinematography fit very closely with the themes of the story, and as such there was very little (or no) close-up (in the context of the movie, this is very important). The closest shot of her character's face I remember seeing was a medium shot. So she has to make up for it with body language and vocal creativity. You can hardly see her in her two big scenes ("Liar! Liar!" and her penultimate, devastating/uplifting scene at the beach) but the way she uses her voice is so rich and so full of emotion that the impact was just as powerful as a close-up shot of these scenes would have been.

1. Blethyn
2. Watson
3. Thomas
4. McDormand
5. Keaton

1) McDormand
2) Watson
3) Blethyn
4) Thomas

5) Keaton

1) McDormand
2) Blethyn
3) Watson
4) Thomas
5) Keaton

I consider Watson's performance to be the greatest in cinema history so she gets my vote but McDormand deserves special mention for her unique comedy. Blethyn and Scott-Thomas were amazing, too. Great year!

01. Scott Thomas (I'd put her in supporting, though)
02. McDormand
03. Watson
04. Blethyn

Haven't seen Keaton.


My ballot:

01. Reese Witherspoon, Freeway
02. Laura Dern, Citizen Ruth
03. Janeane Garofalo, The Truth About Cats & Dogs
04. Frances McDormand, Fargo
05. Geena Davis, The Long Kiss Goodnight

#1. Brenda Blethyn, Secrets & Lies
-One of my favorite performances of all time! I just loved her character and her performance felt so amazingly real. It also doesn't hurt that she is in one of the best movies of the past 20 years or so.

#2. Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves
-A powerful and visceral performance. This was quite the introduction to Emily Watson.

#3. Frances McDormand, Fargo
-I almost thought that this could've passed as a Supporting performance. It seems like William H. Macy was more of a lead than she was and he was able to get by with a Supporting nod. I found her performance to be cute and she did a very nice job with it and I don't begrudge her the Oscar, but this should've went to Blethyn.

#4. Kristin Scott-Thomas, The English Patient
-I am not a fan of this movie AT ALL, but the acting was one of the saving graces of the movie. I think Scott-Thomas belonged in Supporting and that Binoche was more of a lead than Scott-Thomas, although the placement isn't really scandalous. The performance itself was very beautiful and I think she is an underrated actress, but she couldn't compare to Blethyn.

#5. Diane Keaton, Marvin's Room
-Not doubting the fact that Diane Keaton is talented, but I don't think this was worthy of recognition. It was kind of surprising that they went for her instead of Meryl Streep.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AJ,

Brenda Blethyn!

1. Emily Watson
2. Kristin Scott Thomas
3. Brenda Blethyn
4. Frances McDormand
5. Diane Keaton

1. Frances McDormand
2. Emily Watson
3. Diane Keaton
4. Brenda Blethyn
5. Kristin Scott Thomas

My new ballot!

1. Makiko Esumi in Maborosi
2. Brenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies
3. Isabelle Huppert in La Ceremonie
4. Sandrine Bonnaire in La Ceremonie
5. Reese Witherspoon in Freeway

My Rankings for that year Iand what a great year)..

1. Kristin Scott Thomas
2. Frances McDormand
3. Brenda Blethyn
4. Diane Keaton
5. Emily Watson

Rankings:

1. Emily Watson, "Breaking the Waves" (one of the best female acting turns of the 90s and pretty ridiculous that this didn't win the Oscar)
2. Brenda Blethyn, "Secrets & Lies"
3. Kristin Scott Thomas, "The English Patient"
4. Frances McDormand, "Fargo"
5. Diane Keaton, "Marvin's Room"

I'm not a huge fan of any of these performances, although I really like the actors themselves...with the huge exception of Frances McDormand. She was FABULOUS, imo. In what way, I wonder, was she "condescending to the character?" She had, a legitimate accent; she was still working while pregnant; she was as kind as she could be to her whacko highschool friend; she was clearly a loving wife; she freaking solved the mystery.
She deserved the Oscar hands down.

McDormand
Blethyn
Keaton
Watson
Thomas