This is usually regarded as one of the weakest years in recent memory, although I don't think it is as weak as some say. At least Ziyi Zhang didn't get in!
The nominees for Best Actress in 2005 were: Judi Dench in Mrs. Henderson Presents as "Laura Henderson" Felicity Huffman in Transamerica as "Stanley/Sabrina 'Bree' Osborne" Keira Knightley in Pride & Prejudice as "Elizabeth Bennet" Charlize Theron in North Country as "Josey Aimes" Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line as "June Carter"
My Ranking: 1. Huffman - It is definitely an actorly performance, but given the character she's playing, it works. She commits herself to the character and manages to overcome the film's maudlin mix of queasy drama and tasteless humor. Her final few scenes are knockouts.
2. Knightley - She succeeds here on pure presence. She's luminous in this film, and it is a delight to watch her. It isn't the most sophisticated of performances, but it is one that I had the most fun watching all year.
3. Dench - The film is just fluff, but Dench is mischievous and winning. As much fun as she is, it is a shame she got in over actors like Allen, Collette, Diaz and Paltrow when her film and performance were so lightweight.
4. Theron - She gets an 'A' for effort, but nothing can hide the fact that she's woefully miscast in this blue-collar drama. Props for being far better than the material, and it solidifies her status as a talented actress, but the limits of the role and film are apparent in this performance.
-. Witherspoon - haven't seen the film.
My Personal Ballot: 1. Q'Orianka Kilcher in The New World as "Pocahontas" 2. Cate Blanchett in Little Fish as "Tracy" 3. Joan Allen in The Upside of Anger as "Terry Ann Wolfmeyer" 4. Miranda July in Me and You and Everyone We Know as "Christine Jesperson" 5. Cameron Diaz in In Her Shoes as "Maggie"
"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. Nathalie Press, My Summer of Love 02. Michelle Williams, Land of Plenty 03. Sibel Kekilli, Head-On 04. Felicity Huffman, Transamerica 05. Embeth Davidtz, Junebug
Bleh, one of the worst years ever in that category. How Joan Allen, Naomi Watts and Julia Jentsch (okay, she was in a foreign movie, so she never had a chance) didn't make this line-up is bizare! Out of the nominees I probably go with Witherspoon, but I don't feel good about it...
#1. Felicity Huffman, Transamerica -A very strong performance that really impressed me. Huffman did have great moments on "Desperate Housewives", but I still say Marcia Cross steals that show. However, Huffman earned my respect with this performance that could've easily been very over-the-top and hammy but she pulled it off.
#2. Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice -A nice performance that made her movie. She does have a lovely prescence in this that she has yet to have in any of her other movies, even "Atonement".
#3. Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line -When I first saw "Walk the Line", right before Reese won the Oscar, I wasn't impressed and was wondering why she was the lock and not Felicity. Also, her performance was borderline Supporting (which is one of the biggest debates on this site), but I will say that her performance has grown on me since I've seen the movie twice since the 1st time I saw it. I don't think her win is scandalous but she still needs to give her Oscar to Felicity.
#4. Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents -Judi Dench is amazing in nearly everything she does, but I still think this was one of her weaker performances....but weak for Judi Dench is way more than many actresses can achieve. I do hope Judi Dench wins another Oscar soon (preferrably in Lead).
#5. Charlize Theron, North Country -I haven't seen all of "North Country" but from what I've seen, I wasn't that impressed with Theron's work. She did a good job but it wasn't anywhere near what she did in "Monster" and I thought she didn't fit the bill of the part.
Posts: 1293 | Location: WV | Registered: October 23, 2005
1. Felicity Huffman 2. Keira Knightley ... quite passionate 3. Judi Dench ... never dull 4. Reese Witherspoon ... big fan of hers and so glad she did her own singing!!! Yet wasn't overwhelmed like all the critics...I did like her in this though! 5. Charlize Theron ... ok
Ranking this was hard -- except for number one. Really, Huffman's performance is the only one in this category that will be remembered for any period of time. She was brilliant. Ranking her fellow nominees, I'm struck by how weak that category was. All good performances, but none Oscar-worthy.
I remember Theron being good despite the flawed screenplay for "Country." And I remember thinking "Mrs. Henderson Presents" was a little underrated. Knightley was fine in "Pride & Prejudice" but it's not a performance that I'm likely to remember.
And what the holy heck did Reese Witherspoon do in "Walk the Line" to deserve that Oscar? Was it the singing? Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger couldn't win for their singing, and they were better singers. Playing a real character? Sure, but she doesn't transform herself inside and out the way Charlize Theron, Marion Cotillard, Helen Mirren, and Kidman did when they won. Witherspoon is a good actress, but her June Carter is always just Reese Witherspoon saying June Carter lines. She never becomes the character. She's had better performances than this that were nowhere near Oscar consideration.
I prefer puxzkkx's ballot, which includes truly great performances by Q'Orianka Kilcher and Joan Allen.
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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)
Allow me to open up some will-never-be-healed wounds since I've actually been having fun reliving some of these categories:
To this day, the fact that Reeses Pieces has an Oscar for THAT performance really grinds my gears like no other. I cannot understand for the life of me how it so easily managed to A) become the early frontrunner B) stay ahead throughout most of the award season and C) win nearly every Best Actress prize under the sun from NYFCC to SAG to BAFTA. Seemed like EVERYONE was hellbent on making her an Oscar winner that year and, for me, that truly overshadowed whatever slight charm her performance might've actually had. She's a solid actress who has only been brilliant once, Election in '99 of course, but this win ranks as one of the worst since Jessica Lange for Blue Sky back in '94.
Beyond Knightley (for the exact reasons puxzkkx listed) and a VERY large amount of Huffman's portrayal (esp. those final scene, as puxzkkx again said), I felt they completely got it wrong. But moreso than they have before. Why was there zero attention to Q'Orianka Kilcher beyond any 'breakthough' mentions? Unknown status definitely played a huge role and the fact that the film pretty much went under the radar. Which was a damn shame as it was fantastic and she was beyond brilliant in such a difficult role.
But the single performance I thought was totally worthy of the win in every aspect but was even less talked about was Claire Danes in Shopgirl. Despite uniformly rave reviews. Not a note about the performance rings false and I consider it one of the best and most naturally affecting performance given by an actress under 30. She plays it just beautifully and it's a shame it barely got any awards attention, despite some moderate campaigning.
ideal nominees:
1) Claire Danes, Shopgirl 2) Q'Orianka Kilcher, The New World 3) Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice 4) Joan Allen, The Upside of Anger 5) Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Naomi Watts in King Kong and Miranda July in M&Y&EWK deserve mention as does Rachel Weisz had she been bumped to Lead, which is very debatable but a definite option for some. I also remember Toni Collette was the fantastic saving grace of In Her Shoes and the sole reason to see that awful movie, for what it's worth.
So that brings it to NINE. NINE performances that could've been interchangeable with each other in any way and still would've been better than the actual lineup. They really did royally f*ck it up. Enough to make me write this whole damn essay about it, three and a half years later. UGH, Oscars.
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Posts: 1181 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: May 08, 2003
