quote:

Originally posted by JAWS 3: Juancarlo in 3-D:
If Jessica Lange won her last Oscar with one of the worst movie of this year...why not Michelle ?
She deserved more than other oscar winner.

The year isn't over yet. Another actress may star in a movie that's even worse than Cheri.

And if that happens, I'll be backing it one hundred percent!

I think Cheri is the perfection example of how a film that's garnered MIXED reviews certainly can be elevated by a truly good performance.

Pfeiffer's work still has a healthily good chance, despite the negatives from the Village Voice, Salon, and if you count the NY Times who I think mostly blame Stephen Frears direction.

She has many raves/positive reviews coming from:

L.A. Times
Entertainment Weekly
Rolling Stone
San Francisco Chronicle
Hollywood Reporter
Vanity Fair
New York Post
The Daily News
Time Magazine
Associated Press
Bloomberg
Huffington Post
Wall Street Journal
Roger Ebert
Times UK
British Film Institute

and many more....But I agree, the film's downside can hurt her. But her chances a realisticlly strong. I would give her that Being Julia/Mrs. Henderson Presents, respected actress slot. You know there is always one!

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

And we'll be nice and not mention that "Being Julia" and "Mrs. Henderson Presents" received a better critical reception than "Cheri" is.

quote:

Originally posted by stevie:
And we'll be nice and not mention that "Being Julia" and "Mrs. Henderson Presents" received a better critical reception than "Cheri" is.

Yea, the film is severely flawed. But honestly, I liked Dangerous Liaisons and thought this was a decent companion film. I liked her a lot in the film though. It's nice to have Catwoman back in the game. The bestest Catwoman there ever lived. HAHA.

Yeah, this isn't Pfeiffer's Oscar returning vehicle. Too bad.

quote:

Originally posted by GH:
Yeah, this isn't Pfeiffer's Oscar returning vehicle. Too bad.

I definitely agree about the film. But based on the reviews. Pfeiffer's chance at a nomination (not the win, its too damn early)is still GOOD, pending Miraxmax carries a good campaign. She has a better chance than some of you can think. I'll gather up the links soon. But here's the L.A. Times again.

Kenneth Turan - L.A. Times http://www.chicagotribune.com/...un24,0,6636441.story

Michelle Pfeiffer is back, and her appearance in "Cheri" underlines not only how much she has been missed but also how much the world of film has lost by her absence.

But Lea reckons without the machinations of her frenemy and fellow courtesan Charlotte Peloux (Kathy Bates). Charlotte's 19-year-old wastrel son Fred (Rupert Friend), familiarly known as Cheri, is spending his life in nonstop debauchery, and his scheming mother would like nothing better than to have Lea, who has known Cheri since he was a child, romantically take him off her hands. This comes to pass, and to the astonishment of all involved, especially Lea and Cheri, this supposed brief affair lasts six years.....Pfeiffer and Friend also have excellent onscreen chemistry

...The resulting schemes and intrigues and the emotional dynamics that follow in their wake bring "Cheri" to life.

They also add a deeper, more moving level to Pfeiffer's performance. Especially effective are the wordless scenes that catch Lea unawares, with the camera alone seeing the despair and regret she hides from the world. It's the kind of refined, delicate acting Pfeiffer does so well, and it's a further reminder of how much we've missed her since she's been away.

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

Mick La Salle (The San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...06/25/MVNT18CL7S.DTL

Review: Pfeiffer at her peak in 'Cheri'

Now that she's past 50, can we all stop holding Michelle Pfeiffer's looks against her and just admit that she's a great actress? I know she doesn't look like one or carry on like one, and her way of speaking is just plain, middle-class American, of a kind you might hear in any shopping mall from coast to coast.

But since "Married to the Mob" (1988), Pfeiffer, in her own unfussy way, has been chalking up a series of rich performances, full of intuition, subtlety and psychological insight. And her latest film, "Cheri," finds her at the height of her ability, in a role worthy of her maturity and emotional intelligence.

Pfeiffer's particular talent is a capacity to express emotion without showing it, to play someone in the midst of turmoil who knows she cannot allow others to read what she's feeling - yet she shows those feelings to us. In "Cheri," based on a pair of novels by Colette, she plays Lea, a courtesan coming to the end of a successful and lucrative career, a woman who has spent decades working within the constraints of public ritual. She's a master of self-presentation who is flawless in her style and dress and knows never to show a sign of weakness.

"Cheri" begins circa 19o8, during the last great flowering of France's opulent Belle Epoque. A lot of beauty will soon be leaving the world forever - elaborate horse-drawn coaches, hats and dresses with layers of fabric, and Art Nouveau architecture - but for now, it's flourishing. In a similar way, Lea, too, is in her last great flowering and will soon be leaving her youth. A refreshing aspect of "Cheri" is that Pfeiffer actually plays her own age. Here "older woman" is not defined as 35 but as somewhere around 50.

Lea takes up with the son of a former courtesan, her friend and sometime rival Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates). Cheri (Rupert Friend) is a handsome, brooding young man - a true dark spirit - and Lea, intrigued, brings him to her country home. Six years later, he's still there, though implicit in their interaction and even in their banter is the understanding that this can't last forever.

In the hands of director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Christopher Hampton, the team behind "Dangerous Liaisons" (1989), this story of two ultra-sophisticated lovers becomes a heartfelt look at the strains and challenges of an older woman-younger man relationship. As he is coming into his manhood, she is transitioning out of young womanhood into another phase of life. It's a poignant thing to find Pfeiffer's face balanced right on that line between youth and age, and seeing her, I can't help but feel that I'm seeing something that goes beyond the boundaries of the film, that I'm seeing a whole generation move from one stage to the next.

Pfeiffer has worked in the film industry long enough to understand what it means to survive in a world of appearances, and she brings that hard-earned wisdom and self-knowledge to Lea. There's a good deal of pain in the role - Lea is a woman in the throes of a once-in-a-lifetime passion - but underlying all that is the sense of someone who really knows herself. It's a virtue of maturity wholly lacking in Cheri, skillfully played by Friend as a young man in no position to know his own heart, because he doesn't know himself.

In addition to the splendor of the performances, the wit of the script and the rightness of the direction, the film's physical beauty is part of its allure. I've always thought of the early 20th century as a stylistic wasteland until the 1920s came along to wake up the world. But through designer Consolata Boyle's hats and gowns, we get a crash course in the life, attitude and vibrance and of this beautiful epoch.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ_Shigekuni:

I definitely agree about the film. But based on the reviews. Pfeiffer's chance at a nomination (not the win, its too damn early)is still GOOD, pending Miraxmax carries a good campaign. She has a better chance than some of you can think. I'll gather up the links soon.

That's okay, fanboy. We'll take your word for it.

Well it seems she will get a BAFTA nomination at least

I think Michi will definitely be on the Oscar radar for this -- she was gorgeous and rose above the material to turn in a classy, solid performance.

By year's end her performance will be forgotten about. Its a bad movie.

I loved Pfeiffer in this; she brings humor and depth to her role as a courtesan--her first great role in many years. She gave a string of wonderful performances in the late '80s and 90s, and it's satisfying to have her back in form.

Michelle Pfeiffer, not only deserves today be nominated, right now, has the best performance of the year. She deserve to win.

I think Bates has more of a chance at getting a nomination than Pfeiffer, but overall I think this film will just be forgotten by year's end, although it might get noticed by the Costumers and Designers guilds.

quote:

Originally posted by bsignor:
I loved Pfeiffer in this; she brings humor and depth to her role as a courtesan--her first great role in many years. She gave a string of wonderful performances in the late '80s and 90s, and it's satisfying to have her back in form.

It wasn't til I watched "What Lies Beneath" a 2nd, 3rd, 4th time (it's very rewatchable) that I realized just how good Pfeiffer is in that movie. Awesome performance. And that's the 2000s. She was fantastic in White Oleander, Stardust, and Hairspray too.

I've felt since "Tequila Sunrise" that Pfeiffer is a consummate pro (like Robert Downey), who always delivers the goods whatever the genre. In "Frankie and Johnny," despite her obvious beauty, she made the viewer truly feel her character's insecurity and vulnerability, and in "Love Field," she made a not very bright woman touching and worthy of notice. She's spot-on in "What Lies Beneath," one of the few horror movies I can recall with clarity because of her supple performance. Let us now praise Michelle!

With the reviews out, CHERI's chances are...

Possible

BEST ACTRESS - Pfeiffer
CINEMATOGRPHY- Khondji
ORIGINAL SCORE- Desplat
COSTUME DESIGN - Boyle

This posting died in the summer.

But I'm going to ressurrect this...I can't believe people are talking Sandra Bullock for THE BLIND SIDE!

Granted this film got mixed reviews and practically no business...

I"m rooting for Michelle Pfeiffer for the 5th slot!

I don't believe there is a campaign for her; they probably aren't sending out DVDs.

If they did, she'd probably be somewhere between 20-25th most likely.

whatever!

stop insulting her performance. she should be a contender. a strong one at that, in this weak ass year.