Red carpet couture is always big news, but I've got nothing to say about the sparkling dresses. Once Jennifer Lopez left the stage in her masking tape and tulle dress that showed both her nipples and her butt crack, every other dress was unremarkable.
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| Did anybody else hope for a wardrobe malfunction? |
I expected The Artist to sweep in several categories, including best actor and best show. I reviewed it a few weeks back, so I don't need to say more about it.
But what I do not understand is how Glenn Close got totally fucking shafted by the Academy tonight for her many-layered, heartbreaking portrayal of an Irish woman who spends her life pretending to be a man in Albert Nobbs. She topped Kathy Bates for most courageous performance by an over-the-hill actress in a movie (remember At Play in the Fields of the Lord?). And, yes, I said that tongue in cheek. Of course I did, for fuck's sake. The over the hill part though, not the courageous part.
We can all agree Meryl Streep is an icon unto herself -- talented, egotistically self-effacing. Right? She's Hollywood royalty, and she's worked her ass off to get where she is. But c'mon. She's always herself. In Albert Nobbs, Close became someone unrecognizable. Look at this:
I have no doubt Streep gave her usual stellar performance in The Iron Lady, but it's a movie I don't even care to see--probably because I've already seen Streep play an iron lady a dozen times. But I couldn't wait for Albert Nobbs to come to our little art theatre downtown, and I wasn't disappointed. Close will never top that performance. She's come so far since she boiled that bunny.
I am disappointed that she was given the nod, but not the award for taking a risk few actresses of her stature and age would take. I haven't seen The Help, because I just finished the book, but I suspect I will feel even more strongly that Streep stole the award from other actresses who brought more to their roles than just their reputations.
That's just my opinion though. Anybody else see both of those movies and disagree with me?
It's simple. Streep was playing a Real Person. The only other RP was Marilyn/Michelle Williams, and it wasn't her turn. I haven't seen any of the Best Actress films, so I can't comment on the performances. My best example of this particular bias of the Academy is 2005, when Reese Witherspoon stole the statue from Felicity Huffman, playing Real Person June Carter versus Transamerica's Transforming Transexual, Bree. The last time Streep was nominated, in 2009, she was playing RP Julia Child, but lost to Sandra Bullock, playing RP Leigh Anne Tuohy. You have to go back to 1998 to find a fictional character beating not one, but two, RP's, though people may have thought Gwyneth Paltrow's Viola in Shakespeare in Love was historical. Every year since, if there was a Real Person portrayed in that category, the actress won, with the single exception of Halle Berry over Judi Dench's Iris, in 2001.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually pay much attention to the Oscars because I usually haven't seen any of the movies. I didn't know about the real person bias. Now I'll have to try to remember a year from now to watch for it. Thanks!
DeleteI don't think Meryl deserved to win this time, but I totally disagree that she always plays herself. Karen Silkwood was totally white trash. Sophie was Polish through and through. Her poignant, working class girl in The Deer Hunter was searingly sad...and she BECAME Julia! I've been in awe of her talent since I first spotted her in the mini series, "Holocaust," back in the '70's. Don't go dissing' my gal cuz you're pissed about yours! :-D
ReplyDeleteI'm not dissing your diva, Becky. She's a queen (lower case q, of course). But I never forget she's Meryl Streep, even when she's brilliant. I forgot Glenn Close was Albert Nobbs as soon as the movies started. If you haven't seen it, you must. You will love the authenticity.
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