Saturday, February 16, 2013

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actress

Click here for my introduction

NOMINEES

  • Amy Adams (The Master)
  • Sally Field (Lincoln)
  • Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
  • Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
  • Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

MY THOUGHTS

AMY ADAMS: Is there anything Amy Adams can’t do?! Seriously, she’s amazing. From comedy and musical performances like Talladega Nights and The Muppets to serious works like The Fighter and Doubt, there is no performance that Amy Adams cannot tackle. Adams earns her 4th Oscar nominations this year and it’s well deserved. There’s a monologue that Adams “performs” with Philip Seymour Hoffman in front of a mirror that will haunt your dreams.
SALLY FIELD: There are SOME good performances in the Lincoln but I don’t think Sally Field was one of them. Don’t get me wrong, her performance wasn't even close to Katie-Holmes-In-Batman-Begins-Worthy-Of-A-Razzie bad, but it was so over-the-top that it doesn't deserve praise either.
JACKI WEAVER: I actually really enjoyed Jacki Weaver’s performance in Silver Linings Playbook and I am glad that she received a nomination. In my original draft of “If I Had An Oscar Vote” Weaver was on it because she does a really good job. While Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, and Bradley Cooper blow Weaver off of the screen in SLP, Weaver still managed to shine.
ANNE HATHAWAY: Apparently Anne Hathway is barely in Les Mis and apparently she did such a good job singing one song I has never heard before that she's going to win an Oscar. Hey, it worked for Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls so why shouldn't it work for someone as talented as Anne Hathaway?
HELEN HUNT: Thank goodness John Hawkes did not get nominated for The Sessions because now I don’t have to see it. From what I gather, Helen Hunt is both pretty good in it and is naked throughout the entire thing. Whatever.

IF I HAD AN OSCAR VOTE

  • Amy Adams (The Master)
  • Judy Dench (Skyfall)
  • Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises)
  • Shirley MacLaine (Bernie)
  • Sarah Silverman (Wreck-It Ralph)

WINNERS

  • WHO SHOULD WIN (OSCAR FIELD): Amy Adams (The Master)
  • WHO SHOULD WIN (ENTIRE FIELD): Sarah Silverman (Wreck-It Ralph)
  • WHO WILL WIN: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

FINAL THOUGHTS

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who believes that Ellen DeGeneres should have gotten nominated for an Oscar for her voice work on Finding Nemo. I know a lot of people who feel this way. While I don’t personally agree, it is only because I wasn't THAT big on DeGeneres' performance and not because it was solely voice acting. 
I am not inherently against going against the norm when it comes to what an actor must do to get nominated. If an actor makes you feel certain emotions and makes you empathize and relate to their character, why does it matter the medium in which they do so? I personally thought Andy Serkis should have gotten an Oscar nomination (and win) in 2011 for his CGI-work as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. While the actual character is all computer animated, the emotions I felt towards that character were all the work of Serkis himself. The facial expressions that the animal showed and his mannerisms were all because of the work of Serkis as an actor. 
This is my roundabout way of saying I loved Sarah Silverman’s performance in Wreck-It Ralph. While all Silverman had was her voice (unlike Serkis who uses his entire body, yet ironically doesn't speak), her use of it was incredible. It was Silverman’s acting that made me feel the emotions I did for her character. I felt joy, anger, despair and many more emotions all because of Silverman’s acting. We live in a new age of technology in the use of movies and the Oscars need to adapt with the times.
However, since the Oscars are extremely outdated are run by old, rich, white men who think Casablanca and Gone With The Wind are the greatest things since Sliced Bread, and since Silverman is of course not nominated, I think my girl Amy Adams deserves to win. Adams in great in The Master (as she is always great in everything) and her work should be rewarded. However, after her Golden Globe and SAG win, this award will go to Anne Hathaway who, like Adams has produced amazing work in the past 5-7 years. I'd be happy for Anne Hathaway to finally get her first Oscar win- especially considering she was the only major actor from Brokeback Mountain 1) to not get nominated for an Oscar and 2) to actually get naked.

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