Edward Copeland's Tangents

"For all the reasons people have already mentioned, and for making what might be a familiar story hum at every turn. Spacek doesn't do a strict impression, like so many of the recent lauded bio-performances; she makes it both Loretta Lynn and her own. And her perform-
ances of the songs are terrific — not just the singing, but the joy of singing."
Tina

"Making a megalomaniac Fascist sympathizer attractive — that's acting."
Tim Footman

"One of the first, great modern female roles: flirty, direct, wisecracking. I love the timbre of her voice and in that hitchhiking scene, the cut of her jib."
That Little Round-Headed Boy

"It's a very internalized turn, but I admire it for this reason: Going opposite one of the hammiest best actor performances in history, Foster never loses control or ceases to hold every shot. That's impressive."
Daniel Fienberg

"Practically the Siren's first thought upon learning of this survey was, 'Damnit, I'm including Joan.' Bear with me here. In no way is this a naturalistic performance. Who cares? It is an endlessly watchable and re-watchable piece of High Hollywood Acting, with Joan Crawford hurling her star power around like a flamethrower. Is she subtle? Hell no. It isn't a subtle movie. But Crawford grabs your attention, sympathy and yes, belief as she rips apart her marriage, home and the scenery to Sacrifice All for her worthless daughter Veda. Look the Siren deep in the eye. Would you really, truly rather watch Sophie's Choice again, than see Joan haul off and slap Ann Blyth?"
Campaspe

"The walking definition of the term 'earth mother,' Neal's Alma Brown is one of my favorite female characters in the history of moviedom ... a been-there, seen-it-all dame who's sexy as all get-out and realizes she's needs to burn daylight between herself and Newman's rakish Hud because she could easily find herself falling for him. 'I done my time with one cold-blooded bastard,' she readily affirms. 'I'm not looking for another.'"
Ivan G. Shreve Jr.

"So completely overwhelms the rest of the movie that it sometimes feels like it exists off in its own universe. I don't know if that's good or bad for the movie, but it's one hell of a performance for Bergman."
Joshua Flower

"No, it's not the deepest performance, and certainly not the richest lead female performance to be nominated that year (I prefer Bette Davis in All About Eve and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd.) But within the more constricting parameters of screwball romance, Holliday's ultimate 'dumb blonde' performance is a thing of beauty. It's hard to say what's more impressive, her atomic clock timing or her emotional transparency. She's like Betty Hutton plus Barbara Stanwyck, with a slow-burn self-awareness that's uniquely Holliday. I also like this win because it's a rare instance of the academy honoring a funny woman. Comedy is hard, too — especially when it's made to look easy."
Matt Zoller Seitz

"A powerhouse performance, Minnelli is one sweep puts the definitive stamp on a classic role, and proves she is just as much the performer her mother was, if not more."
Tripp Burton

"I think the best performance of her career."
Tim Connelly

"'Misery' is my favorite Stephen King book, and when I saw Kathy Bates onscreen, I said, 'Oh my God. She looks exactly the way I pictured her.' Plus, she was equally hilarious and scary, no easy task."
Odienator

"The Siren is cheating a bit here, since she has seen only Sunrise. But Sunrise, she assures you, is sufficient unto itself. One viewing of Gaynor's performance is worth hours of wrist-crippling typing about the lost art of silent acting. She will break your heart."
Campaspe

"It's hard to remember now how wonderful Dunaway was in the 1970s, and here she's charged with playing a person and an industry. She's great, holding her own and more with a powerful group of actors. Her scenes with William Holden are a great mesh of acting styles old and new that wouldn't have worked with a lesser performer. The hard-as-nails career woman is a stereotype now, but here is one of the first and best, in a movie that just gets better every time you watch it."
Tina

"The raw intensity of the performance is astonishing ... The character’s mentality can be summed up in one line of dialogue, which Bancroft delivers with such blunt-edged forcefulness that it knocks you right out of your seat: 'I treat her like a seeing child because I ask her to see. I expect her to see. Don’t undo what I do.' Annie, we wouldn’t dare."
Josh R

“The first actress I got to see in a nude scene. Still beautiful and I can’t recall her ever giving a bad performance.”
Peter Nellhaus

"I hesitate to do this, but I don't see any other way. Every movement, expression. This woman scared the hell out of me. Damn, she was terrific."
David Gaffen

"The personification of evil. The only mark against this, as some have said, is that it's more of a supporting performance, but she commands the screen against Nicholson so well, and there are so few who can really do that, especially when he was in his prime, which was this period."
David Gaffen

"A performance so good it earned her two Oscars."
Brian Darr

"I was sentenced to four years of Catholic school during my formative years, and I never—ever—encountered a nun like Susan Sarandon's determined Sister Helen Prejean. Walking is director Tim Robbins' best film, and Sarandon's performance is so solid you can't help but want her in your corner should you ever be unfortunate to find yourself on Death Row."
Ivan G. Shreve Jr.

"I admit, I haven't seen this in years, but I still remember the raw realness of her performance."
B. Lee

"I've loved Jodie Foster since Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and to me, this performance is as good as anything she's ever done."
Richard Christenson

"As riveting an execution scene as Jimmy Cagney's in Angels with Dirty Faces (and there is no more glorious comparison)."
John Burlinson

"Possibly the greatest musical/comedy performance of all time."
Nathaniel R

"Not a super-demanding role or anything, but totally iconic"
Jenni

"If Audrey Hepburn never made another movie after this one, she’d still be the Audrey Hepburn we know and love based on the luminescence she displays in this completely disarming performance."
Dennis Cozzalio

"At the time, Lange's win as mentally ill Army wife Carly Marshall in Tony Richardson's long-shelved final movie prompted grumbling about the Academy's tendency to give best actress statuettes to women who appeared in pictures nobody saw. But anyone who saw Blue Sky was hard-pressed to deny Lange's excellence; with repeat viewings, her performance doesn't just hold up, it deepens."
Matt Zoller Seitz

"An honest-to-God excellent performance, though sometimes one that took her character’s stridency too much as a road map. Halle Berry should have looked at this performance for guidance, then packed it in."
Dennis Cozzalio

"Because most of her greatest roles were reputedly in the theater, and she is better known today as the nice old lady in Disney films, Hayes doesn't get the credit she deserves. In this pre-code film she plays a mother with an illegitimate son who turns to prostitution. The way she reaches up to touch the leaves on tree after being released from prison is one of a number of great human touches she brings to the character."
Al Weisel

"Just thinking about it makes me cry. The only Oscar winning actress who did so."
Odienator

"Still has a bit of a "silent" feel to her performance, but she makes the film delightful."
Tim Connelly

"No, I'm not kidding. I admire actresses who can make simple gestures work so well, as she does in this movie. Despite being a glamorous person, Cher is not conventionally pretty, and so she inhabits this character very well. When she comes out of her shell, it doesn't come across as a cheap unmasking, the virginal shyness giving way to a "woman," so to speak. This is a woman already, but one who has been burned before, and so she's slow to accept this situation, and wary, as she should be. The scene where she puts on her makeup at home and drinks some wine is terrific, showing how content she is in her home, in herself, even as her life around her threatens to go out of control - but she's embracing that."
David Gaffen

"I know, the world wanted Judy that year. But Kelly's performance hits every note of that character — some real acting from the silver-spoon kid."
M.A. Peel

"Surprised? I think this is the best of the Best Actress winners of recent vintage: a real meaty role in a really good movie that lets her unleash that anger that seems to be barely contained underneath the surface: 'They're called boobs, Ed.' The real Julia Roberts, not the big-teeth persona, is probably a much more complicated person than she's given credit for."
That Little Round-Headed Boy

"Something tells me my last choice will get some votes for worst from the contrarians among your readers."
Patrick Wahl

Labels: Lists, Oscars

# posted by Edward Copeland @ 1:45 AM