Category: Best Acting

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Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

After learning his adopted son is a genius, Woody Allen becomes obsessed with finding the child’s birth mother, who turns out to be simple-minded, sex worker Mira Sorvino. His obsession then changes to turning her away from her current career. It’s a Woody Allen movie so both his mistress and his wife, played by Helena Bonham-Carter, are much younger, much more attractive, and have better personalities than him. I generally like Sorvino as an actress and she does what she can with a strange role, but it makes for an unusual Oscar win . The Greek chorus that chimes in through the story gives the likes of F. Murray Abraham and Olympia Dukakis an opportunity to shine, but it’s also an odd choice that didn’t really work for me any more than the rest of the film did.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

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In the Line of Fire (1993)

Haunted by his inability to protect JFK, secret service agent Clint Eastwood is determined not to fail again when John Malkovich begins a cat and mouse game with the current President’s life at stake. So terribly repetitive and predictable, Malkovich’s clever, ruthless villain almost saves the film. Unfortunately a love affair between Clint and fellow agent Rene Russo is so far-fetched and diluting to both agents’ competency that I can’t imagine wanting to watch this again.  Crime  Thriller

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen; Best Film Editing

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Cactus Flower (1969)

His girlfriend Goldie Hawn values honesty above all else, which becomes a problem when dentist Walter Matthau decides he would like to marry her after previously telling her he was married with three children. Enter Ingrid Bergman, Matthau’s prudish assistant who holds a secret affection for her employer, who is enlisted to fill in as the imaginary wife. A light-hearted amusing romp, I appreciated it for being one of Bergman’s later roles and a rare comedic performance. I really dig Goldie’s mod style and her bubbly personality throughout the film, but it’s strange that she won an Oscar for a role that doesn’t seem that far-fetched from her normal persona.  Comedy  Romance

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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Barton Fink (1991)

John Turturro is an up and coming New York playwright who accepts a contract to write scripts in Hollywood. The reality of the scriptwriting process proves to be more difficult than expected; he is assigned to write about an unfamiliar subject and regularly distracted by his insurance salesman hotel neighbor John Goodman. Difficult to interpret at many times, the film offers a dark perspective on the writing process, especially when it becomes a commercial endeavor. The performances are immensely committed, especially whenever combined with Turturro’s stand-out lead.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design

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Condemned (1929)

Sent to the infamous French prison on Devil’s Island, the charming Ronald Colman strikes up a love affair with Ann Harding, the wife of the sadistic warden, as the two realize they share similar lives of imprisonments on the island. Though I enjoy her later roles, Harding is a bit too soft and delicate as a love interest in this film. It’s easy here to see Colman paving the way for future debonair male leads and makes me want to seek out more of his late 20s/early 30s work.  Action

Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Leading Role

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Melvin and Howard (1980)

Melvin Dummar didn’t think anything of it when he picked up an injured motorcyclist who claimed to be Howard Hughes in the Nevada desert. That is until years later when the real Hughes died and a will was found that claimed Dummar as one of the beneficiaries. This film is based on that true story with Paul Le Mat portraying Melvin and Jason Robards as Howard. The film concentrates mostly on Dummar’s life between those two events, constantly hustling and struggling to hold on to one marriage before moving on to the second. It feels a lot like a film made in the previous decade with a somewhat dislikable lead who some might still find charming but who is upstaged by the spirit of those around him, particularly wives Mary Steenburgen and Pamela Reed. It’s still hard not to root at least a bit for Melvin, especially when learning details of the case persisted into the next century.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

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Sweet Dreams (1985)

From Hank Williams to Loretta Lynn, it seems all the biggest country-western musicians are required to have biopics. This film chronicles the too short life of Patsy Cline, here portrayed by Jessica Lange, particularly her tumultuous second marriage. Blissfully shorter than Coal Miner’s Daughter, I appreciated this much more because of its tighter focus and succinctness. Though certainly giving a lot of energy in her performance, Lange didn’t come across as an embodiment of the young singer. Lip synching to Cline’s own recordings did nothing but emphasize the mismatch between the two women.  Music

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Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)

A teenaged Anne Boleyn catches the eye of King Henry VII and he’s willing to sacrifice almost anything for the chance to produce an heir with her. She’s willing to forego love to rise in power and esteem, but unfortunately for her what comes around goes around, especially when you’re subjected to the whims of a capricious leader. Lavish costumes and settings provide ample period style, while Geneviève Bujold’s Anne convincingly portrays a young woman caught in the crosshairs of power and rarely unable to stare it down. Richard Burton’s Henry is filled with his own self importance and lechery, overwhelming any accomplishments in other realms.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Costume Design

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Sound; Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical)

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A Song to Remember (1945)

The life of Frédéric Chopin is fictionalized in this account that features Cornel Wilde in the role of the well known composer. The film was less dry than I had anticipated touching on Chopin’s patriotic revolutionism in his early years while under the tutelage of Paul Muni’s Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner to his later success and relationship with Merle Oberon’s George Sand. Whether accurate to the real woman, it is interesting to see Oberon play such a strong-willed, powerful villainous character. The film uses rich colors in set and costumes to convey the time period and complement the music.   Music

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Writing, Original Story; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

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Saratoga Trunk (1945)

Years after she and her mother were banished to Paris by her father’s family, Ingrid Bergman arrives in New Orleans, accompanied by her maid Flora Robson and servant Jerry Austin, where she plots revenge schemes sometimes with the assistance of Texan Gary Cooper, whose motives occasionally align. It’s a relatively entertaining work held down by some unfortunate casting choices. Cooper is adequate in his role, but Bergman is as a rogue is extremely against type. Made up with blackface and an extremely heavy brow, Robson is supposed to pass as a Haitian woman when there were actresses of color at the time who could have easily played the part. It’s nice seeing a little person in a role that isn’t as a freak or circus performer, but Austin is still often used in the film for comedic effect based on his stature.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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