Wednesday, September 19, 2007

15 Potential Best Actress Nominees

Last year at this time, I felt confident enough to say that Helen Mirren would at least get an academy award nomination for The Queen, and I began to question whether or not she'd be able to win.

Last year at this time, I also identified 12 actresses who could fill the other 4 spots. Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, & Meryl Streep were on that list and did go onto receive Academy award nominations.

This year, I don't even feel confident enough to suggest there is a gaurenteed shoe-in Actress nominee like Mirren was at this point last year.

Yet, in a little over two months the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review are going to start naming the best of the year, and you've got to wonder who will they name in this catagory.

It's not even as though the catagories neccesarily weak like it is some years, but rather the names on the short list are big names, many with previous wins and nominations, many of which are in films that haven't come out yet.

Many rallying around Keira Knightley in Atonement, but at this stage in the game Atonement is the in film when it comes to Oscar predictions, but in a cast heavy picture like Atonement, it's hard to tell who people are really going to pay attention to.

Of the following 15 leading ladies which ones will receive academy award recognition this year?

Previous Winners:
Julie Christie (Away from Her)
Jodie Foster (The Brave One)
Cate Blanchett (The Golden Age)
Nicole Kidman (Margot at the Wedding)
Halle Berry (Things We Lost in the Fire)
Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart)
Jennifer Connelly (Reservation Road)
Meryl Streep (Lions for Lambs)
Reese Witherspoon (Rendition)

Previous Nominees:
Keira Knightley (Atonement)
Laura Linney (The Savages)
Naomi Watts (Eastern Promises)

No nods...yet:
Ellen Page (Juno)
Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)
Kari Russell (Waitress)

(From the looks of this list, you'd think that Actresses needed to win an Oscar to even be considered this year?)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We saw the "Brave One" the other night. I have always liked Jodie Foster, whether or not she is up for an Oscar...I think she is a great actress.

Anonymous said...

What about Cate Blanchett for "I'm Not There"? Of course, that may be considered a supporting role. However, didn't she win at the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of Dylan?

Michael Parsons said...

I have been having this problem as well. Who will it be.

Jodie, Cate, Julie, Marion, Keira, Ellen, Halle, Laura, Sigourney, Keri, Angelina, Catheirne are all in with a chance.

But isn;t there always one late entry to shake things up? Samantha Morton? Anna Paquin? Sophie Okonedo? or even Anamaria Marinca?

RC said...

@ mary ann...i agree jodie is a great actress. I think she's did more challenging stuff in the 90s (silence of the lambs, nell, sommersby, contact) then in 00's (panic room, flightplan, insideman)

@ jeremy, cate will probably definitly get a nod for i'm not there, but it'll surely be supporting.

@ michael, yea...i just don't know who would slip in for the LEAD catagory...for supporting, there's always an odd one that can find their way in the spot...and plus many of those other unique nominees happened in weaker years...not when so many former winners were clawing for the same five spots.

ePastor James said...

Hey! I'm loving your blog entries even more as of late. I'm working on a couple of my own, now that my computer is working. We should definitely talk Oscars sometime too, among other things.

But anyway, actress...it's at the same time a tough call but easy to predict. Most of the women in contention either star in movies of suck quality (Blanchett, Witherspoon) or have little momentum (Jolie) to land them a nod. Occasionally, it's a mix of both (Foster).

That leaves us with a much easier lineup to work with.

First off, I should inform you that Connelly is confirmed as supporting, as was Streep a couple weeks prior. Franky though, it doesn't bode well for either, since both are on the verge of failure. (Reservation Road was panned at TIFF, though I still want to see it, and Lions for Lambs blatantly conveys what preachy crap it really is--this coming from a liberal =).)

On the flipside of things, Bonham Carter is now a LEAD, as officially noted at GoldDerby. Also missing from the list is Thurman for In Bloom.

I find it just a bit absurd that so many are rallying around Knightley. All the Brits have either found her to be adequate or underwhelming. Atonement is really all about McAvoy, and a little bit about Ronan. But she's still getting in, I'd say.

Here's my take:

1) Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
2) Laura Linney, The Savages
3) Julie Christie, Away from Her
4) Keira Knightley, Atonement
5) Ellen Page, Juno
--------
6) Nicole Kidman, Margot at the Wedding
7) Julianne Moore, Savage Grace
8) Keri Russell, Waitress

Frankly, I'd prefer Russell over Knightley...but that's a bit of a stretch. Still, wit Fox Searchlight's DVD campaign, you never know....