Friday, February 01, 2008

No Country for Women. There Will Not Be Women. Except, Thankfully, These Women

As great as the Supporting Actor field was this year, one couldn't help feeling that the almost exclusively male ensemble has become the new Hollywood vogue. Women had to fight more than usual to be in the movies, much less to be great in them, which is part of why the pool of contestants was so much smaller in this field than in others. But that's not a slam on my five anointees, none of whom are "Hamburger Helper options, filling out the category" in the immortal vernacular of Holly Hunter (in relation to a year when she herself was nominated). Here are a chameleon, a testy friend, a wannabe mom, a mom with a secret or two, and a corporate neurotic to treasure.

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7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ooh, fun!

But I'm on board with:

Cate Blanchett
Jennifer Garner
Kelly MacDonald
Leslie Mann
Tilda Swinton

With, I think, MacDonald as my favorite? Who knows.

2:46 PM, February 01, 2008  
Blogger Joe Reid said...

What a fantastic writeup on Jennifer Garner. I'm kind of ruined for how I'm going to praise that performance now.

2:52 PM, February 01, 2008  
Blogger DL said...

What a fantastic, fantastic lineup. I have three of them (Garner, Knudsen, Swinton) in my own shortlist right now, with Furness close behind.

Oh, and have you seen The Namesake yet? And if so, what did you think of the (100 times awesome) Tabu?

6:23 PM, February 01, 2008  
Blogger Glenn Dunks said...

Ooh, you're gunning for my heart today, Nick!

Not only with Furness (who was my #1 of 2006) but also Swinton and Knudsen who are presently in my top five of 2007. I liked Garner, but prefered Janney and I have yet to see I'm Not There.

But... aah. Bliss.

8:05 PM, February 01, 2008  
Blogger NATHANIEL R said...

love the write up on Cate Blanchett

and you and Glenn's write ups on Furness have me wanting to go back for a second look. which is always a sign of... well, well done.

9:18 PM, February 01, 2008  
Blogger Calum Reed said...

Blanchett, Garner and Swinton are in my lineup too. I particularly love your write-up of Garner. A lot of other actresses would have made her character a predictable cliche, but that really typifies Juno's constant defiance of expectations. I love how she makes the character a bit ambiguous too, and how the initial apparent 'cool manipulated husband/materialistic middle-class wife' setup and the following deconstruction of it makes you feel guilty for even having expectations of the film and the characters in it. The impact is all the greater.

4:19 PM, February 02, 2008  
Blogger RJ said...

I adore Swinton. Like you, I think, she gave possibly my favorite performance of the year.

9:14 PM, February 06, 2008  

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