Thursday, December 09, 2010

"I'm Awesome!"

A reminder.

_____love,  The Bening

P.S. Or "Love The Bening." Both punctuations work, my fans.

29 comments:

/3rtfu11 said...

Does this mean you’re not rooting for any of her possible competitors? I want her to win. Just get it over with already.

Andreas said...

I second the just-give-her-the-Oscar-already sentiment. Now, to go catch up with the whole rest of her filmography. TKAAR FTW!

Robert Hamer said...

I need to see Black Swan before I join the "Just give her one already" club, but she's the one to beat on my personal Best Actress list so far.

NATHANIEL R said...

i don't think she's going to win :( I think Natalie is going to win (but not sweep)

Jesse Taylor said...

I really would love to see Bening with an Oscar, but Portman and Kidman's performances this year are just better. If this was the Olympics, Bening would totally take Bronze.

Billy Held An Oscar said...

Is there any chance of a supporting actress nomination for 'Mother and Child' ?

/3rtfu11 said...

If she doesn’t win what does that say about older women ever winning Best Actress again?

Amir said...

/3rtfu11
it says nothing, other than portman was better.
you can't attribute everything to the adacemy's bad taste or neglecting older women.
of course, i'm not being stupid. i know they've done that many times before and i really loved bening in TKAA and she's way overdue, but my personal opinion is that there are performances out there this year that are better than hers, and portman is one of them.

Unknown said...

Don't think she's gonna win and I'm not sure she gives the best performance this year too. Have to catch up with a lot of films.

All the awards and nomination announcements in the following week will provide for some dramatically enthusiastic time on the internet :P

Make sure to drink a lot of coffee and consume as much chocolate as possible, it makes the experience even greater! Save sex for later.

P.S. Why am I already hating all the Manville love? I haven't even seen the film!

NATHANIEL R said...

/3rtfull -- well, they've never been big on awarding older women (except in the supporting category).

this is why i'm such a pessimist abotu all of my favorites winning. I really don't think Bening, Pfeiffer and Moore are ever going to win. For "stars" if you don't win in your prime (and by prime i mean hollywood's definition of that for women which is roughly 25-40), you usually don't win at all.

James T said...

Nathaniel, I really don't think you should comment on The Bening's posts, especially when you're being negative ;)

We always complain about the Academy not awarding the actual performance but I'm only human. If Portman wins, Bening might never get a competitive Oscar. I haven't seen Black Swan and I might love Portman in it (who knows?) but I just want Bening to win because she was great and she's an Oscar-level actress. Portman is not, generally speaking.

That's an emotional argument and anyone can refute it but just don't!

Gimme a "Just give her one!" T-shirt!

Meoww said...

I saw The Kids are All Right yesterday and she's good, but she's definitely supporting. Her screen time is kind of Patricia Neal in Hud.

Unknown said...

Bening gave my favorite performance of the year in The Kids Are All Right, and I'm saying this as something of a non-fan based on what I've seen of her filmography.

Then again, I still need to see Black Swan before saying that anyone should or shouldn't win Best Actress.

Side note: I think Tilda Swinton will get in the top five

/3rtfu11 said...

You know I don’t mind younger actresses taking home the statuettes in the Supporting Category -- if it meant older women were the de facto favorites for Best Actress. Old men in show business have it both ways -- they can win in either category and it’s never the nail biter we Actressexuals experience every year.

Aaron said...

I really love Bening and I truly hope she wins one day, but I must agree that they shouldn't give it to her for this performance...she just simply isn't the best this year. Portman, Williams, and Swinton all surpassed her this year, in my opinion, especially Portman and Williams...seriously jaw-dropping performances that seem to transcend acting. And I also think in general that The Kids are all Right is losing quite a bit of steam...not many people seem to be discussing it, and when a lot of the holiday films such as The Fighter, True Grit, and Another Year are exceeding expectations...it's getting tougher by the minute for the film to make it into the top 10

NATHANIEL R said...

Meowwww -- supporting how? argh. the supporting question makes me so crazy. The film is about the marriage of Bening & Moore. it's like thelma & louise or terms of endearment. Both are leads. :) simple.

joy said...

I want La Bening to win best actress, for "Mother and Child". Her character Karen has the one of the most difficult and complex arc in any film this year, yet she managed to handled her transformation from a resentful woman to a loving mother with such grace and aplomb. It's definitely the most emotionally naked performance of Bening's career so far, and it would be a real shame if people overlook it because of the momentum for “The Kids Are All Right”.

MRRIPLEY said...

I loved her in m and c and agreed it is the better perf,apparently the acadamy is not responding to black swan,i think that 5th spot could surprise like samantha morton in 03 or laura linney in 07.hope so.

Stefano said...

I really wish the Academy would second that just-give-her-the-Oscar-already sentiment, but I'm terribly afraid they will give it to Portman. And I know that, sadly, I'm gonna hate her forever if she wins the same year my beloved Annette Bening gave the best performance of her career (although I presume I'll probably like "Black Swan"). It's such a travesty that actresses like Bening, Close, Moore or Pfeiffer don't have an Oscar while Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon are "Academy Award winners" (I still can't believe Bullock has an Oscar... it really doesn't make any sense).
Unfortunately, I'm just negative on Annette Oscar chanches this tear, I'm afraid she'll end up in second place one more time after '99 and '04. I suppose that, for actresses over 45, the only real chance to win Oscars is in the supporting category... they can still win Best Supporting Actress (and Melissa Leo looks like the frontrunner this year).

Lara said...

The thing with Bening seems to be that every year she's nominated there are better performances. I wasn't as impressed with her in TKAAR and I just don't see her as overdue as many others.

dinasztie said...

I was impressed by Bening in TKAAR. But Natalie is winning. I had a dream that she would win, I saw everything, even Annette's face. :D

Unknown said...

@ Meoww - She's definitely NOT supporting, there's nothing supporting about her in TKAA. Not only that, but she was great in it too!

@ MRRIPLEY - The Academy is not responding to Black Swan? That's a fun thing to say :) I think we'll see whether the Academy responds to it or not when Oscar noms are announced!

@ Lara - you don't see her as overdue because she's not overdue :) I've said it before and I'll say it again: she didn't give the best performance in 1999, and she didn't give the best performance in 2004. The End.

On a side-note, yes, it's a tragedy that trash like Bullock is awarded, but I don't think the Academy has to continue with that trend every year, if Portman is indeed better, give Portman the Oscar! Oscars should be given for the single performance alone, remember?

Meaning that if you're rather narrow/limited as an actor but manage to put a wondrous performance and they give you the Oscar for that particular incredible performance in that particular year, and you're eventually never even nominated again, people should not bitch about that and say "Look, he/she won it and was never heard from again and is always doing the same thing in films, while (the name of someone who's got 5 noms) hasn't even won yet."

And like it or not, the babe-factor has always played a huge role, Audrey Hepburn is regarded a legend, but does she deserve her award for "Roman Holiday"?

And what's better?: to act off the screen like Patricia Neal in "Hud" and be given a Lead Oscar for one of the most effortless performances ever (even if it's supporting) or give a super mediocre Leading performance and win? I prefer quality over quantity.

John T said...

I personally don't even think it will be close at this point-Portman has this one in the bag. Beautiful, young, and right around the "perfect" age for a winner, I say the only way that Bening gets a crack at Oscar is if Ms. Swank somehow becomes the fifth nominee in the category.

Dorian said...

The BENING has graced us with her presence?!? Praise all that's holy and sacred in the world! That made my day!

Hope she's not too disappointed when Natalie Portman obliterates her chances for an Oscar win with "Black Swan"! (Yeah, I went there).

Still loves ya, the BENING!

Robert said...

Both Portman and Bening are very good in their respective films. Bening's is my favorite performance of the year, though. It's such a toned-down natural performance, and I give her bonus points for her brilliant heartbreaking role in Mother and Child. The Academy may take note and base the award on the fact that Bening gave two strong performances this year.

Many younger actresses have won in the past over veterans, but in many of those cases, the "vet" had already won. One exception was in 2004, when Swank beat Bening again, but Bening's film had only one nomination, while Swank's film had multiple noms and had Eastwood behind it.

This year, both Bening and Portman have many strong factors going for them, but I'm worried if Black Swan will be too divisive for older Academy members, especially those who want to give Bening an Oscar. The Oscar is about the performance, but it's about other politics as well.

Rebecca said...

It's so strange to see so many people lamenting Oscar's lack of love to older women, and people also lamenting Sandra Bullock's win in the same space, without acknowledging that Bullock won when she was 45. I don't think Bullock should have won - I think she's going to be on those 'worst Oscar wins' lists real soon - but hey, they did give some love to a 45-year-old woman just last year. It may not have been the performance many of us wanted to win, but it was an example of an older woman winning.

Mike M. said...

She a'ight.

I maintain that her Oscar losses were all justified. She's not the "overdue goddess of thespians" that people make her out to be, IMO.

Sara said...

See, here's the thing: the key argument with Bening is that she is "due" (which I disagree with), so it makes sense for her to not only not get the award but rather get some kind of career award somewhere down the line. You guys are basically saying: award her for who she is, not what she did.

The only way to stop the make-up Oscar thing is to award the best performance, not the best-liked.

(And I say this as someone who has seen neither performance.)

All About Tennis said...

Ya true she's Awesome ever.