Thursday, February 10, 2005
Gimmicks Trump Performance
This is my last word on the Swank as frontrunner phenomenon... if it had just been one or two years it would roll off my back. But after six to eight years, enough is enough. If only some Academy voters would listen to my astute psychological profiling ;)
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18 comments:
Read it all, agreed with it all, whinged about the injustice of it all, then decided to start looking forward to Annette Bening's expression.
Rob
HA. Annette Bening's expression... that'll be something to watch. Though I imagine it'll be rather neutral. I can't see her being terribly happy for Swank like she was last time, but of course she's too classy to roll her eyes or look pissed or something. I think she'll just sit there and clap politely. Winslet, too... she's bound to be thinking about the same things as Bening. Staunton I'm sure will look happy and gracious and grandma-ish as usual, and Moreno I'm sure will be clapping gleefully at everything that happens, happy as she must be just to be a part of it all.
I'm still gunning for Julianne to win her own "poor trash" oscar for Freedomland... assuming it ever gets made. Hey, at this point you just have to accept the trend and hope it gets used for good not evil.
Seriously you are ridiculous Nathaniel enough is enough.
Hilary swank is amazing in this picture and no it is not an uglification formula. She learned how to box and her portrayal was the most convincing ever, famous trainer Hector Rocha who trains real champions can attest to that. On top of that what happens two thirds in the picture is not a gimmick its what's written in the book that was named book of the year by the new york and L.A times.
Swank was fine, but Bening's character offered the greater ACTING challenge (as opposed to Swank's buffing up for her role, which is impressive but not exactly acting) and Annette pulled it off beautifully. Put Bening's Julia in the ring for a few rounds with Swank's Maggie (now THERE'S a memorable scene), and I foresee the Diva kicking some righteous ass.
Shawn
I am inclined to agree with anonymous # 1. Hilary Swank's performance while not flawless showed the necessary grit that her character deserved. She may not deserve the statue (ultimately, i think that honor belongs to Winslet or Moreno) but she deserves the attention she's been garnering. She was fantastic in what became a very difficult character in the third act. She's only a caricature if you want her to be. And I personally don't.
I can't believe that Swank's performance would be called "the most realistic ever" give me DeNiro's Raging Bull any minute of any day of any month of any year for realism in the ring.
Just like Michelle Pfeiffer's whip work in Batman Returns did not make that performance great (even though her reknowned whip trainer claimed she was the best student he'd ever had) Hilary's ability to box does not make her performance great. The greatness within a performs needs to come from the characterization itself. Not the physical components that are a required part of the role.
I don't think Holly Hunter won for the Piano because she could play, you know?
Yeah, I never got the reason behind people's belief that gaining weight (whether it be fat or muscle) makes a performance better. It may make it more believable but the extra flab does not miraculously turn someone's mediocre acting into perfect sublime acting.
And, yeah, Hilary's was not the best performance ever. that was an odd comment to make.
But, still, the main reason I do not want Swank to win is that I just don't think her performance was actually the greatest thing since sliced bread (which it apparently is). Her 2 characteristics are a) White Trash and b) Determined. Whereas the other nominees can get up to 10 different characteristics. Maggie can fight good and "won't give up for nobody" as they say. Hardly three dimensional acting.
But, still, I really liked the movie. But it's a Return of the King situation again. I loved ROTK but it did not deserve all those 11 oscars. And because of that I have bitterness towards that movie now. So just like that Hilary does not deserve to win Actress and if she does I'll have some sort of twisted bitterness towards the movie, which I do not want.
However, if Hilary does win, Annette can say hello to an Oscar the next time she's nominated. Unless Hilary is nominated again.
-Glenn
If Hilary wins this year, she will most definitely NEVER win again. I mean, hi. She probably won't even be nommed again for many many years. Look at Sally Field. Not that Hilary is bad, but no one who isn't Katharine Hepburn wins three best actress oscars.
And I'd just like to close with the point (again) that in a few weeks, Hilary Swank will have won more best actress oscars than Meryl Streep. Wow.
Regarding Swank in the "third act," I think Maggie's SITUATION has as much to do with the performance (and the critical raves coming Swank's way) as any acting done by Swank. Again, I think Hilary was good, but not up to Bening's work (just compare the ACTING challenges Bening faced in the final sequences in 'Julia' to any actual performing Swank did in the last portion of 'Million' and judge for yourself).
Shawn
On one side, I do think that Nathaniel is being a bit hard on Swank. I was confused when he claimed that she was overconfident and such. I've met her on several occasions, and she never once came off as better than anyone else.
On the flip side, her performance in M$B was very good, if not nomination worthy. I would have gone with Delpy, Thurman, Johansson, or even Neve Campbell (who delivered the best perf. of her career in When Will I Be Loved). My heart goes out to Bening, who deserves the award like nobody's business.
fyi. bergman won three oscars for leading actress too.
I think one of Bergman's is for supporting isn't it? I do think Streep will eventually win three.
Hepburn was 60 before she won her 2nd Oscar. It was a 34 year wait ;) She won her third the following year. And she was 75 before she won her 4th. Streep will keep acting till she's in the grave and she's only 55. Not even as old as Hepburn was on her 2nd win. There's still time for Streep to catch up to Hepburn....although they may cut her off at 3. We shall see if the record holds.
I wish people would stop saying I'm hard on Swank. I just don't think it's an Oscar worthy performance is all. I do think she's a good actress. But the only time I've seen "greatness" in her is in 1999. Although I will admit that her winning streak and her absolute devotion to Clint is wearing on my nerves and turning me more againt her than I was originally. I would place her probably 11th of best lead female performances this year. i.e. notable but hardly Oscar worthy
Yeah, Bergman won for Murder on the Orient Express for supporting, right?
I agree with the assertion that Swank's high regard for this performance is far more a function of the role she plays in the film. The performance of the movie is Eastwood's, by a large margin, but the way his character feels about Swank's is transferred to the audience. Which should speak even more clearly in favor of HIS performance, but it hasn't.
Whatever. Watched Eternal Sunshine AGAIN last night and am now of the opinion that if anyone but Winslet wins Best Actress I will not be happy, so that category is dead to me. For this year.
-- Joe
Just to clarify: Ingrid Bergman won Best Actress Oscars for "Gaslight" (1944) and "Anastasia" (1956) and did indeed win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Express."
Nathaniel-
When I said that you were being hard on Swank, I wasn't referring to her performance. I agree that she wasn't Oscar worthy in M$B, but I'm not sure what you meant when you commented on her SAG behavior. I thought her speech was very generous.
I want to know what it was that Swank said in that speech, because I stepped out of the room for a bit (being bored with her speeches) and missed it.
I do think she was good in M$B, but I didn't care much for the film. I guess I can see why people love it and think it's great, but I personally was not terribly moved and thought the scene in the hospital with the mother was downright laughable, and that much of the drama was forced.
Also, though I loved Eternal Sunshine and loved Winslet in it, one little line reading of hers stuck out for me as undeniably "wrong" (due probably to it being an American-ism) and it permanently cast a shadow over an otherwise sublime performance. Damn. But what a great movie that was.
Adam, what line reading would that be?
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