Best Actress--2011 (film, scene, dvd, action)

[loves2read]

went to see "Black Swan" tonight and Natalie Portman delivered excellent, multi-faceted performance...enthralling...totally deserves the Oscar but probably won't win because she has two tragically bad performances in movies out the same year

Annette Benning was great in "The Kids are Alright" but much better in "Mother and Child" which very few people actually saw or even read about...
if she were nominated for M&C it would be a horse-race but Portman is so much better than in almost any other role she has done...a bravura performance--almost like a young Helen Mirren...

other guesstimations for who will be nominated--

Hilary Swank in Conviction--playing sister turned lawyer who fights for two+ decades to get her brother's conviction for murder overturned--
saw it--liked it--but overdone and typical Hilary Swank movie--
she is making a career out of playing the come-from-behind, do-gooder, female--boring frankly

also look for the young actress in "Winter's Bone"--Jennifer Lawrence--
Saw it--she was totally believable in movie about rural America's meth country that featured her in almost every scene---but it was released early in the year and was not that successful in the box office

being mentioned after her nomination for SAG or Golden Globe--
Anne Hathaway in "Love and other Drugs"--just not that good a movie--sympathy vote for playing someone with debilitating disease who still looks hot...
(Oliver Platt or Hank Azaria, especially as a not-very-likeable doctor, were both better in their supporting roles)

Recommend the first-timer Halee Steinfeld in Coens' remake of "True Grit"--she should be nominated for Best Actress--especially considering how the Coens reframed the ending--she always holds her own against Bridges or Damon but will probably get Best Supporting nod--great job but no Natalie Portman...

Have not seen "Rabbit Hole"'s Nicole Kidman--that is only playing in Dallas and will probably stay there unless it plays at the Museum one weekend...but she is generating lots of positive comments and she is excellent actress

same with Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine"--nominated for Golden Globe award--
that is Dallas only right now and likely to stay there as well--
she should have won for "Brokeback Mountain" and Ryan Goslin is strong co-star in any film...

Halle Berry also got Golden Globe nomination for playing woman with multiple personality disorder--a la Sybil--film is not playing DFW period yet..and probably will come only IF she wins...


Someone who should have gotten nomination and won't--because her movie is Foreign Language film-- is Tilda Swinton for " I am Love"--it is out on DVD if you are willing to do sub-titles--she is truly one of the best actresses of the past 100 years...

Just my thoughts--
know some people will not go see "Black Swan" because of the sexual aspects--your choice--but it is excellent film about so much of what devils our culture--price of perfection and praise, bane of female beauty, helicopter parenting in liu of true love

[mateo45]

Oh, most definitely Halee Steinfeld, the young actress who plays Mattie Ross in the Coen Bros. remake of True Grit. She does such a fine performance in this outstanding film, already full of great character portrayals (always a Coen signature). And with this version being more true to Portis' original tale and intent than the previous John Wayne vehicle, this time the movie is less about the heroism of marshal Rooster Cogburn (now played by Jeff Bridges), than it is about this young gal who is continually pitted against so many other formidable individuals (and veteran actors) in her quest to avenge her father's death.

My favorite scene is the one where Mattie manages to ford the rushing river to catch up with Rooster, who really doesn't want her along, and yet she finally emerges onto the shore on the other side triumphantly, though now all wet and bedraggled and barely still astride her horse. With virtually no dialogue for several minutes, it's amazing to watch just the expressions & reactions of these two outstanding actors (Steinfeld & Bridges), convey Mattie's (still) indomitable will and battle-worn Rooster's newfound respect for this young girl's courage and "true grit".

[biscuitmom]

Originally Posted by loves2read

also look for the young actress in "Winter's Bone"--Jennifer Lawrence--
Saw it--she was totally believable in movie about rural America's meth country that featured her in almost every scene--

Lawrence's performance blew me away, as did the many supporting actresses (and actors) in Winter's Bone. Kudos to all the cast.

2010 was a great year for actresses, both young and veteran.

[westhou]

Easily Natalie Portman. She was absolutely amazing in Black Swan. If not her Michelle Williams. She rocks every role she is in.

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by westhou

Easily Natalie Portman. She was absolutely amazing in Black Swan. If not her Michelle Williams. She rocks every role she is in.

Portman's OK, but she kinda reminds me of a female "Shia LaBeouf", another inexplicably popular actor that I don't "get". In fact I often have the impression that a lot of her popularity has as much to do with being some sort of "role model" that certain young women can relate to, as it has to do with her acting ability.

For example her flat and "leaden" performance as Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequels perfectly matched Hayden Christensen's basically dull portrayal of Anikin Skywalker. Although who knows, maybe that was really "intentional".