In my defence, I have seen all the Best Picture nominees which I get the impression is something I don't have in common with most Oscar voters, so I possibly do know more. Ok I really don't but that isn't going to stop me going on a long ramble. Oh, that will probably be a very spoilerific ramble too (but will try flag it up).
Let's start with some of the major categories, and then have a spin through the Best Picture nominees.
Best Supporting Actress:
Absolutely a category full of great performances, but I am going to get very, very angry if Lupita Nyong'o doesn't win. 12 Years a Slave is the kind of film filled with so many amazing performances I can't get out of my head (in less strong years, you could probably nominate Alfre Woodard on the basis of her one scene), and yet along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o is the standout that you really can't forget. It's not just that she nails the most horrific and upsetting scenes in such a powerful way that at one point I almost couldn't breathe, it is that she couples this with being just as affecting representing her character Patsy's everyday reality, the little escapes into dreaming, the continual crushing oppression of her situation. She is brilliant throughout and in my view the most unforgettable of all the nominated performances.
I do feel a little bad for saying I will be angry if Nyong'o doesn't win. Because it's not like the others aren't really good. Sally Hawkins is such an amazing actress in everything I have seen and she more than holds her own against Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine and if it hadn't been for 12 Years a Slave, I would probably be rooting for her the most. Julia Roberts is the best thing in August: Osage County (and, for me, the only person along with Julianne Nicholson who actually got the tone right for their performance), playing along with the melodrama without going into full on scenery chewing (Meryl Streep, you are awesome in all ways, but I am really looking at you with that comment!). Jennifer Lawrence is very, very funny and a lot of fun in American Hustle (and someone how being convincing with a character that is probably supposed to be about 10 years older than she is) but good as she is, I'm assuming she only won a BAFTA because she didn't last year or something. And obviously I'm not going to get massively annoyed if June Squibb wins because she is so unashamedly and bluntly hilarious in Nebraska, and so utterly convincing with it, I'm not sure she was acting. It didn't hurt that she had some fantastic lines to deliver, and whether anyone else could have done them so well, I don't know, but compared with Nyong'o and Hawkins, I don't feel like she (or Lawrence) had enough of a varied and rounded character given to her to make her performance quite as impressive. Overall, it is the incredible range of emotions that Nyong'o brought to her performance that made it the stand out one for me.
Best Supporting Actor:
I don't think it's just because of how much I hate 30 Seconds to Mars, but I'm really not getting why Jared Leto is so far the frontrunner for this award. Not that he wasn't very good, he really was, but his should have been the truly sympathetic character and yet,(****SPOILER****) I didn't feel as badly as I expected to when Rayon died, because I hadn't really connected to the character as much as I expected. There was just something a tiny wee bit in the back of my mind that felt like I was seeing someone performing a part (which I suppose in fairness, does fit with Rayon's character) that put a thin sheet of glass between me and the character. Jonah Hill was very good in Wolf of Wall Street but not enough of a stand out for me to win. I'm not even going to say much about Bradley Cooper. Hey, he didn't spoil the film, which is an improvement on usual. And maybe he got nominated for wearing hair curlers. Oh god, I just realised Bradley Cooper and Jonah Hill are both two time Oscar acting nominees. Do you know who wasn't a two-time Oscar acting nominee? Orson Welles. Bradley Cooper has two more Oscar nominations than Joseph Cotten. I'm cracking open the vodka....
Also not nominated for two Oscars (yet) is Michael Fassbender, which brings me to the two people I would like to win, Fassbender or Barkhad Abdi. I'm going marginally towards Fassbender, just because I am still shocked he wasn't nominated for Shame. Fassbender plays just about the most vile person imaginable and yet he is never two-dimensional and somehow brings through and makes it credible that Epps truly believes the twisted logic that he bases his treatment of slaves on. One of the greatest strengths of 12 Years a Slave is the way in which it shows how this system became something that endured - how it was virtually impossible for a slave to rebel or escape. One of the most horrifying aspects (and also convincing ways in which slavery is reinforced) is how life or death, getting through the day or suffering horrific punishment, often rested on the whim of the slaveowner. But instead of giving us a one-dimensional villain, Fassbender brought through why Epps whims turn one way or the other, why he is so utterly brutal, making him a chillingly all to believable human being.
Abdi also plays brings something extra to what is a critical, but could be unsympathetic character. Not only his he absolutely magnetic, but he ensures you recognise how the character has found himself in that situation but with enough of an edge that you don't forget that what he is doing is illegal and violent. It is by delivering both these sides to the character that allows Tom Hanks (who really should have been nominated) show a more ambiguous attitude towards his captors. It is really hard to get your head round that his was Abdi's first role.
Best Actress
Clearly this is going to Cate Blanchett and she was absolutely compelling and brilliant so it is no surprise. It wasn't the easiest character to play and to nail so completely, and there are probably few other people than Blanchett who could have done this. Although Jasmine would be horrific to know in real life (both before and after her breakdown), you never stop being interested in her throughout, which is entirely down to Blanchett.
As for the others, I still can't believe Emma Thompson wasn't nominated for Saving Mr Banks. Sandra Bullock is absolutely fine in Gravity but is not as memorable as the visuals and tension of the movie. Judi Dench is lovely and perfectly pitched in Philomena but it's not as striking a performance as Blanchett. Amy Adams is the best of the cast of American Hustle, is interesting and unpredictable throughout and massively elevates the film but again she's not quite as outstanding as Blanchett. And although Meryl Streep is massively entertaining in August: Osage County, I found her performance way too over the top in a way that made it so clear this was an adaptation of a play.
Best Actor
I hope this goes to Chiwetel Ejiofor or Bruce Dern but it looks like it's going to Matthew McConaughey (which I'm probably going to repeatedly misspell!) So am I the only person who thought McConaughey was way better in Mud this year? He was so good in Mud. Not that he isn't terrific in Dallas Buyers Club, he really is, the film hinges on him and he brings everything to it and brings more dimensions to the performance and character than might have happened with other actors or other 'real life films'.
I have no idea why Christian Bale was nominated. He's absolutely fine in the film, but better than Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips (definitely not) or Robert Redford in All is Lost (nope, not better than him either). I think David O Russell has dirt on half of Hollywood or something.
Wolf of Wall Street showcases one of Leonardo di Caprio's best ever performances, and he absolutely makes the film, without holding anything back. He has to make it believable that all these people would follow him into misdeed but never stop us realising how awful Jordan Belfort is, and he nails it.
But for me, the two actors who are the most powerful and the most subtle are Ejiofor and Dern. Dern is so one of those performances whose true brilliance sinks in long after the film. Woody could be a caricature but it is such a wonderfully believable and true performance. There is a slight aspect to the tone of the film that could make the audience feel like they are supposed to be mocking Woody, but there is no way that Dern will let you do that through his performance. He keeps it so restrained but also very compelling, melancholic and the right amount of charming.
But my overall vote goes to Ejiofor. Solomon Northup isn't a traditionally heroic protagonist - if he was, the film would be 12 Days a Slave. Northup has to make the decisions that allow him to survive rather than what might be considered the most noble but Ejiofor shows you every emotion of those decisions and makes him seem a greater person for it. Steve McQueen has spoken how Ejiofor is the audience's way into the film, and the way to make sure we experience the alien experience of slavery with Northup and Ejiofor absolutely nails it. He is so incredibly convincing, it's almost hard to describe his acting as you don't really notice it, you just feel the character and what is happening to him. But whether the character is trying to make his presence felt, or trying to fade as much into the background as possible, this incredible personal strength emanates from Ejiofor. He is superb and memorable and wonderful and really deserves to win.
Part 2 coming up - Director and Film.
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