Friday
Jul082011
Best Actress "Character" 1981-1990
Friday, July 8, 2011 at 11:40AM Time for more polls! Same situation as before. I'm asking not who you think should have won the Oscar but which Best Actress nominated roles are the most memorable for you. Who are the characters you think of the most from movie history (albeit through the lens of Oscar since some great role aren't nominated).
Two polls ahead -- I think we'll quit here since fewer people will play from the 70s backwards -- so please vote on both. Pick the 5 roles that are the "stickiest" in your head, the most memorable, from each poll of Best Actress nominated characters.
1981-1985
Choose up to 5 women
1986-1990
Choose up to 5 women
Does anything surprise you while reviewing your options?
tagged Best Actress, Oscars (80s), polls
Best Actress, Oscars (80s), polls
Reader Comments (22)
The second half has more familar characters that I think about. As much as I have mixed emotions about Cher's Moonstruck win, I from time to time daydream as if I'm her charcter kicking the can down an empty street, hearing an opera.
/3rtfull -- omg. me too. i recently watched that movie again and i kept waiting for that scene to play. it's so sweet and both magical and realistic at once.
The first half was more familiar for me. I suck. I also voted for characters because I've seen parts of the movie or because I've seen these characters elsewhere.
Also, FYC Louise Bryant. She and Diane Keaton's work is crazy personified.
ALEX FORREST Fatal Attraction! WOW what a character :)
The first poll is all about Meryl Streep... Sophie, Karen Silkwood, Karen Blixen and the double role from The French Lieutenant's Woman are among the most memorable characters of the decade. 4 out of 5 votes went to Meryl, with the last one for Julie Andrews in Victor / Victoria.
My second poll has Glenn Close dominating with two of the most wonderful villains in screen history, Merteuil and Alex Forrest. Lilly Dillon from The Grifters is the best performance of 1990 in my opinion and the greatest performance by Anjelica Huston; the other votes went to the memorable Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and to Moonstruck's Loretta (Cher).
Curiously, I chose only one Oscar winning role for each poll (Meryl's Sophie and Cher's Loretta).
Ugh, the second poll had too many classics to choose from! What a rich 5 years for female characters. I'm apparently one of the few who thinks of Sarah Tobias fairly often. Usually when I hear a story about a rape or assault victim having a sketchy background or what not. Also couldn't deny Annie and Alex as two of the top five most memorable female villains ever. Then there were like 6 vying for those last two spots. Went to Ripley (couldn't not) and Lindy (still haunts me, really do not find the "dingo killed my baby" line funny after seeing it).
Paolo -- i love Diane's performance in REDS like a crazy person myself. but she would just barely miss my top five for that grouping.
So ... I won't be able to vote for Bree Daniels!?
Nathaniel, can we please go back a bit further. I admit, the seventies ARE a bit bleak in terms of memorable women but the sixties are stacked! Deanie Loomis, Gloria Wandrous, Martha, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Mary Poppins, Fanny. Gah. PLEAAAAAAASE.
RJ and Andrew -- well we'll see. if this poll doesn't get very many votes i'm for sure stopping. but who knows... there are other projects awaitin' :)
Interesting that all 3 of Sissy's characters are at 1% only.
Though I'm sure that in the hypothetical 70s poll, Carrie would get at least, let's say, 80% of the votes.
Anjelica Huston's Lilly Dillon would be my choice for the most memorable nominated character of the last 30 years. One of the most complex and disturbing characters I've encountered in cinema.
Irrelevant to the question, but Huston's loss to Kathy's histrionics and oinking in Misery still stings like a bee.
Mike, you're touching me. Why must you drape red in front of a bull? Why? I didn't bring up Bates not once which I'm sure made Nathan very relieved. Huston gave her career best performance. No disagreements there. I own both R1 releases of The Grifters which shows how much the quality of the film and her performance included has on me. I never bought Misery. I knew the initial discs on the market were sub-par quality and waited out for a SE. Which did see the light of day and done by some of the best in the business Fox Home Entertainment struck a brand-new inter-positive and had a top colorist match the original colors of the film's 1990 release.
My personal feelings about Huston in general is that she's a character actress who fits a certain type and does certain parts well -- this too can be applied to Bates. However, Lily is the most extreme and realistic character she's ever tackled. You can see throughout the performance treading water. This isn't her comfort zone and it shows itself in Huston playing tough, thinking tough, attepting to comprehend tough, without ever making us believe she's tough. In real life you saw more of her toughness at the actual Academy ceremony when Whoopi Goldberg won supporting actress over Griters' co-star Annette Bening.
Huston has two big dramatic moments in the film and they're the most intense. In these scenes
she's should under extreme distress, both involving an act of violence, both involving her closest men in her life. These moments anchor the perception of her whole performance being one for the ages because those moments aren't not technical, they're sloppy and raw.
Kathy Bates in Misery is playing an approximation. I know women like her. Openly loud in their girlish glee. Aware with uncommon knowledge from reading, and, from watching some informative public television or cable program. Bates has the harder role, that many believe isn't hard at all, playing crazy. Most people pull the OTT card whenever reviewing an actor's work in the crazy house. It's as though everyone is an expert on the mentally ill and understand completely how to underplay these people with the subtlety of a sleeping dog.
Bullshit. There are two types -- Off People and Crazy People. Off people in real life can make us uncomfortable and have us laughing. Crazy People can be dangerous to themselves and us and are much more worked up. Kathy in the beginning may appear a little off but she's a full on crazy person who is a real threat to herself and others. I'm not sure what people who cry foul with her Misery performance.
Bates is alive. She's genuinely feeling responsible, maternal, and chosen. Paul is the reason for her being. Her frustration with him is more about her inability to deal with others and herself. The dialogue she has is hands down for the ages over all the other nominees in her category and also for the year! Kathy Bates owns Annie Wilkes, it's her signature role, the one they'll remember her for, whether the actress likes it or not, from what I know she wishes it was Dolores Claiborne. Kathy's Annie deserves to be in the same conversation with Hannibal Lecter and Daniel Plainview -- ironically Daniel Day-Lewis presented Kathy with her Best Actress statuette and she presented Anthony Hopkins with his.
In the end all the nominees from the 1990 Best Actress line-up were Oscar winners.
Kathy Bates, Best Actress 1990
Anjelica Huston, Best Supporting Actress 1985 (Oprah was robbed)
Julia Roberts, Best Actress 2000
Meryl Streep, Best Actress 1982
Meryl Streep, Best Supporting Actress 1979
Joanne Woodward, Best Actress 1957
81-85 was a cake walk but, my God, to whittle 86-90 down to only 5 *was* a Sophie's Choice (for me at least). Honestly, I still recall Sarah Norman, Ellen Ripley, Loretta Castorini, Alex Forrest, Jane Craig, Marquise de Merteuil, Tess McGill, Susie Di♥m♦nd, Annie Wilkes, Lilly Dillon, Vivian Ward and Suzanne Vale all fairly often. What a line-up!
This is so interesting! Couldn't you do the 70's and 60's too?
"Interesting that all 3 of Sissy's characters are at 1% only." Yes. this is interesting. I was haunted by her performance in Missing when I first saw it in the theater, and saw that movie four or five times in its first months of release. I have not watched it since. I don't want to extrapolate too much from her low results in this poll, but it's possible that the themes of her movies on this list are rooted in time and thus come across as dated. It's also possible that she is so associated with Coal Miner's Daughter (and to a slightly lesser extent, Carrie) that it's hard to think of her as iconic in any other film. For the record, she's iconic to me in almost anything she does.
its hard to choose just five from each of these lists, since there are so many great, memorable roles and performances. the 90's and 00's just pale in comparison to the depth of female performances in leading roles. i would have a hard time limiting it to ten, never mind the five required, which i think is a great thing.
everyone -- since the response is still good i might go back further though i need to start doing some projects based on these results or something. still brainstorming.
timothy: Spacek is such an underappreciated actress but all American actresses are underappreciated for the most part due to Hollywood sexism -- also I don't believe we as a country has good taste when it comes to judging acting -- which is why foreigners' work always earns Academy nominations and critical acclaim -- I really like Spacek -- who reminds me of a more mature and effortless version of Weaver.
Spacek, Weaver, Close, Rowlands, Farrow, Woodard, Page (Interiors is everything) and in bold font Pfeiffer.
I love this! As far as I'm concerned, 86-90 is a golden age. Specially if you think that Pepa, Barbara Rose and Annie Savoy could have been contenders too.
Hope you don't stop with the 80's. All the previous decades have such memorable woman characters and for true movie buffs the 60's & 70's are rife with them. The 50's may be a bit of a stretch but there are good things there and of course the 30's & 40's were golden years.