Q&A Leftovers: Oscar Madness, Black Actors, Carrey & Kunis
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 6:40PM Okay, before I decide how to reconfigure the fun but exhausting new Q&A series, I thought I'd answer 5 Oscar questions I stubbornly avoided before.
Ellen Burstyn in "Resurrection" (1980)
Michael: Going back to 1980 out of the five nominees - who would you have handed the Best Actress Oscar to?
Nathaniel: I can't vote on 1980 because I've never found an opportunity to see Ellen Burstyn in Resurrection and I don't vote without seeing all five. Or at least I don't vote without all five if I really love the missing actor... which, in this case, I do. (Also: regarding 1980. I've heard the pleas for me to talk about Gena Rowlands since I never do. I just have to decide how to attack that large subject.)
Philip: Why do you think Oscar never took a liking to Jim Carrey?
Nathaniel: He was trying too hard when they weren't ready for him yet. The Truman Show (1998) was too close to his comic persona for people to get how brilliant he was in it. By the time he'd work up to "due" and gave his best performance (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004) he happened to do it within a romantic masterpiece. Alas, it's only women who ever get Oscar credit for those. Sexist but true.
Two Actors. Beloved by Plant Life. Not by Oscar.
Adam: What sort of project do you think Mila Kunis should tackle for Oscar recognition? Comedy or drama? Any roles in particular?
Nathaniel: I talked about this briefly last month, not in the context of Oscar but in the context of a wise career move. I wrote:
My basic feeling is that she should ditch the comedies briefly for something E-V-I-L. That vaguely sinister erotic charge that she gifted to Black Swan and the way you could read it as playful one minute and agenda-filled the next, suggests that she has an untapped capacity for darker roles
But what's good for the career isn't always good for Oscar favor. But wait there's more!
This is not a knock against her because I think she's talented and there are several types of talents that don't translate to awards recognition. Since she's not really an "Oscar" actress -- I mean can you imagine her carrying a period piece message movie or even a full bodied romantic drama? -- she needs to hit their sweet spot for attention. As dull as this sounds, wringing some tears as a beautiful long-suffering wife is the way to go. Provided she wants an Oscar. But really: does everyone have to have one?
Or maybe she should star in a documentary feature about her date to that marine ball. She seems so game as a celebrity.
Jurnee Smollett. Her star should rise.Lester: Hey Nat can you name five African-American actors who need a big oscary role?
Nathaniel: Under the heading of "spread the wealth", let's eliminate everyone whose had a nomination (although nearly all of them deserve further such opportunities), So I'd say:
1. Kerry Washington (duh!) whose star seems to be fading. *sniffle*
2. Audra McDonald provided it's a big epic movie musical; that voice!
3. Anthony Mackie actually already had his "big Oscary role" only... well, you know what happened. The Supporting Actor category errs on the side of honoring careers rather than performances so it didn't matter that he was, quite frankly, embarrassingly superior to the actual nominees (excluding the winner)
4. Jurnee Smollett (Friday Night Lights) who I'm kind of madly in love with at the moment. She can project basic human goodness in riveting ways (not easy to do -- notice how most attention-grabbing parts are bitchy, funny or evil) and she can do emotional vulnerability without ever feeling like a sap who can't handle herself.
5. Kimberly Elise who deserved to be in the conversation for For Colored Girls. Yes, the movie was a mess but she's the real deal as actressing goes.
There are many more but I'll stop since I answered the question. I hear often that Sanaa Lathan is amazing but I admit that i'm unfamiliar. I somehow miss all of her films. I really wanted to catch her recent Off Broadway performance in By The Way Meet Vera Stark which would've been great to cover on the site since it was about a semi forgotten film actress and detailed a friendship between two actresses, one of them the other's maid, who are both cast in the same Southern film epic. It would've so been worth seeing in the year of The Help !
Stephanie J Block and Sanaa Lathan in "By the Way Meet Vera Stark"
But I'll stop there. I really don't need every actor I like to be in the Oscar conversation. For instance I'd be fully satisfied if Regina King could get so much as one Emmy nomination!
SoSueMe: Now that the Academy has expanded the Best Pic category, what about the acting categories? Other awards bodies sometimes nominate 6 actors to a single category, why not the academy?
Nathaniel: I think this is a terrible idea and it's the thing I most loathe about my own voting body (BFCA) after the weird "I must predict the Oscars" impulse. As soon as it goes to six, people will just bitch about seventh place finishes. Five is large enough to give you a sense of the year and small enough to feel like a prestigious honor.
Five Forever. Fantastic Five. Forever Five. FIVE!
Your turn: How do you feel about the number five? Or any of these questions.
Reader Comments (30)
Yes, Lordy, five. It might be "fun" in the year it happens to have six nominees, but when you go back in time and try and catch up, five is almost too much. The only exception would be if they had a tie for the fifth place spot. Hey, hasn't that ever happened before? You'd think it was more likely than the actual same vote tie which to my knowledge has only happened twice (Barbra & Katharine, and "Trevor" and some other short).
Yes, yes to Audra. Can't we remake Porgy & Bess? ;-)
"Five Forever. Fantastic Five. Forever Five. FIVE!"
I feel that I can make this the rallying cry of those of us who wish the Academy would remember that the Oscars are meant to honor great filmmaking, not bend over backwards to attract viewers. *stares wishfully into the sky*
SO with you on those three actors who need love. Hell, I'd love to see Anthony, Audra and Kerry in something together. Audra in particular is so lovely. Before Viola and Denzel did it on Broadway I used to hope she'd star in a revival, she has all the intelligence and charm I anticipate in Rose.
(Did you see Sanaa opposite Phylicia and Audra in A RAISIN IN THE SUN?)
I'm so glad to see that you have love for Jurnee Smollett! She starred in one of my favorite films (Eve's Bayou) and carried it brilliantly. I'd love to see her and all of the people you mentioned get greater opportunities to shine. Sanaa is a great actress, I know she has a part in Contagion playing Laurence Fishburne's wife or something, but I doubt she'll have much to work with in that over-crowded film (though that's not exactly a complaint...I can't wait to see it).
I agree with your words on Mila Kunis as well. For some reason I think she'd be great in a Woody Allen film, more as a zany supporting character who steals the show than as an actual lead or typical Allen "muse".
Five unless there is an unbreakable tie. Then go to six.
Carrey's Man on the Moon performance is for the ages with me. I really fall in love with him everytime I see it. He's better than most will ever give him credit for.
The lack of attention and Oscar-y material for black actresses is enough to keep one in the house depressed. I say just give Alfre Woodard an Oscar, any Oscar, Supporting, Leading, it doesn't matter -- if Monique can have one for playing a character not too far away from her own public persona (She calls women bitches all the time) wouldn't be any skin off her nose to do that to Gabby.
I'm over Black Swan and its cast. However, I'm not over Hershey, who under further investigation seems like one of the most underappreciated American actress still working.
Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive.
Jurnee Smollett could be the lead character in "Blondie: The Florence Ballard Story". I know, the film is still in production, but this is a golden opportunity for any actress, especially black actresses. The worst part, Solange Knowles could play Diana Ross.
Bath, about Kunis, I don't know if you saw "After Sex". The film has many flaws and wasn't exactly an indie masterpiece, but I believe Kunis and Saldana (Both played a lesbian couple) are great -Actually this part of the story is the best of the film-. I think with a good dramatic role, Kunis could surprise. Also, another favorite who deserved an excellent role is Zoe Saldana (Maybe I'm minority).
"if Monique can have one for playing a character not too far away from her own public persona (She calls women bitches all the time) wouldn't be any skin off her nose to do that to Gabby"
...wow. Is that real? Did you really just say that?
Right, because calling her daughter a bitch was ALL the acting that role required and the final scene in the social workers office never happened! Okay.
--
Thanks for the answer on Carrey! I actually haven't seen any of his Oscar-y roles and I want to.
I also want to see where Mila goes with her career! I love her so much after Black Swan, sad she missed an Oscar nod but happy it went to Jacki Weaver. I think she has a lot more talent than we know and I'm waiting for her to surprise. :D
Oh and on blacks in Hollywood - it is absolutely depressing...even more so for women of color. Just unfair on every level...we've come a long way but still have VERY far to go.
I've been saying this for some years now but I really think it's a travesty that one of the most endearing screen actors of the last two decades, one who is apt at comedy and at drama, and especially one who has offered the Academy plenty of opportunities to be rewarded with a nomination - The Majestic, Man on the Moon, The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - and even provided them with one of those "we're glad to have you on the silver screen, here's your make-up nomination" for Lemony Snicket's (I dread the movie but one could see how they could have nominated him, having given one of those kind of nominations to Alan Alda for the same reason in that year).
But really... how can one fall for the immensely likeable yet pathetic Roberto Benigni performance in Life is Beautiful (what a terrible win right there, the lesser of those five nominees) and not admit that Jim Carrey is working miles ahead of him in Truman Show? Oy.
And in 2004... Did you REALLY need to nominate Clint Eastwood for lending his real-life personality to his character in MDB? And Johnny Depp for giving a toned-down Depp-ian performance in that snoozefest called Finding Neverland I like to pretend it doesn't exist?
Tracie Thoms gave one of the best star turns - and, aside from Uma in Kill Bill, my favorite performance in a Tarantino film - of the decade in 'Death Proof'. If ever I get around to writing a Best Supporting Actress ballot for the Aughts, she's on it.
Granted, she'll have to combat Jennifer Jason Leigh in 'Margot', Anne Heche in 'Birth', Virginia Madsen in 'Sideways' and Tilda in 'Michael Clayton', but she still may win.
I mean, come on...
'Moo, muthafucka, moo!'
Aw, Jurnee Smollett! Yeah, she deserves to be BIG.
Audra McDonald is like this supernova of talent that nobody in Hollywood seems to know *anything* about.
Anthony Mackie needs to keep doing what he does and hopefully things will look bright one day. That Oscar snub was so sad and pretty insulting considering the awful lineup that did, in fact, happen.
CINCO! CINQ!
Beau -- wow. high praise. i barely remember Thoms in Death Proof (but then i've only seen it once and just hated it. i understand that people usually feel one of two ways about it) I have mixed feelings about her. Sometimes I just love love love what she's doing "Wonder Falls", "Rent" but then there's the 'what are you doing?' moments like Devil Wears Prada
Kerry Washington is in Tarantino's new film...we know that Quentin could bring much luck to his thespians...let's wish Kerry the best!!!
Yes, I was just about to say that Kerry Washington is 'attached' to the next Tarantino film. If ever there was a way to kickstart a waning career, she just got the prime opportunity. She's playing the only female character in it?
Not the only one, but the main one, since she's the kidnapped wife of the leading man (played by Jamie Foxx). her husband will do everything to rescue her, even becoming a "mandingo"...Tarantino is a great fan of luscios Richard Fleischer's attempt at blaxploitation...
I've already talked about how Benigni's masterful performance in Life is Beautiful deserved all those awards, but it's still stunning to me how clown is one of the most difficult jobs an actor can pull off and it is still the most underrated - even if you win an Oscar.
Ugh. I'd forgotten for about 10 minutes that Regina King wasn't nominated for Southland.
Sawyer -- i apologize! but, you know, they had to make room for sleepwalking Kathy Bates and Mariska WTF Hargitay yet again.
That photo of Ellen at the top reminds me of how much I love her - a lot of "Resurrection" seems corny and dated now; it's really very flawed, but the chemistry she has with Sam Shepard is pretty terrific.
//I'm over Black Swan and its cast. However, I'm not over Hershey, who under further investigation seems like one of the most underappreciated American actress still working.//
I'm with you on that one, /3rtfu11; I still think Hershey SHOULD have gotten the Oscar in '96. They awarded Binoche far, far too soon, for the wrong performance altogether. (but we know AMPAS likes the young ladies)
I'm not with you on Monique's perf in Precious, though - are you serious, or being a provocateur? I don't "know" Monique but the woman I saw in her stand up DVD "I Could Have Been Your Cellmate" was intelligent, politically active and aware, compassionate and, yes, raunchy onstage. Nothing like the character she played onscreen, and IMO an astonishing performance.
Honestly Nat? I watched it with Grindhouse, hated it too. I remember walking out of the theater saying that was the best bad movie I've ever seen.
Then I watched it as a solo feature this year. I'm almost tempted to say that it became my favorite Tarantino film. Which shocks even me. There's this perverse glee to the whole thing that I just absolutely adore.
1. Audra McDonald: If one really wants to be upset at the general public's complete obliviousness to her talents, just access any of her YouTube clips. Comments are typically something along the lines of, "I never knew the lady from 'Private Practice' could sing." (Aside -- Am I the only one who hates how [bad] TV keeps claiming some of Broadway's best performers?)
@Dave in Alamitos Beach: She is playing Bess in the Broadway revival of "Porgy and Bess" coming in December.
2. @Nathaniel re: Sanaa Lathan -- For the unindoctrinated I recomment "Love and Basketball," "Brown Sugar," and the recent TV remake of "A Raisin in the Sun." Because she first came to prominence with a glut of young black actors and actresses who were all doing rom-coms and coming-of-age films in the late 90s/early00s, it probably made her work easy to miss.
3. @Beau: I always wonder why of the two features in "Grindhouse" "Death Proof" seemed to get such a bad rap. I thoroughly enjoyed it and always thought Tracie Thoms gave the best beformance in it. Absolutely hilarious.
Troy H -- my theory is because it's terrible. haha. But if i'm wrong (which i might be given some of the critical turnaround) the other totally plausible theory is two films was just too much to sit through in that vein back to back (plus the trailers) and people were too exhausted by Planet whatshisface to get into something MUCH slower thereafter (at least until it speeds up but that takes a good long while)
I wrote a song called "Overrated Hammy Cunt" and it's not about Bates.
Sanaa Lathan was nominated for an Indie spirit award for Love & Basketball...and I've heard pretty good things.
I totally agree with Janice. The movie has flaws but Ellen Burstyn is phenomenal.
5 is the perfect number. No doubt!
I hate to take Sissy's Oscar away although she should have two by now having been robbed of the one she deserved for In The Bedroom by Halle Berry for the forgettable Monster's Ball. To me it 's a toss up between Ellen and Gena both giving amazing performances in parts that were made for them. Nobody is as tough as Gena Rowlands when she gets her attitude on which Gloria had in spades and while I agree that Resurrection isn't perfect Ellen blows it away plus you get a rare chance to see Eva Le Gallienne who gives a beautifully real performance. Resurrection is actually streaming on Netflix now so if you have the chance it's definitely worth catching. As far as Goldie and MTM I thought Goldie was much better in other things, the standout in Benjamin is Eileen Brennan and Mary was very good in Ordinary People I just think Gena and Ellen were more varied in the portrayals.
/3rtfull -- come on now. You can't think she deserves that Harry's Law nomination, can you? I've never seen her be so listless onscreen. I couldn't even watch it I was so shocked at how little she was giving.
joel6 -- proves how well i keep up with netflix instant (i honestly can't keep track it's so random and changing) so i shall watch it.
Kerry Washington was rumored for Tarantino's next movie but, last I heard, he was looking for an unknown.