Coming Soon... Supporting Actress 1980
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 7:26AM It's just 12 days until the next Supporting Actress Smackdown! For the rest of the month we'll be nibbling on 1980 (Year of the Month) each day at noon as buildup to Monday September 30th's big event. In the meantime, get to screening those movies!
September 30th SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN (1980 EDITION)
This time we're talking 1980. So rent Melvin & Howard (winner of 2 Oscars: Screenplay & Supporting Actress), Raging Bull (winner of 2 Oscars: Editing & Actor) Inside Moves and Private Benjamin for maximum engagement. Resurrection (which was nominated for two acting Oscars) doesn't seem to be available anywhere but for a bootleg on YouTube -- oh the humanity that an Oscar nomination doesn't grant a film preservation and studio-funded accessibility from then on! We now include reader voting in the outcome, as you saw last month, so send in your ballots by September 28th with 1980 as subject line ranking only those performances you've seen.
As per your earlier voting we'll also revisit a few other non-supporting actress titles for context
NEXT MONTH: On October 30th, StinkyLulu's Smackdown will head to 1968 for a discussion of the supporting actresses from Funny Girl, Rosemary's Baby, Faces, Rachel Rachel and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter which is a really exciting quintet of movies, as diverse as the 1952 smackdown. Since you have a headstart you have no excuse not to watch them all, you Actress/Oscar obsessives!
Reader Comments (16)
All prepared for this one. Have watched the three movies I hadn't seen, and am now debating whether to watch PRIVATE BENJAMIN and RAGING BULL again, or to just watch some of the key scenes with the relevant actresses on the net (I think I've formed my opinion on them).
Had to download/torrent both INSIDE MOVES and RESURRECTION (we're quite adept at getting our movies and TV shows by other means here Down Under, given the delay we're often forced to deal with otherwise). There was basically no other way I was going to get to see those two. RESURRECTION was 900 MB of slightly blurry (I think it was basically an old video tape transferred) but still clear enough to appreciate all that was happening. For MELVIN AND HOWARD, I just dug out an old VHS copy that I had recorded off the TV years ago!
Unfortunately this year the Academy decides to ignore what maybe the single greatest supporting acting performance by an actress in a Woody Allen movie -- ever. Charlotte (still un-nominated) Rampling for STARDUST MEMORIES. Charlotte's shocking as a sophisticated woman losing her grip with none of the artifice of Blanchett's popular Jasmine performance.
*Please Delete My Previous Post*
Unfortunate that year the Academy decides to deny an actress in a supporting role in a Woody Allen movie of a nomination. Especially when said actress to this very day hasn't received a nomination and she is absolutely a legend: Charlotte Rampling. In STARDUST MEMORIES Rampling plays an unseated woman who we witness self-destructs due to the narcissism of her lover.
The balloting link didn't work for me so here's mine:
1. Eva Le Gallienne-Resurrection-My absolute number one choice. For me her gentle fully lived in performance was superior to all the performances of that year excepting Ellen Burstyn's lead performance in this film.
2. Eileen Brennan-Private Benjamin-Wry and controlled, with the extra little touches she was always able to inject into her work.
3. Cathy Moriarty- I have to be honest, I hated Raging Bull and it was torture for me to sit through it once but she was an arresting presence and held her own well against DeNiro.
4. Mary Steenburgen- Melvin and Howard- I love her but this performance didn't strike me as anything special, I had to think hard to remember much about it.
5. Diana Scarwid-Inside Moves-Again I didn't find the performance special and certainly not award worthy.
I love this idea but the writers/reviewers are overly critical and really know how to suck the fun out of a movie and performance.
I just emailed my ballot, but here are a few supporting performances that were overlooked by the Academy that year...
Anne Bancroft - The Elephant Man
Dinah Manoff - Ordinary People
Maureen Teefy - Fame
Sean, thank you for mentioning Ms. Bancroft. She was extraordinary and touching in this film.
I bought "Resurrection," on Amazon. It is available as a "made on demand" disc and the quality is fine. Well worth the price,
And speaking 1980's overlooked Supporting Actress, Angie Dickinson as Kate Miller in "Dressed to Kill," should at least have been nominated. The museum scene alone merits inclusion.
Wow, I just checked "Resurrection," on Amazon. Apparently it is out of print and am I ever glad I bought it when Universal was offering as an MOD. Ypu all can come over and we'll have a double feature with "Private Benjamin," or "Melvin and Howard."
Love Resurrection. It's always stayed with me for some reason. Fascinating film.
Resurrection in also available here, and in better quality: http://stagevu.com/video/tnkrhywlhuzs
I'm revealing my Supporting Actress ignorance (and sorry for jumping ahead), but I'm shocked that someone from Funny Girl other than Barbra Streisand gained enough traction to earn an Oscar nomination. I guessed that it might be the mother, but had to look to Verify since I barely remembered other actresses. It's one of my favorite movies, but for me it's 100% Barbra.
John -- that's sad to hear it read to you that way because the whole point of it is a celebration of supporting actressing.
Jan -- is that a site outside of the US? it won't open for me.
Nathaniel -- you need divx web player to watch the videos on that site. I'd personally download the .avi file instead.
1980: the year of the first time nominees
1968: Ruth Gordon got the Oscar thanks to ROSEMARY'S while Mia was overlooked...the first of several Oscar snubs for her