A bonus episode of "Almost There" (Claudio's Monday afternoon series) this week. Here's Eric Blume on a 2011 race...
There was a sad surprise when the 2011 Oscar nominations were read: Tilda Swinton did not make the Best Actress slate, despite checking every precursor box along the way. She had nominations from SAG, the BAFTAs, and the Golden Globes, but Oscar overlooked her magnificent performance.
Three of the nominees for the Oscar that year were considered locks: Meryl (who won, of course) for The Iron Lady; Viola Davis for The Help; and Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn. But the final two to make the list were Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs and Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...
Close and Mara were on the bubble that year. While both were nominated for the Globes, and Close also for SAG, at the time it seemed like nobody liked Albert Nobbs (probably because it is an aggressively bad movie).
Probably nobody liked We Need to Talk About Kevin, either, but that particular film was not made to be liked. It's an excruciatingly painful movie, positing a horrifying question at its center: what do you do when you hate your kid? This is not a topic anyone wants to discuss, let alone spend two hours contemplating on a complex level. It's a shame, because Lynne Ramsay directs this movie with the precision of a surgeon, and with uncompromising honesty.
Swinton scales huge heights in this movie, layering guilt, panic, and abject fear into a portrait of lacerating power. It's an almost Shakespearean role, with she tackles with her typical fearlessness. Close and Mara do fine by their roles, but they're not operating on the same level as Swinton. Then again, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was well-loved by the Academy with five total nominations, although I personally think it's one of David Fincher's weaker films. And I'll probably anger everyone reading (Meryl and Viola fans especially) by saying Swinton was better than ANYBODY that year.
We need to talk about Tilda and her missing nomination. She's never been welcomed back into the club after earning one of the most deserving Supporting Actress Oscars ever. Sound off in the comments, please!