by Nathaniel R
Remember Bette's dream project "For the Boys"?
We've probably done TOO much 1991 before this next Smackdown! Apologies for those of you without a particular affinity for that year but you've only got one more day of this to get through. We thought it might be fun to briefly discuss the Best Actress race of that year before the Supporting Actress Smackdown event tomorrow.
OSCAR NOMINEES
- Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise
- Laura Dern, Rambling Rose
- Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs ★
- Bette Midler, For the Boys
- Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise
If I remember the year correctly this lineup was basically a done deal ahead of time but for the fifth slot...
That was a contest between Laura Dern and Annette Bening (with maybe a little bit of Kathy Bates on the side as delayed victory lap for Misery). Midler's performance was not in fifth. True it's the most forgotten of these five today but at the time she had very obvious "dream project realized" momentum ... hence the Globe win.
GLOBE NOMINEES
- Annette Bening, Bugsy
- Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise
- Laura Dern, Rambling Rose
- Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs ★
- Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise
- Kathy Bates, Fried Green Tomatoes
- Ellen Barkin, Switch
- Anjelica Huston, Addams Family
- Bette Midler, For the Boys ★
- Michelle Pfeiffer, Frankie & Johnny
BAFTA NOMINEES
- Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise
- Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs ★
- Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise
- Juliette Stevenson, Truly Madly Deeply
This one is my big miss from 1991. I've never seen Veronique
CANNES
- Irène Jacob, Double Life of Véronique ★
VENICE
- Tilda Swinton, Edward II ★
Who elses misses Derek Jarman movies? Show of hands. We consider this supporting though. Are we misremembering the movie?
BERLINALE
- Victoria Abril, Lovers ★
Uff. Victoria was so special in the early 1990s. We're sad the movies seemed to lose interest thereafter.
LAFCA
- Mercedes Ruehl, The Fisher King ★
We consider her supporting though, yes, it is a large role.
NYFCC
- Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs ★
NSFC
- Alison Steadman, Life is Sweet ★
NBR
- Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise [TIE] ★
- Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise [TIE] ★
Baby Nathaniel was OBSESSED with Emmanuelle Béart from the late 80s to early 90s
CÉSAR
- Emanuelle Béart, La Belle Noiseuse
- Juliette Binoche, The Lovers on the Bridge
- Anouk Grinberg, Merci la Vie
- Irène Jacob, The Double Life of Veronique
- Jeanne Moreau, The Old Lady Who Walked In the Sea ★
The US didn't get three of these until YEARS later... but La Belle Noiseuse and Veronique were arthouse darlings in '91.
GOYA
- Victoria Abril, Lovers
- Silvia Munt, Butterfly Wings ★
- Maribel Verdú, Lovers
GOLDEN HORSE
- Maggie Cheung, Center Stage ★
- Carina Lau, Days of Being Wild
- Anita Mui, Au Revoir Mon Amour
- Lisa Yang, Bright Summer Day
SATURN AWARDS
- Kathy Bates, Misery (1990 film but they have a different calendar)
- Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs
- Linda Hamilton, T2 Judgment Day ★
- Julia Roberts, Sleeping with the Enemy
- Winona Ryder, Edward Scissorhands (1990 film)
- Meryl Streep, Defending Your Life
SPIRIT AWARDS
- Judy Davis, Impromptu ★
- Patsy Kensit, Twenty-One
- Mimi Rogers, The Rapture
- Lili Taylor, Bright Angel
- Lily Tomlin, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life...
Judy Davis is lots of fun in Impromptu (incredible cast in that British comedy - seriously, look it up). I'd totally forgotten she won the Spirit.
Our personal favourite movie of 1991, Thelma & Louise
FILM BITCH AWARDS
(In retrospect)
- Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise
- Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs ★
- Linda Hamilton, T2 Judgment Day
- Mimi Rogers, The Rapture
- Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise
With apologies to (alpha order) Emmanuelle Béart, Annette Bening, Judy Davis, Laura Dern, Gong Li (if you consider her eligible), Michelle Pfeiffer and Juliette Stevenson who would round out my own top 12, a brutally competitive year (though the following year was easily the decade's worst for high quality female leads!). Of my personal ballot Mimi Rogers and her daring vehicle are forgotten today but it was an incredibly unsettling performance which I still think about from time to time. I remember either Siskel or Ebert (or both?) was also a big fan back at the time and FYC'ing her.
Mimi Rogers as a promiscuous woman who experiences a spiritual conversion in "The Rapture"
True Story: In 1991, I was a die-hard unswayable Sarandon voter (the "overdue" narrative got me good, well that and her genius as Louise) and considered Hamilton supporting (before Rampant Category Fraud wised me up) so Dern was in this lineup but I have since shifted to Foster as winner.... unless one could give a "dual" best actress prize to Davis & Sarandon who together deserve it over Foster. Dern's performance doesn't hold up for me quite as well all these years later so she's fallen. I think she's stronger in Wild at Heart the year prior in an even (sorry) wilder role.