Almost There: It’s time to vote! (Halloween edition)
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 12:00PM It’s been a while since you, the readers, have decided what performance should be analyzed in the Almost There series. Since it’s October, let’s do a Halloween-themed poll to spice things up. While AMPAS is notoriously allergic to horror movies, some performances came close to an Oscar nomination, whether their movies were otherwise embraced or not. Here are ten examples, complete with the precursors they won, why I think they were close, and where you can find each flick. The contenders are…
Anthony Perkins in PSYCHO (1960)
While most of the awards attention was focused on Janet Leigh, Psycho did get four Oscar nominations, including for Best Director. Anthony Perkins, a nominee for 1956’s Friendly Persuasion, was also recognized by the Bambi Awards in the category of Best International Actor.
The film’s streaming on Fubo, Showtime, DirecTV, and Spectrum On Demand.
Tippi Hedren in THE BIRDS (1963)
While The Birds was only nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar, Tippi Hedren won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.
The film’s streaming on Fubo, Showtime, DirecTV, TCM, and Spectrum On Demand.
Mia Farrow in ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby won an Oscar for Ruth Gordon, getting an additional nod for Roman Polanski. That season, Mia Farrow was nominated by the Golden Globes, BAFTA, the Laurel Awards and won both the David di Donatello awards as well as a Fotograma de Plata for Best Actress.
The film’s streaming on Starz, DirecTV, and Spectrum On Demand.
Susannah York in IMAGES (1972)
Winner of the Best Actress prize at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. Images was also nominated for the Best Original Score Oscar.
The film’s streaming on Roku, Tubi, Kanopy, and ARROW.
Anthony Hopkins in MAGIC (1978)
The future two-time Oscar winner was nominated for the BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.
The film’s streaming on Tubi, Kanopy, and Plex.
Melanie Griffith in BODY DOUBLE (1984)
The actress was nominated for the Golden Globe. Addittionally, the actress won the Best Supporting prize from the National Society of Film Critics and was the runner-up for the New York Film Critics Circle Award.
The film can be rented on several platforms.
Jeff Goldblum in THE FLY (1986)
The actor was nominated by both the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle. Despite being a graphic body horror movie, The Fly managed to land an Oscar nomination and win, for Best Makeup.
The film’s streaming on Fubo, AMC+, DirecTV, and Spectrum On Demand.
Nicole Kidman in THE OTHERS (2001)
The same year she was Oscar-nominated for Moulin Rouge!, Kidman got nominated by BAFTA, the Golden Globes, Empire, Goyas, Satellite Awards and several critics organizations for The Others. She also won the Best Actress prizes from the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, while the London Critics Circle honored her with a Actress of the Year trophy. Even without the Baz Luhrmann musical, Kidman could have been nominated in 2001.
Unfortunately, the film’s currently unavailable for streaming.
Mila Kunis in BLACK SWAN (2010)
If not for Jacki Weaver, Kunis would have surely been nominated. She got nominations from SAG, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes and many other critics groups. Black Swan was a Best Picture nominee and Best Actress winner.
The film’s streaming on Hulu and IMDB TV.
Emily Blunt in A QUIET PLACE (2018)
Along with various critics nominations, Blunt won the SAG for Best Supporting Actress. A Quiet Place was also nominated for a Sound Editing Oscar.
The film’s streaming on Paramount+, FXNow, DirecTV, and Spectrum On Demand.
You have until Sunday to pick which performance you want me to write about. Happy voting!
Almost There, Horror, Oscars (01), Oscars (10), Oscars (18), Oscars (60s), Oscars (70s), Oscars (80s), polls
Reader Comments (29)
I voted for Goldblum in The Fly. I remember Siskel & Ebert even included him on their list of biggest Oscar snubs in their annual special that year, and that was a pretty big deal coming from them given their usual aversion to horror (particularly during the ‘80s).
Although I am curious if you think Anthony Perkins in Psycho is a lead or supporting role since there seems to be a lot of debate over that. (Also, let me put my neck out here and offer my unpopular opinion that he’s actually even better in Psycho II and would have been in my Best Actor lineup in ‘83.)
I voted for Susannah York. Her Oscar-nominated performance is one of my all-time favorites among non-winners, and it's interesting to think about Altman returning to thrillers given the ones he directed in the late-1960s. I'm also a bit surprised she didn't make it in, given that a few actresses were able to during the 1970s.
Mia Farrow's is also a great, but obvious choice. Though given how big her film is culturally, she could probably be done at any time.
Kidman is glorious in the Others, but it's obvious why she didn't get nominated. She was in a Best Picture nominee that did get her nominated.
It's a tie between Anthony Perkins and Mia Farrow for me. I voted for Anthony Perkins. They're both magnificent and both deserve to be discussed. Two of the most inexcusable omissions in Oscar history. I try to avoid that overused word "snub", but in Farrow's case there may have been an element of deliberately denying her a nomination. She had been a fixture in the tabloids in 1968 with her shenanigans with Frank Sinatra, and several commentators at the time admitted she may have "kooked" her way out of an Oscar nomination. That's still no excuse.
Top 3 would be Perkins, Kidman, and Kunis.
we've discussed Psycho and Rosemary's Baby so often on the site that i'm hoping something else wins like Jeff Goldblum in THE FLY or, because underdiscussed on the site, Blunt in A QUIET PLACE
All of them would make very interesting discussions.
It has to be Perkins for me,I mean no-one knew back then how iconic his role would become and he is perfection and is easy my 1960 Best Actor winner.
Farrow has been snubbed a lot of times and though it's an obvious choice it'll be interesting to see younger people's perspective.
Blunt is also a great choice,she's doing a lot in AQP.
Goldblum would be good too given the poor 86 line up bar Hoskins
I go back and forth on Hopkins in Magic sometimes I feel he's too hammy and then other times find small bits of acting I find wonderful..
I agree with Nathaniel. Farrow and Perkins are best, but it's all been said before. I am voting for the grossly untalented Tippi Hedren. I love The Birds and can't think of another great movie that is led by such a cringe worthy performance.
Thank you all for the votes. You can vote once a day until Sunday.
Edwin -- I love Goldblum in THE FLY, one of the greatest achievements in body horror - a subgenre I adore. He was one of the performances I considered writing about before the 1986 smackdown but, in the end, chose Griffith in SOMETHING WILD. Regarding Perkins, I think he's a lead. Also, while I haven't seen PSYCHO II, your comment made me very curious.
Joe G. -- Love York in THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON?T THEY? too. She's my winner for 1969. Agree regarding Farrow. I do wonder if Kidman could have been nominated for THE OTHERS if MOULIN ROUGE! hadn't come out in 2001.
Amy Camus -- Honestly, Farrow will be discussed in the Almost There series at some point, even if she loses this poll. It pains me she was never recognized by the Academy, especially in years where her movies were otherwise embraced. ROSEMARY'S BABY, BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, and ALICE are all 'Almos There' cases. I wonder if you guys would ever want me to do a miniseries on one specific actor.
TomG -- Only one of those makes my dream ballot for their year ;) Though, to be fair, I badly need to re-watch one of them.
NATHANIELR -- Apologies for still putting them on this poll, but I thought it'd feel weird to not have them here. That being said, I agree that it'd be cool if a more unexpected choice won. Maybe even the single movie among this bunch that I haven't watched before.
MrRipley79 -- Having recently watched the sequel to A QUIET PLACE, I wonder if my opinion has changed on the first movie. I didn't like it a lot back in 2018, but the sequel was a happy surprise. Not so much because of Blunt. she's good, but Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe are the stars of the newest flick.
Finbar McBride -- It'd be a lot of fun to write about Hedren, though I fear my general take on her would infuriate you. What do you think of her in MARNIE?
I'm voting for Hedren because 1) love The Birds and 2) I think Hedren is fascinating. In both The Birds and Marnie it feels to me like she's doing something completely different from his other blonde stars. I happen to like it, but I can understand it being divisive. That said, I would be enthusiastic if this put more attention on York or Kunis too.
@Claudio. You do not infuriate me. I enjoy thought-provoking opinions that prompt me to reconsider my view. Art is an internal response to film. We all react differently. All opinions in the ensuing discussion are always valid.
As for Marnie, I can never get past the sequence where the camera is from the rapist's viewpoint as Marnie lies back on the bed, the score swells, and camera moves to the porthole. Hendren's account of ill treatment by Hitchcock is supported by his obvious intent as carefully orchestrated here. To me, you can't assess a performance that is a product of an abusive, toxic environment.
Farrow seems like the obvious choice—a fantastic performance in an iconic movie by a never-nominated star who Nathaniel and the larger TFE universe adore. But I threw my vote behind Goldblum for many of the reasons folks already mentioned. He's just incredible in The Fly. You have to imagine if the film were even marginally less gross, he might've gotten more awards traction (but that might have come at the expense of the film's very deserved Oscar for Best Makeup!)
Not sure what year it was, but my vote would go to Anthony Perkins in Psycho II. He may not have gotten a lot of attention from the precursors. However, it is a truly great lead horror performance walking a thin line between sanity and psychosis.
Voted for Mia Farrow, but if she loses I’m all in for a special series on her various “almost there” situations.
What do you think about Angela Bettis in May (2002)? She has had “sort of” a traction back then and It’s one of my favorite performances on the horror genre.
Perkins, Farrow and Kidman (and their performances) all have lots of ink out there already, so I'd vote for someone like Griffith, York, Kunis, Hopkins, etc.
Top 3: Goldblum, Kidman, Hopkins.
(Farrow, Perkins, Hedren and their films have been done to death, so I hope it's anyone but them.)
I honestly have no clue why Mia Farrow was not nominated for the masterful Rosemary's baby, she is simply magnificent, brilliantly conveying paranoia and mistrust.
Mia Mia Mia
She totally SHOULD HAVE BEEN nominated for Rosemary. It was practically the only time she ever got close to the Oscar. Her Rosemary was just brilliant, in the same veins of Portman in Black Swan.
And uh Blunt was an out and loud LEAD ACTRESS of A Quiet Place. Putting her in supporting is just blatant stupid category fraud.
Of these, I'd have nominated Perkins, Farrow, Hopkins, Griffith and Goldblum - and don't forget Hershey for BLACK SWAN!
Wow, this is one of the hardest polls you've done. I assumed Perkins and Farrow would get the top votes, so I voted for Kunis in the off chance she'd sneak in. I recently rewatched Black Swan and want to know more about her character, which scenes were of her or Nina's imagination, how Kunis has never been more appealing (and how disappointing that she hasn't quite found a similar role since). Kidman got nominated for a different role, so no crime no foul for her lack of nod. Blunt was also Lead and should have been nominated for other roles by now. Tippi's performance in the Birds is a fave, but not Oscar worthy for me.
What JDM said (although I didn't vote).
I do think any of these will be fun to read! But please no Anthony Hopkins in MAGIC, not because he's not great (I'm sure he is, I haven't seen the film) but because dolls and puppets give me the creeps and THAT puppet looks way too much like Hopkins not to haunt my nightmares.
I am all in for Susannah York! Even though I can't say I loved Images I loved her performance in the film and it's so underdiscussed. Right after would be Jeff Goldblum who is ideally cast in The Fly.
Mia and Perkins are great (and both cheated out of nominations) in their respective pictures but what new is there really to say about those films?
I also love Tippi and The Birds but as much as I think she's perfect in the film for what's asked of her I don't think it's worthy of a nomination.
I voted for Perkins in Psycho, if only because I love that performance so much (and I second the praise for his work in Psycho II). After that, I'd probably go with either Mila Kunis in Black Swan (Absolutely brilliant - and I take the controversial opinion that she is the best performance in the entire movie) or Nicole Kidman in The Others (the movie that made me fall in love with her - and I feel it is under-discussed due to Moulin Rouge! - though really, two performances of that caliber right next to each other...)
Really, I'd read a writeup on any of these.
I voted for Perkins in Psycho, if only because I love that performance so much (and I second the praise for his work in Psycho II). After that, I'd probably go with either Mila Kunis in Black Swan (Absolutely brilliant - and I take the controversial opinion that she is the best performance in the entire movie) or Nicole Kidman in The Others (the movie that made me fall in love with her - and I feel it is under-discussed due to Moulin Rouge! - though really, two performances of that caliber right next to each other...)
Really, I'd read a writeup on any of these.
I voted Mila because I think that performance is so tricky — is her character even real??
Goldblum would be interesting, too.
I voted Mila because I think that performance is so tricky — is her character even real??
Goldblum would be interesting, too.
I voted for Mila. I love her in Black Swan, and although I was stoked for Jacki Weaver,
I wish they both could’ve made it in. I hope Mila gets her nomination one of these days… at least some better roles.
Honestly, both Kunis and Barbara Hershey could be written about as “almost there” situations for Black Swan. Such a fun, demented film.
I voted for Mila. I love her in Black Swan, and although I was stoked for Jacki Weaver,
I wish they both could’ve made it in. I hope Mila gets her nomination one of these days… at least some better roles.
Honestly, both Kunis and Barbara Hershey could be written about as “almost there” situations for Black Swan. Such a fun, demented film.
I'm going to consider the polls closed now. We had a total of 458 votes.
The results were:
1) Goldblum - 21%
2) Perkins - 18%
3) Farrow - 17%
4) Kidman - 14%
5) Kunis - 9%
6) Griffith - 7%
7/8) Hedren - 4%
7/8) York - 4%
9/10) Hopkins 3%
9/10) Blunt - 3%
Thank you all for participating :)