Demi Moore lost the Oscar but she’s still a winner
Friday, March 7, 2025 at 10:30PM 
THE SUBSTANCE (2024) Coralie Fargeat | © MUBI
Bedecked in a silvery Armani Privé number and Chopard diamonds, Demi Moore arrived at the 97th Academy Awards like a winner. She left a winner, too, despite the lack of a little golden man complementing her crushed ice glamour. Saying such things may seem like a pity party or a way for fans to cope with their idol's losses, but it rings true here. Though she lost the Oscar, Demi Moore effectively changed the narrative of her career and forced both the industry and the public to reassess her worth as a performer, her history, her legacy. From "popcorn actress" to respected thespian, this is a reinvention of miraculous proportions and deeply deserved, too.
In many ways, these things are bigger than AMPAS' golden trophy, and may even have a bigger impact. After this season, nobody will look at The Substance star the same way ever again. At least, I won't…
CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE (2003) McG | © Columbia Pictures
I was never good. I was great.
Do you remember the first time you became aware of Demi Moore? The first time you saw her on screen? I'm not sure what my first encounter was, though I know I saw Ghost and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle very early in my cinephile's journey. Admittedly, I can't recall my feelings on her Golden Globe-nominated turn in the 1990 hit back then. But I know what I felt watching her in the Charlie's Angels sequel – bafflement. It wasn't so much a censorious perception of the star, but a feeling that I was missing something. She's shot like an icon of another age in that early-00s action romp, someone whose mere presence comes bearing the memories of a dozen other movies, star turns, mayhap scandals.
Memories I simply did not have. Not then, at least. In the past month, I've done much to correct that, venturing into the depths of Demi Moore's filmography, watching over twenty pictures I'd never seen before, and revisiting a couple of others I had. It was an odyssey and a half, rummaging through some of the worst dreck Hollywood had to offer in the last two decades of the 20th century while getting a masterclass in the perilous cishet sexual politics of that period. One conclusion was apparent – the straights were not alright and the egg-obsessed Edie was correct. Another epiphany came with understanding the now Oscar-nominated Demi Moore as something more than a mere star.
Through her work and celebrity, she's almost like the crystallization of an epoch, an embodiment of late-20th century womanhood in its tensions and contradictions, the anxieties and the aspirations, dreams and pitfalls, the punishments of societal pressures and the media's hateful scrutiny. She's also a much better actress than most would have you believe. Hell, much better than I would have assumed earlier last year, before The Substance forced a reckoning that I'm sure wasn't exclusive to my experience. So, let's go back to the start, when Moore, then a teen, made her big screen debut after a few stints as a songwriter and underaged nude model.
BLAME IT ON RIO (1984) Stanley Donen | © Sherwood Productions
From the beginning, Moore found herself sexualized, even objectified, and her first film credits followed this trend. There was the tertiary girlfriend character in 1981's Choices, and her topless hijinks in the bizarrely incest-insinuating Blame it On Rio from 1984, going through Parasite's horror schlock. Overall, these roles asked very little of the novice performer. Mostly, they used her as a prop, though there are some suggestions about what's to come in the Stanley Donen movie. In that sex comedy, though much of her screen time is spent in states of nakedness or lost in suggestive chatter, the script provides some chances for Moore to project a world-weariness at odds with her youthful appearance. Is that a note of cynicism, a flash of no-bullshit lucidity? Much of it stems from her husky voice and disaffected delivery, which is dry and straightforward in opposition to ditsier readings of her characters.
This dynamic is especially apparent in St. Elmo's Fire, that zeitgeist-capturing piece of yuppie nonsense that drove moviegoers mad in 1985, surpassed box office expectations and turned many of its 20-something actors into bonafide movie stars. Like many a Joel Schumacher joint, the flick's a vapid mess, bursting at the seams with horrid politics and odious personalities that we, as the audience, are supposed to care for against all odds. Reader, I hated the hell out of this thing. However, Moore is a highlight - or a life raft - playing a materialistic banker whose spendthrift tendencies incur a major breakdown. In writing and styling, the role's a cruel joke, all pink-frilled affectations waiting for act three to bring about a moralistic message of sorts.
ST. ELMO'S FIRE (1985) Joel Schumacher | © Columbia Pictures
In Moore's hands, however, one almost senses a subversion of authorial intent. Her outrageous fashions would beckon laughter if not for the unpretentious way with which she models them. The dialogue, laden with superficialities meant to suggest a vacuous young woman, rings with the possibility of cynicism when she says it. On the page, nothing about this part indicates a weary cadence, but Moore's performance, intentionally or not, brings that to the table. It does a lot of work to set up the eventual crisis, as if erecting emotional scaffolding that neither director nor writer provided. Because of their on-screen interpreter, some of Moore's characters seem worldlier than their scripted selves, coming into the action with lives and secrets that extend beyond the narrative frame.
It wasn't always smooth sailing for the actress, but this quality helps hide plenty of the starlet's handicaps. Moreover, it conjures the illusion of authenticity into bauble-like Hollywood confections that are seldom at Moore's level. Think of About Last Night… and its Mamet-inspired battle of the sexes, Wisdom's Badlands-wannabee pretensions, or the deliberate cartoon-y-ness of One Crazy Summer. Conversely, one can recognize another factor in the star's early screen presence, something that's, more often than not, seen as a failure. You see, as a dramatic actress, Moore is awfully brittle. Her characters struggle through emotion, but rather than expressing them in a fluid manner, they stay restlessly still, waiting to shatter in awkward permutations of sorrow and fear and utter despair.
Obviously, such aspects of an actor's style can be made into qualities. It all depends on the project, the director, the friction between performer and performance. Sometimes, these bristling ways produce unpersuasive work, like her turn as a sex worker raising a mute daughter in Neil Jordan's We're No Angels remake. In other instances, what Moore comes up with can be electric, if not wholly successful in traditional terms. I'm thinking of the madness in The Seventh Sign when the actress must play a nosey landlady confronting the apocalypse while the reincarnation of Jesus Christ stays in the room above her garage. It's a demented horror plot whose emotional resonance stems from the discombobulation in Moore's work.
GHOST (1990) Jerry Zucker | © Paramount Pictures
Even Ghost shows some of this, exemplifying why a thespian's limitations don't always need to spell disaster. Moore's hardness, the note of willful independence she strikes in every role, is wildly at odds with what the Jerry Zucker haunting asks of her. Molly is all about soft-focused romance, a life so idyllic as to taste saccharine, giving way to wet-eyed grief. In theory, all of this suggests a melodramatic approach, overtly demonstrative and open. But that's not who Moore is as a performer. Instead, her early scenes with Patrick Swayze strike a tentative note, his murder is characterized by stunned hoarseness, her depression manifests a frozen sort of thing. She's not forthcoming at all, leading to the sentimental climaxes surging as near-religious astonishment, perfect tears streaming down a face stuck in awe rather than lovesick blues.
She looks more like a madonna than a woman in love and in mourning. You may say that's proof of incompetence, but I like what it does to the movie, what idiosyncrasies it brings out. Indeed, at this point in her career, Ghost proved to be Moore's biggest success, creating a platform from which the star could consider her projects more selectively, seek some favorites, and even produce a couple of them. This was to be the most iconic period for Demi Moore as a movie star, typified by a hodge-podge of erotic thrillers, prestige-seeking flops, a couple of demented comedies and more personal passion projects along the way. On the thriller side of things, I must mention Mortal Thoughts, the first feature Moore ever produced.
MORTAL THOUGHTS (1991) Alan Rudolph | © Columbia Pictures
As if wanting to contradict some of the tropes consolidating in the land of mainstream Hollywood pablum, the Alan Rudolph drama centers on a story of domestic abuse and feminine retribution. Its forays into luridness are presented in stark terms, meant to elicit compassion for two women whose stories may contradict one another and often seem to hide the truth. Moore is at the forefront, playing duplicity in a protracted police interview monologue and a series of flashbacks that aren't always as revealing as her character wants us to think. The writing can be a tad belabored, but Moore is on fire, grounding the pulpier stuff and giving credence to the emotional stakes of a story that could have leaned into exploitation but doesn't.
That movie opened in 1991, the same year that found the actress trying her hand at broad farce. Nothing But Trouble is a nightmare in all senses of the word, but Moore does what she can with a secondary part. The Butcher's Wife is more successful as a movie, but not because of its leading lady. In fact, she's wildly miscast as a North Carolina clairvoyant who was clearly meant to be played by a Southern Daryl Hannah type. Also, for what it's worth, Moore was born to be a brunette. Blonde looks wrong on her. Perchance to course correct, she jumped back into drama for 1992's A Few Good Men. Now, it's true that nobody talks about Moore much when discussing the film's merits. Nevertheless, it was a hit and fits into another interesting aspect of its star's persona.
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK (1996) Cher, Nancy Savoca | © HBO
As mentioned before, Moore feels very independent as a screen presence, even when made to downplay such things in the name of more reactive, oft-sidelined, supporting parts. In the 1990s, this manifested in an array of so-called career woman roles where she stood tall within male-dominated ensembles and milieus. Either that, or she's settled into plots whose lynchpins are her character's relationships with men, often sexual if not always romantic. There are exceptions, of course, and they feel extra refreshing if you're doing a marathon like I was. Notably, the most salient ones of all were produced by Moore. I've already mentioned Mortal Thoughts, but there were also Now and Then and If These Walls Could Talk.
The former marks Lesli Linka Glatter's first major big-screen project after years of amassing TV credits and acclaim. By my account, she's the best non-David Lynch director in the original run of Twin Peaks, and though this movie doesn't showcase much formal invention, it's still another proof of her skills behind the camera. Moore narrates the whole thing but is rarely on screen, letting herself be put in the background for a project that's bigger than her. While critically unsuccessful at the time, this lovely coming-of-age tale proved to be a hit with audiences and has gained a cult following. Moore's performance is nothing special, however. She's much more impressive in If These Walls Could Talk, that TV movie tryptic revolving around abortion rights.
The actress plays a nurse in postwar America, recently widowed, struggling with the rawness of her loss and the dilemma of an unwanted pregnancy. Moore is incredible, weaponizing whatever stiffness marked her early turns to portray a woman so tense she looks ready to implode at any given moment. It's all about hiding oneself beneath a mask of respectable widowhood while, inside, her soul's eaten alive by shame. All in all, it's a tour de force in miniature form, coming to a tragic end in a sequence built upon Moore's physicality as her body gives out amid waves of blood and a helpless cry. Though the Emmys paid her no mind as an actress – she was recognized in her role as a producer – the HFPA honored Moore with her second Golden Globe nomination.
INDECENT PROPOSAL (1993) Adrian Lyne | © Paramount Pictures
I guess it's time to talk about the failures, isn't it? As much as I might admire a few of the actress' 90s output, there were plenty of stinkers to contend with, some of them cultural artifacts you can't simply ignore. The first and best of these came in the form of Adrian Lyne's Indecent Proposal, a bizarrely chaste picture that could only come from a society both obsessed and afraid of sex, tantalized by transgression and sex work yet committed to reviling them, horny for wealth even as it recognizes its poisonous attributes. The production was troubled, the final product compromised, but audiences still showed up for the thing. If only Moore's work was worth all that struggle. Sadly, her role as a married woman who accepts one million dollars to sleep with a millionaire is the definition of thankless, and, though the actress brings some life to the first half, the final act finds her lost beyond words.
But that 1993 conversation starter was high art when compared to Barry Levinson's Disclosure from the following year, a garbage movie that manages to be both dismissive of male rape and women-hating to a shocking degree, even by 1990s standards. As a predatory tech boss, Moore can't make heads or tails of her character, opting for cartoon villainy with a side of psychological incoherence. It's maybe her worst performance ever, if not her most embarrassing. That would be her take on Hester Prynne in Roland Joffé's re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter. I don't know what's worse – the accent or the negative chemistry with Gary Oldman. Maybe it's the failed aspirations of period mannerisms that end up with a seasoned movie star looking amateurish. Her only worthwhile scenes are those shared exclusively with other women – Joan Plowright! – and her ease with the child actress playing little Pearl.
STRIPTEASE (1996) Andrew Bergman | © Columbia Pictures
It should be noted that, between 1987 and 1998, Moore was married to Bruce Willis and had three daughters with him. Motherhood changed her star persona, and not just because of that infamous Vanity Fair cover shoot. In films like The Scarlet Letter and The Juror, even the clown show that is Striptease and Passion of Mind's mindless psychodrama, Moore's characters are strongly defined by their maternal commitments. Moreover, the actress always excelled at sharing the screen with kids – no easy feat. I'd go so far as saying that such ease with children saved many of those performances, imbuing them with weight and resonance, a sense that her characters would do anything to protect their own. Look, The Juror goes completely off-the-rails by act three, but Moore is doing some top-notch work before that.
The final aspect that defined much of the actress' impact during this heyday was her athletic figure. I won't go into personal traumas and disorders, but Moore, the private person, always had a complicated relationship with her body. That was only exacerbated by Hollywood's pressure and expectations, not to mention the nudity a lot of these films involved. Striptease is the apotheosis of Moore's body as an instrument of eroticism, signifier of an exploitable resource that got little consideration past its commercial appeal. G.I. Jane, however, exemplifies a thespian using her physical attributes for characterization, pushing herself to the limit in a performance of palpable defiance, female rage, fire and fury.
G.I. JANE (1997) Ridley Scott | © Scott Free Productions
Prior to The Substance, it was probably her best work as an actress, regardless of Ridley Scott's uninspired direction or the film's status as a tremendous, career-ending bomb. The 1997 drama was a passion project and one can feel every bit of that sentiment underpinning Moore's star turn. Her physicality, her brittleness, her hardness, her stubborn refusal to show fragility and strength in traditional modes are all here, turned to eleven and unleashed on unsuspecting audiences. It's a tremendous achievement within the set parameters of 1990s middlebrow entertainment. So much so that I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at contemporary reviews. My incredulity only grew when scrolling down her IMDB awards section, finding out the Razzies voted her Worst Actress of 1997. That organization has always been pathetic, but this choice is positively demented.
Like many a star before her, Demi Moore walked away from the spotlight as she became cause for ridicule, an easy target for the press, and box office poison to boot. Across the 2000s, many of her parts are couched in notions of has-been fame, a star left behind and brought back as an embodiment of bitter obsolescence. That she could turn this straw into something resembling gold is a testament to her talents – just look at the fun, energetic villain in Full Throttle. Or even some of those sad stabs at respectability in stuff like Half Light, Bobby, Mr. Brooks, Flawless, and her late-career turn in the second season of Ryan Murphy's Feud. Aged beyond ingénue territory or what the industry deems bankable sex appeal, Moore continued to develop as an actress, but it seemed nobody was paying attention.
Either that, or they were too busy speculating on her erstwhile romantic relationship with Ashton Kutcher. That push and pull between the tarnish of a faded star and forty-something tabloid fodder informs many of the opportunities she got around this period. I've mentioned those roles enshrined in melancholy, but there's also the Miley Cyrus-starring LOL and how it tries to capitalize on Moore's image as a cool mom cum sexually liberated woman of a certain age. To my surprise, she's actually good in that teenage wasteland of a movie, looser than she ever was in the 90s, charismatic as ever. She's similarly solid in Margin Call, returning to her status as the only woman in a sausage fest ensemble, leaning on that brittleness to sell the idea of someone who compromised herself to the point of self-effacement, mayhap inhumanity.
PLEASE BABY PLEASE (2022) Amanda Kramer | © Music Box Films
The rest of the 2010s was much the same, with only some notable forays into weirdo comedy marking a new avenue for actorly explorations. That particular strand in the tapestry of Moore's career started with Mitchell Lichtenstein's Happy Tears, a 2009 dramedy that pairs her with Parker Posey. It culminated in 2022's Please Baby Please, an acid trip foray into midcentury iconography, queer as fuck, and so far outside realist precepts that it feels radical in the context of Moore's filmography. Hell, it'd feel downright experimental in whatever mainstream Hollywood context you try to fit it into. Looking back on that oddity, Amanda Kramer's gender-deconstructing fantasia comes off as a prelude to what was to come in The Substance, the actress' best film, greatest performance, and the reason for this whole essay.
As I've already reviewed Coralie Fargeat's movie twice, considered the merits of Margaret Qualley's performance, and discussed its Oscar prospects in multiple volleys, I'll try to restrain myself from repetition. All I want to say is that, revisiting the film with the sprawl of Moore's career behind it, her tour de force strikes me as even more revealing and miraculous, a self-evisceration willing to bite down and mess with the star's legacy. She tears it apart and spits it back out, snarling at an industry that defined and destroyed her, that made her a star and then a joke. Furthermore, it's an echo of all that was before, amalgamating every strength that the actress showcased during four decades on screen. It goes further, still taking what were once problematic strategies and turning them on their head.
In other words, I can't imagine the Demi Moore that made Ghost acing Elisabeth Sparkle's mirror agonies. I can't begin to conceptualize the actress that stiffly stripped herself for 1990s audiences erupting into paroxysms of unselfconscious grotesquerie we see in her latest. These qualities were acquired over time, learned and developed, elevating this Oscar-nominated achievement into a declaration of talent, of craft, of silver screen glory, a life lived in front of the cameras, for better and for worse. I'll restate my thesis: after The Substance and her collection of awards speeches – Golden Globe, Critics Choice, AARP – no one will ever look at this screen legend the same way again. That is her greatest victory and, when all is said and done, I feel it's more valuable than the Academy's final vote. Demi Moore lost, but she's still a winner.
THE SUBSTANCE (2024) Coralie Fargeat | © MUBI
After celebrating Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Demi Moore, my final Best Actress-related piece will be about Fernanda Torres. Stay tuned for that season-closing write-up.
Reader Comments (27)
This is a beautiful piece, Cláudio.
While I have no issue with Mikey Madison winning the Oscar. Demi would've been the better choice yet she handled her loss gracefully. Plus, let's hope she gets some major film parts and another shot at the Oscars and this time, win it.
I'm still very sad, sorry.
Yesterday I saw Corporate Animals, which could have been a great black comedy. It isn',t but she totally nails the role of mean boss and has an hilarious final line. She has found a niche and I hope she keeps getting cool offers.
Can't wait for your Fernanda Torres write-up because it has been the run of the decade. This is for all the Norma Aleandros and all the Carmen Mauras. And the Sonia Bragas!
I'll say this: no one else could have played Elisabeth, and it's incredible that Demi was willing to take it on.
If you weren't a movie goer in the 90s it's hard to explain her place in the culture. As you learned in this watch-through, she was admired a lot more for her boldness than for her talent, which was frequently under estimated and mocked. And yet, she was famous and highly paid, making movies for adults. You couldn't buy respect in the 90s by taking huge paychecks to take your clothes off, and yet there was interest and a market, just like you describe.
It would have been very strange for her to be on Oscar winner, and there's some poetry to Madison winning for the kind of role that Moore might have played at her age, but in a movie that treats that role with 1000x more empathy and respect.
Not sure what other actress could’ve been the same thing with the role? Would we have bothered with this film if it started Daryl Hannah, Meg Ryan, Melanie Griffith,or Sharon Stone, who all seem older? Molly Ringwald, Phoebe Cates, Julia Roberts, Elisabeth Shue-not right. Jennifer Jason Leigh-not ‘the type.’ Mila Kunis? Probably too much a reminder of Black Swan. Perfect casting & 100% commitment who probably thought she was reduced to some straight to RedBox schlock.
Wonderful piece! Since I have experienced so many of these films (in theaters no less!) this brought back so many memories and also media memories of the way Demi was intermittently judged or celebrated or underestimated or mocked throughout her career.
her best performance: The Substance
distant runner up: St Elmos Fire
love what you wrote about GI Jane but I struggled with that film.
I also wanted to mention that her scene in the documentary BRATS (2024) is really the best moment of that film. She comes across as someone so grounded and real (and self-actualized) that she accepts and rejects everything about the way others define her like it's no big deal.
this year with that documentary and The Substance... what a year for her, really.
Is a nice idea as a "tribute" but can you stop repeating the "popcorn actress" argument to try to justify why she "deserved" to win?
I understand she sold the idea in her globes speech to have empathy but everybody repeating automatically her exact same words just proves how easy influential and brainwashed are the public by celebrities.
No one cares about her career two years ago so, stop pretending that everybody were always Demi's huge fans
I really can't imagine any other actress in The Substance.
People have been do disparaging and dismissive of Moore's talents this entire season, even after her loss, so this was lovely to read.
People act like every Oscar winner hits homeruns every time and has a spotless filmography when that isn't even possible, especially when you're at the mercy of what's getting the green light from studio execs. Her career is impressive, period.
Demi Moore winning for The Substance would have been a great winner--the deserving winner, IMO--because it really is the perfect combination of so many things... It would've been a "moment" in so many ways and I can't deny my disappointment in her loss.
My bday just passed and I went to see Ghost in the theater as they were playing it for the 35th anniversary. Ghost is one of my all-time favs, but I hadn't seen it in maybe over a decade. My partner and bestie had never seen it at all. I figured it's the perfect movie to watch on the big screen, a "popcorn" movie, if you will, lol.
We were all blown away... I already knew, but it was so nice to hear their perspectives. We were all bawling at the end. The mixture of genres is so enthralling. It's a supernatural thriller on the surface, a romance at its heart, and Whoopi provides some much-needed comedic relief. They truly don't make movies like that anymore.
Seeing Ghost made me even more excited for what I thought would be her win... But ultimately, movies like Ghost and The Substance will stand the test of time and that's the real win.
Perhaps if she had been nominated for Ghost way back in the day this would've been her trophy to snatch. Sigh.
Should have won and is my Best Actress of 2024.
Oh and also thankyou for this very welcome retrospective.
I won't bore readers again with my love for Demi or the fact I don't think she's ever given a truly rotten performance bar The Scarlet Letter.
I still believe she is the one who should have won Best Actress narrative or not and in years to come it'll be along with Ghost the film she is remembered for long after other performances this year have been forgotten.
Also to all those actresses fighting for equal pay to their male counterparts Demi began all that talk before some were out of nursery,so she should be lauded for that alone.
10 Favourites
The Substance
St Elmo's fire
Ghost
The Juror
Charlie's Angels full Throttle
Disclosure
Bobby
A Few Good Men
GI Jane
Indecent Proposal
Great piece, Claudio!
I think I got more invested in her win for the idea of recognizing her career and the odd dismissal she suffered through most of it even when she was doing good work. Also because it'd have been such a cool win! Still disappointed that the Academy reverted to going for the young ingenue once again.
Thank you guys for the positive feedback. This piece was so much work - I watched and took notes on 25 Demi Moore movies, listened to podcasts, and read contemporaneous articles and reviews - that it's good to know it was worth it in some way.
Of course, when starting the research, I thought this was going to end on a paragraph about her Oscar win. Oh well...
Peggy Sue -- The Norma Aleandro comparison is very astute and one I've come back to. Thankfully, Torres got the nomination for her OFFICIAL STORY and won't have to wait for GABY.
César Gaytán -- With all due respect, I mention that "popcorn actress" line in the introductory paragraph before detailing Moore's many successes AND failures. Indeed, I'm not pretending we were always great fans of hers. That's the point of this write-up, that THE SUBSTANCE and this season inspired a re-appreciation of her legacy. Not to be rude, but did you even read the piece past the intro? Moreover, I never say she should have won precisely because, despite my love for her star turn, she wouldn't get my vote out of the five.
Who are your Five Best Actress nominees Claudio.
The popcorn actress seems to be a bone of contention for some people,some were fans some weren't some have just joined the Demi train some of us inc me have loved her since the 80's.
It really was one of your best articles,easy to read not too academic and easy to digest,and as a huge Demi fan I hope that means something to you because the research was wonderful,if you sat through The Scarlet Letter that deserves an Oscar of it's own.
I know it's television, but I still think that Moore's best performance of those listed is in If These Walls Could Talk. Like many actresses with huskier voices, she often gets cast as "tough," but the vulnerability she managed to convey in ITWCT really is a thing of beauty. Interestingly, both she and Rossellini were Globe nominated and Emmy snubbed that year before finally getting major awards love this year culminating in their first Oscars nods. I think that Moore has had much more of a chance to show her range in her TV roles (even her brief appearance as the sample lady in Ellen's The Puppy Episode was a pleasant surprise), and I'm still hoping that some motion picture gives her a chance to do the same at some point.
I could actually see the following actresses as Elisabeth Sparkle:
Cameron Diaz
Julianne Moore
Renée Zellweger
Nicole Kidman
Diane Lane
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Not saying any of them would have been better casting than Demi, but I can definitely see it.
The only 2 actresses I could see in the part are Sharon Stone and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Claudio,
Are we going to get your Top 10 article soon?
Julian & Mr Ripley79 -- This year, I'm doing both a top ten and a presentation of my ideal Oscars, following Academy eligibility. Stay tuned! Indeed, one of those may just drop tomorrow.
I apologize that these post-Oscar pieces are stretching beyond a week this year but I've had some issues at home that have delayed my plans. I promise I'll move on from 2024 soon!
Apparently it was you who didn't read my full comment LOL
I said that is nice as a tribute because yes, any actor deserves that their filmography should it be revisited but starting with the "popcorn actress" and with that titular of the article just reforces the comeback narrative that her campaign was fulled by to the point that when herself expreses to feel 'overlook' everybody translates to 'overdue'
I appreciate the efforts from Demi to play with the plasticity of "womanhood" going to the atypicall at their moment open sexuality of Striptease to the breaking gender roles and showing her strength in GI Jane, and now with the possibility of self-doppleganger in The Substance
But the fact that you basically avoid to writte about the sole merits of her specific performance in her Oscar nominated role and speak about her career is what feels repetitive about what everybody is really praising from her
Thank you for a lovely tribute.
Too bad you didn't enjoy St. Elmo's Fire; I know it's cheesy but so watchable and the whole Brat Pack together is bliss. The scene with Demi and Andrew McCarthy on the couch where she confronted him for being gay is so LOL but also proves how watchable Demi is. What she lacked in depth, she compensated with movie star persona.
Looking at her filmographies, it's interesting how quickly her star faded in early 2000s. On one hand, it's smart of her to attach herself to hot button movies like Indecent Proposal and Disclosure. On the other hand, some of her choices such as Striptease and Scarlet Letters are baffling. I have to say though, I enjoy all her movies good or bad.
I already mentioned in other article on this site that her overdue status was overestimated but that doesn't mean her nomination wasn't deserved. Her performance in the Substance is that performance that is perfect role and star persona such as Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler. May other director create roles that will challenge and tap to her potential.
I really appreciate this contexualization of her career. I think you're right that the Demi who did work in the Substance is not the same woman who did Ghost. She's honed her craft and knows how to impress. I think she had a lot of roles in the 2000s that, while ignored, helped her become the actress she is today.
I'm curious about what's next for her.
Guess the best thing I got out of these comments that being labeled a 'popcorn actress' in this day & night is a huge compliment. We all experienced Demi Moore's career In A Movie Theater. She was able to get us into a multiplex. With all the streaming opportunities out there to coax us to stay home, nowadays you're a 'Jiffy Pop Actress' if you're able to get home-bound couch views on some subpar streaming flick.
I agree! If These Walls Could Talk really showcased Moore’s depth, and her performance there is arguably one of her best. The way she balanced strength with raw vulnerability was truly remarkable. Sometimes, actors with huskier voices get typecast into "tough" roles, but she brought such nuance to that wasappplus character.
I was hoping that this parallel universe fantasy where Demi Moore is actually good actress will end with one of the worst awards races but no. I've seen most of these movies which You brought here. Most of them are movies from my childhood. Demi Moore was really big back than. She even took risk with her choices. She was very much liked and she showed her charisma many times. I was happy for the The Substance. I didn't like the movie neither Demi performance. She COMING BACK, she was exposed but sadly it was awfully cartoonish performance, only serviseable at some parts. It just painfully reminded me Demi do not have that much of a talent and The Substance with that terribly hammy direction shows it perfectly. It really surprised meshe is now treated like some acting royalty which she never was. You would probably never write about her like two years ago.
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