The Mosquito Coast (1986)

Film: The Mosquito Coast (1986)

Stars: Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Andre Gregory, River Phoenix, Martha Plimpton

Director: Peter Weir

Oscar History: No nominations, though both Ford and composer Maurice Jarre got Golden Globe nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2026 Saturdays with the Stars series, we are looking at the men & women who created the Boom!-Pow!-Bang! action films that would come to dominate the Blockbuster Era of cinema.  This month, our focus is on Harrison Ford: click here to learn more about Mr. Ford (and why I picked him), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

Harrison Ford was not the first actor associated with a specific role or being unable to escape from it.  But in the modern era of filmmaking (i.e. post-Jaws) he really personified the actor whose characters ended up being too popular for him to stop doing them. In the 1980's, this meant that Ford made a number of films as both Han Solo & Indiana Jones (from 1980-84, he made four of them alone, and only took a break for Blade Runner, a rather difficult shoot for the actor despite its later cult status).  But unlike the 1990's, when Ford's dramatic attempts outside of action-adventure would become something of a source of ridicule (and not inspire a lot of critical hosannas), in the 1980's he had a lot of acclaim on this front, particularly in the movie of Peter Weir.  In 1985, he starred in the blockbuster hit Witness, which won him his first (and to date only) Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.  In 1986, he appeared in another dramatic departure from Weir, but unlike Witness it was a flop (he'd recover pretty quickly two years later with the massive success of Working Girl, a movie which got pretty much everyone in the cast but him an Oscar nomination).  The Mosquito Coast is a unique film though (and Ford has frequently cited it as his favorite) given how well it captured a certain type of toxic masculinity, and how brittle & unrelenting Ford's portrayal of the main character is right up until the end credits.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie is about Allie Fox (Ford), an inventor who hates the American Dream, capitalism, and a global economy that relies upon foreign industries to keep it afloat (there's an early scene where he eviscerates a shop owner for carrying products made in Japan, which in the 1980's you can't entirely tell if this is just him leaning in on Reagan conservatism or makes him truly xenophobic).  After yet another employer being disappointed with his impressive inventions (in this case a house that can make ice), he decides to move his family to the jungles of Belize, where he buys a village in the rainforest.  Allie, his wife Margot (Mirren), whom he constantly calls "Mother," and their four children, including eldest son Charlie (Phoenix) initially find success introducing his impressive inventions to the jungle.  But his paranoia starts to settle in.  He convinces his family that a nuclear war has struck America, destroying the country, and when a group of rebels take over his camp, he murders them (not in the way he planned, initially wanting to freeze them to death but instead having them burned to death in an explosion that pollutes the river).  Eventually he drives his family mad with loyalty tests, and is shot by a missionary whom Allie is convinced is running a Christian concentration camp, killing him as his family finally finds freedom.

It's easy to see, watching the film, why it didn't resonate with Reagan America, even with (or maybe especially because of) Harrison Ford in the lead.  The movie is dark, and shows a toxicity in the male ego that you don't usually find here.  In the 1980's, with Reagan promising a return of the American Dream for white families (and in particular white men) while widening income gaps and unsteady unemployment numbers took its toll on Middle America figures like the Fox family.  Huey Long had said that "every man is a king" and in the 1980's that was the reigning theology for conservative men, and while Allie Fox presents as being anti-capitalist, he is deeply conservative about gender & family life, and that shows in the way that he blames women and people of color for his failures to be truly successful the way he trains his children to think he should be.  It's hard not to watch this film, and in particular the way that he treats his wife Margot (not physically abusing her, but clearly indulging in what we'd now consider emotional abuse) and think of the MAGA movement, and the way that it tries to get back to this era...knowing full well that it is filled with angry men who still blame the world for their failures.

Ford's portrayal of Allie Fox is really good, and it's in part because he doesn't let up on him.  Most actors, particularly ones who are super reliant upon audiences wanting to root for them, wouldn't have allowed their characterization to be so unsympathetic.  They would've given him redemption, or an apology scene with Helen Mirren at the end of the movie.  But thankfully Weir doesn't do that, and we get with Ford's performance a broken man, one you might understand where he's coming from because he's the product of his environment (capitalism can tear us all apart in the end), but who is also so egocentric he doesn't acknowledge the harm he's doing because it's his harm.  In a year where men like Graham Platner (who put so much of the blame for their failings on others rather than himself) are being celebrated by the left (and Donald Trump, doing the same thing, is a deity for the right), it's hard not to think that Mosquito Coast and Ford's layered performance aren't ahead of their time.

OVP: Supporting Actress (2001)

OVP: Best Supporting Actress (2001)

The Nominees Were...

Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind

Helen Mirren, Gosford Park

Maggie Smith, Gosford Park

Marisa Tomei, In the Bedroom

Kate Winslet, Iris

My Thoughts: We talked a little bit about this in the Adapted Screenplay race, but part of the reason that A Beautiful Mind has aged poorly is not because it was a bad movie, but because it beat better movies at the Oscars.  When this is discussed, the focus is usually on the Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay races, mostly because people do not enjoy being mean about individual actors winning Oscars.  It's weird when there's a star with dozens of characters (potentially in movies you like) behind the win (this is partially why people win in the first place for performances that might not be worthy or are just career-achievement statues).  But that's definitely the case here, as it's hard to look at this list of either actors or performances and not think that the least of them won.  But let's see if that's actually the case?

Jennifer Connelly is an actress I don't get, though I'd never name check her as an actress I dislike.  She's very beautiful, and I think her best role might be The Rocketeer, where she leans in on that, or perhaps Requiem for a Dream (though there she's upstaged by Ellen Burstyn).  This work is solid-I think she understands Alicia Nash, and she delivers her monologues beautifully.  But I believe this falls too often into the trope of "what if there was a wife?", where the role is largely meant to be a reflection of her husband.  That's sometimes called for in a movie, but it's not the type of role I think of when I think of handing someone an Oscar, and that's what we're talking about given the point of this article, so Connelly falls short.

On the flip side, you have Helen Mirren doing everything she can to nail a side character that will come into further focus as the movie churns along.  This was still during Mirren's "acting god" phase, before she won an Oscar & was never quite as good again.  Every line in this is really something from her, starting off as very cross & devoted to her employer, and as we move on we understand there's more to both that relationship and the relationships of those around her than meets the eye.  By the crucial climax of the film, she's done all of the work to get to ace her big monologue, totally devastating the audience as the film closes.

Mirren's definitely going in on all cylinders here, in maybe her best film work to date, and is playing against type as a dowdy maid.  Two other actresses in this race are playing into our expectations of them, but doing so beautifully.  Mirren's costar Maggie Smith is one of them.  I think Smith's role here, which would inspire her part in Downton Abbey, is more substantive than some of her later "comic relief dowagers."  She plays her part beautifully between being someone who is mocked (she's poor, and has to rely on her richer relations for money), but also who has lived this life for so long she doesn't know how to be anything other than what she currently is.  It's a balance she pulls off with a great deal of wit, but the work she's done, like Mirren, pays off toward the end in smaller moments as she becomes relieved that her problems entering the house aren't what they were when she leaves, showing just below the veneer.

The other actress who is leaning into what we'd expect from her is Kate Winslet.  This was during that period where pretty much every Winslet performance was an event, leading up to her inevitable Oscar.  Winslet is marvelous here.  Yes, she's playing another earth mother role that is sexually liberated, but she does so with finesse.  She is given the difficult task of giving us an Iris to mourn as Judi Dench's character shows what has been lost, full of life, vitality, and genius.  Winslet does that brilliantly, frequently shocking the audience but doing so with enough specificity that this Iris doesn't get lost alongside some of her other work of this period.

The final nominee is Marisa Tomei, who at the time felt like she was giving a middle finger to the people who, for a decade, had been talking about her My Cousin Vinny win as if it was a gigantic mistake the Oscars made.  Tomei is smart in this part, playing her role as someone whose motives aren't always clear-does she love Nick Stahl's Frank, or is he just a way out of a bad life for herself?  Is she aware of the danger she's putting Frank in...and does she care if it means that she might get out?  Tomei plays this fluttering beneath her eyes, a sense of a pretty girl who generally can play that card to get out of responsibility.  It's the sort of role that easily could've been played just for sympathy or sentiment, but she makes her steelier, a bit more ruthless, and that helps make the ending (even when she's offscreen) so powerful.

Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes went with Connelly, besting Mirren, Smith, Winslet, Tomei, & Cameron Diaz (Vanilla Sky).  The SAG Awards put Connelly in lead due to a balloting error, so the winner was Mirren, who beat Diaz, Cate Blanchett (Bandits), Judi Dench (The Shipping News), & Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam).  BAFTA went back to Connelly, topping Mirren, Dench, Winslet, & Smith.  I'm torn on sixth place.  Diaz did the best in the precursors, but Diaz was cited for a lot of precursors during this era (not just for Vanilla Sky, but also There's Something About Mary, Being John Malkovich and Gangs of New York) and couldn't make it for any of them, so I think she just wasn't Oscar's speed.  I'm guessing it was between Dench & Fanning, and I'm going to lean toward Fanning given Dench was already in for Iris...Penn getting in for Best Actor makes me think they liked the film, and children do well in this category.

Actors I Would Have Nominated: This is a very good lineup, the best of the four acting lineups that Oscar amassed in 2001.  But if they could've squeezed in Cate Blanchett's Galadriel, it would've been even better.

Oscar’s Choice: Connelly spent the entire season giving extraordinarily dull acceptance speeches, but Oscar didn't care and gave her the statue.

My Choice: Mirren is the best of this very good lineup-she's not just playing against type, but she's the emotional crux of her film.  Following her I'd go Smith the silver, followed by Winslet, Tomei, and Connelly.  The reputation of this race was right-she was out of her league.

Those are my thoughts-what are yours?  Do you side with the Academy in giving Jennifer Connelly her only statue, or would you like to join me in the downstairs with Helen Mirren?  Doesn't it feel a bit of a crime that no Robert Altman film ever won an acting trophy given how good he was with actors?  And was it Fanning, Dench, or Diaz in sixth place?  Share your thoughts below!

Also in 2001: Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, Foreign Language Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Previously in 2001

Past Best Supporting Actress Contests: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

OVP: Actress (2006)

OVP: Best Actress (2006)

The Nominees Were...

Penelope Cruz, Volver

Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal

Helen Mirren, The Queen

Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

Kate Winslet, Little Children

My Thoughts: On Wednesday, we talked a bit about how weak-sauce the Best Actor field was-one of the worst lineups that Oscar has ever pulled together, and definitely one of the dullest.  The Best Actress field in 2006, though, pulls together (for my money) one of the best that Oscar has come up with.  The rare field to host five winners (though two had to wait a few years to get their statue), and has a quintet of women at the top of their games.  Sadly (but in true Oscar fashion) most of the films that are cited here are not films we saw a lot of in terms of nominations in other categories, so we'll segway into this field with one of the few performances that did.

Helen Mirren won the Oscar in 2006-this is not a spoiler alert, but it does sort of ruin the climax of this article, so I generally don't mention this in the write-ups.  I say it here because this victory has been chalked up in retrospect as the kind of win that happened inevitably-a storied actor at the top of her game getting into an Academy-friendly biopic.  What gets lost in that (not inaccurate) description is that Mirren is glorious in The Queen.  She gives to Elizabeth II (before The Crown tried to three-dimensionalize her) a sense of detachment combined with duty & authenticity.  It would be easy for Mirren to play Elizabeth in private as some broken figure during a moment of national tragedy, but that's not what she does.  Her Queen remains elusive, unknowable, even in her private moments someone who has spent so much time not revealing herself that she sometimes struggles to know where duty ends & Elizabeth begins.  A true triumph from a world-class actor, and the rare case of an overdue performer getting in for some bravura work.

Meryl Streep had been hunting for her third trophy for several decades by the time Prada rolled around, and the "overdue" drum had been beating to give her a statue since at least Bridges of Madison County.  Had it not been for Mirren, it's probable that she would've won it here.  Streep's work here is some of the best of a career that is defined by being "the best."  Miranda Priestly would also be easy to humanize, a woman of immense power who has had to sacrifice much of herself to get where she is, but Streep doesn't play her that way.  Miranda is not a saint, she's not perfect or even a hero, but she is a woman who knows what it takes to succeed, for the good or the bad, and Streep gets that.  It's a small part (she's in less than a third of the film...Dench & Cruz are double that), but she lands every second with a brilliant iconography-Streep has not been this good since.

Judi Dench has made a career out of playing a similar breed of aging British woman-sometimes with money, sometimes without, but a pleasant scene-stealer who is there to please your aunt.  Notes on a Scandal is the closest that Dench has (since becoming a bonafide movie star) come to playing against type, which is a risk (sometimes such things fall flat), but here she nails her part.  Dench is jaw-dropping as a closeted lesbian in lust with a flawed younger teacher, and totally nails every inch of this sociopath.  As an audience we're taught to understand how deep Dench's malevolence goes pretty early on, but it's still a juxtaposition to have sweet Judi Dench tear apart an unknowing Blanchett's life simply for not conforming to her twisted fantasy.  The final scene, in particular, with the cool lies & lack of perspective, totally sell the movie.

It's hard to believe, but at one point it was a question mark as to how good of an actress Penelope Cruz was.  Between the mixed views on Vanilla Sky (which I will be watching later this month, but haven't seen yet) and the press's preoccupation with her love life (specifically dating Tom Cruise), Cruz felt before 2006 to be an actress that was more for the tabloids than the Oscars.  With Volver, she quickly proved herself to be a proper actress, playing the complicated role of Raimunda (a woman with secrets who is being "haunted" by her mother), flawlessly.  Cruz is so good at combining Almodovar's cheeky sense of humor with his propensity for dark plots, and has marvelous chemistry with the cascade of women in the cast.

Kate Winslet was not, in 2006, someone that we were wondering if she could act (this has never really been a question mark in Winslet's storied career).  But in 2006 we were wondering what direction her career would take as she played yet another earth goddess-style figure, ready to be worshiped by Patrick Wilson.  Turns out, this was still essential viewing.  Winslet brings a specific kind of bored energy to her Sara, someone who knows that she can seduce a man, but wants to test exactly how he'll make her feel, as she's walled up so much of her true self.  Little Children is not an easy film to love, but Todd Field's ability with actors is shown best with Winslet's work here, as he lets his actor's natural strengths shift the way we view the character.

Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes separate their nominations between Drama and Musical/Comedy, so we have ten women nominated for these awards.  The Drama categories gave it up to Mirren, with all save for Streep among the nominees (in her place, Maggie Gyllenhaal in Sherrybaby), while Streep won Comedy/Musical over Annette Bening (Running with Scissors), Beyonce (Dreamgirls), Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine), & Renee Zellweger (Miss Potter).  SAG & the Globe went with an exact replica of the Oscar race, both winners & nominees.  Gyllenhaal was probably sixth, but as someone who lived through this year, it was one of those seasons where no one was taking down this Top 5...

Actors I Would Have Nominated: ...and with good reason.  I will reveal my final ballot next week, but the only name that is remotely in contention to take out one of these top five is Naomi Watts in The Painted Veil (a great portrayal of a complicated, thawing woman), and she'd be going for fifth place at best.

Oscar’s Choice: In a different year Streep might have won a third or we would've gotten an early coronation for Penelope Cruz, but in 2006, there was no beating Helen Mirren.

My Choice: I know this will shock the collective internet, but I'm also going to agree with Oscar here. Streep (my silver) gives an iconic turn, but I feel like Mirren ultimately has layers in her performance that go unnoticed until we rewatch.  It's a close race though, with Cruz, Dench, & Winslet bringing up the back.  The rare year where Oscar could have picked anyone & it would've been one of the decade's better decisions.

Those are my thoughts, but now I want to hear yours!  Are you with the collective awards run (including me), or will you go with Miranda Priestley & her legions of memes?  Who's another actor like Judi Dench we want to see play against type as a villain?  And has there ever been such a lock-step Oscar field?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Also in 2006: Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Language Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Previously in 2006

Past Best Actress Contests: 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019

OVP: The One and Only Ivan (2020)

Film: The One and Only Ivan (2020)

Stars: Bryan Cranston, Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Brooklynn Prince, Chaka Khan

Director: Thea Sharrock

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

One of the bigger problems I've had with film in 2020 (and now into 2021) is that with all movies on streaming platforms, it's been tough to understand what the hidden gems are, and what are the kinds of movies I'd catch in theaters in a normal year under a "down" week where there aren't a lot of pictures out.  You know the kinds of films-the ones that you forget a week later, but you risk going because you're bored or perhaps because you know that sometimes these films become secret favorites (every year there's at least a couple).  Without buzz, those movies start to meld into the backgrounds of your Netflix or Hulu or Disney+ queues, and you never really watch them.  One of the films that might have fallen under this category for me is The One and Only Ivan, which was originally intended to get a theatrical release in 2020, but instead become one of several projects that Disney dumped onto its streaming platform with little-to-no fanfare.  In a different world, it's easy to see this having been a sleeper hit this past summer, the kind of late-in-season movie that stir crazy parents bring their children to.  So I decided to give this a chance one lazy Sunday afternoon, wondering if I could find myself one of those sleeper favorites in a year where they've been in short supply.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie is about a group of animals (who talk to each other, though the humans can't understand them) and perform at a circus that happens to be inside of a mall.  The big attraction is the One and Only Ivan (Rockwell), a silverback gorilla who is ferocious to the crowds but who is gentle & sweet behind the scenes.  With ticket sales dropping, the ringmaster (Cranston) brings on Ruby (Prince), a baby elephant who initially is raised by adult elephant Stella (Jolie), but Ivan after Stella dies.  Ruby doesn't like the circus, and Ivan works to gain her freedom.  They attempt to escape, but they realize they can't get to freedom in the middle of an urban environment.  Soon a different path emerges, though, when Ivan begins to paint, and locals see that Ivan has artistic skills, which are shocking in an animal, but what he paints are scenes of green-and-blue, showing that he wants to leave the circus.  A movement in the press comes about indicating that the animals should be given "freedom" (the quotes are there because they eventually end up in a zoo, not the wild), and in the end Ivan is able to reunite Ruby with her own kind, while also enjoying the green & increased space of staying at the zoo.

The movie is sweet, and very much a kids movie in the sense that children will love to see all of the animals.  It's also pretty repetitive.  The story underlines a lot of points (like the fact that the circus is failing, and that Ivan keeps being jealous of Ruby), and it's not for adults.  This is entirely for kids-not even Danny DeVito as a stray dog can help instill enough wink for the parents in the audience. The technology isn't sharp (this might make some VFX shortlists with Oscar because they go for main characters that are CGI and it's a weak year, but there's little finesse here), and this is forgettable.

But it's still an intriguing film in one aspect.  While it would be better if it was higher-quality, it's admirable that Disney is making a message picture that really tries to introduce environmentalism to a group of younger children.  This is actually something they've done a lot of recently (not just Ivan but also Moana and Frozen), bringing climate change & conservation to younger audiences.  If this helps in that effort, it would be cool to know that a film inspired young zoologists & advocates to start caring at a young age (this isn't specious-TV shows like Flipper are oftentimes cited for an increased fascination in marine biology & ocean conservation).  But as a movie itself, it's more forgettable than gem.

Ten Mini Reviews

Usually at about this time each year, the amount of movies that I have gotten to has become completely overwhelming, and I am ridiculously behind on my reviews.  It's an unfortunate side effect of having my busiest time of year at work coupled with my busiest time of year in my personal life coupled with having the busiest time of the year on the blog.  Suffice it to say, it starts to get to me and while I always want to give every single movie I see its due, I also don't think I can get to all of these while the memory is still there for me to properly create a full review.  So with apologies to the filmmakers, I'm going to be doing short reviews here; we'll still have full reviews of all of the remaining Oscar nominees I haven't discussed from 2016, as well as A Monster Calls because I feel like I owe it to you to explain why I loved it so much, but these movies are going to just get the one paragraph.  If you want more of my thoughts, I'll gladly interact in the comments (incentive!)

(Spoilers for the films may be ahead)

Dark Passage
Thoughts: The least viewed of the Bacall/Bogart pictures, it weirdly has the most famous gimmick of the bunch, where we have a "subjective camera" technique seeing the film almost entirely from Bogart's point-of-view as he escapes from prison.  The film is solid, if predictable (shocker-the third most famous cast member is the real criminal!), and I loved the way that Bacall's performance is both a brazen young woman and completely lovestruck (few people did that better than her).  Still, once the gimmick is over it's never quite as strong as the top half-part of me wished they'd have stuck with it, even if that would have meant Bogart only in voiceover.
Ranking: 3/5 stars

Deadpool

Thoughts: I had sworn to myself I wasn't ever going to see a Ryan Reynolds movie again, but somehow he and Jason Bateman continue to haunt me and I end up stuck with them in front of me even when I didn't want to do so.  Here it was me buying the last-minute hype that Deadpool could land in a major category (or at least Best Makeup) and I ended up stuck in a boring, tired pile of garbage that succumbs to the same cliches that it tries to disprove.  Reynolds may have found a role tailor-made for him, but that doesn't mean he's a good actor.
Ranking: 2/5 stars

Dirty 30

Thoughts: Arguably the film I wanted to review fully the most (give or take Paterson), this film, while not a follow-up to Camp Takota, is at the very least a sequel in terms of who is involved.  The Holy Trinity of YouTube come back, but this time it's Mamrie at the center and all the better for it as she's the most naturally-gifted of the actresses at the center.  Hollywood, in desperate need of a romantic comedy lead, is foolish if they aren't taking advantage of an actress who can sell even some juvenile humor with aplomb-when the script works for her, this is genuinely just a good movie-no YouTube curve needed.
Ranking: 3/5 stars

Eye in the Sky

Thoughts: A taut thriller, the last real performance from Alan Rickman before his untimely death (I'm not counting Alice in Wonderland 2), the film is intriguing and actually quite watchable; it's the rare thriller you're not entirely sure how it will end.  The film's treatment of Americans isn't kind, but considering the buffoon we recently elected...not unfair.  Mirren could do this in her sleep (in fact most of these actors could), and I thought the most intriguing parts of this movie (particularly the sly sexism that hits her harder than the other men, particularly when one of her subordinates disobeys) are skated over, but by-and-large this is imminently watchable to the point where I wonder if the director didn't notice it was happening in the script, even if nowhere near the Oscar nomination some were drumming for the dame.
Ranking: 3/5 stars

The Innocents

Thoughts: No actress in 2016 more fully landed on my list of "on the radar" in a bigger way than Lou de Laage.  Between this and her mesmerizing work in L'Attesa, I can attest that I'll be seeking her out in a big way in future years, and I suspect a Cesar is in her future.  The film is not always easy, and occasionally is very hard to sit through, but it's beautifully shot and a more complex picture than you'd normally expect from a mid-fall foreign art house hit.
Ranking: 3/5 stars

The Legend of Tarzan

Thoughts: It seems funny to review Alexander Skarsgard right now, knowing what he's capable of as an actor (is anyone else thoroughly enjoying Big Little Lies right now-I'm totally enamored?).  This film, of course, is not really an acting showcase, but Skarsgard's shot at movie stardom. The casting department could not be lazier (about the only way they could have found a more cliched set of supporting players would have been to throw Paul Giamatti in there for no reason), but the action is fun and I thought the movie itself was beautifully shot.  Still-this is silliness on-top of silliness, and oh man is Chrisotph Waltz terrible.
Ranking: 2/5 stars

The Light Between Oceans

Thoughts: I will admit that initially I had higher hopes for this movie-it was one of my most-anticipated pictures of 2016, particularly considering how much I've loved the three leads in recent years.  However, that disappointment shouldn't be confused with a bad movie, even if it's sadly a pretty predictable one.  Fassbender and Vikander are both great as the tragic romantic leads, and Weisz might under-emote as the grieving mother, but that feels more like the script's fault that she doesn't get any big scenes. Still, some of the film's best moments (particularly Vikander begging her husband to lie for her sake, to keep her from being lonely) show a movie with great unrealized potential.

Ranking: 3/5 stars

Miss Sloane

Thoughts: Sometimes it's hard to remember that not everything is about the Oscars.  This is particularly hard to stomach when a movie stars one of your favorite actors of the moment, one of whom you wish had an Oscar (hint, hint), but Miss Sloane isn't really an Oscar movie.  It's the sort of taut late-Summer thriller that used to get vacation homes for Julia Roberts or Ashley Judd but has somehow gone out of fashion (perhaps because it got completely absorbed by television?).  Either way, this is a fun movie even if it's wildly over-the-top, and is proof that if Chastain ever wants to just cash-out with big paychecks, she has that ability while still remaining watchable.
Ranking: 3/5 stars

Paterson

Thoughts: Surely the best film on this list, and the one with the best performance, I almost skipped including Paterson because I wanted to discuss it more, but that's technically true of all of these movies (I really just want to talk about movies all day long).  That being said, the comments are there if you want to go further.  Until then, remember that this is a fascinating little study of one single life, proving that you can make pretty much anyone compelling with good writing and good acting, and Driver's central performance exhibits a man that feels like he's being under-served in major movies even if he's cast almost everywhere.  That penultimate scene is a doozy, one almost every other actor would have underplayed or screwed up but Driver nails against the wall and keeps you guessing-when is he going to get some Oscar love?
Ranking: 4/5 stars

Sunset Song

Thoughts: Probably the biggest "who?" film on this list, I saw this because it was Terence Davies' follow-up to the sexy and brilliant The Deep Blue Sea. so it felt like a civic duty.  The movie shows the impossibly hard life of Scottish peasants right before World War I.  The movie is beautiful, and has that "case of the handsomes" in that it's rarely compelling, and never really lets up with the hardships even for a moment.  The central love story feels, in my opinion, to be too jumpy in the treatment of Ewan, which is a pity as there was a great movie somewhere in the pages of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's famed novel.
Ranking: 3/5 stars

OVP: Trumbo (2015)

Film: Trumbo (2015)
Stars: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis CK, Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg
Director: Jay Roach
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Actor-Bryan Cranston)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

I almost didn't see Trumbo, but thankfully considering the place it has taken in the Oscar race I managed to catch the film out of morbid curiosity.  It seems strange, in hindsight, that we didn't see the writing on the wall here, as the film is about Hollywood's favorite subject: itself.  Chronicling the lives of the Hollywood Ten and the way the Blacklist cast a pall on the movie industry is something that AMPAS probably wants to put its two cents on retroactively, particularly considering that they played a pretty interesting hand in the original blacklist controversy, specifically in the case of our title character of Dalton Trumbo.  The problem is that the film, even with an interesting subject and a robust cast of fine actors, is that it is too staid, traditional, and not particularly good, which is a pity because it's about to be a dominant conversation piece in the awards season.

(Spoilers Ahead) The issue with the film is, as I stated above, not the subject, as the story of Dalton Trumbo was kind of made for the silver screen.  A prominent screenwriter and author, he went from being the toast of Hollywood, writing blockbuster after blockbuster, to being denounced as a Communist, and then eventually serving a prison sentence for Contempt of Congress.  After that he couldn't get hired to write under his own name, so he invented a bit of a mini-factory with his fellow blacklisted writers doing B-pictures for King Brothers, and despite being blacklisted still managed to write two Oscar-winning screenplays during the time with other names being fronts for the films (Roman Holiday and The Brave One).  His talent eventually brought to an end the blacklist when Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger both revealed that Spartacus and Exodus were written by Trumbo, making the pretense that blacklisted writers weren't working ridiculous.

All of this is chronicled in Trumbo, and it's too enthralling and delicious of a story not to be occasionally entertaining.  It's a treat to see some of the random celebrity encounters, such as Michael Stuhlbarg's Edward G. Robinson and Dean O'Gorman's sexier-than-reality Kirk Douglas.  However, the movie is so dry and preachy that it doesn't feel as fun as it should be.  It doesn't help that Cranston can't find a lot of interesting things to say about Trumbo other than to make him a bit of a snarky saint, and most of the side characters are window-dressing.  Aside from the occasionally fun movie star impression, we have women like Diane Lane and Elle Fanning just standing there, revolving their entire world around Trumbo and doing nothing more than reflecting his drive.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is Helen Mirren, a talented actress who completely misgauges this role, making Hedda Hopper into a pseudo-fascist and even if that's true (Hopper was supposedly a horrible human being), it's hard to believe that she indulged in quite the scenery-chewing histrionics that Mirren puts her through, sinking every line as if she's landing a punchline.  Mirren's year, in fact, has been pretty poor between this and Woman in Gold, which makes her recent spate of awards success all the more puzzling.

The film also wants to exonerate Hollywood a little too ferociously, in my opinion.  While we get to see the devastation of what the blacklist did in particular to onscreen talent like Edward G. Robinson, it makes it seem that the film community, or at least anyone recognizable that isn't Hedda Hopper or John Wayne, was fine with the blacklist when clearly most of the community sat by and just let this happen.  This was, of course, wrong, but I would have preferred a little bit more insight into the minds of Hopper and her ilk to better understand the "why" behind this hatred, which is portrayed as simply a type of cartoonish villainy rather than gaining any sorts of human insights into their fear and paranoia.  This would have been a more interesting screenplay than simply one of a martyr, one that I suspect Dalton Trumbo himself would have better-appreciated.

Those are my thoughts on Trumbo, the film that apparently could when it comes to awards season.  What are yours-do you think Cranston or Mirren will be able to scoop up an Oscar citation?  Do you think they should?  And are you with me that this is a case of "interesting subject, boring execution?"  Share your thoughts below!

7 Random Thoughts on the SAG Nominations

All right, I have been watching the film awards game for about twenty years now, and I don't think I have ever seen a slate quite like what the SAG Awards threw out this morning.  Honestly-I remember City of God getting its random Oscar nominations a few years back and thinking "there will never be anything like this again," but apparently I was dead wrong.  Here are seven random thoughts I had while looking through this morning wackiness.

1. Sarah Silverman-WTF?

Easily the biggest surprise for me was Sarah Silverman for a film that I hadn't even heard of, and certainly had never seen.  The comic actress, best-known for her work on television, randomly gets into Best Actress for I Smile Back over Lily Tomlin, Blythe Danner, Carey Mulligan, Charlotte Rampling, Emily Blunt, Maggie Smith, and Jennifer freaking Lawrence?  How is that even possible?  I genuinely thought they had made a mistake with the slides and Silverman was actually nominated for a TV movie I'd never heard of before.  The fact that she is now a SAG nominee for film acting is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen at one of these announcements.  Does this translate to Oscar?  Who the hell knows, and quite frankly even if it doesn't it's hard to imagine there being a stranger citation this cycle.  And yes, like all of you I'm going to have to find a way to see this now.

2. Helen Mirren is the Queen of Everything

In any other year Dame Helen Mirren's random two nominations for Woman in Gold and Trumbo would be the shocker of the morning, but nothing is going to beat out Silverman's spot.  That being said, this is a trickier proposition for Oscar conversation, as Mirren is actually quite beloved at the Globes (remember, she randomly got cited last year for The Hundred-Foot Journey).  In fact, it's totally within the realm of possibility if Woman in Gold is somehow deemed a comedy that she could be double-nominated by HFPA as well.  This doesn't necessarily mean an Oscar nod (Mirren herself is aware of this-she was nominated for both a few years back for Hitchcock), but no one has ever been doubly-nominated at both awards and not gotten at least one Oscar nomination.  That could well be in supporting (lead seems impossible, even with Harvey behind her), considering...

3. Trumbo is Now a Thing

With three major nominations, including one that looks plausible for Oscar in Bryan Cranston, it's time to start considering whether Trumbo, which was middling at best but has lots of Hollywood hooks in it, may be an Oscar contender.  The film came-and-went without a peep, but perhaps we've been spoiled the past few years with movies like 12 Years a Slave and Birdman winning the top honors-lest we forget it wasn't that long ago that movies like The Cider House Rules were major Oscar players, and that sort of mid-level drama could be attractive to older members of the Academy (whom, I'm guessing, loved this movie).  Plus, Cranston is a hot name that hasn't been invited to the world of movies quite yet and Mirren is always a threat for awards love (apparently).  While I'd like to see a little bit more breath off of this, this might be the film we all underestimated this season.

4. Category Fraud is Only Sort of SAG's Fault

Alicia Vikander and Rooney Mara both made the supporting lineup, principally because SAG is required to go with studio designations (this is why people like Jennifer Connelly and Benicio del Toro went lead here in the past while they went on to be supporting at the Oscars-mistakes with where they were submitted).  Since the Globes, if they go for either tomorrow, will not be putting them in supporting (they have already deemed this inappropriate), it makes me wonder what their campaigns will be like.  Mara in particular has gained loads of attention for this being a dual lead with Blanchett-could this be a straw that broke the camel's back situation?  Considering that Larson, Ronan, and Blanchett seem like the only sure things there, she could easily pull a Winslet in The Reader and make it into lead at the last minute.

5. Best Actor is Not Strong This Year, But It Is Varied

With the exception of Cranston, the Best Actor field feels about right, though there's still the likes of Michael B. Jordan, Michael Caine, and Matt Damon to consider against Cranston as it seems unlikely that they all three miss with Oscar.  Still, Leo, Johnny, Fassy, and Eddie all sank a necessary basket this morning, and though The Revenant didn't make Best Cast, against this competition it kind of feels like they're giving it to DiCaprio, right?  Damon and Caine appear like his toughest competition, and they now have big debits against them going into Oscar night.  The fanboys look like they will have their reward...

6. Supporting Actor is Confusing

I still can't get over that Spotlight didn't get what should have been an easy nomination for supporting actor, instead only giving in to Rachel McAdams who now seems like a pretty good bet for the Oscars (though it's worth noting that The Hateful Eight didn't release screeners so Jennifer Jason Leigh could still make it with AMPAS).  With Ruffalo and Keaton out of the way, some other names like Michael Shannon (99 Homes-another film I need to make room for on my viewing docket), Jacob Tremblay (speaking of category fraud), Christian Bale (is he best-in-show in that movie, because if he is I think this could happen?), and Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) all moving into the conversation.  Of these five, unless The Big Short is a late-breaker in the race that I didn't anticipate, I think that Elba is the one we should all start locking into our predictions.  He's a huge star right now, his film is heavy and Netflix is pushing hard, and he's also the best chance this year of a person of color getting nominated for an Oscar.  All that added together sort of makes this a no-brainer.  I wonder, quite frankly, whether it could be Elba v. Mark Rylance for the win.  Also, congrats to Bleecker Street, who produced both Beasts of No Nation and Trumbo-the champagne must be flowing there!

7. SAG Has a Female Problem

This has been noted by everyone on Twitter, but it needs to be repeated-in a year where pretty much everyone agrees the Best Actress field is better than Best Actor, and the female-led films have been the topic of most conversation, SAG chose all films for its top prize where the casts are predominantly male.  In fact, of the 38 actors nominated for Best Cast, only 6 are female-84% of the Best Cast nominees are men.  It's also worth noting that three of those six nominees (Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning, and Diane Lane) come from Trumbo-Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton don't even have female nominations (for the curious, Marisa Tomei and Melissa Leo in The Big Short and Rachel McAdams in Spotlight are the remaining nominations).  Congress has a greater percentage of women than the SAG Awards do, and that's pathetic.

I don't know enough about television to really complain about the nominations there, though I am stunned Oscar Isaac didn't make it for Show Me a Hero (I suspect he does tomorrow at the Globes though) considering his rising star and HBO's guiding hand.  In SAG's defense, I love that this was not what we'll see with the Oscars-that's exciting, and I long for a year where there's chaos around who will win/be nominated, and that we don't have the same four people collecting trophies every weekend.  I just wish that they'd picked better movies to toss into the conversation.  In terms of Oscar, I think that while certain films probably got hurt today (namely Youth, Suffragette, and I'll See You in My Dreams) others like The Martian, Spotlight, and Joy will probably make up for their lack of nods here tomorrow at the Globes.  In the meantime, weigh in on your thoughts about this morning's bizarre SAG nods.

Oscar's Late-Blooming Actresses

Next week I'll be giving you an article about the overall Best Actress race and my thoughts on how crazy-awesome it looks this year (so many possibilities!), but before I get there I want to focus on one woman in particular who might be able to make a significant impression on the race: Sandra Bullock.  Bullock has a major film coming out that she's getting strong reviews for in Our Brand is Crisis, and at this point it's hard to imagine that she spent most of the Aughts wandering through the wilderness before finally making a major comeback and scoring an Oscar for The Blind Side.

Bullock was 45-years-old when she received her first nomination, which is actually pretty old for an acting nominee, particularly a female nominee.  Most women tend to be nominated in their twenties (I have read the average age for a Best Actress nominee is around 29), and especially those women who are going to be nominated multiple times will have started early.  As a result of this, I was wondering if Bullock gets her third nomination this year (she was also cited for Gravity for those keeping track at home), will she make the list of the Top 10 3+-nominees in terms of age at their first nomination?  Let's take a look at the top ten, shall we?

10. Anne Revere

Age at First Nomination (we'll be going age at the Oscar ceremony): 40
First Nominated Film: Best Supporting Actress in The Song of Bernadette (1943), followed by supporting citations in National Velvet (1945) and Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Did She Win?: Yes, Revere pulled off the win for playing Elizabeth Taylor's mother in National Velvet, besting two women who are still alive to hold grudges, actually (Dame Angela Lansbury, the youngest person ever to be nominated for two Academy Awards and Ann Blyth, Joan Crawford's demon spawn in Mildred Pierce).
What Took So Long?: Revere was most noted for her work on the stage (she would eventually win a Tony Award for Toys in the Attic), and was more just a contract player who gained steadily in stature in the years that followed Song of Bernadette until she was forced to resign from the Screen Actors Guild because she refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Also Worth Noting: Revere played opposite Taylor six years after her Oscar win as Montgomery Clift's mother in A Place in the Sun.  Despite the film being a huge hit with Oscar and the Academy's penchant for both women, neither would be nominated for the film.

9. Agnes Moorehead

Age at First Nomination : 42
First Nominated Film: Best Supporting Actress in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), followed by Mrs. Parkington (1944), Johnny Belinda (1948), and Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte, all in supporting.
Did She Win?: No, Moorehead never made it.  Based on some readings I have done she was probably closest either for The Magnificent Ambersons (where she may have fallen prey to the Orson Welles-hate that was still reverberating from the year before) or for 1964's Hush...Hush, where she was the sentimental favorite but Oscar was very international that year, going with all non-Americans for the first time ever that year rather than the Massachusetts-born Moorehead.
What Took So Long?: Moorehead really struggled early in her career, frequently going without work and even food.  She eventually found success in radio, working with Orson Welles and his Mercury Players.  This resulted in her getting the two most iconic roles in her film career: as Charles Foster Kane's mother in Citizen Kane and her marvelous work as Fanny in The Magnificent Ambersons.
Also Worth Noting: She didn't do particularly well at the Emmys either, never winning for Bewitched, her best-known role overall to modern audiences, though she did pick up an Emmy for her role on The Wild Wild West of all things.

8. Kathy Bates

Age at First Nomination: 42
First Nominated Film: She was first noted for her iconic breakthrough as Annie Wilkes in 1990's Misery, followed by supporting citations for Primary Colors (1998) and About Schmidt (2002)
Did She Win?: She won in a bit of a surprise on her first outing for Misery, a very atypical role for a Best Actress contender, though it's hard to tell if Joanne Woodward or Julia Roberts was her bigger competition.  Eight years later she'd nearly pull off an upset over Judi Dench when she was the only American in a field of Brits (which frequently results in a win for the Yank).
What Took So Long?: Bates was initially one of those character actors who never really popped.  Though she appeared in films for prestigious directors (Milos Forman and Robert Altman), she had more success on the stage, winning a Tony nomination for 'night Mother and eventually transferring to television in a series of soap roles.
Also Worth Noting: In one of those great "what could have been" sorts of moments, Anjelica Huston was originally offered the role of Annie Wilkes, and wanted to do the movie but was committed to making the film The Grifters.  Huston would go on to lose the Oscar for her Grifters performance to Kathy Bates.

7. Fay Bainter

Age at First Nomination: 45 (for those interested, Bullock was slightly older when she landed her first nomination by a few months and so would knock out Bainter if she were nominated again)
First Nominated Film: Bainter became the first actor nominated in two different acting categories in the same year, being cited for lead actress in White Banners and supporting in Jezebel in 1938.  She would go on to get a very late-in-her-career supporting nod for The Children's Hour in 1961.
Did She Win?: She did-Bainter set a longtime pattern of actors who were nominated for two different categories in the same year winning the supporting trophy, a trend that would last for fifty years until Sigourney Weaver broke it in 1988 (to this day she's the only actor to have been nominated twice in one year to have never won an Oscar, thanks to Julianne Moore's recent victory).
What Took So Long?: Like several women on this list, Bainter got her start and much of her success on the stage, appearing in a number of major New York productions before MGM finally convinced her to give film a try, and she became wildly successful pretty quickly.
Also Worth Noting: Back in the day, supporting actors would occasionally present the category they won the previous year, rather than the alternating genders we see today.  As a result, Bainter was the first person ever to present an Oscar to an African-American when she handed the statue to Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind.

6. Thelma Ritter

Age at First Nomination: 48
First Nominated Film: Like most of her costars, Ritter scored a nomination for the classic 1950 film All About Eve, and followed that up with five supporting bids for The Mating Season (1951), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Pickup on South Street (1953), Pillow Talk (1959), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962).
Did She Win?: Ritter is the most-nominated woman without a competitive Academy Award trophy to show for it, tied with Deborah Kerr and Glenn Close (though it's worth noting Kerr eventually got an honorary Oscar).  Despite the plethora of options, it's hard to tell if Ritter was actually ever close or just the female equivalent of Arthur Kennedy.
What Took So Long?: Ritter, though she was classically-trained, never really popped, working largely in radio and stock theater until she managed to have small parts three Best Picture nominees (Miracle on 34th Street, A Letter to Three Wives, and All About Eve), which brought her to the attention of casting directors.
Also Worth Noting: She was nearly able to make a fifth nomination in a row in 1954 for the classic Rear Window, which would have tied her with Greer Garson and Bette Davis for the most consecutive nominations.  Considering that she would have almost-certainly lost to Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront, perhaps the miss was for the best for a woman who said her many losses meant she "knew what it was like to be a bridesmaid, but never a bride."

5. Helen Mirren

Age at First Nomination: 49
First Nominated Film: Mirren scored a bit of a surprise nomination for The Madness of King George in 1994, but followed that with three expected citations for Gosford Park (2001), The Queen (2006), and The Last Station (2009).
Did She Win?: Mirren stampeded to basically every award known to mankind in 2006 with The Queen, a performance so noteworthy that she ended up winning a Tony for the same role nearly a decade later.
What Took So Long?: One of the most unexpected movie stars of the past decade, Mirren worked steadily in films in the 1980's, but almost always in character roles.  She also took frequent time off to do theater, and wasn't one of the Merchant-Ivory go-to's at the time, which probably hurt as that was what British actors were being cited for during the era.
Also Worth Noting: Mirren is well-known for her work as a monarch.  In her lifetime she's played 5 Queens: Elizabeth I, Elizabeth II, Queen Charlotte of Mexklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Gertrude (in Halmet), and the Queen of Egypt in The Prince of Egypt.

4. Gladys Cooper

Age at First Nomination: 54
First Nominated Film: Cooper's first nomination came for her nightmarish work in Now, Voyager (1942), and she earned two more supporting nods for The Song of Bernadette (1943) and My Fair Lady (1964).
Did She Win?: Cooper never pulled this off.  I wonder if she was pretty close for Song of Bernadette (it's a show-y part), but the other two seem unlikely.
What Took So Long?: Cooper spent much of her earlier career as one of the biggest theatrical draws of the 1930's, frequently finding herself headlining shows in the West End and on Broadway.  It wasn't until she moved to Hollywood in 1940 that she made her mark in film, and all things considered got on with Oscar pretty damn quickly.
Also Worth Noting: Is one of the rare actresses to have been nominated for the Tonys, Emmys, and Oscars without winning any of them.  Had she been nominated for a Grammy and lost, she would have joined Lynn Redgrave as the only person to have been nominated for all four awards and never won a trophy.

3. Judi Dench

Age at First Nomination: 63
First Nominated Film: Dench, like so many British actresses of a certain age before her, got in for playing a queen, in this case Victoria in Mrs. Brown.  She followed that turn with six more nominations for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), and Philomena (2013).
Did She Win?: She did, for Shakespeare in Love, the second-shortest performance ever to win an Academy Award after Beatrice Straight in Network.
What Took So Long?: Dench didn't really do film prior to her major breakout in Mrs. Brown, focusing principally on television and theater (she's in the Royal Shakespeare Company).  However, it is worth noting that she won a BAFTA eleven years prior to her turn in Mrs. Brown for the Oscar-blessed Room with a View.  Had her costar Maggie Smith stuck to lead like she did at the BAFTA's for the Oscars, Dench may well have gotten to Oscar eleven years earlier than expected (which still would have kept her on this list, for the record).
Also Worth Noting: Dame Judi has never been able to pull off an Emmy, perhaps the only major acting trophy she hasn't bagged, despite three nominations (for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Cranford, and Return to Cranford).  Dench nearly got a Razzie nomination for her bizarre appearance in The Chronicles of Riddick (she was on the shortlist), but the bizarre list of Britney Spears, Condoleezza Rice, Carmen Electra, Jennifer Lopez, and Sharon Stone kept her from such a dubious distinction.

2. Ethel Barrymore

Age at First Nomination: 65
First Nominated Film: The Grand Dame of the American Stage got her first Oscar nomination in None But the Lonely Heart in 1944, followed by The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Paradine Case (1947), and Pinky (1949).
Did She Win?: Yes, Barrymore won on her first try with None But the Lonely Heart.
What Took So Long?: Barrymore made a few silent films very early in her career, but largely stuck to the stage and was actually quite snobbish about the cinema, sticking to the theater and doing the likes of Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Maugham in the process.  She was bought by a major paycheck for None But the Lonely Heart, her first film in over a decade, and the acclaim that followed convinced her to stay in Hollywood.
Also Worth Noting: Barrymore turned down a marriage proposal from Winston Churchill because she thought he wasn't going anywhere.  That has nothing to do with movies or Oscars, but is a good anecdote so use it at your next dinner party.

1. Edith Evans

Age at First Nomination: 75
First Nominated Film: In the only year where three women were nominated in Supporting Actress for the same film, Evans joined her costars Diane Cilento and Joyce Redman in being nominated for Tom Jones (1963).  She followed that citation with nods for The Chalk Garden (1964) and The Whisperers (1967).
Did She Win?: No, Evans never won.  She likely came the closest in 1967 after picking up a number of precursors and getting numerous plaudits (she's superb in the largely forgotten film).  However, sentiment won the day and the inferior Guess Who's Coming to Dinner got Kate Hepburn her second trophy in the wake of Spencer Tracy's death.
What Took So Long?: Evans was one of the biggest names on the British stage, playing numerous Shakespearean roles and debuting roles in plays by the likes of Noel Coward and Bernard Shaw.  Though she dabbled in film, she didn't really take off until her small role in Tom Jones.  After that she stuck with film and gained a large amount of success during the 1960's and 1970's.
Also Worth Noting: Though she didn't win in 1963 (fellow dame Margaret Rutherford was successful), she did get to pick up Tony Richardson's Best Director award for him as he wasn't there.

It's worth noting before we go that Bullock isn't the only actress that is in contention for being included in this list (though she's the only one with a film that's an immediate threat).  Brenda Blethyn, Jacki Weaver, Catherine Keener, Viola Davis, and Melissa Leo also all are sitting at two nominations and would crack this Top 10 if they scored a third.  Do you think Bullock or any of these women will be able to go-the-distance and get a third nod?  Share your thoughts in the comments!