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Friday, February 19, 2016

2016 Oscar Preview: Best Actress

THE NOMINEES:

- Cate Blanchett (Carol)
- Brie Larson (Room)
- Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
- Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
- Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

WHO SHOULD BE HERE: Queen Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

For the first time since I can remember, the female nomination pool is crazy deep and the male nomination pool is pretty shallow. Rooney Mara (Carol) and Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) had to wade in the Best Supporting Actress pool just to earn a nomination. However, the one person who really got screwed over was Charlize Theron. Despite not having her name in the title, Theron’s Furiosa is the star of the film and almost entirely the reason (outside of George Miller’s incredible vision) the film is as excellent as it is.Theron is great at everything she touches (well, maybe not this Snow White nonsense) and considering how many other nominations Mad Max: Fury Road received, I'm surprised all acting nods got left out in the dust. 

THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINEES:

CATE BLANCHETT: Blanchett is turning into the new Meryl Streep. She now has seven Oscar nominations (and two wins), and basically could sneeze on screen and earn a nomination. In her defense, she’s insanely talented and can turn a methodical-bordering-on-boring film like Carol into something you can’t help but be mesmerized by.

BRIE LARSON: Arguably, Larson’s character is a supporting one, and her five year old co-star Jacob Tremblay is the lead, but Larson’s arc and performance is just stunning. Larson plays a kidnap victim who’s forced to stay in a 10x10 room with her son- a product of nightly rape from Larson’s captor. Larson’s portrayal of this mother who loves her son, but is also intensely frustrated with him, is the reason she’s going to win this award. Larson has always given great performances over the past few years, but they’ve been for projects you haven’t seen like Short Term 12 and Don Jon. Larson’s excellence shows through in Room and her hard work hustling through Hollywood, yet choosing projects that interest her will finally pay off.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE: If Blanchett is the new Meryl Streep, then J-Law is the new Amy Adams (albeit with an actual win under her belt)- a hot young starlet that actually can act circles around everybody else. I’d like to see Lawrence star in a prestigious film that’s not directed by David O. Russell to see her full range, but until that day comes, she’ll just keep collecting nominations like E.T. collects Reese’s Pieces.

SAOIRSE RONAN: I freaking love Brooklyn and Ronan’s charm is a big reason for that. Saoirse (Sure-sha, rhymes with "inertia") Ronan doesn’t give as showy of a performance as say Larson or Blanchett does, but her performance is just as good, if not better than her fellow nominees.

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING: Congratulation to Charlotte Rampling for winning the 2016 Marion Cotilliard Award for earning a Best Actress nomination for a film nobody has seen and nobody will see! (Would the Emmanuelle Riva Award be a more appropriate title? I feel like people actually know who Marion Cotilliard is... although maybe that's the problem with it.)

IF I HAD AN OSCAR VOTE:

- Cate Blanchett (Carol)
- Brie Larson (Room)
- Rooney Mara (Carol)
- Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
- Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

WHO I'M ROOTING FOR: Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
WHO WILL WIN: Brie Larson (Room)


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