Our Kind of Voting ~ Finale!
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 7:52PM These were so much fun on election day (pt 1 & pt 2) that we'll do one more before we hunker down into this year's Oscars. Tell us who you'd vote for and why in these famously divisive and/or just plain fabulous Oscar categories.
BEST ACTRESS 1961
SOPHIA LOREN (Two Women) vs. AUDREY HEPBURN (Breakfast at Tiffany's) vs. NATALIE WOOD (Splendor in the Grass) vs. GERALDINE PAGE (Summer & Smoke) vs. PIPER LAURIE (The Hustler)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 2007
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Deakins) vs. THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Elswit) vs. ATONEMENT (McGarvey) vs. DIVING BELL AND BUTTERFLY (Kaminsky) vs. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (Deakins)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1999
HALEY JOEL OSMENT (The Sixth Sense) vs. MICHAEL CAINE (The Cider House Rules) vs. TOM CRUISE (Magnolia) vs. JUDE LAW (The Talented Mr Ripley) vs. MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN (The Green Mile)
BEST PICTURE 1975
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST vs. BARRY LYNDON vs. NASHVILLE vs. DOG DAY AFTERNOON vs. JAWS
Can you even choose from all the awesome?
Reader Comments (82)
Aw shit, how did I miss Tom Cruise in 1999?!?! He's the hands-down winner. A true heavyweight performance. I can't say enough good things about it.
Does the 61 Best Actress line-up fall under divisive or fabulous? Wood is the winner far and away for me there probably a tie of Piper and Geraldine afterwards. I second the belief that Page is WAY more excellent the next year in "Sweet Bird of Youth" which wins my prize for the BEST Best Actress line-up ever. Is it weird that I probably like Natalie in "West Side Story" more than at least two women in this lineup? But then I LIKE Natalie's Maria so....
The cinematography 2007 is way more difficult - off the top of my head I want to say Deakins for "Assassination..." but I'm especially of McGarvey's work on "Atonement".
99 Supporting Actor is Jude by a country mile. It's my favourite performance of Jude (and I love him) and my favourite performance of the film (and I love *it*).
75 Picture is Nashville and Dog Day Afternoon battling it out.
Love how there's no consensus on the 1999 lineup!
I've only seen The Hustler, so I cannot comment on the '61 actress lineup.
2007 cinematography: got to give that to Deakins for NO COUNTRY. every shot is perfect chosen, and that's a big part of why NCFOM is one of the leanest, meanest, most sublimely bleak movies ever made. For me, this one is no contest.
1999 supporting actor: whoof, this one is tough. I think at the time I was blown away more by Cruise's scenery chewing. I still think it's a great, primal performance from Cruise, but Jude Law's seductive charm has really grown on me over the years, so I'd go with him now.
1975 best picture: it's BARRY LYNDON. folks dismiss it as slow, overlong, boring, etc at their peril - it's one of the best movies ever made, a movie with a glassy, bitingly satirical surface that conceals a film of great passion and feeling. folks who say Kubrick was an heartless technician should watch Ryan O'Neal's final scene with his son, and then the cut to the funeral procession with the Handel Sarabande playing. Its a tragedy about a guy who gets everything he deserves.
1961 - Wood
2007 - Deakins (JJ)
1999 - Law
1975 - Nashville
1961: I haven't seen Loren or Page, so I don't feel qualified to choose. But from the remaining trio, I have to say Natalie. I have seen SITG about five times, and she never fails to move me. I love Audrey, but BAT is basically Audrey being Audrey in nice clothes.
2007: Again, I've only seen NCFOM and TWBB, so I better catch up before I comment. But I love Deakins--one of the greats working today.
1999: Definitely Michael Caine. TCHR is a brilliant novel, and he captures this beautiful character so magically. Law is a close second. Osment should not be supporting.
1975: A terrific lineup, but every one of these films has critical flaws. DDA is great, but it's basically about nothing. Nashville is too clinical, but I have to confess, I'm not an Altman fan (I realize that's heresy LOL). Jaws is a classic, but actually it's just a dressed-up B-movie. While Barry Lyndon can be a bit chilly in tone, I would say it's the best film here--Kubrick creates true art. But my heart goes with Cuckoo, even though its Achilles heel is that we never really know what's driving our antihero. Still, an unforgettably moving experience.
BEST ACTRESS 1961
SOPHIA LOREN (Two Women)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 2007
ATONEMENT (McGarvey)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1999
HALEY JOEL OSMENT (The Sixth Sense)
BEST PICTURE 1975
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 2007
ATONEMENT (McGarvey)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1999
JUDE LAW (The Talented Mr Ripley)
BEST PICTURE 1975
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
(I mention Sup. Actor in 99 in the last one, and now you're making me vote!!! This is soooo hard, yet so fun. New Feature!!!)
1999: Again, like Soirese in Atonement, we really need the Juvenile Oscar back, so that she and Haley would have Oscars. They deserved them. Cruise is a close second.
1961: I've only seen 3 (Hepburn, Laurie, and Wood) so, hmmm, Wood, I guess, since she never did win one.
2007: I'm not really qualifiied for Cinematography, flim lover that I am, and have only seen No Country and Atonement, so I'll have to go with Atonement for the few astonishing shots I do remember from that one.
1975 is one of the best lineups, and I still need to see Barry Lyndon. Jaws has been a huge influence on me (I can't go in the deep end of the pool without hearing the theme), Nashville I liked, but not as much as some of Altman's others, and Cuckoo's Nest was amazing and somehow inspirational. DDA was really really good, but I haven't seen it in so long, I've forgotten it. I'll go...ugh... Cuckoo's Nest. I guess it says a bit more about The Meaning Of It All than Man vs. Nature's Nightmare.
@CJames ITALY IN DA HOUSE!! :P
I'd rank '75 as such. And the Academy was right when they picked Fellini over Spielberg (even if Spielberg couldn't believe it). Jaws is the weakest of these five.
Nashville
Barry Lyndon
Dog Day Afternoon
Cuckoo's Nest
Jaws
1.- Sophia Loren.
2.- Atonement.
3.- Tom Cruise.
4.- Jaws.
BEST ACTRESS 1961 - SOPHIA LOREN (Two Women), with NATALIE WOOD (Splendor in the Grass) as a close second. Haven't yet seen GERALDINE PAGE (Summer & Smoke)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 2007 - THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Elswit)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1999 - Very annoying race in my opinion. I would have gone with MICHAEL CAINE (The Cider House Rules), but I'm not sure he was the best one.
BEST PICTURE 1975 - Robert Altman's NASHVILLE has my heart and soul. It's my very favorite movie of all time. But CUCKOO'S NEST, DOG DAY AFTERNOON and BARRY LYNDON are also masterpieces.
Wood (haven't seen Page's performance)
Kaminski (adore the work in all four)
Cruise
Nashville (1975 was a very good year. Five great films. Plus I was conceived and born in that year.)
Natalie Wood
Atonement
Jude Law
Nashville
1961 : Audrey Hepburn
2007 : There will be blood
1999 : Tom Cruise (althoigh I think Haley Joel Osmet is better I think he's a lead and I really dislike category fraud)
1975 : Nashville ( if you ask me next week the answer might be different. This is an amazing line up)
BVR -- i love that, too!
1. Wood. Amazing work from her. Still moved me to tears.
2. Atonement. All remarkable work. But, there are scenes that feel like a moving framed picture.
3. Law. Amazing, amazing work. He haunts the film after he is gone and when your co-stars are Damon, Paltrow and Blanchette, that's near impossible. Underrated film as well.
4. I am going to go with Cuckoo's Nest right now. It's between that and Dog Day though, and if you asked me tomorrow, I would say the other film.
1961: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfest at Tiffanys
2007: There Will Be Blood
1999: Jude Law
1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1. Can't choose for Best Actress 1961 because I've only seen one of the nominees (Audrey Hepburn)
2. Deakins (The Assasination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
3. Michael Clark Duncan (The Green Mile) with Tom Cruise (Magnolia) a close second
4. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest with Dog Day Afternoon a close second
Natalie Wood's performance is incredible. Nobody comes close but I saw all the performances and they are all good but Natalie's breaks your heart.
The Cinematography in There Will Be Blood was Excellent and I liked the movie more than the other nominees.
Michael Clarke Duncan Loved the film. Loved his performance. RIP Big Guy!
natalie wood for splendor.
Natalie Wood. Her performance is ageless. It is just as contemporary today as it was 51 years ago.
Atonement It is the only movie listed that I remember the cinematography.
Michael Clarke Duncan because it could have been just a one note performance on the page but in his massive hands he turned it into a work of art and beauty.
Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass by a country mile!
Jude Law
Natalie Wood for Splendor in the Grass.
NATALIE WOOD
Natalie Wood hits it out of the park for me! I love Piper Laurie's performance too but Natalie's is one of the top 5 female performances I have ever seen. She seamlessly weaves a performance of poignancy and poetry into every scene that never fails to leave me speechless with admiration.
ATONEMENT for the Cinematography but I'm not that bowled over by any of the nominees including this one. Atonement is just prettier to look at than the rest of the nominees...
MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN
A beautiful and heartbreaking performance. The other performances are all good but nothing special in my opinion.
NASHVILLE because it is a masterpiece. A flat out masterpiece directed by one of the greatest directors in film history.
Natalie Wood
Jessee James
Michael Clarke Duncan
Nashville
Natalie Wood
Atonement
Haley Joel Osmet
Jaws
Natalie Wood, hands down, amazing performance!!
Natalie Wood
NATALIE WOOD for best actress in 1961!
I know it's not really popular to say this, but I'm going with Michael Clarke Duncan for the 1999 Supporting Actor line-up. I thought it was a very strong category (with Michael Caine being the weakest, though I do think he deserved it for Hannah and Her Sisters), but Duncan made that character larger-than-life and as small as a mouse at the same time. I know we're not supposed to like that film, but I think it's a thing of beauty (I also read the book, the movie is pretty faithful to it and it works in this case). I also love Cruise and Law's performances and I think that while they've both hit rough patches, they still give it their all. I thought Law was fantastic in Anna Karenina (playing against type, I've never seen him in such a chilly performance).
1961: Natalie Wood, no question. I thought she was fantastic in Splendor in the Grass. If only it hadn't come out the same year as West Side Story (I thought she was criminally miscast for that film).
2007: This one is tough. All five are worthy winners (I would still go with There Will Be Blood because I love the film, but these are five amazing nominees).
1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, no question. A very inspiring and moving film. I also love Dog Day Afternoon. Jaws is fun, but I wouldn't give it Best Picture. The other two I find incredibly distant. Altman and Kubrick have always been hit or miss with me, and these two were misses for me (I love Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket and Altman's The Player, Gosford Park and A Prairie Home Companion).