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« YNMS: "Annihilation" | Main | NYFF: Norway's Oscar Submission "Thelma" »
Thursday
Sep282017

Dance Party! It's Mira's Birthday.

Happy 50th to Oscar winner Mira Sorvino! 

 What's your favorite performance of hers?

  • Romy White in Romy & Michele's High School Reunion?
  • Dr Susan Tyler in Mimic?
  • Diane on "Wil & Grace"?
  • Sharon Cassidy in Beautiful Girls?
  • Linda Ash in Mighty Aphrodite?
  • Sara in "Falling Skies"?
  • Betsy Branigan on "Psych"?
    Dionna in Summer of Sam?
    or _____?

 

 

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Reader Comments (24)

I'm a big defender of her work in Aphrodite (although the Oscar is a bit much) - but that disco dancing in Summer of Sam is maybe her strongest single scene.

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterMike in Canada

Mike -- i think she's great in SUMMER OF SAME in every scene :)

September 28, 2017 | Registered CommenterNATHANIEL R

I was thinking about her. After marrying the much younger waiter she disappeared into personal happiness.

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered Commenter/3rtful

Definitely Romy,that perminent delusion with a hint of "This is crap".

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered Commentermarkgordonuk

I'll always love Romy. Her recent turn in Lady Dynamite -- which was quite good -- made me realize how much more I'd like to see her.

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterJames from Ames

Romy.

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered Commenterthevoid99

I havent seen a single movie that shes featured in. How huge of a problem is this? Like is it just "I havent seen all the MCU movies" bad or "I still havent watched Apocalypse Now" bad.....

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered Commenterkris

All I know is that she's now a huge conservative, so that gives. She won an Oscar and got the Oscar curse.

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered Commenterlolawins32

kris: Considering there's, depending on your tastes, only 1-3 movies (Quiz Show being the least arguable, then Mighty Aphrodite and most arguable being Romy and Michele aka "If you don't like Clueless, avoid.") that you should watch with her in them? Not seeing a film with her in it is closer to "I haven't seen a single DCXU movie" bad.

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterVolvagia

COME BACK MIRA!!! The thing is it just seems Hollywood didn't know how to use her but there's so many working filmmakers now that she seems like such a fit for: Lisa Cholodenko, Noah Baumbach, Mike White, etc.

September 28, 2017 | Registered CommenterChris Feil

Honestly I haven`t thought much of her in her Oscar winner days (thought Mimic was fun and Romy and Michele was all about Lisa Kudrow ) but then I`ve seen her in Human Trafficking and the independent film Mothers and Daughters and she was terrific in both of them, so I gladly revisited Mighty Aphrodite and Summer of Sam, she`s a knockout ( although that Oscar should have gone to Joan Allen ).

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterEder Arcas

@Volvagia: Thank you for reminding me that Mira Sorvino was in Quiz Show. That's my choice.

"Sandra, the man was on the cover of TIME Magazine."
"Well, he's not going to be on the cover of TIME Magazine as Mark Van Doren's son, Dick."

The 5 smartest characters in Quiz Show:

1. The Twenty-One contestant who sent himself the answers registered mail
2. Sandra Goodwin (Mira's character)
3. Mark Van Doren
4. The random TV lady that said "Now there's a face for radio."
5. The Geritol guy, maybe

September 28, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterBrevity

Romy White in Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion.

Although Lisa Kudrow and Janeane Garofalo were more memorable for me, the chemistry of Kudrow and Sorvino was/still is undeniable.

Her small part in Whit Stillman's Barcelona was the first time I saw Mira Sorvino onscreen.

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterOwl

Didn't she attempt to portray Marilyn Monroe (or Norma Jean Baker) in a TV movie of the week? Wish I could remember anything about that...
I do like her work in Mighty Aphrodite, but some of her dialogue was somewhat tasteless. She did capture a somewhat nitwit Judy Holliday-type of sweetness that made the part enduring. I, too, would've voted for Joan Allen (Nixon). Does it seem that liberal Hollywood voters would Never give their seal of approval to anything Republican (only DDLewis in Lincoln).
*If Summer Of Sam is on while I'm channel surfing, I will stop dead in my tracks to watch her disco dancing. Yum!

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterTOM

Owl & Tom -- omg. how did i forget to include Norma & Marilyn (i forget what that was called but it was her and Ashley Judd and I remember it was good) or Barcelona in this list. my bad.

September 29, 2017 | Registered CommenterNATHANIEL R

I kind of love her. While I think her work (and Mullally's) turned that into maybe the best episode of Will & Grace (or at a minimum it's in top 5), I've got to go with Romy. That's just a thoroughly delightful movie, and she's sort of the glue that holds it together.

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterScottC

I remembered liking Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite but my vote will go to Kate Winslet's Marianne in Sense and Sensibility as the year's best supporting actress among the nominated actresses. I find that film a very good and delightful adaptation. And I love everyone who was involved in it. Almost everyone, I mean.

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterOwl

I haven't found much about Mira's politics (she seems sympathetic to the GOP and appalled by what it's become) but she's on the record as a Hillary voter and has done great work with Amnesty International and the U.N. She also spoke eloquently about the fragility of social progress (for people of color, etc) in a liberal democracy:

http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/301676-mira-sorvino-wishes-presidential-race-could-share-focus

Maybe I'm missing something inflammatory in her past but she strikes me as a reasonable moderate. If we had a Mira Sorvino for every Susan Sarandon and Scott Baio in America then Hillary would be president and we wouldn't be in this mess.

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterHayden

Hayden -- thank you. I was confused about that too as I'd mostly heard that she was a UN ambassador and never got the crazy right wing vibe from her.

September 29, 2017 | Registered CommenterNATHANIEL R

Nat—no problem. Even if she *is* a registered Republican or self-identified conservative (I haven't found any evidence of that but I could be wrong), she'd be a good model for what every responsible and principled right-leaning citizen can be.

It feels silly to even talk about her in that way when I can't affirmatively prove that she leans right! If you made the accusation above, where are the receipts? It seems irresponsible to smear a perfectly smart, generous, talented lady without them.

Besides, the only purity test that matters to me is “Did you vote for Hillary?”

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterHayden

Her father is politically conservative.

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered Commenter/3rtful

Her episode of 'Will & Grace" is one of the reasons why I can't fully dismiss the show's latter seasons.

September 29, 2017 | Unregistered Commenterjakey

Thanks for profiling her! Love her. While Romy White may be my favorite of hers, Linda Ash was very memorable as well. I've seen a bunch of her films, and I remember her so well on "Will & Grace." One of her recent performances that ranks pretty high on my list is Lucy in "Union Square" which was such a fun turn for her (from all those dramas).

October 1, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterGeorge P.

She's cute as hell, but Lisa Kudrow should have an Oscar, not Mira Sorvino. lol.

October 2, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterPhilip H.
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