Supporting Actress Smackdown '20: Bakalova, Close, Colman, Seyfried, and Youn!
Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 8:20AM Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. For the season premiere we're starting with the current Academy Awards competition honoring the films of 2020.
THE NOMINEES 2020's shortlist, chosen much later than we're used to in 2021 due to the pandemic reschedulings, collects one breakout young Bulgarian actress (Maria Bakalova), one Hollywood legend (Glenn Close), a popular recently Oscar-winning British treasure (Olivia Colman), a former Mean Girl who continues to expand her range (Amanda Seyfriend), and a revered South Korean actress (Youn Yuh-Jung).
THE PANELISTS Here to talk about their performances and films are, in alpha order: actress/playwright/comedian Grace Aki (Tell Me on a Sunday), awards columnist Scott Feinberg (The Hollywood Reporter), writer/producer Peter Knegt (CBC Arts), writer/podcaster Jorge Molina (Just to Be Nominated), and awards pundit Matt Neglia (Next Bext Picture). As ever the event is hosted by TFE's mastermind, Nathaniel R. Let's begin...
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...
MARIA BAKALOVA as "Tutar Sagdiyev" in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Synopsis: A young woman, shipped in a crate to her journalist father is to be presented as a bride or 'prodigous bribe' to Vice President Mike Pence. After a few misadventures she begins to think for herself prompting her father to reevaluate his plans.
Stats: 24 yrs old, 5th film, 2nd billed. First nomination. 40 minutes of screen time (or 42% of the running time)
Grace Aki: Maria delivers CAMP in this docu-comedy-something. I enjoy the fact that she was nominated purely for selfish reasons however... I’m not sure she really belongs in this list. She is 100% committed and I LOVE when a comedic performance is recognized but I don’t believe she will win. ♥♥♥
Scott Feinberg: An impressive debut under very challenging circumstances. ♥♥♥♥
Peter Knegt: I'm honestly just so elated this actually happened. It's one thing for an explicitly comedic performance to be recognized (which happens like once a decade, usually in this category) but entirely another for it to happen for an improvised performance from an unknown Bulgarian actress in a mockumentary sequel. But other than the fact that this is undeniably a co-lead performance, Maria Bakalova deserves all the supporting actress attention that has come her way for her work in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. What she has to simultaneously pull off as Borat's daughter Tutar is extraordinarily complex, and she nails all of it: broad physical comedy, an emotional arch that is imperative to the film succeeding and, you know, interviewing and seducing the sitting U.S. president's lawyer in character. ♥♥♥♥♥
Jorge Molina: it can't be easy to go up against one of the most culturally penetrative comedic characters of the past decade. But Maria Bakalova manages not only to hold her own against Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat, but also crafts a fully-realized character that doesn't feel like a mere spawn (pun intended) of the "stupid foreign reporter", but has her own voice and personality. Maria's Tutar, in her self-discovery journey of femininity, independence, and agency, is the emotional core of the movie, and her character arc is what anchors the story among all the cringe comedy. It's because of her that the movie feels more strongly a father-daughter story than a political satire. But don't be mistaken, she can get a room of Republican women on their toes as effectively as she carries the emotional weight of the movie. ♥♥♥♥
Matt Neglia: Fearless, bold and hilarious. An exciting breakthrough performance that announces to the world a new star.. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: A master class in improv, and above all else lunatic high-wire commitment to unreality -- perfect for our fake news modern world; we believe it because she never doesn't. Inspired from her filthy caged introduction to assured newswoman / new woman liberation. ♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Bakalova performs a high-wire act of improvisation, grotesquerie and comic earnestness. I don't think anyone could have imagined Baron Cohen being outperformed in his own film!" - Andrew F. (Reader average: ♥♥♥½)
Actress earns 27½ ❤s
GLENN CLOSE as "MaMaw" in Hillbilly Elegy
Synopsis: An Appalachian woman must frequently intervene and eventually take over parenting her grandson when her daughter succumbs to drug addiction
Stats: 74 yrs old, 46th film, 2nd billed. 8th nomination. 24 minutes of screentime (or 20% of the running time)
Grace Aki: Oh Glenn... You’re so damn good. It’s just that the making of this film is just... offensive. As a southern person who regularly see poverty porn in film... just no. Glenn’s performance however... is the best in the film and worthy of this nomination. She once again makes herself disappear in the character. I hope she doesn’t win because she isn’t my pick, but she is extremely convincing. ♥♥♥♥
Scott Feinberg: A great actress rising above a terrible film. ♥♥♥
Peter Knegt: So I probably would never have seen Hillbilly Elegy if it wasn't for this Smackdown. I just had heard too many horrible things and felt like I didn't need to witness this alleged stain of Oscar desperation on the careers of both Glenn Close and Amy Adams. But I have no regrets. The movie, yes, is absolute garbage - and so are most of the performances (sorry, Ms. Adams but yes, you included). But Glenn Close? Hillbilly Elegy doesn't deserve her, and she certainly didn't deserve a Razzie nomination for her performance in it. She's by far the best thing about it, committing to Mamaw and elevating her scenes as much as anyone possibly could given the material. Do I think this is one of the worst movies to recieve a major Oscar nomination in the last few decades? Sure. Is it the movie Glenn Close should finally win her Oscar for? Absolutely not. But it's also not something we should embarrass her for. ♥♥♥
Jorge Molina: Ron Howard paints the characters and situations of Hillbilly Elegy with the broadest strokes he could find. It's as if he created empty vessels that somehow resemble real-life people, and let the performers fill them out with baggy clothes and outrageous wigs. And yes, Glenn Close does the best job filling out her character with an empathetic personality. But she's swimming upstream all the way through. It's hard to have a performance stand successfully on its own when so many things around her just do not work. As opposed to the rest of the people in the category, where the performances are elevated because of the material, Glenn sadly seems to survive despite of it. ♥♥
Matt Neglia: Ferocious, intense, transformative but always empathetic, Close was the only performance from this movie worth celebrating. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: She gives "Mamaw" emotional power and a lived-in undertow. You get her ambivalence about her second round of parenting as well as her feelings about her first round that didn't go so well. Yes, any actress of a certain age could have handled this role but they wouldn't have done as good of a job modulating the ludicrous text and avoiding the overwrought tone. That's heavy lifting on Glenn's part but when we talk about actors being challenged, we aren't wishing for the challenge of "thrive during this mess!" but "get a juicy complex part in a good film and ace it!" ♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "There’s some ridiculousness of the garbage screenplay that Close simply cannot overcome, but in equal measure, greatness just falls out of her." - Roge S. (Reader average: ♥♥½)
Actress earns 21½ ❤s
OLIVIA COLMAN as "Anne" in The Father
Synopsis: A middle aged Londoner, relocating to Paris for a job, struggles to make peace with leaving her dementia-addled father behind and moving him into a elder facility.
Stats: 47 yrs old, 19th film, 2nd billed. 2nd nomination (1 previous win). 36 minutes of screen time (or 37% of the running time).
Grace Aki: Awe hell yeah, I don’t really like British accent but this bitch is FIERCE. Olivia once again KILL audiences with her stares and reactions in the silence. I was really moved by her. I hope she doesn’t win. ♥♥♥♥
Scott Feinberg: A talented actress making the very most of a part. ♥♥♥♥
Peter Knegt: I also didn't see The Father until this assignment, mostly because I just didn't feel I could handle the emotions of a dementia narrative during "these times." And while it is certainly a challenging watch at times, watching the performances of both Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman makes for such a mesmerizing experience it mostly just made me yearn to have seen them on a big screen. Colman's work as Anne is so meticulous and devastating, a performance about the performances we give the people we love and ourselves during challenging times. It confirms her as one of our greatest living actresses, one that can seemingly do absolutely anything. ♥♥♥♥
Jorge Molina: Even though The Father is told in the most painful ways through the eyes of Anthony Hopkins' elderly man suffering from dementia, when Olivia Colman is on screen we are able to perceive Anthony and his world as he no longer can: spinning out of control, grasping to any of normalcy before it's taken from under his feet. For a movie that's intentionally built to be a subjective, disorienting experience, Olivia feels like an anchor. A reassuring presence that helps us make sense of the reality, even if it's for just a few seconds. As Anne, Anthony's daughter who's taking charge of his care, Olivia is simultaneously a balm for the character, and a heartbreaking reminder for the audience that he may be too far gone. ♥♥♥♥♥
Matt Neglia: Deeply emotional and highly complex work that earns our sympathy. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: Colman provides an intoxicating and deeply felt mix of soldiering-on stoicism and overwhelming guilt and anguish as a grown daughter dealing with a dementia-addled father. Even better she shifts nimbly to the needs of each scene and scene partner while always remaining coherent as a character even amidst the confusion of The Father's disorienting POV. ♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "I can't love this film and this performance enough. Anthony Hopkins is an actor at the top of his game, matched only by Colman's wonderfully emotional performance." - Matthew C (Reader average: ♥♥♥♥)
Actress earns 29 ❤s
AMANDA SEYFRIED as "Marion Davies" in Mank
Synopsis: A fading movie star and newspaper tycoon's mistress is betrayed by her witty writer friend, who paints an unflattering portrait of her in a screenplay that has the whole town talking.
Stats: 34 yrs old, 33rd film, 2nd billed. First nomination. 18 minutes of screentime (or 14% of the running time.)
Grace Aki: No. ♥♥
Scott Feinberg: A perfect pairing of actress and part. ♥♥♥♥
Peter Knegt: I've been a big fan of Amanda Seyfried ever since her debut (yes, debut!) performance in Mean Girls, and I was very happy to see her shaky road to an Oscar nomination come to fruition for Mank. She lights every second of the 19 minutes she's on screen as Marion Davies, conveying so much about the historically misrepresented actress with limited screen time that it made me (and surely many others) wish the movie was about her (I wasn't a huge fan of however many hundred minutes of the film without her in it). ♥♥♥♥
Jorge Molina: Amanda Seyfried fills this black-and-white movie with color anytime she's on screen. Amanda's big eyes and sense of naiveté have become staples of her acting, and she utilizes them to embody Marion Davies, a constantly underestimated woman that had to learn how to hold her own in the elite society she found herself trapped in. Marion's interactions with Mank are full of melancholy, longing, and quiet wisdom that come from always being the pretty thing in the room; someone that observes but never gets to act. Amanda embodies this quiet power so well, and it's a shame that her presence in the movie seems to be so flickering. ♥♥♥
Matt Neglia: She completely disappears and becomes Marion Davies right before our very eyes. Can’t give any higher praise than that. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: I kept hearing "all she does is hold a cocktail well". Maybe I'm sentimental about boozy wisecracking Golden Age glamour, but I would counter that she doesn't hold a cocktail well, but superbly. She's also marvelous at selling the light comic charms of an actual 30s film star, while suggesting a warm friend/lover who (ambivalently) lets men define her. And that's more from Seyfried's playing than the screenplay. ♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Injects humanity into the enigma of Marion Davies. You understand her platonic relationship with Mank and the relationship with Hearst. " - Lenard W. (Reader average: ♥♥♥)
Actress earns 24 ❤s
YOUN YUH-JUNG as "Soonja" in Minari
Synopsis: A good humored but eccentric old Korean woman relocates to rural Arkansas to help her lonely daughter and connect to her grandchildren.
Stats: 73 yrs old, 28th film, 10th billed. First nomination. 26 minutes of screentime (or 23% of the running time.)
Grace Aki: YES THAT’S WHAT WE LIKE TO SEE BABY. Okay from the very start of Youn is extremely charismatic as the grandmother. I want to throw my arms around her and I hate hugs. The ability to convey so much emotion in multiple languages with a CHILD I mean... and then there’s the turn. I was truly astonished. She should win, no competition here. ♥♥♥♥♥
Scott Feinberg: A scene-stealing performance of the first order. ♥♥♥♥♥
Peter Knegt: There's something so brilliantly unexpected about everything Youn Yuh-jung does in Minari. She keeps it dialed in while often simultanueously offering us hilarity and heartbreak, lending such a nuanced emotional core to a movie that is already working so well on many other levels. It's my favourite performance in any category this year, and one I was just as nervous as Bakalova's would not end up making Oscar's cut due to historical precedent (as in, the voting body's tendency to regularly overlook astounding work from Asian actors). So I'm certainly elated to see all the Stateside attention that has come the legendary Korean actress's way, and will always be grateful for the joy her performance provided me on a cold winter's night of lockdown. ♥♥♥♥♥
Jorge Molina: Yuh-Jung Youn's delightfully subversive take on the "wacky grandma" role plays a big part in what makes Minari such an invigorating family drama. At times quiet, at times silly, and at times full of pain, Yuh-Jung Youn's Soon-ja represents so many aspects of the first-generation immigrant experience: someone that is fundamentally out of place, and is doing her best to learn and assimilate, but that ultimately is guided by her roots. Her chemistry with the ensemble is palpable, especially with young Alan Kim. We feel her happiness at being part of the family unit, and her desperation when she accidentally betrays them. Soon-ja helplessly staring at the burning barn is one of the images that has most imprinted on me from last year. ♥♥♥♥
Matt Neglia: Strikes a balance between comedy and drama that is completely natural, fascinating and heartbreaking by the film’s climax. My personal preference of the category. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: This acting legend effortlessly enriches every scene and the family dynamic as a light-hearted imp who willfully brings the old country into the new world for her daughter and grandchildren. Soonja is there to provide her daughter with a sense of security and familiarity but Yuh-jung wonderfully plays against this blunt emotional purpose, and acts more like a moody agent of chaos, albeit a totally benevolent one. ♥♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Steals the movie with a lived-in performance you love from the first swig of Mountain Dew" - Anthony K. (Reader average: ♥♥♥♥)
Actress earns 32 ❤s
RESULT: We don't know yet who Oscar will name "Best" but the Smackdown enthusiastically crowns Youn Yuh-Jung as the winner. We imagine she emphatically accepts while cracking wise about it!
THE FULL PODCAST CONVERSATION
Download at the bottom of this post 👇 or on iTunes to hear the in-depth discussion with our marvelous guests. [All Previous Smackdowns]
Reader Comments (71)
I completely agree! Such a touching, scene-stealing and "wonderful, wonderful minari” performance of Youn Yuh-Jung. She just has to win! Second for me is also Olivia Colman.
Olivia Dukakis <3
Unable to see Borat Subsequent Moviefilm yet so can't comment on Maria.
Glenn Close- 2.5 hearts
Oliva Colman- 3 hearts
Yuh Jung Youn- 3.5 hearts
Amanda Seyfried- 3.5 hearts
I can't wait to hear the podcast because now I must know how Grace Aki REALLY thinks about Seyfried.
Just skimming the stars first, but Glenn's rank among these nominees is correct.
Congrats to Yuh-Jung Youn on her towering performance and victory in the Smackdown. Olivia Coleman is nominated for THE FATHER, not MOONSTRUCK. But I ain’t mad at the thought of her in that.
Joel -- lol. that's what I get for copying and pasting Smackdown templates.
A smackdown with rankings that pretty much break even with my own, so naturally I love it! Really hope Youn Yuh-Jung ultimately wins the Oscar gold as well, in what, 8 days? Also, Nathaniel, you are a very eloquent writer, esp when describing performance: "a moody agent of chaos, albeit a totally benevolent one." I mean, c'mon, that just nails it. *Chef's kiss*
What I find so very interesting, and I will never speak of it again after April 25th, is the polarizing difference between audiences and critics regarding HILLBILLY ELEGY. Fascinating.
The audiences connected with the characters while the critics dismantled the film for its obvious story/structure issues.
An early congratulations to Youn Yuh-Jung on her upcoming Oscar victory!
39 words... wow, Scott Feinberg really was up to the challenge.
It's so nice to see the high amount of hearts given everywhere. Great category. Thank you for everyone involved.
I am happy to see Youn win the smackdown and it was great to listen to the pod. I will say it was fascinating to hear the discussion in comparison to many pod discussions in years past. When people are discussing a current film versus one from the past how the talk runs is distinctly different.
I must admit I'm not the biggest fan of this lineup based on a few things.
1. I think Maria and Olivia are co-leads so them being here feels wrong to me because I like to see a supporting role over a lead nominated here.
2. The hatred I feel towards HE is pure and Glenn being nominated is slightly disappointing. I don't think I can be too upset by her getting in because many actors have been awarded for terrible films before.
Basically the only nominee I'd maintain in my personal lineup is Youn. Other women who I wish had gotten more attention this year would be:
Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah
Miranda Hart, Emma
Swankie, Nomadland
Dianne Wiest, Let Them All Talk
Any of the four women I've just mentioned would've made wonderful supporting nominees IMO.
I look forward to the rest of this final smackdown as it gives me an excuse to revisit films of years past.
Sound ratings. I thought Colman was great as usual, maybe did still get overshadowed a bit by Hopkins' towering performance. At this point I really wish Close hadn't been nominated just because she won't win, but I suppose if she does eventually win one it won't matter. The Razzie nomination for her alone is disgusting, Adams was much worse and didn't get one. The Razzies deserve a Razzie of their own.
Colman to Hopkins: Snap out of it!
Hooray! Smackdowns usually yield the right results, although I have way more passion for Seyfried than the Smackers do, and don't really get the love for Colman in this.
This was my ballot:
Maria Bakalova: 3.5 hearts
Full respect for commitment to bits, but I have a hard time measuring this as an acting performance rather than a well executed series of stunts. Nonetheless, very funny, risky work.
Glenn Close: 1.5 hearts
Drag, and also a drag. Watching the movie, I was certain there must be better takes of certain reactions or line readings. Was the editor undermining Close with some choices?
Olivia Colman: 3 hearts
A complicated, near impossible part that Colman navigates by playing very straight. The restraint is admirable, and she makes a generous screen partner, but this isn't exciting work.
Amanda Seyfried: 4.5 hearts
A nice, easy way with the tricky dialogue, completely nailing what Marion knows, and how aware she is about how much she doesn’t. Movie star magic in just four scenes, and a performance I think about often.
Youn Yuh-jung: 5 hearts
Perfect layering of a personality that's always at a slight distance from the rest of the family. Vivid enough that, in the end, emptied out completely, you miss her character even though she’s onscreen.
"Grace Aki: No."
If I were invited to participate in someone else's blog, I'd have to courtesy to say something more than just one word regardless of how I feel about a performance. Does she say more in the podcast and this is just due to the edit for this write-up?
And the only female panelist just said “no” about the work of another woman, also called another one a “b*tch”... Rude. Disrespectful. Wrong.
Ron & Tom- I do not edit the panelists blurbs except typos ir if they ask me to. Grace definitely says more on the podcast, yes.
Mike -- i like what u write about Olivia. i love the performance but i can see this particular complaint
Rob - thank you
I agree with Ron on "Grace Aki: No."
Fine if you didn’t like the performance but this type of review is unprofessional, rude, and lazy. Imagine if everyone else just wrote “No.” to all the performances they didn’t like above.
I actually love all of these ladies' performances to varying degrees.
All 5 performances are worthy of more insight and knowledge than one word or a couple quickly scribbled stream-of-thought sentences provided by some of the "panelists".
Olivia Williams was also wonderful in The father, maybe way better than Glenn Close
Mike in Canada --
Thank you for articulating how I feel about Bakalova. Agree that this is more a series of stunts than a performance. I don't get all the love for this - committed as she is.
Listening to the podcast now as I type this. How exciting to have actually seen all of the nominees for once!
My rankings:
- Youn Yuh-Jung (5)
- Amanda Seyfried (4.5)
- Olivia Colman (4)
- Maria Bakalova (3.5)
- Glenn Close (2.5)
I feel similarly to Mike about Olivia Colman’s performance. It’s good, but not especially interesting or surprising work. I was much more impressed by how carefully Olivia Williams modulates that tricky ending.
I'm a huge fan of this line-up. It's tough for me to choose among Olivia, Maria, and Youn, all three are so good (and I like Amanda a lot as well... she would be a great choice in weaker years). Ultimately, though I agree with the Smackdown's verdict. Olivia is incredibly moving and could not be a better fit for her role, but she already has an Oscar, so I couldn't justify giving her a second when her competition is so stiff. Maria is fearless, and I feel like I've seen people diminish her very challenging work! But Youn has to play in so many keys in Minari, and she's never less than totally believable in the role.
antonio -- "bitch" is a term of endearment in that sentence. you have to consider context. Lots of people use the word bitch that way, usually referencing someone's fierceness. it's just slang
ben 1283 -- agree that Williams is super in a very tricky role and as good as Glenn Close. That's why she was one of my finalists for Supporting Actress (alongside Glenn)
Paranoid -- lol. making lemonade from the lemon of a typo.love it.
You are going to make me watch Hillbilly Elegy now, aren’t you? (Another category where I’d be happy if almost anyone wins! This year is crazy.)
Write-in nomination:
Dominique Fishback in Judas and the black messiah-5 hearts
Smackdown's are always fun, but I miss the perspective that a few years can bring. (and that applies to my own opinions as well)
I am mostly in line with the participants, I was all about Amanda Seyfried being the winner until I saw Youn Yuh-Jung. Scene stealing grandma gets my vote for the winner and that's in line with everyone else. But damn I want Seyfried to go on to good things.
Olivia Colman is at that point in her career where she is just great in everything she does.
I am never going to see Hillbilly Elegy so I can't comment on Glenn Close.
Wonderful analysis by all, but especially Feinberg for bringing the inside intel. I never heard that that story about Close's daughter before! There were many other contenders in this category that could have been addressed, like Zengel, Burstyn, and Globe-winning Foster, and I would kind of love Youn to win just to make her the first winner in this category not to even be nominated by the Globes in 20 years, which hopefully helps put the HFPA on notice about what they are missing. Colman is my personal pick this year and, though I don't personally like the Borat universe, I can also appreciate what Bakalova did. Overall, though, it's so nice to have a lineup with admirable performances and a panel that noted what was so admirable about them!
What’s the deal with Feinberg’s generic one-sentence contributions? I was looking forward to his opinions and was so disappointed. It appears that he couldn’t be bothered to actually participate. Otherwise, wonderful Smackdown, as usual. Thank you!
I wonder how much Youn's momentum is being aided by the backlash over the PARASITE actors being left out last year? I think she's wonderful in the film, but there have been so many superior performances in an Eastern Asian language over the years that never came close to a nomination, that it seems rather odd this will be the first.
so happy that Youn Yuj-jung won the smackdown. what better precursor on her way to the oscar? Surely taking top honors amongst the actress-sexual community is an even bigger honor than the one she received last week from the snobby brits!
What if we filled out the category with other grandmas?
Marika Gogichaishvil from And Then We Danced
Margarita Kenéfic from La Llorona
Marthe Keller from My Little Sister
Ellen Burstyn from Pieces of a Woman
On pure acting, Colman wins this by a mile. Absolutely brilliant performance. It's heartbreaking work, she's never playing a wrong note next to Anthony Hopkins' fantastic performance.
It's a respectable lineup, but the only one of this year's four acting races that I can't muster much enthusiasm for. (I'm only engaged in hoping Close doesn't win for this performance.)
Of the other four: Youn (4.5 ♥︎), then Colman (4 ♥︎), then Bakalova (3.5 ♥︎). Tbh Seyfried (3 ♥︎) made more of a visual impression than an emotional one on me.
Totally agree with everyone showing love for Olivia Williams in The Father. I thought she was just as good in the movie as Colman.
Good to see the final rankings in a good way. Props!
And the Razzie goes to.... Glenn Close
*EVIL LAUGH*
Oh, and here's a spoiler for the future.... Julia Louis-Dreyfus will both an Emmy and an Oscar for her role as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine aka Madame Hydra.
Very decent result. Although to be honest, I prefer Olivia Colman over the other four nominees, but I wouldn't mind seeing Youn Yuh-Jung with the trophy.
@NathanielB-Regina King
1. Young Yuh-Jung ❤️❤️❤️❤️
2. Amanda Seyfield ❤️❤️❤️❤️
3. Olivia Colman ❤️❤️❤️
4. María Bakalova ❤️
5. Glen Close ❤️
I love love Glenn Close but the Oscar will go to Yuh-Jung Youn
I still find it puzzling how people think Seyfried did anything interesting in this movie. She just stood there looking nice. I believe people were just impressed at the costume and production values, and project this as an amazing acting performance.
Dominique Fishback did way more than Seyfried. Even Olivia Cooke.
Colman - 5 stars.
Yuh-jung - 4.5 stars
Bakalova - 3 stars
Seyfried .- 1 star. I hope someone can explain to me why this is a performance of an Oscar nomination. I do not get the praise.
Close- 1 star. That star is for the fact that I adore her.
@Jonathan: The fact that Minari is an American production seems to be making all the difference here.
This category is so fascinating this year. Two performances that are so far out of the Academy's wheelhouse (improv comedy and Asian), two that are what some would glibly call "oscar bait", but which go far beyond that (Seyfriend and Colman) and then Glenn Close whose film I have not seen but which is so polarizing that one almost admires that they went for it.
Shame Scott didn't say more, but I'll be listening to the podcast soon.
I think Olivia Colman is solid but not particularly memorable. Also a co lead. I prefer a lot of her other work more.
I though Coleman was going to the smackdown hahaha Loved the smackdown as usual, just hope next time some panelist could add more than one word to their arguments, that was just rude. Really, if you don't wanna play it, just don't. We are actressexuals, lady! Know your public 😂
Jorge and Peter did really well and contributed nicely written pieces. I love it when people leave long reviews about performances. I appreciated their input.
I wish Scott had written more than just one line and elaborated on why he ranked the performances the way he had. He seemed to like them all and it would have been nice to see why.
I'm sorry to say but Grace really left me feeling sour. It's as if she's never critically thought anything out at all. I felt as if I was reading a teenagers contributions.
Scott and Grace somewhat did not gel with the Smackdown format. Extra disappointing in the last days of the Smackdowns. Star-wise a very on the ball panel, although like most extreme Glenn lovers I’m slightly harsher on this performance than the majority here. Just grateful Bakalova and a comedy performance actually got nominated.
Everyone -- I'm geting the feeling some of you dont listen to the podcast. Grace and Scott both offer up plenty of commentary in the conversation. The blurbs are only part of it.
Monty - i feel the same about Bakalova. I love the performance but mostly i'm just grateful when comedy performances make it as they're too rare.
Leon -- "in a good way" ... are you implying you dont usually agree with the smackdown results ;)
Really enjoyed the podcast. Everyone did great -- for those complaining about the brevity of Scott Feinberg's written commentary, he was clearly saving it up for this. He was just as lively and informative as anyone else. Looking forward to the 1946 smackdown!