Relitigating Best Actress '04
Friday, July 12, 2024 at 9:00PM ;)
Are you a fan of And the Runner-Up Is? Kevin Jacobsen's podcast started as a way to look at past Best Picture races, going down Oscar history one lineup at a time. However, when every year was covered, it came time to change strategy. Going beyond the biggest category of them all, he refocused his attention on the Academy Award for Best Actress and revitalized the format along the way. Three years ago, I had the honor of guesting in the 1933 episode where we discussed Katharine Hepburn's first victory, May Robson's sentimental loveliness, and Diane Wynyard's short-lived Hollywood success story. This week, it was time to return to And the Runner-Up Is and relitigate one of the greatest Best Actress races ever. It's Swank vs Bening round two, 2004 electric boogaloo…
While I won't spoil the whole episode, I can't help but share some of my enthusiasm with you guys. It's always a pleasure to talk to Kevin about actressing, especially when the subject is as juicy as the 2004 race for gold. Topics ranged from the curse of underappreciated films facing off against Best Picture behemoths, Clint Eastwood's methodology in contrast with Mike Leigh's approach, underrated gems, the challenge of Clementine Kruczynski, Scarlett Johansson's Golden Globe nomination, and Tea Leoni's Spanglish orgasm. When it came time to answer listeners' questions, there was even an opportunity to imagine a few alternate Oscar histories. What would have happened had Winslet won in 2004? What's that butterfly effect like?
Find that out, and much more, on the podcast episode. And if you want to check out the nominated works, here are the nominees and where you can find each of their films:
ANNETTE BENING in BEING JULIA
The film is available to rent and purchase on Amazon and Apple TV.
CATALINA SANDINO MORENO in MARIA FULL OF GRACE
The film is streaming on Max. You can also rent or buy it on Amazon and Apple TV.
IMELDA STAUNTON in VERA DRAKE
The film is available to rent and purchase on Amazon and Apple TV.
HILARY SWANK in MILLION DOLLAR BABY
The film is available to rent and buy at Amazon, Apple TV, and the Microsoft Store.
KATE WINSLET in ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
The film is streaming on Starz. You can also rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Flix Fling, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.
How would you rank the 2004 Best Actress Oscar nominees? And what's your dream lineup, by the way?
Reader Comments (30)
I want to add two things:
First, my dream lineup would include Staunton and Winslet from AMPAS' nominees, plus Delpy in BEFORE SUNSET, Kidman in BIRTH, and Thurman in KILL BILL VOL. 2.
Second, if you're wondering where the Shelley Duvall obituary is, I'm working on a piece honoring several people we've lost in the past few weeks. It should be posted this weekend. In the meantime, you can check my birthday piece on Duvall from last year: http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2023/7/7/happy-birthday-shelley-duvall.html
Claudio - agree with the two that you would keep - the only two of the five worthy of a nomination - Staunton broke my heart and Winslet made me smile :)
For me,
1. Kate Winslet
2. Catalina Sandino Moreno
3. Imelda Staunton
4. Hilary Swank
5. Annette Bennng
Should've been nominated: Julie Delpy-Before Sunset, Jena Malone-Saved!, Uma Thurman-Kill Bill Vol. 2, Maggie Cheung-Clean, Vera Farmiga-Down to the Bone, and Abbie Cornish-Somersault.
Such a strong lineup.
1. Imelda Staunton
2. Catalina Sandino Moreno
3. Annette Bening
4. Kate Winslet
5. Hilary Swank
Not the biggest fan of Winslet’s performance, as many appear to be. Swank didn’t deserve a second Oscar for this, not over Staunton, who is heartbreaking in Vera Drake.
Pretty sure Winslet was 4th.
It’s funny because everyone talked up the Bening vs Swank round 2 but really those two performances are the weakest in the lineup (it was a very strong lineup at the time!) - those two just haven’t aged well, particularly Bening.
Both were so much better in 99. I would have loved to have seen Kidman here for Birth and Julie Delpy too (Thurman was better in Part 1 FWIW).
In all honesty - I think the runner up was Staunton. Gosh that performance has aged beautifully. As has Winslet’s.
5.-4. Hilary Swank and Kate Winslet:
They may seem lightyears apart, but both performers have the same issue: Very few things are hidden in their performances, much is laid out in the open. Winslet, particularly, is heralded as a performer, but even when she is at her subtlest, all of her characters' inner workings are quite visible for the viewer. Swank was wonderful in Boy's Don't Cry, and she brings with her shades of the same tenderness to MDB, but I never thought the made the the character much interesting.
Both actresses gave this year their second best performance ever after BDC and S&S, respectively.
3. Catalina Sandino Moreno:
Moreno balances a raw vulnerability with strength, and it is not easy to do in a convincing way. She is a natural, and her performance is organic, moving, yet never veers towards the pathetic (that Swank and Winslet cannot stop themselves from entering).
2. Imelda Staunton:
Obviously, this is a brilliant performance, lived-in, by an actress who is quite aware of her instrument yet completely disappears into the role. Vera is in many ways an unbelieveable character, and to embody her naïvety without seeming overbearing is quite a triumph.
1. Annette Bening:
Yes, the film is not much, but this is such a wonderful diva performance that touches upon the whole register. She is annoying, cunning, funny, sexy and devious; you wish to be swept into her world and are happy you didn't. She should have been a clear winner with this classic movie star performance.
I would have nominated Bening, Staunton, Moreno and then Kidman and Thurman.
Kate Winslet is my choice of the nominees. Then Bening, Staunton, Sandino Moreno, and a distant 5th Swank. For the life of me, I've never understood how she won. Of the non-nominees, Julie Delpy gave a extraordinary performance which for me ties with Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive as performance of the decade.
Switching over to Best Actor for a second, it was incomprehensible (to me, anyway) that Jim Carrey wasn't really even in the discussion for his superb work in Eternal Sunshine.
Ranking the nominees
1. Imelda Staunton
2. Kate Winslet
3. Catalina Santino Moreno
4. Annette Being
5. Hilary Swank
Swank only won because of the Million Dollar Baby love, part of which was a Mystic River makeup.
Nicole Kidman should have gotten a nomination, and I am going to suggest a performance that was overlooked but not really a contender: Jennifer Garner, 13 Going on 30.
Julie Delpy fan here. Amazing performance.
I think Swank was a deserving winner in this line-up, but I don't have strong feelings about any of the nominees, other than I hate Bening in Being Julia.
My favorite performance for this year is an unconventional choice. I think Gena Rowlands is devastating in The Notebook. The opening shot is late evening as the shadows deepen. The camera is at ground level looking up at a woman moving about her second floor bedroom. With no other clues, we know that something is amiss here.
How does Rowlands do that? As the film progresses and we see this dignified lady contend with the effects of advanced Alzheimer's disease, there is never pandering in her work for cheap sentimentality. Each moment feels true. God, what a marvelous actress!
Scar Jo's GG nomination is such overkill,that slot could have gone to Roberts in Closer,one of her very best and no love from anybody or Kim Basinger in The Door in the Floor but maybe people felt she was supporting.
I'd rank them this way Staunton Winslet Swank Bening Moreno.
My own nominees Hilary Swank,Julia Roberts,Nicole Kidman,Kate Winslet with Imelda Staunton as my winner,I think she's one of the best non winning nominees ever in this category.
I don't have a huge issue with Hilary wining a second I think she is very believable and moving whilst being fairly one dimensional,they fell hard for MDB even giving an Oscar to Freeman for basically being his usual solid self and even a Best Actor nod to Clint over Jim Carrey,Jeff Bridges,Tom Cruise and esp Paul Giamatti in Sideways
Bening's performance isn't one of her best but she's lots of fun as a manic diva but she had no chance,no-one liked her film with a better vehicle she may have beat Hilary.
The internet mostly agree on Winslet being the rightful winner and she's better here than in her Oscar winning role.
Looking forward to the Shelley tribute.
03/04 is always a mess for me because I treat Kill Bill as one movie and I’d give Uma the win whichever year I enter her for it. People are rightly passionate about Theron, Winslet, Staunton in those years but Beatrix Kiddo enriched my cinematic life like few characters and performances ever have.
Twenty years later, these five performances still look pretty good net/net. Agreed that Delpy and Kidman should probably be swaps for Bening and Moreno, but both of them are more than solid for sure. It's a bummer that Moreno didn't go on to do anything major...
The Academy's obsession with Million Dollar Baby was weird even then. It's a totally fine Hollywood movie, but so cliche and dusty. Swank absolutely deserved her first Oscar, but this one should have belonged to Staunton or Winslet for superior performances in superior films.
My preference for the Nominees:
1. Imelda Staunton
2. Kate Winslet
3. Hilary Swank
4. Annette Bening
5. Catalina Sandino Moreno
My own nominees:
1. Uma Thurman - Kill Bill Vol. II
2. Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
3. Julia Roberts - Closer
4. Nicole Kidman - Birth
5. Kate Winslet - ESotSM
I wish we had the version of 'Closer' that Cate Blanchett was able to star in - too bad she got pregnant and had to drop out :/
This was such a good lineup.
Props to Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates too. My personal lineup consists of:
Julie Delpy. BEFORE SUNSET
Nicole Kidman. DOGVILLE
Julia Roberts. CLOSER
Uma Thurman. KILL BILL: VOL. 2
Kate Winslet. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
I don't begrudge Swank's win here. I thought she did a good job. Although sure, with I'm with others in thinking Staunton's work was more impressive.
But to me, this should've been another Kidman win. She's stellar in Dogville.
Of the nominees, I would have liked to have seen Staunton or Bening win. I was never as in love with Winslet's performance as everyone else seems to be.
Kidman should definitely have been nominated for Birth.
Love the dueling Kidmans. I don't think I could choose one over the other.
It's a wonderful quintet in an year where we deserved 10 actresses nominated in the category.
I never understood why Swank win is so unpopular. She did a wonderful job. Meggie is a character so rich of emotions and tones and is the best written character among these nominees.
@Claudio: We have the same line up.
Delpy
Kidman (I consider Dogville a 2003 film)
Staunton
Thurman
Winslet
And honestly, any of them are worthy winners. What a fantastic year.
As for the actual line up, I don't think any of these performances is bad, but I would never nominate them. I don't care for Million Dollar Baby and never did. Swank is good in it, but not second Oscar good.
And Bening is an actress that I seem to enjoy less and less with each passing year for some reason. I thought she was embarrassing in Nyad.I do think she's incredibly fun in American Beauty, even if the movie is kind of a problematic mess.
And Moreno's is a solid breakthrough performance, but not Oscar-worthy. It's nice that actress can say she's an Oscar nominee, though.
I can't wait to listen. Your 1933 episode was a lot of fun.
I think it's shameful, but very hollywood, to nominate Moreno but then offer her worthless scripts/roles post-nomination. She has a lot of talent, and I'm sad she wasn't able to capitalize on her nomination. Still, it's nice that she's still working.
I know it's a bad opinion, but I really love Bening in Being Julia. She's having so much fun and bites into the role so deliciously. She nails the big comedic scenes wonderfully. I hope she one day wins an oscar.
I stand by my decision making 20 years ago. This should've been a sweep year for Vera Drake including Best Picture. Imelda Staunton is transcendent in that film.
Catalina Sandino Moreno came very close for me. She'd certainly be near the top of a list of best debut performances for Maria Full of Grace.
Then again, I was also all in for Jamie Foxx winning 2 Oscars in 1 night, Supporting category fraud be damned.
My own lineup will be:
Stauton
Kidman (Birth)
Delpy
Winslet
Bening
The Oscar lineups is fine. I like Sandino Moreno even though I don't think she is nom worthy but I don't begrudge her nomination; it's inspired pick. Of course Oscar has to pick the weakest performance for the win. Swank is by no mean bad but it's such an easy performance that plays with audience sympathy and best picture heat. I remember that at the time, her campaign was about how much training she had to do to make a believable boxer. I guess that counts for something but it's meh to me. There is no layer there; it's such an obvious performance.
From the lineup, I pick either Staunton or Bening. I know Bening has her distractors, but even though her movie is just so so, she was great. She was so funny and heartbreaking; over the top but never cartoonish and the last five minutes of her performance was just pure bliss.
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Some great performances that year.
My lineup:
Bening
Roberts
Staunton (winner)
Thurman
Winslet