11 Days til Oscar: Julianne Moore's Mood Right Now?

Julianne Moore has been nominated for an Oscar five times and was thisclose to two additional nominations (Magnolia & A Single Man). She arguably ought to have two naked gold men already, if you look back over the years. Having been close so many times do you imagine this is her mood right now... hanging over an abyss... is disaster or glorious rescue coming?

But, as stated many times on this actress-loving site, the Oscars are notoriously stand-offish about fifty-something actresses.  Will Julianne Moore finally break the curse? Literally no fifty-something has won Best Actress since Shirley Booth in Come Back Little Sheba (1952) more than sixty years ago. Like Julianne Moore now, she was 54 years old. 

It's as if once you're no longer young the voters need you to be a grande dame before you're awardable again. And then usually only if you're a living legend (Streep, Hepburn, Page).

Do you think Julianne Moore is aware of any of this or just basking in the career honors glow of precursor season? Are you nervous for her or counting down to a moment of fan joy? And if she does win do you think a standing ovation will be waiting for her? 

Curio: Keaton and Moore's Vintage Features

Alexa here with some pre-Oscar nostalgia. As many of you know, I have quite the magazine stash in my basement: stacks of old issues that allow me to trace my various pop culture obsessions through the years. In 1989, 16-year-old me was crushing hard on Michael Keaton and was very excited about his upcoming turn as Batman. And then, in 2002, I was excitedly anticipating the adaptation of one of my favorite books, The Shipping News, starring Julianne Moore.  Hence these issues of Rolling Stone and Movieline were found in the piles.

I thought a little interview nostalgia was in order for these two arguable (yes, Redmayne) Best Actor and Best Actress frontrunners. After the jump, some excerpts...

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Beauty vs. Beast: Evil Julianne & Evil Eddie

Jason is out of town so it falls on me to complete his Beauty vs. Beast duties this week. I cycled through so many possibilities before I succumbed to this fact: I spend at least 15 minutes of every day lately fantasizing that off camera  Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmaybe are reenacting mother/son Savage Grace sequences at all of their awards season campaign stops. In addition to being the frontrunners for Best Actress and Best Actor they also are the primary villains of two of this weekend's big poorly reviewed would be blockbusters that busted no blocks. So a twofer today, Savage Grace's psychotic beauty and murderous beast and Jupiter Ascending and The Seventh Son's Beauties who are also both Beasts.

Two Gingers, Twice. You've Got Two Votes. Go! 

poll by twiigs.com

poll by twiigs.com

You have one week to vote starting now!

LAST WEEK
Last time we looked to Groundhog Day and discovered we had more wintriness to endure. The battle of Phil Connor vs. Punxsutawney Phi is apparently doomed to repeat itself forever; you couldn't decide resulting in the second 50/50 split in this series history (the first and only other time was the Black Swan episode) 

Brookesboy summed up your wishywashiness this cycle

I started voting for little Phil because he's got better hair. But it was only a shadow of a doubt. Gotta go with Bill.

BAFTA Wins & Open Thread

2:00 PM For those of you who have access to a live feed - I'm settling in for Dianne Wiest's new play - feel free to discuss. I'll chime in soon.

5:25 PM Here are the winners with some quick thoughts on what this means for Oscar.

THE WINNERS

BEST FILM BOYHOOD
BEST BRITISH FILM THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
LEADING ACTRESS JULIANNE MOORE Still Alice
LEADING ACTOR EDDIE REDMAYNE The Theory of Everything
SUPPORTING ACTRESS PATRICIA ARQUETTE Boyhood
SUPPORTING ACTOR J.K. SIMMONS Whiplash
DIRECTOR RICHARD LINKLATER, Boyhood 

Same as it ever was. Despite the internet's total freak out earlier this weekend when Birdman added to its trophy haul with the prestigious DGA prize, the frontrunners remain the frontrunners. Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor are still competitive mind you, but I don't think they're as competitive as people think and I suspect these are all repeat wins at the Oscar. 

EE RISING STAR Jack O’Connell
COSTUME DESIGN THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Milena Canonero

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What's Next for the Best Actress Class of 2014?

Manuel here to talk some more about that actress quintet Nat was just gushing about (we really can't get enough of our fave category!) With news that a certain franchise has nabbed one of our Best Actress nominees for an upcoming film, I figured we should check in and see when we’ll see each of our leading ladies next...

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