Oscar Volley: Who will take the fifth slot in Best Actress?

Team Experience will be discussing each Oscar category as we head into the precursors. Here's Nick Taylor and Eurocheese...  

NICK: We’ve arrived at the most crowded acting category of year, which doesn’t necessarily mean this category will be difficult to predict. If you look at the fifteen women in Nathaniel’s Best Actress predictions -- I think Lesley Manville should be higher for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris -- you can see that the fifth slot is going to be a bloodbath. It makes it even harder to narrow things down when so many of the turns are fantastic. The sheer amount of chaos offered from the this category in the past couple years makes it hard for me to feel comfortable with setting anything in stone even as we reach the end of the year. 

I wanna honor the messiness of the category, from year to year, and spice up how we order this volley. Euro, of all the leading actresses from 2022 with minimal-to-no Oscar buzz, who would you rank among the very best?

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Almost There: Lesley Manville in "Another Year"

by Cláudio Alves

With The Crown's fifth season comes a new opportunity for the world to bask in the glory of Lesley Manville. As Princess Margaret, she's a charismatic scene-stealer, indulging in all the melodrama thrown at her whilst brandishing a cigarette holder like a conductor's baton. Though a fair share of high-class glamour characterizes both her new Netflix gig and the role that earned her an Oscar nomination, that's not always the register within which Manville moves. You could even argue that she built her career on playing the opposite sort of people, working-class characters like the titular Mrs. Harris in this year's Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris – another outstanding performance.

Another example is Mary in Mike Leigh's Another Year. Prior to Phantom Thread, that 2010 drama surely marked the closest the actress had ever come to Oscar gold…

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The Crown: A great cast saves a middling season 5

by Cláudio Alves

The Crown | © Netflix

I've long believed that The Crown is primarily valuable as an acting showcase. In previous years, the third and fourth seasons were examined by this prism here on The Film Experience, so it seems fitting to perpetuate the tradition. It's only appropriate for, if nothing else, the Netflix show is a staunch defender of doing the same over and over again, with as little change as possible - tradition upheld for eternity. And yet, to focus solely on the acting would be a false reading of what is a disappointing fifth chapter. As much as the cast succeeds, the series' foray into the 90s brings about a striking imbalance. Melodrama takes such precedence over History that the results cannot help but lack the grandeur of seasons past…

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Review: Lesley Manville in "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris"

Who wouldn't want to travel with Lesley Manville to Paris this summer?By: Christopher James

Make Lesley Manville the star of every movie. I’m serious, Hollywood. Do it. As the titular character in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, the Oscar nominated character actress brings heart, humor and gumption to her Cinderella-esque heroine. Even from the trailer alone, you can understand the type of frothy entertainment that awaits. The movie attempts to go a bit deeper at times, but it more or less lives up to what the trailer advertised. This is a light, fun time at the ovies with beautiful gowns and great performances. What takes it from a watch-on-a-plane movie to a must-see matinee is a galvanizing and endearing performance by Manville.

We find our titular character, Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), in the midst of bad news...

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Yes, No, Maybe So? 'Mrs Harris Goes to Paris'

by Nathaniel R

Lesley Manville stars as Mrs. Harris in director Tony Fabian’s MRS.HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Dávid Lukács / © 2021 Ada Films Ltd - Harris Squared Kft

Rejoice. We now have the first poster, the first still, and the first trailer for Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, a rare chance to see Lesley Manville take a deserved spotlight rather than just livening up a show or film from the sidelines. Focus Features is releasing the film on July 15th. Can we have a round of applause for Focus which feels like its come roaring back of late between this, Downton Abbey A New Era, Licorice Pizza, The Northman, and Belfast of late? 

Let's look at the poster and the trailer after the jump...

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