Tag Archives: Meryl Streep

2010s, Actor/Actress, Awards, Television

Oscar Outlook: Female Performance

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The Oscars are on Sunday night. I want you to be informed about all the nominees and the stories surrounding their movies and nominations. That way you can be well informed at your Oscar party as you stuff your face full of hors-d’oeuvres.

There is an entire debate about whether or not the Actor and Actress categories should be combined or left separate. I don’t want to get involved in the politics of it, but I do like having separate categories because it means that we can recognize more performers for their craft. In this post, I’m going to look at both the race for Best Actor who happens to be a female and best Supporting Actor who happens to be a female.

Best Actress

And the nominees are…

  • Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Saoirse Ronan for Lady Bird
  • Sally Hawkins for The Shape of Water
  • Margot Robbie for I, Tonya
  • Meryl Streep for The Post

Who Will Win

Frances McDormand is the hands down favorite to win this. Honestly, anyone else would be a shock. Three Billboards has grown on me the further I have gotten away from watching it. The film itself had a bit of controversy early on because of its somewhat flippant attitude towards racial violence. However, it lingers and invades in a good way and much of it is due to McDormand’s performance as a tortured mother who lost her daughter in a tragic way and is seeking justice in unconventional means.

This is her 5th nomination, and if all goes according to plan, it would be her 2nd win since her victory for her role in 1996’s Fargo. She has already taken home the Screen Actor’s Guild award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for this performance, it is hard to think that the Academy will push against this wave of support.

Outside Chance

I guess technically McDormand split the Golden Globe with Saoirse (pronounced “Seer-sha”) Ronan. McDormand won for a dramatic performance and they called Lady Bird a comedy/musical. It’s possible that Saoirse could sneak in to win this, but anyone else is pretty much a statistical impossibility. But it is an honor to just be nominated, right?

Who Should Win

I’m not going to fight this one either, McDormand gave the female performance of the year in my eyes. She commanded the screen and left us broken with her. However, if we take that amazing performance away, I think we would be having a heated race between Saoirse Ronan for her coming of age Lady Bird performance and Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. All three of these films are in my top 10 of the year and all are deserving of much credit and praise.

Best Supporting Actress

And the nominees are…

  • Mary J. Blige for Mudbound
  • Allison Janney for I, Tonya
  • Lesley Manville for Phantom Thread
  • Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird
  • Octavia Spencer for The Shape of Water

Who Will Win

If there were odds on this race, Allison Janney would be so far out front that I could lose money if I bet on her. Regardless, she deserves it! If you haven’t seen I, Tonya because you hate ice skating or whatever or the true crime drama kind of thing, then just watch it for the 5-6 scenes that we get with Allison Janney playing the acidic mother of Tonya Harding. She does more to elevate Margot Robbie’s performance as Tonya than Margot could have ever done on her own. That is why they call it a “Supporting” actor.

Outside Chance

If it comes out this week that Allison Janney is a cannibal and was somehow responsible for the death of Mr. Rogers, she would still win. Not just because voting is already completed but because she is that good.

Who Should Win

Are you listening? Allison Janney should win!

But if we are discounting her, then this would be between Laurie Metcalf as the Mother Bird to Saoirse Ronan’s Lady Bird and a subtle but tenacious performance by Lesley Manville as the sister of the unique and exacting character that was Daniel Day Lewis’ lead character in Phantom Thread. I obviously knew Laurie Metcalf from Roseanne ages ago, but Lesley Manville, I had to look up to see what else she had been in that I had missed. She was my favorite part of that film.

What do you think? Will the stars align for both of these favorites so they leave the stage grasping gold or will there be a shocking upset that we will all be talking about on Monday? I want to hear your opinions. It’s no fun just talking to myself. Let’s start a conversation here or on any of the major social media platforms.

Trailers, Weekend Outlook

Pete’s Dragon and Sausage Party – Weekend Outlook

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This weekend I will be seeing Life, Animated in a limited engagement at the Hippodrome Theater. It is only playing for 1 week so if you are here in the Gainesville area, you need to act fast. Unfortunately, I have to work on Saturday, but I may be able to check out another movie on Sunday afternoon. Let’s look at the new films hitting theaters and see if they stand a chance of passing Suicide Squad in its second week.

I kind of see this weekend as the unofficial end of the summer movie season. Very quickly studios are shifting to their fall releases which are typically more dramatic and geared towards adults and particularly Academy members. But the three new wide releases compete for second place this week because Suicide Squad, though it is still receiving less than stellar reviews, is almost certainly going to top the box office during its second weekend. I find it funny that all six of the new movies coming this weekend beat Suicide Squad on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m just saying, you can probably skip Suicide Squad this weekend and see a better movie.

Pete’s Dragon

First up is Disney’s Pete’s Dragon, the name might sound vaguely familiar because it is a remake of the 1977 film of the same name. Disney is looking to push even further out in front in the box office this year with another big family hit to add to Finding Dory, Jungle Book, and Zootopia. Last month they released The BFG, which I enjoyed and which received good reviews overall but which failed to attract the public at the box office grossing on $52 million.

It is hard to find a film to compare to Pete’s Dragon because the source property isn’t nearly as popular as Jungle Book or Cinderella. It is coming out in late August just as school is back in session across the country so it isn’t fair to compare it with others that came in the summer. The reviews are saying that it is great, and it currently holds an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m going to say that it will open somewhere in the neighborhood of Enchanted or The Good Dinosaur which opened at $34 and $39 million respectively.

Sausage Party

If Sausage Party taps into the same audience that Neighbors and Ted  had then we could be looking at a tight race for the top 3. Those two opened to $49 and $54 million respectively. Amazingly, despite the extremely foul content and crude 3D animation Sausage Party is currently looking at an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, so it could have a very strong showing. On the other hand, it could go the way of This is the End and Pineapple Express. Those were both also Sony pictures and opened to $20 and $23 million.

Seth Rogen and his troupe hope are hoping that Sausage Party’s unprecedented combination of 3D animation and crude humor will connect with fans worldwide. Part of me hopes it doesn’t because I have three kids and they already want to see it and it’s hard to explain to children why they can’t see a cartoon because it was made for adults only.

Florence Foster Jenkins

Meryl Streep is bankable talent for older audiences. It’s been a while since we had a film appealing to older audiences. It could possibly do very well as counter-programming, but a couple of other films have tried this summer and haven’t taken off. Florence is getting very good reviews though. It is currently sitting at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think that this should do better than Ricki and the Flash which she released last August to $6 million, but not as well as Hope Springs which opened in a much less crowded August in 2012 and brought in $14 million.

Box Office Projection
  1. Suicide Squad – $46 million
  2. Pete’s Dragon – $36 million
  3. Sausage Party – $32 million
  4. Jason Bourne – $10 million
  5. Florence Foster Jenkins – $8 million

Independent/Limited Release

There are also a handful of Independent films that are worth watching that are premiering this weekend. I hope that if you see them here it might peak your interest and you can keep your eyes open for when they come to your theaters. Also, get to know your local theater managers and try to encourage them to bring more independent films to market or seek out smaller venues that might be more willing to show eclectic films or documentaries that others pass over with a yawn.

Hell or High Water

Blood Father

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnqfDyzCsQk

Anthropoid