Oscar 2011 - Supporting Actors

Generally I don't like writing about actors because unlike other categories here I don't have much else than subjective appreciations. And that's a very good reason to be shorter today, especially given the hour when I'm writing and the lack of time :) This year I preferred talking about supporting actors because for the leading ones the things are pretty settled (and besides that, here I managed to see all the movies, in the other categories not). And because we have a series of common titles, I said myself that it will be less time consuming to group the nominees on movies. So, what we have here ...

"Animal Kingdom" has Jacki Weaver as nominee for supporting actress, in a role which is sort of like a modern Godfather version placed in the context of suburban Australian organized crime. More precisely she plays the mother of an entire gang who "adopts" also one orphan nephew. The movie itself is pretty harsh/grim as general feeling. I can't say also that is pretty good. It has plenty loose ends and some scenes which seem far from credible. And these among others confirms me once again a not very good opinion about the australian cinema (well .. there are exceptions, but not this one). I think that the casting is the best part of the movie, and the nominated role is excellent played. That good that this should be a pretty solid reason to watch the movie. I can't say much more without giving spoilers but there is a point where there is a total character transition from warm to a very scary cold attitude. For more details, see the movie :)

In "The Fighter" we have three nominees for supporting roles. Two for supporting actress - Amy Adams, the main character's girlfriend and Melissa Leo, the mother. One for supporting actor - Christian Bale, the brother, a former drug addicted boxer. The cast is excellent and I think it's the best in a last year's movie. I'm pretty sure that the both Oscars will land here. Although I like Amy Adams, for supporting actress I'm pretty sure that the award will be taken by Melissa Leo. She does a role that has some similarities with the one nominated in "Animal Kingdom", it's also about a mom who tries to offer some false affection and behind lies a pretty big dose of cynicism. And if for supporting actress there might be another nominee to be considered as favorite, for supporting actor I don't expect any surprise. I've already written in the blog entry about "The Fighter" that this is the best career role for Christian Bale. Probably this is not very visible in the next clip, but I didn't find another one to include all the three nominees ...

"The Kids Are All Right" it's a type of drama that wants to be a bit of a comedy (but it doesn't really work). The subject is placed around two kids of a lesbian pair meeting their father, former sperm donor. I'll write more about the movie when I'll reach the final Oscar entry for Best Picture ( .. yes, it has a nomination also there ). Here the nomination is for supporting actor - Mark Rufallo - the father. What can I say is that the movie, as the previous cases above and also like "The King's Speech" has as it's best point the cast... and that's pretty much all. However, I think that not even this part can reach the first half of potential Oscar winners from all the nominees.

"The King's Speech" has two nominations here - Helena Bonham Carter as king's George the VIth wife and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, the former actor employed for speaking lessons. If for supporting actress I think that's the weakest nomination, for the role of Geoffrey Rush is probably the most close to the one that will get the Oscar. Even so, the chances for a surprise here are very small. The winners for acting this year, excepting supporting actress are pretty clear already from my point of view.

"The Town" is the third movie this year (along with "Animal Kingdom" and "Winter's Bone") to have an action context placed around an outlaw "family" with scary and more scary than scary members. In "The Town" the part of the scariest bad guy is played by Jeremy Renner - the best friend of the main character (Ben Affleck) and also the most violent member of a Boston gang specialized in bank heists. The movie is pretty much at the same level with "Animal Kingdom" but it's ... american = here the bad guy seems to be a good guy after all - in the other one it's not, here the love story seems to last forever .. in the other one it abruptly ends (and I won't say more because I'm already close to give some spoilers), etc. Getting back to the nominee:

In "True Grit" the nominee for supporting actress is Hailee Steinfeld for the role of the girl who tries to avenge her father. It was a very pleasant surprise I might say, and she actually has some chances to the Oscar. Like I said I think it's the only category where the dices aren't yet rolled. However, I'm sticking to the opinion that both awards for supporting actors will go to "The Fighter". Well, for the moment a short clip from "True Grit" :) :

And I reached the last from the list - "Winter's Bone". I was saying above about a pleasant surprise. I got one here too. I had no idea who is John Hawkes prior to this movie. He plays the role of Teardrop here, the uncle of the girl who's searching her missing father. Again we have a role of a guy with a police record and apparently quite a grim & scary character, but unlike the nominees for supporting actress here the role has a transition from absolutely cold to a more fatherly attitude. And the actor manages this in a very well done manner.

That's all bout this category. I'll be back to areas where I'm a bit less "unauthorized" next time :) = cinematography