90th Academy Awards: Best Actress

Oscars 2018: Best Actress

With Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri handing Francis McDormand her most juiciest on-screen role since Fargo, a film which of course also brought Academy Award success for the star, the category for Best Actress is seemingly over before it begins, with McDormand's portrayal of the hateful, scenery chewing Mildred Hayes picking up awards in a similar ilk to Gary Oldman's colossal domination of success as Winston Churchill, and whilst Saoirse Ronan's role as the angsty, hysterically colourful titular teenager in Greta Gerwig's masterful Lady Bird would be my own personal choice for the win, it seems my plead to the Academy will seemingly go rather unnoticed. Elsewhere, in a alternate universe, Sally Hawkins would undeniably lead the line for her outstanding performance in Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water whilst Margot Robbie continues to show off her sturdy acting chops as the disgraced ice skating star, Tonya Harding in the wildly comical, I, Tonya, and with Meryl Streep capping off the nominations for The Post, it's no surprise to say that this year's ballot paper is one of the strongest in recent memory. As for the forgotten few, whatever anyone may think of the movie, Jennifer Lawrence is absolutely fabulous in Aronofsky's divisive mother! in her best on-screen role to date, whilst who can forget Jessica Chastain's performance as Molly Bloom in Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut, Molly's Game, and whilst it's a tad late to change the nominations, here are the top points for the Best Actress category...

Winner - Francis McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Personal Favourite - Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)

Nomination Snub - Jennifer Lawrence (mother!)

Film Review: The Post

"What Are You Going To Do, Mrs Graham...?"

Working on its' production during the latter stages of finalising the upcoming science fiction spectacle Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg's first of two movies arriving within the space of just four months, The Post, arrives suspiciously close to the one year anniversary of a certain American President's inauguration, and in a time when media scrutiny, both on paper and in the online stratosphere, is rife more than ever, Spielberg's latest is a topical drama which not only manages to balance a hefty load of important and ever-present societal issues, but a film which captures quite brilliantly a moment in media history which ultimately turned the table for press freedom and solidify the right to question and challenge the decisions of our leaders and representatives to rule. Focusing on the high profile leak of the Pentagon Papers, classified documents detailing America's involvement during the much maligned Vietnam War, The Post follows on the one hand, a Spotlight-esque narrative which features Tom Hanks' Ben Bradlee as he battles to locate the sacred papers and subsequently publish amidst legal scrutiny and fears of incarceration, but more importantly, Meryl Streep's portrayal of Katherine Graham, the owner of The Washington Post who attempts to balance the arrival of the scandalous papers with the survival of her family business after she is made heiress due to the death of her late husband. 

With the two leads on top dramatic form, Hank's confident, swaggering, editor in chief with a crystal clear view regarding the purpose of the press is brilliantly contrasted by the performance of Streep's Graham, with her managing to convey the radical development of a figure who begins unsure and insecure in a world primarily ruled by men to a fist-pumping advocate for female empowerment. With the narrative funneling through conversations which tackle conflicted interests between the press and those that are meant to being held to account, the righteousness of war and the decision between what is right and what is easy, Spielberg's latest is undeniably audience pleasing, with even a handful of cheese-twisted dramatic turns somewhat passable, but within all the flashiness and swirly whirly camera angles which convey a heavier sense of cinematic wantness than Tom McCarthy's Spotlight ever did, The Post works best when the gripping search for the truth is front and centre of the story, and with the holy trilogy of Streep, Hanks and Spielberg, The Post is the slice of entertaining period drama you expected, just with added excellence. 

Overall Score: 8/10

87th Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress

Oscars 2015

: Best Supporting Actress

Here we are at last. Our dedicated blog to the Oscars is nearly at its' end with the ceremony only a matter of days away. Before then we have one more category to discuss; the category for "Best Supporting Actress", which this year features a range of talent, and Keira Knightly. All joking aside, her performance in The Imitation Game was one of her best to date, but unfortunately for her, the bookies favourite this year is Patricia Arquette for Boyhood, which is incredibly hard to disagree with, although Emma Stone for Birdman would also be well received with everyone loving Emma Stone. Or at least I think they do. In terms of overlooked, I thought Jessica Chastain was pretty darn good in A Most Violent Year and so was Rene Russo in Nightcrawler. Anyway, enjoy the ceremony! 

Meryl Streep - Into The Woods

Laura Dern - Wild

Patricia Arquette - Boyhood

Emma Stone - Birdman

Keira Knightly - The Imitation Game