tough oscar choices ahead

forget amy adams and jennifer lawrence, golden globe's best actress and supporting actress winners, respectively. while both actresses are really good in american hustle (christian bale, though snubbed by the foreign press association's award giving body, is a standout in that film), their performances paled in comparison to meryl streep and cate blanchett (oscar best actress nominees along with amy) and julia roberts and the phenomenal lupita nyong'o (best supporting actress nominees along with jennifer).

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relentless, brutal and bloody -- august: osange county is not for the fainthearted.

a story about a family grieving over the death of the head of the family - a successful poet - it is bloody, brutal and relentless in its dramatic moments, like a summer blockbuster action porn where explosions after explosions bolstered by multi-million dollar special effects and accompanied by eardrum-wrecking music would drive you nuts and out of the theatre way before it's over.

meryl streep outdid herself again, delivering another unforgettable performance (a tour de force, to use the favourite term of cinema critiques) that would put her academy award-winning role as former british prime minister margaret thatcher in iron lady to shame (chos!). as the wounded widow and fierce matriarch in this family of five -- she and her husband have three daughters -- meryl has used all the aces up her short, black sleeves to deliver a layered, sometimes over-the-top, but still honest performance.

from her first scene, nearly bald (she is dying of cancer), high from drugs (she is an addict and used her being sick as an excuse to take all those drugs), confronting her husband who is about to commit suicide, to her last as the wounded and abandoned wife and mother looking for comfort in the arms of anyone, even their helper, a native american whom she prefers to call using the nonpolitically correct "indian," meryl is unmatched, unequalled, unparalleled, a true artist in her own league.

whether she is attacking her family (including their husband and lovers) in that very memorable after funeral dinner, or dancing drunk to eric clapton's superb but grammatically wrong lay down sally (according to some purists and grammarians the great songwriter should have used the verb"lie" instead of "lay"), or being oblivious to what's going on around her including the heartbreaking news from a sheriff that her husband was found dead, or narrating a painful christmas she experienced as a teen-ager to her daughters, meryl, sober this time, simply takes your breath away, making you wonder where on earth she is getting the energy, the inspiration, the fire in her belly to continue giving an outstanding performance after amassing a record eighteen oscar nominations (the most for any actor, dead or alive) and three wins (one best actress for the tragic sophie's choice, then another one for the iron lady and supporting actress for kramer versus kramer), just a trophy less than katharine hepburn who still holds the most number of oscar statues with four.

the scene where she finally told her two daughters the "secret" about their father that also involves their aunt and their cousin, is simply shattering. it's among the best scenes in the movie (oh there are plenty. as i said, the dramatic highlights are relentless like rains during the monsoon season).

if she doesn't win the oscar this year, then i am resigning as a world-class movie critique. double chos!

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because of meryl's exceptional turn, it is indeed a wonder that julia roberts (who is shown in most of her scenes with almost no make-up, underscoring the lines on her beautiful face, especially near the eyes) is able to shine in most of her scenes with her. while most actresses before her tried to deliver a credible performance when doing a scene with meryl (amy adams is brilliant in julia & julia, and even in doubt, but meryl simply swallowed her up in every scene, in every frame), julia (playing one of meryl's three daughters) is simply able to stand on her own, matching meryl's sometimes hysterical bravado.

their confrontation scenes are one(s) for the books. it is indeed a joy to watch meryl and julia together trading insults, accusations, and trying to hurt each other not only emotionally but physically as well. their tender scenes are equally great.

their confrontation scenes together reminded me of the ones between philippine superstar nora aunor and celia rodriguez in ina ka ng anak mo, and that of hilda koronel and mona lisa in insiang.  the two movies, considered among the bests in local cinema, are directed by the master storyteller and director lino brocka, and are all about the complicated relationship between mother and daughter. (look them up on youtube, you idiot!)

julia, who won an oscar best actress for her role as the activist erin brockovich, deserves another march at the red carpet minus that horrible dress she wore at the golden globe early this month, and to deliver another acceptance speech where she will remain gorgeous, calm, composed and well, "happy" and in "love (with) the world".

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the only actress that could give meryl  a run for the oscar trophy is cate blanchett. this is her sixth oscar nomination (three for best actress and three for best supporting actress), and hopefully this will be her year. but i would be happier if it will be a tie (the first ever in oscar history) between her and meryl streep. it would be lovely to see them both at the stage hugging, kissing and giving tributes to each other, and then delivering their acceptance speeches one after the other.

(i hope meryl and cate will soon make a movie. it would be a glorious follow-up to the meryl and julia pairing. don't you think?!)

since i saw her years ago in elizabeth -- where she received her first oscar nomination for best actress (she lost to the academy favourite gwyneth paltrow for her gender bending role in the lovely comedy shakespeare in love. while i love gwynee, my bff and soulmate, and that movie, i was then rooting for cate. she was simply marvelous as the young queen battling her enemies in and out of the palace) -- i already love her. i love her even more because of the divine dresses that she wore and how she carried herself (very regal) on the red carpet.

(trivia: cate and gwyneth shared one actor as their leading man in elizabeth and shakespeare in love, the movies where they received their first oscar nominations (and a trophy for gwynnie) -- the drool worthy joseph fiennes, brother of another british hottie ralph. while both actors are really good, joseph has been missing in action while ralph, despite his two oscar nominations, has yet to win one. hmmmmm.)

going back to my beloved cate, the academy finally recognized her talents during her fifth nomination, giving her the best supporting actress trophy in aviator, where she played katharine hepburn. there! it took playing a perennial oscar favourite for her to finally convince the academy that she is worthy of their votes.

in blue jasmine,  cate is luminous, delivering another soul-shattering, gut-wrenching performance as a woman who was badly scarred when she lost all of her riches and the privileges that went with having too much wealth when her husband, played cooly by alec baldwin (who is getting better and sexier with age), was jailed for defrauding investors of millions of dollars in a financial scheme ala bernard madoff, whose eldest son, unable to face the shame, committed suicide after his lies had been exposed.

cate's jasmine is of course inspired by blanche dubois, a delusional southern belle who pretends to be cultured and educated but her addiction to alcohol gave her away, a poignant character in tennessee william's classique a streetcar named desire. cate had also played blanche, one of my favourite heroines by the way, countless times when her australian troupe mounted the play internationally.

as a woman who sometimes slips to insanity, talking to herself or staring blankly into the void, and desperately searching for something, someone that will save her and pull her up from her downward spiral, cate is, to put it simply and mildly, magnificent. her hypnotic eyes can convey emotions of lunacy, despair, anger, turbulence, joy. her face also registers everything like a blank canvass. even the way she moves or walks changes to reflect what she is feeling deep inside her.

even when she is just wandering around san francisco carrying an expensive hermes (a birkin) bag (the only one she apparently saved from her former luxurious life) and wearing fashionably waspy clothes (designer outfits), cate's jasmine still vibrates the sad, scarred soul that she has become. even her blond hair cries quietly in sympathy with her character. how's that for acting?!

directed by woody allen (who has already mastered the art of transforming the big screen into a sordid world where demented, broken characters are in search for love and redemption), blue jasmine proves once and for all that cate is indeed a worthy challenger to meryl's supremacy in the art of being a chameleon, of losing herself into whatever character she is playing.

cate's latest victory at the screen actor's guild, following her triumph at the *golden globe (she won best actress for the drama category, while amy won in the comedy/musical category), boosted her chances of finally snatching that elusive best actress oscar trophy.

not surprisingly, her red carpet appearances (golden globe, bafta, etc) are winners. look at her in givenchy at the screen actors guild. a vision of an elegant goddess. i am excited what she will wear at the oscar's to top her previous appearances.

(*only golden globe splits their major acting awards (best actor and best actress) into two categories.)


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this is indeed shaping up to be one of the most exciting oscar races ever. but my bet? lady oscar luck will finally smile at cate blanchett.

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newcomer lupita nyong'o (whose name recalls to mind nabokov's young femme fatale heroine in lolita) is already making headlines not only because of her beauty and the lovely dresses that she has worn at the red carpet, but also because of her worthy performance as a slave in steve mcqueen's harrowing twelve years a slave. to think this is only her first feature film ever (she starred in a teevee series in her home country in kenya).

until now, i couldn't believe that jennifer beat her at the golden globe for best supporting actress.

(just to put things in perspective, i love jennifer and i like amy adams. while i enjoyed american hustlle, and while the two actresses are equally good in it, i just don't think their performances are worthy of any win, especially when compared to  meryl, cate, julia and lupita. there i hope i made it clear!)

lupita's win at the screen actors guild confirmed my view that she is far deserving than jennifer for the best supporting win. her outfits of choice also trumps jennifer, whose wedding cake gown at the golden globe made her look like lupita's julalay, no offense to julalays out there.

just look at her in this flawless gucci dress at the sag red carpet.

this early, lupita already knows how to play the awards game both on the big screen and at the red carpet. very promising indeed.

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as for the best actor, i am of course rooting for christian bale for his hilarious but never over-the-top performance in american hustle. i almost did not recognise him. for best supporting actor, i'd go for twelve years a slave's michael fassbender (who is brilliant in mcqueen's two earlier works -- hunger and shame). these british actors, by the way, are eclipsing american actors in their home fronts. making fellow british actor daniel day lewis, three-time academy best actor winner and recipient of five oscar nominations, so proud! (ok, i get it. michael's irish. my apologies..)

of course i am not going to elaborate more on christian's and michael's award-worthy performances in american hustle and twelve years a slave because in any race (be it a beauty contest or an acting award, specifically showbiz awards),  the war among the ladies is always the most exciting to watch.

my bet? matthew mcconaughey (i hope i spelled his last name right) will win the oscar best actor trophy. he has been a frontrunner after snagging the best actor nods at the golden globe (for drama category) and the screen actors guild or sag for his cowboy dying of aids role in dallas buyers club. for best supporting actor, my bet is that it will be handed down to jared letto, who played a transvestite in dallas buyers club flawlessly.

the academy really loves tragic figures (dying of aids or cancer or anything else sad) and gender benders. hmmmmm....

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that's all!

note: photos above were taken from the internet. no copyright infringement intended. please inform me if you want them taken off. thank you.