At last, 2012! I've wanted to get back to the more present day ceremonies for awhile since they are all still so fresh in my head. I can finally get out all these thoughts I've had on all the various people and films. I feel like this might be a little therapeutic for me and should be a lot of fun. But! My only qualms about doing the newer years now is that there are so many looooong films, like close to 3 hour films, especially in this year. And the amount of nominees from different films is less than in the past. Meaning more films have multiple nominees (2-3-4) for the acting categories so the likelihood of me getting burnt out after only watching say 3 or 4 films is very high. Although there is the fact that I've had some of these reviews written in my head for years so it shouldn't take me as long to write some of them.
2012 Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
So when I watched this back in 2013 before the ceremony that year, I didn't buy into the hype that this was a powerful and amazing surefire Oscar winner. When that did finally happen I was left scratching my head as to why. I felt it got through on the strength of one song in the film and that was it. And I didn't think her singing of the song (which is obviously a very iconic song) was all that great. It frustrated me beyond belief and is something I've grown more accustomed to from having rooting interests in the Oscar ceremonies now. So the question is how do I feel about her performance now? I've had a couple years to think on it and I've now watched it again. Pretty much the same, honestly. I still don't think it's all that great and she basically won on the strength of the iconic 'I Dreamed A Dream' song. That's really not fair because it's the most well known from the musical and among the general public. Yeah, she belts it out and cries some tears but it felt like it was the high school theater girl who goes all out and thinks she's super great but is just trying way too hard. It didn't move me like some people seemed to be. I thought that Eponine (Samantha Barks) was not only a better singer but a better actress, as well. I would have preferred to see her get the nomination but she didn't have any name recognition and didn't get to sing a no brainer Oscar song, though the song she sang was fantastic. Barks leaves more of an impression on me than Hathaway did and that tells me this was the wrong choice for a nomination AND a win. I'm just not feeling this one.
Amy Adams - The Master
So this was my winner before I rewatched everything here. It really doesn't have much competition if you're not some huge Hathaway fan and I think it's still my winner. After watching The Master for the second time, I think Adams slips a bit honestly. I remembered her being the driving force behind Lancaster Dodd and this huge presence and that's not exactly the case. Adams is more the supportive wife who doesn't want her cult leader husband to lose power or lose a subject and then influences him to stick with it. Maybe my second watch isn't accurate but Adams does seem to be the supportive wife who has a very powerful role in Dodd's life. That's why I loved this performance so much the first time. It felt like a woman who knew her man was a very influential man but did it in a different way to try and protect her man however she can. That's why I thought her version of Dodd's wife was so great because she was actively trying to a bunch of different things at once. She's almost ever present in the scenes and sort of gradually finds herself more involved in the film and it felt so right for her character. Her grip on Dodd is so light that you won't notice it until too late and she's no longer in the picture. Basically, Adams' character is that strong woman behind every guy trope brought to life.
Sally Field - Lincoln
There's not a lot to this nomination sadly. And many were touting this as a possible winner. It received a big push for a bit but that died down once Hathaway started winning everything. Field plays Mrs. Lincoln and is the quintessential worrisome wife who wishes her husband would think more about his family than what's going on in the country. She only shows up to play the irritated wife/mother role and I don't think she has any stand out moments. She's not a pleasant character, which is fine, but she's very one dimensional. I know that she suffered greatly at the time but there's nothing too redeemable about her character. It's like the nagging wife and no one likes that. There's unfortunately not much else to the performance. It's really not something you can root for unless you really, really like Sally Field, but she has enough Oscars as it is so no dice. And that's about all I can say about Field here. There's not much to it and it gets overshadowed by DDL's towering performance.
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
The easy joke to make is what got Helen Hunt nominated this year: her performance or her tits? Because it felt like she spent half of the movie naked! Hunt plays a sex surrogate who I assume helps all kinds of people experience sex but here she focuses on John Hawkes' character who is in an iron lung. It's a pretty bold role to take on because being naked that much is no easy feat. You never see a dude exposing his junk for half a movie yet women are fully expected to do so without hesitation. So bravo to Helen for that (and I realize I was pretty harsh on Kate Winslet for a similar type of role but I didn't think she was good AND she won for it so yeah) because I know it's not easy. She plays a therapist so she is very warm and a bit endearing and eventually starts to form feelings for her subject. Nothing is fully realized emotionally but the two form a bond. This is a role that's more demanding physically rather than showing a wide range of emotions or feelings. It seems women really fall easily for John Hawkes' pitiable character and Hunt's character sort of goes through the motions of that. She falls for him, questions those feelings, and then leaves but still loves him. So I feel that the role was nominated more for the constant nudity and the fact that Hunt is pretty good at the therapist and confused housewife. The two alone don't make a good enough nominee but I guess together it's not so bad. Certainly not the worst of the this year.
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
Alright so I'm not gonna have much to say about this one. There's just nothing to this nomination at all. Weaver does nothing. NOTHING. She is the wife/mother that is in the background the entire time and if she wasn't in the film would not be missed. Replace her with a man or an alien or a rock and it doesn't look bad at all. This nomination was included only because the UK/Australian peeps of the Academy joined forces because there is no other reason why she should be here. She's taking away a deserving spot for someone and that's awful. The nomination also rode the Silver Linings Playbook wave to some goodwill but obviously didn't deserve it. The film has likable characters but Weaver's character was non-existent and brought nothing to the forefront. Easily one of the worst nominations I've seen from the Academy yet.
My enemy! Short reviews because, well, I disliked many of these ladies! Hathaway was a joke. Legit. Like, I can't understand why she won at all. It's stupid. So Adams is my winner with Hunt as my runner up because if you're gonna get totally naked for so long in a mainstream movie you get my kudos. Sally Field and Weaver just simply had nothing much to do and that's sad. Like I could criticize more but I won't. I'll just say Adams and her film are way better than anything listed below!
Oscar Winner: Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
My Winner: Amy Adams - The Master
Helen Hunt
Anne Hathaway
Sally Field
Jacki Weaver
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