This race lacked any real suspense on who was going to win because Joy Randolph swept everything and it was never in doubt for her to win. I'm eager to see the performance because from everything I've heard, she steals every scene, so I'm ready for that. The real suspense for this year was who exactly was going to be nominated. Foster sort of slipped into the fifth spot which could have been filled by a whole bunch of other women, so it was neat to watch that play out. I love that we have four first time nominees as I like to see new people rewarded for their work and not see the Academy going to the same well over and over again and that's no slight to Foster. Let's spread the wealth with these nominations!
2023 Best Supporting Actress
Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers
This was the performance that dominated everything up through Oscar night, so I was very excited to see just what exactly swept the awards season. Why did this specific performance and person just run away with the whole thing. Online I was hearing that Joy Randolph really took over the film at parts and had an emotional Oscar moment. So of course I'm expecting this to be great, but I feel like I was let down some. Joy Randolph is fantastic in this role, no doubt. She plays a kitchen manager at a boarding school and has recently lost her son to the Vietnam war. He went to this boarding school, so she is reminded of her loss with a Christmas prayer. We don't fully understand her pain because she stays so guarded but what many would consider her Oscar turn is when she is at a party from a fellow coworker and has a breakdown in the kitchen. I had heard of this moment beforehand and was honestly expecting more from it, but while being heartbreaking, it never felt like one of those Oscar moments that I point out in this blog all the time. She gets drunk and breaks down and cries. It's good acting, but I didn't feel it was a can't miss moment that gets played in those Oscar acting montages. It was brief and subtle and fit the moment, but wasn't something that people would go crazy over. Also, a lot of Joy Randolph's acting felt like a woman side eye-ing everyone else as the story goes along and occasionally pointing out how the main characters are fucked up and it feels like a natural thing for her character. But a lot of her acting was just judging the others in the film. She is delicate but her steadfastness to her family is admirable and to her friends is even more impressive. I think it's a pretty decent performance, but it certainly doesn't wow me. I can only feel that this is a weaker year, having seen only one other performance in this bunch so far. I love the film and Joy Randolph is great in the context of the film, I just have to see if this is my winner after I view them all. I'm loving what she brings to the film, just not what she brings to the category.
Emily Blunt - Oppenheimer
I will be honest and say I didn't expect much from this nomination. For one, this was a Nolan movie, and two, this is about a bunch of nuclear physicists with a ton of famous male actors. Blunt always felt like a throw in, even while watching the film - nothing against her. She probably should have already had a nomination for The Devil Wears Prada, so this is a situation of the nomination is the prize. After watching her performance, I'm still wondering what exactly Blunt did to be nominated. I guess she was sufficiently supporting and she did have I think a drinking issue that was very minimally shown and not really dealt with before being forgotten and being direct and angry toward Cillian later in the film. And I think that was it? I just watched the film and I can't remember anything of significance that she did. I do remember the awful love scene with Florence Pugh. But please tell me what does Blunt do? I do think it's cool that Jim from The Office's wife has an Oscar nom now. Where you at Pam?! And I do like all that Blunt has done and hope that she does some more interesting performances that offer more depth than this one does. Just nothing here worth grabbing on to.
Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple
I had initially started writing something like who even wanted a musical film version of this story shortly into my watching this. I like to write down my thoughts sometimes as I watch a film to better make sense of it after its done. But this musical had a lot of success on Broadway and Brooks was nominated for a Tony Award and the cast won a Grammy for one of their random, obscure, 500 awards they give out. So I understood why they wanted to cash in on that success, but does it denigrate the original work and the substance of that work? Nah, the actual musical parts of the film are not a lot for a two and a half hour film. But yes, this is about Brooks who plays the Sofia character that Oprah played in the 1985 film and the role she was nominated for the Tony Award on stage. The film does do the dramatics of the story well, but to a way lesser degree than the Spielberg film, which makes sense. Brooks is a firebrand character who comes into the film like a wrecking ball (Miley Cyrus would be proud) and instantly sets the tone of what Brooks is going to bring to the film. Easy to see why she was nominated out of all the choices the film could have had. And again, it makes sense because Brooks is the one who lived this role for a bit while earning a Tony nod. She's very comfortable in the role, knows who Sofia is and ain't afraid to make her character spring to life. She is a much needed spark in a film that can get a bit moribund at times with the whole domestic violence, women ain't shit, poor black women are even lower thing, etc. Brooks shows us that is not the case. A strong, sassy, somewhat independent woman is a very real and very likeable thing. It obviously makes her character arc more heartbreaking when she is beaten down and defeated and we feel that as the viewer. It's great that there is a happy ending, though we don't really see it for Sofia other than she overcomes her resignation. It's a good performance. Fantasia Barrino was really great as Celie, but she was never getting nominated in Best Actress. It has some catchy songs, though the film itself isn't amazing and certainly not on par with Spielberg. But Brooks satisfies and feels like a worthy nominee here.
America Ferrera - Barbie
I love this nomination! I loved Ferrera in Superstore, so seeing her get an Oscar nom is surreal but also not surprising. She was definitely the heart and soul of that show and has been doing a ton in TV since Ugly Betty. She's an incredibly funny actress who has the chops to pull off any dramatic moment. That is evidenced by her performance here where she gives an iconic monologue about what it means to be a woman. It went viral and there's nothing fake in her delivery. She is the tired and exasperated woman who is done having to be perfect and submissive and strong and dutiful to the household and be a million different versions of herself at the right time to not offend someone. I'm a man and even I feel her desperation in that monologue. It's a double standard that us men just don't really have to navigate. Ferrera is the Barbie doll player that pulls Margot Robbie's Barbie into the real world and she nails her limited use. Her daughter hates her because the daughter is a typical brooding teen and they eventually bond over her being this badass woman who helps Barbie clean up Barbie Land and become her own thing. I am totally cool with people getting nominated based on one particular scene because it has happened so much throughout Oscar history. It has to be earned, though, and Ferrera definitely earns her nomination. That is a monologue that will be forever shown on clip shows and various Oscar highlights as some of the best reasons someone has been nominated. Totally approve of Ferrera being here and it's so cool to see her achieve this level of success.
Jodie Foster - Nyad
Foster was never going to win here and I feel like she came along for the ride with Annette Bening as the older Academy voters were showing them some love for maybe the last time? She is already a two time winner, so not much left to prove and this performance was good but certainly not as good as she is capable of. The film was a decent, enjoyable watch about Bening's Nyad, a woman who did marathon swimming challenges all over the world. She had tried to swim from Cuba to Florida in her 20s but failed. Now at 60, she decided she wanted to try again and the film follows her as she makes a few attempts. It's a never give up and good things will happen sort of story and Foster plays Nyad's longtime friend and sort of coach / manager. The two veteran actresses have unbelievable chemistry and you just feel like they are longtime friends (which they might be, I don't know exactly) with how they interact with each other and joke around and tease and call each other out. It's a very realistic friendship portrayal and it's part of the reason anyone is watching this little film anyway. We are watching Foster and Bening do their thing in a film together and rooting them on to succeed in their crazy swim. And that's really it. Foster is solid, she is believable in the role, she hits the right emotions at the right times, she brings a great vibe to the film overall. Not her greatest work, but not the worst thing you'll ever see and it's kinda nice to see her nominated again after so long.
Not the greatest group for what was really a weaker year for nominees, sad to say. I don't understand the Blunt nomination at all. I think she just came along for the ride like so many previous nominees because she did nothing of note and I had trouble remembering what exactly she did after watching the film. I enjoyed Foster, but she was never winning. Just a good supporting role for Benning to work with and enjoy a possible last nomination and getting her flowers. Joy Randolph would be the middle woman and I was really hoping to love her performance, but it simply underwhelmed for something that swept the whole season. Brooks was surprisingly good to me. She had a lot of energy and passion in the role and she carried a mostly boring film. If not for Ferrera having that big, iconic monologue scene, Brooks would have been the choice. I just loved what she brought to the film that became a cultural moment and would have loved to see her win. So she's my choice. Let's get on to 2024, I am so ready for it!
Oscar Winner: Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers
My Winner: America Ferrera - Barbie
Danielle Brooks
Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Jodie Foster
Emily Blunt
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