7.03.2006

Supporting Actress Aught-Stars

What with all the aught-ness going on over at The Film Experience, and when the conversation turned to the relative ought-ness of various Supporting Actress nominees, StinkyLulu somehow started succumbing to the listomaniacal peer pressure. So, below, please consider StinkyLulu's 6 choices for the "Best of..." the Supporting Actress nominees since 2000.
A Curious Aside (Or 2):
Only
one year's field of Supporting Actress nominees is unsullied by an awful/lame/bad nomination: 2004. Strangely, that's the only year without a representative in StinkyLulu's list of the Supporting Actress Aught-Stars. Not sure how that happened.
Also
, only how is it that only one trophy-taker made it to the following list?

StinkyLulu's
Supporting Actress Aught-Stars

The "Best" Supporting Actress Nominations of the New Century
in alphabetical order

Amy Adams, Junebug '05
A lesser actress might have coasted on Ashley's silly sweetness, or her hickabilly humor, or that subtly striving hopefulness. But you, Miss Adams, found all three, conveyed them masterfully, and then backloaded the performance with a gunpowder shot of simple humanity. That blast of pathos elevated a charming and skilled performance into transcendant actressing for the ages.


Shohreh Aghdashloo, The House of Sand and Fog '03
There's a moment quite early in the film, in which a look of alarm flickers across your face -- a sharpness complicating Nadi's well-appointed housewifery. And, then, as the film unfolds, you incrementally reveal a depth of anguished experience that just tears Lulu's heart out & stomps that sucker flat. Precise, profound, powerful -- a consummately professional performance that leaves Lulu reeling.


Marcia Gay Harden, Pollock '00
Marcia Gay, your Lee Krasner tethers her Pollock to the world; in so doing, your performance (with all its mannered brittleness) becomes the emotional key that unlocks the exhausting and indulgent universe of Ed Harris' Pollock (the character & the film). Your performance becomes as Krasner herself -- part docent, part press-agent, part weary shopkeeper -- but it's work lovingly done to bring her Pollock to an audience.
Quite simply, your career-best work is the heart and soul of this "Method" master class.

Holly Hunter, Thirteen '03
Golly, Holly, you're taut, tense and terrified in this emotional roller-coaster of a movie. But what's brilliant is how all that tenseness comes from your character trying to "do the next right thing" and from "faking it till you make it" (as your bumpersticker proclaims). Indeed, Melanie's barely more mature than her rapidly maturing daughter, and yet your performance pivots on that moment when Melanie realizes she can be "more" than she ever thought she could. It's a powerful gift of a performance.

Julianne Moore, The Hours '02
Crazy. Not you. Well, you -- kinda. But, no. Crazy that some people actually seemed to think you weren't acting. Like being consumed by rushing water while reclining on hotel bed is something you do everyday. Your portrayal of Laura Brown is a pitch-perfect performance of the consequences of thwarted feeling -- one that Lulu thinks confused people because, despite the glorious outfits & settings, it wasn't spectacular. Instead, your character's measured disintegration functions as the emotional hinge of this tri-fold narrative and it's from your performance that the film's varied successes flow. It's why you're the best.


Marisa Tomei, In The Bedroom '01
What a long strange trip it's been, Marisa. Who knew it would take nearly a decade to reclaim your rightful place as one of the most interesting, capable and genuine actresses of your generation? Your performance as Natalie is redemptive in its simplicity. And to steal some of Lulu's lovetime from the all-consuming project of Spacek adulation? That's a bigger than big deal.

So there ya have it, lovely reader:
StinkyLulu's favorite Supporting Actresses so far this century.
And you, lovely reader?
What SUPPORTING ACTRESS NOMS DO
YOU LOVE THE MOST? Post in comments or on your own site, but...do tell.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of sand and fog)
2. Natalie Portman (Closer)
3. Meryl Streep (Adaptation)
4. Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago)
5. Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)

par3182 said...

1. frances mcdormand - almost famous
2. maggie smith - gosford park
3. catherine zeta-jones - chicago
4. meryl streep - adaptation
5. shohreh aghdashloo - house of sand and fog
6. amy adams - junebug

NATHANIEL R said...

it is so hard for me to compare years. yikes. might be ROUGHLY in this order

1 Holly Hunter -thirteen
2 Catherine Zeta-Jones -Chicago
3 Meryl Streep -adaptation
4 Virginia Madsen -Sideways
5 Shohreh Aghdashloo -House of Sand and Fog
6 Kate Winslet -Iris