And Kathy Bates says the 2007 nominees for Best Supporting Actress are...Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There
Ruby Dee in American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement
Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton
SUPER QUICK ANALYSIS: The four nominations have been fairly secure for months now (Blanchett, Ronan, Ryan, and Swinton), leaving only one nomination slot "open". I had expected that slot to go to a "coaster" -- a Supporting Actress who slides into the nomination because of the general abundance of nominations for a particular film. It had seemed that Catherine Keener might benefit from such "coasting" but the apparent disaffection for Into the Wild among Academy voters left her out. The "alternate coaster" -- Jennifer Garner in Juno -- also didn't sneak through which is also almost a surprise. Ruby Dee's nomination, however, is a pleasure, if only for acclaim it retroactively affords her extraordinary career. And with her trouping compatriot Hal Holbrook over in Supporting Actor, a nomination for an elder in the Supporting category becomes a way to toss some token of appreciation to a widely respected, if not widely loved, film. Which, if anything, is the story from this year's crop of Supporting Actress nominees...
AND ANOTHER THING: I'm a bit disappointed, though, that Blanchett got double-nommed. Not uncommonly, and reaching all the way back at least to Teresa Wright in 1942, a nomination in Best Actress tips the odds toward the double-nominee's winning in Best Supporting. (The recent exception being, of course, Julianne Moore in 2002, who won neither; the argument there, though, was that her pair of 50s housewives diminished the impression of versatile accomplishment rather than underscoring it.) The sheer feat of Blanchett's cross-gender inhabitation/impersonation of Dylan has fortified her as the frontrunner for what seems like forever. Now, the double-nom seems to clinch it. All of which makes it two years in a row where my favorite category feels like a foregone conclusion...
AND ON ANOTHER FRONT: I'm so pleased at how many women got nominated in writing categories (3 of the 5 original screenplay noms and 1 nom in adapted, with -- arguably -- Marjane Satrapi's authorship of Persepolis being acknowledged as well in the animated noms).
Profiles of 2007 Supporting Actress nominees begin this Sunday...
9 comments:
At last, another supporting actress smackdown I can participate in. :)
Are you saying that Marjane Satrapi is arguably a woman?!
you silly.
i changed it. (but, for the record, what JD's teasing me about is the following turn of phrase: "AND ON ANOTHER FRONT: I'm so pleased at how many women got nominated in writing categories (3 of the 5 original screenplay noms, 1 adapted, and arguably Marjane Satrapi in animated).")
That JD. Such a silly.
Hehe. Just makin' sure. :)
I'm still pulling for Tilda, though it seems to me, aside from the double nom, that SA is the least sure category this year. It seems to me that Day-Lewis, Bardem and Christie are locks for their awards (with a possible Cotillard spoiler)
Sigourney Weaver was also a double nominee for Working Girl and Gorilas in the Mist and, sadly, she didn't win either.
Brilliant point, Pedro.
And especially interesting given that Weaver was considered a solid lock, while Geena Davis was considered a worthy but polite "honor to be nominated."
I think Cate Blanchett is going to win Supporting Actress due to both the double nominations and the fact that she's clearly hugely respected. There's not a lot of people they'd give nominations to for playing the same role twice, but worse the second time.
And, last year, a nomination which got in pretty much by being in the same movie as one of the most respected actresses of our time and simply being over-emotive window dressing.
If she doesn't win; it's going to be indicative of over-exposure and little else.
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