The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 2002

About the field: Well. If I think about it, this year wasn't as bad as I originally thought. It could have been much stronger, but I think my #1 and #2 were really the highlights and they killed the rest of the competition. They gave performances for the ages and both deserved to win. My #3 has in fact grown on me in these last few days and therefore I give her a half extra Meryl. I was thinking about what would have happened had Tilda Swintion played Virginia Woolf. But that's a different story. I can definitely say that this year turned out to be much different from than I imagined, but I like it this way and it was way more interesting than 1998. OK, so now it's time we got to the ranking.

5. Salma Hayek in Frida
This performance that did not disappoint me as I did not expect much, but I may even say that it is worth watching because of the very strong early scenes. But don't really expect a very towering achievement.

4. Renée Zellweger in Chicago
I am not saying that Zellweger gives a bad performance in Chicago, because occasionally she is actually good. But again, damn it I was so dissatisfied. I was soooo hoping that I would like her, but I did not eventually.

3. Nicole Kidman in The Hours
She has quite grown on me as she is extremely haunting in some of the scenes. I understand both the criticsm and love towards her. This is a beautiful and haunting performance by a great actress that keeps growing on me.

2. Diane Lane in Unfaithful
A dynamite performance to say the least. She really gets your guts and doesn't even let you go for a long time (even after watching the film). Lane gave one of the most intimate, credible and unforgettable performances ever. Now I'm really satisfied.

1. Julianne Moore in Far from Heaven
I must say that Julianne Moore gives one of the greatest, most moving and beautiful performances that I have ever seen. She's totally heart- and gutwrenching, moving and will haunt you for a long time.I don't really like the world revelation as I think sometimes it's used without a reason, but here Moore's achievement in this movie is worthy of that term.

So I can proudly announce
that my winner is...
Julianne Moore in Far from Heaven
Beauty.
 

Omissions:

• Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher *My Pick*
• Nia Vardalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding

So it's time to give clues about my next year, to which I'm really looking forward to. It's often referred to as one of the strongest years ever. Gosh I'm sooo excited, I give you my very easy clues.

• If you don't like deers, instead of going away, think about...
• Mommie Dearest
• Sex and the City: The Origin

So what do you think? Any opinions, observations or off-topic subjects you want to talk about? Don't be shy. BTW has anyone seen The Kids are All Right? I'm so damn curious! Do you think that Moore or Bening can win for it? I'm mostly rooting for Julianne as I'm not a big Bening fan (though she seems to be the more praised one).

Diane Lane in Unfaithful

Diane Lane received her only Best Actress nomination to date for playing Connie Summer, an unfaithful wife in Adrian Lyne's movie, Unfaithful. I think she might even have been a dark horse in the race: she had a great, applauded comeback movie and won the most important critics' awards (NYFC and a few others). I strongly believe that had the movie received greater reviews, she would have won.

Unfaithful is a great movie about infidelity, love and marriage. The first part of it is mindblowingly brilliantly and it's full of unforgettable scenes. The second part is a very exciting, but a bit usual thriller, which is still great. So overall, Unfaithful is truly worth watching. The actors give very good performances: Richard Gere is excellent as the confused husband, though he did not get the best role. Olivier Martinez does not have much to do, except for being the cheeky seducer who cannot be resisted. Erik Per Sullivan gives a great child performance as the son of Connie.

But, this whole movie is about Diane Lane, who gives an unbelievable performance as Connie. It's good to actually see a great performance in this line-up. All the problems that I had with the three other reviewed ladies did not emerge here and I could only enjoy Lane's acting here, which is just pure delight.

By delight I do NOT refer to her performance though as this is one of the toughest and most merciless achievements I have ever scene. Lane really doesn't search for ways to show how innocent Connie is. Instead of that, she ruthlessly reveals all the flaws and weaknesses of this character and also suggests how stupid she was that she gave up everything for this affair. Connie has everything: a great husband, a child, a nice house, friends, sex life and most of all happiness. Connie is a very satisfied person, whose only reason to cheat on her husband is pure temptation. Lane perfetly understood all the intentions of this character: Connie's motivation above all is having wild fun with a stranger.

(As predicted) Things turn out to be disasterous though. But before that she has some guilty fun. Her famous/infamous train scene is one of the best acted moments in the history of cinema. There's so much emotion there that the screen is almost exploding. During that sequence we also get so see moments of her first sexual intercourse and she truly rocks there too. It's so brilliant that while she wants to have sex, she does want to resist in a way. Lane is so totally real in those scenes, that it's almost painful.

She's astonishing throughout the movie, though I must admit that the best parts of her performance are in the first half (because the second one focuses on Gere). She got an excellently written role and used every opportunity to shine and show her talent. Her immense, gigantic presence stays with you even when the scene is about another character. However there isn't a moment where one feels that her acting is selfish and doesn't let the others work.

Towards the middle, there's a scene when she becomes jealous of a young rival and has a fight with Martinez which ends up in sex. The hotness and passion of Lane nearly sets the screen on fire. She really gets your guts and doesn't even let you go for a long time (even after watching the film). She made such an impression that cannot really be forgotten.

As I said that in the second part she does not have much to do, but when she's on-screen, she totally rocks: for example there's a scene where she finds out that her husband actually knew about her affair and might even be responsible for a terrible crime. The confusion and desperation Lane shows is unbelievably real. Not to mention how well she delivered some of the weakest lines of the movie and how excellently she solved the scenes of the ending.

So, to sum up, Diane Lane was way better than I remembered (though I was very impressed by her for the first time too) and she totally blew me away. This is the performance I have been waiting for since I announced this year. Now I'm really satisfied. Lane gave one of the most intimate, credible and unforgettable performances ever. Excellent, excellent and naturally gets

So what do you think? Any opinions, observations, off-topic things? If you want to see Unfaithful click here.

The Next Year

So we have come to our much anticipated 2002. I've been putting it off for like eternity, but now it's finally time to terminate your suspense. This is a very often talked about year, mostly due to the enourmous fanbase of Julianne Moore's performance in Far from Heaven. But we'll see who will get my vote. Will it be the nose, the moustache or the pearls? Or will I prefer dancing or adultery? This doesn't seem to be a very exciting year, but we'll see.


So the nominees were:

• Salma Hayek in Frida
• Nicole Kidman in The Hours*
• Diane Lane in Unfaithful
• Julianne Moore in Far from Heaven
• Renée Zellweger in Chicago

So what are your predictions for my ranking?

P.S. : From now on I will not be really able to do write as frequently as I did, but I will do my best. Thanks for your understanding.
Also, we can also talk a bit about the Emmys in your comments. Were you just as pissed as I was that Julianna Margulies lost? Or any other thoughts?