The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1995

1995

 

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility

I was quite impressed by Emma Thompson's work and I feel she richly deserved the Oscar - for writing. Her contributions to the movie as a screenwriter are much significant than what she gave here as an actress. However, it would be clearly unfair from me not to emphasise how much I liked her acting as well and how connected I felt to her character. She didn't get the showiest part, that's for sure, but her talent shines even with such circumstances. 

4. Meryl Streep in The Bridges of Madison County

I don't see the brilliance that many others do but I see the effort and can completely understand why many people are in love with this work. Although she definitely makes Francesca an extremely realistic woman that you can easily relate to, it's just something that wasn't too hard for the marvelous Meryl Streep. Nevertheless, I cannot deny the fact that she really elevates her movie that would just dragging along without her.  

3. Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking

I can conclude that Susan Sarandon gives a fantastic performance as Helen Prejean. She hits all the right notes, she displays dignity, grace and faith like nobody else. Her subtle, emotional work stays with you long after movie and is actually the most important reason to see the film. Although this part may not have been too difficult to play for an actress of Susan's calibre, it's still outstanding, brave and gutwrenching work given by a wonderful actress.

2. Sharon Stone in Casino

Sharon Stone gives a brutal, chaotic and disturbing performance as Ginger in Casino. She gets rid of all her vanity, glamour and sexiness in the process of creating a living piece of junk. Although the downfall of this woman is very hard to watch, Sharon makes it a wonderful experience, thanks to her wonderful talent, her intelligence and confidence. Excellent work.

1. Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas

What an easy call! Elisabeth Shue kills the rest of her competition with her brilliant performance that I consider one of the greatest ones ever given. If you surrender to her, it's going to be a wonderful experience for you. She makes Sera such an interesting, heartbreaking character without seeming forced for a second. It all seems to come from her so naturally: she clearly identified with this character.

 So I can proudly announce

that the winner is...

Elisabeth Shue 

in 

Leaving Las Vegas
 

Don't worry Elisabeth! You got the important one! :) 

Final thoughts: Wow, a very strong year. I've had better but it was still a treat. Elisabeth was an easy winner, the rest of the ranking, however, took some time to decide. How weird: I drew the order of the reviews, which eventually turned out to be my ranking. So strange. :) In the end, I'm quite confident about this ranking. I'm kind of disappointed that Meryl didn't win three in a row (OK, I admit that I wanted it to happen...badly) and you, of course, didn't expect it not to happen plus I think Sharon's #2 ranking is also a shocker to you. I guess I prefer prostitutes to nuns and hopeless lovers. :) It was really Elisabeth's time to shine and I hope she will one day get on the podium as an Oscar winner. Anyway, I'm glad Susan Sarandon has an Oscar. 

Omissions:

• Kathy Bates in Dolores Claibourne
• Julianne Moore in Safe

The next year: 

• Intriguing, eating babies, befriending animals... :-) 

What do you think? Any thoughts on your mind?

Bad news: I'm going to really slow down. I've had some free time now, but it's only gonna be worse until 18th June. After that, however... I'm going to catch up. :) I have to focus on my studies now. :) I'm not giving this up, don't worry, I don't have writer's block, I'm full of creative energy, I just don't have time.

"IT'S JUST TILL JUNE!"

Sharon Stone in Casino

Sharon Stone received her only Best Actress nomination to date for playing Ginger, a prosititute who becomes the wife of the mobster Sam 'Ace' Rothstein. Although Stone won the Golden Globe for her performance, I don't think she was such a serious contender as she didn't receive a nomination from her fellow SAG members. I suppose if Sarandon had already been an Oscar winner, Sharon could have built up enough momentum to win the Oscar - she was a great star turning in a great performance in a Scorsese movie and so on. I suppose in the end she was second after Sarandon. 

Casino, just like Leaving Las Vegas, is a masterpiece and much better than any of the five nominated Pictures. Although it's not as amazing as Goodfellas (what can be), it's so mindblowingly great. Everything is so perfect about it that I actually find it extremely hard to believe that its only nomination came for Stone. The cinematography, art direction, costumes, editing and most of all, the directing - brilliant. De Niro is fantastic as Ace and I'm kind of stunned that she was snubbed during award season. The movie itself has such a depressing, paranoid atmosphere, you just feel that in this world, you just cannot trust anyone and this uncertainty that makes this film so effective. 

If we asked people on the street what they think about when Sharon Stone's name comes up, very few would say Casino. She's best remembered for her iconic role Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct, where she so infamously proved that (unlike Hot Lips) she's a natural blonde. Then again we are reminded that she's in fact an Academy Award nominee and surprisingly, it wasn't for Basic Instinct, but Casino, a gangster film by Scorsese. 

Performances as wives of famous man or gangsters is something very much welcome at the Academy Award thought extremely rarely in the leading category. I'm sure that if the part of Ginger had been played by a lesser-known actress, she would have been campaigned in the supporting category or if Sharon played it now in 2012 with Harvey Weinstein as a producer, she could start writing her speech for her Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. That being said, Ginger is a very important character in the story of Casino but I wouldn't swear that the movie wouldn't be the same thing without her - she fulfils all the criteria of s supporting player: she doesn't steal the spotlight from the lead, she doesn't have much screentime, but has a lasting effect on the movie in her scenes. However, in Stone's case that effect is so strong that I couldn't claim that she's not a co-lead at least. She uses lots of her charisma, sexiness and star power in a part that Madonna was intended to play. 

In the beginning, we get to see a beautiful, hot, intelligent and very confident prostitute, working in Las Vegas. Unlike Sera from Leaving Las Vegas, Ginger succesfully avoids devastating circumstances with the help of her wit and her looks. No wonder Ace is instantly mesmerised by her, she's attractive in every possible way a person can be and she's indeed a woman to go crazy for. Stone gradually reveals the dark side of Ginger and boy, is it impressive! She's just amazing in the scene at the wedding party: on the surface, she's a happy bride but two minutes later she's a broken-down woman crying on the telephone to her former pimp. It's interesting that Stone made very different decisions with this character: here, she holds herself back, she's mostly subtle and as Ginger starts going downhill she goes more and more over the top. 

The only thing that's working against her is her masterful movie. Starring in masterpieces is a very tough thing for the actor, as it clearly overshadows the merits of the performances. It doesn't help, either that she's barely on the screen for a very long time. With a supporting character that would have been fine, but you would expect a lead to be fully in charge of the film. Nevertheless, that's the most negative thing I can say about Sharon and I must also add that none of it is her fault as once she's back, she's dynamite. 

Ginger is not a Carmela Soprano type of character who tries to turn a blind eye on her husband's activities but inside guilt is just killing her. Far from it: Ginger actively participates in all the action, she doesn't even try to hide her greed. She knows what she's entitled to and she's willing to get it by all means. Stone brilliantly emphasises how immoral and greedy this woman is, to her it's no big deal to smoke coke in front of her daughter or ordering her lover to kill her husband instantly. 

Ginger's not a typical (movie) addict, either. Stone doesn't want us to feel any sympathy for her, she shows her as the pathetic, broken-down junkie that she really is. I kept being amazed at how well Sharon was able to keep control of her character that was diving deeper and deeper into chaos. On imdb message boards, I've read many complaints about how Stone overplayed Ginger and her whole overacting ruined the movie - in my opinion, that's the biggest praise that she oould get. Stone simply kills the movie with her destructive energy and makes it a truly unpleasant experience. 

This is the reason Sharon's scenes with James Woods are just amazing: she's lost almost everything and these moments brilliantly show how much Ginger is tied to her past. 'Once a hooker, always a hooker' yells Ace after a really ugly fight with Ginger. Sharon's varied greatness shows one simple thing: Ginger is incapable of changing. She has calmer, more quiet periods but there comes another breakdown, another night of cocaine and booze. Stone shows us a very painful and disturbing downfall of a woman. 

Eventually, in the highlight of Stone's performance, Ginger attacks Ace and has a huge breakdown in front of their house: Sharon displays all the emotions of Ginger in a way that we get a brief summary of the character in those few minutes. Although it's true that she's one step away from totally ruinig the character, she was so in control of her that she remains as fantastic as she was perviously.

Another 1995 lady, another terrific performance. Sharon Stone gives a brutal, chaotic and disturbing performance as Ginger in Casino. She gets rid of all her vanity, glamour and sexiness in the process of creating a living piece of junk. Although the downfall of this woman is very hard to watch, Sharon makes it a wonderful experience, thanks to her wonderful talent, her intelligence and confidence. Excellent work. 

 

What do you think? 

The Next Year

1995

So the nominees were:

• Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking
• Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas
• Sharon Stone in Casino
• Meryl Streep in The Bridges of Madison County
• Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibiliy

Thank God this year has become very timely, thanks to the well-deserved and very much anticipated third win of Meryl. :) Can you think of celebrating in a better way? She might even become my first four-time winner and the only one to gain three wins in a row (I will be completely impartial, don't worry)!

What do you think? Who's your pick? What's your prediction for my ranking? :)