The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1976

1976

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Talia Shire in Rocky

I didn't exactly hate Talia Shire in Rocky, I was just never impressed by her work. She doesn't do much except for standing and being silent and she doesn't even do that in an expressive way. Apart from the nice, moving ending, there's nothing in her performance that's really memorable.

4. Marie-Chirstine Barrault in Cousin Cousine

I still ask myself the question: was this performance much of a strech? Probably not. Marthe's not a very complicated character but Marie-Christine Barrault did a great job playing her. Although she's far from amazing, there are no flaws in this performance and it serves its purpuse perfectly. It's very enjoyable work that I would love to rewatch any time.

3. Faye Dunaway in Network

Faye Dunaway is just fantastic as Diana Christensen, in my opinion. Although I would be a little bit hesitant to call her amazing, her greatness is undeniable. She nailed all the aspects of Diana, she turned this incredibly difficult character into gold. Truly memorable work by a great actress at her peak.

2. Liv Ullmann in Face to Face

Liv Ullmann, in short, is astonishing as Jenny Isaksson in Face to Face. Liv shows such depths of this character that it becomes a very disturbing, frightening experience for the viewer. Although it might be too much for some, nothing can stop me from saying that Liv is just unbelievable as Jenny. Truly unforgettable work by a brilliant actress.

 

1. Sissy Spacek in Carrie

I can confidently say that Sissy Spacek's performance as Carrie White is worthy of its iconic status. Not only is it creepy horror acting but something much more frightening. We get to experience so much frustration and fear and Sissy displays these emotions perfectly. Chilling, wonderful, beautiful performance.

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Sissy Spacek

in

Carrie

What's the problem?
 

Final thoughts: A very enjoyable year. I'm not saying it's the best ever but it offered some really great performances. The Top 3 is masterclass, Barrault is very good, Shire is the weakest link for me. She just didn't belong to this category. Choosing between the fantastic Liv and the wonderful Sissy was just so difficult. I noticed a certain pattern: whenever Sissy is close to being my pick, she fights a fierce battle with another actress (that was with 1980 and 2001) for my vote. I mean does it count that a performance is more iconic and popular than the other? Does screentime matter? In the end it came down to which performance I liked more and who sticks in my memory more (what a surprise).

Congrats to Fritz and Anonymous (who said good things about my design, next time please leave a name :D)! You can pick an available year both (or any other where you can give me access to all of the movies): 1933, 1953, 1956, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008

Omission: Mari Törőcsik in Mrs. Dery, Where Are You? *My pick*

About the next year: Since this one is going to be my 40th year, I want to make it special so it's going to be a total surprise. After that it's 1995 as Louis requested.

What do you think? Any thoughts on your mind?

Talia Shire in Rocky

Talia Shire received her second Oscar nomination for playing Adrian, the girlfriend of Rocky, the boxer in the Best Picture winner Rocky. Many say that had she been campaigned in supporting, she would have won the Oscar. Well, I am not so sure. In the leading category she was probably fourth because of the popularity of Rocky and I think in supporting she would have been like second or third. She would have had a better chance there as she would not have had to compete against juggernauts like Faye Dunaway or Liv Ullmann. I mean there was no way she was winning.

In my opinion, Rocky is not as bad as many people say. I feel most of its bad reputation comes from the fact that it won the Oscar over classics like Taxi Driver, All the President's Men and Network (which is indeed ridiculous). It's kind of hard to believe that once Sylvester Stallone was a serious contender for a Best Actor Oscar (truth to be told, he's a much better actor than most of the other action movie stars). The Best Supporting Actor field of 1976 was arguably the worst one ever. I mean what the hell was going on? I'm not saying that Burt Young and Burgess Meredith were bad but a nomination? NO! Although he hardly impressed me, Laurence Olivier remains my pick.

Talia Shire is an actress that I cannot say many good things about as I don't have much knowledge about her movies but I'm quite sure that he had a lot to thank to his brother, Francis Ford Coppola. From what I saw from her, she never really impress me though I never thought that she was bad at all. As a result of this, I was kind of excited to rewatch Rocky to find out if I agree with the haters of this performance. Although I didn't hate her as Adrian, I don't think that this was a really outstanding work.

Most people argue that Shire is really supporting in this movie and I'd have to agree. Some compare her case to Valerie Perrine's in Lenny but personally I don't think that there are many resemblances between them. First of all, Valerie Perrine was excellent in Lenny and she really stood out despite the somewhat limited time. However, Talia Shire doesn't leave that kind of impression on the viewer. Mostly, she's just there, being silent or smiling at Rocky. This role isn't much of a strech, in my opinion.

However, what can you expect from a role written by Slyvester Stallone. He's not a natural born writer to say the least. Adrian's character has not much depth whatsoever in the script. You can leave her character out of the story and you get the totally same movie. Did Talia Shire had any chance of being outstanding in this part? In all fairness, she did. Had she pushed a little harder and tried to make Adrian a little bit more interesting. In fact, I might even have to say that she had much more to work with than I initially thought. She didn't do much with the fact that Adrian was a shy single girl, always taking care of her brother. Apart from one loud scene, this part of Adrian (which is the most interesting to me) is not present even though Shire could have underlined it. And I'm not saying that the scene is bad (though it's much more over-the-top than it should have been, such a loud outburst doesn't seem to fit Adrian's character).

Moreover, she's not that effective as the supportive girlfriend, either. Again, she's too much in the background and she doesn't get (or doesn't even ask for) more space and opportunities. There's some chemistry between Shire and Stallone but none of their scenes are truly great and they become lovely mostly because of the clumsy behavior of Rocky. Stallone (surprisingly) adds much more to their scenes than Shire. He makes their scenes quite human and a bit lame just like it had to be, whil Shire is really just standing there and doesn't do much to pay attention to her. In fact, that applies to her whole performance. Had she not been nominated for an Oscar, this performance would have been totally overlooked and forgotten (at least by me).

Still, I didn't exactly hate Talia Shire in Rocky, I was just never impressed by her work. She doesn't do much except for standing and being silent and she doesn't even do that in an expressive way. Apart from the nice, moving ending, there's nothing in her performance that's really memorable.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1976

So the nominees were:

• Marie-Christine Barrault in Cousin Cousine
• Faye Dunaway in Network
• Talia Shire in Rocky
• Sissy Spacek in Carrie
• Liv Ullmann in Face to Face

A three-way race to many, we'll see how these ladies will do with me. :)

What do you think? What's your ranking? What's your prediction for my ranking?