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2011 academy awards predictions - best supporting actress

unlike last year’s selection of nominated actress, there is no clear cut winner amongst the group, though there does appear to be one individual who seems to be the front runner coming into the last week, though that is subject to change. whoever it will be, we will have to wait until sunday night to get our answer.

who will win - melissa leo in the fighter

while she is facing some stiff competition within the nominees, even amongst her co-star amy adams, melissa leo will prevail. her performance as the matriarch of her boxing progeny was quite astonishing, and she showed such a side to her character that scared us all and made us (well, most of us at least) thankful that our own mother’s were more compassionate and supporting than this incarnation.

who should win - hailee steinfeld in true grit

this is tricky, mostly because hailee steinfeld should have been in the leading actress category. her performance, in her major film debut, was absolutely breathtaking, and we were sucked into her character’s narrow focused quest for revenge. women in westerns have traditionally been portrayed as minor characters, most often as a prostitute or saloon singer; however, with this one role, steinfeld throws the game on it’s side.

who was snubbed - mila kunis in black swan

while black swan was absent on my top movies of the year list, the performances in this nightmare of a film are undeniable. mila kunis’s turn as the antithesis of natalie portman’s character was the role that made us see her as a more than capable actress, and no longer that hot girl from that 70’s show or forgetting sarah marshall. 

sulmoney’s top 10 films of 2010: the fighter at #3

every boxing movie is the same thing. yet, there is something so primal and visceral that allows them to be made almost year, and also to be consistently amazing. the violence, the rawness of the sport draws the viewer in, and behind all of the ferocity of the sport, we are brought in to see these boxers damaged, and not just physically. the fighter joins the pantheon of great boxing films, and is perhaps the greatest one since the classic raging bull.

david o. russell’s biopic tells the story of micky ward (mark wahlberg) and his family. mentored by his elder brother and local boxing hero, dicky eklund (christian bale), and his mother (melissa leo), ward is a stepping stone boxer who has not accomplished much in his career. when micky starts a relationship with a local bartender (amy adams), and wants new management and training, relations between the family members become strained, and years of emotions come spilling out.

what sets the fighter apart from other great pugilist films is the plethora of pitch-perfect performances. bale will become a well-deserving oscar winner in a couple weeks, with melissa leo joining him soon enough. amy adams is stupendous as we have become accustomed to with her performances, and mark wahlberg underplays ward just right, as we go through his voyage of everything happening around him, while he tries to shed all of his baggage and become his own legend.