--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@...>
wrote:
>
> Ah, Turq, The Newsroom and Jeff Daniels got nominated.
> But you didn't boast. Tipping my hat to you. Well, my hoodie.
Riffing off of this to continue my rap on the nominations...
I'm always jazzed when I see people of the quality of Jessica Chastain
and Marion Cotillard and Helen Mirren and Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz
and Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour
Hoffman and Tommy Lee Jones and Amy Adams and Helen Hunt and Nicole
Kidman being recognized. They are all *superb* actors, and I would pay
to see anything any of them are in just because they're in it.
But there are three other movie actor nominations in this list that I
adore. The first is Richard Gere, for "Arbitrage." I saw the movie, and
agree that this is one of his strongest performances ever, which is
saying a lot. He is an actor who should get a *lot* more credit than
he's gotten.
The second is Bill Murray, nominated for his performance in "Hyde Park."
I happen to believe that Bill Murray is a *far* more talented actor than
he has been given credit for. He was tremendous in "Ghostbusters," but
also in his supposed "breakout" dramatic role in "The Razor's Edge." He
was *great* in that part, and got panned for it because all of the
critics were expecting him to be his SNL characters. He was also
tremendous in "Groundhog Day" and "Lost In Translation" and in a couple
of great Wes Anderson movies, "The Royal Tennenbaums" and "Moonrise
Kingdom." I have not seen his new movie yet, but I look forward to
seeing it, and congratulate him on his nomination.
The third, of course, is Judy Dench, nominated for "The Best Exotic
Marigold Hotel," but equally as memorable this year for her work as "M"
in "Skyfall," arguably the Best James Bond Movie Ever, with her cast as
-- at age 78 -- the Best Bond Girl Ever.
When it comes to television, suffice it to say that my favorite five
American TV series coincide with their choices for the top five Best TV
Series - Drama. Yes, I am somewhat happy to see "The Newsroom" be one of
those five, but the other four are all excellent, too. I am also happy
to see Jeff Daniels nominated for Best Actor in that series, but I
suspect/hope he's going to lose to Bryan Cranston in "Breaking Bad."
That man blazed new trails this year in the territory that an actor can
traverse.
While I am happy to see Michelle Dockery from "Downton Abbey" nominated
because I have almost as large a woody for her as I have for her co-star
Joanne Froggatt, I have to admit that Claire Danes in "Homeland" is hard
to beat. Her portrayal of a dedicated patriot spy trying her best to
protect her nation and the people she loves while dealing with bipolar
disorder is nothing short of jaw-dropping. The *only* more effective
portrayal of a psychological disorder I have seen onscreen in this past
year was obviously not eligible, because it hasn't played in the U.S.
yet. That was Sofia Helin in Denmark's "Bron/Broen" ("The Bridge"). Her
portrayal of a homicide detective with Asperger's Syndrome still blows
all other actresses' performances of the year out of the water for me.
I loved seeing Benedict Cumberbatch being nominated for his work in
"Sherlock," if for no other reason than payback after all these years of
being stuck with that name. :-)
All in all, I suspect that the awards presentation should be an
interesting evening, and I for one am definitely going to tune in,
albeit the next day for me, because it won't be carried live by any
Dutch TV channels, and thus I'll have to wait for it to download the
next morning. Oh, the suffering of being a pirate in a pirate-friendly
country. :-)
