In Before the Buzzer: My Picks for Best Supporting Actress

Let me just get this out of the way before I dive right in: These are not my predictions of who I think will win because 1. That would be way too easy this year and 2. It's not as much fun. So here goes, the following are who I want to win, from least to most.

5. Penelope Cruz- Nine
Being the best thing about a film like Nine, which was so desperately trying to be great while failing at all levels, is a bit like being the least covered in snow in a blizzard. I was so excited for this movie, partially because of Pene, but also because of Dame Judi and Grand Dame Sophia, but it really missed the boat. Pene has her Oscar, and for the time being Julianne Moore for A Single Man and not she should be in this position.

4. Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
I'm so glad she got recognized for this role, because she really is terrific in everything I've ever seen her in (Down to the Bone, The Departed, even Orphan!), but the sad truth is that she should be nominated for Best Actress and I think she was chosen to be pitted against her costar just so she could get a nomination as Best Actress is an otherwise crowded categories will several snubs already. Matching George Clooney in charm and wit is not an easy task, and for that she has already won.

3. Mo'Nique- Precious
Clearly going to win- and deservedly so. I've been trying to decide whether she or Christoph is more of a lock in their respective category. I really love her as a comedian and host of VH1's Charm School, and her transformation from comedienne to amazingly aggressive actress is extraordinary. The whole movie rested on her performance and she delivers.

2. Maggie Gyllenhaal- Crazy Heart
Yay she finally got nominated! I'm a bit of a minority in the Oscar pickers community in that I thought the supporting cast from Crazy Heart (she and Colin Farrell) gave stronger performances than Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake. We'll go there later. Maggie's character could have been a gigantic cliche but instead she is filled with soul, longing, ambition and love. I doubt she has even a tiny kitten's chance of winning, but hopefully she can settle for her first nomination.1. Anna Kendrick- Up in the Air
Anna's Natalie Keener is easily my favorite character of the year (even more than Julia Child!). My criteria for favorite character usually goes as follows: 1. Realism- could she walk off the screen and actually exist in real life? 2. Is she multi-dimensional- does she do more than just be the male lead's love interest or plot stimulator? and 3. Does she hold in her own- do you leave the theater remembering her character or does she fade away? The sharp delivery of her incredible dialogue gave her character the assumed confidence it needed to compete with Clooney, yet her moments of hesitation toward the end gave her the vulnerability necessary to show she was not the cold terminator after all. In an interview Anna summed up her character perfectly by saying that (paraphrasing) her character was trying hard and thought she could be Faye Dunaway in Network, only to find out that it was not to be.

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The Dark Knight

As a lifetime movie lover, I find it a rare occurrence that a movie lives up to my expectations. Even rarer does it surpass them even after years of waiting, and The Dark Knight does this as a sequel. It is a well known fact that sequels are often crap, and The Dark Knight seemingly had all the chances to be so: Batman Begins was a new breed of superhero movie, TDK's main villain passed in real life, and there was an actor change from the now infamous Katie Holmes to the blockbuster virgin Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Instead, TDK surpasses your expectations. I say your because there is no way, no comic book or movie nerd who exists, who could have had higher expectations than me. I had been looking forward to this movie since Batman Begins ended, and my anxiety reached a fever pitch once it was announced that Heath Ledger was to become the Joker. All in all, about three years of waiting.

The actors are so good in TDK that Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne seems almost a supporting character in the rich plot of twisting evil: creating evil vs. becoming it. As always, it seems, his skills shine as he creates a flawed and impossibly righteous man who creates a superhero and skirts the line of right and wrong; justice-server and vigilante.

Gary Oldman as Gordon plays a larger role in the movie and it serves him well- at points he reminded me of Ian McKellan in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he continues to be the moral center of the movie. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles as Alfred and Lucius Fox respectively, and they are fabulous as always.

The replacement of Ms Holmes with Ms Gyllenhaal does not amount to as much as I had hoped for, because as with all superhero movies it seems, the lady takes a backseat to the plot and the action. She does have the advantage, however, of creating, in my humble and correct opinion, the most interesting, real and strong female character to support a superhero in a movie, thereby cinematically kicking Gwyneth Paltrow in the face.

I was most surprised by the performance of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, Gotham DA. I believed in Eckhart as an actor, but he truly transformed himself into the righteous a-hole who is twisted away from his goals both by himself, circumstances out of his control, and his drive for true justice. Because while Batman is righteous as well, he has the luxury of public apathy, while Dent lives his life totally in the public sphere with no secrets.

You know that a movie is something special when even the smallest of supporting roles are meaty: William Fichtner as the mob bank manager turns his image 180 degrees around by kicking butt, and Eric Roberts, brother of le Julia, is surprisingly controlled, convincing, and dare I say perfect as the mob boss Moscone.

Finally, there is the late Heath. I have been parasocially in love with him since I was approximately 12, or whenever 10 Things I Hate About You came out. I thought he was something special back then, and he truly delivers on all of the hoopla surrounding his final completed role. He is intense, intelligent, brutal, and hilarious, the latter being the main case in proving his humanity- that he actually is human, and not just a total monster. When I saw La Vie En Rose after Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Oscar, I said that without her extraordinary makeup and lip-synching there was something missing in her performance. What she was missing Ledger owns. He becomes the Joker to a chilling degree, and while he is not so charismatic as to have the audience cheering for him, no one wishes him a quick and unsatisfying death either. My main goal for the movie season will be to see the other four movies that will contain his competition for Best Supporting Actor, to prove that it is his performance that deserves the award, not the sadness so many felt from an actor being taken before his time.

Overall TDK delivers on all and any promises, and I give it
/5 Stars for Entertainment Value;


/ 5 Stars for Goodness/ Award-worthiness.