Golden Cornea Awards 2011: The Supporting Actresses

Hm, this is perhaps my most "alternative" category, as almost none of my top five received as much mainstream praise as they perhaps deserved. I do think it was a very strong year though, with a really fantastic variety of performances from a whole group of fantastic ladies. So, my personal favorites!

5. Amy Adams - "The Fighter"

I honestly think Amy Adams can do no wrong, though playing against type seemed like a risky gamble for her. However, she totally pulls it off and then some. Charlene is such an interesting character, thanks heavily to Adams's complex and multilayered performance. She never takes the easy way out and even through her thick accent she has an irresistible heart and moxie that transcends the typical "supportive girlfriend" role that she was given.

4. Dale Dickey - "Winter's Bone"

Dickey's performance is simply frightening as Merab. She's a conflicted character - it's obvious that she cares about Ree, but her loyalty to her family comes first. Just watch as Dickey changes from protective matron to helpful friend from beginning to the end of the movie, it's a fantastic arc. Her haunting and expressive eyes seal the deal.

3. Naomi Watts - "Mother and Child"

"Mother and Child" is, as I mentioned before, full of fantastic performances. But Naomi Watts is particularly notable because of how much her performance simply should not have worked. On paper, her arc is borderline ridiculous. However, Watts makes her character powerfully real, human and believable. Her change from beginning to end is simply beautiful to watch and that elevator scene...perfection.

2. Ellen Wong - "Scott Pilgrim VS the World"

You can read my full thoughts on her here. Simply, Wong steals the movie from the rest of the uber-talented cast and creates an unbelievably loveable, beautifully sensitive and perfectly funny. I just can't get enough!

1. Jacki Weaver - "Animal Kingdom"

Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to describe this performance in words. Weaver is always in the background, always watching over her children, always an ever present force that drives the rest of her family. She's not perfect - she's manipulative, she's definitely a criminal, but she's no villain. Above all she loves her sons and will do anything for them. Weaver's Smurf is so effortlessly complex that her motives and actions can simply not be shaken from your mind. Weaver is truly a force of nature.

Honorable Mentions:

Okay, there will be a lot, so prepare yourselves. In "Black Swan", Mila Kunis slides effortlessly in and out of each of her scenes, with a natural ease that is unmatchable, while Barbara Hershey is a frighteningly powerful and even sympathetic force onscreen; Rebecca Hall is just the right amount of pathetic and loveable in "Please Give"; Kirsten Dunst single handedly saves "All Good Things" with a devastating and truly emotive performance (cast her NOW!). Dianne Wiest is fantastic as embodied grief in "Rabbit Hole"; Kerry Washington gives a wonderful, and perhaps the most interesting, performance in "Mother and Child", even when her character's being a total bitch; Marion Cotillard provides the complete heart and soul of "Inception" and her Mal is a fascinating force of primal emotion; Melanie Laurent's role in "The Concert" may be small but she does so much with it; I wasn't much a fan of "City Island" but Emily Mortimer is joyously cute and yet perfectly complicated; I thought Melissa Leo's performance in "The Fighter" was kind of all surface no substance but my oh my, what a surface it was.

Almost Made It:

Kristen Stewart in "The Runaways", Lucy Punch in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger", Tammy Blanchard in "Rabbit Hole", Helena Bonham Carter in "Alice in Wonderland", Anna Kendrick in "Scott Pilgrim VS The World", Ann Guilbert in "Please Give"

Wow, so many ladies to mention I just couldn't stop myself. In case I haven't covered someone, who were your favorites? You know the drill, comments below! :)

The King's Speech (2010)

I have nothing against period films. In fact, as of late, my preconceptions have been proven quite wrong about a lot of them ("Bright Star", for example). Still, it does take quite a bit of prodding to get me particularly excited about seeing one. I knew I had to see "The King's Speech" because of its awards buzz and the three lead actors whom I quite like, but I wasn't as enthusiastic to see it as, say, "Black Swan". It seemed like it could have fallen apart - the World War II subplot seemed stuffy, the "inspirational" subtext a recipe for an Oscar bait disaster. But as usual, I was proven completely wrong - "The King's Speech" is really a treasure of 2010.

The film tells the true story of King George VI (Colin Firth), known more commonly in the film as Bertie, whose speech impediment caused him great angst amongst his family members, his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), and the people of the United Kingdom. After failure after failure with speech doctors, Elizabeth decides to hire a rather avant-garde speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), to try one last time to cure Bertie of his problems. The narrative puts the backdrop of impending war on the progression of Bertie's work with Logue.

Director Tom Hooper realizes completely that film is a visual medium and uses this to his utmost advantage. Every room and costume is impeccably and beautifully designed (to be expected from a period film, after all). Then there's the cinematography - perfectly framing every moment of dialogue, the camera shakes and moves with Bertie, focuses in and out on his quivering mouth as he struggles to get out a word, focuses completely still on a single glance from Elizabeth. The masterful direction is what gives this film such a power - we feel so completely and so perfectly the tension and the frustration when Bertie is stammering.

Another art that Hooper has evidently mastered is that of the montage. The speech exercises montage near the middle of the film is so fun, so revealing, and ultimately, so effective. Later on, as Firth gives the film's titular speech, the combination of Beethoven's music and the use of different shots makes the scene one of the year's best. Speaking of music, Alexandre Desplat does wonderful work as usual, though I consider this some of his lesser work. Of course, it's lovely - and the fusion of Beethoven into the score is smart and moving.

But one cannot even begin to speak of "The King's Speech" without mentioning the brilliant acting on display here, especially from Rush and Firth. Rush gives Logue such subtlety, such nuance and such character that even the smallest eyebrow raise or mouth twitch tells us a wealth of things about his character. His audition scene, near the beginning, is absolutely marvelous and though I haven't seen Christian Bale yet, I'm wont to say that Rush deserves the Oscar. Firth's King George is a brilliantly layered creation and that stammer is perfect. It's as if it comes not from his vocal chords but from the bottom of his soul, from the inner depths of his persona. He uses it more here, less there and ultimately dissolves completely into the character, making us forget he's acting at all.

Overall, "The King's Speech" does exactly what a film is meant to do - it tells a story, a great story, and it tells it with finesse, skill, beauty and charm. It's an ultimately inspiring film that absolutely belongs in this year's Oscar race and will hopefully be remembered for years to come as a period piece that stood up to its hype.

See it: If you're following this year in cinema at all, if you want to be genuinely inspired, if you want to see a couple of the best male performances of the year, or if you like good montages.

Skip it: If you'd go solely for Helena Bonham Carter. She's quite fabulous as usual, but the film doesn't give her too much to do - this is Firth and Rush's movie.

9/10

A few thoughts on films I haven't yet reviewed

For some reason or another, there are a few movies from the year so far that I haven't quite been able to write a full fledged review about. So, here are just a few ramblings on said films. Enjoy!

Alice in Wonderland

It's soured in my mind since I saw it months ago. It had some interesting visual moments, but the 3D ruined it. Mia Wasikowska was a bit boring, but Helena Bonham-Carter kicks butt and steals the movie! (5/10)

Greenberg

I really like Noah Baumbach. "The Squid and the Whale" is one of my favorite movies (I wonder what that says about me...?). So, needless to say, I very much enjoyed this one. Many people have said that it's trying too hard to be "indie", and at times it definitely comes across that way, but ultimately it's really effective and charming. Greta Gerwig was stellar, Rhys Ifans was very, very good, and Ben Stiller was surprisingly fantastic. Anyway, quite good. (8/10)

The Kids Are All Right

This movie affected me on such an emotional level. It was so wonderfully genuine and though it's a bit quiet throughout, when it's over I realized how deeply I was touched by it. The ending is pitch perfect. Obviously, Julianne Moore and Annette Bening were BRILLIANCE. Just wonderful, and wonderful chemistry. Mark Ruffalo is as good as everybody says. Not exactly perfect, but it's very genuine. And a GREAT soundtrack. (8/10)

The Runaways

Okay, I really liked this one. I'm a big fan of musically-related movies, and I love the music of The Runaways, and the music/music culture aspect was handled perfectly. HOORAY FOR K-STEW! I'm not going to say she was brilliant or anything, but she was really good. And as you guys know, I care about her. Haha! On the other hand, Dakota...hm...not completely convinced. She was a little one note in my opinion. The supporting cast (and I'm not just talking about Michael Shannon, but also the rest of the Runaways) was quite fabulous as well. Stylish and fun, though nothing particularly deep or important. (7/10)

Well there you have it. Have you guys seen these films, and what did you think? As always, comments below! :)