1988 

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ...

____________________________________________________________________

Melanie Griffith in WORKING GIRL

" She’s pretty, she’s funny, she’s great to look at, but that's all."

★★★★★

Jodie Foster in THE ACCUSED

"Jodie Foster is a very versatile actress, with a lot of range and talent. She deserved a better screenplay."

★★★★★

Sigourney Weaver in GORILLAS IN THE MIST

"[the film] is a real showcase for Sigourney. It’s not really a showy performance, but certainly a TERRIFIC one."

★★★★★

Glenn Close in DANGEROUS LIAISONS

"What a joy seeing such a performance on screen. Glenn Close gives a tour de force, and I imagine it was a thrill for her to play it."

★★★★★

Meryl Streep in A CRY IN THE DARK

"Streep is a chameleon, behind the physical transformation and the perfect Australian accent, she vanishes and gives life to Lindy."

★★★★★

                                             THE CONCLUSION                                                

1988 is really a great year with outstanding performances. The ranking was difficult to make, and I’m still torn between Glenn Close and Meryl Streep, but I pick Meryl Streep, her performance is more challenging and more effective. This is the reason why I give to Glenn Close a Special Award (I think it’s something I will do once in a while when the ranking will be difficult to make), it’s my way to honor her tremendous work in “Dangerous Liaisons”. Sigourney Weaver would have been also a terrific winner, but her film is too weak in its first hour and I can’t give her more than 4 stars, but she is truly superb. I am not really familiar with Sigourney's work, but "Gorillas in the Mist" makes me want to see a lot more of her craft which I did by coincidence thanks to “Working Girl”. The real disappointment for me is Jodie, she is just fine, but really not enough fantastic compared to the other three. Melanie Griffith’s performance is really not award worthy, I mean she is well cast and she is lovely and cute, and her film is very enjoyable but that's all.

                                   THE ACADEMY AWARDS and ME                                      

    NEXT YEAR: 1944

MERYL STREEP 

as Lindy Chamberlain in A CRY IN THE DARK (1988)
____________________________________________________________________

Based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain that shocked and divided a nation in the early 1980s. During a camping trip to Ayer's Rock in Australia's outback, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from the family tent when her mother Lindy (Meryl Streep) witnesses a dingo - an Australian wild dog - dragging a bundle out of the tent. Azaria's body is never found. The police notes some apparent inconsistencies in her story, and Lindy is eventually charged with murder. 

                                                                             "I'm told, "Don't talk like you normally talk. Watch how you hold your mouth. You look too sour and crabby. Don't get angry. Don't ask too many questions, or they think you're trying to be smart. And never, never, never laugh or you're an uncaring bitch." Well, I can't cry to order, and I won't be squashed into some dumb act for the public... or for you."

                                         - Lindy Chamberlain

Meryl Streep earned her very deserved eighth Oscar nomination playing a mother of family, eventually charged with murder. Meryl Streep gives one of her finest performances. The case attracted a 
lot of attention, turning an investigation into a media circus, with the public divided in their opinions, and the movie shows how this attention can affect a situation. Meryl Streep is authentic, gives a portrait without pretense, and shows an ambiguous and stunning character. Meryl follows the original public perception of Lindy, and rightly she did not behaved as "the weeping, screaming, bereaved mother - she was more like 'None'a your f----ucking business how I feel!'". Her interpretation leads the audience to question whereas in principle,  there are no doubts to have, the director has chosen to present the terrible events in the outback in such a way that there's never any doubt  about what happened, but her performance is so true and the situation so real that you can't resist and you have doubts. She never try to be sympathetic to the audience, she’s cold, react weirdly and show no emotions, Meryl shows us a woman who deliberately refused to allow insights into herself, this character appears emotionless except in the courtroom scenes. In those, she shows herself fearless, fierce and full of anger but also very heartbreaking, touching  and disturbing when she was questioned about the night her baby was taken by the dingo. 

"Streep - yes, with another perfect accent - brings her customary skillfulness to the part. It's not a showy performance, but the heroine's internal struggle seems to come from the actress' pores"

                                                                                               - Rita Kempley, The Washington Post

Meryl Streep is a chameleon, behind the physical transformation and the perfect Australian accent, she vanishes and gives life to Lindy, she dominates all the scenes. It is a true testament of a great performance, rightly rewarded by the best actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival. 

★★★★★

1988

AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE ARE ...

• Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons
• Jodie Foster in The Accused
• Melanie Griffith in Working Girl
• Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark
• Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist

I choose to do this year, because I want to re-watch Streep's performance in A cry in the Dark, plus it's an Iconic Year, it was the last real shot for Glenn to Win, and I want to review Melanie Griffith's Performance which did not seem a baity role on paper. 

What do you think  ?  Your Prediction  ?  Your Ranking  ? 

1985 

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ...

____________________________________________________________________

Anne Bancroft in AGNES OF GOD

"[Bancroft] could have looked deeper on the psychology of the character to express the conflicts and the torments."

★★★★★

Jessica Lange in SWEET DREAMS

"Her acting seems so easy that it’s a privilege to see her on screen, the issue is the lack of opportunities left by the screenplay."

★★★★★

Meryl Streep in OUT OF AFRICA

"It's a quiet and subtle performance that needs more epic, romantic, showy scenes."

★★★★★

Geraldine Page in THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL

"Geraldine Page gives in The Trip to bountiful a wonderful performance, full of joy, sadness and nostalgic."

★★★★★

Whoopi Goldberg in THE COLOR PURPLE

"For her film debut, Whoopi Goldberg gives one of the most wonderful performance ever given by an actor."

★★★★★

                                             THE CONCLUSION                                                

I proudly announce that Whoopi Goldberg is my first winner. Contrary to the Academy Awards I didn't wait 74 years to give an Oscar for a leading role to a black actress . 1985 was a great year, the movies are all interesting, and the performances are all different in terms of quality, so the ranking was easy to make. Despite that Whoopi is hands down my pick, Geraldine Page is a deserving winner. Geraldine's performance is a delight, and even if I dislike the way the Academy sometimes gives an Oscar to honor a career, it was the best moment to honor Geraldine Page.

                                   THE ACADEMY AWARDS and ME                                      

    NEXT YEAR: 1988

MERYL STREEP 

as Karen Blixen in OUT OF AFRICA (1985)
____________________________________________________________________

A study of the life of Danish noblewoman and storyteller Karen  Dinesen Blixen, from her marriage and departure for Kenya in 1913 until her return to Denmark in 1931. As she struggles to maintain a coffee farm through various struggles and disasters, and strives to improve relations with the local natives, her marriage of convenience to a titled aristocrat gradually gives way to an enduring romance with the noted hunter and adventurer Denys Finch Hatton.

"It's an odd feeling, farewell. There is such envy in it. Men go off to be tested, for courage. And if we're tested at all, it's for patience, for doing without, for how well we can endure loneliness."

                                         - Karen Blixen

Meryl Streep interprets brilliantly a strong minded Danish lady, who marries a friend for the title of baroness, they move to AFRICA and start a coffee plantation. At the beginning, Meryl Streep appears as a very distinguished woman, with a lot of mannerisms, who
is eager to tell stories and learns from the world. From the beginning, Meryl is great, she nails the Danish accent, she nails the posture, we truly think she’s from a faraway aristocracy family. She’s very convincing. Things changed when her husband begins cheating on her and is away on business often, so she's at home alone, working on the farm and bonding with two men she met in her first day in Africa.  She eventually falls in love with the one, Denys Finch-Hatton and goes on safari and whatnot with him. It’s the beginning of a great love story, Redford and Streep have a great alchemy, and their scenes are beautifully shot. It’s a first for Meryl, she rarely appeared in romantic movies, but she’s magnificent in the role of a woman who feared loneliness, who feared to be abandoned, who desperatly needed someone. Later, she begins to want more from him than the simple relationship they have and pushes marriage, but Denys still wants his freedom. In those scenes, Meryl shows a rare dignity, she can’t compromise about what she wants, even if she loves him deeply. At the end, we learn that her lover has died in a plane crash, that she has decided to return to Denmark, the scene at the train station when she asks farah (her servent) to call her K.A.R.E.N. is heartbreaking, and is the perfect ending to a beautiful movie.


I don’t find a lot of things against Mery’s performance but I think landscapes, the beauty of Africa overshadow the performance. On paper, the role is very baity, but on screen, I don't find she has a lot of things to do. 

"She's a great actress because of her intuitiveness, her powers of observation and her sense of being in touch with herself quickly.

                                                                                               - Sidney Pollack, The Hollywood Reporter

Meryl Streep portrays a very independent woman who is inexplicably scared by loneliness. This paradox is incredibly portrayed by Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep is great, but the movie and the screenplay don’t give her a lot of things to really shine, it’s a quiet and subtle performance that needs more epic, romantic, showy scenes.  

★★★★★

1985

AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE ARE ...

• Anne Bancroft in Agnes of God
• Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple
• Jessica Lange in Sweet Dreams
• Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful
• Meryl Streep in Out of Africa

I have decided to do this year, because I'm dying to watch Out of Africa, her win at the Oscars makes me want to see a lot of meryl movies, plus, I never saw the other nominees either, so it's a great year to begin.

What do you think  ?  Your Prediction  ?  Your Ranking  ?