Charlotte always brings the goods in my opinion. I was actually surprised she had not been nominated for an Oscar before, I was so sure she had. But then a lot of things I'd seen her in had been TV or foreign pictures. The first time I was introduced to her was in Swimming Pool which I need to re-watch.

 

I agree with Josh that 45 Years was somewhat dull in parts but I agree with David in that CR really did deliver in every way. I found this year a bit underwhelming for acting nominations this year - with Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Mark Ruffalo and especially Rachel McAdams giving performances that were solid but not in any way worthy of academy recognition Rampling, however sticks out as one that I think was fully deserved.

Got you where it hurts, then B-). Call it revenge for your irrational distaste for 'Silver Linings Playbook'. ^_^ (:cry:)

 

And yeah sure! It's been a while since I saw the film so mightn't remember everything but I'll put this in spoilers in case anyone's yet to see it. (Don't bother)

 

 

I felt the whole thing was built on an overly romanticised, unnuanced portrayal of Ireland and Irish life in the 1950s, like it was just pandering to the stereotypes in the heads of American audiences and not offering much else of substance. I realise I may be particularly sensitive to this but my Dutch friend who I saw it with agreed (and found the film much more boring than I did). The woman who owned the shop/bakery(?) felt like the token local villain, as she was pretty much the only thing going against this idea of an idyllic, simple rural village. I found the Italian boyfriend lacked any real depth as a character. I kept thinking he'd reveal more to himself as their relationship progressed, whether good or bad, but that never happened. I didn't really buy into Eilis being attracted to the Irish guy either - the chemistry didn't really come through there at all. Also, the scene where it all comes full circle and Eilis finds herself advising a younger version of herself on the boat was something I could have written!

Overall, the story didn't grab me and felt quite lazy for those reasons but I do think Saoirse's performance was very impressive and managed to carry it to a degree.

 

That is was boring we'll have to disagree, I'd be the first to call something out as being boring but I was so engrossed throughout. The point about Domhnall Gleeson's character I'll take, we don't see as much of him and we've already seen a lot of Tony by this stage so I wasn't exactly rooting for him. But the full circle aspect I loved! As Carol herself said - "everything in life comes full circle".

 

And everyone in general is talking about Alicia and Rooney and their category fraud (granted they are actual nominees and were always going to be) but the buzz around Jacob Tremblay as a potential nominee had him in the supporting category too. I guess for a child actor it's easier to make a play for the supporting category, not that I think Matt Damon is essential in the lead category this year. He was also anything but supporting though, he's in every scene and the book is told from his perspective!

Room to slay everything. But I'm afraid it'll get overlooked in pretty much every category. Superb film.

The more movies I see in the supporting actor category, the more I am getting so angered that Jacob Tremblay didn't get in :angry:

Both Tom Hardy and Christian Bale really don't deserve to be there in my view, I'd actually go as far as saying both performances are quite poor :(

 

On the other hand, Mark Rylance and Sylvester Stallone are both in my top 3 for supporting actor :heart: