Why Melissa Leo should win Best Actress this year.
Because she deserves to. That's why.
I mean, have you even seen Frozen River, yet? (Well, do.)
She's amazing in this film. Her performance is so brave, honest and most of all, so moving.
Okay. It's true, I'm biased. Because I knew her way, way back in grade school, and remember what a dazzling talent she was even back then. I watched her rehearse from the wings thinking "One day everyone will know how powerful and talented Melissa Leo is. And one day she will be honored for those gifts."
Well, guess what? This is that day.
Okay. It's true, I'm biased. Because I knew her way, way back in grade school, and remember what a dazzling talent she was even back then. I watched her rehearse from the wings thinking "One day everyone will know how powerful and talented Melissa Leo is. And one day she will be honored for those gifts."
Well, guess what? This is that day.
This is the day when everyone needs to get off their asses and go see Frozen River. People need to know what some of us already do, that Melissa Leo is both the Bruce Springsteen and Lucinda Williams of American actresses. Simply put, she's simply one of best actresses we have working today. And Frozen River is her movie. You gotta see it. Period.
And, let me add that if you have any influence on casting a ballot for who wins Best Actress and you have not yet seen Courtney Hunt's film, Frozen River, then you simply have to see it. Leo sets the screen on fire. (Again.)
No question, she deserves to be recognized this year. She's spent her entire life doing fine work and yet never quite gaining the recognition she's so richly deserved. She never "sold out" to the industry by prettifying herself for hollywood and therefore seamlessly inhabited roles in TV’s Homicide: Life on the Streets, and well as Benicio Del Toro's wife in 21 Grams. She has only wanted her work to speak for her, and has not done anything that would compromise the integrity of the kind of parts she roles she's cast in. Real women. Women who have lived life and dug deep down and overcome huge odds.
Sorry, but Frozen River's her film. She owns it.
Performances, like the one Leo gives reminds us that acting may very well be just story telling, but there is art in how you tell that story. Leo isn't just an actress, she's an artist. She keeps the details as honest, simple and undiluted as possible. Leo is a director's dream come true: She pares everything down to what is only essential to the moment without ever once stooping to editorialize on one's own performance.
As an actress she is both powerful and economical (with what chooses to share about her characters) which is just one of her many rare gifts she possesses.
In the film, she doesn't just tell us who "Ray" is, she shows us. And she sticks to the story as told by the writer. Sounds easy? Well, trust me it isn't.
Her work in this film elevates her talent for passionate character-study to a level not often seen in American cinema. It's usually found in arty foreign films, but rarely ever in our own country, under our own noses. Which is one more reason to love this film. And to support the talent that brought it to life.
Frozen River is a unique, reality-based, American tale infused with acting that is stripped bare of all theatrical pretense. It's as cold and gritty as Deer Hunter, yet a uniquely American (Native American, too) tale as rich as a Louise Erdrich novel, teeming with just the right details to bring this story to life.
It has great twists within an already interesting plot, and contains wonderfully constructed two-character scenes which I think are destined to be published over and over in "two person scenes from modern films" books.
Best of all, the script isn't over-written (unlike this blog entry.) and at the heart of the tale is a story of how strong women can be. And how the need to protect our kids is a shared trait among women transcending all walks of life. I love how this film captures this truth.
The cinematography entirely captures the stark beauty as well as the dangers of living in such a precarious place. The score is a haunting presence reminding me on more than one occasion of Ry Cooder's soundtrack to Paris, Texas.
And then there's the acting.
Which leads me to the question I pose at the top of this.
Why should Melissa Leo win Best Actress this year instead of anyone else?
Because we need to nurture and reward talent above and beyond predictable choices. Because Melissa Leo deserves to win Best Actress at the Academy Awards this year, that's why.
Let's not let this year be, yet, one more popularity contest for actresses who've been nominated over and over again, and maybe should have won on other occasions. But this year, for this occasion, let's do the right thing and vote for the underdog, the newcomer. I happen to think this is a very good year for this sort of thing.
Granted Melissa Leo is up against a tidal wave of talent this year. And her name isn't nearly as familiar to the world as, say, Streep or Winslet, but this is precisely why I think she deserves to win this year. Because she not only held her own with these seasoned nominees, she transcended their work with her naked realism and searingly transparent portrayal of "Ray" in Frozen River.
She's new to be invited to the ball. She's worked her entire life to for this kind of film and just because we are not quite as familiar with Leo as we are, say Streep or Winslet, that should not be counted against her. She's an amazing American grown, hardworking talent and I would like to think that I live in the kind of place where the best performance is rewarded over popularity.
I'd love to think Leo does actually does stand a chance against these other "Titanic" icons of the industry.
But, first of all -- We need people to go SEE Frozen River. So, get out there and see it, for goodness sake.
Oh, and there's no violence or sex. I mean, it was riveting and I could have brought my middle schooler to the film with me. How rare is that?
Look, I don't want to sound like a dork, here, pontificating like a bad FM station: I'm just trying to get you to see a great actress in the role of her lifetime.
Google Frozen River and find out where the show times are today, near you.
In Orange County, CA:
Edwards University Town Center 6
4245 Campus Drive, Irvine CA 92612 | (949)854-8818
Frozen River (R)
1:45 PM, 4:30 PM, 7:10 PM, 9:45 PM
In Los Angeles:
Laemmle Music Hall
9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211
5:00 7:30
Anywhere else: You're on your own, but go see it.
Here's a trailer to the film.
I hesitate to add that it's coming out on DVD on Feb 10, 2009, don't wait that long to see this -- It's terrific. See it now.
Oh, lest I leave this out: Great theme song in the film (at the end credits.)
But, listen to it here.
It's really great.
And, let me add that if you have any influence on casting a ballot for who wins Best Actress and you have not yet seen Courtney Hunt's film, Frozen River, then you simply have to see it. Leo sets the screen on fire. (Again.)
No question, she deserves to be recognized this year. She's spent her entire life doing fine work and yet never quite gaining the recognition she's so richly deserved. She never "sold out" to the industry by prettifying herself for hollywood and therefore seamlessly inhabited roles in TV’s Homicide: Life on the Streets, and well as Benicio Del Toro's wife in 21 Grams. She has only wanted her work to speak for her, and has not done anything that would compromise the integrity of the kind of parts she roles she's cast in. Real women. Women who have lived life and dug deep down and overcome huge odds.
Sorry, but Frozen River's her film. She owns it.
Performances, like the one Leo gives reminds us that acting may very well be just story telling, but there is art in how you tell that story. Leo isn't just an actress, she's an artist. She keeps the details as honest, simple and undiluted as possible. Leo is a director's dream come true: She pares everything down to what is only essential to the moment without ever once stooping to editorialize on one's own performance.
As an actress she is both powerful and economical (with what chooses to share about her characters) which is just one of her many rare gifts she possesses.
In the film, she doesn't just tell us who "Ray" is, she shows us. And she sticks to the story as told by the writer. Sounds easy? Well, trust me it isn't.
Her work in this film elevates her talent for passionate character-study to a level not often seen in American cinema. It's usually found in arty foreign films, but rarely ever in our own country, under our own noses. Which is one more reason to love this film. And to support the talent that brought it to life.
Frozen River is a unique, reality-based, American tale infused with acting that is stripped bare of all theatrical pretense. It's as cold and gritty as Deer Hunter, yet a uniquely American (Native American, too) tale as rich as a Louise Erdrich novel, teeming with just the right details to bring this story to life.
It has great twists within an already interesting plot, and contains wonderfully constructed two-character scenes which I think are destined to be published over and over in "two person scenes from modern films" books.
Best of all, the script isn't over-written (unlike this blog entry.) and at the heart of the tale is a story of how strong women can be. And how the need to protect our kids is a shared trait among women transcending all walks of life. I love how this film captures this truth.
The cinematography entirely captures the stark beauty as well as the dangers of living in such a precarious place. The score is a haunting presence reminding me on more than one occasion of Ry Cooder's soundtrack to Paris, Texas.
And then there's the acting.
Which leads me to the question I pose at the top of this.
Why should Melissa Leo win Best Actress this year instead of anyone else?
Because we need to nurture and reward talent above and beyond predictable choices. Because Melissa Leo deserves to win Best Actress at the Academy Awards this year, that's why.
Let's not let this year be, yet, one more popularity contest for actresses who've been nominated over and over again, and maybe should have won on other occasions. But this year, for this occasion, let's do the right thing and vote for the underdog, the newcomer. I happen to think this is a very good year for this sort of thing.
Granted Melissa Leo is up against a tidal wave of talent this year. And her name isn't nearly as familiar to the world as, say, Streep or Winslet, but this is precisely why I think she deserves to win this year. Because she not only held her own with these seasoned nominees, she transcended their work with her naked realism and searingly transparent portrayal of "Ray" in Frozen River.
She's new to be invited to the ball. She's worked her entire life to for this kind of film and just because we are not quite as familiar with Leo as we are, say Streep or Winslet, that should not be counted against her. She's an amazing American grown, hardworking talent and I would like to think that I live in the kind of place where the best performance is rewarded over popularity.
I'd love to think Leo does actually does stand a chance against these other "Titanic" icons of the industry.
But, first of all -- We need people to go SEE Frozen River. So, get out there and see it, for goodness sake.
Oh, and there's no violence or sex. I mean, it was riveting and I could have brought my middle schooler to the film with me. How rare is that?
Look, I don't want to sound like a dork, here, pontificating like a bad FM station: I'm just trying to get you to see a great actress in the role of her lifetime.
Google Frozen River and find out where the show times are today, near you.
In Orange County, CA:
Edwards University Town Center 6
4245 Campus Drive, Irvine CA 92612 | (949)854-8818
Frozen River (R)
1:45 PM, 4:30 PM, 7:10 PM, 9:45 PM
In Los Angeles:
Laemmle Music Hall
9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211
5:00 7:30
Anywhere else: You're on your own, but go see it.
Here's a trailer to the film.
I hesitate to add that it's coming out on DVD on Feb 10, 2009, don't wait that long to see this -- It's terrific. See it now.
Oh, lest I leave this out: Great theme song in the film (at the end credits.)
But, listen to it here.
It's really great.
I added this next clip because it captures some of the unexpected humor found in several scenes.
Comments
Damn, you should post a Melissa Leo appeal somewhere to sway Academy voters!!!!!
Below is a newer, edited version of what I posted earlier today. I hope I haven't offended anyone in a sincere attempt to write about something I happen to this is both timely and poignant. But, some stories are not ours to tell...
Back to the post:
Yeah, it's a film that is incredibly respectful to the characters in the film.
Let's face it, I happen to think Winslet will win this year, but I'm obviously loyal to those who've touched my life personally.
And, yes, I'm a fan of all the women nominated this year. How do you call any one actors work "the best?" You can't. But, you can choose who to honor that year.
I think Leo was a good as any of the others were, she was terrific. And Melissa Leo deserves a break.
Here's the real scoop: Between you and me and whoever reads my blog down this far.
Leo's life wasn't always so easy back when she was growing up, not for lot's of us in the wild and wacky world of 1970's in Vermont.
She was a year older than me and we both attended a tiny elementary school in Putney, Vermont. And we both did theater whenever we could "in town" which was Brattleboro, Vermont, about 10 miles away from Putney.
This is in Vermont, mind you. (Very similar to the town in Frozen River.) It's cold up there in the winter. It was about 3 hours from the Canadian border, but, trust me, that place has "weather."
I lived closer to town, so occasionally we hung out together and she'd come over to my house. It was a shared love of acting and the fact that we both went to this tiny school together that was our shared bond.
Here are a few memories I have of her from way back then.
The first memory that stands out was this one time she got in trouble for something(?) at school, I can't remember what it was, but clearly she felt it wasn't justified and blew up at the principal.
I remember was the front door to the school slamming shut and we went to the windows to see what was going on, and there was Melissa striding down the front steps in the middle of a school day and the principal (who none of us really liked, anyway.) telling her to come back.
She kept on striding down the long, long steps in front of our school with all of us glued to windows to see what would happen next.
There was a long silence as she flounced down the steps. When she got to the very bottom of the long stairs, she suddenly whipped around and totally busted all of us gawking at her. When she turned to see if we were watching, we jumped back from the windows, but she was mad. She screamed "FUCK! YOU!" Giving us all, including the principal, the double finger and then shoved her arms down the sleeves of her Levi denim jacket and strode off.
God, I loved that about her, her courage to stand up for herself, like she did when she confronted our (lame) principal that year. She was terrific. She was a rock star, on my planet.
But, the best part was her consistent humility and that she was always kind and sweet. It was one of those astonishing dual things about this beautiful fiery girl: She was tough, but sweet. She was strong, but humble. She could be very articulate, but ironically she didn't often share what was going on inside her. She lived to act. She ate, breathed, slept acting. It was her salvation, I think.
I know you might have a hard time believing this, Prince, but I was kind of, well, dorky in my day. But she was always there for me even when the other kids picked on me for "being weird." She couldn't stand to see the underdog get hurt.
I can't remember why I was in the BCPA Theater when she was rehearsing Paul Zindel's The Effect Of The Gamma Rays on Man In The Moon Marigolds, but I was. I remember her monologues.
During this one rehearsal, she stood alone in a spot on the bare stage, just this girl with all this red hair and that same powerful, low voice. She barely moved when she spoke. The dust mites fell slowly in and out of her spot, twinkling down around her like, a halo in a freefall.
And she was electrifying. I think that's the word, "electrifying." I had goosebumps on my arms.
I don't think there was anyone else in the theater that day, just the actors and the director. Yet, she was giving as a fine a performance as I've ever seen.
And the truth was, things were not always so easy for some of us back then. And I have edited this posting down out of respect for her privacy.
But, the true story of Melissa Leo, is one as rich and complex as any character she's ever played. But, that's a story for her to tell, should she ever choose to.
But, for now -- she's nominated for Best Actress this year!!! How COOL is that?
Very.
Yeah, I want her to win.