Thursday, January 16, 2014

Meryl Streep receives 18th Academy Award nomination

Whew!  I had resigned myself to the fact that Meryl would be left off the list this year.  As they began announcing nominees this morning, I quickly realized that they were listing them alphabetically, which I don't think they always do.  I knew immediately that we'd know quickly how the Best Actress race was shaping up, as Amy Adams would be the first name mentioned if she were included.  This also meant that the last name mentioned would be either Meryl's for August: Osage County or Emma Thompson's for Saving Mr. Banks, as Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock and Judi Dench were all slam dunks in my mind.  Well, lucky for me it was Meryl's name that was the last to be read, eliciting some audible gasps from the crowd.

This of course means that Emma Thompson's nomination run ends today, having already been honored with the Golden Globe, SAG, BFCA and BAFTA.  It's too bad as it's been since 1996 that she was nominated for her beautiful work in Sense and Sensibility.  Alas, as many (myself included) were predicting that Amy Adams was looking good for a nom, that last spot was between Meryl and Emma.  I really hope that no moron tries to suggest that Meryl in any way sabotaged Emma's chances by the speech she gave at the NBR awards last week.  That was the night before the last day of Academy voting so it's unlikely it had any effect in either direction.  Regardless, if one understands the speech and what Meryl was actually saying, it was a wonderful tribute to Thompson and her work in Banks, and Meryl was in no way giving her a backhanded compliment.

So, the five nominated ladies for Actress in a Leading role are:

1. Amy Adams (American Hustle)
2. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
3. Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
4. Judi Dench (Philomena)
5. Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

I was glad to see Julia Roberts get in for August as expected, and with that it looks like those were the only to nominations for the film.  A few notable surprises from elsewhere in the nominations:  Tom Hanks snubbed from Lead Actor for Captain Phillips, Saving Mr. Banks left out of Best Picture, no Oprah for Supporting Actress in Lee Daniels' The Butler (good), Jonah Hill getting in for Supporting Actor in The Wolf of Wall Street, and Sally Hawkins making it in Supporting Actress for Blue Jasmine (much deserved).  Director David O. Russell was nominated for the second straight year for Best Director for American Hustle, and his film got nominated in all four acting categories for the second straight year as well with Adams, Jennifer Lawrence in supporting, Bradley Cooper in supporting and Christian Bale as a bit of a surprise squeaking in for lead.  The full list of nominees can be seen here.

Just to give a little perspective on how incredible Meryl's Oscar nod tally is, with this morning's announcement, she now holds as many nominations as Jessica Lange, Glenn Close and Sissy Spacek combined.  The long list of Streep's Academy-nominated performances is now as follows:

1978--The Deer Hunter (Actress in a Supporting Role)
1979--Kramer vs Kramer (Actress in a Supporting Role)
 1981--The French Lieutenant's Woman (Actress in a Leading Role)
1982--Sophie's Choice (Actress in a Leading Role)
1983--Silkwood (Actress in a Leading Role)
1985--Out of Africa (Actress in a Leading Role)
1987--Ironweed (Actress in a Leading Role)
1988--A Cry in the Dark (Actress in a Leading Role)
1990--Postcards from the Edge (Actress in a Leading Role)
1995--The Bridges of Madison County (Actress in a Leading Role)
1998--One True Thing (Actress in a Leading Role)
1999--Music of the Heart (Actress in a Leading Role)
2002--Adaptation (Actress in a Supporting Role)
2006--The Devil Wears Prada (Actress in a Leading Role)
2008--Doubt (Actress in a Leading Role)
2009--Julie & Julia (Actress in a Leading Role)
2011--The Iron Lady (Actress in a Leading Role)
2013--August: Osage County (Actress in a Leading Role)

3 comments:

  1. Very pleased by this news and a little sweeter since we weren't completely sure. Now the cherry on top would be a win for one of the SAG nominations or Critics choice, just to remind people she is a force to be reckoned with..

    If anyone had to miss out to let Adams in, I am glad it was Thompson - she is talented enough to get back in (maybe even with Effie next year). Out of the 4 she has the most wins anyway so I don't think she will be too aggrieved. Maybe they will even give her the BAFTA as consolation.

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  3. YES!!!! I can be happy with the nomination!

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