OSCAR SEASON - Supporting Actors

Only 6 short days to go, boys and girls, until the 79th annual Hollywood love-in, the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Awards, where the American film industry pats itself on the back for producing a quality movie or two in amongst the sea of teenage horror flicks and big-budget comic books spectacles. You know I can't wait. And even though they get their winners wrong quite a lot, it's still fun to see just *how* they'll mess them up. Seeing Three 6 Mafia win best song was easily the highlight last year (cynically speaking). It will be hard to top that atrocity for the ought 6 awards, but here's hoping.

Sarcasm aside, there is a legitimite reason for many of those 'wrong' choices. It's just plain hard to pick a "best" film or performance among many that are good. We're talking art here, not statistics. So that's why I put far more regard on the list of nominees than in the actual winner of an Oscar. Even better are the critics top 10 lists, but even those don't cover all the movies worth seeing and all the performances worth seeing. Regardless, it's just fun to pick out a top 5, so that's what I'll do.

For my part I'll begin my personal 2006 award list just like the Oscars, with the Supporting Actors and Actresses. The best supporting roles are occasionally meatier than the starring roles in their respective films. Sometimes it's easier to write a great character for 30 pages than for an entire movie, and often times it's useful to write a fun, off-the-wall character to serve as a foil to the main character. Supporting characters rock, and these are the rockingest of ought 6.

As always, my choices are limited to the films I've seen in 2006 (60-ish movies). There are obvious holes in my catalog, like Inland Empire. I'm a Lynch fan and can't wait to see Laura Dern's performance, but it's not looking like any of the prints are going to make it to Cleveland for some time. Regardless, you get the idea, so here's the list:

Best Supporting Actress

5) Emily Blunt - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Yes, this is the lightest of material and her role isn't exactly a career-definer, but in a great year for starring actresses, 2006 wasn't the best of times for female supporting roles. Blunt manages to walk an incredibly fine line, simultaneously giving her character compassion, humor, and an acidic attitude.

4) Adrianna Barazza - BABEL
Babel is the most "serious" of the obvious Oscar pictures this year, and although I thought the film had a lot that only partially worked, the scenes with Barazza (and Bernal!) were some of the best. The Mexican scenes were the most realistic and tragic in the film, and she was the heart of those scenes.

3) Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
I found Notes on a Scandal to be absurd as a story, but the actors brought the characters completely to life. When an actor can obviously raise the level of a film, they're an obvious choice. Judy Dench elevated Notes on a Scandal tremendously, but Blanchett was quite nearly at her level.

2) Meryl Streep - A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
Streep is, along with DeNiro and a handful of others, one of the best actors working today. She turned out 2 unbelievably good performances in 2006. In The Devil Wears Prada she was as ferocious as a lion, but in A Prairie Home Companion she was as gentle as a lamb. Streep embodied the bittersweet sincerity of this film in her character.

1) Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Dreamgirls was a juicy stage for characters. These were some of the best roles in a musical in quite some time and every actor seemed to feed off of each other. Hudson was a wonderful surprise, giving a performance ranging from innocent optimism to jaded discontent. You never know, but this might be the the highlight of the former American Idol contestant's career. Even if it is, she shouldn't complain, because it's quite a highlight.


Best Supporting Actors

5) Stanley Tucci - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
It's kind of amazing just how much great acting this silly little story possessed. Tucci plays a gay fashion industry veteran, and Anne Hathaway's guiding light, and is incredible every step of the way.

4) Paul Giamatti - THE ILLUSIONIST
The Illusionist is a beautiful movie, but at it's heart it's just a Hollywood crime tale. Ed Norton as the lead is great at these types of twisting stories, but it's Giamatti (and to a degree Rufus Sewell) that lifts the film well past your average flick. Giamatti was wrongfully passed over in 2005 (for his great performance in Cinderella Man) and he was again in 2006. Giamatti is probably the most unique actor working today.

3) Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Hounsou and Leonardo DiCaprio both gave excellent performances in the very uneven movie Blood Diamond. I'll admit that would be hard not to feel empathy for his character no matter who played him, but there's no denying he nailed the role in any case.

2) Michael Sheen - THE QUEEN
For all of the praise that Helen Mirren has (righfullly) received for her role in The Queen, Michael Sheen was with her step for step in that delightful film. I don't know what more praise to heap on him.

1) Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Yep, I'm fairly confident Murphy will win the Oscar this year, because his performance was head and shoulders above the rest of the supporting actor crowd in 2006. I won't bother describing his performance. You should just see it. It's definitely an exclamation point on Mr. Murphy's career.