Best Actress Shortlist From Hell
or: Nathaniel's least favorite nominations for lead actress (2000-2005)
UPDATE: Actor Version and Supporting Hell versions of this list now available, too!.
UPDATE #2: Halfway Mark Oscar Article Has Begun
Juliette Binoche Chocolat (2000)
smile warmly. be pretty. get a nomination. waste a slot when there are at least five actresses acting their asses off that same year. hardly a year that calls for slot wasting.
Salma Hayek Frida (2002)
be a star. play another famous person reasonably well. get a nom. (note: not a bad performance at all. but i had to choose five)
Felicity Huffman Transamerica (2005)
gimmicks = respect. it's the Oscar way. thank god she didn't win --I couldn't have handled another Helen Hunt tv-star-wins-oscar-leaving-actual-film-actresses-empty-handed situation.
Hilary Swank Million Dollar Baby (2004)
not because she's bad. she's not. but because she won. I'm petty like that.
Naomi Watts 21 Grams (2003)
cry and scream. repeat. for two whole hours. that's your character.
And the winner is Hilary Skank because it's actually a good performance (just the least of those nominated for real in 2004). But since this is a scenario from hell the winner is Naomi Watts who holds the strange double distinction of having not just my least favorite Best Actress Oscar nomination of the decade but ALSO enduring my least favorite snub in the same category in the same timeframe. How about that?
Now, in the comments: Which five of the past 30 nominees make up your shortlist from Oscar hell?
