Best Supporting Actress - Renee Zellweger (Cold Mountain)
Ten Years Ago: Renee Zellweger won for her role as Ruby Thewes in Cold Mountain. She beat out Shohreh Aghdashloo's pitiable Nadereh Behrani in House Of Sand And Fog, Patricia Clarkson's Cancer ridden Joy Burns in Pieces Of April, Marcia Gay Harden's shell shocked Celeste Boyle in Mystic River, and Holly Hunter's desperate Melanie Freeland in Thirteen. Now: The actress categories are difficult because Hollywood has, for too long, been more of a boys club. The scale of great roles for men vs women has, for the most part, been extremely skewed in the favor of the guys. We're beginning to see a welcome change in the last two or three years but that's a whole different article. I could see the likes of Emma Thompson or even Laura Linney sneaking in now for their underrated work in Richard Curtis' brilliant, Love Actually. I also found it very curious that Scarlett Johansson wasn't nominated for Lost In Translation. Maybe she was one of those in-betweeners where they couldn't decide whether she was a supporting player or lead. Whatever the reasoning, she got snubbed and my best guess is today she get in as a supporting actress. As far as Zellwegger winning for Cold Mountain in what I always viewed as not much more than a hammy, scenery chewing performance, time hasn't been that kind. With some perspective I think Shohreh Aghdashloo wins for her role in House Of Sand And Fog. She was truly a revelation in that film, giving such a soulful and quiet performance which are the types of performances that time is ALWAYS kind to.
I'm married and live in New York with my wife and pets. I'm a writer and definitely not a comedian (just ask my wife). I've successfully linked my twitter, goodreads, facebook and google+ pages although the successful aspect of all that is up for debate. I also started my own blog on wordpress and have just finished my first novel, The Violent Winds. Now it's time to try and trick some unsuspecting fool into buying it.
