Ranking the Oscar Nominees: Best Supporting Actress

And the nominees were:

Mary J. Blige – Mudbound 

This is one of Blige's two nominations this year for Mudbound, the other nomination coming in the Best Supporting Actress category, and is also I believe the debutante nomination for a performance in a Netflix Original film. Blige, known best as a popular R&B singer, had starred in four films previous to this, as well as a string of special appearances on television.

Allison Janney – I, Tonya

One of the industry's most beloved character actresses, Janney has mostly been working prominently in the television spectrum over the past few years, but this marks the first time she's made a serious awards campaign for a cinematic release, taking home a great many plaudits for her acclaimed supporting turn opposite Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding's mother, LaVona Golden.

Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread

Something of a surprise nomination, given the love for Phantom Thread for the Academy overall it probably shouldn't have been, but given that she'd missed out on plenty of precursors it seemed like Manville, like back in 2010 for Another Year, might miss out on the Oscar nom once again. Instead she garnered herself her first nom, and stands out as another example of Paul Thomas Anderson overperforming at the Oscars.

Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird 

Known best as perhaps Sheldon Cooper's mother on The Big Bang Theory, Jackie on Roseanne, Metcalf has been working steadily in both film and television over the past few years, but this has been a breakout year in terms of awards. She started off as the frontrunner, and though Janney has since overtaken her, it's between the two of them for the final gong.

Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water

Spencer is now a three-time nominee, having won for The Help and been nominated last year for Hidden Figures, solidfying her ascension into becoming one of Hollywood's go-to actresses for the type of character and performance that only she can truly pull off.

Ranking the nominees:

5. Mary J. Blige as Florence Jackson in Mudbound

Honestly, I don't have that much to say about this performance, and not in a bad way. I certainly thought she was a good part of the film, and made something of her role as the quietly resilient and loving mother. I particularly like the wordless, quiet dynamic she strikes up with Rob Morgan as her onscreen husband as they convey the weary but rich history between the two in an effective fashion. I never thought she had a particular standout scene, though, and this is for the most part just a good performance, never thought it was particularly great, but it's not undeserving I'd say, though there are other actors in the film who I found stood out in a more compelling fashion.

4. Allison Janney as LaVona Fay Golden in I, Tonya

I love the film, and I love the ensemble as a whole, but while this is a good performance, I don't think it's quite a 'great' one. It's entertaining to watch Janney sink her teeth into such a foulmouthed, barbed-tongue and utterly horrible person, and her first few scenes are some of the funniest in the film. The character itself is an entertaining creation, and she has some great individual moments like her defence of her terrible parenting to Tonya, or her funny aside at one point that the story is diverging away from her. But on the whole I wouldn't say she made a huge impression on me, especially when compared to some of her co-stars, and in some ways the makeup for her character does most of the work. Her routine as the nasty terrible mother was fun to begin with, but then it doesn't really go anywhere, nor does it really need to since the film wants her to be a one-note of horribly cruelty. She does well with it, but if I'm honest Margot Robbie kind of steals every scene they share together. It's a good performance with great moments, mostly of the comedic nature, but I wouldn't say she was the highlight of the film.

3. Octavia Spencer as Zelda Fuller in The Shape of Water

Spencer has a somewhat straightforward, fairly consistent role that's right in her usual wheelhouse of the sassy lady who won't take any bullshit from the higher-ups. She's good at doing her usual routine throughout in an entertaining fashion, much like her work in Hidden Figures last year, offering the right amount of humorous support to the more complex roles given to Richard Jenkins, Sally Hawkins, and Michael Shannon. What takes her a bit further this time round is the depth she gives to her growing affection to the fishman, alongside Hawkins and Jenkins, and she's effective in showing how the intensity of the situation grapples with her desire for her friends to come out safe. I found her particularly great in the scene where she is confronted by Shannon's Strickland as she brings such a striking blend of fear and defiance in the same scene. Spencer is never quite the focus of the film, but she always adds to it in a positive way.

2. Laurie Metcalf as Marion McPherson in Lady Bird

As great as Saoirse Ronan is in the film, and I'll get onto her in a bit, I'd say what stands out most about Lady Bird that sets it apart from most teenage dramedy films is in the depiction of its mother figure, both as written and as performed. There have been great performances as poorly written mothers (see: Laura Dern's 2014 work), and lacklustre performances of well-written mothers (see: Boyhood), but rare is that fine Melinda Dillon combination where the actress can be both believable and interesting as often times the more 'stable' characters in quirky films. Metcalf is known nowadays for playing Sheldon Cooper's mother, where she's more than decent, but this marks the first time I've seen her in a truly well-rounded and multidimensional role. 

This is the sort of character you could imagine running into, having a conversation with. Metcalf plays her as neither this terrible mother you can't sympathize with or an overly altruistic and perfect mother you have to love, she presents just a realistic character, an everywoman. Doing this is harder than it seems, and though I can see why some would favour Janney's more over-the-top caricature of a mother figure, I vastly preferred this understated portrayal of the day-to-day life of this overworked nurse, overworked mother, and overworked wife. The film opens with an extended sequence between Metcalf and Ronan as her titular daughter, which sets the tone for many of the pair's interactions. It has to be said that the two are brilliant in any scene together. They generate laughs in such a naturalistic fashion, alternating between one snappy retort after another, one frustrated reaction after another, one loving moment followed by a confrontation, followed by another loving moment. Whether it's arguing about Lady Bird's college choices, her choice of a prom dress, her decision to go to her boyfriend's home for Thanksgiving, or when the best first time to have sex is, these casual interactions between the two are all fantastic. She has a few biting one-liners at her daughter's expense, yet importantly they are never too ill-natured and most importantly, they are all in service of helping her daughter become the 'best version of herself'.  

On her own, Metcalf is remarkable in making a not obviously interesting character so interesting. I particularly love the scenes where we see Marion working at her job, with the warmth she shows in one scene dealing with a patient suffering from depression being particularly great. There's small moments like her reaction to one of Lady Bird's boyfriends mentioning that her daughter had told him about living 'on the wrong side of the track', where her sadness at their family's financial situation and being unable to provide Lady Bird with everything she wants being so heartbreaking. What are the most standout moments of course are her 'big' scenes, which are actually still quite understated. Her reaction to her daughter's disappointment and sadness at losing her virginity is fantastic, and her final scene is mesmerizing. This is a performance I find I love the more I talk about it, and come Oscar time, out of the nominees with a feasible shot at the Oscar I really, really hope she wins. 

1. Lesley Manville as Cyril Woodcock in Phantom Thread

'Cyril is right, Cyril is always right'. She certainly is, Reynolds, and also she may well be my favourite character in Phantom Thread, which with a re-watch and even more thought I have to say, may well be my new Best Picture choice. Manville's performance is quite striking in that she doesn't even have all that much dialogue or focus, yet the writing behind the character is far from insubstantial, in fact I'd say that he's crafted perhaps one of his most intriguing and complex characters in what appears to be at first Anderson's take on Judith Anderson's Mrs Danvers from Rebecca (down to the way Manville's hair is tied him and the prim, proper posture she walks with), and soon evolves into something quite different altogether.

It should be said first that her performance is outstanding immediately in terms of the word 'supporting', as he supports the great performances of her co-stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps beautifully. With Day-Lewis' Reynolds she's the perfect 'my so-and-so' in her calm, methodical, warm yet incisive assurance where everything seems so easily handled in her hands, I have particular affection for her invocation for Reynolds to dismiss his current paramour, her blunt dismissal of some fans of Reynolds, the palatable warmth yet control she exudes when Reynolds is ill. What I love is how she moves from kind to controlling, empathetic to blunt, in any given scene with Reynolds, both the sister looking out for him and presiding over him, as she shows such complete assurance that she can control everything he does in her own unassuming way, but equally to his benefit as it is to hers. One of my favourite moments of hers in this regards is when she chastises Reynolds for childishly complaining about attending to a client, without raising her voice and still speaking somewhat in pleasantries she's rather dynamic in essentially ordering Reynolds to behave, while showing just a touch of humour in her 'oh don't be such a baby' matter-of-fact voice.

Then with Krieps' Alma she's even greater in showing a strange sort of fascination, disdain, affection and jealousy all at once towards her. Her scenes of examining Alma are particularly outstanding, one particular moment which has stuck with me where she glances over this new young lady at the breakfast table before breaking into a somewhat warm, accepting smile, that carries just enough of a tinge of 'I like you but keep to your place', that's quite remarkable. When Alma attempts to come into conflict with either her or Reynolds, she's quite marvellous as with very choice words she can be so intimidating, her gentle chastisement of Alma being too loud at the breakfast table is a great sequence, and another one where she battles with her to essentially have control over Reynolds when he is at his weakest state as she beautifully weaves between a genuine concern for Reynolds and a strict desire to have things done her way. She yet also seems to show something of an affection or fondness for Alma, and at times something of a disregard for Reynolds, exemplified beautifully in another scene where Reynolds comes whining to her as she essentially tells him 'fuck that noise' in the most blunt, polite yet incisive manner possible; and perhaps her best scene, where she brutally cuts down Reynolds when he tries to hold her affection for Alma against her, 'I'll go right through you, and it'll be you who ends up on the floor', and that scene, as well as many others, really have me rooting for a Manville upset at the Oscars.