As for the nominated, Nolte or von Sydow would be just fine with me. And yes i know your thoughts on Nolte’ performance so i’ll just speak about von Sydow. Its a nuance performance. I thought he conveyed so much through his yes/no hand responses, body language and what he wrote on the notepad. Did his reactions to the answering machine messages not do anything for you? An since you were left “uninspired” maybe you should give the film a second viewing.

But if you’ll humor me a further defense of McCarthy, I would actually argue that her performance transcends simple vulgarity by crafting a character that comes off as bold rather than crude (and the “pooped in the sink” quip from me was more prosaic styling than any kind of statement on her work). She just *attacked* every scene of hers with a kind of emotional conviction reserved for more serious roles, yet neither she nor the film sets out to humiliate what could have easily been “the stupid fat girl.” In a way, she’s a little bit similar to Hal from Beginners: the kind of vivacious character that has seen and been through too much to let petty things like inhibition get in the way of experiencing all that life has to offer, whether that be adopting nine puppies on the fly, ingratiating herself with the undercover Fire Marshal, or starting a fight club. Such substantial, specific characterization of the film’s most outrageous bridesmaid culminates in her being the perfect choice to confront Annie’s self-pitying bullshit, and her final monologue takes an unexpected poignancy as a result.

I liked Shimell very much in Certified Copy (and Pitt in The Tree of Life), but not quite enough to make my honor roll.

Then again, I don’t understand all the brouhaha over Melissa McCarthy. I’m not saying she doesn’t deserve to be there, but when you look at the reaction to her performance, everybody’s like,”She pooped in the sink”, as if she did NOTHING ELSE in the film. Even Anna Belickis said,’Bridesmaids proved that women are just as crude as anybody’. Come on. If comic performances involve ONLY crude behavior and utter profanities, any street urchin would’ve easily taken Melissa McCarthy’s place. What’s so special about her OWN performance? What did Melissa McCarthy bring to the role that no one else could’ve done? In real life, get a girl drunk/drugged, and even she can poop in the sink, ‘cos she won’t be in her senses. And as for the ‘high self-esteem’, you can clearly see that it is only an act for the film. Even our own parents don’t have such a high self-esteem.