Saturday, February 13, 2016

2015 Denny Awards - Pt 3 - Most Compelling Performances (Female)

Part 3/3 of my Annual "Denny Awards" ;-)
(Other Years' Awards)
 


Part I - Best Films
Part II - Most Compelling Performances / Character Roles (Male)
Part III - Most Compelling Performances / Character Roles (Female)


CHILD (female)
    Most Compelling:

             Kaitlyn Dias voicing 10-12 yr old Riley a little girl who's "growing up" from was born in Minnesota but recently moved to San Francisco in Inside Out [2015] 
    Honorable Mentions:
             Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi's "niece" in Taxi Tehran [2014] who'd like to be a film-maker when she grows up as well, but has all kinds of questions about what (current Iranian law) would make for a "screenable film."
              Güneş Nezihe Şensoy as Lale (whose name means Tulip), the narrator / youngest of five sisters in the Turkish Repunzel-like horror fairytale Mustang [2015]


TEEN (female)
    Most Compelling: 

                    Raini Rodriguez as Maya, Paul Blart's _ever cheerful_ teenage daughter (even if she could have had any number of reasons to be unhappy if she chose to) in Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 [2015]
     Honorable Mentions:
                    Britt Robertson as Casey Newton, the optimistic teenager in Tomorrowland [2015], who despite dire predictions of climate change / environmental destruction challenges her teachers / adults to "not just give up"
                     Karidja Touré as Marieme, a French 15-16 y/o of West African heritage growing-up with her BFFs in a concrete and not much grass "project" at the outskirts of Paris in Girlhood (orig. Bande de Filles) [2014]
                     Maisie Williams as Abbey, an Irish teenager growing-up at the outskirts of Dublin today, trying _really hard_ (perhaps _too hard_) in difficult circumstances to be a good kid to all in Gold [2014]
                     Daisy Ridley as Rey, a de facto orphaned teenager, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens [2015] who's been waiting for years for her parents to come back for her.  Instead "the Force" / "Universe" gently tells her that her waiting (in the Desert) is over and hurls her off on her own adventure.
                     Madison Davenport as Beth, a random teenager from Evanston, IL who finds herself taking care of / arguably parenting her manic-depressive mother in A Light Beneath Their Feet [2015].
                    Darya Saveleva as Sveta in The Hope Factory (orig. Комбинат «Надежда» / Kombinat "Nadezhda") [2014] who was growing-up in the Russian north-Siberian city of Norisk (originally built by Stalin's GULAG), and just wanted to get out of there. 
                    Hunter King as Avery Keller, the "popular girl" / bully (but also with a story) in A Girl Like Her [2015]
                    Abigail Breslin as the title character in Maggie [2015] a beloved teenage daughter of a Midwestern farmer, who after she was bitten by a Zombie was slowly turning into one herself. 
                    Joséphine Japy as Charlie (Charléne) a random French teenager from a random  provincial town somewhere in Southern France who has her life turned upside down when a new girl Sarah (played by Lou de Laâge), who turns out to be something of a bully, moves into town in Breathe (orig. Respire) [2014]
                    İlayda Akdoğan, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Elit İşcan and Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu who play the four older (teenage) sisters of Lale (above) in the Turkish contemporary Repunzel-like teenage fairy-tale / horror tale Mustang [2015].


YOUNG ADULT (female)
     Most Compelling:

                    Shiela Vand as the quiet / demure / chador covered "Girl" that nobody pays much attention to in the Iranian-exile made Vampire destined-to-be classic A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night [2015] ;-).
     Honorable Mentions:
                    Anne Hathaway as Jules, a 20-something entrepreneur in  The Intern [2015] who's worked very hard and succeeded in what she's done, but to take things to the next level, she realizes (and proves open) to taking some sage advice.
                   Saoirse Ronan as Ellis an early 20-something immigrant from Ireland to the United States in the early 1950s in the immigrant drama Brooklyn [2015].  
                   Lesliana Pereira in the title role of Njinga Queen of Angola (orig. Njinga Rainha de Angola) [2013] who, still in late 1500s-early 1600s, taking-over after her father's death (her older brother wasn't of much use ...) using her wits kept the Portuguese and Dutch colonizers (and slave traders...) at bay during her lifetime.
                   Jennifer Lawrence as the heroine Katniss in the final episode of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2 [2015], who never signed-up to do any of what she had to do, but kept her integrity through the whole of the extended story.
                    Svetlana Ivanova as Marina a university student in contemporary St. Petersburg, who "never really fit in" (but that's because ...) in an inspired Russian "LOTR meets the Twilight Saga" mash-up called Dark World (orig. Темный мир / Temnyy Mir) [2010].  There's some pretty good fodder for some pretty compelling stories "out there" in the forests of Karelian Tiaga ;-)
                   Deepika Padukone as Mastani in Bajirao Mastani [2015] a 1/2 Muslim warrior princess in 16th century pre-colonial India and the second wife of a general (Bajirao I played in the film by  Ranveer Singh) from a neighboring (Hindu) state.  Despite much prejudice against her because of her heritage she remained nice to everyone even her enemies throughout, and gained respect / love as a result.
                   Shu Qi in the title role in the Chinese/Taiwanese film The Assassin (orig. Nie yin niang) [2015].  Growing-up in late Tang Dynasty China (600-700s AD), she was handed over to a "warrior nun" by her family after boy to whom she was engaged "found a better deal."  Trained then as an assassin by said "nun" she's eventually tasked with killing the boy now man (with a family...) to whom she had been engaged.  Could she do it ...?  
                   Kangana Ranuat as the "always was good girl" Rani in Queen [2014] until she was dumped by her fiance just before their (would have been beautiful) Bollywood-style wedding (the dancing in this film comes at its beginning ;-).  Depressed for a couple of days, she decides to "take her honeymoon" if alone (it's already been paid for ...) anyway.   
                    Aislinn Derbez as Maria Laura (MaLa) in A la Mala [2015] a struggling actress in Mexico City who finds herself with a rather odd / interesting business that pays her bills: She finds herself being hired by young women to "hit on" their boyfriends to see if they would cheat.
                    Amy Schumer as "Amy" in Trainwreck [2015] as a "promiscuous to the point of boredom" no-nonsense blue-collarish 20-30 y/o young adult,, her character proves far kinder and wiser than her "tough exterior" would perhaps suggest.
                    Louisa Krause as "Streak" in The Abandoned [2015] a 20-something single mom who takes an awful job as a night-time security guard at a never-completed "luxury hotel" just so that she could keep her kid.


ADULT (female)
    Most Compelling:

                 Diane Lane as Cleo the wife of blacklisted Academy Award winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo in Trumbo [2016].  She did not leave him when he was black-listed and even jailed (for Contempt of Congress) during the McCarthy Era even though their standard of living _dropped_ precipitously as a result.
    Honorable Mentions:       
                Jennifer Lawrence as the title character Joy Mongano in Joy [2015] the QVC entrepreneur / inventor of "the miracle mop" who despite modest beginnings and all kinds of reasons to accept failure / quit, nonetheless _succeeded_ AND _REMAINED NICE_ to all her loved ones in the process.  
                Sareh Bayat in the title role of Nahid [2015], a tough, kind and competent divorcing 30-something year old Iranian woman from a mid-sized Iran town on the Caspian Sea with an 8 year old boy who'd just like to be given a chance to "make it own her own."
                Cate Blanchett as the title character in the 1950s era lesbian love-story Carol [2015] as a 40 something divorcing woman who’s sincerely even tried to be(come) straight, but simply could not.

                Juliette Binoche as Maria Elena as an ex-wife of one of The 33 [2015] miners trapped in a Chilean mine back in 2010 who did let the authorities to "just let them die."
                Carey Mulligan as Maud Watts a working class woman in London in turn of the 20th century England in Suffragette [2015] who reluctantly finds herself entering into battle for women's rights. 

                 Elizabeth Banks as Melinda Ledbetter who eventually became often depressed / even troubled Beach Boys songwriter Brian Wilson's second wife in Love & Mercy [2014].  Her performance is wonderful as one can empathize with her situation: "OMG, I could be dating one of the Beach Boys!  OMG, there are some real issues with him / his family..." 
                Sharon Leal as the "still learning" late-20 / early-30 something African American mom raising a precocious 7-8 year old boy (Michael) during the Segregation Era when the boy got it into his head that he'd _really_ like to drink "the white people's water" in White Water [2015[
                Gemma Arterton in the title role as Gemma Bovary [2015], one somewhat bored late-30-something / 40-something woman with a cursed name who proved way too attractive for her own good.
                Essie Davis as Amelia the harried single-mom of a 7-8 year old boy (Samuel) "with some issues" in the children's scary-movie Babadook [2014]


ELDER (female)
    Most Compelling:

               Helen Mirren as Maria Altman in Woman in Gold [2015] who in her 70s decided to take-on the Austrian government for return of a beautiful painting of her aunt that had hung in her home when she was a child.  The painting had been confiscated by the Nazis and was being exhibited, prominently, at a Vienna Museum and had come to be considered "Austria's Mona Lisa."  Yet, that wasn't any "Mona Lisa."  At the end of the day, it was a painting of Altman's aunt ...    
    Honorable Mentions:
                 Laura Bonaparte
* as herself in Time Suspended (orig. Tiempo Suspendido) [2015] a documentary about her life.  In the 1970s she was a human rights activist in Argentina and had to flee the country as a result.  Her ex-husband as well as every one of her children died in custody during the Argentina's "Dirty War" at the time.  She survived.  But that was 30-40 years ago.  Now in her last years, she was coming down with Alzheimers...

 

HERO / VILLAIN (female)
    Most Compelling:

                 Daisy Ridley as Rey, a de facto orphaned teenager, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens [2015] who after years of waiting "in the Desert" is hurled off her planet to an adventure / destiny that she does not yet understand. 
    Honorable Mentions:
                 Britt Robertson as Casey Newton, the indomitably optimistic teenager in Tomorrowland [2015]
                 Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in the final episode of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2 [2015], who never asked / wanted to be a hero, but repeatedly "stepped-up" for the sake of others / justice until she saw the whole revolution against the social structures that she lived in through.
                  Lesliana Pereira in the title role of Njinga Queen of Angola (orig. Njinga Rainha de Angola) [2013] who really was, in her life-time able to keep her people safe.
                  Deepika Padukone as Mastani in Bajirao Mastani [2015] a 1/2 Muslim warrior princess in 16th century India whose bravery and _kindness_ could give a wonderful example to all people, Muslim and non, today.
                 Shiela Vand as the quiet / demure / chador covered (Iranian) "girl" that nobody pays much attention to but has more power than most could ever imagine in A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night [2015] ;-).
                 Kaitlyn Dias voicing 10-12 yr old Riley in Inside Out [2015] about the "whole drama" of "growing up" ;-)
                  Güneş Nezihe Şensoy as Lale (meaning Tulip) who narrates a "different kind of drama" about growing up in a different part of the world in Mustang [2015]
                   Laura Bonaparte* as herself in Time Suspended (orig. Tiempo Suspendido) [2015] an Argentine human rights activist who really gave an enormous amount of her life, and suffered unimaginable losses (not unlike Katniss above ...) in striving to make the world a better more just place.
                  Carey Mulligan as Maud Watts a working class woman in London in turn of the 20th century England in Suffragette [2015] who reluctantly finds herself entering into battle for women's rights.


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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