Michelle Pfeiffer Potentially Head To The Oscars?
Apart from being part of the TRIBECA‘s selection as one of the Best Female Performance of Early 2018 and Paste Magazine called “Where is Kyra?” as one of the 25 Best Movies of 2018 (so far), The Huffington Post also selected “Where is Kyra?” as their choice of Best 15 Movies of 2018 so far:
The Best Movies Of 2018 So Far
In surveying all that 2018 has given and taken from us so far, at least one patch of blue sky hangs overhead: it has been a dynamite year for movies.
This list of the best includes every genre and mode of filmmaking. It has blockbusters, a rollicking comedy, a documentary, an avant-garde race satire, a few horror and sci-fi thrill rides, melancholy indies and lots of horses. (Truly. So many horses!)
July is as good a time as any to take stock of the must-see gems that have graced our screens, a few of which could still have legs come Oscar season. If life is as alarming in the second half of the year as it was in the first, at least we have these respites to help us escape the horrific headlines.
Spanning January through to the first week of July, these are some of the favourite movies so far.
No.12 Where is Kyra?
With Michelle Pfeiffer’s first lead role in almost a decade, “Where Is Kyra?” proves we can’t let her go so long without another. Pfeiffer plays an unemployed Brooklynite who cashes her late mother’s pension checks as her age keeps her from one job after another. To see an actress so poised and beautiful disappear behind a drama that steals her famed dignity is astonishing. The final shot rests on her lonely face, reminding us that Pfeiffer has long satisfied Hollywood’s need for someone who exists in the delicate space between ingenue and sage. She’ll get more attention this year for “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” but it’s “Where Is Kyra?” that plays to her strengths.
The Complete Best 15 Movies of 2018 So far by The Huffington Post are:
At the same time, Sasha Stone from AWARDSDAILY also published an article for the chance of Michelle Pfeiffer & Glenn Close will be nominated for the Oscar with their powerful performance in “Where is Kyra?” and “The Wife“, here’s the original article:
Best Actress Watch: Once Again, Michelle Pfeiffer And Glenn Close Potentially Head To The Oscars
All eyes are on the high profile powerhouse performances no one has yet seen but await with eager anticipation – Saoirse Ronan in Mary Queen of Scots, Viola Davis in Widows, Felicity Jones in On the Basis of Sex, Lady Gaga in A Star is Born, Emily Blunt for Mary Poppins or A Quiet Place, Claire Foy in either First Man or Unsane.
But some of us will be watching the race from a slightly different angle. We’ll be watching the overdue actresses coming up to, potentially, one more at bat. Glenn Close with six nominations and no win, Michelle Pfeiffer with three and no win.
Michelle Pfeiffer in “Where is Kyra?” and Glenn Close in “The Wife”, both earned rave reviews for their performance.
(L) Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer at the 61st Annual Academy Awards, March 29, 1989. (R) Michelle Pfeiffer receiving the Favorite Actress Award – Suspense from award presenter & friend Glenn Close for her performance in “What Lies Beneath” at the 7th Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, April 10, 2001.
Close and Pfeiffer, who came to prominence in the 1980s, have both turned in notable performances this year. The last and only time they were both up for an Oscar was for Dangerous Liaisons in 1988. Both lost. Close lost to Jodie Foster, who won the first of her two Best Actress Oscars for The Accused, and in supporting, Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist beat Pfeiffer. Both have turned in great work since, coming up against their potential Oscar win again and again, though Close edges out Pfeiffer with six nominations to three. Pfeiffer, though, is known for the great performances that went unrewarded, like her supporting turn in Scarface, like her work in Married to the Mob. Both actresses are brilliant, both are worthy but the Oscar race is a funny thing. It is about Ms. Right Now so much more than it is Ms. Right. As great as Geena Davis was in The Accidental Tourist, she was up against some stiff competition not just with Pfeiffer – who, let’s face it, probably should have won, but Joan Cusack in Working Girl, Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl – both brilliant – and Frances McDormand in Mississippi Burning. That is some stellar lineup.
Close towered over the competition in 1988. How she lost that Oscar remains a mystery. Foster is certainly brilliant in that role – beyond brilliant – and maybe equally deserving. Sigourney Weaver was up for two Oscars – lead AND supporting, which made many believe she’d win it that year, Jessica Lange style. Melanie Griffith was also up for Working Girl, and Meryl Streep rounded out the top five with A Cry in the Dark.
Both Pfeiffer and Close that year weren’t yet considered as massively overdue as they are now. But so much time has passed, each time a chance comes up to win for either actress, something or someone else gets in the way. Glenn Close could potentially be up for The Wife, which was seen and highly praised at Toronto. Michelle Pfeiffer could be up for Where is Kyra? Pfeiffer is known for playing dark characters and Oscar voters are known for picking redemptive characters – that seems to tip things ever so slightly in Close’s favor, all things considered.
The other names floating around so far would be Charlize Theron as a beleaguered mother in Tully. Theron gained 50 pounds to play the part, which generally is the kind of thing Oscar voters notice. She’s also gotten rave reviews, and Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk’s Kiki Layne.
Still, we will be watching out for Pfeiffer and Close, two veterans who are long overdue for a win.
Vulture’s journalist Mark Harris also expressed his feeling on “Where is Kyra?” on twitter and he truly loves it!
Just saw Where Is Kyra? (VOD), which features a truly extraordinary performance by Michelle Pfeiffer. It is made with such an insistently dark, punitively rigorous visual esthetic that I wanted to say, lighten up, literally. But I watched, squinting, w the lights out. Worth it.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) July 8, 2018
Pfeiffer is something, though. What she does isn’t glam-actress-scruffing-herself-up-for-an-indie. It’s a complete commitment to a director’s vision, a deployment of her talents in long shot and/or silhouette. Huge degree of difficulty. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) July 8, 2018
And 3 time SPJ-winning Critic Milan Paurich also expressed his love to Pfeiffer:
If #WhereIsKyra? had opened late in the year (and been released by Sony Classics or even IFC), I have no doubt that #MichellePfeiffer would be on Oscar’s short list for a Best Actress nomination.
She’s fantastic.— Milan Paurich (@milanpaurich) July 6, 2018
Of course, it’s still too early to make a conclusion yet especially the lack of marketing budget may hurting the chance to catch the attention from Oscar voters, but if you still believe in good work speaks for itself, may be the Academy Awards will finally surprises us and give us a fair and reasonable result!
