Posted on 02/22/2013 4:10:23 AM PST by IbJensen
Quvenzhané Wallis gives a great stare, but is that Oscar-worthy? Most child actors, however talented, are out of their depth in the race for gold.
Quvenzhané Wallis was 5 when she was first cast in "Beasts of the Southern Wild," age 6 when she murmured Hushpuppy's best line -- "I want to be cohesive" -- and even three whole years later, at age 9, she is still the youngest-ever nominee for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category.
She is a natural in front of the camera, possessed of a fierce stare and the kind of beautiful little face that draws the eye. Hushpuppy is unquestionably the lead of director Benh Zeitlin's 93-minute parable of environmental ruin and a heartbreaking figure, abandoned by her mother, awash in hunger and poverty and looked after only by her angry, dying father as the waters rise around them. At 6, Wallis was too young for artifice. She was too young to be embarrassed by her costume of boys underwear, tank top and rubber boots, or, really, anything.
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" itself is earnest, muddled, sometimes totally pretentious, filled with confused-looking amateurs (oh, those wild-eyed drunks) and yet, in a few key scenes near the end, possessed of nearly magical, dynamic beauty. Almost all of the film's power comes from the image of the child, first threatened, then empowered. The last time I can remember feeling this sad for a child on-screen was when then-4-year-old Victoire Thivisol played a toddler whose mother had just died in the 1996 French film "Ponette." It felt vaguely wrong then too.
.... to be bowled over by the capacity of youth to stand in front of a camera and look the part while responding to orders and bribes is the group's most oft-repeated nominating blunder.
(Excerpt) Read more at movies.msn.com ...
Would this even be an issue if she was not of color?
Poor Buckwheat never got an oscar.
Quvenzhané?
She looks like a very young whoopie goldberg. Not trying to make a joke. She really does.
Never heard of her before.
Oh, would you look at that.
Another glaring Obamoid.
How can you be famous if people can’t even pronounce your name?
If I can't pronounce her name she shouldn't get the award. But c'mon - a nine-year-old????
You hit the nail on the head. Although I don’t follow the Oscars, I know that liberal Hollywood is eager to slobber all over the kid just because she is black. An Academy Award is supposed to recognize superior acting skills. This kid can’t have any yet.
We have one of those big fat Leonard Maltin movie review books. If it’s a movie about civil rights, or a movie with an all-black cast (or a foreign film), Maltin inevitably gives it a high score and a fawning review.
Didn’t Michelle-My-Belle Obama promoted for all of us to go see this movie. So one can figure out why this is Oscar worthy. Nah, don’t want to see anything that the ODumbos promote.
Whenever the word “fierce” is used to describe a persons characteristics, there is a 87.5478% probability that the person referenced is black.
Saw the movie, was not impressed.
She’s at just the right age to get the attention of followers of the Prophet (pi$$ be upon him).
There have been several child actors in recent years who were very good actors, after a ferocious screening competitions with hundreds of other children.
Dakota and Elle Fanning, Fairuza Balk, Chloë Grace Moretz, Kirsten Dunst, Anna Paquin, Christina Ricci, Natalie Portman, Judith Vittet, and Victoire Thivisol (amazing performance at 4, with very complex story line).
Racist!
That name is so ridiculous that I’d have to put my money on her winning the prize.
I think it means some kind of fairy.
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