Did Sigourney Weaver Deserve Oscar Nomination For Aliens

My Sigourney theory is that while she could do a lot of what M and G could do, the reverse is not necessarily true. Aliens is a case in point.

My Sigourney theory is that while she could do a lot of what M and G could do, the reverse is not necessarily true. Aliens is a case in point.

My Sigourney theory is that while she could do a lot of what M and G could do, the reverse is not necessarily true. Aliens is a case in point.

Yes. It was deserved.

she deserved a pussy-punch.

She's magnificent.

[quote]My Sigourney theory is that while she could do a lot of what M and G could do, the reverse is not necessarily true. Aliens is a case in point.

M did okay in The River Wild.

One of the coolest acting nominations ever. And well-deserved. Her line readings are iconic. Her nod, as well as Kathleen Turner's, were two of my favourites from the 1980s.

If Jodie Foster deserved her Oscar for "Silence of the Lambs," Weaver deserved one for "Alien."

But not for "Aliens," which was "Monster Mama Smackdown in Space." Which is fine and better than any of the shit in the DC or Marvel output. But.

She deserved the nomination. And she should have won the Oscar.

anyone else?

FUCK YES- she did.

Sigourney also deserved nominations for The Ice Storm and A Map Of The World..

It's often hard to imagine another actor play a role which has been immortalised by the actor who actually performed it. I can't say whether or not M or G would have been able to deliver.

Her casting here is incumbent on the first film, where she had to play the accidental hero. In the sequel, she gets to assume the role of leader in a way that would come more naturally to the character this time around. But, part of the reason why Weaver works so superbly is in part to her tall, statuesque physicality in addition to bridging the feminine and masculine elements of the character. Weaver's physical presence and vocal deliveries play into that really well. Weaver has always had this rigidness to her acting which hasn't made me love a lot of her work. She's kind of boring in much of what I've seen her in. But, there's also an earnestness to her work as well. She takes her dramatic characters very seriously in a way that doesn't seem pretentious. And, here, the stakes are so high (fighting aliens, trying to save/protect a little girl, as well as a whole crew exploring another planet), it brings out elements of Weaver we wouldn't see regularly, and feel like a revelation that wouldn't occur with other actors.

I know I'm bloviating per usual, but I think this thread is worth keeping alive.

R8 is right- It was one of the COOLEST nominations ever. I sense Hollywood gasped, and it was generally a good gasp! Like Holy Shit!!!! a pause.. and then "You know what she deserves this!!"

Each Alien film had a different tone from the previous one.

Alien- Horror

Aliens- Action

Alien 3- Drama

Alien Resurrection- Dark Comedy

All the gun toting Weaver had to do, she would joke "Yale School of Drama never taught me how to do this"

They're going to make her wait until she's 80 for a lifetime achievement award, meanwhile some strumpet is going to get it for a shitty comic book movie.

"meanwhile some strumpet is going to get it for a shitty comic book movie."

Or Jennifer Lawrence for "Joy." Strumpets don't only star in comic book movies.

Weaver as Ripley is so iconic that I feel like people forget how incredibly funny and feminine she can be in things like Ghostbusters and Working Girl. I know she was nominated for Working Girl but Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack shone so brightly in Working Girl, it's almost easy to forget she was in it as well.

I don't think a lot of actors can pull off comedy and action as well as Weaver can. Emily Blunt is pretty good at it. And love her or hate her, Jennifer Lawrence was amazing in the Hunger Games and is a great comedic actor.

OP- Sigourney looks so LESBIAN in that still.

She totally deserved her nomination for "Aliens."

[quote]My Sigourney theory is that while she could do a lot of what M and G could do, the reverse is not necessarily true. Aliens is a case in point.

She couldn't do accents. If you don't believe me, watch "The Year Of Living Dangerously." Don't get me wrong; it's one of my favorite movies and she's wonderful in it. But the accent? Well....

R21 what's wrong with that.

She deserved one for Alien

She deserved one for Alien too. They put her in supporting actress there. I think she's better than all the supporting nominees from that year except M in Kramer and Candace Bergen in Starting Over.

(Barbara Barrie, Mariel Hemingway, Jane Alexander)

R25 They didn't put her anywhere.

R13 Earnestness that doesn't seem pretentious huh? Contradiction in terms

in her Oscar campaign they put her in supporting r26

R28 Kate Winslet in The Reader too

I guess it depends what people value about acting. We tend to think of award-worthy acting to involve heightened emotions, usually tragedies involving abuses, devastation, etc.

But does it have to be?

From the perspective of other actors, I imagine that physical training and all the physical acting that comes with it, and the type of personality transformation Weaver went through, could be as great a feat as being uglified by makeup artists and playing an abused person. Why not?

Who do you think would have won that year had Marlee Matlin not.

Absolutely. We're still talking about her performance 36 years later. We still quote "Get away from her, you BITCH!"and use it in memes.

Personally, I think if Cameron hadn't cut the scene where Ripley finds out her daughter died, she may have had more of a chance of winning. It's a great deleted scene. But who knows?

[quote] Weaver as Ripley is so iconic that I feel like people forget how incredibly funny and feminine she can be in things like Ghostbusters and Working Girl. I know she was nominated for Working Girl but Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack shone so brightly in Working Girl, it's almost easy to forget she was in it as well.

I agree with this. To be fair, she's kind of sidelined in Working Girl for most of the middle of the film but she makes Katherine Parker such a believable character when she's on screen, that she almost makes it look easy. She has such a commanding presence in the film and yet she never overacts or tries to steal the spotlight from either Griffth or Harrison Ford. It's almost a subtle performance until Katherine loses her shit near the end.

[quote]the scene where Ripley finds out her daughter died,

Is that scene ever been seen? DVD? Blue ray?

R31 Sissy seemed to have the most momentum for second place. She won the comedy globe and the NY film critics, so I would say her. Kathleen probably third and then Sigourney and Jane. It was a fairly weak year for this category. Weaver is perfect in Aliens, but in a stronger year she wouldn’t have made it in. Picture was a huge hit which always helps.

Changing the subject a bit but Sissy Spacek got nominated for a horror film. (Piper too)

Where do you think they placed in the voting.

It was on the DVD and Blu-Ray. It may have also been included when it aired on TV, but I could be wrong about that.

The Blu-Ray has both the theatrical version and Director's cut.

^ r36 responding to r33.

What is the scene like? Is it very dramatic the way she is told about her daughter?

For Aliens no, for Working Girl, yes.

[quote]she never overacts or tries to steal the spotlight from either Griffth or Harrison Ford.

Well, I am after all me.

R34 I think you are right.

Having said that I think that if the Academy were to vote for these actresses all these years later the result would be 1) Weaver 2) Matlin 3) Turner 4) Spacek 5) Fonda, but that is based on the ageing of their respective films, performances and careers.

Weaver's performance is the one that has held up the best over the years with the general public. The others are all little seen nowadays.

I think Turner would be a solid #2. She reinvented herself as a character actress on stage and is respected on Broadway. And Peggy Sue Got Married is a beloved film. Not top-tier FFC, but he managed to cobble together a heart-warming romance that has aged quite nicely. It still gets mentions today. And it features Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, Joan Allen, and Helen Hunt before they all became Oscar winning actors/nominees or in Carrey's case two-time Globe winner. Turner was one of the biggest box-office female draws of the 1980s and this is the performance of hers The Academy was most impressed by. She had the task of convincingly playing both a middle-aged woman as well as a reimagined, world-weary but exuberant version of her teenage self. She is sassy, charming, and endlessly delightful. No one remember Children of a Lesser God, and Matlin just happened to appear in a BP winner this last year after being seemingly mostly absent from the silver screen.

As already noted, Weaver’s stature and build backed up her performance. These days we have Natalie Portman playing a 6’ superhero. Maybe Rebel Wilson should have been cast in Black Swan. OT, but I think Natalie Portman put herself in the Gwyneth Paltrow entitled and unlikable category by taking that role. Like when Gwyneth’s PR placed raves about her fashion triumph in her ill-fitting Ralph Lauren pink dress. People don’t like established celebs getting stuff they clearly don’t deserve.

Who would have been the 5th nominee had Sigourney not got it?

Helena Bonham Carter for A Room With A View?

Cathy Tyson for Mona Lisa?

Beatrice Dalle for Betty Blue?

Jessica Lange or Diane Keaton for Crimes Of The Heart?

Mia Farrow for Hannah And Her Sisters?

Julie Andrews for Duet For One?

Anne Bancroft for 'night, Mother?

Bette Midler for Ruthless People/Down And Out In Beverley Hills?

Isabella Rossellini for Blue Velvet?

Anne Bancroft most likely.

Jessica Lange for Crimes of the Heart probably.

The general consensus at the time that the best actress nominees would be Marlee Matlin, Sissy Spacek & Kathleen Turner (all locked) with Jessica Lange & Sigourney Weaver the most likely making up the five.

The Jane Fonda nomination was a total shock.

Weaver's nomination was sort of shock even though she was widely predicted, I think simply because it was so left field.

It is and does remain one of the big WOW nominations and WOW in a good way. Like Spacek & Laurie for Carrie.

Turner is my particular favourite from 1986. I think Peggy Sue Got Married is a terrific film and Turner was wonderful in it. The scene where she speaks with her grandmother on the phone is such a beautiful and affecting scene.

But Weaver was absolutely perfect as Ripley.

'night, Mother is a movie you don't hear much about anymore. I think it was released on DVD but not on Blu-Ray. I don't see it much on cable despite having two highly revered actresses.

Personally - and I know I will get mocked for this - but I thought Demi Moore was pretty great in About Last Night and deserving of a nomination.

Chloe Webb (Sid and Nancy)

and

Farrah Fawcett (Extremities)

were also in the running for a slot.

Should have been in the mix for best actress of 1986: Melanie Griffith for Something Wild and Laura Dern for Smooth Talk.

[quote]The Jane Fonda nomination was a total shock.

I don't remember it being so shocking. She had received a lot of critical acclaim for TMA. "Her best performance since..." appeared in a lot of reviews, with some going as far back as Klute. The film itself was not so highly acclaimed, but there are always movies like that, with the lead performance as the selling point. And her film came at the end of the year, which gave her an advantage over, say, Farrah Fawcett for Extremities (who made the Golden Globes' equivalent list).

Fonda had no chance of winning, though. I think the oddsmakers of '87 had it going to Matlin or Turner. Spacek had won the category in recent memory, and Weaver was in a sci-fi/horror picture, which, fairly or not, was a demerit.

Turner won none of the precursors. She had a better shot than Fonda and Weaver, but I still think Sissy placed second. There was Crimes and her dramatic turn in Night Mother. Dustin Hoffman, Sally Field and Meryl Streep all won two Oscars in the 80s. I don’t subscribe to the he or she just won, so they can’t win again theory.

I loved Lange in Crime of The Heart but I am very surprised that she was under consideration for an Oscar for it? I was only 8 when that film came out and did not see for many years after. She had one particularly good scene with Sissy and that was it. Its a lovely performance but more of a supporting role as well.

I fucking love Jane Fonda in The Morning After and would have put her 2nd after Sigourney. No question.

This shit about Peggy Sue Got Married makes me laugh. It was a fine performance but if Coppolla were not attached, Turner would not have even been considered. However, its a star peformance though- Turner had IT. Oscar worthy? Not remotely.

Siskel and Ebert were really pushing for Turner to win.

Really R53? Wow.

It was an earnest performance, but an Oscar?

I like someone who really knows how to play a drunk.

So Team Fonda.

R52 Turner had a lot of heat surrounding her in the early to mid 80s. She was in a few zeitgeist films and won two globes back to back in 1984-1985 and won the LA film critics lead actress award in 1984. Ironically, she won nothing for Peggy Sue. There was serious talk of her winning, due to this heat and many felt she should’ve been nominated in 1984. If you look at the clip when she lost to Matlin, she has this nervous, somber look on her face. You don’t act that way if you know you’re going to lose. I still think Spacek came in second, due to the precursors, but it might’ve been close for Turner for second place.

Something I remember being highly praised about Kathleen Turner in PSGM is how she moves in and out of acting teenaged/middle-aged, even within the same scene, despite Turner herself being too old for one thing and too young for the other. (She was in her early thirties, playing a character who attends her 25th high-school reunion.) It was a subtle performance, which isn't exactly Turner's reputation.

[quote]This shit about Peggy Sue Got Married makes me laugh. It was a fine performance but if Coppolla were not attached, Turner would not have even been considered.

Coppola was on a cold streak in the '80s. At the time, this and Tucker were his only fairly well-received films.

Marlee Matlin writes in her autobiography that Jane Fonda, Sissy Spacek & Sigourney Weaver were so kind to her the night she won - seeking her out and giving her a congratulation hug.

But Kathleen Turner snubbed her, walking right past her without even a hello,

Marlee also writes in her autobiography that William Hurt (her co-star and lover) was downright cruel to her leading up to awards night.

Saying she didn't deserve to win - as Hurt had previously worked with Weaver & Turner, he said both them deserved to win MORE than her

and he repeated that in the limo afterwards, with Matlin holding the Oscar she just won

R57 that’s sounds about right for Turner. She was so up her own ass at the time. I’m sure she was convinced she was going to win. You were nominated against a 21 year old deaf girl Kathleen. How’d you really think it was going to turn out?!

R58 he previously worked with Sissy too. Hurt really sounds like a piece of work around this time. Who ultimately won or lost was out of Marlee’s hands. I don’t remember if she campaigned for it, but she probably didn’t have to. He couldn’t even fake being happy for her. Asshole.

I saw her movie. She deserved the nom. The NOM.

What movie were William Hurt and Spacek in together?

[quote] R57] that’s sounds about right for Turner. She was so up her own ass at the time. I’m sure she was convinced she was going to win. You were nominated against a 21 year old deaf girl Kathleen. How’d you really think it was going to turn out?!

100%. That’s why I never felt much if any sympathy for her with her whole RA ordeal. The same person who (unironically) would say things like “when I enter a room any man who doesn’t look at me must be gay” to age (in record time) into some heavy set manly older woman was the perfect example of Karma coming back to bite someone in the ass.

And then of course proceeds to complain how then men in this business are all too “ageist” and “sexist” and why isn’t she allowed to just “be.”

Thanks R53. You are correct.

Segment starts @ 15:18. Siskel considered Matlin only outside of Turner. Starting at 17:00, he walks us through a scene where she elegantly switches from teen to adult in her body language. Ebert does the same thing at 18:40. She's so affecting. It really was an outstanding performance and had she won, it would have been much deserved.

Turner may be a bitch but she gave a series of great performances in the '80s - Body Heat, Romancing the Stone, Crimes of Passion, Prizzi's Honor, Peggy Sue Got Married and War of the Roses.

Turner should have been a multiple nominee. She easily could have been in the mix for most of the roles mentioned in R64. Probably not Romancing the Stone, but definitely the same year for Crimes of Passion. I would have given it to her for Crimes, especially in the weak year that was 1984, with all the bullshit farm movie performances that you couldn't tell the difference between. None of those bitches deserved a nod. It should have been Turner, Lesley Ann Warren for Choose Me, Gena Rowlands for Love Streams, Diane Keaton for Mrs. Soffel, and maaaaaybe Field or Redgrave.

[quote]What movie were William Hurt and Spacek in together?

They were in a theatrical movie together much later (Tuck Everlasting), but before 1986-87, they co-starred in this.

[quote]Lesley Ann Warren for Choose Me

I love everything about Choose Me. All the actors are career-best (Keith Carradine was at peak sexiness, too). I don't think writer/director Alan Rudolph's peculiar dreamy "vibe" ever came together quite as well again in his later films. Magical.

I love her but No

[quote] I love everything about Choose Me. All the actors are career-best (Keith Carradine was at peak sexiness, too). I don't think writer/director Alan Rudolph's peculiar dreamy "vibe" ever came together quite as well again in his later films. Magical.

Agree. I loved several of his films after that, but I've revisited them and they do not hold up the way Choose Me does.

R20, Jennifer Lawrence was uninspired in The Hunger Games and is a very weak performer in general. Her Oscar win and high nomination count show that you can’t take the process too seriously; she’s a movie star, a personality, but she is no actress and is annoying and crude as they come.

Weaver definitely deserved the nomination in ‘86 and would have been a worthy winner. She’s pretty underrated by AMPAS in general — I would have recognized her for The Ice Storm and A Map of the World as well.

I would've put that alien in it's place with just one withering look and a well-timed one-liner. Then I would've won the Oscar.

Poor G would probably boil another bunny or something.

Weaver’s performance in Aliens should’ve inspired the Oscars to create a whole new category. Best actor and best actress categories in traditionally underrated genres. In 1986, Sigourney Weaver would’ve been the winner for Aliens as well as retroactively awarded for her performance in the first Alien movie. In later years, Shawn Wayans would’ve won in 2000 for his comedic role as a closeted (yet, oh so obvious) gay teen in Scary Movie.

She won an Oscar nomination for playing a strong woman who could take control and do battle.

I know she’s not popular here, but I would have liked to see Debra Winger (the original choice) as Peggy Sue in PSGM. I thought Kathleen was just okay.

I'm not sure Sigourney Weaver and the Golden Girls get enough SPACE and TIME on DL! So neglected!