While maybe not as severe as the struggle I had with ranking and discussing a lot of the Best Actress winners at this point in the series, I did find myself having a similar response when putting my thoughts down for this batch.
With the upcoming performances, I still see a lot of the same issues (though not as negative) that I did with many of the winners in the first volume. I would say the biggest positive we get with many of these winners ranked from 65-45 are that a lot of them have good or even very strong qualities in their work...it is just they also suffer from having portions of their performances containing bad choices/direction or weak characters/scripts and they either do all they can with what they are given or not enough.
I just think that last statement, "not enough", is more or less objective. I also know that a lot of times that many of the winners won an Oscar for reasons that didn't strictly just involve their performance. It is far too political to ignore such a thing.
And we will begin this volume with a performance that sort of steamrolled its way through award season.
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#65 - Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
When they called Jennifer Hudson's name on Oscar night, it was a foregone conclusion. The gal who got voted off American Idol a lot earlier than many expected managed to have the last laugh.
When a film adaptation of the beloved 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls was first announced, many who knew it felt that whoever would play the role of Effie White would probably win the Oscar.
And they truly needed someone who could do this role justice...like, imagine if they watered down the role of Effie like they did for Madonna when she played Eva Peron?
Jennifer Hudson can sing the Effie track...there is no denying that.
I am just not sure she nailed the acting. This was another case where I feel like we have a performer who just didn't really give the role the emotional depth it needed...and sure, Hudson was able to sell the songs, but I still don't think she excelled when just strictly acting.
At best, she was maybe a little above average at getting the point across. Not a disaster by any means, but just sort of a lot of brass with not much weight.
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#64 - Judi Dench, Shakespeare in Love
I have already brought up the case of Judi Dench, and it is a shame. It just goes to show how much a "makeup" mentality and getting swept up in the coattails of your film can lead you to win for a performance that is not remarkable.
I don't think I have to prove to anyone that Judi Dench is a stellar actress...and I think that she should've won the Oscar the year before for Mrs. Brown, in which she played Queen Victoria.
A lot was said at the time about the brevity of Dench's performance, including Dench herself when she won, and this may be a slight paraphrase: "I feel for 8 minutes I'm on the screen; I think I should get a little bit of him".
The 8 minute role was that of Queen Elizabeth I, and she gets three scenes and provides moments of dry wit and wisdom. I particularly do love the moment when she leaves one of Shakespeare's plays and encounters a puddle. The men around her are too busy bowing to notice she wants them to cover the puddle...but she plows through it: "Too late, too late..."
It is a role that does require great presence...which goes without saying...and Dench certainly provides that. Still though, there just isn't that much there. Just because Dench was able to make the most of a decently written role shouldn't be warranting the placement of an Oscar on your mantle.
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#63 - Dorothy Malone, Written on the Wind
Starting with Dorothy Malone, we are about to get a stretch of three winners all from the 1950s.
Of these three, Dorothy Malone falls under the "soapy melodrama" category...and a movie like Written on the Wind is a prime example of why I often struggle with Hollywood films of this era.
I do have a certain admiration for the films of Douglas Sirk, but I can't say that I always love his films in terms of high artistic merit. Within the confines of the film, Dorothy Malone gives exactly the kind of performance that the film needs. When you are playing a nymphomaniac who is constantly stepping out on their husband, chances are it is going to be played with abandon if you're in a soapy Sirk film.
I just find myself taking a campy enjoyment in Malone, but I also find that a lot her choices don't exactly translate well to the screen. She is just too broad, but that was also a style for the time.
In some ways, she reminds me a lot of Susan Hayward, but even Hayward was able to find some intricate layers from time to time in her melodramatic roles.
I recall one online blogger referring to Malone in this film as an ultimate example of "so bad, it's good"...and even if that could be legit, I am still not sure I would give an Oscar to such a performance.
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#62 - Donna Reed, From Here to Eternity
Now we have Donna Reed, the epitome of what many consider the template of a classic 50s sitcom housewife...and she is a playing (even if the censors wouldn't allow it to be said) "a hooker with a heart of gold".
We see this character trope time and time again, and you certainly don't expect to see an actress like Donna Reed in such a role...and it isn't the last time we will see it here. In fact, we will see another "hooker with a heart of gold" trope in this very volume.
Reed is an interesting case here because she isn't exactly the biggest standout in From Here to Eternity, nor do I feel like her role is that compelling.
I do think she is able to take some of her more wholesome attributes as a person/performer and imbue the role with a rather surprising warm touch.
Hence the whole "heart of gold" comment.
I just think that in the grand scheme, Reed does come off as a little unnatural in this performance; that it feels a little calculated and over-rehearsed.
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#61 - Jo Van Fleet, East of Eden
And completely the trio of middling winners from the 50s is Jo Van Fleet.
Van Fleet falls into a similar trap as 1952 winner Gloria Grahame in that she made an impression in 3 films of 1955, but I would argue she won for a lesser performance in the grand scheme.
I feel like Kate is one of those characters that seems juicy on paper as woman who leaves her family behinds to open a brothel...you know, the typical Steinbeck fare...but she is a character that does feel shrouded in some mystery and because of that distance, I feel like it is hard to connect with the character in any way.
I think Van Fleet manages to give a performance that feels very lived in, and I do feel she has great chemistry with James Dean...but what she also suffers from are moments where she almost seems to try too hard to find moments of flourish; this could be even something as simple as how she chooses to move her head and look at another character.
Add Jo Van Fleet to the list of actresses who were worthy to win an Oscar but perhaps maybe won for the wrong role.
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#60 - Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind
After being one of the best highlights in Requiem for a Dream, Jennifer Connelly came back the following year and got lots of attention for a stereotypical Supporting Actress role: the long-suffering but supportive wife.
I am not the biggest fan of A Beautiful Mind and wish that the script had a rewrite and that it had a different director other than Ron Howard.
In a similar vein to that of Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist, you come into this movie knowing that Connelly's Alicia will become an important and crucial fixture in John Nash's life. However, the character we meet feels so lifeless and droll. Connelly often seems to whisper her lines in such a way that it did remind me of the surprisingly lethargic energy that Davis had in her winning performance.
However, something does click once the trauma of John Nash's illness come into play. When this happens, Connelly comes to life and thankfully this portion of the performance does feel like something that would be worthy of Oscar recognition. Her anguish, her terror, her love all seem believable and you finally can see why someone might love this performance.
It is just a shame that the first half of it affects her so negatively.
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#59 - Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost
Here is a truly horrendous fact: when Whoopi Goldberg won the Oscar for Ghost, she became only the SECOND African-American woman to win an acting Oscar. The male stat wasn't much better as they had only just hit THREE the year prior to that.
I don't think Goldberg winning for Ghost is a horrible win, but I do feel like she had competition that simply had better and meatier material.
The sad truth is that Goldberg probably should've won for her magnificent debut in The Color Purple five years prior...and if that had happened, she would've become the first woman of color to win a Lead Actress Oscar.
The thing about Ghost is that I do consider it to be an entertaining film, but I do get the sense that its surge towards the Oscars was more due to its high visibility and Box Office numbers....which managed to knock out far more viable potential nominees like The Grifters and Reversal of Fortune.
I still think the fact it even won Best Original Screenplay is truly one of the most hilarious wins in Oscar history.
Goldberg manages to be the person who steals the movie, and it did feel great for her to have this moment, but it just felt like the role simply wasn't a stretch for her. She was great comic relief but it just didn't feel like an Oscar winning performance.
Of the nominees, I wish we could've seen a win for either Annette Bening in The Grifters or Lorraine Bracco in Goodfellas.
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#58 - Goldie Hawn, Cactus Flower
I have often heard this being considered one of the worst wins in Oscar history, and I do have to disagree. I think that aside from the fact that she is essentially a co-lead in the film, the only real struggle with Hahn's Toni is that the role is very one-note until the end when she discovers the secret that her lover lied to her about being married in order to try to prevent her from wanting the same thing from him.
A lot of the ditsy qualities of this role played into the "dumb blonde" trope that Hahn was frequently lampooning on the TV show Laugh In...so it doesn't feel like a stretch for her.
Still though, she does a good job with the material. I just don't know if she was my first choice for the award, but I certainly don't begrudge the selection.
One of her fellow nominees was Catherine Burns in Last Summer, a film that is not widely known or able to be seen that frequently.
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#57 - Mira Sorvino, Mighty Aphrodite
These days, a lot of the reason we've learned that Mira Sorvino never took off in such a manner after her Oscar win is due to the fact that her career was frequently sabotaged by Harvey Weinstein.
I find that Sorvino is actually a great actress and I think she deserves a lot more attention and better roles. I do think her winning for the character of Linda Ash in Mighty Aphrodite is an interesting selection on the Academy's part.
Sorvino is another contender who fell under the "hooker with a heart of gold" trope...and I have to say that she does entertain with the role.
I also think she mostly suffers from her script, because even Woody Allen seemed to TRY to not demean this character, I feel like the subtext shines through that we basically laugh at this woman with her airhead demeanor, her squeaky voice that came from the same school of timbre as Vivian Blaine or Judy Holliday, and how she is so blatantly willing to talk about her porno career.
I think Sorvino actually does manage to overcome this by giving her a sense of dignity, even when Allen has her scripted to talk about extremely sexually explicit acts she would have to do for her porn work.
So in some ways, I do commend Sorvino for what she was able to bring to the role...but sadly it was the role I had issues with.
I do want to give a shout-out to one of her fellow nominees. Joan Allen made a wonderful impression as Pat Nixon in Nixon...and as fascinating a man as Richard Nixon was, I think the hold that his wife had over him was one of the more compelling aspects...especially since she had little patience for the game compared to someone like, say, Nancy Reagan would.
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#56 - Wendy Hiller, Separate Tables
This is a performance that managed to win over a weak field of nominees, but I think what is truly remarkable about that fact is how it isn't normally the kind of performance that wins awards.
Subtle performances have obviously won Oscars, but this is one of those performances where I actually have to commend the voters for noticing that there was something...well...THERE.
Hiller is such a stoic presence and is able to enhance what could be considered a thankless role with a lot of efficiency and dignity.
I am not even sure I have as much to say about this performance...and admittedly, it has been a while since I have seen it. I do think that Hiller's performance style was very refreshing for its time as it was an era that was dominated by the likes of more melodramatic and flashy efforts.
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#55 - Eileen Heckert, Butterflies are Free
When I think of Eileen Heckert, I think of her rather bombastic performance in the truly campy and wince-worthy film adaptation of the play The Bad Seed.
Heckert came from the theater world. In fact, she originated this role on the stage, but lost the Tony to her young co-star Blythe Danner (who was replaced in the film by Goldie Hawn).
Heckert winning seemed like a mild upset, but I suppose some weren't eager to give Shelley Winters a THIRD Supporting Actress Oscar for her memorable performance in, perhaps, the best of the cheesy 70s Disaster films, The Poseidon Adventure.
*Sidenote: How on earth did Airport and The Towering Inferno get lucky with Best Picture nominations while The Poseidon Adventure got snubbed despite being far better than either of those? Every year is just different I guess*
Anyway, Heckert gets to play the doting mother to Edward Albert's Donnie, a blind man.
Considering the fact he is blind, Heckert's Florence seems very unwilling to accept that maybe he is able to function as an adult without her doting guidance...but is still in a way where we don't necessarily see her as a villain; she is simply a mother figure who loves her son, but will need to just gradually learn that he is ready to truly have his independence.
Heckert does dominate the film and her dry wit is particularly used to great effect when she has scenes with Goldie Hawn, but I think the only real thing about Heckert that bothers me is that her film work still slightly suffers from not translating too well from the stage to the screen.
I feel like she could've been reigned in a little bit at times, but despite that, I think she was able to give a relatively middling film a lot of life and compassion and wit.
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#54 - Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
And like Mira Sorvino, we have another Supporting Actress performance coming from a Woody Allen movie.
I still remember the buzz that Vicky Christina Barcelona got when it came out. There was certainly a sense that Woody Allen struck gold...or maybe silver would be a better term here...actually maybe bronze.
I have always been of the belief that Woody Allen has not made a truly great film since 1989's Crimes Misdemeanors...and sure, he has made some okay-to-good films in the years since but even some of those good films have issues.
I would say Vicky Christina Barcelona falls under the "good" category from a basic entertainment standpoint, but it is also a film that is very lazy. The random narrator trope it has feels so unnecessary and intrusive, but as characters, they all feel very superficial and not particularly people we want to invest time in.
I do think Penelope Cruz, along with Rebecca Hall, are the two to make the most of their roles. Cruz started off her career in the US as being mocked for not being that great of an actress. It wasn't until many saw her in Pedro Almodovar's Volver that some were like "Okay, she is actually good".
Cruz IS good...and she did a good job here, but it really feels like a role that falls under "all flash, no real substance".
Of the actual nominees, Viola Davis made such a powerful impression with her brief screentime in Doubt while Marisa Tomei proved that she is still a better actress than many give her credit for in The Wrestler.
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#53 - Anjelica Huston, Prizzi's Honor
This is an Oscar win I have actually sort of dimmed on a little bit.
I think everyone in my generation will always think of Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams, but Huston is far more than that.
I will take this opportunity now to recommend her work in Paul Mazursky's Enemies: A Love Story and especially in Stephen Frears' The Grifters.
As for her Oscar winning performance in Prizzi's Honor, she is easily the best thing about the movie and a great example of taking a character with relatively minimal screentime and making a meal out of it. She literally steals every scene she is in, and manages to practically erase Jack Nicholson (her former real life lover) off the screen. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of her performance is her delicious accent, which only adds to her appeal.
I don't consider ranking her here as necessarily a bad thing, but more a testament that she took a mostly nothing role and made it a lot more.
Having said that, I don't think a win for Oprah Winfrey in The Color Purple would've been unreasonable either...and I say that as someone who isn't a big fan of that film either.
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#52 - Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
I might have ranked Anjelica Huston a little lower than I anticipated, but I am ranking Rachel Weisz a little higher than I originally intended.
When this win originally happened, I was not a fan of it at all. This was even coming from someone who actually really liked The Constant Gardener and would've nominated it for Best Picture.
I just felt this was a performance that was just...there. It just sat there and did what it needed to do and helped drive the plot and Ralph Fiennes' character.
Even if I still would've given the Oscar to Amy Adams in Junebug (a film I actually did not like but she was simply radiant in it), I can't help but acknowledge that there was a certain energy to Weisz in this film that has stayed with me in hindsight.
Although completely unrelated to her performance, I do want to address the idea that has been expressed online over the years that Weisz should've been nominated in Lead for this performance.
While she technically was the female lead of the film, I think she is totally Supporting. She only has about 25 minutes of screentime and most of that is within the first half of the film.
Then again, I suppose if Anthony Hopkins can be in Lead (and win) for The Silence of the Lambs then the same could be said for Rachel Weisz.
I am still in the supporting camp, though...and I would say she deserved a nomination.
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#51 - Anne Baxter, The Razor's Edge
Anne Baxter gets a lot of flack from some historians for fighting to be campaigned for Lead in All About Eve. Those same historians also think the vote-splitting led to Bette Davis losing what would've been her then record-breaking 3rd Oscar win for Lead.
Honestly, I don't think Baxter was strong enough in All About Eve to be a threat...and frankly, I would've voted for Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard.
Baxter is another actress who falls into a similar category with Dorothy Malone and Susan Hayward; she is just very expressive and exaggerated...and often to her detriment.
I think The Razor's Edge gives her a chance to play to her strengths, but because the film itself is so weak, it doesn't help much.
I feel like as Sophie, she manages to shine and steal the entire movie, but it is just that erratic nature of the time period where I just can't get over some of the more melodramatic tendencies.
However, the scene in which she sees her old friends in a Parisian bar is perhaps enough to make me forgive her for some of the lesser moments in the film. That moment alone helped me boost her up a few slots.
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#50 - Beatrice Straight, Network
I have talked a lot about performances that suffer do brevity in screen time, which often coincides with the role being underwritten.
In the case of Beatrice Straight, I think we need to give credit where credit is due.
And despite her performance's brevity, I will be giving it a little bit more of a discussion.
Ms. Straight holds the distinction of giving the shortest performance ever to win an Oscar: 5 minutes and two seconds. Within that brief screen time, she only has three scenes.
The second scene is inconsequential as we only see the back of her head and she speaks one line. The first scene is slightly more involved where we see her walking around the apartment searching for Howard Beale (Peter Finch) only to wake up her husband (William Holden) to tell him Howard left. While not much, this scene does manage to convey a certain warmth that makes her stand out...especially considering this has been a movie filled with a lot of sociopathic people up to this point.
It really all comes down to her third scene which is when Holden's Max confesses to Straight's Louise that he has been sleeping with Faye Dunaway's Diana and that he has fallen in love with her.
Keep in mind, this is a woman who has been married to this man for 25 years and she has been faithful and loyal to him...we've seen this kind of story many times both on film and in life. We also barely spend anytime with her character in the film so why should we really care that much about her?
Well...Beatrice Straight makes us care. Or at least she made me care.
While I am still not sure it is enough for me to think she necessarily deserved the Oscar, I still think this is a very prime example of how to truly make an impression with such a brief monologue. It also truly helps that the passion Straight shows makes us far more sympathetic to her plight than the rest of the yahoos around her.
One final thing: a few years ago, director Ivo van Hove and writer Lee Hall adapted Network for the stage starring Bryan Cranston as Howard Beale. One thing I was curious about before seeing the production was if it would include Louise Schumacher. Despite her Oscar win, some TV broadcasts actually cut out most, if not ALL, of her performance because frankly, the film does flow fine without it...but it does add something nonetheless.
As harsh as this might seem, I feel like the actress that portrayed her on Broadway proved how remarkable Straight was in this role. Her interpretation of the monologue was...bizarre to say the least and it also showed how it didn't even serve much of a purpose.
Beatrice Straight gave it purpose.
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#49 - Fay Bainter, Jezebel
Jezebel was sort of seen as a film to give Bette Davis a chance to play a Southern Belle after having lost the chance to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.
The gambit paid off as Davis managed to win her second Oscar in 3 years AND managed to squeak in a year before Gone with the Wind opened in theaters.
I can't say I like Jezebel more than Gone with the Wind, but I also find the latter to be immensely overrated...and to reiterate, I have always thought that even before the film managed to face more scrutiny.
I think Jezebel is a solid watch and I do think that Fay Bainter is a rather interesting aspect of the film...especially considering it is not that flashy of a role.
This is a movie that is truly all about Bette Davis, but in a true supporting role fashion, Bainter is there as her Aunt who never exactly steals the show from Davis, but still provides a rather compelling screen presence.
She isn't necessarily remarkable, but it is a good example of how sneakily effective a sterling supporting performance can be to a film.
#48 - Jessica Lange, Tootsie
Lange went into Oscar night being considered pretty locked in to win Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie...and it seemed like a great way to acknowledge her as she was going to lose her Best Actress bid for Frances.
As a film, I actually have to admit that I love Tootsie...despite some of the aspects of it that have not aged well. I also think it contains one of the best performances of Dustin Hoffman's career and I do think he works extremely well with Lange in this.
For modern audiences who are used to seeing Lange portray characters who are often unhinged, it might be a bit of a surprise to see her in such a subdued role...and frankly, she does it very well.
After finishing work on Frances, her co-star Kim Stanley strongly encouraged her to tackle a comedy to counterbalance the intense dramatic work in their film.
Lange, however, isn't the funny part of Tootsie. Sure, she may get a line or two here and there that elicit a smile or slight chuckle, but Lange is essentially the straight man.
She does do well in not making her character seem like a fool for being fooled by Hoffman. Her final scene when he finally talks to her again as Michael and not Dorothy is mostly owned by Lange even though she barely speaks. I actually chose an image from that scene for the photo above.
I think when she finally responds with "I miss Dorothy", you truly feel how sincere she is about that friendship...and that you might end up buying that she is willing to give Michael a chance since it WAS him.
It isn't a bad performance...I am just not sure it necessarily stood out even in her own film.
Lange was nominated against her co-star Teri Garr. While Garr's role was written for her, it still could've come off as relatively bland had it gone to someone else. Garr did wonders with Sandy and her brief snippets in the film are a prime example of a true Supporting performance that steals every second she is on screen.
This was also a stellar category if I was willing to rank Lange last of the five.
She was nominated against Glenn Close for her film debut in The World According to Garp, her Frances co-star Kim Stanley, Garr, and in another comic gem of a performance that I find truly unforgettable, Lesley Ann Warren in Victor/Victoria.
It is one of the best lineups this category ever had.
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#47 - Mary Steenburgen, Melvin & Howard
The 1980 Award Season was all about domination within the acting categories.
Both Lead Actor and Actress had Robert DeNiro and Sissy Spacek sweeping through the whole season, while Mary Steenburgen had won every single Supporting Actress award except for the National Board of Review.
I feel like a lot of us these days tend to forget that Steenburgen is even an Oscar winner. It isn't that she is some obscure actress because she has popped up in so many movies and TV shows, but she has never really had another role that seemed to bring her anywhere close to Oscar glory again.
I do mostly support her win if only for the fact that her competition wasn't exactly the strongest. I also have to add that I think Melvin & Howard as a film is rather strange.
While it didn't get a Best Picture nomination, it certainly seems like it was in the 6th slot with this win and its win in Best Original Screenplay. I know the film is based on a true story but there is such a disjointed and aloof quality to it that I found it often hard to connect to the film in any way.
I do think Steenburgen suffers a little from that and it does seem a little strange that she swept in such a capacity, but then again, her category was very weak.
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#46 - Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Even Anne Hathaway has admitted that this award season period was perhaps the most difficult time in her career as the internet seemed ready to pounce on her every opportunity that she appeared anywhere.
It does seem like that vitriol has since died down, but there certainly was a sense at the time that Hathaway was practically begging for an Oscar.
The moment the trailer came out for Les Miserables, people were like "Well there is your winner". In truth, the role of Fantine in the stage production isn't necessarily an awards magnet. Sure, it may have netted Patti LuPone a win at the Olivier Awards (which was also for her work in The Cradle Will Rock) but I grew up always thinking of the role of Eponine being the awards magnet.
I think what strongly benefitted Hathaway in this case was how the role was restructured. In the stage production, Fantine's big solo "I Dreamed a Dream" is placed right after she is ostracized from the factory...but in the movie, it occurs after she sells her hair and teeth and prostitutes herself, so the emotions are...well...understandably high at her bleakest moment.
I feel like this is one of those performances where I didn't exactly hate it or even hate the fact that she won...but I also find myself feeling that despite the intense emotion, something about it still feels so brash and very forced.
Nevertheless, she still comes off as a highlight to the movie, which I still consider to be rather horrid as a whole.
Hathaway should've been strongly considered for an Oscar for her lovely dramatic turn in Rachel Getting Married whereas in this race, I would've been inclined to vote for the still Oscar-less (as of this writing) Amy Adams for The Master.
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#45 - Claire Trevor, Key Largo
With Claire Trevor, we get another example of an actress who took a role that is essentially thin and one-note and made as much out of it as they possibly could.
This is also another prime example of a supporting performance that somehow manages to be the best thing about the movie. Key Largo is a rather forgettable film and it is so weak that we somehow get the most lifeless and uninteresting performance out of Lauren Bacall.
Claire Trevor spends most of the movie just begging to have another drink and she essentially has no dignity...but considering how one-note the role is, Trevor does the absolute best she can with it. I actually originally had her ranked at #57 and then moved her up to #45.
There is just something about her in this role that I find to be impressive considering the limitations that are there. Maybe I will consider moving her a little higher in the future, but for her to get a 12-point jump is still nothing to scoff at.
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FINAL THOUGHTS:
As I stated before, this was another volume where I kind of struggled.
I think that despite some of the issues I had with these performances and even many of the films in which they were contained, I found myself finding better qualities in a lot of their work compared to some of the Best Actress winners.
The variety here just feels a lot more refreshing, but I still think the biggest problem is that a lot of the issues with these winners are mostly due to the nature of how their roles are written.
In the last volume, a lot of my complaints stemmed from the fact that so many of the actresses just didn't do enough with the material they were given.
Here, I found myself commended a lot of these actresses for doing more than what the roles may have given them on the page. It also doesn't hurt that so many of these actresses were actually the best aspect of their respective movies.
We still have two more volumes to go, but I will go ahead and say now that there will be a more positive shift in tone with a lot of these upcoming performances.
A lot of them would not have been my first choice for the win...or even would've been nominated. However, on their own terms, I find many of these to be commendable works. As we inch close to the top 30, it is going to become a little bit more of a bloodbath where I actually feel weird ranking some of the performances as low as I did.
I am actually expecting to shift around a lot of my ranking as I write about the next 44 performances. I even shifted one performance just now after glancing at the list!
Stay tuned for the next volume! As it goes with my blog, you may see the post tomorrow or a week from now or a month from now...
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