Halle Berry wins Best Actress over Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek and Renée Zellweger 

She totally deserved it. I have seen her in Monster's ball, Die another day and in Carwoman. She is a brilliant actress.

Like other comments I too feel Halle berry well deserved the Oscar for playing against type she had done introducing Dorothy dandridge about the same time playing to her glamour beauty and elegance

This is a strong year, but Spacek is far and away my favorite.

Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger did eventually won Oscar for best Actress. In fact Nicole Kidman won the award the following year 2003 and Zellweger in 2019. Halle Berry deserve the award that year.

Isabelle Huppert should have been nominated and should have won for a most challenging and great film ('The Piano Teacher', made by a remarkable auteur, Michael Haneke, and based on a great novel by Elfriede Jelinek), a part only she could have played. Of all the actual nominees Judi Dench and Sissy Spacek would have been deserving winners too, but Halle Berry's performance was more than fine (and, in my view, better and much more interesting in what it accomplished than Kidman's, which this channel's creator seems to prefer). Although the historical nature of the win overshadows (for good reasons and to the eternal shame of the Academy) the artistic merits of her performance, it must be said that Berry gives one of the most truthful representations of what is to be poor (moreover, poor and a black woman in a racist place) in American mainstream cinema. She has the passivity and resignation of the trauma poverty, grinding poverty, is (the scene where she has to steal an umbrella captures all the devastation wrought by the social violence of poverty) down pat. For American films (and I am not saying 'Monster's Ball' is unproblematic or that the points made about 'misdirection' in one particular scene are not correct), it is always a gigantic feat to get some truthful representation of poverty. It is usually romanticised as some kind of nomadic/drifting existence, or poor people are depicted as busily going about their business, as having some kind of aspiration, with the fires of resistance and defiance still burning within them (the feel-good-poverty genre). Also, the Hollywood-poor rarely look poor, they mostly look poor-chic. American films go to extreme lengths to mask the fact that poverty traumatises, and thus paralyses, people (inter-generationally). Couple all that with the terror, and history of terror, racism is, and you have it all playing upon Halle Berry's (admittedly beautiful) face and whole demeanour. Her posture, the way she walks, talks, dresses, smokes, the way she carries her handbag, reflect and exude poverty, hopelessness and, most of all, humiliation. The ending of 'Monster's Ball' is its greatest moment of TRUTH: poor people do not leave the little comfort they find because they have been deceived or lied to, or because vital information has been concealed from them. They don't leave, no matter how hurt or shocked they feel and are. Their humanity is damaged by being forced to exist at the mere level of survival that they don't have the 'luxury' of expressing their feelings and acting upon them. How about that for a devastating message?

My ranking 1.Halle 2.Sissy 3.Judi 4.Renee 5.Nicole

I disagree with what you say about Halle's performance. The parts u judge as awkward are the most genius, raw improvisation parts imo..! And Laeticia is passive due to her hardships which've made her numb, a lot of poor despondent people are like that. And no, that's not unusual for a poor black woman in a racist county. It's the norm and that's what the movie and Halle displayed artfully. Overall, one of the most compelling, powerful and heartbreaking performances I've ever seen. 💯 well deserved...

this is such an incredible video and i love the depth of each performance’s analysis. i’m so excited to see which year you tackle next. i’d love to see you cover 1950, 1967, 1982, 1988, 2000, 2006, or 2018 as i think those are crazy strong lineups as well.

It’s really interesting that all five actresses in the lead category that year had won or would eventually win Academy Awards. That was to date - I’m writing this comment on 2/3/24 - that year’s winner Halle Berry’s only nomination. Sissy Spacek and Judi Dench had won Oscars, and Nicole Kidman and Renée Zellweger both won within the next two years. Dench’s only win had been in the supporting category, Spacek’s and Kidman’s only wins are both in lead, and Zellweger has one win each in both categories.

Just one (humorous) note: you mention that when Judi Dench had her first nomination at the age of 63, she was a distinguished actress who did not have name recognition of Maggie Smith or Vanessa Redgrave, which is ironic, because both Maggie Smith and Vanessa Redgrave have both stated (repeatedly, publicly, and vehemently) that Judi Dench is their best friend (which is also ironic because there have been occasions when Smith and Redgrave had been at odds, but they never let that get in the way of their friendship with Judi Dench).

Your analysis of at 41:30 may be a bit off. It's evident from Hank's (Billy Bob Thornton) reaction to Leticia's (Halle Berry) explaining her son to him. It's to make the audience feel awkward. To make the audience feel the awkwardness that Hank is feeling. This is one of the best scenes in the entire movie. Because Halle can make the audience feel what the director wants the audience to feel and that uncomfortable... leading to the love scene following...

Do I have a million things to do ? Yes. Are this videos a priority? You bet ! 😌💛

Halle's win was well deserved. You totally feel for her character, and she did a fantastic job. But my favorite of this lineup is Renee's Bridget.

Sissy is two times the actor as Halle but Halle deserved that Oscar. I’m sorry. That was one hell of a performance.

Judi Dench was the Best in that category but each and every performance of the nominees aged like wine. Nicole in Moulin rogue is just iconic, she's my close second after then and then comes Halle Berry who truly deserved it, I don't mind her winning, she did her best in that movie, especially in the last 5 minutes, her non verbal expressions were just superb. Only Renee's nomination I do not understand, a little bit of exaggerating, I mean everyone loved Bridget Jones (me too) but I don't think performance like this has place to be awarded with the highest price in Film industry. I'd have loved Naomi Watts for Mulholland drive to see as a nominee, even as a winner actually.

Such a great video!

I agree with most of your thesis, but not about Halle Berry. Seeing those scenes again 20 years later reminds me of my mother & again brought tears to my eyes. Interestingly, I didn't feel awkward @ all. All this PTSD - 4 generations in my family.

Judi Dench should've won a second Oscar for Notes on a Scandal...brilliant performance!!

Spectacular video again *awestruck* I absolutely agree with your choice of Nicole Kidman in ,Moulin Rouge', although that year's very best performances were two of the unnominated mentioned by you: Isabelle Huppert in ,The Piano Teacher' and Naomi Watts in ,Mullholland Drive'. My choice would be Huppert although ,Mullholland Drive' is my favourite movie of all time (Lynchian here 😉). But back to Kidman: Satine is the perfect movie star part that also requires a lot of emotional depth in the (better) second half of the film. The quieter and less histrionic (skipping those childish Slapstick moments) Moulin Rouge' gets the more impressive and heartbreaking it is. Nicole Kidman shows that she can handle the craft of ,dying beautifully' like Bette Davis in ,Dark Victory' and Baz Luhrmann sets up the lights, camera and costumes around her like she was a screen goddess of Marlene Dietrich calibre (which makes him Nicole's Josef von Sternberg): Still impressing to this day after 20 years. Man, I'm getting old. Saw ,Moulin Rouge' back then in the cimema, when it came out *sigh* Keep up the excellent work. Weiter so ❤️

Great job! I really learned something!

Thanks for another amazing video! My personal order: 1. Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive 2. Halle Berry (I have no issue with her winning, very raw performance, as good as Naomi) 3. Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher 4. Sissy Spacek 5. Audrey Tatou - Amelie 6. Judi Dench 7. Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge 8. Nicole Kidman - The Others 9. Laura Morante - The Son's Room 10. Renee Zellwegger

Nevermind the acting, let's talk about the Best Dress. The Academy started handing out oscars to actresses for a lead role almost 100 years ago. I will start you off with 5 names/dresses to get you started. Then you can swap out any in your video, according to your taste. Starting right here, right now in 2001 1) To Halle Berry for "Monster's Ball" 2) Julie Christie for "Darling" 3) Helen Mirren for "The Queen" 4) Audrey Hepburn "Roman Holiday" 5) Cate Blanchett "Blue Jasmine." And the Fritzie Goes To...

The Best Actress of 2001 is Naomi Watts for Mulholland Drive.

Love your videos! I wonder if you have the full video of 2002 sag or the best actress part? I’ve been searching it for years and this is the first time I see it. 30:38

Unfortunately, this video has drawn some rather undesirable reactions from people with obvious racist agendas. Whether that was your intention or not, I am not sure.

Does anyone know what the movie at 27:54 is?

Who's that at 19:33?

“I want you to make me feel good “

I was disappointed with Halle. She basically won an oscar for doing light porn. There were other black actresses that were truly worthy of ocars like Diane Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diann Carrol,Angela Basset. It is my understanding that Angela Basset turned that part down. First black woman to receive a best actress oscar and should did it by making light porn.

One of the most undeserved wins of all time! Sissy Spacek was beyond amazing in In The Bedroom and Dench was very good in Iris. Halle Berry hasn't received a nomination since she won, which speaks volumes! Love your deep dives into Oscar races!

Subs in spanish, please

Spacek should have won!

Noami watts (mullholland drive) or Nicole Kidman (moulin rouge) should had won!

Shes bi-racial

Judi dench should have won

This was beginning of the end for Best Actress category for me. The roles were becoming less impressive.

Moulin Rouge was a snore fest and Kidman is a terrible actress, mannered and self consicous.

Halle is a terrible actress and that role was degrading to her, black women, and black people as a whole.

Halle’s performance did not deserve this Oscar. It was all political. It is sad that it exist and still does. So many splendid performances were not awarded over the decades because of racism.

The reason Halle won was her narrative. It's hard to admit but that's the truth. Had Angela Bassett won in 1994, Halle wouldn't have won.