Thursday 30 December 2010

Best Actor 1982: Results

5. Jack Lemmon in Missing- Lemmon has a few moments of strong emotional impact, but the script calls for very little of him most of the time. Also I felt there was a lack in a natural flow in his performance.
4. Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year- Peter O'Toole is good, and charming as a washed up movie star. His performance is not incredible but it is a nice funny and entertaining performance by O'Toole.
3. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie- An incredibly enjoyable performance by Hoffman here. He makes sure every joke hits home with his terrific comedic timing. He makes the film also believable despite playing a man playing woman. Many scenes could have come off as just odd, by Hoffman makes them humorous, and also adds even more with the oddly poignant transformation caused by being a woman for awhile.
2. Ben Kingsley in Gandhi- Kingsley is quite good in the challenging role of Gandhi. He always seems completely authentic as Gandhi, in every scene and at every age. I never once doubted him as Gandhi, which is a spectacular achievement by Kingsley.
1. Paul Newman in The Verdict- Newman gives a full portrait of a man from being tired and broken down, but slowly growing toward a redemption of sorts. I personally finds this performance to be an outstanding and powerful performance which is incredibly true and authentic. A heartbreaking performance which may not have the technical challenges of Kingsley and Hoffman's characters, but Newman is the who made Galvin a truly empathetic man to me which is something a performance rarely does for me, but this one did completely.
Deserving Performances:
I decided to change other deserving performances since rewriting the performances in my ranking in my nominees is rather redundant. For the deserving performances this year I cannot think of any but I am open to suggestions.

16 comments:

joe burns said...

I thought Newman would win!

dinasztie said...

Newman deservedly won. I love Hoffman a bit more because I love the movie and Hoffman in general. I must admit though that at the time under those circumstances, I would have voted for Newman for sure and probably even now. I'm always with the one I see more recently.

I think that it would have been the perfect time to give it to Newman. It would have made more sense than his actual win. I guess he did not win only because Gandhi was really hyped.

Louis Morgan said...

Kingsley was probably unbeatable considering how much they liked Gandhi. Newman actually won only like one precursor, therefore I think he really did not have much of a chance.

Fritz said...

Yes, Kinglsey must have been a sure thing.

This is really a strong year.

Anonymous said...

I didn't really find Newman that impressive, but I knew he would be your pick ;)

dinasztie said...

I forgot to tell this: I believe that Jessica Lange was great, even better than Garr (who was hilarious, but her acting was a bit thin), I think. I may even give the win to Lange, though Glenn is great competition.

Anonymous said...

Personally, it's a three-way tie between Kingsley, Newman, and Hoffman.
By the way, I would very much like to see you do 2009's Best Supporting Actor race sometime soon. Please!

dshultz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Louis Morgan said...

Fritz: Yes a very strong year.

Sage: I thought you might say that :}

Dinasztie: I would go with Garr who's character may not be all that complicated, but she was funny which was good enough for me.

Unknown: I will keep that year in mind when I return to supporting.

Doug said...

Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie)
Ben Kingsley (Gandhi)
Peter O’Toole (My Favorite Year)
Klaus Maria Brandauer (Mephisto)
Paul Newman (The Verdict)

Anonymous said...

Did you ever see Albert Finney in Shoot The Moon and Klaus Maria Brandauer because I thought they would be deserving of nominations.

Anonymous said...

In Mephisto.

Louis Morgan said...

I have yet to see either of those performances.

Michael Patison said...

I've always really liked Harrison Ford's performance in Blade Runner (probably his best). I don't however, know whether it's any better than Lemmon in Missing as I've never seen it.

Michael Patison said...

Jurgen Prochnow's performance in Das Boot is also incredibly powerful, if you haven't seen him.

Louis Morgan said...

I need to. He would be for 81 by my release rule, and to be honest that year is going to be a crowded one. I will try my best though.