Sunday 30 November 2014

Alternate Best Actor 1998: Results

5. Tony Leung Chiu Wai in The Longest Nite - Leung's role is underwritten but he gives an effective portrayal of the cold brutality of a corrupt cop.

Best Scene: Sam and Tony in the prison cell.
4. Anthony Wong in Beast Cops - Wong gives an entertaining and sometimes moving portrayal of a lazy corrupt cop who tries to redeem himself.

Best Scene: Tung attempts his redemption.
3. Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski - Bridges gives an enjoyable performance as both a funny slacker but as well a straight man in the role he was apparently born to play.

Best Scene: The two Lebowskies meet.
2. Ian McKellen in Apt Pupil -  McKellen's film is terrible as the film's direction stays in one direction while the writing goes in a completely different way. McKellen though matches the two opposing sides with his performance. The first side giving a chilling portrayal of an evil man given the chance to reflect on his evil deeds. The second being an entertaining portrayal of an evil Nazi. McKellen stays above the film by taking his own path apart from the film.

Best Scene: Dussander visits Todd's family.
1. Brendan Gleeson in The General - Gleeson gives an endearing portrayal of the "folk hero" side of his character, but is also effective in his portrayal of the growing desperation of man whose world is closing in on him.

Best Scene: Cahill and the Inspector's last meeting.
Overall Ranking:
  1. Brendan Gleeson in The General
  2. Ian McKellen in Apt Pupil
  3. Edward Norton in American History X
  4. Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski
  5. Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters
  6. Anthony Wong in Beast Cops
  7. Tony Leung Chiu Wai in The Longest Nite
  8. Rufus Sewell in Dark City
  9. Jim Carrey in The Truman Show
  10. Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan
  11. Lau Ching Wan in The Longest Nite
  12. Nick Nolte in Affliction
  13. Bill Paxton in A Simple Plan
  14. Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore
  15. Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  16. Bill Pullman in Zero Effect
  17. John Travolta in A Civil Action
  18. Anthony Hopkins in The Mask of Zorro
  19. Samuel L. Jackson in The Negotiator
  20. Matt Damon in Rounders
  21. Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro
  22. Kevin Spacey in The Negotiator  
  23. Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4
  24. Will Smith in Enemy of the State 
  25. George Clooney in Out of Sight
  26. Liam Neeson in Les Miserables 
  27. Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 4
  28. Geoffrey Rush in Les Miserables
  29. Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer
  30. Trey Parker in Baseketball
  31. Tony Ho in The Longest Summer
  32. Wesley Snipes in Blade
  33. Anthony Hopkins in Meet Joe Black
  34. Chris Tucker in Rush Hour
  35. Tommy Lee Jones in U.S. Marshals
  36. Ian Bannen in Waking Ned Devine
  37. Joseph Mazzello in Simon Birch
  38. Woody Allen in Antz
  39. John Travolta in Primary Colors 
  40. Ian Michael Smith in Simon Birch
  41. Patrick Stewart in Star Trek Insurrection 
  42. Ben Stiller in There's Something About Mary
  43. Denzel Washington in The Siege 
  44. Val Kilmer in The Prince of Egypt
  45. Matt Stone in Baseketball
  46. Matt Dillon in Wild Things 
  47. Dave Foley in A Bug's Life
  48. Jackie Chan in Rush Hour
  49. Wesley Snipes in U.S. Marshals
  50. Adrian Lester in Primary Colors
  51. Eddie Murphy in Doctor Dolittle
  52. Brendan Fraser in Gods and Monsters
  53. Leslie Nielsen in Wrongfully Accused
  54. Ralph Fiennes in The Avengers
  55. Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love 
  56. Warren Beatty in Bulworth
  57. Elijah Wood in The Faculty 
  58. Bruce Willis in Armageddon
  59. Harrison Ford in Six Days Seven Nights 
  60. Elijah Wood in Deep Impact 
  61. Jared Leto in Urban Legend
  62. Michael Keaton in Jack Frost
  63. Robin Williams in Patch Adams 
  64. Nicolas Cage in City of Angels
  65. Gregory Smith in Small Soldiers
  66. Tobey Maguire in Pleasantville
  67. James Marsden in Disturbing Behavior
  68. Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black
  69. Bill Paxton in Mighty Joe Young
  70. Norm MacDonald in Dirty Work
  71. William Hurt in Lost in Space
  72. Ben Affleck in Armageddon 
  73. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Man in the Iron Mask
  74. Eddie Murphy in Holy Man
  75. Michael Wong in Beast Cops
  76. Scott Bakula in Major League: Back to the Minors
  77. Jay Mohr in Jane Austen's Mafia
  78. Adam Sandler in The Waterboy
  79. Jay Mohr in Paulie
  80. Matthew Broderick in Godzilla
  81. Brad Renfro in Apt Pupil
  82. Vince Vaughn in Psycho
Next Year: 1998 Supporting

25 comments:

Robert MacFarlane said...

John Goodman in The Big Lebowski
Dylan Baker in Happiness
Jeff Daniels in Pleasantville
Elias Koteas in The Thin Red Line
Jeremy Davies in Saving Private Ryan

GM said...

Bill Murray - Rushmore
John Goodman - The Big Lebowski
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Happiness
Dylan Baker - Happiness

Luke Higham said...

John Goodman - The Big Lebowski
Giovanni Ribisi - Saving Private Ryan
Jeremy Davies - Saving Private Ryan
Sam Lee - The Longest Summer
Bill Murray - Rushmore

mcofra7 said...

Would you say Apt Pupil is worth seeing for McKellen?

Matt Mustin said...

John Goodman in The Big Lebowski
Jeff Daniels in Pleasantville
Dylan Baker in Happiness
Bill Murray in Rushmore
Giovanni Ribisi in Saving Private Ryan

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Ratings & Thoughts on:
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
Rufus Sewell - Dark City
Jason Schwartzman - Rushmore
Hopkins & Banderas - The Mask of Zorro
Neeson & Rush - Les Miserables
Tucker & Chan - Rush Hour
Wesley Snipes - Blade
Willis & Affleck - Armageddon
Michael Keaton - Jack Frost
Robin Williams - Patch Adams
Leonardo Dicaprio - The Man in The Iron Mask
Adam Sander - The Waterboy
Matthew Broderick - Godzilla
Vince Vaughn - Psycho


Michael Patison said...

John Goodman in The Big Lebowski
Elias Koteas in The Thin Red Line
Bill Murray in Rushmore
Callum Keith Rennie in Last Night
Giovanni Ribisi in Saving Private Ryan
Donald Sutherland in Without Limits (I'm almost positive I rescinded my request on this one. If not, please don't take it as a request and only review it if you want to)

Michael McCarthy said...

John Goodman-The Big Lebowski (99% sure he's already Louis's pick)
Tom Wilkinson-Shakespeare in Love (his character arc is incredibly entertaining even though he doesn't have a lot of screen time)
Ben Affleck-Shakespeare in Love (Just yes)
Giovanni Ribisi-Saving Private Ryan
Dylan Baker-Happiness
Bill Murray-Rushmore
Jim Caviezel/Elias Koteas-The Thin Red Line

Robert MacFarlane said...

Not kidding, Ben Affleck was my favorite thing about Shakespeare in Love outside of the score and costumes.

Louis Morgan said...

mcofra7:

Hmmm...interesting question. I guess I'll say yes because McKellen is great. Also the film, a bit like Gus Van Sant's Psycho, does not exactly fail like most films.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Sewell - 4(Another film from the year that I have not seen in a long time but as I recall his work being kinda a darker counterpart to Jim Carrey's performance in The Truman Show as both are about men living in a world that is not as it appears. Sewell's performance effectively transforms his character from the confused any man to eventually a man of godlike powers. Honestly a re-watch could easily move him up)

Schwartzman - 3.5(Schwartzman at his best but I still don't love him. I do like his portrayal of the overly entitled kid who seems has basically a facade of an intelligence as he's actually quite dumb)

Hopkins - 3.5(I haven't watched it since it came out so bare with me. For being a bit miscast in a part that I assume would have been played by Raul Julia if it I had not been for his untimely death, Hopkins is surprisingly believable as Zorro. He's funny and entertaining but manages to bring considerable dramatic weight in the scenes showing what Zorro has lost)

Banderas - 3.5(Banderas at his most charming. He's a likable hero and I thought he had some great chemistry with Hopkins. He did a particularly job from going from goofy screw up to badass hero, and I recall him even being a bit moving in the scenes dealing with his brother's death)

Neeson - 3(It's a bit of odd performance since Jean Valjean in this version is oddly written as they apparently wanted to keep violent criminal in the reformation for some reason. Those moments don't work, but him being the passionate heroic Valjean do)

Rush - 3(He's good when he's just being a cold and commanding Javert. The problem is Javert can elicit sympathy. The film doesn't seem to know this, and Rush doesn't try to bring any sympathy for the character either. He's okay at being just a straight villain but Javert should be so much more)

Louis Morgan said...

Tucker - 3(I have a confession to make.......... I don't mind Chris Tucker (I am now sobbing uncontrollably). I can't help it I do enjoy his performance here and I think he brings a lot of fun energy. I must know hold my head in shame)

Chan - 3(Chan's never really a great actor, but he's got a charm which is on display here. Plus I do like his chemistry with Tucker (more uncontrollable sobbing)).

Snipes - 3(A solid enough leading performance I think as he brings enough intensity to the part. I don't think he's great but he is decent enough)

Willis - 2.5(Willis playing it a little too "cool" for his own good as he too often coasts and Willis can't coast. I actually will give him his final scene with Affleck though)

Affleck - 2(A lot of his worst tendencies as an actor rolled up as like Willis he can't coast, and when he acts out it becomes really obnoxious. Again I also will give him his last scene with Willis)

Keaton - 2.5(I can't help but feel sorry a little sorry for Michael Keaton in the film. That whole snowman creature is just so terribly thought out that it unlikely that any actor could have made up for it. He's not terrible actually but he can't make up for that film)

Williams - 2.5(He does give it his all, which I'll admit I don't love anyways, and this is not the best example of that. The material is so terrible and overtly manipulative and really Williams's performance goes a little too hand and hand with that)

Leonardo DiCaprio - 1.5(His performance as the man in the Iron Mask is extremely bland. As the Evil King he does a pretty horrendous job of an attempted smug menace. He's neither imposing nor at least comically absurd as prancing fancy boy type. He kinda rectified his work here with Calvin Candie)

Sandler - The Waterboy - 1(In the year where he gave his best Sandler movie work (The Wedding Singer) he gave one of his worst. I find him intolerable whenever he does his man child voice as it's neither funny or endearing. He just comes off as obnoxious)

Broderick - 1(This is pure Broderick being Broderick at his most Broderickness which is not a good thing. Everything that's so bad about his acting from the over the top reactions to the awkward line readings, to a general unlikability can all be seen here. That's a lot of fish indeed)

Vaughn - 1(Where do I begin. This year was a tough race for my coveted bottom of the list "award". Renfro, Sandler, and Broderick all made a good play for it but I cannot deny Vaughn the "victory". I suppose Gus Van Sant's Psycho does allow one to see why acting, setting, and lighting do matter. I can't help but wonder why Steven Spielberg and Gus Van Sant probably saw Swingers where Vaughn plays a doofy best friend and Spielberg said yes that's perfect for a badass (Jurassic Park) and Van Sant said he's the one to play the man with a split personality disorder. Now I don't even know where to start because it's so hard to decipher what he's going for with his Bates. I guess he's trying to be creepy but his attempts at this are laughably bad, and as well suggest that there really isn't two personalities going on in this version. It's odd though how much he fails in that every scene just seems wrong. He also randomly takes on some of Perkins's physical mannerisms which don't exactly make sense to the rest of his performance. Of course this shows part of the problem with the film in order to get the same shot it demands the same physical movement from the actor even if it does not make sense to their performance. All I can really say is this is a horrible performance)

Psifonian said...

1. Elias Koteas, The Thin Red Line
2. Jim Caviezel, The Thin Red Line
3. Nick Nolte, The Thin Red Line
4. Richard Attenborough, Eluzabeth
5. Giovanni Ribisi, Saving Private Ryan

The top three are musts, man.

RatedRStar said...

Sam Lee - The Longest Summer (One of my winning requests, please like him please Louissss)
Donald Sutherland - Without Limits
John Goodman - The Big Lebowski
Bill Murray - Rushmore
Elias Koteas - The Thin Red Line

GetDonaldSutherlandAnOscar said...

Donald Surgery and in Without Limits
Elias Koteas in Thin Red line
Giovani Ribisi in Saving Private Ryan
Geoffrey Rush in Elizabeth

Maciej said...

Jeff Daniels - Pleasantville
John Goodman - The Big Lebowski
Sean Penn - The Thin Red Line
Nick Nolte - The Thin Red Line
Edward Furlong - American History X

Anonymous said...

What are your thoughts and ratings on Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love, Lynn Redgrave in Gods and Monsters and Kathy Bates in Primary Colors?

Robert MacFarlane said...

Am I he only one who would consider Caviezel lead?

Scott Gingold said...

John Goodman, The Big Lebowski
John Turturro, The Big Lebowski
Ben Gazzara, Buffalo '66
Dennis Franz, City of Angels
Kiefer Sutherland, Dark City
Geoffrey Rush, Elizabeth
Benicio Del Toro, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
Marlon Brando, Free Money
Dylan Baker, Happiness
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Happiness
Chazz Palminteri, Hurlyburly
Michael Caine, Little Voice
Don Cheadle, Out of Sight
Bill Murray, Rushmore
Jeremy Davies, Saving Private Ryan
Barry Pepper, Saving Private Ryan
Giovanni Ribisi, Saving Private Ryan
Tom Wilkinson, Shakespeare in Love
Alan Arkin, Slums of Beverly Hills
Stan Shaw, Snake Eyes
F. Murray Abraham, Star Trek: Insurrection
Nick Nolte, The Thin Red Line
David Kelly, Waking Ned Devine

Robert MacFarlane said...

Oh God, Kiefer Sutherland. That is one performance I don't even know if I could give a proper score to. Just a question mark.

Kevin said...

Elias Koteas in The Thin Red Line
Giovanni Ribisi in Saving Private Ryan
John Goodman in The Big Lebowski
Jeff Daniels in Pleasantville
Bill Murray in Rushmore

Also Louis, what are your ratings and thoughts on:

Bill Pullman in Zero Effect
Bill Paxton in A Simple Plan
Sam Jackson and Kevin Spacey in The Negotiator

GetDonaldSutherlandAnOscar said...

Thoughts/ratings on:

John Travolta in A Civil Action
Will Smith in Enemy of the State
Anthony Hopkins in Meet Joe Black
Woody Allen in Antz
George Clooney in Out of Sight
Adrian Lester in Primary Colors

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

Dench - 3(She's regal and dignified enough and does his biting lines well enough I guess. Her costuming though is the most impressive part of her character really. She's fine but there isn't anything amazing about her work here)

Redgrave - 3.5(She again is an older lady with the biting lines but I found Redgrave a bit more entertaining. Her accent is enjoyable while feeling natural to her character. She does not make too much of an impact but she adds nicely to her film)

Bates - 4(The third lady with the biting lines but unlike the other two she manages to be the most valuable player in her film. Bates is also entertaining as she does crazy lady in a splendid yet still intimidating fashion. I don't think the writing quite works in regards to her character's last act but Bates still is moving enough in trying to suddenly make her character the moral center of the film)

Kevin:

Pullman - 3.5(Another that could use a re-watch. As I recall though Pullman gave at first an entertaining portrayal of his character's various eccentricities, but effectively manages to make them seemingly sensible when the film takes a more dramatic turn)

Paxton - 3.5(Both Bill's doing much better than usual actually. As a whole I do think he's overshadowed by Thornton, Paxton is also good in portraying the rather natural growth of his character's moral depravity. What works best is Paxton never makes a big jump, but shows kinda how any average man could be pulled into the path)

Jackson - 3.5(Whenever he tries Jackson is almost always good. His role is limited but Jackson honestly portrays the growing desperation of his character, but as well the needed command as he tries to handle too many thing at once)

Spacey - 3.5(I kinda odd combination between the two but Jackson and Spacey are effective in their scenes of quietly battle one another. Spacey is good in portraying the cold professionalism of his character as the overarching quality but he slowly loses it in an effective fashion)

GetDonaldSutherlandAnOscar:

Travolta - 3.5(An interesting lawyer portrayal since he does not get a single grandstanding speech. Travolta I thought was rather good in portraying basically the rather quiet transformation from a confidant rich man to the poor man forced to undergo one frustration after another. It's mostly small reactions which Travolta I felt handled rather well)

Smith - 3(As I recall, again long time. I thought Smith did not call upon many of his over the top choice as an actor and just gave a reasonably effective portrayal of a Hitchkokian hero type, even if I did feel Hackman overshadowed him)

Hopkins - 3(I found Meet Joe Black, when I originally watched it long ago, to be a dull boring slog outside of Pitt's hilarious death scene. Hopkins though I thought managed to at least play his part with some grace and dignity)

Allen - 3(Allen doing Allen once again but this time as Ant. It's a more unusual vocal performance but it does work for the film)

Clooney - 3(It seems Clooney adopted some of his most obnoxious tendencies after the nineties or maybe it was side effect of Batman and Robin. I thought he was perfectly fine here bringing some charm along with suggesting the toughness of his character decently enough anyways)

Lester - 3(He's has some good moments here and there like his early comical reactions to the disarray of the campaign and later his reactions to Bates's character's fate, but never quite makes up for the purposefully muted nature of the role)

Scott Gingold said...

This whole Ian McKellen thing begs me to ask, Louis & everybody, what are your favorite performances in otherwise bad films?

And by the way, I'd like to add that I did like both his performance and the film of Apt Pupil. It was an interesting film that was somewhat faithful to Stephen King's source material but McKellen was definitely the standout. I didn't have much of a problem with the late Brad Renfro as everyone else did.

My favorite performances in bad films are:
Jack Palance, Contempt
Hugh Griffith, Start the Revolution Without Me
Malcolm McDowell, Caligula (I actually think it's not terrible, but it has a reputation as a bad film)
Tim Curry, Legend
Maria Conchita Alonso, Vampire's Kiss
Willem Dafoe, Wild at Heart
Raul Julia, Street Fighter
Jessica Lange, Titus
Amy Adams, Drop Dead Gorgeous
Christian Bale, Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Paul Bettany, A Knight's Tale
Matthew O'Leary, Frailty
Michael Emerson, Saw
Jodie Foster, Flightplan
Paul Giamatti, Lady in the Water
James Franco, Pineapple Express
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, New York
Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
Woody Harrelson, Seven Psychopaths

RatedRStar said...

@Louis: I liked Rush Hour lol I thought it was kinda fun, would it surprise you if I told you Jackie Chan holds the record for most Hong Kong award for best actor nominations without winning, with 10 =D.