Tuesday 7 March 2017

Alternate Best Actor 1937: Results

5. Henry Fonda in You Only Live Once - Though he only gets to scratch the surface Fonda is able to tap into a darker side of his onscreen persona to give an effective portrayal of a man destroyed by his desperate situation.

Best Scene: Broken Cup.
4. Edward G. Robinson in Kid Galahad - A limited role yet Robinson excels as usual giving an entertaining yet moving portrayal of a boxing promoter who finds his conscience.

Best Scene: Final Confrontation. 
3. Robert Donat in Knight Without Armour - The underrated Donat as usual offers such a genuine presence that brings some much needed weight to his romantic historical thriller.

Best Scene: Train escape.
2. Ronald Colman in The Prisoner of Zenda - Colman excels as both in his portrayal as the fearful King, and as through his incredibly charming, humorous yet passionate performance as the well meaning doppelganger.

Best Scene: Final Battle. 
1. Jean Gabin in Pepe Le Moko - Good Predictions Anonymous, Luke, Tahmeed, Giuseppe, John Smith and Michael McCarthy. Jean Gabin gives a great performance that realizes the suave style of his flamboyant thief but also gives a moving depiction of the frustrated man pained by his circumstances.

Best Scene: Watching the boat.
Updated Overall Lead
Updated Overall Supporting

Next Year: 1947 Lead (I'll take any supporting suggestions as well)

70 comments:

Charles H said...

Glad Montgomery kept the win. I got no suggestions right now. I'm sure someone else will mention some.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the prince and the pauper cast and Edward Arnold in Easy Living.

My request is Anatoliy Solonitsyn in Andrei Rublev.

Your updated Female Top Tens.

Luke Higham said...

*Anatoly

Luke Higham said...

Orson Welles - The Lady From Shanghai
Burt Lancaster - Brute Force
Tyrone Power - Nightmare Alley
Louis Jouvet - Quai des Orfevres
Isao Numasaki - One Wonderful Sunday

Luke Higham said...

Charles: Who're your favourite professional wrestlers.

Matt Mustin said...

I saw Logan. I thought it was pretty fantastic, although I did think it had a few pacing issues, although admittedly I was also pretty tired. That said, I think it's a great western, a badass action movie, and above all, a moving tribute. The final shot in particular really hit me. It easily could have fallen flat, but the way it's done, and the context and meaning behind it, left me pretty emotional.

Jackman-5
Stewart-5
Keen-5
Holbrook-3.5
Merchant-4
Grant-3

Luke Higham said...

Matt Mustin: I'm glad you liked it. :)

Charles H said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Luke Higham said...

Charles: Your thoughts on John Cena. :) It appears to me, you don't like that motherfucker. :)

Mine are:
Styles
Okada
Bryan
Tanahashi
Joe
Jericho
Steen/Owens
Lesnar
Roode (His theme music alone puts him on the list)
Naito

Legends
Undertaker
Angle
B & O Hart
Davey Boy Smith
Stone Cold Steve Austin
The Rock

Former Employees
Punk
Batista

Luke Higham said...

Charles: And Edge.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on Cena 2.0, Roman Reigns. :)

Charles H said...

Luke: I sort-of hate him. At one point he had charisma, than he lost it, and had it, and lost it. He's been all over the place in his career. I'd say he's inconsistent. I don't find his mic skills to be that good either. He's always overshadowed by someone else, in the ring and out.

Luke Higham said...

Charles: I think he's the most overrated wrestler of all-time and I hate his passive aggressiveness nowadays. He never takes his opponents seriously in a confrontation or on the mic, he just fucking smirks. He should've turned heel ages ago.

Luke Higham said...

Charles: And I'm sick of him burying talent and his record equalling title reign really wound me up.

Charles H said...

Luke: I agree with that, heel Cena would've been a dream.

Luke Higham said...

Charles: If he did, my only concern is whether he'd bring the needed conviction, though he needs much better writers, because what they have currently is SHIT.

RatedRStar said...

Lead 1947
Tyrone Power - Nightmare Alley
Pierre Fresnay - Monsieur Vincent
Orson Welles - The Lady from Shanghai
Isao Numasaki - One Wonderful Sunday
Louis Jouvet - Quai des Orfevres

Supporting 1947
Van Heflin - Possessed
Henry Fonda - Daisy Kenyon
Stanley Holloway - The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickelby
George Lloyd - Singapore
Lee J. Cobb - Johnny O'Clock

Louis what were your thoughts on good old Claude =D?

Omar Franini said...

Luke and Charles: what did you think about the Fastlane main event or The Assassination of Kevin Owens by the Cowars Goldberg?

Charles H said...

omar: For some reason i enjoyed it. I thought Sam Rockwell was going to come out for a moment.

RatedRStar said...

I am looking forward to Wrestlemania 33, it is always something big to look forward to even if I dont watch wrestling properly anymore, 1998-2014 was the timeline when I watched it, I still always watch Wrestlemania when it is on though.

RatedRStar said...

Louis: I know you have enjoyed the animal himself Dave Bautista in films (Batista) and he was actually fantastic as a heel in WWE, I think far better than as a face.

I also think Batista was great with John Cena in their Wrestlemania 26 feud, Batista talking about how he snapped Cenas neck was pretty chilling as well as darkly hilarious when he mocks Cena for kissing fat girls lol, basically when Batista turned on Rey Mysterio was when I think his greatness truly started.

RatedRStar said...

I also think Batista was mostly great in Evolution, and even when he came back as a face getting booed, his reactions were great.

Giuseppe Fadda said...

My request would be Henry Krüger in Sundays and Cybele.

Anonymous said...

Louis, my request is Om Puri in Ardh Satya.

Álex Marqués said...

Everyone: what are your choices for the decade so far?

Best Picture: Drive
Best Director: NWR (Drive)
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Best Actress: Rooney Mara (Carol)
Best Supp. Actor: PSH (The Master)
Best Supp. Actress: Lou de Laage (Breathe)
Best Original Screenplay: A Separation
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network

GM said...

Claude Rain - The Unsuspected (please)
Tyrone Power - Nightmare Alley
Pierre Fresnay - Monsieur Vincent
Burgess Meredith - Mine Own Executioner

Louis Jouvet - Quai des Orfevres (maybe supporting)

Supporting
Ian Keith, Nightmare Alley
Cedric Hardwicke, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Hume Cronyn, Brute Force

RatedRStar said...

GM: Claude Rains of course always usually would make my list, but because Jouvets film looked really good, that was the only reason I picked Jouvet.

If Louis Jouvet is supporting though, then review him for supporting

Tyrone Power - Nightmare Alley
Pierre Fresnay - Monsieur Vincent
Orson Welles - The Lady from Shanghai
Isao Numasaki - One Wonderful Sunday
Claude Rains - The Unsuspected

RatedRStar said...

I did find a hidden gem for Claude Rains though and I couldn't believe I had not seen it =D, a film where he has so much screentime and is just gloriously charming and energetic, I am not going to say which film though lol.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Alex:

Picture: The Tree of Life
Director: George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road
Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter
Actress: Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night
Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life
Supporting Actress: Greta Gerwig in 20th Century Women
Original Screenplay: A Most Violent Year
Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network

Luke Higham said...

Picture: Silence
Director: Scorsese for Silence
Actor: Tie between Phoenix and Garfield
Actress: Cotillard in The Immigrant
Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy in The Revenant
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
Original Screenplay: The Hateful Eight
Adapted Screenplay: Silence

Luke Higham said...

omar: Goldberg was really limited, so I didn't have a huge problem with it, yet it pissed me off, that it lasted only 25 seconds.

RatedRStar: Not looking forward to Wrestlemania this year. 32 was mostly horrible and the card this year is rather upsetting. The only match I'm looking forward to is Jericho/Owens.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: It's Hardy Kruger instead of Henry.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Alex:
Picture: Silence
Director: Scorsese for Silence
Actor: Andrew Garfield in Silence
Actress: Emma Stone in La La Land
Supporting Actor: Ben Foster in Hell or High Water
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight/Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina
Best Original Screenplay: The Hateful Eight
Best Adapted Screenplay: Silence

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Your top 10 (or top 5, if it hasn't happened that often) book to film adaptations that you feel surpassed their literary source material.
My top 5 would be-

1. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II
2. The Lord of the Rings-The Return of the King (although barely, both the film and novel are masterpieces)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird
4. Gone with the Wind
5. Scrooge (1951)

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Edit: The Shawshank Redemption would be my #4 in place of Gone with the Wind.
Louis: Any chance of Robert Duvall becoming your win again in 1983 for Tender Mercies?

Calvin Law said...

Picture: Inside Llewyn Davis
Director: George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road
Actor: Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Actress: Amy Adams in Arrival
Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone in Creed
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
Original Screenplay: The Hateful Eight
Adapted Screenplay: Hunt for the Wilderpeople/Moonlight

Tahmeed: Fight Club, Jaws, The Godfather Parts I and II, The Green Mile, L.A. Confidential (though it's a tight one)

Giuseppe Fadda said...

@luke: Whoops my bad. Anyway, he's amazing.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: I'll go with Fresnay instead of Lancaster and would put Jouvet in Supporting for the timebeing, so I'll also go with Rains.

RatedRStar said...

Good old Claude Rains, never lets me down =D lol.

RatedRStar said...

Louis: I would have loved to have seen Ronald Colman and Clark Gable together in a film, imagine the banter they could have had, even though I know Cary Grant and James Stewart being in only one film together didnt quite work as well as it could have, but it is still special to see them together on screen.

Charles H said...

Picture: Silence
Director: Martin Scorsese - Silence
Actor: Andrew Silence - Silence (although i could switch to Oldman again)
Actress: Emma Stone - La La Land
Supporting Actor: Gary Poulter - Joe
Supporting Actress: Leigh - Hateful Eight
Original Screenplay: The Hateful Eight
Adapted Screenplay: Silence

Luke Higham said...

Charles: How the **** is Stone supporting for La La Land.

Charles H said...

Edited.

Luke Higham said...

Charles: Nevermind.

Charles H said...

Luke: My mistake. I was in a bit of a rush.

I feel like i'm constantly switching certain lists of mine back to back, forget me doing a blog like this.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Rating and thoughts on Ray Milland on Easy Living.
For 1947 Lead:
Orson Welles in The Lady From Shanghai
Louis Jouvet in Quai des Orfevres
Isao Numasaki in One Wonderful Sunday
Pierre Fresnay in Monsieur Vincent
The powerful Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley

Charles H said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: Have you finalised your 1973 Lead lineup.

Mine is:
Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man
Donald Sutherland in Don't Look Now
Robert Mitchum in The Friends Of Eddie Coyle
Robert Shaw in The Hireling
Elliot Gould in The Long Goodbye

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Yep, its been finalised for ages really, the same 5 people I had like a year are the same as they are now, Mitchum, Sutherland, Woodward, McDowell and Blake.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: I'll switch Gould with McDowell, but Shaw needs a Lead review and his film has me more intrigued than Blake's.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Well I do have Robert Shaw for a lead role actually =D, just for a different film in a different year.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: Is it A Reflection Of Fear from 1972.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: Or The Caretaker from 1963.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: I imagine Louis will see all 6/7 performances mentioned since they all are well known, years like 1973 and 1966 have quite a few films that I think will need to be seen.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: Do you think Dern and Connery will just be extras for 1972 or part of the lineup.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: It was actually Swashbuckler from 1976, Robert Shaw is charming, charismatic and is just having so much fun in the role, something that Louis needs to see from Robert Shaw, which is fun and laughter, something he rarely got to do in his career (aside from Navarone) which was to be charming and heroic.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Connery might do, Dern I actually have for 1972 but for a different film (Marvin Gardens)

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: And Tarkovsky's Stalker has 2 Lead performances, that would definitely be worth reviewing.

RatedRStar said...

Dern or Connery will probably get in, not sure about both, I still need to see Jeff Bridges and Robert Redford in their 1972 offerings because they could be good or bad.

RatedRStar said...

1979 is probably one of the worst years for Louis in terms of how many films he might have to see as I originally had 10 performances, I expect it to just be 5 so, if ya getting a winning request, picking one from 1979s big list is a safe and clever option.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar:
For 1972
Donatas Banionis in Solaris
Bruce Dern in The King Of Marvin Gardens and Silent Running
Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson
Sean Connery in The Offence
Bernard Verley in Love In The Afternoon

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: If 1979 were to come now, I'd rule out Martin, Moore, Nolte, McDowell (Time After Time) and Winstone.

My lineup:
Kaidanovsky/Solonitsyn - Stalker
Oliver Reed - The Brood
George C. Scott - Hardcore
James Mason - Murder By Decree
Ken Ogata - Vengeance Is Mine
And
McDowell in Caligula (Extra)

Luke Higham said...

Did anyone see the first few images from Thor: Ragnarok. Thor had a haircut.

Anonymous said...

Louis: My request is Juano Hernandez in Intruder in the Dust for 1949 supporting.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Your rating and thoughts on Lombard and March in Nothing Sacred.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Arnold - 4(It is a little funny to see Arnold play another wealthy businessman right after Come and Get It, even with Mary Nash as his wife in both film, though with quite the opposite intention. Arnold is a hoot in the role though playing up the rich man who both is perhaps a bit too carefree, while also becoming easily annoyed by his wife constantly wasting money. Arnold is very enjoyable as he kind of plays the role as being both constantly kind of joyful while very angry at the same time. It's a curious yet a rather winning combination.)

Mauches - 3(Hard to tell them apart, which hey is the point, but both of them are more than okay yet not quite great in their roles. The original choice of Freddie Bartholomew probably would have been the better choice, but for the period they are fairly natural performers, and perhaps it is a good thing one of the twins does not out act the other.)

Rains - 4(Rains being good old Rains as usual. I thought he was particularly effective in the way he covertly sets up his character as the villain. As in the early scenes he carries himself in an unassuming enough way potentially of a good man, though revealed to later be a man biding his time. When he makes the turn Rains is terrific by so quietly revealing the more villainous side of the man, in typically effective Rains fashion, with the right cold calculating style.)

Flynn - 3.5(He makes for a fairly endearing side hero here. He's used quite well as just an occasional diversion bringing his usual suave style, but with the right real undercurrent of warmth in his interactions with the Prince who is mistaken for the pauper.)

Actress:

1. Irene Dunne - The Awful Truth
2. Beulah Bondi - Make Way For Tomorrow
3. Luise Rainer - The Good Earth
4. Jean Arthur - Easy Living - 4
5. Greta Garbo - Conquest
6. Ginger Rogers - Shall We Dance - 3.5
7. Marlene Dietrich - Knight Without Armour
8 Janet Gaynor - A Star is Born
9. Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas - 3
10. Katherine Hepburn - Stage Door - 3

Supporting Actress:

1. Claire Trevor - Dead End
2. Dame May Whitty - Night Must Fall
3. Lucille La Verne - Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
4. Bette Davis - Kid Galahad
5. Flora Robson - Fire Over England
6. Line Noro - Pepe Le Moko
7. Dita Parlo - Grand Illusion
8. Mary Astor - The Hurricane
9. Andrea Leeds - Stage Door - 3.5
10. Gale Sondergaard - The Life of Emile Zola - 3.5

Anonymous:

Milland - 3.5(An enjoyable performance from him as the hapless pseudo romantic lead for the film, and shares a sweet enough chemistry with Arthur. He has particularly endearing chemistry though with Arnold though, and the two are a lot fun in their scenes together in portraying the good natured yet somehow intense relationship.)

Tahmeed:

I'll agree with your top five, but I'd also add Jaws to that list (although not really topping much there in terms of source material.)

It's an open year.

Anonymous:

March - 3(Not a great comedic performance by any means. He has the occasional enjoyable moment, but they are a little too far in-between just kind of a standard slightly charming turn from him.)

Lombard - 2(Yeah I'm finding I just don't like her comedic shtick very much, which is to kind of be at a manic eleven almost the whole time. It gets old very fast, and works particularly poorly here with the film's comedic timing in general feeling so off, I guess screwball comedy just wasn't William Wellman's strong suit.)

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your wins for 1937.

Giuseppe Fadda said...

Can I have your thoughts on Stanwyck in Stella Dallas, Hepburn and Leeds in Stage Door and Sondergaard in Ths Life of Emile Zola? Also, ratings and thoughts on Astor in The Hurricane and Anne Shirley in Stella Dallas if you don't mind.

Michael McCarthy said...

Alex:
Picture: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road
Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler
Actress: Brie Larson in Short Term 12
Supporting Actor: Nicholas Hoult in Mad Max: Fury Road
Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
Original Screenplay: Hell or High Water
Adapted Screenplay: Silence

Louis Morgan said...

Was trying to re-post a comment that I accidentally deleted that wrongly went to spam.

Luke:

Director: Jean Renoir - Grand Illusion
Production Design: Lost Horizon
Sound Editing: The Hurricane
Sound Mixing: The Hurricane
Score: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Editing: Grand Illusion
Visual Effects: The Hurricane
Costume Design: The Prisoner of Zenda
Cinematography: Grand Illusion
Makeup and Hairstyling: Make Way For Tomorrow
Adapted Screenplay: Make Way For Tomorrow
Original Screenplay: Grand Illusion

Giuseppe:

Hepburn - (Well cast as the upper class stage type, but she never goes far with that strong starting point. She sticks to very standard mannerisms, and when more depth is requires she kind of finds it yet it still feels somewhat underwhelming.)

Leeds - (Underused in the scheme of the film yet she is very moving in her few scenes portraying this certain grace needed for the proper actress, yet effectively alluding to her intense despair underneath it all. The highlight of the film with ease.)

Stanwyck - (She's fine in her scenes of just being the woman apparently living the happy life, even moving in the initial scenes of grief then her later happiness in seeing the silver lining in her troubles, but I found he rather much in the in between scenes which did not feel like a gradual transition)

Shirley - 2.5(A little bland and stilted in parts. She has a good moment occasionally, but it is mostly serviceable and fairly forgettable work.)

Sondergaard - (A good bit of work from here for once not playing a sinister figure. She's effective though in playing a meeker role being rather moving in her depiction of her lack of understanding than concern over her husband's arrest.)

Astor - 3.5(Technically a minor role yet Astor excels with the little she has to give someone who feels more than what we see in terms of the confines of the story. There's a real life to her work, and she is effortlessly affecting in her final scenes.)