Sunday 14 May 2017

Alternate Best Actor 1968

And the Nominees Were Not:

Lee Marvin in Hell in the Pacific

Burt Lancaster in The Scalphunters

Charles Bronson in Once Upon a Time in the West

Malcolm McDowell in If....

Vincent Price in Witchfinder General

Predict Those Five or These Five.

Toshiro Mifune in Hell in the Pacific

Ossie Davis in The Scalphunters

Jean-Louis Trintignant in The Great Silence

Max von Sydow in Shame 

Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer

Or Both. 

81 comments:

Luke Higham said...

Thanks Louis
1. Bronson
2. Lancaster
3. Price
4. McDowell
5. Marvin

1. Lancaster
2. Trintignant
3. Von Sydow
4. Davis
5. Mifune

Charles H said...

Glad you chose ten.

Section one -

1. Bronson
2. Price
3. Lancaster
4. McDowell
5. Marvin

Section two -

1. Lancaster
2. Trintignant
3. Von Sydow
4. Mifune
5. Davis

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Other films to watch.
Hour Of The Wolf (Bergman/Von Sydow)
Isadora
The Detective (Frank Sinatra)
The Charge Of The Light Brigade
Rachel, Rachel
The Sergeant (Rod Steiger)
Funny Girl
The Valley Of The Bees
Yellow Submarine
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
The Boston Strangler
A Dandy In Aspic
The Bofors Gun
The Party
The Night Of The Following Day (Brando)
The Birthday Party (Robert Shaw)
The Shoes Of The Fisherman
The Bride Wore Black
Blackbeard's Ghost (Peter Ustinov)
The Man Without A Map
Stolen Kisses
Kuroneko
Teorema (Terence Stamp)
Head
Pretty Poison (Anthony Perkins)
The Immortal Story (Orson Welles)
The Devil Rides Out
Death By Hanging
Danger: Diabolik (Mario Bava)
Memories Of Underdevelopment
Je T'aime Je T'aime
Naked Childhood
Coogan's Bluff
The Mercenary
Profound Desires Of The Gods
Les Biches
Madigan
Ace High
Woman In Chains (Clouzot)
The Anniversary

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Thanks for not going by The Conqueror Worm instead of Witchfinder General. :)

Charles H said...

The Conqueror Worm is a horrible title to be honest.

Robert MacFarlane said...

1. Bronson
2. Lancaster
3. Price
4. Marvin
5. McDowell

1. Lancaster
2. Von Sydow
3. Davis
4. Mifune
5. Trintignant

Psifonian said...

1. Bronson
2. Lancaster
3. Marvin
4. McDowell
5. Price

1. Davis
2. Lancaster
3. Von Sydow
4. Mifune
5. Trintignant

Love the second group so much more.

Robert MacFarlane said...

RIP Powers Boothe. Yeesh, character actors are dropping like flies.

Maciej said...

1.Bronson
2.Marvin
3.McDowell
4.Price
5.Lancaster

1.Mifune
2.von Sydow
3.Davis
4.Trintignant
5.Lancaster

Calvin Law said...

1. Bronson
2. Price
3. McDowell
4. Lancaster
5. Marvin

1. Davis
2. Von Sydow
3. Lancaster
4. Trintignant
5. Mifune

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

1. Bronson
2. Lancaster
3. Price
4. Marvin
5. McDowell

1. Lancaster
2. Von Sydow
3. Davis
4. Mifune
5. Trintignant

Omar Franini said...

1. Bronson
2. Price
3. McDowell
4. Lancaster
5. Marvin

1. Davis
2. Lancaster
3. Von Sydow
4. Trintignant
5. Mifune

Calvin Law said...

I would've suggested Ben Mendelsohn for Kane but I largely love all of Louis' Alien choices.

Calvin Law said...

And actually Simon Pegg as Ash, though Freeman would be a great choice.

Calvin Law said...

Robert: RIP Powers Boothe indeed, great character actor.

RatedRStar said...

RIP Powers Boothe

Luke: The Bofors Gun, Charge of the Light Brigade and A Dandy in Aspic will be taken care of in supporting.

GM said...

1. Bronson
2. McDowell
3. Price
4. Marvin
5; Lancaster

1. Lancaster
2. Sydow
3. Mifune
4. Trintignant
5. Davis

JackiBoyz said...

1. Bronson
2. Lancaster
3. Marvin
4. McDowell
5. Price

1. Davis
2. Lancaster
3. Von Sydow
4. Mifune
5. Trintignant

Luke Higham said...

RIP Powers Boothe

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Could you also re-watch Rosemary's Baby. I'd like to know what you thought of Mia Farrow.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your 2012 winners.

Calvin Law said...

Nice 2001 Space Odyssey backdrop Louis. Makes one wonder what a Kubrick Bond would be like. Incredibly cold and pessimistic probably, Peter Sellers as a villain, hey maybe James Mason as an over the hill Bond going in for one last mission, Alec Leamas style.

RatedRStar said...

1. Bronson
2. Lancaster
3. Price
4. Marvin
5. McDowell

1. Lancaster
2. Von Sydow
3. Davis
4. Mifune
5. Trintignant

Luke Higham said...

Louis: I hope you'll start off with Price. Mifune/Marvin or Lancaster/Davis wouldn't be the best options as they represent both lineups and we need some time to ruminate over our predictions.

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

Louis: Can you also check out "Petulia" and "The Killing of Sister George"? And if you want to give it a shot, "Barbarella" though I'm not really sure if you'd like that movie.

Calvin Law said...

I need to check out Barbarella too. Jane Fonda has had one weird filmography.

Giuseppe Fadda said...

1. Bronson
2. Price
3. McDowell
4. Lancaster
5. Marvin

1. Lancaster
2. Von Sydow
3. Trintignant
4. Davis
5. Mifune

I'm sad you didn't like Emily Blunt more in Looper. I actually think she might be my personal winner for Supporting Actress 2012.

Calvin Law said...

I thought Looper's ensemble overall was very solid aside from a surprisingly bad Paul Dano.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I loved Blunt in Looper myself. I don't get why I always hear people not liking the farm section, that was my favorite part of the movie. The only performance I would qualify as bad is Noah Segan.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson - The Master
Production Design: Cloud Atlas
Sound Editing: Zero Dark Thirty
Sound Mixing: Berberian Sound Studio
Score: Cloud Atlas
Editing: Cloud Atlas
Visual Effects: Life of Pi
Costume Design: A Royal Affair
Cinematography: Skyfall
Makeup and Hairstyling: Cloud Atlas
Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln
Original Screenplay: The Master

Deiner:

Sure thing.











RIP Powers Boothe, He was amazing as Jim Jones in the Guyana Tragedy.

Charles H said...

RIP Powers Boothe.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Could I have your quick thoughts on the cast of Guyana Tragedy.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: And if it's a TV Film, then ratings as well.

Anonymous said...

1. Bronson
2. Lancaster
3. Price
4. McDowell
5. Marvin

1. Lancaster
2. Trintignant
3. Von Sydow
4. Davis
5. Mifune

Michael Patison said...

1. Charles Bronson
2. Burt Lancaster
3. Malcolm McDowell
4. Vincent Price
5. Lee Marvin

1. Burt Lancaster
2. Max von Sydow
3. Jean-Louis Trintignant
4. Toshiro Mifune
5. Ossie Davis

Calvin Law said...

Louis: your thoughts on the score to Last of the Mohicans

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I got those thoughts about a month ago.

Luke Higham said...

Last of the Mohicans is another great piece of work by Edelman. I ponder if James Horner got a little inspiration from the music for Braveheart. Edelman's music captures that similar style in that it has the greatness, the splendour if you will of a proper score for a film epic. It however has that pseudo-traditionalist styling in that gives an unmistakable life that also makes it so fitting to the story.

Charles H said...

Is Nakadai a 5 for Kill!.

Luke Higham said...

Charles: He's a 4.5 for Kill!.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Who would be your choices to play Othello and Iago in a 2010s adaptation.

Calvin Law said...

Thanks Luke!

Louis: when you wrote the following in your review for JLT in Z for 1969 Lead,

'Jean Louis Trintignant could easily be argued as supporting in the film, and I would not argue that point long considering her only has a brief appearance for about the first third of the film where he is very awkwardly introduced to entourage of the politician.'

Did you mean awkwardly as in the film introduces him awkwardly, or the introduction itself is awkward?

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

It has been a LONG time since I watched the film I'd really need to re-watch to clarify my thoughts particularly in regards to the supporting cast. I'm quite sure Boothe would be a five though.

Othello: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Iago: Oscar Isaac

Calvin:

The introduction itself is awkward, purposefully so within the context of the film.

Calvin Law said...

Thought so!

Also, in case anyone's interested, I've revised my yearly rankings for this decade:

http://actorvsactor.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/2010%27s

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

My exams start from tomorrow (the 17th in my time zone) and end on the 23rd,so I won't be able to comment or read reviews for this week.

Calvin Law said...

Good luck Tahmeed! My last one is on the 18th.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: how would you have improved Passengers? I think the original choice of Keanu Reeves would have been interesting, but I was thinking with the existing film it'd have been more interesting to have Laurence Fishburne and Michael Sheen's characters as the leads, and make it more like a Cast Away sort of film.

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

Good luck.

Calvin:

Well I'd say there's many ways one could've taken. I'd say one constant would be to remove the YA romance angle the film took, which from what I've heard was impressed upon on the original screenplay. In terms of the central dynamic it really should have been a psychological space thriller and really they probably should have had it from Lawrence's character's perspective to create some sort of mystery in terms of what's going on but also what Pratt's characters motivations truly are.

Calvin Law said...

Oh nice, so like 10 Cloverfield Lane in space, with a bit more heart maybe. Also, thoughts and ratings for Fishburne and Sheen?

Robert MacFarlane said...

In regards to what Passengers could have been, I was thinking Z for Zachariah (the book, not the movie) where it explores elements of toxic masculinity and possessiveness in addition to a thriller tone.

Bryan L. said...

I actually saw a video detailing what the movie could've been like if it was like what Louis mentioned (being told from Jlaws perspective.)

https://youtu.be/Gksxu-yeWcU

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

Also it is interesting that it has also those The Shining allusions yet it never really is ever willing to take the next step as the film always maintains too much sympathy for Pratt. Also I was thinking in kind of a potential extra twist they could have had Sheen's character a more mobile android, a la David in Prometheus, and actually had him the one who sabotaged Pratt's pod after developing its own need for companionship.

Sheen - 3.5(The best part of the film quite honestly. Sheen just is quite charming as the bartender yet with just enough of an underlying creep factor. He doesn't go full Lloyd but I think Sheen's work actually suggests how much more could have been made out of the concept.)

Fishburne - 3(His role obviously is extremely limited but he tries his absolute best to infuse as much character as he can in his brief screentime. He's a shot of life the film needs and its a shame he was such a short changed element. Fishburne does his best to run through it all as quickly possible, even managing to make something out of his rushed demise.)

Psifonian said...

Cannes starts tomorrow, and it's always a crapshoot at predicting awards because of the capriciousness of the jury (and last year was such a clusterfuck that no pundit could've made sense of), but what the hell, let's go with some predix:

Palme d'Or: "Loveless"
Grand Prix: "The Killing of a Sacred Deer"
Jury Prize: "Happy End" (although "Okja" feels like a possible here as well)
Best Director: Lynne Ramsay, "You Were Never Really Here" (I can see Chastain stumping hard for a female winner, plus the ultraviolent fare tends to be recognized here)
Best Actor: Masatoshi Nagase, "Radiance" (would totally pick Lindon if he hadn't won two years ago, though)
Best Actress: It'd be hard to bet against Kidman, considering her plethora, but that hasn't really helped in the past with the likes of Cotillard. I'm actually gonna throw caution to the wind and think that the jury will pull a Volver and recognized all the ladies for "The Beguiled" in one single sweep.
Best Screenplay: "The Square"
Vulcan Award: "Wonderstruck" for cinematography.

Omar Franini said...

My Cannes Predictions
Palme d'Or: Wonderstruck, alt. Loveless
Grand Prix: The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Jury Prize: Happy End (both Chanstain and Almodovar love Haneke's movies)
Best Director: Östlund in The Square
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here
Best Actress: Dian Kruger in In The Fade
Best Screenplay: Happy End

Charles H said...

For Cannes:
Palme d'Or - Loveless
Grand Prix - The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Jury Prize - Okja
Best Director - Lynne Ramsay - You Were Never Really Here
Best Actor - Joaquin Phoenix - You Were Never Really Here
Best Actress - Nicole Kidman - The Beguiled
Best Screenplay - Happy End

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Have you given your thoughts on Lawrence in Passengers? I do remember seeing your thoughts on Pratt but not of Lawrence.

Luke Higham said...

Lawrence – 3(She’s better cast than Pratt at least, but still can’t quite make the part work. She’s just goes for a very general performance and her switching of emotions seems so stilted at times. She’s not truly bad, has good moments, but always made her character feel more like any idea than an actual person.)

Robson Nakazato said...

Instead of Charles Bronson replaced by Brazilian actor Paulo Villaça for The Red Light Bandit (1968). This blog is missing Brazilians on these lists!

# Do not be like your president Trump (xenophobic)!

Luke Higham said...

What does Trump have to do with this.

Luke Higham said...

If I'm not mistaken, there's guys from Japan, France, Sweden and Britain in this lineup.

Calvin Law said...

Robson: you should try your hand at some predictions and try to get some of your Brazilian favourites in, Louis has to accommodate so many of our recommendations sometimes that it's impossible to take them all into account. He does his very best already.

Charles H said...

Robson: Are you implying Louis has a bias against a certain nationality, take your hate for Trump somewhere else.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I think part of Louis not reviewing foreign films falls on some of us for not requesting them. I'll make sure to suggest some more obscure performances in the future.

Calvin Law said...

I agree with Robert.

Luke Higham said...

If I come across something that interests me, I'll suggest it.

Charles H said...

Don't mind me if i miss a foreign performance, but if i know one that's worthy of a review i'll suggest it.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: How do you feel about Zac Efron playing Ted Bundy.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Actually, Effron might be a great choice. You need someone sort of charming, but kind of blank.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

I haven't seen him pull off that type of performance, but his dramatic work so far has been in fairly limited roles. He's the right type in terms of casting so I would be interested to see if he can pull it off.

Bryan L. said...

Luke: Thanks.

Charles H said...

Louis: Would you say Clift's win for 61' supporting is safe.

Calvin Law said...

Anyone seen the alternate Get Out ending online? Really glad they didn't go with that.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I saw it, and I actually think it works just as well.

Mitchell Murray said...

I know its over a year old now, but if someone could direct me to Louis's thoughts on the entire cast of "Love And Mercy", it would be most appreciated.

Calvin Law said...

Love & Mercy - (I won't say its a great film though I preferred over many a musical biopics, since it did not just follow that boring Walk The Line/Ray structure, and found at least something a bit new by following just these two specific moments in Brian Wilson's life. What I liked most was it bothered to get into the creative process of the musician, which I felt was severely lacking in those earlier films. I don't think the ending quite comes together as well as it possibly could, but all in all I thought it was an interesting film.)

Dano & Cusack - 4.5(The two, despite not really looking alike, are quite remarkable in the way that honestly feel like they are playing the same man just in two phases of his life. Dano's work is terrific in giving us Wilson at the "prime" of his life. He's so good in the scenes where he is creating music as you really get an idea of the genius through Dano's very specific way of playing these moments. There's something so organic about the way he makes the songs and most important there is this sense of joy as he works. Dano though nicely plants the seeds of the fall of Wilson, by suggesting that within his certain shyness there is something very troubling. He does well to allude to Cusack's performance as he begins to develop Wilson's mental problems, in quite the effective fashion. Cusack on the other hand is technically the less fluid work. His Wilson does not gradually change. He's a constant as we view him through the perspective of another, Elizabeth Banks's character. Cusack is also very effective though as he shows the results of the seeds planted by Dano. He's even more detached, and Cusack frankly shows him as somewhat broken by his life experiences which is only being made worse by his 24 hour doctor. Cusack is affecting by portraying Brian as with almost nowhere to go, as when he's being abused he seems like almost nothing. There is yet just glimpse of that old spark though that he finds in some of his moments with Banks that are quite wonderful as the two have splendid chemistry. His final transition is technically jumped over, since we meet him after he's gotten away form his abuser. Cusack does not present him as a new man, he's still very much damaged from the past, yet some of his life has returned to him)

Banks - 3.5(I thought she offered some very fine support and I felt a genuine warmth and love in her scenes with Cusack. In addition she brought the needed passion to her scenes where she stands up to Landy) Louis upgraded her to a 4 later though.

Giamatti - 2.5(It's understandable why he'd be so extreme of a performance, but I felt there was possibly a great performance in the character of Eugene Landy though Giamatti does not find it. He just hits the notes to hard, and I feel the character should have gotten a bit more under the skin than he does. Giamatti is just always too obvious in his anger)

Calvin Law said...

Also, Bill Camp's a 3.5 I believe.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I think he upped Banks.

Mitchell Murray said...

Merci, Calvin. I just watched the movie recently which is why I asked. Honestly, I think its one of the overlooked gems of 2015.

Dano and Cusack are both terrific despite being so radically different in their approach. And though I'm not the biggest fan of Elizabeth Banks, this is far and away her best performance. Its such atypical work from her (dramatic story, real life figure, tender and composed rather than overly broad), and its made me see her in a new light. I understand the hate for Giamatti but honestly the real Eugene Landy was even worse.

Calvin Law said...

Robert: yeah, I mentioned that.

Completely agree with you on all fronts Mitchell.