Saturday 27 January 2018

Best Actor 2017

And the Nominees Are:

Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name

Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour

Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread

Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out

51 comments:

Giuseppe Fadda said...

I think will ranking will be:

1. Day-Lewis
2. Oldman
3. Kaluuya
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

Giuseppe Fadda said...

*your ranking

Robert MacFarlane said...

1. Kaluuya
2. Day-Lewis
3. Chalamet
4. Oldman
5. Washington

Matt Mustin said...

Just to reiterate my prediciton, I guess:

1. Day-Lewis
2. Kaluuya
3. Oldman
4. Chalamet
5. Washington (no question about this placement)

Calvin Law said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Kaluuya
3. Oldman
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

I'd rank the performances I've seen:

Kaluuya - 5
Oldman - 5
Chalamet - 4.5

Luke Higham said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Kaluuya
3. Oldman
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

Omar Franini said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Oldman
3. Kaluuya
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

Techno said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Oldman
3. Kaluuya
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

Robert MacFarlane said...

By the way, I didn't really make it clear in the last thread, but Robbie is very much my Best Actress choice now and I loved the film itself.

Psifonian said...

As said before:

1. Day-Lewis
2. Kaluuya
3. Washington
4. Chalamet
5. Oldman

I think a lot of you are underrating Denzel here.

Bryan L. said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Oldman
3. Chalamet
4. Kaluuya
5. Washington

Calvin Law said...

Psifonian: I'm mostly rating Denzel low because it made Louis' bottom ten films of 2017, which is never a good sign. Im sure he gives a performance better than the film itself.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: That's the only reason I predicted a 3 for him, yet I hope he exceeds my expectations.

Calvin Law said...

I could see him go as high as a 4, tbh. Stranger things have happened.

Maciej said...

1.Day-Lewis
2.Oldman
3.Kaluuya
4.Chalamet
5.Washington

Michael McCarthy said...

If Psifonian is backing Denzel, I feel comfortable bumping him up in my prediction:

1. Daniel Kaluuya (It's a risk but I'd be pleasantly surprised)
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
3. Gary Oldman
4. Denzel Washington
5. Timothee Chalamet

Psifonian: Have you seen Roman J. Israel Esq? Because I saw it a few days ago and even though the film was kind of lame, I was impressed at how naturally Denzel was able to pull off a virtually charmless dork. I could see him getting a 4 or even a soft 4.5.

Calvin Law said...

I feel Louis will end up liking Chalamet more than the film, maybe Denzel too. Definitely feel he's going to go lower on Stuhlbarg and Hammer than the rest of us.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: A 4 for Stuhlbarg and a 4/4.5 for Hammer.

Psifonian said...

Michael: Yes, I saw it today, actually. There’s maybe two or three solid movies (and perhaps one really good one) that one can glean from the unfocused, unwieldy mess that is Roman J. Israel, Esq. The finished product, however, feels very much like the cinematic equivalent of how others view Roman’s class-action legal leviathan: it’s messy and malformed. It stands in stark contrast to Nightcrawler and even Michael Clayton, which possessed scripts that were watertight and perfectly calibrated.

All of this is a shame, because Washington is at his most committed here. There are times I feel he’s trying to riff on James Stewart, right down to Jimmy’s trademark stutter and gentle anxiety. Roman J. Israel is a fascinating character, one that would have—and should have—been better served by a stronger screed from Gilroy. I am not annoyed by Washington’s nomination (of the four Oscar nominees for Best Actor I’ve seen, I’d rate him second; I'm seeing DDL tomorrow), and indeed between this and Fences, I’ve come to really appreciate lion-in-winter Washington.

Even beyond Washington’s work, there are glimmers of promise. Farrell is good when he’s on-screen, but the film doesn’t seem to know what to do with his character. At times he’s benevolent, at others he’s antagonistic, and I can’t really understand his character’s arc much of the time. Apparently his scenes were the ones that really bore the brunt of the post-TIFF editing, and it shows. Carmen Ejogo, normally charming, feels utterly superfluous to the story and I feel much of the film stalls whenever she’s on-screen. Also, the first half of the film really drags ass; it starts getting snappy when he collects his payout, but I never felt the film really gave us enough meat to Roman’s dilemma in accepting it, and the exploration into the damage it did to his legal and moral standing feels rather cursory.

All in all, I’m disappointed in Gilroy’s sophomore effort (making me fear that Nightcrawler’s brilliance is a fluke), but if anything about the film deserved to get nominated, it was Washington. I don't blame Louis if he ranks it so low, but the performance is strong and rises above the film around him so much that you almost have to credit him extra just for making it bearable to begin with.

Michael McCarthy said...

Psifonian: You know, I think I might be in total agreement with you on this one.

Mitchell Murray said...

Well I showed up a little late but no matter...

I'll say I that I completely agree with the supporting actor line up and honestly wouldn't mind seeing Rockwell, Harrelson or Dafoe take the prize.

For best actor, I'm going to say:
1) Day-Lewis
2) Kaluuya
3) Oldman
4) Chalamet
5) Washington

From what I can tell Louis seems to always like Day-Lewis when he goes for a more understated approach, like "Lincoln" or "Age of Innocence". I can see Kaluuya and Oldman being valued for the challenges they faced, while Chalamet should be at least solid. That leaves the wild card Washington, who could either be really impressive or, more likely, really externalized.

Emi Grant said...

1. Oldman
2. Day-Lewis
3. Chalamet
4. Kaluuya
5. Washington

mcofra7 said...

Winning request: John Randolph in Seconds

mcofra7 said...

Rock Hudson was also good, but Randolph made a bigger impact on me

Anonymous said...

Winning Request: Brandon Lee in The Crow

Anonymous said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Oldman
3. Kaluuya
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

Matt Mustin said...

I forgot to mention this a little bit ago, but I finished Game of Thrones season 4, and Peter Dinklage is very easily my MVP of that season, which says a lot considering how brilliant Rory McCann is as well.

Lezlie said...

1. Daniel Day-Lewis
2. Daniel Kaluuya
3. Gary Oldman
4. Timothée Chalamet
5. Denzel Washington

Anonymous said...

Day-Lewis
Kaluuya
Chalamet
Oldman
Washington

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

1. Day-Lewis 
2. Kaluuya
3. Oldman
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Really hope Kaluuya's review screenshot will be from that now-iconic scene :)

Charles H said...

Oldman or Day Lewis

1. Oldman
2. Day-Lewis
3. Chalamet
4. Kaluuya
5. Washington

RatedRStar said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Kaluuya
3. Oldman
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

Bryan L. said...

Anyone else feel that Mel Gibson would've been a great Frank Booth in the 2000s, with Marion Cotillard as Dorothy? I've always felt that the character should be played by an actor with an inherent coolness that could use said coolness with an intensive bent, but that could be just how I see it.

moviefilm said...

1) Day-Lewis
2) Oldman
3) Kaluuya
4) Chalamet
5) Washington

JackiBoyz said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Kaluuya
3. Oldman
4. Chalamet
5. Washington

RatedRStar said...

I just dont believe that Washington was better than Chalamet or Oldman, I just do not believe that Washington deserves a 5 there is no way lol.

Matt Mustin said...

Louis: Given how much you loved the series, I was wondering, have you read Stephen King's novel 11/22/63?

John Smith said...

1.Lewis
2.Oldmam
3.Kaluuya
4.Chalamet
5.Washington

JackiBoyz said...

My winning request is Ross Martin - An Experiment in Terror.

RatedRStar said...

Since I am prepared for Washington getting a good score potentially, I thought I will request a performance from a film that also got meh reviews.

Hayden Christensen - Life as A House (Golden Globe and SAG nominated so obviously he is good....right..)

RatedRStar said...

2001 supporting is so weak as well that I might as well have him in.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: What would be your updated 2001 supporting lineup. Bettany is a certainty along with Gandolfini. For the other two slots, perhaps Courtenay & Hoskins from Last Orders and maybe someone from Waking Life.

Luke Higham said...

Or Gary Oldman in Hannibal.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Pretty much.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Is your favourite Ian Bannen performance from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Louis Morgan said...

Matt:

I have not.

Luke:

Guinness is my favorite, though Bannen is a very close second.

BRAZINTERMA said...

1. Day-Lewis
2. Kaluuya
3. Chalamet
4. Oldman
5. Washington

BRAZINTERMA said...

And to Louis, the nominees of ALTERNATE BEST ACTOR are:
- James Franco in The Disaster Artist
- James McAvoy in Split
- Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky
- Tom Hanks in The Post
- Vladimir Brichta in Bingo (the film may not have pleased Academy, but please Louis give this incredible actor a chance)

Robson Nakazato said...

1 - Oldman
2 - Day Lewis
3 - Kaluuya
4 - Chalamet
5 - Washington

Unknown said...

1 - Day Lewis
2 - Kaluuya
3 - Oldman
4 - Chalamet
5 - Washington