Best Actor: 2013

Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts

Sunday, 9 February 2014

Best Actor 2013: Results

5. Christian Bale in American Hustle- Although the film consistently backhands him Bale tries hard to try to make the film's plot work. I won't say he succeeds but I appreciate the effort.

Best Scene: Irving tells Carmine the truth.

4. Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave- A year where this performance stands in fourth place is a truly great year indeed. Ejiofor gives a powerful performance by truthfully portraying every painful phase of his character's horrible predicament.

Best Scene: Solomon finally returns home.

3. Bruce Dern in Nebraska- Bruce Dern gives a interesting portrayal of the result of one man's life in terms of his physical state and a powerful portrayal of his emotional state.

Best Scene: Woody drives through town.

2. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street- Leonardo DiCaprio might give his best performance with his extremely entertaining and very funny depiction of the sinful behavior of one man.

Best Scene: Lemmon Quaaludes 714

1. Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club- Well this year was amazing to say the least and I would not mind if any one of these top four were to take the prize, but if I were to vote I actually would be very tempted to go with Bruce Dern, I would love to see him win. The likely winner though and the one that I will declare as the best of the best goes to Matthew McConaughey's outstanding work in Dallas Buyers Club. It is actually hardest to pick his best scene because every single one of his scenes is remarkable. McConaughey just hits every emotional note of this performance perfectly and gives a truly compelling and believable portrayal of his character's transformation.

Best Scene: Ron comforts Rayon.

Best Actor Ranking:

2013
1962
1939
1964
2002
1978
1965
1970
1974
2012
1976
1954
1966
1982
1960
1983
1967
1979
1955
2011
1986
1973
1972
1994
1940
1950
1963
1975
1952
1980
1953
1959
1987
1977
1968
2006
1938
1969
1992
1961
1971
1956
1951
1984
1943
1958
1948
1998
1999
1988
1944
1936
1946
1957
2007
2005
1942
1947
1993
1981
1989
1995
2004
1937
2009
1941
1997
1931
1996
1949
2003
2010
1990
1945
1985
2001
2008
1991
2000

F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story (1999)
Laurence Olivier in The Entertainer (1960)
Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
George C. Scott in Patton (1970)
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973)
Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter (1968)
Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982)
Laurence Olivier in Sleuth (1972)
Peter Finch in Network (1976)
Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter (1978)
Clark Gable Gone With the Wind (1939)
Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
Ernest Borgnine in Marty (1955)
Joaquin Phoenix in The Master (2012)
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012)
Bob Hoskins in Mona Lisa (1986)
William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)
Paul Newman in Hud (1963)
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold (1965)
Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity (1953)
Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Stuart Whitman in The Mark (1961)
Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961)
Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Jack Lemmon in Days Of Wine And Roses (1962)
Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
Kirk Douglas in Lust For Life (1956)
Laurence Olivier in Richard III (1956)
Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker (1965)
Tom Hulce in Amadeus (1984)
Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)
Leonardo DiCarpio in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Michael Caine in Alfie (1966)
Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
Giancarlo Giannini in Seven Beauties (1976)
Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun (1951)
Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall (1937)
Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Jack Nicholson in Ironweed (1987)
Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven (1992)
James Woods in Salvador (1986)
Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob (1952)
Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Spencer Tracy in A Bad Day At Black (1955)
Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
Peter O'Toole in Becket (1964)
Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2002)
Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974)
Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
Bruce Dern in Nebraska (2013)
Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes Washington (1939)
Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek (1964)
Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Rod Steiger in The Heat of the Night (1967)
Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973)
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)
Laurence Harvey in Room at the Top (1959)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
James Dean in East of Eden (1955)
Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights (1939)
Tom Wilkinson in In The Bedroom (2001)
Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt (2002)
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008)
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
Richard Harris in This Sporting Life (1963)
Albert Finney in Tom Jones (1963)
Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce Italian Style (1962)
Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
Edward Norton in American History X (1998)
Demian Bichir in A Better Life (2011)
Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar (1953)
Robert Donat in The Citadel (1938)
Charles Boyer in Gaslight (1944)
Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
James Mason in A Star is Born (1954)
Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940)
Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939)
Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)
Walter Huston The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
Michael Caine in Sleuth (1972)
Robert Duvall in The Apostle (1997)
Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (1993)
Walter Huston in Dodsworth (1936)
John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980)
Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960)
Laurence Olivier in Henry V (1946)
Nicolas Cage in Adaptation (2002)
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker (2009)
Kirk Douglas in Champion (1949)
Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1943)
Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises (2007)
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004)
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York (2002)
Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning (1988)
William Hurt in Children of Lesser God (1986)
Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond (1930)
Richard Burton in Becket (1964)
Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952)
Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954)
Dudley Moore in Arthur (1981)
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981)
Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George (1994)
Charles Laughton in A Witness for the Prosecution(1957)
John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools (1965)
Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking (1995)
Marcello Mastroianni in A Special Day (1977)
William Powell in The Thin Man (1934)
Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper (1942)
William Hurt in Broadcast News (1987)
Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982)
Maximilian Schell in The Man in a Glass Booth (1975)
Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables (2012)
Alexander Knox in Wilson (1944)
Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998)
Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000)
James Stewart in Harvey (1950)
Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (1980)
Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
William Holden in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010)
Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
Daniel Day-Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993)
Cary Grant in Penny Serenade (1941)
Leonardo DiCaprio Blood Diamond (2006)
John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994)
Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967)
Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold (1997)
Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1933)
Alan Bates in The Fixer (1968)
Anthony Quinn in Wild is the Wind (1957)
Albert Finney in The Dresser (1983)
Albert Finney in Under The Volcano (1984)
Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones (1958)
Tony Curtis in The Defiant Ones (1958)
Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)
Sam Waterson in The Killing Fields (1984)
Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
Brad Pitt in Moneyball (2011)
Russell Crowe in The Insider (1999)
Richard Harris in The Field (1990)
Roy Scheider in All that Jazz (1979)
Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
Topol in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Colin Firth in A Single Man (2009)
Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
Clark Gable in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Marlon Brando Last Tango in Paris (1973)
Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson (2006)
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor (2008)
Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Robert Downey Jr. in Chaplin (1992)
Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome (1979)
Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride (1950)
Dan O'Herlihy in Robinson Crusoe (1954)
Peter O'Toole in The Ruling Class (1972)
Paul Newman in A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Fredric March in A Star is Born (1937)
Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996)
Jackie Cooper in Skippy (1931)
Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951)
Ronald Colman in Random Harvest (1942)
Kirk Douglas in The Bad and The Beautiful (1952)
Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)
Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year (1982)
James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Montgomery Clift in The Search (1948)
Richard Burton in Equus (1977)
Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy (1943)
William Holden in Network (1976)
Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient (1997)
William Powell in My Man Godfrey (1936)
Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool (1994)
Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
Laurence Olivier in The Boys from Brazil (1978)
Ronald Colman in Condemned (1930)
Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man (1980)
Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989)
Laurence Olivier in Othello (1965)
Peter O'Toole in Venus (2006)
Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
Dustin Hoffman in Lenny (1974)
Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Michael Caine in The Quiet American (2002)
James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope (1970)
Marcello Mastroianni in Dark Eyes (1987)
Fredric March in The Royal Family of Broadway (1931)
Michael Caine in Educating Rita (1983)
Al Pacino in ...And Justice for All (1979)
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (2009)
James Franco in 127 Hours (2010)
Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day (1993)
Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953)
James Dean in Giant (1956)
Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City (1981)
William Powell in Life With Father (1947)
Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot (1959)
Maurice Chevalier in The Love Parade (1930)
Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003)
Jude Law in Cold Mountain (2003)
Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
Rock Hudson in Giant (1956)
Charles Boyer in Algiers (1938)
Stephen Rea in The Crying Game (1992)
Tom Conti in Reuben, Reuben (1983)
Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007)
Jack Lemmon in Missing (1982)
John Garfield in Body and Soul (1947)
Ron Moody in Oliver! (1968)
Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty (1948)
Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)
Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
Charles Boyer in Conquest (1937)
Lew Ayres in Johnny Belinda (1948)
Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992)
Max von Sydow in Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
George C. Scott in The Hospital (1971)
Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind (1960)
Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles (1966)
Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Al Pacino in Serpico (1973)
Trevor Howard in Sons and Lovers (1960)
Christian Bale in American Hustle (2013)
James Cagney in Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
David Straithairn in Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
Harrison Ford in Witness (1985)
Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver (1988)
Ryan O'Neal in Love Story (1970)
Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
Alan Arkin in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
Woody Allen in Annie Hall (1977)
Tom Hanks in Big (1988)
Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
Michael Redgrave in Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
Richard Barthelmess in the Patent Leather Kid (1928)
Nick Nolte in Affliction (1998)
Peter O'Toole in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz (1964)
Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Charlie Chaplin in The Circus (1928)
Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)
Walter Matthau in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
Paul Muni in The Valiant (1929)
Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page (1931)
Denzel Washington in The Hurricane (1999)
Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog (1997)
Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
Alan Arkin in The Russians are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)
Spencer Tracy in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
Louis Calhern in The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
Paul Muni in The Last Angry Man (1959)
Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Gregory Peck in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd (2007)
Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Russell Crowe in Gladiator
Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie (1943)
Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade (1996)
Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland (2004)
Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Spencer Tracy in San Francisco (1936)
Johnny Depp in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms (1939)
Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
Franchot Tone in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (2005)
John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
Paul Winfield in Sounder (1972)
Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge (1952)
Anthony Hopkins in Nixon (1995)
Denzel Washington in Flight (2012)
Gerard Depardieu in Cyrano De Bergerac (1990)
Cary Grant in None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
Robert De Niro in Awakenings (1990)
Richard Todd in The Hasty Heart (1949)
Frank Sinatra in The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)
Morgan Freeman in Invictus (2009)
Alfred Lunt in The Guardsman (1932)
Charles Boyer in Fanny (1961)
Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
James Whitmore in Give 'Em Hell Harry! (1975)
Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991)
Ed Harris in Pollock (2000)
Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
Gregory Peck in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
James Garner in Murphy's Romance (1985)
Maurice Chevalier in The Big Pond (1930)
Robert Montgomery in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Sylvester Stallone in Rocky (1976)
Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
George Arliss in The Green Goddess (1930)
Gregory Peck in The Yearling (1946)
George Clooney in Michael Clayton (2007)
Fredric March in Death of a Salesman (1951)
Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Geoffrey Rush in Quills (2000)
Walter Matthau in Kotch (1971)
George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
Wallace Beery in The Big House (1930)
Paul Newman in Absence of Malice (1981)
Frank Morgan in The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
Jeff Bridges in True Grit (2010)
Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls (2000)
Warren Beatty in Reds (1981)
Massimo Troisi in The Postman (1995)
Dan Dailey in When My Baby Smiles At Me (1948)
Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Ben Kingsley in The House of Sand and Fog (2003)
Robert De Niro in Cape Fear (1991)
Jon Voight in Runaway Train (1985)
Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides (1991)
Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Marlon Brando in Sayonara (1957)
Laurence Fishburne in What's Love Got To Do With It (1993)
Richard Burton in The Robe (1953)
Leslie Howard in Berkeley Square (1933)
Bing Crosby in Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
Spencer Tracy in The Old Man and The Sea (1958)
Frank Langella Frost/Nixon (2008)
Dexter Gordon in 'Round Midnight (1986)
Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
Jack Lemmon in Tribute (1980)
Javier Bardem in Biutiful (2010)
Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
Woody Harrelson in The People vs Larry Flynt (1996)
Larry Parks in The Jolson Story (1946)
Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991)
Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow (2005)
Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
Robin William in Dead Poet's Society (1989)
Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
George Clooney in Up in The Air (2009)
Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
George Clooney in The Descendants (2011)
Cornel Wilde in A Song to Remember (1945)
Jeff Bridges in Star Man (1984)
Spencer Tracy in Captain Courageous (1937)
Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
Chester Morris in Alibi (1929)
Will Smith in Ali (2001)
Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
Sean Penn in I Am Sam (2001)
Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004)
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Anthony Franciosa in A Hatful of Rain (1957)
Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)

F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
George C. Scott in Patton (1970)
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973)
Peter Finch in Network (1976)
Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
Ernest Borgnine Marty (1955)
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012)
William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)
Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
Charles Laughton in The Private life of Henry VIII (1933)
Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2004)
Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981)
Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy
Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
Al Pacino in The Scent of a Woman (1992)
Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
Paul Muni in The Story Louis Pasteur (1936)
Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
Tom Hanks Philadelphia (1993)
George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
Spencer Tracy in Captains Courageous (1937)
Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004)

Supporting Actor Ranking:

1944
1981
1975
2008
1972
1966
1974
1988
1987
1964
1986
1959
1983
1980
1951
1998
1963
1952
1999
1989
2013
1993
1946
1969
1954
1961
2012
2007
1992
1968
1939
1970
1979
1994
2002
1978
2010
1947
1996
1945
1990
1982
1941
1971
2001
1937
1955
1962
1995
1967
1973
2009
2005
2011
1942
2006
1984
1957
1950
1958
2000
1976
2004
1960
1997
1943
1956
1949
1965
1977
1948
1940
1991
1938
2003
1936
1953
1985

Martin Landau in Ed Wood (1994)
Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter (1978)
Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields (1984)
Gene Hackman in Unforgiven (1992)
Sessue Hayakawa in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
James Dunn in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)
Claude Rains in Notorious (1946)
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James (2007)
Al Pacino in The Godfather (1972)
Ralph Fiennes in Schindler' List (1993)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master (2012)
Rod Steiger in On the Waterfront (1954)
George Sanders in All About Eve (1950)
Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939)
Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now (1979)
Gene Hackman in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
Montgomery Clift in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
Melvyn Douglas in Hud (1963)
Peter Ustinov in Topkapi (1964)
Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Jason Miller in The Exorcist (1973)
Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Jackie Gleason in the Hustler (1961)
Ralph Richardson in The Heiress (1949)
Albert Brooks in Broadcast News (1987)
Morgan Freeman in Street Smart (1987)
Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (2012)
Jack Nicholson in Reds (1981)
Claude Rains in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds (2009)
William H. Macy in Fargo (1996)
Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie (1963)
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips (2013)
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Lee J. Cobb in On the Waterfront (1954)
Edward Norton in Primal Fear (1996)
Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968)
James Mason in The Verdict (1982)
Van Heflin in Johnny Eager (1942)
Karl Malden in On the Waterfront (1954)
Burgess Meredith in Day of the Locust (1975)
George Burns in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death (1947)
George C. Scott in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Joe Pesci in Raging Bull (1980)
Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Alec Guinness in Little Dorrit (1988)
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (1995)
Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976)
George C. Scott in The Hustler (1961)
Tom Cruise in Magnolia (1999)
Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People (1980)
Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Peter Ustinov in Quo Vadis (1951)
Pete Postlethwaite in In the Name of the Father (1993)
Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
John Gielgud in Arthur (1981)
Billy Bob Thorton in A Simple Plan (1998)
George Segal in Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940)
Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier (1943)
Ian Holm in Chariots of Fire (1981)
Sam Shepard in The Right Stuff (1983)
Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II (1972)
Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007)
Danny Aiello in Do the Right Thing (1989)
James Caan in The Godfather (1972)
Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955)
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder (2008)
Tommy Lee Jones in JFK (1991)
Paul Newman in The Road To Perdition (2002)
Robert Shaw in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999)
Gene Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Burl Ives in The Big Country (1958)
Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972)
Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider (1969)
Lee Strasberg in The Godfather Part II (1974)
Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (1994)
Brad Dourif in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975)
William Hurt in A History of Violence (2005)
Al Pacino in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Charles Coburn in The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
Jeff Bridges in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Gene Wilder in The Producers (1968)
John Hawkes in Winter's Bone (2010)
Burgess Meredith in Rocky (1976)
Tom Berenger in Platoon (1986)
Ian Mckellen in Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
James Coburn in Affliction (1998)
Willem Dafoe in Platoon (1986)
Chris Sarandon in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Clifton Webb in Laura (1944)
Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
Seymour Cassel in Faces (1968)
Thomas Mitchell in The Hurricane (1937)
Alec Guinness in Star Wars (1977)
Anthony Quinn in Lust for Life (1956)
Robert Duvall in A Civil Action (1998)
Claude Rains in Mr. Skeffington (1944)
Hume Cronyn in The Seventh Cross (1944)
Jackie Earl Haley in Little Children (2006)
Josh Brolin in Milk (2008)
Thomas Haden Church in Sideways (2004)
Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt (2008)
Charles Coburn in The Green Years (1946)
John Mills in Ryan's Daughter (1970)
James Cromwell in Babe (1995)
Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Ethan Hawke in Training Day (2001)
Chris Cooper in Adaptation (2002)
Claude Rains in Casablanca (1943)
Victor McLaglen in The Quiet Man (1952)
Terence Stamp in Billy Budd (1962)
Richard Farnsworth in Comes A Horseman (1978)
Peter Falk in Murder, Inc. (1960)
Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! (1952)
Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)
John Gielgud in Becket (1964)
Benicio Del Toro in Traffic (2000)
Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur (1959)
Michael Chekhov in Spellbound (1945)
Joseph Schilderkraut in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Jack Palance in Sudden Fear (1952)
Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady (1964)
Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Anthony Perkins in Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Rip Torn in Cross Creek (1983)
Robert Mitchum in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
River Phoenix in Running on Empty (1988)
Justin Henry in Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile (1999)
Robert Forster in Jackie Brown (1997)
John Lithgow in The World According to Garp (1982)
Lou Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
Lee J. Cobb in The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
Gig Young in Come Fill The Cup (1951)
James Mason in Georgy Girl (1966)
Walter Brennan in Kentucky (1938)
Vincent Gardenia in Moonstruck (1987)
Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001)
Walter Brennan in Come and Get It (1936)
Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (1997)
Klaus Maria Brandauer in Out of Africa (1985)
Ed Begley in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech (2010)
Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley (1941)
John Malkovich in In the Line of Fire (1993)
Martin Landau in Tucker: A Man And His Dream (1988)
Gig Young in Teacher's Pet (1958)
Jeremy Renner in The Town (2010)
Dennis Hopper in Hoosiers (1986)
Bobby Darin in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
Kevin McCarthy in Death of a Salesman (1951)
Arthur O'Connell in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
Sal Mineo in Exodus (1960)
Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast (2001)
Frederic Forrest in The Rose (1979)
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn (2011)
Lee Tracy in The Best Man (1964)
Hugh Griffith in Tom Jones (1963)
John Huston in The Cardinal (1963)
Robert Vaughn in The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Robert Ryan in Crossfire (1947)
Jeff Bridges in The Last Picture (1971)
Max Von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
Roy Scheider in The French Connection (1971)
Arthur Hunnicutt in The Big Sky (1952)
Tim Robbins in Mystic River (2003)
Bruce Davison in Longtime Companion (1990)
Ralph Bellamy in The Awful Truth (1937)
Monty Woolley in Since You Went Away (1944)
Elliot Gould in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
Michael V. Gazzo in The Godfather Part II (1974)
Richard Burton in My Cousin Rachel (1952)
Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Jason Robards in Melvin and Howard (1980)
Edmond O'Brien in Seven Days in May (1964)
James Whitmore in Battleground (1949)
Ed Wynn in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Michael Lerner in Barton Fink (1991)
Armin Mueller-Stahl in Shine (1996)
Charles Durning in To Be Or Not To Be (1983)
Eddie Albert in The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
John Hurt in Midnight Express (1978)
Jack Palance in Shane (1953)
Rupert Crosse in The Reivers (1969)
Robert Morley in Marie Antoinette (1938)
Adolph Caesar in A Soldier's Story (1984)
Thomas Gomez in Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment (1983)
Howard Rollins in Ragtime (1981)
John Lithgow in Terms of Endearment (1983)
Ed Harris in The Truman Show (1998)
Vincent Gardenia in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game (1992)
Denzel Washington in Glory (1989)
Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets (1997)
Matt Dillon in Crash (2005)
Christopher Plummer in Beginners (2011)
Peter Firth in Equus (1977)
Brian Aherne in Juarez (1939)
Robert Duvall in The Godfather (1972)
Chief Dan George in Little Big Man (1970)
Clive Owen in Closer (2004)
Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Denzel Washington in Cry Freedom (1987)
James Coco in Only When I Laugh (1981)
Woody Harrelson in The Messsenger (2009)
Michael O'Keefe in The Great Santini (1980)
Walter Huston in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man (2005)
Mark Wahlberg in The Departed (2006)
Andy Garcia in The Godfather Part III (1990)
Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump (1994)
Victor Buono in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Tim Roth in Rob Roy (1995)
Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton (2007)
Robert Preston in Victor Victoria (1982)
Arthur Kennedy in Champion (1949)
Cecil Kellaway in The Luck of the Irish (1948)
Paul Scofield in Quiz Show (1994)
Jack Warden in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Arthur Kennedy in Trial (1955)
Al Pacino in Dick Tracy (1990)
Jack Kruschen in The Apartment (1960)
Fred Astaire in The Towering Inferno (1974)
Alan Alda in The Aviator (2004)
Dean Stockwell in Married to The Mob (1988)
John C. Reilly in Chicago (2002)
Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Frank Finlay in Othello (1965)
Robert Strauss in Stalag 17 (1953)
Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Chazz Palminteri in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
John Marley in Love Story (1970)
Nick Nolte in Warrior (2011)
Randy Quaid in The Last Detail (1973)
Bruce Dern in Coming Home (1978)
Richard S. Castellano in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
Vittorio De Sica in A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Hal Holbrook in Into The Wild (2007)
Nick Adams in Twilight of Honor (1963)
Dan Aykroyd in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Mickey Rooney in The Black Stallion (1979)
Charles Bickford in Johnny Belinda (1948)
Pat Morita in The Karate Kid (1984)
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road (2008)
Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992)
Arthur O'Connell in Picnic (1955)
Marlon Brando A Dry White Season (1989)
Jack Wild in Oliver! (1968)
James Woods in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Brian Donlevy in Beau Geste (1939)
Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai (2003)
Matt Damon in Invictus (2009)
John Houseman in The Paper Chase (1973)
Mako in The Sand Pebbles (1966)
Judd Hirsch in Ordinary People (1980)
Anthony Hopkins in Amistad (1997)
John Malkovich in Places in the Heart (1984)
Mickey Rooney in The Bold and the Brave (1956)
William Bendix in Wake Island (1942)
Jack Warden in Shampoo (1975)
Alan Arkin in Argo (2012)
Jack Gilford in Save the Tiger (1973)
Henry Travers in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Robert Stack in Written on the Wind (1956)
Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993)
Frank Morgan in Tortilla Flat (1942)
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station (2009)
Walter Brennan in Sergeant York (1941)
Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln (2012)
Roland Young in Topper (1937)
David Paymer in Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (2006)
Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls (2006)
Denholm Elliot in A Room With A View (1986)
Jason Robards in All the President's Men (1976)
Robert Loggia in Jagged Edge (1985)
Richard Jaeckel in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
Maximilian Schell in Julia (1977)
J. Carrol Naish in Sahara (1943)
Peter Falk in Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
John Cassavetes in The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Jack Palance in City Slickers (1991)
Theodore Bikel in The Defiant Ones (1958)
Charles Bickford in The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Ned Beatty in Network (1976)
J. Carrol Naish in A Medal For Benny (1945)
Charles Bickford in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880 (1950)
Harvey Keitel in Bugsy (1991)
Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Albert Bassermann in Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Basil Rathbone in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
James Stephenson in The Letter (1940)
Alec Baldwin in The Cooler (2003)
Melvyn Douglas in Being There (1979)
Harry Carey in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator (2000)
Anthony Quayle in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Clifton Webb in The Razor's Edge (1946)
Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich (2000)
Leonard Frey in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
William Demarest in The Jolson Story (1946)
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones (2009)
Joe Mantell in Marty (1955)
Cecil Kellaway in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
H.B. Warner in Lost Horizon (1937)
Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns (1965)
Gene Lockhart in Algiers (1938)
Jonah Hill in Moneyball (2011)
Jamie Foxx in Collateral (2004)
Jeff Bridges in The Contender (2000)
Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys (1995)
John Garfield in Four Daughters (1938)
Michael Dunn in Ship of Fools (1965)
Graham Greene in Dances With Wolves (1990)
Ed Harris in Apollo 13 (1995)
Jack Oakie in The Great Dictator (1940)
Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules (1999)
Arthur Kennedy in Peyton Place (1957)
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids are All Right (2010)
Ralph Richardson in Greystoke (1984)
Djimon Honsou in In America (2003)
Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams (2003)
Eddie Albert in Roman Holiday (1953)
Bradley Cooper in American Hustle (2013)
Burt Young in Rocky (1976)
Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (1997)
William Gargan in They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
Charles Durning in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)
Ben Kingsley in Bugsy (1991)
William Hickey in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow (1950)
Dean Jagger in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
Oskar Homolka in I Remember Mama (1948)
Akim Tamiroff in The General Died at Dawn (1936)
Brandon De Wilde in Shane (1953)
Akim Tamiroff in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Telly Savalas in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Russ Tamblyn in Peyton Place(1957)
Basil Rathbone in If I Were King (1938)
Arthur Kennedy in Some Came Running (1958)
John Ireland in All the King's Men (1949)
Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Ed Harris in The Hours (2002)
Daniel Massey in Star! (1968)
Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996)
Leo Genn in Quo Vadis (1951)
George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
John Dall in The Corn is Green (1945)
Chill Wills in The Alamo (1960)
James Gleason in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Stuart Erwin in Pigskin Parade (1936)
Tom Tully in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
Ian Bannen in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
Jon Voight in Ali (2001)
Jose Ferrer in Joan of Arc (1948)
Mischa Auer in My Man Godfrey (1936)
Don Murray in Bus Stop (1956)
Don Ameche in Cocoon (1985)
Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)
Eric Roberts in Runaway Train (1985)
Mikhail Baryshnikov in The Turning Point (1977)

Actual Winners:

Martin Landau in Ed Wood (1994)
Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter (1978)
Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields (1984)
Gene Hackman in Unforgiven (1992)
James Dunn in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)
George Sanders in All About Eve (1950)
Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939)
Melvyn Douglas in Hud (1963)
Peter Ustinov in Topkapi (1964)
Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (2012)
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie (1963)
Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968)
Van Heflin in Johnny Eager (1942)
George Burns in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (1995)
Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People (1980)
John Gielgud in Arthur (1981)
Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940)
Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier (1943)
Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II (1972)
Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007)
Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955)
Burl Ives in The Big Country (1958)
Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972)
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
James Coburn in Affliction (1998)
Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
Anthony Quinn in Lust for Life (1956)
John Mills in Ryan's Daughter (1970)
Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Chris Cooper in Adaptation (2002)
Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! (1952)
Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)
Benicio Del Toro in Traffic (2000)
Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur (1959)
Joseph Schilderkraut in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Lou Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
Walter Brennan in Kentucky (1938)
Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001)
Walter Brennan in Come and Get It (1936)
Ed Begley in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
Tim Robbins in Mystic River (2003)
Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment (1983)
Denzel Washington in Glory (1989)
Christopher Plummer in Beginners(2011)
John Houseman in The Paper Chase (1973)
Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993)
Jason Robards in All the President's Men (1976)
Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
Jack Palance in City Slickers (1991)
Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Melvyn Douglas in Being There (1979)
Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns (1965)
Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules (1999)
Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (1997)
Dean Jagger in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996)
George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
Don Ameche in Cocoon (1985)
Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)

Next Year: 2013 Lead

Best Actor 2013: Bruce Dern in Nebraska

Bruce Dern received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Woody Grant in Nebraska.

Nebraska is a film about a father and son who take a road trip to redeem a million dollar ticket even though it is obviously only a scam. I enjoyed it although the writing tries to be a little too clever at times, and there is one too many caricatures hanging around.

Bruce Dern plays the father Woody Grant in a performance that is a departure from the roles in which he is most often cast. Dern was usually the go to character actor for intense somewhat crazy men like in his previous Oscar nominated performance in Coming Home, or even his more recent cameo in Django Unchained. This is a far more restrained performance from Dern and he seems completely comfortable in such a role. Although by the nature of the film this might seem like the type of performance dependent most on something simplistic, but actually it seems like Dern probably put a great deal of effort into this performance. You definitely do not notice this effort though and that is one of the strengths of this performance.

Dern's performance actually takes great steps to create Woody as a very particular man who has lived a life. We don't just come on any old man we come on Woody Grant which starts from the first image of the film which shows Woody lumbering down the street in an attempt to walk his way to Nebraska to redeem his"winning" ticket. Dern sets up Woody not as just an old man here but most certainly an old man who has long sense been in his prime. Dern depicts Woody as a particularly retiring man who seems absolutely set into a certain place into his life. Before we even see one of the reasons for this state Dern actually has already completely established it in his physical approach in portraying Woody.

One of the factors that sets Woody in this place is his wife (June Squibb) who rarely has too many positive things to say about Woody constantly saying various things that do put him down in some way or another. This form of verbal abuse can be seen in Dern's performance in a most interesting fashion. Dern does not show Woody really react to any of his wife's various barbs toward him in anyway, but Dern instead shows their very long marriage through the fact that Woody always seems at least slightly defeated at all times. What Dern does is make Woody the man who has spent years and years of this sort of abuse from his wife, and it is part of what has shaped him in this way. For him to react to her would be wrong as he's heard it all before.

Woody is not an especially well man and it is obvious that his mind is going as well as many other things including his hearing, and Dern is extremely effective in portraying all this as Woody. There is nothing anything obvious in the way Dern handles this, and the performance is completely invisible in this regard. Whenever there is one of the moments where his son (Will Forte) has to repeat something for Woody Dern conveys that deafness but as well as the certain mental disconnect perfectly. The film is set off by the ticket which Woody claims to absolutely believe even though every one else sees as fake. It could quickly become a very weak premise, but again the way Dern portrays Woody's nature allows it to be actually believable.

Dern's performance is absolutely genuine in the simplicity of Woody's belief in the ticket. Dern does not show him to be stupid really, or false in this belief either. Dern instead suggests through his calm the overall personality of Woody which is to take someone's word as face value. When Woody tells his son that he was told that he won, despite his son saying the opposite, Dern's delivery is one of pure honesty and shows the conviction of the man. It is an assurance in his simple belief that someone would not lie about such things. It is a simple belief that Dern gives the utmost conviction in its simplicity, that makes the whole basis of the film not seem like the contrivance it is.

Bruce Dern despite being the lead in the film actually does not have a whole lot of lines, and in a way is a bit like Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but without any of his dramatic monologues. Bruce Dern is in most of the scenes of the film though, and even though he is far from the loudest performance, especially compared to June Squibb and Stacy Keach or even the pretty reserved Will Forte, Dern is never overshadowed by the rest of the cast. Dern keeps Woody a very affecting figure throughout the film with his very assured portrayal of Woody's unique presence within the world. There is a palatable sadness that is never overwhelming but Dern always gives the strong sense of Woody's life.

Dern achieves an incredible balance with his performance to show the regret in the man, but also the will that would carry him to do something even if it is as foolish as going after false winnings. Dern never becomes static and has a terrific variations in his performance to either react in some way to one of the flamboyant performances, in a more entertaining way than the performances themselves, or in key dramatic moments in the film where Woody does break his silence a bit. Dern is terrific in making these outbursts purely natural. It is not when Woody talks that Dern has Woody stand up for himself, rather Dern makes a stronger impact, by making these outbursts whenever someone questions his life.

One great highlight though in terms of speaking for Dern is the scene where his son bluntly asks Woody what he wants the money for. In the scene Dern reminded me an awful lot of Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story, as he gives his two fairly slight material desires and his greater want to leave his boys. Although Woody has been quiet about what he thinks of his sons, he was careful never to be cold but only a bit aloof toward them. In this moment, in his own understated way, Dern reveals the actual love Woody has for his sons. Dern still keeps Woody as well Woody, as he does not gush that would be wrong, but Dern brings such honest warmth to the moment and makes it not a change in Woody but merely revealing what was always there.

The silence never weakens a scene and Dern does not need to talk to bring the power from a scene. One scene that shows this especially well is when Woody's old "friend" Ed, played with great sleaze by Stacy Keach, bothers Woody about the money he owes him with his son around. Ed brings up an affair Woody has and explains it quickly to Woody and his son in a mostly mocking manner. Dern is excellent in the moment giving the insight into Woody's mindset of the moment without really having to say really much of anything. Dern's reaction shows Woody going right back to the time in his life and, although still quiet, Dern makes the past pain vivid. The details are sparse but Dern in his silence realizes the complexity fitting for such a problematic past episode.

My favorite moment though for Dern has to be the ending of the film when things don't turn out exactly like he wanted but he gets his truck, his air compressor, and a hat that says he won. The drive down the street is a brilliantly acted scene by Dern. The sadness of Woody eases away in this moment and Dern makes Woody's victory a truly resounding one. He is still pure Woody with his unassuming style, but Dern is incredibly endearing in the subtle but strong happiness that he suggests Woody gets from his simple little victory. I really liked this performance by Bruce Dern in all regards, and personally I found he brought the film together which could have been completely overwhelmed by the absurd flamboyance of the caricatures. Dern was mostly a supporting player, but he gets his due here and makes the most of it.

Monday, 27 January 2014

Best Actor 2013: Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street

Leonardo DiCaprio received his fourth Oscar nomination for portraying Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a very entertaining film about the debauchery and crimes of a wall street broker. It technically did not need to be three hours, but since I enjoyed it all the way through I did not mind.

The Wolf of Wall Street is basically a comedic remake of Goodfellas as both films tell the story of one man's venture into a sinful life, and they basically follow a similar path in terms of high and lows. In both films it is not really the story of a protagonist who is slowly corrupted rather both are the stories are about men who pretty much want to be corrupted. Something rather interesting though is that despite Goodfellas being about mobsters who regularly murdered people Henry Hill as played by Ray Liotta actually has far more authentic emotions than Jordan Belfort ever has, aside from one very brief moment with his first wife early in the film, Belfort is one shallow man as portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. That might sound like I'm criticizing DiCaprio, but I'm not.

This is a very rare Oscar nomination for lead actor because DiCaprio actually gives an entirely comic performance, even a scene that might seem serious in terms of conception tends to still be completely comedic as it is played out in the film. DiCaprio goes for broke by showing Belfort to be the hollow man, and just going all the way with that concept without looking back once. Except for that one brief moment where Belfort lost his first job and DiCaprio let's us see just a little bit of honest concern in the man, there is technically nothing to Belfort as a man other than his want and desire for more money, and any sort of pleasures he can get whether it is from drinking, taking every drug that he can seem to find, or indulging in every type of sex with a woman he can come up with.

I'll get to the comedy in a minute but I'd like to start with just the creation of Belfort method as a wall street broker. DiCaprio has a great intensity with his portrayal of this but not the intensity that would make you ever scared of him, at least in the traditional sense, but that intensity that personifies his insatiable thirst for more money. DiCaprio makes Belfort the false salesman but he does it oh so perfectly by making that falseness technically part of the appeal of what the man seems to be offering. DiCaprio brings all the right bravado in his scenes as the salesman as Belfort is really screwing the person over yet he makes the offer just sound so great, because he seems to be so absolutely sure about it. DiCaprio makes the passion in Belfort both truthful and completely fake at the same time.

DiCaprio continues this quite effectively when he has any of his scenes where Belfort seems to be trying to rally his troops to do what else other than continue to make money. DiCaprio again has such a terrific balance in his creation of what Belfort is doing. DiCaprio definitely shows that Belfort is giving his all with his screaming at the top of his lungs through his microphone to say just how awesome he thinks his own company and he is, as well DiCaprio has the non-stop enthusiasm that only reinforces properly why his employees would think he is so cool, but as well why so many would want to work to Belfort. There is such a lack of any genuine feeling though and DiCaprio is great because through his own performance he creates the egg that Belfort's whole world was, pretty but completely empty.

Now enough of that though because the true greatness of DiCaprio's performance is just how funny he is here. DiCaprio kind of does wink at the audience since Belfort does not mind directly speaking the audience from time to time, but in terms of playing Belfor DiCaprio never stops to laugh at the character himself. Instead DiCaprio goes all the way with Belfort and revels in all that Belfort that does, no matter what it may be. DiCaprio's work here is pretty glorious really as he never hesitates in to get whatever he can out of any scene. DiCaprio is great with his line deliveries in just how little feeling he can give, and this lack of feeling can even make Jordan's telling of the death of some of his friends as comedic because he's just so nonchalant about it.

What I love about DiCaprio's work here is that he doesn't ever try to make the material serious in anyway and is so good in indulging in Belfort's antics. DiCaprio's great because of just how casual, and frankly relaxed in the role. I have been a little more forgiving of DiCaprio most recent dramatic efforts than some, but his work here suggests that this is where he should be. DiCaprio makes Belfort man who does not find anything to be even slightly bashful about and anything he does he just does. What is also great is that DiCaprio does make Belfort quite a doofus, and is hilarious because Belfort as a man who thinks he's a genius as well. One of my favorite moments of DiCaprio's is when he tries to act like a true cutthroat in front of the F.B.I. agent investigating him, DiCaprio first portrays Belfort as so obvious in his foolish attempt though, and quite naturally devolves into some rather childish insults.

As much as I enjoy DiCaprio's line deliveries and his narration there is nothing that compares to the physical aspect of his performance. DiCaprio is rather on fire in the way he injects an incredible energy to every scene he is in and his movement exemplify the whole idea of Belfort's method toward life. This is particularly true of course for his drug habit and DiCaprio's performance is worthy of comparison to Ray Liotta depiction of a drugged up addict. DiCaprio's though is of course twisted slightly for the sake of comedy particularly in the randomness of Belfort's behavior that DiCaprio does so brilliantly. DiCaprio just really is on in pretty much every frame, and never fails to make the most out of Belfort's insanity by pretty much showing just how insane it is thorough his equally insane portrayal of it.

Although there is plenty of great moments based upon DiCaprio's use of his body in this film, that dance routine at Belfort's wedding is a particular highlight, the best moment in this regard though is without a doubt when Belfort takes too many Lemmon Quaaludes and attempts to get home because he needs to stop his business partner from using the phone. DiCaprio perhaps has never been better than in his, Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot inspired, portrayal of the drugs affect. Frankly I could not stop laughing from DiCaprio's depiction of Belfort's attempt to crawl and mumble his way home. The scene is pure comedic gold, and DiCaprio's performance of the scene is flawless deriving laughter from pretty much every movement in the funniest scene of 2013.

Jordan Belfort is not a likable character really by any measure not only because of his indulgences and illegal actions involving his stock broker firm, but as well he does not mind some wife beating now again either. DiCaprio is magnetic here of course, but he does not try to make us like Jordan Belfort in attempt to make the film watchable. No, what DiCaprio does instead is make it so very easy to laugh at the various exploits of Belfort that it is extremely easy to watch him throughout the film. DiCaprio excels so much here that I would say his true calling seems to be as a comedic actor after all. In fact, since this one was so good, I would not mind seeing DiCaprio and Scorsese tackle a few more pseudo remakes of Scorsese's films with a heavily comedic bent. This is a great performance by Leonardo DiCarpio and one of the amusing ever nominated for an Oscar.

Friday, 24 January 2014

Best Actor 2013: Christian Bale in American Hustle

Christian Bale received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Irving Rosenfeld in American Hustle.

American Hustle is a mess of the film that is suppose to be about Abscam, where the FBI trapped corrupt politicians using a con artist and a fake Arab sheik. It is strange for a film to sacrifice plot for character, rather than the other way around as usually is the case, and it does not work for two reasons. One O. Russell still wants the plot to be important in the way he made the film, and secondly the character scenes tend to be character antics rather than making any sort of character arc.

Christian Bale in 2013 apparently decided to model his performances after one man, Robert De Niro. Bale's superior performance in Out of the Furnace, which is what they should have nominated Bale for if they had to nominate him, reminded me of De Niro in The Deer Hunter. In that film Bale, like De Niro in that earlier film, really plays it close to the chest giving one of his best and most naturalistic performances in years. He has that effortless quality in his performance necessary and you can feel the setting of the film in his work. Bale reminded once again of De Niro in American Hustle, but this time in a far less natural fashion. In American Hustle Bale actually seems to be doing a Robert De Niro impression in the film, as if it was De Niro playing the part as a contemporary film in the 70's.

The De Niro accent and the mannerisms are not the most effortless he's ever done, but they are easy enough to get use to during the film, and these mannerisms and his physical transformation indeed do an okay job of making Bale into the overweight conman who spends an extra amount of time to get his comb over just right. Bale is charismatic enough here for him to believable in his role as the con man who is always working these to try to get his way, although this is hardly the greatest portrayal of a con man, let's just say he's no Paul Newman in the Sting for example. Bale though does a decent enough job himself with the right amount of smoothness in his portrayal, and he makes himself fit the part well enough through all the effort he clearly put in to do so.

I have to admit Christian Bale gives my favorite performance out of the Oscar nominated actors in the film, I preferred Renner and De Niro overall. The funny thing is Bale despite being lead actually is the one who does not have any pointless scenes like Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence have. None of his scenes seemed like he went to go improvising for the sake of flamboyance, instead Bale has the ridiculously thankless role of trying to carry the plot even when the director does not care about it. Bale tries, oh does he try, and you can see it in his performance with every scene. He is the most consistent because in Bale's performance you can see him trying his best to keep the plot going even with all the distractions around him.

It is rather odd that Rosenfeld, despite being a con man who probably should have showy scenes, does not really have any showy scenes to himself. It would make perfect sense if he did, you know maybe he has a scene where it shows him really rope someone into one of his games, or the Abscam, but oddly Bale's part is pretty light on the dialogue in some key scenes. For whatever reason the non con man F.B.I agent gets all those moments. The most con manning we really get from him is when he convinces Jeremy Renner's character Mayor Carmine Polito not to walk out on the scam by trying to befriend him. Bale is charming enough when he does this but it is less putting a wool over his eyes in a Henry Gondorff sorta way, and more of Rosenfeld going like "Hey I'm a nice guy, we should be friends".

There are technically scenes that seem set up for Bale like when he is talking with the mayor over dinner, but when Rosenfeld is suppose to lay down the con the film instead focuses on Jennifer Lawrence's antics instead. This frequently happens to Bale throughout the film, and because of that there is a serious problem created. One plot point that matters a lot by the end of the film is Rosenfeld feeling sorry for Renner's character yet the film fails to really establish their friendship enough, at least enough that a man who makes his career out of screwing people would want to change his ways. The film doesn't care about this relationship though until the end of the film, either covering it up with a musical montage, or editing away from it to see what sorta wacky stuff Lawrence and Cooper's characters are up to.

In the various supposedly complicated scenes of the various characters doing things Bale does stay on task in his attempt to make the plot important to this film. Bale shows in Rosenfeld some actual concern through his expressions. Whether it be some regret for screwing a man he's come to respect or fear when it seems they taking on opponents far smarter than they are, Bale does his very best to articulate these emotions in a believable way. Sure the film could not care less about Rosenfeld's dealings with the plot most of the time, but Bale, whenever he is on screen, does what he can to bring some weight to proceedings. Bale does not really have enough material to defeat the way that David O. Russell decided to direct the film, but I do like that he made an attempt, even if it was a mostly futile endeavor.

When it is all said and done I did like Bale's performance. He was the only performance out of the Oscar nominated performances, that made me care about the character in anyway. He was the only one I could empathize with in anyway, particularly in his portrayal of the exasperation toward Jennifer Lawrence's acting... I mean her character's actions. Bale does have the right type of energy here as he focuses to try to make the film move, rather than have an Oscary scene or two, but everything is against him as I said before. The film should have given Bale more to do with Irving Rosenfeld as I'm sure there could have been many interesting little details shown about the process of the con, but eh the film never cares for that anyway. This isn't a great performance, or Bale's strongest work from 2013, but hey he gave it his best shot, which I certainly appreciate.

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

Best Actor 2013: Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave

Chiwetel Ejiofor received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave.

12 Years a Slave is an excellent film about the story of one educated freeman who was forced into slavery.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup who is an educated man living in New York with his family at the beginning of the film, he makes his living through his skills as a violinist which leads him into contact with two strange man who claim to work for a circus. There is not technically anything special about Solomon in this setting as he is just a pretty average guy who loves his family and rather seems to enjoy his life. Ejiofor does well in just making Solomon a pretty average family man without any unnecessary pretense. Solomon should just be a normal man and Ejiofor portrays him as such, he also does not put on his happiness too much to make it overblown, rather he establishes the right type of contentment one would expect from a man with his life.

His good life is put on a definite hold when the meeting with two mysterious men takes an odd turn and in the morning he finds himself in chains. From this point on Ejiofor work has a similar trajectory to Adrien Brody's performance in the Pianist or the second of Haing S. Ngor performance in The Killing Fields. His performance is a bit different as Solomon's time as a slave did allow him to speak where Dith Pran and Wladyslaw Szpilman could not speak a word at times lest it cost them their lives. What is similar though is the portrayal of the physical and psychological torture that he must go through his time as a slave, which all starts when his new hosts whip him until he will go by the name they have given him which is Platt, to hide his true identity.

Ejiofor is extremely effective in bringing the emotions to life as Solomon has undergo such hardships. In his earliest scenes his hardships are pretty much very direct pain both because of the gashes to his back, but as well in his realization that he won't be able to see his family ever again. Ejiofor makes it very easy to feel for Solomon's plight and he does not hold back on the emotional intensity of the moment of these early scenes. Solomon is going through hell and Ejiofor reflects this with his performance. Solomon has been beaten down and we see this through Ejiofor's eyes that shows a man who has been beaten down and absolutely is in fear of someone taking his life. That is not all there is to Ejiofor's portrayal of Solomon though.

Just like Brody in The Pianist and Ngor in The Killing Fields, the most important underlying factor to Ejiofor's portrayal of Solomon is the strong resilience in the man. Solomon of course suffers one hardship after another, but never does Ejiofor show it to be outright despair. Ejiofor shows the will in the man to do more than drown in his sorrows as Solomon never does give on the chance of once again seeing his family again, even if it seems very unlikely considering his current circumstances. Ejiofor brings the power of the man's spirit fervently to life. It is always evident in some way whether it be in a quiet moment where the hope always seems to be in him, or a somewhat louder moment where Ejiofor gives a great passion to Solomon's refusal to give up.

Ejiofor gives a very interesting performance in regards to the way he shows Solomon's particular place on the plantation. For better and for worse Solomon does stand out and Ejiofor is effective in creating this distance that Solomon sets himself from the other slaves, but as well makes him to be considered exceptional by the slavers which is both a good and a bad thing for him. Ejiofor intelligently plays these scenes because he does not show Solomon to be some sort of show off, but rather he properly shows that really Solomon can't fit in with the rest for two reasons. One reason being his background which Ejiofor makes something very innate in his performance and secondly because Ejiofor always reinforces the idea that Solomon won't become any other slave as they would be him giving up.

This is of course mostly a reactionary performance by Ejiofor but he brings such power in these reactions that he never is overshadowed by the direction by Steve McQueen or the more flamboyant performances around him. Ejiofor stands his ground by making the emotional impact of every scene all the greater because of his entirely genuine performance. There are many harrowing and frankly disturbing scenes throughout 12 Years a Slave such as when Solomon witnesses the brutal hanging of two runaway slaves. These are not just merely images to be horrified by because of Ejiofor's work at the center of it all. He does not let a single scene go by without making his own mark through his honest depiction of Solomon's reactions to these cruelties that he must witness.

Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a great performance here and carries this film on his shoulders from beginning to end. Solomon Northup is actually not an excessively complex character, but in Ejiofor's hands he never seems simple either. Ejiofor realizes the difficulty of Solomon's journey without ever devolving into a repetitive performance. Ejiofor only ever bring truth to his performance and finds that within a man such as Solomon. When Solomon apologizes to the family for his appearance, it does not seem strange in the least and is incredibly heartfelt because Ejiofor has made this the nature of Solomon as a man. Ejiofor performance absolutely works in perfect tandem with film by only ever giving an earnest and very sympathetic depiction of the trial of Solomon Northup, making his story a powerful and poignant depiction of survival.

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Best Actor 2013: Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey won his Oscar from his first Oscar nomination for portraying Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club.

Dallas Buyers Club is a surprisingly good story of one man's attempt to fight both HIV and the FDA through untested medicines and the creation of a membership service. The film manages to be very heartfelt without ever falling into schmaltz.

Matthew McConaughey's career resurgence, out of the black hole of bad romantic comedies, of 2012 with film like Bernie and Killer Joe was indeed only an indication of what would come as he followed it in 2013 with his performances in Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street, and his leading performance here in Dallas Buyers Club. Matthew McConaughey is not just choosing better projects though, but he is also proving himself more than worthy of every role he takes on as well. The role of Ron Woodroof is quite a jumble, in not only who the character is, but also what happens to the character, and most importantly how much the character really needs to do within the context of the film's structure. There are many parts to this man, and McConaughey seems ready to take each part to form a single man.

The first aspect that one would notice and expect from an actor playing an HIV patient is frankly the suffering. McConaughey in this regard is excellent. He of course has the look of the haggard AIDS patient with his especially think frame, but there is much more to McConaughey's work than his dramatic weight loss. Throughout the film Woodroof suffers various pains, particularly early on when he refuses to recognize his problem. McConaughey brings to life every point of Woodroof's condition to the screen with a great precision. The moments of physical pain are done are done completely to the point by McConaughey never using them to be an overly dramatic scene, but rather he bluntly shows where Woodroof is in regards to his health from one moment to the next.

McConaughey's portrayal of Woodroof's physical state is only one aspect though of his performance as this is a story about the man Woodroof is more than what is ailing his body. At the beginning of his film Woodroof is philandering, drinking, smoking, gambling, cheating, and cocaine snorting fellow. McConaughey is very effective in his portrayal of these early scenes showing this as being pretty much the every day routine for old Ron. McConaughey conveys the casual attitude the man has to his life incredibly well in his kind of pleasure seeking daze. This changes though quite rapidly when Ron comes to learn that he is HIV positive. Ron is quite in disbelief especially since he thinks that only homosexuals contract the disease.

McConaughey is amazing in the scene in which Woodroof is given his diagnosis. This would be an easy scene to overplay in so many fashions especially when Woodroof begins to espouse his hatred toward homosexuals. In regard to that aspect of Ron McConaughey is very realistic by showing just as the most casual of responses as this view just has always been Ron's view towards gay people. McConaughey hits every note needed for the scene from Ron's strong disbelief over the idea of him even being capable of having HIV along with subtle fear in his reaction, but as well a defiance to even recognize it. McConaughey realizes the complicated emotions of the moment in Ron vividly and shows all that Ron is going through in the moment.

The diagnosis at first only leads Ron down a path of destruction as he refuses to recognize the diagnosis as truth. McConaughey is marvelous because there is never a moment he is not furthering the path of Ron. Any moment, especially these early scenes, could just be Ron being stupid and not listening, but that's not what McConaughey does with these scenes. McConaughey surely does show the denial in Ron, but that is not all there is. McConaughey shows, even before his wake up call in a hospital bed, that Ron is no longer in his pleasure seeking daze. McConaughey suggests that unease in the man as he slowly sees the reality about himself. McConaughey has an especially powerful scene where Ron prays at a strip bar. The set up never seems forced because how truthful McConaughey is in his portrayal of Ron's trying to reach for something to live.

Ron manages to find himself a way through a bit of luck that seems to be a way for him to live, and thrive by selling untested medicines to other HIV patients. The strongest quality within Ron is his individualistic streak that propels him to come up with his scheme for survival. McConaughey creates this in Ron to allow it to be absolutely palatable. There is such a strong passion that McConaughey brings to Ron and we see how a man could do what Ron does. When Ron basically says to his doctors that he refuses to die in thirty days even though it seems like there is no other option, McConaughey makes it more of an inevitability that he will not die in his allotted time. McConaughey brings such a convincing strength in the role showing that nothing will kill this man in thirty days.

When Ron opens the Dallas Buyers Club he has not necessarily become a good person, as he is definitely making plenty of money from it, but he is a changed man from before. McConaughey is so good because there is nothing unnatural about Ron's transition. He earns every moment including Ron losing his animosity toward homosexuals once he starts an alliance with the cross dressing Rayon (Jared Leto). McConaughey does not oversell this by having Ron instantly accepting. He nicely moves through from begrudgingly accepting them, with the obvious monetary boon, to slowly becoming openly so. McConaughey never jumps once with this, and by doing so he makes the change in Ron far more moving and remarkable because it comes off as so natural.

The natural quality of this change is also true as Ron slowly becomes more selfless in his use of the club. McConaughey again only feels genuine as he portrays Ron becoming more invested in his plan that he made originally mostly to make money and save his own skin. I love that there is not a single scene where he just realizes he needs to do good now, or even sees that he has been selfish in some. No there is none of that rather McConaughey makes the change happen with great poignancy by having the passion in Ron only grow more and more as the pressures and forces against him only seem to becomes stronger. McConaughey allows this story to be easily invested with because he brings such conviction in portraying of one man's will to live.

Now one thing I have not mentioned yet is how great this performance is in just the most traditional sort of way. What I mean by that is how magnetic McConaughey here as he energizes every single scene he is in, and never fails to put every ounce of himself into the part. McConaughey carries the film with such ease and grace, and he utilizes his charm perfectly. McConaughey is rather cunning in his choice to hold back on his abundance of natural charm at the beginning of the film and effectively releases it really when Ron starts to become a far more self-realized individual. McConaughey seems like he was not content with this film just being a character piece as every scene he sells to its fullest, and making the emotional impact of them fierce though with the appropriate nuance.

This is a captivating piece of acting by McConaughey as he realizes a full portrait of the complex man of Ron Woodroof. The part could have easily been turned into bad Oscar bait and the film also could have easily gone the wrong direction if that happened. McConaughey does not let that happen though, as he brings the whole story to the forefront never letting one detail lie inert in his depiction. McConaughey technically gives a risky performance by going in every direction with Woodroof, but seems to achieve perfection as all of it adds up to one man. All I really can say is I love this performance and I love that Matthew McConaughey has decided to let everyone know just how talented he is. This is Matthew McConaughey greatest performance yet, and it is wonderful that McConaughey has made that really mean something.

Best Actor