Thursday 14 January 2016

Best Supporting Actor 2015: Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight

Mark Ruffalo received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Mike Rezendes in Spotlight.

Spotlight is a compelling procedural that depicts the Boston Globe's attempt to discover the sex scandal cover up involving the Catholic Church.

Spotlight as a film takes a specifically rather unassuming approach in potentially very incendiary material, just imagine if say Oliver Stone made the film instead for example. Although there's a definite emotional undercurrent to the story, the film stays focused on the way the reporters found the facts of the matter to build their story, while they often have to internalize what they learn from each new witness. The cast seems to understand that and for the most part they give performances that focus on being realistic above else, well except for the guy I'm reviewing today. The first time we meet Mark Ruffalo's Mike Rezendes is when we follow Michael Keaton's Robby Robinson as he enters the Spotlight room which will be heading the investigation. The other people are doing their jobs and in turn just seem like normal people doing their jobs, then there is Mark Ruffalo. Oh Mike's doing his job too, but there just seems something odd about it as he speaks to his fellow reporters. Everything he says he delivers quickly with a strange monotone way of speaking, and then just the way Ruffalo leans over his desk it as though Mike seems to be preparing for an off Broadway production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Unfortunately this is not one odd scene for Mike, this is Ruffalo's whole performance. No matter what's going on in the scene Ruffalo feels he has to do something a bit atypical. He's always leaning in some odd way, his expressions in the group meeting scenes always have this odd gaze to them, his hands frequently find his pockets as though he's James Dean looking for a nickle. He even gets on some good old gum chewing just for good measure. There's not a scene where Ruffalo heeds to the criminal's warning "act natural". Everything he does is seemingly to get you to say is that oh boy that Mike Rezendes sure is a character. What I'm trying to say is that this is an extremely mannered performance, as about as mannered of a performance can get to be honest. Ruffalo does not seem to be content to do anything just you know, normal, it all has to be something else. Now my two favorite Ruffalo performances are Foxcatcher and Zodiac. Those are technically both mannered themselves. The thing is though those performances you don't notice are mannered until you are getting into a detailed discussion about them. Everything he did in those two performances seemed right for the respective characters, and seemed to fit right in with the rest of the film.

That is not the case in Spotlight. Everyone else gives performances that honestly are very supportive of each other only trying to standout when it is the right time to. Ruffalo always wants to stand out which is ill fitting for the calm way everyone else plays their parts. The funny thing is there is another technically very mannered performance in the film. That being Liev Schreiber's as the new boss of the Globe. What Schreiber does though is unassuming in a way that it just feels  natural to his character, in addition to that he never seems to be doing it to directly get attention, that always seems to be the case for Ruffalo. Now Ruffalo does indeed stand out in any scene he is in, but unfortunately that's not a good thing. In the group scenes he's just distracting as the rest of the ensemble is playing it straight, keeping the focus on the story,  but Ruffalo is busy doing something weird that surely Mike Rezendes must do. Ruffalo can't seem to help himself and the problem is that it hurts the film. There is one moment where one of the victims is telling his story, a moving scene to be sure, but when the victim reveals his dad committed suicide Ruffalo's odd delivery of "Jesus!" instantly makes the scene lose some its power as it all of the sudden seems to be about Ruffalo's performance rather than the victim's story.

For most of the film Ruffalo just stands as this oddball thing interacting with real people. He's a blemish in any frame because he just can't seem genuine even for a moment, and is particularly off-putting due to the film's very straight forward style. Now though he's the wrong kind of distraction for the most of the film, which is made up to a point by the fine work by the rest of ensemble, another bigger problem comes near the end of the film. The film again plays it low key as most of the actors just internalize either the pain or disgust involved with the molestation as well as the cover up. That is until one of them has a bit of an emotional outburst. It could have been an great moment if the scene belonged to one of the other actors, but instead this is given to old Ruffalo. Ruffalo does not build up to this point because he's too stuck in his weird slants and cockeyed looks to effectively build the outrage brewing in Mike. Ruffalo does not earn it in the least, the passion feels sanctimonious unfortunately, and frankly a bit whiny. When Keaton's Robby asks him in exasperation "You Finished?", that's how I felt as well. The moment should have been cathartic but its not because of Ruffalo. Apparently Ruffalo prepared for the role by asking the real Mike Rezendes to say lines for him. Perhaps Ruffalo has never seen the Jackie Robinson Story, but asking the real guy to play himself isn't always the best idea. This actually makes sense as Ruffalo's performance feels like an imitation of an imitation. It's all surface posturing from Mark Ruffalo as he not only fails to make Mike Rezendes convincing as a character, but he fails the film itself. His presence hurts the film as he becomes something false within a film that is striving for authenticity. 

106 comments:

Luke Higham said...

4. Bale
5. Ruffalo

Calvin Law said...

1. Rylance
2. Hardy
3. Stallone
4. Bale
5. Ruffalo

Robert MacFarlane said...

Thank you.

Halo_Insider said...

I'm afraid to say that I mostly agree. While I'm generally a Ruffalo fan (I was elated to see him get in for Foxcatcher, as he was my favorite part of the film), none of his mannerisms really sat that well for me in this context. I saw an interview with the real-life guy he was basing his performance on and could understand the decisions he made with the interpretation, but it just never clicked onscreen. If anyone in the cast had gotten into this category, I definitely would've preferred Schreiber or Keaton.

Luke Higham said...

Tucci has stayed with me the most out of the cast.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Schreiber, Keaton, Crudup, Tucci, or any of the one-scene-wonder victims would have been better nominees.

RatedRStar said...

Got a feeling another mannered performance will be coming up next (Bale) I will still defend Bale and say that I thought his mannerisms actually fitted his character and he did the best he could really.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I'll say that Bale wasn't my "problem" with The Big Short.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: It might be 2013 all over again, though I'm sure Stallone will fare better than Leto and Bale will get a higher rating than Jonah Hill.

I think Bale's coming next, then Rylance, Hardy and Stallone.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I guess your happy about Spectre's sole nomination.

Calvin Law said...

Very much so.

Calvin Law said...

Still kind of upset over Carol but I'll get over it. To be honest more annoyed about Mara's category fraud.

Mel said...

Spotlight was probably my favorite movie this year (I'm a sucker for ensemble casts, journalism, and well written stuff) and I wasn't too thrilled about Ruffalo being nominated. I thought he was probably the weakest of the cast. I thought if anybody from Spotlight should've gotten nominated for acting, it should've been Michael Keaton. I did also enjoy Stanley Tucci and Liev Schreiber.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I'm pissed off about that and disappointed with Elba, Del Toro and Tarantino missing out, but I just have to take it on the chin and move on. :)

My Favourite category this year, has to be Cinematography.

Michael McCarthy said...

I still say Ruffalo's scene with McAdams after the outburst was quite well-performed, but otherwise I agree.

GM said...

1. Hardy
2. Stallone
3. Rylance
4. Bale
5. Ruffalo

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on Cinematography, Original Score, Original Song, Visual Effects and Film Editing.

Michael Patison said...

1. Tom Hardy
2. Mark Rylance
3. Sylvester Stallone
4. Christian Bale
5. Mark Ruffalo

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Cinematography:

I'd rank em:

1. The Revenant
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Sicario
4. The Hateful Eight
5. Carol

Do not interpret that as a slight against Carol. All five of these films look phenomenal. The best category in terms of the strength of the nominees.

Original Score:

1. The Hateful Eight
2. Sicario
3. Carol
4. Bridge of Spies
5. Star Wars The Force Awakens

The Hateful Eight might not be the most original score of the year, in terms of Morricone's reused music, but what's new is great and what's old is great.

Sicario's score is excellent atmospheric work which captures the story so well as it sounds like your descending into Hell, which really that's what Blunt's character is doing.

Carol, come on, does sound like the Hours but its still very good as well as it's about time Burwell was nominated.

Bridge of Spies sounds like many a John Williams score, though not by Williams in this case, but it's a good example of it.

The actual Williams Score with Star Wars I felt was the weakest as none of the new theme really stood out to me while watching the film or afterwards.

Visual Effects:

1. Mad Max Fury Road
2. The Revenant
3. Ex Machina
4. Star Wars
5. The Martian

Max is cinematic bliss in terms of those practicals which are as amazing as they are daring. The sparingly used CGI is used brilliantly though, and its most obvious use, the sand storm, looks outstanding.

Obviously with The Revenant its mostly the bear. The other animals though I thought were also incredibly well done. Though again its the Bear which despite being fake never felt so, and the fact that every interaction with DiCaprio felt real was quite the accomplishment to be sure.

Ex Machina's visual are just seamless really. The robots are never put into doubt and its terrific understated work.

Star Wars does actually look great in the grand spectacle work, but come one what were they thinking with Snoke? He looks terrible, his C.G.I. looked terrible, as did that of the tentacle monsters. The effects that looked great looked truly great though and they deserve credit for the practicals as well.

The Martian's effects did not stand out as being anything spectacular, but nor did they look bad in anyway. They certainly served their purpose though and this is a strong line up of five. Honestly though I could trade the bottom two in any order as Star Wars had the higher heights but also the lower lows.

Film Editing

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. Spotlight
3. Star Wars
4. The Revenant
5. The Big Short

Max was perfection not only in making every action piece come together so beautifully but also through its magnificent pace which never slogs or rushes.

Spotlight has very good traditional sort. Keeps the pace, keeps the pieces all going together, and never shows off in the wrong way.

Star Wars I suppose could have cut that last scene a bit shorter and just trimmed out the tentacle beasts (though I doubt that was up to the editor). As well as not position the Hux/Snoke scene a second before the planet explodes. Other than that it was some strong work that maintained the Star Wars style, and kept the right entertaining step.

The Revenant sometimes lost the urgency of Glass's journey to Fitzgerald, as well as made the spiritual moments seem so long, even though they technically weren't. Nevertheless in terms of cutting together single sequences that take place in reality the work is pretty immaculate.

The Big Short is just a big mess. None of the scenes cut together in a way that gels and the story never feel entwined with each other in any actual way. There are many missteps as the position of some scenes just seem to freeze up the film for a bit.

I'll get back to you on best song after I listen to them.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Production Design, Costume Design and Makeup & Hairstyling.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Do you think Lubezki will do a three-peat, especially with the amount of nominations, The Revenant received

Robert MacFarlane said...

I have to admit that even the cinematography isn't sitting that well for me with The Revenant. It's far from bad, but the flashback and dream sequence shots looked so... awkward. Plus some of the tracking shots felt like they were practically pushing actors out of the way. But at its best it is undeniably gorgeous, almost on The New World level of glory.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Alright Best Song:

I have no ranking. I listened to them all none of them stood out to me. I did not actively dislike any of them, but I could easily go the rest of my life without listening to any of them ever again. I don't care what wins.

Production Design:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. The Revenant
3. Bridge of Spies
4. The Martian
5. The Danish Girl

Mad Max well it makes a world of its own with just a few sets but also a whole lot of vehicles. There's so much character in each one of those that tells you something new about who's driving them without the film needing to explain anything to you.

The Revenant does not have a lot of sets, and I will admit the majority of them are featured in my least favorite scenes of the film. Nevertheless they are still amazing looking. The other sets we get, like the army base or the desolated village sums up what's so great about Jack Fisk. He makes things that are something you've seen before, yet you've never seen anything quite like it.

Bridges of Spies in the U.S. are straight forward but well done. The East German scenes though I felt were also well done, but had a lot of character to them particularly Hanks's drafty apartment.

The Martian is pretty straight forward realistic style sci-fi sets. It does not show off too much, but isn't too bland either in trying to depict a natural progression.

The Danish Girl looks terrible. They don't look lived in, they just look cheap.

Make up & Hairstyling

1. Mad Max
2. The Revenant

Haven't seen 100 year old man.

Mad Max has so much life in every bit of make up and hair style for that matter from the film. From the Warboys, to Immortan Joe, to his sons, to even just the black grease paint used by Furiosa.

The Revenant all looks great in a more unassuming fashion. All of DiCaprio's injury look real, everyone looks authentic right down to Hardy's scalp cut.

Costume Design:

1. The Revenant
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Carol
4. The Danish Girl

Again all looks authentic though it goes past that for me. My favorite costumes always are those that seem to amplify character a bit and I think that's a case here with Glass is coat of Bear fur, Fitzgerald get up(particularly his cap), and Henry's uniform being especially memorable.

Mad Max again offered up similair bits of character, though a bit less so in this case just because the lack of clothing some of the characters wear. Still there's some great ones particularly Old Joe's whole uniform.

Carol offers some fine examples of 50's glamour without getting too showy.

The Danish Girl's I don't think offered anything particularly bad though there isn't anything noteworthy about it either.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke: To your other question I think it is quite possible given that the scope of the film is the type they like to reward. I could see Max spoiling things if it sweeps the techs. Carol is probably too interior for their liking, same with The Hateful Eight. Sicario could win if they make an active campaign to let every voter know that Deakins shot it and is ridiculously overdue.

mcofra7 said...

1. Rylance
2. Hardy
3. Stallone
4. Bale
5. Ruffalo

ruthiehenshallfan99 said...

I don't know about you guys, but Todd Haynes seems like a more appreciated Douglas Sirk, who I greatly admire.

Anonymous said...

Ouch! You really hated him. To be honest, I would have taken Keaton, Schreiber and Tucci any day over him.
1. Hardy
2. Rylance
3. Stallone
4. Bale
5. Ruffalo

Calvin Law said...

Watched The Big Short, and Joy. For the former, granted I'm not a big fan of films with equivalent topic matters anyway, but the way it was directed by Adam McKay did NOT help at all. Unlike say something like Margin Call, or Too Big to Fail which despite being a bit 'boring' for me, nevertheless remained engaging to an extent by the straightforward approach and good script, this just had to many attempts to be really 'quirky' and funny in a an offbeat way, which it really wasn't.

I honestly thought Gosling was pretty bad as his whole routine seemed to come straight out of Crazy Stupid Love, only this time without any charm to back it up. And the cameos were dreadfully distracting.

Funnily enough, I thought Bale was phoning it in a bit, but I found his set of scenes kind of interesting in their own way and like RatedRStar says, he does seem to find his way into the character quite well. Having said that...his nomination does piss me off. I know that maybe the Academy just didn't like Beasts of No Nation and that it's futile to complain about Elba's snub but anyway, fuck you Academy, I know you made 3 great choices but man, you had the opportunity to make 2 more (Elba due to his love from the precursors, Del Toro because of the surprising amount of love for Sicario). And even if they really didn't want to nominate Beasts of No Nation for anything, they could've nominated supporting actors from the Best Picture nominees who would've been far more deserving. Cohen. Hoult. (Category Fraud) Tremblay.

Carrell was pretty grating to star off with but I thought his final few scenes were quite affecting. Pitt, I thought, was wasted thoroughly but still managed a fairly decent performance. So performance-wise...decent film.

Hopefully Spotlight won't disappoint, but am already fairly excruciated by Carol losing out to a nomination by this mediocre shit for Best Picture and ESPECIALLY Best Director.

And then onto Joy. Here's the thing. I actually really liked it, and had all the equivalent love for The Big Short been thrown its way (except maybe De Niro/Bale) I would've been sad about the Carol nom, but I would've understood.

Calvin Law said...

Anyway:

The Big Short
Bale: 3/3.5
Carrell: 3.5
Pitt: 3
Gosling: 1.5
Cameos: 0

Joy
Lawrence: 4.5
De Niro: 2
Ramirez: 2.5
Ladd: 3.5
Madsen: 2
Rossellini: 3.5
Rohm: 2
Cooper: 3.5

Calvin Law said...

Also Louis any one of Schrieber, Tucci or Keaton you want to give thoughts/ratings on or are you saving all three?

Robert MacFarlane said...

I'll say this about Bale: However methody his performance was, at least there was a weird sincerity to him entirely absent from the rest of the film.

Calvin Law said...

Oh I won't deny that, especially wheb contrasted with, say, Gosling.

Luke: By the way, just saw your question earlier, my supporting ranking is now

1. Del Toro
2. Stallone (top 2 keep changing)
3. Jackson
4. Rylance
5. Hardy/Goggins

RatedRStar said...

When it comes to the Oscar nominations, if the performance by the actor is just fine or decent enough, then well I would say only bothers me if I generally dislike the actors work in general (Jonah Hill for example) so I am quite fine with Bales nomination. Like I am still happy to say that we get Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy together at the Oscars which I didn't think would happen in.

Idris Elba is a strange one because, we all thought he was a contender to win against Rylance, but then it turns out he was never in the race at all. I am wondering if it was a bad idea to release on Netflix, because I imagine most people watching films on Netflix when they are flung on the sofa with beer and a hotdog lol if you get what I mean as opposed to looking for Oscar films.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: I would think you would be happy with that as well, Michel Fassbender and Tom Hardy recognised =D.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: A picture of them together would be immensely satisfying. :)

I know most on here, including myself are not particularly happy with Fassbender being nominated for the wrong role, but for a fan of his, he gets 2 reviews, for which I'm not complaining.

RatedRStar said...

I do feel a bit disappointed in Mark Ruffalo, I mean I think he could easily just have played it straight and it would have been fine. Also whats annoying is how much praise places like AwardsCircuit and lots of others have given him using phrases like best supporting work of the year in some cases.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: I hate Gold Derby even more.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I have no reason to be unhappy with Fassbender getting nominated for Steve Jobs, because that's the role he was going to be nominated for. I'm happy enough with him getting a second nomination.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I'm glad he got a second nomination as well. :)

I'm interested in what Louis has to say about him and I was in a much fouler mood last year, so I'm fairly pleased with the Academy's decisions this year.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I'll say this again: I'm extremely glad with Tom getting in and Mad Max getting a nomination for Best Picture and Best Director.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: What's your pick for Cinematography, Mine's The Revenant.

Anonymous said...

Luke: Lubezki, of course! That guy always delivers.

Calvin Law said...

I'm not. Even if I was a fan of an actor, I would not be happy if a lacklustre performance of theirs got in. Fassbender's nomination for Steve Jobs took a place from what could've been a spot for Depp, McKellen, etc.

Anonymous said...

Calvin: Like it or not, there was no way in hell Fassbender would have gotten nominated for Steve Jobs.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I'm more annoyed with Redmayne.

Anonymous said...

*wouldn't have gotten nominated

Anonymous said...

Luke: I hope Redmayne gets the Razzie.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: It'll be sufficient punishment for stealing Keaton's Oscar. :)

Calvin Law said...

Luke: True, still haven't seen Redmayne.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I really wanted Keaton to get nominated again.

Calvin Law said...

Luke: Which of the main categories is most pleasing to you, for me it's Best Actress, as I loved Ronan, Blanchett, Larson and Theron, and liked Rampling. Bit sad that Blanchett's gone down from a 5 to a 4.5 for Louis but it's his opinion, and at least Mara's still a 5.

Calvin Law said...

Anonymous: He will, trust me, based on the kind of projects he's been doing since Birdman.

Anonymous said...

Calvin: Yeah, he's doing a biopic. I hope he gives a great performance in that. But then again, he's always good.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin:
1. Supporting Actor (BEST EVER PERIOD)
2. Lead Actress (I was disappointed at first with Larson and Blanchett, but took it on the chin)
3. Lead Actor (Not as good as last year, but still great in my opinion)
4. Supporting Actress (It's usually last for me and apart from Leigh and Vikander, it was solid enough)


Nominees
1. Lead Actress
2. Supporting Actor
3. Supporting Actress
4. Lead Actor

Calvin Law said...

My predictions for the alternate leads:
Jason Bateman - The Gift (4.5/5)
Ben Mendelsohn - Mississippi Grind (4.5/5)
Jason Segel - The End of the Tour (5)
Tom Hardy - Legend (5)
Ian McKellen - Mr Holmes (5)
Jacob Tremblay - Room (4.5)
Abraham Attah - Beasts of No Nation (5)
Johnny Depp - Black Mass (4.5)
Kurt Russell - Bone Tomahawk (4.5/5)
Michael Fassbender - Macbeth (5)
Potentials:
Tom Hanks - Bridge of Spies (4.5)
Paul Dano/John Cusack - Love & Mercy (4.5 for both)

Calvin Law said...

Luke: In terms of the overall year for me, exactly the same as you.

Anonymous said...

Calvin: Out of the four categories, Lead Actress is my favorite.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: You forgot about Courtenay.

Calvin Law said...

Ah, yes, Courtenay (4.5/5).

And also, Louis: your top 10 films for 1962

Luke Higham said...

My Predictions for Supporting
Bale (3.5)
Rylance (5)
Hardy (5)
Stallone (5)
Del Toro (5)
Jenkins (5)
Elba (5)
Hoult (5)
Cohen (5)
Jackson (5)
Goggins (5)
Russell (4.5)
Driver (4.5) I expect Ford to go up as well
Isaac (4.5)
Schoenaerts (4.5)
Sheen (4.5)
Keaton (4.5)
Schreiber (4.5)
Tucci (4.5)

Anonymous said...

Supporting predictions:
Bale: 4
Rylance: 5
Hardy: 5
Stallone: 4,5
Del Toro: 5
Jenkins: 5
Elba: 5
Hoult: 5
Cohen: 4,5
Jackson: 5
Goggins: 5
Russell: 4,5
Driver: 4,5
Isaac: 4,5
Schoenaerts: 4,5
Sheen: 4,5
Keaton: 4,5/5
Schreiber: 4,5
Tucci: 4,5

Anonymous said...

Luke: Got any updated predictions on who's gonna win?

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I'm still sticking with Spotlight for Best Picture and I think Stallone's definitely winning Supporting Actor. I hope Rylance wins the BAFTA and SAG.

Anonymous said...

Luke: Like I said many times before, I'm seriously hoping for DiCaprio to win just to shut up his fans once and for all.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I'll be supporting Damon, though DiCaprio winning will be a relief.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I think DiCaprio has much more chances to win than Damon. And I have to say, I prefer DiCaprio's performance over Damon's.

Anonymous said...

Well, on the plus side at least Supporting Actress looks good for Louis, since he gave 5's for Mara/Leigh, and the 4 for others (assuming he hasn't changed any ratings). Louis usually rates the supporting actress nominees 2.5 for at least 2-3 of the nominees.. lol

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: DiCaprio is a lock and I still like his performance a great deal, even if there's not much depth to it.

Anonymous said...

Luke: He went method for the role, so I totally see him win the Oscar. Damon's performance hasn't really have been that hyped.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I know Damon's not gonna win, but I have to support the performance I liked the most.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I think Winslet is going to win her second Oscar.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I'm fine with that, she's my #3 out of the lineup, though it would be brilliant if Leigh won.

Anonymous said...

Luke: Or do you think Leigh is going to win somehow?

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: If she win's the BAFTA, then yes.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I decided to change my request for Cooper to Mitchum, because I thought Louis would be more impressed with him than Cooper.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Can I have your rating and thoughts on Carell in The Big Short.

Anonymous said...

Louis: You forgot to give your ratings for Bale, Gyllenhaal, Caine and Freeman in The Dark Knight.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous:
Bale - 3.5
Caine and Freeman - 3
Gyllenhaal - 2.5

Anonymous said...

Luke: Thanks. :)

Anonymous said...

Luke:...but then again Louis rarely gets impressed by Cooper and I wasn't impressed either by his performance in Man of the West, so I doubt he would be impressed by it.

Anonymous said...

Luke: Looks like it will take a long time till Macbeth's on Putlocker.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I'd give it another 2-3 weeks.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I found the reason behind Cooper's acting style. Let's just say that acting embarrased him.

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

I'll be honest I would not have saved Keaton after I originally watched the film if it was not for his potential to be nominated, but he really held up well on re-watch, so yeah I'm still saving him.

1. Lawrence of Arabia
2. Harakiri
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
4. To Kill a Mockingbird
5. Sanjuro
6. Cape Fear
7. The Manchurian Candidate
8. Billy Budd
9. Lolita
10. The Days of Wine and Roses

Luke:

Carell - 3.5(I don't think Carell is really the best guy to be doing mannered performances period, as with this and Foxcatcher it has felt like ACTING in both examples. Nevertheless like Foxcatcher a better performance does come through beneath that, here even more of one since he's doing far fewer mannerisms than usual. Carell does realize the constant distressed state in his eyes I'd say, better than in that weird way he walks. He manages to carry a certain emotional weight with his work particularly in his final scenes.)

Luke Higham said...

Louis: I'd really like if you reviewed Keaton, Schreiber and Tucci all at once.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke: That would be the way I'd do it, if I decide to review them.

RatedRStar said...

Calvin: As I said if I thought Fassy or anyone else was bad, then yes monster Daniel would be coming back but I didnt on this occasion =D lol. I cant even say I hated Ruffalo or Redmayne I was just underwhelmed.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: I think your 10 review slots are already locked in, so I'm quite sure you'll be reviewing all three of them. :)

Anonymous said...

Louis: What are your overall thoughts on Spencer Tracy as an actor? I know that you don't like him (with the exception of some performances) very much after reading most of your reviews, but overall thoughts.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Any thoughts and ratings on other performances you're not obligated to save and have no plans on reviewing?

RatedRStar said...

I can think of one to ask, Oscar Issac in Ex Machina, thats probably bee asked a bunch but I cant find it, Louis what are your thoughts on him and his film, also Robert since you loved it, =D your thoughts 2.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Truth be told, I seem to think his performance in Ex Machina is more entertaining than capital A great acting. His approach to Nathan as a casual fratboy instead of mad scientist was clever. His dance moves are fucking marvelous. It's undoubtedly a fun performance, but at the end of the day not on the same level as his Abel Morales or Llewyn Davis.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: Louis' gonna save Isaac for the alternates.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: For each of the 10 slots, It will be like this:
1. Del Toro and maybe Brolin
2. Elba
3. Cohen
4. Driver
5. Keaton, Schreiber and Tucci

1. Schoenaerts and Sheen
2. Jenkins
3. Hoult
4. Isaac
5. Goggins, Jackson and Russell

RatedRStar said...

Ah ok fair enough =D.

Michael McCarthy said...

I think Carell needed to be heavily mannered in The Big Short. His character is written as an unusually obnoxious sort, the kind you'd have to know to believe, and that also seemed to be the other characters' impression of him. I don't think he could've played it any other way.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I ended up watching the rest of it. Carrell's Jerry Lewis voice made me want to jump into traffic. He does have some good moments, entirely undercut by McKay's editing. For my money Ryan Gosling is actually entirely awful.

RatedRStar said...

Ryan Gosling for me is just fine I suppose, he is smug enough and condescending, but his final scene is awful, basically saying to the audience "Fuck you I was always right and I am better than you".

Robert MacFarlane said...

He was smarmy for sure, but mostly I found him weirdly flat. It was like pre-Silver Linings Bradley Cooper, but even worse.

Michael McCarthy said...

I'll give you Gosling. I gave him slack at first because it seemed like he was trying to match the style of the film but that's probably not an excuse. I'm sticking by Carell though.

Psifonian said...

Worst nominated performance since Plummer in 2011 and it's the worst nomination of the year.

Oh, and for predix:

1. Rylance
2. Hardy
3. Stallone
4. Bale
5. Ruffalo

Luke Higham said...

I think Rylance and Hardy will be the top 2, though I wouldn't be surprised if Louis says they're interchangeable.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I'm hoping for Stallone.

RatedRStar said...

Louis can I change one of my predictions, its just a very minor one

Swap Lam Suet in The Mission for....Anthony Wong in The Mission (still supporting)

Louis Morgan said...

Robert:

I will probably drop a few of the lead saves, though I'll save that until a later date.

Anonymous:

I really don't care for earlier performances as he could either be quite the ham, a non-entertaining one, or a really bland performer. He got better with age though, and I do think he tended to be at the very least decent in most of his later performances with one great one in the form of Bad Day at Black Rock, which is the only time where I see the Spencer Tracy everyone else is talking about.

Matthew St.Clair said...

I usually love Mark Ruffalo but I thought this was one of his weakest performances. Whenever I think of his big scene towards the end, it kinda gets on my nerves because he's all "Look at me, I'm acting!" Honestly, if you had taken out Bale and Ruffalo in favor of Oscar Isaac, Benicio Del Toro, or even Emory Cohen, you'd have the best Supporting Actor lineup in quite some time.

It's just like if they took out Jennifer Lawrence in favor of Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, or even Rooney Mara, you'd have the best Lead Actress lineup in years. Damn name checking. Ugh.