Monday 17 July 2017

Alternate Best Actor 1954

And the Nominees Were Not:

Anthony Quinn in La Strada

Fredric March in Executive Suite

Jean Gabin in Touchez Pas Au Grisbi

George Sanders in Journey to Italy

Alec Guinness in The Detective

101 comments:

Robert MacFarlane said...

1. Gabin
2. Quinn
3. March
4. Guinness
5. Sanders

Really just spitballing.

Charles H said...

Not confident either.

1. Anthony Quinn
2. Jean Gabin
3. Fredric March
4. Alec Guinness
5. George Sanders

Anonymous said...

Damn, haven't seen any of these.
1. Quinn
2. Gabin
3. Guinness
4. March
5. Sanders
Louis: Films to watch.
The Raid
Sabrina
Vera Cruz
River of No Return
Carmen Jones
Black Tuesday
Broken Lance
Garden of Evil

Anonymous said...

Also watch Track of the Cat, The Glenn Miller Story and The High and the Mighty.

Luke Higham said...

1. Quinn
2. Gabin
3. Guinness
4. March
5. Sanders

Luke Higham said...

Louis: And:
Sansho The Bailiff
Godzilla
Animal Farm
Twenty-Four Eyes
Sound Of The Mountain
A Lesson In Love (Ingmar Bergman)
The Woman In The Rumor
Johnny Guitar
An Inn At Osaka
L'air De Paris (Gabin)
Fear (Ingrid Bergman)
The Gold Of Naples (De Sica)
Them!
Senso
Mad About Men
Magnificent Obsession
French Cancan
The Crucified Lovers
The Far Country
Suddenly
Late Chrysanthemums
Human Desire
Crime Wave
The Good Die Young
Witness To Murder
The Long, Long Trailer
Silver Lode
The High And The Mighty
Apache
Broken Lance
The Bridges At Toko-Ri
The Mad Magician (Price)
Hell And High Water
The Belles Of St. Trinian's
Shield For Murder
Garden Of Evil
Desiree (Brando)
Drive A Crooked Road
The Egyptian
Ulysses (Kirk Douglas)
The 'Maggie'
Demetrius And The Gladiators (Jay Robinson)
Prince Valiant (James Mason)
The Garden Of Women
The Purple Rain
Cry Vengeance
Romeo And Juliet (Laurence Harvey)
An American In Rome (Sordi)
Dov'e La Liberta...?

Luke Higham said...

I'm quite sure Dunkirk and Three Billboards will be in Louis' top 5 this year.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Dunkirk has a 9,6 on IMDB.

Matt Mustin said...

Anonymous: That's gonna drop fast.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: That rating will go below a 9 in the next month or two. Very few films hit a 9 or higher.

Luke Higham said...

And I don't why anyone still cares about IMDB apart from looking at one's filmography or screenshots. Letterboxd is the place to go.

Anonymous said...

Luke: Letterboxd has some terrible reviewers in there.

Calvin Law said...

I got around to Baby Driver in the end. I need a re-watch probably, but I think it was good, though I did not love it. I found some of the writing, in the third act particularly, pretty perplexing, and though I really liked the visuals and music I never quite loved the film as a whole. Good performances all around though some are a bit weakened by the script.

Hamm and Foxx were both very good, Spacey was good despite being a bit undercut with his character arc, James was lovely, Gonzalez was really good, and though I had problems sympathizing with Baby sometimes I thought Elgort was solid.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: thoughts and rating for CJ Jones in Baby Driver?

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: It's much easier to find hidden gems though and I've always preferred the 5 rating system over the 10 system on IMDB.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I will say that this blog's the best place to have a discussion on Film & TV. And I take everyone's opinions more seriously here than I do anywhere else.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Your thoughts on Casey Kasem and Michael Chain's work in Transformers.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: Anthony Wong should be in your My Nominations list now for both Infernal Affairs II and Beast Cops

RatedRStar said...

1. Anthony Quinn
2. Jean Gabin
3. Alec Guinness
4. Fredric March
5. George Sanders

Anonymous said...

Louis did you see The Far Country or The Glenn Miller Story? if so what did you reckon to Stewarts work?

JackiBoyz said...

1. Anthony Quinn
2. Jean Gabin
3. Alec Guinness
4. Fredric March
5. George Sanders

Calvin Law said...

Oh yeah.

1. Anthony Quinn
2. Guinness
3. Gabin
4. Sanders
5. March

Michael McCarthy said...

Louis: Just to let you know, I've just watched Executive Suite and putting March in lead is kind of a stretch. He's very good though, I'd be all for a review for him in supporting.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

1. Anthony Quinn
2. Jean Gabin
3. Alec Guinness
4. Fredric March
5. George Sanders

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Also, glad to see that Choi is now above Lang on the Lead overall :)

Maciej said...

1. Quinn
2. Gabin
3. Guinness
4. Sanders
5. March

Omar Franini said...

1. Quinn
2. Gabin
3. March
4. Guinness
5. Sanders

Anonymous said...

Louis: how do you think Watanabe would have been in the role of the interpreter in Silence as originally planned.

GM said...

1. Quinn
2. Gabin
3. Guinness
4. March
5. Sanders

Calvin Law said...

So I just saw Your Name and I highly recommend it. Very moving film.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Your Name is fantastic. Probably has my favorite ending of the 2010's.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

I honestly can't figure out how the hell Your Name was snubbed at the Oscars. It's definitely up there with Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro as the greatest Japanese animated films of all time.

Louis: Your thoughts on these following scenes from Game of Thrones-
"Sacrifice"
Tyrion's second trial
The Red Wedding

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

*film

Calvin Law said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qab3TMg42k

The Disaster Artist trailer

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I'm really looking forward to it. :)

Luke Higham said...

This year has been a lot more enjoyable so far than it was this time last year.

Calvin Law said...

It doesn't sound like an uncanny impression, but I'll reserve judgement, especially considering all the previous reviews.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Honestly, it might be better if Franco doesn't do the full impression.

Calvin Law said...

Robert: you might be right. I guess we'll see. Still really looking forward to it!

Calvin Law said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r991pr4Fohk

Also, the Professor Marston & the Wonder Women trailer which looks really, really odd. It looks a bit tonally all over the place but it could be good.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: thoughts on the episode 'One Minute'. I think it might one of my favourite episodes yet because of Paul's amazing acting, and that harrowing final shootout.

Anonymous said...

It is pretty awesome that Christopher Nolan said that the main actor in Dunkirk (Fionn Whitehead) was like a young Tom Courtenay, nobody would ever use Tom Courtenay in such a comment considering how underrated he is, great to see that Tom Courtenay is regarded as a legend.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: What a lovely comment from one of the best today. :)

Louis: With this reception, do you think Nolan could possibly win rather than just being nominated which looks very likely now. I can't see the academy giving Bigelow the win twice.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your top ten most epic moments in film history.

RatedRStar said...

It is rather cool that a fair number of Oscar contenders are coming out in August which is quite rare to see, usually late September onwards is when Oscar seasons begins =D.

I think it is guaranteed that Dunkirk wins an Oscar, not neccessarily Best Picture, but I would put a lot of money on it winning something.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: It's Dunkirk Vs. Detroit this awards season.

Dunkirk could win up to 7 or 8 I think.

Luke Higham said...

The annoying thing is Deakins will probably miss out again.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: I think the key battle is whether Dunkirk and Detroit can keep that momentum going cause July/August to December is a long way from now, of course depends on if any of the films late in the year make a big bang.

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

Jones - 3.5(I quite liked his performance as he managed to bring some natural low key heart in his interactions with Elgort yet kept that as an underlying factor only. As he also more directly though brought the right sort of earned judgment in his moments without being sanctimonious, but rather just an encouraging presence towards doing the right thing.)

One Minute is a downright brilliant episode as you can start with the ending that gives you one of the most thrilling and tense action sequences in any tv show. I mean Hank fumbling with the bullet is a classic split second moment. The build up there is as good with that chilling warning that is made so by the what we saw of the twins all season. The other elements though are great as well particularly Jesse's "what happens now" speech.

Anonymous:

Kasem - (Did not exactly differentiate his work much here except his straight forward robot for Teletran one and he actually was pretty sparsely used. He was okay though in being obviously the same voice in either his mad scientist for a couple episodes, or his overly ticked off take he did for Cliffjumper.)

Chain - (Powerglide is a bit hard to stomach for long and I'll admit this comes from his broad delivery that relies very heavily on the accent, a bit too much but hey that was sort of thing for all the second season small guys. His Hoist and Red Alert were very similair in accent though each effective enough in the few times we actually hear them. His Hoist being just sort of a fop and his Red Alert fitting to the moniker.)

Anonymous:

I have. Both are good performances though his strongest turn from 54 for is Rear Window. In the Far Country we get probably the most traditional Stewart in the Mann/Stewart westerns. Stewart has some hard edges in there but his character mostly is there just to be a hero doing the right thing. Stewart of course does that quite well bringing the right charisma, and tempering in the right way given the material. Glenn Miller is a typical positive biopic from the era, though Anthony Mann also directs this film and seems to try to do anything visual to mix things up a bit, so it might as well be Stewart as just this charming trombonist. Having said that Stewart helps the film immensely by being his always incredibly likable self. He makes for a most endearing lead as per usual and the few somewhat dramatic elements Stewart absolutely delivers.

Louis Morgan said...

Michael:

That is one I sorta saw a long time ago, and as I recall he's more secondary lead/supporting, however since it's unlikely that I'll do a full five for supporting I'd prefer to cover him here.

Anonymous:

I imagine he would have been great.

Tahmeed:

"Sacrifice" - (If we're talking about Shireen here the scene as executed is very effective and absolutely haunting due to the performances. I hate the scene though as it reflected a butchery of Stannis by the writers, and yes that action would have eventually made sense for the character, at that time it did not.)

Tyrion's Second Trial - (It's a brilliant cathartic scene for the series as it builds up again with all the false lies around King's Landing once again, building to Tyrion finally unleashing what you wish someone would have sad out loud for so long.)

The Red Wedding - (As conception the scene pulls the rug right out from under you ridding the chance for an easy resolution. The execution though is unforgettable though in every mark from the devastating or cruel performances, that is amplified all the more by dark beauty of that candle light room, and the horrifying use of the "Rains of Castamere".)

Luke:

Well we of course still have the barrage of unknown and unseen contenders from the fall festivals, however the reception does indicate he could win especially given that Best Director has become far more based around the director's achievement than it has ever been before. I could easily see Detriot (if it is equally well received) taking picture while Nolan gets director.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the Gandalf/Pippin ride to Minas Tirith Scene.

RatedRStar said...

Louis: Is there a chance that with James Stewar that his popular yet to be seen films like Destry Rides Again, The Stratton Story, Ziegfeld Girl, The Spirit Of St.Louis and even perhaps Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation, you will likely see them but not review them because you might end up saying exactly the same things that you just said for Stewart just now?

RatedRStar said...

James Stewart... wow I did a bad typo lol.

Charles H said...

The Disaster Artist looks pretty great to me.

Charles H said...

Hell yeah to Min-Sik going back to #2 in the 2003 lead line.

Louis: What made you decide to put him over Lang.

Luke Higham said...

Finally got around to Baby Driver. Wright's best since Hot Fuzz and Hamm was terrific. Special mention to Foxx and Elgort's not useless after all.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the Hanging scene in 12 Years A Slave.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Could Serkis move up the 2014 ranking for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

And your thoughts on the Caesar vs. Koba/You are not ape scene.

Matt Mustin said...

I saw Baby Driver again. Still love it, but I'm gonna knock Spacey's rating down to a 2. He's just really off here, and it really comes through on second viewing.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the scene where Keyes rejects the idea of suicide from a moving train from Double Indemnity.

Calvin Law said...

I'm not sure how well Baby Driver is sitting with me to be honest, the more I think about the screenplay the less impressed I am. It's hovering around #7 -#9 on my 2017 rankings.

Calvin Law said...

As for Spacey I feel I might agree with Matt on rewatch, but he did sell some of the funniest moments of the film for me like that Monsters Inc line.

Charles H said...

Spacey isn't working for me overtime. What he did with the role just isn't sitting well as it first did. He might go down to a 3/2,5 for me.

Matt Mustin said...

Also, I forgot to include CJ Jones in my original comment after seeing the film the first time, but I'd give him a 3.5, for the exact same reasons Louis mentioned.

Álex Marqués said...

I'm with Calvin, I didn't find Baby Driver as impressive as I hoped it would be.

Matt Mustin said...

I feel like I was bound to love Baby Driver no matter what, because it's a whole movie based around one of my absolute favourite editing techniques.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I still really like the film, but one thing that gets worse for me in hindsight is how they wrote James's character. Her performance is charming, but the character is essentially a fake dream girl who really never has a convincing reason or motivation to follow Baby so far.

Matt Mustin said...

Robert: I didn't have a problem with that, just because I know he was deliberately going for the kind of love interest you'd see in those old car chase movies from the 70's.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Yeah, and it was a trope that sucked then and sucks now.

Calvin Law said...

The editing is definitely something that's objectively great about the film, I'd agree. I'd agree to an extent about James because the love interest character here was written even more thinly than say, Shaun of the Dead.

Calvin Law said...

I'd say the film was has grown on me the most this year so far has been Logan, and in particular Hugh Jackman's performance.

Matt Mustin said...

Louis: What's your thoughts on Carter Burwell's True Grit score?

Luke Higham said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvVBdtwxgUQ

Calvin Law said...

Luke: damn, that's a great trailer. Got chills watching it.

Robert MacFarlane said...

It looks like... a frankly generic serial killer thriller with great cinematography.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on trailers for The Disaster Artist and The Snowman.

Calvin Law said...

Also, did not recognize Val Kilmer at all. Not that he had any makeup or anything, just haven't seen him in much recently.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: It's nice to see J.K. Simmons play a non-american. :)

Louis Morgan said...

RatedRStar:

Not necessarily.

Luke:

The ride scene is a outstanding revelation scene for Minas Tirith granting such a grand scale, that almost makes you forget you already saw it in Fellowship, amplified as always by the score, but also supplemented so well by the emotional moment just beforehand when Pippin and Merry finally separate.

The Hanging Scene in Twelve Years seems perhaps the most unfiltered McQueen within the film, and it is terribly effective scene through McQueen's unbroken shot. It's made unnerving by how well beautiful McQueen realizes the natural setting, while keeping insight the horrible brutality sitting in the middle of it all, as everything else keeps going on as though it is a normal day.

No.

That scene, I'd say is perhaps just a touch overblown, yet I'd take that any day over the cop out confrontation in War, that is more aggravating the more I think about given it actually even strips a proper conclusion to Caesar's dilemma but I digress. Here it builds up towards that final moments, which the end result though cliched, does have the emotional weight needed.

The Disaster Artist - (I still very much want to see the film, due to the reception, but that wasn't all that encouraging. Obviously going full Wiseau probably wouldn't work but that certainly did not sell me on Franco as Wiseau. What I had a greater concern about though was Dave Franco who looks like he's going to be overly whiny as Sestero. As a teaser though that was just a single scene, so I still have some high hopes for the film.)

The Snowman - (Amazing cinematography to be sure and Fassbender looks like he's going to deliver. I doubt the film will be paced as the trailer implies given its director, which is a good thing, as the trailer was very much made to seem like a rote thriller. Again though the style is more to the trailer's cutting than I think what we will see in the final film, so I'm still very much excited to see it.)

Charles:

Re-watch simply strengthened his performance all the more in my view.

Anonymous:

A brilliantly written scene and so perfectly performed by Robinson. I could watch him go through the technical bits of insurance policies forever through that so certain and eloquent precision.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: do you think Raul Julia could've been a great 1990s Gus Fring? And on the other side of the retroactive casting scale, what do you think of Dean Norris taking on a role like Ray Liotta's in Narc, since I'm starting to see very similar attributes in their acting style, down to having very distinctive laughs.

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

As M. Bison would say, Of COURSE! Norris though I think does have the potential to pull off a role like that as well though, after all just keeping watching Breaking Bad.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Would you say there's a possibility of a 10 slot lineup for Supporting this year.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Depending on whether Rylance doesn't get nominated for Dunkirk and Harrelson, Rockwell and Hawkes for Three Billboards.

Calvin Law said...

The Shape of Water trailer looks really unique.

Michael Patison said...

1. Anthony Quinn
2. Jean Gabin
3. Alec Guinness
4. George Sanders
5. Fredric March

Álex Marqués said...

Luke: your enthusiasm os great, but I think there are many great performances from many years that remain unseen by many people in this blog (myself included), I think it would be better to focus on them for the time being. Otherwise, it's easier to over-anticipate an upcoming film/performance to the point of misjudging it, at least in my opinion. :)

Álex Marqués said...

is*

Luke Higham said...

Alex: Point taken. :)

To be honest, with these bonus rounds, I'm really interested as far back as '57 with the exception of the silent era. A lot of the earlier years have 5-7 films at most that I'm interested in getting Louis' thoughts on.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Is the Silent Era round being left to the end.

Calvin Law said...

Can't wait till 1958 personally :)

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: Must admit, I'm really looking forward to Quayle. I hope we get '58 after '57.

Calvin Law said...

Louis can also do Quayle in Lead if he really can't figure out a 5 man lineup for supporting for that year, since he could be argued as a secondary lead (though I place him in supporting).

Anonymous said...

THEM (1954) looks kinda fun actually, suppopsed to be one of the best of the 50s monster films along with Creature From The Black Lagoon.

Anonymous said...

Louis: I noticed you tend to be going in mostly the same order of picking years as you did when you did the original alternate rounds, are you gonna possibly switch it up sometimes with the year to surprise us or are you going in the same order as with the alternates?

Anonymous said...

Actually ignore that question you have switched it up occasionally.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: Yeah, for instance he did 2008 first from the 00s but is doing it in the third cycle.

I think once 3 years are done, he'll move on to the next 3 he did during the alternates, yet he'll give us a say on what we'd like to see first out of those three.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I think we would've had 1957 instead of 54 if enough people had their say on the matter, because I did state that I wanted the former on one of the '03 Supporting reviews.

Anonymous said...

Luke: While he won't like him as much as Quayle, I'm eager to see what Louis will think of Coop in Man of the West.

Charles H said...

The Snowman seems fantastic. Seems like a consistent year so far.

Luke Higham said...

Charles: It's certainly been an easier ride, with no BVS or Suicide Squad to drag it down.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Although it is shaping up to be a decent year in the category, it will always depend on what the Academy does.