Sunday 27 January 2019

Best Actor 2018

And the Nominees Are:

Viggo Mortensen in Green Book

Christian Bale in Vice


Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody


Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born

Willem Dafoe in At Eternity's Gate

31 comments:

RatedRStar said...

I am taking a risk with one, I am going with Dafoe.

1. Willem Dafoe
2. Bradley Cooper
3. Rami Malek
4. Viggo Mortensen
5. Christian Bale

RatedRStar said...

My winning request is William Devane - Rolling Thunder

Omar Franini said...

1. Dafoe
2. Cooper
3. Malek
4. Mortensen
5. Bale

Louis i won the Supporting prediction too, the comment is in Rockwell’s review.

I’m glad you liked Sophie Scholl and Julia Jentsch, could you post your rating and thoughts on Gerald Alexander Held?

Razor said...

1. Dafoe
2. Cooper
3. Malek
4. Bale
5. Mortensen

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

If anyone's seen At Eternity's Gate, could I have your rating and thoughts on Dafoe?
Anyways:
1. Cooper (5)
2. Dafoe
3. Malek (4.5)
4. Mortensen (3.5 or 4)
5. Bale (3.5)

Calvin Law said...

It’s not coming out in England till March. Might have to find some other way to watch it. I believe Michael gave him a strong 4.5 though.

1. Dafoe
2. Cooper
3. Malek
4. Bale
5. Mortensen

Robert MacFarlane said...

1. Cooper
2. Dafoe
3. Malek
4. Bale
5. Mortensen

Mitchell Murray said...

I'm going to say;

5) Bale
4) Mortensen
3) Malek
2) Cooper
1) Dafoe

Giuseppe Fadda said...

I've seen Dafoe who is my Best Actor winner of the year. I guess the movie isn't quite for everyone, but I personally thought it was a profound and powerful examination of Van Gogh's shattered emotional and mental state but also his undeniable genius. Dafoe is truly heartbreaking and for me he is leagues above the rest of the competition (though Cooper is excellent too).

Maciej said...

1.Cooper
2.Dafoe
3.Malek
4.Mortensen
5.Bale

BRAZINTERMA said...

1. Willem Dafoe
2. Bradley Cooper
3. Rami Malek
4. Viggo Mortensen
5. Christian Bale

Mike Hannigan said...

1. Malek = 5
If there is one reason to follow this two hours long video clip, this is Malek. He doesn't only perfectly imitate Mercury's voice or moves, but also is able to reliably outline all the twists and turns of his troubling nature. He's got perfect energy and charisma. Although the script clearly idealizes Freddie, Malek tries to smuggle darker sides of his character, such as brutality towards members of his own band. He's amazing in a press conference scene.

2. Bale = 5
Louis hates it, as the whole movie, but for me this is really a great performance. Bale doesn't yell nor show off as Oldman did in his last year's transformation into Winston Churchill. He plays a silent manipulator from the shadow, yet makes him compelling. He shows all the complexities of a very low key character, including his long and not-so-obvious political path and love for his daughters. And looks good in a make up.

3. Mortensen = 4.5
Nothing original in this performance: he's not the first one to bring to the screen mixture of brutality and comedy in an Italian style. But his story is much better played than Ali's story. He's got some sort of wild charisma that, despite the fact that his character is physically dishevelled, makes him interesting. He was given great punch lines and one-liners, and knows how to deliver them; actually he's the only one who brings humour to this so so movie.

4. Cooper = 4
Cooper is much better in acting than in directing, and his Jackson Maine is the best part of a really terrible movie. He's good in showing Jackson as a great star, and at the same time a man's wreck. The Grammy scene is truly excellent. What doesn't work? His voice. Deep, stylized for Sam Elliott, but in Cooper's case it sounds unbearably artificial from the beginning to the end. He's best when he doesn't speak or when he sings (always with his normal voice, have you noticed?).

5. Dafoe = haven't seen yet

Robert MacFarlane said...

Haven’t seen Dafoe yet, but Cooper very handily takes this lineup from the ones I’ve seen. Viggo’s performance deserves to be a black mark on the rest of his career (along with his complete idiocy on the award trail). Bale and Malek give talented pieces of mimicry in terrible films that do not allow them much more than that mimicry.

Lezlie said...

1. Willem Dafoe
2. Rami Malek
3. Viggo Mortensen
4. Bradley Cooper
5. Christian Bale

Robson Nakazato said...

1. Dafoe
2. Cooper
3. Malek
4. Bale
5. Mortensen

Psifonian said...

1. Dafoe
2. Bale
3. Malek
4. Cooper
5. Mortensen

moviefilm said...

1) Cooper
2) Dafoe
3) Malek
4) Mortensen
5) Bale

Michael McCarthy said...

This will be controversial, but here goes:

1. Bradley Cooper
2. Christian Bale
3. Rami Malek
4. Willem Dafoe
5. Viggo Mortensen

Bryan L. said...

1. Dafoe
2. Cooper
3. Malek
4. Mortensen
5. Bale

Calvin Law said...

I could honestly see Louis going either way on Malek, more so than Bale even.

Luke Higham said...


1. Dafoe
2. Cooper
3. Malek
4. Bale
5. Mortensen

My request is Temuera Morrison in Once Were Warriors.

Anonymous said...

1. Cooper
2. Dafoe
3. Malek
4. Mortensen
5. Bale

Luke Higham said...

Louis: If you decide to move on to Alternate Supporting when At Eternity's Gate still isn't up, could you do Bogdanovich as a bonus or something because right now, my alternate lineup is:
Yeun
Waits/Nelson
Crowe
Bridges/Pullman
Hoult
Nivola
Roache
Henry
Franky
Hornsby

Luke Higham said...

SAG Predictions
Lead Actor: Malek Alt. Bale
Lead Actress: Close Alt. Colman
Supporting Actor: Grant Alt. Ali
Supporting Actress: Adams Alt. Weisz
Ensemble: Bohemian Rhapsody (Can't believe I'm saying this) Alt. A Star Is Born

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Your 90s cast and director for Green Book? And cast and decade of release for a Kubrick version of The Favourite? (If you think he'd be a good fit for that film)

Louis Morgan said...

Omar:

Held - 4(I thought he was quite good in effectively creating the right type of incisiveness in his performance that played the psychological game of the interrogations. I especially liked though how he did not play it as this overt villain. Rather he shows very much this strict conviction to the man doing what he perceives as his job, which he happens to be very good at. He though also does subtlety bring the faintest bit of sympathy in his some of his reactionary moments, that are very well performed by Held, that never forgives his character's actions, but reinforces he's not this ominous random evil, rather a institutionalized one.)

Bryan:

Green Book 1990's directed by Taylor Hackford:

Tony Lip: Robert De Niro
Don Shirley: Howard Rollins

70's...but the only choice for that is Ken Russell:

Queen Anne: Glenda Jackson
Abigail: Helen Mirren
Sarah Churchill: Vanessa Redgrave
Robert Harley: Oliver Reed
Samuel Masham: Simon MacCorkindale
Sidney Godolphin: Michael Hordern

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Would that be written by Russell as well? And your respective choices for a 60s version?

Bryan L. said...

Oh and could you see Lanthimos being a good fit as director for a 2010s Amadeus? If it was written by someone else of course

Louis Morgan said...

Bryan:

The Favourite 1960's directed by Tony Richardson:

Queen Anne: Geraldine Page
Abigail: Susannah York
Sarah Churchill: Deborah Kerr
Robert Harley: David Warner
Samuel Masham: Terence Stamp
Sidney Godolphin: Hugh Griffith

Yes, yes, keep Schaffer's screenplay as is.

Anonymous said...

1. Dafoe
2. Cooper
3. Malek
4. Bale
5. Mortensen

Emi Grant said...

Well, crap. I'm late.

1) Cooper
2) Dafoe
3) Malek
4) Bale
5) Mortensen