10. Alden Ehrenreich in Beautiful Creatures - Ehrenreich brings such a genuine charm and sincerity in his work that he manages to make up for a mostly bland part.
Best Scene: The course of his life.
9. Domhnall Gleeson in About Time - Gleeson gives an appropriately charming and endearing turn that manages to balance the film's tone nicely.
Best Scene: Final talk with dad.
8. Toni Servillo in The Great Beauty - Although I had no great affection for his film, Servillo managed to carry me through it in his charming and reflective portrayal of a man trying to find meaning in hollow extravagance.
Best Scene: Finding a great beauty.
7. Sol Kyung-gu in Hope - Although somewhat underused by the film he's in, Sol does deliver in granting the appropriate heartbreak and anger in a father's reaction to a true horror being inflicted upon his family.
Best Scene: Shifting his daughter to another room.
6. Terence Stamp in Song For Marion - Stamp delivers, even when his film gets a bit corny, offering a genuine portrayal of grief that rises above his material.
Best Scene: "Goodnight My Angel"
5. Ethan Hawke in Before Midnight - Hawke gives an excellent turn continuing naturally in his "maturation" of Jesse especially in how that is reflected with his chemistry with Julie Delpy as Celine.
Best Scene: Hotel room fight.
4. Simon Pegg in The World's End - Pegg delivers an overtly hilarious performance as a man still living as a high school rebel, though is equally heartbreaking in revealing the sad truth of such a state.
Best Scene: Nothing got better.
3. Christian Bale in Out of the Furnace - Bale gives perhaps his quietest turn and one of his most powerful as a man defined by hardship essentially fulfilling a personal duty through revenge.
Best Scene: Listening to the tape.
2. Christoph Waltz in The Zero Theorem - Waltz gives a turn completely unlike his Oscar winning ones, through his moving depiction of of the struggle of an extreme introvert while maintaining the humanity needed for the film's surreal journey.
Best Scene: Turning Down Bainsley's Offer.
1. Masaharu Fukuyama in Like Father. Like Son - Good predictions
Michael Patison, Charles H., Luke and
Tahmeed. Fukuyama gives a great naturalistic turn that manages to give such a restrained yet truly poignant portrayal of a father coming to term with his faults through some very unlikely circumstances.
Best Scene: Reuniting with his son.
Updated Overall
Next: Supporting 2013
38 comments:
Oh snap, Oscar Isaac for the win.
Also, my personal ideal supporting lineup would be:
Joaquin Phoenix in The Immigrant
Bill Nighy in About Time
Lucas Hedges in The Zero Theorem
Lily Franky in Like Father, Like Son
Bradley Cooper in The Place Beyond the Pines (I know a re-eval is unlikely but I finally got around to this recently and was floored by him.)
I personally consider Cooper lead in Pines, but I am all for a re-evaluation of his work there, it’s still my favorite performance from him.
Isaac takes the win!
Robert: I think Cooper's lead as well, and I actually rewatched the film not too long ago, so I'll support the re-evaluation camp as well.
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the rest of the lead performances you haven't covered yet (Statham, Dicaprio as Gatsby, one of the worst examples of Hollywood nepotism, Fiennes, etc.)?
Not gonna lie, I'm a bit upset McAvoy lost his win.
Louis: Thoughts and ratings on the cast of Blue is the Warmest Color? As well as thoughts on the film and it's direction?
Nighy
Franky
Siddiqui
Meaney
And if Jeremy Renner could go up for American Hustle, I'd support a review for him.
I won the bottom lineup as well, I put Hawke in 3rd and Stamp in 4th on Stamp's review.
My request is Maurice Ronet in The Fire Within (1963).
Louis: Your ratings and thoughts on the rest of the lead performances. I'm so glad you took to Firth quite abit and also saw The Great Gatsby.
Your Female Lead Top 10s with ratings and other 4+ honourable mentions.
Lastly, your 2013 wins.
Nighy
Franky
Meaney
Siddiqui
Phoenix
And Ed Harris in Snowpiercer as an extra.
Louis: I see that Snowpiercer's now down to 3rd and your appreciation for Inside Llewyn Davis has gone up even further.
Your thoughts on The Wind Rises.
And thoughts on The Great Gatsby and Ida.
Luke: It's the third Coen bros film that's his respective #1 for a year, with Scruggs a close second. And I'll gladly take Dicaprio getting a 4 for Gatsby, since Luhrmann ain't his cup of tea.
Louis: Lastly, Your top 5 Colin Firth and Luke Evans moments.
I'm a little disappointed that McAvoy lost his win, but Isaac's fantastic as well.
Louis: Your thoughts on One Punch Man's opening-
https://youtu.be/atxYe-nOa9w
(turn on captions for English translation)
If you ever had to watch a shonen (action) anime Louis, this is one I'd wholeheartedly recommend.
I'm really happy Louis loved The Wind Rises as well :)
Tahmeed: Can't wait for his opinion on Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.
Luke: Same here, especially Spirited Away.
Louis, your thoughts on The Tale of Princess Kaguya if you've seen it.
Louis: *Your Female Lead and Supporting top tens with ratings and other 4+ honourable mentions.
My rating predictions for Supporting.
Nighy - 4.5/5
Franky - 4.5
Meaney - 4/4.5
Siddiqui - 4.5
Phoenix - 5
And a five for Harris if Louis decides to review him. And hopefully he'll up Renner's rating in American Hustle as well.
RIP Peggy Lipton.
RIP Peggy Lipton
RIP Peggy Lipton
Louis: Your thoughts on the screenplays of Terminator 1 and Terminator 2. I still don't understand that "Kyle is John's father" thing and how it's supposed to work.
Ben Whishaw wins Bafta again, when will he get a leading role in a film, he needs 2.
Benedict Cumberbatch has finally won his Bafta =D.
So happy for Cumberbatch.
Congrats to Benny.
Also couldn’t be happier with the new results especially the added Llewyn Davis love. Louis your hamper should arrive in 3 working days.
Thoughts on Only Lovers Left Alive? Looks like Jarmusch is low key one of your favourite filmmakers still working today.
And your thoughts/ratings on the cast. Plus surprised Before Midnight isn’t in the top 10.
Luke: Your thoughts on Cumberbatch as an actor?
Bryan:
Statham - 4.5(I have to admit I was blown away by his performance in the first act of the film, and genuinely surprised. This is as Statham completely de-Statham's himself, extra hair aside. I mean I enjoy Statham doing his Statham thing, but this was genuinely great work outside of this creating such a remarkable portrayal of PTSD. This through such a quiet work where he seemed to temper his very charisma to give just a powerful yet understated portrayal of a damaged man. He brings a vulnerability you'd never expect from him, that wholly works in such tender work. I will say the film takes this less interesting places as it meanders around towards a more generic plot, though Statham never goes back to his coasting presence. Nonetheless this is fantastic work that frankly changed my perspective on his potential as an actor beyond being a movie star.)
Firth - 4.5(Although the film itself has some severe pacing issues I found Firth to give his best performance here. This is as we are granted some good ole' Firth charm, though properly regulated to portray a quieter sort of man. His depiction of the man's personal demons from his trauma and distress that has this real visceral intensity. His final scenes in particular are excellent in bringing this notable combination of a powerful justified conviction within a broken emotional desperation as he faces his former captor.)
Dormer - (This guy's voice is amazing that needs to be said every time, even when he hides it a bit more to take on the role of a record store/impresario with a most unique mission. His performance in many ways made the film for me as I think it would've been easy to fall into a series of questionable quirks. While Dormer brings an endearing energy to the part, he offers this with the right balance by providing a certain constant nuance that suggests both the character's higher ambitions but also his concerns for himself and the future of his country.)
Rahim & Mosaffa - 4(I have to admit the Past disappointed me a bit on the whole but that does come from my love of his other two films I've seen. I felt the personal drama was just a bit too disjointed here partially due to the separation of the leading men, as I find both men are undeserved. I'll give credit though once again to the director, as there isn't a false note in the film on the acting side. Rahim and Mosaffa are part of that and quite effective in portraying essentially two phases of a relationship while being almost the same man. They make this honest with Mosaffa portraying this very measured emotional attachment that essentially seeks detachment, against Rahim with the far more fiery attachment to his situation, and is excellent though in terms of revealing the tenderness within the man to the audience itself as the film proceeds.)
Panou - 4(You know going into this film I knew nothing about it so I will admit being especially disturbed as the drama, more horror, revealed itself. This being most found in Panou's performance who gives this quiet seemingly affable enough turn that slowly reveals itself to be this grotesque horror, however does it in a fashion that is this subtle shift that is especially unnerving.)
Watanabe - 4(This remake is a shame. It isn't even bad, because the script is THAT good, but every change they make is sadly the for worse. It also isn't helped by some unremarkable direction as all the best scenes are the ones where they just ripped off Eastwood's choices. Any who you do have a great actor for the William Munny equivalent, sadly the character isn't nearly as dynamic in the changes they make to him. Watanabe delivers in a quiet intensity and has the presence to give just a good, bad samurai turned good performance. The thing is Munny is an amazing character, that has been simplified here, not by Watanabe who does his best with what he has, but it is a waste that he couldn't go all the way with part.)
DiCaprio - 4(In the big confrontation scene he does fall a bit into standard dramatic screaming DiCaprio, but otherwise this is some good work from him. This is as, unlike Redford, he brings the right drive within the charisma. In that you can see his charm has this certain intention and I liked the degree of hidden uncertainty within him. This version was too unsuccessful overall for me, though in completely different ways than the 74 version, but DiCaprio is a much better Gatsby.)
Fiennes - 3.5(Fiennes does an admirable job in portraying both the endearing passion of the man towards his craft while underlining it with a far more flawed ego within him. I will say he suffers a bit, not from his own direction, but rather the terrible script he chose for himself. The work sadly is just a series of check marks to be hit without any real sense of the characters Dickens included.)
Hiddleston - 3.5(I liked Hiddleston's performance in general in that he finds the right sort of combination of humorist drama needed for Jarmusch, but I have to say he was fundamentally miscast for him. He's just too prim and proper in natural presence, and the part I feel needed someone with a bit more of a natural grunge. A Gary Oldman or David Thewlis type.)
Mujic - 3(Reading more about the film and this story, it is heartbreaking. Looking at the work all on its own its a decent enough "playing himself" turn. It purposefully doesn't seem to ask too much from him, but it stands as decent work even without that context in mind.)
Stiller - 3(I actually think with the overall film Stiller was almost onto something, just maybe cast someone else in the lead and pull back on some of the product placement. Watching the film though just further cemented the idea to me that Stiller only can go so far as a dramatic actor. He isn't entirely adrift, but he always maintains a certain distance from the part, much like Tugg Speedman. You never feel he quite becomes Mitty, but this isn't a bad performance.)
Sudeikis - 2(Awful mugger once again. Mind you it is possible to pull this off, but he's no Jason Bateman when it comes to the approach.)
Smith - 3 Wiseaus - (So many strange choices, the Elmer Fudd voice being the greatest of them I suppose. He's not his old man, even when his old man purposefully seems to sabotage his own performance. Smith though is just completely, woefully adrift in the part, though his random line deliveries throughout do garner more than a few chuckles from me.)
Emi Grant:
Well thoughts on the film first, as this is a strange thing where the tale must wag the dog, as I've never been so distracted by a choice in a film, that all falls to the director and a terrible choice. That being those sex scenes, I know I'm not the first to bring it up, but their directed, and in turn acted, with such lack of any emotion. They just are these acts of artifice, that does indeed feel like something Amber Waves and Roller Girl would be starring in. I'll say it a bigger shame as I thought the rest of the film was a more than decent coming of age story, with an otherwise mostly natural touch. Those scenes though quite frankly just broke the whole idea of the film in such a fundamental way, that was rather unfortunate as I think there was potential otherwise particularly in...
Exarchopoulos - 4.5(I sadly can't go higher do to her performance in those aforementioned scenes, which is a large part direction, but her work in those scenes grants no real emotion in them either. This is a shame as the rest of her work is quite excellent in portraying otherwise a real sense of discovery within the character. This in her powerful portrayal of her character attempting to discover herself and the world in a certain sense. She brings generally such a poignant authenticity within the naivety of her character and this idea of the struggle towards maturity. This being something that arrive in spurts and fits and regresses throughout.)
Seydoux - 2.5(Her performance was a bit underwhelming to me beyond also being sabotaged a bit by that thing I won't mention again here. I just didn't quite get that sort of almost ID quality within her performance that I think was meant in the way she sort of strikes the awakening in Adele. This is not to say I thought she was terrible or anything, but her work always was touch passive in my view, and didn't leave much of an impression on me.)
Luke:
I mean Davis was my picture win originally, so all is as it should be again.
The Wind Rises is beautifully animated, no surprises there of course, but I loved the entire film. This being this completely atypical film both animated and as biography. I loved the idea it managed to realize as the idea of ambition, the beauty of dreams but also the darkness in the compromise that comes from some of the troublesome results of one's achievements. I found it managed to balance a particularly difficult tone to offer a whimsy, nearly fantastical take, while never forgetting the honest, more painful truths within the story.
The Great Gatsby adaptation is yet another overall unsuccessful film, although it is probably my favorite Luhrmann film, for me, that's nearly meaningless. I think the ideas are on to something but Luhrmann over does it I find. It is no bereft of moments, as Gatsby's introduction is pretty great actually, especially in comparison to his in the 74 version. I think some blend of the two versions you might have something. In have some of the visual panache, though tone it down a bit, with the depth within Coppola's screenplay, as I felt this version was a little too timid around the more dramatic moments. I hated for example that this version excised Mr. Gatz and really how it handled the whole funeral. I actually did not hate this film at all, hated a few parts of it, but still wasn't quite there.
I loved Ida, and again Pawlikoswki's spare style and choices. This time once again heavily relying on imagery and often silence. I found there to be something quite powerful though this time in a unique examination of the holocaust, that in many ways to me was a far more remarkable version of Everything is Illuminated. This in examining the loss of that though through these two distinct characters who in the end have rather different responses to the revelations blunt put forth to them.
Firth:
1. Reverse interrogation - The Railway Man
2. Seeing Jim - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3. Flashback - The Railway Man
4. Not an errand boy - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
5. Trying to kill himself - A Single Man
Evans:
1. "Look at me" - Battle of the Five Armies
2. "Kill the Beast" - Beauty and the Beast
3. Opposing the Dwarves - Desolation of Smaug
4. Finding the Dwarves - Desolation of Smaug
5. Admiring one's self - Beauty and the Beast
Actress:
1. Marion Cotillard - The Immigrant
2. Sandra Bullock - Gravity
3. Judi Dench - Philomena
4. Rooney Mara - Ain't Them Bodies Saints
5. Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
6. Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
7. Berenice Bejo - The Past
8. Amanda Seyfried - Lovelace
9. Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Color
10. Agata Kulesza - Ida - 4.5
And:
Tilda Swinton - Only Lovers Left Alive - 4
Mia Wasikowska - Stoker - 4
Lee Re - Hope
Uhm Ji-won - Hope
Rooney Mara - Side Effects
Agata Trzebuchowska - Ida
Supporting Actress:
1. Tilda Swinton - Snowpiercer
2. Kristin Scott Thomas - Only God Forgives
3. Allison Pill - Snowpiercer
4. Melanie Thierry - The Zero Theorem
5. Amy Adams - Her
6. Sarah Paulson - 12 Years a Slave
7. Elni Roussinou - Miss Violence - 4
8. Yoki Maki - Like Father, Like Son
9. Margot Robbie - The Wolf of Wall Street
10. Joanna Lumley - The Wolf of Wall Street
And:
Mia Wasikowska - Only Lovers Left Alive
Machiko Ono - Like Father, Like Son
Carey Mulligan - Inside Llewyn Davis
Vanessa Redgrave - Song for Marion
Tahmeed:
Well that is certainly some detailed animation, especially in terms of the amount of frame, and some compelling atypical sort of "super hero" imagery. Less crazy about the theme which was touch on the hectic side. But I'll say I'm not, not, intrigued by that.
Anonymous:
I have, and I'm sorry to say I was sadly rather disappointed by it. This is to the point that I wasn't even that crazy about the animation, though in terms of the overall choice not the actual technique which seems to be always impeachable with Ghibli. I felt though that the story was rather repetitive and drawn out. I can see that a common choice in anime seems to be attaching the supernatural to the remarkably common, but here I felt it was far too underwhelming in terms of developing the characters beyond just the general idea of them. This especially given its rather long runtime.
Anonymous:
Let me get you those on the next post.
Calvin:
It's about time, still waiting on Robert's gift basket though.
Seriously though, almost every Coen brothers film improves for me on re-watch, even if I already loved the film was was the case for Llewyn Davis. Re-watching though made it an easy choice for my number one of the year, though lead actor was tougher, as I re-watched all the films in my top five. No one lessened in my mind even remotely, but Isaac resonated just all the more now.
I think that's fair to say in regards to Jarmusch. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and I'll actually say his films actually aren't plot less. There is typically just a little bit of plot, but the point is to enjoy everything around that thing that will happen...eventually. Again though in that he creates such a rich world with such wonderful characters. This is the case again, and once again, with as gradual as his style is, his moments of inspiration are truly just that, such as the "blood high" here or the final shot. What I loved overall though was just the detail into each character who are all so vibrant in themselves, but richer for the strange environment that while strange feels so very tangible.
Swinton - (Well I spent a whole review once writing about the difficulty of describing a Jarmusch performance, especially when they work best. Swinton though is a delight here in what is in some ways against type as I love how warm she is here in what is as the undead vampire. This in creating such an affecting relationship with both Hiddleston and Hurt, and just the simplest joyful manner even when discussing blood sucking.)
Wasikowska - (I will say she too was rather against type given she usually plays the more introverted, demure sorts. I thought she wholly excelled though in playing this very different note bringing such a potent if not even sinister playfulness in the character, creating this rather absurd lack of maturity that somehow feels fitting to a near immortal.)
Hurt - (Wish there was a bit more of him, but I did like him bringing his scraggly voice of his to the Jarmusch way, granting the appropriate weariness though with enough of a warmth in there.)
Calvin:
Before Midnight would probably be my #11, as I did like it a lot, I just prefer the films above it.
Louis: I'm glad you liked Statham quite a bit, and I wonder if we'll see that side of him again. And yeah, The Railway Mans pacing is weird, yet Firth delivered one of his best.
Who would you have cast insteadof Stiller for Walter Mitty? Sandler perhaps?
Bryan:
Sandler could've worked, also John C. Reilly, Michael Stuhlbarg, Philip Seymour Hoffman, or Paul Giamatti.
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