Monday 27 July 2020

Alternate Best Actor 2002

And the Nominees Were Not:

Leslie Cheung in Inner Senses

Chiwetel Ejiofor in Dirty Pretty Things


Bill Paxton in Frailty


Hiroyuki Sanada in The Twilight Samurai


Sol Kyung-gu in Oasis


Predict Those Five, These Five Or Both:

Greg Kinnear in Auto Focus

Olivier Gourmet in The Son

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Love Liza

David Gulpilil in The Tracker

Timothy Spall in All or Nothing

69 comments:

Luke Higham said...

Bloody Sunday (Paul Greengrass/James Nesbitt)
Shackleton (Kenneth Branagh)
Path To War (Frankenheimer/Sutherland/Gambon)
Live From Baghdad (Michael Keaton)
RFK (Linus Roache)
Hysterical Blindness (Uma Thurman)
Road To Perdition (Upgrade for Paul Newman)
Gangs Of New York (Re-Write and Upgrade for Day-Lewis' review)
Talk To Her
The Son (Olivier Gourmet/Dardennes)
The Tracker (David Gulpilil)
About A Boy
Roger Dodger (Campbell Scott)
Love Liza (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
All Or Nothing (Spall/Leigh)
Dahmer (Jeremy Renner)
Buffalo Soldiers
Auto Focus (Paul Schrader)
24 Hour Party People
Hero (Zhang Yimou)
Russian Ark
Open Hearts
Red Dragon
Nicholas Nickleby
Rabbit-Proof Fence
We Were Soldiers
Phone Booth (Colin Farrell)
K-19: The Widowmaker (Ford/Neeson)
Lilo & Stitch
Treasure Planet
The Bourne Identity
Panic Room (David Fincher)
The Ring (Naomi Watts)
Irreversible
Sweet Sixteen (Ken Loach)
The Warrior (Irrfan Khan)
Devdas
8 Mile
Equilibrium
Bend It Like Beckham
Unfaithful
Lilya 4-Ever
The Magdalene Sisters
White Oleander (Michelle Pfeiffer/SAG nomination)
8 Women (Huppert/Deneuve)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Secretary
Morvern Callar (Ramsay/Morton)
Sunshine State (Edie Falco/LAFCA)
The Good Girl
Igby Goes Down
Chi-Hwa-Seon (Choi Min-Sik)
The Man Without A Past
The Crime Of Father Amaro (Gael García Bernal)
Zus & Zo
Man On The Train
Blue Gate Crossing
Ten
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (Alan Arkin)
Ivans XTC.
Philanthropy
The King
Solaris (Soderbergh)
Max (Noah Taylor as Adolf Hitler)
May
Dog Soldiers
Heaven (Tom Twyker/Cate Blanchett)
Bubba Ho-Tep
John Q (Denzel Washington)
Femme Fatale (Brian De Palma)
Evelyn
The Adversary (Daniel Auteuil)
Blissfully Yours
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Dolls
Amen.
Together
Demonlover (Olivier Assayas)
The Power Of The Past
Personal Velocity: Three Portraits

Michael McCarthy said...

1. Chiwetel Ejiofor
2. Bill Paxton
3. Hiroyuki Sanada
4. Leslie Cheung
5. Sol Kyung-gu

Honestly the top 4 could be rearranged a lot of different ways for me. Gonna try and watch Love Liza and The Son before I predict the other lineup.

Luke Higham said...

1. Ejiofor
2. Sol
3. Sanada
4. Paxton
5. Cheung

1. Gulpilil
2. Hoffman
3. Gourmet
4. Spall
5. Kinnear

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on Wakao, Wiazemsky and Kedrova.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Could you check out Red Dragon, Open Hearts and Nicholas Nickleby during Lead so as to decide who you want to review for Supporting.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: You wrote Frality instead of Frailty.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Out of those tv films, just watch whichever interests you the most.

Robert MacFarlane said...

1. Sol
2. Sanada
3. Ejiofor
4. Cheung
5. Paxton

1. Hoffman
2. Kinnear
3. Gulpilil
4. Spall
5. Gourmet

Emi Grant said...

1. Sol
2. Ejiofor
3. Sanada
4. Cheung
5. Paxton

1. Hoffman
2. Gulpilil
3. Kinnear
4. Spall
5. Gourmet

Tim said...

Luke Oh god, thanks for reminding me about Irreversible, the probably best movie i NEVER want to watch again *shudders*

Tim said...

also, i finally got around to watching Network, and i liked it a lot; i still prefer Rocky and think that Sidney Lumet was a crybaby when it came to his movies loosing, even though it was really, really good.

Dunaway: 4.5/5 (The only one i would put in lead)
Finch: 5
Holden: 3.5/4
Duvall: 4
Beatty: 3
Straight: 3.5

Aidan Pittman said...

1. Ejiofor
2. Sanada
3. Cheung
4. Paxton
5. Sol

1. Gulpilil
2. Hoffman
3. Spall
4. Kinnear
5. Gourmet

Tim said...

1. Ejiofor
2. Sol
3. Sanada
4. Cheung
5. Paxton



1. Hoffman
2. Gulpilil
3. Kinnear
4. Spall
5. Gourmet

BRAZINTERMA said...

1º Sol
2º Ejiofor
3º Sanada
4º Paxton
5º Cheung

1º Gulpilil
2º Spall
3º Hoffman
4º Gourmet
5º Kinnear

BRAZINTERMA said...

Fingers crossed from Brazil for City of God and Fernando Meirelles on this blog

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Wakao - (Her performance is one of basically growth and change through reaction. This in creating the sense of the mildly naive nurse getting a blunt realities. This the immediate brutal treatment by patients where he performances creates the reactive horror initially. This though becomes more complicated as it goes on. This in creating the struggle with empathy. This not in terms of herself not being empathetic in her work by rather portraying essentially the confusion in trying to connect in the right way. This in she has her moments of true understanding but also moments of attempted comfort that actually leads to failures. Wakao's work finds the complexity of the state of the person essentially trying to help others cope with an obviously losing battle, delivering on slowly internalizing this sense of pain though through connection not detachment.)

Wiazemsky - (Her performance is reflective of the donkey, though this is not a joke. This in the one moment we get any sense of a real tenderness is within that. This otherwise though is a performance that is effective in creating the emotionally strained state of the young woman who gives herself basically to toxic relationships. Her performance carries with it the desperate confusion and intensity of someone who has something to offer yet has no path in front of her to show her the way. Her performance internalizes the brutalities that happen to her with such intimate and heartbreaking detail.)

Kedrova - (Just a really fun performance from her that is the best part of the film, even if her appearance is rather brief. She has an enjoyable sort of wry energy essential for sorta of the fun style of Hitchcock severely lacking in Newman and Andrews work, that really makes you see just how great the likes of Cary Grant and Robert Donat are in that kind of role. Anyway though Kedrova makes the most out of the colorful supporting character just having so much fun in every moment in bringing the right eccentricity in her brief moments. Wonderful work. )

GM said...

1. Ejiofor
2. Sanada
3. Sol
4. Cheung
5. Paxton

1. Hoffman
2. Gourmet
3. Gulpilil
4. Spall
5. Kinnear

RatedRStar said...

1. Ejiofor
2. Sol
3. Sanada
4. Paxton
5. Cheung

1. Gulpilil
2. Hoffman
3. Gourmet
4. Spall
5. Kinnear

RatedRStar said...

Watching Leslie Cheungs final performance is surreal let me tell you, especially the final scenes not to spoil it or anything.

Maciej said...

1. Sol
2. Cheung
3. Ejiofor
4. Sanada
5. Paxton

1. Gulpilil
2. Hoffman
3. Kinnear
4. Spall
5. Gourmet

Mitchell Murray said...

1) Ejiofor
2) Sanada
3) Cheung
4) Paxton
5) Kyung-gu

1) Hoffman
2) Gulpilil
3) Spall
4) Gourmet
5) Kinnear

Calvin Law said...

I’m going to wait to watch a few more of these before I make my predictions, as well as to make my request I got from the last lineup. Even out from those I’ve seen though I have NO idea who’s going to come out on top.

Calvin Law said...

This is my most excited lineup in a while, I hope both of my requests here do well.

Razor said...

1. Sanada
2. Sol
3. Ejiofor
4. Paxton
5. Cheung

1. Gulpilil
2. Hoffman
3. Spall
4. Gourmet
5. Kinnear

Matt Mustin said...

Love Liza has been on my watch list for a while but it sounds very Sundance-y.

Michael McCarthy said...

Also, I have no idea how I'm gonna watch The Son. Can't find it anywhere.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: my request from the last set of predictions is Bob Hoskins for Twenty Four Seven (1997 Lead).

Also, your thoughts on these two scenes from Infernal Affairs? https://youtu.be/iwEdvXKFRJQ and https://youtu.be/kQ1QcgMzBeU

The first scene I just kind of love as a more casual yet still very important moment and both Leung and Lau are so great in it. And the second scene kind of sums up why Tsang is miles ahead of Nicholson as their respective counterparts, Wong is great here too.

Calvin Law said...

Matt: it is but not in an entirely bad way.

Matt Mustin said...

Calvin: So only in a slightly bad way. Gotcha.

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Before this round officially gets underway, your ratings and thoughts on the following 2002 performances?

John C. Reilly in The Hours
Mel Gibson & Joaquin Phoenix in Signs
Patricia Clarkson & Dennis Haysbert in Far From Heaven

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

I mean the first scene shows really the fundamental difference between the films where the bad cop is really villain rather than a protagonist. Here though you have really a humane moment for both characters that I like actually has nothing to do with anything, just shows them to be enjoying something mutually.

The second is actually a scene that plays totally differently I think to a degree after watching the sequel prequel, as the two laying out their cards in a certain sense here due allude to their relationship from that film. I wholly agree on your point, as Tsang finds the right balance as he's boisterous but believable as the crime boss. The scene itself though just works as sort of the setting up the direct conflict between the two within film, though it does add further depth with that extra knowledge from Infernal Affairs 2.

Although side note, I quite enjoy discussing both films, two films I like in a Yojimbo/Fistful of Dollars sort of way, as the comparison is a great case study on the influence of a director.

Razor said...

Louis: Yeah, also your ratings and thoughts on these guys if you haven't given them.

Derek Luke in Antwone Fisher
Song/Shin in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Guy Pearce in The Time Machine
Cage/Beach in Windtalkers
Will Smith in Men in Black 2

Matt Mustin said...

Infernal Affairs was actually a lot more different from The Departed than I expected it to be when I watched it, especially stylistically.

Bryan L. said...

Matt: Same, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the endings, as both films take a different approach there.

Aidan Pittman said...

Watched First Cow, which certainly had some pacing issues that I felt dragged it down a bit, but I found it to be an endearing enough film in the end, mainly with great chemistry from the leads.

Magaro - 4
Lee - 4.5
Eve - 10

Anonymous said...

Luke, what ratings do you think the performances in this lineup will get?

Calvin Law said...

‘Eve - 10’

I concur.

Luke Higham said...

Louis and Calvin: Twenty Four Seven is 1998 instead of 1997.

Anonymous: I'll get back to you later.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Nevermind.

Calvin Law said...

Luke: my bad, thanks for the heads up!

Luke Higham said...

Just found out that Greg Kinnear had a near 10 year wait between his first and second review.

Luke Higham said...

Cheung - 4.5
Ejiofor - 5
Paxton - 4.5
Sanada - 5
Sol - 4.5/5

Kinnear - 4.5
Gourmet - 4.5/5
Hoffman - 5
Gulpilil - 5
Spall - 4.5/5

Luke Higham said...

For the Supporting lineup:
Fiennes
Mikkelsen
McConaughey
Firmino/Jorge
Dafoe/Wong/Plummer

Bonus:
Fraser
Lures

Luke Higham said...

I know Fraser's getting a 4.5 but would rather see unseen performances make up the 5.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

So I was surfing around Kurosawa's Wikipedia page, and I didn't expect to see this:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Akira_Kurosawa

Louis: Your thoughts on the above 'criticisms'? Quite a few of them seemed to be quite unfounded to me.

Louis Morgan said...

Bryan & Razor:

I probably have given those somewhere.

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

Well the Mizoguchi involved criticisms couldn't be sillier in my mind, and leave to Jean-Luc Godard to do it I suppose. The whole notion of "you should be making movies like this" is ludicrous. Mizoguchi made great films, Kurosawa made great films. Kurosawa's films tended to be more overtly entertaining while also expressing the influence of western film-making, which is ridiculous. After all for the huge Hitchcock fans that were Godard and Truffaut, one would think they'd appreciate a filmmaker who can make a wholly entertaining film while also exploring deeper themes, though I'd argue Kurosawa usually delved deeper in that regard than Hitchcock. It would be as silly if one criticized Mizoguchi for being too Japanese in his perspective, and his films for not being entertaining enough. His perspective is clearly is own as is his approach.

The idea of sentimentality is ridiculous because so often he wasn't, again that's forcing a filmmaker into a box, why can't Kurosawa attempt Capra? A filmmaker, with the right material, should be allowed to be sentimental now and again. Ridiculous again, and though shows that Kurosawa really made a wide array of stories, so to cheery pick ones that feature a certain quality is bizarre for an overarching criticism.

The political accusations kind of ignore a very complicated history there in Japan to say the least.

Regarding women, I think it falls again into a filmmaker's perspective, and the stories he makes. Should one force a filmmaker to tell different stories to fulfill some request? Would it be nice if Kurosawa tackled women more, sure why not, but then again maybe he just wasn't comfortable with that material, and that's fine too. Of course the main criticism is regarding the depiction of the wife in Rashomon, which I think ignores the depiction of the samurai or the bandit, which are never idealized. In addition it also ignores the definite power he grants her in the final story.

The elitism criticism is based basically on Seven Samurai which I'll just say is a wildly simplistic view of the complex relationship between the samurais and the peasants in that film, and wholly ignores Kikuchiyo.

The pandering to western audiences is a very strictly Japanese criticism, though again I do think it is a ridiculous change. Those American filmmakers influenced by the French New Wave, were they pandering to the French? I don't think so, I'd say they were influenced by films they personally took to and it naturally influenced their style. This like the way western filmmakers influenced Kurosawa.

The alleged lack of contact with contact with contemporary realities honestly feels just cruel given the severe personal and professional issues Kurosawa was having at the time, post-Red Beard.

The personal arrogance charge...well that just probably falls into a category of certain types of directors, and perhaps that arrogance was necessary for the greatness he achieved. Either way, the stories of Kurosawa's on set behavior in general sound more like someone who pushed himself hard in turn pushed everyone just as hard, rather than petty power playing or anything like that. As "arrogant directors" go, he sounded relatively tame.

Calvin Law said...

So after watching Inner Senses and Frailty, and rewatching Twilight Samurai, I'm going to go with my own ranking for predictions, and for the other lineup take an educated guess since I won't be able to complete it before the first two reviews are done:

1. Sanada
2. Ejiofor
3. Sol
4. Paxton
5. Cheung

1. Hoffman
2. Gulpilil
3. Spall
4. Gourmet
5. Kinnear

Matthew Montada said...

Calvin: Your top 10 favorite acting performances of all time?

Calvin Law said...

Matthew: tough one but I’ll try (and limiting just to films so my head won’t explode)

1. James Stewart, It’s a Wonderful Life
2. Celia Johnson, Brief Encounter
3. Takashi Shimura, Ikiru
4. Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon
5. Peter O’Toole, Lawrence of Arabia
6. John Hurt, 10 Rillington Place
7. Deborah Kerr, The Innocents
8.,Michael Redgrave, The Browning Version
9. Ingrid Bergman, Autumn Sonata
10. Holly Hunter, The Piano

Absolutely hate to leave like about 30 performances out of this lol.

Matthew Montada said...

Calvin: now that you mentioned, what would you say your 11-30 are?

Emi Grant said...

Did anybody watch the Emmy nominations? Cause my entire day has been ruined.

Louis Morgan said...

Emi Grant:

Completely random thoughts:

Watchmen love yes, though Gossett and Abdul-Manteen over Nelson is mind-boggling. Though I'm all here for the Adepo, King, Irons and Smart love.

The Better Call Saul snubs though...atrocious. No Odenkirk, No Seehorn, No Dalton...but Esposito? (Love him overall in the part however this season, I'd put Mando and Banks over him as well.) Oddly Esposito also got in for the Mandalorian, which should've been Werner Herzog's spot.

Otherwise just generally disappointed by Silicon Valley being largely ignored and What We Do in the Shadows getting no acting love.

Calvin Law said...

How the fuck were the BCS cast snubbed.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

I'm just really glad Andre Braugher finally got a fourth nomination for Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Luke Higham said...

The Oscars get a great deal of flak and deservedly so but I've been burned way too many times by the Emmys to take them seriously anymore.

Matt Mustin said...

I haven't watched the whole show yet, so no spoilers please, but from what I've seen Irons is not at all lead.

Bryan L. said...

How GoT received 30+ noms for their final season and Silicon Valley nothing for theirs is annoying.

Yeah yeah, I know in GoTs' case it was practically for their entire run...but not even a filler nod for say, Kumail Nanjiani?

Happy for Watchmen though and always glad to see Braugher recognized.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Bryan: I just noticed the Silicon Valley snubs, and screw them. The fact that Zach Woods never got recognized for his work in it is ridiculous.

Luke Higham said...

Tahmeed: Lazy bastards, the lot of 'em.

Louis Morgan said...

Matt:

It TV terms, yeah he's definitely not...I actually ponder if one added up all his scenes together how long "the adventures of Adrian Veidt" would be.

Michael McCarthy said...

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman
2. David Gulpilil
3. Olivier Gourmet
4. Greg Kinnear
5. Timothy Spall

This could definitely change if I find a way to watch The Son in time.

As for the Emmys, that sucks about BCS, but if Watchmen ends up sweeping I’ll probably enjoy the ceremony no matter what. Also love to see Macfayden, Snook, and Braun make it in for Succession.

Luke Higham said...

Michael: What did you think of Dafoe in Auto Focus.

Calvin Law said...

I guess one could argue that Irons was pretty much the lead of his own little series up to a certain point.

Calvin Law said...

By the way, rewatched Twilight Samurai tonight and Min Tanaka could definitely sneak into Supporting lineup if Louis likes the film, forgot how great he is in it.

Mitchell Murray said...

So I'm a bit late to this given we just covered 66', but I watched "The Sand Pebbles" for the first time today. I thought it was a strong film, especially for it's surprisingly complex portrayal of the Chinese civil war. It's still a movie of it's era, and you do feel every minute of the 3 hour run time, but most of it's scenes/characterizations are very well done.

Mcqueen - 3.5
Mako - 3
Crenna - 4.5
Attenborough - 4.5
Arsan - 4
Bergen - 3

Bryan L. said...

Tahmeed: Jareds’ freakout against Richard ALONE should’ve clinched Woods a nomination.

Anonymous said...

Luke, who do you predict will be Louis’s Best Director choices for this year?

Luke Higham said...

In no particular order:
Mendes
Polanski
Meirelles
Jackson
Yamada (The Twilight Samurai)