Saturday 5 June 2021

Alternate Best Actor 1980: Results

5. Al Pacino in Cruising - Pacino does what he can with a razor thin role.
 
Best Scene: Rejecting his girlfriend.
4. Richard Dreyfuss in the Competition - Dreyfuss gives a fine portrayal of a character that asks very much for a typical Dreyfuss turn.
 
Best Scene: Conducting. 
3. Naseeruddin Shah in Sparsh - Shah gives a compelling portrayal of a man struggling for normalcy as he deals with his disability with others.

Best Scene: Dinner breakdown
2. Anthony Quinn in Lion of the Desert - Quinn gives a powerful portrayal of a quiet dignity and determination. 

Best Scene: Negotiations.
1. John Savage in Inside Moves - Savage gives a moving portrayal of a man moving from a hollow depression to a quiet understanding of life. 

Best Scene: Why he attempted suicide.
 
Next: 1980 Supporting (though I might just do a couple reviews on a single post). 

274 comments:

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Luke Higham said...

Thanks Bryan.

RatedRStar: 27 this year but I too am dreading 30. I haven't enjoyed work lately tbh.

Luke Higham said...

And thank you Daniel.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Why did John Hurt not make the list.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Daniel, Luke: Hope things get better for you guys, always there for a conversation if you need it.

Luke Higham said...

Tahmeed: Thanks.

8000S said...

Happy birthday, Luke and Daniel.

Luke Higham said...

8000S: Thank You. :)

Matt Mustin said...

Louis: Thoughts on this acceptance speech from Peter Falk? https://youtu.be/Q8TUSsqWCTM

Mitchell Murray said...

I didn't reference it at the time, but the Youtube series "Death Battle" released it's latest episode yesterday: Link (Legend of Zelda) Vs Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOot-I1KtLs

And on another random note, I'm currently deciding between "My Hero Academia" and "Attack on Titan" in terms of series I wish to continue. Needless to say, I'll have the second season of one of those shows watched by sometime next week.

Calvin Law said...

Matt: I just love Peter Falk, and watching that made me love him even more.

Aidan Pittman said...

Happy birthday Luke and Daniel!

Luke Higham said...

Thanks Aidan

RatedRStar said...

Thank you Aidan and everyone.

Marcus said...

Louis: Are you interested in watching The Wire or Mad Men? Would love to see where the former would end up on your HBO ranking.

Luke Higham said...

Marcus: He does intend to watch The Wire eventually.

Anonymous said...

What is your top 10 pixar characters?

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Are you close to finishing 1980.

Calvin Law said...

So apparently Malachi Kirby wasn't submitted for Small Axe to the Emmys...

Thanks, I hate it.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Calvin: Welcome to Emmy season, where you will always, and I mean always, be letdown by how bad studios are at submissions.

Mitchell Murray said...

So on a film related note, I watched the horror comedy "Slither" last night. It was pretty much what I've heard people describe it as; Grotesque and rather sickening in it's imagery, but still an entertaining B movie throwback with some great makeup and fine leads.

Banks - 3.5
Rooker - 3.5 (Side note: His full body prothestic sort of reminded me of the centaurs from "Fallout", which were themselves inspired by one of the creature's forms in "The Thing", supposedly)
Fillion - 3
Saulnier - 3

Anonymous said...

Louis: thoughts on the trailer for Pig?

RatedRStar said...

Werewolves Within looks like a fun murder mystery in the vein of the board game, reviews are good so far as well, always love a whodunnit.

Mitchell Murray said...

I also watched "Affliction" for the first time tonight. Although I wouldn't quite label it a great film, since I have a few underlying reservations with the story and plotting, I still found it a mostly effective portrayal of abuse and one man's pyschological decay.

Nolte - 4
Coburn - 4.5
Spacek - 3
Dafoe - 3

Louis Morgan said...

Tahmeed:

As a director I think you see more so the limitation, not that he didn't have strengths there, but I would say his work was kind of general workmanlike for the time. This with some dated 80's qualities within the approach even beyond the obvious. Having said that he was definitely a better workman from the period in terms of choices in his best work, (PTandA) where he really hits the comedic and dramatic moments there with a real sense and understanding. He's definitely of his period as a director, but in what was kind of mainstream approach at the time, better than many.

As a screenwriter, as typical for screenwriters, his work is all over the place given that the work was often to be interpreted. I should note I have not seen still his earliest teen work, rather having mainly seen his more overtly comic work and his "adult' fair. At his best though Hughes, who wrote extremely quickly, was an efficient story teller in terms of comedy, situation and character. The man was of his period but also progressive for his period in many ways. He's a combination of both, which I think should be understood rather than immediately condemned. This as certain strides were notable, just as he still was of his period. His late work did show a critical decay, and I think you could see the passion likely fade there. This as he took to lighter and goofier fare, and his work just didn't have the heart in it.

Ytrewq:

1. Elizabeth Hartman - The Secret of NIMH
2. Kiefer Sutherland - Phone Booth
3. John Hurt - The Plague Dogs
4. Christopher Benjamin - The Plague Dogs
5. Philip Seymour Hoffman - Mary and Max
6. Tony Jay - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
7. John Mills - When the Wind Blow
8. Michael Graham Cox - Watership Down
9. Mercedes McCambrdige - The Exorcist
10. Robby Benson - Beauty and the Beast

Luke:

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I guess....honestly though he was literally my last cut to get the list down to 25.

Anonymous:

Eh.

Matt:

Hilarious impromptu speech, really wish more were like that. Another great one of that ilk is Dudley Moore's golden globe win.

Anonymous:

Well that looked like a perfectly sane film....

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Is Elizabeth Hartman a 5 for The Secret Of NIMH.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: I hope I, Claudius will help change your mind.

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Is The Wolfman the only Anthony Hopkins performance that's a whiff in your book?

The only other low/lowish rating he currently has is for Nixon, and if I recall correctly, I think you said that you were going to re-evaluate that film for 1995.

Matt Mustin said...

I watched Becket last night. It's got problems (mostly the supporting actors) but I still liked it, because I'm automatically interested in historical films anyway (even though this is *very* fictionalized), and the lead performances really help carry it, especially Richard Burton.

Burton-5
O'Toole-4.5
Gielgud-4

Mitchell Murray said...

Bryan: The 2010 "Wolfman" has to be one of the most perplexing cases of misused talent I can think of; As in, you have del Toro, Hopkins, Blunt and Weaving in roles they all could play exceedingly well - but just don't for whatever reason.

On the plus side, the movie did end up giving us a pretty good "Disturbed" song.

Calvin Law said...

Bryan: He's also not high for Hitchcock but I think I remember Louis saying he didn't actively dislike the performance or anything.

Anonymous said...

What would be your top 10 animated film characters in general?

Tim said...

i honestly don't think that "voice over performances" was supposed to mean voice acting, rather narration

Matt Mustin said...

Tim: I doubt it.

Mitchell Murray said...

Random question for everyone here: For those that have seen it, what would be your thoughts on the 2018 "Broly" film from "Dragonball: Super"?

As someone whose never seen a single episode of either Z or Super, I still find myself revisiting certain scenes, especially the climatic fight between Broly and Gogeta.

Louis: As an extension of the above inquiry, would you have any interest in the film when 2018 comes around again?

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Mitchell: It's a massive improvement over the original Broly film, which broke down his motivation for being evil to Goku crying when they were infants. Not even joking about that.

That being said, I'm not sure how Louis would respond to it, given it requires a bit of cursory knowledge about DBZ to understand some of it. I actually think he'd dig TeamFourStar's Abridged series, if he ever came around to it.

HTT said...

Sorry if I have been gone for a while, I just started two new blogs that I hope will be great.

I just found out Ned Beatty is dead, so RIP, loved him in Network and Deliverance.

Also, Happy Birthday to Luke and Daniel!

Luke Higham said...

HTT: Thanks.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Second Tahmeed's DBZA rec, though those first 15 episodes or so have not aged well. But episode 30 and onwards are almost objectively better than canon. Finds a sweetspot between honoring the good stuff and mocking the bad stuff of the original. Even the voice acting is ace.

Also, Final Fantasy VII Abridged by the same group is also great.

RatedRStar said...

Thank you HTT

RatedRStar said...

I need to find the time to watch anime at some point, with work, Oscars and gaming I never seem to find the time to binge a show, the last show I binged was Joker Game and that was a pretty good thriller.

Bryan L. said...

Mitchell: I did see the “Broly” film, where I tagged along with some friends who are more versed with Dragonball Z lore than I am. I liked the film, I suppose. Dug the fight scenes.

Mitchell Murray said...

Tahmeed: On a related note to RatedRStar's last comment, I'm currently the middle of "My Hero Academia", season 2 (Shortly after the match between Bakugo and Todoroki/the introduction of Stain). I'll probably have that finished by this upcoming monday or tuesday.

Mitchell Murray said...

Bryan: Yah, I'm pretty much on the same page. First half is a bit slow, but the second half is just pure action fun.

Lucas Saavedra said...

Louis: what keeps Viggo Mortensen from being in your top 25 favorite actors?

Robert MacFarlane said...

Lucas: It rhymes with Mean Look

Calvin Law said...

Falling doesn't help matters either.

John Smith said...

Louis, your thoughs on the intervention scene in 'The Sopranos'.

Louis Morgan said...

Bryan:

Yes, there are other times where I think he's just fine, but that's the one time where I thought he was actively bad.

Mitchell:

Unlikely.

Lucas:

His recent works mainly, and any currently working actor is more likely to be in flux. I have concerns I'll admit both with him and Tom Hardy that they could be on a downward trend...hopefully not. On the contrary someone like Hopkins was helped by that, also in part from seeing and reevaluating some of his earlier work too, but what boosted him for me was delivering an all-timer with The Father.

Louis Morgan said...

John Smith:

Amazing scene, this as it seems like it should be a serious scene that falls apart into just complete comedy from Silvio's letter "I've said my piece Chrissy" to the instant devolve to violence with Paulie. Just a great comedy of errors moment.

Calvin Law said...

Louis: thoughts on the ‘count to 10’, ‘we stand by our story’ and ending scene of All the President’s Men?

I’m also with Louis in that The Father definitely made me rethink about just how impressive Hopkins has been in consistently giving great performances across so many decades.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Your thoughts on 'Hunting' from Succession, and the now-iconic boar on the floor sequence?

Luke Higham said...

Peter O'Toole has his 4th five at last. :)

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

Count to 10 illustrates well really the sense of desperation in trying to make the parts fix even in a somewhat messy way by Bernstein in the moment. Hoffman's work in that moment is great in showing really both Bernstein need to try to get some sort of confirmation, and the relief in the moment of his "success".

Robards is great and again, thank you Tom Hanks for helping me to realize just how good he is here actually. But I think he's fantastic in this moment as you get Bradlee who both is extremely supportive but also extremely critical of his boys, backing them while also making damn sure they're right. Robards conveys this tricky but line beautifully with the right sort of mix of a kind of fascinating juxtaposition of a cynicism with also a kind of earnestness.

The final scene is interesting, in that at the time it was very much "and now you know the rest of the story" in terms of when the film was made, and something you could argue is a technically dated element of the film. However, I think it works beautifully even with the seemingly sudden cutoff just through the juxtaposition of Nixon's inauguration against Woodstein still typing away on their story that will be his eventual downfall.

Tahmeed:

Hunting is an amazing episode, and you get to see just how good season 2 as every facet is fantastic. This as it so effectively articulates how every character here reacts towards Logan's questionable gamble, but all in their own different ways that aren't exactly direct. Love every minor interaction, particularly the renewed Greg/Tom dynamic that really is just the best.

The highlight of the episode though is "boar on the floor" where you get the tyrant of Logan, with Cox delivering one of his best scenes ever, in showing the kind of madness of the man who wants to be told exactly what he wants, while also actually wanting someone to tell him the truth. It's an amazing scene because it is wholly compelling in a dramatic sense but also hilarious in showing the different shades of sycophancy. Especially love the build up with Greg's attempting to go against the grain but failing after-all. In this you really get the richness of every dynamic though in how every person reacts, even Gerri and Karl, attempts to deal with Logan's kind of paranoia. The actual "game" is an amazing kind of grotesque that is both terrible but also is amusing via the reactions of the "victims" particularly Tom's half hearted efforts and disbelief to it all.

Anonymous said...

What is your favorite actress names?

Matt Mustin said...

All the President's Men has become my go-to answer when people ask me "What do you think is a perfect movie?"

Tim said...

your thoughts on Christopher McDonald as an actor?

Mitchell Murray said...

So to my surprise, I was actually able to finish the second season of "My Hero Academia" this afternoon. It's definitely a good progression of the original season, offering a fine "tournament" arc, of sorts, but more importantly the character growth to support it (Most notably to Shoto who's become one of my favourites in the cast).

Anonymous said...

What is your top 10 funniest actresses?

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis and anyone else who wants to answer: Your top 15 songs written by Lin Manuel Miranda?

Luke Higham said...

I really hope 1980 Supporting comes tonight or tomorrow.

Marcus said...

Louis: Was watching Mank one of the factors that lead you to appreciate Citizen Kane all the more when you rewatched it in a theatre?

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Marcus: Doubt it, the conflict between Welles and Mank wasn't an essential facet of that film.

Luke Higham said...

Tahmeed: Agreed.

Welles' re-evaluation is now one of my most anticipated reviews and has made me more excited for 41 than would've been otherwise.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Luke: I hope he gets a 5, but doesn't take the win from Bogart.

Louis: Could Robinson and Cagney go up for The Sea Wolf and The Strawberry Blonde?

Luke Higham said...

Tahmeed: Robinson will be reviewed for The Sea Lion so I'm feeling pretty confident about it.

Mitchell Murray said...

Louis: Do you feel that if Kevin Costner wasn't oscar nominated for "Dances With Wolves" (As an actor), there would've been more of a push to nominate him for "JFK"?

He was recognized by the Globes for both roles, as well as the BAFTAS for "Dances", so he was likely on the academy's radar regardless. The way I see it, at least, both portrayals were evenly "baity" in terms of awards - "Dances" being in a grand passion project from a first time director, whereas "JFK" was a historical portrayal helmed by an established oscar favourite (Oliver Stone).

I'd also compare Costner's current position as a one time nominee to that of Robert Redford; Both were recognized for one of their earliest roles, in movies that went on to win best picture, for performances that one would be challenged to defend as their best work/the most memorable aspect of their respective film.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Costner would have been a very deserving winner for JFK for his final monologue alone.

Matt Mustin said...

Tahmeed: Nominee, yes, winner, no, not over Hopkins.

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

Charlize Theron
Greta Garbo
Faye Dunaway
Sharon Stone
Romy Schneider
Simone Simon
Holly Hunter
Sigourney Weaver
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Pfeiffer

Tim:

Interesting choice. Largely known for his "jerk run" in the 90's, which I think he acquitted himself fairly well with particularly with Happy Gilmore, though he's no William Atherton overall in that regard. From what I've seen otherwise (Quiz Show, his Star Trek NG episode, and his voice work as Jor-El) he actually does seem to have a little more dramatic range than those jerk roles suggest. Overall I can't say much more beyond that though, as even those are relatively limited.

Marcus:

Not really.

Mitchell:

Well I'd say also his wins for picture and director there probably also at least led some to have the thought "we've rewarded him enough". It was probably between him, Williams and De Niro (Nolte and Beatty both had best picture support). De Niro and Williams, who both were on pseudo streaks, had the momentum to push him out I'd say, plus had showier roles against Costner's largely subdued turn. I'd put money down to say he was sixth though.

Tahmeed:

Some changes from my Hamilton ranking due to listening to the soundtrack many many more times since last year.

1. It's Quiet Uptown
2. The Room Where it Happens
3. You'll Be Back
4. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
5. Burn
6. Satisfied
7. Wait for It
8. What'd I Miss
9. Dear Theodosia
10. Non-stop
11. Say No To This
12. Benny's Dispatch
13. My Shot
14. 96,000
15. You're Welcome

Yes I'm FIRMLY in the Hamilton camp between In the Heights and Hamilton (in fact not even close for me), and that's with having really liked In the Heights's songs (after listening to the original cast album as well).

Anonymous said...

What would you say are the top 10 most impressive "runs" by an actress in terms of consistently great performances?

Tim said...

well, McDonald is just one of those actors who would take one-dimensional villain roles and just have fun with them like nobody else could (i guess i will always think of him in Thelma And Louise first and foremost).



On Costner: first of all; Hopkins in Supporting. PERIOD; I ACCEPT NO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ON THIS POINT! there are some people who do still put him in lead (and they are wrong!!!! he might be my choice for the greatest british Actor ever, but come on you people!)
Second, i would more than welcome Kevin Costner as my Lead winner for 1991. Okay, i just love JFk to death, more than anybody; even Stone maybe (who called it "his Godfather; for me it*s ob´verall one of the best directied and edited films ever), but that is because his reactive presence just works wonders with the illustious supporting cast and OH MY GOD THAT SPEECH!

Matt Mustin said...

Tim: He is supporting, but that's not the category they actually put him in.

Calvin Law said...

It is interesting that Hopkins won a couple of Supporting awards that year from the critics.

HTT said...

Costner is a actor that I have never gotten into. His acting style is so boring and monotone. But the one time I actually liked a performance from him is in JFK. He was great in that. Not my winner (that is probably Turtorro in Barton Fink), but a nominee without any doubt. Also, Hopkins is supporting in Silence Of The Lambs. But that doesn't really matter since Hopkins gives the performance of the year anyway.

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