Monday, 6 September 2021

Alternate Best Actor 2000

And the Nominees Were Not:

John Cusack in High Fidelity
 
Denis Lavant in Beau Travail
 
Sol Kyung-gu in Peppermint Candy
 
Lee Byung-hun in Joint Security Area
 
Sean Connery in Finding Forrester

123 comments:

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Yeah, I'm only making predictions once I've seen most of these, cause I have no idea.

Robert MacFarlane said...

RIP Michael K. Williams. Super upset about this one.

Calvin Law said...

Lee is winning this lineup in a landslide.

1. Lee
2. Lavant
3. Sol
4. Cusack
5. Connery

8000S said...

1. Lee
2. Lavant
3. Sol
4. Cusack
5. Connery

8000S said...

Louis: Aside from The Shop Around The Corner, can Stewart also get a 5 for The Naked Spur?

Michael McCarthy said...

The only one I’ve seen is Lee, who’s my win for the year. I also gotta say I’m feeling super reluctant to watch Peppermint Candy.

Matt Mustin said...

1. Lee
2. Lavant
3. Cusack
4. Sol
5. Connery

Michael: I'm not in a hurry to watch it either.

Michael McCarthy said...

Matt: I recently decided I HATE the way Lee Chang-dong handles sexual content in his films, including the ones I think are really good or great.

Calvin Law said...

I wasn't huge on Peppermint Candy either if I'm honest, having finished all of Lee's filmography. I need to think about it but Lee could very well be my win too.

Matt Mustin said...

You mean like the POINTLESS masturbation scenes in Burning?

Calvin Law said...

Personally, I find the way sexual content is used in Burning, Poetry, and Secret Sunshine to be effective, but I get how it's not for everyone.

BRAZINTERMA said...

5º Sean Connery
4º John Cusack
3º Sol Kyung-gu
2º Denis Lavant
1º Lee Byung-hun

Calvin Law said...

Oh, and my prediction for the director top 5:

Nolan
Lee
Wong
Yang
The Coens

Luke Higham said...

1. Lee
2. Cusack
3. Lavant
4. Sol
5. Connery

Emi Grant said...

Gotta say, I'm one hour into Finding Forrester and Connery really seems like he's supporting there. Might be worth looking into that.

Razor said...

1. Lee
2. Lavant
3. Cusack
4. Sol
5. Connery

Luke Higham said...

A 10 lineup for Supporting is on the cards then.

Louis: If you think Connery is Supporting, Colin Farrell in Tigerland might be worth checking out.

Michael McCarthy said...

Oh shit, forgot about Tigerland. Farrell is very strong in that one.

Luke Higham said...

My lineup for Supporting:
Echevarría
Considine
Phoenix
MacLachlan
Tobolowsky
Irons
McDowell
Ogata (Yi Yi)
Connery

And either Donald Sutherland in Panic, Marlon Wayans in Requiem For A Dream or Michael Nyqvist in Together.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Thoughts on Hideko Takamine in Yearning.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I think Schreiber should be reviewed with MacLachlan. He's the only good Laertes. (Also wouldn't mind a Douglas upgrade for Traffic, but I won't hold my breath)

Calvin Law said...

I'm not quite sure if this year's strong enough for a 10 man lineup (even though I would like an Ogata review), but hey, no complaints from me if it does happen.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: Well, there's 6 requests there plus McDowell who Louis said he would review since he's the current #1 and Ogata if he's a 4.5 so that's 8. Connery if he is Supporting and you can put in Schreiber from Hamlet to make up the numbers.

Calvin Law said...

Luke: True, I forgot so many of these were requests.

Matt Mustin said...

I think I actually liked Sam Shepard more than Schreiber, but I will agree that Schreiber is basically the only good Laertes I've ever seen.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Matt: Shepard's up there too. Super intense.

Luke Higham said...

Alan Bates is still listed on the 63 Supporting overall.

Anonymous said...

Luke, what ratings do you think these performances will get

Maciej said...

1.Lee
2.Lavant
3.Sol
4.Cusack
5.Connery

Anonymous said...

1. Lee
2. Cusack
3. Lavant.
4. Sol
5. Connery

Tim said...

R.I.P. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Michael K. Williams

Tim said...

1) Lee
2) Lavant
3) Cusack
4) Sol
5) Connery

Luke Higham said...

Lee - 5
Cusack - 4.5/5
Lavant - 4.5/5
Sol - 4.5
Connery - 4 (If he does get switched over then a 4.5 for Colin Farrell in Tigerland)

Luke Higham said...

Films To Watch
Nuremberg
Gladiator (Re-watch for Crowe)
Cast Away (Re-watch for Hanks)
The Patriot (Re-watch for Isaacs)
In The Mood For Love (Re-watch for Leung and Cheung)
Dancer In The Dark (Björk should win Leading Actress)
Yi Yi
Tigerland
Requiem For A Dream
You Can Count On Me
The House Of Mirth
Nurse Betty
The Widow Of Saint-Pierre (Juliette Binoche)
Girlfight
Eureka
Best In Show
The Emperor's New Groove (Eartha Kitt is fantastic)
The Road To El Dorado
Snatch
Final Destination
Barking Dogs Never Bite
The Beach
The Perfect Storm
Flickering Lights
Miss Congeniality (An entertaining performance from Bullock)
Small Time Crooks
What Women Want (Mel Gibson)
Panic
Together
George Washington
The Taste Of Others
One Hundred Steps
Malèna
Vatel
Chuck & Buck
Scream 3
Space Cowboys
The Cell
Hollow Man
The Gift
102 Dalmatians
Pitch Black
Last Resort (Pawel Pawlikowski/Paddy Considine)
State And Main
Harry, He's Here To Help
Saving Grace
Some Voices
Faithless
The Goddess Of 1967
Charlie's Angels
Men Of Honor
Bring It On
Cecil B. Demented

Glenn said...

Louis, If Crowe does go up, please re-edit his review. I know it's one of your very early reviews but one paragraph isn't enough.

Anonymous said...

Luke: Who dou think will be Louis wins for this year? (2021)

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous:
Picture: Dune
Director: Villeneuve
Actress: Stewart or Gaga
Actor: Cumberbatch or Washington
Supporting Actor: Isaacs or Driver
Supporting Actress: Dowd or McDormand

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: You may want to check your 2000 ranking. You called Lee Byung-hun, Lee Chang-dong by mistake.

Calvin Law said...

Luke: Thank you for that. Freudian impulses at play.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Anonymous: No clue, but Cumberbatch sounds like a decidedly Louis-y option.

Tim said...

your thoughts on the Editing and Sound Mixing of Walk The Line?

Louis Morgan said...

8000's:

It isn't out of the question.

Luke:

Takamine - (Her performance is similar to her work in When a Woman Ascends the stairs, just in terms of the strong degree of naturalism in her work. There is though a more sensitive and modest quality here that is well realized. This as she portrays the state of the woman as this housewife with a certain expectation, while also creating the palatable sense of the woman's strength in terms of her willfulness in certain areas. Takamine has a great deal of balance in this and creating a believable sense of the conflict within her character. This in the role of what she must play against what she wants to be, in turn Takamine effectively puts on a front while also showing the painful truth of it all.)

Tim:

Its editing is pretty straight forward drama editing, with some basic montage, and generally cutting of reaction shot, speaker to reaction, reaction to speaker, crowd shot, so on and so forth. Not overly accomplished but wholly competent in that sense.

The musical films always getting in for sound mixing is the traditional nomination, but the question is why? I mean for any given record there needs to be good sound mixing, but is there all is in terms merit, mostly. Is the sound mixing here truly all the immersive, not really, its musical scenes aren't just the songs but they're not that far off from that. It does exactly what it should be in terms of realizing the songs as they should be, but doesn't go further than that in my mind.

Anonymous said...

As a lot of people have seen Inside, what are everyone's favorite Bo Burnham songs?

Robert MacFarlane said...

Anonymous:

1. Welcome to the Internet
2. How the World Works (just for Socko, Best Supporting Actor of the year)
3. Comedy
4. White Woman Instagram
5. All Eyes On Me

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Anonymous: Here are ten of my favorites by him:

"Can't Handle This (Kanye Rant)"
"Welcome to the Internet"
"From God's Perspective"
"Lower Your Expectations"
"Art is Dead"
"Oh Bo"
"Pandering"
"Kill Yourself"
"White Woman's Instagram"
"All Eyes on Me"

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Robert: Co-signed on Socko, #1 movie death of the year for sure.

Michael McCarthy said...

Tahmeed: Technically less a death than a state of forced sleep paralysis, at least according to Socko himself.

The song I’ll add that hasn’t been listed is “Left Brain, Right Brain.” Though “That Funny Feeling” is my favorite overall.

Aidan Pittman said...

1. Lee
2. Lavant
3. Sol
4. Connery
5. Cusack

Emi Grant said...

Anonymous: My Top 5 from Inside would be:

1. Welcome to the Internet
2. Bezos I
3. All Eyes on Me
4. White Woman's Instagram
5. Sexting

Tahmeed's top picks are spot on. I'd only add to those "Klan Kookout", "Love is" and "Rant".

Anonymous said...

1. Lavant
2. Lee
3. Cusack
4. Connery
5. Sol

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Thoughts on the C'mon C'mon trailer.

Robert MacFarlane said...

As someone close to their nephew, I'm about 110% certain I'm going to be a sobbing wreck with C'mon C'mon.

Luke Higham said...

And thoughts on the trailer for your least anticipated film of the year, Don't Look Up.

Emi Grant said...

1. Lee
2. Sol
3. Connery
4. Cusack
5. Lavant

Emi Grant said...

The new The Guilty trailer makes me a little worried about the movie, especially Gyllenhaal's performance. Hopefully it's just the ott dramatic editing that's doing that.

Tim said...

your thoughts on the Merry Go-Around and Step-in-time sequences from Mary Poppins?

HTT said...

Does anyone here have any Letterboxd accounts? I found Calvin's, so I'm curious who else has one. Here's mine:
https://letterboxd.com/htt/

Anonymous said...

Htt: Robert and Bryan do.

Anonymous said...

Matt as well.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

C'Mon C'Mon looks like a sweet film, and that was a beautiful little trailer. Also nice to see Phoenix playing a warmer kind of role for a change of pace.

Don't Look Up looks like McKay is doing David O. Russell...what have I done to deserve this??? This is even with the promise of a comedic DiCaprio turn, which I'd be very eager to see if it weren't for McKay doing his "satire" thing, which seems as smug and obnoxious as usual.

Also wasn't impressed by the Guilty trailer, looks like Gyllenhaal will probably pale in comparison to Cedergren, and that Fuqua might be overplaying the drama, but we'll see, as the script is great (though I am concerned with what Pizzolatto might've done beyond just work with the translation.)

Tim:

I mean merry go around is mainly just an appropriate music box rendition of Jolly Holiday, so a beautiful underrated melody in that oeuvre.

Step in Time I don't really like, it's fine as a kind of solely to exist for a dance step, however as a song it doesn't hold on its own beyond that purpose. It is also honestly one of the scenes that you could just cut from the film, though I don't think it's bad it's a bit drawn out.

Emi Grant said...

Louis: If Adam Mckay doing David O. Russell concerns you, you can rest easy knowing that David O. Russell is also doing David O. Russell this or next year, since he finished filming last March.

Matthew Montada said...

HTT: https://boxd.it/aE3v

Bryan L. said...

HTT: Bryanl1994

Aidan Pittman said...

HTT: https://letterboxd.com/Dualy/

Calvin Law said...

I'm most worried about Jonah Hill from those Don't Look Up trailers, he looks awful.

HTT said...

Just saw the Don't Look Up trailer and I have one question: how many celebrities are there in the film?

Calvin Law said...

Louis: Came across this article, https://www.filmneweurope.com/news/bosnia-herzegovina/item/120904-quo-vadis-aida-tops-bosnian-and-herzegovinian-box-office-for-three-weeks

Seems like Quo Vadis, Aida? is a 2020 release after all, despite me previously assuming that it had only gotten a 10th October 2020 specula premiere date in Bosnia and Herzegovina. My bad!

BRAZINTERMA said...

HTT: https://letterboxd.com/brazinterma/

Tim said...

thoughts on the new Matrix Trailer?

HTT said...

Tim:
I love the first Matrix because of how amazingly it blends action and art. Then the two next forgot the art aspect. And this one seems like isn't gonna bring that aspect back. I had hope, but then I saw Keanu Reeves. Kinda loved the use of "White Rabbit" though.

Calvin Law said...

The new Matrix trailer looks incredible. So excited for it.

Tim said...

well, i've let it sink in now and am kind of split on it. It certainly looks different from the other films (it may as well be John Wick 4) but it's possible that might in fact be a strength of it. I just hope quality-wise it will be closer to Cloud Atlas than Jupiter Ascending (the film is written by David Mitchell after all ...)

Thomas said...

I have a question for everyone. What's your guilty pleasures from 2000.

Tim said...

Thomas: What Women Want

Luke Higham said...

Thomas: My #1 guilty pleasure is Dude, Where's My Car? (Watched it alot when I was 8 or 9) followed by Bedazzled (I enjoy watching Brendan Fraser in anything).

Matt Mustin said...

Thomas: The Patriot for sure. It's stupid as all hell, but it's basically Braveheart set during the Revolutionary War and I love it.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Thomas: Me, Myself and Irene. One of the dumbest films ever, but I always enjoyed watching it when I was younger.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Thomas: The Grinch. Yeah, I know. I KNOW. I just admire Carrey's physicality, okay?!

Louis Morgan said...

Calvin:

Ahh that's too bad, weakens 2021 greatly for me then, though strengthens 2020 a bit.

Tim:

Personally was not impressed by it, and did anyone else think the cinematography looked really off? Which is surprising for me given it is John Toll.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Where would Đuričić rank in the 2020 Lead Actress top 20.

8000S said...

Louis: Thoughts on these clips of Cavett's interviews with Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWDCCf1CYXI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up-7hSCpiO8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb0W2veV_-s

Unknown said...

I asked you all a question previously which besides Matt and Sean no one answered, which was about all of your's alternate leading actor choice of 1971. I am really interested in knowing all of your choices, because I never found a very dominant answer when it comes to that particular year. Some people I know have Wilder as their pick, while some have McDowell while some even have Hackman as their overall choice as well.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Unkown: Attenborough for me, followed by Wilder and Caine.

Matt Mustin said...

I watched The Yards. Phoenix is absolutely a 5.

Michael McCarthy said...

I’ll third the Grinch for 2000 guilty pleasure. Carrey makes the role TOTALLY his own and the film really does lean into its indictment of capitalism, which I appreciate.

Matt Mustin said...

Carrey definitely puts a lot into it, I'll give him that much.

Calvin Law said...

Romeo Must Die or Miss Congeniality for my 2000 guilty pleasure. And to answer Unknown, definitely of the Atenborough gang here.

Matt Mustin said...

By the way, anyone else who's seen The Yards, does James Caan have more screen time than Mark Wahlberg, or does it just feel like he does?

Calvin Law said...

Wahlberg was so forgettable, that might've been why it felt like that.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Mel Gibson in What Woman Want?

Matt Mustin said...

Anonymous: I mean, let's wait for that, maybe?

Robert MacFarlane said...

I actually don't mind Wahlberg in that one that much. Phoenix and Caan definitely overshadow him, but it's kind of retroactively refreshing to see him play a character who's largely scared throughout the running time as opposed to the macho posturing he's exclusively done for the past 10 years.

Robert MacFarlane said...

The Dear Evan Hansen takes have been predictably unkind, though I think Ben Platt will be a Best Actor contender based on this leaked clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPuisvE3_Ug

Ytrewq Wertyq said...

Louis, which 10 performances would you say are definitely Wiseau tier (apart from the ones you were about to review as a part of Wacky World of Wiseau a few years ago)?

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your thoughts on the change of title for PTA's next film.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Have you seen The Card Counter? If so, ratings and thoughts on the cast.

Michael McCarthy said...

So I just met Timothée Chalamet at a diner in Greenwich Village and BOY was I awkward about it.

Anonymous said...

John C. Reilly, Christopher Walken, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Maya Rudolph and Mary Elizabeth Ellis (the waitress from Always Sunny) have been confirmed to be in the PTA movie.

Emi Grant said...

Michael: How did that go?

Michael McCarthy said...

Emi: He was super chill! I kept my voice down when I asked for a picture because I didn’t wanna attract unwanted attention to him but then we was just like “Yeah let’s do it!” and stood up to take the pics. Then he told me to go see Dune and I told him him I was pumped for it and we fist bumped.

Emi Grant said...

Michael: Sounds like a fun encounter. Thanks for sharing that.

Tim said...

Michael: i assume you didn't tell him that i hate him?

Shaggy Rogers said...

Hey Louis and guys!
Say who will be the winners of the 2021 Venice Film Festival?

Golden Lion: The Power of the Dog
Grand Jury Prize: Spencer
Silver Lion: Leave No Traces
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Toni Servillo - The King of Laughter
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Anamaria Vartolomei - Happening
Golden Osella for Best Screenplay: Parallel Mothers
Special Jury Prize: Freaks Out

Calvin Law said...

I agree with pretty much all of these actually. Everyone is predicting Stewart but I agree they’ll go for Vartolomei most likely.

Michael McCarthy said...

Tim: That’d be a super weird and off-putting thing to hear from a stranger, so no I did not.

Matt Mustin said...

Michael: It would be weird and off-putting to hear that from someone you know.

Lucas Saavedra said...

Louis: what present film roles do you think Adam Sandler would have been suited for?

HTT said...

I just released my first film review. It's a review of Kurosawa's Yojimbo. If some of you could be so kind and give some feedback on it, I would be so thankful.
Here it is:
https://httsfilmblog.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-cinematic-spotlight-entry-1.html

RatedRStar said...

Michael: Before I saw the picture, I was about to say "ha another April Fools joke", its September....

RatedRStar said...

Luke: What do you think the best alternate actor 2021 will look like? because I think it will be pretty stacked compared to last year.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: That depends on the strength of the academy lineup which is guaranteed not to be on 2020's level. Given we already have 2 fives, should get up to 9 minimum again this year. I'm most confident in Patel, Cumberbatch, Washington and Phoenix right now.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: And I'll know more on who will contend for that lineup by Christmas.

Calvin Law said...

It's going to be hard for this year's Academy lineup to top the last, but agreed that Alternate could be very interesting at this point.

Emi Grant said...

Louis: Any chances the Unbreakable leads could go up?

Omar Franini said...

1. Lee
2. Lavant
3. Sol
4. Connery
5. Cusack

Louis: I felt the opposite while watching The Soft Skin actually, I wasn’t particularly engaged by the affair at first, but loved the second half and the ending “twist”. Your thoughts on Nelly Benedetti?
Have you seen I Am Cuba? If so, can you share your thoughts on the movie and Kalatozov’s direction?

I know it’s a bit too early, but I think both Simon Rex in Red Rocket and Amir Jadidi in A Hero deserve a review.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

In terms of predicted 5's, I reckon these guys are definites:

Cumberbatch
Burnham
Washington
Phoenix
Patel

And (maybe) DiCaprio. Given he gave one of his best performances in one of Tarantino's worst films, I think he could be great in that hack's film as well.

Aidan Pittman said...

I should note that I saw The Card Counter last night and honestly didn't like it that much. Schrader's execution never amounts to much and I felt it just resulted in a dull narrative and uninteresting characters.

Isaac - 2.5
Haddish - 3
Sheridan - 2.5
Dafoe -3

Luke Higham said...

Aidan: As much as I want Isaac back on form, the first trailer didn't do it for me at all.

Aidan Pittman said...

Luke: He might've been my biggest issue with the film. He feels very miscast which made it a lot harder to get invested in the story.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

#7.

8000's:

Olivier's a beautiful reflection of his passion for the theater as he articulates so well, along with just an example of it in his moment of performance.

It is funny just how less pretensions Gielgud is talking about Brando as Brando was when he was on Cavett. Gielgud is wonderful in just describing his views on Brando, and doing so with a humble appreciation, even as the technical vet between the two.

Completely conversely, Richardson is wonderfully wacky.

Luke:

Sure, I'll take that name, and that cast announcement (Reilly, Walken and Waits? YES YES YES).

Anonymous:

I'd have to drive over an hour away to see it, and....Schrader's too hit and miss for me, but I'll see it eventually.

Lucas:

Well the Bear Jew for sure.
Actually think he could've also been an interesting alternative to Bradley Cooper's non-Joy David O. Russell roles.

Emi Grant:

Maybe, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Is anybody watching the Venice winners? Here is a link to the awards: https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/streaming

Louis Morgan said...

Omar:

I did not see "I am Cuba".

I did like Benedetti's performance as the "boring" woman, which I think she effectively played without any sort of nagging quality, rather just a genuine kind of eagerness towards the normalcy of their behaviors together. This creating a more tragic element then in her moments of reacting towards the truth of the situation, and creating a potent distress. This even with her final scenes which are purposefully low key to maintain the twist so to speak, however felt she effectively portrayed someone with a strict sort of mad conviction caught within a moment of distress.