Saturday, 12 February 2022

Best Actor 2021

And the Nominees Are:

Andrew Garfield in Tick Tick...Boom
 
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog
 
Will Smith in King Richard

Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth
 
Javier Bardem in Being the Ricardos

48 comments:

Luke Higham said...

1. Cumberbatch
2. Washington
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem

Luke Higham said...

Smith hasn't been reviewed in 12 years.

Calvin Law said...

1. Cumberbatch
2. Washington
3. Garfield
4. Smith
5. Bardem

Honestly would have zero issue with this lineup if it wasn’t for Bardem. Genuinely one of the most boring choices in this category.

Glenn said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem

Aidan Pittman said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Garfield
4. Smith
5. Bardem

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Well, at least Bardem makes predictions easier.

1. Cumberbatch (5)
2. Washington (5)
3. Smith (4/4.5)
4. Garfield (3.5)
5. Bardem (2)

Ytrewq Wertyq said...

Calvin:Honestly if they they gave a much welcomed career boosting nod to Nicolas Cage instead of Bardem, then I wouldn't be able to imagine anybody really having a big qualm with the lineup.

Matt Mustin said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem


Ytrewq: That was never going to happen.

Robert MacFarlane said...

1. Cumberbatch
2. Washington
3. Garfield
4. Smith
5. Bardem

Gambling with the idea Louis won’t throw the baby out with the bathwater with Garfield. Also, no clue on the top two in terms of who takes it.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

If I'm not wrong, Louis considered de Jesus to be the best part of Tick, Tick, Boom initially, and gave him a 4.

Mitchell Murray said...

Well, it's come down to this line up...

I'm fairly confident in placing Bardem fifth, since between him and Garfield, I know Louis has been more consistently impressed with the latter (as have I). Also, I do think despite the problems of his film, Garfield tries his damndest to carry it emotionally, and honestly succeeds on the whole. It's hard to imagine him getting lower than a 4 - 3.5 worst case scenerio.

It's the top two that's most vexing me; One has a very familar role, and will therefor be compared to other performances of the same character. The other part is more original, and perhaps sees a British performer playing his most convincing American role. One is an old veteran currently on a bit of a hot streak, the other is a relatively younger star who again, gives a more transformative performance than a lot people may have expected.

I'm going with my gut on this one, but I'll say that I'm looking forward to all of these reviews.

1) Cumberbatch
2) Washington
3) Smith
4) Garfield
5) Bardem

Luke Higham said...

It'd be fun if Louis ripped Bardem to shreds in the review.

Razor said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Garfield
4. Smith
5. Bardem

Robert MacFarlane said...

Tahmeed: I can only speak for myself in that while I disliked the movie as much as Louis, I’m surprised how much Garfield has stuck with me. If nothing else it’s a great monument to his charisma that he can get anyone to actually finish watching the movie with a protagonist that needling.

RatedRStar said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem

Ytrewq Wertyq said...

The top 2 spots are the hardest to predict here, but judging by how fond Louis has been in regards to the recently reviewed Shakespearan performances...

1.Washington
2.Cumberbatch
3.Smith
4.Garfield
5.Bardem

Stephen Patterson said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Robert: Oh I agree, he and de Jesus saved it from being a dumpster fire for me (man, Miranda really peaked with Hamilton). Garfield gave it damn near everything, and he got me to *almost* care, which is a feat itself I guess.

RatedRStar said...

I think Andrew Garfield did everything he could, he is clearly one of the best actors around and even though I think his film has so many problems, he is not one of them. I think he will get a 4, maybe a 4.5 if Louis admires his work above all else.

I still can't believe he is 38 years old, he still looks so young, there's a message for any people worried about turning 30.

RatedRStar said...

I'm so torn between Garfield and Smith for 3rd...

Mitchell Murray said...

Something else I'll say in Garfield's defense...

If you look at all the movies he's done since 2016, if he had to get a second oscar nomination for any other them, "Tick, Tick...Boom" makes a lot of sense; It's a musical (a genre that the academy routinely recognizes), he's playing a real person, he's the primary lead and has a large amount of screen time (haven't looked at the exact figures, but it's got to be 80-90%), and it's directed by a very popular film maker, if not someone with a lot of friends in the industry.

And again, the movie and script give some very uninspired material, and it's frankly a notable feat that Garfield makes it "almost" functional whenever he's on screen.

Mitchell Murray said...

RatedRStar: Yah, I'll admit I'm rather envious of Garfield's thick, non receding hair.

Aryan Varma said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem

RatedRStar said...

I still can't believe how good he was in Spiderman No Way Home, I am still in shock of how good he was in that film, he was the MVP of that film, I don't think anybody expected that.

RatedRStar said...

I have 70/30 happy feelings toward the Academy Award nominations this year, but I do feel that if Tick Tick Boom was recognised, it should have been for just one nomination...Best Actor.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

I frankly have no clue between Cumberbatch and Washington, they'd both be terrific winners though. Recency bias maybe gives Cumberbatch the edge for me, but that final scene with Smit-McPhee is probably my favourite acting moment of the year.

Marcus said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem

RatedRStar said...

I think my reasoning for Washington winning, is simple, he has never won before on this blog, thats it, Washington and Cumberbatch will get nominated again some time I am sure, he came close in 2016, which in my opinion is still the best ever best actor Oscar lineup purely because I think Lindo should have replaced Oldman, and because of how much buzz and excitement there was back in 2016, we were all going mental of how 2016 could be the best ever.

BRAZINTERMA said...

5º Javier Bardem
4º Andrew Garfield
3º Will Smith
2º Benedict Cumberbatch
1º Denzel Washington

RatedRStar said...

I do hope that Garfield gets nominated again someday, but he is young and great, so I think he will.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

RatedRStar: Yeah, I remember we all thought 2016 would never be topped. But comparing those lineups....it's insane that Yeun is 4th for me in 2020, because he'd be my win in 2016 out of those nominees.

RatedRStar said...

Louis: I love how four of the pictures are close intense shots, then the 5th is Bardem basically going "look at me babyyyy" =D.

Calvin Law said...

Yeun’s now my runner-up for 2020. On more and more rewatches I’ve come to realise how in many ways he really is the emotional bedrock of the film in ways I didn’t appreciate before.

Calvin Law said...

RatedRStar: I hate to be the whole ‘mimicry = acting’ club but honestly Bardem was so completely off the mark as Desi in every regard and didn’t even have the emotional conviction to back any of it up.

RatedRStar said...

Calvin: Agreed, Its all surface, I even reckon I know what clip of him they will play at the Oscars, it'll be his " YOU CHECKED THE WRONG BOX SCENE" that will be shown.

RatedRStar said...

Bardem does try, he certainly doesn't phone it in, but he is miscast, he is over 20 years older than the actual Desi was, the film also doesn't care for him at all so its like whyyyyy.

RatedRStar said...

I think I know another reason why Bardem will finish last, I have mentioned that I love a certain game show called "Whats My Line" in the past, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez made numerous appearances on that show, Louis will likely have seen some of Desis appearances on that show since he likes it just as much as I do, and, its just all surface from Bardem, Bardem is a charming actor but he just isn't Desi Arnez unfortunately.

Mitchell Murray said...

Speaking of Bardem, has anyone here seen his recent "Variety" interview with Daniel Craig?

It's a really funny watch, especially one moment at the end where Craig realizes he's done the whole interview while bleeding from his head.

RatedRStar said...

Mitchell: Craigs explaination of what happened is great lol.

Michael McCarthy said...

1. Denzel Washington
2. Benedict Cumberbatch
3. Will Smith
4. Andrew Garfield
5. Javier Bardem

Though I also think it’d be kinda cool if Garfield snuck into third place. He played the role EXACTLY as it was meant to be played, which may not be palatable for some, but reminded me of folks in my life who are quite lovable in their own unique way.

Calvin Law said...

RatedRStar: God that scene is AWFUL too, that and the Hoover scene absolutely disgusted me when watching it, just ridiculously tone deaf shit from Sorkin. I cannot express how happy I was to see Drive My Car and Nightmare Alley get in over that piece of shit.

Calvin Law said...

Mitchell: I didn’t really like any of the ones they did this year besides Cruz/Cumberbatch honestly, just very boring choices, what a breath of fresh air a Reinsve/Haim would’ve been for example to help boost their campaigns.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Calvin: Like I said, that Hoover scene convinced me that whatever Old Guard Democrat platitudes Sorkin claims to embody, he would have ratted out more names than Kazan and Wayne combined if he was around during the blacklist.

RatedRStar said...

If Andrew Garfield in Tick Tick Boom... had a song fitting for his film, performance and rating, it would be "We are the people by Empire of the Sun",

"I'm gonna try, are you gonna leave me now, can't you be believing now"

Mitchell Murray said...

Calvin: Well I'll be honest, that's the only Variety interview of last year that I watched all the way through. Mostly I just enjoy it for that final realization by Craig, but also because you see the respect and comradery him and Bardem share.

Mitchell Murray said...

Of the Variety intervews that I have seen, one of my favourites is still Emma Stone and Timothee Chalamet - mostly because the latter completely nerds out in front of the former, which I imagine alot of us would do as well.

8000S said...

1. Washington
2. Cumberbatch
3. Smith
4. Garfield
5. Bardem

Calvin Law said...

Gonna be awhile before I can watch any Bardem interview in full again, the man is an idiot, this campaign definitely borders close to Mortensen for Green Book (okay I’m exaggerating…maybe).

Robert: couldn’t have put it better. Dreading Sorkin potentially trying his hands at a Kazan biopic…