Tuesday, 16 December 2025

Best Actor Backlog Volume 7

And the Overlooked Performances Are:

John Heard in Chilly Scenes of Winter

Matthew Macfadyen in Pride & Prejudice

Tatsuya Nakadai in Kill!

Chhabi Biswas in Devi

John Gielgud in Prospero's Books

42 comments:

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Annette Being in Being Julia and Jennifer Saunders in Shrek 2.

Thoughts on the rest of the Female Performances

1. Heard
2. Gielgud
3. Nakadai
4. Biswas
5. Macfadyen

Robert MacFarlane said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Luke Higham said...

Overall ranking predictions
Heard - 5th
Gielgud - 3rd
Nakadai - 5th
Biswas - 2nd
Macfadyen - 7th

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

I've only seen Nakadai and Macfadyen; excited to check the rest of these out.

Harris Marlowe said...

1. Heard
2. Nakadai
3. Biswas
4. Macfayden
5. Gielgud

Harris Marlowe said...

Thoughts on the Disclosure Day trailer?

Anonymous said...

Louis, ratings and thoughts on the cast of Sirat.

Lucas Saavedra said...

Louis: would you still give a 4 to Corinna Harfouch and Juliane Köhler in Downfall, and where would you rank them if that's the case?

Matt Mustin said...

I'll just say that I think Gielgud's performance is a masterclass but you really have to vibe with what the film is doing.

Emi Grant said...

1. Heard
2. Nakadai
3. Macfadyen
4. Biswas
5. Gielgud

Maciej said...

1.Heard
2.Gielgud
3.Nakadai
4.Biswas
5.Macfayden

Robert MacFarlane said...

I hope Knightley improves for you on this rewatch of Pride and Prejudice as well. I know you don't like her generally, but I always felt like she was the perfect Lizzie. She doesn't make her as austere as the miniseries, she makes her act her actual age.

Razor said...

1. Heard
2. Nakadai
3. Macfadyen
4. Biswas
5. Gielgud

RatedRStar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RatedRStar said...

1. Heard
2. Nakadai
3. Biswas
4. Macfadyen
5. Gielgud

BRAZINTERMA said...

5º John Gielgud
4º Matthew Macfadyen
3º Chhabi Biswas
2º John Heard
1º Tatsuya Nakadai

Ytrewq Wertyq said...

1. Heard
2. Nakadai
3. Biswas
4. Macfayden
5. Gielgud

Perfectionist said...

1. Nakadai
2. Biswas
3. Gielgud
4. Heard
5. Macfadyen
Probably, everyone is getting a 5 here?

Jonathan Williams said...

1. Heard
2. Nakadai
3. Gielgud
4. Biswas
5. Macfadyen

Calvin Law said...

1. Biswas
2. Heard
3. Nakadai
4. Macfadyen
5. Gielgud

Great lineup.

8000S said...

1. Heard
2. Gielgud
3. Nakadai
4. Macfadyen
5. Biswas

Robert MacFarlane said...

Gonna change mine a little.

1. Heard
2. Biswas
3. Nakadai
4. Macfadyen
5. Gielgud

Shaggy Rogers said...

1. Heard
2. Biswas
3. Nakadai
4. Macfadyen
5. Gielgud

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

1. Heard
2. Biswas
3. Nakadai
4. Macfadyen
5. Gielgud

Anonymous said...

*checks 2005 supporting actor ranking* Wow, Macfadyen isn't even on the overall? And Sutherland's only #42? Goddamn.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Anonymous: Macfadyen's #20 on the Lead overall for Pride and Prejudice, which I've always felt was low even with the strength of the year.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Would love a Sutherland upgrade too, he's my win that year.

Tim said...

to everybody here: If you didn't like the last two Avatar movies, this next one is not gonna sway you.
If you liked them, like me, it sadly might ...

Luke Higham said...

Robert: Have you decided on your recommendation.

Tybalt said...

Tahmeed: Oh that explains it. It's been ages since I saw the film so I remembered him as Supporting. (I was the Anonymous user, I just forgot to enter my name.)

Harris Marlowe said...

Louis and everyone else: What are your thoughts on the Oscars moving to YouTube starting 2029?

Luke Higham said...

Harris: It was bound to happen, the ratings have dropped year after year that they had to make a change to keep the ceremony at least somewhat relevant to the casual viewer.

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Luke: I feel even then, YouTube's going to charge a fair bit for it. I just hope we don't get a repeat of Hulu crashing during the Best Actress/Best Picture announcement if the ceremony runs over time.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Luke: I guess the 1991 filming of Into the Woods? It's on Youtube.

Marcus said...

1. Biswas
2. Heard
3. Nakadai
4. Macfadyen
5. Gielgud

Louis: What are the most prominent examples of "bad scenes" in otherwise very good-to-great acting performances that knock those performances down for you, i.e. "What's in the Box?" for Pitt in Se7en.

Matt Mustin said...

Marcus: He still gave Pitt a 4.5 for Seven so I don't think that scene affected him too much.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Powell, Brolin and Domingo in The Running Man.

Ytrewq Wertyq said...

That scene is why Pitt is a 4 for me instead of 4.5. It would've been a masterful scene for him, Spacey and Freeman, but the inclusion of that massive "Oh God, OH GOOOOOD" in place of just silence almost ruins it all.

Matt Mustin said...

Ya know, I used to be one of the people who hated the box thing, but I watched it again a couple years ago and it's really nowhere near as bad I remembered, and it actually does fit the whole arc of what Pitt (and Fincher, honestly) is trying to do with that character.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Could you add my request Vincent Price in The Abominable Dr. Phibes to the requests page.

Anonymous said...

Louis: Your thoughts on 'Heavenly Puss' from Tom and Jerry?