Best Scene: Attempted reconciliation meeting.
9. David Strathairn in A Little Prayer - Strathairn gives a moving nuanced depiction of a man coming to terms with the nature of his son and struggling with the relationship with his daughter-in-law.
Best Scene: Bench.
8. Dylan O'Brien in Twinless - O'Brien gives an effective depiction of the overly confident twin and the struggling twin dealing with grief.
Best Scene: First meeting.
7. Josh O'Connor in Wake Up Dead Man - O'Connor delivers another great performance here finding both the proper comedic enthusiasm for the mystery and the proper dramatic depth for his character's journey.
Best Scene: Phone Call
6. Robert Aramayo in I Swear - Aramayo flawlessly depicts the very specific difficult tics of his character while also giving a moving depiction of a man slowly finding personal strength through understanding and acceptance.
Best Scene: In the car.
5. Paul Mescal in Hamnet - Mescal delivers some potent words from Shakespeare as Shakespeare, while also giving a moving depiction of the maturation of a man as he deals with the notion of family both the good and the pain.
Best Scene: Again.
4. Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams - Edgerton gives a quietly moving depiction that so potently realizes the internal journey of his character through life.
Best Scene: Second talk with Claire.
3. David Jonsson in The Long Walk - Jonsson delivers an amazing performance that captures both the visceral horror of his situation but also such a powerful poignant optimism that defines his character.
Best Scene: Reason for his outlook on life.
2. Jesse Plemons in Bugonia - Plemons is masterful in his realization of such a specific tone where he successfully depicts the madness of his character but with a deeply human foundation.
Best Scene: Dinner table.
1. Lee Byung-hun in No Other Choice - Hearing about the concept of the film I knew Lee had the potential to give a great performance, but what he delivered not only was outstanding it was outstanding in a wholly unexpected way from him. Throwing out his expected presence to deliver an absolutely hilarious yet also truly impactful depiction of a man haplessly turning into a cold blooded murderer.
Best Scene: First "murder".
Updated Overall:
- Lee Byung-hun in No Other Choice
- Jesse Plemons in Bugonia
- Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme
- Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another
- Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent
- Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value
- David Jonsson in The Long Walk
- Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams
- Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein
- Paul Mescal in Hamnet
- Robert Aramayo in I Swear
- Josh O'Connor in Wake Up Dead Man
- Cooper Hoffman in The Long Walk - 5
- Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon
- Josh O'Connor in The Mastermind
- Dylan O'Brien in Twinless
- David Strathairn in A Little Prayer
- Frank Dillane in Urchin
- Harry Melling Pillion
- Sergi López in Sirât
- Archie Madekwe in Lurker
- Michael B. Jordan in Sinners
- Billy Barratt in Bring Her Back
- Cillian Murphy in Steve
- Daniel Day-Lewis in Anemone
- Riz Ahmed in Relay
- Everett Blunck in The Plague
- Oscar Isaac in Frankenstein - 4.5
- Liam Neeson in The Naked Gun
- Mads Mikkelsen in Dust Bunny
- Jacob Tremblay in Sovereign
- Hugh Jackman in Song Sung Blue
- Channing Tatum in Roofman
- Michael Fassbender in Black Bag
- Denzel Washington in Highest 2 Lowest
- David Corenswet in Superman
- Jeremy Allen White in Deliver Me From Nowhere
- Jackson Yee in Resurrection
- Josh O'Connor in Rebuilding
- Robert Pattinson in Mickey 17
- Miles Teller in Eternity
- Nick Offerman in Sovereign
- Theo James in The Monkey
- Austin Butler in Caught Stealing
- Matthew McConaughey in The Lost Bus
- Benedict Cumberbatch in The Roses
- Paul Mescal in The History of Sound
- Théodore Pellerin in Lurker
- Filippo Scotti in Le Città Di Pianura
- Sergio Romano in Le Città Di Pianura
- Pierpaolo Capovilla in Le Città Di Pianura
- Pedro Pascal in Fantastic Four: The First Steps
- Colin Farrell in Ballad of a Small Player
- Keenan Arrison in The Heart is a Muscle
- Michael Angelo Covino in Splitsville
- Tonatiuh in Kiss of the Spider Woman
- Brendan Fraser in Rental Family
- Ben Whishaw in Peter Hujar's Day
- Lee Kang-Sheng in Blue Sun Palace
- Jorma Tommila in Sisu Road to Revenge - 4
- Callum Turner in Eternity
- Jonathan Majors in Magazine Dreams
- Vahid Mobasseri in It was Just An Accident
- Miles Caton in Sinners
- Ishaan Khatter in Homebound
- Benicio del Toro in The Phoenician Scheme
- Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later
- Guillaume Marbeck in Nouvelle Vague
- George Clooney in Jay Kelly
- Diego Luna in Kiss of the Spider Woman
- Paul Walter Hauser in The Luckiest Man in America
- Sean Bean in Anemone
- Vishal Jethwa in Homebound
- Tom Hardy in Havoc
- Bob Odenkirk in Nobody 2
- Robert Pattinson in Die My Love
- Brad Pitt in F1
- Jack Quaid in Novocaine
- Jason Bateman in Zootopia 2
- Christopher Guest in Spinal Tap The End Continues
- Michael McKean in Spinal Tap The End Continues
- Kyle Marvin in Splitsville
- James Sweeney in Twinless - 3.5
- Ryo Yoshizawa in Kokuho
- Joaquin Phoenix in Eddington
- Tim Key in The Ballad of Wallis Island
- Ben Affleck in The Accountant 2
- Ewan Horrocks in Truth and Treason
- Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
- Mahershala Ali in Jurassic World Rebirth
- Damson Idris in F1
- Jared Leto in Tron Ares
- Will Arnett in Is This Thing On? - 3
- Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine
- Tom Basden in The Ballad of Wallis Island
- Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World
- Yonas Kibreab in Elio - 2.5
- Tim Robinson in Friendship
- Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2
- Jonathan Bailey in Jurassic World Rebirth
- Glen Powell in The Running Man
- Rami Malek in The Amateur
- Rami Malek in Nuremberg
- Jack Quaid in Companion
- Sam Worthington in Avatar: Fire & Ash
- Robert De Niro in Alto Knights - 2
Next: Waiting though eventually 2004 Supporting.
61 comments:
Louis: Your 2025 Female Lead and Supporting top 25s and other 4+ honourable mentions.
Sweet beautiful vindication in predicting that Lee was going to be Louis’ win all those months ago. Also very happy Moura made the top 5.
Louis: Where would you rank Sergi López.
And Lee Kang-Sheng in Blue Sun Palace & Jorma Tommila in Sisu: Road To Revenge.
These are the remaining recommendations to finish.
The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (2012)
Treasure Planet (2002)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
The Illusionist (2010)
Samson And Delilah (1949)
The Family Way (1966)
The Last Valley (1971)
Last Orders (2001)
The Piano (1993)
Sound Of The Mountain (1954)
The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Pyaasa (1957)
Le Trou (1960)
Macario (1960)
Starman (1984, if you didn't get time to watch The Pitt)
Into The Woods (1991)
The Ladies Man (1961)
Surprised to see Plemons ahead of Chalamet, but also realizing Louis’s ranking of Chalamet is exactly where I had him when I first saw Marty Supreme. Also a little sorry to see Austin Butler downgraded, but oh well!
Louis: Thoughts on the rest of the cast of Wake Up Dead Man.
With 2004 supporting, I have a feeling Alfred Molina will get in along with O'Toole and Davis. Val Kilmer in Alexander might get a write-up in the O'Toole post because I asked him on his Letterboxd account whether the best element of the film was the Vangelis score and he kinda said no. If he has the time, hope to see write-ups for the Collateral and Dodgeball guys.
Also surprised by Plemons being ahead of Chalamet. Love seeing Lee finally get his win.
Louis: Your updated 10 favorite performances by Korean actors?
Louis: your ranking of all 20 nominated performances this year?
Wow, Plemons at #2 overall is kind of a stunning upset. Had been nominated, nobody would have gotten their predictions for Louis's ranking of the lineup right, lol.
Over the moon with Lee winning; also love Jonsson being so high.
Louis: Your top 25 performances of the year?
The giveaway for Plemons being as high as #2 from the review is that Louis saying he loved 'every moment' of the performance, something he also wrote about Lee and Chalamet. I love it, what a top 3.
Louis, could you add Saif Ali Khan in Omkara (John Smith) to the winning requests page.
Louis: Could you add Miles Caton in Sinners, Bob Odenkirk in Nobody 2, Jason Bateman in Zootopia 2 and Ryo Yoshizawa in Kokuho to your ranking?
Finally watched Min and Bill, and finally finished off the Best Actress winners of the 1930s. I'll include Mary Pickford and Janet Gaynor in a different ranking once I see Street Angel.
1. Vivien Leigh
2. Claudette Colbert
3. Luise Rainer (The Great Ziegfeld)
4. Bette Davis (Jezebel) (5)
5. Helen Hayes (4.5)
6. Norma Shearer
7. Luise Rainer (The Good Earth)
8. Marie Dressler (4)
9. Bette Davis (Dangerous) (3.5)
10. Katharine Hepburn (3)
I'm happy that Lee finally won. I was sure DiCaprio would win overall, but at least he managed to be at the top.
I'm also glad that Moura, Skarsgård, and Edgerton are the new names to be added to the My Nominations page.
Shaggy: Dicaprio didn't even win out of the nominees.
Louis: your updated top ten Leonardo DiCaprio performances?
Just wanted to say, *I* was the first to call Lee's win, even though I was sleep deprived and butchered his name at the time.
Very, very pleased with this outcome. Also delighted to see Plemons be the runner-up. Insane to think he would've topped the nominees ranking had he gotten in.
Or at least I was early, I genuinely don't remember, lmao.
Louis: Were your wins in all four acting categories decided by the time you got to the Alternates, or were there any changes as you finalized the year?
Missed the chance to comment on O'Connors review, but he's excellent and that performance is really really sticking with me more than any other element of that film, and I loved the film.
Funnily enough this would be my exact top 3 of the year too.
Feeling better about my NGNG prediction of Plemons at no. 1 now, even if it wasn't correct. I knew it wasn't gonna pay off but I was closer than others would have expected.
Jared Harris has been cast in Scorsese's next film. So happy to see him in a major film project at last.
So hyped for Harris in a Scorsese film. Amazing news.
To have both Harris and Mikkelsen in substantial supporting parts in a Scorsese film is a dream come true.
Louis: any retro casting choices for David Jonsson? Awhile ago I was thinking he'd be an incredible Lionel (Scarecrow), and would also love to see him do some Shakespeare (he'd be a wonderful Nick Bottom).
Calvin: He would be a *fantastic* Bottom. I can definitely sense an element of clown in him from his performances I've seen.
It's wonderful to see a Brazilian actor in Louis' Top 5.
Not bad for a kid who used to live in Rodelas (a super interior town in Brazil) made history at the Oscars and on this blog.
https://youtube.com/shorts/EqOodAglwEY?si=UzB-mV3kzPQOY06t
Brazinterma: What other Moura performances would you recommend? I'm planning on doing a deeper dive into his work later this year.
Is this first De Niro's been dead last?
Louis: Thoughts on the cast of Send Help?
Louis: ^And Crime 101?
Calvin:
Lower City (2005)
Basic Sanitation, the Movie (2007)
Futuro Beach (2014)
Elite Squad (2007)
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)
Louis: Where would Jacques Becker rank in your 1960 director top ten.
Louis: Your top 10 favourite scenes from 2025?
Louis: Tell from the year 2025 which are your TOP 10 best:
- Posters
- Blockbuster Film
I think the longest ever wait between a winning request suggestion and its review is near lol and I regretted doing it years ago haha.
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on Hugh Grant, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant and Brian Blessed in The Pirates.
Thoughts on the cast of Le Trou.
Luke: Your Top Ten Films of 2025.
Anonymous:
Close - (A fine church lady performance where Close does essentially differentiate between the scenes where she’s playing the part of the totally out of it woman and the woman with direct attention. Creating moments where she plays up the type as a performance within the performance effectively against the scenes of the more cunning and cutting woman where she plays that specific aggressive intensity coached within, for the lack of a better word, grandmotherly pseudo harmlessness. Although I don’t think the emotional ideas of the ending totally work for me as it’s going for a El Royale ending scene, where I found that confessional scene far more moving, however as such Close delivers to the degree she needs to in creating at least some pathos even if I didn’t really find her performance moving per se, I’d pin that on the writing in that instance, but she delivers what’s there effectively.)
Brolin - (Entertaining in the sides of the character he plays in the more exact brimstone priest where he very much plays up that note with an over the top intensity as though he is Charlton Heston as Moses throwing down ten commandments. Contrasting that the moments of very much playing up the guy beneath it such as his reaction when Jud figured out about his certain “sinful” claims or his interactions with his surprise relative, Brolin coaches it all in the bit of performance as well that is the actual truth of his character.)
Kunis - (Feels very much miscast as she doesn’t give off smalltown or sheriff in any moments and feels very much Mila Kunis in the role randomly. She really doesn’t know how to play against O’Connor or Craig either, just delivering all her exposition as surface as possible. Stanfield very showing how it should’ve been done in the first film.)
Renner - (Found he hit his slightly drunken dejected note well enough but really didn’t do much with it beyond that. Finding him fairly forgettable in the end.)
McCormack - (Quite enjoyed the smug obnoxiousness of his character where I think he could’ve been more arch and I think he pulled back just enough, while also not playing the stupidity up too much. Balancing it enough to get through in a role that I think could’ve been way too much but McCormack balances it well.)
Church - (Feels like there should’ve been a more substantial scene between him and O’Connor to set up a plot point but I think Church brings a general likability to his role which is what is needed. Nice to see him in something high profile again regardless.)
Scott - (I’ll say with both sequels the incidental players I don’t think Johnson develops particularly well, and in this case I don’t even know exactly what Scott’s character is supposed to even be exactly. Scott himself just kind of plays a vague sarcastic note that doesn’t really go anywhere either.)
Spaeny - (Same with Spaeny which I think the character should’ve been about genuine emotion that we may or may not trust, I found Spaeny a little too just vaguely light that not much comes from her in general. Mostly forgettable.)
Washington - (Find she goes a little hard on her note, though again not the most interesting character either, and almost took me out of certain scenes just as she goes slightly big in some of her reactions.)
Everett - (Brings the right combination between not going over board in playing the overly talkative “character” of the local lady, in order that her than extremely dramatic segue actually does feel convincing which she delivers with just a genuine sense of pain and heartbreak effectively.)
Tahmeed:
1. Lee Byung-hun - No Other Choice
2. Choi Min-sik - I Saw the Devil
3. Yoon Jeong-hee - Poetry
4. Lee Byung-hun - A Bittersweet Life
5. Choi Min-sik - Oldboy
6. Song Kang-ho - Parasite
7. Kim Min-hee -The Handmaiden
8. Park Hae-il - Decision to Leave
9. Lee Young-ae - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
10. Lee Byung-hun - I Saw the Devil
Anonymous:
1. Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme
2. Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another
3. Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
4. Wagner Moura - Secret Agent
5. Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value
6. Sean Penn - One Battle After Another
7. Jessie Buckley - Hamnet
8. Emma Stone - Bugonia
9. Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein
10. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value
11. Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
12. Benicio del Toro - One Battle After Another
13. Wunmi Mosaku - Sinners
14. Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon
15. Amy Madigan - Weapons
16. Delroy Lindo - Sinners
17. Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another
18. Michael B. Jordan - Sinners
19. Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue
20. Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value
Anonymous:
1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. One Battle After Another
3. The Departed
4. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
5. The Revenant
6. Catch Me If You Can
7. Django Unchained
8. The Aviator
9. Blood Diamond
10. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
Marcus:
My love of Chalamet’s and Plemons’s performances made me have to be sure about Lee, though Lee was the favorite going into the alternates.
Penn had it in the bag for a long time.
Tybalt:
McAdams - 4.5(A bonkers fun performance that very much runs with the Raimi type of tone and even aeshtetic. She manages even the nonsense of attempting to make her look unattractive in the opening scenes by playing very much with a purposeful slightly over the top quality that works within the film’s fairly over the top setup. A tricky notion that McAdams makes really work within just her own performance. Then within the island itself pretty effectively manages to play between notes of potential just calm determination and more demented madness. Balancing well this blend between growing charisma and confidence with a growing psychotic edge at the same time. Even though I found the film often repetitive, McAdams managed to create effective variations just within her own work by bringing a needed unpredictability in kind of playing between protagonist and villain.)
O’Brien - 4(A good performance from him again here playing also into the tone of just very much owning the note of douchebag in the early scenes and just playing that up without going too far into it. So when he's in the island situation he can at least come down enough to play between moments of frustration, still a bit of the pompous moron in between and moments of genuine fear where he’s probably at his very best.)
Bryan:
Hemsworth - 2(A pretty clunky performance from him where there is barely any sense of a real internal struggle and just really a performance that shows why stoic performance should be properly lauded. As this is how not to do it as he just seems a little bland, made worse by mangling his American accent here and grants no genuine sense of menace nor pathos nor really anything else. Just really emphasizes the general tough guy and that’s about it.)
Berry - 3(Honestly one of her better performances for me though that isn’t saying too much. At least she’s decent in putting on the front of the insurance agent to the rich and putting on the phony graciousness, while bringing enough of just a quiet annoyance with all things that she does gradually increase throughout the film. Nothing too remarkable but fine.)
Ruffalo - 3.5(Watch Task for the better version of this performance, though he’s completely fine in hitting exactly the same notes once again.)
Keoghan - 3(Feels like going through the psycho motions a bit here, he’s fine but really doesn’t leave too much of an impression at the same time.)
Nolte - 2.5(REALLY going through the motions and eeks out just enough to not be terrible but he mostly seems tired here.)
Maadi - 3(Offers some honesty and conviction for a plot thread that is given too much time given it goes nowhere.)
Barbaro - 3(One where you go must have been before her Oscar nomination, as this is such standard girlfriend role. She tries to the degree that she can but can’t overcome how limited it is.)
Luke:
#6.
Did not miss the other inquiries just waiting until I finish the winners video to answer them.
Scott has a pretty one note role in Wake Up Dead Man but I thought he was pretty consistently funny at that one note.
Louis: You forgot to put Crowe in Nuremberg on the My Nominations page.
Louis, rating and thoughts on Chang Chen in Lucky Lu.
Thoughts on Rockwell, Richardson, Temple, Pena and Beetz in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die.
Bryan: I still have quite a bit to watch but I'll try. And I'm gonna be rather biased when it comes to genre.
1. Marty Supreme
2. Train Dreams
3. One Battle After Another
4. Sentimental Value
5. Frankenstein
6. The Secret Agent
7. Hamnet
8. Sinners
9. The Testament Of Ann Lee
10. Wake Up Dead Man
Did Phoenix did get a downgrade for Eddington? He is a 3 now it seems.
To those who've seen Sirat, is there anything to be said of the cast outside of Lopez, or are they just functional?
Anonymous: Yeah, he was a 3.5.
Harris: Functional.
Whoa, Plemons would've been Louis's favorite out of all of the year's nominees, too?
Louis: feel free to hold back a response if you still want to give it some time, but I feel like No Other Choice is your favourite Park Chan-wook film?
One Battle After Another cast ratings
DiCaprio-5
Penn-5(His best performance ever, and it's actually not close)
Del Toro-4.5
Hall-4.5(Thought she did A LOT with the little time she had)
Taylor-5(I was thinking 4.5 but really I loved everything she did here, and I didn't realize how perfect she was til the film was almost over and I realized what a shadow she'd left over it)
Infiniti-5
Goldwyn-4
Moffett-3.5
Grimstad-3.5
Tighe-3.5
Downey-3.5
Hoogenakker-4.5(Thought he was pretty damn scary)
Schweig-3.5
Grace-3.5
Raterman-4/4.5
Haim-3
McHayle-3
Chariton-3.5(Mostly just some fairly brief voice work, but I thought he was the perfect straight man for what DiCaprio was doing)
Louis: How are you feeling about the WB/Paramount news?
Louis: Your top 10 acting moments of 2025?
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the cast of Resurrection.
Anonymous:
Chang - 4(The material itself is fairly repetitive however I found that Chang delivered in terms of creating believable emotional states of desperation without going so hard on the note to become just overwrought. Finding what nuance he can in a role that overall is pretty underwritten as more so a symbol than a fully developed person. Change though attempts to find the reality whenever he can within the type and elevated what he could of a film that on the whole I found quite overwhelming.)
Rockwell - (Very Rockwellian and not the riskiest of his performances in that regard. Having said that works as a performance in his wheelhouse particularly in terms of balancing a generally comedic tone though with just enough dramatic weight in certain moments.)
Richardson - (Found she played well by playing it particularly straight throughout every situation. From her particular Chuck McGill condition to reactions to the insanity of the world and the insanity of everyone else, playing just this realistic emotional desperation but eventual conviction worked as a properly confused contrast to the whole situation.)
Temple - (Plays her note of heightened disbelief quite effectively by hitting it just right between hard to show genuine emotion but leaving comedic, though very dark, levity by presenting it as this constant lack of belief for what is actually going on around her the entire time.)
Pena - (His tendency to overact a little bit works here in just playing into the absurdity of his bits and just seeming totally out of it. Beetz I think balances him well by playing it with just slightly more conviction to add the dramatic with more comedic in a way that ends balancing the two fairly well.)
Calvin:
Well I’d say it’s the one where I could most easily embrace it right off the bat, well along with JSA, though I think that also has to do with the slightly more straightforward aspects of those films compared to say Oldboy, Decision to Leave or The Handmaiden. Could come down as my favorite though.
Tony:
I won’t get too much into the weeds of the further implications of the problems associated with it, and just say that WB not selling at all was really the most ideal avenue that sadly seemed like it was never going to happen. Netflix was probably worse for the state of cinema, Paramount worse for other factors, but neither was a good option. As at the end of the day an industry shrinking action on some level.
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