Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor 2012: Results

5. Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook- De Niro is very supporting here usually being part of a group but he plays his role as well as anyone probably could infusing a lot of energy and heart in the role something he has not done in quite some time. Having said that though this is far cry from his early days such as his performance in Mean Streets for example. 

4. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln- The more I think about this performance the less I like it. He is reasonably entertaining in his scenes of insulting others, but honestly he is more of Tommy Lee Jones the Radical Republican than Thaddeus Stevens the Radical Republican. I think if he did less Jonisms, something he did reduce in JFK, he could have made the character more his own, and his last scene probably would have been much better as well.

3. Alan Arkin does not do much here more than say one liners in his crusty old man sort of way. He does it well but there is not at lot to it.

2. Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained- Waltz gives an extremely entertaining turn he basically making his picture. He brings life to every scene and probably is the actor who knows how to bring the most out of Quentin Tarantino's dialogue more than any other actor.

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master- This year came out down to the two performances that you could easily say are leads in their films. Although I loved Waltz's performance I find I can give this win easily to Hoffman. His turn as cult leader Lancaster Dodd is something certainly fascinating to watch as he dissects this man in such a complex compelling fashion.

5. Denzel Washington in Flight- Washington although tries never overcomes the weakness of his film leaving him in an awkward position.

4. Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables- Jackman gives a fairly overt performance in that his emotions are overt. This works well for the film and his character which is a film of big emotions, and a character whose whole point is that he must be genuine.

3. Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook- Bradley Cooper shows himself to be a very capable actor. He gives a strong leading performance that is both a charming funny turn, but as well a moving portrait of mentally troubled man.

2. Daniel Day-Lewis-This was a difficult choice for me as both Day-Lewis and Phoenix would be outstanding worthy winners in so many years. The performances could not be more different in both scale and style. Both are incredible in their characterizations though. I have to choose one and for the moment my choice is Day-Lewis for his remarkable portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Day-Lewis realizes this character marvelously and somehow makes a human character of his Lincoln but still manages to make it believable that he would create such a legacy.

1. Joaquin Phoenix in The Master- This is a performance that is easy to hate, but I loved it. Phoenix goes out on one big limb with his wild performance here that is perfectly fitting of his insane unpredictable character.

Best Actor Ranking:

1. 1962
2. 1939
3. 1964
4. 2002
5. 1978
6. 1965
7. 1970
8. 1974
9. 2012
10. 1976
11. 1954
12. 1966
13. 1982
14. 1960
15. 1983
16. 1967
17. 1979
18. 1955
19. 2011
20. 1986
21. 1973
22. 1972 
23. 1994
24. 1940
25. 1950
26. 1963
27. 1975
28. 1952
29. 1980
30. 1953
31. 1959
32. 1987
33. 1977
34. 1968
35. 2006
36. 1938
37. 1969
38. 1992
39. 1961
40. 1971
41. 1956
42. 1951
43. 1984
44. 1943
45. 1958
46. 1948
47. 1998
48. 1999
49. 1988
50. 1944
51. 1936
52. 1946
53. 1957
54. 2007
55. 2005
56. 1942
57. 1947
58. 1993
59. 1981
60. 1989
61. 1995
62. 2004
63. 1937 
64. 2009
65. 1941
66. 1997
67. 1931
68. 1996
69. 1949
70. 2003 
71. 2010
72. 1990
73. 1945
74. 1985
75. 2001
76. 2008
77. 1991
78. 2000

1. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
2. Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
3. James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 
4. Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story (1999)
5. Laurence Olivier in The Entertainer (1960) 
6. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
7. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
8. Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
9. William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) 
10. Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
11. Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
12. George C. Scott in Patton (1970)    
13. Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
14. Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973)
15. Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter (1968)
16. Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity (1953)
17. Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
18. Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
19. Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982)
20. Laurence Olivier in Sleuth (1972)
21. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
22. Giancarlo Giannini in Seven Beauties (1976)
23. Peter Finch in Network (1976)
24. Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
25. Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter (1978)
26. Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
27. Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun (1951)
28. Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold (1965)
29. James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
30. Clark Gable Gone With the Wind (1939)
31. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
32. Ernest Borgnine in Marty (1955)
33. Joaquin Phoenix in The Master (2012)
34. Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012)
35. Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker (1965)
36. Kirk Douglas in Lust For Life (1956)
37. Laurence Olivier in Richard III (1956) 
38. Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) 
39. Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall (1937)
40. Stuart Whitman in The Mark (1961)
41. Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961) 
42. William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)
43. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
44. Paul Newman in Hud (1963)
45. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
46. Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)
47. Michael Caine in Alfie (1966)
48. Jack Lemmon in Days Of Wine And Roses (1962)
49. Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
50. Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
51. Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973) 
52. Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
53. Jack Nicholson in Ironweed (1987)
54. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
55. Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
56. Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)
57. Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob (1952)
58. Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
59. Laurence Harvey in Room at the Top (1959)
60. Spencer Tracy in A Bad Day At Black (1955)
61. Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek (1964)
62. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
63. Peter O'Toole in Becket (1964)
64. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
65. Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974)
66. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
67. Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
68. Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2002)
69. Bob Hoskins in Mona Lisa (1986)
70. Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
71. Tom Hulce in Amadeus (1984)
72. James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes Washington (1939)
73. Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
74. Rod Steiger in The Heat of the Night (1967)
75. Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven (1992)
76. James Woods in Salvador (1986)
77. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
78. Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
79. James Dean in East of Eden (1955)
80. Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
81. Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights (1939)
82. Edward Norton in American History X (1998)
83. Tom Wilkinson in In The Bedroom (2001)
84. Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt (2002)
85. Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008)
86. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
87. Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
88. Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking (1995)
89. Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
90. Richard Harris in This Sporting Life (1963)
91. Albert Finney in Tom Jones (1963) 
92. Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce Italian Style (1962)
93. James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
94. Richard Burton in Becket (1964)
95. Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
96. Demian Bichir in A Better Life (2011)
97. Robert Donat in The Citadel (1938)
98. Charles Boyer in Gaslight (1944)
99. Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
100. James Mason in A Star is Born (1954)
101. Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940)
102. Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939)
103. Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
104. Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)
105. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
106. Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)
107. Walter Huston The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
108. Michael Caine in Sleuth (1972)
109. Robert Duvall in The Apostle (1997)
110. Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
111. Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
112. Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (1993)
113. Walter Huston in Dodsworth (1936)
114. John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980)
115.  Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
116. Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960)
117. Laurence Olivier in Henry V (1946)
118. Nicolas Cage in Adaptation (2002)
119. David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
120. Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker (2009)
121. Kirk Douglas in Champion (1949)
122. Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda (2004)
123. Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables (2012)
124. Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper (1942)
125. Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
126. Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
127. Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises (2007)
128. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004)
129. Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 
130. Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York (2002)
131. Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning (1988)
132. William Hurt in Children of Lesser God (1986)
133. Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond (1930)
134. Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952)
135. Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954)
136. Dudley Moore in Arthur (1981)
137. Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
138. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981) 
139. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
140. Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George (1994)
141. Charles Laughton in A Witness for the Prosecution(1957)
142. John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)
143. Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
144. Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools (1965)
145. Marcello Mastroianni in A Special Day (1977)
146. Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967)
147. William Powell in The Thin Man (1934)
148. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982)
149. Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar (1953)
150. Maximilian Schell in The Man in a Glass Booth (1975)
151. Alexander Knox in Wilson (1944)
152. Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998)
153. Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000)
154. James Stewart in Harvey (1950)
155. Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
156. Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (1980)
157. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
158. William Holden in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
159. Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010)
160. Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
161. Daniel Day-Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993) 
162. Cary Grant in Penny Serenade (1941)
163. Leonardo DiCaprio Blood Diamond (2006)
164. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994)
165. Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001)
166. Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
167. Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
168. Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold (1997)
169. Alan Bates in The Fixer (1968)
170. Anthony Quinn in Wild is the Wind (1957)
171. Albert Finney in The Dresser (1983)
172. Albert Finney in Under The Volcano (1984)
173. Tony Curtis in The Defiant Ones (1958)
174. Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)
175. Sam Waterson in The Killing Fields (1984)
176. Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones (1958)
177. Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
178. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1943)
179. Brad Pitt in Moneyball (2011)
180. Russell Crowe in The Insider (1999)
181. Richard Harris in The Field (1990)
182. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
183. Topol in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
184. Colin Firth in A Single Man (2009)
185. Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
186. Clark Gable in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
187. Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan (1998)
188. Marlon Brando Last Tango in Paris (1973)
189. Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
190. Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson (2006)
191. Richard Jenkins in The Visitor (2008)
192. Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
193. Robert Downey Jr. in Chaplin (1992)
194. Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
195. Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
196. Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome (1979)
197. Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride (1950)
198. Dan O'Herlihy in Robinson Crusoe (1954)
199. Peter O'Toole in The Ruling Class (1972)
200. Paul Newman in A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
201. Roy Scheider in All that Jazz (1979)
202. Fredric March in A Star is Born (1937)
203. Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996)  
204. Jackie Cooper in Skippy (1931)
205. Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951)
206. Ronald Colman in Random Harvest (1942)
207. Kirk Douglas in The Bad and The Beautiful (1952)
208. Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)
209. Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year (1982)
210. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
211. Montgomery Clift in The Search (1948)
212. Richard Burton in Equus (1977)
213. Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy (1943)
214. William Holden in Network (1976)
215. Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1933)
216. Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient (1997)
217. William Powell in My Man Godfrey (1936)
218. Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
219. Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool (1994)
220. Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
221. Laurence Olivier in The Boys from Brazil (1978)
222. Ronald Colman in Condemned (1930)
223. Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man (1980)
224. Laurence Olivier in Othello (1965)
225. Peter O'Toole in Venus (2006)
226. Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989)
227. Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
228. Dustin Hoffman in Lenny (1974)
229. Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
230. Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
231. Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
232. Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
233. Michael Caine in The Quiet American (2002)
234. James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope (1970)
235. Marcello Mastroianni in Dark Eyes (1987)
236. Fredric March in The Royal Family of Broadway (1931)
237. Michael Caine in Educating Rita (1983)
238. Al Pacino in ...And Justice for All (1979)
239. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (2009)
240. James Franco in 127 Hours (2010)
241. Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day (1993)
242. Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953)
243. James Dean in Giant (1956)
244. Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City (1981)
245. William Powell in Life With Father (1947)
246. Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
247. Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot (1959)
248. Maurice Chevalier in The Love Parade (1930)
249. Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003)
250. Jude Law in Cold Mountain (2003)
251. Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
252. Rock Hudson in Giant (1956)
253. Charles Boyer in Algiers (1938)
254. Stephen Rea in The Crying Game (1992)
255. Tom Conti in Reuben, Reuben (1983)
256. Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007)
257. Jack Lemmon in Missing (1982)
258. John Garfield in Body and Soul (1947)
259. Ron Moody in Oliver! (1968)
260. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
261. Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty (1948)
262. Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)
263. Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
264. Charles Boyer in Conquest (1937)
265. Lew Ayres in Johnny Belinda (1948)
266. Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992)
267. Max von Sydow in Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
268. William Hurt in Broadcast News (1987)
269. George C. Scott in The Hospital (1971)
270. Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
271. Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind (1960)
272. Woody Allen in Annie Hall (1977)
273. Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles (1966)
274. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
275. Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
276. Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
277. Al Pacino in Serpico (1973)
278. Trevor Howard in Sons and Lovers (1960)
279. James Cagney in Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
280. David Straithairn in Good Night and Good Luck (2005) 
281. Harrison Ford in Witness (1985)
282. Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver (1988)
283. Ryan O'Neal in Love Story (1970)
284. Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
285. Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
286. Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
287. Alan Arkin in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
288. Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
289. Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
290. Tom Hanks in Big (1988)
291. Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
292. Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
293. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
294. Michael Redgrave in Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
295. Richard Barthelmess in the Patent Leather Kid (1928) 
296. Nick Nolte in Affliction (1998)
297. Peter O'Toole in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
298. Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz (1964)
299. Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
300. Charlie Chaplin in The Circus (1928)
301. Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)
302. Walter Matthau in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
303. James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
304. John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
305. Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
306. Paul Muni in The Valiant (1929) 
307. Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page (1931)
308. Denzel Washington in The Hurricane (1999)
309. Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog (1997)
310. Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
311. Alan Arkin in The Russians are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)
312. Spencer Tracy in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
313. Louis Calhern in The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
314. Paul Muni in The Last Angry Man (1959)
315. Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
316. Gregory Peck in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
317. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
318. Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
319. Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
320. Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd (2007)
321. Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
322. Russell Crowe in Gladiator
323. Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie (1943)
324. Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade (1996)
325. Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland (2004)
326. Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
327. Spencer Tracy in San Francisco (1936)
328. Johnny Depp in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
329. Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
330. Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms (1939)
331. Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
332. Franchot Tone in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
333. Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (2005)
334. John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
335. Paul Winfield in Sounder (1972)
336. Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge (1952)
337. Anthony Hopkins in Nixon (1995)
338. Denzel Washington in Flight (2012)
339. Gerard Depardieu in Cyrano De Bergerac (1990)
340. Cary Grant in None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
341. Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
342. Robert De Niro in Awakenings (1990)
343. Richard Todd in The Hasty Heart (1949)
344. Frank Sinatra in The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)
345. Morgan Freeman in Invictus (2009)
346. Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
347. Alfred Lunt in The Guardsman (1932)
348. Charles Boyer in Fanny (1961)
349. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
350. Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
351. James Whitmore in Give 'Em Hell Harry! (1975)
352. Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991)
353. Ed Harris in Pollock (2000)
354. Gregory Peck in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
355. James Garner in Murphy's Romance (1985)
356. Maurice Chevalier in The Big Pond (1930)
357. Robert Montgomery in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
358. Sylvester Stallone in Rocky (1976)
359. George Arliss in The Green Goddess (1930)
360. Gregory Peck in The Yearling (1946)
361. George Clooney in Michael Clayton (2007)
362. Fredric March in Death of a Salesman (1951) 
363. Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
364. Geoffrey Rush in Quills (2000)
365. Walter Matthau in Kotch (1971)
366. George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
367. Wallace Beery in The Big House (1930)
368. Paul Newman in Absence of Malice (1981)
369. Frank Morgan in The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
370. Jeff Bridges in True Grit (2010)
371. Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls (2000)
372. Warren Beatty in Reds (1981)
373. Massimo Troisi in The Postman (1995)
374. Dan Dailey in When My Baby Smiles At Me (1948)
375. Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh (1945)
376. Ben Kingsley in The House of Sand and Fog (2003)
377. Robert De Niro in Cape Fear (1991)
378. Jon Voight in Runaway Train (1985)
379. Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides (1991)
380. Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
381. Marlon Brando in Sayonara (1957)
382. Laurence Fishburne in What's Love Got To Do With It (1993)
383. Richard Burton in The Robe (1953)
384. Leslie Howard in Berkeley Square (1933)
385. Bing Crosby in Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
386. Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
387. Spencer Tracy in The Old Man and The Sea (1958)
388. Frank Langella Frost/Nixon (2008)
389. Dexter Gordon in 'Round Midnight (1986)
390. Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
391. Jack Lemmon in Tribute (1980)
392. Javier Bardem in Biutiful (2010)
393. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
394. Woody Harrelson in The People vs Larry Flynt (1996)
395. Larry Parks in The Jolson Story (1946)  
396. Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991)
397. Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow (2005)
398. Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
399. Robin William in Dead Poet's Society (1989)
400. Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
401. George Clooney in Up in The Air (2009)
402. Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
403. George Clooney in The Descendants (2011)
404. Cornel Wilde in A Song to Remember (1945)
405. Jeff Bridges in Star Man (1984)
406. Spencer Tracy in Captain Courageous (1937) 
407. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
408. Chester Morris in Alibi (1929)
409. Will Smith in Ali (2001)
410. Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
411. Sean Penn in I Am Sam (2001)
412. Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
413. Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004) 
414. Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
415. Anthony Franciosa in A Hatful of Rain (1957)
416. Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)

1. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
2. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
3. Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
4. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989) 
5. William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) 
6. George C. Scott in Patton (1970)
7. Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
8. Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973) 
9. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
10. Peter Finch in Network (1976)
11. Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
12. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
13. Ernest Borgnine Marty (1955)
14. Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012) 
15. William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)
16. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
17. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
18. Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
19. Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
20. Charles Laughton in The Private life of Henry VIII (1933)
21. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
22. Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
23. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
24. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
25. Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
26. Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2004)
27. Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
28. Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
29. Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night (1967)
30. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
31. Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
32. Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
33. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
34. Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
35. Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
36. Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
37. Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
38. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
39. Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
40. Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
41. Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
42. David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
43. Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
44. Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
45. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981)
46. Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
47. Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
48. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
49. Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
50. Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
51. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy
52. Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
53. Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
54. Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
55. Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
56. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
57. Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
58. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
59. Al Pacino in The Scent of a Woman (1992)
60. Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
61. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
62. Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
63. Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
64. Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
65. Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
66. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
67. James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
68. Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
69. Paul Muni in The Story Louis Pasteur (1936)
70. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
71. Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
72. Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
73. Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
74. Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
75. John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
76. Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
77. Tom Hanks Philadelphia (1993)
78. Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
79. George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
80. Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
81. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
82. Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
83. Spencer Tracy in Captains Courageous (1937)
84. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
85. Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
86. Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004)

Supporting Actor Ranking:

1. 1944
2. 1981
3. 1975
4. 2008
5. 1972
6. 1966
7. 1974
8. 1988
9. 1987
10. 1964
11. 1986
12. 1959
13. 1983
14. 1980
15. 1951
16. 1998
17. 1963
18. 1952
19. 1999
20. 1989
21. 1993
22. 1946
23. 1969
24. 1954
25. 1961
26. 2012
27. 2007
28. 1992
29. 1968
30. 1939
31. 1970
32. 1979
33. 1994
34. 2002
35. 1978
36. 2010
37. 1947
38. 1996
39. 1945
40. 1990
41. 1982
42. 1941
43. 1971
44. 2001
45. 1937
46. 1955
47. 1962
48. 1995
49. 1967
50. 1973
51. 2009
52. 2005
53. 2011
54. 1942
55. 2006
56. 1984
57. 1957
58. 1950
59. 1958
60. 2000
61. 1976
62. 2004
63. 1960
64. 1997
65. 1943
66. 1956
67. 1949
68. 1965
69. 1977
70. 1948
71. 1940
72. 1991
73. 1938
74. 2003
75. 1936
76. 1953
77. 1985

1. Martin Landau in Ed Wood (1994)
2. Al Pacino in The Godfather (1972)
3. Sessue Hayakawa in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
4. James Dunn in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
5. Claude Rains in Notorious (1946)
6. Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter (1978)
7. Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)
8. Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields (1984)
9. Ralph Fiennes in Schindler' List (1993) 
10. Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James (2007)
11. Gene Hackman in Unforgiven (1992)
12. Melvyn Douglas in Hud (1963)
13. Peter Ustinov in Topkapi (1964)
14. Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master (2012)
15. Rod Steiger in On the Waterfront (1954)
16. George Sanders in All About Eve (1950)
17. Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939)
18. Edward Norton in Primal Fear (1996)
19. William H. Macy in Fargo (1996)
20. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)
21. Gene Hackman in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
22. Jackie Gleason in the Hustler (1961) 
23. Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
24. Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
25. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
26. Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can (2002)
27. Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon (1941)
28. Jason Miller in The Exorcist (1973)
29. Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
30. Ralph Richardson in The Heiress (1949)
31. Albert Brooks in Broadcast News (1987)
32. Morgan Freeman in Street Smart (1987)
33. Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
34. Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (2012)
35. Jack Nicholson in Reds (1981)
36. Claude Rains in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939
37. Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds (2009)
38. Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie (1963)
39. Lee J. Cobb in On the Waterfront (1954) 
40. Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
41. Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968)
42. James Mason in The Verdict (1982)
43. Van Heflin in Johnny Eager (1942)
44. Karl Malden in On the Waterfront (1954)
45. Burgess Meredith in Day of the Locust (1975)
46. George Burns in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
47. Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death (1947)
48. George C. Scott in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
49. Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
50. Joe Pesci in Raging Bull (1980)
51. Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
52. Montgomery Clift in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961) 
53. Alec Guinness in Little Dorrit (1988)
54. Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now (1979)  
55. Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (1995)
56. Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976)
57. George C. Scott in The Hustler (1961)
58. Tom Cruise in Magnolia (1999)
59. Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People (1980)
60. Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
61. Peter Ustinov in Quo Vadis (1951)
62. Pete Postlethwaite in In the Name of the Father (1993)
63. Gene Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
64. John Gielgud in Arthur (1981)
65. Billy Bob Thorton in A Simple Plan (1998)
66. George Segal in Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
67. Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940)
68. Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier (1943)
69. Ian Holm in Chariots of Fire (1981)
70. Sam Shepard in The Right Stuff (1983)
71. Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II (1972)
72. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007) 
73. Danny Aiello in Do the Right Thing (1989)
74. James Caan in The Godfather (1972)
75. Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955)
76. Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder (2008)
77. Tommy Lee Jones in JFK (1991)
78. Paul Newman in The Road To Perdition (2002)
79. Robert Shaw in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
80. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999)
81. Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
82. Burl Ives in The Big Country (1958)
83. Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972)
84. Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider (1969)
85. Lee Strasberg in The Godfather Part II (1974)
86. Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (1994)
87. Brad Dourif in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975)
88. William Hurt in A History of Violence (2005)
89. Al Pacino in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
90. Charles Coburn in The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
91. Jeff Bridges in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
92. Gene Wilder in The Producers (1968)
93. John Hawkes in Winter's Bone (2010) 
94. Burgess Meredith in Rocky (1976) 
95. Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
96. Ian Mckellen in Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
97. Chris Sarandon in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
98. Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
99. Clifton Webb in Laura (1944)
100. Tom Berenger in Platoon (1986)
101. Willem Dafoe in Platoon (1986)
102. Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
103. Justin Henry in Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979) 
104. Seymour Cassel in Faces (1968)
105. Thomas Mitchell in The Hurricane (1937)
106. Alec Guinness in Star Wars (1977)
107. Anthony Quinn in Lust for Life (1956)
108. Robert Duvall in A Civil Action (1998)
109. Claude Rains in Mr. Skeffington (1944)
110. James Coburn in Affliction (1998)
111. Hume Cronyn in The Seventh Cross (1944)
112. Jackie Earl Haley in Little Children (2006)
113. Josh Brolin in Milk (2008)
114. Thomas Haden Church in Sideways (2004)
115. Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
116. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt (2008)
117. Charles Coburn in The Green Years (1946)
118. John Mills in Ryan's Daughter (1970)
119. James Cromwell in Babe (1995)
120. Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
121. Chris Cooper in Adaptation (2002)
122. Claude Rains in Casablanca (1943)
123. Victor McLaglen in The Quiet Man (1952)
124. Terence Stamp in Billy Budd (1962)
125. Richard Farnsworth in Comes A Horseman (1978)
126. Peter Falk in Murder, Inc. (1960) 
127. Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! (1952)
128. Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)
129. John Gielgud in Becket (1964)
130. Benicio Del Toro in Traffic (2000)
131. Ethan Hawke in Training Day (2001)
132. Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur (1959)
133. Michael Chekhov in Spellbound (1945)
134. Joseph Schilderkraut in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
135. Jack Palance in Sudden Fear (1952)
136. Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
137. Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady (1964)
138. Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
139. Anthony Perkins in Friendly Persuasion (1956)
140. Rip Torn in Cross Creek (1983)
141. Robert Mitchum in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
142. George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
143. River Phoenix in Running on Empty (1988)
144. Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile (1999)
145. John Lithgow in The World According to Garp (1982)
146. Lou Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
147. Lee J. Cobb in The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
148. Gig Young in Come Fill The Cup (1951)
149. James Mason in Georgy Girl (1966)
150. Walter Brennan in Kentucky (1938)
151. Vincent Gardenia in Moonstruck (1987)
152. Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001)
153. Walter Brennan in Come and Get It (1936) 
154. Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (1997)
155. Klaus Maria Brandauer in Out of Africa (1985)
156. Ed Begley in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
157. Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech (2010)
158. Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
159. Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley (1941)
160. John Malkovich in In the Line of Fire (1993) 
161. Martin Landau in Tucker: A Man And His Dream (1988)
162. Gig Young in Teacher's Pet (1958)
163. Jeremy Renner in The Town (2010)
164. Dennis Hopper in Hoosiers (1986)
165. Bobby Darin in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
166. Kevin McCarthy in Death of a Salesman (1951)
167. Arthur O'Connell in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
168. Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
169. Sal Mineo in Exodus (1960)
170. Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast (2001)
171. Frederic Forrest in The Rose (1979)
172. Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn (2011)
173. Lee Tracy in The Best Man (1964)
174. Hugh Griffith in Tom Jones (1963)
175. John Huston in The Cardinal (1963)
176. Robert Vaughn in The Young Philadelphians (1959)
177. Robert Ryan in Crossfire (1947)
178. Jeff Bridges in The Last Picture (1971)
179. Max Von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
180. Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
181. Roy Scheider in The French Connection (1971)
182. Arthur Hunnicutt in The Big Sky (1952)
183. Charles Durning in To Be Or Not To Be (1983) 
184. Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment (1983)
185. Tim Robbins in Mystic River (2003)
186. Bruce Davison in Longtime Companion (1990)
187. Ralph Bellamy in The Awful Truth (1937)
188. Monty Woolley in Since You Went Away (1944)
189. Elliot Gould in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
190. Michael V. Gazzo in The Godfather Part II (1974)
191. Richard Burton in My Cousin Rachel (1952)
192. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
193. Jason Robards in Melvin and Howard (1980)
194. Edmond O'Brien in Seven Days in May (1964)
195. James Whitmore in Battleground (1949)
196. Ed Wynn in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
197. Michael Lerner in Barton Fink (1991)
198. Armin Mueller-Stahl in Shine (1996)
199. Robert Forster in Jackie Brown (1997)
200. Eddie Albert in The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
201. Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
202. John Hurt in Midnight Express (1978)
203. Rupert Crosse in The Reivers (1969)
204. Robert Morley in Marie Antoinette (1938)
205. Adolph Caesar in A Soldier's Story (1984)
206. Thomas Gomez in Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
207. Howard Rollins in Ragtime (1981)
208. John Lithgow in Terms of Endearment (1983)
209. Ed Harris in The Truman Show (1998)
210. Vincent Gardenia in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
211. Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game (1992)
212. Denzel Washington in Glory (1989)
213. Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets (1997)
214. Matt Dillon in Crash (2005)
215. Christopher Plummer in Beginners (2011)
216. Peter Firth in Equus (1977)
217. Brian Aherne in Juarez (1939)
218. Robert Duvall in The Godfather (1972)
219. Chief Dan George in Little Big Man (1970)
220. Clive Owen in Closer (2004)
221. Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
222. Denzel Washington in Cry Freedom (1987)
223. James Coco in Only When I Laugh (1981)
224. Woody Harrelson in The Messsenger (2009)
225. Michael O'Keefe in The Great Santini (1980)
226. Walter Huston in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
227. Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man (2005)
228. Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls (2006) 
229. Mark Wahlberg in The Departed (2006)
230. Andy Garcia in The Godfather Part III (1990)
231. Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump (1994)
232. Victor Buono in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
233. Tim Roth in Rob Roy (1995)
234. Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton (2007)
235. Robert Preston in Victor Victoria (1982)
236. Arthur Kennedy in Champion (1949)
237. Cecil Kellaway in The Luck of the Irish (1948)
238. Paul Scofield in Quiz Show (1994)
239. Jack Warden in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
240. Arthur Kennedy in Trial (1955)
241. Al Pacino in Dick Tracy (1990)
242. Jack Kruschen in The Apartment (1960)
243. Fred Astaire in The Towering Inferno (1974)
244. Alan Alda in The Aviator (2004)
245. Dean Stockwell in Married to The Mob (1988)
246. John C. Reilly in Chicago (2002)
247. Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
248. Frank Finlay in Othello (1965)
249. Jack Palance in Shane (1953)
250. Robert Strauss in Stalag 17 (1953)
251. Chazz Palminteri in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
252. John Marley in Love Story (1970)
253. Nick Nolte in Warrior (2011)
254. Randy Quaid in The Last Detail (1973)
255. Bruce Dern in Coming Home (1978)
256. Richard S. Castellano in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
257. Vittorio De Sica in A Farewell to Arms (1957) 
258. Hal Holbrook in Into The Wild (2007)
259. Nick Adams in Twilight of Honor (1963)
260. Dan Aykroyd in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
261. Mickey Rooney in The Black Stallion (1979) 
262. Charles Bickford in Johnny Belinda (1948)
263. Pat Morita in The Karate Kid (1984)
264. Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road (2008)
265. Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992)
266. Arthur O'Connell in Picnic (1955)
267. Marlon Brando A Dry White Season (1989)
268. Jack Wild in Oliver! (1968)
269. James Woods in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
270. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
271. Brian Donlevy in Beau Geste (1939)
272. Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai (2003)
273. Matt Damon in Invictus (2009)
274. John Houseman in The Paper Chase (1973)
275. Mako in The Sand Pebbles (1966)
276. Judd Hirsch in Ordinary People (1980)
277. Anthony Hopkins in Amistad (1997)
278. John Malkovich in Places in the Heart (1984)
279. Mickey Rooney in The Bold and the Brave (1956)
280. William Bendix in Wake Island (1942)
281. Jack Warden in Shampoo (1975)
282. Alan Arkin in Argo (2012) 
283. Jack Gilford in Save the Tiger (1973)
284. Henry Travers in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
285. Robert Stack in Written on the Wind (1956)
286. Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones (2009)
287. Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993) 
288. Frank Morgan in Tortilla Flat (1942)
289. Christopher Plummer in The Last Station (2009)
290. Walter Brennan in Sergeant York (1941)
291. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln (2012)
292. Roland Young in Topper (1937)
293. David Paymer in Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
294. Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (2006)
295. Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
296. Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
297. Denholm Elliot in A Room With A View (1986)
298. Jason Robards in All the President's Men (1976)
299. Robert Loggia in Jagged Edge (1985)
300. Richard Jaeckel in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
301. Maximilian Schell in Julia (1977)
302. J. Carrol Naish in Sahara (1943)
303. Peter Falk in Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
304. Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
305. John Cassavetes in The Dirty Dozen (1967)
306. Jack Palance in City Slickers (1991)
307. Theodore Bikel in The Defiant Ones (1958)
308. Charles Bickford in The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
309. Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
310. Ned Beatty in Network (1976)
311. J. Carrol Naish in A Medal For Benny (1945)
312. Charles Bickford in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
313. Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880 (1950)
314. Harvey Keitel in Bugsy (1991)
315. Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love (1998)
316. Albert Bassermann in Foreign Correspondent (1940) 
317. Basil Rathbone in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
318. James Stephenson in The Letter (1940)
319. Alec Baldwin in The Cooler (2003)
320. Melvyn Douglas in Being There (1979)
321. Harry Carey in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 
322. Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator (2000)
323. Anthony Quayle in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
324. Clifton Webb in The Razor's Edge (1946)
325. Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich (2000)
326. Leonard Frey in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
327. William Demarest in The Jolson Story (1946)
328. Joe Mantell in Marty (1955)
329. Cecil Kellaway in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
330. H.B. Warner in Lost Horizon (1937)
331. Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns (1965)
332. Gene Lockhart in Algiers (1938)
333. Jonah Hill in Moneyball (2011)
334. Jamie Foxx in Collateral (2004)
335. Jeff Bridges in The Contender (2000)
336. Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys (1995)
337. John Garfield in Four Daughters (1938)
338. Michael Dunn in Ship of Fools (1965)
339. Graham Greene in Dances With Wolves (1990)
340. Ed Harris in Apollo 13 (1995)
341. Jack Oakie in The Great Dictator (1940)
342. Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules (1999)
343. Arthur Kennedy in Peyton Place (1957)
344. Mark Ruffalo in The Kids are All Right (2010)
345. Ralph Richardson in Greystoke (1984)
346. Russ Tamblyn in Peyton Place(1957)
347. Djimon Honsou in In America (2003)
348. Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams (2003)
349. Burt Young in Rocky (1976)
350. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (1997)
351. William Gargan in They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
352. Charles Durning in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)
353. Ben Kingsley in Bugsy (1991)
354. William Hickey in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
355. Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow (1950)
356. Dean Jagger in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
357. Oskar Homolka in I Remember Mama (1948)
358. Akim Tamiroff in The General Died at Dawn (1936)
359. Brandon De Wilde in Shane (1953)
360. Akim Tamiroff in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
361. Telly Savalas in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
362. Basil Rathbone in If I Were King (1938)
363. Arthur Kennedy in Some Came Running (1958)
364. John Ireland in All the King's Men (1949)
365. Ed Harris in The Hours (2002)
366. Daniel Massey in Star! (1968)
367. Eddie Albert in Roman Holiday (1953)
368. Leo Genn in Quo Vadis (1951)
369. George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
370. John Dall in The Corn is Green (1945)
371. Chill Wills in The Alamo (1960)
372. James Gleason in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) 
373. Stuart Erwin in Pigskin Parade (1936)
374. Tom Tully in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
375. Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)
376. Ian Bannen in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
377. George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
378. Jon Voight in Ali (2001)
379. Jose Ferrer in Joan of Arc (1948)
380. Mischa Auer in My Man Godfrey (1936)
381. Don Murray in Bus Stop (1956)
382. Don Ameche in Cocoon (1985)
383. Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996)
384. Eric Roberts in Runaway Train (1985) 
385. Mikhail Baryshnikov in The Turning Point (1977)

Actual Winners:

1. Martin Landau in Ed Wood (1994)
2. James Dunn in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
3. Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter (1978)
4. Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)
5. Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields (1984)
6. Gene Hackman in Unforgiven (1992)
7. Melvyn Douglas in Hud (1963)
8. Peter Ustinov in Topkapi (1964)
9. George Sanders in All About Eve (1950)
10. Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939)
11. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)
12. Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
13. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
14. Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
15. Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
16. Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (2012)
17. Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds (2009) 
18. Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie (1963)
19. Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
20. Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968)
21. Van Heflin in Johnny Eager (1942)
22. George Burns in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
23. Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
24. Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (1995)
25. Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People (1980)
26. John Gielgud in Arthur (1981)
27. Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940)
28. Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier (1943)
29. Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II (1972)
30. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007) 
31. Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955)
32. Burl Ives in The Big Country (1958)
33. Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972)
34. Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
35. Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
36. Anthony Quinn in Lust for Life (1956)
37. James Coburn in Affliction (1998)
38. John Mills in Ryan's Daughter (1970)
39. Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
40. Chris Cooper in Adaptation (2002)
41. Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! (1952)
42. Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)
43. Benicio Del Toro in Traffic (2000)
44. Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur (1959)
45. Joseph Schilderkraut in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
46. Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
47. George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
48. Lou Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
49. Walter Brennan in Kentucky (1938)
50. Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001)
51. Walter Brennan in Come and Get It (1936) 
52. Ed Begley in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
53. Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley (1941)
54. Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
55. Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
56. Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment (1983)
57. Tim Robbins in Mystic River (2003)
58. Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
59. Denzel Washington in Glory (1989)
60. Christopher Plummer in Beginners(2011)
61. Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
62. John Houseman in The Paper Chase (1973)
63. Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993) 
64. Jason Robards in All the President's Men (1976)
65. Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
66. Jack Palance in City Slickers (1991)
67. Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
68. Melvyn Douglas in Being There (1979)
69. Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns (1965)
70. Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules (1999)
71. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (1997)
72. Dean Jagger in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
73. George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
74. Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)
75. George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
76. Don Ameche in Cocoon (1985)
77. Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996)

Best Actor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZU3Do9qAWE
Best Supporting Actor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FEAisrGcMQ

Next Year: Supporting 2012

Best Actor 2012: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master

Joaquin Phoenix received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Freddie Quell in The Master.

The Master is a film that is very divisive, I am happy to say it divided me on the positive side. I did not feel it was as aimless some seemed to have claimed, and I thought it was very fascinating film that studies the nature of cults through the story of a troubled war veteran in the 1950's.

It seems like Joaquin Phoenix is not a favorite actor of mine evidenced by my reviews of his previous two nominations. His work as Johnny Cash was indeedrather safe, although honestly so was the film's depiction of Cash. His work in the Master seems quite different as he goes out on a limb with this performance, something one might say he did in Gladiator, but I would disagree he was pretty safe there too. In Gladiator he mainly gave a derivative performance taking from the likes of Jay Robinson and Peter Ustinov as previous depictions of evil Roman Emperors. In the Master though Phoenix does not seem to be taking ques from any actors from the past, at least not in a obvious fashion, for his portrayal of Freddie Quell.

Something I think that perhaps contributes to the divisive nature of the film is the face that we do not see where Freddie comes from. We do not see him before the war we only see him after clearly spending far too time in battles that have left him a broken man. From the first scene we see him in he is already deeply troubled who is both an alcoholic and a sex addict. Phoenix's face certainly is fitting for such a man as his expression here is that of a man who has been through hell without having ever recovered from this trauma instead just overriding through his vices of drink and sexual thoughts. Phoenix importantly shows us the different states of Freddie early on when he still in the service.

In his scenes of drinking, fighting, and sand raping Phoenix shows Quell in a daze of nothing more than preoccupation of his time. Freddie does not seem to dwell though and seems sufficiently preoccupied with this behavior to allow him to ignore that which would trouble him otherwise. On the other hand when we witness a more sober less occupied Freddie such as when he is being given a psychiatric examination. Phoenix expresses well a sadness in the man, a dread that is uncompromising and seemingly unending. This is something that never seems to leave him either which set up perfectly the idea that Freddie is most certainly damaged goods. Phoenix shows something horrible definitely happened to Freddie in the war that he has never gotten over.

After he leaves the service we see Freddie attempting to become the proper civilian as the Navy wished him to become. As we witness him attempting to be a photographer in a department store there is perhaps an attempt at happiness here, yet a hollow one. Phoenix puts in his smile a strange disconcerting element that seems awkward and unhealthy to say the least. What comes into play here is the intensely physical nature of Phoenix's work here which he does go out on limb where Freddie makes awkward pains expressions often, and never knows quite how to sit or stand. This is a tremendous risk by Phoenix but it pays off properly by expressing the nature of his character beautifully. The nature of Freddie being a truly unsettled man who can never even relax in his own body.

We see the first one of Freddie's breakdown as he harasses a costumer who becomes unsettled by Freddie's behavior. Phoenix is excellent in this scene, the first of many showing Freddie loses even the slightest bounds that he is held by, as it is not that Freddie even seems to put effort into his erratic act. Instead Phoenix shows this as man who cannot simply contain himself in such a way and this is a strangely natural behavior. The violent act is something that is easy, and perhaps one of the few moments in which Freddie seems to be able to be entirely himself as his behavior obviously does not even have the slightest hint of being self contained.

This is quite a unique performance by Phoenix as a portrays an alcoholic in such a non traditional fashion that expresses well the state of this character. We never really know whether Freddie has been drinking or not or if he has been drinking how much or what material is held in his current concoction. Phoenix makes this merely the way Freddie is particularly early on. He never stops drinking it merely a function of his being and obviously that is another part of what leaves him as unpredictable as how he is. It is really something special here the fact that Phoenix makes his drinking just one of the many aspects of this man, and it is something that is almost just an integral part of him. He makes this sort of alcoholic natural, and it is amazing the way it does not overwhelm his portrayal by any means.

When Freddie loses his job as a photographer due to his breakdown, as well as a job as a farm worker due to one of his concoctions, and ends up accidentally on the ship that is being used by a strange cult called the Cause lead by the charismatic Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Phoenix plays these scenes well as Freddie drifts into this world that really has no idea the full extent of it. Phoenix makes Freddie a very casual viewer at first mostly there to enjoy the food, a place to be, and have another place to find liquid to make alcohol with. Freddie is just there for the ride at first but there with some interest enjoying the atmosphere and intrigued by Dodd in some way. Phoenix finds just the right path for Freddie here as he is still is only drifting here but leaves the proper indications that he is interested enough to stay for more.

He does indeed stay for more as Dodd decides to experiment on Freddie by having him undergo Dodd's "therapeutic" technique known as processing. This scene is incredible for Phoenix's performance as Dodd forces the truth of Freddie out in the opening. At first Phoenix shows Freddie basically just joking around basically dodging any actually questions about himself staying very much as the drifter, but as Dodd pressures Freddie for me the past of the drifter comes. Phoenix makes Freddie a surprisingly heartbreaking character here as he lets loose the nature of what makes Freddie the broken man he is. The sorrow he releases when he verbalizes his lost love, as well as the other problems of his life. Phoenix is extremely moving showing the core of this man showing exactly how pained Freddie really is as well as allowing us to see the real human behind this erratic drifter.

After his processing Freddie seems to become more involved with the idea of the Cause, even though Phoenix is careful keep this very much in line with how Freddie is. It is a strange investment that he takes with them as he seems heartily devoted at times, without even seeming to understand what exactly they stand for. Such as he shows feigning interest, even bemusement at some of what Dodd is saying, he neither seems to take his words to heart, nor does he seem to forget them entirely. At the same time though when someone questions the Cause and Dodd Freddie is the first to jump to action and defend the Cause by violently beating the man who questioned it. This is perfectly fitting for Freddie as he is such a broken  messy man that he can't even become part of a cult in the right fashion.

Phoenix sets up the tacit involvement well, and due to this it is easy to see that he breaks away from the cult once again with an ease of only hearing some less than confidant words form Dodd's son about the Cause as well as falling into another violent breakdown due to the police. Phoenix makes Freddie such a shaky man no matter what that he can fall from this conditioning so quickly, and become his animal like self once again through the simplest cause. When in prison Phoenix makes Freddie truly a caged animal that once again lets loose of all the violent tendencies he too holds back at other times. Once again though Dodd manages to pull Freddie back into his world through simply saying he is friend, and Phoenix makes this believable as Fredde is a man straining to hold onto something.

Dodd decides to further his experiment on Freddie and there is a series of scenes in which to show the endless attempts to put Freddie into the Cause. These are basically a series of physiological torture, and in away physical torture as well. Phoenix is masterful in these series of scenes as he brilliantly builds Freddie to the point of indoctrination. He excellent in finding the truth of these scenes, and bringing to life the way they do slowly affect Freddie. He never compromises the nature of Freddie importantly showing him to still be the erratic man he should be, but slowly showing him becoming almost entranced by the training to somehow find an odd peace with himself. His face at the end of the set of scenes as it expresses some strange bliss in the man brought on by this odd conditioning.

Freddie seems to continue with his bliss of a man who has found some strange happiness that does not last long though, and Phoenix does well in clearly establishing this as not a deep happiness but more of a temporary state. It does not take much for him to lose it only seeing the slightest hesitation in Dodd, which Phoenix does brilliantly. The smallest reaction in Hoffman's performance causes the smallest reaction in Phoenix's performance that indicates the instant loss of this state. Freddie delves once again into a form of himself when he violently attacks another man who question Dodd's writing. Phoenix does show a difference he as Freddie seems to have a moment of clarity as he examines himself, and we can see that The Cause is only another place from Freddie to drift.

The last scenes of his performance certainly are up to interpretation which is the right way to end on this character of Freddie. To have a happy ending for this man, who very well could be just insane, would be quite wrong for him. Phoenix though still creates a poignant image of this man at the end of the film as we see Freddie still a man without a place, or a Master. The rage has left him, as has the anxiety, but the sadness of him has not. The sadness now though has changed and Phoenix beautifully shows there some greater understanding within himself that allows him to reject Dodd last attempt with a sad resignation that there is nothing more for Freddie there. This is not the cleanest end to a character perhaps but perfectly fitting for Freddie. This is a brilliant performance that goes off on one note and succeeds in creating a vivid portrayal of this man. His connection with Hoffman in this film is astonishing the way they play off each is outstanding to the point, as I said earlier, that they connect with even the most subtle of reactions. This is a tremendous work from Joaquin Phoenix that never looks back, and makes a truly lasting impression.

Best Actor 2012: Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook

Bradley Cooper received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Patrick "Pat Jr." Solitano in Silver Linings Playbook.

Silver Linings Playbook is an enjoyable film about a man recently released from a mental institution who moves back in with his parents and attempts to reconcile his marriage even things get complicated by a troubled young widow Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who he befriends.

Bradley Cooper here portrays the troubled man Pat Jr. whose life is in shambles after a violent break down from finding out his wife was cheating on him. This is apparently a change of pace for Cooper whose previous films tended to be lighter weight or "dumber" comedies, I say apparently because I really have not seen these films. Anyway this is indeed a comedy, but with serious elements to it. The most serious element of the film really lies within Bradley Cooper's portrayal of Pat. Playing a mentally troubled individual is place where an actor certainly can go over the top or unrealistic in their portrayal though this is definitely not a problem for Bradley Cooper here.

Cooper takes on the mental disturbance part of his performance with a surprising degree of assurance in his portrayal of this. Cooper begins the film showing him to be a man who has not fully recovered from his breakdown but there has been some recovery from him. Bradley Cooper is very effective by internalizes so well in these scenes that show him to be on edge and which affect his overall behavior. Cooper is very good in portraying the deep seeded rage that is within his eyes that has not gone away from his original violent reaction to the traumatic moment in his life. Cooper creates just the right amount of uneasiness in his performance that allows Pat to be both man trying to remake himself, but as well could easily fall back.

An early effective moment of Cooper's is when he first goes to visit his therapist after leaving the institution and hears the same song from his wedding as well as when he found out about his wife's adultery. This is tricky moment in which Pat gets set off by the music which is a trigger of his. Cooper is extremely good in this scene as he portrays the quick breakdown honestly. He shows the attempts to resist his reaction, but as well just the savage intensity that comes from bringing back the memories of his trauma. Bradley Cooper plays the scene very well through the whole breakdown and he handles his attempt to put himself back together quickly in a moving fashion.

In all of the scenes early in the film where Pat has serious problems coping with his issues Cooper always resists any urge to overact in the least. He is extremely effective in both of his early breakdowns getting across the emotional stress his character is feeling beautifully. He not plays it up, instead he finds the emotional truth within his character, rather than letting just be an excuse for him to "act". A particularly great moment is when he pushed around and could become violent again. Cooper is just fantastic in this scene as he silently shows exactly what Pat is going through right in his face as he tries to keep himself in check even as he is pained to do so.

One of the big aspects of his character though is the way he seems to say just about anything that comes in his head no matter how unfitting it might be to a particular situation. Again Cooper does this in a surprisingly natural fashion that does not feel like some sort of wacky character trait, but rather just the approach that Pat must take to be able to deal with his life. He makes this unabashed quality to Pat really work in favor of his characterization, and that it is just one of his ways he is trying to cope with his problems. Although I would not necessarily say that it is quite an endearing part of him, but he is able to make it appropriately natural aspect of the character which works well.

Cooper is the one and only true lead in the film. I say this because although Pat's relationship to Tiffany is central to the film, so is Pat's relationship with his family. Cooper is the absolute center of the film and as so he is the one who really must work all the other different character's together, which he does do. He plays well with both Jacki Weaver as his mother which is a purely warmth filled relationship as well as with his father played by Robert De Niro. With De Niro he shapes a more complex relationship but manages to realizes both the highs and lows of their father son relationship in equal measure. When they are fighting and when they are showing their love for one another he and De Niro hit just the right notes.

With all the other character who pop in and out of the film some who are perhaps a little too expressive at times could easily become problematic but they don't and I think the reason why it doesn't become a problem is due to Bradley Cooper. He is in pretty much every scene and almost everyone has to act against him. Cooper though acts always as a sort of a balancing act to all and does it incredibly well making the various character's do their things in their humorous fashion, and Cooper either adds to it through the bluntness of Pat he brings out so well at times. Cooper as well through his surprisingly down to earth portrayal, surprising because he is playing a character who is bi-polar, honestly allows some of those other flamboyant portrayals.

Of course the central relationship is Pat's relationship with Tiffany. Cooper and Lawrence are quite good together and just have some natural chemistry works very well. There is technically speaking the usual romantic comedy staple of the two clearly being for each other, but certain things keeping them apart. Well in far lesser romantic comedy it is usually not character based, and is always that contrived lie device. This film is much better and instead creates the hesitations from the characters particularly due to Pat. One thing that Pat believes for most of the film is that he can get back with his wife. Cooper is very good in showing that this feeling is what really keeps Pat on a purely friend basis with Tiffany, and he believably shows this persistent foolish belief Pat holds.  

Rather than show it as this big romance it is shown as more of growing friendship between the two with subtle indications by Cooper of it growing into more. This handle almost silently by Cooper and he does it especially well. For example in the last scenes of the film we see Pat's reaction to seeing his wife again but as well as he sees Tiffany. Cooper is outstanding the way he reflects the change in Pat in this scene and how he finally lost his hopeless faith for his wife moving instead to realizes his love for Tiffany. When he finally does admit his love for Tiffany, it really works effectively because of how much it was earned beforehand by Cooper's subtle depiction of these feeling.

This is an excellent performance by Bradley Cooper and shows a great deal of ability from the actor. In a part that so easily could have been overacted, Cooper stays believable throughout even when being humorous. With a character that could have been easy to hate, Cooper makes Pat very likable man even with his troubles. In a film where there could be very serious problems involving the tone of the films considering the tricky subject of mental illness along with the fact that it uses it in context with a romantic comedy it is astonishing that it does not all go very wrong, and one of the biggest reasons it works is Cooper's great performance in the center film that takes just the right approach and finds the perfect tone for the film.

Best Actor 2012: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar from his fifth Oscar nomination for portraying president Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln.

Lincoln is a very good film about Lincoln's struggle to pass the 13th amendment. It is not perfect, several scenes could have been taken out easily, but it is definitely an effective piece.

With the likely hood of Daniel Day-Lewis winning his third Oscar being quite high I feel I should address the idea of him breaking the record of two lead Oscars held by Day-Lewis, Spencer Tracy, Sean Penn, Tom Hanks, Marlon Brando, Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Dustin Hoffman, and Jack Nicholson. I have heard saying Day-Lewis is not worthy of breaking the record, well lets actually look at it the way it should be looked at which is the performances each one for. Tracy, Hanks, and Penn gave fairly unimpressive performances for both their wins. Gary Cooper won for one fine performance and one bad one. Nicholson won for one great performance and one where he coasted on his screen persona.

Dustin Hoffman and Fredric March won one for a good performance and an okay performance although Hoffman took what should have been Gene Hackman's second lead Oscar, and Fredric March took away what should have been either Laurence Olivier's or James Stewart's second Oscar. The only two actors who really gave two impressive and deserving performances are Marlon Brando who won for one incredible performance, and one very good performance, and Daniel Day-Lewis. Daniel Day-Lewis deserved both of his wins which could not be more different. One for his amazing turn as Christy Brown in My Left Foot as a physically disabled man with a great mind, and the other an ambitious turn as a greedy oil man in There Will Be Blood.

Daniel Day-Lewis is the only one of two actors to have deserved both his wins, and since he Brando had his "I don't give an expletive" for more or less after Last Tango in Paris, I for one think Day-Lewis is more than worthy of breaking the record (although Laurence Olivier obviously should hold the record with at least four but what can you do). Day-Lewis is particularly worthy though in again he takes on a wildly different role than his Oscar winning performances this time as Abraham Lincoln often described as the greatest man to ever have held that office. Lincoln has been portrayed before by many different actors, Raymond Massey was in fact nominated for portraying Lincoln back in the 40's.

Day-Lewis, like Massey, is not American born and both actors adopt an accent for the role. Massey was unusual sounding, as is Day-Lewis's. There is a key difference though which is Massey still in all the speeches in his film speaks loudly in a brazen manner, something that Day-Lewis never does. Day-Lewis's accent he uses here is just flawless. It tells us where Lincoln is coming from and it is fascinating the way he commands attention with his voice without just about never speaking in a commanding fashion. It is a masterstroke of acting by Day-Lewis here as it just sets up his character so well just from his first scene where he quietly talks to a couple of soldiers. Day-Lewis makes Lincoln as a man who pulls you in without ever forcing you in.

One of the main aspects of Day-Lewis's performance here is warmth. Day-Lewis plays a lot of different characters but not many of them would one describe them as a warm fellow. Even when he plays a positive character warm is not the first thing that would come to mind. Day-Lewis here though is incredible the way he shows such a different side of his abilities through his performance as Lincoln. Day-Lewis like his accent brings it to the part so effortlessly in his portrayal. Day-Lewis beautifully realizes this quality so well, something lacking in Massey's portrayal, that honestly works as well as it possibly could in showing why Lincoln would be so popular not only to the populace but to those around him as well.

Day-Lewis does everything he can to establish just that loving quality in Lincoln, and how easy it is to pay attention to him even though he is not trying to force you to. Day-Lewis really is giving it all not only through his voice, his welcoming facial expressions and even his physical manner. The way Lincoln sits or stands so unassumingly as well as the way he holds people's hands. Day-Lewis just welcomes basically all here as Lincoln, and he creates the man one would imagine he would be. Some of the other Lincoln portrays seem almost inhuman due to the way Day-Lewis so brilliantly makes Lincoln an actual man, but an actual man with such a special and unique manner that makes him such an easy man to like.

Day-Lewis gets so much out of his style he takes with performance, and because of Day-Lewis I loved every moment in which he spoke to anyone in his unique style. Day-Lewis works it in so well and how his personality allows him to maneuver through his many difficult situations as president. Day-Lewis tells each of Lincoln stories so beautifully as a seasoned story teller who entrances the uninitiated even if it frustrates those who have heard just one too many story. Day-Lewis gets across two things in these moments partially that is a strategy from Lincoln to diffuse situations and get his points across, but as well is entirely in earnest there is not the slightest hint of falseness in his method.

In every aspect of Lincoln's abilities to sway those he needs to sway Day-Lewis absolutely nails it. He never tries to make him a forceful man pursing against others staying most of the film intensely quiet in his performance. He makes it work all so well  he adjusts magnificently from one situation to another and is absolutely convincing in doing this throughout the film. Day-Lewis is just perfect the way he conveys the intelligence of Lincoln through the slightest glances and reactions. They are always small very subtle and amazing the way he brings to life the more calculating aspects of his mind that is very much required for Lincoln to be an effective president.

Even when Lincoln is more confrontational like when he meets with the confederate delegation, or when he speaks to radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) Day-Lewis still underplays it to great effect. Day-Lewis is impeccable the way he able to make Lincoln almost seem somewhat besides himself at times during these scenes that would make the potentially troublesome situation already lose much of their tension. At the very same time though he always portrays that Lincoln is never thought of as a fool, and that his manner still very much always get right down to the point of the issue at the same time. Day-Lewis makes Lincoln a quick efficient political operative all the while still being very pleasant about it all. 

Due to the way Day-Lewis stays so reserved for most of these scenes it makes it far more powerful when Lincoln finally does raise his voice in one pivotal scene where he finally speaks out loudly showing how much disgust he has over slavery, but as well as the inane politics involved with getting it passed. Day-Lewis is excellent to it and entirely earns the moment by showing firstly that Lincoln only does it here do to the urgency of the situation, but as well he builds to it in a terrific fashion as he hears the complains around him till he finally squishes all of them in a instant by finally putting out exactly how he feels about what is going on around. It is a spectacular moment, and Day-Lewis delivers completely in the moment.

Of course his character does not stop even there, and there is another whole aspect to his portrayal of Lincoln though only deepens his characterization. Although this indeed a performance filled with life in his portrayal of Lincoln, Day-Lewis nevertheless portrays an underlying feelings of melancholy due to having to suffer through the losses of the civil war as well as the death of his own son. Day-Lewis is spectacular the way he can so well infuses this as simply the state of Lincoln as man due to his life. It is not that he is always depressed, but instead Day-Lewis properly portrays it is being something deep within his bones that he cannot escape from.

In his moments with Lincon's living sons Day-Lewis is so good in the way, without ever really even emphasizing it, that his relationship with them is very much haunted by his deceased sons. Day-Lewis shows the fatherly love and guidance well, but there is an unmistakable sadness in him that seems to reflect the idea that there that his sons constantly remind him of his losses, as well as the possibility that he could even lose more before the end of his life. It is amazing the way he can have Lincoln be an entirely warm friendly character who at the very same time being a very sad man without one ever over taking the other, as well as always making it entirely believable that he would function in this way.

This grief also clearly is shown to affect his relationship with his wife Mary Todd (Sally Field). The two together are excellent in creating the long marriage between the two where there has been too many hardships. The love seems for the most part to be long gone, and there is a coldness in their scenes together that both actors are effective by showing it comes from their mutual pains shared. At the same time though they do have a familiarity that does show they do understand it each other well.

Day-Lewis is good here because besides a few small moments of tenderness, which are well place, he shows with her are harsher side to Lincoln. Day-Lewis is particularly great in their scene where they fight over their son's decision to join the army. In the scene Day-Lewis is excellent in creating Lincoln's honest exhaustion, and bitterness brought on by his wife's descent into insanity, and shows that even a man as patient as Lincoln has a breaking point. It is a terrific moment that properly humanizes Lincoln making him to be a great man, but still a man.

This simply is phenomenal work by Daniel Day-Lewis. With a figure who sometimes is taken as such a larger than life man Day-Lewis not only finds the down to earth humanity of the man, but as well still creates his Lincoln as such a man that would lead many to see him in such a glorious manner. This is a outstanding achievement by Daniel Day-Lewis as he has such an assured approach that absolutely creates Abraham Lincoln so vividly in a way many other actors were not able to do. Day-Lewis succeeds in every aspect of the man creating a complex portrait of the president, that is something wonderful to behold.

Best Actor 2012: Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables

Hugh Jackman received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

Les Miserables is a film with that pointless slight shaky cam for no good reason, dutch angels that are unnecessary, and close ups. Well really I thought the close ups worked for the most part, after all one of my favorite director Sergio Leone loved the close ups. The new song Suddenly seems like Oscar baiting since it is rather unremarkable, and it possibly displaced two superior songs. One being "Drink With Me" being truncated which is unfortunate considering the way the song so brilliantly shows the kinship between the students attempting a revolution but as well builds their despair as they see that their cause most likely will be lost. The other being "Dog Eats the Dog" which adds a very dark edge to Thernadier making him more than just comic relief, and I would have liked to see Sasha Baron Cohen perform it.

Also the editing of the film certainly is questionable at times for example it definitely should have shown Marius witness the aftermath of the revolution outside before "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". Some of the singing could be question like Russell Crowe as Javert. I got use to his voice quickly though, as I am not a singing snob, and honestly I really liked his performance of the character's two major solos. With its flaws that certainly are there at most I could only think it is descent right? Wrong. I loved it and I have to say it. There are not many musicals I like but this one just hits me the right way. I loved the musical and I loved the film. The final emotional impact the film had on me the moment I finished overrode any of its issues for me, and none of the power of the musical was lost for me.

Well getting that out of the way, I suppose I should address how the leading man of the film is. An interesting fact is the last actor to win the best leading actor Oscar for a traditional musical, Rex Harrison for my Fair Lady, sang his songs live which is the same for Hugh Jackman in this film. This is a decision by Tom Hooper that was a intelligent one and for a musical as emotional as Les Miserables it allows the actors to properly punctuate the emotions of each song through their performances. Hugh Jackman has a many different songs through the film where Valjean is at vastly different emotional and physical states in the film, and this different style of singing gives Jackman the ability to voice Valjean differently which properly suggest the various states of Valjean.

Hugh Jackman singing voice is not nearly as full as the two other Valjean's in the concert versions of the musicals who are Alfie Boe, and Colm Wilkinson who is also in this film as the Bishop of Digne. Jackman's voice thought still fits his character, and perhaps even more so early on in the film when Valjean is first released from prison as an embittered man filled with disgust over his treatment by the world. Jackman is effective early on by intensely portraying this with Valjean in these moments, and properly shows Valjean as a man very much at the end of his rope. There is a lacking of humanity here no warmth, but instead Jackman properly reflects the pain of his character here, something the other two Valjeans did not do as much.

This performance really is one of fairly broad emotions by Jackman which makes since after all his character early on the film sings out loud about what his character is feeling. When Valjean is saved from prison once more by the Bishop of Digne's kindness and Jackman delivers the "soliloquy". One can't really be Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy when singing a song to the screen well battling a orchestra to be noticed. Jackman manages with this song, as well as most of the other songs in the film, as he gets across the broad gestures that are the emotions of the song a through as they should be, but it does not feel like he is going over the top. Jackman manages still to be as realistic as one could be when singing in such a way, and conveys the conflict both through the power of the song and his face.

After Valjean period of being an embittered man and finds success staying a purely good character throughout the rest of the film only being troubled by his past and a policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) who will not stop hounding him. Jackman is very much on the nose here in terms of his emotions and his way of playing the character. He really plays him straight as there are not a lot of surprises to be seen but nor are there surprises in the character of Valjean after the opening scenes. In many ways he is very much almost a straight man within the story always firmly there to be this positive moral center in the story. Jackman does this well though by being so very enthusiastic in the part. He properly does not have any play within Valjean, Valjean is a good man and he is right in just reinforcing this conviction with his performance.

Hugh Jackman through every scene he is does exactly what he needs to with the part, and every time succeeds in being exactly as Valjean should be. Whether it is his look of fear and surprise for seeing Javert again, to later being deeply saddened to fine the lowly state his former worker Fantine (Anne Hathaway) has fallen into, his resilience to do the right thing despite having some hesitations due to his fate when he sings "Who am I", to even being slightly comic in the scene where Valjean is not fooled a moment by the con man innkeeper Thernadier, Jackman always consistently gives the passion to the part. Every moment of the film he portrays the emotions directly and to the point that goes in line with Valjean perfectly. Through of the varying tones, and styles of the scenes Jackman weaves through all of them well never faulting in the wrong direction instead bringing the proper weight to each and every scene.

I would say the only lull in his performance is when the story jumps ahead again to Valjean taking care of the daughter of Fantine, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), and fleeing with her to Paris to avoid Javert. Now really is not Jackman's fault as the story shifts mostly to the revolutionaries and the romance between Cosette and Marius (Eddie Redmayne) a young revolutionary. Valjean is mostly pushed into the background but to be fair Jackman is still good in that he portrays the appropriate warmth in his scenes with Seyfried but as well the fear and hesitations within Valjean over his troublesome past. The only time I really has any problem with his performance was in the song "One Day More". Valjean's voice is the back bone of the song and in the song Jackman's voice simply does not support the rest of the voices as Valjean's is suppose to do. This is though is a minor point, and made up by the later scenes of his performance.

What I think really does work in his performance here is his ability to succeed in "Who am I". The number actually is quite problematic in that Valjean basically instantly cares about Marius's and desperately wants him to live. The suddenness of it is a problem surely, but Jackman completely unabashed manner is what makes it work. Yes it is sudden but Jackman sings his heart and is emotionally convincing in the moment despite how instant it all is. Jackman is even more effective though in the final scenes as Valjean falls into grief due his own self imposed exile from his adopted daughter to protect her from his past, and eventually dies. I absolutely love Jackman's last scene as he honestly is convincing in his dying by grief, and he beautifully portrays the happiness that appears back again in his face as he sees his adopted daughter one more time. Valjean's death at the end of the scene is meant to be sad, poignant, and inspiring all in the same breath and Jackman does it once again through his uncompromising devotion to the part.

To be perfectly honest Hugh Jackman is not one of my very favorite actors. I don't dislike him as he has certain charm and screen presence. This performance though absolutely works for me though, and is easily his best. The only time I have any issue with his performance with One Day More, but that honestly is almost a nitpick. Jackman handles the singing well and always with the song conveys the emotions right along with it. Now really if you don't go along with the film you definitely will not being going along with his performance. As someone who did go along right with the film Jackman served as a perfect anchor for the film. Hugh Jackman stands firm delivery a consistent powerful performance that goes straight ahead forward with the film, and if you are ready to go along with him he takes you right with him through every emotional step of the film.