Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2004: Results

5.  Alex Fong in One Nite in Mongkok- Fong's performance is forced to be very much to the point but he manages to create his character along way quite effectively.

Best Scene: Milo covers up the shooting.

4. David Carradine in Kill Bill Vol. 2- I know I may suffer the same fate as Bill for this, but I have to admit that I don't love this performance. I just like it quite a bit.

Best Scene: The end of Bill and The Bride's duel.

3. Michael Madsen in Kill Bill Vol. 2 - My favorite of the assassins actually as Madsen brings so much heart to his performance.

Best Scene: Budd "wins"

2. Willem Dafoe in the Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou- Dafoe is absolutely endearing and incredibly funny as the Steve Zissou's most loyal man.

Best Scene: "Thanks for not picking me"

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly - Well this might come as a surprise to all. Hoffman does not have the great directors behind him that Dafoe, Madsen, and Carradine do. He just has himself, and I loved him the most.

Best Scene: Proxy Insurance speech.

Overall Rank:

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly
2. Willem Dafoe in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
3. Michael Madsen in Kill Bill Vol. 2
4. David Carradine in Kill Bill Vol. 2
5. Thomas Haden Church in Sideways
6. Peter O'Toole in Troy
7. Bud Cort in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
8. Javier Bardem in Collateral 
9. Rip Torn in Dodgeball 
10. Barry Shabaka Henley in Collateral 
11. Ben Stiller in Dodgeball
12. Jeff Goldblum in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
13. Colm Meaney in Layer Cake
14. Paul Rudd in Anchorman
15. Toby Kebbell in Dead Man's Shoes
16. Mark Wahlberg in I Heart Huckabees
17. Alex Fong in One Nite in Mongkok
18. David Thewlis in The Prisoner of Azkaban
19. Michael Gambon in Layer Cake
20. Dylan Moran in Shaun of the Dead
21. Stuart Wolfenden in Dead Man's Shoes
22. Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead
23. J.K. Simmons in Spider-Man 2
24. Jason Bateman in Dodgeball
25. Gary Cole in Dodgeball
26. Bill Nighy in Shaun of the Dead
27. Ulrich Matthes in Downfall
28. Fana Mokoena in Hotel Rwanda
29. Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man 2 
30. Thomas Kretschmann in Downfall
31. Alan Tudyk in Dodgeball
32. Tom Wilkinson in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
33. David Koechner in Anchorman
34. Gordon Liu in Kill Bill Vol. 2
35. Brian Cox in Troy
36. Christian Berkel in Downfall
37. Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2
38. Peter Serafinowicz in Shaun of the Dead
39. George Harris in Layer Cake
40. Alan Rickman in The Prisoner of Azkaban
41. John Hurt in Hellboy
42. John Turturro in Secret Window
43. Gary Stretch in Dead Man's Shoes
44. Burn Gorman in Layer Cake
45. Joan Dalmau in The Sea Inside
46. Stephen Root in Dodgeball
47. Ben Whishaw in Layer Cake
48. Nick Nolte in Hotel Rwanda
49. Tim Robbins in Anchorman
50. Mark Ruffalo in Collateral
51. Chris Parnell in Anchorman
52. Celso Bugallo in The Sea Inside
53. Luke Wilson in Anchorman
54. John C. Reilly in The Aviator
55. Charles S. Dutton in Secret Window
56. Tony Curran in Flight of the Phoenix
57. Alan Alda in The Aviator
58. Ben Stiller in Anchorman
59. Dustin Hoffman in I Heart Huckabees
60. Chin Ka-lok in One Nite in Mongkok
61. Hank Azaria in Dodgeball
62. Joaquin Phoenix in Hotel Rwanda
63. Len Cariou in Secret Window
64. Sean Bean in Troy 
65. Timothy Hutton in Secret Window
66. Jeffrey Tambor in Hellboy
67. Brad Bird in The Incredibles
68. Anson Leung in One Nite in Mongkok
69. Justin Long in Dodgeball
70. Jason Lee in The Incredibles
71. Nick Roud in Finding Neverland
72. Bruno Ganz in The Manchurian Candidate
73. Michael Parks in Kill Bill Vol. 2
74. Elijah Wood in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
75. Ben Foster in The Punisher
76. Bruce McGill in Collateral
77. Mos Def in The Woodsman
78. Mark Ruffalo in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
79. Samuel L. Jackson in Kill Bill Vol. 2
80. Giovanni Ribsi in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
81. Gary Oldman in The Prisoner of Azkaban
82. Samuel L. Jackson in The Incredibles
83. Ben Kingsley in Thunderbirds
84. Peter Sarsgaard in Kinsey
85. Billy Connolly in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
86. Tim Meadows in Mean Girls
87. David Hyde Pierce in Hellboy
88. Dylan Baker in Kinsey
89. Timothy Spall in The Prisoner of Azkaban
90. Dustin Hoffman in Finding Neverland
91. Will Patton in The Punisher
92. Michael Gambon in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
93. Timothy Spall in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events 
94. Owen Wilson in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
95. Brendan Gleeson in Troy 
96. Michael Shannon in The Woodsman
97. Jon Voight in The Manchurian Candidate
98. Steve Carell in Anchorman
99. Rupert Grint in The Prisoner of Azkaban
100. Dean Stockwell in The Manchurian Candidate
101. Ian Holm in The Day After Tomorrow
102. Alec Baldwin in The Aviator
103. Giovanni Ribsi in Flight of the Phoenix
104. Michael Gambon in The Prisoner of Azkaban
105. Roy Scheider in The Punisher 
106. Patrick Wilson in The Phantom of the Opera
107. Christopher Walken in The Stepford Wives
108. Jon Gries in Napoleon Dynamite
109. Bokeem Woodbine in Ray
110. Jon Lovitz in The Stepford Wives
111. Bill Paxton in Thunderbirds
112. Alec Baldwin in Along Came Polly
113. James Franco in Spider-Man 2
114. Karl Urban in The Chronicles of Riddick
115. Karel Roden in Hellboy
116. Warwick Davis in Ray
117. Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby
118. Freddie Highmore in Finding Neverland
119. John Travolta in The Punisher
120. Bryan Brown in Along Came Polly
121. Colm Feore in The Chronicles of Riddick
122. Kevin Pollack in The Whole Ten Yards
123. David Wenham in Van Helsing
124. Linus Roache in The Chronicles of Riddick
125. Efren Ramirez in Napoleon Dynamite
126. Roger Bart in The Stepford Wives
127. Frank Collison in The Whole Ten Yards
128. Garrett Hedlund in Troy
129. Hank Azaria in Along Came Polly
130. Hal Sparks in Spider-Man 2
131. Aaron Ruell in Napoleon Dynamite
132. Kevin J. O'Connor in Van Helsing
133. Richard Roxburgh in Van Helsing
134. Jay Baruchel in Million Dollar Baby

Next Year: 1983 lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2004: Alex Fong in One Nite in Mongkok

Alex Fong did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Inspector Milo in One Nite in Mongkok.

One Nite in Mongkok is a decent enough cop thriller about the police trying to find a would-be assassin Lai-fu (Daniel Wu) before he makes his hit.

Alex Fong plays the cop in charge of finding the assassin to prevent him from committing the hit. Fong is almost co-lead, but not quite, as Milo mostly because he's given few personal scenes, and when the film focuses on the cops it tends to show them in more of an ensemble type of view even if Milo is the lead one. Fong's performance is a very quiet and to the point performance since most of the film depicts Milo very much going through the process of tracking down the killer, although there is one brief scene that depicts his personal problem it is shown through some editing rather than really through Fong. Most of the film is focused on Lai-fu and his relationship with a prostitute who both are from mainland China opposed to Hong Kong. For the most part Fong is very much pigeonholed in his role, but that does not mean he does not still manage to create a more interesting character than the technically far more fleshed out true lead of the film.

Fong's very good in portraying frankly the events which have occurred before the film in which Milo had to shoot a suspect causing him to change especially since it contributed to his wife leaving him. Fong is effective in giving the constant sense of a certain depression that is simply part of Milo now. Fong's very good in portraying it as a lived in depression though as Milo is pretty much always on duty throughout the film therefore does not really have anytime to sulk. Fong's good in portraying the drive in Milo as he brings the needed underlying passion for Milo who still fulfills his duties despite his personal problems. Fong's quite good in making his performance always resonate somewhat even though his scenes often are far more focused on the chase than Milo. His performance always manages to show Milo as a real man reacting to each new development rather than just blank slate cop as he very well could have been.

The most major scene given to Fong is when one trigger happy cop accidentally shoots an unarmed man. Fong does make the most of his chance. Fong is very effective in conveying the way that Milo is basically running the whole situation through his head. On one hand he shows in his initial reaction the shock of the sudden action, and interestingly brings a warmth toward the support of the cop. Fong very naturally though brings a direct coldness as Milo works to cover up the mistake. Fong's really good here because although he shows Milo as forcing a cover up he always gives the sense that Milo is only doing it due to his empathy for his fellow officer. Unfortunately Fong is not given enough scenes like this, and I think it would have only aided the film if they had let Fong further explore Milo as a character. Nevertheless Fong handles the character of Milo quite adeptly by bringing a complexity basically between the margins of the film and makes us understand the character despite having few scenes to himself.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2004

And the Nominees Were Not:

David Carradine in Kill Bill Vol. 2

Michael Madsen in Kill Bill Vol. 2

Alex Fong in One Nite in Mongkok

Willem Dafoe in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly

And one more Bonus review for the leading category:

Tom Cruise in Collateral