Best Supporting Actor 1997: Results

5. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting- Williams although struggles a bit to be wholly believable in terms of the "history" of the character, does fantastic in articulating the character's wisdom through difficult experience.

4. Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets- Greg Kinnear is very good in all his scenes and shows the changes of his character well, even in amidst of bad writing.

3. Anthony Hopkins in Amistad- Hopkins is very good as John Quincy Adams, playing the part as it should be played, with a very good final speech.

2. Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights- Burt Reynolds is very good in Boogie Nights making Jack Horner into such a loving and caring father figure.

1. Robert Forster in Jackie Brown- Forster plays his role pitch perfectly sharing marvelous chemistry with Pam Grier.

Deserving Performances:
Kevin Spacey in L.A. Confidential

Best Supporting Actor 1997: Anthony Hopkins in Amistad

Anthony Hopkins received his fourth Oscar nomination for portraying the elderly John Quincy Adams in Amistad.

As much as I always am interested in history, and historical films this film bored me most of the time. It was too slow and stale and left most of the character underdeveloped. It does feel too much like a history lesson, but it does not even have all of its facts right. Re-watching the film again, I'd say I preferred it slightly over my viewing from the time of this review. The film though is one of the inconsistencies and suggests the greatest fault that developed with Spielberg, which was a lack of a grip on tone. The film goes from extreme horrors to extreme sentimentalism, with a particular overuse of John Williams with the latter, that do not cohere effectively. There are good moments in the film but Spielberg's hand is not assured here.

Anthony Hopkins plays Quincy Adams who in this film is an old man but still involved in politics enough to help the slaves who revolted on the Amistad ship. As Adams, Hopkins drifts in and out of the film showing slight interest in the case early on and then eventually defending enslaved people in front of the supreme court. Hopkins is just fine in all of his scenes.  I like the voices he uses for Adams and he certainly looks a lot like Adams in this film. He does his best possible job at being Adams without ever really seeming to force any mannerisms or anything like that.  He does just a good job of being the historical person who he is portraying. His character is not overly complex and is a part that is more functionary. Still though Hopkins fully fulfills the function as well as possible. He sells Adams's age well and never does not seem as he should be. He mostly just has short little conversations that Hopkins does a fine job with, that is until the his final big speech in front of the supreme court. Hopkins does a very good job with the speech making it pretty effective abut still it is not one of the greatest ever, just a good end speech. Overall he is just fine throughout and I wish a little more of the movie had been about him because Hopkins does quite well even without really that complex of a character.

Speaking on Anthony Hopkins, my views actually haven't changed considerably though my original thoughts are a bit boilerplate, and actually a bit inconsistent with my rating, as my original thoughts as given are clearly of more than a 3 anyways. There is more credit to be given though to Hopkins's performance, which is that of a few key scenes throughout the film as the elderly Adams. That element alone deserves more praise as while Hopkins was in no way a young man at the time of this film, he wasn't nearly as old as the character he portrays. Hopkins though naturally eases into the more labored movements of the man nearing the end of his life, though with this inherent dignity of a man who never allows his age to be a disadvantage. Hopkins's accent work here was also underrated in fashioning an antiquated Massachusetts accent that feels lived in and appropriate to the man of aged respect and intelligence. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect, and really a rare thing altogether, is Hopkins's physical facial performance, something that honestly took me by surprise with its quiet brilliance of it. Where modern historical figures have footage to be imitated or evoked from, Hopkins appears to have used the actual portraits and daguerreotypes of Adams. Hopkins's distinct expressions, the way he molds his eyebrows, the way he hardens his eyes, even the tighter jaw are not innate to Hopkins, they rather appear to be fitting to Adams in those visual records of the man. It is a fascinating realization, that not only works, was so natural within his performance that I failed to pick up on Hopkins's immaculate crafting of this manner. His performance though is used as a heavy hitter within the film, really to spice a few things up, and is easily a highlight within the film. Hopkins plays the older statesmen with ease bringing that ease and grace about him, but also with a noted warmth, particularly in his big meeting with Djimon Hounsou as the African on trial for taking the slave ship by force. Hopkins segues towards a natural warmth just as easily as he has that slightly dismissive tone towards others who are not at his intellectual level. Whether it is a quick barb or just a general statement of curiosity, Hopkins makes Adams the consummate scene-stealer in the right way. That all leads toward his final big speech, which is handled with a confident and low-key passion. An earned moment of inspiration thanks to Hopkins's quietly devoted performance. He does not oversell the sentiment he earns it. Special mention I think should be given to the moment of commenting on his father as the importance of what was written before, where he does suggest that familial bond if only in his reaction to looking at the bust of his father. Where other aspects of the film fall into moments of inconsistency with Spielberg's less than sure hand here, Hopkins is pitch-perfect every step of the way. Powerfully portraying the eccentric old president who still has some purpose left.

Best Supporting Actor 1997

And the Nominees Were:

Robert Forster in Jackie Brown

Anthony Hopkins in Amistad

Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting

Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights

Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets

Who do you pick? What do you predict my ranking will be?

Best Supporting Actor 2003: Results

5. Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams- Del Toro surprised me how little he did with his performance here and I never felt he made any sort of emotional connection ever in the film with this performance.

4. Djimon Hounsou in In America- Hounsou gives his usual two setting of performance, which is either speaking in a whisper or yelling wildly.

3. Alec Baldwin in The Cooler- Baldwin is completely competent throughout the film but what he does never makes much of an impact.

2. Tim Robbins in Mystic River-Robbins work never quite overcomes the surface posturing, yet there is some power found in the more subtle elements of his performance.

1. Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai- A good performance that makes the strongest impact within the film, giving an entertaining yet moving portrayal of his charismatic leader.

Best Supporting Actor 2003: Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams

Benicio Del Toro received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Jack Jordan a born again ex convict whose life turns for a worse after a tragic accident.

21 Grams I found to be a strange film, since it has many scenes that should be emotional but are oddly distant. It never becomes interesting or effective and the odd structure is unnecessary rather than effective.

Del Toro's performance I was surprised and found it to be completely disappointing. Like the film Del Toro's performance seems like something interesting and emotionally powerful but instead is oddly distant. Del Toro underplays his role, and if you read my reviews you probably know I really like subtle acting but here Del Toro is not subtle he merely is basically nothing most of the time. Most of the time he just has the same depressed face almost throughout the entire performance. I found he did nothing with his eyes or face int his performance. He just kept the same face almost throughout and really did nothing with it.

Del Toro is not terrible but he is never interesting in this performance. He really failed to resonate at all. I found his choices odd and that he was never fully able to make his character understandable. He never made me believe the way he acted toward his children so harshly, or really why he gives up on life. He never really made me understand the character's initial faith than loss of faith. He just mostly kept him with that one face that made him nothing to me. He has only one scene where he loses that face when he yells at one scene he is okay at this but he still adds no more complexity to the character. I think Del Toro and this character could have made a great performance but for some reason almost every thing in the film came off the same way so maybe it really was all the director's fault, I am not sure. Either way what is on screen never impressed me and merely left completely surprised with an actor who I usually find is far better than this.

Best Supporting Actor 2003

 And the Nominees Were:

Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai

Alec Baldwin in The Cooler

Tim Robbins in Mystic River

Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams

Djimon Hounsou in In America 

Who do you pick? What do you predict my ranking will be?

Best Supporting Actor 1936: Results

5. Mischa Auer in My Man Godfrey- Auer's whole purpose is to be funny, and I never found him to be so.

4. Stuart Erwin in Pigskin Parade- I sort of liked Erwin's performance as the hill billy football star because he did not go over the top, but he was not exactly amazing either.

3. Akim Tamiroff in The General Died at Dawn- Tamiroff at least does not go over the top with his Chinese general but he is so stiff that his performance never holds much interest.

2. Basil Rathbone in Romeo and Juliet- Rathbone is fine as Tybalt, although not great, but than again Tybalt is not much of a character. 

1. Walter Brennan in Come and Get It- Brennan accent is not perfect and his role becomes too reduced for most of the film, but he is incredibly strong in the early scenes when he needs to be.

Deserving Performances:
Frank Morgan in The Great Ziegfeld
Peter Lorre in Secret Agent
Robert Young in Secret Agent

Best Supporting Actor 1936: Basil Rathbone in Romeo and Juliet

Basil Rathbone received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Tybalt in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet is a fairly poor adaptation of Shakespeare's plays because they fail to really make language work, and many of the performances are incredibly dull.

Basil Rathbone plays Tybalt who is hardly the greatest of Shakespeare's characters. In fact Tybalt does very little in the play therefore he does very little in this film. He is merely one of the Capulet's who want to get in a good fight with the Montagues. He does very little until he kills Mercutio and then is later killed by Romeo. He really is more of a plot catalyst than a real character. He lacks any big speeches, and his biggest scenes are sword fights. I hate to sound repetitive  but he is another nominee with very little to do.

Tybalt is no Hamlet, and Rathbone I suppose is no Olivier. He does not really make it come alive though but he handles it well enough. He never is really interesting though with his performance, but Tybalt himself is not a very interesting character anyways. He does just what about should be expected from Tybalt I suppose but that is very little. The biggest thing expected of him is to perform well in the sword fighting scenes. Rathbone excels at this I suppose, but then again maybe he is too good since it does not really look like Leslie Howard's Romeo really had a chance, and Rathbone losing seems a little forced. Rathbone is not bad as Tybalt, Tybalt just is not much of a character but someone still could have been better as Tybalt.

Best Supporting Actor 1936: Akim Tamiroff in The General Died at Dawn

Akim Tamiroff received his first Oscar nomination for portraying General Yang in The General Died at Dawn.

The General Died at Dawn is a strangely dull film despite having unique editing and a complicated story, although I will admit the version I watched really needed restored sound.

Akim Tamiroff portrays an evil Chinese warlord called General Yang. Now there were only a few ways non Asians generally played Asians. There was more offensive over the top way of say Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's or the stone faced way of Boris Karloff as Fu Manchu. Tamiroff plays Yang in the latter sort of way. He is always very stiff and very strict in his manner and his accent. The most he strives from this really is a sly smile now and again.

I will admit that its better that he did not go over the top, but at the same time he is a bit dull. He sticks too closely to his single way the whole time, and he never creates that interesting character in General Yang. He keeps in character though which is something, and he is never exactly bad, but never that good. His best scene is his last scene where he shows a little more emotion but still very little. He never creates more in his strict character than what is expected, causing his performance to be fine but never interesting.

Best Supporting Actor 1936

And the first ever nominees in this category were:

Mischa Auer in My Man Godfrey

Basil Rathbone in Romeo and Juliet

Akim Tamiroff in The General Died at Dawn

Stuart Erwin in The Pigskin Parade

Walter Brennan in Come and Get It

Who do you pick? What do you predict my ranking will be?

Best Supporting Actor 1959 Dudley Manlove

Not this is not about the nominees in 1959 I still need to see Robert Vaughn in the The Young Philadelphians but rather a technically possible nominee Dudley Manlove as Eros in Plan 9 From Outer Space one of the most unintentionally funny supporting performances I have ever seen.

The acting in plan 9 goes from people saying lines they have just learned, to people not knowing their line, to trying their hardest like Gregory Walcott well only Gregory Walcott who actually seems to try his best with probably only one take and terrible supporting players and script, but then there is the hilariously over the top Dudley Manlove which is his real name. He yells out his lines so over the top with lines such as "you see you see stronger, your stupid mines stupid stupid!" But he also has his sad solemn lines such as reflecting that all of the earth shall be gone in the blink of an eye or almost crying at the earth people due to their disbelief that an alien like he cannot also think of God. This performance is hilarious even though it probably was not meant to be. His performance is incredibly entertaining and is a big reason to watch the poorly made but enjoyable Plan 9 from outer space.