Alternate Best Actor 2014: Results

10. Jake Gyllenhaal in Enemy - Jake Gyllenhaal effectively realizes the two "twins" unfortunately the film does not really give him anything interesting do with them.

Best Scene: Adam and Anthony meet for the second time.

9. David Oyelowo in Selma - David Oyelowo gives a great portrayal of Martin Luther King as a larger than life leader, but as well as a flawed man.

Best Scene: His final speech.

8. Brendan Gleeson in Calvary - Gleeson gives a quietly humorous and very moving depiction of a genuine decency.

Best Scene: Father James's final walk to the beach.

7. Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Most Wanted Man - Hoffman gives one last reminder of his tremendous talent with his memorable portrayal of an anti-terrorism operative who takes his victories through persuasion rather than violence.

Best Scene: Bachmann speaks with his informant who is having doubts.

6. Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice - Phoenix gives a funny and entertaining portrayal as private detective trying to solve a mind bending case, while constantly on mind bending drugs.

Best Scene: Doc and Bigfoot at the Chinese restaurant.

5. Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar - Matthew McConaughey gives a heartbreaking depiction of the human quantity that always manages to ground the science fiction epic, and even when the film stumbles McConaughey's still soars.  

Best Scene: Cooper watches the messages from home.

4. Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel - Fiennes gives an absolutely hilarious performance that acts as a truly delightful guide through his wonderful film.

Best Scene: Monsieur Gustave H. and Zero after the prison escape.

3. Tom Hardy in Locke - Hardy gives a consistently compelling performance that manages to carry his film alone, and makes a man simply driving and talking spellbinding to watch.

Best Scene: Locke speaks with his "father" the last time.

2. Guy Pearce in The Rover - Guy Pearce gives a masterful depiction of a man who has no sympathy for anything living in the present, yet is always haunted by his past.

Best Scene: Eric tells the story about his wife.

1. Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler - Good Predictions Luke, Anonymous, JackiBoyz, and Kevin. Well it's a good year for lead actor performances when a performance like Matthew McConuaghey's can't make the top five, you know it's a great one when a performance like David Oyelowo's is only on the very end of a top ten, and you know it's perhaps the best one ever when a performance like Oscar Isaac's in A Most Violent Year can't make it into a top ten. Even with all that I did not second guess myself once in choosing my winner for the overall year. Jake Gyllenhaal's work in Nightcrawler simply stood out for me through his endlessly fascinating and flawless depiction of a sociopath living the American dream.

Best Scene: Lou takes Nina out to dinner.

Overall Rank:

1. Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler
2. Michael Keaton in Birdman
3. Guy Pearce in The Rover
4. David Gulpilil in Charlie's Country
5. Tom Hardy in Locke
6. Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel
7. Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar
8. Tom Hardy in The Drop 
9. Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher 
10. Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice
11. Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Most Wanted Man
12. Brendan Gleeson in Calvary
13. David Oyelowo in Selma
14. Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year
15. Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow
16. Jeremy Renner in Kill The Messenger
17. Miles Teller in Whiplash
18. Cliff Curtis in The Dark Horse
    
19. Dan Stevens in The Guest
20. Nicolas Cage in Joe 
21. James Gandolfini in The Drop
22. Timothy Spall in Mr. Turner 
23. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
24. Shahid Kapoor in Haider
25. James McAvoy in X-Men: Days Of Future Past
26. Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
27. Eddie Redmayne in The Theory Of Everything
28. Tye Sheridan in Joe 
29. Ben Whishaw in Lilting
30. Viggo Mortensen in The Two Faces of January
31. Keanu Reeves in John Wick
32. Ben Affleck in Gone Girl 
33. Russell Crowe in Noah
34. Viggo Mortensen in Jauja
35. Bill Murray in St. Vincent 
36. Mads Mikkelsen in The Salvation
37. Patrick Wilson in Stretch
38. Macon Blair in Blue Ruin 
39. Chen Daoming in Coming Home
40. Gael Garcia Bernal in Rosewater
41. Chris Evans in Captain America: The Winter Soldier  
42. Russell Crowe in The Water Diviner 
43. Payman Maadi in Camp X-Ray
44. Jack O'Connell in '71
45. Noah Wiseman in The Babadook
46. Andy Serkis in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
47. Jake Gyllenhaal in Enemy
48. Jesse Eisenberg in The Double
49. Tommy Lee Jones in The Homesman
50. Channing Tatum in 22 Jump Street
51. Ethan Hawke in Predestination 
52. Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy 
53. Domhnall Gleeson in Frank 
54. Hugh Bonneville in Paddington
55. Ben Schnetzer in Pride
56. John Hawkes in Life of Crime 
57. Jack O'Connell in Unbroken
58. Liam Neeson in A Walk Among the Tombstones 
59. Ben Whishaw in Paddington
60. Brad Pitt in Fury
61. Pat Healy in Cheap Thrills
62. Robert Downey Jr. in The Judge 
63. James McAvoy in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him 
64. Jack O'Connell in Starred Up
65. Aleksei Serebryakov in Leviathan
66. Mos Def in Life of Crime 
67. Jude Law in Black Sea
68. Denzel Washington in The Equalizer
69. Alfred Molina in Love is Strange
70. Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins 
71. Iko Uwais in The Raid 2
72. Hugh Jackman in X-Men Days of Future Past
73. Mark Duplass in The One I Love 
74. John Lithgow in Love is Strange
75. Justin Long in Tusk
76. Oscar Isaac in The Two Faces of January
77. Liao Fan in Black Coal, Thin Ice 
78. Nate Parker in Beyond the Lights
79. Jonah Hill in 22 Jump Street 
80. Simon Abkarian in  Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
81. Jay Baruchel in How To Train Your Dragon 2
82. Johannes Bah Kuhnke in Force Majeure 
83. Arash Marandi in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
84. Haluk Bilginer in Winter Sleep
85. Ryan Potter in Big Hero 6
86. Ibrahim Ahmed dit Pino in Timbuktu
87. Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
88. Chris Pine in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit 
89. Jon Favreau in Chef 
90. Alfonso Herrera in The Perfect Dictatorship
91. Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 
92. Kevin Costner in Three Days to Kill
93. George MacKay in Pride 
94. Hwang Jung-min in Ode to My Father
    
95. Christian Bale in Exodus: Gods and Kings
96. Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler
97. Logan Lerman in Fury
98. Tony Revolori in The Grand Budapest Hotel
    
99. Rickson Tevez in Trash
100. Eduardo Luis in Trash
101. Gabriel Weinstein in Trash
102. Mark Ruffalo in Begin Again 
103. Antoine Olivier Pilon in Mommy
104. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Sabotage
105. Jason Clarke in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
106. Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes
107. Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up
108. Seth Rogan in The Interview
109. Chris Rock in Top Five  
110. Max Irons in The Riot Club
111. John Lloyd Young in Jersey Boys
112. Vincent Piazza in Jersey Boys
113. Harry Treadaway in Honeymoon 
114. Kit Harington in Pompeii 
115. Jaeden Lieberher in St. Vincent
116. Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Godzilla
117. James Franco in The Interview
118. Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood 
119. Michael C. Hall in Cold in July 
120. Simon Pegg in Hector and the Search for Happiness
121. Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber To
122. Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber To
123. Alan Ritchson in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
124. Jeremy Howard in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
125. Johnny Knoxville in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
126. Noel Fisher in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
127. Ansel Elgort in The Fault in Our Stars
128. Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables 3
129. Brenton Thwaites in The Giver 
130. Sullivan Stapleton in 300: Rise of an Empire

 Next Year: 2014 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2014: David Oyelowo in Selma

David Oyelowo did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Golden Globe and a BFCA, for portraying Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.

Selma is a fine film about Martin Luther King's attempt to secure voting rights for African Americans in Selma, Alabama.

David Oyelowo plays Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. the sort of figure that could easily be only simply lionized like the way Stephen Hawking was for the most part in The Theory of Everything or the way Louis Zamperini was in Unbroken. One of the strongest elements of Selma is that it actually avoids this and Oyelowo's performance contributes to this greatly. Oyelowo does something very interesting in his depiction of King in terms of his vocal performance. Oyelowo gets the essence of his sound down, but what is most interesting is the way he shows the way King's speech differs considering the audience. When King is speaking in public or merely to people he has not yet been introduced to Oyelowo actually delivers every line as if he is giving a speech, putting almost an excessive degree of careful diction. Oyelowo by doing this suggests well that to a certain extent King does purposefully build up the ideas around himself, and that he does need to actively be the great man so many view him as.

When he is at home or with only his close associates Oyelowo effectively changes his speech pattern that is more fitting to just a normal man. It technically is more natural in that it seems more like how someone would normally speak, and Oyelowo just with the way he delivers his lines establishes that King is not merely just an icon for his movement he is a man as well. In terms of being the icon though Oyelowo is terrific. Oyelowo is one of the performances where he does exude the essence of the real life figure so well, that even if his performance technically is not a 100% perfect imitation, it feels as though it is. He never simply seems to be aping King, but importantly we always see The most important scenes may be the various speeches that King delivers throughout to rouse the people to action. Oyelowo is outstanding in every speech particularly since he smartly differentiates every one that he gives. There is not a single purpose technically for every speech, and that can be seen through the ways that Oyelowo's manner changes for each.

In his initial speech to the people of Selma, Oyelowo completely commands the screen as he should, this is a constant with every speech that he delivers. His first though Oyelowo keeps it directly as a tactical speech to basically activate the people to the cause. Oyelowo delivers it with a striking passion and pivots nicely in points with a discontent in certain points to get the people to stand up wanting to take back their rights. His speech after one of the people is murdered Oyelowo effectively changes the style to something more personal and rather than the anger being projected to incite the crowd, this anger seems to come from deep within. Oyelowo still keeps it an impassioned speech but more vicious as he expresses the personal disgust of King at the extreme actions taken against his movement. His final speech in the film is again fantastic as he takes on a less confrontational and more of a triumphant tone. There is a strong and rather powerful spiritual bent in Oyelowo's delivery and signifies the victory through his jubilant performance.

Of course King's work is not only about speeches though and an interesting thing about the film is bluntly showing basically the mechanics of their activism. There is a plan in the protest and their is a purpose in King's moves. Oyelowo is good in being the leader as well and again does well to not portray this as a single side. In the scenes with his inner circle Oyelowo does portrays some exasperation fitting for a man who has been at his work for as long as he has been, his heart still is in it to be sure, but Oyelowo does suggest the wear of the life upon him. On the other hand when he goes to speak with some of the activists local to Selma Oyelowo plays these scenes with a different style. He instead does create a bit of an act as he puts on King as absolutely a leader who puts his everything into his task. Oyelowo shows King as almost excessively direct as he lays out his plan to the men, as though he is in absolute charge of the situation and knows exactly what is coming. Again Oyelowo is great by creating the actual effort in King's campaign.

Some of his most remarkable scenes are at home with his family and wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo). Oyelowo here is very compelling the way he actually presents King to be a somewhat cold figure and that the weight of his life has been detrimental to his home life. There is a strong distance between King and his family as almost you can see how his life rarely has been preoccupied with his family. What might be his very best scene in the film is when he is confronted by his wife over King's affairs with other women. Oyelowo is outstanding in the scene as he portrays King as almost shriveled to nothing in his guilt. His reaction is striking because Oyelowo shows that King knows he has done wrong, and that there is no explanation he can truly give. What perhaps stands out most is though Oyelowo does show a palatable shame in King, there is something about it in that he does not quite apologize even though he recognizes what he has done. Oyelowo does not portray King as a man who will reform himself in this behavior, rather as a man who is pained by this fault, but cannot change himself from these ways.

David Oyelowo gives a fascinating portrait of King by never making him some sort of legend. Oyelowo in a way he earns the victorious moments for King all the more by presenting the challenge. There is the scene where he turns back from the march, and Oyelowo does suggest that fear may be part of his motivation in that moment. Oyelowo makes it all the more powerful when the courage does come as he presents as something earned, not simply something that was always in him as though he was an otherworldly figure. Oyelowo reconciles the human weaknesses with the resilience and ambition in the man. David Oyelowo gives a great performance as Martin Luther King. He embodies the man as he should in terms of physical manner as well as his passion. Oyelowo does not stop there and does not just leave him as an image of King. Oyelowo bothers to go deeper with his performance realizing the man behind the icon, while still being absolutely convincing in creating the man who could be an icon.

Alternate Best Actor 2014

And the Nominees Were Not:

Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler

Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice

Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar

Brendan Gleeson in Calvary

Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Most Wanted Man

Predict Those Five or Predict These Five:

Jake Gyllenhaal in Enemy

Guy Pearce in The Rover

David Oyelowo in Selma

Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel

Tom Hardy in Locke 

Or predict both if you want.