Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2015: Results

10. Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation - Elba gives a charismatic performance as a godlike military commander, even if his character gets progressively less interesting as the film proceeds.

Best Scene: The Commandant prepares the men to attack. 

9. Stanley Tucci in Spotlight - Tucci, much like the majority of the cast of spotlight, gives a realistic portrayal of a man in the film's story, and only stands when it aids this story.

Best Scene: "You don't know the half of it"

8. Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Driver creates a most unusual yet still very effective and complex villain

Best Scene: Kylo and Han.

7. Emory Cohen in Brooklyn - Cohen gives an extremely charming performance that is essential the film's success, as he flawlessly avoids the various potential pitfalls of his technically simplistic character.

Best Scene: Tony and Ellis the night after the dinner with Tony's family. 

6. Michael Sheen in Far From the Madding Crowd - Sheen gives a very moving performance in his portrayal of a man whose emotions reveal themselves, for better or worse, after being shown a hint of love.

Best Scene: Boldwood joins Bathsheba in song. 

5. Benicio Del Toro in Sicario - Del Toro is appropriately chilling in his depiction of a cold killer, yet is particularly compelling in revealing the man behind the actions.

Best Scene: A family dinner.

4. Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina - Isaac is wildly entertaining yet also appropriately enigmatic as his odd tech genius who he plays as though he's a real BRO at heart.

Best Scene: "Have you tried dancing with her?"

3. Walton Goggins in The Hateful Eight - Goggins gives quite the impressive performance, as he's hilarious, incisive, and somehow makes a friendship between a racist Sheriff and a black bounty hunter believable.

Best Scene: Reading the Lincoln Letter. 

2. Richard Jenkins in Bone Tomahawk - Jenkins is completely unrecognizable in his funny yet heartbreaking portrayal of a real old timer of the old west.

Best Scene: The flea circus. 

1. Nicholas Hoult in Mad Max: Fury Road - Good prediction Psifonian. This year is simply amazing, and having to choose between them is absurdly difficult. I could go so many different ways for my winner, since I love all these performances. I could go with any performance in my top 12 and they'd be deserving. My top two came down to the two performances that I've found myself quoting the most incidentally. I could easily switch at any time. Hoult is outstanding in his compelling and entertaining portrayal of zealotry, then is quite heartbreaking in his depiction of a loss of this blindness.  

Best Scene: A promised trip to Valhalla. 

Overall Rank:

1. Tom Hardy in The Revenant
2. Nicholas Hoult in Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Sylvester Stallone in Creed
4. Richard Jenkins in Bone Tomahawk
5. Walton Goggins in The Hateful Eight
6. Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies
7. Samuel L. Jackson in The Hateful Eight
8. Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina
9. Benicio Del Toro in Sicario
10. Michael Sheen in Far From The Madding Crowd
11. Emory Cohen in Brooklyn
12. Kurt Russell in The Hateful Eight 
13. Bruce Dern in The Hateful Eight 
14. Michael Angarano in The Stanford Prison Experiment
15. Matthew Fox in Bone Tomahawk
16. Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
17. Harrison Ford in Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
18. Sam Elliot in Grandma
19. Stanley Tucci in Spotlight
20. Josh Brolin in Sicario
21. Matthias Schoenaerts in Far From The Madding Crowd
22. Liev Schreiber in Spotlight
23. Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation
24. Michael Keaton in Spotlight
25. Tim Roth in The Hateful Eight
26. Joel Edgerton in The Gift
27. Jeff Daniels in Steve Jobs
28. Roland Møller in Land of Mine
    
29. Ethan Hawke in 10,000 Saints
    
30. Jan Bijvoet in Embrace of the Serpent
    
31. Michael Shannon in 99 Homes 
32. Toby Jones in Tale of Tales
    
33. Tom Noonan in Anomalisa 
34. Jason Statham in Spy
35. Will Poulter in The Revenant 
36. Brian d'Arcy James in Spotlight 
    
37. Richard Kind in Inside Out
38. Louis C.K. in Trumbo
39. Domhnall Gleeson in The Revenant
40. Michael Madsen in The Hateful Eight 
41. Rory Cochrane in Black Mass 
    
42. James Parks in The Hateful Eight 
43. Brendan Gleeson in In The Heart of the Sea
44. Billy Crudup in The Stanford Prison Experiment
45. Peter Sarsgaard in Black Mass
46. Sean Harris in Macbeth 
47. Demian Bichir in The Hateful Eight 
48. Louis Hofmann in Land of Mine
    
49. W. Earl Brown in Black Mass
50. Hugo Weaving in The Dressmaker
    
51. David Morse in Concussion
52. Liev Schreiber in Pawn Sacrifice 
53. Paul Giamatti in Straight Outta Compton
    
54. Tye Sheridan in The Stanford Prison Experiment
55. Hugh Keays-Byrne in Mad Max: Fury Road
56. John Cusack in Chi-Raq
    
57. Chiwetel Ejiofor in The Martian 
58. Dave Bautista in Spectre
59. Jeremy Renner in Avengers: Age of Ultron
60. Seth Rogen in Steve Jobs 
61. Peter Sarsgaard in Pawn Sacrifice
62. Michael Douglas in Ant-Man
63. David Harbour in Black Mass
64. Forrest Goodluck in The Revenant
65. Oscar Isaac in Star Wars: The Force Awakens  
66. Billy Crudup in Spotlight
67. Domhnall Gleeson in Brooklyn
68. Sean Bean in The Martian
69. Paul Dano in Youth
70. Luigi Sciamanna in Embrace of the Serpent
    
71. Mark Strong in Kingsman: The Secret Service 
72. Jeff Daniels in The Martian
73. Nathan Jones in Mad Max: Fury Road
74. Richard Jenkins in Spotlight
75. Tom Hardy in London Road 
76. Jack Reynor in Macbeth
77. Jim Beaver in Crimson Peak
78. Jim Broadbent in Brooklyn
79. John Goodman in Trumbo
80. Josh Helman in Mad Max: Fury Road 
81. Lewis Black in Inside Out 
82. Brendan Gleeson in Suffragette 
    
83. Peter Mullan in Sunset Song
    
84. Michael Stuhlbarg in Trumbo
85. Bill Camp in Love & Mercy
86. Jon Gries in Faults
87. Arthur Redcloud in The Revenant
88. Lourenço Mutarelli in The Second Mother
    
89. Mikhail Gorevoy in Bridge of Spies
90. Tom McCamus in Room
91. Mark Rylance in The Gunman
92. Corey Stoll in Black Mass 
93. Samuel L. Jackson in Chi-Raq
    
94. Domhnall Gleeson in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
95. Neal Huff in Spotlight  
    
96. Chris Ellis in Faults
97. Jurgen Prochnow in Remember
    
98. Kit Harington in Testament of Youth
99. Vincent Cassel in Tale of Tales
100. Paddy Considine in Macbeth
101. Ben Whishaw in Spectre
102. Bruno Ganz in Remember
     
103. Jude Law in Spy
104. Simon Pegg in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
105. Kurt Russell in Furious 7
106. Harvey Keitel in Youth 
107. Martin Landau in Remember
     
108. Cory Michael Smith in Carol
109. Sylvester Groth in The Man From Uncle
110. Chris O'Dowd in The Program
111. Albert Brooks in Concussion
112. Brionne Davis in Embrace of the Serpent
     
113. James Spader in Avengers: Age of Ultron
114. John Slattery in Spotlight
     
115. Ben Whishaw in The Lobster 
116. Franz Rogowski in Victoria
     
117. Michael Cyril Creighton in Spotlight 
118. Milo Parker in Mr. Holmes 
119. Paddy Considine in Child 44
120. David Arquette in Bone Tomahawk
121. Colin Morgan in Testament of Youth 
122. Colin Quinn in Trainwreck
123. Benedict Wong in The Martian 
124. Alan Rickman in A Little Chaos
     
125. Kurt Egyiawan in Beasts of No Nation 
126. Jeffrey Donovan in Sicario 
127. Josh Brolin Everest
128. Christian Berkel in Trumbo
129. Tom Holland in In The Heart of the Sea 
130. Forest Whitaker in Southpaw
131. Angus Sampson in Mad Max: Fury Road
132. Ralph Fiennes in Spectre
133. Kobina Amissa-Sam in Beasts of No Nation
134. Ryan Gosling in the Big Short
135. Ron Livingston in James White
     
136. Stacy Keach in Truth 
137. Christopher Plummer in Danny Collins
     
138. Bradley Cooper in Joy 
     
139. Jesse Plemons in Black Mass
140. John Hawkes in Everest
141. Bobby Cannavale in Danny Collins
     
142. Taron Egerton in Testament of Youth
143. Sebastian Koch in Bridge of Spies 
144. Paul Giamatti in Love & Mercy
145. Brad Pitt in The Big Short 
146. James Badge Dale in The Walk 
147. Ben Mendelsohn in Slow West
148. Corey Stoll in Ant-Man
149. Stephen Root in Trumbo
150. Wesley Snipes in Chi-Raq
     
151. John C. Reilly in The Lobster
152. Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Age of Ultron
153. Alec Baldwin in Concussion
154. Jamey Sheridan in Spotlight
155. Christian Bale in The Big Short
156. Taron Egerton in Legend 
157. Jason Statham in Furious 7
158. Sid Haig in Bone Tomahawk 
159. Jeremy Strong in The Big Short 
160. Scott Shepherd in Bridge of Spies
161. Kyle Chandler in Carol 
162. Steve Carell in The Big Short
163. Derek Jacobi in Cinderella 
     
164. Jake Weary in It Follows
165. Jake Gyllenhaal in Everest
166. Kevin Bacon in Black Mass
     
167. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in Trumbo
168. Hugh Grant in The Man From Uncle 
169. Ving Rhames in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
170. Jeremy Renner in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
171. Bill Hader in Inside Out 
172. Bobby Cannavale in Spy 
173. Harry Lennix in Chi-Raq
     
174. Dwayne Johnson in Furious 7
175. Jesse Plemons in The Program
176. Javier Bardem in The Gunman
177. Ed Harris in Run All Night 
178. Dave Chappelle in Chi-Raq
     
179. Chris Evans in Avengers: Age of Ultron
180. Sean Bridgers in Room 
181. Kid Cudi in James White 
182. Jim Broadbent in The Woman in the Van
     
183. Michael Stuhlbarg in Steve Jobs 
184. Norman Lloyd in Trainwreck 
     
185. Robert Redford in Truth
186. Nonso Anozie in Cinderella
187. Bobby Cannavale in Ant-Man
188. Mark Ruffalo in Avengers: Age of Ultron
189. Graham McTavish in Creed 
190. Ben Whishaw in In the Heart of the Sea
191. Rory McCann in Slow West
192. David Thewlis in Legend
193. David Thewlis in Macbeth
194. Ben Whishaw in The Danish Girl
195. Keir Gilchrist in It Follows 
196. John C. Reilly in Tale of Tales
     
197. Channing Tatum in The Hateful Eight
198. Jon Bernthal in Sicario
199. John Magaro in The Big Short
200. Finn Wittrock in The Big Short
201. Chris Hemsworth in Avengers: Age of Ultron 
     
202. Hiroyuki Sanada in Mr. Holmes
203. Ezra Miller in The Stanford Prison Experiment
204. Matthias Schoenaerts in The Danish Girl
205. Daniel Bruhl in Woman in Gold
     
206. William H. Macy in Room 
207. Michael Stuhlbarg in Pawn Sacrifice
208. Edgar Ramirez in Joy
209. Dennis Quaid in Truth
210. Michael Caine in Kingsman: The Secret Service 
211. Charlie Hunnam in Crimson Peak 
     
212. Benedict Cumberbatch in Black Mass 
213. Donald Glover in The Martian 
214. Sean Bean in Jupiter Ascending
215. Sean Harris in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
216. Ty Simpkins Jurassic World 
217. Michael Pena in Ant-Man
218. Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Avengers: Age of Ultron
219. Ben Kingsley in The Walk
220. Adam Scott in Black Mass
221. Ben Whishaw in Suffragette
222. Alexander Skarsgard in The Diary of a Teenage Girl
223. Andy Serkis in Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
224. Common in Run All Night
225. Robert De Niro in Joy
226. Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight 
227. Samuel L. Jackson in Kingsman: The Secret Service 
228. Michael Pena in The Martian 
229. John Cena in Trainwreck
230. Tony Bellew in Creed
231. John Magaro in Carol
232. Nick Robinson in Jurassic World
233. Lebron James in Trainwreck 
234. Curtis Jackson in Southpaw
235. Anthony Bourdain in The Big Short
236. Hugh Jackman in Chappie 
237. Barry Otto in The Dressmaker
     
238. Vincent D'Onofrio in Jurassic World
239. Liam Hemsworth in the Dressmaker
     
240. Richard Thaler in The Big Short 
241. Miguel Gomez in Southpaw
242. Austin Stowell in Bridge of Spies
243. David Dastmalchian in Ant-Man 
244. Christoph Waltz in Spectre
245. David James Elliot in Trumbo
246. Dean O'Gorman in Trumbo 
247. Adam DeVine in The Intern
248. Nat Wolff in The Intern
249. Anders Holm in The Intern
250. Caleb Landry Jones in Heaven Knows What
     
251. Andrew Rannells in The Intern
252. B.D. Wong in Jurassic World
253. Douglas Booth in Jupiter Ascending
254. Nat Wolff in Grandma 
255. Emile Hirsch in 10,000 Saints
     
256. Tom Sturridge in Far From the Madding Crowd 
257. Jose Pablo Cantillo in Chappie
258. Ninja in Chappie 
259. Joel Kinnaman in Child 44
260. Topher Grace in Truth
261. Guillaume Canet in The Program
262. Quentin Tarantino in The Hateful Eight
263. Eddie Redmayne in Jupiter Ascending

Next Year: 2015 Lead (Please name and rank the top three you'd like to see reviewed)

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2015: Emory Cohen in Brooklyn

Emory Cohen did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Anthony "Tony" Fiorello in Brooklyn.

 2015 was actually sort of a strange year for films for me personally, in that there were many films I liked a great deal, even though they did not exactly fire on all cylinders so to speak. Brooklyn is one of those films since its writing, other than the dialogue, is not exactly a piece of perfection, though this may largely have to do with the source material. The story is simple of enough, which is fine, but it really does not have a great deal of depth within that. It also is not without an over the top one dimensional villain in an evil Irish shopkeeper, and has technically some severe narrative flaws in the last act. Whether or not its dramatic twist was needed is up for debate, but the whole between two lands choice at the end is severely undermined by the fact that really she's already made her choice.

Any who with all that it might sound like I've turned against the film. Well I have not and those flaws were there the first time I watched the film, and I still said I loved it because I do. This is a film though that technically breaks the often said criticism "style over substance" since if something has enough style it can easily can make up for its thin amount of substance. The film works due to its direction to be sure as it takes us through the story in such wonderfully eloquent fashion, but this is a case where the performances may be the most important. Saoirse Ronan could not be more perfect as Ellis as the somewhat timid young woman making the journey from Ireland to America to start a new life. The other essential player though is played by Emory Cohen, and there are many challenges presented here. The first being in the casting of Emory Cohen, if one only ever saw his performance in A Place Beyond the Pines, they should be very concerned for the success of a film which depends on him. Well thankfully Cohen does his best to wipe away the memory of that terrible gangsta Marlon Brando routine, with his portrayal of Tony here.

The funny thing is that Cohen again might have some Brando influence in there, but this time his whole approach not only seems far more natural it is far more fitting to this film's style. Cohen does not overdo it this time just bringing on the light touches of the Brando style, with a few slight smirks in there, but they only ever feel right for the character of Tony. It all just adds to it, and makes him feel like a vivid representation of young guy from the period. Another challenge though presents itself with character of Tony who is not all that complex when you get down to it. He's a nice Italian plumber who does not like talking about his job, as well as apparently avoids talking about baseball despite that being one of his most favorite things. However none of that really matters because Cohen makes the most of what's there. It must be said that he is ridiculously charming here. That slight smirk never feels like smugness, but rather Cohen only carries an earnest enthusiasm with the character. Cohen runs with the certain simplicity actually by making it frankly just so appealing, and manages to find an honesty within it that seems to override that potential problem.

It needs to be said that he and Ronan are great together. Their chemistry is in fact rather unassuming, there's nothing raw about their romance to be sure. There does not need to be though as the two of them find something very special in their fairly casual conversations with one another. They don't often talk about matters of great importance, nor is this a case of the romantic comedy type of relationship where they have a bit of a love/hate thing going on. It's really just a depiction of a courtship between the two, which Ronan rather interestingly does not show as though she's wholly swept away by him. However the modest relationship they develop becomes quite endearing because of how it is developed. What's special is how they do not rush it, well other than in one plot requiriment which is a mistake but has nothing to do with the performances, yet the two are terrific in showing the connection between the two that only grows over time. There's just a great byplay between the two as each becomes progressively more comfortable with the other in each new scene, and I love that watching them is so wonderful even though there is nothing out of the ordinary about the romance.

Now another challenge does present itself for Cohen in that Tony's insistent behavior towards Ellis could have been overbearing or perhaps even worse creepy in the wrong hands. Cohen though is pitch perfect in his performance, as there is something pivotal he does on his end, which is to show that Tony is absolutely infatuated with Ellis. There's just no question about this with Cohen's work which makes anything Tony does incredibly endearing because he presents it as though it only ever feels like it comes directly from the heart. Cohen is so good though in that he is able to make Tony such a sympathetic guy as he never makes this love in itself simplistic. He finds complication in really this nervousness he brings to Tony's interactions with Ellis, suggesting a man who has difficultly with every next step in the relationship because he's almost gripped with fear at times that he might lose her. When he says he must see her every chance he can get, Cohen only ever allows the words to be that of a man who genuinely means it. There's no irony, no cynicism, it's a true love that Cohen always brings to his eyes, and really any interaction with her. There's a sweetness to at all, as even when he sees her in a bathing suit for the first time, Cohen manages to not make his reaction seem that of a lustful man, but somehow finds a purity in his enthusiastic response as it is from a man who clearly only treasures the time he spends with her. Cohen's work here is not this complex portrait of a man of the period, but it doesn't have to be. He just needs to be a man whose in love with a woman, and that love is never in question. Cohen's work is essential to the success of the film, which would frankly have fallen apart if Tony was anything less than what Cohen makes him. It's a great performance as the character could have failed in so many ways, but Cohen only ever makes this a winning depiction of, well, a nice guy.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2015

And the Nominees Were Not:

Stanley Tucci in Spotlight

Liev Schreiber in Spotlight

Michael Keaton in Spotlight

Nicholas Hoult in Mad Max: Fury Road

Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation

Emory Cohen in Brooklyn

Benicio Del Toro in Sicario

Josh Brolin in Sicario

Walton Goggins in The Hateful Eight

Samuel L. Jackson in The Hateful Eight

Kurt Russell in The Hateful Eight

Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina

Richard Jenkins in Bone Tomahawk

Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Michael Sheen in Far From The Madding Crowd

Matthias Schoenaerts in Far From The Madding Crowd

For Prediction purposes:

Tucci

Hoult

Elba

Cohen

Del Toro

and/or

Goggins

Isaac

Jenkins

Driver

Sheen