Alternate Best Actor 2000: Results

5. George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?- Clooney gives a fun and endearing performance, which is fun to follow through this adventure.

Best Scene: The boys are about to be hanged.

4. Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon- Yun-Fat succeeds well in a role tailored made for his particular screen presence.

Best Scene: His last scene.

3. Eric Bana in Chopper- Bana is a lot of fun with a bonkers performance that somehow makes his character believable.

Best Scene: Chopper kills the Turk.

2. Christian Bale in American Psycho- Bale performance gives a comedic phony performance that actually suits his character far better then if he played it straight.

Best Scene: Bateman kills Paul Allen.

1. Guy Pearce in Memento- Good Prediction Koook160. This was an easy choice for me. Guy Pearce gives a great performance brilliantly realizing his character's most unusual disability while flawlessly taking his character down a many differing paths, and never becoming dull for a moment even though his character does repeat himself often.

Best Scene: Leonard confronts John G. or at least he thinks he does.

Overall Rank:

1. Guy Pearce in Memento
2. Lee Byung-hun in Joint Security Area
   
3. Tony Leung Chiu Wai in The Mood For Love
4. Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire
5. Tom Hanks in Castaway
6. Christian Bale in American Psycho
7. Eric Bana in Chopper
8. Sol Kyung-gu in Peppermint Candy
   
9. Michael Douglas in Wonder Boys 
10. Damian Alcazar in Herod's Law
11. John Cusack in High Fidelity
    
12. Russell Crowe in Gladiator
13. Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
14. George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?
15. Song Kang-ho in Foul King
    
16. Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot  
17. Colin Farrell in Tigerland
    
18. Denis Lavant in Beau Travail 
19. Dennis Hopper in The Spreading Ground
20. Paul Bettany in Gangster No. 1 
21. Ricardo Darin in Nine Queens
    
22. Bruce Greenwood in Thirteen Days 
23. Mel Gibson in The Patriot
24. Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable  
25. William H. Macy in Panic
    
26. Dennis Quaid in Frequency
27. Bruce Willis in Unbreakable
28. Joaquin Phoenix in Quills
29. Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans  
30. Mel Gibson in Chicken Run 
31. Søren Pilmark in Flickering Lights
32. Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon
33. Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft 
34. Haley Joel Osment in Pay It Forward 
35. Josse De Pauw in Everybody's Famous
    
36. Lee Sung-jae in Barking Dogs Never Bite
    
37. Ethan Hawke in Hamlet
    
38. Gaston Pauls in Nine Queens
    
39. Bolek Polivka in Divided We Fall
    
40. Andrew Shim in A Room For Romeo Brass
41. Ben Marshall in A Room For Romeo Brass
    
42. Omar Epps in Love and Basketball
    
43. Jim Caviezel in Frequency 
44. Kevin Spacey in Pat It Forward
45. Samuel L. Jackson in Rules of Engagement 
    
46. David Spade in The Emperor's New Groove
    
47. George Clooney in A Perfect Storm
48. Mark Wahlberg in A Perfect Storm
49. Rob Brown in Finding Forrester
50. John Goodman in The Emperor's New Groove
    
51. Mark Ruffalo in You Can Count On Me
    
52. Hugh Jackman in X-Men 
53. Csongor Kassai in Divided We Fall 
54. Vince Vaughn in The Cell
    
55. Matthew McConaughey in U-571
56. Tommy Lee Jones in Rules of Engagement
57. Gary Sinise in Mission to Mars
58. Tatsuya Fujimara in Battle Royale 
59. Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon
60. Matt Damon in The Legend of Bagger Vance
61. Val Kilmer in Red Planet 
62. Brendan Fraser in Bedazzled
63. John Malkovich in Shadow of the Vampire 
    
64. Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents 
65. Matthew Perry in Whole Nine Yards
66. Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents
67. Bruce Willis in The Whole Nine Yards
68. Ed Harris in Pollock
69. Nicolas Cage in Gone in Sixty Seconds
70. Geoffrey Rush in Quills
71. Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls
72. Matthew Davis in Tigerland
    
73. Giuseppe Sulfaro in Malena
    
74. Keanu Reeves in The Replacements 
75. Arnold Schwarzenegger in The 6th Day 
76. Sylvester Stallone in Get Carter
77. Kevin Costner in Thirteen Days 
78. Mark Wahlberg in The Yards
    
79. Patrick Fugit in Almost Famous
80. Jim Carrey in The Grinch
81. Jared Leto in Requiem for a Dream
    
82. Eddie Murphy in Nutty Professor II
83. Jamie Foxx in Bait
84. Giovanni Ribisi in Boiler Room
    
85. Christopher Lambert in Highlander Endgame 
86. Barry Pepper in Battlefield Earth
87. Martin Lawrence in Big Momma's House
88. Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses
    
89. Breckin Meyer in Road Trip
90. Adrian Paul in Highlander Endgame 
91. Justin Whalin in Dungeons & Dragons
    
92. Adam Sandler in Little Nicky 
93. Damon Wayans in Bamboozled
    
94. John Travolta in Battlefield Earth

Next Year: 2000 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2000: George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?

George Clooney did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite winning a Golden Globe, for portraying Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother Where Art Thou?.

O Brother Where Art Thou? is a very enjoyably film about three escaped convicts who go on an Odyssey in the 30's.

As I'm sure you know George Clooney is far from a favorite actor of mine and the only performance of his which I reviewed that I have liked was his against type turn in The American. George Clooney here is technically seems a bit more in the Clooney zone as the part of the supposedly charming leading man, although even this part is a bit unorthodox for him considering the screwball nature of the film. Although I suppose I should note to begin with that I actually find his Oscar nominated work to be below average Clooney as those performances exemplify his very worst tendencies of an actor actually.

In this film Clooney does not just do his confident voice for most of his scenes except for a big dramatic scene where then he does his slightly stressed confident voice, no here Clooney actually goes about trying to be charming here rather then just assuming everyone will find him to be so. Clooney here first finds Ulysses as a character with his accent, which Clooney is rather solid on only wavering from it on occasion, and developing the schemer style of Ulysses. Clooney makes Ulysses both smart enough in that he is the smartest of the trio, but still gives the right sense that Ulysses probably does not exactly use every part of his brain either.

Clooney finds the right tone for his performance, and honestly by not seeming so excessively sure of himself his performance is a whole lot more endearing in this film. Clooney is actually just find to be around in this film as we follow his adventure to reunite with his wife while making sure his hair looks its very best with the best Dapper Dan has to offer. Clooney is very energetic here and goes to brighten every scene of the film in some way. Clooney does this pretty well, but he also has the right variations in his performance as he never overdoes a scene drawing back on the screwball attitude at the right times.

Clooney is actually just quite a bit of fun here and he proves a fit for the Coen brother's particular style here. He delivers each line with the right timing and the right drawl for this particular film. This is mostly a comic performance but there are some slightly dramatic moments late in the film. Even these moments though are still done in the film distinct style though as the dialogue still keeps his unusual flamboyance. Clooney brings the weight in the right way by internalizing it in his physical performance, and he really makes the scenes work well through reaction particularly his very effective one as Ulysses's sees something strange right before he is about to be hanged.

This is not an amazing performance by George Clooney but I genuinely liked him here which is really saying something when considering my usual view of his performance. To make me like him here did not require him to be intensely introverted either like in his best performance in The American. This is an extroverted performance by Clooney that never becomes overbearing in his attempt to entertain. Clooney actually is entertaining here as Ulysses, and acts as a likable character to follow through the various misadventures found in this most unusual Odyssey.

Alternate Best Actor 2000

And the Nominees Were Not:

Christian Bale in American Psycho

Eric Bana in Chopper

Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Guy Pearce in Memento

George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?

Alternate Best Actor 2010: Results

5. Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll- Serkis is terrific in his portrayal of Ian Dury reminding me of the real man who I only knew from a brief not very memorable scene in Judge Dredd.

4. George Clooney in The American- Clooney gives possibly his best performance by toning down his usual mannerisms and giving a restrained as well as powerful portrait of an assassin who has seen too many double crosses.

3. Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine- Ryan Gosling gives a very strong performance in both his portrayal of the exuberant charmer as well as the bitter man he becomes.

2. Robert Duvall in Get Low- Robert Duvall once again knocks it out of the park in his portrayal of his old hermit who he creates a beautiful portrait with warmth, humor and sadness all while properly being this man who has exiled himself from the world.

1. Choi Min-sik in I Saw the Devil- This was one very close for me between the top three who all give great performances with stand out moments throughout their films. My favorite though goes to Choi Min-sik for his chilling portrayal of a serial killer who ends up being tortured himself. It is an amazing performance meeting the challenge of his character all the way through even as his character undergoes several extreme changes.

Overall Rank:

1. Choi Min-sik in I Saw the Devil
2. Robert Duvall in Get Low
3. Lee Byung-hun in I Saw The Devil  
4. Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
5. Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine
6. Ewan McGregor in The Ghost Writer
7. Lambert Wilson in Of Gods and Men
8. Casey Affleck in The Killer Inside Me
9. George Clooney in The American
10. Riz Ahmed in Four Lions 
11. Jakob Cedergren in Submarino
12. Martin Sheen in The Way
13. Damián Alcázar in El Infierno
14. Eddie Marsan in The Disappearance of Alice Creed
15. Christian Bale in The Fighter
16. Paul Giamatti in Barney's Version
17. Michael Douglas in Solitary Man
18. James Rolleston in Boy
19. Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech
20. Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
21. Joaquin Phoenix in I'm Still Here 
22. Tommy Lee Jones in The Company Men
23. Mads Mikkelsen in Valhalla Rising
24. Jiang Wen in Let the Bullets Fly
25. Peter Plaugborg in Submarino
26. Tyler Labine in Tucker & Dale vs Evil
27. Alan Tudyk in Tucker & Dale vs Evil
28. Ryan Reynolds in Buried
29. Jim Broadbent in Another Year
30. Jim Carrey in I Love You Philip Morris
31. Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception
32. William Jøhnk Juels Nielsen in In A Better World
33. Nicholas Tse in Stool Pigeon
34. William Shimell in Certified Copy
35. Otto Jesperen in Trollhunter
36. James Franco in 127 Hours
37. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Jack Goes Boating
38. Vincent Gallo in Essential Killing
39. Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness 
40. Mikael Persbrandt in In A Better World
41. Jeff Bridges in True Grit 
42. Bruce Willis in Red 
43. Trond Nilssen in King of Devil's Island 
44. Francois Cluzet in Little White Lies
45. Ge You in Let The Bullets Fly 
46. Aaron Eckhart in Rabbit Hole 
47. Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli
48. Markus Rygaard in In A Better World
49. Ben Affleck in The Town
50. Colin Firth in The King's Speech 
51. Jeffrey Dean Morgan in The Losers 
52. Zachary Levi in Tangled
53. Edward Norton in Leaves of Grass
54. Colin Farrell in Ondine
55. Ben Stiller in Greenberg
56. Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 2 
57. Jay Baruchel in How To Train Your Dragon
58. Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter   
59. Martin Compston in The Disappearance of Alice Creed
60. Benjamin Helstad in King of Devil's Island
61. Ben Affleck in The Company Men
62. Ryan Gosling in All Good Things 
63. Javier Bardem in Biutiful   
64. Mark Wahlberg in The Other Guys
65. Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  
66. Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World  
67. Shia Laboeuf in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
68. Sean Penn in Fair Game
69. Will Ferrell in The Other Guys
70. Gleenn Erland Tosterud in Trollhunter 
71. Robert Downey Jr. in Due Date 
72. Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island  
73. Aaron Taylor Johnson in Kick-Ass
74. Skandar Keynes in Voyage of the Dawn Treader
75. Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables  
76. Benicio Del Toro in The Wolfman
77. Logan Lerman in Percy Jackson  
78. Zach Galifianakis in Due Date
79. Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid
80. Nick Cheung in Stool Pigeon
81. Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland
82. James Frecheville in Animal Kingdom

Next Year: 2010 Supporting 

Alternate Best Actor 2010: George Clooney in The American

George Clooney did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Jack in The American.

The American is the epitome of a slow burn which tells the story of an over the hill assassin doing one more job. I personally thought it is quite compelling and reminded of The Day of the Jackal in a good way. I can see why it is divisive as it does take its time.

George Clooney is not one of my favorite actors as you may have been able to decipher from my reviews of all of his Oscar nominated performances. All of four of his performances I felt lacked conviction in terms of trying to portray an actual character, and besides Syriana he relied to much on just his own personality. Then with Syriana he relied to much on his weight gain and one single expression to convey the troubles of his character. Clooney seems like an actor who just can do no right for me, well that is not true, and I believe that his work here actually vindicates by own opinions regarding his other performances, especially since this sort of is almost the exact type of performance he should have given in Syriana. 

Clooney plays here an assassin, and thankfully takes a decidedly non Clooney esque route for the character of Jack. From the first scene where Jack kills two potential assassins, and an innocent woman he was with, it is rather clear that this is a very different character for Clooney. Clooney also takes a very different approach here and manages to actually internalize the emotions within Jack, and realizes Jack as a character. Clooney never loses his character here and he always stays with Jack through the film never compromising once for his usual manner he takes with many of his performances. This time there is the conviction in his performance that brings Jack to life as a character, and makes him particularly compelling character at that.

Jack is in many ways much the Jackal so well played by Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal. Clooney like Fox did in that other film about a meticulous assassination shows very much the attitude that the day to day hit man. Clooney like Fox did portrays the routine effectively, and properly shows the operatives history through the meticlous manner employed. It is quite nice to Clooney actually handle a role with so much subtlety, and for it to honestly pay off as it does here. Clooney is great in the manner that he brings in through his eyes that fierceness one would expect from a killer. He portrays Jack as a man always of the mind. He makes him a man who is always clearly thinking and calculating as the trained killer should.

There is a great difference between Jack and the Jackal though since the Jackal was a soulless man willing to kill anyone to complete the job, Jack actually has a soul. Clooney is very affecting in his portrayal of this man who frankly has just killed too many and seen to many double crosses in his time. In this vein he reminded me of Richard Burton as Alec Leamus in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold particularly by the subtle method in which he expresses the pain Jack is going through. This is probably the least that Clooney has ever spoken in a film, and he handles the often silent role so well. He is great in just the scenes of Jack listening particularly in the presence of a kindly priest. Clooney powerfully shows Jack's regrets simply in his expression as the priest talks about sin.

This is a strong performance from Clooney throughout but he especially succeeds in the part near the end as Jack sees things closing around him. One single stunning moment comes in his performance as he believes he once again has to murder someone who has become close to him. The moment is brilliantly played by Clooney as he makes despair mounts as Jack is forced to prepare for the kill. It is a beautiful moment so quietly played and realizes the troublesome condition of this man so effectively. At the end of the film as Jack rejects the mission this could easily be the time for Clooney to drop Jack's nature and go to his old tricks as an actor but he doesn't. He keeps going within this downplayed approach where we really can truly feel the struggle that Jack is facing.

The final moments of his performance are terrific, and Clooney could not play them better frankly. Jack's true feelings finally come out, but Clooney does not reject his portrayal of Jack for these moments. He stays with the character still and succeeds in bringing the poignancy at the end by subtly showing the intensity of Jack's emotions slowly builds as he sees his future slipping away. It is a very moving end to the film, and Clooney delivers. So there, here is a performance by George Clooney honestly gives a very strong portrayal of a character because he goes straight through the film with the character. He carries this film not through his usual method, but by dialing back his own manner and gets to the core of his character.

Alternate Best Actor 2010

And the Nominees Were Not:

Choi Min-sik in I Saw The Devil

Robert Duvall in Get Low

Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine

George Clooney in The American

Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Best Supporting Actor 2005: Results

5. George Clooney in Syriana- Clooney never is believable as a world weary CIA operative, but worse than that he fails to act as the anchor to for the audience he is suppose to be.

4. Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man- Giamatti gives a good performance even if his character is limited. He shows both the friend in his boxing manager character as well as the furious promoter and showman.

3. Matt Dillon in Crash- Dillon is actually quite effective, and realistic in the role as a racist police officer who still manages to pull through when needed. The only problem is the nature of the film leaves his character with too little to do to make the impact Dillon indicates he could have made in the scenes he does have.

2. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain- Although his characterization at the beginning of the film is a bit shaky and inconsistent Gyllenhaal certainly makes up for it later as he realizes the frustrations and pain in his character that lead him down a road to bitterness.

1. William Hurt in A History Violence- Good Prediction RatedRStar. Although he most certainly has the least amount of screen time for me he has the most impact. He makes an effective antagonist and actually turns his one scene role into an actual character particularly in Hurt's realization of his character's peculiar relationship with his brother.

Deserving Performances:
Ed Harris in A History of Violence
Mickey Rourke in Sin City

Best Supporting Actor 2005: George Clooney in Syriana

George Clooney won his Oscar from his first acting nomination for portraying Bob Barnes in Syriana.

Syriana details a group of intersecting stories involving the U.S.'s associations and complications with foreign oil.

George Clooney is an actor who is sometimes criticized for not really investing in his characters and sometimes very bluntly for playing himself. Well here is an attempt by Clooney to completely reject himself and attempt to portray Bob Barnes an over the hill worn out CIA operative. Well even though I will give credit to Clooney for trying I won't give him credit for succeeding. He never becomes believable as the CIA operative who has been working too many different sides for too long, he is no Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold for example.

Clooney doesn't ever really establish the history of his character, he never seems a like a man who has seen too much or been through too many things. He just never conveys the past of the character in his performance. Instead Clooney gives the same slightly frustrated slight sad face throughout the film to attempt to indicate the state of mine of Barnes. Unfortunately he never shows anything underneath the surface with his performance it is always just basically same expression for his entire performance which is very dull to watch, and does not make Bob Barnes into an interesting character.

The problem is Clooney really did not even need to make Barnes into the that much of an intriguing character, he really could have been just an anchor for the audience in the film. Unfortunately Clooney does not even act as a good anchor he never brings us into his world or into his character's troubles. He instead just makes that same old face again that really does not contribute to the effort of making us empathize with Barnes. Clooney never seems to realize that to underplay one must strive hard to find the complexities of their performances inside subtle reactions like say Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies or Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but Clooney simply is no Oldman or Duvall.

What amazes me is how Clooney stays in his depressed dull manner all the way throughout it does not matter what the context of the scene is whether it is talking with his son, or threatening an oil man he goes about in almost the exact same way. Clooney also shows no development as Barnes uncovers more and more of the film's plot instead he just makes that same old expression again as if he feels he must spends all his time trying to ensure the audience that he is not George Clooney but a downtrodden CIA agent. Clooney though doesn't do the downtrodden part right. There was not a moment in his performance that I cared about his character or his character's story which Clooney failed to ever bring me into it. There is a serious problem with a performance when the thing I remember most about is that his character has the same name as previous nominee Tom Berenger's Sergeant in Platoon.

Best Supporting Actor 2005

 And the Nominees Were:

William Hurt in A History of Violence

Jack Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain

George Clooney in Syriana

Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man

Matt Dillon in Crash

Best Actor 2011: Results

5. George Clooney in The Descendants- Clooney as usual for him fails to find conviction in his performance. He has a strange lack of consistency and has some very bad moments that are suppose to be his money scenes.

4. Brad Pitt in Moneyball- Brad Pitt gives a fine leading performance here that is effectively charming and entertaining.

3. Demian Bichir in A Better Life- Demain Bichir gives a heartfelt and incredibly moving performance that only ever relies on bringing out genuine emotions in every moment of his film.

2. Jean Dujardin in The Artist- Jean Dujardin gives simply a wonderful performance that is a unique achievement to behold. He never fails to entertain as well as create a powerful portrait despair as well it is truly great work.

1. Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Gary Oldman has the greatest of challenges with his almost emotionless part, yet he makes a compelling and very convincing characterization. His performance improves for me each time I have watched it. A very difficult decision to be sure and I certainly thought between these top two for quite a while. Both give superb performances, and again I have no real reason for picking Oldman over Dujardin, I think they are equally good in their challenging roles, but I am forced to pick one.

Deserving Performances
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard

Best Actor 2011: George Clooney in The Descendants

George Clooney received his fourth Oscar nomination for portraying Matt King in The Descendants.

The Descendants deals with Matt King who owns a great deal of real estate in Hawaii due to inheritance. He deals with his wife being in a coma she will not awaken from, a big money land deal, his rebellious daughters, and learning that his wife was having an affair.

The last three films by Alexander Payne have been about older men dealing with some serious problems in their life, and facing a crisis. I should say right away that George Clooney does not at all change his track record with me, and proves that he most certainly is no Paul Giamatti or Jack Nicholson. Clooney as usual never really makes a mark in his part that will ever make me remember Matt King as a notable character, and actually portrays Matt King in a somewhat different way for Clooney but still the same as his other performances in terms of its success.

Clooney firstly does not give his Up in the Air "Hi I'm George Clooney" type of performances that so many believe to be charming, I don't. In fact in the role of Matt King he never really tries to be charming in any way and does indeed attempt to show Matt as more of just a man trying to go through his series of crises. Having said that though his performance is more in line with that of his performance in Michael Clayton, but like his performance in Michael Clayton there is not the required conviction in his performance or characterization to make his performance compelling.

In fact his performance is rather incompetent in many ways as he attempts to be the exasperated husband and father. I simply never bought him in the role as the man who is emotionally bent out of shape, something Jack Nicholson and Paul Giamatti succeeded with very well in their similar roles. Clooney just never seems tired enough, or truly a man who has experienced troubles of Matt King's sort in life, it just not there ever in Clooney's performance as much as he wants it to be. I will give credit that Clooney tries many things in this performance, but this actually just leads to an inconsistency in his performance.

 Clooney attempts quite ineffectively to combine drama and comedy in his performance in a rather poorly conceived fashion. For example when he first learns of his wife's affair he goes running for some reason like he is one of his films for the Coen brothers. Than he confronts someone about it with the utmost seriousness. There is not any sort of logic for Clooney to do this in this scene, he does anyway, which causes him never to turn Matt King into a compelling character in any fashion. He truly fails to bring us into Matt's mindset and problems at any point in the film.

I must say much of the time Clooney is just going through the role with the same uncertainty throughout in his performance, there is not a single scene where he really finds a way to make his performance compelling. He fails to ever really brings Matt's problems to life even in the what should be some compelling scenes that one would think would automatically bring it out. That is the scene with his wife's lover, Clooney is bizarrely dull throughout the whole affair, there is not even signs of repression anger or anything like that.

He plays almost all of his scenes with his typical lacking in conviction Clooney fashion. The only scene he really does more is his final scene with his wife where he finally breaks down, and says goodbye. It wants to be the heartbreaking "Oscar" scene, but Clooney is frankly at his worst in this scene. He frankly wants to rush through the scene, and is not convincing for a moment. He is just clearly "acting" during the whole scene and he fails to bring a single genuine emotion into the scene. This is a poor performance by Clooney, and I will be very annoyed if I have to add "won his second Oscar" to this review.

Best Actor 2011

And the Nominees Are:

Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Jean Dujardin in The Artist

George Clooney in The Descendants

Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Demian Bichir in A Better Life

I break my scheduled reviews of supporting 95 to return once again to Best Actor. I actually did not except to do this yet, and would have held off since I thought Michael Fassbender was going to be nominated, and I have not seen Shame, but now I have seen all of these performances.

Supporting will wait because I have yet to see Extremely Loud, or My Week with Marilyn, but I do think I will probably write a deserving performance for Albert Brooks.

Best Actor 2009: Results

5. George Clooney in Up in The Air- Clooney tries to ride almost his whole performance on his charm, I myself don't see any charm, but either way because he fails to bring any real conviction to the role.

4. Morgan Freeman in Invictus- When one hears Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela one probably would say, perfect casting. Unfortunately Freeman's mannerisms, and voice he uses for the role are inconsistent, and weigh down the entire performance.

3. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart- Bridges is certainly good and believable as the country star most of the time, but certain aspects of his performance do not really work. His relationships with Colin Farrell's character is a bit overdone, and his relationship with Maggie Gyllenhaal's character in many ways feels like a plot contrivance.

2. Colin Firth in A Single Man- Firth's performance is one that strikes me in a different way than every other performance on this line up. I most certainly though it was a strong effective piece of acting, with some amazing moments, but at the same time the performance always left me wanting more, I never felt it lackluster, but many moments I always felt he could have gone even further in his performance than he did.

1. Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker- A performance that one first glance may not seem the most, but that is part of what makes this performance so special. Renner never seems to act in his performance, and despite the fact that he really is given few moments solely devoted to character development Renner still creates a three dimensional complex character. Renner always stays very understated in his approach to his character, and because of that he gives a truly fascinating portrait of a man addicted to his very dangerous job.

Best Actor 2009: George Clooney in Up in the Air

George Clooney received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air.

Up in The Air tells about about who fires people, and loves his never stopping life style, although has to take a look back at his life due to what seems like a more serious relationship, and due to changes in his job.

George Clooney's performance in this film fails to ever interest or intrigue me. Why because he fails to realize anything past himself in terms of his characterization, especially in this performance as Ryan Bingham, which would be described as coasting to its fullest extent. Now one could argue, no that is because he has so much ease in the part as to look like he is coasting, but they would be wrong. Clooney does not show an ease with the part because he is not playing a part, but just being himself and reading lines for most of the film, although not all of it.

When Clooney was doing anything as Bingham, whether it was giving his stupid speeches about back packs or when he is doing one of his firing speeches, I really just see Clooney making these speeches, I sense no character along with him, just Clooney reciting. Now I again would could criticize me due to my liking of performances from people like Clark Gable, or Sidney Poitier who many accuse of just playing themselves in certain roles. I would say no they take their self and utilize it for the performance, but Clooney just plays himself, there is a big difference, due to a lack of conviction in the actual character.

The scenes that require Clooney to come out of his comfort zone such as when he talks about his big frequent flyer mileage build up. Now this should be a distinct feature of Ryan Bingham but one will notice that Clooney really fails to really convey the excitement Bingham probably should have over this achievement of his lifetime. Instead in this scene he frankly seems rather uninterested in the prospect himself, because he just seems to be saying it with a little emphasis, but a phony feeling emphasis, because he still is just being Clooney.

Clooney fails there and many similar moments, and his big changes in the character are not ones I find he is able to pull off either, because again he fails to develop Bingham into a human being keeping him instead always on the surface lacking any real depth to really portray a conviction to make Bingham a believable person. Clooney is challenged more near the end where he must evaluate his life, Clooney self evaluation part is as uninteresting as the rest of his performance, and really he changes gives rather telegraphed glances to portray everything such as feelings of being betrayed by who he thought was a kindred spirit, or when he loses his belief in his back pack speech. It still never becomes internalized in any fashion, it always stays as an external performance, that relies too heavily on his supposed charisma, which frankly I just have never found to be that charming.

Best Actor 2009

And the Nominees Were:

Colin Firth in A Single Man

Morgan Freeman in Invictus

Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart

Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

George Clooney in Up in The Air

Best Actor 2007: Results

5. George Clooney in Michael Clayton- Clooney in my opinion fails to create a very interesting character with Michael Clayton, as well as he fails to really be truly effective lead for a thriller.

4. Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd- Depp I do not find is entirely bad as Todd, but his approach to Sweeney is one note of anger and depression that just is not that interesting.

3. Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley of Elah- I like much of Jones' performance, which is emotionally on the mark in showing the character's grief, and pain. I did not believe though was the entire change of the character, which was not made convincing by him or the script.

2. Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises- This  is a strong effort that relies effectively on both Mortensen ability to show the command and control of Nikolai, as well as Mortensen ability to suggest the underlining and hidden motivations of his character.

1. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood- The sheer scope, and achievement of this performance leaves an undeniable impression.