Best Actor: Holt McCallany

Showing posts with label Holt McCallany. Show all posts

Saturday, 10 February 2024

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2023: Results

10. Casey Affleck in Oppenheimer - Affleck gives a chilling portrayal of soulless incisiveness.

Best Scene: His scene.

9. Gary Oldman in Oppenheimer - Oldman does about as much as he can in unraveling the idea of Truman and his relationship to the bomb in a matter of minutes.

Best Scene: His scene, but specifically reacting to Oppenheimer's "I have blood on my hands"

8. Matt Damon in Oppenheimer - Damon provides a wonderful bit of humor in a mostly serious film, and finds the ideal kind of chemistry with Cillian Murphy.

Best Scene: His testimony ending.

7. Milo Machado Graner in Anatomy of a Fall - Graner powerfully reveals the truth of a death, through his own struggling to understand it.

Best Scene: His experiment.

6. Jonathan Tucker in Palm Trees and Power Lines - Tucker gives an insidious portrayal of a vile man pretending to be the "ideal" man to an unsuspecting teenager.

Best Scene: A shift suddenly.

5. David Krumholtz in Oppenheimer - Krumholtz brings such a potent warmth that makes such an impact every time he appears, in his carefully crafted, yet wholly natural portrayal of his character's background.

Best Scene: Stare down.

4. Holt McCallany in The Iron Claw - McCallany gives a powerfully cruel portrayal built on callousness and a lack of empathy for any signs of "weakness".

Best Scene: Victory speech.

3. Jason Clarke in Oppenheimer - Clarke is basically giving undiluted performance and it is incredibly striking and penetrating work.

Best Scene: Cross examination.

2. Willem Dafoe in Poor Things - Dafoe delivers a brilliant combination of hilarious bluntness with a surprising degree of heart.

Best Scene: "Cut with kindess"

1. Jamie Bell in All of Us Strangers - Bell effortlessly crafts a repressed man of a certain period and background, and so poignantly unravels that brings such honesty and power to every moment of fantasy.

Best Scene: "I'm sorry I never came into your room when you were crying"

Overall:

Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things
Jamie Bell in All of Us Strangers
Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer
Willem Dafoe in Poor Things
Ryan Gosling in Barbie
Paul Mescal in All of Us Strangers - 5
Jason Clarke in Oppenheimer
Holt McCallany in The Iron Claw
Ramy Youssef in Poor Things
David Krumholtz in Oppenheimer
Harris Dickinson in The Iron Claw
Jonathan Tucker in Palm Trees and Power Lines
Milo Machado Graner in Anatomy of a Fall
Matt Damon in Oppenheimer
Ben Whishaw in Passages
Hinata Hiiragi in Monster
Jonathan Majors in Creed III - 4.5
Tomokazu Miura in Perfect Days
Oscar Isaac in Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
John Magaro in Past Lives
Samuel Theis in Anatomy of a Fall
Ty Mitchell in Killers of the Flower Moon
Donnie Yen in John Wick Chapter 4
Simon Bennebjerg in The Promised Land
Kiefer Sutherland in The Cain Mutiny Court-Martial
José Coronado in Close Your Eyes
Henry Czerny in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
Bradley Cooper in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Gary Oldman in Oppenheimer
Christopher Abbott in Poor Things
Jeremy Allen White in The Iron Claw
Casey Affleck in Oppenheimer
Lewis Pullman in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Jung Woo-sung in Cobweb
Jason Schwartzman in Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
Benny Safdie in Oppenheimer
Michael Cera in Dream Scenario
Alden Ehrenreich in Oppenheimer
Tom Conti in Oppenheimer
Stanley Simons in The Iron Claw
Benny Safdie in Are You There God? It's Me Margaret
Josh Hartnett in Oppenheimer
Dane DeHaan in Oppenheimer
Rupert Everett in Napoleon
Regé-Jean Page in Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves
Matt Johnson in Blackberry
Nathan Lane in Beau is Afraid
Swann Arlaud in Anatomy of a Fall
Jesse Plemons in Killers of the Flower Moon
Kingsley Ben-Adir in Barbie
Lewis Pullman in The Starling Girl
Masaki Suda in The Boy and the Heron
Antoine Reinartz in Anatomy of a Fall
Chukwudi Iwuji in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Scott Adkins in John Wick Chapter 4
Matthias Brandt in Afire
Gregg Turkington in Fremont
Jamie Foxx in They Cloned Tyrone
Shea Whigham in Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
Paul Rudd in Teenage Mutant Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction
Marshawn Lynch in Bottoms
John Standing in The Great Escaper
Peter Dinklage in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Cast of Society of the Snow - 4
Louis Cancelmi in Killers of the Flower Moon
Kuranosuke Sasaki in Godzilla Minus One
Benedict Cumberbatch in Poison
Will Catlett in A Thousand and One
Hiroyuki Sanada in John Wick Chapter 4
Ice Cube in Teenage Mutant Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
John Magaro in Showing Up
Arliss Howard in The Killer
Jude Hill in A Haunting in Venice
William Belleau in Killers of the Flower Moon
Daniel Kaluuya in Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
Pat Healy in Killers of the Flower Moon
Ben Kinglsey in Poison
Rhys Ifans in Nyad
Michael Ironside in Blackberry
Jason Isbell in Killers of the Flower Moon
Ian McShane in John Wick Chapter 4
Ralph Fiennes in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Jacob Elordi in Saltburn
Brian Tyree Henry in Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
Josiah Cross in A Thousand and One
Mario Pardo in Close Your Eyes
Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Hugh Grant in Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves
Thomas Kretschmann in Infinity Pool
Hugh Grant in Wonka
Kiefer Sutherland in They Cloned Tyrone
John Ortiz in American Fiction
Ronnie Del Carmen in Elemental
Jake Johnson in Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
Macon Blair in Oppenheimer
Jason Schwartzman in Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Ben Kingsley in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Bill Skarsgard in John Wick Chapter 4
Josep Maria Pou in Close Your Eyes
Joel Frey in The End We Start From
Ben Affleck in Air
Lance Reddick in The Caine Mutiny-Court Martial
Jefferson Hall in Oppenheimer
Justice Smith in Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves
Clancy Brown in John Wick Chapter 4
Scott Shepherd in Killers of the Flower Moon
Munetaka Aoki in Godzilla Minus One
Jackie Chan in Teenage Mutant Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Tommy Schultz in Killers of the Flower Moon
Cory Michael Smith in May December
Nikita Yefremov in Tetris
Jacob Elordi in Priscilla
Tom Riley in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Dev Patel in Poison
Jeremy Allen White in Fremont
Hidetaka Yoshioka in Godzilla Minus One
Steve Witting in Killers of the Flower Moon
Forrest Goodluck in How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Jimmi Simpson in The Starling Girl
Benedict Cumberbatch in The End We Start From
Simu Liu in Barbie
Judd Hirsch in Showing Up
Gustav Lindh in The Promised Land
Saul Rubinek in Blackberry
Chris Tucker in Air
Steve Routman in Killers of the Flower Moon
Tokio Emoto in Perfect Days
Dev Patel in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Jerrod Carmichael in Poor Things
James Remar in Oppenheimer
Colman Domingo in The Color Purple
Cary Elwes in Blackberry
Michael Cera in Barbie
David Cross in You Hurt My Feelings
Roger Allam in Tetris
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Flora and Son
Shōhei Hino in The Boy and the Heron
Jonathan Majors in Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Jeffrey Wright in Asteroid City
Jason Mamoa in Fast X
Alfredo Castro in El Conde
Corey Hawkins in The Color Purple
Oh Jung-se in Cobweb
Tom Davis in Wonka
Jason Bateman in Air
Sungwon Cho in Blackberry
Rich Sommer in Blackberry
Chris Messina in Air
Michael Keaton in The Flash
Jake Weary in How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Will Poulter in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Simon Pegg in Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning
Ving Rhames in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
John Cena in Fast X
Naheem Garcia in The Holdovers
Richard E. Grant in Saltburn
Nicholas Braun in Dream Scenario
Akshay Khanna in Polite Society
David Dastmalchin in The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Musab Ekici in About Dry Grassses
Shaun Thomas in How to Have Sex
Paterson Joseph in Wonka
Jack O'Connell in Flora and Son
Nicholas Galitzine in Bottoms - 3.5
Bryan Cranston in Asteroid City
Liev Schreiber in Asteroid City
Adrien Brody in Asteroid City
Edward Norton in Asteroid City
Willem Dafoe in Asteroid City
Tom Hanks in Asteroid City
Rupert Friend in Asteroid City
Steve Carrell in Asteroid City
Matt Dillon in Asteroid City
Stephen Park in Asteroid City
Ricard Ayoade in The Ratcatcher
Rupert Friend in The Ratcatcher
Jamie Dornan in A Haunting In Venice
Andrew Garman in The Holdovers
Gene Jones in Killers of the Flower Moon
Esai Morales in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
Toby Jones in Tetris
Jun Kunimura in The Boy and the Heron
Tatanka Means in Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael Provost in The Holdovers
Ian Dolley in The Holdovers
Jim Kaplan in The Holdovers
Laurence Fishburne in John Wick Chapter 4
Arian Moayed in You Hurt My Feelings
Jim Carter in Wonka
Richard Kind in Beau is Afraid
Mads Mikkelsen in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Okieriete Onaodowan in American Fiction
Keith David in American Fiction
Brady Hepner in The Holdovers
Cary Elwes in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
John Rhys Davies in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Kenneth Branagh in Oppenheimer
Dylan Arnold in Oppenheimer
Shea Whigham in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
Nathan Fillion in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
David Dastmalchian in Oppenheimer
Anthony Boyle in Tetris
Riccardo Scamarcio in A Haunting in Venice
Rami Malek in Oppenheimer
Bradley Cooper in Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves
Matthew Modine in Oppenheimer
Glenn Howerton in Fool's Paradise
Dylan Baker in Dream Scenario
Adam Brody in American Fiction
Jeremy Allen White in Fingernails
Ayoub Missioui in The Blue Caftan
Liam Cunningham in The last Voyage of the Demeter
Charles Parnell in The Killer
Shea Whigham in Eileen
Shamier Anderson in John Wick Chapter 4
Adrien Brody in Fool's Paradise
Toby Jones in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Common in Fool's Paradise
Ken Watanabe in The Creator
John Lithgow in Killers of the Flower Moon
Glynn Turman in Rustin
Yuki Yamada in Godzilla Minus One
Paul Rhys in Saltburn
Jeffrey Wright in Rustin
Rowan Atkinson in Wonka
Lukas Gage in How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Anthony Shim in Riceboy Sleeps
Liev Schreiber in Golda
Alex Sharp in One Life
Ron Livingston in The Flash
Oscar Kightley in Next Goal Wins
Chris Diamantopoulos in The Boys in the Boat - 3
Chris Bridges in Fast X
Noah Galvin in Theater Camp
Michael Douglas in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Tyrese Gibson in Fast X
Aml Ameen in Rustin
Antonio Banderas in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Langston Uibel in Afire
Enno Trebs in Afire
Rupert Grint in A Knock At the Cabin
Keegan-Michael Key in Wonka
Alan Ritchson in Fast X
Aksel Hennie in Sisu
Samuel Bottomly in How to have Sex
Djimon Hounsou in Rebel Moon - 2.5
Bill Murray in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Sung Kang in Fast X
Marton Csokas in Chevalier
Eugenio Mastrandrea in The Equalizer 3
Ben Platt in Theater Camp
Archie Madekwe in Saltburn
Ethann Isidore in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Scott Eastwood in Fast X
Boyd Holbrook in Indiana Jones and the Dial Destiny
Connor Swindells in Barbie
Jonathan Groff in A Knock At The Cabin
Michael Huisman in Rebel Moon
Charlie Hunnam in Rebel Moon
Ray Fisher in Rebel Moon
Ed Skrein in Rebel Moon
Chris Rock in Rustin - 2
Michael Shannon in The Flash
Michael Cyril Creighton in American Fiction
Will Ferrell in Barbie
Mathew Baynton in Wonka
Matt Lucas in Wonka
Kyle Allen in A Haunting in Venice - 1.5
Marc Menchaca in The Creator
Brendan Fraser in Killers of the Flower Moon
Taika Waititi in Next Goal Wins - 1

Next: 2023 Lead

Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2023: Holt McCallany & Harris Dickinson in The Iron Claw

Holt McCallany did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Fritz Von Erich nor did Harris Dickinson for portraying David Von Erich in The Iron Claw.

You have probably the two sides of the coin of the von Erich family in the performances of Holt McCallany and Harrison Dickinson. Holt McCallany feels very much a classical style character actor who just is oozing with said character from his every pour that just casting him adds a little something because of that. He seems an ideal fit therefore for a wrestler who presented himself as a heel for the going public even going so far with his gimmick as to evoke Nazi imagery as part of it. Which is what we open with as we see Fritz using the Iron claw to a roaring crowd, with McCallany entirely owning the presence of the wrestler heel with all the possible manic intensity. This is immediately contrasted though to a relatively quiet manner as we see him joining his family after the match where McCallany creates a natural complexity to the character. The man does seem to love his family as he embraces them after the match, but just as much there is a strange thing as he notes he got a more expensive care without telling his wife, to act like a champion before being one. McCallany's delivery of this is key because he speaks with it as the "correct" act on his part without hesitation or reservation, despite seeming to be a major decision, and this will not be the first time we see such a manner from the man. As we flash forward to his extended family including Kevin (Zac Efron), David, Mike (Stanley Simons) and Kerry (Jeremy Allen White). Where one of the first acts is to hassle Mike for not doing exactly what he is saying, as McCallany's particular pressure in his delivery, because it actually isn't loud, but it is powerful. His voice is one of control in his "encouragement", and most especially a complete lack of shame as he orders his sons in order of favor. McCallany's work is unbelievably cruel because of the ease in which he rattles off the list, it isn't a joke, it's rather delivered what's worse it is a man thinking it is motivation.

Dickinson I think provides the essential contrast to McCallany in the early scenes of the film. Dickinson already is proving himself to be a low key chameleon as an actor, just becoming one with the role whether it be the more dynamic John Paul Getty III in Trust, a insecure though posh model from Triangle of Sadness or also in 2023 as a working class Englishman in Scrapper. Dickinson so far is whatever you need him to be and it is with such ease that he plays the part that is the most impressive. His Texas accent here, but even so his particular casual manner just makes him seem ideal as David, to the point you don't think twice about it. Dickinson's performance as much as he just is the role, he's so much more than that here as he brings the ease in his performance that is the opposite of his father. Dickinson brings such a warmth to his performance but a warmth that is just a given. There's no force in his performance, there's just a relaxed approachable nature about him. There's something especially wonderful because you just sense the chemistry he has with Efron, Simons and eventually White without really any aggressive effort. He just has it, and doesn't need more of it. Dickinson in every scene makes an impact by being the man who just seems like he's loving living his way and being around his brothers. His lines of genuine encouragement or just goofing around with his brother, Dickinson's performance makes you just more relaxed with him around. It is hard to not like David because Dickinson has such effortless charisma. Something that extends in the ring where Dickinson's great because what he gives off more than anything in the fights initially, is a man just having a blast, so it is hard not to have it with him.

McCallany and Dickinson in many of the family scenes then have a conflicting chemistry, even though the two never butt heads. But rather we see that in the way each of them approach every moment so differently. Even in David's first fight, McCallany shows Fritz watches with pride but also an extreme intensity as they go about it, where David's just having fun going off into it. The outdoor family meal scene exemplifies this more where McCallany is terrific in his own charisma, though so very specific if not dictatorial. There is genuine charm there, when his wife brings up his unexpected background in playing clarinet, McCallany's reaction shows real love there as the thoughts of the memory of their meeting glimpses on his face. But when any of his sons say something remotely out of his specifics, such as daring to comment on the wrestling camera angles rather than the wrestling, the coldness of McCallany pierces through because there's no hesitation or even slight easing at it, he will bluntly state his opinion every time. The way McCallany dominates is perhaps best illustrated when he tells former near Olympian Kerry to also join wrestling, McCallany comes in really as the coach speech, he speaks with belief, he speaks even with hardship as not the ideal path, but he also speaks as a command. Not a command of a man who is blaring it to his son, he doesn't need to, rather it is with the authority of the man who always believes himself to be right and in the right without exception.

Where McCallany and Dickinson though are similarly great in the same way is in the delivery of the wrestling promo. Dickinson knows exactly how to bring the right boisterous ridiculousness that is fashioned in the right kind absurd style that is of this over the top heroic overtures particularly his perfect way of saying "delivering the Iron Claw To You" with all the proper face glory. McCallany, not to be outshone in this regard is also going in hard with a far more heelish type of intensity, though again still with the same over the top ridiculousness but convincing in its entirely strange way. With particularly his way of saying "the greatest family in the history of wrestling" being all the most extreme over the top gusto, that is also just kind of perfect. In turn also making David take the position, Kevin expected to have, as the favorite to go furthest in wrestling. Where we see the true insidious cruelty of Fritz as he declares his choice with no words of comfort to his other son, just as whenever they make a mistake, Fritz only speaks as if it was a mistake with no positive urging but rather with that dismissive by McCallany that is so insidious in its cruelty. We see what is sewn with this after Kevin gets married just before David's world champion fight. A scene where Dickinson is just incredible, where he calmly depicts the physical exhaustion of the man as someone trying to cover it up but still exuding it even within the facade. More importantly is the beautiful loving warmth in his eyes and every word towards Kevin, as you see him just projecting the purest of love as he hears Kevin is having a child. Dickinson makes himself the glue of the family, making it unbelievably cruel then when David dies off screen, and we feel that loss because of what Dickinson delivered up until that point. From here on is where we also see what makes Fritz even worse than you might've guessed, as McCallany delivers the news of David's death as bluntly as anything else, and his insistence of his remaining sons not show "any tears" is hideous in the way McCallany makes it it merely the extension of the man's mental tyranny. McCallany does indicate that he does care, but so constricted in this and is his perspective that he leaves no opportunity for actual change. The way that McCallany's performance remains very nearly consistent through the further tragedies, realizes the greatest cruelty of the man, who is so firm in his standard, in his belief, that even as nearly his entire family is ripped from him for his ways, there is no honest reflection for really even a moment. And while this may seem less dynamic, although McCallany, just let's off a hint more grief and kind of seeming just slightly lost after the final death, what McCallany's work so effectively serves its purpose in creating a specific portrait of callousness that isn't based on becoming worse, rather it is his depiction of fittingly an iron heart that is so prepared for tragedy that he is not worn by it, but he also never learns from it.

Saturday, 3 February 2024

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2023

And the Nominees Were Not:

Holt McCallany in The Iron Claw

Milo Machado Graner in Anatomy of a Fall

Willem Dafoe in Poor Things

Jamie Bell in All of Us Strangers

Jonathan Tucker in Palm Trees and Power Lines

And the Oops! All Oppenheimer lineup:

David Krumholtz in Oppenheimer

Jason Clarke in Oppenheimer

Matt Damon in Oppenheimer

Casey Affleck in Oppenheimer

Gary Oldman in Oppenheimer

Best Actor