Alternate Best Actor 2024: Results

10. Keith Kupferer in Ghostlight - Kupferer gives a convincing and very moving portrayal of a man finding a healthy way to release his pent up trauma. 

Best Scene: Court deposition. 

9. Hugh Grant in Heretic - Grant elevates the entirety of the film just through his off-beat deliveries and quietly chilling moments. 

Best Scene: Monopoly. 

8. Daniel Zovatto in Woman of the Hour - Zovatto gives a terrifying performance by convincingly portraying both the false charm and brutal cruelty of his serial killer. 

Best Scene: Letting a victim live. 

7. Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness - Plemons artfully manages the film's unique tone to deliver on the deadpan comedy along but with some genuine emotion buried within that. 

Best Scene: Twisted request.

6. Timothée Chalamet in Dune Part II - Chalamet gives a properly charismatic hero's journey for much of the film but then takes it to the next level by twisting it into something nefarious by the end of the film. 

Best Scene: Rallying the Fremen. 

5. George MacKay in The Beast - MacKay gives multiple compelling performances, including a wholly convincing portrayal of repression and a terrifyingly convincing portrayal of the build up of a psychotic. 

Best Scene: First vlog. 

4. Josh O'Connor in Challengers - O'Connor gives a dynamic portrayal of one part of a love triangle, with a particularly effective weaponization of charisma both when it works and when it doesn't.

Best Scene: Failing to get a room. 

3. Nicholas Hoult in Nosferatu - Hoult takes the traditionally thankless role of Jonathan Harker (here named Thomas Hutter) and running it through his sheer acting talent by making the emotional and actual horror he goes through so brutally real. 

Best Scene: Ending. 

2. Cillian Murphy in Small Things Like These - Murphy delivers such a modest yet wholly impactful portrayal of a man slowly committing to action and living up to his empathy. 

Best Scene: Choosing to help. 

1. Sebastian Stan in A Different Man - Good predictions Tony, Lucas, Robert, Matt, Tahmeed, A, Ytrewq, Luke, 8000's, Jonathan & Brazinterma. Stan easily tops this list for me, despite loving many other performances. Stan gave the only performance that gave me any doubt on who my #1 should be. As Stan through his entire output in 2024 has proven to be an immense talent. Here giving such a dynamic, tangible but also hilarious realization of a one of a kind journey for a character. 

Best Scene: Pretending to be Oswald. 

Overall Ranking:

1. Adrien Brody in The Brutalist
2. Sebastian Stan in A Different Man
3. Colman Domingo in Sing Sing
4. Cillian Murphy in Small Things Like These
5. Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice
6. Nicholas Hoult in Nosferatu
7. Josh O'Connor in Challengers
8. Mike Faist in Challengers
9. George MacKay in The Beast
10. Timothée Chalamet in Dune Part II - 5
11. Ralph Fiennes in Conclave
12. Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness
13. Daniel Zovatto in Woman of the Hour
14. Hugh Grant in Heretic
15. Keith Kupferer in Ghostlight 
16. Lars Eidinger in Dying
17. Nicholas Hoult in The Order
18. Joseph Quinn in A Quiet Place Day One
19. Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside
20. Izaac Wang in Didi 
21. John Magaro in September 5
22. Brandon Wilson in Nickle Boys
23. Ethan Herisse in Nickle Boys - 4.5
    
24. Daniel Craig in Queer
25. Kyle Gallner in Strange Darling
26. Missagh Zareh  in The Seed of the Sacred Fig
27. James Le Gros in Good One
28. Andrew Garfield in We Live in Time
29. Josh Hartnett in Trap
30. Lakshya in Kill 
31. Jude Law in The Order
32. Jason Schwartzman in Between The Temples
33. Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 
34. Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain
35. Dev Patel in Monkey Man
36. Putthipong "Billkin" Assaratanakul  in How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
37. Nicholas Hoult in Juror No. 2
38. Pierre Niney in The Count of Monte Cristo
39. Aaron Pierre in Rebel Ridge 
40. Viggo Mortensen in The Dead Don't Hurt - 4
41. Gabriel LaBelle in Saturday Night
42. Jonno Davies in Better Man
43. Glen Powell in Hit Man
44. Ben Whitehead in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
45. Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain
46. Owen Teague in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
47. JJ "DJ Próvaí" Ó Dochartaigh in Kneecap
48. Tom Hardy in The Bikeriders
49. Austin Butler in The Bikeriders
50. Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy
    
51. Tommy Dewey in Your Monster
52. Ben Whishaw in Paddington in Peru
    
53. Brian Tyree Henry in Transformers One
54. Taron Egerton in Carry-On
55. Chris Hemsworth in Transformers One
56. Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine
57. Jake Gyllenhaal in Roadhouse - 3.5
58. Dave Dastmalchian in Late Night With The Devil
59. Raul Briones in La Cocina
60. Egill Ólafsson in Touch
61. Charlie Plummer in National Anthem
62. Glen Powell in Twisters
63. George MacKay in The End
64. Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie a Deux
65. Josh Brolin in Brothers
66. Eddie Peng in Black Dog
67. Paul Mescal in Gladiator II
68. Elliott Heffernan in Blitz
69. Tom Hanks in Here
70. Liam Óg "Mo Chara" Ó Hannaidh in Kneecap
71. Naoise "Móglaí Bap" Ó Cairealláin in Kneecap
72. Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown 
73. Rene Perez in In The Summers - 3
74. Adam Driver in Megalopolis
75. Justice Smith in I Saw the TV Glow
76. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop: Axle F 
77. Peter Dinklage in Brothers
78. Kelvin Harrison Jr. in Mufasa: The Lion King
79. Aaron Pierre in Mufasa: The Lion King
80. Isaac Krasner in Big Boys
81. Ryland Tews in Hundreds of Beavers - 2.5
    
82. Wagner Moura in Civil War
83. Palmi Kormakur in Touch
84. Julio Torres in Problemista  - 2

Next: 1986 Supporting after the Oscars. 

Alternate Best Actor 2024: Hugh Grant in Heretic

Hugh Grant did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a BAFTA, for portraying Mr. Reed in Heretic. 

Heretic follows two Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East) who unfortunately enter the house of a committed reddit user. 

Hugh Grant plays that committed reddit user, and in so many ways Hugh Grant is this film because getting to see him just sink his teeth into a villainous performance is the majority of the reason to watch this film which…I’ll get into a little later. As right off the bat when the two Mormons sister Barnes (Thatcher) and Paxton (East) approach Grant’s Mr. Reed’s house to spread their word, Grant is a tremendous amount of fun. Grant is very much utilizing his known presence as the stuttering yet charming leading man, who may blink more than once, in setting up the seemingly harmless enough older man who wouldn’t mind inviting in the two women for a discussion on religion. Grant very much brings the charm he was typically called upon in the majority of his 90’s to 00’s performances with his bright smile and generally slightly goofiness that creates an affability. Grant alludes to the eventual nature of the character however in just slightly off glances as he encourages the two to come into his house, which they refuse until he assures that his wife is inside “baking pie”. Grant is convincing enough to bring in moments mostly by being the Hugh Grant presence we’ve come to expect, and is kind of the tee off for the character as essentially once they enter the house it is the slow switch from one nature to another. 

Grant very much IS the film because so much of it becomes a whole lot of just talking about religion as Reed begins to discuss religion about them. Grant's first switch becomes a mix between his old charm though now with this growing directness in his delivery. Grant’s wonderful in the way he smiles after every sort of beat in the discussion almost to disarm them one more time, even as Mr. Reed, for someone seemingly just curiously interested in the Mormon church, offers some vast knowledge of the specifics of the founding of the faith. Where Grant emphasizes certain pieces of these descriptions with a cold analysis suddenly, where it seems less of him opening for further discussion and more so the first in what will be many attacks along the way. Something that continues as he questions more from each of the sisters, where Grant becomes more intense in his questioning and you see sort of any of that charm in Grant fade away suddenly in moments to great effect. Grant’s eyes become so cold such when he asks about Barnes’s deceased dad, specifics about his death and then asking if she’s contacted him from the presumed afterlife. Grant in particular suddenly loses any semblance of his little smile having a tremendous impact as his eyes instead begin to pierce as the man begins to try to break down both of the women to their very core. 

At a certain point Reed kind of loses any notion of pretending he is just “curious” with slightly sinister undertones to just openly direct in his attacks on the beliefs of the women and notes that he will help them find the “one true religion” where all sort of warmth purges from Grant’s face which is most disturbing from him in particular. Which becomes more alarming when the women find they can’t get out from the door they came in and Reed doesn’t seem like he intends to allow them to leave. Grant is having a ton of fun in this performance, and very much makes these scenes work just by having the fun that he does. As Grant very much plays around with the nature of the character, such as when he purposefully builds dread, where Grant is very entertaining by very much playing Mr. Reed as knowing about his own increasingly sinister nature, and that Mr. Reed himself is having fun in the strange game of his. Grant selling honestly so many of the lines that frankly go a bit on and on to say the least in setting up that the women can’t leave, and making them sing simply by his delivery of them that infuses each with an energy that is captivating within his own performance even as honestly the dialogue starts to get a bit repetitive. 

Following this we get Mr. Reed goes into his very long screed against religion by challenging every facet of their religious beliefs by connecting elements of pop culture and general beliefs while going about taking stabs at various aspects of religious beliefs. And what makes this scene work is largely Grant because he really colors every aspect as we very slowly rundown Reed’s thesis on the growth of monotheistic religions. Grant does this by just being so playful with all his different lines in going in really surprising directions in just throwing random bits of color to accentuate one line or another, creating an unpredictability within the very long exposition. Grant’s delivery is engaging in itself by itself, he’s just a delight to watch here in running with every line he has, but it also does serve the film in the way he switches on dime adds to the potential danger of the character. Because Grant so naturally goes goofy in one moment by his suddenly singing of “Creep” with an American accent, or at one point even doing a Jar Jar Binks impression, to being straight in his refined accent, to suddenly getting the glints in his eye of a most nefarious purpose. Grant is just dancing around with the lines that get through the scene just beautifully, and entirely makes the scene through his performance. Honestly I think if you had a lesser actor, the scene itself probably would crumble, but Grant makes it work. 

Unfortunately the crumbling comes right after this scene anyways, where Mr. Reed makes the sisters choose a door and clearly the screenwriters had no particularly clever ideas of where to take this story after the screed scene. As we get into a whole dumb thing where Mr. Reed apparently has these captive troglodyte women to make a false miracle where one revives by eating a poisoned pie by having doubles, which in itself is a ridiculously dumb plan since he tells the women what’s in the pie, he could’ve just lied about the contents of the pie to begin with. Anyway it is all to get them to eventually find a hidden layer where every choice led to him controlling them to get them to say religion about control, which he wants because he wanted to be a serial killer who gets people to denounce their faith beforehand? To get them to become troglodyte women maybe? As we never do get why he even has them. Something? I don’t know, I don’t think the screenwriters knew either, as the film completely falls apart, finding nowhere to go and not really giving Grant anything interesting to do after a certain point. I’ll give Grant credit he’s still good, and elevates every line he does have, bringing the right still entertainment value mixed in with a chilling cutting into every time he springs up to hassle the women some more. But in the end he can do only so much with just how weak the material gets by the end of the film. Still even with the letdown of the film as a whole, Grant runs with the showcase he does get in the first half of the film, and successfully utilizes what made him such a popular actor in the first place combined with some new shades of his talent beyond the pigeonhole he had been placed into. 

Alternate Best Actor 2024

And the Nominees Were Not:

Sebastian Stan in A Different Man

Timothée Chalamet in Dune Part II

Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness

George MacKay in The Beast
 

Hugh Grant in Heretic

Feel free to predict these five, those five or both.

Cillian Murphy in Small Things Like These

Josh O'Connor in Challengers

Daniel Zovatto in Woman of the Hour

Keith Kupferer in Ghostlight

Nicholas Hoult in Nosferatu

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2017: Results

10. Daniel Craig in Logan Lucky - Craig goes wildly against his established James Bond type here to give a very entertaining portrayal of a southern crook that manages to get laughs even when the film undersells his moments.

Best Scene: "We're dealing with science here"

9. Hugh Grant in Paddington 2 - Grant gives a very enjoyable performance here bringing the needed charm but also the explosive ego to his villainous actor. 

Best Scene: A character conference.

8. Paul Dano in Okja - Dano gives yet another strong performance here bringing such warmth and delivering an uncompromising empathetic figure within a film that is very much in need of one.

Best Scene: Taking the stage.

7. Jack Dylan Grazer in It - Grazer gives the best performance of the loser boys as he not only adds so much  to the overall chemistry of the group, but also has some stand out individual moments through his arc that he realizes so well.

Best Scene: Gazebos.

6. Mark Hamill in Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Although I think his performance is slightly weakened by the forced humor given to his character, Hamill delivers a powerful reprise here in his depiction of a broken man.

Best Scene: Final scene with Leia.

5. Jerome Flynn in Loving Vincent - Flynn in one major scene makes a tremendous impact that sums up the nature of van Gogh's death through his moving portrayal of the man who blames himself for it. 

4. David Lynch in Lucky - Lynch delivers some Lynchian greatness here as he manages to be both hilarious yet heartbreaking in his portrayal of a man who has lost his tortoise.

Best Scene: Coming to terms with tortoise loss.

3. Romain Duris in All the Money in the World - Duris quietly steals this film in his dynamic and moving depiction of the crisis of conscience of his kidnapper who struggles with his innate goodness as he tries to be a bad man.

Best Scene: The amputation.

2. Will Poulter in Detroit - Poulter's work is truly disturbing here as rather than portraying an overt drooling racist he depicts a calm and confident one who doesn't need to announce his prejudice as obvious hate rather he puts it within his horrible actions.

Best Scene: Interrogation tactics gone wrong. 

1. Patrick Stewart in Logan - Good Prediction Michael McCarthy. Patrick Stewart gives a heartbreaking reprise of his most famous cinematic role. He realizes the real tragedy of the Professor's demise through how far he has fallen through his failing mind, but also finds a real poignancy just in those minor hints of the man he once was.

Best Scene: The most perfect night. 

Overall Ranking:

1. Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Kōji Yakusho in The Third Murder
3. Sebastian Stan in I, Tonya
4. Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 
5. Patrick Stewart in Logan
6. Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project
7. Will Poulter in Detroit
8. Romain Duris in All the Money in the World
9. David Lynch in Lucky
10. Jason Isaacs in The Death of Stalin
11. Jerome Flynn in Loving Vincent
12. Mark Hamill in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
13. Tom Skerritt in Lucky
14. Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World
15. Jack Dylan Grazer in It
16. Michael Palin in The Death of Stalin
17. Paul Dano in Okja
18. Eric Tsang in Mad World 
19. Mark Rylance in Dunkirk
20. Algee Smith in Detroit
21. Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water
22. Michael Keaton in Spider-man: Homecoming
23. Hugh Grant in Paddington 2
24. Daniel Craig in Logan Lucky
25. Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Mom
26. Bruce Greenwood in Gerald's Game
27. Jason Mitchell in Mudbound
28. John C. Reilly in Kong: Skull Island 
29. John Boyega in Detroit
30. Brendan Gleeson in Paddington 2
31. Rory Cochran in Hostiles 
32. Jean-Louis Trintignant in Happy End
33. Ray Romano in The Big Sick
34. Paul Walter Hauser in I, Tonya
35. Paddy Considine in The Death of Stalin
36. Caleb Landry Jones in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
37. Cillian Murphy in Dunkirk
38. Bradley Whitford in Get Out
39. Robert Carlyle in T2 
40. Rupert Friend in The Death of Stalin
41. Ben Foster in Hostiles
42. Shia LaBeouf in Borg McEnroe
43. Armie Hammer in Free Fire
44. Jeff Goldblum in Thor: Ragnarok
    
45. Stephen Merchant in Logan
46. Terry Notary in The Square
47. Bill Nighy in Their Finest
48. Thomas Kretschmann in A Taxi Driver
49. Sharlto Copley in Free Fire 
50. Michael Rooker in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
51. Dave Bautista in Blade Runner 2049
52. Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name 
53. Harrison Ford in Blade Runner 2049
54. Clarke Peters in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
55. Bruce Greenwood in The Post
56. Carlos Sanz in Stronger
    
57. Michael Shannon in The Shape of Water 
58. Idris Elba in Molly's Game
59. Jaeden Lieberher in It 
60. Stellan Skarsgard in Borg McEnroe
61. Anthony Mackie in Detroit  
62. Kenneth Branagh in Dunkirk 
63. Bob Odenkirk in The Post
64. Ewen Bremner in T2
65. Gil Birmingham in Wind River
66. Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
67. Michael Stuhlbarg in The Shape of Water
68. Jon Hamm in Baby Driver 
69. Luke Evans in Beauty and the Beast
70. Ian McShane in John Wick Chapter 2
71. Ben Mendelsohn in Darkest Hour 
72. Buddy Duress in Good Time
73. Lakeith Stanfield in Get Out 
74. Traci Letts in Lady Bird
75. Peter Dinklage in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
    
76. Bill Skarsgård in It 
77. Austin Stowell in Battle of the Sexes
78. Jack Reynor in Free Fire 
79. O'Shea Jackson Jr. in Ingrid Goes West
80. Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 
81. Jared Leto in Blade Runner 2049
82. Jack Lowden in Dunkirk
83. Danny McBride in Alien: Covenant
84. J. Quinton Johnson in Last Flag Flying
85. Ben Safdie in Good Time
86. James Darren in Lucky
87. Woody Harrelson in War for the Planet of the Apes 
88. Ryu Jun-yeol in A Taxi Driver
89. Tom Hiddleston in Thor: Ragnarok
90. Jamie Foxx in Baby Driver
91. Jeremy Ray Taylor in It 
92. Owen Wilson in Lost in London
93. Graham Greene in Wind River
94. Josh Gad in Beauty and the Beast
95. Tom Hardy in Dunkirk
96. Hugh Bonneville Paddington 2
97. Camille Salameh in The Insult
98. Mark Hamill in Brigsby Bear
99. Gary Basaraba in Suburbicon
100. Fionn Whitehead in Dunkirk 
101. Udo Kier in Brawl in Cell Block 99
102. Jeffrey Tambor in The Death of Stalin
103. John Hawkes in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
104. Ronald Pickup in Darkest Hour
105. Taika Waititi in Thor: Ragnarok 
106. Jonathan Majors in Hostiles
107. Oscar Issac in Suburbicon
108. Ron Livingston in Lucky
109. Pedro Pascal in Kingsman: The Golden Circle
110. Cillian Murphy in Free Fire
     
111. Mark Ruffalo in Thor: Ragnarok 
112. Barry Keoghan in Dunkirk
113. Matt Walsh in Brigsby Bear
114. Too Hae-jin in A Taxi Driver
115. CJ Jones in Baby Driver
116. Johnny Lee Miller in T2
117. Timothy Spall in The Party
118. Gael Garcia Bernal in Coco 
119. Akshaye Khanna in Mom
120. Ian Hart in God's Own Country
121. Wes Studi in Hostiles 
122. Ed Oxenbould in Better Watch Out
123. Dwight Yoakam in Logan Lucky 
124. Jacob Latimore in Detroit 
125. Bill Pullman in Battles of the Sexes 
126. Domhnall Gleeson in American Made
127. Jesse Plemons in Hostiles 
128. Cillian Murphy in The Party
129. Tom Holland in The Lost City of Z
130. Tommy Flanagan in The Ballad of Lefty Brown
131. Joe Cole in Thank You For Your Service
132. Chosen Jacobs in It 
133. Steven Yeun in Okja 
134. Kenneth Cranham in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
135. Kevin Costner in Molly's Game
136. Aneurin Barnard in Dunkirk
137. Eddie Marsan in Atomice Blonde
138. Robert Pattinson in The Lost City of Z
139. Kit Harington in Brimstone
140. Chris O'Dowd in Loving Vincent
141. Josh Gad in Murder on the Orient Express
142. Paul Scheer in The Disaster Artist
143. Barry Shabaka Henley in Lucky 
144. Wyatt Russell in Ingrid Goes West
145. Adnan Siddiqui in Mom
146. Dallas Roberts in My Friend Dahmer
147. John Goodman in Atomic Blonde
148. Greg Kinnear in Brigsby Bear
149. Oscar Isaac in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
150. Boyd Holbrook in Logan
151. Michael Smiley in Free Fire
152. Stephen Henderson in Lady Bird
153. Bruno Ganz in The Party
154. Lior Ashkenazi in Norman
155. Giancarlo Esposito in Okja
156. Stephen Root in Get Out 
157. Stephen Dillane in Darkest Hour
158. John Boyega in Star Wars: The Last Jedi 
159. Seth Rogen in The Disaster Artist
160. Marcus Henderson in Get Out
161. Harry Styles in Dunkirk
162. Martin McCann in Lost in London
163. Laurence Fishburne in John Wick Chapter 2
164. Finn Wolfhard in It 
165. Steve Buscemi in Norman
166. Toby Jones in Atomic Blonde 
167. Michael Sheen in Brad's Status
168. Don Johnson in Brawl in Cell Block 99 
169. Barry Keoghan in The Killing of a Sacred Deer 
170. Sterling K. Brown in Marshall 
171. Willem Dafoe in Death Note
172. Armie Hammer in Call Me By Your Name
173. Tom Glynn Carney in Dunkirk  
174. Dwayne Johnson in Fast 8
175. Jason Statham in Fast 8
176. Ralph Fiennes in The Lego Batman Movie
177. Kurt Russell in Fast 8
178. Robert Downey Jr. in Spider-man: Homecoming
179. Alex Lawther in Goodbye Christopher Robin
180. Karl Urban in Thor: Ragnarok  
181. Glenn Fleshler in Suburbicon
182. Carel Struycken in Gerald's Game
183. Alan Cumming in Battle of the Sexes
184. Rob Morgan in Mudbound
185. Ben O'Toole in Detroit
186. Brian Gleeson in Phantom Thread 
187. John Lithgow in Beatriz At Dinner
188. John Magaro in War Machine
189. Alec Secareanu in God's Own Country
190. Benjamin Bratt in Coco 
191. Jon Favreau in Spider-man: Homecoming
192. Barkhad Abdi in Good Time
193. Noah Taylor in Paddington 2
194. James D'Arcy - Dunkirk
195. Choi Woo-shik in Okja 
196. Mathieu Kassovitz in Happy End
197. Eddie Izzard in Victoria and Abdul
198. Bokeem Woodbine in Spider-man: Homecoming
199. Morgan Spector in Chuck
200. Anthony Hopkins in Thor: Ragnarok
201. Peter Capaldi in Paddington 2 
202. Bobby Cannavale in I, Tonya
203. Wyatt Oleff in It 
204. Derek Jacobi in Murder on the Orient Express
205. Matvey Novikov in Loveless
206. Franz Rogowski in Happy End
207. Adeel Akhtar in The Big Sick
208. Jason Mitchell in Detroit
209. Lakeith Stanfield in War Machine
210. Colin Firth in Kingsman: The Golden Circle 
211. Donald Glover in Spider-man: Homecoming 
212. Brian Gleeson in Logan Lucky
213. Jack Quaid in Logan Lucky
214. David Thewlis in Wonder Woman
215. Kwon Hae-hyo in On the Beach at Night Alone
216. Sam Riley in Free Fire
217. Ron Perlman in Chuck
218. Richard E. Grant in Logan
219. Jonathan Pryce in The Man Who Invented Christmas 
220. Alex Wolff in My Friend Dahmer
221. Samuel L. Jackson in Kong: Skull Island
222. Nicholas Hamilton in It  
223. Sam Claflin in Their Finest
224. Marton Csokas in Mark Felt
225. Jung Jae-young in On the Beach at Night Alone
226. Michael Rapaport in Chuck
227. Traci Letts in The Post 
228. Johannes Krisch in In The Fade
229. John Goodman in Kong: Skull Island
230. Colin Farrell in Roman J. Israel, Esq. 
231. Michael Cera in Molly's Game
232. Beulah Koale in Thank You For Your Service
233. Mark Strong in Kingsman: The Golden Circle
234. Lance Reddick in John Wick Chapter 2
235. Christopher Plummer in The Man Who Invented Christmas
236. Jim Gaffigan in Chuck 
237. Denis Moschitto in In The Fade
238. Said Taghmaoui in Wonder Woman
239. Matthias Schoenaerts in Our Souls At Night
240. Jacob Batalon in Spider-man: Homecoming 
241. Bradley Cooper in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
242. Willem Dafoe in Murder on the Orient Express
243. Lucas Hedges in Lady Bird
244. Bill Camp in Molly's Game
245. Billy Crudup in Alien Covenant
246. Timothee Chalamet in Lady Bird
247. Ewan Bremner in Wonder Woman 
248. Michael Cera in The Lego Batman Movie 
249. Christopher Fairbank in Lady Macbeth
250. David Cross in The Post 
251. Anupam Kher in The Big Sick
252. Jon Bernthal in Wind River 
253. Paul Hilton in Lady Macbeth
254. Tom Hanks in The Circle
255. Domhnall Gleeson in Mother!
256. Ezra Miller in Justice League 
257. Nick Offerman in The Hero 
258. Shea Whigham in Death Note
259. Paul Anderson in Brimstone
260. Jacob Tremblay in The Book of  Henry
261. Michael McElhatton in The Foreigner
262. Emory Cohen in War Machine
263. Christopher Lloyd in Going in Style
264. Ian McKellen in Beauty and the Beast 
265. Udo Kier in Downsizing
266. Peter Fonda in The Ballad of Lefty Brown
267. Leslie Odom Jr. in Murder on the Orient Express
268. Tim Blake Nelson in Colossal
269. Lee Pace in The Book of Henry
270. Michael Sheen in Norman
271. Dominic West in The Square  
272. Christopher Abbot in It Comes At Night
273. Caleb Landry Jones in The Florida Project
274. Noah Taylor in Free Fire 
275. Michael Stuhlbarg in The Post 
276. Christoph Waltz in Downsizing
277. Stephen Graham in Films Stars Don't Die Liverpool
278. David Yow in I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
279. Jesse Plemons in The Discovery
280. Sunny Suljic in The Killing of a Sacred Deer
281. Arnaud Valois in BPM
282. Jim Caviezel in The Ballad of Lefty Brown
283. Caleb Landry Jones in Get Out
284. Steve Zahn in War For the Planet of the Apes
285. Owen Wilson in Wonder
286. Ed Harris in Mother!
287. Bradley Whitford in The Post
288. Benicio del Toro in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
289. Dustin Hoffman in The Meyerowitz Stories
290. Garrett Hedlund in Mudbound
291. Aleks Mikic in Better Watch Out 
292. Israel Broussard in Happy Death Day
293. Jack Reynor in Detroit
294. Aidan Gillen in The Lovers 
295. Brian Gleeson in Mother!
296. Lucas Hedges in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
297. Jason Momoa in Justice League
298. Riz Ahmed in Una
299. Jordan Rodrigues in Lady Bird
300. Andy Serkis in Star Wars: The Last Jedi 
301. Lil Rel Howery in Get Out 
302. Ian Glen in My Cousin Rachel
303. Matthew Rhys in The Post 
304. Jon Hamm in Marjorie Prime 
305. Tom Hollander in Breathe
306. Robert Redford in The Discovery
307. Ray Fisher in Justice League
308. Adeel Akhtar in Victoria & Abdul 
309. Emory Cohen in Shot Collar
310. Tim Robbins in Marjorie Prime 
311. Dan Stevens in Colossal
312. Jim Belushi in Wonder Wheel 
313. Zach Efron in The Greatest Showman
314. Austin Abrams in Brad's Status
315. Jason Clarke in Mudbound
316. Henrik Rafaelsen in Thelma
317. Eugene Brave Rock in Wonder Woman 
318. Seth MacFarlane in Logan Lucky 
319. Ewan Mcgregor in Beauty and the Beast
320. Jay Hernandez in Bright 
321. Johnny Depp in Murder on the Orient Express
322. Oliver Platt in Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman
323. Jeffrey Donovan in Shot Collar
324. Dacre Montgomery in Better Watch Out 
325. Scott Eastwood in Fast 8
326. J.K. Simmons in The Snowman
327. Common in John Wick Chapter 2
328. Edgar Ramirez in Bright 
329. John Ortiz in Going in Style
330. Domhnall Gleeson in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
331. John Slattery in Churchill
332. Jeremy Strong in Molly's Game
333. Tyler Ross in The Lovers
334. Toby Kebbell in Kong: Skull Island
335. David Dencik in The Snowman 
336. Bo Burnam in The Big Sick
337. Chris O'Dowd in Molly's Game
338. Clancy Brown in Stronger
339. Danny Huston in Wonder Woman
340. Zack Galifianakis in The Lego Batman Movie
341. Billy Magnussen in Ingrid Goes West
342. Dean Norris in The Book of Henry 
343. Devon Graye in I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
344. John Krasinski in Detroit
345. Ike Barinholtz in Bright
346. Kurt Braunohler in The Big Sick 
347. Mike Colter in Girls Trip
348. Jonathan Banks in Mudbound 
349. Jonas Karlsson in The Snowman
350. Michael Mando in Spider-man: Homecoming
351. Caleb Landry Jones in American Made
352. Jake Gyllenhaal in Okja 
353. Riccardo Scamarcio in John Wick Chapter 2
354. Thomas Mann in Kong: Skull Island 
355. James Jordan in Wind River
356. Elton John in Kingsman: The Golden Circle
357. Ellar Coltrane in The Circle

Next Year: 2017 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2017: Hugh Grant & Brendan Gleeson in Paddington 2

Hugh Grant did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite receiving a BAFTA nomination, for portraying Phoenix Buchanan in Paddington 2.

Paddington 2 is a most delightful sequel to the previous film about the little marmalade loving bear and his various endeavors while living with a family in London.

This film, as was the case for Nicole Kidman in the original, calls upon an actor to have what would be described as a "blast" while playing the film's villain. Hugh Grant is that actor, who I've yet to cover in any of his romantic leading turns with all their blinks, smiles and stutters. Not that I have a problem those performances, in fact quite enjoyed him in last years Florence Foster Jenkins where he stole the show and was rather cruelly snubbed when compared to a few of his competitors. I won't bury the lead and will begin with that this is the most I've liked Grant in anything though, and it might be because it allows him to go all the way with his particular set of skills. This is not to say Grant is doing his usual thing exactly, but it is kind of the starting point except more than that. We see this in Grant's first scene in the film where he declares a carnival open while meeting out titular lovable bear voiced so well by Ben Whishaw. Grant is impeccably charming with his grandiose yet sunny delivery of his little speech. He even laughs off a couple of accidental insults by Paddington with only a few slight shakes of the head and a grand reveal of his impeccable pearled whites. Grant brings that trademark charisma he is known for and just takes it up a notch more to represent an actor of a, no offense to Grant, a grander scale more of a Laurence Olivier or Daniel Day-Lewis type.

That is the man who is Phoenix Buchanan who literally prays to old "Larry" Olivier, who after an accidental tip by Paddington becomes a thief in order to uncover a series of clues in order to unlock a treasure trove. Phoenix goes about stealing the clues he needs which leaves poor Paddington with his paw prints on the scene of a crime and sent to jail. Grant is the evil villain here, but I write that with all levity. This performance by Grant correctly understands the tone of this film which that it is all in very good fun. Grant's marvelous here in bringing to life his dastardly fellow through expressing the strongest ego possible for an actor, which obviously is rather substantial. Grant matches the task quite well portraying such a strangely endearing lack of shame in every moment of his portrayal of Phoenix. He goes grand, he goes ham, in the most delicious of ways. Every moment he plays as though Phoenix is ready to deliver some grand monologue. His delivery is always filled with bravado and his face filled with such explosive self-satisfaction and vanity. Grant will make you believe that man can accidentally expose himself to scrutiny through the sheer intensity due to how he so admires himself. Every moment there is such a powerful sense in Grant's work that Phoenix is in love with one thing, well one man, himself. This is a deeply impassioned love as Grant puts his every being into it and it couldn't more entertaining to watch.

There can be a fatal, well not fatal, but a severe mistake that some actors make when playing the villain in a film like this which is they can potentially lose out on the fun of it all. Grant makes sure he does not make that mistake at any point. I have particular affection for every one of his "creations" of the various characters that he uses to pull of his scheme as well as falls into personal conference with. Grant is most enjoyable as converses with himself with one character accent after another. I actually find that Grant is great here because he doesn't go too over the top with these voices, mind you that is a strange sacle, as Phoenix is suppose to be a good actor just a self-indulgent one, and Grant captures that with effortless style. He ensures that old Phoenix is just as entertaining as any other part of the film, and makes sure that just because he's our villain doesn't mean we cannot have agood time being around him. He even manages to do this in the final act where Phoenix's villainy becomes more overtly threatening technically speaking. How? Well that's a question Grant is more than willing to answer which is to play the part as though he's Basil Rathbone taking charge of his situation. He technically does create enough of a pseudo menace, no real menace is intended or required, as Grant so embraces the madness of the man living out his parts with such pertinacity. I especially love his tremendous pride when naming his level of fencing skill while showing it off as a proper swashbuckler should. This is a truly wonderful performance by Hugh Grant that makes the most out of his oh so agreeable fiend.

Brendan Gleeson did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Knuckles McGinty in Paddington 2.

Well just for an extra bit of joy for this already joyful experience of a film look no further than the always reliable Brendan Gleeson. Gleeson, evidently being a bit more prudent in his talking animal film choices than his son Domnhall however I digress on that point. Here we get Brendan Gleeson as Paddington is sent to jail for his alleged crimes, and he goes face to face with the cook in order to lob a complaint. That cook is non other than Gleeson who also intends on being incredibly delightful here. This time through his extremely endearing portrayal of a hard boiled criminal. Well hard boiled for this film anyways. Gleeson though is hilarious even in the way he projects his intensity, going a bit absurd in just the right way he questions Paddington's complaints with one deadly stare after the other. Now doing this sort ridiculous acting is not given enough credit when done properly, as you can easily flop into the wrong direction of just being ridiculous rather ridiculously entertaining. Well like Grant, Gleeson successfully is the right kind of ridiculous here as he so strongly puts up this front only to have it initially broken through the tasting of some of Paddington's marmalade. The expression pictured above kind of says it all, does it not? Gleeson's hilarious in this almost primal moment of transcendence he conveys in the tasting, only bested by his rather enjoyable way of pronouncing the word as mah ma lade.

Gleeson's transformation of hardened criminal to loyal friend to Paddington couldn't be more endearing. It is rather hasty due to the nature of the film, but also still just perfect really in the few moments we get to address this. First with Gleeson's nonchalant disparaging of Paddington's aunt's advice, which leads to a most unfortunate stare to which Gleeson's reaction of sheer fear is something rather special. This though leads to the warming of old Knuckles in such a splendid way as Gleeson reveals just this overabundance of warmth in his interactions with dear Paddington. You'll believe friendship between a killer and bear, that is for sure through every little comedic gem you get in their interactions. I quite enjoy Gleeson keeping the hard edge of the man whenever it may benefit he and Paddington in their quest. This performance isn't all fun, okay it mostly is and a lot of fun it is. There is just a bit of drama that one must bring here in the few scenes where Knuckles warns poor Paddington that his family may forget about him in prison and encourages him to lead an escape. Gleeson's work though even delightful in this by making these conversations just so genuine on his side as though wasn't even talking to his mah ma lade loving bear. Gleeson interactions have this certain conviction in these moments that somehow makes everything all the more entertaining through it,even while being completely heartwarming as well. Gleeson's reactions when he hears of Paddington's troubles bring such real empathy that is comical coming from this brutish sort, yet still moving in its own way through the conviction that Gleeson brings. Gleeson also has just the right kind of fun here as well. He definitely realizes Knuckles as proper character that fits right into the life affirming substance that is Paddington 2. 

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2017

And the Nominees Were Not:

David Lynch in Lucky

Patrick Stewart in Logan

Daniel Craig in Logan Lucky

Jerome Flynn in Loving Vincent

Romain Duris in All the Money in the World

And for the Second Set of Predictions:

Will Poulter in Detroit

Mark Hamill in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Hugh Grant in Paddington 2

Paul Dano in Okja

Jack Dylan Grazer in IT

With special appearances by:

John Boyega in Detroit

Brendan Gleeson in Paddington 2

Bill Skarsgård in IT