Alternate Best Actor 2017: Results

10. Thomas Jane in 1922 - Jane delivers a solid turn in granting a curious yet honest life to his very peculiar character that manages to realize the strange state of the man without devolving into caricature.

Best Scene: A ghastly messenger.

9. Christian Bale in Hostiles - Bale's work here has the raw materials of a great performance yet he is consistently ham strung by the film's underdevelopment of every facet of his character's journey despite Bale's best efforts to sell them as this hardened soldier.

Best Scene: Burying his friend.

8. James Franco in The Disaster Artist - James Franco manages to go a bit further than just providing a hilarious impression of the strange and enigmatic Tommy Wiseau, as he does find enough of a depth within the nearly impenetrable character. 

Best Scene: Too many questions. 

7. Sebastian Stan in I, Tonya - Stan delivers a great performance here as he manages to not hold back in his depiction of the casual cruelty of a insecure man, but at the same time delivers a very funny portrayal of a fool.

Best Scene: News of the attack.

6. Jeremy Renner in Wind River - Renner delivers a brilliant turn here going against the expected approach for his role, and creating a different yet wholly convincing portrayal of a man dealing with his losses and the idea of retribution.

Best Scene: Way to make peace.

5. Robert Pattinson in Good Time - Pattinson gives a truly magnetic turn here that matches the kinetic pace of the film by so effectively realizing this man who will do anything to solve his problems except for the right thing.

Best Scene: The back of a police car.

4. Song Kang-ho in A Taxi Driver - Song carries this film every step of the way through his incredible performance that manages to begin as an amusing lightly comedic turn that naturally transitions to a heartbreaking portrayal of a man bearing witness to an atrocity.

Best Scene: A different kind of song.

3. Hugh Jackman in Logan - Jackman ends his tenure as Wolverine on a high note far beyond the original expectations of the role. Jackman expands beyond the limits of the past performance to give absolutely heartbreaking portrayal of a man coming to terms with his age and loss, and facing the responsibilities in his place as a "superhero".

Best Scene: So this is what it feels like. 

2. Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 - Gosling delivers a masterful performance in his creation of this exact state of the replicant that seemingly is now more machine than man. His exploration of the extent of this, and the ability to change within this context is realized with such a true poignancy by this flawless performance.

Best Scene: The memory is real. 

1. Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky - Good Predictions Lezlie (x2), Charles (x2), Tahmeed, Omar (x2), Luke, Robert(x2), Nguyễn Ngọc Toàn, and RatedRStar, I will say this is not a clear cut case for me in the slightest as I hold Gosling and Stanton's performances in equally high esteem. It would pains me to deny other one the top spot. On any other day I could side towards Gosling as both of these performances are among the best of the decade. Nonetheless my #1 is Harry Dean Stanton for his swansong performance that couldn't be a more perfect send off for the actor. It is one more chance just to appreciate his one of a kind screen presence and talent with this tender, funny, and incredibly moving portrayal of man coming to terms with his age and mortality. 

Best Scene: "You smile." 

Overall Ranking:

1. Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky
2. Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049
3. Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread
4. Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here
5. Hugh Jackman in Logan
6. Robert Pattinson in Good Time
7. Simon Russell Beale in The Death of Stalin
8. Song Kang-ho in A Taxi Driver
9. Jeremy Renner in Wind River
10. Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out
11. Steve Buscemi in The Death of Stalin
12. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Shot Caller 
13. Ethan Hawke in Maudie
14. James Franco in The Disaster Artist
15. Liev Schreiber in Chuck
16. Jamie Bell in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
17. Vladimir Brichta in Bingo: The King of the Mornings
18. Jake Gyllenhaal in Stronger 
19. Steve Carell in Battle of the Sexes
20. Laurence Fishburne in Last Flag Flying
21. Tom Cruise in American Made
22. James McAvoy in Split
23. Joel Edgerton in It Comes at Night
24. Chris Pine in Wonder Woman
25. Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
26. Christian Bale in Hostiles 
27. Sam Elliott in The Hero
28. Harris Dickinson in Beach Rats
29. Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour
30. Steve Carell in Last Flag Flying
31. Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name
32. Andy Serkis in War for the Planet of the Apes
33. Kamel El Basha in The Insult
34. Michael Fassbender in Alien Covenant
35. Levi Miller in Better Watch Out
36. Thomas Jane in 1922
37. Robert Redford in Our Souls At Night
38. James McAvoy in Atomic Blonde
39. Bill Pullman in The Ballad of Lefty Brown
40. Vince Vaughn in Brawl in Cell Block 99 
41. Kyle Mooney in Brigsby Bear
42. Brian Cox in Churchill
43. Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Ragnarok
44. Shawn Yue in Mad World 
45. Masaharu Fukuyama in The Third Murder
46. Kevin Harrison Jr. in It Comes at Night
47. Dave Franco in The Disaster Artist
48. Richard Gere in Norman
49. Josh Brolin in Only the Brave
50. Pierce Brosnan in The Foreigner
51. Lior Ashkenazi in Foxtrot
52. Sherwan Haji in The Other Side of Hope
53. Sakari Kuosmanen in The Other Side of Hope
54. Claes Bang in The Square
55. Rajkummar Rao in Trapped
56. Domhnall Gleeson in Goodbye Christopher Robin
57. Kenneth Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express
58. Ben Whishaw in Paddington 2
59. Tom Holland in Spider-man: Homecoming
60. Ben Stiller in The Meyerowitz Stories 
61. Colin Farrell in The Beguiled
62. Sul Kyung-gu in The Merciless
63. Ross Lynch in My Friend Dahmer
64. Douglas Booth in Loving Vincent
65. Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
66. Jacob Tremblay in Wonder
67. Stephen Curry in Hounds of Love 
68. Ben Mendelsohn in Una
69. Ansel Elgort in Baby Driver
70. Adam Driver in Logan Lucky
71. Traci Letts in The Lovers
72. Josh O'Connor in God's Own Country
73. Charlie Hunnam in The Lost City of Z
74. Adam Sandler in The Meyerowitz Stories
75. Ewan McGregor in T2
76. Ben Stiller in Brad's Status 
77. Jaeden Lieberher in The Book of Henry
78. Dan Stevens in The Man Who Invented Christmas
79. Daniel Giménez Cacho in Zama
80. Miles Teller in Only the Brave
81. Woody Harrelson in Lost in London
82. Will Arnett in The Lego Batman Movie
83. Keanu Reeves in John Wick Chapter 2
84. Fares Fares in The Nile Hilton Incident
85. Cosmo Jarvis in Lady Macbeth
86. Josh Gad in Marshall
87. Colin Farrell in The Killing of a Sacred Deer
88. Anthony Gonzalez in Coco 
89. Sverrir Guðnason in Borg vs. McEnroe
90. Elijah Wood in I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
91. Chadwick Boseman in Marshall
92. Andrew Garfield in Breathe
93. Channing Tatum in Logan Lucky
94. Miles Teller in Thank You For Your Service
95. Dan Stevens in Beauty and the Beast 
96. Bryan Cranston in Last Flag Flying
97. Nahuel Perez Biscayart in BPM
98. Géza Morcsányi in On Body and Soul
99. John Cho in Columbus  
100. Kumail Nanjiani in The Big Sick 
101. Jackie Chan in The Foreigner 
102. Keith Stanfield in Death Note
103. Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
104. Adel Karam in The Insult
105. Michael Caine in Going in Style
106. Alan Arkin in Going in Style 
107. Jason Sudeikis in Colossal
108. Joel Edgerton in Bright
109. Sam Claflin in My Cousin Rachel
110. Arnaud Valois in BPM
111. Aleksey Rozin in Loveless
112. Will Tilston in Goodbye Christopher Robin
113. Noah Jupe in Suburbicon 
114. Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman
115. Guy Pearce in Brimstone
116. Tom Hanks in The Post
117. Matt Damon in Downsizing 
118. Will Smith in Bright
119. Liam Neeson in Mark Felt
120. Taron Egerton in Kingsman: The Golden Circle
121. Javier Bardem in Mother!
122. Im Si-Wan in The Merciless
123. Morgan Freeman in Going in Style
124. Vin Diesel in Fast 8
125. Luke Evans in Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
126. Justin Timberlake in Wonder Wheel
127. Matt Damon in Suburbicon
128. Ben Affleck in Justice League 
129. Tom Hiddleston in Kong: Skull Island 
130. Michael Fassbender in The Snowman
131. Jason Segel in The Discovery
132. Ali Fazal in Victoria & Abdul
133. Brad Pitt in War Machine
134. Mark Wahlberg in All The Money in the World 
135. Nat Wolff in Death Note

Next Year: I'm taking a break until the Oscars, but the next year after that will be 2008 lead.

Alternate Best Actor 2017: James Franco in The Disaster Artist

James Franco did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for SAG and winning a Golden Globe, for portraying Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist.

Oh hai everyone. The circumstances of this review, they're crazy, almost as if I started reviewing me underwears. Alright maybe not  that much ahahaha. What a story, ahahaha as I go from reviewing the original performance by Tommy Wiseau for its infamous quality to the performance as that performance by James Franco which was nearly Oscar nominated. Before I unpack the story behind the room filled filled with spoons I must admit my own feelings towards the inception of this project. After being delighted by the book of the same name as this film I'll admit my anticipation for the adaptation perhaps matched the extent to which chocolate is known to be the symbol of love by society, which as we know is almost unqualified in that vast belief. In short I was excited. Upon hearing James Franco optioned the novel, who I have never been the biggest fan of and I certainly did not see him in the role as the football while wearing tuxedos playing aficionado. Upon also hearing of Franco casting it as this beautiful party. Where he invited all of his friends in cameo or even leading roles, while that might have been good thinking to Franco, but that along with the first teaser was leading me almost to scream your tearing me apart James Franco!

I was concerned more than a strange man/boy creature should be who bought drugs from the wrong oddly named drug dealer. As Tommy Wiseau would be an easy enough character to get wrong because on and off screen he is so ridiculous it would be easy enough to only be the caricature of the man. I must admit though before I started throwing my TV out of a window only for it to fall in a way that is against the laws of gravity, I saw the extended trailer and eventually the film which changed my tone faster then when you don't want pizza but pizza was already ordered for you. Although I won't quite say I said oh hey James Franco I didn't know it was you, upon the opening of the film Franco comes close to becoming the realization of the man who will incorrectly act like a chicken right to your face. We see this as Tommy Wiseau represents the idea of the fearless actor to Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) as they meet in an acting class. Franco of course cannot tell you the secrets of Tommy Wiseau, they're confidential after all. He instead must be the enigma of the man that is quite unlike your typical hu-man being. A man who will randomly say "How's your sex life" as a normal trait of human behavior, this is course a representation of Tommy more so than the legendary character of Johnny the banker from The Room, although these things can blur a bit.

Franco seems to have it all down, I mean the strange saunter, the mysterious glares, the unknowable accent...what's going here? Well Franco seems to have captured Wiseau past the surface level of his strange sunglasses, and even stranger wardrobe. There is that exact way of speaking even past the NOOOOWEORLLEANS accent, but the exact way his voice has these variations depending on the mood of the man. In this capturing of the man that is enough to make it interesting, this is a comedic performance in the sense that it is naturally funny the same way Tommy Wiseau is naturally funny in his strange way of navigating the world. The man who will go about saying "I'm tired, I'm wasted...I love you Baby" that isn't what one typically states in any circumstance, however the real Wiseau isn't far from that strange I'll say atypical juxtaposition of words and emotions. Now as much as the real Wiseau may wish for me to keep my comments in my pocket his very being is quite hilarious just as Franco is here, since he captures that same strange wavelength that the rest of us could only hope to achieve. For example I'm sure Wiseau understands the logic of the flower shop scene in his own mind, however we ponder every word, its very existence, except for perhaps the inclusion of doggie one of the better actors in that film. Franco simply finds the state of being that is Wiseau which is highly entertaining to watch, better than dropping off the earth anyways, that's a promise.

Of course before I go off to eat the delicious delicacy of haaaa, I must ponder if this performance is above a standard impression. Well I would say it is to the extent that it is one of the best impressions one probably has seen of the frequently impersonated Tommy Wiseau, although what takes this further beyond just an entertaining impression is any potential humanization of the very alien Tommy. This is of course as odd as introducing then dropping a cancer subplot through a single line, because Tommy's reactions are not so simple. I mean few people chuckle at hearing someone get beat up so bad they ended up on a hospital on Guerrero street, no one goes cheep cheep to imitate a chicken, well except Tommy Wiseau. Franco's work then must attempt to bring out some strange inner truth of Tommy. In this sense Franco's portrayal of the other sides of Tommy are within his relationship with Greg played by his brother. This friendship is even atypical as the encouragements of Tommy towards Greg are strange in themselves demanding silence on questions about his past while also requiring the return of his own support. There is some strange vulnerability that Franco captures in more subtle moments, within this purposefully extroverted work. A sense of some desire for kinship though very much internalized towards these single moments of earnest friendship mixed in mostly within Wiseau oddity. Franco finds those moments but also uses them to essentially work towards the creation of the more problematic Tommy, that is only lightly touched upon here.

It is there which Franco fashions, for the feel good take to the material, to show it as a jealousy in Tommy towards losing his friend than the more inherent nature of the man who actually made the original film. It does work as such though in this is a return to The Room form, as we see Tommy/Johnny echo themselves as they become fed up with their mutual worlds. The overcoming of this, which is less dramatic for Tommy than it is for Johnny, is merely found in Tommy achieving equilibrium after Greg returns the encouragement to Tommy by showing that his passion project of the Room is beloved even if it is not in the way he intended. This again is Franco still as Tommy and his reactions seem right if perhaps limited in that we do never fully understand who he is past a certain point, to the point that it is obvious Franco never learned the whole truth either. This is an enjoyable representative of Wiseau, and enough of a realization beyond simply an impression to at least feel we've seen something of Wiseau in this film beyond simply being entertained by his unique antics. If James Franco were to ask "What do you want from me, huh? HUH?" about this performance, I'd say what he gave was more than enough. Now one might have a point of view that is so different than mine in regards to this performance. That is fine, as long as we can still love each other, you don't even have to say it, but one should just always remember that if a lot of people love each other, the world would be a better place to live. 

Alternate Best Actor 2017

And the Nominees Were Not:

James Franco in The Disaster Artist

Robert Pattinson in Good Time

Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049

Jeremy Renner in Wind River

Sebastian Stan in I, Tonya

And for the Second Set of Predictions:

Song Kang-ho in A Taxi Driver

Hugh Jackman in Logan

Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky

Christian Bale in Hostiles

Thomas Jane in 1922 

Best Actor 2010: Results

5. Javier Bardem in Biutiful- Bardem despite the emotionally charged nature of his role, gives a oddly dull, and ineffective performance.

3. Colin Firth in The King's Speech- Firth's performance is a somewhat redundant performance in the way he repeatedly conveys the same emotion. His performance lacks proper consistency, as well as his portrayal of the stammer is a bit forced. To his credit though, he does have a few good moments.

3. Jeff Bridges in True Grit - Although I still find the creation inconsistency there is value within his gruff and dirty version of the eye patched western hero...of sorts. 

2. James Franco in 127 Hours- Franco performance is charming and entertaining when he need to be, as well as effective in portraying his character's physical degradation, as well as his emotional state. On a whole though he is actually overshadowed by the direction of the film.

1. Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network- Eisenberg's performance is the only nominated performance this year that I can really say is a truly strong effort. Eisenberg although limited fits perfectly in this role as the manipulative calculating Mark Zuckerberg. His properly portrays the cold calculating nature of the character, along with subtle suggestions of what lies beneath his cold exterior as well.

Best Actor 2010: James Franco in 127 Hours

James Franco received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Aron Ralston in 127 Hours.

127 Hours tells of mountain climber and all around thrill seeker Ralton who finds himself trapped under boulder with no help in sight.

This could easily be said a one man show for Franco, for almost the entirety of the film. I would say this is actually more of a two man show, Franco for one, Danny Boyle the director the other, since this a very much a director's picture in the way, Ralton's situation is portrayed with the many directorial flairs, such as constant cuts, and many fantasy sequences.

The camera certainly does not just sit on Franco and stay there, instead it moves about many times anywhere but just on him. Franco at the beginning properly sets up the thrill seeking way of his character, showing a lot of life in Ralston. Also in his early scenes were he helps out to female hikers, Franco has a great deal of chemistry that works well in the role.

Soon enough though he finds himself trapped behind the rock, leaving his physical movements rather restrained for the rest of the performance. He is required to show Ralston's slow physical disintegration from being trapped. Franco is fine in this aspect, but it is not anything that I found to be truly stunning.

As a sort of one man show I think Franco does do  a good job, of keeping your attention on him, and with him, as he goes through his dreadful experience. I won't say you feel what he feels, but Franco does express Ralton's painful situation quite well, also Franco does manage to stay interesting despite being completely stuck on the rock. 

In much of what the film shows about Ralton's life, and his feelings I do feel are expressed heavily by Boyle's direction, which sometimes even overpowers what Franco is trying to do in the role. When Franco is given the spotlight though Franco certainly handles what he has well, even if in a rather simple fashion in some regards.

When he must express regret over his life he does, pretty well in fact, but I always had the feeling that it was always the build of the direction around him that brought the emotional payoff than Franco himself. Franco most major scene I think is his moment where he interviews himself, Franco is entertaining in that scene, and he is good in it, but again the scene works more do to the direction that because of Franco.

 At the end of the journey of Ralton's I will admit I felt an emotional rush, but in the end it was only partially due to Franco, in the end it really did come from the direction precision in bringing this moment more than Franco's performance reaching this moment. Do not get me wrong, Franco is good, and acts well as the emotional beacon used by the director, but I cannot say his performance was amazing or the best thing in the film.

Best Actor 2010

And the Nominees Were:

Javier Bardem in Biutiful

James Franco in 127 Hours

Colin Firth in The King's Speech

Jeff Bridges in True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network