Alternate Best Actor 2015: Results

10. Johnny Depp in Black Mass - Depp returns to form here for an effectively brutal depiction of a vicious mobster.

Best Scene: Whitey tries to explain why he wasn't a rat.

9. Ben Mendelsohn in Mississippi Grind - Ben Mendelsohn gives an endearing and moving depiction of a gambler with his work being particularly well amplified by his amazing chemistry with his co-star Ryan Reynolds.

Best Scene: Gerry plays a piano.

8. Michael B. Jordan in Creed - Jordan gives a great portrayal of a man with the passion to find his own path though with the frustrations of a son trying to overcome the shadow of his father.

Best Scene: "I wasn't a mistake"

7. Jason Segel in The End of the Tour - Segel gives a fascinating portrait of David Foster Wallace capturing his personal idiosyncrasies along with his personal philosophy, intelligence, and vulnerabilities.

Best Scene: Lipsky asks Wallace about his depression.

6. Michael Fassbender in Macbeth - Michael Fassbender offers a unique and powerful alternative interpretation of the tragic Scot, as man slowly destroyed by madness from his post traumatic stress.

Best Scene: Macbeth learns of the fate of his wife.

5. Ben Foster in The Program - Foster brings the right out of control vanity and ego to his Lance Armstrong, but still offers just enough sympathy for the man.

Best Scene: Lance says he'll clean up the sport himself. 

4. Jason Bateman in The Gift - Jason Bateman offers one of the most realistic depictions of a bully you'll find in a film, but goes further to still instill this sort of man with a very real humanity.

Best Scene: The final gift.

3. Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmes - McKellen offers not only his own effective approach to the well worn character, but also goes deeper to realize the personal difficulties of being such a man in heartbreaking detail.

Best Scene: Mr. Holmes and Ann.

2. Tom Hardy in Legend - Tom Hardy gives two great performances, one appropriately outrageous and entertaining as deranged mad man, and the other appropriately charming and moving as a potentially good man who allows himself to fall down the same path as his brother.

Best Scene: The Krays come to blows. 

1. Jacob Tremblay in Room - Good predictions Luke and Anonymous. This year came down to several performances for me, and it's a great year, despite what perhaps the lead actor nominations might allow one to believe. My choice, the choice that I'm picking, yes right exactly now must be chosen, yes the choice. Well obviously I already chose, but this one was particularly difficult as there was not a single performance that just stood out to me, not in a bad way mind you, but rather I had to choose simply through work that I equally loved. Anyway my choice is the youngest of all the nominees yet his work is no less captivating. Tremblay's work is unassuming yet tremendous, as he carries his film so eloquently depicting a quiet yet so powerful depiction of a boy's tumultuous journey to discover the world.

Best Scene: Preparing to leave the room. 

Overall Rank:

1. Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmes
2. Paul Dano in Love & Mercy
3. Jacob Tremblay in Room
4. Tom Hardy in Legend
5. Tom Courtenay in 45 Years
6. Jason Bateman in The Gift
7. Christopher Plummer in Remember 
   
8. Leland Orser in Faults
9. Ben Foster in The Program 
10. Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road
11. Michael Fassbender in Macbeth
12. Jason Segel in The End of the Tour
13. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant
14. Michael B. Jordan in Creed 
15. Kurt Russell in Bone Tomahawk
16. John Cusack in Love & Mercy 
17. Christopher Abbott in James White
    
18. Abraham Attah in Beasts of No Nation
19. Tom Hanks in Bridge of Spies 
20. Viggo Mortensen in Far From Men 
21. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in A Second Chance
    
22. Tobey Maguire in Pawn Sacrifice 
23. Ben Mendelsohn in Mississippi Grind
24. Ryan Reynolds in Mississippi Grind 
25. Andrew Garfield in 99 Homes 
26. Ralph Fiennes in A Bigger Splash
    
27. Adam Driver in Hungry Hearts
    
28. John Boyega in Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
29. Patrick Wilson in Bone Tomahawk
30. Joel Edgerton in Black Mass 
31. Jesse Eisenberg in The End of the Tour
32. Johnny Depp in Black Mass
33. Jason Mitchell in Straight Outta Compton
    
34. Domhnall Gleeson in Ex Machina
35. Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs
36. Song Kang-ho in The Throne
37. Rolf Holger Lassgård in A Man Called Ove
38. Antonythasan Jesuthasan in Dheepan
39. Colin Farrell in The Lobster 
40. Al Pacino in Danny Collins
    
41. Jason Clarke in Everest  
42. O'Shea Jackson Jr. in Straight Outta Compton
    
43. Matt Damon in The Martian  
44. Corey Hawkins in Straight Outta Compton
    
45. Reda Kateb in Far From Men
46. Mathias Schoenaerts in A Bigger Splash
    
47. Sharlto Copley in Chappie 
48. Frederick Lau in Victoria
    
49. Vincent Lindon in The Measure of a Man 
50. Antonio Bolívar in Embrace of the Serpent
    
51. Nilbio Torres in Embrace of the Serpent
    
52. Géza Röhrig in Son of Saul
    
53. Daniel Craig in Spectre
54. Bryan Cranston in Trumbo
55. Michael Fassbender in Slow West
56. Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation 
57. Kevin Bacon in Cop Car
58. Pilou Asbæk in A War
59. Ulrik Munther in The Here After
    
60. Mathias Schoenaerts in A Little Chaos
    
61. Tom Hardy in Child 44
62. Chang Chen in The Assassin
    
63. Buddy Duress in Heaven Knows What
    
64. Tom Hiddleston in Crimson Peak
65. Colin Firth in Kingsman: The Secret Service 
66. Armie Hammer in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
67. Henry Cavill in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
68. Paul Rudd in Ant-Man
69. Robert De Niro in The Intern 
70. Vin Diesel in Furious 7
71. Liam Neeson in Run All Night
72. Richard Madden in Cinderella
73. Taron Egerton in Kingsman: The Secret Service 
74. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in The Walk 
75. Alex Jennings in The Lady in the Van
    
76. James Freedson-Jackson in Cop Car
77. Hays Wellford in Cop Car
78. Jake Gyllenhaal in Southpaw
79. Bill Hader in Trainwreck
80. Noah Schnapp in The Peanuts Movie
81. Sean Penn in The Gunman
82. Kodi Smit-McPhee in Slow West
83. David Thewlis in Anomalisa
84. Chris Pratt in Jurassic World 
85. Joaquin Phoenix in Irrational Man
86. Michael Caine in Youth 
87. Chris Hemsworth in The Heart of the Sea
88. Will Smith in Concussion
    
89. Dev Patel in Chappie 
90. Ryan Reynolds in Woman in Gold
    
91. Yoo Ah-in in The Throne
92. Nick Cannon in Chi-Raq
    
93. Channing Tatum in Jupiter Ascending 
94. Mark Ruffalo in Infinitely Polar Bear 
95. Asa Butterfield in 10,000 Saints
    
96. Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl

Next Year: 1962 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2015: Johnny Depp in Black Mass

Johnny Depp did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for SAG, for portraying James "Whitey" Bulger in Black Mass.

Black Mass, which focuses on Boston mobster Whitey Bulger's time as an FBI informant, is a film I appreciated with my initial viewing, but after hearing a great deal of disdain for the film I  pondered how the film would hold up on re-watch. Well I thought it still worked, it's not a great gangster film, but it's a good one.

Black Mass has perhaps been most noted as a potential return to form for Johnny Depp, though technically speaking some of the features of his frequently derided recent work is here as well. In a surface sense only though as his role is also heavily made up, perhaps too much as I believe they actually toned down his eye color in post production after the first teaser, but then again Bulger was not exactly the most ordinary looking fellow. As also expected is an overt accent, here a grizzled throaty voice that sounds like his vocal chords have been clouded in smoke his entire life, that is only made more distinct by his South Boston accent. Depp is consistent in these choices, the same can be said for those derided performances, but often times those performances feel very much like Depp is having a great laugh at a joke only he understands or finds funny. All of this surface grime feels very fitting to the role of Whitey Bulger, and seems to make sense in this creation of a man who's treated as almost otherworldly by some. Though I would say it takes a bit of time to get use to, he does not disappear instantaneously like say Richard Jenkins in Bone Tomahawk, once you do it's very easy to accept Depp in this role, and all of the immediate creation of Bulger does feel natural to the character.

Now the film begins with Bulger already an established criminal element, a man who has been in and out of prison already, ready to only expand his territory in order to control organized crime in Boston. This film actually very distinctly attempts to not romanticize a single aspect of the criminal life, even a film like Goodfellas which showed the brutality of the life also suggested its allure. This is interesting in that the appearance of Bulger coincides with this idea, and it almost seems to suggest that the clouded view of some towards Bulger seemed to have developed from past association, however someone without that connection is not fooled for a moment. This actually kind of gives Depp free reign to go all out in portraying the evil of Bulger in a particularly blunt fashion. The viciousness of the man is almost always evident as there is an considerable intensity in every breath that Depp takes with this performance. He seems to wear his beatings and murders on his sleeve as Depp brings the needed menace to the role right off in some of the earliest scenes as he goes about beating a man and having another killed for seemingly slight infractions.

The focus of the film though is on how Bulger basically began to thrive through an alliance with the F.B.I due to an agent, and another man from Bulger's neighborhood, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton). The relationship is the key one in the film, to the point that I do feel Edgerton is a co-lead with Depp, as it shows both men active in building a single criminal empire despite it being Connolly's job to stop crime in Boston. Now this relationship between the two is intriguing as Connolly basically believes Bulger to be almost a god of sorts to him, though the devil would be more fitting. Depp is very good in the scenes with Edgerton as he plays it as Bulger does not exactly put on a facade yet does purposefully does nothing to dissuade Connolly out of his delusion. This is actually by revealing a bit of his own delusion instead. Depp brings this considerable assurance in Bulger as he agrees to be an informant, by basically always stating it as not ratting because really just because he says so. At the same time he strings up Connolly all the more, as Depp plays Bulger keeping this command as he controls Connolly with more or less his superior presence.

The film quite clearly paints Bulger as a cancer that only denigrates anything he touches, which could leave this to be a one dimensional portrait of a monster. Now Depp avoids this by a few pivotal scenes where Bulger is interacting with his family or non-criminal individuals from his neighborhood. Depp to do this does not suddenly drop Bulger's normal manner by any means, but does rather naturally reveal just the ability for warmth when Bulger is spending time with his son or his mother. Depp in no way uses these scenes to suggest Bulger as a different man, but within his dark husk leaves just a bit light in there to at least offer some humanity in the man that in no way compromises the rest of performance. Quite the contrary actually in that Depp utilizes those few moments to amplify what comes later. When Bulger loses his son Depp effectively reveals only an even darker man that seems ruled by his most fiendish tendencies, when his mother dies this only becomes even worse. Depp only shows the hollowness grow as he portrays only the greater pleasure and cruelty in the man as he continues past losing anything that brought out the slightest hint of kindness in the man.

Depp presents the cancer that is the man only becomes more malignant through his losses. When he physically threatens Connolly's wife or goes about his murder there is a chilling pleasure that Depp brings in every moment. There's no grandeur to Depp's depiction of it, he leaves no interpretation to it, no chance to be thrilled by it, he makes the acts vile and only horrifying to witness. The film does not technically continue long past this point in terms of Bulger's personal story since it ends when his association with Connolly ends. There is one great moment that remains for Depp, that perhaps alludes to where his performance went in the apparently cut sequences depicting Bulger's life in hiding. That is when he finds the incriminating news story that reveals that Bulger was in fact the rat to the whole world, and Bulger attempts to explain himself. Depp is terrific in the scene as he again attempts to keep Bulger's usual confidence, but it wains in the explanation suggesting a moment of clarity as though he finally understands he was even less than he believed was. This is a strong performance by Depp that proves he's still capable of a compelling performance given the right material or perhaps motivation.

Alternate Best Actor 2015

And the Nominees Were Not:

Tom Hardy in Legend

Jason Segel in The End of the Tour

Johnny Depp in Black Mass

Michael B. Jordan in Creed

Ben Mendelsohn in Mississippi Grind

Predict those five or these five:

Michael Fassbender in Macbeth

Jason Bateman in The Gift

Jacob Tremblay in Room

Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmes

Ben Foster in The Program 

Or both.

Alternate Best Actor 1990: Results

5. Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild - Although the film under utilizes him Cheung strikes up the perfect note as the romantic/vapid dreamer.

Best Scene: On the train.

4. Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands - Depp artfully creates his artificial yet all too human portrayal of a "monster".

Best Scene: The Christmas present from his father.

3. Ray Liotta in Goodfellas - Liotta gives a great performance in realizing the exuberance of mob life along with its harmful and corrupting qualities.

Best Scene: The one day sequence.

2. Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer - Rooker gives a chilling performance by bringing out the harsh truths of his character who kills just because that's what he does.

Best Scene: Henry talks about his past.

1. James Caan in Misery - Well my single favorite leading actor performance from 1990 is the performance so often forgotten next to the praise of his co-star. Caan's work should not be forgotten though as his brilliant reactionary work amplifies Bates's performance as well as the film's horror, while giving a very moving and sometimes funny portrayal of a man in a horrible situation.

Best Scene: Burning the manuscript.

Overall Rank:

1. James Caan in Misery
2. Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 
3. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune
4. Ray Liotta in Goodfellas
5. Gabriel Byrne in Miller's Crossing
6. Mel Gibson in Hamlet 
7. Nicolas Cage in Wild At Heart
8. Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands
9. Richard Harris in The Field
10. Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future III
11. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III
12. Ron Silver in Reversal of Fortune
13. Clint Eastwood in The Rookie
14. Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild
15. Paul Newman in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
16. Ben Mendelsohn in The Big Steal 
17. Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone
18. Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October
19. Clint Eastwood in White Hunter Black Heart
20. Robin Williams in Awakenings
21. Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume
22. Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future III
23. Jeff Daniels in Arachnophobia
24. Harrison Ford in Presumed Innocent 
25. Sean Penn in State of Grace
26. Andy Lau in Days of Being Wild 
27. Steve Martin in My Blue Heaven
28. Kevin Bacon in Tremors
29. Alan Young in Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp
30. Alec Baldwin in The Hunt For Red October 
31. Jeff Fahey in White Hunter Black Heart
32. Bob Newhart in The Rescuers Down Under 
33. Nick Nolte in Q & A
34. Bruce Willis in Die Hard II
35. Mel Gibson in Bird on a Wire
36. Danny Glover in Predator 2
37. Gerard Depardieu in Cyrano de Bergerac
38. Robert De Niro in Awakenings
39. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall
40. Patrick Swayze in Ghost
41. Josh Pais in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
42. Brian Tochi in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
43. Robbie Rist in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
44. Corey Feldman in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
45. John Cusack in The Grifters 
46. Charlie Sheen in The Rookie 
47. Timothy Hutton in Q & A
48. Bob Hoskins in Heart Condition
49. Denzel Washington in Heart Condition
50. Zach Galligan in Gremlins 2
51. John Travolta in Look Who's Talking Too
52. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop
53. Bruce Willis in Look Who's Talking Too 
54. Matthew Modine in Pacific Heights
55. Rick Moranis in My Blue Heaven
56. Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy
57. Matthew Modine in Memphis Belle
58. Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves 
59. John Ritter in Problem Child
60. Sylvester Stallone in Rocky V 
61. Jim Varney in Ernest Goes to Jail
62. Michael Oliver in Problem Child
63. Bill Cosby in Ghost Dad
64. Richard Gere in Pretty Woman
65. Matt Salinger in Captain America

Next Year: 1990 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1990: Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands

Johnny Depp did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Golden Globe, for portraying the titular character of Edward Scissorhands.

Edward Scissorhands tells essentially a fairytale about a man created with scissors for hands.

Edward Scissorhands marks the first collaboration between Depp and director Tim Burton. A relationship that I suppose was promising, after all their second film was Ed Wood, but now the two are in serious need of  a dudevorce. Any who this is about the past when Tim Burton was seen as some sort of visionary, and Johnny Depp was seen as one of the most promising actors. The film essentially takes the approach of having sympathy for the monster from Frankenstein except Edward does not even have Frankenstein's violent reactions to violence. The biggest danger Edwards has is perhaps a minor cut, but that's hardly his intention. The character is not even viewed by most of the suburbanites as a monster at first despite coming from a dark castle and obviously being quite unusual in appearance. Depp's performance here is in a similar vein with some of his later works with Burton, as the character is heavily made up while being purposefully strange with Depp technically giving a very mannered performance. The difference here though is there seems to be a lot more heart in terms of Depp's performance.

In terms of the mannerisms Depp plays the part by accentuating the fact that his body's basis was that of an automaton. Depp steps with each foot after the other and everything about his movements are particularly stilted and forced looking. This works though as Depp does suggest really what's underneath Edward's skin and in addition there's something very important that Depp does not do here that he would go on to do later on his career. That being that Depp does not overindulge in terms of the mannerisms as there is never that quality of having them just for the sake of it. It feels true to the character and only helps to establish what Edward is. In contrast to this Depp does not bring a hint of artifice in terms of Edward's facial expressions. This is where Depp brings out the gentle of nature of the character quite beautifully. He only ever brings a very unassuming quality to Edward and very specifically as naivety. There's an innate shyness as Depp conveys the way Edward is not use to interacting with so many people, and in addition though he brings out that curiosity of a child making new discoveries in a world that's very different from his dark castle.

Depp is particularly effective in bringing out such genuine sweetness in the character even while still bringing those odd physical mannerisms of Edward. In his face though there is only an emotional honesty about the character as Depp presents Edward as basically incapable of being anything other than a trusting and understanding sort. Depp actually has very few lines in the film. It's not that he does not talk, but rather Edward just happens to be particularly meek. Again Depp realizes the gentleness of the character through his timid voice that almost seems to squeak out that once again reinforces just how wholly harmless Edward is. Depp makes Edwards the sort of fairytale character he needs to be as he is only ever endearing and wholly sympathetic while still showing how Edward was made in the end. He really flawlessly creates the "monster" the film needs and is consistent in the way the character should be. He makes both the joy of his early acceptance by the community and the sadness of when he rejected quite palatable. The whole romantic wonder of the character in his scenes with Winona Ryder's character also work because of Depp's creation of Edward brings that wonder. It's very good performance by Depp as he makes Edward and frankly does not show the performance which is often case with his later work. I don't love his performance here as some obviously do, perhaps because I don't really care too much for the film, but I'll give credit where it's due, this is fine work from Depp.

Alternate Best Actor 1990

And the Nominees Were Not:

Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands

Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Ray Liotta in Goodfellas

Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild

James Caan in Misery

Alternate Best Actor 1994: Results

5. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in Chungking Express- Tony Leung gives a nice charming performance even if it is fairly simplistic.

Best Scene The Cop reveals he has bought the snack shop.

4. Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show- Fiennes gives a strong performance showing both the man performing to become a media sensation, but as well the very well real man whose fairly reasonable desires suck him into creating the false image of himself.

Best Scene: Charles Van Doren confesses to his father.

3. Johnny Depp in Ed Wood-Depp gives a very good performance by creating a genuine character who always stays optimistic no matter how bad he is at his true passion.

Best Scene: Ed talks Bela out of suicide. 

2. Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption- Robbins gives a great performance where he works with the film to create some truly beautiful scenes throughout.

Best Scene: Andy tells Red how he "killed" his wife.

1. Gary Oldman in Immortal Beloved- This one was difficult for me to choose this is one where I won't say this is necessarily final Robbins who is great in a great film, Oldman is a my winner who is great in a sometimes problematic film. Oldman overcomes his film's problems creating a fascinating portrait of Ludvig Van Beethoven, and he manages to be compelling even when the film itself falters.

Best Scene: Beethoven on his death bed. 

Overall Rank:

1. Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption
2. Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction  
3. Gary Oldman in Immortal Beloved
4. Ben Kingsley in Death and the Maiden
5. Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption
6. Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George
7. Xia Yu in In The Heat of the Sun
   
8. Johnny Depp in Ed Wood
9. Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show
10. Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber  
11. Temuera Morrison in Once Were Warriors
12. Gerard Depardieu in A Pure Formality
    
13. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction
14. Takeshi Kaneshiro in Chungking Express 
15. Tom Cruise in Interview With the Vampire 
16. Bruce Greenwood in Exotica
17. Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool 
18. Terence Stamp in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
19. Jean Reno in Leon: The Professional 
20. Roman Polanski in A Pure Formality 
21. Christopher Eccleston in Shallow Grave
    
22. Elias Koteas in Exotica
23. Albert Finney in The Browning Version
    
24. David Strathairn in The River Wild
    
25. Zbigniew Zamachoswki in Three Colours: White
    
26. Tony Leung Chiu Wai in Chungking Express
27. Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction 
28. Oleg Menshikov in Burnt by The Sun
    
29. Ge You in To Live
30. Jack Thompson in The Sum of Us
    
31. Guy Pearce in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 
32. Stephen Dorff in Backbeat
    
33. Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber 
    
34. Hugo Weaving in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 
35. Russell Crow in The Sum of Us
    
36. Wallace Shawn in Vanya on 42nd Street
    
37. Kevin Bacon in The River Wild 
38. Brandon Lee in The Crow
39. Sihung Lung in Eat Drink Man Woman 
40. Michael Keaton in The Paper
    
41. Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Ha Kabhi Na
42. Mel Gibson in Maverick 
43. Ewan McGregor in Shallow Grave
    
44. Sean Nelson in Fresh
45. John Turturro in Quiz Show 
46. Nikita Mikhalkov in Burnt by the Sun
    
47. Philippe Noiret in Il Postino 
48. Tim Roth in Little Odessa 
49. Vincent Perez in La Reine Margot
    
50. Woody Harrelson in Natural Born Killers 
51. Leslie Cheung in Ashes of Time
    
52. Jim Carrey in The Mask 
53. Robert De Niro in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
    
54. Tommy Lee Jones in Blue Sky
55. Jeremy Davies in Spanking the Monkey
    
56. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump
57. Ian Hart in Backbeat
    
58. Andy Garcia in When a Man Loves a Woman
    
59. Edward Furlong in Little Odessa
    
60. Larry Pine in Vanya on 42nd Street 
61. Jackie Chan in Legend of the Drunken Master
62. Harrison Ford in Clear and Present Danger 
63. Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and A Funeral
64. Patrick Stewart in Star Trek Generations
65. Danny Dun in Confucian Confusion
    
66. Tony Leung Ka-Fai in Ashes in Time
    
67. Tim Allen in The Santa Clause   
    
68. Leslie Nielsen in Naked Gun 3 1/3
69. Keanu Reeves in Speed  
    
70. Brad Pitt in Interview with The Vampire
    
71. Stuart Wilson in Death and the Maiden
72. Kurt Russell in Stargate
73. Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies
74. Tim Robbins in The Hudsucker Proxy
75. Rob Morrow in Quiz Show
76. John Cusack in Bullets Over Broadway 
77. Tim Robbins in IQ 
78. Jason Scott Lee in The Jungle Book
79. Massimo Troisi in Il Postino 
80. Kevin Costner in Wyatt Earp
    
81. Jeff Anderson in Clerks
    
82. James Spader in Stargate  
    
83. Lee Kang-sheng in Vive L'Amour
    
84. Chen Chao-jung in Vive L'Amour
    
85. Mackenzie Astin in Iron Will
86. Billy Crystal in City Slickers II
87. Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura Pet Detective
88. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop III
89. Alec Baldwin in The Shadow  
90. Allen Payne in Jason's Lyric
    
91. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Angels in The Outfield 
92. Rick Moranis in Little Giants 
93. Tommy Lee Jones in Cobb 
94. Brian O'Halloran in Clerks
    
95. John Goodman in The Flintstones 
96. Willem Dafoe in Tom & Viv
    
97. Macaulay Culkin in Richie Rich  
98. Peter Berg in The Last Seduction
    
99. Nicolas Cage in Guarding Tess
    
100. Kenneth Branagh in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 
101. Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall
     
102. Liam Neeson in Nell 
     
103. Jean Claude Van Damme in Street Fighter 
104. Jeff Bridges in Blown Away
105. Macaulay Culkin in The Pagemaster
106. Dylan McDermott in Miracle on 34th Street
107. Luke Edwards in Little Big League
108. Brad Renfro in The Client
     
109. Michael Patrick Carter in Milk Money 
110. Robert Wuhl in Cobb

Next Year: 1994 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1994: Johnny Depp in Ed Wood

Johnny Depp did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Golden Globe, for portraying Edward D. Wood Jr. in Ed Wood.

Johnny Depp is an actor I am not the biggest fan of and this is not helped by the way he has recently devolved into lazy self indulgent performances in a fashion like Jack Nicholson although without Nicholson's level of talent, or his legacy of great performances. This is not to say Depp is incapable of a good performance though. Depp here plays the part of Ed Wood in a flamboyant fashion, but then again he is playing the man proclaimed as the worst director of all time as well as a man who often dressed in women's clothing because they made him feel comfortable.

Depp sets this performance up with the proposition of a character of almost constant optimism. This is not to say that the character does not suffer highs and lows, but the basis of Depp's performance is that Wood will always look on the up side of life. Honestly this was the right approach for the role of Ed Wood as if he was a guy who really took every failure to heart this would become one depressing picture very quickly. Depp's approach though prevents this from happening with the constant enthusiasm he brings to the part, even when Wood has nothing to be happy about.

This is not nearly as simple as it might sound though as even though Depp keeps this act up throughout he also avoids the problems that could have easily have come from such a style. Depp most importantly is always genuine in this style. He never tries to make Wood a parody in this behavior, rather he is always earnest in Wood's refusal to be pessimistic. Doing this actually makes it funnier, and allows Wood to be an endearing character through his always bright and always hopeful expression that follows just about any let down including when he is told one of his films was the worst a film executive ever saw.

The overarching feelings of Depp's characterization is this hope and he importantly shows where at least part of this comes from. It is a strange idea for Wood to keep making these movies even though few want to watch them, and even fewer have anything nice to say about them. Depp makes it quite clear that the reason above else for Wood's movie making is his love of doing it. Depp never is down in the filming scenes, and he honestly really sells Wood as a man who just adores what he is doing, and really can barely notice that he is bad at it. Depp manages to explain why he doesn't stop, or even notice that he is terrible at it because Depp's portrayal of Wood's dedication to his "art" is that of pure passion.

What Depp does importantly though is he actually isn't one note as Wood, despite Wood always being upbeat. Yes Wood is always up beat in at least some way, but that does not mean that Depp portrays him as always exactly the same. Depp manages to show that Wood does suffer from set back and problems, and he will be brought down by them even though he will never become completely depressed. Depp is able to show that the optimism in Wood is the overarching factor of Ed Wood as man, but still properly portrays that he can still feel down at times. The key though is Depp never shows the optimism ever going away and that the element in the man is a constant that even when he is down it will not take much to make him happy again.

Now Depp's performance is not the best performance in this film that obviously belongs to Martin Landau's masterful work as Bela Lugosi. Depp though knows how to play off of Landau's incredible performance by taking the right place in their scenes together. Depp handles these scenes very nicely by once again being genuine this time the genuine feelings are that of adoration Wood feels to his idol. Their scenes really are quite poignant together as Landau in such a heartbreaking fashion portrays the last end of a one great star, but Depp properly counterpoints this by showing an undying dedication of a fan who could never give up on this man no matter how far he has fallen. The relationship is made surprisingly heartfelt and entirely authentic by Landau and Depp.

Depp's way of usually going out on a limb with his performances does not work when it seems just purely self indulgence or it is rather misplaced such as his performance as Willy Wonka which poorly uses some of the mannerisms that he utilizes here. Depp's performance this time absolutely works for Ed Wood as a character that. Not only does it make his character work, but his performance also makes the film work as well as it does. The film would have been quite problematic if Wood as character ever seemed aware of his abilities as a filmmaker, or even as well if he just simply was just a simple one note comedic device. Depp though finds the right tone for his performance to allow him to be amusing as Ed Wood, but as well actually makes him into someone that we can relate to and sympathize with even in his sometimes rather peculiar plights.

Alternate Best Actor 1994

And the Nominees Were Not:

Gary Oldman in Immortal Beloved

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in Chungking Express

Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption

Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show

Johnny Depp in Ed Wood

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. 

Best Actor 2007: Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd

Johnny Depp received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Sweeney Todd formally known as Benjamin Barker in Sweeney Todd.

Sweeney Todd is a musical about a mad barber who murders people who come to his shop, and than his land lady bakes them into a pie. I am a bit mixed on this adaptation on one hand the music is good, but on the other hand some of the singing does not quite cut it, and frankly its tone should have included more dark humor as the stage version has.

Johnny Depp portrays Sweeney Todd in an extremely one note fashion, and that is all there is to it. He shows him to be constantly angry and depressed at the same time, who constantly as the look of revenge on his face at every moment in the film. He barely even takes this expression off when he is attempting to lure people into his barber's chair.

Now this is how they chose to portray Sweeney in this film, and that does I think contribute to the tone that I find a little lacking. The film decides to use Sweeney as always a constant overtly angry figure, or as a dead pan character in that he is just internally angry figure who almost completely ignores all others.

Depp technically does the anger and the depression well enough, but part of what Sweeney Todd usually is portrayed as is a gleeful villain, as well as being a depressed one. You can see this sort of portrayal by George Hearn in the filmed stage version, which I do think is better than Depp's because Hearn not only shows the anger and depression, but also does show that Todd still gets a kick out of what he is doing, and really enjoys his chance at revenge.

Now Depp does sing the part well enough, certianly he handles his end better than Helena Bonham who just simply does not have the vocal strength for her part. He performs the song as well, showing the anger, and depression once again as well as the insanity of the character well. I don't think this is a bad portrayal overall, I just wish they had done more with Sweeney overall, and made him more than just dark and brooding basically throughout the whole film.

Best Actor 2007

And the Nominees Were:

Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood

George Clooney in Michael Clayton

Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd

Best Actor 2004: Results

5. Jamie Foxx in Ray- I find Foxx's performance just to be a complete failure. He mostly relies on mannerisms that seem incredibly labored, and his performance just results in not a single convincing moment.

4. Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland- Depp is surprisingly subdued most of the time in this performance. I found he was nice enough I guess, but his performance never really amounted to much.

3. Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby- Clint Eastwood is actually very good in a role that no one else could have played as well besides him. I just find that I never really got an emotional charge out of his performance, which I will admit is probably since the film never did this for me either.

2. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator-Hughes was such a strange larger than life figure that it would be challenge for anyone to take on this role. I will say DiCaprio never seems to completely be Hughes but he certianly comes close which is quite an achievement anyways.

1. Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda- Don Cheadle gives a very powerful performance, and creates a human portrait. He adds to the power of the film, making the story of genocide, somehow inspiring.

Deserving Performances:
Paul Giamatti in Sideways

Best Actor 2004: Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland

Johnny Depp received his second Oscar nomination for portraying J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland.

Finding Neverland is a somewhat enjoyable film I suppose, I do think the fantasy scenes work as well as they really should, but I still did not mind watching it again.

Johnny Depp who usually plays rather strange fellows, many times with a whole lot of mannerisms, which attempts to usual bring a whole lot of attention to his performance. This is a rather unusual Johnny Depp performance because he portrays J.M. Barrie in generally a rather quiet performance. He portrays Barrie in an extremely modest fashion which does not at all try to stand out all that much most of the time. Now I appreciate Depp for not trying to make Barrie flamboyant, but at the same time perhaps his performance is a little too understated.

Depp performance really at times is barely noticeable. He really is an always nice man, who just likes to have a quietly good time with the children of a sick mother (Kate Winslet) well he is quietly writing Peter Pan. Depp I must say does not really suggest must of a man, just a quiet unassuming man. The only time he really acts out at all are the fantasy scenes, but even the he still remains fairly understated. The biggest in terms of acting non-quietly is when he plays pirated with the children, and does a little bit of his Jack Sparrow bit, I did not have a problem with that or how he handled any of the fantasy moments, but I also did not find his performance particularly amazing ever.

Overall Depp's performance really is nothing special. I think it is okay, it serves its purpose in that it allows for a nice scene here and there, but overall really his performance never amounts to anything really worth noting. It is a nice quiet performance, which really fits how Barrie is presented in the film as a nice quiet man. It never really gets deeply into much depth hidden or otherwise about Barrie, he is written simply just to make a simple sweet story, therefore Depp method of portraying him is fine, just not very special.

Best Actor 2004

And the Nominees Were:

Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda

Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby

Jamie Foxx in Ray

Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator