Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1988: Results

5. Eric Idle in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen - Idle gives a rather amusing performance that matches the film's tone, and adds to its various delights. 

Best Actor: Split second save.

4. Pete Postlethwaite in Distant Voices, Still Lives - Postlethewaite effectively captures the various memories of a father both in moments of severe brutality and occasional warmth.

Best Scene: Unpleasant Dinner. 

3. Jacky Cheung in As Tears Go By - Cheung makes for an effective time bomb in his properly flamboyant portrayal of a wannabe gangster on a constant collision course with reality.

Best Scene: Becoming a real gangster.

2. M. Emmet Walsh in Clean and Sober - Walsh makes a striking impact in such limited screentime initially in creating the sense of a history of pain from his own life of drugs, and creating a truly empathetic figure there to help and improve another who was once like himself.

Best Scene: Waiting. 

1. John Lone in The Moderns - Lone gives a brilliant performance here creating a properly ruthless depiction of a vicious businessman, however while honestly revealing the desperation within the man which leads to his downfall. 

Best Scene: Destroying the art.

Updated Overall

Next Year: 2010 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1988: M. Emmet Walsh in Clean and Sober

M. Emmet Walsh did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Richard in Clean and Sober.

M. Emmet Walsh, the other great character actor along with Harry Dean Stanton, seems almost a guarantee of something worthwhile to the films he appears in, even often in a very marginal quantity. Walsh, like Stanton though, is always fascinating to see when he is allowed a bit more material to work with given his success with such minor roles. Walsh here isn't given a major role, but there's more than enough for him to make an impact which we see in the opening of the film. The film opens apparently in a support group where we see Walsh's Richard speaking about addiction, which we return to one other time, I actually wish we had gotten more of these scenes throughout the film. These are some of the best moments in the film though due to Walsh's performance. Walsh reveals Richard as vulnerable former addict creating such a strong sense of his past decay in the somber quiet pain such as when speaking of looking in the past for the headlights of his drug dealer, or when his nose was misshapen from a drug bender. He creates a vivid sense of the man's history as in every word there are these memories of this terrible time filled with a palatable anxiety and loss over the broken man he once was. Although these scenes initially have no connection they are essential to the film, and Walsh uses them brilliantly to establish the man Richard was before we meet him in the central story.

Walsh's Richard appears in the main story as a man who offers his services as a sponsor to the hesitant addict Daryl (Michael Keaton). I love the whole presence that Walsh brings his scenes that are actually essential to make it convincing that Keaton's Daryl could beat his addiction. Walsh's approach is remarkable in the very specific way he handles these scenes. He has this interesting way of offering this certain intensity in all of the scenes, as he delivers his lines towards Keaton with a definite incisiveness. His eyes pierce towards him with a real examination of the man as though he is trying to decipher him but Walsh never makes that all Richard is doing. His intensity he fashions always carries this real warmth. In every word there is this definite care and tenderness to it even when speaking harsh truths to him. In his eyes there is a strict empathy that Walsh brings that creates Richard as a man who is there to always help Daryl, through this rather forceful support. It's a moving performance because of how genuine every moment of the work is through Walsh, and he gives a real honesty to a role in the wrong hands could have seemed just a one dimensional plot mechanism. Walsh, as typical for him even if his role is only a minute long, gives a real life to the role that fulfills his purpose so well yet develops him far beyond that purpose. It's terrific work from him, and as usual I only wish we had gotten more of him as it would have probably resulted in a stronger film overall.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1988

And the Nominees Were Not:

Eric Idle in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

M. Emmet Walsh in Clean and Sober

Pete Postlethewaite in Distant Voices, Still Lives

Jacky Cheung in As Tears Go By

John Lone in The Moderns

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1985: Results

5. Danny Glover in The Color Purple- Glover is properly intense in his brutality in his role as an abusive husband, but he is unable to get past the restrictions of the part.

Best Scene: Mister is ridiculed by his father. 

4. Wilford Brimley in Cocoon- Brimley gives the best performance of the cast being the quietly commanding presence of the group, as well as creating the greatest emotional impact of the various stories.

Best Scene: Ben tells his grandson he's going away. 

3. M. Emmet Walsh in Blood Simple- Walsh creates a deliriously evil and memorable villain by beautifully playing up the sleaze and menace of his slimy private detective.

Best Scene: Visser double crosses Marty. 

2. Crispin Glover in Back to The Future- Glover gives my second favorite supporting turn of the year in his absolutely hilarious, but when it needs to be moving turn as the spineless George McFly.

Best Scene: George stands up to Biff. 

1. Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future-Well Good predictions to Paoloduncan, and Lezlie please throw out a year and a performance. Lloyd wins this year as it came to the two Back to the Future performances which I love both. I have to choose one so I will choose Lloyd manic and funny turn creating Doc Brown into a truly memorable character.

Best Scene: Doc reveals he did read the letter after all. 

Overall Rank:

1. Christopher Lloyd in Back To The Future
2. Treat Williams in Smooth Talk
3. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Beautiful Laundrette
4. Ian Holm in Dreamchild
5. Crispin Glover in Back To The Future
6. Michael Mckean in Clue
7. Martin Mull in Clue
8. Christopher Lloyd in Clue
9. M. Emmet Walsh in Blood Simple
10. John Lone in Year of the Dragon
11. Roddy McDowall in Fright Night
12. Dan Hedaya in Blood Simple  
13. Michael Palin in Brazil
14. Chris Sarandon in Fright Night
15. Tim Curry in Legend
16. Robert De Niro in Brazil
17. Wilford Brimley in Cocoon
18. Willem Dafoe in To Live and Die in LA
19. Klaus Maria Brandauer in Out of Africa
20. John Gielgud in The Shooting Party
21. Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future  
22. Roshan Seth in My Beautiful Laundrette
23. Stephen Geoffreys in Fright Night 
24. Jan Rubes in Witness
25. Peter Vaughan in Brazil 
26. David Gale in Re-Animator
27. Lucas Haas in Witness
28. Brian Dennehy in Cocoon  
29. John Heard in Trip to the Bountiful 
30. Saeed Jaffrey in My Beautiful Laundrette
31. Bob Hoskins in Brazil   
32. Mark Holton in Pee Wee's Big Adventure
33. Ian Holm in Brazil
34. John Pankow in To Live and Die in LA
35. Danny Glover in The Color Purple
36. Josef Summer in Witness 
37. Ian Holm in Wetherby
38. Paul Gleason in The Breakfast Club 
39. Hume Cronyn in Cocoon 
40. Nicol Williamson in Return to Oz
    
41. John Turturro in To Live and Die in LA   
42. Jim Broadbent in Brazil 
43. Ken Wantanabe in Tampopo 
44. Shinnosuke Ikehata in Ran
45. Dean Stockwell in To Live and Die in LA 
46. Gary Marshall in Lost in America 
47. Tom Wilkinson in Wetherby
48. Curtis Armstrong in Better Off Dead
49. Masayuki Yui in Ran
50. John Heard in After Hours 
51. Hisashi Igawa in Ran
52. Jack Gilford in Cocoon 
53. Leo McKern in Ladyhawke 
54. Jonathan Stark in Fright Night 
55. Hector Alterio in The Official Story
56. Sam Elliott in Mask 
57. Daisuke Ryu in Ran 
58. David Ogden Stiers in Better Off Dead
59. Christopher Walken in A View To Kill
60. Adolph Caesar in The Color Purple 
61. John Hurt in The Black Cauldron
    
62. John Kapelos in The Breakfast Club
63. Charles Napier in Rambo First Blood Part II 
64. Gordon Jackson in The Shooting Party
65. Richard Crenna in Rambo First Blood Part II 
66. Freddie Jones in Young Sherlock Holmes
67. Derrick Branche in My Beautiful Laundrette 
    
68. Armin Mueller-Stahl in Colonel Redl
69. Brian Dennehy in Twice in a Lifetime 
70. Sean Barrett in Return to Oz
    
71. Nigle Hawthorne in The Black Cauldron 
72. Brian Henson in Return to Oz
    
73. Roger Ashton-Griffiths in Young Sherlock Holmes
74. John Russell in Pale Rider
75. Jinpachi Nezu in Ran
76. Akira Terao in Ran 
    
77. Robert Loggia in Jagged Edge
78. Freddie Jones in The Black Cauldron
    
79. Will Patton in After Hours 
80. Edward Fox in The Shooting Party
81. Robert Sampson in Re-Animator
82. Michael Moriarty in Pale Rider 
83. James Cromwell in Explorers
84. Tommy Chong in After Hours
85. Cheech Marin in After Hours
86. Danny Glover in Witness
87. Dennis Dun in Year of the Dragon
88. Chris Penn in Pale Rider 
89. Robert Picardo in Explorers
90. Robert Hardy in The Shooting Party  
91. Richard Dysart in Pale Rider
92. Peter Coyote in Jagged Edge 
93. Raymond J. Barry in Year of the Dragon
94. Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV 
95. Pat Hingle in The Falcon and the Snowman 
96. Peter Gallagher in Dreamchild 
97. Stephen Lang in Twice in A Lifetime
98. Anthony  Higgins in Young Sherlock Holmes
99. Richard Dysart in Mask  
100. William Hickey in Prizzi's Honor
101. Don Ameche in Cocoon
102. Burt Young in Rocky IV
103. John Wood in Ladyhawke
104. John Lithgow in Santa Clause
105. Steve Guttenberg in Cocoon 
106. John Byner in The Black Cauldron
     
107. Eric Roberts in Runaway Train

Next Year: 1960 Supporting

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1985: M. Emmet Walsh in Blood Simple

M. Emmet Walsh did not receive an Oscar nomination, although he did win an independent spirit award, for portraying Loren Visser.

Blood Simple is a thriller about a man who hires a private detective to murder his wife and her lover. I would say this an effective film although held back a bit by the leads who are not particularly interesting.

M. Emmet Walsh portrays the private detective with a great deal of sleaze and sweat. Visser whole point in the film is to be an individualistic evil, who chooses to take the money to kill the couple, but double crosses the man instead killing the man and merely taking the money for himself. Visser only investment in the whole affair is his own well being financially, and physically, and decides to kill the couple after all only because he believes they threaten him. There is nothing technically emotional about Visser does even though it is all about himself.

Walsh is every effective in the role becuase of how casually he portrays the part of the detective. He wears his creepy smirk, and generally murky demeanor with gusto. He goes all the way with the sleaze and never strives from it for a moment. Walsh actually manages to use the sleaze to amplify the lack of morality within Visser. Walsh portrays no hesitation when Visser kills, he goes entirely unphased. Murdering for money is something that just comes as naturally to him as his generally slimy demeanor.

Visser comes in and out of the film as his evil presence, and Walsh becomes the chilling amoral evil in the film. Although he might not be as well together or as stoic as Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men, Walsh is able to achieve the same effect with his performance. The effect is that the sinister force he creates when he is on screen carries off when he is not. The most horrifying moments in the film are when you are aware Visser is around, but you only hear him but do not see him. Like Bardem is so well able to the evil alive on screen that it even carries over when he is off.

M. Emmet Walsh despite portraying the most reprehensible character in the film, there is something strangely compelling about him becuase of Walsh's portrayal. He just wears the slime of his character with such as joy that he creates Visser into just a fascinating portrayal of a villain.The way he laughs in delight, even at his own end is played with menacing delight by Walsh. Every moment that M. Emmet Walsh is on screen he has a powerfully visceral effect with his performance. 

I would say my only actual complaint of the character is that I wish there was more of Visser since even though he is the most mysterious character in the film Walsh still makes him the most interesting of them all. His somewhat limited screen time though does not reduce the great strengths of his performance in his demented startling turn as opportunist detective. After all it is really a compliment when the worst thing you can say about a performance is that you wish there was more of it.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1985

And the Nominees Were Not:

Crispin Glover in Back to the Future

Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future

M. Emmet Walsh in Blood Simple 

Wilford Brimley in Cocoon

Danny Glover in The Color Purple