Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2004: Results

5.  Alex Fong in One Nite in Mongkok- Fong's performance is forced to be very much to the point but he manages to create his character along way quite effectively.

Best Scene: Milo covers up the shooting.

4. David Carradine in Kill Bill Vol. 2- I know I may suffer the same fate as Bill for this, but I have to admit that I don't love this performance. I just like it quite a bit.

Best Scene: The end of Bill and The Bride's duel.

3. Michael Madsen in Kill Bill Vol. 2 - My favorite of the assassins actually as Madsen brings so much heart to his performance.

Best Scene: Budd "wins"

2. Willem Dafoe in the Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou- Dafoe is absolutely endearing and incredibly funny as the Steve Zissou's most loyal man.

Best Scene: "Thanks for not picking me"

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly - Well this might come as a surprise to all. Hoffman does not have the great directors behind him that Dafoe, Madsen, and Carradine do. He just has himself, and I loved him the most.

Best Scene: Proxy Insurance speech.

Overall Rank:

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly
2. Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice
3. Peter O'Toole in Troy
4. Willem Dafoe in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
5. David Carradine in Kill Bill Vol. 2
6. Michael Madsen in Kill Bill Vol. 2
7. Thomas Haden Church in Sideways
8. Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2
9. Nick Nolte in Clean
10. Billy Bob Thornton in The Alamo
11. Bud Cort in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
12. Javier Bardem in Collateral 
13. Rip Torn in Dodgeball 
14. Barry Shabaka Henley in Collateral 
15. Ben Stiller in Dodgeball
16. Gary Stretch in Dead Man's Shoes
17. David Thewlis in The Prisoner of Azkaban
18. Jeff Goldblum in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
19. Colm Meaney in Layer Cake
20. Paul Rudd in Anchorman
21. Toby Kebbell in Dead Man's Shoes
22. Mark Wahlberg in I Heart Huckabees
23. William Hurt in The Village
24. Nicholas Tse in New Police Story
25. Phil Davis in Vera Drake
26. Jamie Foreman in I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
27. Om Puri in Maqbool
28. Paddy Considine in My Summer of Love
29. Alex Fong in One Nite in Mongkok
30. Alan Tudyk in I Robot
31. Tim Meadows in Mean Girls
32. Hiei Kimura in Nobody Knows
33. Tom Wilkinson in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
34. Antonio Banderas in Shrek 2
35. Naseeruddin Shah in Maqbool
36. Pankaj Kapur in Maqbool
37. Michael Gambon in Layer Cake
38. Dylan Moran in Shaun of the Dead
39. Roger Robinson in Brother To Brother
40. Stuart Wolfenden in Dead Man's Shoes
41. Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead
42. J.K. Simmons in Spider-Man 2
43. Alan Rickman in The Prisoner of Azkaban
44. James Garner in The Notebook
45. Jason Bateman in Dodgeball
46. Leif Sylvester in Pusher II
47. Cameron Bright in Birth
48. Gary Cole in Dodgeball
49. Jason Lee in The Incredibles
50. Alfred Molina in Coffee and Cigarettes
51. Steve Coogan in Coffee and Cigarettes
52. Kurt Nielsen in Pusher II
53. Kumar Pallana in The Terminal
54. Tobin Bell in Saw
55. Piyush Mishra in Maqbool
    
56. Bill Murray in Coffee and Cigarettes
57. Brian Cox in The Bourne Supremacy
58. Lekh Tandon in Swades
59. Tom Waits in Coffee and Cigarettes
60. Brendan Gleeson in The Village
61. Bill Nighy in Shaun of the Dead
62. Jeremy Irons in The Merchant of Venice
63. Rhys Ifans in Enduring Love
64. Ulrich Matthes in Downfall
65. Michael Ironside in The Machinist
66. Gordon Liu in Kill Bill Vol. 2
67. Ving Rhames in Dawn of the Dead
68. Fana Mokoena in Hotel Rwanda
69. Christopher Walken in Man on Fire
70. Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man 2 
71. Matthew Lillard in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
72. Daniel Franzese in Mean Girls
73. Iggy Pop in Coffee and Cigarettes
74. Thomas Kretschmann in Downfall
75. Alan Tudyk in Dodgeball
76. Zlatko Burić in Pusher II
77. David Koechner in Anchorman
78. Brian Cox in Troy
79. Tzi Ma in The Ladykillers
80. Steve Buscemi in Coffee and Cigarettes
81. Christian Berkel in Downfall
82. Peter Serafinowicz in Shaun of the Dead
83. George Harris in Layer Cake
84. John Hurt in Hellboy
85. John Turturro in Secret Window
86. Burn Gorman in Layer Cake
87. Joan Dalmau in The Sea Inside
88. Stephen Root in Dodgeball
89. Samuel L. Jackson in The Incredibles
90. Ben Whishaw in Layer Cake
91. Jack Thompson in The Assassination of Richard Nixon
92. Val Kilmer in Alexander
93. Dermot Mulroney in Undertow
94. Nick Nolte in Hotel Rwanda
95. Isaach de Bankolé in Coffee and Cigarettes
96. Alex Descas in Coffee and Cigarettes
97. Tim Robbins in Anchorman
98. Mark Ruffalo in Collateral
99. Don Cheadle in The Assassination of Richard Nixon
100. Noah Emmerich in Miracle
101. Chris Parnell in Anchorman
102. Ted Levine in Birth
103. Celso Bugallo in The Sea Inside
104. Luke Wilson in Anchorman
105. John C. Reilly in The Aviator
106. Peter Stormare in Birth
107. Rory McCann in Alexander
108. Charles S. Dutton in Secret Window
109. Tony Curran in Flight of the Phoenix
110. Alan Alda in The Aviator
111. Matt Damon in Ocean's 12
112. Anthony Hopkins in Alexander
113. Steven Wright in Coffee and Cigarettes
114. Malcolm McDowell in I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
115. Josh Lucas Undertow
116. Jeremy Irons in Being Julia
117. Danny Huston in Birth
118. Robert Benigni in Coffee and Cigarettes
119. Ben Stiller in Anchorman
120. Christopher Plummer in Alexander
121. Rupert Everett in Shrek 2
122. Dustin Hoffman in I Heart Huckabees
123. Arliss Howard in Birth
124. Chin Ka-lok in One Nite in Mongkok
125. Hank Azaria in Dodgeball
126. Barry Shabaka Henley in The Terminal
127. John Sharian in The Machinist
128. Danny Glover in Saw
129. Daniel Mays in Vera Drake
130. James Marsden in The Notebook
131. Joaquin Phoenix in Hotel Rwanda
132. Russell Williams II in Incident at Loch Ness
133. Len Cariou in Secret Window
134. François Berléand in The Chorus
135. Stanley Tucci in The Terminal
136. Mickey Rourke in Man on Fire
137. Sean Bean in Troy 
138. GZA in Coffee and Cigarettes
139. RZA in Coffee and Cigarettes
140. Andy Lau in House of Flying Daggers
141. Timothy Hutton in Secret Window
142. Jeffrey Tambor in Hellboy
143. Joseph Rigano in Coffee and Cigarettes
144. Gabriel Beristain in Incident at Loch Ness
145. Vinny Vella in Coffee and Cigarettes
146. Brad Bird in The Incredibles
147. Jason Patric in The Alamo
148. Giancarlo Giannini in Man on Fire
149. Diego Luna in The Terminal
150. Anson Leung in One Nite in Mongkok
151. Justin Long in Dodgeball
     
152. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
153. Nick Roud in Finding Neverland
154. Bruno Ganz in The Manchurian Candidate
155. Michael Parks in Kill Bill Vol. 2
156. Alec Baldwin in The Aviator
157. Elijah Wood in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
158. Ben Foster in The Punisher
159. Bruce McGill in Collateral
160. Andy Garcia in Ocean's 12
161. Elliot Gould in Ocean's 12
162. Mos Def in The Woodsman
163. Mark Ruffalo in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
164. Mads Mikkelsen in King Arthur
165. Samuel L. Jackson in Kill Bill Vol. 2
166. Giovanni Ribsi in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
167. Gary Oldman in The Prisoner of Azkaban
168. Brendan Gleeson in Troy
169. John Cleese in Shrek 2 
170. Stellan Skarsgard in King Arthur
171. Vincent Cassel in Ocean's 12
172. George Clooney in Ocean's 12
173. Brad Pitt in Ocean's 12
174. Ben Kingsley in Thunderbirds
175. Peter Sarsgaard in Kinsey
176. Eddie Murphy in Shrek 2
177. Stephen Dillane in King Arthur
178. Billy Connolly in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
179. James Franco in Spider-Man 2
180. David Hyde Pierce in Hellboy
181. Dylan Baker in Kinsey
182. James Cromwell in I Robot
183. Casey Affleck in Ocean's 12
184. Timothy Spall in The Prisoner of Azkaban
185. Dustin Hoffman in Finding Neverland
186. Will Patton in The Punisher
187. Michael Gambon in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
188. Michael Kelly in Dawn of the Dead
189. Timothy Spall in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events 
190. Michael Emerson in Saw
191. Owen Wilson in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
192. Michael Shannon in The Woodsman
     
193. Marc Antony in Man on Fire
     
194. Jon Voight in The Manchurian Candidate
195. Steve Carell in Anchorman
196. Rip Torn in Welcome to Mooseport
197. Danny Chan Kwok-kwan in Kung Fu Hustle
198. Joaquin Phoenix in The Village
199. Mekhi Phifer in Dawn of the Dead
200. Rupert Grint in The Prisoner of Azkaban
201. Dean Stockwell in The Manchurian Candidate
202. Ian Holm in The Day After Tomorrow
203. Hal Sparks in Spider-Man 2
204. Daniel Wu in New Police Story
205. Giovanni Ribsi in Flight of the Phoenix
206. Michael Gambon in The Prisoner of Azkaban
207. Roy Scheider in The Punisher 
208. Don Cheadle in Ocean's 12
209. Patrick Wilson in The Phantom of the Opera
210. Christopher Walken in The Stepford Wives
211. Gabriel Macht in A Love Song For Bobby Long
212. Jon Gries in Napoleon Dynamite
213. Jake Weber in Dawn of the Dead
214. Ioan Gruffurd in King Arthur
215. Bokeem Woodbine in Ray
216. Ray Winstone in King Arthur
217. Freddie Prinze Jr. in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
218. Patrick Wilson in The Alamo
219. Jon Lovitz in The Stepford Wives
220. Bill Paxton in Thunderbirds
     
221. Ryan Hurst in The Ladykillers
222. Alec Baldwin in Along Came Polly
223. Karl Urban in The Chronicles of Riddick
224. Karel Roden in Hellboy
225. Warwick Davis in Ray
226. Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby
227. Adrien Brody in The Village
228. Marlon Wayans in The Ladykillers
229. Freddie Highmore in Finding Neverland
230. Seth Green in Scooby-Doo 2: Monster's Unleashed
231. John Travolta in The Punisher
232. Bryan Brown in Along Came Polly
233. Colm Feore in The Chronicles of Riddick
234. Kevin Pollack in The Whole Ten Yards
235. David Wenham in Van Helsing
236. J.K. Simmons in The Ladykillers
237. Joel Edgerton in King Arthur
238. Dennis Quaid in The Alamo
239. Jared Leto in Alexander
240. Linus Roache in The Chronicles of Riddick
241. Efren Ramirez in Napoleon Dynamite
242. Roger Bart in The Stepford Wives
243. Frank Collison in The Whole Ten Yards
244. Garrett Hedlund in Troy
245. Hank Azaria in Along Came Polly
246. Aaron Ruell in Napoleon Dynamite
     
247. Ty Burrell in Dawn of the Dead
248. Kevin J. O'Connor in Van Helsing
249. Richard Roxburgh in Van Helsing
250. Jay Baruchel in Million Dollar Baby

Next Year: 1983 lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2004: Michael Madsen in Kill Bill Vol. 2

Michael Madsen did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Budd in Kill Bill Vol. 2.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 is a strong follow up to the first film as it nicely completes the story of the Bride's revenge well managing to never seem repetitious of the original.

Michael Madsen is not the greatest of actors since he's given some truly terrible performances in his career. The thing is though he happens to be one actor who cannot phone in a performance, if he tries to phone it in he might as well be in comatose by how lifeless he becomes. Thankfully though when he's in a Quentin Tarantino film he seems to decide to actually try. This is certainly the case here as he portrays the Budd the third person on the Bride's (Uma Thurman) kill list due to the fact that he was part of the assassin squad who massacred her wedding rehearsal. Budd in addition to that is also the brother of the leader of the assassin squad Bill (David Carradine). Where two of the assassins carried on their evil ways, another changed but seemed more upset at being called on her crime rather than committing it, Budd is far from his days of being an assassin, now living in a trailer in the desert, and in addition reacts quite differently than the rest in regards to the Bride's quest.

This can all be seen in Madsen's only scene in which he shares with Carradine as Bill tries to warn Budd about the Bride. Madsen is terrific in the way he interacts with Carradine in the scene. There is a certain ease that Madsen brings and alludes well to the fact that they are brothers. There's an underlying warmth between the two as they speak about the Bride's previous exploits. Madsen though is effective in bringing along with this a certain passive aggressive element as he speaks to Bill, and comes off as very realistically how one brother shows his discontent with another. He is equally effective in alluding to whatever tension that was caused by something in the past, quite possibly something to do with the chapel massacre. It is not overly open about but Madsen just suggests the right disregard for his brother's advice. Both actors do very well in quickly establishing the relationship between the two brothers, despite only having this one scene together.

Madsen's best moment of his opening scene though is where Bill insists that the bride will kill him if he does not accept his help, and Madsen's delivery of Budd's reaction is flawless. Madsen particularly carries himself with a Sergio Leone style in some ways particularly when Budd remarks that they do indeed deserve to die. Madsen is exceptional as he shows Budd's living through his own regrets involving the incident in his short speech and we see that Budd has an honest remorse for his actions. What is most remarkable is in an instance where Madsen cuts down the dramatics though and finishes his statement with a silly rhyme saying "But then again so does she so I guess we'll just see won't we". Madsen does not play as though Budd did not mean his first statement, rather that Budd's simply ready to see how the chips are going to fall, and he simply does not have the right to really complain either way. It's a brilliantly handled moment by Madsen and wonderfully shows Budd's particular state of mind.

After that we briefly follow Budd through his sad state of existence in lowly job where he is treated none too well. There is technically a slight comic edge about these scenes as a former assassin has to just has to be chewed out by his crude boss. Madsen makes the beaten down state of Budd so simple, but so honest though that it's hard not to feel sorry for the guy. Despite Budd's predicament he is the only one of the assassins to actually manage to defeat the Bride in the battle as he manages to surprise her. Madsen is terrific in the scene as he shows Budd almost slightly surprised himself at the turn of events. Madsen does not portray Budd as being overly sadistic or anything like that but rather is quite great at showing Budd to be mainly happy at getting the upper hand. Madsen boisterous in the right way in the scene. His attitude is not that of a pompous jerk but rather guy who's has so few things going his way that he's just has to enjoy this moment for all its worth.

Madsen is veryy good here by making Budd far more than simply a name to be checked off the list, even though technically speaking he's one of villains. He even technically does a particularly villainous thing when he buries the bride, but even in that instance Madsen plays it as though Budd is taking no pleasure in it. In fact there again is a regret in Madsen's expression that suggests that Budd doesn't exactly want to it but rather feels that he must. Madsen always brings a great complexity to Budd in each of his scenes, and never makes him a simple evil thug. Madsen makes Budd stand out by bringing such heart to his performance so that when he exits the film I felt sadness opposed to anything else. Actually if he had been felled by the Bride instead of who he meets his end with I might have lost my investment with the Bride. This is because Madsen manages to create such an affecting portrait of a former assassin with a conscience.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2004

And the Nominees Were Not:

David Carradine in Kill Bill Vol. 2

Michael Madsen in Kill Bill Vol. 2

Alex Fong in One Nite in Mongkok

Willem Dafoe in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly

And one more Bonus review for the leading category:

Tom Cruise in Collateral