Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2019: Results

5. Robert Forster in El Camino - Forster makes the absolute most out of every minute of his screentime to give a very funny, yet also quietly moving portrayal of a most unusual sort of professional.

Best Scene: "We're Open"

4. Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Endgame - Downey gives a worthy sendoff to his now most iconic role, offering the same charm, humor and charisma  as Tony Stark that made him a star once again, though also continuing to take his character on an honest emotional journey. 

Best Scene: Meeting Howard.

3. Sterling K. Brown in Waves - Brown gives an effective portrayal of an overbearing father that quietly and powerfully reveals the real vulnerability and love within the man.

Best Scene: Talking about it.

2. Sam Rockwell in Jojo Rabbit - Rockwell gives a hilarious portrayal of an exasperated soldier just running down the minutes of his existence that eventually becomes rather moving as well.

Best Scene: "Rosie was a good person"

1. Song Kang-ho in Parasite - Song gives a brilliant portrait of the slow descent of a man from a strange contentment towards rage and despair.

Best Scene: Birthday gone wrong.

Overall Rank:

1. Joe Pesci in The Irishman
2. Al Pacino in The Irishman
3. Song Kang-ho in Parasite 
4. Choi Woo-Shik in Parasite
5. Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - 5
6. Sam Rockwell in Jojo Rabbit - 4.5
7. Lee Sun-kyun in Parasite
8. Baykali Ganambarr in The Nightingale
9. Sterling K. Brown in Waves
10. Timothee Chalamet in Little Women
11. Udo Kier in Bacurau
12. Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Endgame
13. Robert Forster in El Camino
14. Bill Hader in It: Chapter 2
15. John Lithgow in Bombshell
16. Eric Bogosian in Uncut Gems- 4
17. Chris Cooper in Little Women  
18. Stephen Graham in The Irishman
19. Keith Williams Richards in Uncut Gems
20. Jesse Plemons in El Camino 
21. Alan Alda in Marriage Story
22. Liu Kuan-ting in A Sun
    
23. Park Myung-hoon in Parasite
24. Jeremy Renner in Avengers: Endgame
25. Chris Evans in Knives Out
26. Mike Moh in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
27. Chris Hemsworth in Avengers: Endgame 
28. Don Johnson in Knives Out
29. Taika Waititi in Jojo Rabbit 
30. Chris Evans in Avengers: Endgame 
31. Willem Dafoe in Motherless Brooklyn
32. James Ransome in It: Chapter 2 
33. Wesley Snipes in Dolemite is My Name
34. Ben Mendolsohn in Captain Marvel
35. Alessandro Nivola in The Art of Self-Defense
36. Paul Rudd in Avengers: Endgame
37. Stephen Merchant in Jojo Rabbit 
38. Winston Duke in Us
39. Nicholas Hammond in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
40. Christopher Plummer in Knives Out
41. Richard Madden in 1917 - 3.5
42. Andrew Scott in 1917
43. Benedict Cumberbatch in 1917
44. Mark Strong in 1917
45. Tzi Ma in The Farewell 
46. Robert Pattinson in The King
47. Archie Yates in Jojo Rabbit
48. Robert De Niro in Joker
49. Charles Baker in El Camino
50. Vince Vaughn in Fighting With My Family
51. Bradley Cooper in Avengers: Endgame
52. Ben Mendelsohn in The King
53. Keanu Reeves in Always Be My Maybe
54. Ray Liotta in Marriage Story
55. Zahn McClarnon in Doctor Sleep
56. Lucas Hedges in Honey Boy
57. Asier Etxeandia in Pain and Glory
58. Sean Harris in The King
59. Thomas Haden Church in The Peanut Butter Falcon
60. Greg Hsu in A Sun 
61. Roberto Benigni in Pinocchio
    
62. Jeff Goldblum in The Mountain
63. Joel Edgerton in The King
64. Nick Frost in Fighting With My Family
65. Jack Dylan Grazer in Shazam 
66. Michael Shannon in Knives Out
67. Samuel L. Jackson in Captain Marvel
68. Lucas Hedges in Waves
69. Jiang Yongbo in The Farewell
70. Bokeem Woodbine in Queen & Slim
71. Al Pacino in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
72. Leonardo Sbaraglia in Pain and Glory
73. Eric Stoltz in Her Smell
74. Jay Ryan in It: Chapter 2
75. Evan Alex in Us
76. Vince Vaughn in Dragged Across Concrete
77. Vilhelm Blomgren in Midsommar
78. James McAvoy in It: Chapter 2
79. Josh Brolin in Avengers: Endgame 
80. Kevin Garnett in Uncut Gems
81. Jamie Bell in Rocketman
82. Bruce Dern in The Mustang
83. Tracy Letts in Ford V. Ferrari
84. Rob Morgan in Just Mercy
85. George MacKay in Ophelia
86. Lakeith Stanfield in Uncut Gems 
87. Tom Waits in The Dead Don't Die 
88. Dan Stevens in Her Smell
89. O'Shea Jackson Jr. in Long Shot
90. Ralph Fiennes in Official Secrets
91. Jacob Tremblay in Doctor Sleep - 3
92. Judd Hirsch in Uncut Gems
93. Keith Stanfield in Knives Out
94. Alfie Allen in Jojo Rabbit 
95. John Slattery in Avengers: Endgame
96. Harvey Keitel in The Irishman
97. Jake Gyllenhaal in Spider-man: Far From Home 
98. Lance Reddick in John Wick 3
99. Don Cheadle in Avengers: Endgame 
100. Kristian Bruun in Ready Or Not
101. Bruce Dern in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
102. Bryan Cranston in El Camino 
103. Brian Tyree Henry in Joker
104. Ian McShane in John Wick 3
105. Colin Firth in 1917
106. Adam Brody in Ready or Not
107. Tom Bower in Light of My Life
108. Tim Blake Nelson in The Report
109. Ben Whishaw in Little Joe
110. Mark Ruffalo in Avengers: Endgame
111. John Malkovich in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
112. Jason Mitchell in The Mustang
113. Bruce Dern in The Peanut Butter Falcon
114. Caleb Landry Jones in The Dead Don't Die
115. Danny Glover in The Dead Don't Die
116. Bobby Cannavale in The Irishman 
117. Sebastian Stan in Avengers: Endgame
118. Keegan-Michael Key in Dolemite is My Name
119. Richard Madden in Rocketman
120. Moisés Arias in Monos
121. Kurt Russell in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
122. Ray McKinnon in Ford V. Ferrari
123. Henry Czerny in Ready or Not
124. Jon Favreau in Spider-man: Far From Home
125. Jonathan Banks in El Camino
126. Will Smith in Aladdin
127. Tom Holland in Avengers: Endgame
128. Chen Han in The Farewell
129. Rob Delaney in Bombshell 
130. Keanu Reeves in Toy Story 4
131. Timothy Olyphant in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
132. Kodi Smit-McPhee in Dolemite is My Name 
133. Craig Robinson in Dolemite is My Name
134. Mike Epps in Dolemite is My Name
135. Mark O'Brien in Ready or Not
136. Jeremy Strong in Serenity
137. Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
138. Clifton Collins Jr. in Waves
139. Anthony Mackie in Avengers: Endgame
140. Scott MacArthur in El Camino
141. Corey Stoll in The Report
142. Tommy Lee Jones in Ad Astra
143. Damian Lewis in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
144. Teach Grant in It: Chapter 2
145. Dwayne Johnson in Fighting With My Family
146. Chiwetel Ejiofor in The Lion King
147. Danny Glover in The Last Black Man in San Francisco
148. Donald Sutherland in Ad Astra
149. Tracy Letts in Little Women 
150. Stephen Merchant in Fighting With My Family
151. Tom Courtenay in The Aeronauts
152. Jake Gyllenhaal in Velvet Buzzsaw
153. Luke Perry in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
154. Ted Levine in The Report
155. Anthony Daniels in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
156. Isiah Mustafa in It: Chapter 2
157. Scott Shepherd in El Camino 
158. Frank Oz in Knives Out
159. Richard E. Grant in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
160. John Hawkes in The Peanut Butter Falcon
161. Cliff Curtis in Doctor Sleep
162. Idris Elba in Hobbs and Shaw
163. Andy Bean in It: Chapter 2
164. Larry Hankin in El Camino
165. Bill Duke in High Flying Bird
166. Pedro Pascal in Triple Frontier
167. Tim Allen in Toy Story 4
168. Omar Dorsey in Harriet
169. Martin Starr in Spider-man: Far From Home
170. Jon Bernthal in Ford V. Ferrari
171. Billy Magnussen in Velvet Buzzsaw
172. Ian McDiarmid in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
173. John Lithgow in Late Night
174. Tom Roth in Luce
175. Thomas Kretschmann in Dragged Across Concrete
176. William Jackson Harper in Midsommar
177. Steve Buscemi in The Dead Don't Die
178. Henry Hunter Hall in Harriet
179. Bruno Ganz in A Hidden Life
180. Josh Lucas in Ford V. Ferrari
181. Austin Butler in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
182. Matt Jones in El Camino
183. Denis Lavant in The Mountain
184. Keegan-Michael Key in Toy Story 4
185. Jordan Peele in Toy Story 4
186. Mathias Schoenaerts in A Hidden Life
187. Stephen Graham in Rocketman
188. Jamie Foxx in Just Mercy
189. Tim Robbins in Dark Waters
190. Clarke Peters in Harriet
191. Michael Jai White in Dragged Across the Concrete
192. Bill Nighy in Detective Pikachu
193. Ibrahima Traore in Atlantics
194. Emile Hirsch in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
195. Babou Ceesay in The Best of Enemies
196. Chris Cooper in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 
197. Carlo Cecchi in Martin Eden
198. Leslie Odom Jr. in Harriet
199. Mark Strong in Shazam
200. Charlie Hunnam in Triple Frontier
201. Jonny Mars in Bacurau
202. David Zelner in The Art of Self-Defense
203. Bruce Willis in Motherless Brooklyn
204. Haley Joel Osment in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
205. Jason Suedeikis in Booksmart
206. Matt Smith in Official Secrets
207. Kyle MacLachlan in High Flying Bird
208. Jon Hamm in Lucy in the Sky 
209. Gary Oldman in The Laundromat
210. Antonio Banderas in The Laundromat
211. Patrick Stewart in The Kid Who Would Be King
212. Andy Serkis in Long Shot
213. Bob Odenkirk in Little Women - 2.5
214. Bill Skarsgard in It: Chapter 2 
215. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson in The Vanishing
216. Clive Owen in Ophelia
217. Jim Parsons in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
218. Charles Dance in Godzilla: King of the Monsters
219. Daveed Diggs in Velvet Buzzsaw
220. Hamish Patel in The Aeronauts
221. Julio Diaz in La Llorona
     
222. Jaeden Martell in Knives Out
223. Bobby Cannavale in Motherless Brooklyn
224. Rufus Sewell in Judy
225. Jonathan Groff in Frozen II
226. F. Murray Abraham in How to Train Your Dragon 3
227. Billy Dee Williams in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
228. John Boyega in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
229. Jude Law in Captain Marvel
230. Oscar Isaac in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
231. Samuel L. Jackson in Spider-man: Far From Home
232. Billy Eichner in The Lion King
233. Seth Rogen in The Lion King
234. Rhys Stone in Sorry We Missed You
235. Bruce McGill in The Best of Enemies
236. Ken Watanabe in Detective Pikachu
237. Bob Odenkirk in Long Shot
238. Laurie Davidson in Cats
239. Navid Negahban in Aladdin 
240. Jason Clarke in Serenity
241. James Earl Jones in The Lion King
242. Keegan-Michael Key in The Lion King
243. Tony Hale in Toy Story 4
244. Hugh Dancy in Late Night
245. Ross Brewster in Sorry We Missed You
246. Finn Wittrock in Judy
247. Jon Hamm in Richard Jewell 
248. Sterling K. Brown in Frozen II
249. Steven MacKintosh in Rocketman
250. Henry Thomas in Doctor Sleep
251. Garrett Hedlund in Triple Frontier
252. Idris Elba in Cats
253. Bradley Whitford in Godzilla: King of the Monsters
254. Josh Gad in Frozen II
255. Alec Baldwin in Motherless Brooklyn - 2
256. Billy Magnussen in Aladdin 
257. Noah Segan in Knives Out
258. Jacob Batalon in Spider-man: Far From Home
259. John Oliver in The Lion King
260. Tony Revolori in Spider-man: Far From Home
261. Thomas Middleditch in Godzilla: King of the Monsters
262. Jason Derulo in Cats
263. Joe Alwyn in Harriet
264. Domhnall Gleeson in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
265. Ike Barinholtz in Late Night
266. Will Poulter in Midsommar
267. Robbie Fairchild in Cats
268. Ryan Reynolds in Hobbs and Shaw
269. Mark Dacascos in John Wick 3
270. Dan Stevens in Lucy in the Sky  
271. Rhys Ifans in Official Secrets
272. Skyler Gisondo in Booksmart
273. Noah Galvin in Booksmart
274. Marwen Kenzari in Aladdin - 1.5
275. Ian McKellen in Cats
276. Bill Camp in Dark Waters
277. Chris Geere in Detective Pikachu
278. Jack Reynor in Midsommar
279. Rafe Spall in Just Mercy
280. James Corden in Cats - 1

Next Year: 2019 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2019: Sam Rockwell in Jojo Rabbit

Sam Rockwell did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Captain Klezendorf in Jojo Rabbit.

Sam Rockwell plays the role of technically one of the central Nazis in the film, about the Hitler youth Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis), whose imaginary friend is also Hitler (Taika Waititi). Rockwell's performance is largely a comedic one though here is an instance where it is a comic work from him that is a bit less of his manic Rockwellian work, as I expected going in. This however is essential to the realization of his character's reveal that is in plain sight throughout the film, you just don't notice it. Rockwell first enters the film in opening the Hitler youth camp, where technically Rockwell tells you everything about his Captain Klezendorf in his delivery of the scene. This as he remarks first on his eye injury that leaves him to run the camp it is with a marvelous sarcastic exasperation that Rockwell underlines each word. Rockwell does a great thing of saying almost every word in this long breath of someone just tired of the whole routine. This as he espouses the Nazi line it is as perfunctory as possible, along with a great physical manner far from the proper soldier. This with an always relaxed stance as though he is just about completely spent by the experience at this point, but is there enough just to do his job. This even allowing himself to get away with his sort of sliding German accent here, as it manages to just go along with every thing that Klezendorf does. This in only the small bit of pride in his manner as he shows off his crack shot skill, with a bit more zest from Rockwell with his way of saying he's just as good as any two eyed soldiers. There Rockwell manages to wholly accentuate in just his intro as the state of Klezendorf as a proud soldier but disenchanted with the cause of his country.

Well as much as Rockwell's work in bringing to life Klezendorf's state of being, this is also just a very funny performance where Rockwell comedic timing comes in handy just to earn some of the better laughs in the film. One being when Jojo, attempting to show off his devotion to the cause, tries to be the first to throw a grenade only to injure himself in the process. Rockwell's deadpan delivery of "don't do that" is absolutely hilarious, as is his only real anxiety shown as he comments that Jojo's mother is "going to kill him". Rockwell's a delight from there on as we see his now demoted position of trying to run Jojo's town, and give Jojo a job by the insistence of his persistent mother Rosie (Scarlet Johansson). I mean one must give proper commendation to the delivery of the crotch injury performance, which Rockwell does wonderfully in his anguish ridden, yet still so pleasant introduction of everyone to Rosie after she knees him in a man's most sensitive area. Rockwell in these scenes is pretty much always doing something, something rather entertaining. Whether this being his continued portrayal of the exhausted soldier just randomly doing things as he awaits the end of the war he know he's going to lose. Rockwell delivery with such lack of sincerity as he describes training soldiers to fight underwater, or illustrating the city's defenses. The one point of passion though is showing of Jojo his final battle uniform, that Rockwell brings a low key infantile glee as though it is one of the few things Klezendorf can find any joy in. Rockwell though is also terrific though in his reactions as sort of the straight man to both Davis's performance of childlike naivety and Rebel Wilson as a far more devoted Nazi. Rockwell finds a right balance though in his quiet warmth, yet still comical, bemusement at Jojo's various ideas he comes to him with, such as a book on Jews.  Rockwell is also considerably funnier than Wilson's broad performance, just through his great reactions of "this lady is crazy" as she comes up with a great mania than the childish Jojo. Rockwell's own work nicely mediates between these performances with his own. I would also be remiss though if I did not mention his brief interactions with Alfie Allen as his second in command, probably more, Freddie Finkel, where he portrays Klezendorf's, we'll say, very strong affection for his loyal soldier, particularly in his oh so earnest apology after he yells at Freddie for a mistake.

The key to Rockwell's performance though is with Jojo where Rockwell gradually brings a greater paternal sense of tenderness in each word towards the boy, and his eyes grants a real sense of concern for him. This coming into play when the gestapo visit Jojo's home, which is housing a Jewish girl Inga (Thomasin McKenzie). Klezendorf "happens" to also arrive. Honestly this scene is a showcase for Rockwell, even with rather sparse amount of lines total for himself, as he is doing a whole lot throughout the scene. This as when the gestapo are directly looking at him Rockwell reveals an affable, almost dumb, smile of a soldier just ready to listen and respond to this house call properly. When it looks like the Gestapo is being official, Rockwell again responds with a more serious tone towards Jojo and Inga, pretending to be Jojo's sister, suggesting a more loyal soldier than perhaps he really is. With the gestapo's harder inquiries, Rockwell subtly alludes to a greater concern, in just this faint hints in his eyes, particularly in a moment, I did not notice the first time I watched the film, of unease when he thinks the lead gestapo agent will double check Inga's papers, after he already has. Rockwell again doing this in plain sight that is rather impressive as it is not immediately noticeable at hinting the better nature of Klezendorf. The highlight of Rockwell's performance though comes in the film's climax as the allies attack the town, leading to a last stand among the Germans. This as we get the best of both worlds of Rockwell's performance, first his hilarious "the hell with it" expression and wink as we see the Captain donned in his ridiculous final battle uniform and charging through the carnage. This representing a soldier who's still a soldier, but has lost any purpose other than the fight alone. This soon is followed up by Klezendorf and Jojo being rounded up by Russians, after having been defeated. Rockwell is brilliant in this scene by delivering on that underlying warmth, as he speaks the words of comfort so tenderly for Jojo's losses. I love how Rockwell begins with that same sort of humoring tone we heard before towards the boy, but as the scene goes on this breaks away to just reveal a genuine emotion directly. This losing that exasperated tone as his voice breaks a bit to reveal his real affection and care for the boy. This as Rockwell naturally finds a real poignancy and is rather heartbreaking in the moment as he makes the concern for Jojo in the moment so honest, yet doesn't compromise the more absurd moments involving the character. This is a wonderful performance by Sam Rockwell as he manages to firstly be very funny in the absurd nature of the role, but also manages to find the right bit of humanity in it to be rather moving as well.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2019

And the Nominees Were Not:

Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Endgame

Chris Evans in Avengers: Endgame

Sterling K. Brown in Waves

Song Kang-ho in Parasite

Choi Woo-shik in Parasite

Sam Rockwell in Jojo Rabbit

Robert Forster in El Camino 

For prediction purposes:  

Downey Jr. from Avengers

Song from Parasite

Best Supporting Actor 2018: Results

5. Sam Rockwell in Vice - I have seen some greater vitriol to this towards this performance, which I find is unnecessary as he struggles to even get to be seen without getting hidden by some fish cutaway. Rockwell gives us all his audition to play George Bush, not bad, maybe some day we'll actually get to see him play the part.

Best Scene: Scene from the trailer (no fish edits so it's better).

4. Mahershala Ali in Green Book - Ali essentially gives an Oscar winning performance in terms of conception. Conception mind you, and the formula for this seems a little too obvious even in his own work that occasionally becomes a bit stilted or over the top. It is not entirely bereft of merit, and he has some decent lighter moments in the film.

Best Scene: How he learned to play music. 

3. Adam Driver in Blackkklansman - Driver gives a good understated turn here portraying well the sort of two sides of a guy playing the fake part of a racist, while also being a not racist professional under cover cop. Although the personal focus on his character is limited, Driver does make the most of what he has to deliver a consistently compelling turn.

Best Scene: Thinking about his Jewish heritage.

2. Sam Elliott in A Star is Born - Elliott's role is excessively brief, with his story line being excessively rushed, however he delivers every second he is onscreen to give a moving and complex portrayal of an older brother struggling to deal with his mess of a younger brother.

Best Scene: Backing up. 

1. Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Good Predictions John Smith, Omar, Luke, GM, RatedRStar, Matt, Charles, Robert, Michael McCarthy, Emi Grant and Tahmeed.  Grant wins this in a walk in his effortlessly delightful, yet also surprisingly poignant portrayal of a man who sort of dances around on the fringes of society.

Best Scene: A final request. 

Best Supporting Actor 2018: Sam Rockwell in Vice

Sam Rockwell received his second Oscar nomination for portraying George W. Bush in Vice.

Now on paper Sam Rockwell seems like a great choice for the former president with a specific energy as a performer seeming a proper match for the particular style of Bush. Well if you're looking at the result of great casting look elsewhere, not so much due to Rockwell's performance mind you, he's just barely in the film to be honest. Vice's main intention is a film to tell us how horrible Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) is as a person, politician, and the destruction he inflicted upon American if not mankind in general. Writer/director Adam McKay makes him as much a boogeyman as a person, to the point of an extreme simplification of history. This idea was touched upon by Oliver Stone in the better, though far from great, W., but even the notoriously unsubtle Stone granted a bit of nuance to the subject. That's not the case here to the point that the actual president during Cheney's reign as vice president is an after thought. This is as McKay views Bush solely as a puppet for Cheney to control, and so the former president and Rockwell are regulated to a few brief scenes.

One being a quick moment as the black sheep of his own family being drunk at a white house party. Honestly we barely get to see what Rockwell is trying to do in the scene as the glimpse is so brief. There is nothing to scoff at, because why scoff when there's nothing there. Let's jump ahead then to the cleaned up Bush running for president, inviting Cheney to be his VP, inter spliced with fishing footage, because GET IT he's reeling him in, thanks MCKAY!!! I wouldn't have known otherwise. Although because of that we still barely get to see what Rockwell is doing, but now it is clear enough to notice him. Rockwell whips out a bit of the rolling speech of Bush with a Texas twang, with the casual physical manner thrown in. We can barely hear this though as the scene is interrupted by Cheney's internal monologue just as we are by the film's obnoxious editing style. Again he's there but we barely even get a sense of the character. It's been called an SNL impression, which is not completely inaccurate (though slightly), but I'd say that is not Rockwell's fault. The problem is he only gets some scant unimportant lines speaking in generalities for Cheney. This makes it so we can only see the mannerisms, he's doing. He's not doing them poorly, the funny thing is, he's not trying to really be funny. He's trying to realize the character it seems, but the film's against him. The same occurs as he asks Cheney again, it's presented in the same obnoxious way, and again Rockwell is strangely in the background the whole time. In the situation room to determine how to react to 9/11, Rockwell is again forced to just sit and stare. He's got a fine, "I'm concerned" face going, but sadly again we barely get a sense of him. Rockwell manages a bit in portraying an unease and lack of certainty. Finally we get the most Rockwell is allowed to do in another discussion on the invasion of Iraq. Again the focus is on Cheney's manipulations, and in a rather simplistic way. Rockwell though delivers his line with a bit desperation showing the need to stand up to his father's legacy. The sense of it is there is in his performance, so good job there. I have seen some real negativity towards this performance, to which I'd say why? He's simply barely in the film. We only get a glance at him, so honestly what he's doing with Bush physically and vocally can't really "settle" for the viewer. He hits his marks, he hits the requisite emotion, and that's about it. The whole thing feels more like Rockwell's audition to play Bush, rather than him actually playing the part. I mean I'd certainly give him the call back, but I'd try to give him some better scenes to work with once the film starts shooting.

Best Supporting Actor 2018

And the Nominees Are:

Adam Driver in Blackkklansman

Mahershala Ali in Green Book

Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Elliott in A Star is Born

Sam Rockwell in Vice

Alternate Best Actor 2008: Sam Rockwell in Snow Angels

Sam Rockwell did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Glenn Marchand in Snow Angels.

Snow Angels is a quietly affecting film focusing on the life of a teenager, his old babysitter and her estranged husband.

Sam Rockwell is an actor sometimes incorrectly boxed in by some. This is usually in the view that he is only capable of his more eccentric turns, those that earn the moniker of Rockwellian. Although crafting an idiosyncratic style as a performer is usually a notable achievement it certainly could be problematic if the performer uses that as a crutch. That never has been the case for Rockwell, and his performance here is a testament to this. There is barely a hint of his usual style in his performance here as Glenn Marchand a former alcoholic turned born again Christian. Rockwell completely rids himself of any of his usual energetic style to give a completely subdued turn fitting to a man in this life and in his current situation. Rockwell's work rather conveys the history of Glenn from this outset which he wears through this internalized somberness that is remarkable. This is striking in the way Rockwell so subtly portrays this as a constant that is less of what Glenn wishes his current state of mind to be, and is more of an indication of the life he has lead before this point. A life of much heartbreak through his relationship with his wife Annie (Kate Beckinsale) however as the film opens we see man trying to make a better life for himself. In his first scene Rockwell exudes this remarkable frustration, as Glenn prepares for the day that includes seeing his kid and perhaps getting a job, that naturally reflects a man still very much burdened by his problems yet striving to correct them.

Rockwell delivers this curious yet wholly convincing type of optimism in his performance in these early scenes. In that he projects very much this eagerness to be optimistic more than there lies a true optimism that defines the man. Rockwell realizes so well this difficult juxtaposition of emotion as he plays it as Glenn very much trying to keep himself in the right frame of mind. He wears in his eyes that sorrow of a problematic past, but with the uneasy smile of a man trying very hard to not let that define his life. We see his early interactions with Annie where he and Beckinsale effectively strike up this troubling chemistry as Rockwell exudes very old difficulties in connecting with her without immediately falling into frustrations. Rockwell shows Glenn very much a man trying to force himself to keep from this though, and is incredible the way in a given scene he shows how Glenn begins with an immediate, slightly artificial, charge of joy that slowly is lost when he and Annie start to fight. An important facet also in this sense is Glenn as a born again Christian, which is an element that Rockwell brilliantly portrays in his performance. When Glenn speaks about his religion there is this intensity that Rockwell delivers in every line. An intensity not of zealot or anything like that, there is instead an intensity of a certain desperation. This desperation that underlines his words that Rockwell effectively shows doesn't allude to doubts in his faith, but rather this painful need to use it as this life preserver for his existence.

The one bit of light in his life is through Glenn and Annie's daughter Tara, though she is more than a bit of a handful. Rockwell though is great in his scenes between Glenn and Tara as he carefully shows that in these most direct interactions with his daughter his troubles seem most at ease. Rockwell never portrays a man completely comfortable with himself, but in these moments presents the man finally at any comfort in his life. He exudes an overabundance of warmth that he uses so well to portray that Glenn has an unquestioned love for his daughter. We briefly see Glenn starting to have any consistency in his life and Rockwell is terrific in realizing Glenn's troubles slowly easing away from his mind, though he carefully shows that they are never completely gone. He has a great moment in perhaps Glenn furthest from his personal traumas when he asks Annie out for a date. Rockwell is outstanding in this scene in that he brings a genuine charm. Not so much the usual charm that Rockwell has, which would be ill-fitting for Glenn, he finds instead something a bit low key yet still notable in reflecting perhaps Glenn's past self that originally won Annie over a long time ago. Rockwell still presents this with a bit of compromised delivery through every little attempted romantic overture having such a real hesitation in every word of a man trying to tip toe around speaking directly with his wife as his wife.

Things quickly fall apart from that better state though when it becomes public knowledge that Annie is having an affair with a married man. This would be an easy enough time to slip up however Rockwell is great as he realizes Glenn essentially falling into the other man he was within the rot of their old marriage. Rockwell portrays Glenn's drunken state as particularly wretched by playing it in a especially naturalistic way. In that he shows Glenn as man who in the past has spent much of his time as drowning in liquor and his jealousy. Rockwell makes him a proper mess of just broken emotions as every word he says towards Annie is angry slurred nonsense fitting to a man who has fallen into those frustrations that had lied dormant before then. Things sadly get worse before they improve as Annie's neglect leads to the accidental death of their daughter. Rockwell's performance is particularly remarkable as he successfully portrays this leading to a different state than that of just the envious drunk. The initial transition is as Glenn is blamed, before the death is discovered, where Rockwell depicts this greater clarity in his outrage over the accusations. The outrage though Rockwell finds in this rather meek way that sadly still alludes to the state of the man as there is a exasperation of someone who has spent his whole life being told he's screwed up.

After the death is discovered Rockwell has a few scenes all that are exceptionally performed by him in portraying Glenn's reaction to the loss. Now part of this is in the expected in one heartbreaking scene where Glenn confronts Annie's lover who prevents him from seeing her. Rockwell in the scene reveals such a harrowing grief in the man as he portrays a man just falling into his this deep pit of despair. He shows a man not only grieving for the loss of his daughter but also wallowing in the terrible sadness of his life up until this point. When Glenn describes his previous suicide attempt Rockwell evokes this horrible sense of a resignation as though Glenn has simply expected himself to meet such a sorrow again. Rockwell realizes every moment of the pain that writhes within him, and is extremely moving as he delivers such raw emotion in every single moment of Glenn's breakdown. After this scene though Glenn's reaction changes. First in almost an attempt to compromise back to the man attempting to inspire hope in himself which we see when tries to give photos of Tara. Rockwell though now shows that this attempt at comfort is even more precarious than it was before with his grief and anger barely being hidden in his failure of a gesture to basically attempt to negotiate his feelings towards Annie. The final sequence of the film Rockwell is downright amazing in his depiction of Glenn's final decision. Rockwell portrays throughout suddenly a certain solace that is absolutely chilling. He does not deliver this as some sudden vicious psychopath rather presents it as this alarming religious conviction in him. Rockwell speaks with this overwhelming calm most of the time showing really that same comfort in his religion, but now to a most tragic end. There is still the occasionally lapse into the raw sorrow that brought him to this point, however Rockwell reveals Glenn now finally at ease through his final decision. This is a great performance Sam Rockwell. It would be easy enough to demonize Glenn or for this to fall apart into some caricature at any point. Rockwell never does this as he humanizes every moment of the man's descent therefore granting a far more potent tragedy at the center of the film.

Alternate Best Actor 2008

And the Nominees Were Not:

Kim Yoon-seok in The Chaser

Chiwetel Ejiofor in Redbelt

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Synecdoche, New York

Vincent Cassel in Mesrine: Killer Instinct

Josh Brolin in W. 

And for the Second Set of Predictions:

Song Kang-ho in The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Mads Mikkelsen in Flame & Citron 

Sam Rockwell in Snow Angels

Johannes Krisch in Revanche

Jean-Claude Van Damme in JCVD  

Best Supporting Actor 2017: Results

5. Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water - Jenkins gives a wonderful performance very much as the type of truly "supporting" supporting performance by offering just bit of extra humor, warmth and emotion to the film.

Best Scene: Repeating the signs. 

4. Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World - Plummer's post-last minute work here stands on its own, past the unorthodox nature of his casting, through his captivating portrayal of the world's richest man who he brings to life as indeed a commanding miser, but with a sense of humanity even within his most despicable behavior.

Best Scene: Fletcher confronting Getty.

3. Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project -Dafoe delivers one of his best performances through his earnest and always genuine portrayal of decent man trying to keep his optimism through much adversity. It's quietly poignant portrayal of an honest warmth within a rather harsh environment.

Best Scene: Dealing with a pedophile. 

2. Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Harrelson grants his character here a notable charisma and brings out the best in his film's humor. He goes further though in giving a rather heartbreaking portrayal of a man facing his own mortality.

Best Scene: Interrogation room. 

1. Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Good Predictions Mitchell, Giuseppe, Tahmeed, Luke, Jackiboyz, Maciej, RatedRStar, Omar, Robert, GM, Michael McCarthy, Anonymous, Matthew C. Well for me Rockwell tops this fantastic year for supporting actor nominees. Rockwell as expected brings such an energy through his performance, and where Harrelson excels in the verbal humor though Rockwell does that too, Rockwell is dynamite with the physical humor around his character's buffoonery. Rockwell's work is most remarkable though in successfully delivering his character's arc from a terrible man to a broken man finally starting to see his mistakes.

Best Scene: Dixon brings news to Mildred. 

Best Supporting Actor 2017: Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Woody Harrelson received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Chief Bill Willoughby in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri tells the story of Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), the mother of a murdered teenage girl, who rents three billboards in an attempt to force the local police force to solve the murder. I will say I loved Three Billboards the first time I saw the film, though I had a few reservations, however over time the film has come under intense criticism. Of course this likely would not be so fervent however given that it once claimed the best picture front runner position, without having any assumed "importance" in a general sense, which in the days of social media leads to more scrutiny on the film than would be received by a recently discovered Vincent van Gogh painting. Well, finally re-watching the film, with all this negativity swirling around,  I have to say...my appreciation for the film has only burgeoned. Now with the entire film in perspective I can see it is not about the heroic mother fighting for her daughter in the slightest, as I will admit I wrongly assumed it was in my initial viewing, there are no heroes here only flawed people trying to make due with their losses. Now there is major facet of the backlash I haven't dealt with, but I'll get to that with the second review.

First let's have a nice easy time looking at Woody Harrelson successfully breaking the over twenty year gap of having no two supporting actors in a single film nominated. Harrelson, despite having the smaller role, managed to find his way into this lineup even with so much praise going to two of his co-stars, one in the very same category. Harrelson's achievement then is notable and it becomes readily obvious why he was able to break that trend through his work here. On the surface it seems we might get just a good old Woody Harrelson performance as a good old boy. Not that there isn't anything inherently wrong with that as Woody Harrelson only need compete with Matthew McConaughey when comes to the primary actor for a good old boy role. In fact Harrelson quite excels in that facet particularly as it relates to director/writer Martin McDonagh's humor, which is technically is a touch more low key in this film than his previous efforts. Harrelson's comedic timing is perfection for what is to be had through Willoughby's quiet way of venting his frustrations over the situation, whether it be confusion over "a lady with a funny eye" lodging a complaint over the billboards, or in his attempt to explain to Mildred the makeup of his police force.

Now this good old boy routine goes a bit further here with Harrelson's performance as he needs to establish why everyone seems to love Willoughby, and why does everyone hate Mildred's signs for calling him out by name. Harrelson does so by being quite charming here and delivers the needed charisma to this "great" man. This includes when Willoughby is dealing with his worst man where he brings almost a fatherly manner in his reprimands and his defense of their shortcomings. Harrelson portrays Willoughby as someone willing to listen and ready to look for the good in people whether he should or not. Willoughby even when dealing with the very hostile Mildred delivers these lines particularly well. As he offers a definite sympathy even within the frustrations as he explains his legitimate reasons for his failures to catch the killer, and his disagreement with her use of the billboards. Harrelson reveals Willoughby as this inherently likable mediator who is evidently trying his best even if not given credit for it. On a slightly side note it also must be mentioned that Harrelson is particularly great in the two scenes he has with Willoughby's daughters brings such tremendous heart in every moment of his earnest interactions with them, making Willoughby a genuine and wholly believable great literal father as well.

The real key to Harrelson's work though is his portrayal of the chief dealing with his terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis. We are first introduced to this when he brings it up to Mildred in their initial conversation. Harrelson is amazing in this scene as he more overtly reveals Willoughby's vulnerabilities to her and he is particularly affecting in revealing in his eyes just how distraught he is as she initially offers no sympathy in return. This facet of the character is something Harrelson elegantly weaves into his work even when he not directly dealing with it. One of my favorite scenes of Harrelson's is when he checks out the report on the murder near the billboards. Harrelson doesn't say anything about his own upcoming demise, yet his moments of examining the shadow of the sign as though it marks the grave of the victim he conveys the sense of Willoughby quietly seeing his own mortality in the context that he knows he'll never solve the case. Harrelson does not waste the more overt moments though which uses well as the brief times when the man simply cannot hide it anymore, or is forced to not be able to. He's downright heartbreaking when he suddenly spits up blood as Harrelson so honestly apologizes, and reveals the intensity of the very real overwhelming fear of the moment. The same is true in the scene where we see him essential make his final decision when briefly left alone at the hospital. After having just a brief moment of warmth with his wife (Abbie Cornish), where Harrelson once again projects Willoughby's seemingly unshakable charm, when alone his breakdown is incredibly moving as the complete sorrow in his expression reveals a man who knows he has no hope for survival. Harrelson exits the film soon afterwards physically though he has a few more vocal scenes through letters Willoughby left for a select few people. Harrelson delivers these in a pretty straight forward way, as a man proof reading his letters basically, though still these are rather emotional letters so this is not in a hollow sense, it is effectively handled to the point he gets one more laugh out of me even when leaving one last good-natured insult to one of the recipients. The general ideas of the letters though is Willoughby's continued influence on the story despite his departure. Well Harrelson also continues his influence on the film despite his early exit through his hard edged yet heartfelt portrayal of the tragedy of a man out of time yet with still so much left to do. 

Sam Rockwell won his Oscar from his first Oscar nomination for portraying Officer Jason Dixon in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Well this brings me to the more complicated part of the review, which would be quite different if say I was reviewing this performance in a few years from now. I could just go about looking at the performance, but unfortunately there is a bit baggage that needs unpacking. The strongest backlash of the film has been built around the character of Jason Dixon. One faction of this criticism is completely ridiculous, those who believe Rockwell should not be rewarded for playing a racist. Well I guess stop everything and re-write every acting award as best performance as a nice character and rescind the Oscars given to Anthony Hopkins, Kathy Bates, Heath Ledger and so many others for playing such despicable sorts. I'll admit that is only one faction though, the second faction requires a bit more effort to broach their criticism. This criticism against the redemptive arc of Jason Dixon as a character despite being a racist. One being it is illogical and impossible. Well that's just not the case, one can look no further than the true story of John Newton who went from slaver to abolitionist, that is frankly a far more extreme conversion than the one you witness in Three Billboards. There's of course more to this, but I'll be touching upon this in the actual review of the performance, and not just the character.

Sam Rockwell to start off takes the right approach to the role of Dixon which is to make to sure to emphasize the sheer stupidity of the character. This is from his opening scene of inspecting the billboards where he questions the men putting up the new signs on the billboards without the candor of someone you would describe as a seasoned detective. Rockwell mumbles the delivery of Dixon attempting to question the men and is rather amusing in his bungled way of attempting to threaten one of the men with arrest for improper bucket disposal. Rockwell's performance purposefully constructs the role from this outset so that we laugh at Dixon never with Dixon. In this scene there is no incisiveness as he asks them but rather we see the sheer idiocy of the man in his attempt to be any sort of cop. We see this continued in Dixon's way of speaking casually offensive language most related to homosexuals and the mentally handicapped, though notably he mostly avoids anything towards African American even attempting to revise Mildred's language, only speaking offensive words in his explanation to stop it, though more on that later. Rockwell's delivery of these words are not as comical jabs, but sloppy ramblings of a fool. He makes them just the words he's probably been saying, and taught by his mother to say as just a second nature. It's not a pretty sight and Rockwell plays it as such.

Rockwell does give a often comedic performance but this is in a very specific fashion. That is Rockwell makes every comical moments related to Dixon being something you laugh at and again never with him. When Dixon is attempting, and failing at his tough cop routine, as realized through Rockwell's approach as this over eager idiot attempting to be far more than he is. He's very funny though when ever he shows Dixon kind of fall out of this act whenever someone mentions his mother. Rockwell's hilarious in his way of slipping in thought and immediately becoming a real mama's boy in his sudden switch to this very petulant manner. Rockwell's great as whenever this happens it is an immediate almost instinctual return seemingly to a school ground dope as he either defends his mother, or awkwardly attempts to say she has less influence on him then they claim. As much as Rockwell excels with the few verbal "spars" that come from Dixon's incompetence the real comedy gold comes in his physical performance. As usually is the case for Rockwell, he's a very energetic and dynamic performer in this sense. He's terrific here in almost being a classical silent buffoon in his depiction of Dixon being a bungler in body as well as mind. This is in the more overt moments such his fearless dancing, which is always a Rockwellian treat, but more importantly in every moment Dixon is trying to be intimidating.

That can be in fairly simple ways just as the way Dixon sits back in his chair is as though he's this "badass" cop, but in fact just looks like a hapless layabout. Two favorite moments of mine is when Mildred comes to confront him, and Rockwell does this attempted dramatic get out of his chair yet get slightly caught up while doing so, or his later moment is when Dixon attempts to find his badge. Rockwell's timing just couldn't be better in making Dixon such a fool. Every one of Rockwell's little physical pratfalls is a delight that thankfully seems spring of the moment, even though they probably were not, and again is so good at reinforcing the sheer idiocy of the character that we are meant to laugh at. Of course this isn't just an entertaining look at a incompetent bully. There is that arc of the character that has become such a point of controversy in the film, making Dixon perhaps the most controversial character in any film in 2017. I stand by the idea of the reformed racist is in reality possible, but I also think what Rockwell does in the role contributes to making it feasible within the context of the film and character. The point of contention that probably most damns Dixon is the accusation that Dixon tortured an African American suspect in prison. We never learn the truth of this matter in the film, in fact Rockwell portrays the moments where this is brought as an desperate defensiveness. A defensiveness that seems ill-fitting to a truly unabashed racist, who would more likely be smugly prideful over their accomplishment, Rockwell's approach once again suggests maybe the charge is not wholly true or at least not so simple.

Of course there is evidence against old Dixon when we do see him beat a couple of people, the two whitest people in the film the main one is even called Red (Caleb Landry Jones), but that's not the point. It is important though to remember the context of the sequence. Red, the man the beatings is aimed at, is the person Dixon has been pressuring specifically due to his allowance of the billboards that Rockwell has always emphasized his distaste most strongly within the use of Willoughby's name. When Willoughby exits it is important to note Rockwell's portrayal of a complete breakdown and grief at the loss of the chief he clearly so respected. The sequence of Dixon going about beating Red, Rockwell portrays as a man with a mind set towards some act of revenge for the chief, but not a lick of intelligence within the act. Now even with having said that Dixon is not a good person, and Rockwell portrays him as such. The question though comes into the transformation of the character, which actually begins right after the beating Red scene. Rockwell reveals a real sheepishness when called upon his actions by being immediately being fired and his reaction is as though Dixon thought he was going to be thanked for "avenging" Willoughby. Dixon is instead fired leading to an important scene for Rockwell's performance. That is as his mother goes on like usual, Rockwell portrays Dixon finally with any introspection for his actions. Rockwell shows that obviously he isn't instantly changed, but is finally focusing on some of his mistakes. There's a specific modicum of shame that Rockwell finds when his mother suggests with racist mindset to get rid of the new chief who is black. His reaction infers a sense that Dixon is finally at least starting to see what his mother's words have gotten him, not that he's suddenly some progressive hero. Rockwell instead in these few scenes just reveals a pathetic man without anything really left except for his self-loathing as he seems to realize he's done wrong.

Rockwell already establishes that before Dixon gets his own letter from Willoughby that encourages him to try change his ways and solve the murder case. He is immediately greeted to a wall fire, created by Mildred via Molotov cocktails to burn the station not to hurt Dixon, leading to his first set of injuries. Dixon's first real act of change comes in the hospital where the equally injured Red comes to see if the bandaged Dixon is okay. Rockwell delivers Dixon's initial apology as just naturalistic swell of emotion as a reaction towards someone giving him sympathy despite his brutality towards them. Dixon after these scenes still doesn't become some super man in fact Rockwell shows a man drowning in his sorrows of the sorry state of his life when he's in the bar who just happens to come across as man bragging about a vicious rape. The idea of Dixon doing what the man he respected so much asked him to do is made believable. Again Rockwell doesn't make him suddenly this virtuous saint, but rather a pretty pitiful man just trying to do one thing. Rockwell is outstanding in his scene of presenting the evidence he received to Mildred. Rockwell revealing of a slightly changed man is of this timid sort with his delivering emphasizing his awkwardness of a man just trying to do what he believes is the right thing. Rockwell makes even this is still a sad state as Dixon is clearly still mostly a screw up. There is one great moment where Dixon attempts to speak some wisdom about learning things, and for a moment seems to go back to his casually offensive remarks almost by instinct. Rockwell is great in his reaction as he shows Dixon after that line just one again recognizing his past again as he holds his head in shame. Rockwell doesn't portray Dixon as finding new life as a hero, but just doing one thing his old boss asked him to do. Rockwell even in his near final sign reveals just a man in near suicidal state clearly overcome by his past, hardly as this new reformed sort, but rather a man just finally aware of the many mistakes of his life.  This is an fantastic performance by Sam Rockwell. One gets some classic Rockwellian moments, which are always nice, and he adjusts them to this character, but really what is most remarkable is his successful realization of Dixon's arc. An arc that is not of a bad man to a good man, but a bad man who is slowly realizing he's done wrong.

Best Supporting Actor 2017

And the Nominees Are:

Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project

Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water

Christopher Plummer in All The Money In The World

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2007: Results

10. Morgan Freeman in Gone Baby Gone - Freeman has good moments, but gives a little too many indications about his character's duplicitous nature early on.

Best Scene: His confrontation with Patrick,.

9. John Travolta in Hairspray - Travolta nicely gives a surprisingly earnest and sometimes moving portrayal of his character.

Best Scene: Edna revealing her insecurities.

8. Ed Harris in Gone Baby Gone - Harris nicely brings his usual acerbic style that works quite well for his character.

Best Scene: Remy's confession.

7. Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men - Jones gives a moving, yet also somehow funny portrayal of a man's confusion and exasperation in face of a violent world.

Best Scene: Bell visits Ellis.

6. Sam Rockwell in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford - Rockwell gives a terrific example of a pure supporting performance, that adds so much to the film, despite only ever briefly being the focus of it.

Best Scene: The Assassination.

5. Albert Finney in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Finney gives a powerful portrayal of the rage and heartbreak that comes from a horrible loss.

Best Scene: The Last Scene.

4. Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn - Zahn gives a haunting portrayal of a prisoner of war being worn away by his captors and nature.

Best Scene: After the failed signal.

3. Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz - Dalton gives a hilarious performance by creating the most obviously evil character who ever existed.

Best Scene: Skinner listens to Angel's theory.

2. John Carroll Lynch in Zodiac -  Lynch gives an outstanding performance, brilliantly realizing his unnerving enigma of a man all in one scene, well and a reaction shot. I have to admit that it was absurdly difficult just to rank my top and I'll admit I'm still not sure of my winner. I feel that I could switch out to any one of performances in the top five. This is an unbelievably great year for the category, it has to be to leave the likes of Bardem and Rockwell out of the top five.

Best Scene: His first scene. Although that reaction shot is also amazing.

1. Ben Foster in 3:10 to Yuma - Foster gives a wildly entertaining as well a rather chilling portrayal of a man who takes loyalty very seriously.

Best Scene: Finding the decoy wagon. 

Overall Rank:

1. Ben Foster in 3:10 to Yuma
2. John Carroll Lynch in Zodiac
3. Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz
4. Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn
5. Albert Finney in Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
6. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men
7. Sam Rockwell in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
8. Garret Dillahunt in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
9. Charles Fleischer in Zodiac
10. Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men
11. Armin Mueller-Stahl in Eastern Promises
12. Josh Brolin in No Country For Old Men
13. Robert Downey Jr. in Zodiac
14. Josh Brolin in American Gangster
15. Jim Broadbent in Hot Fuzz
16. Jeremy Davies in Rescue Dawn 
17. Kurt Russell in Grindhouse 
18. Jimmi Simpson in Zodiac
19. Gene Jones in No Country For Old Men
20. Paddy Considine in Hot Fuzz
21. Dillon Freasier in There Will Be Blood
22. Woody Harrelson in No Country For Old Men 
23. Karl Marcus Franklin in I'm Not There
24. Robert Duvall in We Own the Night
25. Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood
26. Ben Whishaw in I'm Not There
27. J.K. Simmons in Juno
28. Nick Frost in Hot Fuzz
29. Ed Harris in Gone Baby Gone
30. Anthony Edwards in Zodiac
31. Titus Welliver in Gone Baby Gone
32. Peter O'Toole in Ratatouille
33. Edward Woodward in Hot Fuzz
34. Sam Shepard in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
35. Richard Gere in I'm Not There
36. Brian Cox in Zodiac
37. Paul Schneider in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
38. Elias Koteas in Zodiac
39. Paul Freeman in Hot Fuzz
40. Barry Corbin in No Country For Old Men
41. Chris Evans in Sunshine
42. Thomas Haden Church in Spider-Man 3
43. Garret Dillahunt in No Country For Old Men 
44. Raymond J. Barry in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
45. Toby Jones in The Mist 
46. Jeff Daniels in The Lookout
47. J.K. Simmons in Spider-Man 3
48. Peter Fonda in 3:10 to Yuma
49. Jeremy Renner in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
50. Mark Strong in Stardust
51. Jerzy Skolimowski in Eastern Promises
52. John Travolta in Hairspray
53. David Wenham in 300
54. Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton
55. Brian F. O'Brien in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
56. Mark Strong in Sunshine
57. Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild
58. Timothy Spall in Enchanted
59. Benedict Wong in Sunshine
60. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War
61. Alan Tudyk in 3:10 to Yuma
62. Stephen Root in No Country For Old Men
63. James Marsden in Enchanted
64. Josh Brolin in Grindhouse
65. Rafe Spall in Hot Fuzz
66. Ricky Gervais in Stardust
67. Tim Meadows in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
68. Michael Parks in Grindhouse
69. Bill Nighy in Hot Fuzz
70. Peter Vaughn  in Death at a Funeral
71. Gary Oldman in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
72. Peter O'Toole in Stardust 
73. Matthew Goode in The Lookout
74. Forest Whitaker in The Great Debaters
75. Michael Biehn in Grindhouse
76. Cliff Curtis in Sunshine  
77. Ian Holm in Ratatouille
78. Bill Nighy in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
79. Willem Dafoe in Mr. Bean's Holiday 
80. Ciaran Hinds in There Will Be Blood
81. Christopher Walken in Hairspray
82. Michael Wincott in Seraphim Falls
83. Philip Baker Hall in Zodiac 
84. Michael Fassbender in 300
85. Michael Shannon in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 
86. Albert Brooks in The Simpson Movie
87. Kevin J. O'Connor in There Will Be Blood
88. Paul Giamatti in Shoot 'Em Up
89. Christian Bale in I'm Not There
90. Hiroyuki Sanada in Sunshine 
91. Alan Rickman in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
92. William Sadler in The Mist
93. Vincent Cassel in Eastern Promises
94. Philip Bosco in The Savages
95. Donal Logue in Zodiac
96. Peter Cullen in Transformers
97. Karl Johnson in Hot Fuzz
98. Peter Dinklage in Death at a Funeral 
99. William Hurt in Into the Wild
100. Matt Besser in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
101. Michael Gambon in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
102. Chris Parnell in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
103. James Franco in Spider-Man 3
104. Timothy Spall in Sweeney Todd
105. Waris Ahluwalia in The Darjeeling Limited
106. Dallas Roberts in 3:10 to Yuma
107. Morgan Freeman in Gone Baby Gone
108. Kevin J. O'Connor in Seraphim Falls
109. Peter Fonda in Ghost Rider
110. Danny Hoch in We Own the Night
111. Kevin Eldon in Hot Fuzz
112. Robbie Coltrane in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
113. Ned Beatty in Charlie Wilson's War
114. Jon Voight in Transformers
115. James Cromwell in Spider-Man 3
116. Jason Bateman in Juno
117. Lam Suet in Mad Detective
118. Sam Elliot in Ghost Rider
119. Bruce Davison in Breach
120. Mark Wahlberg in We Own the Night
121. Timothy Olyphant in Live Free or Die Hard
122. John Ashton in Gone Baby Gone  
123. Terrence Howard in August Rush
124. Tom Hollander in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
125. Benedict Cumberbatch in Atonement 
126. Alan Tudyk in Death at a Funeral
127. Alan Rickman in Sweeney Todd
128. Heath Ledger in I'm Not There
129. Gordon Lam in Mad Detective 
130. Justin Long in Live Free or Die Hard
131. Dennis Haysbert in Breach
132. Sacha Baron Cohen in Sweeney Todd
133. Alex Veadov in We Own the Night
134. Geoffrey Rush in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 
135. Rupert Grint in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix 
136. Nate Parker in The Great Debaters
137. Michael Cera in Juno
138. Toby Huss in Rescue Dawn
139. Kevin Smith in Live Free or Die Hard
140. Rupert Graves in Death at a Funeral
141. Chow Yun-Fat in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 
142. Logan Lerman in 3:10 to Yuma 
143. Vince Vaughn in Into the Wild
144. Robert De Niro in Stardust
145. Robin Williams in August Rush
146. Jamie Campbell Bower in Sweeney Todd
147. Chris Evans in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
148. Michael Chiklis in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
149. Josh Duhamel in Transformers
150. Julian McMahon in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
151. Anthony Anderson in Transformers 
152. John Turturro in Transformers 
153. Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3 
154. Rodrigo Santoro in 300
155. Wes Bentley in Ghost Rider

Next Year: 1989 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2007: Sam Rockwell in The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Sam Rockwell did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Charley Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford.

Sam Rockwell is an actor I've seen accused of being unable to share the spotlight. Now I find this accusation ludicrous to begin with because often the best parts of one of his Rockwellian performances come in with how he interacts with the other performance e.g. in Seven Psychopaths his more extroverted work played particularly well against Christopher Walken's much more reserved performance. Any who to avoid getting too off track, here is a performance that should completely shut down such an accusation. Rockwell plays Charley Ford one of the members of the temporarily formed James gang who have come together for a train robbery. Charley in terms of the story is important due to his brother (Casey Affleck) being latter titular character fated to kill the legendary Jesse James (Brad Pitt). In the earliest scenes though Charley is just part of the gang, and it would be easy enough to be forgotten in the mix of the various players of this scene. Rockwell probably has the biggest challenge though because Charley the least assuming guy there against the mythic James brothers, or the other men who all have one hang up or another that seems ready to cause a bit of conflict.

Rockwell always adds a bit character in these scenes rather well while actually being quite a bit less extroverted in his performance. He's good actually by showing that Charley is probably the best person for the James gang because he's level headed enough, easy to get along with, and does not have any delusions like his wannabe brother. There's a good scene early on where Charley makes a proposition to Frank James (Sam Shepard) about being a permanent part of the gang, along with Robert. Rockwell's does well in that he portrays Charley's enthusiasm as particularly intelligently stated, although with only a bit of over eagerness, but this comes from Charley having to put forth an idea come up with by Robert. Rockwell is quite interesting in the way he creates a certain unsaid brotherly connection between the two. Charley often ridicules or embarrasses Robert for his delusions about Jesse, but Rockwell never makes this the least bit cruel. Rockwell instead strikes up that certain sort of older brother ribbing. Yes it definitely causes Robert to become upset, but Rockwell always shows there's no real malice in Charley when he does, in fact he seems to suggest doing to keep Bob from going too far.

As the dissolution of the gang leaves Jesse kinda lost and very paranoid as he continues on, he actually seems to start to trust only one man in his gang that being Charley. Rockwell manages to make sense of this through his depiction of Charley as someone who actually seems reasonable. Rockwell adds to this bit by effectively making Charley a bit of a bright spot as there is a naturally endearing quality to Rockwell's performance that makes Jesse's trust of him very understandable. Of course even Charley is not fully trusted by Jesse and must face probably some of the most severe scrutiny. Rockwell again is so good at realizing basically what makes Charley special for Jesse as Rockwell carries a certain optimism, and is able to make Charley a man one should not suspect of anything. Rockwell plays this scenes incredibly well though as he always builds the tension well as he internalizes it suggesting that Charley certainly has plenty of fear for Jesse, but is able to hide far better than some others. Rockwell never wastes a moments of these scenes though as he does gradually build an unsaid, but definite understanding in Charley that he'll never be safe unless Jesse dies.

What really is so special about this performance though is just how much Rockwell does in between the lines so to speak. He does not even need to be a focus of the scenes, but his reactions always add something as he manages to make these that of a genuine person not a stock side character. Rockwell's work gives just a bit more life to every moment even the slightest of ways. I especially love just his expression of somber understanding when Jesse asks Charley about suicide. It's surprising how good Rockwell is, because this is not Charley's story yet you always know where Charley is in his own struggle with Jesse parallel to his brothers. Where Bob is caught up with a few too many ideas, Rockwell presents Charley as technically of a more honest man. There's a great brief scene where Rockwell shows the complexities of Charley's conflict as he recognizes that Jesse is his friend, but also recognizes that he's becoming increasingly dangerous. This leads to the assassination scene which is a masterfully performed scene by Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, and Sam Rockwell.

 Rockwell should not be forgotten because although you feel what Bob and Jesse are going through, the same is for Charley. Rockwell is outstanding because he's not overshadowed by Affleck or Pitt, yet he never feels out of place, and only adds to the power scene. It's remarkable how Rockwell presents Charley's own time in the scene as he also prepares to kill Jesse, but Rockwell is very moving by showing it as a simple resignation for his own survival, without even a thought of glory as he prepares his own gun. After the assassination the film depicts both brothers dealing with the fallout. Rockwell has a few scenes that are fairly swiftly paced, but don't feel rushed. Nevertheless Rockwell has to show Charley going through quite a lot in a matter of scenes, but hey he does not miss a mark here. He's entertaining then quite haunting in his stage portrayal of Jesse. Rockwell then is quite harrowing in his portrayal of how the events have spent the rest of Charley as he seems to be a decaying man leaving his final scene. It's short once again but heart wrenching as Rockwell captures the pain in Charley in such detail. This is a great performance and one of those great models for a truly great truly supporting performance. Charley is rarely the focus, and it is easy to see how he could have been just a side note in the film, and easily forgotten. Rockwell never allows that to happen and makes those final scenes so much powerful than perhaps they should have been, since he simply let us know the man Charley Ford was.