Alternate Best Actor 2009: Results

5. Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Nicolas Cage is at his mad best here giving a wildly entertaining depiction of the corrupt and drug addicted bad Lieutenant.

Best Scene: The Lieutenant watches the soul dance.

4. Sam Rockwell in Moon - Rockwell gives two great performances here and creates a genuine moving depiction of two men who have more in common than they would like.

Best Scene: Old Sam tells New Sam to go instead.

3. Tom Hardy in Bronson - Hardy gives an amazing and incredibly magnetic performance that brings to life his very strange and violent character in a compelling fashion.

Best Scene: Bronson's "performance" in regards to the sanitarium.

2. Sharlto Copley in District 9- Sharlto Copley gives one of the greatest feature debut performances of all time in his complex, poignant and surprisingly believable depiction of the transformation from a bureaucrat to a half alien freedom fighter.

Best Scene: Wickus is used as a guinea pig by his own company.

1. Viggo Mortensen in The Road- This was a great year for leading performances and it is real shame that the academy could not be bothered to drift out of traditional baity fair to recognize any of these performances. Although I loved all five of these performances the one that left the most lasting impact on me was Mortensen's performance. He gives his best performance with his heartbreaking and almost painfully realistic portrayal of a single man trying to save his son in the horrible conditions of a post-apocalyptic world.

Best Scene: The man says goodbye to the boy.

Overall Rank:

1. Viggo Mortensen in The Road
2. Sharlto Copley in District 9
3. Tom Hardy in Bronson
4. Ricardo Darin in The Secret in Their Eyes
5. Tahar Rahim in A Prophet
6. Sam Rockwell in Moon
7. Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man
8. Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant
9. Ben Foster in The Messenger
10. Stephen McHattie in Pontypool
11. Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Nowhere Boy
12. Michael Sheen in The Damned United 
13. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Mary and Max
    
14. Ben Whishaw in Bright Star
15. Filippo Timi in Vincere
16. Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: Lost in Rio
17. Patton Oswalt in Big Fan
18. Hal Holbrook in That Evening Sun
19. Alex Descas in 35 Shots of Rum
20. Colin Firth in A Single Man
21. Paul Giamatti in Cold Souls
22. Mark Ruffalo in The Brothers Bloom
23. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
24. Matt Damon in The Informant!
25. Vincent Gallo in Tetro
26. Alden Ehrenreich in Tetro
27. Luis Tosar in Cell 211
28. Alberto Ammann in Cell 211
29. Sébastien Huberdeau in Polytechnique
30. Song Kang-ho in Thirst
31. Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots
32. Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad
33. Michael Caine in Harry Brown
34. Maxim Gaudette in Polytechnique
35. Adrien Brody in The Brothers Bloom
36. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers
37. Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Road
38. Ranbir Kapoor in Wake Up Sid
39. Jared Leto in Mr. Nobody
40. Vincent Lindon in Mademoiselle Chambon
41. Willem Dafoe in Antichrist
42. Benno Fürmann in Jerichow 
43. Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes
44. Tony Leung Ka-fai in Bodyguards and Assassins
45. Johnny Depp in Public Enemies 
    
46. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer
47. Tony Leung Chiu-wai in Red Cliff Part 2
48. Christopher Plummer in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
49. Max Records in Where The Wild Things Are
50. Barry Humphries in Mary and Max
    
51. Bruno Campos in The Princess and the Frog
52. Russell Crowe in State of Play
53. Ed Asner in UP 
54. Michael Nyqvist in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
55. Wyatt Cenac in Medicine for Melancholy
56. R. Madhavan in 3 Idiots
57. Sharman Joshi in 3 Idiots
58. Edgar Flores in Sin Nombre
59. George Clooney in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
60. Zachary Quinto in Star Trek
61. Evan McGuire in The Secret of Kells
62. Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland
63. Chris Pine in Star Trek
64. Chiwetel Ejiofor in 2012
65. Lluís Homar in Broken Embraces
66. Jason Palmer in Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
67. Bill Hader in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
68. Daniel Day-Lewis in Nine
69. Adam Sandler in Funny People
70. Daniel Radcliffe in The Half-Blood Prince
71. Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins Wolverine
72. Morgan Freeman in Invictus
73. Rupert Friend in The Young Victoria
74. James McAvoy in The Last Station
75. Tobey Maguire in Brothers
76. Colin Hanks in The Great Buck Howard
77. Bradley Cooper in The Hangover
78. Nicolas Cage in Knowing
79. Jim Carrey in A Christmas Carol
80. Mark Wahlberg in The Lovely Bones
81. Seth Rogen in Funny People
82. George Clooney in Up in The Air 
83. John Cusack in 2012 
84. Zac Efron in Me and Orson Welles
85. Tom Sturridge in The Boat That Rocked
86. Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover
87. Ed Helms in The Hangover
88. Sam Worthington in Avatar
89. John Krasinski in Away We Go
90. Quinton Aaron in The Blind Side

Next Year: 2009 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2009: Sharlto Copley in District 9

Sharlto Copley did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Wickus Van Mere in District 9.

District 9 could be viewed as the good version of Avatar as it actually an interesting and entertaining film about a difficult relationship between humans and an odd group of aliens.

Sharlto Copley before moving into playing a variety of wackos made his acting debut in his friend Neil Blomkamp's own feature film debut which is this film. Here Copley plays a much more down to earth fellow mentally this time around. In the opening of the film he is in fact no more than a bureaucrat ordered to take charge in the eviction of the Aliens from District 9 who are to be sent to another camp named District 10. Wickus spends his early time directly addressing the screen as Wickus is being the sort of star of a documentary video as he goes about his task. Copley is great in introducing us to Wickus as the corporate drone of sorts. The reason being because of just how realistically that he creates Wickus early on despite this being a film about stranded Aliens.

Copley smartly treats the role by playing Wickus simply as man who is being followed in his job as in a real documentary. Although a corporate man Copley still nicely plays Wickus as a man and at the start he is very effective in showing such a genuine excitement in Wickus as he receives his promotion along with his new assignment to remove the Aliens. Copley is particularly likable in the role even in these moments where he could have been unlikable simply because how much life he does bring in the part. Yes he is a bureaucrat to be sure, but Copley very naturally suggests that there is obviously at least a little more to the man than that. Copley makes him a feel like a completely real man even before we see him evict any Aliens, and in dong so he grounds the film incredibly well that could have easily become far too detached otherwise.

Although the film does not mind showing Wickus to be a more than a little out of his element as he tries to perform the evictions, and Copley does not mind showing this really either, he very importantly does indeed act as an excellent guide through District 9. Copley holds these scenes together incredibly well through the naturalism that he brings to the part. The reason for this is how well he plays the fact that Wickus is making a documentary at this point. In that point Copley properly brings a constant energy in the scenes that only reflect a particular passion that Wickus has to make a good impression in the documentary, but also just the baser sense that he is happy to be the star so to speak. Along with that though Copley brings the right pride in just the way Wickus walks as well as espouses his information of the land as if he were the expert he needs to be for this job.

Copley carefully shifts though depending on the situation as he should in a proper fashion that shows Wickus shifting gears when needed. Whenever Wickus is actually going through the process of evicting Copley effectively brings out the bureaucrat all the more as he attempts to portray Wickus as all business. Copley brings the right weakness in Wickus's manner in these scenes as it is easy to see the cracks in him as he tries to act tough in front of the Aliens. Again though I like that Copley does not overplay that though as he never makes Wickus defined by it by any means. Copley is good in bringing the strong bluster in Wickus trying to be in charge, but Copley shows that he just really does not have it in him. Copley very realistically brings the attitude of a man who really just is not that good at his job, but really is trying very hard to be.

Copley is also terrific when things begin to go wrong during his attempted evictions such as when the Aliens commit violent acts or perhaps even he makes eye contact with a local human crime lord. Copley shifts perfectly in these scenes always to reflect the intensity of them. He even twists quite cleverly yet still realistically though by showing Wickus's strong attempt to try and seem like he still knows what he is doing despite it seeming obvious that he is in over his head. Copley is great by showing how every encounter shakes up Wickus a little more and he makes Wickus filled with far less confidence and a far more nervous fellow then he was at the beginning. This only becomes much worse for poor Wickus though when Wickus accidentally sprays a strange liquid upon himself that came from a hidden canister from one of the Aliens's shacks. 

That liquid causes Wickus to suffer severely and Copley once again delivers brilliantly with this aspect of his performance. Wickus start out becoming ill and Copley does not just leave it to spewing black liquid from his orifices. Copley brings the illness alive through his portrayal and his depiction of Wickus's physical degradation is made odd believable because of him. After he is done for the day Wickus collapses at home finding himself in the hospital, but much worse than that he finds that his hand has become the same hand that belongs to the Aliens. Copley's reaction is outstanding because he merely conveys what most men's reaction would be to discovery this. The horror in his eyes and panic is painfully raw. Copley is very powerful in that scene as well as the proceedings scenes where his company uses him as a guinea pig, but being just so honest in his performance.

 The film technically takes a rather drastic turn as he goes on the run seeking refuge in District 9 while gradually transforms more into the Alien. Copley capitalizes on the fact at the beginning of the film he always manged humanize Wickus even though he was a bit of dope. This is especially important when the film expects us to become completely invested in him as he must try to cure himself and avoid being dissected by his company. Copley allowed the right sympathy by never turning Wickus into a caricature earlier therefore when Wickus's life is threatened it becomes very easy to feel for his plight. The film does not spend too much time on Wickus's regrets as he ends up with teaming up with one of the Aliens, it pretty much leaves it to Copley's portrayal of Wickus's reactions to the Alien. That is all that is needed as Copley's naturalism shines through as we see the shame and regret in him, but Copley keeps it subtle fitting to a man who's problems are quite pressing.

The last act of the film is very action oriented as Wickus has to fight off by the armed company men and plenty of criminals who want him for their use. All of the action could have easily overwhelmed Copley's performance and he could have easily just been kind of there. Copley never let's that happen though making the most of all of his reactions. Yes Wickus kind of does become an action hero through his use of the alien armaments, but Copley does not play it that way. Copley brings the right awe in Wickus's astonishment at most of what he does, as well still bringing the appropriate fear and desperation as he is forced into this situation he never wanted to be a part of. Copley that carries this film so flawlessly. He does this because in every step, even though it is science fiction, even though he plays a guy who is turning into alien, who always makes Wickus feel like a real person through his portrayal of every emotion he goes through. He gives a great performance that is probably one of the best feature film debuts I've seen.

Alternate Best Actor 2009

And the Nominees Were Not:

Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Tom Hardy in Bronson

Viggo Mortensen in The Road

Sam Rockwell in Moon

Sharlto Copley in District 9

And since I'm a man of my word BONUS REVIEWS:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer

Tobey Maguire in Brothers

The prediction contest will just be for the first five.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2013: Results

7. Colin Farrell in Saving Mr. Banks- Farrell hits the right notes but his film weakens his impact.

Best Scene: Death bed scene.

6. James Gandolfini in Enough Said- Gandolfini gives a sweet natural performance that finding the depth of an average man.

Best Scene: Albert drives Eva home after their awkward dinner.

5. Sharlto Copley in Elysium- An absurd villainous performance by Copley to be sure but a most enjoyable one to watch.

Best Scene: Kruger comes to stop the hijack. 

4. Matthew McConaughey in Mud- McConaughey in his larger supporting role gives a naturally charming and moving portrayal of a desperate but good man.

Best Scene: Mud explains his murder. 

3. Matthew McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street- A great one scene wonder by McConaughey that you remember even after the almost three hour film is over. 

Best Scene: Mark Hanna has lunch with Jordan Belfort.

2. Ben Foster in Ain't Them Bodies Saints- Foster gives an extremely moving performance by being absolutely genuine in his character's goodness.

Best Scene: Ruth talks to Patrick about the day he was shot.

1. Ben Foster in Lone Survivor- The year actually came down to the two  performances by the same man. At least at the moment I think I'll give the win to the supporting performance that I feel benefited his film the most during the year. Foster in Lone Survivor gives the intensity and visceral punch needed for the story of soldier's trying to survive that would have otherwise been lacking. It is a moving work that shows the gamut of emotions of a soldier who must fight for his life.

Best Scene: Axe tells Luttrell to send a message for him. 

Overall Rank:

1. Ben Foster in Ain't Them Bodies Saints
2. Joaquin Phoenix in The Immigrant 
3. Ben Foster in Lone Survivor
4. Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips
5. Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
6. Matthew McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street
7. Ed Harris in Snowpiercer 
8. Matthew McConaughey in Mud
9. Lily Franky in Like Father, Like Son
10. Billy Nighy in About Time
11. Ben Foster in Kill Your Darlings
12. Sharlto Copley in Elysium
13. James Gandolfini in Enough Said
14. Kyle Chandler in The Wolf of Wall Street  
15. Jeremy Renner in The Immigrant
16. Eddie Marsan in Filth
17. Jeremy Renner in American Hustle
18. Javier Bardem in The Counselor
19. David Thewlis in The Zero Theorem
20. Colin Farrell in Saving Mr. Banks
21. Eddie Marsan in The World's End
22. Casey Affleck in Out of the Furnace
23. Richard Armitage in The Hobbit
24. Donald Sutherland in Catching Fire
25. Choi Min-sik in New World
26. Paul Dano in Prisoners
27. Hwang Jung-min in New World 
28. Colm Meaney in Alan Patridge: Alpha Papa
29. Jean Dujardin in The Wolf of Wall Street  
30. Luke Evans in The Hobbit
31. Tom Hanks in Saving Mr. Banks 
32. Robert De Niro in American Hustle 
33. Lucas Hedges in The Zero Theorem
34. Paul Dano in 12 Years a Slave  
35. Elmo Nuganen in Tangerines
36. Tom Hiddleston in Thor 2
37. Rob Reiner in The Wolf of Wall Street
38. Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street
39. Woody Harrelson in Out of the Furnace 
40. Chris Cooper in August Osage County 
41. John Hurt in Snowpiercer 
42. Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club
43. Joel Edgerton in The Great Gatsby
44. Nawazuddin Siddiqui in The Lunchbox
45. Ben Mendelsohn in The Place Beyond the Pines
46. Ben Kingsley in Iron Man 3
47. Stacy Keach in Nebraska
48. John Goodman in Inside Llewyn Davis
49. Song Kang-ho in Snowpiercer 
50. Mikheil Meskhi in Tangerines
51. Hiroyuki Sanada in The Railway Man 
52. Giorgi Nakashidze in Tangerines
53. Jacob Lofland in Mud
54. Paddy Considine in The World's End
55. Park Sung-woong in New World
56. Chris Evans in The Iceman 
57. John Gallagher Jr. in Short Term 12
58. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Hobbit 
59. F. Murray Abraham in Inside Llewyn Davis
60. Nick Frost in The World's End 
61. Jeremy Irons in Beautiful Creatures
62. Willem Dafoe in Out of the Furnace
63. Jamie Bell in Filth
64. Keith Carradine in Ain't Them Bodies Saints
65. Ian McKellen in The Hobbit
66. Woody Harrelson in Catching Fire
67. Jim Broadbent in Filth
68. Ray Liotta in The Iceman 
69. James Badge Dale in Parkland
70. Jamie Bell in Snowpiercer
71. Andrew Dice Clay in Blue Jasmine 
72. John Hurt in Only Lovers Left Alive
73. Sam Shepard in Mud
74. Stanley Tucci in Catching Fire
75. Bobby Cannavale in Blue Jasmine
76. Gary Lewis in Filth
77. Bob Odenkirk in Nebraska
78. Chris Chalk in 12 Years a Slave
79. Faysal Ahmed in Captain Phillips
80. Ruben Blades in The Counselor 
81. Jon Bernthal in The Wolf of Wall Street
82. Benedict Cumberbatch in 12 Years a Slave 
83. Ray McKinnon in Mud
84. Terrence Howard in Prisoners
85. Ken Stott in The Hobbit 
86. Frank Dillane in Papadopoulos & Sons
87. Jack Huston in Kill Your Darlings
88. Kevin Costner in Man of Steel 
89. Jeff Goldblum in Le Week-End
90. Harrison Ford in 42
91. David  Oyelowo in The Butler
92. Paul Giamatti in 12 Years a Slave 
93. Georges Corraface in Papadopoulos & Sons
94. Samuel L. Jackson in Oldboy
95. Jeffrey Wright in Catching Fire
96. Dwayne Johnson in Pain & Gain
97. Jonathan Pryce in G.I. Joe
98. Sean Gilder in The Selfish Giant
99. Michael Shannon in Man of Steel
100. Garret Dillahunt in 12 Years a Slave  
101. Louis C.K. in American Hustle 
102. Keith Stanfield in Short Term 12 
103. Jason Clarke in The Great Gatsby
104. Russell Crowe in Man of Steel
105. Aidan Turner in The Hobbit  
106. Ron Perlman in Pacific Rim
107. Tony Shalhoub in Pain & Gain
108. Michael C. Hall in Kill Your Darlings
109. Ray Liotta in The Place Beyond the Pines  
110. Jeremy Irvine in The Railway Man
111. Simon Pegg in Star Trek Into Darkness
112. Zhang Jin in The Grandmaster
113. Liev Schreiber in The Butler
114. Sharlto Copley in Oldboy 
115. Geoffrey Rush in The Book Thief 
116. Dwayne Johnson in Fast & Furious 6
117. Ed Harris in Pain & Gain
118. Karl Urban in Star Trek Into Darkness
119. Josh Gad in Frozen
120. Ron Donachie in Filth 
121. Justin Timberlake in Inside Llewyn Davis
122. Mahershala Ali in The Place Beyond the Pines 
123. Paul Giamatti in Saving Mr. Banks
124. Edward James Olmos in 2 Guns
125. Peter Weller in Star Trek Into Darkness
126. Sam Claflin in Catching Fire  
127. Michael K. Williams in 12 Years a Slave 
128. Stelland Skarsgard in The Railway Man
129. Matt Damon in The Zero Theorem
130. B.J. Novak in Saving Mr. Banks
131. Paul Giamatti in Parkland
132. Idris Elba in Pacific Rim 
133. Bob Odenkirk in The Spectacular Now
134. Jim Caviezel in Escape Plan
135. Anthony Mackie in Pain & Gain
136. Chang Chen in The Grandmaster
137. Josh Hutcherson in Catching Fire
138. Bradley Whitford in Saving Mr. Banks
139. Luke Evans in Fast & Furious 6
140. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Catching Fire
141. Jason Schwartzman in Saving Mr. Banks
142. Fred Ward in 2 Guns 
143. Christopher Eccleston in Song for Marion
144. Kyle Chandler in The Spectacular Now
     
145. Jean-Luc Vincent in Camille Claudel, 1915
146. Michael Imperioli in Oldboy
147. Dean Norris in The Counselor
148. Sam Shepard in August Osage County 
     
149. Don Cheadle in Iron Man 3
150. Robert Patrick in Lovelace
     
151. Garrett Hedlund in Inside Llewyn Davis 
     
152. John Leguizamo in The Counselor
153. Will Poulter in We're the Millers
154. Benedict Wong in Hummingbird
155. Nico Liersch in The Book Thief
156. Benedict Cumberbatch in August Osage County
157. Robert Davi in The Iceman
158. Bill Paxton in 2 Guns 
159. Nick Offermann in We're The Millers
160. Tony Danza in Don Jon
161. Peter Sarsgaard in Lovelace 
162. Ed Helms in We're the Millers
163. Benedict Cumberbatch in Star Trek Into Darkness
164. David Soul in Filth
165. Jonathan Groff in Frozen
166. Ewan McGregor in August Osage County
167. Billy Bob Thornton in Parkland
168. Bruce Greenwood in The Place Beyond the Pines
169. Ben Schnetzer in The Book Thief
170. John Cusack in The Butler
171. Charlie Day in Pacific Rim
172. Taylor Kitsch in Lone Survivor
173. Morgan Freeman in Oblivion
174. Michael Shannon in Mud
175. Sam Neill in Escape Plan
176. Walton Goggins in G.I. Joe
177. Eric Bana in Lone Survivor
178. Brad Pitt in The Counselor
179. George Clooney in Gravity 
180. Ty Simpkins in Iron Man 3
181. Paul Walker in Fast & Furious 6 
182. Yuen Woo-ping in The Grandmaster
183. Peter Stormare in The Last Stand
184. James Franco in Spring Breakers
185. Martin Freeman in The World's End 
186. Anthony Hopkins in Thor 2
187. Diego Luna in Elysium 
188. Andre Holland in 42
189. Len Cariou in Prisoners 
190. Emile Hirsch in Lone Survivor
191. Christian McKay in Rush 
192. Peter Sarsgaard in Blue Jasmine
193. Jack Huston in American Hustle 
194. Alec Baldwin in Blue Jasmine
195. Bradley Cooper in American Hustle
196. Stephen Fry in The Hobbit
197. Max Casella in Inside Llewyn Davis
198. James Marsden in 2 Guns
199. David Thewlis in The Fifth Estate
200. Forest Whitaker in The Last Stand
201. Chad Michael Murray in Fruitvale Station
202. Guy Pearce in Iron Man 3
203. Griffin Dunne in Dallas Buyers Club 
204. David Cross in Kill Your Darlings
205. Vincent D'Onofrio in Escape Plan
206. Kevin Durand in Fruitvale Station
207. Channing Tatum in Side Effects
208. John Cho in Star Trek Into Darkness
209. Alan Tudyk in 42 
210. Scoot McNairy in 12 Years a Slave
211. Lee Pace in The Hobbit
212. James Marsdan in The Butler
213. Will Yun Lee in The Wolverine
214. Taran Killam in 12 Years a Slave
215. Pierce Brosnan in The World's End
216. Burn Gorman in Pacific Rim
217. Robin Williams in The Butler
218. Toby Huss in Enough Said 
219. Robert Kazinsky in Pacific Rim
220. Hiroyuki Sanada in The Wolverine
221. Liam Hemsworth in Catching Fire
222. William Fichtner in Elysium
223. Rob Brown in Jon Don
224. Cuba Gooding Jr. in The Butler
225. Shea Whigham in American Hustle
226. Lenny Kravitz in The Butler
227. James Ransone in Oldboy
228. Peter Hermann in Philomena
229. Ben Falcone in Enough Said 
230. Matthew Goode in Stoker
231. Alan Rickman in The Butler
232. Clifton Collins Jr. in Pacific Rim
233. Christopher Eccleston in Thor 2
234. Zac Efron in Parkland
235. Rafael Gareisen in The Book Thief
236. Brad Pitt in 12 Years a Slave
237. James Franco in Lovelace
238. D.J. Cotrona in G.I. Joe
239. Eduardo Noriega in The Last Stand
240. Curtis Jackson in Escape Plan
241. Bruce Willis in G.I. Joe
242. Jeremy Luke in Don Jon
243. Anton Yelchin in Stark Trek Into Darkness
244. Orlando Bloom in The Hobbit
245. Emory Cohen in The Place Beyond the Pines
246. Terrence Howard in The Butler
247. Wagner Moura in Elysium
248. Alex Pettyfer in The Butler 
249. Will Smith in After Earth
250. Forest Whitaker in Out of the Furnace

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2013: Sharlto Copley in Elysium

Sharlto Copley despite giving the greatest performance of all time was not nominated for playing Kruger in Elysium.

What can one say with such subtle work as displayed by the greatest actor of all time Sharlto Copley. Ahh true greatness in every brilliant moment in that he basically sums up all of humanity in this single performance. You can see every decade of history in what he wears, and the way he wears it. From his beard, no doubt a sly reference to the time of the cave man, his disheveled hair no doubt a reference to the entirety of the 60's, and it is topped off with that samurai sword which I don't need to explain to use what that obviously alludes to. Even his face exploding is clearly the one scene in any film ever where one can unlock all the secrets of the universe, that's how good Copley is here.

Although one does have to ask why Matt Damon's Max thinks he can even take on Kruger in the film. I mean in video game rules Max has a super model exoskeleton, a hand gun, and a machine gun that shoots bullets which explode on impact. Now that suggests that perhaps he's level five at best, but I mean Kruger's got it all. He gets his own better looking exoskeleton, exploding ninja stars, disks that stick to people then explode, a Taser, that kickin' energy shield, his samurai sword of course which must have been some special unlockable from beating the game once or something. I mean Kruger's gotta be like level 50 or something close to that so that whole ending is unbelievable.

Anyway I really should stop being a jerk, and finally become serious in regards to this performance, although probably is best not to be as the best way to enjoy Elysium as a film is to look at it as the way Sharlto Copley clearly did. Where the film wants to be a statement on society and in turn makes some of the most ham-handed films by Oliver Stone seem subtle in comparison, Copley obviously believes it probably should be Mad Max 4: Wraith of the Crazy South African, hey Matt Damon's character name even is Max, coincidence?, seems like it is. Although Copley's performance seems in a different movie and for me its a better movie that is completely fitting of his absurd performance.

Copley's performance is that of a VILLAIN, who is there purely to be evil, inf act he is so evil that the evil sky people believe that he is a bit too evil. All I can really say is Copley is having the time of his life here, and I actually had it right along with him. Copley delivers all of his lines as if he was the most vicious troll known to man as he smiles with such a big smile right before he blows up a guy, or he uses a ninja star and has a one liner that is giving his victim and even harder time for just the sake of it. Copley plays Kruger as a man who just loves messing with people and having an absurdly good time while he does it. Well I had that good time right along Copley, and any time he came on the screen he helped me forget about the unneeded heavy handedness of the rest of the film.

In a more down to earth actorly sense I think there is an accomplishment to be seen in Copley's portrayal of the menacing Kruger. This honestly does not seem like an obvious role for him to play by any measure as his first role was as a very mild mannered fellow in District 9. Copley is quite the opposite being a fierce wild dog, and I think he carries himself across pretty effectively. It might be something that could be easily overlooked, but Copley's ability to play the psychotic Kruger should not be overlooked. There are often many cases of actor's noted for weaker characters attempting to play a villain and failing especially miserably. That is not the case for Copley who uses all of himself to be the seemingly unstoppable force that Kruger should be.

The idea of overacting or flamboyant acting anyway is a tricky prospect, and in Elysium you can see several performances of this type in the film. The problem with say Wagner Moura's performance for example and Jodie Foster's performance is that they are acting in two worlds and doing it poorly. Wagner Moura yells everyone of his lines, I would say Copley has more quiet moments than him even since there is the scene where he sings his lullaby, and stomps around with bizarre gestures. Moura wants to be serious still in some way yet he fails miserably because of his acting. Copley on the other hand has no such nonsensical notions and instead knows he should bring the insanity, and brings it by the ton.

Although I can easily see why this performance would not work for some, as Copley takes a particularly take or leave stance with this performance, but I will gladly take as much as he has to offer. For me Elysium without Copley contains a fine lead performance by Matt Damon but most part it is just a film bogged down by shaky camera, some ludicrously underdeveloped ideas, and a performance by an Oscar winning robot,  with Copley on the other hand there is this crazy South African who shows up every so often to bring some energy and fun to the film and every scene he is in with his villainous antics. I will gladly take the version with the mad man any day.

(Kinda a low rating for the greatest performance of all time I think)

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2013

And the Nominees Were Not:

Ben Foster in Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Ben Foster in Lone Survivor

James Gandolfini in Enough Said

Colin Farrell in Saving Mr. Banks

Sharlto Copley in Elysium

Matthew McConaughey in Mud

Matthew McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street

For the prediction contest the honors go to:

Foster in Lone Survivor

McCounaughey in Wolf

(And just for Koook and RatedRStar, I picked the best troll face Sharlto Copley has to offer. Advanced apologies to both of you.)