Showing posts with label Steve Carell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Carell. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 January 2015

Best Actor 2014: Results

5. Steve Carell in Foxcatcher - Steve Carell unfortunately portrays his character as an obvious psychopath when a subtler approach likely would have been more effective. His performance is not without merit, but even the best elements are hurt due to his work being fundamentally flawed.

Best Scene: John du Pont does a training session while his mother watches.
4. Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything - His film's depiction of Stephen Hawking might be a bit inadequate, but Redmayne's performance never is. He gives an especially remarkable and convincing depiction of the decay caused Hawking's disease.

Best Scene: At dinner with Jane and Jonathan.
3. Bradley Cooper in American Sniper - Like Redmayne his film does leave something to be desired. Bradley Cooper though elevates his material by giving a powerful portrayal of the toll of war on a both on the battlefield and at home.

Best Scene: His first kill.
2. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game - The film demands that Cumberbatch be a delightful eccentric genius and a tragic suicide. Cumberbatch mends these differing tones by being an endearing hero, and a heartbreaking victim. 

Best Scene: Turing after his chemical castration.
1. Micheal Keaton in Birdman - Good Prediction mcofra7. Michael Keaton easily stood above his competition for me with his great portrayal of a superhero actor proving himself. Whether the allusion is intentional or not, Keaton certainly proves himself here. He guides the film brilliantly with his multifaceted performance that meets every challenge presented to him. He attains greatness with this entertaining and truly inspiring work.

Best Scene: Kinda all of them, but I'll say....Riggan's flight of fancy.
Best Actor Ranking:
  1. 2013
  2. 1962
  3. 1939
  4. 1964
  5. 2002
  6. 1978
  7. 1965
  8. 1974
  9. 2014
  10. 1970
  11. 2012
  12. 1976
  13. 1954
  14. 1966
  15. 1982
  16. 1960
  17. 1983
  18. 1967
  19. 1979
  20. 1955
  21. 2011
  22. 1986
  23. 1973
  24. 1972 
  25. 1994
  26. 1940
  27. 1950
  28. 1963
  29. 1975
  30. 1952
  31. 1980
  32. 1953
  33. 1959
  34. 1987
  35. 1977
  36. 1968
  37. 2006
  38. 1938
  39. 1969
  40. 1992
  41. 1961
  42. 1971
  43. 1956
  44. 1951
  45. 1984
  46. 1943
  47. 1958
  48. 1948
  49. 1998
  50. 1999
  51. 1988
  52. 1944
  53. 1936
  54. 1946
  55. 1957
  56. 2007
  57. 2005
  58. 1942
  59. 1947
  60. 1993
  61. 1981
  62. 1989
  63. 1995
  64. 2004
  65. 1937 
  66. 2009
  67. 1941
  68. 1997
  69. 1931
  70. 1996
  71. 1949
  72. 2003 
  73. 2010
  74. 1990
  75. 1945
  76. 1985
  77. 2001
  78. 2008
  79. 1991
  80. 2000
  1. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
  2. Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
  3. James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 
  4. Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story (1999)
  5. Laurence Olivier in The Entertainer (1960) 
  6. Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  7. William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) 
  8. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
  9. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954) 
  10. Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
  11. George C. Scott in Patton (1970)    
  12. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
  13. Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
  14. Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973)
  15. Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter (1968)
  16. Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
  17. Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
  18. Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
  19. Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982)
  20. Laurence Olivier in Sleuth (1972)
  21. Peter Finch in Network (1976)
  22. Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
  23. Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter (1978)
  24. Clark Gable Gone With the Wind (1939)
  25. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
  26. Ernest Borgnine in Marty (1955)
  27. Joaquin Phoenix in The Master (2012)
  28. Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012)
  29. Bob Hoskins in Mona Lisa (1986)  
  30. William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)
  31. Paul Newman in Hud (1963) 
  32. Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)  
  33. Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) 
  34. James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
  35. Michael Keaton in Birdman (2014)
  36. Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold (1965)
  37. Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity (1953)
  38. Stuart Whitman in The Mark (1961)
  39. Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961) 
  40. Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)  
  41. Jack Lemmon in Days Of Wine And Roses (1962)
  42. Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
  43. Kirk Douglas in Lust For Life (1956)
  44. Laurence Olivier in Richard III (1956)
  45. Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker (1965)
  46. Tom Hulce in Amadeus (1984)
  47. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
  48. Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)
  49. Leonardo DiCarpio in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
  50. James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) 
  51. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
  52. Michael Caine in Alfie (1966)
  53. Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
  54. Giancarlo Giannini in Seven Beauties (1976)
  55. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
  56. Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
  57. Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun (1951)
  58. Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall (1937) 
  59. Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
  60. Jack Nicholson in Ironweed (1987)
  61. Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
  62. Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven (1992)
  63. James Woods in Salvador (1986)
  64. Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob (1952)
  65. Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
  66. Spencer Tracy in A Bad Day At Black (1955)
  67. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
  68. Peter O'Toole in Becket (1964)
  69. Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2002)
  70. Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974)
  71.  Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
  72. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
  73. Bruce Dern in Nebraska (2013)
  74. Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
  75. James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes Washington (1939)
  76. Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek (1964)
  77. Walter Huston The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
  78. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
  79. Rod Steiger in The Heat of the Night (1967)
  80. Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973)
  81. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  82. Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
  83. Laurence Harvey in Room at the Top (1959)
  84. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005) 
  85. James Dean in East of Eden (1955)
  86. Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947) 
  87. Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
  88. Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights (1939)
  89. Tom Wilkinson in In The Bedroom (2001)
  90. Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt (2002)
  91. Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008)
  92. Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
  93. Richard Harris in This Sporting Life (1963)
  94. Albert Finney in Tom Jones (1963) 
  95. Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce Italian Style (1962)
  96. Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
  97. Edward Norton in American History X (1998)
  98. Demian Bichir in A Better Life (2011)
  99. Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar (1953)
  100. Robert Donat in The Citadel (1938)
  101. Charles Boyer in Gaslight (1944)
  102. Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
  103. James Mason in A Star is Born (1954)
  104. Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940)
  105. Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939)
  106. Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
  107. Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)
  108. Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)
  109. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
  110. Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)
  111. Michael Caine in Sleuth (1972)
  112. Robert Duvall in The Apostle (1997)
  113. Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
  114. Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (1993)
  115. Walter Huston in Dodsworth (1936)
  116. John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980)
  117. Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
  118. Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960)
  119. Laurence Olivier in Henry V (1946)
  120. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game (2014)
  121. Nicolas Cage in Adaptation (2002)
  122. Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker (2009)
  123. Kirk Douglas in Champion (1949)
  124. Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda (2004)
  125. Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
  126. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1943)
  127. Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
  128. Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
  129. Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises (2007)
  130. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004)
  131. Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 
  132. Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York (2002)
  133. Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning (1988)
  134. Bradley Cooper in American Sniper (2014)
  135. William Hurt in Children of Lesser God (1986)
  136. Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond (1930)
  137. Richard Burton in Becket (1964)
  138. Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952)
  139. Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954)
  140. Dudley Moore in Arthur (1981)
  141. Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  142. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981) 
  143. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
  144. Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George (1994)
  145. Charles Laughton in A Witness for the Prosecution(1957)
  146. John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)
  147. Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools (1965)
  148. Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
  149. Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking (1995)
  150. Marcello Mastroianni in A Special Day (1977)
  151. William Powell in The Thin Man (1934)
  152. Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper (1942)
  153. William Hurt in Broadcast News (1987) 
  154. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982)
  155. Maximilian Schell in The Man in a Glass Booth (1975)
  156. Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables (2012) 
  157. Alexander Knox in Wilson (1944)
  158. Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998)
  159. Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000)
  160. James Stewart in Harvey (1950)
  161. Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
  162. Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
  163. Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (1980)
  164. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
  165. William Holden in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
  166. Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010)
  167. Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
  168. Daniel Day-Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993) 
  169. Leonardo DiCaprio Blood Diamond (2006)
  170. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994)
  171. Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001)
  172. Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967)
  173. Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
  174. Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold (1997)
  175. Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1933)
  176. Alan Bates in The Fixer (1968)
  177. Anthony Quinn in Wild is the Wind (1957)
  178. Albert Finney in The Dresser (1983)
  179. Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything (2014)
  180. Albert Finney in Under The Volcano (1984)
  181. Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones (1958)
  182. Tony Curtis in The Defiant Ones (1958)
  183. Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)
  184. Sam Waterson in The Killing Fields (1984)
  185. Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
  186. Brad Pitt in Moneyball (2011)
  187. Russell Crowe in The Insider (1999)
  188. Richard Harris in The Field (1990)
  189. Roy Scheider in All that Jazz (1979)
  190. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
  191. Topol in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
  192. Colin Firth in A Single Man (2009)
  193. Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
  194. Clark Gable in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
  195. Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  196. Marlon Brando Last Tango in Paris (1973)
  197. Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
  198. David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
  199. Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson (2006)
  200. Richard Jenkins in The Visitor (2008)
  201. Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
  202. Robert Downey Jr. in Chaplin (1992)
  203. Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
  204. Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
  205. Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome (1979)
  206. Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride (1950)
  207. Dan O'Herlihy in Robinson Crusoe (1954)
  208. Peter O'Toole in The Ruling Class (1972)
  209. Paul Newman in A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
  210. Fredric March in A Star is Born (1937)
  211. Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996)  
  212. Jackie Cooper in Skippy (1931)
  213. Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951)
  214. Ronald Colman in Random Harvest (1942)
  215. Kirk Douglas in The Bad and The Beautiful (1952)
  216. Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)
  217. Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year (1982)
  218. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
  219. Montgomery Clift in The Search (1948)
  220. Richard Burton in Equus (1977)
  221. Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy (1943)
  222. William Holden in Network (1976)
  223. Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient (1997)
  224. William Powell in My Man Godfrey (1936)
  225. Cary Grant in Penny Serenade (1941)
  226. Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
  227. Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool (1994)
  228. Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
  229. Laurence Olivier in The Boys from Brazil (1978)
  230. Ronald Colman in Condemned (1930)
  231. Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man (1980)
  232. Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989)
  233. Laurence Olivier in Othello (1965)
  234. Peter O'Toole in Venus (2006)
  235. Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
  236. Dustin Hoffman in Lenny (1974)
  237. Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
  238. Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  239. Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
  240. Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
  241. Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
  242. Michael Caine in The Quiet American (2002)
  243. James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope (1970)
  244. Marcello Mastroianni in Dark Eyes (1987)
  245. Fredric March in The Royal Family of Broadway (1931)
  246. Michael Caine in Educating Rita (1983)
  247. Al Pacino in ...And Justice for All (1979)
  248. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (2009)
  249. James Franco in 127 Hours (2010)
  250. Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day (1993)
  251. Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953)
  252. James Dean in Giant (1956)
  253. Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City (1981)
  254. William Powell in Life With Father (1947)
  255. Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
  256. Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot (1959)
  257. Maurice Chevalier in The Love Parade (1930)
  258. Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003)
  259. Jude Law in Cold Mountain (2003)
  260. Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
  261. Rock Hudson in Giant (1956)
  262. Charles Boyer in Algiers (1938)
  263. Stephen Rea in The Crying Game (1992)
  264. Tom Conti in Reuben, Reuben (1983)
  265. Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007)
  266. Jack Lemmon in Missing (1982)
  267. John Garfield in Body and Soul (1947)
  268. Ron Moody in Oliver! (1968)
  269. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
  270. Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty (1948)
  271. Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)
  272. Russell Crowe in Gladiator
  273. Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
  274. Charles Boyer in Conquest (1937)
  275. Lew Ayres in Johnny Belinda (1948)
  276. Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992)
  277. Max von Sydow in Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
  278. George C. Scott in The Hospital (1971)
  279. Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
  280. Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind (1960)
  281. Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles (1966)
  282. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
  283. Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
  284. Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
  285. Al Pacino in Serpico (1973)
  286. Trevor Howard in Sons and Lovers (1960)
  287. Christian Bale in American Hustle (2013)
  288. James Cagney in Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
  289. David Straithairn in Good Night and Good Luck (2005) 
  290. Harrison Ford in Witness (1985)
  291. Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver (1988)
  292. Ryan O'Neal in Love Story (1970)
  293. Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
  294. Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
  295. Alan Arkin in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
  296. Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
  297. Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
  298. Woody Allen in Annie Hall (1977)
  299. Tom Hanks in Big (1988)
  300. Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
  301. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
  302. Michael Redgrave in Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
  303. Richard Barthelmess in the Patent Leather Kid (1928) 
  304. Nick Nolte in Affliction (1998)
  305. Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz (1964)
  306. Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
  307. Charlie Chaplin in The Circus (1928)
  308. Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)
  309. Walter Matthau in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
  310. James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
  311. John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
  312. Steve Carell in Foxcatcher (2014)
  313. Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
  314. Paul Muni in The Valiant (1929) 
  315. Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page (1931)
  316. Denzel Washington in The Hurricane (1999)
  317. Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog (1997)
  318. Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
  319. Alan Arkin in The Russians are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)
  320. Spencer Tracy in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
  321. Louis Calhern in The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
  322. Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade (1996)
  323. Paul Muni in The Last Angry Man (1959)
  324. Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
  325. Gregory Peck in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
  326. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
  327. Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
  328. Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
  329. Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd (2007)
  330. Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
  331. Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie (1943)
  332. Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
  333. Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland (2004)
  334.  Peter O'Toole in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
  335. Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
  336. Spencer Tracy in San Francisco (1936)
  337. Johnny Depp in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
  338. Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
  339. Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms (1939)
  340. Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
  341. Franchot Tone in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
  342. Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (2005)
  343. John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
  344. Paul Winfield in Sounder (1972)
  345. Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge (1952)
  346. Anthony Hopkins in Nixon (1995)
  347. Denzel Washington in Flight (2012)
  348. Gerard Depardieu in Cyrano De Bergerac (1990)
  349. Cary Grant in None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
  350. Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
  351. Robert De Niro in Awakenings (1990)
  352. Richard Todd in The Hasty Heart (1949)
  353. Frank Sinatra in The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)
  354. Morgan Freeman in Invictus (2009)
  355. Alfred Lunt in The Guardsman (1932)
  356. Charles Boyer in Fanny (1961)
  357. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
  358. Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
  359. James Whitmore in Give 'Em Hell Harry! (1975)
  360. Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991)
  361. Ed Harris in Pollock (2000)
  362. Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
  363. Gregory Peck in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
  364. James Garner in Murphy's Romance (1985)
  365. Maurice Chevalier in The Big Pond (1930)
  366. Robert Montgomery in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
  367. Sylvester Stallone in Rocky (1976)
  368. Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
  369. George Arliss in The Green Goddess (1930)
  370. Gregory Peck in The Yearling (1946)
  371. George Clooney in Michael Clayton (2007)
  372. Fredric March in Death of a Salesman (1951) 
  373. Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
  374. Geoffrey Rush in Quills (2000)
  375. Walter Matthau in Kotch (1971)
  376. George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
  377. Wallace Beery in The Big House (1930)
  378. Paul Newman in Absence of Malice (1981)
  379. Frank Morgan in The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
  380. Jeff Bridges in True Grit (2010)
  381. Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls (2000)
  382. Warren Beatty in Reds (1981)
  383. Massimo Troisi in The Postman (1995)
  384. Dan Dailey in When My Baby Smiles At Me (1948)
  385. Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh (1945)
  386. Ben Kingsley in The House of Sand and Fog (2003)
  387. Robert De Niro in Cape Fear (1991)
  388. Jon Voight in Runaway Train (1985)
  389. Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides (1991)
  390. Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
  391. Marlon Brando in Sayonara (1957)
  392. Laurence Fishburne in What's Love Got To Do With It (1993)
  393. Richard Burton in The Robe (1953)
  394. Leslie Howard in Berkeley Square (1933)
  395. Bing Crosby in Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
  396. Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
  397. Spencer Tracy in The Old Man and The Sea (1958)
  398. Frank Langella Frost/Nixon (2008)
  399. Dexter Gordon in 'Round Midnight (1986)
  400. Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
  401. Jack Lemmon in Tribute (1980)
  402. Javier Bardem in Biutiful (2010)
  403. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
  404. Woody Harrelson in The People vs Larry Flynt (1996)
  405. Larry Parks in The Jolson Story (1946)  
  406. Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991)
  407. Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow (2005)
  408. Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
  409. Robin William in Dead Poet's Society (1989)
  410. Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
  411. George Clooney in Up in The Air (2009)
  412. Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
  413. George Clooney in The Descendants (2011)
  414. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
  415. Cornel Wilde in A Song to Remember (1945)
  416. Jeff Bridges in Star Man (1984)
  417. Spencer Tracy in Captain Courageous (1937) 
  418. Chester Morris in Alibi (1929)
  419. Will Smith in Ali (2001)
  420. Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
  421. Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
  422. Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004) 
  423. Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
  424. Sean Penn in I Am Sam (2001)
  425. Anthony Franciosa in A Hatful of Rain (1957)
  426. Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
  1. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
  2. Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  3. William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) 
  4. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989) 
  5. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
  6. George C. Scott in Patton (1970)
  7. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975) 
  8. Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
  9. Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973) 
  10. Peter Finch in Network (1976)
  11. Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
  12. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
  13. Ernest Borgnine Marty (1955)
  14. Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (2012)  
  15. William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953) 
  16. Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)  
  17. Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
  18. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
  19. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007) 
  20. Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
  21. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
  22. Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011) 
  23. Charles Laughton in The Private life of Henry VIII (1933)
  24. Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
  25. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
  26. Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2004)
  27. Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
  28. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
  29. Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night (1967)
  30. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  31. Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
  32. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
  33. Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
  34. Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
  35. Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
  36. Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
  37. Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
  38. Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
  39. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
  40. Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
  41. Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
  42. Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
  43. Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  44. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981)
  45. Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
  46. Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything (2014)
  47. Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
  48. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
  49. David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
  50. Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
  51. Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
  52. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy
  53. Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
  54. Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
  55. Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
  56. Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  57. Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
  58. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
  59. Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
  60. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
  61. Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
  62. Al Pacino in The Scent of a Woman (1992)
  63. Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
  64. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
  65. Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
  66. Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
  67. Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
  68. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
  69. James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
  70. Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
  71. Paul Muni in The Story Louis Pasteur (1936)
  72. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
  73. Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
  74. Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
  75. Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
  76. John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
  77. Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
  78. Tom Hanks Philadelphia (1993)
  79. George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
  80. Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
  81. Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
  82. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
  83. Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
  84. Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
  85. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
  86. Spencer Tracy in Captains Courageous (1937)
  87. Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
  88. Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004)
Supporting Actor Ranking:
  1. 2014
  2. 1944
  3. 1981
  4. 1975
  5. 2008
  6. 1972
  7. 1966
  8. 1974
  9. 1988
  10. 1987
  11. 1964
  12. 1986
  13. 1959
  14. 1983
  15. 1980
  16. 1951
  17. 1998
  18. 1963
  19. 1952
  20. 1999
  21. 1989
  22. 2013
  23. 1993
  24. 1946
  25. 1969
  26. 1954
  27. 1961
  28. 2012
  29. 2007
  30. 1992
  31. 1968
  32. 1939
  33. 1970
  34. 1979
  35. 1994
  36. 2002
  37. 1978
  38. 2010
  39. 1947
  40. 1996
  41. 1945
  42. 1990
  43. 1982
  44. 1941
  45. 1971
  46. 2001
  47. 1937
  48. 1955
  49. 1962
  50. 1995
  51. 1967
  52. 1973
  53. 2009
  54. 2005
  55. 2011
  56. 1942
  57. 2006
  58. 1984
  59. 1957
  60. 1950
  61. 1958
  62. 2000
  63. 1976
  64. 2004
  65. 1960
  66. 1997
  67. 1943
  68. 1956
  69. 1949
  70. 1965
  71. 1977
  72. 1948
  73. 1940
  74. 1991
  75. 1938
  76. 2003
  77. 1936
  78. 1953
  79. 1985
  1. Martin Landau in Ed Wood (1994)
  2. Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter (1978)
  3. Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields (1984)
  4. Gene Hackman in Unforgiven (1992)
  5. Sessue Hayakawa in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  6. James Dunn in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
  7. Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)
  8. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008) 
  9. Claude Rains in Notorious (1946)
  10. Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James (2007)
  11. Ralph Fiennes in Schindler' List (1993) 
  12. Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master (2012)
  13. Rod Steiger in On the Waterfront (1954)
  14. George Sanders in All About Eve (1950)
  15. Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939)
  16. Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now (1979)  
  17. Gene Hackman in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
  18. Montgomery Clift in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961) 
  19. Melvyn Douglas in Hud (1963)
  20. Peter Ustinov in Topkapi (1964)
  21. Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
  22. Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
  23. Al Pacino in The Godfather (1972)
  24. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
  25. Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can (2002)
  26. Jason Miller in The Exorcist (1973)
  27. Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  28. Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
  29. Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
  30. J.K. Simmons in Whiplash (2014)
  31. Jackie Gleason in the Hustler (1961) 
  32. Ralph Richardson in The Heiress (1949)
  33. Albert Brooks in Broadcast News (1987)
  34. Morgan Freeman in Street Smart (1987)
  35. Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
  36. Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (2012)
  37. Jack Nicholson in Reds (1981)
  38. Claude Rains in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939
  39. Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds (2009)
  40. William H. Macy in Fargo (1996)
  41. Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie (1963)
  42. Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips (2013) 
  43. Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
  44. Lee J. Cobb in On the Waterfront (1954) 
  45. Edward Norton in Primal Fear (1996)
  46. Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968)
  47. James Mason in The Verdict (1982)
  48. Van Heflin in Johnny Eager (1942)
  49. Karl Malden in On the Waterfront (1954)
  50. Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon (1941)
  51. Burgess Meredith in Day of the Locust (1975)
  52. George Burns in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
  53. Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death (1947)
  54. George C. Scott in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
  55. Joe Pesci in Raging Bull (1980)
  56. Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
  57. Alec Guinness in Little Dorrit (1988)
  58. Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (1995)
  59. Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976)
  60. George C. Scott in The Hustler (1961)
  61. Tom Cruise in Magnolia (1999)
  62. Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People (1980)
  63. Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
  64. Peter Ustinov in Quo Vadis (1951)
  65. Pete Postlethwaite in In the Name of the Father (1993)
  66. Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
  67. John Gielgud in Arthur (1981)
  68. Billy Bob Thorton in A Simple Plan (1998)
  69. George Segal in Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
  70. Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940)
  71. Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier (1943)
  72. Ian Holm in Chariots of Fire (1981)
  73. Sam Shepard in The Right Stuff (1983)
  74. Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II (1972)
  75. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007) 
  76. Danny Aiello in Do the Right Thing (1989)
  77. Edward Norton in Birdman (2014)
  78. Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955)
  79. Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder (2008)
  80. Tommy Lee Jones in JFK (1991)
  81. Paul Newman in The Road To Perdition (2002)
  82. Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972)
  83. Robert Shaw in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
  84. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999)
  85. James Caan in The Godfather (1972)
  86. Gene Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
  87. Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
  88. Burl Ives in The Big Country (1958)
  89. Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider (1969)
  90. Lee Strasberg in The Godfather Part II (1974)
  91. Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (1994)
  92. Brad Dourif in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975)
  93. William Hurt in A History of Violence (2005)
  94. Al Pacino in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
  95. Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
  96. Charles Coburn in The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
  97. Jeff Bridges in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
  98. Gene Wilder in The Producers (1968)
  99. Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher (2014)
  100. John Hawkes in Winter's Bone (2010) 
  101. Burgess Meredith in Rocky (1976) 
  102. Tom Berenger in Platoon (1986)
  103. Ian Mckellen in Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
  104. James Coburn in Affliction (1998)
  105. Ethan Hawke in Boyhood (2014)
  106. Willem Dafoe in Platoon (1986)
  107. Chris Sarandon in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
  108. Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
  109. Clifton Webb in Laura (1944)
  110. Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
  111. Seymour Cassel in Faces (1968)
  112. Thomas Mitchell in The Hurricane (1937)
  113. Alec Guinness in Star Wars (1977)
  114. Anthony Quinn in Lust for Life (1956)
  115. Robert Duvall in A Civil Action (1998)
  116. Claude Rains in Mr. Skeffington (1944)
  117. Hume Cronyn in The Seventh Cross (1944)
  118. Jackie Earl Haley in Little Children (2006)
  119. Josh Brolin in Milk (2008)
  120. Thomas Haden Church in Sideways (2004)
  121. Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
  122. Charles Coburn in The Green Years (1946)
  123. John Mills in Ryan's Daughter (1970)
  124. James Cromwell in Babe (1995)
  125. Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
  126. Ethan Hawke in Training Day (2001)
  127. Robert Duvall in The Judge (2014)
  128. Chris Cooper in Adaptation (2002)
  129. Claude Rains in Casablanca (1943)
  130. Victor McLaglen in The Quiet Man (1952)
  131. Terence Stamp in Billy Budd (1962)
  132. Richard Farnsworth in Comes A Horseman (1978)
  133. Peter Falk in Murder, Inc. (1960) 
  134. Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! (1952)
  135. Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)
  136. John Gielgud in Becket (1964)
  137. Benicio Del Toro in Traffic (2000)
  138. Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur (1959)
  139. Michael Chekhov in Spellbound (1945)
  140. Joseph Schilderkraut in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
  141. Jack Palance in Sudden Fear (1952)
  142. Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
  143. Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady (1964)
  144. Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
  145. Anthony Perkins in Friendly Persuasion (1956)
  146. Rip Torn in Cross Creek (1983)
  147. Robert Mitchum in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
  148. George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
  149. River Phoenix in Running on Empty (1988)
  150. Justin Henry in Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
  151. Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile (1999)
  152. Robert Forster in Jackie Brown (1997)
  153. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt (2008)
  154. John Lithgow in The World According to Garp (1982)
  155. Lou Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  156. Lee J. Cobb in The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
  157. Gig Young in Come Fill The Cup (1951)
  158. James Mason in Georgy Girl (1966)
  159. Walter Brennan in Kentucky (1938)
  160. Vincent Gardenia in Moonstruck (1987)
  161. Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001)
  162. Walter Brennan in Come and Get It (1936) 
  163. Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (1997)
  164. Klaus Maria Brandauer in Out of Africa (1985)
  165. Ed Begley in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
  166. Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech (2010)
  167. Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
  168. Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley (1941)
  169. John Malkovich in In the Line of Fire (1993) 
  170. Martin Landau in Tucker: A Man And His Dream (1988)
  171. Gig Young in Teacher's Pet (1958)
  172. Jeremy Renner in The Town (2010)
  173. Dennis Hopper in Hoosiers (1986)
  174. Robert Duvall in The Godfather (1972)
  175. Bobby Darin in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
  176. Kevin McCarthy in Death of a Salesman (1951)
  177. Arthur O'Connell in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
  178. Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
  179. Sal Mineo in Exodus (1960)
  180. Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast (2001)
  181. Frederic Forrest in The Rose (1979)
  182. Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn (2011)
  183. Lee Tracy in The Best Man (1964)
  184. Hugh Griffith in Tom Jones (1963)
  185. John Huston in The Cardinal (1963)
  186. Robert Vaughn in The Young Philadelphians (1959)
  187. Robert Ryan in Crossfire (1947)
  188. Jeff Bridges in The Last Picture (1971)
  189. Max Von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
  190. Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
  191. Roy Scheider in The French Connection (1971)
  192. Arthur Hunnicutt in The Big Sky (1952)
  193. Tim Robbins in Mystic River (2003)
  194. Bruce Davison in Longtime Companion (1990)
  195. Ralph Bellamy in The Awful Truth (1937)
  196. Monty Woolley in Since You Went Away (1944)
  197. Elliot Gould in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
  198. Michael V. Gazzo in The Godfather Part II (1974)
  199. Richard Burton in My Cousin Rachel (1952)
  200. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
  201. Jason Robards in Melvin and Howard (1980)
  202. Edmond O'Brien in Seven Days in May (1964)
  203. James Whitmore in Battleground (1949)
  204. Ed Wynn in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
  205. Michael Lerner in Barton Fink (1991)
  206. Armin Mueller-Stahl in Shine (1996)
  207. Charles Durning in To Be Or Not To Be (1983)  
  208. Eddie Albert in The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
  209. Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
  210. John Hurt in Midnight Express (1978)
  211. Jack Palance in Shane (1953)
  212. Rupert Crosse in The Reivers (1969)
  213. Robert Morley in Marie Antoinette (1938)
  214. Adolph Caesar in A Soldier's Story (1984)
  215. Thomas Gomez in Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
  216. Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment (1983)
  217. Howard Rollins in Ragtime (1981)
  218. John Lithgow in Terms of Endearment (1983)
  219. Ed Harris in The Truman Show (1998)
  220. Vincent Gardenia in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
  221. Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game (1992)
  222. Denzel Washington in Glory (1989)
  223. Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets (1997)
  224. Matt Dillon in Crash (2005)
  225. Christopher Plummer in Beginners (2011)
  226. Peter Firth in Equus (1977)
  227. Brian Aherne in Juarez (1939)
  228. Chief Dan George in Little Big Man (1970)
  229. Clive Owen in Closer (2004)
  230. Michael J. Pollard in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
  231. Denzel Washington in Cry Freedom (1987)
  232. James Coco in Only When I Laugh (1981)
  233. Woody Harrelson in The Messsenger (2009)
  234. Michael O'Keefe in The Great Santini (1980)
  235. Walter Huston in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
  236. Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man (2005)
  237. Mark Wahlberg in The Departed (2006)
  238. Andy Garcia in The Godfather Part III (1990)
  239. Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump (1994)
  240. Victor Buono in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
  241. Tim Roth in Rob Roy (1995)
  242. Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton (2007)
  243. Robert Preston in Victor Victoria (1982)
  244. Bruce Dern in Coming Home (1978)
  245. Arthur Kennedy in Champion (1949)
  246. Cecil Kellaway in The Luck of the Irish (1948)
  247. Paul Scofield in Quiz Show (1994)
  248. Jack Warden in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
  249. Arthur Kennedy in Trial (1955)
  250. Al Pacino in Dick Tracy (1990)
  251. Jack Kruschen in The Apartment (1960)
  252. Fred Astaire in The Towering Inferno (1974)
  253. Alan Alda in The Aviator (2004)
  254. Dean Stockwell in Married to The Mob (1988)
  255. John C. Reilly in Chicago (2002)
  256. Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
  257. Frank Finlay in Othello (1965)
  258. Robert Strauss in Stalag 17 (1953)
  259. Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
  260. Chazz Palminteri in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
  261. John Marley in Love Story (1970)
  262. Nick Nolte in Warrior (2011)
  263. Randy Quaid in The Last Detail (1973)
  264. Richard S. Castellano in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  265. Vittorio De Sica in A Farewell to Arms (1957) 
  266. Hal Holbrook in Into The Wild (2007)
  267. Nick Adams in Twilight of Honor (1963)
  268. Dan Aykroyd in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
  269. Mickey Rooney in The Black Stallion (1979) 
  270. Charles Bickford in Johnny Belinda (1948)
  271. Pat Morita in The Karate Kid (1984)
  272. Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road (2008)
  273. Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992)
  274. Arthur O'Connell in Picnic (1955)
  275. Marlon Brando A Dry White Season (1989)
  276. Jack Wild in Oliver! (1968)
  277. James Woods in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
  278. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
  279. Brian Donlevy in Beau Geste (1939)
  280. Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai (2003)
  281. Matt Damon in Invictus (2009)
  282. John Houseman in The Paper Chase (1973)
  283. Mako in The Sand Pebbles (1966)
  284. Judd Hirsch in Ordinary People (1980)
  285. Anthony Hopkins in Amistad (1997)
  286. John Malkovich in Places in the Heart (1984)
  287. Mickey Rooney in The Bold and the Brave (1956)
  288. William Bendix in Wake Island (1942)
  289. Jack Warden in Shampoo (1975)
  290. Alan Arkin in Argo (2012) 
  291. Jack Gilford in Save the Tiger (1973)
  292. Henry Travers in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
  293. Robert Stack in Written on the Wind (1956)
  294. Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993) 
  295. Frank Morgan in Tortilla Flat (1942)
  296. Christopher Plummer in The Last Station (2009)
  297. Walter Brennan in Sergeant York (1941)
  298. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln (2012)
  299. Roland Young in Topper (1937)
  300. David Paymer in Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
  301. Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (2006)
  302. Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
  303. Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls (2006)
  304. Denholm Elliot in A Room With A View (1986)
  305. Jason Robards in All the President's Men (1976)
  306. Robert Loggia in Jagged Edge (1985)
  307. Richard Jaeckel in Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
  308. Maximilian Schell in Julia (1977)
  309. J. Carrol Naish in Sahara (1943)
  310. Peter Falk in Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
  311. Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
  312. John Cassavetes in The Dirty Dozen (1967)
  313. Jack Palance in City Slickers (1991)
  314. Theodore Bikel in The Defiant Ones (1958)
  315. Charles Bickford in The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
  316. Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
  317. Ned Beatty in Network (1976)
  318. J. Carrol Naish in A Medal For Benny (1945)
  319. Charles Bickford in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
  320. Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880 (1950)
  321. Harvey Keitel in Bugsy (1991)
  322. Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love (1998)
  323. Albert Bassermann in Foreign Correspondent (1940) 
  324. Basil Rathbone in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
  325. James Stephenson in The Letter (1940)
  326. Alec Baldwin in The Cooler (2003)
  327. Melvyn Douglas in Being There (1979)
  328. Harry Carey in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 
  329. Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator (2000)
  330. Anthony Quayle in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
  331. Clifton Webb in The Razor's Edge (1946)
  332. Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich (2000)
  333. Leonard Frey in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
  334. William Demarest in The Jolson Story (1946)
  335. Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones (2009)
  336. Joe Mantell in Marty (1955)
  337. Cecil Kellaway in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
  338. H.B. Warner in Lost Horizon (1937)
  339. Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns (1965)
  340. Gene Lockhart in Algiers (1938)
  341. Jonah Hill in Moneyball (2011)
  342. Jamie Foxx in Collateral (2004)
  343. Jeff Bridges in The Contender (2000)
  344. Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys (1995)
  345. John Garfield in Four Daughters (1938)
  346. Michael Dunn in Ship of Fools (1965)
  347. Graham Greene in Dances With Wolves (1990)
  348. Ed Harris in Apollo 13 (1995)
  349. Jack Oakie in The Great Dictator (1940)
  350. Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules (1999)
  351. Arthur Kennedy in Peyton Place (1957)
  352. Mark Ruffalo in The Kids are All Right (2010)
  353. Ralph Richardson in Greystoke (1984)
  354. Djimon Honsou in In America (2003)
  355. Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams (2003)
  356. Eddie Albert in Roman Holiday (1953)
  357. Bradley Cooper in American Hustle (2013)
  358. Burt Young in Rocky (1976)
  359. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (1997)
  360. William Gargan in They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
  361. Charles Durning in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)
  362. Ben Kingsley in Bugsy (1991)
  363. William Hickey in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
  364. Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow (1950)
  365. Dean Jagger in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
  366. Oskar Homolka in I Remember Mama (1948)
  367. Akim Tamiroff in The General Died at Dawn (1936)
  368. Brandon De Wilde in Shane (1953)
  369. Akim Tamiroff in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
  370. Telly Savalas in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
  371. Russ Tamblyn in Peyton Place(1957) 
  372. Basil Rathbone in If I Were King (1938)
  373. Arthur Kennedy in Some Came Running (1958)
  374. John Ireland in All the King's Men (1949)
  375. Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
  376. Ed Harris in The Hours (2002)
  377. Daniel Massey in Star! (1968)
  378. Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996)
  379. Leo Genn in Quo Vadis (1951)
  380. George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
  381. John Dall in The Corn is Green (1945)
  382. Chill Wills in The Alamo (1960)
  383. James Gleason in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) 
  384. Stuart Erwin in Pigskin Parade (1936)
  385. Tom Tully in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
  386. Ian Bannen in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
  387. George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
  388. Jon Voight in Ali (2001)
  389. Jose Ferrer in Joan of Arc (1948)
  390. Mischa Auer in My Man Godfrey (1936)
  391. Don Murray in Bus Stop (1956)
  392. Don Ameche in Cocoon (1985)
  393. Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)
  394. Eric Roberts in Runaway Train (1985) 
  395. Mikhail Baryshnikov in The Turning Point (1977)
Actual Winners:
  1. Martin Landau in Ed Wood (1994)
  2. Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter (1978)
  3. Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields (1984)
  4. Gene Hackman in Unforgiven (1992)
  5. James Dunn in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
  6. Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)
  7.  Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)
  8. George Sanders in All About Eve (1950)
  9. Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939)
  10. Melvyn Douglas in Hud (1963)
  11. Peter Ustinov in Topkapi (1964)
  12. Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
  13. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
  14. Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  15. Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
  16. Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
  17. Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained (2012)
  18. Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds (2009) 
  19. Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie (1963)
  20. Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968)
  21. Van Heflin in Johnny Eager (1942)
  22. George Burns in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
  23. Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
  24. J.K. Simmons in Whiplash (2014)
  25. Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (1995)
  26. Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People (1980)
  27. John Gielgud in Arthur (1981)
  28. Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940)
  29. Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier (1943)
  30. Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II (1972)
  31. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007) 
  32. Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955)
  33. Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972)
  34. Burl Ives in The Big Country (1958)
  35. Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
  36. James Coburn in Affliction (1998)
  37. Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
  38. Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
  39. Anthony Quinn in Lust for Life (1956)
  40. John Mills in Ryan's Daughter (1970)
  41. Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
  42. Chris Cooper in Adaptation (2002)
  43. Anthony Quinn in Viva Zapata! (1952)
  44. Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)
  45. Benicio Del Toro in Traffic (2000)
  46. Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur (1959)
  47. Joseph Schilderkraut in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
  48. Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
  49. George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
  50. Lou Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  51. Walter Brennan in Kentucky (1938)
  52. Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001)
  53. Walter Brennan in Come and Get It (1936) 
  54. Ed Begley in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
  55. Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley (1941)
  56. Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
  57. Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
  58. Tim Robbins in Mystic River (2003)
  59. Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
  60. Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment (1983)
  61. Denzel Washington in Glory (1989)
  62. Christopher Plummer in Beginners(2011)
  63. John Houseman in The Paper Chase (1973)
  64. Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993) 
  65. Jason Robards in All the President's Men (1976)
  66. Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
  67. Jack Palance in City Slickers (1991)
  68. Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
  69. Melvyn Douglas in Being There (1979)
  70. Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns (1965)
  71. Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules (1999)
  72. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting (1997)
  73. Dean Jagger in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
  74. Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
  75. Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996)
  76. George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
  77. George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
  78. Don Ameche in Cocoon (1985)
  79. Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)
 Next Year: 2014 Lead

Tuesday, 20 January 2015

Best Actor 2014: Steve Carell in Foxcatcher

Steve Carell received his first Oscar nomination for portraying John du Pont in Foxcatcher.

Foxcatcher is an effective film about a multimillionaire's relationship with two Olympic Gold medal winning wrestling brothers who he decides to fund.

Comedian Steve Carell actually already played against type early on his prominent film career as a suicidal scholar in Little Miss Sunshine. That I suppose was only lightly against type compared to his performance here as John du Pont. Just for starters Carell is made up with a pale look and plenty of prosthetic in his face to change his appearance considerably. It does not stop there though and Carell gives an extremely mannered performance as John. One particularly noticeable thing is in his vocal delivery where....he....puts....a...breath....between....everything...he...says. This is obviously to sound like the real John du Pont's unique way of speaking, but unfortunately it does sound more like a put on by Carell than something natural to his character. One of the reasons being that Carell accentuates it too much where it was something in John du Pont's manner of speaking, but it was not as overpowering as the way Carell handles it. This is unfortunately not the only element of Carell's performance that does feel a bit "performed".

Carell makes a major misstep from the beginning of his performance, just as he is introducing himself to Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), which is to play up the creep factor of John du Pont. Carell severely overplays his hand by making du Pont seem quite deranged right from the start. The thing is Carell unfortunately keeps this as a constant not even putting on a front when he's doing something in public or for the promotion of his team Foxcatcher. Carell always keeps that distant stare and off-putting distance in his physical performance. There is never a time where one would not suspect there is something very wrong with John du Pont. I should say I felt this way while watching the film for the first time before I saw any footage of the real John du Pont. After seeing the real footage, Carell's method is even more questionable. There is something off about the real du Pont but it's a subtle quality and for the most part he still seems like you could relax around him. With Carell's du Pont it's questionable that anyone would be comfortable being around the man even if they were getting paid, because it seems like he's already a serial killer.

Steve Carell's performance unfortunately makes it so he really has nowhere to go in terms of making John an increasingly problematic and dangerous man. Carell from the start seems like John is ready to kill something to begin with so there's a distinct lack of build up from him in the third act. The only thing that conveys this really is through the script which gives him less lines as the film progresses making a strong disconnection from the man. It likely would have been far more effective if Carell had gradually shown an increasing decay of John's mental state, but Carell starts as though he is already insane. Even past that though Carell's whole portrayal of the mannerisms does never feel wholly genuine, and seems to much like Carell trying to make John this constantly threatening presence. Frankly the whole physical portrayal Carell gives actually seems more fitting for a straight thriller than what Foxcatcher is. The worst thing about this is that this hangs over the entirety of his performance making it that even in certain scenes that try to focus on a different side of du Pont, the mannerisms still makes Carell's performance a bit off.

Carell therefore must try to convey some other ideas about John du Pont while being very much handicapped by his mannerisms. That is not to say there are not some interesting elements in this performance, but they are harder to see than they should be. Carell does manage to create a somewhat intriguing relationship between John and Mark. At times he gives the gaze of almost a fan boy as he watches an Olympic hero he would probably would like to be. At other times Carell simply plays him as a manipulator, basically fulfilling his role as millionaire, as he constantly instructs Mark, and will suddenly take an exception with him without warning. There are moments though where Carell suggests a little warmth in his performance as John seems to be trying to reach out to Mark merely as a friend. Carell is good in these moments as they are kinda heartbreaking as they seem so halfhearted yet earnest at the same time. He is particularly effective in the scene where John sadly tells Mark about his only friend, as he has such a defeated resignation in his speech, who turns out was merely being paid by his mother to be his friend. These random sides of John shown actually work in alluding to the sort of broken man John is.

What obviously contributes all the more to John's problems is his relationship with his very distant mother (Vanessa Redgrave). Carell again does rather well in the one scene where they speak to one another, where John's mother states her disapproval for wrestling, as there is such a palatable disconnect clearly between mother and son which contrasts especially against the close connection Mark shares with his brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo). Carell has one scene where he is close to being outstanding, he would be if he did not have to keep up that wrong approach to John du Pont, where John is doing a training session with his team as his mother comes in to view what he is doing. Carell's conveys John being devastated quietly internally as he has to watch his mother's disapproving eyes once more, and manages to be rather moving by honestly expressing that all John wants is to be loved by his mother. In doing Carell even does well to suggest what causes him to begin to see Dave as an enemy, and again is effective in portraying the anguish as he sees basically what he desires is right in front of him between Dave and Mark.

Carell's performance here I feel has the potential for greatness as there are several moments where he does create a compelling portrait of John du Pont's mental state. Unfortunately Carell undercuts everything with his obvious sociopath routine that always feels very much acted every second he does it. Carell does not take the wrong approach in portraying John's relationship with the brothers and his mother, but there's always simply the fact that why is he standing like rigid board all the time. It would have been interesting if Carell instead started with hints of John's mental problems and slowly built them to the pivotal moment, which likely would have been more effective, and apparently truer to the real life story. A mannered performance like this easily can work, his co-star Ruffalo technically is equally mannered but Ruffalo's performance not only feels far more natural it also makes more sense for his character, but what Carell does here is weigh down everything else he even tries. I hate to try to wave away this performance because it's not a complete failure, Carell's approach is daring in many ways, but it's just not quite the right approach.

Best Actor 2014

And the Nominees Are:

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game

Eddie Redmayne in The Theory Of Everything

Michael Keaton in Birdman

Bradley Cooper in American Sniper

Steve Carell in Foxcatcher

Tuesday, 30 December 2014

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2006: Results

5. Sergi López in Pan's Labyrinth - López gives an appropriately imposing portrayal of his sadistic character, but there just always felt like there was something missing.

Best Scene: Vidal's first torture session.
4. Mads Mikkelsen in Casino Royale - Mikkelsen gives an appropriately slick villainous turn, but also manages to bring more depth than one might expect from such a character.

Best Scene:  A most painful torture session. 
3. Steve Carell in Little Miss Sunshine - Carell gives a rather assured portrayal of his suicidal character who gradually finds some will to live.

Best Scene: Frank tells Dwayne to suffer.
2. Michael Caine in Children of Men - Caine gives a great supporting work where he gives a enjoyable off-beat yet still poignant turn. It's the sort of work that seems like he has more screen time than he does because of the impact he makes with the little he has.

Best Scene: Jasper says goodbye to his wife. 
1. Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland - He'd be my supporting win but I can't quite agree with that placement. In either category though Affleck gives a great performance. He brings to life the charisma yet weakness of Reeves brilliantly to life, and gives a heartbreaking portrayal of a man who never felt he soared high enough.

Best Scene: Reeves's wrestling footage. 
Overall Rank:
  1. Michael Caine in Children of Men
  2. Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children
  3. Steve Carell in Little Miss Sunshine 
  4. Mads Mikkelsen in Casino Royale
  5. Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine
  6. David Bowie in The Prestige 
  7. Robert Downey Jr. in A Scanner Darkly
  8. Rob Lowe in Thank You For Smoking
  9. Michael Caine in The Prestige 
  10. Toby Jones in The Painted Veil
  11. Alec Baldwin in The Departed 
  12. John Hurt in V For Vendetta
  13. Sergi López in Pan's Labyrinth
  14. Martin Sheen in The Departed
  15. Morgan Freeman in Lucky Number Slevin
  16. Bob Hoskins in Hollywoodland
  17. Joe Pesci in The Good Shepherd
  18. Ben Kingsley in Lucky Number Slevin
  19. Giancarlo Giannini in Casino Royale
  20. Mark Wahlberg in The Departed
  21. Noah Emmerich in Little Children
  22. Richard Sammel in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
  23. Ray Winstone in The Departed
  24. Liam Cunningham in The Wind That Shakes the Barley
  25. Ulrich Tukur in The Lives of Others 
  26. Paul Dano in Little Miss Sunshine
  27. Jeremy Piven in Smokin' Aces
  28. Padraic Delaney in The Wind That Shakes the Barley
  29. Jeffrey DeMunn in Hollywoodland 
  30. Stephen Rea in V For Vendetta
  31. Woody Harrelson in A Scanner Darkly
  32. Alex Angulo in Pan's Labyrinth
  33. Michael Clarke Duncan in Talladega Nights in The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
  34. Tsuyoshi Ihara in Letters from Iwo Jima
  35. Chris Pine in Smokin' Aces
  36. Boubker Ait El Caid in Babel
  37. Gary Cole in Talladega Nights in The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
  38. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Mission Impossible III
  39. Rufus Sewell in The Illusionist  
  40. John C. Reilly in Talladega Nights in The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
  41. Brad Pitt in Babel
  42. J.K. Simmons in Thank You For Smoking
  43. Paul Newman in Cars
  44. Andy Serkis in The Prestige
  45. Ray Liotta in Smokin' Aces
  46. Chiwetel Ejiofor in Children of Men 
  47. Leslie Phillips in Venus
  48. Sam Elliot in Thank You For Smoking
  49. Michael Gambon in The Good Shepherd 
  50. Stephen Fry in V For Vendetta
  51. Bill Nighy in Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  52. David Oyelowo in The Last King of Scotland
  53. Thomas Thieme in The Lives of Others
  54. Ryo Kase in Letters From Iwo Jima
  55. Ben Affleck in Smokin' Aces
  56. Peter Mullan in Children of Men
  57. Arnold Vosloo in Blood Diamond
  58. Koji Yakusho in Babel
  59. Liev Schreiber in The Painted Veil
  60. Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd
  61. Stellan Skarsgaard in Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  62. Alfred Molina in The Hoax
  63. Dustin Hoffman in Stranger Than Fiction 
  64. Gael Garcia Bernal in Babel
  65. Paul Giamatti in The Illusionist 
  66. Ben Foster in X-Men The Last Stand
  67. John Turturro in The Good Shepherd 
  68. Nestor Carbonell in Smokin' Aces
  69. Michael Sheen in The Queen
  70. Chiwetel Ejiofor in Inside Man
  71. William H. Macy in Thank You For Smoking
  72. Bill Nighy in Notes on a Scandal
  73. Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls
  74. Terry Crews in Idiocracy
  75. Burt Young in Rocky Balboa
  76. Charlie Hunnam in Children of Men
  77. Simon McBurney in The Last King of Scotland
  78. Stanley Tucci in Lucky Number Slevin
  79. Anthony Mackie in Half Nelson
  80. Willem Dafoe in Inside Man
  81. Tom Hollander in Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  82. Stanley Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada
  83. David Koechner in Thank You For Smoking
  84. Kevin Spacey in Superman Returns
  85. James Badge Dale in The Departed
  86. Alec Baldwin in The Good Shepherd 
  87. Greg Kinnear in Invincible
  88. Billy Crudup in The Good Shepherd
  89. James Cromwell in The Queen
  90. William Hurt in The Good Shepherd 
  91. Richard Griffiths in Venus
  92. Ian McKellen in X-Men: The Last Stand
  93. Jack Davenport in Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  94. Mike Starr in The Black Dahlia
  95. Stanley Tucci in The Hoax
  96. Bruce Willis in Lucky Number Slevin
  97. Jack Nicholson in The Departed
  98. Tony Burton in Rocky Balboa
  99. Larry The Cable Guy in Cars 
  100. Dax Shepard in Idiocracy
  101. Danny Glover in Dreamgirls  
  102. Kelsey Grammer in X-Men The Last Stand
  103. Frank Langella in Superman Returns 
  104. Jaden Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness
  105. Dick Van Dyke in Night at the Museum  
  106. Patrick Stewart in X-Men The Last Stand
  107. Kevin McNally in Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  108. James Marsden in Superman Returns
  109. Milo Ventimiglia in Rocky Balboa
  110. Jeff Daniels in RV
  111. Jamie Foxx in Dreamgirls 
  112. Alan Arkin in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause 
  113. Robin Williams in Night at the Museum
  114. Aaron Eckhart in The Black Dahlia 
  115. Martin Short in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause 
  116. Mickey Rooney in Night at the Museum
  117. Dan Castellaneta in The Pursuit of Happyness
  118. Andrew Simpson in Notes on a Scandal
  119. Andy Garcia in Smokin' Aces
  120. Rory Cochrane in A Scanner Darkly
  121. Spencer Breslin in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
  122. Vinnie Jones in X-Men: The Last Stand
  123. Tristan Lake Leabu in Superman Returns
  124. Eddie Redmayne in The Good Shepherd
Next Year: 1965 Supporting

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2006: Steve Carell in Little Miss Sunshine

Steve Carell did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Frank Ginsberg in Little Miss Sunshine.

Steve Carell is making some headway this year for his dramatic performance in Foxcatcher which is seen as an against type of performance for him. The interesting thing is though in Little Miss Sunshine, which came only a few years into his  prominent movie career, he very much plays a dramatic role. Although Little Miss Sunshine is part comedy Carell's role entails very little comedy to be honest. There are only really two scenes where he's expected to be funny and one is more action based than really from his performance. The first being merely when he throws a drink the other is when he is being sarcastic toward Greg Kinnear's character, who is his brother in-law, as he espouses his personal philosophy which he promotes too often. Carell is enjoyable enough in this scene but most importantly it feels just something Frank would do as Carell importantly does not fall back on his comedic style of old, which I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of.

Much of the film Carell gives a fittingly somber performance as Frank since before the films begins Frank had just attempted to commit suicide. Carrell's performance certainly matches this idea from his opening scene as the emotional devastation lives in his face. Frank is taken to his sister (Toni Collette)'s home where, despite being obviously not exactly functional himself, he is an observer of her family's dysfunction. Although the intensity of the depression obviously subsides to the extreme right after his most extreme act, Carell effectively keeps the sadness within Frank as he stays somewhat withdrawn from everyone else. In a subtle way Carell suggests Frank as basically reexamining his life as the story progresses around him. Carell is quite good as the impartial observer in portraying Frank's confusion and measured interest at the various oddities involving his sister's family whether it's her son Dwayne (Paul Dano) who swore a vow of silence , he beauty pageant obsessed daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin), or her extremely crusty father-in-law (Alan Arkin).

Carell rather interestingly takes a rather different approach for one major aspect of his character. That being he's a former university professor and who considers himself the number one Proust scholar. Throughout the film Frank attempts to espouse his scholarly knowledge, but the interesting thing is Carell does not portray Frank as the pompous intellectual type he very well might have done as that's that common style with this type of character. Carell though is very good in showing Frank attempt at giving out this sort of information, not as Frank attempting to stroke his ego, but rather a slight attempt to impart the little he has to give. I particularly like the scene where he fails at this when he attempts to tell the meaning of à la mode to Olive only to be quickly shut down. Carell brings the right sort of meekness in his demeanor as he rightfully never loses the idea that Frank is very much in recovery. It is perhaps the case that Frank may have been the pompous scholar at one time, but Carell is rather affecting in portraying a man who probably received more humility than he needed to in a short amount of time. 

Carell's role is mostly rather muted during the film since Frank is often a passive character. Carell though never simply fades into the background though and his reactions are never wasted when he is part of the group. Carell is excellent by quietly conveying the improvement of Frank's mental health throughout the course of the film. It is not shown thrown obvious points of change but rather it is a gradual process as the rest of the story unfolds. Carell handles this incredibly well actually as it always seems honest as Frank becomes more optimistic. It is mainly through reactions but the transformation is well handled from his complete despair found in his first shot to some rather poignant glimmers of happiness seen by the end. Carell best moment is when Frank finally seems to succeed in his attempt at giving wisdom when he advises Dwayne to do his best to stick it out despite his problems with his family. Carell offers a nice bit of honest warmth in the scene and suggests, despite not saying so, that Frank intends to the same as he advised. This is a strong performance by Steve Carell which actually proved his ability as a dramatic actor not long after he technically was even considered a movie funnyman.

Saturday, 20 December 2014

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2006

And the Nominees Were Not:

Mads Mikkelsen in Casino Royale

Michael Caine in Children of Men

Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland

Sergi Lopez in Pan's Labyrinth

Steve Carell in Little Miss Sunshine