After editing my ballot almost on a daily basis for months, I've managed to sort it out. The snubs kill me, but last year was a phenomenal one. Instead of doing a lengthy list of honorable mentions, I hope to have a list of the best performances (maybe a top 50?) posted soon.
As always, I haven't seen everything, but I've seen most of the big films. Here are some of the ones I still need to see: Wadjda, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Like Someone in Love, Gloria, Kill Your Darlings, The Invisible Woman, A Touch of Sin, Renoir, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Sightseers, The Angels' Share, Reality, The Kings of Summer, Caesar Must Die, A Hijacking, Prince Avalanche, Hannah Arendt, and Oz the Great and Powerful.
Note: Winners are in yellow. You can click on the images to enlarge them.
Updated: 7/22/15
Nice you nominate Stoker, Mads Mikkelsen, & "Young and Beautiful", which Academy overlooked.
ReplyDeleteSurprised by your best actress category, but agree with your win for Exarchopoulos-unforgettable performance.
Cool you have Xavier Dolan as director, the atmosphere he created in that film is masterful. More people should see it.
Thanks, Chris. I left a lot of great performances out of Best Actress, but I LOVE my lineup. Still, I could've easily nominated 10 performances.
DeleteYeah, Dolan did a great job. That film just missed my top 10, actually.
Those Gravity wins and that Lawrence Anyways win make me really happy (not to mention Dolan in directing). Great batch of winners for a truly extraordinary year in film!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad you dig those wins. I'm just glad Dolan did the costumes, so I could give him a win for the film. :)
DeleteI just realized that we share not a single Sup. Actor nominee! LOL, and I love your nominees. THIS is why I love our awards so much, because they are so different and yet I feel like the ones I can't reward you reward and visa-versa!
DeleteYeah, we're all over the place, and I LOVE it! It's great when we disagree, since your picks are always brilliant!
DeleteYaay for Leo and Adele and Gravity!
ReplyDeleteI have a list of favourite performances made in which I keep adding people with every film I see, and everytime someone moves out of my top 25 (had to increase it from 20), my heart dies a little, but it is what it is.
Yay! Glad you dig those choices.
DeleteYeah, it would be kinda pointless for me to do a top 25, since I mention 20 performances here. I'll have to do a top 50 at least. :)
Awesome to see Robbie and Mikkelsen nominated. Your win for McConaughey is so great, I cannot believe how underappreciated Mud is in Oscar season.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I know, right? Mud went absolutely nowhere. McConaughey was a nominee for me most of the year, and he became my winner after I rewatched some of his scenes recently. It's a performance that really stuck with me.
Deletegreat choices! I still need to see Out of the Furnace, but I'm glad you liked Casey Affleck in it!
ReplyDeleteThanks! That movie is so underrated. I loved the performances from Bale, Affleck and Saldana. Hope you get to see it soon!
DeleteI realized when I went to do this that while trying to catch up on previous years I missed a great deal from this year and 2014 which made this difficult to do but gives me much to catch up on.
ReplyDeletePicture:
About Time
Captain Phillips
Gravity-Winner
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave
We match in both picture and director! Gravity is indeed an impressive achievement.
Director:
Alfonso Cuaron-Gravity-Winner
Richard Curtis-About Time
Paul Greengrass-Captain Phillips
John Lee Hancock-Saving Mr. Banks
Steve McQueen-12 Years a Slave
Cuaron's achievement is so great that I have to say that I'm surprised the academy actually chose him as the winner since their record of getting it right is inconsistent at best.
Actor:
Chiwetel Ejofor-12 Years a Slave
Domhnall Gleeson-About Time
Jake Gyllenhaal-Enemy
Tom Hanks-Captain Phillips-Winner
Robert Redford-All is Lost
Just when I thought Hanks was heading into eclipse he delivered what I think is his best performance yet.
Actress:
Cate Blanchett-Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock-Gravity
Marion Cotillard-The Immigrant-Winner
Judi Dench-Philomena
Emma Thompson-Saving Mr. Banks
This was tight between Blanchett and Cotillard. Either is worthy but Cotillard was slightly more naturalistic so I went with her. I also love Emma Thompson's work as the prickly P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks
Supporting Actor:
Barkhad Abdi-Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper-American Hustle
Joel Edgerton-The Great Gatsby
Colin Farrell-Saving Mr. Banks-Winner
Bill Nighy-About Time
This was the hardest category for me since all these performances are strong but Farrell does amazing things in a brief period of time and I found myself thinking more about his performance afterwards more than any of the others.
Supporting Actress:
Sally Hawkins-Blue Jasmine
Margo Martindale-August: Osage County-Winner
Lupita Nyong'o-12 Years a Slave
Rachel Weisz-Oz, the Great and Powerful
Oprah Winfrey-The Butler
Oz is a lumbering showpiece with weak performances from all but Weisz who is so good it's like she flew in from another film. The Butler is far to episodic to be gripping but Oprah scores in her smallish role as Whitaker's wife. Blanchett is so expansive in Blue Jasmine it's a wonder that anyone can manage to capture your attention, that Hawkins does so easily shows how skillful she is. Nyong'o rightly won her category but I prefer Martindale's subtle work in the mess of Osage, as Weisz does she brushes off the sloppiness that surrounds her to create an powerful portrait of a woman in conflict.
Great picks. Hanks, Blanchett, Bullock, and Hawkins almost made my lineups, and I really liked About Time and Saving Mr. Banks. I have Enemy and The Immigrant in 2014, where they both score nominations.
DeleteHey man what's your Twitter? I wanna talk about movie stuff! :P
ReplyDeleteIt's @classicblanca. ;)
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