Bradley, Benedict, Eddie, Michael and Steve. OR...
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 12:57PM 
The Best Actor chart is revised for your perusal with our usual game of 'how'd they get nominated' -- especially relevant in this stacked category (sniffle goodbye Timothy Jake Fiennes-Oyelowo) -- and the readers poll of who you think is actually best.
So check that out and vote, would you?
Though I've already expressed my disappointment in the Acdemy's shortlist given the wide variety of strong performances they didn't love enough, one thing that is satisfying about it is how many first timers we have. Indeed, had they not nominated Bradley Cooper and chosen, say, Oyelowo or Spall we could have had an all virgin Best Actor lineup.
Trivia Break: there's been a lot of talk about Cooper's 3 consecutive nominations (2012-2014 for Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and American Sniper). If you're curious, no, it's not an acting record. The all time consecutive record holders for men are Marlon Brando (51-54) and Al Pacino (72-75) each with four. Neverthless Bradley is the first to accomplish it since Russell Crowe (99-01) and if he is nominated again for this new year of film we're entering he'll be tied for #1 in the male division. Greer Garson (41-45) and Bette Davis (38-42) are the all time record holders with five consecutive acting nominations each. You can wish Cooper good luck if you're a fan but four consecutive is extremely rare; the last person to do it male or female was Al Pacino in the 1970s and even Meryl Streep hasn't managed it.
Enough trivia. I hope you haven't forgotten my own kudos. Here is my ballot for Best Actor as we continue the Film Bitch Awards (nominations have now been announced for Picture, Director, Screenplays, Animated Feature, and Actor)
For what it's worth I made my selections before Oscar votes and didn't expect the final list to be so contrary to mine so this is not to be misunderstood as a pointed corrective but actual opinion. The further we get away from the heat of nomination day the more sad I am that the wondrous "Gustave H", one of the best character conjurings in years, was not selected. In fact, I think it's Ralph Fiennes most Oscar-worthy work since Schindler's List.
Reader Comments (40)
And the Oscar for worst baby in a movie goes to....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLwAcU0bYl0
I too miss Fiennes. Such beautiful work and better than Steve Carroll. But since Steve won't win, it is a bit of a moot point. I think Keaton will take it. All I remember of Eddie is the mimicry, but Riggan keeps coming back to me. I thought he nailed the suicide scene which could have gone off the rails so easily and that scene with Duncan was terrific. Lindsey could chew up and spit out most any actor and he held his own while balancing the bluster with the vulnerability.
Nat: Well, it's actually probable that Cooper is getting that fourth consecutive acting nod. He's in Joy on last report.
I completely agree with your Best Actor lineup, and I also agreed last year when you placed Tom Hanks' quietly mesmerizing turn in Captain Phillips in there too. Thank God that you left out Steve Carell! Yes, it wasn't the normal Steve Carell in the film, but it doesn't mean it's great acting. He completely failed in producing any type of empathy for a character that desperately needed a lot of it. Plus, I seriously don't get why anyone would wanna live in that estate after meeting him (or at least Steve's version of DuPont), it was borderline Stanley Tucci in Lovely Bones: a one-dimensional weirdo and an acting travesty.
For all the talk about what an amazing Best Actor year this was, I would argue that this category turned out to be weaker than Best Actress.
My ballot is pretty similar to yours, Nat. I don't understand how AMPAS members resisted nominating a historical figure as prominent as Martin Luther King (which I always figured would be catnip for them), especially with such a deserving performance as this one. It's also a bummer that Ralph Fiennes snubbed, since they were obviously pretty high on Grand Budapest Hotel (I find it less surprising though, it's a comic performance after all).
I do agree it's exciting that most of these are first-time nominees. The funny thing is, I would have nominated Steve Carrell 8 years ago for Little Miss Sunshine (that was the performance that made me a fan of his), so to me it's a shame that Foxcatcher is one of the performances I liked the least from him (I hate being in that position). Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne are both terrific in these performances (both of these films have become the season's punching bags for being "prestige British biopics", but both films do so much right, particularly in terms of their performances, that I don't mind their nominations, even if I wouldn't personally vote for them).
I thought Fiennes would get in on the basis that his performance did the heaviest lifting in a movie that Oscar might have found too quirky. As it turned out, the movie was just dandy for them so they didn't feel the need to single out his performance. No idea WTF happened to Oyelowo.
I was disappointed by Steve Carrell's nomination. I don't like his performance very much. I do love Fiennes. I thought Keaton was fine in Birdman but he is far from my favorite performance in this category. I want it to go to Redmayne for saving a film from being a total sob fest. I don't care if he's young. He's not that young.
This is an excellent lineup.
I still can't believe how terrible this category turned out to be... Your picks, on the other hand, are as inspired as always.
I was surprised to see Redmayne on your list, but I haven't seen Theory of Everything yet so...
My personal Best Actor ballot: Fiennes, Keaton, Oyelowo, Spall, Tatum.
Of the actual nominees, I'd vote for Carrell, but if I could, I'd put him in supporting. Tatum deserves a best actor nod -- he's the true revelation in that film, doing very delicate and varied work and carrying the film on his delicious shoulders.
Other unsung performances: Gleason in "Frank," Kuhnke in "Force Majeure," Hoffman in "A Most Wanted Man," Blair in "Blue Ruin."
My ballot:
Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, though I almost typed Enemy)
Isaac (A Most Violent Year not The Two Faces of January)
Keaton (Birdman not RoboCop)
Oyelowo (Selma although I hear that Nightingale...)
Teller (Whiplash not That Awkward Moment)
Of the nominees, I find Redmayne to be the most impressive (reluctantly, I might add, due to the built-in "give me an Oscar!" bait factor in the role). His is a technical marvel of a performance that loses none of its humanity in its attention to mechanics. Still, there's a certain earnestness to the performance that occasionally took me out of it. I'm thinking of his moony stares at Felicity Jones and a general default to charming/cute when I think the real Hawking was quite a bit more abrasive. It's a tough balance to strike, but there were times where Redmayne slid into a kind of Tropic Thunder-style "Simple Jack" and my sense of Hawking was completely lost.
Keaton wrangled a spastic tone with admirable aplomb. Cooper nailed the physicality and vocal cadences of a hardened-over military man; I wish a few more dots had been connected. Cumberbatch committed to the abrasiveness of his character, but really overplayed it. His "but my machine!" histrionics turned a focused/committed-at-all-costs character into a parody, and the performance deserves just as much flak as has been aimed at the screenplay for its shyness around Turing's sexuality. There were opportunities to imply a sexual life with the characterization, but Cumberbatch played him as a eunuch from the beginning. And Carell... I look forward to revisiting the performance. I don't think it fully overcomes the affectations, but the interplay between its stylized nature and the grounded naturalism of a Mark Ruffalo was fascinating. And he manages to play an inherently unknowable man without becoming a cipher. I suspect esteem for Carell's achievement will rise over the years, and his nom will look better in retrospect than it feels right now.
Paul Outlaw: Robocop, LOL.
I wish Fiennes had went Supporting. He'd so easily have gotten in over Duvall!!
I'm okay with Keaton winning, especially given the nominees - but I think Fiennes and Jake G. were the best of the year.
I really hope Keaton doesn't lose this. I keep reading articles about "voters" being turned off by his speeches...what a joke this whole thing is. Like, watch the movie!
My ballot:
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nifghtcrawler
Bill Hader, The Skeleton Twins
Michael Keaton, Birdman
So we share three. Pretty good. Was sad to cut Spall and Cumberbatch in particular, among others.
Nathaniel, love your lineup. My Best Actor ballot: Keaton, Oyelowo, Gillenhaal, Isaac, Boseman. There were so many I had to leave out, I think this year is even more crowded than last year.
Oscar trivia: On the women's side, the ladies who earned nominations four consecutive years were Jennifer Jones, Thelma Ritter and Elizabeth Taylor.
I'm still stunned that Greer and Bette got five in a row. That's pretty cool.
My ballot:
Carrell - Foxcatcher
Fiennes - TGBH
Keaton - Birdman
Serkis - DOTPOTA
Teller - Whiplash
But could you please tell us who won gold medal last year?
After snubbing towering performances by Fassbender, Shannon, Trintignant or Hanks, I'm not that surprised with the insipid list we got.
I still think that Eddie is the favorite, but I'm sure that Keaton will win the SAG so maybe I'm being completely foolish.
I think my ballot would be something like: Boseman, Fiennes, Keaton, Redmayne, and Tatum, with apologies to Oyelowo and Gyllenhaal (and Spall, who I haven't seen yet).
I think Timothy Spall's was the best performance of the year, but Keaton is a close second for lead male performances. Will be thrilled with a win.
RJ, ITA about Cumberbatch. There were so many decisions he could have made to make that character more interesting, but he went the timeworn pedestrian route. Actually, his costars Knightly, Dance and Strong totally outact him, it's almost embarrassing. A completely undeserved nomination.
I'm in love with your lineup, Nate!
My Ballot, right now (haven't seen :
Ben Affleck, Gone Girl (I like Affleck, he does the part well, I never felt embarrassed about his choices, even if he doesn't risk much. Certainly far above Daredevil.) - 5th
Chris Evans, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (I know it's a reprise. I don't CARE. Great acting is great acting and WHERE it comes from shouldn't matter.) - Silver
Michael Keaton, Birdman (It's funny, and he does help the film out, but I can't help think of it as a bit EASY because of the concept, though it is still harder than Norton's (I lean on Zack G and Emma Stone as the best in show of the movie, to be honest, because those characters have the least to do with their star personas.)) - 4th
David Oyelowo, Selma (If I was someone who was more of a fan of oration as an example of cinematic acting (which 40-50% of this part is), I'd probably hand it the win. I'm not, vastly preferring natural rapport between performers.) - Bronze
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy (Joyous, stylized, stretching, bulking, strangely soulful at points.) - Winner
I forgot to say that I haven't seen Spall, Boseman, Lithgow, Molina or Gyllenhaal. So, that ballot (and my overall top 12) might change.
I think Chris Evans should have gotten more attention for Snowpiercer. He was quite good.
brookesboy: Also haven't seen that, and if he's better in Snowpiercer, that might wind up becoming his bid for me.
My LEAD ACTOR ballot for 2014 was this:
Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"
Ralph Fiennes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"
Michael Keaton, "Birdman, or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance"
David Oyelowo, "Selma"
No room for either Benedict Cumberbatch or Eddie Redmayne in their cloyingly obvious Oscar bait films. "Mr. Turner" never arrived in my area. Sad since I'm always game for a Mike Leigh film. No interest in seeing "Foxcatcher" for Steve Carell. It hasn't made my area either. These five performances would have made an incredible lineup on all-time best lists. Fiennes's comic genius, Oyelowo's oratory fierceness, Keaton's meta comeback, Gyllenhaal's method starkness, and Cooper's physical intensity. Oh what could have been versus this dull, uninspired roster instead .
My ballot:
1. Fiennes
2. Teller
3. Tatum
4. Hoffman
I'm leaving #5 open because I haven't seen Isaac, Spall, Oyelowo, or Gyllenhaal yet... I'm pretty sure that at least one of them will rank with me.
The Fiennes omission makes me really, really sad. I believe he is the finest actor working today, but as Nathaniel has pointed out, the Oscars do not reward consistency.
Surprised, like other readers, to see Redmayne, not because he isn't worthy but because you are just so resistent to mimcry/biopics/disabilities. Still, he etches out Hawking's potent inner life so beautifully with his eyes.
My picks:
Broadbent, LE WEEKEND
Cooper, AMERICAN SNIPER
Fiennes, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Winner)
Keaton, BIRDMAN
Oyelowo, SELMA
Runners up: Cruise (Edge of Tomorrow), Stevens (The Guest), Hader (The Skeleton Twins), Hiddleston (Only Lovers Left Alive), Carell (Foxcatcher)
BVR - yeah, i surprised myself a little there too. But as the months since September wore on and seeing the film again, i didn't feel great denying him.
Ballot
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper- It's not a John Wayne role, more like a Bresson lead in a John Ford film.
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler- A vampiric tour de force. A film, with so many great things mind you, where I am not sure it would entirely work without him. He's good in Enemy too, but I think Sarah Gadon's emotionally resonant performance is as essential to that film working.
Joaquin Phoenix, The Immigrant and Inherent Vice- Such different characters and getting absolutely no credit for it. You can tell me he did better work with PTA and James Gray (I'll only agree with on you on Gray), but there is something impressive in the fact you know how many things he can do with his face and how differently he can go with his face, while still acting as two specifically different characters.
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel- The easiness in his performance is arguably what made the criticisms of Wes Anderson's mechanical, miniature scope really come alive for a lot of people (I'm a long-time Wes fan, but this feels more Old Hollywood turn than any of the other leads in his film). Such a wicked performance, full of a lot of class yet so much vulgarity. It has held on well so much.
Jack O'Connell, Starred Up- You cannot take your eyes off him. It is a bold, volatile performance that really should make him a movie star.
Others:
Tom Hardy, Locke
Jason Schwartzman, Listen Up Philip
John Lithgow, Love is Strange
Alfred Molina, Love is Strange
Stellan Skarsgard, Nymphomaniac
Nominee ranks.
1. Cooper >>>>>>>>>> 2. Keaton>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 3. Redmayne >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cumberbatch = Carell (but one should really be in supporting)
I gotta say, I think Tatum snuck up and ended up being my favorite male lead performance of the year but I wasn't surprised to see him almost uniformly snubbed in favor of Carell's award-bait and the competing mannered British biopics.
Ralph Fiennes' was certainly the most enjoyable tho. Should've been nominated for In Bruges, should've been nominated here.
I'll be happy to see Keaton win and hope that he does. There's a chance for a spoiler from Redmayne or Cooper but hopefully that's just all talk until Cate reads out his name.
OK, my 6-10 (sorry, gentlemen):
Broadbent
Fiennes
Hardy (Locke)
Phoenix (Vice)
Spall
...although I'm about to watch Starred Up...
Um, I look forward to the Film Bitch Awards almost more than the Oscars. At least here Hillary Swank doesn't have two Oscars.
This was an insane year in this category!!! My ballot, in rough order of preference:
01. Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
02. Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
03. David Oyelowo, Selma
04. Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice
05. Bill Hader, The Skeleton Twins
... with Keaton finishing a close #6. It's one of those rare years where I match 0/5 with the Oscar nominees!
Other honorable mentions: Jack O'Connell, Starred Up; Jason Schwartzman, Listen Up Philip.
Cumberbatch and Redmayne were great too, though I didn't think either of them was nomination worthy.
I'm yet to see Foxcatcher and Mr. Turner though, so I'm not sure how they will affect the ballot!
I still have a few movies to see, but I will definitely be including Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up!