Friday, January 22, 2016

In Character: 2015 Oscar Nominees Edition

For the third year in a row, I’m taking a brief look at the careers of every actor nominated for an Oscar this year. Below I pick my favorite roles for each nominee, and highlight the one that I consider the actors’ best. Do feel free to share your favorite performances by this year’s nominees as well!

BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Notable Roles: Seinfeld, Malcolm in the Middle, Drive, Contagion, Argo, Godzilla

Best Role: That would be Walter White, Breaking Bad. No brainer.

Matt Damon – The Martian
Notable Roles: Saving Private Ryan, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ocean’s Eleven, the Bourne films, The Departed, The Informant!, True Grit, Contagion

Best Role: Still have to go with Good Will Hunting. What a fearless announcement of a new star.

Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Notable Roles: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Titanic, Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, The Departed, Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Role: Tough, tough call. I’m still on a sugar high from The Revenant, and his Wolf of Wall Street performance gets better and better, but ultimately, I’m going to stick with the tortured Frank Wheeler from Revolutionary Road. For now.

Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Notable Roles: Hunger, Fish Tank, Inglourious Basterds, X-Men: First Class, Jane Eyre, Prometheus, Haywire, 12 Years a Slave, Macbeth

Best Role: Shame, every time.

Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl
Notable Roles: The Other Boleyn Girl, My Week with Marilyn, Les Misérables

Best Role: I’m still not over Redmayne beating Michael Keaton for the Oscar last year, but, alas, Redmayne’s performance in The Theory of Everything remains his best.

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Carol
Notable Roles: Elizabeth, The Aviator, Babel, Notes on a Scandal, I’m Not There, Blue Jasmine

Best Role: It always changes, because Blanchett keeps upping her game. I could literally pick any of the notable roles I mentioned as her very best.

Brie Larson – Room
Notable Roles: United States of Tara, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 21 Jump Street, Don Jon, Short Term 12, Trainwreck

Best Role: Larson is flawless in Short Term 12, but her best work is Room. I’ll be thrilled if Room earns her an Oscar this year.

Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Notable Roles: Like Crazy, X-Men: First Class, the Hunger Games films, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle

Best Role: Winter’s Bone, by miles.

Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Notable Roles: The Night Porter, Stardust Memories, Angel Heart, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Melancholia, Young & Beautiful

Best Role: What a legendary career. I’d probably go with her mysterious turn in Swimming Pool, but she was astounding in 45 Years as well.

Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Notable Roles: The Lovely Bones, Hanna, Byzantium, How I Live Now, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Lost River

Best Role: Briony Tallis from Atonement. What a vile little creature she was.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale – The Big Short
Notable Roles: Empire of the Sun, The Machinist, The Prestige, The Dark Knight trilogy, The New World, Rescue Dawn, Public Enemies, The Fighter

Best Role: Another one that changes depending on the day. I’ve always championed his under seen work in Rescue Dawn, but today I’m going with American Psycho, because there is never a bad reason to choose Patrick Bateman.

Tom Hardy – The Revenant
Notable Roles: Bronson, Inception, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Dark Knight Rises, Locke, Mad Max: Fury Road, Legend

Best Role: Right now, it’s an even split for me: Warrior and The Revenant.

Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Notable Roles: We Don’t Live Here Anymore, Collateral, Zodiac, The Kids Are All Right, The Avengers, Begin Again, Foxcatcher, Infinitely Polar Bear

Best Role: Ruffalo is one of our most reliable actors, which makes this choice a very difficult one. I’m going with his quietly explosive work in You Can Count On Me as his best. He’s absolutely unforgettable there.

Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Notable Roles: Intimacy, The Other Boleyn Girl, Anonymous

Best Role: I’m not terribly familiar with Rylance’s film/TV work, so I’ll go with his arresting turn from Bridge of Spies as his best.

Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Notable Roles: the Rocky series, the First Blood films, Over the Top, Cliffhanger, Get Carter, The Expendables films

Best Role: Sly is excellent in Creed, but if you haven’t seen his Freddy Heflin from Cop Land, then you haven’t seen the best that Stallone has to offer.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Notable Roles: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Rush, Short Cuts, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, eXistenZ, The Anniversary Party, Margot at the Wedding

Best Role: I’m so happy that Daisy Domergue earned Leigh her first (!) Oscar nomination, but her heartbreaking work in Georgia still wins out for me.

Rooney Mara – Carol
Notable Roles: The Social Network, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Side Effects, Her

Best Role: The fireball that is Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
Notable Roles: Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, Red Eye, Midnight in Paris, To the Wonder, Passion, A Most Wanted Man, Southpaw

Best Role: I can foresee the vitriol already, but the choice is easy for me: Ani Bezzerides from the second season of True Detective.

Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Notable Roles: A Royal Affair, Anna Karenina, The Fifth Estate, Ex Machina, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Burnt

Best Role: I loved her work in Ex Machina, but nothing prepared me for the power of her performance in The Danish Girl.

Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs
Notable Roles: Heavenly Creatures, Sense and Sensibility, Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Little Children, The Reader, Mildred Pierce, Contagion

Best Role: Sarah Pierce from Little Children will always hold a certain place in my heart, but, like Leo, I’m going with Winslet’s fearless work in Revolutionary Road as her best.

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45 comments:

  1. Very excellent post. In my opinion:

    Best Actor:
    Bryan Cranston- Trumbo (Haven't seen a lot of his film/TV work)
    Matt Damon- Good Will Hunting
    Leonardo DiCaprio- The Wolf of Wall Street
    Michael Fassbender- Shame
    Eddie Redmayne- Les Miserables

    Best Actress:
    Cate Blanchett- Blue Jasmine
    Brie Larson- Room
    Jennifer Lawrence- Winter's Bone
    Charlotte Rampling- 45 Years
    Saoirse Ronan- Brooklyn

    Best Supporting Actor:
    Christian Bale- American Psycho
    Tom Hardy- Locke
    Mark Ruffalo- Foxcatcher
    Mark Rylance- Bridge of Spies
    Sylvester Stallone- Creed

    Best Supporting Actress:
    Jennifer Jason Leigh- Anomalisa
    Rooney Mara-The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
    Rachel McAdams- Mean Girls (Love her in whatever she does, but she'll always be Regina George to me.)
    Alicia Vikander- Ex Machina
    Kate Winslet- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    Great stuff as always!

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    1. Thanks man!

      Nice picks. Cool that we have so many in common, especially Lawrence, Bale and Mara. Love your pick for Leigh. I mean, if there was ever a voice to fall in love with...

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    2. Anomalisa is actually one of the few films of JJL I've seen. That's kind of why I picked her work there.

      *Also, on a side note, I'm still not over Keaton losing to Redmayne.

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    3. I'll never get over that Redmayne win. Still very surreal to me that he won it.

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    4. It's surreal that he even got nominated for The Danish Girl. To me, he was so tic-y and unnatural. The fact he got in over names like Jacob Tremblay, Michael B. Jordan, Jason Segel, and freaking Ben Mendelsohn is a slap in the face imo.

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    5. Yeah I don't get it either. I did like Vikander in the film, but his performance, and the movie in general, were so bland to me. I still feel the same way about The King's Speech as well.

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  2. Let's see:

    Best Actor:
    Bryan Cranston-Drive (haven't seen a lot from him)
    Matt Damon-The Informant!
    Leonardo diCaprio-The Wolf of Wall Street (I WILL NOT DIE SOBER!!!!)
    Michael Fassbender-Shame
    Insipid Wanker-The Theory of Everything (He stole Keaton's Oscar and if he steals Leo's Oscar, this motherfucker will do a Stone Cold Stunner on his Roody-Poo Candy-Ass. I'm convinced he stole Jacob Tremblay's nomination)

    Best Actress:

    Cate Blanchett-I'm Not There
    Brie Larson-Room
    Jennifer Lawrence-Winter's Bone (She's not insufferable)
    Charlotte Rampling-Under the Sand
    Saoirse Ronan-Hanna

    Best Supporting Actor:

    Christian Bale-American Psycho
    Tom Hardy-Bronson
    Mark Ruffalo-The Avengers
    Mark Rylance-Intimacy (See it, it's pretty intense as he actually gets his dick sucked by Kerry Fox in that film)
    Sylvester Stallone-Demolition Man

    Best Supporting Actress:

    Jennifer Jason Leigh-Rush
    Rooney Mara-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    Rachel McAdams-Spotlight
    Alicia Vikander-Ex-Machina
    Kate Winslet-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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    1. "Insipid Wanker" bahhahahahha. Literally laughed out loud. Holy shit, hilarious. Love your pick for Blanchett, she's so good in that role. I also had no idea people liked Lawrence's Winter's Bone role as much as I did.

      I have seen Intimacy once, it was definitely intense shit.

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    2. That was before she became J-Law and becomes this insufferable, overrated bitch. I should've corrected that.

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    3. Haha well, she clearly has talent, but Russell does not exploit it well in my opinion.

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    4. YES at that Redmayne hate :D

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  3. Wonderful post! Love the mentions for Swimming Pool, Little Children, and You Can Count On Me, and TD S2. Here are my own choices:

    Best Actor-

    Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad, but I have such a soft spot for his Hal in Malcolm in the Middle.
    Matt Damon - The Talented Mr. Ripley, a performance and film no one talks about enough.
    Leonardo DiCaprio - What's Eating Gilbert Grape
    Michael Fassbender - Shame. So powerful.
    Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything (Still not over this win)

    Best Actress-

    Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine, but Carol is a *very* close second.
    Brie Larson - Room, but I have very fond memories of Short Term 12 and United States of Tara.
    Jennifer Lawrence - Joy. Despite the age thing, I absolutely loved her here.
    Charlotte Rampling - How can I choose?! So many, but 45 Years ultimately wins out for me. Her final scene, fuck, how does she do it?
    Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn, though her Briony Tallis is masterful.

    Best Supporting Actor-

    Christian Bale - American Psycho
    Tom Hardy - Locke
    Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
    Mark Rylance - Intimacy
    Sylvester Stallone - Creed

    Best Supporting Actress-

    Jennifer Jason Leigh (finally!) - Georgia
    Rooney Mara - Carol. As with Blanchett and the rest of the cast, I feel like if you pause the film at any moment, you'll find so much rich emotion and detail in their faces. Beautiful.
    Rachel McAdams - Mean Girls, Regina George is iconic. So happy she's an Oscar nominee.
    Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina
    Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But really, what a career.

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    1. Great stuff! Love that we agree on Leigh... Georgia, goddamn, what a performance. Also great to see Shame make the cut!

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  4. I like that you picked True Detective S2 for Rachel. I didn't hate that nearly as much as most people seemed to. It wasn't a bad season, it just didn't live up to the incredibly high expectations S1 set.

    I agree with a lot of the Bests you picked except Jennifer Lawrence, I liked her in SLP better. For Blanchett, easily Notes on a Scandal for me. For Ruffalo, probably Infinitely Polar Bear now.

    Yessss to Breaking Bad and Shame!

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    1. I really did love what McAdams did in TD S2. I watched some of it again recently and she was so perfectly cold. Glad you're cool with that choice!

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  5. This is always fun to do every year, even if i don't agree with all of the nominations. This year especially. I mean, was really Christian Bale in The Big Short better than Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation or Walton Goggins in The Hateful Eight? I didn't even think he was the best part of that movie. Ryan Gosling stole it for me, but still, here are my choices.

    Best Actor:
    Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad (No question about that, but i do love his work on Malcolm in the Middle as well. Hal will always be my favorite TV dad.)
    Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting
    Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained (I still can't believe he didn't even get nominated for that one)
    Michael Fassbender - Inglourious Basterds (It's a small role, but he absolutely steals the movie for me.)
    Eddie Redmayne - Jupiter Ascending (Funniest performance of the year.)

    Best Actress:
    Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
    Brie Larson - Room (She has to win this year. None of the other choices comes close for me.)
    Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone (Still the only role i believe she deserved a nomination for)
    Charlotte Rampling - Never Let Me Go (Going through her Imdb, i noticed i haven't really watched a lot of her work, but i liked her in this one.)
    Saoirse Ronan - Hannah

    Best Supporting Actor:
    Christian Bale - American Psycho (I have to return some videotapes.)
    Tom Hardy - Legend (As great as he was in The Revenant, this was the performance of the year from him in my opinion.)
    Mark Ruffalo - Collateral (He is playing so much against type here that i didn't even recognize the first few times i watched it. He has never been cooler.)
    Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies (Like with Charlotte Rampling, i haven't really seen much from him, but he was great in Bridge of Spies.)
    Sylvester Stallone - Rocky (This was never even a question for me. I grew up with the Rocky movies and it's probably my favorite movie franchise of all time. I even enjoy the bad ones. So i'm really happy he is finally getting some Oscar attention again for this role, but he will never top the first one.)

    Best Supporting Actress:
    Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight (Maybe it's because the movie is still so fresh in my mind, but i thought she was fantastic in this movie. And it was about damn time she got nominated.)
    Rooney Mara - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (I'm still waiting for that sequel they have been promising since it's release.)
    Rachel McAdams - Mean Girls (Get in loser, we're going shopping.)
    Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina (I have not seen The Danish Girl, but i definitely think this is the movie she should have been nominated for. That ending still gives me chills.)
    Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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    1. Dude, I mean, we all love Bale, but that nom is baffling. I really don't get it at all. That performance was so slight. Definitely not better than Elba or Goggins (or Schreiber or Mitchell or Del fucking Toro).

      Love that you picked Basterds for Fass. He really does steal his portion of the film.

      It's gotta be Larson this year. Gotta be.

      Collateral! Yes! The slicked-back hair, the attitude, the way he goes down - fucking priceless.

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    2. Yeah, Bale is one of my favorite actors, but at no point during The Big Short did i think that was an Oscar worthy performance. He gets no love for movies like American Psycho, The Machinist or Rescue Dawn, but this one does it for the Academy? I really don't get them at times.

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  6. Great post! I loved Short Term 12, and I can't wait to see her in Room. It's going to be hard to top the novel -- in my mind -- but word on the street is that that's exactly what this film accomplished.

    So is this finally DiCaprio's year?

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    1. I'm so interested to hear what you think of Room!

      Yep, it has to be Leo's year. Has to.

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  7. John Smith: I kind of hated Redmayne in The Danish Girl, Vikander was great but he was insufferable.

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  8. I LOVE the appreciation for Revolutionary Road in your post. For some reason it appears to be hated by so many people but the performances in it were amazing - DiCaprio's rage reminded me so much of Brando. This should have at the very least bring him a nomination

    For me:

    Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad and Argo
    Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
    Matt Damon - The Departed
    Michael Fassbender - Shame
    Eddie Redmayne - eh....I guess he was less awful in Theory of Everything
    Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
    Brie Larson - Room
    Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
    Charlotte Rampling - Swimming Pool
    Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
    Christian Bale - American Psycho
    Tom Hardy - The Drop
    Mark Ruffalo - Begin Again
    Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
    Sylvester Stallone - Creed
    Jennifer Jason Leigh - Dolores Claiborne
    Rooney Mara -The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
    Rachel McAdams - YES! True Detective 2!
    Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
    Kate Winslet - Mildred Pierce

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    1. And it's DiCaprio's rage in that film that wins out for me. It's always there, brimming on the surface, ready to boil over. They really are both quite astounding in that film.

      Awesome about McAdams! Also nice Ruffalo pick... I didn't know that was your favorite of his. I love him in that film. "Babe" everything.

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  9. Great post. I love when you put these together. Haven't seen any of the nominated performances, yet, except one. For me...

    Best Actor:
    Cranston - Drive (I've never seen Breaking Bad)
    Damon - Good Will Hunting
    Di Caprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
    Fassbender - Shame
    Redmayne - The Theory of Everything

    Best Actress
    Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
    Larson - Short Term 12
    Lawson - Winter's Bone
    Rampling - Melancholia
    Ronan - The Lovely Bones

    Supporting Actor:
    Bale - American Psycho/The Fighter
    Hardy - Bronson
    Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
    Rylance - ???
    Stallone - Creed

    Supporting Actress
    Leigh - Fast Times at Ridgemont High
    Mara - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
    McAdams - Mean Girls
    Vikander - Ex Machina
    Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...but it could've been three others, too.

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    1. Thanks man!

      Rampling is so good in Melancholia. She makes you go, "Oh, so that's why her daughters are like that."

      And what a great pick for Leigh. I love her in that movie. Really quite a fearless performance.

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  10. Terrific post!

    As nice as it is that Jennifer Jason Leigh received a nomination at last I'd have saved my exclamation point for Charlotte Rampling who is 50 years into her career and finally got the nomination she was worthy of in her first substantial film role in Georgy Girl in 1966! Haven't had a chance to see 45 Years yet so my choice for her best performance is Swimming Pool though Under the Sand is an awfully close second.

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    1. Thanks. Needless to say, I think both Leigh and Rampling deserve exclamation points, not to mention nominations.

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  11. Love this. I'm so with you on Blanchett...how do you pick a best? Same with Winslet and Leo and Bale...that's the thing with great actors...they are great so often that there are so many to chose from.

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    1. Yep, exactly! And what a good dilemma that is to have.

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  12. Oh such a great list. Mine would look something like this...

    Best Actor:
    Bryan Cranston: Breaking Bad, no argument there.
    Matt Damon: Good Will Hunting, movie frickin blew me away (still does).
    DiCaprio: The Revenant, is it too early to call?
    Fassbender: Shame, still thank you for introducing this film to me.
    Redmayne: The Theory of Everything, I guess? (Still upset about him winning over Keaton last year as well)

    Best Actress:
    Blanchett: Babel still crushes me, love her in it (and everyone else)!
    Larson: Room, by quite a ways.
    Lawrence: Winter's Bone, I think it is her most mature work.
    Rampling: Melancholia, honestly haven't seen a ton with her.
    Ronan: Atonement, haven't seen Brooklyn yet, got a feeling that may be my favorite in the future.

    Best Supporting Actor:
    Bale: American Psycho, because Patrick Bateman and I've been listening to Bret Easton Ellis Podcast nonstop for the past week.
    Hardy: Warrior, so good.
    Ruffalo: Foxcatcher, all the way, adore that movie so damn much.
    Rylance: Wolf Hall, my brother forced me to watch it, was pretty good and so was Rylance in it.
    Stallone: Cop Land, Freddy is just a character I love to no end.

    Supporting Actress:
    Leigh: Hateful Eight, probably my favorite, early to call, but I've seen it 3 times and she just gets better and better.
    Mara: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, like the Swedish one more, but still love the American version, and Mara is so damn good in it.
    McAdams: Wedding Crashers, forgive me.
    Vikander: I have to go with Man from UNCLE by default, but I didn't like the movie, like not at all. Just haven't seen her in anything else. Been meaning to get around to Ex Machina though.
    Winslet: Revolutionary Road, Steve Jobs is damn close though.

    Haven't been around much, college is busy I figured out, but this and your recent lists are all really great. I'll visit them with a comment hopefully soon. Keep up the fantastic work!

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    1. Dude. DUDE! It is insane how similar our picks are! That's blowing my mind. You have no idea how happy it makes me that I not only introduced you to SHAME, but that you liked it as well. That movie really changed me.

      So happy WARRIOR is your Hardy pick as well. So, so good. I still need to see The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but maybe no rush haha.

      Thanks so much for the comment. Hope school is going well!

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  13. Great post!

    I also love DiCaprio's performance as Frank Wheeler. The moment he starts running after the hospital scene moved me to tears. I was literally sobbing on the theatre. Now that I think about it, it had the same emotional impact on me as the Brandon crying scene on Shame, when he leaves the hospital after seeing his sister and he starts to cry on the dock. Talking about Fassbender, I don't know if you've seen him in the short film Pitch Black Heist. Liam Cunningham and him are awesome on it.

    Really glad to see your mention of Stallone on Cop Land and McAdams' performance in True Detective. I still can't believe the Hollywood Foreign Press didn't nominate her and Colin Farrell for True Detective. I rewatched the whole season during the Christmas holidays 'cause there was a marathon in a Spanish channel and good lord, they were amazing, so terrible only a few of us appreciated it. Oh and talking about things that seriously annoyed me, I also can't believe Keaton didn't win that Oscar. Thanks God they gave Birdman other awards. I also think that Ed Norton should have won. He was perfect as Mike Shiner. His moments with Keaton and Emma Stone (another one who deserves some big award soon) were priceless.

    I agree with pretty much all your other choices. Maybe for Kate Winslet I would have mentioned her performance in Holy Smoke too. And for Christian Bale, another one of my favorite actors, I also love his Bateman for many reasons, but one role that surprised me, as I didn't expect much from the film, was his performance in Harsh times. Same with Mark Ruffalo in Begin Again, he was really cool in that film.

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    1. I gotta find Pitch Black Heist ASAP now! Thanks for letting me know about it!

      So glad you like my picks. I love that you enjoyed that second season of True Detective. I thought that thing got so unfairly shit on. Also love that you enjoy Stallone in Cop Land.

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  14. This is great, Alex!

    I never got into Breaking Bad (whoops) so I'll go with Malcolm in the Middle for Cranston, for the nostalgia. Leo's best was probably Shutter Island for me. I know how much you love Shame, I love Fassy in Prometheus, but he's been great in so much too.

    Complete agreeance about Atonement for Ronan as well as Tom Hardy in Revenant.

    I thougth Mark Rylance was so outstanding in Bridge of Spies and it's a shame he'll probably lose to Stallone. I hadn't seen him in anything else which probably explains his lack of actual wins this award season.

    I think I might go and watch every film Rooney Mara has been in, as I seem to love them all just for her!

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    1. Thanks man! Fass is spectacular in Prometheus. I still think he's the only actor who could've pulled that off. Rooney is soooo good in everything. She's the best, so emotive.

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  15. ^^^^ I meant Tom Hardy in Warrior!! One of my favourite films of all time haha

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  16. YAY! So glad you did this again, man. Amazing work!

    My picks would be:

    Best Actor:
    Bryan Cranston - Drive (Not seen Trumbo yet, and one of these days I'll watch Breaking Bad.)
    Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting (or maybe The Talented Mr. Ripley)
    Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
    Michael Fassbender - Shame
    Eddie Redmayne - Les Miserables

    Best Actress:

    Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth (I guess??)
    Brie Larson - Room
    Jennifer Lawrence - Joy (Yep, I LOVE that she got nominated for this performance.)
    Charlotte Rampling - Stardust Memories (Not seen 45 Years yet.)
    Saoirse Ronan - Atonement (But I could go with Brooklyn tomorrow.)

    Best Supporting Actor:

    Christian Bale - American Psycho (Rescue Dawn and Empire of the Sun are THIS close.)
    Tom Hardy - Locke
    Mark Ruffalo - Infinitely Polar Bear
    Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
    Sylvester Stallone - Rocky Balboa (Every bit as good, if not better, than his work in Creed. Still haven't seen Cop Land though.)

    Best Supporting Actress:

    Jennifer Jason Leigh - Georgia
    Rooney Mara - Carol (Honorable Mention: Side Effects)
    Rachel McAdams - The Family Stone (Or maybe A Most Wanted Man. Going to watch True Detective S2 soon.)
    Alicia Vikander - Testament of Youth (Could also go with Ex Machina.)
    Kate Winslet - Sense and Sensibility (At the moment.)

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    1. Awesome man - great picks! So cool that we have so many in common. I totally agree that Sly is as good in RB as he is in Creed!

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  17. I just love Alicia Vikander, she's so talented.

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    1. Completely agree. Looks like she's going to win this year too. I thought Mara would have had a better chance.

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    2. I must apologise for not being on your blog a lot, I will change that as your material is great. You're always welcome on mine.

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    3. All good. I've been so busy with life, I haven't been posting much lately. But I'll swing by your site soon!

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