It's that time of year when we have to start taking stock of the year and prepping all that delicious Year in Review nonsense that goes on forever (aka 2 months at least). I can't help myself with the listing from December through January (and sometimes beyond). We already surveyed impossible ballot decisions when it comes to the women. So now it's time for the men. I thought about delaying this another week since the great remaining unseens for me are male-centric. I'll see Out of the Furnace, American Hustle and Wolf of Wall Street all within the next 8 days and will try and catch up with Rush, too... if only because, generally speaking, I adore Mr Daniel Brühl.
We'll start with the weakest of the four acting quadrants both historically speaking and this year, too. Even in this meager list of 12 men I'm considering (before those last four key films) two of them are arguable leads...
SUPPORTING ACTOR - my longlist ballot
in no particular order
- Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
- Chris Cooper, August: Osage County
- James Franco, Spring Breakers
- Keith Stanfield, Short Term 12
- Ryan Gosling, The Place Beyond the Pines
- Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
- Sergio Hernández, Gloria
- Tom Hanks, Saving Mr Banks
- Colin Farrell, Saving Mr Banks
- Ben Foster, Lone Survivor
- James Gandolfini, Enough Said
- Elyes Aguis, The Past
I'm misleading you a little. I'm not really considering all 12 since I've mostly narrowed it down to the actual nominees with the full knowledge that the future screening of The Wolf of Rushing Furnace Hustles could well make me start all over. But I'm posting a 12 wide chart for symmetry's sake.
Immediately after doing the chart I began to wonder whether I should be accepting the (convenient) campaign notion that Gandolfini and Hanks are supporting players in their films. It's true that both of those films are ABOUT their female lead but both men are crucial to their movies. I'm not sure who started the weird oft-repeated rumor that took hold this summer that Hanks is not in much of Saving Mr Banks but they were lying to us all. His scenes are sometimes short and maybe the actual minute count is limited but its impactful screentime. It's the sunny version of the Hopkins/Hannibal situation from 1991. The story is about the woman but it just cannot exist without him poking at it and her continually during the running time.
BEST ACTOR - my longlist ballot
in no particular order and i went crazy here with inclusiveness (20 instead of 12) because we dont talk about actors enough and there was just SO MUCH good work by leading men this year. Recognize!
- Paul Eeenhoorn, This is Martin Bonner
- Michael B Jordan, Fruitvale Station
- Robert Redford, All is Lost
- Bruce Dern, Nebraska
- Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
- Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
- Tye Sheridan, Mud
- Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight
- Jake Gyllenhaal, Prisoners (campaining as supporting)
- Gael Garcia Bernal, No (not eligible for Oscar despite a 2013 release)
- Joaquin Phoenix, Her
- Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips (campaigning as supporting)
- Miles Teller, The Spectacular Now
- Jude Law, Side Effects
- Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyer's Club
- Israel Broussard, The Bling Ring
- Will Forte, Nebraska
- Hugh Jackman, Prisoners
- Ali Mosaffa, The Past
- Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
and you, dear readers?