BEST ACTOR
5. Christian Bale, AMERICAN HUSTLE: It’s amazing that Christian Bale places 5th on this list. He easily couldn’t have even been nominated, that’s how stacked this year has been (with Robert Redford, Michael B. Jordan and Tom Hanks dumped) for the acting categories. I think he gets more credit than necessary to gain weight, but Irving is one of the few characters in AMERICAN HUSTLE with an arc, and after such an awful start, he somehow manages to make us root for and like him, an incredible feat with that comb over.
4. Bruce Dern, NEBRASKA: I’m so happy for this character actor, and that one of his few leading roles has netted him his first Oscar nomination after 53 years. And, while it’s not only a great “story,” he deserved it, taking on Woody, a mentally addled boozer and crappy father clinging to the thought that he could be a winner. For more of my thoughts on Dern and the film, check out my review.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET: He absolutely needs and will get an Oscar at some point in his career, and this is easily my favorite performance of his (outside of perhaps CATCH ME IF YOU CAN). This movie is just a Leo showcase, where there are no rules, or he breaks all of them. Each one of his speeches are just incredible, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS worthy moments where you almost don’t want the worst things to happen to Jordan Belfort, for like a moment. And…quaaludes:
I almost want to put him at #1 or #2 after watching that again, but that’d be silly.
2. Matthew McConaughey, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB: Alright alright alright. The McConaissance is everywhere (and oh so wonderfully real) right now, with TRUE DETECTIVE being the most talked about thing in pop culture, and it’s really just unbelievable for a guy that was in a rut that included SAHARA, FAILURE TO LAUNCH, HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST and SURFER, DUDE. Then he just decided to be “the special” (the potential of which exists in all of us), and we’re just l-i-v-i-n right along with him.
1. Chiwetal Ejiofor, 12 YEARS A SLAVE: Pick any moment of this film and you’ll be struck by the emotion, frustration, despair and determination in Chiwetal’s Solomon Northup. Just look at his face. He’s on the brink of broken for 12 years…but he never breaks. Every scene there’s a moment that will get you, but what gets me the most, is that after all this time, after his ordeal, when he returns to his family, all grown up…he APOLOGIZES. It kills me, and Ejiofor has nothing to apologize for after his inspiring work.
Next: Best Director, or the guy who doesn’t hold the camera but gets all the credit.