Best Actor Ranking

1. 1962
2. 1939
3. 1964
4. 2002
5. 1978
6. 1965
7. 1970
8. 1974
9. 1976
10. 1954
11. 1966
12. 1982
13. 1960
14. 1983
15. 1967
16. 1979
17. 1955
18. 2011
19. 1986
20. 1973
21. 1972 
22. 1994
23. 1940
24. 1950
25. 1963
26. 1975
27. 1952
28. 1980
29. 1953
30. 1959
31. 1987
32. 1977
33. 1968
34. 2006
35. 1938
36. 1969
37. 1992
38. 1961
39. 1971
40. 1956
41. 1951
42. 1984
43. 1943
44. 1958
45. 1948
46. 1998
47. 1999
48. 1988
49. 1944
50. 1936
51. 1946
52. 1957
53. 2007
54. 2005
55. 1942
56. 1947
57. 1993
58. 1981
59. 1989
60. 1995
61. 2004
62. 1937 
63. 2009
64. 1941
65. 1997
66. 1931
67. 1996
68. 1949
69. 2003 
70. 2010
71. 1990
72. 1945
73. 1985
74. 2001
75. 2008
76. 1991
77. 2000

1. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
2. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
3. Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
4. James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 
5. Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
6. Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
7. Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story (1999)
8. Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
9. George C. Scott in Patton (1970)    
10. Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
11. Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
12. Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
13. Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity (1953)
14. Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
15. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
16. Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
17. Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982)
18. Giancarlo Giannini in Seven Beauties (1976)
19. Edward Norton in American History X (1998)
20. Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter (1968)
21. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
22. Peter Finch in Network (1976)
23. Laurence Olivier in Sleuth (1972)
24. William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
25. Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter (1978)
26. Jack Nicholson in Ironweed (1987)
27. Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun (1951)
28. Laurence Olivier in The Entertainer (1960)
29. Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold (1965)
30. James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
31. Clark Gable Gone With the Wind (1939)
32. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
33. Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker (1965)
34. Kirk Douglas in Lust For Life (1956)
35. Laurence Olivier in Richard III (1956) 
36. Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall (1937)
37. Stuart Whitman in The Mark (1961)
38. Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961) 
39. William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)
40. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
41. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
42. Ernest Borgnine in Marty (1955)
43. Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973)
44. Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)
45. Michael Caine in Alfie (1966)
46. Jack Lemmon in Days Of Wine And Roses (1962)
47. Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
48. Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
49. Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973) 
50. Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
51. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
52. Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
53. Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)
54. Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob (1952)
55. Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt (2002)
56. Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
57. Laurence Harvey in Room at the Top (1959)
58. Spencer Tracy in A Bad Day At Black (1955)
59. Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek (1964)
60. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
61. Peter O'Toole in Becket (1964)
62. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
63. Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974)
64. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
65. Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
66. Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
67. Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2002)
68. Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008)
69. Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
70. James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes Washington (1939)
71. Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
72. Rod Steiger in The Heat of the Night (1967)
73. Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven (1992)
74. James Woods in Salvador (1986)
75. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
76. Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
77. James Dean in East of Eden (1955)
78. Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
79. Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights (1939)
80. Tom Wilkinson in In The Bedroom (2001)
81. Bob Hoskins in Mona Lisa (1986)
82. Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking (1995)
83. Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
84. Paul Newman in Hud (1963)
85. Richard Harris in This Sporting Life (1963)
86. Albert Finney in Tom Jones (1963) 
87. Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce Italian Style (1962)
88. Richard Burton in Becket (1964)
89. Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
90. Demian Bichir in A Better Life (2011)
91. Robert Donat in The Citadel (1938)
92. Charles Boyer in Gaslight (1944)
93. James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
94. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982)
95. Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
96. James Mason in A Star is Born (1954)
97. Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940)
98. Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939)
99. Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
100. Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)
101. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
102. Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)
103. Walter Huston The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
104. Michael Caine in Sleuth (1972)
105. Robert Duvall in The Apostle (1997)
106. Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
107. Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
108. Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (1993)
109. Walter Huston in Dodsworth (1936)
110. John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980)
111. Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960)
112. Laurence Olivier in Henry V (1946)
113. Nicolas Cage in Adaptation (2002)
114. David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
115. Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker (2009)
116. Kirk Douglas in Champion (1949)
117. Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper (1942)
118. Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
119. Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
120. Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises (2007)
121. Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
122. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004)
123. Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 
124. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
125. Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning (1988)
126. William Hurt in Children of Lesser God (1986)
127. Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond (1930)
128. Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952)
129. Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954)
130. Dudley Moore in Arthur (1981)
131. Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda (2004)
132. Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
133. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981) 
134. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
135. Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George (1994)
136. Charles Laughton in A Witness for the Prosecution(1957)
137. John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)
138. Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
139. Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools (1965)
140. Marcello Mastroianni in A Special Day (1977)
141. Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967)
142. Tom Hulce in Amadeus (1984)
143. William Powell in The Thin Man (1934)
144. Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar (1953)
145. Maximilian Schell in The Man in a Glass Booth (1975)
146. Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
147. Alexander Knox in Wilson (1944)
148. Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998)
149. Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000)
150. Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
151. Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
152. Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (1980)
153. James Stewart in Harvey (1950)
154. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
155. William Holden in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
156. Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010)
157. Daniel Day-Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993) 
158. Cary Grant in Penny Serenade (1941)
159. Leonardo DiCaprio Blood Diamond (2006)
160. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994)
161. Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001)
162. Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
163. Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
164. Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold (1997)
165. Alan Bates in The Fixer (1968)
166. Anthony Quinn in Wild is the Wind (1957)
167. Albert Finney in The Dresser (1983)
168. Albert Finney in Under The Volcano (1984)
169. Tony Curtis in The Defiant Ones (1958)
170. Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)
171. Sam Waterson in The Killing Fields (1984)
172. Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones (1958)
173. Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
174. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1943)
175. Brad Pitt in Moneyball (2011)
176. Russell Crowe in The Insider (1999)
177. Richard Harris in The Field (1990)
178. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
179. Topol in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
180. Colin Firth in A Single Man (2009)
181. Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
182. Clark Gable in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
183. Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan (1998)
184. Marlon Brando Last Tango in Paris (1973)
185. Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson (2006)
186. Richard Jenkins in The Visitor (2008)
187. Ryan O'Neal in Love Story (1970)
188. Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
189. Robert Downey Jr. in Chaplin (1992)
190. Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
191. Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
192. Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome (1979)
193. Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride (1950)
194. Dan O'Herlihy in Robinson Crusoe (1954)
195. Peter O'Toole in The Ruling Class (1972)
196. Paul Newman in A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
197. Roy Scheider in All that Jazz (1979)
198. Fredric March in A Star is Born (1937)
199. Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996)  
200. Jackie Cooper in Skippy (1931)
201. Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951)
202. Ronald Colman in Random Harvest (1942)
203. Kirk Douglas in The Bad and The Beautiful (1952)
204. Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)
205. Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year (1982)
206. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
207. Montgomery Clift in The Search (1948)
208. Richard Burton in Equus (1977)
209. Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy (1943)
210. William Holden in Network (1976)
211. Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1933)
212. Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient (1997)
213. William Powell in My Man Godfrey (1936)
214. Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
215. Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool (1994)
216. Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
217. Laurence Olivier in The Boys from Brazil (1978)
218. Ronald Colman in Condemned (1930)
219. Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man (1980)
220. Laurence Olivier in Othello (1965)
221. Peter O'Toole in Venus (2006)
222. Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York (2002)
223. Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989)
224. Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
225. Dustin Hoffman in Lenny (1974)
226. Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
227. Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
228. Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
229. Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
230. Michael Caine in The Quiet American (2002)
231. James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope (1970)
232. Marcello Mastroianni in Dark Eyes (1987)
233. Fredric March in The Royal Family of Broadway (1931)
234. Michael Caine in Educating Rita (1983)
235. Al Pacino in ...And Justice for All (1979)
236. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (2009)
237. James Franco in 127 Hours (2010)
238. Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day (1993)
239. Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953)
240. James Dean in Giant (1956)
241. Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City (1981)
242. William Powell in Life With Father (1947)
243. Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
244. Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot (1959)
245. Maurice Chevalier in The Love Parade (1930)
246. Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003)
247. Jude Law in Cold Mountain (2003)
248. Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
249. Rock Hudson in Giant (1956)
250. Charles Boyer in Algiers (1938)
251. Stephen Rea in The Crying Game (1992)
252. Tom Conti in Reuben, Reuben (1983)
253. Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007)
254. Jack Lemmon in Missing (1982)
255. John Garfield in Body and Soul (1947)
256. Ron Moody in Oliver! (1968)
257. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
258. Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty (1948)
259. Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)
260. Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
261. Charles Boyer in Conquest (1937)
262. Lew Ayres in Johnny Belinda (1948)
263. Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992)
264. Mac von Sydow in Pelle the Conqueror (1988)
265. William Hurt in Broadcast News (1987)
266. George C. Scott in The Hospital (1971)
267. Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
268. Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind (1960)
269. Woody Allen in Annie Hall (1977)
270. Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles (1966)
271. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
272. Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
273. Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
274. Al Pacino in Serpico (1973)
275. Trevor Howard in Sons and Lovers (1960)
276. James Cagney in Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
277. David Straithairn in Good Night and Good Luck (2005) 
278. Harrison Ford in Witness (1985)
279. Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver (1988)
280. Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
281. Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
282. Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
283. Alan Arkin in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
284. Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
285. Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
286. Tom Hanks in Big (1988)
287. Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
288. Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
289. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
290. Michael Redgrave in Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
291. Richard Barthelmess in the Patent Leather Kid (1928) 
292. Nick Nolte in Affliction (1998)
293. Peter O'Toole in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
294. Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz (1964)
295. Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms (1939)
296. Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
297. Charlie Chaplin in The Circus (1928)
298. Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)
299. Walter Matthau in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
300. James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
301. John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
302. Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
303. Paul Muni in The Valiant (1929) 
304. Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page (1931)
305. Denzel Washington in The Hurricane (1999)
306. Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog (1997)
307. Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
308. Alan Arkin in The Russians are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)
309. Spencer Tracy in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
310. Louis Calhern in The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
311. Paul Muni in The Last Angry Man (1959)
312. Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
313. Gregory Peck in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
314. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
315. Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
316. Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
317. Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd (2007)
318. Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
319. Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie (1943)
320. Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade (1996)
321. Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland (2004)
322. Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
323. Spencer Tracy in San Francisco (1936)
324. Johnny Depp in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
325. Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
326. Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
327. Franchot Tone in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
328. Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (2005)
329. John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
330. Paul Winfield in Sounder (1972)
331. Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge (1952)
332. George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
333. Anthony Hopkins in Nixon (1995)
334. Gerard Depardieu in Cyrano De Bergerac (1990)
335. Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
336. Cary Grant in None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
337. Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
338. Robert De Niro in Awakenings (1990)
339. Morgan Freeman in Invictus (2009)
340. Alfred Lunt in The Guardsman (1932)
341. Richard Todd in The Hasty Heart (1949)
342. Frank Sinatra in The Man With the Golden Arm (1955) 
343. Charles Boyer in Fanny (1961)
344. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
345. James Whitmore in Give 'Em Hell Harry! (1975)
346. George Arliss in The Green Goddess (1930)
347. Gregory Peck in The Yearling (1946)
348. Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991)
349. Ed Harris in Pollock (2000)
350. Gregory Peck in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
351. James Garner in Murphy's Romance (1985)
352. Maurice Chevalier in The Big Pond (1930)
353. Robert Montgomery in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
354. Sylvester Stallone in Rocky (1976)
355. George Clooney in Michael Clayton (2007)
356. Fredric March in Death of a Salesman (1951) 
357. Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
358. Geoffrey Rush in Quills (2000)
359. Walter Matthau in Kotch (1971)
360. Wallace Beery in The Big House (1930)
361.  Paul Newman in Absence of Malice (1981)
362. Frank Morgan in The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
363. Jeff Bridges in True Grit (2010)
364. Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls (2000)
365. Warren Beatty in Reds (1981)
366. Massimo Troisi in The Postman (1995)
367. Dan Dailey in When My Baby Smiles At Me (1948)
368. Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh (1945)
369. Ben Kingsley in The House of Sand and Fog (2003)
370. Robert De Niro in Cape Fear (1991)
371. Jon Voight in Runaway Train (1985)
372. Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides (1991)
373. Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
374. Marlon Brando in Sayonara (1957)
375. Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
376. Laurence Fishburne in What's Love Got To Do With It (1993)
377. Richard Burton in The Robe (1953)
378. Leslie Howard in Berkeley Square (1933)
379. Bing Crosby in Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
380. Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
381. Spencer Tracy in The Old Man and The Sea (1958)
382.  Chester Morris in Alibi (1929)
383. Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
384. Frank Langella Frost/Nixon (2008)
385. Dexter Gordon in 'Round Midnight (1986)
386. Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
387. Jack Lemmon in Tribute (1980)
388. Javier Bardem in Biutiful (2010)
389. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
390. Woody Harrelson in The People vs Larry Flynt (1996)
391. Larry Parks in The Jolson Story (1946)  
392. Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991)
393. Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow (2005)
394. Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
395. Robin William in Dead Poet's Society (1989)
396. Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
397. George Clooney in Up in The Air (2009)
398. Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
399. George Clooney in The Descendants (2011)
400. Cornel Wilde in A Song to Remember (1945)
401. Jeff Bridges in Star Man (1984)
402. Spencer Tracy in Captain Courageous (1937) 
403. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
404. Will Smith in Ali (2001)
405. Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
406. Sean Penn in I Am Sam (2001)
407. Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
408. Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004) 
409. Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
410. Anthony Franciosa in A Hatful of Rain (1957)
411. Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)

1. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
2. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
3. George C. Scott in Patton (1970)
4. Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
5. Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
6. Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
7. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
8. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
9. Peter Finch in Network (1976)
10. William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
11. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
12. William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)
13. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
14. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
15. Ernest Borgnine Marty (1955)
16. Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973)
17. Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
18. Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966)
19. Charles Laughton in The Private life of Henry VIII (1933)
20. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
21. Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
22. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
23. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
24. Jean Dujardin in The Artist (2011)
25. Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2004)
26. Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
27. Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
28. Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night (1967)
29. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
30. Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
31. Jon Voight in Coming Home (1978)
32. Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
33. Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
34. Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
35. Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
36. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
37. Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
38. Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
39. David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
40. Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
41. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
42. Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
43. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981)
44. Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
45. Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
46. Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
47. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
48. Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
49. Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
50. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy
51. Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
52. Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
53. Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
54. Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
55. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
56. Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
57. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
58. Al Pacino in The Scent of a Woman (1992)
59. Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
60. Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999)
61. Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
62. Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
63. Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
64. Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986)
65. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)
66. James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
67. Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
68. Paul Muni in The Story Louis Pasteur (1936)
69. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
70. Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
71. Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
72. Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
73. John Wayne in True Grit (1969)
74. George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
75. Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
76. Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
77. Tom Hanks Philadelphia (1993)
78. Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
79. Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
80. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
81. Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
82. Spencer Tracy in Captains Courageous (1937)
83. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
84. Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
85. Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004)

Missing:
Richard Barthelmess in The Noose
George Bancroft in Thunderbolt
Lewis Stone in The Patriot
Lawrence Tibbett The Rouge Song
Emil Jannings in The Way of All Flesh

Updated Video of All My Winners:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SI_mCwPB1A&feature=youtu.be

Read More

Best Actor 2011: Results

5. George Clooney in The Descendants- Clooney as usual for him fails to find conviction in his performance. He has a strange lack of consistency and has some very bad moments that are suppose to be his money scenes.

4. Brad Pitt in Moneyball- Brad Pitt gives a fine leading performance here that is effectively charming and entertaining.

3. Demian Bichir in A Better Life- Demain Bichir gives a heartfelt and incredibly moving performance that only ever relies on bringing out genuine emotions in every moment of his film.

2. Jean Dujardin in The Artist- Jean Dujardin gives simply a wonderful performance that is a unique achievement to behold. He never fails to entertain as well as create a powerful portrait despair as well it is truly great work.

1. Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Gary Oldman has the greatest of challenges with his almost emotionless part, yet he makes a compelling and very convincing characterization. His performance improves for me each time I have watched it. A very difficult decision to be sure and I certainly thought between these top two for quite a while. Both give superb performances, and again I have no real reason for picking Oldman over Dujardin, I think they are equally good in their challenging roles, but I am forced to pick one.

Deserving Performances
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard

Read More

Best Actor 2011: Demian Bichir in A Better Life

Demian Bichir received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Carlos Galindo in A Better Life.

A Better Life is a descent although far from perfect film about an illegal immigrant from Mexico who attempts to make a better life for his son.

Demian Bichir portrays an illegal immigrant from Mexico who lives in American earning a living through working on trees. Bichir early on shows Carlos just to be really an average but hard working man who honestly just wants to work hard for more. Bichir realistically shows just the right degree of exhaustion on his face to indicate that Carlos has been doing this for a long while. Although not tired in the sense that suggest he does not want to do before, just in the sense that he has been working hard.

Bichir has always a certain ease in the role that always supports the idea of Carlos' history as a worker and as a father. In the first scene with his son there is just a thoroughly natural quality to their scenes together.Their first together is special really because of just how ordinary they are with one another. They establish in their first scene as a father and son that is not the warmest but neither is the coldest. Bichir really characterizes it as less than it should be merely by the fact that Carlos is basically working most of the time and is simply too tired from that to devote the effort to deal with his son.

Bichir effectively brings us into his world with him, and through his simple but moving approach he makes Carlos an easy man to empathize with. He always shows that Carlos' hopes and dreams are genuine, and truly meaningful to him. Because of this honest approach when Carlos finally has the money to buy the equipment to run the tree service himself we are able to feel the joy of the success with him. The scene where he goes to show his son what he has finally achieved is one of the most genuinely heart warming moments I have seen in a recent film.  His happiness and pride in what he has gained is truly brought to life by Bichir.

Soon afterwards in the film Carlos' fortune quickly changes though when his truck is stolen suddenly. Bichir again sense he created such an honest portrait from the beginning of the film, this scene is made heartbreaking as we can really feel the loss right along with him. Bichir is terrific in these scenes because he really downplays it all to great effect. Bichir shows Carlos to really be a modest man and it would be incorrect for him to respond in some great outburst of anger, instead he very simply shows a sadness  in him, but Bichir always shows that Carlos never loses his determination though.

The later scenes of the film focuses on Carlos looking for what was stolen from him with his son, as well at the same time attempting to bond with his son. In these scenes the whole time I wished the actor playing Carlos' son was better, since Bichir is excellent and these scenes could have been great if Bichir had been equaled by his co-star. Bichir is extremely moving in these scenes as he shows Carlos' quiet attempts to try to reconnect with his son. Bichir never tries to force the emotional impact of these scene but rather brings them naturally with his genuine performance.

These scenes could have frankly fallen into overt sentimentality but Bichir never forces a moment. He shows that Carlos have a completely honest love for his son, and only wishes to try to connect with his son. Bichir presents this with a clear history with his son that is exceedingly moving. We feel with Bichir his whole struggle to reach his son, as well as his loss when he forced away from him. It is a very emotionally powerful portrait that always manages to bring the strength of everyone moment to it fullest.

Read More

Best Actor 2011: Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Jean Dujardin won his Oscar from his first Oscar nomination for portraying George Valentine in The Artist.

The Artist depicts the fall of a silent star and the rise of a talkie star.

Jean Dujardin is the first actor since Lewis Stone in the Patriot to be nominated for a silent film, and if he were to win he would be the first winner of that sort since Emil Jannings' two wins. Jean Dujardin has apparently reminded many people of silent stars like Douglas Fairbanks for example. I actually must disagree and say he actually reminded most of relatively early sound star Fredric March, and George  Valentine after all shares many similarities with Fredric March's character in A Star is Born, they are both originally popular romantic leading men and are eclipsed by a woman they helped get her start, and they both fall into an alcoholic despair over their loss of stardom although the eventual fates are considerably different although they come close to being the same.

For some reason I always felt Dujardin felt to me more like an early sound star than a truly silent star only because I suppose many silent stars tended to overact a lot, they weren't all Emil Jannings after all, and to me he gives a performance Fredric March sort of gives if you turn off the sound in their films, after all I just find that both Dujardin's and March's face of distress is exactly the same. Anyway though it is really better than Dujardin portrays the part in this manner rather than replicating some of the more dated aspects of the silent period, instead he finds a way to make the essence of the best qualities of old Hollywood.

In the first section of the film when George Valentine is still the great star Dujardin is just a ball of energy. He is about as charming as one could possibly be with the simple joy he shows in every moment as he performs. His smile is about as wide as a smile can be and he just is a bright spot on screen perfectly capturing the sort of charisma of a star of that period without ever making it feel like he is trying to merely imitate one of those stars either. He simply becomes the star which is an outstanding achievement to behold, and it is an essential element for the film itself.

After his fall from stardom which happens rather quickly George Valentine falls in despair. Dujardin excels in this part of his performance just as well as he did when George Valentine was on top, and actually Dujardin perfectly brings out the sadness in Valentine with performance by showing just what a difference there is between his happiness and sadness. It is true that Dujardin change is rather abrupt but it is entirely fitting since George Valentine's fall from stardom happens almost overnight.

Dujardin is extremely effective in his portrayal of the fallen Valentine who never falls in delusions like say Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd, instead he falls into deep despair over his loss. Dujardin is terrific in showing the slowly intensifying despair in his performance, and although silently he perfectly conveys everything that is going through George over every that he lost. There is a great intensity to Dujardin in these moments that brings to life just how troubled George Valentine has become, and he Dujardin effectively works toward the final climax of George's despair exceedingly well.

Dujardin throughout this film gives a compelling and entertaining performance that is easy to follow throughout  George Valentine's tribulations. I must say interestingly enough the part of his performance that I was at all disappointed by was, and this is a spoiler, when he finally does say his single line. The only reason is his single line is with his native french accent and I was perhaps a bit disappointed by this. Not that Dujardin says incorrectly or anything I just don't think the french accent fit the star he was the rest of the time, he just does not look like the successful sound french actors in type like Maurice Chevalier or Charles Boyer, he looks like Fredric March. This is really beyond even a nitpick though.

The artist is a film that really could have been either made or broken by its lead performance. Frankly it would have easy for the actor in this role to have just seemed like some sort of cheap imitation of an actor of the period the film depicts. Dujardin's magnificent performance though completely meets and overcomes all the obstacles of the part.  He simply is a star in this film he never lets you question it from a moment, and the idea that this is an entirely silent performance never matters for a moment. Dujardin brings just as much in fact far emotional power and even charm in his performance than many performances that never stop talking. Dujardin's work here is a truly unique achievement.

Read More

Best Actor 2011: Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Gary Oldman received his first Oscar nomination for portraying George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Tinker Tailor Soldier is an effective thriller about the search for a Soviet double agent at the very top of the British intelligence agency.

Until just a few days ago Gary Oldman was often regarded as one of the most notable actors never nominated for an Oscar. The interesting part is Oldman who became notable early in his career for rather broad performances in films received a nomination finally for the most restrained performance of his career. I suppose the academy wanted him to calm down or something. It is also interesting that the many times broad Oldman not only gives his most restrained and understated performance, but also I would say the most understated performance ever nominated in the category. Yes even more understated than Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies, or Richard Farnsworth in the Straight Story.

It must be a great achievement of sorts for Oldman to have been recognized for such a restrained performances, since the academy often prefers louder performances with at least one scene. It is also notable that Oldman I believe is only the second actor to be nominated for portraying a spy role, the first being Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, also based on a John Le Carre novel, which also features George Smiley but in a supporting role. Burton portrayed a spy who was basically far past the end of his rope, Oldman on the other hand portrays Smiley who some how has been a spy so long that he is content enough with spy life that it does not seem to effect him really in any way.

Oldman has quite a challenge actually than to find a way to make Smiley a compelling character, but still as the character should be. Smiley is a key player one of the most intelligent men yet he almost seems to come off as a non entity. He is suppose to be a man you don't notice in a room, yet he still has an undeniable presence. Smiley is suppose to be a man who actively tries not to be emotional and in order to not show any possible weaknesses to his enemies. Oldman does succeed in producing the professional side of Smiley perfectly. In every scene with a group Oldman is noticeable, but never in a way that only the audience would notice him. In every scene with he is listening Oldman never shows Smiley to simply be listening rather his eyes are always piercing into them showing his constant analysis, and examination to find the truth.

It is always a very difficult trick to make an character interesting whose whole point is that they are not suppose to in anyway emotional, but it is one that Oldman succeeds with. Oldman allows us to see that George is putting on a bit of an act at all times, an act he has been practicing for a long time, and is exceedingly good at but still an act in the end. Oldman is a master of the act with his distant body language as Smiley. As I said his eyes are always piercing and manipulating, but just the way he walks, and sits even suggests a man of great intelligence and ability. Oldman as Smiley is always seeming to say yes I know more than you, as well yes I am going to get exactly what I want from you. Oldman never portrays this as just a pompousness but a genuine skill in Smiley.

Oldman's key scenes though are his short moments where Smiley's emotions do seep through on occasion as well as a few moments where he lets his guard down. Most of these are only for a single moment that last only a second or two but each are brilliantly used by Oldman to more thoroughly reflect his character. My personal favorite of these brief moments is when he visits the now deceased control's (John Hurt), the former head of British Intelligence, apartment where he finds who control believed could be the double agent. When Smiley sees himself as one of the potentials Oldman reaction is a small but just about perfect indication that Smiley's heart is almost broken to learn that Control did not fully trust him.

Every time there is a break in the defenses of Smiley Oldman's portrays these absolutely perfectly to subtly show there is a great deal of emotional sadness in Smiley surrounding his wife in particular, but it is something he only ever lets onto in short outbursts, if they can even be described as that. Oldman is pitch perfect in these portrayal because they are always fast and quick but still clear indicators of Smiley's true feelings on the matter. Oldman shows them not to be Smiley purposefully letting down his defenses but rather a clear sharp emotional response that not even his experience in the matter of hiding emotions can completely hide.

His best scene though comes in a single scene where he actually lets down his defenses completely, which is when he tells about his meeting with the Soviet mastermind Karla to his confidant Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch). Oldman is terrific in this scene as Smiley changes his body language to no longer being firm and structured for interrogation and analysis and instead becomes just like any man for this moment. There is not flashback in this scene yet Oldman brings us into Smiley's early past, and shows us a glimpse of not only a once more emotional man but also Oldman presents to us what made Smiley change the way he did. He shows a more emotional man, and easier one to relate in this scene, but one less able to be successful in his line of work.

The role of Smiley is a challenging one in that playing a non entity is quite a difficult one, since he is not a simple man, but he portrays himself as a completely non emotional one. Oldman finds just the right dynamic with Smiley though. He always shows Smiley to be the expert spy, and his long history, but inserts moments of more direct emotions without fault to have far greater impact actually than if Smiley was constantly emotional. Gary Oldman finds the right path for Smiley throughout the avoid what could have been the potential limits of the part. Although I will admit this very understated and restrained performance might not be for everyone, I absolutely loved it.

Read More

Best Actor 2011: Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Brad Pitt received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Billy Beane in Moneyball.

Moneyball is a descent enough film which depicts Billy Beane general manager of the Oakland A's attempt to use only statistics to create a winning baseball team.

Brad Pitt portrays Billy Beane the general manager who use to be a baseball player himself who never reached what many seemed to be his potential. Pitt portrays his the part in a fairly standard approach. He does not seek to make Billy Beane any sort of genius, or incredible man, just pretty much a normal guy trying to make his under financed team compete with the rich teams. Pitt's performance really for the most part is a standard leading man performance, he never really tries for anything more than that, which is technically fine since Billy Beane is not suppose to be anyone overly special.

Pitt though does have a sort of commanding presence in the film as Beane who wants to bring his team up using completely unorthodox methods. Pitt does have just the right dynamic between domination and relaxation actually, since after all Beane is doing these business maneuvers in baseball not something bigger. Pitt always displays a certain seriousness in Beane, in that he does take his business seriously enough, but he never goes that far with showing that Beane also is indeed aware of what kind of business he is in which makes him naturally a more relaxed fellow.

Pitt finds the right sort of determination, and passion within the part to be convincing as Billy Beane. He does not present his new ideas as something that is because he is some sort courageous visionary, but in many ways as just a man desperate for a new way or answer. Pitt creates just the right amount of desperation within Beane's whole sage. It not a self pitying desperation though Pitt portrays rather as something that is actually a motivating factor for Beane rather than a restrictive aspect of him.

Pitt is quite good and charismatic in the role. I do wish though that there was perhaps a little more time granted to Pitt actually reflection on Beane past. There are a few moments and Pitt is fine in showing some degree of regret, but these scenes a very very short, and never long enough or fully written enough for Pitt to turn them into anything especially amazing. Which is a shame since I do think Pitt shows promise in his short moments, but there is just not enough there.

I won't say this is a perfect performance by Pitt simply because there are a couple of scenes where his line readings have a little bit of a rehearsed quality to them, nor will I say this is the most complex performance Pitt has ever given, but I will say this is a good performance. It is a solid leading man turn from Pitt that realizes most of the potential of a part, giving a charming and entertaining performance, which allows the audience easily to follow Beane through his exploits.

Read More

Best Actor 2011: George Clooney in The Descendants

George Clooney received his fourth Oscar nomination for portraying Matt King in The Descendants.

The Descendants deals with Matt King who owns a great deal of real estate in Hawaii due to inheritance. He deals with his wife being in a coma she will not awaken from, a big money land deal, his rebellious daughters, and learning that his wife was having an affair.

The last three films by Alexander Payne have been about older men dealing with some serious problems in their life, and facing a crisis. I should say right away that George Clooney does not at all change his track record with me, and proves that he most certainly is no Paul Giamatti or Jack Nicholson. Clooney as usual never really makes a mark in his part that will ever make me remember Matt King as a notable character, and actually portrays Matt King in a somewhat different way for Clooney but still the same as his other performances in terms of its success.

Clooney firstly does not give his Up in the Air "Hi I'm George Clooney" type of performances that so many believe to be charming, I don't. In fact in the role of Matt King he never really tries to be charming in any way and does indeed attempt to show Matt as more of just a man trying to go through his series of crises. Having said that though his performance is more in line with that of his performance in Michael Clayton, but like his performance in Michael Clayton there is not the required conviction in his performance or characterization to make his performance compelling.

In fact his performance is rather incompetent in many ways as he attempts to be the exasperated husband and father. I simply never bought him in the role as the man who is emotionally bent out of shape, something Jack Nicholson and Paul Giamatti succeeded with very well in their similar roles. Clooney just never seems tired enough, or truly a man who has experienced troubles of Matt King's sort in life, it just not there ever in Clooney's performance as much as he wants it to be. I will give credit that Clooney tries many things in this performance, but this actually just leads to an inconsistency in his performance.

 Clooney attempts quite ineffectively to combine drama and comedy in his performance in a rather poorly conceived fashion. For example when he first learns of his wife's affair he goes running for some reason like he is one of his films for the Coen brothers. Than he confronts someone about it with the utmost seriousness. There is not any sort of logic for Clooney to do this in this scene, he does anyway, which causes him never to turn Matt King into a compelling character in any fashion. He truly fails to bring us into Matt's mindset and problems at any point in the film.

I must say much of the time Clooney is just going through the role with the same uncertainty throughout in his performance, there is not a single scene where he really finds a way to make his performance compelling. He fails to ever really brings Matt's problems to life even in the what should be some compelling scenes that one would think would automatically bring it out. That is the scene with his wife's lover, Clooney is bizarrely dull throughout the whole affair, there is not even signs of repression anger or anything like that.

He plays almost all of his scenes with his typical lacking in conviction Clooney fashion. The only scene he really does more is his final scene with his wife where he finally breaks down, and says goodbye. It wants to be the heartbreaking "Oscar" scene, but Clooney is frankly at his worst in this scene. He frankly wants to rush through the scene, and is not convincing for a moment. He is just clearly "acting" during the whole scene and he fails to bring a single genuine emotion into the scene. This is a poor performance by Clooney, and I will be very annoyed if I have to add "won his second Oscar" to this review.

Read More

Best Actor 2011

And the Nominees Are:

Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Jean Dujardin in The Artist

George Clooney in The Descendants

Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Demian Bichir in A Better Life

I break my scheduled reviews of supporting 95 to return once again to Best Actor. I actually did not except to do this yet, and would have held off since I thought Michael Fassbender was going to be nominated, and I have not seen Shame, but now I have seen all of these performances.

Supporting will wait because I have yet to seem Extremely Loud, or My Week with Marilyn, but I do think I will probably write a deserving performance for Albert Brooks.

Read More

Second Anniversary of Best Actor and a New Year

Well it has been the second year now of my reviews, and I must say I am interested to return to the Best Actor category, and look forward to the nominees annoucement.

Here seems the likely nominees but they might also be if Sag is a predictor:

And perhaps the Academy will finally decide that is a mistake that Gary Oldman has not been nominated before:

Or maybe one of these two could surprise:

It could any of these way or a Hodge Podge of the alternates in the last two spots, since Fassbender is not even a lock. This year is most certainly hard to predict but I wish it was even more unpredictable though as three of the nominees seem to be sewn up, this is not commenting on their quality (I have so far only seen Pitt) I just enjoy unpredictable nominations.

The unpredictability of this year's races seems to go even more so for my other category Best Supporting Actor.

This outcome to me seems the most likely with it being a very veteran actor centered year with all of them being previously nominees except for Hill.

Or it could stay with veteran actors but add an even older one to the mix:

Or Sag could be a predictor:

Or Just maybe the Golden Globe will be the predictor:

This year is even harder to predict than actor. The reason for this is because Plummer feels like he is to be the only absolute lock.

Read More