Best Actor 1998

[Damien]

Nick Nolte's recollection of the night

Love it, Okri. Thanks! (That's pretty much the way I heard it back in at the time. Didn't know the wonderful quotes, though.)

[Okri]

Nick Nolte's recollection of the night

I'll tell you about the best time at an awards show I ever had. The year I was up for the Oscar for "Affliction," Ian McKellen was up for "Gods and Monsters" and Ed Norton was up for "American History X." We kept running into each other at all these awards shows and got to know one another. And the night of the Academy Awards, Ian said, "Nick, I don't care if you get it, or if I get it, or if some kid with a bald head and tattoos gets it, but if that little fucking Italian guy gets it, I'm going to have a shit fit tonight." I said, "Okay, that's good; I'm with you on that." And then we're sitting there, and they go "Roberto Benigni!" And he's doing his bit, walking over the chairs. I look over, and I saw Ed was gone and Ian was gone, so I got out of the chair, I walked off, and I knew they'd be at the bar. As I walked up to Ian he said, "Nolte, I don't know why you thought you'd get an award; you only play yourself." And Ian was playing a gay guy, so I said, "Look who's calling the kettle black." And we both turned on Ed and said, "What, did you think you'd win just because you shaved your head and got tattoos?" And Ed said, "Well I'm just proud to be here with you guys." And we laughed and had a great time, a great time.

[ksrymy]

Update: McKellen now holds the record for most votes for one Best Actor performance on this site.

[HarryGoldfarb]

McKellen gives one of my favorite performances ever. He easily gets my vote... a no brainer in the likes of Penn for Dead Man Walking.

[Okri]

Why? No. Mine was a serious tribute to the honorable members of this board, who once again did what they had to do, like good soldiers - and I appreciate that, of course: I respect self-discipline, and find it fascinating (I'm not joking by the way). It's an interesting result, though, let's be honest, not an exactly unexpected one, and I kind of prefer surprise wins. A performance like Ian McKellen's is, it seems, one for the ages - too bad that the cruel real world doesn't seem to see it this way. But in the fantasy, Kiss-of-the-Spider-Woman-like world of this board, his is the best performance by an actor ever. His win here means that self-discipline, again, won - though self-respect, I'm afraid, didn't, but you know that better than I do.

Yeah, it's hard to not read this with a smirk of passive-aggressive disingenousness here.

[bizarre]

My picks:

1. Ian McKellen / Gods and Monsters
2. Vincent Gallo / Buffalo '66
3. Michael Caine / Little Voice
4. Clive Owen / Croupier
5. Jim Carrey / The Truman Show

[Big Magilla]

Let's give the people who haven't participated in 19999 a chance to vote and comment beofre we move on to 2000.

Also, keep in mind that I promised Mister Tee that we would do Best Actress and Supporting Actress of 2010 before we move on to the Supporting Actor polls.

[ksrymy]

Quick question, everyone! When I was new here I made a Best Actor 1999 poll not knowing we were going chronologically and whatnot. Should we continue on that poll or should I go ahead and create the Best Actor 2000 poll tonight?

[Big Magilla]

Must be something in te water then. It's not as though it's the same old group saying the same old thing. Most of the voters here are not the same group who participated in the contemparaneous 1998 discussion. I doubt if many would cite McKellen's performance as the best of the decade, let alone of all time, but it was the best of the year by conscensus. Nothing more, nothing less.

[ITALIANO]

Ok, but if we only consider the actors, this is for the moment the second-best ever in the history of the Oscars - and, thus, of the English-language cinema. And it's not like McKellen had a weak competition, by the way. And the comments... Even Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris didn't get such enthusiastic praise. It's obviously the kind of performance which changed acting and art in general, and I think this board should be praised for still remembering, and honoring, a performance that many others, more superficial, have more or less forgotten.

You left off the smiley face!

Why? No. Mine was a serious tribute to the honorable members of this board, who once again did what they had to do, like good soldiers - and I appreciate that, of course: I respect self-discipline, and find it fascinating (I'm not joking by the way). It's an interesting result, though, let's be honest, not an exactly unexpected one, and I kind of prefer surprise wins. A performance like Ian McKellen's is, it seems, one for the ages - too bad that the cruel real world doesn't seem to see it this way. But in the fantasy, Kiss-of-the-Spider-Woman-like world of this board, his is the best performance by an actor ever. His win here means that self-discipline, again, won - though self-respect, I'm afraid, didn't, but you know that better than I do.

[Big Magilla]

Ok, but if we only consider the actors, this is for the moment the second-best ever in the history of the Oscars - and, thus, of the English-language cinema. And it's not like McKellen had a weak competition, by the way. And the comments... Even Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris didn't get such enthusiastic praise. It's obviously the kind of performance which changed acting and art in general, and I think this board should be praised for still remembering, and honoring, a performance that many others, more superficial, have more or less forgotten.

You left off the smiley face!

[ITALIANO]

Peter, what's the largest sweep so far in these polls?

Vivien Leigh, with 27 votes for Gone With the Wind, followed by Vanessa Redgrave with 25 votes for Julia; Leigh again with 22 votes for A Streetcar Named Desire and Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver) and Joan Allen (Nixon) with 21 votes each. Ian McKellen is currently tied for sixth palce with Helen Mirren (The Queen), Valentina Cortese (Day for Night); Hattie McDaniel (Gone With the Wind) and Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway) with 20 each.

Ok, but if we only consider the actors, this is for the moment the second-best ever in the history of the Oscars - and, thus, of the English-language cinema. And it's not like McKellen had a weak competition, by the way. And the comments... Even Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris didn't get such enthusiastic praise. It's obviously the kind of performance which changed acting and art in general, and I think this board should be praised for still remembering, and honoring, a performance that many others, more superficial, have more or less forgotten.

[Okri]

1. Ulrich Thomsen, Festen
2. Ian McKellan, Gods and Monsters
3. Eamonn Owens, The Butcher Boy
4. George Clooney, Out of Sight
5. Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan OR Brendan Gleason, The General OR Robert Downey Jr., Two Girls and a Guy

[Big Magilla]

Peter, what's the largest sweep so far in these polls?

Vivien Leigh, with 27 votes for Gone With the Wind, followed by Vanessa Redgrave with 25 votes for Julia; Leigh again with 22 votes for A Streetcar Named Desire and Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver) and Joan Allen (Nixon) with 21 votes each. Ian McKellen is currently tied for sixth palce with Helen Mirren (The Queen), Valentina Cortese (Day for Night); Hattie McDaniel (Gone With the Wind) and Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway) with 20 each.

[ksrymy]

Peter, what's the largest sweep so far in these polls?

Robert De Niro has 21 votes for Taxi Driver and Jimmy Stewart has 19 for It's a Wonderful Life.