Best Actor 2011

[Mister Tee]

Don't know why I'm having so much trouble working up enthusiasm for this batch of votes. Too recent and unthrilling to relive, I guess.

I'm not 100% sure I'd want Michael Fassbender for the win, but I damn well know he should have made the nominees' list. I'd also have Michael Shannon in prime consideration.

The Bichir nomination is, sadly, the only sort of "surprise" we get anymore: one accompanied by heavy campaigning (the film was notably "the first DVD sent out to voters"), and appealing to the most deeply sentimental sorts. Bichir is perfectly decent, but his role is dully noble, and he cost considerably more vital work their merited spots.

I guess Jean Dujardin's work is commendable, but, possibly because I saw it so late, I can't separate it from the Weinstein hard sell that accompanied it. For me, that campaign was Benigni Part Deux, the only difference being Benigni was his own cute puppy dog. It's hard for me to see enough brilliance in Dujardin to offset my distaste over that.

I have to agree with what was said below, that I didn't quite see the brilliance-of-a-lifetime quality so many critics ascribed to George Clooney's performancein The Descendants. However, unlike many, I do still think it's a very good, nomination-worthy performance, from an actor who refuses to coast, and keeps taking on interesting roles in solid projects. The Descendants may have been the most oddly divisive film of recent times. Critics were mostly disposed toward it, and it made a good chunk of money...but it seemed everyone I encountered on the Internet hated it with a deep passion. Because of this, I kept expecting it to falter in the Oscar race -- Payne might miss under director; the film might be left out in editing; the script could lose to Moneyball. But none of that happened -- hell, the film even won for editing at ACE! Is this a generational thing?

Anyway, Clooney was good, but not quite outstanding enough to get my vote. I keep thinking something bigger's still up ahead for him.

I was hugely pleased Gary Oldman scored the not-certain nomination, but I'm a bit surprised so many of you have marked him down for the win. I thought he did a great job within the confines of the role, and his one Oscar scene -- the Karla monologue -- was beautifully handled. But it's a pretty recessive character, not the sort one normally associates with Oscar wins.

Like BJ, I was shocked at what was essentially Brad Pitt's non-presence in the TV stage of the precursors or the Oscars themselves. A well-liked superstar, on his third nomination, wins both the NY and National Society prizes for a commercially successful film -- what could keep that person from at least heavily competing? My first thought: Weinstein!!! But probably add to that the Broadcasters'/Globes' inability to pass up a chance to flatter Clooney. Pitt just got boxed out, enabling wild card Dujardin to slip in. I grant this may not be the best performance Pitt has yet given, or any better than some he'll give in the years just ahead. But this guy has started to give one solid performance after another, in risky/intelligent films, and in Moneyball he does some of his most relaxed, confident work. It's enough to get my vote from this bunch.

[The Original BJ]

I thought Michael Fassbender in Shame was by far the year's best actor. When you look at everything he had going for him -- his Dangerous Method extra credit, his X-Men blockbuster hit, his emergence over the past few years as a seemingly major talent -- you just have to conclude that voters REALLY must have been turned off by Shame to deny him anyway.

Also, Peyman Moaddi in A Separation was, like the rest of that film's cast, terrific.

Bichir is the only nominee I think is undeserving, in an Oscar trajectory that was somewhat bizarre -- I'd honestly never heard of him (and barely recalled his film being released) until his SAG nomination. It's not as if he's bad -- that teary-eyed, late-film monologue in the detention center certainly delivered -- but I didn't find his character very interesting. He's basically a Very Good person who has Very Bad things happen to him, without all that much complexity to the role.

The other four are all quite solid, and I think the difference in quality between these men is pretty infinitesimal. I can see arguments for picking any one, and don't have a strong preference either way.

Gary Oldman's role was fairly passive in Tinker Tailor, but he makes quite a strong impression nonetheless. Every one of his nervous glances and hushed lines of dialogue powerfully convey the emotional effect that his character's line of work has had on his psyche. The actor's restraint creates an effective portrait of a man who cannot let very much in, and works hard to keep his emotions from coming out. A solid anchor to the movie, though, ultimately, the part is still maybe a bit too reserved for me to choose him.

I still can't believe Brad Pitt barely factored into this race at all. He'd had a great year (after a string of solid performances in cool movies), and I thought the "it's his turn" factor would surely make the superstar a leading candidate for the win. But...given the general trajectory of his career as of late, I feel pretty confident there might be even greater opportunities to choose him down the line, so I'll hold off too. But he was hugely appealing in Moneyball, charming in a classic movie star fashion, but showing enough world-weary roughness around the edges to deliver a poignant piece of acting as well.

Much of the reason The Artist works at all is due to Jean Dujardin's incredibly expressive work as the title character. He's a great showman -- completely believable as a silent-era matinee idol, full of comic panache and roguish charm. And, though his film is mostly fluff, he still finds a way to inject some genuine weight to his role, in big, emotional broad strokes. I can't say I fell for him as much as Hollywood did -- I think the movie is too lightweight to give him a truly great showcase -- but he's very appealing, and I certainly wasn't bothered that he won.

I know a lot of people think Clooney basically plays himself in every movie, but I have to disagree with that take. I think he's become so consistently reliable, he's easy to underrate. His Descendants work isn't any great breakthrough, but his character goes through a lot of conflicting emotions throughout the movie, and Clooney keeps his performance surprising, whether in moments of sarcastic comedy, or pained drama. And the way he carries himself throughout the movie is quite different from his other lauded leading man roles in Michael Clayton and Up in the Air -- I really just don't think he's recycling his star persona here. As I said, this race is a really close call for me, but I think I land with Clooney.

[Reza]

My picks for 2011:

1. Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2. Peyman Moadi, A Separation
3. Michael Fassbender, Shame
4. Jean Dujardin, The Artist
5. Ryan Gosling, Drive

The 6th Spot: Peter Mullan, Tyrannosaur

[Sabin]

It’s been ages since there have been so many nominated performances that I haven’t seen and likely will not see. This past year, I didn’t see My Week with Marilyn, The Iron Lady, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and before I see them, I should say I’m more likely to see A Better Life but that’s not true. Weitz is a good director and Demien Bichir I’m sure is quite good, better than the other nominees I missed, but it looks like such a chore. I’ll vote regardless. However, has there ever been an Oscar nominee who drummed up less publicity for himself than Bichir?

First off has to be George Clooney for The Descendants, a film I disliked to mystifying degrees. What happened to Alexander Payne? His ability to juggle comedy and drama was so adept before this film. It’s as though he wanted to meld the most meandering shaggy dog qualities of Sideways and overwhelm them with the misanthropy of About Schmidt. Very bad film, and Clooney doesn’t really have a chance. The minute he uttered “The people in the mainland think we live in paradise. Are they insane?”, he was doomed. I’m more inclined to blame Payne than Clooney, who does what he can and has some great moments here and there. But Matt King is not one of his great characters, and Clooney to his credit has had a few. It’s an irrelevant addition to his canon and it’s strange he almost got the gold.

I found the talk of Clooney upsetting Dujardin to be a bit odd to me. Clooney isn’t getting another acting award for some time if he’s getting one at all. Jean Dujardin IS the titular Artist and the film is pretty unimaginable without him. He’s not getting my vote, but he’s entirely believable as a silent film star and he’s about as delightful a performance as one could hope for. The best thing I can say about his performance is that the film’s narrative essentially revolves around a character whose central Want is to Not Do Something. He’s a stubborn ass throughout most of the film, being pulled along like a mule. And yet you like him. That’s testament to Dujardin’s talents.

Gary Oldman is perfect in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in the same way that everyone is perfect in that film, but unlike everyone else on this Board I just honestly don’t think that he’s given the opportunity to do anything to deserve an Oscar. The film is a pretty baffling experience and also a very beautiful shared dream of a movie. It’s something to get lost in for sure, but what Oldman does is more akin to a beautiful presence and it wasn’t one that I find deserving of an award.

I’m giving this one to Brad Pitt for several reasons. The first is honestly, who’d have thought that he would ever be this exciting of an actor? Not I. When he first started to blow up, he was a joke among me and my friends. Just a pretty boy. Oh sure, in retrospect he was quite good in his smaller roles like Kalifornia and True Romance, and his high profile turns in 12 Monkeys and Se7en were great, but not until Fight Club did I think “This guy’s an actor.” And then that actor disappeared. I appreciated how he graciously played second banana to George Clooney in Ocean’s 11, but he took on a series of competent leading man performances for the first half of the past decade. Then before The Assassination of Jesse James…, he did Babel. Not a great performance, but a very relaxed one. A very charismatic one. The grey in his beard became him. Then …Jesse James, that great mythic piece of acting. And Burn After Reading, Inglourious Basterds, The Tree of Life. His only misstep in my mind was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, one of the strangest movies that Oscar ever warmed to. Once it started picking up a mysteriously large number of precursor noms, I said to myself that it would likely get in for Picture and Director, but it would reveal itself as not beloved when it got not acting or writing noms. Nope! Voters ate it up and his distanced work was tapped too.

I remember thinking that The Tree of Life was the actor’s best work of the year. It’s an excellent performance for sure, one that I would happily see up for Best Supporting Actor. His work in Moneyball if not as good is almost as good. The first time I saw it, I thought perhaps he was coasting a bit too much on his bad habits. The more I revisit the film (and it’s a lot of fun), I find that it continues a strong pattern in the charming character actor. The way that Billy Beane begins the film with a mission firmly in his mind, already convinced of what works and what doesn’t. He’s a dick who is entirely aware of what is not working in his life and has very controlled little hissy fit moments. Moneyball has the feel of a “This American Life” episode about how we win and how we lose and Brad Pitt’s presence is inexorably intertwined to it. It would have been the right win and the right time.

My Choices
1. Peyman Moaadi, A Separation
2. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
3. Brad Pitt, Moneyball
4. Steve Carell, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
5. Hunter McKracken, The Tree of Life

[mlrg]

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

[bizarre]

A Better Life being a remake of sorts of the Bicycle Thieves is pretty well-documented and acknowledged by Chris Weitz so I wouldn't call it a ripoff.

i'd agree that it isn't a great film, though.

[bizarre]

I've only seen Bichir, who was earnest and incredibly empathetic in a rather empty, by-the-numbers project. A decent nominee although a truly surprising one - I'm usually pretty well-versed in these things but I'd barely heard of the film when it got the SAG nomination, and didn't take it seriously at all.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender were seen as next in line, although I remember thinking that Michael Shannon could upset for Take Shelter, with Gosling for either of his two films in the distance. No one else was really in the conversation, although there were whispers re: Tom Hardy (Warrior), Woody Harrelson (Rampart) and Brendan Gleeson (The Guard).

[Big Magilla]

I wasn't impressed with either Clooney or Pitt this year, preferring the two Michaels - Fassbender (Shame) and Shannon (Take Sheler).

Jean Dujardin was a nice surprise in The Artistand so was Demian Bichir whose performance in A Better Life was 180 degree turn from his drug lord in TV's Weeds. Most desrving, though, was Gary Oldman who took on a role made famous by Alec Guinness and made it his own in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

[nightwingnova]

George Clooney was fine. I kept looking for the amazingness that critics kept citing but couldn't find it.

Gary Oldman was very good. His physical transformation was amazing. But, I didn't see that he had much internal to do.

Jean Du Jardin splendidly captured the joy and rhythm of silent films in a poetic performance. I enjoyed it very much.

But I go with Brad Pitt's fully alive baseball team manager in Moneyball.

(As for the also-rans, Ryan Gosling was good in Drive but not noteworthy; Michael Shannon was very good in Take Shelter; but, Michael Fassbender was brilliant in Shame - second to Pitt for the year.)

[ksrymy]

A very solid lineup in a good year for lead actors.

The only man I would not nominate would be Demián Bichir. He was the shock of Oscar morning to me. The film is weak and so is Bichir. It's essentially The Bicycle Thieves with an undocumented immigrant arc.

Brad Pitt is quite good here in a role that suits him perfectly. He gets to use his looks and charisma to a tee here. His phone conversations are a treat as are the board meetings. Moneyball is a good film and it is almost all entirely in part to Pitt's performance.

Natalie Portman said that George Clooney managed to convince us he was "just a regular guy" in The Descendants. Clooney is quite good and gets many opportunities to shine through, but I think he blows it during his crying scenes just like most of you think Tom Cruise did in Magnolia. He's very human and controlled here even if things do get tense in the film.

My two favorite performances of the year are these last two nominees.

Jean Dujardin is a revelation in The Artist. He has more looks and charisma than Brad Pitt, but he uses them in a more perfect sense. He has to make use of these aspects to make the silent film work. His facial expressions are spot-on and his George Valentin steals the film all to himself. And what an impressive performance with which to introduce himself to America! It's also great to see him go from working in the silly OSS 117 spy parody films to something serious and wonderful like The Artist. I'm also glad to see he's still going to get work. He's in Martin Scorsese's upcoming film The Wolf of Wall Street.

But poor long un-nominated Gary Oldman deserves this more than anyone else. You want to talk subtlety and nuance? Here it is. Oldman makes the most of a raspy voice and melancholy expressions to convey an entirely different George Smiley than the one Alec Guinness gave us on the BBC. Of course, the only fault is that the performance is too subtle for the Academy to cast a final vote on. "We are not so different you and I. We both spend our lives looking for the weaknesses in one another systems. Don't you think it's time to realize there's as little worth on your side as there is on mine," is absolutely haunting. This is like nothing we've seen Oldman do. We're used to his outlandish portrayals in films like Sid & Nancy, The Fifth Element, Léon, etc. Oldman deserves this award like it's nobody's business.

My picks
________________________
1. Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2. Jean Dujardin - The Artist
3. Michael Shannon - Take Shelter
4. George Clooney - The Descendants
5. Brad Pitt - Moneyball

6. Michael Fassbender - Shame/Ryan Gosling - Drive/Peyman Moadi - A Separation