Opinion Battles Year 3 Round 2
Favourite Oscar Winning Performance from an Actor in Leading or Supporting Role
The Oscars are around the corner and we all know that people either love or hate the Oscars committee decisions. We have had the best or the best winning Oscars but today we are looking at what we think is the favorite Oscar Winning performance.
If you want to take part in the next round of Opinion Battles we are going to be answer the question of What is your Favourite Film from 2015? To enter send your choices to [email protected] by 5th February 2017.
Darren – Movie Reviews 101
Christopher Waltz – Col Hans Landa – Inglorious Basterds
Col Hans Landa is one of the best characters ever created by Quentin Tarantino, he is pure evil known as the ‘Jew Killer’ for his ruthless ability to track down any Jews hiding from the Germans. His bilingual skills come in here as we see Hans flawlessly flow between German, French and English with his speeches. His opening conversation is one of the highest tension bound scenes of recent years. This character may well be the evil character but Waltz performance makes him one of the most interesting ever put to film that you just want to know more about. I have picked a supporting actor winner because looking at the lead actor category we see very straight characters that over the recent years have all become slightly more forgettable now.
Jack Nicholson – Randle McMurphy – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
My favorite Oscar-winning actor performance will probably always be Jack Nicholson’s Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s an all-time favorite movie of mine and Jack’s charismatic performance truly helps make that film the classic that it is. (But I’m still happy that Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar last year. Well deserved!) 🙂
Kira – Film and Tv 101
Javier Bardom – Anton Chigurh – No Country for Old Men
After a long, torturous think to myself, I settled on Javier Bardem’s 2007 Best Supporting Actor win as Anton Chigurh in one of my all-time favorite films, No Country For Old Men. I think it’s only fair that I pick the man who made me throw my drink all over my mom. Bardem was frighteningly good as the psychopath who I can only presume to be a hitman. In my eyes, he is one of the greatest villains to have ever graced screens, and is an absolutely iconic character purely because of Bardem’s performance.
Kim – Tranquil Dreams
Anthony Hopkins – Hannibal Lecter – The Silence of the Lambs
Perhaps an obvious choice but there are iconic roles that define an actor. Anthony Hopkins is no doubt an exceptional actor with many great roles under his belt but who can think of Hannibal and not think of Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. The creeping quiet fear whenever he speaks in his cryptic way that gets under our skin. It is a character brought to life by its source material but done so remarkably well.
Rob – Movie Rob
Anthon Hopkins – Hannibal Lecter – The Silence of the Lambs
Not many actors could pull off the performance that Hopkins gave us when he portrayed Lecter for the first time.
He was able to give us a character who was ruthless yet charming at the same time.
By the end, you aren’t sure if you’re supposed to despise or love him
Tom – Plain Simple Tom Reviews
Joel Grey – The Master of Ceremonies – Cabaret
Wow, this category is haaaaard! There really are so many to choose from and it would even take too long to give some honourable mentions.
But for me, Joel Grey in “Cabaret” is one of my favorite supporting performances mainly due to the fact that when I first watched the film, I spent much of it just waiting for Joel Grey to reappear! Seriously, I thought the film was average but Joel Grey, Liza Minnelli and the musical numbers are the best thing about it all.
Opening the film perfectly with “Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome”, Grey is so charismatic, engaging, fascinating and I finished the film with him in mind above all others, which is remarkably admirable from a supporting performance.
For me, he is the star of the show right up alongside Liza Minnelli and the two of them together singing “Money” is incredible.
Rachel – 54 Disney Reviews
Gregory Peck – Atticus Finch – To Kill a Mockingbird
The best actor Oscar winner in a leading role I have ever seen is Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. There are many things that make this performance masterful. To begin with it is taking on one of the most beloved characters in American literature. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love Atticus and Gregory Peck captured him perfectly. I can’t think of a better book to screen adaptation (the whole movie including him). Then you have his chemistry with the girl who played Scout. It felt like a real family, a real father/daughter relationship. Also, he controls his performance perfectly. He is loud when he needs to be loud and soft when he needs to be soft. The courtroom scene is one of the great scenes in all of movies and you can see the weariness in his face of fighting for a lost cause. But I also think the scenes with him and Scout talking about bullies or going to school are equally lovely. It’s perfect.
Mike – screenkickermovies.com
Heath Ledger – The Joker – The Dark Knight
I remember when it was revealed that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker in the latest Batman film. I have to admit i was one of the people who hated the idea. I only knew Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You and an admittedly great performance in Monster’s Ball. I’m not ashamed to say i was completely wrong. Ledger’s Joker is unlike any villain you’ve ever seen in film. He’s crazy, funny, cruel, cool, and oozes violent charisma. Ledger totally inhabits the character in a way that makes the concept of a psychotic man in clown makeup feel completely real. He’s the first believable threat to Batman and makes what is a fantastic movie into a classic. He’s not a monster, he’s just ahead of the curve.
Emma – Emma Explains It All
Jack Nicholson – Randle McMurphy – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
For me, it was always going to be between Jack Nicholson playing McMurphy and Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the eponymous Capote in the 2005 biopic.
In the end I HAD to go with Jack. Because his role – and indeed his Oscar for Best Actor – really helps make the film what it is. He’s not the only ‘good’ actor in it of course, all the performances are fantastic and above-par but without Jack – the glint in his eye and hint of real life rebellion-slash-madness, the film would just not have been as great.
When someone mentions Jack Nicholson, it’s impossible not to think immediately of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He makes us laugh, cry and in some cases – stand up and cheer. My mom saw it in the cinema and when he started to throttle the evil Nurse Ratched the entire audience did just that – they stood up and cheered (what an awesome thing).
There’s been many great acting performances over the years, both Oscar nominated and not. But there’s something very special and memorable about Nicholson in this film, and it’s undeniably one of his best performances, utterly impossible to ignore.
Allie – Often Off Topic
Leonardo DiCaprio – Hugh Glass – The Revenant
I don’t have much luck when it comes to the Oscars. It seems that whoever I pick as my favorite is doomed to not win the award in the end! That said, the award last year for Best Leading Actor was well deserved, and I think most movie fans around the globe were rooting for him to win. I am of course talking about Leonardo DiCaprio! The Revenant wasn’t my favorite movie of his, but he does such an amazing job in any role that he’s given that he should have won himself an Oscar a very long time ago.
Carl Wonders – Listening to Film
Gene Hackman – Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle – The French Connection
As the film’s tagline says: “Doyle is bad news-but a good cop.” Indeed, Popeye Doyle is a racist cop who argues with his superior, drinks to excess, and shows little compassion for his partner (played by an also excellent Roy Scheider) when he is injured in the process of making an arrest. Yet despite his character having few redeeming qualities, Hackman is able to give an absolutely engrossing performance. His acting during the car-and-mouse chase through New York, the famous car chase, and the end where he has become completely consumed by a need to catch the villain Charnier, is absolutely superb. All the more so because both director William Friedkin and Doyle’s real-life counterpart, Eddie Egan, thought Hackman was miscast. Despite these misgivings, Hackman gives my favorite Best Actor-winning performance.
J – Film & Nuance
Kevin Spacey – Lester Burnham – American Beauty
This is the toughest question I’ve ever had to do on Opinion Battle, *damn*…who chose this question??!! Haha, but in all seriousness, it’s also my favorite one so far. There have been so many deserving winners of Best Actor AND supporting throughout the years that have defined cinema and defied the boundaries of ‘acting’. I have so many favourites but if I had to choose one that stuck out for me, Kevin Spacey’s portrayal of the everyman in suburban America is my pick. Spacey’s acting is always top class, but I find his turn in Sam Mendes’ American Beauty especially poignant, true and realistic. As he plays the middle-aged man dealing with his midlife existential crises, his infatuation with his daughter’s friend opens up all the repressed desires and youthful energy that Lester is unable to fully express due to societal constraints and familial duty. Kevin Spacey perfectly captures his character’s search for meaning in the rural banality of his suburban habitus. With subtle nuances and masterclass acting, Spacey gives a startling depiction of the failed American ideal and makes us sympathize with his tragic character. Lester is representative of the mid-life crises struggle which we all face in life He is so good that he makes Lester entirely relatable and heart-breaking…and somehow also life-affirming. I remember being completely moved by his performance and still am till this day.
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