Opinion Battles Year 3 Round 4
Least 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 and after looking at our Favourite we need to look at our Least Favourite this time around.
If you want to join in Opinion Battles our next round will be Favourite Video Game Adaption. Send you choices to [email protected] by 5th March 2017.
Darren – Movie Reviews 101
Michael Caine– The Cider House Rules
Dr Wilbur Larch is a performance I do enjoy but when you see the performance it beat you have to question the decision for his choice as a win, Michael Clarke Duncan (Green Mile), Tom Cruise (Magnolia) and Jude Law (Talent Mr Ripley) who could all have been winning performances. As I said I have nothing against Michael Caine because he is a brilliant actor but this year I can’t help but question the winning decisions.
Christian Bale– The Fighter
This is a tough one & I have to admit that my choices are very much influenced by not liking the “real life” person involved. I considered Christian Bale in The Fighter just because I don’t like him (but, yeah – the performance is fine). I also considered Timothy Hutton simply because Ordinary People is overrated & shouldn’t have won so many awards (no idea what he’s like in real life). Again, not fair I suppose. Well, another person I don’t like and have never liked or even seen the appeal of is Marlon Brando. I apologize to any fans! But, especially considering recent revelations involving the actress in Last Tango In Paris, my opinion is extremely unlikely to change. So my choice is Marlon Brando in The Godfather (even though he didn’t accept the award anyway, right?). If it helps, I do love that movie & think Pacino is fantastic…
Tom – Plain Simple Tom Reviews
Matthew McConaughey– Dallas Buyers Club
This is another hard choice since there were no performances that I actively dislike but I’m going for McConaughey, mostly because he was sooooo much better in his very brief role in “The Wolf of Wall Street”, released in the very same year.
I know that “Dallas Buyers Club” essentially kicked off “the McConaissance” but his performance here isn’t particularly memorable and I wouldn’t include it on any best performances list.
Also, I could just have easily have gone for Jared Leto for the very same film.
Damien Riley – Riley Film Reviews
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
My least favorite would have to be DiCaprio. He did a great job in “Revenant.” Isn’t he the poster child for “Oscar Bait” though? He is one of those characters I have to get used to in a role because he has done so many roles that are household names. The other winners are slightly better and more interesting to me. This is a tough and peculiar Opinion Battles topic, don’t you agree out there?
Rob – Movie Rob
Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas
Inexplicably, Cage won an Oscar for his role here.
I guess it’s understandable that everyone in the Academy just loved to see Cage slowly kill himself because I think this is by far, one of his worst instead of best performance.
Emma – Emma Explains It All
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
I am feeling mighty controversial today (evil laugh). What an awful thing to say and yes I can hear your jaws hitting the floor before this has even been posted. But wait, let me explain. I have reasons:
1. Okay firstly this was a REALLY hard round. I trawled the ‘best actor / supporting actor’ Oscar lists and nothing jumped out at me. So it was either ‘get creative’ or forfeit entirely. And if I forfeited everyone would just think I was being lazy again.
2. Tom Cruise hasn’t won an Oscar. Which is unfortunate because this would have been SO EASY if he had.
3. To be honest I’ve never really felt Ledger truly won the Oscar because of an amazing performance, but more because he died and it was a well timed tribute. Similarly, people always say how “amazing” his performance was as the Joker but who wouldn’t be amazing as the Joker? The Joker is a fun, dark, outlandish character – probably the type of character that most actors would enjoy playing. I imagine it would bring out the best out in anyone with a bit of talent.
4. And going against popular opinion I don’t really like the ‘Christopher Nolan’ Batman films. Sorry and all that. Maybe it’s just me but I still have fond memories of the good old days (AKA – Michael Keaton!).
6. But don’t take this too seriously. I loved Heath and his acting in The Dark Knight was just like the rest of his acting – bloody great. Though being totally honest I think he was better at playing good guys – he always came across like a genuine, good guy in real life (which is probably the most important thing anyway).
And you can tell Chris Nolan from me that none of his films beat 10 Things I Hate About You. Fact.
Kira – Film and Tv 101
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
I may be hated for saying this, but I really did not think Leonardo DiCaprio’s award-winning performance as Hugh Glass in The Revenant was all that spectacular. He has certainly had better roles in my eyes – can we just take a moment to appreciate him as Bill Costigan in The Departed? I’m not saying he didn’t do a good job, just that it was slightly underwhelming to hear mainly grunts and heavy breathing from a character that would finally win him that long sought-after Oscar. Plus, it ended all of those wonderful memes..
Carl Wonders – Listening to Film
Al Pacino – Scent of a Woman
Ok, I know this is going to ruffle some feathers. I have no issue with Al Pacino as an actor, and he has turned in some incredible performances over the years. His portrayal of Michael Corleone in The Godfather films is, quite rightly, legendary, and the fact that he was not recognized by the Academy for those films is unfortunate. But the understated acting that Pacino brings to that role (at least in the first two Godfather films) gives way to an over the top, hammy performance in Scent of a Woman that has all the tropes of every bad Al Pacino impression done in Hollywood. Pacino does more acting doing almost nothing in the classic Italian restaurant scene in The Godfather than he does chewing the scenery in Scent of a Woman. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Denzel Washington’s incredible performance in Malcolm X and Clint Eastwood’s turn in Unforgiven both lost out to Pacino that year. Chalk this one up to the Academy saying “Al, we know we’ve missed many of your great performances, so here is a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award this time around.”
S.G. Liput – Rhyme and Reason
Kevin Kline – A Fish Called Wanda
It was hard enough picking a favorite, but looking over the list of Best Actors and Best Supporting Actors, I can’t really find a bad or undeserving performance. I did however find one I didn’t like at all: Kevin Kline as the shamelessly despicable thief Otto West in A Fish Called Wanda. Now I like Kevin Kline a lot; it’s hard not to. But when he spends an entire movie mocking Michael Palin’s speech handicap, it’s easy to hate him too. It’s even easier when his most notable scene is torturing Palin and swallowing his pet fish. I know it’s meant to be shockingly comedic, but it also felt cruel and mean-spirited. I love Kevin Kline and don’t have anything against his acting ability. He plays a spiteful jerk exceptionally well in A Fish Called Wanda, so well that I can’t stand to see him in it again.
J – Film & Nuance
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Going through all the Oscar winning actors for best actor and best supporting actor, I couldn’t really point out anyone that I particularly disliked. I’m going with Mark Rylance simply because there were at least 4 other performances that were better…two of those weren’t even nominated. I felt like Idris Elba, Steve Carell, Sylvester Stallone and Christian Bale gave markedly better performances, and Rylance sort of paled in comparison. I liked him in Bridge Of Spies, I just don’t think he deserves the win
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