Special Mention: Javier Bardem in Skyfall, Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln, Omar Sy in The Intouchables
, Gael Garcia Barnal in No, Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained.Off to the main list, we go:
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln: I hate to start off with the negativity but I wasn't a big fan of Lincoln but even then I could not help falling for the towering performance DDL gave as the 16th President of America. The way he donned Lincoln's persona - his voice, his overall body language was really impressive. Now I am not some kind of Oscar pundit nor have been following the Oscar race for many years but I think even they will be really hard pressed to find someone who dominated any category like DDL did this year. I mean people were claiming he will go on to win this Oscar right from the start of the year and he not only won his third Oscar, I think he won every damn award he can. Without taking anything away from his performance which I said is a damn fine one, this feat DDL pulled off impressed me more.
Richard Gere in Arbitrage: Once upon a time long long ago, when I saw this movie in around October 2012, Richard Gere was still in contention for his work for Best Actor. Whole award season went by and I kept waiting for his name to pop-up somewhere, in some critics awards maybe or at least somewhere as an honourable mention. Alas! This was never to be. No disrespect to all the winners and nominees, most of which incidentally are in this list as well, but I genuinely thought he was really good as this successful businessman with a dark side to hide . He only gets better as the movie goes on and he finds himself trapped deeper and deeper into this mesh of fraud and deceit he has built around himself. That may not be good enough for anyone else's list, it sure is for me.
John Hawkes in The Sessions: John Hawkes is Mark O'Brien in The Sessions, a man with an Iron lung. So basically, he has to build the whole central character of the movie without using anything below his neck. If you have heard anything about body language being very important aspect of character - well, none of that here. But he does succeed in giving us this guy, this extraordinary guy with his extraordinary life despite his extraordinary limitations based on just his face and his voice. And he does a fabulous job of it. The Sessions is basically a story about multiple women in his life and him losing his virginity. But with the help of some beautifully constrained writing and some fabulous acting, it never becomes crass. On the other hand, it is actually very sweet and touching and Hawkes gets lion's share of credit there.
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master: I am pretty sure all of us must have wondered this at some point or the other - Has Philip Seymour Hoffman NOT being great in any role? If he has, I certainly have not seen it. Hoffman shines in yet another mesmerizing performance as Lancaster Dodd, the master in The Master. As a leader of cult, he initially shows charisma, power, control but as we get to know him more, at the very first sign of trouble he also shows lack of depth, lack of conviction and flips out as someone with the make-belief philosophy that you are supposed to accept blindly, not question would. He also proves it later by showing more vulnerability as a husband but in the end, still pulls that skin back onto himself and stays in that role. Anyone who can go through so many transitions in single role deserves to be in this list.
Denis Lavant in Holy Motors: Though I said at the top this these performances are in no order of preference, this particular performance is an exception to that rule. Denis Lavant's work in Holy Motors is certainly my favorite performance of last year. Now I know that this movie has had its detractors but I hardly know anyone who wasn't impressed with Lavant's work and that in itself says a lot about this role. Just a sheer range of characters he goes through - from a filthy beggar to monster to old uncle on his death bed to motion capture dancer to accordion player to many others - in a single movie is mesmerizing. However what made him stick with me are those brief moments he would spend outside any role. To my eyes, those moments made him a man, a normal living, breathing person like you and me rather than just a freak dressing up time and again. If he can handle those transitions well, I think he can handle pretty much anything and he does.
Anders Danielsen Lie in Oslo, 31 August: When we first meet Anders in Oslo, he has just about completed his program to get over his drug addiction. He has a day pass to appear for an interview and meet some of his old friends and family as well. Everyone he meets throughout the day is confidant that he is doing great and once he gets out, a complete new life awaits him in which he will be successful. The only problem here is he himself Never feels so. Lie really breaths a life in the lifelessness of Anders life. Lie is an actor that I have neither seen nor heard of before, even though I've heard many good things about Reprise(2006) from the same actor-director and which sits prettily in my Netflix queue. But what brings Oslo to life is Lie's perfect rendition of Anders' psyche to his very end. 
Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe: Even though he was a much more familiar name around, Matthew McConaughey to 2012 is what Jessica Chastain was to 2011. He had that Midas touch to turn pretty much everything touched into Gold last year. I am sure people will make a very strong case for him in Bernie as well as in Magic Mike, I have a very distinct reason why I chose Killer Joe over the other two roles and the reason is I haven't seen either of them yet. Sorry. Now I have my issues with Killer Joe as well, especially with the little too rushed ending. But as far as McConaughey is concerned, I have nothing to complain. The Midas touch I was talking about. He is calm, composed and really creepy at the same time; like that infamous chicken leg scene. It's a difficult combination to pull off and doing it convincingly is whole another ball game.
Joaquin Phoenix in The Master: I have spoken a lot about how enigmatic The Master is as a movie. As far as this enigmatic feeling of the movie is concerned, Phoenix gets the majority credit even though I do believe Philip Seymour Hoffman has turned in better performance of the two leading men of this movie. There is no denying though that he also gives an all-in performance, probably the best of his career. Right from the first scene of the movie when we see Phoenix on a boat, fighting the war, he just catches the nerve of this character right off and never lets it go until the very end, through all the highs and the lows of the story, crests and troughs of his character and for the better or for the worse of us, the audience. You may not understand this Freddie Quell but you cannot deny the authenticity of Phoenix's performance. Even Academy didn't, even after he bad-mouthed them. 
Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained: This role of Dr. King Schultz was specifically written with Christoph Waltz in mind. Dr. Schultz is snappy, he is cunning as a fox. He knows exactly what he wants, how to get his job done, by hook or by crook and is really good at what he does but above all he is a good, fair man and a loyal friend. Probably the fact that this role was written for him helps its cause but it is almost impossible to imagine anyone else in this role. As much as Tarantino, Christoph Waltz deserves credit for that too. After all, execution of it is as much important as its design and Waltz looks perfectly at ease in Tarantino's world and does wonders with his dialogues. Of the cast that boasts equally great performances from likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel Jackson, Waltz shines the brightest. Now that, no one wrote for him, did they?
Denzel Washington in Flight: Another one from the movie that unfortunately I did not really care for but was completely captivated by a performance(I should probably use performances, plural since Denzel Washington in the central role isn't the only role that grabbed my attention), another one of those addicts, fiends that I seemed to be taken by in 2012. I would have loved for Gatins and Zemekis to concentrate a little more towards the legal battle he was facing for his actions but that's not for me to decide and besides that is not what I am here for. I am here to tell you how much I loved Washington's performance and why? I think the best compliment I can give him is at no point in the whole movie did I think that he was acting. He was living it. It was Whip Whitaker on the screen, never Denzel Washington.So what did you think of them? Are they really as worthy as I think? Did I miss someone? Please let me know in the comments.
