Alex in Movieland

my Alex In Movieland awards, 3rd edition: Episode 3/3: Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress.

Great performances all around, but the women probably did a better job this year. Strong Top

15s in both leading and supporting.

It was very difficult for me to choose the winner in both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. It’s really a coin toss between the top 2 of each category.

I am mentioning for one last time the list of eligible/seen films (71):

127 Hours, Agora, Alice in Wonderland, Animal Kingdom, Another Year, Applause, Barney’s Version, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Burlesque, Clash of the Titans, Conviction, Country Strong, Creation, Despicable Me, Dogtooth, Easy A, Eat Pray Love, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Fair Game, The Fighter, For Colored Girls, Frankie & Alice, Get Low, The Ghost Writer, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Greenberg, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Hereafter, How to Train Your Dragon, I Am Love, The Illusionist, In a Better World, Incendies, Inception, Inside Job, Iron Man 2, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, The Kids are All Right, The King’s Speech, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Mother, Mother and Child, Never Let Me Go, Outside the Law, Please Give, Rabbit Hole, Robin Hood, The Runaways, Salt, Sex and the City 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shutter Island, The Social Network, Somewhere, Tangled, The Tourist, The Town, Toy Story 3, TRON: Legacy, True Grit, Unstoppable, Waiting for Superman, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, The Way Back, White Material, Winter’s Bone, The Wolfman, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.

Now, doing my usual presentation for these categories, with a couple of words to describe the performances:

BEST ACTOR

1. Javier Bardem – Biutiful
Owns it from beginning to end. Tells more than the screenplay intends to. Heartbreaking when defeated. Flawless.

2. James Franco – 127 Hours
It’s his one man show and knows it. Complete believability. Likeable, touching, relatable. Brings heart in dry directing.

3. Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
Versatility in playing “both” characters. Adorable when needed. Flawed when the story asks for it. A subtle scene-stealer.

4. Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
The performance is technically perfect. Manages the difficult character. Brings the tears at the right moment. Does what required.

5. Leonardo DiCaprio – Shutter Island

Nobody cries like him. He’s not afraid in putting the emotion out there. Vulnerable throughout but always with a twist. Carries the film with no help.

6. Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network

7. Jeff Bridges – True Grit

8. Aaron Eckhart – Rabbit Hole

9. Benicio Del Toro – The Wolfman

10. Leonardo DiCaprio – Inception

Almost there: Paul Giamatti – Barney’s Version, Shia LaBeouf – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Stephen Dorff – Somewhere, Sean Penn – Fair Game, Ewan McGregor – The Ghost Writer.

BEST ACTRESS

1. Natalie Portman – Black Swan
A terrific mix of feeling the performance and fierce physicality. Brave and honest. Playing with the camera. Delicious black swan transformation.

2. Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
Brings the intelligence that the character requires. Accurately rigid and arrogant. Believable and touching. Nails the feeling of betrayal.

3. Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Does wonders without words. Her face tells the story of the character. Goes from quiet to breakdown with equal believability. Emotionally there.

4. Catherine Keener – Please Give
Just enough amount of humor to make the drama sweet. Intelligent in every way. Subtle, funny, likeable.

5. Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

Accepts the flaws of the character. Very believable, recognizable, relatable. Good chemistry. Never forgets the part.

6. Noomi Rapace – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

7. Greta Gerwig – Greenberg

8. Annette Bening – Mother and Child

9. Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right

10. Anne Hathaway – Love and Other Drugs

Almost there: Julia Roberts – Eat Pray Love, Angelina Jolie – Salt, Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone, Tilda Swinton – I Am Love, Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Andrew Garfield – The Social Network
The one likeable character and he knows it. The heart of the film. Brings the real drama in the ending. Relatable and believable.

2. Christian Bale – The Fighter
He’s so much into the character. Great chemistry with Leo. Breathtaking in most scenes. Knows how to steal the show.

3. Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech
The one performance to relate to. Intelligent. Good hold on the emotions. An interesting mix of dignity and likeability.

4. Sam Rockwell – Conviction
A scene stealer, above the material. Smart in building the character arc. Brings the emotion when needed. Vulnerable, yet intimidating.

5. Michael Douglas – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
The one to look at in the film. Manages real emotion in couple of key scenes. Knows what he’s doing. Believable and continuity.

6. Max von Sydow – Robin Hood

7. Jeremy Renner – The Town

8. William Johnk Nielsen – In a Better World

9. Michael Shannon – The Runaways

10. Armie Hammer – The Social Network

Almost there: Cillian Murphy – Inception, John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone, Barry Pepper – True Grit, Dustin Hoffman – Barney’s Version, Pierce Brosnan – The Ghost Writer.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom
Doesn’t miss any opportunities. Every line is there. Every look is exploited. Loves the camera. Not afraid to take it a step further.

2. Lesley Manville – Another Year
When she’s good, she’s perfection. Owns the ending. Heartbreaking. Believable even when testing the limits. Memorable.

3. Naomi Watts – Mother and Child

Carries the most heartbreaking scene of the year: the elevator scene. Keeps it simple. Brings intelligence and believability. Unfriendly, yet vulnerable.

4. Rebecca Hall – Please Give
Likeability factor through the roof. Puts so much believability. Made the date scene uncomfortably relatable. I was rooting for her.

5. Melissa Leo – The Fighter
Delicious to look at when she’s angry. I’ve enjoyed the vulgarity and loudness. Selfish in a good manner. A real force of nature.

6. Miranda Richardson – Made in Dagenham
7. Anika Noni Rose – For Colored Girls
8. Kimberly Elise – For Colored Girls
9. Amy Adams – The Fighter
10. Gemma Jones – You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger


Almost there: Olivia Williams – The Ghost Writer, Bryce Dallas Howard – Hereafter, Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech, Helena Bonham Carter – Alice in Wonderland, Marion Cotillard – Inception.




Final thoughts:

BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR:
Javier Bardem – Biutiful


BEST ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR (ANY CATEGORY):
Hans Zimmer for the Inception Original Score.



Recap of the winners of the Alex In Movieland Awards 2010:

Best Film: Toy Story 3
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, for Inception
Best Actor: Javier Bardem, for Biutiful
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, for Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: Andrew Garfield, for The Social Network
Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, for Animal Kingdom
Best Original Screenplay: Mother and Child
Best Adapted Screenplay: Toy Story 3
Best Cinematography: Inception
Best Original Score: Inception


To check out previous edition, click somewhere on the right.


Thanks for reading :)