Tuesday, March 09, 2010

And the Winner Is... Jeff Bridges (Best Oscar Wins This Decade)

That split screen madness I did for actress and supporting actress is never as much fun for men so I'm foregoing due to time constraints. But needless to say I was very happy for Jeff Bridges (long time coming/The Dude abides), loved watching him tear up while he listened to Michelle Pfeiffer's Fabulous Baker Boys memories and I was almost even happier to see that Colin Firth (my personal fav this year) seemed so happy for Bridges, just beaming from the audience.

While we're on the subject... the film experience ballot if you could only hold the Oscars once a decade (GOD FORBID!):

Nathaniel's Choice For Best Actor 2000-2009
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (the Oscar winner)
  • Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean (nominated, lost)
  • Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain (nominated, lost) - my decade winner
  • Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises (nominated, lost)
  • Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (nominated, lost)
I think that's what it would be. Hard to narrow it down that much. Depp's complete genius as Capt. Jack Sparrow has been unfortunately depreciated by calcifying returns to the same role but I will never dispute nor stand for others doubting his creativity the first time round. Maybe if reconsidered, Mortensen would have to step down for Sean Penn (Milk) or Bill Murray (Lost in Translation) or Christian Bale (American Psycho) or... well, you get the point. It's always a close call for that fifth spot.

Here's my favorite of Oscar's winners this past decade.


With apologies to Denzel Washington in Training Day... King Kong aint got shit on him. Best Actor wins are much kinder to me than Best Actress wins. Even though my #1 in any give year is almost never shared with Oscar, fairly often they do choose my 2nd or 3rd favorite of the year. And that's good enough when it comes to Oscar. How often does the Best Actor winning performance work wonders for you?


Oscars in Review: worst & weirdest moments, most wonderful moments and all 09/10 awards season posts

32 comments:

Unknown said...

Christian Bale, American Psycho *
Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation

*probably in my top 5 ever

Robert Hamer said...

Wow, Heath Ledger is your pick of the decade? Didn't know you loved him that much.

Glad to see Rourke and Day-Lewis on your list, too. Man, those were legendary winners (Oh, wait...).

Michael said...

We are largely in agreement here:

I would also list:

Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood or Gangs of New York
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

but then I would add:

Paul Giamatti - Sideways
Ulrich Muhe - The Lives of Others

And I would feel horribly guilty about leaving off:

Adrien Brody - The Pianist
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
John Cameron Mitchell - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Michael Douglas - Wonder Boys

Deborah said...

Don't shoot me, but I haven't seen The Wrestler yet. The DVD is actually sitting on top of my TV right now.

I don't know, though, how anyone or anything can displace my love of Sean Penn's performance in Milk.

I agree with your lead actor performance of the decade: Definitely Ennis Del Mar.

I hated There Will Be Blood and would much rather praise DDL in Gangs of New York.

Deborah said...

Don't shoot me, but I haven't seen The Wrestler yet. The DVD is actually sitting on top of my TV right now.

I don't know, though, how anyone or anything can displace my love of Sean Penn's performance in Milk.

I agree with your lead actor performance of the decade: Definitely Ennis Del Mar.

I hated There Will Be Blood and would much rather praise DDL in Gangs of New York.

Deborah said...

...and I'm just going to keep saying that.

Sid said...

Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Haley Joel Osment, AI
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation

Steolicious said...

Such a hard thing to do... my heart screams "Nooooo" but my award-soul want to pick five performances ^^

Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt
Phillip Seymoure Hoffman - Capote
Cilian Murphy - Breakfast on Pluto
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Jarvier Bardem - Before Night Falls

10 Runners Up:
Geoffrey Rush - Quills,
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler, Adrien Brody - The Pianist,
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd,
Steve Buscemi - Ghost World,
Sean Penn - Milk,
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland,
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises,
Toby Jones - Infamous,
Nicolas Cage - Adaptation

Scott said...

Out of this decade's winners Brody's win was my favorite. I really love that you put Viggo in Eastern Promises in your Top 5. Though it's a shame Bale can't be in the Top 5 with him.

Lucky said...

I agree with you on Ledger, Day Lewis and Rourke. Rourke is the winner for me.

I know I'm forgetting others, but if I had to add, I'd say:

Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line
Paul Giamatti - Sideways
Jake Gyllenhaal - Donnie Darko
Colin Farrell - In Bruges
Peter Sarsgaard - the Dying Gaul.

Michael B. said...

I have Top Ten's of the Decade, and these are my picks:

Actor:
Jamie Bell, Billy Elliott
Adrien Brody, The Pianist*
Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Sean Penn, Milk
Gordon Pinsent, Away From Her
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

The Pretentious Know it All said...

I remember last year on one of the podcasts, Nick Davis said something about the best actor streak beginning with Hoffman in '05 and ending with Penn in '08 was a great streak. Adding Bridges to that roster pretty much cements the notion that Best Actor is the one category where the Academy has been consistently getting it right. My favorite of the nominated performances.

kent said...

no ewan mcgregor for MOULIN ROUGE? i think he's best of decade material. too bad he didn't get any greater work this decade

Andrew K. said...

Our tastes are always so different, but I thought we'd both agree that Mortenson's best performance was A History of Violence.

GFH said...

I'd have Day-Lewis as 1st and Depp as 2nd

John T said...

I'm still finishing my Top of the Decade, but Ledger in Brokeback Mountain was not only my top performance in any category of the decade, but it's on my top ten favorite perfs ever.

Anonymous said...

Hm hm.. that's very interessting but frankly i have a hard time determining it... wonder what others have to say..

cal roth said...

Forest Whitaker was so great in The Last King of Scotland!

Ben said...

I think Oscar has gotten the most "right" in Best Actor this decade. My top 5 winners:

-Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
-Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
-Sean Penn, Milk
-Denzel Washington, Training Day
-Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

That's not even including Penn in Mystic River, Brody, or Forest Whitaker, who were all superb as well.

Burning Reels said...

Nicolas Cage, Adaptation (or The Bad Lieutenant)
Paddy Considine, Dead Mans Shoes
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will be Blood
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

pains me to leave out Gosling, Bale, Ledger, Penn and Ganz

If anyone wishes to chat a little more about their favourite Jeff Bridges performance, just written a little piece about him on my blog.

Rebecca said...

My favorite performance of the decade:

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

apologies to McGregor, Murray, and Penn in 'Milk.'

Favorite Oscar winners would be Day-Lewis, Penn for 'Milk', Washington, and Brody. (Haven't seen 'Crazy Heart' yet.)

I haven't seen Capote. Someone compared Hoffman in that movie to Milton from 'Office Space', and now I don't think I can ever take it seriously.

Peggy Sue said...

Oh yes! The Academy has much better taste when it comes to men.

(Wish I could say the same)

brandz said...

Jim Broadbent in Iris (Oscar winner) was outstanding. So tender and real.

Alex said...

Only two of my picks have been snubbed and three have won, not to mention the fact that I really like all the Oscar winners (with the exception of Russell Crowe and Jamie Foxx), so Oscar hasn't been too bad for me this decade.

00: Douglas - Wonder Boys (snubbed)
01: Wilkinson - In the Bedroom (nominated, lost)
02: Nicholson - About Schmidt (nominated, lost)
03: Murray - Lost in Translation (nominated, lost)
04: Bridges - The Door in the Floor (snubbed)
05: Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck (nominated, lost)
06: Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland (Oscar)
07: Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood (Oscar)
08: Penn - Milk (Oscar)
09: Firth - A Single Man (nominated, lost)

CanadianKen said...

My five (chronolgically)
1. GAEL GARCIA BERNAL
"Bad Education"
2. CHRISTIAN BALE "The Machinist"
3. HEATH LEDGER "Brokeback
Mountain"
4. COLIN FIRTH "A Single Man"
5.GEORGE CLOONEY "Up in the Air"

Honorable Mention:
Ed Harris "Pollock"
Terrence Howard "Hustle & Flow"
Philip Seymour Hoffman
"Synecdoche New York"
Mickey Rourke "The Wrestler"
Jean-Claude Van Damme "JCVD"

Jen said...

Loved watching Jeff listening to Michelle. Such a beautiful moment. Also loved Colin Firth's reaction as you mentioned in your post.

notanotherblog said...

Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls
Gael Garcia Bernal - Bad Education
Joseph Gordon Levitt - Mysterious Skin
Viggo Mortensen- A History of Violence.
Brad Pitt - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Colin Firth - A Single Man

Wins: 0
Noms: .500

Burning Reels said...

Completely forgot about Bernal in Bad Education - love that performance!

Bill_the_Bear said...

There are just too many to choose from...but one I'd hate to leave off my list would be George Clooney in "Michael Clayton," which nobody has mentioned yet.

I do think that Ulrich Mühe definitely has to be on the list.

Unknown said...

My list goes a little something like this:

1. Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) - winner
2. Sean Penn (Milk) - winner
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) - winner
4. Jamie Foxx (Ray) - winner
5. Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) - winner
6. Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) - nominee
7. Adrien Brody (The Pianist) - winner
8. Colin Firth (A Single Man) - nominee
9. Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York) - nominee
10. Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) - nominee

snow blind said...

Sean Penn only won for Milk because he portrayed a mega famous gay rights activist during the controversial California gay marriage ballot. That Oscar definitely belongs to Mickey Rourke. Crazy Heart was just a script rewrite of the wrestler anyways.

My Top Five:
1. Russell Crowe- Gladiator
2. Heath Ledger- BBM
3. Mickey Rourke- The Wrestler
4. George Clooney- Up in the Air
5. Bill Murray- Lost in Translation

Call me crazy but Russel Crowe's performance as Maximus Decimus Meridius always gives me goosebumps.

Keifer said...

Here are my top six male performances of the decade. Only two of them were nominated by the Academy. If you haven't seen any of these performances, do youself a favor, pop some popcorn, sit back and prepare to be WOWED! I think this is a really outstanding list (of course, I came up with it!)

Ben Kingsley - The House of Sand and Fog (nominated, lost)
Sean Penn - The Assassination of Richard Nixon (shamelessly, not nominated)
Benicio del Toro - Che (again, a cruel omission, not nominated)
Daniel Day Lewis - The Ballad of Jack and Rose (my personal favorite of Day Lewis' performances - Day Lewis "delicate")
Nicholas Cage - Matchstick Men (a great, unheralded performance from Cage in this movie)
Edward Norton - American History X (nominated, but lost)