Eisenberg vs. Damon? The Youngest Best Actor Nominees!

"Do I have your full attention?"

Whilst continuing my "Best in Show" column for Tribeca Film, I decided it was high time to highlight Jesse Eisenberg from The Social Network and this is why. Here at The Film Experience though, it's time for Oscar trivia! Though I would love to see Eisenberg win traction for Best Actor, he has something else working against him besides the subdued performance: his age.

Youngest Best Actor Nominees

And where Eisenberg would fit in, were he to be nominated.
Disclaimer/Bragging: You won't find info this extensive elsewhere! The Official Oscar site / Wikipedia only offer top tens. However the following info is approximate. Though the Academy's top ten is down to the day of the actual nominations, they don't provide official nomination dates only ceremony dates. Inside Oscar and Wikipedia also only list the ceremony dates so we're just using February 1st, ∞ as a general calculation date for when nominations happened for given years.

1. Jackie Cooper, Skippy (1931) was 9 years old.
   Nine, Guido, Nine! Kind of strange that he was nominated, wasn't it, since back then they were giving people "junior" Oscars. Why wasn't he handed one of those instead? Or perhaps they started those in the wake of this nomination.
2. Mickey Rooney, Babes in Arms (1939) was 19 years old.
3. Mickey Rooney, again, The Human Comedy (1943). He was 23.
   Bonus Trivia Note: Rooney is not the youngest actor to receive two Oscar nominations. If you include supporting work, the record holder is Sal Mineo who by the age of 22 had been nominated twice: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Exodus (1960). If you include actors, male or female, Angela Lansbury holds the record of fastest to "two-time nominee" status: she had two nominations for Supporting Actress by the time she was 20 (The Picture of Dorian Gray and Gaslight).
   
   
   
   Mickey & Sal: fast-start careers, quick industry respect.
   
   
4. John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever (1977) was 24.
5. James Dean, East of Eden (1955) was 24 years old when he died. This nomination came posthumously when he would have just turned 25.
6. James Dean again for Giant (1956). He would have just turned 26.
7. Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson (2006) was 26 years old.
8. Orson Welles, Citizen Kane (1941) was also 26.
9. Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain (2005) was 26 going on 27.
   ****If Jesse Eisenberg is nominated for The Social Network he will boot Matt Damon out of the top ten by a hair (it's a matter of approximately 14 days).
10. Matt Damon, Good Will Hunting (1997) was 27 years and 125 days old.
    
11. Tom Cruise, Born on the 4th of July (1989) was 27½
12. Albert Finney, Tom Jones was also 27 going on 28.
13. Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire was 27 but rapidly approaching 28.
14. Montgomery Clift, my favorite actor, for The Search (1948) when he was 28.
15. Marlon Brando again for Viva Zapata! (1952) when he was almost 29.
16. Chester Morris, Alibi (1929) was turning 29 probably within a week or two of the nominations.  But I can't find the date that the Academy announced the nomination in 1930 for the films of 1928/1929.  
17. Kenneth Branagh, Henry V (1989) was newly 29 as well.
18. Anthony Franciosa, A Hatful of Rain (1957) was 29.
19. Edward Norton, American History X (1998) was 29½.
    From here on out it gets dubious/tricky. I can't vouch for the following order without official nomination dates since all of these men were born in the month of April and the nominations usually arrive in February but dates vary quite a lot.
20. Adrien Brody, The Pianist (2002) was almost 30.
    
21. Marlon Brando again for Julius Caesar (1953) when he was almost 30.
22. Ryan O'Neal, Love Story (1970) was almost 30.

Once actors have hit 30 the leading roles start coming. Though Rooney and Dean are near the top of "youngest ever" charts I think it would be best to consider Brando the patron saint of all the future young guns given his instant impact and fascinating longevity, despite many career twists and turns.

 Brando from '51 to '54: Four consecutive nods by the time he was 30 for
A Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata!, Julius Caesar and On the Waterfront.

He was nominated in four consecutive years starting at the age of 27 with his history-altering performance as Stanley Kowalski (Streetcar Named Desire, 1951) and ended that insane run with a golden boy win (On the Waterfront, 1954) just 4 days shy of his 31st birthday ...which is about the time most people just start being considered for good roles let alone prizes.  

Excessive Trivia Alert! Brando snatched that youngest winner title from James Stewart (who was 32 when he won for The Philadelphia Story besting Clark Gable's win for It Happened One Night at age 34). The Godfather held onto the title for two decades until Richard Dreyfuss won at 30 (The Goodbye Girl, 1977). Dreyfuss was dethroned a quarter century later by Adrien Brody (The Pianist, 2002) who won three weeks shy of his 30th birthday. Are you loving this trivia or are you begging for it to stop? I can't stop once I get started. But I must. I must!

The only other nominees at the age of 30? That'd be Warren Beatty -Bonnie & Clyde, Richard Todd -The Hasty Heart, Franchot Tone - Mutiny on the Bounty, Dustin Hoffman -The Graduate, Sylvester Stallone -Rocky, and Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator.

31 Up and the men become too numerous to list. But in the past decade the men who achieved a lead nomination by 31 were Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls (2000), Jude Law in Cold Mountain (2003) and Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line... though few noticed the latter's youth at the time since Heath Ledger was making more noticeable history at 26 years of age. Together they made 2005's lineup one of the youngest skewing ever.

Here's the ten youngest best actor nominees of the past decade from youngest to oldest. (DiCaprio is the biggie here having rung up his 3rd Oscar nomination before he was 33. Still hasn't won yet, though.)

Youngest Lead Nominees of the Aughts

I promise I'll stop now!!!
What do you make of all this and do you think Jesse Eisenberg has a shot at all, given the super early frontrunner status of The Social Network minus their resistance to subdued performances and young men?

If you are over 30 reading this list I apologize. It makes me feel unaccomplished, too. If you are under 30 and an actor, take note. There's still plenty of time for you; nail your next audition!

Companion Articles / Related Reading
Best in Show: Jesse Eisenberg
Familiar Faces: Actors David Fincher Uses Frequently 
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Happy 4th of July!

Be safe out there!
The Film Experience will be back tomorrow. Enjoy your festivities whatever they may be.
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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

Top 50 Performances of the Decade (Male)

They aren't ranked. Deal with it. I must thank these 47 actors again (three performers have two entries) one last time for delivering such indelible characterizations these past ten years. Bid them adieu before moving on to a fresh decade, the Teens. You may notice that this list includes no 2009 performances. It's too early! I don't wanna give away my upcoming nominees and I still need time to let the year settle. My dozen favorites are selected rather impulsively in red. And with "best/favorites" it's always subject to change with the passing of time... or moods.

• Adrien Brody, The Pianist (2002)
• Andy Serkis, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) *
  
• Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast (2001)
• Bill Murray, Lost in Translation (2003)

"make it Suntory times"


• Billy Bob Thornton, The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) *
  
• Campbell Scott, Rodger Dodger (2002) *
  
• Chris Cooper, Adaptation (2002)
• Christian Bale, American Psycho (2000) *
  
• Clive Owen, Closer (2004)
• Daniel Craig, Casino Royale (2006) *
  
• David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
• Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (2007)
• Dennis Quaid, Far From Heaven (2002) *
  
• Denzel Washington, Training Day (2001)
• Ed Harris, Pollock (2000)
• Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge! (2001) *
  
• Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland (2006)
• Gael Garcia Bernal, Bad Education (2004) *
  



• Haley Joel Osment, A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) *
  
• Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (2008)
• Hugh Jackman, The Fountain (2006) *
  
• Ian McKellen, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt (2002)
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Javier Bardem, Before Night Falls (2000)
  
• Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men (2007)
• Jeff Bridges, The Door in the Floor (2004) *
  

"my penis is funny"


• Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale (2005) *
  
• Jim Broadbent, Moulin Rouge! (2001) *
  
• Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) *
  
• John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) *
  
• Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
• Jude Law, I ♥ Huckabees (2004) *
  
• Mark Ruffalo, You Can Count On Me (2000) *
  
• Mark Wahlberg, I ♥ Huckabees (2004) *
  
• Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (2008)
• Paul Bettany, Dogville (2004) *
  
• Paul Giamatti, Sideways (2004) *
  
• Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass (2003) *
  


"he handed us fiction after fiction..."


• Robert Downey Jr, Tropic Thunder (2008)
• Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson (2006)
• Sean Penn, Milk (2008)
• Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow (2005)
• Thomas Hayden Church, Sideways (2004)
• Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom (2001)
• Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, In the Mood For Love (2001) *
  
• Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises (2007)
• Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence (2005) *
  
• Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
  

Narrowing it down further woulda killed me, I tell you. The things I do for lists...

Update Summer 2010: These 2009 performances, now that they've settled in as "cinema of the past," would have to be included in the list above. Who to drop to make room for them?

• Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (2009)
• Colin Firth, A Single Man (2009)

See also: 50 Female Performances and Top 100 Films

an * indicates a performance that was not recognized by Oscar. 46% of the list as it turns out (I did not look at Oscar nomination charts while composing this but at my own past years of "best" lists).
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"LINKTUMSEPRA!"

Vanity Fair that lengthy piece on Heath Ledger is now online in case you haven't read it

The Big Picture offers a pointed critique of the same

Cinema Blend I Love You Philip Morris trailer. Does this explain the distribution problems?
PopWatch Another photo of Jake Gyllenhaal from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. For the sake of Gyllenhaalics everywhe

re, I hope this movie opens big. His taste seems to run towards smaller dramas and a franchise on the side would help bolster those opportunities

Coming Soon a couple of set and prop pics from Clash of the Titans and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Nick's Flick Picks has been doing a series on 00s films that need a second look. Nick & Tim discuss Spike Lee's controversial Bamboozled
/Film a third lawsuit for The Lord of the Rings. Will The Hobbit actually happen? Speaking of... worst idea ever: Harry Potter as Bilbo Baggins. I'm convinced that that particular casting rumor is only breathless fangasm and entirely removed from reality. Peter Jackson isn't dumb.
Antagony & Ecstasy offers up a great review/defense of (500) Days of Summer

One thing I've never mentioned here: I absolutely love the snide snail's

pace of Alan Rickman's line readings. He's a joy.

Potter Everywhere

i09 "Harry Potter and the Half-Hearted Ending"

Towleroad a few words from me... though you've heard my take on the vodcast
YouTube Harry/Voldemort rap battle. Kinda funny in concept. Less so in execution. I mean, a full 90 seconds before the rapping actually start? Er...

MTV Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) has his eyes on being a musician?
The franchise's new hunk Cormac McLaggen? He's played by Freddie Stroma who already has breathless fangirls and gayboys going weak at the knee which is all well and good since Hermione wasn't the slightest bit interested. For those who love beefcake, these underwear ads featuring the actor have been making the rounds (NSFW). Hey, a man's gotta make a living before that role in a billion dollar franchise lands in his lap.

Lazy Eye Theater shares a personal response to the growing Harry Potter franchise but his defense of the movie reads to me like an ode to the strengths of television series, not cinema. Since the majority of moviegoers seem to only care about franchises, does this mean they'd rather be watching TV but just like the bigger screens?
Bad Manors Squirrel Diner Harry Potter hovers, Have you ever seen this live stream? It's so silly. Each day new objects for squirrels to interact with as they eat. (Today it's hula girls).

'Cannes you put a price on your dreams?'

My brain and heart are 3,990 miles away. If you have several minutes to spare you might want to check out this video of the Cannes ceremony. If you speak French you'll have more fun but even if you don't the montage of films showing at Cannes (14 - 22 minute mark) is still intriguing.You can see brief cuts from Bright Star, Emmanuelle Devos in L'Origine (Je l'adore), Broken Embraces, Spring Fever and many more including a bit from Heath Ledger in the The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus "Do you dream? Or should I say 'Can you put a price on your dreams?' "

A little kid in a Michael Haneke movie?!? Poor kid.
What horrific, psychologically distorting fate awates him?

Cannes over the weekend... for those of you who've been offline
Roger Ebert "fings ain't wot they used t'be" - lovely piece
Bright Star scrapbook. Jane Campion has such an eye
IFC Daily Strong response to Mother, from The Host director Bong Joon-ho

LA Times Doctor Parnassus still waiting for buyer. The last film of Heath Ledger and a f***ing Terry Gilliam movie with major stars and they don't want it? I will always love the cinema as an artform but as a business it sometimes seems like a malevolent soul crushing destroyer
In Contention joins the chorus singing that Cannes competition lineups need to be riskier than just 'insert 20 famous auteurs'
Getty Tilda Swinton & Agnès Varda of the avant-garde
IndieWire Lars Von Trier does it again with Antichrist. Boos and applause at the premiere
Spoutblog Lars Von Trier does it again for Antichrist. Quotable egomania

I am the best filmmaker in the world

I know it's too much to ask that all directors be as brilliant as Lars Von Trier. But why can't they all be this entertaining?

Cheeky Dafoe, 'the best filmmaker in the world' (?) and sweet Charlotte Gainsbourg

too much Cannes? These posts have never been to France.
PopWrap Shia Labeouf overshares with Playboy
Topless Robot Star Trek = Star Wars. It's Benji Button = Gump all over again
Lazy Eye Theater Remembering Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums
BoingBoing Twitter graph -- how topics get played out. hee
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Heath

Heath Ledger would have turned 30 today. We lost him so quickly.


[sad now]
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It occurred to me recently that I still hadn't seen all of his work. I wasn't a convert to his gifts until Monster's Ball (2001) so I missed a few performances here and there. What's your favorite underseen or early Ledger turn? Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight won't need any help in maintaining their regard as the key works in his career but what are we missing when the conversation continually centers around only two films?
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Now Playing: Slumdog Crosses Over and the Jonas Bros Do Whatever It is That They Do

In case you've been tied up with Oscar mania and are ready to go back to the actual movies, there are new ones. Whether or not it's safe to go back (yeah, that time of year) is another issue entirely. Links go to trailers.

<--- E X P A N D I N G
The Reader and Slumdog Millionaire are taking their highly publicized Oscar wins to their highest screen counts yet and asking for the public's stamp of approval. Kate Winslet is a Time cover girl and Slumdog is on the cover of EW. How much more money does Slumdog have in it? It recentl cracked 100 million.

This isn't really about the theater counts but I'd love your opinion on what's going on with Entertainment Weekly these days? If you ask me they're phoning it in now that they have almost zero real competition. They skipped both pre-show Oscar covers this year which is, I guess, neither here nor there in a lackadaisical gold man year, but their lists (usually a highlight) are getting lazy. That "best directors" list (which I didn't even post) was several dozen kinds of embarrassing -- hardly worth the discussion it garnered and which it only garnered because they have no real competition at this sort of thing. A recent list of final movie appearances they're pushing, 'inspired by Heath Ledger', is also annoying. The Dark Knight is not Ledger's last film. The EW staff is too smart not to know this and they don't really claim it is... so one assume they're just planning to regurgitate this list again when The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus comes out (see previous post). I'm considering cancelling my subscription. I prefer more human movie coverage anyway. Not some corporate mandate for content content content ... even when it trumps common sense. Or am I just grumpy?

L I M I T E D
Crossing Over Wayne Kramer (The Cooler, Running Scared) directs Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess and Ashley Judd in this drama about cultures clashing, shady border business and illegal immigrants. Why is it being dumped into theaters? It has big stars and the kind of sledgehammer topic that turns Oscar voters on (see also: Crash, Traffic)
Echelon Conspiracy Greg Marks directs this thriller that sounds a bit like Eagle Eye in the mysterious threatening cell phone communications department. Shane West plays Shia Labeouf (joke. no need to correct me in the comments). With Ed Burns, Ving Rhames and Jonathan Pryce.
Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead A documentary about a capital punishment activist.
The Trouble With Romance an ensemble indie romantic comedy that restricts itself to one floor of a hotel for its action. I've always wondered why more indies didn't build tight stage-friendly locations right into their concept. Saves on budget. With Jordan Belfi, Kip Pardue, David Eigenberg and Sheetal Sheth among many others.

W I D E
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li "Based on the Video Game" is such a great selling point right? I'm confident that one day someone will make a great movie based on a video game. I mean, we didn't see Pirates of the Caribbean coming, did we? If a theme park attraction can become a super fun movie (the first one only I hasten to specify), why can't a video game? Not that it will be this one. Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) stars as Chun Li. Apparently she's half Chinese. I did not know...
Jonas Bros a 3D concert movie. Obviously we've moved into another boy band phase in pop culture (sigh). I hope they save their money. Eventually they will be searching for reality TV gigs like N'Sync is now (Justin Timberlake excluded).
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We Can't Wait #8 The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Starring "Heath Ledger" (Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law), Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer, Lily Cole
Synopsis Traveling theater players, led by the 1000 year-old Doctor Parnassus, put on shows that includes a mirror where audience members can pass through and explore their own imaginations.
Brought to You By Lionsgate
Expected Release Date June 6th

Fox: I put Heath Ledger's name in quotes not out of any disrespect, but because I don't know how much actual face time he's given in the film. Regardless, this film will arrive with the weight of Ledger's last everything on it. I think it's kind of poignant that the film involves people going through a glass mirror... darkly or otherwise. I wasn't so fond of The Dark Knight, or the thought that Ledger will be remembered as The Joker. I'm not trying to ignite another TDK debate, I just think Ledger's talent deserves a better epitaph than it will likely get.

Also, I'm thrilled to see Terry Gilliam up on his feet again. I only saw part of his last movie Tideland, and it bummed me out. It was like watching an artist stewing in his own personal, horrible, dirty hell. I love his visions. Usually we get CGI blockbusters in the summer, so a production design extravaganza from Gilliam & Friends could be a refreshing break from that.

Verne Troyer??? I don't know. All I can saw is that Gilliam really likes dwarves.

Nathaniel: You know who else likes dwarves? David Lynch. Who, speaking of, also likes the multiple actors as one person and/or one actor as multiple people cinematic mind games. That's something else Parnassus will have given the Depp, Farrell & Law solution to the Ledger tragedy. Sight unseen and given the nature of the film, it seems like the best possible solution. If you have to have three other actors step in for you, could you do any better?

P.S. I hope Tom Waits sings. I can listen to him croon endlessly. Heavy rotation on the iPod y'all.

Whitney: I hope the revenue this movie sparks by being "Heath Ledger's Last Movie of All Time. Really. This is the Last One. Not Like 2Pac. This is Really The Last Movie" will finance his Don Quixote project that he's been trying to make his whole career. Ledger was really funny in Gilliam's last work, so I'm thinking four Ledgers will be even better.

Joe: Oooh, thanks to Whitney for reminding me how much I liked Heath in The Brothers Grimm. Which was otherwise disappointing. I tend to respect Gilliam's weirdness from afar; the films themselves are hit-or-miss. Given the circumstances, I hope this one pulls it all together.

Nathaniel: And now I'm sad again. 2005 was such an incredible year in Ledger's career. Think of the range displayed alone: The Lords of Dogtown, Casanova, Brokeback Mountain and The Brothers Grimm. Joe, I share your hope. I would love for Gilliam to have a success as big critically and commercially and Academy-ically (yeah I butchered the word to make a shiny gold man point) as The Fisher King again.

Matt Damon, Ledger and Gilliam on the set of The Brothers Grimm (2005)

JA: I still need to see The Brothers Grimm. A mad rush to Netflix! Parnassus would've made my list even without Ledger because of Gilliam alone. His floundering ability to get movies done drives me bonkers, so every one that makes it's way across the finish line is something to be cherished. I'm even one of the like ten people who defended and liked Tideland. But with this being the last footage we'll see of Ledger, absent a 2-Pac-or-Elvis-like ressurection, and with the actors stepping in to cover Heath being three of my absolute favorites, this became an even higher priority.

As for Troyer, to quote Colin Farrell's character in In Bruges, "They're filming midgets! They're filming midgets!" I share his enthusiasm.

Nathaniel: Where do you stand on Gilliam? Or are you seated? Reclining? Perhaps jumping up and down? Do tell in the comments.

In case you missed any entries they went like so...
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We Can't Wait:
#1 Inglourious Basterds, #2 Where the Wild Things Are, #3 Fantastic Mr. Fox,
#4 Avatar, #5 Bright Star, #6 Shutter Island, #7 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
#8 Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9 Nailed, #10 Taking Woodstock,
#11 Watchmen, #12 The Hurt Locker, #13 The Road, #14 The Tree of Life
#15 Away We Go, #16 500 Days of Summer, #17 Drag Me To Hell,
#18 Whatever Works, #19 Broken Embraces, #20 Nine (the musical)
intro (orphans -didn't make group list)
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Supporting Actor Lineup (Now With More Psychological Problems!)

When I covered actor, supporting actress and actress, I combined all the competitors into one fictional composite character... but with this category, what's the point? The only thing you must know (if you don't already) is that this guy has serious psychological issues. Whether he's a mathematician, a pedophile, a super villain, a politician or an acclaimed actor, he's just plain nuts! Mental disturbances = your surest way into the Oscar race (if you have a penis. For actors with vaginas, the rules are a bit different)


Over at the Supporting Actor Page there's detailed silly theorizing as to how each contestant got nominated as well as a poll that pleads for your take on this race (preference wise. After all, we all know what to predict). Who do you think gave the best performance? Robert Downey Jr, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michael Shannon, Josh Brolin or the late and greatly missed Heath Ledger? Or here's a better question for the comments... who comes in second place for you?

Personally I was annoyed at first with PSH taking up space yet again but I think it's a very solid lineup when all is said and done -- any line up with three genuinely inspired performances (and two of them off preferred genres at that) is worthwhile. I wasn't completely sold on Michael Shannon's performance either actually (in Revolutionary Road) but I've loved him since he went completely starkers for the great play Bug here in NYC so I'm glad he's now winning mainstream attention.

SAG Live Blogging (Part 2)

continued from part one

9:03 One thing I should mention about Sally Field. I love that she referred to her fellow nominees (i.e. the losers) as "the cable girls." Heh. Whoever chose the clips for the TV Drama Actress category (which also included the great Holly Hunter looking ravishing as always) defines great acting as screaming. Every clip was pitched to the rafters. Is the editor a member of SAG too.

It wouldn't surprise me. They're such suckers for the BIG moments.

9:04 Forrest Whitaker loves James Earl Jones's "mesmerizing deep valley voice". That's great. Maybe Whitaker should do this live-blogging because my descriptive powers have failed me. Jones is accepting a lifetime achievement award (the name I forget). Apparently Jones moved to Michigan at age 5 and his life changed after winning a poetry contest. (I won a spelling bee contest in Michigan but it did not change my life).

9:14 James Earl Jones is comparing actors to God. The camera cuts to Meryl Streep.


This might be the best single reaction shot decision ever made at an awards show and I think the director or the editor or whomever was responsible really should win a prize. Maybe they could remove Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon director nomination and replace it with this guy because that's genius.

9:24 Laura Linney won for John Adams again. Her fiancé told her not to fondle the statue. Ha! Oh you know Laura Linney has a great sex life. Think of how hilarious and relaxed she is as an actor in those sex scenes in Love Actually or The Savages. She just announced that she's moving to Chicago. Someone just freaked out.

9:30 Paul Giamatti won for John Adams. Can you believe there's only half an hour left of this show and they have given out only one movie award?

9:31 "In Memoriam" always make me so sad. The Cyd Charisse moment make-a my heart go boom. I love Van Johnson, too. sniffle. Pat Hingle. He's so loveable but remember that intense scene in The Grifters where he's threatening Angelica Huston with the bag of oranges? Jesus Christ that was frightening. What an actor. Eartha! Nina Foch. Paul Newman... "pure hard gold" to quote Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth... "pure hard gold"


That montage killed me. If there are no further updates you'll understand.

9:43 From the "In Memoriam" we move into Best Supporting Actor which is certainly no mistake if a bit... er... why am I always so uncomfortable with all the Heath Ledger tributes? Is it because I feel proprietary having recognized his worth before he died unlike so many voting peoples [cough * Capote * cough] . I don't know. Maybe I'm just not comfortable with public grief but it sure does hurt still.

Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger as "The Joker" in The Dark Knight. Well deserved.

9:49 On a totally superficial note I feel it's important to note that Kristin Scott Thomas announced that award and she was smoking hot in her French/British ice queen way. I bow down (and tremble in fear). She's been working a kind of a goth look this awards season and she's way more convincing than Evan Rachel Wood ever was at it.

Will Marilyn Manson be calling?

9:50 Best Actress in a Leading Role MERYL STREEP in DOUBT
As per usual La Streep brings down the house with her speech. Damn this woman rocks. She alone (or at least with very little company) understands that awards shows are for the audience watching. She mugs for the camera. Who me? No way! She kisses people. She runs around so much in the audience I half expected her to start singing. It's a lost scene from Mamma Mia!

She does clever shout outs to co-stars and makes them laughs. (Viola Davis is the happiest person in the room tonight. She was even joyful losing Best Supporting Actress). And she tops it all off with a hilariously self referential/deprecating speech "there is no such thing as 'The Greatest Living Actress'"

I think Meryl Streep's birthday should be a Federal Holiday. Or maybe it should coincide with a week long arts festival all across the globe.

9:57 Best Actor in a Leading Role is presented by Katie Holmes. Why? Why does she get to do this?The Boyfriend says "that's like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth". It's Sean Penn for Milk. He gives a confused speech with a gay joke (he's noticing the package on the statue. Perhaps Laura Linney's fiancé should have words with him afterwards). He also alludes to all the scuttlebutt surrounding his and Mickey Rourke's supposed animosity. He isn't pleased. He seems genuinely moved to win though which is nice.

10:02 Ensemble. Sir Anthony Hopkins introduces the movies and when he says Slumdog Millionaire the last few syllables are super rushed like it's Milinair. That's probably how I should say it to get Oscar season over with quicker. Save me 2009! Take me away from all of this.

And yeah, they win. You weren't surprised, were you? Nah, didn't think so. Their acceptance speech is a weird list of names (though it's cute and wonderful to name the child actors) and lots of "we deserve this". This is like when I do affirmations in the mirror. One of these days I'll convince myself!

Breakfast With... Jack & Ennis

If you squint reallllllly closely and look to the far right you can see that they've got something smoking on the fire...


I'm guessing it's going to burn.

Their boss is looking on with binoculars and he does not approve of the way they scramble their eggs.

previous "breakfast with..."s
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My Supporting Actor Ballot

The first thing you'll notice is the absence of Heath Ledger. I'm not being perverse. I've just placed him in the lead category instead. It's a gray area to be sure: Does The Dark Knight have three leads (Harvey Dent, Batman and The Joker), two leads (Harvey Dent and the Joker -- how weird is is that Batman feels like the least important character?), two leads (Batman and the Joker -- for historical accuracy's sake) or one (Batman, since it's his franchise even though he's reactive / sidelined this time). I recently watched the seventh Batman again and my problems with it remain (very jumbled plot, exciting yet hard to follow action sequences, faux profundities) but Ledger's work is explosive. He enjoys watching it burn.

This time around guess which performance it most reminded me of? Brad Pitt in Fight Club. It was the sick laughter that did it, that frighteningly unmistakable glee in being beaten to a pulp...

"You don't know where I've been. You don't know where I've been."

If you're talking Oscar nominations, I'm rooting for James Franco and Josh Brolin (Milk), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Robert Downey Jr (Tropic Thunder) and Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky) to be the lucky five. I know that Marsan, the NSFC winner, is not at all likely but if there's a plausible surprise, that's what I'd be happiest with. I view Philip Seymour Hoffman's Father Flynn (Doubt) as a lead role... and I don't generally root for those default nominees anyway. You know who they are, the ones that end up in the race just so long as they show up to work.

Here's my ballot.

Return, discuss, and tell me who landed on your ballot. The more the merrier.
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Prediction Revamps: Best Actor & Supporting Actor

With release dates recently shifting (The Soloist to 2009 and The Road probably headed that way ...among others) it's time for a major Oscar overhaul. I'm starting with the actors. I think it's safe to say --or as safe as it can be to say at this point -- that we can narrow our Lead Actor candidates to nine or ten. [Everyone together now: "But there can be only five"] I hope the campaign battle gets bloody and stays at least nine-wide (it's more fun that way) but recent years have seen the true candidates narrowed to 6 or 7 quickly by the abundant precursor organizations. Those early awards bodies (SAG, BFCA, Critics, NBR, Globes) agree far too often considering how subjective the whole idea of "Best" is, don't they? How did it all become so conformist?

Not "maverick" at all, these Oscar competitions. But then, that word doesn't seem to mean what it used to mean, now does it?

Meanwhile: Supporting Actor continues to remain more of a mystery ...outside of Heath Ledger's ghostly Joker. But then, the Supporting categories always are. It's so much easier to suss out Oscar appeal lead performances early on. The supporting players are always better at hiding within the plot synopsis and editing decisions. The supporting players need "best in show" citations, good campaigns, strong "clip" scenes, and enough screen time to make a case for themselves, and usually love for the film itself --none of which get really clear until the films open.

And finally... is Last Chance Harvey (trying that age old and eternally annoying 'day after Christmas' limited release to Oscar qualify) starring Dustin Hoffman & Emma Thompson an American President type of charmer (i.e. well liked but too lightweight for real Oscar attention ~ that's the vibe I get from the trailer at least) or something more. The trailer for your consideration:


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Link: The Farewell Tour?

I'm gonna be like Cher and just quit one day while I'm ahead behind... and the first thing to go will be the links.

CNN details on that terrible terrible Jennifer Hudson relatives tragedy
Lilok Pelikula on the gay Thai Oscar entry Love of Siam
Blake Snyder "finding the spine" 5 questions for struggling screenwriters
Flickhead enjoys some early Angelina days with Foxfire
The Big Picture with more on Steven Soderbergh's bizarre directorial choices than JA was talking about yesterday
Gold Derby Synecdoche New York might make both "best" and "worst" lists come year's end
In Contention thinks Clint Eastwood will win Best Actor for Gran Torino
Coffee Coffee and More Coffee an open letter to IMDB on their 18th birthday
The Bad and the Ugly all those Dr. Imaginarium Heath Ledger photos


Wake Up Call, starring Emile Hirsch from ace norton on Vimeo.

Politics as unusual
David Sedaris "Undecided" I love this because I can't for the life of me figure how some people haven't made up their minds in this election
Gallery of the Absurd Talking Presidential Candidate dolls
Margaret and Helen an awesome letter and response
Reports from the Edge a typo my ass!
Grow a Brain "Camelot 2" unusual Obama linkage

Naked Gold Man: Baby Steps

Festival season (Hello TIFF!) births and defeats many Oscar dreams. But it's worth remembering that while all the festival "sure things" are named and buzzed about -- Slumdog Millionaire, Rachel Getting Married, The Burning Plain, Lovely Still, Changeling, The Wrestler, etcera... -- that they're rarely counted. There are only 5 slots in each category... or less. The Oscar race is long and hard and there are few sure things. Particularly in September.

But one thing that the new buzz reflects truthfully is that the race is always on. Oscar competition starts long before a film is released -- critical perceptions and audience reactions can never be controlled per se but they can be manipulated and managed, tweaked, anticipated, hyped or countered. This occurs in any number of ways from the moment of conception: the pre-production buzz (who is cast? is John Q Director right for the material?) to birth...


...(the first reviews and that nail biting opening weekend) to the toddler days when the film starts exhibiting its own personality, a product of both nature (filmmakers as proud parents) and nurture (pre-Oscar awards, media favoritism and industry and public discussions serving up the Environment).

And even if a golden hopefully is great and/or statue friendly (not always the same thing), there's the completely uncontrollable variable: what and who else is dancing around begging for the same attention? Fact: A year with 30 truly great lead performances will result in the same number of nominees as a year with only 7. This is why "locks" are so rare despite the ubiquity of the word in nearly every Oscar conversation.

That said, the following cute toddlers will surely be included in that invitation-only private school @ the Kodak Theater. They've made the race that much more difficult for any young film choosing to follow.

Animated Film - WALL•E. Only 2 spots left and they'll just be happy to be nominated.
Visual Effects - Iron Man. You know they'll honor it somewhere ... somewhere being right here. Only 2 spots left
Score -John Williams for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Why would they stop now? He's been nominated for every single Indy outing. Only 4 spots left.
Acting - only 19 actors and actress need apply for the 20 spots.

Heath Ledger's Joker performance in The Dark Knight is still monumentally creepy to think about or be reminded of, isn't it? Eight weeks of ubiquity, often a great inoculation for hysterically praised work, haven't managed to dilute its feverish pull. That's an impressive feat and a performance that once seemed like a worthy "likely contender" is now a "lock". But we still don't know what this means for the larger Oscar picture. And it's all about the larger picture. "Supporting" is where Ledger's buzz first happened. But many voices are starting to shout for "Lead" status. The Joker's ghostly presence and penchant for chaos will affect future candidates and the Oscar race... but which one. Both? Pre-season can be filled with reversals... he could conceivable alter the chances of candidates in both categories as actors jockey for space and attention in the abundant pre-season honors. And does the desire to honor the late great young actor, pull the rest of the film and its achievements upwards and into the Kodak or not? It's also possible that the long haul to Oscar nominations (still 4 months away) could convince some voters that Ledger's posthumous nomination honor is reward enough for this Batman film. Honestly, what does Batman contribute to his own movie (this time around)?

Ledger's performance is already briskly jogging towards that January goal. Other competitors are still crawling. Penélope Cruz and Woody Allen's writing (the latter always somewhat in the running) could very well represent for Vicky Cristina Barcelona but neither are done deals and could be crowded out with ease if the fall films are especially strong. Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) Melissa Leo (Frozen River -previous article) will now be leaving the safe realm of the theoretically worthy and entering the real world of starry household name competitors and heavily funded movies. I love the arrival of the fall films. So many golden possibilities ahead. I personally can't wait to see what happens next. And you?

Oscar Prediction Revisions & Best Actress Psychic updates are coming round about September 20th (apologies for the long wait)