Friday, November 12, 2010

The United States of Gosling

Craig here, with a brief birthday big-up.

Ryan Gosling, dressed for birthday (and Oscar?) success

Ryan is the big three-o today. It's a big birthday - I hope he's celebrating in style.

With All Good Things and Blue Valentine both on the brink of release in the US (Dec 3rd and 31st respectively), it's never been a better time for Mr. Gosling. The year ahead, his 30th, could be his best. He's already chalked up one Oscar nom, for Half Nelson in 2007 - could January's nominations see another one for either of the two movies above? What do you think, readers? And whilst you're at it, give your answer to this question as a gift to Gosling today:

What is your favourite Ryan G performance?

21 comments:

Dimitra said...

I've seen in him The Notebook, Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson. I really liked him in all three, so I'm not sure which one to choose.

Volvagia said...

Half Nelson, naturally. Although both of his things out this year look like they could be giving it very stiff competition. Finally: When is that Cobain biopic coming out?

Rebecca said...

Half Nelson! He is great in 'Lars and the Real Girl' as well, though I don't like the movie itself as much.

adam k. said...

Okay, will ANYONE not be answering: "Half Nelson"? Most of us haven't seen Blue Valentine yet. I mean, Lars and the Real Girl was cute, but come on.

I would be thrilled if he managed to top HN. Very excited about his future.

Unknown said...

I'm going to buck the trends and say "The Believer." His complex portrayal of moral transformation as a neo-Nazi youth demonstrated just how heavy-handed and implausable that of Norton's character in "American History X" was.

If you haven't seen "The Believer" yet do so - it's excellent.

Anonymous said...

Gosling has had an interesting career that actually dates back to a small part in a tv series in 1995, not that I'm suggesting that be a contender for his best work. I'm actually surprised no one mentioned The Slaughter Rule. A really, really amazing part and he was every bit the equal to co-star David Morse and the chemistry they shared was hard not to appreciate. I avoided Lars, will probably watch it at some point but the premise doesn't work for me. Half Nelson, of course, is a fantastic film and I'd probably have to vote it his best if pushed. I haven't seen the believer (thanks for the recomend Jeffrey, it's now on my list). Not sure your thoughts on AHX with Norton - I for one thought it was probably among Norton's best work.

Volvagia said...

The script of American History X was kind of heavy handed. The performance, does, personally redeem the movie. In other words: No Original Screenplay nom for Am History X.

1998 Original Screenplay:

The Big Lebowski
Festen
Rushmore
The Truman Show
Run Lola Run

pomme said...

"Dany balint" and "lars and the real girl"

Paul Outlaw said...

Hard to pick: RG slayed me in The Notebook, Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl and Blue Valentine. I'm tempted to go with the most recent one, only because this movie gives you two Ryans for the price of one.

Robert said...

Ah, one of my biggest current man-crushes.

He's my winner in 06 for Half Nelson and he comes close in 07 for Lars and the Real Girl.

Can't wait to see Blue Valentine.

Volvagia said...

Winner in 2006, close to a nom in 2007. (Bardem's a co-lead in No Country, becaue he has just as much screen time and just as much story importance as Josh Brolin. That plus DDL, Casey Affleck, Depp and my winner of the nominees, Simon Pegg, kept Gosling off.)

Kurtis O said...

I'm having a hard time remembering "Half Nelson" accurately, so I'm going with "Blue Valentine," one of the best films of 2010. He's SO good in it. I also liked him in "Murd3r 8y Numb3rs," a guilty little piece of crap.

George P. said...

I haven't seen All Good Things or Blue Valentine yet, but I'd have to say my favorite Ryan performance might be The Slaughter Rule. I wasn't expecting much from the film, but he & David Morse won me over. For a 2nd place performance, I'd have to go with either Half Nelson, The Notebook, The Believer or Stay.

chi said...

All i can say is....WOOF!

Rahm said...

Half Nelson! I loved that movie and him in it.

I'm really excited to see Blue Valentine.

Rick said...

I have loved him in everything he has been in .. even if the movie was not all that good ( he was )

Probably Half Nelson ... if I had to choose one.

Lucky said...

He was amazing in Lars and the Real Girl. And I'm sorry, but I don't remember Half Nelson that well. I'm excited for Blue Valentine, All Good Things looks like crap, and I don't think he'll get nominated this season. Sadly.

The Pretentious Know it All said...

Blue Valentine is unequivocally his best performance, and I love Half Nelson, so take that for what you will.

In a perfect world, he'd be all locked and loaded for a win at the Oscars, if not for C-C-Colin F-F-F-Firth.

Barry said...

Lars and the Real Girl, definitely. I wasn't expecting much when I started watching it, but his performance floored me.

Castor said...

Lars and the Real Girl!

SoSueMe said...

Oh God, why wasn't Ryan nominated for Lars and the Real Girl? He was my runner-up to Daniel-Day Lewis in 2007. As much as I love Johnny Depp and Viggo Mortensen, Gosling should have had one of their spots that year.