Moviefone Editorial

Tag: best-actor

  • Oscars 2018 Nominations: Jordan Peele ‘Ugly Cried’ Over ‘Get Out’ Nods

    Actor-writer-director-producer Jordan Peele had a very good morning: His feature debut flick, “Get Out,” scored an impressive four Oscar nominations on Tuesday, earning accolades for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. And all of that recognition made Peele understandably emotional.

    Peele took to Twitter to share his reaction to the nominations announcement, at first simply letting an indelible image from his movie do the talking. The director later added that he was in “the opposite of the Sunken Place,” another nod to “Get Out.”

    Noting that he had spoken to star Daniel Kaluuya, who was nominated for Best Actor (and also on the receiving end of some creative name mangling, courtesy of Tiffany Haddish), Peele revealed that all of the Oscars love had made him “ugly cry.” And of course, the fans’ support of the flick wasn’t lost on the director, who in another tweet thanked “everyone who bought a ticket and told someone else to,” crediting them with the film’s success.

    It’s wonderful to see someone like Peele, known primarily for his work in television and comedy (shout-out to the late, great Comedy Central sketch series “Key & Peele”), succeed on Hollywood’s biggest stage, and he should enjoy every last bit of his well-deserved success. And as his wife and fellow comedian Chelsea Peretti pointed out on Twitter, the family had yet another reason to celebrate on Tuesday.

    Now that’s an impressive feat.

    [via: Jordan Peele/Twitter]

  • Oscars 2017: Who Will Win Best Actor?

    Oscars 2017 best actor nomineesAnd the Oscar goes to … ?

    We’re just days away from Hollywood’s biggest night — the 89th Academy Awards (Feb 26 at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on ABC) — which means it’s crunch time. Time for you to fill out your Oscars ballot and lock in your picks!

    This week, Moviefone’s editors will be making their picks right along with you, predicting the winners in the show’s four biggest categories. Today, we’re revealing our picks for Best Actor. And the nominees are…

    Here, we’re sharing who we think will win, as well as who we feel truly deserves to take home the Academy Award.

    Tim Hayne

    Who Will Win: Casey Affleck. He’s already won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and a Critics’ Choice Award for the role, so he’s pretty much a lock at this point.

    Who Should Win: Casey Affleck. Politics aside, Affleck delivers the best performance of his career, edging out Denzel Washington in the process. (Sorry, Denzel, but you’ve got your Tony for the same role to keep you warm at night.) His turn as Lee Chandler is nuanced, layered, and downright hypnotic. Who would of thought watching someone look so uncomfortable could be so entertaining?

    Phil Pirrello

    Who Should Win: Casey Affleck. Nominated for Oscar once before, for “The Assassination of Jesse James,” Affleck anchors this family drama ensemble with a very grounded, very minimalist performance of a man who just can’t beat the guilt he suffers over a tragedy that makes it hard for him to move forward, but not impossible.

    Who Will Win: Denzel Washington. Affleck’s very internalized performance is a career-best, and he was also the frontrunner, until recent controversies surrounding his personal life bubbled up in the newscycle and Denzel (his only main competition) won the SAG award for Best Actor. Since actors — Affleck’s peers — represent a large majority of Academy voters, dollars-to-donuts they will help drive Washington to his third Oscar win. While Affleck has lost some steam going into the home stretch, Washington has gained considerable ground for his robust, nuanced (and sometimes over the top) turn as an ex-baseball prospect-turned-bitter garbage man, husband, and father.

    Drew Taylor

    Who Will Win: Denzel Washington. Sure, Denzel Washington is commanding in his adaptation of the August Wilson play (Washington also directed and produced), but there are moments that feel hackneyed and unearned, and at least two times when Washington forgets his line and pauses in the middle of one of his bellicose speeches (thanks to some handy sound effects, it looks like Washington is just getting distracted by a noise off-camera). But it’s the kind of sturdy, talky, classical, theatrical performance that the Academy eats up with a fork and spoon. Washington is great but his performance (and the movie) aren’t all that. Still, I think that it’s likely he’ll walk away with a little gold man on Oscar night.

    Who Should Win: Casey Affleck. I would have said Ryan Gosling, but his A+ performance last year came in Shane Black’s criminally under-appreciated “The Nice Guys” and not the more openly lauded “La La Land.” So I’m going to kick my pick over to the most controversial contender, Casey Affleck. Affleck has come under fire for reports of sexual harassment that have resurfaced during this year’s Oscar race, and, while those shouldn’t be totally ignored, they don’t have much baring on his performance as a man who is forced to take care of his brother’s teenage sun (after the brother drops dead). It’s the kind of delicate, achy, deeply human performance that Affleck is so good at. (It was originally written for Matt Damon, who was also supposed to direct.) It lacks the pomposity that defines many of the other nominees (even Viggo Mortensen, in an otherwise smaller film, manages to be quite large) and that will ultimately prove his downfall. But it doesn’t matter. It’s an amazing performance by one of the country’s most talented actors.

    Rachel Horner

    Who Will Win: Usually, this category has a clear winner, but I am very torn between Denzel Washington for “Fences” or Casey Affleck for “Manchester by the Sea.” I go back and forth between the two, but it will be one of them, for sure.

    Who Should Win: Casey Affleck. Listen, we all know Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of our time, but he didn’t bring his best performance to “Fences.” It was 100% Viola Davis’s movie. Affleck gave one of the most nuanced and emotional performances of 2016, and he deserves the gold.

    Tony Maccio

    Who Will Win: Casey Affleck. It’s hard to find flaws within Affleck’s portrayal of a man thrown into the guardianship of his nephew after his older brother passes away. Kenneth Lonergan once again crafted a script in which moments aren’t forced and the dialogue feels grounded and real. Affleck channels Lonergan’s writing into an understated performance that draws a true sense of empathy from the audience.

    Who Should Win: Denzel Washington. The ability the translate emotive power from stage to screen is no easy task, but Washington brings “Fences” patriarch Troy Maxson to life in a way that we’ve never seen before.

  • ‘Deadpool’ and Ryan Reynolds Begin Oscar Campaign With Perfect ‘For Your Consideration’ Letter

    If Vin Diesel can predict awards season glory for the “Fast and Furious” franchise, who’s to say that superhero flick “Deadpool” doesn’t have a shot at some hardware, too? Star Ryan Reynolds has officially kicked off “Deadpool”‘s campaign for Oscars and other critics awards with a hilarious For Your Consideration letter aimed at reminding voters just how much work went into crafting the offbeat flick — with a healthy dose of the irreverent humor that made the film such a unique moviegoing experience in the first place.

    The letter, shared by IndieWire critic Anne Thompson, begins with Reynolds poking fun at the recent crackdown on wining and dining awards voters (something the Hollywood Foreign Press Association addressed this year with its new set of rules for the Golden Globes). Instead of bribes, the actor offers “my sincerest thanks for supporting our Deadpool film this year,” before launching into a recounting of the long and arduous process it took to get the movie onto the big screen.

    “Deadpool” had “a budget which would barely cover the cocaine costs on most studio films,” Reynolds wrote, and he suspects that studio 20th Century Fox only greenlit the flick because it mistook the film for “a Maze Runner spinoff.” Despite its underdog status, the actor said, “Deadpool emerged from a 5th tier Marvel character to a pop culture phenomenon … becoming the highest grossing Rated R film in history.”

    Whether or not “Deadpool” will earn any Oscar hardware remains to be seen, and the Academy has been notoriously stuffy when it comes to recognizing the superhero genre in anything other than the technical categories. But according to IndieWire, Reynolds was present at last weekend’s Governors Awards — an event at which many actors and actresses campaign for their own films — and Fox is also reportedly backing the actor in the Best Actor race.

    We won’t know until the nominations are announced in January whether or not the gamble pays off, but it should be entertaining to see what other tricks Reynolds and co. have up their sleeves as awards season continues.

    [via: IndieWire]

  • Oscars 2015: Best Actor Winner Is Eddie Redmayne


    And the winner for Best Actor is Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything.”

    The five nominees at this year’s Academy Awards were Steve Carell for “Foxcatcher,” Benedict Cumberbatch for “The Imitation Game,” Michael Keaton for “Birdman,” Eddie Redmayne for “Theory of Everything,” and Bradley Cooper for “American Sniper.” Redmayne and Keaton were the two frontrunners throughout award season, although Cooper was also predicted to pull out an upset.

    Eddie Redmayne won for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in romantic biopic “The Theory of Everything.” This is his first Oscar win, although he nabbed a Best Actor prize at the SAG Awards and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama.

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  • Oscar Predictions 2015: Who Will Win Best Actor?

    Best Actor Predictions 2015 OscarsWith the 2015 Oscars almost here, Moviefone will be releasing a set of staff predictions each day this week (in countdown fashion) for the four major categories. We kicked it off yesterday with Best Actress, and now turn our attention to a hotly-contested race: Best Actor.

    We’ve already given you the beat on the 2015 Oscars race, so now let’s break down our favorites to win the award. Here, we’ve listed the actors we expect to win, and then, more importantly, who we think should win.

    Tim Hayne
    Who Will Win: Eddie Redmayne. The actor’s transformative performance as physics genius Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” is, perhaps, the most talked about of the year, and it’s already earned him a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. The only person who could possibly upset the race at this point is Bradley Cooper, whose performance in “American Sniper” has been celebrated by audiences to the tune of more than $300M at the box office.

    Who Should Win: Michael Keaton. If not for his performance in “Birdman,” than for his career as a whole. Keaton is the dark horse in this race, for sure, but his dramatic (and comedic) turn as, basically, a version of himself in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s dark comedy is fantastically nuanced and powerful. No disrespect to Redmayne, but it’s pretty early in the 33-year-old’s career; let’s give the Oscar to someone who’s filmography includes iconic turns in “Beetlejuice,” “Batman,” and, one my personal favorites, “Mr. Mom.”​

    Alana Altmann
    Who Will Win: Eddie Redmayne, but by a narrow margin. A physically transformative portrayal of a real-life figure will most likely trump an actor playing an… actor. (Hello, “Birdman.”) The visually stunning “Theory of Everything” is the kind of Oscar-friendly biopic that lands its leading men gold. See: Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech,” Jamie Foxx in “Ray,” and Daniel Day-Lewis in “My Left Foot” and “Lincoln.” The same logic could be used for Bradley Cooper and Benedict Cumberbatch’s roles, but Redmayne’s face looked all different and stuff.

    Who Should Win: Michael “Birdman” Keaton. He flies high (JK — I’ll spare you those bird puns!) shines while bringing tormented washed up Hollywood actor Riggan Thomson to life in a way we couldn’t imagine another actor doing. Whether you enjoyed the overwhelming, chaotic meta-ness of “Birdman” or not, it’s hard to deny his riveting performance. Keaton musters his own special blend of magical manic restlessness while embodying vulnerability, bitterness, and the universal fear of failure. To not give him this award would be a total fowl. (Sorry, we had to.)

    Jonny Black
    Who Will Win: Michael Keaton. “Birdman” director Alejandro González Iñárritu said prior to the film’s release that he wanted Keaton for the role because he could navigate drama and comedy, adding “a meta-dialogue to the film.” Keaton was thrown the perfect pass and he delivers, beautifully handling the self-loathing and struggles of former superhero star Riggan Thomson. There’s no denying Eddie Redmayne’s momentum leading up to the Oscars after taking home a Golden Globe and a SAG award and, frankly, there’s no denying his talent — he’s unbelievable in “The Theory of Everything.” Redmayne could take the Oscar home and it would hardly be a steal, but Keaton’s long history with the Academy will give him the win by a nose.

    Who Should Win: Michael Keaton. Ehhh… Eddie Redmayne? Redmayne turns in a hell of a performance, one that is now getting the backlash label of “physical acting,” but who are we kidding? The young Brit let Stephen Hawking’s struggles, emotional and physical, seep into his being and he delivers a raw and moving performance. Ultimately, though, Michael Keaton just is Riggan Thomson. Is there anyone else you can even imagine in that role? It’s impossible to take your eyes off him and he should take home the Oscar.

    Who’s your pick? Tell us in the comments below, and find out which star wins Best Actor when the Oscars air live Sunday, February 22 at 7 ET / 4 PT on ABC.

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