Brian: Moving on to our next category, Best Actor, where we have a couple pretty glaring snubs... perhaps not on the same level as ignoring Lupita Nyong'o, but still pretty frustrating.
Going back to sports for a minute, there's all these unsaid rules that govern the game. Don't show up the pitcher. If so, expect to get beaned during your next at bat. The list goes on and on. I bring this up, because it seems like The Academy operates similarly.
However, in this case, they seem to have an unwritten rule that states, "we will not nominate you or reward you with a win, no matter how good your performance is, if you've had a history of making "Razzie" worthy movies." I'm looking directly at Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy here. Both gave extremely worthy (I'd argue career rejuvenating) performances in Uncut Gems and Dolemite Is My Name, respectively.
While I have yet to see Dolemite, Adam Sandler was a force of nature in my favorite movie of the year, Uncut Gems. I know he's given great performances in the past when given the chance, but I didn't know he had THAT performance in him. He absolutely owns every frame of that movie. Same, from what I've heard, with Murphy. Hollywood loves a comeback, except if you've made Jack & Jill or Norbit in your past.
This refusal to nominate based on the merits of a singular performance vs the entirety of a person's career is extremely frustrating. Looking at this category, there's 2 really strong performances in Phoenix and DiCaprio, a good to great performance from Adam Driver and then an OK (as you've written) performance from Jonathan Pryce in a "meh" movie. I haven't seen Antonio Banderas in Pain and Glory, so I'll withhold judgment for now.
Here are the nominees:
Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”
Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”
Who Will Win: Phoenix. How are we still getting all-time great interpretations of an iconic character after all these years? From Nicholson to Ledger and now Phoenix, we've seen 3 wholly original takes on the classic Batman villain. Could we have another instance of two different actors being awarded for playing the same character (after Brando and DeNiro winning for playing Vito Corleone)? I sure think so. Every time I see Joker, it grows in stature with me. Phoenix stretched his body and mind to the limit in his portrayal of Arthur Fleck/Joker. I think he takes home a much deserved Oscar for this one.
Who Should Win: Of the people nominated, it should definitely be Phoenix. A lot of people are giving love to Adam Driver in Marriage Story, but I wasn't as blown away by his performance as the critics. Sure, the argument scene between the two leads will go down as a memorable one, but I don't know if it's enough for Driver to overtake Phoenix. I enjoyed DiCaprio's "actor coming to grips with his life and career" performance much better, but he just won a couple years ago and Brad Pitt seems to be the one who will win for this movie.
Snubs: Besides the two I mentioned earlier, a lot of people are mentioning Taron Egerton in Rocketman. While I think it's extremely interesting that he re-recorded all of Elton John's music himself, and that the movie seems to be a non-traditional music biopic, do we really need ANOTHER person nominated for one of these movies? I don't think so.
What are you thoughts?
Adam: I definitely think this category showed off a bias against actors who are deemed 'not serious'. Every once in a while a Steve Carrell or Melissa McCarthy breaks through, and she was even able to get a nomination -- God forbid -- for a comedic performance.
Of course in Uncut Gems, Sandler was both funny AND tragic. I went in expected good things, but was just blown away. With Eddie Murphy, his greatness is less of a surprise for me. I always believed he had a role like Dolemite in him and was just frustrated that either he or filmmakers weren't willing to go there. It's absurd that they aren't in this group. Although it may have been too much of a stretch from both of them to make it.
I too haven't seen Pain and Glory, but I hear Banderas is incredible in it and he's someone who has sort of just needed the right part to show off what he can do. I honestly feel like I missed something when I watched The Two Popes. I'd heard Pryce's name bandied about for a while as a likely shoo-in and so I guess I was just expecting more from him and that movie.
As far as the final three goes, they're hard to argue with them. Like the movie itself, I think Phoenix's work is not for everyone's tastes but I think it's still undeniably effective. DiCaprio has never been funnier and more vulnerable than he is in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In a way I think it's a far better performance than the one he finally won for in The Revenant, which was mostly physical. And Adam Driver is emerging rapidly as one of the most interesting actors of his generation, equally at home in blockbusters, quirky comedies and serious drama. I think he is the best thing about Marriage Story, where he is probably aided tremendously by the fact that he is clearly a proxy for writer-director Noam Baumbach.
Who will win: Until very recently I would have said Driver, if only because he is so well liked and the performance/movie is far less polarizing than Joker. But now it seems like all the momentum is with Phoenix. It's wild to think that we will now have two actors winning Oscars for playing this character, It's definitely an unforgettable turn and Phoenix, who has been amazing for years and never won, is arguably due.
Who should win: Although I probably enjoyed DiCaprio the most, it's Phoenix for me here. It's not just the physical transformation, although that is impressive. You just can't take your eyes off him in this movie, he is by turns pathetic, disturbed and scary -- this is not someone you necessarily root for and not someone you entirely pity. It's just someone doing through a kind of descent. I never thought someone could make the Joker character fresh again and he really did.
Snubs: I thought Robert DeNiro was phenomenal in The Irishman. I get that he is often an audience surrogate and the observer of the action around him. And yes, the de-aging on him isn't quite as seamless as it is with Pacino and Pecsi -- but he is the broken heart of that movie. And he totally owns the last stretch of the movie which is its more powerful, profound element.
He, like Sandler and Murphy, has had a very checkered record especially of late (remember Dirty Grandpa?) and I think he's often taken for granted. He deserved a nomination. If it were a weaker year I'd have gone for Daniel Craig in Knives Out, I just thought he was a delight and brilliantly played against his suave persona. But again these awards are so risk averse I knew something like that would never happen.
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