THESE PERFORMANCES SHOULDA BEEN CONTENDAS!
27 Dec
Following is a list of 50 solid performances from 2009 that deserved more attention than they received — it’s an addendum to my recently-posted “personal ballot.” (Share your feedback/alternative choices in the ‘Comments’ section!)
- Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”) for best actor
- Nicolas Cage (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”) for best actor
- Alfred Molina (“An Education”) for best supporting actor
- Ben Foster (“The Messenger”) for best actor
- Bill Milner (“Is Anybody There?”) for best actor
- Zooey Deschanel (“500 Days of Summer”) for best actress
- Patton Oswalt (“Big Fan”) for best actor
- Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education”) for best supporting actor
- Kristen Stewart (“Adventureland”) for best actress
- Clive Owen (“The Boys Are Back”) for best actor
- Tilda Swinton (“Julia”) for best actress
- Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”) for best supporting actor
- Melanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”) for best actress
- Sacha Baron Cohen (“Bruno”) for best actor
- Stanley Tucci (“Julie & Julia”) for best supporting actor
- Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”) for best supporting actor
- Natalie Portman (“Brothers”) for best supporting actress
- Christian McKay (“Me and Orson Welles”) for best supporting actor
- Michelle Monaghan (“Trucker”) for best actress
- Hal Holbrook (“That Evening Sun”) for best actor
- Sam Rockwell (“Moon”) for best actor
- Sharlto Copley (“District 9”) for best actor
- Penelope Cruz (“Broken Embraces”) for best actress
- Sasha Grey (“The Girlfriend Experience”) for best actress
- Jessica Haines (“Disgrace”) for best supporting actress
- Tom Hardy (“Bronson”) for best actor
- Marion Cotillard (“Public Enemies”) for best supporting actress
- Jason Segel (“I Love You, Man”) for best supporting actor
- James McAvoy (“The Last Station”) for best actor
- Hilary Swank (“Amelia”) for best actress
- Abbie Cornish (“Bright Star”) for best actress
- Hugh Dancy (“Adam”) for best actor
- Paul Schneider (“Bright Star”) for best supporting actor
- Michelle Pfeiffer (“Cheri”) for best actress
- Judi Dench (“Nine”) for best supporting actress
- Amy Adams (“Sunshine Cleaning”) for best actress
- Peter Capaldi (“In the Loop”) for best supporting actor
- Olivia Williams (“An Education”) for best supporting actress
- Lluis Homar (“Broken Embraces”) for best actor
- Audrey Tautou (“Coco Before Chanel”) for best actress
- Paula Patton (“Precious”) for best supporting actress
- Rupert Friend (“The Young Victoria”) for best supporting actor
- Leslie Mann (“Funny People”) for best supporting actress
- Fred Melamed (“A Serious Man”) for best supporting actor
- Timothy Spall (“The Damned United”) for best supporting actor
- Liam Neeson (“Taken”) for best actor
- Ricky Gervais (“The Invention of Lying”) for best actor
- Robin Williams (“World’s Greatest Dad”) for best actor
- Catalina Saavedra (“The Maid”) for best actress
- Jae Head (“The Blind Side”) for best supporting actor
Photo: Alfred Molina in “An Education.” Credit: Sony Pictures Classics.
I thought Viggo was great too!
Jae Head was HORRIBLE in The Blind Side. I would go so far as to call him a surefire Razzie nominee.
I agree with a few of these. Viggo, yes, and
Peter Capaldi. Wow.
Hahaha, be nice, he reminded me of a young Mickey Rooney and I was out of ideas for the 50th slot so I threw him in!
Hello, I like to see those people get at least some recognition.
Sharlto Copley was extremely good, i think.
I am sorry you didn’t put Imelda Staunton on your list,
she was fantastic in Taking Woodstock!
What about Robin Wright Penn in Pippa Lee?!?
Great list, but the glaring omission is Michael Caine in ‘Is Anybody There?’ Even though the movie had its weaknesses, I thought Caine’s performance was stronger than most of the Best Actor frontrunners.
Yes to Nic Cage! He was absolutely brilliant in Bad Lieutenant!
…but, I unfortunately disagree with Zooey’s spot on the list… Her character in 500 Days was just there to be gazed upon instead of, say, experienced. But, that’s just my two cents!
LEOR! How are you man?! Thanks for reading/writing. We need to catch up!
Having Sacah Boren Cohan on here immediately invalidates the list. What a terrible actor and terrible person. Now Zooey in 500 Days of Summer (to the d-bag who said she didn’t belong on the list) was wonderful, with many many layers of depth (some that can only be realized upon watching the film a second and third time).
Ben Foster was amazing in The Messenger. After seeing his performance I thought he was a shoe-in for a nomination. His performance is certainly worthy.
Thanks for including Dancy; I have Asperger’s Syndrome, and I was really impressed by his believability.
If you were running out of people for the bottom 10,
my totally left field pick would be Ginnifer Goodwin in
He’s Just not that into you for best supporting actress.
She was funny, charming, adorable, and perfectly embodied
a character who could’ve come off as grating and one-
dimensional. She was the heart of that movie, and it’s a
shame she won’t get recognized.
No Michael Stuhlbarg but you include Hilary Swank, Liam Neeson, Jae Head, Jason Segal, Ricky Gervais and Sasha Baron Cohan.
If you were running out of names what about Michael Stuhlbarg, Amy Adam (Julie and Julia), Samantha Morton, Rosamund Pike, and many more all vastly superior to some of the ones you chose.
Plus I’m pretty sure Chloe isn’t in contention…
Michael Stuhlbarg is not on this list because he *is* a contender — he got a Globe nod for best actor (musical or comedy) and still has a shot.
I considered including Amy Adams (“Julie & Julia”), Rosamund Pike (“An Education”), and Samantha Morton (“The Messenger”), but did not feel any were worthy of inclusion.
You are, however, correct about “Chloe,” so I am replacing Amanda Seyfried with Catalina Saavedra (“The Maid”).
Hi again, I was just wondering, would you consider
Zoe Saldana for her performance in “Avatar”?
I think she did amazing, though i don’t know if her performance
would be eligible. What do you think?
I agree with your choice of Sam Rockwell. Acting alone
and keeping the viewer riveted is so difficult.
Viggo Mortensen was fantastic but The Road might be too
downbeat.
I didn’t think he was a contender because his chance of an Oscar nomination seem slim to none. I also mentioned him because I consider some of the names you mentioned such as Judi Dench and Abbie Cornish to be much more likely to be nominated then him. I’m also really interested why you feel people like Jae Head, Ricky Gervais, Hilary Swank and Sasha Baron Cohen are worthy while the names I mentioned earlier are not? do you seriously think they gave better performances? Cause I thought all of them were plain awful. but thats just my opinion
I’m surprised and disappointed that Hal Holbrook’s extraordinary performance hasn’t been given the attention and acclaim it deserves. Maybe “That Evening Sun” simply hasn’t been seen by enough people?
I am totally in agreement with Mortensen and Molina…right at the top of your list. Also, “The Road” should be a part of the Best Picture race…
James McAvoy is the glue for every film he’s in….
I thought that Jim Broadbent (Professor Slughorn) was great in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”.