Alternate Best Actor 2013: Results

5. Jake Gyllenhaal in Prisoners- Gyllenhaal gives probably his best performance in his full depiction of a detective investigating a terrible crime in both the official process but also the emotional impact.

Best Scene: Loki rushes to the hospital.

4. Joaquin Phoenix in Her- Phoenix gives a nice counterpoint to his great performance in the Master with his warm and endearing portrayal of a lonely man.

Best Scene:  Theodore begins his romantic relationship with Samantha.

3. Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips- Hanks gives an excellent turn underplaying nicely while keeping the intensity of the film, then absolutely bringing the emotional power to his final scene.

Best Scene: Phillips goes into shock.

2. Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis- Isaac gives a fantastic performance as a jerk by realizing him fully as a person from the great amount of heart he puts into his music, to his less savory qualities off the stage. 

Best Scene: Fare Thee Well

1. James McAvoy in Filth- This year was amazing for lead actor and that's all there is to it. It really explains the strength of the Academy lineup because honestly it was just too difficult to really mess up, although they still managed to ever so slightly, as it seemed everyone was on top their game. Even Christian Bale the weakest of the nominees gave a great performance in Out of the Furnace to make up for it seems. My favorite of all theses great and often career best performances is James McAvoy's performance in Filth. I love every moment of this insane work that is a great achievement in dark comedy, but also an equally tragic turn at the same time.

Best Scene: The ending.

Overall Rank:

1. James McAvoy in Filth
2. Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
3. Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis
4. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips
6. Bruce Dern in Nebraska
7. Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave
8. Joaquin Phoenix in Her
9. Jake Gyllenhaal in Prisoners
10. Christian Bale in Out of the Furnace 
11. Michael Shannon in The Iceman
12. Tye Sheridan in Mud
13. Robert Redford in All is Lost
14. Vithaya Pansringarm in Only God Forgives
15. Sam Rockwell in A Single Shot
16. Simon Pegg in The World's End 
17. Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines
18. Lee Jung-jae in New World
19. Jude Law in Side Effects
20. Tony Leung Chiu Wai in The Grandmaster
21. Steve Coogan in Philomena
22. Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station
23. Bradley Cooper in The Place Beyond the Pines
24. Martin Freeman in The Hobbit
25. Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3
26. Chris Evans in Snowpiercer
27. Daniel Bruhl in Rush
28. Josh Brolin in Oldboy 
29. Matt Damon in Elysium
30. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Fifth Estate
31. Dane Dehaan in The Place Beyond the Pines
32. Michael Fassbender in The Counselor
33. Casey Affleck in Ain't Them Bodies Saints
34. Will Forte in Nebraska
35. Christian Bale in American Hustle
36. Chris Hemsworth in Rush
37. Dane Dehaan in Kill Your Darlings
38. Chadwick Boseman in 42
39. Henry Cavill in Man of Steel
40. Chris Hemsworth in Thor 2
41. Chris Pine in Star Trek Into Darkness
42. Hugh Jackman in Prisoners
43. Charlie Hunnam in Pacific Rim
44. Denzel Washington in 2 Guns 
45. Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious 6
46. Zachary Quinto in Star Trek Into Darkness 
47. Idris Elba in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
48. Mark Wahlberg in Pain & Gain
49. Daniel Bruhl in The Fifth Estate
50. Forest Whitaker in The Butler
51. Dwayne Johnson in G.I. Joe
52. Ryan Gosling in Only God Forgives
53. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Don Jon
54. Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns 
55. Daniel Radcliffe in Kill Your Darlings
56. Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Escape Plan
57. Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine
58. Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Last Stand
59. Sylvester Stallone in The Escape Plan
60. Mark Wahlberg in Lone Survivor

Next Year: 1992 supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 2013: James McAvoy in Filth

James McAvoy did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson in Filth.

Filth is a rather insane  and extremely entertaining film about a Scottish detective who is intent on getting the single promotion most of his fellow Detectives are vying for.

You can forget about any ideas about the types of characters James McAvoy usually plays because they have no relevance with his portrayal of Detective Bruce Robertson in this film. This is one performance that is best to go beat by beat the first beat McAvoy shedding any ideas you might have about him being one of those pretty boy actors who wants to play the youthful go getter sort of guy. That's not Bruce that's not Bruce one bit. One of his earliest scenes is when he and the other detectives get the lowdown on a crime from their chief, and the first thing he does is fart just to start things off I suppose. Anyway though McAvoy whole portrayal is what makes it hilarious as he gives the not me face, and then the accusatory glance at the man sitting closest to him. I guess that kind of sets the tone but don't be fooled by just that.

McAvoy's work here is highly entertaining from this early scene where he gives the low down on each of his opponents for the promotion. McAvoy's narration is this is very much like Leonado DiCaprio's in The Wolf of Wall Street, which is to say it is not your typical Morgan Freeman type of delivery. McAvoy's like DiCaprio's has that same amorality suggested just in the way he speaks about seemingly important things with such irreverence in his attitude. Like DiCaprio this makes his narration very comedic to behold, but McAvoy perhaps has a little extra added to it through a sense of mischief in his delivery. In his narration McAvoy does not just show that he wants to get the promotion over his co-workers by humiliating them, he also suggests in his slightly joyful delivery that he is going to personally enjoy every minute of it.

McAvoy's brilliance in this role though does not stop with his narration or his comedic timing, not by a small margin. We also soon get a glimpse with Bruce on the job which he takes as the king of the city style approach. He and another one of the detectives bust two young people one who is underage. McAvoy has the right cynical dominance in the scene and we see Bruce in top form as he controls the situation without question. His two interrogations of the subjects are particularly notable as Bruce humiliates and tortures each of them in most unusual ways to derive what he wants from them again rather unusual things that he desires. McAvoy carries himself with a palatable menace in the scene and you can see why they would give it up. That would be enough but McAvoy twists it by having such a sinister face of glee the whole time.

It is really saying something, I must say, that Detective Bruce Robertson actually makes the Bad Lieutenant seem like a lightweight by comparison when it comes to being the dirtiest cop imaginable. Aside of pushing subjects around to get whatever he wants Bruce indulges in somethings so many things that perhaps even Jordan Belfort might take a moment to consider doing them. We get the usual thing like having sex with a co-workers wife, but uh not usually in this way no not this way at all. Old Bruce not only has sex with her but they also both participate in autoerotic asphyxiation with one another as they take turns choking it other with ropes while having sex of course. By the way James McAvoy's face is something to behold in these scenes not only is he hilarious in his expression somehow, but he does not cut back on the depravity.

In his indulgences McAvoy makes Bruce Robertson almost a force of nature of sorts as he goes constantly for any enjoyment that can be found for himself whether it be sex, drink, drugs, or just some sort of humiliation for someone else. McAvoy sells every scene to the fullest extent and he goes about showing Bruce extreme exuberance of the moment. When Bruce is indulging McAvoy does not show him to be a man who is just trying to have a good time, not not even the slightest. McAvoy makes it far more primal and far more intense with Bruce. When Bruce does any of it McAvoy suggests an unsatisfiable need within Bruce to do these things. It is not just because he likes it not even  even close really, no what Bruce does is something it appears that Bruce must have, which is essential in the later revelations of his character.

Well as it turns out Bruce is more of a mess than he even appears to be, and well he definitely seems like a mess to begin with so how much more a mess can he be. Well he is not just a man who would want to attend a party by Bacchus like Jordan Belfort, nah because Bruce actually does have a soul even though that may be rather hard to believe. We first view Bruce's heart when he attempts to help a dying man and it flashes quickly to show that Bruce himself is thinking of this dying boy. McAvoy's performance is surprisingly heart wrenching at times because he does portray Bruce as genuinely being haunted by this death in his past. McAboy does not separate from the rest of the man though by any measure but rather suggest quite effectively that his outrageous behavior is in fact has been caused by this trauma.

McAvoy is a marvel to behold at times the way he intertwines these facets of Bruce so flawlessly together. There is not the disconnect as you would think there would be as McAvoy brings both sides of Bruce together as one man. One particularly amazing scene is when Bruce goes from harassing one of the suspects of the crime he must solve first in his typical way of badgering while having his combination of a sneer and smile. On his way out though he bumps into the grieving woman whose husband he had attempted to save earlier. The few seconds where he changes demeanor McAvoy is masterful as we see a tender side of Bruce revealed as he attempts to try to deal with her in an honest way. McAvoy's moment creates a decided kink in Bruce's armor of amorality and remarkably shows that Bruce is not really what he makes himself out to be.

As the film progresses slowly things begin to fall more and more apart for Bruce as less and less does it seem like he really has a grasp on the case he's suppose to be solving, or the promotion he wants, or even reality. McAvoy's falling apart is truly something to behold here because firstly it comes naturally because of the seeds of doubt he planted in the played of the earlier scenes of the more controlled Bruce, but as well because McAvoy still does not hold back for a moment whether it be the debauchery he still continues to participate in and his ever growing fragile state of mind. McAvoy is amazing because he still stays hilarious while creating substantial sympathy for the broken man that Bruce slowly reveals himself to be. McAvoy's absurdly fascinating to watch in this depraved decay as even a moment of phone sex becomes a mental breakdown for Bruce.

One thing that seems like a silver lining for Bruce are those dreamlike images of his smoking hot wife. Of course they are dreamlike for a reason. The spoiler truth behind Bruce is that he actually spends his nights dressing up in women's clothing walking the streets and believing himself to be his wife who has left him. This scene could have fallen into an instantly bad sort of parody of absurdity but McAvoy never let's that him. He plays it so flawlessly by making the moment darkly comic in its very own way, but also deeply tragic. The most interesting part of it McAvoy weaves his performance so its both tragic and funny for the same reason which is how he ends up at this point. Its oddly comical because we see the "tough" Bruce who humiliates others devolve to this point, but it's terribly tragic because McAvoy believably makes this the actual broken psyche of this man.

This performance is all about the ups and downs of the bipolar Bruce as the slow reveal of just how extreme his sides are. My favorite moment perhaps is the very end of his performance which one again so brilliantly connects the man even while his actions seems so random. McAvoy begins the scene where Bruce trying to inspire his one friend (Eddie Marsan), and McAvoy is genuinely warm and tender in the moment. He then proceeds to utter defeat and is extremely heartbreaking in showing the last of the man and just the slight hesitation as he sees one of the bright spots in his life, and then it all ends so perfectly with one last smile and wink that ends it all with one more laugh. This is an outstanding performance by James McAvoy as he turns the broken man into a cohesive whole, and I loved watching every minute of it.

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Alternate Best Actor 2013

 And the Nominees Were Not:

Jake Gyllenhaal in Prisoners

Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips

James McAvoy in Filth

Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis

Joaquin Phoenix in Her

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