Best Actor 2006

1998 through 2007

Best Actor 2006

Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
1
3%
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
19
48%
Peter O'Toole - Venus
8
20%
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
1
3%
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
11
28%
 
Total votes: 40

nightwingnova
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by nightwingnova »

DiCaprio worked hard.

Whitaker's role was supporting. The movie was about the Scottish doctor with Idi Amin stepping in to provide plot. We never get inside Amin's head. Whitaker was dynamic, I'll give him that. But, it was not a lead performance.

O'Toole was fine.

Frankly, I prefer Ryan Gosling's downplayed, truthful junkie teacher.
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Big Magilla »

Reza wrote:So Muhe's performance should be considered in 2007 instead of in 2006.
Not for purposes of this poll which is based on Oscar eligibility. The Lives of Others was eleigible for Oscar nominations in all categories in 2006, for non-L.A. based critics' groups, BAFTA and so on in 2007.
Reza
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Reza »

So Muhe's performance should be considered in 2007 instead of in 2006.
Big Magilla
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Big Magilla »

The Lives of Others was the kind of film that needed time to build, but under existing foreign film rules it had to be given an Oscar qualifying run for one week in L.A. in 2006 in order to qualify for other awards. Had the old rule been in effect - other awards eleigibility occrus the year of release in the U.S. with no disqualification for a film nominated for Best Foreign Film in a prior year - it would likely have fared better. It did, after all, win the New York Film Critics award as well as other world-wide awards in 2007. Ulrich Muhe's death in July of 2007 and the DVD release in August raised the film's profile considerably.
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Okri »

IT was. SPC did a one-week release thing that didn't work
Reza
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Reza »

Was The Lives of Others eligible in other categories during 2006? It was released in the United States in February 2007.
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by bizarre »

Gosling by default, although I'm not a fan of his HRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNGH-y style of acting.

1. Gosling
2. Whitaker
3. DiCaprio, lol
n/s O'Toole, Smith
FilmFan720
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by FilmFan720 »

Add me to the Ryan Gosling camp, the only performance here I would have nominated and a pretty strong tour-de-force from a fascinating young actor.

As for the others, Leonardo DiCaprio not only has a horrifying accent in Blood Diamond, but catching parts of the movie again the other day, he also seems completely out of his element and over his head in role. He doesn't quite pass off as an international criminal.

Will Smith is fine, but the film is pretty paint-by-numbers (if entertaining) and he doesn't bring anything new to the table. Peter O'Toole is fine, but the film is pretty paint-by-numbers (and dull as paint too) and he doesn't bring anything new to the table.

As for the real winner, I don't begrudge Whitaker getting his unexpected shot at an Oscar, but it isn't a lead performance, it isn't very deep (although he tries) and it doesn't play into his greatest strengths as an actor. He tries a little too hard in the film, something he does easily without the right director, and the wheels turn too much for me to give him the award.

As for the has-beens, I will never understand the DiCaprio talk when Matt Damon gave the best performance of the year in The Departed, or why Michael Sheen was never brought into the equation for carrying The Queen on his shoulders (I understand the second one at least, because he isn't a "name").
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Uri »

Growing up in Israel in the late '60s and '70s, Idi Amin was a very vivid presence – first as a pet project of the Israeli government and later as an arch enemy. He's MY Truman Capote this year, and Whitaker entertainingly capture his external, rather well known essence but there was not real insight, something to suggest there's a person beyond that known persona. A nomination should have suffice in this rather week year.

O'Toole was disappointment for me. Venus felt like an aware attempt in milking sympathy for the uncomfortable combination of character and an actor's persona. It was too much of a calculated device, as was, in its own way, the Smiths' enterprise. Since DiCaprio's turn in BD was rightly dismissed here, and since I'm not a huge fan of The Departed either, I can discard him off the list too.

That leaves me with Gosling, an actor I've found very exiting since I saw him in The Believer. This may not have the gravitas called for by an Oscar-Winning-Performance-!, but in its small scaled, condensed way it's a very pleasing showcase of his Talent. Of this bunch he's the only possible choice.

My favorite of the year was Mat Damon, but not for The Departed but for his very intriguing turn in the much underrated The Good Shepherd. Every rule must have an exception, and since Letters from Iwo Jima is very much an American film (actually, the best of this year by far), everything about it is eligible in my book, including Kazunari Ninomiya's mesmerizing leading turn in it. For my fifth slot I'd go for a performance that was rather dismissed by many, and that's Patrick Wilson in the not that good Little Children. I didn't really cared for Winslet there, but as someone who's fascinated with the much ignored essential significance of what I call the politics of beauty, I found his portrayal of a man who's defined by his looks to be quite perceptive – it was an intelligent take on a bland character.
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by The Original BJ »

The weakest Best Actor lineup of this decade, in my opinion.

My top two were Gael García Bernal's wondrous comic invention in The Science of Sleep and Toby Jones's sly take on Truman Capote in Infamous, which I found much superior to Hoffman's. I also think Leonardo DiCaprio's citation should have been for The Departed. And Michael Sheen COULD have been cited here for The Queen, and SHOULD have been cited somewhere.

Had DiCaprio been nominated for his terrific work in Scorsese's movie, I would have voted for him over the rest of these nominees. But instead he was recognized for a silly, self-important movie in which he plays a silly, self-important character with a silly, self-important accent. Just like I can't choose Dennis Hooper/Hoosiers as recognition for Blue Velvet by proxy, I can't pick DiCaprio for this crud.

Will Smith was nominated because he's a big star and headlined a drama that made a ton of money. In retrospect, I'm grateful he didn't Blind Side his way to the trophy. I guess Smith is likable enough here, but I could never consider him.

Peter O'Toole actually has some very funny line readings in Venus, as well as some tender, heartfelt moments. But it's hardly a major performance. I saw Venus before Forest Whitaker's critical juggernaut, at a time when it still seemed very possible that O'Toole could win the Oscar as a long overdue career capper. But after seeing the movie, I didn't think he had much of a chance at all -- only if there had been NO other exciting option could a performance/film this lightweight carry him to victory on sentiment alone.

I was glad Ryan Gosling got this nomination, for a charismatic, intelligent performance filled with surprisingly spontaneous beats of humor. But I found Half Nelson the kind of dreary, aimless movie I grew woefully tired of in the '70's (i.e. before I even existed), and though I appreciated that Gosling got this welcome-to-the-club nomination, I feel confident that there will be even more exciting work from this actor in the years to come.

So, Forest Whitaker gets my vote by a wide margin. He's just electrifying in this part, a physical force of nature. And I don't just mean his SIZE -- I mean the way he lumbers through the movie, like a reckless bull in a china shop, desperate to hold on to his control but watching it slip through his fingers at every second. He's frightening, funny, and utterly dominant, even though his role is smallish by Best Actor standards. I can't say I understood why the critics were so uniformly in his corner -- I think he's one of a number of strong performances this year, not the obvious headliner -- but I think he blows the rest of the Oscar nominees away.
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Sabin »

I remember going into December being fairly certain that the nominees would end up being:
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Aaron Eckhart, Thank You for Smoking
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

I'm no fan of Thank You for Smoking but it's pretty amazing that Jason Reitman's screenplay failed a nomination in lieu of Borat, Children of Men, Little Children, and Notes on a Scandal. And I'm not entirely sure why Aaron Eckhart's fairly enjoyable work didn't get the actor his first nomination.

Weird year. But Gosling's nomination was a pleasant turn of events and I think I like Half Nelson more than most on this board.
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by ITALIANO »

A three-way tie at the moment, and, with no truly great performance in the race, an understandable one. (And the movies they belong to aren't that good either by the way - one of the worst selection of movies in this category ever).

This is why at the time nobody really complained about Whitaker winning not for one of his best turns and for an often disappointing film - he was and is, after all, an interesting actor, sometimes very good even, and it's not like the alternatives were much better. That Forest Whitaker has an Oscar is, after all, quite right - though I don't seem to remember that he has done anything really good or important after the prize.

And of course, had Peter O'Toole been at his best, this would have been the time to finally make Lawrence of Arabia an Oscar winner (we know that honorary Oscars dont really count). But for once one can't disagree with the Academy - O'Toole deserved a nomination, but just a nomination.

Ryan Gosling is a strange young actor whom I don't always like, though I do like the elusive quality in his acting. It's very well used, I think, in Half Nelson, which is the main reason why I've voted for him here - though in a way I can understand that the Academy is waiting for a more mature, more solid proof of his talent and consistency.
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Reza »

My picks for 2006:

Peter O’Toole, Venus
Ulrich Muhe, The Lives of Others
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Edward Norton, The Painted Veil
Matt Damon, The Departed

The 6th Spot: Clive Owen, Children of Men
Last edited by Reza on Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Jim20
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Jim20 »

Off the shouldabeens

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Craig, Casino Royale
**Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed**
Clive Owen, Children of Men
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Ken Watanabe, Letters From Iwo Jima
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Re: Best Actor 2006

Post by Mister Tee »

A year so recent and so uninspiring (in this category, not others) that it's hard to work up much verbiage. Even my potential substitute nominees -- Ken Watanabe in Letters from Iwo Jima, Clive Owen in Children of Men -- show up more in tribute to their films than for major thespic contributions.

Will Smith proved with this nomination that he's in Julia Roberts/Sandra Bullock territory -- should he luck into something semi-respected, he'll always be a potential nominee, and, should he (like Bullock) show up in a year where there's no consensus choice, he could find himself holding a statuette.

I agree that DiCarprio should have been cited for The Departed rather than Blood Diamond -- though I'd add Matt Damon rated the mention for the film more than DiCaprio. After I dragged myself to Blood Diamond (post-nominations), I could see why he got slated -- it's a strong leading man role with an accent -- but it's the least deserved of all his nods to date.

I put Half Nelson and Venus in something of the same category -- two half-hearted indies fronted by solid, career-Oscar-worthy actors, for whom I could understand nominations but not wins. Ryan Gosling probably gives the stronger performance of the two, but Half Nelson is such a wan thing...it feels like it's viewed through the haze of the drugs Gosling's ingesting. I imagine, had O'Toole not been pensioned off with the honorary prize earlier, voters might have done their duty by him here, but I'm glad they didn't -- it would have looked to history like one of those Ronald Colman/A Double Life things, and O'Toole deserved better.

I echo the critics and Academy and go for Forrest Whitaker. Granted he doesn't give a deep performance -- it's more a "turn", on the order of what Jeremy Irons delivered in Reversal of Fortune. Had there been some sort of revelatory, deep-digging work on display that year, I might well have been disappointed to see voters opt for this showy performance instead. But in its absence, I'm happy to go with the work I most enjoyed that year -- especially since it came from an actor with a long and admirable resume. I'm happy to keep Forrest Whitaker in the running here.
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