Best Actor 2020

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
As someone who's suffered with hearing problems for the last five years, Sound of Metal and Ahmed's performance in it, totally blew me away. He gets my vote hands down.

I like Yeun's performance very much. It was strong without being showy.

Hopkins had some great moments in The Father but the screenplay was more confusing than it needed to be.

Oldman was a bit of a bore.

Boseman was fine as a part of the ensemble in which he was the standout, but I still think the role is a supporting one even if the Ma Rainey character's screen time is less. If he and Kaluuya had switched categories, he could have been the one to win that race. Had he switched places with Stanfield instead, Kaluuya would likely have still won there.

Sorry to hear that, Magilla. Also, I'll say that I do understand the praise for Riz Ahmed. I think it's more fitting to say I don't get it for Steven Yeun. He was just... fine. I understand it for Riz Ahmed, I just don't share the enthusiasm.

No, I think Chadwick Boseman is the lead. His character is the only one with an arc. He drives the plot and Viola Davis' Ma Rainey stands in the way. But I do think you're right. If Daniel Kaluuya was nominated for Best Actor, I do think he would have won over both Anthony Hopkins and Chadwick Boseman and I would've supported that.

In fact, a lineup that looked like this would've been awesome.

BEST ACTOR
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods

[Big Magilla]

As someone who's suffered with hearing problems for the last five years, Sound of Metal and Ahmed's performance in it, totally blew me away. He gets my vote hands down.

I like Yeun's performance very much. It was strong without being showy.

Hopkins had some great moments in The Father but the screenplay was more confusing than it needed to be.

Oldman was a bit of a bore.

Boseman was fine as a part of the ensemble in which he was the standout, but I still think the role is a supporting one even if the Ma Rainey character's screen time is less. If he and Kaluuya had switched categories, he could have been the one to win that race. Had he switched places with Stanfield instead, Kaluuya would likely have still won there.

[Sabin]

For me, this race is between Chadwick Boseman and Anthony Hopkins. I don't have a strong favorite between them nor am I enthusiastic about the other nominees.

Steven Yeun is just fine in Minari but his role isn't that challenging and his cast (especially Han Ye-ri) gave more interesting performances and brought more to the film. Generally speaking, Steven Yeun just alternated between hopeful and frustrated. Great he has a nomination but not at the expense of Delroy Lindo among others.

I don't can't decide who's out next Gary Oldman or Riz Ahmed. Oldman is miscast and in an uninteresting film but he's not bad company to be around for two+ hours. He's a memorable enough drunk. On the other hand, Riz Ahmed has a far more challenging job, which is to keep his character active and moving and purposefully meandering plot for two hours. He's aided by the filmmaking but he has to stay active and interesting in a role that often just requires him to look confused, resistant, and struggling to stay present. It's challenging for sure and it's wonderful that such a terrific actor has a nomination under his belt.

Anthony Hopkins is excellent in The Father but the more I've thought about his role and performance there's something about the film that I think lets him down. I never quite felt like I was watching a character but rather a part for an actor to inhabit. I understand that's the point of the film. He just loses more and more of himself and the film becomes a cruel trap. We gain little moments here and there of who he was, but what a missed opportunity go show us what is going missing. I have a grandmother who is suffering from dementia in an assisted living facility. She knows her life. It gets mixed up but it all comes out. The more I think about The Father, it announces a major talent in Florian Zeller, it features great acting by Anthony Hopkins, but there's something dehumanizing about the film that I find bothersome. It's sort of like Natural Born Killers where any complaint you can register against the film, someone is bound to say "Yes, but that's the point." But I still don't like how empty the center of the film is. I wish it had more of an arc of life instead of arc of death.

Ma Rainey has the opposite problem. It's barely a movie. But Levee is a better part than Tony. While everyone else in the film has a floating quality, Levee wants more, desperately and to tragic results. Chadwick Boseman is big in the part but he's up to the challenge. I didn't buy into a lot of the scenes of the film but he fully captures Levee's manic energy and makes it credible in a way that I'm not sure is maybe as appreciated on this board as it should be.

In the end, I could go either way. Today, I think I'll go with Boseman.

[mlrg]

Voted for Hopkins, a performance which stands as a masterclass in acting and hundreds of miles ahead of any of the other nominees.

[CalWilliam]

The most anticlimactic category annoucement of all time happened a few months ago, as all of us remember, which is a shame, given the outcome. Has ever any major Oscar category been proclaimed this poorly?

I never entirely bought the Chadwick Boseman's narrative, as the Academy clearly did not either. He did quite a commendable job with his part, I think, but he's also the weakest of the bunch despite his commitment. It was painful to watch, he definitely looked ill in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

If only Gary Oldman's Oscar winning turn had been as good as his Herman J. Mankiewicz performance..., but the remaining three were even more memorable.

Maybe Steven Yeun didn't have the most dominant part in Minari but I couldn't take my eyes off him and his subtle choices. You can feel his disappointment on his shoulders. Beautiful performance.

Riz Ahmed could have won in any other year, and would have been much more deserving than at least eight of the past ten leading actor winners, but he had to share category with Anthony Hopkins' masterful turn, probably the best acting he has ever done, I don't know. The Academy got it right.