BEST ACTOR, 1987
They said...*Michael Douglas, Wall Street
William Hurt, Broadcast News
Marcello Mastroianni, Dark Eyes
Jack Nicholson, Ironweed
Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam
I say...
Timothy Dalton, The Living Daylights
Richard E. Grant, Withnail and I
Joe Mantegna, House of Games
Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam
I say...Timothy Dalton, The Living Daylights
Richard E. Grant, Withnail and I
Joe Mantegna, House of Games
Donal McCann, The Dead
Terry O'Quinn, The Stepfather
Terry O'Quinn, The Stepfather
Honourable mentions:
John Candy (Planes, Trains and Automobiles), William Hurt (Broadcast News), Peter Weller (Robocop), Christian Bale (Empire of the Sun), Gary Oldman (Prick Up Your Ears), Dennis Quaid (The Big Easy).
10 comments:
"Ain't seen Pelle the Conqueror..."
You're not missing anything special.
My personal ballot would probably look like this:
Christian Bale - Empire of the Sun
Steve Martin - Roxanne *
Yves Montand - Jean de Florette
Jack Nicholson - Ironweed
William Hurt - Broadcast News
Honorable Mention: Nicolas Cage - Raising Arizona, Gérard Depardieu - Jean de Florette, Gaspard Manesse - Au revoir les enfants
I do like Bale and Manesse. It's far too long since I've seen Florette, or I might be more of a champion of those performances. I know plenty who are.
i say...
Christian Bale – Empire of the Sun
Nicolas Cage – Raising Arizona
Steve Martin – Roxanne
Alfred Molina – Prick Up Your Ears
Gary Oldman – Prick Up Your Ears
I was about to say something about it being nice doing guys for a change, but then I thought better of it.
I must admit to struggling with this year -- I haven't seen enough potential below-the-radar or genre gems to offer an informed ballot, and the 1987 bait is singularly uninspiring. (Mastroianni would be my pick of that Oscar group, but it's not one for ages, is it?) Like Robert, I'm inclined to lean on Jean de Florette, which I love more than is socially acceptable in Film Dweeb Nation, though the year 1986 always sticks in my head for that one. Given that I'm not French, however, I'll use it to help me out of this particular bind. (Speaking of which, IMDb may give Pelle's year as 1987, but surely the fact that it premiered internationally and won the Palme in 1988 means we can safely leave it out of this discussion, seen or unseen?)
BEST ACTOR, 1987
Daniel Auteuil, Jean de Florette
Yves Montand, Jean de Florette
Gary Oldman, Prick Up Your Ears
Dennis Quaid, The Big Easy
Mickey Rourke, Angel Heart and Barfly (Is this cheating?)
I almost had Depardieu in place of Quaid, but a triple-shot of Florette seemed indulgent, and I have yet to see Under Satan's Sun, in which he might well be better, so I'll hold off on that one. Chris Cooper in Matewan came close too, but it's been too long since I saw it.
...and IMDb has The Big Easy down as a 1986 release, where Quaid might well make my ballot. I'm relying entirely on the search-by-year function to compile this feature, so there's always going to be slippage on one side or the other, but I'll stick by that rule whenever possible.
Oldman would be a close runner-up for me, if I'd thought of him.
(Though I see TBE is a weird case -- premiered at Rio in late 86, didn't get US release till Aug 87, gets nods for Indie Spirit Awards the next spring. I think on that basis I'll let him into the runners-up. What's annoying is that I don't want to just search every year's award lists to compile this thing! It rather defeats the point. I prefer the oddities and surprises thrown up thus.)
I'm not working from the richest data pool here, either, but my ballot so far would go:
Christian Bale, Empire of the Sun
Nicolas Cage, Raising Arizona
Kevin Costner, No Way Out
Gaspard Manesse, Au revoir, les enfants
Eusebio Poncela, Law of Desire
Runners-up: Grant (Withnail), McCann (Dead), Oldman (Prick), Cooper (Matewan), Lone (Emperor), Douglas (Fatal Attraction > Wall Street), Rourke (Angel)
Haven't seen: House of Games, Stepfather, Jean de Florette, Roxanne, Barfly, Planes, Trains..., Dark Eyes, Lethal Weapon, Living Daylights, Witches of Eastwick, Cry Freedom, Someone to Watch over Me, Tin Men, Gardens of Stone, Walker, The Glass Menagerie, The Year My Voice Broke, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Scene of the Crime...
Does Dalton being at the top mean he's your pick for the winner?
Also, did you get hold of Danny Peary's Alternative Oscars book?
The ballot is in alphabetical order, is it not?
Just had a look over the 1987 awards track -- because, you know, what else does one do on a balmy Sunday evening -- and was surprised and delighted to see Quaid won the Spirit Award for The Big Easy. I'd picked him from memory rather than any kind of awards cheat sheet, never imagining it was the type of performance that would crop up on a precursor list.
Loving Nick's Costner mention, too. I totally didn't think of him, and should have, since I'm really fond of that film. Have we reached the post-ironic stage where it's cool to like Kev again? I hope so.
@Matthew: Yeah, I've got that book, and I'm entirely stealing the whole idea of it here... Danny, I owe you.
@Guy, Nick: Nice shout. I'm a big fan of No Way Out as well, but haven't seen it recently enough to vouch for Costner in it, exactly. Or at least not top-five highly. I remember him being impressively controlled and effective in a sort of slow-perspiration mode, not to mention dashing in those naval suits, and I loved Hackman and Will Patton. My other Costner nods would probably be for Bull Durham and Tin Cup, with honourable mentions for The Upside of Anger and Open Range. Whether uncool/post-cool or whatever, I think he's a magnetic star and a pretty fine actor.
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