Best Performances of 2007?

IMHO I think the following performances take the cake for 2007:

Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly Macdonald and Josh Brolin in "No Country for Old Men"
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"
Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhall, Robert Downey JR and Chloe Sevigny in "Zodiac"
Ben Foster as the outlaw Charlie Prince in "3:10 to Yuma"
Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will be Blood"

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, "Harry Potter 5"

Ben Foster in "3:10 to Yuma" was absolutely fantastic. He played "Charlie" with just the right amount of crazy without going over the top. A lesser actor would have played him too loud or as a more stereotypical bad guy.

Nice to see someone agreed with Ben Foster's portrayal of Charlie Prince...
I'm looking forward to see what else he'll bring to the table if given the right material. I remember I first saw him in "Alpha Dog" which I really enjoyed...

chris liked "rocky balboa". i'm going to watch it now. hopefully, it isn't a waste of the $3.99 that i spent buying it used.

Eddie,

"Rocky Balboa" was 2006.

Best performances of '07:

Vanda Duarte in "Colossal Youth"
Cate Blanchette in "I'm Not There"
Sabine Azema in "Private Fears in Public Places"

Mircea Andreescu in "12:08 East of Bucharest"
Glen Hansard in "Once"
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"

And the entire cast of "Ten Canoes"

chris,

just be glad that i'm giving philly a chance. heck, i even had a cheesesteak three days ago!

eddie

If you got your cheesesteak in Texas, I guarantee you it's not a real one.

texadelphia (Y)

I dunno. My guess is that Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem have the inside edge on best actor and supporting actor Oscars, and they both certainly nailed the parts. Unfortunately (for me, I guess), I found both men playing one-dimensional characters, unchanging from beginning to end, so if I were an Academy voter, I wouldn't vote for either of them for their one-note performances.

I'd go with George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson, both in "Michael Clayton," for actor and supporting actor. I also liked Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" and Ellen Page in "Juno," although the latter actress didn't seem like any teenager I ever knew. I'd also go with the two leads in "Once."

Actually, reflecting on Wilkinson, I think some of the best performances of the year were in supporting roles: Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton," Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War," everybody in "Stardust" and "Hairspray."

Say, how about the rat in "Ratatouille"?

John

That Ben Foster fellah reminds me of Dustin Diamond.

I thought Josh Brolin had a pretty good year even if he was playing almost the same character in "American Gangster', "No Country for Old Men", and "Planet Terror." Who would have thought Brandon from "The Goonies" would grow up to be such a sleazebag?

Daniel Day-Lewis was a little one-dimensional, but damned if he wasn't a lot of fun to watch.

Some of my other favorites...

Best Actor:
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"

Best Actress:
Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Ellen Page, "Juno"
Amy Adams, "Enchanted"
Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"

Best Supporting Actor:
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Sacha Baron Cohen, "Sweeney Todd"
Casey Affleck, "Assassination of Jesse James"
Kurt Russell, "Death Proof"
Ben Foster, "3:10 to Yuma"

Best Supporting Actress:
Cate Blanchett. "I'm Not There." She was amazing.
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"
Samantha Morton, "Control"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"

-Will

[Post edited by Gangrel00X on Feb 10, 2008]

Quote:
Sacha Baron Cohen, "Sweeney Todd"

hehehehe..wasn't he just fabulous....I loved his performance albeit over the top...I guess it was a musical overall so we shouldn't be too hard on him... )

Quote:
I think some of the best performances of the year were in supporting roles

Actually John, I agree a lot with what you say. There are so many good supporting performances thesedays with some of my favourite actors. I mean take a look at Robert Downey JR in "Zodiac", or Javier Bardem in NCFOM. There are also a number of tried and trusted supporting role stalwarts that come to mind that always deliver the goods such as William Fichtner, Tom Sizemore, Ted Levine, James Cromwell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and David Straithairn to name but a few...

Mathieu Amalric in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly? Yeah, yeah... not up for Oscar... I know...

Quote:
That Ben Foster fellah reminds me of Dustin Diamond.

[Post edited by Movielover316 on Feb 10, 2008]