Toaster.TV: Screen Jam : Stay with Forest

Venus and Peter O'Toole delivered as expected. But as much pull as there is going to be for O'Toole to win his long-awaited Oscar, I hope the Academy stays with Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. O'Toole shows his mastery, but Whitaker does so too - while blowing you away. It's not an overdone performance; it's perfectly awesome.

Favorite Acting Performances, 2006
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
James McAvoy, The Last King of Scotland

Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Kate Winslet, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Mary Beth Hurt, The Dead Girl

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Antoni Pawlicki, Retrieval
Adam Beach, Flags of Our Fathers
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal

Aaron Eckhart, Thank You for Smoking
Ken Watanabe, Letters From Iwo Jima
Marcia Gay Harden, The Dead Girl
Kazunari Ninomiya, Letters from Iwo Jima
Tsuyoshi Ihara, Letters from Iwo Jima

Peter O'Toole, Venus
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada (reminded me of Brando in The Godfather - I mean that in a good way)
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat
Jack Nicholson, The Departed
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson

Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Michael Sheen, The Queen
Robert Downey Jr., Fur
Jill Clayburgh, Running With Scissors
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Steve Carell, Little Miss Sunshine
Andrew Simpson, Notes on a Scandal
Jaden Christopher Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Alec Baldwin, The Departed
Stanley Tucci, The Devil Wears Prada

Paul Dano, Little Miss Sunshine
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jodie Whittaker, Venus
Keke Palmer, Akeelah and the Bee
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine

Brad Pitt, Babel
Rafi Gavron, Breaking and Entering
Joseph Cross, Running with Scissors
Jude Law, Breaking and Entering
Vera Farmiga, Breaking and Entering

Jamie Foxx, Dreamgirls
Shareeka Epps, Half Nelson
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Matt Damon, The Departed
Juliette Binoche, Breaking and Entering

Meryl Streep, A Prarie Home Companion
Anne Hathaway, The Devil Wears Prada
Beyonce Knowles, Dreamgirls

Comments

2007-01-01 14:15:26

1. Andrew Shimmin

Stanley Crouch picked Little Children as the most amazing cultural event of 2006, singling out Kate Winslet for special praise. When does it come out on DVD?

http://www.slate.com/id/2156027/

2007-01-01 22:08:54

2. Xeifrank

Has anyone seen "Curse of The Golden Flower" yet? The wife and I wanted to go see it over the holidays but unfortunately it is only playing in a few selected theaters (not in our area) at this time.
vr, Xei

2007-01-02 11:58:19

3. Eric Enders

Haven't seen most of these yet. I did think Adam Beach was great. Maybe it's just my distaste for Blood Diamond, but I wasn't impressed at all by the performances of Honsou (one of my favorite actors) and DiCaprio (one of my least favorite). It was a one-note performance for Djimon, and DiCaprio had the old on-again, off-again accent going.

I liked Babel a lot, but I didnt' particularly think Rinko Kikuchi's performance stood out. I guess I haven't really seen any performances yet this year that have caused me to say, THAT deserves an Oscar. Looking forward to seeing The Last King of Scotland, though.

20 years ago, who woulda thunk that two of the biggest acting icons of the 1980s (Gibson and Eastwood) would be competing with each other for an Oscar -- in the Best Foreign Language Film category?

2007-01-02 19:54:40

4. Bob Timmermann

I believe Eric is kidding but neither "Apocalipto" nor "Letters from Iwo Jima" will be eligible for best foreign film.

2007-01-02 20:20:32

5. Xeifrank

3,4. Why not?
vr, Xei

2007-01-02 22:11:19

6. Bob Timmermann

Both films were produced by US companies, so they can't compete in the foreign film category.

2007-01-02 22:24:30

7. Xeifrank

6. I read somewhere that US made films COULD be considered for best foriegn film. I believe they said this was due to the film(s) using a foriegn language with english subtitles. I have not seen either movie so I can't speak to those specific matters. But just thought I'd pass that along.
vr, Xei

2007-01-02 22:34:08

8. Jon Weisman

For foreign-film Oscars, each country except the U.S. gets to designate one official candidate. It's a controversial rule.

Golden Globes, however, are different. Here are the Golden Globe foreign-language film nominees:

Apocalypto (United States)
Touchstone Pictures/Icon Productions; Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Letters From Iwo Jima (Japan, United States)
Warner Bros. Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures

The Lives Of Others (Germany)
Wiedemann & Berg/Bayerischer Rundfunk/ARTE/Creado Film; Sony Pictures Classics

Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico)
Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Estudios Picasso; Picturehouse

Volver (Spain)
El Deseo; Sony Pictures Classics

2007-01-02 23:53:44

9. Xeifrank

8. Ok, thanks for clearing that up. It sounds like the movie industry needs to invest in the BCS system. Combine the Oscar and GG systems together, feed them into a computer and let the best two foriegn films fight it out at an awards show that can be rotated between four different sites annualy.
vr, Xei

2007-01-03 07:36:52

10. Bob Timmermann

The bigger problem with the foreign film Oscar is that it has to be designated as being from one country even though many productions involve cast, crew, and money from many different countries.

2007-01-04 00:03:35

11. Greg Brock

Everything I've heard of Pan's Labyrinth leads me to believe it is the best international movie this year, Del Toro's masterpiece, and the sure bet to win the Oscar for foreign film.

I hope all the praise is correct as I am seeing the movie as soon as possible.

Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.