TOP 50 GREATEST OSCAR SNUBED ACTING PERFORMANCES: 2000-2016

Well, the Oscar race 2018 has just begun and guess what? I decided to list the best 50 acting performances that ended up snubed by the AMPAS.

Sometimes delivering a great performance isn't enough for Oscar voters... You need a good "Oscary" movie, an Oscar campaign and a lot of support from precursor awards so you can have enough visibility... And there are times an Oscar nomination doesn't happen and you just don't know why! (Well, there are more competitive years than others, for sure, but let's not forget those overrated performances!).
These acting performances are true acting gems that didn't win a spot between the Oscar nominees shortlists neither in my top 50, so let's call them my 7 honorable mentions:

Gene Hackman - The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Carmen Maura - Volver (2006)
Tom Hardy - Bronson (2008)
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star (2009)
Adepero Oduye - Pariah (2011)
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy (2012)
Annette Bening - 20th Century Women (2016)

Please note that Andy Serkis' performance in the LOTR trilogy (2001-2003) and Scarlett Johansson's turn in Her (2013) were not eligible and the same applies to other motion capture performances and voice-only performances in film.
Here I present you my top 50 best performances ordered by year:

Björk - Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Gary Oldman - The Contender (2000)

Mark Ruffalo - You Can Count On Me (2000)

Audrey Tautou - Amélie (2001)

Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive (2001)

Michelle Pfeiffer - White Oleander (2002)

Scarlett Johansson - Lost in Translation (2003)

Gael García Bernal - Bad Education (2004)

Nicole Kidman - Birth (2004)

Paul Giamatti - Sideways (2004)

Russell Crowe - Cinderella Man (2005)

Scarlett Johansson - Match Point (2005)

Shirley MacLaine - In Her Shoes (2005)

Viggo Mortensen - A History of Violence (2005)

Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Jack Nicholson - The Departed (2006)

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed (2006)

Ulrich Mühe - The Lives of the Others (2006)

Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart (2007)

Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild (2007)

Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood (2007)

Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino (2008)

Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

Tilda Swinton - Julia (2008)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer (2009)

Julianne Moore - A Single Man (2009)

Tahar Rahim - A Prophet (2009)

Andrew Garfield - The Social Network (2010)

Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine (2010)

Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 50/50 (2011)

Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia (2011)

Michael Fassbender - Shame (2011)

Vanessa Redgrave - Coriolanus (2011)

Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone (2012)

Michael B. Jordan - Fruitvale Station (2013)

Adèle Exarchopoulos - Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)

Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha (2013)

Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips (2013)

David Oyelowo - Selma (2014)

Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler (2014)

Jessica Chastain - A Most Violent Year (2014)

Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Scarlett Johansson - Under the Skin (2014)

Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation (2015)

Jane Fonda - Youth (2015)

Adam Driver - Paterson (2016)

Greta Gerwig - 20th Century Women (2016)

Hayley Squires - I, Daniel Blake (2016)

TOP 35 Actors and Actresses Under 35 Working Today - 2017

The almost annual TOP 35 Actors and Actresses Under 35 Working Today is out, with me considering the performers' performances of 2016 also. We have a few changes since last year's list, with Greta Gerwig toping the list thanks to her last 3 great performances in Mistress America , Maggie's Plan and the Oscar buzzy acting turn in 20th Century Women . Scarlett Johansson comes second with her latest distinguished performance being in 2014 ( Under the Skin ), but she managed to be at the spotligh this year thanks to her fine turns in critically acclaimed movies: Hail, Caesar! , Captain America: Civil War , The Jungle Book (voice) and Sing (voice). Emily Blunt adds another great performance to her resume in The Girl on the Train and she comes third, while Elle Fanning 's turning into one of the finest actresses and she's getting to play more adult and complex parts like The Neon Demon and 20th Century Women 's (her two best performances since Super 8 ). Finall...

TOP 10 Most Promising Movie Actors (under 30)

Today I discussed about how awful some "teen icons" are and then we talked about some exceptions. So, I decided to make a little list, a TOP 10, with the male actors that I think that will become music in an ocean of noise somewhere in the future (I did one list before, but it was a little bit pathetic and I didn't justify my choices). Let's start... 1 - Ryan Gosling He may not have a huge list of movies in his body of work, but the few times he makes something, all the time he almost carries the movie. In fact, Gosling is a proof that talent does exist and that you don't need excentrical characters to receive raves. He rose to fame after the big screen adaptation of The Notebook (2004) and then received lots of critical praise for his performances in movies like Half Nelson (that gave him an Oscar, a SAG Award and other major awards nominations), Lars and the Real Girl (that gave him a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and other major awards nominations) and Fractur...

TOP 35 Actors and Actresses with or under 35 years old: 2018

I think it was my TOP 35 under 35 list I've ever done since I remember: so many great performers emerged last year with distinguished performances that elevated their previous works (I'm talking about Elizabeth Olsen , Lucas Hedges , Robert Pattinson , Gaspard Ulliel , Tessa Thompson or Jamie Bell , for example). I'm kinda sad I felt "forced" at letting Jonah Hill ( Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street ) and Emma Watson ( The Perks of Being a Wallflower , The Bling Ring and 2017's Beauty and the Beast ) out of the list. Congratulations to Kirsten Dunst , who turned 35 last year so she can not be included in this year's list - such an amazing child actress turned movie star, who delivered memorable performances in Interview with the Vampire (1994), The Virgin Suicides (1999), The Cat's Meow (2002) or Melancholia (2011). This year, Saoirse Ronan tops the list thanks to two great performances: On Chesil Beach and an iconic acting turn in Lad...

Cinema and Popcorn

Search This Blog