Best Actor 2007: Results

5. George Clooney in Michael Clayton- Clooney in my opinion fails to create a very interesting character with Michael Clayton, as well as he fails to really be truly effective lead for a thriller.

4. Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd- Depp I do not find is entirely bad as Todd, but his approach to Sweeney is one note of anger and depression that just is not that interesting.

3. Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley of Elah- I like much of Jones' performance, which is emotionally on the mark in showing the character's grief, and pain. I did not believe though was the entire change of the character, which was not made convincing by him or the script.

2. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood- Day-Lewis certainly goes too far in some of his scenes, and starts playing his character in almost a cartoony fashion. Other than those scenes though still creates a strong fascinating portrait of man, that is daring in way that is not seen very often.

1. Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises- This was not that hard to choose between these top two performances, because where Day-Lewis sometimes goes over board, Mortensen is completely consistent in his effective characterization of a Russian mobster who has more to him than meet the eye. It is a strong effort that relies effectively on both Mortensen ability to show the command and control of Nikolai, as well as Mortensen ability to suggest the underlining and hidden motivations of his character.

Deserving Performances:
Josh Brolin in No Country For Old Men

Best Actor 2007: Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd

Johnny Depp received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Sweeney Todd formally known as Benjamin Barker in Sweeney Todd.

Sweeney Todd is a musical about a mad barber who murders people who come to his shop, and than his land lady bakes them into a pie. I a bit mixed on this adaptation on one hand the music is good, but on the other hand some of the signing does not quite cut it, and frankly its tone should have included more dark humor as the stage version has.

Johnny Depp portrays Sweeney Todd in an extremely one note fashion, and that is all there is to it. He shows him to be constantly angry and depressed at the same time, who constantly as the look of revenge on his face at every moment in the film. He barely even takes this expression off when he is attempting to lure people into his barber's chair.

Now this is how they chose to portray Sweeney in this film, and that does I think contribute to the tone that I find a little lacking. The film decides to use Sweeney as always a constant overtly angry figure, or as a dead pan character in that he is just internally angry figure who almost completely ignores all others.

Depp technically does the anger and the depression well enough, but part of what Sweeney Todd usually is portrayed as is a gleeful villain, as well as being a depressed one. You can see this sort of portrayal by George Hearn in the filmed stage version, which I do think is better than Depp's because Hearn not only shows the anger and depression, but also does show that Todd still gets a kick out of what he is doing, and really enjoys his chance at revenge.

Now Depp does sing the part well enough, certianly he handles his end better than Helena Bonham who just simply does not have the vocal strength for her part. He performs the song as well, showing the anger, and depression once again as well as the insanity of the character well. I don't think this is a bad portrayal overall, I just wish they had done more with Sweeney overall, and made him more than just dark and brooding basically throughout the whole film.

Best Actor 2007

And the Nominees Were:

Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood

George Clooney in Michael Clayton

Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd

Best Actor 2004: Results

5. Jamie Foxx in Ray- I find Foxx's performance just to be a complete failure. He mostly relies on mannerisms that seem incredibly labored, and his performance just results in not a single convincing moment.

4. Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland- Depp is surprisingly subdued most of the time in this performance. I found he was nice enough I guess, but his performance never really amounted to much.

3. Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby- Clint Eastwood is actually very good in a role that no one else could have played as well besides him. I just find that I never really got an emotional charge out of his performance, which I will admit is probably since the film never did this for me either.

2. Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda- Don Cheadle gives a very powerful performance, and creates a human portrait. He adds to the power of the film, making the story of genocide, somehow inspiring.

1. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator- I was a little between Cheadle and DiCaprio who are both very good, but I feel DiCaprio had the greatest challenge out of all the actors which is portraying Howard Hughes. Hughes was such a strange larger than life figure that it would be challenge for anyone to take on this role. I will say DiCaprio never seems to completely be Hughes but he certianly comes close which is quite an achievement anyways.

Deserving Performances:
Paul Giamatti in Sideways

Best Actor 2004: Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland

Johnny Depp received his second Oscar nomination for portraying J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland.

Finding Neverland is a somewhat enjoyable film I suppose, I do think the fantasy scenes work as well as they really should, but I still did not mind watching it again.

Johnny Depp who usually plays rather strange fellows, many times with a whole lot of mannerisms, which attempts to usual bring a whole lot of attention to his performance. This is a rather unusual Johnny Depp performance because he portrays J.M. Barrie in generally a rather quiet performance. He portrays Barrie in an extremely modest fashion which does not at all try to stand out all that much most of the time. Now I appreciate Depp for not trying to make Barrie flamboyant, but at the same time perhaps his performance is a little too understated.

Depp performance really at times is barely noticeable. He really is an always nice man, who just likes to have a quietly good time with the children of a sick mother (Kate Winslet) well he is quietly writing Peter Pan. Depp I must say does not really suggest must of a man, just a quiet unassuming man. The only time he really acts out at all are the fantasy scenes, but even the he still remains fairly understated. The biggest in terms of acting non-quietly is when he plays pirated with the children, and does a little bit of his Jack Sparrow bit, I did not have a problem with that or how he handled any of the fantasy moments, but I also did not find his performance particularly amazing ever.

Overall Depp's performance really is nothing special. I think it is okay, it serves its purpose in that it allows for a nice scene here and there, but overall really his performance never amounts to anything really worth noting. It is a nice quiet performance, which really fits how Barrie is presented in the film as a nice quiet man. It never really gets deeply into much depth hidden or otherwise about Barrie, he is written simply just to make a simple sweet story, therefore Depp method of portraying him is fine, just not very special.

Best Actor 2004

And the Nominees Were:

Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda

Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby

Jamie Foxx in Ray

Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator