tonnaree wrote:

Bottomlline.
Benedict has already had a fantastic career to date.  Fairly certain that he will continue to do amazing work and get many more awards and nominations.
And even if he never wins an Oscar in his life, he'll be in some pretty impressive company.

Absolutely right. And I actually liked very much what Julianne Moore said in her acceptance speech: That there is no such thing as a best actress/best actor. The films are different, the roles are different and yes, there certainly are talented and not so talented actors out there, on the whole. And there certainly are actors out there who would have deserved a nomination, too, but weren't nominated. If you play along with this game you have to accept that a decision has to be made in the end and that it's human beings who give their votes - and some of them (many of them?) probably don't go about it all that objectively.
And it's true, lots of wonderful actors or directors never won an Oscar and did get an honorary Oscar in the end. That's just how it goes.
 

It's so true that you absolutely cannot say definitively that this or that movie/actor is. " the best" and that many many extremely talented actors never ever won a major award.
Tim Spall has already been mentioned; he's a fantastic, very underrated actor.
I thought Jake Gyllenhaal was great in Nightcrawler, too, but he was also overlooked.
The Oscars are what they are and shouldn't be taken too seriously, imo - it's the quality of an actors body of work that says the most about them.

Last edited by Tinks (February 23, 2015 3:08 pm)

Very happy to not see any sore losers on the forum. 

You are very correct Tink.  I"ve enjoyed the Oscars for years.  Use to have parties for them.  But I have learned to not get too worked up about who wins. 

tonnaree wrote:

Very happy to not see any sore losers on the forum. 

Ahhhh, Oscar Night!!!!! - don't remind me! - 

Like that? 

I am just as confident as you REReader! 

As Ben has said in the past, he is in this for the long haul and the important thing is the work not the awards or the titles. He will have other chances for recognition in the future I am sure because he is so passionate about the kind of work he does. He is dedicated to his craft and it shows from his starring roles right down to the very smallest of parts.

I am not upset about the results of the Oscars really.  I think Birdman was an excellent movie and I was pleased to see GBH got a lot of recognition as well (it was another film that I loved). 

Sure there were a few kinks in the road for me personally (I don't think ER was THE Best Actor for my money, in that group of five, but it wasn't as if Chris Cooper got it - that would have been a true injustice IMO) but I loved that TIG got Best Adapted Screenplay (GM's speech was so heartwrenching and uplifting).  Seeing all the clips of Whiplash has really made me determined to see this one when I get the opportunity. 

It really is true that the nominations are an affirmation from your peers of quality work which means a lot to the actors who are singled out for such high praise. 

But when it comes down to the actual direct competition of who gets the statue among that small select group, I am sure sometimes it feels like a "Sophie's Choice" for a lot of people to choose one that will be considered better than all the rest. 

Rarely does "The Best" of something just jump out at you.  Most of the time you know when you see something that reaches a certain level of excellence, but if you have two such objects (often disparately different in many aspects) trying to choose the best one is near impossible.That's when a lot of subjective factors come into play and it becomes much more of a crapshoot I think. 

It's like how I feel about comparing KK and ES's performances.  I really do like both of them equally and comparing them was almost impossible for me.  The two performances were so different and came from such different places. 
But both, to me, were absolutely perfect for the movies they were in.  So, which one was the "best"?  I might as well toss a pair of dice because it is that close to me.  It is almost cruel to go through this exercise.  And I am sure a lot of actors might feel the same way too. 

Among the five best actor nominees of the ones I saw, I think MK and BC's performances were outstanding and once again the conundrum of chosing who was the best is something that seems almost counterproductive to even evaluating each performance.

My heart and gut would have to be with BC - but that might just be because I know how much he put into that performance.  I adore his acting and think he is worthy of exceptional praise.  So I want the recognition of an Oscar to be his.  And the part (and the movie) was a significant one to be sure.  So I wanted his success to also be part of the success of The Imitation Game. 

But realistically I could see a fan of MK and of the movie The Birdman having these same feelings and thoughts and being fully justified in doing so. 

As a lover of the arts in all its glorious forms I often find myself fascinated in awards but also appalled by the competative nature of them at the same time. 

It is something that doesn't rest too easy with me upon reflection.  Its like trying to compare the Mona Lisa to Gurenica - which is better??  I just could never do it.

-Val

Personally, I think if you are following the career of someone and they are nominated for an award it is only human nature to want them to win and to be disappointed if they don't, especially if you actually don't like, for some reason, one or more of the other nominees. That's life and I refuse to pretend I am happy about TIG only getting one Oscar. However, I think Benedict has a long and fruitful career ahead of him and awards may come, but if they don't I'll still think he's better than everyone else.

Lovely put. And I hope that he really means it, and that it's not just something he says to the press.

Oh yes, I second that. A participation via Skype would have been fun.