The Time Traveler's Wife and Funny People were far and wide not GREAT movies, however both had great elements, TTW had an amazing visual style, couldn't say that for an Apatow film, a man who has completely ripped off Kevin Smith's career and made his latest bomb because of this, but they both had exceptionally grand performances from awesome man Eric Bana.
Bana was hysterical, and added some pep to a dying film suffering a wind an hour and 45 minutes into the 2 hour 20 minute runtime, he comes in, shouting, making jokes and swearing, he's Australian, that's the base gag, but he makes it so much more entertaining because he's, well, a genius.
In TTW thankfully the titular character, played by the terrible Rachel McAdams, isn't as important as this Terminator style nude man who pops up now and then, and is highly entertaining and charismatic as he appears through a non-linear timeline, never sure where he is, or when he'll go again.
And he's just so awesome, the kind of guy who oozes charisma, and even in weak films he proves himself to be a talent unhindered.
9. Jesse Eisenberg
I'll admit, I hated Adventureland, I knew it wasn't the loling on the floor comedy it was advertised as, I went in hoping for another masterful workplace comedy drama/coming of age comedy drama, like Dazed and Confused met Clerks and adopted Garden State, just not as good as any of those films of course, instead it was just pure depression and lots of hitting in the bollocks.
However it once again showed that Eisenberg is a loveable, not likeable, lead, he's funny, uncharismatic and awkward in the best way, and whilst he's done that schtick in the exquisite Roger Dodger and the masterpiece Squid And The Whale, he's great at it. But it wasn't that flop which proved him, t'was another.
Yes, Zombieland, where he, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin and Woody Harellson faced many of the undead with guns, jokes and geniusness. And once again Eisenberg was the top hitter in a group doing amazing work. And I just hope his star actually rises one day.
8. John Krasinski
From The Office to Leatherheads (If we ignore License To Wed, something I've managed to do so far) Krasinski has been funny and sweet consistantly, and whilst this year he only had the one film, it was an amazing film, and it just showed that even out of Jim Halpert he could be funny, sweet and, well, just so damn huggable. He continues to show his knack for great roles, great chemistry with co-stars, and, well, being great, there's nary a moment you don't buy into his relationship with Maya Rudolph, they just work perfectly together, and both can deliver lines snappy and funny adding more to what was written, as opposed to, say, Keanu Reeves, who might take what's written it, and revert the paper back to wood.
7. Amy Adams
I don't have to explain this decision do I? It's Amy Adams, the cute as a button, excellent in everything beauty who, even in films that seem bad, churns out brilliance, and lightens everything up. Sunshine Cleaning had a whiff of indie unsure what to do with this premise, but, Between Amy and Emily Blunt (2 beautiful sisters to enjoy) the aimless plot didn't bother me.
With Night At The Museum 2 I actually, and finally, enjoyed one of those films, having hated the first, and it's thanks in no small part to Amy's portrayal of Amelia Earhart. She's got a great voice going on, and she's super chipper, the kind of pep you can't fake.
And even with the boring half of Julie & Julia it was nice to watch Amy try and portray a normal human, one who has bad, dark moments, which, of course Amy will never have due to her awesomeness. Right?
Well, there was Doubt of course, she played a nun who fears she may have seen the process of child molestation occurring, but doesn't have any proof, making Julia Childs shout at Truman Capote Mark 1 for an hour, but even then she's super chipper and looking on the bright side.
6. Chris O'Dowd
From telly to belly, as a voice over on The Day Today once said, Chris O'Dowd wasn't in BIG films, he wasn't in many films, but he was in films, and they were good, and, dare I say it, he was the best part of them. In March Richard Curtis made a less rom-com, more actual com The Boat That Rocked, wherein a series of characters had vignettes to befit a 2 odd hour run time, one of which was Chris O'Dowd getting engaged, married, then finding his wife in bed with the famous DJ. He's funny as hell in the film, but at the same time he gave more emotion and gravity to the role than you'd expect from such a light, breezy, overlong film.
Add in the equation of a film of the year, and better each time, in the form of Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, wherein he and two others play imagineers, nerds, and know far too much about Time Travel from films and television, though far too much is my way of saying "I concur with their statement having seen many of what they have and know all of it too. Once again he was hysterical, laugh out loud so, and made it thoroughly entertaining to watch these films.
5. Sharlto Copley
FOOKIN' PRAWNS MATE!
Who is this guy? Why is that 'tache swarming with icky? How would you actually find an orifice to insert oneself into a 'prawn'?
These are, almost, all good questions, and, well, I wouldn't have been able to tell you who he was without jumping to imdb, even after watching District 9. But, I made it my business to know his name, cos, whilst the film wasn't a masterpiece by any means, a no name carrying such a big film, well, and not making it dull and dry, instead being freaking hysterical, no easy task, but with limited effort, seemingly, he gets you interested, and makes him a hate-able racist AND a lovable character on the run in one fell swoop. Also he ad-libbed a lot of the stuff, making FOOKIN' PRAWNS MATE more awesome.
4. Michael Fassbender
Yes, he got lots of acclaim last year for playing Bobby Sands in Hunger, but, whilst that film was disappointing, he came into his own this year. A double header in the form of a brilliant job in Inglourious Basterds as a straight up English officer with a funky German accent, funny and interesting, and then playing a smooth, charismatic, yet darkly weird Irishman in Fish Tank, where he wooed a woman, then set his eyes on the 15 year old daughter, seemingly fatherly, sweet and innocent, but, of course, it being in Essex it can't last in innocence for too long, none of us do...
But he was a higherlight in both films, films swarming with highlights, and the more I watch Basterds, the more I enjoy his performance.
3. Sam Rockwell
What have you seen Mr. Rockwell in this year? If you didn't answer Moon you must now fin a copy and watch, it's one of the funniest, most constantly interesting, and brilliantly made for such a small budget, films of the year, and a testament to Zowie Bowie's work to manage to make a convincing Moon landscape for only £5million. Ok, yes, sound in space is annoying, but sod it, you get Kevin Spacey as a robot and many Rockwells, not just one, and each have a different attitude, and when two appear together and have conversations, boy is it endearing, entertaining, and you can tell which one is which with your eyes closed, the personalities sculpted are brilliant, subtle but entertaining, and showcase Rockwell's undeniable, and underused, talents.
Sam Rockwell for Best Actor Oscar '010!
('010 is a joke given that it doesn't reduce the characters)
2. Jackie Earle Haley
When he was nominated for an Oscar in 2007 I thought "Who the frak" then I finally saw Little Children. I didn't hate it like the trailer convinced me I would. No, if anything I loved it, and not just cos Patrick Wilson is mega awesome. (Although he seems desperate to prove he has an arse sometimes) But the film's most interesting, compelling, and dangerous character was Jackie Earle Haley's newly released paedophile, a man who, at the end of a date whacks off to a woman complaining about her love life.
Rorschach is a horse of a different colour. As the tests prove, he is pure black and white, right and wrong, there's no in between, and Haley, giving a Batman voice that works perfectly and is never painful to hear, it's a natural fit in every moment, offers up a vigilante who, whilst his methods can be cruel, is someone you root for because, unlike everyone els,e he sticks to his gun and can see the world for what it is, not the bull shit shrouding everything, and in this comic book character we get a £D human, two lives, one he likes, one he suffers until he can go back to what he does best, and the mix of solo and team work, how he reacts when working with others, just make everything even better.
If he doesn't get a nod this year I'll be miffed, if not shocked, it's a purer, better, more enjoyable performance than Heath Ledger by far.
1. Christopher Waltz
This time last year I'd have said "Who the frak are you talking about? Sounds weird, probably arthousey"
Well, Euro cinema. German cinema. But good ol' Tarantino, in his masterpiece Inglourious Basterds, created a perfect character, self assure, interesting, bad but not evil for evil's sake, and always has something to say, be it claiming he is the Jew Hunter because he's an excellent detective, or the faces he pulls, the subtle, and hysterical, foot on my lap please motion, the 'glass of milk' and pipe schtick, the Strudel (Oh lord that strudel) everything he does we are enthralled, and we don't care that it's not Brad Pitt in what is essentially the second lead behind Shoshanna, no, we're interested in what he's doing, is he gonna catch the good guys, is he there to shoot the Frenchman at the start? What's his game plan?
It's ambiguous, and well done, we fear him and his power, but also laugh at his events, they're funny and dark, and it's no mean feat that he has, in one film, proven himself to be an immense talent, where he goes from Basterds I don't know, I just hope he doesn't sell out and make "Hans Landa: P.I."
Actually, if any networks wanna make that, I'd watch it.
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