Best Actor 2017

05. Kumail Nanjiani in The Big Sick - Endearing, lovable, and hilarious. It's easy to see why anyone would fall in love with Nanjiani, whose character is as likable as this sweet movie. Just like Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird, he has chemistry with every actor in the movie - from his girlfriend played by Zoe Kazan, to her parents played by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano, to every comedian and secondary character. The delivery on that 9/11 joke alone should earn him an Oscar nomination.

04. Harris Dickinson in Beach Rats - I'm not saying that Dickinson is super hot or anything, but the camera absolutely loves him and I could legit stare at close ups of his face forever. Talk about making a splash in your first movie! This modern take on masculinity is the perfect vehicle for Dickinson and he perfectly embodies the loneliness and aimlessness of discovering yourself as a teenager.

03. Robert Pattinson in Good Time - I've never seen Twilight, so I never got the hype of Pattinson, but I'm beginning to understand why a million teenage girls fell in love with him. He is absolutely mesmerizing to watch, electrifying from start to finish. This is what it feels like to watch a movie star at the top of their game. Like his Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart (who will be on tomorrow's Best Actress list), he is reinventing his career by choosing edgy, challenging roles and it is working for him. This is the best he's ever been, and I can't wait to see more.

02. James McAvoy in Split - I didn't love the movie Split, but the failure or success of this movie lives or dies with McAvoy, and because he is so stellar in this (these??) role(s), the movie mostly succeeds. This has got to be the most challenging performance of the year and McAvoy truly disappears into each and every different character, their mannerisms and vocal patterns changing at the drop of a hat. This is a gutsy and ballsy performance, and McAvoy pulls it off, and makes it look easy.

01. Jake Gyllenhaal in Stronger - Another year, another amazing Jake Gyllenhaal performance that will get absolutely no recognition from anyone besides me and probably some people on Twitter. (For real, who does he have to sleep with to get that Oscar he deserves???). He started reinventing his career with End of Watch and he has put out amazing performance after amazing performance ever since (I still think his performance in Nightcrawler is the single greatest acting performance in the last twenty or thirty years, easy). His performance in Stronger (as a real life Boston marathon bombing survivor) is sometimes funny, sometimes difficult to watch, and always emotionally devastating. It's impressive from start to finish and it proves AGAIN why he is the finest actor of his generation. I mean, he even nails that Boston accent.