Top Ten Best Supporting Actors of the Decade

10. Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds (2009) - The most exciting supporting actor turn of the year comes from Waltz as a member of the Nazi party who is as charming as he is evil. His turn manages to be funny and terrifying all at once. There's a particular scene between him and Melanie Laurent which is the epitome of intense. She knows what he is capable of yet plays along with nicities and the audience waits for him to turn on her. Brilliant portrayal.

09. Mark Wahlberg in The Departed (2006) - Not only does Wahlberg get to deilver all the best lines, he somehow manages to steal every scene he's in, whether its with DiCaprio, Damon, Baldwin or Martin Sheen. His portrait of a by the books Boston cop leaves the audience anticipating his every scene.

08. Paul Newman in Road to Perdition (2002) - Playing an old Irish mob boss, Newman gives one of his best character performances in decades. He was well into his 70s when he made this film and still managed to show up young guns like Jude Law and Tom Hanks. He gives the most subtle, moving performance in the film. He really was a master.

07. William Hurt in A History of Violence (2005) - He's on screen for all of 15 minutes. Maybe less. But his performance is completely effective and powerful. He shows up near the end and manages to make a good film even stronger with his unexpected and pivotal performance which shows what a powerhouse actor he truly is.

06. Jack Nicholson in The Departed (2006) - Maybe I'm just biased because of my love for Jack. Or maybe it's just because Jack can do this kind of bad boy bad ass role in his sleep but Nicholson shines when working with Scorsese. Playing a Boston mafia kingpin, he's clearly reveling in every single, nearly over the top moment of every scene of which he is a part.

05. Clive Owen in Closer (2004) - As Larry, the hotheaded doctor in love with Julia Roberts' Anna, Owen gives her best performance to date. His character is completely and 100% unlikeable, a sleazy, too-clever, manipulater, yet Owen manages to make him almost charming. He's brash and disagreeable, dangerous and alluring. It's impossible not to take your eyes off him.

04. Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children (2006) - Talk about a comeback! Haley made a name for himself as a child actor in Bad News Bears. Then he all but disappeared only to return again in Little Children playing the worst kind of monster of all - a child molester (and who says he isn't the perfect casting choice for Freddy in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake). His performance is unflinching, unforgiving and just plain brutal.

03. Benicio Del Toro in Traffic (2000) - In a ridiculously amazing cast, it seems hard to think that one little known Latino actor could stand out but Benicio Del Toro managed to shine above big name cast mates like Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle and Catherine Zeta Jones. It's no accident that the movie begins and ends with shots of him. He plays a Mexican cop caught in the middle of a corrupt sysetm and his character is subtle and endlessly compelling.

02. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007) - A few years ago, Bardem was winning every award in existence for his portrayal of a silent and very deadly hit man (with a very bad haircut) in No Country for Old Men. And he deserved every single one of those awards plus, probably, more. His Anton Chigurh is absolutely ruthless. He is enigmatic and menacing and becomes this frightening portrait of evil down to his very bones. A brilliant and chilling performance.

01. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008) - Every great hero needs an equally great villain. In the original Batman films, there were a few good villains, a few decent villains and quite a few terrible ones. The one thing Batman Begins lacked was a really, really good villain. Well, thanks to Heath Ledger's punk rock, anarchist, no-holds-barred performance as The Joker, The Dark Knight had a GREAT villain. Perhaps the greatest villain in the franchise history. He took the Joker well past the silly, funny Joker Nicholson played and went to a much, much darker place. A place so dark, I don't know how the film got away with a PG-13 rating. Ledger may have left us too soon but his performances, this one especially, will live on forever.

Mini Reviews + Best of 2009 (So Far)

First, here are two very, very, very short reviews. I have discovered that you don't really need a lot of words when talking about awful movies.

Year One - All of the funniest parts are in the trailer. Michael Cera is funny. The movie is boring.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - My momma always told me, "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all."


Now, since it's already July, I decided to make a top ten list of the best movies of 2009 so far. Then I realized that there are not ten movies to put on the list. So, I cut it down to five. And, still, I only really feel happy about one of these movies. 2009 has been a really terrible year for movies so far. I mean, my top five includes a horror film, two comedies, an action movie and an animated Pixar movie. Anyone who knows me, knows these are not necessarily my favorite types of movies. Then I tried to do a small list of the best actors and actresses of the year and I couldn't come up with anyone! However, I did come up with a supporting actress (Monica Potter - Last House on the Left who is so emotionally devastating) and supporting actor (Jackie Earle Haley - Watchmen who is literally the only good thing about that movie). So here it is - my very pathetic Top Five List.

05. Adventureland - Greg Mottola's follow up to Superbad isn't quite as laugh out loud hilarious as its predecessor but it is a charmingly sweet and often funny look at falling in love for the first time and growing up and making friends. Martin Starr is hysterical but who can really expect less from the man who created Bill Haverchuck.

04. The Hangover - The funniest movie of the year, for sure. (NOTE: Have yet to see Funny People, which I have huge hopes for). A very simple movie about a group of friends and the crazy shenanigans they get into in Las Vegas. The movie is just simply funny. Plus, technically, it's a whole lot better than it needs to be.

03. Up - Not quite as good as last year's Wall-E but still charming and sweet and funny. It's well written and well executed. I did find it a little on the depressing side but that doesn't mean I think any less of it as a very good film.

02. Star Trek - For someone who has never seen a Star Trek TV show or movie in their life, I quite enjoyed the new movie. Chalk it up to great writing or a great, likeable cast. I don't know but it had a lot of funny parts and a lot of action packed parts. Plus, it had Chris Pine shirtless and I would sincerely like to thank JJ Abrams for that.

01. The Last House on the Left - Simply amazing. It's the kind of movie that just sticks in your head no matter how hard you try to get it out of there. Sure, it's tough to watch but there is so much beauty mixed in with the horror and the terror. The directing is so far and away above anything in the "horror" genre lately that it's truly inspiring. The performances are all top notch. It's one of those rare remakes that are actually better than the original. Like I said, I think Hollywood can only correctly remake Wes Craven movies so here's hoping the Nightmare on Elm Street remake is up to par.

Coming soon - Anticipating the second half of 2009, review of Public Enemies.

Watchmen

Maybe it's because I never read the graphic novel. I don't know. Maybe I just don't get it. But when I say I hated Watchmen, I really hated Watchmen. I've heard it's a pretty faithful adaptation but I also heard the graphic novel was intelligent and thought-provoking. This movie is anything but. There is no soul here. Eventhough I very much love at least three of the actors in this movie, I didn't care about any of the characters at all. Not even a little bit. These characters just aren't fleshed out at all. The bromance between Night Owl and Rorschach is more realistic than the big love triangle and I don't think it should be. The movie is long but I love long movies. I have no problems with long movies... as long as they use the time wisely. I'm not sure that Watchmen does that. Also, being long is the least of the problems here. I know action movies (if this is even an action movie since there are long stretches where there is NO action whatsoever) don't necessarily need good scripts but the writing here was really terrible. The dialogue was very lacking of any wit or intelligence. And, sure, the special effects were great but it's 2009 - the special effects better be great!
The soundtrack was pretty amazing... but it doesn't fit the movie at all. You know when you see a movie and there is a certain scene and a certain song and you think, "My Lord, that song was just made for that scene!" Well, this movie is sort of the opposite of that. The songs were all great but with the exception of the great use of "The Times They Are A-Changing" by Bob Dylan, none of the songs fit with the movie at all. Also, just so you know, when I hear "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, I do not automatically think, "steamy sex scene." At all.
The acting was lacking at best. There was one person in this movie that was amazing - Jackie Earle Haley as Rorshchach. He was a complete and total badass and he was the one and only thing about this movie that made it worth watching (with the exception of Patrick Wilson's ass... which was just lovely). All of the other actors (and I adore Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode and I like Billy Crudup a hell of a lot) were adequate at best. I do give props to the casting people for actually hiring real actors and not action heroes... but it just doesn't work.
Bascially, the movie was just a big mess. It was inconsistent and disjointed. At one point, near the end, I totally forgot about the basic plot of the movie. Rorschach said, "We need to find out who killed the Comedian" and I was all, "Oh yeah! That's what this mess is about." I'm sure everyone had the best of intentions but with their best efforts, came an incoherent mess.
Grades...
A+ for Patrick Wilson's ass
A- for Jackie Earle Haley's badass performance
D for the overall movie.