Post by Pherdy on Mar 17, 2008 15:50:54 GMT
NO, this is not my effort to launch a rivaling FCM award contest with my own quirky categories. I have expressed an interest in a "ensemble" category for the FCM Awards. Maybe we can include it next year.
I found 2007 a very good year for acting. especially young actors (kids, that is), continue to amaze me the last couple of years. NO, I'm not talking about Dakota Fanning. She annoyes the hell out of me as much as the dumb kids from Narnia or the bad acting in Harry Potter films. I'm actually talking about child perfomances in critically acclaimed films over the last few years. Clooney's son in Michael Clayton. Day-Lewis' boy in TWBB. Jamie Bell when he was 11 in Billy Elliott. And many, many more.
But in this thread I'd like to mention the large number of great ensemble acting of last year. The reason I began about the kid actors was because my #1 earned its spot as my favorite ensemble acting achievement of the year because the amazing performances by no less than three little boys who had never acted before and convinced me up to the point that they made the otherwise unspectacular film.
Definitions for Best Ensemble
Hard to say. One could say that there has got to be a minimum number of actors involved. I'd say that has to be about five or six. Sleuth, with only two actors, would never qualify. By the number of actors I actually mean the number of significant parts. There Will Be Blood has two, maybe three signifcant, large parts. All other roles are so small they are on the verge of being called bit-parts or cameo's. But the three or four major roles are all done exceptionally well. Same thing for Away From Her. Two amazing leads and one well performed Supporting Female is all this film really has to offer acting-wise: all other characters have very little significance or screentime. But that would make it 3 out of 3.
To make this short: I have no set definition. Some ensembles are great because a-lot-of-but-not-every performance(s) are impressive, while other casts get a 100% score because there are few important roles.
If there's one obvious criterion in favor of a cast, it is that the more people are involved who deliver a great performance (think Gosford Park, Magnolia, last year's Bobby), the higher my admiration.
In any way, this is a personal list, and I probably am not consistent with criteria.
1. The Kite Runner
Young Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada delivers the performance of a lifetime, like two other Afghan boys who never acted before. How the casting department found these is worth recognition.
2. No Country For Old Men
I don't think a film could get so much Best Picture praise if the acting wasn't good, and because this film has three leads, supported by the likes of Harrelson, Dillahunt and MacDonald, this easily qualifies as a magnificent ensemble performance. Again, the casting deserves a heads up for some of the bit-part actors, like the secretary or the gas station guy. Winner of the SAG for Best Ensemble.
3. I'm Not There
No difficulty in choosing this one. You have six very different main characters (plus outstanding supporting roles by Gainsborough and Greenwood) who all embody similar character traits in very different ways. If the individual performance weren't impressive enough, the combination of them all justifies this pick as a Great Ensemble performance. I can understand why Blanchett was picked most often, but Marcus Carl Franklin (another kid actor) was most impressive to me. And, believe it or not, but the late-and-ever-since-vastly-overrated Heath Ledger did a fine job in what will probably be his second best ever performance, after The Joker...
4. I'm Not There
We've debated it over and over, and agree: Casey Affleck is as much (if not more) a lead as Brad Pitt. He outacts him. The reason I've put this one so high up this list is because of the minor characters (here's where a definition would've been handy). I did not know Paul Schneider before this film, but will definitely look into his career after his performance of Dick Liddl. ML Parker, who was great in Angels in America, had a small but strong performance, as had most of the others. Again there are great child actors present.
5. There Will Be Blood
I will make this my exception. TWBB has my favorite Male Lead and favorite Male Supporting Role of the year, so that ought to be automatically enough for consideration. Even if most of the other roles are rather small. They are, never the less, very good overall (Freasier, Hinds, O'Connor, etc) so when it comes down to it there's no real reason not to consider this as one of the five best allround acting perfomances by an entire cast of 2007.
Semi-finalists (too hard to pick an order):
American Gangster
I know I'm the only one praising this film at the FCM nominations. But this cast would definitely qualify as a great ensemble. You have a number of Oscar-winning actors in both leading and supporting roles; you have upcoming characters actors like Ejiofor, Hawkes and Brolin, and a five minute performance apparently worthy of many awards by Ruby Dee. I've also changed my reserved opinion of Russell Crowe as a character actor after this film.
Gone Baby Gone
Admitted, this is another quantity pick. There are a lot of significant roles, which makes this one definitely eligible. No one misses, which makes this one worthy of mentioning. Affleck has his year, Freeman is in form as ever, but Ed Harris steals the show - not forgetting about Amy Ryan who owed all of her nominations to the character she had to play.
In the Valley of Elah
I'm not saying this film is overlooked. It was a decent film, nothing spectacular. The performances were top-notch though. I was never a fan of Tommy Lee Jones until he started playing the lovable elder guys in recent years. This is his film, but all others are good too.
Juno
Juno owes much to its quirky screenplay. No one talks like this in real life, especially not so many persons together. But the actors all deliver their lines in a funny way, even Jennifer Garner. The parents are priceless, Michael Cera repeats his Superbad part, but Ellen Page - already my favorite in 2005 - gives the year's best acting perfomance by a lead actress. If you ask me.
Michael Clayton
With three Oscar-nominations for acting, it would be weird not to include this one. Based on quantity I did not put this into my top-five, but it comes close. The little boy and 'Ana' are especially good. Even Clayton's kin, with 10 second parts, are convincing.
Notable mentions:
3:10 to Yuma. Here, Crowe manages to do better than my personal favorite Christian Bale. Ben Foster was rightfully praised for his psycho part, a nice turn from his usual roles.
Away from her. As explained above, this film has a great cast because all three major parts are excellent and all other parts are too small to take into this equation.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. This film was never to be dissapointing with this cast. What's surprising (to me at least) is that the only non-Oscar winner of the four leads, Ethan Hawke, did the best job.
Into The Wild. As most characters in this film are literally only passing by, the allround acting owes much of not all to the performance of Emile Hirsch. The first seconds of the film he looks like Jack Black. In the next 139 minutes, he definitely doesn't.
Le Scaphandre et le Papillon. A challenging lead role and the four women he admires - another example of allround great performances, both in leading, supporting and extra parts.
Zodiac. Considering the praise this film gets on this board, I should mention this one. The four leads do their jobs very well, the 'suspects' even more. Enough said.
Don't forget about:
The Darjeeling Limited, Death at a Funeral, Waitress, Control, Knocked Up, Eastern Promises, Things We Lost In The Fire, Lars and the Real Girl
Don't be fooled:
Margot at the Wedding may prove that Jennifer Jason Leigh is not a bad actress, but this film was dissapointing and the ensemble cast couldn't change that.
I found 2007 a very good year for acting. especially young actors (kids, that is), continue to amaze me the last couple of years. NO, I'm not talking about Dakota Fanning. She annoyes the hell out of me as much as the dumb kids from Narnia or the bad acting in Harry Potter films. I'm actually talking about child perfomances in critically acclaimed films over the last few years. Clooney's son in Michael Clayton. Day-Lewis' boy in TWBB. Jamie Bell when he was 11 in Billy Elliott. And many, many more.
But in this thread I'd like to mention the large number of great ensemble acting of last year. The reason I began about the kid actors was because my #1 earned its spot as my favorite ensemble acting achievement of the year because the amazing performances by no less than three little boys who had never acted before and convinced me up to the point that they made the otherwise unspectacular film.
Definitions for Best Ensemble
Hard to say. One could say that there has got to be a minimum number of actors involved. I'd say that has to be about five or six. Sleuth, with only two actors, would never qualify. By the number of actors I actually mean the number of significant parts. There Will Be Blood has two, maybe three signifcant, large parts. All other roles are so small they are on the verge of being called bit-parts or cameo's. But the three or four major roles are all done exceptionally well. Same thing for Away From Her. Two amazing leads and one well performed Supporting Female is all this film really has to offer acting-wise: all other characters have very little significance or screentime. But that would make it 3 out of 3.
To make this short: I have no set definition. Some ensembles are great because a-lot-of-but-not-every performance(s) are impressive, while other casts get a 100% score because there are few important roles.
If there's one obvious criterion in favor of a cast, it is that the more people are involved who deliver a great performance (think Gosford Park, Magnolia, last year's Bobby), the higher my admiration.
In any way, this is a personal list, and I probably am not consistent with criteria.
1. The Kite Runner
Young Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada delivers the performance of a lifetime, like two other Afghan boys who never acted before. How the casting department found these is worth recognition.
2. No Country For Old Men
I don't think a film could get so much Best Picture praise if the acting wasn't good, and because this film has three leads, supported by the likes of Harrelson, Dillahunt and MacDonald, this easily qualifies as a magnificent ensemble performance. Again, the casting deserves a heads up for some of the bit-part actors, like the secretary or the gas station guy. Winner of the SAG for Best Ensemble.
3. I'm Not There
No difficulty in choosing this one. You have six very different main characters (plus outstanding supporting roles by Gainsborough and Greenwood) who all embody similar character traits in very different ways. If the individual performance weren't impressive enough, the combination of them all justifies this pick as a Great Ensemble performance. I can understand why Blanchett was picked most often, but Marcus Carl Franklin (another kid actor) was most impressive to me. And, believe it or not, but the late-and-ever-since-vastly-overrated Heath Ledger did a fine job in what will probably be his second best ever performance, after The Joker...
4. I'm Not There
We've debated it over and over, and agree: Casey Affleck is as much (if not more) a lead as Brad Pitt. He outacts him. The reason I've put this one so high up this list is because of the minor characters (here's where a definition would've been handy). I did not know Paul Schneider before this film, but will definitely look into his career after his performance of Dick Liddl. ML Parker, who was great in Angels in America, had a small but strong performance, as had most of the others. Again there are great child actors present.
5. There Will Be Blood
I will make this my exception. TWBB has my favorite Male Lead and favorite Male Supporting Role of the year, so that ought to be automatically enough for consideration. Even if most of the other roles are rather small. They are, never the less, very good overall (Freasier, Hinds, O'Connor, etc) so when it comes down to it there's no real reason not to consider this as one of the five best allround acting perfomances by an entire cast of 2007.
Semi-finalists (too hard to pick an order):
American Gangster
I know I'm the only one praising this film at the FCM nominations. But this cast would definitely qualify as a great ensemble. You have a number of Oscar-winning actors in both leading and supporting roles; you have upcoming characters actors like Ejiofor, Hawkes and Brolin, and a five minute performance apparently worthy of many awards by Ruby Dee. I've also changed my reserved opinion of Russell Crowe as a character actor after this film.
Gone Baby Gone
Admitted, this is another quantity pick. There are a lot of significant roles, which makes this one definitely eligible. No one misses, which makes this one worthy of mentioning. Affleck has his year, Freeman is in form as ever, but Ed Harris steals the show - not forgetting about Amy Ryan who owed all of her nominations to the character she had to play.
In the Valley of Elah
I'm not saying this film is overlooked. It was a decent film, nothing spectacular. The performances were top-notch though. I was never a fan of Tommy Lee Jones until he started playing the lovable elder guys in recent years. This is his film, but all others are good too.
Juno
Juno owes much to its quirky screenplay. No one talks like this in real life, especially not so many persons together. But the actors all deliver their lines in a funny way, even Jennifer Garner. The parents are priceless, Michael Cera repeats his Superbad part, but Ellen Page - already my favorite in 2005 - gives the year's best acting perfomance by a lead actress. If you ask me.
Michael Clayton
With three Oscar-nominations for acting, it would be weird not to include this one. Based on quantity I did not put this into my top-five, but it comes close. The little boy and 'Ana' are especially good. Even Clayton's kin, with 10 second parts, are convincing.
Notable mentions:
3:10 to Yuma. Here, Crowe manages to do better than my personal favorite Christian Bale. Ben Foster was rightfully praised for his psycho part, a nice turn from his usual roles.
Away from her. As explained above, this film has a great cast because all three major parts are excellent and all other parts are too small to take into this equation.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. This film was never to be dissapointing with this cast. What's surprising (to me at least) is that the only non-Oscar winner of the four leads, Ethan Hawke, did the best job.
Into The Wild. As most characters in this film are literally only passing by, the allround acting owes much of not all to the performance of Emile Hirsch. The first seconds of the film he looks like Jack Black. In the next 139 minutes, he definitely doesn't.
Le Scaphandre et le Papillon. A challenging lead role and the four women he admires - another example of allround great performances, both in leading, supporting and extra parts.
Zodiac. Considering the praise this film gets on this board, I should mention this one. The four leads do their jobs very well, the 'suspects' even more. Enough said.
Don't forget about:
The Darjeeling Limited, Death at a Funeral, Waitress, Control, Knocked Up, Eastern Promises, Things We Lost In The Fire, Lars and the Real Girl
Don't be fooled:
Margot at the Wedding may prove that Jennifer Jason Leigh is not a bad actress, but this film was dissapointing and the ensemble cast couldn't change that.
