Best Leading Actor 2012

5. Denzel Washington - Flight
Denzel Washington just failed to create a good portrayal of an alcoholic. He never seemed to be drunk, even in the moments he should be, because it's said so in the script. He really had a grateful role to play, but he didn't use it, at all. I'm not saying he doesn't have any good scenes, of course he has, but most of the time he is just overshadowed by his co-actors (Kelly Reilly, John Goodman)...

4. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Phoenix, who is also playing alcoholic, gave better performance than Washington, but he had the opposite problem than Washington had. Phoenix seemed to be drunk all the time, instead. But I can't deny the fact that he had some effective scenes, especially at the beginning of the film and then some scenes with Philip Seymour Hoffman. I can see this performance being celebrated in about ten years, for it really is iconic...

3. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
I really didn't like Lincoln. It's very emotionless and cold and so I feel about Lewis's performance. He never showed Lincoln as a person and just like the film, his performance is emotionless. But though it's very subtle and minimalistic, it's very effective. Lewis has something inside of himself that made me unable to take my eyes of him. In many ways it reminded me of Gary Oldman's performance in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (but I would prefer Oldman a little bit)...

2. Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Cooper was perfect in reflecting the chaotic feelings his character Pat had from life into his performance. He had a great chemistry with all of his co-actors and I really liked his scenes he was supposed to be angry in. I would never expect such a complex performance from Cooper, but he really surprised me. And I was very close to giving him the win...

1. Hugh Jackman - Les Misérables
Jackman was really the only option for playing this role. He was perfect from the beginning and though he later is more supporting, when he appears on the screen he is always extremely enjoyable and effective. He never allows himself to be overshadowed by anyone from the cast and he is a worthy adversary to everyone. He only lost the points (or half the point), because the two most boring songs (Suddenly, Bring Him Home) of the film (that I loved) are sung by him... 

My Nominees:
1. Jean Louis-Trintignant - Amour
2. Hugh Jackman - Les Misérables
3. John Hawkes - The Sessions
4. Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
5. Jack Black - Bernie

Best Leading Actor 2012: Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

This year we had two alcoholics between best leading actor's Oscar nominations. The first one, Denzel Washington for his performance in Robert Zemeckis's film Flight, didn't show the alcoholism very well. He didn't seem drunk, even in the scenes he should and was very forgettable. Another one is Joaquin Phoenix for his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Did he handle his alcoholic character better than Washington?
Yes, he did. But it doesn't mean his performance was flawless. Not at all, but his performance was much better better and if nothing else he made it at least interesting. Just like the whole film, it's love it, or hate it. In fact, Phoenix's performance reminded me of Jennifer Lawrence's performance in Silver Linings Playbook. It wasn't very realistic, both of the actors were overacting, but they're both very iconic and in about ten years, they'll be considered as an Oscar-worthy masterpiece (kind of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, or by me so many times mentioned Diane Keaton in Annie Hall).
I have to say I enjoyed Joaquin's performance. But I can't pretend I don't see the fact he wasn't very realistic, nor believable. He has the opposite problem than Washington has, actually. While Washington didn't seem drunk when he should, Phoenix seemed drunk when he shouldn't. It seemed to me as if he was drunk throughout the whole film, in every single scene, without an exception. And I doubt if he should do that.
But no matter he wasn't realistic, if he was enjoyable. And he was. His scenes with Philip Seymour Hoffman are really great. His best scene is also with Hoffman and that's the one, in which he is forced to not twinkle. He was very powerful in these scenes. Also his scenes at the beginning are perfect. But then in the end he tends to be really over the top.
The chances of winning an Oscar: After all he said about the Oscars they're very low. I think that this time the alcoholics are at the bottom of the list...

Best Leading Actor 2012: Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook

In Silver Linings Playbook Bradley Cooper plays Pat, a man with the bipolar affection who come from the psychiatry and tries to find his ex-wife Nicky, who was unfaithful to him. There's actually nothing else he'd be interested in. Except from that he's trying to get back to the normal life.
Cooper's performance surprised me in a good way. I would never expect such a complex performance from Cooper. His character is really confused from some things we would normally don't care about (Hemighway), therefore the world is very chaotic and confusing for him. And so we should have the same feelings from the film and his performance. And this chaos is wonderfully reflected in it.
A very similar situation I remember from three years ago, when I was watching Sandra Bullock's performance in The Blind Side. An actor that we know mostly from comedies is playing in a more serious comedy, in which he gave the best performance from the entire cast.
He had the great chemistry with Jennifer Lawrence (and I'm really happy to know that this is not their last film together) and their common scenes are really a joy to watch. And I'm not talking about the great chemistry he had with Weaver and also De Niro...
I loved how he handled the scenes he had to be angry in. It was obvious from his performance that his character is mentally ill, but he never was overacting. There was not a single scene of his, he would overact.
In this moment of review I would usually write his best scene. But there is not a single scene, in which he would shine more than in the rest of his scenes, which can be seen as a good thing (he was equally great in all of his scenes), or as a bad thing (he didn't have a scene he would shine in). I personally can't decide, which side I'm on.
The chances of winning an Oscar: If Harvey really roots for everyone from his studio, they're bigger, than you'd think. But Daniel Day-Lewis is too strong frontrunner. I think he's the third behind Lewis and Jackman...

Best Leading Actor 2012: Hugh Jackman - Les Misérables

I love musicals. I've been desperately looking forward to Les Misérables, since the first time I've heard about it. At the end I really loved it, though it's not the best musical I've seen. The songs of it are sung from the first minute to the last one. Therefore the only way of making it a film is actually the way Tom Hooper decided to go for and that's the way of letting the actors song all the songs live. This way they have the chance to better express the emotions through the songs. Every actor handled this chance greatly and Hugh Jackman isn't an exception.
He plays Jean Valjean, who I hope I don't have to introduce anyone. It's a legendary character that get from being a poor prisoner to a respectable man. This change of the character gives Jackman a great opportunity to shine. The question is, if he used it...
I knew Jackman is a talented actor, singer and dancer, since he hosted the Oscars. He was so perfect doing that (with equally perfect part of Anne Hathaway), that I doubt anybody in quite a long time can do the hosting better than he did. Therefore I think he was the great choice for this role. The question is, if he really was the best choice for this role...
The answer for both of the questions is yes! Jackman does absolutely everything he should. He's extremely charming in his role. When I was watching the first shot of the film the ecstasy fulfilled me and when I saw Jackman playing I felt like I'm in heaven. He really gave everything into his role.
All of his scenes in the beginning are really flawless. Then later his character becomes more supporting and it focuses on the young characters of the film. When Jackman appears in this part of film, he's not there for a very long time, but he does what he can. He's really a joy to watch.
At the end he again becomes the centre of the film's attention and his performance is really touching and emotional. His best scene, though I consider the very beginning and then the scene he wants to buy Cosette from Thénardiers, in which he never lets Helena Bonham Carter and Sascha Baron Cohen to overshadow him. He had a great chemistry with them, instead.
What is also great, is that he has got a great chemistry with Russell Crowe, as well. Crowe somehow failed to handle his character, but his chemistry with Jackman is undeniable.
But I also should mention one thing: The two most boring songs of the film are sung by him. They're Bring Him Home and Suddenly. Suddenly is there just to make the film another Oscar nomination, but Jackman does what he can and he's trying to help it. The song is just too pointless to make it somehow interesting. Bring Him Home would be fine, if it was shorter. I don't know how much Jackman could do with it, I just know it bored me. But I believe it would be fine just as it is, if it was shorter.
The chances of winning an Oscar: I doubt if anyone can beat Daniel Day-Lewis, but if there is a miracle to be happened, the miracle would certainly be Hugh Jackman...

Best Leading Actor 2012: Denzel Washington - Flight

Flight is not very enjoying film. It's technically very well written, but I believe the directing is too ordinary to make this boring plot just a little bit interesting. I personally can't imagine that someone might actually really love or fall for this film. It's not bad, but it brings nothing new, or special to the movies.
Denzel Washington plays a pilot that perfectly handled a plane crash. But some time later it's found out that he was drunk and under drugs throughout the flight.
He plays an alcoholic and unaccountable man that did something admirable, but there are lots of problems that are coming with it. This is a very grateful role to play. Does Washington uses it? Not at all. He doesn't realize the opportunities this character gives him. He decided to play it the most boring way. Doing nothing with this character, just read the lines in the script and sometimes - when it's really needed - have some fine scene.
I have seen many actors playing alcoholics and they did that much better way than Washington did. In some scenes he's supposed to be drunk, or under drugs, but it's almost unnoticeable. He doesn't play them much differently, than the rest of his performance. It happened to me sometimes that I wouldn't know he's drunk, if it wasn't said in the line.
The other problem I have with this performance is that he's extremely overshadowed by his co-actors. Kelly Reilly is re(i)ally great in her role (and did exactly what Washington should) and so is the scenes stealer Joh Goodman.
I don't mean he's absolutely bad. Some moments are really fine. The scene, in which he persuades her college to lie in the court or the scene he talks to his lawyer are really very decent. But he just failed to create a complex and interesting and remarkable character.
The chances of winning an Oscar: Very low, fortunately...

Best Leading Actor 2012: Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

As I wrote in my review of Tommy Lee Jones's performance, Lincoln is technically a great film, but I didn't enjoy it very much. It was made just to win as many awards, as possible. It's very emotionless, except from some scenes. The music rarely plays throughout the film, the editing is not very slippy and the screenplay (and the directing) never goes into the depth, so we don't actually care about the characters very much, nor do we care about how will it all with the commandment end.
I wrote we don't care about the characters. And it is also valid for Lincoln. The film is very stony and so is the leading character. Lewis never goes deeply into the character, so that we would care about him. There are only few remarkable scenes (because they're emotional), but most of them are remarkable because of Sally Field and one because of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I would say that every scene that is emotional has something to do with Levitt's character. It's not because Levitt would play somehow excellently, he is just normally good. It's because these scenes show the tragedy of some characters, they show their emotions. And that's what the film should more focus on.
But Lewis is known as a magnificent character actor, therefore I would expect he would help this non-emotionality, but he doesn't do that. His building of the character is very minimalistic and subtle, which would not be bad. But Lewis let himself to be undistinguished by the coldness of the film. I would expect him to handle the character the way of making the film pleasure to watch, just because of him. But he showed nothing special here. He wasn't bad, though sometimes overacting, but we are used from Lewis that he usually gives us much better and more remarkable performances.
His best scene is the scene when Sally Field is crying on the floor. That one of the most emotional scenes in the film and it's just because of him. He handled some moments really greatly and the rest of his scenes were just very good. He never gave anything to his character that would make us like, or dislike, or at least care about Lincoln. On the other hand, we can say this stony way portraying is positive, because it fits the tone of the film, but I don't get satisfied with this. Especially not from Lewis...
The chances of winning an Oscar: This is the strongest lock in any category this year (along with Amour for the best foreign language film). He will undoubtably win. If he didn't, it would be a huge surprise...

Next Year: Best Leading Actor 2012

The Nominees:
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln (predicted winner)
Denzel Washington - Flight
Hugh Jackman - Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

So, please, comment. Who was snubbed? How would your nominees look like? Who would you like to win? Who do you think I'll let win? And how do you think I'll rate these performances?
I'll try to do this year and the supporting actresses of this year very quickly, because I'd like to do them before the ceremony...