decade revisited: 2007, part 2

The Nominees: Barring the ultra-typical choice of Javier Bardem as both nominee and winner (which is still one of the most haunting and well-crafted characters I've yet seen), I stepped a little away from the ordinary in this particular category. Most of the Oscars' choices I just didn't understand the appeal to -- Philip Seymour Hoffman was pretty one-note in Charlie Wilson's War, Tom Wilkinson was majorly over-the-top in Michael Clayton, and Casey Affleck seemed pretty overrated for his performance in The Assassination of Jessie James. As for the rest of the crew, I opted for two forgotten performances in fairly lauded films -- Dano and Sanders -- and two forgotten performances whose films were just plain forgotten -- Downey, Jr. and Zahn.

Revisions: I suppose the only one I'd consider nixing would probably be Zahn, though I think he gave a completely out-of-the-ordinary performance as the withering-away prisoner of war in Rescue Dawn. As for a replacement -- I thoroughly enjoyed Hal Holbrook's bit part in Into the Wild; Simon Pegg would be nothing without his other half, Nick Frost, in Hot Fuzz; and it surprises me that with the Juno awards attention that J.K. Simmons got completely overlooked.

The Nominees: Okay, folks, I'm proud of this category. Along with the Oscar-nominated turns from Cate Blanchett, the best Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, and Saoirse Ronan, the seemingly most surprisingly nuanced child performer of this decade, in Atonement, I managed to sneak in some great supporting performances in genre films that wouldn't otherwise have gotten attention. For the action movie The Bourne Ultimatum, Joan Allen was great as the tentative yin to Matt Damon's yang. For the romantic comedy Waitress, Adrienne Shelly was fantastic as the dorky best friend with a heart of gold. And for the children's fantasy film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Imelda Staunton was devilishly delicious as the uber-cruel professor from hell.

Revisions: Well as opposed to committing too much to any particular group of 5 ladies, I'll simply mention the other honorable ones that missed out on the nomination in 2007: Sigourney Weaver in The TV Set, Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton, Leslie Mann in Knocked Up, Allison Janney in Juno, Evanna Lynch in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Kristen Thomson in Away from Her.