Best Performances from Oscar Nominees – Best Actor

The final entry of the “Best of the 2016 Oscar Nominees” series concludes with the best performances from this year’s Best Actor nominees.  Let’s have a look.

BRYAN CRANSTON (Nominated for Trumbo)

BEST PERFORMANCE – TRUMBO (2015)

Cranston is a television icon for his performance as Walter White in Breaking Bad.  However, this isn’t a list for television, it’s for movies, so that didn’t qualify.  Cranston has had some good supporting performances in some really good movies like Drive (2011) and Argo (2012).  Trumbo was the first starring performance Cranston’s really had since Breaking Bad.  And while Trumbo is a great T.V. movie, it is Cranston’s superb portrayal that elevates it.  He’s whip smart and balances comedy and drama like a pro.  I expect to see more performances like this from Cranston in the future.

MATT DAMON (Nominated for The Martian)

BEST PERFORMANCE – GOOD WILL HUNTING (2008)

Matt Damon can do it all.  From kicking ass as Jason Bourne, to being the only actor on screen for 80% of the movie in The Martian, he can be funny or dramatic, but always with a shining charisma.  His performance in Good Will Hunting shows Damon at his finest.  Playing the suffering genius Will Hunting, Damon is gives a layered, moving performance that will piss you off and make you cry at the same time.  One of Damon’s earliest roles still remains as his best.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO (Nominated for The Revenant)

BEST PERFORMANCE – THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)

Leonardo DiCaprio is my favorite actor working today and maybe ever.  He’s the actor of our generation.  The guy continues turn out great performance after great performance.  His greatest though, over The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), and Django Unchained (2012), is his performances as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street.  This is the definition of a towering performance.  Belfort is a despicable human being.  He does copious amounts of drugs, has sex with women who aren’t his wife, cons people out of their money, and gives some of the most epic monologs I’ve ever seen.  DiCaprio is probably going to win his Oscar for The Revenant on Sunday, but it’s just a makeup reward for this masterpiece.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER (Nominated for Steve Jobs)

BEST PERFORMANCE – STEVE JOBS (2015)

Simply put, Michael Fassbender is amazing.  You want to talk prolific and diverse?  Fassbender is a guy who in 2011 was Magneto in the big budget X-Men: First Class and then played a sex addict in Steve McQueen’s indie Shame.  His horrifying performance in 12 Years a Slave (2013) is phenomenal, but his performance in this year’s Steve Jobs is legendary.  It takes a great actor to read Aaron Sorkin dialog and Fassbender read it as good as anyone before him.  He delivers the dialog like he’s shooting bullets, with a rapid pace and intensity that only Fassbender could bring.  He made Jobs an empathetic character, which amazing, considering how cold hearted and arrogant he was.  This was my favorite leading male performance of 2015 and, though it may lose the Oscar this year, it is one of the best of this decade.

EDDIE REDMAYNE (Nominated for The Danish Girl)

BEST PERFORMANCE – LES MISERABLES (2012)

I’m going to be honest, I don’t like Eddie Redmayne.  I don’t understand why people think he’s a good actor.  He hasn’t made a movie that completely blew me away.  Say what you want about his performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), it was more of an impression than a performance.  The performance I chose was his performance in Les Miserables, because I actually bought into his character.  Playing one of the leaders of the revolution going on who falls in love with Cossette (Amanda Seyfried), I thought he sang well and did a solid job.  Hopefully Redmayne gives me a great performance soon so I can stop disliking him.

What are your favorite movies from this year’s Best Actor nominees?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix.  And like Kevflix on Facebook, by clicking the link right here.