Oscar's Best Actor (2009)

I've seen only Mickey Rourke's The Wrestler and Pitt's Benjamin Button. Both of them were very good films and both Rourke and Pitt did amazing job. But if I would have to choose one of them, I would choose Pitt because he has done so many great films but never won an oscar. Now it would be a time.

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I wish that was the case and even with his decision to bow out of wrestlemania - good for his career, not good for wrestling fans - I don't think they'll give it to him.

Penn will be give the award.

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I don't think Penn will walk away with this. He's never won the SAG before (Johnny Deep beat him out in 2004), so it was pretty much a given that he would take the SAG this year for his brilliant performance. Furthermore, Penn is always great, no matter what he does and will have many chances at Oscar again, I can't say the same for Rourke in this matter.

The right choice is Mickey Rourke here.

Rourke's performance in The Wrestler is the stuff Oscars are made for. It was role he was born to play, and one he identifies with. He played it heartfelt with conviction and certainty. This is the performance everyone will remember in years to come and this is the performance the Academy will recognize and will see Rourke with a completed comeback, with Oscar in tow.

-UJ

My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to remind you the Oscars are this Sunday!

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Oh, I thought he wanted to "recruit you" to vote for him. I like Sean Penn and he turned in a solid performance as Harvey Milk which seemed to push over into near-greatness at the film's end. To me, I wasn't sure that I even liked Mickey Rourke's character when The Wrestler started, but overall, he seemed to be more realistic to me. The flaw I find with both characters (as written and not as performed) is that they seem to be too one-note. Milk wants to change the world and you can imagine why, but the film starts when he's 40 years old, so I feel that I'm missing some key moments in his life to make him the way he is. In The Wrestler, Rourke's "The Ram" starts off even older than Milk started, and we don't see all the things which led him to make all the mistakes he's made in his life either. In that way, the characters are similarly-tragic because they each have a mission, but neither one is quite able to see it through to fruition. Milk's goal is grandiose and within his grasp, when he's stopped by outside (if not entirely unforseen) circumstances. The Ram's goal is very modest, but even so, he seems unable to make it happen due mainly to habit and addictions of various kinds. Then again, I realize that many people are able to successfully navigate through life with many character defects, but I'm living proof that the older you get, the more you wish you weren't quite so "true to yourself" because it can kill you.

This is a long-winded way for me to say that I hope that Rourke wins, and I voted for him. I may be somewhat clouded in my judgment because I thought that Penn won for a weak performance in Mystic River, so I honestly see no reason for him to get another Oscar so soon, but it's happened plenty of times before (Tom Hanks, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Jodie Foster and Hillary Swank). I just believe that Penn will have more opportunities to win another Oscar than Rourke, not that anybody else cares about such things...

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I care. But I can certainly understand why folks would lean more to Penn's side. I really like them both so its win/win for me. I just hope that one of them gets it. With my luck they'll give the flippin' thing to Brad Pitt.

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Stacked category, yeah, I just get the sense that Langella's performance has far and away the most staying power. Just a heckuva job. The guy played this role on stage for however long he did and then he has to do it for a movie with closeups and whatnot and he doesn't miss a beat. I didn't even like Frost/Nixon that much, but I'd still say Langella easily delivered the most iconic performance. At least outta these five.

"Did you do any fornicating?" (best read in a Frank Langella Nixon voice)

Langella is truly awesome, but I see his performance reflected through Sheen's Frost's eyes. It's as if you need both performances for either one to exist. The other thing is that even though very few people have paid to see Milk, The Wrestler and Frost/Nixon, that last one earned the least amount of money, and performances are really elevated when seen on the big screen, screeners notwithstanding. They're all very good though.

Yeah, that's an interesting point Mark. I was just thinking about their little chat in the middle of the night. The one that Nixon claims he didn't remember? And it was a great scene. But to me it really only worked because of the both of them. Langella was pretty damn terrific though.

I really want Brad Pitt to win this, but I think it's going to be Sean Penn. A lot of people say it's going to be Mickey Rorke, but I don't think so. I think the academy is going to pick the safer of the two because we just don't know what Rorke is going to say if he goes up on stage. No doubt that Penn deserves this award also. I saw the movie and he put out a great performance.

I guess I'm different in the regard that I think it's good that the film's don't attempt to shine too much light on the two character's pasts. Movies only last a couple hours and can become convoluted when they attempt to show too much. I think the characters are dimensional. I think it would be more interesting to see Milk's early life than the Ram's.

I do agree with you that it may well be Rourke's last shot, but of course Angel Heart and Barfly were better films I'd say than The Wrestler. I like Rourke a lot as an actor and I think people give him too much gruff for "mistakes." If he wanted to box, so be it.

One of my favorite actresses - Juliette Lewis, barely even acts anymore.

It is clear to see Rourke is milking this whole comeback spiel for all it's worth. He's schrewd and clever no doubt and people like the sad broken down underdog tale.

I don't buy into it. Who cares. Really? The man has more money and luxury than we'll ever have. And when he goes on these interviews we are supposed to feel badly for him?

This is what gets me at times - when they mix the art with the artist.

There are times when I think the artist's life can have an impact on the art, ala Monty Clift or Klaus Kinski, but I don't think Rourke/The Wrestler necessarily applies.

I would love to see Rourke win and it has nothing to do with his "comeback" when he's made a movie almost every single year for the past 20 years or more. I think it's a damn good performance and I think the character is heartbreaking and that's what I feel for and weep for, not Rourke up in his frippin' estate home in his designer clothes. Doesn't matter. He's a damn fine actor and that's what the focus should be... not a ****ing "comeback."

I hate these awards. Penn is a great actor and had a great performance in Milk, but Mickey Rourke's performance was one of the best I have seen in the past 10 years. He deserved this award.

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Haha, that's actually the first thing that popped into my head when they said Sean Penn won, believe it or not.

I've seen Milk and i'm sorry, but that film is not all that, neither is Sean Penn's performance. I really feel the academy awards got it so so wrong this year, with the exception of Heath Ledger's triumphant win as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

I'm not saying Sean Penn's a bad actor, he clearly isn't, but I do often feel he is a little bit overrated. Rourke's performance in The Wrestler really did it for me, and that's' even after I brought into the hype. It's just a tour de force. And compared to Penn's performance, I felt Mickey had a tougher job to do what with the physicality of the role. But, meh, whatever. I gave up on the academy after they snubbed Nolan.

I saw Milk last night and thought it was a strong performance in an absorbing film so I'm happy to see Penn get the award. I haven't seen the other performances, though, so can't comment on whether any of them deserved it more.

I thought Sean Penn was excellent in the film, but I enjoyed Rourke's performance and I figured it was more demanding.

I dunno, these things are so subjective. I was really hoping Rourke would get it.

Aye, I was hoping to see what Rourke would say. I didn't really feel I had a stake in either, so I was naturally rooting for the more interesting of the two.

By the by, for anyone who wasn't there at the time, Penn's speech ruffled a few feathers in the Oscar Chat last night, which in turn ruffled other feathers, and on and on. Some people agreed with him, some disagreed, and some disagreed but still didn't like the injection of politics into a largely politics-less ceremony. What are everyone's thoughts on not just Penn's political outspokenness, but the general idea of it in acceptance speeches?

I think it was expected of him, given the role he played and the recent happenings in California. I think it would have been odd for him not to mention anything about Prop 8. :\ Plus, I agree with everything he said so naturally I didn't have a problem with it, on the contrary.

Why, what went on in the chat room?

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