The Kiddo Awards - Day 1 (Acting)

It begins. Let's not beat around the bush; today's categories are:

Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Ensemble Cast

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Yep, it's all about the acting today, so first up...

Best Actor
Sean Penn, Milk – The definition of a lived in performance. Never for one moment do we think it’s Sean Penn acting. Without his performance, the film wouldn’t be half as good.
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler – Gets all of the talking-without-saying-anything and pitch-perfect line-readings that are just a clinic on dramatic acting. You can tell much of the “Ram” is Rourke’s creation.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, New York – His performance is all in the subtle details that shape his character of Caden Cotard. I can’t think of anyone who could have undertook such a complex character.
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor – As Roger Ebert said: “Richard Jenkins is an actor who can move his head half an inch and provide the turning point of a film.”
Josh Brolin, W. - He brings more to the table that just an impersonation of the most impersonationable person ever. There's depth in his performance, and without him W. would be far less enjoyable.

Bronze

Mickey Rourke

Silver

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Gold

Sean Penn

Best Actress
Melissa Leo, Frozen River – Plays a gruff, burnt-out mom with a warm heart if you get to know her. Leo brings such realism and you can truly sense her character’s urgency.
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky – A testament to her tour de force performance is how goddamn annoying Poppy is. She played the character perfectly and was one of the funniest performers of the year.
Meryl Streep, Doubt – Over-the-top in the best way possible. She get’s the Brooklyn accent and the nun-bitchiness down perfectly and overall, creates an extremely complex woman.
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married – At times hilarious, and always trying to escape the shadow of all that is wrong with her. We cringe with the rest of the family, just watching her.
Cate Blanchett, Benjamin Button – Blanchett gives the film a much-needed heartbeat (I still haven’t gotten over the disappointment…). Everyone on screen with her in the film pales in comparison.

Bronze

Anne Hathaway

Silver

Meryl Streep

Gold

Melissa Leo



Best Supporting Actress
Samantha Morton, Synecdoche New York – Hazel is the one thing Caden and we, the viewer, hold onto throughout the film. You can sense her feigned perkiness, done so naturally by Morton.
Viola Davis, Doubt – What hasn’t already been said?
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler – All kinds of incredible as the Stripper With a Heart of Gold. Never becomes cliché. I cared about her character more than any other this year. Proof of her brilliance.
Hiam Abbass, The Visitor – So subtle and understated. Each time her character enters the frame, the film gets a little bit better.
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona – Off-the-walls and daring as Maria Elena and follows in the footsteps of Dianne Keaton, Mira Sorvino and Dianne Wiest as one of the great, neurotic Woody Allen creations.

Bronze

Samantha Morton

Silver

Penelope Cruz

Gold

Marisa Tomei

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight – Legendary and genius and everything synonymous with those adjectives.
Emile Hirsch, Milk – At first, I thought he was overplaying Cleve (awesome name, by the way) but he started playing his character just right and ended up evoking a very realistic and funny performance.
Josh Brolin, Milk – In some ways, he’s similar to Penn’s performance of Harvey Milk. Both performances get every mannerism down and truly are their characters. Brolin is stunning at the end of the film.
Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky – Tortured and set-in-his-ways, Marsan should somewhat thank Mike Leigh, because Scott is flawlessly written. But Marsan steals a bunch of scenes and at times, runs away with the film.
John Malkovich, Burn After Reading – The award for most ‘f--ks’ also goes to him. He’s f—king crazy throughout the film and really is one of the great Coen characters.

Bronze

Eddie Marsan

Silver

Josh Brolin

Gold

Heath Ledger

Best Ensemble Cast
Milk – Career work from so many great actors (and an actress) in a movie that feeds off of the spirit the actors bring to the movie.
Synecdoche, New York – No other film this year can say it sports about a dozen great characters and performances. From Weist to Watson, this cast is stunning.
The Dark Knight – Every performance opens up another door in this complex plot, each character effectively helping in telling an incredible story.
Doubt – There are four performances in this film that I wouldn’t have minded winning the Oscar. Consistently great across the board.
Burn After Reading – A film built up in the small characters that work together to string together an awesome film. Like, a thousand very good performance add up to one hell of an ensemble.

Bronze

The Dark Knight

Silver

Milk

Gold

Synecdoche, New York