EMMYS 2014:: Bryan Cranston or Matthew McConaughey? (Best Actor)

[TrueBias]

I just rewatched that episode after reading your comment.

It was phenomenal. The acting is simply flawless, and not just Cranston's. Every performance is spot-on, even the baby at the end! It gets you emotionally involved and in the end that's what television is about.

It's very interesting that the nominees have to submit a specific episode to win their category. This makes it much easier to compare the different performances and see how they stack up. Do you happen to know what episode Matthew McConaughey submitted?

Is that how the Emmys work? You submit an episode?

 

[TrueBias]

^^ Woody wasn't in the same category as Paul. MM and Woody both got nominated for leading roles

I was impressed they included Woody with the leads. Afterall, he was a lead. His back n forth with Mathew was absolutely fantastic.

I understand why Bryan got the emmy. Its the same explanation as everyone elses. What I dont understand as to why Mathew did not get the Emmy.

 

[Mufasa]

I'm in the MM camp, but I understand why Cranston won. He showed much more in several seasons. His character was able to evolve whereas MM's Russ was pretty static throughout.

 

[greenmamba]

I would be outraged that Paul won over him (the least deserved win, IMO), but I'm still most outraged at this year's ceremony by the omission of Rory McCann in that category. I felt he was the runaway winner with Woody his only legitimate challenge.

Mandy Patinkin gave his best performance so far in Homeland, but unfortunately he gave it in a season where the show's great early promise died a gasping, gurgling death. Jon Voight has been spectacular, but I'm not sure how much of that is the Cartman effect. Poor Jim Carter doesn't stand a chance with all the emphasis on range and method acting. A performance with a stiff upper lip like his won't get any credit for nuance. Josh Charles and Peter Dinklage outright didn't deserve their nominations. There were much better options.

No, one of these two should have won, and that seemed pretty obvious to pretty much everyone. If you're going to go hipster, then Hamm's last season here for Mad Men was the one overlooked.

"Range" in acting isn't a linear slider between smiles and tears. It's not even necessarily an emotional gamut. MM ran across both globes, roundly, and most brilliantly, I think, by pointing us to Rust's introspection, and allowing his cynicism to demonstrate the things he's really thinking and feeling rather than exhibiting them outwardly & directly. Often this would manifest with Rust's mania, and how things he once felt and believed were affecting him that much more deeply in the now. For example, in the final scene, the way he articulated his spiritual torment shows how much of the man he was that he lost, and how that person was gone, just gone-- yet not unrecoverable. It's almost impossible to describe how much he added to that scene. If any other actor played that scene, then I suspect we would have just felt the typical humdrum of, "Man got a raw deal. Now he's broken."

But Rusty wasn't broken. He wasn't done. He hadn't quit. He isn't willing to give up on God. He wasn't meant to disbelieve in God. It isn't in the fabric of his being. Yet his connection to God was ripped away from him. The reason that his performance is so brilliant is that MM is simultaneously playing two characters through the whole season: the man who he was, and the man who he almost is. This dialectic only exists because MM has the range to be both at the same time, both in the same line: not by changing from a goofy face to a mean face to let us know he's a nice guy with a dark side.

Light and dark in every word, every gesture. Simply remarkable.

Lol I'm a hipster because I thought Woody was better? I said that MM killed his role. I don't why you dog Spacey either. His performance was just as nuanced as MM's.

 

[Peteyandjia]

Does hair & makeup get an Emmy? Because if so, if TD didn't win that one, then that's the real tragedy here. Maybe the best I've ever seen in my life. Lots of shows and movies do the 2-eras thing, and some pull it off and some fail. TD flawlessly portrayed -3- different eras, each one looking unique and completely believable for both characters. Pretty impressive, and the kind of work that often goes unnoticed.

 

[Peteyandjia]

If Woody had won that would have been hilarious and I would have supported it. He was great.

 

[greenmamba]

Does hair & makeup get an Emmy? Because if so, if TD didn't win that one, then that's the real tragedy here. Maybe the best I've ever seen in my life. Lots of shows and movies do the 2-eras thing, and some pull it off and some fail. TD flawlessly portrayed -3- different eras, each one looking unique and completely believable for both characters. Pretty impressive, and the kind of work that often goes unnoticed.

Yes I believe they do have hair and make-up categories.

 

[greenmamba]

Also, if anything is hipster it is hating on Cranston.

 

[HOLA]

I would be outraged that Paul won over him (the least deserved win, IMO), but I'm still most outraged at this year's ceremony by the omission of Rory McCann in that category. I felt he was the runaway winner with Woody his only legitimate challenge.

Yeah, Paul keeps racking them up, but I too think there were better options both this year and in years past. He wasn't even the best supporting actor from the show the year Giancarlo Esposito was up for nomination. If I remember correctly, it was on the Howard Stern Show where Cranston said Giancarlo deserved it more as well.

 

[Phil Galdong]

Is that how the Emmys work? You submit an episode?

Apparently so.

BEST DRAMA ACTOR episode submissions:

Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad" - episode "Ozymandias"
Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom" - episode "Election Night, Part 2"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men" - episode "The Strategy"
Woody Harrelson, "True Detective" - episode "The Locked Room"
Matthew McConaughey, "True Detective" - episode "Form and Void"
Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards" - episode "Chapter 26"


For BEST SERIES a total of 6 episodes is submitted.

http://www.goldderby.com/cms/view/303/

 

[Der Eisbär]

It is truly sad that one of, if not the greatest t.v. show ever made is not being recognized.. Cranston winning lead was a gimme. But no best drama for GoT after that incredible season four? And aaron paul over peter dinklage is just downright sad. Peters performance was something special.

 

[Easy The Great]

Heisenberg, your god damn right

 

[TrueBias]

It is truly sad that one of, if not the greatest t.v. show ever made is not being recognized.. Cranston winning lead was a gimme. But no best drama for GoT after that incredible season four? And aaron paul over peter dinklage is just downright sad. Peters performance was something special.

Oh shit I forgot the little guy was up for grabs of an emmy.

God dammit. Breaking bad is one of my two top favorite shows but this is certainly unforgiving. Peter was the biggest reason I watched game of thrones and, AGAIN, he killed it this season whereas Aaron just showed us the same old shit.

 

[TrueBias]

I'm in the MM camp, but I understand why Cranston won. He showed much more in several seasons. His character was able to evolve whereas MM's Russ was pretty static throughout.

Rust was more than static.

He did more with less and when that's pulled off, its unbeatable.

No one is..."hating on" Cranston nor being a...."hipster." Urban lingo to exhibit how cool someone is in this thread isn't necessary. Breaking Bad is a favorite of mine.

However it is clear to me that this years awards were blinded by bbs previous success and hype to which true detective had an unfair disadvantage.

 

[KOQ24]

It is truly sad that one of, if not the greatest t.v. show ever made is not being recognized.. Cranston winning lead was a gimme. But no best drama for GoT after that incredible season four? And aaron paul over peter dinklage is just downright sad. Peters performance was something special.

season 3 was nominated,season 4 will be up next year

 

[Sir Burton]

I just rewatched that episode after reading your comment.

It was phenomenal. The acting is simply flawless, and not just Cranston's. Every performance is spot-on, even the baby at the end! It gets you emotionally involved and in the end that's what television is about.

It's very interesting that the nominees have to submit a specific episode to win their category. This makes it much easier to compare the different performances and see how they stack up. Do you happen to know what episode Matthew McConaughey submitted?

McConaughey submitted episode "Form and Void", while Harrelson submitted "The Locked Room."

 

[Peteyandjia]

season 3 was nominated,season 4 will be up next year

I don't think this is correct, or at least when they read Dinklage's name they showed the clip of him in the courtroom from season 4.