Well, Michael Cera finally got knocked off in Round Two... barely. Leaving the first and second seeds on the male side to go head-to-head. Meanwhile on the female side, the #1 seed continues to roll along while the 6th seed has emerged as a potential spoiler.
Let's see who the 2007 favorites really are...
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THE ACTOR AND ACTRESS MEDLEY (2007)
ROUND THREE
ACTORS
vs.
(1) Christian Bale vs. (2) Daniel Day-Lewis
ACTRESSES
vs.
(1) Maggie Gyllenhaal vs. (6) Kate Winslet
7 comments:
GENTS
Bale v. Day Lewis: While I'm enjoying Day Lewis currently in Gangs of New York, I still cannot profess that I look forward to seeing what he does next (with the exception of There Will Be Blood which I'm more curious about as a whole than seeing Day Lewis specifically). Bale still does it for me.
Winner: Bale
LADIES
Gyllenhaal v. Winslet: This one is much harder. Ugh. I AM super excited to see Kate and Leo reunited for Revolutionary Road but I am ALSO EQUALLY excited for Maggie in Dark Knight....allow me to reiterate...UGH. *flipping a coin*
Winner: Gyllnehaal
THE MEN
(1) Christian Bale vs. (2) Daniel Day-Lewis
These are two of my favorite actors working today and I'm happy to see them both represented here. Bale has recently bounced from project to project working with directors I love and has made some great films. Day-Lewis seems especially choosy of his roles, but likewise chooses roles working with top-tier directors such as Scorsese and P.T. Anderson. I think what ultimately made up my mind over who to choose was this... I'm looking forward to and can't wait for Christian Bale's next project, but it's Day-Lewis's next performance that I'm most looking forward to. To see what he does as an actor more than what film he's going to make next.
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis
THE WOMEN
(1) Maggie Gyllenhaal vs. (6) Kate Winslet
I've had problems with Maggie Gyllenhaal all throughout this tournament. I can't get past her lack of quality roles, for as good an actress as she is and I'm not disputing that at all... she should have turned up in something better than World Trade Center by now. Turn to Kate Winslet, who has amazed me in Eternal Sunshine, Little Children and even comedically in her "Extras" episode. Even her misfires, like All the King's Men and Romance & Cigarette's intrigue me and she has more films I'm eager to go back and catch up with as well Holy Smoke!, Iris, Quills. Gyllenhaal has a great career ahead of her, but Winslet's already got one behind her.
Winner: Kate Winslet
The Sirs:
Bale v. Day Lewis:
There Will Be Blood. That ends it. No more questioning. Bale is great, but Day-Lewis gave a once in a lifetime performance. And I can't wait to see what he's going to do next.
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis
The Dames:
Gyllenhaal v. Winslet:
Kate Winslet will probably go down as my favorite actress ever. I love her in almost everything she's done. She's done some iffy stuff, no doubt, but she's always daring and interesting. I respect Gyllenhaal, and think she's extremely talented. But she never really had a chance.
Winner: Kate Winslet
HeMan
Bale v. Day-Lewis- I think that perfectly sums it up Mulligan. I look forward to Day-Lewis for his performances, while I look forward to Bale's projects. Day-Lewis's acting is otherworldly and Bale could probably learn a thing or too. Beleive it or not, even with the Machinist in tow, Bale is still not quite the method actor that day-Lewis is. And did you see There will be Blood. Nobody can touch that performance. If he doesn't win it is only because he has won before.
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis
SheRa
Gyllenhaal v. Winslet- You know, this really isn't surprising that Winslet is going to cause an upset here. She has put in fantastic performance after fantastic performance ever since she was in her teens, with Sense and Sensibility. She has racked up four noms since than including my fav film of all time, Eternal Sunshine, and of course no wins to go with them. She chooses a wide variety of roles be it romance (titanic), comedic (the holiday), musical (Romance and Cigarettes), drama (Holy Smoke), biopic (Iris) and the ever fascinating pedophilia-drama (Little Children). when you look at this, it really is an easy choice. Gyllenhaal has impressed the most recently, but Winslet has impressed me for the last 10 plus yrs. Funny how this worked out...I know I had Maggie as my number one initially and I don't think Winslet was on my list at all. (God knows I must have just forgotten her cause that would be blasphemy)
Winner: Kate Winslet
I think I voted for Portman in the first round more out of LOVE. When it comes to acting, there isn't really a question, but dammit Natalie is stunning. Go Kate. Way to represent.
Aw, this one's too easy.
I love Batman as much as the next guy but Daniel Day-Lewis is such a force of nature, his movies are events simply because he's in them. He drinks everybody's milkshake.
And Maggie was great in SECRETARY, but since then the career hasn't really panned out the way we'd all hoped. Kate, on the other hand, is the best actress working right now - a wide array of roles, always surprising choices in her characterizations, almost constantly naked. You can't beat her.
Happy Birthday, Brian!
SB
I've procrastinated my vote long enough and now I'm going to take the easy way out by saying this:
All the gents reasons for going with Day Lewis and Winslet have already been well supported.
Til the Oscars...
Well that makes the final voting tally 5-to-1 for both Daniel Day-Lewis over Christian Bale and Kate Winslet over Maggie Gyllenhaal as our favorite actor and actresses of '07. If we keep this up next year, I feel like those two actors should be retired and allow for 2 new faces to take their place in '08.
Also, a very special and welcomed comment by Sean Burns (Philadelphia Weekly's lead critic and my personal favorite for years) weighing in on the final round of voting.
I'd like to personally thank Sean and, of course, my bridetobe Kelly who was responsible for getting him to check out the site and chime in. Thanks so much to both of you, it really was a wonderful birthday surprise. I couldn't be any luckier.
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