The time has come once more for the movie world to hold its breath temporarily as a committee of white old men decide to give awards to entirely the wrong movies and ignore what sparse diversity Hollywood allows to flourish. Curiously, though it''s now almost fashionable to rag on the Oscars (or boycott them entirely), they remain the standard for performance and technical quality and millions are invested in "campaigning" for their attention. So of course we all still pay attention. And to give the Academy their dues, there are almost no decisions they could make that wouldn't see them torn apart by wolves. When the dust settles and all of the speeches have bored their way into our heads, new winners will be crowned and we'll have a whole new stock of actors to lavish praise on and over-hype until they make a bad film and are proclaimed Cursed to their last days by the dreaded touch of Oscar. But until those careers are ceremonially destroyed, there's still time to celebrate every one of the nominees in the acting categories by looking back at their best work and the films they definitely wish we'd all forget...
20. Matt Damon
Best: Good Will Hunting (1997) The Martian is a tour de force performance for Damon, but you have to look further back to find his career defining turn. As the titular tortured genius written by his own hand, he offers an itchy trigger finger performance, with incredible depth that belies his youth. Will is like a caged animal: violent, quick to temper and deeply vulnerable despite his macho posturing, and while the ending is a little ridiculous, Damon's performance is infinitely charming and irresistibly watchable. Worst: The Brothers Grimm (2005) Unfortunately for Damon, Terry Gilliam's half-baked fantasy feels like a half-hearted effort by the director, shorn of charm and his usual imaginative swagger, and it comes at the cost of his central performers. The film feels bored, is oddly empty and just isn't as captivating as it really should have been.
