5. Alan Arkin in Argo
"You had me at Argo-f**k-yourself." I imagine this was the sentiment of many an Academy member, as they clearly ate up this cartoon-ish caricature of an egotistical, crotchety old Hollywood producer. Now don't get me wrong, nobody does old-man grump with as much smart-ass precision as Alan Arkin, but the problems I had with this performance is that it just accentuated all the problems I had with the movie itself. Cliche, predictable, and aggressively middle-brow, every line uttered by Alan Arkin contributes to the "derp de derp de derpity derp" (to borrow from "South Park") beats that this film hits. It's not that Arkin's performance is bad, but again, much as with the film itself, it's delivered with a self-conscious smirk that makes you want to smack it across the face. I understand its appeal. It's a fun, shtick-y performance that immediately draws attention to itself, and I would be a lying stubborn old fart myself if I didn't admit that the performance made me crack a smile from time to time. As I mentioned above though, with such an endless list of great performances from supporting actors, is this the type of performance we need to honor? Even if you are determined to honor more roles with a comedic bent to them, something I could definitely get behind, it's not like this performance approaches, say, the level of Bill Murray's work in Wes Anderson's films, just to throw out an example. Que sera sera, ashes to ashes, and to each his own I guess, but personally I think the Academy could have done better nominating a more worthy performance.