Oscar All-Stars of the 21st Century
By Austin Johnson
When I was watching the most recent NBA All-Star Game, I started thinking about how good it has been since they made key changes to how the teams are formed. In 2018, the NBA decided to move away from the straight up Western Conference vs. Eastern Conference formula that they used for decades and instead they started using a draft system to make the process of the teams forming a bit more enticing. Now, it always has been and probably always will be 12 players from the West and 12 players from the East, but now the players are drafted by team captains so they get a chance to play with guys from the opposite conference.
This past All-Star Game was pretty great as it saw LeBron James, who was one of the captains, hit a game winning fade away shot. The other captain was Kevin Durant, so he and LeBron drafted players live on TV, which is another way for the NBA to make money and get fans more involved with the whole process. Now, when the game was going on and I was getting kind of lost in the entertainment, I had a brief thought that I wrote down and knew I would have to revisit. I wrote down “Oscar All-Stars” in my notes and now I’m coming back to the thought.
There have been 93 Academy Award ceremonies with the 94th coming very soon and most of those ceremonies have seen 4 Oscar winning performers. There’s the Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress categories. Let’s narrow it down to the 21st century and we have 84 Oscar winning performers. That’s the 73rd Academy Awards to the 93rd Academy Awards or you could say, Gladiator to Nomadland.
My idea has expanded into mixing Oscar winners with the NBA All-Star game draft setup. There will be team captains just like the NBA and they will both be Best Lead winners. The captains will go back and forth choosing 5 other Best Lead winners and then 6 Best Supporting winners. That will give each team 12 performers with an even 6 Lead and 6 Supporting. So, 24 out of 84 Oscar winning performances from the 21st century will be drafted. Right below here is a list of all the winners that are eligible to be drafted and then below that will be the actual draft and rosters. Let’s get to it!
73rd Academy Awards
Russell Crowe - Gladiator
Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich
Benicio del Toro - Traffic
Marcia Gay Harden - Pollock
74th Academy Awards
Denzel Washington - Training Day
Halle Berry - Monster’s Ball
Jim Broadbent - Iris
Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
75th Academy Awards
Adrien Brody - The Pianist
Nicole Kidman - The Hours
Chris Cooper - Adaptation
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago
76th Academy Awards
Sean Penn - Mystic River
Charlize Theron - Monster
Tim Robbins - Mystic River
Renée Zellweger - Cold Mountain
77th Academy Awards
Jamie Foxx - Ray
Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby
Morgan Freeman - Million Dollar Baby
Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
78th Academy Awards
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
George Clooney - Syriana
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
79th Academy Awards
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
80th Academy Awards
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
81st Academy Awards
Sean Penn - Milk
Kate Winslet- The Reader
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
82nd Academy Awards
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Mo’Nique - Precious
83rd Academy Awards
Colin Firth - The King’s Speech
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Christian Bale - The Fighter
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
84th Academy Awards
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Octavia Spencer - The Help
85th Academy Awards
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Anne Hathaway - Les Misérables
86th Academy Awards
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Lupita Nyong’o- 12 Years a Slave
87th Academy Awards
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore - Still Alice
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
88th Academy Awards
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Brie Larson - Room
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
89th Academy Awards
Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
Emma Stone - La La Land
Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
Viola Davis - Fences
90th Academy Awards
Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour
Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Allison Janney - I, Tonya
91st Academy Awards
Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
Olivia Colman - The Favourite
Mahershala Ali - Green Book
Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk
92nd Academy Awards
Joaquin Phoenix - Joker
Renée Zellweger - Judy
Brad Pitt - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Laura Dern - Marriage Story
93rd Academy Awards
Anthony Hopkins - The Father
Frances McDormand - Nomadland
Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
Youn Yuh-jung - Minari
The first team captain is Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. It just may be the most dominant lead role I’ve ever seen in my life so this is easy. There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece and DDL is a big reason for that being true. He goes full method as usual and is an Oscar legend, with 3 total wins on 6 nominations. His first win was for My Left Foot from 1989, his second is 2007’s There Will Blood, and his last is Lincoln from 2012. Now, we can’t have the same person twice so Lincoln is dead along with There Will Be Blood.
The second captain has to be Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. While that performance isn’t one of the 24 best from the century, Streep has to be recognized because she has 3 wins on 21 nominations. 21! She won the Best Supporting Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer from 1979, the Best Lead Oscar for Sophie’s Choice from 1982, and The Iron Lady from 2011. She’s maybe the greatest Oscar performer of all time depending on how you look at it. Katherine Hepburn won 4 on 12 nominations but 21 nominations for Streep puts her in a whole other stratosphere for me.
Pick #1
Daniel Plainview gets the first pick. There’s 81 other winners in the pool because DDL’s There Will Be Blood and Lincoln wins are off the board so he's got a shit ton to choose from. Philip Seymour Hoffman seems like the smartest selection for Plainview’s first Best Lead pick so let’s do that. They both mean a whole lot to Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmography and it makes sense to have them on the same team. PSH won for his role in Capote as Truman Capote but he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Charlie Wilson’s War, Doubt, and The Master. Rest In Peace to PSH, a fucking dynamite performer who deserves all kinds of praise.
Pick #2
Margaret Thatcher has the second pick and she will take Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris in Training Day. Goddamn, he makes that film what it is. Ethan Hawke is fantastic but Denzel is putting on a clinic and causing that screenplay to pop more than it should with his absurd charisma. Denzel has 9 nominations and 2 wins for Best Supporting Actor in Glory and Best Lead Actor in Training Day. He’s an Oscar giant who will be one of the first guys brought up in conversations about the art of acting for years to come.
Pick #3
Back to Team Plainview. He already has PSH’s Capote and I think adding Frances McDormand is the right way to go here. She’s one of seven performers to win 3 acting Oscars and could win more as she is showing no signs of slowing down. Her performance as Fern in Nomadland is what Plainview is taking for his starting lineup. I understand if people have issues with the film overall but I personally love it and I think she belongs in any conversation for best performer of all time. Plainview, Capote, and Fern are quite the trio to start any team.
Pick #4
Team Thatcher has herself and Alonzo which is an incredible 1-2 punch but for the third starter, Margaret will be taking Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers from Black Swan. Darren Aronofsky has a wild filmography, but Black Swan is maybe his most impressive work and that is mainly due to Portman and her commitment to playing an obsessed dancer. This is one of those Oscars that’s rare as Portman won just before turning 30 years old and I think we all expected her to have a more dominant career since then, but that just hasn’t been the case. Either way, Natalie has 1 win on 3 nominations and Nina is a force to be reckoned with and deserves a starting spot.
Pick #5
Plainview will pick Russell Crowe as Maximus motherfucking Decimus Meridius for his 4th starter. Russell Crowe was a part of Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind which both won Best Picture back to back, but his tenacity in Gladiator is something to behold. Without him, I’m not sure that film works like it does. Russ earned 3 nominations in a row with The Insider from 1999, Gladiator from 2000, and A Beautiful Mind from 2001 and he has a super star quality that makes him so easy to root for. Hollywood loves that shit and so do cinephiles.
Pick #6
Thatcher simply can’t pass up Leonardo DiCaprio. His performance as Hugh Glass in The Revenant was like a sigh of relief for Oscar fans. He is one of the most beloved actors to ever live and when he finally got that statue, it was like things fell into their proper place. Leo has an additional 5 nominations and he kicks ass in The Revenant as he did things that he had never done before. Thatcher adds an all time great to her starting lineup with Hugh.
Pick #7
Daniel Plainview’s last starting pick is Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in The Favourite. God damn, I can’t believe Green Book beat out films like The Favourite, Roma, A Star is Born, and Vice for Best Picture. It makes no sense. Yorgos Lanthimos crushed it with The Favourite and thanks to Olivia, it’s now remembered as a winner. She has 3 total nominations and her acceptance speech for her work as Queen Anne was truly incredible.
Pick #8
Thatcher has one more starting spot and that goes to Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk. Penn has 2 wins on 5 nominations, the wins being for Mystic River and Milk, but I personally like his work as Harvey quite a bit more than Jimmy Markum. He totally transformed and made a biopic with Gus Van Sant that is crucial to anyone who loves the art of acting. I was rocked by Milk when I first watched it and I think it has that limitless ability to shake a viewer and meet them where they are at. Powerful shit indeed.
Pick #9
Now we are at the bench spots. The first bench roles will be Best Lead wins and then after that, it will be all Best Supporting wins. Plainview’s final Best Lead pick and 6th man will be Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball. Halle is the only African American woman to win Best Lead Actress, which is fucking silly as hell considering the multitude of ceremonies the Oscars have had. Anyways, Halle just has this single nomination/win but my god, her work as Leticia will break anyone down and that’s one of the best things a character can do to a viewer.
Pick #10
Thatcher’s last Best Lead winner in this draft is Charlize Theron as Aileen in Monster, which is the first out of three nominations for Theron. It’s her only win but a damn good one at that. I’ll never forget watching Monster for the first time a few years ago. I remember Charlize reminding me that she is pretty much capable of doing anything on the big screen. While Monster isn’t a life-changing film, her portrayal of Aileen raises it up to a sort of must see level and that’s always a good sign for a winning performance.
Pick #11
From here on out, it will be all Best Supporting wins which honestly provides more amazing work in my opinion. Javier Bardem has 4 total nominations but his win as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men outweighs most wins so that’s gonna be Plainview’s 7th team member. The 80th Academy Awards were fucking amazing as No Country and There Will Be Blood went head to head the whole night. It makes sense for Anton and Daniel Plainview to be on the same team, which gets me real excited and scared at the same time.
Pick #12
Thatcher’s first Best Supporting selection goes to Lupita Nyong’o as Patsy in 12 Years a Slave. Christ, what an incredible film from Steve McQueen and an equally incredible showing from Lupita. She goes toe to toe with some amazing performers and outshines everyone. Her speech fucking rocked even though it is her only nomination/win. She’s given us some amazing stuff over the past decade and there’s no way Patsy is missing out on this draft.
Pick #13
Why not add another 2007 winner to Daniel Plainview’s team? Tilda Swinton provides a whole lot to Michael Clayton as Karen Crowder which has some all time stuff from George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson, but she does what we need her to do which is cause us to not look away for one split second when she’s on screen. Swinton is also a performer that has just a single nomination/win and that seems fucked up because she’s been dominant for a long ass time.
Pick #14
Here’s the steal of the draft. Thatcher will snag J.K. Simmons for his wildly entertaining performance in Whiplash as Fletcher, an obsessed music teacher that likes to throw things and demand greatness from his students. Fletcher isn’t just a great Oscar winning character, he’s one of the most frightening characters of the 21st century. When J.K. won, I jumped off of the couch and yelled out of pure joy. He has 2 nominations overall, but it’s hard to believe that he could ever do something better than the shit he does in Whiplash.
Pick #15
It’s gotta be the 2 time nominated Heath Ledger as Joker next. I'm not crazy about The Dark Knight as a whole film because I think it’s a bit sloppy but holy shit Heath Ledger gave everything to his performance as Joker. It’s cool to see a comic book villain portrayal win an important award and even cooler to see Heath win after he passed away. That film plays a huge part in comic book films being as popular as they are now and Joker simply has to be in this draft. Jesus Christ, Plainview’s team has some scary mother fuckers.
Pick #16
Thatcher will go ahead and take maybe my personal favorite Best Supporting win of all time with Mahershala Ali as Juan in Moonlight. I realize Juan isn’t in the film a whole lot but sheesh there’s a certain kind of presence only he has. When the film moves on without him, you still feel him in every scene. Ali will most likely see gold again as he won for Moonlight and Green Book within just 3 ceremonies. He’s reached a place where I will find a way to watch something if he is going to be in it at all.
Pick #17
We’re gonna go ahead and get Sharon Rivers off the board for Plainview’s bench. Ali as Juan is my favorite male Best Supporting winner ever and then Regina King as Sharon Rivers in If Beale Street Could Talk is probably my favorite female Best Supporting winner. Not only that, but she’s just flat out my favorite woman in the film industry. From playing Shalika in Boyz n the Hood to her directorial debut, One Night in Miami. I love everything she’s given us even when her work as Sharon is her lone nomination/win.
Pick #18
Alright, we got 5 selections left. Back to Team Thatcher and she’s going to take Viola Davis as Rose Maxson in Fences. We, as a society, do not deserve someone as incredible as Viola Davis. She has 4 total nominations and is scary good in so many roles with her work in Fences alongside Denzel being a revelation. It’s so cool to see two of the very best at their craft go head to head. Real quick, my favorite thing Viola has done is that short but impactful scene in Doubt with Meryl Streep. If you know, you know. It makes sense for Meryl to draft her after seeing that wicked talent firsthand.
Pick #19
One of the dumbest things the Academy has done recently is put both LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya in the Best Supporting category for their work in Judas and the Black Messiah. They were both in the film for over 45 minutes each and completely carried it. Anyways, Kaluuya had that Oscar in the bag and probably would’ve won had he been in either category. He’s got 2 nominations so far, but I would guess that he’ll get like 5 more before he’s done acting. A proper film about Fred Hampton was bound to happen at some point and I’m glad we got what we did. This is a steal of a pick for Plainview this late in the draft.
Pick #20
I said steal of the draft earlier with the J.K. Simmons' pick and I just mentioned Kaluuya being a steal, but Team Thatcher taking the 2 time winner, Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa with the 20th overall pick is the definition of robbing someone without a gun. Inglourious Basterds should’ve won a bunch of awards including Best Picture. Also how was Brad Pitt not even nominated for his work in that? Him and Waltz should’ve both walked that damn stage. Whatever, at least they got one right. Team Thatcher having Landa deep on the bench is such a luxury.
Pick #21
Alright, 2 more picks left and I’m going extremely personal here with the one time nominated/winner Patricia Arquette as Olivia in Boyhood. I’m a Texas boy at heart and it’s no secret that Richard Linklater is one of my all time favorite filmmakers. Boyhood is a brilliant film and the best part of it to me is seeing Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke evolve over time as the parents in the story. Olivia feels like someone I know and have admiration for, so she has to be in this draft as Team Plainview’s last member.
Pick #22
The last pick, which belongs to Team Thatcher, goes to Laura Dern as Nora Fanshaw, the lawyer who represents Scarlett Johansson's Nicole Barber in Marriage Story. Laura Dern has 3 nominations in total and is lights out in Marriage Story as she totally makes the film elevate when she shows up. I think Marriage Story is something to behold and it might be Noah Baumbach’s best effort as a director. No matter what year it comes out, it would be up for Best Picture and worth talking about. Nora feels like a really good final selection for this draft.
Team Daniel Plainview
Captain - Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood
Starter - Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote - Capote
Starter - Frances McDormand as Fern - Nomadland
Starter - Russell Crowe as Maximus - Gladiator
Starter - Olivia Colman as Queen Anne - The Favourite
Reserve - Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove - Monster’s Ball
Reserve - Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh - No Country for Old Men
Reserve - Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder - Michael Clayton
Reserve - Heath Ledger as Joker - The Dark Knight
Reserve - Regina King as Sharon Rivers - If Beale Street Could Talk
Reserve - Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton - Judas and the Black Messiah
Reserve - Patricia Arquette as Olivia - Boyhood
Team Margaret Thatcher
Captain - Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady
Starter - Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris - Training Day
Starter - Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers - Black Swan
Starter - Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass - The Revenant
Starter - Sean Penn as Harvey Milk - Milk
Reserve - Charlize Theron as Aileen - Monster
Reserve - Lupita Nyong'o as Patsy - 12 Years a Slave
Reserve - J.K. Simmons as Fletcher - Whiplash
Reserve - Mahershala Ali as Juan - Moonlight
Reserve - Viola Davis as Rose Maxson - Fences
Reserve - Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa - Inglourious Basterds
Reserve - Laura Dern as Nora Fanshaw - Marriage Story
This past All-Star Game was pretty great as it saw LeBron James, who was one of the captains, hit a game winning fade away shot. The other captain was Kevin Durant, so he and LeBron drafted players live on TV, which is another way for the NBA to make money and get fans more involved with the whole process. Now, when the game was going on and I was getting kind of lost in the entertainment, I had a brief thought that I wrote down and knew I would have to revisit. I wrote down “Oscar All-Stars” in my notes and now I’m coming back to the thought.
There have been 93 Academy Award ceremonies with the 94th coming very soon and most of those ceremonies have seen 4 Oscar winning performers. There’s the Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress categories. Let’s narrow it down to the 21st century and we have 84 Oscar winning performers. That’s the 73rd Academy Awards to the 93rd Academy Awards or you could say, Gladiator to Nomadland.
My idea has expanded into mixing Oscar winners with the NBA All-Star game draft setup. There will be team captains just like the NBA and they will both be Best Lead winners. The captains will go back and forth choosing 5 other Best Lead winners and then 6 Best Supporting winners. That will give each team 12 performers with an even 6 Lead and 6 Supporting. So, 24 out of 84 Oscar winning performances from the 21st century will be drafted. Right below here is a list of all the winners that are eligible to be drafted and then below that will be the actual draft and rosters. Let’s get to it!
73rd Academy Awards
Russell Crowe - Gladiator
Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich
Benicio del Toro - Traffic
Marcia Gay Harden - Pollock
74th Academy Awards
Denzel Washington - Training Day
Halle Berry - Monster’s Ball
Jim Broadbent - Iris
Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
75th Academy Awards
Adrien Brody - The Pianist
Nicole Kidman - The Hours
Chris Cooper - Adaptation
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago
76th Academy Awards
Sean Penn - Mystic River
Charlize Theron - Monster
Tim Robbins - Mystic River
Renée Zellweger - Cold Mountain
77th Academy Awards
Jamie Foxx - Ray
Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby
Morgan Freeman - Million Dollar Baby
Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
78th Academy Awards
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
George Clooney - Syriana
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
79th Academy Awards
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
80th Academy Awards
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
81st Academy Awards
Sean Penn - Milk
Kate Winslet- The Reader
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
82nd Academy Awards
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Mo’Nique - Precious
83rd Academy Awards
Colin Firth - The King’s Speech
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Christian Bale - The Fighter
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
84th Academy Awards
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Octavia Spencer - The Help
85th Academy Awards
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Anne Hathaway - Les Misérables
86th Academy Awards
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Lupita Nyong’o- 12 Years a Slave
87th Academy Awards
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore - Still Alice
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
88th Academy Awards
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Brie Larson - Room
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
89th Academy Awards
Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
Emma Stone - La La Land
Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
Viola Davis - Fences
90th Academy Awards
Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour
Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Allison Janney - I, Tonya
91st Academy Awards
Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
Olivia Colman - The Favourite
Mahershala Ali - Green Book
Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk
92nd Academy Awards
Joaquin Phoenix - Joker
Renée Zellweger - Judy
Brad Pitt - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Laura Dern - Marriage Story
93rd Academy Awards
Anthony Hopkins - The Father
Frances McDormand - Nomadland
Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
Youn Yuh-jung - Minari
The first team captain is Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. It just may be the most dominant lead role I’ve ever seen in my life so this is easy. There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece and DDL is a big reason for that being true. He goes full method as usual and is an Oscar legend, with 3 total wins on 6 nominations. His first win was for My Left Foot from 1989, his second is 2007’s There Will Blood, and his last is Lincoln from 2012. Now, we can’t have the same person twice so Lincoln is dead along with There Will Be Blood.
The second captain has to be Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. While that performance isn’t one of the 24 best from the century, Streep has to be recognized because she has 3 wins on 21 nominations. 21! She won the Best Supporting Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer from 1979, the Best Lead Oscar for Sophie’s Choice from 1982, and The Iron Lady from 2011. She’s maybe the greatest Oscar performer of all time depending on how you look at it. Katherine Hepburn won 4 on 12 nominations but 21 nominations for Streep puts her in a whole other stratosphere for me.
Pick #1
Daniel Plainview gets the first pick. There’s 81 other winners in the pool because DDL’s There Will Be Blood and Lincoln wins are off the board so he's got a shit ton to choose from. Philip Seymour Hoffman seems like the smartest selection for Plainview’s first Best Lead pick so let’s do that. They both mean a whole lot to Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmography and it makes sense to have them on the same team. PSH won for his role in Capote as Truman Capote but he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Charlie Wilson’s War, Doubt, and The Master. Rest In Peace to PSH, a fucking dynamite performer who deserves all kinds of praise.
Pick #2
Margaret Thatcher has the second pick and she will take Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris in Training Day. Goddamn, he makes that film what it is. Ethan Hawke is fantastic but Denzel is putting on a clinic and causing that screenplay to pop more than it should with his absurd charisma. Denzel has 9 nominations and 2 wins for Best Supporting Actor in Glory and Best Lead Actor in Training Day. He’s an Oscar giant who will be one of the first guys brought up in conversations about the art of acting for years to come.
Pick #3
Back to Team Plainview. He already has PSH’s Capote and I think adding Frances McDormand is the right way to go here. She’s one of seven performers to win 3 acting Oscars and could win more as she is showing no signs of slowing down. Her performance as Fern in Nomadland is what Plainview is taking for his starting lineup. I understand if people have issues with the film overall but I personally love it and I think she belongs in any conversation for best performer of all time. Plainview, Capote, and Fern are quite the trio to start any team.
Pick #4
Team Thatcher has herself and Alonzo which is an incredible 1-2 punch but for the third starter, Margaret will be taking Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers from Black Swan. Darren Aronofsky has a wild filmography, but Black Swan is maybe his most impressive work and that is mainly due to Portman and her commitment to playing an obsessed dancer. This is one of those Oscars that’s rare as Portman won just before turning 30 years old and I think we all expected her to have a more dominant career since then, but that just hasn’t been the case. Either way, Natalie has 1 win on 3 nominations and Nina is a force to be reckoned with and deserves a starting spot.
Pick #5
Plainview will pick Russell Crowe as Maximus motherfucking Decimus Meridius for his 4th starter. Russell Crowe was a part of Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind which both won Best Picture back to back, but his tenacity in Gladiator is something to behold. Without him, I’m not sure that film works like it does. Russ earned 3 nominations in a row with The Insider from 1999, Gladiator from 2000, and A Beautiful Mind from 2001 and he has a super star quality that makes him so easy to root for. Hollywood loves that shit and so do cinephiles.
Pick #6
Thatcher simply can’t pass up Leonardo DiCaprio. His performance as Hugh Glass in The Revenant was like a sigh of relief for Oscar fans. He is one of the most beloved actors to ever live and when he finally got that statue, it was like things fell into their proper place. Leo has an additional 5 nominations and he kicks ass in The Revenant as he did things that he had never done before. Thatcher adds an all time great to her starting lineup with Hugh.
Pick #7
Daniel Plainview’s last starting pick is Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in The Favourite. God damn, I can’t believe Green Book beat out films like The Favourite, Roma, A Star is Born, and Vice for Best Picture. It makes no sense. Yorgos Lanthimos crushed it with The Favourite and thanks to Olivia, it’s now remembered as a winner. She has 3 total nominations and her acceptance speech for her work as Queen Anne was truly incredible.
Pick #8
Thatcher has one more starting spot and that goes to Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk. Penn has 2 wins on 5 nominations, the wins being for Mystic River and Milk, but I personally like his work as Harvey quite a bit more than Jimmy Markum. He totally transformed and made a biopic with Gus Van Sant that is crucial to anyone who loves the art of acting. I was rocked by Milk when I first watched it and I think it has that limitless ability to shake a viewer and meet them where they are at. Powerful shit indeed.
Pick #9
Now we are at the bench spots. The first bench roles will be Best Lead wins and then after that, it will be all Best Supporting wins. Plainview’s final Best Lead pick and 6th man will be Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball. Halle is the only African American woman to win Best Lead Actress, which is fucking silly as hell considering the multitude of ceremonies the Oscars have had. Anyways, Halle just has this single nomination/win but my god, her work as Leticia will break anyone down and that’s one of the best things a character can do to a viewer.
Pick #10
Thatcher’s last Best Lead winner in this draft is Charlize Theron as Aileen in Monster, which is the first out of three nominations for Theron. It’s her only win but a damn good one at that. I’ll never forget watching Monster for the first time a few years ago. I remember Charlize reminding me that she is pretty much capable of doing anything on the big screen. While Monster isn’t a life-changing film, her portrayal of Aileen raises it up to a sort of must see level and that’s always a good sign for a winning performance.
Pick #11
From here on out, it will be all Best Supporting wins which honestly provides more amazing work in my opinion. Javier Bardem has 4 total nominations but his win as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men outweighs most wins so that’s gonna be Plainview’s 7th team member. The 80th Academy Awards were fucking amazing as No Country and There Will Be Blood went head to head the whole night. It makes sense for Anton and Daniel Plainview to be on the same team, which gets me real excited and scared at the same time.
Pick #12
Thatcher’s first Best Supporting selection goes to Lupita Nyong’o as Patsy in 12 Years a Slave. Christ, what an incredible film from Steve McQueen and an equally incredible showing from Lupita. She goes toe to toe with some amazing performers and outshines everyone. Her speech fucking rocked even though it is her only nomination/win. She’s given us some amazing stuff over the past decade and there’s no way Patsy is missing out on this draft.
Pick #13
Why not add another 2007 winner to Daniel Plainview’s team? Tilda Swinton provides a whole lot to Michael Clayton as Karen Crowder which has some all time stuff from George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson, but she does what we need her to do which is cause us to not look away for one split second when she’s on screen. Swinton is also a performer that has just a single nomination/win and that seems fucked up because she’s been dominant for a long ass time.
Pick #14
Here’s the steal of the draft. Thatcher will snag J.K. Simmons for his wildly entertaining performance in Whiplash as Fletcher, an obsessed music teacher that likes to throw things and demand greatness from his students. Fletcher isn’t just a great Oscar winning character, he’s one of the most frightening characters of the 21st century. When J.K. won, I jumped off of the couch and yelled out of pure joy. He has 2 nominations overall, but it’s hard to believe that he could ever do something better than the shit he does in Whiplash.
Pick #15
It’s gotta be the 2 time nominated Heath Ledger as Joker next. I'm not crazy about The Dark Knight as a whole film because I think it’s a bit sloppy but holy shit Heath Ledger gave everything to his performance as Joker. It’s cool to see a comic book villain portrayal win an important award and even cooler to see Heath win after he passed away. That film plays a huge part in comic book films being as popular as they are now and Joker simply has to be in this draft. Jesus Christ, Plainview’s team has some scary mother fuckers.
Pick #16
Thatcher will go ahead and take maybe my personal favorite Best Supporting win of all time with Mahershala Ali as Juan in Moonlight. I realize Juan isn’t in the film a whole lot but sheesh there’s a certain kind of presence only he has. When the film moves on without him, you still feel him in every scene. Ali will most likely see gold again as he won for Moonlight and Green Book within just 3 ceremonies. He’s reached a place where I will find a way to watch something if he is going to be in it at all.
Pick #17
We’re gonna go ahead and get Sharon Rivers off the board for Plainview’s bench. Ali as Juan is my favorite male Best Supporting winner ever and then Regina King as Sharon Rivers in If Beale Street Could Talk is probably my favorite female Best Supporting winner. Not only that, but she’s just flat out my favorite woman in the film industry. From playing Shalika in Boyz n the Hood to her directorial debut, One Night in Miami. I love everything she’s given us even when her work as Sharon is her lone nomination/win.
Pick #18
Alright, we got 5 selections left. Back to Team Thatcher and she’s going to take Viola Davis as Rose Maxson in Fences. We, as a society, do not deserve someone as incredible as Viola Davis. She has 4 total nominations and is scary good in so many roles with her work in Fences alongside Denzel being a revelation. It’s so cool to see two of the very best at their craft go head to head. Real quick, my favorite thing Viola has done is that short but impactful scene in Doubt with Meryl Streep. If you know, you know. It makes sense for Meryl to draft her after seeing that wicked talent firsthand.
Pick #19
One of the dumbest things the Academy has done recently is put both LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya in the Best Supporting category for their work in Judas and the Black Messiah. They were both in the film for over 45 minutes each and completely carried it. Anyways, Kaluuya had that Oscar in the bag and probably would’ve won had he been in either category. He’s got 2 nominations so far, but I would guess that he’ll get like 5 more before he’s done acting. A proper film about Fred Hampton was bound to happen at some point and I’m glad we got what we did. This is a steal of a pick for Plainview this late in the draft.
Pick #20
I said steal of the draft earlier with the J.K. Simmons' pick and I just mentioned Kaluuya being a steal, but Team Thatcher taking the 2 time winner, Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa with the 20th overall pick is the definition of robbing someone without a gun. Inglourious Basterds should’ve won a bunch of awards including Best Picture. Also how was Brad Pitt not even nominated for his work in that? Him and Waltz should’ve both walked that damn stage. Whatever, at least they got one right. Team Thatcher having Landa deep on the bench is such a luxury.
Pick #21
Alright, 2 more picks left and I’m going extremely personal here with the one time nominated/winner Patricia Arquette as Olivia in Boyhood. I’m a Texas boy at heart and it’s no secret that Richard Linklater is one of my all time favorite filmmakers. Boyhood is a brilliant film and the best part of it to me is seeing Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke evolve over time as the parents in the story. Olivia feels like someone I know and have admiration for, so she has to be in this draft as Team Plainview’s last member.
Pick #22
The last pick, which belongs to Team Thatcher, goes to Laura Dern as Nora Fanshaw, the lawyer who represents Scarlett Johansson's Nicole Barber in Marriage Story. Laura Dern has 3 nominations in total and is lights out in Marriage Story as she totally makes the film elevate when she shows up. I think Marriage Story is something to behold and it might be Noah Baumbach’s best effort as a director. No matter what year it comes out, it would be up for Best Picture and worth talking about. Nora feels like a really good final selection for this draft.
Team Daniel Plainview
Captain - Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood
Starter - Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote - Capote
Starter - Frances McDormand as Fern - Nomadland
Starter - Russell Crowe as Maximus - Gladiator
Starter - Olivia Colman as Queen Anne - The Favourite
Reserve - Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove - Monster’s Ball
Reserve - Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh - No Country for Old Men
Reserve - Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder - Michael Clayton
Reserve - Heath Ledger as Joker - The Dark Knight
Reserve - Regina King as Sharon Rivers - If Beale Street Could Talk
Reserve - Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton - Judas and the Black Messiah
Reserve - Patricia Arquette as Olivia - Boyhood
Team Margaret Thatcher
Captain - Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady
Starter - Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris - Training Day
Starter - Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers - Black Swan
Starter - Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass - The Revenant
Starter - Sean Penn as Harvey Milk - Milk
Reserve - Charlize Theron as Aileen - Monster
Reserve - Lupita Nyong'o as Patsy - 12 Years a Slave
Reserve - J.K. Simmons as Fletcher - Whiplash
Reserve - Mahershala Ali as Juan - Moonlight
Reserve - Viola Davis as Rose Maxson - Fences
Reserve - Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa - Inglourious Basterds
Reserve - Laura Dern as Nora Fanshaw - Marriage Story