The Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances Bracket -- Round One, Day Twenty-Two
Are you a businessman or are you a newsman?
Who’s ready to talk about the Oscar nominations that just got announced? I know I am! Can you believe how the Academy snubbed RRR? (I am typing these words two weeks in advance, so please know that I will happily leap for joy if I am wrong about the previous sentence. I’m just…y’know, I’m ready for disappointment.)
Well, we can argue about the Oscars all we like in the comments, but for now, you must vote in some key matchups. Let’s go!
(7) Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense vs. (58) Florence Pugh, Black Widow: I like Florence Pugh just fine, but I will be unapologetic in going for Bruce Willis as Dr. Malcolm Crowe in The Sixth Sense. The twist at the end of the film is only so shocking and emphatic because of how Willis reacts to it all (even though, or perhaps especially because, there are plenty of clues to said twist in plain sight before it’s all revealed). Willis, as seen in the photo above, gets to be a little goofy in a couple lighthearted moments, but his performance is more internal and very powerful.
(26) Bill Farmer, A Goofy Movie vs. (39) Erik Von Detten, Toy Story: I still don’t think I’m ever going to get how it is that A Goofy Movie became a cause celebre for so many folks, but Bill Farmer feels like the only man who ever voiced Goofy (even though he, of course, is not). Gotta go with the Goofster here.
(10) Al Pacino, The Insider vs. (55) Jonathan Pryce, Something Wicked This Way Comes: Hey, look, it’s a Glengarry Glen Ross reunion! Kind of! Not really! Anyway, while I know some folks hold a soft spot for the underrated — and inexplicably unavailable-to-stream — Something Wicked This Way Comes adaptation, The Insider is not only an excellent film, but it features one of Al Pacino’s best performances. Not as flashy as his work in Michael Mann’s Heat, perhaps, but The Insider is anchored by his fiery work as Lowell Bergman. Give it to the newsman.
(23) Nathan Lane, The Lion King vs. (42) Thandiwe Newton, Beloved: If only for serving as a delightful gateway to the rest of his career — I don’t even think I had listened to the original cast recording of the Guys and Dolls revival from 1992 yet — I will be voting for Nathan Lane as the irrepressible Timon, even if we arguably don’t get nearly enough of the wacky meerkat in The Lion King. Thandiwe Newton’s quite good in Beloved, but I gotta go with Mr. Lane. How about you?
Goofy does plenty of the obligatory crashing-through-walls pratfalls in A Goofy Movie, but Farmer also gets plenty of legit emotional beats and quiet moments; it’s really nice. Casting Goofy as a struggling blue-collar widower dad is a surprisingly effective choice, and Goofy falls down only because he’s trying so hard to keep the plates spinning. Farmer nails it in the movie.
I'm one of the people who loves Something Wicked This Way Comes. I'm also a big fan of Jonathan Pryce, have been since I saw him in Terry Gilliam's Brazil long ago. While Gilliam hit a rough patch in later years, I don't feel that Pryce did, evidenced by his wonderfully sly performance as the High Sparrow in Game of Thrones. As Mr. Dark, he shines, his menacing presence remaining one of my favorites (in a PG movie) from my youth. He won't stand a chance against Pacino, who has become more and more frantic in his performances since the 90s, in my opinion. But I'll take the loss here, knowing I've been true to my heart.