Best Male Performances of 2015

In this double feature, I will be counting down the best acting performances given by both male and female actors. They are separated by gender, because I really struggled to put a great male performance up against a great female performance and make a call. So I have split them, and below you will find the top ten performances given by male actors, with one honorable mention.

This is all leading up to my Top Movies of 2015, which will be published in the days to come.

HONORABLE MENTION: Steve Carell- Mark Baum- The Big Short

The Big Short is one of my favorite movies of the year. The whole ensemble is fantastic, but it's really Steve Carell and Christian Bale that excel. Carell plays Mark Baum, a pessimistic Wall Street man angry at the world after his brother was taken away from him too young. He has the backstory, and is the most human out of all the characters. I'm so excited that since Foxcatcher, Carell is still giving fantastic dramatic performances. It's slightly overshadowed by Bale, but worthy of an honorable mention.

Quote: "Eventually you get caught, things go south. When the hell did we forget all that? I thought we were better than this, I really did."

#10. Samuel L. Jackson- Major Marquis Warren- The Hateful Eight

Samuel L. Jackson is the heart and soul of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. While Jennifer Jason Leigh may have the Oscar recognition, it just wouldn't be a great movie without Jackson at rge center. I've never seen him have so much fun in a movie, and I've seen some pretty ridiculous Samuel L. Jackson performances. He's witty, crass, and rude, but he's also serious when the script calls for him to be which grounds his performance. It's a very complicated performance in a complex movie.

Quote: "Move a little strange, you're gonna get a bullet. Not a warning, not a question...a bullet."

#9. Christian Bale- Dr. Michael Burry- The Big Short

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale is one of the best actors of our generation. In The Big Short he continues this legacy. He plays Dr. Michael Burry, the first man to discover the housing market bubble is about to burst. Burry is an unconventional Wall Street investor. He wears no shoes and plays drums in his office. He sees this problem, but he cannot communicate it with anyone because of his awkwardness. So he invests and profits off of the scandal, proving everyone wrong and himself right. It's a supporting role, but Bale's charisma makes it seem like the lead, and you eagerly wait for the scenes with this wild and quirky doctor.

Quote: "This business kills the part of life that is essential: the part that has nothing to do with business."

#8. Matt Damon- Mark Watney- The Martian

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
The Martian is one of my favorite movies of the year, and it would not be possible without Matt Damon's performance. Damon is one of my favorite actors, and this movie is basically all him. Mark Watney is a hilariously funny character. In a movie that is so long, Matt Damon's inspired acting keeps the audience's attention. I mean, there are some actors that I would not prefer to follow around alone for three hours, and actually walk away invested in their character. Matt Damon is not one of those actors. The Martian is his movie, and he shines in the role with a combination of both comedy and drama.

Quote: "You just begin. You solve one problem, and you solve the next one, and then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home."

#7. Jacob Tremblay- Jack Newsome- Room

Jacob Tremblay is only 9 years old, 7 when he starred in indie sensation Room. Despite being that young, Tremblay is able to keep up with Brie Larson, whose acting talent will likely earn her the Oscar this year. Tremblay even outshines Larson sometimes. He brings such charisma to the role of Jack, a curious child who has never seen the outside world. He acts with the skill of someone much older, and I hope we get to see Jacob Tremblay act in the future. I really wanted him to get an Academy Award nomination, but I guess they have something against kids.

Quote: "When I was small, I only knew small things. But now that I'm five, I know everything!"

#6. Ian McKellen- Sherlock Holmes- Mr. Holmes

The fact that Ian McKellen isn't nominated for an Oscar is a huge shame. Mr. Holmes showcased a fantastic performance by him. While I praise Jacob Tremblay for acting so well for his age, McKellen is on the opposite side of the spectrum. McKellen is 76, and I'm surprised he can still act as well as he does. He takes a character that everyone knows, and one that everyone has a preconceived idea of. This is so far from the Sherlock Holmes we're all associated with. McKellen plays Holmes on his deathbed, as he tries to change the way people think of him to get it right. It's a powerful performance, and one that should have been rewarded.

Quote: "A man abandoned his family and wrote his son a story. He wouldn't be the first to cloak his cowardice in a flag of sacrifice."

#5. Tom Hardy- John Fitzgerald- The Revenant

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Hardy is the kind of actor I've liked for a long time, but he had never really let himself go. He's good in Warrior, Inception, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Dark Knight Rises, but he never really "completely became" his character. In The Revenant, he becomes John Fitzgerald and all of his fierce temperaments. Fitzgerald, while hard to hear at times, is a ruthless and greedy killer, and Hardy represents this with his wild acting style. The kinds of choices this man makes are horrifying, and Hardy plays the moustache-twirling villain with ease. Let's just say that in a movie where he is opposite probable Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy does more than just hold his own. 

Quote: "You came all this way just for your revenge, huh? Did you enjoy it, Glass? 'Cause there ain't nothin' gon' bring your boy back."

#4. Michael Fassbender- Steve Jobs- Steve Jobs

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
Nobody became his real-life character more than Michael Fassbender. The underrated actor (one of my personal favorites) is unrecognizable, simply because he fits so well into Steve Jobs' shoes. In a movie that many thought was a simple Jobs biopic, Fassbender, along with Kate Winslet, turned viewers on their heads with this study into Steve Jobs' psyche. It really brought to light some of the horrible personal things he did, and some of his personality traits that would make him hard to work with. Fassbender plays a tremendously unlikeable character from minute one, yet he commands attention. He's as deserving of the Oscar as anyone, were it any other year.

Quote: "Musicians play their instruments. I play the whole orchestra."

#3. Mark Rylance- Rudolf Abel- Bridge of Spies

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 
There's probably nobody I want to win this year more than Mark Rylance. In Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, he plays convicted spy Rudolf Abel. Abel is labelled from Day 1 by everybody around him, and judged based on what people assume. In this inspiring movie, Tom Hanks plays the lawyer defending him from the electric chair, and giving him the fair trial he deserves. If you can steal every single scene from Tom Hanks, you've truly accomplished something. Rylance is a veteran of the stage with no starring film roles before this. He knows how to work with subtleties, and Rudolf Abel is a subtle character. It's a completely supporting role that is so deep. He's the secret heart of Bridge of Spies, and a large part of why it's such a great movie.

Quote: "The death sentence is not a foregone conclusion. But I am not afraid to die, Mr. Donovan. Although it wouldn't be my first choice."

#2. Leonardo DiCaprio- Hugh Glass- The Revenant

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
Give the poor man his Oscar already. While some see DiCaprio's likely win as a consolation prize, it's simply not the case. If you've seen The Revenant, you know that this is his best work since What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and the first time I've really seen him sink into a role since that film. He completely deserves the awards. As Hugh Glass, he says very few words. His performance is mostly physical as he fights bears, the wilderness, vengeful Native Americans, and the will to live. It's one of the most bare performances I've ever seen, and one that only a committed actor like DiCaprio would ever take on. He's a six-time nominee, and I think he will finally win, and we can all stop with the jokes.

Quote: "I ain't afraid to die anymore. I done it already."
  
#1. Sylvester Stallone- Rocky Balboa- Creed

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
While Leo might be spectacular to watch, and Mark Rylance is inspirational, nobody made me feel more emotion that Sylvester Stallone in Creed. Keep in mind that this is the seventh time Stallone has played Rocky Balboa, and he gives as good a performance as in the first outing, albeit a completely different one. The man that was once a powerful fighter has been reduced to an emotional mess, even more tragic with his wife and best friend's deaths haunting him and his own diagnosis with cancer–the same disease that took Adrien's life. Rocky Balboa is such a "larger than life" character, it emotionally moves you to see him suffer so much. What is even more impressive is that Stallone took a character everyone knew and did a complete 180. Rocky isn't the fighter anymore, he has to overcome his past demons to train the new fighter. Is it a symbol for Stallone giving up the franchise and handing the reigns to a new Creed franchise? Whatever it is, Stallone's excellent acting (which has lately been called into question with his silly action films over the past decades) made Creed one of the most affecting movies I saw in 2015. That is why he is undoubtedly the best male performance I saw this year.

Quote: "Time takes everybody out. Time is undefeated."