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Throughout February, I have decided to do a series of Oscar-related articles in anticipation to tomorrow's 89th Academy Awards ceremony. Last week, I told you my top 10 favorite Best Picture winners from 1929 to 1969 and from 1970 to 2015 , and today I am sharing with you my top 15 favorite Best Actor-winning performances. Again, please bear in mind that this is my own personal opinion, which is limited to the films I have seen so far.   15. Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (2013)   Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey): Let me give y'all a little news flash. There ain't nothin' out there can kill fuckin' Ron Woodroof in 30 days.     14. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)   Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando): You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it.     13. William Holden in Stalag 17 (1953)   Sergeant J. J. Sefton (William H...

In honour of Ernest Borgnine's 100th birthday, which was on Tuesday (January 24), this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the picture for which he is best known, which also happens to be the one that gave him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Directed by Delbert Mann, Marty (1955) tells the story of Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine), a good-natured but socially awkward Italian-American butcher who lives in The Bronx with his mother, Teresa (Esther Minciotti). Unmarried at 34, Marty faces constant badgering from family and friends to settle down, as all his brothers and sisters are already married and have children. One night, he goes to the Stardom Ballroom and meets Clara Snyder (Betsy Blair), a plain-looking 29-year-old high school chemistry teacher from Brooklyn who has been abandoned by her blind date. Mutually attracted, they spend the evening together dancing and walking the busy streets, and then Marty takes Clara home by bus, promising to call her at 2:30 the next afternoon...

Directed by Richard Fleischer, The Vikings (1958) begins when the fearsome Norse Viking warrior Ragnar Lodbrok (Ernest Borgnine) invades the English territory of Northumbria, killing its king and raping Queen Enid (Maxine Audley). Because the king died childless, his ambitious cousin Aella (Frank Thring) takes the throne. Two months later, Enid confides in Father Godwin (Alexander Knox) that she is pregnant with Ragnar's child. Certain that Aella would murder anyone threatening his claim to the throne, Father Godwin arranges to send the infant aboard a ship bound for Rome, where he will be raised by monks. During the journey, however, the vessel is seized by Vikings and the boy, Eric, is taken prisoner to grow up in slavery.   Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh and Kirk Douglas in The Vikings . Twenty years pass and Eric (Tony Curtis), unaware of his true parentage, hates his half-brother Einar (Kirk Douglas), Ragnar's legitimate son and heir. One day, they fight in a duel, during w...