Best Lead Actor and Actress 2019

Lead Actor

05. Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Maybe people don't take Leo seriously because of the whole teen idol / Titanic / dates exclusively 20 year old models thing. But besides all that, he is one of our best actors and best movie stars. His role as a washed up TV actor in Once Upon a Time, requires a movie star with superb acting chops, and he delivers. There is a long sequence that features his work on a Western and he is top notch in every single moment of that film. Plus, he's totally badass with a flame thrower.

04. Brad Pitt in Ad Astra - In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Pitt was charming and cool and tough. In Ad Astra, he is quiet and interior and sad. Both performances are extraordinary. Obviously, I prefer the quiet, pretty movie to the talky, loud movie. Like DiCaprio, Pitt is a rare breed - a movie star who is actually a great actor as well, hindered by his good looks a little bit, maybe. This beautiful and sad space movie is a slow, sad fever dream and Pitt nails it.

03. Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems - Look, I'm as surprised as you are. I wondered if my undying devotion to the gritty raw power of the directing Safdie brothers would outweigh my ambivalence bordering on disdain for Adam Sandler. The Safdie brothers manage to draw out a performance from Sandler that is so impressive, it may change the way you look at him. Honestly, Sandler kills it on a jeweler with a gambling problem who has a really, really rough few days. And if the fast talking, charm he oozes doesn't convince you he could give a heavy weight acting performance, just watch the expression on his face when he's watching his daughter in her high school play. Dude has been quietly hiding all this ability for decades.

02. Joaquin Phoenix in Joker - To this day, I cannot decide if I liked the movie Joker, or if I was just so blown away by Phoenix's performance, that it made me believe I saw a better movie than I did. Because Phoenix is THAT GOOD in this role. Between his physical transformation, and his quiet building rage, he delivers one of the knock out performances of the year. Heath Ledger may be a better Batman villain Joker, but Phoenix has to deliver in every single scene of the movie - and he does - giving a daring portrait of mental illness, all capped off with a stunning final showdown.

01. Adam Driver in Marriage Story - The saddest part of Marriage Story is the fact that Driver is going to lose his Best Actor Oscar to a guy playing a clown. Adam Driver is the kind of actor you can't take your eyes off of, ever since he stormed through the HBO series Girls, elevating that mess and becoming the only reason to watch it. Since then, he's become a bonafide movie star. He's excellent in everything, but in Marriage Story, he is perfect. He's playing a good man and a good father, who is just not a great husband, and he is perfection from the small intimate moments, to the big, huge fight scene, to singing sad songs from Company at karaoke. Give him all the awards!


Lead Actress

05. Awkwafina in The Farewell - Like Sandler, I never thought Awkwafina would be on a list for best acting, but 2019 was a weird year, and here we are. She's very funny, but in The Farewell she gets serious, as a Chinese artist living in America, who has to travel back to China after her beloved grandmother becomes terminally ill. Instead of telling the grandmother she is dying, the family stages a fake wedding as an excuse for everyone to return to China. The movie is heartwarming and sad and bittersweet and lovely, and Awkwafina carries it along on her shoulders as the most unwilling of participants. She's a revelation here.

04. Saoirse Ronan in Little Women - Every little girl growing up, reading Little Women a dozen times, wanted to grow up to be Jo - tough, resilient, smart, but also stubborn, lonely, quick to anger, unwilling to fall in love (even with the super cute boy next door). Jo, like all the March sisters, is a complicated woman. She's not just one thing, refusing to succumb to her destiny to be the romantic heroine of her life story. She wants more than that in a time when women didn't get that chance very often. Ronan - who is arguably the best actress of her generation - nails it all, from the cockiness to the neediness, from the strength to the sadness. She's the perfect Jo, and she makes it all look easy.

03. Lupita Nyong'o in Us - If you haven't seen Us, I urge you to do so as soon as possible. It gets a little weird, but if you give in to the weirdness, it definitely pays off. And a big part of why you should watch it is this women right here, who gives a stunning, high wire act like performance as two separate characters - a hard working, constantly worried, tough mom... and her wild eyed untethered counter part, a character who only communicates in guttural sounds and animalistic movements. It's a pleasure to watch an actor be so fearless on screen.

02. Florence Pugh in Midsommar - Let's rename 2019 as the year of Florence Pugh. She elevated spoiled brat Amy March to someone almost likable in Little Women, and she embodied the overwhelming nature of grief in Midsommar. From start to finish, it appears as though she went through hell for her Midsommar performance, and she is stunning in every frame. From grieving and unsure little girl, to the queen who rides alone at the end, and everything in between, there isn't a false note. I don't know what it is about director Ari Aster, but he has a knack from getting career best performances from his leading ladies (see also: Toni Collette in Hereditary).

01. Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell - Like Pugh, Moss gave two killer performances this year. The second, the better of the two, is as a former junkie and self-destructive rock star, trying to make a comeback. I didn't love the movie - I thought it was too long and bordered on indulgence, but Moss is amazing. She is relentless, raging through the movie with an all-encompassing manic energy, devouring every inch of the screen. Even if the movie around her isn't great, you can't take your eyes off of Moss.

Best Supporting Actor 2017

05. Benny Safdie in Good Time - Sure, he may not say many words in the course of the movie, and he may only be heavily featured in the beginning and end, but Safdie still makes a hell of an impression on this film. In a sense, he sets the tone for the entire thing. As the mentally handicapped brother of the bank robbing main character, he is essentially the heart and soul of the whole thing. Without him somehow making the audience care about him, then none of the movie works.

04. Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Typically when you think 'Star Wars movie,' you don't necessarily think 'good acting' (and in the case of the prequels, you think the exact opposite of that), but Driver is easily the best thing about The Last Jedi (just like he was consistently the best thing about the super-uneven Girls). With Kylo Ren, Driver creates a complex villain, and while you are not sure you can ever trust a word he says, you want to believe everything that comes out of his mouth. He is compelling and sometimes ruthless, but maybe he can still be saved, maybe there is a lost heroic boy in there somewhere. Driver's performance is so good that it really elevated the material and all the acting around him.

03. Mark Rylance in Dunkirk - I know, I know. Dunkirk is a great, big, exciting spectacle of sight and sound. It's epic and it's larger than life and it's riveting and it's everything a great blockbuster can be. And while the entire cast is wholly impressive (Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy), it's Rylance's sweet and heroic boat captain who makes the biggest impact. He isn't a general or a fighter pilot or a soldier, he is just a man, trying to save his family and make a difference, however small, and his presence certainly makes a difference on this movie, finding a way to humanize the whole great big spectacle of it all.

02. Tracy Letts in Lady Bird - Sometimes a performance doesn't have to be big or showy to be special, and Letts' sweet father in Lady Bird is proof of that. While Lady Bird and her mother fight and scream and fight some more, Letts is quietly holding it all together. He creates a character that ultimately is the kind of father I wish I had - someone who stands by you no matter what, supports all your crazy ideas and even when his son interviews for the same job as him, offers a smile and a good luck hug instead of any anger or bitterness. It's a performance that will probably fall by the way side thanks to the kick ass ladies in this movie, but it's important none the less.

01. Will Poulter in Detroit - It's been six or seven months since I saw Detroit, but no performance this year has stuck with me the way Will Poulter's racist cop has. His performance is so riveting, so staggeringly explosive, so evil and ferocious and frightening, I find it difficult to believe that I am the only one talking about it at this point in the year. This performance may be hard to watch at times, it's timely depiction of racism in America may hit way too close to home, showing how very little has changed in our country over the last 50 or 60 years, but this performance is next level. It pulls no punches and it is unrelenting. It's simply unforgettable.

December 2015 Pt. 1

Jurassic World
Stars - Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Plot - Jurassic Park is open, thriving and successful... until they create a new dinosaur to bolster attendance, which is never a good idea.
Thoughts - I am not going to sit here and pretend that Jurassic World is any kind of deep, meaningful, thought provoking film, but, my gosh if it isn't fun! The special effects are insane, the performances are fun and solid, and the ending is intense.
Grade - B

Inside Out
Stars - the voices of Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith
Plot - The inner workings of the mind of an 11 year old girl (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust) are thrown out of whack when her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco.
Thoughts - Intended for children, this Pixar film has a lot to offer adults as well. This is a thoughtful, funny, heartbreaking and heart warming movie about growing up and learning that joy and sadness really go hand in hand.
Grade - B +

Amy
Plot - A documentary about the short, tumultuous life of the late Amy Winehouse.
Thoughts - This is a staggering and powerful look at Amy's life and profound talent. The doc follows her from bright faced young talent to the depths of her drug fueled downfall. This is sometimes hard to watch, but it's endlessly fascinating. Amy had the opportunity to be the voice of her generation, but her demons got the best of her.
Grade - B +

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Stars - Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson
Plot - It's basically a rehashed plot of episode 4...
Thoughts - ...but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This Star Wars movie is everything you could possibly want. Sure, the plot feels stale, but the cast and effects are fresh. This is a fun, nostalgic, funny, heart warming epic that is worth the wait and more than lives up to the hype. Also, bonus points for a bad ass female lead who can take care of herself and doesn't need a man to save her!
Grade - A-

The Big Short
Stars - Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
Plot - A look at the mortgage crisis of 2008 and the way it altered our economy.
Thoughts - This might be the smartest, funniest, weirdest movie of the year. It is the only movie in the history of the movies which includes both a quote from Mark Twain and an interlude where Selena Gomez explains advanced economics to the audience. The performances are spectacular, from the stars to the supporting players. And this is a fast paced, frenetic good time.
Grade - A-

The Danish Girl
Stars - Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander
Plot - The story of the first Transgender artist, and the wife that stood by his side.
Thoughts -  I actually really enjoyed this love story initially. The performances are powerful and the cinematography is gorgeous. My biggest problem is that it felt detached and cold and illicited no real feelings. Then I did a little research and discovered the REAL story, which is far more interesting than the watered down version presented in this film.
Grade - B-

So far in 2015...

I have been slacking big time when it comes to blogging, and, honestly, I'm not really feeling it lately. Still, I am going to at least try to post at the end of the month so I can at least keep up to date in case the urge to return to blogging hits me. Here is a brief review of what I've seen this year so far.

Ex Machina
Stars: Domhnall Gleeson,  Oscar Isaac (a.k.a. current mega crushes!)
Plot: A genius invites an employee to his isolated estate to run the Turing test on an AI that he's created.
Thoughts: This is the sexy, creepy, smart Sci-fi movie you didn't know you needed in your life. Brilliantly acted and beautifully bizarre, this is a must see and one of the best things I've seen in a while.
Grade: A-

While We're Young
Stars: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried
Plot: A couple feeling ostracized from their friends because they don't have kids begin hanging out with a pair of 25 year olds.
Thoughts: I love director Noah Baumbach's movies but this disappointed me big time. It felt like a bad Woody Allen and was more pretentious and condescending than funny or enjoyable.
Grade: D+

It Follows
Stars: Miaka Monroe
Plot: A girl is followed by a demon (??) after being passed a sexuality transmitted curse.
Thoughts: *Sigh* Remind me to stop getting caught up in the fuss when Twitter decides something is the best horror movie in decades. It wasn't true of The Babadook (although that is better than this) and it's not true of It Follows. It's got great music, great atmosphere and a killer opening sequence, but a lot of it is cliche and full of plot holes and even sometimes laughably bad.
Grade: C+

Song One
Stars: Anne Hathaway
Plot: After her brother is hit by a car and put into a coma, a woman visits his favorite NYC spots and falls for his favorite musician.
Thoughts: Hathaway,  who usually annoys me, is pretty great, and parts of it are really cute, but it's mostly forgettable. Netflix Begin Again instead.
Grade: C

Black Sea
Stars: Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
Plot: A group of out of work submarine workers get hired to go in search of a missing Nazi sub filled with gold.
Thoughts: This movie got dumped in January for some reason, and barely anyone has heard of it, but it's totally worth checking out. It's a pretty solid thriller and a generally good way to spend 2 hours.
Grade: B

This is Where I Leave You

It blows my mind that a movie based on a book that is so profound, so brilliant, so almost life - altering can end up being so damn mediocre. But that seems to be were we are with the movie This is Where I Leave You based on the excellent novel by Jonathan Tropper.  It's not bad, per se,  and maybe if I hadn't read and been so moved by the book, I would even have liked it more.

This is Where I Leave You is about the Altman family who sit shiva for the seven days following the death of their father. Of course, they are all angry and lonely and a mess, and all of their past feelings and actions creep back up on them during this week where they are stuck together non-stop.  Jason Bateman plays Judd, the perfect middle son whose got his shit together until he finds out his wife is sleeping with his boss. Corey Stoll plays oldest son Paul, the responsible dickish one who is struggling to have a baby with his baby obsessed wife (who used to be Judd's girlfriend). Tina Fey is daughter Wendy, who has an asshole husband and unresolved feelings for her high school sweetheart (Timothy Olyphant). Youngest brother Phillip (played by a scene stealing Adam Driver) is the mess up of the family who is struggling to get his life together with the help of his much older, rich girlfriend Tracy (Connie Britton). Then there is mom Jane Fonda who has new boobs and a seemingly healthy response to the death of her husband.

Here is the thing. The movie wants to be as good as the book, and it desperately tries to fit 300 pages of action into an hour and 45 minute long movie. It all feels so rushed and jumbled and it feels like we don't even get to really get to know these characters. The script isn't very good and the jokes which are supposed to be funny are mostly just chuckle inducing.  Some of the drama feels cliche,  though it doesn't feel that way in the book at all. Most of the performances are pretty spot on. Bateman is a master at deftly switching between comedic and dramatic moments.  It's only Tina Fey who disappoints.  It seems that she is just in a completely different movie tonally.  If there is one person trying to make this movie better, it is Girls star and future Star Wars guy Adam Driver. He easily has the most fun character and he gives it everything he's got. He is a manic ball of energy,  elevating every scene he is in. It is scene blessing more so than scene stealing. It's just a shame that no one else can keep up with him. It would be a much better movie if anyone else brought the same bottled up intensity.

Overall, maybe the movie is better if you didn't read the book. It's not bad. It is quite heart warming and crowd pleasing and a fine depiction of a dysfunctional family. When the movie is good, it totally sucks you in... it just doesn't stay that good for that long. Mostly if you had the choice between seeing the movie and reading the book, pick the book and thank me later.

Grade: C+