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 and Actress 2019

Supporting Actor

05. Tracy Letts in Ford v Ferrari - It should come as no surprise that I think Tracy Letts is a national treasure, not only as a playwright, but also as an actor. After his layered, heart-warming performance as Lady Bird's dad two years ago, he should (FINALLY) be on everyone's radar. Ford v Ferrari tries to get by on the movie star charisma of Christian Bale and Matt Damon, and it mostly does, but Letts - as Henry Ford II - steals every scene that he is in. His crowning moment is the range of emotion he portrays in a single scene - being driven in a race car for the first time. It's a masterclass in acting and a pleasure to watch.

04. Timothee Chalamet in Little Women - Thank goodness we were blessed with a Little Women retelling when Timothee Chalamet is the perfect age to portray romantic leading man Laurie, because he is effortlessly perfect for the role of lovesick boy and charming, drunken, womanizing (as much as you can be those things in a family movie) young romantic suitor. With his delicate beauty, and endless talent, he mesmerizes as Laurie, and makes it look easy. The entire movie is cast so well, but Chalamet is utterly perfect for this role. He has one great, big scene, that is impressive, but it's the little moments - the under the breath comments, the flirtations - that really make this character.

03. Jonathan Majors in The Last Black Man in San Francisco - As a sensitive artist, Majors breaks out in a big way in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, one of the most underrated, must-see movies of the year. He's quiet and watchful for the majority of the movie, but has a truly impressive, big scene near the end, which will change the way you look at him and the movie. Keep your eye on him, because he's going to be huge.

02. Song kang-ho in Parasite - The entire ensemble of Korean thriller Parasite is truly impressive, but it's Song kang-ho who steals the movie in a big way. As a down on his luck father, fighting to make a buck to help his family, he saunters on to every frame like he's Korea's answer to Daniel Day-Lewis. By the time you get to THAT TURNING POINT and that AMAZING ENDING, you won't be able to stop thinking about him or his performance.

01. Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Let's call 2019, the year I finally started loving Brad Pitt. And Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - and his killer tough, cool guy performance - is one of the many reasons. Is anyone more effortlessly cool than Brad Pitt in this movie? He's a stunt man and personal driver to a movie star who gets mixed up with the Manson family, all while kicking ass. And did I mention the "fixing the roof shirtless scene"? Because, Jesus, he's beautiful.


Supporting Actress

05. Juliette Binoche in High Life - I'm not sure I can recommend High Life as a movie. Sure, it's got a really great twist ending, but it's also slow and long and not exactly fun to watch. But if you are looking for the ballsiest, gutsiest, most daring, out there performance of the year - look no further than Juliette Binoche, who absolutely kills it as a controversial scientist. She is remarkable to watch.

04. Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers - I wanted to watch Hustlers mostly to see if Lopez is as good as everyone on Twitter says she is... and she is. From doing sexy strip dances to Fiona Apple songs, to playing mama bear to a bunch of wayward strippers, to seducing and destroying the lives of men - she drips and oozes with unabashed movie star magnetism and sex appeal. I firmly believe no one else in all of Hollywood could have played Ramona, the stripper with NO heart of gold, better than Lopez.

03. Elisabeth Moss in Us - The first time we see Elisabeth Moss in Us, she is little more than a cliche - spoiled rich wife and mother who has a subtle disdain for her husband and spoiled brat twins. The next time we see Elisabeth Moss in Us, she is an absolute force to reckon with. I think Moss is one of the most gifted and exciting actresses to watch right now. From stealing the entirety of Mad Men away from Jon Hamm, to her next level work on Handmaid's Tale, she has been the queen of television of the 2000's. Hopefully, soon she will be a movie star, too.

02. Florence Pugh in Little Women - Justice for Amy! In every other adaptation of Little Women, Amy has been portrayed as a one dimensional brat, spoiled and unlikable. But with this retelling, we finally get a layered portrait of Amy - a complicated girl living in a complicated time, struggling with sibling rivalry and trying to marry rich to save her poor family. Pugh makes Amy tough, and yes, a little snotty, but she brings such a vivacity to her performance, that you see the tender and loving side too. Being a woman - and a sister - is complicated, not just black or white - likable or unlikable - and Pugh knocks it out of the park.

01. Laura Dern in Marriage Story - Laura Dern took a little time away from being the only good thing about season two of Big Little Lies to give a bat out of hell performance in Marriage Story. As a savage, killer divorce attorney she manages to be kind and killer, polite and deadly, sweet and savage all while wearing killer heels. If she didn't have your vote for Best Supporting Actress before the trial scene, that will seal the deal. Dern is a national treasure and kills it in every moment of this movie.

Best Actress 2017

05. Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman - I think we can all agree that 2017 was a pretty shitty year, but at the very least we can all agree that at least 2017 gave us one good and pure thing - bonafide movie star Gal Gadot. Her female empowerment film became a blockbuster success thanks to her endearing, adorable, ass-kicking charm and general badassery. From casually wearing weaponry with formal wear to that sweet chemistry with Chris Pine to that time she had ice cream and saw it snow for the first time, Gal Gadot became a goddamn national treasure. Here's to more bad ass female superheroes in movies directed by bad ass female directors.

04. Nicole Kidman in The Beguiled - Kidman has had a hell of a year. She is one of the few female movie stars that seem to be getting even more interesting parts in her 40s and 50s than she did in her 20s and 30s. In 2017 alone, she played a supporting role in Top of the Lake, went toe to toe with Colin Farrell in Killing of a Sacred Deer, and pretty much showed that she was the finest working actress who deserved every award under the sun in Big Little Lies. Something about Kidman screams out that she was born for period pieces, and she proves that with a perfect nuanced performance in The Beguiled. She's a prudish and haughty school marm who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and get a little, well, bloody.

03. Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper - I guess the one good thing about making tons of money in a franchise about vampires when you are super young is that it affords you the opportunity to do the work you really want to do and make tiny little ghost stories for probably no money. Post-Twilight, Kristen Stewart has become one of the most interesting and exciting young actresses out there. Her role here is difficult because she spends the majority of the movie alone, and texting on the phone with a maybe ghost. Yet, her performance still manages to be subtle and raw and real, and yes, a little bit awkward, but also a lot sexy.

02. Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird - I want to scream from the rooftops about how much I love every single thing about Lady Bird, from the script to the music (even that Dave Matthews Band song!) to the direction to the performances. And while every single character is real and excellent, Ronan shines as the conflicting teenager Lady Bird, who is both insecure and entirely self-assured. Her performance is as unique as the character and here Ronan is so fearless. In a genre filled with career defining performances for teenage girls, Ronan's might just be the very best.

01. Florence Pugh in Lady MacBeth - Enter all the on fire emojis here, because Pugh is a live wire from start to finish. Who is this girl, and why isn't she a household name? Because she should be, and she probably will be. It's not usually pretty young girls who get to make movies where they start off as a sympathetic figure and end up as a raving sociopath. But Pugh delivers from start to finish, from looking pretty as a picture in a dress to becoming conniving and manipulative, from sweetness to sexiness. This is a career making performance and a master class of acting.