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.
Labels: Adam Driver, Best Actor, Best Actress, Brad Pitt, Elisabeth Moss, Florence Pugh, Joaquin Phoenix, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lupita Nyong'o, Saoirse Ronan, Yearly Wrap Up
