The Death Of Stalin (Re-Watch) Get Out (Re-Watch) Maudie (Re-Watch) Raw (Re-Watch) Mad World (Re-Watch) The Big Bad Fox And Other Tales Mary And The Witch's Flower The Other Side Of Hope Happy End The Third Murder The Party Zama Borg Vs McEnroe In The Fade Brimstone I Am Not A Witch The Merciless Memoir Of A Murderer The Ballad Of Lefty Brown Let The Sunshine In See You Up There Thelma Jawbone Lear On The Shore Their Finest November Beatriz At Dinner Tigers Are Not Afraid Summer 1993 On Body And Soul The Ritual Wakefield The 12th Man The Man With The Iron Heart Tour De Pharmacy Princess Cyd Blade Of The Immortal Thank You For Your Service Trespass Against Us The Promise Marrowbone My Happy Family The Zookeeper's Wife Super Dark Times Mayhem Bad Genius Sleep Has Her House Hanagatami Berlin Syndrome The Young Karl Marx Before We Vanish
That clown image is triggering my childhood trauma.
Just saw “Sinners”! Great time at the movies. Still gathering my thoughts, but overall, it was entertaining, thought-provoking and thrilling and as promised, the soundtrack was top tier.
It definitely gave “From Dusk Till Dawn” meets “Angel Heart”, with maybe some “Eve’s Bayou” thrown in there, and maybe even a little “Double Jeopardy”.
Louis: What are your ratings and thoughts on Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in A Room with a View, Monique van de Ven in The Assault, Barbara Hershey in Hoosiers and Clarence Williams III in 52 Pick-Up?
Anyway I'll wait this one out, since I've only seen Phoenix and I'm not as crazy on him as the rest of people here, so no clue how to approach this prediction right away.
Quick mention of Warfare cast, which the film is not about the acting as every performance is very much just depicting the "in the moment". The most character coming from Poulter and Melton in depicting differing reactions to having the weight of the situation in them. Then just different levels of reactions of panic or extreme pain.
Louis: If you watched S2E1 of The Rehearsal, your thoughts on it? And if you're alright with doing so, could you post your reaction after each episode from now on, like you've done with other shows?
Louis: I have a friend who likes your work on the blog, especially your videos, even those with outdated winners. She was upset that your video of the 2024 Best Film wasn't up there. She's been thinking about trying to make the video and asked me to ask you if you'd be willing to post it on your YouTube channel?
Robert: I'm around 5 episodes in, and it has to be one of the better shows with a terrible title. I'm not really one for medical procedurals, so the forward momentum in this one was a pleasant surprise.
Matt: If you’re still looking for where to watch Bingo, this link worked for me. Though I’d recommend doing your best to watch it all in one sitting if you don’t want to spend a bunch of time proving you’re not a robot.
Masina - (Luminous as ever and did not lose a beat from her far earlier Fellini performances, which this one is closer to in terms of creating this sort of very specific off-beat in some ways sad woman. Although her Ginger is more complicated than just being sad, what Masina does so well is showing the shifting emotions in and around her living out the old days in the sequence. Doing so in her usually charming way on the surface but through that creating the sense of her acceptance of having moved on, along with other moments of more intense vulnerability denoting her uncertainties with even the reliving in the moment. Masina shows the way each of these fade in and out between positive and negative connections of memory, regret with nostalgia with such natural ease in each motion of it, and while not quite up there with her 50’s starring roles, it is a very strong reminder of her talents.)
Carter - (One in many ways yearns for this Carter again, and not the youth, but the decidedly unmannered approach she has to the part. In a part that is a place that would be easy enough to play into the regalness of the whole affair, but Carter instead makes you deeply care about her Jane by playing it so humbly throughout her performance. Emphasizing the quiet intelligence from the first moment we see her, but someone who doesn’t flaunt it in any way. Creating the moving tragedy by showing the woman of genuine worth getting caught and stuck in the ambitions of others. Meanwhile within herself, keeping this quiet dignity in her work makes it all the more heartbreaking as you see the purity of her character in an especially honest way that contrasts so effectively against the ambitious men around her.)
Mourouzi - (A captivating enigmatic performance where you don’t know exactly what to make of her in her wild swings however she remains specifically charismatic in this very specific way. The swings never feel out of nowhere rather there is this strange internalized logic that she is able to create that leaves her ever so sincere in the strangest of ways.)
Mayaorova - (A performance that is just someone slowly dying made heartbreaking within her performance because what she does is consistently portray the sense of life in her even within the process of death. Her performance showed very specific this glint of that life just becoming dimmer and dimmer creating such heartbreak through that.)
Crampton - 3.5(When I mentioned that she made me feel some things it largely wasn’t due to her acting. Having said that, she gets to have some more fun than just being the damsel this time and goes from a pseudo straight man to a truly crazy sex maniac most effectively, and again MOST effectively. She does get to have some fun here and does so, even if the switches with her character plot wise just sort of happen.)
Lucas:
I believe I’ve given my thoughts on the Room with A View cast at some point.
Van de Ven - (Her performance leaves a strong impression in her one scene where she offers a calm comfort while showing the underlying sense of her own doom behind. Playing well the two sides to create the right haunting impact. This is further bolstered by her later scenes where you see as a woman of action though still very much human within her struggled actions at the same time.)
Williams - (Essentially one note in just playing it as pure evil violent slime ball the whole time, though in a cold way compared to Glover, however his way also works in just being the worst in a way that is entertaining.)
8000’s:
Pretend - (I mean the classic screwball setup realized as such by the performances more so than what is said in a way because it is the way Dunne and Grant play around the lie with each other that leaves such a strong impression.)
Motorcycles - (Very amusing bit of physical humor just particularly in the contrasting performances that really sell the joke more than anything. With Grant being so taciturn and Dunne loving every minute of it.)
Ending - (A great ending that is largely not screwball, other than the theoretical movement of the door, but however that is more of the nagging thought realized with Grant’s performance being subdued in the moment of honest reconciliation, against Dunne playing it so knowing particularly the ending which is super salacious with her “Good Night” without saying anything salacious.)
Tony:
I enjoyed it, if not was captivated by it, though Fielder certainly is going full Kaufman where it is difficult to tell where exactly the joke begins if there is a joke and where does it end exactly. And the episode was funny in parts due to moments of the sheer absurdity of the project, yet also quite surprisingly emotional in the recreations of the moments before death in the problem Fielder is trying to solve. And naturally with his co-pilot focus, Fielder as usual is pushing the boundary there exactly, really pushing one’s comfort particularly using the relationship sensitivity on purpose for his own ends, which again how exactly earnest Fielder is again something he’ll never say.
Your thoughts on K. Todd Freeman, Vincent Cefalu, and Anna LaMadrid's acting in The Rehearsal? And what did you think of the moment where Patrick breaks down in tears (couldn't find a clip of it online)?
The Studio I think is watchable but honestly think you could make a far better show with the resources/guest stars the series has at its disposal. Every bit I think "that's kind of amusing" but I never think "that's hilarious" where it feels like every concept could go further in the funny or the satirical bite. It also doesn't help that I really just don't like Rogen as a lead in general though it is the most I've liked Ike Barinholtz, but that's not saying a ton.
Andor continues to impress, and I guess you needed someone who didn't care about Star Wars to make great Star Wars, because Gilroy has done it again. It's amazing how cinematic it is, how much genuine depth they're bringing to the world and particularly the idea of what the oppression of the Empire truly means. Creating such captivating politics, espionage and personal drama combined. The idea of a Mon Mothma's daughter's wedding being one of the most captivating things in modern Star Wars, sounds like a joke, but it is in fact the truth, where every interaction there is steeped in character, and expands the world. The wheat planet was captivating basically horror of Nazi occupation though via Star Wars so effectively done with a shocking death by how casually it was done. The Empire brass scenes were fantastic in the way that balanced the sense of systematic evil in a genuine way but tip toeing around it in satire, with the crown jewel being the face off between Dedra and Kathryn Hunter. I'd say the least was Cassian being stuck with the idiot rebels, though his initial escape scene was great and there were still good moments there. But lesser Andor is better than the majority of all modern Star Wars so, sufficiently to say I am definitely in for the rest of the season.
I've seen The Quick and The Dead, which is one of those "Hey, it's that guy!" movies where half of Hollywood is involved (which alone would be entertaining enough) but is a true wild ride anyway. I was skeptical about Raimi's style working for westerns, but i am completely on board.
Stone - 3.5 Hackman - 4/4.5 Crowe - 4.5 DiCaprio - 2.5 Henriksen - 3.5 3s for the rest
I mean all three performances are with a very specific purpose of just kind of reality of the moment, with Cefalu perhaps having the greatest challenge as such because he needed to be convincing to someone not in on the rehearsal. Obviously it isn't really creating the character beyond the moment so to speak, however each are convincing as such in that extreme specificity of the endeavor.
That moment perhaps marked the shift in the nature of the piece, given the first episode was just largely funny in the silliness of that rehearsal, while the Patrick situation ends up twisting marked by his breakdown, where no matter what was going with him exactly real emotions came out of the situation. Now I think it could've been a lot of different things in truth why he never came back, but I think in the moment you saw "the mark" feel it too much in Nathan's plans as it skewed to something entirely different.
J96:
Given that's the first time I've heard about such a show. No I have not.
Harris:
I got Editing (Conclave as I thought they'd lean for the "most" editing as is sometimes the case), Song (was hoping for a Perez shutout and for us to be done with Warren nominations), Animated (Wild Robot, which I thought it would be Flow but forgot to change it), Doc (Porcelain War which conversely I foolishly changed to last minute) and as per usual the shorts wrong.
Louis: If acting is indeed your favourite aspect of filmmaking to write about, what makes it that for you? And other than acting, which area do you enjoy analyzing the most, and why?
Just finished The Pitt. Loved it. It’s like the best possible version of a hospital procedural. Wyle deserves the Emmy. Really hope Taylor Dearden makes it into Supporting Actress.
Affleck - 3(Some might call me generous but I think if you envision the worst possible scenario with this performance it looks much worse than what Affleck is doing here. And while much of this is being much more comedic within the situation, Affleck’s performance still carries with a certain conviction to it regardless without going into the extremely questionable territories it would be very easy to bring this type of character to.)
Bernthal - 3.5(Bernthal really is playing against the film in a way because he really isn’t taking things all that seriously though he is going all in in terms of trying to make the scenes he’s in more entertaining. And to his credit, as weird as his role is here, Bernthal does manage to be entertaining in playing just the constantly gruff style of the character. Much of that is comedic in nature and his bits work best just by Bernthal playing up to the extreme of that gruffness. Contrasting that though are just a few moments of portraying his frustrations with Affleck, due to his condition, where you see his genuine vulnerability that while seemingly at odds with the overall tone of the piece Bernthal pulls it off.)
Addai-Robinson - 2.5(Doesn’t leave too much of an impression either way as a character who is designed almost entirely for exposition.)
Pineda - 2.5(Conceptually such a weird role and in terms of her overall performance she’s okay but not overly distinctive as this type of stoic killer type of role.)
Morgan & Harvey - 2(Instantly forgettable villains.)
Hardy - 3.5(I started watching the first episode of Mobland and nearly cheered when I heard Hardy speaking in his own accent. Though to be fair I think Hardy’s NY accent, within the scheme of Hardy accents anyways, is perfectly fine. But his best acting actually is in the final showdown where you get Hardy’s real presence doing its work just through bringing that conviction and gravitas to the moment. The first half, he’s fine but the role is pretty tired and doesn’t really offer much to play with.)
Mei Li - 3(Thought she was okay in bringing this contrasting spunkiness to the exasperated Hardy but it feels like something that could’ve been exploited to a far greater degree than we get here.)
Cornwell, Sepulveda - 3(In terms of just playing the emotional reactions of the survival instincts in the action scenes I thought they were more than decent, in terms of making me actually care about their characters though, they struggled a bit.)
Guzman - 3(I’ll certainly take some Guzman who I’d like to randomly show up a bit more often and his performance here at least grants a bit more character in what is usually a more forgettable role.)
Whitaker - 3(Get a bit of both post and pre Oscar Whitaker. He has some pre-Oscar moments right at the end where he does sell the emotion nearly non-verbally, when doing the pompous politician early on though he’s fairly over the top.)
Olyphant - 3.5(I’d say MVP because he manages to enliven scenes a bit by just owning the sleaze of the character, and just bringing the right callousness to every reaction he gets. He really knows how to accentuate a moment to be extra hideous in the right way. Although certainly still an underwritten role he does what he can with it.)
Tony:
I would say direction because of the multifaceted nature of it, given it is technically part of every aspect of the film, while also being something that speaks to the “whole picture” but also how every single scene/moment turns out connects to direction.
1. Joaquin Phoenix 2. Kamel El Basha 3. Jamie Bell 4. Vladimir Brichta 5. Josh Brolin
REALLY hoping for Get Out to sneak into the top ten, I honestly wouldn’t mind if it swapped places with Dunkirk though the odds of that feel slim. An upgrade for Kaluuya seems fairly likely though.
I’m also about half an hour into Marjorie Prime, I’ve loved Lois Smith in so many small roles that I had to know how she would fare in a lead performance, so far she’s killing it!
54 comments:
Louis: Where would you rank Barbara Crampton in From Beyond for best actress and your rating for her.
The Death Of Stalin (Re-Watch)
Get Out (Re-Watch)
Maudie (Re-Watch)
Raw (Re-Watch)
Mad World (Re-Watch)
The Big Bad Fox And Other Tales
Mary And The Witch's Flower
The Other Side Of Hope
Happy End
The Third Murder
The Party
Zama
Borg Vs McEnroe
In The Fade
Brimstone
I Am Not A Witch
The Merciless
Memoir Of A Murderer
The Ballad Of Lefty Brown
Let The Sunshine In
See You Up There
Thelma
Jawbone
Lear On The Shore
Their Finest
November
Beatriz At Dinner
Tigers Are Not Afraid
Summer 1993
On Body And Soul
The Ritual
Wakefield
The 12th Man
The Man With The Iron Heart
Tour De Pharmacy
Princess Cyd
Blade Of The Immortal
Thank You For Your Service
Trespass Against Us
The Promise
Marrowbone
My Happy Family
The Zookeeper's Wife
Super Dark Times
Mayhem
Bad Genius
Sleep Has Her House
Hanagatami
Berlin Syndrome
The Young Karl Marx
Before We Vanish
1. Phoenix
2. Brichta
3. Basha
4. Bell
5. Brolin
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Brichta
4. Basha
5. Brolin
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Basha
4. Brichta
5. Brolin
Not 100% on the order, I still need to see Basha, Bell and Brichta, but Phoenix is winning this easily.
Louis: Thoughts on Masina, Carter, Binoche, Mourouzi, Mayorova and Crampton.
Can you please do Gene Hackman in Night Moves if you revisit 75
That clown image is triggering my childhood trauma.
Just saw “Sinners”! Great time at the movies. Still gathering my thoughts, but overall, it was entertaining, thought-provoking and thrilling and as promised, the soundtrack was top tier.
It definitely gave “From Dusk Till Dawn” meets “Angel Heart”, with maybe some “Eve’s Bayou” thrown in there, and maybe even a little “Double Jeopardy”.
Louis: What are your ratings and thoughts on Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in A Room with a View, Monique van de Ven in The Assault, Barbara Hershey in Hoosiers and Clarence Williams III in 52 Pick-Up?
Man, we almost had a perfect 5B lineup...
Anyway I'll wait this one out, since I've only seen Phoenix and I'm not as crazy on him as the rest of people here, so no clue how to approach this prediction right away.
1. Phoenix
2. Brichta
3. Bell
4. Brolin
5. Basha
1.Phoenix
2.Basha
3.Bichtra
4.Brolin
5.Bell
1) Phoenix
2) Bichtra
3) Bell
4) Brolin
5) Basha
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Brichta
4. Basha
5. Brolin
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Brichta
4. Basha
5. Brolin
My prediction for the top 11.
1. Stanton
2. Gosling
3. Day-Lewis
4. Jackman
5. Phoenix
6. Beale
7. Song
8. Pattinson
9. Renner
10. Stan
11. Buscemi
I would like to see Phoenix, end Jackman make it over Day Lewis. They are my top 2 for 2017.
Louis: My request from my Best Actor 2024 prediction is Cameron Bright in Birth (2004 Supporting)
I'd like to see Kaluuya upgraded. Also, maybe Chalamet ranked ahead of Oldman. I may be mixed on CMBYN, but his work has aged well with me.
Quick mention of Warfare cast, which the film is not about the acting as every performance is very much just depicting the "in the moment". The most character coming from Poulter and Melton in depicting differing reactions to having the weight of the situation in them. Then just different levels of reactions of panic or extreme pain.
Quinn, Melton, Poulter, Jarvis, Gandolfini - 3.5
Everyone else - 2.5 to 3
Louis: Your response to the cast reminds me alot of Black Hawk Down.
1. Phoenix
2. Brichta
3. Basha
4. Bell
5. Brolin
Louis: Your thoughts on these sequences from The Awful Truth.
"Lucy pretends to be Jerry's sister."
"Riding police motorcycles."
"The final scene."
Oh, and my request is Ryo Ikebe in Early Spring
We are more or less in the same boat on Warfare it seems, Louis.
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Brichta
4. Basha
5. Brolin
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Brichta (just going through LB reviews, there seems to be a fair bit of passion for his work.)
4. Basha
5. Brolin
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Brolin
4. Brichta
5. Basha
1. Phoenix
2. Bell
3. Brichta
4. Basha
5. Brolin
Does anyone know where to watch this Bingo movie?
Uh... guys? It's El Basha, not Basha.
Phoenix
Bell
Brichta
Brolin
El Basha
Harris: Now that you've said it, El Basha's screencap is such an ideal reaction to everybody writing his name incorrectly.
Louis: If you watched S2E1 of The Rehearsal, your thoughts on it? And if you're alright with doing so, could you post your reaction after each episode from now on, like you've done with other shows?
5º Josh Brolin
4º Kamel El Basha
3º Jamie Bell
2º Vladimir Brichta
1º Joaquin Phoenix
Louis: I have a friend who likes your work on the blog, especially your videos, even those with outdated winners. She was upset that your video of the 2024 Best Film wasn't up there. She's been thinking about trying to make the video and asked me to ask you if you'd be willing to post it on your YouTube channel?
Ytrewq: Ha! All five screencaps could work as reactions, actually.
I started The Pitt recently. I’m about seven episodes in and am really digging it.
Robert: I'm around 5 episodes in, and it has to be one of the better shows with a terrible title. I'm not really one for medical procedurals, so the forward momentum in this one was a pleasant surprise.
Matt: If you’re still looking for where to watch Bingo, this link worked for me. Though I’d recommend doing your best to watch it all in one sitting if you don’t want to spend a bunch of time proving you’re not a robot.
https://www.lookmovie2.to/movies/play/1696050273-bingo-the-king-of-the-mornings-2017
Masina - (Luminous as ever and did not lose a beat from her far earlier Fellini performances, which this one is closer to in terms of creating this sort of very specific off-beat in some ways sad woman. Although her Ginger is more complicated than just being sad, what Masina does so well is showing the shifting emotions in and around her living out the old days in the sequence. Doing so in her usually charming way on the surface but through that creating the sense of her acceptance of having moved on, along with other moments of more intense vulnerability denoting her uncertainties with even the reliving in the moment. Masina shows the way each of these fade in and out between positive and negative connections of memory, regret with nostalgia with such natural ease in each motion of it, and while not quite up there with her 50’s starring roles, it is a very strong reminder of her talents.)
Carter - (One in many ways yearns for this Carter again, and not the youth, but the decidedly unmannered approach she has to the part. In a part that is a place that would be easy enough to play into the regalness of the whole affair, but Carter instead makes you deeply care about her Jane by playing it so humbly throughout her performance. Emphasizing the quiet intelligence from the first moment we see her, but someone who doesn’t flaunt it in any way. Creating the moving tragedy by showing the woman of genuine worth getting caught and stuck in the ambitions of others. Meanwhile within herself, keeping this quiet dignity in her work makes it all the more heartbreaking as you see the purity of her character in an especially honest way that contrasts so effectively against the ambitious men around her.)
Mourouzi - (A captivating enigmatic performance where you don’t know exactly what to make of her in her wild swings however she remains specifically charismatic in this very specific way. The swings never feel out of nowhere rather there is this strange internalized logic that she is able to create that leaves her ever so sincere in the strangest of ways.)
Mayaorova - (A performance that is just someone slowly dying made heartbreaking within her performance because what she does is consistently portray the sense of life in her even within the process of death. Her performance showed very specific this glint of that life just becoming dimmer and dimmer creating such heartbreak through that.)
Crampton - 3.5(When I mentioned that she made me feel some things it largely wasn’t due to her acting. Having said that, she gets to have some more fun than just being the damsel this time and goes from a pseudo straight man to a truly crazy sex maniac most effectively, and again MOST effectively. She does get to have some fun here and does so, even if the switches with her character plot wise just sort of happen.)
Lucas:
I believe I’ve given my thoughts on the Room with A View cast at some point.
Van de Ven - (Her performance leaves a strong impression in her one scene where she offers a calm comfort while showing the underlying sense of her own doom behind. Playing well the two sides to create the right haunting impact. This is further bolstered by her later scenes where you see as a woman of action though still very much human within her struggled actions at the same time.)
Williams - (Essentially one note in just playing it as pure evil violent slime ball the whole time, though in a cold way compared to Glover, however his way also works in just being the worst in a way that is entertaining.)
8000’s:
Pretend - (I mean the classic screwball setup realized as such by the performances more so than what is said in a way because it is the way Dunne and Grant play around the lie with each other that leaves such a strong impression.)
Motorcycles - (Very amusing bit of physical humor just particularly in the contrasting performances that really sell the joke more than anything. With Grant being so taciturn and Dunne loving every minute of it.)
Ending - (A great ending that is largely not screwball, other than the theoretical movement of the door, but however that is more of the nagging thought realized with Grant’s performance being subdued in the moment of honest reconciliation, against Dunne playing it so knowing particularly the ending which is super salacious with her “Good Night” without saying anything salacious.)
Tony:
I enjoyed it, if not was captivated by it, though Fielder certainly is going full Kaufman where it is difficult to tell where exactly the joke begins if there is a joke and where does it end exactly. And the episode was funny in parts due to moments of the sheer absurdity of the project, yet also quite surprisingly emotional in the recreations of the moments before death in the problem Fielder is trying to solve. And naturally with his co-pilot focus, Fielder as usual is pushing the boundary there exactly, really pushing one’s comfort particularly using the relationship sensitivity on purpose for his own ends, which again how exactly earnest Fielder is again something he’ll never say.
Brazinterma:
I’d be open to it.
Louis: Thoughts on The Studio (so far) or Andor's first story arc if you've seen them?
Your thoughts on K. Todd Freeman, Vincent Cefalu, and Anna LaMadrid's acting in The Rehearsal? And what did you think of the moment where Patrick breaks down in tears (couldn't find a clip of it online)?
Anonymous:
The Studio I think is watchable but honestly think you could make a far better show with the resources/guest stars the series has at its disposal. Every bit I think "that's kind of amusing" but I never think "that's hilarious" where it feels like every concept could go further in the funny or the satirical bite. It also doesn't help that I really just don't like Rogen as a lead in general though it is the most I've liked Ike Barinholtz, but that's not saying a ton.
Andor continues to impress, and I guess you needed someone who didn't care about Star Wars to make great Star Wars, because Gilroy has done it again. It's amazing how cinematic it is, how much genuine depth they're bringing to the world and particularly the idea of what the oppression of the Empire truly means. Creating such captivating politics, espionage and personal drama combined. The idea of a Mon Mothma's daughter's wedding being one of the most captivating things in modern Star Wars, sounds like a joke, but it is in fact the truth, where every interaction there is steeped in character, and expands the world. The wheat planet was captivating basically horror of Nazi occupation though via Star Wars so effectively done with a shocking death by how casually it was done. The Empire brass scenes were fantastic in the way that balanced the sense of systematic evil in a genuine way but tip toeing around it in satire, with the crown jewel being the face off between Dedra and Kathryn Hunter. I'd say the least was Cassian being stuck with the idiot rebels, though his initial escape scene was great and there were still good moments there. But lesser Andor is better than the majority of all modern Star Wars so, sufficiently to say I am definitely in for the rest of the season.
Louis, I may be late but have you watched You? Thoughts?
I've seen The Quick and The Dead, which is one of those "Hey, it's that guy!" movies where half of Hollywood is involved (which alone would be entertaining enough) but is a true wild ride anyway. I was skeptical about Raimi's style working for westerns, but i am completely on board.
Stone - 3.5
Hackman - 4/4.5
Crowe - 4.5
DiCaprio - 2.5
Henriksen - 3.5
3s for the rest
Lou, since you never actually gave your Oscar predictions this year, who were you predicting for these categories?
Picture
Director
Original Screenplay
Actor
Actress
Editing
International Feature Film
Harris: Do you mean the most recent one.
Harris: Louis doesn't make predictions till after CANNES.
Luke and Anonymous: Yes, the most recent ceremony. Was he predicting Moore or Madison for Best Actress, Anora or Conclave for BP, etc.
Tony:
I mean all three performances are with a very specific purpose of just kind of reality of the moment, with Cefalu perhaps having the greatest challenge as such because he needed to be convincing to someone not in on the rehearsal. Obviously it isn't really creating the character beyond the moment so to speak, however each are convincing as such in that extreme specificity of the endeavor.
That moment perhaps marked the shift in the nature of the piece, given the first episode was just largely funny in the silliness of that rehearsal, while the Patrick situation ends up twisting marked by his breakdown, where no matter what was going with him exactly real emotions came out of the situation. Now I think it could've been a lot of different things in truth why he never came back, but I think in the moment you saw "the mark" feel it too much in Nathan's plans as it skewed to something entirely different.
J96:
Given that's the first time I've heard about such a show. No I have not.
Harris:
I got Editing (Conclave as I thought they'd lean for the "most" editing as is sometimes the case), Song (was hoping for a Perez shutout and for us to be done with Warren nominations), Animated (Wild Robot, which I thought it would be Flow but forgot to change it), Doc (Porcelain War which conversely I foolishly changed to last minute) and as per usual the shorts wrong.
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the cast of The Accountant 2 and Havoc.
Louis: If acting is indeed your favourite aspect of filmmaking to write about, what makes it that for you? And other than acting, which area do you enjoy analyzing the most, and why?
Just finished The Pitt. Loved it. It’s like the best possible version of a hospital procedural. Wyle deserves the Emmy. Really hope Taylor Dearden makes it into Supporting Actress.
Anonymous:
Affleck - 3(Some might call me generous but I think if you envision the worst possible scenario with this performance it looks much worse than what Affleck is doing here. And while much of this is being much more comedic within the situation, Affleck’s performance still carries with a certain conviction to it regardless without going into the extremely questionable territories it would be very easy to bring this type of character to.)
Bernthal - 3.5(Bernthal really is playing against the film in a way because he really isn’t taking things all that seriously though he is going all in in terms of trying to make the scenes he’s in more entertaining. And to his credit, as weird as his role is here, Bernthal does manage to be entertaining in playing just the constantly gruff style of the character. Much of that is comedic in nature and his bits work best just by Bernthal playing up to the extreme of that gruffness. Contrasting that though are just a few moments of portraying his frustrations with Affleck, due to his condition, where you see his genuine vulnerability that while seemingly at odds with the overall tone of the piece Bernthal pulls it off.)
Addai-Robinson - 2.5(Doesn’t leave too much of an impression either way as a character who is designed almost entirely for exposition.)
Pineda - 2.5(Conceptually such a weird role and in terms of her overall performance she’s okay but not overly distinctive as this type of stoic killer type of role.)
Morgan & Harvey - 2(Instantly forgettable villains.)
Hardy - 3.5(I started watching the first episode of Mobland and nearly cheered when I heard Hardy speaking in his own accent. Though to be fair I think Hardy’s NY accent, within the scheme of Hardy accents anyways, is perfectly fine. But his best acting actually is in the final showdown where you get Hardy’s real presence doing its work just through bringing that conviction and gravitas to the moment. The first half, he’s fine but the role is pretty tired and doesn’t really offer much to play with.)
Mei Li - 3(Thought she was okay in bringing this contrasting spunkiness to the exasperated Hardy but it feels like something that could’ve been exploited to a far greater degree than we get here.)
Cornwell, Sepulveda - 3(In terms of just playing the emotional reactions of the survival instincts in the action scenes I thought they were more than decent, in terms of making me actually care about their characters though, they struggled a bit.)
Guzman - 3(I’ll certainly take some Guzman who I’d like to randomly show up a bit more often and his performance here at least grants a bit more character in what is usually a more forgettable role.)
Whitaker - 3(Get a bit of both post and pre Oscar Whitaker. He has some pre-Oscar moments right at the end where he does sell the emotion nearly non-verbally, when doing the pompous politician early on though he’s fairly over the top.)
Olyphant - 3.5(I’d say MVP because he manages to enliven scenes a bit by just owning the sleaze of the character, and just bringing the right callousness to every reaction he gets. He really knows how to accentuate a moment to be extra hideous in the right way. Although certainly still an underwritten role he does what he can with it.)
Tony:
I would say direction because of the multifaceted nature of it, given it is technically part of every aspect of the film, while also being something that speaks to the “whole picture” but also how every single scene/moment turns out connects to direction.
1. Joaquin Phoenix
2. Kamel El Basha
3. Jamie Bell
4. Vladimir Brichta
5. Josh Brolin
REALLY hoping for Get Out to sneak into the top ten, I honestly wouldn’t mind if it swapped places with Dunkirk though the odds of that feel slim. An upgrade for Kaluuya seems fairly likely though.
I’m also about half an hour into Marjorie Prime, I’ve loved Lois Smith in so many small roles that I had to know how she would fare in a lead performance, so far she’s killing it!
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