2023 "On Your Left" Film Awards
It's the time of year again to celebrate the best of the previous year's movies. I saw quite a few movies, either in theaters or at home via streaming - and as always, there was a mixture of the good, the bad, and the OK. I've written more about the movies themselves in my Year-in-Review post, but here I'll focus on the best performances of the year.
For this Oscar-style awards post, I'm sticking with my rule that only films I've seen are eligible. Other than that, if it's eligible at the Oscars this year, it's eligible for me.
Please also check out my year-in-review post with my top-10 movies of the year, most overrated and most surprising movies, and more, too!
Winners in bold
Runners-up underlined
Best Actor
Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Joaquin Phoenix (Napoleon)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Honorable mentions: Chris Pine (Dungeons & Dragons), Keanu Reeves (John Wick Chapter 4)
Didn't see: Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Colman Domingo (Rustin)
2023 featured a bevy of fine performances - not only do I have six nominees, but two other actors deserve honorable nods for genre work. Chris Pine had just the right deadpan - funny yet serious - to make Dungeons & Dragons the surprise hit of the year, and Keanu Reeves did outstanding action work yet again in his final appearance as his already classic bad ass John Wick. Tom Cruise is pretty much an automatic nomination for me with his consistently stupendous stunt work and star power. Giamatti fits his acting in with The Holdover's old school style, earnestly and endearingly grumpy yet warm. Murphy is on the other end of the spectrum, providing Nolan's newer style with a convincingly enigmatic lead genius. Phoenix, another perennial contender, gleefully casts aside biopic period conventions, exuding the flaws of a literally and figuratively small man trying to fill great boots. Wright - the second stuffy professor on this list - displays both nuanced family interaction as well as showy comedy skills. DiCaprio takes the top spot again this year; his character is just as ugly as Napoleon, if on a far smaller scale. DiCaprio also benefits from a closer focus, allowing him to build a unique character both slow and cunning, brutal yet at times sympathetic.
Best Actress
Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Margot Robbie (Barbie)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Iman Vellani (The Marvels)
Didn't see: Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
I'd never heard of Nyad, based on the true story of a woman determined to swim from Cuba to Florida, but I saw it when it came up on Netflix and Bening is remarkable in it. I wanted to give Vellani some credit for her charismatic breakout on the Ms. Marvel series and she is just as good (in a less prominent role) in the movie. I'm not outraged that Robbie didn't get an Oscar nomination but she did do a great job in Barbie - I think the movie itself is just bigger than her (title) role in it. Gladstone gave a uniquely understated performance in Killers - so quiet, yet so self-possessed - that so effectively countered the evil schemes of her white counterparts. There can be no question of the winner, though, with Emma Stone essentially growing from a newborn into a distinguished retiree in the span of two-and-a-half hours. The physical performance early on is hilarious and distinct, then her mental growth astounds - bravo!
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis (Air)
Vanessa Kirby (Napoleon)
Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Tessa Thompson (Creed III)
Leslie Uggams (American Fiction)
Disagree w/ Oscars: Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer - fine, but... really?), America Ferrera (Barbie - her admittedly great speech probably got this for her, but I think that's more about the writing), Jodie Foster (Nyad - very good, but not quite good enough)
Didn't see it: Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
A lot of differences for me in this category compared to the Oscar nominees! Viola Davis is great in a pretty small role as MJ's mom in Air; the daring, fateful phone call alone seals it for her. Thompson wrapped up her character's arc in the Creed trilogy very nicely here, even though her sage advice is not heeded by her husband (surprise, surprise!). Kirby is a worthy sparring partner (in multiple forms...) for Phoenix in Napoleon though I actually wish she'd been a little less featured. Randolph is such a nice, strong presence in The Holdovers; she could easily have overplayed it but does it just right and fits perfectly with her costars. Uggams is the best of them all this year, in the role of Jeffrey Wright's deteriorating mother in American Fiction. She anchors the family, even as both her past reminiscences and present dementia bring bittersweet anguish.
Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)
Nicolas Cage (Renfield)
Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey, Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Another fantastic group of performances - and even though I've cheated to get there (6 slots), this is a rare time where my nominees mirror the Oscars'! Any of these guys could have won in a given year, or at least been runner-up. My addition is Nicolas Cage, whose turn as Dracula in Renfield was gonzo, both horrifying and hilarious. Cage almost supplanted Ruffalo for me, but I decided he deserved a nod; his loutish playboy is the perfect hunter-becomes-the-hunted for Stone in Poor Things. Brown is intense as Wright's gay, wayward brother in American Fiction, insightful about everyone but himself. Downey, Jr. is great as the smooth but vengeful Washington power broker in Oppenheimer, although the script lets him down by turning him into a cartoon villain in the final act. De Niro is fantastic, horrifyingly realistic as the leader of the murderous scheme to swipe the Osage Nation's land, wealth, and pride, while appallingly casting himself (effectively) as their protector. But the winner has to be Ryan Gosling's Ken, the most fun movie or TV role I have seen in many years. He truly seems like Malibu plastic come to life and, all due respect to Robbie, is the top reason to enjoy Barbie - even while being hilariously fake, his reflection of real-world masculine attitudes is as cutting as any other part I've seen.
Best Director
Greta Gerwig (Barbie)
Goldstein & Daley (Dungeons & Dragons)
Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Didn't see: Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)
Goldstein & Daley, directors I'd never heard of before (Oh wait, they did Game Night! Check that one out, too), might seem an unusual nominee for Dungeons & Dragons. However, I base my director picks on the movies that combined a high degree of difficulty with overall quality, plus getting the most out of its elements (acting performances, story, etc.). I had very low expectations for D&D but found it one of the most entertaining movies of the year, and very well-made. Nolan is pretty much a shoo-in for me whenever he makes a movie, and for the most part he meets expectations despite Oppenheimer lacking the visual fireworks of his other films; he's not the winner for me, though, because the final act is a bizarre disappointment. Lanthimos already showed that he is very willing to do things differently than other directors, and takes that another step with Poor Things; while it's a little uneven, the overall effect and quality are tremendous despite the film's sheer strangeness. Scorsese is an all-time great, and this one deserves a spot near the top of even his impressive list; Killers is a daunting three-and-a-half hours but it felt shorter than some ninety-minute movies to me because it just keeps you riveted with both disquieting historical crime and justice, and somehow a little joy, too. Gerwig was the Oscar snub of the year, to me, as she wins my Best Director award. How do you make a movie about Barbie dolls that is both silly - but in a very smart way - as well as coyly adding effective social commentary? It all had to work together and with a tight focus, and it does: that's why Gerwig is my winner.
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