It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person who cannot wait to spend 1000 words losing their mind about how the squashy melon sounds in Shadow and how makeup effects in Midsommar are essential to the survival of the human race is also someone who will struggle to find the words about why they liked watching Laura Dern in Marriage Story ('did you see her face? It moved! A lot! But then sometimes it didn't!'). For whatever reason, I'm always at a loss for words when it comes to writing about acting, writing, and directing--all the things that seem to loom largest when we watch movies. So if you're excited to hear my wax poetic about why Midsommar's triangles will save (or murder) us all, gird your loins, because that is definitely coming tomorrow or Thursday (depending on actual real world responsibilities). But today will be a bit of a reprieve from the crushing length of yesterday's nightmare post and the unseemly girth of craft category awards coming afterward. Instead of breaking down five entries for each category, this post (which, after three years running, is less an exciting new format and more just what I do now), will simply present my top five, followed by some brief category. Rejoice! For this post will only take an hour of my time and ten minutes of yours, rather than eon and a half that crept gently into that good night for yesterday's list blitz. The format works, and I'm sticking with it.
Alright, let's go: I've queued up the Last Black Man in San Francisco soundtrack (which whoo boy will we talk about that next time) and I'm ready for all my (and your) dreams to come true.
Note: I've scattered a few youtube clips throughout. No rhyme or reason as to which--just whatever I felt like going to find.
Best Actress
5. Florence Pugh-Midsommar
4. Awkwafina-The Farewell
3. Saoirse Ronan-Little Women
2. Scarlet Johansson-Marriage Story
1. Lupita Nyong'o-Us
Honorable mention: Renee Zellweger-Judy
Some great stuff here--Florence Pugh's dead eyes resolving into some kind of malevolent belonging, Awkwafina's constant subtlety and silence punctuated by brief big moments, and Saoirse Ronan (aka The Best Face in All Cinema) channeling emotion like a goddamn satellite. ScarJo is a great candidate for the win here, making good on the promise she made in 2003 with the Lost in Translation/Girl with a Pearl Earring double feature, bottling everything that's interesting about her on-screen presence and letting it hide and then find itself in Marriage Story. But the only real choice here is Nyong'o, who probably gives my favorite performance of the whole year--her dual role is by turns vulnerable and furious, a deeply physical, rusted metal convulsion. Champion work. (Seriously, watch this and just try not to get chills.)
Actor
5. Leonardo Dicaprio-Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
4. Robert Pattinson-The Lighthouse
3. Willem Dafoe-The Lighthouse
2. Antonio Banderas-Pain and Glory
1. Adam Driver-Marriage Story
Honorable mention: Carloto Cotta-Diamantino
Special shout-outs to Dicaprio, who, after years of doing his best to make me sick of him, remembered that it's ok to have fun every now and again, and to the Lighthouse boys--I don't want to live in a world where we don't have Dafoe's "why'd ya spill yer beans" echoing in my head, or one without R Patz's wild-eyed dancing. Still, this comes down to the top two, who are neck and neck. It's almost impossible not to give it to Antonio Banderas' career-topping, uh, pain and glory, but I ultimately had to Adam Driver, if only for the way he says 'but I'll never be his father again' and then tries to paint over it.
Supporting Actress
5. Julieta Serrano-Pain and Glory
4. Idina Menzel-Uncut Gems
3. Laura Dern-Marriage Story
2. Zhao Shuzhen-The Farewell
1. Jennifer Lopez-Hustlers
Honorable mention: Florence Pugh-Little Women
With apologies to Florence Pugh (who is absolutely stellar, by the way), but these women feel like the right five. Pain and Glory sounds like the Antonio Banderas show, but it doesn't work without the supporting cast, including Serrano's brittle and vaguely dismissive mother. And I've already talked about how Idina Menzel is giving maybe the funniest performance of 2019, but it doesn't hurt to remind everyone that she is a legend (as well as her co-star Julia Fox), and there's no reason why the boys need to take all the Uncut Gems oxygen. Dern and Shuzhen are each spectacular in their own ways (be it Dern's grabby little sandwich hands or her casual dressing down of Judeo-Christian gender roles or Zhao's calisthenics and weary side-eye). But come on, like we weren't going to give Ramona, designer of her own denim swimwear line, business entrepreneur, mother of fur coats, and crime artiste extraordinaire this spot? This is a massive star performance, full of heart and range and staggering physical skill, and it's an absolute embarrassment that the Oscars passed over this.
Supporting Actor
5. Wesley Snipes-Dolemite is My Name
4. Song Kang-Ho-Parasite
3. Tom Hanks-A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
2. Joe Pesci-The Irishman
1. Brad Pitt-Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Honorable mention: Asier Etxeandia-Pain and Glory
Wesley Snipes' character storming off set, fake intestines trailing in the wind, is the energy I'm striving to bring into 2020. I could also strive for Song Kang-Ho's dogged no-plan-is-the-best-plan realness (though it wouldn't end great for any of us). I could aim for the same kind of inscrutable kindness and two-way mirror connection that Hanks gets in A Beautiful Day...., and it'd probably be great for teaching, if not for real life. Heck, I could even try and be Joe Pesci, constantly reining it in, working to always be quieter and smaller. But I'm gonna have to go ahead and be Brad Pitt--the only guy in the room who knows exactly who he is, and what that means.
Director
5. Lorena Scafaria-Hustlers
4. Ari Aster-Midsommar
3. Mati Diop-Atlantics
2. Greta Gerwig-Little Women
1. Nadav Lapid-Synonyms
Honorable mention: Lulu Wang-The Farewell
Excruciatingly difficult category to narrow down this year, with seven different people all vying for the fifth slot, but ultimately Scafaria's sure hand and deft balancing of Hustlers' myriad tones won out (over Wang, as well as Bong Joon-Ho/Parasite, Robert Eggers/The Lighthouse, and Marielle Heller/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, among others). Aster makes it for a similar feat, keeping Midsommar as simultaneously hideous and funny as it is. Any of the top three could have won, and I *almost* gave it to Gerwig, but I had to go with Lapid and Synonyms, a movie that moves and feels like it has angels trapped beneath its skin, and can only exorcise them by rushing forward.
Original Screenplay
5. Marriage Story
4. The Lighthouse
3. Parasite
2. Synonyms
1. One Cut of the Dead
Honorable mention: Knives Out
Interesting (if fairly dour) variety here, with Marriage Story's Bergman in LA riff rubbing shoulders with the arch high poetry and skulduggery of The Lighthouse and Parasite's architectural schemes and haunted basement reveries. Synonyms almost eked out the win here, given how its fascination with language collides with its brazen and bonkers storytelling, but I've had to give the edge to One Cut of the Dead for its punishingly funny script that always finds a new way to fold in onto itself.
Adapted Screenplay
5. The Irishman
4. Transit
3. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
2. Hustlers
1. Little Women
Honorable mention: Avengers: Endgame
A weirdly sparse category this year that makes room for a movie I liked but didn't love (The Irishman). Transit's beautiful framing of its characters by preserving its literary origins (seemingly against its characters' will) but changing the chronology earns a spot here, as does A Beautiful Day...'s gorgeous deconstructions of the biopic. Hustlers would be a worthy winner here, weaving a Shakespearean epic of rising and falling fates through a g-string. But Little Women is the right choice here, as Gerwig's script reinvents the novel, adds Alcott's own words and correspondence as dialogue, and opens the narrative for a humanist approach that gives everyone the heart they deserve.
And now we're done again! There's still one more big post more (coming tomorrow or Wednesday, depending), as well as a summary post and final Oscar predictions by the end of the week. So fear not--if you were concerned you wouldn't get enough of my movie ramblings, you can rest assured that I am intent on delivering you more than you will ever need.
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