The 5 Best Movies of the Year So Far: Reviews and Oscar prospects

1. ISLE OF DOGS

Director: Wes Anderson

I'm not a big animated feature films fan, but Isle of Dogs dry humour and detail just amazed me. Full of beautiful details which reflects what a brilliant director Anderson is, the movie also works as a piece of social commentary and an essay about humans losing their humanity. Remarkable voice performances and a simple yet really fine work from Alexander Desplat in the original score department, Dogs can be considered (one of) the year's most unique cinematic pieces. And the dialogue? Oh! I loved the dialogue! Another small masterpiece from Wes Anderson.

OSCAR POTENTIAL

Best Animated Feature
Best Director (Wes Anderson)
Best Original Screenplay

2. A QUIET PLACE
Director: John Krasinsky

Silence has never been so loud as it is in A Quiet Place. Suspense, an original plot, elevating the monster movie to a whole new level, the movie succeeds because of its uniqueness. You are not used to truly brilliant movies in the terror genre. Emily Blunt proves to be a cinematic magnet (she's terrific!) and Millicent Simmonds also gets the spotlight in a movie that relies mostly on its sound design/editing/mixing work. In A Quiet Place, the leading star is the absence of sound and how it plays with everything else. Congrats to John Krasinsky!

OSCAR POTENTIAL

Best Picture
Best Director (John Krasinsky)
Best Actress (Emily Blunt)
Best Supporting Actress (Millicent Simmonds)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Sound Editing

3. YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Director: Lynne Ramsay

This movie is not everyone's cup of tea. From a non-straightfoward narrative, to [some] violence and a big couple of perversions, Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here is not a movie made to "like it" but a movie made to "taste". Leaded by a masterclass commanding performance from Joaquin Phoenix, this arthouse action movie might have a Taxi Driver + Driver + Taken flavour, but then you understand it has its own voice, its own brutality and its own beauty. Long live Lynne Ramsay!

OSCAR POTENTIAL

Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix)

4. BLACK PANTHER
Director: Ryan Coogler

Hiring an indie auteur to write and direct a Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster? Well,it doesn't seem obvious, but Ryan Coogler proved to be an excellent choice! Black Panther is the best MCU ever made: smart narrative (and a nice essay about globalization), full of heart, plenty of stellar action scenes and the best ensemble acting ever seen in a superhero movie after Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. But Black Panther is not only a good movie in the most straight meaning of "a good movie" - it also features great achievements in sound, costume design and production design. And let's not forget THE CINEMATIC LINE OF THE YEAR SO FAR: "Wakanda Forever!".

OSCAR POTENTIAL

Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Production Design
Best Costume Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Original Song ("Pray For Me")

5. LOVE, SIMON
Director: Greg Berlanti

An unexpected brilliant movie. Love, Simon defies the coming-of-age comedy standards and presents something that feels really fresh! The secret ingredient of the movie's uniqueness is its screenplay... and you can understand that by watching the movie. Nick Robinson proves to be a major promise in Hollywood and he makes for a charming lead. A sweet movie that surprises by the down-to-earth way it portrays the confusion of a teenage mind. We are not used to watch LGBT-themed movies as tender, funny and heart-warming like this one.

OSCAR POTENTIAL

Best Adapted Screenplay

TOP 35 Actors and Actresses Under 35 Working Today - 2017

The almost annual TOP 35 Actors and Actresses Under 35 Working Today is out, with me considering the performers' performances of 2016 also. We have a few changes since last year's list, with Greta Gerwig toping the list thanks to her last 3 great performances in Mistress America , Maggie's Plan and the Oscar buzzy acting turn in 20th Century Women . Scarlett Johansson comes second with her latest distinguished performance being in 2014 ( Under the Skin ), but she managed to be at the spotligh this year thanks to her fine turns in critically acclaimed movies: Hail, Caesar! , Captain America: Civil War , The Jungle Book (voice) and Sing (voice). Emily Blunt adds another great performance to her resume in The Girl on the Train and she comes third, while Elle Fanning 's turning into one of the finest actresses and she's getting to play more adult and complex parts like The Neon Demon and 20th Century Women 's (her two best performances since Super 8 ). Finall...

TOP 10 Most Promising Movie Actors (under 30)

Today I discussed about how awful some "teen icons" are and then we talked about some exceptions. So, I decided to make a little list, a TOP 10, with the male actors that I think that will become music in an ocean of noise somewhere in the future (I did one list before, but it was a little bit pathetic and I didn't justify my choices). Let's start... 1 - Ryan Gosling He may not have a huge list of movies in his body of work, but the few times he makes something, all the time he almost carries the movie. In fact, Gosling is a proof that talent does exist and that you don't need excentrical characters to receive raves. He rose to fame after the big screen adaptation of The Notebook (2004) and then received lots of critical praise for his performances in movies like Half Nelson (that gave him an Oscar, a SAG Award and other major awards nominations), Lars and the Real Girl (that gave him a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and other major awards nominations) and Fractur...

TOP 35 Actors and Actresses with or under 35 years old: 2018

I think it was my TOP 35 under 35 list I've ever done since I remember: so many great performers emerged last year with distinguished performances that elevated their previous works (I'm talking about Elizabeth Olsen , Lucas Hedges , Robert Pattinson , Gaspard Ulliel , Tessa Thompson or Jamie Bell , for example). I'm kinda sad I felt "forced" at letting Jonah Hill ( Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street ) and Emma Watson ( The Perks of Being a Wallflower , The Bling Ring and 2017's Beauty and the Beast ) out of the list. Congratulations to Kirsten Dunst , who turned 35 last year so she can not be included in this year's list - such an amazing child actress turned movie star, who delivered memorable performances in Interview with the Vampire (1994), The Virgin Suicides (1999), The Cat's Meow (2002) or Melancholia (2011). This year, Saoirse Ronan tops the list thanks to two great performances: On Chesil Beach and an iconic acting turn in Lad...

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