Cinema and Popcorn

BEST ACTRESS "The bloodbath". Best Actress 2022 race is simply a warzone for predictions folks. I believe there are 5 spots for 10 legit contenders plus Jennifer Hudson ( Respect ), who didn't make my shortlist. The safer player here is Kristen Stewart , who portrays Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín's Spencer - her performance was met with universal critical acclaim and she's having a killer early awards season, with tribute prizes, critics groups nominations and tons of Oscar buzz as the only "serious" candidate for a win (since Venice Film Festival, actually). But what about general audiences aren't embracing the movie as critics? Still, a nomination seems locked for her (and she's in the right moment of her career after raved turns in small indies post- Twilight career phase). Next, it comes Nicole Kidman who plays Lucille Ball in Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos ... and while the movie is not being received with rave reviews from crit...

Joaquin Phoenix acted alongside Gwyneth Paltrow in the underrated/underseen Two Lovers back in 2008, but the actress' most memorable works remain some late 90's / early 2000's pictures.  Here are my 4 favorite movies with Gwyneth Paltrow: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)   /    Emma (1996)   /   Se7en (1995)   /    The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Our last actor - Scarlett Johansson - starred Spike Jonze's masterpiece Her (2013) alongside Joaquin Phoenix . He has been working since 1985, but he managed to build an amazing career! So, here they are - my 4 favorite movies with Joaquin Phoenix (Her is not included since I  can't include the movie that brought him here): Gladiator (2000) / Two Lovers (2008) / The Master (2012) / You Were Never Really Here (2017/18)

I'm still having a look back at the past decade of movies, which means... more lists! It's not always about delivering the best performance in order to be considered one of the greatest actors of a decade - it also takes the ability to open a big production movie, to turn a small indie into a box-office hit or work with some of the most prestigious directors/auteurs these days. That's how I made this list: performances + prestige movies + box-office numbers! And we've got our last decade's biggest male movie stars:

1. Adam Driver 2019 looked promising for Adam Driver back in Sundance Film Festival, when The Report was released under heavy critical praise. Driver himself received glowing reviews for his performance and he was considered an early Oscar contender for his work, but then Amazon got the distribution rights of the movie and something just went wrong: the movie didn't do well at the box-office and the studio wasn't able to capitalize its early awards buzz, with only Annette Bening being able to get a Golden Globe nomination. Then, Driver met critical acclaim once again, this time during Venice Film Festival for his performance in Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story - in fact, they were the best reviews of his career and he won numerous critics associations' prizes for Best Actor, plus an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG and Critics' Choice Award nods (losing all the big awards to Phoenix). The year seemed bright for Driver thanks to t...

Well, it was a Golden Globes edition full of surprises. From the Missing Link win over the Disney giants Toy Story 4  and Frozen II to the win of 1917 over The Irishman , Marriage Story or Joker . Pleased to see the HFPA didn't go for Jennifer Lopez ( Hustlers ), but for Laura Dern ( Marriage Story ) instead - not that I don't like JLo's performance, but it would be too cliché! The Irishman was completely defeated and it went home empty handed. Even Marriage Story underperformed here! This edition made one thing clearer: Best Picture is anyone's race and Laura Dern & Brad Pitt seem to have an Oscar win waiting for them (they're having the biggest sweeps of the season between the Globes and the critics prizes). I just got a 43% prediction accuracy this Golden Globes, which is extremely low when compared to other ye ars, but I really didn't see 1917 winning Best Drama and Best Director coming. But 3 of my predicted spoilers made the win, so...! Well...

I would call Best Actor the most competitive category in this year’s above the line Oscar races. So many worthy contenders that I must mention the ones I left out my top 10 simply because there aren’t enough spots for all of them: George McKay for 1917 ; Roman Griffin Davis for Jojo Rabbit ; Paul Thomas Hauser for Richard Jewell ; or Robert Pattinson for The Lighthouse . All worthy of a nomination or more widespread award recognition, but Best Actor is a bloodbath indeed.   Just like in my previous round of predictions, Adam Driver ( Marriage Story ) and Joaquin Phoenix ( Joker ) still are the clear frontrunners. The later delivers the showiest performance of the pack of Best Actor contenders – a man with psychiatric issues who turns into a criminal. It’s a descent to madness tale and Phoenix excels in a transformative performance! It might well be his first Oscar nod since his Oscar nomination for Best Actor for 2012's The Master - with amazing (snubed) performances i...