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These lists are feverishly scrutinized and then typically forgotten in far less time than it took to compile them.
To make matters worse, this year was aremarkably tepid onefor film.
So, how am I measuring a performance?
Lee Hye-Young,The Novelists Film
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In the argument, Lee appears unbending.
When she speaks to Kil-soo, she leans in and her eyes go soft with passion.
The result is both mundane and profound, much like an artists life.
What can I say?
I love to watch a man completely undone by love.
But it is actor Parks ability to play this consuming obsession with humanity that adds layers of intrigue.
Where Seo-rae is slippery, Hae-join feels solid.
On the red carpet she carries herself with a keen understanding of light and angles and her bodys contours.
WatchingBones and All,I realized the answer was yes.
But she does so in ways I wasnt expecting.
Her chemistry with Chalamet isnt the consuming, heated kind.
Maren gets answers, but not the kind shes wanted to find her entire life.
Gyllenhaal delivers a swagger of a man who is used to sizing others up for his own gains.
Most importantly theressomethingabout how Scorseses blondes and Lynch inThe Woman Kingwear clothing; theyre weaponizing femininity.
The way Lynchs Izogie weaponizes her femininity has bloody results.
Later she subdues this combatant while straddling him, and plunges her sharpened talon-like nails into his eyes.
Her movements are swift, precise, elegant.
Even outside of action sequences, Lynch imbues her physicality with an elegant ferocity and charisma.
Paul Mescal,Aftersun
I have never wanted to be a parent.
I have no strong attachment to my own father or images of father figures.
In camcorder videos of their time together, we can glean a sort of strain thrumming beneath the story.
Calum is a man struggling under the weight of the present.
Hes tense over matters financial, like when Sophie loses her expensive scuba mask.
What struck me in rewatching the film is how Mescal acts so marvelously with his back.
In two crucial moments of the film we bear witness to this.
Hes sitting on the bed, alone and naked and crying.
His body shakes with regret.
His back curls and bends as if its an errant question mark.
Hes not just overcome with sadness but sick with sorrow.
We never see his face in the scene, but we dont need to.
His back tells us everything.
After all, great actors use every inch of themselves.
Colin Farrell,After Yang
Colin Farrell has arguably had the best year of his career.
But its his gently evocative work inAfter Yangthat has remained with me most.
What does it mean for an actor to create an interior life for a character?
He carefully calibrates himself toward his scene partners.
Farrell matches Mins curiosity with a world-weary softness.
Farrell moves with particular care in the conversation, as if his words were made of glass.
Its gentle, but its capable of piercing the soul.
Blanchett is clearly building on the cool, powerful characters shes crafted before.
Sidelong glances, cocked eyebrows, everything brutally drawn with a knowing bent.
Ive always been intrigued by the women behind great artists.
Theyre often more valuable, more talented, more cunning than their partners are willing to see.
There is a single scene that cinched Hosss placement on this list.
Theres only twenty minutes left in the film and Lydias life is going tits up.
When Lydia returns from a trip, Sharon appears behind her in the dark at home.
Arms folded, leaning against the wall, Sharon is the strongest shes ever been in the film.
There are many things I accept about you.
What could you possibly do to make things better?
Tar is much more of a guest.
She knows all the politics and she can make it work.
But her performance is more than just a strong monologue.
Within Halls body we can see the tension and pain that Margaret walks with everyday.
Her eyes growing wild with anger and vengeful desire, her body as tight as a tuned piano string.
There are some things you dont get over.
And those are the very things that can be your undoing.
This is partially why Park Ji-Min lands at the top of my list.
Park immediately establishes Freddie as wild to the point of selfishly propelled toward destruction.
She carries herself with a thirst in every step that she hides with a tough, sexually charged exterior.
Shes charismatic to be sure, but its a dangerous charisma.
I knew I was watching the rise of a great actress when Freddie is on screen dancing.
