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Marianne Jean-Baptiste is unforgettable in HARD TRUTHS. In the wrong hands, this would be a cuddly curmudgeon-with-a-heart-of-gold performance. But as a woman with an almost instinctive need to complain and lash out at others, she is amazing. Pansy is angry and bitter, but Jean-Baptiste performance makes us understand that she doesn't know why she is that way, and that it's crushing her. Mike Leigh lets her abrade every person Pansy comes across, but then lingers to so we see the panic, disgust and confusion that sets in after, making her neither an antihero that we love to hate, nor a caricature. She's a human in deep need of love and help, but the film never gives us the reassurance that those things are on their way.
Tilda Swinton in Problemista shoes she can truly do anything as an actress. Absolutely hilarious.
My pick is Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness on degree of difficulty. Kirsten Dunst is incredible in Civil War, but I can see other accomplished actors delivering a great performance in that role. Plemons portrays an assortment of surreal, non-sensical weirdos that only exist in the kinds of nightmares you get from eating nachos at midnight and makes me go "Yeah, i buy that."
Justice Smith plays Owen as if they cannot bare the weight of their own skin. If I Saw the TV Glow brought you to tears it is because Smith (and his counterparts, Ian Foreman and Helena Howard) summoned a fundamental yearning for grace at conflict with a paralysis so familiar as to be terrifying. The concluding moments of this performance have stayed with me all year; Smith's performance offers an immediate humanity to Schoenbrun's cascade of existential questions; Foremost, who are we if we cannot face ourselves honestly?
Unfortunately I have not seen Anora yet so I can't tell how good Mikey's performance is.
I therefore voted for the everlasting Ralph!
He is like wine, he gets better with age and he is surely doing amazing work. His portrayal of Dean Lawrence who seems so uninterested in the Pope position and yet he has ambitions of his own is really convincing. Ralph can communicate anything with just a raised eyebrow and he does a lot of work here with just is facial expressions. Moreover, this is the only role which involved the rescuing of tortoises...So I am all in. Go Ralph...Hopefully he will get the Oscar he should have been given for Budapest Hotel
Marianne Jean-Baptiste in HARD TRUTHS by a mile
I have to give some love (and some Golden Brick support) to June Squibb in Thelma. The film is pretty straightforward, but it is buoyed not only by Squibb's performance, but also Richard Roundtree and Fred Hechinger. Squibb manages a deft shift from supporting actress to lead so smoothly that it makes me a little sad for the movies that we didn't get to see her carry throughout her career.
If more people were able to see it, they would say Kani Kusruti in All We Imagine As Light, who has a tender moment with a rice cooker that I won’t forget.
My vote goes to Julia Louis-Dreyfus for her breathtaking performance in "Tuesday," as a mother going to extraordinary lengths to keep the angel of death — well, mangy parrot of death — from taking her daughter, even if it destroys the balance of existence. People always act surprised when a comic actor delivers in a serious role, but it should be no surprise here. Not only has Louis-Dreyfus proved herself in serious performances (mostly for director Nicole Holofcener), but her performance in "Tuesday" is one that requires perfect comic timing. A straight dramatic actress could. never have pulled off the moves Louis-Dreyfus does here.
Cheers,
Sean Means,
Salt Lake City
Stewart is such a talent and was amazing in this and deserves some love during awards season. Loved Madison in Anora too, but if I compare the two, Stewart is clear winner. Honorable mention to Katy O’Brian too!
Another raised hand for Kieran Culkin. Masterful work, so many layers.
There are many good options on this list, from Ralph Fiennes' dependably great performance in CONCLAVE that makes you think the movie is more profound than it is, to star-making turns by Mikey Madison, Aaron Pierre, and especially Josh O'Connor, but I went with "Other."
Now, which "Other" did I go with? Perhaps it was Chris Hemsworth in FURIOSA, who inhabits a deranged, post-apocalyptic Fagin who never lets us forget he's a human, or Glen Powell in HIT MAN, who shows that you can be a handsome, charismatic leading man and a scene-stealing character actor in the very same performance so long as you perform the right script. I'm very tempted to go with Nicholas Hoult in JUROR #2, who gestures at the everyman voice of reason character that once belonged to Henry Fonda, but who personifies the subjectivity of moral closure and justice in ways that are tremendously effecting while being never overplayed.
But I have to go with Timothee Chalamet in DUNE: PART TWO, who truly manages the complicated character arc that the entire DUNE saga hinges on. I knew that Chalamet's sensitivity, wiry frame, and ability to inhabit contradiction with a princely whininess would do well in PART ONE, when Paul is a beleagoured dukeling, but I was skeptical he could pull off the transformation into Muad'Dib required of him in PART TWO. But he aced it. There are two hinge moments that showcase just what makes Chalamet's performance so wonderful and nuanced. One is a quiet moment where Chalamet internalizes all the pain and anguish that fuels this character. After realizing that the Harkonnens will never stop hunting him if he stays in the North, he tells Zendaya's Chani that he'll head south and do what he must. The dejection and surrender of the line shows that he knows such a decision will kill the real Paul, but he has to do it to defeat his enemies. He can't even bring himself to look her in the eye. Later, when Paul crashes the Fremen conclave in the south after drinking the Water of Life, he transforms into the charismatic, religious zealot, telling prophecies, seemingly reading minds, commanding a massive room of armed soldiers with the sheer force of his conviction. Chalamet is not a physically imposing actor by any means, but in this scene, he commands our attention. It's no small feat to manage such a transformation. By the film's end, when Paul, Chani, and Irulan are left standing in the throne room, and Paul looks over his shoulder to give a dejected look to Chani, as if acknowledging his betrayal, I knew that the movie was nailing the tragic climax of Herbert's novel. And I knew that none of this would be possible if Chalamet didn't nail the assignment.
It's Mikey Madison in Anora. Why? I haven't seen any of these movies yet. I will see Anora eventually. I'd hate to miss the best performance of the year. Does that make sense? I hope not.
I’ll use an Other vote to add a second comedy performance to the list, Maisy Stella from My Old Ass. I admit recency bias here, but she absolutely nails it in this role, bringing energy and layers to what could be a stereotypical character. A great performance in a great movie.
sorry for the Adrien Brody, The Brutalist vote, in time you will see way I couldn't go with any of the fine options suggested, sometime something is just to powerful and gentle, an art performance that I feel some of it was made specially for me, but somehow other people understand. he shows the horror and the light of being a human, living in pain and surviving.
otherwise, Kirsten Dunst was great.
My vote goes to Kiernan Culkin in A Real Pain. You don't often see a character so deeply felt and so fully realized on screen. He may be conning the Oscars into running as a Supporting Actor, but he's the lead -- the movie starts and ends with him, and that ending shot is magnificent.
A lot of these still left to see, but I'm still confident in putting my vote in for Aaron Pierre.
If we're going strangely sexiest performance then Josh O'Connor takes this one no questions asked, but the more conventional award, it's Ralph Fiennes in a performance that balances comedy and drama more deftly than anyone since... Well, The Menu.
Madison has such a tough exterior and a shrewd, street smart mind, but almost believes she can use her body to swing up into the upper class. Madison is so agreeable and self-assured and then so angry and then so vulnerable, she wins this year by a mile for me. I found Faist better in Challengers. O'Connor was believably disheveled, but he didn't seem athletic enough to be good at tennis, or charming enough to be anyones friend or unforgettable lover.