Here I take into consideration both leading and supporting roles of
all the films these actors have featured in this past year. So it covers their
range rather than one specific performance, sometimes you will find someone
that will only have one credit but is too powerful in that part to pass by.
Click on the [OR] link next to particular films to find the original reviews I wrote at the time of their release. Not all will have them.
I throw this one in because this young actress was captivating. I only saw her once, in the subtitled Korean film The Flu [OR], and the character may have been a pretentious and sometimes annoying 7-year old girl, but the actress commanded your attention every time she was on screen, whether it be while she was suffering from said flu, searching for a lost friend or standing up to an army. Hope she eventually makes a jump to English language films.
Foxx ran both ends of the spectrum this year, with his slave in Django Unchained and then as the President of the United States under attack in White House Down [OR]. Both had their comedic touches, but whereas Django had its dark and emotional turns, WHD showed his goofy side to glorious effect. With his turn of the baddie in this year’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, that should be another interesting performance.
With a triple bill this year, including Welcome to the Punch, Trance and Filth [OR], McAvoy was messed up. In a good way though. Not content with working on one of the biggest movie franchises on the go at the moment, he seems to like to grow the beard out and become an alcoholic/addict in his down time! Filth was the real clincher – playing a despicable character and still commanding the audience’s attention to the end.
Bell’s subtle characterisations are at the foremost in the film In A World... [OR], which she wrote, directed, produced and starred in. Normally she will play the ‘other girl’ not getting much screen time to show her talents. Here though, she is front and central, where hopefully she will be much more often in the future.
Two words. Captain Phillips [OR]. This was the performance that really made him stand out, most importantly one of the last scenes of the film with his breathless take on a relieved and shaken captain were truly heartfelt. His other film of the year was Saving Mr. Banks [OR], in which Hanks played the enigmatic Walt Disney. Playing second fiddle to Emma Thompson’s P.L. Travers he still managed to grab your attention when they shared the screen.
The lead actress in The Call [OR] may have been Halle Berry, but it was the performance by – the not so young - Abigail Breslin that brought it home for me. The fear and suspense that was manufactured throughout the film, was due to Breslin’s understated and emotional performance as the kidnapped teenager. With a string of upcoming movies, it should be interesting to see her grow more from the excellent younger parts she played in films such as Little Miss Sunshine, My Sister’s Keeper and Zombieland.
There were two stand out films this year, Philomena [OR] and Alan Partridge [OR], both very different beasts which both included engaging performances from Coogan. Ever the funny man, he commanded screen presence in his comedic turn as Alan Partridge who finally took the step onto the big screen. In Philomena, Coogan may have been overshadowed by Dench but his acerbic wit and the varying emotional states proved his dramatic chops are just as good as his comedic.
I’ve been a fan of Shannon’s for a while, after seeing Grand Theft Parsons and after 2012’s Premium Rush was firmly back on my radar again. He showed up in three films this year – Mud in which he only played a minor part, Man of Steel [OR] as the main antagonist General Zod and the film that best highlights his acting prowess, The Iceman. Playing Richard Kuklinski, a notorious hitman for the mob, Shannon commanded your attention as he carried the film with his dark and tense take on the traditional family man with a big secret.
With only one film under her belt this year, Dench still comes in as runner up in the Best Actor category with her haunting and inspiring take on real life lady Philomena Lee, from the heartbreaking film Philomena [OR]. As I mentioned in my review back in November, this character reminded me very much of my own grandmother which is probably my subconscious reasoning for her to be so high on the list. But even putting this aside, this particular performance was enthralling, as recognised by her Oscar nomination.
Franco popped up in a few films in 2013, some better than others. As you may have already noticed he features in the Winner of the Most Surprising film of the year – only in a minor part – and (spoiler!) he may just pop up again somewhere on the Best Film countdown. He has proved himself not just to be a diverse actor - playing bad guys, good guys, stoner guys and himself – but also appears to be one of the hardest working guys in the industry as a director, writer, producer, screenwriter, blogger, teacher and Microsoft Paint wiz.
The last year’s crop of films included Spring Breakers, The Iceman, Oz the Great and Powerful, This Is The End [OR] and, two that I missed, Lovelace and Homefront (there are others on IMDb, however I don’t remember seeing them listed in my cinemas). The one performance that really stood out for me though was his metal-grilled gangsta, Alien, in Spring Breakers. A weird and wonderful part that took any preconceptions you may have had of Franco and threw them out the window. Here, he dials up the crazy and runs with it until the bitter end.
Anyone I missed out? Of course there were many other great performances throughout the year, however these were the ones that particularly stood out for me! Next up, the final category - Best Film.
Click on the [OR] link next to particular films to find the original reviews I wrote at the time of their release. Not all will have them.
I throw this one in because this young actress was captivating. I only saw her once, in the subtitled Korean film The Flu [OR], and the character may have been a pretentious and sometimes annoying 7-year old girl, but the actress commanded your attention every time she was on screen, whether it be while she was suffering from said flu, searching for a lost friend or standing up to an army. Hope she eventually makes a jump to English language films.
Foxx ran both ends of the spectrum this year, with his slave in Django Unchained and then as the President of the United States under attack in White House Down [OR]. Both had their comedic touches, but whereas Django had its dark and emotional turns, WHD showed his goofy side to glorious effect. With his turn of the baddie in this year’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, that should be another interesting performance.
With a triple bill this year, including Welcome to the Punch, Trance and Filth [OR], McAvoy was messed up. In a good way though. Not content with working on one of the biggest movie franchises on the go at the moment, he seems to like to grow the beard out and become an alcoholic/addict in his down time! Filth was the real clincher – playing a despicable character and still commanding the audience’s attention to the end.
Bell’s subtle characterisations are at the foremost in the film In A World... [OR], which she wrote, directed, produced and starred in. Normally she will play the ‘other girl’ not getting much screen time to show her talents. Here though, she is front and central, where hopefully she will be much more often in the future.
Two words. Captain Phillips [OR]. This was the performance that really made him stand out, most importantly one of the last scenes of the film with his breathless take on a relieved and shaken captain were truly heartfelt. His other film of the year was Saving Mr. Banks [OR], in which Hanks played the enigmatic Walt Disney. Playing second fiddle to Emma Thompson’s P.L. Travers he still managed to grab your attention when they shared the screen.
The lead actress in The Call [OR] may have been Halle Berry, but it was the performance by – the not so young - Abigail Breslin that brought it home for me. The fear and suspense that was manufactured throughout the film, was due to Breslin’s understated and emotional performance as the kidnapped teenager. With a string of upcoming movies, it should be interesting to see her grow more from the excellent younger parts she played in films such as Little Miss Sunshine, My Sister’s Keeper and Zombieland.
There were two stand out films this year, Philomena [OR] and Alan Partridge [OR], both very different beasts which both included engaging performances from Coogan. Ever the funny man, he commanded screen presence in his comedic turn as Alan Partridge who finally took the step onto the big screen. In Philomena, Coogan may have been overshadowed by Dench but his acerbic wit and the varying emotional states proved his dramatic chops are just as good as his comedic.
I’ve been a fan of Shannon’s for a while, after seeing Grand Theft Parsons and after 2012’s Premium Rush was firmly back on my radar again. He showed up in three films this year – Mud in which he only played a minor part, Man of Steel [OR] as the main antagonist General Zod and the film that best highlights his acting prowess, The Iceman. Playing Richard Kuklinski, a notorious hitman for the mob, Shannon commanded your attention as he carried the film with his dark and tense take on the traditional family man with a big secret.
With only one film under her belt this year, Dench still comes in as runner up in the Best Actor category with her haunting and inspiring take on real life lady Philomena Lee, from the heartbreaking film Philomena [OR]. As I mentioned in my review back in November, this character reminded me very much of my own grandmother which is probably my subconscious reasoning for her to be so high on the list. But even putting this aside, this particular performance was enthralling, as recognised by her Oscar nomination.
Franco popped up in a few films in 2013, some better than others. As you may have already noticed he features in the Winner of the Most Surprising film of the year – only in a minor part – and (spoiler!) he may just pop up again somewhere on the Best Film countdown. He has proved himself not just to be a diverse actor - playing bad guys, good guys, stoner guys and himself – but also appears to be one of the hardest working guys in the industry as a director, writer, producer, screenwriter, blogger, teacher and Microsoft Paint wiz.
The last year’s crop of films included Spring Breakers, The Iceman, Oz the Great and Powerful, This Is The End [OR] and, two that I missed, Lovelace and Homefront (there are others on IMDb, however I don’t remember seeing them listed in my cinemas). The one performance that really stood out for me though was his metal-grilled gangsta, Alien, in Spring Breakers. A weird and wonderful part that took any preconceptions you may have had of Franco and threw them out the window. Here, he dials up the crazy and runs with it until the bitter end.
Anyone I missed out? Of course there were many other great performances throughout the year, however these were the ones that particularly stood out for me! Next up, the final category - Best Film.
No comments:
Post a Comment