Most Memorable 2019 Houses

Previously on 'Year in Review'

by Lynn Lee

Domestic spaces in movies can say a lot about the characters who live in them – class, income level, personal history, not to mention personality, tastes, even relationship dynamics (or lack thereof).  But how often does a home take on so much significance it effectively becomes a character in its own right?  2019 was a banner year for that kind of transmutation, as it turns out. 

Here are five homes (or in the first case, an anti-home) that particularly stood out:

5. Charlie’s L.A. apartment in Marriage Story
The nondescript flat Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) reluctantly rents in Los Angeles starts out as almost literally a blank space and quickly becomes remarkable for what it’s not: a home...

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Bette Davis: Prognosis Brilliant

by Murtada Elfadl

For no reason at all lets celebrate Bette Davis, one of the shiniest stars ever to grace the silver screen. Our love for her knows no bounds. Who else can make a movie about wearing a red dress instead of a virginal white one as riveting as did Jezebel (1938)? Can you imagine loving movies, actresses and movies about actresses without also loving Bette in All About Eve (1950)...

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Year in Review: Actors with amazing chemistry

by Nathaniel R

Remember all those years ago when the Mystic River (2003) team was trying to fight Lord of the Rings for the Oscar and trying a variation of “actors are the best special effects” as its campaign angle? That’s always been true even though those Hobbits deserved the win (if you think those movies would have been half as good without Elijah Wood’s purity and awe or Viggo’s resigned gravitas or Sir Ian’s commanding wit think again). In 2019 Avengers Endgame wouldn’t have obsessed the world so much if the core group of actors hadn’t spent the last decade building-up the love and squabbles of this superpowered chosen family. Similarly Captain Marvel benefitted early in the year from a fun chemistry between Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson, the actress bringing out a new, or at least revived, energy in Jackson’s umpteenth return to Nick Fury. Sometimes animosity is its own kind of chemistry, setting off dangerous sparks. Don’t you wish there were more scenes of Al Pacino and Stephen Graham as mouthy rivals in The Irishman, ice cream sundaes and all?

Chemistry is the magic and impossible-to-fake ingredient that elevates any human interaction to its most evolved form, including the fictional ones. Our “best onscreen chemistry” list begins with fascinatingly lop-sided relationships...

FAVOURITE EXAMPLES OF CO-STAR CHEMISTRY THIS YEAR

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Julia Fox in 'Uncut Gems'

by Murtada Elfadl

A star is born about an hour into Uncut Gems. The lead character, an obnoxious can’t-quit gambler (Adam Sandler) catches his mistress (Julia Fox) in the bathroom of 1 Oak Club in New York with The Weeknd. (Yes the Canadian popstar has a small role as himself.) What follows is a dragged-out funny intense loud lovers fight that starts in the club and spills into West 17th Street as Sandler and Fox scream barbs at each other and continue to fight to the bemusement of onlookers. She begs him to understand “Nothing happened, we were just doing coke.” He throws the ultimate final insult to end the fight “Go fuck The Weeknd.” Or so he thinks. That’s when Fox throws her whole body against the hood of the cab he’s trying to escape in, determined to continue the fight. That’s when we knew it; here’s an actress who will have a long career...

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What's next for the cast of "Star Wars"?

by Cláudio Alves

For actors, franchises can be a gift and a curse simultaneously. Money is a plus, certainly, and so is the newfound fame and recognizability. However, such treasures often come at the cost of artistic risks and availability to do anything other than the series they're then chained to. Long preproduction, long shoots and even longer reshoots fill the calendar and then there are endless promotional tours. In the end, the victims of the franchises are the performers' fans.

With the "end" of the Skywalker saga, it's a good time to ponder what comes next for the stars of the third Star Wars trilogy. Will these actors be able to ride the wave of popularity into exciting careers or will they forever be tied to these Disney-owned characters? We'll see…

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