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Entries in Best Actor (428)

Friday
Jan222021

Best Actor & Best Actress: An Uncommon Pair

by Eurocheese

Chadwick & Viola at odds in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" -- but will they be even at the Oscars?

It’s been over 20 years since we last saw a film take home Best Actor and Best Actress on the same night. While these categories are both very competitive this season, there is a possibility that Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom could combine Boseman’s posthumous career-best performance with Davis’ flashy titular role to make it happen again.

But how often have we seen this combination in the past, and under what circumstances? Let’s take a look…

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Friday
Jan222021

Oscar Charts - All acting categories two weeks before Globe & SAG nods

by Nathaniel R

Zendaya smiling because the camera is absolutely besotted with her.

As strange as it is to note, it's still worth reiterating that Academy voters don't begin to fill out their nomination ballots for another five and a half weeks (!!!) A lot of things can change in that long of a stretch of time. Films and performances can move in or out of favor in two weeks time, let alone five!  But here is where our crystal ball is right now...

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Tuesday
Jan192021

Almost There: Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Departed"

by Cláudio Alves

Many actors have long-lasting creative partnerships with their directors, bringing out the best in both artists. Unfortunately, when it comes to Oscar, not everyone gets recognized for these joint efforts. Many thespians don't get that golden recognition for their best work either, adding a tinge of bitterness to their triumph. Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese's 21st-century muse, did get nominated for two of the director's pictures, 2004's The Aviator and 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street. However, I'd argue that the actor's best performance in a Scorsese flick got snubbed. In 2006, despite a lot of precursor attention, The Departed failed to secure an Oscar nod for its ill-fated protagonist…

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Friday
Jan152021

Interview: Kingsley Ben-Adir on playing Malcolm X in "One Night in Miami"

by Murtada Elfadl

Kingsley Ben-Adir is having a breakthrough year. In fact that’s the award he won at the Gothams on the same day I talked to him over zoom. He acknowledges that his performance in Regina King’s One Night in Miami is one that brought him more attention than any previous role. You may remember him as Zoë Kravitz’s ex- boyfriend in the short-lived Hulu series High Fidelity or from the Netflix series The OA. But it’s his performance as Malcolm X that’s being talked about this season for a possible best actor nomination at the Oscars.

One Night in Miami, adapted by Kemp Powers from his play, imagines a historic night in which four Black icons Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) before he changed his name to Muhammed Ali, Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.),  Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Malcom X (Ben-Adir), come together in a Miami motel room in 1964 and debate their roles as leaders and celebrities at that moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Malcolm X is the one who set up the meeting and the one who has an agenda that becomes apparent as the night goes on. He’s at the center of the film giving Ben-Adir a marvelous opportunity to showcase his talent.

[The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.]

Murtada Elfadl: This film lives and dies by the interplay between the four actors. Can you talk about your relationship on set with Aldis, Leslie and Eli? There is passion to the performances and I think you're feeding off of each other. 

KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR: I think Regina very carefully hand-picked each of us. I chemistry tested with Leslie before I was cast...

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Saturday
Nov072020

The Oscar-worthy kids of 1987

by Cláudio Alves

The kids of Best Picture nominee Hope and Glory

It's not often that we see child actors recognized in the film awards race. In many regards, that's understandable. Kids aren't known for being the most disciplined of performers and it seems unfair to expect them to deliver complex characterizations, or to embody concepts and ideas that they're still learning. Furthermore, while every acting job is a fruit born out of several people's labor – the actors themselves, directors, writers, editors, sound mixers, etc. – when the performer is as lacking in agency as a child, it's easier to attribute excellence to those other folks' craft.  Nonetheless, good work is good work, and we should celebrate the greatness we see on-screen, regardless of how it came to be.

That brings us to 1987, the year of the next Smackdown, and a rare vintage that's stock full of brilliant performances by young artists. Curiously enough, the three Leading Actor performances paid special homage in this write-up all come from films about boys facing the harsh realities of World War II. First up, we have: 

Christian Bale, EMPIRE OF THE SUN

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