Hello, Gorgeous: Best Actress of 2019

A new series by Juan Carlos Ojano

The Best Actress shortlist in this particular year is noteworthy in that all of them appear at the very beginning of their films.  Three of the five are in the very first shot of their films. One is the first person we see in the film. Meanwhile, another film begins with a different actress (a younger version of the character), but is still the character of the nominated performer.

While not always indicative of how centered they are in the respective narrative of their films, it is nevertheless a striking gesture that informs how we were supposed to enter their stories. Even in two instances where there are other leads aside from the Best Actress nominee, the five films featuring these actresses position them as navigators of their own stories.

Are you ready? The year is 2019...

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Streaming Roulette, Dec: Sleepy Debbie, Angry Ang, and Winning Gandhi

After the jump you'll find a listing of everything that's new to streaming this month (December 2020). But first we pick two handfuls of titles and randomly freeze them with the scroll bar. Whatever comes up is what we share. Do these images make you want to see (or rewatch) the movie? (If you want to keep up with what's specifically available to stream from this film year you can read these earlier posts!)

It's me against the world. You're all I got baby.

The People vs Larry Flynt (1996) on Amazon Prime
True confession: I never understand why people thought Courtney Love was great in this (though I like Courtney Love as a musician). She's certainly raw but at least for me I can hear the lines being recited and the lack of training. But this feels due for a rewatch - perhaps for its 25th anniversary next year? How close do you think it came to a Best Picture nomination, given that it received only two nominations but they were biggies (Actor & Director)?

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Bombshell: Perfecting the Fox News look

by Cláudio Alves

Regardless of Bombshell's many problematic elements, there's one element that nearly everyone agrees is worthy of praise. We're referring to the astounding transformation of its cast into the famous faces of Fox News. Since the first teaser trailer dropped, many have marvelled at Charlize Theron's uncanny resemblance to Megyn Kelly. It's a remarkable feat of cinematic transfiguration that was made possible by the work of an Oscar-nominated makeup team as well as Colleen Atwood's clever use of costuming.

The movie has a limited view of the social and political insidiousness of Fox News, but, as it happens with many surface-level wonders, its look is on-point…

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The Film Bitch Awards Begin!

For those of you who haven't been around these parts forever, the title of our annual prizes is a bit tongue-in-cheek. We rarely feel bitchy about movies but instead live to praise them. The name comes from a roommate in college who, after hearing Nathaniel freak out when seeing a credit on the television and launch into feverish praise for an actor he'd never heard of said "you are such a film bitch"... the name stuck. This is our 20th year (gulp). Just to get us started each page is in tba form but we're ready to go with 3 appetizers (LINKS FIXED) for the 40 (!) categories...

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Great Acting or Great Makeup?

by Cláudio Alves

As soon as the first Bombshell teaser dropped, many were ready to claim Charlize Theron's performance as a great feat of transformative acting. She had become Megyn Kelly, apparently. That people were saying this after having only seen a couple of pointed glances and a tense smile left me perplexed. Were people reacting to the acting or the makeup? Still thinking about Theron, one remembers how she sailed to an Oscar in 2003 but Monster didn't get a much deserving Best Makeup nomination. Sure, that performance is incredible, but part of the transformation is the cosmetic wizardry of the makeup brush rather than the virtuosity of the actress.

When it comes to "transformative performances", a lot of people conflate great acting with great makeup...

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