CONSIDER - Actresses of 2019, First Half

Here's our penultimate 'halfway mark, year in review' post for you. The 19 performances by actresses we treasured most at the movies thus far this year. 

We hope you'll sound off on these and share your own favourites in the comments... and we hope this list serves as a reminder to Oscar and Globe and SAG voters to keep lists of things that impress you all year so that at the end of the year you aren't just voting for the 5 things you just saw. Before we begin I should note that I sadly missed the three following female-led films and will catch up with them when given the chance later in the year: Her Smell, Little, and The Souvenir. Okay here we go...

7 LEADING ACTRESSES
(Jan 1st - June 28th releases)  

Jessie Buckley as "Rose-Lynn" in Wild Rose
Yes, the movie basically hands her the "star-making" reviews on a platter. It's ALL about watching her sing and emote. But the performance has lovely nuances, lived-in feeling, and own-worst-enemy fire. And that voice. Good god.  

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Would you rather?

WOULD YOU RATHER...

• Admire phalli with Russell Tovey?
• Keep warm with Kristin Scott Thomas in Scotland? 
• Dance with Kaitlyn Dever & Beanie Feldstein?
• Stand in awe of plant-life with Diane Keaton? 
• Sip wine in a French cafe with Rachel Bloom? 
• Play with Jamie Lee Curtis and her action figure?
• Reinterpret Will Smith songs with Tom Cullen? 
• Kill time with Channing Tatum? 
• Go sight-seeing with Tessa Thompson 

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide.

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Review: Booksmart

by Chris Feil

Booksmart feels like a gift from the comedy gods - it’s firmly built in the teen buddy comedy traditions yet with its own unique diversions, representationally rewarding without the condescension of pandering, and a gaspingly funny look at female friendship that is also authentically moving. An impressive first feature from actress Olivia Wilde, Booksmart is joyous and it is here to fucking own the summer movie season.

Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein star as Amy and Molly, two best friends who prioritized their studies all throughout high school in the hopes of landing in the elite colleges of their dreams. On the eve of graduation, they shockingly discover that all the hard-partying kids also managed to nail their SATs and get accepted into top schools despite appearances. In a comically foiled and app-assisted evening, the two young women try to make up for lost time by finding a way into the most epic pre-graduation party.

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SXSW: Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever in "Booksmart"

Abe Fried-Tanzer reporting from the SXSW Festival

Everyone loves a buddy comedy – usually. It’s rare that such films are both crowd-pleasing and critically well-received, since entertainment value doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with quality. Though its detractors would surely disagree, Superbad is a great example of a film that, while inherently stupid, manages to be intelligent and funny in its portrayal of two teenagers trying desperately to have sex before the end of high school. It’s fitting that Jonah Hill’s younger sister Beanie Feldstein, who is close to the age he was when he made that film in 2007, is one of the two stars of a new buddy comedy that feels particularly forward-focused.

In Booksmart, Feldstein plays Molly, the class president and valedictorian whose need to point out other people’s mistakes and shortcomings earns her few friends. She has the only friend she needs in Amy, played by Kaitlyn Dever, who shares her passion for homework and whose social skills are only moderately more palpable...

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Would you rather?

Our dumb celebrity-gawking game to get your week off to a silly start. Would you rather...

... have a whiskey at a poetry reading with Martha Plimpton?
... wander the Universal sound stages with Jeff Goldblum?
... snake charm with Anya Taylor Joy?
... take in an art exhibit with Carla Gugino?
... play shadow games with Glenn Close?
... get piggy with Billy Magnussen?
... shop for tasty pastries with Kim Cattrall?
... wear mythological creatures with Juliette Binoche?
... take a drive to Sundance with Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever, Alice Englert, and Thomas Mann?
... pose on the red carpet with Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and Patty Jenkins? 

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide!

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