Amph At The Movies (film discussion thread)

Okay, if it feels like I'm derailing the thread drop me a line, but I decided to continue posting my end of the year round-up here.


2016 Best Actors

This list is based purely on films officially released in 2016 that I saw in calendar year 2016. Out of 53 movies, each packed with male performances, these are the fifteen best.



Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea

His finest performance yet . . . troubled, emotionally closed . . . nothing short of heartbreaking . . . he almost always chooses the quieter way . . . makes the larger moments of emotion even more powerful.



Julian Dennison – Hunt for the Wilderpeople

One of the performances of the year as a chubby, thug-life poser . . . his physicality is wonderful . . . an innocent earnestness sells even the most ridiculous moments . . . without ever becoming cartoonish.



Ryan Gosling – The Nice Guys

Gosling’s wastrel PI . . . is enough to get you in the door . . . incredibly funny . . . hilarious.



Andre Holland – Moonlight

Kevin is particularly well done by Andre Holland . . . moments of incredible power . . . a lengthy section at a diner.



Sam Neill – Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Finest performance in years as the crusty, cranky foster father . . . hilarious, dry, minimal . . . if I’ve seen a performance that said more with stillness & bewildered looks, I can’t think of it.



Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool

A force of nature . . . it isn’t just his facility with profanity and comedy; he’s able to make us believe in Wade as a real person by nailing more dramatic moments as well.



Trevante Rhodes – Moonlight

Rhodes creates a genuinely tragic figure as the young man version of Chiron . . . an intense front with sorrow behind his eyes.



Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals

Brilliant in a minimal, menacing performance as a mysterious, morally compromised lawman.



Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Nocturnal Animals

Real revelation . . . unbelievably terrifying . . .way out there on the edge . . . nothing short of award worthy.



Anthony Weiner – Weiner

Complicated, decidedly troubled human being . . . an empathetic crusader & a self-absorbed narcissist . . . you’re left to pick up the pieces and puzzle over the man.

Honorable Mentions



Russell Crowe – The Nice Guys

Crowe’s brutish enforcer . . . basically brilliant . . . hilarious, poignant.



Robert Downey, Jr. – Captain America: Civil War

Performances are nothing short of excellent. Robert Downey Jr. . . . distinguishes himself with . . . most likely his best performance since the nineties.



Joel Edgerton – Midnight Special

Another in a line of really amazingly good performances . . . locked down & minimal . . . tamped down & interior.



Jake Gyllenhaal – Nocturnal Animals

A really emotionally raw performance.




Shah Rukh Khan – Fan

A dual role . . . both star & fan in this thriller . . . really intense performance . . . his work as superstar really knocked me out . . . interesting layering . . . head and shoulders above anything else he’s done.

Next time, best female performances!

 

Hardy talks Bond and Nolan

Hardy opened up a bit more, though, with the mention of Christopher Nolan. When asked if he would have interest in a Bond film helmed by the man who directed him in The Dark Knight Rises and Inception with his old drama school pal Michael Fassbender as the villain, Hardy expressed excitement, saying, “Oh, wow, Chris would be amazing! Wow, that would be cool. That would be so cool.”
He elaborated by saying, “But Chris Nolan, what a fantastic director for a Bond movie. Because Daniel [Craig] is so good, and what [Sam] Mendes and Barbara [Broccoli] have done has been so impressive, that it would be a very hard reimagination to follow after. I wonder what the next installment of that franchise would become, and I think when you mention someone like Christopher Nolan, that’s a very powerful figure to bring into that world who could bring something new and create something profound—again.”

I have not watched Taboo yet, but they are recorded.

 

hahaha, I dig the notion of Anthony Weiner as a best male performance, technically it's a documentary but I do agree, that man is putting on a performance in a lot of ways.

Over the past 3 days, saw two very good (if very heavy) mournin' movies, A Monster Calls and Manchester by the Sea. I will admit to finding Monster Calls slightly more affecting, mostly because it involved emotional catharsis via Liam Neeson voiced tree monsters.

 

I remember when I had time to watch all the Best Picture Oscar nominated films before the awards show.

Out of the 9 Best Picture nominees, I've only seen two; Arrival and Hell of High Water. I want to see La La Land the next time I go to the theaters, but the buzz of Split has me wanting to see that first. All the other films, I'll just wait for the home video release.

 

Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and post my top fifteen female performances of 2016. My top fifteen male performances didn't bring in many new movies; all of the performances in that top fifteen came from films already listed on my top fifteen films of the year. Only Shah Rukh Khan's Bollywood action-thriller Fan was a new film. I'm glad to say that this list of the female performances brings in a lot of new movies, many of which just missed my top fifteen. There are actually eight movies mentioned here that didn't make my list of the top fifteen films and they're all (with one exception) really great movie that I highly recommend, so some new material here.


2016 Best Female Performances



Amy Adams – Nocturnal Animals

Wonderful, minimal & powerful as the haunted main character . . . far better performance than her work in Arrival.



Lily Gladstone – Certain Women

Amazing naturalistic, beautifully insular performance by Lily Gladstone . . . Gladstone has now shot to the top of my list of actresses to keep an eye on . . . unbelievably moving.



Rebecca Hall – Christine

Finally the performance I’ve been waiting for from her. With this turn, she enters the ranks of giants . . . depression, paranoia, rage, social anxiety . . . I felt absolute truth in Hall’s performance.



Agata Kulesza – The Innocents

Kulesza is brilliant as the haunted Mother Abbess of the convent . . . you might remember her as the atheistic aunt in the Oscar winning Ida . . . she’s even better here.



Jane Levy – Don’t Breathe

Levy is brilliant here . . . she’s able to access a deep, deep vein of terror that puts the ‘scared’ acting most actors do to shame.



Kim Min-hee – The Handmaiden

Superb . . . as the elegant lady . . . incredible precision.



Natalie Portman – Jackie

Portman manages to dig below the façade to give a genuinely great performance . . . the performance of a lifetime.



Kim Tae-ri – The Handmaiden

Performances within performances . . . never puts a foot wrong.



Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea

Williams is nothing short of brilliant . . . her final appearance in the film is . . . anguished and the acting is almost unbearable.



Mary Elizabeth Winstead – 10 Cloverfield Lane

She’s front and center and her performance holds the audience spellbound. Hang a movie on her; she’s up to the task.

Honorable Mentions



Blake Lively – The Shallows

She really owns this role and this film; she’s charismatic enough to carry the film and her performance is genuinely great.



Emma Stone – La La Land

Stone isn’t just good; she’s great. She saves an underwritten part . . . a performance of such sincerity I was transfixed . . .



Hailee Steinfeld – The Edge of Seventeen

Nothing short of wonderful . . . Steinfeld imbues the film with a wonderful dose of realism.



Rima Te Wiata – Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Maybe best of all is Rima Te Wiata . . . fifteen minutes of screen time, but . . . nothing short of blisteringly hilarious . . . something to behold.



Madison Wolfe – The Conjuring 2

A genuinely star-making performance as . . . the girl at the center of the evil forces.

Next time, the best 2015 movies I saw in 2016.

 

Looking at the rest of 2017, I'm surprised there are no releases scheduled the week before Star Wars The Last Jedi opens.

There are plenty of movies released afterward but December 8 is the only week in 2017 where no films are scheduled to be released.

 

The final Beauty and the Beast trailer was released last night, airing on last night's episode of The Bachelor. The trailer contains more of Gaston, the village (including Belle's reaction to Gaston), the annoyance Cogsworth has for Lumiere, more Belle/Beast interaction, and Arianna Grande and John Legend singing Beauty and the Beast in the second half of the trailer.

 

Beauty and the Beast is going to make so much money.


Sad to see Affleck either get kick out or voluntarily leave directing Batman. I'm sure it's a combination of him not being pleased with how things are working out and WB worried after Afflecks new movie flopping hard.

I'm sure every director I'd like to see won't get the job, Alex Garland, George Miller, Villeneuve....

 

Yeah, Beauty and the Beast was going to bring in the crowds because of the animated movie alone. But add a cast that has Emma Watson, Josh Gad, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, and it will be the biggest money making live action remake by far, and definitely one of the biggest box office hits this year.

 

Not sure. GOTG2 is gonna be YUGE! It could be 90% baby Groot & it will still clean house!

 

Live action Rats of Nimh has a director

I did not know it was first a Children's book called Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

 

Not saying it's going to happen, but I think it's possible Affleck may say **** it all together and give up the role as well.

He comes off as a perfectionist, and knows the damages of negative criticism. He's probably devastated that his movie didn't hit home, and he's more than likely not willing to participate in something that could further that damage.

 

Just saw RE TFC.

THANK THE FORCE IT'S FINALLY OVER!

 

I feel like he just isn't confident directing big budget movies. Total speculation I admit but that's what comes across as most likely to me.

 

The director of Bladerunner 2049 might reboot Dune

 

Been confirmed I believe.

Has anyone seen Shin Godzilla yet?

 

I have not seen Shin Godzilla though bits of it are on youtube. Honestly I don't think I'm missing anything.

Big wage lawsuit involving VFX employees, Apple, and others.

 

IT Remake: Losers Club cast

Being a fan of the book, I'd say that's pretty spot on.

 

I would be way more skeptical than I am about Bladerunner 2049 if it wasn't a Villeneuve film. I've basically loved everything I've seen of his. I will now feel exactly the same way about Dune. I hope he doesn't break his streak on some ***** franchise film. But I trust that he'll bring enough of his vision to make them significantly more than just franchise films. He's certainly great at genre films.