#55 — Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, 1952) When Adolph Green and Betty Comden wrote the script for Singin’ in the Rain, an MGM musical conceived as little more than a vehicle … Continue reading Greatish Performances #55
#54 — Ray Liotta as Ray Sinclair in Something Wild (Jonathan Demme, 1986) More than anything else, it’s the sense of calm that I remember. When Ray Liotta shows up on screen as Ray Sinclair, he slow plays the character’s … Continue reading Greatish Performances #54
#53 — Jenny Slate as Donna Stern in Obvious Child (Gillian Robespierre, 2014) When Gillian Robespierre developed her feature directorial debut, Obvious Child, she had Jenny Slate in mind for the lead role of Donna, a woman whose drunken canoodling … Continue reading Greatish Performances #53
#52 — Haley Lu Richardson as Casey in Columbus (Kogonada, 2017) In Columbus, Haley Lu Richardson plays a young woman waiting for her life to start. Intelligent and engaged in the world around her, Casey is about one year out … Continue reading Greatish Performances #52
#51 — Nicole Kidman as Alice Harford in Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999) Across his storied career, Stanley Kubrick left many actors feeling broken. Nicole Kidman wasn’t one of them. “You always think, ‘Ah, I could have done better,’” … Continue reading Greatish Performances #51
#50 — Lee Grant as Joyce Enders in The Landlord (1970) Lee Grant was accustomed to fighting for what she wanted. Grant was placed on the infamous Hollywood blacklist after delivering a pointed eulogy for character actor J. Edward Bromberg, … Continue reading Greatish Performances #50
#49 — Sidney Poitier as Tommy Tyler in Edge of the City (Martin Ritt, 1957) Sidney Poitier became an icon so quickly that it was all too easy to lose sight of him as an actor. When he claimed an Oscar … Continue reading Greatish Performances #49
#48 — Mila Kunis as Lily in Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2010) When my past assertions that Mila Kunis delivers one of the strongest performances — maybe the strongest performance — in Black Swan were met with surprise of even derision, I … Continue reading Greatish Performances #48
#47 — Delroy Lindo as Rodney Little in Clockers (Spike Lee, 1995) Through the nineteen-nineties, there was no shortage of gangstas and drug dealers in U.S. cinema. It was partially a reflection of the fretful concerns of the time, when the crack … Continue reading Greatish Performances #47
#46 — Raul Julia as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1991) Movie screens weren’t big enough for Raul Julia. He started working in film in the early nineteen-seventies and picked up a few additional credits throughout the … Continue reading Greatish Performances #46
Coffee for Two 