#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
#45 — Peter Fonda as Ulee Jackson in Ulee’s Gold (Victor Nuñez, 1997) For most of his tenure as a public figure, Peter Fonda was a better icon than actor. He served as the more genial familial representative of the … Continue reading Greatish Performances #45
#44 — Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice (Joe Wright, 2005) Years after giving the performance, Matthew Macfadyen expressed some regret over his experience playing the character fully named as Fitzwilliam Darcy in Jane Austen’s nineteenth century … Continue reading Greatish Performances #44
#43 — Jean Arthur as Bonnie Lee in Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks. 1939) By most accounts, Jean Arthur was miserable making Only Angels Have Wings. One of many aces director Frank Capra had in his usual deck, Arthur … Continue reading Greatish Performances #43
#42 — Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) Gene Hackman didn’t want to play Royal Tenenbaum. As he recounted, history told him that instances in which a filmmaker had written a part specifically for … Continue reading Greatish Performances #42
#41 — Brie Larson as Grace Howard in Short Term 12 (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2013) Written and directed by Destin Danile Cretton, Short Term 12 is intensely focused in portraying the tender existences of people connected to a group home … Continue reading Greatish Performances #41
#40 — Katie Holmes as April Burns in Pieces of April (Peter Hedges, 2003) There’s a passage of young adulthood that I find is rarely captured with accuracy and empathy in cinema. There’s an endless supply of teenagers navigating the … Continue reading Greatish Performances #40
#39 — Kristin Scott Thomas as Katharine Clifton in The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996) For those who care about film as a medium — who want to consume as much as possible and then openly grapple with what they’ve … Continue reading Greatish Performances #39
Coffee for Two 