Give Emma Stone (La La Land, Battle of the Sexes) this year’s Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. This category is going to be STACKED for 2023-released, eligible movies. With six weeks left before the nominations, I have seen all films perceived as frontrunners. Lily Gladstone (Kill of the Flower Moon) was the thought-to-be shoo-in for most of the year heading into the fall. Gladstone delivers an award-deserving performance. However, I would rather see her considered in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category, where I think that performance fits better (at the time of this post, it is still being determined which category Gladstone will be submitted for. The others expected to be in consideration for Best Actress in a Leading Role are Greta Lee (Past Lives), Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Margot Robbie (Barbie), and Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall). Each is deserving of a nomination. No one in this group has a chance to beat Stone or Gladstone. Stone is my pick to win.
Category Archives: Yorgos Lanthimos
The Favourite (2018)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of the Sacred Deer) is not my favorite director. His latest film, the Olivia Colman (Murder On The Orient Express, Locke) led The Favourite, is not my favorite film. His style doesn’t work for me. I like creative movies. I like unique films. I sometimes like eccentric movies. But weird movies are hit or miss, and his are mostly a miss for me. Ironically, The Favourite is probably his most “normal” to date. But I found myself disinterested in it from the start. Just as ironically, the much lesser recognized Mary Queen of Scots, which was released within a week or two of this movie (and a film that I enjoyed), was widely disregarded by critics and audiences alike (63%, 44% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 94%, 61% for The Favourite). I’m only reviewing this movie because it will likely get nominated for many Academy Awards, and sadly, Best Picture will be one of those.
The Lobster (2016)
Yorgos Lanthimos The Lobster is one weird movie. I don’t often do well with movies I find to be weird. Some movies that have gotten high ratings with the critics are so utterly dreadful that they are virtually unwatchable. The tone is simple, the dialect is weird, and the actions are peculiar, but the overall strangeness of these movies makes the experience a chore. I know some love Wes Anderson and to each his own. The Lobster feels very similar to one of these Anderson movies, but, oddly enough, it held my interest. While I didn’t understand why a movie so strange needed to be made, I found it engaging, and it really didn’t feel like I was watching it just to say that I watched it. While I didn’t like it and would never watch it again, there were parts of it
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