This is all leading up to my Top Movies of 2016, which will be published in the weeks to come.
HONORABLE MENTION: Meryl Streep- Florence Foster Jenkins- Florence Foster Jenkins
Once again, Meryl Streep was nominated for an Oscar. It's her record-breaking twentieth nomination, which speaks volumes about her talent as an actress. I missed Florence Foster Jenkins in theaters, so I attributed her inevitable nomination with her powerful speech at the Golden Globes, where she reprimanded President Trump. Upon seeing the film on DVD, I was reminded how outstanding she really is. Her performance as a socialite dying of syphilis with a dream of singing (and a blissful lack of awareness as to how awful she is) was truly inspiring. Her accent is spot-on and her antics perfection. Whether you agree with her speech or not, you cannot deny Meryl has talent.
Quote: "People may say I couldn't sing, but no can ever say I didn't sing."
HONORABLE MENTION: Taraji P. Henson- Katherine Johnson- Hidden Figures
Quote: Yes, they let women do some things at NASA, Mr. Johnson. And it's not because we wear skirts, it's because we wear glasses."
#10. Emilia Clarke- Lou Clark- Me Before You
Quote: "I know we can do this. I know it's not how you would have chosen it, but I know I can make you happy."
#9. Ruth Negga- Mildred Loving- Loving
Ruth Negga gave the most subtle performance of any nominee this year. I wish that Loving received more attention, but there is no denying that Negga is the star, and possibly the breakout movie star of the year. As Mildred Loving, she illustrates a tender portrait of a woman standing by the man she loves despite the prejudice surrounding them. She's strong-willed yet not outspoken. She just longs for a normal family life. One of the greatest scenes in the film is when she explains she will not move from Virginia just because interracial marriage is illegal. She was raised here. She will raise her children in the fields where she grew up, where they have the same backyard. It's a very moving performance that is acted beautifully. She seems like just an average person, but she is so much more.
Quote: "We may lose the small battles, but win the big war."
#8. Nicole Kidman- Sue Brierley- Lion
There is no doubt that Nicole Kidman is one of the greatest actors working today. However, it'd been six years since she'd been nominated. Lion became her newest awards vessel, as her portrayal of an adoptive mother letting go of her son garnered immense acclaim. Kidman plays Sue Brierley, the mother of protagonist Saroo. She struggles to raise Saroo and his more difficult brother over the years, and this culminates in a heartbreaking scene in which Saroo tells her he is leaving to find his real mother. Kidman's performance doesn't even seem like acting, it comes off as one of the most accurate portrayals of a mother the silver screen has seen. If you're a mom or if you have a mom, you'll be moved by Kidman's performance.
Quote: "To have a child, there's no guarantee we'd make anything better, but to take a child that's suffering like you boys were; to give you a chance in the world. That's something."
#7. Amy Adams- Dr. Louise Banks- Arrival
Quote: "Language is the foundation of civilization. It is the glue that holds a people together. It is the first weapon drawn in a conflict."
#6. Michelle Williams- Randi Chandler- Manchester by the Sea
Michelle Williams is an actress to watch. She doesn't do many roles, and whenever she's in a project you know she will deliver. She was even the best part of the very flawed Oz the Great and Powerful. With Manchester by the Sea, she earns her fourth Oscar nomination, and I'm wondering what she has to do to win. As Randi, she has very little screen time. In her very short time she manages to strike a very powerful chord, and she left me in tears. She plays a heartbroken mother and a woman who is struggling with her feelings. She has hated her ex-husband for so long. Yet in the powerful climax of Manchester by the Sea, she seeks reconciliation. It's a completely irrational request given the circumstances. But anyone who has grieved will recognize her longing to escape and return to comfort. She throws the f bomb around like it's nothing, yet her acting is in subtlety and nuance. She's a broken woman, and she delivers one incredible scene where her heart is laid bare for us.
Quote: "I said a lot of terrible things to you. My heart was broken, and I know yours is too."
#5. Natalie Portman- Jackie Kennedy- Jackie
Natalie Portman is a pretty terrifying method actress. From her strong commanding role in Closer and her terrifying descent into madness in Black Swan, she dives into the psyche of her roles. Which is why her performance as First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the days after JFK's assassination feels more like we're watching the real thing than a movie. Portman's face, her voice, her hair, and her movements perfectly mimic the real life Jackie. I've only seen Jackie in clips and read about her, but Portman completely transcends any expectation I had for her acting. It's actually pretty jarring, but it's incredibly effective.
Quote: "I believe the characters we read on the page become more real than the men who stand beside us."
#4. Emma Stone- Mia Dolan- La La Land
Emma Stone won the Oscar, so why is she only #4. She is completely deserving of that award, but I don't think she's the best. I think rewarding her is capitalizing on an impressive career and giving her a vessel to become even more successful. In La La Land, she plays a struggling actress who lacks confidence. After failing audition after audition, she meets a charming dreamer played by Ryan Gosling, who helps her realize her worth and her talent. Her performance captures the attention of the audience with its sincerity. She's just a normal human being trying to find her way in life. While her singing and dancing isn't the most impressive in the history of musicals, they make her seem even more regular. It's easy for viewers to identify with Mia. Even when she made decisions that I personally disagreed with, I understood why she did, and I found myself unable to criticize her. We've all had heads full of dreams, and I cannot fault someone for their choices made to follow them. She's one of the most profoundly ordinary characters I've ever seen onscreen.
"Here's to the fools who dream, crazy as they may seem. Here's to the hearts that break. Here's to the mess we make."
#3. Naomie Harris- Paula- Moonlight
Naomie Harris almost didn't take the role of a lifetime. She initially refused to play Paula because she was afraid of promoting a stereotype of crack-addicted African Americans. She agreed once she realized the character was based in part off of director Barry Jenkins' own mother, and saw the complexity behind Paula. In Part I, Paula is trying to be there for her son Chiron, but we can see her slipping into a world of drugs. She has a fiery confrontation in which she suggests drugs are more important to her than her child. In Part II, she's disappeared. She assaults Chiron for money. She's barely holding it together. Her frame is wiry and her eyes dart around the room. In Part III, we see her in rehab begging for her son's forgiveness while also realizing she doesn't deserve it. Harris is the only tether between all three parts of Moonlight. While her role does not play into the theme of identity, her influence is all over who Chiron is, leaving us with a question: Would Chiron be happier if he had a loving mom? Harris plays a mother who can be abusive, but is the rare monster mom that the audience actually understands. Her performance is of a tragic figure, and evidence of the horrors of addiction that plague urban communities.
Quote: "I'm your mama. You ain't gotta love me. But you gonna know that I love you."
#2. Viola Davis- Rose Maxson- Fences
It's pretty well-known that Viola Davis is a tremendous actress. From her beloved role in The Help, to her ten minute nominated performance in Doubt, to her Emmy-winning role on How to Get Away with Murder, she nails every role. Even in Suicide Squad, she was a bright spot in a terrible movie. In Fences, she does so much acting. Seriously, she acts a lot. By that, I mean that she has a tremendous amount of lines and all of them are acted with immense power. There is one scene that is so commanding in which she finally snaps on her husband, played by Denzel Washington. If you've seen the trailer, you know the snotty-nosed scene I'm talking about. Anyone who can stand toe-to-toe with Denzel and act on his level deserves praise, but for him to outshine him is the true feat. While the film rises and falls with Denzel's Troy Maxson, it is the character of his wife that has the most compelling arc. We see how she grows accustomed to his mistreatment of her family and how she complies. Yet Davis is able to channel her fierce attitude that makes the audience wait for the moment when Rose is going to break free. It makes the buildup to that climactic argument astounding. Davis won the Tony when she played Rose on Broadway and she won the Oscar for playing her here. While I think she should have been a lead rather than supporting actress, she would have won in either category. It's a tour de force from one of the greatest actresses of the new millennium.
Quote: "I've been standing with you! I gave eighteen years of my life just to stand in the same spot as you! Don't you think I ever wanted other things? What about my life? What about me?"
#1. Isabelle Huppert- Michéle Leblanc- Elle
There's a good chance you have no idea who this is. However, Isabelle Huppert won the Golden Globe for Best Actress and received a nomination at the Oscars for her performance. I predicted her to win as soon as I saw this little French thriller (I'm probably one of the only ones) because I was so blown away. Elle literally translates to "She", so as you can guess, the film centers around Huppert. The film opens with her being brutally raped in her home by a masked intruder, and it's a scene that is played back numerous times from different angles as Michéle relives her incident. Before the attack, she was a cutthroat head of a video game company having an affair with her best friend's husband. She's lonely, but she likes her loneliness. When she's raped, she becomes obsessed with finding out who did this to her, and is hell bent on her own form of twisted revenge. Yet at the same time, the assailant that returns to rape her also gives her a purpose in her lonely life. The two begin a game of cat and mouse, and the viewer actually questions if Michéle actually enjoys the attacks. Her backstory is one marred by tragedy. Her father is imprisoned for committing domestic terrorism, and she's largely missed out on a normal life. Not once did I ever feel sorry for Michéle because Huppert's icy performance never let me. She's hardened and complicated. When I felt like I was in her head, she did something that brought me back to square one. It's a confusing and complex performance that bewildered and bested me until the film's closing scene. Huppert was robbed of her Oscar, but the fact that a small foreign film even got a nomination should be enough to convince you that her work was worthy.
Quote: (in French) "Shame is not a strong enough emotion to stop us from doing anything at all. Believe me. I know."
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