My Top 10 Acting Performances of 2018
2018 proved to be a massive year for film, seeing many career-defining performances from actors and even one musician, yes, I'm sure you know who I'm talking about! Having seen so many fantastic performances, I thought I would write a blog about the 10 stand-out performances I witnessed on screen. There were so many fantastic people to choose from, making it hard to choose just 10 but I think these are pretty well justified. Then again, this is just in my opinion, though I'm sure you may agree with some of my choices. Anyway, let's get rock on!
10 - Lucy Boynton, Bohemian Rhapsody
So kicking off my list is Lucy Boynton, one of the stand out performers from one of my favourite films last year, the totally epic Queen biography, Bohemian Rhapsody. Now I can't go on without saying just how perfect the whole cast of Bohemian Rhapsody were. I'll be totally honest, I didn't know hardly any of them before seeing the film, heck, I'd never even seen the star of the film in any of his previous roles. Putting that aside though, Lucy Boynton really stood out from the rest of the fantastic supporting cast.
Lucy plays Mary Austin, Freddie Mercury's ex-fiancee and most devoted friend throughout his life. Now Mary is a person I've read about in many online articles and various books, so I was very curious to see how she would be portrayed on screen.
In all honesty, I think Lucy Boynton gave a totally touching performance as Mary Austin. She portrayed Mary as fun, emotional and 100 percent dedicated to her best friend Freddie. She showed amazing on screen chemistry with Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) and the earlier scenes showing them quickly fall in love can't help but put a smile on your face.
The stand out moment for me though was the scene where Freddie nervously tells Mary about his true sexuality. The raw emotion from both actors actually brought tears to my ears the first time I saw it. This was one of them scenes that people were most looking forward to and it definitely didn't disappoint. I think Lucy Boynton would have been very well deserving of a best supporting actress nomination at any of this years prestigious film award ceremonies.
9 - Ben Whishaw, Mary Poppins Returns
As with Lucy Boynton, Ben Whishaw is an actor I'm ashamed to admit that I have never seen in any of his previous roles, though I was aware he was the voice of Paddington in the recent films. So seeing he had been cast as a grown up version of Michael Banks, I was keen to see what he would bring to the role.
So what did he bring to the role? Emotion. Pure emotion. Ben is given the task of performing the film's first emotionally charged song 'A Conversation' and boy, it really struck a chord with me! The first time I watched Mary Poppins Returns, I would say I cried for a good 50 percent of the film, possibly more. There are many reasons why and Ben's wonderful performance of this song was one of them. The emotion of longing for his deceased wife really, really got to me, as I'm sure it did with many others.
I find that with child actors they can be extremely hit or miss, especially when it comes to chemistry with their fellow adult actors. This wasn't the case with Ben as Michael and his own Banks children. They shared many tender moments together and the scene where the children sing a reprise of 'The Place Where Lost Things Go' was one of the most beautifully acted scenes I've seen from a live action Disney film. Seeing Ben tear up after the children sing was another touching moment that got to me. See, I told you the film made me cry a heck of a lot! In the best possible way though of course! Another big highlight to mention is Ben's performance during the ending song 'Nowhere To Go But Up', you can so tell that he had fun filming that one! I certainly had fun watching that one as well as the whole film itself! However, there are still two more from the cast that feature later my list!
8 - Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Now Bradley Cooper will be featured higher in a future list, because despite knocking out a stellar performance as famous country music singer Jack in A Star Is Born, he also directed the film, and dare I say it but it was one of the best directed films of 2018. So directing aside, I should really be talking about Cooper's acting in this modern retelling of the classic love story.
A Star Is Born has been told many times before and in quite different ways, though this updated take on the story has been lauded by many for it's fantastic performances by both lead performers Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Though many already know Cooper to be a very talented actor, many are unaware of the preparation that went into the role of Jack. I didn't realise until I read an interview but Bradley Cooper had a constant struggle to keep up his deep accent as Jack, because his real voice is far from that deep. I can only imagine how stressful that must have been, as well as all the tasks he had directing the film.
Bradley Cooper really does deserve the plaudits for A Star Is Born, because it is one hell of a directorial debut! It definitely got my emotions going in parts and the best thing is the on screen chemistry with Lady Gaga. Now you'll notice that chemistry is something I'm bringing up a lot in this blog but I just think that on screen chemistry with actors can really make or break a film. Whether it's a couple, family, friends, chemistry is one of the biggest factors to a good film in my mind and this film featured one of the best depicted on screen romances I've ever seen. Hats off to not only Bradley Cooper but also Lady Gaga for that.
7 - John David Washington, BlacKkKlansman
Again, I'm guilty of having never seen an actor in any previous films but I'm kind of glad I didn't, because throughout the film I kept thinking to myself 'Wow! Who is this guy!' and surely that's a good reaction to have when you watch an actor for the first time.
Washington plays Ron Stallworth, the first hired black police officer in Colorado Springs during the 1970s. Ron takes up a role as detective and sets out to infiltrate and expose the local wing of the Ku Klux Klan. So unsurprisingly, it's very controversial subject matter, yet the film does manage to feature some light-hearted humour, especially moments between Ron and his colleague Flip, played in a career-defining role by Adam Driver.
Like I said, the film kept making me say in my mind about who John David Washington is. So having seen the film, I took a little trip to the land of Google and was very surprised to find out that Washington was relatively new to the acting stage and was perhaps better known for previously being an American Football player. Though I think it's very safe to say that after his leading role in BlacKkKlansman, he has an extremely bright acting career ahead of him!
6 - Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
All I can say to Adam Driver is "Well done Sir!" I'm going to be brutally honest here. I thought Adam Driver was pretty terrible when I first saw him in his first Star Wars outing, The Force Awakens. I actually thought his role of Kylo Ren was the weakest part of the film. I kept telling myself how I just couldn't believe that this guy was going to carry the new Star Wars trilogy as the main villain. Then came the next Star Wars film, The Last Jedi. This is where Michael eat his words. Every grievance I had about Mr Driver playing Kylo Ren was swept aside in The Last Jedi. He went in my mind from pretty terrible to pretty phenomenal! What a turnaround!
Having grown to like Adam Driver as an actor, I was interested to see him perform in a different kind of film and Star Wars and BlacKkKlansman couldn't have been any more far apart! This was a film I had read so much about and it was also recommended by one of my colleagues. Now I'm not normally one to go by recommendations but I took a chance on this one and I'm so glad I did because it ended up being one of the best films I saw in 2018.
In the role of Flip, Adam Driver manages to bring an air of straight-faced comedy to an otherwise very serious role. Like I already mentioned above, Adam Driver shares an amazing on screen camaraderie with fellow actor John David Washington. It's really entertaining watching their relationship in and out of work develop throughout the film. It's unsurprising Driver has been nominated for a number of awards for this film and it's very rightfully deserved.
5 - Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
The role of a lifetime? Quite possibly. It was no surprise that with one of the biggest fanbases in modern day music history that many people would flock to the cinemas to see Lady Gaga in her first starring feature film role.
Gaga didn't disappoint. Oh my God what a performance! I couldn't help but think that it might be a bit of a gimmick for a real life pop star to play the role of an every day person who meets a leading musician, who then helps develop her into a pop star. I just had my doubts that Lady Gaga could pull it off but having been totally gripped by her performance as Ally, I was so wrong to doubt her.
Some musicians find it hard to translate on screen as actors and sometimes they come across as doing it for a laugh more than anything but with this film, I completely forgot I was watching Lady Gaga acting, which is a massive credit to her. I mean she was very lucky to be in good acting company alongside Bradley Cooper, who also directed her throughout the whole experience. By word, that chemistry was eclectic on screen.
I know that previous versions of A Star Is Born have been a very stereotypical Hollywood-esque romance story but Bradley Cooper's version felt somewhat raw but totally believable. I like it when you can watch a film and not think about who the actors actually are and this was definitely one of them, I got totally lost in the story. Lady Gaga totally justified herself as an actress in this and you'll find her very high if not top on a lot of people's best performance lists from last year. I definitely don't think this is the last we'll be seeing of her on the silver screen!
4 - Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Poppins Returns
Trip a little light fantastic, with 'Lin'. What more can I say about Lin-Manuel Miranda's performance as Jack in Mary Poppins Returns, other than the pure fact that the man just radiates pure happiness! Very much like Dick Van Dyke's Bert in the original Mary Poppins, Lin-Manuel's Jack is one very lovable and excitable character who is instantly likeable. He opens up the film singing in a rather fun and exaggerated song about living in London. Though I'm sure it's very much tongue in cheek, it's still a brilliant opener for the film, one that made me think almost straight away 'Wow, Disney, you've got this so, so right!'
I have to admit that I'd never seen Lin-Manuel Miranda in any previous film roles but I was very much aware of his songwriting, especially for his work on Moana and of course his globally successful musical Hamilton. So I was very keen to see how he would act on screen, because there have been occasions in the past where stage actors struggle on screen but Lin-Manuel was far, far from ever doing that!
Having instantly fallen in love with him after just the first song, I loved every single scene he was featured in, which was a pretty good majority of the film. One such stand out moment would have to include the amazing song and dance number 'A Cover Is Not The Book', in which he features alongside Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins. It's in this song that the Broadway in Lin-Manuel totally spills out on screen. He even gets to partake a little rap, something he's very much known for from Hamilton.
As good as that routine was, one other moment was an absolute scene-stealer. Heck, it was the best film sequence of the year for me. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Trip A Little Light Fantastic. I could quite honestly go on for hours and hours as to just how good this scene was. Now to start with, this was one of the songs I heard before seeing the film and I totally loved the sound of it. I could even picture just how it might play out on screen and boy oh boy I wasn't to be disappointed. This song and dance number was very reminiscent of the old school musicals, like Oliver for example. I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned song and dance number and this quite honestly is one of the best I've ever seen. It's a catchy tune matched with some very fantastical choreography, again, a moment in which Lin-Manuel Miranda gets to show off his musical stage roots.
Lin-Manuel seems to be the go to man for Disney when it comes to their recent musicals and I hope this doesn't stop, because quite honestly, this performance has made me totally fall in love with Lin-Manuel Miranda. I'm so happy it has too!
Now before we discuss my top 3 acting performances of 2018, it's only fair to say that any of the following could have been top of the list. For me, it was an extremely hard decision to rank these 3 fantastic actors in the way I did. However, you could say in a way that all 3 are my top performers of the year.
3 - Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns
Practically perfect in every way? Now this was a big question amongst film fans and critics alike when it was announced that Emily Blunt would be taking over the role of Mary Poppins. Now as almost any film fan will tell you, Julie Andrews performance in the original Mary Poppins is untouchable. I mean of course it is. She originated the role after all. Not only did she originate it but she totally owned it. However, knowing how fickle people are on the internet, many appeared to be quite happy that Emily was cast in the role. I certainly was myself. Emily Blunt in my mind appeared to be the perfect choice. When I first heard the news I remember thinking to myself 'Oh my God yes! She'll be perfect!' The question was though, would she really be practically perfect in every way?
A resounding yes! Oh my God yes! Emily Blunt pulled out one hell of a stellar performance as Mary Poppins. From her epic entrance to her tear-inducing farewell, Emily was the absolute perfect choice to carry on what Julie Andrews had started all those years ago.
What made her so amazing? Well what wasn't amazing! Not only did she carry on what Julie Andrews started with the role but she also brought her own unique take on the role. Unlike Andrews' more stern approach as Mary Poppins, Blunt's Mary appears to want to join in on all the fun. Many times the Banks children will start the adventures and Mary can't help but join in, perhaps the biggest example being the Can You Imagine That song sequence, in which the Banks children disappear in the bath and Mary can't help but joining them and excitedly says "Off we go!" It was in this magical movie moment that I was totally transfixed with the film. I was totally in the world of Mary Poppins again. I had worried that I wouldn't get this feeling but I had this feeling throughout pretty much the entire film, with a massive thanks to Emily Blunt's fantastic acting.
Of course I mentioned the song, in this film, Emily Blunt demonstrates a very brilliant singing voice, something I was totally unaware that she had. Not only does she sing very beautifully in her rather posh Mary Poppins accent but she even manages to turn the tables and sing in a cheeky cockney accent during A Cover Is Not The Book song and dance sequence. This sequence really is a stand out moment and Emily Blunt appears to be having a whale of a time alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Talking of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Emily Blunt appears to have fantastic chemistry alongside him as her sidekick throughout the film. Having said that, Emily Blunt effortlessly acts alongside all of her acting counterparts. One such scene I loved was a conversation between her and Ben Whishaw's Michael Banks, in a moment that is very reminiscent of the famous "I never explain anything" scene between Julie Andrews' Mary Poppins and David Tomlinson's Mr Banks. Many scenes like this harked back to the original film and I loved it all the more for that.
I've mentioned Julie Andrews quite a few times and one of the things I'm most happy about Emily Blunt's performance is that hardly anyone seems to have unfairly compared her, which is a big testament to her performance. Like I said, Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins is pretty iconic to say the very least but Emily Blunt put her on spin on the role and it was very much practically perfect in my mind, in every way!
He will, he will, rock you! Hey wait a minute! Is that really Freddie Mercury I'm witnessing before my very own eyes! Has he been reborn? Not quite but not far off! If anyone could show you how to portray a rock legend, then Rami Malek is the man! Malek was given the much coveted but tough role of portraying Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. With a film that had long been in the planning stages for many, many years, how would Malek do as Freddie? Well let me tell you.
Freddie Mercury is arguably the world's most well known frontman, especially as he was the lead singer of one of the world's most famous bands, Queen. Much has been documented and speculated about his life that Bohemian Rhapsody was a film that many, many music fans and the just plain curious wanted to see. This being said, Rami Malek had a lot of things to take into consideration. Firstly, he would have to transform his appearance, though it's very clear that Malek has much resemblance to the real Freddie Mercury. Malek also knew that he would be portraying a person who meant so much to so many people in this world, so it's safe to say that things wouldn't be easy. Though watching the film, it seemed like a piece of cake for Malek!
Rami Malek managed to emulate everything I've ever seen from Freddie Mercury on various media formats. He managed to capture Freddie's distinctive talking voice but most impressively, in my opinion, managed to portray the epic stage presence that Mercury had. This is evident in all of the concert scenes in the film, which of there are quite a few, much to my delight!
Like I said when writing about fellow co-star Lucy Boynton's performance, one of my favourite moments is Freddie's coming out scene. It was just played so perfectly that the audience knew it was coming yet it still managed to bring tears to your eyes. However, this was not my favourite scene of Malek's performance, though it's up there!
My favourite scene, with no hesitation, is the ending Live Aid sequence. This is one of the best pieces of replicating a real event that I've ever seen. Now being the age I am, I wasn't born until after Live Aid but I've seen it many times on television and on the internet, so I knew it very well. This was the moment I was most eager to see. I'd previously read that the actors had recorded the whole original set, so I was very eager for this, dare I say I was even counting it down the first time I saw the film. Let's just say it gave me chills! This is not something that happens often with me. Don't get me wrong, I love my films but I don't normally get genuine chills. As soon as the opening drum beat of Radio Ga Ga started, I felt a chill down my spine and I could not stop smiling. Seeing Malek strut around on the stage just like Mercury did in reality, was just spellbinding, as was the whole of Malek's performance in the film. He certainly did rock me and I truly believed in him as Freddie Mercury.
1 - Lily James, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Now this may shock some but quite honestly, I think it is justified. 2018 saw many amazing performances by actors all through the year but one really stood out, that ladies and gentlemen, is the very lovely Lily James.
Some may say but how can you choose someone from a film like Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again? Well I'll tell you. The film came out at a time when I was going through some personal problems and it couldn't have come at a better time, because for me, it was the ultimate feel-good movie, even more so than the first one. Why? It's simple. Lily James!
Her performance as a young Donna was just stunning, in so many ways. I'd previously loved Lily James in Disney's live action remake of Cinderella but it wasn't until this film that I appreciated just what a wonderful actress she is. As seen in the photo I went with, Lily possesses a smile that you can't help but smile at yourself. Not only is she beautiful but she has one very beautiful singing voice. This was only heard very briefly in Cinderella, so I wasn't sure how she'd fair carrying a whole film with singing but wow did she do well!
Her first moments of singing 'When I Kissed The Teacher' instantly had me fall in love with her. I suppose it helps that I've had a crush on her for a few years but looking past that, I appreciate a good actress when I've seen one. Lily is no exception. Being joined by a fantastic ensemble cast, Lily manages to play off so well to each and every one of them, a true testament to her acting talent.
While the film may have been my ultimate feel-good event of the year, it was also extremely emotional and Lily featured in many of those moments. This hardly surprising considering she goes through three relationships and even gives birth within the space of a two hour story. That birth scene in particular was very emotional. Yes, I'm not afraid to admit that it gave me tears in the cinema!
Like I said, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek and Lily James were all very deserving of the top spot but Lily James just about topped it for me. Having said that, all of the actors in my list were deserving of a top spot in the best acting performances of the year. There are quite a few I even had to leave out, so below are just a few of the many honourable mentions.
Anna Kendrick, A Simple Favor
Gwilym Lee, Bohemian Rhapsody
Michael Caine, King of Thieves
Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween
Ewan McGregor, Christopher Robin
I think it's very safe to say that after so many fantastic performances in 2018, we can only expect lots more in 2019 and I can't wait to see them and discuss them with you!
Between you and me though, I may have already seen two performances in one film which are early contenders for performances of the year! Steve Coogan and John C Reilly in Stan & Ollie. That's all I'm saying for now though!
So remember, if you've not seen any of the films I've discussed, then do please do spare a thought and give them a watch! I'll see you real soon!
Comments
Post a Comment