1. Adam Driver
2019 looked promising for Adam Driver back in Sundance Film Festival, when The Report was released under heavy critical praise. Driver himself received glowing reviews for his performance and he was considered an early Oscar contender for his work, but then Amazon got the distribution rights of the movie and something just went wrong: the movie didn't do well at the box-office and the studio wasn't able to capitalize its early awards buzz, with only Annette Bening being able to get a Golden Globe nomination. Then, Driver met critical acclaim once again, this time during Venice Film Festival for his performance in Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story - in fact, they were the best reviews of his career and he won numerous critics associations' prizes for Best Actor, plus an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG and Critics' Choice Award nods (losing all the big awards to Phoenix). The year seemed bright for Driver thanks to the love Marriage Story was received, but he had one more movie to be released - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, for which he delivered his turn as Kylo Ren (a role he reprises). The movie itself was met under lukewarm reviews and it didn't do as well as its previous installements of the new trilogy at the box-office, but it managed to gross more than $ 1Billion worldwide. It also got 3 Academy Award nominations in below the line categories. But the latest Star Wars paled in comparison to the "small" Marriage Story's success - it has no box-office numbers (Netflix!!!), but the movie scored 6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Acclaim, box-office numbers and award recognition, 2019 was a great year for Adam Driver!
2. Brad Pitt
James Gray's Ad Astra got the critical praise, but it failed at the box-office (only $132,8M worldwide against a $100M budget), still Brad Pitt delivered a commanding leading performance as a man who goes in space looking for answers. Still, the movie competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and it even managed a lone Best Sound Mixing Academy Award nomination, but it paled in comparison to the other 2019's Brad Pitt movie: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Pitt's performance as Cliff, the stunt-double of a fading Hollywood star, is filled with old-fashioned charisma, some sex-appeal and deft comedic timing and it worked as an awards vehicle for the actor: he literally SWEPT almost every award he was nominated for, including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics' Choice Award, SAG Award and a ton of critics prizes. The performance, the awards, the acceptance speeches, the movie... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a major award contender: it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and then it went to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It ended up winning only 2, but it was a hell of a great ride for Quentin Tarantino, since OUATIHollywood became his 2nd highest-grossing movie of his career ($374,3M worldwide), just behind Django Unchained... and for Brad Pitt, of course!
3. Joaquin Phoenix
The star of the Billion dollar one-man show of the year, Todd Phillips' might be a DC Comics movie, but it doesn't feel that way: it feels like a character study led by a brilliant performance from Joaquin Phoenix. In fact, Joker overperformed in every field - from box-office money making, to a Venice Film Festival Golden Lion win, to 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. It's the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever and it worked as the starring vehicle that earned Phoenix his first Oscar win for Best Actor. It's a fascinating performance! It's showy, it's unconfortable, it's brilliant and raw. Phoenix is able to convey the perfect mix of Arthur Fleck's darkest impulses with his naivety and cry for help. A performance for the ages from one of the greatest working actors these days!
4. Shia LaBeouf
2019 was the redemption year of Shia LaBeouf! From Hollywood's bad boy to a winning performance in 2016's American Honey, he really had his career back on track after his 2019's projects: The Peanut Butter Falcon and Honey Boy. He's the most charming he has ever been as the flawed good-hearted hero of The Peanut Butter Falcon and he really sells the character! As for Honey Boy... it is the best performance of his career (so far) and I truly hope it might open him some doors in Hollywood/indie filmmaking world! He even got nominated for the CFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor and for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male... but he missed the televised awards. No matter what, people are starting to notice him for his acting chops, which is a big step for him! Plus, he also wrote Honey Boy, which means we might have a true artist in hands. LaBeouf has emerged as LaBeouf, the actor and not as LaBeouf, the bad-boy anymore!
5. Song Kang-ho
The biggest star of the amazing Parasite's ensemble cast, Song Kang-ho is considered one of the major names in acting in South Korea and he has showed us why this year! While I doubt his performance in Parasite will translate to a major Hollywood career, there's no way to deny the cultural impact of Parasite or the relevance of its Best Picture win! Song Kang-ho was everywhere during the awards season and I'm still wondering how did he miss an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor if the AMPAS really loved the movie? No matter what, he received a few critics' prizes like the LAFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor and he was amongst the recipients of the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. After Snowpiercer and, now, Parasite, I believe he's under the Academy's radar now and if he manages to star in another hit in the next few years, then maybe he will become an Academy Award nominee.
- Breakthrough actor of the year: Kelvin Harrison Jr.
The star of Luce and Waves, Kelvin Harrison Jr. made a good impression in 2017's It Comes at Night, but he truly excels in these two 2019's indies. Until this day, I'm still wondering how Harrison didn't get mainstream award attention for one of his 2019's great performances! Waves would be an "easy" vehicle for some major award recognition, with Luce as an "extra points" work...! A fresh face with some raw talent, I believe we'll see great things coming from him in a near future!
- Honorable Mention: Antonio Banderas
He delivers the best performance of the year in Pedro Almodóvar's Pain and Glory and he has finally gotten his first Academy Award nomination after decades of solid international work. He won the Cannes Film Festival prize for Best Male Performance, the European Film Award for Best Actor, the Goya Award for Best Actor or the prestigious NYFCC Award for Best Actor, besides a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. After years and years playing the big Hollywood game (Philadelphia, Evita, The Mask of Zorro or Genius TV series), it seems he has found major recognition thanks to a "homecoming".
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