With the supporting performances in the books, today we began the task of looking back at the very best lead performances from 2023. As usual we’ll start with lead actress, a category chock-full of amazing talent. There were some REALLY good leading ladies to consider making this a challenging category to narrow down. But such is the nature of these silly lists so let’s get to it.

Honorable Mentions:

Sophie Marceau (“Everything Went Fine”), Virginie Efira (“Revoir Paris”), Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), Abby Ryder Fortson (“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”), Alma Pöysti (“Fallen Leaves”), Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (“Origin”), Kate Beckinsale (“Prisoner’s Daughter”), Dianna Agron (“Acidman”), Phoebe Dynevor (“Fair Play”), Thomasin MacKenzie (“Eileen”)

#5 – Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”)

“Maestro” was a compelling yet slightly frustrating biographical sketch of Leonard Bernstein. But the film’s heart and soul (an overused phrase, I know) was the great Carey Mulligan. Though much less showy than Bradley Cooper’s performance, it’s Mulligan who stands out most, bringing empathy and authenticity to Leonard’s wife, Felicia Montealegre.

#4 – Jessica Chastain (“Memory”)

Among the most consistently good performers in movies today is Jessica Chastain. So it’s really no surprise that she’s once again terrific in the heartfelt adult drama “Memory”. Writer-director Michel Franco gives Chastain a meaty role with many emotional layers and she just kills it. Sadly she’s gone largely unnoticed this awards season. That’s a shame.

#3 – Natalie Portman (“May December”)

I’ve always been a little back and forth on Natalie Portman. That uncertainty doesn’t apply with her latest performance – a gripping and beguiling turn in Todd Haynes’ “May December”. Portman is superb as an ambitious actress researching for an exciting yet troubling new role. It’s such a cryptic and captivating performance that (dare I say) is the best of Portman’s already successful career.

#2 – Greta Lee (“Past Lives”)

Oh how I loved Greta Lee in the beautiful yet aching drama “Past Lives”. She gives such a resonating performance in this bittersweet story of two childhood friends and the romance they may have let slip through their fingers. Lee is enchanting yet strikingly grounded and authentic. She gives the movie its emotional charge while also rooting it firmly in reality. She’s simply fantastic.

#1 – Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)

To me Lily Gladstone fits better in the Supporting category, but either way she would be in my #1 spot. Gladstone gives an eye-opening, breakout performance in Martin Scorsese’s epic “Killers of the Flower Moon”. She’s the beating heart of the movie – our emotional connection to an otherwise dark and gritty historical crime drama. She has us in the palm of her hand from the very first moment she arrives on screen. Spectacular.

And that takes care of the Lead Actress category. See something I miss? Let me know in the comments. There’s only one category left – Lead Actor.

The Hollywood Foreign Press had a pretty good night presenting the 81st Golden Globes Awards. 2023 was a great year for movies but that doesn’t always translate to a great awards season. Well, if this year’s Globes are any indication, we should have a lot of fun over the next two months. That’s because there was plenty to be excited about in last night’s show. It had a few head-scratching moments and some eye-rolling ones too. But for the most part the night was full of great winners.

As I do every year, here are a few random thoughts on this year’s Golden Globes awards...

• What a night for “Oppenheimer”. For my money it was the best movie of the year, but that means nothing during awards season. Thankfully the Golden Globes got it right. The film tallied a total of five wins.
• For the first time in his incredible career, Christopher Nolan took home the award for Best Director. It was long overdue, but what a deserving win nonetheless. This was one of the biggest treats of the night. Hopefully his name will be called on Oscar night as well.
• And to top off his terrific win, Nolan gave what I felt was the best speech of the night. It was humble, gracious, and a tad emotional.

• Cillian Murphy took home the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Drama. As with Nolan, this was incredibly well deserved. I adored this performance and think it’s the best of Murphy’s career (and that’s saying something).
• Staying with “Oppenheimer”, the wonderful Robert Downey Jr. won for Best Supporting Actor. This was a crowded field and I was worried that he might not get his due. But great job voters. They definitely got this one right.
• And congratulations to Ludwig Göransson who won Best Original Score for “Oppenheimer”. It’s such a crucial part of this extraordinary movie.
• Let me get this out of the way. The monologue from comedian Jo Koy was nothing short of dreadful. The jokes were lame and very few landed. Aside from some scattered courtesy laughs, the crowd seemed to feel the same way. To make matters worse worse it went on way too long. Ugh.
• I don’t do the fashion thing, but Hailee Steinfeld wins my best dress vote. She was putting off some serious Audrey Hepburn vibes!
• I haven’t hid my feelings about “Barbie”. It was one of the biggest disappointments of the year for me. That a big reason it blew my mind that it received NINE nominations. NINE!!! Thankfully the Globes went the more reasonable route. “Barbie” did win Best Original Song which is no real surprise considered it held three of the nominated slots.
• “Barbie” also won the new and utterly useless Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award. Presenter Mark Hamill was quick to stress that the award wasn’t just about box office numbers. Then he announced the year’s biggest box office movie as the winner!
• Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy went to “Poor Things”, Yorgos Lanthimos’ self-satisfying exercise in excess and indulgence. I was a bit surprised considering it was the weakest of the six nominated movies. But people love Lanthimos and give his films a lot of passes.
• Emma Stone won Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for “Poor Things”. It’s a performance that I’m not nearly as high on as a lot of people. I would have much rather Natalie Portman got it for “May December”.
• As for “May December”, it went home with nothing. Not a major surprise, but there had been some buzz around its nominations especially Charles Melton in Supporting Actor.
• “Anatomy of a Fall” had a big night. Not only did it win Best Non-English Language Motion Picture, but Justine Triet won the Globe for Best Screenplay. I was admittedly shocked. Make no mistake, it’s a great screenplay. But this is another category where “Oppenheimer” deserved a win.
• By not winning Best Non-English Language Motion Picture, “The Zone of Interest” went home empty-handed. That’s such a shame. It’s easily one of the year’s best movies.
• Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig were hilarious and my favorites among the presenters. I wasn’t alone in wishing that they would step in and host the rest of the show.
• I loved seeing Lily Gladstone win Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama for her incredible performance in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”. I still think she belongs in the Supporting category, but either way she deserves the recognition.

• Speaking of “Killers of the Flower Moon”, that was the only win it would get the entire night. I felt it might be the case considering this is such a stacked year.
• I also loved seeing Paul Giamatti win Best Actor – Drama for “The Holdovers”. It’s such a sweet, sad, and often funny performance and I’m so glad it hasn’t fallen through the cracks this awards season. It looks like we’re heading towards an Oscar night showdown between Giamatti and Murphy.
• Sticking with “The Holdovers”, what a treat to see Da’Vine Joy Randolph win Best Supporting Actress. She has been tracking as the clear frontrunner for the award and I don’t see that changing on Oscar night.
• Best Motion Picture – Animated went to Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron”. It was a bit of a surprise as many seemed to think “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was the animated movie to beat.
• One knock I have against last night’s show was how they rushed the winners through their speeches. No one wants ten minutes of thanking people, but maybe cut the monologue in half (or cut it all together). Or maybe don’t give as much time to the presenters. I swear, there were instances when it felt the presenters had more time than the winners. Use that saved time on the winners.
• Also, can we please have clips of the nominated acting performances? We had clips of the stand-up comedy acts but not for best actor or actress? It’s a minor gripe but still…

And that wraps up this year’s look at the Golden Globes. What did you think of the show? How about the winners? Let me hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Continuing my recognition of the best performances of from 2023 movie year (you can see my Supporting Actress picks HERE), today we’re putting the Supporting Actors in the spotlight. Much like yesterday, this was an extremely tough category full of great choices from a variety of different movies. Narrowing them down to five wasn’t easy. So let’s get started…

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Dar Salim (“Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant”), Liam Cunningham (“The Last Voyage of the Demeter”), Matt Damon (“Oppenheimer”), Josh Hartnett (“Oppenheimer”), Peter Sarsgaard (“Memory”), Sterling K. Brown (“American Fiction”), John Magaro (“Past Lives”), Jacob Elordi (“Priscilla”), Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things”), Ben Affleck (“Air”), Jon Bernthal (“Origin”), Jonathan Majors (“Creed III”)

#5 – Holt McCallany (“The Iron Claw”)

I love seeing the name Holt McCallany attached to a movie. He has the tendency to make everything he’s in better. It’s certainly no different with “The Iron Claw”. His unsettling portrayal of the complex patriarch of the Von Erich wrestling family is an essential and pivotal piece of the story. To no surprise McCallany nails it, bringing a surprising humanity to an otherwise toxic role.

#4 – Colman Domingo (“The Color Purple”)

Lots of awards prognosticators are mentioning Colman Domingo for “Rustin”. For my money, his best performance came in “The Color Purple”. It’s a mean and nasty turn, but one that conveys everything we need to know in vividly uncomfortable detail. The second half of the film doesn’t do him any favors, but Domingo remains a powerful presence throughout the story.

#3 – Donnie Yen (“John Wick: Chapter 4”)

I knew the great Donnie Yen was going to make this list from my very first viewing of “John Wick: Chapter 4”. His performance as a blind yet lethal assassin is action-packed and often funny, yet weary and soulful. He has a great rapport with star Keanu Reeves and everything he does clicks from his character-building to his kinetic fight sequences.

#2 – Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”)

After so many incredible collaborations it goes without saying that Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese go together like peanut butter and jelly. “Killers of the Flower Moon” offers further proof. De Niro delivers yet another career highlight with a performance so subtly venomous yet deviously persuasive. This is a brilliant turn from the veteran actor.

#1 – Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”)

What a career it has been for the resilient and immensely talented Robert Downey Jr. That already great career reaches new heights with his amazing performance in “Oppenheimer”. It helps to be working within the best script of the year, but Downey Jr. takes his character even further, relaying the political complexities of Lewis Strauss with such clarity and precision. Hopefully that long overdue Oscar will finally be his.

That wraps up the supporting performances. What did I get right or wrong? Stay tuned for the lead performances coming soon.

And just like that another movie year has come and gone. I recently shared my Top 10 movies of 2023 (check it out HERE). That’s always a fun list to put together, but I also enjoy showing some love to the year’s very best performances. Over the next few days I’ll be sharing my favorites for each of the four major acting categories. So as I normally do, let’s kick it off with the absolutely jam-packed Supporting Actress category.

Honorable Mentions:

Penélope Cruz (“Ferrari”), Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), Juliette Binoche (“The Taste of Things”), Vanessa Kirby (“Napoleon”), Julianne Moore (“May December”), Tilda Swinton (“The Killer”), Katrina Kaif (“Tiger 3”), Carrie Coon (“Boston Strangler”)

#5 – Haley Atwell (“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”)

In year packed with great supporting performances, it’s a shame that Haley Atwell seems to have been lost in the crowd. She’s a fun, feisty, and energetic addition to the action-packed Mission: Impossible franchise and was able to match star Tom Cruise scene for scene. I can’t wait to see what she brings to the upcoming Part Two.

#4 – Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”)

In a film absolutely loaded with great performances, one of the standouts was Emily Blunt as Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer. It’s a complex role that sometimes requires her to be brittle while at other times calling on her to be strong as iron. Blunt manages it wonderfully, mixing delicacy with pure blunt force (no pun intended). She’s great.

#3 – Sandra Hüller (“The Zone of Interest”)

One of the coldest performances of the year came from the great Sandra Hüller in Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest”. She plays the wife of a Nazi commander put in charge of Auschwitz during World War II. We watch as she spends her days in total indifference in and around her cozy villa just outside of the notorious death camp. It’s a bone-chilling turn from an actress who has had a great year.

#2 – Rachel McAdams (“Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret”)

I’m so happy to see that people haven’t forgotten about Rachel McAdams when putting together their lists. She is the heart and soul of a movie that turned out to be one of the year’s biggest surprises. McAdams never disappoints, but here she plays a woman quietly navigating her own pain to be the best mother she can be. It’s a beautifully authentic and heartfelt performance.

#1 – Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”)

Now heres a performance that grabbed me from the very first moment the actress appeared on screen. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is such a crucial presence in Alexander Payne’s outstanding dramedy “The Holdovers”. She has great comic timing and brings an emotional heft to her character. Even more, she’s instrumental in several legitimate ‘Scene of the Year’ contenders. Go ahead and give her the Oscar.

And that wraps up Supporting Actress. What are you thoughts on my picks? What would make your list? Let me know in the comments section below. Keep watching as I take on Supporting Actor next.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has brought to home video the striking new Western “Butcher’s Crossing”. The 2023 movie year was one full of surprises. Among them was this gritty and slow-burning thriller from director Gabe Polsky in his narrative feature film debut. The movie is anchored by a fascinating Nicolas Cage lead performance and features gorgeous cinematography and a throughly compelling story with an edge. Read my full review of the film HERE.

This Blu-ray edition of “Butcher’s Crossing” is out now and available to own. See below for a full synopsis and release information.

About the Film:

Year: 2023

Runtime: 107 Minutes

Director: Gabe Polsky

Screenwriter: Gabe Polsky & Liam Satre Meloy

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Xander Berkeley, Rachel Keller, Jeremy Bobb, Paul Raci

Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (1996, Best Actor, “Leaving Las Vegas”) stars in a gritty story about buffalo hunters in the Old West. Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) has left Harvard to find adventure. He teams up with Miller (Cage), a mysterious frontiersman offering an unprecedented number of buffalo pelts in a secluded valley. Their crew must survive an arduous journey where the harsh elements will test everyone’s resolve, leaving their sanity on a knife’s edge.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is bringing Alexander Payne’s extraordinary “The Holdovers” to home video in a terrific collector’s edition combo-pack. Sparked by two of the best performances of the year from Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, this funny yet heartfelt dramedy has deservedly received widespread acclaim and should remain a major player throughout awards season.

This Blu-ray collector’s edition of “The Holdovers”, including the film on standard DVD and Digital, released on January 2nd. See below for a full synopsis and release information.

About the Film:

Year: 2023

Runtime: 133 Minutes

Director: Alexander Payne

Screenwriter: David Hemingson

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Andrew Garman, Naheem Garcia, Stephen Thorne

Certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 96% and nominated for 8 Critics Choice Awards including Best Picture, “The Holdovers” delivers an expert balance of comedy and warmth.

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, “The Holdovers” follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Special Features:

• Alternate Ending – “Mary Continues On” 
• Deleted Scenes
  • Introduction by Alexander Payne
  • New Room
  • Making a Scene
  • The Road Back to Barton
  • Ancient History
• The Cast of THE HOLDOVERS – Sit down with the cast of THE HOLDOVERS, including Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and newcomer Dominic Sessa, while they discuss getting into the minds of their characters. Meet the boys of Barton and learn more about director Alexander Payne’s casting process.
• Working with Alexander – Hear the cast and crew about their on-set experience working with acclaimed director Alexander Payne.