Lupita Nyongo |UsMarch 22, 2019
Lupita Nyongos dual performance inUsis mesmerizing.
Theres an otherworldliness to Red a sort of harrowing omnipotence that Lupita creates with her voice and body.
She transforms her stature to manifest a chilling stillness that underscores Reds dominance.
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Its a dichotomy that Nyongo captures with ease.
She makes it look effortless.
Pugh does not need words to showcase the journey Dani is on.
From breakdown to bewilderment to bravery, Pugh traverses a range of emotions rarely needed for a single performance.
Defeated and demoralized, bet determined.
An instinct to survive in the face of emotional detachment from all those around you.
Dani is not an easy character to take on, but Pugh is unstoppable in the role.
Toni Collette |HereditaryJune 8, 2018
Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned.
She wails in agony.
Children prepare to lose their parents.
Her performance captures this breed of justified anger of karmic unfairness mixed with unshakeable agony.
She emotionally travels from a state of emptiness and weakness to one of madness.
She enters a crazed abyss that is equal parts horrifying and heartbreaking.
You cry with her.
You jump in fearatandwithher.
She pulls you into her inner life and never lets go.
He calls it his mask of sanity and he ensures its secured tightly every morning.
Hes fastidious and obsessive about his appearance and all aspect of his image (including his business cards).
Bale shifts from Batemans sophisticated and balanced exterior life to his unhinged, psychotic interior world with ease.
Yet, even when Bateman is playing good boy, theres a disturbing essence lurking beneath the surface.
Its Batemans ability to carry the calm and collected while hinting at the cruelty that makes this performance exceptional.
Nicholson perfectly balances moments of subtlety with instances of insanity.
His descent is slow-burning, making his bursts of unhinged vitriol all the more destabilizing.
Sometimes he seems normal, and then BAM…Crazy.
He finds excitement in torturing her.
In playing games with his victim in slowly walking toward her with a domineering stature and killer gaze.
The moment is so iconic it has been parodied in Nickelodeon shows likeiCarlyand hit sitcoms likeThe King of Queens.
All are qualities integral to this horror baddie, yet somehow constituted a performance the Academy deemed unimpressive.
You tell me that!
She raises her voice in anger and aggravation, tears bubbling as she asserts her stance.
Burstyn gets several moments throughout the film to showcase a mothers protective nature.
A mothers inability to let her mind wander anywhere else when her child is in danger.
Shes fidgety and focused.
Both loud and languished.
Anthony Perkins | Psycho September 8, 1960
Charming with a hint of creepy.
Welcoming and warm, but concealing a wicked interior.
There is a captivating vulnerability present, as the character himself is uneased by his inner demons.
Perkins hides Bates nature underneath a layer of innocence.
That wide-eyed innocence becomes wide-eyed instability.
That side smirk is no longer charming but haunting.
With ever-so-subtle shifts in expression, Perkins transforms.
