Mar 10, 2014

Top 5 Performances of 2013

2013 year ended long ago, but I've just started to list my favorite movies & performances. In previous post announced my top 10 movies of 2013, lead by Ron Howard's Rush.
 
Top 5 Supporting Female Performances
 
5. Nicole Kidman in Stoker
4. Jennifer Garner in Dallas Buyers Club
3. Margo Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Scarlett Johanson in Her
1. Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
 
Note: J.Law did her best performance so far. She was just mind blowing in AH nailing each and every scene of 20-something minutes on the screen. Johanson's voice made Her so sensible and heartwarming. She managed to deliver emotions, frustration, character via merely voice and this is what I have not seen (heard) before.

Top 5 Supporting Male Performances
 
5. Tom Hanks in Saving Mr. Banks
4. Paul Dano in Prisoners
3. Dane Dehaan in Kill Your Darlings
2. Tom Hiddleston in Thor: The Dark World
1. Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club
 
Note: Hiddleston here can be a lot surprising, I know. But he does his best to portray a sneaky, evil character from Thor. Tom effectively manages to absolutely steal and overcast every co-star in the film. Dehaan was so good in Kill Your Darlings playing alcoholic, drag addict, untalented writer. It's a shame he was not properly noticed.
 
Top 5 Lead Female Performances

5. Adèle Exarchopoulos in Blue is the Warmest Color
4. Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks
3. Meryl Streep in August: Osage County
2. Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
1. Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
 
Note: Roberts's campaign as supporting actress was unfair, because she had a 100% lead with Meryl and that's it! She delivered the most mature, perfect, emotional and difficult performance of her career.

I also consider that Thompson being snubbed was the biggest let down at Oscars after Tom Hanks without nomination. She absolutely disappeared in her character.

Top 5 Lead Male Performances

5. Zachary Quinto in Star Trek Into Darkness
4. Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips
3. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby
2. Daniel Bruhl in Rush
1. Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Note: Bruhl was also campaigned for supporting, don't know why. Unfortunately, he eventually got snubbed. I don't think there is somebody who watched Rush and did not see how brilliant Daniel was. As for Zachary Quinto, I find him to be the best of Trek cast. His performance in Into Darkness was very powerful, emotional, diverse and interesting.

And finally. I am not sure if Academy adds best casting nomination, but I definitely do. Here are my

Top 5 Cast Performance:

5. Star Trek into Darkness
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
3. Lee Daniel's the Butler
2. American Hustle
1. August: Osage County

Note: Each of these movies have outstanding cast, doing whatever they were assigned to do in the best way!

Little stats
  • out of 20 my favorite performances this year 6 are Oscar nominees and out of 4 top performances, two are Oscar winners (Leto & McConaughey)
  • I've named 3 performances from Dallas Buyers Club & 2 from August: Osage County & Saving Mr. Banks.
  • 10 performances come from movies which did not make my top 10 movies of 2013.
  • I've determined lead and supporting categories myself, regardless academy qualifications.
  • This year my top performances are less similar to Oscar nominees than last year. In 2012 15 of my top 20 were Academy Award nominees.

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6 Comments:

At Mar 10, 2014, 6:18:00 PM , Anonymous Sati said...

Awesome to see Adele and Matthew as your wins. Bruhl was indeed a co-lead in Rush.

 
At Mar 10, 2014, 6:21:00 PM , Anonymous Nika said...

Matthew's performance requires no additional discussion. As for Adele, she was brilliant, I have not seen such natural and sincere performance for quite a time.

 
At Mar 12, 2014, 1:43:00 PM , Anonymous Ben Russell said...

I'm glad you think McConaughey and Leto were the best! It's great to see Roberts and Streep get some love too. I couldn't disagree with you more on Lawrence though, who I thought was good but not great. There are heaps of brilliant underrated performances on here (like Kidman in Stoker). Great article Nika :)

I've nominated you for The Liebster Award!

http://themovieman-bennyjayruss.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/the-movie-man-gets-liebster-award.html

 
At Mar 12, 2014, 1:55:00 PM , Anonymous Nika said...

Oh, thanks Ben for nomination. I'll definitely participate. ))
DBC men were incredible. Loved both. Jennifer is constantly improving actress, I found her performance very interesting and charming. Arguably, it's matter of taste :)

 
At Mar 14, 2014, 7:33:00 PM , Anonymous Alex Withrow said...

Great lists here! I love that Robbie made the Supp. Actress cut. I thought she was fantastic in that film. Dano is also a spirited choice
for Supp. Actor. He was excellent in Prisoners.

Adèle was my favorite performance of ’13, so I’m glad she's here! As for actor… I still can’t believe Hanks didn’t get an Oscar nom.

 
At Mar 14, 2014, 11:39:00 PM , Anonymous Nika said...

Absolutely agree about everything you said. Tom Hanks without nomination was the biggest disappointment this year.

 

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