Best Movie Performances of 2019
Adam Sandler: Enter Sandman: From the moment you see the artist formerly known as Happy Gilmore propelling himself through the frame.
Awkwafina: We’d seen Awkwafina, a.k.a. Nora Lum, steal scenes, display broad-comedy chops and, as her hip-hop alter ego.
Honor Swinton Byrne: Never mind the pedigree; Honor Swinton Byrne may descend from acting and art-world royalty, yet the keen feeling and intelligence.
Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever: It’s that old teen-movie chestnut: the one-crazy-night narrative, when it all comes down to what happens from dusk til dawn at the house party.
Isabelle Huppert: Neil Jordan’s psychological thriller about a young waitress (Chloë Grace Moretz) who returns a lost purse to an older woman.
Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson: There was a lot of talk after the first festival screenings of Noah Baumbach’s scorched-earth chronicle of a couple separating about the film tilting.
Alfre Woodard: For too long, it feels like we’ve taken Alfre Woodard for granted. Yes, she’s been nominated for an Oscar.
Antonio Banderas: Because who else would Pedro Almodóvar get to play his ideal avatar other than the man he turned into a major star all those years ago.
Florence Pugh: Those of us who remember seeing 2016’s Lady Macbeth and thinking “Who the hell is that actor?!” felt like the rest of the world caught.
Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio: Call them the Butch and Sundance of Bendict Canyon (a movie that, not coincidentally, came out in 1969).