The strongest movie performances of 2019
The best movies of 2019 have been daring, creepy, kooky and heartbreaking. These are the standout performances of the year, as rated by film reviewer Leigh Paatsch.
Entertainment
Don't miss out on the headlines from Entertainment. Followed categories will be added to My News.
JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN JOKER
You may think you’ve seen it all before with The Ace of Knaves but in the hands of Joaquin Phoenix, Joker is one of the most significant, daring, subversive and divisive movies to make it into the mainstream in a long, long time.
Phoenix isolates a void in Joker between the breaking of the man and the making of a menace to society.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON, ADAM DRIVER IN MARRIAGE STORY
Marriage Story will merrily break your heart, then solemnly repair it, over and over again.
This unsparing portrait of the contemporary divorce process will show you much more of a good time than you could possibly have bargained for.
It all starts with two powerhouse performances from Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, both of whom look surefire contenders for Oscars.
Scene by scene, line by line and breath by breath, the forensic accuracy of their performances continues to increase until the target they had in mind all along is locked in their sights: you.
FLORENCE PUGH IN MIDSOMMAR
Midsommar is a deadset one-of-a-kind horror movie, taking a very slow, very scenic and incongruously sunny route to a terrifying final destination.
This cravenly creepy thing is out to both haunt you, and heave you into a bottomless abyss of confusion and conjecture.
DANIEL CRAIG IN KNIVES OUT
The Knives Out show is comprehensively stolen — and never once returned — by a wired, inspired and kookily amusing Daniel Craig.
He plays Benoit Blanc, an unorthodox private detective from the deep south who knows all the answers from the get-go, but remains unsure of the question until the closing scenes.
Don’t believe a word anyone says in Knives Out whatever you do, but be assured a very good time awaits you here.
RENEE ZELLWEGER IN JUDY
From the outset, Zellweger goes up, over the rainbow and then soars towards stratospheric heights of performance.
Not only channelling Garland’s mercurial combination of fragility and fury as a performer, but also her intense devotion to her children and an unfortunate dependence on the wrong men.
In Zellweger’s assured hands, Garland’s dysfunctional relationship with her own craft comes alive in vivid fashion.
‘I wouldn’t even s*** that’: What you missed on Wentworth
Wentworth does WikiLeaks in the third episode of the new season, as the Foxtel drama welcomes a new face. And there’s drama for Reb and Lou. Warning: Spoilers.
The moment Manu realised he had turned into a ‘d-ck’
TV chef Manu Feildel says the failure of his Melbourne restaurant with George Calombaris caused a horrible downward spiral, and it wasn’t until this horror moment that he realised he desperately needed to turn his life around.