With Battle of the Sexes set to come out this Thursday, let's take a look at the greatest hits of its two stars... Stone 5. The Amazing Spider-Man films
Pretty poor films, the second installment being particularly dreadful, but you've got to give it to Stone for giving it her all in severely lackluster blockbusters. She has great chemistry with Andrew Garfield, who is at his best in scenes with her, and has a very good grasp on the sometimes wavering comic tone of the films, while also really making the audience care a great deal for Gwen Stacy. 4. The Help
A low-key, reactionary performance to some of the 'bigger' performances in the film, this is nevertheless one of Stone's most effective performances. She fits perfectly into the specific time period of the film, retaining that everpresent charm of hers, and also showing how the racial attitudes of the time disturb and encourage her to help her town go in the right direction. 3. Easy A
Don't like the film all that much, and the recent somewhat similar The Age of Seventeen has only served to diminish my appreciation of it, but Stone is really great in it. Though she might be a bit hard to buy as a kooky outsider, nevertheless you really grow to care and laugh with her character. She's really funny, hits the dramatic beats very well, her narration is particularly catchy, and she develops her character perfectly even when the film around her falters. 2. Birdman
A brief but great performance, in a great film. The 'recovering drug addict daughter' may be a bit of a trope, but Stone gives a devestating, entertaining and incisive performance as Michael Keaton's Riggan Thompson's daughter, with her hard-hitting monologue to her onscreen father about how all he does is futile hitting particularly hard. She disappears completely into the role, and to cap it all off her final reaction shot is mesmerizing. 1. La La Land
Just an all-round fantastic performance. On re-watches I've found myself liking the film more than loving it, but my appreciation for Stone's performance hasn't diminished one bit. It's just the perfect sort of charisma-filled performance where both singing and dancing is infused with such dynamic energy, her chemistry with Ryan Gosling is pitch-perfect, and she can turn from the funniest to saddest thing on the screen in an instant. A very well-deserved Oscar, I must say. Carell
5. The Big Short
A pretty mediocre film on the whole, but I'll admit that Carell is pretty great in it. He plays essentially the moral conscience of it, and though the role as it is, is a bit paper-thin and he occasionally dips into caricature, he nails the crucial dramatic moments very well. Plus, he probably is the only cast member who manages to make the somewhat awkward screenplay work in a natural fashion 4. Foxcatcher
A performance that I've grown to like a lot more over time. John du Pont was never the most subtle figure, and nor is Carell's performance, but I've grown to appreciate it more in contrast against the very cold and methodical film it is set against. Though it doesn't work the whole time, Carell is genuinely quite menacing, chilling and even heartbreaking at moments in the film, and creates a fascinating dynamic with both Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. Good, if at times flawed, work. 3. Anchorman
A simplistic performance that nevertheless completely works, the whole time. Brick is probably the most loveable idiot out of Ron Burgundy's posse of manic reporters. Almost every moment Brick is onscreen is used to set up a joke, now occasionally one or two of them don't quite hit the mark, but when it works, like his love for a lamp, a poorly phrased pick-up line, or perhaps best of all his performance on a reporter's battlefield, it's a great comic performance. The second film, though, perhaps overused him, showing that sometimes too much of a good thing is a bit 'meh'. 2. Last Flag Flying
I was thinking of saving my thoughts on him till the end of the year, but seeing how the Lead Actor category is shaping up, I don't think he'll get in for this film (we'll see how good he is for Battle of the Sexes). Carell is great, though, as the grieving father of a son lost in the line of duty. He balances the grief and pain of his character with the more lighthearted moments with such ease, and makes for the most sympathetic character he's played. You really grow to care for him, and though the ending is not some upbeat, rousing finale, feel moved by him being at peace at it's conclusion. 1. Little Miss Sunshine
A brilliant performance, though really the whole film is filled with great ones. As the depressed gay Proust scholar Frank, who comes to live with the Hoover family after a suicide attempt, Carell actually gives the most low-key performance in a role that could've been horrendously overacted. He's great in just playing off the rest of the cast, whether it's Greg Kinnear's intentional obnoxiousness, Alan Arkin's uncouthness, or Abgail Breslin's sheer idealism. He shows the slow recovery of Frank from his depression, to a growing optimism, beautifully, handles the few comedic moments he has very well, and nails his heart-to-heart with Paul Dano's Dwayne perfectly. A great performance, and I can't wait to see how this new collaboration with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris pans out.
With Oscar season looking to be a very successful one ahead for the acting chameleon Mr Dafoe for his outstanding turn in The Florida Project (which I'll discuss in the future)...let's look at some of his finest work. 10. Spider-Man
Though I wouldn't say his costume is the greatest (still miles better than whatever Dane DeHaan was wearing), Dafoe makes for a slightly off-putting but charismatic Norman Osborne, and gives an unnerving portrayal of the growing influence of the Green Goblin over him. When he actually is the Green Goblin it's a bit campy and over-the-top, but in an enjoyable and menacing way. 9. Born on the Fourth of July
Not one of the better Oliver Stone films, and featuring one of Tom Cruise's more overrated performances (he really should have been nominated a year before instead, for Rain Man). However, it is fairly affecting in parts in depicting the trauma of Vietnam veterans, and Dafoe excels as a sort of even more cynical foil to Cruise's character. It's a short role but a deeply moving one, and I'd have loved to see a film revolve around his character.
8. To Live and Die in L.A.
One of his earliest performances, and a good example of Dafoe going full slimeball with his portrayal of a composed, murderous counterfeiter. Again it's not a great film, lesser William Friedkin on the whole and with a plot too convoluted resulting in an excess of style over substance, but Dafoe makes for a menacing and quite compelling villain, and his final scene is particularly great. 7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
He seems to have become one of Wes Anderson's posse, and rightly so since he's so finely attuned to the director's sensibilities. Dafoe completely buys into Anderson's delightful deadpan/heightened realism style and makes for a very intimidating and scary villain, whose also quite hilarious in the over-the-top-ness of his villainy. A particular highlight is him and Jeff Goldblum's scene together where one weird character meets another to create quite a memorable comic sequence. 6. The Boondock Saints
A film that has divided the critics and audiences, The Boondock Saints is not a good film at all, but that doesn't stop Dafoe from giving one of his most entertaining performances as FBI Agent Paul Smecker. As the troubled and more than a bit loopy, but intelligent agent, he is the highlight of an otherwise trashy and unappealing action film. The scene where he describes the highlights of a shootout makes the shootout itself far more memorable than it has any right to be, and also has an inspired reference to...
5. Platoon
Dafoe received his first nomination for his turn as the compassionate and religious Sergeant Gordon Elias. Platoon is an excellent film, Oliver Stone's best, and it's Dafoe and his onscreen counterpoint, Tom Berenger's violent and cynical Sergeant Barnes, who are the heart of the film. Their conflict is what makes it really work. Dafoe is such a great presence, earthly and grounded but with such an endearing wisdom to his morality, and makes you really care for the man. His demise, which isn't a spoiler since it's center of arguably the most famous film poster ever, is heartbreaking because of the man Dafoe makes him.
4. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Another delightful Wes Anderson turn, as a much more likeable figure. As Klaus Daimler, Steve Zissou's (an excellent Bill Murray) second-in-command, he's a sweet, innocent and for lack of a better word, adorable human being. His constant optimism, other than when his friendship and bond with Zissou is questioned (leadin to some truly hilarious scenes) plays off so well against the sardonic cynicism of Anderson's other characters. This again is not a film I love, but I like it a great deal, and a lot of that is down to Mr Dafoe's work.
3. The Last Temptation of Christ
Saw this recently - give me some time to think about it as it is a really effective film, a one-of-a-kind sort of work only Scorsese himself could make, but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it on the whole. It's a tough watch, and an interesting companion piece to Silence in its exploration of religion and God's instruction. Dafoe is Jesus, and though he might not seem like the most obvious candidate, he really nails it. It's a superb portrayal of the Son of God as an inspirational figure, but also a troubled man who struggles with the pressures put upon him, and is particularly great in the final act of the film.
2. Wild at Heart
Dafoe and Lynch should really work together soon, since the brilliant Wild at Heart features Dafoe's most spine-chillingly grotesque villain of all his grotesque villains, the one and only Bobby Peru. There's little to no nuance in this performance which doesn't matter, Dafoe is a magnificent third act villain and is so compelling to watch whether he's terrorizing Laura Dern's character, or carrying out a heist like only a repulsive man like him can. He's not onscreen for even that long, but every second is very memorable.
1. Shadow of the Vampire
Dafoe's second nomination for Best Supporting Actor came with this portrayal of Max Schreck/Nosferatu in this very bizzare horror-comedy about the making of that classic Murnau film. Though he really should have been nominated in lead, I'm glad he was nominated since this is his very best performance. He slips so seamlessly into the role of one of the most iconic horror figures ever, almost on the level of Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi; the voice and accent, the physicality, and the creepiness he brings to every word he says, makes you completely buy into the concept of the film, which is that Schreck was really a vampire. The film isn't by any means perfect, but any scene with Dafoe blends the darkly comedic plight of the vampire with a surprisingly moving side to his eternal life of loneliness, and wish to become immortalized through film.
