00:00As the year wraps up and awards season nominations are announced, The Hollywood Reporter's
00:04critics have chosen the feats of acting they found to be the most mesmerizing. From Rami
00:09Malek's turn as Freddie Mercury in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, to Bradley Cooper's
00:14heartbreaking performance in his directorial debut A Star is Born, to Elsie Fisher's
00:19captivating portrayal of adolescence in eighth grade, our critics cited 30 big screen
00:24performances that blew them away. Here, in no particular order, we take a look at five of the
00:28actors our critics deemed outstanding.
00:30According to John Frosch, Dominique Fishback conjured a storm of furious feeling with little more
00:42than a change in posture or an askance look, and night comes on, Jordana Spiro's film about a
00:47black lesbian teenager navigating post-incarceration life. Writes the critic,
00:52it's a minimalist performance but hauntingly rich in unfussy empathy and pent-up feeling,
00:57proof that Fishback has already mastered the skill of knocking us sideways without breaking a sweat.
01:02Having a baby is an immoral act. Overpopulation, climate change, rise of neo-fascism.
01:09Did you take your valium?
01:11Yes. Why?
01:13Katherine Hahn gets high praise from Sherry Linden for her turn in Netflix's Private Life,
01:16which looks at a couple's pursuit of parenthood. Says Linden Off-Hahn,
01:19As a boho Manhattanite whose every sigh suggests wanting and doubting in nearly equal measure,
01:25she's in perfect sync with Paul Giamatti as her no less-faced husband. So believably connected are
01:31their characters that each time they warily hold their tongues, you can practically hear their
01:35entwined thoughts. Hahn delivers a delirious and devastating portrait of middle-aged angst,
01:41procreational and otherwise.
01:42We are drinking to new life. Tish gonna have Fonny's baby.
01:50For David Rooney, Regina King's performance in Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk was
01:55worth paying attention to. In this revered adaptation of James Baldwin's novel, King plays the mother to
02:00Tish, who is carrying the child of her incarcerated boyfriend, Fonny. Rooney infuses,
02:05casting King, whose backbone and intelligence have made her a stealth powerhouse in so many great
02:10TV roles, was a masterstroke. How wonderful to see her estimable gifts utilized again on the big screen.
02:17I think this one line here was particularly clever, don't you think?
02:22It's wonderful. I love his writing.
02:25Rooney also praises Melissa McCarthy, better known for her comedy chops, for her portrayal of
02:29Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me, noting that the actress never softens her thorniness,
02:34and yet her character's deep-in-the-bone loneliness pulls you into this uncompromising,
02:39quintessentially New York character study.
02:41There is a base, honey, kid.
02:43I also got you a little base.
02:48Another of John Frosch's picks is former Walking Dead star Steven Yeun,
02:51who takes on his first Korean-language role in Lee Chang-Don's Burning. According to Frosch,
02:56Yeun exudes a can't-take-your-eyes-off-him charisma that's menacing in its inscrutability,
03:00underplaying so shrewdly with such expert modulation and sly humor that you never stop
03:05trying to read the character. Every time you think you have him figured out,
03:08he slips from your grasp, but rarely has not fully getting someone felt so thrilling.
03:13To read our critics' full list of their top 30 best performances of 2018, head to THR.com.
03:18For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.
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