Ebert writers wrote of their favorite performances this year. There were so many entries it was broken up into two parts:
The Great Performances of 2024, Part One
The Great Performances of 2024, Part Two
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I was so glad to see Naomi Scott for Smile 2. Same with Maika Monroe in Longlegs. I saw them reasonably close together (along with Sydney Sweeney in Immaculate) and I remember thinking that with romcoms only slowly returning to favor, horror seems like one of the few popular genres where young actresses get a chance to carry a movie. Not a novel thought, but it was definitely outlined for me when I saw those so near each other.
Also happy to see Chris Hemsworth, Lea Seydoux, and David Jonsson recognized.
The write-ups reminded me that there were lots of good movies this year.
And to add in one of my own favorites, I really liked Hugh Grant in Heretic.
love everything that’s been going on with Grant in the last 7 or 8 years. he’s choosing such cool things and he’s GREAT in all of it. Paddington 2 at this point is maybe my favorite Hugh Grant performance ever.
speaking of horror – have you seen Ti West’s X “trilogy” yet? Mia Goth – there’s nothing else going on right now like what she has done in that trilogy. they aren’t perfect – some are better than others – but I love how the diversity of styles – Technical classic Hollywood, 70s grain, 80s sleaze – is also reflected in the acting. Yeah, no other genre is being as bold and audacious as horror.
Haven’t seen Longlegs – but I like Maika Monroe.