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Hello, everyone!
Let’s go back to the movies for a moment.
Ramble of the Day
I haven’t seen Bird Box yet, but I did stumble across someone else casually live-tweeting while watching the film Monday night. There are a few tweets, and I’m going to share them all, but there was one that got me thinking:
There's also a such thing as good acting in a terrible movie, which should be an Oscar category. "Best Actor in an Awful, Truly Forgettable Movie."
— Miriti Murungi (@NutmegRadio) January 8, 2019
I think I agree with this take. I’m not sure the Oscars, in their current format, has room for a category like this, but someone prestigious definitely has to hand out this award. There are definitely a number of people that qualify for this award, and it would probably be a pretty competitive race every year. One suggested amendment before I continue: This shouldn’t be limited to forgettable films. There are a ton of awful movies that are worth remembering.
If you ask me, the front runner for the 2018 edition of this award would be Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody. As I’ve mentioned a few times in the comments over the last week and change, that movie didn’t want to be a regular movie with a plot or anything, but Malek was sublime. Other options include Mahershala Ali in Green Book, which I also hated -- while it had a plot, it didn’t want to do anything significant with it. Ali is pretty damn good in it, and so are Viggo Mortensen and Linda Cardellini, who does more with the little she’s given.
Other people that spring to mind: Omar Sy in Burnt, a movie that’s pretty boring and inconsequential while also being forgettable. A rightfully angry former colleague of Bradley Cooper’s Adam Jones at first, Sy’s Michel [spoiler alert] becomes a surprise saboteur, which unfortunately doesn’t work. (The movie would’ve been much better if it had.) I’ll throw in Honor Kneafsey from both A Christmas Prince and A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding, who, as the Christmas prince's little sister, is the only person you don't roll your eyes at.
I’m sure you’ve all got plenty of suggestions, so I’ll let you get to it. There are lots of bad movies out there, after all.
tl;dr: Recognizing good acting in terrible films.
Links of the Day
A large group of Chelsea fans is being investigated by the police for sexually assaulting women and shouting racist chants on a train following the team’s loss to Leicester last month.
Egypt will host this summer’s Africa Cup of Nations, beating out South Africa for the rights.
Finnish forward Riku Riski has refused to play an international friendly in Qatar, citing “ethical reasons.”
Gianluigi Buffon has revealed that he suffered from depression.
David Squires references Mary Poppins and reviews the FA Cup third round action in his latest cartoon.
Today’s longer read: Rory Smith and Tariq Panja on the magic that’s missing from the FA Cup for The New York Times