THE BEST JODIE FOSTER MOVIES RANKED

It's hard to believe that Jodie Foster has been working since she was three years old. First as as model before moving on to performing on television and eventually the movies. The two-time Oscar winner has revealed that acting was never something she had really wanted to do; it was actually something thrusted upon her. But she was capable and naturally gifted. On screen, she usually displayed a tough exterior, able to face whatever difficult challenges that came her way with fierce determination and sharp intellect. Yet there was also a tender vulnerability that has made Foster endure as one of the most fascinating of screen actors.

Will Leitch and Tim Grierson for Vulture has looked back on Foster's acting career and have ranked her film performances from least impressive to her most outstanding work which includes her latest role in the recently released "The Mauritanian". In this, Foster plays (for the first time) a character based on a real person, defense attorney Nancy Hollander who works at trying to free Mohamedou Ould Salahi (played by Tahar Rahim) who has been held by the U.S. government for years in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp without charge or trial.

And to be clear, this list is not complete as they do not rank most of Foster's film work that was done when she was a child, including her first starring role at the age of ten in the 1972 Walt Disney feature, "Napoleon and Samantha" or the now-cult classic "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" from 1976.

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The Best Jodie Foster Movies Ranked

MALCOLM & MARIE (2021)

Written & Directed by Sam Levinson



Available to stream now on Netflix



In "Malcolm & Marie", a couple returns home from a celebratory evening of one's film premiere when an oversight during an appreciation speech causes long simmering tensions in their relationship to boil over. This film from Sam Levinson, the creator of the hit HBO teen drama series, "Euphoria", was quickly put together when the show had to delay production on the next season due to COVID-19 concerns. Shot in secret last summer with a minimal crew and only his "Euphoria" star, Zendaya and John David Washington in the cast, the writer/director has boldly set about crafting an intimate, character-driven drama (filmed artfully in black & white by Marcell Rév) that could be made under the safety protocols required during this time. But that's the problem with "Malcolm & Marie". He has not delivered a contemplative indie feature film but something that feels more like an extended, underdeveloped episode of a television drama.

Malcolm (Washington) is a film director, jubilant over the audience's response to his new feature. But what he's really waiting for are the critics' reviews to come in. Meanwhile, his long-time girlfriend, Marie (Zendaya), silent and clearly agitated, begins to prepare Malcolm a late-night meal of macaroni & cheese. Finally noticing that she's perturbed, he asks what is bothering her. And what Marie reveals, that she's upset she wasn't thanked in his speech at the premiere, begins a long night of lengthy, intense conversations involving perceived grievances and bitter accusations. Their exchange starts with an uncomfortable discussion before gradually becoming far more destructive personal attacks.

There is a lot of talking in "Malcolm & Marie"; some of it is shrewd and provocative. But what it mostly feels like is an endless therapy session with a couple who have failed to communicate properly, something I really didn't want to listen to. The film has been set up to be modern love story, dealing with issues facing young people today set in the new woke Hollywood. Yet Malcolm's passionate declarations of unwavering love for Marie that follow his ugly and brutal takedowns of her is not romantic. He manages to be both disdainful of her presence yet fearful he will lose her. That is not love. It is co-dependency.

Zendaya, who has gone from virtuous Disney Channel starlet to playing a struggling teenage drug addict in Levinson's acclaimed drama series, delivers a compelling performance as Marie. Full of pent-up rage and nagging insecurities, she effectively battles Malcolm for recognition of her contributions to his life and his career. The actress won an unexpected yet well-deserved Emmy for her work on the show last year (making her, at the age of twenty-four, the youngest winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series) and this film certainly solidifies that she has a bright and promising career ahead of her. But even with only a twelve-year age gap between her and Washington, Zendaya still comes across much younger, a distraction that mutes some of what she brings to the film.

As for Mr. Washington, what he brings to the film is loud, a bit screechy and lacking in nuance. The actor does not possess a natural charisma on screen and his character is a tough sell; self-involved, insensitive and manipulative. And these are qualities that will require someone with a lot of effortless charm to make us even consider his side of the argument. After he finds a review online, Malcolm rants and raves about a "white lady" film critic who dares to assume that there are racial politics in his film while comparing his work only with fellow African-American filmmakers. And while his point is certainly valid, the way he expresses his frustrations with this at the top of his lungs is exasperating, making one want to tune out instead of leaning in.

With "Malcolm & Marie", Mr. Levinson seems like he had much he wanted to say regarding relationships, identity, Hollywood and race. Yet he has not put in enough time with these thoughts and opinions to make much of an impact in his story and Levinson (who is white and son of the filmmaker, Barry; the Oscar-winning director behind "Diner", "Good Morning, Vietnam" and "Rain Man") using African-Americans as stand-ins to articulate his views does leave a feeling of some discomfort. But the real problem is after enduring this attractive couple bickering and fussing, "Malcolm & Marie" just lacks a strong emotional payoff to be an engaging experience.

WINNERS OF THE 2021 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

The end of the Sundance Film Festival,  this year a largely virtual event, always leads to awards and this fest hands out plenty of them. With thirty-one given out, it seems like everyone gets to go home with a prize.

"Coda", a family drama from writer/director, Siân Heder, received the Grand Jury Prize for the best U.S. dramatic feature. This story about a young woman, who is the only hearing person in her otherwise deaf family, is torn between staying with them as their fishing business is threatened or moving on with her life to attend music school, won Heder the Dramatic Directing Award and the film also won Best Dramatic Feature Audience Award. "Coda" was part of a bidding war with Apple+ being the winner with a $25 million bid.

Musician-turned-filmmaker, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson made a splash with his first feature, "Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)", which details the events at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African American music and promoted Black pride, took the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Documentary.

And Blerta Basholli’s "Hive", about a woman in Kosovo who struggles to survive in a patriarchal society while in search of her missing husband, was the big winner in World Cinema with three awards, Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award and Best Director.

Here is a partial list of winners from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival:

U.S. Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic): "Coda"
U.S. Dramatic Directing Award: Siân Heder, "Coda"
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award (U.S. Dramatic): Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, "On The Count of Three"
U.S. Grand Jury Prize (Documentary): "Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)"
U.S. Directing Award (Documentary): Natalia Almada, "Users"
U.S. Editing Award (Documentary): Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno, "Homeroom"
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: "Hive"
World Cinema Directing Award: Blerta Basholli, "Hive"
World Cinema Jury Award for Acting: Jesmark Scicluna, "Luzzu"
World Cinema Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Baz Poonpiriya, "One For The Road"

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Awards:

Best Ensemble Cast: "Coda"
Best Actor: Clifton Collins, Jr., "Jockey" 

Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker (Documentary): Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, "Cusp"
Best Nonfiction Experimentation: "All Light, Everywhere"

U.S. Audience Awards:

Best Dramatic Feature: "Coda"
Best Documentary: "Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)"
Best World Cinema Dramatic Feature: "Hive"
Best World Cinema Documentary: "Writing With Fire"
World Cinema Jury Prize: "Flee"

World Cinema Directing Award: Hogir Hirori, "Sabaya"
World Cinema Special Jury Award in Impact for Change: "Writing With Fire"
World Cinema Special Jury Award in Verite Filmmaking: "President"

NEXT:

Audience Award: "Ma Belle, My Beauty"
Innovator Award: "Cryptozoo"

THE 2021 GOLDEN GLOBES AND SAG AWARD NOMINATIONS

With the announcement of the nominations for the 2021 Golden Globes, award season has finally been kicked off. "Mank", David Fincher's look at the process of creating the script for Orson Welles' cinematic masterpiece, "Citizen Kane", leads in total nominations with six. This Netflix production received noms for Best Director, Gary Oldman, who played screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried), Best Screenplay (a nod for Fincher's late father, Jack) and Best Motion Picture Drama. 

With 2020 upended by the pandemic, the releases were largely limited to indie films in theaters or streaming services as studios largely held off from releasing their big-budget productions until hopefully sometime later this year. That means the rest of the Best Motion Picture Drama category is lined up with films that many people probably have not even heard of let alone actually seen; Aaron Sorkin's courtroom drama "The Trial of the Chicago 7" received five total nominations while four apiece went to "The Father", a family drama featuring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman; Chloe Zhao's road drama, "Nomadland," and the revenge thriller, "Promising Young Woman."

For Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, the picks were even more obscure; Sacha Baron Cohen received a nomination for his comedy sequel, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" (and a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role in "Chicago 7"); the Andy Samberg comedy, "Palm Springs" which he also landed a Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy nomination; the filmed version of the stage show, "Hamilton"; Ryan Murphy's adaption of the musical, "The Prom" and the biggest headscratcher, "Music", a little-known musical directed by pop star, Sia and starring Kate Hudson.

The Golden Globes, which are usually held in January, will be given out on February 28th and, for the first time, will be held on both coasts, with Tina Fey live in New York and Amy Poehler in Beverly Hills.

Here is the list of nominations in the motion picture category for the 78th annual Golden Globe Awards:

Best Motion Picture (Drama):

"The Father"
"Mank"
"Nomadland"
"Promising Young Woman"
"The Trial of the Chicago 7"

Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical):

"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
"Hamilton"
"Music"
"Palm Springs"
"The Prom"

Best Director - Motion Picture:

Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"
David Fincher, "Mank"
Regina King, "One Night in Miami"
Aaron Sorkin, "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture:

Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"
Jack Fincher, "Mank"
Aaron Sorkin, "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, "The Father"
Chloe Zhao, "Nomadland"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama:

Viola Davis, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Andra Day, "The United States vs. Billie Holiday"
Vanessa Kirby, "Pieces of a Woman"
Frances McDormand, "Nomadland"
Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama:

Riz Ahmed, "Sound of Metal"
Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Anthony Hopkins, "The Father"
Gary Oldman, "Mank"
Tahar Rahim, "The Mauritanian"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy or Musical:

Maria Bakalova, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Kate Hudson, "Music"
Michelle Pfeiffer, "French Exit"
Rosamund Pike, "I Care A Lot"
Anya Taylor-Joy, "Emma"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical:

Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
James Corden, "The Prom"
Lin-Manuel Miranda, "Hamilton"
Dev Patel, "The Personal History of David Copperfield"
Andy Samberg, "Palm Springs"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture:

Glenn Close, "Hillbilly Elegy"
Olivia Colman, "The Father"
Jodie Foster, "The Mauritanian"
Amanda Seyfried, "Mank"
Helena Zengel, "News of the World"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture:

Sacha Baron Cohen, "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Daniel Kaluuya, "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Jared Leto, "The Little Things"
Bill Murray, "On the Rocks"
Leslie Odom Jr., "One Night in Miami"

Best Motion Picture (Foreign Language):

"Another Round" (Denmark)
"La Llorona" (Guatemala/France)
"The Life Ahead" (Italy)
"Minari" (USA)
"Two of Us" (France /USA)

Best Motion Picture (Animated):

"The Croods: A New Age"
"Onward"
"Over the Moon"
"Soul"
"Wolfwalkers"

Best Original Score - Motion Picture:

Alexandre Desplat, "The Midnight Sky"
Ludwig Goransson, "Tenet"
James Newton Howard, "News of the World"
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, "Mank"
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste, "Soul"

Best Original Song - Motion Picture:

"Fight for You" (from "Judas and the Black Messiah") Music by: H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II Lyrics by: H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
"Hear My Voice" (from "The Trial of the Chicago 7") Music by: Daniel Pemberton Lyrics by: Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
"Io Sì (Seen)" (from "The Life Ahead") Music by: Diane Warren Lyrics by: Diane Warren, Laura Pausini and Niccolò Agliardi
“Speak Now” (from "One Night in Miami") Music and Lyrics by: Leslie Odom Jr and Sam Ashworth
"Tigress & Tweed" (from "The United States vs. Billie Holiday") Music and Lyrics by: Andra Day and Raphael Saadiq

And while "Mank" dominated the Globes, the film fared less well with the Screen Actor Guild Awards, which honors the best performances in film and television. Oldman was the only one recognized for Best Actor but some celebrated films that were largely ignored by the Hollywood Foreign Press have been recognized in multiple categories which includes Spike Lee's war movie "Da 5 Bloods," Lee Isaac Chung's Korean American family drama, "Minari" and the film adaptation of August Wilson's play, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom".

Due to COVID-19 concerns, The 27th annual SAG Awards will be presented on April 4th not with a live audience but in a one-hour special, highlighting and honoring the outstanding performances of the past year.

Here is the list of the movie nominees of the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards:

Best Ensemble Cast:

"Da 5 Bloods"
"Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
"Minari"
"One Night in Miami"
"The Trial of the Chicago 7"

Best Female Actor:

Amy Adams, "Hillbilly Elegy"
Viola Davis, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Vanessa Kirby, "Pieces of a Woman”
Frances McDormand, "Nomadland"
Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"

Best Male Actor:

Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal"
Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Anthony Hopkins, "The Father"
Gary Oldman, "Mank"
Steven Yeun, “Minari"

Best Supporting Female Actor:

Maria Bakalova, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Glenn Close, "Hillbilly Elegy"
Olivia Colman, "The Father”
Yuh-jung Youn, "Minari"
Helena Zengel, "News of the World"

Best Supporting Male Actor:

Sacha Baron Cohen, "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Chadwick Boseman, "Da 5 Bloods" 
Daniel Kaluuya, "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Jared Leto, "The Little Things"
Leslie Odom Jr., "One Night in Miami"

TRIBUTES: CICELY TYSON AND CLORIS LEACHMAN

I know this is very late but I couldn't miss the opportunity to pay tribute to these two legendary actresses, Cicely Tyson, who passed away this year on January 28th at the age of 96 and Cloris Leachman, who died on January 27th at 94, both who enjoyed long careers on stage and screen for decades, continuing to work well in to their nineties. 

CICELY TYSON (1924 - 2021)

I remember being captivated by the screen performances of Cicely Tyson in the 1972 feature, "Sounder", then later in the television film, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" and appearing briefly in the groundbreaking mini-series, "Roots". And I was so thrilled for her when she was nominated for an Oscar and won an Emmy for her extraordinary work in these films. This was important for me at the time as a young Black teen, filling me with so much pride of seeing this strong, beautiful African-American woman being recognized for doing excellent work and being honored for her outstanding achievements.

As she has revealed in her recently released best-selling memoir, "Just As I Am", Tyson, born in East Harlem, decided to pursue a career as actor against the wishes of her deeply religious mother who didn't speak to her daughter for many years. Tyson actually first began as a model before moving on to acting, appearing in several supporting film and television roles. Her first breakthrough came when she appeared in the 1961 Off-Broadway production of French playwright Jean Genet's "The Blacks" along with other notable original cast members, Maya Angelou, James Earl Jones, Godfrey Cambridge and Louis Gossett Jr.

As she pursued her acting career, Tyson made sure she never accepted roles that were demeaning or stereotypical of African-Americans. After becoming a star, she would go to appear in the films, "Fried Green Tomatoes", "Hoodlum", "The Help" and the Tyler Perry movies, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman", "Why Did I Get Married Too?" and "A Fall From Grace". Some of Tyson's television work included "The Marva Collins Story", "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All", "The Women of Brewster Place", "A Lesson Before Dying" and guest-starred on "How to Get Away with Murder" playing the mother of lead character, Annalise Keating (played by Viola Davis) which she would be nominated five times for an Emmy as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. Tyson returned to the stage in 2013 to appear in the revival of Horton Foote's "The Trip to Bountiful" where she would win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play at the age of eighty-eight.

One source of endless fascination in Tyson's personal life involved her relationship with jazz musician, Miles Davis. While in the process of divorcing his wife, Frances, Davis began seeing Tyson and even  used a photo of her for his 1967 album, "Sorcerer". Although he had announced that he would marry Tyson after his divorce was final in 1968, he instead ended up marrying singer, Betty Davis. The two performers rekindled their romance ten years later and married in 1981. But the marriage proved to be highly volatile due to Davis' increased drug use and infidelity. Tyson did help him get off drugs but the marriage had run it's course, ending in 1989, two years before Davis died in 1991.

CLORIS LEACHMAN (1926 - 2021)

While she won the 1971 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her mesmerizing work in "The Last Picture Show", Cloris Leachman really would go on to make her mark largely on television. She certainly proved to be a wonderful dramatic actress yet throughout her career she displayed that her greatest strength was found doing comedy.

Born and raised in Des Moines, IA, Leachman competed in the 1946 Miss America pageant, which lead her to the opportunity to study under Elia Kazan at the Actors Studio in New York. She began in theater, appearing in early productions of "South Pacific", "Come Back, Little Sheba" and "The Crucible". Leachman would move to live television broadcasts in the 1950's and appeared briefly as Timmy's mother in the fourth season of "Lassie" but was dropped from the show by the end of the year. She did appear a few small roles in the films, "Kiss Me Deadly", "The Rack" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" before her major break in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age, small-town Texas drama.

After the Oscar win, Leachman was part of Mel Brooks' ensemble cast, appearing in his films, "Young Frankenstein" (as Frau Blücher), "High Anxiety and "History of the World, Part I". But it was the role of Phyllis Lindstrom, Mary Richards's landlady on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" that truly made the actress a star. She would appear on the sitcom for five season and then get a spin-off show, "Phyllis" in 1975 that lasted for two seasons. Leachman would win two of her eight Emmy Awards for her work on the show (tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the most awarded actress in Emmy history) and was nominated a record twenty-two times for the television honor. 

She would also make history appearing on the dance competition program, "Dancing with the Stars" in 2008, making her the oldest person to have competed on the show to date. Leachman had continued to work steadily over the years, appearing on the comedy series, "The Facts of Life", "The Office", "Malcolm in the Middle", "Two and a Half Men", "Raising Hope" and the recent 2019 revival of "Mad About You".