This is the final track on Neko Case’s 2006 album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, one of the very best albums of that year and, really, that whole decade.
Fox Confessor was my first exposure to Case and it remains the best thing she’s ever done. The album became a family favorite, especially beloved by my then 4-year-old daughter. She still plays it today at 16.
Next week I will count down my top ten movies of 2018, two per day. Last year was a great one for film and this list was one of the hardest I’ve had to put together in the many years I’ve been doing this.
I saw 70 movies from 2018, thanks in large part to streaming services like NetFlix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. I saw my fair share on the big screen as well (some more than once). That’s probably the most movies I’ve seen from a single year in a long time, yet I’m still kicking myself for missing out on several key titles.
The final acting category in my 2018 Oscars rundown is Best Supporting Actor.
I’m pretty well caught up with the most-discussed performances in this category. The only two major ones I have yet to see are Sam Rockwell in Vice and Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me? I really regret having missed the latter and hope it shows up on demand soon.
This year’s Best Supporting Actress field isn’t as stocked as Best Actress, but it still offers a number of fine performances from which to choose.
I came up with a shortlist of nine women I considered for my top five and I’d be thrilled if any of them made the Academy’s cut (which hasn’t been announced as I write this but will be a day old when you read it). My guess is that only three of the nine will be recognized by Oscar.
In a reversal from most years, the 2018 Best Actor race is far less competitive than that of Best Actress. I struggled to come up with ten names to consider for my personal list of the year’s best lead male performances.
Granted, I have yet to see several performances that have a good chance of cracking the lineup in this category, including the two frontrunners.
Here are the ones I’ve missed:
Christian Bale – Vice
Willem Dafoe – At Eternity’s Gate
Ryan Gosling – First Man
Lucas Hedges – Boy Erased
Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody
All of these have a shot at cracking the Oscar lineup (which is announced this morning, incidentally) and Bale and Malek will likely duke it out for the win. Continue reading
Meet Me In Montauk 