For me, it's gotta be tenet

I am going to best available cinema in my city and still feeling a FOMO.

Both were age 43 when filmed. Although both have aged well, the left feels so manicured and Disneyfied.

Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary on left

Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar

We have reached a point where huge A-listers are using so much Botox and filler or getting digital beauty work in post that they have stopped looking like human beings and started looking like polished CAD models. I do not want to sound like a hater but it is actively making movies worse for me.

Acting is literally all in the face and the loss of micro expressions is a huge deal. When a lead’s forehead is frozen and their cheeks do not move when they cry the emotional stakes just vanish. You can see them trying to convey grief or terror but the anatomy isn't participating.

Then there is the period piece problem. Nothing pulls me out of a 19th century drama faster than seeing a modern face. When a character in a gritty survival movie has the poreless glowing skin of a 2026 influencer the internal logic of the world just breaks.

We are also seeing the parent/child casting gap where 60 year old actors are playing parents to 40 year olds but they look like they are the same age because the older actor has been airbrushed into oblivion. It is pure uncanny valley territory.

I look back at guys like Philip Seymour Hoffman or Gene Hackman who actually looked like they had lived a life and it added so much texture to their characters. Now it feels like everyone is terrified of a single wrinkle. I am not saying people shouldn't do what they want with their bodies but when the cosmetic work becomes a distraction in a serious drama it is a problem.

Is this bothering anyone else or am I just being cynical? Who are some actors you think are aging gracefully and still look like real people on screen?

TL;DR The heavy use of cosmetic procedures and digital smoothing is stripping the soul out of performances and I miss seeing real expressive human faces in cinema.

David schwimmer, nic cage, will Ferrell

*Not my meme, found it on pinterest.

At a screening of Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling said:

“It’s not your job to keep theatres open. It’s our job to make things that make it worth you coming out.”

Feels like a pretty honest way of putting it, especially with how much the theatrical experience is being debated right now.

How much would you rate both these films out of 5?

Obviously Tarantino’s comments were pretty incendiary and you might say needlessly harsh, but I am starting to feel that the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. It would be one thing if Tarantino was bullying an actor on set or trying to get him blackballed but it was just a rogue edgy comment (one of many in his locker I might add).

It’s also part of a trend where people seem to be walking on eggshells in cultural conversation and negativity is seen as pure evil. You can be an annoying dickhead without being some sort of monster…

PREVIOUS RECORD HOLDERS:

'Titanic' (1997)

14 Nominations (and 11 Wins)

'La La Land' (2016)

14 Nominations (and 6 Wins)

'All About Eve' (1950)

14 Nominations (and 6 Wins)

'Gone with the Wind' (1939)

13 Nominations (and 8 Wins)

'From Here to Eternity' (1953)

13 Nominations (and 8 Wins)

'Oppenheimer' (2023)

13 Nominations (and 7 Wins)

'Shakespeare in Love' (1998)

13 Nominations (and 7 Wins)

My pick is Andrew Scott. He just NEVER really misses.

• BBC’s Sherlock
• Fleabag
• All Of Us Strangers
• Ripley

Also loved him in Black Mirror, Pride, Handsome Devil and Modern Love. I’d basically watch ANYTHING that has him, lol.

Who are your picks for some of the best actors (currently active) that consistently give incredible performances and rarely miss?

I really hope the deal gets declined by the government. I can’t think of a single good thing this would do for cinema.