This feature originally ran in September 2014. We’re reposting it in celebration of Denzel Washington’s 67th birthday today. Top Performances is a recurring feature in which we definitively handpick the very best performances from an iconic actor or actress. Six-time Academy Award nominee and two-time winner. Can play it over-the-top, but knows when he needs to play it cool, to play down. One of the more gracious actors you’ll ever see on the big screen. I’m talking, of course, about Denzel Washington, and through careful consideration, Leah Pickett and I have gone through his filmography to select his 10 finest performances. Keep in mind these rankings are based on Washington’s performances, not the movies in which he performed. Did we forget anything? Did we place a performanc...
One of the first movies Warner Bros. is using to smash release windows in 2021 is the Denzel Washington-starring The Little Things. Arriving in select theaters and HBO Max day-and-date on January 29th, the psychological thriller has today received its first trailer. Written and directed by John Lee Hancock (The Founder, The Blind Side), The Little Things finds Washington playing Joe “Deke” Deacon, a Kern County Deputy Sheriff with an impeccable track record yet no forward career momentum. While on an evidence-gathering assignment in Los Angeles, Sergeant Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) ropes him into a serial killer investigation. They both have their sights set on one particular man (Jared Leto), but their hunt for a murderer threatens to unearth some dark secrets from Deke’s past. The trailer ce...
Source: Courtesy Netflix / Netflix Netflix has premiered the trailer for Chadwick Boseman‘s final film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on August Wilson’s award-winning 1984 stage play. Set in 1927 Chicago, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is centered on the incredible story of one of America’s first Black professional Blues singer, Ma Rainey, and the tension and conflict between her and the white ownership of the clubs where she performed. Although Boseman’s character, Levee, is fictitious, the film shows how the actual creation of her hit song, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” came to fruition and also revealing that the song was written for a dance by the same name. Helmed by George C. Wolfe, who won Tony awards for directing the play “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” and the musical “B...
Source: Netflix / Netflix Netflix has released a few amazing photos from Chadwick Boseman‘s final film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and fans can’t get over the excellence-—even in still images. On Wednesday (Sept 30), the streaming powerhouse took to social media to share the images along with the release date to the film, which is produced by legendary actor Denzel Washington and directed by George C. Wolfe, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom stars Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman in his final film performance. During an interview with the New York Times, both Davis and Washington recall their time working with Boseman on the film recalling his phenomenal stage presence and work ethic. “He did a brilliant job, and he’s gone,” said Denzel Washington. “I still can’t believe it.” Viol...