THE MATH: BEAUTIFUL BOY > MARTY SUPREME. SINNERS> BEAUTIFUL BOY. SINNERS>MARTY SUPREME

I imagine, after 57 blog posts, you’ve probably realized that I consume a lot of movies. One would think I’m a cinephile who studied film—a total cinema geek who knows my angles, lighting, and the technicalities of the art. Honestly? I just enjoy watching cool shit, good shit, great shit, and even bad shit.

Watching genuinely terrible movies might actually be my guilty pleasure. I respect someone doing something, no matter how "terrible" it is, and putting it out there because they genuinely mess with it. So yes, I consume a lot of movies.

That brings us to today. Specifically, these three films illustrated in the blog image: Marty Supreme, Sinners, and Beautiful Boy. Two of these I watched just this week. The third, I watched some time ago, but because of how great it is—and the raw emotion I felt the first time—I remember it like I watched it yesterday. That movie is Sinners.

This isn't a "review" per se. It’s an opinion on why I feel Michael B. Jordan delivered a better performance in Sinners than Timothée Chalamet did in Marty Supreme. To justify this, I’m using a mathematical formula that involves Timothée’s performance in Beautiful Boy.

And away we go.

THE PERFORMANCE

Hond, I am not a movie critic. This is an opinion based on feelings and perspective. My views on this subject are mine alone and aren't meant to start a fight I know nothing about.

Michael B. Jordan in Sinners: The brother portrayed two distinct personalities flawlessly. He did it so well that it felt like there were two actual Jordans—twins with different quirks, interests, and values. He embodied everything that made the Stacks brothers different. For that, his performance is Emmy-worthy for Best Actor, without a doubt in my book.

Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme: He’s the "I really want to be one of the greats" dude. I respect a dawg who shoots for the moon and aims for the stars. I think Timothée is "next," but his appreciation for the craft and his drive can be both a blessing and a curse.

• The Blessing: If channeled right, he achieves his goal and then some.

• The Curse: If not directed properly, he does "too much." In an effort to be great, it can come off like he’s trying too hard—almost forcing it. It’s like when Tyler, The Creator explained how Eminem became too good—so technical that it almost becomes jarring.

Watching Marty Supreme, I felt he was leaning into that "I’m not doing enough" energy. That "I need to do more, work harder, study more" vibe can be destructive to creativity because you never reach a place where you just trust your being. Don’t get me wrong, Marty Supreme was an amazing performance, but it didn't touch the flair, poise, and flow that MBJ delivered in Sinners. I get that Marty’s character is very "American"—grind culture, obsession, ambition—but for me, it lacked the soul of the Stacks brothers.

The Glue: Before writing this, I re-watched Beautiful Boy. Holmes, that is a Top 10 acting clinic in cinematic history. It wasn’t just a presentation of an idea or a concept—that was a presentation of reality. A real-life story of people who are "Nics." I regard his performance in Beautiful Boy as significantly better than his performance in Marty Supreme because Nic felt more authentic, more real, than Marty. The presentation of Nic felt like awareness of a cause while the presentation Marty felt like a display of ego, selfishness and disregard for who gets fucked over in the journey to be great. I dont like that, why cannot take my niggas with me. Why cant we all eat, why cant we all be great.

THE QUICK MATH

1. Sinners performance > Marty Supreme performance.

2. Beautiful Boy performance > Marty Supreme performance.

3. Sinners performance > Beautiful Boy performance.

It’s hard not to give it to MBJ when the man played two different personalities that cleanly.

TO CONCLUDE

My verdict is that Michael B. Jordan should have taken the Best Actor nod over Timothée Chalamet. This isn’t "fan boy" discourse. As I’ve mentioned before, these writings serve as my diary—a journal entry and a release of the ideas flying around my head for no particular purpose at all.