Nobody gets this better than suburban youth, who by and large can’t wait to turn 18 and get the fuck out of Dodge…
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The Minnesota Film Critics Alliance has announced its picks for the best of 2020 and the first three months of 2021! This is their first year to give out awards so congratulations to them!
Being their inaugural year, this would have been a good opportunity to totally honor something unexpected. Instead, they honored Nomadland.
Here are the nominee and winners out of Minnesota!
BEST PICTURE
“Da 5 Bloods” Producers Spike Lee, Jon Kilik, Lloyd Levin and Beatriz Levin.
“The Invisible Man” Producers Jason Blum and Kylie Du Fresne.
“Judas and the Black Messiah” Producers Charles King, Ryan Coogler and Shaka King.
“Minari” Producers Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Christina Oh.
WINNER: “Nomadland” Producers Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao and Mollye Asher.
RUNNER-UP: “Promising Young Woman” Producers Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley and Ashley Fox.
“Sound of Metal” Producers Bert Hamelinck, Kathy Benz, Bill Benz and Sacha Ben Harroche.
BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
RUNNERS-UP: Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Shaka King, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
RUNNERS-UP: Spike Lee, “Da 5 Bloods”
WINNER: Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”
BEST ACTOR
RUNNERS-UP: Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
WINNERS TIE: Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
RUNNERS-UP: Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”
WINNERS TIE: Delroy Lindo, “Da 5 Bloods”
RUNNERS-UP: Lakieth Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
RUNNERS-UP: Steven Yuen, “Minari”
BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Sidney Flanigan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
RUNNER-UP: Elisabeth Moss, “The Invisible Man”
WINNER: Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman, “Da 5 Bloods”
Bo Burnham, “Promising Young Woman”
WINNER: Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Alan Kim, “Minari”
Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night in Miami”
RUNNER-UP: Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
RUNNER-UP: Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Movie Film”
Olivia Colman, “The Father”
Dominique Fishback, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
WINNER: Youn Yuh-Jung, “Minari”
Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”
BEST SCREENPLAY
Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee, “Da 5 Bloods”
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
WINNER: Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Charlie Kaufman, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
RUNNERS-UP: Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
RUNNERS-UP: Leigh Whannell, “The Invisible Man”
RUNNERS-UP: Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
WINNER: K.K. Barrett, “Birds of Prey”
RUNNER-UP: Donald Graham Burt, “Mank”
David Crank, “News of the World”
Molly Hughes, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
Peter Francis, “The Father”
Mark Ricker, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Kave Quinn, “Emma”
BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
RUNNER-UP: Robert Franzen, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
Adam Gough, “Da 5 Bloods”
WINNER: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, “Sound of Metal”
Kristan Sprague, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Frédéric Thoraval, “Promising Young Woman”
Harry Yoon, “Minari”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sean Bobbitt, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
RUNNER-UP: Stefan Duscio, “The Invisible Man”
Lachlan Milne, “Minari”
WINNER: Joshua James Richards, “Nomadland”
Newton Thomas Sigel, “Da 5 Bloods”
BEST ANIMATED FILM
“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” Producer Paul Kewley.
“Onward” Producer Kori Rae.
“Over the Moon” Producers Peilin Chou and Gennie Rim.
RUNNER-UP: “Soul” Producer Dana Murray.
WINNER: “Wolfwalkers” Producers Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey, Paul Young and Stephan Roelants.
BEST MUSIC
RUNNER-UP: Terence Blanchard, “Da 5 Bloods”
“Judas and the Black Messiah” Music by Craig Harris and Mark Isham. Featuring the song “Fight for You” by D’Mile and H.E.R., lyrics by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas.”
Emile Mosseri, “Minari”
WINNER: Trent Reznor, Atticus Russ and John Batiste, “Soul”
Benjamin Wallfisch, “The Invisible Man”
Anthony Willis, “Promising Young Woman”
BEST SOUND WORK
“Da 5 Bloods”
“Greyhound”
“I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
RUNNER-UP: “The Invisible Man”
WINNER: “Sound of Metal”
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
“Birds of Prey”
“Greyhound”
WINNER: “The Invisible Man”
“Mank”
“Mulan”
RUNNER-UP: “Tenet”
“Wonder Woman 1984”
With the Oscars just a little over a week away, there’s still a few precursors to be awarded. Last night. the Costume Designers Guild announced their picks for the best of 2020. And here they are:
Excellence in Sci-Fi / Fantasy Film
“Dolittle” – Jenny Beavan
“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” – Michael Wilkinson
“Mulan” – Bina Daigeler
“Pinocchio “– Massimo Cantini Parrini
“Wonder Woman 1984” – Lindy Hemming
Excellence in Contemporary Film
“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” – Trayce Gigi Field
“Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” – Erin Benach
“Da 5 Bloods” – Donna Berwick
“Promising Young Woman” – Nancy Steiner
“The Prom” – Lou Eyrich
Excellence in Period Film
“Emma.” – Alexandra Byrne
“Judas and the Black Messiah” – Charlese Antoinette Jones
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” – Ann Roth
“Mank” – Trish Summerville
“One Night in Miami ” – Francine Jamison-Tanchuck
Need You Tonight was the first single released off of INXS’s sixth studio album, Kick. The video, which made use of several different types of animation, was extremely popular with MTV’s audience and, as a result, the song went on to become one of INXS’s biggest hits. The video went on to win 5 awards at the MTV Music Video Awards. This was back when those actually meant something.
Director Richard Lowenstein directed a total of 16 videos for INXS, including this one. He also directed a film called Dogs in Space, which was not about actual dogs in space but which was instead about the Australian post-punk scene. INXS’s lead singer Michael Hutchence played Sam, the leader of a band called Dogs in Space.
Enjoy!
The tenth and most recent issue of Aaron Lange’s CashGrab — his ‘zine of art, miscellany, and art miscellany published by Vancouver’s The Comix Company — feels like it’s been a long time coming because, hey, it actually has been : indeed, the year-plus interregnum between installments is uncharacteristic for this prolific cartoonist and illustrator. Of course, for any number of others this would be considered working at a pretty brisk clip, which puts Lange at something of a disadvantage in that he’s stuck answering “what’s taking you so long?”-type questions while many of his contemporaries are accustomed to hearing “take your time,” but in case anybody hasn’t noticed there’s been this pesky pandemic going on, and everybody’s lives are out of whack. The fast have become slow, the slow have become fast, and the readers of both have become frustratingly anxious.
For my own part, self-styled “cool…
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The 1938 Best Picture nominee, The Citadel, is about a doctor who briefly loses his way but — don’t worry! — he eventually finds it again.
The film opens with the following title card:
This motion picture is a story of individual characterizations and is in no way intended as a reflection on the great medical profession which has done so much towards beating back those forces of nature that retard the physical progress of the human race.
Having gotten that out of the way, it goes on to tell the story of Dr. Andrew Manson (Robert Donat), an idealistic British doctor who serves his apprenticeship in rural England and who eventually ends up in Wales, trying to figure out why all of the miners seem to developing a mysterious cough. Along the way, he marries the always supportive Christine (Rosalind Russell, doing a lot with an underwritten role). Unfortunately, Dr. Manson discovers that being a doctor is not always an easy life. He’s frequently underpaid and underappreciated. His patients are often suspicious and argumentative and the medical establishment is hesitant to accept change. When the frustrated Dr. Manson returns to London, he discovers that he can make a fortune by working as a doctor for the type of wealthy people who are always willing to spend a little extra money on the latest fad treatment. With the encouragement of the decadent Dr. Lawford (Rex Harrison), Manson abandons his old ways and he’s finally able to make some money off of patients who will basically do anything that he tells them to do. However, a personal tragedy forces Manson to reexamine his life and consider why he became a doctor in the first place.
The Citadel is a coming-of-age film, one the follows Dr. Manson from the time when he’s a young doctor in need of a mentor until he himself is the one who is doing the mentoring. It gets off to a bit of a slow start. To be honest, I found Manson’s early apprenticeship to be almost as tedious as Dr. Manson found it to be. Things pick up a bit once Manson is on his own, fighting for the rights of miners or trying to find some sort of ethical justification for only treating the rich. If Robert Donat seems oddly hesitant during the first half of the film, he’s undeniably compelling during the second half. Though Dr. Manson has many scenes in which he rails against ignorance and injustice, Donat wisely resists the temptation to go overboard while portraying his indignation and, as a result, The Citadel never slips into melodrama. Donat doesn’t play Manson as being a crusader but instead as just being an often frustrated professional who knows that he’s being prevented from doing his best work. Director King Vidor, who made several films about thwartded visionaries, was never a particularly subtle director but Donat’s performance goes a long way towards making Vidor’s messianic tendencies tolerable.
Donat gets good support from the rest of the cast, especially Ralph Richardson in the role of his sometimes mentor. That said, Donat is still definitely the main reason to watch The Citadel, which is an uneven thought ultimately worthwhile film. The Citadel is very much a film of 1938 and it’s slow pace, earnest seriousness, and dialogue-heavy style will undoubtedly be an issue for some people watching the film in 2021. Watching a film like The Citadel today requires a willingness to adjust to the aesthetics of a past age. This is a film that will definitely be best-appreciated by those who aren’t unfamiliar with spending an entire weekend watching TCM. But you know what? It’s good to watch old movies. You can’t understand the present or prepare for the future if you’re not willing to look at the past.
The Academy nominated The Citadel for Best Picture. It was one of the first British films to be so honored (though not the first, that honor went to The Private Life of Henry VIII). However, it lost to Frank Capra’s You Can’t Take It With You. Though Robert Donat lost the Oscar for Best Actor to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town, he would be rewarded the very next year for his performance in Goodbye Mr. Chips. Among those who Donat defeated was Clark Gable, nominated for playing Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, a characters that Margaret Mitchell always said she envisioned as being played by Robert Donat.
This is from the back cover:
“Sam Dodge had no particular use for Miles Ringo. True, they had been buddies in their younger, hell-raising days. But then Ringo got the job that Sam wanted – and Sam’s girl, too. Now Sam was back in town to catch a murderer, the murder of Miles Ringo.”
This book was originally published in 1965 and it looks like Sam’s run into some trouble. I think he’s still got a few tricks up his sleeve. Afterall, he is the fastest draw in Bent River.
This cover was done by John Leone.
Don’t Let Go The Coat is thought to be a tribute to Pete Townshend’s spiritual guru, Mehr Baba, who often told his followers to “hang fast to the hem of my robe.” Just as Mehr Baba told his followers to not lose sight of his teachings, the song’s lyrics seem to reflect Townshend’s struggle to remain true to his beliefs even when he’s feeling depressed and struggling with his demons.
The video is a performance clip, directed by John Crome. Crome also directed the video for The Who’s You Better You Bet. The video features Kenney Jones on drums. Jones joined the band after Keith Moon’s tragic death. Roger Daltrey has often said that The Who became a different band after the death of Moon and that none of the drummers that they brought in could duplicate Moon’s frenetic approach. As was often the case when it came to anything Daltrey said, Pete Townshend disagreed. Jones played with The Who until the band’s first break-up in 1983.
Enjoy!
Let’s not kid ourselves : while the poor get locked up for penny-ante crimes like selling pot or smoking crack, the rich quite literally get away with murder on a massive scale. Whether it’s laying off thousands from their jobs with the stroke of a pen, or sending our young men and women in uniform off to die to protect their profit margins, the well-to-do are awash in river of blood, both economic and biological, for which they will never be called to account.
Still, every once in a blue moon, when their callousness and psychopathy leave the realm of the abstract and enter that of the personal, the results are too sickening for even their bought-off courts to ignore. Such was the case with Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, two spoiled scions of privilege who, in 1924, kidnapped and murdered their 14-year-old neighbor, Bobby Franks, simply because
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Through the Shattered Lens 