Category Archives: Film

The Columbus Film Critics Association Honors The Power of the Dog!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Columbus Film Critics Association actually named The Power of the Dog the best film of 2021 on January 6th.  I apologize for the delay in sharing news of its victory.

Best Film
1. The Power of the Dog
2. Licorice Pizza
3. West Side Story
4. Belfast
5. Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
6. Pig
7. C’mon C’mon
8. The Tragedy of Macbeth
9. tick, tick…BOOM!
10. Dune

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story (RUNNER UP)
Denis Villeneuve – Dune

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage – Pig (RUNNER UP)
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
Andrew Garfield – tick, tick…BOOM!
Will Smith – King Richard
Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter (RUNNER UP)
Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza (WINNER)
Taylour Paige – Zola
Tessa Thompson – Passing

Best Supporting Actor
Colman Domingo – Zola
Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
Troy Kotsur – CODA (RUNNER UP)
Jesse Plemons – The Power of the Dog
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog (WINNER)

Best Supporting Actress
Caitriona Balfe – Belfast
Jodie Comer – The Last Duel
Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog (RUNNER UP)
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
Marlee Matlin – CODA
Ruth Negga – Passing (WINNER)

Best Ensemble
The French Dispatch
The Harder They Fall (RUNNER UP)
Licorice Pizza
The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
West Side Story

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work)
Timothée Chalamet (Don’t Look Up, Dune, and The French Dispatch)
Bradley Cooper (Licorice Pizza and Nightmare Alley)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, The Mauritanian, The Power of the Dog, and Spider-Man: No Way Home) (WINNER)
Adam Driver (Annette, House of Gucci, and The Last Duel)
Andrew Garfield (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and tick, tick…BOOM!) (RUNNER UP)

Breakthrough Film Artist
Janicza Bravo – Zola (for directing and screenwriting)
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter (for producing, directing, and screenwriting)
Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza (for acting) (WINNER)
Rebecca Hall – Passing (for producing, directing, and screenwriting)
Jude Hill – Belfast (for acting) (RUNNER UP)
Woody Norman – C’mon C’mon (for acting)

Best Cinematography
Bruno Delbonnel – The Tragedy of Macbeth (WINNER)
Andrew Droz Palermo – The Green Knight
Greig Fraser – Dune
Dan Lautsen – Nightmare Alley
Ari Wegner – The Power of the Dog (RUNNER UP)
Haris Zambarloukos – Belfast

Best Film Editing
Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn – West Side Story (WINNER)
Andy Jurgensen – Licorice Pizza
Peter Sciberras – The Power of the Dog (RUNNER UP)
Joe Walker – Dune
Andrew Weisblum – The French Dispatch

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
Joel Coen – The Tragedy of Macbeth
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Siân Heder – CODA
Tony Kushner – West Side Story (RUNNER UP)
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth – Dune

Best Original Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza (WINNER)
Zach Baylin – King Richard
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast (RUNNER UP)
Julia Ducournau – Titane
Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
Michael Sarnoski – Pig

Best Score
Alexandre Desplat – The French Dispatch
Jonny Greenwood – The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
Jonny Greenwood – Spencer (RUNNER UP)
Nathan Johnson – Nightmare Alley
Hans Zimmer – Dune

Best Documentary
Attica
Flee (RUNNER UP)
The Rescue
The Sparks Brothers
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (WINNER)
The Velvet Underground

Best Foreign Language Film
Drive My Car (WINNER)
Flee (RUNNER UP)
A Hero
Titane
The Worst Person in the World

Best Animated Film
Encanto
Flee (RUNNER UP)
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (WINNER)
Raya and the Last Dragon

Best Overlooked Film
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
CODA
Cyrano
Nine Days (RUNNER UP)
Riders of Justice (WINNER)
Together Together

The Chicago Indie Critics Honor CODA and The Power of the Dog!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Chicago Indie Critics have announced their picks for the best of 2021! And here they are:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (budgets under $20 million)
CODA
NINE DAYS
PIG
SPENCER
SUMMER OF SOUL 
 
BEST STUDIO FILM (budgets over $20 million)
THE HARDER THEY FALL
LICORICE PIZZA
THE POWER OF THE DOG
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
TICK, TICK… BOOM!
 
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BENEDETTA
DRIVE MY CAR
FLEE
A HERO
PARALLEL MOTHERS
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY
FLEE
THE RESCUE
ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN
THE SPARKS BROTHERS
SUMMER OF SOUL 
 
BEST ANIMATED FILM
ENCANTO
FLEE
LUCA
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
 
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – LICORICE PIZZA
Kenneth Branagh – BELFAST
Jane Campion – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Pablo Larrain – SPENCER
Edson Oda – NINE DAYS
 
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE FRENCH DISPATCH – Wes Anderson
A HERO – Asghar Farhadi
LICORICE PIZZA – Paul Thomas Anderson
NINE DAYS – Edson Oda
PIG – Michael Sarnoski
 
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA – Sian Heder
DRIVE MY CAR – Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
PASSING – Rebecca Hall
THE POWER OF THE DOG – Jane Campion
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH – Joel Coen
 
BEST ACTOR
Nicolas Cage – PIG
Benedict Cumberbatch – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Andrew Garfield – TICK, TICK… BOOM!
Will Smith – KING RICHARD
Denzel Washington – THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
 
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
Olivia Colman – THE LOST DAUGHTER
Alana Haim – LICORICE PIZZA
Emilia Jones – CODA
Kristen Stewart – SPENCER
Tessa Thompson – PASSING
 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck – THE LAST DUEL
Colman Domingo – ZOLA
Mike Faist – WEST SIDE STORY
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Kodi Smit-McPhee – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Jeffrey Wright – THE FRENCH DISPATCH
 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ariana DeBose – WEST SIDE STORY
Kirsten Dunst – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Aunjanue Ellis – KING RICHARD
Marlee Matlin – CODA
Ruth Negga – PASSING
 
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
BELFAST
CODA
THE FRENCH DISPATCH
THE HARDER THEY FALL
THE POWER OF THE DOG
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
 
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BELFAST
DUNE
THE GREEN KNIGHT
THE POWER OF THE DOG
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
 
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
DUNE
THE LAST DUEL
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
WEST SIDE STORY
 
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
CRUELLA
DUNE
THE GREEN KNIGHT
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
WEST SIDE STORY
 
BEST MAKEUP
CRUELLA
DUNE
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
HOUSE OF GUCCI
NIGHTMARE ALLEY

BEST EDITING
DUNE
THE HARDER THEY FALL
NINE DAYS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
WEST SIDE STORY
 
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
DUNE
ENCANTO
THE HARDER THEY FALL
THE POWER OF THE DOG
SPENCER
 
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Be Alive” – KING RICHARD
“Guns Go Bang” – THE HARDER THEY FALL
“Just Look Up” – DON’T LOOK UP
“No Time to Die” – NO TIME TO DIE
“So May We Start” – ANNETTE
 
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
DUNE
FREE GUY
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
 
BEST STUNTS
BLACK WIDOW
DUNE
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
NO TIME TO DIE
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

SPECIAL AWARDS

TRAILBLAZER AWARD 
Honors the work of an artist who truly pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content
Paul Thomas Anderson, filmmaker 
Rebecca Hall, filmmaker
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, filmmaker
Sian Heder, filmmaker
Lin-Manuel Miranda, filmmaker

IMPACT AWARD
Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society
Rebecca Fons, Director of Programming – Gene Siskel Film Center
Rebecca Hall, filmmaker
Ryan Oestreich, General Manager – Music Box Theatre
Steven Spielberg, filmmaker
Jill Wheeler, Director of Publicity and Promotions – Allied Global Marketing

The Fighting Vigilantes (1947, directed by Ray Taylor)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

A town in the old west has problem.  Any wagon that comes into town carrying food or cooking supplies is robbed by a group of bandits hired by Price Taylor (George Chesebro), who wants to make sure that he doesn’t have any competition when it comes to selling food at inflated prices to the townspeople.  Because of Taylor’s price gouging, the ranchers are now in danger of starving but the law refuses to do anything to help because they’ve all been paid off by Taylor as well.  Another group of masked people, known as The Fighting Vigilantes, are now robbing Taylor’s wagons.  Things are getting violent and someone is going to get hurt.

Fortunately, Cheyenne Davis (Lash LaRue) and his sidekick, Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John), ride into town.  Everyone thinks that Cheyenne is an outlaw because he wears all black and he carries a whip.  What they don’t know is that Cheyenne and Fuzzy are actually undercover U.S. marshals.  It doesn’t take long for Cheyenne to fall for Abby (Jennifer Holt), the daughter of a local rancher who is involved with the Vigilantes.  When Abby’s father is arrested, Abby blames Cheyenne and says that Taylor will never be defeated.  Fuzzy says that this proves that it’s best to stay away from women.  Can Cheyenne Davis and his trust bullwhip prove them both wrong?

This was one of the many B-western programmers in which Lash LaRue played the role of Cheyenne Davis.  Lash was unique amongst B-western heroes, in that he always dressed in black and he used a whip instead of a gun.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t much of an actor and all of his films were low-budget, rush jobs but he did look pretty cool with a whip.  The Fighting Vigilantes is typical of Lash’s later films but it does deserve some credit for having its heroes go up against not just a gang of outlaws but instead an entirely corrupt town.  Taylor has taken over every institution in the town, leaving the people living under them no choice but to turn vigilante.  The villains are so evil that they even shoot people in the back.  It’s impossible not to enjoy Cheyenne demonstrating, via his whip, the foolishness of trying to draw a gun on Lash LaRue.

The movie ends as almost all of Lash LaRue’s adventures did, with everyone laughing as Cheyenne uses his bullwhip to nearly kill Fuzzy Jones before the two of them ride off to find more injustices that can be fixed with the crack of a whip.  As for the real-life Lash LaRue, his movies eventually went out-of-style and, like a lot of the B-western stars, he moved over to television.  He struggled with alcoholism and was arrested for vagrancy in 1966.  However, he eventually turned his life around and, along with appearing in a few low-budget movies in the 70s, he spent his remaining years ministering to alcoholics in Florida, showing that the real-life Lash LaRue could do just as much good in the real world as he did in the movies.

I Watched King’s Faith (2013, dir. by Nicholas DiBella)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Brendan King (Crawford Wilson) is eighteen and trying to change his life.  He’s just gotten out of juvie and is living with his eighteenth set of foster parents, Mike and Vanessa Stubbs (James McDaniel and Lynn Whitfield).  Brendan wants to leave his former gang life behind but it’s hard.  Vanessa doesn’t trust Brendan and neither does Mike’s best friend, Detective Dwyer (Christopher John Martin).

Brendan wants to help out his old neighborhood by buying the building where his best friend died and turning it into a rec center.  But after Brendan makes the news for saving the life of Natalie (Kayla Compton) after she crashes his car, the members of his former gang track Mike down.  They know that Mike knows the location of a hidden stash of drugs and they start trying to draw Mike back into his old life.

King’s Faith was made with the best intentions and it had a good message about forgiveness and second chances so I wanted to like it but Crawford Wilson, while easy on the eyes, was never believable as a former drug dealer and addict.  There was nothing tough about him and he seemed out of place whenever he was interacting with the members of his former gang.  Since I couldn’t believe that he was ever in a gang, there wasn’t any suspense about whether or not he would return to them.  Kayla Compton was more convincing as the troubled Natalie and her story was actually more interesting than Brendan’s.  The movie probably would have been better if it had been about her.

Scene That I Love: Lee Van Cleef Meets Klaus Kinski in For A Few Dollars More

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 1925, on this very date, Lee Van Cleef was born in Somervillve, New Jersey.  In honor of what would have been Lee Van Cleef’s 97th birthday, here he is with Klaus Kinski and Clint Eastwood in For A Few Dollars More.

There’s not a lot of dialogue in this scene but when you had actors like Eastwood, Kinski, and Lee Van Cleef, you didn’t need a lot of dialogue to make an impression.

Riders of Destiny (1933, directed by Robert N. Bradbury)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

John Wayne sings!

Well, not really.  Wayne does play a cowboy named Singin’ Sandy Saunders in this early, pre-code Western but his voice was dubbed by someone who didn’t sound anything like Wayne.  Wayne was only 25 when he starred in Riders of Destiny and this was six years before Stagecoach made him a star but he already had his famous way of speaking.

Riders of Destiny starts off with Singin’ Sandy riding through the west.  When he comes across a wounded sheriff and then witnesses a stagecoach being robbed by Ms. Fay Denton (Cecilia Parker), he knows that he’s reached the town of Destiny.  The town is under the control of a land developer named Kincaid (Forrest Taylor).  Kincaid and his henchmen have been extorting the local citizens and stealing money from Fay and her father (George “Gabby” Hayes).  After Singin’ Sandy reveals his skills with a gun, Kincaid offers him a position in his gang and if Sandy accepts, Kincaid will be unstoppable.  Before Sandy’s mysterious appearance, the townspeople wrote to Washington to help and Washington has agreed to send down one of their best agents.  Could that agent be traveling in disguise as a singing cowboy?

It’s always difficult for me to take a Singing Cowboy film seriously.  (That’s especially true after watching Tim Blake Nelson in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.)  John Wayne is not an actor who was ever meant to be seen playing a guitar and singing a song, even if his voice was dubbed.  But Riders of Destiny is not that bad of a programmer.  If you can overlook the singing, the story is surprisingly mature and violent and Forrest Taylor is a good villain as the oily Kincaid.  (With Kincaid demanding protection money and gunning down anyone who refuses to play it, he has more in common with the type of gangsters who were appearing in Warner Bros. crime films than with the typical western bad guy.)  Cecilia Parker, who would eventually be best known for appearing in the wholesome Andy Hardy films, is sexy as Fay and, because this is a pre-code film, she gets away with robbing a stagecoach.  With a running time of barely an hour, the action has to move quickly and there’s no need for any padding.  Finally, even this early in his career, John Wayne was a perfect western hero, whether he was on his horse chasing the bad guys or walking down a dusty street, singing a song about how the “streets will run with blood” before drawing his guns.

Wayne would go on to play one more Singing Cowboy, in 1935’s The Lawless Range.  Again, his voice was dubbed.  He later said that he abandoned the Singing Cowboy genre because the children who saw the films would often approach him and ask him to sing one of the songs and they were always disappointed to learn that he couldn’t actually a sing a note.  Of course, in 1939, John Ford would select Wayne to play The Ringo Kid in Stagecoach and Wayne would never have to sing again.

The National Society of Film Critics Honors Drive My Car!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Every time I start to dismiss the idea of Drive My Car as a possible best picture nominee, it picks up another award for another critics group.  Today, it was named best picture of 2021 by the National Society of Film Critics.  At this point, I have to say that it’s definitely possible — perhaps even probable — that Drive My Car will be nominated for both Best Picture and Best International FIlm.

Here are the winners and the runner-ups!

Best Picture
Winner: DRIVE MY CAR (48 points)
Runners-up: PETITE MAMAN (25 points) & THE POWER OF THE DOG (23 points)

Best Director
Winner: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, DRIVE MY CAR and WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (46 points)
Runners-up: Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG (36 points) & Céline Sciamma, PETITE MAMAN (28 points)

Best Actress
Winner: Penélope Cruz, PARALLEL MOTHERS (55 points)
Runners-up: Renate Reinsve, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (42 points) & Alana Haim, LICORICE PIZZA (32 points)

Best Actor
Winner: Hidetoshi Nishijima, DRIVE MY CAR (63 points)
Runners-up: Benedict Cumberbatch, THE POWER OF THE DOG (44 points) & Simon Rex, RED ROCKET (30 points)

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Ruth Negga, PASSING (46 points)
Runners-up: Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY (22 points) & Jessie Buckley, THE LOST DAUGHTER (21 points)

Best Supporting Actor
​Winner: Anders Danielsen Lie, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (54 points)
Runners-up: Vincent Lindon, TITANE (33 points), Mike Faist, WEST SIDE STORY & Kodi Smit-McPhee, THE POWER OF THE DOG (26 points)

Best Screenplay
Winner: Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, DRIVE MY CAR (46 points)
Runners-up: Pedro Almodóvar, PARALLEL MOTHERS (22 points) & Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA (20 points)​

Best Cinematography
Winner: Andrew Droz Palermo, THE GREEN KNIGHT (52 points)
Runners-up: Ari Wegner, THE POWER OF THE DOG (40 points) & Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, MEMORIA (35 points)

Here Are The 2021 Nominations of the San Diego Film Critics!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The San Diego Film Critics Society have announced their nominees for the best of 2021!  The winners will be announced on January 10th so that gives you a day or two to watch all of the nominees.  Have fun!

Best Picture
BELFAST
CODA
DUNE
MASS
THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Director
Kenneth Branagh – BELFAST
Jane Campion – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Guillermo del Toro – NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Maggie Gyllenhaal – THE LOST DAUGHTER
Denis Villeneuve – DUNE

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage – PIG
Benedict Cumberbatch – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Peter Dinklage – CYRANO
Andrew Garfield – TICK, TICK…BOOM!
Jude Hill – BELFAST

Best Actress
Caitriona Balfe – BELFAST
Olivia Colman – THE LOST DAUGHTER
Penelope Cruz – PARALLEL MOTHERS
Emilia Jones – CODA
Kristen Stewart – SPENCER

Best Supporting Actor
Ben Affleck – THE TENDER BAR
Ciaran Hinds – BELFAST
Jason Isaacs – MASS
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Kodi Smit-McPhee – THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett – NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Ariana DeBose – WEST SIDE STORY
Ann Dowd – MASS
Ruth Negga – PASSING
Martha Plimpton – MASS

Best Comedic Performance
Bradley Cooper – LICORICE PIZZA
Leonardo DiCaprio – DON’T LOOK UP
Jamie Dornan – BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR
David Harbour – BLACK WIDOW
Simon Rex – RED ROCKET

​Best Youth Performance (Performers under the age of 16)
Mckenna Grace – GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE
Jude Hill – BELFAST
Daniel Ranieri – THE TENDER BAR
Saniyya Sidney – KING RICHARD
Demi Singleton – KING RICHARD

Best Original Screenplay
Pedro Almodovar – PARALLEL MOTHERS
Kenneth Branagh – BELFAST
Fran Kranz – MASS
Adam McKay – DON’T LOOK UP
Michael Sarnoski – PIG

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jane Campion – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Joel Coen – THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Guillermo del Toro, Kim Morgan – NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Rebecca Hall – PASSING
Sian Heder – CODA

Best Documentary
FLEE
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY
SUMMER OF SOUL
VAL
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

Best Animated Film
ENCANTO
FLEE
LUCA
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

​Best Foreign Language Film
DRIVE MY CAR
I’M YOUR MAN
LAMB
PARALLEL MOTHERS
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Best Editing
Úna Ní Dhonghalle – BELFAST
Paula Huidobro – CODA
Myron Kerstein – IN THE HEIGHTS
Joshua L. Pearson – SUMMER OF SOUL
Joe Walker – DUNE

Best Cinematography
Alice Brooks – IN THE HEIGHTS
Bruno Delbonnel – THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Greig Fraser – DUNE
Dan Laustsen – NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Ari Wegner – THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Production Design
Jim Clay – BELFAST
Tamara Deverell – NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Grant Major – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo – THE FRENCH DISPATCH
Patrice Vermette, Richard Roberts, Zsuzsanna Sipos – DUNE

Best Visual Effects
DUNE
THE GREEN KNIGHT
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

Best Costumes
Jenny Beavan – CRUELLA
Odile Dicks-Mireaux – LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
Antionette Messam, THE HARDER THEY FALL
Jacqueline West, Bob Morgan – DUNE
Janty Yates – HOUSE OF GUCCI

Best Sound Design
Malte Bieler, Brandon Jones – A QUIET PLACE PART II
Simon Chase, James Mather – BELFAST
Theo Green, Dave Whitehead – DUNE
Nathan Robitaille – NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Dave Whitehead – THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Use of Music
BELFAST
CRUELLA
IN THE HEIGHTS
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
WEST SIDE STORY

Breakthrough Artist
Alana Haim – LICORICE PIZZA
Jude Hill, BELFAST
Emilia Jones – CODA
Fran Kranz – MASS
Anthony Ramos – IN THE HEIGHTS

Best Ensemble
DON’T LOOK UP
DUNE
THE HARDER THEY FALL
IN THE HEIGHTS
MASS

Blast From The Past: The Outsider (dir by Arthur Wolf)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The year was 1951 and Susie Jane was struggling to fit in at school.  While everyone else was planning dances and hanging out at the malt shop, Susie was standing off to the side, quietly.  Why was Susie Jane such an outsider?  Was it the fault of her peers or was it her fault for being such a nonconformist?

This educational short, from Young American Films, puts most of the blame on Susie.  Yes, the film suggests, her classmates could have made more of an effort to include her.  But Susie also should have made more of an effort to fit in and she shouldn’t have been so quick to assume that everyone was against her.  Susie might think that Marcy is only calling the house to taunt her but Marcy is actually calling because she feels guilty and obligated.  

The short film may feel like one of the films that Herk Harvey made before directing Carnival of Souls but this film was actually directed by Arthur Wolf.  The narrator, I have to say, is a bit of a jerk and spends the entire film talking down to Susie.  Susie’s having a hard enough time without having to put up with all of that!  That said, the film also takes a very 1950s approach to the issue of fitting in.  Susie’s an outside because she’s shy.  No consider is paid to the idea that maybe Susie just isn’t interested in doing the same thins as everyone else.

From 1951, here is The Outsider.

Here Are The 2021 Nominations of the Georgia Film Critics Association!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are the 2021 nominations of the Georgia Film Critics Association!  They’re not quite as much fun as the nominations for Hawaii.  Sorry, everyone.

However, like the critics in Hawaii, the Georgia critics will be announcing their winners on January 14th!

Best Picture
BELFAST
CODA
DUNE
FLEE
THE GREEN KNIGHT
LICORICE PIZZA
THE POWER OF THE DOG
TICK, TICK… BOOM!
WEST SIDE STORY
​THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Best Director
DUNE – Denis Villeneuve
THE GREEN KNIGHT – David Lowery
LICORICE PIZZA – Paul Thomas Anderson
THE POWER OF THE DOG – Jane Campion
WEST SIDE STORY – Steven Spielberg

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage – PIG
Benedict Cumberbatch – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Peter Dinklage – CYRANO
Andrew Garfield – TICK, TICK… BOOM!
Will Smith – KING RICHARD

Best Actress
Lady Gaga – HOUSE OF GUCCI
Alana Haim – LICORICE PIZZA
Agathe Rousselle – TITANE
Kristen Stewart – SPENCER
Rachel Zegler – WEST SIDE STORY

Best Supporting Actor
Bradley Cooper – LICORICE PIZZA
Colman Domingo – ZOLA
Ciarán Hinds – BELFAST
Jason Isaacs – MASS
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Kodi Smit-McPhee – THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Supporting Actress
Ariana DeBose – WEST SIDE STORY
Ann Dowd – MASS
Kirsten Dunst – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Kathryn Hunter – THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Ruth Negga – PASSING

Best Original Screenplay
BEING THE RICARDOS – Aaron Sorkin
BELFAST – Kenneth Branagh
LICORICE PIZZA – Paul Thomas Anderson
MASS – Fran Kranz
TITANE – Julia Ducournau

Best Adapted Screenplay
CODA – Sian Heder
DRIVE MY CAR – Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
THE GREEN KNIGHT – David Lowery
THE POWER OF THE DOG – Jane Campion
WEST SIDE STORY – Tony Kushner

Best Cinematography
DUNE
THE GREEN KNIGHT
THE POWER OF THE DOG
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
WEST SIDE STORY 

Best Production Design
DUNE
THE FRENCH DISPATCH
THE GREEN KNIGHT
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

Best Original Score
DUNE – Hans Zimmer
ENCANTO – Germaine Franco
THE HARDER THEY FALL – Jeymes Samuel
THE POWER OF THE DOG – Jonny Greenwood
SPENCER – Jonny Greenwood

Best Original Song
“Dos Orugitas” from ENCANTO
“Guns Go Bang” from THE HARDER THEY FALL
“Just Look Up” from DON’T LOOK UP
“No Time to Die” from NO TIME TO DIE
“So May We Start” from ANNETTE

Best Ensemble
CODA
DUNE
LICORICE PIZZA
MASS
THE POWER OF THE DOG

Breakthrough Award
Alana Haim – LICORICE PIZZA
Jude Hill – BELFAST
Cooper Hoffman – LICORICE PIZZA
Emilia Jones – CODA
Agathe Rousselle – TITANE
Rachel Zegler – 

Best Foreign Language Film
DRIVE MY CAR
FLEE
THE HAND OF GOD
PETITE MAMAN
TITANE
​THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Best Animated Film
ENCANTO
FLEE
LUCA
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

Best Documentary Film
THE FIRST WAVE
FLEE
THE RESCUE
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
VAL

Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema
ANGIE (short)
BLACK WIDOW
CLEAN SLATE
CONGRATULATIONS (short)
COPSHOP
A FIRE WITHIN
RED NOTICE
RESPECT
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
THE SUICIDE SQUAD