Tag Archives: Film

The National Board of Review Honors Da 5 Bloods

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In the past, the National Board of Review were considered to be a big deal because they were the first of the critics groups to announce their yearly awards and winning with the NBR could help to generate momentum for a film going into the awards season.  No one was really sure just who exactly the NBR voters were but they were the first to announce and that was all that mattered.

However, that all changed when the Academy decided to extend the year’s eligibility window and to also hold off on announcing the Oscar nominations into February.  The National Board Of Review followed suit and decided to hold off on handing out their awards until late January, presumably so that they could continue to be seen as Academy influencers.  As a result of bunch of regional critics got the jump on the NBR and now Nomadland and Promising Young Woman have so much momentum that it’s kind of hard to really care that the NBR honored Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods instead.

(That said, it is kind of interesting that Nomadland is kind of underrepresented as far as the NBR rewards are concerned.  It won for for Joshua James Richards’s cinematography and it was included as one of the “top films of the year,” but otherwise, it was pretty much ignored in favor of Da 5 Bloods, Promising Young Woman, Minari, and Sound of Metal.  Nomadland didn’t even pick up the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, instead losing out to News of the World, a film that otherwise really hasn’t been a huge factor in 2020’s extended awards season.)

Anyway, for what their worth, here are the winners from the National Board of Review:

Best Film: “Da 5 Bloods”
Best Director: Spike Lee – “Da 5 Bloods”
Best Actor: Riz Ahmed – “Sound of Metal”
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan – “Promising Young Woman”
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Raci – “Sound of Metal”
Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-jung – “Minari”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies – “News of the World”
Best Original Screenplay: Lee Isaac Chung – “Minari”
Breakthrough Performance: Sidney Flanigan – “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Best Directorial Debut: Channing Godfrey Peoples – “Miss Juneteenth”
Best Animated Feature: “Soul”
Best Foreign Language Film: “La Llorona”
Best Documentary: “Time”
NBR Icon Award: Chadwick Boseman
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “One Night in Miami”
NBR Spotlight Award: Radha Blank for writing, directing, producing and starring in “The Forty-Year-Old Version”
Best Ensemble: “Da 5 Bloods”
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Joshua James Richards – “Nomadland”

Top Films (in alphabetical order):
First Cow
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Judas and the Black Messiah
The Midnight Sky
Minari
News of the World
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Soul
Sound of Metal

Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order):
Apples
Collective
Dear Comrades
The Mole Agent
Night of the Kings

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):
All In: The Fight for Democracy
Boys State
Dick Johnson is Dead
Miss Americana
The Truffle Hunters

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):
The Climb
Driveways
Farewell Amor
Miss Juneteenth
The Nest
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
The Outpost
Relic
Saint Frances
Wolfwalkers

Here Are The Film Independent Spirit Nominations!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier today, the nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards were announced!  The winners will be announced on April 22nd so that’ll give all of us a lot of time to consider them.

Here are the nominees:

BEST FEATURE
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland

BEST FIRST FEATURE
I Carry You With Me
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Miss Juneteenth
Nine Days
Sound of Metal

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000
The Killing of Two Lovers
La Leyenda Negra
Lingua Franca
Residue
Saint Frances

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

BEST SCREENPLAY
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Mike Makowsky – Bad Education
Alice Wu – The Half of It

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Kitty Green – The Assistant
Noah Hutton – Lapsis
Channing Godfrey Peoples – Miss Juneteenth
Andy Siara – Palm Springs
James Sweeney – Straight Up

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jay Keitel – She Dies Tomorrow
Shabier Kirchner – Bull
Michael Latham – The Assistant
Hélène Louvart – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Joshua James Richards – Nomadland

BEST EDITING
Andy Canny – The Invisible Man
Scott Cummings – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Merawi Gerima – Residue
Enat Sidi – I Carry You With Me
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Nicole Beharie – Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner – The Assistant
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman

BEST MALE LEAD
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Adarsh Gourav – The White Tiger
Rob Morgan – Bull
Steven Yeun – Minari

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Alexis Chikaeze – Miss Juneteenth
Yeri Han – Minari
Valerie Mahaffey – French Exit
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Yuh-jung Youn – Minari

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Colman Domingo – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Orion Lee – First Cow
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
Glynn Turman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Benedict Wong – Nine Days

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
One Night in Miami…
Director: Regina King
Casting Directors: Kimberly R. Hardin
Ensemble Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Collective
Crip Camp
Dick Johnson is Dead
The Mole Agent
Time

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Bacurau
The Disciple
Night of the Kings
Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
Quo Vadis, Aida?

PRODUCERS AWARD – The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
Gerry Kim

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
David Midell – Director of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Ekwa Msangi – Director of Farewell Amor
Annie Silverstein – Director of Bull

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
Cecilia Aldarondo – Director of Landfall
Elegance Bratton – Director of Pier Kids
Elizabeth Lo – Director of Stray

TV CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children
City So Real
Immigration Nation
Love Fraud
We’re Here

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I May Destroy You
Little America
Small Axe
A Teacher
Unorthodox

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Elle Fanning – The Great
Shira Haas – Unorthodox
Abby McEnany -Work in Progress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan – Never Have I Ever
Jordan Kristine Seamón – We Are Who We Are

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Conphidance – Little America
Adam Ali – Little America
Nicco Annan – P-Valley
Amit Rahav – Unorthodox
Harold Torres – Zero, Zero, Zero

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
I May Destroy You
Ensemble Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia,
Stephen Wight

The Films of 2020: Artemis Fowl (dir by Kenneth Branagh)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

What exactly is Artemis Fowl about?

Basically, it opens with news reports about the home of millionaire businessman Artemis Fowl (Colin Farrell) being raided by the police and the discovery that Fowl has apparently been stealing ancient artifacts from across the world.  A bearded man named Mulch Diggums (Josh Gad) is arrested at the house and is interrogated by …. someone.  I guess he’s being interrogated by an intelligence agency, I don’t know.  Mulch explains that he’s a dwarf and that he’s about to tell a story that will prove that magic exists which …. okay, I guess.

The story is about Artemis Fowl’s 12 year-old son, who is also named Artemis Fowl (Ferdia Shaw).  The younger Artemis Foul is a criminal mastermind, just like his father, and he wears a suit and dark glasses and basically, he looks like a 12 year-old who dressed up like one of the Men In Black for Halloween.  Artemis Fowl the younger is investigating the disappearance of Artemis Fowl the older which leads to a search for a missing magical object.  Somehow, it all involves faeries and other magical figures. Judi Dench pops up a few times, looking stern.  There’s a lot of chase scenes and a few fight scenes, none of which really make much of an impression.

The plot of Artemis Fowl is pretty much impossible to follow, especially if you haven’t read (or, in my case, recently reread) the books on which the film is based.  A huge part of the problem is that the film itself doesn’t really develop any sort of individual personality.  For a film about a 12 year-old wearing a suit and concocting criminal schemes, Artemis Fowl is surprisingly bland.  It feels like a collection of scenes from other YA adaptations.  We get the slow motion fight scenes.  We get the magical scenes that feel as if they were lifted from a lesser entry from the Harry Potter series.  Indeed, a huge chunk of the film seems to be made up of discarded scenes from director Kenneth Branagh’s previous excursion into the world of fantasy and vaguely defined magic, Thor.  The film moves quickly but since nothing interesting or unusual is happening, you find yourself wishing that maybe the film would slow down for a just a minute or two and spend a bit of time exploring the world in which the two Artemis Fowls live.  It’s a remarkably undetailed fantasy world that Artemis Fowl presents us with.  I spent the majority of the movie wondering whether Judi Dench was supposed to be an elf or a faerie.  One of the great actress, Dench spends the entire film wearing pointed ears and looking rather annoyed.

Much like Dolittle, Artemis Fowl ends with the promise of more cinematic adventures, though it’s doubtful that promise will actually be fulfilled.  Also — and again like Dolittle — it’s hard not to feel that Artemis Fowl would have worked much better as an animated film than as a live action spectacular.  Unfortunately, Artemis Fowl is just too bland and borderline incoherent to really make much of a lasting impression.

The Films of 2020: Dolittle (dir by Stephen Gaghan)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Dolittle tells the story of Dr. Dolittle (Robert Downey, Jr.), the eccentric doctor who can talk to the animals and who hasn’t had much use for humans ever since the tragic death of his wife, Lily (Kasia Smutniak).  Dolittle would be happy to just spend his entire life locked away in his estate, talking to Poly the Parrot (voice of Emma Thompson) and Chee-Chee the Gorilla (voice of Rami Malek) and all of the other animals but Dolitle has to eventually leave his home because otherwise, there wouldn’t be a movie.

When Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) is mysteriously taken ill, only Dolittle can save her.  Dolittle quickly realizes that the Queen has been poisoned and that the only cure for the poison is to be found on a tree that’s located on an island that no one has ever seen before.  Soon, Dolittle and the animals are sailing in search of the island.  Accompanying them is Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett), a sensitive teen who hates to hunt and who hopes to become Dolittle’s apprentice.  Pursuing Dolittle is the evil Dr. Blair Mudfly (Michael Sheen), who went to college with Dolittle and who is in cahoots with the conspirators who are trying to do away with Queen Victoria.

Got all of that?  I hope so because we haven’t even gotten to the dragon with a set of bagpipes crammed up her ass.  Yes, you read that correctly.

Last year, Dolittle was one of the few major studio productions to actually get a wide release before COVID-19 closed down all the theaters.  It was released in January, which is traditionally the time when studios release the films that they hope everyone will have forgotten about by the time April rolls around.  January is traditionally the month when studios release the films that they know aren’t any good.  And, indeed, the reviews of Dolittle were overwhelmingly negative.  Not only did the critics hate Dolittle but audiences were also rather unenthusiastic and the film bombed at the box office.  Indeed, under normal circumstances, the reaction to Dolittle and its subsequent box office failure would be considered one of the year’s biggest disasters.  However, 2020 was a year of disasters.  Compared to everything else that ended up happening over the past 12 months, Dolittle’s lukewarm reception seems almost quaint now.

Earlier today, I finally watched Dolittle on HBOMax.  I was expecting the film to be terrible but it’s actually not quite as bad as I had been led to believe.  I mean, don’t get me wrong.  Dolittle has a ton of problems.  The tone is all over the place as the film tries to mix cartoonish humor with thrilling adventure in a style that owes more to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise than it does to Dr. Dolittle.  Despite a few self-consciously manic moments, Robert Downey, Jr. seems remarkably bored in the lead role.  Many of the jokes fall flat and the awkward attempts to shoehorn the usual message of “be true to yourself” into the film just felt awkward.  That said, the CGI animals were cute enough to hold my interest and that’s really the most important thing when it comes to a film like Dolittle.  Cute animals — even computer generated ones — help to make up for a lot of flaws.

Dolittle’s final scene hints at a sequel or even a franchise.  Considering the reaction to the first film, I doubt we’ll get a second.  I do think Dr. Dolittle could make for an enjoyable PIXAR film but it might be time to give the live action adaptations a rest.

The Online Film Critics Society Honors Nomadland

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Nomadland chalked up yet another victory today as it was named Best Picture by the Online Film Critics Society.

Check out all of the OFCS winners below:

Best Picture
1. Nomadland
2. Da 5 Bloods
3. Promising Young Woman
4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
5. First Cow
6. Minari
7. Sound of Metal
8. I’m Thinking of Ending Things
9. Soul
10. The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
Soul
The Wolf House
Wolfwalkers

Best Director
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods
Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun – Minari

Best Actress
Jessie Buckley – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman

Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods
Bill Murray – On the Rocks
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Colman – The Father
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari

Best Original Screenplay
Da 5 Bloods – Danny Bilson, Paul Demeo, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
Never Rarely Sometimes Always – Eliza Hittman
Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin

Best Adapted Screenplay
First Cow – Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt
I’m Thinking of Ending Things – Charlie Kaufman
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
One Night in Miami – Kemp Powers

Best Editing
Da 5 Bloods – Adam Gough
Mank – Kirk Baxter
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
Tenet – Jennifer Lame
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Alan Baumgarten

Best Cinematography
Da 5 Bloods – Newton Thomas Sigel
First Cow – Christopher Blauvelt
Mank – Erik Messerschmidt
Nomadland – Joshua James Richards
Tenet – Hoyte Van Hoytema

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods – Terence Blanchard
Mank – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Minari – Emile Mosseri
Soul – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Tenet – Ludwig Goransson

Best Debut Feature
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
Andrew Patterson – The Vast of Night

Best Film Not in the English Language
Another Round (Denmark)
Bacurau (Brazil)
Collective (Romania)
La Llorona (Guatemala)
Minari (United States)

Best Documentary
Boys State
Collective
Dick Johnson Is Dead
The Painter and the Thief
Time

Technical Achievement Awards
Sound of Metal – Sound Design
Emma. – Costume Design
Tenet – Visual Effects
Mank – Production Design
The Invisible Man – Visual Effects

BEST NON-UNITED STATES RELEASE
(This award is for the best films released outside the United States in 2020 that were not released in the United States during the eligibility period.)
A Beast in Love (Japan)
The Disciple (India)
Ghosts (Turkey)
Mogul Mowgli (United Kingdom)
New Order (Mexico)
Notturno (Italy)
Rocks (United Kingdom)
Saint Maud (United Kingdom)
Summer of 85 (France)
Undine (Germany)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Rob Bottin (Makeup Artist)
David Byrne (Composer)
Jane Fonda (Actor)
Jean-Luc Godard (Director)
Frederick Wiseman (Documentarian)

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
“Small Axe” — Director Steve McQueen created a series of films for the small screen that rivals the best of the theatrical features of the year, that can be seen individually and yet work together to explore a cultural experience largely unseen on big screens, television, or streaming to date.
Distributor Kino Lorber for being the first company to offer virtual film distribution as a way to help independent theaters during the pandemic through the Kino Marquee.
Kudos to the independent theater entities that participated in presenting “Virtual Cinema” when forced to close due to the pandemic. Films that otherwise may not have been seen were made available through online platforms, with ticket prices shared by the distributor with the theater.

The AFI Has Announced Their Top Ten Films Of The Year!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The American Film Institute (the AFI) have announced their picks for the top ten American films of 2020.  The AFI is generally seen as being one of the most reliable of the Oscar precursors.  If a movie appears in its top ten list, there’s a good chance that it will also be nominated for Best Picture.  It’s not an exact science, of course.  There will usually be one or two films that manage to land a nomination without getting any recognition from the AFI.  But if a film is a major contneder, it will probably also appear on the AFI list.

(Last year, Parasite was not eligible for the AFI’s top ten because it was a Korean film but it still received a “special award.  This year’s special award goes to Hamilton, which I don’t think is considered to be Oscar eligible.  If the AFI really wanted to make an impact, they could have given the special award to Small Axe and restarted that whole “Is it a movie or a miniseries” debate from December.)

Here are the AFI’s top ten:

Da 5 Bloods
Judas And The Black Messiah
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
One Night In Miami…
Soul
Sound Of Metal
The Trial Of The Chicago 7

​SPECIAL AWARD: Hamilton

Here Are The Nominations of the North Texas Film Critics Association

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The North Texas Film Critics Association announced their nominations for the best of 2020 yesterday.

Their nominations have some interesting quirks.  Even though they mostly nominated the usual suspects, they did also find time to nominate J.K. Simmons for Palm Springs.  They also showed Mank a bit more love than it’s been getting from the other critics groups.  North Texas is a far more weed-friendly than a lot of people realize and these nominations have a nice, mellow, let’s do whatever we want vibe to them.

The winners will be announced on November 26th!

BEST PICTURE
Nomadland
Mank
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Promising Young Woman

BEST ACTOR
Steven Yeun – Minari
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

BEST ACTRESS
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
David Fincher – Mank

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Bill Murray – On the Rocks
JK Simmons – Palm Springs

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Film
Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Tenet
Joshua James Richards – Nomadland
Erik Messerschmidt – Mank

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Life Ahead (Italy)
Minari (Korea)
The Mole Agent (Chile)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Time
All In: The Fight for Democracy
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Soul
Wolfwalkers
Over the Moon

BEST NEWCOMER
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Film
Jessie Buckley – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Linda May – Nomadland

GARY MURRAY AWARD (Best Ensemble)
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Da 5 Bloods
The Glorias

The Kansas City Film Critics Honor Both Nomadland and Promising Young Woman

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Award season continues!

Yesterday, the Kansas City Film Critics announced their picks for the best of 2020.  Over the course of the awards season so far, Nomadland has dominated, with the occasional victory for a film like Promising Young Woman or Minari.  The Kansas City Film Critics ended up giving their best picture award to two films — Nomadland and Promising Young Woman.

In the history of the Oscars, there’s never been a tie for best picture.  Actually, considering that they now do ranked-choice voting for Best Picture, I don’t suppose there ever will be.  Still, wouldn’t it be nice if that happened occasionally?  Like both Moonlight and La La Land could have gone home with a Best Picture Oscar.  EVERYONE’S A WINNER!  Of course, it’ll never happen.  Someone will have to go home the loser.  Oh well.

Anyway, here’s the winners from Kansas City!  I assume this is the Kansas City that’s in Missouri as opposed to the Kansas City in Kansas.  Speaking of strange city names, did you know that there’s a Little New York, Texas?  It’s true!

Best Picture
Winners: Nomadland & Promising Young Woman (TIE)

Best Director
Winner: Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
Runner-Up: Aaron Sorkin – The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Actor
Winner: Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Runner-Up: Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Actress
Winner: Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
Runner-Up: Frances McDormand – Nomadland

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami
Runner-Up: Paul Raci – Sound of Metal

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Youn Yuh-Jung – Minari
Runner-Up: Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Promising Young Woman
Runner-Up: The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Nomadland
Runner-Up: I’m Thinking Of Ending Things

Best Cinematography
Winner: The Vast Of Night
Runner-Up: Mank

Best Animated Film
Winner: Wolfwalkers
Runner-Up: Soul

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Another Round
Runners-Up: 76, Bacurau & The Life Ahead

Best Documentary
Winner: The Dissident
Runner-Up: Crip Camp

Vince Koehler Award For Best SciFi/Horror/Fantasy
Winner: The Invisible Man
Runner-Up: The Vast Of Night

Tom Poe Award For Best LBGTQ Film
Winner: Kajillionaire
Runner-Up: The Prom

Little New York, Texas

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Henry King Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Henry King (1886 — 1982)

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Henry King was born 135 years ago today.  He was born in Virginia and, though he may no longer be a household name, he was one of the busiest and most versatile directors of Hollywood’s Golden Age.  He began his career during the silent era, directing his first film in 1918.  He continued to work all the way through 1962, working in every genre and directing at least 8 Oscar-nominated performances.  He was also one of the founders of the Academy.  In short, Henry King was an important figure in the early years of Hollywood.  If you’ve ever studied classic film or just spent a weekend or two watching TCM, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen at least one Henry King film.

Like many of the top directors from Hollywood’s Golden Age, Henry King was prized for being a professional.  In the years when the studios ruled Hollywood and before directors became known as auteurs, King was someone who could be trusted to make an effective film with the minimum amount of behind-the-scene drama.  He was someone who could move from genre to genre and from theme to theme.  He was skilled at getting the best performances from his actors and he knew how to visually tell a story and keep the action moving.  He knew how to engage the audience and his best films hold up surprisingly well.

In honor of Henry King and his career and legacy, here are…

4 Shots From 4 Henry King Films

Tol’Able David (1921, dir by Henry King, DP: Henry Cronjager)

In Old Chicago (1938, dir by Henry King, DP: J. Peverell Marley)

The Song of Bernadette (1943, dir by Henry King, DP: Arthur C. Miller)

David and Bathsheba (1951, dir by Henry King. DP: Leon Shamroy)

The Black Film Critics Circle Honors Ma Rainey!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Black Film Critics Circle announced their picks for the best of 2020 on the 21st!  Here are the winners from the BFCC:

TOP 10 FILMS OF THE YEAR
1. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
2. Minari
3. Nomadland
4. One Night in Miami
5. Soul
6. Judas and the Black Messiah
7. Da 5 Bloods
8. The Trial of the Chicago 7
9. Sound of Metal
10. The Forty-Year-Old Version (TIE)
10. Sylvie’s Love (TIE)

BEST DIRECTOR
Regina King – One Night in Miami (TIE)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (TIE)

BEST LEADING ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hoyte van Hoytema – Tenet

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Time

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Soul

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Night of the Kings ​