The Power of the Dog Wins In North Dakota!


On Monday, the North Dakota Film Society announced their picks for the best of 2021 and it led to another victory for The Power of the Dog!

Here are all the winners in North Dakota:

Best Picture
FLEE (Monia Hellstrom and Signe Byrge Sorensen)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson and Steven Rales)
LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy, JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi)
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (J. Miles Dale, Guillermo del Toro and Bradley Cooper)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Jane Campion and Tanya Seghatchian)

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson (LICORICE PIZZA)
Wes Anderson (THE FRENCH DISPATCH)
Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Guillermo del Toro (NIGHTMARE ALLEY)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain (THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE)
Alana Haim (LICORICE PIZZA)
Renate Reinsve (THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD)
Agathe Rousselle (TITANE)
Kristen Stewart (SPENCER)

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage (PIG)
Bradley Cooper (NIGHTMARE ALLEY)
Benedict Cumberbatch (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Andrew Garfield (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)
Denzel Washington (THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH)

Best Supporting Actress
Caitriona Balfe (BELFAST)
Jessie Buckley (THE LOST DAUGHTER)
Ariana DeBose (WEST SIDE STORY)
Kirsten Dunst (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Ruth Negga (PASSING)

Best Supporting Actor
Bradley Cooper (LICORICE PIZZA)
Robin de Jesus (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)
Mike Faist (WEST SIDE STORY)
Ciaran Hinds (BELFAST)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Best Screenplay
C’MON C’MON (Mike Mills)
DRIVE MY CAR (Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Oe Takamasa)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Wes Anderson, Jascon Schwartzman and Roman Coppola)
LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Jane Campion)

Best Cinematography
DUNE (Greig Fraser)
THE GREEN KNIGHT(Andrew Droz Palermo)
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Dan Laustsen)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Ari Wegner)
WEST SIDE STORY (Janusz Kaminski)

Best Film Editing
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Andrew Weisblum)
LICORICE PIZZA (Andy Jurgensen)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Peter Sciberras)
TICK, TICK…BOOM! (Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum)
WEST SIDE STORY (Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn)

Best Production Design
DUNE (Patrice Vermette, Richard Roberts and Zsuzsanna Sipos)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo)
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Grant Major and Amber Richards)
WEST SIDE STORY (Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo)

Best Costume Design
CRUELLA (Jenny Beavan)
DUNE (Jacqueline West)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Milena Canonero)
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (Odile Dicks-Mireaux)
WEST SIDE STORY (Paul Tazewell)

Best Sound
DUNE (Mac Ruth, Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett)
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (Julian Slater, Dan Morgan, Colin Nicolson and Tim Cavagin)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Robert Mackenzie, Richard Flynn, Leah Katz, Tara Webb and Dave Whitehead)
TICK, TICK…BOOM! (Paul Hsu and Tod A. Maitland)
WEST SIDE STORY (Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, Tod A. Maitland and Shawn Murphy)

Best Visual Effects
DUNE (Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer)
THE GREEN KNIGHT (Kev Cahill)
NO TIME TO DIE (Charlie Noble and Chris Corbould)
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Walker and Dan Oliver)
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
CRUELLA (Nadia Stacey and Carolyn Cousins)
DUNE (Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr)
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE (Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh)
THE GREEN KNIGHT (Eileen Buggy, Audrey Doyle and Barrie Gower)
WEST SIDE STORY (Judy Chin and Kay Georgiou)

Best Original Score
DUNE (Hans Zimmer)
ENCANTO (Germaine Franco)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Alexandre Desplat)
THE HARDER THEY FALL (Jeymes Samuel)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Jonny Greenwood)

Best Original Song
ANNETTE – “So May We Start” (Ron Mael and Russell Mael)
DON’T LOOK UP – “Just Look Up” (Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi and Taura Stinson)
ENCANTO – “Dos Oruguitas” (Lin-Manuel Miranda)
KING RICHARD – “Be Alive” (Beyonce and Dixson)
NO TIME TO DIE – “No Time to Die” (Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell)

Best Animated Feature
ENCANTO (Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Charise Castro Smith)
FLEE (Jonas Poher Rasmussen)
LUCA (Enrico Casarosa)
THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES (Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe)
THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS (Patrick Imbert)

Best Documentary Feature
THE FIRST WAVE (Matthew Heineman)
FLEE (Jonas Poher Rasmussen)
PROCESSION (Robert Greene)
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (Questlove)
VAL (Ting Poo and Leo Scott)

Best International Feature
DRIVE MY CAR (Hamaguchi Ryusuke) – Japan
FLEE (Jonas Poher Rasmussen) – Denmark
THE HAND OF GOD (Paolo Sorrentino) – Italy
TITANE (Julia Ducournau) – France
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (Norway) – Joachim Trier

Nomadland Wins In North Dakota


The North Dakota Film Society announced its picks for the best of 2020 earlier today.  All of the usual suspects won.  Nomadland took best picture.  Chloe Zhao took best director.  Frances McDormand picked up yet another best actress awards.  Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a complaint.  It’s just that, by this point, I’m so used to Nomadland, Zhao, and McDormand winning that I’m struggling to find a new way to announce their victories.

Nomadland is definitely the Oscar front runner right now.  To be honest, though, it’s sometimes better to be the underdog.  A lot of front runners have fallen to the side — The Social Network, La La Land, A Star is Born, Joker, 1917.  In other words — nothing has been determined yet and there’s still a whole month to go before we even know what’s been nominated for the Oscars.  In other words, don’t give up on Money Plane just yet!

Here are the winners from North Dakota:

Best Picture
FIRST COW (RUNNER UP)
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (RUNNER UP)
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
NOMADLAND (WINNER)
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Best Director
Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
David Fincher – MANK (RUNNER UP)
Charlie Kaufman – I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Kelly Reichardt – FIRST COW
Chloé Zhao – NOMADLAND (WINNER)

Best Actress
Viola Davis – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Sophia Loren – THE LIFE AHEAD
Frances McDormand – NOMADLAND (WINNER)
Carey Mulligan – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (RUNNER UP)
Kate Winslet – AMMONITE

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed – SOUND OF METAL (WINNER)
Chadwick Boseman – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Delroy Lindo – DA 5 BLOODS (RUNNER UP)
Gary Oldman – MANK
Steven Yeun – MINARI

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM (WINNER)
Ellen Burstyn – PIECES OF A WOMAN (RUNNER UP TIE)
Saoirse Ronan – AMMONITE
Amanda Seyfried – MANK (RUNNER UP TIE)
Yuh-Jung Youn – MINARI (RUNNER UP TIE)

Best Supporting Actor
Bo Burnham – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Sacha Baron Cohen – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (WINNER)
Orion Lee – FIRST COW (RUNNER UP)
Paul Raci – SOUND OF METAL
David Strathairn – NOMADLAND

Best Screenplay
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (RUNNER UP)
MANK
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (WINNER)
SOUND OF METAL

Best Production Design
EMMA.
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
MANK (WINNER)
NEWS OF THE WORLD
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD (RUNNER UP)

Best Cinematography
EMMA.
FIRST COW
MANK (RUNNER UP)
NOMADLAND (WINNER)
TENET

Best Film Editing
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
MANK
NOMADLAND (WINNER)
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
TENET (RUNNER UP)

Best Original Score
AMMONITE
THE INVISIBLE MAN
MANK (WINNER)
SOUL (RUNNER UP)
TENET

Best Original Song
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM – ”Wuhan Flu” (WINNER)
MISS AMERICANA – ”Only the Young”
ON THE ROCKS – ”Identical”
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – ”Speak Now”
OVER THE MOON – ”Rocket to the Moon” (RUNNER UP)

Best International Feature
AND THEN WE DANCED (WINNER)
ANOTHER ROUND
BEANPOLE (RUNNER UP TIE)
COLLECTIVE (RUNNER UP TIE)
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Best Documentary Feature
ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY (WINNER)
BOYS STATE
COLLECTIVE
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD (RUNNER UP)
TIME
THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS

Best Animated Feature
THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
ONWARD
OVER THE MOON
SOUL (WINNER)
WOLFWALKERS (RUNNER UP)

Here Are The 2020 Nominations of the North Dakota Film Society!


The North Dakota Film Society has announced their nominations for the best of 2020!  They’ll announce their winners a week from now, on January 15th.

I have to say that I kind of love the fact that we have so many different regional critics groups.  I mean, yes — it can be difficult to keep up with all of them once award seasons kicks into full gear.  (It’s been a little bit easier this year, with so many groups deciding to hold off on announcing their picks so that they can suck up to the Academy.)  But, seriously, why shouldn’t the film critics of North Dakota make their voice heard?  Why should we act like only New York, Los Angles, and the National Board of Review matter?  Personally, I like seeing how different regional groups react to different films.  For instance, the North Dakota Critics showed some love to Ammonite, a film that’s kind of fallen off the radar as far as the Oscar race is concerned.  They also gave a best picture nomination to I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a fascinating film that might be too strange for the Academy but which still deserves some recognition.  Regional groups are important because they remind us that Nomadland and Minari weren’t the only good films released in 2020.

My point is that — despite what Film Twitter might tell you — it’s good to have a lot of voices and opinions out there.  Anything that challenge group think is a good thing, I believe.

Here are the nominations from North Dakota:

Best Picture
FIRST COW
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
NOMADLAND
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Best Director
Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
David Fincher – MANK
Charlie Kaufman – I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Kelly Reichardt – FIRST COW
Chloé Zhao – NOMADLAND

Best Actress
Viola Davis – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Sophia Loren – THE LIFE AHEAD
Frances McDormand – NOMADLAND
Carey Mulligan – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Kate Winslet – AMMONITE

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed – SOUND OF METAL
Chadwick Boseman – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Delroy Lindo – DA 5 BLOODS
Gary Oldman – MANK
Steven Yeun – MINARI

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
Ellen Burstyn – PIECES OF A WOMAN
Saoirse Ronan – AMMONITE
Amanda Seyfried – MANK
Yuh-Jung Youn – MINARI

Best Supporting Actor
Bo Burnham – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Sacha Baron Cohen – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Orion Lee – FIRST COW
Paul Raci – SOUND OF METAL
David Strathairn – NOMADLAND

Best Screenplay
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
MANK
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
SOUND OF METAL

Best Production Design
EMMA.
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
MANK
NEWS OF THE WORLD
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD

Best Cinematography
EMMA.
FIRST COW
MANK
NOMADLAND
TENET

Best Film Editing
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
MANK
NOMADLAND
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
TENET

Best Original Score
AMMONITE
THE INVISIBLE MAN
MANK
SOUL
TENET

Best Original Song
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM – ”Wuhan Flu”
MISS AMERICANA – ”Only the Young”
ON THE ROCKS – ”Identical”
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – ”Speak Now”
OVER THE MOON – ”Rocket to the Moon”

Best International Feature
AND THEN WE DANCED
ANOTHER ROUND
BEANPOLE
COLLECTIVE
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Best Documentary Feature
ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
BOYS STATE
COLLECTIVE
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
TIME
THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS

Best Animated Feature
THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
ONWARD
OVER THE MOON
SOUL
WOLFWALKERS

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Wins in North Dakota


Here are the first inaugural winners of the North Dakota Film Critics Society!

Best Picture: Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, producers)

Best Director: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Best Actress: Florence Pugh, Midsommar
Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, Marriage Story

Best Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood

Best Animated Feature: I Lost My Body (Jérémy Clapin, Marc du Pontavice)
Best Documentary Feature: Honeyland (Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska, Atanas Georgiev)
Best International Feature: Parasite (South Korea)

Best Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
Best Editing: Louise Ford, The Lighthouse
Best Production Design: Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood (Production Design: Barbara Ling, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh)
Best Original Score: Hildur Gu∂nadóttir, Joker
Best Original Song: ”Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” from Wild Rose (Mary Steenburgen, Caitlin Smith, Kate York)

Special Achievement
1917 – Due to the release date of Sam Mendes’ 1917, many society members were unable to view the film in time for nomination or consideration. The society has voted to acknowledge the film with a Special Achievement Award.

The North Dakota Film Society Keeps Things Interesting!


The North Dakota Film Society is a new regional critics group.  They were formed just last year and today, they announced their inaugural nominees for their first batch of film awards.

And what can I say about these nominees other than the fact that they are freaking awesome!  Only with the regular suspects — Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Parasite, and Marriage Story — they also nominated Midsommar and The Lighthouse!

Seriously, I can only hope that this group is as consistently interesting over the upcoming year!

Here are the nominees:

BEST PICTURE:

  • THE LIGHTHOUSE
    Directed by Robert Eggers; Produced by Rodrigo Teixeira, Jay Van Hoy, Robert Eggers, Lourenco Sant’Anna, Youree Henley
  • MARRIAGE STORY
    Directed by Noah Baumbach; Produced by Noah Baumbach, David Heyman
  • MIDSOMMAR
    Directed by Ari Aster; Produced by by Thomas Benski, Fredrik Heinig, Pelle Nilsson, Ben Rimmer, Philip Westgren
  • ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
    Directed by Quentin Tarantino; Produced by David Herman, Shannon McIntosh, Quentin Tarantino
  • PARASITE
    Directed by Bong Joon ho; Produced by Bong Joon Ho, Sin-ae Kwak

BEST DIRECTOR:

  • Ari Aster
    MIDSOMMAR
  • Robert Eggers
    THE LIGHTHOUSE
  • Bong Joon Ho
    PARASITE
  • Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie
    UNCUT GEMS
  • Quentin Tarantino
    ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

BEST ACTRESS:

  • Awkwafina
    THE FAREWELL
  • Scarlett Johansson
    MARRIAGE STORY
  • Lupita Nyong’o
    US
  • Florence Pugh
    MIDSOMMAR
  • Saoirse Ronan
    LITTLE WOMEN

BEST ACTOR:

  • Leonardo DiCaprio
    ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
  • Adam Driver
    MARRIAGE STORY
  • Robert Pattinson
    THE LIGHTHOUSE
  • Joaquin Phoenix
    JOKER
  • Adam Sandler
    UNCUT GEMS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

  • Laura Dern
    MARRIAGE STORY
  • Jennifer Lopez
    HUSTLERS
  • Florence Pugh
    LITTLE WOMEN
  • Margot Robbie
    ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
  • Zhao Shuzhen
    THE FAREWELL

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

  • Willem Dafoe
    THE LIGHTHOUSE
  • Tom Hanks
    A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
  • Al Pacino
    THE IRISHMAN
  • Joe Pesci
    THE IRISHMAN
  • Brad Pitt
    ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

BEST SCREENPLAY:

  • THE LIGHTHOUSE
    Written by Robert Eggers, Max Eggers
  • MARRIAGE STORY
    Written by Noah Baumbach
  • MIDSOMMAR
    Written by Ari Aster
  • ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
    Written by Quentin Tarantino
  • PARASITE
    Written by Bong Joon Ho, Jin Won Han

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

  • A HIDDEN LIFE
    Director of Photography: Jorg Widmer
  • JOKER
    Director of Photography: Lawrence Sher
  • THE LIGHTHOUSE
    Director of Photography: Jarin Blaschke
  • ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
    Director of Photography: Robert Richardson
  • PARASITE
    Director of Photography: Kyung-pyo Hong

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

  • THE LIGHTHOUSE
    Production Designer: Craig Lathrop; Set Decorator: Ian Greig
  • JOJO RABBIT
    Production Designer: Ra Vincent; Set Decorator: Nora Sopkova
  • MIDSOMMAR
    Production Designer: Henrik Svensson
  • ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
    Production Designer: Barbara Ling; Set Decorator: Nancy Haigh
  • PARASITE
    Production Designer: Ha-jun Lee

BEST EDITING:

  • THE IRISHMAN
    Editor: Thelma Schoonmaker
  • JOJO RABBIT
    Editor: Tom Eagles
  • THE LIGHTHOUSE
    Editor: Louise Ford
  • ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
    Editor: Fred Raskin
  • PARASITE
    Editor: Jinmo Yang

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

  • JOKER
    Composer: Hildur Guonadóttir
  • LITTLE WOMEN
    Composer: Alexandre Desplat
  • MARRIAGE STORY
    Composer: Randy Newman
  • MIDSOMMAR
    Composer: The Haxan Cloak
  • US
    Composer: Michael Abels

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

  • “Glasgow (No Place Like Home)”
    WILD ROSE
    Music and lyrics by Mary Steenburgen
  • “A Glass of Soju”
    PARASITE
    Music and lyrics by Bong Joon Ho and Jung Jae-Il
  • “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away”
    TOY STORY 4
    Music and lyrics by Randy Newman
  • “I’m Gonna Love Me Again”
    ROCKETMAN
    Music and lyrics by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
  • “Into the Unknown”
    FROZEN II
    Music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE:

  • HONEYLAND
    Directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov
    (Macedonia)
  • LES MISERABLES
    Directed by Ladj Ly
    (France)
  • PAIN AND GLORY
    Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
    (Spain)
  • PARASITE
    Directed by Bong Joon Ho
    (South Korea)
  • PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
    Directed by Céline Sciamma
    (France)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

  • AMERICAN FACTORY
    Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
  • APOLLO 11
    Directed by Todd Douglas Miller
  • THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM
    Directed by John Chester
  • HONEYLAND
    Directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov
  • ONE CHILD NATION
    Directed by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

  • FROZEN II
    Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
  • I LOST MY BODY
    Directed by Jérémy Clapin
  • KLAUS
    Directed by Sergio Pablos
  • MISSING LINK
    Directed by Chris Butler
  • TOY STORY 4
    Directed by Josh Cooley