by Nathaniel R
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, READERS! It occured to me the other day that for as crappy as pandemic shut-in 2020 has been, we should be grateful for it... at least here in the US. Without the pandemic, despite a quarter million lives lost, we would surely have been stuck with the worst and most corrupt government in our history and the end of Democracy as fascists cemented their rule. It's not that the threat is gone exactly. Due to numerous ills embedded in American society, we could still see Democracy vanquished. But we have bought ourselves at least a couple of years reprieve (more if we're lucky and continue getting out the vote). So, I never thought I'd say this but "thank you, COVID" (?)
On a lighter and more movie-site note here are 15 showbiz things that I was personally grateful for this past year...
• The opportunity to moderate a Beanpole discussion at Film Forum (before movie theaters closed *cries*) for the absurdly talented 28 year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov. The movie wasn't nominated at the Oscars but at least it made the international finals!
• The sound design of Sound of Metal for putting us inside Riz Ahmed's head. It's the closest we've ever been to his perfect face and we're grateful...
• The Queen's Gambit but especially getting lost in Anya Taylor Joy's anime-sized eyeballs and discovering how fun brilliant director Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) is as an onscreen talent, too, in the part of Anya's drunk adoptive mother. (Who'da thunk it?)
• Pedro & Tilda & The Human Voice
• The opportunity to jury at the Calgary International Film Festival and Oscar panel it at Middleburg, if only virtually... here's to attending such things in the flesh again some day.
• Half pleasures are still pleasures: getting to see Jason Scott Lee and Gong Li onscreen again if not the film housing them (Mulan); the second hour but not the first of The Nest (seriously, filmmakers: pacing. Get to your point); the visual flamboyance of Over the Moon; the idea of Charlize Theron being immortal via The Old Guard because we love the idea of new Charlize movies annually till we expire, even the mediocre ones.
• The remake of The Boys in the Band for casting gay actors in gay roles and the actors themselves for doing wonderful work therein. We salute everyone who had a hand in the casting happening that way. But because I am perpetually misunderstood on this topic I would also like to note that I loved the straight actor Paul Bettany in Uncle Frank (liked the film, too, unlike Christopher). I have no objection to straight actors doing gay roles (and vice versa - sexuality is complex and often fluid) as long as there isn't discrimination in the hiring practices of Hollywood. And we know for a fact that there is since gay parts go to gay actors so very rarely that it's defacto newsworthy every time it happens!
• Cartoon Saloon delivering yet again with the visually spellbinding Wolkwalkers. (So tired of Oscar voter laziness in assuming that only Disney and Pixar are deserving of golden statues)
• The showbiz ascendance of South Korea. It's been in the works for years, of course, but 2020 was pure fireworks, including but not limited to: Parasite winning Best Picture + Two gripping seasons of royal drama / zombie horror Kingdom (the best quarantine watch) on Netflix + BTS's joyful earworm "Dynamite" hitting #1 + the upcoming Korean-American Oscar contender Minari (which is as lovely as you've heard.)
• That dirty limerick Kate recites to Saoirse in Ammonite
• An exhausting but very rewarding more than double-sized Smackdown season. And especially everyone who played along at home watching the movies and all of our special guest panelists. How are we going to top that next season?
• The silly distractions of TikTok but especially @yoleendadong @jtfirstman @tuckercomedy @joshhelfgott @jen_nicole33 @anastasianarinksy @merissaria @nickydoobs @jkabobs and @johnnysibilly01
• a new friend I've been foisting endless movies upon. But his favourite movie is Chungking Express and he read our Montgomery Clift Centennial without prompting so the taste level was already there.
• Taylor Paige's extra-saucy very funny body language in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and that Chadwick Boseman got such a wonderful posthumous showcase. And the diametrically opposed way that Viola Davis stares at each of them. (We've heard Paige is great in Zola, too, which is coming in 2021, so we may have a new movie star on our hands soon)
• Finally, I'm (very) grateful for the team of cool voices I get to share daily with you here at The Film Experience.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE AND IF YOU'RE OUTSIDE THE US OR DON'T CELEBRATE, HAPPY DAY IN WHICH YOUR AMERICAN FRIENDS LIST ALL THE THINGS THAT THEY'RE GRATEFUL FOR.