Beauty Break: Here's to Cinematic Eye Candy!

The visual categories for the 2018 Film Bitch Awards are now fully announced. Click on over to peruse the nominations for Costume Design, Cinematography, and Production Design aka the best cinematic eye candy of the year. Cinematic eye candy is more than just delicious for the eyes. These crafts also strengthen characterization, theme, mood, storytelling, and emotional impact when the artisans are really inspired. After the jump, because five little poster doesn't feel like enough images from the 12 most beautifully shot movies this year that we called out in Cinematography (though only five can be nominees).

A BAKER'S DOZEN OF THE MOST BEAUTIFULLY SHOT MOVIES OF 2018. 
Presented in alpha order after the jump...

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Film Bitch Awards: The Best Screenplays

by Nathaniel R

We just called to tell you you have amazing screenplays.

Movies are much more than their screenplays. There's a reason they call them motion pictures. But no matter what a filmmaker has up their sleeve in terms of visuals or sound, a sturdy platform from which to lift off is crucial. These ten films (and some finalists, too) were already starting at a significant advantage before the first day of shooting due to the calibre of their words, plots, themes, ideas, and structure. Herewith Nathaniel's ballot in both screenplay categories. We don't expect the bulk of these to be Oscar-nominated on Tuesday (let us not weep for Diablo Cody's Tully, for example, because history will be kind to it) but here's hoping that Eighth Grade, The Favourite, First Reformed, BlacKkKlansman, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? (at least) make their respective Oscar shortlists since they appear to have good shots at doing so. 

P.S. in case you missed them, the visual categories are half done, and the sound categories are complete. You can also see an ongoing nomination tally as we announce at the bottom of the sound page.

Ten Reasons to Watch 'Support the Girls'

by Ilich Mejía

We interrupt your final Oscar Prediction anxiety and Nathaniel's own awards ballot for a very important public service announcement. Here are ten reasons you must watch Andrew Bujalski's feel-good-wait-nevermind-good-movies-are-complicated Support the Girls on Hulu right away.

Centered around a group of female employees working at a small breastaurant, Girls is unfairly only skirting around the awards conversation so you owe it this much. (We don't make the rules!) The movie gives us a gallery of portraits of too-real day-to-day troubles. 

TEN REASONS YOU MUST WATCH "SUPPORT THE GIRLS"

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Film Bitch Awards: Makeup, Visual FX, and Film Editing

Though the Academy's makeup and hair voters regularly mystify with their finalist lists, barring one entry for 2018 they chose extremely well. Which is to say my own ballot closely mirrors Oscars this year in that craft. I was prepared to be indignant, for example, at the exclusion of Sweden's unforgettable whatsit Border but didn't have to be. Mary Queen of Scots sounded like a lazy pick from a distance but once the movie arrived the makeup and hair work was exceptional... even fresh. Fat suits normally aggravate but I was unhappy to leave the biopic Stan & Ollie, a worthy Oscar finalist, out --  it has to settle for finalist at the Film Bitch Awards.

We only wish Oscar's board of governors would wise up and allow five nominations in this category as they do with all other categories. It's appalling to make makeup and hair the bastard child of the industry since every live-action film requires hair and makeup work. Original Song, Visual Effects, and Animated Features all get five nominees and there's far less to choose from in those regards! You've heard this rant before so we'll move on. Click to see the honors for Makeup, Visual Effects, and Film Editing honoring 15 different films (this was not intentional but no film repeats between those three categories).

The Film Bitch Awards begin: Score, Song, and Sound

Illustration © Tom Ralston. See more of his work here.Yes, we're finally starting! Since Oscar nominations are next week, we have to get through the parallel categories quickly, before we can dive into the crazier stuff (which we always have fun doing). First up the five sound categories. A reminder that we have two score categories since there are so many movies each year that rely as much on their soundtracks as their instrumental scores, or use a great deal of pre-existing material within their score. 

On the sound pages you'll find honors for You Were Never Really Here, Annihilation, Mary Poppins Returns, First Man, Roma, A Star is Born and more so have a look, won't you?