Open Thread

What movie were you thinking about right before you clicked over to TFE? And what else is on your cinematic mind? 

John Waters's Top 10 of 2016

Chris here. One of the most interesting curiosities every year in Best Of kudos is the list from trashcamp grandmaster John Waters. The provcateur always delivers a list that is surprising in its inclusions both for the purely unexpected (like last year's Cinderella) and for title or two you probably haven't heard of. Rest assured no matter how many films you have seen in a given year, Waters has seen more and his taste is more expansive. Eat your heart out, critics groups.

This year his top choice goes to a film getting lots of breakthrough love this week - Trey Edward Shults's Krisha. The film is quite a fitting choice for the filmmaker - with nonactors on a microbudget, Krisha is all taught social mores, fraught observations of family structures, and psychosis. Sounds somewhat like his own fascinations, albeit with much more inhibitions. Here's what he says of the film, with the rest of his list after the jump:

This hilariously harrowing portrait of a family reunion ruined by an alcoholic relative and too many dogs is told with verve and lunacy and features a top-notch performance by Krisha Fairchild, the director’s own aunt. Other people’s hell can sometimes be so much fun.

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Cate and Pedro

It's been great having Cate Blanchett in our city. From glimpsing her amazing costumes on the Ocean's 8 set, to waxing poetic about Amy Adams at the Gotham Awards, she's giving us lots to cherish while she is in New York City. And there's more to come. Rehearsals start next week on her Broadway debut, The Present, set to start previews on December 17th and open on January 8th. Before that though she had time to toast the master actressexual filmmaker, Pedro Almodovar.

Cate was one of the guests at the opening of the Almodovar retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. The retrospective is running through December 17th, and coincides with the release of Almodóvar’s 20th feature, Julieta (2016), and includes all of his feature films. So New Yorkers don't miss it. 

This picture got us thinking that Cate should work with Pedro. Can you see her in an English language remake of one of his films? Which one?

New York ♥︎s Moonlight & La La Land

The New York Film Critics Circle was founded way back in 1935 when the Oscars were just 8 years old themselves. In their first year they agreed but disagreed with the NYFCC choosing The Informer and Oscar following suit with a Best Picture nomination for that but the eventual prize to Mutiny on the Bounty. Not much has really changed since. The NYFCC aesthetics aren't anti-Oscar but they're just as likely to go slightly left of field with a more challenging option as their #1 as they are to pre-stamp a future winner. 

Here's what they chose this year...

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"La La Land" leads the Critics Choice Nominations

The BFCA has spoken and as per usual the results are a mix of beautiful support of outstanding motion pictures and a few pockets of embarrassment! Under the beautiful support umbrella we find three terrific pictures leading the nominations with 12 for La La Land and 10 each for Arrival and Moonlight. Under the pockets of embarrassment portion of our programming in what universe is Captain Fantastic a "comedy" (Viggo Mortensen, who gives one of the year's best dramatic performances is nominated as best comedy actor but  not as best actor. What a world).

The BFCA's special categories, which aren't as well defined as the Globes, usually carry with them lots of weird and empty-headed calls. How, for instance, do you have 6 nominees for most categories but only 4 for Best Actress in an Action picture and only nominate supporting actresses for that prize and leave out two leading women who really carried their films with aplomb: Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 10 Cloverfield Lane and Blake Lively in The Shallows. Why even have these categories if you're not going to do them justice? 

All the nominations (film & tv) with comments are after the jump...

FILM AWARDS

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