SXSW: Exploring Volcanoes in ‘Fire of Love’

By Abe Friedtanzer 

I’m grateful that SXSW includes a “Festival Favorites” section that includes titles that have played elsewhere and been popular since it’s often not until a festival has ended or all of its screenings have concluded that I hear about something I’m told I have to see. Fortunately, the documentary Fire of Love which was acquired by National Geographic (for quite a sum), meaning that those without access to film festivals will be able to see this inventive and visually striking film soon enough…

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'Power of the Dog' takes the top BAFTA but 'Dune' wins the most awards

by Nathaniel R

Ariana DeBose wins again

It was a spread the wealth kind of night at the BAFTAs with the score going like so The Power of the Dog (2), CODA (2), West Side Story (2), and Dune (4) all winning prizes though The Power of the Dog was able to cinch Best Film, despite only Best Director also falling in its column. Belfast had to make due with one prize, Best British Film. We'll never understand why BAFTA doesn't broadcast live. We almost never watch the full ceremony because there's just no suspense and drama when the winners are released ahead of time and we know they edit everything before hand (which rules out any quirks or accidents that make live viewing so fun). 

We'll add acceptance speeches to this post as they become available but for now the winners and a few comments...

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SXSW: An Eccentric Collector in ‘The Pez Outlaw’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

I don’t think I ever got into Pez. I may have collected Beanie Babies briefly and bought Pokémon cards for a week, but that was about it for any obsession that wasn’t movies or TV. But what always interested me about Pez – and I suspect this is the case for most people – is that it wasn’t the candy inside but the dispenser that was the attraction. It turns out, perhaps unsurprisingly, that there are people who spend their entire lives tracking down the rarest among them. Far ahead of the competition is Steve Glew, also known as the Pez Outlaw… 

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Netflix triumphs all over the place at the 49th Annie Awards

by Nathaniel R

The 49th annual Annie Awards honoring animation in features, shorts, and television were held last night. While Raya and the Last Dragon led the nominations it went home empty-handed. The night's Best Animated Feature winner was Netflix and Sony's The Mitchells vs The Machines which took home 8 Annies in total. The Annie winner doesn't always line up with Oscar but it might. Disney's Encanto, which many pundits including us are predicting for the Oscar win, only won three prizes: Music, Character Animation, and Storyboarding. On the television side of the prizes, Netflix's Arcane was totally dominant winning an amazing nine trophies, a clean sweep of its nominations. Full list of winners is after the jump...

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DGA Winners: Jane Campion, Maggie Gyllenhaal and more...

by Nathaniel R

As expected Jane Campion took Best Director at the Directors Guild Awards, their third female winner after Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and Chloe Zhao (Nomadland). The DGA win has long been the most predictive precursor prize for future Oscar glory. Their winner almost always repeats at the Oscar. Splits are rare but the most recent was very recent indeed during the Parasite vs 1917 war; Sam Mendes took the DGA but Bong Joon-ho won the Oscar.

Maggie Gyllenhaal took the coveted First Time Feature award making this the first year were both of those prizes went to women.  All the prizes and more comments after the jump...

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