Best International Film: Belgium, Kosovo, Russia

by Cláudio Alves

Our odyssey through the Best International Film submissions continues, this time focused on women behind the camera. As Juan Carlos' series Through Her Lens reminds us, there's a wealth of women directors every year whose work gets forgotten in lieu of their male counterparts. Of course, that's true in the Best Director Oscar race, but it also applies to every other category, including this one. From schoolyard bullying shot as psychological warfare to the physical aftermaths of an unspoken massacre, the submissions from Belgium, Kosovo, and Russia showcase the talent of female artists who explore many shades of brutality through a woman's point-of-view…

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"Belfast" and "West Side Story" lead the 27th annual Critics Choice nominations

by Nathaniel R

It's not a spread the wealth year (sigh). Belfast and West Side Story led the 27th annual Critics Choice nominations with a potent 11 nominations each. Dune and The Power of the Dog were close behind with 10 nods each. With four films in the double-digits, chances are we're not heading into a spread-the-wealth kind of year as all roads lead in to the Oscar nominations (still a month and a half way on February 8th). That's sad for us given the wealth of options out there but it is what it is.

Full list of nominees with commentary after the jump...

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Golden Globe Nominees: "Belfast" and "Power of the Dog" lead

by Nathaniel R

Kenneth Branagh's childhood memoir Belfast and Jane Campion's stirring psychosexual western Power of the Dog lead the 79th annual Golden Globe nominations with seven each. Among comedies or musicals, which are always the highlight of the Globes since that's the only award bodies to take those genres of film seriously, early releases like Cruella and In the Heights had to settle for just one nomination each (in acting) ... but December arrivals Cyrano, Don't Look Up, Licorice Pizza, tick tick..BOOM!, and West Side Story all snagged multiple nominations including Best Picture. 

This year, the HFPA threw no surprises at all into their top-of-the-line nominations (which is not like them) unless you count Javier Bardem in Being the Ricardos and Mahershala Ali in Swan Song as Drama Actor nominees but the Globes have always been kind to December films led by high profile stars, whether or not they have opened or proved anything like conversational staying power. But perhaps this 'no surprise... only assumed future Oscar nominees' field is because the Globes have had other things on their mind than screenings and their ballots...

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Interview: Aly Muritiba on Brazil's queer Oscar submission "Private Desert"

by Nathaniel R

Sometimes the long lead up to a movie's release can alter a story. In the case of Aly Muritiba's Private Desert, most people who come to it will already be aware of its central premise though the movie treats that as a "reveal". Happily the film works either way. Crossing the border can also change how a movie feels. The initial protagonist, Daniel (Antonio Saboia) is viewed sympathetically but his offscreen history (police brutality) is likely to spark different reactions from country to country, depending on societal views on policing and masculinity.  In the minimalist but never simple story, a lonely cop spontaneously drives several hours to finally meet the woman he's been romancing online. She abruptly ghosts him after an implicit request for reciprocal nudes and we glean, quite a long time before he does, that he's fallen for a queer person. 

We had the pleasure of talking to the director Aly Muritiba about the film, the careful casting of his second lead, and Brazil's contentious history of Oscar selections...

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Regional Critics Round 2: Power of the Dog x 3

by Nathaniel R

If you're keeping track you'll know that NBR chose Licorice Pizza and NYFCC selected Drive My Car as best of the year while Washington DC, Sunset Circle, and Detroit Film Critics threw in Belfast, Dune, and Cyrano as their top picks. We knew we'd have a repeat winner soon and so it has come to pass: Drive My Car and Licorice Pizza are both cited again. But we also finally get The Power of the Dog in the top spot, thrice over (that took long enough given all the Best Director kudos already!) After the jump 5 more critics groups: Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and New York (Online), and Boston (Online).

The winners and a few comments after the jump... 

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