To Take Umbrage / Umbridge

Tweetweek

SAG voting closes today. To distract us for a bit between that "anonymous voter interview" and our predictions tonight, let's look at amusing tweets from the past week or so. We wish this one weren't true but, uhhhhh, Happy New Year !(????) 

Seriously though… pic.twitter.com/XXVXLZ8RqC

— Landon Johnson (@LandonHJohnson) January 6, 2022

Maybe Harriet Samson Harris (Licorice Pizza, Phantom Thread) had the right idea.

Thank you, but I’m sitting this one out. Happy New Year! pic.twitter.com/vC8kZm4BFY

— Harriet Harris (@MsHarrietHarris) January 1, 2022

More after the jump...

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National Society of Film Critics picks "Drive My Car"

by Nathaniel R

The National Society of Film Critics, founded in 1966, is one of the three most prestigious critics group in the US, alongside NYFCC and LAFCA (and sharing some members from each). The society works with the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress as well as providing the American delegate to  FIPRESCI, the international federation of members of the film press. This year, of their nine regular awards, only two (Cinematography and Supporting Actress) went to English language films which is we suspect record international dominance (77%) even though the group has always liked international films.  Here are their awards this year...

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Critics Prizes, Round 6

by Nathaniel R

We had quite a lull of no new awards during the holidays but it's started up again so it's time to update the scorecard. Though sometimes we see a galling conformity in Best Picture prizes this year groups have been a smidgeon (a tiny smidgeon) more 'spread the wealth' adventurous with a total of 13 films winning at least 1 top prize from 30 groups announcing thus far.  That's a much wider spread of favourites than we're seeing in the depressingly conformist read of the other "top" categories...

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Top unheralded performances in PTA's filmography

by Cláudio Alves

Across the years, Paul Thomas Anderson's films have earned nine acting Oscar nominations, including a win for Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. It's fair to say that actors love the director. Why shouldn't they? While these movies' leading players earn prizes, every part, no matter how small, is written with complexity, directed, and framed with attention. Indeed, some of the best performances come from those bit players, sometimes glorified cameos, sometimes supporting roles within a sprawling cast. If you've seen his latest, you'll know that, beyond Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza is almost entirely made up of such actorly turns.

With that in mind, a list of favorite unheralded performances from PTA's filmography. These are thespians who earned no accolades for their work, beyond ensemble prizes, and whose roles tend towards the diminutive. But, of course, as these ten master artists make evident, there are no small parts, only small actors… 

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