Dorian Awards love 'Pain and Glory,' 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' and 'Parasite'

by Murtada Elfadl

GALECA, The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced their nominations for film and TV today. The Dorian Awards - named in honor of noted queer writer Oscar Wilde - showed the most love to Bong Joon-ho's Parasite and Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire, with six nominations each, followed closely by Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory with five nominations. Three movies not in English, two of them from Queer filmmakers, and all three of them were nominated for best director!

Other notable nominations include Alfre Woodard in best actress for Clemency, she'll compete with Awkafina (The Farewell) Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story), Lupita Nyong’o, (Us) and of course Renee Zellweger in Judy. Here’s the full list...

Click to read more ...

Chart Updates - All Acting Categories

Is it us or are the four of the acting races murkier than they usually would be during the week of Oscar voting? We chalk this up to a bit less precursor uniformity between Critics Choice, Globes, SAG nods, and the regional critical consensus. On the other hand that regional critical consensus has been very pronounced with a clear lineup of winners that go like so: Parasite/Bong Joon Ho / Nyongo / Driver / Dern / Pitt. But what we're dealing with right now is the nomination game which is far more complex than "who wins".

BEST ACTRESS - Six women are still very much in the mix and it's quite difficult to guess who will be left out. Passion suggests that Cynthia Erivo or Charlize Theron would be in danger of the "snub" but on the other hand you're not often the snubbee if you're the one doing the biographical role... especially if there's mimicry. For now we've opted to have Saoirse Ronan be the odd woman out but that doesn't feel right either given the very current groundswell of love for that picture. At any rate we think it's between the six listed on the chart with Alfre Woodard (Clemency) and Awkwafina (The Farewell) staring to look like impossible dreams in this final decision week...

Click to read more ...

Are these your Golden Globes speeches?

by Murtada Elfadl

Banderas with Catherine Zeta Jones at last year's ceremony

It’s almost time for the Golden Globes. Over the years they have given us many memorable speeches that we talked about for days after and influenced the rest of awards season. So it’s time to judge potential speeches Sunday night by evidence given at other awards ceremonies earlier this season. I’ve chosen the best actor drama category because I think the nominees are eclectic in their public style and personae. And play along by thinking of which of these speeches you'd like to see a replica of on Sunday.

If Antonio Banderas were to win, I think he will be charming. However more importantly he will be sincere in paying respect to Pedro Almodovar, who will be in the audience. Wouldn’t you like to see that? 

Adam Driver will be probably not be the most memorable. If we take a look at his speech from last month’s Gothams it’s mostly a list of names. He only shows genuine emotion when he mentions his wife. And perhaps that will be enough to provide a TV moment.

Joaquin Phoenix's speech might be an odd mix of earnest and weird, as evidenced by this speech at TIFF. Unfortunately he won't be able to ramble as much as he did here, or interrupt the presenter. Still he's my bet for giving a speech that might become the most unforgettable. Despite not caring much for Joker (it's fine), it looks like I'm a Phoenix voter when playing this game.

Christian Bale and Jonathan Pryce haven't given speeches this season yet. Or at least ones I could find on youtube. Based entirely on what speech you want to see on Sunday night, who do you want to win this category?

Dear Academy Members...

You have just six days to vote this year on nominations (starting now) so if you'll do us this one favor please read these four tips. We're not telling you how to vote... just reminding you of some truths that are too often ignored. 

1) As difficult as critics groups and precussor bodies make it to remember otherwise, it is an absolute truth that movies existed before Parasite and The Irishman began to excite people in mid to late October...

Click to read more ...

FYC: "Pain and Glory" for Best Cinematography

by Cláudio Alves

Pedro Almodóvar might be known for his brilliant reds, but his latest and most autobiographical film starts in blue. Submerged in blue, as it happens. In the bottom of a swimming pool tiled in shades of cyan, we find our blue-clad protagonist, underwater, pensive as he is enveloped by diluted chlorine and the memories of a distant past. They are remembrances of maternal warmth and white linens drying in the sun, shots so beautiful they seem more real than the present life for which they are prologue. Color theory has its limitations, of course, and Almodóvar's brush is guided more by emotion than by dogmatic rules. José Luis Alcaine's photography follows the same logic…

Click to read more ...