'Parasite' Sweeps Dorian Awards with Five Wins

by Murtada Elfadl

Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite dominated the winners list at the Dorian awards. The season’s front runner managed five wins, including Film of the Year, Director and Screenplay. Renée Zellweger took Performance of the Year—Actress for Judy, with Antonio Banderas the top choice in the Actor race in Pain and Glory. Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) and Song Kang-ho (Parasite) won the Supporting awards. The Dorian Awards are handed out by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of 260 mainly U.S. journalists covering film and television. Among the group’s unique and LGBTQ focused categories, Portrait of a Lady on Fire was named LGBTQ Film of the Year, while Cats was, of course, the choice for Campy Flick of the Year...

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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?

A Golden Globes Surprise

by Murtada Elfadl

The Golden Globes are always good for a surprise. Aaron Taylor Johnson winning best supporting actor for Nocturnal Animals (2016). Amy Adams winning for Big Eyes (2014) when everyone expected Emily Blunt to win because she was in a musical; Into the Woods (2014). Just last year Glenn Close winning over Lady Gaga changed the best actress race. 

But perhaps the biggest and happiest surprise was Isabelle Huppert winning best actress in a drama for Elle (2016). That year everyone thought the competition was between Emma Stone for La La Land and Natalie Portman in Jackie. And there they were in separate categories at the Globes and were each expected to win...

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European Film Awards honor Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, and The Favourite

True giants of cinema gathered in Berlin today for the annual European Film Awards. It was honestly a bit overwhelming to see Wim Wenders, Juliette Binoche, Claire Denis, and Pedro Almodóvar all sitting side by side in the front row. How to even imagine the cinema without them? 

In a surreal sort of way, what was happening on stage was even more overwhelming... but for its inexplicable surreality (more on that in a bit) and its time travelling nature.Regarding the latter due to the indifferent nature of release dates across borders the overall champ was The Favourite which had its American awards run a full year ago. 

The winners and more commentary follows.

Costuming goddess Sandy Powell and the producers of The Favourite

FILM The Favourite
COMEDY The Favourite...

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Banderas, a 'singular sensation'

by Nathaniel R

Campaigns for hotly competitive Oscar categories require a good deal of presence on the circuit. Which makes Antonio Banderas's journey to a first Oscar nomination a bit of a question mark at this writing. After a Best Actor win at Cannes for his indelible turn as a famous Almodóvar-proxy director named Salvador Mallo in Pain & Glory, an Oscar nomination was clearly a target worth investing in and aiming for. In fact, it was arguably the stuff of a slam dunk barring the subtitles: aging gorgeous actor (everyone knows they make the pretty men wait), long uncelebrated-by-Oscar career meets meaty role with intertwining "narratives" (a triumph with the director who discovered him nearly 40 years ago and his own recent heartattack dovetail superbly with the role). It's a potential nomination that the media, industry, and fans could all get excited about. But as the season began to heat up all sorts of viable options for the Best Actor shortlist have emerged. This coveted nomination feels like a 'will he or won't he' coin toss now.

If you've been wondering why Antonio hasn't been quite as ubiquitous on the campaign trail as you'd expect given the heavy competition, look no further than his hometown of Málaga, Spain where he's in the process of playing another iconic director...

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