Nathaniel's Ballot: Editing, Makeup, Visual Effects, Production Design

by Nathaniel Rogers

Rooting for LOVE AND MONSTERS to get a visual fx Oscar nomination. Such a pleasantly fun surprise as mainstream movies go! It would have been a big sleeper hit in a normal theatrical year

Oscar balloting begins in 11 days so we'd like to finish our own Film Bitch Awards by then. Or at least the Oscar parallel portion. So in an effort to speed that up here are four categories. My take on the best in film editing, makeup & hairstyling, visual effects, and production design. Within these four categories there are surprisingly no repeat nominees. 

Fascinating read --The Root on Ma Rainey's Hair and Makeup20 slots = 20 different films with honors for And Then We Danced, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Emma, The Father, First Cow, Hillbilly Elegy, I Carry You With Me, Love and Monsters, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Mank, The Midnight Sky, Mulan, News of the World, Nomadland, Palm Springs, Personal History of David Copperfield, Possessor, Promising Young Woman, Tenet, and Welcome to Chechnya.

This was not intentional. I didn't notice till after hitting "publish". But it's as good an example of any of how I approach awards each year. Though I do believe in "spreading the wealth" it happens organically, since I genuinely only try to think about that specific category when I "vote". Do you also agonize over your own "best of" choices? It's a niche affliction but I've met many other film fans who do!  

Thoughts on "The Father"...

by Eric Blume

It's difficult to write reviews these days, because it feels like no film is ever actually "released", and all of us are scrambling to find what movies are even available, how they're available, if they're VOD, or on a streaming service, etc.  Sony Pictures Classics might have made a fumble mostly holding back from view director Florian Zeller's The Father, taken from his own play, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman:  if more people could see it, everyone would be talking about it.

The Father is one of those Movies They Don't Make Anymore, i.e., a damn adult drama that challenges your mind and heart.  This is a film where the entire creative team treats the audience with dignity and respect, trusting that you're listening and paying attention, and they will reward you with literate ideas, high drama, and an emotional experience.  But The Father is more than just that:  the storytelling and the visual conceit of the film are surprising and demanding, and it is not a passive undertaking for the viewer...

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Oscar Chart Updates: Production Design and Film Editing

We've been discussing each Oscar chart this past week or so so let's finish up the visuals with Production Design and Film Editing.

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Beyond Mank, which features Oscar nominees Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale recreating Classic Hollywood this field remains something of an 'anything is possible' mystery. Best Picture heat often helps in the 'below-the-line' categories. But, even acknowledging that fact, many of the hottest Best Picture contenders like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, One Night in Miami, Minari, and Nomadland, have by their very intimate story natures, not a lot of visible art direction happening. It's not that they aren't beautifully designed but you know how at the Oscars it's pretty standard that "MOST = BEST"...

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The New Classics: Wonder Boys

By Michael Cusumano 

Scene: The Suicide List
Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys understand that writers are often their own most carefully crafted creations. You can often catch the writers in the film pausing to appreciate when they hit upon just the right turn of phrase. Life doesn’t allow for second drafts. So very satisfying to nail it on the first. 

By understanding the way writers reveal themselves through narrative shapes into which they attempt to force their lives, Wonder Boys solves the age-old problem of making writing cinematic. We never hear a word of Grady Tripp’s prose that gets blown away at the film’s end, but after we spend two hours stumbling through the shambolic mess of his life, it feels superfluous. His life is already one long, run-on sentence crying out for an editor’s red pen...

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Review: Rosamund Pike in "Radioactive"

Please welcome new contributor Juan Carlos Ojano, who you may know from the podcast "One Inch Barrier" - Editor

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Biopics are tricky.  Inasmuch as making them are good bets for filmmakers to get awards consideration, they are also prone to falling to overused clichés. One overworn formula persistently plagues this genre: the all-encompassing chronicle of the major events in a real person’s life. Such is the case with Marjane Satrapi’s Radioactive, an unabashed ode to the legacy of Marie Curie and her contributions to science, that's now streaming on Amazon Prime.

While this biopic harbors a lot of distinct aesthetic choices, they are but distracting compensation for formulaic storytelling...

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