Weekend box office: Croods is a rare pandemic hit and Nomadland just opened

by Nathaniel R

so sad we'll never get to see this one on the big screen!

We haven't been checking in with the box office regularly because it's so uneventful. But it's good to glance on occassion. Here's the US box office top ten (links go to reviews). There's a few thoughts after the jump as well.

1. The Croods New Age $1.7 (cum. $50.8)
2. The Little Things $1.2 (cum. $11.8)
3. Judas and the Black Messiah $905k (cum. $3.3)
4. Wonder Woman 1984 $805k (cum. $42.6)
5. The Marksman $781k (cum. $11.4)...

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Nathaniel's Top Twenty (Plus) of 2020

by Nathaniel R

Swallow, one of 2020's twenty best

Dementia, toxic masculinity, mental illness, economic inequality, nationalism, and racism were impossible to miss in 2020. And for once I'm not even referring to the soulless depravity of the GOP! Those were also recurring themes in world cinema this past film year. The silver lining is this: difficult topics and trying times can make for great art. This past year's best films were hardly a cheerful lot, but the best filmmakers know how to incorporate tonal variety to keep their movies three-dimensional and lively with ideas, moods, and unforgettable scenes.

The following movies greatly enriched a very tough year. Whether you already love them or are yet to discover them I wish you the best film experiences with these...

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The 9th Annual Team Experience Awards!

by Christopher James

Many things may have changed in the past year, but one thing remains the same. The show must go on and the Team Experience Awards must continue! If there's one perk of staying quarantined in one's home for a full year, it's that there is ample time to watch movies. Before Nathaniel reveals all of his Film Bitch winners for the year, the rest of the writers at The Film Experience gathered together to vote on our favorites of 2020 (and the first two months of 2021). Nathaniel will be staying with the calendar year eligibility (plus US festivals) but the Team is using Oscar eligibility rules with one exception: we also decided to consider Small Axe in our awards as five separate films.

In the end, nothing was a match for Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman, which earned the most wins (4) and nominations (11) from the bunch. While that may have taken the top prize, the team nominated fifty movies across 21 categories. Check out the nominees and winners after the jump...

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Supersized "Nomadland"... what will Searchlight do for a follow up?

by Nathaniel R

Click for the full illustrated new poster

The prolongued 2020 Oscar season is going to make 2021 weird, isn't it. Take Nomadland, for instance, which is just a smidge over HALFWAY through its long trek to Oscar night after its September bow). Hopefully the Biden Administration can figure out a way to speed up vaccine distribution and we can all get back to our favourite pasttime -- MOVIEGOING -- by summer 2021 when the new stuff starts arriving. Alas, that's too late to enjoy Nomadland on IMAX screens, beginning January 29th, which frankly sounds like heaven to us after watching it on a bad streaming link with a watermark across it.

Though Nomadland is not my #1 film of the year -- top ten list coming in a few days! -- there isn't a single film from 2020 that I'd rather see on the most gigantic screen possible. Joshua James Richards' cinematography and the beautifully aged resilient face of Frances McDormand deserve it.

After Nomadland's Oscar run, whether or not it wins the biggest prize in Hollywood, here's what Searchlight (now owned by Disney) will be releasing in 2021...

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National Society of Film Critics choose "Nomadland"

by Nathaniel R

After LAFCA and the NYFCC, the NSFC completes what is essentially the holy trinity of American critics prizes for films. For the latter half of the 20th century these were the three that would get all the press. In the past two decades their influence has not waivered, exactly, but has become less visible. With 30 critics groups now voicing their opinions each year (the bulk of which formed after the year 2000) it's more important for films and performances to have a plurality of voices... unending FYC campaign noise. While LAFCA, NYFCC, and NSFC don't differ a lot this year they all chose separate films for their top prize, LAFCA went with Steve McQueen's collection of five telefilms Small Axe, NYFCC went with First Cow, and the NSFC chose Nomadland (which has been the most dominant with regional prizes...

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