More prizes: IFMCA, Nevada, Utah, Seattle, Dallas Ft Worth, and Washington DC

by Nathaniel R

The awards for 2020 cinema aren't done yet! First things first the British Independent Film Awards were held so we've updated that post to reflect their winners. Rocks was the big winner with five wins but The Father far behind it in nomination totals, won three.

Now here are five more new sets of critics groups from Nevada, Utah, Seattle, Dallas Ft Worth, DC. There are no new names or titles winning except for Nevada honoring Glenn Close for Hillbilly Elegy and The Father in Screenplay and Seattle's choice of Documentary (The History of the Seattle Mariners: Supercut Edition). Utah goes slightly off consensus preferring both Minari and One Night in Miami to Nomadland in the top Picture/Director categories. Utah also has two unusual choices in runners up positions like Lukasz Zal for cinematography and Cristin Milioti for Palm Springs for a genre performance category. We'd congratulate Utah on their good taste except that they also declare that Chicago 7 was better written and edited than Promising Young Woman and Sound of Metal/Tenet respectively so you win some you lose some.

But first let's start with the International Film Music Critics Association winners since by its nature, it's forced to be different from the other awards being passed out at the moment...

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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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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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Boston Society embraces "The Father" and "Nomadland"

by Nathaniel R

The Boston Society of Film Critics, generally one of the best critics organizations (in that they have good taste and aren't afraid to go their own way) announced their prize winners today. They've given multiple prizes to four pictures: Nomadland, Minari, i'm thinking of ending things, and The Father. With the exception of prizes for American indie Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the Guatemalan film La Llorona, and Charlie Kaufman's I'm thinking of ending things, Boston almost exlusively went with films that have not yet opened to the public or that just barely "opened" so it's a "Best of December 2020 through February 2021" kind of list. 

The complete list of winners is after the jump...

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BIFA Nominations: "Saint Maud" leads the horror friendly pack

by Nathaniel R

The British Independent Film Awards have announced their nominations for the year. 27 films received at least one nomination but the bulk of the nominations went to Saint Maud (17), His House (16), and Rocks (15). UPDATE: Rocks and His House later emerged as the big winners. Higher profile Oscar hopefuls like The Father (6) and Ammonite (2) didn't do as well though The Father eventually won 3 of its 6 categories. Due to the category divisions BIFA has a lot of people that are double or triple nominated this year (they have the regular categories plus "debut" style categories). The BIFAs have a unique process in that the nominations are juried and then winners are decided in two separate ways. All BIFA vote by secret ballot to decide the winners of the nine craft categories plus Best Film, Best International Film, Discovery Award, and Short Film. But everything else is decided by discussion of individual juries separate from the juries who picked the nomination! Confusing right?! 

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH THE WINNERS 02/19/21

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