Film Bitch Awards Awards Rush: Limited Roles, Ensemble Acting, and More!

by Nathaniel R

Kerry O'Malley in "The Killer" © Netflix

In the interest of wrapping up before Oscar night (or at least getting, say, 80% there) please note that there are multiple new categories posted at the 24th annual Film Bitch Awards. Tonight, let's talk the "extra" acting categories of which we have Limited Performances (for people with very short screen time --usually one or two scenes only), Breakthrough Performers, a special Body of Work award and much more.  I have such fun thinking about these categories all year as I watch movies that I fear I missed my calling to be a casting director. Maybe in the next life...

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Review: “Across the Spider-Verse” is a Pinnacle of Animation

By Ben Miller

I am not prone to hyperbole but I'm having a difficult time not calling Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse the greatest animated film ever made. Maybe some time and distance will back that up. For now, let's call it a monumental feat of both animation and entertainment.

Following the events of Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (again voiced by Shameik Moore) is now protecting his city and universe as its Spider-Man. He encounters a new and inexperienced villain named The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), which attracts the attention of multiversal Spider-Men...

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Interview: Ryan White on "Good Night Oppy" and recording Angela Bassett

by Nathaniel R

Director Ryan White and his new film "Good Night Oppy"

In October I had the pleasure of introducing director Ryan White to a warmly receptive audience at the 10th annual Middleburg Film Festival. They'd just screened his buzzy documentary Good Night Oppy and there was lots of love in the room. That's been a through line with the film wherever it's shown. The space exploration documentary has since received glowing notices and several awards including five wins at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The charming doc about two sister robots on Mars, "Opportunity" and "Spirit", who wildly surpassed initial expectations, also represents a change of pace for the director. He's always had range. His previous lauded projects have included films as varied as the Oscar finalist short Coded (2021) about the gay golden age illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, the Emmy-nominated political doc The Case Against 8 (2014), the Emmy nominated unsolved crime doc-series The Keepers (2017), and profile docs like Ask Dr Ruth (2019) and Serena (2016). 

When we first met Good Night Oppy had not yet reached Amazon Prime but it was headed there for the Thanksgiving holiday. A feast it would likely be to families that gave it a try. I was delighted to catch up with White to talk about the film again now that it's available to a wide audience...

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Halfway Mark 2021 - Fav Performances & Characters

by Nathaniel R

As we mentioned yesterday when we tackled our favourite movies of 2021 (THUS FAR) we like to jot down lists of favourites all year long so that when it comes time for the annual prizes we aren't just drawing from thing released in the last two months of the year the way Oscar voters tend to; cinema is a year-long love affair for us. So let's talk about the performances that have thrilled the most thus far into 2021...

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Linkness

• Vulture Marcia Gay Harden answers all the questions about her awesome Oscar win for Pollock on its 20th anniversary
• MNPP Josh O'Connor to make a queer horror film with Francis Lee (God's Own Country, Ammonite)
• Deadline very interesting (if way too complimentary) report on dubbing films into other languages. Daniel Brühl is among the top actors who dub their own performances into multiple languages rather than letting other actors do it and change the performance. It helps that he's fluent in multiple languages of course. 

More after the jump including Pose, Regé-Jean Page, Killers of the Moon, a new adaptation of Blindness, and recent showbiz deaths...

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