tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102398562024-03-23T13:19:30.280-05:00Nick's Flick Picks: The BlogA film blog under the influenceNicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.comBlogger933125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-2863811016580729122018-09-01T17:22:00.000-05:002019-02-18T00:13:45.054-06:00Dangerous Liaisons: What's Coming in 2018<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Za_-L38k5qI/W4rvCZkAj1I/AAAAAAAAArI/3-WtymcsuYg7RMQkjdnbm5bWgMS_Iir4wCLcBGAs/s1600/CloseWife.jpg"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Za_-L38k5qI/W4rvCZkAj1I/AAAAAAAAArI/3-WtymcsuYg7RMQkjdnbm5bWgMS_Iir4wCLcBGAs/s320/CloseWife.jpg" width="100%" /></a><br />
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The only person bringing more hawklike focus than I am to the Fall 2018 movie season is Ms. Glenn Close, who's been assured by top brass at Sony Pictures Classics for a year now that this winter's Best Actress Oscar belongs to her. Everyone knows you don't tempt the anger of Alex Forrest, Sunny von Bulow, or the Marquise de Merteuil, so I hope those suits at Sony know what the f they're doing. Joan Castleman, Glenn's character in <i>The Wife</i>, is also pretty good at sniffing out a lie, threat, or looming disaster. Thus, whichever persona Glenn's adopting on a given day over the next four months, you <i>know</i> she'll be surveilling the movie screen at all hours, making sure some other hussy doesn't roll up to steal her trophy.<br />
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I personally know how to stay on Glenn's good side, so in a break from past tradition, when <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2017/11/on-on-whats-left-in-movie-year.html">one</a> <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2013/10/fall-preview-anticipation-of.html">musical</a> <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2012/10/love-will-never-do-without-these-fall.html">diva</a> <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2007/11/visions-of-love-fall-2011-movie-season.html">or</a> <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2010/09/im-breathless-fallholiday-season-2010.html">other</a> emceed this blog feature (though occasionally <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2014/12/prepping-for-final-sprint.html">none</a> <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2009/09/bring-it-on-fall-and-holiday-season-09.html">turned</a> <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2007/08/what-im-looking-forward-to.html">up</a>!), she is determining all brackets for my Fall Movie Season Preview. (Yes, I know she considers herself a musical diva as well, and that's just fine.) My plan is to see a handful or two of these titles at the Toronto Film Festival that starts later this week, so no time like now to nail this down. Here it is: the world of prestige-season movies according to <strike>Garp</strike> me.<br />
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<b>Updated!</b> In the wake of Amazon canceling <i>Sea Oak</i>, Glenn has decided she is a Netflix gal after all, so she has perused <a href="https://filmschoolrejects.com/netflix-originals-september-october-november-december-2018/">this helpful guide</a> (forwarded by the splendid <a href="https://twitter.com/CocoHitsNewYork">Conrado Falco</a>) and added several gems to the roster below.<br />
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<b>Note:</b> Once titles have been graded and grayed out, the link will take you to my own website entry on the film, including tweet-length summaries of the overall impressions it made on me. <br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Paradise Road</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">When I call their names, it's like a little prayer</span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/ifbealst.html"><i>If Beale Street Could Talk</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Baldwin <i>and</i> Jenkins? My midterms ticket!</span><br />
<a href="https://www.nick-davis.com/roma18.html"><i>Roma</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Intimate epic from a genius who hasn't misstepped in 20 years</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/brning18.html"><i>Burning</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I've been riding Lee's train since <i>Oasis</i>. This sounds amazing.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/haplazza.html"><i>Happy as Lazzaro</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Even more ambitious than Rohrwacher's first two</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/widows18.html"><i>Widows</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Viola Davis always kicks ass, but not always this blatantly</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/halecoun.html"><i>Hale County This Morning, This Evening</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- All I needed was <a href="https://twitter.com/eshynes">Eric</a>'s rave</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/monrovia.html"><i>Monrovia, Indiana</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Wiseman only comes in Great and Perfect flavors</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/favour18.html"><i>The Favourite</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I was slower to get psyched than some, but I got there</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/astarb18.html"><i>A Star Is Born</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Y'all been gabbing about Gaga, but I'm all about Brad</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/shoplift.html"><i>Shoplifters</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- After years of us not getting along, I'm here for Hirokazu</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Meeting Venus</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">Totally prepared to fall in love with these</span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/creed2.html"><i>Creed II</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- The first movie was a treat and a wonder. On to round two!!</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/coldwr18.html"><i>Cold War</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Sounds like <i>Ida</i> but more tempestuous? Good high concept</span>.<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6213284/"><i>I Am Not a Witch</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Pulled down lots of trophies from the Brits last year</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/caprnaum.html"><i>Capernaum</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Reviews were split and I'm mixed on Labaki. Still curious</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/destroyr.html"><i>Destroyer</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Nic Kidman looks like she's gone <i>in</i> on a different character</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/girl18.html"><i>Girl</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D </span><span style="color: #999999;">- LGBTQ films sometimes get too generously reviewed, but I'm in</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/suspir18.html"><i>Suspiria</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Don't love the first; could do without a new one. But! Tilda.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">The Natural</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">Buying these tickets will come easily to me</span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/monstmen.html"><i>Monsters and Men</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Among all the gutsy titles that surfaced at Sundance</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/museo18.html"><i>Museo</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- García Bernal and Beale topline impressive cast in intriguing tale</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/firstman.html"><i>First Man</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Haven't even liked a Chazelle film yet, and I'm <i>still</i> swept up</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/hatugive.html"><i>The Hate U Give</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Nice to see a teen-focused drama with a meaty subject</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7520286/"><i>Bisbee '17</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Ambitious reenactment-based doc focused on timely issues</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2737304/"><i>Bird Box</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Blindfolds?? How will Bier get her eyes in extreme close-up?</span> <br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/sanbland.html"><i>Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> <span style="color: #999999;">- Seems urgent, no?</span> <br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6040662/"><i>The Children Act</i></a> - Read this last year; still can't wait to see Emma do it<br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/beaboy18.html"><i>Beautiful Boy</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Addiction dramas aren't my everything but I like the cast</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6781982/"><i>Night School</i></a> - Even better if Tiff just wore that white dress in every scene<br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/boyerasd.html"><i>Boy Erased</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Could easily tip into earnestness, but these actors merit trust</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6952960/"><i>The Kindergarten Teacher</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I liked the original; is the remake a necessity?</span> <br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/wildlf18.html"><i>Wildlife</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- If Carey's as brilliant as y'all have promised, I'll be really happy</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/"><i>Vice</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Sam Rockwell as W? Tyler Perry as Colin Powell? Yes, please!</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5419676/"><i>Feminists: What Were They Thinking?</i></a> - Directly up my scholarly alleys <br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7472352/"><i>Shirkers</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Yay for docs with creative structures and personal investments</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6485928/"><i>The Land of Steady Habits</i></a> - Holofcener veers around for me, but I'm sold<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7763020/"><i>Dovlatov</i></a> - German is hugely talented, but my learning curve will be high<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069049/"><i>The Other Side of the Wind</i></a> - I know, I'm supposed to be way more ecstatic<br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/bodied17.html"><i>Bodied</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Graduate-school satire has been building festival buzz for a while</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Sarah, Plain and Tall</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">Looks a bit wan, but I'm still glad I ordered it</span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/canforgv.html"><i>Can You Ever Forgive Me?</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Eager to see McCarthy in a change of pace</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5160938/"><i>Lizzie</i></a> - Axe-murder story with Chloë and Kristen, so how "wan" can it be?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5613484/"><i>Mid 90s</i></a> - I'm hoping that the recent run of good high school films holds up<br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/oldmangn.html"><i>The Old Man & the Gun</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Lowery, Redford, and story sound like good fits</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/viprclub.html"><i>Viper Club</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Rooting for Keshavarz, though not exactly craving Sarandon</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Mars Attacks!</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">I don't even understand, but I'm intrigued?</span></i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7931968/"><i>Narcissister Organ Player</i></a> - I mean, I'm Googling and I <i>still</i> barely get this<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571234/"><i>Mortal Engines</i></a> - Giant <i>wheels</i> are pillaging the world? Ok, Peter Jackson<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6433880/"><i>Anna and the Apocalypse</i></a> - A musical about a zombie raid? Not as odd as...<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3696610/"><i>Stuck</i></a> - ...a musical starring Amy Madigan! With Ashanti! Am I awake?<br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Fatal Attraction</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">I shouldn't want to see them—but Reader, I do!</span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/voxlux.html"><i>Vox Lux</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- This screams "pretentious mess" but I can't help feeling drawn</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6412452/"><i>The Ballad of Buster Scruggs</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> <span style="color: #999999;">- Sounds like my least favorite kind of Coens<i> </i></span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/whatheyd.html"><i>What They Had</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- If Hilary and Blythe are headlining it, I'm not <i>not</i> going</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5028340/"><i>Mary Poppins Returns</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Reasons to be nervous, but I'm holding out hope</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4669788/"><i>On the Basis of Sex</i></a> - The RBG machine is in overdrive this year. Too much?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5177088/"><i>The Girl in the Spider's Web</i></a> - I need convincing that we couldn't just leave it<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420442/"><i>American Chaos</i></a> - As long as it doesn't feel like one of those <i>Times</i> articles<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420442/"><i>Bel Canto</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Not sure film feels like the right medium? And they're <i>hiding</i> it!</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/haprince.html"><i>The Happy Prince</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Rupert as Wilde might be inspired, but do I trust him?</span><i> </i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3829266/"><i>The Predator</i></a> - A Trevante Rhodes film that involves some kind of monster<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7959026/"><i>The Mule</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I feel like a grumpy, uninvited guest has abruptly shown up</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8496536/"><i>Making Montgomery Clift</i></a> - Inside-the-family job; may require skepticism<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6280608/"><i>Postcards from London</i></a> - Guess Harris isn't too worried about typecasting?<br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Jagged Edge</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">Right on the border of To See or Not to See</span></i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5057140/"><i>Hold the Dark</i></a> - I adored <i>Blue Ruin</i> and loathed <i>Green Room</i>; break the tie!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7461200/"><i>The Oath</i></a> - Could be a timely comedy. Tiffany's agent has kept it moving!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5536610/"><i>Private Life</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Jenkins is great, but otherwise? I have—such doubts.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7280898/"><i>22 July</i></a> - Greengrass also great, but the last <i>Bourne</i> so wasn't. Is he back?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7545524/"><i>Ben Is Back</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Pete Hedges is a problem for me, but Julia and Lucas help</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6679794/"><i>Outlaw King</i></a> - Director's on-again, off-again; this doesn't look "on" to me <br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4971344/"><i>The Sisters Brothers</i> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span></a> <span style="color: #999999;">- This isn't at all what I want from the great Audiard</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6217306/"><i>Apostle</i></a> - I'm curious but confused: how isn't this a Ben Wheatley movie? <br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6850820/"><i>Peppermint</i></a> - I'll do my part to keep Jen from being the ashes. Will she?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2328900/"><i>Mary, Queen of Scots</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Getting big <i>Other Boleyn Girl</i> vibes off of this </span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7542576/"><i>All About Nina</i></a> - I've never fully warmed to Winstead, but good reviews<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365545/"><i>Nappily Ever After</i></a> - al-Mansour keeps moving in unexpected directions <br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/hallow18.html"><i>Halloween</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">F </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Another reboot, but David Gordon Green is a good hook</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/nobsfl18.html"><i>Nobody's Fool</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Is Tiffany's agent an algorithm? Is Tyler Perry a bot?</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/colette.html"><i>Colette</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- <i>Still Alice</i> was a mixed bag for me; this looks even mixeder</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6859762/"><i>The Little Stranger</i></a> - A decent entry in a genre I don't care about, I'd bet<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6628394/"><i>Bad Times at the El Royale</i></a> - Seems so proud of itself? Often a bad sign.<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6205872/"><i>Assassination Nation</i></a> - This might also be proud of itself, but in <i>Salem</i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4537896/"><i>White Boy Rick</i></a> - I was turned off by the trailer, and wasn't wowed by <i>'71</i><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">The Big Chill</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">Prospects that leave me cold, but there's hope</span></i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7074886/"><i>The Front Runner </i><span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span></a> <span style="color: #999999;">- Having just loved a Reitman, am I being unfair?</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7668870/"><i>Searching</i></a> - That's too many screens, and I'm agnostic about John Cho<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7440432/"><i>Quincy</i></a> - Another doc about another star, where access trumps insight? <br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7364566/"><i>Maria by Callas</i></a> - So, a documentary, but she's also played by Ardant?<br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/privtwar.html"><i>A Private War</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I got less interested in Pike as soon as she took off</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Anesthesia</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">If it's been a hard day, or I've been medicated</span></i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2126357/"><i>Second Act</i></a> - To <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/1031266481022091265">think</a> of all the <i>Out of Sight</i>s we shoulda had by now<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7315484/"><i>The Silence</i></a> - The pitch: it's <i>A Quiet Place</i> but it's also...<i>A Quiet Place</i>?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5989218/"><i>Life Itself</i></a> - Hoo, boy. Oscar Isaac can lead me lots of places, but <i>still</i>...<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3261114/"><i>The Last Race</i></a> - Not really my cultural niche, but I like docs like that<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6527426/"><i>Zero</i></a> - I'm unforgivably negligent of Bollywood releases and their stars<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4530422/"><i>Overlord</i></a> - So, <i>30 Days of Night </i>but...at the Normandy beach landing?<br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/bohmrhap.html"><i>Bohemian Rhapsody</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I mean, Rami Malek isn't even a clear fan, so</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7204348/"><i>El Angel</i></a> - Great cast, but I'm feeling pretty sated on serial-killer front<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4633694/"><i>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Guys? I mean? Can't we just?</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270797/"><i>Venom</i></a> - Waiting all my life to see Tom Hardy play a dour brickhouse<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8632862/"><i>Fahrenheit 11/9</i></a> - Moore gets ever-harder to defend. His last was awful.<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477834/"><i>Aquaman</i></a> - I appreciate that Nicole took pains to be cut from the trailer<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6495094/"><i>Little Women</i></a> - I'll wait for Greta's vers... no, actually, I'm already good<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1846589/"><i>Hunter Killer</i></a> - Every once in a while, it's Gerard Butler time. It just is.<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6433456/"><i>Becoming Astrid</i></a> - What if <i>Becoming Jane</i> but with Pippi Longstocking?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4532826/"><i>Robin Hood</i></a> - It's <i>Robin Hood: Into the Robin-verse</i>! What'll happen??<br />
<br /><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Low Down</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">Even if you boiled my bunny, I'd stay away</span></i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3385524/"><i>Stan & Ollie</i></a> - Give Reilly all the good notices you want. I have doubts!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3289724/"><i>Welcome to Marwen</i></a> - I bet it's already booked on <a href="https://podtail.com/en/podcast/this-had-oscar-buzz/">This Had Oscar Buzz</a><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6966692/"><i>Green Book</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">D+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- For folks who think Best Picture '89 did the right thing</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7040874/"><i>A Simple Favor</i></a> - I appreciate Feig switching courses, but I'm a no-go<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7339792/"><i>Unbroken: Path to Redemption</i></a> - Oh, <i>now</i> they want to complicate it!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4701182/"><i>Bumblebee</i></a> - Is this like a Muppet Babies for the <i>Transformers </i>series?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4123430/"><i>Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald</i></a> - Is that title kidding me<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1255919/"><i>Holmes and Watson</i></a> - More characters we haven't milked <i>quite</i> enough<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5848272/"><i>Ralph Breaks the Internet</i></a> - ...but not before he breaks the movies!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2709692/"><i>Dr. Seuss' The Grinch</i></a> - You guys, it's genuinely okay to tell new stories<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5523010/"><i>The Nutcracker and the Four Realms</i></a> - I wouldn't say it if it weren't true<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6921996/"><i>Johnny English Strikes Again</i></a> - Honestly, you really do have that option<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Reversal of Fortune</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">Previously scheduled for 2018, but no longer</span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/gloria18.html"><i>Gloria Bell</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- <i>But</i>, if you've hired Julianne, you can reboot all you want</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4614612/"><i>Peterloo</i></a> - If this weren't Mike Leigh, I'd be more skeptical. But since it is...<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5691670/"><i>Under the Silver Lake</i></a> - Looks messy? Garfield has been losing his appeal<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6476140/"><i>Serenity</i></a> - Wouldn't be the first over-solemn, under-cooked Knight joint<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437086/"><i>Alita: Battle Angel</i></a> - Good to see Hollywood gets the Whitewashing thing<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">In the Gloaming</span><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">I've had months to catch them; it's getting late...</span></i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7476236/"><i>Minding the Gap</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- A raved-about doc from an amazing movie company</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nick-davis.com/elmarmar.html"><i>El mar la mar</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Just my kind of documentary, and made by a colleague</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6340264/"><i>Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Dumont still on a crazy trip</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3859310/"><i>How to Talk to Girls at Parties</i></a> - ...and Kidman's on a crazy one, as well<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5628302/"><i>Beast</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Festival glosses didn't grab me, but I may have slept on this</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6002232/"><i>Custody</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Beat some big players to some top prizes at Venice last year</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6028412/"><i>Bitter Money</i></a> - 2½-hour Wang Bing is like a short film by someone else<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4080956/"><i>A Prayer Before Dawn</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- <i>Johnny Mad Dog </i>is indelible, ten years later</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7681824/"><i>We the Animals</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I expected this to catch on more but I'm still curious</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6400280/"><i>Araby</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">A</span> <span style="color: #999999;">- I badly wanted to see this at the <a href="http://siskelfilmcenter.org/">Siskel</a> and want another shot</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6859352/"><i>Support the Girls</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Only playing in two way-South-Side theaters??</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5180888/"><i>Sollers Point</i></a> - <i>Putty Hill</i> has lingered with me. Eager for this follow-up.<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5881528/"><i>Damsel</i></a> - My mom has not forgiven the friend who took her to this<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5492260/"><i>Never Steady, Never Still</i></a> - People tell me Henderson is a revelation<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6410564/"><i>The Third Murder</i></a> - As I said, my luck is improving with Kore-eda<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7545566/"><i>Skate Kitchen</i></a> - I didn't care for <i>The Wolfpack</i> but this seems promising<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5642124/"><i>Lover for a Day</i></a> - Garrel's sketches have a curious staying-power<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7158430/"><i>Hearts Beat Loud</i></a> - I kept getting close but never pulled the trigger<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5989220/"><i>Claire's Camera</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">B– </span><span style="color: #999999;">- Is this the one good Hong for every 2-3 dull ones?</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6958014/"><i>Duck Butter</i></a> - Elicited good notices from critics I trust. I like Shawkat.<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4779682/"><i>The Meg</i></a> - Yes, I'd rather see a giant-shark film than one about Godard<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5708028/"><i>Cocote</i></a> - <a href="https://twitter.com/unbuttonmyeyes/">Violet Lucca</a> wrote a great article about this in <i>Film Comment</i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3127022/"><i>The Bookshop</i></a> - The plot seems inauspicious, but I'm told there's more?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5687334/"><i>Godard mon amour</i></a> - I just hope Michel cheered up after <i>The Search</i><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6147512/"><i>The Desert Bride</i></a> - Paulina García, the o.g. Gloria, in a starring vehicle<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6805366/"><i>Makala</i></a> - The kind of doc my friends rib me for prioritizing at TIFF<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5338644/"><i>Mrs. Hyde</i></a> - I didn't sense anyone was over the moon, but it's Isabelle<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6288124/"><i>Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot</i></a> - And it hasn't! But I'm curious.<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5649108/"><i>Thoroughbreds</i></a> - Its partisans are really vehement, despite my doubts<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5584796/"><i>Tehran Taboo</i></a> - I'm walking in cold, but the whole thing looks inventive<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6014904/"><i>The Strange Ones</i></a> - I loved the short so much, I'm not sure I want more!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6680312/"><i>Who We Are Now</i></a> - Julianne Nicholson in a spotlight; she's been on a roll<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5204020/"><i>Scarred Hearts</i></a> - From a director whose new film is a festival sensation<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6509058/"><i>Nancy</i></a> <span style="color: #cc0000;">C+ </span><span style="color: #999999;">- I can't recall from Sundance if this was supposed to be good?</span><br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5771710/"><i>Rodin</i></a> - Cannes critics rolled their eyes but is it a crime to love Lindon?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5619332/"><i>Life of the Party</i></a> - McCarthy makes too many films but this might work<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590193/"><i>The Commuter</i></a> - If you're going to hire Farmiga, make her the lead!!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6343058/"><i>Oh, Lucy!</i></a> - I don't know anything except that the Indie Spirits liked it<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5686062/"><i>Boundaries</i></a> - Okay, somebody made Farmiga the lead. And I didn't go!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3906082/"><i>Mary Shelley</i></a> - Came and went with barely a ripple. Dare I ask why?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3721964/"><i>Gringo</i></a> - A quirky misfire that was hard to market? Or just a bad movie?<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7215388/"><i>The China Hustle</i></a> - A documentary I missed at TIFF that'll teach me lots<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834262/"><i>Hotel Artemis</i></a> - I was surprised to hear murmurs that this got misserved<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5687040/"><i>Ismael's Ghosts</i></a> - Desplechin can be too much for me; notices were cool<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5687814/"><i>Golden Exits</i></a> - Hey, IMDb! That's not what "intersectional" means!<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5093026/"><i>Papillon</i></a> - In which two good-looking actors... something about prison<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5462326/"><i>Mom and Dad</i></a> - The campy-fun Nic Cage movies blur with the bad ones<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6063050/"><i>Acrimony</i></a> - After this and <i>Proud Mary</i>, I sense this wasn't Taraji's year<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2586120/"><i>Racer and the Jailbird</i></a> - Two hot actors and an Oscar-nominated director<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4494718/"><i>Final Portrait</i></a> - Geoffrey wants to paint Armie's picture. Join the club.NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-90397158161185307312017-11-07T09:00:00.000-06:002018-01-20T13:34:11.361-06:00On & On: What's Left in the Movie Year<img src="http://www.nick-davis.com/louisxivonandon.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
One interesting historical fact is that the last time I updated this blog, Louis XIV was still the King of France. In fact, the last time I reprised this once-perennial feature, his reign had not even begun! Isn't that interesting?<br />
<br />
Back then, when the world <i>knew</i> it was still run by monarchies, and when Jodie Foster had only started taking meetings about <i>Flora Plum</i>, I made an annual autumn ritual of compiling all the movies I hoped to see before the year's end and then publicly checking them off as they rolled around. I usually invited a treasured songbird to hum along while I made my lists of eager dates, ambivalent prospects, and grotesque premonitions of suffering. In <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2014/12/prepping-for-final-sprint.html">2014</a> I somehow forgot to recruit a singalong partner, which was probably the beginning of the trouble, after fabulous collaborations with Lauryn Hill in <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2013/10/fall-preview-anticipation-of.html">2013</a>, with Miss Jackson If You're Nasty in <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2012/10/love-will-never-do-without-these-fall.html">2012</a>, with feckless but forever-adored thrush Mariah Carey in <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2007/11/visions-of-love-fall-2011-movie-season.html">2011</a>, and with Madonna, of whom my current students are still dimly aware, in <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2010/09/im-breathless-fallholiday-season-2010.html">2010</a>. (The first two outings, in <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2009/09/bring-it-on-fall-and-holiday-season-09.html">2009</a> and <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2007/08/what-im-looking-forward-to.html">2007</a>, were sadly <i>sans chanteuse</i>).<br />
<br />
This year, noted ankh enthusiast and Golden Satellite nominee Erykah Badu is lending me her song titles so that I can distinguish the movies sure to make peace and blessings manifest from those that make you wanna call Tyrone on your way out of the theater, so he can come clear this shit away. Even within the Badu-based echelons, the titles are loosely ranked. I'm including titles that left the cinemas long ago, and some that were barely ever there, since those encounters loom just as prodigiously for me as the imminent holiday releases.<br />
<br />
So, what am I overhyping or underselling? What are you anticipating? <a href="http://nick-davis.com/movies17usalpha.html">Here</a>'s what I've seen already. (And please ignore the fossilized sidebar for now. A sister isn't all the way there yet.)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Love of My Life</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Feels like I've sampled true love... and I haven't even seen 'em yet!</i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4925292/"><i>Lady Bird</i></a> <strike>- <span style="color: #666666;">Every glowing response to every aspect makes my heart leap</span></strike><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Shrewd, warm, happy, sad: appealingly complex, yet clear as a bell. <br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5096536/">Heal the Living</a> </i> <strike><span style="color: #666666;">- Quillévéré's one of the best barely-distributed directors</span></strike><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Less than the director's best but still an elegant, moving medical drama <br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4795546/">Nocturama</a> </i><span style="color: #666666;"><strike> - Bold story about spiky subjects; of course it vanished fast</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Amazingly audacious, even as I had questions about tone and style<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5265960/"><i>The Untamed</i></a> <strike><span style="color: #666666;">- I am who I am, and octopus-sex movies are part of that</span></strike><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Utterly unusual exploration of sex from alien angles; cool direction<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/"><i>Star Wars: The Last Jedi</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Because the Force was so strong in <i>Looper</i></strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C–</span> Crushingly dull disappointment: sludgy storytelling, muddy thinking<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5711148/"><i>Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Anything Bening, but especially this</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> The actors are glorious and the storytelling unexpectedly layered<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5129510/"><i>The Death of Louis XIV</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I'm pre-converted to Serra's bizarre aesthetic</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Odd, gorgeous. The usual Serra pros outweigh the usual Serra cons.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Certainly</span></span> <br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The kind of thing for which you delay your Top 10 list </i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4771932/"><i>The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Reviews mostly rapturous</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Pleasant and poignant, if not quite the chef d'oeuvre I'd heard about<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5776858/"><i>Phantom Thread</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- PTA hasn't ended a movie well in a while, but <i>still</i></strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Fascinating at every level of theme and construction, but <i>still</i>...<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3510304/"><i>Free in Deed</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- <a href="https://twitter.com/melanielynskey/">Melanie</a>'s delight with this one in Venice sticks with me</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Takes big risks in structure, story, but still hits big emotional beats<br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5836866/">The Work</a> </i> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Why is Chicago, of all markets, taking forever to book this?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">A–</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span> Exceptionally strong and moving piece, more complex than it looks<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6319654/"><i>Cries from Syria</i></a> - The rare Syria-focused documentary to break through<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5233558/"><i>The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- France has earned our trust</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Boldly conceived as crime story and a systemic study of violence<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5119268/"><i>For Ahkeem</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Documentary about black teenage girl looks very moving</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Moving portrait of a teen girl at risk, even if it could go a bit deeper<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6333052/"><i>Casting JonBenet</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Sounds like it turns a tabloid chestnut upside down?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Idea-rich, like Joshua Oppenheimer directing <i>Waiting for Guffman</i><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5462906/"><i>Abundant Acreage Available</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Amy! <i>Junebug</i> guy! Even with that title...</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> Whole cast is good, but Amy is the clear MVP. The movie is fine.<br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6333070/">The Wound</a> </i> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- All I needed were <a href="http://twitter.com/GuyLodge">Guy Lodge</a>'s abundant recommendations</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span> High production values and complicated discourses of sex and class<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5880296/"><i>Hermia & Helena</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I dig the rarity of Piñeiro's Thing, even when I'm split</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> I'm getting less patient with Piñeiro but colors and structures still entice<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2062700/"><i>Song to Song</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- This looked like more windmill-tilting but I hear otherwise?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Clear improvement on the last few. Still not what I want from Malick?<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6176928/"><i>Whose Streets?</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Why do documentaries on this topic get so little notice?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">A–</span> Artfully ragged, unapologetically angry capsule of antiracist activism<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5078134/"><i>A Woman's Life</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- <i>Measure of a Man </i>was great so I'm not sleeping on this</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">A–</span> Surpassed my hearty expectations. Moving and creatively structured.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Hey, Sugah</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I have reason to hope we'll get along well</i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2315582/"><i>Una</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Yet another buzzy play becomes a movie with few fans. But: Rooney!</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C+</span> I appreciate the risk-taking but couldn't help notice tics and missteps<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5311514/"><i>Your Name</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Not an anime devotee, but this sounds potentially up my alley</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> A form and a culture where I have little fluency, and I still admired it <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5182856/"><i>Harmonium</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Curious since it unnerved everybody at Cannes a year ago</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Story and characters didn't always click for but it's an engaging yarn<i> </i><br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4513316/">Novitiate</a></i> <strike>- <span style="color: #666666;">Good Melissa Leo and Garish Melissa Leo are equally enticing</span></strike><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Often potent and sobering, but can all of a sudden turn shaky or tacky. <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4209788/"><i>Molly's Game</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Sorkin's not really a draw at this point but I hear Jess is fun</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">–</span> Intriguing to watch Sorkin process his fascinations, albeit unevenly<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6294822/"><i>The Post</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I'm not organically enthused but it's always better to have faith</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> I loved seeing Spielberg's camera so free, his storytelling so urgent<br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6091028/">Birthright: A War Story</a> </i> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Available to academics via Women Make Movies</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Powerful, timely documentary about linked assaults on women's health<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580036/"><i>I, Tonya</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Could live to regret this ranking, but I'm up for Janney's antics</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> A great surprise, deftly managing a tricky tone; Stan, Robbie excel<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5536736/"><i>The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- How many of 'em is Emma in?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Pleasantly surprised how smitten I was with writing and performances<br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5091530/">M.F.A.</a> </i> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Contemporary rape-revenge drama that feels timelier than ever</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> Irresponsible, then <i>too</i> "responsible," but its anger and daring exhilarate<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5805752/"><i>Brigsby Bear</i></a> - This will either be irritatingly over-conceived or sorta special<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6777338/"><i>The Villainess</i></a> - Not really my genre or aesthetic and still I feel curious<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5034266/"><i>Our Souls at Night</i></a> - At least we know it'll improve on <i>Barefoot in the Park</i><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7214842/"><i>One of Us</i></a> - I've trusted these gals since <i>Jesus Camp</i>, and here it is on Netflix<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543472/"><i>Wonder</i></a> <strike><span style="color: #666666;">- I could be making a serious miscalculation but <i>Perks</i> was fantastic</span></strike><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Not the subtlest or most sophisticated, but hits its marks emotionally.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Think Twice</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I'll buy a ticket, but I'll be second-guessing myself the whole time</i></span></span><br />
<i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3794028/">From the Land of the Moon</a> </i> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- It's Marion, but has it rocked anyone's life?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> Grew on me as it unfolded, as did Marion, but that finale is wacko<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4555426/"><i>Darkest Hour</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Venice and Toronto were impressed; others seem not to be</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span> Dubious in its glossy showmanship, its plummy tone, its political moral<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5884230/"><i>Brad's Status</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Many of you gave warm testimonies, but that <i>trailer</i>, guys!</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> Queasy in good and bad ways; a risk for White, and the effort shows<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3521126/"><i>The Disaster Artist</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I mean, it looks more fun than his Steinbeck movie</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span> Maybe his Steinbeck movie at least has something to say? Parlor trick<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5825380/"><i>Wonder Wheel</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- "No <i>Blue Jasmine</i>," I keep hearing, and <i>that</i> was overrated</strike></span> <br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">D</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">+</span> Mostly awful ideas. The very few good ones are stiltedly executed.<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6018306/"><i>Last Flag Flying</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- If not for Cecily, we'd be further down in the Danger list</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C+</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span> Some moving moments and moods; maudlin and tone-deaf elsewhere <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2380307/"><i>Coco</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Remember when you didn't have to worry if Pixar would deliver?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> They did! I wasn't as moved as some but it's visually and culturally rich <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4765284/"><i>Pitch Perfect 3</i></a> - The trailer makes me giggle; the first film didn't, really<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6412864/"><i>On the Beach at Night Alone</i></a> - <i>The Day After</i> set me way back on Hong<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5933560/"><i>Permanent</i></a> - Mostly tempted to thank Patty Arquette for Twitter badassery<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Time's a Wastin'</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>They'll be gone fast, or I've been dragging my feet a while already</i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6041312/"><i>The Human Surge</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I don't even know what it's about, but it's got Fans</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> I appreciate the uniqueness and ambition but sometimes felt stranded<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6133130/"><i>Professor Marston and the Wonder Women</i></a> - Sure aroused a lot of you<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5820812/"><i>The Rehearsal</i></a> - Kerry Fox and Alison Maclean, I welcome your returns<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7207238/"><i>Jane</i></a> - Not my kind of project, but Brett Morgen's <i>Chicago 10</i> was great<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5538568/"><i>My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea</i></a> - And I <i>liked</i> high school!<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396484/"><i>It</i></a> - I'm not too confident, but I put those 500 hours into reading it in 1990<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2321405/"><i>My Life as a Zucchini</i></a> - All the right people have recommended this one<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3881784/"><i>Stronger</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- A Miranda Richardson movie trapped in a Jake Gyllenhaal flick</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C+</span> Actors do fine work and story takes smart turns; still feels middling<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4827986/"><i>The Sense of an Ending</i></a> - Made for people like me, and yet I've avoided it<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/"><i>John Wick: Chapter 2</i></a> - <i>Atomic Blonde</i> convinced me to pay attention<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5859238/"><i>Lucky</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Stanton wasn't a huge fixture for me, but I'll gladly pay respects</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span> I resisted the opening acts but the film gets darker, odder, and braver<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3268340/"><i>Crown Heights</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Left theaters so quickly, with muted notices, but: LaKeith</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C+</span> A moving and still-timely story, but less imposing or urgent as a film<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3784222/"><i>Paulina</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I wish I'd liked <i>The Summit</i> even more, but this sounded better</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Explores rape survivor's ambiguous response without diluting the crime<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7253506/"><i>Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold</i></a> - Should I just read a book instead?<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/"><i>Logan</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Look, I've heard you. I don't really believe you, but I've heard you</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> I should have trusted you! Too grisly, maybe, but full of style and ideas<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4680196/"><i>Planetarium</i></a> - I have basically zero Portmania, and yet I'm still intrigued<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4158624/"><i>3 Generations</i></a> <strike><span style="color: #666666;">- Trans Cinema by Cis Folks: Asking-for-Side-Eye Division</span></strike><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span> Not as awful as I'd heard but messy in structure, politics, and portraiture <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5034474/"><i>The Assignment</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Trans Cinema by Cis Folks: Likely-to-Infuriate Division</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">D</span> You'd never guess it's the work of a real auteur. Cheap, lurid nonsense.<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3501632/"><i>Thor: Ragnarok</i></a> - All you had to do was say, "Cate's great," but you <i>didn't</i><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2776878/"><i>Thank You for Your Service</i></a> - When I think about <i>Rabbit Hole</i>, I'm swayable <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Danger</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>"My ass might be dumb, but I ain't no dumb ass." — Ordell Robbie</i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5294550/"><i>All the Money in the World</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- "...couldn't make me," etc. <i>But a nom might!</i></strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">D+</span> Spacey would have made it worse, I'm sure, but this is still an ordeal<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3402236/"><i>Murder on the Orient Express</i></a> - I know how it ends, and how it'll likely go<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/"><i>The Greatest Showman</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Amazing that they've made this as circus shutters</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">D</span> Passes at some point from amiably bad to embarrassingly mishandled<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5716464/"><i>Breathe</i></a> - I <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/922835419313647617">asked</a> Twitter about this one and was licensed to Just Say No<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4778988/"><i>LBJ</i></a> - Scant appeal at the best of times—which, for Reiner, feel long past<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5478478/"><i>Hostiles</i></a> - Scott Cooper convenes another cockfight among dour dudes<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6000478/"><i>Roman J. Israel, Esq.</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- When they sneak it late into two different festivals...</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B/B–</span> Definitely uneven but an interesting study of character and culture <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3411444/"><i>Ferdinand</i></a> - Unless reviews are <i>Babe</i>-like, I doubt I'm really the audience<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491175/"><i>Suburbicon</i></a> - You guys, "They wrote it 30 years ago!" is <i>not</i> a good hook<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974015/"><i>Justice League</i></a> - Our national witnessing of Affleck's free fall continues<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5721088/"><i>Just Getting Started</i></a> - Odd title for a movie they've already made 10 times<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771200/"><i>Beauty and the Beast</i></a> - Making a point about my resistance to <i>Downsizing</i><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1389072/"><i>Downsizing</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Good name for a documentary about Payne's gifts over time</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">D+</span> Takes a stab at every tone and topic it can; ambitious but so misguided<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1966359/"><i>Father Figures</i></a> - Hi, Glenn! We're holding your Oscar bid but releasing this<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5657846/"><i>Daddy's Home 2</i></a> - See, I'm not <i>completely</i> unreasonable about <i>Downsizing</i><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2283362/"><i>Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle</i></a> - "Oooooaah...I'm gonna watch you bleed!"<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Didn't Cha Know?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Dropped off my radar, or never made it on, until you guys intervened</i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5294198/"><i>Catfight</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- How did I leave this out? Heche alone suffices, but her plus Oh?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> The performances both got me even as I harbored some reservations<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5590718/"><i>All This Panic</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Never heard of it, but sounds perfectly synced to my tastes</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span> Female adolescence deserves more film time, but POV here is vague<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5873150/"><i>Strong Island</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Another right-up-my-alley documentary I'd never heard of</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Jagged, affecting chronicle of family pain, despite some formal oddities<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4305148/"><i>Lovesong</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Does "their relationship deepens" translate to "lesbian romance"?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> Performances are all quietly terrific; observant intimacy all around<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5048406/"><i>4 Days in France</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Multiple endorsements below—and Nathalie Richard!</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Pleasingly offbeat road trip. Interesting scenes ballast the flatter ones<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5294966/"><i>After the Storm</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I got frustrated with Kore-eda, but you're giving me faith</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span> Kore-eda doesn't fully speak to me but this is still strong, sensitive drama <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5802404/"><i>Thirst Street</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I'd never heard of Burdge until <a href="http://nick-davis.com/lacecrat.html"><i>Lace Crater</i></a>. Big fan now!</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C+</span> Opening augurs a weird, clever movie, but it quickly seems less special <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4866448/"><i>Most Beautiful Island</i></a> - Sounds intense! Dovetails with some of my research<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4741774/"><i>The Son of Joseph</i></a> - Enticing cast, even if I've had mixed feelings on Green<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5247026/"><i>Person to Person</i></a> - Not my genre, really, but if <a href="https://twitter.com/john__guerin">John Guerin</a> endorses it...<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4410770/"><i>Ma</i></a> - Sounds pretty austere and elliptical, but they can't all have octopus sex<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660066;">Next Lifetime</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660066;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Evanescent enticements (where'd they go?) and infinite deferrals</i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5843990/"><i>The Woman Who Left</i></a> - I wanna know what Lav is! Why won't you show me?<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5606268/"><i>Mimosas</i></a> - Oliver Laxe exists, right? Because I can never find his movies<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4068586/"><i>Year by the Sea</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- Nathaniel's great Karen Allen <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2017/9/1/interview-karen-allen-on-year-by-the-sea-and-how-she-grew-up.html">interview</a> got me all excited</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">–</span> Allen does well and it's nice to see her back, but storytelling is artless<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4677924/"><i>Woodshock</i></a> - I know folks weren't wowed, but that was one hypnotic trailer<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5328952/"><i>Signature Move</i></a> - Local artist with an intriguing, prizewinning queer film<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1458169/"><i>Kidnap</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- I'm a fan of Halle in Distress. See: <i>The Call</i>. See also: her career</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span> Sort of suspenseful, but with no real charge, as much as I like Berry<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2226597/"><i>The Mountain Between Us</i></a> - Neither star means to me what they once did<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1837636/"><i>Queen of the Desert</i></a> - Kidman + Herzog should rouse me more. Just hasn't.<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4935372/"><i>The Devil's Candy</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- <a href="http://twitter.com/JoeReid">Joe Reid</a> says Ethan Embry looks fi-yine, albeit bloodied</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">C–</span> Can't decide on a villain or a POV; moderate style, minimal good taste<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5442430/"><i>Life</i></a> - Has all the makings of a listless night at the RedBox, with PopTarts<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6333086/"><i>Menashe</i></a> <span style="color: #666666;"><strike>- This hung around an impressively long time. Did I miss a gem?</strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span> No wonder audiences responded! Opens up a rarefied tale and culture<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4420704/"><i>Kedi</i></a> - Don't care. Don't @ me, cat people You already own the whole Web.<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4411618/"><i>In Dubious Battle</i></a> - Whatever happened to <i>Zeroville</i>? That I'd actually see!<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4731136/"><i>A Cure for Wellness</i></a> - Heard on good authority I'd loathe this, but I'm curious<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491203/"><i>Tulip Fever</i></a> - All that trouble! All those years! And what do I do? Ignore it.<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3387266/"><i>A United Kingdom</i></a> - The word-of-mouth really deterred me; I'm not a Piker<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2378507/"><i>The Glass Castle</i></a> - To different degrees, all three stars are hit-and-miss for me<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4776998/"><i>The Promise</i></a> - Can't afford to see Oscar in <i>Hamlet</i>, so if this is my chance...<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5175450/"><i>Mark Felt</i></a> - Why not a <i>real</i> Neeson movie? He could <i>explode</i> the White House!<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.nick-davis.com/erykahbaduizm.jpg" width="32%" /> <img src="http://www.nick-davis.com/erykahmamasgun.jpg" width="32%" /> <img src="http://www.nick-davis.com/erykahworldwideunderground.jpg" width="32%" />NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-570382204020743692016-06-01T09:30:00.000-05:002016-06-01T09:30:02.799-05:00Cannes '96, Expert Witness #7: Amir SoltaniI'm guessing many people reading have had the experience at least once of meeting someone in person whom you first admired and got to know over the internet. At this point, it amazes me how many of the important friendships in my life unfolded this way. One of these #blessed storylines in my life—though I wish we got to see each other more often, and not just while cramming in four-to-six movies per day at TIFF—led me to <a href="http://twitter.com/amiresque">Amir Soltani</a>, a film critic, festival programmer, public lecturer, and podcaster based in Toronto (none of which is even his day job!). Everyone you meet, not just the people you knew first on the web, should turn out to be as kind and intelligent and reflective and big-hearted as Amir. I first met him through his guest columns at <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/">The Film Experience</a> and then started lurking at his own blog (newly relocated to <a href="https://amiresque.com/">this amazingly swank and impressive site</a>). I was really chuffed when he invited me to have a <a href="http://www.hello-cinema.net/home/2014/8/27/episode-5-closed-curtain-and-the-evolution-of-jafar-panahi">conversation</a> with him and Tina Hassannia about Jafar Panahi at their <a href="http://www.hello-cinema.net/">Hello Cinema</a> headquarters. And I was so proud of and happy for Amir when he and some friends pulled off the first and sure-to-be-annual <a href="https://amiresque.com/cineiran-festival/">CineIran Film Festival</a> at Toronto's Lightbox last November.<br />
<br />
Like everyone I've <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/search/label/Cannes%2096">spoken to</a> about Cannes '96, Amir is an eager and catholic moviegoer with <a href="https://amiresque.com/2016/03/15/list-top-ten-films-of-the-decade-2010-14/">eclectic favorites</a>. Also, as with everyone else, his tastes sometimes converge with and sometimes depart from mine. This was never clearer to me than last year, when he was one of my <a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">most industrious co-conspirators</a> in the <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/cannes95.html">Cannes '95 project</a> that preceded and motivated this year's undertaking. I miss having Amir's daily opinions about every movie we're both watching, so I couldn't help polling him about this year's roster. Of course I wanted to know his thoughts about the one major Iranian entry in Cannes '96, but also about the other films floating around the festival. I was curious, too, how his own latter-day experience as a festival coordinator might have changed his orientation toward the movies...<br />
<br />
<b>ND: One more round with my standard opening: <i>Secrets & Lies</i>, <i>Fargo</i>, and <i>Breaking the Waves</i> were the early and persistent favorites for the Palme in 1996. Where do your loyalties lie within this distinguished trio?</b><br />
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AS: It's quite rare that the definitive films from any given year's festival emerge so quickly and manage to remain the most acclaimed and widely discussed films so many years on. That this has happened with the above trio only speaks to their quality. <i>Breaking the Waves</i> is my least favourite of the three, though in fairness, it is also the one I haven't seen in the longest while. Perhaps my opinion of it also suffers from my hotand cold relationship with Lars von Trier, who is always making it difficult for me to go back and revisit his older works. On the other hand, <i>Fargo</i> is one of the most re-watchable
films of all time. Is it the warm presence of Frances McDormand or the endearing naïveté of William H. Macy that makes such a cold, bloody film so
inviting? The Coens have remained two of America's most singular and provocative voices in the two decades since, but they've rarely matched the narrative
precision, emotional depth, and quirky humor of this masterpiece.<br />
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That being said, I think the jury made the correct call. I don't have the words to describe quite how much I treasure <i>Secrets & Lies</i>, a film that reduces me to a puddle of tears every time I watch it. The conceit of the story might sound too melodramatic and its characters too ordinary on paper, but the final result is a transcendent, personal experience. You can feel the bittersweet history of that photo studio, and breathe the suffocating air of that new house, and cry for all the lost time in that diner.<br />
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<b>I can't help wondering if you, as a Torontonian, have thoughts about Cronenberg's <i>Crash</i> and particularly about the chilly, indelible way it
frames your adopted home city.</b><br />
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Toronto is usually a substitute on screen for other urban American settings, so to see the city represent itself in films that cross over to the rest of the
world is a delight. It also makes <i>Crash</i> doubly terrifying for me. Having driven on those roads at high speeds myself many times, to witness the crash and subsequent chases on the same streets is frightening. In general, a Cronenberg joint is the last place I'd like to imagine myself inhabiting. As for the film itself, I've been notoriously averse to the cinema of this Canadian giant, with the two notable exceptions of <i>The Fly</i> and <i>Dead Ringers</i>. <i>Crash</i> is neither as daring nor as entertaining as those films, and its air of edginess never quite feels authentic to me.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><b>When we looked at <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes95.html">Cannes '95</a> together last year, we got to revisit two favorite Iranian films of yours, Jafar Panahi's <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wballoon.html"><i>The White Balloon</i></a> and Mohsen Makhmalbaf's <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/salmcine.html"><i>Hello Cinema</i></a>. I'll repeat to anyone reading that they should seek those out. The only Iranian feature that got major play in Cannes '96 was Makhmalbaf's <i>Gabbeh</i>, but am I wrong in remembering you're a bit more mixed on that one? What do you recall when you think about that film?</b><br />
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You are most certainly not wrong. For political and artistic reasons alike, Mohsen Makhmalbaf is one of the most divisive figures in Iranian cinema. His career
is one that moves from ideological polemics to self-reflexive essays to studies of the cinematic form and back to brazen politics in exile. Only in brief instances amid these transitions do my tastes converge with Makhmalbaf's interests. I find <i>Gabbeh</i> to be a magical realist film without magic or realism, and quite tedious and repetitive even at such a short running time. Iranian cinema has no shortage of tender, romanticist odes to rural life—or, for that matter, of Persian <i>gabbeh</i>, or rugs. So the popularity of this one among critics, Iranian or foreign, has always been somewhat
perplexing. For what it's worth, Makhmalbaf directed the strongest film of his career, and one of the best Iranian films of all time, around the same time,
and premiered it on the festival circuit later in 1996. In <i>A Moment of Innocence</i>, he grapples with his own violent past as a government agent and paints a very complex picture of himself that attempts neither to absolve or forgive him, but finds unlikely depth and sensitivity in his own story. [Ed.: I can't resist seconding this motion: <i>A Moment of Innocence</i> is amazing. &#ndash; ND]<br />
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<b>Looking at the other films in or out of the Main Competition that year, are there others that stand out to you or that jog strong personal associations,
for better or worse?</b><br />
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I have seen embarrassingly few of the films in the competition lineup, and even among those I have—<i>Kansas City</i>, <i>Temptress Moon</i>, <i>The Van</i>, <i>A Self Made Hero</i>—there isn't one that stands out as particularly memorable. Aside from the aforementioned trio of stellar Competition titles, my favourite film from Cannes '96 is Olivier Assayas's inventive, visually striking film about filmmaking, <i>Irma Vep</i>.<br />
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<b>Having recently tried your own hand—and quite successfully!—as a festival programmer, how did that experience "behind the curtain" change the way you approach festivals as an audience member? Or how did it affect the way you view festivals on the whole, and the work they do in film culture?</b><br />
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The parameters in which our festival works—a festival of Iranian films for North American audiences—is completely different, but I think the cultural responsibility is similar. There are a lot of politics that go into the process of film selection. I imagine that as the years go by and stronger
friendships are cultivated with filmmakers and producers, the intricacies that have to be navigated only become more complicated. To simultaneously reward enduring careers and emerging voices, to respect lasting relationships but also welcome newcomers, to be inclusive of minority voices but also cater to the tastes of audiences, and to be mindful of the complex web of festival premieres and domestic release dates—and, increasingly, of home video launches—is incredibly challenging. Knowing the amount of work, time, energy and money that goes into organizing a festival, from the first day of planning to the moment when the last curtain closes, has given me a whole new perspective. Its most immediate effect is that I have stopped all manner of complaining. We all love to have access to all of our anticipated films and see our favourite stars win awards. If only making that happen in real life was as easy as typing the sentence.<br />
<br />NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-23916092588778816422016-05-31T18:00:00.000-05:002016-05-31T18:36:47.896-05:00Cannes '96, Expert Witness #6: Stephen Cone<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3265508/">Stephen Cone</a> is an actor-writer-director I'd be dying to meet if I didn't know him already. By living in the same city, haunting the same movie spots, and now <a href="https://www.communication.northwestern.edu/faculty/StephenCone">teaching at the same institution</a>, I've been fortunate to keep crossing Stephen's path, and he's such a warm, smart, interesting guy. This is just what you'd hope from seeing his films, which maintain a fundamental empathy with their characters even as the stories take risky turns and grapple with human complexity. I marveled at this quality of Stephen's work, compassionate without being dull or soft, cognizant of merit in very different people's positions, when I saw his debut feature <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1717724/"><i>The Wise Kids</i></a>. Still my favorite movie about young contemporary characters navigating dilemmas of faith and sexuality—sometimes separately, sometimes together—<i>The Wise Kids</i> is a minor miracle in a modern culture where these subjects, among others, are so hard to broach in a non-polarizing way that retains mystery and respects variety.<br />
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Several aspects of story, tone, and style link Stephen's subsequent features together, but at the same time, there's almost nothing they all have in common. <i>The Wise Kids</i>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2150181/"><i>Black Box</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3703836/"><i>Henry Gamble's Birthday Party</i></a> handle large ensembles with impressive balance, but <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3483588/"><i>This Afternoon</i></a> constrains its canvas to just two characters and sees quite far into both of them, especially the woman played so shrewdly by Nikki Pierce. <i>Black Box</i>, which stars another actor-writer-director, Josephine Decker, takes a backstage plot of theater production to some impressively stark places. I hadn't fully expected this from someone who makes decency and human fellowship as textured and interesting as Stephen does in <i>Wise Kids</i> and <i>Henry Gamble</i>. That said, those movies take their own detours into coldness, cruelty, and sorrow, which are all the more bracing because they unfold against broader, appealing backdrops of kinship and camaraderie.<br />
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Whoever you are, if you haven't seen Stephen's movies, you should. <i>Henry Gamble</i>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Gambles-Birthday-Party-Doman/dp/B01BOKDWWM">brand new on DVD and streaming</a>, is a gorgeous place to start. Meanwhile, as we learn so often at Cannes, where David Lynch's jury fell for the narratively controlled and stylistically cool <i>Pianist</i> and the mad, more-is-more, midnight-movie barker George Miller stumped for the stripped-down didacticism of Ken Loach, you can't necessarily predict filmmakers' tastes from the kinds of movies they make. I asked Stephen some questions inspired by his own work and my guesses about what might interest or inspire him. I also asked some that were more open-ended and, as with all my favorite film buddies, his answers surprised me as often as not.<br />
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<b>ND: Fairly early at Cannes '96, <i>Secrets & Lies</i>, <i>Fargo</i>, and <i>Breaking the Waves</i> emerged as the three films to beat for the Palme. As I've asking all my interlocutors, had you been on the jury, divvying prizes among that trio, which would you have recommended for the Palme? What do you most love or admire about it?</b><br />
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SC: If I were the 35-year-old filmmaker/cinephile I am now, I likely would've championed <i>Secrets & Lies</i>, the beautiful, humanist ending of which I think about quite often. The whole film has a special, direct, emotional power that has come to be a staple of Leigh's work. He's one of my favorite filmmakers, but I consistently underrate or even forget about him. That could have something to do with his never being in fashion.<br />
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That said, 16-year-old aspiring actor/filmmaker Stephen would've given the prize to <i>Fargo</i>—which I still like now, though I'm not big on the Coens' 90s work in retrospect. It's not inexhaustible to me, like much of their recent work is. The unbelievable richness of their masterful <i>No Country</i>-through-<i>Llewyn Davis</i> stretch to me makes <i>Fargo</i> look like a middling Disney film. And I don't like von Trier at all now; <i>Melancholia</i>'s okay, but that's it. I find him to be cartoonishly cynical and stupid, though he very much appealed to my sense of discovery in the late 90s and early 00s.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><b>As an actor yourself, and as someone who teaches acting, which of the performances in these films blows you away? Could be the showcased lead performances or anyone at the edges of these films that really sticks with you.</b><br />
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I do think Emily Watson is quite extraordinary in <i>Breaking the Waves</i>, as is Brenda Blethyn in <i>Secrets & Lies</i>. John Carroll Lynch's and Steve Buscemi's are the best performances in <i>Fargo</i>, in my opinion. Oddly, Frances McDormand, one of my favorite actors, plays my favorite character in the film, but I feel like she's slightly misdirected. It's a broader performance than it needed to be. That said, in thinking about how moved I was by that performance in the 90s, I'm embarrassed to peel it apart like that. It's a touching piece of work.<br />
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<b>One of the movies that showed in Directors' Fortnight, Hettie Macdonald's <i>Beautiful Thing</i>, has some of the same compassionate humanism that I associate with movies like <i>The Wise Kids</i> and <i>Henry Gamble's Birthday Party</i>, and accesses the inchoate sexual and romantic feelings of young LGBT kids in similar ways, too. Do you know that movie, or have any associations with it?</b><br />
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I'm so flattered you'd bring up <i>Beautiful Thing</i> in the context of <i>Wise Kids</i> and <i>Henry Gamble</i>. It was a formative film for me, and I actually remember where I was sitting in the room I watched it in with my friends. Incidentally, I dedicated <i>Henry Gamble</i> to those friends.<br />
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<b>Any other movies <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/04/lineup-announcement-cannes-1996.html">listed</a> in the Main Competition or any of the sidebars from Cannes '96 that especially stand out for you, for better or worse?</b><br />
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André Téchiné's <i>Les Voleurs</i> is my favorite film of 1996, and one of my favorite films of all time. It's so dense and multilayered and entertaining and mysterious and humane and unpredictable, I can't even believe it. It's remarkable. Similarly, Arnaud Desplechin's <i>My Sex Life...</i> was also a big deal to me when I saw it. Téchiné and Desplechin have influenced me more than any English-language filmmaker who arose in that period.<br />
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<b>On the general topic of festivals, is it exciting to showcase your own work in those venues, or do you worry about the heightened expectations from critics or the slightly frenzied environments? </b><br />
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Fortunately, the festivals that have championed my films are less burdened by critical expectations than some of the "majors." Sidewalk Cucalorus, Outfest, Maryland, and BAMcinemaFest: those are my big four. I wouldn't be where I am without them.NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-50503997211969346792016-05-29T22:00:00.000-05:002016-05-29T23:34:36.060-05:00Cannes '96, Expert Witnesses #4 and #5: Joe Reid and Nathaniel RogersAt this point, what's left to say to my loyal readers about <a href="http://decider.com/author/joe-reid/">Joe Reid</a>, multi-platform pop culture profiler extraordinaire, or <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/">Nathaniel Rogers</a>, host of the internet's giddiest, freshest, most personally stamped, and most succulent movie blog? Nathaniel and Joe are fellow cinephiles and dear friends, frequent festival companions and <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/tfe-podcast/">podcasting partners</a>, and easily two of my favorite people anywhere with whom to discuss any movie, any time, from any place. We hit Skype most Sunday mornings at 9am EST to record a conversation about <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2016/5/29/podcast-the-lobster-sing-street-a-bigger-splash-high-rise.html">new</a> <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2016/4/25/everybody-wants-some-podcasting.html">releases</a> or <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2016/5/10/podcast-special-25th-anniversary-of-madonnas-truth-or-dare.html">old favorites</a>. A couple weeks ago, they indulged me with an hour-long conversation synced to my #Cannes96 project, which gradually dilates out to a broader conversation about movies we love from 1996 as a whole. Rather than transcribe the conversation, I'll just <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2016/5/27/podcast-cannes-1996-revisit.html">encourage you to listen</a> to this exchange with two chaps who express themselves excitedly and unpretentiously while taking in a vast and endless spectrum of movies, from high art to superhero hash. Along the way, more or less in order, you'll hear us confront my usual conversation starter—"Are you a <i>Waves</i> breaker, a Friend of Marge, or a Keeper of <i>Secrets & Lies</i>?"—and then move on to all of the following...<br />
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* rumored Cannes jury squabbles in 1996, especially related to <i>Crash</i><br />
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* brilliant Palme also-rans like <i>Too Late</i> and <i>Goodbye, South, Goodbye</i><br />
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* the sole indignity among the prizes conferred by Francis Ford Coppola's jury<br />
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* Nathaniel's memories of seeing <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Temptress Moon</i> in theaters<br />
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* brief but collective enthusiasm for <i>Irma Vep</i>, <i>I Shot Andy Warhol</i>, and <i>Girl 6</i><br />
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* Nathaniel's love of "Peter Greenaway," his pet name for Ewan McGregor's penis<br />
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* news of the only movie that Monty Clift, Nathaniel's cat, ever watched in full<br />
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* a comparison of snail sex in <i>Microcosmos</i> and abject human sex in Lars von Trier<br />
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* Joe leading the charge of praise for <i>Trainspotting</i>, metonymically linked to MTV<br />
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* Joe's sense that <i>Flirting with Disaster</i> reflects an earlier, better David O. Russell<br />
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* questions about <i>A Self-Made Hero</i>, which link back to <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/05/cannes-96-expert-witness-1-helene.html">Hélène's comments</a><br />
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* raptures about <i>Lone Star</i>, echoing <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/05/cannes-96-expert-witness-2-john-alba.html">John's</a>, and Nathaniel's thoughts on Sayles<br />
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* my valentine to an underdog comic crowd-pleaser hiding inside the lineup<br />
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* Joe's and Nathaniel's differently vivid stories of first colliding with <i>Crash</i><br />
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* our short, spontaneous lists of favorites from '96 that more folks should rent<br />
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That last conversation wends in varying degrees of detail through <i>The Birdcage</i>, <i>Bound</i>, <i>Emma</i>, <i>Everyone Says I Love You</i>, <i>Jerry Maguire</i>, <i>The Long Kiss Goodnight</i>, <i>The Nutty Professor</i>, <i>The Portrait of a Lady</i>, <i>Swingers</i>, and <i>William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet</i>. I thought I said something about <i>Big Night</i>, too, but maybe that got cut for time. The last two words of the exchange are "beautiful thing," which should have been an allusion to that quietly fabulous gay teen romance from '96 but refers in context to... a quite different love story that involves total speculation on my part.<br />
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Thanks, meanwhile, to Joe and Nathaniel, those two beautiful things. And stay tuned, readers, for a few more Expert Witness columns from other friends and comrades in cinema!NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-46601753944288317152016-05-27T10:00:00.000-05:002016-05-29T22:40:27.099-05:00Cannes '96, Expert Witness #3: Noah TsikaFollowing my wide-ranging survey of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes96.html">Cannes '96</a> with <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/05/cannes-96-expert-witness-1-helene.html">Hélène Zylberait</a> and my <i>Lone Star</i>-focused exchange with <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/05/cannes-96-expert-witness-2-john-alba.html">John Alba Cutler</a>, my third Expert Witness conversation is with <a href="http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/Degrees/DAH/MediaStudies/Pages/Noah-Tsika.aspx">Noah Tsika</a>, an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at Queens College, CUNY, where he specializes in historical, political, economic, and representational aspects of West African film and video. You can (and should!) get your fullest exposure to this dimension of Noah's work in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nollywood-Stars-Migration-Diaspora-Directions/dp/0253015758/"><i>Nollywood Stars: Media and Migration in West Africa and the Diaspora</i></a>, which debuted just over a year ago from Indiana University Press. The book is a great, accessible, multi-sided assessment of celebrity, performance, narrative, circulation, and distribution in relation to a huge, Nigeria-based film culture with a mind-boggling and under-reported global reach.<br />
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Still, to say Noah "specializes" in any one thing feels like a misnomer, given his eclectic pursuits as a media scholar and his seeming awareness of every movie ever made. You might know his work from the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Monsters-Queer-Classic-Classics/dp/1551522632/">short study of <i>Gods and Monsters</i></a> he published in Arsenal's Queer Film Classic series a while back, or from his contributions to anthologies about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Africa-SF-Mark-Bould/dp/1929512368/">African sci-fi and genre fiction</a>, or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brokeback-Book-Story-Cultural-Phenomenon/dp/0803226640/"><i>Brokeback Mountain</i></a>, or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Film-Criticism-Digital-Mattias-Frey/dp/0813570727/">21st-century film criticism</a>. I am desperately anticipating his next book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pink-2-0-Encoding-Cinema-Internet/dp/0253023068/"><i>Pink 2.0</i></a>, due out this October, about digital queer cinema. (Feel free to pre-order it!) Soon, we will feature together in a collection of feminist essays on each of Todd Haynes's movies, where Noah's attentions will focus on my beloved <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsdottie.html">Dottie Gets Spanked</a>.</i> Noah's <a href="https://twitter.com/NoahTsika">Twitter feed</a> is the best place to enjoy his diverse and funny reflections on new releases as they bow, on the wide-ranging classes he teaches, on the latest exploits and milestones of African films and their headliners, and on important political causes, including <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-governor-cuomo-to-invest-in-college-education-for-500000-cuny-students">those that directly affect</a> his institution and its students.<br />
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I was most eager to engage Noah about Flora Gomes's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117352/combined"><i>Tree of Blood</i></a>, a joint production of Portugal and Guinea-Bissau and a rare West African feature to grace the Main Competition at Cannes. Gomes's name and work were new to me through this #Cannes96 exercise (and perfect evidence of why I undertake these projects) but Noah, as ever, has been tracking this filmmaker for a while. Some of our exchange centered around this title, but in perfect tribute to my discussion partner, the talk spreads to race and racism on film, environmentalism, Robert Altman, misogynist archetypes, festival politics, places to see all-but-buried African features, and other topics far and wide...<br />
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<b>ND: By the first week of Cannes '96, the three big stories were already <i>Secrets & Lies</i>, <i>Fargo</i>, and <i>Breaking the Waves</i>, and they maintained that status for the remainder. So first, I'm polling everybody: had you been on the jury, which of those three would you have championed for the Palme? What do you most love or admire about it?</b><br />
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NT: In 1996, <i>Secrets & Lies</i> was the one for me—and I suspect that it still is. I like to think of it as a film about passing, and I've taught it alongside such works as Basil Dearden's <i>Sapphire</i> (1959) and <i>Imitation of Life</i> (both the 1934 and the 1959 versions, directed by John M. Stahl and Douglas Sirk, respectively). <i>Secrets & Lies</i> upends the conventions of this particular subgenre, if you can even call it that. The film is about poor white people who struggle with their proximity to Blackness—who, in various ways, have attempted to pass as isolated, even hermetic, in their whiteness—and an affluent, tremendously accomplished Black woman who is utterly unperturbed by her own "difference." The performances are gorgeous. Brenda Blethyn is, despite what detractors might say, thoroughly in character with her histrionics. It's a dazzling turn: the Cannes jury got Best Actress exactly right, and Blethyn should have won the Oscar, too. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is wonderful, as is Timothy Spall, but young Claire Rushbrook is simply astonishing. Her displays of anger and resentment always terrify me. <i>Secrets & Lies</i> has a truly great ending, with Blethyn's character offering a lovely little benediction. The film is hardly "cinematic" in the conventional sense, but I love its dingy, downright televisual style. It looks like a home movie, which is apt, I think. <br />
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<b>Are you a fan of the other two in that group, or was this a pretty easy decision for you?</b><br />
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My parents took me to see <i>Fargo</i> the day it opened in Maine. I remember thrilling to its opening text; the words "true story" and "respect for the dead" so impressed me that I immediately stiffened my back, steeling myself for a Very Important Film. The austerity of the images, starting with a car approaching the screen amid all that snow, along with the urgency of Carter Burwell's remarkable score, made me believe that this would be a life-changing experience. (My mother must have had a similar response; she leaned toward me and whispered, "You'll probably want to write about this one.") But something about the film—its comic tone, its stylized acting, its repetitive linguistic play—disappointed me tremendously. It was only later, watching the film on television, that I began to enjoy it. The constant parodies must have made it less strange. In just a few months, Marge had become a pervasive object of impersonation, and I suddenly felt profoundly comfortable with <i>Fargo</i>. It had been transformed, for me, into a kind of collectively produced folk art.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Viewed today, it seems like a wild Preston Sturges comedy retrofitted with all the violence that Hollywood's Production Code forbade. But I'm not sure that I can love it. The Coens, with their misanthropy (and what strikes me as contempt for the audience), have so frequently and so sorely disappointed me since, in ways that <i>Fargo</i> seems to presage. And it's impossible to ignore the film's racist deployment of an Asian-American character—the heavily stereotyped Mike Yanagita. By now, though, <i>Fargo</i> is so thoroughly entrenched in popular culture, its settings and characters nearly as iconic as those of <i>Casablanca</i> (not a great film, either, and one that gave rise to its own television reboot), that it's difficult to evaluate it objectively. I certainly would not have given <i>Fargo</i> the top prize in 1996, nor would I so award it today.<br />
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I wouldn't have awarded Breaking the Waves, either, despite its devastating power (inextricable from Emily Watson's preternaturally sensitive performance). In many ways, it's an amazing movie. But, to me, it leaves an unseemly impression, as do other, similarly powerful Lars von Trier films. Certain gendered psychodramatic conventions, like the madwoman as martyr, etc., seem very much intact. But, then again, the great Katrin Cartlidge is on hand, transcendent as ever...<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more"></a><b>Given your expertise in African cinema and your knowledge of Flora Gomes's work, I'm especially intrigued to hear your thoughts on <i>Tree of Blood</i>. What resonated most or least for you in this movie, on its own or in the contexts of Gomes's portfolio or West African cinema?</b> <br />
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I'm a fan of the film, which I recently saw for the first time. Like other African filmmakers of his generation, Gomes is particularly concerned with the depredations of the independent African state, and I admire the way he weaves an environmentalist message into <i>Tree of Blood</i>, which is gorgeously shot, to boot. The themes of migrant labor within the regional context of West Africa, Western technological influence, and African tradition are part of the fabric of the film, and they are themes to which Gomes has repeatedly returned in his career. I think of him as one of the greatest directors of child performers—a gift that is especially apparent in <i>Tree of Blood</i>. What I love the most about Gomes's work is that it's difficult to classify. Gomes went to high school in Cuba and later studied filmmaking at the Cuban Film Institute, and he has often described the influence of Cuban cinematic traditions on his work. (The influence of Tomás Gutierrez's 1966 satire <i>Death of a Bureaucrat</i> is, I think, particularly vivid in Gomes's work, which similarly questions state authority and condemns various bureaucratic morasses.) But the influence of Ousmane Sembene is there, too. Gomes has produced numerous, brilliant variations on Sembene's depiction of state corruption in his 1975 film <i>Xala</i>. If you admire <i>Tree of Blood</i> and would like to acquaint yourself with more of Gomes's work, consider his remarkable films <i>Mortu Nega</i> (1988) and <i>The Blue Eyes of Yonta</i> (1991), both of which are available on DVD from California Newsreel.<br />
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<b>As we saw again this year, Cannes is not too reliable for recognizing African cinema in its Main Competition, which in turn means U.S. distributors get even fewer cues to pick up those films. What are the best ways for interested audiences to see interesting work coming out of Africa?</b><br />
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This is a tough question, because the answers are almost never heartening. Distribution has always been an obstacle for African films, and it's depressingly of a piece with a pervasive disinterest in African cinema, even among those who fancy themselves serious, "adventurous" moviegoers. I once confronted a bigwig at Criterion about the collection's conspicuous lack of African films. Her response? "Well, I saw a few a couple of years ago—I don't remember which—and I really didn't like them. We don't think they're for us." This is familiar language—the language of "them" and "us"—and it sustains the exoticist treatment and lack of availability of African cinema.<br />
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Big cities occasionally come through, though. New York, for instance, has an annual African Film Festival at Lincoln Center. FESPACO, in Burkina Faso, remains the biggest and most illustrious pan-African film festival; it's held every two years in Ouagadougou. Durban and London host annual African film festivals, big ones that feature films from across the continent. And the annual African Studies Association conference always boasts screenings of new African films. I recommend that people keep checking Twitter and Facebook. Grassroots promotion remains necessary for African cinema, and it's often abundant, pointing to public screenings, unheralded DVD releases, and acquisitions by Netflix and other streaming services. <br />
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<b>Switching gears, I know you're a champion of Robert Altman's <i>Kansas City</i>, which also hovered somewhat off the radar at Cannes, and in most retrospective accounts of his career. What makes the movie special for you?</b><br />
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Its musicological significance is, I hope, beyond dispute. It functions partly—beautifully—as an essay film on jazz (and race, and politics, and the Depression, and the title city, and even Jean Harlow fandom). The film is as graceful and fluid as the best of Altman's career, even if it lacks the incredible highs and abundance of great performances of <i>Nashville</i>. It's as richly detailed as a great novel. Think of Miranda Richardson's vial of opium, which connects her to other addicts in the Altman canon, like Julie Christie's Mrs. Miller. Or think of the train station, or the telephone and telegraph company, or the way that the markers of Harlow worship multiply in Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance. They also abound in more material ways, in the house she shares with Dermot Mulroney, and to which she eventually repairs with Richardson.<br />
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Then there's Harry Belafonte, who's brilliant—scary and sexy. He never had a better role—the film is a remarkable tribute to him, even if he doesn't get to sing. Jane Adams is perfect as the uppity social reformer. Watch the way she offers a cursory "thank you" while rudely dismissing someone who doesn't give her exactly what she wants, or walks past the girl she's supposed to "save," blithely oblivious of her identity. That girl, as played by Ajia Mignon Johnson, is herself delightful. I love how the film keeps opening up to reveal more about characters like the custodian, who has a home of her own and a loving family, and who politely endures Richardson's inane chatter about race relations—and then doesn't bat an eye when she's finally relieved of this unanticipated duty. She just gets back to her life, without fuss. This movie gives me so much joy—even if its ending is startlingly harsh (not unlike that of <i>McCabe</i>). Belafonte! The music! Those dueling saxophones! Glorious. And "I didn't vote" may be the ideal final line for this remarkable film.<br />
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<b>Looking at the <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/04/lineup-announcement-cannes-1996.html">other films in or out of competition that year</a>, are there others for which you'd advocate strongly, or filmmakers you consistently admire even if you don't know these particular works?</b><br />
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I'm a champion of <i>Hard Eight</i>, a wonderful film full of fine performances. I don't think that Gwyneth Paltrow has ever been as good as she is here, and the film is, of course, a marvelous tribute to Philip Baker Hall. <i>Microcosmos</i> is a landmark that I love and have taught in various intro-to-film classes. It's irresistible. <i>Looking for Richard</i> is one of my favorite essay films. I remember living through what I like to call the Barbaraissance—that moment in the mid-1990s when Barbara Hershey was back and better than ever, and simply astonishing in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsportlady.html"><i>The Portrait of a Lady</i></a>)<i>.</i> I'll admit that it carried me through the dreadful <i>The Pallbearer</i>. (A bleached-blond Barbara as Mrs. Robinson? Yes, please!)<br />
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Of the films that I've seen, my favorite is <i>Irma Vep</i>: an endlessly amusing little puzzle film; a smart, inventive discourse on film history; and a great vehicle for Maggie Cheung. It's so good, in fact, that it made the ridiculous <i>Clouds of Sils Maria</i> all but insufferable, at least to me. Looking at this list, I'm amazed that I still haven't seen <i>Trees Lounge</i>.<i> </i>I remember glimpsing the VHS cover every day at the video store, and failing to rent it every time. I'm equally amazed that I hadn't even heard of Arthur Penn's <i>Inside</i>. Penn is a director whose career I find fascinating, and I would love to see this 1996 take on apartheid.NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-64796491276770956582016-05-24T10:00:00.000-05:002016-05-27T10:36:10.608-05:00Cannes '96, Expert Witness #2: John Alba CutlerSome of the friends I've interviewed about films that showed in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes96.html">Cannes 1996</a>, like yesterday's guest <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/05/cannes-96-expert-witness-1-helene.html">Hélène Zylberait</a>, have a pretty broad exposure to festival-circuit auteurs and their long bodies of work. Others are eager and regular moviegoers, but I was especially motivated to approach them because of contexts they could bring to a particular title. Among this second group is my good pal <a href="http://www.english.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/john-alba-cutler.html">John Alba Cutler</a>, an award-winning scholar and teacher of U.S. Latino/a literature and contemporary U.S. poetry who works with me in Northwestern's English Department. John's book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ends-Assimilation-Formation-Chicano-Literature/dp/0190210125">Ends </a></i><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ends-Assimilation-Formation-Chicano-Literature/dp/0190210125"><u>of</u></a></i><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ends-Assimilation-Formation-Chicano-Literature/dp/0190210125"> Assimilation</a></i> is among the best academic studies I've read in several years, in part because you don't have to be a scholar, much less one who is previously versed in the traditions of U.S. Latino/a fiction or poetry, to follow and appreciate it. In an extremely accessible, wide-ranging, and often politically pointed way, John unfolds a substantial archive of novels, poems, journals, and other writings by Latino/a authors and uses that material, in part, to pose a complex and timely challenge to the languages and values attached to "assimilation" in U.S. public culture. Not only does he question the pressures, internal and external, that Latinos face to assimilate (or <i>not</i> to assimilate) into what is perceived as "mainstream" anglophone U.S. culture but he voices considerable skepticism about what "assimilation" even means, and showcases the many ways in which novelists and poets have productively complicated these ideas. If you don't believe me about how artistically illuminating, politically nuanced, and generally amazing this book is, maybe you'll trust this <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/changing-sides-or-the-assimilation-blues/">absolutely glowing review</a> from the <i>Los Angeles Review of Books</i>. You can also read more about John's work <a href="https://issuu.com/northwesternuniversityresearch/docs/nrm_fallwinter2015">here</a>, starting on p.22.<br>
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I knew that John's scholarly interests and teaching areas made John Sayles's <i>Lone Star</i> a favorite of his, but we'd never had a full, proper conversation about this enduring yet somewhat under-heralded American classic (also the subject of <a href="https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/john-sayles-three-to-see">this recent and interesting essay</a> on Fandor). In what follows, John is typically thoughtful and provocative about <i>Lone Star</i> but also extremely helpful in sketching out a whole literary tradition of Latino/a, Chicano/a, and border-related narratives that <i>Lone Star</i> fans should explore. This is especially valuable given the continued failures of U.S. publishers as well as U.S. university English departments to make Latino/a cultural production central and visible in their catalogs and courses. Lastly, having taken in several wide-ranging movies in theaters with John over the years, from the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/combined">sublime</a> to the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1959490/combined">ridiculous</a>, I was also curious for his thoughts about a few other films that played the Croisette twenty years ago.<br>
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<b>ND: I know you teach </b><i><b>Lone Star</b></i><b> sometimes, but in which classes, and with what curricular or intellectual goals?</b><br>
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JAC: I’ve taught <i>Lone Star</i> in several different classes, including classes on border literature, interracial dynamics in American culture, and a course on the long cultural history of Manifest Destiny. I generally want students to come away understanding that Mexican Americans have a long history within the United States (i.e., that we’re not just recent immigrants), that Mexican American communities are not monolithic, and that the history of the US-Mexico border demonstrates how inextricable Mexican and American culture are from one another.<br>
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<b>Are there particular subplots that seem to resonate most for your students? Or any that tend to confound them? (Spoilers ahead here, including That One.)</b><br>
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Among the pleasures of teaching <i>Lone Star</i> are students’ reactions to the revelation that Sam and Pilar are half-siblings. Reactions generally range from nervous tittering to outright revulsion, but what the narrative so deftly points out is the thin line between animosity and desire subtending racial politics. Also, Elizabeth Peña is luminous, QDEP. I find that being shaken out of neutral helps students begin to interrogate difficult ideas, and <i>Lone Star</i> does nothing if not shake.<br>
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<b>Are there ideas in </b><i><b>Ends of Assimilation</b></i><b> that you think </b><i><b>Lone Star</b></i><b> echoes in its own way—as a border story or an American story?</b><br>
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Yes! I point out repeatedly in my book the strange way that we (scholars and non-scholars alike) tend to erase gender and sexuality from conversations about assimilation, as if our experiences of culture and encounters between cultures weren’t thoroughly bound up with gender and sex. <i>Lone Star</i> is really smart about this. It invites us to reconsider what aspects of our cultural attachments are about race, what aspects are about being appropriately masculine or feminine, and what aspects are really about desire.<br>
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<b>Reviews at the time repeatedly called </b><i><b>Lone Star</b></i><b> and its pleasures "novelistic," and its sole Oscar nomination was for its screenplay. As an expert in Latino/a literature, are there novels you would especially recommend to folks who enjoy </b><i><b>Lone Star</b></i><b> and appreciate its narratives and themes?</b><br>
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Too many. Américo Paredes’s novel <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/George-Washington-Gomez-Mexicotexan-Novel/dp/1558850120/">George Washington Gómez</a></i> and Rolando Hinojosa’s multivolume <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rites-Witnesses-Comedy-Klail-Death/dp/0934770190/">Klail City Death Trip</a></i> are must-reads for people interested in the themes and in the specific, south Texas locale of <i>Lone Star</i>. Also Sandra Cisneros’s short story collection <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Hollering-Creek-Other-Stories/dp/0679738568/">Woman Hollering Creek</a></i>. People interested in the film’s provocative interracial dynamics—triangulating the relationships among whiteness, Mexicanness, and blackness—should look at Helena María Viramontes’s novel <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Their-Dogs-Came-Them-Novel/dp/1416588345/">Their Dogs Came with Them</a></i> and, in a slightly different vein, Karen Tei Yamashita’s <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tropic-Orange-Karen-Tei-Yamashita/dp/1566890640/">Tropic of Orange</a></i>. A few more: Arturo Islas’s <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rain-God-Arturo-Islas/dp/0380763931/">The Rain God</a></i>, Sesshu Foster’s <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Atomik-Aztex-Sesshu-Foster/dp/0872864405/">Atomik Aztex</a></i>, and Denise Chávez’s <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Face-Angel-Denise-Chavez/dp/0446671851/">Face of an Angel</a></i>.<br>
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<b>Two last questions: the Coen brothers' </b><i><b>Fargo</b></i><b>, Mike Leigh's </b><i><b>Secrets & Lies</b></i><b>, and Lars von Trier's </b><i><b>Breaking the Waves</b></i><b> were the three huge hits and prizewinners of Cannes 1996. Is any of these an especial favorite of yours?</b><br>
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I love <i>Fargo</i>. That scene where Grimsrud chases down the two passersby on the highway in the snow after he kills the state trooper? Up there with the most existentially haunting images I can think of in any film.<br>
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<b>Lastly, I love asking people about movies I know they love, but also being surprised. Scanning over </b><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes96.html"><b>the festival titles</b></a><b>, do any others stand out as favorites or personal touchstones for any reason?</b><br>
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I don’t know about “personal touchstone,” but I love Altman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and even knowing objectively that <i>Kansas City</i> isn’t at the top their respective filmographies, I have a soft spot for it.<br>NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-86834567746014826392016-05-23T16:00:00.000-05:002016-05-27T10:39:27.097-05:00Cannes '96, Expert Witness #1: Hélène ZylberaitFilm festivals are delicious even you experience them as a solo flyer, but they are also, crucially, a collective experience. I've spent the last several weeks <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes96.html">watching 55 movies</a> that first screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996 and am still in the process of posting longer thoughts about them. But as I keep drafting my own reports, I have also been polling some friends who inhabit and contribute to "film culture" broadly construed, from a purposefully eclectic series of standpoints: as critics, as teachers, as programmers, as actors, as directors, as voracious consumers, and often as several of those things. This week, I'll roll out a series of these short interviews, so you'll get more takes on these 20-year-old movies than just my own... and so I, too, have the privilege of contemplating these films from a variety of perspectives.<br />
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First up in this series is my dear friend Hélène Zylberait, a programmer, scholar, translator, critic, journalist, and film-lover who has been variously centered in Paris and Berlin the last several years. We met through my partner Derek, who befriended Hélène during graduate school at Cornell; she left the same summer I arrived, but to my great happiness, we have crossed paths many, many, many times. I always love talking to Hélène about movies, to include helping her think of good French substitutes, for reasons that will soon be obvious, for what Samuel Fuller means when he says, for example, "I wanted to make a film that really socked it to 'em!" I love that she happens to mention <i>In the Mood for Love</i> and <i>Dancer in the Dark</i> in these responses; I doubt she remembers this, but those were the two movies Derek and I saw in gorgeous Parisian cinemas when we visited her for New Year's Eve in 2000 and rolled in the new millennium with her. As has been true of every friend who has answered so far, Hélène confirmed some of what I guessed about her tastes and surprised me in other ways, which is the best kind of film buddy to have. I also hope you get an impression of how catholic and rangy her aesthetic tastes are, and agree with me that it's only fitting for our first Expert Witness to be French herself, and a frequent veteran of the Croisette.<br />
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(And if I may be so gauche: if you're looking for a brilliant English-to-French translator, especially but not only for movie-related books, look no further! I'll gladly put you in touch with my talented, eloquent friend.)<br />
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<b>ND: First, let my readers know about some of the many jobs you've had related to film, and what kind of work you've done most recently.</b><br />
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HZ: As a life-long cinephile, my dream was always to somehow talk about movies. So far, thanks to incredible encounters, I have been able to work in different movie-related fields. I started out as a film journalist for various publications, and more specifically on Radio Nova in Paris. After a few years I got the opportunity to work in art-house movie theatres in Paris’s Latin Quarter as an assistant programmer and projects organizer before becoming head of distribution for Cine Classic (a company specializing in revivals). While researching and putting together programs for the Paris Holocaust Memorial, I met Christa Fuller, the widow of the great Samuel Fuller. I <a href="https://www.amazon.fr/Un-troisi%C3%A8me-visage-Samuel-Fuller/dp/2844854095/">translated</a> his amazing autobiography <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Third-Face-Writing-Fighting-Filmmaking/dp/1557836272"><i>A Third Face</i></a>, which got published in France in 2011 by Editions Allia. Since then, I have been working as both a translator and an interpreter for publishing houses, film producers, and distributors.<br />
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<b>Fairly early at Cannes in 1996, <i>Secrets & Lies</i>, <i>Fargo</i>, and <i>Breaking the Waves</i> emerged as the three films to beat for the Palme. The eventual awards confirmed them as the perceived cream of that year's crop. Had you been on the jury, divvying prizes among that trio, which would you have championed for the Palme? What do you most love or admire about it?</b><br />
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At the time, I would have probably championed <i>Fargo</i>. I remember vividly seeing it at the movie theatre and being impressed by the mix of genres that is so perfectly crafted here: thriller, comedy, gruesome yet kind of funny moments, like the foot getting forced inside the mincer or whatever it was. I also thought Frances MacDormand was at her absolute best, along with <i>Blood Simple</i>, which I saw around that time in a brand new print. These characters, everyday people caught in an inextricable situation, both touched and scared me. <br />
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<b>Do you have briefer thoughts about the other two films in that trio? As I recall, you aren't the biggest von Trier fan....</b><br />
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I think Lars von Trier is probably one of the most talented directors alive. I really do. All his body of work is groundbreaking and disturbing. That being said, again, at the time, I thought <i>Breaking the Waves</i> was a misogynist film. In retrospect, I was maybe too young when I saw the film (I was then 20) and I probably took the whole story too literally. I was angry at all the characters, hence at the director. Although I was a huge fan of <i>Europa</i> and <i>The Kingdom</i>, this film left me with nothing but rage and sadness. Which is probably a good sign! I only recently reunited with Lars von Trier through <i>Melancholia</i>, which is, to me, one of the best films ever made about depression.<br />
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I remember being very moved by <i>Secrets & Lies</i>. I saw it again a year or two ago and I was struck by how bright and powerful it is. The performances by Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste add a layer of social consciousness to this intimate story in such a way that anyone can relate to it. Still today, it is my favorite of Leigh’s, along with <i>Naked</i>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><b>As you look at the <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/04/lineup-announcement-cannes-1996.html">other films in the main competition</a> that year, are there other titles or filmmakers for which you'd have advocated strongly? Why so?</b><br />
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I would have advocated for Arnaud Desplechin’s <i>My Sex Life… or How I Got into an Argument</i>. It had a strong influence on me and pretty much all the people I knew at the time. We were students and related to the characters, who were ten years older than we were, although I remember we had heated conversations after seeing the film. Some thought it was too "Parisian," too pretentious, too self-centered—but deep down, I think we secretly wanted to become like them, and especially like Mathieu Amalric. I was also (and still am) very passionate about Desplechin's first feature, <i>The Sentinel</i>, which in my opinion remains one of the best films about Europe after the Berlin Wall.<br />
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But the film that really shook me at the time was <i>Trainspotting</i>, which was part of the Official Selection but screened Out of Competition, particularly since I was closer in age to its characters. It was a reality shock. <br />
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<b>As a cinephile living and studying in Paris, I'm curious what you remember about the initial reception of some of that year's French crop. You've already spoken about <i>My Sex Life</i>..., but what about Audiard's <i>A Self-Made Hero</i>, Leconte's <i>Ridicule</i>, or Téchiné's <i>Les voleurs</i>? Did they make a big impact in the French market when they came out commercially? Did <i>Irma Vep</i>, which didn't land a Competition slot, eventually loom over all of them? From that group, it certainly made the biggest impression in the States.</b><br />
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I remember film critics comparing Audiard's <i>A Self-Made Hero</i> to Louis Malle’s <i>Lacombe, Lucien</i>. Its topic certainly made a strong impression on the French audience. Since France always had a hard time talking about the attitude of some French people during the War, it was and remains a very daring film. Mathieu Kassovitz was then very famous as the director of <i>La Haine</i> but this film showed his talent as an actor.<br />
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Like all Olivier Assayas films, <i>Irma Vep</i> certainly made a great impression on me. Assayas has this amazing ability to change his style and modes of narration with each film. The critics pointed out the freedom of this film. It’s also a great homage to silent films. In Paris, I always lived on the top floor of my apartment buildings, so I always see the roofs of the city. Still today, in those moments, I often think of the scene in which Maggie Cheung “becomes” Irma Vep by putting on the black latex bodysuit and walking on the roofs. It was not cinema anymore. It was Maggie Cheung coming to life.<br />
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<b>Any other movies <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/04/lineup-announcement-cannes-1996.html">listed in the sidebars</a> from Cannes '96 that especially stand out for you, for better or worse?</b><br />
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One of these is <i>Looking For Richard</i>. I saw it in an empty room at 4pm in an art-house movie theatre in Paris and I loved it! Al Pacino, one of my heroes, walking me through Shakespeare. What else could I ask for??<br />
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In this context, I should also mention <i>The Sunchaser</i>. I am a huge Michael Cimino fan. Although I have to admit it is not his best achievement, you can’t ignore his humanistic message—as in all his films. That’s what prevails here: the torrent of emotions that Cimino sends you is almost overwhelming. He probably is one of the all-time most sensitive directors. <br />
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<b>You've been to Cannes a few times over the years. What would you say are the most distinctive aspects of seeing a movie there, as opposed to in regular release, or even at another festival?</b><br />
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Sometimes, the show is not only on the screen but also in the room. Press screenings are usually the rockiest ones. There are famous stories of people almost punching each other over a film. <i>La Grande Bouffe</i> was a huge scandal in 1973, as was <i>Under the Sun of Satan</i> in 1987. People boo. When they leave the room in the middle of a film, they make sure everyone hears their seat slam—although the screening room was recently renovated, so maybe they don’t make that much noise anymore…<br />
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In this vein, I remember the screening of <i>Irréversible</i> (2002) by Gaspar Noé. It was incredibly violent. People were leaving, screaming at the screen, or arguing with each other. I even heard a guy threaten the director—just, like, screaming at the screen. It was insane. Same for <i>The Brown Bunny </i>(2003). People left while making sure to make a lot of noise. Someone screamed that it was “not cinema but porn!"<br />
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On the other hand, if the audience loves a film, it’s beautiful. They can clap for twenty minutes, cheer, and honor the director like a king. That was certainly the case at the end of <i>In the Mood for Love</i>. Also, the same year, when the lights came back up after <i>Dancer in the Dark</i>, people sitting next to me were crying in each other’s arms. Whether you like the film or not, you have to admit you don’t see these kinds of reactions often.<br />
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But honestly, what matters is the film and its life afterwards. Every so often, when journalists re-watch the same films back in Paris, weeks or even months after the Cannes screening and far from the feverish atmosphere of the festival, some of them can have a more nuanced opinion. Cannes is a place of strong emotions. Either you love or hate. There is little in between. It can sound crazy, but for ten days the festival is a world of its own. You can criticize that aspect of the event, but nonetheless there is something remarkable about the passion you witness there. NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-89471861826690956402016-05-09T19:15:00.000-05:002016-05-09T19:16:30.764-05:00Cannes 1996: Day 1: May 9<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ridiculerev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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Patrice Leconte's <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ridicule.html"><i>Ridicule</i></a> (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117477/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">IMDB</span></a>) begins with a dolled-up and pissed-off 18th-century Frenchman striding through the gilded hallways of a fellow aristocrat's estate. Having cornered the elderly, incapacitated owner in his opulent bedroom, he pulls out his penis in close-up and pisses all over this <i>vieux monsieur</i>'s silk vestments and ruffled shirts. That's the movie in a nutshell: extravagant finery, mounted for maximal <i>ooh</i>s and <i>ahh</i>s from the art house crowd, inclined to abrupt and wicked assaults on itself and its audience. That's also the Cannes Film Festival for you, a fussy, self-fashioned pinnacle of artistry and glamour, barely concealing its lip-smacking hunger for controversy, vulgarity, grandiosity, and humiliation. Opening Night is frequently an occasion for dire catharsis, as some lumbering commercial calculation like <i>The Da Vinci Code</i> or some beige flash in the middlebrow pan like <i>Blindness</i> gets trotted out to the global cinemarati. They, in turn, gnash their incisors on these stale appetizers before the real <i>haute cuisine</i> starts arriving the following morning.<br />
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By the standards of Cannes openers, <i>Ridicule</i> is a substantially above-average achievement. That is to say, it's a perfectly fine movie, engaging throughout, impressive in several passages, shaky in a few others. Styled as a kind of homegrown <i>Dangerous Liaisons</i> (Fanny Ardant's final shot owes an all-but-explicit debt to Glenn Close's indelible signoff as Merteuil), <i>Ridicule</i> handily seduces the wigs-and-bustles audience while baring a sharper-than-usual set of teeth. The critique of royal decadence—moral, verbal, sexual, monetary, gustatory, political—is nothing new in itself, but the stakes ramify outward from Versailles in unique and memorable ways. Beyond just vanquishing rivals and chasing tail, though he manages plenty of both, naïve protagonist Grégoire Ponceludon de Malavoy (<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsdemonlover.html"><i>demonlover</i></a>'s Charles Berling) is mastering the art of weaponized badinage for a specific purpose, which palpably fascinates the filmmakers. He wants to rid his swampy village of mosquito-borne illness and thus needs palace financing for a complex engineering scheme that will rehabilitate public health and local ecology.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>At its best, <i>Ridicule</i> goes deeper on these kinds of pretexts and details than movies of its genre typically do—so much so that the screenplay's edges and eccentricities are more compelling than its core scenario. To take another example, Grégoire's lady love Mathilde (Judith Godrèche, who recently hawked her husband's anus paintings in<i> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ovrngt15.html">The Overnight</a></i>) is not just a dark-eyed beauty but an early innovator in scuba technologies. Watching her warm to Grégoire's advances, then spurn them, then reinvite them is sufficiently diverting if wholly conventional; watching him winch her up from a backyard well where she boldly tests her watertight suit is altogether weirder and more memorable. An 18th-century school for the deaf, at first peripheral to the plot, becomes intriguingly crucial. A third-tier character, deployed for comic relief, meets a grisly end; though conjured only briefly, it deepens the rest of the film.<br />
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Compared to such zesty sideshows, the main plot of <i>Ridicule</i> feels borderline perfunctory, complete with amorous tests, semi-veiled agendas, masked balls, effete courtiers, huffy stands for justice, and brief walk-ons for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The script is never dull but it doesn't always summon a potent sense of purpose. Director Patrice Leconte (<i>Monsieur Hire</i>, <i>The Widow of St. Pierre</i>) relishes the script's circuitous approach to narrative, and his enjoyment proves largely contagious, though once or twice I found myself wanting to push things along or tighten the movie's shape. As the title suggests, <i>Ridicule</i> works as a sardonic, sometimes sobering study of witticism as elitist sport. I wonder if the critics reviewing it felt chastened or emboldened by the spectacle of educated voluptuaries honing insults like knife-blades, and occasionally drawing real blood.<br />
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Happily for the filmmakers, <i>Ridicule</i> didn't attract many barbs. Well-received upon arrival, the film earned a BAFTA award, Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, and a quartet of Césars, including Best Picture. Even some internal mismatches—the meticulous, museum-ready costumes and decor occasionally clash with cinematographer Thierry Arbogast's high-speed camera movements and modern embellishments—at least make the movie more interesting. Granted, some narrative turns are less rewarding than others. A masquerade sequence proffered as a dramatic climax ends with a dull whimper, and sometimes the film feels over-proud of all its arch repartee. Still, this sort of movie is sometimes in grievously short supply in Cannes: a crowd-pleasing, proficiently styled, plushly produced entertainment that's credibly and marketably "artistic" without being inaccessible.<br />
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Opening with a film as sturdy and sumptuous as <i>Ridicule </i>marked an auspicious start for the festival. That at least a dozen Competition titles over the next two weeks would take greater risks, express themselves in more singular tones, and attain greater heights of sublimity was a blessing too great to foresee.<br />
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<span style="color: #660066;"><b>Coming up:</b></span> The first full day of the festival brings us a French classic, a gun-toting feminist, a multi-stranded border tale, and the eventual Palme d'or winner. Scope out the whole <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes96.html">itinerary</a>, keep up with <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">tweeted mini-reviews</a>, and post your own with the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cannes96?src=hash">#Cannes96</a>!NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-29712865017203674002016-04-14T23:45:00.000-05:002016-04-19T08:29:07.853-05:00Lineup Announcement: Cannes 1996<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes96fargo.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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As the world absorbs the <a href="https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/daily-cannes-2016-lineup">newly announced Cannes 2016 lineup</a>, we (read: I) here at Nick's Flick Picks prepare our annual traditional of participating in all the madness by revisiting some Cannes Film Festival of the past. This year, I've booked a trip to <a href="http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/1996/allSelections.html">Cannes 1996</a>, roundly celebrated at the time as one of the richest Competitions in then-recent history. Lars von Trier's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115751/"><i>Breaking the Waves</i></a>, the Coen Brothers's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116282/"><i>Fargo</i></a>, and Mike Leigh's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117589/"><i>Secrets & Lies</i></a> all emerged as Palme front-runners in the top half of the festival. Not only did each reap major prizes on the Croisette, their acclaim persisted across the year, landing them on year-end Ten Best lists around the world and scoring major Oscar wins and nominations. Revisiting these three films alone would be a worthwhile errand on their 20th anniversary, since electing on a "best" among them is as tricky now as it was then. Same goes for their three leading ladies, who eventually held down three-fifths of a notably superb Best Actress roster at that year's Academy Awards.<br />
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But Cannes 1996 offered even more than its three principal breakout titles. David Cronenberg shocked the festival so completely that Francis Ford Coppola's jury had to devise a separate prize for originality, daring, and audacity. Ewan McGregor was the where'd-he-come-from ingénue of the moment, flashing his gorgeous eight-inch ...smile in both <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/"><i>Trainspotting</i></a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114134/"><i>The Pillow Book</i></a>. Jacques Audiard and Arnaud Desplechin took major strides toward global renown in the Main Competition, where Robert Altman, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Michael Cimino staged more elegiac bids for continued relevance. New names like Paul Thomas Anderson, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Mary Harron, and David O. Russell attracted more devotees, none of them realizing that their next movies would <i>really</i> make their names. Iran, Japan, Romania, Australia, Russia, Poland, Senegal, and Spain extended the glorious runs of their national cinemas, while Georgia, Lithuania, and Guinea-Bissau marshaled more meager resources to yield memorable titles.<br />
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I'll fold as many sidebar titles as I can into my Cannes 1996 screenings, but at the very least, I'll have my notepad out for all the movies selected for the Main Competition (pending the availability of one elusive title, but even 21 out of 22 wouldn't be bad). There'll be no jury joining me this year. I'm too busy at my day job to coordinate another mass effort this spring. But I still hope you'll all play along as much as you can at home, especially if you notice a title that you've been thirsty to reexamine or eager to dig up for a first encounter. Here's what I can tell you about my main itinerary. More to follow, all leading up to the main action from May 9-20, the dates of the actual 1996 Cannes Film Festival.<br />
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<span style="color: #660066; font-size: large;">Main Competition</span> <br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115751/"><i>Breaking the Waves</i></a> (Lars von Trier, Denmark/France/Sweden): I've seen this three or four times over the years, always with astonishment at its ambition and uniqueness, but with some upward and downward swings of real affection. How will it go down this time, especially on that recently-issued Criterion Blu-ray?<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115964/"><i>Crash</i></a> (David Cronenberg, Canada): One of those movies I <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmscrash96.html">can't imagine my life without</a>, and effectively the film that inspired my entire <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Desiring-Image-Gilles-Deleuze-Contemporary-Cinema/dp/0199993165/">first book</a>, despite registering only peripherally in the finished product. I'm a sucker for this one, but I noticed on my most recent return that my reactions were shifting a little.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116752/"><i>Drifting Clouds</i></a> (Aki Kaurismäki, Finland): I haven't spent much time with Kaurismäki, though <i>The Match Factory Girl</i> was the 1500th feature I ever saw (on my 25th birthday!). I wasn't enraptured by <i>The Man without a Past</i>, which cleaned up pretty well at Cannes 2002, or by <i>Le Havre</i>, which was a festival favorite in 2011, but I always feel like I might be one title away from "getting" him.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117909/"><i>Earth</i></a> (Julio Medem, Spain): I only know Medem from the palindrome-obsessed <i>Lovers of the Arctic Circle</i>, though <i>The Red Squirrel</i> was a critical darling a few years before <i>Earth</i> premiered, and <i>Sex and Lucia</i> steamed up global arthouses a few years later. I'm always jazzed to see films on the docket whose premises, stars, and genres are entirely unknown to me.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116581/"><i>The Eighth Day</i></a> (Jaco van Dormael, Belgium): Despite pulling down a shared Best Actor prize, this film dropped off everybody's radar pretty quickly. Van Dormael earned more plaudits for <i>Toto le héros</i> in 1991 and drew more acclaim last year for his <i>Brand New Testament</i>. This fraternal drama could turn out sticky or sweet.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116282/"><i>Fargo</i></a> (Joel Coen, USA): Recently one of my undergraduates e-mailed me to ask if I had clear memories of this "old classic," or whether I had seen it. We're somehow in a moment where the TV show isn't an interesting supplement to the movie's legacy but is, in fact, the <i>Fargo</i> that a lot of young media consumers know. I haven't actually popped it in the player for years. I'm psyched!<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117151/combined"><i>Goodbye, South, Goodbye</i></a> (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan): <i>Good Men, Good Women</i> was one of the movies that most impressed me from my <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/cannes95.html">Cannes 1995</a> voyage last year, though I can't say that I <i>loved</i> it. That's usually the split I'm negotiating with Hou: I'm so awestruck by what he does, but I'm seldom swept up. Which may not even be his goal. But let's try again.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116745/"><i>Kansas City</i></a> (Robert Altman, USA): A perfect candidate for reappraisal. I saw this once, not quite twenty years ago, when I was such an easy lay for Altman that I gave a good review to <i>The Gingerbread Man</i>. I liked <i>Kansas City</i> but didn't adore it. I've read some ardent defenses of it since, and by now, I can't even remember what I liked most or least. So excited for a second trip.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115928/"><i>My Sex Life... or How I Got into an Argument</i></a> (Arnaud Desplechin, France): Desplechin's case compares to Hou Hsiao-hsien's in my book. I can't think of anyone who makes movies quite like he does, but after a half-hour or so of bliss and wonder, I tend to tire of his mannerisms and pine for a quicker wrap-up. I'm always hoping, though, that <i>this</i> will be the one that fully clicks.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117422/"><i>The Quiet Room</i></a> (Rolf de Heer, Australia): The only movie by Rolf de Heer I've seen is probably his best loved, the Aboriginal drama <i>Ten Canoes</i>. I don't know anything about <i>The Quiet Room</i>'s scenario and am not sure I've ever even read a review. A genuine <i>tabula rasa</i> for me.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117477/"><i>Ridicule</i></a> (Patrice Leconte, France): Along with <i>A Chef in Love</i> and <i>Prisoner of the Mountains</i> in the Directors' Fortnight, this was one of three eventual nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars that debuted at Cannes. I haven't seen any of them, and the period quasi-romp <i>Ridicule</i>, which served as the festival's opening-night film, is the one that most attracts me.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114374/"><i>The Second Time</i></a> (Mimmo Calopresti, Italy): The shortest Competition title is also the hardest to acquire in English-subtitled form, and I don't speak Italian. I'm on the case, though, and eager to see Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and 2001 Palme d'or winner Nanni Moretti in the starring roles. I was so taken aback, in a wonderful way, by the Italian entry <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/amolesto.html">last year</a>. Maybe <i>il fulmine</i> can strike twice?<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117589/"><i>Secrets & Lies</i></a> (Mike Leigh, UK): Leigh's only Croisette champ, his most-nominated film at the Oscars, and (I think?) his biggest box office hit. I've seen it several times but not for a while. I'm curious how it'll measure up against the titles I've seen more recently: early efforts like <i>High Hopes</i> and <i>Life Is Sweet</i> and the introverted epics like <i>Mr. Turner</i>, which might be my new favorite.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118020/"><i>A Self-Made Hero</i></a> (Jacques Audiard, France): I have such a clear memory of a graduate TA telling me in college that she had seen this movie the night before. Because I'd never heard of Audiard or Kassovitz and found the title so uninviting, I couldn't understand why she'd bothered. That's how far I've come in twenty years. Audiard has come even farther! Interested to see this early outing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117737/"><i>Stealing Beauty</i></a> (Bernardo Bertolucci, UK/France/Italy): The rare Competition title, especially from this vintage, that I flatly disliked. Three years later, though, I responded better to <i>Besieged</i> than to almost anything else Bertolucci ever made, so I wonder if I'll groove more to the low-key, sensualist vibe of this one on a second return. Plus, baby Rachel Weisz! Baby Joseph Fiennes!<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117781/"><i>The Sunchaser</i></a> (Michael Cimino, USA): At the time, I really wished this one had been more widely distributed, mostly because I had a huge crush on Woody Harrelson in those years, but also because the total disappearance of Cimino after the peak of <i>The Deer Hunter</i> and the fiasco of <i>Heaven's Gate</i> was so intriguing. I never did track it down, so here's my moment.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116295/"><i>Temptress Moon</i></a> (Chen Kaige, Hong Kong): Like most of the world, I rhapsodized over <i>Farewell, My Concubine</i> in 1993, so much so that I didn't even mind <i>The Piano</i> having to share its Palme d'or. (Well, maybe a little.) <i>Temptress Moon</i> didn't seem to galvanize anybody even 20% as much but there's still plenty of interest here. Leslie Cheung! Gong Li! Christopher Doyle!<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117968/"><i>Three Lives and Only One Death</i></a> (Raul Ruiz, France/Portugal): From Ruiz's sprawling, multinational career, I've only seen two features: the Proustian puzzlebox <i>Time Regained</i> and the even more cryptic and playful <i>Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting</i>. I have the impression this one is styled to be more accessible, and Mastroianni rarely steps wrong. In truth I don't know much about it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120378/"><i>Too Late</i></a> (Lucian Pintilie, Romania): I saw this a few years ago when a Pintilie retrospective was touring US markets. Not to mince words, I felt then that it was at least the equal of<i> </i>the Coen, Leigh, and von Trier movies, if not their superior. Was that just the thrill of unanticipated discovery? Now I'll be coming at it with high expectations from my first encounter. Can't roll around fast enough.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117352/"><i>Tree of Blood</i></a> (Flora Gomes, Guinea-Bissau): Even more obscure than <i>Too Late</i>. Why is it that even the one-in-a-million African features to penetrate the Main Competition at Cannes still tend to miss out on U.S. distribution, even on DVD? I did find a French pressing of the film on disc, and given my enthusiasm for other sub-Saharan filmmaking, I really have my fingers crossed for this one.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118064/"><i>The Van</i></a> (Stephen Frears, UK): Fox Searchlight gave this one a decent push the following spring, trying really hard to sustain post-<i>Commitments </i>affection for Roddy Doyle and post-<i>Snapper</i> momentum for star Colm Meaney. I didn't catch the spark then and don't harbor all that much faith in the wildly uneven Stephen Frears. But maybe by this point I'll be in the mood for a comedy?<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118100/"><i>Les voleurs</i></a> (André Téchiné, France): The least well-known of the Competition entries I actually caught in cinemas during my first full year of proper urban moviegoing. I had been electrified by <i>Wild Reeds</i> on video and didn't find Téchiné working at the same level here, but I liked the performance he coaxed from young Laurence Côte and suspect I might see more in it now.<br />
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<span style="color: #660066; font-size: large;">Un Certain Regard</span> <br />
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(Not a complete list, which is available <a href="http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/1996/allSelections.html">here</a>. Just my likely pit stops.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115633/combined"><i>Bastard Out of Carolina</i></a> (Anjelica Huston, USA): Huston's directorial debut, slated for cable television in the U.S., is an adaptation of Dorothy Allison's blistering novel, starring then-newcomer Jena Malone and the recently reinvigorated Jennifer Jason Leigh. Huston didn't direct much after this, and nothing with its promised sharpness of edges. Very eager.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116300/combined"><i>Few of Us</i></a> (Sharunas Bartas, Lithuania): Brilliant, kind, classy film writer Acquarello of <a href="http://filmref.com/journal/">Strictly Film School</a>, more active these days on Twitter as <a href="https://twitter.com/filmref">@filmref</a>, once got wind of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmspolax.html">how much I loved</a> Katerina Golubeva in <i>Pola X</i>, which includes a cameo for her lover and frequent collaborator Sharunas Bartas. Suddenly in my mailbox was a VHS compendium of three Bartas features. Thanks, Acquarello, and hope you're well! Excited to finally discuss them in person.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116384/combined"><i>Gabbeh</i></a> (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran): Along with <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/wballoon.html"><i>The White Balloon</i></a>, one of the gems of Cannes '95, <i>Gabbeh</i> was something of a pathbreaker for Iranian cinema in the U.S. market. It's a colorful parable built around motifs of weaving and storytelling. The first Iranian film I saw that wasn't directed by Kiarostami, screened at the <a href="http://www.brattlefilm.org/">Brattle Theatre</a> in Cambridge, Mass. Took a friend. She loved it. <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119256/combined"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119256/combined"><i>Hard Eight</i></a> (Paul Thomas Anderson, USA): Screened at Cannes under its intended title, <i>Sydney</i>, and instantly earned hosannas for the brilliant, professionally resuscitated lead actor Philip Baker Hall. I finally caught this around the time <i>The Master </i>came out and really admired it. It's the only P.T. Anderson film I've only seen once, and I'm looking forward to a second impression. Hoffman, Jackson, and Paltrow all terrific in this, too.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116594/combined"><i>I Shot Andy Warhol</i></a> (Mary Harron, USA): The film and the caustic lead performance by Lili Taylor were indelible in themselves when I saw them at a June 1996 matinee at Boston's Kendall Square. What I <i>really</i> remember, though, were the out and proud ticket-buyers of every stripe and style: my introduction to the idea that some films were worth seeing in theaters for the audience alone. Haven't watched it since. Will feel so strange to screen it alone in my apartment. Maybe I'll post flyers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116650/combined"><i>Irma Vep</i></a> (Olivier Assayas, France): My adoration of this one is a matter of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/irmavep.html">public record</a>, which I saw first on VHS and later on Fox Lorber's typically subpar DVD. I'm excited to screen Zeitgeist's restored version on DVD, though if any movie can actively thrive off a grainy, rough-edged transfer, this punk little object might be it. Maybe I'll watch it at midnight, like Cannes did.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116913/combined"><i>Looking for Richard</i></a> (Al Pacino, US/UK): This making-of documentary about Pacino's stage production of <i>Richard III</i> bowed so shortly after Richard Loncraine and Ian McKellen's celebrated screen adaptation that it both profited from the hype and vanished a bit in the more flamboyant film's shadow. I never caught it and am hoping for the best.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116930/combined"><i>Love Serenade</i></a> (Shirley Barrett, Australia): There's odd, there's actively eccentric, and there's this Australian comedy about two rural sisters, including <i>Lord of the Rings</i>'s Miranda Otto, competing for the affections of a fugly, soulful radio DJ who may, in fact, be a fish. Won the Camera d'or for best first feature of the festival. Did this just rocket up your list?<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115735/combined"><i>Mimi</i>, aka <i>La Bouche de Jean-Pierre</i></a> (Lucile Hadzihalilović, France): I thought I'd have trouble locating this 50-minute quasi-feature by the subsequent auteur of <i>Innocence</i> and last year's <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/evolhadz.html"><i>Evolution</i></a>, but here comes <a href="https://www.fandor.com/films/mimi">Fandor</a> to the rescue. Last year's Cannes '95 juror <a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/">Ivan Albertson</a> may pop over to watch this and discuss.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117283/combined"><i>The Pallbearer</i></a> (Matt Reeves, USA): Reviews were sort of mean at the time about this Miramax-backed black comedy, but I remember enjoying it. Gwyneth wasn't yet Gwyneth then, David Schwimmer was still just Ross, and <i>Cloverfield</i>'s Matt Reeves was more than a decade out from his recent reinvention as a top-drawer horror-suspense stylist. Prime time for reassessment?<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114134/combined"><i>The Pillow Book</i></a> (Peter Greenaway, Netherlands/UK/France): Another movie that got <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmspillow.html">ensconced as a Favorite</a> a while back, which is a little weird given how much I always fight with the second half. It's not just because Ewan departs. Every time I view this I feel differently, and discover plenty in it that I didn't even remember, for better or worse. Finally available on Blu-ray!<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117690/combined"><i>Some Mother's Son</i></a> (Terry George, Ireland): Back before Helen Mirren was a marquee name for U.S. audiences—I was there, it was true—Columbia gave this a prestigious but commercially damning mini-release on Christmas Day. Perfect for a movie about mothers losing their boys in the Troubles! The better reviews actually went to Fionnula Flanagan, as the other mother.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115940/combined"><i>A Summer's Tale</i></a> (Eric Rohmer, France): Happily restored and released to cinemas just last year, having never achieved theatrical distribution in its time. Reviews were rapturous, as usual for Rohmer. Even if he somehow fell asleep in the director's chair, it's still young Melvil Poupaud dawdling on the beach, so.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157174/combined"><i>The Waste Land</i></a> (Deborah Warner, UK): One of the final screenings of the fortnight was this 34-minute recording of Fiona Shaw reciting Eliot's masterpiece, as filmed by her frequent and ingenious stage collaborator Deborah Warner. You might recall that Warner led Shaw through a <i>Medea</i>, for example, in a small backyard filled with plastic children's toys. Whether this <i>Waste Land</i> is nearly as inventive remains to be seen. The University of Minnesota had the only DVD copy in the United States library system, but they loaned it to me!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660066; font-size: large;">Critics' Week</span> <br />
<br />
(Not much else is readily available from <a href="http://www.semainedelacritique.com/EN/films/1996/1996_selection.php">this year's selection</a>.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116041/combined"><i>The Daytrippers</i></a> (Greg Mottola, USA): Warmly received Stateside the following spring, this farcical road film (I think?) kickstarted the career of <i>Superbad</i> helmer Mottola. You could do worse for a time capsule of Landmark-friendly mid-to-late 90s acting talent: Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, Parker Posey, Campbell Scott, Marcia Gay Harden, Liev Schreiber...<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660066; font-size: large;">Directors' Fortnight</span> <br />
<br />
(Not a complete list, which will soon be available <a href="http://quinzaine-realisateurs.com/">here</a>. Again, likely pit stops.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115640/combined"><i>Beautiful Thing</i></a>
(Hettie Macdonald, UK): A movie I initially skipped in theaters because
I was young and somewhat self-serious about my homosexuality and felt I
did not have time for some roseate urban fable (which isn't even a
fully accurate précis) when there were traumas and injustices to deal
with. Later, when I saw it, I loved it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117050/combined"><i>A Chef in Love</i></a>
(Nana Dzhordzhadze, Georgia): One of those food-based romantic comedies
for which a certain audience has a bottomless appetite. This Oscar
nominee has never been put on DVD, but thankfully for me I have a
working VCR and a nearby public library stocked full of VHS tapes that
nobody else seems to rent.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116640/combined"><i>Inside</i></a> (Arthur Penn, USA): Robert Kolker is quite hard on this film in his oft-revised and engrossing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cinema-Loneliness-Robert-Kolker/dp/0199730024/"><i>A Cinema of Loneliness</i></a>, arguing that Penn eventually just gives into the kind of sadistic violence that <i>Bonnie and Clyde</i>
so cleverly holds up to philosophical and cultural critique. I've
never seen it, but I gather it's a visceral prison-torture drama.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116722/combined"><i>Jude</i></a>
(Michael Winterbottom, UK): The dissolution of PolyGram seems to have
put this one in limbo; DVDs have been hard to locate for years, most are
blurry Korean imports, and several are censored at a crucial moment.
All too bad, because it's a richly photographed, deftly played and
scripted Hardy adaptation. Winslet, Eccleston in glorious form.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116767/combined"><i>Kids Return</i></a> (Takeshi Kitano, Japan): The only Kitano film I've seen was his <i>Zatôichi</i>
film, which I hated, though I remember so little of it that I don't
stand confidently behind that reaction. This will be an odd follow-up,
especially in lieu of <i>Fireworks</i> or <i>Sonatine</i>, but I'm hoping I can make time for it, since this whole exercise is about broadening horizons.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116905/combined"><i>Lone Star</i></a>
(John Sayles, USA): I think this was the first Sayles film I actually
saw, and for many people it remains his peak (though just try prying <i>Passion Fish</i>
out of my cold, dead hand, Ilsa). The screenplay was nominated for
everything, and Cooper, Peña, Canada, and Kristofferson are all
remarkable. Should be even more renowned than it is.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116754/combined"><i>Prisoner of the Mountains</i></a>
(Sergei Bodrov, Russia): Bodrov entered the Oscar race with this
highly-regard Tolstoy adaptation that starred his son, a quickly-rising
Russian eminence after this, <i>Brother</i>, and <i>East-West</i>.
Sadly, Bodrov Jr. died at 30, so his hits are also epitaphs. I've been
looking forward to this one for quite a while. Oleg Menshikov is good
value, too.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117398/combined"><i>La Promesse</i></a>
(Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium): Hard to believe, after two
Palmes and a ceaseless string of critical hits, that once upon a time
the Dardennes were known only to a few people. Hard to accept they're
still unknown to many more. I've still never seen their breakout
feature, a big sidebar hit at the festival with which they soon became
synonymous.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117958/combined"><i>Trees Lounge</i></a> (Steve Buscemi, USA): I have postponed seeing this for years, even after Owen Gleiberman's memorable enthusiasm in <i>EW</i>,
because all the DVDs appeared to be pan & scan. Turns out there was
a limited pressing of widescreen transfers, though, so I'm good to go
with Buscemi, Sevigny, LaPaglia, Seymour Cassel, <i>Brooke Smith</i>, <i>CAROL KANE</i>... (!)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660066; font-size: large;">Cinémas en France</span> <br />
<br />
(Different
accounts tell different stories about whether this section of Cannes
'96 was encompassed within the Directors' Fortnight or constituted a
separate itinerary. The screening venues were the same, anyway.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118230/combined"><i>Full Speed</i></a> (Gaël Morel, France): One star of <i>Wild Reeds</i>
directs the other two, hunky Stéphane Rideau and enchanting Élodie
Bouchez, in a drama of youth that kickstarted a nice directing career
for its precocious helmer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117296/combined"><i>Perfect Love!</i></a> (Catherine Breillat, France):Short version: I have no idea what it's about, but it's a movie called <i>Perfect Love!</i> by the director of <i>Fat Girl</i>, and it even has an exclamation point in the title. I fail to see what could possibly go wrong.<br />
<br /><span style="color: #660066; font-size: large;">Out of Competition</span> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115478/combined"><i>Elective Affinities</i></a> (Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy): The Coens weren't the only brothers making their mark on the Croisette this year. Having won the Palme in the 1970s for <i>Padre padrone</i> and appeared in competition three years prior with <i>Fiorile</i>, the Tavianis unveiled their latest as a Special Screening. A recent Taviani retrospective at the Siskel here in Chicago earned them a lot of love.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116324/combined"><i>Flirting with Disaster</i></a> (David O. Russell, USA): Russell wasn't a global name in 1996, with only his acerbic debut <i>Spanking the Monkey</i> under his belt, so to speak. It's kind of surprising that his madcap farce scored the Closing Night spot, but when you consider how many people adored it then and do now, Cannes comes out looking pretty good with this choice.<i> </i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116414/combined"><i>Girl 6</i></a> (Spike Lee, USA): I was recently championing this on Twitter as Lee joint that's far from perfect, especially in its final third, but the best stuff is so terrific that it's one of my favorites in his portfolio. I only ever remember the peaks, including Theresa Randle's lead performance, so re-viewing it may be sobering. The all-Prince, all-the-time soundtrack is a virtue in itself.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117040/combined"><i>Microcosmos</i></a> (Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou, France): Insects. Plus a few slimies, like snails. All captured in exquisite close-up by state-of-the-art cameras that earned this documentary the Technical Grand Prize of the fest, even though this wasn't in competition. Narrated by Kristin Scott Thomas. Released to great acclaim and good box office in multiple nations. Poster art was a praying mantis in sunglasses. I never caught it. Are you in?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/combined"><i>Trainspotting</i></a> (Danny Boyle, UK): Many people's favorite movie of 1996, with the kind of durable cultural capital that puts it on the level of <i>Breaking the Waves</i> and <i>Fargo</i>. I never quite attached to it, and in fact delayed seeing it until video. I liked it more than I expected but my memory is pretty, shall we say, spotty. I truly won't know what to expect from a second plunge down this filthy toilet.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660066; font-size: large;">Cinémas de Toujours</span> <br />
<br />
(More or less what now gets called Cannes Classics.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065695/combined"><i>L'Enfance nue</i></a> (1968, Maurice Pialat, France): I don't know anything about the scenario of this one, but given my affection for <i>Under the Sun of Satan</i>,
I've been telling myself forever that I would take in more Pialat. If I
can scoot to the repertory venue after a long day with the premieres,
I'll catch this one.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081176/combined"><i>Mon Oncle d'Amérique</i></a>
(1980, Alain Resnais, France): My viewing history with Resnais is
spottier than it should be. This was one of the biggest international
hits of his middle career, a smash at Cannes and an Oscar nominee for
its screenplay. The female lead, Nicole Garcia, has spun out a rich
career as a director, landing in competition this year with <i>From the Land of the Moon</i>, starring Marion Cotillard. A perfect moment to seek this out.<br />
<br />
I'll post more about these films as May 9 draws nearer, including the actual sequence in which they screened two decades ago. I'll also highlight some sidebar films that I know I'll be viewing. <a href="http://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">Twitter</a>, as usual, will be the best place to catch all the updates as they unfurl. But for now, I'll pass the mic: which of these movies are you most curious about? Which ones are your favorites or least favorites among those you've caught in the past?NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-81409021536897637542016-01-31T09:00:00.000-06:002016-01-31T09:57:23.793-06:00Supporting Actress: Jan's Out, Feb's In<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><img align="left" src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/Sas16JanTeaser.jpg" hspace="7" vspace="2" width="250" /></a> We've reached the end of our first month of the <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2016/01/a-whole-new-year-of-actressing.html">yearlong Supporting Actress retrospective</a>, honoring the 365 movies that have yielded nominations in that category's first 80 years. (This year's AMPAS voters, whatever their other foibles, at least complied with my schema and furnished nominees from five separate films, which keeps my math on track.) I hope you've had fun reading along, if you have been. You can click the image to the left and visit the <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan.html">Calendar</a> for more on each nominated movie, plus a few individual performance reviews.<br />
<br />
So, who are your five favorite nominees from this early batch? And, separate question, what are your five favorites among the films? My own all-star team of performances from this batch probably entails <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan20.html">Judith Anderson</a> for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/rebecca.html"><i>Rebecca</i></a>, Fay Bainter for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jezebel.html"><i>Jezebel</i></a>, Jane Darwell for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/grapeswr.html"><i>The Grapes of Wrath</i></a>, Agnes Moorehead for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magnambr.html"><i>The Magnificent Ambersons</i></a>, and Barbara O'Neil for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/allthshv.html"><i>All This, and Heaven Too</i></a>, with apologies to close runner-up Patricia Collinge for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/litfoxes.html"><i>The Little Foxes</i></a>. If we're talking actual movies, my cream of the crop encompasses <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/deadend.html"><i>Dead End</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dodswort.html"><i>Dodsworth</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/gwtw.html"><i>Gone with the Wind</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magnambr.html"><i>The Magnificent Ambersons</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/philstor.html"><i>The Philadelphia Story</i></a>, though it stings to leave out <i>Grapes</i>, <i>Rebecca</i>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/stagdr37.html"><i>Stage Door</i></a>, especially.<br />
<br />
What are your thoughts, dear reader? And—one more question—are there supporting performances by women from 1936-1942 that you especially wish had appeared on Oscar's ballot?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16feb.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><img align="left" src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/Sas16FebTeaser.jpg" hspace="7" vspace="2" width="250" /></a> Lastly, do consider following along with the <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16feb.html">Supporting Actress films for February</a>, already posted. The beauty of this feature is that you can already see what film will be up for review on the site and on <a href="http://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">Twitter</a> for any given day. I'd love to hear other voices on the same movies. <i>I know you're out there, you opinionated queens</i>. Four of February's performances are first-time viewings for me: Paulette Goddard in <i>So Proudly We Hail</i> (1943), Lucile Watson in <i>Watch on the Rhine</i> (1943), and two winners, Ethel Barrymore in <i>None But the Lonely Heart</i> (1944) and Anne Baxter in <i>The Razor's Edge</i> (1946). Beyond my curiosity about these four, I'm especially keen to revisit <i>The Song of Bernadette</i> (1943), which I saw once, ages ago. I wish I remembered <i>Crossfire</i> (1947) more clearly. Two famous films that I didn't love the first and only times I saw them, <i>Mildred Pierce </i>(1945) and <i>Key Largo</i> (1948), are also ripe for reassessment. And somehow, we'll all get through the mid-40s fad for nominating ethnically inappropriate performances: Aline MacMahon's "Chinese" peasant in <i>Dragon Seed</i> (1944), though she at least applies a soft touch; Gale Sondergaard's member of the palace in <i>Anna and the King of Siam</i> (1946); and, easily worst of all, Flora Robson's blackface part in <i>Saratoga Trunk</i> (1945, but nominated in 1946). Jesus, keep me close to the cross.NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-69489414166073842002016-01-30T17:45:00.000-06:002016-01-30T22:02:00.955-06:00Live-Blogging the 2016 SAG Awards<b>9:00pm:</b> Demi nabs one more camera moment to send everyone home. Beneath the credits, Tom Hooper is standing way too close to Julianne Moore and trying to spread his toxic fumes onto her. Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are borderline making out as they stand up from their chairs, so some things are still exactly as they should be.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:59pm:</b> Big cheers for <i>Compton</i> while Demi recites, but the winner is—after Demi Moore's <i>significant struggles with the envelope</i>—the cast of <i>Spotlight</i>. I sorta think Tom McCarthy just reached over and victory-patted one of his actors on the butt, but I couldn't tell if it was Crudup or McAdams. Ruffalo winds up as ambassador. The <i>Spotlight</i> cast looks truly surprised and truly overjoyed. Keaton, Crudup, Slattery, and Schreiber all project granite, serious manface, so the camera crew decides to frame Ruffalo against the smilier D'Arcy James and McAdams. Ruffalo passes the SAG baton to Keaton, who says, "This is really for the disenfranchised everywhere... This is for every Flint, Michigan everywhere... This is for the powerless - and you can hang me for that if you want to, I really don't care." Nobody in this room is gonna hang him for that. Certainly not Sunrise Coigney, still the partner and audience member most prone to being emotionally overcome, for which I adore her. <br />
<br />
<b>8:58pm: BEST ENSEMBLE</b> (<i>Beasts</i>, <i>Big Short</i>, <i>Spotlight</i>, <i>Compton</i>, <i>Trumbo</i> hahaha) - I still think <i>Spotlight </i>will take this, but if <i>Big Short</i> surprises, that might be all she wrote for the Oscar race. Certainly <i>Spotlight </i>would get my vote, with <i>Compton</i> its only close competitor, and not even that close.<br />
<br />
<b>8:57pm: </b>Demi. Just hilarious.<br />
<br /><a name='more'></a>
<b>8:56pm:</b> This is Leo's first win in nine SAG nominations, apparently. He describes how he got his first movie role in <i>This Boy's Life</i> as a 15-year-old, and spent the next year watching as much of film history as he could, "All the way from Jimmy Cagney to Robert De Niro," which is an amazing range. He gives the Scorsese-branded pitch that young actors absorb as much cinema history as they can, which I'm all for. The speech is actually pretty good, even if I can't help sounding sour.<br />
<br />
<b>8:55pm:</b> Kate Winslet was lurking behind Leo's chair for a surprise hug. That's lovely. <br />
<br />
<b>8:55pm:</b> I mean, if even Julianne, who is a WIZARD, can't open the envelope...<br />
<br />
<b>8:54pm:</b> Cranston's clip is against the <i>JAG</i> guy (swoon) as John Wayne. Depp's is that scene where he looks like the weird old stowaway on The Polar Express. You know the one. DiCaprio's is where he has suppurating lesions and ain't afraid to die anymore, and is out of breath. Fassbender's is begging for his corporate life at the boardroom table, with all the rain behind him. Redmayne's is "But then - something changed."<br />
<br />
<b>8:53pm:</b> Julianne Moore in glitzly, spangly, bandage-y, chartreuse-y, lotta lotta DRESS dress to present <b>BEST ACTOR</b> (Cranston, Depp, DiCaprio, Fassbender, Redmayne) - Hahaha, remember <i>Black Mass</i>?? Allow me this Schadenfreude. It's the only way to get through the inevitable DiCaprio/<i>Revenant</i> inanity.<br />
<br />
<b>8:52pm:</b> C'mon, TNT commercial break, let's pull this thing together....<br />
<br />
<b>8:48pm:</b> My biggest laugh of the night was prompted by the pre-commercial announcer, who just informed us that DEMI MOORE will present the Best Ensemble prize. I love how Demi still pulls the marionette strings in Hollywood. She goes dormant for years at a time, and then is all, "I think I'll present the posthumous award to Heath Ledger, not any of these currently-famous bozos," or "Nobody under 20 even knows who I am anymore, but how about I present the biggest SAG award of the night k thx bye."<br />
<br />
<b>8:47pm:</b> Yep, it's Brie Larson. I still don't get the red thing on the back of her dress. "I feel like I was born questioning everything about reality" is one of the first things she says in her speech. Admits to feeling chronically lonely and unlovable. Thanks all the actors who inspired her growing up, especially amidst those feelings. She thanks Jacob Tremblay effusively, but the TV crew knows that this is also, tacitly, a shout-out to his dad. That right boob is threatening always to just boob right out.<br />
<br />
<b>8:46pm:</b> Blanchett's clip is "We're not ugly people." Larson's is her fight with her mom. Mirren's is "They destroyed my family, they killed my friends," but she's taking off her earrings at her table, so she seems pessimistic. Ronan's is a spoilerific admission to her Mom back in Ireland. Silverman's is the wordless scene of having forgotten to bring the pass she was supposed to bring to school, which is a really odd choice. Is Sarah Silverman really with Michael Sheen?<br />
<br />
<b>8:45pm: </b><b>BEST ACTRESS</b> (Blanchett, Larson, Mirren, Ronan, Silverman) - I
guess Larson has become an increasingly prohibitive favorite, with Ronan
her only conceivable competition, and I'll live happily with that,
though I couldn't remotely imagine checking anybody's box but
Blanchett's on this roster. Still, I assume Larson's got this.<br />
<br />
<b>8:41pm:</b> Sorry, I'm sure that <i>Downton</i> speech was sweet, but I zoned out and read my funny friends on Twitter.<br />
<br />
<b>8:38pm:</b> Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Keegan-Michael Key walk out and trudge through some verbiage about TV ensemble work. But haven't we done those categories already? Then it reveals itself as a joke about that kind of ceremony-prose BS. <b>BEST TV ENSEMBLE - DRAMA</b> (<i>Downton</i>, <i>Thrones</i>, <i>Homeland</i>, <i>House of Cards</i>, <i>Mad Men</i>) - Ha! I thought we'd already done this category! That's how much I'm hanging on the outcome. I'd have bet on <i>Mad Men</i>, but Hamm's loss and everyone else's individual absence from the ballots makes me think <i>Game of Thrones</i>. Oh, but hahaha, it's <i>Downton Abbey</i>, who <i>never</i> seem to think they or their show are as good as SAG thinks it is.<br />
<br />
<b>8:34pm:</b> Is this <i>Animal Kingdom</i> show that TNT is hawking an actual U.S.-based reboot of the Aussie film? And if so, am I to understand that Ellen Barkin is Jacki Weaver? Gonna have to think on that one.<br />
<br />
<b>8:32pm:</b> Lots of those actors were honored with commercial spots they did for TV, which is a nice way of reminding us what a lot of SAG members do for a living, or hope to.<br />
<br />
<b>8:31pm:</b> The In Memoriam honorees in order were: Omar Sharif, Anita Ekberg, Theodore Bikel, Betsy Palmer, Taylor Negron, Ann Meara, Rod Taylor, Dean Jones, Wayne Rogers, Pat Harrington Jr., Marge Royce, Martin Milner, Donna Douglas, Stan Freberg, Windell Middlebrooks, George Coe, John P. Connell, Christopher Lee, Lizabeth Scott, Dickie Moore (the <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbvenus.html"><i>Blonde Venus</i></a> kid!), Roger Rees, Louis Jourdan, Gary Owens, Dick Van Patten, Geoffrey Lewis, Richard Dysart, David Bowie (the Sarandon connection, and the loudest applause so far), Paul Napier, Elizabeth Wilson, Jack Larson, Natalie Cole (she acted?), Judy Carne, Robert Loggia (audible clapping), Jayne Meadows, Alex Rocco, Al Molinaro, Patrick Macnee, Fred Dalton Thompson, Fred Canary, Marjorie Lord, Maureen O'Hara, Alan Rickman (thunderous applause), Leonard Nimoy.<br />
<br />
<b>8:30pm:</b> Susan Sarandon, her plunging white tuxedo coat, and her sheer navy tube top are here in all their due solemnity to honor those who have recently passed.<br />
<br />
<b>8:27pm:</b> Priyanka's super-excited to present to "my favorite!" Kevin Spacey. Jon Hamm must be disappointed. Spacey starts by thanking "our Creator," by which he means Beau Willimon. Spacey thanks his manager of 28 years, who is now his "senior advisor." Then he thanks his new manager, but doesn't thank this person by name. Then something about the theory of relativity, which I truly thought was a McConaughey jab, but turns out to be at least partially sincere.<br />
<br />
<b>8:26pm:</b> Are all the young women with white-blonde hair in <i>Game of Thrones</i> supposed to look like they're wearing wigs, or are they just wearing bad wigs? I have never not been distracted by this when watching clips from this show.<br />
<br />
<b>8:25pm:</b> Boy, they really are worried about time. The two presenters for the next award are already on stage. One of them is Priyanka Chopra from <i>Quantico</i>. I have no idea who the guy is. <b>BEST TV ACTOR - DRAMA</b> (Dinklage, Hamm, Malek, Odenkirk, Spacey) - I'm assuming Hamm's got this, at which point he gets <i>one more chance</i> to give a speech that doesn't make me sad and cranky at the same time. Would be great to see a vote for Malek here, though.<br />
<br />
<b>8:24pm:</b> Idris Elba and young, stellar Abraham Attah walk out to introduce a clip from <i>Beasts of No Nation</i>. Idris starts, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Diverse TV" and gets a lot of applause. Not as much applause as Abraham gets when Idris compliments his brilliant playing.<br />
<br />
<b>8:22pm:</b> Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban try to kickstart a standing ovation for Viola Davis's third individual SAG win, but outside of Tom Hooper, they don't get a whole lot of takers. Viola quotes an old saying, "I'm not who you think I am. <i>You</i> are who <i>you </i>think <i>I</i> am," and defends the value of unlikable, non-heroic characters. But, has acting on this show really been "the joy pleasure of [her] life?" Considering August Wilson, etc., that sort of surprises me.<br />
<br />
<b>8:21pm:</b> Claire acting crazy on an escalator. Viola Davis telling some blonde lady how f'd up she is. Julianna Margulies telling Chris Noth how f'd up he is. Maggie Smith being - well, I'll just let you guess. Robin Wright insisting to Kevin Spacey that he's reading too much into something, which is usually something Kevin Spacey says.<br />
<br />
<b>8:20pm:</b> Taye Diggs and Eva Longoria to present <b>BEST TV ACTRESS - DRAMA</b> (Danes, Davis, Margulies,
Smith, Wright) - We've seen enough repeat winners already that I'm not
going to doubt Viola Davis all that quickly, but Maggie Smith is always,
always, always a possibility, especially for a group that's hot for <i>Woman in Gold</i>. <br />
<br />
<b>8:13pm:</b> She recalls being told by the network that "comedy variety is a man's game." I assume she wanted more applause here, and in our hearts, she got it. Nice acknowledgments to her most frequent and famous co-stars.<br />
<br />
<b>8:12pm:</b> Shout-out to Bob Mackie, and then a cut that proves Bob Mackie is here!<br />
<br />
<b>8:11pm:</b> Carol praises Tina and Amy as "the whole ball of wax" and remembers the days of seeing six or eight movies a week, then going home with her best friend and acting out all the parts: Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Nelson Eddy, Jeanette Macdonald, Tarzan and Jane.<br />
<br />
<b>8:10pm:</b> Of all the people you could cut to while Carol Burnett proceeds to the stage, why not Naomi Watts?<br />
<br />
<b>8:09pm:</b> I totally understand the point that comedy gets no respect, and I'm not trying to pick fights here or rain on anybody's moment, but speaking for myself, a lot of the hamming and broad farce I'm seeing here does not seem harder than, say, what Cate Blanchett does in <i>Carol</i>. But that's just me, I'm an unreconstructed drama fan, and I have a lead pipe for a funny bone and a pebble for a heart.<br />
<br />
<b>8:06pm:</b> Tribute reel includes testimonies from Betty White, Jane Lynch, Ellen DeGeneres. (Note: I imagine Carol Burnett also inspired some men.)<br />
<br />
<b>8:01pm:</b> Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are here to present Carol Burnett's award, and I'm already feeling grateful. Just when they seem totally in earnest, Tina Fey pulls a great joke about Burnett's most recent triumph, "This year's <i>Carol</i>, the moving story of Carol Burnett's close, 50-year friendship with Julie Andrews." Amy, after ragging on Leo and all his insufferable <i>Revenant</i> PR: "The point is, Carol is better than all of us. And we're gonna give her a prize for it." Tina says something sweet about how inspiring it was to be a young girl seeing that Carol wasn't just funny and beautiful but that she was obviously the boss: "And that implanted in our minds that we could one day grow up, and be funny, and be successful, and work with our friends, but also be their boss."<br />
<br />
<b>8:00pm:</b> OMG, they heard me! We're back from commercial break with Diane Lane, Bryan Cranston, and Helen Mirren, all of whom are more charismatic in person than <i>Trumbo</i> allows them to be. The trio helpfully describe most of <i>Trumbo</i>'s entire narrative, for all the people watching who never came close to seeing it, or even hearing of it.<br />
<br />
<b>7:58pm:</b> We only have five categories and the Lifetime Achievement Award to Carol Burnett left to go. Probably some kind of In Memoriam tribute, too. And the all-important clips from <i>Trumbo</i>! It briefly occurred to me that we might be done by 8:30 CST? But then I laughed at myself.<br />
<br />
<b>7:55pm:</b> I wonder if I could suggest a simple light adhesive to the makers of the SAG envelopes. Nobody seems well-equipped to open them. No need to bolt down that flap.<br />
<br />
<b>7:53pm:</b> Idris Elba wins <i>again</i>, which means Jacob Tremblay has to pass a trophy he's barely strong enough to hold to the man who bested him earlier tonight for another one. I love that Elba's children got a tribute, albeit at the end of his second speech. Sweet, but don't let your heads get <i>too</i> big, guys.<br />
<br />
<b>7:52pm:</b> Idris Elba's clip proves he can look amazing even in pouring rain and virtually no light. Kingsley's proves that he can still overact in five seconds flat. Ray Liotta's clip is terrifying, and makes William H. Macy in <i>Shameless</i> look well-kempt. Bill Murray's conversation with Chris Rock makes clear why I didn't even consider watching. Mark Rylance's <i>Wolf Hall</i> clip didn't excite me as much as I'd hoped.<br />
<br />
<b>7:51pm: </b>Noted BFFs Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay present <b>BEST TV ACTOR - MOVIE/MINISERIES</b> (Elba, Kingsley, Liotta, Murray,
Rylance) - A duel between Idris Elba and slight favorite Mark Rylance,
I'm guessing, but I'm totally hung up on the fact that Ben Kingsley is
still getting cast in things like <i>Tut</i> and still getting nominated for them. <br />
<br />
<b>7:49pm:</b> Ruffalo, McAdams, and Keaton introduce a <i>Spotlight</i> clip with what you'd have to call minimal verve, until Keaton rides in to ham it up a bit.<br />
<br />
<b>7:47pm:</b> And yep, it's the Queen! Julianna Margulies high-fives the beautiful woman sitting there with Queen Latifah, which only adds to the general impression that they are close. Latifah does some curls with the statuette, then yells out her excitement. "Thank you Shakim, my partner. At Flav Unit." I got really excited during that long pause before "At Flav Unit." Latifah walks back toward the podium after finishing her speech, and once the sound is off, blows two kisses in the air toward her table. Which, who knows?<br />
<br />
<b>7:46pm: </b>Kidman's clip is the beginning of her long speech about making a difference in the world. Latifah's is running down the stairs after a kid. Ricci's involves her scaring little kids. Which... Sarandon's - I'm guessing she's Marilyn Monroe's mother? Sarandon has fished out those old you-know-whats, for sure. Wiig's is crooning at the microphone, begging for a drink. And there she is, seated with Amy Poehler.<br />
<br />
<b>7:45pm:</b> Anna Faris and Anthony Mackie acknowledge the members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Sure! And now onto the directly pertinent category, <b>BEST TV ACTRESS - MOVIE/MINISERIES</b> (Kidman, Latifah, Ricci,
Sarandon, Wiig) - Christina Ricci made a Lizzie Borden movie? Dang. This
is tough to predict, but I like Latifah's chances, and I hate myself
for not watching <i>Bessie</i> yet, even after buying the DVD several months ago.<br />
<br />
<b>7:44pm:</b> Uh, I just thought of a way they could have shaved at least a minute off their telecast.<br />
<br />
<b>7:40pm:</b> Howard introduces a montage of actors playing actors, starting with <i>Louie</i>, then <i>Dead Poets Society</i>, then Jean Simmons in <i>The Actress</i>, then before long <i>Full Frontal</i> (!), then not much later <i>I'll Do Anything</i>. This is a deep dig! Points for Alan Rickman in <i>Galaxy Quest</i>, though, and then <i>Soapdish</i>, and then <i>Fat Actress</i>, and then Jane Fonda in <i>Youth</i>, and then Teri Garr in <i>Tootsie</i>, and then the filet mignon, Meryl Streep's SAG joke in <i>Postcards from the Edge</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>7:38pm:</b> Here's Ken Howard, aka That Guy from <i>Joy</i>, aka second-term president of SAG-AFTRA. He's been told the show is already running one minute long. <i>Burn, Saoirse! </i>He salutes SAG, AFTRA, and IATSE and all the work they do, which I completely know is the whole point of the evening, but I wind up only half-listening. <br />
<br />
<b>7:36pm:</b> So, I'd say Supporting Actor looks a bit less in flux now, because if Rylance can't even top Elba, who failed to get an Oscar nomination, what match is he for Stallone? Supporting Actress could still go any which way, in the manner of 2007, but as I suspected, Vikander looks like she's pulling ahead, either on pure <i>Danish Girl</i> momentum (is that a thing?) or on body of work points.<br />
<br />
<b>7:32pm: </b>Idris Elba!! You guys, take a moment right here to <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/">make a donation</a> to The Film Experience, because Nathaniel called the sh** out of this, and I didn't see where he was coming from at all. Carol Burnett looks not entirely aware of who Idris Elba is. Idris got his SAG card from <i>Law & Order</i>, he reports from the stage. "Cary Fukunaga, you are a G for making this movie," is a good line. "Ted Something, Whatever, from Netflix" is even better, and perfectly earnest. "We made a film about real people and real lives," he says, which would be even more convincing if <i>Beasts</i> had bothered to delineate a real, specific nation. But, you know, splitting hairs. Christian Bale, in the role of Gracious Loser, claps vigorously as Idris bounds off stage. Leo DiCaprio, in the role of Ambassador From Brute Reality, nods solemnly as he politely applauds.<br />
<br />
<b>7:31pm:</b> Christian's clip is from the job interview he conducts in his first scene. I think Elba's is his first scene, too. Rylance's is in front of that "NO EXCESSIVE NOISE" sign, a really subtle touch by the production design team. Shannon's is "America was built by bailing out winners." Tremblay's is "I want a different story!" and he gets the handsomest dad, I mean the loudest applause. Saoirse's not yet a dab hand at opening up that envelope. Wait for it, folks...<br />
<br />
<b>7:30pm:</b> Saoirse Ronan is announced and is <i>nowhere</i>. Music plays for 15 seconds. "Well, that went well," she ad libs, and admits she was just happily watching the <i>Compton</i> clip and drinking her water and zoning out. She's here to present <b>BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR</b> (Bale, Elba, Rylance, Shannon, Tremblay) - Am I crazy for thinking Tremblay has the edge here? Could easily be Rylance or Bale, but even without the added bonus of that viral video of his BFCA speech, the <i>Room</i> kid seems like an irresistible SAG pick. I'd vote for Bale myself, followed closely by Shannon, though this is a pretty solid field, no matter how little it overlaps with Oscar's.<br />
<br />
<b>7:28pm:</b> The <i>Straight Outta Compton</i> stars follow immediately upon Vikander's win. She was supposed to play Tupac in that movie, but as we know, her schedule got filled by the other 68 movies she made this year. The <i>Compton</i> clip reminds me of how exciting the concert sequences were in that movie, and how up-and-down the rest of it was, though the actors were never less than terrific.<br />
<br />
<b>7:25pm: </b>Alicia Vikander takes it! <i>Savage Grace</i> table mates Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne, and Tom Hooper are super-psyched. Middle-background players Nicole Kidman and Ryan Gosling also look enthusiastic. Keith Urban is throwing back the whole rest of his glass of wine during her speech. Maybe he's where I am, thinking how much better <i>The Danish Girl</i> might have been had it gone ahead with his wife. Alicia is wonderful extemporizing about what it was like to observe the camaraderie of theater actors when she was young, and on the necessary teamwork of acting. Mirren's nodding, Redmayne's glowing, and even Keith Urban looks won over.<br />
<br />
<b>7:24pm:</b> Rooney's clip is "I barely even know what to order for lunch." Rachel's is trying to explain to Neal Huff that he has to be patient. Mirren's - does it even matter? One of the scenes where she acts imperious and lords it over some white guy. Vikander's is "I need to talk to my husband, I need to <i>hold</i> my husband." Kate's is in the elevator, with her back almost entirely to camera?<br />
<br />
<b>7:23pm: </b>"Ladies and gentlemen: Jeremy Renner." Why, I wonder? He's here to present <b>BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS</b> (Mara, McAdams, Mirren, Vikander, Winslet) - I will <i>jump</i> for <i>joy</i>
if Mara wins, which is not a very Mara thing to do. I'm guessing
Vikander and Winslet both have better shots, but I truly have no idea.<br />
<br />
<b>7:21pm:</b> Long interlude when TNT is just broadcasting a slide that says "DRAMATIC PAUSE. WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK." ???<br />
<br />
<b>7:16pm:</b> <i>Orange Is the New Black</i> wins again. I think that's Lori Petty in a complicated pink pantsuit-cum-dress, with truly deranged glasses? Laura Prepon speaks for the group. "Look at this stage. This is what we talk about when we talk about diversity." Lea DeLaria on a SAG stage. It was never inevitable, folks.<br />
<br />
<b>7:13pm:</b> Patricia Arquette and J.K. Simmons presenting together, again. Oddly, for <b>BEST TV ENSEMBLE - COMEDY</b> (<i>Big Bang</i>, <i>Key & Peele</i>, <i>Modern Family</i>, <i>Orange</i>, <i>Transparent</i>, <i>Veep</i>) - I'm guessing <i>Transparent</i>, followed closely by <i>Orange</i>, but boy would I love for <i>Key & Peele</i> to take it. This many years in, the cast of <i>Modern Family</i> looks all clapped out at their table, even after their footage shows. <br />
<br />
<b>7:12pm:</b> Christian Bale and Steve Carell introduce footage from <i>The Big Short</i> which "explored the dark side of modern banking." Imagine the <i>bright</i> side of modern banking! Ryan Gosling and Marisa Tomei are slouched in each other's laps, almost, chairs close together, deep in conversation.<br />
<br />
<b>7:10pm: </b>"Get up here, Dad," Bateman says to Tambor. I forgot there was Meaningful Presenter potential here, too. Tambor walks past the <i>Savage Grace</i> table, which is probably the 2014 Winners table, <i>but not to me</i>. Tambor salutes the whole <i>Transparent</i> table, "the most amazing cast I've ever worked with - except for Jason!" Bites his lip, with mock regret. Tambor dedicates the prize to "all the Maura Pfeffermans without a lot of cash, for their operations, for their medicines." Big applause.<br />
<br />
<b>7:07pm: </b><b>BEST TV ACTOR</b> (Burrell, Louis CK, Macy, Parsons, Tambor) - I'd assume Tambor is way out in front on this one? Sarah Silverman, co-presenting with Jason Bateman, can't get through her TelePromTer script without pulling out her eyeglasses and applying a fake mustache. Joe Manganiello, pretty close-cropped, is at the <i>Modern Family</i> table, because Vergara. The clip of William H. Macy in a soiled sleeveless T-shirt and pajama bottoms is a lot. <br />
<br />
<b>7:05pm:</b> It's Uzo Aduba again, just like last year. I love her every time I hear her speak or read her interviewed, but even I am starting to feel unsure why she's the only <i>Orange</i> cast member ever nominated for anything. Wonder how the other <i>Orange</i> gals are taking this. Maybe they're just thrilled. Maybe they'll take Ensemble again, like they did last year. Aduba ends her speech with a moving encouragement to all the actors at home, exhorting them not to give up.<br />
<br />
<b>7:04pm: </b>Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm do a great burlesque of empty stage patter before presenting <b>BEST TV ACTRESS </b>(Aduba, Falco, Kemper, Louis-Dreyfus, Poehler) - I'm guessing it's Kemper, since her name is already listed in gold on the SAG site? Seeing Wiig present to Kemper would sure be a blast.<br />
<br />
<b>7:00pm:</b> First "I'm an Actor" reminiscence is by Jeffrey Tambor, which already means Joe Reid won't go five-for-five. Now it's Chlumsky. Feel terrible for Joe. I mean that third guy. Who could've seen that coming?<br />
<br />
<b>6:53pm:</b> I'm switching over to TNT now, so I'm missing whomever Giuliana corners last. And honestly, nobody could top Nicole. For my pains, I am treated to the last few minutes of <i>The Blind Side</i>, including the moment when toddler S.J. checks out some college girls' figures as they walk past, and Leigh Anne threatens to cut off her son's penis. That's <i>America</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>6:46pm:</b> The Kidman-Urbans on the interview platform! Next to an incongruous shelf of flowers and houseplants? Nicole interviewed a few people who knew Grace Kelly, but also relied on fan testimonies, like those of her Mom. There's some acting research: ask your Mom! Nicole feels like the world divides into Marilyn Monroe people and Grace Kelly people, and her mom is a Grace person, and so is she. "Hey, which one are you?" it suddenly occurs to Nicole to ask her husband. "The you camp," he responds. She giggles and rolls her eyes. "<i>You can't pick me</i>," she says. "Marilyn Monroe or Grace Kelly." He won't bite. She really loved doing her recent play in the UK and getting to talk with her audiences outside the theater after the show. <i>Love her</i>. Asked about her <i>Grace of Monaco</i> nomination: "The whole film had such a strange journey, so for it to end up here with an acknowledgment like this is really lovely." <i>Strange journey</i> is one way to put it.<br />
<br />
<b>6:41pm:</b> A truly newsworthy conversation about which emojis Kate Winslet uses most often in her texts ("I love the poo one") yields the info that Michael Fassbender, who'll be skipping tonight, sent her a text of support this morning with the martini emoji and the shrimp emoji, which Giuliana didn't realize were options. Then they have to go. "Kate, you've been one of my favorite interviews of the night." Kate looks like she can't believe this could possibly be true. "Yep, well, this was me. I'll never change."<br />
<br />
<b>6:39pm:</b> Kate Winslet is so grateful for E!'s livecam because she's seeing herself in her pine-green Armani dress for the first time since leaving the house. Kate's still shocked that she won that Golden Globe. "To be honest with you, I've been so focused on Leo, and him winning everything," that she hadn't thought much about her own nomination. She also assumed Rooney Mara or Alicia Vikander would win, which is kind of funny, because you know only one of them was nominated in her category that night. <br />
<br />
<b>6:37pm:</b> Kate and Rooney Mara are coerced to clear up the pronunciation of their last name (sounds more like <i>hair</i> than <i>car</i>, kittens). When asked if their two Valentino dresses capture who they respectively are as people, Rooney says, "No." There are definitely more effusive people in the world, but you know what? It takes all kinds.<br />
<br />
<b>6:31pm:</b> I'm so impressed that this E! guy - who I sort of think might have been that guy on <i>The Comeback</i>? - could pick Kaley Cuoco out of a crowd. I have never once successfully done that. Kaley's hot for the current ABC Bachelor. Way more interesting is whatever slightly stern thing Susan Sarandon is saying in the background to a woman in headset microphone.<br />
<br />
<b>6:30pm:</b> Saoirse Ronan's starring in <i>The Crucible</i>? For Ivo van Hove? That should be exciting. Buy up those tickets, New Yorkers! Saoirse always seems like such a sweetheart.<br />
<br />
<b>6:28pm:</b> Marisa Tomei is in some serious forest-green Studio 54 chic. Plunging neckline, fabric to her ankles. Aunt May is going to be so freaking fierce.<br />
<br />
<b>6:26pm:</b> So far everybody I don't recognize is either on <i>Game of Thrones</i> or <i>Orange Is the New Black</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>6:25pm:</b> Claire Danes here to prove that <i>Homeland</i> is still on. She's about to start rehearsals for a Public Theater comedy with Hank Azaria and John Krasinski. I know millions of people envy the stars, and possibly envy young parents, but Claire has no time to watch TV and hadn't seen a movie in the theater in three years until taking her young chirren Cyrus to see <i>Peanuts</i> in December. So, jealousy isn't primary in my mind right now.<br />
<br />
<b>6:24pm:</b> Same E! host is trying to coax more dance moves out of noted floor-destroyer Jacob Tremblay, who's kind of into it, kind of embarrassed, and kind of like, "Dude, you don't have better questions for me than this?" I'm honestly kind of wondering if Tremblay might win tonight.<br />
<br />
<b>6:21pm:</b> Jesse Tyler Ferguson, adorable as ever, talking with his gay buddy who's also an E! interviewer, gushing about Barbra Streisand's recent voice cameo on <i>Modern Family</i> and showing off his diamond Chopard cufflinks. Sorry if this dates me but listening to a gay nominee talk to a gay red carpet journalist about his gay husband and their crushes on Barbra Streisand is exciting to me.<br />
<br />
<b>6:15pm:</b> Lots of folks looking great: Saoirse Ronan in what looks like form-fitting mauve crochet; Viola Davis encased in layers of shiny, dark olive fabric; Queen Latifah in tight, sequined, statuesque black; <i>Nicole Kidman</i> once again keeping the bar high in a bright, colorful, 60s-into-70s Gucci print, looking elated as ever to be in the company of her darling husband, and he with her. The Redmayne-Bagshawes are also emanating connubial bliss. Hollywood: good for relationships!<br />
<br />
<b>6:14pm:</b> "Idris, how does it make you feel to have three nominations tonight?" / "You know what, it makes me feel sexy." Okay, Idris! Hope you acclimate quickly to that brand-new feeling.<br />
<br />
<b>6:13pm:</b> Rami brought his mom to the Golden Globes and his show's publicist as his date to SAG, and none of that has to mean anything. It's his mom's birthday, which he's amazed Giuliana knows, and he promptly wishes her a Happy 70th. And I can't help thinking, Rami Malek's mother is 70 years old?<br />
<br />
<b>6:12pm:</b> Rami Malek's on Giuliana's platform now, and I <i>still</i> say he's one pair of colored contacts away from nailing that <i>Amir Soltani Story</i> audition.<br />
<br />
<b>6:05pm:</b> Brie Larson admits she picked her dress this morning in a jet-lagged haze after an all-night flight from Australia, where I assume she's shooting <i>Kong: Skull Island</i>. This admission could conceivably come back to haunt her, though I think she looks good. More importantly, I like Brie's honesty. Asked how this whole awards season experience has felt, she admits, "Frankly, it has involved a whole lot of saying goodbye to some privacy and some quiet and huge parts of what now feels like an old life I really loved, and saying hello, even welcoming, a new life that's very exciting but very, very different. I'm not even sure how I feel about it, though I'm very grateful." I'm paraphrasing, but only barely. Emotional candor on the red carpet! Point: Brie.<br />
<br />
<b>6:04pm:</b> I'm going to go there. I'm going to give Giuliana some credit where it's due. She doesn't only ask the same questions as everyone else. I'm not saying they always draw galvanizing responses, but "So, Sarah Silverman, I'm curious what other stand-up comedians say to you after they see your <i>I Smile Back</i> performance?" is not standard-issue. (Answer: "They say the best possible thing, which is, 'I feel like I'm so proud of you, and I don't even know why?'")<br />
<br />
<b>6:02pm:</b> Giuliana to Alicia Vikander: "<i>The Danish Girl</i>. <i>Ex Machina</i>. The <i>Vogue </i>Cover. I mean, <i>Wow</i>. In all that, what was the #1 Pinch Me Moment?" Vikander's answer: hanging with her parents on the Vegas set of the new <i>Bourne</i> movie—their first trip to the States—and getting to celebrate the Oscar nomination with them. Sweet.<br />
<br />
<b>6:01pm:</b> I should warn you that XFinity doesn't broadcast the commercials you see on normal TV, so my standard operating procedure for liveblogging will be significantly hobbled.<br />
<br />
<b>5:58pm:</b> Brie Larson, glimpsed in dumb show, is in a kind of asymmetrical, ripped-but-elegant, pale blue dress that has a peekaboo cutout in the bodice, revealing what seems like an entire boob. There's also a kind of red, seatbelt-style strap in the back that seems like a weighted contraption, holding down a strap that isn't actually attached to the rest of the dress. This is a real dare. Wardrobe Malfunction Possibilities seem extreme. Alicia Vikander is in a sequined sheath that's sort of Mondrian. White blocks. Gold blocks. Bronze blocks. Black bars. All different sizes. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>5:57pm:</b> Eva Longoria to Giuliana Rancic, when asked about the designer's inspiration when making her dress: "I don't know! I didn't make it! I just put it on! I'm guessing her inspiration was probably 'Show Some Skin.'"<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>5:55pm:</b> So what I'm learning is that Blogger and XFinity aren't going to hang all that well together. So I'm going to type this up in private and then drop the whole thing after it's finished. As a <i>surprise</i>. Like a <i>Beyoncé album</i>.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>5:48pm:</b> Just tuned into E! Red Carpet coverage a moment ago, and so far I know that Gaby Hoffmann has been campaigning in Iowa for Bernie Sanders, that her dress can sort of change color when you swipe your hand over parts of it (?!), and that Giuliana Rancic is as uncanny as ever. Hang tight while I get fuller into the swing of things.<br />
<br />
<b>5:45pm:</b> A friend has allowed me to watch the SAG Awards on her XFinity account while she slaves away on a paper she has to write! Keep smiling, keep shining, etc. I have no idea if this connection will persist, so I'm being coy about this liveblog until I'm more confident. So if you notice this is up before I've announced it on <a href="http://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">Twitter</a>, I'll know you're one of my REAL FANS.<br />
<b></b>NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-10995713095780852622016-01-10T15:30:00.003-06:002016-01-11T00:00:57.020-06:00Live-Blogging the 2015 Golden Globes<b>10:01:</b> "That's it. Sorry, we're out of time." That's Ricky Gervais from offscreen somewhere. Then follows it up with "From Mel Gibson and myself, 'Shalom.'" Hope you've all survived this live-blog. If you found it trying, frivolous, and repetitive, go put things in perspective. Sleep outside, inside an animal.<br />
<br />
<b>10:00:</b> It's <i>The Revenant</i>, notwithstanding that <i>The Revenant</i> is terrible. So rather than focus too much on this, can we just have a moment here? Iñárritu. Those diacritics over the letters are your best friends. They tell you just what to do. Iñ-Á-rritu. If we're going to have to go through this again in a month, which I'm not convinced will be necessary but suddenly looks more likely than it did a few hours ago, just practice!<br />
<br />
<b>9:59:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST PICTURE (DRAMA):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> <i>Spotlight</i>. I thought so before the party started, and I still think so, since the Globes are no stranger to the Best Picture-with-no-other-wins thing. Even if <i>The Revenant</i> came out pretty strong tonight.<br />
<b>Preference:</b> <i>Carol</i>, by miles, though I'd be happy with <i>Mad Max</i> or the <i>Globe</i> crowd. The <i>Boston Globe</i>.<br />
Harrison Ford, who has lived another evening without offing himself from sheer disgust at his vocation and its attendant frou-fra, is here to present it.<br />
<br />
<b>9:57:</b> Seriously, though. "From <i>The Hunger Games</i>, Julianne Moore?" That's so messed up.<br />
<br />
<b>9:54</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST ACTOR (DRAMA):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Leonardo DiBisonLiver<br />
<b>Preference:</b> A total and complete recall. I'd tick Fassbender's box (<i>that is not a euphemism, I am not horrifying</i>) but I'd be closing my eyes and thinking about <i>Macbeth</i> while I did it.<br />
Of course <b>Leonardo DiCaprio</b> wins it, and everyone stands up and applauds, because he's the only nominated actor who literally died while making his movie. He does speak with eloquence, and not exactly his fault that his full-throated tribute to First Nations people and their lands doesn't sit all that well with the exoticizing and somewhat hoary depiction of them in the movie. You really get the feeling that people in that room have heard even worse stories than the rest of us have about how awful it got on that set. I assume DiCaprio's in a tricky position and he brings his speech off with class, even if I'm so over the whole thing. The only bit that amazes me is that Kate Winslet isn't crying. She's as steely and focused as Jacob Tremblay was during Brie's. Everybody must be too tired for euphoria.<br />
<b></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b>9:53:</b> It's <b>Brie Larson</b>, who immediately after hearing her name called gets kissed and hugged by Todd Haynes. Good moment. Great moment. Whoever she forgot to thank in her speech, she promises to write a thank you card to them. Spoken like a girl who's just spent a lot of time with the HFPA.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:52:</b> Eddie at least nails "Saoirse" and gives us all a pretty definitive take, I should think, on "Alicia Vikander."<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:50</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Saoirse Ronan, or as James Corden recently called her, Psoriasis Ronan<br />
<b>Preference:</b> Rooney Mara, but obviously you can't go wrong with Cate. In fact, you can only go right with her.<br />
<br />
<b>9:48:</b> Tally of off-key and off-putting trans-related jokes off the charts this evening. Including in the ads.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:47:</b> NO. WRONG, QUENTIN. YOU <i>DO</i> NOT GET TO TALK TO CATE. ABOUT ANYTHING. I DON'T EVEN CARE IF YOU'RE APOLOGIZING TO HER. AND IT'S NOT EVEN ABOUT THAT INTERVIEW, SPECIFICALLY. JUST STAY AWAY FROM HER.<br />
<br />
<b>9:43:</b> It's <i><b>The Martian</b></i>, which is kind of interesting to those of us who felt like <i>The Big Short</i> was going to come out big tonight. I think it hasn't won anything, right? Ridley Scott, celebrating the year in film: "We had the highest grosses ever this year. I think there were a few bombs. But mostly, we did really well." Ridley mentions how humbling it was when his multi-hundred-million-grossing movie got outgrossed by <i>Star Wars</i>. He gets into a competition with the directors, the sound people, and the camera people trying to play him off. Even Jamie Foxx's daughter looks like she's trying to edge his fellow producers off the stage. Big applause, though, for ending the speech with a note on his late brother Tony. <br />
<br />
<b>9:40:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST PICTURE (MUSICAL/COMEDY):</b></span><br />
<b>Prediction:</b> <i>The Big Short</i><br />
<b>Preference:</b> <i>Joy</i>, which is way more interesting than you've heard, unless you've been listening to the right people, which it's extremely important to do. Try to make good choices in the new year!<br />
Presented by two-time Golden Globe winner and noted Emma Stone fan Jim Carrey, with a beard. Facial beard. He gets some good laughs, making fun of his two past Globes, and I guess, like, the irrelevance of everything.<br />
<br />
<b>9:38:</b> We're back. Wonder if Haynes is even still here? But Tobey Maguire is, to introduce the new movie by his P---y P---e Pal, Leo DiCaprio. Tobey refuses to advance through the TelePromTer until people give Leo an ovation. Everything is so out of control.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:33:</b> Maggie Gyllenhaal, co-star of Lenny Abrahamson's <i>Frank</i> last year, intro's <i>Room</i>. Brings some dignity to the room. Her dress could easily have tilted Havisham but doesn't. Brie Larson still aglow, seated at the table with les Washington and les Foxx.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:31:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST ACTRESS (MUSICAL/COMEDY):</b></span><br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Jennifer Lawrence, with her soul sister Amy Schumer right behind her<br />
<b>Preference:</b> Lawrence, though the big story here is that Maggie showed! Or, I thought she had. Wasn't she on the red carpet? In a wheelchair? I thought I saw her. Maybe I hallucinate Maggie.<br />
<b>Lawrence</b> wins, thanks Russell, thanks Joy Mangano next, thanks "my hometown, Kentucky," ends by saying she hopes she and Russell can be buried next to each other.<br />
<br />
<b>9:29:</b> Amidst this Xeljanz commercial, which is not the same as Xifaxan, but equally maybe-lethal, despite technically being a medication, I will just admit that even though I sure didn't think Haynes was winning a Globe tonight, it is hard to see <i>Carol</i>'s direction lose to <i>that</i> movie's direction. Actually hard to see any of those directors lose to that one, for that film. And I like most of his movies!<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:24:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV ACTRESS (DRAMA):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Viola, unless they don't want to send <i>Outlander</i> home empty-handed.<br />
Oh, it's <b>Taraji P. Henson</b>! This is the first thing Cookie's won, right? She starts handing everybody cookies on her way to the stage. Takes a couple of folks a second to get it. She looks and sounds pretty lit. Hair flyaways everywhere. Fabulous. They try to speed her up at one point and she lets them know she's waited 20 years for this, and if the NBC people hustle her up, they'll have to report to all the people on Twitter who've been praying on this. Instant compliance.<br />
<br />
<b>9:22: Alejandro González Iñárritu</b>, whose accent marks, <i>which explain how to pronounce the name, </i>everyone continues to consider optional. He struggled so hard on this movie that his Susan Sontag Streak is only more pronounced. He walks past the Haynes-Moore-Blanchett-Mara table, and this is the only time I haven't enjoyed looking at that table. <br />
<br />
<b>9:20:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST DIRECTOR:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Ridley Scott when the telecast started, but I could imagine any of them taking it<br />
<b>Preference:</b> <a href="http://www.filmcomment.com/article/todd-haynes-carol-interview/">My</a> <a href="http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/interview-todd-haynes/">friend</a> <a href="http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Director-Todd-Haynes-on-Carol/53688.html">Todd</a>, obviously. You didn't seriously think I'd bypass that chance.<br />
<br />
<b>9:17:</b> Lawrence vs. Schumer Death Match coming up, apparently, as soon as Chris Evans finishes a slurry, Stalloney introduction for <i>Spotlight</i>. Some un-careful sound mixing leads to audible woops still continuing over the start of the clip, as Liev Schreiber runs down the abuse stats.<br />
<br />
<b>9:14:</b> Denzel has to cut his speech way short, because he didn't listen to Pauletta, who told him he needed to bring his glasses up with him. Then he wants her to read it, but she doesn't have her glasses, either. Three of their kids are up there, looking like, "For real, this is what we're dealing with all the time. And we <i>flew</i> here. We're taking sick days for this." But they look proud. Anyway, everybody pulls the cord and calls it a day. Jamie Foxx is shaking his head at the table they all shared, like, "You don't wanna— maybe just— you're just... okay, you're out. Whatever. Denzel."<br />
<br />
<b>9:12:</b> Denzel brings his whole family on stage, which everybody seems to love. And it's good for him, too, because Pauletta keeps having to remind him where his son Malcolm is tonight and who he needs to thank. Denzel comes right out and tells a story about a time he won a Golden Globe after taking enough pictures with enough of the HFPA. Secret's out. Matt and Luciana love this.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:09:</b> There's a brief moment in the tribute montage when they try to convince you that Denzel is a laugh-a-minute, smile-a-minute<b> </b>kind of guy, but the editors give up after about ten seconds of that tomfoolery.<br />
<br />
<b>9:08:</b> But where is Julia??? She's trying to love her life here, people!! So am I!! Why is Tom Hanks doing this alone??<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>9:04:</b> Tom Hanks does a sweet job introducing Denzel Washington, but a couple things are subtly weird. Making a point about how you can't copy Denzel, having just impersonated him twice. Making a point about how you can't steal from him ("This I know!") despite having won an Oscar for a movie where Denzel actually out-acted him. And, in his list of actresses who come to mind instantly based on their last names alone, he picks "Hepburn," which makes everyone go, "Which one?" (Except thinking, feeling people, who always assume you mean Katharine unless you specify otherwise. But you get my point.) I'm glad they at least score the first long stretch of the tribute montage to "He Got Game." Perfect.<br />
<br />
<b>9:01:</b> Whatever dumb-show conversation found Jane Fonda<b> </b>cupping Terrence Howard's cheek so sensitively and seeming to forgive him for something? <i>That's</i> the conversation I want to hear. Lip-readers? Fill up the Comments, k?<br />
<br />
<b>9:00:</b> If you're contemplating your mortality, the good news is that all we've got left are the two Best Picture awards, Best Director, three of the lead acting awards for movies (all the ones except the Matt Damon one), and Best Actress in a TV Drama. The less good news is that we also still have the Cecil B. De Mille award coming up. But unlike when I was a kid, they don't usually give that one the full four hours with intermission anymore. And Denzel's usually a pretty terse guy. Be strong.<b><br /></b><br />
<br />
<b>8:56:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV SERIES (DRAMA):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> I mean, <i>Mr. Robot</i> feels most Globes-y, right?<br />
It's <i><b>Mr. Robot</b></i>. Audience sounds pumped. On sheer look alone, it strikes me that Rami Malek could plausibly star in <i>The <a href="https://twitter.com/amiresque">Amir Soltani</a> Story</i>, if they're still casting for that. (Though they'll probably, you know, hire Eddie Redmayne.) <br />
<br />
<b>8:53:</b> In a race to the bottom, Ricky Gervais has to introduce Mel Gibson, and they both come out the worse for wear. To top it all off, Ricky invokes Bill Cosby. Some other bout of scurrilous imprecation unfolds between them, funny-hating each other. Whatever it is makes Alan Cumming hide his face in giggly horror. I'd rather just forget all this. As Tim Robey would say Annette Bening would say, "It's just all...horrifying." Mel's here to introduce <i>Mad Max</i>, obviously.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:50:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST ORIGINAL SONG:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> I think they'll go with Brian Wilson's "One Kind of Love," and if they don't, AMPAS still could<br />
<b>Preference:</b> "See You Again," I was surprised to discover.<br />
A very Mod-looking Katy Perry, star of Jacques Audiard's <i>Rust and Bone</i>, presents the award to "The Writing's on the Wall," about which I shall bite my lips. Except to say, I do not sense Stallone levels of collective affirmation from the audience for this win. But that could just be projection.<br />
<br />
<b>8:48:</b> <i>Superstore</i>, the America Ferrara show, is hailed in its ad as "Monday's #1 New Comedy," which seems heavily qualified. The first two pull-quotes in the ad are actually "CLEVER" and "FUNNY," which seem lukewarm. <i>But don't listen to me, please watch, NBC's life depends on it</i>.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:46:</b> I get why people attempt cross-promotion, but this car ad with Derek Zoolander already feels exhausting. I can't imagine wanting to see 90 more minutes of this. One of those movies and one of those roles I'm never going to get.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:45:</b> The camera crew have developed a really poor habit of sticking to tight close-up in the quick montages preceding commercial breaks. Matt Damon's hugging some silver-haired guy, but I couldn't tell you who. Bernadette Peters loves somebody, but I can't say who. Katy Perry is ebullient around Eddie Redmayne, I can tell you that. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:42:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV ACTRESS (MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Queen Latifah, I'm thinking.<br />
<b>Preference:</b> I'd love to hear a Dee Rees shout-out from the Globes stage, so: Latifah.<br />
<b>Lady Gaga</b>, to whom I'm typically quite sympathetic, takes her win <i>very</i> seriously. Definitely a cryer. Pulls herself together, and then starts to lose herself a little again. Thanking everyone in the show for pulling her along. Leo is laughing about something as she nears the stage. Cate Blanchett's giving her the serious-faced supportive clap. Julianne smiles broadly at her. She's pulling Meryl Duty tonight. She's a beamer. Lady Gaga finds out the hard way even she can be played off.<br />
<br />
<b>8:38:</b> <i><b>Son of Saul</b></i> wins, and Helen Mirren is <i>Creed</i>-level happy about it. She even pulls a Matt Lauer and gives us some spontaneous Globes history about how Hungary's never won a Globe. (Is that right? No <i>Mephisto</i>, nothing?) The announcer says that the director will be joined onstage by "lead actress Jayza Rory." I'm very happy for László Nemes, who even manages to save a sentence that begins, "You know, the Holocaust..." Well done.<br />
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<b>8:37</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> I'm going on a limb for <i>Mustang</i>, but <i>Son of Saul</i> and even <i>The Club</i> would make sense<br />
<b>Preference:</b> <i>Son of Saul</i>, which I'm surprised is as polarizing as it is.<br />
Oh, fun! Some banter about how Gerard Butler is a lunkhead and Helen Mirren is a sex goddess! You live long enough, and you hear everything at least once. <br />
<br />
<b>8:35:</b> You already Googled Oyelowo's purple-and-black tux, right?<b> </b>Okay, now Google Jane Fonda's ...Situation. You might even have to use those words in your search: "Jane Fonda Golden Globe Situation 2016." It's ineffable, but wonderful.<br />
<br />
<b>8:33:</b> Finally, the camera crew proves unable to resist a Kate-chats-with-Leo cutaway before a commercial break. But I'm more intrigued by the Quentin Tarantino-Will Smith conversation, with Jamie Foxx sitting not too far away. No, actually, I forgot, I don't want to know anything Quentin Tarantino would say.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:32:</b> Indeed, it's <b>Gael García Bernal</b>, who looks elfin and overjoyed. Julianne Moore couldn't be happier for him. You can tell which men in the audience are gay, easily, plain as day, based on how they're watching Gael make his way to the podium. If only<i> any</i> of the people we're most curious about were here tonight!<br />
<br />
<b>8:30</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV ACTOR (MUSICAL/COMEDY):</b></span><br />
<b>Prediction:</b> I thought it'd be Aziz Ansari in a squeaker over Jeffrey Tambor, but the HFPA did tip their hand that they have a <i>Mozart in the Jungle </i>thing earlier on. <br />
<b>Preference:</b> Suddenly pulling for Aziz Ansari, because he let himself be seen reading a book called <i>How to Lose to Jeffrey Tambor with Dignity</i> when his name was called as a nominee. <br />
<br />
<b>8:29:</b> I can't be the only person who's wondering: <i>what</i> was the <i>spread</i> at the <i>Steve Jobs</i> party?<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:28:</b> Wow. I was half-prepared for Ferrell and Wahlberg to have to hide some displeasure if Adam McKay lost to Tom McCarthy, but I didn't think anyone had to worry about <b>Aaron Sorkin</b>. But here we are. And they do, in fact, look displeased.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:26:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST SCREENPLAY:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> <i>The BIg Short</i>, in an upset over <i>Spotlight</i>, maybe? Might depend who catered what at their Promotional Function<br />
<b>Preference: </b><i>Carol</i>, but since the HFPA didn't even go there (???!!), the fabulous script for <i>Spotlight</i>. Will Ferrell lectures the TV people seated way in the back for talking too loud and carrying on like "buttholes" while the movie people in front are trying to have a ceremony here.<br />
<br />
<b>8:22:</b> "Neighbors reported that Mr. Davis seemed to be in perfectly good health, or at least reasonably good health, until a sudden spate of <i>Dirty Grandpa</i> commercials seemed to arrest all of his bodily systems at once. He leaves behind him a desk that is literally <i>full</i> of lists of movie titles that nobody else understands."<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:20:</b> PLEASE let this copious outpouring of love for Stallone's win imply that everyone in Hollywood has watched their <i>Creed</i> screeners<b> </b>during the now-closed nominating window, and that they all did the right thing. In multiple categories.<br />
<br />
<b>8:18:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Mark Rylance, but I'd sure like it if Stallone pulled it out<br />
<b>Preference:</b> Stallone allllll the way, so fingers are crossed.<br />
Not only is it <b>Stallone</b>, but the room rockets into a standing ovation! Patricia Arquette's so excited she shows his name on the envelope to the camera. Everybody's standing except Kate Hudson (I'm not kidding) and Kurt Russell (supportive stepdad). Brie Larson is a giant sunbeam of smiley energy, right in the middle of the room. She's like the last scene of <i>The Fountain</i>, all by herself. But anyway, Stallone: he ends by thanking "my imaginary friend, Rocky Balboa, for being the best friend I ever had." It's the best thank-you since Mickey Rourke and his recently-deceased dog.<br />
<br />
<b>8:16:</b> Brad Jolie-Pitt and Ryan Gosling-Davis introduce a clip from <i>The Big Short</i>. They pump up its comedy credentials by improv'ing a bit about how annoying and passive-aggressive Ryan thinks Brad is. If there were a <i>Project Runway</i> for presenter skits, they'd be safely in the middle, or maybe eke into the top three if there isn't too much competition.<b> </b><br />
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<b>8:14:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> <i>Inside Out</i><br />
<b>Preference:</b> I preferred <i>Inside Out</i> to <i>Anomalisa</i> but saw no other animated features this year, so whaddo I know.<br />
Yep, it's <i>Inside Out</i>. Nothing to report here. <br />
<br />
<b>8:13:</b> Something <i>clearly</i> happened during the commercial break, because nobody will stop talking and cheering even as Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell try to introduce their category. Kate is SO drunk. Slurring, barely-standing soused.<br />
<br />
<b>8:12:</b> I know gays are supposed to the ones RUINING THE WORLD FOR OUR KIDS! but I have to say, a very sweet ad about how the Affordable Care Act saved a gay couple from an appendicitis scare is followed by a Netflix about a Dad who's super bummed about having to play with his kids when he just wants to catch up on his shows. So.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:10:</b> <i>House of Cards</i> ad, entirely narrated straight to camera by Kevin Spacey, laying it on extra thick, and reminding me why I still haven't gotten around to that show, despite many other incentives. I call this kind of thing "I Can't Believe It's Not Acting!"<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>8:06:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST ACTOR (MUSICAL/COMEDY):</b></span><br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Matt Damon, still wondering how he lost to Downey for <i>Sherlock Holmes</i><br />
<b>Preference:</b> Christian Bale, but ironically because he did the most and best work to make <i>The Big Short</i> less of a comedy.<br />
Even <b>Matt Damon</b> doesn't get more than 29 seconds? Somehow, in the two seconds it took to pass him the award, Amy Adams manages to say, "<i>Don't be a ----, thank your ----ing kids FIRST!</i>" and he does. It's a very earnest speech, invoking the many movies he's made that nobody went to see and a touching tribute to Ridley Scott, not just from him but from everybody in his category and the other acting categories who've worked with him and love him. DiCaprio and Fassbender get the out-loud hat-tips, but the camera cuts to an overjoyed (and extra-handsome) Christian Bale, too. Ridley looks touched. Sweet moment. Oscar ballots are already in, but I suspect this is the sort of no-bull, class-act speech that woulda helped. We'll see on Thursday!<br />
<br />
<b>8:02:</b> "<i>Joy</i> and <i>Trainwreck</i>. No, not the names of Charlie Sheen's favorite hookers." Check "Charlie Sheen" off your bingo cards. "J.Law" and "A.Schu," just in on a bus from Iowa, are here to introduce their Best Picture (Musical/Comedy)-nominated films. Whatever Amy said that got bleeped out was bad enough that even Cate Blanchett and Julia Louis-Dreyfus looked shocked, and they seem like tough cookies. They do a Brangelina/Bennifer-type improv about the names they eventually want when they're paired with their ideal mates. Amy wants to be called "AmyAllTheHemsworthses." But more of their badinage crashes and burns than I'm sure they expected. They look a little thrown. Still, the moment when Amy asked someone (a Washington?) to turn off their phone before her <i>Trainwreck</i> clip was pretty choice.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>7:58:</b> Eva Longoria's even in some of the ads that aren't for her show! People, do NBC a solid and watch one episode. They want this one so bad. Or else they're in Emergency Recovery mode.<b> </b>It's seriously getting poignant.<br />
<br />
<b>7:57:</b> In the commercial break, Morgan Freeman swipes some dandruff off Harrison Ford's shoulder (sweet), but carefully leaves the cyanide tablet in place.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>7:56: Jon Hamm</b> wins. Surprises me. Surprises him, too. Arguably surprises Rami Malek. I know people were upset for years that he never won anything, but now that we've heard two of his speeches, I wonder if any of those people have recanted.<br />
<br />
<b>7:55</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV ACTOR (DRAMA):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Rami Malek, I'm pretty sure?<br />
<b>Preference:</b> I'd be into that.<br />
America Ferrara and Eva Longoria bring off the show's best comedy bit so far, about how neither of them, in fact, is Eva Mendes, Rosario Dawson, Salma Hayek, Gina Rodriguez, or Charo. They even manage to nail this repartee in the immediate aftermath of Ricky Gervais's introduction of them, which, <i>you'll never guess</i>, was deportation-themed.<br />
<br />
<b>7:52:</b> OH GOD. Quentin Tarantino is accepting for <b>Ennio Morricone</b>. It's as horrible as you'd guess. He finds a way to say "ghetto" as part of his speech. Jamie Foxx isn't too thrilled, and called it out when he comes back to the mic to acknowledge his daughter Corinne Fox as Miss Golden Globes. Regina King wasn't feeling Quentin in general, either.<br />
<br />
<b>7:50:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> <i>The Revenant</i>, but several of these could pull it off<br />
<b>Preference:</b> <i>Carol</i>, but only by a tiny smidge over <i>The Hateful Eight</i>... which I would never say in <i>any other context</i><br />
Jamie Foxx thanks Will Smith, for nothing in particular, and Denzel Washington, for "loaning me the goatee." I think he's getting out in front of the NBC camera people, who he surely knows would cut to all the black people in the room no matter what he said. So at least he takes the reins of the Situation.<br />
<br />
<b>7:47:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST GUY WITH A SECOND-TIER PART IN ANYTHING ON TV:</b></span><br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Any of these guys could win! Mendelsohn, I'm guessing, but Slater seems plausible. Menzies, too. Any of them!<br />
<b>Preference:</b> It'd be fun to see Alan Cumming, looking extra happy and adorable in his round glasses. Is he sitting with Jennifer Jason Leigh? Can you tell? I'll keep an eye out. Remember <i>The Anniversary Party</i>? Rent it!<br />
<b>Christian Slater</b> wins for <i>Mr. Robot</i>, but not before Lady Gaga, presenting the award, gives a kind of acceptance speech of her own. She kind of Kanyes without even waiting for anyone to win before she takes it back. <br />
<br />
<b>7:44:</b> McCarthy, Feig, and Jason Huntington-Statham are here to introduce <i>Spy</i>. Viola aside, we're pretty into letting the stars and makers of movies hawk their own wares tonight.<b> </b>Their "bit" isn't as funny as the best parts of the movie, but Statham-Whiteley puts Feig into a remarkable persuasive headlock, all of a sudden. For real, he did. Dressed in the same color family as The Rock, too, so he continues branching out and working with all the right people.<br />
<br />
<b>7:41:</b> Flop-sweat is <i>wafting</i> off these NBC plugs for the Longoria show. It's clear that even the backstage announcer has been encouraged to invoke it as often as possible. Desperate Boosterism. Hoping Matt Damon is punching Ricky in the face backstage, then flying away at lightning speed, propelled by his wit.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>7:40:</b> "And this is for the memory of Nick." That is actually the last line of Oscar Isaac's short, sweet speech. He must be referring to the moment when he walked onto the stage and I died. <i>How does he already know</i>.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>7:38:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV ACTOR (MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES):</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> I want to say Rylance, but they'll have another chance, so surely they can't deny themselves Oscar Isaac?<br />
Yep, it's <b>Osc</b>... Wow. WOW, people. Sets. the screen. ablaze.<br />
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<b>7:36:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> <i>Wolf Hall</i>, maybe? Is that too solemn for the Globes?<br />
Guess not. It's <i><b>Wolf Hall</b></i> after all. Peter Kosminsky's the director of that one? Did you ever see his movie <i>The Cormorant</i>, where Ralph Fiennes has, like, an amorous thing with a bird? Worth it. <br />
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<b>7:34:</b> Matt Damon introduces <i>The Martian</i> after a tired "How is it a comedy?" joke and a dismal "Your best friend is an adulterer" joke, after which he can barely pull it together. But he does mention that his character uses his "wit" (not <i>wits</i>) and "ingenuity," <i>in that order</i>, to get his ass off Mars. I can't wait to find out later tonight if my wit is also jet-propelling.<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:33:</b> Brad Jolie-Pitt is playing a <i>fantastic</i> hair game tonight. He listens more assiduously than most to the Inspiring Speech by the head of the HFPA, who uses a "spotlight" metaphor for extra foreshadowing. Brad listens <i>so</i> closely. He's like the moral center of the ceremony. It's like a Plan B production, all its own.<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:32:</b> I sort of like Ricky's jacket. See? I'm nice. Even with the kale.<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:31:</b> NBC is working hard hard hard to sell the new America Ferrara and Eva Longoria shows. I'll just do my part by telling you that. They <i>really</i> want you to watch. "Consider."<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:30:</b> <i>Batman vs. Superman</i> ad. Now <i>that</i> looks <i>bad</i>. Way, way, way, way worse than a matronly-adjacent dress. Hey, home come I didn't get a Todd Haynes cutaway before or after that <i>Carol</i> clip?<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:28:</b> I'm not implying Viola Davis looks bad! I'm not a crazy person. Her heavily bedazzled dress is just a tad matronly and a little...pyramidal.<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:26:</b> Viola Davis, a gorgeous woman whose designer wasn't too interested in flattering her figure, comes out to introduce <i>Carol</i>, having been fascinating in a tiny part in Todd Haynes's<b> </b><i>Far from Heaven</i>. I'm a little worried this is good as it's going to get for <i>Carol</i> tonight. But I'm always thrilled to see Andrew Upton at any ceremony. Andrew Upton, aka Mr Cate Blanchett, aka a theatrical giant in his own right, is the only living human anywhere near the Don Gummer Zone of Adorable Spousosity.<br />
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<b>7:23:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV SERIES (MUSICAL/COMEDY):</b></span><br />
<b>Prediction: </b>I'm going to go with <i>Transparent</i>, although watch it be one of the newbies. What is <i>Casual</i>?<br />
<i><b>Mozart in the Jungle</b></i> takes it, which I only know about because Amazon is always asking me to utilize my Prime membership and actually watch it, even once. Is that Saffron Burrows? Is that Jason Schwartzman? Gael looks good even by Gael standards, which is a challenge to contemplate, much less to take in. <br />
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<b>7:21:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST TV ACTRESS (MUSICAL/COMEDY):</b></span><br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Rachel Bloom, I'm assuming, because I've never even heard of this show. In this Globes category, this usually works.<br />
Yep, it's <b>Rachel Bloom</b>, and she starts out at Full Alice Ripley! She is <i>screaming</i> at us, but it's a cool story about how her whole show almost didn't happen.<br />
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<b>7:20pm:</b> Andy Samberg stole someone's Twitter joke about the guitar guy from <i>Mad Max</i> accompanying the In Memoriam.<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:18pm:</b> Somewhere there is a golden mean to strike, where you don't belabor <i>how hard your movie was to make</i> like Leonardo and Alejandro have, but you maybe clue people in a little more often that the character you're playing had a strange accent that you're trying to approximate. An unfair rep keeps following Kate around, but I guess it's working out for her!<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:12pm:</b> <span style="color: #009900;"><b>BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN LITERALLY ANYTHING TELEVISUAL:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction: </b>Judith Light? Or maybe Regina King? Or Maura Tierney? I don't know? <br />
<b>Preference: </b>How could I possibly say, but Judith Light didn't look thrilled about the presenters calling her character "selfish."<br />
<b>Maura Tierney</b> takes it, and wins one for all of us in the Bespectacled Community. Thick plastic frames right up there on stage. Another lovely salute to her fellow nominees, though until I saw Regina King's table just now, I'd never considered the law of tact that apparently makes it hard to clap when someone beats your table-mate to an award. <br />
<b> </b> <br />
<span style="color: #009900;"><b><span style="color: black;"><b>7:09pm:</b> </span>BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:</b></span> <br />
<b>Prediction:</b> Alicia Vikander, in <i>Ex ma-TCHEE-na</i><br />
<b>Preference:</b> I'm really not pleased with my options here, but I'll go with Vikander's body of work.<br />
But it's <b>Kate Rocknroll</b> for <i>Steve Jobs</i>!! Well, that's a surprise, right? She's as surprised as anyone else, gives a lovely salute to all the other women in film this year, and calls Aaron Sorkin "crazy." It's a sweet enough moment that you almost forget the amazing, tiered Situation that Jane Fonda is wearing.<br />
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<b>7:08pm:</b> Jonah Hill's been bleeped out twice by the time-delay -- no, three times, giving a monologue as the bear from <i>The Revenant</i>.<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:07pm:</b> What role could Channing even be playing that explains that haircut?<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:05pm:</b> Equal-pay jokes that are about 50/50 on the funny/tacky border. Melissa McCarthy frowns down the lamest one. But the cracks about the worthlessness of winning a Globe are pretty good. Including the one about how he uses one of his own as a sex toy. I won't retype it, because you'll be like, "Was it really funny, though?"<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:04pm:</b> And now some timely Roman Polanski jokes. Maggie Gyllenhaal's turn to give him Amy Madigan Realness. Frown away, Mags! I'm with you.<b> </b><br />
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<b>7:02pm:</b> Ricky -- actually, I was really and truly going to compliment him on an NBC joke, but we immediately got a transphobic nod to Caitlyn Jenner's "changes" this year.<b> </b>And now he's onto Tambor, and more <i>hilarious</i> trans-themed humor. And still more. Queen Latifah gives him Salma Hayek-level freezing-cold stare-down. Check's in the mail, Queen.<br />
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<b>7:01pm:</b> "Welcome to the 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards!" They're almost old enough now that Jennifer Lawrence could play them! #OnFire But even <i>this</i> was better than Ricky Gervais's limp opening joke about Sean Penn.<br />
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<b>6:58pm: </b>The NBC crowd is all about J.Lo's dress, Jamie Foxx's emotional surges about his daughter being Miss Golden Globe, and Brie Larson's gold outfit. In case you wanted actual information.<b> </b>Depending how you define information.<br />
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<b>6:56pm: </b>Weight Watchers ad, also cruel in the context of the Globes: "Join for free now, and lose ten pounds on us." Is that a keepable promise? You don't pay anything till you're down ten? Hm.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:54pm:</b> When your dress is as fully breast-baring as Kirsten Dunst's, what's the point, even of pretending to have a top? She's got a whole dress on, yet she looks almost exactly like she did on the lawn under the moonlight in <i>Melancholia</i>. Nice to see her, in any case.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:52pm:</b> A small cadre of fire-fighters has arrived for the express purpose of following Leonardo around and spraying him with icy water from a high-powered hose. His assistant has been tasked to paper-cut him between award presentations and pour cayenne paper into the wounds. It's important that everything be harder for him.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:51pm:</b> Rob Lowe, still looking the same, still drinking that Eva Green juice.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:50pm:</b> Here's Rooney Mara, who absolutely deserves to win tonight. Having mastered the art of period-specific pastiche on <i>Carol</i>, she has come tonight with a pitch-perfect, scrupulously detailed homage to Jennifer Connelly's Oscar dress. Like everyone who worked on <i>Carol</i> she is obviously, palpably in love with the film and with her collaborators.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:49pm:</b> Have the other Ava DuVernay/Apple commercials been freed from the vault yet? Is there any chance I'll see one of those tonight?<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:47pm:</b> During this commercial, I'm assuming that someone is taking Amy Schumer<b> </b>aside to show her, you know, what a television camera is, and how the mics all work, and maybe introduce her to a star. You don't want to overwhelm her right off the bat, so I hope they go easy at first. Joanne Froggatt, maybe. Tobias Menzies. She's just a girl with a dream, after all. I don't even know if she's been to LA before! (She's an awfully good sport about being engaged this way.)<br />
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<b>6:44pm:</b> Steve Carell here, and making a play <i>again</i> as Biggest Fox on the red carpet. More hilarity ensues about how nobody knows <i>even now</i> what a Mortgage-Backed Security or a Credit Default Swap is. Which could be interpreted as a less-than-good admission from people who've seen the movie, <i>or starred in it</i>, but I love both Carells too much to pause here.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:41pm:</b> Everybody's excited about a TV actress called Jaimie Alexander from a show called <i>Blind Spot</i>? Search me. I actually thought they said "<i>Blind Side</i>" and was like, "They <i>adapted</i> that?? They stretched it <i>out</i>????" Jaimie's so new at this that she says she's excited for Ricky Gervais! The camera cuts away while Jaimie's still talking, so we can see Katy Perry doing every single Octavia St. Laurent pose from <i>Paris Is Burning</i>, though somehow the effect is not the same, even after they cleared the carpet for only her.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:40pm:</b> Two awards have been pre-announced: Best Marriage for the McCarthy-Falcones, and Nicest Person, a tie between McCarthy and Falcone. Their sweep continues! Melissa insists she knows Queen Latifah's albums verbatim. I'd ask to see <i>that</i> movie, except we know what it would turn out to be, so let's just quit while we're ahead.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:39pm:</b> I know Leonardo had to sleep for three months inside a bison's womb or something, but here's <i>my</i> struggle: I can't have champagne tonight because I'll still be working for hours after the ceremony, and I'm on a sympathy diet with my BFF who's got gestational diabetes while she's incubating her own personal sequel, so I can't have desserts, either. So if I'm extra cranky tonight, blame the kale, mkay.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:35pm:</b> Another queen having fun running an Irritable Bowel Syndrome commercial just as the stars sit down for a televised, high-anxiety dinner. Happily a drug called Xifaxan can cure your I.B.S., nominees! However, you "should call your doctor immediately if your diarrhea worsens while taking Xifaxan." I wonder how "immediately" they mean. (Yes, Xifaxan "can be fatal.")<br />
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<b>6:33pm:</b> Mark Ruffalo and Sunrise Coigney here, after a quick cutaway to Maggie Gyllenhaal looking <i>fab-u-lous</i>. Sunrise still deserves an honorary Best Supporting Prize for all that great crying and cheering she did on behalf of her friend Julianne last year, at seemingly every cere.... <i>is Leonardo seriously talking again about how hard his movie was to shoot??</i> <i>Can we please go back to the Ruffalos?</i> (Ruffalos? Ruffaloes?)<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:30pm: </b>I think this is Jennifer Lawrence with David O. Russell, but it might be Maggie Smith. I can never tell them apart. (Sorry, I couldn't think of a better Age Joke there. But I was determined to provide one, because I am an original!)<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:29pm:</b> Showing up with his wife and three daughters, and having it pointed out that his family is entirely women, Stallone extemporizes: "God must hate me!" Bodes well for Rylance, that kind of thing. But see <i>Creed</i> if you haven't! Even Sly's daughters and wife like it! "It's the only film of mine they want to watch. They hate me in everything else." If you're invited to a dinner party Chez Stallone, maybe politely decline.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:28pm:</b> Yep! Gaga has decided this <i>is</i> her <i>Casino</i>!<b> </b>She's here in a fairly conventional black dress and Marilyn hair. Predictable unpredictability. Gaga doesn't just have Donatella on speed-dial, she has Donatella's daughter Allegra on speed dial.<br />
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<b>6:23pm:</b> Matt Damon, to camera: "Hi, kids. Dad's here. With your friend Matt."<b> </b>Savannah rolls her eyes even as she grins, like <i>Oh, I'm not here, too? #BoysClub</i> She's on fire.<br />
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<b>6:21pm:</b> Somebody made a mulberry velvet tuxedo that's big enough for The Rock to wear it<b>. </b>I didn't know there was that much mulberry velvet in the world! I do feel bad for Redmayne, though, working so hard on his patterned ensembles and doing such sterling work but stuck under that bronze-medal ceiling. Oyelowo and The Rock are not catchable in this field. Make peace.<br />
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<b>6:20pm:</b> Eddie Redmayne: "I just feel lucky to be an employed actor." Savannah Guthrie: "Youuu <i>might</i> say you're more than an 'employed actor.'" Savannah has really worked on her shade throw! I'm so pleased with her!<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:19pm:</b> Just do yourself a favor. Just Google "David Oyelowo Purple Checked Tux." See, you're grateful, right? Dapper af.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:17pm:</b> Harrison Ford, still wearing that tiny cyanide tablet he's been keeping on his earlobe all these years in case he <i>really</i> can't stand his lot in life anymore, has an open chuckle with Lauer and Guthrie about how much he really doesn't like these events. #Charmed<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:16pm:</b> Not too late, I guess, to treat Amy Schumer like a recent immigrant from a tiny foreign country: "Are you going to have a lot of pinch-me moments in there, meeting all these stars? Every star in the <i>world</i> is inside that room, Amy!" I'm so inspired that this sheriff from a small town, with no acting experience, wrote this script for <i>Trainwreck</i> and managed to finagle the lead, where she told those people, "Now, you <i>GET OUT!!!</i> <i>Get</i> outta here!!!"<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:15pm:</b> Viola Davis, <i>still</i> trying to explain that Shonda Rhimes is not the creator or showrunner of <i>How to Get Away with Murder</i>. #JusticeForPeteNowalk And the award for Smoothest Transition of the Night: "And girl, you are getting away with murdering that dress! You are murdering this red carpet!"<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:14pm:</b> I only encounter Savannah Guthrie twice a year at events like this, so according to my time-lapsed perspective, she seems <i>significantly</i> more done with Matt Lauer than she was last year.<br />
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<b>6:09pm:</b> Ricky Gervais honors every known law by saying with a devilish grin, "Oh, I won't break any <i>laws</i>...!" I'm already suppressing a yawn. Even in the NBC ads, he recycles the same prose he used on stage last year while presenting to Amy. No way Aviana didn't catch that.<br />
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<b>6:07pm:</b> Brie Larson's Leia-inspired peekaboo dress made of gold rope in the same frame as Géza Röhrig's yarmulke chic. The spectrum. Are Kirsten Dunst and Garrett Hedlund an item? Did everyone else already know this? Was this born of <i>On the Road</i>? Do you remember <i>On the Road</i>? <br />
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<b>6:06pm:</b> Current tally of different "Alicia" pronunciations: 2. Current tally of different "Vikander" pronunciations: 3. These NBC types aren't even trying with "Machina."<br />
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<b>6:05pm:</b> We've followed the Pinkett Smiths with Taraji Henson (her charisma is powering the entire ceremony through sustainable energy) and Helen Mirren, so one has a sense of trading up from the pre-pre-show <i>(sic)</i> crowd. Work harder, actors, and get older, so you can talk to... well, Matt Lauer!<br />
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<b>6:04pm:</b> The Pinkett Smiths are here, even though the wrong damn one is nominated. Nobody has the temerity to ask about it. I wouldn't either. What if Jada's <i>XXL </i>character stabs Ricky with a stiletto and surprise-hosts??? Bliss.<b> </b><br />
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<b>6:01pm:</b> Pre-Pre Show is over, so we have a new cast of <i>(sic)</i>s: Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer, Natalie Morales, and two NBC co-conspirators whose names I didn't catch. And I'm suddenly pining for Ricky Gervais! Because Matt Lauer.<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:57pm:</b> <i>(sic 2)</i>: "I honestly really loved Laverne Cox." - ? #honestly <b> </b><br />
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<b>5:52pm:</b> Dagmara Dominczyk on her hubby, Patrick Wilson: "I told him that when he doesn't write things down, he tends to ramble, so he wrote something down." Crack that whip, Dagmara. Honesty is what keeps it working, everyone knows that.<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:50pm:</b> Jackie to Eva Green: "What do you do to keep calm on a night like this?" Eva: "I feast on a specific vat of blood I save for such occasions." Either that's what she said or it's just what I heard, I'm not sure.<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:48pm:</b> At long last, someone asks what we have <i>all wondered</i>, which is whether there is any added pressure involved in playing a real person. My guess is that there is not. You can tell Michael Fassbender is considering that reply. <i>(sic 2)</i>: "I feel that you also play a really good person with a temper. Is that what you're like in real life?" Intrepid, she states, "I want to know if there's a speech in one of those pockets," and he somehow doesn't say, "No, just happy to see you."<br />
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<b>5:46pm:</b> To whatever queen behind the scenes at the local Chicago NBC affiliate who just cut off the <i>Danish Girl</i> ad after the first two seconds in favor of a cereal ad: <i>Well played</i>.<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:44pm:</b> "I am obsessed with that dress. I am literally watching it go down the stairs right now." Try to sketch your vision of what you think that dress must be doing right now.<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:42pm:</b> Lily Tomlin looks amazing! #ThatsAll<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:40pm:</b> I'm going to leave Jackie and Maura Tierney to check in about how shitty it is when dudes step on your train, and go write some pre-fab text about preferences and predictions. (Another tactful moment from a <i>sic</i>, by the way: "When I first heard the show was called <i>The Affair</i>, I thought 'how far can you really take a premise like that?' but then I eventually got into it."<br />
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<b>5:36pm:</b> Laverne Cox, aka Ten Feet Tall and Rising, is psyched to be at her first Golden Globes and is wearing some great earrings that I'd call Julianne Moore Green. I was so with her till she singled out Leonardo DiCaprio as the person she's most excited to meet. She hasn't seen <i>The Revenant</i> yet, but she has a screener at home! Which worries me a little, because Laverne, I'm not sure that's an approved path to The Truth.<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:32pm: </b>Gina Rodriguez and Jackie, aka <i>(sic 3)</i>, confess to having both disdained deodorant for the evening: "It ruins the dress!" <i>(sic 2)</i> can't get behind this at all. <i>(sic 1)</i> is all about Regina King's cape. She's also proud that she correctly predicted Luis Vuitton for Alicia Vikander, nominated tonight for <i>Ex ma-TCHEE-na</i>. (I'm horrible.)<br />
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<b>5:30pm:</b> <i>(sic 2)</i> asks Mark Rylance in his Bavarian, tiny-feathered hat, "Is this your first Golden Globes? What do you think about it? You think it's kind of crazy, right?" Rylance obligingly agrees to this helpful account of his feelings, and so far isn't quoting obscure poetry.<b> </b><br />
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<b>5:29pm:</b> Just heard a commercial that freely and often referred to business owners as "progress-makers." Hope all you educators, activists, and civil rights lawyers out there get the memo! <br />
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<b>5:25pm:</b> I was a little worried there by how Patrick Wilson has aged. But then I realized that was Bob Odenkirk. Who looks fine! As long as you're not expecting Patrick Wilson. If any of you care, <i>(sic 1)</i> is called Liliana, apparently, and <i>(sic 2)</i> is called Sarah. They're teamed up with <i>(sic 3)</i>, who has that hilarious habit of only being excited about outfits after the designer has been named. E.g., "Now, who are you wearing." / "This tux is Dior." / "<i>Oh, nice!!</i>"<br />
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<b>5:24pm:</b> Another reporter <i>(sic)</i> to the creator of <i>Mr. Robot</i>: "How did you think of the premise of that show, because you really have to have a brain for that! I feel, when I'm watching it - like, so vulnerable." Best not to press into implications of this confession.<b> </b>("Vulnerable" to what?)<br />
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<b>5:23pm:</b> How thrilling to be interviewed about your brand new show on the red carpet and have the reporter <i>(sic)</i> tell you what a "guilty pleasure" it is!<br />
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<b>5:20pm:</b> Dad's sharing his feelings about <i>Bridge of Spies</i>, Francis Gary Powers, and <i>The Water Diviner</i>. Military guy. Occupational hazard. Or gift! Almost there.<br />
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<b>5:15pm:</b> Red Carpet has started but I'm not hearing it because I'm talking to my Dad on the phone because I care about family more than I do about movie awards. Sometimes. In a way. Hang tight.<br />
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<b>4:55pm:</b> I can tell the Globes are closer! I'm already seeing a commercial that encourages me to take TamiFlu though it <i>might</i> murder me. Terrifying drug-industry commercials are the advent calendar that built to the manger scene that <i>is</i> the Golden Globes.<br />
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<b>4:20pm: </b>You guys, we are going to have to be <i>so lucky</i> to get any repeat of last year's amazing moment—rarer than people think on awards shows—of a winner who really, truly had absolutely no idea she was going to win. In the same way that the roving flotillas of stylists mean we never get to see Demi Moore in self-designed biker-short chic anymore, the brigades of pre-Globes award-giving bodies mean we rarely encounter a truly flustered winner. But <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NEfMgocE6c">Amy Adams</a> had no clue, nor should she have, that she would win a Best Actress award last year for <i>Big Eyes</i>, and caught unawares, she extemporized lavishly on her daughter, and at one point observed that her time at the mic was "getting weird." I'm completely sympathetic to Amy, and all the more so to her daughter, whom we're told <a href="https://youtu.be/8NEfMgocE6c?t=207"><i>really sees</i></a> what all her mom's female colleagues in Hollywood are up to. If what we're dealing with is an early-onset case of actressexuality in a 4-year-old, I'm all for it. Maybe she'll grow up to be like me, writing "Dianne Wiest" and "Sonia Braga" and "Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio" in complex acrostics on my grocery-bag book covers in middle school. (That's true. As you didn't doubt.) Or maybe Amy's daughter is nothing like this, or maybe she <i>has</i> no daughter, and this was all a brilliant bit of improv. If so, hail Frances McDormand, who wasn't buying this story for a second, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who harbored her own skepticisms and then looked to Fran to confirm, <i>Yeah, this is prolly b.s.</i> (No, that's probably not what these sweet women meant at all. They love Aviana, and appreciated her notes on <i>Veep</i> and <i>Olive Kittredge</i>. But to all my students reading, who still don't believe me that a single edit can open up worlds of delicious connotation: here's proof!)<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/FranAmyGlobes.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>3:40pm:</b> Here are <a href="http://variety.com/2015/film/awards/golden-globe-nominations-2016-nominees-full-list-1201658166/">the nominees</a>, in case you've been stranded on a different planet, or brokering ententes between your dad and your ex in the basement, or so busy boning up on credit default swaps and the alien hairstyles and skin regimens of 2007 that you haven't had a moment to look them up.<br />
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<b>3:30pm: </b>As I just posted to <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">Twitter</a>, I have an essay and a lecture to finish and an apartment to clean before my Mom arrives tomorrow—so, you know, not even a visitor whose own dirty clothes you've pushed aside plenty of times to make yourself a seat, and who can stand to put up for a change with <i>your</i> dirty dishes and un-dusted shelves. Still, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/search/label/Liveblogging">live-blogging awards shows</a>, and the <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/search/label/Golden%20Globes">Golden Globes</a> in particular, has been (if I may) I forte of mine for a decade now and is usually responsible for my highest-traffic night of the year: in <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2008/01/live-blogging-golden-globes.html">2007</a>, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2009/01/liveblogging-2008-golden-globes.html">2008</a>, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2011/01/live-blogging-2010-golden-globes.html">2010</a>, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2012/01/live-blogging-2011-golden-globes.html">2011</a>, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2013/01/live-blogging-2012-golden-globes.html">2012</a>, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2014/01/live-blogging-2013-golden-globes.html">2013</a>, and <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/01/liveblogging-2014-golden-globes.html">2014</a>. There was one brief blip in 2009, a year when I was briefly abducted by a somewhat dismal actor and forced to choose between marrying Domhnall Gleeson or sleeping for an entire year inside a horse carcass with only a meltedy spoon to keep me company. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, I found out some a--hole was <i>spying</i> on me from the next carcass over. So I had to drive all the way back to the city, strapped to the front of Domhnall's car. He was still mad at me because I should have just picked him in the first place. The only person who understood my predicament was Emily Blunt, who said she's been in plenty of tight spots where she couldn't remotely work out what to do, either; and Matt Damon, who promised me that no matter how extreme your circumstances, a billion-dollar global line-item is eventually budgeted to save you, so you should just Do You, bro.<br />
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While cleaning the bathroom for Mom this afternoon, I availed myself of an annual opportunity to listen to all the songs nominated for Best Original Song at tonight's event. I figured this about the level of focus that HFPA voters were apportioning to the same task. Here's how it went:<br />
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"One Kind of Love": I mean, sure. It nearly gets away with "unconditional"/"wishing for" rhyme, which is something. Maybe not a perennial.</div>
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/686238249812160515">January 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
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I sprayed as many foaming bubbles at "The Writing's on the Wall" as I possibly could but it's still awful: mawkish, excessive, un-Bond-like.</div>
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/686270341526728704">January 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
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I thought so: "See You Again" is a song I overheard at CVS. At least it's engaging, fits the film's idiom, and is sorta poignant in context.</div>
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/686271348155510784">January 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
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"I'll See You in My Dreams" is an impressive tune, all the more so for how it condenses th... oh wait, I forgot the HFPA whiffed their task.</div>
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/686272730862366720">January 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Best trait of "Simple Song No. 3": I buy Caine's character writing it, and earning fans. But it's also long and a bit up itself, like Youth.</div>
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/686275288221773824">January 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
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"Love Me Like You Do" is perfectly adequate pop. Why it would win a movie award I couldn't say. Think this makes me a "See You Again" voter?</div>
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/686277401899352064">January 10, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-23775140562264613542016-01-01T12:00:00.000-06:002016-01-01T13:38:43.569-06:00A Whole New Year of Actressing<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/actres09banner.jpg" width="100%"><br>
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Having just successfully completed <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilms.html">one long-deferred project</a>, my resolution for 2016 is to get cracking on updates to the <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/osactresportal.html">Best Actress section</a> of my website, which has been virtually static for five years. The rehab will be extensive: ditching the cumbersome html frames, reformatting, editing existing prose, and adding updates from years I have not covered, including the most recent ones. I'll also make some minimal and carefully curated expansions to cover un-nominated performances by heavy campaigners, by actresses working nowhere near Oscar's tastes, and by non-anglophone performers who too rarely catch the Academy's eye. As you'll see <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks/status/682958355971895297">in this mockup</a>, I've already worked out some of the design issues, at least provisionally, and I'm ready to get watching, re-watching, writing, and re-writing. For many of you, the Best Actress section was your entryway into the site, or remains your favorite wing of it, or both. I get lots of nice e-mails from you with firm but tactful suggestions that I report back for duty. So here I am, showing up. (The old versions will persist on Nick's Flick Picks for a few more weeks before the first new page is ready.)<br>
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As I've said before, part of the delay has involved some strategizing about how to reboot this as a website feature while simultaneously developing it as a book or series of books, which I have already discussed with one excited editor who has given me some great leads. This part of the plan obviously means not giving away all the content for free. Still, the response to what I've written so far and what currently remains available on the site is why there is a documentable audience for such a publishing venture anyway. So the compromises here will be twofold: 1) updates and reboots, but rarely for full years, and requiring that portions of what's currently posted will have to come down; and 2) a focus at first on two particular decades, since these subsets of the larger project will serve as the sample material for prospective agents and presses. My current plans are to start with 1970-79 and 2000-2009, so expect the first wave of new and revised posts to fall within those frameworks. I hope you'll be excited about this material, and since your enthusiasm will be a huge help in making the case to publishers, please be vigorous in the Comment sections, even when you disagree with me!<br>
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<i>Meanwhile</i>, turning from leading ladies to their supporting sisters, this year marks the 80th birthday of the Best Supporting Actress category at the Oscars, meaning we'll soon meet our 400th nominee. But here's a statistic I don't think you'll read anywhere else: because of multiple nominations from the same movies in many years, our existing constellation of Supporting Actress nominees hails from 360 movies. Barring the unlikely scenario whereby Rooney Mara's transfixing lead performance in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/carol15.html"><i>Carol</i></a> gets nominated in the Supporting race, as per studio wishes, <i>and</i> her castmate <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2015/12/31/fyc-sarah-paulson-carols-best-supporting-actress.html">Sarah Paulson</a> comes from behind to reap a surprising but well-deserved mention on the same list, we'll be looking at 365 movies over time that reaped recognition in this race.<br>
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Did someone say 365? Who am I to ignore a number as resonant as that?<br>
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/Sas16JanTeaser.jpg" width="100%"></a><br>
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Yes, I know, 2016 is a leap year. But that won't stop me from posting this <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan.html">handy calendar</a> representing all the movies that have made that category such an enduring joy, if also an occasional head-scratcher or locus of frustration. When there's time, I'll post some occasional performance reviews here, too. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan1.html">One's up today</a> for Beulah Bondi in <i>The Gorgeous Hussy</i>, the first name listed on the first ballot in the first year of Best Supporting Actress. And yes, it's 365 words long. Obviously, the Supporting Actress Smackdowns at Nathaniel R's <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/tag/smackdown">The Film Experience</a>, having originated at <a href="http://stinkylulu.blogspot.com/search/label/smackdown">StinkyLulu's Blog</a>, remain the best, most thorough, and most excitingly multi-voiced spots to investigate "actressing at the edges." I'll be less of a completist in this area and don't want to horn in on their turf. Though <a href="http://stinkylulu.blogspot.com/2006/03/honoring-grand-dames-serious-actresses.html">in fact</a>, the idea of the Smackdowns was initially inspired by my own Best Actress section, so everything comes full circle!<br>
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I'll look forward to more posts, conversations, and hopefully publications in 2016. No website can satisfy <i>all</i> your actressing needs, which I assume are substantial, and no new year ever goes exactly according to plan. But I'll keep showing up if you do. Cheers!<br>
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan1.jpg" width="19%"> <img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan2.jpg" width="19%"> <img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan3.jpg" width="19%"> <img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan4.jpg" width="19%"> <img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sas16jan5.jpg" width="19%"> NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-4123844956853007272015-12-20T14:00:00.000-06:002015-12-30T08:37:41.662-06:00The Website that Went Up a Hill and, Ten Years Later, Came Down a Mountain<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/f100polax.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>Updated, Dec. 30:</b> And at long last... it's a wrap!<br />
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<b>Original, Nov. 28:</b> Wow. Even I didn't expect to be this productive. When I decided <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/11/nicks-flick-picks-force-awakens.html">a week ago</a> to update the <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilms.html">Favorites Countdown</a>, a project that's been gestating on my site for <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2005/10/lets-start-picking-some-flicks.html">literally ten years</a>, I was responding to a few prompts. I've been pushing through one more essay for my job, having submitted three already in the last six months, and finding that my prose was getting more abstruse and congested. (Trust me, my editors agreed.) Writing more for the site usually coaches me back to less fussy, more avid self-expression. I wanted more new content to show to anyone dropping in from my new gig at <a href="http://www.filmcomment.com/author/nick-davis/"><i>Film Comment</i></a>, or from one I hope to start soon at <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/best-films-2015-all-the-votes/#/?poll=combined&voter=c052d5"><i>Sight & Sound</i></a>. I was reluctant to show my face to <a href="http://letterboxd.com/culturemeh/">Jonathan Storey</a>, whom I'll finally meet this week, and who sent me a hand-written letter from the UK well over a year ago imploring me to wrap up this loose end. I couldn't even bear to show my face to <i>myself</i> if I actually let the project take more than a decade. Having <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsjunebug.html">written</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmscrash96.html">eight</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmswalktalk.html">new</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmseyeswide.html">entries</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsopnight.html">inside</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbvenus.html">of</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbeautrav.html">a</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsnaklunch.html">week</a>, I'm suddenly in striking distance of that goal.<br />
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Some time ago, I'd posted a version of the new entry on <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsjunebug.html"><i>Junebug</i></a>, hoping it might help me finish if I just wrote up the movies as I re-screened them, rather than honoring their order on the list. But that seemed confusing, and didn't work, anyway. Now that the revised entry is posted, the remaining 17 are all relative surprises, though I admit I'm curious: since several of you have been sweet enough to follow the site for years, how much of what's coming do you think you've deduced? I sometimes feel I talk about the same movies all the time, regardless of context, so I'm curious if I've tipped my hand more than I realize.<br />
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I'll also fess up that these last 17 films were all, at some point, in the endlessly shuffled Top 10, where any of them could still be plausible. The "ranking" aspect of this list is silly even by ranking standards, especially given the codicil that I'm omitting all the movies on my re-energized <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/topfilms.html">Top 100</a>. (To keep from bewildering everybody, I'm going to pause on updates there while I finish the updates here.) There's no question that any list of my favorite-favorite movies would include <i>The Piano</i>, <i>When Harry Met Sally...</i>, <i>Safe</i>, <i>Morvern Callar</i>, <i>Aliens</i>, <i>Harlan County USA</i>, and several other movies you'll eventually find on that other roster, which pretends to disentangle aesthetic merit from personal bias. So, probably none of the next and final 17 Favorites are the movies I name first when pressed at parties for my desert-island trove. At the same time, I'd definitely want all of them on that desert island, #17 as much as #1.<br />
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The last thing to stipulate, given how long I've taken, is that I haven't altered the titles on the Favorites countdown to include any movies released after 2005, when I got going. A year or two into the saga, during the first Dormant Period, I shuffled a few out (still archived at the <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilms.html">bottom of the sidebar scroll</a>) and some new ones in, including <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsdcbparty.html"><i>Dave Chappelle's Block Party</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsjunebug.html"><i>Junebug</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsdethlaza.html"><i>The Death of Mr. Lazarescu</i></a>, all quite new at the time. There is one more Favorite of comparable vintage still to come, and one more fugitive from the former Top 100 list that moved over here when <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/topetsunshn.html"><i>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</i></a> migrated in the opposite direction. By all rights, several movies from my last decade of moviegoing should be here: <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/margaret.html"><i>Margaret</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prodgson.html"><i>Prodigal Sons</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/slbeaujl.html"><i>Sleeping Beauty</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/fishtank.html"><i>Fish Tank</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/deepwatr.html"><i>Deep Water</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/beastwld.html"><i>Beasts of the Southern Wild</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/heat13.html"><i>The Heat</i></a> all spring to mind as likely contenders. But lest anyone wonder, I wanted to give you the feature you've been awaiting all this time, not some weird <i>Blade Runner</i>/<i>New World</i> amalgam of the original, the rough cut, and the changes I now wish I'd administered all along.<br />
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So, without further ado—but also with protracted, belabored surfeits of ado, which I thank you so much for indulging—here are the final 17 movies I hope you'll take to your hearts as I have to mine, if you haven't already... and I hope, too, that you'll keep sharing reactions and personal pets in the Comments!<br />
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1. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmspolax.html"><i>Pola X</i></a> (1999, dir. Leos Carax)<br />
2. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsvelvetg.html"><i>Velvet Goldmine</i></a> (1998, dir. Todd Haynes)<br />
3. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmswaywewere.html"><i>The Way We Were</i></a> (1973, dir. Sydney Pollack)<br />
4. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsportlady.html"><i>The Portrait of a Lady</i></a> (1996, dir. Jane Campion)<br />
5. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsdogday.html"><i>Dog Day Afternoon</i></a> (1975, dir. Sidney Lumet)<br />
6. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsfrances.html"><i>Frances</i></a> (1982, dir. Graeme Clifford)<br />
7. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbridges.html"><i>The Bridges of Madison County</i></a> (1995, dir. Clint Eastwood)<br />
8. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilms110901.html"><i>11'09"01</i></a> (2002, dirs. Miscellaneous)<br />
9. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsoceans01.html"><i>Ocean's Eleven</i></a> (2001, dir. Steven Soderbergh)<br />
10. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsgrizzly.html"><i>Grizzly Man</i></a> (2005, dir. Werner Herzog)<br />
11. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmscapefear.html"><i>Cape Fear</i></a> (1991, dir. Martin Scorsese)<br />
12. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmschinasyn.html"><i>The China Syndrome</i></a> (1979, dir. James Bridges)<br />
13. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsstrdays.html"><i>Strange Days</i></a> (1995, dir. Kathryn Bigelow)<br />
14. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsblkbords.html"><i>Blackboards</i></a> (2000, dir. Samira Makhmalbaf)<br />
15. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsthecell.html"><i>The Cell</i></a> (2000, dir. Tarsem Singh)<br />
16. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsycncount.html"><i>You Can Count on Me</i></a> (2000, dir. Kenneth Lonergan)<br />
17. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsdemonlov.html"><i>demonlover</i></a> (2002, dir. Olivier Assayas)<br />
18. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsjunebug.html"><i>Junebug</i></a> (2005, dir. Phil Morrison)<br />
19. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmscrash96.html"><i>Crash</i></a> (1996, dir. David Cronenberg)<br />
20. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmswalktalk.html"><i>Walking and Talking</i></a> (1996, dir. Nicole Holofcener)<br />
21. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmseyeswide.html"><i>Eyes Wide Shut</i></a> (1999, dir. Stanley Kubrick)<br />
22. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsopnight.html"><i>Opening Night</i></a> (1977, dir. John Cassavetes)<br />
23. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbvenus.html"><i>Blonde Venus</i></a> (1932, dir. Josef von Sternberg)<br />
24. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbeautrav.html"><i>Beau travail</i></a> (1999, dir. Claire Denis)<br />
25. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsnaklunch.html"><i>Naked Lunch</i></a> (1991, dir. David Cronenberg) NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-60901062243208075062015-12-13T21:32:00.000-06:002016-01-23T14:10:40.998-06:00My Acting Contenders for 2015Who am I forgetting? Who would you root for? Whose work have you not seen? Because if they're listed here, you definitely should...<br />
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<span style="color: #003399; font-size: 1.5em;">Best Actress</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;">Top Contenders</span><br />
Elizabeth Banks, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a> <br />
Cate Blanchett, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/carol15.html"><i>Carol</i></a><br />
Cate Blanchett, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/truth15.html"><i>Truth</i></a> <br />
Emily Blunt, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sicario.html"><i>Sicario</i></a> <br />
Sandra Bullock, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/obrand15.html"><i>Our Brand Is Crisis</i></a> <br />
Laia Costa, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/victor15.html"><i>Victoria</i></a> <br />
Marion Cotillard, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/macbeth.html"><i>Macbeth</i></a> <br />
Blythe Danner, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/illsedrm.html"><i>I'll See You in My Dreams</i></a> <br />
Rinko Kikuchi, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/kumikoth.html"><i>Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter</i></a> <br />
Rooney Mara, <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/carol15.html">Carol</a> </i> <br />
Bel Powley, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dtengirl.html"><i>The Diary of a Teenage Girl</i></a> <br />
Charlotte Rampling, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/45years.html"><i>45 Years</i></a><br />
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<span style="color: purple;">Honorable Mentions</span><br />
Geraldine Chaplin, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sandollr.html"><i>Sand Dollars</i></a> <br />
Golshifteh Farahani, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a> <br />
Michelle Hendley, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/boymgr14.html"><i>Boy Meets Girl</i></a><br />
Arielle Holmes, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/hevkwhat.html"><i>Heaven Knows What</i></a> <br />
Dakota Johnson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/50shades.html"><i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i></a> <br />
Jacqueline Kim, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/advantgo.html"><i>Advantageous</i></a> <br />
Sidse Babett Knudsen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgy.html"><i>The Duke of Burgundy</i></a> <br />
Sarit Larry, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/kindgtch.html"><i>The Kindergarten Teacher</i></a> <br />
Brie Larson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/room15.html"><i>Room</i></a> <br />
Jennifer Lawrence, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/joy15.html"><i>Joy</i></a> <br />
Maria Alexandra Lungu, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wondrs14.html"><i>The Wonders</i></a> <br />
Ellen Page, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/freeheld.html"><i>Freeheld</i></a> <br />
Teyonah Parris, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/chiraq.html"><i>Chi-Raq</i></a> <br />
Saoirse Ronan, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/brooklyn.html"><i>Brooklyn</i></a><br />
Sarah Silverman, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ismilbac.html"><i>I Smile Back</i></a> <br />
Cobie Smulders, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/rsults15.html"><i>Results</i></a> <br />
Sarah Snook, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/predestn.html"><i>Predestination</i></a> <br />
Mya Taylor, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tanger15.html"><i>Tangerine</i></a> <br />
Karidja Touré, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a><br />
Alicia Vikander, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/testyout.html"><i>Testament of Youth</i></a> <br />
Mia Wasikowska, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madbov14.html"><i>Madame Bovary</i></a><br />
Kristen Wiig, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/welctome.html"><i>Welcome to Me</i></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #003399; font-size: 1.5em;">Best Actor</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;">Top Contenders</span><br />
Ibrahim Ahmed, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a> <br />
Abraham Attah, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/beastsno.html"><i>Beasts of No Nation</i></a> <br />
Tom Courtenay, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/45years.html"><i>45 Years</i></a><i> </i><br />
John Cusack, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a><br />
Paul Dano, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a> <br />
Jesse Eisenberg, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/endtur15.html"><i>The End of the Tour</i></a> <br />
Michael Fassbender, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/macbet15.html"><i>Macbeth</i></a> <br />
Michael B. Jordan, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/creed15.html"><i>Creed</i></a> <br />
Michael Keaton, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
Frederick Lau, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/victor15.html"><i>Victoria</i></a> <br />
Sam Louwyck, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wondrs14.html"><i>The Wonders</i></a><br />
Josh Lucas, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/themend.html"><i>The Mend</i></a><br />
Ben Mendelsohn, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/missgrnd.html"><i>Mississippi Grind</i></a> <br />
Jason Mitchell, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/strcompt.html"><i>Straight Outta Compton</i></a> <br />
Olivier Rabourdin, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a> <br />
Géza Röhrig, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sonsaul.html"><i>Son of Saul</i></a> <br />
Jason Segel, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/endtur15.html"><i>The End of the Tour</i></a> <br />
Koudous Seihon, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/medter15.html"><i>Mediterranea</i></a> <br />
Michael Shannon, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/99homes.html"><i>99 Homes</i></a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">Honorable Mentions</span><br />
Christopher Abbott, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jameswhi.html"><i>James White</i></a> <br />
Jason Bateman, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/gift15.html"><i>The Gift</i></a> <br />
Adam Driver, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/whwyoung.html"><i>While We're Young</i></a> <br />
Bill Hader, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tranwrck.html"><i>Trainwreck</i></a> <br />
Corey Hawkins, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/strcompt.html"><i>Straight Outta Compton</i></a> <br />
Oscar Isaac, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a> <br />
O'Shea Jackson, Jr., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/strcompt.html"><i>Straight Outta Compton</i></a> <br />
Samuel L. Jackson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/hateful8.html"><i>The Hateful Eight</i></a> <br />
Reda Kateb, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farfrmen.html"><i>Far from Men</i></a> <br />
Shameik Moore, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dope15.html"><i>Dope</i></a><br />
Viggo Mortensen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farfrmen.html"><i>Far from Men</i></a><br />
Stephen Plunkett, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/themend.html"><i>The Mend</i></a><br />
Ryan Reynolds, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/missgrnd.html"><i>Mississippi Grind</i></a> <br />
Mark Ruffalo, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
Matthias Schoenaerts, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #003399; font-size: 1.5em;">Best Supporting Actress</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;">Top Contenders</span><br />
Angela Bassett, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/chiraq.html"><i>Chi-Raq</i></a> <br />
Cate Blanchett, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cinder15.html"><i>Cinderella</i></a> <br />
Viola Davis, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhat.html"><i>Blackhat</i></a><br />
Noni Hazlehurst, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/truth15.html"><i>Truth</i></a> <br />
Rachel McAdams, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
Cynthia Nixon, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jameswhi.html"><i>James White</i></a> <br />
Jada Pinkett Smith, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html"><i>Magic Mike XXL</i></a> <br />
Erica Rivas, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a> <br />
Elisabeth Röhm, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/joy15.html"><i>Joy</i></a> <br />
Isabella Rossellini, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/joy15.html"><i>Joy</i></a> <br />
Lise Roy, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tomatfrm.html"><i>Tom at the Farm</i></a> <br />
Kristen Stewart, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/clsilsma.html"><i>Clouds of Sils Maria</i></a><br />
Mickey Sumner, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/themend.html"><i>The Mend</i></a><br />
Tessa Thompson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/creed15.html"><i>Creed</i></a><br />
Kristen Wiig, <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dtengirl.html">The Diary of a Teenage Girl</a> </i> <br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">Honorable Mentions</span><br />
Diana Avrămuţ, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/whenbuch.html"><i>When Evening Falls on Bucharest, or Metabolism</i></a> <br />
Rebecca Ferguson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/missimp5.html"><i>Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation</i></a><br />
Nicole Kidman, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/padingtn.html"><i>Paddington</i></a> <br />
Andie MacDowell, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html"><i>Magic Mike XXL</i></a> <br />
Julianne Moore, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mapstars.html"><i>Maps to the Stars</i></a> <br />
Lucy Owen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/themend.html"><i>The Mend</i></a><br />
Sheu Fang-yi, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/assass15.html"><i>The Assassin</i></a><br />
Phyllis Smith, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/insout15.html"><i>Inside Out</i></a><br />
Tilda Swinton, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tranwrck.html"><i>Trainwreck</i></a> <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #003399; font-size: 1.5em;">Best Supporting Actor</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;">Top Contenders</span><br />
Emory Cohen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/brooklyn.html"><i>Brooklyn</i></a> <br />
Michael Cyril Creighton, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
Billy Crudup, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
Benicio Del Toro, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sicario.html"><i>Sicario</i></a> <br />
Taron Egerton, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/testyout.html"><i>Testament of Youth</i></a> <br />
Sam Elliott, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/grandm15.html"><i>Grandma</i></a> <br />
Sam Elliott, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/illsedrm.html"><i>I'll See You in My Dreams</i></a> <br />
Keir Gilchrist, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a> <br />
Tim Guinee, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/99homes.html"><i>99 Homes</i></a><br />
Stacy Keach, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/truth15.html"><i>Truth</i></a> <br />
Jimmy LeBlanc, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
James Marsden, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dtrain.html"><i>The D Train</i></a><br />
Reynaldo Pacheco, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/obrand15.html"><i>Our Brand Is Crisis</i></a> <br />
Austin Pendleton, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/themend.html"><i>The Mend</i></a><br />
Chris Sarandon, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/rsults15.html"><i>I Smile Back</i></a> <br />
Liev Schreiber, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
Michael Shannon, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/freeheld.html"><i>Freeheld</i></a> <br />
Michael Sheen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a> <br />
Alexander Skarsgård, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dtengirl.html"><i>The Diary of a Teenage Girl</i></a><br />
Sylvester Stallone, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/creed15.html"><i>Creed</i></a><br />
Martin Starr, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/illsedrm.html"><i>I'll See You in My Dreams</i></a> <br />
Stanley Tucci, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a> <br />
Daniil Vorobyov, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a><br />
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<span style="color: purple;">Honorable Mentions</span><br />
Christian Bale, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bigshort.html"><i>The Big Short</i></a> <br />
Reg E. Cathey, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/nastybab.html"><i>Nasty Baby</i></a> <br />
Kevin Corrigan, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/rsults15.html"><i>Results</i></a> <br />
John Cusack, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/chiraq.html"><i>Chi-Raq</i></a> <br />
Joaquim de Almeida, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/obrand15.html"><i>Our Brand Is Crisis</i></a> <br />
Idris Elba, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/beastsno.html"><i>Beasts of No Nation</i></a> <br />
Paul Giamatti, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/strcompt.html"><i>Straight Outta Compton</i></a> <br />
Walton Goggins, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/hateful8.html"><i>The Hateful Eight</i></a> <br />
Scott Mescudi, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jameswhi.html"><i>James White</i></a> <br />
Michael Peña, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/antman.html"><i>Ant-Man</i></a><br />
Bernard Pruvost, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html"><i>Li'l Quinquin</i></a> <br />
Édgar Ramírez, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/joy15.html"><i>Joy</i></a> <br />
Peter Sarsgaard, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackmas.html"><i>Black Mass</i></a><br />
Jamey Sheridan, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a><br />
Leonardo Sbaraglia, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a> <br />
Michael Welch, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/boymgr14.html"><i>Boy Meets Girl</i></a><br />
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<br />
<span style="color: #003399; font-size: 1.5em;">Best Ensemble Cast</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;">Top Contenders</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/carol15.html"><i>Carol</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eden14.html"><i>Eden</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jaulaoro.html"><i>La Jaula de oro</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/missgrnd.html"><i>Mississippi Grind</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/obrand15.html"><i>Our Brand Is Crisis</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/rsults15.html"><i>Results</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sicario.html"><i>Sicario</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spotlg15.html"><i>Spotlight</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tanger15.html"><i>Tangerine</i></a> <br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wondrs14.html"><i>The Wonders</i></a><br />
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<span style="color: purple;">Honorable Mentions</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/brooklyn.html"><i>Brooklyn</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/creed15.html"><i>Creed</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dtengirl.html"><i>The Diary of a Teenage Girl</i></a><br />
<i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/illsedrm.html">I'll See You in My Dreams</a> </i><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/joy15.html"><i>Joy</i></a> <br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/kindgtch.html"><i>The Kindergarten Teacher</i></a> <br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/kumikoth.html"><i>Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/themend.html"><i>The Mend</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mustang.html"><i>Mustang</i></a> <br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/nastybab.html"><i>Nasty Baby</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/pgbranch.html"><i>A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence</i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html"><i>The Princess of France</i></a> <br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/forcawak.html"><i>Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens</i></a> <br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/strcompt.html"><i>Straight Outta Compton</i></a> <br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a><i></i><br />
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<span style="color: #003399; font-size: 1.5em;">Still Anticipating</span><br />
<i>Animals</i>, <i>Appropriate Behavior</i>, <i>Blind</i>, <i>Bluebird</i>, <i>Buzzard</i>, <i>By the Sea</i>, <i>Concussion</i>, <i>Digging for Fire</i>, <i>Good Kill</i>, <i>Jimmy's Hall</i>, <i>Kilo Two Bravo</i>, <i>The Lady in the Van</i>, <i>Learning to Drive</i>, <i>Legend</i>, <i>Love at First Sight</i>, <i>Mr. Holmes</i>, <i>Ned Rifle</i>, <i>The New Girlfriend</i>, <i>Office</i>, <i>Saint Laurent</i>, <i>The Second Mother</i>, <i>Secret in Their Eyes</i>, <i>She's Lost Control</i>, <i>Spring</i>, <i>The Stanford Prison Experiment</i>, <i>Theeb</i>, <i>Time Out of Mind</i>, <i>Tu dors Nicole</i>, <i>What We Do in the Shadows</i>NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-46608031851853463662015-11-22T14:00:00.000-06:002015-11-28T14:52:03.060-06:00Nick's Flick Picks: The Force Awakens<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/f100beautrav.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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What <i>are</i> those guys doing in Claire Denis's <i>Beau travail</i>? Has anyone ever figured that out? My guess is that, after many years of assuming that my website would never get its act together, they have just found out there are long-postponed updates to the <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/topfilms.html">Top 100</a> listings, where I've recently celebrated <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/tophiroshmn.html"><i>Hiroshima mon amour</i></a>, <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/topwagefear.html"><i>The Wages of Fear</i></a>, and <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/topthirdman.html"><i>The Third Man</i></a>, and to the <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/favfilms.html">Favorites</a> countdown, where I've shared some of the backstory that led to my late-breaking ardor for <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbeautrav.html"><i>Beau travail</i></a> and <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsnaklunch.html"><i>Naked Lunch</i></a>, both of which survived cool first impressions to become personal pets and central frames of reference for my book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Desiring-Image-Gilles-Deleuze-Contemporary-Cinema/dp/0199993165/"><i>The Desiring-Image</i></a>. (I've also, incidentally, re-programmed both features to ditch the cumbersome frames, streamline the html, and make for easier viewing on tablets as well as laptops. Hope that's all working on your end.)<br />
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I'm drafting another essay for work, and as usually happens when writing juices flow in one part of my life, they start moving in others as well. I've already written the next entries on both countdowns, so maybe I can keep some momentum going through the holidays. Some of you have been waiting on these for ten years! Hope you'll share your thoughts about these posts and others soon to follow.<br />
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Subsequent entries added to Favorites: <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmscrash96.html"><i>Crash</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmswalktalk.html"><i>Walking and Talking</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmseyeswide.html"><i>Eyes Wide Shut</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsopnight.html"><i>Opening Night</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/favfilmsbvenus.html"><i>Blonde Venus</i></a><br />
Subsequent entries added to Top 100: <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/topussatan.html"><i>Under the Sun of Satan</i></a> NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-3273999865998755352015-09-01T10:00:00.000-05:002015-09-20T15:34:55.224-05:00Toronto Film Festival XXL<img alt="Channing Tatum, Magic Mike XXL" class="transparent" src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/channingxxl.gif" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>Sep 10: </b>I'll update this post with my <a href="http://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">tweeted responses</a> to these films, hopefully once a day.<br />
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<b>Sep 8:</b> Completed my final ticket selections this morning during my assigned window for the Back Half Pass (which gives you a slightly discounted rate for movies playing in the last five days of the festival). That's 45 features, two programs of 15 shorts, and 14 tickets I got for other people, and I got my first choices across the board. Clearly the other shoe will drop somehow, but for now I'm all blissed out. I'll try to post some updates here during the fest, but my <a href="http://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">Twitter account</a> will be the place to catch more immediate responses. Please follow! And track these other friends who always provide great TIFF impressions, too: <a href="http://twitter.com/bwestcineaste">Alex</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/Amiresque">Amir</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/amuredda">Angelo</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/flmfrkcentral">Bill</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/cycinema">Calvin & Yonah</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/catherineshoard">Catherine</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/joereid">Joe</a> (also @decider), <a href="http://twitter.com/kateyrich">Katey</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/levlewis">Lev</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/nathanielr">Nathaniel</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/trim_obey">Tim</a>, and <a href="http://twitter.com/yaseenali">Yaseen</a>. If you see a movie you like, I'd love to hear about. As, I'm sure, would any filmmakers on Twitter, especially those who aren't in the Gala divisions. I've had great experiences cold-tweeting (?) directors whose work I just saw, and I heartily recommend it. And if there's no way you can be at TIFF but spot a film you desperately wish you could access, tweet a filmmaker about that, too. See if there's a college, cinema, library, or other institution near you that might be willing to host a screening, with or without the director's involvement. Tschüss!<br />
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<b>Sep 6:</b> Could things be better? I logged on precisely at 8am Chicago time to buy single tickets this morning and was #143 in line. Others who did the same were 600 spots behind me; by the time I completed checkout at 8:30, there were more than 2600 people waiting. I got into all 13 showings I was hoping to add, too. With the total currently standing at 41 films and from 30 different countries, I have another half-dozen titles to add on Tuesday, when my Back Half pass goes into effect. And then, just four days from now, the games begin! Amy and Bradley are still dancing, girl. Channing, keep spinning, keep burning it up. Did he who made the lamb make thee?<br />
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<b>Sep 1:</b> I'm updating my listings below to reflect some of the Middle Eastern and African programming that I will be catching in Toronto, in cahoots with my favorite TIFF programmer, Rasha Salti. I didn't know Rasha at all or much about her cinematic beat until 2013, when <a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/thefestivalarchive/2013-programmes/cwc/ladder-to-damascus"><i>Ladder to Damascus</i></a>, <a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/thefestivalarchive/2013-programmes/cwc/rags-and-tatters"><i>Rags and Tatters</i></a>, and <a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/thefestivalarchive/2013-programmes/cwc/noyes-fludde"><i>Noye's Fludde (Unogumbe)</i></a> all ranked among my favorites of the whole festival. Last year, <a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestivalarchive/programmes/tiff-docs/silvered-water"><i>Silvered Water, Syria Self Portrait</i></a> and <a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestivalarchive/programmes/tiff-docs/iraqi-odyssey"><i>Iraqi Odyssey</i></a> were my absolute peaks of TIFF, with <a href="http://tiff.net/filmcircuit/film/2555"><i>Timbuktu</i></a> not far behind, and Rasha and I got to talking. This year, I'm collaborating with her to see and promote her programming, all grouped <a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/films#rashasalti">here</a>, because it's so dependably excellent, yet few of the films ever achieve a DVD release, much less a commercial distribution. So let's get behind these phenomenal movie-makers and under-heralded cinematic traditions.<br />
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<b>Sep 1:</b> <a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15">Toronto International Film Festival</a> season has begun, baby, and we at Nick's Flick Picks (read: I) could not be happier. I'll be there longer than I <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tiff12.html">ever</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tiff13.html">have</a> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tiff14.html">before</a>, and seeing an even greater number of movies. Logged in this morning at my TIFF-appointed time to make my first 30 ticket selections, 20 of which were for me, 10 for friends who wanted to see movies we worried would sell out. I'll keep updating this entry over the next week or so as my itinerary expands, when individual tickets go on sale, and when my Back Half discount kicks in. So, keep checking this page, and click the links if you want to learn more about the movies. I don't, really: I'm picking based on affinity for the filmmakers, general buzz, and the dimmest notion of premise (and in some cases, I don't even know that). I like going in as cold as possible, so I'm going to keep it that way.<br />
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The list is bound to get more esoteric, since I prioritized films that seemed likely to draw big crowds and/or I hoped to see in the first few days. And if you're like, "These already look pretty esoteric," then that's Nick's Flick Picks for you.<br />
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<span style="color: #003399;"><b>MY TIFF ITINERARY</b> (Updated <b>9/20</b>)</span><br />
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<i><a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/3000-nights">3000 Nights</a> </i>(Palestine, dir. Mai Masri)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B+</span> </span> Stirring drama inside Israeli women's prison, with mostly Palestinian inmates. Gutsy takes on solidarity, maternalism.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/anomalisa"><i>Anomalisa</i></a> (USA, dirs. Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">C+</span> </span> Could summon no enthusiasm. The self-pity of Kaufman's men is usually ballasted by much more creative detail or insight.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/arabian-nights-the-restless-one"><i>Arabian Nights, Vol. 1: The Restless One</i></a> (Portugal, dir. Miguel Gomes)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A</span></span> </span> A+? So many good films here but this inhabits a whole other level as piebald art and political intervention.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/arabian-nights-the-desolate-one"><i>Arabian Nights, Vol. 2: The Desolate One</i></a> (Portugal, dir. Miguel Gomes)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A–</span> </span> Less obviously intricate than Vol 1, and more frontal in stating themes—I thought. Then I grew less sure.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/arabian-nights-the-enchanted-one"><i>Arabian Nights, Vol. 3: The Enchanted One</i></a> (Portugal, dir. Miguel Gomes)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A</span></span> </span> What Obama said about guns and religion, but about chaffinches. Heavy histories shrink to bearable fetishes.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/as-i-open-my-eyes"><i>As I Open My Eyes</i></a> (Tunisia/France, dir. Leyla Bouzid)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B+</span> </span> Sonorous, trenchant portrait of an artist as a young woman, riding sharp lines between petulance and dissidence.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/the-assassin-1"><i>The Assassin</i></a> (Taiwan, dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B+</span> </span> A royal marriage of many lines, sumptuous, as much <i>Unforgiven</i> as <i>Scarlet Empress</i>. Hou's hand still unsteady on story.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/platform/bang-gang-a-modern-love-story"><i>Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)</i></a> (France, dir. Eva Husson) <br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B+</span> </span> Remarkably assured, richly executed debut. Not all story beats fresh but layered, meticulous study.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/beasts-of-no-nation"><i>Beasts of No Nation</i></a> (USA, dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B–</span> </span> Value, impact hard to deny but formal and narrative storytelling are a little crude. Young Attah is a find.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/blood-of-my-blood"><i>Blood of My Blood</i></a> (Italy, dir. Marco Bellocchio)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">C+</span> </span> My astigmatism around high-theatrical Italian melodrama persists. Less crude than <i>Vincere</i> but ideas seem simple?<br />
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<i><a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/cemetery-of-splendor">Cemetery of Splendour</a> </i>(Thailand, dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) <br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B</span> </span> Reader, I must confess I'm starting to find Weerasethakul tedious, as much as I admire his directorial craft.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/chevalier"><i>Chevalier</i></a> (Greece, dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B</span> </span> Greek surrealist, quasi-Apatovian remake of <i>American Psycho</i> business-card scene. Finds its berth fast, hangs out a while.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/discovery/degrade"><i>Dégradé</i></a> (Palestine, dirs. Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B–</span> </span> Entrapment, suffocation are topics, occasionally effects of one-set suspenser in Gaza salon. Bold vision. Hang in there.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/dheepan"><i>Dheepan</i></a> (France, dir. Jacques Audiard)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A–</span> </span> Sleek, observant, steadily winching synthesis of prior Audiard themes. Psychology deftly externalized. Actors keep it hot.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/the-endless-river"><i>The Endless River</i></a> (South Africa, dir. Oliver Hermanus)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B</span> </span> Strikingly shot. Taps a rich seam of region-specific tensions and story traditions. Maybe exploits them a bit.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/eva-doesnt-sleep"><i>Eva Doesn't Sleep</i></a> (Argentina, dir. Pablo Agüero)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B </span> Eva Perón as Addie Bundren. Caryl Churchill-esque. Brute embodiments and symbolic afterlives in unwinnable duels.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/vanguard/evolution"><i>Evolution</i></a> (France, dir. Lucile Hadžihalilovic)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B </span> What if Matthew Barney and Jacques Cousteau co-directed a YA dystopia? I couldn't imagine, but Lucile Hadžihalilović did.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/discovery/fire-song"><i>Fire Song</i></a> (Canada, dir. Adam Garnet Jones)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">C–</span> </span> Noble intents, rare focus, and solid production values lose out to stiff writing and editing, erratic hold on character.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/francofonia"><i>Francofonia</i></a> (France/Germany/Netherlands, dir. Aleksandr Sokurov)<br />
<span style="color: red;">A </span> <i>Louvre, the End of History</i>. Witty, moving essay on doomed objects surviving, enemies collaborating, time as tight knot.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/frenzy"><i>Frenzy</i></a> (Turkey, dir. Emin Alper)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B+ </span> Formally stunning mitosis of one suspense thriller into two, enigmatically related. Two parts Audiard, one <i>Don't Look Now</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/girls-lost"><i>Girls Lost</i></a> (Sweden, dir. Alexandra-Therese Keining)<br />
<span style="color: red;">C+</span> A century after <i>Florida Enchantment</i>, we're still using magic-beans device for transgender tale. Shaky on its own themes.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/midnightmadness/green-room"><i>Green Room</i></a> (USA, dir. Jeremy Saulnier)<br />
<div>
<span style="color: red;">F </span> <i>Blue Ruin</i> had assets in all areas; this has zero in any. What happened? Quoth its own eviduh, "This is taking too long."<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/platform/high-rise"><i>High-Rise</i></a> (UK, dir. Ben Wheatley)<br />
TIFF canceled my screening.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/the-idol"><i>The Idol</i></a> (UK/Palestine, dir. Hany Abu-Assad) <br />
Couldn't access the screening.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/tiffdocs/in-jackson-heights"><i>In Jackson Heights</i></a> (USA, dir. Frederick Wiseman) <br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A–</span> </span> Most democratic US community abounds with sidewalk pedagogy and filibusters. Everyone tries to save everyone.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/in-the-shadow-of-women"><i>In the Shadow of Women</i></a> (France, dir. Philippe Garrel) <br />
<span style="color: red;">B+</span><span style="color: red;"> </span> Tiny ficelle of a film takes witty stock of knotted infidelities. Neither one-sided nor free of judgment.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/discovery/ixcanul"><i>Ixcanul</i></a> (Guatemala/France, dir. Jayro Bustamante)<br />
<span style="color: red;">A </span> Guatemalan drama quietly, sturdily makes expert choices scene after scene, culminating in my biggest jaw-drop of the fest.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/let-them-come"><i>Let Them Come</i></a> (Algeria/France, dir. Salem Brahimi)<br />
Couldn't access the screening. <br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/minotaur"><i>Minotaur</i></a> (Mexico/Canada, dir. Nicolas Peréda)<br />
<span style="color: red;">A– </span> Totally bewitching miniature about profound indolence. Possibly class critique of a new, Lynch-meets-Pina Bausch type.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/mountains-may-depart"><i>Mountains May Depart</i></a> (China/France/Japan, dir. Jia Zhangke)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B–</span> </span> Hi, I'd like a Hong Sang-soo, a <i>Stella Dallas</i>, a <i>Notes on a Scandal</i> (iced), and a small side of Drrrainage?!<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/mountains-may-depart"><i>Much Loved</i></a> (France/Morocco, dir. Nabil Ayouch)<br />
<span style="color: red;">A– </span> Bracing, gutsy, humane drama of Moroccan prostitutes. Moving and nuanced images, sounds, and characters. Pass it on!<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/vanguard/no-men-beyond-this-point"><i>No Men Beyond This Point</i></a> (Canada, dir. Mark Sawers)<br />
Wound up skipping for <i>Ixcanul</i><br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/the-other-side"><i>The Other Side</i></a> (France/Italy, dir. Roberto Minervini)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B+</span> </span> Beasts of one nation, arguably under God, arguably indivisible. An upsetting revelation no matter how "true" it is.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/the-pearl-button"><i>The Pearl Button</i></a> (Chile/France/Spain, dir. Patricio Guzmán)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B+</span> </span> Empathic, poetic speculation from a filmmaker whose equanimity is a miracle. Not quite Nostalgia but much-needed.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/price-of-love"><i>Price of Love</i></a> (Ethiopia, dir. Harmon Hailay)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B</span> </span> Some story beats are sadly familiar, but this streetside Ethiopian drama conveys them with nuance and piquant detail.<br />
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<i><a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/platform/promised-land">The Promised Land</a> </i>(China, dir. He Ping)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">D</span> </span> Way too airy-fairy Chinese romance between ballerina and hockey coach. Barely a premise, endlessly pre-rehearsed.<br />
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<i><a href="https://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/tiffdocs/return-of-the-atom">Return of the Atom</a> </i>(Finland, dirs. Mika Taanila & Jussi Eerola)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B–</span> </span> Vividly mounted and persuasive on its basic grounds, but several editing and sound choices baldly manipulate.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/right-now-wrong-then"><i>Right Now, Wrong Then</i></a> (South Korea, dir. Hong Sang-soo) <br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A–</span> </span> Lovely. Iridesces with sadness. Hong's <i>Purple Rose of Cairo</i>? Well, that's not exactly true. Nothing ever is.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/schneider-vs-bax"><i>Schneider vs. Bax</i></a> (The Netherlands, dir. Alex van Warmerdam)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B</span> Another 18th-century comedy about 21st-century mercenaries. Merrily morbid, somewhat for its own sake. Thin look.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/shortcuts/short-cuts-programme-5"><i>Short Cuts Program #5</i></a> (Canada/France/Germany/Iraq/Spain/UK, dir. Misc.)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">B–</span> </span> No clinkers, few coups. My faves were the angry <i>Society</i> and the compactly suggestive <i>New Eyes</i> and <i>El Adíos</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/the-sky-trembles-and-the-earth-is-afraid-and-the-two-eyes-are-not-brothers"><i>The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers</i></a> (UK, dir. Ben Rivers)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B</span> As elaborate and idiosyncratic as it is, the postcolonial metaphors become a bit flat and static.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/son-of-saul"><i>Son of Saul</i></a> (Hungary, dir. László Nemes)<br />
<span style="color: red;">A </span> So formally brilliant you can't help noticing, even as you expend all emotional and moral energy. The sound! The story.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/starve-your-dog"><i>Starve Your Dog</i></a> (Morocco, dir. Hisham Lasri)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B</span> Boldest shredding I've seen here of cinematic form, story flow. <i>Death and the Maiden </i>as punk Moroccan cherry bomb.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/story-of-judas"><i>Story of Judas</i></a> (France, dir. Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B+</span> Daring rewrite of 2000-year-old treachery,
passing for a long time as classical, almost POV-less account. Gorgeous.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/sunset-song"><i>Sunset Song</i></a> (UK/Luxembourg, dir. Terence Davies) <br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">C–</span> </span> First hour a stilted slog. Middle fights its way to poignancy but last act falters. Barely ten oxygen molecules in it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/masters/taxi"><i>Taxi</i></a> (Iran, dir. Jafar Panahi)<br />
<span style="color: red;">B</span> Feels less ambitious than Panahi's two previous house-arrest movies but it's funny and wise and has good tricks up its sleeve.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/te-prometo-anarquia"><i>Te prometo anarquía</i></a> (Mexico, dir. Julio Hernández Cordón) <br />
<span style="color: red;">B+</span> Rare bird. Rewards patience and trust as it builds from vaguely illicit skater/dealer pic to humbling tragedy.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/contemporaryworldcinema/the-treasure"><i>The Treasure</i></a> (Romania, dir. Corneliu Porumboiu)<br />
<span style="color: red;">A– </span> Comic gold, with an impressively ferrous structure of ironies and nuances that hold it together and expand its scope.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/victoria"><i>Victoria</i></a> (Germany, dir. Sebastian Schipper) <br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A–</span> </span> <i>Morvern Callar</i> rebuilt as pulse-pounding thriller, astonishingly executed in a continuous, 132-minute take. Overwhelming.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/wavelengths/wavelengths-4-psychic-driving"><i>Wavelengths #4: Psychic Driving</i></a> (Austria/Brazil/Canada/France/Spain/USA, dir. Misc)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">A–</span> </span> Links radical activism to African diaspora, occult folklore to synaesthetic abstraction. Dazzling.<br />
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<a href="http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/platform/the-white-knights"><i>The White Knights</i></a> (Belgium/France, dir Joachim Lafosse)<br />
Wound up skipping for <i>Beasts of No Nation</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.tiff.net/festivals/festival15/specialpresentations/the-witch"><i>The Witch</i></a> (Canada/USA, dir. Robert Eggers)<br />
<span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="color: red;">C</span> </span> <i>Antichrist</i> meets <i>The Village</i>. Spooky surface meets crossover dreams. Old tropes about faith meet some about the colonies. <br />
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<img alt="http://smartladieslovestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/American-Hustle-dancing.gif" class="transparent" src="http://smartladieslovestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/American-Hustle-dancing.gif" width="100%" /></div>
NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-33078374237746576152015-07-03T12:00:00.000-05:002015-07-04T10:41:00.187-05:00The Fifties for 2015<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfillrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
I'm back with one of my most popular features: <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/search/label/Fifties">The Fifties</a>, honoring the year's best filmmaking achievements among the first 50 U.S. releases I saw in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/movies15usalpha.html">2015</a>. I think this is the earliest I've ever hit this numerical milestone; it's nice to be drafting this post on July 2, at the exact midpoint of the year. Many of the films I'm honoring are either still in theaters or newly available on DVD and streaming services, so I hope you'll investigate any titles you've missed. And, as ever, please suggest your own favorites in the comments, especially if you suspect I've missed the film.<br />
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I've gobbled up so many movies post-graduation—ten features in five days, after seeing only three in theaters during the previous two months—that I hustled all the way to a tally of 56 before I could catch my breath. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/amy15.html"><i>Amy</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/looksilc.html"><i>The Look of Silence</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/phoenx14.html"><i>Phoenix</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tomatfrm.html"><i>Tom at the Farm</i></a> have not technically opened yet, and I'll only believe the last one's planned release when I see it. I'll sideline these for now, which means <i>Tom</i>'s Lise Roy, <i>Amy</i>'s impressive sound mix, <i>Phoenix</i>'s mishandled but interesting script, and just about every stunning aspect of <i>The Look of Silence</i> (easily one of the year's best films, towering over all of the other documentaries I've seen) won't get recognized below.<br />
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Otherwise, the eligible movies were <i>'71</i>, <i>About Elly</i>, <i>Amour fou</i>, <i>Blackbird</i>, <i>Blackhat</i>, <i>Boy Meets Girl</i>, <i>Clouds of Sils Maria</i>, <i>Dope</i>, <i>The Duke of Burgundy</i>, <i>Eastern Boys</i>, <i>Eden</i>, <i>Ex Machina</i>, <i>Far from Men</i>, <i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i>, <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i>, <i>Futuro Beach</i>, <i>Gerontophilia</i>, <i>Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem</i>, <i>Girlhood</i>, <i>Heaven Knows What</i>, <i>The Hunting Ground</i>, <i>Inside Out</i>, <i>Insidious: Chapter 3</i>, <i>It Follows</i>, <i>It's All So Quiet</i>, <i>Jauja</i>, <i>Joy of Man's Desiring</i>, <i>Jurassic World</i>, <i>The Last Five Years</i>, <i>Li'l Quinquin</i>, <i>Love & Mercy</i>, <i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i>, <i>Madame Bovary</i>, <i>Magic Mike XXL</i>, <i>Maps to the Stars</i>, <i>Me and Earl and the Dying Girl</i>, <i>Of Horses and Men</i>, <i>The Overnight</i>, <i>Paddington</i>, <i>A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence</i>, <i>Play</i>, <i>The Princess of France</i>, <i>Serena</i>, <i>Spy</i>, <i>Testament of Youth</i>, <i>Timbuktu</i>, <i>The Tribe</i>, <i>When Evening Falls on Bucharest</i>, <i>While We're Young</i>, <i>White God</i>, <i>Wild Tales</i>, and <i>The Wolfpack</i>. And the nominees are...<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquinrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST PICTURE</b><br />
<i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html">Girlhood</a> </i>(rent it!), tough-minded but affecting coming-of-age ensemble drama<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a> (DVD in July), an ingenious and brilliantly executed horror yarn<br />
<i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html">Li'l Quinquin</a> </i>(rent it!), Bruno Dumont's amazingly effective foray into comedy<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a> (in theaters), tense, implacable, and baroquely conceived<br />
<i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html">Timbuktu</a> </i>(rent it!), a quietly confident and increasingly tense social document<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14.html"><i>The Tribe</i></a> (in theaters), come for all-signing conceit, stay for potent storytelling<br />
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<i>Also</i>: I followed Oscar's lead and drew a contour line around the choices that most excite me, though the wonderful <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/pgbranch.html"><i>Pigeon Sat on a Branch...</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eden14.html"><i>Eden</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html"><i>Princess of France</i></a>, and <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html">Jauja</a> </i>are all closely clustered just beneath this sextet, and <i>The Look of Silence </i>would unquestionably appear if it had opened yet.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14rev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST DIRECTOR</b><br />
Bruno Dumont, <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html">Li'l Quinquin</a></i>, for balancing absurd comedy and weirdo macabre<br />
George Miller, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, for indelibly choreographed maximalism<br />
David Robert Mitchell, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, for articulating its vision with clarity and force<br />
Céline Sciamma, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a>, for viewing these girls with neither softness nor alarm<br />
Myroslav Slaboshpitskiy, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14.html"><i>The Tribe</i></a>, for something new that isn't just a gimmick<br />
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<i>Also</i>:<i> </i>Runners-up include Abderrahmane Sissako's brutal but delicate constructing of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a>, Lisandro Alonso's surreally suggestive enigmas in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html"><i>Jauja</i></a>, Asghar Farhadi's ratcheted tension and character insights in the late-arriving <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a>, Matías Piñeiro chasing a new form of storytelling in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html"><i>The Princess of France</i></a>, and Mia Hansen-Løve making a lovely, quietly grand film out of what could have been nothing at all in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eden14.html"><i>Eden</i></a>.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/boymgr14rev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST ACTRESS</b><br />
Golshifteh Farahani, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a>, for being duly exasperating but eliciting sympathy<br />
Michelle Hendley, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/boymgr14.html"><i>Boy Meets Girl</i></a>, for vivaciously anchoring transgender rom-com<br />
Dakota Johnson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/50shades.html"><i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i></a>, for wielding control over shaky material<br />
Sidse Babett Knudsen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgy.html"><i>The Duke of Burgundy</i></a>, for bringing heart to stiff stylization<br />
Karidja Touré, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a>, for creating a prismatic point for broad identifications<br />
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<i>Also</i>: Mia Wasikowska in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madbov14.html"><i>Madame Bovary</i></a>, Alicia Vikander in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/testyout.html"><i>Testament of Youth</i></a>, and Carey Mulligan in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a>, in that order, kept things interesting on the period front, while Maika Monroe in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a> and Melissa McCarthy in the first hour of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spy15.html"><i>Spy</i></a> served the mandates of utterly un-prestige-y vehicles. I get what others see in Charlize Theron of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a> and Arielle Holmes of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/hevkwhat.html"><i>Heaven Knows What</i></a> but felt some reservations in both cases.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbukturev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST ACTOR</b><br />
Ibrahim Ahmed, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a>, for conveying ease and despair with equal restraint<br />
John Cusack, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a>, for putting a fresh, soft-spoken spin on mental illness<br />
Paul Dano, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a>, for incipient anguish and inner genius, both tough to do<br />
Olivier Rabourdin, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a>, for heroism, bafflement, arousal, and guilt<br />
Matthias Schoenaerts, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a>, note-perfect with Mulligan<br />
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<i>Also</i>: Viggo Mortensen and Reda Kateb are a great duo in the North African western <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farfrmen.html"><i>Far from Men</i></a>, and Mortensen also fit himself perfectly into the semi-scrutable world of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html"><i>Jauja</i></a> and helped to open it up. Bernard Pruvost is a loopy wonder in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html"><i>Li'l Quinquin</i></a>. Adam Driver is responsible for many of the moments when <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/whwyoung.html"><i>While We're Young</i></a> really works. Grigoriy Fesenko provides a sturdy but deeply shaken center for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14.html"><i>The Tribe</i></a>. I'll look out for more work from that young actor, as I will from <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eden14.html"><i>Eden</i></a>'s Félix de Givry and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dope15.html"><i>Dope</i></a>'s Shameik Moore.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtalsrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS</b><br />
Diana Avrămuţ, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/whenbuch.html"><i>When Evening Falls on Bucharest</i>...</a>, funny as a rattled actress<br />
Elizabeth Banks, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a> (a lead?), terrifically relaxed in a Connelly part<br />
Julianne Moore, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mapstars.html"><i>Maps to the Stars</i></a>, spoofing but relating to a despicable person<br />
Érica Rivas,<i> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html">Wild Tales</a></i>, a best-for-last treasure as a memorably vengeful bride<br />
Kristen Stewart, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/clsilsma.html"><i>Clouds of Sils Maria</i></a>, studying Binoche while subtly eclipsing her<br />
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<i>Also</i>: Lise Roy's grieving and possibly fuming mother in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tomatfrm.html"><i>Tom at the Farm</i></a> has a date with this list once the movie opens. Phyllis Smith gives <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/insout15.html"><i>Inside Out</i></a>'s best performance, making the case for Sadness while making fond fun of her. Nicole Kidman gives great villainy in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/padingtn.html"><i>Paddington</i></a> (I had more fun with her than I did with Rose Byrne in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spy15.html"><i>Spy</i></a>) and Viola Davis imparts typically rich backstory out of nowhere in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhat.html"><i>Blackhat</i></a>. ("Am I being tangible?" <i>Yes</i>.) Olivia Cooke does wonderful things for and with her character in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mearldyg.html"><i>Me and Earl and the Dying Girl</i></a>, even if the film can't properly take advantage of them. Jada Pinkett Smith zests up <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html"><i>Magic Mike XXL</i></a> when it most needs zesting. All these women were at some point in the main list and could wind up there by year's end.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboysrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR</b><br />
Keir Gilchrist, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, making his own tender movie out of Paul's quiet pining<br />
Oscar Isaac, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a>, humming around third gear and still stealing the film<br />
Menashe Noy, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/gettviv.html"><i>Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem</i></a>, a lawyer as fed up as I was<br />
Michael Sheen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a>, trying to parlay the pity he inspires<br />
Daniil Vorobyov, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a>, entrancing as a menace, moving by the finish<br />
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<i>Also</i>: Not a super-stacked category by this point in the year, but I was also taken with Michael Welch's bedrock BFF in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/boymgr14.html"><i>Boy Meets Girl</i></a>, Jake Abel's impatient and myopic but understandable Mike Love in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a>, Leonardo Sbaraglia's road-rager for the ages in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a>, Kit Harington's underplayed but immediately appealing suitor in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/testyout.html"><i>Testament of Youth</i></a>, Taron Egerton's stalwart brother in the same film, and Rhys Ifans's shadowy onlooker and strange prophet in the mostly misbegotten <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/serena14.html"><i>Serena</i></a> (though maybe I was just starved for someone to interest me, and impressed at how fully I failed to recognize him).<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrancerev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST ENSEMBLE</b><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a>, where all have shifting motives, so actors must sync up <i>and</i> butt heads<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a>, where focal quartet has such detail and depth, as do second-tier players<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html"><i>Li'l Quinquin</i></a>, where actors young and old sell a bizarre world and peculiar tone<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html"><i>The Princess of France</i></a>, where each makes an impression while all blur together<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a>, where a daisy-chain of Argentinean superstars keeps a party hopping<br />
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<i>Also</i>: These were pretty easy choices, but the schoolkids in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14.html"><i>The Tribe</i></a> evoked a milieu nearly as well as the non-professionals in <i>Girlhood</i> did, and the self-effacing actors in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eden14.html"><i>Eden</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ofhorsmn.html"><i>Of Horses and Men</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/pgbranch.html"><i>A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence</i></a> do exactly what those director-driven projects need them to. Switching gears completely, you could nonetheless say the same about the colorful troupe in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/padingtn.html"><i>Paddington</i></a>, all of whom are clearly delighted to be there. Of the various period outings, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/testyout.html"><i>Testament of Youth</i></a> called the least attention to its performances, even as it elicited the sturdiest overall set.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachinrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY</b><br />
Nic Knowland, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgy.html"><i>The Duke of Burgundy</i></a>, for ravishing images, colors, and textures<br />
Rob Hardy, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a>, for preserving levels of mystery when script lost them<br />
Mike Gioulakis, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, for virtuoso sequence shots and marvelous use of depth<br />
Timo Salminen, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html"><i>Jauja</i></a>, thriving in new hemisphere, new palette, new aspect ratio<br />
John Seale, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, for virulent colors and cameras in crazy places<br />
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<i>Also</i>: Crystel Fournier's character portraiture in <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/girlhood.html">Girlhood</a> </i>is marvelous without being at all ostentatious, especially in dark or low-contrast shots. Andrij Parekh brought cold visual coherence to <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madbov14.html"><i>Madame Bovary</i></a>, saying more interesting things about the characters than the script always did. Steven Soderbergh broke some longstanding habits and found a bevy of unusual vantage points in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html"><i>Magic Mike XXL</i></a>. Furnished with a beautiful landscape for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a>, Sofian El Fani composed some images that were gorgeous in creative ways but impressive in their austerity. Ali Olcay Gözkaya casts quite a spell in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/praiafut.html"><i>Futuro Beach</i></a>, holding the movie together even when characters get opaque and story beats erratic.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtellyrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY</b><br />
Asghar Farhadi and Azad Jafarian, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a>, eerie mystery, detailed characters<br />
Robin Campillo, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a>, posing tough questions about sex and philanthropy<br />
Céline Sciamma, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a>, casting protagonists in quietly revealing situations<br />
David Robert Mitchell, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, giving complex premise a spindly precision<br />
Abderrahmane Sissako and Kessen Fall, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a>, a timely parable that breathes<br />
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<i>Also</i>: <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14.html"><i>The Tribe</i></a> is more a triumph of directing but the narrative engrossed me on its own terms. I didn't love <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/insout15.html"><i>Inside Out</i></a>'s grander schemes and arcs but its driving lesson is powerful and its moment-to-moment cleverness is often disarming. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/amourfou.html"><i>Amour fou</i></a> took a new angle on period psychologies and the lives of famous men. Belying its clunky title, <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/whenbuch.html">When Evening Falls on Bucharest, or Metabolism</a> </i>offers a funny, compact spin on the <i>Beware of a Holy Whore</i> school of films about filmmaking. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ofhorsmn.html"><i>Of Horses and Men</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/pgbranch.html"><i>A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html"><i>Li'l Quinquin</i></a> are hard to visualize without their directors' tonal and audiovisual imprints but they all started as smart, vignette-based scripts.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farfrmenrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY</b><br />
David Oelhoffen and Antoine Lacomblez, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farfrmen.html"><i>Far from Men</i></a>, a rich, unusual Western <br />
David Nicholls, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a>, deftly compressing Hardy's story<br />
Paul King and Hamish McColl, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/padingtn.html"><i>Paddington</i></a>, updating Bond but keeping his spirit<br />
Matías Piñeiro,<i> <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html">The Princess of France</a></i>, knitting Shakespeare into new knots<br />
Juliette Towhidi, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/testyout.html"><i>Testament of Youth</i></a>, capturing an era's drama without overselling<br />
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<i>Also</i>: Kelly Marcel, or whoever wrote the <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/50shades.html"><i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i></a> script that made it to the screen, couldn't launder out every howler but found a story and a point of view worth exploring. Nanouk Leopold might have directed her screenplay for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itsallso.html"><i>It's All So Quiet</i></a> with more urgency but the material intrigues. I couldn't get too into <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/hevkwhat.html"><i>Heaven Knows What</i></a> but its vantage on drugged-up dropouts departs from template. I appreciate that it disobeys most existing forms of structure.<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollwsrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST FILM EDITING</b><br />
Robin Campillo, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a>, whose "party" sequence is one of the year's peaks<br />
Marion Monnier, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eden14.html"><i>Eden</i></a>, managing subtle accumulation without any fixed shape<br />
Julio Perez IV, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, terrific at tension, clever with ellipsis... and that pool!<br />
Margaret Sixel, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, just this side of chaos, adventurous in cuts<br />
Valentyn Vasyanovych, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14.html"><i>The Tribe</i></a>, coherent at every beat, even <i>sans</i> dialogue<br />
<br />
<i>Also</i>: <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a> plays the long and loose game almost as well as <i>Eden. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html">Li'l Quinquin</a></i> gets substantial laughs out of cuts, long pauses, and repeated motifs. I can't fully endorse <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhat.html"><i>Blackhat</i></a>, but I do like watching Mann and his four editors experiment with scene-building. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a> and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html"><i>Magic Mike XXL</i></a>, two movies destined to inhabit the same sentences forever, can be a bit too digressive, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a> works unevenly from episode to episode, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html"><i>The Princess of France</i></a> risks being too elusive, but they all take interesting chances and yield mesmerizing passages.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhatrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<b>BEST SOUND MIXING AND EDITING</b><br />
Tony Lamberti, et al., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhat.html"><i>Blackhat</i></a>, most consistently rewarding as sonic experience<br />
Glenn Freemantle, et al., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a>, cramping some spaces, opening up others<br />
Christian Dwiggins, et al., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, as creepy when making noise as when not<br />
Christopher S. Aud, et al., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, for rips, revs, riffs, saws, drums<br />
Billy Theriot, David Jobe, et al., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html"><i>Magic Mike XXL</i></a>, balancing fireworks and lulls<br />
<br />
<i>Also</i>: <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a> collages Beach Boys hits in ways that please the audience but also suggest the drifts inside Wilson's head. It almost qualified, till I remembered that scene at the dinner table. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a> uses the sounds of the ocean in great ways, and also the pregnant pauses among the ensemble. <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html"><i>The Princess of France</i></a> embeds an interest in sonic textures and adventures into its plot.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/hevkwhatrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<b>BEST ORIGINAL SCORE</b><br />
Harry Gregson-Williams, Atticus Ross, et al., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhat.html"><i>Blackhat</i></a>, subtle electronica<br />
Paul Grimstad and Ariel Pink, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/hevkwhat.html"><i>Heaven Knows What</i></a>, junkie music from alien planet<br />
Disasterpeace, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, scary-funny pastiche of <i>Halloween</i>-era horror motifs<br />
Howard Shore, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mapstars.html"><i>Maps to the Stars</i></a>, finds spooky lullaby in film that needs more air<br />
Amin Bouhafa, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a>, combines local elements with plaintive external lament<br />
<br />
<i>Also</i>: Of course I got swept up in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max</i></a>'s crushing low strings and pummeling drums, but maybe it tilted a tad obvious? Similarly, Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow gave <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a> the electronic minimalism it probably needed without quite breaking the mold. Atticus Ross did well weaving Beach Boys fragments together for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a>. I remember liking the music in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madbov14.html"><i>Madame Bovary</i></a> but if I'm being honest I barely remember it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/amourfourev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<b>BEST ART DIRECTION</b><br />
Katharina Wöppermann, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/amourfou.html"><i>Amour fou</i></a>, for singular, credible take on early 1800s<br />
Pater Sparrow, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgy.html"><i>The Duke of Burgundy</i></a>, for the overripe beauty of props and surfaces<br />
Mark Digby, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a>, for sleek interiors with odd details, perfect for Nathan<br />
Michael Perry, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, for clues snuck into sets, and artfully obscuring its era<br />
Colin Gibson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, going over the top to treat and agitate the eye<br />
<br />
<i>Also</i>: Another easy list to assemble, though Kave Quinn kept the landscape-porn at a minimum and suggested a lot through architectures in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a>, and Sebastián Rosés blended the natural with the quizzical as I've never quite seen it in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html"><i>Jauja</i></a>. Possibly I'm crazy to leave out the meticulously assembled dioramas in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/pgbranch.html"><i>A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence</i></a>, if only because the tableaus in Andersson's other movies were even weirder and more wonderful.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/whwyoungrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST COSTUME DESIGN</b><br />
Janet Patterson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a>, never one to rest on period clichés<br />
Kimberly Leitz-McCauley, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, where Jay's outfits signal her demons<br />
Jenny Beavan, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, from Merchant Ivory to Immortan Joe!<br />
Valérie Ranchoux and Christian Gasc, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madbov14.html"><i>Madame Bovary</i></a>, for entrancing nuances<br />
Ann Roth, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/whwyoung.html"><i>While We're Young</i></a>, for gradations in Ben and Naomi's transformations<br />
<br />
<i>Also</i>: Denise Cronenberg gave Mia Wasikowska and Julianne Moore some great looks in <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mapstars.html">Maps to the Star</a>s. </i>Christopher Peterson's clothes in <i><a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html">Magic Mike XXL</a> </i>(yes, there are some) implied a lot of detail about single-scene characters like Andie MacDowell's. Tanja Hausner, presumably related to her director, furnished a detailed series of garments to <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/amourfou.html"><i>Amour fou</i></a>. I'd need to see <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgy.html"><i>The Duke of Burgundy</i></a> and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html"><i>Jauja</i></a> again to gauge how fully they belong here. I liked the fresh looks of the kids in <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dope15.html"><i>Dope</i></a>, designed by Patrik Milani.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfrrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<b>BEST VISUAL EFFECTS</b><br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a>, whose Ava character was unusually designed but instantly believable<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/juraswor.html"><i>Jurassic World</i></a>, which did its dinosaur thing but will hopefully be supplanted soon<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, dominating this category as fully as it owns the next one...<br />
<br />
<i>Also</i>: I didn't have many other places to turn besides <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/padingtn.html"><i>Paddington</i></a>'s talking bear and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhat.html"><i>Blackhat</i></a>'s cyber-animations, but both occasionally looked chintzy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgyrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<b>BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING</b><br />
Candy Alderson, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgy.html"><i>The Duke of Burgundy</i></a>, where meticulous masks sometimes slip<br />
Nadine Prigge, et al., <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, with elaborate, unending inventions<br />
Debra Denson, Trefor Proud, Sarah Love, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/spy15.html"><i>Spy</i></a>, for fun with McCarthy and Law<br />
<br />
<i>Also</i>: <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mapstars.html"><i>Maps to the Stars</i></a> almost got there, with all the characters' feints at California glamor, but I wasn't always sure about Mia's scars, though at least they weren't as lame as the ones in <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i>. Roy Andersson's movies always earn chuckles for the characters' uncanny pallor, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/pgbranch.html"><i>Pigeon</i></a> is no different. Angela Garacija took Viggo Mortensen, who is naturally a sculpture, and turned him into a painting for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html"><i>Jauja</i></a>.<br />
<br />
So that's 10 nominations for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/itfollws.html"><i>It Follows</i></a>, 9 for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madmaxfr.html"><i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i></a>, 5 apiece for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/exmachin.html"><i>Ex Machina</i></a> and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/bandfill.html"><i>Girlhood</i></a>, 4 apiece for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dukburgy.html"><i>The Duke of Burgundy</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eastboys.html"><i>Eastern Boys</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/farmad15.html"><i>Far from the Madding Crowd</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/timbuktu.html"><i>Timbuktu</i></a>, trios for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/abtelly.html"><i>About Elly</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quinquin.html"><i>Li'l Quinquin</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lovmrc15.html"><i>Love & Mercy</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/tribe14.html"><i>The Tribe</i></a>, and deuces for <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/blackhat.html"><i>Blackhat</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mapstars.html"><i>Maps to the Stars</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/prfrance.html"><i>The Princess of France</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/wildtals.html"><i>Wild Tales</i></a>. Some of these movies I only equivocally admired, which just goes to show that sums are often lesser than component parts. Conversely, I like <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/eden14.html"><i>Eden</i></a>, <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/jauja.html"><i>Jauja</i></a>, and the totally blanked Scandinavian-surrealist double-feature of <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/pgbranch.html"><i>A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence</i></a> and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ofhorsmn.html"><i>Of Horses and Men</i></a> a lot more than these totals suggest, and expect that the barely-mentioned <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/magmikxl.html"><i>Magic Mike XXL</i></a> may continue to grow on me. NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-90354765435244302402015-05-28T17:00:00.000-05:002015-05-28T19:48:39.474-05:00Cannes 1995: Jury Awards<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/palmedor.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
First off, I want to thank everybody who followed this feature, and for making the five of us feel that we weren't shouting into a total void, or throwing a party to which we hadn't invited anybody else. Comment sections were pretty quiet, but murmurs over Twitter and elsewhere indicated there was an audience for our nuttiness. We hope you'll dig up some of these films if you haven't already, whether to share or challenge our enthusiasm, or to mirror or refute our distaste or indifference. As for "we" and "us," I couldn't possibly be more grateful to <a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/">Ivan</a>, <a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/">Tim</a>, <a href="http://seventh-row.com/">Alex</a>, and <a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.com/">Amir</a> for cramming so many movies into a month and producing such thoughtful and zippy reflections on them, at a time when all five of us had plenty else going on. I woke up every morning excited for what they'd have to say, and they never disappointed. You can use the "Cannes 1995" label at the bottom of this post or <a href="http://nicksflickpicks.com/cannes95.html">head over here</a> to remind yourself of all their pearls of wisdom.<br />
<br />
Tim and I were the last two people to leave the hotel room; we also kept the craziest schedules, heading out earliest and coming latest, to see the most sidebar entries. Over our final breakfast in our beachfront hotel (<i>yes this is all made up what of it this was our best shot at a mental vacation shhhh</i>) we swapped cocktail <i>serviettes</i> with our Top 10s on them.<br />
<br />
Nick's: 1) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html"><i>Safe</i></a>, 2) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10-may-26.html"><i>Underground</i></a>, 3) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-2-may-18.html"><i>Georgia</i></a>, 4) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html"><i>Nasty Love</i></a>, 5) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html"><i>L'Enfant noir</i></a>, 6) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-3-may-19.html"><i>The White Balloon</i></a>, 7) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-6-may-22.html"><i>Good Men, Good Women</i></a>, 8) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-8-may-24.html"><i>The Arsonist</i></a>, 9) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html"><i>The Neon Bible</i></a>, 10) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10-may-26.html"><i>Ed Wood</i></a><br />
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Tim's: 1) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11-may-27.html"><i>Dead Man</i></a>, 2) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html"><i>Safe</i></a>, 3) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10-may-26.html"><i>Ed Wood</i></a>, 4) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10-may-26.html"><i>Underground</i></a>, 5) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-6-may-22.html"><i>Hello Cinema</i></a>, 6) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-6-may-22.html"><i>Good Men, Good Women</i></a>, 7) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-4-may-20.html"><i>Lisbon Story</i></a>, 8) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-8-may-24.html"><i>The Arsonist</i></a>, 9) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html"><i>Nasty Love</i></a>, 10) <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-2-may-18.html"><i>Georgia</i></a><br />
<br />
That lets you know where at least two of us started as we entered deep sequester with our fellow jurors. As for determining prize-winners among all five of us, I would say there was pretty speedy agreement about many of these choices, even though at least half of them involved some haggling—whether about levels of achievement within each category or about distribution of prizes across the slate. The closest calls had to do with the Palme vs. the Grand Jury Prize, which probably divides a lot of juries, and with the exact criteria for the Jury Prize, which I'm not sure we're giving to our third-place film, but certainly to a film that impressed us from multiple angles and didn't seem to come out on top in any one area. So let that be a lesson to you kids out there making assumptions about what Jury Prizes, or any Cannes prize, or any juried film award, necessarily implies about the conversation behind it.<br />
<br />
I'll be announcing our selections over <a href="https://twitter.com/NicksFlickPicks">my Twitter feed</a> over the next couple of hours, and will later group all the news here. Meanwhile, we'd love to hear your choices or other Cannes '95-related thoughts in the Comments section ... and stay tuned for one more Roundtable still to come (following <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes95r1.html">this one</a> and <a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/cannes95r2.html">this one</a>, both of which taught me a lot), plus some late-breaking discussions with film scholars and other experts who can unpack some of our recent viewing from more specialized perspectives. So, the awards aren't the end, but the beginning of the end. And they are...<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><hr />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Palme d'or: <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10-may-26.html">Underground</a></span><br />
<i>(also won the same prize at the actual 1995 Cannes Film Festival)</i> <br />
Extravagantly assembled and hauntingly carnivalesque. Two jurors apiece felt strongly that <i>Underground </i>or <i>Dead Man</i> was the best of the festival by a significant margin. The fifth juror got called in as a tiebreaker. Controversies over the movie's political framing of the Balkan framing were not absent from our deliberations, but we also noted the movie's contextualizing of all historiography as a series of addled, self-interested, and desperately maintained victors' narratives, as well as admiring its ambitious construction and remarkable brio.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Grand Jury Prize: <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11-may-27.html">Dead Man</a><a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10-may-26.html"></a></span><br />
<i>(originally awarded to </i>Ulysses' Gaze<i>)</i> <br />
In addition to the vehement support <i>Dead Man</i> attracted for the Palme, the cinematography by Robby Müller and production design by Bob Ziembicki were the consensus choice for a Technical Grand Prize we wound up not giving—both because the film wound up claiming such a higher award and because no other film seemed worthy of claiming that title in <i>Dead Man</i>'s stead, notwithstanding scattered support for various elements of <i>Sharaku</i>, <i>The Neon Bible</i>, and the Moreau jury's choice, <i>Shanghai Triad</i>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Best Director: Hou Hsaio-hsien, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-6-may-22.html">Good Men, Good Women</a><a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html"></a></span><br />
<i>(originally awarded to Mathieu Kassovitz, </i>La Haine<i>)</i> <br />
Not everyone on the jury relished <i>Good Men, Good Women</i> or feels particularly susceptible to his trademark style of deliberate framings and long, slow takes. But the film's fans rated its direction as with even greater ardor than the film as a whole; with only Jarmusch and Kusturica drawing comparable enthusiasm in this area, Hou was the obvious choice.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Jury Prize: <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-7-may-23.html">Nasty Love</a><a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11-may-27.html"></a></span><br />
<i>(originally awarded to </i>Don't Forget You're Going to Die<i>)</i> <br />
For a while it appeared <i>Ed Wood</i> had this in the bag, and <i>Nasty Love</i><i> </i>might pull down the screenplay citation. But a number of factors flipped that already-tenuous script: <i>Nasty Love</i> drew substantial support in all categories, without coming out tops in any; another contender made a bullish case for the screenplay citation; <i>Ed Wood</i> elicited more admiration than passion; and <i>Nasty Love</i> had the momentum of feeling like our "discovery" in the Competition. The last juror to see it turned out to be a big fan—rating it higher, perhaps, than <i>any</i> of the other prize designees—so this seemed like the due recognition. Burton's film will have to clutch its two Oscars and cry into the octopus tank.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Best Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-3-may-19.html">Angels and Insects</a><a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11-may-27.html"></a></span><br />
<i>(originally awarded to Helen Mirren, </i>The Madness of King George<i>)</i> <br />
An early favorite who never got supplanted, despite substantial praise for Anna Bonaiuto in <i>Nasty Love</i>, Annie Shizuka Inoh in <i>Good Men, Good Women</i>, and Gena Rowlands in <i>The Neon Bible</i>. <i>Carrington</i>'s Emma Thompson and <i>Shanghai Triad</i>'s Gong Li also factored into the conversation, albeit in a slightly lower frequency. Nobody even listed Mirren among their top five choices in this category; it remains, easily, the biggest head-scratcher among the original jury's choices...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Best Actor: Jonathan Pryce, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-5-may-21.html">Carrington</a><a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-3-may-19.html"></a></span><br />
<i>(also won the same prize at the actual 1995 Cannes Film Festival)</i><i></i> <br />
...whereas this one was the most quickly and emphatically co-signed. Only <i>Ed Wood</i>'s Martin Landau put up any real fight for second place, with vigorous but surprisingly isolated voices stumping for Mark Rylance and Nigel Hawthorne. Pryce got first place on three of the first four ballots in our straw poll, and that was pretty much all (s)he wrote.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Best Screenplay: Jim Allen, <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-6-may-22.html">Land and Freedom</a><a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-3-may-19.html"></a></span><br />
<i>(not awarded at the actual 1995 Cannes Film Festival</i><i>)</i> <br />
My guess is that the "unanimous" Special Jury Prize that Jeanne Moreau's jury conveyed upon Christopher Hampton's <i>Carrington</i> started as a Screenplay award and grew to honor his directing and general stewardship of the project. We could have doubled up on <i>Carrington</i> endorsements as they did. But even beyond its artful parsing of anti-Franco politics and its remarkable ear for intramural dissent among activists and radicals—and setting aside its iffy frame-story and flirtations with cliché—the script for Ken Loach's Spanish Civil War drama galvanized all of us. Indeed, the film as a whole was a favorite among most of the group, without quite rising to Palme-level endorsement.<br />
<br />NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-45640005906836748422015-05-28T16:30:00.000-05:002015-05-28T16:40:41.813-05:00Cannes 1995: Day 12: May 28<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quckdeadrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Quick and the Dead</i>, USA, dir. Sam Raimi</span><br />
<br />
Many people need no help appreciating Jim Jarmusch's <i>Dead Man</i>. If <a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10-may-26.html">you're me</a> and can't help feeling agnostic, recuperating more admiration for Jarmusch's affected earnestness and genuine idiosyncrasy is a lot easier after seeing a revisionist Western as flat and plodding as Sam Raimi's <i>The Quick and the Dead</i> Or Sharon Stone's <i>The Quick and the Dead</i> (she also produced), or whoever's <i>The Quick and the Dead</i>. Even the mid-90s' reigning Goldilocks can't save the movie from being too much or too little at all times. The narrative disarray is total—as evidenced by a major flashback tucked into the last ten minutes, which, incidentally, unfolds a scene the audience has already worked out—but even disarray is more interesting than the utter stasis of so many shots where Stone or Russell Crowe or Gene Hackman just stares at people, or the brute momentum of the shootout scenes where the same same same thing happens as the field of contestants winnows down to an utterly foreordained foursome. Raimi's attempts to wake himself aren't any more interesting than the impressions of Raimi asleep at the wheel. But rather than keep laying on Cannes's closing night film, I'm inclined to put pressure on the oft-invoked phrase "revisionist Western," because the John Ford retrospective that unfolded throughout the festival—25 features in ten days—shows that even peak-period Westerns by figures as major as Ford were "revisionist" as often as not. Few have been as austere in their outlook, albeit frequently purple in their prose, as <i>The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance</i>. This 1962 James Stewart/John Wayne vehicle, which could not possibly be more cannily cast, challenges and complicates so many myths of the frontier, the ballot box, the law, the state, and the gun that you're hard-pressed to find any Western trope that survives intact. I wish I'd had time for more of the Ford films, but boy was I glad to have saved them up so that I didn't finish on Raimi's folly, and I could take in a rounder, wider, bitterer scale of revision than the simple notion of a girl with a gun.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114214/combined">The Quick and the Dead</a></span><br />
(Out of Competition: USA, dir. Sam Raimi)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/quckdead.html">My Response:</a> "If something on Earth had to be absolutely no fun, why the Sam Raimi western with Sharon Stone as shootist? ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C–</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-closing-day.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... Raimi does what he can to spike things with his usual cartoon flair, and the opening quarter-hour is a marvel of camerawork, weird characters, and comic energy. He even manages to make the endless series of gunfights all feel meaningfully different. But he mangles the tone as the film goes on, turning a playful satire into a leaden, straightforward slog ..." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">6/10</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sboatbndrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027042/combined">Steamboat Round the Bend</a></span><br />
(Ford Retrospective: USA, dir. John Ford, 1935)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/sboatbnd.html">My Response:</a> "Spry, ambling Ford. Not rigidly shaped, which appeals. Indulges stereotypes but also burns false idols ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B/B+</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mshotvalrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056217/combined">The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance</a></span><br />
(Ford Retrospective: USA, dir. John Ford, 1962)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/mshotval.html">My Response:</a> "Law, literacy, rhetoric, press, votes, violence: six chambers in America's gun. Purple, but deep ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">A–</span><br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<i>Coming later tonight</i>: Our jury has reached its decisions!NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-14438105460355502032015-05-27T18:30:00.000-05:002015-05-27T22:58:06.080-05:00Cannes 1995: Day 11: May 27<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/deadmanjrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Dead Man</i>, USA, dir. Jim Jarmusch</span><br />
<br />
Two Hugh Grant movies played the last three days at Cannes, in sync with a carefully timed visit from His Floppy-Hairedness, Marquess of Stutter. That may have been the big news at the time, whereas now <i>The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Jesus This Title Is Long</i> is the most patently dated element of the final full day of programming. All three of the other films listed below, despite slipping in at the eleventh hour, have had much more lasting impacts. <i>La Haine</i> caught on quickly, of course, sending shockwaves through French film culture and public discourse. 20th-anniversary pieces have popped up in many major European papers this spring. <i>Dead Man</i> wafted in and out on the final day with remarkably little fanfare, just as Jarmusch's delicious <i>Only Lovers Left Alive</i> did two years ago; I'm pretty reconciled to Just Not Getting <i>Dead Man</i>, but I see completely why so many cinephiles are impassioned about it. Despite its stiffing by the jury and, evidently, by the programmers—way more than <i>La Haine</i>, it's the sort of movie that works by osmosis, and needs time to unwrap its ideas—I'd wager that it now boasts the highest critical stature of any of the Palme competitors from this good-to-middling vintage. My favorite film and happiest discovery among these three was the Burkinabe ensemble dramedy <i>Haramuya</i>, which nimbly alights on multiple storylines among young and old, male and female, in modern-day Ouagadougou. Today it is most celebrated by African cinema devotées for its rare attention to urban teens in a contemporary setting. I'd have had a hard time seeing it without my university connections, but keep an eye out for that title. It was the second movie I watched of the 53 I screened over the six weeks for this feature, and it's easily in the top two or three of those I'm most eager to check out again.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112817/combined">Dead Man</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: USA, dir. Jim Jarmusch)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/deadmanj.html">My Response:</a>
"At times a laudably eccentric work of imagination I just don't respond to. At times a revel in affectation I flat dislike ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/dead-man-1995/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "... The spell Jarmusch casts does not go unbroken, subject to a few too many
fade-outs and Neil Young reverbations, but it’s immeasurably enhanced
by the stark beauty of Robby Müller’s images. Few other Competition
films demonstrated this much ambition, and none were this successful in
achieving it." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★★★★</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... It's top-notch anti-Americana, and the only revisionist Western you
really need; you can count on your hands the number of movies,
irrespective of genre, that do a better job of lacerating Hollywood's
beloved cultural myths while replacing them with new myths and
metaphysical philosophies all its own." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">10/10</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "The type of curious, revisionist and progressive film that the Western
genre, on its last long breaths for several decades now, needs in order
to be revitalized and re-popularized. Jarmusch's uncompromising vision
is stark, humorous and wickedly entertaining ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span><br />
<br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lahainerev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/combined">La Haine</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: France, dir. Mathieu Kassovitz)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lahaine.html">My Response:</a> "Film-school showiness in image, sound, acting, and structure, which isn't to deny its moments of power in all those areas ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/la-haine/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "An impressive albeit mixed bag. The first half of <i>La Haine</i> is rife with posturing, both on the part of the characters and Kassovitz ... And yet, the second half is simply extraordinary, dissolving most of my skepticism." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★★★½</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "...The juvenile energy sometimes leaves the film stranded in go-nowhere scenes and the ending is overdetermined, but this is potent enough that Kassovitz's premature Best Director nod from the jury is easy to understand, if not endorse." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">8/10</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "Kassovitz's film is over-determined and over-zealous ... but this coked-out, high-octane story of fragile masculinity,
volatile friendships, and the vulnerabilities of life in the Parisian <i>banlieue</i> is undeniably effective, with an ending that never fails to shock even on repeat screenings." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/enghilmtrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112966/combined">The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain</a></span><br />
(Un Certain Regard: UK, dir. Christopher Monger)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/enghilmt.html">My Response:</a> "A movie that went up a molehill and mustered about one-third of a monty ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C–</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... It's your basic genial and utterly generic exercise in letting Hugh
Grant do his Hugh Grant thing against a backdrop of Colorful British
Eccentrics, a form that was just about to launch into the stratosphere ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">6/10</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/haramuyarev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113258/combined">Haramuya</a></span><br />
(Un Certain Regard: Burkina Faso, dir. Drissa Touré)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/haramuya.html">My Response:</a> "Not extraordinarily distinguished in any one area but a social portrait of Ouagadougou both affable and gently cautionary ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-11.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... Touré's direction is exceedingly, winningly generous, refusing to blame any of the characters for latching onto the worldview that seems right to them, and presenting the frayed attitudes of the townspeople with observational warmth ..." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">7/10</span><br />
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<i>Coming tomorrow</i>: The Closing Night film, and depending on how long our jury needs to deliberate, our own award announcements. If we need another day or two of sequester, trust that we're just trying to make more people happy than Joel and Ethan and Jake and Sienna did...NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-90172032327173732862015-05-26T18:30:00.000-05:002015-05-26T19:13:53.571-05:00Cannes 1995: Day 10: May 26<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/underg95rev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Underground</i>, Serbia/France/Germany, dir. Emir Kusturica</span><br />
<br />
A very sad anecdote in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Cannes-behind-Film-Festival/dp/0714861901"><i>Citizen Cannes</i></a>, the memoir by longtime festival director Gilles Jacob, finds Serbian film director Emir Kusturica spotting Francis Ford Coppola in the airport after the 1996 festival, where Coppola presided over the jury. Kusturica is over the moon to meet one of his filmmaking idols, and also to share in their very rare status as two of only three men (at that time) to have scooped two Palmes d'or. He approaches Coppola, fawns over him, attempts to establish fellow feeling. Coppola has never seen his movies, and indeed has no idea who he is. Kusturica keeps throwing him lifelines, establishing his credentials as a globally renowned cineaste, while humbly expressing his feelings of inferiority in present company. Coppola just can't get interested, and never figures out who he's talking to. Jacob offers the story as an emblem of American ignorance, retaining absolutely no idea of what cinema means or who produces it outside of Hollywood's confines. And indeed, you'd love to live in the world where a movie as ambitious, as outsized, as risky and <i>huge</i> as <i>Underground</i> endowed its maker with worldwide renown . . . to fellow luminaries in his field, <i>at the very least</i>. Kusturica has his complexities, to be sure, as both an artist and, from what I understand, as a person, but to Coppola he may as well have been Edward D. Wood, Jr.<br />
<br />
At least Jeanne Moreau's jury showed greater appreciation for <i>Underground</i>. Indeed, it's hard to imagine a better day for a Cannes competition than this one: two emblematic works by two figures prominent enough to later lead their own juries. In virtues and even in what I'd call their flaws, <i>Underground</i> and <i>Ed Wood</i> both seem to embody every hope their eccentric auteurs could have harbored for them, and both of them function, implicitly or explicitly, as valentines to a form that keeps thriving, even amid the devastations of land and people, even amid the merry assaults of the utterly talentless ...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114787/combined">Underground</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: Serbia/France/Germany, dir. Emir Kusturica)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/underg95.html">My Response:</a> "Lusty, impressively panoramic-surrealist view of Yugoslavian chaos as total war, eternal return, perverse metatheater ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">A–</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/underground-1995/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "... It's never less than exuberant; it’s just that Kusturica's ambition extends beyond making a Marx Brothers movie in German-occupied Yugoslavia, which happens to be the movie he’s most adept at making ..." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★★★½</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "The Palme d'Or winner, and it's easy to see why: the film's study of war's effect on the 20th century is spiked with humor, black as the heart of a collapsed sun, that repeatedly knocks it around the head with a psychotic carnivalesque flair ..." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">9/10</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "With biting humour and at a relentlessly energetic pace, <i>Underground</i> draws a historical map of Yugoslavia through the 20th century that is at once accessible and precise, heartfelt and bitter, and prescient and timeless. A masterpiece." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">A</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/edwoodrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109707/combined">Ed Wood</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: USA, dir. Tim Burton)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/edwood.html">My Response:</a> "Perfectly suits Burton's oddball empathy while passing off stylistic limits as homage. Very sweet if hardly without flaws ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/ed-wood/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "... Burton’s broad, zippy style seems to have been adopted without a great
deal of thought. It doesn’t resemble the films I’ve seen from Wood in
any way, even if you account for a massive production upgrade, and it
encourages the actors to repeat many of the same notes." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★★★</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... An unrestrained love for old movies and the gaudiest kitsch of the '50s
permeates every set, performance, and note of Howard Shore's superlative
score, leaving it less a straightforward biopic of the notorious
low-budget director Edward D. Wood, Jr, than an inside-out journey
through his dementedly sunny worldview ..." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">10/10</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "A remnant of a time when Burton was still capable of making films that expressed human emotions, full of nostalgia for the simpler times of the past—the perennial state of Hollywood in any era—and, like Wood himself, genuine love for the medium ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/thdenverrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114660/combined">Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead</a></span><br />
(Un Certain Regard: USA, dir. Gary Fleder)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/thdenver.html">My Response:</a> "Strenuous. Was ever a script so proud of itself? As ever, Garcia cannot get us on his side ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-10.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... The film lacks the bent humor of even the most flailing wannabe
Tarantino pictures, and it has barely a trace of visual style or
filmmaking energy, which not merely permits but practically begs us to
notice how little substance it has as a story ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">5/10</span><br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<i>Coming tomorrow</i>:
The last full day of Competition, but don't start packing your bags early. The last two Palme contenders to premiere on the Croisette have proved to have greater longevity in film culture than just about any of their competitors ...NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-57005095315855439202015-05-25T18:00:00.000-05:002015-05-26T00:28:16.066-05:00Cannes 1995: Day 9: May 25<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/conven95rev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Convent</i>, Portugal, dir. Manoel de Oliveira</span><br />
<br />
This third-to-last day of the Competition is a riddle to me, even more so than whatever syndrome is or isn't making King George III mad, or why Benoît does any of the things he does in <i>Don't Forget You're Going to Die</i>, or wtf is happening in the crypt or the church or the cave or the woods or the beach or the first reel or the second reel or the third reel in <i>The Convent</i>. Just when the Palme race started to heat up with much more exciting contenders than we'd seen in the early days of the festival, Day 9 feels larded with puzzling, truncated, or frankly mediocre work, in and out of the Main Competition. The things that make Beauvois's and de Oliveira's films frustrating to watch admittedly make them more interesting as time passes. Either might have been served by an earlier berth in the schedule, an idea we'll revisit when we land on <i>Dead Man</i> on the final day. Most of the sidebar stuff could just as easily not have played at all, but I have to say, after so many unsatisfying narratives and inchoate statements, it was sure was fun watching Antonio Banderas fire away at bad guys with weaponized guitar case.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112716/combined">The Convent</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: Portugal, dir. Manoel de Oliveira)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/conven95.html">My Response:</a> "Both interesting and limited as a sinister meditation on people as forms and concepts. Entombed in its own discourses? ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C+</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/the-convent-1995/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "... I wasn't able to engage with it beyond its ambiance, but that's nearly enough, and Malkovich adds a loose human element that keeps it from getting too stuffy." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★★★</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-9.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... But <i>damn</i>, is it a muddle, with the actors going every which way,
the ill-chosen music cues insisting that an Italianate portal-to-hell
extravaganza is right around the corner, and far too much obvious coding
of its themes." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">5/10</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "One of the prolific director's lesser efforts. Although there are interesting experiments with the musical score of the film, its formal rigidity ... and the literary nature of the dialogue trap the film, preventing its metaphysical elements from feeling, well, metaphysical." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C–</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/noublmourev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113909/combined">Don't Forget You're Going to Die</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: France, dir. Xavier Beauvois)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/noublmou.html">My Response:</a> "Easy to underestimate ambition of realist drama in this mold. Ideas worthy but need more shaping ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/dont-forget-youre-going-to-die/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "Beauvois isn’t going for the impressionism of Denis or the lacerating
character shifts of Pialat, but rather an aesthetic that evokes the
great potential of life and our even greater potential to waste it ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">★</span>★½</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-9.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... Wins lots of points for
refusing to clarify what it can deftly imply, but there comes a point
where opacity about the main character's psychology outside of a general
background radiation of suicidal ennui feels like an unnecessary wall
between the film and the viewer." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">6/10</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "... Beauvois promises a strong directorial career ahead of him, exhibiting a powerful grasp of mood and colour palettes, but his film fails to register the emotional responses it aims for ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span><br />
<br />
<hr />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madnesskrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110428/combined">The Madness of King George</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: UK, dir. Nicholas Hytner)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/madnessk.html">My Response:</a> "Lacks a clear point of view on the historical episode. Schticky in tone; handsome but familiar in style ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span><br />
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<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/the-madness-of-king-george/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "Although frequently witty in its irreverence, it’s decidedly less so for being so pleased with itself what what! Hawthorne commendably goes all in, never winking to the audience during his ruddy-faced rants ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★★★</span><br />
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<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-9.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... Meets my cardinal rule for costume dramas, making the period it depicts
feel tethered to living human emotions rather than locked away for our
stuffy, privileged edification; but Hytner's somewhat choked direction
and the largely one-note performances of most of the cast don't
make the humans themselves feel all that lively ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">7/10</span><br />
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<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "One of the most entertaining films of the competition lineup of the festival. Hytner's film packs all the punch and pizzazz missing from the other English-language period dramas of the festival ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/awfbgadvrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112427/combined">An Awfully Big Adventure</a></span><br />
(Directors' Fortnight: UK, dir. Mike Newell)<br />
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/awfbgadv.html">My Response:</a> "Not always sure how to merge coming-of-age, sexual danger, backstage farce, Peter Pan. At least it tries? ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/canbaconrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109370/combined">Canadian Bacon</a></span><br />
(Un Certain Regard: USA, dir. Michael Moore)<br />
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/canbacon.html">My Response:</a> "More than diverting, less than entertaining. Smells like the joke-writers' room. Wexler gets it looking pretty good ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/desprd95rev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112851/combined">Desperado</a></span><br />
(Out of Competition: USA, dir. Robert Rodriguez)<br />
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/desprd95.html">My Response:</a> "No prizes for taste, innovation, but might cop some for charm, movement, verve. Rodriguez's touch rarely so light since ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span><br />
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<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-9.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... For every moment that's patently an unnecessary indulgence, there's a
better one that's B-movie cartoon zaniness at its freest. That climactic
shootout centered on guns built into guitar cases covers a lot of sins." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">7/10</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/udomimtrrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109751/combined">Under the Domim Tree</a></span><br />
(Un Certain Regard: Israel, dir. Eli Cohen)<br />
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/udomimtr.html">My Response:</a> "Occasionally conjures the complex affects of Holocaust orphans praying for miracles. Often settles for chintz ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">C</span><br />
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<i>Coming tomorrow</i>:
The Bling Ring, i.e., the movie that arrived to Cannes clutching two Oscars and the one that departed Cannes with the Palme ...NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10239856.post-77936456230219406502015-05-24T11:30:00.000-05:002015-05-25T07:35:06.421-05:00Cannes 1995: Day 8: May 24<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ulysgazerev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Ulysses' Gaze</i>, Greece, dir. Theo Angelopoulos</span><br />
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Fewer films than usual on offer today: Critics' Week had ended, and many of the Quinzaine and Un Certain Regard titles proved elusive. But what remains is a full meal. Some might even say over-full. I imagine critics arrive to every Cannes with certain days in the schedule circled in boldfaced marker, and this would have been one of them. Theo Angelopoulos' <i>Ulysses' Gaze</i>, which finds the legendary Greek auteur pondering the evisceration of the Balkans and the evanescence of film, and Zhang Yimou's <i>Shanghai Triad</i>, with its visually and narratively operatic story of gangsterism and bitter redemption, had figured instantly on everyone's list of likely plays for the Palme d'or. By "everyone," I include the filmmakers. Neither was renowned for hiding his light under a bushel, but even by those standards, they pull out all the technical and rhetorical stops in these projects. I don't doubt their sincere commitment to their visions, but I also sense they can smell the velvet in the trophy case. Neither of these statement-pieces went home empty-handed, even if Angelopoulos' famous hissy-fit upon winning the runner-up prize suggested otherwise, but nor did they unite critical opinion or endear themselves uniformly to audiences. I found plenty to chew on in both, but oscillated like so many others between awe and skepticism. If anything, I was more galvanized by a one-hour Malaysian adaptation of William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" that slipped into Un Certain Regard to less acclaim than it deserved. You could <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyuB562fIlg">watch it</a> three times in the span it takes to screen <i>Ulysses' Gaze</i>, though that's not an automatic point for or against either of them. Good things come in big <i>and</i> small packages.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114863/combined">Ulysses' Gaze</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: Greece, dir. Theo Angelopoulos)<br />
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/ulysgaze.html">My Response:</a> "Labored devices, awkward clashes of idiom, but admirably earnest. Heaven is made of Angelopoulos camera movements ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><br />
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<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/ulysses-gaze/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "I hesitate to call this pretentious self-parody, but only because we’re
supposed to know that’s philistine code for not understanding it. In this case, however, it feels apropos, for despite Angelopoulos’ [...] unmistakable bids for profundity over its three tortured hours, his efforts are strained at every moment." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">★½</span> <br />
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<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-8.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "... Individually, it's made up of almost nothing but striking images and meaningfully slow moments, but long before the movie was even thinking about ending, I was cowed into submission more than transfixed by the gravity of every moment ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">6/10</span><br />
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<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "The film is deeply and intimately rooted in its milieu, but maybe three-hour lectures on Balkan history are not everyone's idea of a rewarding <strike>university course</strike> film experience ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B–</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/shgtriadrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115012/combined">Shanghai Triad</a></span><br />
(Main Competition: China, dir. Zhang Yimou)<br />
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/neonbibl.html">My Response:</a> "Full potential isn't reached; boy's perspective unilluminating. Voluptuous exercise, though, with a Warner Bros end ..." Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B</span><br />
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<a href="http://letterboxd.com/bellyquip/film/shanghai-triad/">Ivan Albertson's Review:</a> "It's a relief when it settles down in the country in the second half.
While the gradual thaw of Gong’s character is hardly surprising, it is
effective, and the ending is impressively uncompromising ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">★</span></span>★½</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-8.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> "Filtering its tale of gangland warfare through the perspective of
petulant nightclub singer and gangster's moll (she's played,
terrifically, by Gong Li), and then filtering <i>her</i> through the
eyes of a teenage boy from the country (Wang Xiaoxiao) who can barely
articulate his impressions through all of it, the film has a
point-of-view problem ... " Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">7/10</span><br />
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<a href="http://amiresque.blogspot.ca/2015/05/cannes-1995.html">Amir Soltani's Review:</a> "The gorgeous cinematography is the highlight of the show. The film's intricacy only hits in the
last couple of scenes, but when the loose ends of the story are finally tied up, the
intense finale overshadows much of the slowness in the preceding
buildup. ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/kakibakrrev.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110229/combined">The Arsonist (Kaki bakar)</a></span><br />
(Un Certain Regard: Malaysia, dir. U-Wei Haji Saari)<br />
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<a href="http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/lenfnoir.html">My Response:</a> "Faulkner thrives in Malaysia! Land as mindspace, race as turf war, class as tribunal: all there. Brute, vivid object ... " Grade: <span style="color: #cc0000;">B+</span><br />
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<a href="http://antagonie.blogspot.com/2015/05/cannes-1995-day-8.html">Tim Brayton's Review:</a> " ... The aesthetic is casually naturalistic but with a poetic attention to
darkness and color; the social insights are smart as they are quiet." Rating: <span style="color: #cc0000;">9/10</span><br />
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<i>Coming tomorrow</i>:
As we enter the final third of the Competition slate, everyone's in motion: mooning about Paris, racing to catch a cuckoo king, and skulking through woods and ruins, one step behind or ahead of the devil ...NicksFlickPickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04607501848596529493noreply@blogger.com0