MORE AWARD NEWS

With award season in complete disarray due to the on-going pandemic, some groups are just getting around to announcing their picks for the best of 2020. The National Board of Review has selected Spike Lee’s "Da 5 Bloods" as their Best Film of 2020 with the drama involving Vietnam vets returning to the country in search of a buried treasure received three awards overall with Lee winning Best Director and the film receiving the Best Ensemble award. Chadwick Boseman, the actor who passed away in August whose last roles were in "Da 5 Bloods" and " Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", was posthumously honored with with NBR Icon Award.

The 2020 National Board of Review Award winners:

Best Film: "Da 5 Bloods"
Best Director: Spike Lee, "Da 5 Bloods"
Best Directorial Debut: Channing Godfrey Peoples, "Miss Juneteenth"
Best Original Screenplay: Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies, "News Of The World"
Best Actor: Riz Ahmed, "Sound Of Metal"
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Raci, "Sound Of Metal"
Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-jung, "Minari"
Best Ensemble: "Da 5 Bloods"
Best Breakthrough Performance: Sidney Flanigan, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Joshua James Richards, "Nomadland"
Best Animated Feature: "Soul"
Best Foreign Language Film: "La LLorona"
Best Documentary: "Time"
NBR Icon Award: Chadwick Boseman
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "One Night In Miami"
NBR Spotlight Award: Radha Blank, "The Forty-Year-Old Version"

The American Film Institute have announced the AFI Movies of the Year with Netflix impressively doing well with four of their films making the list; Spike Lee’s "Da 5 Bloods", David Fincher’s "Mank", George C. Wolfe’s "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" and Aaron Sorkin’s "The Trial of the Chicago 7".

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR:

"Da 5 Bloods"
"Judas and the Black Messiah"
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
"Mank"
"Minari"
"Nomadland"
"One Night in Miami"
"Soul"
"Sound of Metal"
"The Trial of the Chicago 7"

And The Film Independent Spirit Awards have presented their nominations with "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" leading all Spirit nominees with seven including Best Feature. Only movies made for a budget of $22.5 million or under are eligible with the other Best Feature nominees include "Minari" (receivng six total nominations), "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom", "Nomadland" (with five total each) and "First Cow" (with three). The Spirit Awards are usually held on the Santa Monica beach the Saturday afternoon before The Oscars the following day. But this year, the ceremony will take place on April 22nd, three days before the Academy Awards on April 25th.

Here are the nominees for the 36th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature:

"First Cow"
"Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
"Minari"
"Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
"Nomadland"

Best First Feature:

"I Carry You With Me"
"The Forty-Year-Old Version"
"Miss Juneteenth"
"Nine Days"
"Sound of Metal"

Best Director:

Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"
Eliza Hittman, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Kelly Reichardt, "First Cow"
Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"

Best Screenplay:

Mike Makowsky, "Bad Education"
Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
Alice Wu, "The Half Of It"
Eliza Hittman, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"

Best First Screenplay:

Kitty Green, "The Assistant"
Noah Hutton, "Lapsis"
Channing Godfrey Peoples, "Miss Juneteenth"
Andy Siara, "Palm Springs"
James Sweeney, "Straight Up"

Best Female Lead:

Nicole Beharie, "Miss Juneteenth"
Viola Davis, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Sidney Flanigan, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Julia Garner, "The Assistant"
Frances McDormand, "Nomadland"
Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"

Best Male Lead:

Riz Ahmed, "Sound of Metal"
Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Adarsh Gourav, "The White Tiger"
Rob Morgan, "Bull"
Steven Yeun, "Minari"

Best Supporting Female:

Alexis Chikaeze, "Miss Juneteenth"
Yeri Han, "Minari"
Valerie Mahaffey, "French Exit"
Talia Ryder, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Yuh-jung Youn, "Minari"

Best Supporting Male:

Colman Domingo, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Orion Lee, "First Cow"
Paul Raci, "Sound of Metal"
Glynn Turman, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"
Benedict Wong, "Nine Days"

Best Cinematography:

Jay Keitel, "She Dies Tomorrow"
Shabier Kirchner, "Bull"
Michael Latham, "The Assistant"
Hélène Louvart, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Joshua James Richards, "Nomadland"

Best Editing:

Andy Canny, "The Invisible Man"
Scott Cummings, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Merawi Gerima, "Residue"
Enat Sidi, "I Carry You With Me"
Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"

Best Documentary:

"Collective"
"Crip Camp"
"Dick Johnson is Dead"
"The Mole Agent"
"Time"

Best International Film:

"Bacurau" (Brazil)
"The Disciple" (India)
"Night of the Kings" (Ivory Coast)
"Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time" (Hungary)
"Quo Vadis, Aida?" (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

John Cassavetes Award (award given for the best feature made for under $500,000)

"The Killing of Two Lovers"
"La Leyenda Negra"
"Lingua Franca"
"Residue"
"Saint Frances"

Robert Altman Award (award given to a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

"One Night in Miami"

The Truer Than Fiction Award (presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition):

Cecilia Aldarondo, "Landfall"
Elegance Bratton, "Pier Kids"
Elizabeth Lo, "Stray"

The Someone to Watch Award (recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition):

David Midell, "The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain"
Ekwa Msangi, "Farewell Amor"
Annie Silverstein, "Bull"

2021 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Last year's Sundance Film Festival was one of the few major fests that were able to hold their event traditionally. But as the pandemic continues almost a year later, the 2021 Sundance has to adjust like many other festivals had to do over the past year with a virtual festival. Running from January 28th to February 3rd, which is a shortened window for the fest, the majority of the 120 films will be screened online. With a new director, Tabitha Jackson, on board, the decision was made to expand beyond it's Utah home with some screenings held at drive-ins, arthouse cinemas and arts organizations to bring customized local programming to communities across the country.

Some highlights that will premiere at the festival include, "Ailey", a look at the visionary African-American choreographer and founder of his own company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; "Land", the directorial debut by actress, Robin Wright and stars as a woman who leaves her old life behind after a tragic event to live in the forest in the Rocky Mountains; Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga star in "Passing", the directorial debut from actress, Rebecca Hall, about two African-American women who were childhood friends and now one is "passing" as white; Writer-director Ninja Thyberg returns to Sundance with "Pleasure", a feature film that expands on her 2014 short about a Swedish woman coming to the States to begin work in adult films; The story of how the beloved and groundbreaking children's television series, "Sesame Street" was created in "Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street"; "The World To Come", a drama set in eighteenth-century upstate New York about two lonely, married women who find themselves emotionally connected starring Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, and Casey Affleck; "Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir", a documentary on the acclaimed author of "The Joy Luck Club" and the final film of director, James Redford; Acclaimed filmmaker, Nanfu Wang navigates the origin and spread of COVID-19 from Wuhan to the US with "In The Same Breath"; and "The Most Beautiful Boy in the World" explores the complicated life of actor, Björn Andrésen who found instant fame after starring in Luchino Visconti’s adaptation of "Death in Venice" at the age of fifteen.







For the complete list of films, purchase tickets and for additional information, please click below:

2021 Sundance Film Festival

MICHAEL APTED (1941 - 2021)

Michael Apted, the British director who had a celebrated career in cinema, notably behind the groundbreaking, "Up" documentary series, passed away on January 7th. The prolific filmmaker had died at his home in Los Angeles from undisclosed causes at the age of seventy-nine.

Born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Apted began his career working in television as a researcher for Granada Television in Manchester. This lead to one of his first major projects in 1964 which was a documentary that profiled 14 seven year-old boys and girls that represented a range of backgrounds, examining each child's social class to determine their future. It was called "7 Up", directed by Paul Almond and was originally intended to be one film. Yet the documentary proved so popular that Apted returned to these children every seven years, directing a total of nine episodes, beginning in 1970 and over the next fifty-six years with the last, "64 Up" released in 2019.

Apted would work extensively in television, directing episodes of several British programs, before he would make his feature film debut with "The Triple Echo" in 1972 featuring Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson. By 1979, Hollywood came calling and he made "Agatha", a drama about the eleven day disappearance of mystery writer Agatha Christie in 1926 that starred Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman. And while this film was not commercially successful, Apted would get another opportunity to direct in this country and the film, "Coal Miner's Daughter" would be his major breakthrough. This 1980 bio-pic on country singer, Loretta Lynn was a box-office hit and earned seven Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) with star, Sissy Spacek winning the Oscar for Best Actress.

Some highlights of Apted's career as a director include "Gorillas in the Mist", the bio on primate researcher, Dian Fossey that starred Sigourney Weaver; the Russian-based mystery-thriller, "Gorky Park"; "Thunderheart" a neo-western mystery starring Val Kilmer; Jodie Foster earned an Oscar nomination playing an isolated woman who faces other people for the first time in "Nell"; the 2002 Jennifer Lopez thriller, "Enough" where she plays an traumatized wife who learns to fight back against her abusive spouse; the third and final installment of "the Chronicles of Narnia" film series, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and the James Bond film, "The World Is Not Enough" with Pierce Brosnan.

Apted was elected to serve on the Motion Picture Academy's Board of Governors to represent the documentary branch in 2002, then would serve three terms as President of the Directors Guild of America from 2003 to 2009 and received the DGA's Robert Alrich Award in 2013.

MY VIEWING DIARY: PART TWELVE

"Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête)" (1946)

"Beauty and the Beast", from French director, Jean Cocteau, is far removed from the beloved Disney animated musical film most people are largely familiar with. Cocteau, who was better known as a writer and artist before turning to filmmaking, has crafted an enchanting yet dark visual masterpiece, a charming romance heightened with surrealist artistry. This first filmed version of the 1757 fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont tells the story of Belle (Josette Day) who cares for her family as they struggle financially due to Father (Marcel André) losing much of their wealth to the sinking of his cargo ships. Her horribly snobish sisters, Adélaïde (Nane Germon) and Félicie (Mila Parély) are not much help, putting on airs and treating Belle like a servant. But their situation is looking up as Father has another financial opportunity coming in from the sea. And because of this impending fortune, Belle's brother, Ludovic (Michel Auclair) gambles away what's left of the family's property.

When the ship comes in, however, there is nothing left after Father's debts have been paid. Forced to return home empty-handed, he becomes lost in the forest, coming across a seemingly empty castle with gates and doors opening magically by themselves. A loud roar frightens him but before he leaves, plucks a rose for his beloved daughter, Belle. The Beast (Jean Marais), a creature that is half-man and half-animal, suddenly appears, condemning Father to death for theft. But he will be spared only if one of his daughters takes his place.

When he returns home, Father explains the tragic events that has occurred to his family. Against his wishes, Belle decides to takes her father's place, returning to The Beast's castle. She is frightened and horrified by his appearance yet over time is captivated by his gentle soul. The Beast falls deeply in love with Belle, asking her to marry him but she refuses.

Many fairy tales were originally pretty morbid stories, filled with gore, brutality and dismemberment. But these tales were altered slightly over time through various cultures to make them simpler and easier for children to digest. This story sticks closer to the more commonly retold version by Beaumont but Cocteau has added his own bold dream-like elements to this tale. With spare dialogue, the director beautifully captures the wonderment of a classic romantic fantasy yet a sinister undercurrent is always near the surface. Actors are used as moving statues and candelabras for stunning impact, inventively pushing the boundaries of visual effects of the day. The look of The Beast is quite impressively elaborate, with claws, long teeth and moving ears, requiring many long hours for the costume to be applied to Marais (who also plays Belle's suitor, Avenant). If you are seeking an extraordinary magical experience, this "Beauty and The Beast" should not be missed.



"The Poseidon Adventure" (1972)

I recently re-watched, "The Poseidon Adventure" for the first time since I was a ten year-old kid when it was originally released in theaters. And the story of a luxury ocean liner that is overturned by a giant tsunami with some of the surviving passengers trying to reach the top of the flipped-over ship still managed to really stress me out. This action-thriller, directed by Ronald Neame and produced by Irwin Allen, was one of the early all-star disaster films that were popular in the 1970's where we would see movies involving a massive LA earthquake, damaged airplanes, a flame-engulfed skyscraper, bombs on rollercoasters and a swarm of killer bees.

Set on New Year's Eve, the S.S. Poseidon is in route to Athens and we meet some of our key passengers. Reverend Scott (Gene Hackman), a minister who questions his faith; a long-time married couple (Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters) who are going on to Israel to meet their first grandchild; a gruff police detective (Ernest Borgnine) and his wife (Stella Stevens), a former prostitute; a teenager (Pamela Sue Martin) and her younger brother (Eric Shea) who are going to join their parents; a health-conscious retailer (Red Buttons) on board looking for love and the singer (Carol Lynley) of the ship's band. An earthquake has set off a tsunami and the Captain (played by Leslie Nielsen who I still have a hard time taking seriously due to his role in the disaster-movie spoof, "Airplane") is unable to move the ship out of the path of a massive wave. After the Poseidon capsizes and floating upside-down, Reverend Scott tries to persuade the survivors to move up to the hull. Only a small number agree to go with him and with an injured waiter (Roddy McDowall), they begin their dangerous journey in an attempt to be rescued.

The less said about the formulaic script by Stirling Silliphant and Wendell Mayes the better. Yet despite this setback, these gifted actors are still able to deliver moving performances that make us care about these characters with Ms Winters even earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. But let's be real; "The Poseidon Adventure" is all about the tension-filled adventure, enhanced by impressive visual effects. And these special effects (which would win a Special Achievement Academy Award since visual effects were not a regular category at the time) have held up very well, especially since they had to be created on set.



"The Bride Wore Black (La Mariée était en noir)" (1968)

Two of the most important figures in French cinema, filmmaker, François Truffaut and actress, Jeanne Moreau re-team for the stylish, revenge thriller, "The Bride Wore Black", the first time since their 1962 international sensation, "Jules et Jim". Moreau plays Julie Kohler, a distraught woman who sadly became a widow on her wedding day. After telling her mother she's going on a long trip, Julie actually has other plans. The next time we see her, she is dressed glamorously in white and looking for a man named Bliss (Claude Rich). He's a notorious womanizer yet plans to get married. Julie appears at his engagement party and Bliss can't resist this beautiful woman staring at him. Luring him alone out to the balcony, Julie reveals her name to him before pushing him off of his high rise building. Bliss was one of five men responsible for the death of her husband and she plans on tracking each one down, making them pay with their lives. The other hunted men are played by some first-rate French actors, Michel Bouquet, Michel Lonsdale, Daniel Boulanger and Charles Denner.

While there are plenty of holes in the plot, Truffaut has made an entertaining film; an intense and thrilling ride that successfully bridges French cinematic sensibilities and Hitchcockian intrigue. But it is Moreau who elevates this material with her graceful and self-assured performance. The actress, who made her name for her work in Louis Malle's, "Elevator to the Gallows", Michelangelo Antonioni's "La Notte" and Luis Buñuel's "Diary of a Chambermaid" (to name just a few), is force of nature, coolly and methodically taking down each man who has deeply wronged her, never reconsidering her task for one moment. Watching this film did make me think of Quentin Tarantino's action-thriller, "Kill Bill" which shares some similar plot points right down to the Bride carrying a little book with the names of her potential victims which she crosses off once she's completed her mission. And while I know there were many movies that inspired him in the creation of "Bill", Tarantino claims to have never seen "The Bride Wore Black" and it's just a coincidence (which I find seriously hard to believe).

65 MOVIES TO SEE IN 2021

It has been months since I have been inside a movie theater and I miss the experience badly. But with a vaccine beginning to be administered, it looks like we are heading towards a return to some type of normalcy. It's gonna take some time before we are really out of danger but Hollywood is moving ahead optimistically with the idea that the business will be able to return and audiences can back in to theaters.

And with that, Vulture has put together a list highlighting many of the films that are planed to be released over the next twelve months. Some of these sixty-five features will be movies that were delayed from 2020, planned releases for 2021 and a few will be films that will get wider releases than what they were able to receive last year. 

Please click below to read:

65 Movies to See in 2021

JOAN MICKLIN SILVER (1935 - 2020)

Joan Micklin Silver, the pioneering female filmmaker best known for her feature film debut, "Hester Street" and the romantic-comedy, "Crossing Delancey", has passed away on December 31st. The writer/director died from complications of vascular dementia at the age of eighty-five.

Born on May 24th in Omaha, NE, Micklin would attend Sarah Lawrence College and married Raphael Silver, a real estate developer, three weeks after graduation in 1956. The couple moved to his hometown of Cleveland, OH where she would get involved in writing and directing local theater. In 1967, the family, which had grown with three daughters, Claudia, Dina and Marisa, moved to New York. With major film and theater production now in closer contact, Silver seriously pursued a professional career. Her first opportunity came when she went to work for Linda Gottlieb at the Learning Corporation of America where she wrote scripts for children's educational films and directed three shorts.

Silver's first major break came when she sold a screenplay that she had co-written with Gottlieb called, "Limbo" about the wives of prisoners of war, to Universal Studios. But the script would be heavily re-written and the male director had a completely different vision for the film. Determined not to have that happen again, Silver decided she wanted to direct her next screenplay. However, she quickly ran in to sexism early on as she was told by a studio executive that movies were already too complicated and women directors were not worth the additional trouble.

Undeterred, Silver would form a production company, Midwest Films with her husband. He largely got involved due to the many frustrations he saw his wife having to deal with while trying to start her film career. The first film Silver wrote and directed was "Hester Street", the story of Russian Jewish immigrants who come to the live in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The very low-budget drama released in 1975 would prove to be a critical and box-office success with star, Carol Kane (in her first major film role) earning a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Silver's follow-up 1977 feature, "Between the Lines", about a group of people who work at an alt newspaper in Boston, would also receive critical praise. With her third film, Silver had adapted Ann Beattie's novel, "Chilly Scenes of Winter" for United Artists. But the studio changed the title to "Head Over Heels" and tacked on a happy ending to the film in 1979. This version was not very successful but it would be later re-released in 1982 with the original title and ending, faring much better with critics and audiences.

"Crossing Delancey" is probably Silver's most popular and enduring film. Amy Irving stars as Isabelle, a single, New York bookstore employee trying to put some distance between herself and her traditional Jewish upbringing in the Lower East Side. But her grandmother sets her up with a neighborhood pickle dealer (Peter Riegert). Isabelle realizes he's certainly a nice guy but thinks she wants someone a little rougher around the edges. Silver took her script to several studios who found the story "too ethnic". But luckily Irving was married at the time to one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, filmmaker Steven Spielberg. He suggested Silver give her screenplay to a neighbor who was an executive at Warner Bros. The studio would distribute the feature and "Crossing Delancey" became a box-office hit, earning more than one hundred million worldwide.

Silver would direct seven feature films (which included the 1989 teen-comedy, "Loverboy" with a young Patrick Dempsey as a pizza-delivery boy who offers extra services to older women and "A Fish in the Bathtub", her last film from 1999 which starred the comedy team of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara), several made-for-television films and directed two Off-Broadway plays.