THE 97TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

The Oscars has always been the official end of award season, mainly because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was the very first organization to honor cinema almost one hundred years ago. The Academy is at an awkward moment in its time where it wants to preserve the long traditions of the ceremony yet still wants to be viewed as moving the show into the modern era. The Oscars just made itself available to stream live this year (on Hulu) so their pace of advancement is not exactly speedy.

The show kicked off with a montage from films set in Los Angeles, highlighting various spots throughout the city. Then we have nominee, Ariana Grande for "Wicked" performing a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz" before her co-star, Cynthia Erivo does "Home" from "The Wiz". Then the two share the stage to conclude this mash-up with "Defying Gravity" from their musical based on L. Frank Baum's story. As the first time host, Conan O'Brien fit in quite nicely, bringing a good energy and kept the humor at caustic yet good-natured levels, and it's bit of a surprise he wasn't asked before. He started with a filmed take-off on "The Substance" and made some well-placed jokes on the nominated movies (""A Complete Unknown". "A Real Pain". "Nosferatu". These are some of the names I was called on the red carpet"). And O'Brien was talking about a dress code when he singled out Adam Sandler, sitting in the audience wearing his standard uniform of a hoodie and baggy gym shorts, creating a very funny moment.

The producers of this year's telecast wanted to shake up the routine but not too much. Instead of the acting categories, we had five actors come out to sing the praises of the costume designers and cinematographers. While it was a nice touch, it just wasn't as effective as when the previous acting winners honored the nominated actors. But the biggest misstep as far as I'm concerned was the decision to not have the nominated Best Original Songs performed on the show. In it's place we had O'Brien do "I Won't Waste Time" during the opening segment which was pretty funny. But a James Bond musical tribute to Honorary Oscar winning producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (which featured current pop artists, Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye doing popular Bond theme songs) and Queen Latifah honoring the late Quincy Jones (who had won an Honorary Oscar this year) with a rousing rendition of "Ease On Down The Road' from "The Wiz", while entertaining, failed to rise much above time filler. And the selection of the presenters was truly inspired with a nice mix of the legendary (Goldie Hawn, Mark Hamill, Daryl Hannah, Quentin Tarantino and an impressively spry, Mick Jagger) and contemporary (Andrew Garfield, Lily-Rose Depp, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Bowen Yang).

"Anora" had gone in with six nominations and went on to take home five Oscars including Best Picture. Mikey Madison win for Best Actress created the night's biggest upset by beating the favorite, Demi Moore for her performance in "The Substance" which oddly echoes the theme of the body horror film. Sean Baker personally received four awards this night with "Anora" for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing and the top prize, tying with Walt Disney for the most Oscars in a single year although the wins were for four different films. With its Best Picture win, "Anora" (which won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival) followed in the footsteps of the indie distributor, Neon’s last awards success; the Palme d’Or winning, South Korean drama, "Parasite", the unexpected winner of Best Picture back in 2019.

During his third acceptance speech, Baker encouraged filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screen in order to keep theaters alive and well. My love of going to the movies came directly from my mother who took us regularly to the theater, probably at least once a week. And while this was really the only way to see a motion picture at the time, the thrill of the communal experience of watching a film surrounded with an audience was deeply instilled into me. A theater is really the only perfect setting for me to truly enjoy seeing a film.

Baker also addressed the importance of supporting independent cinema which is so vital in order to tell challenging and innovative stories that the Hollywood system is way too cautious to go anywhere near. As we quickly approach the 100th anniversary of the Oscars, now is the time to support your local theaters, especially the indie-owned screens that are particularly struggling and unfortunately closing at a rapid rate.

So come on people, get off your couches, take your kids and go to a movie theater! Otherwise, there may not be much to celebrate during the upcoming 100th Oscars ceremony.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2025 Oscars:

Best Picture: "Anora"
Best Director: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best Original Screenplay: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Straughan, "Conclave"
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Best Cinematography: Lol Crawley, "The Brutalist"
Best Film Editing: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best International Feature Film: "I’m Still Here" (Brazil)
Best Documentary Feature Film: "No Other Land"
Best Documentary Short Film: "The Only Girl in the Orchestra"
Best Animated Feature Film: "Flow"
Best Animated Short Film: "In the Shadow of the Cypress"
Best Live Action Short Film: "I’m Not a Robot"
Best Original Song: "El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" Music by Clément Ducol and Camille, Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
Best Original Score: Daniel Blumberg, "The Brutalist"
Best Production Design: Nathan Crowley, Production Design and Lee Sandales, Set Decoration, "Wicked"
Best Costume Design: Paul Tazewell, "Wicked"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli, "The Substance"
Best Sound: Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill, "Dune: Part Two"
Best Visual Effects: Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer, "Dune: Part Two"

WINNERS OF THE 2025 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

"Dreams (Sex Love)", the third film in a trilogy by Norwegian writer/director, Dag Johan Haugerud, received the top prize of the Golden Bear at the close of this year's Berlin Film Festival. This story follows a passionate teenage girl who pours her intense feelings toward a teacher and follows the feature, "Sex" that premiered in Berlin last year and "Love" which was part of the competition at the Venice Film Festival last summer. Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro’s "The Blue Trail" took home the Silver Bear, which is the runner-up award. This drama imagines a future world where people over seventy-five years old are rounded up and placed in a type of concentration camp but the story follows a woman who escapes before arriving to this colony. And the Jury Prize was awarded to "The Message", from Argentine director Iván Fund, about guardians of a nine year old girl who exploit for profit her ability to communicate with animals.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 2025 Berlin Film Festival:

Golden Bear for Best Film: "Drømmer (Dreams)"



Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: "The Blue Trail"
Silver Bear Jury Prize: "The Message"
Silver Bear for Best Director: Huo Meng, "Living the Land"
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Radu Jude, "Kontinental ’25"



Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You"
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Andrew Scott, "Blue Moon"
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: The creative ensemble of "The Ice Tower"
Best Documentary: "Holding Liat"

MY LEAST FAVORITE FILMS OF 2024

Here are a few of the films I saw last year that I have no intention of ever watching again:

"BORDERLANDS"

I should start off by saying that I have never been a fan of movies based on video games. The few that I have seen I really haven't enjoyed at all. The problem I find is that there really isn't enough of a story to base an entire film around and the filmmakers tend not to expand the narrative elements nearly enough to make these video game stories truly cinematic. And the studios end up coasting largely on name recognition to get folks to turn out to theaters. I got lured into seeing the sci-fi action-comedy, "Borderlands" based on the trailer that featured an impressively eclectic cast that included Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramirez, Jack Black and Jamie Lee Curtis. Yet once again, I was tricked. "Borderlands" is a very expensive, poorly conceived, convoluted mess with several of the creative team jumping ship during or after production and even having their names removed from this project. It begins on the planet Pandora with a mercenary soldier named Roland (Hart) kidnaps a teen called Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) who happens to be the daughter of Atlas (Ramirez), a powerful corporate bigwig. He hires the bounty hunter, Lilith (Blanchett) to rescue his child. Tracking down Roland, Lilith discovers that Atlas actually wants Tina back against her will and she teams up with him to fight against Atlas' army, the Crimson Lance. Then the story goes further into some nonsense involving the secrets of advanced technology by a lost civilization of Pandora which Atlas believes is located in a mysterious vault that only Tina can open. Eli Roth is the credited director (with Tim Miller taking on reshoots) and wrote the screenplay with Joe Crombie (writer, Craig Mazin had his name removed from the script). The end results makes the film feel completely disjointed, impaired by underdeveloped characters, a meandering plot and without a whiff of originality. "Borderlands" was a complete waste of the prestigious talent involved and the one hundred and one minutes of time I will never get back.

"I SAW THE TV GLOW"

"I Saw The TV Glow", Jane Schoenbrun's follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 debut, "We're All Going to the World's Fair", received a glowing reception by many critics with several placing this psychological-horror drama high on their Best of the Year lists. However, the appeal of this film was completely lost on me as my viewing experience was torturous and feeling like it was never going to end. This '90's-set story follows Owen (Justice Smith), a lonely and isolated teen who bonds with another loner at school, Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) over their love of a television show, "The Pink Opaque". The program involves two teenage girls who use their shared psychic abilities to fight a villain called Mr. Melancholy, who has the power to shift time and existence. Owen and Maddy deeply connect to this show, which in turn, helps them grow closer to each other. Family problems makes Maddy want to run away from home and asks Owen to go with her. After sincerely considering this offer, he decides to stay and Maddy disappears. "The Pink Opaque" is also cancelled around this time. Several years later, Maddy reappears with news that she's been living in their favorite show during her time away. Schoenbrun has tapped into the surrealist, experimental style of the great David Lynch yet "I Saw the TV Glow" feels more muddled and less engaging than a wonderfully puzzling Lynchian experience.

"LISA FRANKENSTEIN"

The romantic-horror comedy, "Lisa Frankenstein" might have been intended be an ode to the classic comedies of the '80's but only ends up being a tired and predictable modern comedy. Lisa (Kathryn Newton) is an odd, goth teenager still trying to cope with the loss of her mother to an axe murderer. And to make matters worse, her father (Joe Chrest) has remarried to Janet (Carla Gugino), a self-involved woman who doesn't care about Lisa, and they live together with her daughter, Taffy (Liza Soberano). Lisa spends her time at the local cemetery and speaks to the grave of a young Victorian man who was killed by lightning. Lightning winds up striking twice and this man (Cole Sprouse) is brought back from the dead as a mute zombie to become Lisa's perfect boyfriend. Zelda Williams (who happens to be the daughter of the late Robin Williams) makes her feature directorial debut with "Lisa Frankenstein" and displays no real gift behind the camera, sadly proving the argument about nepo babies. The shockingly bad screenplay was written by Oscar-winner, Diablo Cody who seemed to have scripted this in a time warp, trapped reliving worn out, comedic ideas about love and relationships. Painfully dull and uninspired, "Lisa Frankenstein" is an apparent comedy that never came to life, effectively dead on arrival.

"MADAME WEB"

Based on a little known, minor character in the Spider-Man comic book universe, the super-hero film, "Madame Web" has managed to do nothing to make us intrigued, let alone inspired, to want to see anymore of her. Dakota Johnson has once again been given a leading role as Cassandra Webb, a New York City paramedic who develops abilities of a clairvoyant following a near-death experience. This leads her to connecting to three young girls (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced and Celeste O'Connor) and protect them from shady businessman, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim). Also having limited psychic abilities and enhanced strength he obtained from a Peruvian spider, Sims has visions that these girls will be the cause of his demise. And that means he wants to end their lives before that can happen, forcing Cassandra to develop the use of her powers in order to save them. The director, S.J. Clarkson, who has had an extensive career working in British television, makes her feature film directorial debut with "Madame Web" and is in way over her head trying to get a handle on the comic-book genre. The hazy and shapeless screenplay assembled by Clarkson along with the team of Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker does the film no favors. I do not pretend to understand the allure of Johnson yet the offspring of the charismatic actors, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith continues to book jobs despite adding very little charm and appeal to her performances. With an incoherent story, underwhelming visual style and listless thrills, "Madame Web" finds success as another very expensive addition to the garbage heap of super-hero movies that failed to launch a hopeful franchise.

MY FAVORITE FILMS OF 2024

When the year of 2024 began, the outlook was not particularly optimistic for the movies. The Hollywood labor strikes had created major production delays, meaning that there would be fewer wide releases available and the films that were released throughout the beginning of the year were pretty much ignored. But the summer turned things around with several blockbuster hits, followed by a string of more box-office successes into the fall and winter. Ultimately, it was another solid year for cinema with revenue down only 3% from the previous year. And despite the apparent limited supply, I found there to be many exciting and stimulating movies released over the course of the year that I thoroughly enjoyed. Here is my list of favorite films of 2024 I saw in alphabetical order:

"ANORA"

Who could have imagined that a dark, romantic screwball comedy involving a New York sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch would be charming, witty, poignant and laugh-out-loud funny? Yet in the hands of writer/director, Sean Baker, who has made a career of creating impressive, indie works about the lives of marginalized people, has brilliantly achieved this feat with "Anora". In a breakout performance, Mickey Madison plays Anora (who prefers to go by "Ani"), a twenty-three year old stripper trying to make a living by getting men to pay for lap dances. One night, Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn) comes to the club and they make a connection. After later having her come to his lavish mansion in Brooklyn and paying her for sex, Vanya offers Ani $15K to spend the week with him. They pass the time by having fun, lots of sex and a trip to Las Vegas with his entourage. At the end of the week, Vanya decides he doesn't want to go back to Russia to work for his father and asks Ani to marry him in order to stay. Ani is obviously skeptical yet after Vanya tells her he's in love, she choses to believe him. The couple are quickly married and begin a domesticated life. However, when word gets back to Vanya's parents (Aleksei Serebryakov, Darya Ekamasova), they summon Toros (Karren Karagulian), a handler hired to watch after their wild child son, to bring an end to this marriage. Like he has with most of his films, Baker takes us on a wild, unpredictable ride, this time by bringing a contemporary spin to the wacky comedy style of early Hollywood. "Anora" is singularly odd, delightfully funny and absolutely one of my favorite films of last year.

"CONCLAVE"

Who would have thought that the selection of a new Catholic pope could be filled with intrigue, deception and danger? With "Conclave", the first English-language feature from the Oscar nominated German filmmaker, Edward Berger, we are taken behind the scenes into the secret meetings involving the search for a pope that manages to be genuinely thrilling and surprisingly intense. After the current pope dies from a heart attack, the process begins to elect his successor. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is the Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, set about organizing the papal conclave in Rome. There are four main candidates, each with different political views involving which direction to take the church, ranging from more liberal, social conservative and staunch traditionalist. No candidate receives the required two-thirds majority following the first ballot, although the conservative Joshua Adeyemi of Nigeria has a slight edge while Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) from the US and the British Lawrence split the liberal vote. The unexpected arrival of Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) from Mexico, who had been secretly named cardinal only one year earlier, creates a bit of a stir. As they continue the voting, dark secrets are revealed involving candidates, Cardinal Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) and Adeyemi, causing them to gradually lose their ranking while Benitez begins to slowly yet steadily gain votes. Based on a novel by Robert Harris and with a sturdy screenplay by Peter Straughan, Berger has crafted a beautifully staged, contemplative mystery that offers a nuanced exploration into the Catholic Church's internal politics. The entire cast is exceptionally good, particularly Fiennes as a soothing voice of calm and reason during the complicated proceedings, expertly holding the film together with his compelling performance. With a twist ending that some found shocking while others dismissed as silly, "Conclave" is a thought-provoking melodrama that also manages to be a perfect escapist entertainment.

"EMILIA PÉREZ"

"Emilia Pérez" , the latest from the revered French filmmaker, Jacques Audiard, is difficult to categorize because of it's shifting tones and astonishing mix of genres. Yet because of the divergency, this Spanish-language, dramatic-comedy, musical fantasia is one of the most brilliantly audacious and deliciously twisted films of the year. Based on an opera written by Audiard (and loosely adapted from Boris Razon's 2018 novel "Écoute"), the film tells the story of a young attorney (Zoe Saldaña) who is lured into helping a cruel drug cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) transition into a woman. There is no question that "Emilia Pérez" is polarizing with the film being savagely criticized due to some strongly objecting in their view to the filmmaker's cultural misrepresentation, stereotypes, poor Spanish dialogue, and song lyrics. And while I can certainly understand why some viewers might feel this way, I do not belive that was at all the intention of this film. Audiard (who does not actually speak Spanish) unapologetically dares to challenge with his artistry, boldly delving into a world of dark themes and provocative ideas that was intended to make some members of the audience uncomfortable.

"HARD TRUTHS"

The British filmmaker, Mike Leigh has reteamed with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the star of his 1996 drama, "Secret & Lies" twenty-eight years later in "Hard Truths", a masterful work about an extremely anxious woman and the complications this creates in the relationships with her family. Depressed and mad at the world, Patsy (Jean-Baptiste) seems to go out of her way to make sure that everyone she encounters ends up as unhappy and miserable as herself. But those who are forced to continuously endure her wraith are Patsy's mild-mannered husband, Curtley (David Webber) and their unmotivated adult son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) who both tend to just shut down in her hostile presence. The only one who can remotely reach through to Patsy is her good-natured sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin) by trying to remain patient and understanding during her suffering sibling's irrational rants. The eighty-one year old Leigh has made his impressive career by using lengthy rehearsals and improvisation techniques with his actors to help build characters and the narrative for each of his films. With "Hard Truths" (which could possibly be Leigh's final feature), the director has crafted another vivid character study with monumental performances that manages to be reflective, deeply moving and surprisingly hilarious.

"HIS THREE DAUGHTERS"

Azazel Jacobs' "His Three Daughters" is an arduous yet profoundly affecting drama involving three sisters trying to cope with the impending loss of their dying father which in turn forces to the surface their own buried, prickly relationship with each other. As their father, Vincent (Jay O. Sanders) is in hospice care at home nearing the end of his battle with cancer, his daughters, Katie (Carrie Coon) and Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) arrive from their homes out of state to his small apartment in New York. They have come to offer support during his final days to their step-sister, Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) who has been living with him for years. It begins with the eldest and controlling, Katie complaining about Rachel smoking weed in the house, insisting she smoke outside, and the lack of food in the house. Then she becomes concerned with Rachel taking over the ownership of the family's longtime rent-controlled apartment once their father is gone. The more earthy, passive-aggressive Christina just wants to maintain peace and calm between each other during this difficult time while Rachel prefers to simply retreat to her room and remain stoned most of the day. Lead by extraordinary performances by the three actresses, Jacobs brilliantly captures the complications of family dynamics, particularly during a time of crisis and grieving, in a way that's heartfelt and emotionally compelling.

"HIT MAN"

The actor Glen Powell had been paying his dues by doing the work, slowly rising up the ranks over the years by making an impression with various supporting roles in television and film. His first breakout moment came playing astronaut, John Glenn in "Hidden Figures" back in 2016. Then he had an even bigger moment seven years later with a significant part in the mega-hit sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick". Powell would go to star in the sleeper hit romantic-comedy, "Anyone But You" and in another successful sequel, "Twisters". But it was the charismatic actor connecting with fellow Texan, filmmaker Richard Linklater when he was cast as part of an ensemble cast in his 2016 comedy, "Everybody Wants Some" that led to the fantastic romantic-thriller, "Hit Man" which Powell not only stars but co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater. Based on a magazine article by Skip Hollandsworth, Powell plays Gary Johnson, an unassuming professor of psychology. Aiding the police department with their sting operations, Gary unexpectedly gets pulled into duty to play a fake hitman to prevent a murder-for-hire plot after the undercover cop assigned gets suspended. He does well and given the job, using his skills to research suspects in advance in order to create the perfect hitman persona for each case. This leads to Gary becoming more confident in his personal life. But he runs into a big conflict-of-interest when he meets Madison (Adria Arjona), a wife looking for someone to kill her abusive husband. Unwisely, Gary begins an affair with the beautiful woman without revealing who he really is, leading to a messy and further complicated situation. Darkly comedic and thoroughly entertaining, "Hit Man" is a perfect showcase for Powell, revealing that he has the beguiling charm and solid acting chops to become the next major movie star.

"MARIA"

With the third film of Pablo Larraín's trilogy of important 20th-century women, "Maria" examines Maria Callas, considered by many to be the world's greatest opera singer, during the final week of her life while she was living in Paris. A spectacular Angelina Jolie plays Callas who at this point has been in declining health, abusing sedatives and has lost much of her tremendous singing voice. She spends her days isolated in her apartment with devoted employees, Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino), the butler and housemaid, Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher) who both struggle to get her to take care of herself and see a doctor. Callas announces to them that she has a reporter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) coming to the house to interview her yet it's unclear if it's factual or she's only hallucinating due to the medication. But she is secretly meeting with a conductor (Stephen Ashfield) for private lessons to know if she can ever perform again. Thanks to Jolie's fully committed, regal performance and Edward Lachman's immaculate camerawork, I think "Maria" is the best of Larrain's films of three incredibly fascinating women. And despite the tragedy of the impending end of a great talent, the director manages to keep you fully engaged with a subdued yet thrilling drama that will haunt you long after seeing the film.

"NICKEL BOYS"

The filmmaker RaMell Ross has taken Colson Whitehead's harrowing, Pulitzer prize-winning novel, "Nickel Boys" and expectedly made a somber, deeply moving drama. Yet Ross has elevated this story by unexpectedly crafting an experimental film with a highly inventive visual style. Told with a nonlinear narrative and shot primarily from a first person perspective (with remarkable camerawork by Jomo Fray), the story follows Elwood (Ethan Herisse), a bright young man with a promising future, who ends up at a notorious Florida reform school after being falsely accused of a crime. Since this is the Jim Crow-era of the 1960's, the Nickel Academy is segregated with the White students are treated well and have clean accommodations while the Black students live in harsh conditions and are regularly abused. And instead of educating these boys, the school makes money off of them by sending them out as forced labor. While at the Academy, Elwood befriends Turner (Brandon Wilson), a fellow student who is well aware that this school is extremely dangerous, questioning if they will make it out alive. With an outstanding cast (particularly Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor playing Elwood's grandmother), what "Nickel Boys" does quite effectively is to have the audience feel like they are living through someone else's experiences.

"PROBLEMISTA"

Julio Torres began his professional career being hired to write for "Saturday Night Live" back in 2016, working with the team for four years. That led to the Salvadoran born comedian developing a Spanish-language comedy series for HBO, "Los Espookys" along with former "SNL" cast member, Fred Armisen which lasted two seasons. And last year Torres released his feature film directorial debut, "Problemista", a wonderfully weird comedy he also wrote that cleverly takes on the struggles of an immigrant trying to achieve the American dream. Torres plays Alejandro, a young man from El Salvador who has come to New York City in pursuit of becoming a toy designer. Failing to get a desired internship, Alejandro must find a sponsor before his work visa expires. Enter Elizabeth (a hilariously scary, Tilda Swinton), an art critic who meets him during a brief time that he worked under-the-table at a cryogenic freezing lab where her artist husband (the rapper, RZA) is being stored. She dangles over Alejandro the possibility of sponsoring him if he will work (unpaid) to assist her putting together a show of her husband's art. However, Elizabeth is a complete nightmare: demanding, unreasonable and most certainly, a bit insane. In between the whimsically, surreal imagery and strange, offbeat characters, Torres has something meaningful to say about the confounding bureaucracy and economic hardships that immigrants face trying to succeed in this country. The inspired blending of timely, social commentary and playful, absurdist humor makes "Problemista" one of my favorite recent comedies.

"A REAL PAIN"

Besides his acclaimed work as an actor, Jesse Eisenberg has had other creative outlets. He has written several plays, a couple of podcasts and made his feature film directorial debut two years ago. The indie drama, "When You Finish Saving the World" was met with modest reviews with critics appreciating his abilities as a storyteller yet finding some of the characters too broad and overbearing. With his latest work behind the camera, the offbeat yet endearing "A Real Pain", Eisenberg has found a winning balance between his idiosyncratic tendencies and a wider commercial appeal. Eisenberg (who also wrote the screenplay) stars as David Kaplan who plans a visit to Poland with a heritage tour group. While there, he'll visit the childhood home of his late grandmother, hoping to experience a deeper connection with his Jewish ancestry. David invites his cousin, Benji (Kieran Culkin) along on the trip. They were very close as children yet recently there has been some distance and estrangement between them with David hoping this excursion will provide a road to reconnection. But they are two very different types of people with David more neurotic and reserved while Benji is free-spirited and outspoken. This story may be filled with pain and trauma yet Eisenberg expertly crafted an ingenious way to make "A Real Pain" poignant and hilariously funny.

Honorable Mention: "As We Imagine As Light", "Blitz", "The Brutalist", "Civil War" , "A Complete Unknown" , "Femme", "I'm Still Here", "Kinds of Kindness", "Love Lies Bleeding", "Nightbitch", "The Order", "The Piano Lesson", "September 5", "The Wild Robot"

2025 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

This year will mark the seventy-fifth edition of the Berlin Film Festival which has been the first to give us a preview of films that will begin seeing throughout the rest of 2025 and beyond. This edition of Berlinale will see a new artistic director, Tricia Tuttle who begins her tenure at the festival which runs from February 13th to February 23rd.

Todd Haynes will be the Jury President who will lead his panel to select which films will take home prizes. The American filmmaker will be joined by Chinese actress, Fan Bingbing; German actress and filmmaker, Maria Schrader; German costume designer, Bina Daigeler; Argentinian filmmaker, Rodrigo Moreno; Moroccan filmmaker, Nabil Ayouch and American film critic, Amy Nicholson.

Some of the films in the Main Competition includes new films by Richard Linklater ("Blue Moon"), Hong Sang-soo ("What Does That Nature Say to You"), Radu Jude ("Kontinental '25"), Lucile Hadžihalilović ("La Tour de Glace"), Michel Franco ("Dreams"), Rebecca Lenkiewicz ("Hot Milk") and Vivian Qu ("Girls on Wire").

Films selected for the Berlinale Special screenings are the latest from German filmmaker, Tom Tykwer, "Das Licht (The Light)" which will kick off the fest. The director who broke through with his 1998 action-drama, "Run Lola Run" has returned with his first feature film in ten years in a story about a fractured middle-class family living in a world that has become unstable. The follow-up to the Korean director, Bong Joon-ho Best Picture Oscar-winning film, "Parasite" is an English-language sci-fi comedy, "Mickey 17". Robert Pattinson stars as a man who wants to get off Earth and becomes a disposable worker who is continuously cloned on a long journey through space to start a human colony on a new planet. And "A Complete Unknown" , the musical biopic on Bob Dylan from director, James Mangold that earned eight Academy Award nominations will make it's German premiere at the fest.



And the British actress Tilda Swinton will be awarded this year's Honorary Golden Bear. There will be screening of a 4K remastering of one of her early screen roles in Peter Wollen's 1987 sci-fi drama, "Friendship's Death". Swinton appears as a female extraterrestrial on a mission to Earth in the name of peace yet inadvertently lands in Amman, Jordan during the events of Black September in 1970.

WHY NOT CINEMA?!

With "Emilia Pérez" collecting thirteen Academy Award nominations, producers, Pascal Caucheteux and Grégoire Sorlat continue with their winning streak of supporting provocative and innovative indie cinema through their company, Why Not Productions over the last thirty years. Their critically acclaimed films have had an undeniable global impact on the art of cinema.

To celebrate these producers and their works, "Why Not Cinema?!" is a retrospective that will feature films by a collection of international auteurs including Gregg Araki ("The Doom Generation"), Claire Denis ("White Material"), Ken Loach ("I, Daniel Blake"), Lynne Ramsay ("You Were Never Really Here"), Christian Mungiu ("Beyond the Hills"), Armaud Desplechin ("My Sex Life… or How I Got Into an Argument", "Kings and Queen"), Alexandre Rockwell ("In The Soup"), Andrey Zvyagintsev ("Loveless") and Jacques Audiard's "Emilia Pérez".

This series will run in New York at Netflix's Paris Theater from February 1st through February 12th and in their Los Angeles location at the Egyptian Theater February 6th to 10th.

For screening dates and to purchase tickets, please click below:

Why Not Cinema?!: Paris Theater

Why Not Cinema?!: Egyptian Theater

2025 OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

After being delayed several times due to the tragic California wildfires, the 2025 Oscar nominations have finally been announced. Bringing a quirky sense of humor to the proceedings early this morning, Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott revealed this year's picks. "Emilia Pérez", the controversial musical-drama about a Mexican drug kingpin who transforms their gender, leads the field with thirteen nominations. "The Brutalist", an epic drama that explores a Holocaust survivor who immigrates to America, and "Wicked", the long-awaited big screen version of the popular Broadway musical, are both close behind with ten nominations each. "Conclave", the thriller involving the selection of a new pope and "A Complete Unknown", the tale about the early years of folk music legend Bob Dylan, went on to receive eight noms. Along with these five films, the indie dramas, "Nickel Boys" and "Anora"; the body-horror satire, "The Substance"; the Brazilian political drama, "Ainda Estou Aqui (I'm Still Here)" and the sci-fi sequel, "Dune: Part two" round up the Best Picture category.

Some highlights include Ralph Fiennes, nominated for his amazing performance in "Conclave", who went twenty-eight years between his last Best Actor nomination for "The English Patient". Karla Sofía Gascón in "Emilia Perez" is the first transgender actor nominated for an Oscar. It has been since 1997 that all of the directing nominees are first-timers with Coralie Fargeat’s nomination for "The Substance" makes her the tenth female earning a Best Director nomination. Fernanda Montenegro (who was nominated for "Central Station" in 1998) and Fernanda Torres joins Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli as the only mother-daughter nominated for Best Actress. The Latvian film, "Flow" became the third animated feature to receive duo nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature. And Diane Warren received her sixteenth nomination for Best Original Song without a competitive win for her work in "The Six Triple Eight", the Tyler Perry WWII drama about an all-black female battalion.

The 97th annual Academy Awards will be held on March 2nd at the Dolby Theatre with first-time host, Conan O’Brien. And for the first time, the Oscars will be livestreamed on Hulu.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2025 Oscars:

Best Picture:

"Anora"
"The Brutalist"
"A Complete Unknown"
"Conclave"
"Dune: Part Two"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here)"
"Nickel Boys"
"The Substance"
"Wicked"

Best Director:

Sean Baker, "Anora"
Brady Corbet "The Brutalist"
James Mangold, "A Complete Unknown"
Jacques Audiard, "Emilia Pérez"
Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance"

Best Original Screenplay:

Sean Baker, "Anora"
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, "The Brutalist"
Jesse Eisenberg, "A Real Pain"
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David, "September 5"
Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance"

Best Adapted Screenplay:

James Mangold and Jay Cocks, "A Complete Unknown"
Peter Straughan, "Conclave"
Jacques Audiard in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi, "Emilia Pérez"
RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, "Nickel Boys"
Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield, "Sing Sing"

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked"
Karla Sofía Gascón, "Emilia Pérez"
Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Demi Moore, "The Substance"
Fernanda Torres, "I’m Still Here"

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Timothée Chalamet, "A Complete Unknown"
Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing"
Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave"
Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Monica Barbaro, "A Complete Unknown"
Ariana Grande, "Wicked"
Felicity Jones, "The Brutalist"
Isabella Rossellini, "Conclave"
Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Yura Borisov, "Anora"
Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown"
Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist"
Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice"

Best Cinematography:

Lol Crawley, "The Brutalist"
Greig Fraser, "Dune: Part Two"
Paul Guilhaume, "Emilia Pérez"
Ed Lachman, "Maria"
Jarin Blaschke, "Nosferatu"

Best Film Editing:

Sean Baker, "Anora"
David Jancso, "The Brutalist"
Nick Emerson, "Conclave"
Juliette Welfling, "Emilia Pérez"
Myron Kerstein, "Wicked"

Best Production Design:

"The Brutalist" (Production Design: Judy Becker, Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia)
"Conclave" (Production Design: Suzie Davies, Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter)
"Dune: Part Two" (Production Design: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Shane Vieau)
"Nosferatu" (Production Design: Craig Lathrop, Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová)
"Wicked" (Production Design: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Lee Sandales)

Best International Feature Film:

"Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here)" (Brazil)
"Pigen med nålen (The Girl with the Needle)" (Denmark)
"Emilia Pérez" (France)
"Die Saat des heiligen Feigenbaums (The Seed of the Sacred Fig)" (Germany)
"Straume (Flow)" (Latvia)

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Straume (Flow)"
"Inside Out 2"
"Memoir of a Snail"
"Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl"
"The Wild Robot"

Best Animated Short Film:

"Beautiful Men"
"In the Shadow of Cypress"
"Magic Candies"
"Wander to Wonder"
"Yuck!"

Best Documentary Feature Film:

"Black Box Diaries"
"No Other Land"
"Porcelain War"
"Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat"
"Sugarcane"

Best Documentary Short Film:

"Death by Numbers"
"I Am Ready, Warden"
"Incident"
"Instruments of a Beating Heart"
"The Only Girl in the Orchestra"

Best Live Action Short Film:

"A Lien"
"Anuja"
"I’m Not a Robot"
"The Last Ranger"
"The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent"

Best Costume Design:

Arianne Phillips, "A Complete Unknown"
Lisy Christl, "Conclave"
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman, "Gladiator II"
Linda Muir, "Nosferatu"
Paul Tazewell, "Wicked"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado, "A Different Man"
Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini, "Emilia Pérez"
David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne StokesMunton, "Nosferatu"
Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli, "The Substance"
Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth, "Wicked"

Best Original Score:

Daniel Blumberg, "The Brutalist"
Volker Bertelmann, "Conclave"
Clément Ducol and Camille, "Emilia Pérez"
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, "Wicked"
Kris Bowers, "The Wild Robot"

Best Original Song:

"El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music by Clément Ducol and Camille, Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)
"The Journey" from "The Six Triple Eight" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)
"Like a Bird" from "Sing Sing" (Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)
"Mi Camino" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol)
"Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late" (Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin)

Best Sound:

Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco, "A Complete Unknown"
Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill, "Dune: Part Two"
Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta, "Emilia Perez"
Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis, "Wicked"
Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts, "The Wild Robot"

Best Visual Effects:

Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan, "Alien: Romulus"
Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs, "Better Man"
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer, "Dune: Part Two"
Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke, "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes"
Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould, "Wicked"

DAVID LYNCH (1946 - 2025)

David Lynch, the visionary filmmaker who utilized provocative style and surreal imagery to create some of the most memorable and influential cinema, has passed away on January 15th. He had recently been diagnosed with emphysema after smoking heavily for most of his life. Lynch was seventy-eight.

He began studying art at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C., later transferring in to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Lynch left after a year, deciding he wasn't getting much out of academia, and set about traveling Europe with friend, Jack Fisk who would later become a production designer and director. Upon his return, Lynch enrolled to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where Fisk was attending. This was when he became interested in filmmaking and made his first short. Lynch applied for a grant with the recently formed American Film Institute to help him finance another short film. He was accepted and made "The Grandmother" in 1970.

Later that year, Lynch moved to Los Angeles to begin studying with AFI Conservatory, making more short films before attempting his first feature film. After several production problems and having to take a loan from his father to help finish the film, "Eraserhead", a bewildering yet intriguing, black & white body horror drama, was completed in 1977. This low-budget indie was initially met with viewer disinterest and negative reviews. But a successful midnight screening run in New York, spreading to San Francisco and Los Angeles, turned "Eraserhead" into a popular cult film.

The comedian and filmmaker Mel Brooks saw "Eraserhead" and loved it. He offered Lynch an opportunity to direct "The Elephant Man", an adaptation of the successful Broadway production which Brooks held the film rights, based on the real-life story of a severely deformed man in Victorian London saved from a life in a freak show by a sympathetic doctor. The film was a critical and box-office hit, earning eight Academy Award nominations including Best Director.

Following this achievement, Lynch was offered a chance to turn Frank Herbert's science fiction novel, "Dune" into a movie. Since the film was set in the distant future, the director decided to add more eccentric touches to the screenplay and production design. However the producer, Dino de Laurentiis was not at all happy with the results, deciding to remove footage from the final cut which dramatically altered the plot. Despite these changes in an ill-fated attempt to salvage the film, "Dune" was a commercial failure upon it's release.

Lynch was still contractually obligated to make another film for De Laurentiis. This lead to an original work from Lynch: a strange, mystery thriller called "Blue Velvet". Set in quiet, small town, a college student discovers a severed human ear in a field which leads him deep into a criminal conspiracy and a romance with a troubled lounge singer. "Blue Velvet" became a critical sensation at the time and now considered a cinematic masterpiece, earning Lynch another Oscar nomination for Best Director.

After his dark romantic-comedy, "Wild at Heart" with Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern (which won the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival), Lynch decided to explore television and created "Twin Peaks", a dreamlike, murder-mystery drama. The show only lasted two seasons but has since become a cult classic and had a feature film in 1992, "Twin Peaks: Fire Walks With Me" which served as prequel to the series. His next two films, a surreal neo-noir drama, "Lost Highway" and "The Straight Story", a true story of an eighty year old man traveling across states only on a lawn mower, received largely mixed reviews.

But it would be his next film that would go on to be thought of as the finest in his illustrious career. Described as "A love story in the city of dreams", "Mulholland Drive" had originally been conceived as a television pilot. But after executives rejected the program, Lynch set about turning it into a feature film. This Los Angeles set story involves a struggling actress (in a career breakthrough for Naomi Watts) who finds a dazed woman (Laura Harring), suffering from amnesia, living in her home and in grave danger. Mesmerizing, atmospheric and sublimely odd, "Mulholland Drive" was very well received (later considered by many films groups to be one of the greatest films of all-time) and won Lynch the Best Director award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and received his final Best Director Oscar nomination.

Despite this incredible success, Lynch struggled to get another movie made. It would take six years later for him to complete "Inland Empire" with Laura Dern, a one hundred and eighty minute mystery-thriller shot entirely on digital video that is more dense, fragmented and experimental than "Mulholland Drive". This film would sadly end up being the final feature film Lynch would make.

What I have admired about Lynch is that he had always refused to offer explanations about his intentions with each of his films, preferring to let the work speak for itself and enjoying the various interpretations that have been expressed. He boldly created dark edged cinema that challenged and provoked yet still featured an optimistic undercurrent that was also an undeniable part of his work. Lynch was a singular artist whose transcendent films will continue to fascinate and inspire.

WINNERS OF THE 2024 GOLDEN GLOBES AND OTHER AWARD NEWS

The 2024 Golden Globes were given out on January 5th and you would have never known they had been away. Now in their 82nd year, the Globes have found their way back on solid ground once again after the last few years embroiled in messy scandals which had distracted them from their mission to glamorously kick off award season. The comedian, Nikki Glaser, making her debut as host of the Globes, proved to be a perfect fit, keeping the show upbeat and lively while gently teasing the stars in attendance with funny yet largely inoffensive jokes.

As for the awards, "Emilia Pérez" had entered this race with the most nominations with ten and took home four awards including Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy). Two unexpected yet well-deserved winners were Demi Moore receiving Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for the body-horror satire, "The Substance" and Fernanda Torres won Best Actress in a Drama for her turn in "Ainda Estou Aqui (I'm Still Here)", the Brazilian political drama from filmmaker, Walter Salles. Brady Corbet and his over three hour, dramatic epic, "The Brutalist" was another big winner receiving awards for Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Director and Best Actor for star, Adrien Brody. And the winner of the first "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement" movie category was "Wicked". I still have no clear idea what this dubious award really means ("It's not good enough for Best Drama or Best Musical or Comedy but it made money so it should get an award too") but congratulations to the witches.

Here is the list of winners from the 2024 Golden Globes (Motion Picture):

Best Motion Picture (Drama): "The Brutalist"
Best Motion Picture (Musical Or Comedy): "Emilia Pérez"
Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement: "Wicked"
Best Director (Motion Picture): Brady Corbet, "The Brutalist"
Best Screenplay (Motion Picture): Peter Straughan, "Conclave"
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama): Fernanda Torres, "I’m Still Here"
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Demi Moore, "The Substance"
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role In Any Motion Picture: Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez"
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama): Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Sebastian Stan, "A Different Man"
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role In Any Motion Picture: Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Best Motion Picture (Non-English Language): "Emilia Pérez" (France)
Best Motion Picture (Animated): "Flow"
Best Original Song (Motion Picture): "El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" Music & Lyrics By: Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
Best Original Score (Motion Picture): Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, "Challengers"

The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations on January 8th with these awards focused on honoring the best acting performances of the year. "Anora", "A Complete Unknown", "Emilia Pérez" and "Wicked" each received three nominations including Outstanding Performance By a Cast in a Motion Picture. "Conclave" is the other film in that category along with Ralph Fiennes as a nominee for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor. The 31st Annual SAG Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 23, 2025 live on Netflix and hosted by actress Kristen Bell.

Here is the list of nominations of the 2024 SAG Awards (Film):

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:

"Anora"
"A Complete Unknown"
"Conclave"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Wicked"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:

Pamela Anderson, "The Last Showgirl"
Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked"
Karla Sofía Gascón, "Emilia Pérez"
Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Demi Moore, "The Substance"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:

Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Timothée Chalamet, "A Complete Unknown"
Daniel Craig, "Queer"
Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing"
Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Monica Barbaro, "A Complete Unknown"
Jamie Lee Curtis, "The Last Showgirl"
Danielle Deadwyler, "The Piano Lesson"
Ariana Grande, "Wicked"
Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Jonathan Bailey, "Wicked"
Yura Borisov, "Anora"
Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown"
Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice"

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:

"Deadpool & Wolverine"
"Dune: Part Two"
"The Fall Guy"
"Gladiator II"
"Wicked"

And the National Society of Film Critics, a group that counts amongst its members many of the country’s leading film critics, have made their selections of the best in the year of cinema. Announced on January 4th, the NSFC awarded "Nickel Boys", RaMell Ross' moving drama that follows the lives of two African-American boys who try to survive at an abusive reform school in 1960s Florida, as their pick of Best Picture with “All We Imagine as Light” and “Anora” as the runner-ups.

Here is the list of winners from the 2024 National Society of Film Critics:

Best Picture: "Nickel Boys"
Best Director: Payal Kapadia, "All We Imagine as Light"
Best Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, "A Real Pain"
Best Actress: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, "Hard Truths"
Best Supporting Actress: Michele Austin, Hard Truths"
Best Actor: Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing"
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Best Film Not in the English Language: "All We Imagine as Light"
Best Nonfiction Film: "No Other Land"
Best Experimental Film: "The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire"
Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys"
Film Heritage Award: To Save and Project: The MoMa International Festival of Film Preservation; IndieCollect and Scott Eyman

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (2024)

Written by James Mangold and Jay Cocks



Directed by James Mangold



Where & When: Landmark Theatres Sunset, West Hollywood, CA. December 25, 2024 10:00 PM



Bob Dylan has been known as a rock and roll poet, a musical artist who was able to intuitively use the social and political upheaval that was beginning to happen at the time in the early 1960's and capture it into an momentous anthem. His thoughtful and uplifting words would go on to make a deep connection with his youthful peers. Beginning with his arrival to New York's Greenwich Village, rumpled, eccentric and essentially homeless, Dylan found inspiration all around him. And while many people didn't know what to make of this peculiar individual, they did realize he was an exceptionally, gifted talent. With "A Complete Unknown", James Mangold's riveting biopic, the film traces this brief period of Dylan making a powerful impact on folk music and how this crushing fame made him want to explore another musical avenue, much to the emphatic objections by folk purists.

The initial reason Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) had come to New York was to seek out his musical hero, Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) who was suffering from a neurodegenerative disease and convalescing at a psychiatric hospital. After sneaking in to the hospital late one evening, Dylan finds Guthrie, no longer able to communicate verbally, and his good friend, Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). He performs a song he wrote that was inspired by Guthrie, making a deep impression on them. An intrigued Seeger, who was also a prominent musician of folk music and social activist, invites the young vagabond to stay with him and his family until he can get settled in the city.

Seeger has Dylan perform at open mics, introduces him to other musicians and industry figures which created a swirl of interest around the fledgling performer. Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler) leaps at the chance to manage Dylan and helped get him signed to Columbia, still one of the biggest record labels on the planet. For his self-titled debut album in 1962, the producer, John Hammond (David Alan Basche) insisted Dylan should record mostly covers of traditional folk and blues songs. This album only sold modestly but while on tour, audiences responded well to Dylan's original compositions, encouraging Hammond to allow him to record them for his follow-up album.

Mangold is well known as a proficiently versatile filmmaker, dabbling in various genres throughout his career and excelling at many of them. He has worked his magic on dramas ("Girl, Interrupted"), romantic-comedies ("Kate & Leopold"), comic-book adventures ("Logan") and action-thrillers ("Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"). And while some where not major box-office hits, these films had been expertly crafted and efficiently stimulating. Mangold had made a musical bio previously, taking on the life of country music legend, Johnny Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix) and his love affair with fellow performer, June Carter in "Walk The Line". This drama received five Academy Award nominations with Reese Witherspoon winning for Best Actress. Cash makes an appearance in "A Complete Unknown" (played here by Boyd Holbrook) who connects with Dylan first as a fan and later as a confidant.

The script by Mangold and Jay Cocks is not entirely successful in escaping the overly familiar beats of the Hollywood-styled biopic yet the solid direction and compelling, intimate performances help make this film a rewarding experience. Not surprisingly, music plays a strong part of "A Complete Unknown", effectively energizing the film with thrilling full-length performances of some of Dylan's greatest songs sung by Chalamet. The actor perfectly captures the essence of Dylan; a midwestern enigma who allowed people to only get so close to him, revealing as little about himself as possible and making up the rest. And while Chalamet's singing doesn't sound much like the musician, he does manage to find the emotional force of each song performed.

Dylan was consumed with getting each song just right, largely shutting out the world during his laser-focused, creative process. And while the world would benefit greatly by his passionate drive, the people who where closest to him would suffer the most by his lack of consideration. He first met Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), a popular folk singer, following one of her performances. Having dismissed him after he clumsily flirted with her, Dylan captured her attention once seeing him on stage much like the rest of the audience. Baez would record some of his songs and these temperamental musical artists would begin an on-again, off-again affair, made more complicated because he was living with Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning). Based on Dylan's real-life girlfriend, Suze Rotolo (who he had requested for this character's name to be changed), Russo was a New York born activist who influenced him on politics, art and music and ended up being on the cover with him on his second album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". But once she had to start sharing him with the world, Sylvie began to feel less important in their relationship and Dylan didn't do nearly enough to reassure her.

The real drama in the film occurs after Dylan achieves great fame a few years later, abandoning his casual look of jeans and work shirts and taking on a more upscale style of a rock & roller. He would begin to chafe under the never ending glare by an adoring public and took on wearing black sunglasses, day and night, using them as a shield against constant prying eyes. It was also during this time Dylan started experimenting musically with the electric guitar during the recording of his next album. Word spread to the committee of the Newport Folk Festival who grow concerned since Dylan is supposed to headline their next event and strongly opposed to anyone deviating from the theme.

I'll admit I have never been much of a fan of the music by Bob Dylan, not really connecting to any of his songs and finding his nasal singing voice to be grating. But "A Complete Unknown" has certainly opened my eyes to recognize and appreciate what Dylan brought to music and the culture, expanding the idea of what a pop song can achieve through reflective, artistic expression. His vocal abilities may have been limited yet he was able to communicate through his colorful lyrics in a way that was distinctive and original.