#Elsie Swinton

[kecobe]

Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth) John Singer Sargent (American; 1856–1925) London, 1897 Oil on canvas Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

[somer-writes]

IM SORRY DID YOU CALL BEEF MUSCLE MAN SHAYNE TOPP A TWINK??? tommy is a twink! (also tommy as link would be hysterical)

i think that kid thats in the percy jackson series could make a funny link. or like tom holland.

i think zendaya or elsie fischer could be good zeldas.

dave bautista for man ganon (manon) 110%.

i would say mark hamill for pig ganon and matt mercer for demise.

full agree on blm playing all the tingles.

i think cameos could be done by brian david gilbert. also if they found somewhere to put in anna kendrick or ryan gosling

jk simmons or val kilmer as heros shade. both intimidating but can be cozy

mia goth would do a good young impa. michelle yeoh could also be a good impa.

tilda swinton as ghirahim, 'nuff said.

ben schwartz as yuuga

danny devito as kohga, justin long as a yiga foot soldier. john cena as the big yiga guys

i hate martin short so not him but someone like him for beedle

brenda song for purah? ke huy quan as the cucco guy. stephanie hsu as paya.

doug jones as zant

jeff bridges as the king

trixie mattel, latrice royale, ben de la creme as great fairies

maria taylor and cari champion as gerudo warriors. maybe also like bob the drag queen

ralph fiennes as the horse god

cast a legend of zelda live action movie

I saw this as I sat down at my desk at work and out loud said “oh noooooooooo”. It was a giddy oh no though.

So I was thinking of like who to cast for who by like age cause well, wanna stay true but shit if there wasn’t anyone with right look… so I said fuck it. No pics because I can’t get anything to load on my phone. I work in a blackhole for cell service send help

So for Link, maybe Shayne Topp. He has the right body type and look (twink, non derogatory). He’s a shorty like Link, overall decent fit.

For Zelda, maybe Sabrina Carpenter. I think she also fits the look but definitely more BOTW Zelda vibes. Or Dove Cameron.

For Ganondorf, personally I’d say CGI that man 100% and throw Matt Mercer at his voice again LOL If I had to choose a person though… Dwayne Johnson or Dave Bautista. Both have the ability to pull the right aura and while both have good comedy chops, I bet they’d pull off the haughty, king of the desert vibe really well. I threw Bautista in as well because he showed a lot depth with Drax (even if Drax was mostly goofy).

Now for Ganon, the pig/Calamity/Etc, absolutely CGI that into the coolest shit and get Matt Mercer for the voice. Done. DONE.

For Impa, it depends on which version of Zelda they’re doing. If it’s anything other than BOTW/TOTK, then someone who can pull both intimidating and soft would be a good fit. Zoe Saldana would be a good fit. Right look and capable of switching between the differing sides. I’m not casting someone as BOTW Impa. Nope. You can’t make me lol

Should there be a Malon in this, then Elizabeth Olsen. I think she could pull her off pretty well.

Tingle AND HIS BROTHERS should be cast as Brennan Lee Mulligan. I don’t care if he’s not really an actor. I’m convinced he could do it and do it well. The man has breadth, he has depth, he could do different voices for each with no issue. Plus. I LOVE him, your honor. Tbh this came to mind immediately but I was like wait, let it cook do some of the others first.

Who am I missing? Uhh…

If there’s a Hero’s shade character, Damian Haas for the voice. He’s done a lot of hero characters as a VA and I think letting him loose on a character like the Hero’s Shade would be really cool.

Not gonna lie, I’m forgetting every other character that exists in Zelda rn. My boss let me soapbox about how stupid people fucked up my shit by not doing what we told them to and now I’m all heated about that.

Give me some of your thoughts too tho, Somer!! (Or Ryan?? Which do you prefer??)

[artist-sargent]

Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth), John Singer Sargent, 1897, Art Institute of Chicago: American Art

Mrs. George Swinton epitomizes the painterly virtuosity that made John Singer Sargent one of the most fashionable portraitists in late-19th-century Europe and America. Extravagant color and brushwork were central to Sargent’s success, as was his ability to present a refined and appealing image of his sitter. In Elizabeth “Elsie” Swinton’s case, he accentuated her regal bearing and feminine dress. Sargent harmonized the realism of her face and body with bursts of impressionistic brushstrokes describing the shimmering, translucent fabric descending from her shoulder. Swinton was also known for her musical talents; at the time her portrait was executed, she was recognized as an amateur singer and later began performing professionally. Wirt D. Walker Collection Size: 231 × 124 cm (90 3/4 × 48 3/4 in.) Medium: Oil on canvas

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4749/

[aic-american]

Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth), John Singer Sargent, 1897, Art Institute of Chicago: American Art

Mrs. George Swinton epitomizes the painterly virtuosity that made John Singer Sargent one of the most fashionable portraitists in late-19th-century Europe and America. Extravagant color and brushwork were central to Sargent’s success, as was his ability to present a refined and appealing image of his sitter. In Elizabeth “Elsie” Swinton’s case, he accentuated her regal bearing and feminine dress. Sargent harmonized the realism of her face and body with bursts of impressionistic brushstrokes describing the shimmering, translucent fabric descending from her shoulder. Swinton was also known for her musical talents; at the time her portrait was executed, she was recognized as an amateur singer and later began performing professionally. Wirt D. Walker Collection Size: 231 × 124 cm (90 3/4 × 48 3/4 in.) Medium: Oil on canvas

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4749/

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Sasha Alexander

Selenis Leyva

Selma Blair

Senta Moses Mikan

Shannen Doherty

Shanola Hampton

Tammy Townsend

Tara Reid

Tiffani Thiessen

Tina Fey

Traci Dinwiddie

Uma Thurman

Vedette Lim

Virginia Williams

Winona Ryder

Yara Martinez

Zoe McLellan

Zoe Saldana

60s

Alexandra Billings

Alexandra Paul

Ally Sheedy

Ally Walker

Amy Brenneman

Amy Landecker

Amy Pietz

Amy Ryan

Amy Yasbeck

Andrea Roth

Ashley Judd

Brenda Strong

Brooke Shields

Brooke Smith

Carrie Preston

Chandra Wilson

Cheryl Hines

Christa Miller

Connie Britton

Courteney Cox

Dedee Pfeiffer

Elisabeth Shue

Elizabeth Marvel

Elizabeth McGovern

Ellen Pompeo

Emily Procter

Felicity Huffman

Francie Swift

Jacqueline Obradors

Jane Lynch

Jasmine Guy

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Jennifer Lopez

Joan Cusack

Jorja Fox

Julia Roberts

Julianna Margulies

Julianne Moore

Julie Delpy

Kate Flannery

Kate Walsh

Kelly Rutherford

Kristin Chenoweth

Kyra Sedgwick

Laura Ceron

Laura Dern

Laura Leighton

Lauren Graham

Laurie Holden

Lea Thompson

Lisa Kudrow

Lori Loughlin

Lucy Liu

Marcia Cross

Marguerite MacIntyre

Maria Bello

Mary Page Keller

Maura Tierney

Melinda Clarke

Melora Hardin

Michael Michele

Mira Sorvino

Molly Ringwald

Nicole Kidman

Nicollette Sheridan

Paget Brewster

Parker Posey

Robin Weigert

Rosie Perez

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sherry Stringfield

Susan Blackwell

Susan Walters

Tamlyn Tomita

Teri Hatcher

Teri Polo

Valarie Pettiford

Vanessa Marquez

Vanessa Williams

50s

Allison Janney

Amy Aquino

Amy Irving

Amy Morton

Andie MacDowell

Angela Bassett

Annette Bening

Annie Potts

BJ Harrison

CCH Pounder

Chloe Webb

Dana Delaney

Debi Morgan

Ellen Crawford

Harriet Sansom Harris

Holly Gagnier

Holly Hunter

Jackée Harry

Kate Burton

Khandi Alexander

Jodi Long

Laura Innes

Lorraine Bracco

Lynn Whitfield

Madeleine Stowe

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Megan Mullally

Michael Hyatt

Michelle Pfeiffer

Patricia Bethune

Rene Russo

Renée Victor

Valerie Mahaffey

40s

Alana Stewart

Barbara Hershey

Betty Buckley

Beth Grant

Blythe Danner

Caroline Lagerfelt

Diane Keaton

Dianne Wiest

Jennifer Rhodes

Kelly Bishop

Lainie Kazan

Mercedes Ruehl

Patti LuPone

Sally Field

Sigourney Weaver

Susan Sarandon

30s

Carmen Dell’Orefice

Elizabeth Taylor

20s

Betty White

Gene Tierney

Grace Kelly

Rebecca Schull

Unknown Age

Alana Bright

Alina Jenine Taber

Alison Jaye

Allison Shrum

Aly Mang

Alycia Pascual-Peña

Alyssa Cheatham

Amanda Jaros

Angela Lewis

Anna Maiche

Anna Rizzo

Avra Friedman

Caitlin Custer

Carly Hughes

Charity Cervantes

Cherinda Kincherlow

Clare Butler

December Ensminger

Devon Hales

Eden Epstein

Elizabeth Whitson

Ella Lentini

Emily Davenport

Fabianne Therese

Katie Wallace

Jackie Chung

Jennifer Ikeda

Jennifer Jalene

Jessica Heller

Jessica Vargas

Jojo Brown

Jordyn Chang

Lily Donoghue

Linette Beaumont

Lou Lou Safran

Mackenzie Marsh

Marcy Harriell

Margaret Odette

Markita Prescott

Megan Gray

Melissa Saint Amand

Neyla Cantu

Noree Victoria

Presciliana Esparolini

Rachel Rosenbloom

Renny Grames

Susie Abraham

Quincy Tyler Bernstine

Sarah Baker

Shalini Bathina

Shelby Surdam

Shi Ne Nielson

Toya Turner

Zainab Johnson

Zión Moreno

[amphtaminedreams]

Film Tier Ranking 2019: A Bad Year for Bird Films

Hi to anyone reading,

I’ve finally put it together: my 2019 film tier ranking! I know tier rankings are a bit 6 months ago but seeing British crisps sorted into god, good, mid and shit tier all over Twitter, the format really resonated with me and I was like I MUST USE THIS AT SOME POINT! And I guess since there probably isn’t much of an audience for crisp tier rankings on Tumblr, it makes more sense for me to do it with films instead, especially as doing a 2019 year in film review was something I previously claimed I would do; here’s to 2020 and following through on my proposals.

I think 2019 in general was an okay year for film, with the end of the year definitely outselling the beginning. One thing to bear in mind is that a lot of films that I would’ve been able to see in 2019, I.E Little Women and Parasite, didn’t come out until 2020 in the UK so they won’t make it onto this year’s list. It’s not a snub by any means. I more fall in line with the Elsie Fisher Film Awards school of thought than the Oscars, which have yet again disregarded several incredible performances this year: Florence Pugh in Midsommar, Taron Egerton in Rocketman, Lupita Nyongo in Us, and of course, Greta Gerwig’s direction of Little Women. I’m sure there are many more but those are the first few that come to mind. Oh to be in 2017 when nominations made fractionally more sense.

This list also includes films that weren’t necessarily released this year, but that I just got around to watching; there were a couple of disappointments but also a lot of films I can’t believe it took me this long to finally watch and have definitely made their way into my favourites. My goal for this year is to get through even more of the films on my verrrry long Letterboxd watchlist, and more specifically, watch said films without going on my phone, which is a really bad habit of mine. I find it hard to sit still! Let me live! 

I also want to try and put aside my prejudices about visual quality and watch more pre-2000s movies this year; it’s really bad but I never managed to get more than half an hour into Psycho, of all films, solely because I couldn’t deal with the black and white. In 2020, I am going to stop being a whiney Gen Z/cusp millenial-er and give older films the chance they deserve.

So, without further ado, here is my film tier ranking of everything I watched in 2019! If you make it til the end and have any thoughts or disagreements, let me know. I love to hear other’s opinions and get new perspectives on things and am totally open to any criticism. Happy reading:-)

God Tier

Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019)

Knives Out. What a film.

I feel like I waited forever to see this at the cinema. They must have started showing trailers for it in, like, August, and I had to wait til mid-November to see it. How are you gonna just dangle a film with Toni Colette and Lakeith Stanfield in my face and then make me wait 3 months? Totally unethical.

But that being said, when it finally came around and I did see it, as much as I love Toni and Lakeith, there was one stand out and it wasn’t either of them: ANA DE ARMAS. I have to admit I’d never heard of her before but she acted the shit out of a role I feel I’d ordinarily find irritating and gimmicky. Daniel Craig, whose character seemed annoying as fuck in the trailer, was actually surprisingly funny.

Stylistically, it was a very cool film and I liked the subtle commentary on class that was running throughout. Also, I thought the ending was very clever. My issue with a lot of whodunnits is that they just pick someone who doesn’t make sense for shock factor *cough, Bobby Beale in Eastenders, cough* but the shocks here were more in the details. 

Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019)

There wasn’t one single moment of Hustlers I didn’t enjoy and it’s quite amazing that there wasn’t one single point in this film about strippers that I felt gratuitously sexualised women. THAT is why you fund female directors. It made the whole thing look like a calculated art form, which I think the unsexy amongst us can all agree that it is. Constance Wu was a fantastic lead, J-Lo was kind of robbed for a supporting actress nom, and Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart were hilarious too. 

Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)

Midsommar was such an experience that it took me a good few days afterwards to decide whether I actually liked it. I saw it the day it came out because I loved Hereditary so much and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I kind of had an idea of the way it was going to go, we could all kind of guess evil cult was the route that was being taken from the trailer, but I just didn’t realise quite how weird it’d get. 

The gore was great, the visuals were stunning and the character arcs were surprising and for that reason, I think this is another game changer for horror from Ari Aster. I didn’t love it like I loved Hereditary but it continues to play on my mind and 7 months later I still can’t resist a good “Things you Missed in Hereditary” or “Hereditary Themes Explained” Youtube video essay. That’s how you know a film fucked with you and that’s the ultimate goal of going into a horror for me. Put that on my headstone after I inevitably get myself into some mortally dangerous conflict because I want to “get fucked with” a little bit.

Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, 2019)

So here’s the thing with Booksmart: I was getting progressively more and more drunk throughout it so I might be a little biased when I say I loved it. That being said, worth revere seems to be a commonly held opinion so I’ll stick to my guns. Plus, movies like this, which just focus on girls living their lives, are few and far between. Why have we had to wait THIS long for the female Superbad?

IDK. But Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein and Billie Lourd proved it’s definitely a genre worth investing in so hopefully we see more lighthearted female-led coming of age comedies. One Ladybird per year isn’t enough for me.

The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)

I included The Favourite in my 50 Films You’ve Got to Watch that I made earlier this year so I don’t have all that much to say about it that I haven’t said already. To summarise, it’s an instant classic: the cinematography, the cast, the lines, it’s all perfection. 

Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino, 2018)

I also included Suspiria in my 50 Films You’ve Got to Watch list so sorry if I’m repeating myself, but I adored everything about it. If I had to sum it up in one sentence I’d say divine feminine energy, but inverted. Plus ballet. That dancing scene in the mirrored room will probably never leave my mind (if you’ve watched it, trust me, you’ll know the one I'm talking about), and if there were awards given out for creepy montages in horror, this would win all of them. It still blows my mind that Tilda Swinton played 3 characters in this film; 2 of them are so distinctly different, if anyone put two and two together without prior knowledge of this fact then I’ll blow my own head up too. This is why I got so mad when there was all that discussion around her being the new female Doctor Who and there were people asking who she was. How can you not know who Tilda fucking Swinton is!? She’s a legend! 

Sorry, is the wannabe film snob in me showing?

Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018)

Though I initially watched it because it’s branded as a horror, Annihilation ended up being a surprisingly introspective take on human nature and our self-destructive tendencies. Nothing really went the way I expected it to, even though I was constantly trying to guess that trajectory from beginning to end. 

Visually, Annihilation is magnificent. Like, it’s tense, and where exactly the plot is going is shrouded in mystery, but most importantly, it’s super fucking pretty. Sure, the only thing that was mildly horrifying was the *SPOILER* end result of that bear scene but I didn’t mind too much because there was always that edge-of-your-seat possibility something like that would happen again. 

Also I realised that Gina Roduriguez is really hot in this! I would just say in general but that video of her saying the n-word kind of took away shot at real world magnetism. WHY SUCH A SHITTY APOLOGY VIDEO!? WHY?!

Assassination Nation (Sam Levinson, 2018)

So I didn’t clock until I was looking up directors that Sam Levinson, Euphoria director, also directed this, and suddenly everything makes sense in the world. They both have that dreamlike, exaggerated feel that perfectly captures the emotional rollercoaster that is being a teenager, only in Assassination Nation obviously the threats are a bit more...tangible. As in its actually other people trying to kill our protagonists this time round, not just angst. 

Not gonna lie, it’s not a patch on Euphoria because that show is probably the best thing I watched all year, but I did thoroughly enjoy it, even if I did feel the social commentary, despite how in your face it was, got a bit lost in translation at times. I think it’s the kind of film that, once again, would’ve felt more genuine coming from a female director, however that’s not to take away from how witty, modern, and completely relevant it still is as we move into 2020.

Sorry To Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018)

Right. WHAT THE FUCK!?

Why don’t more people talk about this film? Like it has Tessa Thompson and the world’s best earrings! Lakeith Stanfield getting more than 10 cumulative minutes of screen time! Armie Hammer being that bitch we all knew he was irl (probably)! Scathing critiques of late stage capitalism! It’s insane, in the absolute best way.

SPOILERS AHEAD: I had a mini paragraph written about the last hour of the film and the descent into pure unadulterated chaos, and how it’s like, the internet’s best kept secret, because ordinarily you lot can’t keep your mouths shut about a film or TV’s shows most crucial reveals for more than 5 minutes and THEN...My FBI agent must be feeling real cheeky because THIS tweet pops up on my Twitter timeline. 

Fuck this shit, I’m out. Onto the next film. MI5 stop peeping my drafts. 

Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham, 2018)

I don’t want to repeat what I said about Eighth Grade in my 50 Films you Should Watch list but Elsie Fisher’s performance in this is why I wish the Oscars also had some kind of rising star award category à la the BAFTAs. Honestly, every 13/14 year old should watch this; it’s a reminder that although feeling like an outsider is by its nature quite isolating, it’s prolific enough that a 29 year old man, 10 years out of “high school”, gets it.

American Animals (Bart Layton, 2018)

My sister and I absolutely loved this film so you can image our disappointment when we turned round to our parents at the end and our enthusiasm wasn’t matched...as in, I’m pretty sure they were both asleep for a lot of it. WHICH I DON’T GET. Because to me, there wasn’t a dull moment. American Animals is what happens when a group of university age boys with the finesse of the American Vandal Turd Burglar try and apply that to an Evil Genius stye heist, part Netflix, talking head abundant documentary, part live-action film. Splicing a stylistic reenactment with interview footage of the men who really attempted to commit the crime elevated what I probably would have put in the Good Tier™ to the God Tier™; seeing the guy Evan Peters is playing alongside Evan Peters playing him, now only the remnants of the arrogance we see in the reenactment left behind, sharply reminds you of the fall from grace these boys deservedly went through. Plus Barry Keoghan from The Killing of a Sacred Deer is in it, proving that unsettlingly stiff is NOT in fact his natural state. 

Gerald’s Game (Mike Flanagan, 2017)

I wish there was a shorthand way to say I wrote about this in my 50 Films You Should Watch list so I’m gonna keep it short but here we are! This was great! If The Haunting of Hill House isn’t proof enough, Gerald’s Game (not to take away any credit from Stephen King) is a reminder that Mike Flanagan is the king of subtle, niggling sensation in your stomach that something is about to go very wrong horror. I hear he and Ari Aster have a timeshare situation going on with the crown.

The Ritual (David Bruckner, 2017)

Okay, so this is the film that made me realise we should all be very scared of forests. Nope, all the documentaries into the Aokigahara Forest weren’t enough, apparently. I subjected myself to this too, as if my unfit, cold-blooded, bug-fearing, scared of the dark ass doesn’t already have enough concerns about my survival odds in the great outdoors. 

Really though, setting aside, this film maintains the sense of dread throughout and keeps you guessing what’s going on until the very end. Much like The Descent, the group dynamic and characters are realistic enough that it adds to the believability of a scenario I, in principle, know would never happen to the extent that I might keep away from vast, wooded spaces for a while just in case.

Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019)

If film Twitter came across this post and saw I’d placed Dumbo in a higher tier than If Beale Street Could Talk I can only imagine the outrage. And sure, the latter is probably a much higher quality film. But sometimes a movie, for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on, gets you right in the sweet spot, and Dumbo did that for me. Maybe it was that the CGI elephant reminded me of my cat (I know, leave me alone), maybe I was emotional that day, I don’t know, all I know is that I cried like 5 times and was smiling for the rest of it-to be fair, the exploitation of animals for our entertainment is something that is still very much going on and that was something that was playing on my mind a lot whilst I was watching it. IRL Dumbos should be free too. Dumbo rights.

The VVitch (Robert Eggers, 2016)

This film taught me that there’s nothing wrong with joining a coven of young witches and getting naked and levitating around a fire. And that’s an important life lesson. Plus it gave us the quote “wouldst thou like to live deliciously?”, which is not only so perfectly creepy and simultaneously empowering that I had to get it tattooed but also, created ASMR. I just made that last bit up obviously but Black Philip getting his own ASMR Youtube channel?

The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2006)

For me, much like The Ritual, The Descent is a perfect horror film: it’s got the ghouls but the situation the characters find themselves in is also terrifying by its own merit. The reason The Descent made it onto my 50 Films list and the Ritual didn’t is because, let’s be honest, it’s 2020 and you can get mobile signal in most places. You could probably at least make a 999 call if you got lost in a forest. If you DID get stuck in an underground cave and it collapsed in on itself, you’d be pretty fucked; the idea of it makes me shudder and I will never set foot in an underground tunnel at any point in my life for any amount of money EVER after seeing this. Also, the women in this are great and the creatures in this are genuinely quite terrifying, especially the first time you see them. 

Chicago (Rob Marshall, 2003)

Ah, Chicago, the last film on the God Tier™, proving that this list is in no particular order. Because WHAT A FIM. WHY DON’T PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THIS MORE?! Like don’t get me wrong, I know it deservedly won Best Picture in 2003 but I’m talking about right now! I mean, fucking Titanic is still out here getting referenced left, right and centre and yet Chicago gets paid dust! Can you tell I’m mad and that I think Titanic is hugely overrated?! Is that maybe coming across?!

ALL the songs are bops, Catherine Zeta-Jones is hot (I saw someone on Letterboxd say that Catherine Zeta-Jones in this film was their bisexual awakening and honestly, if I hadn’t already known I was a raging bisexual, same, because I FELT things in that All That Jazz opening) and Cell Block Tango is the revenge fantasy anthem I never knew I needed. Smart, tongue in cheek, beautifully shot and makes men look like little bitches which is probably why my dad hated it but what did I expect.

Good Tier

Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer, 2019)

Onto the first film of the good tier, Zombieland: Double Tap definitely exceeded my expectations. I was super worried about the prospect of a sequel as I love the first one so much and assumed it would be crap. Obviously, it doesn’t match up to the original because the original WAS so original, but it was still a fun, easy, witty ride. And I was SO glad they didn’t *SPOILERS AHEAD* kill off Tallahassee at the end because I really thought that was coming and it seemed so predictable and unnecessary. Highlight was the introduction of the lookalikes at Graceland.

Judy (Rupert Goold, 2019)

So, this is the first of two consecutive rants I’m about to go on about Oscar nominations and people’s reactions online. Prepare yourself.

I’ll start with the underlying message: just because you think something else deserves the praise more, doesn’t mean the film/album/*insert whatever artistic medium you wish here* that IS getting the praise is shit. 

Like people are angry that Lupita Nyongo wasn’t nominated for best actress for her performance in Us which is COMPLETELY valid as she carried that film on her back. In the same vein, people are also angry that more women of colour haven’t been nominated for best actress. Also valid; I’ve yet to see The Farewell but I’ve heard great things about Akwafina’s performance and I love her so even though I haven’t seen it, I’m gonna take the general consensus that she should’ve been nominated too. The Oscars definitely has a problem with recognising the work of POC. BUT, because of this, people are angry that Renee Zellweger has been nominated for her performance in Judy, saying that it’s typical “Oscar bait”. I agree, it is typical Oscar bait. However, a lot of the people saying this will in the same breath say (or tweet rather) that they haven’t actually SEEN Judy. 

How can you possibly say that Renee Zellweger doesn’t deserve any of the praise she’s getting when you haven’t even seen the film? Don’t get me wrong, the film itself is good but not outstanding (hence its place in this tier), but you can see Renee genuinely put her heart and soul into this film; it was powerful, and it was sympathetic but it was also nuanced and subtle where they could’ve just capitalised on all the sensationalised stories of the actions of a woman clearly deeply suffering in her final years and had it be full of shouting and screaming. The Wizard of Oz has always kind of felt like home to me because of the childhood nostalgia factor and so I’ve always been interested in Judy and I think Renee captured her heart and her spirit in a way she would be deeply honoured by. Maybe the film itself doesn’t deserve the acclaim it’s getting but I think Zellweger definitely deserves the nom and I think most people who’ve actually seen it wouldn’t contest that. 

Joker (Todd Philipps, 2019)

Okay so second rant. I’m sorry. I have a lot of feelings. Most of them aimed at the annoying tendency of internet users, Film Twitter™ and Letterboxd users I’m looking at you in particular, to be wildly exaggerative. 

There just seems to be no nuance online. It’s not just yeah, I didn’t like the film personally and the message could be perceived in a certain way by certain individuals, it’s I HATE THIS FILM AND IT’S DANGEROUS AND THE DIRECTOR FUCKING SUCKS. I noticed this trend when La La Land came out (which if I had watched last year would certainly be in God tier for me). It’s like, if a film initially receives a lot of praise and buzz, there’s almost this wave of compensatory vehement criticism in response that’s usually disproportionate to how controversial the film actually is. People didn’t like that Joker was popular because they didn’t like Joker so suddenly it’s the worst film ever and the possibility of it getting any critical acclaim is wrong. I even saw people berating Todd Philipps for channelling Martin Scorsese as he’s the only person to ever be influenced and take direction from one of the most dominant figures in film of the 20th and 21st century. I mean, what’s wrong with that?! If it was any other director, it’d be called homage. But because everything has to be seen through this malicious lens, its copying. 

I think one of the few very valid criticisms about Joker was that it further perpetuates the idea that psychotic people are dangerous, and I can totally see where they’re coming from. At the same time, we have to accept that whilst the majority of people who are psychotic aren’t a danger to anyone apart from themselves, most “dangerous” people don’t just become dangerous because they thought, fuck it, why not? A lot of people in the prison system ARE suffering with some kind of mental illness. The character’s psychosis doesn’t make him dangerous, it’s his underlying resentment and sense of entitlement that grows throughout the film that makes him dangerous, and I think a lot of people seem to miss this point. They say that the way the film ends implies Philipps is justifying the actions of the films protagonist. However, we KNOW the Joker is an unreliable narrator, he’s one of pop culture’s most infamous villains and that being said, both in film and in the real world, few villains see themselves as the villain. Joker is about why HE thinks he’s justified in doing what he does, not why he IS justified in doing what he does because he’s not, and that’s pretty clear from the moment he shoots someone in the head on live TV. Honestly, I think there’s a bit of wilful misinterpretation going on because people don’t like that film

I liked Joker. It was gritty, it was interesting, and sufficiently dark. I didn’t think it was the best film of the year but I understand why it got the praise it did. Obviously, it’s okay that people disagree and DON’T like it. But can we please get a bit more well-acquainted with the middle ground?

It: Chapter Two (Andres Muschietti, 2019)

Okay, essays over. Back to regular scheduled programming of less impassioned reviews. Though I will say I deserved better than my Letterboxd comment of “so you can just fucking roast Pennwyise to death?” getting absolutely 0 traction. One day my grand total of 5 followers, one of which is my sister, will recognise my brilliance (lol).

It’s hard to say how much I really liked this as I think my perspective of how much I did enjoy it is warped by how much I disliked the first one. Child actors really aren’t my thing and the only cast members I warmed to in the first one were Finn Wolfhard and Jack Dylan Grazer whereas the cast here were a lot more likeable, imo. Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain and James Ransone were all great, with the only let down being James Mcavoy; I love him, don’t get me wrong, but I just think he was really miscast in this role. 

Another thing I enjoyed a lot more about this instalment was that due to the more episodic/anthology-like/Creepshow-esque structure with each character conquering different monsters from their past individually, the narrative felt like it had a lot more direction, and it didn’t drag as much despite it having a significantly longer runtime. I haven’t read the Stephen King novels and I don’t know much of the pacing issues are down to them so this is me coming at it from a screenwriting angle but it felt as if the climax of the first film just kept going on and on. Every time I thought it had finished there’d be another confrontation between the kids and Pennywise whereas Chapter 2 seemed to have a more definitive third act and I appreciated that.

Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher, 2019)

So, here’s one where I WILL agree with the general online consensus: if Rami Malek got nominated for playing Freddie Mercury last year and Renee got nominated for playing Judy Garland, why the fuck didn’t Taron Egerton get one for playing Elton John? Why didn’t Rocketman itself get a nomination when Judy did? Though I personally preferred Judy because I’m more interested in her story, technically and narratively Rocketman is the better film in my opinion.  This was so cleverly edited and sequenced and told with such a brutal honesty on Elton John’s part (it was co-produced by his husband David Furnish and he was heavily involved in everything from the set to the script), that I can only come to the conclusion that the obligatory biopic nomination only comes when the focus of said biopic is no longer with us as a kind of honorary thing. Whilst something like Bohemian Rhapsody was much more of an easy watch (which just goes to show how glossed over Freddie Mercury’s life was in the film), the way the story was told, by the time we got to I’m Still Standing that happy ending felt so earned.

Aladdin (Guy Ritchie, 2019)

You can hate all you want, Prince Ali and Never Had a Friend Like Me are fucking bops and somehow they were even better in this incarnation of the film. I was initially hesitant about Will Smith being cast but rather than trying to impersonate Robin Williams he went his own route and it really worked. He was the highlight of the film. It was undeniably visually stunning too. Madonna’s ex did good.

Us (Jordan Peele, 2019)

Ah, I feel so conflicted when it comes to Us. Like, there were some really strong points and it’s definitely a good standalone horror movie. It’s just you can’t help but compare it to Get Out, and with that unsatisfactory exposition dump ending, I left feeling so disappointed. It seemed to me that Jordan Peele got in a bit over his head here with trying to tie such a vague social metaphor and the actual in-universe plot together, and so ended up leaving both a bit half-baked. He tried to OutPeele himself and for me, it didn’t work. 

The doppelgängers were so scary as this ambiguous, vaguely threatening presence that if you are gonna give us a full blown, sit down explanation of why they exist it needs to be really bloody good. And this explanation didn’t make much sense. For example, *SPOILERS AHEAD* I imagine that the tethered just not being able to walk up the escalator into the “real world” was supposed to be some kind of metaphor for social mobility but it’s not fleshed out enough to work. In our world, there are REASONS why the idea of social mobility is flawed. In the film, it’s just like gee, if they chose to just walk up the escalator and go on this murderous rampage now, why couldn't they have decided to do it years ago back before they all lost their fucking minds? Why were they just copying the originals for all those years? HOW did they know what they were doing? See, the metaphor as I understand it is supposed to be that we depend on the oppression of others like us in order to maintain our social status, but not only is this kind of too general a statement to try and use a feature length film to make, I don’t really understand how this dynamic works within the narrative of the film. Technically, there's nothing to stop the tethered and the originals co-existing apart from the tethered deciding not to walk up the fucking escalator. We’re not talking a bourgeoisie-proletariat relationship here. The explanation of it all just being a “government project gone wrong” was too vague seeing as the plot working seemed prior to this to hinge onto something vaguely supernatural and the eventual plan of the doppelgängers seemingly had no purpose or application to the real world like the climax of Get Out did. It just left me feeling kind of like...why? Why did this all happen? When the ending and the twist was that predictable (the old Pretty Little Liars finale style twin switcheroo was blatantly obvious from the mother’s “it’s like she’s a different person” line near the beginning, let’s be real), I was expecting some final revelation that flipped my expectation on its head or at least felt helped things click into place. Instead, it seemed a bit hamfisted and like I was supposed to feel things were deeper and more significant than they actually were.

All that being said, I appreciate that if anyone other than the writer of Get Out had come out with this movie, I probably wouldn’t have these issues. Us was funny, it was fresh, and the concept of doppelgängers is something I’m so glad to see brought back into our modern pop culture database. The people are right, Lupita was incredible in this and it is a travesty that she didn’t get nominated. My sister, who was so creeped out by her vocal performance that she had her fingers in her ears every time Red spoke, still won’t let me attempt an impression of it. And that Fuck the Police sequence? Iconic. 

On the Basis of Sex (Mimi Leder, 2019)

I apologise in advance for the shittiest “review” I’ll ever write, but honestly I can’t remember all too much about this film other than it being good. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I’m sorry. You’re a cool lady.

If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2019)

EURGH, THIS WAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FIM. The score, the shots, the rawness. I imagine it’s devastatingly real. Like, *SPOILERS AHEAD* you think there’s going to be a happy ending but there’s not. It should be disappointing but it’s an honest choice. And side note: fuck those annoying middle aged white ladies in the seats behind me and my friend who lost their shit and started giggling every time the N-word was used, JFC. I hate living in a Tory stronghold. 

Cam (Daniel Goldhaber, 2018)

So, as I said, I’m a fan of the whole doppelgänger thing. It freaks me out. The point in this film where the protagonist is approaching her bedroom door whilst she watches HERSELF livestreaming from inside that same bedroom had my heart in my mouth wondering what she was going to encounter on the other side. And you see, the ending of this was a lot more ambiguous than the ending of Us, so I should’ve had less questions. Whilst I’ve seen other people saying it WAS unsatisfactory and that they felt like we were owed more of an explanation, I liked the simplicity of the answer we got and the wiggle room it leaves for our own interpretation. The way I see it, given that we were told by the fan the protagonist meets with in the motel room that *SPOILERS AHEAD* it was a case of some kind of software copying these women’s likenesses to steal their viewers and thus their profits, is that Cam is a kind of a commentary on the capitalist exploitation of women’s bodies and the demand for (and desensitisation towards) sexually violent content; we don't necessarily need to know who is behind the virtual cloning, which is terrifyingly believable given how realistic some of the deepfakes I’ve seen are, because it doesn’t matter. We're basically told money is the motive and we know the kind of lengths some people will go, and someone DID go to in Cam, to in order to make a shitload of money and that’s as true in real life as it is scary. On the other hand, if you want to believe there’s a more supernatural presence behind the events of the film, there’s enough left to the imagination that you can go down that route too. Some films are better left un-exposition dumped and this is the proof. My one criticism, is that, like many films, it would be even better if directed by a woman; I’ve seen people say that its portrayal of online sex work isn’t entirely accurate and though I can’t say with certainty that women working in this industry weren’t consulted in the first place, I imagine a female director would not only be more likely to listen to their concerns but could translate the confusion and fear that comes with being expected to makes oneself sexually desirable to get ahead in the world but then shamed and used for doing so even more viscerally. A few tweaks and it’d be God Tier.

Colette (Wash Westmoreland, 2019)

The costumes, sets, and Keira were so, so stunning. Also it was just an inspiring, beautiful story. The navigation of womanhood, so called “deviant” sexuality and self-expression against the backdrop of early 20th century Paris with a load of Edwardian era tailoring thrown in, it’s everything I could possibly want and more; 10/10 moodboard content. 

The Boy (William Brent Bell, 2016)

I can’t believe this film was made in 2016, and it almost makes me move it down to mid tier based on the fact that a lot of the allowances I made for cheese factor I made on the assumption it came out earlier in the decade. BUT, that being said, I was creeped out for a good portion of this film. Most horrors I watch and I’m probably a bit too chilled (a head comes off or some witchy ass ghost screams into the camera and my only thought is some kind of judgement of the SFX), and yet I felt like watching this behind my hands. I don’t know what it is about dolls and puppets, Chucky was my childhood fear even though I never actually watched the film, but something about the uncanny valley of it all makes me just spend the whole time they’re on screen silently praying they don’t start moving or talking. So in a way, given the resolution of the film *SPOILERS AHEAD*, the premise of The Boy was actually a lot scarier to me than the reveal of what was really going on. Someone hiding in my walls? NBD. That demons are real and that they live inside creepy old dolls? Terrifying. Why does everybody I debate this with disagree!? You can't call the police on a demon! At least with a human being you can stick them with the pointy ending of something! Regardless, I enjoyed the journey and trying to work out how things would end and if there IS anybody secretly living inside my house right now, even if you are a supposedly dead murderous family member (last time I checked I didn’t have any of those so I should be all good), kindly vacate. Thanks.

Oprhan (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2009)

So the fact that this film is based on a real life case makes this all the more terrifying. It was a bit campy and tacky at times but the shot of *SPOILERS AHEAD* Esther taking off her makeup in the mirror and revealing her true age will always be iconic. Plus I love Vera Farmiga, even though I did struggle to see her as anyone other than Norma Bates. 

First Reformed (Paul Schrader, 2018)

A hauntingly beautiful film with a lot of room for interpretation. There were so many gorgeous shots and so much subtext, this is proper 10/10 media studies essay material.

The Invitation (Karyn Kusama, 2015)

I would say the concept and implications of this film, which don’t fully hit you til the final shots, are a lot better than the film itself. It feels very realistic though and is definitely tense.

As Above, So Below (John Erick Dowdle, 2014)

I was so stoned when I watched this that a lot of the allegory and Dante’s inferno references went straight over my head, and it just seemed absolutely balls to the wall wild. I couldn’t buy that the characters would just KEEP GOING either when things began to get terrifying, like people in horror films really out here making the most nonsensical decisions and it drives me mad. But anyway, it was definitely entertaining and there’s a lot more to it in terms of plot and mythology than most similar quality horrors and I appreciate that 

Climax (Gaspar Noe, 2018)

Climax is an interesting one that I think I’ll have to watch again to judge how much I truly like it. As with Us, I know it’s a good film, but I think my expectations of what it was going to be left me slightly disappointed. See, when I read about the premise I assumed that the horror was going to come from seeing the perspective of the characters on said acid trip and that leaves so much room for any kind of terrifying visuals you want whether that be something based in realism or fucked up creatures of the imagination. Buuuuut, it wasn’t that at all; at no point does Climax take place from the first person perspective of any of the characters. Similar to Darren Aronofsky’s Mother, the horror comes from not being able to do anything but watch as everyone starts losing their minds and the situation gets increasingly more dire. It’s pure stress; the acting is so unnervingly good that you really do feel like you’re watching some unintentionally horrific incident take place. That’s not a bad thing-I like it when films make me feel something intense, whether that emotion be positive or negative. It was just a different viewing experience to the one I had precipitated. 

Mid Tier

Nativity (Debbie Isitt, 2009)

I find Mr.Poppy hilarious. Does that make me a child? Probably. I’m not really one for Christmas movies but this one’s alright.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (André Øvredal, 2019)

I get that it’s based off a book so it’s not exactly like the “monsters” were a secret in the first place, but for those of us who didn’t read the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books as a kid, my main beef with this film was that they basically revealed all of said monsters in the trailer. Like how It: Chapter 2 spoiled the scene with Beverly in the old lady’s apartment but with EVERY. SINGLE. CREATURE. The only one that wasn’t was the “jangly man” and the only takeaway I have from him is the “jangly in the streets, but is he jangly in the sheets?” Letterboxd comment I read afterwards. Like the creature designs are the selling point of this film and by showing us them all before we’ve even seen it, any anticipation that would’ve built up from their reveal was kind of gone. Plus, it definitely felt like the writers were trying to ride on the hype train of “It” when they wrote this-only they made it even more childish. I mean, I know it was classed as PG-13 in the US which is maybe part of the reason it was so tame but the Woman in Black was a 12 when it was released here and it could be the bias of my 13 year old brain but I remember that being terrifying to watch in the cinema.

Also, I found it weird how *SPOILERS AHEAD* a couple of the main characters died and there didn’t really seem to be any consequences? Idk, maybe that’s because I found them all a bit one dimensional but I’ve seen others make the same criticism so I don’t think so. 

Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a BAD film. It just wasn’t super good.

Charlie’s Angels (Elizabeth Banks, 2019)

I’ve never seen the 2000s Charlie’s Angels so I really don’t have anything to compare to, but I don’t think this was THAT bad. I was fairly entertained throughout and I enjoyed Naomi Scott and Kristen Stewart’s characters. My main issue was the unnecessary inclusion of Noah Centineo, and that weird ass montage at the beginning of stock video shots of girls just...doing miscellaneous things. Why, Elizabeth Banks, why!?

Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley, 2019)

In some ways, I see why Toy Story 4 was narratively necessary: co-dependency had been a running theme throughout and we needed to see Woody (I feel stupid saying this considering he’s a fucking toy but allow it) realise that he can exist independently of Andy, and that there’s more to life than pleasing somebody else. The way Toy Story 4 ended felt like a satisfying conclusion to his character arc, and as well as the animation being top tier, Forky was a hilarious addition to the cast. However, I don’t think it carried the emotional weight of the 3rd Toy Story, which I think people had accepted as the last instalment and had used to say goodbye to the franchise, and therefore the sceptic in me thinks that the obvious purpose of this addition was a cash grab. I don’t doubt that a lot of people worked incredibly hard on it-I’m just saying that the propelling force behind the film probably wasn’t “the people need to see Woody’s character growth” and that was quite apparent throughout.

Doctor Sleep (Mike Flanagan, 2019)

There were some really beautiful scenes in Doctor Sleep; the astral projection sequences in particular were magnificent and I loved Rebecca Ferguson as the villain. Stylistically, though I didn’t find out he was the director until I was writing this up, you can definitely tell it’s Mike Flanagan, and like I’ve said, he does horror very tastefully. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t all that interested in the premise and I wasn’t hugely invested in grown up Danny Torrance either. The execution was great and the return to the Overlook was brilliant, of course, but the story just wasn’t for me and nothing much sticks out as being a particularly intriguing plot point.

Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke, 2019)

What to say about Mary Queen of Scots other than...yeah, it was alright. I mean, I really should’ve liked it more than I did, because these specific events were part of the Edexcel A-Level history curriculum (Can I get some Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors students representation up in here!?) and I usually love seeing history translated onto screen, plus it centred around Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan. It was just very...meh. I feel like there’s so much more complex a story here than was told. Both women were undoubtedly a lot more complicated than this film made them out to be and I think to reduce Mary Queen of Scots to a Mary Sue-ish heroine was a disappointing choice. Plus, if we’re gonna talk historical accuracy (which all the racists came out of their caves to discuss at the time), Mary and Elizabeth never actually met; I’m sure there was a more creative way to explore their dynamic than by forcing an interaction that never actually happened.

Apostle (Gareth Evans, 2018)

There were elements of this film I really liked; the mythology behind the cult, I.E what the townsfolk actually worshipped when you stripped away all the secrecy was pretty interesting. However, I felt it depended too much on atmosphere and not enough on plot, and I didn’t warm to any of the characters.

Searching (Aneesh Chaganty, 2018)

It’s difficult because technically, Searching is obviously an ingenious film. My issue is the way it ended, which was imo, super anti-climatic, and honestly pretty predictable in that it seemed like the writers just went out of their way *SPOILERS AHEAD* to make the culprit the person viewers would’ve ruled out by default for shock value, and then work out WHY that person was the culprit from there. I was expecting something a lot darker to be behind the protagonist’s daughter’s disappearance-irl, these situations usually are-and so maybe it’s just me being a bit of a sadist but I was disappointed by how things resolved themselves.

Deliver Us from Evil (Scott Derrickson, 2014)

So, this isn’t boring. It’s interesting to have a horror navigated through the lens of something as procedural as a police investigation. But ultimately, the acting isn’t great, there’s very few scary moments, and it’s a little cheesy. As horrors go, it’s pretty shallow-it is what it says on the tin.

Dumplin’ (Anne Fletcher, 2018)

I watched this right at the beginning of the year and I can’t remember all too much about it, but I remember not hating it? See, looking at the cast, Odeya Rush and Dove Cameron are both in it which would suggest I’d come away hating MYSELF instead but yeah...I got nothing. 

Lights Out (David F.Sandberg, 2016)

The concept is very scary, the execution not so much, and the actual storyline is a little cheesy. I found myself just being like OH MY GOD, IT’S BELLA’S DAD FROM TWILIGHT! And then *SPOILERS AHEAD* getting mad that they did Charlie Swan dirty like that by killing him off in the first 10/15 minutes.

The Goldfinch (John Crowley, 2019)

So I LOVED the book of The Goldfinch. I read it after the Secret History and even though most people seem to prefer the latter, the former hit me right in the sweet spot. The length was almost one of my favourite things about it; I felt by the end that I came to know the character so well he felt like someone I knew in real life. When I heard Ansel Elgort was cast as Theo, I was really happy; I’m not necessarily a huge fan of him as an actor, I've only ever seen him in shitty teen-y dramas which I forced myself to like at the time E.G. The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent, but he looks kind of exactly how I pictured Theo looking. Almost like an Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood situation. And then honestly, the actual film came around, and I found myself much preferring the young Theo sections. I get that Theo is quite a muted character and I hate to properly slate anyone’s performance, but Ansel as him felt a bit flat. The casting in general was pretty whack; I love Nicole Kidman but she didn’t feel right as Mrs.Barbour and it seemed that they added a lot to her character to the detriment of Hobie’s character who was a much bigger part of Theo’s life in the book. Also, can we talk about Finn Wolfhard as Boris? I’m sorry, but that accent was godawful. Really bad. Boris’ accent was always supposed to be kind of ambiguous but this was just butchered Russian. Another gripe that my friend and I, who also read the book, had with the Vegas section of the film (which was otherwise probably the best part) was that they never properly explored the complexity of Boris and Theo’s relationship. Obviously I’m not saying that I want 2 minors to shoot a sex scene but it could have been referenced when they reunite as adults because the kiss on the head when they part in Vegas seemed misleadingly platonic. It was heavily implied in the book that there was some kind of love that went beyond friendship between the two and I didn’t get that in the film at all. 

Ultimately, when you try and adapt a book as long as the Goldfinch, you’re always going to have some pacing issues and people complaining that things were left out or that X or Y character didn’t have enough screen time. But in ways, I think the fault here was trying to stay TOO faithful in the limited time available. They definitely could have focussed less on certain relationships and more on others, and when it comes down to it, I think we lost a lot of the grittiness of the original book for the sake of pretty visuals. 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)

Don’t get me wrong, this would 100% be in shit tier if it wasn’t for the last hour or so of the film and all the Manson lore which is so disappointing because I love Tarantino films and I love that era. As for the first couple of hours, I loved the vibe and I love Margot Robbie, and I think it was very respectful towards the Tate family (if anything radiated through the screen more than anything else it was Sharon Tate’s sweetness), but I just wasn’t that invested in Leo or Brad’s characters-it all just felt a bit pointless. I really like Brad Pitt and even that couldn’t really save it for me. Maybe if you took away the remaining 2 hours and 20 minutes of Leo DiCaprio making vague allusions to his own career to a girl only slightly younger than the combined age of all girlfriends past I’d enjoy it more but then I don’t think there’d be much footage left. I guess we should just be grateful that Tarantino managed to refrain from unnecessarily sprinkling the N-word into every other line of his script this time, right?

Also.

SO. MANY. FEET.

But then again, this did result in Brad publicly mocking Tarantino’s foot fetish during his speech at the SAG awards so...I’ll allow it. Sometimes kink shaming is okay. Especially when it’s this guy:

Isn’t it Romantic (Todd Strauss-Schulson, 2019)

I guess as romantic comedies go it wasn’t AWFUL because it was self-aware but still just not my cup of tea and it didn’t really make me laugh. Plus, I feel like it did just follow the plot of a conventional rom-com in the end so...what was it all for, you know?

Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier, 2016)

I think my disappointment with this film was a case of too high expectations. It wasn’t as gory as I hoped, in fact, there was very little on screen gore at all. I was just expecting something very messed up and I didn’t get that. But then again we did get Maeby from Arrested Development singing a fuck Nazis song so I guess that was a nice surprise?

Shit Tier

Birdbox (Susanne Bier, 2018)

First the disappointment of the Goldfinch, and now Birdbox (although they were chronologically the other way round but for the sake of this review, let’s just ignore that). It really is a bad year for bird films. 

It’s weird because when this first came out I remember everyone hyping it up and making memes about it and stuff and then I actually watched it and dear god, it was boring. Honestly, who paid you lot to pretend you cared enough about it enough to make content? And where can I get in on this action?

I mean it didn’t start off terribly but then they killed off SARAH FUCKING PAULSON and somehow managed to make SANDRA FUCKING BULLOCK unlikeable. How does one do that? The mind baffles.

Pet Sematary (Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer, 2019)

The kid acting was bad, the leads were meh and there wasn’t one creepy moment. This should be SO MUCH MORE hard hitting than it actually was given the subject matter and it just fell completely flat. I will say, though, *SPOILERS AHEAD* that the ending was appropriately doom and gloom and even though I’ve seen lots of others say they hate it it was probably the only thing I actually liked.

The Lion King (Jon Favreau, 2019)

Seth Rogen and Billie Eichner were the only good things about this which is sad because I fucking love Donald Glover and I was so excited when he was cast as Simba. Like, it was pretty but empty and unnecessary and I’m not one of these people who think CGI remakes always have to be this way-I loved Dumbo and I liked the live-action Jungle Book too! I just think the people who made this cared too much about good CGI and realism and less about heart. There was no personality whatsoever and it’s such a waste when you think about the fact that they had Donald and Beyonce on board. 

Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence, 2018)

Eurgh, I hated this. I think Jennifer Lawrence is stunning and I usually love her films but every shot of her in this felt so male-gaze oriented, even the ones which were sexually violent, which I found to be completely unnecessary in the first place. At times it felt almost torture-porn-y which was not what I expected at all seeing as the marketing made it seem like some kind of female empowerment movie.

It Comes at Night (Trey Edward Shults, 2017)

I literally can’t remember fucking anything from this film. Clearly there is a very, very fine line between atmospheric and boring.

Warm Bodies (Jonathan Levine, 2013)

Maybe it’s because I watched this about 6 years too late and the whole human-girl-falls-in-love-with-supernatural-creature hype train has long since left the station but I couldn’t even finish it. Cutesy necrophilia ain’t for me, sorry Nicholas Hoult. Still love ya. You’ll always be Tony Stonem to me xoxo

Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2005)

I’m pretty sure this movie won a lot of awards so I’m sure this is a very unpopular opinion but the way this film ended was so...depressing. SO depressing. Did it have to be THAT depressing? The Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode outsold.

This is the range Oscar winning actress Hilary Swank wishes she had.

Would You Rather (David Guy Levy, 2013)

Started off well but became cheesy and predictable as it went on. The acting wasn’t great either plus there was another unnecessary attempted rape scene here too. 

Christmas with the Kranks (Joe Roth, 2004)

So I watched this movie in the run up to Christmas because my best friend and her mum were referencing it like it was this cult classic (which I guess for some reason it is?) and I’m sorry to her and her mum but what the hell is this shit?! It’s not even so bad it’s good. It’s just bad.

The plot, the characters, EVERYTHING, it’s ridiculous on every level. I wasn’t into it enough to suspend my disbelief that anyone’s neighbours would actually care THAT much that they weren’t celebrating Christmas. Go on your damn cruise, take me with you whilst you're at it, ease my seasonal depression! I wouldn’t mind so much if it was funny or if the protagonists were likeable but it wasn’t and they’re not. Nobody’s actions made any sense. It didn’t put me in the Christmas spirit at all it just made me angry that Jamie Lee Curtis’ agent made her do this shit. She’s a scream queen goddess and she deserves better.

ANYWAY.

I’m now realising that I should have started on shit tier and worked my way up to god tier because now this post has ended on the rather sour note of me getting worked up over Christmas with the Kranks, lol. As always, these are just my opinions and I love to hear other people’s; when it comes to something like this, it’s all a matter of preference and there really isn’t a right or wrong answer, so I’m open to discussion!

With the Oscars less than a week away now I rushed a little to get this out on time, so apologies in advance if anything doesn’t make any sense or there’s any typos, I will look back over it at some point over the next couple of days to check. 

But if you read to the end thank you! And stay tuned for my overview of Paris Haute Couture Week S/S 2020 if that’s something you’re interested in as that will most likely be next post!

Lauren x

[edsonlnoe]

MG Awards 2019 | Nominaciones

Película Dolor y Gloria The Favourite Gisaengchung If Beale Street Could Talk Luciérnagas Us Director Pedro Almodóvar | Dolor y Gloria Bong Joon-ho | Gisaengchung Barry Jenkins | If Beale Street Could Talk Bani Khoshnoudi | Luciérnagas Yorgos Lanthimos | The Favourite Jordan Peele | Us Actriz Olivia Colman | The Favourite Dakota Johnson | Suspiria Melissa McCarthy | Can You Ever Forgive Me? Lupita Nyong’o | Us Florence Pugh | Midsommar Emma Stone | The Favourite Actor Antonio Banderas | Dolor y Gloria Michael B. Jordan | Creed II Ethan Hawke | First Reformed Arash Marandi | Luciérnagas Dev Patel | The Wedding Guest Brad Pitt | Ad Astra Actriz de Reparto Edwarda Gurrola | Luciérnagas Jo Yeo-jeong | Gisaengchung Regina King | If Beale Street Could Talk Jennifer Lopez | Hustlers Tessa Thompson | Creed II Rachel Weisz | The Favourite Actor de Reparto Choi Woo-sik | Gisaengchung Lee Sun-kyun | Gisaengchung Dev Patel | Hotel Mumbai Leonardo Sbaraglia | Dolor y Gloria Song Kang-ho | Gisaengchung Yeun Sang-yeop | Beoning Guión Original Dolor y Gloria The Favourite First Reformed Gisaengchung Midsommar Us Guión Adaptado Beautiful Boy Can You Ever Forgive Me? Hustlers If Beale Street Could Talk The Irishman The Two Popes Edición Dolor y Gloria The Favourite Hustlers Gisaengchung If Beale Street Could Talk Us Fotografía Ad Astra Columbus The Favourite Gisaengchung If Beale Street Could Talk Us Diseño de Producción Dolor y Gloria The Favourite Gisaengchung Midsommar Suspiria Us Diseño de Vestuario The Favourite Mary Queen of Scots Once Upon A Time …In Hollywood Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Suspiria Us Make-Up & Hairstyling The Favourite Hellboy Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Mary Queen of Scots Suspiria Us Efectos Visuales / Especiales Ad Astra The Aeronauts Avengers: Endgame Crawl Spider-Man: Far From Home Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Edición de Sonido Ad Astra Avengers: Endgame La Casa Lobo Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Toy Story 4 Triple Frontier Mezcla de Sonido Ad Astra Avengers: Endgame Creed II If Beale Street Could Talk Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Us Score Ad Astra Creed II Dolor y Gloria Gisaengchung If Beale Street Could Talk J'ai Perdu Mon Corps Suspiria Us Soundtrack Beautiful Boy Creed II The Favourite Frozen II The Lion King Rocketman Canción “Home to You” — Sigrid | The Aeronauts “I Will Go to War” — Tessa Thompson | Creed II “Into the Unknown” — Idina Menzel, Aurora | Frozen II “Revelation” — Troye Sivan & Jónsi | Boy Erased “Show Yourself” — Idina Menzel, Evan Rachel Wood | Frozen II “Suspirium” — Thom Yorke | Suspiria “Treasure” — Sampha | Beautiful Boy “Unmade” — Thom Yorke | Suspiria “You Might Find Me” — Ludwig Göransson, Jacob Banks | Creed II Poster Aladdin Columbus Creed II The Favourite High Life Us Trailer Ad Astra The Favourite Frozen II Gisaengchung If Beale Street Could Talk Midsommar Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Us Diseño de Créditos Can You Ever Forgive Me? Familia Sumergida The Favourite If Beale Street Could Talk Missing Link Sorry to Bother You Película Animada Abominable La Casa Lobo Frozen II How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World J'ai Perdu Mon Corps Toy Story 4 Off-Screen Performance Jay Baruchel | How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Josh Gad | Frozen II Tom Hanks | Toy Story 4 Christina Hendricks | Toy Story 4 Tenzing Norgay Trainor | Abominable Rosa Salazar | Alita: Battle Angel Non-Anglo Performance Sakura Andô | Manbiki Kazoku Antonio Banderas | Dolor y Gloria Penélope Cruz | Todos lo Saben Arash Marandi | Luciérnagas Song Kang-ho | Gisaengchung Yeun Sang-yeop | Beoning Performance Mexicano Sophie Alexander-Katz | Los Días Más Oscuros de Nosotras Gabriela Cartol | La Camarista Benny Emmanuel | Chicuarotes Edwarda Gurrola | Luciérnagas Hoze Meléndez | Noches de Julio Ilse Salas | Las Niñas Bien Featured Actor Joe Alwyn | Boy Erased Elena Fokina | Suspiria Dave Franco | If Beale Street Could Talk Théodore Pellerin | Boy Erased José Manuel Poncelis | Polvo Evan Rachel Wood | Frozen II Stunts Aladdin Avengers: Endgame Crawl Hobbs & Shaw John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Terminator: Dark Fate Breakthrough Actriz Julia Butters | Once Upon A Time …In Hollywood Gabriela Cartol | La Camarista Madison Curry | Us Elsie Fisher | Eighth Grade Jeon Jong-Seo | Beoning KiKi Layne | If Beale Street Could Talk Lashana Lynch | Captain Marvel Shahadi Wright Joseph | Us Breakthrough Actor Evan Alex | Us Gabriel Bateman | Child’s Play Gabriel Carbajal | Chicuarotes Stephan James | If Beale Street Could Talk Naoki Kobayashi | Earthquake Bird Mena Massoud | Aladdin Florian Munteanu | Creed II César Vicente | Dolor y Gloria Keith L. Williams | Good Boys Rising Filmmaker Lila Avilés | La Camarista Steven Caple Jr. | Creed II Nia DaCosta | Little Woods Gael García Bernal | Chicuarotes Kogonada | Columbus Astrid Rondero | Los Días Más Oscuros de Nosotras Olivia Wilde | Booksmart José María Yázpik | Polvo Ensamble Avengers: Endgame | Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Karen Gillan, Don Cheadle, Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, Danai Gurira, Bradley Cooper, Tilda Swinton, John Slattery, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lexi Rabe, Zoe Saldana, Rene Russo, y Josh Brolin. Gisaengchung | Kang-ho Song, Yeo-jeong Jo, Sun-kyun Lee, Woo-sik Choi, So-dam Park, Hye-jin Jang, Jeong-eun Lee, Ji-so Jung, Hyun-jun Jung, y Myeong-hoon Park. Hustlers | Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Mercedes Ruehl, Wai Ching Ho, Madeline Brewer, Trace Lysette, Mette Towley, Lizzo, y Cardi B. If Beale Street Could Talk | KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Brian Tyree Henry, Aunjanue Ellis, Michael Beach, Finn Wittrock, Ed Skrein, Emily Rios, Dave Franco, y Diego Luna. Suspiria | Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Elena Fokina, Sylvie Testud, Renée Soutendijk, Christine Leboutte, Malgosia Bela, Fabrizia Sacchi, Chloë Grace Moretz, y Jessica Harper. Us | Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Madison Curry, Anna Diop, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tim Heidecker, y Elisabeth Moss. Escena Avengers! Assemble | Avengers: Endgame El Primer Deseo | Dolor y Gloria Zappaguri | Gisaengchung Crocodile Rock | Rocketman Mysterio’s Illusion | Spider-Man: Far From Home Vision Quest | Us Blockbuster Avengers: Endgame Creed II Hustlers Knives Out Spider-Man: Far From Home Us Non-Theatrical Release Atlantique Bad Times at the El Royale Columbus Earthquake Bird Little Woods Triple Frontier The Wedding Guest Documental Apollo 11 Free Solo Homecoming Soleils Noirs Tell Me Who I Am Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Película Mexicana La Camarista Chicuarotes Los Días Más Oscuros de Nosotras Luciérnagas Las Niñas Bien Polvo Película Iberoamericana Bacurau La Casa Lobo Dolor y Gloria Las Herederas Joaquim Todos lo Saben Circuito Independiente Di Qiu Zui Hou De Ye Wan Etz Teena The Irishman Luciérnagas Manbiki Kazoku The Two Popes

[seabasschinstanfan]

My Top 50 Favorite Movies

BMe1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet

2. Comet - Justin Long, Emmy Rossum

3. Blindspotting - Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal

4. Wonder - Owen Wilson, Julia Roberts, Jacob Tremblay

5. Into the Wild - Emile Hirsch

6. Call Me By Your Name - Timothee’ Chalamet, Armie Hammer

7. Captain Fantastic - Viggo Mortensen

8. Donnie Darko - Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal

9. Pride and Prejudice - Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen

10. Say Anything... - John Cusack

11. The Nightmare Before Christmas - Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon

12. I, Tonya - Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney

13. Eddie the Eagle - Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman

14. The Bronze - Melissa Rauch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson

15. La La Land - Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling

16. The Diary of a Teenage Girl - Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard

17. Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver

18. Lady Chatterley’s Lover - Holliday Grainger, Richard Madden

19. Ex Machina - Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson

20. Gifted - Chris Evans, Jenny Slate, Mckenna Grace

21. Me Before You - Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin

22. The Ottoman Lieutenant - Hera Hilmar, Michiel Huisman

23. Odd Thomas - Anton Yelchin, Willem Dafoe, Addison Timlin

24. This is Where I Leave You - Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver

25. Only Lovers Left Alive - Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton

26. The Road to El Dorado - Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh

27. Love, Simon - Nick Robinson

28. Logan Lucky - Adam Driver, Daniel Craig

29. The Truman Show - Jim Carrey

30. Bohemian Rhapsody - Rami Malek

31. Deadpool 2 - Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin

32. The Notebook - Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams

33. What’s Your Number? - Anna Faris, Chris Evans

34. Adult World - Emma Roberts, John Cusack, Evan Peters

35. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen

36. Love Actually - Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln

37. Coco - Gael Garcia Bernal, Anthony Gonzalez

38. The Book of Life - Diego Luna, Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana

39. Beautiful Boy - Timothee’ Chalamet, Steve Carell

40. Atonement - Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan

41. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Felicity Jones, Diego Luna

42. The Great Gatsby - Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan

43. The Phantom of the Opera - Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, Patrick Wilson

44. Star Wars: A New Hope - Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford

45. The Theory of Everything - Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones

46. Better Off Dead - John Cusack, Curtis Armstrong

47. Eighth Grade - Elsie Fisher

48. Get Out - Daniel Kaluuya

49. Green Room - Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart

50. Venom - Tom Hardy

[jmsa1287]

Best Films of 2018

This list may seem a few months late but I consider the movie season to stretch from January through February of the following year — or until after the Academy Awards ceremony is held. This usually overlaps with the slate of new films debuting at Sundance and other early festivals but that's just the way Hollywood works; awards season is truly never over.

Though movie studios are still focusing on superhero blockbusters and films based on existing intellectual property, 2018 offered a number of original gems among some bona fide hits. Films like the atmospheric sci-fi thriller "Annihilation" and Maggie Gyllenhaal's tour de force of a performance in "The Kindergarten Teacher" just missed my top 10 of 2018. While most of the movies in my list didn't make much of a splash at the box office, they each have a distinct point of view, tone and push the boundaries of what moviemaking can be. From a film shot entirely on an iPhone to a touching story about queer friendship, 2018 was a diverse and solid year for film.

Below are my top 20 favorite movies of 2018.

20. “Burning,” Lee Chang-dong

19. “Happy as Lazzaro,” Alice Rohrwacher

18. “The House that Jack Built,” Lars von Trier

17. “Juliet, Naked,” Jesse Peretz

16. “BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee

15. “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda

14. “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins 

13. “First Man,” Damien Chazelle 

12. “The Kindergarten Teacher,” Sara Colangelo

11. “Annihilation,” Alex Garland

10. “Unsane,” Steven Soderbergh

"Unsane" is Steven Soderbergh's first iPhone movie. He followed this psychological thriller with "High Flying Bird" on Netflix earlier this month, a snappy basketball movie about the behind the scenes action starring Andre Holland ("Moonlight, "The Knick"). For "Unsane," Soderbergh sets his iPhone 7 Plus on "The Crown" star Claire Foy, who plays Sawyer, a troubled woman who is involuntarily institutionalized. Soderbergh makes the best use of the iPhone, making "Unsane" feel claustrophobic and disorienting to match Sawyer's state of mind. Foy gives a great performance of a woman on the edge, making this little-seen flick so much better than it ought to be.

09. “Vox Lux," Brady Corbet

"Vox Lux" is not a good movie. It's a fascinatingly bizarre one, though. It's the kind of strange concoction that has stuck with me since seeing it a few months ago. It's a twisted version of "A Star is Born" when a young singer Celest (played by Raffey Casssidy as a teen and Natalie Portman as an adult) survives a school shooting and is transformed into a mega pop star a la Lady Gaga. Every choice here is so strange — from a Willem Deafoe narration to having Cassidy play Celest's daughter. And then there's Portman's mind-boggling performance (The New York Times' film critic Manohla Dargis put it best, writing that Portman has an "accent that sounds like it's been lifted from a New York cabby in an old Hollywood comedy." The last musical number is terrible and the pop songs that we're to believe propelled Celest into stardom are quite bad (they were written by Sia but sound like tracks she never planned to release). Director Brady Corbet (an actor best known for his role in "Mysterious Skin" and his directorial debut "The Childhood of a Leader") makes a huge swing with "Vox Lux" and attempts to say something grand about our culture, pop music and tragedy but it's ultimately a can't-look-away-misfire. The kind of disaster I'll happily re-watch again and again.

08. "Suspiria," by Luca Guadagnino

Like "Vox Lux," Luca Guadagnino's take on the cult classic "Suspiria" aims high. But unlike Bradly Corbet's film, Guadagnino's remix of Dario Argento iconic 1977 giallo horror film is successful. With a running time of 153 minutes, the 2018 "Suspiria" is only spiritually connected to the original, expanding on Argento's "Three Mothers" trilogy. Guadagnino smartly ignores the original's Technicolor gore and its iconic soundtrack from Goblin, making his version of the movie dull grey and enlists Radiohead front man Thom Yorke for its spooky music. "Suspiria" also also features Dakota Johnson's best performance ever and another stellar turn from Tilda Swinton. Guadagnino channels Rainer Werner Fassbinder, adding texture to why "Suspiria" is set in 70s Germany and making great use of the political climate at the time and a coven of witches.

07. "Lean on Pete," Andrew Haigh

Out filmmaker Andrew Haigh's follow up to "45 Years" is a quiet road trip movie about a boy and his horse. Charlie Plummer gives one of the best performances of the year as Charley — a dirt poor teen who finds solace in taking care of an aging racehorse named Lean on Pete. The film shifts major gears after Charley is hit with tragedy in the first third of the film, sparking him to run away with his new animal friend in search of his aunt across the country. "Lean on Pete" isn't as sentimental as one may assume; it's a dark film that rests on Plummer's shoulders, proving he's one of the strongest young actors of his generation.

06. "Eighth Grade," Bo Burnham

Comedian and YouTube star Bo Burnham's directorial debut "Eighth Grade" is a horror movie. Starring the sensational Elsie Fisher as middle school student Kayla, "Eighth Grade" puts the experience of a young teen under a magnifying class, amplifying every awkward moment and pump those tense scenes with the kind of intense energy one would feel while watching slasher flick. But "Eighth Grade" is ultimately beautiful movie that tracks 13-year-old Kayla as she navigates her last year before entering high school. Burnham captures the essence of being a middle schooler and not for once plays Kayla's experience for cheap laughs. The things she's interested in — especially vlogging — are treated with respect and dignity, making "Eighth Grade" a lovely and felt experience.

05. "A Star is Born," Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper's remake of a "A Star is Born" was one of the most exciting cultural moments of 2018. From the memes to the actual film — when the moment hits that Cooper is actually pulling it off — this tragic Hollywood story, starring a marvelous Lady Gaga, was one of the best movies to think and talk about. It also happens to be very good.

04. "Roma," Alfonso Cuarón

For how technically impressive "Roma" is (that cinematography! The sound!) Alfonso Cuarón's memory piece packs an emotional punch. Cuarón focuses on Cleo (breakout star Yalitza Aparicio), a nanny for a family in 70s Mexico City. Based on Cuarón's real life nanny from that time, the filmmaker puts Cleo's experience and story on a huge scale. Her small story is treated like a war epic. "Roma" is why movies exist, an achievement in storytelling and cinematic scope.

03. "The Favourite," Yorgos Lanthimos

Yorgos Lanthimos pulls of a feat with "The Favourite" a wickedly funny movie about power, women and sex. Its three stars Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz give incredible performances each on a different wavelength. Lanthimos's touch makes "The Favourite" slightly off kilter, thanks to fisheye lenses, modern music and dance. There hasn't been such a twisted period piece since Sofia Coppola's 2006 masterpiece "Marie Antoinette."

02. "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" Marielle Heller

"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" probably has one of the worst trailers of 2018. It suggests is a run-of-the-mill Oscar bait movie with comedic genius Melissa McCarthy making a blatant attempt to Get Serious. But Marielle Heller's film is anything but that, considering it earned just three Academy Award nominations (McCarthy for Best Actress, Richard E. Grant for Best Supporting Actor and Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty for Best Adapted Screenplay) and isn't expected to take home any. Nevertheless, the story about biographer-turned-scammer Lee Israel turns out to be a touching story about queer friendship. It's a specific New York City 90s story that's heartfelt and beautiful. Indeed, McCarthy as Israel is wonderful as is Grant, who plays gay British smooth talker Jack Hock. "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" is the kind of movie that is currently overlooked but will go on to become a cult favorite.

01. "Hereditary," Ari Aster

"Hereditary" is hands down the scariest movie of 2018. It's hardly a horror movie, although it's classified as such since supernatural moments occur. But it's the most stressful, intense and twisted family drama in some time. At the center of this film is Toni Collette's masterful performance as Annie Graham, a mother dealing with the loss of her own mother and how that sets off a chain of events that uproots her reality. The rabbit hole she goes down is — well there's really no other way to put this — extremely fucked up. She's put through the ringer and Collette is fully committed here as "Heredity" explores what it's like to be a mother, deals with loss, grief, tragedy and familial bounds that we've been taught to be unbreakable. "Heredity" asks what if those bonds somehow did snap? The answer is that all hell breaks loose.

[malte1mj-blog]

2018 Matt Movie Awards

Best Picture: Can You Ever Forgive Me? The Favourite If Beale Street Could Talk A Star Is Born Widows HONORABLE MENTION: Eighth Grade, Leave No Trace, Sorry to Bother You, BlacKkKlansman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Isle of Dogs, Minding the Gap, Hereditary, Burning, Black Panther, Boy Erased, Support the Girls, Roma, Shoplifters, Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Best Director: Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite Steve McQueen, Widows HONORABLE MENTION: Wes Anderson, Isle of Dogs; Ari Aster, Hereditary; Andrew Bujalski, Support the Girls; Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade; Lee Chang-dong, Burning; Ryan Coogler, Black Panther; Alfonso Cuaron, Roma; Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased; Debra Granik, Leave No Trace; Hirokazu Kore-eda, Shoplifters; Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman; Bing Liu, Minding the Gap; Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Fallout; Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Ben Foster, Leave No Trace Ethan Hawke, First Reformed Lakeith Stanfield, Sorry to Bother You John David Washington, BlacKkKlansman HONORABLE MENTION: Yoo Ah-in, Burning; Christian Bale, Vice; Simon Russell Beale, The Death of Stalin; Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther; Steve Buscemi, The Death of Stalin; Timothee Chalamet, Beautiful Boy; Timothee Chalamet, Hot Summer Nights; Steve Coogan, Stan & Ollie; Bryan Cranston, Isle of Dogs; Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate; Benicio Del Toro, Sicario: Day of the Soldado; Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting; Lily Franky, Shoplifters; Paul Giamatti, Private Life; Ryan Gosling, First Man; Lucas Hedges, Ben Is Back; Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased; Stephan James, If Beale Street Could Talk; Michael B. Jordan, Creed II; Barry Keoghan, American Animals; John Krasinski, A Quiet Place; Shameik Moore, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Evan Peters, American Animals; Joaquin Phoenix, Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot; Joaquin Phoenix, The Sisters Brothers; Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here; Charlie Plummer, Lean on Pete; Robert Redford, The Old Man & the Gun; John C. Reilly, The Sisters Brothers; John C. Reilly, Stan & Ollie; Nick Robinson, Love Simon

Best Actress: Toni Collette, Hereditary Olivia Colman, The Favourite Viola Davis, Widows Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me? HONORABLE MENTION: Sakura Ando, Shoplifters; Yalitza Aparicio, Roma; Juliette Binoche, Let the Sunshine In; Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns; Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place; Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade; Claire Foy, Unsane; Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Kindergarten Teacher; Kathryn Hahn, Private Life; Regina Hall, Support the Girls; Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline; Holly Hunter, Incredibles 2; Lily James, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again; Dakota Johnson, Suspiria; Nicole Kidman, Destroyer; Diane Kruger, In the Fade; Joanna Kulig, Cold War; KiKi Layne, If Beale Street Could Talk; Rachel McAdams, Disobedience; Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Leave No Trace; Carey Mulligan, Wildlife; Rosamund Pike, A Private War; Natalie Portman, Vox Lux; Julia Roberts, Ben Is Back; Saoirse Ronan, Mary Queen of Scots; Alia Shawkat, Blaze; Sarah Silverman, Ralph Breaks the Internet; Amandla Stenberg, The Hate U Give; Emma Stone, The Favourite; Charlize Theron, Tully; Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman; Rachel Weisz, Disobedience; Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians

Best Supporting Actor: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther Daniel Kaluuya, Widows Alex Wolff, Hereditary Steven Yeun, Burning HONORABLE MENTION: Riz Ahmed, The Sisters Brothers; Mahershala Ali, Green Book; Jeff Bridges, Bad Times at the El Royale; Steve Buscemi, Lean on Pete; Rafael Casal, Blindspotting; Raul Castillo, We the Animals; Andrew Dice Clay, A Star Is Born; Russell Crowe, Boy Erased; Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased; Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born; Colin Farrell, Widows; Jake Gyllenhaal, The Sisters Brothers; Jake Gyllenhaal, Wildlife; Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade; Jonah Hill, Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot; Russell Hornsby, The Hate U Give; Nicholas Hoult, The Favourite; Oscar Isaac, At Eternity’s Gate; Jake Johnson, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Jude Law, Vox Lux; Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Poppins Returns; Liam Neeson, Widows; Tim Blake Nelson, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Alessandro Nivola, Disobedience; Michael Palin, The Death of Stalin; Jesse Plemons, Game Night; Tom Waits, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Anton Yelchin, Thoroughbreds

Best Supporting Actress: Elizabeth Debicki, Widows Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk Haley Lu Richardson, Support the Girls Tilda Swinton, Suspiria Rachel Weisz, The Favourite HONORABLE MENTION: Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians; Kayli Carter, Private Life; Mackenzie Davis, Tully; Marina de Tavira, Roma; Cynthia Erivo, Bad Times at the El Royale; Cynthia Erivo, Widows; Claire Foy, First Man; Danai Gurira, Black Panther; Anne Hathaway, Ocean’s 8; Jeon Jong-seo, Burning; Zoe Kazan, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Catherine Keener, Incredibles 2; Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased; Kiki Kirin, Shoplifters; Blake Lively, A Simple Favor; Elisabeth Moss, The Seagull; Andrea Riseborough, The Death of Stalin; Margot Robbie, Mary Queen of Scots; Milly Shapiro, Hereditary; Millicent Simmonds, A Quiet Place; J. Smith-Cameron, Nancy; Sissy Spacek, The Old Man & the Gun; Tessa Thompson, Creed II; Tessa Thompson, Sorry to Bother You; Maura Tierney, Beautiful Boy; Dolly Wells, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Letitia Wright, Black Panther; Michelle Yeoh, Crazy Rich Asians

Best Original Screenplay: Eighth Grade - Bo Burnham The Favourite - Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara Hereditary - Ari Aster Isle of Dogs - Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Kunichi Nomura & Jason Schwartzman Sorry to Bother You - Boots Riley HONORABLE MENTION: American Animals, Bad Times at the El Royale, Blindspotting, Destroyer, A Fantastic Woman, First Reformed, Game Night, In the Fade, Private Life, A Quiet Place, Roma, Shoplifters, Support the Girls, Thoroughbreds, Tully

Best Adapted Screenplay: Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty If Beale Street Could Talk - Barry Jenkins Leave No Trace - Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini A Star Is Born - Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters & Eric Roth Widows - Gillian Flynn & Steve McQueen HONORABLE MENTION: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Boy Erased, Burning, Crazy Rich Asians, Creed II, The Death of Stalin, Disobedience, Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot, First Man, The Hate U Give, Incredibles 2, The Kindergarten Teacher, Lean on Pete, Love Simon, Mary Queen of Scots, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Suspiria, We the Animals, Wildlife, You Were Never Really Here

Best Ensemble: Black Panther Crazy Rich Asians If Beale Street Could Talk Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Widows HONORABLE MENTION: American Animals, Avengers: Infinity War, Bad Times at the El Royale, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, BlacKkKlansman, Blockers, Boy Erased, Can You Ever Forgive Me?. Creed II, Deadpool 2, The Death of Stalin, Eighth Grade, The Favourite, First Man, The Front Runner, Game Night, The Hate U Give, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Lean on Pete, Love Simon, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Ocean’s 8, Paddington 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Roma, The Seagull, Shoplifters, Sorry to Bother You, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, A Star Is Born, Support the Girls, Suspiria, Vice

Best Limited Performance - Male: Harry Belafonte, BlacKkKlansman Philip Ettinger, First Reformed Corey Hawkins, BlacKkKlansman Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk Jake Ryan, Eighth Grade HONORABLE MENTION: Christopher Abbott, Vox Lux; F. Murray Abraham, Isle of Dogs; Joe Alwyn, Boy Erased; Niels Arestrup, At Eternity’s Gate; Alec Baldwin, BlacKkKlansman; Sterling K. Brown, Black Panther; Reg E. Cathey, Tyrel; Vladimir Consigny, At Eternity’s Gate; Terry Crews, Sorry to Bother You; Gerard Depardieu, Let the Sunshine In; Xavier Dolan, Boy Erased; Dave Franco, If Beale Street Could Talk; Mark Gatiss, The Favourite; Jon Michael Hill, Widows; Gene Jones, The Old Man & the Gun; Diego Luna, If Beale Street Could Talk; Mads Mikkelsen, At Eternity’s Gate; Alfred Molina, The Front Runner; Nick Offerman, Bad Times at the El Royale; D.J. ‘Shangela’ Pierce, A Star Is Born; Stephen Root, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Algee Smith, The Hate U Give; Dick Van Dyke, Mary Poppins Returns; Shea Whigham, First Man; Bradley Whitford, Destroyer; Jeffrey Wright, Game Night; David Zaldivar, Ben Is Back

Best Limited Performance - Female: Jane Curtin, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Aunjanue Ellis, If Beale Street Could Talk Lisa Gay Hamilton, Beautiful Boy Teyonah Parris, If Beale Street Could Talk Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again HONORABLE MENTION: Carrie Coon, Widows; Lea DeLaria, Support the Girls; Beth Ditto, Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot; Lisa Gay Hamilton, Vice; Celia Imrie, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again; Amy Irving, Unsane; Cherry Jones, Boy Erased; Agata Kulesza, Cold War; Angela Lansbury, Mary Poppins Returns; Chloe Grace Moretz, Suspiria; Mary-Louise Parker, Red Sparrow; Chelsea Peretti, Game Night; Emily Rios, If Beale Street Could Talk; Emmanuelle Seigner, At Eternity’s Gate; Meryl Streep, Mary Poppins Returns; Tilda Swinton, Isle of Dogs; Jacki Weaver, Widows

Breakthrough Performance: Rafael Casal, Blindspotting Cynthia Erivo, Bad Times at the El Royale Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade KiKi Layne, If Beale Street Could Talk Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Leave No Trace HONORABLE MENTION: Chante Adams, Roxanne Roxanne; Yalitza Aparicio, Roma; Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians; Alexandra Borbely, On Body and Soul; Kayli Carter, Private Life; Noah Centineo, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before; Lana Condor, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before; Ben Dickey, Blaze; Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians; Laura Harrier, BlacKkKlansman; Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline; Brady Jandreau, The Rider; Jeon Jong-seo, Burning; Tomasz Kot, Cold War; Joanna Kulig, Cold War; May Matsuoka, Shoplifters; Milly Shapiro, Hereditary; Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman; Letitia Wright, Black Panther; Jessica Keenan Wynn, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Best Film Editing: American Animals - Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart The Favourite - Yorgos Mavropsaridis Mission: Impossible - Fallout - Eddie Hamilton A Star Is Born - Jay Cassidy Widows - Joe Walker HONORABLE MENTION: Avengers: Infinity War, Bad Times at the El Royale, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Blindspotting, Boy Erased, Burning, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Creed II, Destroyer, Eighth Grade, A Fantastic Woman, First Man, First Reformed, Game Night, Hereditary, If Beale Street Could Talk, Isle of Dogs, Lean on Pete, Leave No Trace, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Minding the Gap, Private Life, A Quiet Place, Roma, Shirkers, Shoplifters, Sorry to Bother You, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Support the Girls, Three Identical Strangers, You Were Never Really Here

Best Cinematography: The Favourite - Robbie Ryan If Beale Street Could Talk - James Laxton Roma - Alfonso Cuaron A Star Is Born - Matthew Libatique Suspiria - Sayombhu Mukdeeprom HONORABLE MENTION: At Eternity’s Gate, Bad Times at the El Royale, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Burning, Cold War, Eighth Grade, First Man, First Reformed, Hereditary, Lean on Pete, Leave No Trace, Mary Queen of Scots, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, A Private War, A Quiet Place, The Rider, The Sisters Brothers, Widows, You Were Never Really Here

Best Original Score: BlacKkKlansman - Terence Blanchard If Beale Street Could Talk - Nicholas Britell Isle of Dogs - Alexandre Desplat Suspiria - Thom Yorke Widows - Hans Zimmer HONORABLE MENTION: Annihilation, At Eternity’s Gate, Avengers: Infinity War, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Bird Box, Black Panther, Destroyer, Eighth Grade, First Man, The Hate U Give, Incredibles 2, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots, Mid90s, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, The Old Man & the Gun, Paddington 2, A Quiet Place, Ready Player One, The Sisters Brothers, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Stan & Ollie, We the Animals, You Were Never Really Here

Best Original Song: Boy Erased - “Revelation” - Jon Thor Birgisson & Troye Sivan Mary Poppins Returns - “A Cover Is Not the Book” - Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman A Star Is Born - “Always Remember Us This Way” - Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Lori McKenna A Star Is Born - “I’ll Never Love Again” - Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Aaron Raitiere A Star Is Born - “Shallow” - Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt HONORABLE MENTION: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings”; Black Panther - “All the Stars”; Black Panther - “Pray for Me”; Blaze - “Blaze & Sybil’s Lullaby”; Blindspotting - “Not a Game”; Creed II - “Runnin’”; Deadpool 2 - “Ashes”; Dumplin’ - “Girl in the Movies”; Fifty Shades Freed - “Deer in Headlights”; The Hate U Give - “We Won’t Move”; Hearts Beat Loud - “Hearts Beat Loud”; Hearts Beat Loud - “Shut Your Eyes”; Love, Simon - “Alfie’s Song (Not So Typical Love Song)”; Love, Simon - “Love Lies”; Mary Poppins Returns - “The Place Where Lost Things Go”; Mary Poppins Returns - “Trip a Little Light Fantastic”; Outside In - “By Any Means”; Ralph Breaks the Internet - “A Place Called Slaughter Race”; Sorry to Bother You - “OYAHYTT”; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - “Sunflower”; A Star Is Born - “Hair Body Face”; A Star Is Born - “I Don’t Know What Love Is”; A Star Is Born - “Is That Alright?”; A Star Is Born - “Look What I Found”; A Star Is Born - “Maybe It’s Time”; A Star Is Born - “Why Did You Do That?”; Suspiria - “Suspirium”; Teen Titans Go! to the Movies - “Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life”; Vox Lux - “Hologram (Smoke and Mirrors)”; Vox Lux - “Wrapped Up”; A Wrinkle in Time - “Flower of the Universe”

Best Art Direction: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Jess Gonchor & Nancy Haigh Black Panther - Hannah Beachler & Jay Hart Crazy Rich Asians - Andrew Baseman & Nelson Coates The Favourite - Fiona Crombie & Alice Felton First Man - Nathan Crowley & Kathy Lucas HONORABLE MENTION: Avengers: Infinity War, Bad Times at the El Royale, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Cold War, Deadpool 2, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Hereditary, If Beale Street Could Talk, Isle of Dogs, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Paddington 2, A Quiet Place, Ready Player One, Red Sparrow, Roma, The Sisters Brothers, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Stan & Ollie, A Star Is Born, Suspiria, Widows, Wildlife

Best Costume Design: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Mary Zophres Black Panther - Ruth E. Carter The Favourite - Sandy Powell If Beale Street Could Talk - Caroline Eselin Mary Queen of Scots - Alexandra Byrne HONORABLE MENTION: Avengers: Infinity War, Bad Times at the El Royale, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Cold War, Crazy Rich Asians, Deadpool 2, Dumplin’, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, First Man, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Mary Poppins Returns, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Paddington 2, A Quiet Place, Ready Player One, Red Sparrow, The Seagull, A Simple Favor, The Sisters Brothers, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Stan & Ollie, A Star Is Born, Suspiria, Widows, Wildlife

Best Makeup: Avengers: Infinity War Black Panther The Favourite Mary Queen of Scots Suspiria HONORABLE MENTION: Aquaman, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Creed II, Deadpool 2, Destroyer, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, How to Talk to Girls at Parties, If Beale Street Could Talk, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Mary Poppins Returns, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, A Private War, Stan & Ollie, A Star Is Born, Vice, Vox Lux, A Wrinkle in Time

Best Sound Mixing: Black Panther First Man Mission: Impossible - Fallout A Quiet Place A Star Is Born HONORABLE MENTION: Avengers: Infinity War, Bad Times at the El Royale, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Bird Box, Cold War, Creed II, Deadpool 2, The Favourite, Game Night, Hereditary, If Beale Street Could Talk, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Mary Poppins Returns, The Old Man & the Gun, Paddington 2, A Private War, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ready Player One, Roma, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, The Sisters Brothers, Sorry to Bother You, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Suspiria, Vox Lux, Widows, You Were Never Really Here

Best Sound Editing: Black Panther First Man Mission: Impossible - Fallout A Quiet Place Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse HONORABLE MENTION: Annihilation, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Creed II, Deadpool 2, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Paddington 2, A Private War, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ready Player One, Roma, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, The Sisters Brothers, Suspiria, Widows, You Were Never Really Here

Best Visual Effects: Avengers: Infinity War Black Panther Mission: Impossible - Fallout Paddington 2 Ready Player One HONORABLE MENTION: Annihilation, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Aquaman, Deadpool 2, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, First Man, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mary Poppins Returns, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Venom

Best Foreign Film: Burning - Lee Chang-dong A Fantastic Woman - Sebastian Lelio In the Fade - Faith Akin Roma - Alfonso Cuaron Shoplifters - Kore-eda Hirokazu HONORABLE MENTION: Cold War, Let the Sunshine In, On Body and Soul

Best Documentary: Love, Gilda - Lisa D’Apolito Minding the Gap - Bing Liu Shirkers - Sandi Tan Three Identical Strangers - Tim Wardle Whitney - Kevin Macdonald HONORABLE MENTION: Free Solo, Generation Wealth, Hale County This Morning This Evening, The King, RBG, Science Fair, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Best Animated Film: Incredibles 2 - Brad Bird Isle of Dogs - Wes Anderson Ralph Breaks the Internet - Phil Johnston & Rich Moore Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Bob Perischetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman Teen Titans Go! to the Movies - Aaron Horvath & Pete Rita Michail HONORABLE MENTION: Early Man Every 2018 Film I've Seen: Ranked

[popradar]

2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominees and Winners

The quiet before the storm in the Spirit Awards pressroom.

Pop Radar LA is stationed at the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., today for the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards, honoring some of the best films of the year. It’s being hosted by actress-comedian Aubrey Plaza. 

We’ve posted the entire list of nominees and will be updating the list when the winners are announced.

BEST FEATURE

Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.

Eighth Grade Producers: Eli Bush, Scott Rudin, Christopher Storer, Lila Yacoub

First Reformed Producers: Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Gary Hamilton, Victoria Hill, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, Deepak Sikka, Christine Vachon

If Beale Street Could Talk — WINNER Producers: Dede Gardner, Barry Jenkins, Jeremy Kleiner, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski

Leave No Trace Producers: Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Anne Rosellini

You Were Never Really Here Producers: Rosa Attab, Pascal Caucheteux, Rebecca O’Brien, Lynne Ramsay, James Wilson

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Award given to the director and producer

Hereditary Director: Ari Aster Producers: Kevin Frakes, Lars Knudsen, Buddy Patrick

Sorry to Bother You — WINNER Director: Boots Riley Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jonathan Duffy, Charles D. King, George Rush, Forest Whitaker, Kelly Williams

The Tale Director/Producer: Jennifer Fox Producers: Oren Moverman, Laura Rister, Mynette Louie, Simone Pero, Lawrence Inglee, Sol Bondy, Regina K. Scully, Lynda Weinman, Reka Posta

We the Animals Director: Jeremiah Zagar Producers: Andrew Goldman, Christina D. King, Paul Mezey, Jeremy Yaches

Wildlife Director/Producer: Paul Dano Producers: Andrew Duncan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, Oren Moverman, Ann Ruark, Alex Saks

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

A Bread Factory Writer/Director/Producer: Patrick Wang Producers: Daryl Freimark, Matt Miller

En el Séptimo Día — WINNER Writer/Director/Producer: Jim McKay Producers: Alex Bach, Lindsey Cordero, Caroline Kaplan, Michael Stipe

Never Goin’ Back Writer/Director: Augustine Frizzell Producers: Liz Cardenas, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston

Sócrates Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Moratto Writer: Thayná Mantesso Producers: Ramin Bahrani, Jefferson Paulino, Tammy Weiss

Thunder Road Writer/Director: Jim Cummings Producers: Natalie Metzger, Zack Parker, Benjamin Weissner

BEST DIRECTOR

Debra Granik Leave No Trace

Barry Jenkins — WINNER If Beale Street Could Talk

Tamara Jenkins Private Life

Lynne Ramsay You Were Never Really Here

Paul Schrader First Reformed

BEST SCREENPLAY

Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland Colette

Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty — WINNER Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Tamara Jenkins Private Life

Boots Riley Sorry to Bother You

Paul Schrader First Reformed

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Bo Burnham - WINNER Eighth Grade

Christina Choe Nancy

Cory Finley Thoroughbreds

Jennifer Fox The Tale

Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By), Laurie Shephard (Story By) Blame

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ashley Connor Madeline’s Madeline

Diego Garcia Wildlife

Benjamin Loeb Mandy

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom — WINNER Suspiria

Zak Mulligan We the Animals

BEST EDITING

Joe Bini — WINNER You Were Never Really Here

Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, Jeremiah Zagar We the Animals

Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, Julian Hart American Animals

Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, Gary Levy The Tale

Nick Houy Mid90s

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Glenn Close — WINNER The Wife

Toni Collette Hereditary

Elsie Fisher Eighth Grade

Regina Hall Support the Girls

Helena Howard Madeline’s Madeline

Carey Mulligan Wildlife

BEST MALE LEAD

John Cho Searching

Daveed Diggs Blindspotting

Ethan Hawke — WINNER First Reformed

Christian Malheiros Sócrates

Joaquin Phoenix You Were Never Really Here

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Kayli Carter Private Life

Tyne Daly A Bread Factory

Regina King — WINNER If Beale Street Could Talk

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie Leave No Trace

J. Smith-Cameron Nancy

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Raúl Castillo We the Animals

Adam Driver BLACKkKLANSMAN

Richard E. Grant — WINNER Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Josh Hamilton Eighth Grade

John David Washington Monsters and Men

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast

Suspiria Director: Luca Guadagnino Casting Directors: Avy Kaufman, Stella Savino Ensemble Cast: Malgosia Bela, Ingrid Caven, Lutz Ebersdorf, Elena Fouina, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, Dakota Johnson, Gala Moody, Chloë Grace Moretz, Fabrizia Sacchi, Renée Soutendijk, Tilda Swinton, Sylvie Testud, Angela Winkler

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Award given to the director and producer

Hale County This Morning, This Evening Director/Producer: RaMell Ross Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim

Minding the Gap  Director/Producer: Bing Liu Producer: Diane Quon

Of Fathers and Sons Director: Talal Derki Producers: Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert

On Her Shoulders Director: Alexandria Bombach Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams

Shirkers Director/Producer: Sandi Tan Producers: Jessica Levin, Maya E. Rudolph

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? — WINNER Director/Producer: Morgan Neville Producers: Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Award given to the director

Burning South Korea Director: Lee Chang-Dong

The Favourite United Kingdom Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Happy as Lazzaro Italy Director: Alice Rohrwacher

Roma — WINNER Mexico Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Shoplifters Japan Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu

BONNIE AWARD

Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the second Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines.

Debra Granik — WINNER

Tamara Jenkins

Karyn Kusama

PRODUCERS AWARD

The 22nd annual Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams

Gabrielle Nadig

Shrihari Sathe — WINNER

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

The 25th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Alex Moratto — WINNER Director of Sócrates

Ioana Uricaru Director of Lemonade

Jeremiah Zagar Director of We the Animals

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

The 24th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Alexandria Bombach Director of On Her Shoulders

Bing Liu — WINNER Director of Minding the Gap

RaMell Ross Director of Hale County This Morning, This Evening

[mrmichaelchadler]

The Best Performances of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival

You know how much you loved Elsie Fisher in “Eighth Grade,” Lakeith Stanfield in “Sorry to Bother You,” Toni Collette in “Hereditary,” and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie in “Leave No Trace”? All of those performances and even more great 2018 acting turns premiered at Sundance in January of 2018. So who gave the performances of Sundance 2019 that you’ll be talking about all year long? These are 12 you’ll want to keep on your cinematic radar.

Awkwafina in “The Farewell”

On the heels of her breakout role in “Crazy Rich Asians,” Awkwafina shows off a new dramatic side in Lulu Wang’s deeply personal movie, “The Farewell.” Here, she plays Billi, the Chinese-American granddaughter of a woman who’s been given a fatal diagnosis but whose doctors and relatives won’t tell her. As the most westernized member of this family, Awkwafina channels the complicated tensions between the two cultures, the immigrant fear of never being able to go home again and of what it means to love someone so much that you’ll go along with the charade of pretending they’re not dying. It’s an emotional yet restrained performance from a comedienne who broke out by playing the most outrageous character in a large ensemble cast. (MC)

Adam Driver in “The Report”

The role of Daniel Jones in Scott Z. Burns’ story of the torture report that revealed the lengths the U.S. government went to under the guise of stopping terrorism could have been a thankless, blank slate of a part. So much of “The Report” is about what Jones discovers that the man himself could have been lost in the paperwork he created. But Driver never lets this happen. He maintains a confident, believable character, never stealing focus from what really matters but also not getting lost in the storytelling. It’s the kind of un-flashy performance that won’t get the credit it deserves for anchoring an entire movie. In other words, it’s what Adam Driver is increasingly good at doing. (BT)

Kelvin Harrison Jr. in “Luce”

The players in Julius Onah’s stylish drama “Luce” are pitched amid various dualities and uncertainties. The title character is no exception—Luce is a star student, a model son to his adoptive parents and a source of inspiration to his community. Then again, he might also have disturbing leanings elsewhere. For anyone who’s seen Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the unnerving “It Comes at Night” (also a film on trust, strengthened by the perspective of the audience), his spot on performance here as a teenager that carries both guilt and innocence with equal persuasiveness won’t come as a surprise. It’s a performance that’s chilling and disarming all at once, while Harrison Jr. swiftly holds his ground against veterans like Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Naomi Watts with both nuance and meticulous delivery. (TL)

Zora Howard in “Premature”

In Rashaad Ernesto Green’s romantic drama, “Premature,” Zora Howard plays Ayanna, a teenager who’s coming-of-age and still trying to figure out things in her life. During the summer, she falls for a music producer, Isaiah (Joshua Boone), in a swoon-worthy, whirlwind romance — the kind you think about years after it ends. But few things survive long when you’re seventeen, and Howard smoothly works her way through Ayanna’s deeply felt emotions. From recreating that warm glow in her cheeks during the couple’s honeymoon period to the stiff body language in reaction to their splitting relationship, so much of Ayanna’s story comes from Howard’s expressions and body language. Howard’s sensitive performance feels reminiscent of Kerry Washington’s role in “Our Song” and the independent spirit of Ariyan A. Johnson’s character in “Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.” It’s not a showy performance, but one that sticks with you because of its subtlety and familiarity. (MC)

Noah Jupe in “Honey Boy”

Alma Har’el’s gutsy “Honey Boy” seems like a wall-to-wall therapy session: for its writer Shia LaBeouf (who tells his own condemned life story) and for anyone who’s been raised in the hands of abusive parents. In it, the young actor Noah Jupe—among this year’s sharpest breakthroughs of Sundance—gets caught in the crossfire of it all with a rare opportunity. Playing the young, somewhat fictionalized Shia, he picks up the phone in one scene (it’s mom on the other end) and relays his parents’ fuming words back to each other with startling anger, precision and defeat, just like a grown-up. In another scene, he steps back down to being a child, and begs his father to become a better parent. Jupe steals this movie, displaying range and virtuoso well beyond his young years. (TL)

Riley Keough in “The Lodge”

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s horror film was one of the most divisive flicks at this year’s Sundance, but even the film’s detractors agreed that Riley Keough does great work in it. It’s an incredibly difficult part in that Grace needs to remain something of a question mark. Not only is she the potentially evil stepmother that our two child protagonists don’t want in their lives, but she may be crazy too. Playing a character with a questionable grip on sanity is an invitation for most performers to chew the scenery but Keough grounds Grace in a way that makes her far more interesting and the final act of the film far more terrifying. It’s just another great turn from an actress who isn’t afraid to choose challenging, unpopular roles, and seems to impress more every time she does. (BT)

Kiki Layne in “Native Son”

The fascinating Ashton Sanders got a great deal of press for his leading turn in the opening night film, but the performance that lingers in my mind more is that of Kiki Layne, who announced her future-star status in “If Beale Street Could Talk” and really cements that here in just a few scenes. Bess could have easily become a two-dimensional archetype, the put-upon girlfriend who exists more as a sounding board for the leading man than a real person. But Layne imbues every choice she makes with realism, adding to the poignancy of the final act. Much as she did with her underrated work in “Beale,” she never makes the wrong choice here. I can’t wait to see what she does next. (BT)

Jonathan Majors in “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”

Joe Talbot’s “The Last Man in San Francisco” mixes symphonic filmmaking with the quiet dreams of its characters, especially for its two leads, Jimmie (Jimmie Fails) and Montgomery (Jonathan Majors). Majors fashions an impeccable earnestness out of a sidekick who could have been lost to quirkiness, and paints a vivid image of a man who clings to his red notebooks and especially the ideas inside, while monologuing to himself on a pier, as if figuring out what means most. Though Fails is the fulcrum of the story, it receives some of its most beautiful moments from Majors’ performance, like when he earnestly yells at a mirror while attempting to try on the aggressiveness of other black men—it’s a funny and tragic note on the story’s sensitive portrayal of black masculinity. Majors’ masterstroke, however, might be a performance sequence in the third act that contains all of the film’s themes, like Linus’ monologue in “A Charlie Brown Christmas Special,” while displaying all of his energy and charisma. Majors’ performance is acting as storytelling in the best ways, and one of many flourishes in Talbot’s unforgettable film. (NA)

Alia Shawkat in “Animals”

Shawkat’s brought many a playful character to the screens large and small, but few roles have allowed her to play such a classy raconteur as she does in Sophie Hyde’s “Animals” Like a poem-filled, sequence-wearing Withnail, Tyler (Shawkat) is the impish answer to Laura (Holliday Grainger), a flailing writer who’s the straight man I to this Withnail. The two best friends are comrades in drugs and parties, but just as they’re approaching their 30s and Laura begins dating a pianist, their close friendship suffers a rift. Although the movie follows Laura more closely, Tyler also experiences her own awakening, giving Shawkat room not just to play a wildcard character but also an emotionally vulnerable person who wants her close friend back in her apartment to share a drink. (MC)

Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer in “Give Me Liberty”

There are a lot of faces and voices that are crammed into “Give Me Liberty,” Kirll Mikhanovsky’s claustrophobic, heartwarming story about a group of people who are united on a van. But one of the most memorable performances belongs to Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, who enters into the story as one of the clients that Chris Galust's medical transport van driver has to pick up. But she proves to be an excellent, scene-stealing straight-woman against the chaos of the other riders on the van (Vic’s Russian elders, it’s a long story). You get a full sense of her life before and after the times Vic pick her up, as it shows her charisma across expressions of comedy or drama. (NA)

Honor Swinton-Byrne in “The Souvenir”

With her soft, childlike facial features and expressive eyes, Honor Swinton-Byrne (Tilda’s daughter) embodies “The Souvenir’s” Julie—an ambitious film student about to lose her innocence in the hands of a toxic relationship—with a rare kind of exactness. Throughout, she moves with the grace and reluctance of someone acutely aware of both her misfortunes and privileges. As Julie falls deeper into the overwhelming rabbit hole of a young, life-defining love, Swinton-Byrne dials up her helplessness to heartbreaking effect, turning Julie into a real-life character you will both want to shake up and non-judgmentally protect. Having given perhaps the most mournful performance of Sundance, Swinton-Byrne is sure to walk in her mother’s shoes and put her unique stamp on every film she will be in. (Good news: a sequel for “The Souvenir” is already in pre-production.) (TL)

Geraldine Viswanathan in “Hala”

Geraldine Viswanathan is well on her way to being a star, and her lead role in Minhal Baig’s “Hala” should accelerate the process. Playing a Muslim teenager of first-generation immigrant parents in Chicago, this role is a marvelous display of how Viswanathan can present the process of contemplation, an excellent fit for a character who can internal as tries to navigate the world. She has a striking precision with emotion, offering a lot to be read between the lines in a way that registers as raw and compelling whether it’s in thinking about how she feels about her first major sexual encounter, or observing her parents’ marriage slowly start to fall apart. It lets the majority of “Hala” play out with more subtlety, honoring the quiet ways in which maturity finds and changes us. (NA)

from All Content http://bit.ly/2Sg8yqm

[artist-sargent]

Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth), John Singer Sargent, 1897, Art Institute of Chicago: American Art

Mrs. George Swinton epitomizes the painterly virtuosity that made John Singer Sargent one of the most fashionable portraitists in late-19th-century Europe and America. Extravagant color and brushwork were central to Sargent’s success, as was his ability to present a refined and appealing image of his sitter. In Elizabeth “Elsie” Swinton’s case, he accentuated her regal bearing and feminine dress. Sargent harmonized the realism of her face and body with bursts of impressionistic brushstrokes describing the shimmering, translucent fabric descending from her shoulder. Swinton was also known for her musical talents; at the time her portrait was executed, she was recognized as an amateur singer and later began performing professionally. Wirt D. Walker Collection Size: 231 × 124 cm (90 3/4 × 48 3/4 in.) Medium: Oil on canvas

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4749/

[aic-american]

Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth), John Singer Sargent, 1897, Art Institute of Chicago: American Art

Mrs. George Swinton epitomizes the painterly virtuosity that made John Singer Sargent one of the most fashionable portraitists in late-19th-century Europe and America. Extravagant color and brushwork were central to Sargent’s success, as was his ability to present a refined and appealing image of his sitter. In Elizabeth “Elsie” Swinton’s case, he accentuated her regal bearing and feminine dress. Sargent harmonized the realism of her face and body with bursts of impressionistic brushstrokes describing the shimmering, translucent fabric descending from her shoulder. Swinton was also known for her musical talents; at the time her portrait was executed, she was recognized as an amateur singer and later began performing professionally. Wirt D. Walker Collection Size: 231 × 124 cm (90 3/4 × 48 3/4 in.) Medium: Oil on canvas

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4749/

[ultralifehackerguru-blog]

New Post has been published on http://lifehacker.guru/the-13-best-movies-you-didnt-see-in-2018/

THE 13 BEST MOVIES YOU DIDN'T SEE IN 2018

LAST YEAR, FOLKS in the US spent $11 billion going to the movies. Yet the bulk of those people, and those dollars, went to the mega-blockbusters—the Panthers, the Venoms, the Avengerseseses. Even though indies are getting a renaissance thanks to streaming services, there’s just not the same thriving middle-class that there was in decades past, and a ton of legitimately great films still don’t get in front of as many eyeballs as they should. So, fine, you let some smaller gems slip by; now’s your chance to make things right. Got a few free evenings over the holidays? Queue up these 2018 unsung heroes first.

Suspiria

Amazon Studios’ art-house horror flick did modestly well in its small theatrical run, but limited distribution meant it didn’t get the attention it deserved. Directed by Call Me By Your Name‘s Luca Guadagnino, the film is, on the surface, a remake of Dario Argento’s horror classic of the same name. But it’s also much, much more than that. (Star Tilda Swinton, who actually plays a few roles in the film, went so far as to refer to it as a cover version of Argento’s original.) Beautifully shot, with an appropriately haunting performance by Dakota Johnson, this Suspiria goes beyond the tale of a witch-run dance school by digging its nails into the many ways the past will forever haunt us. It’s not for everybody, but if you have an itch for something truly gruesome and mind-bending, this’ll scratch it. —Angela Watercutter

First Reformed

Here’s a sentence I never imagined myself writing in 2018: Ethan Hawke gave one of the best performances of the year. It’s not that I didn’t think he was capable; I just didn’t see him showing up in a dark eco-conscious Paul Schrader film wherein he plays an alcoholic priest trying to keep his sanity and his congregation together. And yet, here we are. Moody, existential and even a little bit ethereal, First Reformed is one of the year’s craziest headtrips—right down to the ohshitwhatthefuck? ending. It got a very limited theatrical run but has been playing free to Amazon Prime subscribers for a while now (as well as Kanopy). If you happen to be one—or even if you’re not—go watch it immediately. —A.W.

Shoplifters

I’ve tried half a dozen times to explain director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s teleportative tale—about an ad hoc family living in near-poverty in urban Japan—and failed in each instance. So instead, here’s what Shoplifters is not: mawkish (though it is deeply moving); downbeat (despite its character’s increasingly desperate turns); nor needlessly twisty (though the family’s backstory is full of slow-building surprises). Instead, it’s a lovely, quite funny accounting of ordinary people staring down extraordinary circumstances with pragmatism, wits, and sporadic joy. And, in a year full of movies that viewed tough realities with deep empathy—from Roma to First Reformed to First Man—it’s the denizens of Shoplifters that have lingered in my mind the longest: Wondering where they are now, hoping everything turned out OK. —Brian Raftery

Mandy

You know what sucks? The fact that so few movies today are confident enough to feature coked-out demon biker gangs, strange Jesus cults, and a truly off-the-leash Nicolas Cage. Luckily, though, there’s Mandy—director Panos Cosmatos’ movie starts with that grand trifecta and goes about a thousand steps further. Shot using lush nighttime colors that would make the Stranger Things crew jealous, the revenge tale follows Cage’s Red Miller as he goes searching for his girlfriend who has been taken in by the aforementioned cult. Explaining it any further would ruin the fun (it’s also kind of impossible), but rest assured it has one of the best eviscerations of fragile masculinity ever put onscreen. —A.W.

Miseducation of Cameron Post

If you were an indie movie fan in 1999, you remember a delightful little film called But I’m a Cheerleader. It starred RuPaul as an instructor at a gay conversion camp and Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall as two of the unfortunate souls sent there for “treatment.” The Miseducation of Cameron Post, based on Emily M. Danforth’s novel of same name, is a much, much less campy version of that. In it, Chloë Grace Moretz plays the titular Cameron, a teenage girl who gets sent off to a conversion camp after getting caught in the back of a car with another woman the night of her prom. Heartwarming and heartbreaking, director Desiree Akhavan’s adaptation of Danforth’s novel is as vital and necessary as Cheerleader was in the late-1990s. It just has fewer laughs. —A.W.

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.

The last time you heard from (or about) agit-pop hitmaker M.I.A. it likely had something to do with her flying her middle finger at the Super Bowl or the term “truffle fries.”That was years ago, and a lot has changed in terms of how the public, and pop culture, treats its female artists. Well, maybe not a lot, but there’s been progress—and in Steve Loveridge’s documentary, the ways in which Maya Arulpragasam was mistreated and misunderstood couldn’t be more obvious. Built on archive footage and personal footage shot by the Sri Lankan artist over years and years, it creates a fuller picture of M.I.A. than any magazine profile or online hot take ever could. It might be a little late, but it’s also right on time. —A.W.

Shirkers

The set-up for Sandi Tan’s autobiographical Netflix doc sounds like something out of a pop-culture thriller: In 1992, Tan and two other bright, outsidery teenage girls decided to make a semi-surrealist feature film in their home country of Singapore. They were aided by a mysterious older American man who absconded with the footage—and then all but disappeared from their lives. Yet Tan’s story doesn’t involve tidy resolutions or shocking twists. Instead, Shirkers is actually something infinitely more compelling: A gorgeous-looking self-interrogation about creativity, power, and the strange twilight zone between adolescence and adulthood. It also contains the most succinct one-liner about ’90s alt-teen life I’ve ever heard: “When [we were] were 14,” Tan says of her pals, “we discovered unusual movies and unpopular music.” Decades later, they all reunited for a film more unusual and profound than they ever intended. —B.R.

Tully

Here’s the thing about Tully: It builds up to one really great twist. I won’t reveal it here, and maybe you’ll guess it before getting to the end anyway, but it’s a gut-punch. Before that happens, the setup is fairly simple. Marlo (Charlize Theron), a mother of three children, hires hip twentysomething Tully (Mackenzie Davis) as a nanny for her new baby. Over the course of weeks, Marlo and Tully become close and Marlo begins to yearn for the life she had when she was Tully’s age. Sounds dry, but this is a project from director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody, a pair that has wrung blood, sweat, and tears out of domestic dramas (Juno, Young Adult) twice before—and does so double-time here. The quest to prolong youth while also raising children has never been so cuttingly portrayed. —A.W.

The Favourite

I truly thought that nothing could top Suspiria for the most haunting final moments of any film in 2018. I was wrong. Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ film about the love/hate triangle between Queen Anne of England (Olivia Colman) and her companions Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) ended on a note so unsettling, I’m still not done processing it weeks later. (I won’t spoil it, but I will say I’ll never look at rabbits the same way ever again.) Much like with his film The Lobster, Lanthimos’ latest lands somewhere in the gaps between drama and farce. It is, instead, a crooked glance at humanity’s relationship to power—the things people do to get close to it, to claim it, and to throw it away. In Lanthimos’ askew version of history, when Sarah’s relationship with the Queen is threatened by the arrival of her cousin Abigail, she does what she feels she must do to wrest back control and steer Queen Anne’s War to her liking. Anne, sensing the manipulation, grows closer to Abigail, only to realize her intentions might not be much better. It’s an unparalleled study in the utter lack of trust that accompanies being in charge, in the dread that comes with knowing those who seek your favor may never have pure intentions. It’s as bleak as it is laughable—and one of the most wonderfully weird tales to hit the screen this year. —A.W.

Annihilation

Director Alex Garland‘s adaptation of the first book of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy was easily one of the best dystopia films of 2018. It was also one of the year’s finest specimens of female badassery, featuring Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as a team sent on a expedition to find out why nature’s rules seem not to apply in the mysterious, government-protected space known as Area X. Haunting, unpredictable, and science-y (someone turns into a plant!), it was a whirlwind head trip—and a weird examination of what it means to exist. —A.W.

Eighth Grade

Even the title strikes fear in the hearts of anyone who didn’t have the easiest time walking the halls of their middle school/junior high. In writer-director Bo Burnham’s film, that uneasiest of times is compounded by the fact that it takes place in the modern world, where all insecurities are reinforced by un-Liked Instagram posts and unreceived Facebook invites. Heroine Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) knows she’s on a pretty low rung in her school’s social hierarchy and with each new YouTube video she posts full of advice she doesn’t take, her story becomes more and more poignant, more and more real. And whether you grew up in the social media age or not, it’ll punch you in the heart—and make you glad you survived adolescence intact. —A.W.

Leave No Trace

Debra Granik, who every reviewer will remind you made a star out of Jennifer Lawrence with her film Winter’s Bone, pulled off another wrenching look at a family on the edges with this year’s Leave No Trace. When Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin McKenzie)—a father-daughter pair who have been living off-the-grid outside Portland, Oregon for years—are arrested and put in the system, it tests their bond in new ways, and exposes Tom to a life unlike the one she’s lived with her father. Granik’s latest is almost deafening in how quiet it is, but its message about finding one’s place in the world is loud and clear. —A.W.

Three Identical Strangers

Were you surprised by the twist? What about the one after that? These are kind the kinds of questions folks ask you after seeing this documentary about three identical triplets who discover each others’ existence in their teenage years. At the time they found each other, they became America’s latest talk show feel-good story and national intrigue. Everything that happened after that, though, is so unbelievable it pushes all boundaries of credulity. It’s a Can you believe? story that quickly becomes an examination of heredity and (possible) corruption that goes beyond unbelievable into truly mind-boggling. —A.W.

(C)

[edsonlnoe]

MG Awards 2019 Ensamble Avengers: Endgame Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Karen Gillan, Don Cheadle, Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson, Danai Gurira, Bradley Cooper, Tilda Swinton, John Slattery, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lexi Rabe, Zoe Saldana, Rene Russo, y Josh Brolin. Gisaengchung Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Jo Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam, Jang Hye-jin, Lee Jeong-eun, Jung Ji-so, Jung Hyun-jun, y Park Myeong-hoon. Hustlers Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Mercedes Ruehl, Wai Ching Ho, Madeline Brewer, Trace Lysette, Mette Towley, Lizzo, y Cardi B. If Beale Street Could Talk KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Brian Tyree Henry, Aunjanue Ellis, Michael Beach, Finn Wittrock, Ed Skrein, Emily Rios, Dave Franco, y Diego Luna. Suspiria Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Elena Fokina, Sylvie Testud, Renée Soutendijk, Christine Leboutte, Malgosia Bela, Fabrizia Sacchi, Chloë Grace Moretz, y Jessica Harper. Us Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Madison Curry, Anna Diop, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tim Heidecker, y Elisabeth Moss. Actor de Cuadro Joe Alwyn Boy Erased Elena Fokina Suspiria Dave Franco If Beale Street Could Talk Théodore Pellerin Boy Erased José Manuel Poncelis Polvo Evan Rachel Wood Frozen II Breakthrough Actriz Julia Butters Once Upon A Time ...In Hollywood Gabriela Cartol La Camarista Madison Curry Us Elsie Fisher Eighth Grade Jeon Jong-Seo Beoning KiKi Layne If Beale Street Could Talk Lashana Lynch Captain Marvel Shahadi Wright Joseph Us Breakthrough Actor Evan Alex Us Gabriel Bateman Child’s Play Gabriel Carbajal Chicuarotes Stephan James If Beale Street Could Talk Naoki Kobayashi Earthquake Bird Mena Massoud Aladdin Florian Munteanu Creed II César Vicente Dolor y Gloria Rising Filmmaker Lila Avilés La Camarista Steven Caple Jr. Creed II Nia DaCosta Little Woods Gael García Bernal Chicuarotes Kogonada Columbus Astrid Rondero Los Días Más Oscuros de Nosotras Olivia Wilde Booksmart José María Yázpik Polvo