My friend saw WSS tonight and immediately texted me that Spielberg outdid the original by a mile and it’s going to be hard to top. He also said Ansel is the weakest part, which pleases me on every possible level. Consider my interest heightened.
I feel like a bad Kirsten Kuntie, because I forgot that The Power of the Dog was released on Netflix today ... ... and so I watched Titane - France's submission for Best International Feature - instead tonight. Well. It was definitely unlike anything I've ever seen in my life, that's for sure. I didn't hate it, though! There's so much to unpack and I'm still gathering my thoughts ... but the way I understood it, is that the film is an, errr, study on the way (i) gender is perceived (ii) toxic masculinity is perpetrated in modern day France. The themes are just buried underneath a lot of shock and gore, so if you're faint of heart, you might want to sit this one out.
Only tangentially Oscar-bait but this list solidifies why I’m a Kirsten Kuntie! That top 5 is unimpeachable.
Bachelorette is *chefs kiss*. Love to see it high up in terms of her roles. An underrated dark comedy.
Oh the entire ensemble of The Power of the Dog is absolutely fantastic. I'm usually not a huge Cumberbatch fan but I thought he was like, pitch perfect. The film's a slow burner for sure, but the amount of subtleties in each scene made me not feel the runtime at all. My only qualm is that I wish I saw it on the big screen and not on my shitty television since it uses so many wide shots
Yeah I really liked Power of the Dog, I was really impressed at the pacing. Campion spends the perfect amount of time getting you in the character's midframes before the plot takes off and everything rings so true because of it.
Finishing up The Power of the Dog now and all I want is for Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee to end Oscar night holding matching trophies. I hope Campion makes it into Best Director (hell I hope she wins, but I don't think the Academy would ever give the award to female directors two years in a row even though they should).
I really enjoyed Jackie, but Spencer really took me by surprise. It's my probably my favourite film of the year. It's so intoxicatingly tense all the way through. The score and sound design were both out of this world. I think everyone has already said it, but Kristen Stewart really nails the role. The entire atmosphere of the film was just so arresting.
National Board of Review Winners 2021 Best Film: LICORICE PIZZA Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA Best Actor: Will Smith, KING RICHARD Best Actress: Rachel Zegler, WEST SIDE STORY Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds, BELFAST Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis, KING RICHARD Best Original Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, A HERO Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH Breakthrough Performance: Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman, LICORICE PIZZA Best Directorial Debut: Michael Sarnoski, PIG Best Animated Feature: ENCANTO Best Foreign Language Film: A HERO Best Documentary: SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) Best Ensemble: THE HARDER THEY FALL Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH NBR Freedom of Expression Award: FLEE Top Films (in alphabetical order) Belfast Don’t Look Up Dune King Richard The Last Duel Nightmare Alley Red Rocket The Tragedy of Macbeth West Side Story Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order) Benedetta Lamb Lingui, The Sacred Bonds Titane The Worst Person in the World Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order) Ascension Attica Flee The Rescue Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order) The Card Counter C’mon C’mon CODA The Green Knight Holler Jockey Old Henry Pig Shiva Baby The Souvenir Part II
NBR aren't particularly predictive but are always first so can certainly give a boost to campaigns. They tend to be pretty middlebrow and LOVE to make sure everyone knows that they have been seen films that have yet to be widely viewed. Ziegler's shock Best Actress definitely catapult her into the conversation but it could also just be NBA's way of announcing they got a WSS preview. They also like to spread the love (And ensure ticket sales to the ceremony) hence all of the lists and special awards. You notice Doc/Animated/International awards all go to different films but leading contender in all three Flee gets rewarded as well so everyone's happy. Apart from Jane Campion as Power of the Dog gets completely snubbed. Expect that to change tomorrow when NYFCC announce. Everything else looks pretty legit and the Licorice Pizza love may mean that we finally have a film that's beginning to look like a frontrunner.
Frame this post and hang it in the Louvre. I know it was a Tv show but Kirsten was so damn outstanding in On Becoming a God in Central Florida and deserved all the awards for that.
Well I loved The Power of the Dog. Special shouts to the cinematography and Benedict, though Kiki was very good as well. Almost like Campion’s take on Hitchcock. Kinda genius. I gagged a little at the “Do you want me Mr. Burbank?” line. Shady boots!
Initial reactions and Rachel’s NBR win have me so excited for West Side Story. Has there been any news about a Flee release in the UK? I’m desperate to see it.
11 February apparently. I think we can nail West Side Story and Licorice Pizza on for Best Picture nominations at least.
New York Film Critics are announcing as we speak. I'll update here as winners are revealed.......... BEST FILM: "Drive My Car" BEST DIRECTOR: Jane Campion for "The Power of the Dog" BEST ACTRESS: Lady Gaga for "House of Gucci" WTF???!!! BEST ACTOR: Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Power of the Dog" BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Kodi Smit-McPhee for "The Power of the Dog" BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kathryn Hunter for "The Tragedy of Macbeth" BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: "The Worst Person in the World" BEST NON-FICTION FILM: "Flee" BEST ANIMATED FILM: "The Mitchells vs. the Machines" BEST FIRST FILM: "The Lost Daughter" BEST SCREENPLAY: "Licorice Pizza" BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "West Side Story" SPECIAL AWARD: Maya Cade for the creation of the Black Film Archive. SPECIAL AWARD: Diane Weyermann, posthumous award for supporting daring and impactful filmmaking at Sundance and Participant SPECIAL AWARD: Marshall Fine for his years of service as NYFCC’s General Manager and decades on the NY film scene
