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The Films of 2020. The 21st annual FiLM BiTCH Awards

PICTURE | ACTING | VISUALS | AURALS | EXTRAS - YOU ARE HERESPECIAL | SCENES 

 

AND THE NOMINEES ARE...

  

 

Best Actress in a Limited Performance, Cameo
or Voice Only Role

discuss
Winsome Brown
"Anna Leonberger"
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Elizabeth Marvel
"Gannett"
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Veronica Ngo
"Hanoi Hannah "
DA 5 BLOODS
Abby Quinn
"Tulsey Town Girl #3"
I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS
Fiona Shaw
"Elizabeth Philpot"
AMMONITE
This Obie winning theater actress offers a pained snapshot of hardened life on the frontier... and her bitter grief about her sister.   This stage icon  expertly conjures complex backstory and what this relationship with Captain Kidd is like from thin air. (Also fine in Swallow  Ngo shows us why she's a star in Vietnam with her fierce radio addresses. She makes you want a full biopic and could deliver the iconicity. Both weirdly unsettling and quite sympathetic at the Tulsey Town window with skin rash and intense fearful eyes.   Shaw is a giant always, even in bit roles. She steals the movie in her brief scenes, telling us so much about what Mary (Winslet) is like to love.
 

Finalists:
Kelly Chapman
as "Social Worker #2" in Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Dale Dickey as Darla in Palm Springs

Semi-Finalists:
Gabrielle Graham as Holly in Possessor, Jena Friedman as Daisy the Bartender in Palm Springs, Alice Braga as Counselor Jerry in SoulAngela Bassett as Dorothea in Soul, and Cheng Pei-Pei as "Matchmaker" in Mulan

 

 

Best Actor in a Limited Performance, Cameo
or Voice Only Role

discuss
Mathieu Amalric
"Richard Berger"
SOUND OF METAL
Matthew MacFadyen
"Human Resources"
THE ASSISTANT
Christian Magby
"Jamaal"
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Jamie McShane
"Sheley Metcalf"
MANK
Lance Reddick
"Kareem X"
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
  The ever-reliable French star does incisive work, showing us what this father thinks of both his daughter's return and her lost lover.
  The Assistant's horror is mostly inferred and overheard but MacFadyen drives home the systemic rot in the most upsetting (and best) scene. Amusingly starstruck and  endearingly real as a new bodyguard and convert without much of a filter... yet. Mank is  overcrowded and a bit unfocused which is a pity because each actor is doing fine work, including McShane as filmmaker who sells his soul for a break.  Wonderfully stone-faced, pious, and formidable. His wariness / judgment about Malcolm's social circle is particularly well-etched
 

Finalists:
Tom Burke
"Orson Welles" in Mank, Jacob Collins-Levy "Thomas Curnrow" in True History of the Kelly Gang

Semi Finalists:
Chris Pang "Trevor" in Palm Springs, Alfred Molina as "Jordan" in Promising Young Woman, Stephen Kunken "Philip Roseman" in Hillbilly Elegy, Fred Hechinger "John Calley" in News of the World,  and Chris Lowell as "Al Monroe" in Promising Young Woman

 

Best Juvenile Performance (Under 18)

discuss

Ibrahim Gueye
"Momo"
THE LIFE AHEAD
Alan S Kim
"David"
MINARI
Orlando Schwerdt
"Young Ned Kelly"
TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG
Ramona Edith Williams
"Frances"
SAINT FRANCES
Helena Zengel
"Johanna"
NEWS OF THE WORLD
For showing you both the vulnerable kid and the tough posturing simultaneously. And the slow opening up to his co-stars.
  For natural showmanship and a sense of mischief. For stealing all his scenes or rather co-stealing them with his screen-grandma.  With skill far beyond his years he shows us a sensitive kid in a hellscape and how that erodes and drains and confuses him.

 A born performer, at ease with the character arc as a very precocious six year old who has some issues with her new nanny.  

For holding her own with Tom Hanks. And her own obvious confidence with the camera, risking minamilism and minor performative shifts 

 

Finalists: Timofey Glazkov so adorably real and sympathetic as "Pashka" in Beanpole, and Maximilian Májar Márquez as "Max" doing fine leading work in the moving immigration drama The Wolves

Semi Finalists: Ella Jay Basco as "Anne" in Birds of Prey, Charlie Shotwell as "Ben O'Hara" in The Nest, Leonardo Nájar Mártinez as "Leo" in The Wolves, and Iosif Diego Pirvu as "Iosif" in The Life Ahead, and Noel Cho as "Anne" in Minari

 

 

Breakthrough Performer

The basic criteria is being a) early in movie career and b) making us
immediately want to see them in something else soon! (Note: Actors are not eligible for this category if they are nominated in one of the four traditional acting categories)
discuss

Radha Blank
THE 40 YEAR-OLD VERSION
Orion Lee
FIRST COW
Leah Lewis
THE HALF OF IT
Taylour Paige
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Toby Wallace
BABYTEETH
  The savviest artists are the ones who make opportunities for themselves. Best known as a writer (stage & tv) she wrote herself a hugely enjoyable star vehicle and aced the leading role of a writer at a career crossroads.  Next up: Unknown  Like many a non-famous working actor he's had a lot of "scientist" "barman" and "Tired GI #1" type parts (though TV has been kinder). But hopefully his turn as "King-Lu" in this critical darling will shift the conversation. Next up: the horror film Cassette What a heartfelt nuanced leading performance she gave in this rom-com Cyrano-styled showcase. We especially loved her lower-than-you'd-think voice and gloriously smart vibe. What's next? Next up: She's currently on the TV show "Nancy Drew"   So funny and fetching... and yes, sexy, too. Paige stole her scenes in Ma Rainey (no small task w/ Viola and Chadwick). Next up: We hear she's also fabulous in Zola, which premiered at Sundance a whole year ago but got pushed to 2021.   He's been working in Australia for awhile but it'd be totally unjust if his beautifully nuanced  charismatic junkie with a good heart turn didnt bring him major international opportunities. Next up: Unknown 
 

Finalists: Two pairs I couldn't split up Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina from Beanpole and Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder from Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Impressive debuts from all. 

Semi Finalists: Kelli O'Connor in Saint Frances, Dominique Fishback Project Power, Ariana Debose in The Prom

NOTE: I would have loved to included Haley Bennett here for Swallow but she's been in movies regularly for 13 years already, sometimes in lead roles. But... wow. Talk about taking your career to the next level. 

 

Best Ensemble Performance

 
discuss

BABYTEETH MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM MINARI ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG

Scanlen, Wallace, Davis, Mendelsohn, Barclay, Gilfedder
etc...

 What intricate nuanced playing, rich in detail, eccentricity, and soul. Each vignette comes with its own unique flavors.

 

Davis, Boseman, Domingo, Turman, Potts, Shamos, Coyne, Paige, Brown

 For meeting the theatrical text head on, for delicious line readings, reaction shots, and lopsided group dynamics.

Yeun, Han, Youn, Kim, Cho, Patton
etc...

A sublime group illustration of a family in crises. Plus their humor and heart, too.

Ben-Adir, Goree, Hodge, Odom Jr, Reddick, Magby, etc...

 For the sparks of chemistry and giving life to the rich ideas. For raising each other's game, just as the characters are doing.

Mackay, Davis, Hoult, Hunnam, Crowe, Keenan, Schwerdt, McKenzie, etc...

For their volatile unpredictability, each of them contributing to this dangerous world and in conversation or absolutely not with each other.

 

Finalists: Another Round Mads Mikkelsen is the star but all three friends and to a lesser extent the students and family deepen this journey, the delightful comedy of Emma meets a game cast.

Semi-Finalists: The Boys in the Band, The Father, The Personal History of David Copperfield, And Then We Danced, and Mank

 

 

Best Casting

 
discuss

Leli Miminoshvili
AND THEN WE DANCED

Julia Kim
MINARI
Kimberly R Hardin
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Allison Jones
PALM SPRINGS

Nikki Barrett
TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG

 This can't have been an easy assignment finding skilled dancers who were also exceptionally natural onscreen and willing to do a gay film in a homophobic country  Kim crafts a wholly believable family unit around star player Steven Yeun. Yeri Han is undersung in the reviews and the discoveries for the child roles are wonderful. Just the right mix of stars and stars paired with challenging iconic roles that they're eager to do justice to. One mistake in casting could have undone the quartet. An unusual but perfect romantic comedy star combo, and a joyful diverse array of supporting and tertiary players with comic gifts.  Barrett fills this challenging film chalk full of stars -- but never for their stardom alone -- and justly rising talent. So many imposing faces for this chaotic tapestry
 

Finalists: Francine Maisler for finding so many era-perfect faces for News of the World, Jessica Ronane for the fresh big comic cast of Emma

Semi Finalists: What on earth were the auditions like with Lindsay Graham and Mary Venieu for Promising Young Woman, Sarah Crowe eclectic cast gathering for Personal History of David Copperfield, Lucy Bevan, Aisha Coley, and Salah Benchegra for assembling the international superheroes of The Old Guard, Kerry Barden & Paul Schnee for the suffocating couples of Shirley,  and Kim Coleman for a good mix of newbies and Spike regulars in Da 5 Bloods

 

The Films of 2020. The 21st annual FiLM BiTCH Awards

PICTURE | ACTING | VISUALS | AURALS | EXTRAS - YOU ARE HERE | SPECIAL | SCENES