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The Films of 2022. The 23rd annual FiLM BiTCH Awards

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

 

gold medal

 silver medal

  bronze medal

 

AND THE NOMINEES ARE... 

 

Breakthrough Performer

This is not strictly an *acting* award. 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

Diego Calva
BABYLON
Stephanie Hsu
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Aamu Milonoff
GIRL PICTURE
Brandon Perea
NOPE
Bella Ramsey
CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY
Holds his own with superstars with intent and skill. And that face! Made for the movies  Funny, sad, silly, charismatic and great fun to watch in her insane dual role Captivating. We're eager to see her stretch her acting muscles. C'mon European casting directors!

In a film full of charisma machines, he manages to steal focus anyway. Can't wait for more 

Wickedly smart, great comic timing without sacrificing dramatic beats, and a joy to watch
 

Finalists: Gabriel Labelle brings young Spielberg to life in The FabelmansEleonoora Kauhanen & Linnea Leino the other two thirds of the charismatic trio from Girl Picture (perhaps I should have cheated and included them all as one?), Anamaria Vartolomei is bewitching and marvelous as the protagonist of Happening. What a find! And finally Felix Kamerrer who is compelling as the focal point of All Quiet on the Western Front

Semi Finalists: Tenoch Huerta Mejia grabs attention and raises alarm bells with fierce power in Black Panther Wakanda Forever,  Daryl McCormack holds his own with genius Emma Thompson in Good Luck to You Leo Grande, and Amber Midhunter carries Prey through exciting skirmish after exciting skirmish

 

Best Actress in a Limited Performance
or Cameo Role

discuss
Sara Fazilat
"Zinab"
HOLY SPIDER
Shirley Henderson
"Agatha Christie"
SEE HOW THEY RUN
Samantha Morton
"Zelda Perkins"
SHE SAID
Anna Mougalis
"Mme Riviere"
HAPPENING
Lia Williams
"Edith Sitwell"
BENEDICTION
Completely catches you, and the Spider Killer off guard with her brazen spirit A "dessert" if you will. Something sweet (but feisty) with your tea near movie's end
 A pure shock of righteous anger. You can feel the years she's sat with it, waiting to tell stories

Frightfully brusque and impersonal -- but then you'd have to be -- doing this illegal work

"Deeply wounded" and highly amusing as a pretentious poet/performer friend of Siegfried's
 

Finalists: Sima Seyed filled with grief as "Gohra" in Holy Spider, Ariana Nazari disturbingly broken and lost as "?" in Holy Spider, Jeannie Berlin is a potent grandmother presence as "Hadassah Fabelman" in The Fabelmans

Semi-FinalistsOlivia Hamilton controls the set as "Ruth Adler" in Babylon though even she isn't prepared for the sea change of sound, Jane Adams is delightful as hippie "Tamara" in Dog, Isabelle Laughlan is a welcome presence as "Becky" meeting an old school teacher in Good Luck to You Leo Grande, and Lihi Kornowski is haunting as "Djuna" in Crimes of the Future


 

Best Actor in a Limited Performance
or Cameo Role

discuss
Louis-do de Lencquesaing
"Andre"
RETURN TO SEOUL
Julian Glover
"Andris Davis"
TAR
Judd Hirsch
"Uncle Boris"
THE FABELMANS
David Lynch
"John Ford"
THE FABELMANS
Tyler Merritt
"Shamus"
THE INSPECTION

Magnetic as an arms dealer sizing up Frederique... but for what?
Amusing and over and above it as TAR's retired mentor  He packs gestural punch as a circus man imparting lessons

Eccentric and potent as the legendary filmmaker. What a note to end on! 
Warm knowing and protective as an elder gay saying goodbye to French
 

Finalists: PJ Byrne is always a treat and he's delightfully on the verge of a breakdown as "Ruth's AD" in Babylon, Tobey Maguire over the top but with rotting purpose as "James McKay" in Babylon

Semi Finalists: Bowen Yang as "Lawrence Grape" in Bros, Kelvin Harrison as "B.B. King" in Elvis, John Magaro as "Detective Chilmark" in Call Jane, Willem Dafoe as "Heimer the Fool" in The Northman, and Anthony Hopkins as "Peter's Father" in The Son


 

Best Vocal Only or MoCap Performance  
(new category - 3 nominees per year)
discuss
  Lee Eddy
"Mom"
APOLLO 10½ : A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD
Wagner Moura
"Death/Wolf"
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH
Jenny Slate
"Marcel"
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
 

Serving 70s mom realness, complete with guilt trips  and deadpan comedy
 Wickedly intimidating - pitched just right to give your child nightmares. 

Still a marvelously realized character. Funny/sad... but sorta self-aware.
 
 

Finalists: Isabella Rosselini as "Connie" in Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. That accent comes all the way from the garage!

Semi Finalists: Antonio Banderas as "Puss" in Puss in Boots: The Last WishMiranda July as "Narrator" in Fire of Love, Zoe Saldana as "Neytiri" in Avatar: The Way of Water, Tilda Swinton as "Wood Sprite / Death " in Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio, Harvey Guillen as "Perrito" in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Angela Bassett as "Narrator" Good Night Oppy,

 

 

Best Juvenile Performance (Under 18) 

Evan Assante
"David"
CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH
Catherine Clinch
"Cait"
THE QUIET GIRL
Frankie Corio
"Sophie"
AFTERSUN
Eden Dambrine
"Léo"
CLOSE
Gustav de Waele
"Remi"
CLOSE
Intuitive and thoughtful and heartbreakingly young when it comes to how he perceives his brother The Quiet Girl's beautiful construction rests on her unique blend of anxiousness and calm

Deftly handles the complexities of a young girl just starting to think of her father as a full person
 Much of the film's power rests on the gradations (and confusion) of his feelings. Assured work

A perfect screen partner to Dambrine. Their friendship and his anxiety feels heartbreakingly authentic
 

Finalists: Grace Jenkins precocious and a screen natural as "Trixie" in Deep Water,  Jalyn Hall sweet and confident as "Emmett Till" in Till, and Mason Thames carrying Black Phone with ease as resourceful "Finney Blake" in Black Phone - he doesn't prove an easy victim.

Semi FinalistsBanks Repeta as "Paul Graff" in Armageddon Time, Maya Vanderbeque & Gunter Duret as "Nora and Abel" in Playground, and Jaylin Webb as "Johnny Davis" in Armageddon Time

 

Best Ensemble Performance

 
discuss

ARMAGEDDON TIME THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE FIRE ISLAND TRIANGLE OF SADNESS

Hathaway
Hopkins
Strong
Repeta
Webb
Chastain
etc...

Surprisingly potent family dynamics, how far apart people can feel even in the same crowded house. Plus the power dynamics!

Farrell
Condon
Keoghan
Gleeson
Shortt
Neachtain
etc...

All of them on the McDonagh wavelength and believably inside the tiny island world even if they chafe against it

Yeoh
Quan
Curtis
Hsu
Wong
Shum Jr
etc...

 
 

Exciting interpseronal dynamics, while giving each core member room for siloed eccentricites. Cohensive within the chaos!

Yang
Ricamora
Booster
Cho
Scully
Rogers
etc...

Found family chemistry without feeling sealed off and perfectly volleyed punchlines. Such warmth, wit, fun, and feeling.

De Leon
Dickinson
Buric
Dean
Berlin
Eriksson
etc...

While Dolly De Leon was corectly singled out as Best in Show, this is a lot of actors deeply invested and sparking off the material

 

Finalists: Glass Onion  and The Fabelmans  both feature stellar performances (though some shine more than others) as well as some interesting duet chemistries within the group

Semi-Finalists: The MenuDownton Abbey: A New Era, Benediction, The Woman King, and Babylon 

 

 

Best Casting

 
discuss

CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH
Angela Demo

FIRE ISLAND
Jessica Munks

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Sarah Finn

THE MENU
Bret Howe & Mary Vernieu

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Paula Hansson

Smart casting all around from sturdy comic support, to child finds, through to Dakota & Raul
 Believable 'found family' dynamics and comic gifts abound. Bonus points: lots of authentic queer casting

For its core family dynamics, and ingenious deployments of two screen legends
An interesting and electric justright hodgepodge of stars and excellent character actors

A wide net cast found buried treasures and a game ensemble to work out the satire
 

Finalists: The discoveries of Girl Picture from Minna Sorvoja,  The Banshees of Inisherin - Farrell & Gleeson were givesn but Louise Kiely fills out the island with so many authentic character actors and memorable facesTÁR- A well populated rarified classical realm from the team of Simone Bar, Avy Kaufman, Jeremy Zimmermann

Semi Finalists: Benediction - Lucy Rands, Emily the Criminal - Chelsea Ellis Bloch & Marisol Roncali, Happening - Elodie Demey, and She Said - Francine Maisler

 

BEST STUNTS / STUNT TEAMS

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

THE NORTHMAN RRR TOP GUN MAVERICK THE WOMAN KING
  Looney tunes violence... now with more butt plugs! Viking brutalism writ large

Cartoonish enjoyable boisterous heroics

Aerial wonders with the need ... the need for speed
Running leaps, lethal jabs, and warrior collisions
 

Finalists: Road rage insanity in AmbuLAnce -- even the camera thinks its a stuntman!, and the mo-capped Navi vs human action thrills of Avatar: The Way of Water

Semi Finalists: Nope, The Batman, All Quiet on the Western Front, Prey , and Black Panther Wakanda Forever

 

The Films of 2022. The 23rd annual FiLM BiTCH Awards

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