A few volunteer members of Team Experience will be giving thanks this holiday week. Here's Abe Friedtanzer
This year has had its share of disappointments, but there’s plenty to celebrate personally and cinematically. I’m fortunate to have great weather in Los Angeles where I can spend time outdoors on a regular basis. It’s also been exciting to write much more frequently for The Film Experience and to interact with contributors and readers who were mostly willing to forgive my lukewarm attitude towards Schitt’s Creek. Here are ten movie/TV-related reasons I’d like to give thanks:
• Parasite winning Best Picture. I predicted 1917 but couldn’t have been more thrilled to see a stat-busting international triumph. It’s also the first time since The Departed that my #1 film of the year was also chosen by Oscar.
• The Sundance Film Festival happened completely as normal. For my seventh time in Park City, Utah, I got to see 41 films and enjoy sitting in the front row in crowded theaters for five movies in a row per day for a week straight. Little did I know that January would be my last visit to a movie theater...
me and my hair circa January/June/November
• Being able to measure time by the length of my hair in YouTube video reviews.
• When SXSW and Tribeca were cancelled after I had already made my screening schedules, there emerged a number of virtual film festivals later in the year like NewFest, AFI Fest, and DOC NYC that provided new opportunities to get to know great filmmakers and sample diverse storytelling without having to leave my home.
• Every “Huzzah” uttered by Nicholas Hoult in The Great. Can we get him a slew of trophies to celebrate the majesty of his performance and everything about this show?
• The unique and complicated romance of Connell and Marianne on Normal People, which I kept reading rave reviews of on this site before finally watching it and understanding its excellence myself.
• A marvelously immersive experience in Unorthodox. I still can’t forget this amazing scene featuring Shira Haas where she sings a moving version of the same song that I walked down the aisle to when I married my wife six years ago.
• A stirring return to wondrous memories of Beasts of the Southern Wild with director Benh Zeitlin’s long-awaited follow-up, Wendy, which I so wish had been more widely and positively received.
• Nick Mohammed, a truly endearing breakout star who created and starred in Intelligence, now streaming on Peacock, and found an even more likeable role on Apple TV Plus’ Ted Lasso.
• Getting to chat with other Team Experience contributors about our shared love of television and the Emmys.
Here's to even more things to anticipate and love in 2021.