Hello, Gorgeous: Best Actress of 2016

A new series by Juan Carlos Ojano

This year’s group of nominees prove to be interesting with regards to their character introductions. One of them has one of the most disturbing, NSFW introductions this category has probably ever seen. Two of these films begin with a closeup of the actresses’ faces that also serve as the very first shots of their respective films. Three of the nominees are in the first scenes of their films (or four, if you count La La Land’s long take). Four of them are introduced with the key male character related to their personal journey.

All five of them are introduced in ways that strongly relate not only to how they identify themselves, but even how the people around them and their environment see them. As a group, all of the nominees’ first moments are filled with details that serve as the character's defining characteristics, even more than any other set of nominees since this series began. Are you ready?

The year is 2016. [NSFW CONTENT WARNING: Sexual violence]...

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AARP Deems Loving The Most Grownup Movie of the Year

by Daniel Crooke

As Paul Ryan and his conference of House Republicans noodle over whether to raise the national retirement age, it’s more important than ever to stand with the AARP – even in Oscar season, when they honor their annual favorites in film. You can rely upon their Movies for Grownups Awards to serve up some fresh names in the same-old stale category line-ups and this year’s idiosyncratic nominations were no different: Molly Shannon! Tilda Swinton! Stephen McKinley Henderson! The ballots have been collected, the final winners tabulated, and this year the AARP Movies for Grownups selected Loving as the Best Picture of 2016. And Character Actress Margo Martindale will host their awards ceremony!

It would be silly to blow these awards out of proportion but as Nathaniel has pointed out, it’s interesting to consider the chief commonality between the Academy and the AARP: age.

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A Year with #52FilmsByWomen

Year in Review. Every afternoon, a new wrap-up. Today Glenn on his year with #52FilmsByWomen

The hashtag ‘52FilmsByWomen’ was started by Women in Film as a means of getting people to consciously watch at least one film a week directed by a woman. It seems like a simple mission considering the number of films many of us watch for both work and pleasure, but I have no doubt that of the 10,000+ people who pledged to do it, many didn’t reach the goal. That’s all right, though, because I saw enough for two.

No, really. In 2016, I watched 105 titles including feature films, shorts, and documentaries. They cover classics, new releases, hidden gems, animations, comedy, horror, and from all over the world. Here are...

TEN OBSERVATIONS FROM MY YEAR OF #52FILMSBYWOMEN

Subverting Toxic Masculinity
We don’t just want more women making films for their fine-tuned insights into the lives of women – Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women and Anna Rose Holmer’s The Fits being perhaps the most obvious examples among this year’s releases that I saw – but also for their unique takes on men and masculinity.

Look no further for Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier for a film that couldn’t have been made by a man, but which has so much to say in this year of “toxic masculinity”. What a shame it didn't catch fire with arthouse audiences and award voters. I wasn't too taken by Tsangari's Attenberg, but I responded to Chevalier more than any of Yorgos Lanthimos' works so far, so make of that what you will.

I’ll Go Anywhere with Andrea Arnold
From the surveilled streets of Scotland in Red Road, the council estates of Essex in Fish Tank, the moors of Wuthering Heights, and now, apparently, the American Midwest...

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Oscar Dark Horse Watch: Joel Edgerton for Best Actor

by Lynn Lee

As we approach the start of Oscar voting, the race for Best Actor remains comparatively quiet, especially when compared with the super-tight margins in the Best Actress category.  Currently the smart money has the Academy tracking the SAG lineup, with Casey Affleck and Denzel Washington as virtual locks (notwithstanding the continued rumbling about those 2010 sexual harassment suits against Affleck) and Ryan Gosling, Viggo Mortensen, and Andrew Garfield filling the remaining slots...

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New Oscar Predictions: Acting Categories... Locked Up or Not?

By Nathaniel R

Post SAG & Globe Nominations each year oscar's acting categories start feeling locked up. But here's something always worth remembering: Each year brings us 1 or 2 new additions to the "nominated for SAG & Globe but still missed Oscar" close-but-no-cigar club.  This year in particular seems unlikely to have as much exact 5/5 correlation due to the double whammy of Oscar's acting branch voting a little later than usual (they don't get ballots until January 5th) and the precursors voting a smidge earlier than usual. The next two weeks are crucial; no one who is remotely close to a nomination should give up just yet.

ACTRESS
Portman has been winning lots of critics awards but, strangely, her film (just as strong or even stronger than her eery performance) isn't doing as well. She's not exactly locked for a second win but she's definitely giving Emma Stone a fright and probably preventing Amy Adams or Annette Bening from dreaming of their first very long-awaited wins. The nomination race is even tighter...

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