Nathaniel Gives Thanks, 2020
Thursday, November 26, 2020 at 1:10PM 
by Nathaniel R
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, READERS! It occured to me the other day that for as crappy as pandemic shut-in 2020 has been, we should be grateful for it... at least here in the US. Without the pandemic, despite a quarter million lives lost, we would surely have been stuck with the worst and most corrupt government in our history and the end of Democracy as fascists cemented their rule. It's not that the threat is gone exactly. Due to numerous ills embedded in American society, we could still see Democracy vanquished. But we have bought ourselves at least a couple of years reprieve (more if we're lucky and continue getting out the vote). So, I never thought I'd say this but "thank you, COVID" (?)
On a lighter and more movie-site note here are 15 showbiz things that I was personally grateful for this past year...
• The opportunity to moderate a Beanpole discussion at Film Forum (before movie theaters closed *cries*) for the absurdly talented 28 year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov. The movie wasn't nominated at the Oscars but at least it made the international finals!
• The sound design of Sound of Metal for putting us inside Riz Ahmed's head. It's the closest we've ever been to his perfect face and we're grateful...