Review: "The Beasts" of Galicia

by Cláudio Alves

Rodrigo Sorogoyen's The Beasts opened at last year's Cannes Film Festival to thunderous acclaim, beginning  a global trip through film festivals and the odd commercial market. Its greatest success came in Spain and France, the two nations that coproduced the film, whose troubled relation toils the land and souls of a narrative inspired by real-life tragedy. If you're an awards obsessive, you might remember The Beasts from news about the Goyas and César, for the film was a sweeper in the former and won Best Foreign Film against mighty competition in the latter – including the Oscar-nominated Triangle of Sadness, EO, and Close. 

Regarding this bounty, it's easy to feel some skepticism creeping in, though, after you've seen The Beasts, the voters' fervor feels somewhat fair. As the film finally enjoys a limited release in American theaters, let's explore its tale of xenophobia and violence in modern Galicia, where monsters rove, feigning humanity…

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'The Beasts' wins big at the Goyas

by Nathaniel R

THE BEASTS © Greenwich Entertainment

Spain's annual Goya Awards, now in their 37th year,  were held this weekend in Seville. Rodrigo Soroyen's thriller The Beasts, about a middle aged French couple who move to rural Spain and are greeted with surprising hostility by neighbors won big. It took nine prizes from its 17 nominations. (Greenwich Entertainment has distribution rights in the US but no word yet on when it's coming out.) If the name Rodrigo Soroyen sounds familiar to you, that's because he was an Oscar nominee not too long ago with the live-action short Madres (2018)...

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Goya Awards: Javier Bardem & Cate Blanchett honored

by Nathaniel R

Cate Blanchett was honored with a Honorary Goya Award this weekend while The Good Boss, Spain's Oscar finalist (which did not secure a nomination) dominated the awards. Though Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) lost Best Actress to her Volver co-star Blanca Portillo (Maixabel) she still emerged as quite a winner given Cate's shout-out to her brilliance in her own acceptance speech. The list of winners, photos, and fashion after the jump...

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Goya Nominations: "The Good Boss" sets a record and Javier Bardem vies for a 7th win.

by Nathaniel R

Spain's Oscar submission, The Good Boss, starring Javier Bardem has set an all time record, securing a huge 20 nominations (!) at the 36th annual Goya Awards including 75% of the nominees in the Best Supporting Actor category. Pedro Almodóvar's new feature Parallel Mothers, which also has Oscar dreams, was in a distant third place with 8 nominations at Spain's own Oscars-like event.

All the nominations, the two you can see in the US this month, and a little commentary after the jump...

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ICYMI - The Goya Nominations & Winners

by Nathaniel R

In case you missed them... and you might have because we forgot to share them, let's talk about the annual Goya Awards honoring Spanish cinema. Last season Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas's most recent collaboration Pain & Glory was the champ. To honor the 2020 film year, Banderas himself will direct and present the live-streamed ceremony in March 2021. This year the Africa-set drama Adú which is currently streaming on Netflix, and the girls school drama SchoolGirls lead the nominations with 14 and 9 nominations respectively.  UPDATE 3/ 8: Schoolgirls (or The Girls) took the top prize at the ceremony but it tied Adú in wins with 4 each. Coven (also known as Akelarre) won the most trophies with 5 craft wins.

The nominees and winners for the 35th annual Goyas and a few notes are after the jump...

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