AshleyN

PGA Nominations 1917 Ford v Ferrari The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Knives Out Little Women Marriage Story Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood Parasite DGA Nominations Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite” Sam Mendes, “1917” Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman” Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Taika Waititi, “Jojo Rabbit” Looks like the first four are pretty much locked in, with the fifth spot a complete toss-up. I wouldn't be surprised to see any of Waititi, Phillips, Baumbach, Gerwig, or even Pedro Almodovar take it.

Morgan Freeman, either, if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, BAFTA's issues with POC, and especially black actors, are notorious among awards watchers by now. I'm not sure it'll be that much better at the Oscars though. I doubt there will be a full #Oscarssowhite again, as at least one of Lupita/Awkwafina/Cynthia Erivo is likely getting into best actress (maybe two, given what a no1curr Bombshell turned out to be), and JLo still looks good for a nomination at least. Beyond that though, who's even in contention? Maybe Song Kang-ho for Parasite gets in as a passion pick, given how up-for-grabs that fifth slot in supporting actor is?

I think Banderas still has a really good shot at the Oscars -- like I said earlier SAG nominations tend to be restricted to more mainstream stuff and they almost never nominate foreign-language performances (which is why the Parasite nomination is a genuinely big deal). The Oscars on the other hand use a preferential ballot system that rewards passion picks and their membership is much more international (especially after the huge influx of new voters the last couple of years, of which many were foreign). Sandler on the other hand is hurt by the combination of how small-scale his film is and the fact that Best Actor is just a really competitive category this year -- look no further than the fact that a bona fide legend in Robert De Niro might miss for giving his most acclaimed performance in years (decades?) in a Best Picture frontrunner. I think he really would have needed to be THE clear critics choice in order to have a shot, but even that didn't happen with Banderas and Driver sucking up all the oxygen there.

To expand: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”) Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”) Taron Egerton (“Rocketman”) Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”) Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”) Lupita Nyong’o (“Us”) Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”) Renée Zellweger (“Judy”) Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Jamie Foxx (“Just Mercy”) Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”) Al Pacino (“The Irishman”) Joe Pesci (“The Irishman”) Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”) Nicole Kidman (“Bombshell”) Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”) Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”) Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: “Bombshell” (Lionsgate) “The Irishman” (Netflix) “Jojo Rabbit” (Fox) “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Sony) “Parasite” (Neon) ... That ensemble nomination is a huge get for Parasite. SAG tends to lean populist and they basically never nominate foreign language performances -- even the ones that go on to be nominated at the Oscars (I'm guessing Antonio Banderas will continue that trend this year). For comparison's sake, Roma was shut out here last year. I already thought it was in for nominations in Picture/Director, but how seriously should we be taking it for the win I wonder? On the flip side, Marriage Story missing ensemble despite three individual nominations isn't a great sign. Little Women was shut out by the Art Directors Guild, Costume Designers Guild (which should have been a gimme), and now here. Yikes. It really looks like skipping the festival circuit was a mistake.

Damn, what a sausage fest. To be honest, I think at least part of the problem is that women only seem to get nominated when there's an "overwhelming consensus choice". You pretty much never see female directors get nominated as a fringe fourth/fifth nominee* -- they have to be undeniable. *And if they did you know there would be people whining about it being an agenda-driven choice, and not on merit. Beyond that though, when it comes to these nominations in particular I think the bigger issue is the almost complete snubbage of female-led/female-driven films in general. Of the ten best picture nominees only two even have female leads, and in both cases they it's a co-lead situation with a man. That's ridiculous.

LA Film Critics Awards: Best Picture: Parasite Runner-up: The Irishman Director: Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) Runner-up: Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) Actor: Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) Runner-up: Adam Driver (Marriage Story) Actress: Mary Kay Place (Diane) Runner-up: Lupita Nyong'o (Us) Supporting Actor: Song Kang Ho (Parasite) Runner-up: Joe Pesci (The Irishman) Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) Runner-up: Zhao Shuzhen (The Farewell) Screenplay: Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story) Runner-up: Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won (Parasite) Documentary: American Factory Runner-up: Apollo 11 Animation: I Lost My Body Runner-up: Toy Story 4 Foreign-language: Pain and Glory Runner-Up: Portrait of a Lady on Fire Editing: Todd Douglas Miller (Apollo 11) Runner-up: Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) Production Design: Barbara Ling (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) Runner-up: Ha Jun Lee (Parasite) Music/Score: Dan Levy (I Lost My Body) Runner-up: Thomas Newman (1917) Cinematography: Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Atlantics) Runner-up: Roger Deakins (1917) Career Achievement Award: Elaine May Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film: Ja'Tovia Gary's The Governy Documentary New Generation: Joe Talbot, Jimmie Fails and Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco ... Big day for Parasite as expected, but The Irishman clearly had a lot of support here as well. First win for JLo! Joe Pesci continues to be the critics pick from The Irishman cast. I wonder if that will continue into the industry awards, or if they'll go more for Pacino. If I had to guess I'd say they're both getting nominated at the Oscars though (in which case a split vote might make things easier for a Brad Pitt win). And of course:

Agreed. I get why the performance and the accent didn't work for everyone, but I thought he was hilarious. It was actually weird watching the trailer for No Time to Die and seeing him back in super-serious Bond mode so soon after watching this. Him and Chris Evans were clearly having a blast with roles so far removed from their big franchise characters.

Loved this. Super fun, a plot that was just twisty enough without feeling forced, a great cast led by what should be a star-making performance from Ana de Armas, and two of my absolute favourite lines of dialogue of the year: "I read a tweet about a New Yorker article about you." "What were the overheard words by the Nazi child masturbating in the bathroom?" Not to mention that ridiculous (in a good way) doughnut monologue. It was a clever take on the genre to essentially show us what happened so early, and to tie our perspective to Marta's instead of Blanc's, with the result being that the audience is left kind of rooting for the "brilliant detective" to fail. That being said, I did assume all along that there would end up being more to the story, and in particular that the naloxone didn't disappear from her bag by accident (plus, there was always the dangling plot threat of who hired Blanc and why). The reveal at the end wasn't necessarily shocking, but it was satisfying, which I think is more important. And that final shot was just perfect.

New York Film Critics Circle winners: Best Film: “The Irishman” Best Director: Benny and Josh Safdie, “Uncut Gems” Best First Film: “Atlantics,” Mati Diop Best Actor: Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory” Best Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, “Us” Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci, “The Irishman” Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern for “Marriage Story” and “Little Women” Best Non-Fiction Film: “Honeyland” Best Screenplay: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino Best Cinematography: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Claire Mathon Best Foreign Language Film: “Parasite” Best Animated Film: “I Lost My Body” Special Award: Randy Newman Special Award: Indie Collect Looks like they really wanted to spread the wealth. Another big win for The Irishman (although it's a little weird that it took Best Picture on back to back days but Scorsese couldn't win director either time). Recent years have shown that early frontrunner status isn't always a good thing though. It's very early, but so far Parasite hasn't been able to break out of the foreign language box the way Roma did. That's an great win for Lupita. The early release for Us meant that she was in danger of being overlooked in favour of contenders who came later, but this should put her right back in the conversation. Finally, I feel like awards love for Antonio Banderas should be automatically accompanied by this:

Same. One of the main appeals of a potential Black Widow movie for me was that it was an opportunity for Marvel to scale things down a bit and just do a cool spy movie. Instead it looks like they're still going the route of the typical big bang CGI fest. I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, everyone knows the formula by now, but I can't help but be a little disappointed.

Wow, Knives Out made back it's budget it the first week. That's awesome! I saw the movie and liked it a lot, but even if I hadn't I'm always rooting for these types of mid-budget original films to do well. Between this and the solid numbers the Murder on the Orient Express remake did a couple of years ago, I wonder if we might see a mini-revival of the "murder mystery with a starry cast" genre.

So today was the unofficial start to awards season, with the announcement of the National Board of Review winners: Best Film: THE IRISHMAN Best Director: Quentin Tarantino, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Best Actor: Adam Sandler, UNCUT GEMS Best Actress: Renée Zellweger, JUDY Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Best Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates, RICHARD JEWELL Best Original Screenplay: Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, UNCUT GEMS Best Adapted Screenplay: Steven Zaillian, THE IRISHMAN Breakthrough Performance: Paul Walter Hauser, RICHARD JEWELL Best Directorial Debut: Melina Matsoukas, QUEEN & SLIM Best Animated Feature: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD Best Foreign Language Film: PARASITE Best Documentary: MAIDEN Best Ensemble: KNIVES OUT Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Roger Deakins, 1917 NBR Icon Award: Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino NBR Freedom of Expression Award: FOR SAMA NBR Freedom of Expression Award: JUST MERCY Top Films (in alphabetical order) “1917” “Dolemite is My Name” “Ford v Ferrari” “Jojo Rabbit” “Knives Out” “Marriage Story” “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” “Richard Jewell” “Uncut Gems” “Waves” I expect the critics awards to be a battle among The Irishman, Parasite, and Marriage Story, and it looks like The Irishman drew first blood (even though NBR isn't technically a "critics" group). It'll be interesting to see if that will continue with the New York critics, who announce tomorrow. I'll be shocked if Parasite doesn't win in LA. I actually saw Knives Out yesterday so it was nice to see the ensemble, which was truly terrific, rewarded here. I hope they get a SAG nomination. That's a good start for Adam Sandler. I know he has great reviews, but the film is pretty under the radar, so he'll need as many mentions as he can get to keep his name in the mix.

So The Irishman premiered tonight, and the initial response seems to be big fat raves. This actually surprised me a bit, because a lot of Scorcese movies seem to start off fairly divisive, and (usually) grow in reputation over time. It's interesting, though not really surprising, to note that the reviews indicate that it's a lot slower and more contemplative than the trailers indicated. I'll say this: if there's any narrative that can overcome the final hurdle of the anti-Netflix brigade, the idea of them swooping in to offer one of America's most revered filmmakers all the money and creative freedom that he apparently couldn't get from the studios would probably be at the top of the list. Also, it's kind of funny that this year features the first Scorcese/De Niro collaboration in decades competing against Joker, given all the Taxi Driver/King of Comedy comparisons I've seen with the latter.

I don't watch a ton of skating on Youtube, but the most watched for me are: Yagudin's 2002 Olympic programs (both short and long) Shen and Zhao's Turandot Virtue and Moir's Umbrellas of Cherbourg -- I think they may have had "better"/more difficult/more sophisticated programs later on, but there's something about how youthful and fresh this feels that's just magic for me, and makes it endlessly rewatchable. Ice Dance had always been my least favourite of the skating discipline's, and this program is really what made me a big fan.

Pretty sure Grey Worm had power because he commanded the army that was in control of the city.

Dany's ending would have gone down a lot better if she'd been written the last few seasons the way she was in this episode. A reformer-turned-zealot who through her repeated successes comes to believe more and more in her own saviour narrative, to the point where she's convinced that any ends justify the means would have made a lot of sense for her, and I wish that idea had been explored more in the lead-up. Overall, I was liked it, though it wasn't without its faults. I have much the same criticism as the last episode, in that it felt very GRRM-y, but in a way that the show hasn't set up clearly enough. If Martin's problem is that he's prone to tangents and drags things out too much, D&D are the opposite, in that they tend to be so focused on getting through the plot that things become rushed and characterization breaks down. And while I actually think their more focused approach has helped a lot at times, here it ended up feeling like they were scrambling to get back to the book's ending after diverging so much in previous seasons, and didn't want to devote the time that would have been necessary to make it feel more organic. The events of this episode alone could have easily taken up half a season. Basically, this is a long-winded way of saying that I think a lot of the choices here make more sense in the context of the books than the show. And since I'm pretty convinced at this point that GRRM isn't finishing them, and thus this has to serve as my only ending for this story, I'm more or less satisfied. It's also the place where he was happiest, and the place where he fit in more than any other, as opposed to in the south, where in the show at least he's always been written as uncomfortable and out of his depth. I actually thought Jon's ending (starting with him having to once again make the choice between duty and love, and once again choosing the greater good over his own desires) was probably the most fitting of anyone. It probably helps that I've never believed he'd end up on the throne, so it was pretty much either this or death in my mind. While I thought this moment itself was too on-the-nose, I actually liked how they approached the subject. Westeros at this point is nowhere near developed enough for a true democracy to be believable, but they're moving in the direction of it by moving away from the idea of heriditary leadership. Having a council of noblemen elect a leader (from their own of course, at this point) constitutes the first steps that will hopefully lead in the direction of democracy.

On a positive note, I really liked the choice to have Arya as our POV character for the destruction of the city. She's a character who tends to be portrayed as untouchable and very rarely shows vulnerability, so it was a good way of emphasizing how devastating and hopeless the attack was (assassin skills aren't much help against falling buildings). Plus, it was a nice throwback to the earlier seasons where Arya served as our window into the lives of the common people and how they were suffering as a result of the Game of Thrones. And having Sandor be the one to convince her to choose life and humanity over revenge was a lovely final bow on one of the show's best relationships.

I'm not sure we did though? We saw her trying to learn to rule in Mereen, but most of her efforts there failed and in the end she solved that problem the way she solved every other problem: Fire and Blood. Dany has never hesitated to resort to brutality, and if anything tends to default to it unless talked down, which is why I really have no problem with the idea behind her actions here. I just take issue with how it played out. Regarding Cersei, I think the reason her death feels somewhat unsatisfying is because with all of the other "big bads" of the series their deaths came either directly or indirectly as a result of their own actions, a form of karmic payback: Joffrey's abuse of women lead to Olenna taking him out before he could hurt Margaery, Tywin's horrible treatment of his son led to the latter finally snapping and killing him, Ramsay...that goes without saying, Littlefinger after all those years was finally made to answer for his many crimes. With Cersei, I guess her execution of Missandei played a part in Dany snapping and destroying the city, but it was really just one of many factors and the way the episode was framed made it feel more like she was just collateral damage in Dany's rampage.

They pretty much killed Jon's character when they decided to (a) insert Sansa into the Northern storyline, and (b) turn the Northerners into a bunch of fickle, useless, assholes. Like, the show version has always been more one-note than book Jon who among other things was far more politcally astute, but by the time they got to Season 5 it seemed like they had finally managed to depict him as someone who had become more sure of himself and in his own way had grown into a real leader, albeit a flawed one. But then they basically undid all of that* because they wanted Sansa to be the politician of the family, and unfortunately their go-to method of writing "smart" characters (not that I think they've been overly successful in that regard with Sansa) is to make everyone around them dumb and/or useless. So rather than have them, you know, work together to try to save humanity, each utilizing their own strengths, we got a whole lot of artificial tension. *And honestly, I could understand the regression somewhat when it came to Season 6 -- the depression and PTSD that resulted from him literally dying rendered him ineffective, lacking confidence, and struggling to find motivation. But then they had that great scene of him in BotB crawling out of that pile of bodies and choosing to live and it felt like they were going to get him back on track, but...nothing. If anything he became more passive than ever. Even when it came to fighting the White Walkers, his driving motivation for the entire series, it felt kind of half-hearted in comparison to the earlier seasons. Really, the only remotely satisfying ending for him at this point is to realize that he doesn't belong in the south and head beyond the Wall again for good.

They're both doing their own version of Ned Stark cosplay, which is a detail I've appreciated for awhile now.

I agree with this in general, but the execution is the really issue. If the idea had been that she'd gotten pissed enough, and had bought into her own mythology as a saviour figure enough, to throw off the shackles and stop giving a shit about the collateral damage I could buy it, in that she had convinced herself that the ends justify the means. It's not like she's ever shied away from using brutal means to achieve her goals. But to jump all the way to outright mass slaughter of innocents for no gain at all was just too big of a leap to make with such little setup.

Enter Arya... We were all focused on her killing the wrong queen.

This is kind of where I'm at: Weirdly enough, this might have felt the most GRRM-like of anything the show has done in ages, and I can absolutely believe this is his intended ending. But unfortunately the show hasn't done the same work to set it up, both in terms of Dany's characterization and the much heavier focus on the anti-war themes, the ugly side of revenge fantasies, and the idea that it's ultimately the common people who suffer the most under this system. Last week I actually defended the idea that Dany's has long been portrayed as skirting the line between saviour and tyrant, and her instincts when challenged almost always go straight to Fire and Blood, but the idea that she'd commit an all out, intentional massacre of innocents AFTER the city had surrendered and she had already won just isn't supported by what we've seen from her in the show. Also, goddamn I am disappointed in where they took Jaime here.

Dany's been leading, and feeding, armies for years now, a lot longer than Sansa has. The idea that she'd suddenly forget they need to eat is silly. (Sorry, but I'm incapable of seeing this question without reminding everyone of my girl Margaery. Damn you Cersei!) I'll also agree with whoever said Renly could have been good. He was a bit superficial, but decent enough, and most importantly had a gift for making people want to follow him. As long as he had a strong Hand to help with the day to day running of the kingdom he would have served perfectly as the charming, diplomatic figurehead.

I think Dany has always been portrayed as skirting the line between strong hand and tyrant, and there have been a few times she's had to be talked down from her "burn first, ask questions later" instincts. Tbh, when it comes to the show at least I've never really thought of it as Targaryan madness so much as a result of the circumstances surrounding her path to power -- everything she has she's had to take by force, and the situations she found herself in were ones where any sign of weakness would have led to death. I mean, It's not like she acquired the Unsullied army or the Dothraki though measured negotiation. Personally, I don't think she's mad so much as she's a lot more suited to conquering than ruling* (something that's been specifically pointed out in universe, by Daario I believe). I think that's why she's having trouble with Westeros -- in her previous conquests she never really cared about spilling blood or maintaining the favour of anyone other than the slaves she was freeing really. Here she's basically trying to take the throne while pissing off as few people as possible, which isn't really something she's ever had to worry about before. *And for all the Mereen plot was supposed to be about her learning to do the latter, it ended with the same resolution as every other problem Dany has encountered: Fire and Blood.