This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2021

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a fun, ingenious, great-looking and quietly features a queer protagonist. Glad it won over any of the year's Disney offerings.

<s>a</s> fun

ugh--crypto vs. the machines

OK, maybe it is a sweep after all...

BEST DIRECTOR: Jane Campion for "The Power of the Dog" #NYFCC

— Falco Ink (@Sidney_Falco) December 3, 2021

BEST SCREENPLAY: "Licorice Pizza" #NYFCC

— Falco Ink (@Sidney_Falco) December 3, 2021

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "West Side Story" #NYFCC

— Falco Ink (@Sidney_Falco) December 3, 2021

BEST FILM: "Drive My Car" #NYFCC

— Falco Ink (@Sidney_Falco) December 3, 2021

God that feels good.

so why is this one the Hamaguchi of choice?

Watched "The Power of the Dog" last night. Maybe it was my COVID booster fogging up my head, but I found it almost too nuanced and subtle to follow. I did appreciate the performances and cinematography. Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee were great. Jesses Plemons is always winning in schlub mode. Kind of made me want to rewatch season 2 of Fargo.

I had to warm up to it too. Once Campion establishes the characters, it gets goin'.

Yeah, the second half is def better.

Thought Kirsten Dunst came off worst tbh, not v convincing as a drunk

I'll see it in the next few days, either at a theatre or on TV. I have to say, that's such a clunky title.

I kinda wanna read the book first.

can i just say: benedetta

You’ve seen? I am intrigued

Memoria and Drive My Car are the ones I most want to watch, but can't see them coming my way anytime soon

can i just say: benedetta

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Saturday, December 4, 2021 7:10 PM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Say it.

Is Virginie Efira in that? She is always good. Yes, I see that she is.

some critics have suggested it's a step down from elle but i think it's about as great. it's arthouse exploitation in the mode of verhoeven's previous two, and i also love that all of these movies focus on women who never fully give themselves away

it is also, imo, the lesbian nun movie i was promised

it's also soooo gross and fucking hilarious

Although really I have only seen two things on MUBI she starred in.

benedetta my most anticipated and brad’s post got me stoked anew. elle is one of my favs of the last decade for sure

It's good. Charlotte Rampling ftr

R. Brody's #1 is a choice...

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2021-in-review/the-best-movies-of-2021

1. “The French Dispatch”
2. “Licorice Pizza”
3. “Zola”
4. “I Was a Simple Man”
5. “In the Same Breath”
6. “C’mon C’mon”
7. “Passing”
8. “Pebbles” (“Koozhangal”)
9. “Petite Maman”
10. “Procession”

And J. Ro...

https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2021/10/sight-and-sound-ten-best-list-2021/

1. First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)
2. Her Socialist Smile (John Gianvito)
3. Tiong Bahru Social Club (Tan Bee Thiam)
4. Martin und Hans (Mark Rappaport)
5. John Farrow Hollywood’s Man in the Shadows (Claude Gonzalez & Frans Vanderburg)
6. While We Were Here (Sunčica Fradelić)
7. Letters from the Ends of the World (a dozen of the first graduates of Béla Tarr’s FilmFactory)
8. Uncut Gems (Josh & Benny Saftie)
9. Cry Macho (Clint Eastwood)

An incomplete list of nine titles for an incomplete, pandemic year that cries out for updates and afterthoughts. That may help to explain why many items here are at least partially films/videos about films/videos (and at least one item, Letters…, is about the pandemic). Having to compile a so-called ‘2021’ list in October compels me to add Uncut Gems, seen too late in 2020 to make it onto last year’s list.

Petite Maman was underwhelming even given its running time, but I may need to give it another shot.

thought Uncut Gems was repulsive, but it stays in my memory

like Tony Blair

zola doesnt belong anywhere near these lists imo

hence its appearance on mine

Just aortic dissect me...

2021 WAFCA AWARD WINNER:
Best Actor: Andrew Garfield (tick, tick...BOOM!)https://t.co/vYa5JRtzuu #WAFCA #WAFCA2021 pic.twitter.com/8P1lBEixCI

— WAFCA (@WAFCA) December 6, 2021

Started watching it an hour ago while working out, bailed screaming after 15 minutes.

I'm sure I'll see a worst one as I deep dive into Oscar crap, but as of now the musical number pantomime of his fight with his girlfriend is the year's bar that'll have to be surpassed.

(Grudgingly admit that Garfield acts the shit out of the part, but in a way that makes one need to avert one's eyes.)

Grudgingly admit that Garfield acts the shit out of the part,

That's the trouble.

Here's the full DC crix winners:

Best Film:
Belfast

Best Director:
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Best Actor:
Andrew Garfield (tick, tick...BOOM!)

Best Actress:
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

Best Supporting Actor:
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

Best Supporting Actress:
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Mass

Best Youth Performance:
Woody Norman (C'mon C'mon)

Best Voice Performance:
Awkwafina (Raya and the Last Dragon)

Best Original Screenplay:
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Best Animated Feature:
The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Best Documentary:
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Best International/Foreign Language Film:
Drive My Car

Best Production Design:
Patrice Vermette, Production Designer; Richard Roberts and Zsuzsanna Sipos, Set Decorators (Dune)

Best Cinematography:
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS (Dune)

Best Editing:
Myron Kerstein, ACE; Andrew Weisblum, ACE (tick, tick...BOOM!)

Best Original Score:
Hans Zimmer (Dune)

An opinion.

NYT crix go for Drive My Car and Summer of Soul...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/movies/best-movies.html

Manohla Dargis
01. Drive My Car
02. The Power of the Dog
03. The Velvet Underground
04. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
05. Passing
06. Azor
07. The Card Counter
08. The Disciple
09. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
10. Spencer

A.O. Scott
01. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
02. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
03. The Power of the Dog
04. Petite Maman
05. Bring Your Own Brigade
06. Bergman Island
07. Drive My Car
08. Memoria
09. West Side Story
10. The Velvet Underground

Bad Luck Banging is made to be included on year-end lists, and may well be an accurate portrait of the times we live in, but I very much disliked it.

This guy ... https://variety.com/lists/2021-best-movies/owen-gleibermans-top-10-2/

Owen G's top 10

01. Spencer
02. House of Gucci
03. The Beatles: Get Back
04. Drive My Car
05. Cruella
06. Zola
07. King Richard
08. Zack Snyder's Justice League
09. CODA
10. Parallel Mothers

Just got my ILX film poll email BTW

Compiling it is gonna be interesting, my film watching the last couple years is barely limited to the year in which I’m watching

It said "2020" -- did I read it wrong?

I think we actually are just catching up to last year, no?

Which, great, I finally watched Days and it's my #1 of 2020!

huzzah!

Oh, is it for 2020? Cool!

Sight and Sound top 50:

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/polls/50-best-films-2021

NY Film Critics Online live:

ACTOR: In this corner of the multiverse, Benedict Cumberbatch's POWER OF THE DOG performance was the dominant favorite. pic.twitter.com/j9YWWXH7Zv

— NYFilmCriticsOnline (@NYFCOOfficial) December 12, 2021

ACTRESS: It's only appropriate that Tessa Thompson joined her PASSING co-star, Ruth Negga, in the winner's circle. pic.twitter.com/YFP47DCLgq

— NYFilmCriticsOnline (@NYFCOOfficial) December 12, 2021