82nd Golden Globes Nominations

The Golden Globes are not what they used to be but perhaps now they'll start to recuperate their reputation now that they're are back to prime TV as awards ceremony will be broadcasted by CBS and also by their streaming service, Paramount+. Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes used to be a very-funny televised show, quite dynamic with many unexpected (and very controversial) moments during the fun-to-watch no matter how long show. Let's hope this year show goes back to be the most entertaining awards show of the season.

As been mentioned in other posts I'm totally biased toward one of my very-favorite film director and yes I'm rooting for his film to win EVERYTHING!!! (LOL). No, seriously, Emilia Pérez is getting many honors from the new award owners (no longer are the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - now is Dick Clark Productions), as got 10 nominations, including two for masterfilmaking Jacques Audiard. Following are The Brutalist with 7, Conclave with 6, and with 5 each Anora and The Substance.

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2024 British Independent Film Awards Winners

Last night the British Independent Film Awards had their awards ceremony at the Roundhouse with host Peter Serafinowicz and star awards presenters including Alicia Vikander, Martin Freeman, Indira Varma, and James Norton who joined nominees and guests to celebrate the wealth of talent across British Independent film and beyond.

As expected -due to high Brit industry buzz- Kneecap was the big winner with 7 awards including Best British Independent Film, Best Debut Screenwriter,  and Best Joint Lead.  Undoubtedly the best quote from an acceptance speech comes from Rich Peppiat when he said: "There is an irony in the Best British film being Irish".  LOL

Best director went to Rungano Nyoni for his second feature after fabulous I Am Not A Witch and perhaps the most interesting award because of the recipients is the Best Ensemble Performance that went to Wicked Little Letters with a fantastic cast that includes Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eillen Atkins, Timothy Spall and Hugh Skinner. Yes, I have seen Wicked Little Letters and my mini-review goes like this, a very-very-British dry comedy, maybe missing a higher touch of beloved Brit dark humor.

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50th Annual Los Angeles Fim Critics Association Awards

Yesterday the so-called "most powerful" group of American film critics voted their 2024 awards and unlike their east coast counterparts who chose The Brutalist, their top award went to Cannes Palm d'Or winner Anora. Worth mention that The Brutalist was their runner-up and consequently it's becoming clearer that according to critics, The Brutalist and Anora could (or should) become Oscar contenders.

Group opted for performance neutral categories but then gave 2 awards in both lead and supporting performances, including the runners-up. Lead performance has 2 female winners and two female runners-up while supporting performance and runners-up had 2 males each. Sorry, but for these type of results think I prefer gender clarification as tends to give more opportunities to women and men in their own crafts; so please stop, there should be Best Actress and Best Actor in lead and supporting performances. Sigh.

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37th European Film Award Winners

Update December 8, 2024. In general, it was a nice-to-watch awards ceremony, very-European -as always-, with an agreeable polyglot host Fernando Tiberini, and a nice venue KKL Luzern on the shores of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Sigh.

BUT, it was too long. Mainly due to too-long speeches and since it was broadcasted, TV audience could see attendees falling asleep after the more acceptable 2 hours for a non-dynamic show.

Still there were some very exciting, quite funny, and short speeches -mainly by Jacques Audiard- and some serious but impactful speeches -Juliette Binoche, Karla Sofía Gascón and othe presenters or award winners-.

But the most exciting event of the night for me was Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard swept the board by triumphing in almost all top categories. Yes, I know film is divisive with many liking it (perhaps European?) the film and other many not-liking the film (mainly American). First let me explain or remain loyal readers, Jacque Audiard is one of my very favorite film directors and believe this film is as good as his first film I saw: A Prophet. I simply loved the film and stayed in my head for days trying to assimilate the many film layers and most of all, the experience! It's a fantastic and complete cinematic experience and yes, is the very first time I could say those words for a musical film!

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2024 National Board of Review Award Winners

Yesterday the National Board of Review (NBR) announced its honorees and leading the pack is Wicked with 3 awards, Best Film, Best Director, and the Spotlight Award.

The National Board of Review was originally founded to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.’s revocation of moving picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908 and since 1909 the organization has been recognizing excellence in filmmaking. This year, 246 films were viewed by a select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters. Ballots were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz and Carr CPA.

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40th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

Today Film Independent, the nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering independence and inclusivity in visual storytelling, announced the nominations for the 40th annual edition of the Spirit Awards and leading the pack with 6 nominations each are Anora and I Saw the TV Glow.

This year the Spirit Awards Film Nominating Committees selected nominees from over 17 different countries with budget ranges between $112,000 to $28 million, applying the following guidelines in determining nominees: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter and economy of means. Of all the 2025 nominees, 46% are women and 30% are BIPOC. Within the nominated writers, directors, producers and technical artists, 43% are women and 24% are BIPOC. The nominated performers are 54% women and 48% BIPOC.

The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees are comprised of writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, actors, critics, casting directors, film festival programmers and other working film professionals. This year, the Spirit Awards nominating committees are 47% female, 10% Nonbinary, 7% Transgender, and 66% BIPOC; 45% identify as LGBTQ+ and 13% identify as people with disabilities (PWD).

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2024 Film Critics Awards - In Progress

What's New

December 9: Winners from Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Hollywood Creative Alliance's Astra Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics, and Washington Area Film Critics Association.

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Three years have pass since the last time I was able to do this compilation and as the first film critics group announced yesterday it's time to try to do this post again to see which film critics group are still alive, which are new and learn what are they liking enough to get their honors.

Worth mentioning is the fact that critics, by trade, are NOT Academy members and consequently cannot vote in the Oscars. Post works as mainly American film critics preferences tally for the current award season. Furthermore, usually film critics' winners data is different to what audiences like and nowadays less and less similar to what AMPAS members like.

There are full list of nominations and winners links to most groups official sites and will add announcements dates when and if they're announced/available.

Post will be in progress until the last group announces its winners which usually happens by the second week of January next year.

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34th Gotham Awards Winners

The 2024 Gotham Awards were held in New York City at Cipriani Wall Street on December 3, 2024 and was a "star-studded" event with many A-Listers in attendance mainly due to the Tributes and not the awards.

The Gotham's are following the trend to eliminate gender in the actor's categories -otherwise known as going gender-neutral-, which I do not approve because is confusing to have so many nominees (10 of which 5 are female and 5 male) and making the process much more difficult for gender non-bias selection. So,  Lead and Supporting Performances are being honored and surprise, surprise (!) winners in both categories are male. Sigh.

Have to recall that nominations are decided by jury of critics, journalists and other industry professionals while winners are decided by an entirely different group of people which makes this award different to Oscars or BAFTAs as the later are determined by filmmakers, actors and other artists who are in the entertainment industry.

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2024 New York Film Critics Circle Award Winners

Last night the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) announced their awards for the current season and as we can see below, they spread their honors into several films as only The Brutalist and Nickel Boys were able to gather 2 awards each.  The Brutalist got one for Best Film and another to Best Actor and Nickel Boys got Best Director and Best Cinematography.

Also, it proves what many film pundits have been writing about, 2025 Oscars -and indeed the 2024/2025 awards season- has no front-runner in top categories as there are many great films with great actor's performances and votes will spread among them all. In about a month when the last film critic's group announces their winners, we will know what the industry critics believe should be honored and then guess if Academy members could think the same.

Most notable is the win for Latvia's submission to #Oscars2024 International Feature Film, Flow by Gints Zilbalodis that was premiered in #Cannes2024 Un Certain Regard section, will not be surprised if film also gets in the animated film Oscars shortlist and probably gets a nomination. Also the film that should have been India's submission but is not, All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia, got honored by this group and is the second award film collects in two days of award's announcements.

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37th European Film Awards Nominations

Few hours ago the European Film Academy announced the nominations for the 2024 edition of the European Film Awards and in the most innovative creation the announcement was done with a video presenting all nominated films and protagonists. Video might not be for all those that love cinema but is a great experiment that could be improved for future uses. So, if you are one of those who didn't like the video do not worry as here is the list with all the nominees and will be kept here to posterity.

No doubt change tend to be hard to assimilate, especially change that create a bit (or a lot) of confussion. Main change for the 2024 edition is the redefinition of the category that gives the top award, Best European Film. As announced a few weeks back, films from the European Documentary and European Animated Feature Film are also eligible and can be considered for a nomination in the European Film category. The result of the new regulation is that there are fifteen (15) films with a NOMINATION in the Best European Film category! Undoubtedly 15 nominees are too-many for one single category.

What confuses me is that there are 5 documentaries and 5 animated feature films included in the 15 nominees and are exactly the same to those nominated in European Documentary and European Animated Film; the other 5 are feature films. So, documentaries and animated films compete in 2 categories while feature film only in one! Does not seem fair.  Perhaps EFA is trying to give more relevance to docs and animation; but, diminishing the importance of feature films may not be the best way.

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2024 British Independent Film Awards Nominations

Few minutes ago organizers, assisted by Mia McKenna-Bruce and Vivian Oparah, announced the 2024 nominations for the award that celebrates British independent films. Kneecap leads the nominations with 14, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Debut Director, Best Debut Screenwriter, Best Independent Film and more.

Kneecap is followed by none other than Love Lies Bleeding by Rose Glass with 12 nominations including Best Independent Film, Best Director, Best Joint Lead Performance for Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian, Best Screenplay, and more.

With 9 nominations follows The Outrun, 7 noms each Bird, Becoming a Guinea Fowl and Unicorns, 6 for Hoard and Civil War, plus more films honored with nominations. In total, 29 British feature films are being honored in current edition.

2024 edition is full of A-listers -which only suggests a possible industry surging trend- and films by female directors -which hope it is an increasing trend-. Among the A-listers are Alicia Vikander (stars in 2 nominated films), Kristen Stewart, Saorise Ronan, Elliot Page, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and newcomer rising real fast, Barry Keoghan, who stars in two honored films.

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37th European Film Awards - Film Selection

A few days back the European Film Academy announced the Film Selection for the current edition of the European Film Awards.

The list with forty-five (45) feature films have been selected by the European Film Academy Board - consulted by a diverse range of European invited experts. With 28 European countries represented both EU and non-EU- there is no doubt that the selection reflects the great diversity in European cinema.

In the coming weeks, the 5,00 members of the European Film Academy will watch and vote the nominations in the categories of Film, Director, Actress, Actor, Screenwriter, and Documentary. The other categories -in total there are 24 categories- will be announced before as it has been done in past years.

EFA nominations will be announced on November 5 and the awards ceremony takes place on December 7 in Lucerne. It is the first time the awards ceremony takes place in Switzerland.

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81st Venice International Film Festival Award Winners

Fest is over but what I was most afraid became real to me, this edition was more about the movie stars/celebrities and less about the movies worth of being at one of the three most important festivals in the world. Sigh.

Fortunatelly the jury didn't participate in all the buzz and fuzz as ended giving awards to very interesting movies or at least, to movies that absolutely are must-be-seen for me as just from trailer called my attention beyond the usual. Perhaps my most favorite trailer images are from Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili's April as looks and feels similar to her previous film Beginning; also, can help but to mention that film was produced by Luca Guadagnino who also produced anothe film that I'm very curious about Giovanni Tortorici's Diciannove (Nineteen).

Can't deny that I'm in cloud nine with Pedro Almodóvar winning the Golden Lion, it was about time! After so many nominations (218 according to IMDb) and so many wins (173 according to IMDb) he finally is honored with a top award from one of the three top film festivals in the world. In my book, he is one of the most original alive master filmmakers in the world and deserves all kinds of industry top honors. Sigh. Now let's hope AMPAS members react to his first feature film in English but being realistic the Golden Lion this year was given by a very homogeneous group as most jurors were film directors and there were only two actresses, of course, one was the President. So, could AMPAS members appreciate his work? We'll see soon as time flies nowadays and we are almost in 2025!

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18th Queer Lion Award Lineup and Award Winner

As we know, the line up of titles competing for the 2024 Queer Lion Award is compiled with the collaboration of Alberto Barbera, Venice International Film Festival director, Gaia Furrer, artistic director of Giornate degli Autori, and Beatrice Fiorentino, general delegate of International Film Critics’ Week. They chose among the films with LGBT stories and characters dealing with civil rights issues related to different sexual orientations, equal opportunities, and fight against homotransphobia.

As always let's start taking a look at the official graphic image of the award and the reasons why this year the image is as seen here.

The Poster

The official image of the 18th edition of Queer Lion Award has been created by award longtime collaborator Francesco Gangemi, illustrator and artist, responsible for more than ten years for the images celebrating our award.

For 2024 he has conceived an intimate, personal image, rich on suggestions investigating the fragile interiority each of us has to face in some moments of our life. The inspiration comes from sonnet CXXXIV from Il Canzoniere, written by italian poet Petrarch in 14th Century.

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39th Venice International Film Critics' Week Lineup

A few hours ago la Settimana announced the current edition lineup and released their graphic image for 2024.

Just to refresh our memory, La Settimana is an independent and parallel section of La Mostra organized by the Union of Italian Film Critics with a program that includes a selection of seven (7) debut films in competition and three (3) special events out of competition.

The Poster

Mauro Uzzeo creative creation is to my eyes, a near-apocalyptic contemplation of recent past, current present and near future. Check his own words here to find that I'm not that far from what his creative intentions took him to produce the creative idea behind the poster, go official site here. Poster Design is by Fabrizio Verrochhi and Graphic Production by Emiliano Mammucari.

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