This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2015

Last year was Boyhood. Is this year Diary of a Teenage Girl?

http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-diary-of-a-teenage-girl-leads-25th-ifp-gotham-independent-film-awards-nominations-20151022

HISTORY OF DETRIUS:

This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2014
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2013
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2012
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2011
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2010
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2009
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2008
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2007
end-of-2006 film stuff (detrius 2, the Richard Donner Cut)
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2005
This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2004

Too soon?

always too soon

eager for the Laurie Anderson

did any movies even come out this year

I'm hoping Laurie's will be the film of the year, because as of right now, my favorite is No No Sleep.

Early European Film Academy wins: http://cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=300658

drumbeat starting for Brie Larson and the whelp in Room

Laurie Anderson for best actress please.

But, really, the way pundits are predicting that list has my eyes glazing over from all the ingenue blandness: Carey Mulligan, Brie Larson, Saoirse Ronan, Jennifer Lawrence, zzzzzzzzzzz.

only babes 30 and under need apply

Poor Charlotte Rampling.

anyway, I have an early Top Nine, heavy on Jan-May releases (apparently Mountains May Depart doesn't get a release til '16).

Amour Fou
Horse Money
Court
Güeros
Taxi
Magic Mike XXL
The Forbidden Room
Field Niggas
Stations of the Cross

here's a few of my best:

Appropriate Behavior
Girlhood
Timbuktu
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Results
In the Name of My Daughter
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Assassin
It Follows
Victoria
The New Girlfriend

Good timing! I'd added Gueros to my Letterboxd Watchlist way back when, forgot about it, and now I see that it was just released on DVD/streaming.

Only 2015 movies that I've seen so far that are worth a damn are Inside Out and It Follows, but as usual there's A LOT I haven't seen.

I had to return Güeros when the disc arrived with a crack.

So far, I like:

No No Sleep
Heart of a Dog
Maps to the Stars
Mad Max: Fury Road
Cemetery of Splendour
Anomalisa
Inside Out
Blackhat

I didn't count the Joe, as it's not being distributed in the US til March, and is probably not among my favorites of his.

Ah yes, it screened just one night only at Walker this fall.

Maps to the Stars and Inside Out made my runners-up list.

Baffled by the Maps to the Stars love

Were you baffled by Cosmopolis love too?

I don't love MTTS because there's no love in its heart.

or, rather, I like MTTS b/c there's no love in its heart

there's a Cronenberg where its heart ought to b.

I didn't much like Cosmopolis, but could understand why other people might like it, as an exercise in a certain kind of style. But MTTS just seemed so dated and unfunny, so tired and trivial - I mean, isn't a toothless, drab and cheap looking Hollywood satire the very last thing Cronenbergists would/should want from him?

Again, comedy emerging as the very most subjective of genres.

oh morbs is field -- good? tapestore is repping for it i think. nb i mean on twitter i don't mean like i am variety magazine & i'm writing 'george clooney is repped by tapestore'

yes, i thought it was a great slice of street portraiture. the director did q&a after and was an earnest young guy, in a good way.

I don't like Maps to the Stars (overall) because there's no pure hate in its heart.

Soldering at what you think would qualify.

Make that shuddering.

British Independent Film nominations: Lanthimos's The Lobster leads!

https://www.bifa.film/press/releases/nominations-release-2015

European Film Awards, to be presented in Berlin on December 12.

EUROPEAN FILM

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Roy Andersson.
Mustang, Deniz Gamze Ergüven.
Rams, Grímur Hákonarson.
The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos.
Victoria, Sebastian Schipper.
Youth, Paolo Sorrentino.

EUROPEAN COMEDY

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Roy Andersson.
The Bélier Family, Eric Lartigau.
The Brand New Testament, Jaco Van Dormael.

EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY

A Syrian Love Story, Sean McAllister.
Amy, Asif Kapadia.
Dancing With Maria, Ivan Gergolet.
The Look of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer.
Toto and His Sisters, Alexander Nanau.

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR

Roy Andersson, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster.
Nanni Moretti, My Mother.
Sebastian Schipper, Victoria.
Paolo Sorrentino, Youth.
Malgorzata Szumowska, Body.

EUROPEAN ACTRESS

Margherita Buy, My Mother.
Laia Costa, Victoria.
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years.
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina.
Rachel Weisz, Youth.

EUROPEAN ACTOR

Michael Caine, Youth.
Tom Courtenay, 45 Years.
Colin Farrell, The Lobster.
Christian Friedel, 13 Minutes.
Vincent Lindon, The Measure of a Man.

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/daily-european-film-awards-2015-nominations

Europe sure loves The Lobster

more doc noms

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/daily-cinema-eye-honors-2015-nominations-2

the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has voted to classify The Martian as a comedy for the Golden Globes.

A lovely, winsome Blythe Danner performance and Sam Elliot's sexy rumble are at the heart of I'll See You In My Dreams, a snappier than usual Hallmark Channel movie (and in the eighties James Garner would've starred).

Watched Spotlight: good, with a couple impressive moments. Not as effective as Zodiac cuz visually it's dead (Fincher would have at least shown Boston's insularity by showing how close the Globe building is to Michael Keaton's high school earlier and more gracefully).

more doc noms

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/daily-cinema-eye-honors-2015-nominations-2

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), 12. november 2015 07:03 (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ugh, most nominations for rubbish Cartel Land. Overheard this young guy talking about it 'Best doc I've ever seen, probably, you're just right there while they're shooting!'

It's stupid political commentary, but also men with guns. It's the documentary version of Sicario and Zero Dark Thirty, and about as trustworthy.

fyi

http://www.indiewire.com/save-the-dates-heres-the-2015-awards-calendar

when is the NYFCC?

5 Golden Horse awards to The Assassin

trainwreck was the best movie this year

how many did you see?

The Assassin got Danish distribution, which is absolutely amazing, and a sign that cinema culture might be improving over here. But it won't open until June... Hope to see it over the winter at some festival somewhere.

I saw an Estonian film called Into the Crosswind last week. That's one of the most unique films I've seen this year. Check the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6q1OWCxxpQ

xp- these are the other ones i saw that i remember

ex machina
sicario
the overnight
imitation game
the interview
whiplash
nightcrawler
suffragette

at least 3 of those were '13, get yr accounting straight dawg

I saw "Gueros" last week. Some real flair to the direction esp for a first-timer. The narrative was a bit skeletal and flimsy though (i know its not that kind of movie) that left the movie end a bit flatly imo

Among the 11th hour cramming this weekend, I liked Iris, was OK with James White and Brooklyn, and barely tolerated Victoria (thanks mostly to the Nils Frahm). Next up, Maddin and Hou.

Is The Assassin coming out in the UK before the end of the year?

Are we doing an ILX poll btw? I like to get more of my accounting 'wrong'.

I found out, to my chagrin, the latest "Joe" is 2016 in the U.S. Is Lobster also?

Lobster distributor has "coming soon," on its site, so i'm guessing next year as it's not on any calendar i can find.

http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/releases.php?year=2015&country=USA

(next spring, says The FilmStage)

Well, one less flick I have to track down in the next three weeks, in any case.

Anyone seen Brooklyn? I've got the screener on my table but am reluctant to approach, wary of the stink of quality but stimulated by Emory Cohen.

The quality doesn't stink too badly, actually. Cohen is actually so charming that it (minor, implied spoiler) renders the "drama" of the third act moot.

That's how he's presented in the novel: infinitely lovable, probably a bore once married.

A lifetime of Dodger games ... Well, there would've been.

at least 3 of those were '13, get yr accounting straight dawg

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Sunday, November 22, 2015 11:12 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol ok that was pretty bad accounting. i saw all of these (except the interview) in commercial theatres in 2015 though, how do movies get released years before anyone can see them? leaving in the ones that came out xmas 2014 and adding a few others i remembered

trainwreck
ex machina
sicario
the overnight
imitation game
the interview
suffragette
inside out
straight outta compton
mad max

I think you need to make the acquaintance of Pedro Costa; he's practically the Apatow of Portugal.

Really going for laffs in that lift scene.

Have watched precisely zilch of what flopson has listed.

The Trailer for Lobster looked terrible. So not watching that either.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/carol-spotlight-and-beasts-of-no-nation-lead-31st-film-independent-spirit-awards-nominees-20151124

Carol leads with 6. Some key nods for It Follows, Anomalisa, Tangerine, James White. (And Spotlight moves into solid position as this year's movie that'll really start bugging me soon.)

Best Feature
"Anomalisa"
"Beasts of No Nation"
"Carol"
"Spotlight"
"Tangerine"

Best Director
Cary Joji Fukunaga, "Beasts of No Nation"
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, "Anomalisa"
David Robert Mitchell, "It Follows"
Sean Baker, "Tangerine"
Todd Haynes, "Carol"
Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight"

Best Screenplay
Charlie Kaufman, "Anomalisa"
Donald Margulies, "The End of the Tour"
Phyllis Nagy, "Carol"
S. Craig Zahler, "Bone Tomahawk"
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, "Spotlight"

Best First Screenplay
Emma Donoghue, "Room"
Jesse Andrews, "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"
John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph, "The Mend"
Jonas Carpignano, "Mediterranea"
Marielle Heller, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Best First Feature
"James White"
"Manos Sucias"
"Mediterranea"
"Songs My Brothers Taught Me"
"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Best Female Lead
Bel Powley, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
Brie Larson, "Room"
Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, "Tangerine"
Rooney Mara, "Carol"

Best Male Lead
Abraham Attah, "Beasts of No Nation"
Ben Mendelsohn, "Mississippi Grind"
Christopher Abbott, "James White"
Jason Segal, "The End of the Tour"
Koudous Seihon, "Mediterranea"

Best Supporting Female
Cynthia Nixon, "James White"
Jennifer Jason Leigh, "Anomalisa"
Marin Ireland, "Glass Chin"
Mya Taylor, "Tangerine"
Robin Bartlett, "H."

Best Supporting Male
Idris Elba, "Beasts of No Nation"
Kevin Corrigan, "Results"
Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"
Paul Dano, "Love & Mercy"
Richard Jenkins, "Bone Tomahawk"

Best Documentary
"(T)error"
"Best of Enemies"
"Heart of a Dog"
"Meru"
"The Look of Silence"
"The Russian Woodpecker"

Best Cinematography
Cary Joji Fukunaga, "Beasts of No Nation"
Ed Lachman, "Carol"
Joshua James Richards, "Songs My Brothers Taught Me"
Michael Gioulakis, "It Follows"
Reed Morano, "Meadowland"

Best Editing
Julo C. Perez IV, "It Follows"
Kristan Sprague, "Manos Sucias"
Nathan Nugent, "Room"
Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie, "Heaven Knows What"
Tom McArdle, "Spotlight"

Best International Film
"A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence"
"Embrace of the Serpent"
"Gilrhood"
"Mustang"
"Son of Saul"

John Cassavetes Award
"Advantageous"
"Christmas, Again"
"Heaven Knows What"
"Krisha"
"Out of My Hand"

Robert Altman Award
"Spotlight"

good to see the Tangerine love.

I'm thrilled every time I see Laurie Anderson's whatzit among the doc nods.

tho i've only seen two of them, Best International Film is not a stirring lineup imho.

have "Heaven Knows What" at home from the library

I'm not incredibly plugged in this year compared to the last few, but I haven't the foggiest idea what Embrace of the Serpent is.

it's about Laurie Anderson's whatzit

apparently it's a mystical B&W Colombian film, opening domestically in Feb. (official Oscar submission)

so given their BP award to Godard last year, i guess National Society of Film Critics is the best hope for Horse Money.

xp your language is a virus.

also never heard of this bunch, from last year: International Cinephile Society. Choices look like the 'best' of such groups.

http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0001892/2015?ref_=ttawd_ev_4

Years with a wider range of options on an even playing field usually result in the NFSC opting for, say, Capote.

NYFCC is Dec 2, btw.

best non-actor performances

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/imitation-of-life

Are we doing a poll this year?

mais oui!

Oh, thread, I have news: Emory Cohen has replaced Jake G as Soto Life Partner.

Are you concerned about the height difference?

He's too short for that gesture.

brooklyn is pleasant, poignant at times, but not nearly as powerful as a film about migration should be. its actually quite well realised visually, though it does occasionally reveal its mid budget-ness (i kept thinking it should look like carol probably will), particularly in the american scenes, which look more like they were shot in the uk (though i have since learnt they were shot in montreal). ronan is really good, but her character doesnt get quite enough to work with. and the 'twist' near the end is just a bit too contrived. the scenes set in ireland seemed to ring truer than those in new york. emory cohen seems to have gotten some good writeups, but he just seemed to be doing a weak imitation of archetypal screen italian americans to me. reminded me a bit of legend, in that its a high profile period pic, but lacks anything in the way of period context or detail.

even for an obvious broad crowd pleasing drama, for people that want 'quality' when they make their annual cinema visit, this didnt really have much of that real sense of drama or weepiness. the moments when youre meant to really feel something felt like they hadnt really earned your emotional involvement.

Ronan is unimpeachable, deserving all the praise I've read. What turns the film into merely a pleasant thing are two things: its meager visual sense: it could be Brooklyn, San Francisco, Santa Fe; and a rushed third act.

the pacing and the general development of her character was pretty superficial - the sense of conflicting impulses and loyalties, the difficulty in leaving, it was like hornby was writing it in shorthand, rather than really exploring it fully. weirdly, i saw betty blue at the bfi earlier in the week, which made me think of what this might have been like, if it really followed the character, rather than try to sort of shuttle her into neatly telegraphed scenes. as someone who loves films about immigration, this fell really short on getting to the nub of the deep yearning for whats left, or even to really push to the fore what might be gained.

actually, betty blue could be accused of something similar as being another film of a novel! but there was something visceral about it, that at least dug into the emotions, even when it was contriving to do so.

I'll tell you one detail I liked: the brief glimpse of the Jewish professor teaching the bookkeeping class in Brooklyn College, a phenomenon that would've been impossible a decade earlier and only made it so thanks to the explosion in post-war higher ed enrollment

i liked the lobster, but the tone was all over the place. i think it might have worked better with a less international cast. it also didnt totally explain the 'rules' of the place, which seemed a bit of a missed opportunity. but rachel weisz and seydoux were really great in it. *hated* that ending though.

are complete "rules" more necessary than in the world of Lanthimos' Dogtooth?

You totally get an expository scene near the beginning of The Lobster where Olivia Coleman lays out the rules of the hotel, it's all you need, really. Also Farrell's very funny performance totally smoothes over any of the tonal disconnect between the first and second parts of the film. And I loved the ending - had the audience I saw it with holding their breath.

i mean, it was fine, until he went to the bathroom (some people actually left the cinema during this part).

http://www.bfi.org.uk/best-films-2015

The Sight and Sound list always seems like a big mess to me - the number one film hasn't even opened in the UK yet, and Horse Money also made their top ten last year - but I dunno how you would get around the problem of different international release dates/festival screenings.

but I dunno how you would get around the problem of different international release dates/festival screenings.

Get Morbs on the case!

I would, but I'm worried Bridge of Spies would end up in the top ten :-)

i wish they restricted it to films released in the uk, rather than shown at festivals. though it can also work as a handy 'ones to watch out for' list. i would put tangerine at no.1.

But all the best films aren't shown in the uk. And they want to get international critics to answer as well. If they asked me and told me I had to choose from films released in the uk, I would say no thank you.

Armond's top 5 (sole voter on all but the first one):

Gueros
Queen and Country
Salvation Army
T.S. Spivet
Coming Home

J.Ro:

Ex-Machina
The Thoughts That We Once Had
Jauja
I, Dalio
Journey to the East

Henry K:

Mad Max: Fury Road
Clouds of Sils Maria
Blackhat
While We're Young
Mistress America

"But all the best films aren't shown in the uk."

sure, and i know its an international magazine, but its also a british-based one, so unless its been on national release, i think they should maybe have a separate list. though obv, that could get quite complicated... i can imagine being in parts of england that arent london and wondering when on earth you might ever get to watch these films.

It wouldn't be a especially complicated, it would just be a different poll, and should be with different people. As I said, no point in asking international critics to choose best of British releases. But y'know, why should S&S be the ones to do that? Isn't there someone else who could do it?

Henry K:

Mad Max: Fury Road
Clouds of Sils Maria
Blackhat
While We're Young
Mistress America

did Baumbach-Gerwig send him a fruit basket?

"While We're Young" was terrible

yep

mediocre.

but I'm worried Bridge of Spies would end up in the top ten :-)

Saw it today, certainly the best Eng-lang film i've seen so far this year.

Frederik, I wld say that Sight and Sound is not only a British-based magazine, it is actually funded (and in some senses 'owned') by the British people, whose taxes pay for the British Film Institute (and without BFI subsidy, S&S would've closed years ago). So there is something slightly irksome about seeing, as the mag's number one film, a movie that most 'ordinary' filmgoers in the UK will have to wait until April to watch. Of course, the fault is at least partly with the haphazard nature of film distribution across Europe - I would've thought a release timed to roughly coincide with this poll result couldn't have hurt business.

Well, that's obviously fair enough, but S&S derives a lot of it's prestige from doing polls of critics all over the world. Do British critics then. But if you want to be a part of world cinema culture, you'll get these problems. It is what it is.

It opens in january, though. According to the poll. Or does it roll out slowly throughout the country?

Cahiers

Nanni Moretti’s My Mother.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s Cemetery of Splendour.
Philippe Garrel’s In the Shadow of Women.
Larry Clark’s The Smell of Us.
George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road.
Lisandro Alonso‘s Jauja.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice.
Miguel Gomes‘s Arabian Nights.
Alante Kavaite’s The Summer of Sangaile.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s Journey to the Shore.

Larry Clark’s The Smell of Us

Oh really, they're too much.

on yr feet and sing La Marseillaise

artforum is out & has multiple no home movie #1s, #fyi. j-quandt the chef's top ten is v obscure & alluring also.

find ward fowler's S&S critique kinda skewed; it's just The Deal, i think - in general film magazines are of far more value two months after the fact, as they tend to sync hazily with movies that are just about to open, & not necessarily about-to-open-in-your-town. the value of tidily limiting things to things that have been domestically released - essentially just trimming most submitted lists by a third of 1) things that aren't out domestically & 2) things that won't be released domestically, which is like ... a lot of the important movies that are being made - is dwarfed by the kind of ruinous effect this would have on lists as valuable communicators of what's good. like the s&s ballots are fantastic, diffuse glimpses into what's good, what deserves attention, & keeping the margins of these lists visible seems more important than organising the sort of predictable canon of consensus picks that reside within

mediocre.

but I'm worried Bridge of Spies would end up in the top ten :-)

Saw it today, certainly the best Eng-lang film i've seen so far this year.

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Friday, 27 November 2015 21:52 (2 days ago) Permalink

Love this: 'Mediocre' then a vote for Bridge of Spies. you couldn't make it up etc

it's a full life, huh?

Full, and beautiful too.

I don't think S&S' place in world cinema kulcha would be threatened by not putting The Assassin as eligible for the 2016 ballot. No biggie.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2015/11/24/2015s-movie-turkeys-the-unprofitable-films-that-flopped/

Blackhat was the 3rd least profitable film of 2015, they say.

By far the most shocking thing about this list is that Jupiter Ascending actually grossed $183mil.

National Board of Review today (pssssh) and NYFCC tomorrow.

Gotham:

Feature Spotlight
Audience Award Tangerine
Actress Bel Powley in Diary of a Teenage Girl
Actor Paul Dano in Love and Mercy
Documentary The Look of Silence
Screenplay Spotlight written by Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer

Breakthrough Awards
Breakthrough Actor Mya Taylor in Tangerine
Breakthrough Director Jonas Carpigano for Mediterranea
Breakthrough Series - Long Form Mr Robot
Breakthrough Series - Short Form Shugs & Fats

Feature Spotlight

Lock thread. See you all next year.

John Waters' top 10 in Artforum: https://artforum.com/inprint/issue=201510&id=56221

My favorite quips:

CAROL (Todd Haynes)
Maybe the only way to be transgressive these days is to be shockingly tasteful.

TOM AT THE FARM (Xavier Dolan)
A Genet-like love story between a smart-ass hipster and his dead boyfriend’s domineering and dangerously closeted brother who once ripped the mouth off of a man who cruised his sibling. I thought it was sexy.

Picked up Sight and Sound today - in his introduction to the poll results, the editor admits that this is the first year ever that a S&S poll winner hasn't already been released in the UK. Big advert for The Assassin on the back tho and yes, a January release, my error.

LOVE (Gaspar Noé) The first Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival to show hard-core heterosexual rimming—in 3-D, no less. Thank God for Gaspar Noé.

We missed that last sentence as a possible thread title.

Winter looms.

Carol isn't anywhere as stinko as Tom at the Farm, at least.

Lock thread. See you all next year.

meh, could be, but i'm sure some of the critics groups will go elsewhere.

I'd be more miffed if Brooklyn took the award group bouquets rather than Spotlight, but it's early.

I did not love Love but I love how much Waters loves Love.

Gaspar Noe movies seem tailor made to his tastes, tho.

Ever since he ridiculed Occupy Wall Street, i essentially have heard all i need to from Waters. Let him roll around in his Broadway money.

Nat'l Board of Review coming today (which picked A Most Violent Year last time, holy shit)

A Most Predictable Year

xp Your list is longer than Nixon's, huh.

not just my list

Bit surprised that Waters' love for all things Bruno Dumont hadn't already put him on the Morbs Hate Sheet

but i don't hate you either, Ward :)

That's supposed to be a compliment, I expect.

Nixon liked cottage cheese for lunch too.

yuck

also yuck to JW's description of that Helmut Berger doc; sounds like Marlene w/ wanking.

(and actual contemporary footage of the subject)

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2015/07/15/e3367c-07a_cottage_custom-2bc9711ef6917d4b3cb47fce1c16897b31cad8f4-s900-c85.jpg

xpost
I'm hoping that Dr M and I can continue to disagree about most movies without rancour in 2016 :-)

*clink*

I suspect SOME group will, like Hoberman, go for Hou (maybe the FC poll)

https://artforum.com/inprint/issue=201510&id=56225

I need to give Phoenix another shot, i guess; it struck me as the least interesting of Petzold's that i've seen.

I'd imagine Nat'l Society would give Assassin a shot, even though (or especially because?) they have never given Hou an award yet.

I'm promoting Nina Hoss for Best Actress but don't think the film holds up.

If only all of Phoenix was as good as its final scene; as it is, I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that plastic surgery would be that amazing in immediate post-war Germany.

Will be curious to see if the Tangerine leads get any real traction outside of PR pushes.

(Mya Taylor in supporting would be category fraud I could support if it'll get her nominated.)

Foul-mouthed transgender actresses vs staid men in Target slacks.

I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that plastic surgery would be that amazing in immediate post-war Germany.

Gotta say I didn't think of that whilst watching.

Phoenix was fantastic and def be top 5 in my ilx ballot, it might only be not as good because of who it was made by.

is that what they're wearing in Spotlight? xp

I SEE WE ARE ALREADY SUFFERING FROM OSCAR CREEP IN THIS THREAD

I maintain giving the Oscars their own thread accords them far too much importance.

like the gay thread

but not doing them gives them primacy in this one...

I assume Russell's Joy will be of no use to me if I disliked his last 3 films (i guess no one but the inner-circle groups have seen it).

My screening would've been tomorrow, but I'm not going.

I'm skipping a screening of The Revenant tonight to watch....Youth. A bludgeon vs a cudgel?

really not feeling either of those... I am seeing Anomalisa at MoMA next week.

I want to see that one again to see if I should trust my first take.

NBR goes the ilx route for BP

Best Film: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Director: Ridley Scott – The Martian
Best Actor: Matt Damon – The Martian
Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room
Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight
Best Adapted Screenplay: Drew Goddard – The Martian
Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
Breakthrough Performance: Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation & Jacob Tremblay – Room
Best Directorial Debut: Jonas Carpignano – Mediterranea
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Best Documentary: Amy
William K. Everson Film History Award: Cecilia De Mille Presley
Best Ensemble: The Big Short
Spotlight Award: Sicario for Outstanding Collaborative Vision
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Beasts of No Nation & Mustang

Top Films
Bridge of Spies
Creed
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
The Martian
Room
Sicario
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
Goodnight Mommy
Mediterranea
Phoenix
The Second Mother
The Tribe

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/national-board-review-2015-winners-844862

looks to me like The Assassin put them to sleep

Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone – Creed

wut

all the awards sites have been installing him as a candidate since those ecstatic reviews came out

I heard the chatter but I didn't think trophy givers would fall for the Copland schtick.

having seen neither Creed nor Copland, i think one might be more in his comfort zone and chops

Yeah, the NBR/Globes demo are primed to honor Sly and Creed.

Love Fury Road as BP with no other mentions down ballot.

i think one might be more in his comfort zone and chop

pork chops

they must've been split down the middle with the ilx-reviled Martian

xp

Annies:

This year's Best Animated Feature nominations include: Anomalisa (Paramount Pictures), Inside Out (Pixar Animation Studios), Shaun the Sheep The Movie (Aardman Animations), The Good Dinosaur (Pixar Animation Studios), and The Peanuts Movie (Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation).

"This year we introduced an important new category – Best Feature-Independent," says ASIFA-Hollywood President, Jerry Beck. "We will now recognize not only features in wide release, but also the independent animators, international studios, anime and special productions that might not otherwise get the attention they deserve. Adds Frank Gladstone, ASIFA-Hollywood's Executive Director, "With the growing capability worldwide to produce a wider range of animated features, we are certain that this award will expand in significance and influence going forward."

The inaugural Best Animated Feature-Independent nominations include: Boy And the World (Filme de Papel), Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (Ventanarosa), The Boy and The Beast (Studio Chizu), and When Marnie Was There (Studio Ghibli).

http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/43rd-annie-award-nominations-announced/

The ghettoization of "independents" in both NBR and Annies at least makes them more honest than most critics groups.

John Waters's blurb on Tom at the Farm >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tom at the Farm

I watched I'll See You In My Dreams a few nights ago: well-paced Hallmark movie with a lovely, fragile Blythe Danner performance and one of those James Garner type turns from Sam Elliott that looks easier than it is.

I skipped a screening of The Revenant tonight to watch Youth. Dear god in heaven.

the trailer for Welcome to Me (on NBR indie list) w/ K Wiig made me mildly curious

^^Wiig's the best part of that one...might even have gotten some minor awards action if it hadn't landed a distributor that's a slight step above a direct to DVD outfit.

is youth insufferable? i thought the great beauty was mind blowingly overrated.

#mindBlown

you're starting to post like a boring bot

#opinions

also v unmoved by Great Beauty; Il Divo and even his Sean Penn gothrocker/Nazi hunter film were better.

I enjoyed the Great Beauty as a wonderfully decadent travelogue, a reminder of Rome's splendour - I want to own that flat overlooking the Colosseum. The gothrocker/Nazi hunter movie was absolutely dire!

Il Divo was really great; I suppose the weakest moment in the Great Beauty is the quote from Celine which doesn't really land (and can't recall right now) otherwise yeah put me down for that flat overlooking the Colosseum.

Ward, we have to do our own podcast.

is youth insufferable? i thought the great beauty was mind blowingly overrated.

― StillAdvance,

Dying men miss the sweet spirit of youth.

so i guess the 'smart money' for a NYFCC upset of Spotlight is on Carol, with The Assassin as longshot.

"Will The Assassin Slay?"

if Mark Rylance is gonna make an appearance, it'd be today.

J. Hoberman's top ten.

I'm not going to be able to follow along NYFCC results much longer this morning, but ...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria
BEST FOREIGN FILM: Timbuktu
BEST FIRST FILM: Son of Saul

Good on Stewart, the best thing about the film.

if Mark Rylance is gonna make an appearance, it'd be today.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

You're welcome.

Now say the following: "if Laurie Anderson is going to win best documentary and director, it'd be today."

http://cogdogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/shoes.gif

eagerly awiting the Jeffrey Wells bluster "no one -- NO ONE -- had Kristen Stewart in the supporting actress race."

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Edward Lachman, Carol

And now carol wins screenplay as well. I'm apparently one of the movie's bigger fans on ILX, but I hope this doesn't turn into an avalanche.

im waiting a week before seeing carol as i dont think i can look at it like a normal person right now after all the hype. im just expecting something like far from heaven, nothing more.

i hope to see all the titles in hoberman's top ten one day.

I think it may well, and really I'd rather see Fury Road again

xp

warning, SA: i cried at FFH, not Carol

well, almost at Cory Michael Smith's cheekbones

Far from Heaven may be the coldest romance of all time, so you crying at it makes some sense.

everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at his rear end

Wiseman wins doc. The most recent influx of fresh blood has done its job. Tracking to be one of their finest showings in years.

Showgirls is the coldest romance of all time, I thought you knew.

now hoping J Wells has a stroke

The hottest anti-romance, you mean.

Overall, doc this year feels nearly as open with possibility and no front runner this year as best actor, unless the "get Leo out of our hair" campaign lifts off.

no way Blanchett doesn't take this, right?

(unless Ed takes hostages)

if Cate Blanchett is gonna make an appearance, it'd be today.

I can't even look at her. Her acting grosses me out more than RoboStreep's ever did.

I don't know who ed's pony is in actress, tbh.

I appreciated Carol's coolness, and its resistance to making the story and situation into either pure triumph or tragedy. It's a much more ambiguous film than it first appears to be, I think.

he looks like a Brie Larson guy

If Charlize Theron is gonna make an appearance, it'd be today.

kate winsletts melodramatic/'flustered!' approach acting to acting bugs me more than streep or blanchett

still yet to comprehend the love for mad max this year. totally eluded me. may have to see it again. keep thinking its arthouse people who want to show theyre not elitist snobs (hey its like a buster keaton movie! its pure cinema!) and tentpole lovers simply desperate to prove that blockbusters can still be great. both parties basically conspiring to keep the hollywood mega production tradition going.

I don't mind the Hollywood mega production tradition if it muzzles the putative leading man

i should maybe have read the reviews before seeing it. that way i would have been aware that it should have been titled mad MAXINE.

StillAdvance, have you ever actually enjoyed a film?

Most blockbusters are facelessly sane; Fury Road is for the most part not. That's what it boils down to.

Rex Reed must be in the restroom

If Mya Taylor is gonna make an appearance, it'd be today.

I wonder if Speed would've gotten year-end buzz if it'd been released in 2015.

If nrq is gonna make an appearance, it'd be today.

LOL, all that time for...

BEST ANIMATED FILM: Inside Out

i guess there was a slapfight over Anomalisa

I wonder if Speed would've gotten year-end buzz if it'd been released in 2015.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, December 2, 2015 4:41 PM (40 seconds ago) Bookmark

I'm sure John Wick showed up on some of the more catholic lists last year

xp I know which side Ed is on in that fight.

"StillAdvance, have you ever actually enjoyed a film?"

does not loving MMFR mean i cant enjoy film?

my favourites this year - arianna, paulina, sunrise, tangerine, inside out, steve jobs (not as good as the social network though), dheepan, chevalier, jurassic world (saw it twice!)... too many to name really.

SPECIAL AWARD #1: Posthumous Award honoring the legacy of William Becker and Janus Films

guessing #2 will be to either Chantal Akerman or Stallone

a pity we'll never see Chantal Akerman's Stallone.

there's one for Alfred

BEST ACTRESS: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

SPECIAL AWARD #2: Ennio Morricone, Composer

Wonder if they can eke out a director win for Akerman.

Ronan's an Oscar nod lock, it seems. I like the performance (and Cohen's to a lesser extent) way more than the movie.

nod nod nod

while we await the other results, here's what Jeffrey Wells said yesterday:

George Miller‘s Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the most visually arresting, elegantly composed action films ever made and is easily among 2015’s finest, so I have no issue at all with the National Board of Review giving it their Best Film award. And giving Creed‘s Sylvester Stallone their Best Supporting Actor award (and thereby semi-officializing his award-season momentum) is fine by me. And I fully agree with Son of Saul getting their Best Foreign Language Film award. But The Martian‘s Matt Damon winning the Best Actor award instead of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant? I’m glumly resigned to Room‘s Brie Larson winning several Best Actress awards so fine, whatever, and I haven’t seen The Hateful Eight (the first screening is tonight) so no comment on Jennifer Jason Leigh winning Best Supporting Actress and Quentin Tarantino winning for Best Screenplay. I just don’t like the NBR very much, and I really don’t like the fact that they ignored Spotlight, Joy, Carol, Brooklyn, The Big Short, The Revenant…seriously, why did they go for so many popcorn movies?

The NBR used to be made up of a bunch of crusty old-school Manhattanites — old biddies, jaded alcoholics, etc. Now, to judge by today’s vote, it seems to be ruled by 45-and-under action/genre/sci-fi geeks.

BEST ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Spotlight

a better perf than his rendition of middle aged angst last year.

keep thinking its arthouse people who want to show theyre not elitist snobs

Keep finding 'secret' reasons for people's enjoyment of films Sherlock!

Everyone is going to give him every award to apologize for not giving him the oscar last year, and then next year we'll repeat with Leonardo DiCaprio. In some biopic or other.

aka the Bette Davis Rule.

Carol takes Picture and Director :/

didn't FFH do well with this crew too? No shock.

5 for FFH

‏@NickPinkerton
The Keaton award was belated recognition for Johnny Dangerously.

http://lwlies.com/articles/the-20-best-films-of-2015/

Tangerine way too low on that list. Saw it wednesday, and it might be my favorite American film of the year. The city-scape is so amazing in that film.

The cast makes it; has third-act fatigue.

best film of the year for me. i want to see more iphone movies.

if danny boyle does steve jobs part 2, it needs to be filmed on iphone.

Preferably with his thumb over the lens

It's not really iPhone, but you need to watch more Dogme, Jia Zhangke, Pedro Costa, etc. And of course Collateral and Inland Empire and The Shield. Cheap digital aesthetics are the best.

The plot stalls at the end, but I love the final glimpses of the characters.

The next to last shot was wonderful.

The best scene: Sin Sin sitting on the bench! The vapor trail scarring the sky as the final of way too many lines in those pictures. Loved those images.

i saw inland empire when it came out and then a few years ago and that weirdly looked better - digital aesthetics shown on slightly battered old 35mm is really the all time best combination. one thing about tangerine compared to say, festen, is that i was less conscious of it being filmed on iphones than i was with festen being filmed on hand held video etc.

i really wish the fucking iphone thing was unknown, who gives a shit

its a nice gimmick.

same as QT making a big deal of THE being on 70mm etc

I thought Tangerine had a third act problem too but I loved the first two.

I didn't mind the extended cluster at the donut shop in the slightest. I did mind having to figure out why I cared about the cab driver up to that point.

I thought the final shots of the taxi driver were positively Costaian, but at that point I was completely in the tank for the film, and looking for more reasons to praise it, I think. They were great, though. As was the scene in the carwash.

So, what else by Sean Baker is good? He has made tv-shows and some other small films. Watching Starlet, and, like, Tangerine is a huge step forward compared to that, but it's still very good image-making.

This is just a gorgeously made picture: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SGkPrwCtpCk/UKeBiqDk1wI/AAAAAAAAD24/4hszoZk9mUs/s1600/starlet+8.jpg

Boston Online Critics:

Mad Max: Fury Road
Creed
Brooklyn
Carol
Spotlight
Clouds of Sils Maria
Bridge of Spies
The Martian
Anomalisa
Tangerine

Boston likes SPOTLIGHT, huh.

perhaps more notably:

Michael B. Jordan took home the best actor award for Creed while Saoirse Ronan won best actress for Brooklyn. Sylvester Stallone was awarded best supporting actor for his role in Creed and Clouds of Sils Maria's Kristen Stewart took the best supporting actress win.

http://servingcinema.com/2015/12/overlooked-best-actress-contenders/

Ain't it kinda early to be declaring a bunch of candidates DOA?

Stephanie Zacharek in TIME, with a top 3 of Spotlight, Phoenix, I'll See You in My Dreams

http://time.com/4134913/top-10-best-movies/

Anyone else seen I'll See You in My Dreams? It's a wee thing but well done, esp the Martin Starr (cute at last)-Blythe Danner relationship.

i didn't think they were admitting people under 65 to it.

(yeah, go ahead)

Finally watched Spotlight last night. Wish I'd used the time to watch In Jackson Heights (which I'm watching now) instead.

Edelstein likes Room:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/12/10-best-movies-of-2015.html

I used to know a guy who appears in the Wiseman doc (he's an aide to the councilman, Danny Dromm; he's taking notes in the school zoning conference call).

SZ sure has a crush on Alicia Vikander.

Spending time with the kid in Room was like being waterboarded.

10. John Slattery, Spotlight
The least-sung performance on this list, it’s a quiet, beautifully judged portrait of an editor who’d rather be doing anything than what he’s compelled to do.

It's the least sung cuz it's flat.

Most of them are flat. Or nuanced, if you prefer.

(I don't.)

I recommend Jane Fonda's work in Youth to Beatrice Straight fans.

Lady from In Jackson Heights' knitting circle: "Every actor I ever liked was gay. What does that say about me?"

Sight and Sound: http://www.bfi.org.uk/best-films-2015

i think the knitter got Richard Chamberlain mixed up with Vince Edwards tho

Update:

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”
Best Cinematography: John Seale, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Runner-up: Edward Lachman, “Carol”
Best Editing: Hank Corwin, “The Big Short”
Runner-up: Margaret Sixel, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Musical Score: Carter Burwell, “Anomalisa” and “Carol”
Runner-up: Ennio Morricone, “The Hateful Eight”
Best Production Design: Colin Gibson, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Runner-up: Judy Becker, “Carol” - See more at: https://www.thewrap.com/los-angeles-film-critics-awards-winners-list/#sthash.JboobhZ7.dpuf

L.A. Film Critics, that is

Burwell's Carol score didn't seem anything special; Philip Glass Lite

Anyone here actually seen Anomalisa yet?

I did. I'm not entirely sure I trust my initial judgement tho.

more L.A. winners:

BEST ACTRESS: Charlotte Rampling
SUPP ACTRESS: Alicia Vikander
BEST ACTOR: Michael Fassbender
BEST DOC: Amy
SCREENPLAY: SPOTLIGHT

forgot George Miller as BEST DIRECTOR

NYFCO Winners:

Picture Spotlight
Director Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Animated Feature Inside Out (ru: Anomalisa)
Foreign Film Son of Saul (ru: Mustang)
Documentary Amy (ru: Look of Silence)
Actor Paul Dano for Love and Mercy (ru: Johnny Depp for Black Mass)
Actress Brie Larson for Room (ru: Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn)
Supporting Lead Actress Rooney Mara for Carol (ru: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs)
Supporting Actor Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies (ru: Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight)
Ensemble Spotlight
Breakthrough Performance Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl and Ex Machina
Screenplay Spotlight
Cinematography Mad Max Fury Road
Debut Director Alex Garland, Ex Machina

A certain somebody warned me the NYFCO choices were going to be particularly dire this year, but I had no idea.

Acquiescing to category fraud on Mara is just the tip of the iceberg.

And here I had struck off Son of Saul from my list of things to see at the European Showcase in DC in the next few weeks. Anyone seen it?

Also I liked Spotlight well enough but c'mon guys.

fasten your seatbelt

Rampling is such a stereotypical El Lay choice. Gonna watch it tonight.

Actually, Rampling feels pretty foursquare for an LAFCA best actress choice, at least compared to Yolanda Moreau or Yoon Jeong-hee.

Yoon was the most welcome acting choice of any film crit circle in the last decade

Talk about a weak finish (LAFCA):

PICTURE: "Spotlight"
Runner-up: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Depp getting votes for that shit, huh

Joe Reid sez NYC and L.A. haven't split so completely since 1988. Too bad Spotlight keeps showing up.

Actor: Hackman / Irons / Hanks
Actress: Foster / Streep / Lahti
S Actor: Phoenix / Stockwell / Guinness
S Actress: McDormand /Venora/ Bujold

joe reid should keep track of important things

All art is quite useless.

awards /= art

(lock thread)

It's the detriUS thread, gramps.

Gag me.

http://www.ofcs.org/carol-and-sicario-lead-the-19th-ofcs-nominations/

“This year’s crop of nominees is a rich tapestry of modern world cinema.” The OFCS Governing Committee members John Hanlon, Wesley Lovell and Cole Smithey said. “Our organization has always had a unique perspective in our annual selections and this batch is as compelling and fascinating as ever.”

I'm pretty sure we'll hear AMPAS announce 98 percent of that lineup in January too.

In the days of yore, we'd look at the lack of confluence between NYFCC, LAFCA and (inevitably) Nat'l Society and say "that year was all over the place." Now, there's no possibility for a detrius that doesn't stall out in fatigue four weeks before the year even ends.

https://vimeo.com/148026900

The dissing of Bridge of Spies for all that congealed mediocrity is pitiful.

I guess Ian McKellen (who has p much always been a textbook-sucky hambone RSC actor) is getting Old Jack Lemmon recognition now.

Who dissed Bridge of Spies, Dav1d 3hrl1ch?

i meant the OFCS list, but the critic groups in general.

Keyframe poll (Film Comment/Indiewire likely to be similar):

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
2. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
3. Phoenix (Christian Petzold)
4. Carol (Todd Haynes)
5. Arabian Nights (Miguel Gomes)
6. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako)
7. Taxi (Jafar Panahi)
8. Jauja (Lisandro Alonso)
9. The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland)
10. Hard to Be a God (Aleksei German)
11. Brooklyn (John Crowley)
12. It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)
13. In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman)
14. Magic Mike XXL (Gregory Jacobs)
15. Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas)
16. 45 Years (Andrew Haigh)
17. The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin)
18. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
19. Son of Saul (Laszlo Nemes)
20. The Royal Road (Jenni Olson)
21. The Pearl Button (Patricio Guzmán)
22. Horse Money (Pedro Costa)
23. Tangerine (Sean Baker)
24. The Wonders (Alice Rohrwacher)
25. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson)

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/the-best-feature-films-of-2015

Not going to argue much with those choices (Spotlight obviously excepted). But now that I've finally watched it, I'm officially perplexed at the extremely high regard for The Assassin even taking into account Hou's status among that demo as the greatest living filmmaker not named Godard.

(Which isn't to say that The Assassin wasn't among the 20-ish best movies I've seen this year.)

I saw it a second time and have a higher regard for it but I understand, as you might too if you poke a stick into the Hou thread.

I'm not dipping a toe into that mess.

i think proselytizers maybe see it as a chance to bring Hou to the masses? nevertheless, Regular People seem bored by it.

I'd argue that almost any other Hou I've seen would be a safer bet. The valleys between action sequences are too pronounced to make the peaks feel anything other than stingy.

Not sure to what extent American audiences can process wuxia that doesn't involve people flying everywhere tbh.

Keyframe's best docs:

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/the-best-documentaries-of-2015

01. The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)
02. The Iron Ministry (J.P. Sniadecki)
03. In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman)
04. The Pearl Button (Patricio Guzmán)
05. The Royal Road (Jenni Olson)
06. Heart of a Dog (Laurie Anderson)
07. Amy (Asif Kapadia)
08. What Happened, Miss Simone? (Liz Garbus)
09. Iris (Albert Maysles)
10. Listen to Me Marlon (Stevan Riley)

i feel like the hou movie prob needs to issue ticket buyers with a warning before they go in.

I watched the Laurie Anderson doc last night. I'm tempted to buy a dog so I can watch her grow blind and know what she endured.

I've watched it twice now, and I'm going to watch it again before the week is through. The eagles swooping, the burn ward, the piano performances.

calling it "a doc" still seems strange (p sure the Academy will think so)

Now who's bringing Oscar talk into detrius?

awards /= art

i knew you would slap me there, dear

Anyway, Laurie is endlessly fascinating, and she thanks influencer Chris Marker in the credits, so there's really no way the movie could've been anything other than my favorite this year.

I could dwell for hours on the way she says, "It was just. The way, you know. Things have to be."

Its one notable flaw for me isn't the supposed weakness of its imagery (many Marker films have iffy visuals too) but the pseudo-Godardian text blocks, which break the trance she invokes.

Two of my favorites have hardly been mentioned by anyone: Amour fou and Court.

‏@NickPinkerton 2h
Two of the most blood-chilling phrases in the English language: "Based on a True Story" and "Begin Slideshow."

African-American Film Critics Association:

Best Picture: Straight Outta Compton.
Best Director: Ryan Coogler, Creed.
Best Ensemble: Straight Outta Compton.
Best Actor: Will Smith, Concussion.
Best Actress: Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq.
Best Supporting Actor: Jason Mitchell, Straight Outta Compton.
Best Supporting Actress: Tessa Thompson, Creed.
Best Independent Film: Chi-Raq.
Best Screenplay: Rick Famuyiwa, Dope.
Breakout Performance: Michael B. Jordan, Creed.
Best Animation: The Peanuts Movie.
Best Documentary: A Ballerina’s Tale.
Best Song: “See You Again,” Furious 7.

AAFCA’s Top 10 Films of 2015:

Straight Outta Compton.
Creed.
Mad Max: Fury Road.
Beasts of No Nation.
The Martian.
3½ Minutes, 10 Bullets/Dope.
Chi-Raq.
Carol.
The Big Short.
The Danish Girl.

http://aafca.com/

Two of my favorites have hardly been mentioned by anyone: Amour fou and Court.

Amour Fou will prob do ok in the ILX film poll. Court?

http://www.filmcomment.com/article/review-court-chaitanya-tamhane/

http://www.movingimage.us/visit/calendar/2015/12/13/detail/court

TY, don't think it's made it to the UK yet (if it ever will)

Amour Fou better do well in the ILX poll, as it's obviously one of the very best films of the year (I do feel a bit stupid about voting for it two years in a row, but what the heck. I saw it twice in the voting period, and loved it more both times)

Also really looking forward to seeing Court. Way too few Indian films I get to see.

Am also excited to see Lamb, the first Ethiopian film included at Cannes. Which is quite surprisingly getting Danish distribution early next year.

ilx poll = where a solid minority of voters only go to a theater for Mad Max

A true "stopped clock" moment, then.

lol

Voting for Amour Fou. This year's top Jan 2015 film, with The Assassin as Jan 2016's top film.

Ballots b writing themselves..

both in my top twenty. I still loved Girlhood most, probably.

It'll be eons before I get a chance to see it (or most of the things you guys are talking about here), but I'm hearing wonderful things elsewhere about Mustang and yet nothing in this thread (beyond some of the awards discussion). Anyone seen it?

It'll be eons before I get a chance to see it (or most of the things you guys are talking about here)

Same here! Still... it only helps US posters, I know, but Netflix Instant has some good stuff from these lists:

Tangerine
Jauja
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch...
Güeros
Girlhood
Amour fou
The Wonders

They also have:

Eastern Boys
Salvation Army
About Elly
Cheatin'

Eastern Boys was this year? I feel like I saw it forever ago.

Please don't vote for About Elly... I know I'm an idiot when it comes to these things, but please don't vote for a film from 2009.

And please watch Amour Fou, Tangerine, Jauja and The Wonders. They're amazing.

There are 3 weeks left in the fucking year btw. Let's not wrap up it up on a BB like we were part of this awards race garbage.

I still loved Girlhood most, probably.

As soon as the "Rihanna scene" came on i pegged it as the ILM film of the year.

Not crazy about romanticizing teen thuggery no matter the gender.

Don't worry about anyone applauding thuggery when The Hateful Eight is waiting in a theater near you (I ran from the room screaming).

i watched so much fewer films this year from this year. Mostly stuff on TCM for some reason

This kinda devastated me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG3jRxKBu38

Otherwise, I guess these are my fave 15s?
Timbuktu
Hard to Be a God
It Follows
What Happened Ms. Simone?
The Angry Sky
Mad Max: Fury Road
How To Dance in Ohio
The Wolfpack

And this is what I would rave about that I watched this year that was not from this year:
M
The Letter
The Maltese Falcon
Woman On the Run
Detour
Glass Key
Nightmare Alley
Gilda
Murder My Sweet
Mildred Pierce
The Long Goodbye (Altman)
The Threat (1949)
Talk About a Stranger (1952)
Duck Soup
Brute Force (1947, Jules Dassin)
The Blue Gardenia (1953, Lang - good exploration of early ’50’s ideas of consent and rape)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950, John Houston - Stellar ensemble cast, first rate direction and script)
Secrets and Lies (1996, Leigh - One of the best of his canon)
The Blue Dahlia (1946, Marshall - Crisp Raymond Chandler dialogue, iconic performances from Ladd/Lake/Bendix, a nice star turn from Will Wright)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948, Huston - Shakespearean in scope with resonant dialogue, iconic imagery and rock solid acting; holds up with the best of them)
Another Year
Grand Illusion
Stranger on the Third Floor
Conflict (1945)
Spend It All (1972, Les Blank - Cajun life)
The Harder They Fall (1956, Mark Robson - Bogart as a boxing promoter, tragic and poignant)
In Heaven There Is No Beer? (1984, Les Blank - Polka documentary)
God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance (1968, Les Blank - hippie be-in in California)
The Queen of Versailles (Greenfield, 2012)
Suddenly (Lewis Allen, 1954 - pre Manchurian candidate riff on assassination with a stolid Sterling Hayden, goofy “gawrsh fella” dialogue, and a hypnotic Sinatra as the lead killer. Frank is aces and fun to watch murder people.)
Animal Crackers (1930, Heerman - Essential early Marx Brothers)
Happy-Go-Lucky (Leigh, 2008 - Lovely as always and Sally Hawkins is beyond charming)
Yum Yum Yum (Blank, 1990 - Creole Cooking)
Sprout Wings and Fly (Blank, 1983 - Tommy Jarrell fiddler documentary)
A Well Spent Life (Blank, 1971 - Mance Lipscomb documentary)
Losing Ground (Collins, 1982) - Stunningly out of time and a sign of great things to come unfulfilled.
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (Field, 1981) - Great interviews, excellent survey of the field.
Blazing Saddles (Brooks, 1974) “Mongo but pawn in game of life.”
The Women (Cukor, 1939) Of its time but my how good.
Keep on Keepin’ On
Beyond the Lights - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Beyond-the-Lights/70295409
Wild Tales (2014, Szifron: Beautifully filmed, violent and nihilistic shorts; sadly predictable but gleefully grim)
Wild (2014, Valee: Well acted, beautiful vistas, appreciate the lack of needless brutality and self-ownership)
Starred Up

I think I'll watch tangerine now.

Not crazy about romanticizing teen thuggery no matter the gender.

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius

Only William F. Buckley would call teens stealing dresses "thuggery."

i guess i saw about 150 films this year when everything's said and done but i feel like i did it wrong.

Only William F. Buckley would call teens stealing dresses "thuggery."

good scene, not what i was thinking of

xpost

Yeah, I watch WAY more old movies (either via TCM, or what I come across at either my local public or university libraries) than new ones these days, and really the only time I ever really feel like I'm missing out is when I read these threads.

also Soto i was well into my 20s before I figured out that the mortal sin of theft was a near-universal teen experience.

I stole a bath bead from Pier 1 when I was 7. It was the simultaneous height of my criminal pursuit and my homosexuality.

bravo

Let my example be a cautionary tale. Never peak too early.

"Not crazy about romanticizing teen thuggery no matter the gender."

i dont think it does romanticise it actually. if anything, the film is too careful not to make us empathise very much with the main girl. we see how she changes, but im not sure we ever really feel on her side, instead we are made to quietly pass judgement.

Yeah, she's kept at the best kind of distance.

maybe. but isnt it insulting somewhat that we are positioned to have such little regard for her? its like we see and understand what led to her to do what she does, but we never really like her for anything either. one of the main failings of that film for me is that it doesnt let you get to know the main character in any real way. its just another slice of social realism that we are meant to applaud and pat the director on the back for, but idk if it has any real insight. the POV just seems to be this position of politely looking down your nose at someone for 120 mins.

mostly agree

totally diff film and genre, but i felt something similar watching attack the block a few years back. its like the director/writer were so determined not to condone their (admittedly nasty) behaviour that you end up pretty much disliking the supposed heroes. not that you have to like everyone in a film obv, but theres something a bit snooty and haughty about how m/c filmmakers often approach their w/c subjects.

anyway, girlhood is massively overrated. great that a 'serious' film about teen black girls is there, but its not really good enough beyond that tbh. its just social realism by the numbers.

SAG Award nominations:

Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Female Actor in a Leading Role:
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Helen Mirren, Woman in Gold
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back

Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Jacob Tremblay, Room

Female Actor in a "Supporting" Role:
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Ensemble Cast:
Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

Not sure the category fraud on Mara, Vikander and Tremblay will carry over.

...to what? :)

wow, 5 lead actor performances i have no desire to see

i mean, i quit amateur film criticism partly to avoid shit like that.

was p safe bet actors were not nominating Stallone. "Train for this."

maybe. but isnt it insulting somewhat that we are positioned to have such little regard for her? its like we see and understand what led to her to do what she does, but we never really like her for anything either. one of the main failings of that film for me is that it doesnt let you get to know the main character in any real way. its just another slice of social realism that we are meant to applaud and pat the director on the back for, but idk if it has any real insight. the POV just seems to be this position of politely looking down your nose at someone for 120 mins.

Wow, I can't agree with the idea that the film asks the audience to look down its nose at her, especially when Sciamma is so interested in her movements. It's especially perceptive about how mimicry and conformity can nevertheless lead to deep friendships. Lots of things to treasure: Marieme and the crew playing miniature golf; Marieme slow dancing with a girl she met through the drug gang; Marieme ordering her boyfriend to strip, bit by bit, while face down in bed. The last one feels particularly just after years of the male gaze.

after watching Carol I'm thinking AMPAS needs a Best Category Fraud.

Trumbo is another one of those movies made for awardbait purposes.

thinking Michael Shannon may be a dark horse in SAG; actors love him

Helen Mirren too

oh, that Damn Helen Mirren

the UK should fast-track a moon colony so they can send her and Ian McKellen there

Keyframe performances poll sans category fraud, or categories; dominated by women

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/the-best-performances-of-2015

The acclaim for Rampling, who's good in 45 Years, reminds me of the Emmanuelle Riva affection in 2013, which also came at the cost of her more interesting co-star (in Rampling's case Tom Courtenay, responsible for one of the better drunk scenes I've seen in recent movies).

Far from Heaven may be the coldest romance of all time, so you crying at it makes some sense.

― thread of getting sw0le and lena jokes (Eric H.), Wednesday, December 2, 2015 4:12 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Un Coeur En Hiver, surely.

NYT lists.

Golden Globe nominations (God, Trumbo is going to turn into something, isn't it?)

https://www.goldenglobes.com/sites/default/files/2016_golden_globe_nominations_press_release.pdf

Trumbo is classic Globes bait though.

Look at that: they don't give no fucks about category fraud re Vikander and Mara.

Good for them. (Of course, they nominated Vikander in supporting as well anyway, hedging their bets.)

Trumbo and Steve Jobs both getting the "not good enough for best picture consideration, but since everyone brought the topic up" acting nods.

(at both the Globes and the SAG, I mean)

Sly getting nominated and not Jordan is ... well ...

Actually, the most surprising snub given how often they've nominated him before is Spielberg.

Also: no idea Paul Dano is campaigning for supporting actor. He and Cusack are the goddamn leads.

If Mara, Vikander, Dano and Shannon all end up with supporting nods, that could maybe finally be a tipping point for category fraud reform.

nodzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

wow they must have really added in some jokes in 'the martian' screenplay that i can't remember in the book, or does matt damon break into song?

and the winner is Entourage

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-20-worst-films-of-2015-20151209

Not having seen Stonewall, I endorse that choice.

holy shit that straight-to-disc K Heigl comedy. and the Depardieu FIFA movie.

it's always amazing how many wide-release films completely slide beneath my radar

“Monsters: Dark Continent” ??

I can't believe I had never heard of Home Sweet Hell.

Sure. Here it is: http://ixor.com

the martian should be on that list.

Slant

http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-25-best-films-of-2015

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/slants-top-25-films-of-2015

Writing my annual capsule for that list is always the hottest sex of my year.

you have a pretty good Top Two!

not onemention of Bridge of Spies, tho? tsk tsk

Sadly, real life got in the way of last-minute cleanup those last few weeks. Had to skip Bridge of Spies, Chi-raq, Creed ...

imagine when these lists are released on Halloween ten years from now

not onemention of Bridge of Spies, tho? tsk tsk

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius),

Slant chose good movies.

And Son of Saul.

The difference between Magic Mike and its sequel calls to mind how Robert Christgau described the difference between listening to janet. on a junk radio box versus a hi-fi stereo system as “the difference between daydreaming about sex and having somebody's crack in your face.”

better than Girlhood mostly, Mr deWitt

It shines bright like a diamond.

Brody, naming Chi-Raq the year's best:

While enduring the fetishizing aestheticism of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” I wanted George Miller to stop the action and show the trickery involved in endowing Charlize Theron with Imperator Furiosa’s prosthetic arm. With the vast and sparsely populated landscapes of “The Revenant,” I wanted Alejandro González Iñárritu’s balletic cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki to swivel the camera around to show the teeming crew and the high-tech caravansary behind them. Yet even if Miller and Iñárritu abandoned the faux audacities of their bombastic style for these sorts of radical moves, which were radical in 1960 and are still radical today, it probably wouldn’t help: they’d do so with the same willfulness that they bring to the hermetic grandeur of their actual work. They wouldn’t need to free themselves from their scripts or their intentions but from their very taste—from themselves.

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/best-movies-2015

I didn't mind MM:FR too much, but "bombast" is a sticky charge.

he loooooovves "fetish" as a verb, and he isn't even gay

and I want nothing from Inarritu.

In 2015, nothing re: movies makes me angrier than "prestige" films (nonetheless still starring huge movie stars) opening in exclusive NY/LA engagements weeks if not months before they open everywhere else. And in just one or two theaters, at that. Really? They don't even strike prints anymore. What's the point in making people wait? They worry about attention spans, they worry about attendance. Let us see the fucking movies on the big screens, and if they do well in the cities then expand them at will. But the bullshit of reading reviews of movies that won't open up until mid-January has just gotten to be too much.

theater chains do not want those movies for the holidays. they want Star Wars and, maybe, Fay-Poehler.

hell, those 'prestige' movies are playing in NYC and *I* don't want to see them.

Yeah, but all the cities, NY/LA included, will be 90% Star Wars anyway! It's not like they're opening, I dunno, Carol on so many screens it'll hold back the Force. Forget about chain or not chain. Take a genre movie like Bone Tomahawk - I can't even tell if it's playing in Chicago at all, or even if/when it played! And The Big Short, it seems to be playing in literally one theatre, and it's got a huge number of names in it. The easiest way to ensure people stay home from the movies is to make home the only place convenient to even see the movie. DiCaprio western, Tarantino western - big stars, big hype, big audiences, and they will all be opening wide. So what's the point of initially limiting them to two cities? Kids will see Star Wars, parents will see Star Wars, everyone will see Star Wars. But that doesn't mean they only want to see Star Wars. Dammit.

BAM is running Star Wars iirc, it is pushing out most of the competition even in art houses

way out here on the imperial front, what drives me crazy is studios keep us (non-chain, prestigey) waiting just as long for orange plastic suitcases and temporary digital keys as they did (long ago) for canisters--usually two or three months after mainland release--ostensibly because they're holding out for the multiplex to take it. the multiplex will take e.g. tarantino but it's exhausting to wonder if they're being ingenuous about thinking they can slip carol in there.

(otoh this tends to work pretty well with nov-dec oscarbait, cuz by the time we get the movie we can advertise the nominations, and sometimes even the awards.)

(it's a small-town thing as well as a fringe thing; honolulu does get movies quicker.)

(also i did get to see "lava" several months before inside out was released. sigh.)

I remember a year or two ago when The Humbling (Pacino/Levinson/Gerwig/Roth) was only showing at one outer-suburb theater one week in Chicago.

More Blackhat end-of-year standing on those Slant lists. I think they released that one VOD at just the right time.

Surprised Sicario isn't on more lists.

(otoh this tends to work pretty well with nov-dec oscarbait, cuz by the time we get the movie we can advertise the nominations, and sometimes even the awards.)

― denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Saturday, December 12, 2015 7:12 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is basically why they do it. Qualify for the awards and build hype. I wonder, however, if for smaller films (foreign/etc) that do well on the festival rounds if they're just trying to slide it in to build word of mouth for the quieter release months of the early year while still getting onto best of year lists? Maybe they don't really care because it doesn't affect them much idk.

I just want to see all the damn movies being reviewed in everything I read, because by the time they come out I won't have the reviews to remind me that they are out. And there will be other things to see and do. Strike while the iron is hot, etc.

My problem with festival coverage tbh.

Festival coverage should be like science journalism. It should be all about new and exciting artistic discoveries, that us regular people might enjoy a few years from now.

I think it fails mostly because the tone that used to be for trade journals has taken over everything. Especially everything with oscar chances.

Chapter 1 of Gomes's Arabian Nights is amazingly ambitious and 'full of life,' as Sotosyn might say. Looking fwd to the next 4 hours before Christmas.

Cool! The whole thing is def one of my favorites of year, though quite a lot of it perhaps doesn't really work. I think my favorite scenes are in chapter 3.

I just want to see all the damn movies being reviewed in everything I read, because by the time they come out I won't have the reviews to remind me that they are out. And there will be other things to see and do. Strike while the iron is hot, etc.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 12 December 2015 20:36 (2 days ago) Permalink

For more it's most frustrating waiting, and waiting, and WAITING for movies to surface for rent on iTunes. What's worse: when ultimately you can't rent stuff, you've gotta effin BUY IT, which I'm just not gonna do.

Like, why even wait? So many of these movies aren't even in theatres or barely are. Yes, it's sad, but I'll totally part with $3-$7 to watch on my laptop if no theaters will get something I really wanna see.

Scanning Brody's list, and I've only seen two of these: Queen of Earth (which may make my top 10) and Chi-Raq, which ain't even close.

also I need to just see Black Hat already

its not nearly as good as people want it to be. its got lots of familiar m.mann touches but i dunno if thats enough to really make it good beyond those.

The 0sc4r-whoriest of all precursors has weighed in and ... it looks like Mad Max is going all the way.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/mad-max-fury-road-nabs-13-nominations-from-broadcast-film-critics-20151214

BEST PICTURE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Sicario
Spotlight

BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Matt Damon – The Martian
Johnny Depp – Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Carol
Brie Larson – Room
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
Tom Hardy – The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone – Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara – Carol
Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
Helen Mirren – Trumbo
Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes – Carol
Alejandro González Iñárritu – The Revenant
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott – The Martian
Steven Spielberg – Bridge of Spies

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen – Bridge of Spies
Alex Garland – Ex Machina
Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley – Inside Out
Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay – The Big Short
Nick Hornby – Brooklyn
Drew Goddard – The Martian
Emma Donoghue – Room
Aaron Sorkin – Steve Jobs

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol – Ed Lachman
The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson
Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale
The Martian – Dariusz Wolski
The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario – Roger Deakins

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Bridge of Spies – Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo
Brooklyn – François Séguin, Jennifer Oman and Louise Tremblay
Carol – Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
The Danish Girl – Eve Stewart, Michael Standish
Mad Max: Fury Road – Colin Gibson
The Martian – Arthur Max, Celia Bobak

BEST EDITING
The Big Short – Hank Corwin
Mad Max: Fury Road – Margaret Sixel
The Martian – Pietro Scalia
The Revenant – Stephen Mirrione
Spotlight – Tom McArdle

that's what you said about Spotlight a couple weeks ago, lad

Film Comment critics poll:

http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/best-films-of-2015/

01. Carol
02. The Assassin
03. Mad Max: Fury Road
04. Clouds of Sils Maria
05. Arabian Nights
06. Timbuktu
07. Spotlight
08. Phoenix
09. Inside Out
10. The Look of Silence
11. Hard to Be a God
12. Anomalisa
13. In Jackson Heights
14. Son of Saul
15. Horse Money
16. Jauja
17. Tangerine
18. Brooklyn
19. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
20. Bridge of Spies

Well, "all the way" for Fury Road would be the nomination alone.

A friend on FB characterized Anomalisa as "a Rankin-Bass adaptation of a Philip Roth novel," which was sort of amazing.

just left me with a very sour taste, and nowhere near (top-)Roth-level insight

My pleasure at seeing FC stiff Michael Mann is tempered by the strange love for Clouds of Sils Maria, maybe the worst Assayas film i've seen.

Speaking of stiff, XXL is the highest-ranking movie on Slant's list not to get a mention in the FC 20, followed by other top 10'ers Heart of a Dog, Blackhat and Chi-raq.

I was trying to convince my hetero bff that love for MMXXL is not a gay thing. (Comparisons to Janet. may not help.)

Indiewire staff picks include Eric Kohn's "other" list

9. Harrison Ford's Publicity Campaign for "Star Wars"
At this writing, I have yet to experience the latest look at a galaxy far, far away. But I already nominate Harrison Ford for most hilarious shill of the year on the basis of his recent publicity campaign, which includes a jab at Donald Trump and the best response to a bland promotional question ever when Jimmy Fallon asked him if returning to Han Solo made the actor emotional: "No. I got paid." Sorry, Trump, but the real truth talker of the fall shot first.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-best-films-and-tv-shows-of-2015-according-to-indiewires-staff-20151211

Toronto crix:

Best Film: Carol.
Best Director: Todd Haynes, Carol.
Best Actress: Nina Hoss, Phoenix.
Best Actor: Tom Hardy, Legend.
Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina.
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies.
Best Screenplay: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay, The Big Short.
Best First Film: Ex Machina.
Best Animated Film: Shaun the Sheep Movie.
Best Documentary: The Look of Silence.
Best Foreign Language Film: Phoenix.

SF crix (first Dano win for lead actor?):

Best Picture: Spotlight.
Best Director: George Miller, Max Mad: Fury Road.
Best Actor: Paul Dano, Love & Mercy.
Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn.
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes.
Best Supporting Actress: Mya Taylor, Tangerine.
Best Screenplay, Original: Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner, Love & Mercy.
Best Screenplay, Adapted: Nick Hornby, Brooklyn.
Best Cinematography: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road.
Best Production Design: Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler, Carol.
Best Film Editing: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road.
Best Animated Feature: Anomalisa.
Best Foreign Language Feature: Son of Saul.
Best Documentary: Listen to Me Marlon.
Marlon Riggs Award for courage and vision in the Bay Area film community: Frank Lee, for “his lifelong dedication to film culture in San Francisco—in particular his twenty-plus-year film stewardship of the 4 Star Theatre in the tradition of the family-run independent art house and his attention to Hong Kong film, both marked by his astute taste and knowledge.”
Special Citation for under-appreciated independent cinema: The Forbidden Room. “Guy Maddin’s haunted scream, full of artfully recreated, vinegar-eaten celluloid, is a rat’s nest of affairs too strange to recall and too troubling to forget.”

Best Supporting Actress: Mya Taylor, Tangerine

About time.

Hope the Shannon vs. Stallone battle for Best Supporting Actor leads to them co-starring in something.

something where they kidnap Mark Rylance

Best Supporting Actress: Mya Taylor, Tangerine

About time.

― Ballistic: ILX vs. Sever (Eric H.), 14. december 2015 19:22 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^

saw Tangerine way back in July, i think of it now as having co-leads

(or at least two comparably good performances)

god do I really have to watch/endure Steve Jobs

That's me rn re: Trumbo.

you DON'T! Unless you're an awards blogger.

Sadly, I'm on the hook again this year.

The two women are co-leads in Tangerine imo as well, but I can support some trickery if it gets Mya Taylor a nom.

Also, Morbs, Clean was significantly less interesting than Sils.

AV Club says Phoenix finale is the scene of the year.

http://www.avclub.com/article/best-film-scenes-2015-229365

But also ...

Off Santa Monica Pier, Jem And The Holograms
Could one of the year’s most memorable scenes be in one of its worst films? The one saving grace of Jon M. Chu’s Jem And The Holograms is that it’s so visually inconsistent that it actually manages to produce a small handful of really striking images and one 45-second sequence that briefly knocks the movie into a different, more stylized universe—perhaps the one where its story of a pop group going on a scavenger hunt with a robot would make perfect sense. Caught trespassing at the Santa Monica Pier, the characters leap, breaking into an underwater pop dream-world of echoes and slow motion, where the lights of a Ferris wheel glimmer overhead like an aurora borealis. Light glides in purples and greens, bubbles hang like glass sculpture, and, for the length of a held breath, viewers (that is, the few who actually saw the movie before it was pulled from theaters) find themselves in the kind of idealized cartoon fantasy Jem could have been. Perhaps the scene wouldn’t stand out as much in a movie that didn’t mostly look like a cruddy Disney Channel tween flick; then again, that’s what makes it so transportive. [Ignatiy Vishnevetsky]

I don't remember it being anything special, but by that point the movie was beyond hope for me.

Clean has among other things a magnificent Nolte performance

Sils Marie is my least favorite Assayas, but Stewart is as good as Nolte in Clean.

Apparently the busiest day in detrius is today.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/critics-pick-the-best-films-and-performances-of-2015-in-indiewires-annual-poll-20151214

she's fine in it, but the film in the top 5 of the year is weird; its unconventional structure does nothing to make Binoche interesting. xp

kinda shocked at Fassbender #1 there

officially bored with Mad Max

Apart from everything with Chloe Grace Moretz I quite liked Sils Maria the second time I saw it. Wouldn't put it in the top 5 of the year, though. But I prefer it to Something In the Air, and a lot of other Assayas'.

officially bored with Mad Max

I find it hard to be bored about something that ... THAT getting the The Artist treatment.

not with the movie (which i liked FOR WHAT IT WAS), with the wins resting on the figleaf of "Oh what a feminist classic"

Pretty sure that's only a cherry on top for a lot of people, but whatever gets you through the thread.

if it deserves its #1 status, why isn't

...Theron winning a few honors?

the Indiewire results page is STILL a disaster. What the hell do they do all year?

Agreed. Is it too much to ask that each critic's link just opens up to their full ballot?

'zackly

http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/best-undistributed-films-of-2015/

Also this

only seen #1 there

Very much looking forward to #1. Seen The Academy of Muses (don't quite get, was a bit bored), Lost and Beautiful (one of best of year), and Pervert Park.

"not with the movie (which i liked FOR WHAT IT WAS), with the wins resting on the figleaf of "Oh what a feminist classic""

otm. mad max and carol are films that seemingly are beyond criticism this year.

Nah, that's The Assassin.

So based on lists so far, it seems that everything major will be about by mid-January in general release, no? Aside from The Forbidden Room, which I have no idea how to see anytime soon, and a few others?

Can I start the film poll in mid-January this year instead of waiting for Oscar time? Also, I promise not to fuck it up this time.

How did you "fuck it up" again? Don't worry about it, no one else is going to organise this and I do like the poll.

When is Oscar time? I would like to vote for The Assassin but its not on till at least mid-to-late Jan. Again, no worries. I can vote either in this year's poll or next year's (if the human race survive of course)

id be interested to see how much of a push the assassin gets, beyond cinephiles.

er, "none", is my guess.

I missed a ballot when tabulating the results last year. Won't happen again.

The Assassin was released in DC in November, which I think means it would have trickled down everywhere else by now, no?

gee, i wonder what will win, vroom vroom

which I think means it would have trickled down everywhere else by now, no?

Not in blighty.

Assassin out in UK January 22, France March 9

gee, i wonder what will win, vroom vroom

Could'a told you that even before the reviews came in.

I recommend both of the low-budget American-indie 'drug' films of the year, Stinking Heaven and Heaven Knows What. Both sufficiently "'70s" for you people (tho they are set, respectively, in 1990 Passaic and contemporary NYC).

(the latter is easier to get your hands on right now)

i wish i liked the assassin more! it's gotten the widest exposure of any film by HHH by a huge margin, and it's great that he's getting this kind of exposure. but sadly i found it decorous and needlessly obscure ("complicated" where some of his greatest films are "complex"). i think his best work is behind him -- his last two features (this and the "red balloon" homage) are probably his worst. (well, cafe lumiere was even /slighter/ than the assassin; i haven't rewatched that one.)

i think that at one point -- a very long span of time, actually -- he was the greatest filmmaker in the world. and he deserves all the attention and accolades he can get. just not, really, for this particular film. so i'm sorta ambivalent about all the hosannas it's getting.

actually 'complicated' isn't the word -- it's a fairly straightforward plot, treated with incredible ellipticality. and i know that sort of thing can be very rewarding. it just felt, in this case, like a last-ditch strategy to generate aesthetic interest.

a solid NYC-set first feature, Christmas, Again (also a bit of a drug film, tho low-key), is streaming on Fandor.

There is a small band of vocal, credible dissenters for both Carol and The Assassin.

i haven't read any pans of the assassin -- can you point me to one?

i do get the feeling that some people were a bit cautious about it, not wanting to jeopardize the success of the first "major" HHH film to get proper distribution in the US.

AO Scott, NYT: "The film is intriguing, but ultimately opaque, a lovely, inert object that offers, in the name of movie love, an escape from so much that is vital and interesting about movies."

Brody was marginally positive... Critic for The Globe and Mail (Toronto) disliked BOTH Assassin ("opaque" again) and Carol.

that seems a fair critique.

i feel as though HHH, in his dotage, has succumbed to some of the more obvious appeals of the "slow cinema" his earlier work helped to inspire. it feels like the approach (stylistic and narrative) he takes in "the assassin" feels (as scott suggests) like a set of contrarian gestures, taking a familiar story and genre and "processing" it in a way that cuts against generic expectations, in a way that seeks -- in, again, an obvious way -- to put the HHH stamp on it. his best films from earlier in his career have a lot more behind them, and their obscurities and longueurs seem to emerge from an intense engagement with their subjects. (i don't think it's until "the puppetmaster" that a deliberately contrary element steals up in his work.)

"in his dotage" is just me being mean, btw. he's not that old! but not that young, either.

man sorry my sentence construction is terrible there! i should probably leave more of an interval between thought and expression.

I vacillate. I'll read Brody or your criticism, amaturist, and I'll remember that some of the movie was inert, but the use of sound and space impressed me too. And I liked the Red Balloon re-interpretation.

oh man, i thought the red balloon thing was utterly banal. really depressing stuff. (almost as bad as blueberry nights!)

(just to name another great director who made a horrible film abroad around the same time.)

Blueberry Nights I'll grant you, which from its title on down was like eating kids cornflakes.

@NickPinkerton
Don't want to live in a world where Pierce Brosnan in No Escape isn't part of the Best Supporting Actor conversation.

xpost

perhaps something like

http://c4.q-assets.com/images/products/p/dcs/dcs-3094_1z.jpg

i liked My Blueberry Nights.

Red Balloon not so much, but it was not "terrible" compared to most of the fucking shit i reviewed for 7 years.

well sure it's all relative, right?

I'm guessing The Assassin doesn't get that many dissenters because most of the places that wouldn't like it just ignores it. When it played at Cannes, there were plenty of people rolling their eyes.

Haven't seen the film yet - hope to see it in Gothenburg before the poll - but I'm not sure I get why it would be bad if it doesn't have good things that films normally have (if I'm getting the argument right). Neither does a lot of documentaries. If it's as pretty as people say it is, then I'm all in. Though I'll agree that something like City of Sadness or The Puppetmaster or Dust in the Wind is so much more than pretty.

no, that's not my argument. my argument is more akin to your last sentence. the assassin simply doesn't seem a whole lot /more/ than a series of contrary gestures -- a kind of zigging when generic expectations would lead one to expect a zag. there's nothing wrong with that sort of thing, necessarily, but by itself it's not a whole lot to rest a film on, and my trouble is that i just didn't feel there was much else of interest there. (especially compared to the extraordinary films you cite.)

i also felt that, like the 'red balloon' film, 'the assassin' settled for being 'pretty' in a more conventional, less inventive way than earlier hou films. he seems to be approaching the arthouse mean in that sense.

on two viewings of The Puppetmaster at least a dozen years apart, i don't really 'get' it.

it's worth reading jean ma's essay in that recent edited volume on HHH.

i do think that "the puppetmaster" marks a major break in HHH's work, the point where he's kind of searching for new challenges and competing with some of the directors whose styles developed partly in imitation of HHH. i guess you could call it rarified; it's certainly more content to address itself to a small, international festival audience than his previous films, even though the subject is modern taiwanese history. but i still find the oblique way that it deals with historical forces really fascinating, and the slow unraveling of each shot/scene extremely engrossing.

ok maybe i overstated things -- not a 'major' break but a break nonetheless.

there's a self-conscious stylistic purification at work starting w/ the puppetmaster that makes it more austere, less rich than 'city of sadness,' which for all its vaunted 'minimalism' is very stylistically diverse.

The problem with a review like Scott's is I can tell he wants to pan it but won't, thus the praising of the pretty visuals (he's also got 700 words to fill).

Even when they work, Hou has refined himself out of existence in the recent films.

The problem with a review like Scott's is I can tell he wants to pan it but won't, thus the praising of the pretty visuals

right, that's what i meant by 'cautious.' nobody wants to actually pan this film. i've spoken to a few hou scholars who didn't like it but didn't want to 'go public' with that reaction, not least b/c they know HHH himself (HHHH).

i /wish/ that the recent films really represented actual refinements of his pictorial sense (as puppetmaster and flowers of shanghai did) -- instead they seem like a very accomplished version of the kind of pretty minimalism that's a cliche of contemporary festival cinema. 'red balloon' in particular felt like it could be made by any of a number of european directors.

Hm, I'm not sure I agree, amateurist, Puppetmaster still has the puppet scenes and the incredible way the interviews are intercut. You could also make a counterargument that Puppetmaster is more of the same as City of Sadness, as that one was his biggest success, not just in that it won the Golden Lion, but it was also a commercial succes in Taiwan, iirc. People had been clamoring for something to discuss their tabooified past. Plus I think films like Good Men, Good Women and Millenium Mambo are plenty stylistically diverse. Not to say Three Times, but that's kinda cheating.

What's the name of that book of essays, btw?

i'm not arguing with you! puppetmaster is a very great film! but there's definitely a tendency to push the one shot/one scene principle even farther than CITY OF SADNESS (and in fact i think CoS is /more/ diverse than DAUGHTER OF THE NILE--which is crazy underappreciated btw--and DUST IN THE WIND).

IIRC PUPPETMASTER was a commercial failure in Taiwan.

here's the book: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/hou-hsiao-hsien/9783901644580

on two viewings of The Puppetmaster at least a dozen years apart, i don't really 'get' it.

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 15 December 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

er, its about a very good Taiwanese puppeteer ;-)

Puppetmaster really is one of the best films of the 90s - was v lucky to catch it this year. I don't see this as "content to address itself to a small, international festival audience than his previous films" -- its at least a different angle which to take on that history and a direction worth trying after Hou probably ran through what happened to Taiwan in more conventional ways by that point.

I liked Red Balloon although I wasn't mad about it. Both this and Cafe Lumiere (which I loved) were tributes, outside of Taiwan work. Not to excuse their failings, he's done better.

The increasingly redundant VV poll is very navigable... Glad to see 5 votes for Amour Fou.

http://www.villagevoice.com/filmpoll/cat/film/2015

good to see Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem in there.

and 14 voters for Bridge of Spies.

Look how easy it is, Indiewire, to click on a critic and get their entire ballot.

http://www.villagevoice.com/filmpoll/cat/critics/2015

Editor, on Twitter yesterday, acknowledged how bad criticwire's site functionality is, promised a redesign next year.

from Slant's intro essay:

Storytelling itself proved blithely disdainful of restriction, not least in a bath-time daydream that descends into a veritable cascade of interlinked stories and a buttoned-up costume drama that blossoms into a western before twisting itself further into a post-colonial mindfuck.

what?

I had a post-coffee mindfuck

fwiw, nothing fills me with more horror than having to come up with an intro paragraph to any year-end list.

I sympathize.

This year, more than any other before it, crystallized trends, reinvigorated old tropes, blazed forth into new territory, forged innovative meta-commentary on political movements. Go see Spotlight.

It's easy: "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you ... the movies!"

There, that one's on me.

The first one must be The Forbidden Room, right? The second one is Jauja?

Trainwreck, Beasts of No Nation make this honor roll

http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-10-worst-films-of-2015

Sicinski picks notably imperfect films

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/flaunt-the-imperfection

I assume Crimson Peak is on that list? Regardless, that movie better get some production design love, because it's a decadent beauty, trifle or no.

Nat'l Film Registry class of '15 includes Shawshank. We're done now, Library of Congress.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/shawshank-redemption-ghostbusters-added-to-national-film-registry-2/

can we burn it like Alexandria

oh Christ

oh middlebrows

what terrible news

sure wish we could burn the library of congress to the ground they r so worthless

can I throw The Weeknd in the building too?

Kudos to them for picking a movie that makes me shrug my shoulders at including Top Gun.

Sturges, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, Imitation of Life, Our Daily Bread, Seconds, Thom Andersen ... look on the bright side of every penny.

i don't think i've seen Eadweard Muybridge... is it "available"?

The ppl at LoC do important preservation work. It's unwise to view that list as much more than a PR tool.

look on the bright side of every penny

My god, Morbs, I'm supposed to be the romantic. You're supposed to be the hard-bitten realist.

morbs otm

http://24.media.tumblr.com/9646410f90d4391c45152ae3e624e33d/tumblr_mz7zf5spuD1s9d94ao1_500.gif

we are each other, E.

What do you think my latest bump to the gay thread was about?

i always assume Mommie Dearest

sorry

I have just ill3g8lly nabbed the first DVDscr's of the year in Room & Brooklyn, it seems a bit earlier than usual.

the lists awaken

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR

THE BIG SHORT
BRIDGE OF SPIES
CAROL
INSIDE OUT
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
THE MARTIAN
ROOM
SPOTLIGHT
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

I kept sticking a rattlesnake under my shirt to make it through The Big Short, which is LOUD and LET ME EXPLAIN THESE CONFUSING FACTS TO YOU WITH GRAPHICS AND ACTORS MAKING FUNNY FACES.

STAR WARS!? Did they write the list yesterday?

i'm sure they got early screenings. Spielberg has reportedly seen it 5x.

Slant picks 20 scenes (I def love that Pigeon Sat on a Branch one, tho i was lukewarm on the film... also Eastern Boys and MMXXL)

http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-20-best-film-scenes-of-2015

Good scenes, especially the Timbuktu one. Was lukewarm on Pigeon myself, but the horrific brazen cylinder scene will stay with me for a long, long time.

looking over that village voice poll reminds me of how few american critics i actually care about. and with one or two exceptions the best critics didn't even participate in that poll (in some cases b/c they are boycotting the husk that is the village voice.)

i scarcely saw more than two dozen 'new' films this year so any list i'd draw up would be rather hopeless.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't have your say in the inevitable ILX film poll!

yes it does

do you think you'll ever get tired of this routine or do you have endlessly replenished reserves of unbidden contempt?

AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/article/20-best-films-2015-229810

Slant best acting

http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-20-best-film-performances-of-2015

Has anyone seen the uncut Welcome to New York?

So has anyone seen Son of Saul? I saw it today, and was completely overwhelmed. And I was ready to be cynical, since it will win Best Foreign Language Picture. But my God, what an overwhelming and thoughtful experience.

I'm still in two minds about it. Probably would have been "ugh no" if the director hadn't been very thoughtful in the Q&A after the screening.

May I ask why you had that response? I know it's been quite divisive, but to me it's honestly a good corrective to some wrongful assumptions about the Shoah.

I feel like somewhere around the halfway mark I got the feeling the plot, such as it is, was more about providing an excuse to wander through all the atrocities in way that didn't feel entirely organic, and it was hard to shake the feeling I was being treated to a Tour of Auschwitz in slightly exploitative manner.

47 films from G Kenny

http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2015/12/forty-seven-noteworthy-films-released-in-the-united-states-in-2015.html

Finally saw Creed. Stallone almost worth the awards bait attention (best joke and reaction timed around iCloud reference), Michael B. Jordan even better, but the real star is Philadelphia.

Glenn Kenny otm (and our reviews are eerily similar):

This is a compelling story, well-acted. I’m not entirely certain how well-told it is. What’s funny is that should one observe that it’s visually flat, one runs the risk of being accussed of being some kind of shill for “pure cinema” (see above), which means you’re only interested in things like flashy camerawork and show-offy editing, and that’s bad, you see, because the thing about storytelling is that technique is supposed to be invisible. Only problem is, technique is also not invisible when it’s BORING. In terms of pacing, Spotlight is beyond pedestrian. Every scene is a very neat little package of a few minutes, one after the other, each one fixed on a single topic or action that will move the narrative to the next square, until all the squares have been covered. The possibility of surprise, spontaneity, perversity, anything that is not specifically related to The Lesson, has been squeezed out of the work probably before the first scene was lit. Even if Tom McCarthy had wanted to do something along the lines of the seven-minute split-diopter shot of Redford making the Dahlberg call, he couldn’t have, because there’s nothing for it in the script. Again: a compelling story, well-acted. And competently told. But if it hadn’t been so well-acted the competence would seem like mediocrity.

I feel like somewhere around the halfway mark I got the feeling the plot, such as it is, was more about providing an excuse to wander through all the atrocities in way that didn't feel entirely organic, and it was hard to shake the feeling I was being treated to a Tour of Auschwitz in slightly exploitative manner.

― Insane Prince of False Binaries (Gukbe), 18. december 2015 18:44 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The plot is def tangential, but I rarely care about plot anyway. The whole point of the film is the depiction of the camp, and of the Sonderkommando, and I didn't feel it was exploitative at all. For, like, the first time since Lanzmann's films.

ebert.com contributors

http://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/the-individual-top-tens-of-2015

I was trying to decide whether I would recommend Hard To Be A God to anyone. Might be a good way to fall out with people.

Haha

Tried to play the Witcher 3 RPG for the first time the day after watching Hard to be a God but felt nauseous. It ruined medieval settings for me.

The plot is def tangential, but I rarely care about plot anyway. The whole point of the film is the depiction of the camp, and of the Sonderkommando, and I didn't feel it was exploitative at all. For, like, the first time since Lanzmann's films.

― Frederik B, Saturday, December 19, 2015 11:04 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I didn't think it was grossly exploitative in the way that most (if not all?) dramatic narratives have been so far, and the director talked a fair amount about what he was trying to achieve and how everyone else was approaching it from perhaps the wrong perspective (forward rather than in). He understood and accepted that you can never understand the totality of it. I don't go so far as the visceral hatred that some have, like Dargis or Peter Labuza, but I can appreciate where they're coming from. I think I just approach the subject matter with a higher degree of scrutiny, so the moment it feels really false and forced I start to question the motives.

Right, and I'll of course admit that I don't have the stakes that a lot of other people does. At one point it struck me 'is he saying that we should listen less to the testimonies?' And I think that's kinda what the film is implying, that with every atrocity the world asks for testimonies, and a few give their accounts, and we listen, but it get's skewed, because we listen to the ones who survived. I think that's an awfully provocative thing to imply, and I can imagine everyone who has survivors in their families being very uncomfortable with it. But in some sense it's the first narrative that I think could only have been made after most of the survivors are gone. It's the first fictional account that seems based on archeology, that seems based on relics rather than narratives, to speak in historical terms. And an amazingly fraught discussion, which society might need to have, is whether or not it thereby devalues the 'narrators'. Perhaps it was too soon?

And I know I'm not the one who has the right to answer that question. I probably don't even have the right to ask it, and if so, I'm sorry. I know it's fraught. But I don't think I can stop thinking about it, I was overwhelmed, and I'm guessing I'll be writing about this film for years to come.

I think that's a totally reasonable and fair response and I think it's a fairly intractable question about representation. One of those things where you have, on the one hand, the rebellion actually happened and it's great to see someone showing it rather than the general understanding that there was no fighting back, but it was also somewhat anomalous and there is, however briefly, this cathartic moment where, if you really want to get to the root of the Shoah, there probably shouldn't be. I'm not sure where I fall on it intellectually but emotionally, as I watched it, I felt a bit torn.

But on a technical level, it's an extraordinary film, and I really do think he made all the right choices. I also think the pit sequence is one of the most horrifying and desperate things I've ever seen on screen, which is something. And as silly as it might be seem to type out, I'll never, ever forget the sound design.

What movies are opening wide next weekend?

Seriously thinking of spending most of Saturday at the cinema

Carol is opening wide(r)

Let's start a campaign to have the makers of The Danish Girl sent to Devil's Island.

is it terrible?

not if you appreciate sharp nails tugging at your tear ducts every five minutes

Sort of a right place, right time sort of thing, but I really appreciated "Bone Tomahawk," for being so slow, for being so graphically grisley, for being so surprisingly funny at times, and for its insanely goofy spaghetti western ending credits song.

I'm responsible for only one Best Actor nominee:

2015 Florida Film Critics Circle Nominations

BEST PICTURE

Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
Spotlight
The Big Short
The Martian

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Paul Dano – Love and Mercy
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett – Carol
Brie Larson – Room
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Oscar Isaac – Ex Machina
Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone – Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Elizabeth Banks – Love and Mercy
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara – Carol
Kristen Stewart – Clouds of Sils Maria
Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
BEST DIRECTOR