Kevin Hart to Host the 91st Academy Awards

Well…in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s December and an Oscar host still hadn’t been announced, which is really late, for show preparation. That’s apparently because no one wanted the gig, and why would they? It’s long become the most thankless job in Hollywood, subject to endless criticism and ever lower ratings (although that may or may not be the host’s fault), so the Academy has been scrounging for weeks for someone who was willing to do it. Apparently that’s Kevin Hart, who had mentioned in the last couple years that he wanted to and now they’re taking him up on the offer. I’m not excited about this, because 1) I don’t think he’s particularly funny, 2) his style of standup isn’t conducive to this type of hosting duty, and 3) his VMA hosting job was an absolute disaster. Maybe he’ll draw a bigger audience thanks to his social media following (and that’s what ABC and the Academy wants), but frankly, I’m expecting the most cringeworthy hosting performance since Anne Hathaway and James Franco. I hope he proves me wrong.

AFI Reveals Top 10 Films of 2018

The American Film Institute’s list came out today and the majority of the contenders here usually show up on the Oscar Best Picture list. It usually misses by 1 or 2, with a couple more being left off due to less nominees at the Oscars. I have to admit, I’m stunned to see Eighth Grade showing up at all these precursor awards. I liked the movie, but honestly, was it that good? Of these, the ones I think are shaky for the Oscars are A Quiet Place, Eighth Grade, Mary Poppins and maybe BlacKkKlansman, which hasn’t been getting as much critics love as I thought it would. I do think Black Panther will happen, despite the Academy’s resistance to superhero movies in the past. The cultural phenomenon factor is too much for them to ignore this year. The rest of them, including Roma, which wasn’t eligible but they made sure to give a special award, are probably locked by now. That leaves just one, maybe two slots for something else to show up, and honestly, I’m drawing a blank on what that could be this year. Maybe First Man.

BLACKKKLANSMAN

BLACK PANTHER

EIGHTH GRADE

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

THE FAVOURITE

FIRST REFORMED

GREEN BOOK

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

A QUIET PLACE

A STAR IS BORN

AFI SPECIAL AWARD: ROMA

Brie Larson's Alien Origin Revealed in New 'Captain Marvel' Trailer

You know, I’m not sure this movie looks that great. Is it me or does it have kind of a self-serious, dour tone going on? I’m not a fan of all of their movies, but I guess it’s never a good idea to bet against Marvel. Still, I wonder if this one is going to be more on the “okay” level of Doctor Strange and the first two Thor movies.

'Incredibles 2' and 'Ralph Breaks the Internet' Lead the Annie Awards Nominations

While the critics part of awards season plays itself out, here are the first industry nominations, with the animators weighing in on the best of the year. No big surprises, as Incredibles 2 snagged 11 Annie nominations to Ralph Breaks the Internet’s 10. I firmly expect the Pixar sequel to dominate the animated race this year, although the late entry of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse could make things interesting. Mary Poppins Returns also got five nominations here for the animated sequences, which they did in tribute to the 1964 classic of course. I was also a big fan of Isle of Dogs this year, so it’d be nice if that could get recognized for something at some point.

Best Animated Feature

• Early Man

• Incredibles 2

• Isle of Dogs

• Ralph Breaks the Internet

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  

Best Animated Independent Feature

• Ce Magnifique Gâteau!

• MFKZ

• Mirai

• Ruben Brandt, Collector

• Tito and the Birds

Best Animated Special Production

• Back to the Moon

• Mary Poppins Returns

• The Emperor’s Newest Clothes

• The Highway Rat
  

Best Animated Short Subject

• Grandpa Walrus

• Lost & Found

• SOLAR WALK

• Untravel

• Weekends
  

Best Virtual Reality Production

• Age of Sail

• BattleScar

• Crow: The Legend

• Mind Palace

• Moss

‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ comes in with 10 nods

Animated Effects in an an Animated Feature Production

• Early Man

• Hotel Transylvania 3

• Incredibles 2

• Next Gen

• Ralph Breaks The Internet

Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production

• Early Man

• Incredibles 2

• Isle of Dogs

• Ralph Breaks the Internet

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  

Character Animation in a Live Action Production

• Avengers: Infinity War

• Christopher Robin

• Mary Poppins Returns

• Paddington 2

• The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

• Incredibles 2

• Mary Poppins Returns

• Next Gen

• Ralph Breaks The Internet

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

• Early Man, Nick Park

• Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Genndy Tartakovsky

• Incredibles 2, Brad Bird

• Ralph Breaks The Internet, Rich Moore & Phil Johnston

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman & Peter Ramsey
  

Another Disney movie enters the awards race early

Music in an Animated Feature Production

• Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch

• Early Man

• Incredibles 2

• Ralph Breaks The Internet

• Smallfoot
  

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

• Early Man

• Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

• Isle of Dogs

• Mary Poppins Returns

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

• Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch

• Incredibles 2

• Incredibles 2

• Mary Poppins Returns

• Ralph Breaks The Internet

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

• Early Man, Voice Actor: Eddie Redmayne, Dug

• Incredibles 2, Voice Actor: Holly Hunter, Helen Parr / Elastigirl

• Isle of Dogs, Voice Actor: Bryan Cranston, Chief

• Next Gen, Voice Actor: Charlyne Yi, Mai

• Ralph Breaks The Internet, Voice Actor: Sarah Silverman, Vanellope Von Schweetz

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

• Incredibles 2

• Mirai

• Ralph Breaks The Internet

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

• Teen Titans Go! to the Movies

Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

• Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch

• Incredibles 2

• Ralph Breaks The Internet 

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The late breaking ‘Spider-Man’ animated movie has positive buzz

'The Favourite' Sweeps at the BIFA Awards

Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite set a record with 10 wins at the British Independent Film Awards, taking home Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress and plenty of techs. Yeah, they really loved it. The Favourite is expected to be a heavy Oscar player as well and is doing robust box office in limited release so far, with stellar reviews from the critics.

Best British Independent Film: The Favourite

Best Director: Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

Best Screenplay: The Favourite

Best Actress: Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Best Actor: Joe Cole, A Prayer Before Dawn

Best Supporting Actor: Alessandro Nivola, Disobedience

Most Promising Newcomer: Jessie Buckley, Beast

The Douglas Hickox Award – Best Debut Director: Richard Billingham, Ray & Liz

Debut Screenwriter: Bart Layton, American Animals

Best Documentary: Evelyn

Best British Short Film: The Big Day

Best International Independent Film: Roma

Best Casting: The Favourite

Best Cinematography: The Favourite

Best Costume Design: The Favourite

Best Editing: American Animals

Best Effects: Early Man

New York Film Critics Choose 'Roma' As Year's Best

The NYFCC just anointed Roma as the best of 2018, which I knew they would pick. I figured for months now that Roma was going to be the critics favorite for Best Picture, and I believe it has a strong chance to become the first foreign-language film to win the Oscar for Best Picture as well. Alfonso Cuaron is already the frontrunner for his second Best Director win. The critical support for Ethan Hawke and First Reformed continues, but Best Actress seems to be wide open, as the NY critics chose Regina Hall from a movie called Support the Girls, a very low key contender that most people probably haven’t heard of. That tells me there’s no critical consensus on Best Actress this year, despite people like Glenn Close, Lady Gaga and Olivia Colman supposedly being in contention for the win. Critics seem to want to go elsewhere. The LA film critics will likely follow suit next weekend and go for a left field contender. The win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse in animated is a hint that that movie’s early positive reviews are very likely to hold.

Best Film: Roma 

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Best First Film: Eighth Grade

Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed 

Best Actress: Best Actress, Regina Hall, Support the Girls

Best Supporting Actor: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? 

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Screenplay: First Reformed 

Best Cinematography: Roma

Best Foreign Language Film: Cold War 

Best Documentary: Minding the Gap 

Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 

NBR Names 'Green Book' Best of 2018, Lady Gaga Best Actress

A bit of a surprise here as the National Board of Review, considered the first critics group out of the gate (though it’s mostly academics and journalists, not critics exactly), gives Best Picture to Green Book and showers A Star is Born with plenty of love elsewhere. Their top ten list leaves out expected favorites and tends to match Oscar about half or less than half, so this will probably not translate through the rest of the season. But they are first, so it tells us this is a wide open race this year. Green Book made a big showing at TIFF and then opened to kinda mixed reviews and lukewarm box office last weekend, so people had wondered if its chances were diminished, but the love for the film is there from those who see it (it still got the rare “A+” Cinemascore from audiences), so I think it’s definitely still in the conversation. This win from NBR confirms it, along with Best Actor for Viggo Mortenson. A Star is Born is expected to be a full on frontrunner, and it’s a long tradition for NBR to throw awards at whatever WB’s movie of the year is, so that one is less surprising to see here, winning Best Director, Actress and Supporting Actor.

NBR 2018 AWARDS

Best Film: GREEN BOOK

Best Director: Bradley Cooper, A STAR IS BORN

Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen, GREEN BOOK

Best Actress: Lady Gaga, A STAR IS BORN

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott, A STAR IS BORN

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED

Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Animated Feature: INCREDIBLES 2

Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE

Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE

Best Foreign Language Film: COLD WAR

Best Documentary: RBG

Best Ensemble: CRAZY RICH ASIANS

William K. Everson Film History Award: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND and THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: 22 JULY

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: ON HER SHOULDERS

Top Films (in alphabetical order)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mary Poppins Returns
A Quiet Place
Roma
A Star Is Born

Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order)
Burning
Custody
The Guilty
Happy as Lazzaro
Shoplifters

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
Crime + Punishment
Free Solo
Minding the Gap
Three Identical Strangers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
The Death of Stalin
Lean on Pete
Leave No Trace
Mid90s
The Old Man & the Gun
The Rider
Searching
Sorry to Bother You
We the Animals
You Were Never Really Here

Lady Gaga gets her first Best Actress award on her way to a likely Oscar nomination (maybe win?)

Gotham Awards Honor Ethan Hawke, Toni Colette, 'The Rider'

The Gotham awards given out tonight went to First Reformed, The Rider, and Eighth Grade, with Won’t You Be My Neighbor? winning the Audience Award, although not Best Documentary. I think if that film makes it into the Oscar nominations (it will), it’s probably a lock for the Doc category. Best Feature went to The Rider, a film most people probably haven’t heard of, but we’ll see if this early critics love for First Reformed lasts as the critics awards start coming in this week. I think it probably will, and the screenplay and Ethan Hawke at least will likely make it through for Oscar nominations. Toni Colette is a harder sell, because the movie is difficult to sit through, but it’s cool that she won here.

• Best Feature: The Rider

• Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

• Best Actress: Toni Colette, Hereditary

• Best Documentary: Hale County This Morning, This Evening

• Best Screenplay: First Reformed

• Breakthrough Actor: Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

• Breakthrough Director: Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade

• Breakthrough Series (Long Form): Killing Eve

• Breakthrough Series (Short Form): 195 Lewis

• Audience Award: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

‘Eighth Grade’ singled out for breakthrough awards

Lightning Round Reviews 2018: October-November

My latest batch of reviews are still on a delay, as these are mostly movies I finally caught up with that came out this summer, but there are couple of recent releases in here too, such as Cold War and 22 July. I’m slowly making my way up to the present. Dig in!

INCREDIBLES 2 * * * (Dir. Brad Bird)

A fun return to Parr family heroics

I was a little worried that a sequel to 2004’s now classic The Incredibles would be a slight rehash of the first one, especially once it was clear that the decision was to pick up the story from the exact moment it left off. But I should have had a little more faith in writer-director Brad Bird, whose animated films (The Iron Giant, Ratatouille and The Incredibles) have always been a shining example of the medium, far above what others are doing in it (even within the realm of Pixar itself, his are a cut above). So I’m happy to report that Incredibles 2 is a delight- clever, fun and this time focused on the women, giving Holly Hunter’s Elastigirl center stage and Violet a bigger role, while moving Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and Dash to the side to give it a timely, 2018 kind of feel. Even though the film does pick up right where the last one left off, the Parr family continues to feel authentic and familiar in its problems- after being moved into hiding again, Helen wonders if she should be the one to get a job this time and support them while Bob takes care of the kids. She gets her chance when businessman Winston Deaver (Bob Odenkirk) and his sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) recruit her to launch a PR campaign and become an advocate for re-legalizing superheroes. So while Elastigirl takes the spotlight, Bob does the Mr. Mom thing, which is pretty hilarious and leads to some amazing Jack-Jack feats (the baby with the powers of a god, basically), and the sophistication of the script and social commentary never talks down to kids, making the movie truly one for adults as well, in the vein of the first. The villain in this sequel isn’t as good as Jason Lee’s Syndrome, and I think the action scenes aren’t quite as memorable either (and feel a bit frantic in the ending sequences), but the movie is never less than entertaining and is a lovely companion piece to the original. I don’t know if a third one is planned, but now that superheroes are out in the open, how about aging everybody up this time, to mine some new material out of the family dynamics with the kids at different ages? I know I’m no writer, but I can’t let go of the potential that idea would have.

LEAVE NO TRACE * * 1/2 (Dir. Debra Granik)

A well-acted father daughter story

In her first feature film since 2010’s Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik has crafted another tale about outsiders, people struggling along the fringes of society, more or less hidden away from the wider world. Thomasin Mackenzie has a breakout role as Tom, a teenager living with her father Will (Ben Foster) an Iraq War vet with PTSD (possibly undiagnosed), who has chosen to be homeless and live on public land in the pacific northwest outside Portland, Oregon. He and Tom sleep in a tent and live minimally, occasionally going into town to buy some groceries and basic necessities, and Will makes some money by using his VA connections to sell prescription drugs to other homeless veterans in the park. Eventually they’re caught by the authorities and placed on public assistance, since keeping Tom out of school and denying her choices in life constitutes neglect on Will’s part, and though he puts on a show of adapting, it’s only temporary, as he’s back out in the woods as soon as he can get there, dragging Tom along with him. Mackenzie is wonderful as the meek, intelligent Tom, who loves her dad and only wants to please him, but she can’t help but long for normalcy and the company of other people. Ben Foster conveys Will’s misery and depression with authenticity and very little dialogue, but since we never find out exactly what happened to him or why he feels he has to live this way, his utter selfishness and failure as a parent is the main takeaway from his character. His insistence on forcing his only child to endure a vagabond life comes across as selfish, self-indulgent and neglectful. He has no consideration towards how his own actions will negatively affect his daughter in her formative years, and yet the movie wants you to feel his pain and sympathize with his plight the way Tom does. Well, to be honest, I couldn’t. All I could see was his refusal to accept the help of others and his irresponsibility in choosing to wallow in his own misery at the expense of his daughter’s development and future. It’s one thing to choose to ruin your own life, but it’s quite another to deny your child the opportunity to build one of her own. In spite of sensitive direction and terrific performances, the resolution to this story is open-ended and feels vaguely dissatisfying.

BLACKKKLANSMAN * * * 1/2 (Dir. Spike Lee)

No other film this year feels more timely and relevant

For anyone whose worldview was shattered on November 9th, 2016 to the idea that we no longer lived in a racist country, BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee’s best film in years, serves as a reminder that times are cyclical, and this so-called great nation of ours has a long way to go yet. Ostensibly a period film that doesn’t play like one, this movie is a gut punch, a potent shot in the arm that relays the wild true story of Ron Stallworth, the first black cop on the Colorado Springs police force, played by John David Washington (son of Denzel), who infiltrated and exposed members of the KKK in the 1970’s. The crazy plot involved Ron talking to its members on the phone while his Jewish partner Philip “Flip” Zimmerman, played by Adam Driver, met with them in person, taking on much of the risk himself. Lee takes this story and makes it incredibly current, juxtaposing the horrific rhetoric of the KKK with the black power movement of the 70’s as Ron meets Patrice (Laura Harrier), a Black Student Union activist and hears the rallying cry of Stokely Carmichael while moving to get in deeper with the Klan. Washington and Driver are both excellent as partners in the scheme, but this is Lee’s movie all the way, as the sprawling, sometimes messy screenplay is always fraught with incredible energy, urgency and the freshness of both its time and ours. At times moving, funny and always entertaining, this is not the work of an aging director, but one with much to say that we still need to hear, now more than ever and this is not the time for subtlety. No, this is the time for action and Lee takes it, even in the film itself. We hear and see the echoes of our ugly past informing our present horror as Lee ties the insurgent racism of Charlottesville directly around Trump’s neck in a powerful closing montage. I can’t think of a more relevant, timely American movie and it’s nice to know that 29 years after Do the Right Thing, if we have to keep hearing the same messages, Spike Lee is still here to deliver them, with style, energy, humor and righteous passion.

CRAZY RICH ASIANS * * (Dir. Jon Chu)

Meeting the family goes wrong

John Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians got a lot of attention this year for being the first big studio film starring an all Asian cast since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club, a shameful 25-year gap that should never have existed. As such, this is a film that puts together a big ensemble of talented actors, but unfortunately gives them subpar material. There’s a bright energy to this romantic comedy, but the general formula is so thin, cliche-ridden and predictable from beginning to end that it outweighs the energy the cast brings to it. Constance Wu (from TV’s Fresh Off the Boat) stars as Rachel Chu, an NYU economics professor whose boyfriend Nick (Henry Goulding) is the oldest son of an extremely wealthy family from Singapore, and who is now taking her home to meet the relatives. As a lowly American, Rachel is not the right fit for Nick, especially in the eyes of his mother (Michelle Yeoh, bringing the only hint of gravitas and depth to this movie), who wants her son to move back home, take over the family business and marry the “right” woman. With a plot like that I’m sure you can connect the dots to where this is headed, in typical rom-com fashion, though this movie is less comedic than it should be. Most of it is solid luxury porn, as Rachel experiences the vast everyday riches of this elite Singapore family, wallowing in the production design, costumes and luxurious surroundings of what might as well be royalty. There’s a superficial shallowness to it all, however, as the message seems to be that Rachel ought to do everything she can to fight her way into this world, and there’s little exploration of her relationship with Nick, so the romance at the center of the story hardly feels like the heart of it. By the time the movie ends, you can see every cliche and every bit of dialogue coming a mile away, and the celebration of mass wealth for its own sake is mildly nauseating.

22 JULY * * * (Dir. Paul Greengrass)

A pulsating recreation of a deadly terrorist attack on Norwegian soil

In 2011, a right wing terrorist and white nationalist named Anders Breivik attacked the country of Norway, detonating a bomb in the capital of Oslo and killing 69 people at a summer camp for teenagers on the island of Utoya in a mass shooting. The massacre received global attention for its horrifying nature and the rarity with which these types of attacks (mass shootings) occur in European countries. Paul Greengrass has now made a film based on that event and its aftermath, which he also wrote (adapted from the book One of Us, by Anne Seirstad), and it is an intense, visceral experience in the first half, recreating the shocking events with as much sensitivity as possible, yet with Greengrass’s typically aggressive camera work and sense of immediacy. The film plays as a docudrama, mostly following one of the teen victims, Viljar Hannsen, who is shot five times and miraculously survives, suffering painstaking physical therapy as he recovers enough to testify against Breivik at his eventual public trial. The movie speaks to the dangers of right wing extremism, as Breivik operates as a lone wolf, yet was a harbinger of things to come all over the world, as the rise of the alt-right and resurgence of fascism in response to the increasing multicultural world has shown us in the years since. After the compelling first half, Greengrass settles into less familiar territory for him, as the movie starts to sag a bit in the middle while Breivik begins court proceedings and scenes become a bit scattered. It halfheartedly follows a government inquiry into what went wrong on the day (with unsatisfying resolution) and is less bold in its hesitance to make surefire statements about how to handle right wing propaganda, the political climate that leads to this extremism, or even a firm endorsement of the rule of law in handling this problem. Instead we follow Viljar as he struggles to recover and Greengrass stays on the less thorny footing of sympathy for the victims and their families in the wake of tragedy. There’s a semblance of political undercurrents in this movie, but less of a strong grasp on how to approach the underlying meaning of it all- perhaps British director Greengrass wanted to stay away from making declarative stands in a foreign country out of respect for the real life victims, but I sense a greater desire to say something in this film that doesn’t quite get said. I wish it had. This is an important story to tell, not just for what happened, but for what it foresaw, and now is not the time to be ambivalent. 

COLD WAR * * * (Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski)

A passionate love affair that spans decades

Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War is a 1950’s set love story that could have easily been made in the 50’s or 60’s- it’s a glossy, black and white tribute to the kinds of tortured relationships filmmakers like Michelangelo Antonioni or Jean Luc-Godard explored in their day. As such, the material feels a tad familiar, even if told with a smooth, controlled hand and fabulous performances from actors Tomasz Not and especially Joanna Kulig, whom the camera adores. Set in post-war Poland, we meet piano player Wiktor and singer-dancer Zula, who are part of a touring dance troupe, as they fall in love and try to escape the Communist government of the new Soviet Union. Zula and Wiktor get separated and meet up occasionally in different countries over the next decade, as their love remains passionate yet difficult to sustain in the face of oppression and Zula’s constant dissatisfaction. Pawlikowski’s last film, the Oscar-winning Ida, was also a stark, black and white experience that kept you at a distance from its main character and felt like an homage to Ingmar Bergman’s work, while this one, as I mentioned earlier pays its nods to the Italian and French New Wave directors. Though it’s gorgeously photographed and well acted through a brisk 80 minutes, it’s hard to invest emotionally in what feels mostly like a technical exercise. I enjoyed it for what it was, but wished it amounted to a little bit more in the end.

See First Teaser for Live-Action 'The Lion King'

Obviously this is going to make a billion dollars for Disney- they might as well be printing money with this thing. I don’t see the point. Yeah, it’s The Lion King. In CG. There will be no difference between this and the cartoon, except the look of it. It’s a nostalgia ploy for one of the biggest hits of all time, and it will work like a charm on gullible millennials. I say if you want to see these movies again, WATCH THE MOVIES AGAIN. They’re still there and they’re still good. Why is a CG version of The Lion King better than the original? (On the other hand, if they’d somehow figured out how to train live animals to re-enact the movie, now that’d be an impressive feat. I’d watch that).

Independent Spirit Awards Nominations Spread the Wealth; 'First Reformed' Leads

So the nomination season is kicking into high gear, with the Indie Spirit noms today, and the critics set to weigh in with top ten lists and their own awards over the next few weeks. Not sure you can tell too much from these ones though- over the last few years the Indie Spirits have been really trying to get back to their roots with genuine independent films taking the place of expected Oscar fare that had been infiltrating the awards body, to much complaining from its members. So here it looks like First Reformed (which also did well with the other independent film group, the Gothams) leads over all, with noms for Feature, Director, Actor and Screenplay. Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk also did well with three nominations, but otherwise they really spread the wealth this year, honoring everything from Eighth Grade and Leave No Trace to Private Life (three women nominated for Best Director even). I’m surprised BlacKkKlansman was shut out aside from one nod for Adam Driver- I wonder if that film can gain ground with Oscar or if it just hits too hard for some people. The other big question is if this indie love for First Reformed will translate to Oscar attention- I still wonder if it’s too small a film to get noticed by them.

BEST FEATURE
“Eighth Grade”
“First Reformed”
“If Beale Street Could Talk”
“Leave No Trace”
“You Were Never Really Here”

BEST DIRECTOR
Debra Granik, “Leave No Trace”
Barry Jenkins, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Tamara Jenkins, “Private Life”
Lynne Ramsay, “You Were Never Really Here”
Paul Schrader, “First Reformed”

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Toni Collette, “Hereditary”
Elsie Fisher, “Eighth Grade”
Regina Hall, “Support the Girls”
Helena Howard, “Madeline’s Madeline”
Carey Mulligan, “Wildlife”

BEST MALE LEAD
John Cho, “Searching”
Daveed Diggs, “Blindspotting”
Ethan Hawke, “First Reformed”
Christian Malheiros, “Socrates”
Joaquin Phoenix, “You Were Never Really Here”

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Kayli Carter, “Private Life”
Tyne Daly, “A Bread Factory”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, “Leave No Trace”
J. Smith-Cameron, “Nancy”

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Raúl Castillo, “We the Animals”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Josh Hamilton, “Eighth Grade”
John David Washington, “Monsters and Men”

BEST SCREENPLAY
Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, “Colette”
Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Tamara Jenkins, “Private Life”
Boots Riley, “Sorry to Bother You”
Paul Schrader, “First Reformed”

Toni Colette getting recognized for ‘Hereditary’ so far at Spirits and Gothams

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Hereditary”
“Sorry to Bother You”
“The Tale”
“We the Animals”
“Wildlife”

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Bo Burnham, “Eighth Grade”
Christina Choe, “Nancy”
Cory Finley, “Thoroughbreds”
Jennifer Fox, “The Tale”
Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) and Laurie Shephard (Story By), “Blame”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening”
“Minding the Gap”
“Of Fathers and Sons”
“On Her Shoulders”
“Shirkers”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
“Burning” (South Korea)
“The Favourite” (United Kingdom)
“Happy as Lazzaro” (Italy)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
“A Bread Factory”
“En El Septimo Dia”
“Never Going Back”
“Socrates”
“Thunder Road”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ashley Connor, “Madeline’s Madeline”
Diego Garcia, “Wildlife”
Benjamin Loeb, “Mandy”
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, “Suspiria”
Zak Mulligan, “We the Animals”

BEST EDITING
Joe Bini, “You Were Never Really Here”
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, “We the Animals”
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, “American Animals”
Anne Fabini, Alex Hall and Gary Levy, “The Tale”
Nick Houy, “Mid90s”

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
“Suspiria”

‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ proves a favorite with the Spirit awards

Dumbo Flies in the Full Trailer for Disney's Remake

So here’s the full length trailer for Tim Burton’s Dumbo, which looks…I don’t know. An awful lot of CG, as per usual with these Disney remakes. Also, I can’t help but think Dumbo looks sort of creepy in this (especially in that clown makeup). All the humans are to make up for the fact that the only characters who actually speak in the 1940 animated classic are Timothy Mouse (missing entirely in this version) and the other elephants. But people went nuts over the new version of “Baby Be Mine” heard in the first teaser, and maybe circus nostalgia is in right now (the recent success of The Greatest Showman), so I’m guessing this will probably be a hit.