Year End Superlatives! Getting Hierarchical With It!

 A pair of Year End best-of pieces.

Physical Media

Films/Performances

The Best Films and Performances of 2023.

 I do love my superlatives. This is the big one (from my perspective).

2022 Best ofs: Films!

 The Best of 2022 in films.

The Very Best of 2019.

SUPERLATIVES of 2019

FILM

1 DANIEL ISN’T REAL

For some an exorcism. For others, a reconciliation.

2 LA FLOR Episode II: “Watch Out”/IN FABRIC/LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

Visual, narrative, and sensory pleasure, unbound. Nostalgia cannot truly be bought.

3 SYNONYMS

This is not me trying to be contrarian, but everyone who loved Uncut Gems (a film I liked a lot but that requires emergency Xanax and that I could never imagine watching a second time- though I would love an Idina Menzel spinoff) really needs to see this. Tom Mercier is the performance of the year.

4 DIANE/THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES/THE WILD PEAR TREE

The ache of time.

5 IN MY ROOM/The SARA LEE Sketch

Y’all might not know this, but one of my favorite subgenres of cinema are films that start out with a simple hook and end up forcing the viewer to confront the absolute moral truth of who they are. These do that.

6 THE LIGHTHOUSE/PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Queer desire in hermetically sealed crucibles in the midst of the primordial sea. Power and class and the cruel vicissitudes of the exterior world. But beyond all these things, the near-unbearable drama of when to share, when to hide.

7 LITTLE WOMEN/NANCY DREW AND THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE

Women proving the timelessness of women’s work; evolutions that reinforce, but never betray.

8 THE DEAD CENTER/KNIFE+HEART/KNIVES OUT/ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD/ONE CUT OF THE DEAD/TRANSIT

The pleasure of genre aspirations with deeply subverted executions.

9 ATLANTICS/LIGHT FROM LIGHT/STARFISH

Subtle touches on the surface of the hippocampus.

10 HER SMELL/THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO/PAIN AND GLORY

Long-term research experiments on the resilience of the self.

ACTRESS

Ana DE ARMAS, KNIVES OUT

AWKWAFINA, THE FAREWELL

Sofia BOUTELLA, CLIMAX

Virginia GARDNER, STARFISH

Adele HAENEL, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Marin IRELAND, LIGHT FROM LIGHT

Elisabeth MOSS, HER SMELL

Lupita NYONG’O, LITTLE MONSTERS/US

Mary Kay PLACE, DIANE

Florence PUGH, MIDSOMMAR

Charlize THERON, LONG SHOT

ACTOR

Antonio BANDERAS, PAIN AND GLORY

Shane CARRUTH, THE DEAD CENTER

Daniel CRAIG, KNIVES OUT

Taron EGERTON, ROCKETMAN

Jimmie FAILS, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

Bill HADER, IT: CHAPTER TWO

Tom MERCIER, SYNONYMS

Eddie MURPHY, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME

Miles ROBBINS, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Franz ROGOWSKI, TRANSIT

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Toni COLLETTE, KNIVES OUT

Laura DERN, MARRIAGE STORY

Sasha LANE, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Jennifer LOPEZ, HUSTLERS

Billie LOURD, BOOKSMART

Mary Stuart MASTERSON, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Idina MENZEL, UNCUT GEMS

Fatma MOHAMED, IN FABRIC

Elisabeth MOSS, US

Anna PAQUIN, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

Florence PUGH, LITTLE WOMEN

Margaret QUALLEY, ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD

Taylor RUSSELL, WAVES

ZHAO Shuzhen, THE FAREWELL

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Alan ALDA, MARRIAGE STORY

Willem DAFOE, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Asier EXTEANDIA, PAIN AND GLORY

Kevin HART, JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL

Martin LAWRENCE, THE BEACH BUM

Kyle McLACHLAN, GIANT LITTLE ONES

Alessandro NIVOLA, THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE

Al PACINO, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

Brad PITT, ONCE UPONA TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD

James RANSONE, IT: CHAPTER TWO

Franz ROGOWSKI, A HIDDEN LIFE

Patrick SCHWARZENEGGER, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Kiddy SMILE, CLIMAX

Archie YATES, JOJO RABBIT

ENSEMBLE

CLIMAX

DIANE

THE FAREWELL

HER SMELL

KNIVES OUT

MARRIAGE STORY

DIRECTOR

Ari ASTER, MIDSOMMAR

BI Gan, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

Claire DENIS, HIGH LIFE

Mati DIOP, ATLANTICS

Robert EGGERS, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Mike FLANAGAN, DOCTOR SLEEP

Dexter FLETCHER, ROCKETMAN

Greta GERWIG, LITTLE WOMEN

Yann GONZALEZ, KNIFE + HEART

Rian JOHNSON, KNIVES OUT

Kent JONES, DIANE

Nadav LAPID, SYNONYMS

Adam Egypt MORTIMER, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Gaspar NOE, CLIMAX

Jordan PEELE, US

Celine SCIAMMA, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Martin SCORSESE, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

Peter STRICKLAND, IN FABRIC

SCREENPLAY:

Ari ASTER, MIDSOMMAR

BONG Joon-ho/JIN Won-han, PARASITE

Guy BUSICK/Ryan MURPHY, READY OR NOT

Brian DeLEEUW/Adam Egypt MORTIMER, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Max EGGERS/Robert EGGERS, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Mike FLANAGAN, DOCTOR SLEEP

Greta GERWIG, LITTLE WOMEN

Rian JOHNSON, KNIVES OUT

Kent JONES, DIANE

Ulrich KOHLER, IN MY ROOM

Haim LAPID/Nadav LAPID, SYNONYMS

Jordan PEELE, US

Alex Ross PERRY, HER SMELL

Steven ZAILLIAN, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

DOCUMENTARY

AMAZING GRACE

APOLLO 11

HAIL, SATAN?

HORROR NOIRE

MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN

SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

VARDA PAR AGNES

FOREIGN LANGUAGE/POLYGLOT FILM

ATLANTICS

DIAMANTINO

LA FLOR

HAGAZUSSA

KNIFE + HEART

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

LUZ

PARASITE

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

RETROSPEKT

SYNONYMS

THE WILD PEAR TREE

ANIMATED FILM

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

I LOST MY BODY

MISSING LINK

TEEN TITANS GO! VS TEEN TITANS

TOY STORY 4

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Alberto BAÑARES, STARFISH

Simon BEAUFILS, KNIFE + HEART

Jarin BLASCHKE, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Yves CAPE, ZOMBI CHILD

David CHIZALLET/DONG Jing-song/YAO Hung-i, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

Paul FALTZ, LUZ

Radek LADCZUK, THE NIGHTINGALE

Yorick LE SAUX, HIGH LIFE/LITTLE WOMEN

Claire MATHON, ATLANTICS/PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Maksymilian MILCZARCZYK, ANTRUM

Adam NEWPORT-BERRA, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

Roman OSIN, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

Pawel POGORZELSKI, MIDSOMMAR

Tat RADCLIFFE, QUEEN AND SLIM

Leonardo SIMÕES, VITALINA VARELA

Mike TESTIN, BLISS

Gökhan TIRYAKI, THE WILD PEAR TREE

Lyle VINCENT, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Ari WEGNER, IN FABRIC

Sean Price WILLIAMS, HER SMELL

EDITING

Denis BEDLOW/Gaspar NOE, CLIMAX

FEKETE Matyas, IN FABRIC

Robert GREENE, HER SMELL

Alexander HAMMER/Nia IMANI/Julian KLINCEWICZ/Andrew MORROW, HOMECOMING

Todd Douglas MILLER, APOLLO 11

RESTORATION

BABYLON

A BIGGER SPLASH

CRUISING

THE FATE OF LEE KHAN

HARD TICKET TO HAWAII

THE JUNIPER TREE

NIGHT KILLER

OPERA

PAGANINI HORROR

PERFECT BLUE

REVENGE OF THE CREATURE 3D

SÁTÁNTANGÓ

THE SHINING

VICE SQUAD

ORIGINAL SCORE

CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER, IN FABRIC

m83, KNIFE + HEART

Matt MORTON, APOLLO 11

Trent REZNOR/Atticus ROSS, WAVES

COSTUME DESIGN

Kym BARRETT, US

Niharika BHASIN/Praveen RAJA, PETTA

Cypress COOK/Fatima IMAGINARIO, DIAMANTINO

April NAPIER, BOOKSMART

Leticia PALACIOS, STARFISH

uncredited, LA FLOR

PRODUCTION DESIGN

John COLLINS, NANCY DREW AND THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE

Cypress COOK/Bruno DUARTE, DIAMANTINO

David CRANK, KNIVES OUT

Ruth DE JONG, US

Sidney DuBOIS/Damien RONDEAU, KNIFE + HEART

Dana DUMANN, HAGAZUSSA

Fernanda GUERRERO, STARFISH

Melanie JONES, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA

Barbara LING, ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD

Paki SMITH, IN FABRIC

Henrik SVENSSON, MIDSOMMAR

UNDISTRIBUTED FILM

ARROWS OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE

CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER

LIBERTE

MAD?

MANGOSHAKE

RETROSPEKT

ROT

SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

SIBYL

Album:

1 FKA twigs/MAGDALENE

2 Carly Rae Jepsen/Dedicated

3 Mansionair

4 Tyler The Creator/IGOR

5 Celine Dion/Courage

6 Orville Peck/Pony

7 Lizzo/Cuz I Love You

8 Tan/Two by Tan

9 Frances Barber/Musik

10 m83/Knife + Heart

SONG

1 Ciara – Thinking ‘bout You

2 Lizzo & Missy Elliott – Tempo

3 Carly Rae Jepsen – Want You In My Room

4 Celine Dion – Lying Down

5 Inner City – Til We Meet Again 2019 (Inner City vs Carl Craig)

6 Paul Kennedy – Nobody’s Fool

7 Elle Fanning – Wildflowers

8 Mansionair – Alibi

9 Frances Barber and Pet Shop Boys – Ich bin Musik

10 S U R V I V E – Starcourt

11 Normani – Motivation

12 Billie Eilish – bad guy (Barry Harris Remix)

13 The Knocks – No Requests

14 Kevin McHale – Help Me Now

15 Bleachers – I Miss The Last Days of Disco

16 Aly and AJ – Church

17 Estiva – Trip

18 Bananarama – Tonight

19 Dido – Give You Up (Niko The Kid Remix)

20 Sofee – Thursday Night

TV

1 Los Espookys

2 Now Apocalypse

3 John Mulaney and The Sack Lunch Bunch

4 The Other Two/What We Do In the Shadows

5 Pose

6 Watchmen

7 I Think You Should Leave/Sherman’s Showcase

8 Russian Doll

9 A Black Lady Sketch Show

10 Fosse/Verdon

11 The Righteous Gemstones

12 Wellington Paranormal

13 The Mandalorian

14 The Terror

15 American Horror Story: 1984

16 My Favorite Shapes

17 Good Omens

18 Stranger Things

19 Too Old To Die Young

20 The Orville/Star Trek: Discovery

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE ON TV

Sandra BERNHARD/”Sometimes It Snows in April” - Pose

Bradley COOPER/Lady GAGA/”The Shallow” - The 2019 Academy Awards

“Drop It Low (for Jesus)” - Sherman’s Showcase

Billie EILISH/”bad guy” - Saturday Night Live

“Grandma’s Got a Boyfriend” - John Mulaney and The Sack Lunch Bunch

“Plain Plate of Noodles” - John Mulaney and The Sack Lunch Bunch

MJ RODRIGUEZ & George SALAZAR/”Suddenly Seymour” - The Late Late Show with James Corden

“Thursday Night” - Sherman’s Showcase

Podcasts (in alphabetical order)

Attack of the Queerwolf

Bad Gays

Bait

Homophilia

How Did This Get Made?

Keep It

Linoleum Knife

Nightmare University

Pure Cinema

Shock Waves

Tales from Beyond The Pale

The Underculture

DISAPPOINTMENTS LIST (NOTE: NOT WORST FILMS, JUST DISAPPOINTMENTS)

1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

2 Joker

3 Les Miserables

4 I’m Just Fucking With You

5 The Dead Don’t Die

2017 Superlatives.

If the influence of Netflix bears any fruit herein, it's that I no longer feel the need to cling to numerical limits. 2017 has been a brutal year across the board, and I have unlimited love for anyone who would A) think that they might find some joy in my hierarchical foolishness, and B) actually read the whole thing. 

Everyone is dealing with too much. But in an ideal, non-fascist world, I think these selections would make for a great party and a great broadcast.

ACTOR

Claes Bang, The Square

Damien Bonnard, Staying Vertical

Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

John Cho, Columbus

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

Michael Fassbender, Alien: Covenant

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Kyle Mooney, Brigsby Bear

ACTRESS

Eili Harboe, Thelma

Anne Hathaway, Colossal

Lee Min-hee, On The Beach At Night Alone

Alice Lowe, Prevenge

Melanie Lynskey, I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore

Rooney Mara, A Ghost Story

Haley Lu Richardson, Columbus

Octavia Spencer, The Shack

Michelle Williams, All The Money In The World

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name

Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards...

Benny Safdie, Good Time

Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name

Jason Sudeikis, Colossal

Steve Zahn, War for the Planet of the Apes

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Betty Buckley, Split

Beanie Feldstein, Lady Bird

Betty Gabriel, Get Out

Mia Goth, A Cure for Wellness

Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip

Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Good Time

Sophia Lillis, It

Sigourney Weaver, (Re)Assignment

Taliah Lennice Webster, Good Time

DIRECTOR

Kathryn Bigelow, Detroit

Macon Blair, I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore

Bong Joon-ho, Okja

Liam Gavin, A Dark Song

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name

Kogonada, Columbus

Alice Lowe, Prevenge

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Joao Pedro Rodrigues, The Ornithologist

Ridley Scott, Alien: Covenant

EDITOR

William Goldenberg and Harry Yoon, Detroit

Han Mee-yeon and Yang Jin-mo, Okja

Gregory Plotkin, Get Out

Elisabet Ronaldsdottir, Atomic Blonde

Evan Schiff, John Wick: Chapter 2

Lee Smith, Dunkirk

Andrew Weisblum, mother!

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Bojan Bazelli, A Cure for Wellness

Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049

Peter Flinckenberg, Woodshock

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me By Your Name

Rui Pocas, The Ornithologist

Brian Sowell, Sequence Break

Dariusz Wolski, Alien: Covenant

SCORE

Nathan Barr, Flatliners

Ola Flottum, Thelma

Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread

Van Hughes, Sequence Break

Clint Mansell, The Foreigner

Mark Mothersbaugh, Thor Ragnarok

Toydrum, Prevenge

Benjamin Wallfisch, A Cure for Wellness

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Justin Benson, The Endless

Macon Blair, I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore

Rebecca Blunt, Logan Lucky

Kevin Costello and Kyle Mooney, Brisgbsy Bear

Ephthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Liam Gavin, A Dark Song

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Steven Sears and Bill Watterson, Dave Made a Maze

David Branson Smith and Matt Spicer, Ingrid Goes West

Nacho Vigalondo, Colossal

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled

James Ivory, Call me By Your Name

Alejandro Jodorowsky, Endless Poetry

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Bad Black

Bloodlands

BPM

Okja

On the Beach At Night Alone

The Ornithologist

Park

The Square

Staying Vertical

Thelma

The Untamed

DOCUMENTARY

Beware the Slenderman

Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun?

Faces Places

Filmworker

Industrial Accident

Mansfield 66/67

Obit.

The Road Movie

78/52

Whitney: Can I Be Me?

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Paul D. Austerberry, The Shape of Water

Conor Dennison, A Dark Song

Trisha Gum and John Sumner, Dave Made a Maze

Dan Hennah and Ra Vincent, Thor: Ragnarok

Jeremy Hindle, Detroit

Alejandro Jodorowsky, Endless Poetry

Chris Seagers, Alien: Covenant

Eve Stewart, A Cure for Wellness

Hugues Tissandier, Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets

COSTUME DESIGN

Miyako Bellizzi and Mordechai Rubinstein, Good Time

Olivier Beriot, Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets

Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread

Patricia Doria, The Ornithologist

Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky, Endless Poetry

Giulia Piersanti, Call me By Your Name

Mayes C. Rubeo, Thor: Ragnarok

ANIMATED FEATURE

Birdboy (Los Psiconautas)

Coco

The Lego Batman Movie

VISUAL EFFECTS

Alien: Covenant

Blade Runner 2049

A Quiet Passion

UNDISTRIBUTED

Bad Black

Bloodlands

Industrial Accident

Insomnium

Park

Show Yourself

Those Who Make Revolution Only Halfway Dig Their Own Graves

We’ve Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew

Without Name

BEST FILMS

1 Call Me By Your Name

To know that your first love matters. To live your life amidst literature, and music, and art, and beauty, and those meals, and to find yourself unmoored by the deepest kinds of love and hornitude, and to know that in the end, it matters.

2 A Dark Song

As if Clive Barker and David Simon had collaborated.

3 Colossal/Get Out

Unjust systems, concealed in the soft touch of love, that feed on everything distinctive and kind and interesting about you.

4 Phantom Thread

The best Joseph Losey film since the death of Joseph Losey.

5 BPM/Columbus/Dave Made a Maze/Lady Bird/Thelma

Dismantling the structures, figuratively and literally, with which the customs of the past have shaped us and how we live with others.

6 Alien: Covenant/Faces Places

The innate strength of humanity is to adapt and transform ourselves, and the spaces in which we live. But our flaws cannot be escaped. Teach the children well, to be sure. And leave the curmudgeonly old men behind.

7 Blade Runner 2049/The Endless/Sequence Break

Innovation and escape. A new way of looking at the linear and removing oneself from its matrix. Resourceful thinking and a willingness to embrace the strange and unusual.

8 The Square

"Tesla of Justice."

9 I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore/mother!/The Ornitholgist

Stumbling around in a cosmic melodrama with no clear rules and no way to win. But always hope. Always faith in the process. The best religious pictures of the year.

10 The Beguiled/A Cure for Wellness/The Killing of a Sacred Deer

How to dismantle the patriarchy. Expansive, historical, gruesome, and deeply deeply satisfying.

WORST FILMS:

1 Transformers: The Last Knight

2 Boo 2: A Madea Halloween

3 Rings

4 The Snowman

5 Caniba

6 Friend Request

7 Beach Rats

8 Fifty Shades Darker

9 Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

10 Fate of the Furious

THE VERY BEST OF 2016

“Consumed with worry.”
An epitaph for 2016. A prophecy for 2017.






BEST SONGS:
01 Prince – Moonbeam Levels
02 All Hail The Silence – The Alarm
03 Carly Rae Jepsen – Cry
04 Beyonce – Sorry
05 Ladyhawke – Wild Things
06 Sia – Waving Goodbye
07 Rihanna – Love on the Brain
08 Pet Shop Boys – The Pop Kids
09 Kevin Abstract – Runner
10 Solange – Don’t Wish Me Well
11 Kelly Clarkson – It’s Quiet Uptown
12 Brendan MacLean – Never Enough
13 Childish Gambino – Redbone
14 Shooter Jennings – Love Kills
15 Beyonce & The Dixie Chicks – Daddy Lessons (Live)
16 Plumb – Smoke (Dave Aude Remix)
17 Celine Dion – Encore un Soir
18 Tan – Telephone Tan
19 S.W.I.M. featuring Natasha Giannaraki – Anazatisi (Never Find It)
20 Puro Instinct – Peccavi
21 Britney Spears – Make Me
22 Kanye West – Fade
23 The Weeknd – I Feel It Coming
24 Lady Gaga – Diamond Heart
25 Julian Winding – The Demon Dance
26 Giorgio Moroder featuring Karen Harding – Good For Me
27 Brendan MacLean – Tectonic
28 The Lonely Island featuring Emma Stone – Turn Up The Beef
29 Book of Love – All Girl Band
30 Kiiara - Gold



BEST ALBUMS:



01 Beyonce/Lemonade
02 Solange/A Seat at the Table
03 Ladyhawke/Wild Things
04 Carly Rae Jepsen/E Mo Tion Side B
05 Brendan MacLean/Funbang1
06 Childish Gambino/“Awaken, My Love”
07 Shooter Jennings/Countach (For Giorgio)
08 Kevin Abstract/American Boyfriend
09 Pet Shop Boys/Super
10 Tan/Musik City
11 Jean-Michel Jarre/Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise
12 Celine Dion/Encore un Soir
13 The Weeknd/Starboy
14 Tegan and Sara/Love You to Death
15 Azealia Banks/Slay-Z






BEST TV:
Channel Zero: Candle Cove, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Lady Dynamite, Not Safe, Other Space, Search Party, Stranger Things, Yuri on Ice



WORST FILMS:



01 PATRIOT'S DAY
02 INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
03 DON'T BREATHE
04 SUICIDE SQUAD
05 EYES OF MY MOTHER
06 INCARNATE
07 SHUT IN
08 YOGA HOSERS
09 THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM
10 RATCHET AND CLANK






BEST DIRECTOR



Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Cemetery of Splendor)
Anna Biller (The Love Witch)
Robert Eggers (The VVitch)
Karyn Kusama (The Invitation)
Lucile Hadzihalilovic (Evolution)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
Oz Perkins (I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House)
Joel Potrykus (The Alchemist Cookbook)
Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room)
Athina Rachel Tsangari (Chevalier)
Paul Verhoeven (Elle)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)






BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY



David Birke (Elle)
Eric Heisserer (Arrival)
Jeong Seo-kyung and Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden)
Whit Stillman (Love and Friendship)



BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY



Anthony Bagarozzi and Shane Black (The Nice Guys)
Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (The Invitation)
Yorgos Lanthimos and Ephthymis Philippou (The Lobster)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Ephthymis Philippou and Athina Rachel Tsangari (Chevalier)
Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias (Little Men)



BEST COSTUME DESIGN



Colleen Atwood (The Huntsman: Winter’s War)
Erin Benach (The Neon Demon)
Anna Biller (The Love Witch)
Sarah Blenkinsop (The Lobster)
Sonia Grande (Julieta)
Linda Muir (The VVitch)









BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN



Anna Biller (The Love Witch)
Doug Chiang and Neil Lamont (Rogue One)
Thomas S. Hammock (Blair Witch)
Craig Lathrop (The VVitch)
Lisa Soper (Clown)
Patrice Vermette (Arrival)



BEST 3D



Doctor Strange
Ghostbusters
Kung Fu Panda 3
The Legend of Tarzan
The Mermaid
The Secret Life of Pets



BEST EDITING



John Axelrad and Kayla Emter (Miles Ahead)
Christopher Barwell (Under The Shadow)
Julia Bloch (Green Room)
Job ter Burg (Elle)
Joan Sobel (Nocturnal Animals)
Joe Walker (Arrival)



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY



Natasha Braier (The Neon Demon)
Manuel Dacosse (Evolution)
Greig Fraser (Rogue One)
M. David Mullen (The Love Witch)
Jack Pettibone Riccobono and Shane Slattery-Quintanilla (The Seventh Fire)
Linus Sandgren (La-La Land)






BEST ORIGINAL SCORE



Mark Korven (The VVitch)
Mica Levi (Jackie)
Cliff Martinez (The Neon Demon)
Max Richter (Morgan)
Suzuki Keiichi (For The Plasma)
Adam Wingard (Blair Witch)



BEST ORIGINAL SONG



Equal Rights (Popstar)
The Great Beyond (Sausage Party)
The Riddle of The Model (Sing Street)
Waving Goodbye (The Neon Demon)
Wiener-Dog (Wiener-Dog)
You’re Welcome (Moana)



BEST VISUAL EFFECTS



Arrival
Beyond The Gates
Blair Witch
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
The Mind’s Eye



BEST DOCUMENTARY



I Am Not Your Negro
No Home Movie
The Seventh Fire
13^th
Tickled
Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present



BEST FILM WITHOUT A U.S. DISTRIBUTOR



All The Cities of The North
The Death of Louis XIV
Found Footage 3D
The Lure
Nocturama
What’s The Matter With Gerald?



BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR



Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Tom Bennett (Love and Friendship)
Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!)
Joe Mangianello (Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday)
Kyle Mooney (Zoolander No. 2)
Makis Papadimitriou (Chevalier)






BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS



Olivia Colman (The Lobster)
Greta Gerwig (20^th Century Women)
Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)
Dakota Johnson (A Bigger Splash)
Janelle Monae (Moonlight)
Angourie Rice (The Nice Guys)



BEST ACTOR



Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)
Colin Farrell (The Lobster)
Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys)
Ty Hickson (The Alchemist Cookbook)
Aharon Traitel (Tikkun)
Anton Yelchin (Green Room)



BEST ACTRESS



Sonia Braga (Aquarius)
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Sandra Huller (Toni Erdmann)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Narges Rashidi (Under The Shadow)
Emma Stone (La-La Land)
Anya Taylor-Joy (The VVitch)






BEST PICTURE
01 The Alchemist Cookbook/The Lobster
Deeply profound meditations on identity in the face of a society that just doesn’t make any sense. Rebellion from opposite ends. To win is a concept inevitably defined by those from whom power derives.
02 Arrival/La-La Land
As always, genre fare tells us exactly where the heart and soul wants to live. Better ways, sprung from the humanity that so often limits us.
03 Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday
The kindest, sweetest, most versatile love story of the year.
04 I Am Not Your Negro
One of the greatest American thinkers and critics speaking across time; visceral and wrenching and deeply painful. We haven’t learned a thing.
05 Aquarius/Cemetery of Splendour/The Nice Guys/The VVitch
The act of excavation. Inspecting the foundation. The places where conspiracies build, and restless spirits are drawn in. Every space is a mystery.
06 Clown/Tikkun
The social contract cannot abide monsters. Whether by grotesque action or mere contrary existence, a being which pushes out from within makes that which is established nervous and uneasy; ideology can never be a supportive caress. Deeply upsetting and uncompromising, political visions.
07 Elle/Lemonade/The Love Witch
We think we know a woman’s story by its trappings. By its means of presentation. But women’s stories are not so easily bound by facile first impressions. Further investigation is warranted. Multiple viewings yield untold rewards. There is so much more than a cursory glance can reveal.
08 Chevalier/Everybody Wants Some!!
Exceptional and kind films which deal with male socialization and patterns of interaction while never descending into macho foolishness.
09 Green Room
Human decency in an all-night battle to the death with highly-bureaucratized and weaponized racist bullshit. A business plan does not make an abhorrent ideology any more palatable or acceptable.
10 The Neon Demon
Sleek abstractions that careen the Grimmest fairy tale tropes, cautionary Hollywood excesses, and videogame structure off of one another. Playful and portentous, with a militant chromatic philosophy; when the color blue finally showed up for its close-up in the final scene, I gasped.









2017 FILMS I ANXIOUSLY AWAIT

ALIEN: COVENANT

THE BEGUILED

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

COLOSSAL

DARK NIGHT

GET OUT

A GHOST STORY

HIGH LIFE

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

I DON’T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE

KEDI

LIFE

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

PREVENGE

(Re) ASSIGNMENT

ROXANNE ROXANNE

SEQUENCE BREAK

SILENCE

SUSPIRIA

WONDER WOMAN

XX

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