Zach Campbell‘s “Film Maudit of the Year” is Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives: “Through its imagery, its soundscape and lush score by Cliff Martinez, its sense of pace and flow, its cohesive range of acting styles emulating dreams of old viewings of 1980s action movies seen late at night, its beautifully jagged editing principles that tweak continuity and contiguity in ways the old Noël Burch might have appreciated—through all these things, Only God Forgives is a stunning achievement. If everything here were on the same level, this would easily be one of the very best films of the year. But it also doesn’t seem to direct these elements into very productive or interesting directions; it caves in on itself.” Following a round of notes and honorable mentions, his list goes to eleven. #1: Before Midnight.
Jordan Cronk‘s #1: Leviathan. But wait, there’s more. He’s also listed his top Best Undistributed Films (#1: Albert Serra’s Story of My Death), Avant-Garde Films (#1: Jodie Mack’s Let Your Light Shine), Blu-ray Releases (3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman), DVDs (Out 1: Noli me tang ere / Out 1: Spectre), and Repertory (Warhol‘s Sleep and Imitation of Christ).
At Critics A Go-Go, Peter Keough‘s #1 is Her and Henry Sheehan‘s is Nebraska.
James McNally‘s “received 33 completed ballots from film lovers in the Greater Toronto Area,” and Her tops the poll.
Meantime, Reverse Shot‘s annual Offenses list “is never designed to be a definitive compilation of the truly ‘worst’ movies of the year, but rather a reminder of the handful of movies that lodged in our heads like bundles of earwig larvae.” And yes, Only God Forgives is in there, but so, too, are such critical favorites as American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club.
AWARDS
Contributors to Hammer to Nail have voted up their top 14 American narrative features produced for $1 million or less. Topping the list is Computer Chess, and “for showing us what a truly original voice looks and sounds like, Andrew Bujalski is the very worthy recipient of our 2013 Golden Hammer award.” In at #4 is Sun Don’t Shine, and: “As a writer, as a director, as an actress, as the individual who delivered the most exhilarating one-two punch of 2013, we present our Silver Nail award to Amy Seimetz.” The H2N teams also lists all the films that received votes, adds three more “Not Made-In-America But Most Reflective Of The HTN Spirit” plus a list of “Films That Premiered In 2013 And Will Hopefully Be Seeing The Light of Day In 2014.”
The Writers Guild of America has announced its nominations for its film and television awards. Let’s stick to film, with five titles for each of three categories.
- Original Screenplay: Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for American Hustle, Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine, Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack for Dallas Buyers Club, Spike Jonze for Her, and Bob Nelson for Nebraska.
- Adapted Screenplay: Tracy Letts for August: Osage County, based on his play; Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke for Before Midnight, based on characters created by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan; Bill Ray for Captain Phillips, based on the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty; Peter Berg for Lone Survivor, based on the book by Marcus Lutrell with Patrick Robinson; and Terence Winter for The Wolf of Wall Street, based on the book by Jordan Belfort.
- Documentary Screenplay: Jeremy Scahill and David Riker for Dirty Wars, Sara Lukinson and Michael Stevens for Herblock – The Black & the White, Janet Tobias and Paul Laikin for No Place on Earth, Sarah Polley for Stories We Tell, and Alex Gibney for We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks.
At In Contention, Kristopher Tapley lists the most notable shut-outs.
Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott: “While [Woody] Allen’s work has been the subject of learned analysis, and his private life an occasional source of tabloid sensationalism, what we offer in a graphic is something new and completely preposterous: an attempt, based on the emerging science of free-associative DNA testing, to establish a comprehensive Woody Allen genealogy.”
Also in the New York Times‘ “Awards Season” special: The critics’ Oscar ballots and excerpts from screenplays accompanied by clips (Enough Said, Her, Before Midnight, and Kill Your Darlings). Plus: Margy Rochlin talks with Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson about Saving Mr. Banks; Larry Rohter profiles Chiwetel Ejiofor and Steve McQueen discusses a scene from 12 Years a Slave; Charles McGrath interviews Alfonso Cuarón, who also narrates a scene from Gravity; Kathryn Shattuck talks with Ruth E. Carter, the costume designer for Lee Daniels’ The Butler; and a couple of more video interviews with Christian Bale (American Hustle and Out of the Furnace) and Catherine Martin, the costume and production designer for The Great Gatsby.
Lists and Awards 2013 Index. For news and tips throughout the day every day, follow @KeyframeDaily on Twitter and/or the RSS feed. Get Keyframe Daily in your inbox by signing in at fandor.com/daily.
