The 2015 Hollmann Awards Nominees!

Finally, the nominees for (if you can believe it) THE TENTH ANNUAL HOLLMANN AWARDS!

Who would have guessed that I had the attention span to not only keep this going, but to also spin it off into the Retro Hollmann Awards? And we just keep growing and growing, baby!

Each category is presented in the order in which I finalized them, eighteen in all.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Chi-Raq - "Pray 4 My City"

music and lyrics by Rico Cox/Robert Amparan/Leroy Griffin, Jr./Nick Cannon

Fifty Shades of Grey - "Earned It"
music and lyrics by The Weeknd/Stephan Moccio/Jason "DeHaela" Quenneville/Ahmad Balshe

Fifty Shades of Grey - "Love Me Like You Do"

music and lyrics by Max Martin/Savan Kotecha/Ilya Salmanzadeh/Ali Payami/Tove Lo

Fifty Shades of Grey - "Salted Wound"

music and lyrics by Brian West/Gerald Eaton/Sia Furler/Oliver Kraus

Youth - "Simple Song #3"

music and lyrics by David Lang


BEST SCORE

The 33
James Horner


Carol
Carter Burwell


It Follows
Disasterpeace


Steve Jobs
Daniel Pemberton

The Throne
Bang Jun-seok

Non-music-related categories after the jump!

2015 in Review: My Top Ten

Later than most everyone else's, but here it is: my Top Ten of 2015. Presented in alphabetical order -- full rankings to come in the days ahead, what with the Hollmann Awards on their way. For a complete list of the 124 films I saw this year, click here.

Brooklyn

dir: John Crowley
scr: Nick Hornby, from the novel by Colm Tóibín
cin: Yves Bélanger
Perfectly captures the bittersweetness of leaving home and everything you know behind for the first time; on the flip side, also perfectly captures how you don't realize how much you've changed until you return home. Love watching Saoirse Ronan's performance grow from an overwhelmed quiet to a more refined confidence. Indeed, the whole ensemble is engaging, realistic, from the giggly young boarders to gossipy Irish villagers. One of the great endings of the year.

Carol

dir: Todd Haynes
scr: Phyllis Nagy, from the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
cin: Edward Lachman
Speaking of great endings, the last act of this one was one of the more pulse-pounding experiences I had in a theater this year. From Carol's words to Therese before their dinner's interrupted, all the way to the last shot. Everything before it is great, too. At one point, Therese asks a male would-be suitor, "How many times have you been in love?" This is the movie that perfectly captures that first love, the love that left you clammy-handed but more Yourself than anything before or after.

More stories of women, tales of despair, and fascinating true stories after the jump...

(n)Ever Too Early: Oscar Predictions

Ah, April. The Academy Awards are now a little over a month behind us, which means it's time to start speculating about next year's Academy Awards nominations. Why not? It's fun!

Hat tip to Nathaniel of The Film Experience, who began the tradition of April predictions long ago, and who's currently giving his far more thought than I am mine.

I did pretty well last year, actually -- though the fact that I made predictions after Cannes probably helped. Nevertheless, let's try it -- my predictions for eight of the Oscar categories for next year, after the jump!