The 2018 Hollmann Awards: Part Two

The rest of the 2018 Hollmann Awards! For full context, make sure to take a look at my Top Ten, the nominees, and the first half of the awards.

Best Adapted Screenplay

 Disobedience

Sebastián Lelio & Rebecca Lenkiewicz

adapted from the novel by Naomi Alderman

2. Little Forest; 3. Can You Ever Forgive Me?; 4. First Man; 5. The Wife

You hear the pitch about lesbians in an Orthodox Jewish community and you know - you just know - this is going to be a preaching-to-the-choir critique against religion's stamping out of individuality! And certainly that's true...for one character. For another character, religion and faith offers clarity, security, a community - going against its tenets goes against all of that. For still another, the two sides are difficult to reconcile, but she tries. Open to everything, understanding - and breathtakingly accurate in its lustful abandon.

In second, Little Forest's instructive, romantic journey across the past and present. In third, Can You Ever Forgive Me?'s empathy and sardonic humor. In fourth, First Man's elegy. In fifth, The Wife's gradual unraveling.

After the jump: Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song, Best Picture, and more....

The 2018 Hollmann Awards: Part One

The first group of awards for the 2018 Hollmann Awards!

Best Original Screenplay

A Bread Factory

Patrick Wang 

2. First Reformed; 3. Tully; 4. Shoplifters; 5. The Spy Gone North

As funny in Part One's depiction of Janeane Garofalo's visiting director as it is poignant in Part Two's "love-long-lost" monologue delivered by Brian Murray, brilliant in its combination of the two in Part One's climactic council hearings and Part Two's final conversation between Tyne Daly and Elisabeth Henry. Wang has created a fully-realized community populated by a large ensemble of very specific characters - it feels real.

In second, First Reformed's balance of anguish and dark comedy. In third, Tully's
In fourth, Shoplifters' humor in the face of poverty. In fifth, The Spy Gone North's political machinations and genuine love of country.

Eight more, including my picks for Best Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Actress, after the jump...

And Now The Screening Starts...

I have not seen very many new releases so far this year - just ten in three months! Here are a few thoughts on what I have seen...

Annihilation

dir/scr: Alex Garland, based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer

seen: Pacific's The Grove Stadium 14

All the tweets I saw about how "mind-blowing" this movie is, could not prepare me for how often I dropped my jaw and silent-screamed at the screen. I don't know what to say because half the experience is the surprise and realization of what this kooky little flick is doing, and the less you know, the better. Just see it so we can bond over the dreamy climax, a sequence that had my brain at a meditative level that felt almost religious, spiritual. Annihilation, man. Wow.

More after the jump, including Fifty Shades Freed, Black Panther, and even a friend's film!