The 2016 Hollmann Awards

The Oscar nominations are tomorrow...and so now is as good a time as any to present my own awards for the best in 2016 cinema. These are the Hollmann Awards.

Best Supporting Actress

Jiang Wenli as Master Zou, the Madame

The Final Master

2. Viola Davis, Fences; 3. Song Jia, The Final Master; 4. Jena Malone, The Neon Demon; 

5. Lupita Nyong'o, Queen of Katwe

Lupita Nyong'o, expressing disapproval with the little "hmms" she makes, giving those looks children the world over know too well - yet in her eyes, there's guarded hope. Jena Malone, deadpanning her way through an off-kilter performance that boasts three jaw-dropping moments for her. Song Jia, the mysterious wife who enters into a marriage as a transaction, suddenly finding a strength and love for her husband she didn't count on possessing. Viola Davis, breaking our hearts and reflecting every hard-working woman out there who stood to the side so her man could feel like a Man.

But my favorite supporting actress performance this year came from Jiang Wenli, as a smirking, cruel, calculating gang boss who hides behind the cloak of "continuing my husband's name" - while consolidating power for her own ends. She is strong, she is cunning, she is a force to be reckoned with. And Jiang plays her like a cat with a bowl of cream.

(the rest of the awards are after the jump)

The 2016 Hollmann Award Nominees

Finally, the nominations for the Eleventh Annual Hollmann Awards! There is one addition I've made here...and may add retroactively to the other pages, who knows? Anyway, I'm going with the Academy's tradition and awarding Best Picture to the film's producers; you will see their names listed under the title.

Eighteen categories, five nominees for each, presented here in the order in which I figured them out...with the exception of Best Picture, which I've saved for the end.

Let us begin...

BEST ENSEMBLE

20th Century Women

Mark Bennett / Laura Rosenthal

Rosenthal was previously nominated in this category for The Kids Are All Right

Everybody Wants Some!!

Justine Baddeley / Vicky Boone / Kim Davis-Wagner

Baddeley and Davis-Wagner were previously nominated in this category for Whip It! 

Fences

Victoria Thomas

Thomas was previously nominated in this category for Straight Outta Compton

Hidden Figures

Victoria Thomas

See above

Queen of Katwe

Dinaz Stafford

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Hidden Figures - "Able"

music and lyrics by Pharrell Williams

Like for Likes - "I Can Hear You"

Moana - "How Far I'll Go"

music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Moana - "I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors)"

music by Opetaia Foa'i / Mark Mancina / Lin-Manuel Miranda

lyrics by Opetaia Foa'i / Lin-Manuel Miranda

Moana - "We Know the Way"

music by Opetaia Foa'i

lyrics by Opetaia Foa'i / Lin-Manuel Miranda

The remaining categories below the jump...

The Longlists

The nominations for the BAFTA Awards were announced today, but things just haven't been the same since they ended the tradition of the long lists. For those who may not remember, or just plain never knew, BAFTA used to release the 15 semi-finalists in each category, before announcing their final nominations. Many people disliked it; I loved it. Oftentimes, it was the only chance to see certain names and titles join the awards conversation. Many felt that was cruel, but for some of us, it was a nice reminder of the embarrassment of riches that are out there, if you only bother to look and carefully consider.

But since I run the Hollmann Awards any way I want, I can do what BAFTA no longer does. Here are my long lists for the 15 semi-finalists in all 18 categories, with the exception of Best Picture - after all, I've already posted my Top Ten, and the Fifteen Honorable Mentions besides.

After the jump...

The Top Ten of 2016

A little late, but still here: my top ten films of 2016. Hopefully this all comes out as much more than just word vomit under some movie titles. If it convinces any of you to get off the fence and see at least one of these, that is victory enough.

In alphabetical order...

20th Century Women

Dir/Scr: Mike Mills

Cin: Sean Porter

Is it weird to quote my Facebook status? Oh well. From December 31st: "Just saw a movie that made me so happy to be alive, grateful for the people I know and have known, excited for the experiences that are still to come, intrigued by uncertainty, and awed by Life. So yes, take this as a recommendation to see 20th Century Women."

Fences

Dir: Denzel Washington

Scr: August Wilson, based on his play

Cin: Charlotte Bruus Christensen

The part Denzel was born to play - immensely charismatic, deeply complicated, kind of an asshole, but he also makes sense. Every conversation is an opportunity for monologuing - whether it's a fanciful fight with the devil, heroic tales of standing up to the boss, or a self-pitying diatribe against the world. With such an overpowering central character, it's to the movie's credit that no one gets lost or sidelined - everyone, from Viola Davis to Stephen McKinley Henderson to Saniyya Sidney, is a fully realized human being.

The Final Master

Dir/Scr: Xu Haofeng, from his novel

Cin: Wang Tianlin

In pre-World War II China, a martial artist arrives in Tianjin in the hopes of opening a martial arts school teaching the Wing Chun fighting style; the already-established teachers don't like it one bit. And so begins almost two hours of double-crosses, street fights, ambiguous alliances, legacy, friendly enemies. Yet it is also about a changing China - dig the posh, European-style suits of the Grandmasters, looking down on the unpolished interloper and his peasant pupil, compromising the old values to consolidate power. I wish it had been three hours, truly.

The Handmaiden

Dir: Park Chan-wook

Scr: Jeong Seo-kyeong/Park Chan-wook, from the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Cin: Chung Chung-hoon

What a wacky movie! What a stunning movie! What a unique, oddball creation! Park and Jeong so seamlessly transfer the source novel's setting from Victorian London to Japanese-occupied Korea, you can't imagine it ever existed otherwise: the subtleties of language, the cultural particularities of certain literature, the significance of non-Korean influences as it pertains to status. The costumes, the sets, the locales! It's delicious.

The next five, after the jump...

The Horrors of 2016

In time for Halloween, some stray thoughts on this year's horror offerings (so far)....

The Witch (dir. Robert Eggers) - Superb on every level, an instant classic. Strikes a neat compromise between how the past fewer the threat of witches and our present-day attitude toward such "hysteria" (or, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you!).

The Boy (dir. William Brent Bell) - Just a good time, with a genuinely shocking and nauseous twist - for me, anyway. And it had a great sense of humor about itself. I will say, though, modern horror flicks have a tendency to outstay their welcome, leaning on especially long climaxes.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (dir. Burr Steers) - It's fine, it's fine. Nothing to get worked up about either way.

10 Cloverfield Lane (dir. Dan Trachtenberg) - It does bank on a certain familiarity with its title, which drains some of the suspense from the proceedings. Dull when it should be claustrophobic. A thoroughly unenjoyable time - and this from a John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead fan!

The Wailing, Blair Witch, and more after the jump.....

2016: We're Halfway Through

We are halfway through 2016, and I have watched 45 film so far. My goal was 50, but there you go.

Here's how I'm feeling:

Hate It
Maybe boring, maybe poorly-made, but in any case, frustrated and angered me.

10 Cloverfield Lane (dir. Dan Trachtenberg)
Mother's Day (dir. Garry Marshall)
Mountains May Depart (dir. Jia Zhangke)
SORI: Voice from the Heart (dir. Lee Ho-Jae)


Not Very Good
Generally incompetent, yet does not inspire passion either way.

The Angry Birds Movie (dir. Clay Kaytis/Fergal Reilly)
Dirty Grandpa (dir. Dan Mazer)
Eddie the Eagle (dir. Dexter Fletcher)
Race (dir. Stephen Hopkins)


Guilty Pleasures 
I had a good time, but I don't know who else would (other than my roommate).

The Boy (dir. William Brent Bell)
London Has Fallen (dir. Babak Najafi)

Like It 
I enjoyed myself while watching, perhaps I'll watch again when it hits television.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (dir. Zack Snyder)
The Boss (dir. Ben Falcone)
Cemetery of Splendour (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Deadpool (dir. Tim Miller)
The Infiltrator (dir. Brad Furman)
Kung Fu Panda 3 (dir. Alessandro Carloni/Jennifer Yuh)
Love & Friendship (dir. Whit Stillman)
Me Before You (dir. Thea Sharrock)
Money Monster (dir. Jodie Foster)
Spirits' Homecoming (dir. Cho Jung-Rae)
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (dir. Glenn Ficarra/John Requa)
X-Men: Apocalypse (dir. Bryan Singer)

Love It 
The movies I would re-watch, maybe even buy, and which I return to in my thoughts more than once.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (dir. Michael Bay)
Everybody Wants Some!! (dir. Richard Linklater)
Eye in the Sky (dir. Gavin Hood)
Finding Dory (dir. Andrew Stanton)
The Jungle Book (dir. Jon Favreau)
Like for Likes (dir. Park Hyun-Jin)
A Melody to Remember (dir. Lee Han)
The Mermaid (dir. Stephen Chow)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (dir. Kirk Jones)
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (dir. Nicholas Stoller)
The Nice Guys (dir. Shane Black)


Gotta Have It 
Drop what you're doing right now and watch this.

Dongju: Portrait of a Poet (dir. Lee Joon-Ik)
The Final Master (dir. Xu Haofeng)
Green Room (dir. Jeremy Saulnier)
Hail, Caesar! (dir. The Coen Brothers)
How To Be Single (dir. Christian Ditter)
The Lobster (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
The Neon Demon (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)
Seoul Searching (dir. Benson Lee)
The Wailing (dir. Na Hong-Jin)
The Witch (dir. Robert Eggers)
Zootopia (dir. Byron Howard/Rich Moore)


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