My votes for the Spirit Awards

As a (digital) card-carrying member of the Independent Feature Project, I can vote for the Spirit Awards. True to the guidelines, I'll vote only in those categories in which I've seen all the nominees and am clearly not going to get to all of them in time. 

My choices will be first IN CAPS, followed by the other nominees, and if I've gotten around to writing about a movie, it will be linked. Voting ends February 22 and the ceremony will be March 6. I have a list of selected nominees and winners, sorted by title, on this link.

BEST FEATURE
THE LOST DAUGHTER

A Chiara
C’mon C’mon
The Novice
Zola

BEST FIRST FEATURE (I didn't see any)
7 Days
Holler
Queen Glory
Test Pattern
Wild Indian

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One
Isabelle Fuhrman, The Novice
Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern
Patti Harrison, Together Together
Taylour Paige, Zola

BEST MALE LEAD
Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey
Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Simon Rex, Red Rocket
Udo Kier, Swan Song
Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian

BEST DIRECTOR
THE LOST DAUGHTER, MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL

C’mon C’mon, Mike Mills

The Novice, Lauren Hadaway

Pleasure, Ninja Thyberg

Zola, Janicza Bravo

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Ascension
Flee
In the Same Breath
Procession
Summer of Soul

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
JESSIE BUCKLEY, THE LOST DAUGHTER

Amy Forsyth, The Novice
Ruth Negga, Passing
Revika Anne Reustle, Pleasure
Suzanna Son, Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Meeko Gattuso, Queen of Glory
Will Patton, Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer, Wild Indian

Colman Domingo, Zola

BEST SCREENPLAY
THE LOST DAUGHTER, MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL

C’mon C’mon, Mike Mills
Swan Song, Todd Stephens
Together Together, Nikole Beckwith
Zola, Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Cicada, Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown

Mass, Fran Kranz
Pig, Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski
Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern
Wild Indian, Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.

BEST EDITING
A Chiara, Affonso Gonçalves
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, Enrico Natale
The Novice, Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent

The Nowhere Inn, Ali Greer
Zola, Joi McMillon

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
PASSING, EDU GRAU

A Chiara, Tim Curtin

Blue Bayou, Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang
The Humans, Lol Crawley,
Zola, Ari Wegner

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Compartment No. 6, Finland/Russia
Drive My Car, Japan
Parallel Mothers, Spain
Pebbles, India
Petite Maman, France
Prayers for the Stolen, Mexico

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Mass

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
Cryptozoo
Jockey
Shiva Baby
Sweet Thing
This is Not a War Story

PRODUCERS AWARD (The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.)
Brad Becker-Parton , Pin-Chun Liu, Lizzie Shapiro

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD (The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)
Alex Camilleri, Luzzu
Michael Sarnoski, Pig

A Chiara (To Chiara - 2021)

I really didn’t like this story of Italian 15 year old Chiara finding out her father is involved in various crimes. It’s inexplicably nominated for Spirit Awards for editing (it’s soooo slooow), cinematography (the hand held camera work literally made me nauseated—see below), and Best Picture, and I couldn’t get through all of its two hours and two minutes.

Apparently this is the third in a trilogy by director/writer Jonas Carpignano and the music is by Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer.

I have a running list of movies that induce Motion Picture Motion Sickness otherwise known as MPMS and this will go on it after I publish the post. I get MPMS rarely now, since I watch everything at home. One can only guess that some filmmakers choose this method to indicate chaos. It's definitely not for me and I'm not alone.

Zeitlin was last blogged for Beasts of the Southern Wild (coincidentally another wildly MPMS movie) and Romer for Luca. Carpignano and all the cast are new to me.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are more patient than I. Eleven of its reviewers averaged 91%. There are no audience reviews on that site yet, probably because it has barely been released. I saw as much as I could stomach a couple of weeks ago on a Spirit Awards screening site.

Nightmare Alley (2021)

A neo-noir visual feast, this is about a 1940s drifter (Bradley Cooper) who joins the circus and moves up the ranks to make a name for himself. I didn't expect to like it so was pleasantly surprised. Jack liked it, too, even though it definitely should have been shorter (what's up with these 2:30+ movies??).

The star-studded cast also includes Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, David Strathairn, and Richard Jenkins, but the only acting nomination is Cate Blanchett's SAG Supporting nod, and she doesn't appear until around halfway through.

Director Guillermo del Toro co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Morgan, and they have said that this is not a remake of Nightmare Alley (1947), but a re-adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel.

I'm streaming Nathan Johnson's score on Apple Music as I type.

Many nominations are on hand for this one (here's a list of selected races), including the gorgeous cinematography by Dan Laustsen, production design by Tamara Deverell, and costumes by Luis Sequeira.

The city of Buffalo mostly represents itself, with various Canadian stand-ins. Most noteworthy is the magnificent art deco Walter J. Mahoney New York State office building in Buffalo. Further research shows that the building was sold at auction to a developer who may turn it into a hotel. If it's demolished I'll be furious! This link contains a video showing some of its beautiful features.

Cooper was last blogged for A Star Is Born, Collette for Dream Horse, Dafoe for The Card Counter, Mara for Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, Strathairn for Nomadland, Jenkins for The Humans, Blanchett for Don't Look Up, del Toro and Laustsen for The Shape of Water, and Johnson for Knives Out, 

Morgan is del Toro's wife and makes her feature screenwriting debut here. Deverell and Sequeira both worked on The Shape of Water and have a number of other credits.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences, averaging 79 and 68% respectively, are tossing and turning. We watched it on February 9 on HBO Max.

Pleasure (2021)

This is XXX and nasty and Jack and I did not like it one bit. Pretty 19 year old Bella (Sofia Kappel) goes to LA from her native Sweden to work in porn and immediately gets into some hard core stuff. It's the most violence we've seen without any blood. We watched it only because of my voting privileges for the Spirit Awards. I didn't pick it for either of its two nominations--Best Director for Ninja Thyberg and Best Supporting Actress for Revika Anne Reustle AKA Zelda Morrison. Apparently most of the cast, other than Kappel, is from the porn industry, including the kindly character Bear who drives Bella and gives her advice. His stage name is Chris Cock. 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are clearly less squeamish than we are, with a pleasurable average of 87%, while its audiences' average of 57% is higher than we would rate it. It seems that the critics approved of its, er, exposing the porn industry. We endured it on February 11 via a Spirit Awards screener.

Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ - 2021)

I found this overlong (2:59!) story, about a Japanese theatre director/actor, his Saab with left-hand drive (as in Europe and America, even though Japan's roads are made for right-hand drive), and his driver, fascinating, even though I had to reserve an entire afternoon to watch it. Chekov's Uncle Vanya and a multi-lingual production of it in Hiroshima is central to the story and it might have served me to have some familiarity with that play.

Everything I've read discloses a cataclysmic event that happens unexpectedly a half hour into the movie, and another bit of background that's revealed much later, but I'm leaving those out. The opening credits do not run until after that event, so perhaps the opening, before the event, is supposed to be a prologue.

Hidetoshi Nishijima plays our soft spoken hero, Reika Kirishima his playwright wife, Toko Miura his even more taciturn driver, and Masaki Okada an actor in the production.

Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and co-writer Takamasa Oe adapted the screenplay from a short story by Haruki Murakami, and they and the movie have had tremendous acclaim (see below).

Wow, the music by Eiko Ishibashi is actually available to stream on Apple Music, and probably elsewhere. I'm enjoying it as I write.

This movie not only won the Gotham Award for Best International Feature, and is nominated in that category for Critics Choice, Spirit Awards, and the Oscar, it is also nominated for Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and all-around Best Picture, just as the Korean movie Parasite was in 2020.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are in high gear, with a 98% average, while its audiences have down-shifted slightly to 82.

This isn't available to stream yet––I watched in on the Spirit Awards streaming platform a few weeks ago––but is playing in select art houses around the country. 

House of Gucci (2021)

This sparkling pot-boiler, based on the true story of the plot to murder an heir to the fashion company, is good fun, with amazing costumes and over-the-top performances, set to disco music.

Lady Gaga, as the scheming Patrizia Reggiani Gucci, and Jared Leto, as her crazy cousin-in-law Paolo Gucci, may have been snubbed by the Oscars, but they plus the entire ensemble have been nominated by their peers in the Screen Actors Guild. And Adam Driver as Patrizia's husband Maurizio, Jeremy Irons as his father Rodolfo, Al Pacino as Rodolfo's brother Aldo (Paolo's father), and Salma Hayek as the psychic Pina, all contribute. Those who watched the Netflix series Call My Agent might recognize Camille Cottin, who here plays blonde Paola, first introduced on the ski slopes.

Ridley Scott directs from the screenplay by Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna, based on the 2004 book House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden. Various members of the Gucci family have published memoirs, some of which are quoted in this spoiler-laden article.

Composer Harry Gregson-Williams' music is given short shrift on the Apple Music soundtrack album, which contains lots of the pop and disco songs. If you like Donna Summer, etc., you'll be happy with it. I also got a kick out the Italian language cover of the Monkees' I'm a Believer. The album's last track is Gregson-Williams' instrumental "Score Suite." 

Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski brings us gorgeous locations and interiors, all shot in Italy.

The costume department, headed by Janty Yates, is nominated by their peers in the Costume Designers Guild and elsewhere, and the hair and makeup staff has the movie's only Oscar nomination (here's an article about it) which goes to, I believe Jana Carboni. I also enjoyed the production design, led by Arthur Max.

Gaga was last blogged for A Star Is Born, Driver for Annette, Irons for Their Finest, Pacino for The Irishman, Leto for Blade Runner 2049, Hayek for Beatriz at Dinner, Scott for All the Money in the World, Gregson-Williams for Penguins, and Wolski for News of the World.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't very stylish with a 63% average, while its audiences, at 83, are more trendy.

I was excited to see it, so I bought it on iTunes on February 4. Buyers get a few extras. It will be available to rent on the 22nd.

CODA (2021)

I loved and Jack really liked this Oscar bait about a talented singer, a hearing Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), who joins her high school choir. It should be nominated (Tuesday) for its terrific performances, emotional script, wonderful music, and magnificent location photography. Here's my running list of selected nominations and awards so far.

Emilia Jones spent nine months taking voice lessons (A+), as well as learning American Sign Language and the operation of a professional fishing trawler, to flesh out her title character of Ruby. Most of us know Marlee Matlin can act and she doesn't disappoint as Ruby's mother Jackie. As Ruby's father Frank, Troy Kotsur is a marvel. Keep alert while they're communicating so you can both read the captions and watch their movements. They both, in case you didn't know, are truly deaf, as is Daniel Durant, who plays their elder child Leo.

Eugenio Derbez, as the choir director, is so good. His character Mr. V is demanding of his students but funny. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo is sweet as Ruby's crush Miles, also a gifted singer, and Amy Forsyth has some good lines as Gertie, Ruby's only friend.

Director Sian Heder adapted the screenplay from the French movie La Famille Belier (2014), which was written by Victoria Bedos, Stanislas Carré de Malberg, Éric Lartigau, and Thomas Bidegain. Apparently not all of the deaf characters in the original were portrayed by deaf actors, so Ms. Heder got it right this time.

Marius de Vries provides the original score, which is included in this soundtrack album on Apple Music as well as songs performed by Jones, Walsh-Peelo, and the CODA ensemble.

The movie takes place and was shot mostly in Gloucester, on the north shore of Massachusetts, by cinematographer Paula Huidobro. 

Walsh-Peelo was last blogged for Sing Street, Forsyth for The Novice, Heder for Tallulah, and de Vries for Kick-Ass. Jones, Kotsur, and Durant are new to me.

Matlin won the Best Actress Oscar for Children of a Lesser God (1987) and is known for a lot of TV work, including Picket Fences, The West Wing, and The L Word. I've seen previews of several of Derbez' projects (mostly comedies), including an Apple TV series called Acapulco, so I recognized his face. Huidobro shot Tallulah as well as some TV I've seen, including a few episodes of Insecure, Barry, and Physical.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are singing praises, averaging 96 and 93%.

So glad we finally watched this, February 1, on our Apple TV. Apparently Apple TV won a bidding war against Netflix, Amazon, and Searchlight, buying the world wide rights for a record $25 million. Here's a link explaining how to watch it if you don't have an Apple TV device.

Parallel Mothers (Madres paralelas - 2021)

I watched this by myself and loved it. Penelope Cruz plays successful single photographer Janis, who meets Ana, a single teenager played by Milena Smit, in the Madrid hospital where they're both about to deliver their daughters. Predictably for the work of director/writer Almadovar, there are many plot twists and flashbacks. And some bad times in Spain's history are also addressed. Cruz' Janis is supposed to be about 39, but in reality she is 47. That said, she is so stunning I didn't mind. Almadovar regular Rossy de Palma plays Janis' best friend Elena.

Apparently Almadovar (he has dropped the professional use of his first name Pedro) has been working on this project for over ten years.

Alberto Iglesias' evocative score is available on Apple Music and the lush and saturated colors are thanks to cinematographer José Luis Alcaine and production designer Antxón Gómez.

Cruz, Almadovar, Iglesias, and Alcaine were last blogged for Pain & Glory, de Palma for Madame, and Gomez for The Skin I Live In (an earlier Almadovar work). Smit is new to me.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a straight and narrow 97%, while its audiences are only slightly crooked at 82.

Because of its Spirit Award International Film nomination, I was able to stream it privately February 2. Check out my running list of selected nominations and awards. The Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday February 8 and awarded March 27.

Its streaming release date hasn't yet been announced but you can see it right now in a limited run at your local art house. 

The Novice (2021)

This story about an obsessive college freshman who becomes a novice on her college's crew team, is intense and very good. Isabelle Fuhrman is terrific in the lead as Alex Dall. Good support comes from many, including the model known as Dilone, who plays teaching assistant Dani, and Amy Forsyth, who plays Alex's colleague Jamie Brill. I give you their full names because, on the team, they are often addressed by only their last names.

Lauren Hadaway makes her directing and writing feature debut, but has worked in the sound department of dozens of movies, including Whiplash. Watch for the bleeding hands in both films.

The alternately gripping (see what I did there?) and sweet music by Alex Weston can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. He was last blogged for scoring The Farewell. There are also many songs, including one sung by Dilone.

Fuhrman has a few dozen credits, including daughter Tessa Johnson in nine episodes of Masters of Sex. This is Dilone's feature debut, and she was in one episode of The Sex Lives of College Girls. Forsyth's resume includes a small part in Beautiful Boy, ten episodes of The Gilded Age as Caroline Astor (I haven't seen it but plan to), and I'll be writing soon about another of her roles.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are rowing quickly with a 92% average, while its audiences are just floating at 73.

Because of its Spirit Awards nominations for Best Feature, Director, Female Lead, Supporting Female (Forsyth), and Editing (Hadaway), I was able to stream it January 30 from the private Film Independent nominees website. You can rent it on iTunes, Prime, and more. 

Blue Bayou (2021)

Jack and I really liked this story of a Korean adoptee raised in New Orleans but threatened with deportation, which would tear him away from his loving American wife and stepdaughter. Director/writer/star Justin Chon does a wonderful job in all three positions. Alicia Vikander and little Sydney Kowalske are also terrific. 

Chon was born in southern California to Korean parents and consulted with a number of adopted deportees while crafting the script, which has many rich elements.

Roger Suen's evocative soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere and here's a list of songs.

Shot in New Orleans, it has earned cinematographers Ante Cheng and Matthew Chuang nominations for the Spirit Award for their work here.

Vikander was last blogged for The Danish Girl. The other filmmakers are all new to me, but Chon has a number of nominations and wins for some of his previous work.

I'm not sure why Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 74%, pledge so much less allegiance than its audiences at 93. We're with those audiences.

We watched it on January 21 as a streaming screener of Spirit Awards nominees, but it is available to rent on iTunes and other platforms.

They/Them/Us (2021)

Amy, Charlotte, Jack, and I loved this story of two 40-something divorcés (male and female) who meet online and blend their complicated families while exploring nontraditional sex practices, i.e. kink. It combines rom-com and grown-up sex with modern family drama, including pronouns, and was well-received at the two live screenings I attended––the audiences laughed a lot.

Joey Slotnick and Amy Hargreaves have good chemistry as Charlie and Lisa and Slotnick's comic timing is impeccable. Their children are Jack Steiner, Shanna Strong, Lexie Bean, and Sarah Eddy, with a host of supporting players.

Director Jon Sherman and his now-wife Melissa Vogley Woods co-wrote the original story, setting it and shooting it entirely in Columbus, Ohio, a first for the city, with lovely photography by Fletcher Wolfe. Sherman, like the character Charlie, is a film professor at an Ohio college.

Almost all the songs featured in the movie are by Columbus bands (track listing below) and you can stream a four and a half minute suite of composer David Carbonara's score here.

Sherman and Woods consulted with members of the kink community and several of them appear on screen as well.

Slotnick's long resume includes fourteen episodes of Boston Public as Milton Buttle, six of Nip/Tuck as Merril Bobolit, two of The Good Wife, and two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Hargreaves is best known to me at Maggie Mathison in twenty episodes of Homeland but she has worked a lot over the years. This is the feature debut for Steiner and Bean as well as Eddy's acting debut. Strong is new to me despite appearing in single episodes of some of my favorites: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Modern Family, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine among others.

Sherman has directed two other features (wrote the screenplay for one of them), one TV movie, and a short, and it's Woods' writing debut. Wolfe has dozens of credits but is new to me. Carbonara scored 90 episodes of Mad Men, two of The Romanoffs, more TV, and a handful of features, the only one of which I've seen is The Guru (2002), directed by his wife Daisy von Scherler Mayer.

They/Them/Us is now available on Video on Demand on iTunes, Prime Video, and more. It had a short theatrical run.

There are few reviews on Rotten Tomatoes since the movie is so new, but five out of six loved it.

As promised, here is the track listing of performers and song titles, copied from the end credits.

Snarls: Walk in the Woods

Leggy: Taffy

Camille Vogley Woods: Maddy's Violin Solo

Steven King: Seams Are Splitting

Pinegrove: Angelina

The Sonder Bombs: Pindrop

Body Farm: Body Farm

The Girls!: Keys to Your House

ManDancing: Glove Sweat

Beyonderers: Ultra Terrestrial

The MIT Symphony Orchestra: Come Scoglio from Cosi Fan Tutti

Palette Knife: Ponderosa Steak House

Super American: Date (You've Got Blisters)

Abertooth Lincoln: Queer and Loathing in Rowan County

Sven Kahns and Joey Sebaali: Split in Two

Red Rocket (2021)

This story of a washed-up porn star returning, with no welcome, to his Texas hometown is pretty good and Jack and I liked it. With plenty of full frontal nudity and graphic sex, it is not for kids nor prudish adults.

Simon Rex, himself a former porn actor, plays the handsome loser Mikey, Bree Elrod his angry estranged wife, and Suzanna Son the sexy teenage donut shop waitress.

Sean Baker directs from a script by himself and co-writer Chris Bergoch, and they show a side of small town America, in this case Texas City, Texas. that some of us have not seen before. Apparently red rocket is slang for a dog's erection.

No composer is credited but there are plenty of songs.

Baker and Bergoch were last blogged for The Florida Project. Rex, Elrod, and Son are new to me, despite Rex's dozens of credits and Elrod's and Son's few.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are flying pretty high with this, averaging 88%; its audiences not so much at 72.

As a member of the Independent Feature Project, I have access to streaming the Spirit Awards nominees, and both Rex and Son got recognized for their performances. Here's my running list of selected nominations and wins.

We streamed it on January 14 but the pre-order on iTunes is expected February 8. I imagine that sometime after that date you can rent it on that platform and more.

The Card Counter (2021)

With its distinguished group of filmmakers, Jack and I thought we'd really like this thriller, but did not. Oscar Isaac plays an intense ex-military interrogator turned precise gambler and we can't fault his performance. Tiffany Haddish and Tye Sheridan are his colleagues, and Willem Dafoe a retired general.

Acclaimed director/writer Paul Schrader is known for his intense work, so that wasn't a surprise. Maybe it was the violence of the flashbacks that turned me off. My favorite aspect of the movie was its music––the original score by Robert Levon Been and Giancarlo Vulcano is available on Apple Music as well as another album of songs.

Isaac was last blogged for The Addams Family plus an appearance in an Oscar-nominated short The Letter Room, Haddish for Here Today, Sheridan for Mud (he was a teenager then), Dafoe for The Lighthouse, and Schrader for First Reformed. Been and Vulcano are new to me.

My Producers Plethora Prize list will be updated with this project, since it boasts 34 producers.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics, averaging 86%, hold a similar hand to the festivals, where this one has a number of nominations and wins (here's my running list of a few of them). Its audiences, however, are folding, as we did, averaging a rotten 42%.

We rented it on iTunes January 18.