Winners are in BOLD some explication can be found below the categories.
I’m keeping my comments sparse, as per usual, picking nominations is the longest process and all are most worthy to have been chosen.
1917
32 Malasaña Street
Abe
Color Out of Space
Come Play
The Lodge
Team Marco
Vampires vs. the Bronx
We Can Be Heroes
The Wretched
This was the most satisfying film of the year for me. To be able to end a review with the words I do in the one I paste below, the choice was clear.
Being Brazilian-American myself this was a movie I would have to see. While the overarching premise and conflict is clear, well done, and wonderfully performed; how a third culture played into this story would matter quite a bit to me. It adds a bright counterpoint in musical terms as well as some added humor; aside from the necessary and useful analogy of fusion from the culinary world that any bicultural can relate to.
There are some editorial touches that are creative and deft also.
My heart is full.
It a year that was so different than any the world has seen in a century it was impossible to decide some film was overlooked and another was not.
Julio Vincent Gambuto Team Marco
Fernando Grostein Andrade Abe
Sam Mendes 1917
Albert Pintó 32 Malasaña Street
Richard Stanley Color Out of Space
The conception and staging of this film is just marvelous.
Maria Bakalova Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm
Viola Davis Troop Zero
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Downhill
Riley Keough The Lodge
Joely Richardson Color Out of Space
It’s no small task to play foil to Sacha Baron Cohen’s most iconic character and Bakalova knocked it out of the park.
Nicolas Cage Color Out of Space
Sacha Baron Cohen Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm
Robert De Niro The War with Grandpa
Will Ferrell Downhill
Tom Hanks Greyhound
If ever a performance and a film were tailored for a given year it’s Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm this year.
Madeline Arthur Color Out of Space
Dagmara Dominzyck Abe
Anastasia Ganias Team Marco
Allison Janney Troop Zero
Alice Krige Gretel & Hansel
One of myriad things I loved about The OA was it was the first time I’d seen Alice Krige in anything in a while. Seeing here back in a horror film, and excelling so as she does here, was even more satisfying.
Jim Carrey Sonic the Hedgehog
Dean-Charles Chapman 1917
Walton Goggins Fatman
Anthony Patellis Team Marco
Seu Jorge Abe
Supporting roles come in many shapes and sizes. When a character has a smaller role and still has an impact it’s due to an incredible performance such as we have here.
Begoña Vargas, Iván Marcos, Bea Segura, Sergio Castellanos, José Luis de Madariaga, Iván Renedo, Concha Velasco, and Javier Botet 32 Malasaña Street
Noah Schnapp, Seu Jorge, Dagmara Dominzyck, Arian Moayed, Mark Margolis, Tom Madirosian, Salem Murphy, Daniel Oreskes, and Gero Camilo in Abe
Lewis Cancelmi, Greg Rikaart, Thomas Kopache, Anastasia Ganias, Antoinette LaVecchia, Anthony Patellis, Bobby Guarino, Joseph Callari, Owen Vaccaro, Jacob Laval, Jake Katzman, Ethan Coskay, and Skylar Lipkin Team Marco
Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Oakes Fegley, Laura Marano, Cheech Marin, Jayne Seymour, Christopher Walken, Juliocesar Chavez, Isaac Kragten, T.J. McGibbon, Poppy Gagnon and Colin Ford in The War with Grandpa
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Pedro Pascal, Adriana Berrazza, Boyd Holbrook, Christian Slater, Taylor Dooley, Sung Kang, Hailey Reinhart, Christopher McDonald, Jill Blackwood, John Valley, YaYa Gosselin, Lyon Daniels, Andy Walken, Hala Finley, Lotus Blosson, Dylan Henry Lau, Andrew Diaz, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Akira Akbar, Nathan Blair, and Vivien Lyra Blair in We Can Be Heroes
Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Leading Role
Alivia Clark 18 to Party
Chloe Coleman My Spy
Sophia Giannamore The True Adventures of Wolfboy
McKenna Grace Troop Zero
Sophia Lillis Gretel & Hansel
Madalen Mills Jingle Jangle
It’s not easy to play a quirky, oddball and still make them a real person as opposed to a caricature. For McKenna Grace to do that at a young age with such ease is impressive.
Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Leading Role
Oakes Fegley The War with Grandpa
Winslow Fegley Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
Jaeden Martell The Lodge
Noah Schnapp Abe
Azhy Robertson Come Play
Owen Vaccaro Team Marco
All these performances need to be seen, Robertson’s work without dialogue is spectacular and deserves mention despite the indication of sparsity above. However, the most soaring of these performances is the nuanced, multicultural, turn by Noah Schnapp.
Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Supporting Role
Lotus Blossom We Can Be Heroes
Cree Cicchino The Sleepover
Johanna Colón Troop Zero
Hala Finley We Can Be Heroes
Milan Ray Troop Zero
Cree Cicchino has great comic timing and it’s on full display here.
Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Supporting Role
Harry Collett Doolittle
Gregory Diaz IV Vampires vs. The Bronx
Winslow Fegley Come Play
James Freedson-Jackson 18 to Party
Charlie Shotwell Troop Zero
In an ensemble piece, when all your scenes are of import, and make an impact that’s saying something and Freedson-Jackson delivers memorably in every single one.
Alivia Clark, Ashling Doyle, Tanner Flood, James Freedson-Jackson, Oliver Gifford, Nolan Lyons, Sam McCathy, Ivy Mille, Taylor Richardson, and Eric Schuett 18 to Party
YaYa Gosselin, Lyon Daniels, Andy Walken, Hala Finley, Lotus Blosson, Dylan Henry Lau, Andrew Diaz, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Akira Akbar, Nathan Blair, and Vivien Lyra Blair We Can Be Heroes
Sadie Stanley, Maxwell Simkins, Cree Cicchino, Lucas Jaye and Calidore Robinson The Sleepover
Owen Vaccaro, Jacob Laval, Jake Katzman, Ethan Coskay, and Skylar Lipkin Team Marco
Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV, Coco Jones Vampires vs. The Bronx
Just impeccable work here from top to bottom of a deep cast.
Lucy Alibar Troop Zero
Jacob Chase Come Play
Fernando Grostein Andrade, Lameece Isaaq, Jacob Kader, and Christopher Vogler Abe
Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns 1917
Jeffrey Roda 18 to Party
C.S. Forester, Tom Hanks Greyhound
Pat Casey, Josh Miller Sonic the Hedgehog
Rob Hayes Gretel & Hansel
H.P. Lovecraft, Richard Stanley and Scarlett Amaris Color Out of Space
Stephan Pastis and Tom McCarthy Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
This is some of Lovecraft’s best fodder for film, definitely his most flexible work and this is the best rendition of it so far.
Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans The Lodge
Thomas Newman 1917
Blake Neely Greyhound
Colin Stetson Color Out of Space
Rebel Rodriguez We Can Be Heroes
This was a year I went for more ambient selections than thundering booming score, but Color Out of Space takes that ambience from grating to melodic, from subconscious to immersive and is an aural accompaniment to the visual madness of the film.
Brett W. Bachman Color Out of Space
Claudia Castello, Bruno Lasevicius, and Suzanne Spangler Abe
Andrés Federico González 32 Malasaña Street
Robert Rodriguez We Can Be Heroes
Terry Yates The Wretched
This film balances some quick-cut research sequences and conventional invisible editing to heighten dramatic and comedic sequences alike.
1917
Color Out of Space
Come Play
Extraction
Greyhound
Steve Annis Color Out of Space
Thimios Bakatakis The Lodge
Roger Deakins 1917
Blake McClure Vampires vs. The Bronx
Daniel Sosa 32 Malasaña
This isn’t just about what Deakins and Mendes did on a technical level, but it also looked spectacular.
TROOP ZERO 
David Crossman, Jacqueline Durran 1917
Pierre-Yves Gayraud The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two
Caroline Eselin Troop Zero
Sammy Sheldon Differ Artemis Fowl
Michael Wilkinson Jingle Jangle
There was the period piece element, sure, but also scout regalia, and a Bowie performance.
1917
32 Malasaña Street
Artemis Fowl
Gretel & Hansel
Jingle Jangle
Not many aspects of this film worked, this one definitely did.
32 Malasaña Street
Artemis Fowl
Gretel & Hansel
The True Adventures of Wolfboy
The Wretched
To share the best bits here would be a spoiler.
1917
Color Out of Space
Greyhound
We Can Be Heroes
Wonder Woman 1984
To make this Lovecraft tale work the effects have to come through and they did big time.
“Getting Better (otherwise)” The Aubreys & The Turning The Turning
“Mother” Courtney Love & The Turning The Turning
“The Spirit of Christmas” Kurt Russell & Darlene Love The Christmas Chronicles 2
“I Still Believe” Cast of I Still Believe, KJ Apa
“Rock You Like A Hurricane” Rachel Bloom Trolls: World Tour
There was a lot of ’90s grunge influence on this album, some of it sounded like Courtney, band this one was and it’s epic.
I Still Believe
Jingle Jangle
Hubie Halloween
My Spy
The Turning
This was one of the few highlights of this otherwise dismal film.
Robert Downey, Jr. Entertainer(s) of the Year Award(s)
Jaeden Martell
The cast of It continues to go places. Aside from all the movies I saw Jaeden in this year, one of which was a delayed viewing of Knives Out, he was also in Defending Jacob on AppleTV+. His films also ran the gamut of genre and were seen throughout the year.
Ingmar Bergman Lifetime Achievement Award(s)
Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Tom Hanks, Goldie Hawn, and Kurt Russell.
Rather than overthinking this one I chose a handful of actors I’ve loved for a long time.
Agnès Varda
For whatever reason I saw exactly two of her films while she was alive. Even though I loved it I never managed to see others. This box has helped with that.
Kino Lorber
For Kino Maquee a virtual cinema platform that has helped 150 arthouses during the pandemic.
The Movie Rat 
24 comments
Comments are closed.