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Has anyone seen any particularly useful reports/reviews of Wenders' Anselm Kiefer documentary? One of the few "contemporary" artists whose work (totally unexpectedly) ensnared me at first sight -- at a long-long-ago exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Michael Kerpan wrote:Has anyone seen any particularly useful reports/reviews of Wenders' Anselm Kiefer documentary? One of the few "contemporary" artists whose work (totally unexpectedly) ensnared me at first sight -- at a long-long-ago exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Even from looking at some of his works on my phone, yeah, ensnaring. Would’ve been wonderful to see their odd textures up close. Looks like he used physical materials like straw and pottery shards in his work.

Mr Sausage wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 3:52 pmWould’ve been wonderful to see their odd textures up close. Looks like he used physical materials like straw and pottery shards in his work.

This spring we encountered two of Kiefer's works -- unexpectedly -- during our visits here and there to see friends and family. One at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach and the other at the Cleveland Art Museum. In both cases, there was a roomful of contemporary art -- and my reaction was there's one and only one work here that demands my attention. And in each case, it was a hitherto unknown Anselm Kiefer work. I don't really know why his work is so mesmerizing, but I'm glad it is. So I want to see Wenders' documentary as much as I want to see Perfect Day (at least).

I caught an Anselm screening at the Academy Museum last night. A+. Best film ever about an artist and the process of making art. And the meaning of art. Best 3D film I've ever seen (I haven't seen many.) It is transcendent for anyone who has seen large-scale retrospectives of his work (which I have).

But you don't need to be wholly familiar with his work to really enjoy this. All Godard fans will love it.

Cahiers Top 10:

1. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)
2. Close Your Eyes (Víctor Erice)
3. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
4. The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)
5. Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki)
6. Désordres (Cyril Schäublin)
7. Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World (Radu Jude)
8. Le Gang des Bois du Temple (Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche)
9. Last Summer (Catherine Breillat)
10. Un Prince (Pierre Creton)/Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt)

a Twitter user wrote:la curiosité de l'année : il n'y a pas de films de Hong Sang-Soo

Strong top choice

Screenplays for several 2023 films available for (free, legal) download via The Film Stage

John Waters’ Top 10, now in Vulture.

01 Beau is Afraid (Aster)
02 A Prince (Creton)
03 Master Gardener (Schrader)
04 Full Time (Gravel)
05 Last Summer (Breillat)
06 Sparta (Seidl)
07 Fallen Leaves (Kaurismäki)
08 Strange Way of Life (Almodóvar)
09 Oppenheimer (Nolan)
10 Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World (Jude)

National Board of Review
Best Film: Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
NBR Icon Award: Bradley Cooper
Best Original Screenplay: David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Best Adapted Screenplay: Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Breakthrough Performance: Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One
Best Directorial Debut: Celine Song, Past Lives
Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best International Film: Anatomy of a Fall
Best Documentary: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Best Ensemble: The Iron Claw
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: Director Chad Stahelski and stunt coordinators Stephen Dunlevy & Scott Rogers, John Wick: Chapter 4
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon

New York Film Critics Circle
Best Film: Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Best Actor: Franz Rogowski, Passages
Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Supporting Actor: Charles Melton, May December
Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Best Screenplay: Samy Burch, May December
Best Animated Film: The Boy and the Heron
Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
Best Non-Fiction Film: Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros
Best International Film: Anatomy of a Fall
Best First Film: Past Lives
Special Award: Karen Cooper for her five decades of creative leadership as director of Film Forum.

Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Best Picture: The Zone of Interest
Best Director: Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Leading Performances: Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, Emma Stone, Poor Things
Supporting Performances: Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Best Screenplay: Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers
Best Cinematography: Robbie Ryan, Poor Things
Best Editing: Laurent Sénéchal, Anatomy of a Fall
Best Production Design: Sarah Greenwood, Barbie
Best Music/Score: Mica Levi, The Zone of Interest
Best Foreign Language Film: Anatomy of a Fall
Best Documentary/Nonfiction Film: Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros
Best Animation: The Boy and the Heron
New Generation: Celine Song, Past Lives

Oscars Shortlists for 10 Categories

Estonian entry for the best international film (Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, also for best doc. category) declined, but we somehow have 2 animated shorts (Eeva and Koerkorter) that made past the initial selection.

I don’t think Joe Hisaishi has ever been shortlisted before. It would be nice to see him get some recognition from the Academy

Armenia making the cut for International Feature is interesting. It’s from an Armenian-American filmmaker, and it’s the first time they’ve ever had a shortlisted feature

Oscar nominations are announced in 3 weeks. I wonder what this year’s big surprise CODA/Green Book/Lion beneficiary of unexpectedly widespread acclaim is going to be.

Matt wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 6:28 am Oscar nominations are announced in 3 weeks. I wonder what this year’s big surprise CODA/Green Book/Lion beneficiary of unexpectedly widespread acclaim is going to be.

I think there’s still a decent chance that Air gets a Best Picture nomination.

Matt wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 6:28 am Oscar nominations are announced in 3 weeks. I wonder what this year’s big surprise CODA/Green Book/Lion beneficiary of unexpectedly widespread acclaim is going to be.

It might be The Holdovers.

Unfortunately due to being released too late to qualify it looks as if The American Society of Magical Negroes will have to wait until next year.

MistressAmerica wrote:

Matt wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 6:28 am Oscar nominations are announced in 3 weeks. I wonder what this year’s big surprise CODA/Green Book/Lion beneficiary of unexpectedly widespread acclaim is going to be.

It might be The Holdovers.

That would be more expected. Da'Vine Joy Randolph has won pretty much every critics award for supporting actress, and Giamatti and the film as a whole are not doing too shabby either. I meant more a film that comes out of nowhere, hasn’t previously won that many awards, and (maybe) isn’t really that good. But I haven’t really seen any big Oscar pushes for such a film this year.

Matt wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:01 pm

MistressAmerica wrote:

Matt wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 6:28 am Oscar nominations are announced in 3 weeks. I wonder what this year’s big surprise CODA/Green Book/Lion beneficiary of unexpectedly widespread acclaim is going to be.

It might be The Holdovers.

That would be more expected. Da'Vine Joy Randolph has won pretty much every critics award for supporting actress, and Giamatti and the film as a whole are not doing too shabby either. I meant more a film that comes out of nowhere, hasn’t previously won that many awards, and (maybe) isn’t really that good. But I haven’t really seen any big Oscar pushes for such a film this year.

I came away impressed with it, despite being very apprehensive about watching what was marketed (falsely) as a goofy comedy. It wouldn’t surprise me if it got 4 or 5 noms but comes away without winning anything

It would be interesting to see if The Color Purple gets noms besides the expected music ones. The original film infamously got 11 nominations and didn’t win any of them

Re: surprises, I think Saltburn’s social media popularity will get it a place in the Best Picture lineup. Lots of people watched it over the holidays and people are connecting with it. Ironically, it was projected to make it into the Oscars before it screened and expectations were lowered after it premiered, and now the people may yet speak and save it for the lineup

beamish14 wrote:It would be interesting to see if The Color Purple gets noms besides the expected music ones. The original film infamously got 11 nominations and didn’t win any of them

It is interesting to watch the rollout for this one. It’s got no buzz, no awards, it’s sort of flopping at the box office, and it didn’t even get a nomination from the Costume Designers Guild or Set Decorators Society. But Spielberg, Oprah, and Quincy Jones are producers, and they have a LOT of friends in the Academy. And Danielle Brooks is getting attention for her supporting role. We’ll see what happens with the PGA and SAG awards.

I don’t think it will necessarily be a surprise, but Past Lives is going the be “The Little Indie That Could” this year.

Matt wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:49 pm I don’t think it will necessarily be a surprise, but Past Lives is going the be “The Little Indie That Could” this year.

I think it's the film most likely to spoil Oppenheimer's night, though Poor Things could also do that.