“Much of the media would have you believe that [Christopher Guest‘s] For Your Consideration isn’t as sublime as A Mighty Wind, which three years ago was thought to be not as funny as Best in Show. They’re all brilliant. What the philosopher and literary critic G.K. Chesterton said of Charles Dickens‘ fiction I would say of Guest’s movies: Sit back, relax and savor them, not just as individual movies but as slices of the greater Guest.” — Baltimore Sun critic Michael Sragow writing in the 12.22 L.A. Times.
Day: December 23, 2006
Scott’s Salute of “The Aura”
N.Y. Times critic A.O. Scott”s Ten Best of ’06 list has eleven ties for eleventh place, and one of them is the late Fabian Beilinksy‘s The Aura, which I finally saw last summer (a year or so after it was completed) and was pretty much floored by. It’s a seriously unusual psychological crime thriller. IFC will have the DVD out next April.
Florida Film Critics choices
With one or two exceptions, Tthe Florida Film Critics Circle have delivered a totally non-mind-blowing roster of ’06 superlatives: Best Picture — The Departed; Best Actor — Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland; Best Actress — Helen Mirren, The Queen; Best Supporting Actor — Jack Nicholson, The Departed (a sloppy call — Nicholson’s performance is just another standard high-styler; Best Supporting Actress — Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal (good call); Best Director — Martin Scorsese, The Departed; Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) — William Monahan, The Departed; Best Cinematography — Guillermo Navarro, Pan’s Labyrinth; Best Foreign-Language Film — Pan’s Labyrinth.
African American criteria
The African American Film Critics Association has named The Last King of Scotland‘s Forrest Whitaker as Best Actor of 2006. I don’t want to leap to conclusions, but I think this falls under the heading of “shocker.” Put it this way — is there any group out there of any half-serious standing ready to stand up for any other Best Actor performance? Dreamgirls‘Jennifer Hudson named Best Supporting Actress, Eddie Murphy as Best Supporting Actor, Bill Condon as Best Director….yup. One good thing: the under-acknowledged Akeelah and the Bee was named the years’s fourth best film .