Easily the most obliging, “whatever man”, comme ci comme ca merchant Covid policy sign I have seen anywhere, ever. Snapped today (12.5.21) in Mountainside, N.J. 4:20 pm update: I’m driving around; heading back to Connecticut soon. That’s all she wrote until tomorrow morning.

We all understand that critics are total fools for Jane Campion‘s The Power of the Dog. (I’m a half-and-halfer — excellent craft, dullish story, pertplexing characters.) Joe and Jane Popcorn, on the other hand, are mostly negative — bored, appalled, “seriously?” This is partly because critics tend to be more thoughtful in their appraisals, and partly because they’ve been professionally instructed to admire all things Campion. Ditto the film industry. Campion is locked to win the Best Director Oscar early next year.

Longtime Kansas Senator, former Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole has passed at age 98.

Dole was a classic Republican, or the kind of Republican that has all but disappeared from the Washington landscape. Another way of putting it is that Dole was a rational human being. I’m presuming Dole was disgusted by ex-President Donald Trump, and especially by what happened on 1.6.21.

Dole served in the House of Representatives for eight years (1961 to ’69), and represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate for 27 years (1969 to ’96). He served as Senate Republican Leader between ’85 and ’96. Dole and Jack Kemp unsuccessfully ran against Clinton-Gore in ’96. He also ran as Gerald Ford‘s vp nominee in the 1976 election — another losing effort.

Over the last hour I’ve been trying like hell to find a clip of former Sen. Al Franken imitating Dole (he did it at least once on Bill Maher‘s Politically incorrect in the ’90s), but I’ve failed. Norm McDonald‘s Dole was okay but not as good as Franken’s.

A little New Jersey couch action — Saturday, 12.4, 8:25 pm. Cait, Jett, Sutton, Jeff, Joey and Luna.

Ex-CNN headliner Chris Cuomo crossed ethical lines by helping his brother, ex-New York governor Andrew Cuomo, to dispute, challenge or circumvent the latter’s accusers in the realm of alleged sexual harassment. A very stupid decision, in short, to choose brotherly love over journalistic integrity. And now it’s time to pay the piper. So what should Cuomo do next?

If you have three reliable sources providing the same or corresponding information, you’re almost certainly on solid footing with your story. Then again if you’re writing about the private voting process for the 2021 New York Film Critics Circle awards, your story is automatically suspect because there’s an ironclad, “if you talk you die” rule among NYFCC members not to discuss the voting.

So in the matter of Jordan Ruimy’s World of Reel story about this subject, it apparently became obligatory among certain NYFCC members (Jason Bailey, Sam Adams, Allison Wilmore, Kate Erbland) to try and discredit the story and trash Ruimy, etc. Full court press.

My limited understanding is that Ruimy’s story is either (a) highly accurate as far as his sources relayed or (b) a mostly accurate summary of what happened, regardless of who said what and who disagreed and/or disputed.

Ruimy statement:

World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy is reporting — no surprise — that Jane Campion‘s The Power of the Dog almost won the NYFCC Best Picture prize. And that the winner, Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s 179-minute Drive My Car, “barely edged” the Campion.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s respectable, moderately pleasing Licorice Pizza “finished a distant third.” And Hamaguchi “came very close” to winning the Best Director trophy.

Lady Gaga‘s Best Actress win “wasn’t a unanimous decision”, but she had more supporters than the far more deserving Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) and Parallel Mothers‘ Penelope Cruz (my personal choice). The Lost Daughter‘s Olivia Colman finished fourth.

The Power of the Dog‘s Benedict Cumberbatch, the NYFCC’s Best Actor champ, will not overtake King Richard‘s Will Smith when it comes to the Oscars — trust me.

When they voted to hand Lady Gaga their 2021 Best Actress award, the New York Film Critics Circle knew they were smirking, half-kidding, succumbing…they’re supposed to be the fickle hardcore weirdos who always vote political-progressive…the austere, top-of-the-line, above-the-fray guys. And when push came to shove, they tumbled for a performance that they knew was mainly a populist sop…push came to shove and a majority decided “shit, how cool would it be for Lady Gaga, a major tabloid glamour-puss, to attend our awards ceremony?” They know Penelope Cruz‘s performance in Parallel Mothers is way, way above Gaga’s, and they voted for Gaga anyway. Giving it to Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye would have been a more honorable choice. Or Being The Ricardos‘ Nicole Kidman. Or Alana Haim even.

…with two beggars staring holes at you. Give us a piece of your croissant, please. or half a spoonful of that chicken salad you bought last night. Feel our longing…please.

11:55 am: As we speak the New York Film Critics Circle has decided upon four awards: The Power of the Dog‘s Kodi Smit-McPhee for Best Supporting Actor (I don’t get it), The Tragedy of Macbeth‘s Kathryn Hunter for Best Supporting Actress (haven’t seen it), Joachim Trier‘s The Worst Person in the World for Best Foreign-Language Film (excellent choice!) and Flee for Best Non-Fiction film.

No updates until the mid-afternoon — Variety‘s Clayton Davis is keeping tabs.