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Chief writer and editor at Cinema, Etc.
by hutchwp

Golden Globes – Full list of winners

Best film – drama

Avatar: The Way of Water
Elvis
The Fabelmans – WINNER
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

Best film – musical or comedy

Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin – WINNER
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Triangle of Sadness

Best TV series – drama

Better Call Saul
The Crown
House of the Dragon – WINNER
Ozark
Severance

Best TV series – musical or comedy

Abbott Elementary – WINNER
The Bear
Hacks
Only Murders in the Building
Wednesday

Best limited series, anthology series or TV movie

Black Bird
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Pam and Tommy
The Dropout
The White Lotus: Sicily – WINNER

Best actor in a TV series – drama

Jeff Bridges, The Old Man
Kevin Costner, Yellowstone – WINNER
Diego Luna, Andor
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Adam Scott, Severance

Best actor in a limited series or TV movie

Taron Egerton, Black Bird
Colin Firth, The Staircase
Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven
Evan Peters, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story – WINNER
Sebastian Stan, Pam and Tommy

Best actress in a limited series or TV movie

Jessica Chastain, George and Tammy
Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
Lily James, Pam and Tommy
Julia Roberts, Gaslit
Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout – WINNER

Best supporting actress in a limited series or TV movie

Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus – WINNER
Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Under the Banner of Heaven
Niecy Nash-Betts, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Aubrey Plaza, The White Lotus

Best supporting actor in a limited series or TV movie

F Murray Abraham, The White Lotus
Domhnall Gleeson, The Patient
Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird – WINNER
Richard Jenkins, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Seth Rogen, Pam and Tommy

Best screenplay

Todd Field, Tár
Tony Kushner & Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin – WINNER
Sarah Polley, Women Talking

Best director

James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Baz Luhrmann, Elvis
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans – WINNER

Best non-English language film

RRR (India)
All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina) – WINNER
Close (Belgium)
Decision to Leave (South Korea)

Best actress – drama

Cate Blanchett, Tár – WINNER
Olivia Colman, Empire of Light
Viola Davis, The Woman King
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

Best supporting actress in a TV series

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Julia Garner, Ozark – WINNER
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

Best supporting actor

Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brad Pitt, Babylon
Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

Best supporting actress

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – WINNER
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness
Carey Mulligan, She Said

Best supporting actor in a TV series

John Lithgow, The Old Man
Jonathan Pryce, The Crown
John Turturro, Severance
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary – WINNER
Henry Winkler, Barry

Best original score

Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Hildur Guðnadóttir, Women Talking
Justin Hurwitz, Babylon – WINNER
John Williams, The Fabelmans
Carter Burwell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best original song

Carolina, Taylor Swift (Where the Crawdads Sing)
Ciao Papa, Guillermo del Toro & Roeban Katz (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
Hold My Hand, Lady Gaga and Bloodpop (Top Gun: Maverick)
Lift Me Up, Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Naatu Naatu, Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, Rahul Sipligunj (RRR) – WINNER

Best actor in a TV series – musical or comedy

Donald Glover, Atlanta
Bill Hader, Barry
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear – WINNER

Best actress in a TV series – musical or comedy

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary – WINNER
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
Jean Smart, Hacks

Best actor – musical or comedy

Diego Calva, Babylon
Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Adam Driver, White Noise
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin – WINNER
Ralph Fiennes, The Menu

Best actress – musical or comedy

Margot Robbie, Babylon
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu
Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Lesley Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER

Best animated film

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – WINNER
Inu-Oh
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red

Best actor – drama

Austin Butler, Elvis – WINNER
Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Hugh Jackman, The Son
Bill Nighy, Living
Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

Best actress in a TV series – drama

Emma D’Arcy, House of the Dragon
Laura Linney, Ozark
Imelda Staunton, The Crown
Hilary Swank, Alaska Daily
Zendaya, Euphoria – WINNER

by hutchwp

Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven, 2021)

Paul Verhoeven’s retelling of the story of Benedetta Carlini may surprise fans of his most mainstream English-language work (for example, Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers), but it is deftly executed and performed to perfection by a strong cast, all of whom raise the bar of a smartly-written tale.

The film is set in 17th century Italy, where the titular Benedetta is taken to Pescia to become a nun. After a humorous but important opening scene of Benedetta as a child, we are transported to her in adulthood, as she begins to have visions of Jesus that raise her standing amongst her fellow sisters in the convent, belying her secret desires to start a lesbian relationship with a younger nun, the illiterate Bartolomea.

Virginie Efra on the set of Benedetta with Paul Verhoeven

Virginie Efira is in electric form in the lead role here. She is an experienced actress who has flourished in popularity in recent years with the likes of In Bed With Victoria and An Impossible Love, as well as Verhoeven’s last film Elle.

Charlotte Rampling also puts in a powerful supporting performance as Abbess Felicita, with Daphné Patakia completing the trio of female key players in a promising early role.

If there are any criticisms for the film, it’s that it feels a little slow and saggy at the start of the film proper, although viewers are more than rewarded as the film builds to a tremendous crescendo at the end of the film. Indeed, as a comet looms over the convent and the sky lights up in red hues, the action on the ground seems to offer a bigger threat to those in Pescia.

It never feels overblown or rushed, nor overly simple. I am seldom excited by a period piece, less so one set in a convent, but this had me gripped to the end. It is highly recommended.

by hutchwp

Firebird (Peeter Rebane, 2022)

Peter Rebane’s wartime romance Firebird courted controversy in the run up to the release, with Russian attempts to silence the film in the country. It is also being released into a market with little or no interest in a story showing any aspect of the Russian military, given the recent invasion of Ukraine. 

Watching it objectively is, therefore, an art in itself. 

It stars Tom Prior and Oleg Zagorodnii as two military men – Sergey and Roman – who develop a secret romance, in spite of its illegality in Soviet Russia at the time. It’s a beautifully written piece of romantic drama, with the two leads doing well to portray the kind of electricity only found in such forbidden passions.

I won’t be looking into how much of the film is true to life and how much has been fabricated for the film. Doing that usually makes it far less enjoyable!

I did fail to deal with my utter dislike of any English-language film that sets itself in a foreign country, but then asks the actors and actresses to speak in English but with a hint of an accent. Tom Prior sounded close enough in the more placid scenes but as soon as there was any intense emotion in his wording, you could hear his Dorchester accent much clearer. In fairness to the wider film, the cast is primarily made up of Estonian actors and actresses, with a handful of the lead roles being taken by British actors.

Russian actress Diana Pozharskaya puts in a powerhouse performance as Luisa, a friend and lover caught in the middle of the two men. She turns in a particularly impactful scene at the end, which I can’t discuss without spoilers!

This is a film worth seeking out, even if you’re put off by the Russian/Soviet setting. Romance done well is always a joy to watch and this is no exception.

by hutchwp

Film review – Spaghetti Code Love (Takeshi Maruyama, 2021)

Takeshi Maruyama’s latest is one with an unusual feel. An ensemble piece made up of interrelated tales, the most likely outcome for Spaghetti Code Love would have been a confusing mess of a film. Somehow, despite risking a drop in pace in the middle, the exact opposite happens here and you’re rewarded for sticking with a daunting initial task.

Why daunting? Well, I lost count of how many stories there were. There was a woman at a pachinko arcade, a struggling photographer, an angry model, a nervous busker, a clingy wife, an emotionally distant young couple, two school kids planning their deaths, an even young student planning his entire life, a woman wasting money on a psychic and her neighbour who is addicted to Skippy peanut butter. I certainly missed a few!

Somehow, the film manages to keep you abreast of all of these varied stories, all of which play out in a beautifully shot Tokyo. Not only that, but they build to a crescendo and are somehow tied together in a neatly positive conclusion across the board.

I’m glad I was fairly focused and in the mood to be challenged, but I’m worried that if I’d been cloudy of mind I may have struggled to keep up. For international audiences, the sheer volume of stories might make the film a little inaccessible.

The standout plot thread for me involved the brilliant Tôko Miura (who recently starred in the Oscar-nominated Drive My Car) as a musician grappling with her own self-confidence. In an ensemble cast full of talent, I found her woes hugely relatable and her delivery was highly memorable.

Certainly worth watching.

Note: I watched this as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme at Broadway in Nottingham, an annual festival that offers British cinema goers a first look at the latest cinematic releases from Japan.

by hutchwp

Guns Akimbo (Jason Lei Howden, 2020)

It’s rare that a film with a big-name actor gets as far as being released without me knowing anything about it, let alone being watched. It’s occasionally an indicator that it is a big event film with a special surprise release by the distributor. More often, it means it’s just a terrible film that is trying to be buried.

I watched most of Guns Akimbo wondering which category it fell under. Is it absolutely terrible, or completely genius? It certainly isn’t for the squeamish, with Lei Howden (Deathgasm, Deathgasm 2: Goremegeddon) making sure the adrenaline doesn’t get much rest in the short running time.

The setup is straightforward. Daniel Radcliffe plays Miles, a video game coder living a fairly joyless life. He regrets letting a relationship with Nova (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), his ex, fizzle out. He learns of an illegal online game called Skizm – a survival game where contestants, who are usually criminals or psychopaths, fight to the death. He goes onto their online forums and leaves a few scathing comments. One thing leads to another, and he wakes up with pistols bolted to his hands and is the newest competitor in the game, taking on current champion Nix (Samara Weaving). With limited time and limited ammunition, Miles must choose to kill or be killed, whilst the world watches on.

It’s not an original concept for sure, with televised deathmatches being well explored in cinema. That said, there’s enough going on stylistically and a snappy-enough script to inject a bit of freshness into proceedings.

Daniel Radcliffe goes from strength to strength in his career as he continues to take on risky roles. It’s almost hard to believe he was still starring as Harry Potter a decade ago, when I wasn’t alone in thinking his acting hadn’t really improved over the ten year period he was involved in the franchise.

I’m not going to write about nuances of any of the acting performances. As solid as they are, this isn’t a nuanced film. The characters are caricatures, larger than life, fairly one dimensional affairs. Somehow this doesn’t cause any detriment to the overall impact. Lei Howden doesn’t leave space for the viewer to think about the characters, constantly just pushing forwards with one bloody action set piece after another.

Does it feel a bit too much at times? Maybe. But it’s never not fun, and sometimes that’s just what you need.