CAROL TAKES THE LOT AT GALECA'S DORIAN AWARDS

Why cry when you can laugh? And why laugh when you can laugh in the faces of Oscar voters, secure in the knowledge that you have far better taste than they do, and are thus far better people? Carol smacks down the competition at the 2015 Dorian Awards, winning in all but one of the categories in which it was nominated, and serving as proof that we're better than you, AMPAS. Oh, and, we're coming for you. Here were the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association's nominations, and here are their award winners:

Film of the Year

Carol

Director of the Year

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Performance of the Year - Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Performance of the Year - Actress

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Screenplay of the Year

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Documentary of the Year

Amy

Foreign Language Film of the Year

Son of Saul

LGBTQ Film of the Year

Carol

Campy Flick of the Year

Magic Mike XXL

Visually Striking Film of the Year (honouring a production of stunning beauty, from art direction to cinematography)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Unsung Film of the Year

Tangerine

Wilde Artist of the Year (honouring a truly groundbreaking force in the fields of film, theatre and/or television)

Todd Haynes

The 'We're Wilde About You' Rising Star Award

Alicia Vikander

Wilde Wit of the Year (honouring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)

Amy Schumer

Timeless Award

Jane Fonda

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD SWEEPS THE SEATTLE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS

You wanted quality, you got it. The Seattle Film Critics Society presented us with a fine slate of nominees last week, and they've followed up finely with their choice of winners. Mad Max: Fury Road sweeps, taking 10 of its 11 nominations; acting winners included Nina Hoss for Phoenix and Mya Taylor for Tangerine; Carol's Phyllis Nagy won the Adapted Screenplay award; The Look of Silence was named Best Documentary of 2015. This will easily rank among the very best set of awards this season. See for yourself:

Best Picture of the Year

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress

Nina Hoss (Phoenix)

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Best Supporting Actress

Mya Taylor (Tangerine)

Best Original Screenplay

Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Best Cinematography

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Film Editing

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Production Design

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Costume Design

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Sound Design

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Visual Effects

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Original Score

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Original Song

Sam Drew, Ludwig Goransson and Tessa Thompson - 'Grip' (Creed)

Best Ensemble Cast

Spotlight

Best Animated Feature

Inside Out (Pete Docter)

Best Documentary Feature

The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)

Best Foreign Language Film

Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

2015 ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS AWARDS ANNOUNCED

Kudos to the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Their picks for the best in film of 2015 may not be game-changing fare, but they make some wise choices that set them out from the pack, choices like Charlotte Rampling for Best Actress in 45 Years, and Phyllis Nagy for Best Adapted Screenplay for Carol. Well deserved, ladies! Alas, Spotlight still takes top honours, but baby steps in the right direction are, at least, still in the right direction. Have a look at the AWFJ's nominations here, and their winners below:

AWFJ EDA 'Best Of' Awards

Best Film

Spotlight

Best Director (Female or Male)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)

Best Screenplay, Original

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Screenplay, Adapted

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Best Cinematography

Edward Lachman (Carol)

Best Editing

Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Film Music or Score

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Best Ensemble Cast

Spotlight

Best Animated Film

Inside Out (Ronnie del Carmen and Pete Docter)

Best Documentary

Amy (Asif Kapadia)

Best Non-English-Language Film

Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

EDA Female Focus Awards

Best Woman Director

Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Best Woman Screenwriter

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Best Breakthrough Performance

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl / Ex Machina / Testament of Youth)

Best Female Action Star

Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Female Icon of the Year Award (a woman whose work in film and/or in life made a difference)

Chantal Akerman - In Memoriam for being a great filmmaker and an inspiration

EDA Special Mention Awards

Actress Defying Age and Ageism

Charlotte Rampling

Lily Tomlin

Best Depiction of Nudity, Sexuality or Seduction

Anomalisa

Carol

Movie You Wanted to Love, but Just Couldn't

The Danish Girl

Actress Most in Need of a New Agent

Emma Stone (Aloha)

Most Egregious Age Difference between the Lead Character and the Love Interest

Katarina Cas (born 1976) and Al Pacino (born 1940) (Danny Collins)

WRITERS GUILD ANNOUNCES - CAROL MAKES THE GRADE!

Who'd have thought it? Of all the guilds, the often-questionable Writers Guild of America remembered Carol. Phyllis Nagy's exquisite script for Todd Haynes' beautiful film is among the five nominees for Adapted Screenplay, which also helps boost Trumbo's campaign a bit with a nomination for John McNamara. Winners will be announced on the 13th of February. Check out the nominees:

Best Original Screenplay

Andrea Berloff, Jonathan Herman, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus (Straight Outta Compton)

Matt Charman, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (Bridge of Spies)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Amy Schumer (Trainwreck)

Taylor Sheridan (Sicario)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Drew Goddard – based on the novel by Andy Weir (The Martian)

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph – based on the book by Michael Lewis (The Big Short)

John McNamara – based on the biography by Bruce Cook (Trumbo)

Phyllis Nagy – based on the novel ‘The Price of Salt’ by Patricia Highsmith (Carol)

Aaron Sorkin – based on the book by Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs)

Best Documentary Screenplay

Amy Berg (Prophet’s Prey)

Robert Cohen (Being Canadian)

Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief)

Brett Morgen (Cobain: Montage of Heck)

BEST OF LFF 2015

My verdict on the 20 titles that I caught at the 2015 BFI 59th Annual London Film Festival. Alas, for the first time since my first fest, I did not see the film which the official jury declared Best Film from Official Competition - Athina Rachel Tsangari's Chevalier. But I did see very many other great films, including four 4-star films, the most of my three visits here to date. Only one award per film, so worthy winners in more than one category have had to make to with just the one win, making way for other films to prevail elsewhere.

Best Film
The Assassin (Hou Hsiao Hsien)
Last year's winner: From What Is Before (Lav Diaz)

Special Mention for Best Film
Park Lanes (Kevin Jerome Everson)
Last year's winner: Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (Wiam Simav Bedirxan and Ossama Mohammmed)

Runners-up for Best Film / Special Mention
The Forbidden Room (Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin) / Carol (Todd Haynes)

Best Directing
Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin (The Forbidden Room)
Runners-up: Hou Hsiao Hsien (The Assassin) / Kevin Jerome Everson (Park Lanes)
Last year's winner: Aleksey German (Hard to Be a God)

Best Female Actor
Kwon So Hyun (Madonna)
Runners-up: Rooney Mara (Carol) / Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Last year's winner: Li Yi Qing (Dearest)

Best Male Actor
Ralph Ineson (The Witch)
Runners-up: Karim Pakachakov (Under Electric Clouds) / Ralph Fiennes (A Bigger Splash)
Last year's winner: Body / Luke (White God)

Best Screenplay
Phyllis Nagy (Carol)
Runners-up: Aleksey German (Under Electric Clouds) / Robert Eggers (The Witch)
Last year's winner: Lisandro Alonso and Fabian Casas (Jauja)

Artistic or Technical Achievement
Elena Okopnaya (Under Electric Clouds) - art direction
Runners-up: Lee Ping Bin (The Assassin) - cinematography / Huang Chih Chia and Liao Ching Song (The Assassin) - editing
Last year's winner: Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira (The Duke of Burgundy) - music

LFF REVIEW - CAROL (TODD HAYNES)

Todd Haynes sacrifices in order to document the process of sacrificing - of relinquishing that which we are convinced makes life worth living so as to actually make life worth living. He abandons his artifice, as seductive as it was, and creates a film that exists purely for the beauty and the wonder and the self-satisfaction of itself. To watch Carol is to participate in that satisfaction, one of emotional yearning and physical sensuality, of tension that tingles in its intensity only to yield to resolution of equal intensity. The characters sacrifice so much to surrender to this satisfaction, to do as never was done in 1950s America, to have the courage simply to embrace pleasure and to express and assert independence - this film must be an exquisite, exciting emotional experience for anyone who watches it, but it's especially so for someone who knows what these sacrifices take, and what the irresistible lure of forbidden, true, honest love feels like. The film itself is an embrace, one of immaculate design that communicates a vast wealth of sensitivity in its framing, its performances, its sound design, Haynes' breathtaking (it literally took my breath away) delicacy as he stages a gesture or a glance with full comprehension of the significance that such intimate moments can hold. The dialogue, by Phyllis Nagy from Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt, expresses itself with a concision that recalls Ingmar Bergman at his best, perhaps in another exploration of the female mind, Cries and Whispers, whose aesthetic sensuality Ed Lachman's photography itself recalls. A film of total, unequivocal beauty, as much in its technical design as in its emotional design.