REVIEW OF 2016 - BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

1. CERTAIN WOMEN

2. AFTER THE STORM

3. THE THRONE

4. MOONLIGHT

5. THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV

6. KRISHA

7. GREEN ROOM

8. TONI ERDMANN

9. FENCES

10. LIGHTS OUT

CENTRAL OHIO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION - 2016 NOMINATIONS

The Central Ohio Film Critics Association brings in 2017 with its award nominations for last year. And the new year provides new choices from these critics, ranging from The Nice Guys and Sing Street in their 12-strong Best Film lineup (the latter lacking a single other mention), Laura Dern alongside Lily Gladstone in Best Supporting Actress for Certain Women, and The Magnificent Seven recognizing the late James Horner in Best Score, to Viola Davis' first citation in lead for Fences - will it be her last? Winners due some time this year, I suppose.

Best Film
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Jackie
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
The Nice Guys
Nocturnal Animals
Sing Street
The Witch

Best Director
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
David MacKenzie (Hell or High Water)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Best Actress
Amy Adams (Arrival)
Viola Davis (Fences)
Rebecca Hall (Christine)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen)
Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Actor
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Colin Farrell (The Lobster)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Tom Hanks (Sully)
Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Supporting Actress
Laura Dern (Certain Women)
Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Lupita Nyong'o (Queen of Katwe)
Rachel Weisz (The Light Between Oceans)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Original Screenplay
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Robert Eggers (The Witch)
Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)
Eric Heisserer (Arrival)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship)
August Wilson (Fences)

Best Cinematography
Chung Chung Hoon (The Handmaiden)
James Laxton (Moonlight)
Giles Nuttgens (Hell or High Water)
Linus Sandgren (La La Land)
Bradford Young (Arrival)

Best Film Editing
Tom Cross (La La Land)
John Gilbert (Hacksaw Ridge)
Jennifer Lame (Manchester by the Sea)
Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders (Moonlight)
Jake Roberts (Hell or High Water)
Joe Walker (Arrival)

Best Score
Nicholas Britell (Moonlight)
Simon Franglen and James Horner (The Magnificent Seven)
Andy Hull and Robert McDowell (Swiss Army Man)
Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)
Johann Johannsson (Arrival)
Mark Korven (The Witch)
Mica Levi (Jackie)

Best Ensemble
Hell or High Water
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Nocturnal Animals

Best Animated Film
Finding Dory
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
Sausage Party
Zootopia

Best Documentary
13th
Cameraperson
I Am Not Your Negro
O.J.: Made in America
Weiner

Best Foreign Language Film
Elle
The Handmaiden
A Man Called Ove
Toni Erdmann
Under the Shadow
The Wailing

Best Overlooked Film
10 Cloverfield Lane
Christine
The Edge of Seventeen
Green Room
Krisha

Breakthrough Film Artist
Robert Eggers (The Witch) - directing and screenwriting
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) - acting
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) - directing and screenwriting
Sunny Pawar (Lion) - acting
Anya Taylor-Joy (Barry / Morgan / The Witch) - acting

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work)
Amy Adams (Arrival / Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / Nocturnal Animals)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land / The Nice Guys)
Michael Shannon (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / Complete Unknown / Elvis & Nixon / Frank & Lola / Loving / Midnight Special / Nocturnal Animals)
Michelle Williams (Certain Women / Manchester by the Sea)

REVIEW - CERTAIN WOMEN (KELLY REICHARDT)

A quintessential, unifying statement on women in the West, written by Maile Meloy, adapted by Kelly Reichardt, seen by us. Indeed, Certain Women sees its own women as society, and the culture of filmmaking from which it has slyly sprung, does not - existing for their own sake and by their own terms, to whatever extent possible. Inconsequential it may seem, but this is, in fact, a work of quiet significance, a gentle but nonetheless stringent insistence on the validity of this particular American existence. The singularity of Reichardt's purview presents its women as doggedly active figures, each imbued with independent agency of thought even as their agency of action is casually chipped away - incisive performances from the cast further develop this notion that a woman is only as she defines herself, not as a biased society regards her. Yet Certain Women avoids its puff-piece potential with a stark, challenging strain of ambiguity and apparent contradiction, subtly knocking back our perceptions of its protagonists whilst refusing to condemn the character of any of its male supporting parts; Reichardt's style of directing and editing is correspondingly enigmatic, courting commerciality as much as artsy obscurity. Thus she evades thematic and stylistic simplism, and though this may be a tactic that's somewhat alienating and uncomfortable upon viewing, the way in which it permutates one's impressions of the film and its meanings over time is very smart and very satisfying.

BFI LFF CAPS OFF WITH ANOTHER BIG NIGHT FOR FEMALE FILMMAKERS: 2016 AWARDS

Remember how female filmmakers dominated the London Film Festival awards last year? That's right, a completely fair and democratic set of voting processes resulted in an unbiased outcome that yet prioritized women in film. Well, the juries at this year's LFF have done the exact same thing. Half of this year's recipients were women, with Kelly Reichardt claiming the fest's top prize for her film Certain Women, and two awards going to women in the First Feature competition. A promising sign of the state of the international film industry both at present and in the future. Let's keep this momentum up! Check out all the winners right here.

Best Film - Official Competition
Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt)

The Sutherland Award for Best Film - First Feature Competition
Raw (Julia Ducournau)

Special Commendation - First Feature Competition
Oulaya Amamra (Divines)

The Grierson Award for Best Film - Documentary Competition
Starless Dreams (Mehrdad Oskouei)

Best Film - Short Film Competition
9 Days - From My Window in Aleppo (Issa Touma, Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege)

BFI Fellowship
Steve McQueen

OFFICIAL TRAILER #1 FOR CERTAIN WOMEN

Kelly Reichardt returns with Certain Women, the latest drama from the acclaimed American writer-director. Since Sundance, the film has been making the festival rounds in healthy fashion through the year, including upcoming slots at NYFF and LFF. This is the first trailer for Certain Women, which stars Laura Dern, Lily Gladstone, Kristen Stewart and Michelle Williams. Out in the US on the 14th of October.