THE REAL CONTENDER AWARDS 2020

I’m a little behind on getting my 2020 THE REAL CONTENDER AWARDS out to the public but 2020 was an odd and off beat year since most major releases were held back and instead I focused a lot of my attention to indie films.  For those of you not in the know, The Real Contender Awards is something I came up with a few years back to give voice to films from all genres which normally would go unnoticed by the “normal” award shows.  The other caveat is that the films all had to have been released in the year of the awards whether theatrical, streaming, or straight to video.  I’ve always hated that most awards shows period of eligibility stretched between two years.

 

And usually I use the month of January to view all the films that I had missed from the previous year (another reason why it took me until now to get out my 2020 list.  So, throughout the year I keep track of some of the best films and performances and technical production in order to come up with my exhaustive list of Nominees.  Now, unfortunately, if I didn’t see the film, it won’t be included on this list so don’t think I didn’t think it wasn’t a good film; on the contrary, I probably just hadn’t seen it yet.

 

I hope that in the end this list has you seeking out some of the films that you may have missed and I hope it sheds some like on some of the great films that were released in 2020!

 

BEST MAKEUP EFFECTS:

*FREAKY

*MANK

*GRETEL AND HANSEL

*TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

*HILLBILLY ELEGY

*HIS HOUSE

Winner: GRETEL AND HANSEL – I loved the work on display in HIS HOUSE and MANK but Alice Krige disappears in that makeup and not just that, but the look of everyone else in the film adds tremendously to the overall ambience of the film. 

 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

*THE INVISIBLE MAN

*TENET

*MONSTER HUNTER

*HIS HOUSE

*SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

*TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS PENINSULA

Winner: TENET – this one was a close one as I loved what was on display in HIS HOUS and SONIC THE HEDGEHOG and THE INVISIBLE MAN was a lot of what you “don’t” see.  TENET was a visual tour de force of splendor!  This and the fact that the visual FX aid in the story of the film easily put this film ahead of all the rest.

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

*BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN

*MANK

*TENET

*TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Winner: BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN – this was a visual masterpiece of creative energy from one set to the next.  It took you into a highly stylized universe and never let you go. 

 

BEST ART DIRECTION:

*BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN

*THE INVISIBLE MAN

*GRETEL AND HANSEL

*TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS PENINSULA

*HUNTED

*MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Winner: MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM – another close one as all the films on this list deserve to be winners.  This film does so much with roughly only two main locations and every is a visual art piece with detail and authenticity.

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

*TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

*MANK

*BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN

*MA RAINE’YS BLACK BOTTOM

Winner – MANK – this authentic era costume design put you right into Old Hollywood and reminded you of why it was such an amazing time for cinema.  This includes the film-within-a-film elements as well.  It was as if it was actually filmed in that era.  Costumes are used to help tell the story and it doesn’t get better than in this film.

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

*MANK

*EXTRACTION

*THE INVISIBLE MAN

*HUNTED

*TENET

*HIS HOUSE

Winner: TENET – this was a cinematography tour de force!  Enough said!

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

*MANK, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

*UNDERWATER, Marco Beltrami & Brandon Roberts

*HILLBILLY ELEGY, Hans Zimmer & David Fleming

*TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Daniel Pemberton

*THE INVISIBLE MAN, Benjamin Wallfisch

*TENET, Ludwig Goransson

*HIS HOUSE, Roque Banos

*MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, Branford Marsalis

Winner: MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM – this was the closest race which is why there are so many nominations!?!  It was hard to choose between Marsalis, Reznor, Zimmer, and Goransson but in the end Marsalis edged them all out as music also played a tremendous role in the story of the film itself.  This is the closest year yet for this category while I also wanted to note that I was pleasantly surprised by Beltrami & Roberts and Banos, whose work I’m not as familiar with but I will seek out more!

 

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

*A CREEPSHOW ANIMATED SPECIAL

*SCOOB!

*THE WOLF HOUSE

*OVER THE MOON

Winner – SCOOB! – this was the hardest category to put together because frankly it was a year of so few animated films that I was even interested in.  CREEPSHOW was more a motion comic than an actual animated film while THE WOLF HOUSE was to experimental for its own good.  I enjoyed OVER THE MOON but thought SCOOB!, which I had no hopes for was actually a really well done take on an old cast of characters.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

*MANK, Jack Fincher

*32 MALASANA STREET, Ramon Campos & Gema R. Neira and David Orea & Salvador S. Molina

*TENET, Christopher Nolan

*TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Aaron Sorkin

*FREAKY, Michael Kennedy and Christopher Landon

*HUNTED, Vincent Paronnaud

Winner: MANK – this was a wonderfully nuanced and engaging screenplay with a huge cast of characters that all come together.  I thought TENET was also excellent but probably too cerebral for its own good while HUNTED was probably too simple yet metaphorical and relied on visuals maybe too much.

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

*BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN, Christina Hodson

*HILLBILLY ELEGY, Vanessa Taylor

*THE INVISIBLE MAN, Leigh Whannell

*HIS HOUSE, Remi Weekes

*MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Winner: HIS HOUSE – this was such a creative haunted house/person film that had a strong screenplay in addition to the performances and direction.  The screenplay is great but it is definitely the perfect example of a screenplay being a “blueprint” for an amazing film.

 

BEST NON-FICTION FILM:

*ATHLETE A

*CRIP CAMP

*SCREAM, QUEEN: MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

*KISS THE GROUND

*MURDER TO MERCY: THE CYNTOIA BROWN STORY

*THE SOCIAL DILEMMA

Winner: ATHELETE A – all the films nominated here are amazing and topical and be required viewing as they all present socially relevant topics.  Although I absolutely loved THE SOCIAL DILEMMA and KISS THE GROUND, I felt ATHLETE A edged them out…by just a little.  2020 was an amazing year for non-fiction films as these are just a handful of the films that I watched that could have also been included on this list.

 

BEST FOREIGN FEATURE FILM:

*TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS PENINSULA

*#ALIVE
*LA LLORONA

*HUNTED

*HIS HOUSE

Winner – HIS HOUSE – this was a close one between HIS HOUSE and LA LLORONA which both presented new takes on well-treaded material to amazing effect.  HIS HOUSE edged out LA LLORONA due to the visuals, cinematography, and amazing performances but both are still excellent films.

 

BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR:

*Chiwetel Ejiofor, THE OLD GUARD

*Lamorne Morris, BLOODSHOT

*Robert Pattinson, TENET

*Charles Dance, MANK

*Sacha Baron Cohen, TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Winner: Sacha Baron Cohen, TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Cohen steals every scene he’s in and then some while giving a very nuanced and complex performance.  He easily eclipsed everyone else in this category despite all nominees being fine actors in their own films.

 

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR:

*Alice Krige, GRETEL AND HANSEL

*Amanda Seyfried, MANK

*Glen Close, HILLBILLY ELEGY

Winner: Alice Krige, GRETEL AND HANSEL – Krige gives another amazing performance and practically disappears into the role!  She’s in great company this year with Close and Seyfried.  It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to include more names in this category but there were just so many more nominees as Best Actress this year!

 

BEST MALE ACTOR:

*John David Washington, TENET

*Gary Oldman, MANK

*Vince Vaughn, FREAKY

*Dong-Won Gang, TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS PENINSULA

*Sope Dirisu, HIS HOUSE

*Chadwick Boseman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Winner: Sope Dirisu, HIS HOUSE – Dirisi gives an underrated performance in HIS HOUSE which the entire film hinges on.  He’s in great company with Boseman and Oldman and everyone else but this film is all about the characters and their trials and tribulations that guide them.

 

BEST FEMALE ACTOR:

*Lucie DeBay, HUNTED

*Elizabeth Moss, THE INVISBLE MAN

*Begona Vargas, 32 MALASANA STREET

*Sarah Bolger, A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND

*Wunmi Mosaku, HIS HOUSE

*Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Winner: Elizabeth Moss, THE INVISBLE MAN – Moss gives the most nuanced performance of her career in this film which is also topical as well as being an excellent sci-fi film.  The same can be said of DeBay, Vargas, and Mosaku, while Davis gives yet another amazing performance.  This was a tough category this year as any one of these women could have won this award for their performance.

 

BEST DIRECTION OF FEATURE FILM:

*TENET, Christopher Nolan

*TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Aaron Sorkin

*THE INVISIBLE MAN, Leigh Whannell

*MANK, David Fincher

*HIS HOUSE, Remi Weekes

*MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, George C. Wolfe

Winner: Christopher Nolan, TENET – this was just an amazing tour de force of cinema in every regards but especially in how Nolan was able to craft such a visually stunning film with all the performances and technical difficulties.  This is not a film that will be easily forgotten.

 

BEST FEATURE FILM:

*TENET

*TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

*THE INVISIBLE MAN

*MANK

*MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

*HIS HOUSE

Winner: TENET – but MANK was a very close second and HIS HOUSE came in third.  This was a very hard category as each of the nominees brought something different to audiences while also showcasing some great cinematic achievements.

 

There you have it!  The 2020 The Real Contender Awards are now over!  I’m really looking forward to seeing the films I missed for 2020 that couldn’t have been nominated such as The Eight Hundred, Palm Springs, Possessor, The Photograph, News of the World, The Lodge, Promising Young Woman, and Les Miserables, to name a few.

 

Please feel free to let me know your own thoughts!

MONTH OF 2020 FILMS

For 2021’s January themed month of film watching I decided that it was best to catch up on films from the previous year that had managed to pass me by, so this was the Month of 2020 Films!  This being said, I caught up with a lot of films from every genre which in turn will help me decide my 2020 Best of film lists.

 

DOCUMENTARIES:

I should start by saying that I (finally) jumped on the band wagon and watched the entire Netflix Tiger King mini-series which also meant that I watched the stand alone special The Tiger King & I.  I enjoyed the whole true crime docu-series and this film added to the overall series by placing it in our current quarantine times.  Injustice and true crime are appealing subjects for non-fiction films so of course I watched the following films Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo, and Athlete A.  Of the three, Athlete A was the best, but they all were eye opening in regard to their subject matter and overall execution.  Athlete A is one I recommend everyone watch.  The last two documentaries that I watched of the month were Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution and Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.  Dance Dreams is an amazing look at one of the premiere dance studios in the United States and their production of the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.  Crip Camp is overall one of the best documentaries that was released in 2020. 

 

DRAMA:

Only caught up with three dramas this month.  Wished I had gotten around to more, but January was not an ideal month for dramas.  What I did get around to was an eclectic mix.  Watched Hillbilly Elegy, Mank, and Trial of the Chicago 7.  Mank was clearly the best of the bunch overall but Trial of the Chicago 7 and Hillbilly Elegy had some stand out performances even though there were other areas that were lacking.  Mank is by far one of director David Fincher’s best films in years and deserves the accolades it is being given.  I am surprised that Glen Close in Hillbilly Elegy is not being given just as much praise as she is phenomenal but then again, she is phenomenal in most everything. 

 

ACTION:

I only watched three action films in this month and two of them were based on comic books.  The first one is Extraction which had some amazing cinematography and action sequences.  Some of the best I have seen all year.  The two I watched that were based on comic books were vastly different from one another - The Old Guard and Wonder Woman: 1984.  Now, I have read the graphic novel on which The Old Guard is based and its pretty much spot on.  The film does a better job with bridging all the stories of the characters together and it does an amazing job with setting up the world of the film.  There are even whole scenes in the film lifted directly from the comic book.  Wonder Woman on the other hand is a mixed bag but it does a great job servicing the young female audience that it was designed to appeal to whereas the typical comic book fan may not be as impressed.  Some questionable CGI at the end does take away from the overall film.  The funny thing is that I believe all three of them will be getting sequels sometime soon.

 

HORROR:

The horror genre is what films I ended up watching the most of partially because so many more horror films were released last year than practically every other genre, so I felt like there was a lot for me to catch up with.  My Top 5 favorites were The Cleansing Hour, A Good Woman is Hard to Find, La Llorona, The Mortuary Collection, and Spiral, which were all different from one another.  Although not your standard horror film, Sarah Bolger gives a phenomenal performance in A Good Woman is Hard to Find.  Spiral gives one of the most genuine same sex relationship portrayals in a horror film which elevates the film about the new people moving into the neighborhood that has a supernatural cult in its mist.   The Mortuary Collection is one of the best anthology films to come around in several years that also has a great wrap-around segment and The Cleansing Hour is both fun and suspenseful with a fake internet exorcist having to contend with a real demon possession.  These are all films I highly recommend.

 

On the flip side are those films I would not recommend which include The Deeper You Dig and The Beach House which both had interesting concepts but bad execution.

 

The other horror films that were just okay were Blood Vessel, Castle Freak (remake), Confessional, Death of Me, Lingering, Porno, Scare Me, and The Soul Collector.  Lingering almost made the Top 5 and would probably be at #6 and Porno and Scare Me are great fun.  Blood Vessel is for those that enjoy vampire films, but I got bored (even though there is plenty of gore and is quite entertaining).  The original Castle Freak did not need a remake but at least this version has plenty of gore and takes on an overly Lovecraftian ending that is at least a good payoff.  Confessional was an interesting concept that was well done but just did not hold my attention.  Lingering and The Soul Collector are equally fine films that delve into their respective cultures and are easily some of the other highlights that I saw.

Overall, January ended up being a great month of film watching and catching up with a lot of films from 2020 that I had missed.  There were plenty more that I still did not get to but that will be for another time.  In the meantime, I hope you look out for some of these films and I hope my insight will be valuable for you.

 

Now, go away.  For February, my focus is a Month of International Films, so I have a lot of subtitles to read!

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR - “Disney’s ALIEN Franchise Coming Soon!”

“Disney’s ALIEN Franchise Coming Soon!”

One of the most disturbing aspects of Disney’s acquisition of the 20^th Century Fox assets is that they will now control what happens to the ALIEN and PREDATOR franchises.  The family oriented company has in its control two of the best horror-sci-fi franchises ever made in these two iconic cinematic monsters and yet I can’t help fearing the worst.  My fears have just been realized when Disney announced new versions of both franchises and for the purpose of this article I will only take a look at the Alien franchise mostly because Predator, in my opinion, can work either as a PG-13 or R franchise.

 

The Alien films have all been pretty much individual film-maker endeavors from Ridley Scott (Alien, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant), David Fincher (Alien 3), James Cameron (Aliens), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Alien: Resurrection), Paul WS. Anderson (Alien Vs Predator), and The Brothers Strause (Alien Vs Predator: Requiem).   Despite the mixed audience and critical response between each of the films, they are a singular vision of the director with the exception of Scott who is the only one to do more than one film.

 

Disney, on the other hand, is a company that produces film by committee so that they can appeal to all audiences.  They want their films to be all inclusive and homogenized and to not offend anyone.  So, in reality they don’t want creative filmmakers, they want filmmakers who understand their brand and can continue that brand.  This is most evident in the franchises surrounding their MCU and Star Wars universes which are homogenized and indistinguishable from one another.   These are all PG-13 films that focus on action and adventure and not horror or gore.  The Alien Xenomorph is not like the kaiju from Pacific Rim; these monsters hide in darkness, have acid for blood, and kill everything – violently. 

 

In Anderson’s Alien Vs Predator the horror is toned down for the action and adventure aspects that he is best known for and even though the film was financially successful fans of the franchise felt a little let down, so with the sequel Requiem, The Brothers Strause decided to craft a slasher film with monsters.  Anderson’s film was Rated PG-13 while The Brothers Strause sequel was Rated R and thought to be a return to form but a slasher film is also what audiences didn’t expect from the franchise.  This film did not sit well with anyone.

 

I mention this because at this point 20^th Century Fox had no idea what to do with the franchise as they couldn’t craft a film for all audiences (Alien Vs Predator) nor a film for the fans (Alien Vs Predator: Requiem).  The franchise has been through many different creative hands so why not let the director who started it all come back!

 

Scott’s vision with the franchise was to craft a story that went back to the beginning and in 2012 after a five year gap Prometheus was released to a divided audience that  were disappointed by the film that lacked Xenomorphs and had logic problems.  Scott tried to rectify this with Alien: Covenant but by the time this sequel saw release audiences were no longer interested.  It’s hard to determine what general audiences want from an Alien film especially since the films have had such mixed results, which is not a problem the comic books from Dark Horse Comics have ever had.

 

Two years after Cameron’s Aliens became a Box Office sensation, Dark Horse Comics purchased the rights and created the first mini-series that would help put their company on the map (along with Predator, Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, etc. a lot of film franchises).  This original series was a direct sequel to the film and would bring back popular characters from the films (the character of Ripley would eventually return in the third series Earth War which would conclude the storyline of these film characters).  The most astounding thing about the comic book franchise is the fact that over the last 30+ years the franchise has been kept fresh and interesting and almost at a non-stop pace.  Subsequent series would see the Xenomorphs cross into the DC universe and battle Superman, Batman, and W.I.L.D. Cats as well as battle such iconic figures as Judge Dredd, Hellboy, and Vampirella, to name just a few.  Cross-overs with both the Predators and Prometheus franchises happened on a regular basis but within those thirty years the franchise has remained fresh because of the many different characters and stories that were possible.

 

Dark Horse never had a loss for ideas, so why have the films?

 

One of my fears with Disney is that they will take the franchise and craft something more in line with their MCU and Star Wars franchises.  As the Dark Horse Comics have proven, there is a way to integrate all the different franchises into a “shared” universe (which will make Disney happy) but it couldn’t happen unless you could find a way to make it darker and Rated R (to make the fans happy).  Borrowing from the Dark Horse huge history of storylines would be the best way but since I’m sure Disney will yank their license with the characters (like they did with Star Wars) is soon coming if it already hasn’t happened (I’ve heard that Marvel is now doing a series which I’ll have to see how that all comes about).  It’s not too far off to see the Xenomorphs show up in a MCU television series since they already know aliens of all types exist (so why not just add the Xenomorphs?).

 

I can’t really see Disney making an R Rated film that will be in line with the original franchise.  What I do see is a remake or reboot to fit the Disney mandate which is not something I’d be interested in.  I’ve been a huge fan of the films and comic books since the Cameron film so I’m not looking forward to seeing anything Disney has planned either for the films or comic books.  I can only see it as a complete disaster, but then again I can’t say that all the films in the current franchise have been all that successful but at least they had a vision from their respective directors.

 

Only time will tell what will become of the Xenomorphs under the guidance of the Disney machine and unfortunately if I want to see another film come to fruition that is the only version I’ll be able to see.

“Rants & Ravings About Horror” - Week 4: “The Importance of Horror Novelizations”

Week 4: “The Importance of Horror Novelizations”

“I love horror novelizations!” – There I said it.  This is probably not something you would expect from a die-hard horror fan like me since novelizations of films are the bastard child of the publishing world.  If you don’t know what these are or are confused by “films based on novels” here is my definition.  A novelization of a film is a novel specifically produced from the screenplay or film that it is based on as a way to allow fans to enjoy films that they loved in an alternative way.  They are produced as a tie-in to the film and a subsidiary way for studios to make more money and profit from a film.  They are usually exactly like the film it is based on and usually written by hack writers just doing it for a paycheck.  So why, do you ask, do I love them?  

There are two really good reasons.  

Reason number one is that novelizations can sometime be written by some amazing authors and be better than the film because of this.  One of my favorite authors Alan Dean Foster is behind such iconic novelizations like Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, John Carpenter’s The Thing (not to be confused by the original novel “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell, Jr.), Dark Star, Alien Nation, Starman, The Last Starfighter, Terminator: Salvation  and countless others.  These are some amazing reads that add to the story and characters and give the reader an additional experience that just watching the film cannot.  Keith R.A. DeCandido is another one of my favorites for his novelizations of Resident Evil and its sequels Apocalypse and Extinction all of which add more to the universe of the films and expands my enjoyment of the films themselves (he also wrote the novelizations for Darkness Falls, Serenity, and countless Star Trek novels).  I’ve never cared for the film Resident Evil: Apocalypse but after reading the book I watched the film a second time and enjoyed it a little more.  One of my more recent favorites has been The Woman by Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum which is a sequel to one of Ketchum’s film Offspring that was produced simultaneously as a book and a film.   Anyone who knows me knows that one of my favorite horror franchises is Child’s Play and Matthew J. Costello’s novelizations of Child’s Play 2 and 3 were among some of the first ones I ever read as a child (I still have them on my shelf to this day along with countless others).   I love to immerse myself into the worlds of some of my favorite horror films and novelizations are a great way for me to do that.

The second reason why I love novelizations is because since they are usually based on the screenplay of a film rather than the actual film itself (since the novel is probably written simultaneous with production of the film) it is very common for a novelization to include stuff that was cut out of the film before it was released or contain major changes that can sometimes make the novel a whole different experience.  This is exactly what happened with Foster’s Alien 3 novelization which differs significantly from the final film which had major changes done to it due to the director (a young) David Fincher and the studio not agreeing on the final edit of the film (FYI – the Dark Horse comic book adaptation of the film also differs from the final film as well).  There are whole character arcs and changes in the Resident Evil novelizations.

More often than not, most novelizations are a plot point by plot point exact replica of the film and by inexperienced or incapable hands this can make for a tedious read (I know because I’m still trying to get through John Shirley’s novelization of Resident Evil: Retribution which is not written with the same style as DeCandido’s previous books).  Sometimes they may even be unnecessary as just about every major studio film has a novelization whether we care to know it or not.  Sometimes you’ll come across a great one while other times not so much.

I buy novelizations based on whether or not I enjoyed the film and wish to go back to that world in a different way.  I never buy a novelization of a film I have yet to see because why bother to read a book based on a film I didn’t like.  The exception is if I like the writer (i.e. my reading of DeCandido’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse) but this is rarely the case as I love Foster and there are a ton of novelizations of his I don’t ever plan on reading.  I will say that as a horror fan, you should read horror just as much as you watch it whether it be novelizations or original novels.  Horror can be enjoyed in so many different ways so don’t fail to overlook even one of them.