So chuffed to hear a new single, "Loneliness," from Pet Shop Boys that demonstrates they are still going strong!
Their new album, Nonetheless, is due out April 26th.
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
one night / all night
Justice is back with a dynamite collabo with Tame Impala!
Justice's new album, Hyperdrama, is due April 26th.
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
the 2023 jdb awards!
Just for fun, here goes my personal award winners and nominees for film year 2023.
Picture
nominees
Director
Andrew Haigh, ALL OF US STRANGERS
nominees
Todd Haynes, MAY DECEMBER
Savanah Leaf, EARTH MAMA
Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS
Ira Sachs, PASSAGES
Actor
Paul Giamatti, THE HOLDOVERS
nominees
Barry Keoghan, SALTBURN
Lio Mehiel, MUTT
Franz Rogowski, PASSAGES
Andrew Scott, ALL OF US STRANGERS
Actress
Teyana Taylor, A THOUSAND AND ONE
nominees
Lily Gladstone, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Sandra Hüller, ANATOMY OF A FALL & THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Trace Lysette, MONICA
Tia Nomore, EARTH MAMA
Supporting Actor
Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER
nominees
Robert DeNiro, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Robert Downey, Jr., OPPENHEIMER
Milo Machado Graner, ANATOMY OF A FALL
Ben Whishaw, PASSAGES
Supporting Actress
Julianne Moore, MAY DECEMBER
nominees
Danielle Brooks, THE COLOR PURPLE
Hong Chau, SHOWING UP
Viola Davis, AIR
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS
Ensemble
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
nominees
ALL OF US STRANGERS
THE COLOR PURPLE
THE HOLDOVERS
MAY DECEMBER
Adapted Screenplay
Andrew Haigh, ALL OF US STRANGERS
nominees
Sofia Coppola, PRISCILLA
Kelly Fremon Craig, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET.
Christopher Nolan, OPPENHEIMER
Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Original Screenplay
Samy Burch, MAY DECEMBER
nominees
David Hemingson, THE HOLDOVERS
Savanah Leaf, EARTH MAMA
Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt, SHOWING UP
A.V. Rockwell, A THOUSAND AND ONE
International Film
nominees
ANATOMY OF A FALL
THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Documentary
nominees
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL
FOUR DAUGHTERS
Cinematography
nominees
Jomo Fray, ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
Maria von Hausswolff, GODLAND
Ari Wegner, EILEEN
Robert Yeoman, ASTEROID CITY
Film Editing
Jennifer Lame, OPPENHEIMER
nominees
Kirk Baxter, THE KILLER
Keith Fraase, PAST LIVES
Xander Nijsten, OCCUPIED CITY
Thelma Schoonmaker, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Score
Richard Reed Perry, EILEEN
nominees
Jerskin Fendrix, POOR THINGS
Gary Gunn, A THOUSAND AND ONE
Joe Hisaishi, THE BOY AND THE HERON
Anthony Willis, SALTBURN
Song
"Wounded Heart," SILVER DOLLAR ROAD
nominees
"Dance the Night," BARBIE
"Out Alpha the Alpha," DICKS: THE MUSICAL
"Pharmacoliberation," ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY
"What Was I Made For?," BARBIE
Art Direction / Production Design
nominees
ASTEROID CITY
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
PRISCILLA
Costume Design
Stacey Battat, PRISCILLA
nominees
Sophie Canale, SALTBURN
Jacqueline Durran, BARBIE
Make-Up & Hair
PRISCILLA
nominees
Sound Design
THE ZONE OF INTEREST
nominees
THE KILLER
Visual Effects
nominees
ASTEROID CITY
BARBIE
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW
Animated Film
nominees
THE BOY AND THE HERON
A look back at last year when BENEDICTION won Picture & Director for the late Terence Davies.
Monday, January 22, 2024
jeffery berg's top 10 films of 2023!
This is one of the busiest end-of-the years I can remember for prominent late releases, but many of my favorite films came out early on, and have subsequently (and sadly) been somewhat overlooked. A strong film year overall.
10.
Kelly Reichart is a wonderful director who has been working a long time with modest budgets and stories that take on greater meaning. This one may be my favorite. A haunting, complicated, yet surprisingly (in these times) optimistic look at family, the creation and endurance of art (and the time it takes!) and friendship.
9.
9.
The ambition of this on-location NYC-set film of a mother and son by debut director A.V. Rockwell is impressive, spanning decades of the 90s into Bloomberg's early 2000s. Teyana Taylor is full-stop fantastic.
Other great NYC films this year besides this one and Robot Dreams include You Hurt My Feelings and the underrated Mutt.
8.
Brooding and elegantly-filmed and edited (by Jennifer Lame) epic, with two particularly breathtaking sequences. A Christopher Nolan agnostic, I went in skeptical, and came out changed.
7.
Another towering historical epic that's simultaneously entertaining, remarkably well-crafted, and terrifying. Listening to different interviews about the care and attention to detail on Martin Scorsese's movie has been enlightening. Also, Lily Gladstone is an amazing human being.
6.
Sofia Coppola's deceptively modest, immersive portrait of Priscilla Presley during the courtship and marriage with Elvis. Beautiful music choices and exquisite, tactile aesthetics.
5.
Has there ever been a protagonist so destructive and frustrating? Probably. But Franz Rogowski's brilliant performance is so compelling and unique that he (and the characters around him, destroyed in his wake) becomes all you can think of watching this film. But the costuming, by Khadija Zeggaï, are also well-done, and enviable (for Ben Whishaw!) and aptly appalling (for Rogowski).
4.
Like his prickly characters, Alexander Payne can come off as kind of a pain in interviews, but it's hard to ignore his skill of creating rambling movies that probe the mishaps and follies of human existence with such grace, humor and specificity. Giamatti is a multi-dimensional curmudgeon. Discovery Dominic Sessa feels like a throwback to the story's time period. Laid-back yet steely, Da'Vine Joy Randolph seems to effortlessly create a much richer character than what was probably on the page of an otherwise brilliant script.
3.
Beautifully realized story of a young woman's decisions (and lack thereof, in a brutal American ecosystem). Different friendships between women are tested in ways not often seen in movies. Although acclaimed and released by A24, this ended up being one of the unsung films of the year.
2.
Barbed, complicated tale of parasitic relationships. Absurdly strong, memorable performances across the board, including the surprisingly heartfelt, winning turn from Charles Melton.
1.
A very complex ghost story that surveys mortality, desire, pop culture, and the trappingsof the past. Sometimes a movie feels cosmic, otherworldly. An indelible experience for me at NYFF.
The best of the rest... other notable films of 2023 (in approximate order of preference):
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., Chile '76, R.M.N, Robot Dreams, Occupied City
20 Days in Mariupol, Four Daughters, Orlando, My Political Biography, Omen (Augure), Past Lives, The Zone of Interest
Monica, Mutt, Tori and Lokita, Godland
Green Border, The Killer, Anatomy of a Fall, Saltburn, Maestro, The Taste of Things
Fallen Leaves, The Blue Caftan, La Chimera, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, You Hurt My Feelings, Air, M3GAN
The Disappearance of Shere Hite, Theater Camp, Rotting in the Sun, Afire, Joyland, Talk to Me
Eileen, The Royal Hotel, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, The Color Purple, Bruiser
La Civil, Barbie, Dream Scenario, Perfect Days, The Blackening, Totem, Kokomo City, Society of the Snow
-Jeffery Berg
