I was among the 20 prolific members of Chicago Indie Critics who cast their final ballots last week to declare the winners of 23 categories for their fourth annual film awards. At a special ceremony open to the public last evening at the Cards Against Humanity Theater in Chicago hosted by stand-up comedienne and former film critic Katie Baker, the CIC film critics, fans, and guests gathered to celebrate milestones, commiserate among peers and professionals, and honor the very best from 2019.
Read MoreLeading all films with an impressive eight nominations is Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women. Two of those nominations highlight Gerwig’s work as a director and screenwriter. Following next with seven nominations each is the quartet of The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, and Parasite. On an individual level leading the field, Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho earned five personal nominations and Lulu Wang of The Farewell earned four across the 23 categories. In all, 43 films are represented with nominations for the 2019 CIC Awards.
Read MoreHere’s some newly-released follow-up bonus content my recent guest appearance on the CinemaJaw podcast, hosted by fellow Chicago Indie Critic members Matt Kubinski and Ryan Jagiello. When we recorded our reviews of Marriage Story a month before its Netflix debut, we entered spoiler territory for a segment to save for later. Well, later is now with Marriage Story going strong in its award season. In this new episode of CinemaJaw recorded at the glam headquarters of Cards Against Humanity, come for the Jumanji and Star Wars talk and stay for the Marriage Story “Spoiler Lounge!”
Read MoreThis past week, I was pleased as punch to be a guest on the CinemaJaw podcast, hosted by fellow Chicago Indie Critic members Matt Kubinski and Ryan Jagiello. On Episode #447, all three of us just got out of Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and, boy, did we have feelings. As per tradition, the Top 5 segment was for each of us to list our best break-up, separation, and divorce movies. An extended trivia segment followed later centered on Tom Hanks. Enjoy their excellent show!
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