In keeping with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ dictum that the year in film ends on February 28, the DFW Film Critics Association held its voting for the best movies of 2020 two months later than usual, and the results are out today. Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland took top honors and also won the awards for best director and best cinematography. Oh, look! It just so happens that Nomadland expands this weekend to Movie Tavern Hulen and AMC Parks at Arlington, if you wish to see this modern-day Western on the big screen. My review is up now.
Also doing well was Promising Young Woman, placing second in the overall voting and winning the Best Actress award for Carey Mulligan as well as the best screenplay gong for writer-director Emerald Fennell. The other acting awards were for Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah (that’s also out this week), and Amanda Seyfried in Mank. Three female directors — Zhao, Fennell, and Regina King for One Night in Miami — took the top three slots in the Best Director race. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time that happened.
One more film that comes out locally this week did notably well: Minari was voted the best foreign film as well as the winner of the Russell Smith Award for low-budget filmmaking. That review is also up now.
