Going into this film I expected a story of the lovable Mister Rogers – the man who, for decades hosted the US children’s television show Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but it’s not a story about him.
It’s the story of writer Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) doing a magazine article about Mister Rogers.
Of course, Mister Rogers hypothetically stands in for Vogel’s father, a man he never got along with and was never able to please (played a bit over the top by Chris Cooper).
Hanks is superb as Rogers but after leaving the cinema I felt a bit ripped off as I didn’t get the film that was advertised.
Yes it’s true about all the hype surrounding the South Korean film Parasite – it’s funny, dramatic, and very very different, and it sticks to you like, well, a parasite.
Director Bong Joon-ho, who wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won, tells the tale of the Kim family, who are all unemployed (they attempt to get a job folding pizza boxes but fail miserably) and live in a ground floor basement apartment where locals relieve themselves right outside their window. They also steal Wifi connections from neighbors.
The son, Kim-woo (Choi Woo-shik) gets a job tutoring the daughter of the wealthy Park family who live in an architecturally stunning home. And soon enough, the daughter, Ki-jeong (a brilliant Park So-dam) poses as Kim-woo’s friend ‘Jessica’ who is then hired to be an art therapist for the Parks’ young son. And then eventually the father (Song Kang-ho) and the mother (Chang Hyae-jin) get jobs in the Park household as well, infiltrating the Parks’ home and their lives, like an organism (parasite). But their good luck just about comes to an end when the former Park housekeeper (whose job the mother stole) comes back to check on what she left behind (it’s quite a surprise!), and it’s then that the Kim family ruse starts to be discovered and it all slowly starts to unravel, especially when the Parks come back home early from a rained out vacation.
It’s such an extraordinary tale that could only come from the man who gave us The Host (where a monster kidnaps a young girl), and Okja (where a young girl raises a large pig).’ Joon-ho elicits great performances from all of his cast, especially the younger actors of the Kim family – they are all very dastardly in their lies, and the Park family wife (Cho Yeo-jeong), who is oblivious to what is happening in her very own home.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival as well as two BAFTA Awards (Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Not in the English Language), and nominated for 6 Academy Awards, Parasite is truly one of the best films of the year – it’s a dark comedy that’s very very dark – and delicious.
89-year old Director Clint Eastwood shows he’s still got it.
In Richard Jewell, he tells the story of the man who was initially blamed for the bomb that exploded in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Paul Walter Hauser is fine as Jewell, an overweight security’s guard who still lives with his mother (Kathy Bates in overacting mode). A back story of a reporter (Olivia Wilde) who will do anything to get her story (including sleeping with FBI agent Jon Hamm) did not happen so take this film with a grain of salt.
Sam Rockwell is very good as usual as the man who never doubted Jewell’s innocence.
An Adam Sandler movie connotes bad acting and a stupid plot. Not ‘Uncut Gems’ – it’s fast, furious, heart-pounding and brilliant. Shockingly and shamelessly ‘Uncut Gems’ has been ignored by the people who give out film awards – its Sandlers’ best film ever as well as one of the years top movies.
The action and plot in ‘Uncut Gems’ builds and accelerates into hyperdrive – a feeling probably akin to being on meth with the high becoming more and more intense until an explosive ending.
Sandler plays Manhattan gem dealer Harold Ratner, a man known to place a few bets in his time. He comes across a rare black opal which he wants to sell for a big score. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Other people (criminals) also want their hands on the opal, meanwhile, Ratner owes money to loan sharks, he’s been cheating on his wife (Idina Menzel) with his sexy and saucy mistress who is his assistant in the jewellery shop (Julia Fox). Also involved is a professional basketball player dangling lots of money in his face to spend on jewellery. Combining all this and what you have is a man whose life is spiralling out of control to a point where it’s do or die for Ratner.
To say Sandler is brilliant is an understatement. I saw this film last year at the BFI London Film Festival and didn’t know what to expect going in. When I left the cinema 135 minutes later, my head was spinning and my mind took hours to process what I had just seen. The ending is such a crescendo it’s so unlike anything you’d expect from a Sandler movie.
Directors (and brothers) Benny and Josh Safdie (who did the award-winning 2017 film Good Time starring Robert Pattison), with a script by both of them (and Ronald Bronstein), bring us a superb film that’s thrilling, intense, and will have you on the edge of your seat. And while all the cast is brilliant, Uncut Gems is Sandlers’ movie.
Go see it just for him, and expect the ending to just blow your mind.
‘Uncut Gems’ is on Netflix but is also currently playing in cinemas.
Fried chicken was all the rage in 2019 – will it be just as popular in 2020? Well, The Other Side Fried (OSF) is trying to make sure this will be the case.
With five locations in London, including two in Brixton, they are all about fried chicken – just what it says in the name! Buttermilk – dipped chicken is offered in several burger varieties. In my quick visit there one Saturday afternoon to the flagship restaurant in Brixton (not Pop) – the Honey Butter chicken burger stood out on the menu. Loads of pickles and lettuce under the chicken with bacon on top – was – to borrow a well-known phrase – finger lickin’ good! It wasn’t that large considering the price – £8.45 – but it was delicious thanks to the smoked honey butter sauce. My friend had the Bacon Cheese chicken burger with OSF special sauce – at £7.45. Other burgers include the Classic, Buffalo, Garlic & Mayo and Vegan – all priced between £6.45 and £8.45. What makes OSF chicken burgers taste better than KFC? The quality for one, and secondly the taste – OSF are original, and good.
The order of fries was very good – they were of the small-sized variety. I asked for no salt so that I could taste them as they should be tasted – plain, but they came salted – oh well – but were cheap (£2.45). The Dirty Tots were superb. A bit pricey at £5 – they were topped with bacon bits and delicious ranch/hot sauce but weren’t hot at all. We thoroughly enjoyed these and ate them all up.
We tried the Garlic Butter Mayo and Smoked Honey Mustard (superb) dips to go with our chicken and fries (a must at 50p each). If you want bacon or Parmesan cheese these will set you back £1 each. Beer, wine (pending liquor license approval in the main branch) and soft drinks are available as well.
If you find yourself in either Camden (Camden Lock Market), Leicester Square or Peckham (Peckham Levels), you’ll find their other locations. They are smaller so there are less menu options but the quality of food is the same throughout all the locations. The original location is right near Brixton tube station – you can’t miss it – it’s all glass – and an ugly orange inside. Too bad loud rap music was on play – not pleasant for this small 16-seater location. And unusually it was not busy at all when we were there – at Saturday lunchtime.
Thanks to OSF – it looks like the fried chicken craze is here to stay – though I’d still stay away from Chicken with waffles – it’s so so wrong!
The seven (and a half) year itch rears its ugly head for one gay couple in the new play ‘Four Play’.
Now playing at the Above the Stag theatre until February 22, 2020 – Rafe (Ashley Byam) and Pete (Keeran Blessie) have been together for most of their adult lives, and unfortunately have not had much experience with anyone else. Yet they feel like their sexual relationship is starting to become mundane, lacking a bit of spark. So they enlist their frIend Michael (Declan Spaine) to spice things up. They then agree a deal among them: Michael will have sex with them separately, while Michael is not allowed to tell his boyfriend Andrew (Marc Mackinnon). But Michael does tell Andrew, and while he and Michael did have an open relationship, Andrew wonders out loud why the couple chose Michael over him.
Meanwhile, Rafe and Pete are enjoying the friends with benefits with Michael, but is temporary gratification going to save their dulling relationship? And what will become of Michael and Andrew’s relationship now that Andrew knows what is going on behind his back?
Through sharp dialogue (Jake Brunger), good acting and good directing (Matthew Iliffe), and with an excellent set (a kitchen complete with a Madonna magnet on the refrigerator), Four Play is game, set, love and match.
There’s a sex crime taking place in Soho – it’s ‘Sex/Crime’ the dark comic queer thriller.
Now playing until Feb. 1st, 2020 at the Soho Theatre, ‘Sex/Crime’ had its birth at the Glory bar in Dalston – a venue where shows such as this one are produced. Sex/Crime is a play that explores sex, violence, role-play, fear, drugs, but unfortunately not nudity, as both leads are sexy as hell.
It’s not one to take too seriously, though the dialogue might suggest you do. Jonny Woo and writer Alexis Gregory take us on a ride where man A (Gregory) and man B (Woo) recreate a killing of a famous gay serial killer – for pleasure – and a price, but at what price. Both actors work their damn hardest to entertain, and scare us, as they decide the boundaries of their game – a game that goes a bit too far, all packed into a generous one hour show.
Playing at the Soho Theatre (in the upstairs theatre) gives the show a bit of legitimacy, but it’s still low-brow theatre mostly meant for a small stage of a gay bar. But you can’t knock the energy and sexual chemistry of Gregory and especially sexy daddy Woo – they both alone are the price of admission.
★★★ | The Sunset Limited, Boulevard Theatre, London
A middle-aged white male attempts to get on The Sunset Limited but is stopped by a middle-aged black man.
What is The Sunset Limited? It’s the name of a new play that has just opened at Soho’s fantastic Boulevard Theatre, and it’s also a euphemism for committing suicide.
The white man (English Actor Jasper Britton), is on his daily commute (as described by the actors) when, instead of wanting to go to work, he intentionally wants to jump in front of a subway train pulling into a strangely empty NYC subway station. But he is saved by the black man (an excellent Gary Beadle) who in turn takes him to his run-down apartment to discuss his motive for wanting to commit suicide.”
So the play (written by Cormac McCarthy in 2006) takes place in the black man’s apartment (the two leads are not assigned proper names). So for the next 95 minutes we get to learn a lot about both men. The white man is a professor, an atheist, really hates his father and mother, and has very bad thoughts about all of his fellow commuters – everyday he has had these bad thoughts – and has had them for the past 20 years. The black man is an ex-con who served time for a crime we are not told, he is very religious, and is now the guardian angel to the white man, trying, very determined, to understand why he wanted to end his life. The play also tries to explore the meaning of life and especially the lives of people who have to endure a commute back and forth to work every day. But it also raises questions on the question – are we living the lives we want to lead? And when the show is over, and the black man finally lets the white man leave, what happens next, not just to him but also to the rest of us – back to our daily grind tomorrow, one that we might find depressing, depressing enough to take the Sunset Limited?
Perhaps the white man is everyman – one who is sick and tired of his commute, of the people around him, of his life and of his relationships – just plain miserable as hell.
Writer McCarthy wrote the brilliant ‘The Road’ (which went on to win a Pulitzer Prize, and which was turned into the classic 2009 film), which had themes of suicide and doom, was a brilliant piece of work. The Sunset Limited, apart from very good acting (Beadle is superb) and very good direction (Terry Johnson), is just a bit too thin to really care about the characters (white man is still a mystery to me) and what happens to them next.
The Sunset Limited is now playing at Soho’s Boulevard Theatre until February 29th.
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of 260 mainly U.S. journalists covering film and television, has named its final-round choics for 2019’s finest movies, performances and more across a host of mainstream and LGBTQ-focused categories.
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite gobbled up five wins, including Film of the Year, Director and Screenplay. Renée Zellweger took Performance of the Year—Actress for Judy), with Antonio Banderas the top choice in the Actor race. The Society’s Rising Star of the year: Florence Pugh (Little Women).
“GALECA members strive to determine the best cinematic experiences through the distinct LGBTQ lens, and this year was particularly rich in options,” said GALECA President Diane Anderson-Minshall, Editorial Director of The Advocate. “Yet when director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite practically swept our awards roster with five wins, I was not surprised. The dynamic, darkly comic drama about a poor family conniving to live the good lifespeaks to the times we live in, with vivid commentary on class, inequity and even climate change. Parasite is a perfect film for the Trump era.”
Among the professional LGBTQ journalists group’s trademark categories, Booksmart scored as Unsung Film of the Year, while Cats took the group’s semi-dubious, if affectionate, Campy Flick of the Year category.
With the Society’s recent move to spin off its television categories with a separate ceremony starting this August, the Dorians’ TV categories came with a somewhat truncated eligibility window of January 1 through November 1.
FX’s Pose again won TV Drama of the Year and LGBTQ TV Drama for the second year—and its star Billy Porter took another Dorian win as well—while Comedy Central’s The Other Two was named best Unsung TV Show. Amazon’s Fleabag was anointed TV Comedy of the Year, with star-creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge reigning as TV Performance of the Year—Actress and Wilde Wit of the Year.
Lady Gaga wowed GALECA’s members in a special vote as Wilde Artist of the Decade. Gaga’s duet with Bradley Cooper on “Shallow” at last year’s Oscars also counted with the group as the TV Musical Performance of the Year.
As previously announced, Olivia Wilde, the first-time director of Booksmart, will be receiving a special honor at the group’s Dorian Awards Winners Toast, which will be held brunchtime Sunday, February 2, in Los Angeles, before football fever kicks in. The invitation-only event will include a raise of the glass to Wilde, named GALECA’s Wilde Artist of the Year.
GALECA, formed in 2009, aims to generate camaraderie and solidarity in an unsettling media environment, champion constructive film and television criticism and elevate the craft of entertainment journalism. Via panels, screenings and our annual Dorian Awards, GALECA also strives to remind at-risk youth, bullies and bigots that the world looks to the Q eye for leads on great, unique movies and TV. And how would the world fare without knowing what’s campy?
GALECA is a proud core member of CGEM: Critics Groups for Equality in Media.
FULL LIST OF 11TH DORIAN AWARD WINNERS (noted in bold and with an asterisk)
Film of the Year
Hustlers Little Women Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood Pain and Glory *Parasite Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Director of the Year
Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory Greta Gerwig, Little Women *Bong Joon-ho, Parasite Sam Mendes, 1917 Celine Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Film Performance of the Year — Actress
Awkwafina, The Farewell Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story Lupita Nyong’o, Us Alfre Woodard, Clemency *Renée Zellweger, Judy
Film Performance of the Year — Actor
*Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory Adam Driver, Marriage Story Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems Joaquin Phoenix, Joker Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actress
Laura Dern, Marriage Story Florence Pugh, Little Women *Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers Margot Robbie, Bombshell Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Al Pacino, The Irishman Joe Pesci, The Irishman Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood *Song Kang-ho, Parasite
LGBTQ Film of the Year
Booksmart End of the Century Pain and Glory *Portrait of a Lady on Fire Rocketman
Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Atlantics Pain and Glory *Parasite Portrait of a Lady on Fire The Farewell
Screenplay of the Year
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story *Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won, Parasite Greta Gerwig, Little Women Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Documentary of the Year
American Factory Apollo 11 For Sama *Honeyland One Child Nation
LGBTQ Documentary of the Year
Circus of Books Gay Chorus Deep South The Gospel of Eureka 5B *Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
Visually Striking Film of the Year ** TIE
Midsommar 1917 The Lighthouse Parasite Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Unsung Film of the Year
*Booksmart Her Smell Gloria Bell The Last Black Man in San Francisco Waves
Campy Flick of the Year
*Cats Greta Knives Out Ma Serenity
TV Drama of the Year
Chernobyl Euphoria *Pose Succession Unbelievable
TV Comedy of the Year
*Fleabag The Other Two PEN15 Russian Doll Schitt’s Creek
TV Performance of the Year — Actor
Bill Hader, Barry Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us *Billy Porter, Pose Jeremy Strong, Succession
Euphoria The Other Two *Pose Schitt’s Creek Tales of the City
Unsung TV Show of the Year
Gentleman Jack On Becoming a God in Central Florida *The Other Two PEN15 Years and Years
TV Current Affairs Show of the Year
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee The Rachel Maddow Show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver The Late Show with Stephen Colbert *Leaving Neverland
TV Musical Performance of the Year
*Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, “Shallow,” The 91st Academy Awards Lizzo, “Truth Hurts,” VMAs 2019 Megan Mullally, “The Man That Got Way,” Will & Grace Annie Murphy, “A Little Bit Alexis,” Schitt’s Creek Michelle Williams, “Who’s Got the Pain?,” Fosse/Verdon
Campy TV Show of the Year
American Horror Story 1984 Big Little Lies RuPaul’s Drag Race *The Politician Riverdale
The “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award
Roman Griffin Davis Kaitlyn Dever Beanie Feldstein *Florence Pugh Hunter Schafer
Wilde Wit of the Year (Honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
Dan Levy Billy Porter Randy Rainbow Taika Waititi *Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Wilde Artist of the Decade (Special Accolade)
*Lady Gaga Greta Gerwig Ryan Murphy Billy Porter Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman from Paramount Pictures.
The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of 260 mainly US journalists covering film and television, has named its nominees for 2019’s finest movies, performances and more across a host of mainstream and LGBTQ-focused categories.
“International” films lead the pack: South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite—the left-field hit satire comparing the lives of the rich and the poor—and the French lesbian romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire each counts 6 nominations, while director Pedro Almodovar’s semi-autobiographical opus Pain and Glory has 5 nods. Those films join Hustlers, Little Women and director Quentin Tarantino’s florid alternate-reality trip Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood on the group’s eclectic, diverse Film of the Year short list.
For Director of the Year, Bong competes with the likes of Sam Mendes, helmer of the stunning World War I epic 1917, and Women director Greta Gerwig, a previous Dorian winner in the category for Lady Bird.
Renée Zellweger (Judy), Lupita Nyong’o (Us) and Alfre Woodard (Clemency) add excitement to the award season race with their nominations for Film Performance of the Year—Actress nominations, while fresh faces Florence Pugh (Little Women) and Zhao Shuzen (The Farewell) perk up the respective Supporting category. As for the Actor categories, they’re peppered with notable surnames: Banderas, Driver and Sandler; Pitt, Pesci and Pacino.
Among the professional LGBTQ journalists group’s trademark categories, Booksmart and The Last Black Man in San Francisco are among the contenders for Unsung Film of the Year, while Cats and the cheeky, crazy-popular murder mystery Knives Out duke it out for Campy Flick of the Year
With the Society’s recent move to spin off its television categories with a separate ceremony starting this August, the Dorians’ TV categories came with a somewhat truncated eligibility window of January 1 through November 1.
HBO’s acerbic rich-family soap Succession, Netflix’s searing and female-centric mystery Unbelievable and last year’s multi-winner Pose, all up for TV Drama of the Year, with Hulu’s high-school friendship spoof PEN15 and Comedy Central’s tart The Other Two making nice-surprise showings in the comedy arena. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, star-creator of the also-nominated comedy Fleabag star-creator, is up for three Dorians, including TV Performance of the Year—Actress and Wilde Wit of the Year.
All Dorian Award Winners, including the recipient of the Society’s annual Timeless career-achievement award, will be revealed Wednesday, January 8.
As previously announced, Olivia Wilde, the first-time director of Booksmart, will be receiving a special honor at the group’s Dorian Awards Winners Toast, which will be held on Sunday, February 2, in Los Angeles, before football fever kicks in. The invitation-only event will include a raise of the glass to Wilde, named GALECA’s Wilde Artist of the Year. It bears noting that the acclaimed Booksmart’s stars, Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, each hold a Dorian nomination for GALECA’s “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star award.
GALECA, a member of CGEM: Critics Groups for Equality in Media, aims to generate camaraderie and solidarity in an unsettling media environment, champion constructive film and television criticism and elevate the craft of entertainment journalism. Via panels, screenings and our annual Dorian Awards, GALECA also strives to remind at-risk youth, bullies and bigots that the world looks to the Q eye for leads on great, unique movies and TV. And how would the world fare without knowing what’s campy?
FULL LIST OF 11TH DORIAN AWARDS NOMINATIONS
(Note: Categories with six or more contenders involve a tie)
Film of the Year
Hustlers
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood
Pain and Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Director of the Year
Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Celine Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Film Performance of the Year — Actress
Awkwafina, The Farewell
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Alfre Woodard, Clemency
Renée Zellweger, Judy
Film Performance of the Year — Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actress Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actor Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood
Song Kang-ho, Parasite
LGBTQ Film of the Year
Booksmart
End of the Century
Pain and Glory
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rocketman
Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Atlantics
Pain and Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Farewell
Screenplay of the Year Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won, Parasite
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Documentary of the Year American Factory
Apollo 11
For Sama
Honeyland
One Child Nation
LGBTQ Documentary of the Year
Circus of Books
Gay Chorus Deep South
The Gospel of Eureka
5B
Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
Visually Striking Film of the Year Midsommar
1917
The Lighthouse
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Unsung Film of the Year
Booksmart
Her Smell
Gloria Bell
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Waves
Campy Flick of the Year
Cats
Greta
Knives Out
Ma
Serenity
TV Drama of the Year
Chernobyl
Euphoria
Pose
Succession
Unbelievable
TV Comedy of the Year
Fleabag
The Other Two
PEN15
Russian Doll
Schitt’s Creek
TV Performance of the Year — Actor
Bill Hader, Barry
Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession
TV Performance of the Year — Actress Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Mj Rodriguez, Pose
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
LGBTQ TV Show of the Year
Euphoria
The Other Two
Pose
Schitt’s Creek
Tales of the City
Unsung TV Show of the Year
Gentleman Jack
On Becoming a God in Central Florida
The Other Two
PEN15
Years and Years
TV Current Affairs Show of the Year
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
The Rachel Maddow Show
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Leaving Neverland
TV Musical Performance of the Year
Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, “Shallow,” The 91st Academy Awards
Lizzo, “Truth Hurts,” VMAs 2019
Megan Mullally, “The Man That Got Way,” Will & Grace
Annie Murphy, “A Little Bit Alexis,” Schitt’s Creek
Michelle Williams, “Who’s Got the Pain?,” Fosse/Verdon
Campy TV Show of the Year
American Horror Story 1984
Big Little Lies
RuPaul’s Drag Race
The Politician
Riverdale
The “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award
Roman Griffin Davis
Kaitlyn Dever
Beanie Feldstein
Florence Pugh
Hunter Schafer
Wilde Wit of the Year
(Honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
Dan Levy
Billy Porter
Randy Rainbow
Taika Waititi
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Wilde Artist of the Decade (Special Accolade)
Lady Gaga
Greta Gerwig
Ryan Murphy
Billy Porter
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA.org) has chosen Olivia Wilde as its Wilde Artist of the Year for 2019, with a special tribute to the Booksmart filmmaker set for Sunday, February 2 at the national group’s 11th Dorian Awards Winners Toast in L.A. The accolade, named for GALECA’s “patron saint” Oscar Wilde, goes to “a truly groundbreaking force in film, theater and/or television.”
“Olivia’s inventive direction of Booksmart, with its vivid, heartbreaking and humanly funny depiction of teen lives—be they straight or gay—makes the movie a much-needed enlightened update to even the most beloved genre classics,” said GALECA Executive Director John Griffiths. “As an organization whose awards go to all of film and TV, not only LGBTQ-centric, we love how Olivia’s dedication to keeping all of Booksmart‘s characters’ emotions so affectingly real—amid the movie’s fresh and layered plot, no less—practically leaps off the screen. She’s too smart to ever let the cast—a diverse group that reflects actual high school campus experience for a change—slip into stereotypes. No wonder Booksmart’s become such a touchstone for Gen Z.”
Wilde’s ability to get “such moving, bold and even star-making performances” out of Booksmart’s stars Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein and Diana Silvers, “shows how wildly talented a director she is,” added GALECA President Diane Anderson-Minshall, Editorial Director of The Advocate magazine. “And the awkward first-love scenes were beyond evocative. All said, we’re thrilled to be able to raise a glass to the woman who directed one of the year’s best-reviewed films.”
In addition to earning raves for her first-time directorial effort, Wilde also scored excellent notices earlier this year for her brave and raw performance as Sadie, a victim of domestic abuse turned vigilante, in the independent film A Vigilante. She previously appeared in such films as director Spike Jonze’s Her, Ron Howard’s Rush and the indie hit Butter. Currently, she can be seen on screen alongside Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates in director Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. Away from acting, Wilde is a strong activist who works with major organizations in the push for women’s rights, voter rights, and education and health for the poor.
Past GALECA’s Dorian Award for Wilde Artist of the Year winners include the likes of Jordan Peele, Todd Haynes, Kate McKinnon, Jill Soloway and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Dorian Award nominations across 27 film and TV categories—including the group’s trademark Campy and Unsung honors—will be announced January 3, 2020. Winners aside from Olivia Wilde will be revealed January 8. The location of the 11th Dorian Awards Winners Toast, a light-hearted, champagne-flowing event, is TBA as well (previous Toast locations include The Beverly Hilton and Hollywood’s Paley restaurant).
