Welcome to the 14th Danny Awards! I’m trying a new format this year: a list of the ten movies that left the biggest impression on me. Don’t worry! All the awards you expect are mixed in. Along with my attempt to get you to check out some foreign films, and maybe some others you haven’t even heard of at all.
- Sentimental Value – My Best Picture is this insightful family drama, which is mostly in Norwegian. This makes it sound like a pretentious arthouse snoozer. It’s not! The film is savvy about how family dynamics create long-term scars. And how important it is to find a way past them. My Best Supporting Actor, Stellan Skarsgård, plays a film director who was not the best father. He reconnects with his two daughters with a script to put their family history on screen. Former Danny Winner Renate Reinsve is an actress who wants nothing to do with the project or him. My Best Supporting Actress, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, is the more grounded daughter who tries to make peace. A scene near the end where the two siblings lay everything bare lingers long after the film ends. The always-welcome Elle Fanning shows up too! If you are like me, you have subtitles on half the time already, so don’t shy away from this gem because of the language.
- The Life of Chuck – I might not be totally objective about this one since it’s based on one of my favorite Stephen King short stories. But I am giving Best Director to Mike Flanagan for his work adapting this challenging, three-part tale. Each chapter is about an ordinary accountant named Chuck, whose life contains more than it would seem. My Favorite Scene of the Year is an unexpected summer day dance sequence that is as beautiful on-screen as King’s prose on the page. The “what’s new on Netflix” world we live in makes it easy for movies like this to get lost in the noise. Check it out (currently on Hulu, not Netflix!).
- Train Dreams – Leisurely-paced is sometimes used by critics as a clever way to call something duller than dirt. That is not the case here, but I can’t think of a better way to describe this impressionistic film. It follows the life of a northwest woodsman through the first half of the 20th century. Anyone looking for action and noise can check out numbers 6, 7, and 8 on my list. But if you are willing to soak in the atmosphere and let the story guide you at its deliberate speed, Train Dreams is hauntingly beautiful. The film deservedly wins Danny awards for Best Cinematography & Best Editing.
- The Secret Agent – It’s a rare film that I can honestly say is unlike anything I’ve watched before. This movie could be simplified by a tagline like the one I stole from NPR: “A research scientist is on the run from hitmen.” Coupled with the title, you might think you are in line to watch some kind of Brazilian James Bond actioner. Instead, things take unexpected and thought-provoking turns. The story is more concerned with the “why” than the “what”. Some mysteries continue to linger after the end. And there’s a true-to-history subplot about a rogue leg attacking people. I’m giving this my Best Foreign Film. (Yes, Sentimental Value is also a foreign film, but my awards, my rules, that sometimes make no sense. Kind of like the Golden Globes!)
- Rental Family – My Overlooked Movie of the Year is this charming dramedy starring Brendan Fraser as a struggling actor in Tokyo. He stumbles on a gig where performers are hired to play a role in people’s lives, which is actually a thing in Japan. One of Fraser’s parts is pretending to be the long-lost American father of a girl whose mother is trying to get her into a prestigious school. Another subplot involves an aging iconic Japanese actor. The film is sentimental, but not saccharine. It’s another small gem worth seeking out.
- Weapons – If I had a Most Whackadoodle award, this move would surely win. Instead, this horror film about missing children and the toll it takes on a community wins Best Screenplay. The story takes things in some wildly diverse and disturbing directions. A shout-out to Amy Madigan, who plays the creepy aunt you don’t want staying over.
- F1: The Movie – I am not going to make a case that F1 is a classic piece of cinema. I had low expectations. And if it weren’t for its out-of-left-field Best Picture nomination, I probably wouldn’t have watched it all. But I am glad I did. It turned out to be a very enjoyable flick that blends the tradition of big-budget, mass-appeal Hollywood storytelling with modern-day filmmaking techniques. Sometimes it’s nice to just turn off most of your brain and be entertained. And because I want to give it something…Best Sound!
- Sinners – This blockbuster is really two movies in one: A drama set in the 1930s about twin brothers returning to their poor community in the south, using stolen money to open a juke joint & a straight-up vampire flick. The film would have been just as interesting if director Ryan Coogler had left out the vampires. And even might have been better. As it is, the film does its job very well as a crowd-pleaser. Michael B. Jordan plays dual roles as the twins, gifting each with a unique personality in what must have been a demanding shoot. He wins the Danny for Best Actor. And Best Score as well to Ludwig Göransson, whose music complements the jarring story shifts.
- Hamnet – This romanticized tale about the relationship between William Shakespeare and his wife is likely more fiction than fact. But it vividly immerses the viewer in its vision. Jessie Buckley gives a powerful performance as a wife and mother whose grief after the death of her son all but consumes her, earning her a Danny for Best Actress. The extended ending, where she watches the premiere performance of Hamlet and begins to understand her husband’s anguish, is masterfully executed.
- Marty Supreme – There aren’t many likable characters in this story, which is mostly about a man trying to play ping pong rather than actually playing it. The film is frantic to the point of almost being unpleasant. So, why is it on my list? It definitely left an impression. And for some reason, I can’t get it out of my head. Thanks, brain! But maybe that’s why I think there is much more to the movie than meets the eye. I recently stumbled across this very long essay that offers an interesting interpretation. I will be watching this one again.
A few other movies deserve some quick thoughts:
Blue Moon – Ethan Hawke gives a great performance as Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart in this film about art, jealousy, regret, and self-sabotage.
Nuremberg – Another overlooked film about the Nazi tribunals after World War II. Russel Crowe is award-worthy as Hitler’s second-in-command, Herman Göring.
One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson is incapable of making a truly bad movie. But this one didn’t vibe with me the way it did with many Oscar voters. However, I would love to see a flick about the vampires from Sinners going up against the Christmas Adventurers Club!
Frankenstein – Guillermo Del Toro will also never make a bad movie. Still, I wish he had put his prodigious talents behind something more original than a retelling of a story we’ve seen so many times already.
The Long Walk – Another of my favorite Stephen King short stories received a successful adaptation in this horror fable about a competition in which boys must keep walking until only one is left standing.
The Naked Gun – Props to Liam Neeson for taking a chance in this amusing reboot. The Frosty the Psycho snowman sequence had me laughing more than anything else this year.
That wraps up another year of the Danny Awards! As always, the winners can pop by my house in Tampa to pick them up. Thanks for reading!
