THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS (BSFC) of which I have been a proud member since 1981, has once again voted its year- end awards, and it only took us 7 hours, on zoom, with 27 members participating. Since we began gathering in the livingroom of the late great David Brudnoy all those years ago, we’ve grown a lot– in size and scope. This year’s BEST PICTURE went to Japan’s 2022  almost 3 hour-long Oscar entry DRIVE MY CAR which won 4 awards in all: BEST DIRECTOR for Ryusuke Hamaguchi; BEST SCREENPLAY co-written by Hamaguchi and Takama Oe; BEST ACTOR for Hidetoshi Nishijima. The movie is a complex, poignant, and profound drama about an artist who navigates a tragic turning point in his life through his work as a classical actor/theater director and his relationship to a young woman who is his driver (Toko Miura).

Because a non-English language film was voted Best Picture, we also voted BEST ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM which went to co-writer/director Jane Campion’s THE POWER OF THE DOG which also won BEST CINEMATOGRPAHY for Ari Wegner. This haunting film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a rancher whose dark and brooding nature intimidates his brother’s (Jesse Plemons) new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and stirs up trouble on the horizon. The tension created onscreen is potent.

See the complete list of BSFC 2021 Awards and Commendations at the BSFC WEBSITE.

The BOSTON ONLINE FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION (BOFCA) of which I am also a member has announced its year-end best and THE POWER OF THE DOG dominated with 7 awards including BEST PICTURE, DIRECTOR, and SCREENPLAY, with Benedict Cumberbatch voted BEST ACTOR, Kirsten Dunst BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, and my favorite Kodi Smit-McPhee voted BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR. BEST ACTRESS went to Kristen Stewart who starred as Princess Diana in SPENCER.

See the complete list of BOFCA 2021 winners and a list of their TOP TEN FILMS of the year visit the BOFCA WEBSITE.

See you at the movies!