The 2017 Cinema Touch Awards - PICTURE

by

Julien Faddoul

5. BPM (Beats Per Minute)

For a dense, beautifully acted and constructed rendering of ACT UP Paris in the early 1990s. It's two major accomplishments lie in making committee meetings completely enthralling and, despite following similar story beats, completely subverting the genre of the AIDS-victim movie.

4. Good Time

For the year's greatest yarn. Narratively, a series of sordid dead-ends, all of which are electrifyingly rendered in a way to note on issues of race, drugs and the intellectually disadvantaged.

3. A Quiet Passion

For a witty and meticulously composed biopic on Dickinson by a filmmaker with similar personal tribulations. The whole thing is endlessly engaging with everyone concerned completely in sync.

2. The Florida Project

For an exquisite, intuitive depiction of the hidden homeless, living week-to-week, as seen through the eyes of children. Comparisons to the European neo-realist films of the late 50s are undeniable, and Baker orchestrates his meandering episodes – shot on 35mm – with an unshakable mix of joy and distress.

1. Call Me by Your Name

For a wise, Rohmeresque, gorgeously composed and acted account on the minute nuances of human passions. It exhibits an authenticity concerning both sexual desire and cherished companionship that is rarely seen on screen.

My Top Ten

6. Nocturama

7. Lady Bird

8. The Post

9. Wonderstruck

10. Columbus

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetical)

The Big Sick

Phantom Thread

Films I'm Sad to Have Missed

All I See is You

Band Aid
Dawson City: Frozen Time

The Death of Louis XIV

The Dinner

EX LIBRIS – The New York Public Library

Felicite

Foxtrot

The Glass Castle

God's Own Country

Hermia & Helena

I Love You, Daddy

In the Fade

Landline

The Light of the Moon

The Little Hours

The Lovers

My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea

Sieranevada
Starless Dreams

The Woman Who Left

Films I'm REALLY Sad to Have Missed

A Fantastic Woman

The Ornithologist

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The 2017 Cinema Touch Awards - DIRECTOR

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Julien Faddoul

5. Good Time – Josh Safdie, Ben Safdie

For pushing their aesthetic to its riskiest point and creating their best film so far. Whether you find them problematic or not, their narrative aptitude is certainly distinct.

4. Nocturama – Bertrand Bonello

For an intense, disturbing and, in many ways, dislikable film: partly because Bonello’s aesthetic has always been subtly exhibitionistic and partly because that very expression, in dealing with this subject matter, teeters on trivialization. As a piece of cinema, it is immaculately done and impossible to ignore.

3. Call Me by Your Name – Luca Guadagnino

For his most mature work to date, dialing down his showboating tendencies (which have never worked for me) and revealing himself as a benevolent humanist.

2. A Quiet Passion – Terence Davies

For his best film since The Long Day Closes (1992). His meticulousness is unmatched in cinema today and the day he hangs it up will be a sad one.

1. The Florida Project – Sean Baker

For two meritorious accomplishments: His compositional aptitude and his empathy. Baker is essentially the Dafoe character here, always empathizing with the struggle of his characters yet still exasperated with their choices/behaviour in a way that never lets them off the hook. With this film, he cements his position in cinema as a singular voice.

Runner Up: Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig

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The 2017 Cinema Touch Awards - ACTOR

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Julien Faddoul

5. Phantom Thread – Daniel Day-Lewis

For his funniest performance. I feel like he hasn't gotten any credit for that, but as tortured as Reynolds is, his insipid childishness could fit right in on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

4. Columbus – John Cho

For managing to inspire identification despite his self-effacing contempt for his own life. The more he hides from us the more sincere he becomes.

3. The Disaster Artist – James Franco

For the year's best comic turn, but not one without a sombre colouration.

2. Call Me by Your Name – Timothee Chalamet

For his commitment at portraying Elio as a needy child, making him look profoundly uncool. It's wonderful how he makes every hug dribble with that needy desire.

1. Good Time – Robert Pattinson

For delving into such a dark place and blowing me away in the process. Incredible. The film gains immeasurably from Pattinson’s performance as the most opportunistic of shrewd creeps.

Runner Up: BPM (Beats Per Minute) – Nahuel Pérez Biscayart

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The 2017 Cinema Touch Awards - ACTRESS

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Julien Faddoul

5. Columbus – Haley Lu Richardson

For an incomparable ease in her own skin, she is sorely transparent but beautiful.

4. Personal Shopper – Kristen Stewart

For her unparalleled control. Stewart, who balances a mix of womanly vulnerability and cerebral skepticism, is consummate in the title role.

3. Phantom Thread – Vicky Krieps

For such a palpable depiction of the transference of power. The film really stands on her shoulders.

2. The Post – Meryl Streep

For always - ALWAYS - being interesting. Just when you think there's nothing more that this woman could possible contribute to cinema…never doubt it.

1. A Quiet Passion – Cynthia Nixon

For a note-perfect turn from this formidable queen, giving an almost titular performance. The wide array of awards that she was never considered for is the year's most irksome error.

Runner Up: Lady Bird – Saoirse Ronan

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The 2017 Cinema Touch Awards - SUPPORTING ACTOR

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Julien Faddoul

5. Person to Person – Bene Coopersmith

For the year's most underrated performance. Whether worrying about his shirt or chasing derelicts around Manhattan, Bene, verily, has love in his heart.

4. Lady Bird – Lucas Hedges

For fashioning such an evocative young man with so little screen-time.

3. The Big Sick – Ray Romano

For proving himself. The integrity he's had his whole career shows how perfect he is for Terry.

2. The Florida Project – Willem Dafoe

For a superb depiction of paternal decency, giving the kind of coloured performance that he's been contributing for years. Every note of exasperation is fully shaded.

1. Call Me by Your Name – Michael Stuhlbarg

For taking what could have been merely a didactic function for the audience and creating a man whose passion for his work and love for his family is instantly communicated in every scene, even when just reading the paper.

Runner Up: Marjorie Prime – Jon Hamm

                                             

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The 2017 Cinema Touch Awards - SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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Julien Faddoul

5. BPM – Adèle Haenel

For her striking particularity in those meetings. So much fear is being suppressed yet she accesses her confidence whenever the chips are down.

4. Wonderstruck – Millicent Simmonds

For the kind of guileless turn that only comes from no occupational baggage. In spite of her disabilities, she's an absolute natural.

3. Phantom Thread – Lesley Manville

For making Cyril a Mrs Danvers for the ages. As usual, she makes it look so easy.

2. The Big Sick – Holly Hunter

For adding her unique kind of gravitas to the proceedings. A smile here or a rejection there, everything is tinged with meaning.

1.      1. Lady Bird – Laurie Metcalf

For the year's most empathetic turn. We all know her. "It's possible to be warm and scary. Your mum is".

Runner Up: The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) – Elizabeth Marvel

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