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A new critics group can potentially struggle to separate themselves from the pack. Thankfully, the Hollywood Critics Association (or HCA, for short) does not have that problem.

Moments ago, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association finished unveiling their 2020 awards on Twitter. As always, some of their choices were a bit out of left field, but also far less so than in years past.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “John Mulaney” Episode 1790 — Pictured: Jim Carrey as Joe Biden during the “Biden Halloween” Cold Open on Saturday, October 31, 2020 — (Photo by: Kyle Dubiel/NBC)

One of the bigger critics groups gave out their citations today, with the New York Film Critics Circle announcing award winners for 2020. After doling out a Best Picture win last year for The Irishman, they went decidedly smaller this time around, citing First Cow with Picture.

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (L-R) CAITLIN FITZGERALD as DAPHNE O’CONNOR, ALAN METOSKIE as ALLEN GINSBURG, ALEX SHARP as RENNIE DAVIS, JEREMY STRONG as JERRY RUBIN, JOHN CARROLL LYNCH as DAVID DELLINGER, SASHA BARON COHEN as ABBEY HOFFMAN, NOAH ROBBINS as LEE WEINER. NICO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2020.

At one point, the 71st Berlin Film Festival was planning on being held as planned. An in person festival, held in February, was always a long shot, but hope sprung eternal.

Earlier today, the Sundance Film Festival revealed its full program for the 2021 incarnation of the fest. Obviously, it won’t be taking place solely in Park City, Utah, as the COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting the industry in a major way.

One of the more highly praised films of the year so far, Nomadland is not just a critical favorite, but a surefire Academy Award contender. Before it competes for Oscar love, however, it’s going to need to actually come out.

Moments ago, the Boston Society of Film Critics revealed their award winners for the unique year that is 2020. As we enter a whole new section of the precursor season, with critics groups chiming in, we’re going to start to see who and what that element of the industry is partial to.

Oh boy. I have so many questions for John Patrick Shanley.

Fans of Disney, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Star Wars had an embarrassment of riches to pour over yesterday. During the 2020 Investor Day presentation for The Walt Disney Company, creative forces Kevin Feige, Kathleen Kennedy, and more, were on hand to tease out much of what’s coming in the next few years.

Having seen The Midnight Sky earlier in the week, I can vouch for the film being good. Not only is it bigger in scope than almost anything that George Clooney has attempted before, it’s intimate in nature, too.

The precursor season is underway folks, with today bringing the nominees for the British Independent Film Awards. The BIFAs, as they’re known, went hard for Saint Maud, which led the field, scoring 17 nominations for Rose Glass’ movie.

Here’s an interesting bit of news that dropped today. As many of us speculate about what the Oscar ceremony this time around will look like, the Academy has opted to name its producers for the 2021 telecast.

Last night, HBO debuted on their channel (after having sneaked it a few days earlier on HBO Max) a special new episode of the breakout series Euphoria. The first season was a smash, winning Zendaya an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series, while the filming of the second season for creator Sam Levinson and company has been delayed by COVID-19.

The more we see superhero films become the prime form of big budget cinema, the more audiences do seem to also yearn for unique spins on various characters. That doesn’t mean that fans don’t enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but especially with DC, certain takes have done better than others.

Usually, when a film sees its release date bumped from 2020 and into 2021, we’re talking about a blockbuster. At the very least, it seems to almost always be a movie designed to make a bunch of money.

Video game movies have had a tough go of it on the big screen. When this year’s Sonic the Hedgehog is probably one of the more successful adaptations, something is amiss.

Huge news dropped today, and to be frank, I’m still attempting to wrap my head around it. This may wind up being one of those red letter dates in cinematic history, folks.

Pretentious is never a word you want associated with your film. It has a connotation that just never serves your project well, in the least.

There are two interesting performances contained within Girl, an otherwise wholly uninteresting film. On the surface, this is just a B movie that you would find once upon a time in the discount DVD bin.

Remember film festivals? Especially in person ones? Well, they won’t be returning for a bit, but 2021 will still be filled with festivals, just of the mostly virtual variety. One such fest is the Slamdance Film Festival, which has in the past taken place alongside the Sundance Film Festival.

Star Wars fans woke up to some sad news, as actor and former bodybuilder David Prowse has passed away. The British character actor died at the age of 83, and if you’re at all a lover of the Star Wars Saga, you know who he played.

2020 has been a tough year for blockbusters. Basically, almost any big budget film has moved to next year or opted to debut on a streamer.

While plenty of us were concerned with turkey, Netflix was hard at work yesterday promoting their upcoming film, The Prom. Adapted from the hit Broadway musical of the same name, Ryan Murphy’s flick hopes to be a joyful experience next month for audiences, and the streaming service is putting that vibe forward with this Trailer that hit the web on Thanksgiving.

Friends, I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving today! It’s undoubtedly going to be a different kind of a day than usual for everyone, but we can get through it. The entire year has seen COVID-19 impact our daily lives, as well as other holidays.

If you weren’t paying attention yesterday when the Grammy Award nominations were announced (understandable, if you’re more into film than music), something interesting happened. Sure, Beyoncé led the nominations, with Taylor Swift not far behind, but movie fans might have noticed an interesting nomination.

Whenever a flick debuts at a film festival and then takes a year to come out, people can suspect the worst. Well, I’m here to tell you that Our Friend is an exception to that.

Hardly a week goes by where a movie doesn’t opt to move out of their current theatrical release window. The reasons remain obvious.

Some of you might have missed this earlier in the week, but my favorite bit of film news actually concerns a book. Of course, it’s a book based on an Academy Award winning movie, and comes from an Oscar winning filmmaker, but still.