🎶 it's a horror story, baby, just say yes 🎶

Cinema’s Newest, Grimmest Trend Call it the anti-coming-of-age story.

Children make an appearance in many of this year’s Oscar-nominated films. But the roles they play are far from cute—instead, they reflect “a poignant, urgent truth,” @shirklesxp.bsky.social writes:

Only Timothée Chalamet Could Get Away With This To promote his new movie, the actor has thrown all caution to the wind.

*takes a deep breath*

marty supreme christmas day marty supreme dream big marty supreme christmas day marty supreme gift link www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

yes, i’m giving them a personal special citation. hi jj :)

voted on a few small awards for the first time. all winners at @lafilmcritics.bsky.social! 😇

Best Picture, Winner: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER #LAFCA

Best Film Not in the English Language, Winner: THE SECRET AGENT #LAFCA

New Generation: Eva Victor, SORRY, BABY #LAFCA

Best Director, Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER #LAFCA

Best Documentary/Nonfiction, Winner: MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I — LAST AIR IN MOSCOW #LAFCA

Best Screenplay, Winner: Jafar Panahi, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT #LAFCA

While you’re waiting for our next round of awards, a quick reminder that the deadline to apply to our scholarship supported by @rottentomatoes.com is also TODAY! Open to aspiring film critics attending L.A.-area community college: bit.ly/LAFCAScholarship2025

Best Lead Performance, Winners: Rose Byrne, IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU, and Ethan Hawke, BLUE MOON #LAFCA

Best Supporting Performance, Winners: Stellan Skarsgård, SENTIMENTAL VALUE, and Teyana Taylor, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER #LAFCA

Best Animation, Winner: LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN #LAFCA

Best Film Editing, Winner: Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, MARTY SUPREME #LAFCA

Best Production Design, Winner: Hannah Beachler, SINNERS #LAFCA

brb throwing a rave

Best Cinematography, Winner: Adolpho Veloso, TRAIN DREAMS #LAFCA

Parenting Is the Least of Her Worries In Die My Love, a struggling new mom loves her child—but can’t stand anyone else.

In “Die My Love,” parenting is the least of a struggling new mother’s concerns, @shirklesxp.bsky.social writes:

The alien-conspiracy-theory-filled “Bugonia” sounds like a sci-fi thriller. The film is much more interested in the human condition—and in having very long conversations about it. @shirklesxp.bsky.social writes: https://theatln.tc/yJApHaeC

Photo of Philip Kaufman wearing a white shirt and looking to the left, standing behind a camera.

“Intrepid doesn’t even begin to describe a director who, among his many considerable achievements, gave Indiana Jones his first assignment and inspired the NC-17 rating,” said LAFCA President Robert Abele. “A criminally underappreciated director, Philip Kaufman could never be pigeonholed, from his early days absorbing the independent spirit of homegrown DIY-ers and the European New Wave, to his cool, vivid command of genre in the ’70s, followed by a handful of uncompromising historical epics, including The Right Stuff and The Unbearable Lightness of Being, that belied anybody’s notion that American filmmakers couldn’t be versatile, intelligent and entertaining about big ideas. The L.A. Film Critics Association is immensely proud to be honoring this dyed-in-the-wool iconoclast.”

Our 2026 Career Achievement Award recipient is Philip Kaufman

The Worst Art Thief in America “The Mastermind” is far more successful as a character study than as a heist movie.

“The Mastermind,” about an art-museum robbery gone wrong, doesn’t try to be a heist movie—to its benefit, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

When One Word Changes an Entire Film "After the Hunt" seems to reckon with cancel culture, before revealing where its true interest lies.

“After the Hunt” is built on incendiary moments, but it saves the most pointed provocation for last—by flipping the entire film on its head. Shirley Li writes:

It’s Not Enough to Read Orwell A new film argues that, in an era of rising authoritarianism, audiences have become too numb to the speculative force of “1984.”

Surveillance and propaganda reign supreme in the fictional world of “1984”—for which generations have found real-life parallels, again and again. The new film “Orwell: 2+2=5” argues that noting such similarities isn’t enough, writes Shirley Li:

Lower Than Cowards The surrender of America’s elites

as usual @adamserwer.bsky.social says it best: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The 14 Movies to Watch Out for This Fall The most exciting films heading to theaters through the end of the year

This year’s film-festival circuit produced a rich array of movies: existential thrillers, whodunits, musicals, and more. @shirklesxp.bsky.social on the 14 standouts to add to your watch list this season:

FILM CRITICS’ GROUPS DENOUNCE NEXSTAR AND DISNEY-ABC DECISIONS TO SUSPEND “JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” We, the members of the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics, strongly condemn the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air. For decades, our organizations have represented a profession that is enabled by the First Amendment. Kimmel’s long-running talk show promotes free speech, including when it gives film artists the chance to discuss their work. There is only one word to describe the decision by powerful media corporations to silence an individual’s perspective due to fear of repercussions by the government: censorship. This is the antithesis of the values embodied by our work. We demand a reversal of this decision and encourage our colleagues across the industry to do the same.

We strongly condemn the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! off the air.

Hello! @sophiegilbert.bsky.social and I will be on Reddit later today to talk this weekend's Emmys, because as they say about TV, a little counterprogramming goes a long way. Who's "they"? Who knows, but that's a question you can ask us during our AMA! See you there at 3 pm EST!