George Saakadze 

Holiday hijinks ensue when a recently separated couple are both accidently invited to same holiday celebration.

As a huge fan of Sean Baker’s Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket, I’ve wanted to watch Anora since before it even was released. But life got in the way, my watchlist grew, and honestly, the fact that it was marketed as a romantic comedy put me off. Even with all the critical praise and the five Academy Awards it won last year, I just kept postponing it indefinitely.

Renee Zellweger shines in this Judy Garland biopic, which highlights the pain and loneliness that so many famous women endure.

It’s passionately protective of the women mentioned in the story or appearing on screen. Just like the article and the #MeToo movement, the film could help a trapped person find the courage to fight back.

This list was made with the intention of celebrating the craft. I love seeing more women of colour on this list than before and more newcomers on the scene as well!

“And I think to myself….what a wonderful world”. Louis Armstrong sang about this notion via his classic 1967 song, an ode to witnessing elements of our life that should be but some reminders of exactly what that concluding line of each verse indicates. Now we see our contemporary realities and, just being honest, it makes a sentiment like this seem SO overtly far away….perhaps even impossible….to accept or believe could be. It sounds harsh, but again, so much of what is occurring speaks not to beauty, but bedlam.