2016 Film-Otaku Awards: Horror Edition

Here are my choices for this year's best in horror:

BEST HORROR FILM
The Witch

The Love Witch
Train to Busan
The Conjuring 2
Under the Shadow
Don't Breathe
The Wailing
10 Cloverfield Lane
Evolution
Seklusyon

BEST HORROR FILM DIRECTOR
David Eggers (The Witch)
Anna Biller (The Love Witch)
Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan)
Fede Álvarez (Don't Breathe)
Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow)

BEST HORROR FILM ACTRESS
Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring 2)

Blake Lively (The Shallows)
Anna Taylor-Joy (The Witch)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Rhed Bustamante (Seklusyon)

BEST HORROR FILM ACTOR
Do-won Kwak (The Wailing)

John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Ralph Ineson (The Witch)
Stephen Lang (Don't Breathe)
Yoo Gong (Train to Busan)

BEST HORROR FILM SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kate Dickie (The Witch)

Maria Bello (Lights Out)
Laura Waddell (The Love Witch)
Roxan Duran (Evolution)
Jung Yu-mi (Train to Busan)

BEST HORROR FILM SUPPORTING ACTOR
Harvey Scrimshaw (The Witch)

Jun Kunimura (The Wailing)
Ma Dong-seok (Train to Busan)
Jung-min Hwang (The Wailing)
Neil Ryan Sese (Seklusyon)

BEST HORROR FILM SCREENPLAY
Robert Eggers (The Witch)
Anna Biller (The Love Witch)
Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow)
Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, Damien Chazelle (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Anton C. Santamaria (Seklusyon)

BEST HORROR FILM CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jarin Blaschke (The Witch)

Flavio Martínez Labiano (The Shallows)
M. David Mullen (The Love Witch)
Manuel Dacosse (Evolution)
Neil Bion (Seklusyon)

BEST HORROR FILM SCORE
Anna Biller (The Love Witch)

Mark Korven (The Witch)
Francis de Veyra (Seklusyon)
Marco Beltrami (The Shallows)
Roque Baños (Don't Breathe)

BEST HORROR FILM ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Love Witch

The Witch
Don't Breathe
Under the Shadow
The Conjuring 2

BEST SCARED AS SHIT PERFORMANCE
Jane Levy (Don't Breathe)

Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring 2)
Madison Wolfe (The Conjuring 2)
Kate Siegel (Hush)
Corbin Reid (Blair Witch)

BEST "MONSTER"
Black Phillip (The Witch)

Djinns (Under the Shadow)
The Blind Man (Don't Breathe)
Zombies (Train to Busan)
The creature (Blair Witch)

BEST SCENE/SEQUENCE
Timing the crossing of the train cars (Train to Busan)

Opening scene, body being dragged across the street (Don't Breathe)
Mating ritual on the beach (Evolution)
Elaine's dance of darkness and rainbow (The Love Witch)
Nightmare: Djinn through the crack in the ceiling (Under the Shadow)

Call Me By Your Name

The film Call Me By Your Name was hailed by critics and audiences in the recent Sundance Film Festival and got a similarly enthusiastic response as it closed the Berlin Film Festival just two days ago. Next year's Oscar favorite? Maybe, if the homosexual nature of the story (it's an intense romance between two men, played by Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer) doesn't put off the voters the way it did with Brokeback Mountain and, more recently, Carol. But acting nominations are probably in the bag for Chalamet, Hammer, and maybe even Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays the father of Chalamet's character Elio.

Had to read the book as soon as I learned of the raves coming from Sundance. It is exceptionally beautifully written. The prose of writer André Aciman is staggering. Seems a perfect fit for the aesthetics of Italian director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, A Bigger Splash, and the upcoming Suspiria remake). I just can't help but wonder how he'll pull of some scenes, especially a certain one involving a peach...