GOOD BLOG #1: 2023 UNWRAPPED

DEC 15, 23
zhangbikang.com GOOD FILMS AWARDS
GOOD FILM OF THE YEAR
Thirty films made the Good Films list this year. Titanic, the 1997 classic, directed by James Cameron and headlined by power duo, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, topped the list. Other films that made the list this year include:

02. The Dark Knight, 2008
3T. The Lord of the Rings, 2003, 2002, 2001
06. Parasite, 2019, SOUTH KOREA
07. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
08. Call Me by Your Name, 2017
09. The Reader, 2008
10. Brokeback Mountain, 2005
11. The Devil Wears Prada, 2006
12. Lady Bird, 2017
13. The Departed, 2006
14. Im Westen Nichts Neues, 2022, GERMANY
15. Mulan, 1998
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, 2001, UNITED KINGDOM
17. Philomena, 2013, UNITED KINGDOM
18. É Stata La Mano di Dio, 2021, ITALY
19. The Grandmaster, 2013, HONG KONG
20. The Hurt Locker, 2008
21. Up in the Air, 2009
22. The Bourne Identity, 2002
23. Abre Los Ojos, 1997, SPAIN
24. The Big Short, 2015
25. Berlin Syndrome, 2017, AUSTRALIA
26. Legally Blonde, 2001
27. Mean Girls, 2004
28. Dunkirk, 2017
29. Contagion, 2011
30. Drive My Car, 2021, JAPAN
GOOD INTERNATIONAL FILM OF THE YEAR
Out of the 30 films that made the list this year, there were 9 international films. And the highest ranked international film is Parasite. Parasite was, without debate, the biggest film of 2019. It shook the world upon its release. Everyone was talking about it. I saw the film twice in theater when it came out. Other international films that made the list this year include:

​14. Im Westen Nichts Neues, 2022, GERMANY
​16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, 2001, UNITED KINGDOM
17. Philomena, 2013, UNITED KINGDOM
18. É Stata La Mano di Dio, 2021, ITALY
19. The Grandmaster, 2013, HONG KONG
​23. Abre Los Ojos, 1997, SPAIN
​25. Berlin Syndrome, 2017, AUSTRALIA
​30. Drive My Car, 2021, JAPAN
GOOD ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR
Only one animated film made the list this year. Mulan! I love Mulan. I'm probably biased, because I'm Chinese. Mulan is one of my favorite Chinese folklores. Just a great story all around. And Disney did an great job with the music and the art direction.
GOOD DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
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C: TM & DC Comics, 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Out of the 30 Good Films, I was most impressed with the direction of the following four films. And out of the following four films, Christopher Nolan's work on The Dark Knight edged above the rest. In the end, it came down to Christopher Nolan's signature non-linear story telling versus Paolo Sorrentino's perfectionism. It was a tough decision. Ultimately, I decided to give the honor to Christopher Nolan for his consistency across his body of work and that The Dark Knight is overall a more enjoyable film than É Stata la Mano di Dio.

Winner and nominees for Good Director of the Year.

Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Paolo Sorrentino, É Stata la Mano di Dio
Edward Berger, Im Westen Nichts Neues
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
GOOD ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Heath Ledger is most well known for his performance in The Dark Knight. While his portrayal of the Joker is noteworthy, in my opinion, Ennis Del Mar, the gay cowboy in the trailblazing gay film, Brokeback Mountain, is his career best performance. Heath Ledger, a straight man, perfectly acted the part of a closeted gay man. He was captivating. 

Winner and nominees for Good Actor of the Year.

Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Felix Kammerer, Im Westen Nichts Neues
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
David Kross, The Reader
GOOD ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Saoirse Ronan is one of the best actresses in the game. She and Jennifer Lawrence are the only two actresses with 4 Oscar nominations by the age of 25. Saoirse hard carried Lady Bird. I missed her when she's not on the screen. That's a lead actress with a commanding presence. So powerful that the audience goes into withdrawl when she's not present. Saoirse is that good.

​Winner and nominees for Good Actress of the Year.

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
GOOD SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Between Park Myung-hoon's performance in Parasite and Morgan Freeman's performance in The Shawshank Redemption, Park Myung-hoon's performance was more memorable.

Winner and nominees for Good Supporting Actor of the Year.

Park Myung-hoon, Parasite
Morgan Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption
GOOD SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Michelle Williams was so good in the Brokeback Mountain. Easily her career best work. There were so many well acted scenes throughout the movie. One of the most memorable scenes was when Ennis came over to Michelle's house for dinner. This was after Michelle had remarried. In the kitchen, Michelle exposed Ennis' fishing trip disguise. A terrified Ennis threatened Michelle. She cried and screamed. That was a powerful and terribly sad scene.

Winner and nominees for Good Supporting Actress of the Year.

Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lee Jung-eun, Parasite
Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
GOOD SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR
In a script, I look for parallelism, uniqueness and just simply good writing. Like F. Scott Fitzgerald good writing. Like the kind of good writing English teacher would give an A grade. I like listening to smart people talk.

I wouldn't say Parasite checks the good writing box. But its concept is, there is none like it. So brilliant. It's packed with literary devices, easter eggs, for the viewers, the film and the literature nerds to dissect and savor.

​Winner and nominees for Good Screenplay of the Year.

Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin Won, Parasite
Tina Fey, Mean Girls
Christopher Nolan and Joanthan Nolan, The Dark Knight
Aline Brosh McKenna, The Devil Wears Prada
GOOD ORIGINAL CONCEPT OF THE YEAR
Give credit where credit is due. Sure, The Departed is great. But where would The Departed be without Infernal Affairs. It wouldn't exist. It's the brilliance of the writers for Infernal Affairs that birthed The Departed. The Departed owes its glory to the writers for Infernal Affairs.

Nevertheless, this year's Good Original Concept of the Year award goes to The Lord of the Rings. While the writers for Infernal Affairs are amazing, they are up against the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien for the honor. Tough competition. Like who can really compete with The Lord of the Rings, one of the greatest stories ever written.

​Winner and nominees for Good Original Concept of the Year.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won, Parasite
Alan Mak and Felix Chong, The Departed
Walter Kim, Up in the Air
zhangbikang.com GOOD FILMS SUPERLATIVES
DIRECTOR WITH MOST FILMS
​ON THE LIST
I consider The Lord of the Rings trilogy as one movie.

Christopher Nolan directed two films that made the list, including The Dark Knight at No. 2 and Dunkirk at No. 28.
ACTOR IN MOST FILMS
​ON THE LIST
Matt Damon appeared in three films that made the list, including The Departed at No. 13, The Bourne Identity at No. 22 and Contagion at No. 29. Matt played lead role in all three films.
ACTRESS IN MOST FILMS
​ON THE LIST
Kate Winslet also appeared in three films that made the list, including Titanic at No. 1, The Reader at No. 9 and Contagion at No. 29. Kate played lead role in both Titanic and The Reader and supporting role in Contagion.
zhangbikang.com GOOD LOOK AWARDS
TOP MALE MODEL OF THE YEAR
Frontal, Mode and Moda are curation boards showcasing best fashion photographs of all time. Matthew Terry, with 10 photos and 2 magazine covers included in the highly selective collection, is the Top Male Model of the Year. The top three male models are:

1. Matthew Terry (12)
2. Simon Nessman (10)
3. Sean O'Pry (5)
TOP FEMALE MODEL OF THE YEAR
Gisele Bündchen, with 4 photos and 2 magazine covers included in the highly selective collection, is the Top Female Model of the Year. The top three female models are:

1. Gisele Bündchen (6)
2. Abby Champion (5)
3. Natalia Vodianova (4)
DIAMOND EYE AWARD
The Diamond Eye Award is given to the photographer with the most photos included in the highly selective collection. This year, the honor goes to Steven Meisel. A whopping 15 of Steven's photos were selected. The top three photographers are:

1. Steven Meisel (15)
2. Mert & Marcus (9)
3. ChuanDo & Frey (8)
GOD VISION AWARD
The God Vision Award is given to the brand or the magazine with most photos included in the highly selective collection. The photographer is like the director of a film. The brand or the magazine that pays the photographer and ultimately decides which photo gets published is like the producer of a film. This year, the honor goes to America's Next Top Model (ANTM). While ANTM is a problematic show, the show produced some of the greatest fashion photographs of all time. The top three brands/ magazines are:

1. America's Next Top Model (18)
2. Vogue Italia (15)
3. Giorgio Armani (9)
BEST DRESSED MALE OF THE YEAR
Ken is a curation board showcasing best male fashion. Manu Ríos, with 2 posts of the same outfit included in the highly selective collection, is the Best Dressed Male of the Year. This outfit Manu wore to the 2023 Cannes Film Festival is perfection from head to toe. The top three best dressed males are:

1. Manu Ríos (2)
BEST DRESSED FEMALE OF THE YEAR
Eve is a curation board showcasing best female fashion. Beyoncé, with 2 posts of the same outfit included in the highly selective collection, is the Best Dressed Female of the year. My favorite parts of this outfit are those statement making earrings. The top three best dressed females are:

1. Beyoncé (2)
​2. Zendaya (1)
goooodlooooks GOOD LOOK AWARDS
goooodlooooks TOP MALE MODEL OF THE YEAR
goooodlooooks, the Instagram page, is the Instagram counterpart of Frontal, Mode and Moda. goooodlooooks showcases the same photos as Frontal, Mode and Moda. Only difference, most photos on goooodlooooks are slightly edited from the originals. Matthew Terry, with 3 photos included on goooodlooooks, is the goooodlooooks Top Male Model of the Year. The top three male models are:

1. Matthew Perry (3.5)
2. Arthur Gosse (2)
3. Sean O'Pry (1.5)
goooodlooooks TOP FEMALE MODEL OF THE YEAR
King Matthew Terry reigns both zhangbikang.com and goooodlooooks. Queen Gisele Bündchen​ does the same. Gisele, with 3 photos included on goooodlooooks, is the goooodlooooks Top Female Model of the Year. The top three female models are:

1. Gisele Bündchen (3)
2. Nicole Fox (2.5)
3. Natalia Vodianova (2)