Indiana Honors Everything In 2022


The Indiana Film Journalists Association have announced their picks for the best of 2022!  And here they are:

BEST FILM
After Yang (FINALIST)
Aftersun
All Quiet on the Western Front
Ambulance
The Banshees of Inisherin (FINALIST)
The Batman
Decision to Leave (FINALIST)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (FINALIST)
Halloween Ends
Happening
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (FINALIST)
The Northman
RRR (RUNNER UP)
TÁR (FINALIST)
Till
Top Gun: Maverick (FINALIST)
The Whale
Women Talking (FINALIST)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
All Quiet on the Western Front
Broker
Decision to Leave (RUNNER UP)
EO
Happening
Hit the Road
RRR (WINNER)
You Won’t Be Alone

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood
The Bad Guys
The House
Mad God
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (WINNER)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (RUNNER UP)
Turning Red
Wendell & Wild

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Aftershock
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Bad Axe (RUNNER UP)
Chop & Steele
Fire of Love
I Didn’t See You There (WINNER)
Navalny

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Alex Garland – Men
Todd Field – TÁR (WINNER)
John Patton Ford – Emily the Criminal
Jeong Seo-kyong and Park Chan-wook – Decision to Leave
Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch – On the Count of Three
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin (RUNNER UP)
Cooper Raiff – Cha Cha Real Smooth
Seth Reiss (screenplay) and Will Tracy (screenplay / story) – The Menu
Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner – The Fabelmans
Ti West – X

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Noah Baumbach – White Noise
Dean Fleischer Camp (screenplay / story), Jenny Slate (screenplay / story), Nick Paley (screenplay / story), and Elisabeth Holm (story) – Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Samuel D. Hunter – The Whale
Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
David Kajganich – Bones and All
Kogonada – After Yang (RUNNER UP)
Sarah Polley – Women Talking (WINNER)
Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp and Chinonye Chukwu – Till
Marcia Romano and Audrey Diwan – Happening
Sjón and Robert Eggers – The Northman

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky – The Whale
Michael Bay – Ambulance
Dean Fleischer Camp – Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Audrey Diwan – Happening
Robert Eggers – The Northman
Todd Field – TÁR (WINNER)
Alex Garland – Men
Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Kogonada – After Yang
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once (RUNNER UP)
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Park Chan-wook – Decision to Leave
Jordan Peele – Nope
Sarah Polley – Women Talking
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King
S.S. Rajamouli – RRR
Matt Reeves – The Batman
Steven Soderbergh – KIMI
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun
Ti West – X

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Cate Blanchett – TÁR (WINNER)
John Boyega – Breaking
Jessie Buckley – Men
Austin Butler – Elvis
Daniel Craig – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick
Viola Davis – The Woman King
Danielle Deadwyler – Till
Colin Farrell – After Yang
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Mia Goth – Pearl
Mia Goth – X
Jake Gyllenhaal – Ambulance
Rebecca Hall – Resurrection
Caleb Landry Jones – Nitram
Rory Kinnear – Men
Zoë Kravitz – KIMI
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Aubrey Plaza – Emily the Criminal
Florence Pugh – The Wonder
N.T. Rama Rao, Jr. – RRR
Adam Sandler – Hustle
Alexander Skarsgård – The Northman
Ram Charan Teja – RRR
Anamaria Vartolomei – Happening
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once (RUNNER UP)

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Christopher Abbott – On the Count of Three
Jessie Buckley – Women Talking
Hong Chau – The Whale
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
Frankie Corio – Aftersun
Essie Davis – Nitram
Judy Davis – Nitram
Colin Farrell – The Batman
Ralph Fiennes – The Menu
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin (RUNNER UP)
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Dakota Johnson – Cha Cha Real Smooth
Nicole Kidman – The Northman
Lashana Lynch – The Woman King
Thuso Mbedu – The Woman King
Janelle Monáe – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Justin H. Min – After Yang
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
Tim Roth – Resurrection
Sadie Sink – The Whale
David Howard Thornton – Terrifier 2
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans

BEST VOCAL / MOTION-CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Richard Ayoade – The Bad Guys
David Bradley – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Rosalie Chiang – Turning Red
James Hong – Wendell & Wild
Marc Maron – The Bad Guys
Isabella Rossellini – Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (RUNNER UP)
J.K. Simmons – Glorious
Jenny Slate – Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (WINNER)
Christoph Waltz – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
After Yang
Broker
The Duke
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Flux Gourmet
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (RUNNER UP)
Hit the Road
The Northman
Soft & Quiet
What We Do Next
The Woman King
Women Talking (WINNER)

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Michael Abels – Nope
Lorne Balfe – Ambulance
Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury – Men
Volker Bertelmann – All Quiet on the Western Front
Terence Blanchard – The Woman King
Carter Burwell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough – The Northman
Dan Deacon – Hustle
Disasterpeace – Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Danny Elfman – White Noise
Michael Giacchino – The Batman (WINNER)
Ludwig Göransson – Turning Red
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking
Jo Yeong-wook – Decision to Leave
Nathan Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
M.M. Keeravani – RRR (RUNNER UP)
Cliff Martinez – KIMI
Aska Matsumiya and Ryuichi Sakamoto – After Yang
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Bones and All
Rob Simonsen – The Whale
Son Lux – Everything Everywhere All At Once
John Williams – The Fabelmans

BEST EDITING
Doug Brandt, Pietro Scalia and Calvin Wimmer – Ambulance
Tom Costain, Brian Robinson and Keiko Deguchi – Hustle
Louise Ford – The Northman
Eddie Hamilton – Top Gun: Maverick
Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar – The Fabelmans
Kim Sang-bum – Decision to Leave (RUNNER UP)
Kogonada – After Yang
Blair McClendon – Aftersun
Joe Murphy – Barbarian
Akkineni Sreekar Prasad – RRR
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
Steven Soderbergh – KIMI
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond – Elvis
Monika Willi – TÁR

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jarin Blaschke – The Northman
Matias Boucard – Athena
Russell Carpenter – Avatar: The Way of Water
Roberto De Angelis – Ambulance
Michal Dymek – EO
Greig Fraser – The Batman
James Friend – All Quiet on the Western Front
Rob Hardy – Men
Florian Hoffmeister – TÁR
Janusz Kaminski – The Fabelmans
Arseni Khatchaturan – Bones and All
Kim Ji-yong – Decision to Leave
KK Senthil Kumar – RRR
Matthew Libatique – Don’t Worry Darling
Benjamin Loeb – After Yang
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick (RUNNER UP)
Larkin Seiple – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Laurent Tangy – Happening
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Nope (WINNER)
Mandy Walker – Elvis

BEST STUNT / MOVEMENT CHOREOGRAPHY
Robert Alonzo (supervising stunt coordinator) and Daniel Arrias (fight co-coordinator / trainer) – The Batman
Jón Viðar Arnþórsson (stunt coordinator) and C.C. Smiff (stunt coordinator) – The Northman
Vicky Arora (action design and weapons trainer / stunt coordinator) and Raicho Vasilev (fight choreographer / stunt coordinator), and Prem Rakshith (dance choreographer) – RRR (WINNER)
Timothy Eulich (stunt coordinator), Andy Le (fight choreographer) and Brian Le (fight choreographer) – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Mike Gunther (stunt coordinator) – Ambulance
Daniel Hernandez (stunt coordinator / fight coordinator), Grant Powell (stunt coordinator), and Jénel Stevens (fight choreographer) – The Woman King (RUNNER UP)
Kevin LaRosa, Jr. (aerial coordinator) and Casey O’Neill (stunt coordinator) – Top Gun: Maverick
Steven McMichael (stunt coordinator) – Prey
David Neumann (movement / dance choreographer) – White Noise
Celia Rowlson-Hall (dance choreographer) – After Yang

BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR
Hanna Bergholm (director) – Hatching
Jerrod Carmichael (director / performer) – On the Count of Three
Frankie Corio (performer) – Aftersun
Beth de Araújo (writer-director) – Soft & Quiet
Mariama Diallo (writer-director) – Master
Audrey Diwan (director / co-writer) – Happening
John Patton Ford (writer-director) – Emily the Criminal
Amber Midthunder (performer) – Prey
Nick Richey (writer-director) – 1-800-HOT-NITE
Jane Schoenbrun (writer-director) – We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (RUNNER UP)
Domee Shi (director / co-writer) – Turning Red
Charlotte Wells (writer-director) – Aftersun (WINNER)
Dallas Dupree Young (performer) – 1-800-HOT-NITE

ORIGINAL VISION
Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
Flux Gourmet
Glorious
The House
Mad God
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (RUNNER UP)
The Northman
Strawberry Mansion
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For 3 Musketeers and Rush Hour 3!


As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

 

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 2011’s 3 Musketeers!  Selected and hosted by RevMagdalen, this movie updates the classic tale to the modern age!  It’s an Asylum film so you know it has to be good!

 

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet.  We will be watching 2007’s Rush Hour 3!  This sequel can be found on Netflix!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto twitter, start 3 Musketeers at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then, at 10 pm et, start Rush Hour 3, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!  The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

Holiday Spirit: Santa And The Ice Cream Bunny (dir by Richard Winer)


The year is 1972 and Santa Claus’s magic sleigh is somehow stuck on a beach in Florida!  Can the children help Santa free his sleigh?  If not, he’s going to force them to listen to another fairy tale!  Fortunately, the Ice Cream Bunny is always willing to help …. eventually.

Patrick says this is the worst holiday movie ever made.  Watch it and see if you agree!

https://youtu.be/SPB8alPJQK0

Everything Wins In St. Louis


 

On the 18th, the St. Louis Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2022!  You can see the winners below!

BEST FILM
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
She Said
Women Talking (RUNNER UP)

BEST DIRECTOR
The Daniels (Kwan, Scheinert) – Everything Everywhere All At Once (RUNNER UP)
Baz Luhrmann – Elvis
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Sarah Polley – Women Talking (WINNER)
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – TÁR
Danielle Deadwyler – Till (RUNNER UP)
Mia Goth – Pearl
Emma Thompson – Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)

BEST ACTOR
Austin Butler – Elvis (RUNNER UP)
Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale (WINNER)
Daniel Craig – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Paul Mescal – Aftersun

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (RUNNER UP TIE)
Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin (WINNER)
Claire Foy – Women Talking
Janelle Monae – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (RUNNER UP TIE)
Carey Mulligan – She Said

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Andre Braugher – She Said
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin (RUNNER UP)
Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
Ben Whishaw – Women Talking

BEST ENSEMBLE
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (RUNNER UP)
Women Talking (WINNER)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
She Said (WINNER)
White Noise
Women Talking (RUNNER UP)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Banshees Of Inisherin (WINNER TIE)
Decision To Leave
Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER TIE)
The Fabelmans
The Menu (RUNNER UP)
TÁR

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Banshees Of Inisherin (WINNER)
The Batman (RUNNER UP)
Nope
Top Gun: Maverick
Women Talking

BEST EDITING
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Elvis (RUNNER UP)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (WINNER)
Top Gun: Maverick
TÁR

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Babylon
The Banshees Of Inisherin (RUNNER UP TIE)
The Batman (RUNNER UP TIE)
The Fabelmans (RUNNER UP TIE)
Women Talking (WINNER)

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis (WINNER)
Moonage Daydream (RUNNER UP)
Top Gun: Maverick
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Avatar: The Way Of Water
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis (WINNER)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (RUNNER UP)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (RUNNER UP)
Elvis (WINNER)
The Fabelmans
Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris
The Woman King

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: The Way Of The Water (WINNER)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (RUNNER UP)
Nope
RRR
Top Gun: Maverick

BEST ACTION FILM
Avatar: The Way Of The Water
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Top Gun: Maverick (WINNER)
RRR (RUNNER UP)
The Woman King

BESY COMEDY FILM
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Glass Onion (RUNNER UP)
Jackass Forever
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (WINNER)

BEST HORROR FILM
Men
Nope (WINNER)
Pearl
Scream
X (RUNNER UP)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (RUNNER UP)
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (WINNER)
Turning Red
Wendell And Wild

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
All Quiet On The Western Front
Close
Decision To Leave (WINNER)
Happening
RRR (RUNNER UP)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (WINNER)
Fire Of Love
Good Night Oppy (RUNNER UP TIE)
Moonage Daydream (RUNNER UP TIE)
Sr.

​BEST SCENE
Sam meets his idol – The Fabelmans (WINNER)
Lydia bullying Juilliard student – TÁR
Marcel/60 Minutes – Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
Gordy’s Home – Nope
Piggyback prison escape – RRR
Ice Man/Maverick visit – Top Gun: Maverick (RUNNER UP)

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 12/12/22 — 12/18/22


Happy Holidays!  I’m looking forward to spending this upcoming week with family, getting ready for Christmas.  I hope your week is a good one!

Films I Watched:

  1. Black Rain (1989)
  2. Charade (1963)
  3. The Elevator (1974)
  4. Escape From L.A. (1996)
  5. Fang (2022)
  6. Hitchhike! (1974)
  7. I Believe in Santa Claus (1984)
  8. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
  9. Jack Frost (1997)
  10. The Last Child (1971)
  11. Mask of the Ninja (2008)
  12. The Possessed (1977)
  13. Quarantined (1970)
  14. A Very Brady Christmas (1988)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. The Brady Bunch
  2. California Dreams
  3. Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies
  4. Don’t Pick Up The Phone
  5. Fantasy Island
  6. Full House
  7. Law & Order: SVU
  8. Leave It To Beaver
  9. The Love Boat
  10. Survivor

Books I Read:

  1. Heat 2 (2022) by Michael Man and Meg Gardiner

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Amy Grant
  2. Angelo Badalamenti 
  3. Bob Dylan
  4. Brianna and Alyssa Brown
  5. Britney Spears
  6. Carly Rae Jepsen
  7. The Chemical Brothers
  8. Coldplay
  9. Fatboy Slim
  10. Gwen Stefani
  11. Jake Bugg
  12. Julee Cruise
  13. Katy Perry
  14. The Killers
  15. Lindsey Stirling
  16. The Mistletoe Disco Band
  17. Moby
  18. Muse
  19. Nat & Alex Wolff
  20. Saint Motel
  21. Taylor Swift
  22. Thought Gang
  23. Tomoyasu Hotei 
  24. Yvonne Elliman

Trailers:

  1. Barbie

Live Tweets:

  1. Mask of the Ninja
  2. Black Rain
  3. Escape From L.A.
  4. Jack Frost

Awards Season:

  1. Golden Globe Nominations
  2. St. Louis Film Critics Association Nominations
  3. Las Vegas Film Critics Society
  4. Washington D.C. Film Critics Association 
  5. Southern Eastern Film Critics Association
  6. Indiana Film Journalists Association Nominations
  7. Phoenix Critics Circle Nominations
  8. Chicago Film Critics Association Nominations
  9. Women Film Critics Circle Nominations
  10. Critics Choice Awards Nominations
  11. Florida Film Critics Circle Nominations
  12. Black Reel Award Nominations
  13. Hollywood Critics Association Nominations
  14. AARP Movies For Grown-Ups Nominations
  15. Chicago Film Critics Association 
  16. Boston Online Film Critics
  17. Online Association Of Female Film Critics Nominations
  18. Phoenix Critics Circle
  19. North Texas Film Critics Association Nominations
  20. Philadelphia Film Critics Circle
  21. Utah Film Critics Association 

News From Last Week:

  1. Henry Cavill Is Out As Superman
  2. Composer Angelo Badalamenti Dies At 85
  3. Emmy-winning actor Stuart Margolin Dead at 82
  4. tWitch dead at 40
  5. Elon Musk Temporarily Suspended Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz for ‘Prior Doxxing Action’
  6. Twitter to stop users linking to big social media platforms

Links From Last Week:

  1. Yes, “Die Hard” Is The Perfect Christmas Movie! Here Is The Great “Die Hard” Trivia You Need This Holiday Season!
  2. The World’s Common Tater’s Week in Books, Movies, and TV 12/17/22

Links From The Site:

  1. Necromoonyeti shared his Top 35 Albums of 2022!
  2. Leonard shared the trailer for Barbie and reviewed Avatar: The Way of Water!
  3. Erin shared The General, Beauty Parade, Stocking Parade, Silk Stocking Covers, Imagination, Liberty, and All The Girls He Wanted!
  4. I reviewed Fang and A Very Brady Christmas!
  5. I reviewed Hang Time, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, City Guys, One World, and California Dreams!
  6. I shared a song of the day and my week in television!
  7. I shared music videos from The Killers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Fatboy Slim, Lindsey Stirling, Gwen Stefani, Thought Gang, and Britney Spears!

More From Us:

  1. For Reality TV Chat Blog, I reviewed the finale of Survivor!
  2. At my music site, I shared songs from Brianna and Alyssa Brown, Amy Grant, Saturday Night Live, and from the Mistletoe Disco Band!
  3. At her photography site, Erin shared: Nativity, Celebrating, Ghosts, Dragon, Santas, The New Santa, and Listening!

Want to see what I did last week?  Click here!

Retro Television Reviews: A Very Brady Christmas (dir by Peter Baldwin)


Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1988’s A Very Brady Christmas!

In A Very Brady Christmas, America’s creepiest family reunites for the holidays.

Mike and Carol Brady (played by Robert Reed and Florence Henderson, of course) have finally got their house to themselves!  The children have all moved out.  A few have even gotten married and started families of their own.  Mike is still an architect, though he now has a mustache that, along with his gray hair, makes him look more like a retired porn actor.

With Christmas approaching, Mike and Carol have each been secretly saving up their money to give the other a trip.  Carol knows that Mike loves Greece.  Mike suspects that Carol would love to go to Japan.  In the end, though, they realize that they would much rather have the entire family come together for Christmas!  They buy tickets for everyone.  Of course, what they don’t know is that each of the Brady kids has an issue of their own.

For instance, consider the youngest of the Brady kids.  Cindy isn’t even herself anymore, mostly because Susan Olsen declined to return for the reunion and Jennifer Runyon was cast in her place.  Cindy is away at college and she’s upset that she has to cancel her plans to go skiing just so she can spend the holidays with her family.  Meanwhile, Bobby (Mike Lookinland) has dropped out of college so that he can race cars on the NASCAR circuit but he hasn’t told his parents yet!  Of course, if Bobby never tells them, he can just keep pocketing that sweet, sweet tuition money.

Meanwhile, Peter Brady (Christopher Knight) is upset because his girlfriend is his boss and she makes considerably more money than he does.  Jan (Eve Plumb) is secretly separated from her husband but, because it’s the holidays, they agree to pretend to still be together so that Mike and Carol don’t get upset.  Greg (Barry Williams) has grown up to be a smarmy doctor but he is upset that his wife will not be joining him for Christmas with his parents.  And Marcia (Maureen McCormick) is trying to keep everyone from discovering that her loser husband has lost his job.

And let’s not forget Alice (Anne B. Davis)!  Alice finally married Sam The Butcher but their marriage is on the rocks….

Could the Bradys be more cursed?

Luckily, Mike and Carol are pretty good at uncovering problems and fixing things.  (Except, of course, for that time that Mike never figured out that Marcia was acting strange because she wanted to surprise him with his father of the year prize….)  Unfortunately, Mike is a bit distracted because his latest building was constructed with cheap material.  When an earthquake causes the building collapse, Mike takes it upon himself to rescue two trapped workers.  (Most of this takes place off-screen, of course.)  When an aftershock hits, it seems like Mike might never emerge from the tomb that he helped to design.

Much like the show that inspired it, A Very Brady Christmas is painfully earnest and …. well, it’s a little dumb.  Of course, the main appeal of The Brady Bunch was always the unapologetic mix of earnestness and stupidity but it’s a bit different when all the Brady kids are grown up and they’re still acting just as dumb as they did when they were younger.  Robert Reed looks annoyed.  Florence Henderson is trouper and gives it her all.  With the notable exception of Maureen McCormick, none of the kids grew up to be particularly good actors.  (In all fairness, Barry Williams is likable when he makes fun of himself but, in this film, he’s somewhat stiff as the most successful of the Brady kids.)  That said, the family singing a Christmas carol while waiting to discover whether or not Mike is dead is one of those moments that is somehow both silly and effective at the same time.  It’s pure Brady Bunch.  To quote Tony Montana, it’s the yayo of nostalgia.

A Very Brady Christmas aired in 1988 and was enough of a rating success that it actually led to the Brady Bunch being (briefly) revived.  Today, it’s impossible to watch the movie without imagining Gary Cole and Shelley Long as Mike and Carol Brady.  Even the collapse of the building is no longer an effective dramatic moment due to it being referenced in The Brady Bunch Movie.  When Mike does emerge from that collapsed building, you half expect him to say, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

In the end, the Bradys have a merry Christmas.  I hope you have one too!

Top Gun: Maverick Wins Best Cinematography In Utah!!!!


Yesterday, the Utah Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2022!

And here they are:

Best Picture
Winner: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner Up: Top Gun: Maverick

Best Director
Winner: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner Up: SS Rajamouli – RRR

Best Actor
Winner: Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Runner Up: Austin Butler – Elvis

Best Actress
Winner: Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner Up: Danielle Deadwyler – Till

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner Up: Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner Up: Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Ensemble
Winner: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runners Up: The Banshees Of Inisherin, Glass Onion & Women Talking (TIE)

Best Original Screenplay
Winners: The Banshees Of Inisherin & Everything Everywhere All At Once (TIE)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winners: Marcel The Shell With Shoes On & Women Talking (TIE)

Best Cinematography
Winner: Top Gun: Maverick
Runner Up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Film Editing
Winner: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runners Up: Top Gun: Maverick

Best Visual Effects
Winner: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner Up: Avatar: The Way Of Water

Best Original Score
Winner: The Banshees Of Inisherin
Runner Up: The Batman

Best Documentary Feature
Winner: Wildcat
Runner Up: Good Night Oppy

Best Animated Feature
Winner: Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
Runner Up: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Non-English Language Feature
Winner: RRR
Runner Up: Bardo & Close

Vice/Martin Award for Performance in a Fantasy, Horror or Science-Fiction Film
Winner: Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner Up: Mia Goth – Pearl

Philadelphia Loves Everything Everywhere All At Once!


Yesterday, the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle announced their picks for the best of 2022 and they really loved Everything Everywhere All At Once!

Check out the winners:

Best Film
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-Up: TAR

Best Director
Daniel Kahn & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-Up: Todd Field – TAR

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett – TAR
Runner-Up: Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once

​Best Actor
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Runner-Up: Bill Nighy – Living

Best Supporting Actress
Janelle Monae – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
​Runner-Up: Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once

​Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-Up: Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Animated Film
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Runner-Up: Turning Red

​Best Foreign Film
RRR
Runner-Up: Holy Spider

Best Documentary
Good Night Oppy
Runner-Up: Fire Of Love

Best Cinematography
RRR
Runner-Up: Top Gun: Maverick

Best Breakthrough Performance
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-Up: Austin Butler – Elvis

Best Directorial Debut
John Patton Ford – Emily The Criminal
Runner-Up: Goran Stolevski – You Won’t Be Alone

Best Screenplay
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runners-Up: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Score/Soundtrack
RRR
Runner-Up: TAR

Best Ensemble
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Runner-Up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Cheesesteak Award – for a film meant to recognize a blockbuster that’s hard to ignore
Top Gun: Maverick
Runner-Up: RRR

Elaine May Award – for a deserving person or film that brings awareness to a story from womens’ perspective
Women Talking