Last year, the Boston Society of Film Critics named Drive My Car the best film of 2021.
This year, they honored another international film by giving the award to Return to Seoul, a French-German-Belgian coproduction. The film is also known as All The People I’ll Never Be and is being distributed in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classic.
Here are all the winners from Boston:
Best Picture Return To Seoul
Best Engligh-Language Film The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best Director Todd Field – TÁR
Best Ensemble Jackass Forever & Women Talking (TIE)
Best Actor Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best Actress Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Best Supporting Actress Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Best Adapted Screenplay After Yang
Best Original Screenplay The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best New Filmmaker Charlotte Wells – Aftersun
Best Documentary All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Best Animated Feature Turning Red
Best Cinematography Pearl (With a special mention for X)
Best Editing Aftersun & Decision To Leave (TIE)
Best Score RRR
Boston isn’t the most influential of the precursor groups, which is a shame because their awards are always so wonderfully interesting. Who would have guessed the Jackass crew would figure into the discussion? In other words …. LOVE YOU, BOSTON!
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has announced their picks for the best of 2022! Best Picture ended up being a tie between Everything Everywhere All At Once and TAR.
Here all the winners from L.A.:
Best Film Winners: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE & TÁR (TIE)
Best Foreign Film Winner: EO Runner-Up: SAINT OMER
Best Director Winner: Todd Field – TÁR Runner-Up: S.S. Rajamouli – RRR
Best Documentary Film Winner: ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED Runner-Up: FIRE OF LOVE
Best Leading Performance Winners: Cate Blanchett – TÁR & Bill Nighy – LIVING Runners-Up: Danielle Deadwyler – TILL & Michelle Yeoh – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Best Screenplay Winner: Todd Field – TÁR Runner-Up: Martin McDonagh – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Best Animated Film Winner: GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO Runner-Up: MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
Best Production Design Winner: Dylan Cole & Ben Procter – AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Runner-Up: Jason Kisvarday – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Best Music/Score Winner: M.M. Keeravani – RRR Runner-Up: Paweł Mykietyn – EO
Best Supporting Performer Winners: Dolly de Leon – TRIANGLE OF SADNESS & Ke Huy Quan – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Runners-Up: Jessie Buckley – WOMEN TALKING & Brian Tyree Henry – CAUSEWAY
Best Cinematography Winner: Michał Dymek – EO Runner-Up: Hoyte van Hoytema – NOPE
Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Prize DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA
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 1974’s Born Innocent! It can be viewed on Tubi!
Fresh off of her Oscar-nominated role in 1973’s The Exorcist, 15 year-old Linda Blair starred as Christine “Chris” Parker in Born Innocent.
Chris is a 14 year-old who has frequently been caught running away from home. When you consider her home life, it’s easy to understand why she keeps running away. Her father (Richard Jaeckel) is quick to lose his temper and obviously has no clue how to relate to a teenage daughter. When he gets angry at Chris, he beats her. Chris’s mother (Kim Hunter) spends all of her time smoking cigarettes, watching TV, and refusing to acknowledge what Chris is going through. Chris’s older brother (Mitch Vogel) has escaped from their abusive home but he’s now got a family of his own and there’s no room for Chris. With no other options available to her, Chris resorts to frequently running away from home. In the eyes of the system, this makes her both a delinquent and a repeat offender. However, as quickly becomes apparent, Chris is very naïve and hardly a criminal. Instead, she’s just someone trying to escape a terrible situation.
After getting caught once again, Chris is sent to a juvenile detention center. Unfortunately, because of overcrowding, Chris is sent to one of the toughest centers, one where she is surrounded by people who have done a lot more than just run away from home. Everyone knows that Chris doesn’t belong at the center but there’s no where else to send her. With the exception of one teacher (played by Joanna Miles), the staff is too overwhelmed to look after Chris. Meanwhile, the other inmates see Chris as being an easy victim and they start to bully her. Eventually, Chris loses her innocence and becomes just as ruthless and angry as her former victimizers.
Born Innocent is often described as being an exploitation film and, indeed, one can just look at the artwork at the top of this review and see how the film was advertised when it was eventually released on video. That said, the film itself may be undeniably melodramatic but there’s also a sincerity and a sensitivity to it that sets it apart from other women in prison films. Born Innocent is all about how the System creates criminals. From the start of the film, it’s obvious that being locked up is the last thing that Chris needs. Instead, Chris just needs someone to be willing to listen to her but the System would rather just toss her in juvenile hall and then forget about her. Only Chris’s teacher cares about her but, by the time they actually meet, it’s already too late for Chris. She’s already been tossed into a situation where the only thing that matters is survival. Born Innocent is controversial for a scene in which Chris is attacked by several other inmates and sexually assaulted with with a plunger. It’s a shocking scene and I can only imagine have television audiences in 1974 reacted to it. In this scene and the scenes that immediately follow, Linda Blair gives a harrowing performance that captures the emotional trauma of what Chris has been put through. It’s not easy to watch and that’s the point.
Unfortunately, Blair is a bit less convincing during the second half of the film, in which Chris becomes progressively more and more cold-hearted. The idea is that Chris, in order to protect herself, becomes just as intimidating as the girls who attacked her. Unfortunately, the vulnerability that made Linda Blair ideal for The Exorcist and the first half of this film also make it difficult to take her seriously as cold-hearted sociopath. During the second half of the film, Blair tries so hard to come across as being tough that she never convinces us. Later, in films like Savage Streets, Blair would become one of the toughest badasses around but, in this film, she still come across as being essentially born innocent.
I watched a little television this week but not a lot of it. It’s the holidays and I’ve been busy decorating and gift buying. Plus, I had to go the freaking DMV on Thursday to get my license renewed and that took almost all day. Anyway, here’s a few thoughts on what I did watch:
Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)
Abbott Elementary was cute this week. It was kind of nice to see everyone’s life outside of the school. I guess Ava’s boyfriend was a famous basketball player or somebody? I will admit that I did laugh when he got out of that limo, looked down at Janine, and said, “She’s even shorter than you said.” That said, I’m a little worried that Janine is going to settle for Maurice and fall into the same trap that she found herself in with Tariq.
The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)
Yay! I was so excited when Derek and Claire crossed that finish line. I always felt that neither one of them was really treated fairly on Big Brother so it was nice to see them get rewarded. Plus, they’re just an adorable couple. I wrote about the finale of The Amazing Race over at Reality TV Chat Blog.
California Dreams (YouTube)
Surf dudes with attitude …. next week, I’m starting Season 3 and I’m looking forward to it. Season 3 through 5 are the classic California Dreams era. Basically, California Dreams can be split into two separate parts: the pre-Lorena era and the Lorena era. Lorena is the character to whom I’ve always related.
Usually, Chef Ramsey seems to secretly like all of the chefs, even the ones that he sends home. But last night, I got the feeling that his dislike for Vlad was very, very real. I feel a bit bad for Vlad but, at the same time, using a cake thermometer to cook meat is not something that a head chef should ever do. That’s like something I would do and there’s no way I’d last more than one dinner service on Hell’s Kitchen.
Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)
Once again, Nolan complained that he wasn’t sure if he could “morally” prosecute a case. Fortunately, this week, McCoy kind of told him to stop bitching and just do his job. Good for McCoy! I mean, I have yet to see any evidence of Price’s high morals causing him to refuse his paycheck.
Wow! I was stunned when Cody was voted out. Jesse will betray anyone but I also think he’s probably now in a very strong position to win the game next week. I wrote about Survivor at Reality TV Chat Blog.
Like I said, I didn’t watch much this week. I’ve been busy getting ready for the holidays and for a special person’s birthday. I hope everyone’s having a wonderful month! Can you believe 2022 is almost over?
The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association (try to say that ten times fast) have announced their nominees for the best of 2022! The winners will be announced on the 12th.
For now, here are the nominees!
Best Film The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans TÁR Top Gun: Maverick
Best Director Todd Field (TÁR) Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) Sarah Polley (Women Talking) Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Best Actor Austin Butler (Elvis) Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) Brendan Fraser (The Whale) Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Best Actress Cate Blanchett (TÁR) Viola Davis (The Woman King) Danielle Deadwyler (Till) Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans) Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Best Supporting Actor Paul Dano (The Fabelmans) Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Ben Whishaw (Women Talking)
Best Supporting Actress Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Janelle Monáe (Glass Onion)
Best Acting Ensemble The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans Glass Onion Women Talking
Best Youth Performance Frankie Corio (Aftersun) Jalyn Hall (Till) Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) Banks Repeta (Armageddon Time) Sadie Sink (The Whale)
Best Voice Performance Rosalie Chiang (Turning Red) Gregory Mann (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) Ewan McGregor (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) Sandra Oh (Turning Red) Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On)
Best Motion Capture Performance Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water) Sigourney Weaver (Avatar: The Way of Water) Zoe Saldaña (Avatar: The Way of Water)
Best Original Screenplay Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner (The Fabelmans) Jordan Peele (Nope) Todd Field (TÁR)
Best Adapted Screenplay Rian Johnson (Glass Onion) Patrick McHale, Guillermo del Toro (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) Rebecca Lenkiewicz [Based on the New York Times Investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett; and the book “She Said” by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey] (She Said) Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale) Sarah Polley [Based upon the book by Miriam Toews] (Women Talking)
Best Animated Feature Apollo 10½ Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Turning Red Wendell & Wild
Best Documentary All That Breathes All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Descendant Fire of Love Good Night Oppy
Best International/Foreign Language Film All Quiet on the Western Front Close Decision to Leave EO RRR
Best Production Design Hannah Beachler, Production Designer; Lisa Sessions Morgan, Set Decorator (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Production Designers; Bev Dunn, Set Decorator (Elvis) Jason Kisvarday, Production Designer; Kelsi Ephraim, Set Decorator (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Rick Carter, Production Designer; Karen O’Hara, Set Decorator (The Fabelmans) Rick Heinrichs, Production Designer; Elli Griff, Set Decorator (Glass Onion)
Best Cinematography Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (Empire of Light) Larkin Seiple (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Janusz Kaminski (The Fabelmans) Hoyte van Hoytema ASC, FSF, NSC (Nope) Claudio Miranda, ASC (Top Gun: Maverick)
Best Editing Matt Villa, ASE ACE; Jonathan Redmond (Elvis) Paul Rogers (Everything Everywhere All At Once) Michael Kahn, ACE; Sarah Broshar (The Fabelmans) Monika Willi (TÁR) Eddie Hamilton, ACE (Top Gun: Maverick)
Best Original Score Michael Giacchino (The Batman) John Williams (The Fabelmans) Alexandre Desplat (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) Hildur Guðnadóttir (TÁR) Hildur Guðnadóttir (Women Talking)
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing California Dreams, which ran on NBC from 1992 to 1996. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
The second season continue as California’s favorite garage band continues to pursue stardom.
Episode 2.16 “Rebel Without A Clue”
(dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on January 15th, 1994)
When he discovers that he’s running the risk of being sent to summer school, Sly finally gets serious about American History and studies for the big test. He gets an A but, since he’s never gotten an A before, his teacher accuses him to cheating. The school disciplinary board also accuses him of cheating, despite the efforts of Jake to defend him. Sly is suspended and told that he’ll have to make up the class in summer school. Jake commends Sly for being a rebel and for refusing to ask for a second chance but Sly really doesn’t want to go to summer school. So, he dresses up like Ben Franklin and, at the school dance, he demands that the history teacher give him an impromptu test.
The teacher agrees with the condition that, if Sly misses just one question, he’ll be expelled.
WHAT!? Seriously, what type of school is this? You’re punished for getting an A? You’re expelled for missing one question? Is any of this legal? Couldn’t Sly and his parents take the school to court? I mean, this is just weird but it doesn’t matter because Sly gets all the questions correct. He not only gets his A but he also wins Jake’s respect somehow.
Meanwhile, both Tiffani and Sam want to sing the Dreams’s newest song. Jake votes for Sam (and votes against his girlfriend, though who knows if they’re still dating at this point as it’s been a few episodes since they last showed each other any hint of affection). Matt votes for Tiffani. It’s up to Tony to break the tie! Tony votes for …. both of them. The song becomes a duet. That seems like such an obvious solution that it’s kind of amazing that no one thought of it beforehand.
This was a weird episode but Jake and Sly made a good team. Michael Cade (who played Sly) was a good enough actor that he could even make you feel sorry for a character whose catch phrase was “Ba-boom!” That’s no small accomplishment.
Episode 2.17 “Dirty Dog Days”
(dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on January 29th, 1994)
This episode opens with Tony and Matt playing basketball in the garage and immediately, I noticed that Tony looked considerably younger and Matt looked a bit shorter than he did in the previous episode. Plus, his hair was quite a bit darker. After Tony tried to pull off a trick shot, Jake came roaring up on his motorcycle. The audience want crazy but I couldn’t help but notice that Jake seems like the old surly Jake from the start of the season as opposed to the more light-hearted version who appeared in the previous episode.
“Where are the girls?” Jake asks, “I want to jam.”
“Tiffani’s waxing her board,” Matt says, “and Jenny’s waxing her legs.”
Jenny? Jenny’s not on the show anymore, Matt! She left a long time ago!
As you probably already guessed, this episode was shown out of order. It was originally meant to be the second episode of the season but NBC decided to air it as the second-to-last. As a result, Jenny is suddenly back and Sam is nowhere to be seen. Jake is not dating Tiffani but he is crushing on Jenny.
As for the episode, Sly’s cousin is dying so Sly steals his radio equipment. Jake goes on the air, pretending to be a DJ named Midnight Mike. For some reason, he introduces the Dreams as being the Dirty Dogs, a British band who is visiting California. (This gives Matt a chance to speak with the worst fake British accent that I’ve ever heard.) It turns out that the radio still works and soon, everyone is talking about the Dirty Dogs. Sly decides that they should use the radio to play the Dreams, under the name of the Dirty Dogs. Everyone loves the music but it doesn’t really do the Dreams any good because no one believes that the Dirty Dogs are actually the Dreams. Got all that?
Somehow, Kelly and Jenny don’t understand that Jake is Midnight Mike and they decide that the Dirty Dogs must have stolen the Dreams’s music and that Midnight Mike “accidentally put us on as the Dirty Dogs.” Jake is particularly upset to discover that Jenny has a crush on Midnight Mike but not on him. This is one of those plots that could have easily been resolved by everyone just being honest and not stupid but then again, there would be no show if that was what everyone did.
Eventually, the FCC shows up. They want to arrest Midnight Mike for his pirate radio activities! Stupid government.
Meanwhile, Sly has announced that the Dirty Dogs will be performing at Sharky’s but instead, it will just be The Dreams performing while wearing dog masks. Instead of telling Tiffani and Jenny the truth, they tell them that they will be pretending to be the Dirty Dogs because Sly “lied” about knowing the Dirty Dogs so they’ll be performing to get Sly out of trouble and …. okay, I’m getting a headache just trying to explain this stuff.
Eventually, the Dreams perform, the FCC is outsmarted, and Jake tells the truth to Jenny. Jenny says that Jake may be the one man she’s met who is just as cool as she thought Midnight Mike was. Yay! They’re in love …. except, of course, Jenny’s leaving for music school or she’s going back to music school, depending on how you want to deal with all of the weird continuity errors that were created by showing this episode out-of-order.
To my surprise, I actually liked his episode, just because of how totally incoherent the plot was. It’s one thing to come up with a plot that makes no sense. It’s another thing to unapologetically embrace making no sense and dare people to stop watching. It’s hard not to admire that type of confidence. Once again, Jay Anthony Franke and Michael Cade went out of their way to have as much fun as possible while making no sense. Plus, the song that the Dreams/Dirty Dogs performed was actually pretty good. For once, the Dreams rocked out.
Here are the 2022 nominees of the Las Vegas Film Critics Society! The winners will be announced on the 12th.
(Las Vegas not nominating Elvis for Best Picture just feels wrong.)
Best Picture The Banshees Of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery The Whale
Best Actor Austin Butler – Elvis Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin Brendan Fraser – The Whale Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans Bill Nighy – Living
Best Actress Cate Blanchett – TÁR Olivia Coleman – Empire Of Light Danielle Deadwyler – Till Jennifer Lawrence – Causeway Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Best Supporting Actor Paul Dano – The Fabelmans Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin Brian Tyree Henry – Causeway Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once Mark Rylance – Bones and All
Best Supporting Actress Jessie Buckley – Women Talking Hong Chau – The Whale Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All At Once Janelle Monáe – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Best Director Darren Aronofsky – The Whale Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once Baz Luhrmann – Elvis Martin McDonagh – The Banshees Of Inisherin Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Best Original Screenplay The Banshees Of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans Nope TÁR
Best Adapted Screenplay Bones and All Living She Said The Whale Women Talking
Best Cinematography All Quiet On The Western Front Bardo, or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths Empire Of Light RRR Top Gun: Maverick
Best Film Editing The Banshees Of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All At Once Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Top Gun: Maverick
Best Score The Batman The Fabelmans The Northman Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Women Talking
Best Original Song “Life Me Up” – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever “Vegas” – Elvis “Ciao Papa” – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio “Naatu Naatu” – RRR “Hold My Hand” – Top Gun: Maverick
Best Documentary Bad Axe Fire of Love Good Night Oppy Moonage Daydream Navalny
Best Animated Film The Bad Guys Marcel The Shell With Shoes On Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Puss In Boots: The Last Wish Turning Red
Best Foreign Language Film All Quiet On The Western Front Argentina, 1985 Decision To Leave EO RRR
Best Costume Design Babylon Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Elvis The Northman The Woman King
Best Art Direction Avatar: The Way Of The Water Babylon Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Elvis Everything Everywhere All At Once
Best Visual Effects Avatar: The Way Of The Water Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Everything Everywhere All At Once Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Top Gun: Maverick
Best Action Film Avatar: The Way Of The Water Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Everything Everywhere All At Once The Northman Top Gun: Maverick
Best Comedy Film The Banshees Of Inisherin Bros Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Triangle Of Sadness The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film Barbarian Bones and All Everything Everywhere All At Once Nope Pearl
Best Family Film The Bad Guys Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Puss In Boots: The Last Wish Turning Red Wendell & Wild
Best Ensemble The Banshees Of Inisherin Black Panther: Wakanda Forever The Fabelmans Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Women Talking
Breakout Filmmaker Charlotte Wells – Aftersun Mimi Cave – Fresh John Patton Ford – Emily the Criminal Nikyatu Jusu – Nanny Domee Shi – Turning Red
Best Male Youth Performance (Under 21) Jalyn Hall – Till Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans Gregory Mann – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Michael Banks Repeta – Armageddon Time Mason Thames – The Black Phone
Best Female Youth Performance (Under 21) Vanessa Burghardt – Cha Cha Real Smooth Frankie Corio – Aftersun Xochitl Gomez – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Jenna Ortega – The Fallout Sadie Sink – The Whale
The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award Angela Bassett Nicolas Cage Jamie Lee Curtis Henry Selick Bruce Willis
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in 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 #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1980’s To All A Goodnight!
Directed by the veteran horror actor David Hess, To All A Goodnight was the first slasher film of the 80s and it’s become a holiday cult classic! Apparently, the trailer is so intense that it’s age-restricted on YouTube and I can’t even embed it on this site! Just imagine what the rest of the movie must be like!
If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime, YouTube, and a few other streaming sites. I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
One more night to go! This Saturday, join us at 9 pm et for 1980's TO ALL A GOODNIGHT! Directed by the legendary actor David Hess, To All A Goodnight will make your holidays a scream! Find it on Prime and #DontWatchAlone! pic.twitter.com/7ybxi3XbVG
Through the Shattered Lens 