Monthly Archives: December 2024

RUTHLESS PEOPLE (1986) – In remembrance of Jim Abrahams

Posted on by Bradley Crain

It made me sad when I saw that writer/director Jim Abrahams had passed away on November 26, 2024 at 80 years of age. Growing up in the 1980’s, Mr. Abrahams is responsible for some of my favorite comedies. AIRPLANE, TOP SECRET, and THE NAKED GUN would not exist without Jim Abrahams. As much as I love all of those movies, my personal favorite film that Jim Abrahams co-directed is RUTHLESS PEOPLE. I remember when our family rented this film and watched it in the ‘80’s. We thought it was so funny. I specifically remember my mom laughing out loud on multiple occasions as the ridiculous scenario played out. That was a fun movie night in the Crain household. 

RUTHLESS PEOPLE is about a rich businessman named Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) who truly hates his wife Barbara (Bette Midler), and hatches a plan to kill her so he can inherit her money. Unfortunately he runs into a couple of problems. First, his mistress Carol (Anita Morris) knows about the plan, so she and her dimwitted boy toy Earl (Bill Pullman) want to film Sam dumping his wife’s body so they can blackmail him for millions. Second, before Sam can execute his plan, Barbara is kidnapped and held for a ransom of $500,000 by Ken and Sandy Kressler (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater). It seems that Sam stole Sandy’s idea for the spandex miniskirt, screwed them out of millions with a handshake deal, and then kept the money for himself. This seems like an answer to prayer at first for Sam because they threaten to kill Barbara if he doesn’t meet their needs or if he calls the police or the media. After saying no to their demands, and then immediately calling the police and the news, Sam realizes that they don’t want to kill her when they keep coming back with lower demands. Sandy tells Barbara that Sam refuses to pay even $10,000 for her safe return. Eventually the kidnappers and Barbara join together to try to take the unfaithful and unethical Sam for everything he’s worth!! 

RUTHLESS PEOPLE is one of my favorite comedies of the 1980’s. It has such a great cast. Danny DeVito and Bill Pullman are especially hilarious and have some of the film’s best lines. At the time the movie came out in 1986, DeVito was already established as a master of comedy, so Pullman’s performance as Earl, the dumbass Sonny Crockett wannabe, was the real revelation to me. Pullman made his film debut in RUTHLESS PEOPLE, and I never see him to this day that I don’t think of his character Earl’s excitement over the prospect of his newfound blackmail money:

“And then we’re off, to Haiti!”

“It’s Tahiti, you moron!”

One of the most interesting things about RUTHLESS PEOPLE is just how different it is from the directing trio’s (Zucker / Abrahams / Zucker) other popular films like THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE and AIRPLANE. Those films are based on non-stop visual and verbal gags. I love those films, but this is quite different. The comedy of RUTHLESS PEOPLE is based on the story itself, which is a comedy of confusion, coincidence, and character. I know it’s awesome because I still think of the film often. “Give the bag to bozo” and “a little poke in the whiskers” are phrases I’ll remember up to the point I go to my grave. 

Even though the film is almost 40 years old, if you’re looking for a laugh, I don’t think you can do much better than RUTHLESS PEOPLE. 

Anora Wins In Iowa

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Iowa Film Critics Association has announced its picks for the best of 2024!  Dreams have come true for:

Best Film
Winner: “Anora”

Best Director
Winner: Sean Baker – “Anora”

Best Actor
Winner: Adrien Brody – “The Brutalist”

Best Actress
Winner: Mikey Madison – “Anora”

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Kieran Culkin – “A Real Pain”

Best Supporting Actress
Winners: Isabella Rossellini – “Conclave” and Ariana Grande – “Wicked” (TIE)

Best Animated Film
Winner: “The Wild Robot”

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig”

Best Original Song
Winner: “Kiss The Sky” from “The Wild Robot”

The Southern Eastern Film Critics Association Honors Anora!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, the Southern Eastern Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2024.

And here they are:

Top 10 Films of 2024
1. Anora
2. The Brutalist
3. Conclave
4. Dune: Part Two
5. Challengers
6. Nickel Boys
7. Sing Sing
8. Wicked
9. The Substance
10. A Complete Unknown
Runner-Up: I Saw the TV Glow (11th overall)

Best Actor
Winner: Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Runner-Up: Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

Best Actress
Winner: Mikey Madison – Anora
Runner-Up: Demi Moore – The Substance

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Runner-Up: Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Ariana Grande – Wicked
Runner-up: Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez

Best Ensemble
Winner: Conclave
Runner-Up: Sing Sing

Best Director
Winner: Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Runner-Up: Sean Baker – Anora

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Sean Baker – Anora
Runner-Up: Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold – The Brutalist

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Peter Straughan – Conclave
Runner-Up: RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes – Nickel Boys

Best Documentary
Winner: Sugarcane
Runner-Up: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Best Animated Film
Winner: The Wild Robot
Runner-Up: Flow

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Emilia Perez
Runner-Up: The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best Cinematography
Winner: Grieg Fraser – Dune: Part Two
Runner-Up: Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu

Best Score
Winner: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Challengers
Runner-Up: Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist

The Substance Wins In Seattle

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Seattle Film Critics Society has announced its picks for the best of 2024!

BEST PICTURE
Anora – Sean Baker
The Beast – Bertrand Bonello
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet
Challengers – Luca Guadagnino
Conclave – Edward Berger
Dune: Part Two – Denis Villeneuve
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – George Miller
I Saw the TV Glow – Jane Schoenbrun
Sing Sing – Greg Kwedar
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

DIRECTOR
Sean Baker – Anora
Bertrand Bonello – The Beast
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two

LEAD ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Keith Kupferer – Ghostlight
George MacKay – The Beast

LEAD ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Léa Seydoux – The Beast

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Chris Hemsworth – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Josh O’Connor – Challengers
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Joan Chen – Dìdi (弟弟)
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

ENSEMBLE
Anora – Sean Baker
Conclave – Nina Gold and Martin Ware
Dune: Part Two – Dixie Chassay and Francine Maisler
His Three Daughters – Nicole Arbusto
Sing Sing – Greg Kwedar

PACIFIC NORTHWEST FILM
All We Carry – Cady Voge
Fish War – Jeff Ostenson, Charles Atkinson, and Skylar Wagner
Gasoline Rainbow – Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
Rainier: A Beer Odyssey – Isaac Olsen
Strange Darling – J.T. Mollner

INTERNATIONAL FILM
The Beast – Bertrand Bonello
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Flow – Gints Zilbalodis
Red Rooms – Pascal Plante
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad Rasoulof

DOCUMENTARY FILM
Dahomey – Mati Diop
No Other Land – Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor
Sugarcane – Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story – Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Will & Harper – Josh Greenbaum

ANIMATED FILM
Flow – Gints Zilbalodis
Inside Out 2 – Kelsey Mann
Transformers One – Josh Cooley
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park
The Wild Robot – Chris Sanders

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two – Greig Fraser
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Simon Duggan
Nickel Boys – Jomo Fray
Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke

EDITING
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Dávid Jancsó
Dune: Part Two – Joe Walker
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Eliot Knapman and Margaret Sixel
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, and Valentin Feron

SCREENPLAY
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
Conclave – Peter Straughan
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Brutalist – Judy Becker (Production Design)
Conclave – Suzie Davies (Production Design) | Cynthia Sleiter (Set Decoration)
Dune: Part Two – Patrice Vermette (Production Design) | Shane Vieau (Set Decoration)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Colin Gibson (Production Design) | Katie Sharrock (Set Decoration)
Wicked – Nathan Crowley (Production Design) | Lee Sandales (Set Decoration)

COSTUME DESIGN
Conclave – Lisy Christl
Dune: Part Two – Jacqueline West
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Jenny Beavan
Nosferatu – Linda Muir
Wicked – Paul Tazewell

ORIGINAL SCORE
The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
Challengers – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Conclave – Volker Bertelmann
Evil Does Not Exist – Eiko Ishibashi
The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers

ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY
Dune: Part Two – Lee Morrison (Stunt Coordinator) | Roger Yuan (Fight Choreographer)
The Fall Guy – Chris O’Hara and Keir Beck (Stunt Coordinator) | Jonathan Eusebio (Fight Choreographer)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Tim Wong (Stunt Coordinator) | Richard Norton (Fight Choreographer)
Monkey Man – Udeh Nans (Stunt Coordinator) | Brahim Achabbakhe (Fight Choreographer)
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In – Kenji Tanigaki (Stunt Coordinator)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune: Part Two – Paul Lambert, Stephen James, and Rhys Salcombe
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Andrew Jackson and Dan Bethell
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Erik Winquist and Sean Noel Walker
The Substance – Bryan Jones and Guillaume Le Gouez
Wicked – Anthony Smith, Jonathan Fawkner, Pablo Helman, and Robert Weaver

YOUTH PERFORMANCE
Alyla Browne – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Katherine Mallen Kupferer – Ghostlight
Izaac Wang – Dìdi (弟弟)
Alisha Weir – Abigail
Zoe Ziegler – Janet Planet

VILLAIN OF THE YEAR
Count Orlok – Nosferatu (as portrayed by Bill Skarsgård)
Dementus – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (as portrayed by Chris Hemsworth)
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Dune: Part Two (as portrayed by Austin Butler)
Longlegs – Longlegs (as portrayed by Nicolas Cage)
Macrinus – Gladiator II (as portrayed by Denzel Washington)

The New York Film Critics Online Honor The Substance

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The New York Film Critics Online have announced their picks for the best of 2024!

PICTURE
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
September 5
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked

DIRECTOR
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker – Anora
Edward Berger – Conclave
Jon M. Chu – Wicked
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys

SCREENPLAY
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance

ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Sebastian Stan – A Different Man

ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
Angelina Jolie – Maria
Nicole Kidman – Babygirl
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Yuriy Borisov – Anora
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Ariana Grande-Butera – Wicked
Carol Kane – Between the Temples
Natasha Lyonne – His Three Daughters
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

ENSEMBLE CAST
Anora
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Sing Sing
Wicked

USE OF MUSIC
The Brutalist
Challengers
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Wicked

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nickel Boys
Nosferatu

DEBUT DIRECTOR
Annie Baker – Janet Planet
Mike Cheslik – Hundreds of Beavers
India Donaldson – Good One
Vera Drew – The People’s Joker
Josh Margolin – Thelma

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER
Lily Collias – Good One
Mark Eydelshteyn – Anora
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Mikey Madison – Anora
Katy O’Brian – Love Lies Bleeding

ANIMATION
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
All We Imagine as Light
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
The Seed of the Sacred Fig

DOCUMENTARY
Black Box Diaries
Dahomey
Daughters
No Other Land
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will & Harper

The Substance Wins In Indiana

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Indiana Film Journalists Association have announced their picks for the best of 2024!  The winners are in bold.
BEST FILM
Anora
The Brutalist
Challengers
Civil War
Conclave
A Different Man
Dune: Part Two
His Three Daughters
I Saw the TV Glow
In a Violent Nature
Longlegs
Mars Express
Nickel Boys
Nosferatu
The People’s Joker
A Real Pain
Rebel Ridge
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Flow
Inside Out 2
Look Back
Mars Express
Memoir of a Snail
The Wild Robot

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Aattam
All We Imagine as Light
Emilia Pérez
Evil Does Not Exist
Los Frikis
Look Back
Mars Express
The Seed of the Sacred Fig

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Daughters
Ennio
Girls State
No Other Land
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
The Sixth
The Speedway Murders
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David – September 5
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold – The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Alex Garland – Civil War
Azazel Jacobs – His Three Daughters
Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge
Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man
Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow
Julio Torres – Problemista

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield – Sing Sing
Jay Cocks and James Mangold – A Complete Unknown
RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes – Nickel Boys
Chris Sanders – The Wild Robot
Peter Straughan – Conclave
Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts – Dune: Part Two
Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington – The Piano Lesson

BEST DIRECTOR
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Robert Eggers – Nosferatu
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Alex Garland – Civil War
Luca Guadagnino – Challengers
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge
Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man
Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Daniel Craig – Queer
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Kirsten Dunst – Civil War
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Demi Moore – The Substance
Aaron Pierre – Rebel Ridge
Justice Smith – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Nicolas Cage – Longlegs
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin – Sing Sing
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Adam Pearson – A Different Man
Dennis Quaid – The Substance
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Bill Skarsgård – Nosferatu
Tilda Swinton – Problemista
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II

BEST VOCAL / MOTION-CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Tom Hardy – Venom: The Last Dance
Maya Hawke – Inside Out 2
Lupita Nyong’o – The Wild Robot
Pedro Pascal – The Wild Robot
Amy Poehler – Inside Out 2
Sarah Snook – Memoir of a Snail
Owen Teague – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Robbie Williams – Better Man

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
Civil War
Conclave
A Different Man
Dune: Part Two
His Three Daughters
Nickel Boys
Nosferatu
A Real Pain
Saturday Night
Sing Sing

BEST EDITING
Sean Baker – Anora
Marco Costa – Challengers
Jérôme Eltabet, Coralie Fargeat and Valentin Feron – The Substance
Nick Emerson – Conclave
Louise Ford – Nosferatu
Dávid Jancsó – The Brutalist
Nicholas Monsour – Nickel Boys
Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge
Terilyn A. Shropshire – Twisters
Joe Walker – Dune: Part Two

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu
Lol Crawley – The Brutalist
Greig Fraser – Dune: Part Two
Jomo Fray – Nickel Boys
Rob Hardy – Civil War
Benjamin Kračun – The Substance
Dan Mindel – Twisters
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Challengers
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Queer
Eric Yue – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Volker Bertelmann – Conclave
Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist
Kris Bowers – The Wild Robot
Raffertie – The Substance
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Challengers
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Queer
Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow – Civil War
Alex Somers and Scott Alario – Nickel Boys
Umberto Smerilli – A Different Man
Benjamin Wallfisch – Twisters

BEST STUNT / MOVEMENT CHOREOGRAPHY
Bren Foster (action designer / fight choreographer) and Jaylan Foster, Jimmy Foster, Nick Harding, Jordan Petersen, Matthew Murgola and Mike Duncan (stunt team) – Life After Fighting
Muhammad Irfan (stunt coordinator / fight choreographer) – The Shadow Strays
Jeremy Marinas (fight coordinator and choreographer / second-unit director) – The Beekeeper
Lee Morrison (supervising stunt coordinator), Roger Yuan (fight coordinator / stunt coordinator) and Tanya Lapointe (second-unit director) – Dune: Part Two
Saifuddin Mubdy (stunt coordinator) and Brahim Chab (fight coordinator) – Monkey Man
Guy Norris (action designer / supervising stunt coordinator / second-unit director) and Richard Norton (fight choreographer / coordinator) – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Chris O’Hara (stunt coordinator and stunt designer) – The Fall Guy
Christopher Scott (choreographer) and Jo McLaren (stunt coordinator) – Wicked
Ashley Wallen (dance choreographer), Nicholas Daines (stunt coordinator), Slavisa Ivanovic (stunt coordinator), Tim Wong (fight choreographer) and Spencer Susser (second-unit director) – Better Man
Keith Woulard and Cory DeMeyers (stunt coordinators) – Rebel Ridge

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
Mike Cheslik (visual effects) and Jerry Kurek (assistant effects artist) – Hundreds of Beavers
Bryan Jones (visual effects supervisor), Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky (visual effects producer) and Jean Miel (special effects supervisor) – The Substance
Paul Lambert (visual effects production supervisor), Gerd Nefzer (special effects supervisor), Rhys Salcombe (visual effects supervisor) and Stephen James (visual effects supervisor) – Dune: Part Two
Damien Leone (writer / director), Phil Falcone (producer), Christien Tinsley (design and creation of prosthetics and makeup effects), Brian Van Dorn (Tinsley Studios production coordinator), Ryan Ward (on-set makeup effects department head), Heather Albert (on-set makeup effects artist), Josh Petrino (visual effects supervisor), Declan Boyle (lead visual effects artist), Lincoln Smith (senior visual effects artist), John Caglione, Jr. (Virgin Mary / demon sequence prosthetics supervisor), Jason Baker (Callosum Studios on-set effects supervisor) and Jason Milstein (post-production supervisor and visual effects artist) – Terrifier 3
Luke Millar (visual effects supervisor) and Scott MacIntyre (special effects supervisor) – Better Man
Kevin Smith (visual effects supervisor), Kevin Sherwood (visual effects producer), Bruce Bright (special effects supervisor) and Michael Meinardus (special effects supervisor) – Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Ben Snow (visual effects supervisor), Florian Witzel (Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor), Charles Lai (ILM associate visual effects supervisor) and Scott Fisher (special effects supervisor) – Twisters
David White (prosthetic and makeup effects design), Angela Barson (visual effects supervisor) and Pavel Sagner (special effects supervisor) – Nosferatu (2024)
Erik Winquist and Stephen Unterfranz (VFX supervisors), Paul Story (senior animation supervisor) and Rodney Burke (special FX supervisor) – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR
Joanna Arnow (director / writer / editor / performer) – The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
Mike Cheslik (director / co-writer / editor / visual effects) – Hundreds of Beavers
Vera Drew (director / co-writer / editor / performer) – The People’s Joker
Mikey Madison (performer) – Anora
Chris Nash (director / writer) – In a Violent Nature
Katy M. O’Brian (performer) – Love Lies Bleeding
RaMell Ross (director / co-writer) – Nickel Boys
Maisy Stella (performer) – My Old Ass
Julio Torres (director / writer / performer) – Problemista
Malcolm Washington (director / co-writer) – The Piano Lesson

ORIGINAL VISION
Better Man
Emilia Pérez
Hundreds of Beavers
I Saw the TV Glow
In a Violent Nature
The People’s Joker
Problemista
Sasquatch Sunset
The Substance