Happy Birthday, Arleigh!


Today is a very special day as we celebrate the birthday of the founder of the Shattered Lens, the one and only …. ARLEIGH SANDOC!

Happy birthday, Arleigh!

Nearly 10 years ago, Arleigh founded the site that would eventually become the Shattered Lens.  He recruited our initial crew of four writers.  (We’ve obviously grown since those early days) and he asked me to come aboard as co-editor of the site.  Tomorrow is thanksgiving but I can tell you what I’m thankful for today.  I’m thankful that Arleigh took a chance and made me a part of this site.  I have grown so much as a writer, due to the opportunities and the freedom that Arleigh offered to me and every other writer on this site.

Next year, we’ll be celebrating the TSL’s 10th birthday all year long.  2020 is going to be all about celebrating everything that this site is about and I hope we’ll see each and everyone of you there.  Today, however, is all about celebrating Arleigh.

Happy birthday, Arleigh!

Music Video of the Day: Drinking Alone by Carrie Underwood (2019, dir by Randee St. Nicholas)


I have to say that I kind of got worried for Carrie while I was watching this video.

“You don’t know that man, Carrie!” I shouted, “Be careful!”

I’m not particularly a fan of country music but I’ve always liked Carrie Underwood, largely because she seems to be unpretentious and, all things considered, rather down-to-Earth.  That said, when she was on American Idol, I was planning on voting for Bo Bice.  But then Bo started singing songs acapella and I was like, “Uh, I don’t want to encourage that type of behavior.”  I was legitimately torn between Carrie and Bo.  In the end, if I remember correctly, I compromised by voting for Gary Johnson, instead.

Anyway, on a serious note, I don’t think Carrie Underwood could have pulled this song off 10 years ago.  There’s a kind of sad “I’ve suffered real pain” feel to this song and it’s the type of thing that I imagine only comes with getting older and experiencing some real disillusion.  That melancholy feel is there in the video, too.  I mean, there’s a lot of quiet desperation going on here and it’s going to take more than a live performance of The Sound of Music to make everything okay again.

Enjoy!

Here Are The Hollywood Critics Association’s Nominations For The Best of 2019


The Hollywood Critics Association was, up until a few days ago, known as the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society.  Perhaps realizing that HCA just plans looks better than LAOFCS, they announced yesterday that they were changing their name.

They also announced their nominees for the best of films and performances of 2019!  While the HCA may not be one of the major precursors of awards season, their nominations do give a fairly good picture of which films and performances are currently being touted as possible Oscar nominees.

And here they are:

BEST PICTURE

  • “1917”
  • “Booksmart”
  • “The Farewell”
  • “The Irishman”
  • “Joker”
  • “Jojo Rabbit”
  • “Parasite”
  • “Marriage Story”
  • “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • “Waves

BEST ACTOR

  • Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
  • Eddie Murphy, “Dolemite Is My Name”
  • Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • “Taron Egerton, “Rocketman”

BEST ACTRESS

  • Awkwafina, “The Farewell”
  • “Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”
  • Lupita Nyong’o, “Us”
  • Renée Zellweger, “Judy”
  • Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  • Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
  • Shia LaBeouf, “Honey Boy”
  • Sterling K. Brown, “Waves”
  • Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  • Jennifer Lopez, “Hustlers”
  • Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”
  • Margot Robbie, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • Taylor Russell, “Waves”
  • Zhao Shuzhen, “The Farewell”

BEST MALE DIRECTOR

  • Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite”
  • Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”
  • Noah Baumbach, “Marriage Story”
  • Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • Taika Waititi, “Jojo Rabbit”

BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR

  • Alma Har’el, “Honey Boy”
  • Greta Gerwig, “Little Women”
  • Lorene Scafaria, “Hustlers”
  • Lulu Wang, “The Farewell”
  • Olivia Wilde, “Booksmart”

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won, “Parasite”
  • Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, & Katie Silberman, “Booksmart”
  • Lulu Wang, “The Farewell”
  • Noah Baumbach, “Marriage Story”
  • Rian Johnson, “Knives Out”

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  • Anthony McCarten, “The Two Popes”
  • Lorene Scafaria, “Hustlers”
  • Scott Silver and Todd Phillips, “Joker”
  • Steven Zailian, “The Irishman”
  • Taika Waititi, “Jojo Rabbit”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR OR ACTRESS 23 AND UNDER

  • Kaitlyn Dever, “Booksmart”
  • Julia Butters, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • Noah Jupe, “Honey Boy”
  • Roman Griffin Davis, “Jojo Rabbit”
  • Thomasin McKenzie, “Jojo Rabbit”

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

  • Jessie Buckley, “Wild Rose”
  • Kelvin Harrison Jr., “Waves”
  • Paul Walter Hauser, “Richard Jewell”
  • Taylor Russell, “Waves”
  • Zack Gottsagen, “The Peanut Butter Falcon”

BEST CAST

  • “Avengers: Endgame”
  • “The Irishman”
  • “Knives Out”
  • “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • “Waves”

BEST FIRST FEATURE

  • “Brittany Runs a Marathon”
  • “Booksmart”
  • “Honey Boy”
  • “The Peanut Butter Falcon”
  • “Queen & Slim”

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

  • “Booksmart”
  • “The Farewell”
  • “Honey Boy”
  • “Luce”
  • “Waves”

BEST ACTION/WAR FILM

  • “1917”
  • “Avengers: Endgame”
  • “Captain Marvel”
  • “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”
  • “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum”

BEST ANIMATED FILM

  • “Abominable”
  • “Frozen II”
  • “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
  • “Missing Link”
  • “Toy Story 4”

BEST BLOCKBUSTER

  • “Avengers: Endgame”
  • “Captain Marvel”
  • “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • “Shazam!”
  • “Spider-Man: Far from Home”

BEST COMEDY/MUSICAL

  • “Booksmart”
  • “Blinded by the Light”
  • Dolemite Is My Name”
  • “Long Shot”
  • “Rocketman”

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • “American Factory”
  • “Apollo 11”
  • “Hail Satan?”
  • “The Kingmaker”
  • “Love, Antosha”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • “The Farewell”
  • “Monos”
  • “Pain & Glory”
  • “Parasite”
  • “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

BEST HORROR FILM

  • “Crawl”
  • “Doctor Sleep”
  • “Midsommar”
  • “Ready or Not”
  • “Us”

BEST ANIMATED OR VFX PERFORMANCE

  • Josh Brolin, “Avengers: Endgame”
  • Robert De Niro, “The Irishman”
  • Rosa Salazar, “Alita: Battle Angel”
  • Ryan Reynolds, “Detective Pikachu”
  • Tom Hanks, “Toy Story 4”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Drew Daniel, “Waves”
  • Jarin Blaschke, “The Lighthouse”
  • Lawrence Sher, “Joker”
  • Robert Richardson, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • Roger Deakins, “1917”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • Arianne Phillips, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • Julian Day, “Rocketman”
  • Jacqueline Durran, “Little Women”
  • Ruth E. Carter, “Dolemite Is My Name”
  • Mark Bridges, “Joker”

BEST EDITING

  • Fred Raskin, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
  • Lee Smith, “1917”
  • Michael McCusker, “Ford v Ferrari”
  • Thelma Schoonmaker, ‘The Irishman”
  • Yang Jin-mo, “Parasite”

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

  • “Bombshell”
  • “Joker”
  • “Judy”
  • “Rocketman”
  • “The Irishman”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

  • “Catchy Song” from “The Lego Movie: The Second Part”
  • “Glasgow” from “Wild Rose”
  • “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman”
  • “Into the Unknown” from “Frozen II”
  • “Speechless” from “Aladdin”

BEST SCORE

  • Alexandre Desplat, “Little Women”
  • Hildur Guðnadóttir, “Joker”
  • Michael Abels, “Us”
  • Thomas Newman, “1917”
  • Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “Waves”

BEST STUNT WORK

  • “1917”
  • “Avengers: Endgame”
  • “Captain Marvel”
  • “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”
  • “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • “1917”
  • “Ad Astra”
  • “Avengers: Endgame”
  • “Alita: Battle Angel”
  • “The Irishman”

The winners will announced in December!

Music Video of the Day: Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes by Soccer Mommy (2019, dir by Alex Ross Perry)


I like this video.  It’s a little bit long, or at least it is for me.  (You should keep in mind that I have an 88-second attention span.)  But it’s a lovely song and there’s a haunting strain of melancholy running through this entire video.  Hopefully, she returned to shore.

Enjoy!

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For November


Well, here we are!

We’re on the verge of the official start of Oscar season.  The Spirit Nominations have been announced.  The National Board of Review will be announcing their picks on December 3rd (I believe).  In just about a week from now, we’re going to be flooded by hundreds of different guilds and critics groups handing out awards and it will be a struggle to keep up.  With so many strong contenders this year, it’ll be interesting to see who actually emerges with the momentum.

(For instance, I don’t think anyone really took Mad Max: Fury Road seriously as an Oscar contender until it started sweeping all the critics groups in December.  And then we were all like, “Well, of course it’s going to be nominated for best picture….”)

With all that in mind, I’m going to go out on a limb with a few of my predictions below.  I mean, why not?  At this point, anything could happen.

To see how my thinking has evolved over time, be sure to check out my predictions for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, and October!

Without further ado, here are my predictions for November:

Best Picture

1917

Bombshell

The Irishman

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Parasite

Richard Jewell

Uncut Gems

Best Director

Noah Baumbach for Marriage Story

Joon-Ho Bong for Parasite

Clint Eastwood for Richard Jewell

Jay Roach for Bombshell

Martin Scorsese for The Irishman

Best Actor

Paul Walter Hauser in Richard Jewell

Eddie Murphy in Dolemite is My Name

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker

Jonathan Pryce in The Two Popes

Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems

Best Actress

Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story

Saoirse Ronan in Little Women

Charlize Theron in Bombshell

Alfre Woodard in Clemency

Renee Zellweger in Judy

Best Supporting Actor

Jamie Foxx in Just Mercy

Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes

Al Pacino in The Irishman

Joe Pesci in The Irishman

Brad Pitt in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Supporting Actress

Kathy Bates in Richard Jewell

Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers

Thomasin McKenzie in JoJo Rabbit

Margot Robbie in Bombshell

Zhao Shuzhen in The Farewell

 

Music Video of the Day: People Like Us by Kelly Clarkson (2013, dir by Chris Marrs Piliero)


I’ve always loved Kelly Clarkson’s voice and this video has a good message about embracing and celebrating individuality.  If nothing else, by the time she made this video, Kelly had certainly improved as an actress since From Justin to Kelly.

Enjoy!

Lisa’s Week In Review: 11/18/19 — 11/24/19


Everyone be sure to wish a happy birthday to my sister and the TSL’s Arts Editor, our own Dazzling Erin …. ERIN NICOLE!  Happy birthday, Erin!

Can you believe that 2019 is almost over?  Only a week a month to go!

Here’s what I did this week!

Films That I Watched:

  1. American Relapse (2019)
  2. Crawl (2019)
  3. Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops (2019)
  4. Frozen II (2019)
  5. Grambling’s White Tiger (1982)
  6. Judgment (2001)
  7. Left Behind: The Movie (2000)
  8. Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002)
  9. Left Behind III; World At War (2005)
  10. Roman Holiday (1953)
  11. She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)
  12. Tribulation (2000)
  13. Women of Valor (1986)

Television Shows That I Watched:

  1. 9-1-1
  2. Beverly Hills 90210
  3. The Brady Bunch
  4. Cheers
  5. Dancing With The Stars
  6. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
  7. M*A*S*H
  8. Mrs. Fletcher
  9. Saved By The Bell: The College Years
  10. Seinfeld
  11. Silicon Valley
  12. Survivor 39
  13. The Voice
  14. WKRP in Cincinnati

Books I Read:

  1. Final Analysis: The Untold Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case (2007) by Catherine Crier

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Avril Lavigne
  2. Big Data
  3. Britney Spears
  4. The Chemical Brothers
  5. DJ Shadow
  6. Flume
  7. Kedr Livanskiy
  8. Muse
  9. Patti Smith
  10. P!nk
  11. Regina Spektor
  12. Saint Motel
  13. Sia
  14. Terror Jr.

Links from Last Week:

  1. Kickin’ The Willy Bobo With…JOHN LINWOOD GRANT

News From Last Week:

  1. Chopping Mall streaming for 24 hours on Black Friday November 29th 2019
  2. Courtney B. Vance Named President of SAG-AFTRA Foundation
  3. Julia Roberts was suggested to play Harriet Tubman by studio exec, says Harriet screenwriter

Links From The Site:

  1. Erin shared The Crimson Clue, Special Detective, Uncle Dynamite, New Detective Magazine, Snappy Romances, The Woman is Death, and Love-Hungry Doctor.
  2. Jeff shared music videos from The Pretenders and David Bowie!
  3. I shared music videos from Terror Jr, Flume, Kedr Livanskiy, DJ Shadow, and Muse! I shared the trailer for Spies in Disguise and I also shared the Independent Spirit Award Nominations!  I reviewed American Relapse, Ernie & John, Crawl, The Kitchen, and She Gods of Shark Reef!
  4. Ryan reviewed 2016-1960, Forlorn Toreador, and Key West Diary, along with sharing his weekly reading round-up!

More From Us:

  1. On her photography site, Erin Shared: Third Floor, Bank, Basketball, Communication, Down To The Track, Eat, and A Flower For Me!
  2. For the Reality TV Chat Blog, I reviewed the latest episode of Survivor!
  3. On my music site, I shared songs from DJ Shadow, Regina Spektor, Patti Smith, Britney Spears, Britney Spears again, French 79, and Avril Lavigne!
  4. On Pop Politics, Jeff shared Boomer Biden Won’t Legalize Marijuana, That Didn’t Take Long, I’m Not Watching, and What if A Candidate Drops Out And Nobody Notices!
  5. Ryan has a patreon!  You should consider subscribing to it!

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

Film Review: The Kitchen (dir by Andrea Berloff)


Eh.  Who cares?

I mean, seriously, do you understand what I mean?  Sometimes, you just see a film that leaves you feeling so indifferent that it’s a struggle to even think of anything to say about it.  That’s the way I feel about The Kitchen, which is neither bad enough to hatewatch nor good enough to recommend.  It’s a mediocre film, one that would be totally forgettable if not for a few remarkably inept choices made by the director and the cast.

Melissa McCarthy is Kathy Brennan.  Tiffany Haddish is Ruby O’Connell.  Elisabeth Moss is Claire Walsh.  The year is 1978 and all three of them live in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York.  All three of them are also married to men who are involved with the Irish Mob.  When their husbands all get busted by the FBI and the new mob boss refuses to help the three women pay the bills, they team up and take over the neighborhood themselves.  With the help of their number one enforcer, Gabriel O’Malley (Domhnall Gleeson), the women prove that they can be even more ruthless than their husbands and their competitors.

And really, this should have been fun.  I’m all about girl power and I’m half-Irish.  If I was going to join the mob, I would definitely join the Irish Mob.  But, seriously, The Kitchen is not just a mess but it’s a dreadfully heavy-handed mess as well.  I knew that this film was going to suck as soon as James Brown started singing, “This is a man’s world,” over the opening credits because it was just such an obvious choice to go with.  To me, picking the song showed that the filmmakers weren’t really interested in giving too much thought to what the film was about.  Instead, they just said, “Hey, that’s a really on-the-nose choice!  Let’s go with it!”  About an hour later, Clare and Gabriel were making love while Carry On My Wayward Son blasted on the soundtrack and I found myself wondering if this film’s soundtrack was put together by listening to a random classic rock station and just jotting down the names of the first ten songs that were played.

Adding to the disappointing atmosphere of the film is a talented cast, everyone of whom appears to be acting in a different movie from everyone else.  Melissa McCarthy, for instance, gets all of the dramatic scenes but gives a comedic performance, one that feels like it’s been assembled from outtakes of the “awkward humor” bits of Ghostbusters.  Tiffany Haddish is ruthless but it’s a very one-note type of ruthlessness.  It gets boring after a while.  Elisabeth Moss gives the best performance out of the three but her character often seems to be pushed to the side.  Once Claire starts threatening to shoot people, you can tell that the film doesn’t know what to do with her.

You also have to feel bad for the supporting cast, all of whom deserve better than this film.  Annabella Sciorra plays a Mafia wife who walks up to the women in the middle of the street and tells them that they’re just like Gloria Steinem and, when she shows up, you can’t help but think that Sciorra would have been a better pick for the role of Kathy than Melissa McCarthy.  Then Common shows up as an FBI agent because, for some reason, Common always plays a member of law enforcement in films like this.  Margo Matindale gets a few good scenes as an Irish mafia matriarch but her character disappears from the film far too quickly.

It’s a mess of a film.  Kathy, Ruby, and Claire’s rise to power happens too abruptly to be credible and none of the subsequent betrayals make much sense.  Appropriately, for a gangster film, it’s violent but the violence is so repetitive that it gets a little bit dull after a while.  None of the characters are really memorable enough for their subsequent deaths to generate much of a reaction.  An hour into the film, you just find yourself thinking, “Oh, hey, that dude’s dead now.  Yay, I guess.”  Much like Captain Marvel, The Kitchen often seems to only be interested in girl power as a way to disguise the fact that the script kind of sucks.  I kept waiting for one of the male gangsters to shout, “The ancient prophecy said that I will be defeated by no man!,” just so Melissa McCarthy could respond, “Yes …. by no man!” It didn’t happen but maybe they’ll get around to it in the sequel.