Sinners Wins In Michigan


The Michigan Movie Critics Guild has announced it picks for the best of 2025.  The winners are listed in bold!

Best Picture
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Brendan Fraser – Rental Family
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners

Best Actress
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Supporting Actor
Miles Caton – Sinners
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Paul Mescal – Hamnet
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actress
Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Hailee Steinfeld – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best Animated Film
Arco
Dog Man
K-Pop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Best Documentary
Orwell: 2+2=5
Pee-Wee as Himself
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
The Perfect Neighbor
The Tale of Silyan

Best Ensemble
Avatar: Fire And Ash
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Wake Up Dead Man
Wicked: For Good

Best Screenplay
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sorry, Baby
Sinners

Best Cinematography
Avatar: Fire And Ash
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Breakthrough
Miles Caton – (Actor) Sinners
Chase Infiniti – (Actress) One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – (Actor) Frankenstein
Jacobi Jupe – (Actor) Hamnet
Eva Victor – (Writer, Director, Actor) Sorry, Baby

Best Stunts
Avatar: Fire And Ash
Ballerina
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Nobody 2
One Battle After Another

The MMCG Award for Film Excellence
Paul Feig – (Director) The Housemaid / Another Simple Favor
Judy Greer – (Actress) The Long Walk
Paul Walter Hauser – (Actor) The Naked Gun / Fantastic Four: First Steps
Tim Robinson – (Actor/Writer) Friendship
J.K. Simmons – (Actor) The Accountant 2

Here Are The 2025 Golden Globe Nominations


Does anyone care about the Golden Globes any more?  I remember that there was a feeling of relief when it looked like we would finally be free from having to worry about them.  Of course, the Globes are back and under new management.  They’re clawing their way back to relevancy, or at least they’re trying.

To be honest, I don’t trust the nominations below.  I think it’s all about getting people to watch their ceremony again.  Still, the Golden Globes are a thing and here are the film nominations for this year.  The winners will be revealed on January 11th.

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague
One Battle After Another

BEST DIRECTOR, MOTION PICTURE
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
Chloe Zhao – Hamnet

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Jennifer Lawrence – Die, My Love
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Julia Roberts – After the Hunt
Tessa Thompson – Hedda
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL, OR COMEDY
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone – Bugonia

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
Emily Blunt – The Smashing Machine
Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
Oscar Isaac – Frankenstein
Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
Jeremy Allen White – Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL, OR COMEDY
Lee Byung-hun – No Other Choice
Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme
George Clooney – Jay Kelly
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Jesse Plemons – Bugonia

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Paul Mescal – Hamnet
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

BEST SCREENPLAY, MOTION PICTURE
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, MOTION PICTURE
F1: The Movie
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirat

BEST ORIGINAL SONG, MOTION PICTURE
Avatar: Fire and Ash – “Dream as One”
KPop Demon Hunters – “Golden”
Sinners – “I Lied to You”
Train Dreams – “Train Dreams”
Wicked: For Good – “No Place Life Home”
Wicked: For Good – “The Girl in the Bubble”

BEST MOTION PICTURE, ANIMATED
Arco
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amelie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

BEST MOTION PICTURE, FOREIGN LANGUAGE
It Was Just an Accident
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sirat
The Voice of Hind Rajab

GOLDEN GLOBE FOR CINEMATIC & BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1: The Movie
KPop Demon Hunters
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
Sinners
Weapons
Wicked: For Good
Zootopia 2

Holidays on the Lens: Christmas Reservations (dir by Deanne Foley)


Melissa Joan Hart — Sabrina! — plays the events coordinator at a ski lodge in this 2019 Christmas movie.  It’s the holiday season and the everyone wants to go skiing …. including her ex-boyfriend!

I like this film.  It has nice scenery, it has holiday cheer, it has Ted McGinley, and it has Melissa Joan Hart.  It has all the necessary ingredients for a fun Lifetime holiday film.

Join #MondayMania For Mommy, I Didn’t Do It!


Hi, everyone!  Tonight, on twitter, I will be hosting one of my favorite films for #MondayMania!  Join us for 2017’s Mommy, I Didn’t Do It!

You can find the movie on Prime and then you can join us on twitter at 9 pm central time!  (That’s 10 pm for you folks on the East Coast.)  See you then!

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us for Riot!


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

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1996’s Riot!

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 Mastodon, pull up Riot on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!

Enjoy!

 

Here Are The 2025 Nominations of the St. Louis Film Critics Association


Here are the wonderfully quirky 2025 nominations of the St. Lous Film Critics Association!  Thank you, St. Louis, for thinking outside the box.

BEST FILM
Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Phoenician Scheme
The Secret Agent
Sinners
Superman
Weapons

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – “One Battle After Another”
Ryan Coogler – “Sinners”
Jafar Panahi – “It Was Just an Accident”
Josh Safdie – “Marty Supreme”
Chloe Zhao – “Hamnet”

BEST ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley – “Hamnet”
Rose Byrne – “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Chase Infiniti – “One Battle After Another”
Amanda Seyfried – “The Testament of Ann Lee”
Emma Stone – “Bugonia”

BEST ACTOR
Timothee Chalamet – “Marty Supreme”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “One Battle After Another”
Ethan Hawke – “Blue Moon”
Michael B. Jordan – “Sinners”
Wagner Moura – “The Secret Agent”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Glenn Close – “Wake Up Dead Man”
Elle Fanning – “Sentimental Value”
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – “Sentimental Value”
Amy Madigan – “Weapons”
Teyana Taylor – “One Battle After Another”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benecio del Toro – “One Battle After Another”
Paul Mescal – “Hamnet”
Sean Penn – “One Battle After Another”
Andrew Scott – “Blue Moon”
Stellan Skarsgard – “Sentimental Value”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams
Wake Up Dead Man

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Blue Moon
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
Sinners
Sorry, Baby
Weapons

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Sinners
The Testament of Ann Lee
Wicked: For Good

BEST EDITING
F1
A House of Dynamite
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Frankenstein
Hamnet
The Phoenician Scheme
Sinners
Wicked: For Good

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
The Testament of Ann Lee

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Sinners
Superman
Tron: Ares

BEST SOUNDTRACK
KPop Demon Hunters
Marty Supreme
Sinners
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Wicked: For Good

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE

Arden Cho – “KPop Demon Hunters”
Ginnifer Goodwin – “Zootopia 2”
Damian Lewis – “Orwell: 2+2=5”
Will Patton – “Train Dreams”
Scarlet Sher – “Weapons”

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Ne Zha II
Zootopia 2

BEST ENSEMBLE

Black Bag
Hamnet
A House of Dynamite
One Battle After Another
Sinners

BEST HORROR FILM
28 Years Later
Companion
Frankenstein
Sinners
Weapons

BEST STUNTS
Ballerina
F1
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Warfare

BEST COMEDY FILM
Eephus
Friendship
Good Fortune
The Naked Gun
The Phoenician Scheme

BEST ACTION FILM
F1
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Superman
Warfare

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Afternoons of Solitude
Deaf President Now
Orwell: 2+2=5
The Perfect Neighbor

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
It Was Just an Accident
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sirāt

BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM
Emilie Blichfeldt – “The Ugly Stepsister”
Andrew DeYoung – “Friendship”
Drew Hancock – “Companion”
Carson Lund – “Eephus”
Eva Victor – “Sorry, Baby”

BEST SCENE
The Globe theatrical production in “Hamnet”
Finale in “It Was Just an Accident”
Music evolution “I Lied to You” in “Sinners”
Baktan Cross Car Chase Scene in “One Battle After Another”
The fate of Aunt Gladys in “Weapons”

Sinners Wins In Washington!


The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association have announced their picks for the best of 2025!  The winners are in bold!

Film
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Actor
Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners

Actress
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Supporting Actor
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Supporting Actress
Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Youth Performance
Miles Caton – Sinners
Cary Christopher – Weapons
Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family
Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet
Mason Thames – How to Train Your Dragon
Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl

Voice Performance
Jason Bateman – Zootopia 2
Arden Cho – KPop Demon Hunters
Ginnifer Goodwin – Zootopia 2
Yonas Kibreab – Elio
Ke Huy Quan – Zootopia 2

Motion Capture Performance
Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire And Ash
Stephen Lang – Avatar: Fire And Ash
Zoe Saldaña – Avatar: Fire And Ash
Sigourney Weaver – Avatar: Fire And Ash
Sam Worthington – Avatar: Fire And Ash

Ensemble
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Wake Up Dead Man

Original Screenplay
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Weapons

Adapted Screenplay
Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams

Animated Film
Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie Or The Character Of Rain
Zootopia 2

Production Design
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Sinners
Wicked: For Good

Cinematography
Frankenstein
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Editing
F1: The Movie
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Score
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Joe Barber Award for Portrayal of Washington, DC
Anniversary
Captain America: Brave New World
A House of Dynamite
Nuremberg
Thunderbolts

Stunts
F1: The Movie
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Superman

Documentary
Come See Me in the Good Light
The Librarians
Orwell: 2+2=5
The Perfect Neighbor
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk

Foreign Language Film
It Was Just an Accident
Left-Handed Girl
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 4.16 “Stakeout”


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 Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, the detectives take over someone else’s house.

Episode 4.16 “Stakeout”

(Dir by John McNaughton, originally aired on March 15th, 1996)

When a young man confesses to helping an older man carry out a series of murders, the Homicide Squad stakes out the older man’s house.  Jim True-Frost and Kate Walsh play the owners of the home that the squad takes over.  The husband is out of work.  The wife has a habit of oversharing.  While they try to adjust to having cops hanging out in their living room, the detectives adjust to the idea that Bayliss may be leaving them.

Once again, Bayliss is thinking about leaving Homicide.  This has been a recurring theme with Bayliss, ever since he failed to close the Adena Watson case.  (In this episode, he mentions that his number one suspect — Risley Tucker — has recently died.)  Bayliss’s complaint is that he still feels like he barely knows the other detectives.  He mentions that he’s never even been to Pembleton’s house.  Pembleton asks if Bayliss is really that surprised that Pembleton might want time to himself when he’s not on the clock.  Bayliss talks about how the Vice Squad regularly has barbecues.  He talks about the comradery that he felt when he was on the Governor’s security detail.  But Homicide tends to attract the misanthropes and the eccentrics.

Of course, Bayliss doesn’t leave Homicide.  At the end of the episode, he takes one look at the board and sees that he still has one open case.  “I can’t leave until the Lambert case is closed,” Bayliss says while Pembleton smiles.

Giardello, meanwhile, is struggling with the knowledge that his daughter is getting married to a man that he’s never even met.  Giardello has been invited to the wedding in San Francisco but he keeps finding excuses not to go.  Pembleton finally convinces Giardello that he needs to go to his daughter’s wedding.  Unfortunately, when Giardello arrives at the airport, he’s told that all flights have been grounded due to the weather.  So, Giardello misses the wedding regardless.

Eventually, the killer returns to his home.  He’s a stout man who looks like he should be selling insurance.  Bayliss and Pembleton arrest him and the stakeout ends.  The husband, who has been out looking for a job, pulls up just as Bayliss and Pembleton are leaving.  Life goes on for everyone but the dead.

This episode was okay.  I appreciated that it was a return to the character-driven drama of the earlier seasons.  The snowy imagery brought a lot of atmosphere to the episode and director John McNaughton (of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer fame) did a good job framing scenes that could have come across as being excessively talky in lesser hands.  That said, the husband and the wife were not that interesting and I never really bought the idea that they would pour out all of their marital woes to a bunch of strangers in their living room.

This is my final Homicide review for 2025.  Retro Television Reviews is taking a break for the holidays!  Homicide will return on January 11th, 2026.

One Battle After Another Wins In Toronto


The Toronto Film Critics Association has announced its picks for the best of 2025.  (It’s so cute that Canada has an opinion.)  Here they are:

Best Film
Winner: ​One Battle After Another
Runners-up: Sinners & Hamnet

Best Director
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Runners-up: Ryan Coogler – Sinners & Oliver Laxe – Sirāt

Best Lead Performance
Winners: ​Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You & Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Runners-up: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet, Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another, Michael B. Jordan – Sinners & Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Best Lead Performance In A Canadian Film
Winner: Joan Chen – Montreal My Beautiful
Runners-up: Deragh Campbell – Measures for a Funeral & Vincent Cassel – The Shrouds

Best Supporting Performance
Winner: Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another & Nina Hoss – Hedda
Runners-up: Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein, Amy Madigan – Weapons, Sean Penn – One Battle After Another & Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Performance In A Canadian Film
Winner: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers – Sweet Angel Baby
Runners-up: Charlotte Aubin – Montreal My Beautiful & Troy Kotsur – In Cold Light

Best Breakthrough Performance
Winner: Abou Sangaré – Souleymane’s Story
Runners-up: Miles Caton – Sinners & Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Sinners
Runners-up: Marty Supreme & Sentimental Value

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: ​One Battle After Another
Runners-up: Hamnet & No Other Choice

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Sirāt​
Runners-up: It Was Just an Accident & The Secret Agent

Allan King Best Documentary
Winner: Come See Me in the Good Light
Runners-up: Orwell 2+2=5 & The Tale of Silyan

Best Animated Feature
Winner: Endless Cookie
Runners-up: KPop Demon Hunters & Space Cadet

Best First Feature
Best First Feature: Blue Heron
Runners-up: Eephus & Sorry Baby

One Battle After Another Wins In Los Angeles


The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2025 and it was another victory for One Battle After Another.

​Best Film
Winner: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Runner-Up: 
THE SECRET AGENT

Best Film Not In The English Language
Winner: THE SECRET AGENT
Runner-Up: IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

Best Director
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Runner-Up: Ryan Coogler – SINNERS

Best Documentary Film
Winner: MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I – LAST AIR IN MOSCOW
Runner-Up: THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR

Best Screenplay
Winner: Jafar Panahi – IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
Runner-Up: Eva Victor – SORRY, BABY

Best Leading Performance
Winners: Rose Byrne – IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU & Ethan Hawke – BLUE MOON
Runners-Up: Timothée Chalamet – MARTY SUPREME & Wagner Moura – THE SECRET AGENT

Best Supporting Performer
Winners: Stellan Skarsgård – SENTIMENTAL VALUE & Teyana Taylor – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Runners-Up:Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – SENTIMENTAL VALUE & Andrew Scott – BLUE MOON

Best Animated Film
Winner: LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN
Runner-Up: KPOP DEMON HUNTERS

Best Editing
Winner: Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie – MARTY SUPREME
​Runner-Up: Andy Jurgensen – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Best Production Design
Winner: Hannah Beachler – SINNERS
​Runner-Up: Tamara Deverell – FRANKENSTEIN

Best Music/Score
Winner: Kangding Ray – SIRĀT
Runner-Up: 
Ludwig Göransson – SINNERS

Best Cinematography
Winner: Adolpho Veloso – TRAIN DREAMS
Runner-Up: Autumn Durald Arkapaw – SINNERS

Special Award (for body of work)
Thom Andersen

Douglas Edwards Experimental Film
Albert Serra – AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE

New Generation Award
Eva Victor – SORRY, BABY

Career Achievement
Philip Kaufman