Oppenheimer Wins in San Francisco


Way back on January 9th (not that long ago, to be honest), the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (try to say that 10 times fast) announced their picks for the best of 2023!

And here they are:

Best Picture
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Past Lives”
“Poor Things”
“The Zone of Interest”

Best Director
Celine Song, “Past Lives”
Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
Greta Gerwig, “Barbie”
Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest”
Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Best Original Screenplay
Celine Song, “Past Lives”
David Hemigson, “The Holdovers”
Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, “Barbie”
Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Samy Burch, “May December”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Andrew Haigh, “All of Us Strangers”
Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction”
Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest”
Tony McNarma, “Poor Things”

Best Actor
Andrew Scott, “All of Us Strangers”
Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”
Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”

Best Actress
Emma Stone, “Poor Things”
Greta Lee, “Past Lives”
Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Margot Robbie, “Barbie”
Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”

Best Supporting Actor
Charles Melton, “May December”
Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things”
Robert Downey Jr, “Oppenheimer”
Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”
Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”

Best Supporting Actress
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”
Jodie Foster, “Nyad”
Rachel McAdams, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”
Sandra Hüller, “The Zone of Interest”

Best Animated Feature
“The Boy and the Heron”
“Elemental”
“Nimona”
“Robot Dreams”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

Best International Feature Film
“Anatomy of a Fall”
“Fallen Leaves”
“The Taste of Things”
“Perfect Days”
“The Zone of Interest”

Best Documentary Feature
“20 Days in Mariupol”
“American Symphony”
“Beyond Utopia”
“Menu Plaisirs – Les Troigros”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Story”

Best Cinematography
Hoyt Van Hoytema, “Oppenheimer”
Lukas Zal, “The Zone of Interest”
Robbie Ryan, “Poor Things”
Rodrigo Prieto, “Barbie”
Rodrigo Prieto, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Best Production Design
Adam Stockhausen, “Asteroid City”
Jack Fisk, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
James Price (Production Designer), Shona Heath (Production Designer), Szusza Mihalek (Set Decorator), “Poor Things”
Ruth DeJong, “Oppenheimer”
Sarah Greenwood, “Barbie”

Best Film Editing
Jennifer Lame, “Oppenheimer”
Laurent Senechal, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Paul Watts, “The Zone of Interest”
Thelma Schoonmaker, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Yorgos Mavropsaridis, “Poor Things”

Best Original Score
Daniel Pemberton, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
Jerskin Fendrix, “Poor Things”
Ludwig Göransson, “Oppenheimer”
Mica Levi, “The Zone of Interest”
Robbie Robertson, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Special Citation for Independent Cinema
“The Blue Caftan”
“Earth Mama” (TIE)
“Fremont” (TIE)

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Check It Out! 1.14 “Supermarket Superbowlers”


Welcome to Late Night 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 the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week is all about bowling!  Wasn’t CHiPs also all about bowling this week?

Episode 1.14 “Supermarket Superbowlers”

(Dir by John Bell, originally aired on January 15th, 1986)

Cobb’s has got a bowling team!

They’ve managed to get into the league finals and, according to Howard, all of the credit goes to their stockboy, Murray.  Murray may not be good at bagging groceries but he is apparently a great bowler.  He’s such a good bowler that it doesn’t even matter that Edna is a terrible bowler.  In fact, Edna is so bad that she doesn’t even get to bowl.  The only reason she is on the team is so she can step in if someone gets injured.

Someone does get injured!  Murray breaks his arm and right before the big game too.  However, Mrs. Cobb (Barbara Hamilton) has told Howard that she wants the store to win that championship trophy and she’ll give everyone on the team a $500 bonus if they win.  But if Edna plays, they don’t have a chance.  In order to keep Edna on the sidelines, Jack Christian tracks down a former pro bowler and hires him to be the temporary stock boy.  “Big Ed” Politowski (J. Winston Carroll) is a total slob who doesn’t appear to have taken a shower in months but apparently, he’s really good with a bowling ball.

Seeing how disappointed Edna is, Howard decides to fake a foot injury so that he’ll have to withdraw from the team and Edna will be able to play in his place.  But, no sooner has he faked one injury than Christian drops a bowling ball on Howard’s other foot.  (Why was Christian walking around the store with a bowling ball?  I’m not sure.)  Big Ed picks up Howard to take him to the hospital, which leads to an unseen but definitely heard crash in the parking lot.

The end result is that Howard ends up on crutches, the store does not win the trophy, and no one gets five hundred dollars.  But everyone is really impressed by the fact that Howard faked an injury just so Edna could play.  Of course, if Howard hadn’t faked an injury, they might have won the tournament and they would all be five hundred dollars richer.  Apparently, Cobb’s only hires those who have a very, very generous spirit.

This was a fairly forgettable episode, one in which there really weren’t any stakes other than a trophy and a little extra money.  Considering the big deal that Mrs. Cobb made about wanting to win that trophy, no one seemed to be particularly worried about any bad consequences from losing the game.  Considering that Murray broke his arm at work, no one seemed to be worried about whether or not he would recover or perhaps sue the store.  There were no consequences to anything that happened in this story and that’s fine.  Not everything has to be a matter of life and death.

Probably the most interesting thing about this episode is that neither Alf the Security Guard nor Jennifer the Cashier appeared.  In-universe, I going to assume the episode took place on their off-days but you do have to wonder if either one of them could bowl.

 

 

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 1/7/24 — 1/13/24


I’m sitting here as a cold front rolls through my town.  The temperature is way below freezing and it will remain that way for at least the next three days.  So, I look forward to hiding underneath a lot of blankets and watching a lot of TV between now and Thursday morning.

Here’s some thoughts on what I watched this week:

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Check It Out (Tubi)

My review of Check It Out will be dropping later tonight.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

My review of Degrassi Junior High will (finally) post tomorrow!  Keep hope alive!

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Tuesday afternoon, I had a two-part episode of Dr. Phil on as background nose.  Dr. Phil was talking to people who felt their sons and daughters had been brainwashed by a cult in Louisiana.  And indeed, they had been.  Cults are weird.  I never know how to react to people who fall for that stuff.

Fantasy Island (YouTube)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (YouTube)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Maury (YouTube)

On Friday, I used two paternity tests episodes of Maury for background noise while I was watching.  I feel very disappointed in myself.  On Saturday, I disappointed myself even further by watching an episode of Maury that featured lie detector tests.

Miami Vice (Tubi)

I wrote about Miami Vice here!

Monsters (Tubi)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday, I watched an episode of this show from the 90s.  It featured music video profiles of The Kinks and The Cure, along with a tour of Universal Studios.

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this ancient talk show on Thursday.  Sally talked to kids who were being bullied and then confronted the bullies on the air.  I felt bad for all of the bullied kids, except for the one who said being bulled made him hate America.  If that’s how you feel, move.

On Friday, I watched an episode about women who could not forgive their men for cheating.  I don’t blame them but I bet half of them ended up marrying the guy anyways.

Saved By The Bell (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

Casey Kasem hosted a dance contest and encouraged everyone to do the sprain.  Jessie freaked out because a short guy wanted to date her.  A new substitute teacher taught everyone to appreciate Shakespeare.  Wow, this was a dumb but addictive show.

The Steve Wilkos Show (YouTube)

On Tuesday afternoon, I put on an episode of Steve Wilkos for background noise.  Steve was screaming at a woman who he felt was an unfit mother.  And who knows?  Maybe she was an unfit mother.  But Steve definitely came across as being a bully and his chanting audience didn’t help matters.

On Saturday morning, I watched an episode in which Wilkos threw several chairs across the stage while the crowd chanted, “Steve!  Steve!  Steve!”

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Turn-On! (YouTube)

I wrote about the second episode of Turn-On! here!

TV 2000 (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, I watched an episode of this old music video show.  The episode was from 1985 and it featured a lot of good music, along with some slightly annoying hosts.

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back, Kotter here!

Scenes That I Love: Jeff Punches Out An Alien In Plan 9 From Outer Space


Gregory Walcott, who was born 98 years today, appeared in a lot of good films over the course of his long career.  He had supporting roles in major blockbusters.  He was a friend and frequent collaborator of Clint Eastwood’s.  In 1979, he played the sheriff in the Oscar-nominated Norma Rae.

That said, he will probably always be most remembered for playing Jeff, the patriotic pilot, in Ed Wood’s 1957 masterpiece, Plan Nine From Outer Space.  Walcott gave probably as good a performance as anyone could in Plan 9, though that didn’t prevent the film from wrong being declared one of the worst ever made.  Walcott, for most of his career, was not a fan of Plan 9 but, in the years before he passed away in 2015, Walcott’s attitude towards the film mellowed considerably.  He even appeared in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood.

In this scene from Plan 9, Walcott shows how to deal with a smug alien.

Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.5 “Buddy, Can You Spare A Million?”


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 Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Gabe is really poor and Epstein has a chance to get really rich!

Episode 3.5 “Buddy, Can You Spare A Million?”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on September 29th, 1977)

Gabe tells Julie a joke about his Aunt Brenda, who believed in reincarnation.  Brenda went to a psychic to find out what had happened to her late husband, Sidney.  Sidney’s spirit informed Brenda that he woke up every morning and made love.

“Are you in Heaven?” asked Brenda.

“No,” Sidney said, “I’m a bull in Montana.”

Welcome back….

Continuing this season’s weird thing of keeping Barbarino separate from his fellow Sweathogs, this episode finds Barbarino in the hospital.  It’s nothing serious.  He’s just getting his tonsils out.  However, since Barbarino is not in school (and not even in the 11th Grade until he passes that makeup exam), he is not around to contribute his weekly quarter to the Sweathogs’s lottery fund.  Gabe reluctantly contributes a quarter in Vinnie’s name so that Epstein can buy a ticket.

Gabe’s reluctance turns to frustration when the ticket turns out to be a winner!  The Sweathogs split the money amongst themselves but all Gabe gets is a quarter from Barbarino.  As the father of newborn twins, Gabe could really use some of that money.  Finally, after Julie basically calls him a wimp to his face, Gabe heads down to the hospital to demand his share of the money.  As Gabe puts it, Barbarino gave him his word about sharing the money.

“My word ain’t worth nothing,” Barbarino says but we all know that Vinnie Barbarino isn’t as tough as he pretend to be.  Barbarino does the right thing and agrees to split his share with Gabe, 50/50.

(Except, of course, I think it’s debatable whether it was the right thing because Gabe only put in a quarter because Barbarino wasn’t there to do it himself.  He essentially loaned Barbarino the quarter and Barbarino paid him back.  So, really, Gabe should stop whining.)

Because his ticket won, Epstein is entered into a million dollar lottery.  Epstein and Horshack go to Gabe’s apartment to watch the drawing.  The million dollars is won by Juan Ep — EVERYONE GOES CRAZY! — uh oh, the announcer can’t make out the handwriting!

“Epstein!” everyone yells at the TV.

“Juan Eppinger!” the announcer says.

Congrats, Juan Eppinger!  Unfortunately, Juan Epstein is not Juan Eppinger.  Esptein looks like he’s about to cry, making this kind of a depressing ending.

Fortunately, Juan’s misfortunate does not keep Gabe from telling a stuffed animal a joke about his Uncle Eddie, the bank robber.

This episode felt a bit off, just because Barbarino belongs with the Sweathogs and the Sweathogs belong with Barbarino and keeping them all separate throws off the chemistry that made the first two seasons so successful.  I’m going to assume this was due to Travolta also doing Saturday Night Fever while working on Welcome Back, Kotter.  I imagine the show had to work around Travolta’s suddenly very busy schedule and this was not an easy task.  But still, without Barbarino, the Sweathogs are just lacking something and turning Horshack’s weirdness up to 11 is not substitute.

Next week …. Barbarino finally takes his makeup exam!

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Polaroid with #ScarySocial


 

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, Deanna Dawn will be hosting 2019’s Polaroid!

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.  I’ll probably be there 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.

4 Shots From 4 Film: Special John McNaughton Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Today is the birthday of director John McNaughton!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 John McNaughton Films

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986, dir by John McNaughton, DP: Charles Lieberman)

The Borrower (1991, dir by John McNaughton, DP: Julio Mucat and Robert C. New)

Normal Life (1996, dir by John McNaughton, DP: Jean de Segonzac)

Wild Things (1998, dir by John McNaughton, DP: Jeffrey L. Kimball)

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th 1.14 “Bedazzled”


Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week’s episode of Friday the 13th is …. well, it’s not that good.  Let’s talk about it.

Episode 1.14 “Bedazzled”

(Dir by Alexander Singer, originally aired on February 22nd, 1988)

With Jack and Ryan out of town to attend an astrology convention, Micki has got the antique store to herself …. or, at least, she does until she agrees to babysit a bratty kid named Richie (Gavan Magrath).  Even worse than Richie are Jonah (Alan Jordan) and Tom (David Mucci), who claim to be telephone repairmen but who are actually at the store because they want to retrieve a cursed lantern that was taken from them by Jack and Ryan.

(Incidentally, they kill the real telephone repairman before showing up at the store.  The real repairman is played Timothy Webber, who played Mo in Terror Train.  Meanwhile, Dave Mucci played Wendy’s thuggish boyfriend in Prom Night.  So, if nothing else, this episode is a footnote of sorts in Canadian slasher history.)

The cursed lantern is probably the lamest antique that the show has featured up to this point.  Using the lantern, undersea divers can find hidden treasure.  But after finding treasure, the lantern then has to set someone on fire.  (Basically, after hidden treasure is found, anyone who is touched by a beam of the lantern’s light will burst into flames.)  The man problem is that the lantern is so big and bulky that Jonah just looks silly whenever he picks it up and aims the lantern’s fiery light at anyone.  It is a seriously awkward and rather impractical weapon, one that appears to not only be impossible to aim but also next to impossible to run with as well.  Add to that, it turns out that the beam of light can diverted by a mirror so it’s not only a lame item but an easily defeated one as well.

It’s a shame that this episode isn’t better.  Micki may have the best hair and the best fashion sense of anyone on the show but it’s rare that she ever really gets an episode all to herself.  But this episode saddles her down not only with forgettable villains and an impractical cursed item but it also forces her to deal with a bratty kid.  The kid survives his night at store and, by all logic, he should be traumatized for life.  Instead, he tells his mother about everything that happened and his mother laughs about what a great imagination he has.  Seriously, though, shouldn’t Micki have some magic wand that she could use to erase Richie’s memory or something?  It seems kind of dangerous to let a kid that bratty know that the store is full of magic items.

Anyway, this was a forgettable episode so I’m keeping the review short tonight!  Fortunately, next week’s episode will be much better.

Retro Television Reviews: T and T 2.12 “Wendell’s Story”


Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990.  The show can be found on Tubi!

T.S. Turner protects a man who finds some money!  Didn’t he already do this?

Episode 2.12 “Wendell’s Story”

(Dir by Don McCutcheon, originally aired on January 30th, 1990)

Who is Wendell?

Wendell (played by Wayne Robson) is beloved figured in this show’s fictional Canadian city.  Wendell lives on the streets, sleeping in a tent in an alley and spendinh his days eating whatever food he happens to come across.  Wendell is good-natured and he doesn’t take it personally when the local teenagers toss a half-eaten apple at him.  Wendell is such a nice guy that, when he comes across a duffel bag full of money, he doesn’t keep the money for himself but he instead starts handing it out to random people.  It’s his way of thanking everyone for helping him and everyone is very polite about waiting their turn to be handed some money.

Way to go, Wendell!

Unfortunately, the duffel bag belonged to two incompetent crooks named Errol (Gareth Bennett) and Fritz (Dominic Cuzzocrea).  Now, when I say incompetent …. listen, T and T has featured it’s share of dumb criminals but there have never been any dumb as these two.  Not only do they lose the duffel bag but they also continually lose track of Wendell.  They’re the type of crooks whose ammo clips regularly fall out of the guns.  These guys may be incompetent but they do fire a gun at T.S. at one point.  T.S. escapes injury but, as he explains to Amy, shooting at him makes things “personal.”

T.S.’s plan to protect Wendell and catch the bad guys is to have his friend Decker wear a fake beard and pretend to be Wendell.  It’s a good plan, except the bad guys come up with a similar plan and, as a result, there are two fake Wendells wandering around and T.S. has to figure out which one to beat up.  T.S. gets so confused that it gives the bad guys time to to get the drop on him.  Fortunately, the bad guys once again fail to load their guns correctly, which gives T.S. and Decker time to knock them both out with one punch.

This was not a particularly complicated episode.  Nor was it a very suspenseful one, as the bad guys were such idiots that they never came across as being any sort of threat.  More time was spent with Wendell teaching Joe how to live on the streets than on the villains trying to get their money back.  (Why is Wendell teaching Joe how to live on the streets?  It was T.S.’s idea, which leads me to wonder if T.S. is planning on kicking Joe out of the gym at some point in the near future.)  As for Amy, she spent most of this episode setting up her new office and getting annoyed with the perfectly nice guy who had an office across the hall.  The show may be called T and T but it’s usually one T who gets to do anything.

This was a bit of a forgettable episode but Mr. T did yell, “Hey, fool!” after the bad guys attempted to shoot him so that was kind of fun.

 

Here Are The 2023 Nominations of the American Society of Cinematographers


Yesterday, the American Society of Cinematographers announced their nominations for the best of 2023.  The winners will be announced on March 3rd.

Feature
Edward Lachmann, ASC for “El Conde” (Netflix)
Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS for “Maestro” (Netflix)
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC for “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple TV+)
Robbie Ryan, ISC for “Poor Things” (Searchlight)
Hoyt van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC for “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures)

Spotlight
Eric Branco for “Story Ave.” (Kino Lorber)
Krum Rodriguez for “Citizen Saint”
Warwick Thornton for “The New Boy”

Documentary
Jeff Hutchens for “Murder in Big Horn”, Episode 1
Curren Sheldon for “King Coal”
D. Smith for “Kokomo City”

Limited or Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Dan Atherton for “Great Expectations” – “The Three Keys” (FX)
Sam Chiplin for “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart” – “Part One: BLack Fire Orchid” (Prime Video)
Ben Kutchins, ASC for “Boston Strangler” (Hulu)
Igot Martinovic for “George & Tammy” – “Stand by Your Man” (Showtime)
Jason Oldak for “Lessons in Chemistry” – “Book of Calvin” (Apple TV+)
Tobias Schliessler, ASC for “All The Light We Cannot See” – “Episode 2” (Netflix)

Episode of a One-Hour Regular Series
Ricardo Diaz for “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” – “The Second Coming” (Max)
Rob C. Givens for “Gotham Knights” – “Daddy Issues” (CW)
M. David Mullen, ASC for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – “Four Minutes” (Prime Video)
Cathal Watters, ASC, ISC for “Foundation” – “In Seldon’s Shadow” (Apple TV+)
Glen Keenan for “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” – “Hegemony” (Paramount+)

Episode of a Half-Hour Television Series
Julian Court, BSC for “The Diplomat” – “The James Bond Clause” (Netflix)
Carl Herse for “Barry” – “Tricky Legacies” (Max)
Jon Joffin, ASC for “Schmigadoon!” – “Something Real” (Apple TV+)
Blake McClure, ASC for “Minx” – “I Thought the Bed was Gonna Fly” (Starz)
Andrew Wehde for “The Bear” – “The Bear” (Hulu)

Music Video
Scott Cunningham, ASC for “Gorilla” (performed by Little Simz)
Jon Joffin, ASC for “At Home” (performed by Jon Bryant)
Andrey Nikolaev for “Tanto” (performed by Cassie Marin)