Lifetime Film Review: Sisters For Life (dir by Anna Elizabeth James)


It’s pledge week!

Bailee (Briana Fermia) really wants to join the college’s nicest sorority and she feels that she established a real connection with Jana (Maddison Bullock) when she interviewed to be selected for one of the opening spots.  Unfortunately, connection or not, there’s no room for Baileee because a legacy named Cori (Taylor Fono) has also applied.  Cori’s mom was in the sorority.  Cori’s sister was in the sorority.  Therefore, Cori gets to be in the sorority!  Yay!  College traditions are the best!

Bailee confronts Jana about how unfair it is that she wasn’t invited to join the sorority.  Jana feels guilty but what can she do?  There’s just no space.  But then, one night, Cori is attacked on campus.  Due to her injuries, Cori has to withdraw from the college and therefore the sorority.  Who can take Cori’s place?  Jana has a suggestion!

Bailee is now in the sorority and it soon turns out that she’s totally clingy and kind of psychotic.  She takes the whole idea of “sisters for life” very seriously and Bailee fully expects that Jana will be her sister for life.  Jana, meanwhile, is like, “This is my senior year, I want to hang out with my boyfriend, and I want to finish up my science project so I can have a career once I graduate.”  Soon, the other sorority sisters are getting drugged, framed, and attacked.  Even Jana’s boyfriend gets attacked in the shower!  Could it all somehow be connected to Bailee?

Of course it’s all connected to Bailee!  The film wastes no time in making it clear that Bailee is not to be trusted.  That’s the way Lifetime films work.  Anyone who shows up out of nowhere and suddenly starts demanding that you be her sister for life is going to turn out to be totally unhinged.  They always start out as slightly needy but seemingly sweet but, by the time the second commercial break rolls around, they’ve already put at least one person in the hospital or maybe even worse.  Some people will go to outrageous lengths to have a friend.

Anyway, Sisters for Life was a fun, if slightly predictable, Lifetime film.  As I’ve said in the past, though, the predictability is kind of the point.  Familiarity is one reason why Lifetime movies are so much fun to watch.  We’re always a few steps ahead of everyone else in the movie.  Towards the end of the film, one character announces, “You’re the meanest sister that I’ve ever had!” with a totally straight face and if you can’t appreciate the self-awareness behind a line like that than Lifetime films just aren’t for you.

The New York Film Critics Online Howl For The Power of the Dog


The New York Film Critics Online have announced their picks for the best of 2021.  The awards were dominated by The Power of the Dog.  Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga were also honored for their wonderful performances in Passing, a film that deserves to be more in the awards conversation.

Here are the winners!

Best Picture: “The Power of the Dog”
Best Director: Jane Campion – “The Power of the Dog”
Best Actor: Benedict Cumerbatch – “The Power of the Dog”
Best Actress: Tessa Thompson – “Passing”
Best Supporting Actor: Kodi Smit-McPhee – “The Power of the Dog”
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Negga – “Passing”
Best Screenplay: “The Power of the Dog” – Jane Campion
Best Animated Feature: “The Mitchells vs. The Machines”
Best Cinematography: “The Power of the Dog” – Ari Wegner
Best Use of Music: “West Side Story”
Best Documentary Feature: “Flee”
Best Foreign Language: “Drive My Car”
Best Debut Director: Rebecca Hall – “Passing”
Breakthrough Performer: Ariana DeBose – “West Side Story”
Best Ensemble Cast: “The Power of the Dog”

Top 10 Films (in alphabetical order)
1. Belfast
2. Don’t Look Up
3. Dune
4. King Richard
5. Licorice Pizza
6. The Lost Daughter
7. Passing
8. Pig
9. The Power of the Dog
10. West Side Story

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Takes A Gamble By Not Nominating Power of the Dog For Best Picture


Here are the 2021 nominations of the Las Vegas Film Critics Society!  The winners will be announced tomorrow!

Best Picture
Belfast
CODA
Licorice Pizza
tick, tick… BOOM!
West Side Story

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage – Pig
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
Peter Dinklage – Cyrano
Andrew Garfield – tick, tick… BOOM!
Will Smith – King Richard

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Lady Gaga – House of Gucci
Emilia Jones – CODA
Kristen Stewart – Spencer

Best Supporting Actor
Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
Jared Leto – House of Gucci
Troy Kotsur – CODA
J.K. Simmons – Being the Ricardos
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog

Best Supporting Actress
Caitriona Balfe – Belfast
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
Ann Dowd – Mass
Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog
Ruth Negga – Passing

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
Sian Heder – CODA
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story
Denis Villeneuve – Dune

Best Screenplay (Original)
Being the Ricardos
Belfast
Don’t Look Up
Licorice Pizza
Pig

Best Screenplay (Adapted)
Cyrano
Dune
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story

Best Cinematography
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
Spencer
West Side Story

Best Film Editing
Belfast
Dune
The Power of the Dog
tick, tick… BOOM!
West Side Story

Best Documentary
Flee
The Rescue
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
The Sparks Brothers
Summer of Soul

Best Score
Dune
The French Dispatch
The Power of the Dog
Spencer
The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Song
“Down to Joy” – Belfast
“Every Letter” – Cyrano
“Dos Oruguitas” – Encanto
“Be Alive” – King Richard
“No Time to Die” – No Time to Die Best

Best Animated Film
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon

Best International Film
A Hero
Benedetta
Flee
Titane
The Worst Person in the World

Best Costume Design
Cruella
Dune
House of Gucci
Spencer
West Side Story

Best Art Direction
Being the Ricardos
Dune
The French Dispatch
The Green Knight
West Side Story

Best Visual Effects
Dune
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Godzilla vs. Kong
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The Suicide Squad

Best Action Film
Black Widow
Nobody
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The Suicide Squad

Best Comedy
Don’t Look Up
Free Guy
The French Dispatch
Licorice Pizza
The Mitchells vs the Machines

Best Family Film
CODA
Encanto
The Mitchells vs the Machines
Jungle Cruise
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Best Horror/Sci-Fi
A Quiet Place II
Army of the Dead
Dune
Godzilla vs. Kong
Werewolves Within

Best Ensemble
Being the Ricardos
CODA
House of Gucci
The French Dispatch
West Side Story

Best Breakout Filmmaker
Nia DaCosta – Candyman
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Rebecca Hall – Passing
Fran Krantz – Mass
Questlove – Summer of Soul

Best Male Youth in Film
Gregory Diaz IV – In the Heights
Jude Hill – Belfast
Noah Jupe – Quiet Place II
Woody Norman – C’mon C’mon
Charlie Shotwell – John and the Hole

Best Female Youth in Film
McKenna Grace – Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Emilia Jones – CODA
Lia Mchugh – Eternals
Saniyya Sidney – King Richard
Millicent Simmonds – A Quiet Place II

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 12/5/21 — 12/11/21


I’ve been busy Christmas shopping and getting ready for 2022 so not much TV for me this week.  That’s a good thing, right?

A Very Boy Band Christmas (Monday Night, ABC)

Merry Christmas, Joey Fatone!  I watched this with my sister Erin and neither one of us makes any apologies.

The Bachelorette (Monday Night, ABC)

I lost interest in this season a few weeks ago but I did watch The Men Tell All on Monday.  It was messy and yet somehow dull at the same time.  Some of the men were earnest and some them were sleazy and some of them were just dumb but none of them were particularly interesting and the show really needs to get a real host because Tayshia and Kaitlyn have no idea how to lead an interview.  At one point, one of the men served another one of them with a defamation lawsuit.  “It’s getting heated here,” Tayshiya announced, “so let’s take a break to cool down.” Uhmm …. no, don’t cool down.  NO ONE WANTS TO SEE ANYONE COOL DOWN!  That’s not what the Men Tell All is all about.  Later, Olu (rightfully) called out Chris for accusing him of having a low IQ.  It was a dramatic moment but again, the two hosts has no idea how to capitalize on it.  Instead, it was just time to bring out sleazy old Jamie.  And don’t even get me started on the obviously staged bit with the streaker.

Anyway, I haven’t really been following this season but, judging from the Men Tell All, Michelle made the right decisions about who to send home.

Dexter: New Blood (Sunday Night, Showtime)

I reviewed the latest episode of Dexter: New Blood here!

Fear The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the mid-season finale here!

King of the Hill (Thursday Afternoon, FXX)

I watched several episodes of this classic sitcom while doing a little Christmas shopping.  Some people feel that the show went downhill after Tom Petty joined the cast as Lucky the redneck but I always found Lucky to be funny.  What can I say?  I’m a Texas girl.

Parking Wars (Weekday Mornings, A&E)

I watched a few episodes on Monday.  Everyone wanted to make sure the viewers knew that they were doing their jobs.  It reminded me a bit of Frances McDormand in Fargo.  “There’s no need to get snippy, I’m just doing my job.”

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

Happy holidays, Chris!  Thank you for your service.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday Night, AMC)

I guess it’s over.  I watched the series finale and I enjoyed it about as much as I could reasonably expect to enjoy that finale for any show to which I haven’t paid much attention.  Annoyingly, the story didn’t really end.  Yes, a few characters died and a few escaped to live a new life but the walking dead are still wandering about, the paramilitary folks are still doing their thing, and the scientists are still trying to figure out what’s going on.  The episode ended with hints that the zombie virus is evolving.  That’s an interesting idea but it’s hard not to regret that the show itself didn’t do much with it when the show has the chance.

The Boston Online Film Critics Honor The Power of the Dog!


The Boston Online Film Critics Association has announced their picks for the best of 2021 and they definitely favored Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog!  (It’s a really good movie, by the way!)  Check out all of their winners below:

Top 10 of 2020
1. The Power Of The Dog
2. Licorice Pizza
3. The Green Knight
4. Drive My Car
5. Pig
6. Dune
7. Titane
8. The Worst Person In The World
9. Spencer
10. Flee

Best Director
Jane Campion – The Power Of The Dog

Best Actress
Kristen Stewart – Spencer

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power Of The Dog

Best Supporting Actor
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power Of The Dog

Best Supporting Actress
Kirsten Dunst – The Power Of The Dog

Best Screenplay
Jane Campion – The Power Of The Dog

​Best Ensemble
Licorice Pizza

Best Score
Hans Zimmer – Dune

Best Cinematography
Ari Wegner – The Power Of The Dog

Best Editing
Joe Walker – Dune

Best Documentary
Flee

Best International Feature
The Worst Person In The World

Best Animated Film
The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Here Are The 2021 Nominations of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists!


The Alliance of Women Film Journalists announced their nominees for the best of 2021 earlier today.  While they nominated some familiar films, it is nice to see that someone is finally showing Passing some love.

Here are the nominations:

Best Film
“Belfast”
“Licorice Pizza”
“The Lost Daughter”
“Passing”
“The Power Of The Dog”

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – “Licorice Pizza”
Kenneth Branagh – “Belfast”
Jane Campion – “The Power Of The Dog”
Maggie Gyllenhaal- “The Lost Daughter”
Rebecca Hall – “Passing”

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain – “The Eyes Of Tammy Faye”
Olivia Colman – “The Lost Daughter”
Lady Gaga – “House Of Gucci”
Kristen Stewart – “Spencer”
Tessa Thompson – “Passing”

Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Jessie Buckley  – “The Lost Daughter”
Ann Dowd – “Mass”
Kirsten Dunst – “The Power Of The Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis – “King Richard”
Ruth Negga – “Passing”

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch – “The Power Of The Dog”
Peter Dinklage – “Cyrano”
Andrew Garfield – “Tick, Tick…boom!”
Will Smith – “King Richard”
Denzel Washington – “The Tragedy Of Macbeth”

Best Actor In A Supporting Role
Jamie Dornan – “Belfast”
Troy Kostur – “CODA”
Ciaran Hinds – “Belfast”
Jesse Plemons – “The Power Of The Dog”
Kodi Smit-McPhee – “The Power Of The Dog”

Best Screenplay, Original
“Being The Ricardos” – Aaron Sorkin
“Belfast” – Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up” – Adam Mckay
“Licorice Pizza” – Paul Thomas Anderson
“Mass” – Fran Kranz

Best Screenplay, Adapted
“CODA” – Sian Heder
“Dune” – Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
“The Lost Daughter” – Maggie Gyllenhaal
“Passing” – Rebecca Hall
“The Power Of The Dog” – Jane Campion

Best Documentary
“Ascension”
“Flee”
“Julia”
“Summer Of Soul”
“Val”

Best Animated Film
“Encanto”
“Flee”
“Luca”
“The Mitchells Vs The Machines”
“Raya And The Last Dragon”

Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director
“Belfast” – Lucy Bevan, Emily Brockmann
“The French Dispatch” – Douglas Aibel, Antoinette Boulat
“The Harder They Fall” – Victoria Thomas
“King Richard” – Rich Delia, Avy Kaufman
“The Power Of The Dog” – Nikki Barrett, Tina Cleary, Carmen Cuba, Nina Gold

Best Cinematography
“Belfast” – Haris Zambarloukos
“Dune” – Greig Fraser
“Passing” – Eduard Grau
“The Power Of The Dog” – Ari Wegner
“The Tragedy Of Macbeth” – Bruno Delbonnel

Best Editing
“Belfast” – Una Ni Dhonghalle
“Don’t Look Up” – Hank Corwin
“Dune” – Joe Walker
“The Power Of The Dog” – Peter Sciberras
“West Side Story” – Sarah Broshar, Michael Kahn

Best Non-English-language Film
“Drive My Car”
“Flee”
“A Hero”
“I’m Your Man”
“Titane”

EDA Female Focus Awards

Best Woman Director
Jane Campion – “The Power Of The Dog”
Julia Ducournau – “Titane”
Maggie Gyllenhall – “The Lost Daughter”
Rebecca Hall – “Passing”
Sian Heder – “CODA”

Best Woman Screenwriter
Jane Campion – “The Power Of The Dog”
Maggie Gyllenhaal – “The Lost Daughter”
Rebecca Hall – “Passing”
Sian Heder – “CODA”
Maria Schrader – “I’m Your Man”

Best Animated Female
Mirabel, Stephanie Beatriz – “Encanto”
Katie, Abbi Jacobsen – “The Mitchells Vs The Machines”
Raya, Kelly Marie Tran – “Raya And The Last Dragon”
Giulia, Emma Berman – “Luca”
Sisu, Awkwafina – “Raya And The Last Dragon”

Best Woman’s Breakthrough Performance
Ariana Debose -“West Side Story”
Alana Haim – “Licorice Pizza”
Emilia Jones –  “CODA”
Renate Reinsve – “The Worst Person In The World”
Rachel Zegler – “West Side Story”

Outstanding Achievement By A Woman In The Film Industry
Victoria Alonzo For Her Achievements At Marvel Studios
Maya Cade For Establishing The Black Film Archive
Anna Serner For 20 Years Of Female-forward Work At The Swedish Film Institute

EDA Special Mention Awards

Grand Dame Award For Defying Ageism
Dame Judi Dench
Ms. Rita Moreno
Dame Diana Rigg

Most Egregious Lovers’ Age Difference Award
“The Many Saints Of Newark” –  Ray Liotta and Michela Derossi (38 Years)
“Red Rocket” – Simon Rex and Suzanna Son (21 Years)
“The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” – Salma Hayek and Samuel L. Jackson (21 Years)
“Nightmare Alley” – David Strathairn and Toni Collette (22 Years)
“Licorice Pizza” Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman (10 Years)

She Deserves A New Agent Award
Amy Adams – “The Woman In The Window” and “Dear Evan Hansen”
Melissa Mccarthy – “The Starling”
Chloe Grace Moretz – “Tom And Jerry”

Most Daring Performance Award
Sandra Bullock – “The Unforgivable”
Olivia Colman – “The Lost Daughter”
Ruth Negga – “Passing”
Renate Reinsve – “The Worst Person In The World”
Agatha Rouselle –  “Titane”

Time Waster Remake or Sequel Award
“The Boss Baby: The Family Business”
“Cruella”
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”
“Space Jam: A New Legacy”
“Tom And Jerry”

TV Review: Fear The Walking Dead 7.8 “PADRE” (dir by Michael E. Satrazemis)


The seventh season of Fear The Walking Dead came to its mid-season conclusion on Sunday.  We learned a few thing as the show went into the hiatus.

We learned that PADRE is not a person but instead, it’s a place.  It’s some sort of secret government installation that has the resources that can be used to rebuild the world.  It was created by Senator Elias Vaszquez, just in case something like a zombie apocalypse happened.  Unfortunately, Sen. Vaszquez is now one of the walking dead and no one is quite sure where Padre is actually located.

We learned that Will, who we met in the first episode of the season, was the senator’s aide.  Will had managed to retain his idealism, even while the world was changing around him.  When Alicia said that she sometimes forgot that the dead used to be the living, Will said, “Maybe that’s why I’m here.  To remind you.”  Wow, someone certainly had a high opinion of himself.  Anyway, as we all know, Strand eventually threw Will into the moat and Will lost a good deal of his face and came back as a walker.  Alicia came across Will at the end of the episode and put a blade through his reanimated brain.

And that’s lead us to the other big thing that happened during this episode — ALICIA RETURNED!  I would probably be more excited about this if I felt like I really knew Alicia but, as I’ve mentioned in the past, this is the first season that I’ve really watched this show.  I do know that Alicia is one of the few remaining links to the show’s first season.  So, the fact that she’s back, has amputated an arm, is turning into a walker, and ended the episode by declaring war on Strand is a big deal.

As for this episode, it was …. well, it wasn’t bad.  It managed to neatly link together everything that we’ve seen and heard since this season began.  Hopefully, now that Alicia has declared war on Strand, the rest of the season can play out a bit more straight-forwardly.  (Keeping track of all of these flashbacks and trying to keep everyone’s chronology straight in my head has been a bit of a struggle.)  It’s hard not to feel that the first 8 episodes of the seventh season were basically just an extended prologue for something bigger.  On the one hand, dragging a prologue out over 8 episodes is exactly the sort of narrative trick that burned me out on The Walking Dead in the first place.  On the other hand, the episodes were largely well-done and well-acted and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in seeing where this all goes.

Fear the Walking Dead will return on April 17th, 2022!