Check it out everyone! China has made their own version of Mad Max and it’s called … MAD SHEILA!
I have no idea if or when this will be released in the States but check out the trailer!
Category Archives: Film
Cleaning Out The DVR Yet Again #21: Hidden Truth (dir by Steven R. Monroe)
(Lisa recently discovered that she only has about 8 hours of space left on her DVR! It turns out that she’s been recording movies from July and she just hasn’t gotten around to watching and reviewing them yet. So, once again, Lisa is cleaning out her DVR! She is going to try to watch and review 52 movies by Sunday, December 4th! Will she make it? Considering that she only has a day left, probably not. But keep checking the site to find out!)
I recorded Hidden Truth off of the Lifetime Movie Network on September 18th. It premiered before that on Lifetime and I even live tweeted it but I didn’t record it until it re-aired on LMN. I’m glad that I did that because, as I rewatched Hidden Truth, I was surprised by how much I had forgotten about the film.
Hidden Truth is one of those Lifetime films that takes place in a small town where everyone knows each other. It tells the story of a girl named Zoe (Diana Hopper) who is upset because 1) her father, Pace (Brendan McCarthy), may have killed her mother, 2) he’s now an alcoholic, and 3) she’s being raised by her loving but overprotective aunt, Jamie (Sarah Lind). Zoe is desperate to get out of town so she starts having an affair with a local rich guy, Michael (Shawn Christian). She wants his money. He claims to be in love with her….
And then, one day, Zoe turns up dead and floating in the river. The sheriff (Parker Stevenson) immediately suspects that Pace got drunk and killed his daughter. Soon, Aunt Jamie is the only person in town who believes that her brother is innocent. Can she clear his name? Can she solve her niece’s murder? Can she uncover the hidden truth…
Ironically, for the viewer, there’s nothing at all hidden about the truth in this movie. The movie actually opens with Michael murdering Zoe and dumping her body in the river. So, from the start, we know who the murderer is. The film instead becomes about watching Michael try to cover his track and wondering when Jamie will finally figure out what happened.
It’s actually a different approach from what we’re used to with Lifetime but I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about it. The problem is that Michael really isn’t that clever. He’s a sloppy murderer and he’s sloppy when it comes to covering his tracks and there’s no moment when you think to yourself that he might get away with it. And since Michael is a thoroughly despicable and inept character, it’s not like you find yourself conflicted as you watch him try to cover his tracks. At no point do you think, “He’s a bad guy but I kinda hope he gets away with it.”
I guess what I’m saying is that the Hidden Truth would have worked better if the truth had remained hidden until the final five minutes of the film. Still, you have to give the filmmakers some credit for trying to do something different.
Cleaning Out The DVR Yet Again #20: Girl In The Box (dir by Stephen Kemp)
(Lisa recently discovered that she only has about 8 hours of space left on her DVR! It turns out that she’s been recording movies from July and she just hasn’t gotten around to watching and reviewing them yet. So, once again, Lisa is cleaning out her DVR! She is going to try to watch and review 52 movies by Sunday, December 4th! Will she make it? Considering that she only has a day left, probably not. But keep checking the site to find out!)
Girl in the Box originally aired on Lifetime on September 10th and I have to admit that I specifically chose to record it as opposed to watching it. That’s because Girl In The Box was based on the true story of the kidnapping and 7 year enslavement of Colleen Stan. It’s an incredibly disturbing story and I knew that, much like last year’s Cleveland Abduction, Girl In The Box would give me nightmares.
And, having now watched the film, I think I probably made the right decision. Girl In The Box is an incredibly unsettling film, one that is all the more upsetting for being based on a true story.
In 1977, 20 year-old Colleen (played by Addison Timlin) is hitchhiking from Oregon to California. We watch as Colleen turns down two prospective rides, one from a group of frat boys and one from an older couple that wasn’t going far enough. When she does accept a ride, it’s from Cameron Hooker (Zane Holtz) and his wife, Janice (Zelda Williams). What we know, but Colleen doesn’t, is that Cameron has just recently murdered another woman that he abducted.
Soon, Colleen is being held prisoner in a tiny wooden box, only being brought out so that she can be abused and raped by Cameron. Cameron forces her to sign a “slave contract” and he tells her that he is a part of a much larger conspiracy. Even if Colleen could escape, he tells her, his associates would track her down and kill both her and her family. Slowly, Colleen’s will is broken down.
And through it all, Janice watches. Janice, we learn, married Cameron when she was sixteen and he seemed like he was the most handsome and charming guy in the world. It was after they got married that she discovered that Cameron was a monster. Cameron justifies his crimes by claiming that, if he wasn’t abusing Colleen, he would be abusing Janice. Janice, the film suggests, is just as brainwashed as Colleen. They are both prisoners of a truly evil creature.
(It should be noted that the film is generally sympathetic to Janice. I’ve read a few true crime accounts of Colleen Stan’s kidnapping that paint a far less forgiving picture.)
Much like Cleveland Abduction, Girl In The Box was difficult for me to watch. The three main actors totally committed to their roles, taking the audience to a very dark place, one that was all the more disturbing for being real. Zane Holtz revealed Cameron’s evil and sadistic side while, at the same time, showing how he could easily fool the rest of the world into thinking that he was a normal, likable guy. Zelda Williams portrayed Janice’s growing horror at realizing what her life has become, while at the same time never entirely letting Janice off the hook for her part in Cameron’s crimes. And Addison Timlin was courageously vulnerable as Colleen.
It’s hard for me to recommend Girl In The Box because it really is such an unpleasant film. I mean, this is not a film to watch if you’re just looking for a relaxing night in front of the TV. But I do think it has an important message. There are other Cameron Hookers out there and the reason that they thrive is because, far too often, people are scared to get involved. There were so many times that Cameron’s crimes could have been exposed if only people were willing to follow up their concerns.
Ultimately, Girl In The Box is a story of survival. Somehow, Colleen Stan survived her ordeal. I don’t know if I could have.
Here Are The Annie Nominations!
The nominations for the Annie Awards were announced yesterdat! The Annie Awards honor the best in animation. Looking over the list of nominees, my initial thought is, “Wow, that’s a really long list!” So, I’m just going to post the nominations for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Achievement For Voice Acting In A Feature Film. You can view the complete list over at one of my favorite site for Oscar news, Awards Circuit!
Anyway, here are (some of) the Annie nominations!
Best Animated Feature:
Zootopia
Voice Acting In An Animated Feature
Art Parkinson in Kubo and the Two Strings
Auli’i Cravalho in Moana
Katie Crown in Storks
Zooey Deschanel in Trolls
Jason Bateman in Zootopia
Here’s What Won At The Gotham Awards!
Last night, the 2016 Gotham Awards were awarded and it was a very good night for Moonlight, which is quickly emerging as this year’s top indie Oscar contender.
You can check out the Gotham nominations here and the winners below!
Best Feature — Moonlight
Best Documentary — O.J.: Made in America
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award — Trey Edward Shults for Krisha
Best Screenplay — “Moonlight,” Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Screenplay by Barry Jenkins
Best Actor — Casey Affleck in Manchester By Sea
Best Actress — Isabelle Huppert in Elle
Breakthrough Actor — Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch
Special Jury Award For Ensemble Performance — Moonlight
Gotham Independent Film Audience Award — Moonlight
Here Are The Satellite Nominations!
The International Press Academy — a.k.a. the Oscar precursor that nobody cares about — announced their nominees for the best of 2016 earlier today and it was a very good day for a film that I cannot wait to see, La La Land!
Here are the Satellite nominations!
Special Achievement Award Recipients
Mary Pickford Award- Edward James Olmos
Tesla Award- John Toll
Auteur Award- Tom Ford
Humanitarian Award- Patrick Stewart
Best First Feature- Russudan Glurjidze “House of Others”
Best Ensemble: Motion Picture- “Hidden Figures”
Best Ensemble: Television- “Outlander”
Actress in a Motion Picture
Annette Bening, “20th Century Woman”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Taraji P. Henson, “Hidden Figures”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Amy Adams, “Nocturnal Animals”
Actor in a Motion Picture
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Snowden”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Joel Edgerton, “Loving”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Tom Hanks, “Sully”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Helen Mirren, “Eye in the Sky”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Naomi Harris, “Moonlight”
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Eddie Murphy, “Mr. Church”
Hugh Grant, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Motion Picture
“La La Land”
“Moonlight”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Lion”
“Jackie”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Loving”
“Hell or High Water”
“Nocturnal Animals”
“Captain Fantastic”
“Hidden Figures”
“Fences”
Motion Picture, International Film
“The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki”- Finland
“Toni Erdmann”- Germany
“Julieta”- Spain
“A Man Called Ove”- Sweden
“The Salesman”- Iran
“The Ardennes”- Belgium
“Ma’ Rosa”- Philippines
“The Handmaiden”- South Korea
“Elle”- France
“Paradise”- Russia
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media Title of Film
“Zootopia”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“Finding Dory”
“My Life As a Zucchini”
“The Jungle Book”
“The Red Turtle”
“Miss Hokusai”
“Trolls”
“Your Name”
Motion Picture, Documentary
“Gleason”
“Life Animated”
“O.J.: Made in America”
“13th”
“The Ivory Game”
“The Eagle Huntress”
“Tower”
“Fire at Sea”
“Zero Days”
“The Beatles: Eight Days a Week”
Director
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Tom Ford, “Nocturnal Animals”
Pablo Larrain, “Jackie”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”
Screenplay, Original
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Taylor Sheridan, “Hell or High Water”
Matt Ross, “Captain Fantastic”
Yorgos Lanthimos/Efthymis Filippou, “The Lobster”
Screenplay, Adapted
Andrew Knight/Robert Schenkkan, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Luke Davis, “Lion”
Kieran Fitzgerald/Oliver Stone, “Snowden”
Justin Marks, “The Jungle Book”
Allison Schroeder, “Hidden Figures”
Todd Komarnicki, “Sully”
Original Score
Rupert Gregson Williams, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Justin Hurwitz, “La La Land”
Lesley Barber, “Manchester by the Sea”
John Williams, “The BFG”
John Debney, “The Jungle Book”
Hans Zimmer, “Hidden Figures”
Original Song
“Audition”- ‘La La Land’
“City of Stars”- ‘La La Land’
“Dancing with Your Shadow”- ‘Po’
“Can’t Stop the Feeling”- ‘Trolls’
“I’m Still Here”- ‘Miss Sharon Jones’
“Running”- ‘Hidden Figures’
Cinematography
John Toll, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”
Linus Sandgren, “La La Land”
James Laxton, “Moonlight”
Simon Duggan, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Jani-Petteri Passi, “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki”
Bill Pope, “The Jungle Book”
Visual Effects
“The Jungle Book”
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”
“Doctor Strange”
“The BFG”
“Sully”
“Deadpool”
Film Editing
Tom Cross, “La La Land”
Joi McMillon/Nat Sanders, “Moonlight”
Tim Squyres, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”
Alexandre de Francheschi, “Lion”
John Gilbert, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Steven Rosenblum, “The Birth of a Nation”
Sound (Editing and Mixing)
“La La Land”
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“The Jungle Book”
“Allied”
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”
Art Direction and Production Design
David Wasco, “La La Land”
Barry Robinson, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Jean Rabasse, “Jackie”
Christophe Glass, “The Jungle Book”
Gary Freeman, “Allied”
Dan Hennah, “Alice Through the Looking Glass”
Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, “Alice Through the Looking Glass”
Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh, “Love & Friendship”
Courtney Hoffman, “Captain Fantastic”
Madeline Fontaine, “Jackie”
Mary Zophres, “La La Land”
Alexandra Byrne, “Doctor Strange”
Number One With A Bullet: Lawrence Tierney in DILLINGER (Monogram 1945)
Poverty Row Monogram Studios found themselves with a huge hit on their hands when they released DILLINGER, making a star out of an obscure actor named Lawrence Tierney in the process. This King Brothers production brought the gangster movie back in big way, with Tierney’s ferocious performance turning him into a film noir icon. DILLINGER burst the Kings out of the B-movie bracket, and gave the little studio its first major Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.
The saga of bank robber John Dillinger should be familiar to most of you through its myriad film portrayals, so let’s skip the story and go straight to Tierney. Though the film bills him as “Introducing Lawrence Tierney”, the RKO contract player had been in films a couple years playing bit parts in movies like GHOST SHIP and BACK TO BATAAN when his home studio loaned him out to the Kings. The New York-born actor took…
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Cleaning Out The DVR Yet Again #19: I Know Where Lizzie Is (dir by Darin Scott)
(Lisa recently discovered that she only has about 8 hours of space left on her DVR! It turns out that she’s been recording movies from July and she just hasn’t gotten around to watching and reviewing them yet. So, once again, Lisa is cleaning out her DVR! She is going to try to watch and review 52 movies by Wednesday, November 30th! Will she make it? Considering that she only has a day left, probably not. But keep checking the site to find out!)
I recorded I Know Where Lizzie Is off of the Lifetime Movie Network on July 31st. I also watched it while recording it and it’s a pretty good thing I did because, as the result of a glitch with the DVR, I only recorded the final hour! So, when you read this review, be aware that at least half of it is being done on the basis of my possibly faulty memory.
I Know Where Lizzie Is is a hybrid of two popular Lifetime genres. On the one hand, you have an abducted child storyline. Teenager Lizzie Holden (Madison Iseman) has a fight with her mom, sneaks out of the house, and never comes home. Her amicably divorced parents, Judith (Tracey Gold) and Martin (Richard Rucculo), desperately try to track down their daughter. What they don’t know is that Lizzie is being held prisoner by a man wearing what appears to be a Michael Myers mask.
I Know Where Lizzie Is is also an unwanted guest film. In an unwanted guest film, a seemingly friendly but secretly malicious stranger moves into an otherwise stable household and tries to destroy the family unit. In the case of I Know Where Lizzie Is, the stranger is a phony psychic named Tracy (Nadia Bjorlin). Tracy shows up and claims that she’s had visions of Lizzie. She knows where Lizzie is! Of course, the reason that Tracy knows all of this is because she’s in on the kidnapping.
(Before you start screaming at me about spoilers, this is all revealed early on in the film.)
On top of all that, I Know Where Lizzie Is is also an anti-media film. A somewhat smarmy reporter (Robert Scott Wilson) also movies into the Holden household and he is soon providing nearly 24 hour coverage of the Holdens, the kidnappers, and especially Tracy. I imagine that a lot of viewers will probably respond to the anti-media message. I mean, the media is pretty much everyone’s favorite scapegoat at the moment, right?
(It’s hard to believe that just 9 months ago, Spotlight was winning best picture and everyone was talking about how much they loved the media. It’s amazing how quickly things change.)
Anyway, I Know Where Lizzie Is was very much a typical Lifetime film and how much you enjoy it will depend on how much you enjoy Lifetime films in general. On the plus side, both Robert Scott Wilson and Nadia Bjorlin did well with their untrustworthy characters. Plus, the kidnapper in the mask was genuinely creepy!
If you like Lifetime movies, keep an eye out for it.
The National Board of Review names Manchester By The Sea the best of 2016!
Oscar season has officially begun!
Earlier today, The National Board of Review named their picks for the best of the year. They went with Manchester By The Sea and a whole lot of other films that I hope to finally get to see in December!
My favorite two winners? Amy Adams for best actress and Kubo and the Two Strings for Best Animated Film.
A cavaet: Of the so-called “major” precursors, The National Board of Review is usually the one that seems to match up the least with the actual Oscar results.
Here are the winners!
Best Film: Manchester by the Sea
Best Director: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Best Actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Best Actress: Amy Adams, Arrival
Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Best Supporting Actress: Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese, Silence
Best Animated Feature: Kubo and the Two Strings
Breakthrough Performance (Male): Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Breakthrough Performance (Female): Royalty Hightower, The Fits
Best Directorial Debut: Trey Edward Shults, Krisha
Best Foreign Language Film: The Salesman
Best Documentary: O.J.: Made in America
Best Ensemble: Hidden Figures
Spotlight Award: Creative Collaboration of Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Cameraperson
Top Films
- Arrival
- Hacksaw Ridge
- Hail, Caesar!
- Hell or High Water
- Hidden Figures
- La La Land
- Moonlight
- Patriot’s Day
- Silence
- Sully
Top 5 Foreign Language Films
- Elle
- The Handmaiden
- Julieta
- Land of Mine
- Neruda
Top 5 Documentaries
- De Palma
- The Eagle Huntress
- Gleason
- Life, Animated
- Miss Sharon Jones!
Top 10 Independent Films
- 20th Century Women
- Captain Fantastic
- Creative Control
- Eye in the Sky
- The Fits
- Green Room
- Hello, My Name is Doris
- Krisha
- Morris from America
- Sing Street
Cleaning Out The DVR Yet Again #18: Careful What You Wish For (dir by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum)
(Lisa recently discovered that she only has about 8 hours of space left on her DVR! It turns out that she’s been recording movies from July and she just hasn’t gotten around to watching and reviewing them yet. So, once again, Lisa is cleaning out her DVR! She is going to try to watch and review 52 movies by Wednesday, November 30th! Will she make it? Considering that she only has a day left, probably not. But keep checking the site to find out!)
I recorded Careful What You Wish For off of Starz on November 4th. It’s one of two films in which Nick Jonas appeared in 2016. (The other film was the underrated Goat, which I really should get around to reviewing some day. Maybe if I ever finish cleaning out this damn DVR, I’ll finally get a chance to get caught up on reviewing all of the other movies that I’ve seen this year.)
Anyway, in Careful What You Wish For, Nick plays Doug. Doug is kind of a dorky, creepy guy who spends the summer at his parent’s lakehouse. His neighbors are the Harpers. Elliott Harper is super rich banker and he’s played by Dermot Mulroney so you know he’s no good. Lena Harper (played by Isabel Lucas) is blonde, young, and always seems to be in the process of removing her bikini top whenever Doug comes around.
Doug is soon lusting over Lena and Lena appears to feel the same way. Soon, they’re having an affair that is probably about as torrid as anything involving Nick Jonas can be. Lena tells Doug that Elliott abuses her. Doug says that she needs to get away from her husband. Lena says that Elliott would kill her if she ever tried to leave…
And then Walter Neff shows up and starts talking about insurance…
Okay, no, he doesn’t. But he might as well because Careful What You Wish For is pretty much a by-the-numbers film noir. It’s obvious to everyone what’s going to happen. Or, I should say, it’s obvious to everyone but Doug. Doug is such a goony dumbass that his whole reaction to everything that happens can be summed up as: “At least I got laid.”
Personally, I think the film made a huge mistake by not having Doug wear a purity ring that he could dramatically remove before having sex with Lena. Seriously, this film could have used some moments of self-awareness like that. (And I do feel a little bit guilty about making fun of Nick here because he actually gives a pretty good performance in Goat.) But no, instead, we get a scene where a bare chested Nick eats an Oreo cookie and it’s kinda gross because he really gets into eating that cookie. I mean, Nick really tries to show us every second of pleasure that Nick gets from that Oreo. But the thing is, Oreo cookies are gross and overrated and to me, there’s nothing more disgusting than watching as someone dips an Oreo into milk and then gets milk all over their chin when they eat it. UGH!
But, listen — if you’ve ever wanted to see Nick Jonas roll an Oreo cookie over his lover’s bare ass, Careful What You Wish For is definitely for you.
