Category Archives: Film

Here Are The 2025 Nominations of the North Texas Film Critics Association

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are the nominations of the North Texas Film Critics Association.

BEST PICTURE
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine
Michael Jordan – Sinners
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Paul Mescal – Hamnet
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

BEST DIRECTOR
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
It Was Just an Accident (France)
No Other Choice (South Korea)
Sentimental Value (Norway)
Sirāt (Spain)
The Secret Agent (Brazil)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Deaf President Now
Orwell: 2+2=5
The Alabama Solution
The Perfect Neighbor

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Arco
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Ne Zha 2
Zootopia 2

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Michael Bauman – One Battle After Another
Autumn Durald Arkapaw – Sinners
Dan Laustsen – Frankenstein
Adolpho Veloso – Train Dreams
Łukasz Żal – Hamnet

BEST NEWCOMER
Miles Caton – Sinners
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Alfie Williams – 28 Years Later

BEST SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson & Thomas Pynchon – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Zach Cregger – Weapons
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Josh Safdie & Ronald Bronstein – Marty Supreme
Will Tracy – Bugonia
Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet

GARY MURRAY AWARD (BEST ENSEMBLE)
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Weapons

Holidays On The Lens: Christmas Twister (dir by Peter Sullivan)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2012 film Christmas Twister tells the story of what happens when several twisters hit North Texas on Christmas Day.  For a film taking place in the DFW area (a region that is called the flatlands for a reason), there’s a surprisingly large amount of mountains around.

I mean check out the road leading to Fort Worth:

Check out the town of Gransbury!

Guess which movie was definitely not filmed in Texas!

That said, Casper Van Dien manfully drives across the city, saving his children from the tornado and encouraging folks to stay inside. Plus, the film features a perfect shot that shows that the filmmakers did understand at least one thing about Texas:

Hell yeah!  The flag of Texas and some other country!

Enjoy Christmas Twister:

Join #MondayMania For A Wife’s Nightmare!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!  Tonight, on twitter, I will be hosting one of my favorite films for #MondayMania!  Join us for 2014’s A Wife’s Nightmare!

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!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Freddie Francis Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

On this date, 108 years ago, Freddie Francis was born.  Though Francis may be best remembered as a cinematographer (who worked on three David Lynch films), he was also a director who did memorable work for both Hammer and Amicus in the 60s and 70s.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Freddie Francis Films

The Evil of Frankenstein (1963, dir by Freddie Francis, DP: John Wilcox)

The Skull (1965, dir by Freddie Francis, DP: John Wilcox)

Dracula Has Risen The Grave (1968, dir by Freddie Francis, DP: Arthur Grant)

The Creeping Flesh (1973, dir by Freddie Francis, DP: Norman Warwick)

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For 12 Disasters of Christmas!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally 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 2012’s 12 Disasters of Christmas!

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, find the movie on YouTube and hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  The  watch party community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

See you soon!

I Watched “Holiday In Handcuffs” (2007, Dir. by Ron Underwood)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Lisa recommended Holiday in Handcuffs to me.  I said, “I need a break from Hallmark Christmas romances.”  She said, “A.C. Slater in handcuffs.”  I said, “I’ll hold onto the key.”

It’s Christmas time but Trudie (Melissa Joan Hart) doesn’t want to go home.  She fears that she’s disappointed her parents (Timothy Bottoms and Markie Post) because she’s only a cook in a diner and she doesn’t have a rich boyfriend.  Then she sees the obviously successful David Martin (Mario Lopez) having lunch at the diner so she decides to kidnap him, take him home for Christmas, and tell everyone that they’re a couple.  That’s a crime, by the way.

I’m almost embarrassed about how much I enjoyed this movie.  I respect the law and I don’t think you should break it, even to get a boyfriend.  You shouldn’t kidnap anyone, especially at Christmas.  Trudie and David won me over, though.  This was made for ABC Family so even though it involves a kidnapping, it’s a very nice kidnapping.  Trudie may have committed a felony and, at first, David isn’t happy about being kidnapped but soon, Trudie and David are falling in love.  David goes from calling the cops to getting down on one knee. June Lockhart plays Trudie’s grandmother and calls the police “pigs.”  That’s the power of Christmas.   It’s a cute movie that features a heroine who does the exact thing that you should not try at home and who gets Mario Lopez as a result.  Maybe it’s just the holiday spirit getting to me but I loved this unhinged Christmas romance.

Here are the 2025 nominations of the Utah Film Critics Association!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are the 2025 nominations of the Utah Film Critics Association!

Best Picture
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sorry, Baby
Train Dreams

Best Achievement in Directing
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler – Sinners

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

Best Lead Performance – Female
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Best Supporting Performance – Male
Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet
Paul Mescal – Hamnet
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Performance – Female
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners

Best Ensemble
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Warfare

Vice/Martin Award for Performance in a Science-Fiction – Fantasy – or Horror Film
Alfie Williams – 28 Years Later
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Elle Fanning – Predator: Badlands
Indy the Dog – Good Boy
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

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

Best Cinematography
F1
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best Score
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best Film Editing
F1
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Warfare

Best Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire And Ash
Frankenstein
Predator: Badlands
Sinners
Superman

Best Sound
F1
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Warfare

Best Stunt Design
F1
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
Predator: Badlands
The Running Man

Best Documentary Feature
2000 Meters to Andriivka
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
The Librarians
Orwell: 2+2=5
The Perfect Neighbor

Best Animated Feature
Arco
Elio
K-Pop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Best Non-English Language Feature
It Was Just an Accident
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sirāt

The Women Film Critics Circle Honors If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Women Film Critics Circle has announced its picks for the best of 2025.  And here they are:

Best Movie About Women
Winner: If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Runners Up: Hamnet, Eleanor the Great & Sorry, Baby

Best Movie by a Woman
Winner: Chloé Zhao (Hamnet)
Runners Up: Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby), Lynne Ramsay (Die My Love) & Mary Bronstein If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)

Best Woman Storyteller (Screenwriting Award)
Winner: Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell (Hamnet)
Runners Up: Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby), Lynne Ramsay, Alice Birch (with Enda Walsh) (Die My Love) & Mary Bronstein (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)

Best Actress
Winner: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Runners Up: Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Amanda Seyfried (The Testament of Ann Lee) & Jennifer Lawrence (Die My Love)

Best Actor
Winner: Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)
Runners Up: Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another) & Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Regina Hall (One Battle After Another)
Runners Up: Andrea Riseborough (Goodbye June), Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme) & Samantha Morton (Anemone)

Best Foreign Film by or About Women
Winner (tie): Left-Handed Girl
Winner (tie): The Voice of Hind Rajab
Runners Up: All That’s Left of You & Belén

Best Documentary by or About Women
Winner: My Mom Jayne
Runners Up: The Perfect Neighbor, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk & The Librarians

Best Equality of the Sexes
Winner: Sinners
Runners Up: The Testament of Ann Lee, Lilly & Tatami

Best Animated Female
Winner: Rumi (K-Pop Demon Hunters)
Runners Up (tie): Amélie (Little Amélie or the Character of Rain) & Judy Hopps (Zootopia 2)
Runner Up: Scarlet (Scarlet)

Best Screen Couple
Winner: Wunmi Mosaku and Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)
Runners Up: Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal (Hamnet), Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller (Eternity) & Laura Dern and Will Arnett (Is This Thing On?)

Best TV Series
Winner: Hacks (Season 4)
Runners Up: Dying for Sex, The Girlfriend & The White Lotus (Season 3)

Adrienne Shelly Award*
For a film that most passionately opposes violence against women
Winner: Sorry, Baby
Runners Up: Christy, Companion & Lilly

Josephine Baker Award*
For best expressing the woman of color experience in America
Winner: Sinners
Runners Up: Hedda, Rosemead & Wicked: For Good

Karen Morley Award*
For best exemplifying a woman’s place in history or society, and a courageous search for identity
Winner: Eleanor the Great
Runners Up (tie): Die My Love & The Testament of Ann Lee
Runner Up: Familiar Touch

Acting and Activism Award
America Ferrera

Lifetime Achievement Award
Diane Keaton

One Battle After Another Wins In Kansas City

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Kansas City Film Critics Circle have announced their picks for the best of 2025.  The winners are listed in bold.

BEST FILM
Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Weapons

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Ari Aster – Eddington
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Rian Johnson – Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

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

BEST ACTRESS
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Emma Stone – Bugonia

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Josh O’Connor – Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Glenn Close – Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Sorry, Baby
Weapons

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Frankenstein
Hamnet
The Life of Chuck
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
F1 The Movie
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Sinners

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Tron: Ares

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Arco
The Bad Guys 2
KPop Demon Hunters
Predator: Killer of Killers
Zootopia 2

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Arco
It Was Just an Accident
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value

BEST DOCUMENTARY
My Mom Jayne
Orwell: 2+2=5
The Perfect Neighbor
Secret Mall Apartment
We Best the Dream Team

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR
28 Years Later
Frankenstein
Sinners
Superman
Weapons

TOM POE AWARD FOR BEST LGBTQ FILM
Hedda
The History of Sound
Twinless
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
The Wedding Banquet

BUSTER KEATON AWARD FOR THE BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE FILM
F1 The Movie
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Nobody 2
The Running Man
Warfare