Category Archives: Film

The Power of the Dog Wins In North Dakota!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On Monday, the North Dakota Film Society announced their picks for the best of 2021 and it led to another victory for The Power of the Dog!

Here are all the winners in North Dakota:

Best Picture
FLEE (Monia Hellstrom and Signe Byrge Sorensen)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson and Steven Rales)
LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy, JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi)
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (J. Miles Dale, Guillermo del Toro and Bradley Cooper)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Jane Campion and Tanya Seghatchian)

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson (LICORICE PIZZA)
Wes Anderson (THE FRENCH DISPATCH)
Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Guillermo del Toro (NIGHTMARE ALLEY)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain (THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE)
Alana Haim (LICORICE PIZZA)
Renate Reinsve (THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD)
Agathe Rousselle (TITANE)
Kristen Stewart (SPENCER)

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage (PIG)
Bradley Cooper (NIGHTMARE ALLEY)
Benedict Cumberbatch (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Andrew Garfield (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)
Denzel Washington (THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH)

Best Supporting Actress
Caitriona Balfe (BELFAST)
Jessie Buckley (THE LOST DAUGHTER)
Ariana DeBose (WEST SIDE STORY)
Kirsten Dunst (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Ruth Negga (PASSING)

Best Supporting Actor
Bradley Cooper (LICORICE PIZZA)
Robin de Jesus (TICK, TICK…BOOM!)
Mike Faist (WEST SIDE STORY)
Ciaran Hinds (BELFAST)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (THE POWER OF THE DOG)

Best Screenplay
C’MON C’MON (Mike Mills)
DRIVE MY CAR (Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Oe Takamasa)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Wes Anderson, Jascon Schwartzman and Roman Coppola)
LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Jane Campion)

Best Cinematography
DUNE (Greig Fraser)
THE GREEN KNIGHT(Andrew Droz Palermo)
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Dan Laustsen)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Ari Wegner)
WEST SIDE STORY (Janusz Kaminski)

Best Film Editing
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Andrew Weisblum)
LICORICE PIZZA (Andy Jurgensen)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Peter Sciberras)
TICK, TICK…BOOM! (Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum)
WEST SIDE STORY (Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn)

Best Production Design
DUNE (Patrice Vermette, Richard Roberts and Zsuzsanna Sipos)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo)
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Grant Major and Amber Richards)
WEST SIDE STORY (Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo)

Best Costume Design
CRUELLA (Jenny Beavan)
DUNE (Jacqueline West)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Milena Canonero)
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (Odile Dicks-Mireaux)
WEST SIDE STORY (Paul Tazewell)

Best Sound
DUNE (Mac Ruth, Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett)
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (Julian Slater, Dan Morgan, Colin Nicolson and Tim Cavagin)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Robert Mackenzie, Richard Flynn, Leah Katz, Tara Webb and Dave Whitehead)
TICK, TICK…BOOM! (Paul Hsu and Tod A. Maitland)
WEST SIDE STORY (Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, Tod A. Maitland and Shawn Murphy)

Best Visual Effects
DUNE (Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer)
THE GREEN KNIGHT (Kev Cahill)
NO TIME TO DIE (Charlie Noble and Chris Corbould)
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Walker and Dan Oliver)
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
CRUELLA (Nadia Stacey and Carolyn Cousins)
DUNE (Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr)
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE (Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh)
THE GREEN KNIGHT (Eileen Buggy, Audrey Doyle and Barrie Gower)
WEST SIDE STORY (Judy Chin and Kay Georgiou)

Best Original Score
DUNE (Hans Zimmer)
ENCANTO (Germaine Franco)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Alexandre Desplat)
THE HARDER THEY FALL (Jeymes Samuel)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Jonny Greenwood)

Best Original Song
ANNETTE – “So May We Start” (Ron Mael and Russell Mael)
DON’T LOOK UP – “Just Look Up” (Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi and Taura Stinson)
ENCANTO – “Dos Oruguitas” (Lin-Manuel Miranda)
KING RICHARD – “Be Alive” (Beyonce and Dixson)
NO TIME TO DIE – “No Time to Die” (Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell)

Best Animated Feature
ENCANTO (Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Charise Castro Smith)
FLEE (Jonas Poher Rasmussen)
LUCA (Enrico Casarosa)
THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES (Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe)
THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS (Patrick Imbert)

Best Documentary Feature
THE FIRST WAVE (Matthew Heineman)
FLEE (Jonas Poher Rasmussen)
PROCESSION (Robert Greene)
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (Questlove)
VAL (Ting Poo and Leo Scott)

Best International Feature
DRIVE MY CAR (Hamaguchi Ryusuke) – Japan
FLEE (Jonas Poher Rasmussen) – Denmark
THE HAND OF GOD (Paolo Sorrentino) – Italy
TITANE (Julia Ducournau) – France
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (Norway) – Joachim Trier

The African-American Film Critics Association Named The Harder They Fall As The Best Film of the Year!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On Monday, the African American Film Critics Association named their picks for the best of 2021!  Their pick for film of the year?  The Harder They Fall.

Here are the rest of the winners:

Best Picture: “The Harder They Fall”
Best Director: Jeymes Samuel (“The Harder They Fall”)
Best Screenplay: Adam McKay (“Don’t Look Up”)
Best Actor: Will Smith (“King Richard”)
Best Actress: Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”)
Best Supporting Actor: Corey Hawkins (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”)
Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”)
Breakout Actor: Saniyya Sidney (“King Richard”)
Best Ensemble: “The Harder They Fall”
Emerging Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard”)
Best Music: Jeymes Samuel, Kid Cudi & Jay-Z (“The Harder They Fall”)
Best Independent Feature: “Who We Are”
Best Documentary: “Summer of Soul”

The Bravos (1972, directed by Ted Post)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Major John David Harkness (George Peppard) is the commander of Fort Bravo, a small and ill-equipped frontier fort.  Despite having only 77 soldiers and not many supplies, Harkness has managed to keep an uneasy peace between the local Indian tribes and the settlers who move through the area.  The peace, however, is disturbed when an arrogant wagon master (Pernell Roberts) kills the son of the tribal chief.

That’s not all that Harkness has to worry about.  A German outlaw (Bo Svenson) is hiding out at the camp.  His head scout (L.Q. Jones) suspects that something is forcing the local tribes out of the area.  Two settlers from Missouri (played by Barry Brown and Belinda Montgomery) are at the fort and trying to decide whether they should continue westward or return to Missouri.  Finally, Harkness’s 12 year-old son, Peter (Vincent Van Patten), has been expelled from his New England boarding school and is being sent to Fort Bravo to live with his father.  When Major Harkness refuses to turn the wagon master over to the Indians, they kidnap his son instead.

The Bravos was made for television and originally aired on ABC in 1972.  It was apparently meant to serve as the pilot for a television series, one that would have followed the daily adventures of the Major, his son, and all of the men at Fort Bravo (who were played by television mainstays like Dana Elcar, Randolph Mantooth, and George Murdock.)  For all intents and purposes, Pernell Roberts, Bo Svenson, Belinda Montgomery, and Barry Brown are all “special guest stars” and are meant to serve as examples of the type of television-friendly actors who would visit Fort Bravo on a weekly basis.  That the pilot didn’t lead to a series isn’t surprising.  TV westerns may have dominated the ratings in the 50s and the 60s but they quickly went out of fashion in the 70s as networks realized that they could make more money selling ad space for Norman Lear sitcoms and cop shows.  In the 70s, the people that advertisers were wanting to reach were watching Archie Bunker and Starsky and Hutch, not George Peppard.

Because of its TV origins, The Bravos is a fairly bland western.  It would be a few years before George Peppard would reinvent himself as a grizzled character actor and he’s sincere but fairly dull here.  Pernell Roberts is more effective as the headstrong wagon master and perhaps The Bravos would have worked better if Roberts and Peppard had switched roles.  In the end, the main reason to see the film is for the chance to see L.Q. Jones play a heroic role for once.  A member of Sam Peckinpah’s stock company, Jones brings some authentic grit to his role as the fort’s only scout.  Jones played a lot of villains but I always preferred him as one of the good guys.

The Bravos ends with a few major subplots unresolved.  Maybe they would have been resolved during the show’s first season but it was not to be.

Film Review: Assault on VA-33 (dir by Christopher Ray)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Adrian (Weston Cage Coppola) is an international criminal and terrorist, a man who isn’t going to let a little thing like being wanted by the FBI prevent him from getting what he wants.  Adrian wants his brother to be freed from prison.  He wants money.  He wants a plane that he and his criminal associates can use to get out of the country.  His plan is to take over a veteran’s hospital and hold the patients and the doctors hostage until he gets what he wants.  Among the hostages is General Welch (Gerald Webb) of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Also inside of VA-33 is Jason Hill (Sean Patrick Flannery).  Jason is a decorated veteran who is struggling with PTSD and a bad leg.  Jason’s wife, Jennifer (Gina Holden), is a doctor at the hospital and also one of the hostages.  With his 14 year-old daughter waiting for him outside and the initially skeptical police chief Malone (Michael Jai White) providing as much support as he can, Jason must take out of the terrorists and liberate VA-33.

Assault on VA-33 is an entertaining action film.  The film was directed by Christopher Ray, the son of Fred Olen Ray.  From his father, Christopher Ray obviously picked up the ability to make an enjoyable film on a low budget.  However, Ray also served, for seven years, in the U.S. Navy and there’s a deep respect for veterans that runs throughout Assault on VA-33, a respect that sets this film apart from many of the other Die Hard-inspired action films that have come out over the years.  For me, the film’s key scene is not any of the many action sequences but instead it’s when Jason first attempts to call the police and finds himself being dismissed because the man on the other end, upon hearing that Jason is at the VA, just assumes that Jason is suffering from paranoid hallucinations.  “Thank you for your service,” the voice at the other end of the line says somewhat condescendingly as Jason struggles to get the police to understand that this is all really happening.  The consequences of war is a theme that runs through the entire film as both Jason and the General struggle to deal with the physical and mental scars with which they’ve been afflicted.

Sean Patrick Flannery is a good action hero, playing Jason not as being superhuman but instead as just being a tough but weary man who, due to his past injuries, doesn’t move quite as fast as he used to but who is still trying to do the right thing and protect innocent people, including his wife and his daughter.  Adrian’s henchmen are all properly memorable and menacing.  I especially liked Tim McKiernan as the terrorist who is left in charge of the front desk.  Rob Van Dam has some good moments as the terrorist who has been assigned to wait outside in the van and who keeps reminding everyone that his name is Zero.

Assault on VA-33 is a fun and quickly paced action movie.  Flannery is an effective hero and the villains are all properly evil.  I would also suggest sticking around through the end credits, just so you can enjoy the film’s musical score, which is definitely a bit better than the music that we typically associate with indie action films.  It’s an enjoyable movie and a good way to spend 88 minutes of your life.

Desolation Canyon (2006, directed by David Cass)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

After robbing a bank in a small western town, an outlaw stops by the home of his estranged wife and takes his own son hostage.  The town’s aging sheriff (Patrick Duffy) teams with the boy’s grandfather (Stacy Keach) to take the outlaw down and save the child’s life.  Accompanying them is the bank president, Edwin Bornstein (David Rees Snell).  Edwin may be a city boy who talks about how much he’s always wanted to say “I reckon,” but it turns out that there’s more to him than meets the eye.  He’s also good with a gun.

I probably should have given up on Desolation Canyon as soon as I saw that it was a “Hallmark Presents” film but I like westerns and Stacy Keach has always done well whenever he’s been cast as a gunslinger so I decided to give it a try.  Starting with a bank robbery and endings with a duel, Desolation Canyon is about as old-fashioned as an old-fashioned western can be.  Because it was made by Hallmark, there’s nothing dangerous or edgy about the film.  A few people do get shot but there’s no blood.  The shoot outs in Red Dead Redemption are more violent and suspenseful than anything to be found in this film.  (Of course, that’s because most of the shootouts in Red Dead Redemption occur because the play pushed the wrong button while trying to greet someone.  I still feel bad for accidentally shooting the kindly old homesteader who just wanted someone to help him collect some flowers for his wife.)  This is the type of western that you can safely watch with your grandparents, since that’s who the film was made for.  That’s not bad because grandparents need movies to but if you’re looking for a complex or an unpredictable western in the style of a Larry McMurtry novel or a later Eastwood film, I reckon this ain’t it.

Giving some credit where credit is due, Stacy Keach, David Rees Snell, and even Patrick Duffy are credible in their roles.  Stacy Keach is especially convincing a former gunfighter who can still outdraw anyone.  Stacy Keach is 81 years old and still working.  Someone needs to write a great Stacy Keach role and they need to do it now.

Space Rage (1985, directed by Conrad E. Palmisano)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Space Rage is a mix of science fiction and the old west.

In what the movie insists is the far future, a sadistic and notorious criminal named Grange (Michael Pare) is a captured after robbing the Bank of the Moon. As his punishment, he’s sent to a prison planet called Botany Bay. Despite the name, the entire prison is a desert. (Maybe they named it after the doomed colony from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.) The prison is run by Gov. Tovah (William Windom), who uses the prisoners as slave labor in his mines. Grange doesn’t want to work as a miner so he plots his escape. There’s only one shuttle that goes from Botany Bay to Earth and Grange plans to be in control of it.

Two men are determined to stop Grange and his partners from escaping the planet. Walker (John Laughlin) is a young bounty hunter who is haunted by he death of his wife. The Colonel (Richard Farnsworth) is a former policeman who is haunted by nightmares of his time on Earth. Working together, the inexperienced Walker and the crusty, old Colonel try to thwart Grange’s plans.  Grange has an itchy trigger finger and is willing to kill anyone to get what he wants.  Grange may be quick on the draw but the Colonel might be even quicker.

Space Rage starts out as a western before becoming a prison film before then concluding as a Mad Max rip-off, with everyone chasing each other through the desert in intergalactic dune buggies.  The movie is only 75 minutes long but due to a repetitive soundtrack and some less than inspired dialogue, it often feels longer. The Botany Bay is too obviously Southern California to be an effective setting and neither Michael Pare nor John Laughlin seem to be invested in their roles. Not surprisingly, the film’s greatest strength is Richard Farnsworth, playing another no-nonsense veteran tough guy and doing what a man has to do to keep Earth safe.  His presence alone does not make Space Rage worth watching but it definitely helps.  It’s a good thing he was out there looking out for us.

25 Best, Worst, and Gems Val Saw In 2021

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

I had a lot of screenshots to choose from this year to use to open this post. There was Tab Hunter shooting a magic arrow from a flying carpet, someone in a dog suit trying to lick Elvis Presley, Betty Compson doing Cinemax shadow theatre in 1929, chandeliers made of women, and much, much more. I decided to go with the geeky choice. That’s Warren Beatty in Kaleidoscope (1966) demonstrating a supply chain attack.

He breaks into a factory that makes playing cards for the different casinos/clubs in the area. He marks the originals that will be used to print the cards. Then he sits back and waits for the marked cards to be printed and delivered securely, end-to-end, to the casinos/clubs. He can win as much as he wants because all the cards are pre-marked. Is he winning too much? No worries, cause even if the casino opens up a fresh deck, they’re marked too. Of course he eventually runs into a problem when the film realizes it doesn’t have a story beyond this neat idea.

As you might have guessed from my mention of Tab Hunter, Elvis Presley, Betty Compson, and a staple of pre-code films, I watched a lot of TCM last year. I don’t know what happened. I haven’t watched the channel this much in close to 15 years. But It was well worth it. It help me rediscover why I got into film back in the mid-2000s.

Unfortunately, unlike previous years, I only got through 761 films. On the other hand, this year I don’t have to stretch things to have 25 best films. The sheer tonnage of garbage I watched in 2020 made that a tough list to compile.

I do have to preface these lists with a little bit of information. Since I was watching TCM, it meant that I did several of their Stars Of The Month (John Garfield, Doris Day, and Elvis Presley). I watched a lot of films during the month where they only play Oscar nominated films. Finally, I also sat through almost every official IOC commissioned Olympic film. I try to have a variety of different films when I make these lists. It was just more difficult this time because of the large clumps of similar films.

The rules are the same as in previous years:

  1. There is no particular order to the films in these lists. They either made it, or they didn’t.
  2. These lists do not necessarily have films that came out in 2021. These are films that I saw for the first time in 2021. Unlike previous years, there is actually one from 2021. I wanted to include at least one this time.
  3. The gems list has films that don’t make the best list, but I want to put a spotlight on them.
  4. Disagree with any of my choices? Good! I want people to form their own opinions and think for themselves. But if you care to share those opinions, then be nice about it.
  5. I link to reviews of these movies if I can find any that have been written by one of our contributors here on Through the Shattered Lens.

One final thing of note is that The IX Olympiad In Amsterdam (1928) is the Italian cut. It’s not the slightly less awful version–The Olympic Games, Amsterdam 1928 (1928)–that was done in Germany by UFA to try and get Dutch theaters to stop boycotting the film. Perhaps they were boycotting the film because it is the worst Olympic movie ever made.

On With The Show! (1929, Alan Crosland)

Anyways, ON WITH THE LISTS!

The Breaking Point (1950, dir. Michael Curtiz)

Best:

  1. I Married A Witch (1942)
  2. Fantastic Planet (1973)
  3. The Breaking Point (1950)
  4. The Best Man (1964)
  5. The Big Chill (1984)
  6. On Borrowed Time (1939)
  7. An Enemy Of The People (1989)
  8. The Holy Man (1965)
  9. I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
  10. The Life Of Emile Zola (1937)
  11. The Story Of Louis Pasteur (1936)
  12. 16 Days Of Glory (1985)
  13. Sapporo Winter Olympics (1972)
  14. The Olympics In Mexico (1969)
  15. White Rock (1977)
  16. Elvis: That’s The Way It Is (1970)
  17. Elvis On Tour (1972)
  18. Born Yesterday (1950)
  19. Dark Passage (1947)
  20. Babbitt (1934)
  21. Five Came Back (1939)
  22. Tarzan And His Mate (1934)
  23. Kind Lady (1935)
  24. Love Affair (1939)
  25. I Never Sang For My Father (1970)

Slappy And The Stinkers (1998, dir. Barnet Kellman)

Worst:

  1. Adventure Girl (1934)
  2. Starlift (1951)
  3. Dulcy (1940)
  4. Stay Away, Joe (1968)
  5. The IX Olympiad In Amsterdam (1928)
  6. The Crowded Sky (1960)
  7. Solarbabies (1986)
  8. Catalina Caper (1967)
  9. Slappy And The Stinkers (1998)
  10. Little Orvie (1940)
  11. Kisses For Breakfast (1941)
  12. She Had To Say Yes (1933)
  13. Hold ‘Em Jail (1932)
  14. That’s Right – You’re Wrong (1939)
  15. The Tunnel Of Love (1958)
  16. Lower Learning (2008)
  17. Tickle Me (1965)
  18. Rings Of The World (2014)
  19. Forsaking All Others (1934)
  20. The Woman In The Window (2021)
  21. Show Of Shows (1929) (I recommend reading the NY Times review from 1929)
  22. Snows Of Grenoble (1968)
  23. Cats (2019)
  24. Dawning Of The Dead (2017)
  25. Keep Watching (2017)

Mrs. O’Malley And Mr. Malone (1950, dir. Norman Taurog)

Gems:

  1. Four Daughters (1938)
  2. Daughters Courageous (1939)
  3. Mrs. O’Malley And Mr. Malone (1950)
  4. Cast A Dark Shadow (1955)
  5. It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
  6. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
  7. Downstairs (1932)
  8. Jewel Robbery (1932)
  9. Hell’s Angels (1930)
  10. Conquest (1983)
  11. The Sheepman (1958)
  12. Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
  13. Scissors (1991)
  14. Mandalay (1934)
  15. On With The Show! (1929)
  16. Black Panthers (1968)
  17. Flying High (1931)
  18. Inside Daisy Clover (1965)
  19. Kaleidoscope (1966)
  20. Abar, The First Black Superman (1977)
  21. Girlfriends (1978)
  22. The Golden Arrow (1962)
  23. Superman (1980)
  24. Lifeguard (1976)
  25. Crooks Anonymous (1962)

Abar, The First Black Superman (1977, dir. Frank Packard)

Drive My Car Wins in Toronto!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier today, the Toronto Film Critics Association named Drive My Car as the best film of 2021!

Here are all the winners from the hometown of Degrassi:

Best Film
Winner: ​DRIVE MY CAR
Runners Up: LICORICE PIZZA & THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Director
Winner: ​Jane Campion – THE POWER OF THE DOG
Runners Up: Ryusuke Hamaguchi – DRIVE MY CAR & Denis Villeneuve – DUNE

Best Screenplay
Winner: ​DRIVE MY CAR
Runners Up: LICORICE PIZZA & THE POWER OF THE DOG

Best Actress
Winner: ​Olivia Colman – THE LOST DAUGHTER
Runners Up: Penelope Cruz – PARALLEL MOTHERS & Kristen Stewart – SPENCER

Best Actor
Winner: ​Denzel Washington – THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Runners Up: Benedict Cumerbatch – THE POWER OF THE DOG & Andrew Garfield – TICK, TICK…BOOM!

Best First Feature
Winner: ​THE LOST DAUGHTER
Runners Up: PASSING, PIG & SHIVA BABY

Best Documentary
Winner: SUMMER OF SOUL
Runners Up: FLEE & THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: ​DRIVE MY CAR
Runners Up: PETITE MAMAN & THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Best Animated Feature
Winner: FLEE
Runners Up: ENCANTO & THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Jessie Buckley – THE LOST DAUGHTER
Runners Up: Kirsten Dunst – THE POWER OF THE DOG & Ruth Negga – PASSING

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Bradley Cooper – LICORICE PIZZA
Runners Up: Ciarán Hinds – BELFAST & Kodi Smit-McPhee – THE POWER OF THE DOG

The Power of the Dog Wins In Kansas City!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Power of the Dog picked up another award for Best Picture today when the Kansas City Film Critics Circle (KCFCC) announced their picks for the best of 2021!

Here are all the winners from Kansas City!

Best Picture
Winner: The Power Of The Dog
Runner-Up: West Side Story

Best Director
Winner: Jane Campion – The Power Of The Dog
Runner-Up: Steven Spielberg – West Side Story

Best Actor
Winner: Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power Of The Dog
Runner-Up: Andrew Garfield – Tick, Tick…Boom!

Best Actress
Winner: Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Runner-Up: Kristen Stewart – Spencer

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
Runner-Up: Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power Of The Dog

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Ann Dowd – Mass
Runner-Up: Ariana DeBose – West Side Story

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Licorice Pizza
Runner-Up: The French Dispatch

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: West Side Story
Runner-Up: Drive My Car

Best Cinematography
Winner: The Tragedy Of Macbeth
Runner-Up: Dune

Best Animated Film
Winner: The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Runner-Up: Flee

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Drive My Car
Runners-Up: The Worst Person In The World

Best Documentary
Winner: Summer Of Soul
Runner-Up: Procession

Vince Koehler Award For Best SciFi/Horror/Fantasy
Winner: The Green Knight
Runner-Up: Dune

Tom Poe Award For Best LBGTQ Film
Winner: Flee
Runner-Up: The Power Of The Dog

I Watched Forever Strong (2008, dir. by Ryan Little)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Rick Penning (Sean Faris) is the captain of his high school rugby team and the team’s highest scorer.  He’s also the son of the team’s coach (Neal McDonough).  Coach Penning is obsessed with winning at all costs and refuses to tell his son that he’s proud of him.  Coach Penning believes that emotion equals weakness and that only losers brag about doing their best.  After a loss to the Highland High school rugby team, which is coached by Larry Gelwix (Gary Cole), Rick and his teammates blow of steam by drinking, driving, and crashing a car.

Rick is sentenced to juvie but his case officer (Sean Astin) can see that Rick needs rugby in his life so he arranges for Rick to play with the Highland Team.  At first, Rick resents the new team and doesn’t want to follow Coach Gelwix’s advice on or off the field.  Coach Gelwix makes the team do community projects while they’re not training and Rick says that’s not his thing.  Rick just wants to score points and he doesn’t care about teamwork.  But the team and the coach eventually win Rick over and, once Rick gets over being selfish and starts playing for the team instead of just himself, Highland High starts winning games and Rick becomes the team’s newest captain.  But, when Rick gets paroled from juvie, he’s sent back home to his father, who expects Rick to reveal all of Highland’s secret plays and weaknesses.  When Rick refuses to betray Coach Gelwix, his former teammates frame him and get him sent back to juvie.  Rick ends up playing for Highland again, just in time for the state championship and a chance to lead Highland against his father’s team.

Forever Strong had a good message but, from the first minute, I know what was going to happen and how it was going to all end.  The story was pretty predictable and the movie seemed to assume that everyone watching would already know everything that they needed to know about rugby.  At my high school, athletics pretty much meant football.  I don’t think we even had a rugby team.  (If we did, we never cheered at their games, which I feel bad about.)  Whenever everyone in the movie was arguing about the right way to play rugby and which position on the team was the most important, I was lost.  I did like Gary Cole as Coach Gelwix.  He was the type of coach that every parent should hope coaches their child’s team.