What a Lovely Day! The National Board of Review Honors Mad Max: Fury Road!


MadMaxFuryRoad

OH MY GOD!

So, like a lot of people, I was expecting the National Board of Review to name Spotlight as best picture of the year.  I haven’t seen Spotlight yet but I have to admit that I’m already kind of bored of hearing about how it’s the Oscar front-runner.  I mean, for all I know, Spotlight could be the best film ever made but I like it when my awards season is interesting.  It’s boring when one film — like The Social Network a few years ago — keeps winning every single award.

So, with all that in mind, I was really happy to hear that the National Board of Review picked Mad Max: Fury Road for best picture.  I was happy because not only is Fury Road a really great movie that deserves the love but also because it was just so unexpected!  Way to go, NBR!

(The only thing that would have made things better would have been if the Guitar Guy had won Best Supporting Actor.)

Now, I’d caution anyone about getting too excited.  Just because a film wins one of the precursor awards, that does not mean that it’s going to be nominated come Oscar time.  Last year, for instance, the NBR picked A Most Violent Year for best picture.  However, at the same time, it can be argued that the momentum that led to Her being nominated in 2014 began with its victory at the NBR.

So, who knows?

Anyway, here are the NBR winners!

Best Film:  Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director:  Ridley Scott – The Martian

Best Actor:  Matt Damon – The Martian

Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room

Best Supporting Actor:  Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Best Supporting Actress:  Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight

Best Original Screenplay:  Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight

Best Adapted Screenplay:  Drew Goddard – The Martian

Best Animated Feature:  Inside Out
Breakthrough Performance:  Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation & Jacob Tremblay – Room

Best Directorial Debut:  Jonas Carpignano – Mediterranea

Best Foreign Language Film:  Son of Saul

Best Documentary:  Amy

William K. Everson Film History Award:  Cecilia De Mille Presley

Best Ensemble:  The Big Short

Spotlight Award: Sicario for Outstanding Collaborative Vision

NBR Freedom of Expression Award:  Beasts of No Nation & Mustang

Top Films

Top 5 Foreign Language Films

  • Goodnight Mommy
  • Mediterranea
  • Phoenix
  • The Second Mother
  • The Tribe

Top 5 Documentaries

  • Best of Enemies
  • The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
  • The Diplomat
  • Listen to Me Marlon
  • The Look of Silence

Top 10 Independent Films

6 Trailers For 6 Films That 6 People Might Watch in 2015!


So, I should start out by explaining that this is not the latest entry in my soon-to-be-revived series, Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers.  Instead, these are 6 trailers for 6 films that you will have a chance to see in 2015!

Seriously, it’s always good to start a new year with something to look forward to, right?

1) 71

This one look intense, no?  Jack O’Connell plays a British soldier who, during the British occupation of Northern Ireland, finds himself lost behind enemy lines in Belfast.  Jack O’Connell is a rising star and the film won best director at the British Independent Film Awards.

2) Veronika Decides to Die

This was actually filmed in 2008, premiered in Brazil in 2009, played in Germany in 2010, and, seven years later, it’s finally getting a U.S. release.  It’ll premiere in theaters and on VOD on January 20th and then, in March, it’ll be released on DVD.  That would seem to indicate that First Look International, the film’s distributor, doesn’t have much faith in it.  But you know what?  Some of the best films ever made were distributed by people who had no faith.  This could be a challenging, edgy film.  Or it could be crap.

We’ll find out!

3) A Little Chaos

This historical drama stars Kate Winslet and it was directed by Alan Rickman!  The trailer looks gorgeous.  I majored in art history so I have to admit that I will always have a weakness for films like this.

4) Woman in Gold

Will Ryan Reynolds ever star in another good film?  That’s a question that I often find myself pondering.  Reynolds is the type of talented actor who deserves more than co-starring in R.I.P.D. and showing up in a cameo in A Million Ways to Die In The West (BLEH!).

While Woman in Gold does not look to be the type of film that’s going to help re-establish Reynolds as being a rising star, it does look like a film that will give him a chance to remind people that he actually can act.  Undoubtedly, it’ll help that he will be co-starring with Helen Mirren.  Woman in Gold is scheduled to be released on April 3rd.

5) Wild Card

It’s not January unless Jason Statham is killing someone.  2015’s Jason Statham film will be Wild Card.  It’ll be released on January 30th.

6) Blackhat

And finally, we have Blackhat.  It’s scheduled to be released on January 16th.  It’s directed by Michael Mann and stars the official sexiest man alive, Chris Hemsworth.  Apparently, Hemsworth will be helping to capture whoever it was who hacked Sony.

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

Driving Trailer Kitty

Here Are The Online Film Critics Society Nominations!


Film Review Under the Skin

The Online Film Critics Society announced their nominees for the best of 2014 earlier today and what can I say other than the fact that I love them!  Seriously, it’s such a wonderful mix of the expected (Boyhood, Selma) and the unexpected (Ida, Mommy).

If the Oscar nominations look anything like the OFCS nominations, then it will be a very interesting night.  (Unfortunately, they probably won’t…)

(h/t to awardwatch)

Best Picture 
Boyhood 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Ida 
The Lego Movie 
Mommy 
Nightcrawler 
Selma 
Two Days, One Night 
Whiplash 
Under the Skin 

Best Animated Feature 
Big Hero 6 
The Boxtrolls 
How to Train Your Dragon 2 
The Lego Movie 
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 

Best Film Not in the English Language 
Ida 
The Missing Picture 
Mommy 
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 
Two Days, One Night 

Best Documentary 
Citizenfour 
Life Itself 
The Missing Picture 
National Gallery 
The Overnighters 

Best Director 
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne – Two Days, One Night 
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Jonathan Glazer – Under the Skin 
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor 
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Brendan Gleeson – Calvary
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler 
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Timothy Spall – Mr. Turner 

Best Actress 
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night 
Essie Davis – The Babadook 
Anne Dorval – Mommy
Julianne Moore – Still Alice 
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl 

Best Supporting Actor 
Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice 
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year 
Suzanne Clément – Mommy
Agata Kulesza – Ida
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

Best Original Screenplay
Boyhood 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Selma 
Two Days, One Night 
Whiplash 

Best Adapted Screenplay 
Gone Girl 
Inherent Vice 
Snowpiercer 
Under the Skin 
We Are the Best! 

Best Editing 
Birdman 
Boyhood 
Gone Girl 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Whiplash

Best Cinematography 
Birdman 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Ida 
Mr. Turner 
Under the Skin 

Best Non-U.S. Release (non-competitive category)
’71 ,
10,000 km ,
Entre Nós ,
Han Gong-ju ,
Hard to Be a God ,
The Look of Silence ,
The Salt of the Earth ,
What We Do in the Shadows ,
Timbuktu ,
The Tribe

Mommy