2017 in Review: Lisa Marie’s Picks For the 16 Worst Films of 2017!

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s the second week of January and that means that it’s time for me to now to announce my picks for the best and worst of the previous year! Let’s start things out with my picks for the 16 worst films of 2017!

(Why 16? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers.)

(Also be sure to check out my picks for 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010!)

16. Fifty Shades Darker,

15. Snatched,

14. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,

13. Transformers: The Last Knight,

12. The Glass Castle,

11. Beatriz at Dinner,

10. Alien: Covenant,

9. Rings,

8. The Last Word,

7. The Circle,

6. Fist Fight,

5. All Eyez On Me,

4. To The Bone,

3. The Emoji Movie,

2. The Book of Henry,

And the worst film of 2017 was…

Wolves at the Door

Tomorrow, my look back at 2017 continues with my picks for the greatest moments for the best and most important television show of 2017, Twin Peaks: The Return!

Previous entries in the TSL’s Look Back at 2017:

Here’s What Won At The Golden Globes!

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Check out the nominations here and the winners below!

Best Picture (Drama) — Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Picture (Comedy) — Lady Bird

Best Director — Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best Screenplay — Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Best Actor (Drama) — Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Best Actor (Comedy) — James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Actress (Drama) — Frances McDormand, Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actress (Comedy) — Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Best Supporting Actor — Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress — Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Animated Feature Film — Coco

Best Foreign Language Film — In the Fade

Best Original Song — “The Is Me” from The Greatest Showman

Best Original Score — Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

Lisa’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions for January!

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

How early can one predict the Oscars?

Well, it depends on how you look at it. You can predict the Oscars at any time during the year. However, predicting them correctly is next to impossible before October. That said, I’m going to give it a shot!

Now, to be clear, this is not an attempt to predict who and what will be nominated later this month. Instead, these are my predictions for what will be nominated next year at this time! I’ll be updating my predictions every month of this year.

So, with all that in mind, here are my way too early predictions for what will be nominated in January of 2019! As of right now, these predictions are a collection of instinct and random guesses. For all we know, some of these films might not even get released in 2018. In all probability, we’ll look back at this list in December and laugh.

Best Picture

Chappaquiddick

First Man

Lizzie

Mary Queen of Scots

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Mortal Engines

A Star is Born

Widows

Wildfire

The Women of Marwen

Best Director

Desiree Akhavon for The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Damien Chazelle for First Man

Paul Dano for Wildfire

Steve McQueen for Widows

Robert Zemeckis for The Women of Marwen

Best Actor

Steve Carell in The Women of Marwen

Jason Clarke in Chappaquiddick

Ryan Gosling in First Man

Jake Gyllenhaal in Wildfire

Joaquin Phoenx in Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot

Best Actress

Viola Davis in Widows

Chloe Grace Moretz in The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Carey Mulligan in Wildfire

Saoirse Ronan in Mary Queen of Scots

Chloe Sevigny in Lizzie

Best Supporting Actor

Jeff Daniels in The Catcher Was A Spy

Bruce Dern in Chappaquiddick

Sam Elliott in A Star is Born

Robert Duvall in Widows

Hugo Weaving in Mortal Engines

Best Supporting Actress

Elizabeth Debicki in Widows

Claire Foy in First Man

Leslie Mann in The Women of Marwen

Kate Mara in Chappaquiddick

Kristen Stewart in Lizzie

A Blast From the Oscar Past: 12 Years A Slave Wins Best Picture

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

165 years ago today, a slave named Solomon Northup received his freedom.

Solomon hadn’t been born a slave. He was born a freedman in Rhode Island and settled, with his family, in New York. He was a man of many trades, though probably best known as a fiddler. He was 32 when, in 1841, he was kidnapped by two men who, claiming he was a fugitive slave that had been recaptured, sold him into slavery. He spent 12 year separated from his family, working on plantations across the Deep South. It was while he was owned by the cruel (even by the standards of the slave trade) Edwin Epps that Northup met a Canadian carpenter named Samuel Bass. Northup told Bass the truth about his identity and it was with Bass’s help that Solomon Northup was finally reunited with his family. Northup went on to write the memoir 12 Years A Slave and traveled the country, lecturing on abolition.

His later life is a mystery. He vanished in 1857, while on a speaking tour in Canada. At the time, there was speculation that he had once again been abducted and sold into slavery. Others thought that he may have been murdered by pro-slavery partisans. Of course, there were other who said that they met Northup in the 1860s and that he was helping slaves escape to the North during the Civil War. One man, a Rev. Smith, even reported meeting Northup in 1863.

Over a century later, Solomon’s memoir was adapted for the screen. Directed by Steve McQueen, 2013’s 12 Years a Slave was a powerful and haunting film, one that deservedly won the Oscar for best picture of the year. Here’s that moment:

Lisa’s Oscar Predictions For December!

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With awards season now in full swing, I’m a lot more confident when it comes to making my Oscar predictions. While I don’t know if it’s possible to guess with one hundred per cent accuracy, I would say that I’m 99.9% sure that these predictions are going to line up with January’s nominations.

If I’m wrong … well, keep it to yourself.

Be sure to check out my earlier predictions for November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, and January.

Best Picture

Call Me By Your Name

The Disaster Artist

Dunkirk

The Florida Project

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Post

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Best Director

Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape Of Water

Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird

Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk

Jordan Peele for Get Out

Steven Spielberg for The Post

Best Actor

Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread

James Franco in The Disaster Artist

Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out

Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour

Best Actress

Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Margot Robbie in I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird

Meryl Streep in The Post

Best Supporting Actor

Willem DaFoe in The Florida Project

Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Christopher Plummer in All The Money In The World

Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name

Best Supporting Actress

Mary J. Blige in Mudbound

Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip

Holly Hunter in The Big Sick

Allison Janney in I, Tonya

Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird

In case you’re wondering which sites I use to keep informed about the developments in the Oscar race, my two favorites are Awards Circuit and Awards Watch. Both of them are more than worth a visit and are run by people who have a much better track record than I do, as far as predicting these things is concerned!

Here Are The 2017 Nominations From The Chicago Independent Film Critics!

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle should not be mistaken for the Chicago Film Critics Association. However, since they’re both in Chicago, that does give me an excuse to once again use this picture of Al Capone.

Here are the nominees!

THE 10 BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS (in alphabetical order):

The Big Sick, Call Me By Your Name, The Florida Project, Get Out, A Ghost Story, Lady Bird, Lucky, Mudbound, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

THE 10 BEST STUDIO FILMS (in alphabetical order):

Baby Driver, Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, Logan, The Lost City of Z, mother!, Phantom Thread, The Post, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Wonder Woman

The complete list of nominees for the 2017 CIFCC Awards:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

The Florida Project
Get Out
Lady Bird

BEST STUDIO FILM

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Raw
The Square
Thelma

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Faces Places
Jane
Whose Streets?

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Coco
The LEGO Batman Movie
Loving Vincent

BEST DIRECTOR

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Big Sick– Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani
Get Out- Jordan Peele
Lady Bird- Greta Gerwig

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Call Me By Your Name- James Ivory
The Disaster Artist- Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
Mudbound– Dee Rees and Virgil Williams

BEST ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

BEST ACTRESS

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri
Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

Get Out
Mudbound
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Blade Runner 2049– Roger Deakins
Dunkirk- Hoyte van Hoytema
The Shape of Water– Dan Laustsen

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Blade Runner 2049– Dennis Gassner
mother!- Philip Messina
The Shape of Water- Paul D. Austerberry

BEST EDITING

Baby Driver– Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss
Dunkirk– Lee Smith
War for the Planet of the Apes– William Hoy and Stan Salfas

BEST COSTUME DESIGN AND MAKEUP

Darkest Hour– Jacqueline Durran (costumes), Kazuhiro Tsuji, Lucy Sibbick and David Malinowski (makeup)
Phantom Thread– Mark Bridges (costumes), Paul Engelen (makeup)
The Shape of Water– Luis Sequeria (costumes), Jordan Samuel and Paula Fleet (makeup)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Phantom Thread– Jonny Greenwood
The Shape of Water– Alexandre Desplat
War for the Planet of the Apes– Michael Giacchino

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Blade Runner 2049– Richard Clegg, Paul Lambert, Viktor Muller, and John Nelson
Star Wars: The Last Jedi– Richard Bain, Ben Morris, Michael Mulholland, and Chris Corbould
War for the Planet of the Apes– Joe Leterri, Dan Lemmon, Eric Winquist, and Dan Cervin

TRAILBLAZER AWARD

Sean Baker, The Florida Project
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Dee Rees, Mudbound

IMPACT AWARD

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman
Jordan Peele, Get Out

The Florida Film Critics Name Dunkirk The Best of 2017!

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Florida Film Critics have announced their picks for the best of 2017! Check out the nominees here and the winners below!

Best Picture — Dunkirk

Best Director — Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk

Best Actor — Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

Best Actress — Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Best Supporting Actor — Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress — Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Ensemble — Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Original Screenplay — Get Out

Best Adapted Screenplay — Call Me By Your Name

Best Cinematography — Blade Runner 2049

Best Visual Effects — Blade Runner 2049

Best Art Direction/Production Design — Blade Runner 2049

Best Score — Blade Runner 2049

Best Documentary — Jane

Best Foreign Language Film — BPM

Best Animated Film — Coco

Best First Film — Get Out

Pauline Kael Breakout Award — Timothee Chalamet

The Golden Orange — The Cast and Crew of The Florida Project

Here Are The 2017 Nominations of The Florida Film Critics!

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oddly, the Florida Film Critics showed very little love to The Florida Project. The acclaimed film only received one nomination, for Willem DaFoe.

BEST PICTURE

“Call Me By Your Name”
“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“The Shape Of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST DIRECTOR

Christopher Nolan – “Dunkirk”
Greta Gerwig – “Lady Bird”
Guillermo del Toro – “The Shape of Water”
Jordan Peele – “Get Out”
Martin McDonagh – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Kaluuya – “Get Out”
Gary Oldman – “Darkest Hour”
James Franco – “The Disaster Artist”
Robert Pattinson – “Good Time”
Timothée Chalamet – “Call Me By Your Name”

BEST ACTRESS

Cynthia Nixon – “A Quiet Passion”
Frances McDormand – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie – “I, Tonya”
Sally Hawkins – “The Shape of Water”
Saoirse Ronan – “Lady Bird”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Armie Hammer – “Call Me By Your Name”
Barry Keoghan – “The Killing of A Sacred Deer”
Michael Stuhlbarg – “Call Me By Your Name”
Sam Rockwell – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Willem Dafoe – “The Florida Project”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Allison Janney – “I, Tonya”
Holly Hunter – “The Big Sick”
Hong Chau – “Downsizing”
Laurie Metcalf – “Lady Bird”
Mary J. Blige – “Mudbound”

BEST ENSEMBLE

“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“I, Tonya”
“Lady Bird”
“The Big Sick”
“The Shape Of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“The Big Sick”
“The Shape Of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“Call Me By Your Name”
“Marjorie Prime”
“Molly’s Game”
“The Disaster Artist”
“The Lost City of Z”
“Wonderstruck”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Blade Runner 2049”
“Dunkirk”
“Personal Shopper”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Wonderstruck”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Blade Runner 2049”
“Dunkirk”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Shape of Water”
“Wonderstruck”

BEST SCORE

“Blade Runner 2049”
“Dunkirk”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

BEST DOCUMENTARY

“Dawson City: Frozen Time”
“Ex Libris: New York Public Library”
“Faces Places”
“Jane”
“Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold”
“Kedi”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“BPM”
“First They Killed My Father”
“Loveless”
“The Ornithologist”
“The Square”

BEST ANIMATED FILM

“Coco”
“Loving Vincent”
“The Boss Baby”
“The Breadwinner”
“The LEGO Batman Movie”

BEST FIRST FILM

“Get Out”
“God’s Own Country”
“Ingrid Goes West”
“Molly’s Game”

BREAKOUT AWARD

Barry Keoghan
Greta Gerwig
Jordan Peele
Millicent Simmonds
Timothée Chalamet

Finally, Here Are The Winners From The Indiana Film Journalists Association!

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Okay, one final precursor to share with everyone today. The Indiana Film Journalists Association announced their picks for the best of 2017 on Monday. They really liked Lady Bird and The Shape of Water. They also liked Harry Dean Stanton for his final film role.

Best Film

Winner: “Lady Bird”
Runner-up: “The Shape of Water”

Other Finalists (listed alphabetically):

“Blade Runner 2049”
“Brigsby Bear”
“Dunkirk”
“The Florida Project”
“Get Out”
“The Post”
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Animated Feature

Winner: “Coco”
Runner-Up: “Loving Vincent”

Best Foreign Language Film

Winner: “Faces Places”
Runner-Up: “BPM (Beats Per Minute)”

Best Documentary

Winner: “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992”
Runner-Up: “Liyana”

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Runner-up: Jordan Peele, “Get Out”

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green, “Logan”
Runner-up: Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, “Blade Runner 2049”

Best Director

Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Runner-up: Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”