Here Are The 2024 Nominations for the Black Reel Awards

Posted on December 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2024 nominations for the Black Reel Awards were announced on December 19th. The winners will be announced on February 10th.

OUTSTANDING FILM
“Challengers” | Luca Guadagnino, Rachel O’Connor, Amy Pascal & Zendaya, producers
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Stephanie Allain, Derek Cianfrance, Sean Cotton, Titus Kaphar & Jamie Patricof, producers
“Nickel Boys” | Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner & David Levin, producers
“The Piano Lesson” | Todd Black & Denzel Washington, producers
“Sing Sing” | Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar & Monique Walton, producers

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY (awarded to the director)
“Dahomey” | Mati Diop, director
“Daughters” | Angela Patton & Natalie Rae, directors
“Luther: Never Too Much” | Dawn Porter, director
“Piece by Piece” | Morgan Neville, director
“Seeking Mavis Beacon” | Jazmin Renée Jones, director

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE (awarded to the casting director)
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Kim Coleman, casting director
“Hard Truths” | Nina Gold, casting director
“Nickel Boys” | Victoria Thomas, casting director
“The Piano Lesson” | Lindsay Graham & Mary Vernieu, casting directors
“Sing Sing” | Greg Kwedar, casting director

OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT FILM (awarded to the director)
“Albany Road” | Christine Swanson, director
“Blink Twice” | Zoë Kravitz, director
“Hard Truths” | Mike Leigh, director
“I Saw the TV Glow” | Jane Schoenbrun, director
“We Grown Now” | Minhal Baig, director

OUTSTANDING SHORT FILM (awarded to the director)
“Chocolate With Sprinkles” | Huriyyah Muhammad, director
“Mosiah” | Jirard, director
“On a Sunday at Eleven” | Alicia K. Harris, director
“Self” | Searit Kahsay Huluf, director
“Will I See You Again?” | Michael Perez-Lindsey, director

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG (awarded to the performers & writers)
“Bricks” from “Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Andra Day, performer; Andra Day & Jherek Bischoff, writers
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” | Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón & Camille, performers; Clément Ducol, Camille & Jacques Audiard, writers
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” | H.E.R., performer; Dianne Warren, writer
“Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing” | Adrian Quesada & Abraham Alexander, performers; Adrian Quesada, Abraham Alexander & Brandon Marcel, writers
“Piece by Piece” from “Piece by Piece” | Pharrell Williams and Princess Anne High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers, performers; Pharrell Williams, writer

OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK
“Bob Marley: One Love” – Tuff Gong / Island
“Mufasa: The Lion King” – Walt Disney Records
“Piece by Piece” – Columbia / I AM Other
“Wicked” – Republic / Verve
“The Wild Robot” – Black Lot Music

OUTSTANDING FIRST SCREENPLAY (awarded for the debut screenplay by a first-time writer)
“Blink Twice” | Zoë Kravitz
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Titus Kaphar
“Nickel Boys” | RaMell Moss
“Parallel” | Aldis & Edwin Hodge
“The Piano Lesson” | Malcolm Washington

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” | Wolfgang Held & Moses Tau, cinematographers
“Luther: Never Too Much” | Bryan Gentry, cinematographer
“Nickel Boys” | Jomo Fray, cinematographer
“Rez Ball” | Kira Kelly, cinematographer
“Suncoast” | Bruce Francis Cole, cinematographer

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
“The Book of Clarence” | Antoinette Messam, costume designer
“The Piano Lesson” | Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, costume designer
“Shirley” | Megan Coates, costume designer
“We Grown Now” | Courtney Wheeler, costume designer
“Wicked” | Paul Tazewell, costume designer

OUTSTANDING EDITING
“Daughters” | Adelina Bichis & Troy Lewis, editors
“Hard Truths” | Tania Reddin, editor
“Seeking Mavis Beacon” | Yeelen Nelson Cohen, Jon Fine & Jazmin Renée Jones, editors
“Twisters” | Terilyn A. Shropshire, editor
“We Grown Now” | Stephanie Filo, editor

OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING & MAKEUP
“Bob Marley: One Love” | Nadia Stacy & Carla Farmer
“The Book of Clarence” | Allison Lacour, Wayne Jolla Jr. & Yolanda Mercadel
“Nickel Boys” | Iganica Soto-Aguilar & Shandrea Williams
“The Piano Lesson” | Andrea ‘Mona’ Bowman & Para Shardé Malden
“Shirley” | Nakoya Yancey & Debi Young

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Nickel Boys” | Nora Mendis (production designer), Elizabeth Herberg (art director) & Monique Champagne (set decorator)
“Nine” | Gilbert Ekow Ampah (production designer) & Edmund Johnson (set decorator)
“The Piano Lesson” | David J. Bomba (production designer), Chardae Adams (art director) & Patrick Cassidy (set decorator)

Here Are The 2024 Nominations of The Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild

Posted on December 15, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

These nominations were actually announced way back on December 10th but I’ve only now gotten a chance to share them on the Shattered Lens. As I’ve started elsewhere, guild nominations are generally pretty good precursors as to what is going to be nominated by the Academy.

The winners will be announced on February 15th.

Best Contemporary Make-Up
“The Deliverance” (Netflix) – Beverly Jo Pryor, Eric Pagdin, Chloe Sens, Doug Fairall
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) – Julia Floch Carbonel, Simon Livet
“It Ends With Us” (Sony Pictures and Wayfarer Studios) – Sarah Graalman, Vivian Baker, Melanie Licata
“Smile 2” (Paramount) – Sasha Grossman, Valerie Carney
“The Substance” (MUBI) – Stéphanie Guillon

Best Period and/or Character Make-Up
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros. Pictures) – Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener, Charmaine Fuller, Mona Turnbull, Chloe Meddings
“Deadpool & Wolverine” (Marvel Studios) – Bill Corso, Whitney James, Paula Price, Monica Huppert, Cyndi Reece-Thorne
“Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures) – Jana Carboni, Charlie Hounslow, Maria Solberg Lepre, Lauren Baldwin, Chantal Busuttil
“MaXXXine” (A24) – Sarah Rubano, Mandy Artusato, Akiko Matsumoto
“Wicked” (Universal Pictures) – Frances Hannon, Alice Jones, Nuria Mbornio, Johanna Nielsen, Branka Vorkapic

Best Special Make-Up Effects
“A Different Man” (A24) – Mike Marino, David Presto, Crystal Junado
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros. Pictures) – Jennifer Kewley, Megan Thomas, Martin Rezard
“Deadpool & Wolverine” (Marvel Studios) – Bill Corso, Andrew Clement, Monica Huppert, Geoff Redknap, Robb Crafer
“The Deliverance” (Netflix) – Jason Collins, Chloe Sens, Michael McCarty
“The Substance” (MUBI) – Pierre-Olivier Persin

Best Contemporary Hair Styling
“The Deliverance” (Netflix) – Melissa Forney, Linda Flowers, Tommie Ammons, Jackie Noel, Eric Matthews
“It Ends With Us” (Sony) – Robert Lugo, Vita Viscuso, Anne Carroll
“The Last Showgirl” (Roadside Attractions) – Katy McClintock, Marc Boyle, Stephanie Hobgood
“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate/Zoetrope) – Terrie Velazquez Owen, April Schuller, Tracy Moss, Victor Paz, Alexis Continenente
“The Substance” (MUBI) – Frédérique Arguello

Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros. Pictures) – Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener, Susan Cole, Charmaine Fuller, Chloe Meddings
“Bob Marley: One Love” (Paramount Pictures) – Carla Farmer, Nadia Stacey, Morris Roots
“Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures) – Giuliano Mariano, Kerstin Weller, Romina Ronzani, Nicola Mariano, Marcelle Genovese
“Shirley” (Netflix) – Nakoya Yancey, Wayne Jolla Jr., Gayette Williams, Lisa Thomas
“Wicked” (Universal Pictures) – Frances Hannon, Sarah Nuth, Sim Camps, Gabor Kerekes

The Films of 2024: Bob Marley: One Love (dir by Reinaldo Marcus Green)

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bob Marley: One Love opens in 1976. With Jamaica torn by political violence, Reggae superstar and devout Rastafari Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) announces that he will be holding a concert for peace. When Marley, his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch), and several members of the band are shot in a home invasion, a disillusioned Marley sends his wife and children to stay with his mother in Delaware and then heads to London with his band.

The majority of Bob Marley: One Love centers around the years that Marley spent outside of Jamaica. In London, Marley struggles to come up with a concept his new album, finally finding inspiration in the soundtrack for Otto Preminger’s Exodus. Marley explains his philosophy and Rastafari beliefs to journalists and listeners, many of whom are shocked by Marley’s claim to not care about money. With more and more countries declaring their independence and freeing themselves from colonialism, Marley makes plans to perform in Africa and to spread his message of love and freedom. Rita, who eventually rejoins Bob when he tells her that he cannot create his music without her presence, tells Bob that he needs to return to Jamaica and perform his peace concert. Bob remains stubborn but when he’s diagnosed with a rare-form of cancer, he realizes that it’s time for him to return to his home and not just preach about peace and forgiveness but to extend it as well.

Musical biopics have been all the rage since the release of Bohemian Rhapsody and Bob Marley: One Love features enough of Marley’s music that it’s not surprising that the film was a crowd-pleaser when it was released in February. The film was clearly made by people who loved Marley’s music. Kingsley Ben-Adir has a strong screen presence and gives a charismatic performance as Bob but, for whatever reason, Bob Marley remains something of a distant figure throughout the film. We learn a bit about what motivated Bob Marley as a musician and as an activist but we still don’t really feel that we get to know him as a person. (Nor does the film delve too deeply into the details of Marley’s Rastafari beliefs, presenting it as being more about good vibes than a belief in the divinity of Ethiopia’s emperor, Haile Selassie I.) The film hits all of the expected biopic plot points like clockwork. It’s almost too efficient for its own good, lacking any of the spontaneity that makes real life so memorable. It leaves the viewer very much aware that they’re watching a well-made film.

But, one might be justified in dismissing that as just being nit-picking. The film is full of Marley’s music and it ends with a good deal of archival footage that allows the viewer to see both Bob Marley’s real-life charisma and the joy that he took in performing. As I said, the film is a crowd pleaser. While it doesn’t quite provide the insight into Marley’s life that Rocketman did for Elton John, it’s still a better-made and less cynical production than Bohemian Rhapsody. Even if the film is a bit too conventional for its own good, the love of the music still comes through.

Here’s The Teaser For Bob Marley: One Love

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s the first teaser trailer for the upcoming musical biopic, Bob Marley: One Love. This film will star Kingsley Ben-Adir at Bob Marley. You may remember Ben-Adir from his strangely bland turn as Malcolm X in One Night In Miami. The film was also directed by the same director who did King Richard.

The film is opening wide on January 12th, 2024. Here’s the trailer: