Tag Archives: Film

Here Are The 2022 Nominations of the American Society of Cinematographers

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The American Society of Cinematographers announced their nominees for the best of 2022 today.  Because this a guild award (as opposed to an awards from regional critics group), the list below is probably a pretty good guide to which films are actually in the Oscar conversation right now.

Here are the nominees.  The winners will be announced on March 5th.

Feature
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC for “Empire of Light” (Searchlight Pictures)
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for “The Batman” (Warner Bros.)
Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC for “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Netflix)
Claudio Miranda, ASC for “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS for “Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

Spotlight
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, DFF for “War Sailor” (DCM Film)
Kate McCullough, ISC for “The Quiet Girl” (Super)
Andrew Wheeler for “God’s Country” (IFC Films)

Documentary
Ben Bernhard and Riju Das for “All That Breathes” (HBO/HBO Max)
Adam Bricker for “Chef’s Table: Pizza” – “Franco Pepe” (Netflix)
Wolfgang Held, ASC for “This Stolen Country of Mine”

Motion Picture, Limited Series, or Pilot Made for Television
Todd Banhazl, ASC for “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” – “The Swan” (HBO/HBO Max)
Jeremy Benning, CSC for “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” – “The Outside” (Netflix)
Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC for “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” – “The Autopsy” (Netflix)
C. Kim Miles, ASC, CSC, MySC for “Lost Ollie” – “Bali Hai” (Netflix)
Sean Porter for “The Old Man” – “I” (FX)

Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Non-Commercial
John Conroy, ASC, ISC for “Westworld” – “Années Folles” (HBO/HBO MAX)
Catherine Goldschmidt for “House of the Dragon” – “The Lord of the Tides” (HBO/HBO MAX)
Alejandro Martinez for “House of the Dragon” – “The Green Council” (HBO/HBO MAX)
M. David Mullen, ASC for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” (Prime Video)
Alex Nepomniaschy, ASC for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”– “Everything is Bellmore” (Prime Video)
Nikolaus Summerer for “1899” – “The Calling” (Netflix)

Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Commercial
Marshall Adams, ASC for “Better Call Saul” – “Saul Gone” (AMC)
Jesse M. Feldman for “Interview With the Vampire” – “Is My Very Nature That of the Devil” (AMC)
Christian “Tico” Herrera, CCR for “Snowfall” – “Departures” (FX)
Jules O’Loughlin, ASC, ACS for “The Old Man” – “IV” (FX)
Jaime Reynoso, AMC for Snowpiercer – “Bound by One Track” (TNT)

Episode of a Half-Hour Television Series
Adam Bricker for “Hacks” – “The Click” (HBO/HBO MAX)
Carl Herse for “Barry” – “Starting Now” (HB0/HBO MAX)
Stephen Murphy BSC, ISC for “Atlanta” – “New Jazz” (FX)
Ula Pontikos, BSC for “Russian Doll” – “Matryoshka” (Netflix)
Christian Sprenger, ASC for “Atlanta” – “Andrew Wyeth. Alfred’s World.” (FX)

Here Are The 2022 Nominations of the Denver Film Critics Society!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Awards season continued today, with the Denver Film Critics Society announcing their nominees for the best of 2022!  The winners will be announced on January 16th.

​Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Banshees of Inisherin
Women Talking
TAR
RRR

Best Director
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Sarah Polley, “Women Talking”
James Cameron, “Avatar: The Way of Water”
Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun”

Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Cate Blanchett, “TAR”
Viola Davis, “The Woman King”
Mia Goth, “Pearl”
Danielle Deadwyler, “Till”

Best Actor
Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”
Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Austin Butler, “Elvis”
Ralph Fiennes, “The Menu”
Paul Mescal, “Aftersun”

Best Supporting Actress
Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Hong Chau, “The Whale”
Stephanie Hsu, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Ben Whishaw, “Women Talking”
Judd Hirsch, “The Fabelmans”
Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Best Sci-Fi/Horror
Nope
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Menu
Pearl
Barbarian

Best Animated Film
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Turning Red
The Bad Guys
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Best Comedy
The Banshees of Inisherin
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Menu
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Best Visual FX
Avatar: The Way of Water
Top Gun: Maverick
RRR
Nope
Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Original Screenplay
Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Todd Field, “TAR”
Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun”
Seth Reiss, Will Tracy, “The Menu”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Sarah Polley, “Women Talking”
Rian Johnson, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
Rebecca Lenkewicz, “She Said”
David Kajganich “Bones and All”
Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Best Documentary
Good Night Oppy
Fire of Love
Wildcat
Moonage Daydream
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Best Original Song
“Naatu Naatu,” “RRR”
“Hold My Hand,” “Top Gun: Maverick”
“Lift Me Up,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Ciao Papa,” “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“This Is a Life,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Score
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
The Fabelmans
The Batman
Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Foreign Language Film
RRR
All Quiet on the Western Front
EO
Close
Decision to Leave

Here Are The 2022 Nominations of the Chicago Indie Critics!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The official Chicago critics already had their say.  Now, it’s tim for the Chicago Indie Critics to announce their nominees for the best of 2022!  Winners will be announced on January 23rd!

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (budgets under $25 million)
AFTERSUN – Producers: Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins, and Mark Ceryak
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN – Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, and Martin McDonagh
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Producers: Jonathan Wang, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, and Mike Larocca
WOMEN TALKING – Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Frances McDormand
X – Producers: Jacob Jaffke, Ti West, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss

BEST STUDIO FILM (budgets over $25 million)
THE FABELMANS – Producers: Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg, and Tony Kushner
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY – Producers: Ram Bergman and Rian Johnson
RRR – Producers: D.V.V. Danayya
TÁR – Producers: Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan, and Scott Lambert
TOP GUN: MAVERICK – Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, and David Ellison

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BROKER – Producer: Eugene Lee
CLOSE – Producers: Michiel Dhont and Dirk Impens
DECISION TO LEAVE – Producers: Jisun Back, Park Chan-wook, KO Dae-sok
OFFICIAL COMPETITION – Producers: Jaume Roures
RRR – Producer: D.V.V. Danayya

BEST DOCUMENTARY
ALL THE BEAUTY AND BLOODSHED – Producers: Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov, Clare Carter, and John Lyons
FIRE OF LOVE – Producers: Shane Boris, Sara Dosa, and Ina Fichman
GOOD NIGHT OPPY – Producers: Brandon Carroll, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Matthew Goldberg, Jessica Hargrave, Stephen Neely, and Ryan White
THE JANES – Producers: Daniel Arcana, Michael Kimbro, Jessica Levin, and Emma Pildes
NAVALNY – Producers: Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, and Shane Boris

BEST ANIMATED FILM
APOLLO 10½: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD – Producers: Richard Linklater, Mike Blizzard, Tommy Pallotta, Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO – Producers: Guillermo del Toro, Lisa Henson, Gary Ungar, Alex Bulkley, and Corey Campodonico
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON – Producers: Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan, Paul Mezey, Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, and Terry Leonard
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH – Producers: Mark Swift
TURNING RED – Producers: Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky – THE WHALE
Park Chan-wook – DECISION TO LEAVE
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Sarah Polley – WOMEN TALKING
Steven Spielberg – THE FABELMANS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN – Martin McDonagh
DECISION TO LEAVE – Park Chan-wook and Chung Seo-kyung
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
THE FABELMANS – Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner
TÁR – Todd Field

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
AFTER YANG – Kogonada
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY – Rian Johnson
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO – Patrick McHale and Guillermo del Toro
THE WHALE – Samuel D. Hunter
WOMEN TALKING – Sarah Polley

BEST ACTOR
Austin Butler – ELVIS
Colin Farrell – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Brendan Fraser – THE WHALE
Jonathan Majors – DEVOTION
Jeremy Pope – THE INSPECTION

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – TÁR
Ana de Armas – BLONDE
Danielle Deadwyler – TILL
Mia Goth – PEARL
Michelle Yeoh – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano – THE FABELMANS
Brendan Gleeson – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Brad Pitt – BABYLON
Ke Huy Quan – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Ben Whishaw – WOMEN TALKING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angela Bassett – BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Hong Chau – THE WHALE
Kerry Condon – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Stephanie Hsu – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Janelle Monáe – GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Casting director: Sarah Halley Finn
THE FABELMANS – Casting director: Cindy Tolan
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY – Casting directors: Brett Howe and Mary Vernieu
THE WOMAN KING – Casting director: Aisha Coley
WOMEN TALKING – Casting directors: Jason Buchan and Jason Knight

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER – Russell Carpenter
DECISION TO LEAVE – Kim Ji-yong
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Larkin Seiple
RRR – KK Senthil Kumar
TOP GUN: MAVERICK – Claudio Miranda

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER – Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole
THE BATMAN – James Chinlund and Lee Sandales
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER – Hannah Beachler and Lisa Sessions Morgan
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Jason Kisvarday and Kelsi Ephraim
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY – Rick Heinrichs and Elli Griff

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER – Ruth Carter
ELVIS – Catherine Martin
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Shirley Kurata
THE NORTHMAN – Linda Muir
THE WOMAN KING – Gersha Phillips

BEST MAKEUP
THE BATMAN – Naomi Donne, Mike Marino, and Mike Fontaine
ELVIS – Mark Coulier, Jason Baird, Aldo Signoretti
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Michelle Chung and Anissa Salazar
X – Sarah Rubano
THE WHALE – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Anne Marie Bradley

BEST EDITING
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER – Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, and James Cameron
BABYLON – Tom Cross
DECISION TO LEAVE – Kim Sang-beom
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Paul Rodger
TOP GUN: MAVERICK – Eddie Hamilton

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
BABYLON – Justin Hurwitz
THE BATMAN – Michael Giacchino
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER – Ludwig Göransson
THE FABELMANS – John Williams
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO – Alexandre Desplat

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Ciao Papa” – GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO – Music by Alexandre Desplat and lyrics by Roeban Katz and Guillermo del Toro
“Hold My Hand” – TOP GUN: MAVERICK – Written and produced by Lady Gaga & Bloodpop
“Lift Me Up” – BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER – Music and lyrics by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, and Ludwig Göransson
“Naatu Naatu” – RRR – Music by M.M. Keeravaani and lyrics by Chandrabose
“New Body Rhumba” – WHITE NOISE – Written by James Murphy, Pat Mahoney, and Nancy Whang

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett
THE BATMAN – Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, and Dominic Tuohy
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Zak Stoltz, Ethan Feldbau, Benjamin Brewer, and Jeff Desom
RRR – V Srinivas Mohan
TOP GUN: MAVERICK – Ryan Tudhope, Scott R. Fisher, Seth Hill, and Bryan Litson

BEST STUNTS
THE BATMAN – Robert Alonzo, Jacob Dewitt, Steve Griffin, and Samuel Le
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Timothy Eulich
RRR – Nick Powell
TOP GUN: MAVERICK – Casey O’Neill
THE WOMAN KING – Daniel Hernandez

BREAKOUT ARTIST
Austin Butler
Frankie Corio
Danielle Deadwyler
Mia Goth
Stephanie Hsu

SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE
David Bradley – GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
Rosalie Chiang – TURNING RED
Ewan McGregor – GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
Isabella Rossalini – MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
Jenny Slate – MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON

IMPACT AWARD
Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on the Chicagoland film community
Rebecca Fons (The Gene Siskel Film Center)
Morgan Harris (Acacia Consulting Group)
Chris Johnson (Classic Cinemas)
The late Sergio Mims (film critic)
The staff and management of the Music Box Theatre

Here Are The 2022 Nominations of the Portland Critics Association

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This morning, The Portland Critics Association announced their nominations for the best of 2022.  The winners will be announced on January 16th.  Here are the nominees:

Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Tár
The Banshees of Inisherin
Top Gun: Maverick

Best Director
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water
S.S. Rajamouli, RRR
Todd Field, Tár

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Adam Driver, White Noise
Austin Butler, Elvis
Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Park Hae-il, Decision to Leave
Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett, Tár
Margot Robbie, Babylon
Mia Goth, Pearl
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Anthony Hopkins, Armageddon Time
Brad Pitt, Babylon
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Paul Dano, The Fabelmans
Rory Kinnear, Men

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness
Hong Chau, The Whale
Keke Palmer, Nope
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Ensemble Cast
Amsterdam
Babylon
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Glass Onion
Jackass Forever
The Menu

Best Animated Feature
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Mad God
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red

Best Documentary Feature
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
Good Night Oppy
Moonage Daydream

Best Film Not in the English Language
Athena
Decision to Leave
EO
Happening
RRR

Best Comedy Feature
Bros
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Jackass Forever
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Triangle of Sadness
White Noise

Best Horror Feature
Barbarian
Bones and All
Men
Pearl
X

Best Science Fiction Feature
After Yang
Avatar: The Way of Water
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Nope
Prey

Best Screenplay
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Jeong Seo-kyeong and Park Chan-wook, Decision to Leave
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Rian Johnson, Glass Onion
Todd Field, Tár

Best Cinematography
Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick
Greig Fraser, The Batman
Hoyte van Hoytema, Nope
Kim Ji-yong, Decision to Leave
Linus Sandgren, Babylon
Russell Carpenter, Avatar: The Way of Water

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Justin Hurwitz, Babylon
M.M. Keeravaani, RRR
Michael Giacchino, The Batman

Best Costume Design
Catherine Martin, Elvis
Mary Zophres, Babylon
Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Shirley Kurata, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Production Design
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Glass Onion

Best Sound Design
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Nope
Top Gun: Maverick

Best Visual Effects
Avatar: The Way of Water
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Nope
Top Gun: Maverick

Best Stunts or Action Choreography
Avatar: The Way of Water
Everything Everywhere All at Once
RRR
The Batman
Top Gun: Maverick

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For The Amazing Spider-Man and O Brother, Where Art Thou!

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.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1977’s The Amazing Spider-Man!  Selected and hosted by me, this super hero film features Nicholas Hammond as Spider-Man, swinging through the 70s and battling thought controlling criminals!  The movie starts at 8 pm et!  Here’s the playlist!

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet.  We will be watching Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in 2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou?!  This film is available on Prime!

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 twitter, start the Spider-Man playlist  at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then, at 10 pm et, start O Brother Where Art Thou, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!  The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.    

Hope to see you there!

O Canada! Aftersun win in Toronto!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Love you, Canada!

The Toronto Film Critics Association has named their picks for the best of 2023!

And here they are:

Best Film
Winner: ​AFTERSUN

Best Director
Winner: ​Charlotte Wells – AFTERSUN

Best Screenplay
Winner: ​THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

Best Actress
Winner: ​Cate Blanchett in TÁR

Best Actor
Winner: ​Paul Mescal in AFTERSUN

Best First Feature
Winner: ​AFTERSUN

Best Documentary
Winner: ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: ​SAINT OMER

Best Animated Feature
Winner: TURNING RED

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Keke Palmer in NOPE

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Ke Huy Quan in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Retro Television Reviews: Quarantined (dir by Leo Penn)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1970’s Quarantined! It can be viewed on YouTube!

The John C. Bedford Clinic sits atop a cliff overlooking the ocean.  Though it may be a small hospital, it’s also widely respected.  The clinic was started by John Bedford (John Dehner) and the majority of its employees are related to him.  His three sons — Larry (Gary Collins), Bud (Gordon Pinset), and Tom (Dan Ferrone) — are all doctors and they all work at the clinic.  Bud’s wife, Margaret (Susan Howard), is a psychologist and she also works at the clinic, encouraging the older patients not to give up hope in their twilight years.  John Bedford is a stern taskmaster and his youngest son, Tom, resents always having his father and his older brothers staring over his shoulder.  John and Larry explain that they are simply treating Tom the way that they would treat any new doctor.  Tom isn’t so sure.

When the Bedfords aren’t hanging out in the tasteful ranch house that sits next to the clinic, they’re checking on their patients.  As Quarantined opens, they’ve got quite a few to deal with.  The most famous is Ginny Pepper (Sharon Farrell), a film star who has come to the clinic because she’s been suffering from back pain.  Larry quickly diagnoses her as suffering from kidney failure and announces that she’s going to need to get an immediate transplant.  Ginny is not happy to hear that and spends most of her time trying to make both Larry and Nurse Nelson (Virginia Gregg) miserable.  Of course, it eventually turns out that Ginny’s not so bad.

Meanwhile, Margaret attempts to cheer up a dying old man named Mr. Berryman (Sam Jaffe) and an eccentric man named Wilbur Mott (Wally Cox) hangs out in the hospital hallway.  Martha (Terry Moore) and Lloyd Atkinson (Madison Arnold) are at the hospital to visit their son, Jimmy (Mitch Vogel).  Unfortunately, while in Jimmy’s hospital room, Lloyd suddenly collapses and subsequently dies.  John takes one look at Lloyd and announces that Lloyd might have Cholera and, as a result, no one can leave or enter the hospital until the test results come back.

In other words, the John C. Bedford Clinic is …. QUARANTINED!

If you’re thinking this sounds a little bit dull …. well, you’re not wrong.  Quarantined has a 73-minute running time and a large cast but it really does just feel like an episode of a not particularly interesting medical drama.  It wouldn’t surprise me to discover that this movie was actually meant to serve as a pilot for a show that would have followed day-to-day life at the clinic.  Each member of the Bedford family is given a hint of characterization, just enough to suggest what type of situations they would get involved in on a weekly basis.  Larry was the straight shooter who was dedicated to saving lives.  Bud was the well-meaning middle child while Margaret was the one who encouraged the men to talk about their feelings.  Tom was the idealistic but impulsive youngest child.  John was the wise patriarch.  They’re all kind of boring.

The same can be said of Quarantined as a movie.  As directed by Leo “Father of Sean” Penn, the movie promises a lot of drama but it never really delivers and there’s something rather annoying about how casually John announces that no one is allowed to leave the clinic.  He even calls the police and has them set up road blocks around the clinic.  On the one hand, John is doing the right thing.  No one wants a cholera epidemic.  On the other hand, everyone’s so quick to accept that idea of John being a benign dictator that …. well, one can only imagine what a pain in the ass the Bedfords would have been during the COVID era.

As far as I know, there was never a TV show about the Bedford family and their clinic on a cliff.  Personally, I’m okay with that.  

Catching Up With The Films of 2022: She Said (dir by Maria Schrader)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

To put it lightly, I had mixed feelings about She Said.

On the one hand, the downfall of Harvey Weinstein is an important story and it’s one that should never be forgotten.  It wasn’t that long ago that Weinstein was one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.  Many of the people who now regularly talk about how much they hated him had no problem working for him, taking his money, and thanking him whenever they won an award.  She Said focuses on the work of the two New York Times reporters, Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), who wrote the initial article that detailed the allegations against Weinstein.  (Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker piece was published shortly afterwards.)  The film is not only about the article but it’s also about women working together and supporting each other.  Kazan and Mulligan both do a good job of portraying Jodi and Megan, bringing some nuance to a script that is full of dialogue that is occasionally a bit too on-the-nose.

On the other hand, it’s hard not to feel that She Said lets a lot of people off the hook.  While Jodi does originally pitch her story as dealing with systemic sexism, there’s actually very little examination of how the system enabled a monster like Harvey Weinstein.  Mention is made of Weinstein having powerful friends but few of those friends are called out by name and there’s very little discussion about how Weinstein used his money to become a player in Washington as well as Hollywood.  It leads to some odd narrative choices.  For instance, both Jodi and Megan are shocked to discover that Harvey is being represented by prominent feminist attorney Lisa Bloom, the daughter of Gloria Allred.  Jodi later talks about an off-screen conversation that she had with Bloom, in which Bloom tried to use a number of personal, political, and professional appeals to convince Jodi to drop the story.  It sounds like an interesting conversation but why don’t we get to see it?  Would it have cast Bloom in too negative of a light?  The film’s approach leaves it open to such accusations.  Indeed, it’s hard not to be reminded of the way that Rose McGowan was shunned when she (correctly) pointed out that a lot of the people celebrating Weinstein’s downfall were the same people who spent years ignoring what was an open secret in Hollywood.  The film tells us that Harvey Weinstein is a monster but we already know that.  What the film does not tell us is how he came to power and why he was protected for decades.

Thematically, She Said attempts to be a celebration of journalism, in the style of recent films like The Post, Truth, and Spotlight.  Like those films, it shares the same flat visual style.  There’s nothing particularly cinematic about it which is unfortunate as, with everyone already knowing how the story ends, She Said could have used some stylistic flair.  To a certain extent, I can understand the logic.  The emphasis is supposed to be on the reporters doing the hard work of getting the story and all of the recent films about journalism take a straight-ahead, by-the-numbers approach.  The problem with using this approach for She Said is that it leads to a lot of static, poorly framed shots of people talking on the phone, sitting at their desks, and staring at computer screens.  It may be a realistic depiction of modern journalism but it’s not particularly compelling to watch.  If anything, the film’s depiction of clean offices, supportive co-workers, and fair-minded editors makes the film feel like a testimonial about how The New York Times is the best workplace in America.  As opposed to the reporters in Spotlight, one never feels that Jodi and Megan are in danger of losing their jobs.  Unlike The Post or Shattered Glass, there’s no conversations about how the media establishment is often guilty of initially enabling the same behavior that it later condemns.  The New York Times never feels alive in the way that The New Republic did in Shattered Glass.  There’s not even a moment that’s as ludicrously over-the-top as the scene in Truth where Cate Blanchett argues that she shouldn’t be criticized for producing an obviously false story because it could have, in theory, been true.  Instead, She Said is very respectable and very dignified and a little too safe.  There’s not much going on beneath the surface. 

The film drops a lot of famous names.  Ashley Judd plays herself while Gwyneth Paltrow provides her voice for a scene in which she calls Jodi and says that Harvey has shown up at her house.  (Again, this is a scene that would probably have been more effective if we had seen it happen as opposed to just hearing about it.)  Lena Dunham is given a shout-out as someone who (off-screen) called and offered to help.  Someone casually mentions that Martin Scorsese hates Harvey Weinstein.  And yet, the film’s most powerful moments come when Jodi and Megan talk to the women who weren’t famous but who were still traumatized and victimized by Harvey Weinstein.  Samantha Morton and Jennifer Ehle play two former Miramax employees, both of whom eventually tell their stories to Jodi and Megan.  Morton and Ehle both give heart-felt performances and, during their scenes, She Said finds its reason for existing.  The performances of Samantha Morton and Jennifer Ehle both capture the real-life damage caused by men like Harvey Weinstein and the systems that enable them.

In the end, She Said is a film that I wanted to like more than I did.  It tells a compelling story in the least compelling way possible and, unlike Kitty Green’s The Assistant, it lets far too many people off the hook.

 

January Positivity: Without Reservation (dir by Fred Carpenter)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1989 film, Without Reservation, opens with a scene that should strike horror in the hearts of many viewers.

A high school basketball teams attempts to rap.  Each member of the team takes a verse, introducing themselves and struggling to come up with an appropriate rhyme to go along with their name.  I suppose that, as far as rapping goes, they’re about as skilled as you would expect any group of white, upper middle class suburban teenagers to be.  This scene goes on forever and, oddly enough, it doesn’t really have much to do with anything else that happens in the film.  One gets the feeling that it was only added to pad out the film’s 24-minute runtime.  Perhaps it was added to let the viewers know that the filmmakers weren’t stodgy old men whose knowledge of music ended with Sinatra.  No, the filmmakers were people who understood that sometimes teenagers enjoyed rap music.  They were down with the youth.

(Actually, as much as I’m making fun of the scene, it may be one of the more realistic pats of Without Reservation.  I went to an upper middle class high school in the suburbs.  The majority of my classmates were dorky white kids who thought they could rap.  Most of them were pretty bad but they were still better than the members of this film’s basketball team)

Anyway, once the rapping’s done, it’s time for six teenagers to climb into a car, drive too fast, and up getting hit by a truck.  Four of the teens suddenly find themselves apparently floating in space in the remains of their car.  They’re all dead and now, they’re waiting to find out where they’re going to go.  Do they have a reservation in Heaven or not?  Fortunately, there’s a man wearing a tuxedo (with a red bow-tie) who is working the heavenly registration desk.  He has a big, bulky, old school computer.  He asks for names and when he get them, he checks to see if they have a reservation.  He ends up telling the majority of people to step to the left, which is a polite way of saying, “Welcome to eternal damnation.”

Needless to say no one in the car has a reservation.  They all wish they could get one but it’s too late because they’re dead now.  We watch as they’re told to step to the left.  One of them ends up getting dragged over to a freight elevator and descends to the underworld.  It’s actually an oddly effective image.  If nothing else, the film does do a good job of creating an atmosphere of impending doom.  And yet, it’s hard not to feel that, like so many similar films, the main goal here is to frighten people into compliance as opposed to making a case for one belief system or another.  The emphasis is on punishment and pain and the film almost seems to encourage viewers to look down on those who don’t have reservations.  Yes, the film seems to be saying, he may be able to rap but he’s still not in the system.  Aren’t you glad that you’re not as dumb of Bill?

Anyway, Without Reservation is crudely effective, even if the ultimate message appears to be that the afterlife is a tacky resort with an out-dated computer system.

Everything Wins In Florida

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, the Critics Association of Central Florida announced their picks for the best of 2023!

And here they are!

Best Picture
Winner: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-up: Top Gun: Maverick

Best Director
Winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-up: Steven Speilberg – The Fabelmans

Best Actor
Winner: Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Runner-up: Austin Butler – Elvis

Best Actress
Winner: Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-up: Cate Blanchett – TÀR

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-up: Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Angle Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Runner-up: Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Cast
Winner: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Runner-up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Screenplay
Winner: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Runner-up: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best International Film
Winner: RRR
Runner-up: Decision To Leave

Best Documentary
Winner: All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Runner-up: Good Night Oppy

Best Animated Film
Winner: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Runner-up: Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Best Cinematography
Winner: Top Gun: Maverick
Runner-up: Avatar: The Way Of Water

Special Honor – Golden Paw For Best Animal Performance Winner
The Horses of Nope / The Donkeys of EO (TIE)

Best Production Design
Winner: Babylon
Runner-up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Winner: The Whale
Runner-up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Costume Design
Winner: Elvis
Runner-up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Special Honor – Best First Feature
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Best Visual Effects
Winner: Avatar: The Way Of Water
Runner-up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Stunt Coordiantion
Winner: Top Gun: Maverick
Runner-up: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Special Honor – Best Choreography
RRR

Best Score
Winner: The Batman
Runner-up: Babylon

Best Original Song
Winner: “Hold My Hand” – Top Gun: Maverick
Runner-up: “Naatu Naatu”- RRR

Best Central Florida Film
Winner: Calendar Girls

Best Achievement in Diversity
Winner: Nope