International Film Review: Into the Wind (dir by Kristofer Rus)

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ania (Sonia Mietielica) is the privileged daughter of a wealthy doctor. She’s graduated from an exclusive high school in Warsaw and now, she’s about to start studying medicine in London. The plan is that she’ll eventually take over her father’s medical practice and that she will, of course, marry someone from her upper class social circle. Ania is haunted by the death of her artist mother and still struggles to get along with her stepmother (Sonia Bohosiewicz).

Michal (Jakub Sasak) is a handsome but poor athlete who works at the local beach resort. At night, he’s a waiter. During the day, he’s a kitesurfing instructor. He may not have money or an education but he’s sensitive and artistic. He likes good music, good weed, and hanging out good people. He’s laid back but he cares about his friends and he’s got a romantic soul.

Together …. they solve crimes!

No, actually, they don’t. There are no crimes to be solved in Into The Wind. Instead, they meet when Ania accompanies her father, her stepmother, and her new baby brother to the resort for the summer. While Ania listens to her father talk about how the pandemic has not really effected his practice (this is a 2022 film so, of course, there is talk of COVID in the background), Michal serves food and wine and is largely unseen by the other guests. (The wait staff, as he explains it, is meant to be invisible.) However, Ania sees him and he sees her. And soon, they’re in love, they’re hanging out on the beach, they’re listening to music, and they’re kitesurfing! But they’re also from two different worlds. Ania’s father does not want his daughter to end up with a waiter. And Michal’s friends are convinced that Ania will eventually return to her safe, upper class existence and Michal will be left heart-broken.

This Polish film is narratively predictable but visually stylish. The plot should be familiar to anyone who has ever seen Dirty Dancing but then again, it’s not exactly as if Dirty Dancing was the most original film ever made. That said, though the plot may be predictable, the film has enough lovely shots of the beach and the two leads have more than enough romantic chemistry to keep things watchable. This is a good film to watch after a long and exhausting day, when you just want a simple story, a happy ending, and some nice pictures to go along with it. Speaking for myself, as someone who spent last week dealing with below freezing temperatures and ice on the ground, the beach and the ocean looked very inviting and, for that matter, so did Jakub Sasak. The beach and the cast are pretty and that’s pretty much all that a film like this really needs to work.

That said, I did really like the Kitesurfing scenes. Kitesurfing is something that I personally would never do, seeing as how it would mean confronting not only my fear of drowning but also, potentially, my fear of heights but, even with that in mind, the film still made it a look like something that everyone should try at least once. The scenes of people skimming across and occasionally floating above the water take on an almost religious grandeur as the surfer becomes onr with the forces of nature and fate. Those scenes are exciting to watch, even if the story taking place around them is thoroughly predictable.

Film Review: Munich — The Edge of War (dir by Christian Schwochow)

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Munich — The Edge of War opens in 1932, at Oxford University, where three graduating students are toasting their futures as a part of the “mad generation” that’s come to age in the aftermath of World War I. Six years later, two of them will reunite as the world appears to be on the verge of another great war.

One of them, Hugh Legat (George McKay), is a secretary to the English Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons). Chamberlain, haunted by the death and destruction of the Great War, is convinced that Europe can have “peace in our time,” through a policy of negotiation and appeasement. He is aware of the men who have come to power in Italy and Germany and he’s certainly heard the rumors that they are planning on conquering Europe themselves. However, Chamberlain is almost in denial about the reality of the situation, at one point suggesting that Hugh write a polite letter to Mussolini requesting that Mussolini tell Hitler to tone down his rhetoric.

Hugh’s classmate, Paul von Hartmann (Jannis Niewöhner), returned to Germany after graduating from Oxford. At first, he was an enthusiastic backer of Hitler and the Nazi party. He was rewarded with a position as a translator in the Foreign Office. However, Paul has since become disillusioned with Hitler and is painfully aware of the anti-Semitism that has become a part of everyday life in Berlin. Paul regularly meets with a group of generals who are plotting a coup against Hitler. The generals believe that, if they allow Hitler to invade Czechoslovakia, the German people will rise up in order to avoid being led into another war and that they will cheer as the generals march into Hitler’s office and place him under arrest. Paul worries that the generals are being naïve. Adding to Paul’s problems is a former childhood friend named Franz Sauer (August Diehl). Sauer is a new member of the SS and he has a disconcerting habit of showing up anywhere that Paul happens to be, almost as if he is aware that Paul is not the dedicated civil servant that he pretends to be. When Paul receives a stolen document that reveals the details of Hitler’s true plans for Europe, he and Hugh team up to try to keep Chamberlain from singing the Munich Agreement.

Looking over the events that led to World War II, one question that historians frequently ask is why did Neville Chamberlain consistently refuse to stand up to Hitler despite Hitler’s growing acts of aggression. Why did Chamberlain knowingly turn a blind eye to every treaty and agreement that Hitler broke or ignored? Why, with Hitler openly declaring his plans to conquer Europe, did Chamberlain and so many others insist that Hitler’s actions would somehow be different from his words? Was Chamberlain just naïve or was he, like so many others who had been traumatized by the Great War, in willful denial about the inevitability of conflict with Hitler? Was Chamberlain just a politician trying to keep a war-weary public happy or did he truly believe that signing an agreement with Hitler would somehow lead to “peace in our time?” Munich — The Edge of War suggests that all of the above may be true, with Jeremy Irons playing Chamberlain as being an old school establishmentarian, one with sincere intentions but also one who is incapable of truly understanding the new reality that has been brought about by the desolation of World War I. As played by Irons, Chamberlain is occasionally sympathetic but, even more frequently, he’s obstinate in his short-sightedness and his insistence that he alone understands how to deal with Hitler. He’s not necessarily a bad man but he’s definitely not the right man for the times.

Of course, the majority of the film focuses not on Chamberlain but instead on Paul and Hugh. George McKay and Jannis Niewöhner both give good performances as two civil servants who know the truth but find it impossible to get anyone to listen to them. Niewöhner is especially effective as Paul, capturing not only his disillusionment with Germany but also his disgust for himself for having been previously fooled by Hitler’s rhetoric. Like Chamberlain, Paul was also in denial about Hitler’s true beliefs. The difference is that Paul has learned from his mistake and is now desperately trying to reveal the truth, even if no one else wants to hear it.

It’s a good and effective film, one that works both as a historical drama and an espionage thriller. The film is at its best when it focuses on what daily life is like when a nation is living in the shadow of the possibility of war. Hugh comes home to discover his son wearing a gas mask and he has to convince his wife to leave London for the weekend, even though he can’t specifically tell her why. Meanwhile, Paul lives in a Berlin that’s full of imposing architecture and seemingly happy people but with a shadow of menace hanging over every street corner. The city’s new buildings, built to celebrate Hitler’s vision of a new Germany, are all disturbingly pristine, as if they only exist so that evil can hide behind their impressive facades. And in the background of every scene in Berlin, there are the uniformed men with their red armbands and their haughty glares.

It’s said that hindsight is 20/20 and, indeed, it’s easy to look at someone like Neville Chamberlain and dismiss him as just being a tragically failed and foolish politician. And there is definitely an argument to be made that he was. (That’s certainly how I tend to view him.) Still, Munich — The Edge of War does a good job of capturing not only the feeling of a world on the verge of war but also the motivations of those who closed their eyes to what was coming and also to those who did not. That we know that Paul and Hugh’s efforts are ultimately to be for naught adds a poignant sadness to the scenes of them trying to get someone to listen to them but it also makes for a powerful viewing experience. How many eyes were open in the 30s? How many eyes are closed today?

Film Review: Home Team (dir by Charles Kinnane and Daniel Kinnane)

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The new Happy Madison production, Home Team, opens with Sean Payton (Kevin James) discovering that life can be difficult when you’re the coach of an NFL team.

On the one hand, Payton coached the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl victory and gave hope to a city that was still struggling to recover from the mental, physical, and spiritual damage done by Hurricane Katrina. At a time when David Fincher was bringing everyone’s spirits down with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Sean Payton was raising them up with excellent football.

On the other hand, it was later discovered that the players were being paid extra to deliberately injure their opponents.

The NFL reacts to this scandal by suspending Payton for a year. Payton abruptly goes from having a luxurious office in New Orleans to living and working out of a hotel suite in Argyle, Texas. He spends his suspension trying to reconnect with his son, Connor (Tait Blum). And when he discovers that Connor is playing football for his sixth grade team, Sean can’t stop himself from stepping up and trying to help Troy (Taylor Lautner) and Mitch (Gary Valentine) coach the team. Soon, Payton actually is coaching the team himself! And though he’s winning games, he’s also pushing the players too hard. Can Sean Payton rediscover the simple love of doing your best and being a member of a team or is he destined to return to New Orleans and continue to hand out bonuses for injuring other players? What do you think?

Now, I’ll just be honest and admit that I’m not a football fan. I don’t really know much about Sean Payton or the whole targeting scandal. I do know about CTE and the dangers of suffering multiple concussions in a short period of time so I do feel safe in assuming that the implications of the targeting scandal were a bit more serious than the way they’re portrayed in the film. But, then again, this is a football film that was produced by Adam Sandler’s production company. Was anyone expecting it to be a serious examination of the dangers of playing pro or even amateur football? Instead, it’s a film that pretty much features every cliché in the book, from the team of underdogs that no one believed in to the down-and-out coach who has something to prove to both the doubters and to himself. There’s the usual mix of sentimental drama and equally sentimental comedy. Surprisingly for a Happy Madison production, there’s only one glaring case of gross-out humor. For whatever reason, there’s apparently a lot of people who find projectile vomiting to be entertaining. I’ve never cared much for it myself but, just as I have to be honest about not knowing much about Sean Payton, I should probably also be honest about the fact that I’m not this film’s target audience.

Kevin James is a likable actor, though his talents are definitely better served by television than by the movies. He gives a rather subdued performance here, one that was no doubt influenced by the fact that Sean Payton is still alive. Even when he rediscovers the joy of playing football and realizes that there are things more important than winning, James-as-Payton still comes across as being strictly business. You get the feeling that, with the exception of his son, the film’s Sean Payton will probably have no further contact with the kids he coached once he returns to New Orleans. In the film, it just comes across as something for him to do to pass the time.

Home Team is a fairly forgettable sports movie. It’s not particularly good but it’s not particularly terrible either. Instead, it’s typical of the adequate but not extremely memorable films that Netflix specializes in when no one is looking to win an Oscar.

Film Review: Men With Brooms (dir by Paul Gross)

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, having watched a bit of the Winter Games, I decided that I wanted to watch a movie about curling.

Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that there aren’t really a lot of curling films out there. There’s several films about ice skaters, of course. They all feature haughty skaters being forced to partner up with blue collar amateurs and almost all of them end with everyone falling in love. (Yay!) And there’s plenty of hockey movies. They all feature brawny Canadians getting into fights and almost all of them end with someone losing their front two teeth. (Yay!) But there aren’t a whole lot of curling movies. I guess some people don’t believe that a broom on ice can be cinematic. Well, the joke’s on them! Brooms are very cinematic! However, I did finally come across the 2002 Canadian film, Men With Brooms, on Tubi.

Now, you should understand that when I say that Men With Brooms is a Canadian film, I mean that it is very, very Canadian. This isn’t just a film that was shot in Canada by an American company looking for tax credits and a city that looked like New York without being as expensive. Instead, this is a film about very polite people who say “eh?” frequently and who are usually wearing several layers of clothing in order to protect from the chill in the air and the snow on the ground. This not a film that was shot in Canada for an American audience. This is a film that was made by Canadians for Canadians and that’s actually kind of nice. There’s even a scene where the characters bemoan the arrival of another “American” fast food restaurant. Speaking as an American, I think we are far too often guilty of taking our neighbors to the north for granted. It’s good to be reminded that they are a separate nation with a separate culture and their own individual way of looking at the world.

The film begins with the death of an old man named Donald Foley (James B. Douglas). Ten years before he died, Donald was the head coach of the greatest curling rink to ever play in Ontario. (For those — like me! — who are not familiar with all of the details and lingo of curling, a rink is just another word for team.) However, the rink broke up under mysterious circumstances. The former rink skip (team captain), Chris Cutter (Paul Gross), left Foley’s daughter at the altar and skipped town. He also tossed the rink’s curling stones into a lake! In fact, it was while he was retrieving the stones that Donald had the heart attack that killed him. Way to go, Chris, ya hoser!

The entire team reunites for Foley’s cremation and they discover that the coach has had his ashes put into a curling stone. And he wants the team to come back together and to win a championship using that very stone! And he also wants Chris to reconnect with his father, Gordon (Leslie Nielsen). Of course, it turns out that Chris is not the only member of the team to have issues. One team member has a low sperm count. Another one is a drug dealer and another is having a mid-life crisis. But they’ll all set aside their differences and try to win one for the coach! And if they even think about quitting, there will always be a helpful townsperson around to say, “You’re going to win the Golden Broom, eh?”

Tonally, Men With Brooms is all over the place. Odd comedic moments are mixed in with scenes of sentimental drama and the end result is a film that never seem to be quite sure what it’s trying to be. Not all of the big emotional moments pay off. Leslie Nielsen, though, is pretty good playing a relatively straight role. (He still gets his share of funny lines but this performance is definitely a different comedic beast from the deadpan style of self-parody that he’s best known for.) Ultimately, flaws aside, it’s a likable and fairly well-acted film, one that has a gentle spirit in even its raunchier moments. It’s just so damn Canadian that it’s hard not to appreciate it.

Add to that, it’s a good film to watch if you’re trying to teach yourself about curling. It may have been a slight film but, thanks to Men With Brooms, I now officially know that a curling team is called a rink. You learn something new every day.

Here Are The Oscar Nominations!

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Oscar nominations have been announced! The Power of the Dog leads with 12.

Initial thoughts: Don’t Look Up is one of the worst films to ever be nominated for Best Picture. The acting nominations for Being The Ricardos shows that actors love movies about actors. I’m very excited to see that Nightmare Alley was nominated for best picture.

I’m really happy that Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, and Jessie Buckley picked up their first nominations. Plemons and Dunst now join Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontane and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as a married couple nominated for playing a married couple in a film.

More later. For now, here are the nominees:

Best Picture
“Belfast” – Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers
“CODA” – Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers
“Don’t Look Up” – Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers
“Drive My Car” – Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer
“Dune” – Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers
“King Richard” – Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers
“Licorice Pizza” – Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
“Nightmare Alley” – Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers
“The Power of the Dog” – Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers
“West Side Story” Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Best Director
Kenneth Branagh – “Belfast”
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – “Drive My Car”
Paul Thomas Anderson – “Licorice Pizza”
Jane Campion – “The Power of the Dog”
Steven Spielberg – “West Side Story”

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain – “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
Olivia Colman – “The Lost Daughter”
Penelope Cruz – “Parallel Mothers”
Nicole Kidman – “Being The Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart – “Spencer”

Best Actor
Javier Bardem – “Being The Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch – “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield – “Tick, Tick…Boom!”
Will Smith – “King Richard”
Denzel Washington – “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

Best Supporting Actress
Jessie Buckley – “The Lost Daughter”
Ariana DeBose – “West Side Story”
Judi Dench – “Belfast”
Kirsten Dunst – “The Power of the Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis – “King Richard”

Best Supporting Actor
Ciarán Hinds – “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur – “CODA”
Jesse Plemons – “The Power of the Dog”
J.K. Simmons – ”Being The Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee – “The Power of the Dog”

Best Original Screenplay
“Belfast” – Written by Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up” – Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
“King Richard” – Written by Zach Baylin
“Licorice Pizza” – Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Worst Person in the World” – Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Best Adapted Screenplay
“CODA” Screenplay by Siân Heder
“Drive My Car Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
“Dune” Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
“The Lost Daughter” Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal
“The Power of the Dog” Written by Jane Campion

Best Animated Feature
”Encanto” – Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer
“Flee” – Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Luca” – Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” – Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht
“Raya and the Last Dragon” – Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

Best Documentary Feature
”Ascension” – Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell
“Attica” – Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry
“Flee” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein
“Writing with Fire” – Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

Best International Feature
“Drive My Car” – Japan
“Flee” – Denmark
“The Hand of God” – Italy
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” – Bhutan
“The Worst Person in the World” – Norway

Best Cinematography
”Dune” – Greig Fraser
“Nightmare Alley” – Dan Laustsen
“The Power of the Dog” – Ari Wegner
“The Tragedy Of Macbeth” Bruno Delbonnel
“West Side Story” – Janusz Kaminski

Best Costume Design
“Cruella” – Jenny Beavan
“Cyrano” – Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
“Dune” – Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
“Nightmare Alley” – Luis Sequeira
“West Side Story” – Paul Tazewell

Best Film Editing
”Don’t Look Up” – Hank Corwin
“Dune” – Joe Walker
“King Richard” – Pamela Martin
“The Power of the Dog” – Peter Sciberras
“Tick, Tick…Boom!” – Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

Best Makeup & Hairstyling
”Coming 2 America” – Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer
“Cruella” – Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon
“Dune” – Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” – Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh
“House of Gucci” – Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

Best Production Design
”Dune” – Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos
“Nightmare Alley” – Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
“The Power of the Dog” – Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” – Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
“West Side Story” – Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Best Sound
”Belfast” – Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri
“Dune” – Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett
“No Time to Die” – Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor
“The Power of the Dog” – Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb
“West Side Story” – Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

Best Visual Effects
“Dune” – Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer
“Free Guy” – Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
“No Time to Die” – Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
“Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings” – Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” – Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

Best Original Score
”Don’t Look Up” – Nicholas Britell
“Dune” – Hans Zimmer
“Encanto” – Germaine Franco
“Parallel Mothers” – Alberto Iglesias
“The Power Of The Dog” – Jonny Greenwood

Best Original Song

“Be Alive” from “King Richard” – Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto” – Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Down To Joy” from “Belfast” – Music and Lyric by Van Morrison
“No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die” – Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days” – Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

Best Animated Short
“Affairs of the Art” – Joanna Quinn and Les Mills
“Bestia” – Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz
“Boxballet” – Anton Dyakov
“Robin Robin” – Dan Ojari and Mikey Please
“The Windshield Wiper” – Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

Best Documentary Short
“Audible” – Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean
“Lead Me Home” – Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk
“The Queen of Basketball” – Ben Proudfoot
“Three Songs for Benazir” – Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei
“When We Were Bullies” – Jay Rosenblatt

Best Live-Action Short
“Ala Kachuu – Take and Run” – Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger
“The Dress” – Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki
“The Long Goodbye” – Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed
“On My Mind” – Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson
“Please Hold” – K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

What If Lisa Marie Picked The Oscar Nominees: 2021 Edition

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With the Oscar nominations due to be announced tomorrow, now is the time that the Shattered Lens indulges in a little something called, “What if Lisa Marie had all the power.” Listed below are my personal Oscar nominations. Please note that these are not the films that I necessarily think will be nominated. The fact of the matter is that the many of them will not be. Instead, these are the films that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for deciding the nominees this year. Winners are listed in bold.

I should also point out that, unlike the Academy (which is using a March to December, 2021 eligibility window), I am using a January to December 2021 eligibility window. So, you may see a few nominees below that were technically nominated for the 2020 Oscars, despite the fact that the films themselves were not really given a theatrical release until the the first few months of 2021. The Father is probably the most obvious example of this.

It should also go without saying that I’ve only nominated films that I’ve actually seen. So, if you’re wondering why a certain film wasn’t nominated, it’s always possible that may have not gotten the opportunity to see it yet. I have a feeling that The Souvenir Part II and Cyrano would have potentially shown up in the list of nominee below if either one of those films was currently available in my part of the world. Of course, it’s also possible that I didn’t feel that a certain film was worthy of a nomination, despite what the critics may see. In the end, my best advice is not to worry too much about it. I’m not an Academy voter so ultimately, this is all for fun and that’s the spirit in which it should be taken.

You’ll also note that I’ve added four categories, all of which I believe the Academy should adopt — Best Voice-Over Performance, Best Casting, Best Stunt Work, and Best Overall Use Of Music In A Film.

Click on the links to see my nominations for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010!)

And now, without further ado:

Best Picure
Belfast
CODA
The French Dispatch
The Last Duel
Licorice Pizza
Mass
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Shiva Baby

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson for Licorice Pizza
Kenneth Branagh for Belfast
Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog
Joel Coen for The Tragedy of Macbeth
Fran Kanz for Mass
Emma Seligman for Shiva Baby

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage in Pig
Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog
Anthony Hopins in The Father
Udo Kier in Swan Song
Denzel Washington in Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Actress
Jodie Comer in The Last Duel
Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza
Emilia Jones in CODA
Frances McDormand in The Tragedy of Macbeth
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby
Tessa Thompson in Passing

Best Supporting Actor
Reed Birney in Mass
Bradley Cooper in Licorice Pizza
Jamie Dornan in Belfast
Jason Isaacs in Mass
Troy Kostur in CODA
Chaske Spencer in Wild Indian

Best Supporting Actress
Caririona Balfe in Belfast
Ann Dowd in Mass
Kirsten Dunst in The Power of the Dog
Kathryn Hunter in The Tragedy of Macbeth
Ruth Negga in Passing
Martha Plimpton in Mass

Best Voice Over Performance
Olivia Colman in Ron Gone Wrong
Jack Dylan Grazer in Ron Gone Wrong
Micahel Imperioli in The Many Saints of Newark
Abbi Jacobson In The Mitchells vs The Machines
Danny McBride in The Mitchells vs The Machines
Sylvester Stallone in The Suicide Squad

Best Original Screenplay
Belfast
CODA
Licorice Pizza
Mass
Pig
Shiva Baby

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Father
The French Dispatch
The Last Duel
Nightmare Alley
Passing
The Power of the Dog

Best Animated Feature Film
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs The Machines
Ron Gone Wrong
Summit of the Gods

Best Documentary Feature Film
Final Account
Flee
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster
Summer of Soul
Val
The Velvet Underground

Best International Feature Film
Another Round
Dear Comrades!
Flee
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Prayers For The Stolen
Summit of the Gods

Best Original Score
Assault on VA-33
Belfast
The French Dispatch
The Green Knight
Reminiscence
Shiva Baby

Best Original Song

“So May We Start” from Annette
“Beyond the Shore” from CODA
“Surface Pressure” from Encanto
“On My Way” From The Mitchells vs The Machines
“Remain” from Old
“Fire In The Sky” from Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Gold Rings

Best Overall Use Of Music
Annette
CODA
Encanto
Licorice Pizza
Summer of Soul
Tick …. Tick …. Boom!

Best Sound Editing
Black Widow
Dune
Godzilla vs. Kong
A Quiet Place Part II
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Best Sound Mixing
Belfast
CODA
Dune
In The Heights
Tick …. Tick …. Boom!
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Best Production Design
Dune
The French Dispatch
The Last Duel
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Casting
Belfast
CODA
East of the Mountains
Licorice Pizza
The Power of the Dog
Shiva Baby

Best Cinematography
Belfast
The French Dispatch
Nightmare Alley
Passing
The Power of the Dog
Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Costume Design
Dune
The Green Knight
The Last Duel
Nightmare Alley
Passing
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Best Film Editing
Belfat
The Father
The Last Duel
Licorice Pizza
Tragedy of Macbeth
Shiva Baby

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The French Dispatch
The Green Knight
Nightmare Alley
The Suicide Squad

Best Stuntwork
Assault on VA-33
Black Widow
Dune
The Harder They Fall
No Time To Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Best Visual Effects
A Quiet Place Part II
Annette
Dune
Godzilla vs. Kong
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home

List of Nominees By Number of Nominations

10 Nominations — Belfast

9 Nominations — Licorice Pizza

8 Nominations — CODA, The Tragedy of Macbeth

7 Nominations — Dune, Mass, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, Shiva Baby

6 Nominations — The French Dispatch, The Last Duel

5 Nominations — Passing, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

4 Nominations — The Mitchells vs The Machines

3 Nominations — Annette, Encanto, The Father, Flee, The Green Knight, Ron’s Gone Wrong, Spider-Man: No Direction Home, The Suicide Squad

2 Nominations — A Quiet Place Part II, Assault on VA-33, Black Widow, Godzilla vs Kong, Pig, Summer of Soul, Summit of the Gods, tick….tick….BOOM!

1 Nomination — Another Round, Dear Comrades!, East of the Mountains, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Final Account, Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster, The Harder They Fall, In The Heights, Luca, The Many Saints of Newark, No Time To Die, Old, Prayers For The Stolen, Quo Vadis Aida?, Reminiscence, Swan Song, Val, The Velvet Underground, Wild Indian

List of Films By Number of Oscars Won:

3 Oscars — Licorice Pizza

2 Oscars — CODA, Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog

1 Oscar — Belfast, Dear Comrades!, Encanto, The Father, The French Dispatch, The Green Knight, The Many Saints of Newark, Mass, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Shiva Baby, Summit of the Gods, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Val, Wild Indian

A Blast From The Past: I Like Bikes But…. (dir by Bob Deaton, Loren Dolezal, Dennis Hess, Ernest Johnson, Oscar Rojas, Robert Rose, and Trudy Travis)

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

How many directors does it take to put together a 13-minute film about bicycles?

Apparently, it takes seven! At least that’s the amount that received credit for 1978’s I Like Bikes But…. I guess some of them did the live action shots and some of them did the animation and maybe one of them was in the recording booth with the narrator but still, seven seems like a lot. But I guess it takes a lot of manpower to make people like cyclists.

Anyway, this film was meant to encourage people to not only ride bicycles but to also observe all of the safety rules that surround riding bikes in public. A bicycle named Ike is convinced that he can make you love overlook the slow-moving nuisance of the public cyclist if he just keep repeating, “I like bikes over and over again….” That may have worked for Eisenhower but he won a war so everyone already liked him. Whereas bicyclists are usually the people you dread getting stuck behind in traffic.

I have to admit that, after watching this short film, I found myself hating bikes even more than I did before. But I do appreciate Ike’s enthusiasm. He tried.

The TSL’s Grindhouse: Blind Fury (dir by Philip Noyce)

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Nick Parker (Rutger Hauer) may have lost his sight in Vietnam but he gained something else. With the help of surprisingly friendly villagers, Nick learned how to master his other senses. He also became a proficient and deadly swordsmen. Why would the villagers go out of their way to help an American soldier who, in all probability, they viewed as an intruder?

Does it matter?

Of course not! All that matters is that 1990’s Blind Fury features Rutger Hauer as a blind swordsman who, 20 years after returning home from Vietnam, decides to to go to Florida to pay a visit on his old service buddy, Frank (Terry O’Quinn). Frank, however, has developed a gambling problem and is currently in Reno, Nevada. While Nick is getting to know Frank’s ex-wife, Lynne (Meg Foster), and Frank’s bratty son, Billy (Brandon Call), Slag (Randall “Tex” Cobb) shows up with two corrupt cops. As you can probably guess from his name, Slag is a bad guy. He’s looking for Frank. Nick manages to kill the cops and run off Slag but, in the process, Lynne is killed. With her dying breath, Lynne asks Nick to take Billy to his father. Nick, of course, agrees.

The rest of this fast-paced film follows Nick and Billy as they head across the country. Following them along the way is Slag and his men. Frank has obviously made some pretty big mistakes and gotten on the bad side of some pretty dangerous people and it’s now up to Nick to save Frank, if just so Billy doesn’t end up an orphan. At first, Billy is resentful and does things like demanding a window seat on the bus that they’re taking to Nevada. (As Billy rather rudely puts it, it’s not like Nick has any use for the window.) Billy also laughs when Nick trips in a puddle and then tries to trick Nick into eating a rock. However, Nick soon proves himself to be more than capable of defending both himself and Billy. Soon, Billy is calling him “Uncle Nick” and Nick …. well, Nick still seems to be wondering what he ever did that was so wrong that a part of his punishment was to get stuck with such a little brat. But, that is a part of Nick’s charm.

And, indeed, Nick has a lot of charm. That’s not particularly surprising, given that he’s played by the charismatic Rutger Hauer. Hauer is convincing as both a blind man and a fighter and he bring a lot of sly humor to the role. Nick may be a warrior but he’s definitely a warrior with a certain joie de vivre. Beyond his own talents as an actor, Hauer was just one of those performers who had enough natural athleticism to look totally credible while swinging a sword at his enemies. One of the things that makes Blind Fury so enjoyable is that you never doubt that Hauer could actually do all of the things that we see him do.

Blind Fury is a fast-paced and entertaining film. Director Philip Noyce keeps the action moving quickly and he’s smart enough to avoid getting bogged down with trying to convince the audience that film’s plot makes any more sense than it does. Blind Fury is a B-action movie that’s proud to be a B-action movie and, as a result, it’s a lot of fun. The film ends with a battle between Hauer and Sho Kosugi that is genuinely exciting to watch. It also ends with the promise of a sequel, one that was sadly never made.

As I watched the film tonight (and, with the temperature currently being below freezing and a good deal of ice still being on the ground outside, I definitely enjoyed the escape that the film provided), it occurred to me that I’ve recently viewed many Rutger Hauer films. I’ve seen a few bad films starring Rutger Hauer but I have never seen a bad Rutger Hauer performance. Hauer always gave 100%, regardless of what else might be going on with the movie. That’s why he was a great actor and one who is definitely missed today.

Blind Fury is definitely a very good Rutger Hauer film. Watch it the next time you need to see that, with a little determination, anything is possible.

8 Things That I Am Looking Forward To In February

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ah, February!

February is usually one of my favorite months of the year. Not only do we usually have a lot of Oscar scenarios to which to look forward but it’s also the month of Valentine’s Day! This is the month of love, people! Admittedly, pre-COVID, this was also the month when I would usually take my vacation and get out of town for a while. My vacation’s going to be a little bit later this year, though.

What am I looking forward to this month? Well, there’s always a chance of snow! Of course, last year, it snowed in February and we ended up going without power for a week. That was a difficult time for a lot of people down here in Texas. It really wasn’t that difficult for me, though. I kind of enjoyed the snow. Even without the lights, I could still read a book late at night because of the light reflecting off of all the snow. That was kind of fun. But I should probably be careful about admitting that too loudly.

Anyway, here are eight things to which I am looking forward in February! What are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments and maybe I’ll send some snow your way. (And by snow, you mean cocaine, right? No, I mean metaphorical snow. Wait a minute, who am I talking to?)

The Oscar Nominations

The Oscar nominations will finally be announced on February 8th! With any luck, I will be posting my personal nominations on the 7th. I have a lot of movies left to watch and I know I’m probably going to miss out on a few because there’s only so many hours during the day. That sucks but I’m going to do my best, I promise.

2. The Winter Olympics

Am I looking forward to the Olympics? On the one hand, I am because I’m love ice skating and curling and all of that good stuff. On the other hand, I’m like, “This is the most problematic Olympics of my lifetime.” I know that some people believe that we should have totally boycotted the Olympics this year. I don’t agree with that because that wouldn’t accomplish much beyond punishing our athletes. Instead, as a proud Irish-Italian-Spanish-American, I will be cheering on all of our athletes, even the really obnoxious ones and I will also be hoping that the coverage of the games will be honest when discussing why they are so controversial this year.

3. Death on the Nile

Speaking of controversy ….. Death on the Nile is finally getting released! First, it was delayed by COVID. Then it was delayed by Armie Hammer. I’m just curious to see how it does at the box office. Personally, I like the idea of Kenneth Branagh playing Poirot and solving murders. To me, it’s interesting that he directed this film before Belfast but it’ll be opening at a time when it’s success or failure could effect Belfast’s Oscar campaign.

4. Cyrano

Cyrano is apparently going to finally get a wide release on February 25th. I guess the hope is that it’ll pick up some Oscar nominations and, when it opens, everyone will be like, “Finally! We can see what the Academy is so excited about!” I hate platform releases but I’m still looking forward to finally seeing Cyrano.

5. Marry Me

This looks like the best romantic comedy of 2004! Seriously, sometimes you see a trailer for a movie that is so destined to be bad that you just have to watch it.

6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

My Marry Me comments apply here as well, except for the romantic comedy part. Don’t worry. If this latest reboot/sequel doesn’t work, they’ll just try again in 2024. Many years ago, someone got mad at me because I pointed out that no one would care about a Vermont Chainsaw Massacre. I stand by that opinion.

7. Super Bowl Sunday

Yes, I watched a bit of football in January. It was an experiment to see if I could get into the sport. It turns out that I can’t. But I’m still looking forward to the Super Bowl commercials and the trailers and the tweets! Always, the tweets….

8. Valentine’s Day

I love Valentine’s Day and I never quite get the bitterness that it seems to inspire in some people. Of course, I don’t think I’ve ever been single on Valentine’s Day, either.

As for what I’m not looking forward to in February …. the return of Celebrity Big Brother. Ugh. I’ll watch it but that doesn’t mean I’m looking forward to it.

2021 In Review: Lisa Marie’s Picks For The 26 Best Films of 2021

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Without further ado, here is the list that we’ve all been waiting for! Here are my picks for the 26 best films of 2021! Why 26? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers!

(Also, be sure to check out my picks for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020! Wow, I’ve been doing this for a while!)