Tag Archives: Film

The Directors Guild Honors Nomadland

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Directors Guild has announced their winners for 2020 and there’s really no surprises to be found below.  Chloe Zhao won for Nomadland.  Darius Marder won for Sound of Metal.  Documentary went to the directors of The Truffle Hunters.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot from them in the future.

Here are the film nominees and winners.  (They also honored some TV folks but who cares about them?)

NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
David Fincher – Mank
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland

FIRST TIME NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version
Fernando Frías de la Parra – I’m No Longer Here
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
Florian Zeller – The Father

​DOCUMENTARY
Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw – The Truffle Hunters
Pippa Ehrlich & James Reed – My Octopus Teacher
David France – Welcome to Chechnya
Amanda Mcbaine & Jessie Moss – Boys State
Benjamin Ree – The Painter and the Thief

The Visual Effects Society Honors Mank, Soul, and The Midnight Sky

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

About three days ago (yes, I’m late in sharing this), the Visual Effects Society announced their picks for the best visual effects of 2020!  And here they are:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY
PROJECT POWER
TENET
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
THE WITCHES

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
DA 5 BLOODS
EXTRACTION
MANK
NEWS OF THE WORLD
WELCOME TO CHECHNYA

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
ONWARD
OVER THE MOON
SOUL
THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
TROLLS WORLD TOUR

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
DIE KÄNGURU-CHRONIKEN; Kangaroo
JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY; Don Juan Diego
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN; Ivan
THE WITCHES; Daisy

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
ONWARD; Dad Pants
OVER THE MOON; Chang’e
SOUL; Terry
THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE ON THE RUN; SpongeBob

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
BLOODSHOT: Neuralspace
MULAN; Imperial City
THE EIGHT HUNDRED; 1937 Shanghai Downtown
THE EIGHT HUNDRED; Shanghai Warehouse District

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
ONWARD; Swamp Gas
SOUL; You Seminar
TROLLS WORLD TOUR; Techno Reef
TROLLS WORLD TOUR; Volcano Rock City

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project
GHOST OF TSUSHIMA; A Storm is Coming
SOUL
THE MANDALORIAN; The Believer
THE MANDALORIAN; The Siege

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
THE MANDALORIAN; Boba Fett’s Ship
THE MANDALORIAN; The Rescue; Light Cruiser
THE MIDNIGHT SKY; Aether
THE WITCHES; Rollercoaster

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
BLOODSHOT
GREYHOUND
MONSTER HUNTER
MULAN
PROJECT POWER

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
ONWARD
OVER THE MOON
SOUL
TROLLS WORLD TOUR
THE WILLOUGHBYS

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature
GREYHOUND
MULAN
PROJECT POWER
UNDERWATER

VES Lifetime Achievement Award
PETER JACKSON

VES Award for Creative Excellence
ROB LEGATO, ASC

Film Review: Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (dir by Chris Smith)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In Operation Varsity Blues, Matthew Modine plays Rick Singer, the real-life “college admissions consultant” who was one of the many people involved in the 2019 College Admissions scandal.

Singer was the former basketball coach who helped the rich and famous get their children into the right Ivy League schools. As the film shows (and as you probably already know), he did this by faking test scores, faking athletic activities, and often arranging for money to exchange hands. The film not only features Modine and others actors acting out the actual conversations that Singer was taped as having with his wealthy clients, it also features interviews with a few of Singer’s acquaintances and with the various journalists who covered the scandal. It’s a documentary with dramatic recreations.

And that’s fine. Modine does a good enough job portraying Rick Singer, playing him as essentially being a sleazy salesman who knew exactly what to say to the parents who were desperate to get their child into a prestigious university. (The film reveals that Singer would often lie to his clients, brainwashing them into believing that there was no way their children would be able to get into USC or Harvard without his help.) Unfortunately, with his gray hair and, his nervous smile, Matthew Modine as Rick Singer bares an odd but definite resemblance to the great Eric Roberts and, as I watched Operation Varsity Blues, I found myself thinking about how great it would be to see a film in which Eric Roberts did play Rick Singer. (I mean, seriously, Singer just seems like a perfect Eric Roberts role.) That may sound like a petty complaint but it does get at a bigger issue. Operation Varsity Blues is 100 minutes long but, despite its slightly different narrative format, it still doesn’t tell us anything that we couldn’t have learned from all of the other documentaries and dramatic adaptations based on the college admissions scandal. Even with the reenactments and the chance to hear Singer’s own words, Operation Varsity Blues still doesn’t tell us anything new about the scandal or why it happened. If nothing else, Eric Roberts and his neurotic screen presence would have put a new spin on a now-familiar story,

To be honest, the hybrid, docudrama format actually works against the film. On the one hand, you’ve got the real people telling their story in talking head interviews. But every time you start to get into their stories, the film cuts away to a reenactment and the film goes from being a documentary to being a low-budget Matthew Modine film. The film would have worked better if it had chosen to be either a documentary or a drama. By trying to be both, the end result is a movie that often seems disjointed and leaves you still feeling as if you haven’t actually gotten the entire story.

Finally, Lori Loughlin and her husband are featured in the documentary, though only in news footage. At one point, it’s revealed that after their daughter was accepted to USC, her high school guidance counselor called the college to tell them that Olivia Jade was never on her school’s rowing team, regardless of what her application said. Apparently, Lori and her husband got very angry about the counselor doing this and you know what? They had every right to be pissed off. Why is a guidance counselor trying to keep one of his students from getting into a good college? I mean, how was it really any of his business to begin with? That’s something that I would have liked to have seen explored in a bit more detail. Instead, the film just hurries along to another reenactment of Rick Singer explaining how to cheat on the ACT. (I’m still amazed that people spent that much money to do something as easy as cheat on a standardized test. I mean, it’s not that difficult.)

Unfortunately, the entire film is like that. It raises some interesting points but it ultimately leaves you frustrated by its refusal to do anything more than scratch the surface.

Film Review: BMX Bandits (dir by Brian Trenchard-Smith)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bicyclists!

Oh, don’t even get me started on people who ride bicycles. Don’t get me wrong. I own a bicycle. I like to ride my bicycle occasionally, though only in the park and never in the street. They’re good exercise. They’re good for the environment, I guess. They don’t kill as many people as cars do, I assume. That said, professional bicyclists — and by that, I mean the ones who don’t even own a car — drive me crazy.

Don’t even pretend that you don’t know what I mean. You’re trying to drive to work or the grocery store or maybe you’re just taking a nice drive to clear your head. You’re tapping on the accelerator. You’re going over 60 mile per hour because there aren’t any cops around. Everything’s just fine and then suddenly …. you get stuck behind some jerk on a bicycle. He’s got his helmet on. He’s got his tight little bicycle shorts and his fluorescent shirt. He’s peddling along, all hunched over and with his ass up in the air, like that doesn’t make him look like a total idiot.

And then, you have to slow down. You’re have to be careful that you don’t accidentally run him over. You have to watch his arms because his stupid little bicycle doesn’t have a goddamn turn signal or a brake light. When you reach a red light, he sits there on his bike with one hand on his hips and the other hand holding up his little water bottle, from which he drinks as if he’s spent the past week in a desert. And you’re left to wonder why this guy is even here, riding his bicycle down a busy street that doesn’t even have a bicycle lane. The worst part of it is the smug look of satisfaction on his face as he looks back at your car and thinks, “I may be inconveniencing everyone but at least I’m making a difference.”

Considering my anti-bicyclist feelings, I may not have been the ideal audience for the 1983 Australian film, BMX Bandits. Fortunately, though, the teenager bikers in this film were all extremely fast and very stunt-orientated. These bikers weren’t interested in using their bikes as a symbol of moral superiority. Instead, they were more about using them to jump over shopping carts and to ride across the beaches of Sydney. One of the bikers was played by a 16 year-old Nicole Kidman and she managed to bring at least a hint of reality to even the most absurd pieces of dialogue.

That’s a good thing because BMX Bandits is, even by the standards of a bicycle film from the early 80s, is a thoroughly absurd film. A group of bank robbers lose a box of walkie talkies. Three BMX bike enthusiasts find the box. This leads to a long chase through Sydney, as well as a sort of bizarre counter attack launched by hundreds of teenage BMX bike owners. The bank robbers don’t stand a chance! That said, I’m not really sure why, since the movie opened with them successfully robbing a bank, they couldn’t have just purchased a new box of walkie talkies. Interestingly enough, the police also spend a lot of time listening to walkie talkies, which can only lead me to believe that walkie talkies were a really huge deal back in 1983. This film is fascinated by them, to the extent that a more appropriate title for the film might have been Law & Order: Walkie Talkie Squad.

Anyway, what can you really say about something like BMX Bandits? It’s such a silly film that it’s almost impossible to review because to take it seriously is to miss the point. The villains are buffoons. The plot makes no sense. Nicole Kidman’s good, though you still only really notice her because you know what audiences in 1983 did not know, that she’s future Oscar winner Nicole Kidman. At the same time, the scenery is lovely and there’s an extended scene that takes place in a cemetery that has some nice atmosphere even if it does go on a bit too long. There’s not really a lot to be said about BMX Bandits but at least it won’t slow down traffic.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Francis Ford Coppola Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today is Francis Ford Coppola’s birthday! Coppola is a bit of a controversial figure among some film scholars. While everyone agrees that, with the first two Godfathers, he directed two of the greatest films of all time (and some people would include Apocalypse Now on that list as well) and that he was one of the most important directors of the 70s, his post-Apocalypse Now career is often held up as a cautionary tale. Some say that Coppola’s career suffered because of his own excessive behavior and spending. Others argue that he was treated unfairly by a film industry that resented his refusal to compromise his vision and ambitions. Personally, my natural instinct is to always side with the artist over the executives and that’s certainly the case with Coppola. Coppola has only completed three films since the start of this current century and none of them were widely released. Say what you will about the films themselves, that still doesn’t seem right.

Regardless of how one views his latter career, Coppola is responsible for some of the best and most important films ever made. And today, on his birthday, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Francis Ford Coppola Films

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)
The Conversation (1974, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Bill Butler)
The Godfather, Part II (1974, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)
Apocalypse Now (1979, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Vittorio Storaro)

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Roger Corman Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Roger Corman in The Godfather Part II

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, we wish a happy 95th birthday to the legendary filmmaker, Roger Corman!  And that means that it’s time for….

6 Shots From 6 Roger Corman Films

Not of this Earth (1957, dir by Roger Corman DP: John J. Mescall)

The Fall of the House of Usher (1960, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Floyd Crosby)

The Intruder (1962, dir by Roger Corman DP: Taylor Byars)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Nicolas Roeg)

The Wild Angels (1966, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Richard Moore)

The Trip (1967, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Arch Dalzell)

Here Are The SAG Winners!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Screen Actors Guild honored their picks for the best of 2021 tonight and they managed to get it done in an hour and without any awkward comedy bits.  Here’s hoping the Oscars producers were paying attention.

Anyway, here are the winners!  Oscar front runner Nomadland was not nominated for the Best Ensemble award so I would caution anyone from putting all their money on The Trial of the Chicago 7 to take best picture on the basis of its SAG award.  However, I do think that Youn Yuh-jung and Daniel Kaluuya now have to be considered the front runners in the supporting races.  Chadwick Boseman, of course, was already the front runner for Best Actor.  Could Viola Davis upset Frances McDormand at the Oscars like she did at SAG?  Anything’s possible.

Here are the winners!

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Da 5 Bloods
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
One Night In Miami
The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed – Sound Of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Gary Oldman – Mank
Steven Yeun – Minari

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Amy Adams – Hillbilly Elegy
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces Of A Woman
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Bridgerton
The Crown
Lovecraft Country
Ozark

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman – Ozark
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us
Josh O’Connor – The Crown
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul
Regé-Jean Page – Bridgerton

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Gillian Anderson – The Crown
Olivia Colman – The Crown
Emma Corrin – The Crown
Julia Garner – Ozark
Laura Linney – Ozark

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Youn Yuh-Jung – Minari
Helena Zengel – News Of The World

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas And The Black Messiah
Jared Leto – The Little Things
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night In Miami

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Dead To Me
The Flight Attendant
The Great
Schitt’s Creek
Ted Lasso

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate – Dead To Me
Linda Cardellini – Dead To Me
Kaley Cuoco – The Flight Attendant
Annie Murphy – Schitt’s Creek
Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Nicholas Hoult – The Great
Daniel Levy – Schitt’s Creek
Eugene Levy – Schitt’s Creek
Jason Sedukais – Ted Lasso
Ramy Youssef – Ramy

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Cate Blanchett – Mrs. America
Michaela Cole – I May Destroy You
Nicole Kidman – The Undoing
Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit
Kerry Washington – Little Fires Everywhere

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Bill Camp – The Queen’s Gambit
Daveed Diggs – Hamilton
Hugh Grant – The Undoing
Ethan Hawke – The Good Lord Bird
Mark Ruffalo – I Know This Much Is True

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Da 5 Bloods
Mulan
News of the World
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Wonder Woman 1984

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
The Boys
Cobra Kai
Lovecraft Country
The Mandalorian
Westworld

The Online Film & Television Critics Association Honors Minari!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Online Film & Television Critics Association have named Minari the best film of 2020!

Here are all of the winners (and nominees) from OFTA!

BEST PICTURE
Da 5 Bloods
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari (WINNER)
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
Promising Young Woman (RUNNER UP)
Soul
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
The Croods: A New Age
Onward
Over the Moon
Soul (WINNER)
Wolfwalkers (RUNNER UP)

BEST ACTOR
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal (RUNNER UP)
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (WINNER)
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun – Minari

BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand – Nomadland (RUNNER UP)
Elisabeth Moss – The Invisible Man
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman (WINNER)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah (WINNER)
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal (RUNNER UP)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (RUNNER UP)
Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari (WINNER)

BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE
Ella Jay Basco – Birds of Prey
Millie Bobby Brown – Enola Holmes
Alexis Chikaeze – Miss Juneteenth
Alan Kim – Minari (WINNER)
Helena Zengel – News of the World (RUNNER UP)

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: MALE
Kingsley Ben-Adir – One Night in Miami (WINNER)
Bo Burnham – Promising Young Woman
Alan Kim – Minari
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal (RUNNER UP)

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: FEMALE
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (WINNER)
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (RUNNER UP)
Dominique Fishback – Judas and the Black Messiah
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman

BEST VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE
Tina Fey – Soul
Jamie Foxx – Soul (WINNER)
Tom Holland – Onward
Honor Kneafsey – Wolfwalkers (RUNNER UP)
Eva Whittaker – Wolfwalkers

BEST ENSEMBLE
Da 5 Bloods
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
One Night in Miami (WINNER)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (RUNNER UP)

BEST CASTING
Da 5 Bloods
Minari
One Night in Miami (RUNNER UP)
Promising Young Woman (WINNER)
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (RUNNER UP)
David Fincher – Mank
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (WINNER)

BEST FEATURE DEBUT
Kitty Green – The Assistant
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (WINNER)
Darius Marder – Sound of Metal (RUNNER UP)
Florian Zeller – The Father

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mank
Minari (RUNNER UP)
Promising Young Woman (WINNER)
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Father
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Nomadland (WINNER)
One Night in Miami (RUNNER UP)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Another Round (RUNNER UP)
Bacurau
Collective
La Llorona
Minari (WINNER)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
All In: The Fight for Democracy
Boys State
Collective
Dick Johnson Is Dead (RUNNER UP)
Time (WINNER)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Mank
Minari (RUNNER UP)
News of the World
Soul (WINNER)
Tenet

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Wuhan Flu – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Husavik – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (RUNNER UP)
Poverty Porn – The Forty-Year-Old Version
Fight for You – Judas and the Black Messiah
Speak Now – One Night in Miami (WINNER)

BEST ADAPTED SONG
Reflection – Mulan
A Change Is Gonna Come – One Night in Miami (RUNNER UP)
Toxic – Promising Young Woman (WINNER)
It’s All Right – Soul
Strange Fruit – The United States vs. Billie Holiday

BEST FILM EDITING
Mank
Nomadland (RUNNER UP)
Sound of Metal (WINNER)
Tenet
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Da 5 Bloods
Mank (RUNNER UP)
Minari
Nomadland (WINNER)
Tenet

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Emma.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank (WINNER)
Promising Young Woman (RUNNER UP)
Tenet

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Birds of Prey
Emma. (RUNNER UP)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (WINNER)
Mank
Promising Young Woman

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR
Birds of Prey (WINNER)
Emma.
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (RUNNER UP)
Promising Young Woman

BEST SOUND
The Invisible Man
Mank
Soul
Sound of Metal (WINNER)
Tenet (RUNNER UP)

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
Greyhound
The Invisible Man (RUNNER UP)
Soul
Sound of Metal (WINNER)
Tenet

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Birds of Prey
The Invisible Man (WINNER)
Mank
The Midnight Sky
Tenet (RUNNER UP)

BEST STUNT COORDINATION
Birds of Prey (RUNNER UP)
The Invisible Man
Mulan
Tenet (WINNER)
Wonder Woman 1984

BEST TITLES SEQUENCE
Birds of Prey (Closing)
Da 5 Bloods (Closing)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Closing)
The Invisible Man (Opening) (RUNNER UP)
Promising Young Woman (Opening) (WINNER)

MOST CINEMATIC MOMENT
Another Round – The dance
Birds of Prey – Harley Quinn in the Police Station
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – Rudy Giuliani
The Invisible Man – The knife at the table scene (RUNNER UP)
Promising Young Woman – Cassie’s plan comes together (WINNER)

BEST MOVIE TRAILER
Birds of Prey (Trailer #1)
The Invisible Man (Trailer #1)
Judas and the Black Messiah
Promising Young Woman (Trailer #1) (WINNER)
Tenet (Trailer #1) (RUNNER UP)

BEST MOVIE POSTER
Birds of Prey (Poster #1)
Birds of Prey (Poster #2)
Da 5 Bloods (Poster #1) (RUNNER UP)
Mank (Poster #1)
Promising Young Woman (Poster #1) (WINNER)

The Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild honors Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Birds of Prey!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild have announced their pics for best of 2020!  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Birds of Prey picked up two awards each.

Here are the nominees and winners!

FEATURE-LENGTH MOTION PICTURE – Best Contemporary Make-Up
“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard & Stephen Kelley)
“Birds Of Prey” (Deborah Lamia Denaver, Sabrina Wilson, Miho Suzuki & Cale Thomas)
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Katy Fray, Lisa Layman & Thomas Kolarek)
“The Prom” (Eryn Krueger Mekash, J. Roy Helland, Kyra Panchenko & Donald McInnes)
“Promising Young Woman” (Angela Wells, Brigitte Hennech & Adam Christopher)

FEATURE-LENGTH MOTION PICTURE – Best Period And/Or Character Make-Up
“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard, Stephen Kelley & Bianca Appice)
“Hillbilly Elegy” (Eryn Krueger Mekash, Jamie Hess, Devin Morales & Jessica Gambardella)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Matiki Anoff, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Carl Fullerton & Debi Young)
“Mank” (Gigi Williams & Michelle Audrina Kim)
“Mulan” (Denise Kum, Rick Findlater, Georgia Lockhart-Adams & James MacKinnon)

FEATURE-LENGTH MOTION PICTURE – Best Special Make-Up Effects
“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (Bill Corso, Dennis “Bill & Ted Face the Music” (Bill Corso, Kevin Yagher, Steve Wang & Stephen Kelley)
“Hillbilly Elegy” ( Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle & Jamie Hess)
“Mulan” (Denise Kum & Chris Fitzpatrick)
“Pinocchio” (Mark Coulier)
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (Adrian Morot)
“Wonder Woman 1984” (Jan Sewell & Mark Coulier)

FEATURE-LENGTH MOTION PICTURE – Best Contemporary Hair Styling
“Bill & Ted Face the Music “(Donna Spahn-Jones, Budd Bird, Jeri Baker & Ulla Gaudin)
“Birds Of Prey”  Adruitha Lee, Cassie Russek, Margarita Pidgeon & Nikki Nelms)
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Kimberly Boyenger & Tyler Ely)
“The Prom” (Chris Clark, Natalie Driscoll, Ka’Maura Eley & J. Roy Helland)
“Promising Young Woman” (Daniel Curet, Bryson Conley & Lee Ann Brittenham)

FEATURE-LENGTH MOTION PICTURE – Best Period Hair Styling And/Or Character Hair Styling
“Hillbilly Elegy” (Patricia Dehaney, Tony Ward, Martial Corneville & Stacey Butterworth)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Mia Neal, Larry Cherry, Leah Loukas & Tywan Williams)
“Mank” (Kimberley Spiteri & Colleen Labaff)
“Mulan” (Denise Kum, Rick Findlater, Georgia Lockhart-Adams & Terry Baliel)
“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” (Sharon Martin & Kat Fa)

Here’s The Latest Trailer For Black Widow!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Black Widow in happier times

As I’ve said before, both on this site and on twitter, I have mixed feeling about the upcoming Black Widow film. On the one hand, Natasha was my favorite member of the Avengers and I’m glad that she’s finally getting a solo film. On the other hand, it annoys me that she’s only getting a solo film after being killed off in Avengers: Endgame. Don’t even get me started on the screwed-up logic of her sacrificing her life when Clint was the one who had basically spent 5 years killing everyone that he met. Natasha may have made mistakes when she was a spy but at least she was never a serial killer!

Apparently, the Black Widow solo film takes place in between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War and it seems very likely that it’s also going to serve as an origin story for a character played by Florence Pugh, who may end up becoming the new Black Widow. I hope that’s not true but, from what I’ve heard, it seems probable. I’m not particularly excited about the prospect of that happening. I don’t want a replacement Black Widow. I want the original to come back to life and I want Clint to do the right thing.

To be honest, though, I’m now at a point where I just want to see the damn movie. That release date has been moved around so much that I no longer care whether or not the film’s any good or not. I don’t care whether or not they’re going to do the right thing and resurrect Natasha from the dead. I JUST WANT TO SEE THE DAMN MOVIE! Hell, I’ll even spend the extra 30 to see it in Disney Plus, I don’t care. I JUST WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE!

Anyway, with all that in mind, Black Widow is going to be released on July 9th and it’s about time! Here’s the latest trailer: