Tag Archives: Film

The Austin Film Critics Association Honors Minari

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

 

Today the Austin Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2020 and it was another victory for Minari!

Here are the winners in Austin:

Best Film
First Cow
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland
Minari
Promising Young Woman

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt, First Cow
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Best Actress
Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun, Minari

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Coleman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Helena Zengel, News of the World

Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr, One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
David Strathairn, Nomadland
Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Original Screenplay
Minari
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Father
The Invisible Man
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Nomadland
One Night in Miami

Best Cinematography
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Tenet

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
Soul
Tenet

Best Foreign Language Film
Another Round
Bacurau
Beanpole
La Llorona
Minari

Best Documentary
Boys State
Collective
Crip Camp
Dick Johnson is Dead
Time

Best Animated Film
Over the Moon
Onward
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Best Ensemble
Da 5 Bloods
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
One Night in Miami
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Editing
The Father
Mank
Nomadland
Tenet
Sound of Metal

Best Motion Capture/Special Effects Performance
Luke Davis, The Invisible Man
Andrew Jackson, Tenet
Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Invisible Man
Matt Kasmir, The Midnight Sky
Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man
Terry Notary, Call of the Wild

Best Stunts
Birds of Prey
Extraction
The Invisible Man
The Old Guard
Tenet

Best First Film
Miss Juneteenth
One Night in Miami
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
The 40-Year-Old Version

The Robert R. “Bobby” McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award
Radha Blank, The 40-Year-Old Version
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Alan Kim, Minari
Cathy Yan, Birds of Prey

Austin Film Award
Bull
Greenland
The Orange Years
Pahokee
We Can Be Heroes

Special Honorary Award: Honoring “Miss Juneteenth” with a “Texas Spirit” award, for exemplifying the creative output of the film industry here in the Lone Star State, as well as embodying the character of our community.

The Phoenix Critics Circle Honors Minari

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Though I think a lot of people have kind of tuned out now that the Oscar nominations have finally been announced, the critics groups and the guilds are still announcing their picks for the best of 2020 and the first two months of 2021.  Yesterday, the Phoenix Critics Circle announced that Minari was their selection for best film of the year!

Here are the winners from Phoenix:

BEST PICTURE
FIRST COW
MINARI
NOMADLAND
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
SOUND OF METAL

BEST COMEDY FILM
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION
ANOTHER ROUND
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
ON THE ROCKS
PALM SPRINGS

BEST SCIENCE FICTION FILM
POSSESOR
SPUTNIK
TENET
THE VAST OF NIGHT

BEST HORROR FILM
ANTEBELLUM
THE INVISIBLE MAN
LA LLORONA
POSSESOR
RELIC

BEST ANIMATED FILM
THE CROODS: NEW AGE
ONWARD
OVER THE MOON
SOUL
WOLFWALKERS

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
ANOTHER ROUND
BACURAU
COLLECTIVE
LA LLORONA
MINARI

BEST DOCUMENTARY
BOYS STATE
CRIP CAMP
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
GUNDA
TIME

BEST ACTOR
RIZ AHMED – SOUND OF METAL
CHADWICK BOSEMAN – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
DELROY LINDO – DA 5 BLOODS
MADS MIKKELSEN – ANOTHER ROUND
GARY OLDMAN – MANK
STEVEN YEUN – MINARI

BEST ACTRESS
VIOLA DAVIS – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
ANDRA DAY – THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY
SIDNEY FLANIGAN – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
FRANCES MCDORMAND – NOMADLAND
CAREY MULLIGAN – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHADWICK BOSEMAN – DA 5 BLOODS
SACHA BARON COHEN – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
DANIEL KALUUYA – JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
LESLIE ODOM JR. – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
PAUL RACI – SOUND OF METAL

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
MARIA BAKALOVA – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
OLIVIA COLMAN – THE FATHER
DOMINIQUE FISHBACK – JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
AMANDA SEYFRIED – MANK
YUH-JUNG YOUN – MINARI
HELENA ZENGEL – NEWS OF THE WORLD

BEST DIRECTOR
LEE ISSAC CHUNG – MINARI
EMERALD FENNELL – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
DAVID FINCHER – MANK
REGINA KING – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
CHLOE ZHAO – NOMADLAND

BEST SCREENPLAY
LEE ISAAC CHUNG – MINARI
EMERALD FENNELL – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
KEMP POWERS – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
AARON SORKIN – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
CHLOE ZHAO – NOMADLAND

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
ERIK MESSERSCHMIDT – MANK
JOSHUA JAMES RICHARDS – NOMADLAND
NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL – DA 5 BLOODS
HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA – TENET
ŁUKASZ ŻAL – I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS

BEST SCORE
LUDWIG GÖRANSSON – TENET
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD – NEWS OF THE WORLD
EMILE MOSSERI – MINARI
TRENT REZNOR, ATTICUS ROSS – MANK
TRENT REZNOR, ATTICUS ROSS, JON BATISTE – SOUL

Spring Breakdown: Jaws: The Revenge (dir by Joseph Sargent)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1987 film, Jaws: The Revenge, opens with Amity Island (last seen in Jaws 2) preparing to celebrate Christmas.  Longtime police chief and veteran shark hunter Martin Brody has died but his widow, Ellen (Lorraine Gary), still lives on the island.  Also living on the island is Ellen’s youngest son, Sean (Mitchell Anderson).  Sean is now a deputy and he spends a lot of time patrolling the ocean.  This worries Ellen because the Brodys don’t exactly have the best luck when it come to the water….

Or continuity for that matter!  Anyone who has seen Jaws 3-D knows that Sean Brody moves down to Florida, became a cowboy, hooked up with Lea Thompson, and worked with his older brother at Sea World.  And yet, as Jaws: The Revenge opens, Sean is suddenly back in Amity, he’s not a cowboy, and he’s engaged to someone who is not Lea Thompson.  Throughout the film, no mention is made of Sean having ever gone to Florida or going through a cowboy phase.  Basically, this film ignores the entire existence of Jaws 3-D.  That would be okay if Jaws: The Revenge was actually a better film than Jaws 3-D but it’s not.  That’s right, Jaws The Revenge fails to even improve on Jaws 3-D.

Anyway, Sean goes out on patrol and promptly gets eaten by a shark.  Ellen loses her mind at the funeral and announces that she doesn’t want her oldest son, Michael (Lance Guest), going anywhere near the water.  Unfortunately, Michael is working in the Bahamas as a marine biologist so …. well, sorry, grandma.

Perhaps to try to help Ellen get over her fear of water, Michael brings Ellen back to the Bahamas with him.  Ellen gets a chance to spend some time with her daughter-in-law, Carla (Karen Young) and her granddaughter, Thea (Judith Barsi).  Ellen also pursues a tentative romance with the local pilot, Hoagie (Michael Caine, who gives a likable performance but who also has absolutely zero romantic chemistry with Lorraine Gary).  However, Ellen still has nightmares about the ocean and she suspects that the shark that killed Sean might be on its way to the Bahamas.  Why?  Because this time it’s personal!

Actually, as crazy as that sounds, it turns out that Ellen’s right.  Unfortunately, it takes the shark a while to get down there and, as such, the audience spends a lot of time watching Ellen, who was always the least interesting character in all of the Jaws films, wander around the Bahamas.  The island scenery is lovely but when you’re watching a Jaws movie, you’re watching for the shark action.  Jaws: The Revenge is only a 90-minute film and the shark doesn’t make its second appearance until the 50 minute mark.

Once the shark does show up, of course, it gets right down business.  It eats a swimmer.  It eats an airplane.  It sinks a boat.  At one point the shark bites someone in half and someone off-screen is heard to shout, “Get a doctor!” as if a doctor is going to be able to do much in that situation.  Ellen sets out to get some revenge of her own, which would be a thrilling moment if Ellen was as iconic a character as Jaws: The Revenge seems to think that she is.  My favorite moment is when Michael Caine reveals that, despite the odds, he somehow managed to avoid getting eaten by the shark.  When someone asks him how he did it, he replies, “It wasn’t easy …. bloody Hell,” and that’s pretty much all that’s said about it.

Ultimately, though, this is the least of the four Jaws films, duplicating neither the suspense of the first two films nor the camp silliness of the third film.  Fortunately, though this film may have been the last official sequel to Jaws, the legacy of the classic original will live forever.

Lisa Reviews An Oscar Nominee: Sound of Metal (dir by Darius Marder)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

What’s it like to lose the thing that you felt was the most important part of your life?  That’s one of the many questions that Sound of Metal left me considering.

The story opens with Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) traveling the country in a cluttered RV.  Lou is a singer.  Ruben is a drummer.  They perform under the name Blackgammon.  Their life is about traveling from gig to gig, playing their own unique music.  It’s not exactly a glamorous life but, as the first few minutes of Sound of Metal makes clear, it’s a life that they both love.

Or, at least, they do until Ruben starts to lose his hearing.  (When Ruben goes to see a doctor, he’s told that he’s basically only picking up on 20% of the sounds around him and that it’s only going to get worse.)  At first, Ruben tries to keep Lou from discovering what’s happening but it doesn’t take long for Lou to realize that something’s wrong.  Ruben argues that he can still play the drums by memory, even if he can no longer hear what he’s playing.  Lou is more concerned that Ruben is going to slip back into his previous bad habits and once again start using heroin.

Eventually, the two of them go their separate ways.  Lou returns to her family in Belgium and reinvents herself as an artist.  Meanwhile, Ruben ends up at a center specifically for deaf recovering addicts.  The center is run by Joe (Paul Raci), a kind but no-nonsense man who lost his hearing in Vietnam and who is a recovering alcoholic.  At first, Ruben is bitter and angry and refuses to accept that his old life is over.  When Joe order Ruben to spend hours sitting in a room and writing down whatever pops into his head, it takes Ruben a while to see that Joe is helping him to come to terms with living in a world without sound.  Even as Ruben starts to accept his new reality, he still finds himself wanting to reunite with Lou.  He finds himself tempted to get a cochlear implant, despite Joe explaining that doing so will mean that Ruben will have to leave his new home.

In the hands of a lesser director and a lesser cast, Sound of Metal could have become mawkish or overly sentimental, the type of film that tries so hard to be uplifting that it ends up condescending instead.  However, director Darius Marder emphasizes the gritty details of his story, showcasing Ruben’s emotional growth while also acknowledging that Ruben will never truly be at peace with his hearing loss.  This is a film that acknowledges what Ruben’s gained from his new circumstances while never ignoring the pain of losing his former life.  The film’s soundtrack is designed so that we hear exactly as much or as little as Ruben can hear.  We feel his frustration and his fear as sound fades away while, at the same time, we also come to appreciate everything that he finds in the silence.

The Academy has rightfully nominated Riz Ahmed for best actor for his performance in Sound of Metal.  That was expected as Ahmed’s been honored by several critics groups and probably the only thing that will keep Ahmed from winning thr Oscar is the Academy’s understandable desire to honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman.  Ahmed does a wonderful job capturing all of Ruben’s emotions, from his fear to his anger to finally his reluctant acceptance.

Olivia Cooke was not nominated for her role, though I think she should have been.  It’s perhaps understandable why Cooke wasn’t nominated as she’s actually off-screen for a good deal of the film but she still does a great job capturing both Lou’s love for Ruben and also portraying the way the Lou grows as both a person and an artist in his absence.

That said, the best performance in the film comes from Paul Raci.  I have to admit that I cheered a little when I heard that the Academy had nominated Raci for Best Supporting Actor.  The previously unknown Raci, who has been acting for years but who had never had a film role as big or as important as this one, is the son of deaf parents and he brings a tough but heartfelt authenticity to the role of Joe.  As played by Raci, Joe sincerely cares about Ruben but, at the same time, he’s also not going to let Ruben get away with self-pity.  Raci gives a quietly authoritative performance as Joe, rarely raising his voice but still turning the character into the film’s moral center.

Sound of Metal was one of my favorite films of 2020.  It was nominated for Best Picture, along with 5 other nominations.  Personally, while I know the film probably won’t beat Nomadland for the main prize, I’m still hoping that Paul Raci will be able to pull off an upset and take home the Oscar that he definitely deserves.

Spring Breakdown: Top Secret! (dir by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“How silly can you get?” Val Kilmer sings in the 1984 film Top Secret! and the answer would appear to be very silly.  Extremely silly.  Nonsensically silly.  Unbelievable silly.  So silly that it transcends all formerly known types of silliness.  In other words, this is a very silly film but that’s okay because it’s meant to be silly.

Some people, I know, would probably argue that Top Secret! doesn’t really qualify as a Spring Break film but I have to disagree.  Like any good Spring Break film, a good deal of Top Secret! takes place on the beach and Val Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, a singer who is obviously meant to be a parody of the type of singers who used to regularly appear in the beach party movies of the 60s.  Nick’s number one hit song is Skeet Surfin, which celebrates the sport of skeet shooting while on a surf board.  The movie opens with hundreds of handsome young men jumping on surf boards while holding rifles.  I honestly don’t know whether skeet surfing was every an actual sport but I certainly hope that it was because it looks like it would have been a lot of fun.  Certainly, it would perk up the Olympics.

Of course, Nick is not the only person in the film whose life is connected to the beach.  Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge) spent much of her youth shipwrecked on a beach with Nigel (Christopher Villiers).  Unfortunately, one day, Nigel went out to sea to search for help and he never returned.  Hillary was eventually rescued.  That’s certainly a sadder trip to the beach than Nick’s but still, a beach is a beach.

Hillary and Nick’s paths cross when Nick is invited to perform at a cultural festival in what, in 1984, was known was East Germany.  Hillary is a member of the Resistance while her father, Dr. Paul Flammond (Michael Gough), is being held prisoner by the government and is being forced to design the type of secret weapons that are always at the heart of espionage adventures like this one.  When Nick and Hillary meet, it’s love at first sight.  Nick gets involved in the plan to save Hillary’s father and to thwart the insidious plans of the East German government.  He also finds the time to sing a lot of songs.

The plot of Top Secret! isn’t really easy to describe.  That’s largely because there really isn’t a plot in a conventional sense.  Instead, there’s just one joke after another.  The dialogue is purposefully nonsensical.  The visuals are full of odd details.  The jokes are frequently hilarious and, because they’re so fast and relentless, they’re also next to impossible to adequately describe.  Much of the visual humor simply has to be seen to be understood and appreciated.  For instance, it may sound slightly humorous to say that a scene features a stern-looking army officer answering a giant phone but you have to actually see the film to truly understand just how brilliantly Top Secret! pulls off the gag.

Of course, what really makes the film is work is Val Kilmer, who is young, handsome, and incredibly likable in the role of Nick.  Kilmer delivers every bizarre line with a straight face and an enthusiastic earnestness that makes him the perfect center for all the craziness raging around him.

How silly can you get?  Watch Top Secret! and find out!

Spring Breakdown: The Beach Girls and the Monster (dir by Jon Hall)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy Spring Break!

Spring Break is one of the things that I really miss about high school and college.  Despite the fact that I don’t drink, I don’t swim, and I generally hate crowds, I always made it a point to celebrate Spring Break by going to the beach.  Spring Break was more than just a week’s vacation from “preparing for the future” and everything else that I occasionally pretended college was about.  Spring Break was a ritual.  It was a tradition.  Celebrating Spring Break was as much a required activity as dressing up for Halloween or going to fireworks on the 4th.

For the next two weeks, we’re going to celebrate Spring Break on the Shattered Lens.  I know that some people are saying that no one should be celebrating the Spring Break this year.  To be honest, there were people saying that before the pandemic broke out and there were be people saying that once the pandemic is under control.  Wear your mask indoors.  Social distance.  Do whatever needs to be done and yes, definitely make sure that you know what’s going on in the world.  But don’t ever let the professional killjoys tell you that you don’t have a right to enjoy your life.

If you want to check out a professional killjoy, just check out the scientist who is at the heart of the 1965 film, The Beach Girls and the Monster.  Dr. Otto Lindsay (Jon Hall, who also directed) is an oceanographer who totally resents the fact that teenagers are partying on the beach.  I mean, he’s even more obnoxious than that jackass lawyer who spent last year wandering around the beach of Florida while dressed up as the Grim Reaper.  Obviously, some of Otto’s bad attitude can be explained by the fact that he’s old but it’s hard not to feel that there’s something bigger fueling his resentment.  Maybe he’s angry that his young wife, Vicky (Sue Casey), doesn’t seem to be particularly happy with their marriage.  Maybe he’s annoyed that there’s a sculptor named Mark (Waler Edmonston) living in his house.  Mark is a friend of Otto’s son, Richard (Arnold Lessing).  Richard was planning on following his father into the field of oceanography but then he discovered surfing.  Now, the only thing that Richard wants to do is surf and hang out on the beach.

It’s a popular beach, though perhaps a little bit less popular now that people are being randomly killed on the sand.  Who is killing off of all of the surfers and the beach girls?  Richard thinks that it’s a maniac but Otto believes that it’s a prehistoric sea creature, come back to life and seeking revenge on all of the irresponsible young people who ruining the beach.  Judging from the fact that the killer looks like some sort of humanoid-fish hybrid, we can only assume that Otto is right.  But is he?

You’ll have to watch the film to find out and, fortunately, it’ll be pretty easy for you to do just that.  The Beach Girls and The Monster is in the public domain and it’s been uploaded to YouTube about a dozen times.  And you know what?  You should watch it because this is an entertainingly dumb little movie.  It’s not exactly a good movie, of course.  The acting is …. not impressive.  The killer fish is …. less impressive.  But so what?  This is a fast-paced and fun movie with a silly monster, a lot of beach parties, and just enough dancing to hold my attention.  It’s nonsense but, in the best tradition of Spring Break, it’s entertaining nonsense.

The TSL’s Grindhouse: Schizoid (dir by David Paulsen)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1980 film, Schizoid, is all about the things you can do with scissors.

For instance, in the days before email, text messages, and social media, scissors could be used to cut words out of a magazines.  Those words could then be carefully pasted onto construction paper and then sent to an advice columnist like Julie Caffret (Marianna Hill).  Julie is pretty upset when she starts getting the notes, largely because they promise an anonymous reign of terror and murder.  The police, however, say that the notes probably don’t meant anything.  They’re probably just a hoax.  I mean, it’s true that several members of Julie’s therapy group have recently been murdered but the letters all talk about committing murder with a gun.  Whereas the members of the therapy group are being murdered by someone wielding …. SCISSORS!  (Cue that dramatic music.)

Of course, Julie has other things to worry about.  For instance, her ex-husband, Doug (Craig Wasson), is still in her life.  He’s putting up wallpaper in her office.  Or, at least, that’s what he says he’s doing.  It’s hard not to notice that he doesn’t seem to be making much progress with the job.  Plus, he apparently sleeps in the office, which just seems odd.  Then, there’s the building’s creepy maintenance man, Gilbert (Christopher Lloyd), who specializes in making people uncomfortable on elevators.  And then there’s the fact that Julie’s therapist, is played by Klaus Kinski!

Seriously, if you were looking for a therapist, would you go to Klaus Kinski?

From the minute Klaus shows up, it’s pretty obvious that the film wants us to assume that he’s the killer and really, it’s hard not to make that assumption.  We’re so used to seeing Klaus Kinski play evil and villainous characters and, even 30 years after his death, there are so many stories out there about how difficult Klaus Kinski could be to work with in real life that our natural reaction is to believe any character he plays must have a sinister motivation.  In this film, Klaus’s character has an out-of-control teenage daughter (Donna Wilkes) who tries to commit suicide by locking herself in the garage with a running car.  When Klaus takes an axe to the garage door, we’re left to seriously wonder if he’s planning on killing her or if he’s actually trying to save her life.  That said, Schizoid actually makes good use of Kinski’s menacing persona and Kinski himself gives a performance that elevates the entire film.  Kinski actually does manage to keep you guessing as to whether or not the therapist is a monster or if he’s just kind of a jerk.

Schizoid is usually classified as a slasher film, though it actually has more in common with the classic Italian giallo films that it does with any of the Friday the 13th sequels.  The killer’s identity is masked through POV shots and, in typical giallo fashion, the killer wears black gloves while committing his crimes.  We spend a good deal of the film following the police investigation, which is a typical element of the giallo genre but which is usually treated as an afterthought in post-Friday the 13th slasher films.  Much like Fulci’s The New York Ripper, Schizoid is a violent journey into the heart of darkness, a look at a world with no morality and no safety.  Also like Fulci’s film, it’s so shamelessly sleazy that it’s easy to miss the fact that it’s actually rather well-directed and acted.

Schizoid turned out to be a better film that I was expecting.  That said, I still have to wonder why anyone would select Klaus Kinski to be their therapist.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special David Cronenberg 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, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to one of the best and most influential directors of all time, Canada’s own David Cronenberg!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 David Cronenberg Films

The Brood (1979, dir by David Cronenberg DP: Mark Irwin)

The Dead Zone (1983, dir. by David Cronenberg, DP: Mark Irwin)

The Fly (1986, dir. by David Cronenberg, DP: Mark Irwin)

Naked Lunch (1991, dir by David Cronenberg, DP:Peter Suschitzky)

Finally! Here Are The Oscar Nominations!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

After a very, very long precursor season, here are the Oscar nominations!

I’ll have more to say about them later but, for now, I’d just like to point out that I was predicting Thomas Vinterberg would get a best director nomination back when most of the pundits were still insisting that Aaron Sorkin was a lock.

Best Picture
The Father
Judas And The Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Director
Thomas Vinterberg – ​Another Round
David Fincher – Mank
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman

Best Actress
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces Of A Woman
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed – Sound Of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Gary Oldman – Mank
Steven Yeun – Minari

​Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari

Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas And The Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night In Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
LaKeith Stanfield –  Judas And The Black Messiah

Best Original Screenplay
Judas And The Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound Of Metal
The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night In Miami
The White Tiger

Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
​Soul
Wolfwalkers

Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

Best International Feature
​Another Round
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Cinematography
Judas And The Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Costume Design
Emma.
Mank
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Film Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound Of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Emma.
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Production Design
The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet

Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

Best Visual Effects
Love And Monsters
Mulan
The Midnight Sky
The One And Only Ivan
Tenet

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

Best Original Song
Judas and the Black Messiah – “Fight for You”
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – “Hear My Voice”
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga – “Husavik (My Hometown)”
The Life Ahead – “Seen”
​One Night in Miami – “Speak Now”

Best Animated Short
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes People

Best Documentary Short
Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

Best Live-Action Short
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye

What If Lisa Picked The Oscar Nominees: 2020 Edition

Posted on 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 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. 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 I’ve only nominated films that were actually released in 2020.  Undoubtedly, Nomadland, Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah, and The Father will do very well with the Academy tomorrow but, as far as I’m concerned, they’re 2021 films and not eligible for my nominations.  They will be eligible next year, when I do my 2021 edition of What If Lisa Had All The Power.

It should also go without saying that I’ve nominated films that I’ve actually seen.

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 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010!)

Best Picture

The Assistant
Bad Education
First Cow
The Girl With A Bracelet
i’m thinking of ending things
Lovers Rock
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
Soul
The Vast of Night

Best Director

Stéphane Demoustier for The Girl With A Bracelet
Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman
Charlie Kaufman for i’m thinking of ending things
Steve McQueen for Lovers Rock
Andrew Patterson for The Vast of Night
Kelly Reichardt for First Cow

Best Actor

Ben Affleck in The Way Back
Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
John Boyega in Red, White, and Blue
Hugh Jackman in Bad Education
Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods

Best Actress

Alison Brie in Horse Girl
Sidney Flanigan in Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner in The Assistant
Melissa Guers in The Girl With A Bracelet
Sophia Loren in The Life Ahead
Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman

Best Supporting Actor

Brian Dennehy in Driveways
Aldis Hodge in One Night In Miami
Orion Lee in First Cow
Clarke Peters in Da 5 Blood
Paul Raci in The Sound of Metal
J.K. Simmons in Palm Springs

Best Supporting Actress

Jane Adams in She Dies Tomorrow
Glenn Close in Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Cooke in Sound of Metal
Allison Janney in Bad Education
Chiara Mastroianni in The Girl With A Bracelet
Talia Ryder in Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Best Voice Over Performance

Jack Cruz in What Did Jack Do?
Bruce Davis in The Vast of Night
Tina Fey in Soul
Jamie Foxx in Soul
Nick Offerman in Frances Ferguson
Chris Pratt in Onward

Best Original Screenplay

The Assistant
Palm Springs
Possessor
Promising Young Woman
Soul
The Vast of Night

Bad Education

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bad Education
Emma
First Cow
The Girl With A Bracelet
i’m thinking of ending things
The Outpost

Best Animated Feature Film

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Onward
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs
Soul

Best Documentary Feature Film

Alabama Snake
Athlete A
The Mystery of D.B. Cooper
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
The Social Dilemma
Tread

Best International Feature Film

Figurant
The Girl With A Bracelet
Gunpowder Heart
The Hater
The Life Ahead
The Shock of the Future

Best Live Action Short Film

Basic
Figurant
Host
Run/On
Waffle
What Did Jack Do?

Best Documentary Short Film

Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business
John Was Trying To Contact Aliens
Lions in the Corner
Quilt Fever

Best Animated Short Film

Canvas

If Anything Happens I Love You

Best Original Score

Call of the Wild
First Cow
Mangrove
Possessor
She Dies Tomorrow
The Shock of The Future

Best Original Song

“Boss Bitch” from Birds of Prey
“Diamonds” from Birds of Prey
“Everybody Dies” from The Outpost
“Future Shock Work in Progress” from The Shock of the Future
“Gratia Plena” from Fatima
“Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Jah Jah Ding Dong” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Metamorph” from Gunpowder Heart
“The Spirit of Christmas” from The Christmas Chronicles 2
“True Love’s Flame” from What Did Jack Do?

Best Overall Use of Music

Bill & Ted Face The Music
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Lovers Rock
Proising Young Woman
The Shock of the Future
Soul

Best Sound

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Lovers Rock
The Outpost
Possessor
The Shock of the Future
Sound of Metal

Best Production Design

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Emma
First Cow
i’m thinking of ending things
Possessor
The Shock of the Future

Best Casting

The Assistant
First Cow
Lovers Rock
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
The Vast of Night

Best Cinematography

First Cow
i’m thinking of ending things
Lovers Rock
Mank
She Dies Tomorrow
The Vast of Night

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Bill & Ted Face The Music
i’m thinking of ending things
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Promising Young Woman

Best Costume Design

Emma
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Fatima
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Tesla

Best Film Editing

Extraction
i’m thinking of ending things
The Outpost
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
The Way Back

Best Stuntwork

Bad Boys For Life
Birds of Prey
Bloodshot
Extraction
The Hunt
The Outpost

Best Visual Effects

The Christmas Chronicles 2
The Midnight Sky
The Outpost
Possessor
Radioactive
Tesla

Films By Number of Nominations

8 Nominations — First Cow, Promising Young Woman

7 Nominations — Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, i’m thinking of ending things

6 Nominations — The Girl With A Bracelet, Lovers Rock, The Outpost, Shock of the Future, Soul, The Vast of Night

5 Nominations — Palm Springs, Possessor

4 Nominations — The Assistant, Bad Education, Sound of Metal

3 Nominations — Birds of Prey, Emma, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, She Dies Tomorrow, What Did Jack Do?

2 Nominations — Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Christmas Chronicles 2, Da 5 Bloods, Extraction, Fatima, Figurant, Gunpowder Heart, Hillbilly Elegy, The Life Ahead, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Onward, Tesla, The Way Back

1 Nomination — Alabama Snake, Athlete A, Bad Boys For Life, Basic, Bettye Saar: Taking Care of Business, Bloodshot, Call of the Wild, Canvas, Driveways, Frances Ferguson, The Hater, Horse Girl, Host, The Hunt, If Anything Happens I Love You, John Was Trying To Contact Aliens, Lions in the Corner, Mangrove, Mank, Midnight Sky, The Mystery of D.B. Cooper, Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, One Night in Miami, Quilt Fever, Radioactive, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, Red White and Blue, Run/On, A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, The Social Dilemma, Tread, Waffle

Films By Number of Oscars Won

3 Oscars — The Girl With A Bracelet, Promising Young Woman

1 Oscar — The Assistant, Bad Education, Driveways, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Figurant, First Cow, Frances Ferguson, If Anything Happens I Love You, i’m thinking of ending things, John Was Trying To Contact Aliens, Lovers Rock, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Outpost, Palm Springs, Possessor, Shock of the Future, The Social Dilemma, Soul, Sound of Metal, The Vast of Night, What Did Jack Do?

Tomorrow, the Oscar nominations will be released and we’ll see if how much or, more likely, how little the Academy and I agree upon!