The Hawaii Film Critics Society Embraces La La Land

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

On January 16th, the film critics of Hawaii (and who wouldn’t want to be a member of that group?) announced their picks for the best of 2016! They really, really liked La La Land!

BEST FILM:
La La Land

BEST DIRECTOR:
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
BEST ACTOR:
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
BEST ACTRESS:
Viola Davis, Fences
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water (tie)
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Tom Ford (Based on the Novel by Austin Wright), Nocturnal Animals
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Linus Sandgren, La La Land

BEST EDITING:
Tom Cross, La La Land
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Austin Gorg, La La Land
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Madeline Fontaine, Jackie
BEST MAKE-UP:
Bill Corso, Deadpool
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Arrival (tie)
Doctor Strange
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Justin Hurwitz, La La Land
BEST SONG:
Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, “Audition (Fools Who Dream),” La La Land (tie)
Lin-Manuel Miranda, “How Far I’ll Go,” Moana
BEST ANIMATED FILM:
Kubo and the Two Strings (dir. Travis Knight) (tie)
Zootopia (dir. Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush)
BEST DOCUMENTARY:
OJ: Made in America (dir. Ezra Edelman)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
The Handmaiden (dir. Chan-wook Park), (South Korea) (tie)
Neruda (dir. Pablo Larrain), (Chile)
BEST HAWAII FILM:
Moana (dir. Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker and Chris Williams)
BEST NEW FILMMAKER:
Dan Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane
BEST FIRST FILM:
10 Cloverfield Lane (dir. Dan Trachtenberg)
BEST OVERLOOKED FILM:
Hell or High Water (dir. David Mackenzie)
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR FILM:
Arrival (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
BEST STUNTS:
The Magnificent Seven
BEST VOCAL/MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE:
Charlize Theron/ Kubo and the Two Strings
WORST FILM OF THE YEAR:
Fifty Shades of Black (tie)
Zoolander 2

Oscar Season Continues with the Denver Film Critics Society!

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, with the Oscar nominations due to be announced next Tuesday, there’s just a few more precursors left to consider. And, since nomination voting has been closed, it’s debatable whether any of these remaining precursors matter.

But you know me. I love three things: movies, lists, and awards.

So, let’s get things started with the Denver Film Critics Society! On the 17th, they announced their picks for the best of 2016. And here they are:

Best Picture: “Moonlight”

Best Director: Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”

Best Actor: Casey Affleck, “Manchester By the Sea”

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, “Jackie”

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, “Fences”

Best Animated Film: “Zootopia”

Best Science Fiction/Horror Film: “Arrival”

Best Comedy: “Deadpool”

Best Original Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan, “Hell or High Water”

Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”

Best Documentary: “O.J.: Made in America”

Best Visual Effects: “Doctor Strange”

Best Original Song: “Drive It Like You Stole It” from “Sing Street”

Best Score: Justin Hurwitz, “La La Land”

Best Foreign Language Film: “Toni Erdmann”

Playing Catch-Up: The Accountant, Carnage Park, The Choice, The Legend of Tarzan

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing my look back at the films of 2016, here are four mini-reviews of some films that really didn’t make enough of an impression to demand a full review.

The Accountant (dir by Gavin O’Connor)

2016 was a mixed year for Ben Affleck. Batman v. Superman may have been a box office success but it was also such a critical disaster that it may have done more harm to Affleck’s legacy than good. If nothing else, Affleck will spend the rest of his life being subjected to jokes about Martha. While Ben’s younger brother has become an Oscar front runner as a result of his performance in Manchester By The Sea, Ben’s latest Oscar effort, Live By Night, has been released to critical scorn and audience indifference.

At the same time, Ben Affleck also gave perhaps his best performance ever in The Accountant. Affleck plays an autistic accountant who exclusively works for criminals and who has been raised to be an expert in all forms of self-defense. The film’s plot is overly complicated and director Gavin O’Connor struggles to maintain a consistent tone but Affleck gives a really great performance and Anna Kendrick reminds audiences that she’s capable of more than just starring in the Pitch Perfect franchise.

Carnage Park (dir by Mickey Keating)

I really wanted to like Carnage Park, because it was specifically advertised as being an homage to the grindhouse films of the 1970s and y’all know how much I love those! Ashley Bell plays a woman who gets kidnapped twice, once by two bank robbers and then by a psycho named Wyatt (Pat Healy). Healy chases Bell through the desert, hunting her Most Dangerous Game-style. There are some intense scenes and both Bell and Healy are well-cast but, ultimately, it’s just kind of blah.

The Choice (dir by Ross Katz)

The Choice was last year’s Nicholas Sparks adaptation. It came out, as all Nichols Sparks adaptations do, just in time for Valentine’s Day and it got reviews that were so negative that a lot of people will never admit that they actually saw it. Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer play two people who meet, fall in love, and marry in North Carolina. But then Palmer is in a car accident, ends up in a coma, and Walker has to decide whether or not to turn off the life support.

As I said, The Choice got terrible reviews and it’s certainly not subtle movie but it’s actually better than a lot of films adapted from the work of Nicholas Sparks. Walker and Palmer are a likable couple and, at the very least, The Choice deserves some credit for having the courage not to embrace the currently trendy cause of euthanasia. That alone makes The Choice better than Me Before You.

The Legend of Tarzan (dir by David Yates)

Alexander Skarsgard looks good without his shirt on and Samuel L. Jackson is always a fun to watch and that’s really all that matters as far as The Legend of Tarzan is concerned. It’s an enjoyable enough adventure film but you won’t remember much about it afterward. Christoph Waltz is a good actor but he’s played so many villains that it’s hard to get excited over it anymore.

4 Shots From 4 Films: The Awful Truth, Notorious, North By Northwest, Charade

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Happy birthday, Cary Grant!

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Awful Truth (1937, dir by Leo McCarey)

Notorious (1946, dir by Alfred Hitchcock)

North by Northwest (1959, dir by Alfred Hitchcock)

Charade (1963, dir by Stanley Donen)

2016 in Review: Lisa Marie Picks The 26 Best Films of 2016!

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, the time is here! It’s time for me to reveal my picks for the best 26 films of 2016!

If there’s been any theme that I’ve found myself constantly returning to while looking back at the previous year, it’s that 2016 just wasn’t as good as 2015. That’s certainly true as far as movies are concerned. Whereas 2015 provided us with an embarrasment of riches, 2016 was — overall — a pretty bland year as far as cinema is concerned.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t some great films released in 2016. I’m proud of this list below. At the same time, I’m also a little bit frustrated. As happens every year, there are a few films that, as of this writing, I have yet to see. Weather permitting, I will see Silence and Jackie tomorrow and on Monday. If I feel that they need to be included in my top 26, I will come back and edit this list. And, of course, I still need to see some of the films that are no longer playing in theaters — Captain Fantastic, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and some others. The list below should be considered my picks for the best 2016 films that I actually got to see.

Also, I still need to write reviews for two of the films listed below. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that today. As soon as those reviews are posted, I’ll add links.

With all that in mind, here’s the list!

You can check out my picks for previous years by clicking on 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015!

Agree? Disagree? Have a list of your own? Let us know in the comments!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2016:

Here Are The DGA nominations!

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Director’s Guild announced their feature film nominations earlier today.

A DGA nomination is one of the biggest prizes of the precursor season. In general, if the DGA nominates a film then it’s likely that film will also get nominated for best picture. There have been exceptions, of course. (David Fincher was nominated for his bastardized rehash of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.) But, for the most part, the DGA is the most reliable precursor available.

Five directors were nominated. The usual suspects were there — Lonergan, Jenkins, and Chazelle. Fortunately, Denis Villeneuve picked up a nomination, which is good news for Arrival. The fifth nominee was a bit of a surprise. Garth Davis was nominated for Lion, which I guess means I’ll have to go see that movie now, even though I have little real desire to do so.

Martin Scorsese was not nominated for Silence, which probably means that the film will be dead-in-the-water as far as Oscar nominations are concerned.

Also not nominated — Tim Miller for Deadpool, a film that’s been doing surprisingly well with the precursors. If Tim Miller had been nominated, heads would have exploded. It would have been fun to watch the twitter reaction.

Instead, we just got this —

Garth Davis? #DGA

— Lisa Marie Bowman (@LisaMarieBowman) January 12, 2017

Dammit, does that mean I have to go see Lion now? #DGA

— Lisa Marie Bowman (@LisaMarieBowman) January 12, 2017

Just to make it official, here are the five DGA nominees:

Denis Villeneuve — Arrival

Damien Chazelle — La La Land

Garth Davis — Lion

Kenneth Lonergan — Manchester By The Sea

Barry Jenkins — Moonlight

Here Are The Nominations of the Cinema Audio Society!

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Sound Oscars are often the hardest to predict, largely because few of us are sure what the difference is between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing.

However, if you’re filling out your Oscar ballot and hoping to make some money in your Oscar pool, you’re going to need some guidance! So, here are the just-announced nominations from the Cinema Audio Society!

MOTION PICTURE – LIVE ACTION

Doctor Strange
Production Mixer – John Midgley, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Tom Johnson
Re-recording Mixer –Juan Peralta
Scoring Mixer – Peter Cobbin
ADR Mixer – Doc Kane, CAS
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis

Hacksaw Ridge
Production Mixer – Peter Grace
Re-recording Mixer – Kevin O’Connell, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Andy Wright
Re-recording Mixer – Robert Mackenzie
Scoring Mixer – Daniel Kresco
ADR Mixer – Diego Ruiz
Foley Mixer – Alex Francis

La La Land
Production Mixer – Steven Morrow, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Andy Nelson, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Ai-Ling Lee
Scoring Mixer – Nicholai Baxter
ADR Mixer – David Betancourt
Foley Mixer – James Ashwill

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Production Mixer – Stuart Wilson
Re-recording Mixer – Christopher Scarabosio
Re-recording Mixer – David Parker
Scoring Mixer – Joel Iwataki
ADR Mixer – Nick Cray
Foley Mixer – Frank Rinella

Sully
Production Mixer – Jose Antonio Garcia
Re-recording Mixer – John Reitz
Re-recording Mixer – Tom Ozanich
Scoring Mixer – Bobby Fernandez
ADR Mixer – Thomas J. O’Connell
Foley Mixer – James Ashwill

MOTION PICTURE—ANIMATED

Finding Dory
Original Dialogue Mixer – Doc Kane, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Nathan Nance
Re-recording Mixer – Michael Semanick, CAS
Scoring Mixer – Thomas Vicari, CAS
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis

Kubo and the Two Strings
Original Dialogue Mixer – Carlos Sotolongo
Re-recording Mixer – Tim Chau
Re-recording Mixer – Tim LeBlanc
Scoring Mixer – Nick Wollage
Foley Mixer – Darrin Mann

Moana
Original Dialogue Mixer – Paul McGrath
Re-recording Mixer – David E. Fluhr, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Gabriel Guy, CAS
Scoring Mixer – David Boucher
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis

The Secret Life of Pets
Original Dialogue Mixer – Carlos Sotolongo
Re-recording Mixer – Gary A. Rizzo, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – David Accord
Scoring Mixer – Frank Wolf
Foley Mixer – Jason Butler

Zootopia
Original Dialogue Mixer – Paul McGrath
Re-recording Mixer – David E. Fluhr, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Gabriel Guy, CAS
Scoring Mixer – Joel Iwataki
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis

MOTION PICTURE—DOCUMENTARY

13th
Re-recording Mixer – Jeffrey Perkins

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Re-recording Mixer – Mark Fragstein
Re-recording Mixer – Marvin Keil
Re-recording Mixer – Armelle Mahé

Gleason
Production Mixer – Mark A. Rozett, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – James Scullion

O.J.: Made in America
Re-recording Mixer – Keith Hodne
Re-recording Mixer – Eric Di Stefano

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble
Production Mixer – Dimitri Tisseyre
Production Mixer – Dennis Hamlin
Re-recording Mixer – Peter Horner

The Visual Effects Society Snubs Arrival, Those Bastards

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Visual Effect Society announced their nominees today. Now, there were quite a few categories and a lot of nominations and they’re actually kinda interesting to look at but, in the interest of space, I’m not going to post all of the nominees. Instead, I’m going to post the three main categories because these are the categories that could potentially give some guidance as far as predicting the Oscar nominations is concerned.

If you want to see a full list of nominations, please click here and check out this list on AwardsCircuit.

Looking over the nominations, what’s interesting is that Arrival, the most acclaimed Sci-Fi film of the year, was totally and completely snubbed. I don’t know if that’s a bad sign or not. Arrival is a great sci-fi film and it features some great visual effects. But — and this is especially true when compared to films like Rogue One and Dr. Strange — the visuals are also rather low-key. Arrival is not a splashy film. That’s one reason why it’s also a great film.

Anyway, here are the nominations!

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Doctor Strange

Stephane Ceretti

Susan Pickett

Richard Bluff

Vincent Cirelli

Paul Corbould

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Christian Manz

Olly Young

Tim Burke

Pablo Grillo

David Watkins

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children

Frazer Churchill

Hal Couzens

Andrew Lockley

Jelmer Boskma

Hayley Williams

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

John Knoll

Erin Dusseault

Hal Hickel

Nigel Sumner

Neil Corbould

The Jungle Book

Robert Legato

Joyce Cox

Andrew R. Jones

Adam Valdez

JD Schwalm

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Allied

Kevin Baillie

Sandra Scott

Brennan Doyle

Viktor Muller

Richard Van Den Bergh

Deepwater Horizon

Craig Hammack

Petra Holtorf-Stratton

Jason Snell

John Galloway

Burt Dalton

Jason Bourne

Charlie Noble

Dan Barrow

Julian Gnass

Huw Evans

Steve Warner

Silence

Pablo Helman

Brian Barlettani

Ivan Busquets

Juan Garcia

Bruce Steinheimer

Sully

MIchael Owens

Tyler Kehl

Mark Curtis

Bryan Litson

Steven Riley

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

Finding Dory

Angus MacLane

Lindsey Collins- p.g.a.

John Halstead

Chris J. Chapman

Kubo and the Two Strings

Travis Knight

Arianne Sutner

Steve Emerson

Brad Schiff

Moana

Kyle Odermatt

Nicole P. Hearon

Hank Driskill

Ian Gooding

The Little Prince

Mark Osborne

Jinko Gotoh

Pascal Bertrand

Jamie Caliri

Zootopia

Scott Kersavage

Bradford S. Simonsen

David Goetz

Ernest J. Petti

Here Are The Producers Guild Nominations!

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Producer’s Guild of America, who are traditionally one of the most reliable of the Oscar precursors, announced their ten nominees for the best film of 2016 earlier today!

Not on the list: Martin Scorsese’s Silence. Last year, at this time, Silence was the most anticipated of the potential Oscar nominees. Now, 12 months later, whatever momentum that Silence had seems to have fizzled.

You know what film was on the list?

Deadpool!

Somehow, Deadpool has emerged as a legitimate Oscar contender. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to be nominated, of course. Last year, a lot of people made the mistake of getting excited when both Carol and Straight Outta Compton showed up among the Producers Guild’s nominations.

Here’s what we have to remember — every years, the PGA nominates 10 films. However, the Academy never nominates a full slate of 10 films. While the best picture nominees probably will all have received a PGA nomination, that doesn’t mean that every PGA nominee is going to be nominated for best picture.

Still, Deadpool is coming on strong with the guilds. It has some support among the industry.

A best picture nomination for Deadpool? Normally, I’d laugh that off. Then again, at one time, I also laughed off the idea that Mad Max: Fury Road would get a nomination, despite the fact that I thought Mad Max was one of the best films of 2015.

In the end, anything can happen. That’s one reason why Oscar watchers like me are always a little disappointed when the Oscar nominations are announced and the precursor season ends. During the precursor season, anything is possible.

Anyway, here are the PGA nominations:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Arrival

Producers: Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, Aaron Ryder, David Linde

Deadpool

Producers: Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler Donner

Fences

Producers: Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington, Todd Black

Hacksaw Ridge

Producers: Bill Mechanic, David Permut

Hell or High Water

Producers: Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn

Hidden Figures

Producers: Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin & Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams, Theodore Melfi

La La Land

Producers: Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt

Lion

Producers: Emile Sherman & Iain Canning, Angie Fielder

Manchester By the Sea

Producers: Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin Walsh

Moonlight

Producers: Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner & Jeremy Kleiner

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Finding Dory

Producer: Lindsey Collins

Kubo and the Two Strings

Producers: Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight

Moana

Producer: Osnat Shurer

The Secret Life of Pets

Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Zootopia

Producer: Clark Spencer

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:

* The PGA previously announced the nominations in this category on November 22, 2016. The list below has been updated to include eligible producers.

Dancer

Producer: Gabrielle Tana

The Eagle Huntress

Producers: Stacey Reiss, Otto Bell

Life, Animated

Producers: Julie Goldman, Roger Ross Williams

O.J.: Made in America

Producers: Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow

Tower

Producers: Keith Maitland, Susan Thomson, Megan Gilbride

2016 In Review: Lisa Picks The 16 Worst Films of 2016!

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, here’s the time that I know we’ve all been waiting for! It’s time for me to reveal my picks for the 16 worst films of 2016!

(Why 2016? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers!)

Now, I should make clear that these are my picks. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other writers here at Through The Shattered Lens. In fact, I know that a few of them most definitely do not!

What type of year was 2016? It was a pretty bad one. There weren’t many memorable films released but there was a lot of mediocrity and disappointment. Do you know why 2016 was so bad? I think it’s because, if you add up 2 plus 1 plus 6, you end up with 9, an odd number. For that same reason, 2017 is going to be much better. If you add up 2 plus 1 plus 7, you end up with 10, which is an even number that can be cleanly divided.

So fear not! 2017 is going to be a great year!

For now, however, here are my picks for the 16 worst films of 2016!

16. The Girl on the Train (dir by Tate Taylor)

15. The Fifth Wave (dir by J Blakeson)

14. Alice Through the Looking Glass (dir by James Bobin)

13. Jane Got A Gun (dir by Gavin O’Connor)

12. Mother’s Day (dir by Garry Marshall)

11. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (dir by Burr Steers)

10. The Sea of Trees (dir by Gus Van Sant)

9. Money Monster (dir by Jodie Foster)

8. Me Before You (dir by Thea Sharrock)

7. Independence Day: Resurgence (dir by Roland Emmerich)

6. Zoolander 2 (dir by Ben Stiller)

5. The Purge: Election Year (dir by James DeMonaco)

4. Paradox (dir by Michael Hurst)

3. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (dir by Zack Snyder)

2. Yoga Hosers (dir by Kevin Smith)

And finally, the worst film of 2016 … drum roll please ….

HARDCORE HENRY! (dir by Ilya Naishuller)

Seriously, Hardcore Henry is one of the few films that I have ever had to walk out on. I literally got physically ill while watching the film, largely due to the nonstop shaky cam. Seriously — when your film’s selling point is a technique that literally induces nausea, you’re going to have some problems. Now, before anyone leaves any angry comments, I did make it a point to go back and watch the rest of Hardcore Henry before making out this list. Not only does Hardcore Henry feature a nausea-inducing gimmick but it’s also a rather uninspired and dull action film.