Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Here Are The 2023 Nominations of The North Carolina Film Critics Association!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The North Carolina Film Critics Association has announced its nominations for the best of 2023!

Hey, check out those nominations for Godzilla Minus One and Tom Savini!

The winners will be announced on January 3rd.

BEST NARRATIVE FILM
American Fiction
Barbie
Godzilla Minus One
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Zone of Interest

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
American Symphony
May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story
The Mission
Silver Dollar Road
Still: A Michael J Fox Movie

BEST ANIMATED FILM
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Anatomy Of A Fall
Godzilla Minus One
Past Lives
Perfect Days
The Zone of Interest

BEST DIRECTOR
Celine Song – Past Lives
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Greta Gerwig – Barbie
Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Barbie
John Wick: Chapter 4
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST ACTOR
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Charles Melton – May December
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

BEST ACTRESS
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller – Anatomy Of A Fall
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Margot Robbie – Barbie
Emma Stone – Poor Things

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
America Ferrera – Barbie
Julianne Moore – May December
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE IN ANIMATION OR MIXED MEDIA
Bradley Cooper – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Daniel Kaluuya – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Shameik Moore – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Chloë Grace Moretz – Nimona
Hailee Steinfeld – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Asteroid City
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Anatomy Of A Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
May December
Past Lives

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
All of Us Strangers
American Fiction
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST EDITING
Barbie
John Wick: Chapter 4
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer

BEST STUNT COORDINATION
Extraction 2
The Iron Claw
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Sisu

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Barbie
The Color Purple
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST HAIR & MAKE-UP
Barbie
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Priscilla

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Asteroid City
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST SCORE
The Killer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Am I Dreaming – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Can’t Catch Me Now – The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
I’m Just Ken – Barbie
Peaches – The Super Mario Bros. Movie
What Was I Made For – Barbie

BEST SOUND DESIGN
John Wick: Chapter 4
The Killer
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Zone of Interest

BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
Mel Eslyn – Biosphere
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Michael B. Jordan – Creed III
Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou – Talk to Me
Celine Song – Past Lives

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Abby Ryder Fortson – Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
Milo Machado Graner – Anatomy Of A Fall
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Charles Melton – May December
Dominic Sessa – The Holdovers

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Make-Up Artist
Rick Baker
Greg Cannom
Ve Neill
Tom Savini
Stan Winston

KEN HANKE MEMORIAL TAR HEEL AWARD
Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple
Julianne Moore – May December
Hunter Schafer – The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
May the Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story
Silver Dollar Road

Song of the Day: I Dreamed I Saw Jack Nance Last Night by Dumb Numbers

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Eraserhead (1977, dir by David Lynch)

Today would have been the 80th birthday of Jack Nance, the talented but troubled actor who was a favorite of David Lynch’s and who died under mysterious circumstances in 1996.  Born in Massachusetts but raised in Texas, Nance first won acclaim as a star of the stage show, Tom Paine.  The director of Tom Paine later received a fellowship to the American Film Institute where he met a young director named David Lynch and recommended that Lynch cast Nance as the lead character in his film, Eraserhead.  Lynch and Nance were kindred spirits, two all-American eccentrics with their own unique view of the world.  Lynch went to use Nance in almost every film that he made up until Nance’s death.  Nance would also appear in small roles in films from other directors, usually cast as quirky and obsessive characters.  Outside of his role in Eraserhead, Nance is probably best known for playing Pete Martell on Twin Peaks.  Pete’s discovery of Laura Palmer’s body launched the entire saga.

Twin Peaks 1.1 — The Pilot (dir by David Lynch)

Now, sadly, I can’t share any clips from Eraserhead on this site.  I wanted to share the scene where Jack Nance, as Henry, first has dinner with his future in-laws but I couldn’t find any uploads of that scene that were not age-restricted.  So, I’m just going to recommend that you see Eraserhead if you haven’t yet.

In my search for an Eraserhead scene, I did come across this song about Jack Nance and, in honor of Jack’s talent and legacy, I am making it today’s song of the day!

Music Video of the Day: Please Come Home For Christmas by Taylor Hicks (2014, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since yesterday’s music video of the day came to us from Katharine McPhee, it only seems appropriate that today’s music video of the day should feature Taylor Hicks.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Monsters 1.12 “Fools’ Gold”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire show is streaming on Tubi.

This week, a brave troll defends its treasure!

Episode 1.12 “Fools’ Gold”

(Dir by Greg Cannom, originally aired on January 21st, 1989)

Two constructions workers, Phil (Jeff Conaway) and Joe (T.J. Castronova), and their boss, Sherrie (Mary Cadorette), climb down into an underground tunnel.  They’re expecting to find another construction worker who they believe is hiding in the tunnel.  Instead, they discover the worker’s dead body and a gold coin.

Phil is super-excited about the gold and insists on exploring more of the tunnel.  Joe and Sherrie stay behind while Phil explores.  Joe talks about how, “in the old country,” his parents would tell him stories about faeries and goblins and trolls.  Sherrie laughs and says that there’s no way Joe could actually believe in any of that.

Well, it’s actually a pretty good thing that Joe knows about trolls because there’s one in the tunnel!  The troll (played, under a lot of makeup, by Debbie Lee Carrington) has hoarded all of the gold that it can find.  According to Joe, trolls do this to trick people into entering their lair.  Because trolls have a boiling hot blood, they can burn people just by touching them.  Trolls are also vulnerable to sunlight and iron.  That’s all Phil has to hear to decide that they should defeat the troll and try to steal the treasure for themselves.

The troll, however, is a bit more clever than the three of them realize.  Not only is the troll a viscous attacker who can burn with one touch but the troll also has the ability to start an earthquake.  When the troll does just that, Sherrie, Phil, and Joe find themselves trapped and fighting for their lives.

This episode featured three distinct human characters.  Joe was good-hearted.  Phil was greedy.  Sherrie was somewhere in between.  While Jeff Conaway overacted, both Mary Cadorette and T.J. Castronova gave adequate performances as Sherrie and Joe.  That said, the definite star of this episode was the troll.  Wisely, director Greg Cannom largely kept the troll in the shadows, which made it even more creepy as it ran around the tunnel.  When the troll did attack, it was a genuinely frightening monster.  What I liked is that the troll always moved quickly and ruthlessly.  The troll wasn’t one of those slow monsters who show up in so many horror films.  Instead, this troll was a predator, one that attacked quickly and showed no mercy.  Seriously, no one watching this episode would want to run into that thing in a basement or anywhere else!

That said, this episode’s script was a bit underwhelming.  The 20-minute runtime really doesn’t do Monsters any favors.  This is an episode that would have benefitted from a longer run time and perhaps a somewhat darker ending.  The humans were so unlikable that it was hard not to feel that they hadn’t earned a happy ending.  I was Team Troll all the way.

The Black Film Critics Circle Honors American Fiction!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Black Film Critics Circle has announced its picks for the best of 2023 and here they are:

Best Film: American Fiction
Best Director: Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Best Actor: Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction
Best Actress: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Origin
Best Supporting Actor: Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction
Best Supporting Actress: Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
Best Original Screenplay: Past Lives
Best Adapted Screenplay: (Tie) Oppenheimer & American Fiction
Best Cinematography: Poor Things
Best Documentary Film: American Symphony
Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
Best Ensemble: American Fiction

BFCC SIGNATURE AWARDS

PIONEER – Lisa Cortés

RISING STAR/ BEST NEWCOMER – (Tie) A.V. Rockwell & Tia Nomore

SPECIAL MENTION – Colman Domingo

Top Ten

1. American Fiction
2. Oppenheimer
3. The Color Purple
4. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
5. Origin
6. Past Lives
7. Poor Things
8. Barbie
9. Maestro
10. Anatomy of a Fall

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 3.22 “Not So Fast, Gopher/Haven’t We Met Before?/Seoul Mates”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week’s cruise is actually a pretty good one.

Episode 3.22 “Not So Fast, Gopher/Haven’t We Met Before?/Seoul Mates”

(Dir by Gordon Farr, originally aired on February 9th, 1980)

This week’s episode opens with Gopher in a panic.  His mother, Roz (Ethel Merman), is going to be on the cruise.  It’s her first big trip after the death of Gopher’s father and Gopher wants her to have fun because she’s been so depressed.  However, when Roz boards the ship, Gopher is stunned to see her laughing, singing, and hanging out with a male passenger named Lyle (Gene Rayburn).  Roz seems so happy that Gopher starts to worry that she didn’t love his father.

Of course, the opposite is true.  Roz is miserable but she doesn’t want Gopher to know how sad she’s feeling.  She doesn’t want Gopher to worry about her and she also doesn’t want to make Gopher feel any worse about losing his father.

This storyline handled loss and sadness with an intelligence and a maturity that I don’t think most people would ever expect to see on the show like The Love Boat, with both Fred Grandy and Ethel Merman giving sensitive performances as two people struggling to come to terms with their grief.  Gopher comes to realize that he’s been focusing on Roz’s grief so he’ll have an excuse to not think about his own and Roz comes to realize that she’s been doing the same thing to Gopher.

Now, of course, this is still The Love Boat so, of course, Roz ends up performing during the ship’s Passenger Talent Show.  And, yes, Gopher doe show up at the last minute and, in order to let her know that he now understands her feelings, sings a duet with her.  It’s a bit of goofy ending for an otherwise poignant story but, in its way, it definitely works.  It’s a sweet scene.

The Gopher/Roz storyline is so poignant and so well-handled that it pretty much overshadows everything else that happens on the boat.

Korean comic Jimmy Kim (Johnny Yune) finds romance with a reporter named Kendall Park (Momo Yashima) but Kendall is offended by Jimmy’s act (which is full of jokes about life in Korea).  However, after Roz talks about how much she enjoyed Jimmy’s humor, Kendall  changes her mind and she and Jimmy leave the ship as a couple.  This was an interesting story to watch and consider in the midst of our current, scolding, “That’s not funny” culture of 2023.  If anything, it showed that debates about what one can or should joke about are hardly new to this century.  But it just felt strange that it took a white woman appreciating Jimmy’s humor for Kendall to no longer be offended by jokes about Korea.  If anything it would seem that Roz saying that she enjoyed hearing jokes about Korea would leave Kendall feeling even more offended by Jimmy’s act.  I’m just glad that all of this didn’t lead to Captain Stubing doing his “I see you’ve been reading about your history” speech again.

Meanwhile, four blue collars friends board the ship.  Three of them (played by the Hudson Brothers) announce that they’re going to pretend to be wealthy professionals.  However, Paul Stockwood (Nicholas Hammond) announces that he is not going to pretend to be anything than the waiter that he is.  That’s before Paul realizes that the wealthy Leila Stanhope (Haley Mills) is on the boat.  Paul has waited on Leila several times at the Manhattan restaurant in which he works.  When Leila tells Paul that he seems familiar, Paul lies and says that he’s a wealthy writer.

It all seems to be working well, until Paul decides to bring Leila breakfast.  The sight of Paul carrying a tray of food is all it takes for Leila to remember who he is.  At first, Paul calls Leila a snob and Leila calls Paul a liar.  But then they fall in love anyway, which means that Paul will probably never have to work as a waiter again.  Yay!  Unfortunately, this storyline was hampered by the lack of chemistry between Nicholas Hammond and Hayley Mills.  They were both attractive but they were also difficult to buy as a couple.

Even though two of the storylines were somewhat flawed, the story about Gopher and his mother elevated this entire episode and it made it one of the best episodes of The Love Boat that I’ve watched so far.  This was a cruise to remember!

Music Video of the Day: It’s Not Christmas Without You by Katharine McPhee (2010, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’m still disappointed that there was never a remake of From Justin to Kelly starring Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee.  Imagine the duet they could have done with this tune.  Well, even without Taylor, this is a lovely rendition of a classic holiday song.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Baywatch Nights 1.6 “976 Ways To Say I Love You”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Baywatch Nights, an detective show that ran in Syndication from 1995 to 1997.  The entire show is currently streaming on Youtube!

This week, Ryan goes undercover!

Episode 1.6 “976 Ways To Say I Love You”

(Dir by Charles Bail, originally aired on November 4th, 1995)

The sixth episode of Baywatch Nights opens with Mitch and Garner doing a surveillance job on someone.  They are sitting out in their car and watching their target and talking about how much they hate having to work surveillance.

One thing that I’ve noticed about the first few episodes of Baywatch Nights is that Mitch and Garner both seem to spend a lot of time complaining about their job.  It’s a bit odd because it’s not like there’s any reason why they have to work as private detectives.  Garner could rejoin the police department if he wanted to.  Mitch actually has another full-time job as one of the top lifeguards in California.  There’s nothing that says they have to spend their nights doing surveillance.  (In fact, I’m not even sure how Mitch is balancing being a lifeguard with being a private eye.)  I mean, if it’s such a bother being a private eye, just don’t do it anymore!

The surveillance subplot doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the episode.  (It’s mostly just there so the episode can feature a joke about Garner and Mitch getting dusted by a crop duster that happens to fly over their convertible.)  Instead, the majority of this episode deals with Mitch, Garner, and Ryan helping Addy (Heather Campbell), a former phone sex operator who was scammed by her boss and who is now apparently being stalked by someone who is trying to murder everyone who was involved with Addy’s former career.  This is one of those cases that doesn’t really add up to much but it does provide Garner with a chance to do some real detective work and abandon his idea to abandon crime fighting and open a chicken franchise.

(Seriously, that’s what Garner was planning on doing.)

The investigation also leads to Ryan putting on a blonde wig and going undercover as a phone sex operator.  Watching this episode, I got the feeling that the entire pitch was, “Angie Harmon says sexy things on the phone,” and the plot was basically developed around that one idea.  It should be said that Angie Harmon actually does a pretty good job playing up Ryan’s irritation with having to go undercover.  The way she rolled her eyes whenever some mouth-breather started to talk to her told us everything we needed to know about the experience.  Unlike her whiny partner, Ryan did what she had to do to solve the case and good for her!  Really, this entire series should have just been Ryan kicking ass and solving crimes.  Garner and Mitch are just taking up space.

Along with Angie Harmon’s work as Ryan, this episode was also distinguished by the performance of Robert Ginty as the owner of the phone sex company.  Ginty was wonderfully sleazy as a businessman who made no apologies for how he made his money.  As well, Police Academy fans will probably be happy to see Michael Winslow, as a surveillance technician who imitates static.

The episode was not bad, even if it wasn’t particularly memorable.  Ryan did a good job and again proved herself to be the best private eye in California.  Seriously, though, Mitch and Garner need to stop crying so much.  If you don’t want to do detective stuff, don’t become a detective!

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Wins In San Diego!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The San Diego Film Critics Society has announced its pick for the best of 2023 and, in something of an upset, Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret beat out American Fiction, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Oppenheimer for Best Picture!

Best Picture
AMERICAN FICTION
ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET. (WINNER)
THE HOLDOVERS
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
OPPENHEIMER (RUNNER-UP)

Best Director
Kelly Fremon Craig – ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET.
Greta Gerwig – BARBIE (RUNNER-UP)
Cord Jefferson – AMERICAN FICTION
Christopher Nolan – OPPENHEIMER
Martin Scorsese – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (WINNER)

Best Actor
Colman Domingo – RUSTIN
Zac Efron – THE IRON CLAW
Paul Giamatti – THE HOLDOVERS (RUNNER-UP)
Cillian Murphy – OPPENHEIMER
Jeffrey Wright – AMERICAN FICTION (WINNER)

Best Actress
Abby Ryder Fortson – ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET.
Lily Gladstone – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (WINNER)
Sandra Hüller – ANATOMY OF A FALL (RUNNER-UP)
Margot Robbie – BARBIE
Emma Stone – POOR THINGS

Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown – AMERICAN FICTION
Robert Downey Jr. – OPPENHEIMER (WINNER)
Ryan Gosling – BARBIE (RUNNER-UP)
Charles Melton – MAY DECEMBER
Mark Ruffalo – POOR THINGS

Best Supporting Actress
Jodie Foster – NYAD
Sandra Hüller – THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Rachel McAdams – ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET. (WINNER)
Julianne Moore – MAY DECEMBER
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – THE HOLDOVERS (RUNNER-UP)

Best Comedic Performance
Michael Cera – BARBIE (WINNER)
Abby Ryder Fortson – ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET.
Ryan Gosling – BARBIE
Nathan Lane – DICKS: THE MUSICAL
Mark Ruffalo – POOR THINGS (RUNNER-UP)

Best Youth Performance (For a performer under the age of 18)
Joe Bird – TALK TO ME
Christian Convery – COCAINE BEAR
Abby Ryder Fortson – ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET. (WINNER)
Jude Hill – A HAUNTING IN VENICE
Milo Machado-Graner – ANATOMY OF A FALL (RUNNER-UP)

Best Original Screenplay
Samy Burch – MAY DECEMBER
Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach – BARBIE (WINNER)
David Hemingson – THE HOLDOVERS (RUNNER-UP)
Celine Song – PAST LIVES
Justine Triet, Arthur Harari – ANATOMY OF A FALL

Best Adapted Screenplay
Percival Everett, Cord Jefferson – AMERICAN FICTION (RUNNER-UP)
Kelly Fremon Craig, Judy Blume – ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET. (WINNER)
Jonathan Glazer – THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin – OPPENHEIMER
Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Best First Feature (Director)
Chloe Domont – FAIR PLAY
Cord Jefferson – AMERICAN FICTION (WINNER)
Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou – TALK TO ME
A.V. Rockwell – A THOUSAND AND ONE
Celine Song – PAST LIVES (RUNNER-UP)

Best Documentary
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL (RUNNER-UP TIE)
AMERICAN SYMPHONY
KOKOMO CITY
LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING (RUNNER-UP TIE)
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE (WINNER)

Best Animated Film
THE BOY AND THE HERON (WINNER)
CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET
NIMONA
ROBOT DREAMS
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (RUNNER-UP)

Best Foreign Language Film
ANATOMY OF A FALL (WINNER)
FALLEN LEAVES
GODZILLA MINUS ONE (RUNNER-UP TIE)
MONSTER
THE ZONE OF INTEREST (RUNNER-UP TIE)

Best Editing
Nick Houy – BARBIE
Jennifer Lame – OPPENHEIMER (RUNNER-UP)
Yorgos Mavropsaridis – POOR THINGS
Thelma Schoonmaker – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Laurent Sénéchal – ANATOMY OF A FALL (WINNER)

Best Cinematography
Rodrigo Prieto – BARBIE
Rodrigo Prieto – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (WINNER)
Robbie Ryan – POOR THINGS
Hoyte Van Hoytema – OPPENHEIMER (RUNNER-UP)
Dariusz Wolski – NAPOLEON

Best Production Design
Ruth De Jong – OPPENHEIMER (RUNNER-UP)
Jack Fisk – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Sarah Greenwood – BARBIE (WINNER)
Arthur Max – NAPOLEON
James Price, Shona Heath – POOR THINGS

Best Visual Effects
GODZILLA MINUS ONE (WINNER)
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING
OPPENHEIMER
POOR THINGS (RUNNER-UP)

Best Costume Design
David Crossman, Janty Yates – NAPOLEON
Jacqueline Durran, Charlotte Finlay, Hope Slepak – BARBIE (WINNER)
Ellen Mirojnick – OPPENHEIMER
Holly Waddington, Vincent Dumas, Zsuzsa Stenger – POOR THINGS (RUNNER-UP)
Jacqueline West – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Best Sound Design
GODZILLA MINUS ONE
MAESTRO
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING
OPPENHEIMER (RUNNER-UP)
THE ZONE OF INTEREST (WINNER)

Best Use of Music
AIR (RUNNER-UP)
ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET.
BARBIE (WINNER)
THE HOLDOVERS
MAESTRO

Best Stunt Choreography
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 (WINNER)
THE KILLER
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING (RUNNER-UP)
NAPOLEON
POLITE SOCIETY

Best Ensemble
AIR
BARBIE (RUNNER-UP TIE)
A HAUNTING IN VENICE (RUNNER-UP TIE)
THE HOLDOVERS (WINNER)
OPPENHEIMER

Breakthrough Actor
Abby Ryder Fortson – ARE YOU THERE GOD? ITS ME, MARGARET.

Special Award for Body of Work – 3 Credits
Nicolas Cage – DREAM SCENARIO, THE FLASH, THE OLD WAY, RENFIELD, THE RETIREMENT PLAN & SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

Holiday Film Review: Little Miss Millions (Dir by Jim Wynorski)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

A Jim Wynorski Christmas movie!?

Yes, there is such a thing.  First released in 1993, Little Miss Millions tells the story of a cynical but good-hearted private investigator named Nick Frost (Howard Hesseman) who is hired to track down a 9 year-old runway named Heather (Jennifer Love Hewitt, making her feature debut at the age of 12).  Nick is hired by Heather’s stepmother, Sybil (Anita Morris), who only wants Heather back because she’s worth several million dollars.  After Sybil hires Nick, she also decides to frame him for kidnapping Heather so that she can both get back her stepdaughter and get out of having to pay any reward money.  Soon, Nick has two federal agents (played by James Avery and Robert Fieldstell) on his trail.  For her part, Heather just wants to find and live with her birthmother, Susan (Terri Treas).

It’s a pretty simple film, one that borrows heavily from It Happened One Night (minus the romantic element, of course) and every single Christmas film that has ever been made.  This is one of those rather corny family films where you will pretty much be able to guess everything that is going to happen before it happens but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  It’s a holiday film and no one watches a holiday film to get depressed.  They watch holiday films for the sentimental moments and the heart-warming comedy and the moments that create an idealized portrait of life during the holiday season.  For all of the violence to be found in them, both Die Hard and Die Hard 2 end with John McClane being reunited with his wife for the holidays.  As dark as It’s A Wonderful Life occasionally is, it still ends with that bell ringing and Clarence getting his wings.  Miracle on 34th Street never answers for sure whether or not Kris Kringle is who he says he is but Natalie Wood still gets her house with a tree in back.  A Christmas Story‘s Ralphie does not shoot his eye out.  Lethal Weapon‘s Riggs finds a new family.  And don’t even get me started on Santa Claus Conquers The Martians.  We watch holiday movies for holiday cheer and, in its unpretentious way, Little Miss Millions is full of that cheer.

Of course, it’s still a Jim Wynorski film.  So, while this is definitely a family film without many of the things that are typically associated with the Wynorski brand, Little Miss Millions still finds time for a sudden rainstorm that leaves everyone drenched.  And, of course, Nick and Heather stop off at a biker bar that is inhabited by Rick Dean, Toni Naples, and wrestler Queen Kong.  Peter Spellos, who played the much-abused Orville Ketchum in Sorority House Massacre 2 and Hard To Die, shows up as a bus driver.  It’s still a Wynorski film but it’s also a sweet-natured film, featuring likable performances from Howard Hesseman and Jennifer Love Hewitt.  It’s not a holiday classic but it’s diverting enough for those looking for something with which to pleasantly pass the time.