Here Are The Online Film Critics Society Nominations and They’re Great!


Sicario_poster

I love the Online Film Critics Society, I really do.  Every year, when they announce the nominees for their end-of-the-year awards, they always seem to honor the films that truly deserve to be honored.  For instance, this year, they found room to not only nominate the Academy front runners — like Spotlight, The Martian, Carol, Brooklyn, and Mad Max — but they also gave nominations to Ex Machina, Sicario, and Inside Out.  Ex Machina, Sicario, and Inside Out all deserve to be in the Oscar conversation and hopefully, these nominations will help them stay there.

Here are the nominations from the Online Film Critics Society!

Best Picture:
Brooklyn
Carol
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Room
Sicario
Spotlight

Best Animated Feature:
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Film Not in the English Language:
The Assassin (Taiwan)
Goodnight Mommy (Austria)
Mustang (France)
Phoenix (Germany)
Son of Saul (Hungary)

Best Documentary:
Amy
Best of Enemies
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
The Look of Silence

Best Director:
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)
Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)

Best Actor:
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes)

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Brie Larson (Room)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Supporting Actor:
Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress:
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Cynthia Nixon (James White)
Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay:
Ex Machina (Alex Garland)
Inside Out (Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley)
Mistress America (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach)
Sicario (Taylor Sheridan)
Spotlight (Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Brooklyn (Nick Hornby)
Carol (Phyllis Nagy)
The Martian (Drew Goddard)
Room (Emma Donoghue)
Steve Jobs (Aaron Sorkin)

Best Editing:
Mad Max: Fury Road (Margaret Sixel)
The Martian (Pietro Scalia)
The Revenant (Stephen Mirrione)
Sicario (Joe Walker)
Steve Jobs (Elliot Graham)

Best Cinematography:
The Assassin (Ping Bin Lee)
Carol (Edward Lachman)
Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale)
The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Sicario (Roger Deakins)

The African-American Film Critics Association Declares Straight Outta Compton To Be The Best Of 2015!


straightouttacompton

Awards season continues!  Earlier today, the African-American Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2015!  They named Straight Outta Compton best picture and gave their best director award to Ryan Coogler for Creed.

Check out all of the awards below!

Best Picture: “Straight Outta Compton” (Universal Pictures)
Best Director: Ryan Coogler – “Creed” (Warner Bros.)
Best Ensemble: “Straight Outta Compton” (Universal Pictures)
Best Actor: Will Smith – “Concussion” (Sony)
Best Actress: Teyonah Parris – “Chi-Raq” (Roadside Attractions)
Best Supporting Actor: Jason Mitchell – “Straight Outta Compton” (Universal Pictures)
Best Supporting Actress: Tessa Thompson – “Creed” (Warner Bros.)
Best Independent Film: “Chi-Raq” (Roadside Attractions)
Best Screenplay: Rick Famuyiwa – “Dope” (Open Road Films)
Breakout Performance: Michael B. Jordan – “Creed” (Warner Bros.)
Best Animation: “The Peanuts Movie” (20th Century Fox)
Best Documentary: “A Ballerina’s Tale” (Sundance Selects)
Best Song: “See You Again” – Furious 7 (Atlantic Records)
Best TV Comedy: “Black-ish” (ABC)
Best TV Drama: “How to Get Away with Murder” (ABC)
Best Cable/New Media TV Show: “Survivor’s Remorse” (Starz)

AAFCA Top Ten Films of 2015:

1. Straight Outta Compton (Universal Pictures)
2. Creed (Warner Bros.)
3. Mad Max: Fury Road (Warner Bros.)
4. Beasts of No Nation (Netflix)
5. The Martian (20th Century Fox)
6. 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets (HBO), Dope (Open Road Films)
7. Chi-Raq (Roadside Attractions)
8. Carol (Weinstein Co.)
9. The Big Short (Paramount Pictures)
10.The Danish Girl (Focus Features)

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Goes Mad For Max But Even Madder For Spotlight!


MadMaxFuryRoad

Boston and New York were not the only critics to vote today!  The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2015 as well!  Mad Max: Fury Road won best director but Spotlight won best picture with Fury Road as the runner-up.  In other words, the LAFCA liked Fury Road but decided to play it safe.  Let’s not forget that this is the same group of people who once named The Descendants best picture with The Tree of Life as the runner-up.

(Dear award-giving groups: Just so you know, playing it safe is really freaking boring.)

Here’s all that what won:

Best Picture
Winner: Spotlight
Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director
Winner: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Roard
Runner-up: Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Actor
Winner: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Runner-up: Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul

Best Actress
Winner: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Screenplay
Winner: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa

Best Cinematography
Winner: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Ed Lachmann, Carol

Best Production Design
Winner: Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Judy Becker, Carol

Best Editing
Winner: Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Runner-up: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Music Score
Winner: Carter Burwell, Anomalisa and Carol
Runner-up: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Son of Saul
Runner-up: The Tribe

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
Winner: Amy
Runner-up: The Look of Silence

Best Animation
Winner: Anomalisa
Runner-up: Inside Out

New Generation Award: Ryan Coogler for Creed

The New York Film Critics Online Grab The Spotlight


Spotlight

I really don’t know much about the New York Film Critics Online but, for whatever reason, the people at  Awards Daily seem to hate them.  And that’s more than enough reason for me to like them!  Anyway, the NYFCO met today and announced their picks for the best of 2015.

And the big winner was Mad Ma…oh wait.  No, sorry.  The big winner was Spotlight.  Check out the rest of the winners below:

Best Picture: Spotlight
Best Director: Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room
Best Actor: Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara – Carol
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Breakthrough Performance: Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl

Best Screenplay: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer – Spotlight
Best Use of Music: Love & Mercy
Best Debut Director: Alex Garland – Ex Machina
Best Ensemble Cast: Spotlight
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Best Documentary Feature: Amy
Best Animated Feature: Inside Out

Top 10 Films (in alphabetical order):

45 Years
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario

Spotlight
Steve Jobs
Trumbo

The Boston Society Of Film Critics Honors Spotlight!


Spotlight

With three major groups of critics scheduled to announce their picks for the best of 2015, today is a big day for those of us who love Awards Season.  First off, here are the picks of the Boston Society of Film Critics!  While the awards are nicely spread around, it’s not surprising that the Boston Society of Film Critics picked a Boston film for best picture.

Best Picture  – Spotlight (runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actor – Paul Dano, Love & Mercy and Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant (TIE)

Best Actress – Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn)

Best Supporting Actor – Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies (runner-up: Sylvester Stallone, Creed)

Best Supporting Actress – Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria (runner-up: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, The Danish Girl, Burnt, Testament of Youth)

Best Director – Todd Haynes for Carol (runner-up: Tom McCarthy for Spotlight)

Best ScreenplaySpotlight (runner-up: Carol)

Best CinematographyCarol (runner-up: The Revenant)

Best Editing – Mad Max: Fury Road (runner-up: Spotlight)

Best DocumentaryAmy (runner-up: The Look of Silence)

Best Foreign-Language Film  (awarded in memory of Jay Carr)The Look of Silence (runner-up: White God)

Best Animated FilmAnomalisa and Inside Out (TIE) (runner-up: Shaun the Sheep Movie)

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer)Mad Max: Fury Road (runner-up: Spotlight)

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) – Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl (runner-up: Alex Garland for Ex Machina)

Best Ensemble Cast – Spotlight (runner-up: The Big Short)

Best Original Score – Love & Mercy (runner-up: Creed)

The Washington D.C. Critics Are Mad About Max!


MadMaxFuryRoad

One good thing about Mad Max: Fury Road doing so well during award seasion is that it gives me an excuse to say that “So-and-so Is Mad About Max!”  Thank you, film critics, for making my job a lot easier.

Anyway, yesterday, the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics announced their nominees for the best of 2015!  And, once again, a lot of love was shown to Fury Road.  However, I am even happier to see that they also gave some attention to one of my favorite films of the year, Ex Machina.

Here are the nominees!

Best Film:
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario
Spotlight

Best Director:
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Best Actor:
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Johnny Depp (Black Mass)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Brie Larson (Room)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Sarah Silverman (I Smile Back)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Supporting Actor:
Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress:
Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Acting Ensemble:
The Big Short
The Hateful Eight
Spotlight
Steve Jobs
Straight Outta Compton

Best Youth Performance:
Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)
Raffey Cassidy (Tomorrowland)
Oona Laurence (Southpaw)
Güneş Şensoy (Mustang)
Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
Phyllis Nagy (Carol)
Drew Goddard (The Martian)
Emma Donoghue (Room)
Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay:
Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen (Bridge of Spies)
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley (Original Story by Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen) (Inside Out)
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)
Amy Schumer (Trainwreck)

 

The Boston Online Film Critics Are Mad for Max!!!!


The Boston Online Film Critics announced their picks for the best of 2015 earlier today and once again, my expectations have been defied!  I figured that since Spotlight is a Boston-story, it would be an easy pick for the Boston critics.

But no!  The Boston Online Critics went for … MAD MAX: FURY ROAD!  According to Awards Circuit, Creed was the runner-up.  (Though, to be clear, the Boston Online Critics definitely did like Spotlight, naming it the 5th best film of 2015 and giving it awards for screenplay and ensemble.)  Now again, that doesn’t mean that either Fury Road or Creed is going to be Oscar-nominated.  But, every bit helps.  With each victory, the idea of a Fury Road best picture nomination becomes just a little more plausible.

Here’s my question — one month ago, would you have believed that the early critics awards would be dominated by Mad Max, Sylvester Stallone, and Kristen Stewart?

Here are the winners!

BEST PICTURE:
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST DIRECTOR:
George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ACTOR:
Michael B. Jordan, CREED

BEST ACTRESS:
Saoirse Ronan, BROOKLYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Sylvester Stallone, CREED

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

BEST ENSEMBLE:
SPOTLIGHT

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, SPOTLIGHT

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
SON OF SAUL

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
AMY

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

INSIDE OUT

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
John Seale, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST EDITING:
Margaret Sixel, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Junkie XL, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

  1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
  2. CREED
  3. BROOKLYN
  4. CAROL
  5. SPOTLIGHT
  6. CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
  7. BRIDGE OF SPIES
  8. THE MARTIAN
  9. ANOMALISA
  10. TANGERINE

For Whatever They’re Worth, Here are The Satellite Awards Nominees!


Sicario_poster

The International Press Academy has announced the nominees for the Satellite Awards!  Who are the International Press Academy?  They’re kind of like an even less credible version of the Golden Globes.  They’re also the same people who, last year, nominated The Wolf of Wall Street for five awards, despite having not seen the film.  I would suggest viewing these nominations more as a guide to conventional wisdom than anything else.

Motion Picture
Spotlight, Open Road
Sicario, Lionsgate
Room, A24
The Revenant, 20th Century Fox
The Martian, 20th Century Fox
Carol, The Weinstein Co.
Brooklyn, Fox Searchlight
Bridge of Spies, DreamWorks
Black Mass, Warner Bros.
The Big Short, Paramount

Director
Tom Hooper, The Danish Girl
Thomas McCarthy, Spotlight
Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies
Ridley Scott, The Martian
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant

Actress in a Motion Picture
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Carey Mulligan, Suffragette
Brie Larson, Room
Blythe Danner, I’ll See You in My Dreams

Actor in a Motion Picture
Will Smith, Concussion
Tom Hardy, Legend
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Actress in a Supporting Role
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Jane Fonda, Youth
Elizabeth Banks, Love & Mercy
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Actor in a Supporting Role
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Michael Keaton, Spotlight
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Benicio Del Toro, Sicario

Motion Picture, International Film
South Korea, The Throne
Brazil, The Second Mother
Croatia, The High Sun
Belgium, The Brand New Testament
Taiwan, The Assassin
Hungary, Son of Saul
France, Mustang
Germany, Labyrinth of Lies
Austria, Goodnight Mommy
Sweden, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
The Prophet
The Peanuts Movie
The Good Dinosaur
Shaun The Sheep Movie
Inside Out
Anomalisa

Motion Picture, Documentary
Where to Invade Next
The Look of Silence
The Hunting Ground
He Named Me Malala
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead:The Story of the National Lampoon
Cartel Land
Best of Enemies
Becoming Bulletproof
Amy

Screenplay, Original
Josh Singer, Thomas McCarthy, Spotlight
Michael A. Lerner, Oren Moverman, Love & Mercy
Josh Cooley, Meg LeFauve, Pete Docter, Inside Out
Andrea Berloff, Jonathan Herman, Straight Outta Compton
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Matt Charman, Bridge of Spies
Abi Morgan, Suffragette

Screenplay, Adapted
Jez Butterworth, Mark Mallouk, Black Mass
Lucinda Coxon, The Danish Girl
Emma Donoghue, Room
Drew Goddard, The Martian
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mark L. Smith, The Revenant
Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs

Original Score
Thomas Newman, Spectre
Michael Giacchino, Inside Out
Howard Shore, Spotlight
Harry Gregson-Williams, The Martian
Carter Burwell, Carol
Alexander Desplat, The Danish Girl

Original Song
“Writing’s On The Wall”, Spectre
“Till It Happens To You”, The Hunting Ground
“See You Again”, Furious 7
“One Kind Of Love”, Love & Mercy
“Love Me Like You Do”, Fifty Shades of Grey
“Cold One”, Ricki and the Flash

Cinematography
Roger Deakins, Sicario
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Spectre
Dariuz Wolski, The Martian
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant

Visual Effects
Spectre
The Walk
The Martian
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jurassic World
Everest

Film Editing
Pietro Scalia, The Martian
Joe Walker, Sicario
Michael Kahn, Bridge of Spies
Lee Smith, Spectre
Elliot Graham, Steve Jobs
Affonso Goncalves, Carol

Sound (Editing and Mixing)
The Martian
Spectre
Sicario
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jurassic World

Art Direction and Production Design
Fiona Crombie, Macbeth
Eve Stewart, The Danish Girl
Dennis Gassner, Spectre
Dante Ferretti, Cinderella
Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road,
Adam Stockhausen, Bridge of Spies

Costume Design
Wen-Ying Huang, The Assassin
Shim Hyun-seob, The Throne
Sandy Powell, Cinderella
Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
Janet Patterson, Far From the Madding Crowd
Jacqueline Durran, Macbeth

Ensemble: Motion Picture
Spotlight

Sicario

At least these nominations gave me an excuse to drag out some Sicaro-related media.

What a Lovely Day! The National Board of Review Honors Mad Max: Fury Road!


MadMaxFuryRoad

OH MY GOD!

So, like a lot of people, I was expecting the National Board of Review to name Spotlight as best picture of the year.  I haven’t seen Spotlight yet but I have to admit that I’m already kind of bored of hearing about how it’s the Oscar front-runner.  I mean, for all I know, Spotlight could be the best film ever made but I like it when my awards season is interesting.  It’s boring when one film — like The Social Network a few years ago — keeps winning every single award.

So, with all that in mind, I was really happy to hear that the National Board of Review picked Mad Max: Fury Road for best picture.  I was happy because not only is Fury Road a really great movie that deserves the love but also because it was just so unexpected!  Way to go, NBR!

(The only thing that would have made things better would have been if the Guitar Guy had won Best Supporting Actor.)

Now, I’d caution anyone about getting too excited.  Just because a film wins one of the precursor awards, that does not mean that it’s going to be nominated come Oscar time.  Last year, for instance, the NBR picked A Most Violent Year for best picture.  However, at the same time, it can be argued that the momentum that led to Her being nominated in 2014 began with its victory at the NBR.

So, who knows?

Anyway, here are the NBR winners!

Best Film:  Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director:  Ridley Scott – The Martian

Best Actor:  Matt Damon – The Martian

Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room

Best Supporting Actor:  Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Best Supporting Actress:  Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight

Best Original Screenplay:  Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight

Best Adapted Screenplay:  Drew Goddard – The Martian

Best Animated Feature:  Inside Out
Breakthrough Performance:  Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation & Jacob Tremblay – Room

Best Directorial Debut:  Jonas Carpignano – Mediterranea

Best Foreign Language Film:  Son of Saul

Best Documentary:  Amy

William K. Everson Film History Award:  Cecilia De Mille Presley

Best Ensemble:  The Big Short

Spotlight Award: Sicario for Outstanding Collaborative Vision

NBR Freedom of Expression Award:  Beasts of No Nation & Mustang

Top Films

Top 5 Foreign Language Films

  • Goodnight Mommy
  • Mediterranea
  • Phoenix
  • The Second Mother
  • The Tribe

Top 5 Documentaries

  • Best of Enemies
  • The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
  • The Diplomat
  • Listen to Me Marlon
  • The Look of Silence

Top 10 Independent Films

Lisa’s Editorial Corner: Thank You


bloodfreak8

Hi, everyone!  It’s Thanksgiving!  Well, actually, it’s the final hours of Thanksgiving.  In fact, it’s 10:03 as I start this and it’s totally possible that I won’t be ready to post it until midnight so, by the time you read this, Thanksgiving will probably be over and you’ll be in a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/None of the Above type of mood.  Well, no matter…

So, every year, I make out a list of what I’m thankful for and I post it on this site.  Today, as I relaxed at my uncle’s house and I listened to all my cousins talking about football, I realized that I wasn’t really quite sure what I was specifically going to mention.

Don’t get me wrong.  There’s a lot that I am thankful for.  I’m thankful to be alive.  I’m thankful that I have people in my life who love me and I’m thankful that there are people who I love.  I’m thankful that my sprained foot is much, much better.  I’m thankful that it rained today so I would have an excuse not to lay out in the sun and pretend like I’m actually capable of getting a tan.  Seriously, I’m a redhead.  We don’t tan, we just burn.

And, because this is an entertainment-related site, this would be a good time to mention that I’m thankful that 2015 has been a pretty good year for film.  Mad Max, Ex Machina, Sicario, 88, Inside Out…I’m not even beginning to scratch the surface of how many good films have been released this year.  As for the bad films — well, The Fantastic Four, Ted 2, and Vacation were all terrible but you know what?  None of them did a bit of good at the box office so at least the movie going public is not adding insult to injury.

It’s been a good year and, as a lover of the Oscars, I’m especially excited by the fact that there is no clear front runner.  Oscar season is going to be exciting!  Sure, it would appear that The Martian and Spotlight appear to be early favorites but neither has dominated.  Seriously, this is going to be fun.

So, there’s a lot that I am thankful for but you know what I’m really thankful for?  I’m thankful that I have thoughts to share and I am even more thankful that are people out there who are actually interested in learning them.  There is nothing more wonderful than the freedom to say whatever the Hell you want.  That, along with so many other things, is what I’m thankful for in 2015.

So, instead of coming up with a big list and trying to show off how witty I am, I’m just going to use this holiday to say “Thank you.”  Thank you to all of the writers and reviewers at the Shattered Lens.  Thank you to Arleigh Sandoc for asking me, 5 years ago, if I would be interested in contributing to an entertainment blog that he had just started.  Thank you to all of the writers who were here before me and thank you to everyone who joined after me.  Thank you for keeping this site alive.  Thank you for keeping this site interesting.  Thank you for keeping things lively.  Thank you to all of you.  Thank you for everything.

Even more importantly, thank you to all of our readers.  They you to everyone who subscribes to this site.  Thank you to everyone who has ever left a comment.  Thank you to everyone who has ever clicked the like button.  Whether you’re a regular reader or if you just found us through a google search, thank you!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Whether today was Thanksgiving or just another Thursday, I hope it was a wonderful one for you!

All my love — Lisa.

P.S. Wow, it’s 10:26 and I’m already ready to post.  Happy Thanksgiving!

P.P.S. By the way, since it’s Thanksgiving, here’s the NSFW trailer for Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving.  Hurry up and get this movie done, Eli!

P.P.P.S. Finally, since it is Thanksgiving, why not read my review of the classic killer turkey film, Blood Freak?

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