Tag Archives: Michael Shanks

One Battle After Another Wins In Hawaii

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Hawaii Film Critics Society has announced its picks for the best of 2025!  The winners are in bold.

Best Picture
Jay Kelly
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
Sally Hawkins, Bring Her Back
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Sophie Thatcher, Companion

Best Supporting Actor
Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Amanda Seyfried, The Housemaid
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Original Screenplay
Eddington
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Weapons

Best Adapted Screenplay
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
The Housemaid
Train Dreams

Best Editing
F1: The Movie
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Together

Best Cinematography
F1: The Movie
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best Art Direction
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners
The Phoenician Scheme

Best Costume Design
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Sinners
The Phoenician Scheme
Wicked: For Good

Best Animated Film
Arco
Dog Man
KPop Demon Hunters
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Zootopia 2

Best Documentary
George A. Romero’s Resident Evil
Orwell: 2+2=5
Pee-wee as Himself
Predators
The Perfect Neighbor

Best Make-Up
28 Years Later
Frankenstein
Sinners
Weapons
Wicked: For Good

Best Sound
F1: The Movie
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
The Testament of Ann Lee

Best Score
F1: The Movie
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Tron: Ares

Best Song
“As Alive as You Need Me to Be,” Tron: Ares
“Highest 2 Lowest,” Highest 2 Lowest
“Hurry Up Tomorrow,” Hurry Up Tomorrow
“I Lied to You,” Sinners
“Train Dreams,” Train Dreams

Best Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Predator: Badlands
Sinners

Best Action Movie
Ballerina
F1: The Movie
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Predator: Badlands

Best Stunt Work
Ballerina
F1: The Movie
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best New Filmmaker
Ugo Bienvenu, Arco
Ben Leonberg, Good Boy
Charlie Polinger, The Plague
Michael Shanks, Together
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

Best First Film
Arco
Good Boy
Sorry, Baby
The Plague
Together

Best Overlooked Film
Clown in a Cornfield
Eddington
Nouvelle Vague
Rental Family
The Life of Chuck

Best Vocal / Motion Capture Performance
Eric Bauza, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Oona Chaplin, Avatar: Fire and Ash (TIE)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Sam Rockwell, The Bad Guys 2 (TIE)
Alison Wright, Predator: Badlands

Best Animal Performance
Bing the dog, The Friend
Indy the dog, Good Boy
Jolene the dog, Superman
Olga the cat, Sorry, Baby
Tico the cat, Caught Stealing

Best Horror Film
Bring Her Back
Keeper
Shelby Oaks
Together
Weapons

Best Comic Book Movie
100 Nights of Hero
Captain America: Brave New World
Superman
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Thunderbolts*

Best Foreign Language Film
It Was Just an Accident
Left-Handed Girl
No Other Choice
Sentimental Value
The Secret Agent

Best Underrated Film
Companion
Heart Eyes
Rental Family
The Life of Chuck
The Long Walk

Best Hawaiian Film
A Paradise Lost, dir. Laurie Sumiye (Hawaii)
Lahaina Rising, dir. Matty Schweitzer (Maui)
MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter, dir. Lisette Marie Flanary (Oahu)
Reeling, dir. Yana Alliata (Oahu)
Sharing Aloha, dir. Blair Treu (Hawaii)

The Ha’aheo Award (Pride in Achievement for Film, TV, or Theater)
Chief of War

The Jason “Phormat” David Award celebrating originality and artistic playfulness in cinema
The Phoenician Scheme (dir. Wes Anderson)

Worst Film of 2025
Death of a Unicorn
Eddington
Hurry Up Tomorrow
Karate Kid: Legends
The Strangers: Chapter 2

Here Are The 2025 Nominations of the Hawaii Film Critics Society

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Hawaii Film Critics Society has announced its nominations for the best of 2025!  And here they are:

Best Picture
Jay Kelly
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
Sally Hawkins, Bring Her Back
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Sophie Thatcher, Companion

Best Supporting Actor
Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Amanda Seyfried, The Housemaid
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Original Screenplay
Eddington
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Weapons

Best Adapted Screenplay
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
The Housemaid
Train Dreams

Best Editing
F1: The Movie
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Together

Best Cinematography
F1: The Movie
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Train Dreams

Best Art Direction
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners
The Phoenician Scheme

Best Costume Design
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Sinners
The Phoenician Scheme
Wicked: For Good

Best Animated Film
Arco
Dog Man
KPop Demon Hunters
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Zootopia 2

Best Documentary
George A. Romero’s Resident Evil
Orwell: 2+2=5
Pee-wee as Himself
Predators
The Perfect Neighbor

Best Make-Up
28 Years Later
Frankenstein
Sinners
Weapons
Wicked: For Good

Best Sound
F1: The Movie
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
The Testament of Ann Lee

Best Score
F1: The Movie
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Tron: Ares

Best Song
“As Alive as You Need Me to Be,” Tron: Ares
“Highest 2 Lowest,” Highest 2 Lowest
“Hurry Up Tomorrow,” Hurry Up Tomorrow
“I Lied to You,” Sinners
“Train Dreams,” Train Dreams

Best Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Predator: Badlands
Sinners

Best Action Movie
Ballerina
F1: The Movie
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Predator: Badlands

Best Stunt Work
Ballerina
F1: The Movie
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
One Battle After Another
Sinners

Best New Filmmaker
Ugo Bienvenu, Arco
Ben Leonberg, Good Boy
Charlie Polinger, The Plague
Michael Shanks, Together
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

Best First Film
Arco
Good Boy
Sorry, Baby
The Plague
Together

Best Overlooked Film
Clown in a Cornfield
Eddington
Nouvelle Vague
Rental Family
The Life of Chuck

Best Vocal / Motion Capture Performance
Eric Bauza, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Oona Chaplin, Avatar: Fire and Ash
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Sam Rockwell, The Bad Guys 2
Alison Wright, Predator: Badlands

Best Animal Performance
Bing the dog, The Friend
Indy the dog, Good Boy
Jolene the dog, Superman
Olga the cat, Sorry, Baby
Tico the cat, Caught Stealing

Best Horror Film
Bring Her Back
Keeper
Shelby Oaks
Together
Weapons

Best Comic Book Movie
100 Nights of Hero
Captain America: Brave New World
Superman
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Thunderbolts*

Best Foreign Language Film
It Was Just an Accident
Left-Handed Girl
No Other Choice
Sentimental Value
The Secret Agent

Best Underrated Film
Companion
Heart Eyes
Rental Family
The Life of Chuck
The Long Walk

Best Hawaiian Film
A Paradise Lost, dir. Laurie Sumiye (Hawaii)
Lahaina Rising, dir. Matty Schweitzer (Maui)
MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter, dir. Lisette Marie Flanary (Oahu)
Reeling, dir. Yana Alliata (Oahu)
Sharing Aloha, dir. Blair Treu (Hawaii)

The Ha’aheo Award (Pride in Achievement for Film, TV, or Theater)
Chief of War

Worst Film of 2025
Death of a Unicorn
Eddington
Hurry Up Tomorrow
Karate Kid: Legends
The Strangers: Chapter 2

Horror Film Review: 13 Eerie (dir by Lowell Dean)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2013 film, 13 Eerie, takes place on an island that is not quite as deserted as our heroes originally assumed.

The island, known as the Eerie Strait, was once the home of a brutal, maximum security prison.  The island is full of abandoned buildings and abandoned vehicles, all of which sit there as monuments to the brutality of mass incarceration.  Prof. Tompkins (Michael Shanks) teaches a class in Forensic science and he brings six of his best students (played by Katharine Isabelle, Brendan Fehr, Brendan Fletcher, Jesse Moss, Kristie Patterson, and Michael Eisner) to the island.  With the help of an ex-convict named Larry (Nick Moran), Tompkins has set up several fake crime scenes (often featuring very real corpses) for his students to investigate.  For the class, the students are required to work in teams of two and the teams are not allowed to communicate with each other.  However, each team is given a walkie-talkie so that they can still communicate with Tompkins.

Now, just speaking for myself, I would probably drop the class rather than take part in any of this.  Seriously, as soon as you tell me that I’m going to have to spend my weekend hanging out at an abandoned prison and examining real corpses, I would probably walk out of the classroom and switch majors.  (Then again, I probably wouldn’t be majoring in forensics to begin with.)  But Tompkins’s students are very enthusiastic about heading off to the island.  I guess if doing obviously dumb things, going off to an isolated location with an ex-con would be an attractive option.

Anyway, the students head over to the Island and — surprise! — it turns out that there’s a lot of extra dead bodies lying around.  At first, the students think that the extra bodies are all a part of their class but then some of the dead bodies come back to life.  It turns out that the island — much like the prison camp in Garden of the Dead — was once used a place to experiment on prisoners.  As a result, many of the former prisoners have now been transformed into flesh-eating zombies who roam the island and look for new victims.

(And again, anyone who has ever seen a zombie movie, should have realized that this would happen.  It always amazing me that people in zombie movies have apparently never come across Night of the Living Dead on television late at night.  At the very least, you would think that these people would have at least read an article or two about The Walking Dead.  And really, even if you have somehow gone your entire life without being exposed to any zombie media, the sight of the dead walking around should be enough to convince most people to run away.)

13 Eerie has some atmosphere but it doesn’t really bring anything new to the zombie genre.  In fact, it so closely follows the rules of the genre that it actually gets kind of boring.  I appreciated, as always, the committed performance of Katharine Isabelle and I also liked that the film ended on a bit of a down note.  But, for the most part, 13 Eerie doesn’t bring anything new to the world of the living dead.

What Lisa Watched Last Night #200: The College Admissions Scandal (dir by Adam Salky)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, like all good Americans, I watched The College Admissions Scandal on Lifetime!

Why Was I Watching It?

How could I not watch it!?

Seriously, Lifetime has been advertising the Hell out of this thing for the past few months.  I haven’t been able to turn on the channel without seeing a few hundred commercials for The College Admissions Scandal.

Add to that, I have to admit that this is the rare national scandal that I’ve actually been following.  When the news first broke that certain rich people had cheated and broken the rules to get their child into a good college, my initial reaction was, “Well, isn’t that what a parent’s supposed to do?”  Of course, I made the mistake of saying that on twitter and I immediately ended up with a bunch of finger-wagging nags screaming at me about how it wasn’t something to make a joke about and how it wasn’t fair and blah blah blah.  They sure told me!  Of course, it didn’t really change my mind or anything but at least everyone else got to feel like they had stuck up for truth and justice.  That said, I think my point remains valid.  Don’t get mad at the parents for taking advantage of the system.  They’re just trying to look after their kids.  Instead, get mad at the colleges that were willing to be bribed.  Get mad at a system that’s been specifically set up to be corrupted.  The solution is reform, not necessarily imprisonment.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I kinda love the fact that, while Felicity Huffman basically begged everyone to forgive her, Lori Loughlin pretty much said, “Fuck you, I’m not apologizing for anything.” That’s the spirit!

What Was It About?

Penelope Ann Miller plays a character who is definitely not Felicity Huffman, just as Mia Kirshner is playing someone who is definitely not Lori Loughlin.  That said, like Miller and Loughlin, they’re two wealthy mothers who are concerned about getting their children into the right school.  Fortunately, Rick Singer (Michael Shanks) is willing to sell his services as an admissions consultant.  Pay him enough money and he’ll fix your child’s grades, improve their test scores, and even make them look like athletes!

It sounds like a great plan!  Of course, it’s also illegal and, even as the parents are looking forward to sending their kids to Stanford and Harvard, the FBI is looking forward to sending the parents to prison!

What Worked?

Miller and Kirshner were both well-cast and Kirshner was especially good as the mother who definitely was not Lori Loughlin.  Michael Shanks was also wonderfully repellent in the role of Rick Singer.

It was fascinating to watch the lengths that Singer and the families went to remaking their children.  My main memory of this film will probably always be Sarah Dugdale standing in front of a blue screen and kicking a soccer ball so that she can later be photoshopped into a picture of an actual soccer game.

What Did Not Work?

Where were the real people!?  Yes, Rick Singer is a real person but why were all the parents fictional?  I assume for legal reasons.  For instance, Lori Loughlin has yet to be convicted of anything and I imagine that Lifetime didn’t want to get on the bad side of either Felicity Huffman or William H. Macy by portraying them in the movie.  But seriously, it was hard not to be disappointed by the lack of real world gossip.

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

Hmmmm …. I got into college legally but then again, I also didn’t go to an Ivy League school, nor did I ever particularly want to.  To be honest, it didn’t really occur to me that college was actually that important until my senior year.  That’s when I was like, “Oh, I’m actually supposed to do something with this art history degree….”

Lessons Learned

If you want to send your child to a good college, get them interested in soccer early.

Trailer: Elysium (Official)

Posted on by Arleigh

Elysium

It’s not often that a filmmaker makes such a major splash in the industry with their initial full-length film becoming not just a commercial success but one which gained widespread critical-acclaim. South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp is one such filmmaker. Initially tapped by Peter Jackson to direct the planned HALO film adaptation Blomkamp ended up doing District 9 (based off of his own short film Alive in Joburg).

The film became the sensation of San Diego Comic-Con 2009 which raised the hype for it’s inevitable release a month later. It’s now been 4 years since District 9 and we finally get a chance to see the first official trailer (a 10-minute film reel was shown to invited industry and press which showed a bit more of what the film will be about) for Blomkamp’s much awaited follow-up to his hit first film.

Elysium looks to continue Blomkamp’s attempt to bring social awareness to the scifi genre and do so with a mixture of real-world gritty realism and scifi fantasy. just looking at the trailer the space station Elysium where all the rich and privilege live in a paradise-setting look like an amalgam of the HALO ringworlds and the Citadel Station from Mass Effect.

It’s still months away, but just this teaser of a trailer has just raised Elysium to the top of my list for most awaited films of 2013. If it’s as good or better than District 9 then Blomkamp will cement himself as one of his generation’s best instead of a flash in the pan like so many of his contemporaries.

Elysium is set for a wide release date of August 9, 2013.

Film Review: Red Riding Hood (dir. by Catherine Hardwicke)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

My problems with Red Riding Hood are more of a personal nature than anything else. I’m from a family that clashed old world values of women being blindly subserviant to the Man of the House vs. women being fiercely independent and only having a male in their lives to complement things. These elements were my luggage already brought to the table on seeing the film, but it shouldn’t damper one’s opinion on the film. If this review does this, it’s on me personally and not a reflection of the entire Shattered Lens.

Like Alice in Wonderland before it, Red Riding Hood takes the classic fairy tale and expands on it. While it does so, it doesn’t do it by much. What it has going for it is a nice visual style. Colors are vibrant and director Catherine Hardwicke really has an eye when it comes to forest landscapes (just as she did with Twilight). Mists cover the trees and capes billow in the wind, when it’s not concentrating on the town itself (which does look like a soundstage at times). In the end, however, it suffers from the same quasi teenage issues that Twilight had. I yawned a number of times. Granted, I understand that the movie may be targeted to a younger audience (and for them it may very well work), but even my audience groaned a little and they were target individuals.

Red Riding Hood is the story of Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), who lives in a small village that lives in fear of The Wolf, who has been known to sneak in and attack or kill citizens. To appease the wolf, the townspeople keep animals tied outside. As a child, she forms a bond with a young boy named Peter. Time passes, and we find young Valerie bethrothed to Henry (Max Irons) by way of her mother’s plans (played by Virginia Madsen). Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) still has feelings for Valerie, and this all quickly becomes another Bella / Jacob / Edward triangle. It’s not at the start a story of Valerie choosing her own road, but having to hear from everyone around her that this guy should be the one she marries or that one is the right guy for her. To me, personally, the film in the beginning pushes as much of a pro-“I need a man to survive” stance as Battle:LA does a Pro-Marine one. Is this a terrible thing? Not if that’s where your mindset is, no. Every time I saw them mention anything along the lines of hand and feet worship some guy just because “that’s how it is”, I had to remind myself that it’s just the time period the story takes place in (though I’m sure the audience heard me groan at least once). Again, that’s just me.

In the midst of all this, on being asked to run away with Peter, Valerie is alerted to her sister’s death from the wolf. The townfolk make a point of going after the wolf, and decide to head out the cave where they believe the beast lives. They return with proof of a victory and plan to host a party for the deed. The town priest (Lukas Haas, who somehow seems to less here than he did in Inception) reaches out for help in form of Solomon (Gary Oldman). Solomon, arriving with armed guards warns the townsfolk of the evil of werewolves and that he will hunt it down. The next few nights will be Blood Moon nights, meaning that if the wolf bites anyone during that time, they’ll become werewolves as well. The townsfolk, not buying into this, decide to have a wild party with sexy dancing. This results in a visit from the Wolf, who confronts Valerie and telepathically asks her to come away with it, or the town will be razed. It all kind of escalates from there.

Oldman, for his credit, was fun here and slightly over to the top.  Oldman delivers his lines with flair, being far less subdued here than he was in The Book of Eli. For who better to hunt a wolf than Sirius Black himself, right?

And that’s part of the problem I found with Red Riding Hood. With the exception of Seyfried, the supporting cast is actually stronger than the main group of actors the story focuses on. Julie Christie plays Valerie’s grandmother, in a great turn, and as always Billy Burke (Drive Angry, Twilight) is supportive as Valerie’s father. He’s really one of the highlights of the film. As for Henry and Peter’s characters,  the most I could think of with them were the Winchester brothers in Supernatural. They’re eye candy for the girls, though I should note that none of the girls in my audience were excited as they were when I saw The Twilight Saga: New Moon. There were lots of screaming for that one.

What does work is that the movie is reminiscient of The Beast Must Die. It is a mystery of who the wolf actually is, and both Valerie and the audience are given clues. That I actually enjoyed, and the third act of the film wasn’t too bad. The action is quick and to the point, but again, it all kind of feels like I could have seen this as a series on the CW. There wasn’t as much of a worry about who would fall at the hands of the wolf or what dangers would face Valerie so much as they actually looked cool when it occurred. Easily a Netflix pick.