Tag Archives: movie

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For November

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

With the announcements of both the Gotham and the NYFCC winners, awards season is finally here!  Over the next 30 days, the Oscar race will become very, very clear.  As of right now, it truly does appear to be a Oppenheimer vs. Killers of the Flower Moon contest with perhaps Poor Things and Barbie overperforming when the nominations are finally announced.

Below are my predictions for November.  Be sure to also check out my predictions for March and April and May and June and July and August and September and October!

Best Picture 

American Fiction

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

May/December

Oppenheimer

Passages

Past Lives

Poor Things

The Zone of Interest

Best Director

Bradley Cooper for Maestro

Greta Gerwig for Barbie

Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest

Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer

Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper in Maestro

Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer

Franz Rogowski in Passages

Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction

Best Actress

Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Huller in Anatomy of a Fall

Carey Mulligan in Maestro

Margot Robbie in Barbie

Emma Stone in Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor

Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey, Jr. in Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling in Barbie

Charles Melton in May/December

Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt in Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks in The Color Purple

Sandra Huller in Zone of Interest

Julianne Moore in May December

Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers

The New York Film Critics Circle Honors Killers Of the Flower Moon!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the New York Film Critics Circle announced their picks for the best of 2023, with Oppenheimer picking up awards for Cinematography and Direction while Killers of the Flower Moon won both Best Picture and Best Actress.

I guess the most unexpected result of the voting was Franz Rogowski’s victory for Best Actor.  Over the next few days, we’ll see if that’s an outlier or if Rogowski is going to emerge as a legitimate Oscar contender.

Here are the winners!

Best Film: “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures)

Best Actor: Franz Rogowski, “Passages” (Mubi)

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)

Best Supporting Actor: Charles Melton, “May December” (Netflix)

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers” (Focus Features)

Best Screenplay: “May December” (Netflix) — Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik

Best Animated Film: “The Boy and the Heron” (GKids)

Best Cinematography: “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) — Hoyte van Hoytema

Best First Film: “Past Lives” (A24) — dir. Celine Song

Best International: “Anatomy of a Fall” (Neon)

Best Non-Fiction Film: “Menus-Plaisirs-Les Troisgros” (Zipporah Films) — dir. Frederick Wiseman

Special mention: The NYFCC awarded cash prizes to two regional students — Mick Gaw (New York University, undergraduate) and Katherine Prior (Brooklyn College, graduate) — focusing on film criticism and journalism.

Special Award: Karen Cooper for her five decades of creative leadership as director of Film Forum.

Here Are The 2023 Gotham Award Winners!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In one of the first events of Awards Season, The Gotham Awards were handed out tonight, with Past Lives picking up the award for best film.  Below, all of the winners are listed in bold!

Best Feature
Passages
Ira Sachs, director; Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt, producers (MUBI)

Past Lives
Celine Song, director; David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, producers (A24)

Reality
Tina Satter, director; Brad Becker-Parton, Riva Marker, Greg Nobile, Noah Stahl, producers (HBO Films)

Showing Up
Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (A24)

A Thousand and One
A.V. Rockwell, director; Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, Bred Weston, producers (Focus Features)

Best International Feature
All of Us Strangers
Andrew Haigh, director; Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Sarah Harvey, producers (Searchlight Pictures)

Anatomy of a Fall
Justine Triet, director; Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion, producers (NEON)

Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos, director; Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, producers (Searchlight Pictures)

Tótem
Lila Avilés, director; Lila Avilés, Tatiana Graullera, Louise Riousse, producers (Sideshow/Janus Films)

The Zone of Interest
Jonathan Glazer, director; Ewa Puszczynska, James Wilson, producers (A24)

Best Documentary Feature
20 Days in Mariupol
Mstyslav Chernov, director; Raney Aronson-Rath, Mstyslav Chernov, Derl McCrudden, Michelle Mizner, producers (PBS Distribution)

Against the Tide
Sarvnik Kaur, director; Koval Bhatia, Sarvnik Kaur, producers (Snooker Club Films, A Little Anarky Films)

Apolonia, Apolonia
Lea Glob, director; Sidsel Lønvig Siersted, producer (Danish Documentary Production)

Four Daughters
Kaouther Ben Hania, director; Nadim Cheikhrouha, producer (Kino Lorber)

Our Body
Claire Simon, director; Kristina Larsen, producer (Cinema Guild)

Breakthrough Director Award, Presented by Cadillac

Raven Jackson, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24)

Georgia Oakley, Blue Jean (Magnolia Pictures)

Michelle Garza Cervera, Huesera (XYZ Films)

Celine Song, Past Lives (A24)

A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand and One (Focus Features)

Best Screenplay

All of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh (Searchlight Pictures)

Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (NEON)

May December, Samy Burch (Netflix)

R.M.N., Cristian Mungiu (IFC Films)

The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer (A24)

Outstanding Lead Performance

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Origin (NEON)

Lily Gladstone, The Unknown Country (Music Box Films)

Greta Lee, Past Lives (A24)

Franz Rogowski, Passages (MUBI)

Babetida Sadjo, Our Father, The Devil (Cineverse)

Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight Pictures)

Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla (A24)

Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One (Focus Features)

Michelle Williams, Showing Up (A24)

Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction (Orion Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios)

Outstanding Supporting Performance

Juliette Binoche, The Taste of Things (IFC Films)

Penélope Cruz, Ferrari (NEON)

Jamie Foxx, They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix)

Claire Foy, All of Us Strangers (Searchlight Films)

Ryan Gosling, Barbie (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry (IFC Films)

Sandra Hüller, The Zone of Interest (A24)

Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Lionsgate)

Charles Melton, May December (Netflix)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers (Focus Features)

Breakthrough Series – Under 40 minutes
Beef, Lee Sung Jin, creator; Ravi Nandan, Alli Reich, Jake Schreier, Ali Wong, Steven Yeun, executive producers (Netflix)

High School, Clea DuVall, Sara Quin, Tegan Quin, creators; Clea Duvall, Dede Gardner, Laura Kittrell, Jeremy Kleiner, Sara Quin, Tegan Quin, Carina Sposato, executive producers (Amazon Freevee)

I’m A Virgo, Boots Riley, creator; Tze Chun, Michael Ellenberg, Marcus Gardley, Carver Karaszewski, Jharrel Jerome, Boots Riley, Rebecca Rivo, Lindsey Springer, executive producers (Prime Video)

Rain Dogs, Cash Carraway, creator; Cash Carraway, Sally Woodward Gentle, Lee Morris, executive producers (HBO | Max)

Swarm, Donald Glover, Janine Nabers, creators; Ibra Ake, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Janine Nabers Jamal Olor, Steven Prinz, Michael Schaefer, Fam Udeorji, executive producers (Amazon Studios)

Breakthrough Series – Over 40 minutes
Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire
Rolin Jones, creator; Mark Johnson, Rolin Jones, Anne Rice, Christopher Rice, Alan Taylor, executive producers (AMC)

Dead Ringers
Alice Birch, creator; Alice Birch, Anne Carey, Sean Durkin, Megan Ellison, Erica Kay, Ali Krug, Sue Naegle, Stacy O’Neil, David Robinson, James G. Robinson, Polly Stokes, Barbara Wall, Rachel Weisz, executive directors (Prime Video)

The English
Hugo Blick, creator; Hugo Blick, Emily Blunt, Greg Brenman, executive producers (Prime Video)

The Last of Us
Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann, creators; Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin, Rose Lam, Asad Qizilbash, Carolyn Strauss, Carter Swan, Evan Wells, executive producers; (HBO | Max)

A Small Light
Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, creator; Susanna Fogel, William Harper, Avi Nir, Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, Lisa Roos, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, executive producers (National Geographic)

Telemarketers
Adam Bhala Lough, Sam Lipman-Stern, directors; Nancy Abraham, Dani Bernfeld, David Gordon Green, Lisa Heller, Jody Hill, Brandon James, Sam Lipman-Stern, Adam Bhala Lough, Danny McBride, Tina Nguyen, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Greg Stewart, executive producers (HBO | Max)

Outstanding Performance in a New Series
Jacob Anderson, Anne Rice’s Interview with The Vampire (AMC)

Dominique Fishback, Swarm (Amazon Studios)

Jharrel Jerome, I’m A Virgo (Prime Video)

Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face (Peacock)

Bel Powley, A Small Light (National Geographic)

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us (HBO | Max)

Chaske Spencer, The English (Prime Video)

Rachel Weisz, Dead Ringers ((Prime Video)

Ali Wong, Beef (Netflix)

Steven Yeun, Beef (Netflix)

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Death Car On The Freeway and No Way Out!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1979’s Death Car On The Freeway!! I picked it so you know it’ll be good.

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet.  We will be watching Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman in No Way Out!  This film is also available on Prime and Tubi!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Death Car On The Freeway on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then, at 10 pm et, switch over to Twitter, start No Way Out, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!  The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

Retro Television Reviews: The Secret Life of John Chapman (dir by David Lowell Rich)

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 Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1976’s The Secret Life of John Chapman!  It  can be viewed on Tubi.

John Chapman (Ralph Waite) is a mild-mannered college president and a recent widower.  Everyone tends to assume that John grew up wealthy but John is actually the son of a bricklayer.  As he puts it, his father literally helped to build the college of which John is now president.  John has felt lost and directionless ever since the passing of his wife.  When his rebellious son (Brad Davis) announces that he’s going to drop out of college and pursue a career as a laborer, John is at first outraged but soon, he’s wondering if perhaps his son has a point.  Has John spent so much time cocooned in his college that he’s lost touch with the rest of the world?

John takes a sabbatical and pursues a career as a blue collar worker.  He discovers that it’s not as easy as he assumed.  Because John doesn’t want to reveal that he’s an academic, John doesn’t really have any references to offer up to potential employers.  Because he’s nearly 50, John is continually told that he’s too old for most of the jobs that he applies for.  When he goes into a bar and attempts to order a dry martini, he quickly realizes that he has no idea what it’s like to be blue collar.

John eventually does get a job, helping to lay water pipes.  His boss is the gruff Gus Reed (Pat Hingle), who John eventually discovers is not quite as fearsome a figure as he originally appears.  Once the pipe job is done, John gets a job in a diner and even pursues a tentative romance with a waitress (Susan Anspach) who, as she points out,  comes from a totally different world than him.  And yet, despite John’s efforts, his son remains unimpressed.  According to his son, John is just slumming.  He has the freedom to quit and return to the college whenever he wants.

Yikes!  John’s son is a bit judgmental and it doesn’t help that he’s played by Brad Davis, who was never a particularly likable actor.  (Davis later starred in Midnight Express, in which director Alan Parker used his lack of likability to good effect.)  Yet, watching the film, you can’t help but feel that John’s son has a point.  At times, it seems like John wants a lot of credit for spending a week working in the type of job that most people take because they don’t have any other option.  Indeed, you could argue that John’s project is basically keeping someone who really needs the money from finding a job.  It’s not like John gives up any of his money when he goes to work.  It doesn’t help that John Chapman narrates his story and his voice-over often feels like a parody of liberal noblesse oblige.

Fortunately, Ralph Waite was a likable actor and he plays John Chapman as being well-intentioned if occasionally a bit condescending.  The made-for-TV movie plays like a pilot and it’s easy to imagine a series in which John Chapman would have worked a different job every week.  It’s a slight but pleasant-enough made-for-TV movie.  Seen today, it works best as a time capsule, a portrait of a society still trying to find its identity in the wake of the turbulence of the 60s.

Live Tweet Alert: Watch High Tension with #ScarySocial

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, for #ScarySocial, Deanna Dawn will be hosting 2003’s High Tension!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime.  I’ll probably be there and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For Disturbing Behavior!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got 1998’s Disturbing Behavior!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Disturbing Behavior is available on Prime!  See you there!

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Black Scorpion and Notting Hill!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1995’s Black Scorpion!  Selected and hosted by Bunny Hero, this film was produced by Roger Corman!  So, you know it has to be good!

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet.  We will be watching 1999’s Notting Hill!  The film is on Prime!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Black Scorpion on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then, at 10 pm et, switch over to Twitter and Prime, start Notting Hill, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!  The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

Retro Television Review: Fallen Angel (dir by Robert Michael Lewis)

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 Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1981’s Fallen Angel!  It  can be viewed on Tubi.

Jennifer Phillips (Dana Hill) is 12 years old and struggling to find her place in the world.  Sometimes, she wants to be a gymnast.  Sometimes, she wants to be an actress.  She misses her late father.  She has a difficult time communicating with her mother, an often-exhausted waitress named Sherry (Melinda Dillon).  She is definitely not happy that Sherry is dating the well-meaning but rather dorky Frank Dawson (Ronny Cox).  Jennifer wants to watch an awards show.  Frank changes the channel to a baseball game.  That pretty much sums up their relationship.

One night, Jennifer escapes the unhappiness of her home life by going to an arcade.  That’s where she is approached by Howard Nichols (Richard Masur), a seemingly friendly older man who takes her picture and then tells her that she’s just as beautiful as Farrah Fawcett and Olivia Newton-John.  Jennifer replies that she doesn’t think that she should talk to Howard because he’s a stranger.  Howard tells her that’s very smart of her and then explains that he coaches the local girls softball team and that he thinks Jennifer would make a great shortstop.

You can probably guess where this is going and you’re absolutely right.  Soon, Jennifer is spending all of her time with Howard, who tells her that he understands what she’s going through even if her parents don’t.  Howard’s an amateur photographer and he’s constantly asking Jennifer to pose for him.  He tells Jennifer that she probably shouldn’t tell any adults about their “special friendship” because they just wouldn’t understand.  He even buys Jennifer a puppy, one that he threatens to take back to the pound whenever it appears that Jennifer is trying to step away from him.  

Howard is not only a pedophile but he also works for a pornography ring and, as Jennifer soon finds out, he’s actually got several young people living with him and posing for pictures.  Jennifer’s mother eventually becomes concerned about what Jennifer is doing when she leaves the house and she even comes to suspect that friendly old Howard is not quite as friendly as he pretends to be.  But is it too late?

Yikes!  I watched this film on Tubi and I cringed through the whole thing.  Of course, that’s the reaction that Fallen Angel was going for.  This is a film that was made to encourage parents to maybe be a little concerned about with whom their children are spending their free time.  Jennifer is fortunate that her mom eventually figures out what is going on but, as the film makes clear, a lot of victims are not so lucky.  This film is pure paranoia fuel but in the best way possible.  There are some things that every parent should be paranoid about and the adult who only spends time with people 20 years younger than him is definitely one of those things.  The film is well-made, well-written, and well-acted.  Richard Masur, with his friendly manner and his manipulate tone, will give you nightmares.

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Track of the Moon Beast With #ScarySocial!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1976’s Track of the Moon Beast!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime and YouTube!.  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.