Lisa Reviews An Oscar Nominee: Moonstruck (dir by Norman Jewison)

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Nominated for Best Picture of 1987, Moonstruck is a film about love, romance, New York City, and being Italian.

Loretta Castorini (Cher) is a widow and a bookkeeper who lives with her parents, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia) and Rose (Olympia Dukakis) in Brooklyn. When her boyfriend, Johnny (Danny Aiello), asks Loretta to marry him, Loretta says yes even though she knows that, while she likes him, she’s not really in love with him. After he proposes, Johnny reveals that he has to go to Sicily to see his “dying” mother. He asks Loretta to pay a visit to his estranged brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage), and invite him to the wedding. Loretta, a strong believer in family and the importance of following tradition, agrees.

Loretta finds Ronny working in the bakery that he owns. Ronny is not thrilled to learn that his brother has gotten engaged. Ronny reveals that he has a wooden hand. He lost his real hand when he accidentally placed it in a bread slicer while having a conversation with Johnny. After he lost his hand, Ronny’s then-fiancée left him. Ronny has never forgiven Johnny for the loss of his hand. “I lost my hand! I lost my bride!” Ronny yells to the heavens. Loretta, however, immediately understands that Johnny actually hurt his hand to get his fiancée to break up with him. A conversation at Ronny’s apartment leads to the two of them impulsively sleeping with each other. The next day, Ronny promises to never bother Loretta again if she agrees to go the opera with him.

What the guilt-stricken Loretta doesn’t know is that her father is having an affair himself and it turns out that Cosmo and Mona (Rose Gilette) enjoy the opera as well. Meanwhile, Rose finds herself tempted by a lecherous college professor named Perry (John Mahoney).

There’s a lot of stereotypes to be found in Moonstruck. Of course, passionate Ronny loves the opera. Of course, the simple but well-intentioned Johnny abandons his fiancée so that he can rush to Sicily to be with his “dying” mother who, it turns out, isn’t dying at all. Of course, Loretta slaps Ronny and tells him to snap out of it. (I should note that I’m a fourth Italian myself so I could definitely relate to some of this film. I’ve never liked opera, though.) Fortunately, the film’s cast is so perfectly chosen and John Patrick Shanley’s script so adroitly maintains the balance between the broad comedy and the small dramatic moments that it doesn’t matter that all of the characters are a bit stereotypical. The film comes to a wonderful life. It’s impossible not love these characters, flaws and all. Cher and Olympia Dukakis deserved the Oscars that they both won for this film. Vincent Gardenia deserved the nomination that he received. Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, and John Mahoney were not nominated but they should have been. In particular, John Mahoney is heart-breaking in his small role, playing the type of lecherous character that most films would have just portrayed as being a cardboard buffoon. As for Nicolas Cage, Moonstruck is a film that features both his trademark eccentricity and his ability to show the real and vulnerable human being underneath all of the bluster. Moonstruck is a film about the search for love and the glory of finding it. It’s a wonderfully romantic film, even if almost all of that love seems to involve infidelity. As directed by Norman Jewison, Moonstruck not only celebrates falling in love but also celebrates being lucky enough to do so in New York City. It’s a love letter not just to its characters but to the city as well.

Moonstruck was nominated for Best Picture but it lost to a far more epic production, The Last Emperor.

Raising Arizona (Dir Joel & Ethan Coen), Review by Case Wright

Posted on January 7, 2025 by casewright

Happy Birthday, Nicolas Cage. If you’re an older Millennial or Young Gen X, you saw “Raising Arizona” about 100 times on Showtime and HBO because I believe that it was very inexpensive to license. The film was a hard left turn for the Coen Brothers who had major success with “Blood Simple” – a brutal thriller- that turned all women off to Fat Southern Murderers forever. The Coen thrillers tended to have comedic edge after Raising Arizona, but never just a comedy again- until The Big Lebowski. This film is also responsible for John Goodman. Prior to this film he was in mostly small parts, then after this picture- he became a household name in Roseanne.

Nicolas Cage is a made up name. He is Francis Coppola’s nephew and I can’t fault him for mayonnaising his name because my Italian ancestors did as well. However, I believe that he was trying to hide the Coppola name more than his heritage. Speaking of Italian heritage, try “Groking” “Italian American Jersey Girl” in grok. The lady who appears is beautiful, but doesn’t look like any of my Aunts. I feel that I should advocate for my people- We trend good looking and gave you Pizza Friday! Come on, show some love!

The film’s premise is that H.I. McDonnough (Nicolas Cage) is an ex con who is addicted to robbing the same convenience store again and again and again. This may seem strange, but in another life, I did criminal defense and I had a client who would steal the same jacket from the same store every year. Edwina “Ed” (Holly Hunter) is a cop who processes H.I. again and again. Each time, he flirts with her. His last time as a convict in front of her- her fiancé left her. H.I. realizes that he must go straight to get her love.

After his jail time, he returns as a free man to get his love- “Ed”. It works! They have a great life, but they want a child and yet she can’t conceive. The solution: they will kidnap a baby from the owner of Gallery Furniture! If you were from Texas, you would’ve laughed! They get the kid and are pursued by all sorts of people who want to claim the reward for the kidnapped baby.

This very intricate plot is just the first 30 minutes of the film. It is truly funny. I always felt for these character because good people should have LOTS OF KIDS- as many as possible! They shouldn’t have to pay taxes or anything. This film is special to me for another reason: it is when the Boomers were still young and filled with hope. Now, we are losing them and it hurts. This film is a glimpse of what they were like before the grey and how much they yearned for a good family on their own terms.

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU (1994) – Nicolas Cage wins the lottery! Now what about that tip?!

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Bradley Crain

As much as I enjoy writing about movies and talking about movies, I make a living by helping people with their annual income tax filings. That means from around January 15th through April 15th each year, almost every waking hour is spent focused on tax return preparation. While I’m working on these tax returns, I will often play movies or TV shows on one of my computer screens. These aren’t just any movies, though. These are movies or TV shows that make me feel good and help me relax while I’m working so many hours. Over the years, I’ve used movies like THE OTHER GUYS, THE HANGOVER, and ZOMBIELAND. A few years ago, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW was on Prime, and I watched the entire 8 seasons through 3 times during tax season. One genre I hit hard this time of year is romantic films, both comedies and dramas. The main thing I’m looking for is happy endings. My favorite romantic films include NOTTING HILL, RETURN TO ME, HITCH, YOU’VE GOT MAIL, PERSUASION & SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. As a big fan of Nicolas Cage, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU, Cage’s 1994 romantic comedy with Bridget Fonda has joined that list over the years as well. Since today, January 7th, 2025, is Nicolas Cage’s 61st birthday, and tax season is coming, I thought I’d write about this charming film!

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU revolves around Charlie Lang (Nicolas Cage), a New York City cop who seems like an all-around good guy. One day he’s having coffee at a local diner with his partner Bo (Wendell Pierce), when they get a police call. Charlie finds himself without the money to give a proper tip to his waitress, Yvonne (Bridget Fonda), so he improvises on the spot and tells her he has a lottery ticket to be drawn on that very same night. Further, he goes on to tell her if he wins, he’ll split the winnings with her as a tip. The two cops head on out, Charlie happy that he gave her something, and Yvonne, who’s not having a good day anyway, just shakes it off knowing that it’s just another small tip she missed out on. But wouldn’t you know it, on this night the stars all align and Charlie’s number is drawn as a winner. Charlie and his wife Muriel (Rosie Perez) are ecstatic with their win, which amounts to around $4 million. In the middle of their celebration, Charlie remembers his promise to Yvonne and tells Muriel. To say she’s upset is an understatement, and she begs him to stiff the waitress. Charlie is just too honest for that, so he is able to convince Muriel that $2 Million is enough for them to live comfortably on. She begrudgingly agrees, but the fuse has been lit between Charlie and Muriel. The next day, Charlie goes back to the diner and tells Yvonne that they won. At first not believing it’s true, Charlie is able to convince Yvonne that he’s honoring his tip by giving her half of the winnings. We have found out that Yvonne is having severe financial problems, and this “tip” comes as a completely unexpected answer to her prayers. Alls well that ends well, right? As we all know, money can bring out the very best or the very worst in people and we see that play out throughout the rest of the movie. I’ll just put it this way, as Charlie and Muriel grow apart with their newfound money, Charlie and Yvonne grow closer together, bound by this amazing experience.

It’s all a pretty crazy setup, but IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU is a movie that I relate to idealistically. I really like Cage and Fonda in their roles. I’d love to be as honest and likable as Nicolas Cage’s character Charlie Lang. He is just a good guy, way down deep. I want to be that kind of guy. And Bridget Fonda’s character Yvonne is also very appealing. She’s presented as a lady going through a lot of personal issues, but who somehow seems to always show a kind and compassionate spirit to everyone around her, especially to others who are struggling. The scene where Charlie convinces her that he really is giving her half the money is quite an uplifting scene. Both of these characters have an honesty and attitude about life that resonates with me. Some people might argue that their characters should have more depth to make them more realistic and less one-dimensional, and they might be right, but I personally enjoy seeing them as just really honest and kind people.

It should also be pointed out that you have to be able suspend your disbelief to enjoy IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU. If your movies “have” to be realistic, this is not the movie for you. The entire premise is a fairytale, and the movie should be seen as such. For the movie to work, the good guys have to be really good guys, and the bad guys have to be really bad guys. I’ve mentioned earlier how kind both Charlie and Yvonne are throughout the film, with the money not changing their attitudes about life in any way. If anything, the money allows them to be even more kind and generous to others. Well, money has had the exact opposite effect on Muriel, and we soon learn that $2 Million isn’t enough for her and that the full $4 Million would not have been enough either. At this point, I’m not sure $100 Million would have been enough. In our fairytale story, she can’t be presented as a lady realistically struggling with her husband’s overly generous tip, she has to be presented as extremely selfish and cruel. I mean, how else is the story going to get Charlie and Yvonne together?!

All in all, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU works for me. I’ve said many times I’m a sucker for a good romance, and this film fits the bill for me. The main characters warm my heart as they are decent, kind and honest. I like a good fairytale. It’s one of the main reasons I enjoy the movies, and it doesn’t seem like we get enough good fairytales these days.

Check out the trailer for IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU below!

And if you’re looking for more awesome information about Nicolas Cage, check out John Rieber’s latest post where he celebrates Cage’s birthday with a movie marathon!

Happy Birthday Nicolas Cage! I Watched SEVEN “Cage-tacular” Films To Celebrate!

Scenes That I Love: Nicolas Cage in Zandalee

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 61st birthday to the great Nicolas Cage. Over the years, Cage has become an icon of everything that we love about the movies. He’s appeared in great films. He’s appeared in bad films. He’s done films that barely had a budget and he’s appeared in blockbusters. He can do drama. He can do comedy. He can do horror. He can do action. His performances are often so wonderfully bizarre that will sit through the worst films ever made just to catch a Nicolas Cage cameo. And yet, for every strange Cage performance, there’s a Cage performance that is undeniably brilliant, like his performance in Pig.

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1990’s Zandalee. In this scene, Nicolas Cage and Judge Reinhold share a dance on a Louisiana pier.

The Substance Wins In Seattle

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Seattle Film Critics Society has announced its picks for the best of 2024!

BEST PICTURE
Anora – Sean Baker
The Beast – Bertrand Bonello
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet
Challengers – Luca Guadagnino
Conclave – Edward Berger
Dune: Part Two – Denis Villeneuve
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – George Miller
I Saw the TV Glow – Jane Schoenbrun
Sing Sing – Greg Kwedar
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

DIRECTOR
Sean Baker – Anora
Bertrand Bonello – The Beast
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two

LEAD ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Keith Kupferer – Ghostlight
George MacKay – The Beast

LEAD ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Léa Seydoux – The Beast

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Chris Hemsworth – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Josh O’Connor – Challengers
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Joan Chen – Dìdi (弟弟)
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

ENSEMBLE
Anora – Sean Baker
Conclave – Nina Gold and Martin Ware
Dune: Part Two – Dixie Chassay and Francine Maisler
His Three Daughters – Nicole Arbusto
Sing Sing – Greg Kwedar

PACIFIC NORTHWEST FILM
All We Carry – Cady Voge
Fish War – Jeff Ostenson, Charles Atkinson, and Skylar Wagner
Gasoline Rainbow – Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
Rainier: A Beer Odyssey – Isaac Olsen
Strange Darling – J.T. Mollner

INTERNATIONAL FILM
The Beast – Bertrand Bonello
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Flow – Gints Zilbalodis
Red Rooms – Pascal Plante
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad Rasoulof

DOCUMENTARY FILM
Dahomey – Mati Diop
No Other Land – Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor
Sugarcane – Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story – Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Will & Harper – Josh Greenbaum

ANIMATED FILM
Flow – Gints Zilbalodis
Inside Out 2 – Kelsey Mann
Transformers One – Josh Cooley
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park
The Wild Robot – Chris Sanders

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two – Greig Fraser
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Simon Duggan
Nickel Boys – Jomo Fray
Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke

EDITING
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Dávid Jancsó
Dune: Part Two – Joe Walker
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Eliot Knapman and Margaret Sixel
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, and Valentin Feron

SCREENPLAY
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
Conclave – Peter Straughan
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Brutalist – Judy Becker (Production Design)
Conclave – Suzie Davies (Production Design) | Cynthia Sleiter (Set Decoration)
Dune: Part Two – Patrice Vermette (Production Design) | Shane Vieau (Set Decoration)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Colin Gibson (Production Design) | Katie Sharrock (Set Decoration)
Wicked – Nathan Crowley (Production Design) | Lee Sandales (Set Decoration)

COSTUME DESIGN
Conclave – Lisy Christl
Dune: Part Two – Jacqueline West
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Jenny Beavan
Nosferatu – Linda Muir
Wicked – Paul Tazewell

ORIGINAL SCORE
The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
Challengers – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Conclave – Volker Bertelmann
Evil Does Not Exist – Eiko Ishibashi
The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers

ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY
Dune: Part Two – Lee Morrison (Stunt Coordinator) | Roger Yuan (Fight Choreographer)
The Fall Guy – Chris O’Hara and Keir Beck (Stunt Coordinator) | Jonathan Eusebio (Fight Choreographer)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Tim Wong (Stunt Coordinator) | Richard Norton (Fight Choreographer)
Monkey Man – Udeh Nans (Stunt Coordinator) | Brahim Achabbakhe (Fight Choreographer)
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In – Kenji Tanigaki (Stunt Coordinator)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune: Part Two – Paul Lambert, Stephen James, and Rhys Salcombe
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Andrew Jackson and Dan Bethell
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Erik Winquist and Sean Noel Walker
The Substance – Bryan Jones and Guillaume Le Gouez
Wicked – Anthony Smith, Jonathan Fawkner, Pablo Helman, and Robert Weaver

YOUTH PERFORMANCE
Alyla Browne – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Katherine Mallen Kupferer – Ghostlight
Izaac Wang – Dìdi (弟弟)
Alisha Weir – Abigail
Zoe Ziegler – Janet Planet

VILLAIN OF THE YEAR
Count Orlok – Nosferatu (as portrayed by Bill Skarsgård)
Dementus – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (as portrayed by Chris Hemsworth)
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Dune: Part Two (as portrayed by Austin Butler)
Longlegs – Longlegs (as portrayed by Nicolas Cage)
Macrinus – Gladiator II (as portrayed by Denzel Washington)

The Substance Wins In Indiana

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Indiana Film Journalists Association have announced their picks for the best of 2024! The winners are in bold.

BEST FILM

Anora

The Brutalist

Challengers

Civil War

Conclave

A Different Man

Dune: Part Two

His Three Daughters

I Saw the TV Glow

In a Violent Nature

Longlegs

Mars Express

Nickel Boys

Nosferatu

The People’s Joker

A Real Pain

Rebel Ridge

Sing Sing

The Substance

Wicked

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Flow

Inside Out 2

Look Back

Mars Express

Memoir of a Snail

The Wild Robot

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Aattam

All We Imagine as Light

Emilia Pérez

Evil Does Not Exist

Los Frikis

Look Back

Mars Express

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Daughters

Ennio

Girls State

No Other Land

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

The Sixth

The Speedway Murders

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David – September 5

Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold – The Brutalist

Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

Alex Garland – Civil War

Azazel Jacobs – His Three Daughters

Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge

Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man

Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow

Julio Torres – Problemista

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield – Sing Sing

Jay Cocks and James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes – Nickel Boys

Chris Sanders – The Wild Robot

Peter Straughan – Conclave

Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts – Dune: Part Two

Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington – The Piano Lesson

BEST DIRECTOR

Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Robert Eggers – Nosferatu

Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

Alex Garland – Civil War

Luca Guadagnino – Challengers

RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys

Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge

Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man

Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

Daniel Craig – Queer

Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

Kirsten Dunst – Civil War

Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

Demi Moore – The Substance

Aaron Pierre – Rebel Ridge

Justice Smith – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Nicolas Cage – Longlegs

Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin – Sing Sing

Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

Adam Pearson – A Different Man

Dennis Quaid – The Substance

Margaret Qualley – The Substance

Bill Skarsgård – Nosferatu

Tilda Swinton – Problemista

Denzel Washington – Gladiator II

BEST VOCAL / MOTION-CAPTURE PERFORMANCE

Tom Hardy – Venom: The Last Dance

Maya Hawke – Inside Out 2

Lupita Nyong’o – The Wild Robot

Pedro Pascal – The Wild Robot

Amy Poehler – Inside Out 2

Sarah Snook – Memoir of a Snail

Owen Teague – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Robbie Williams – Better Man

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING

Civil War

Conclave

A Different Man

Dune: Part Two

His Three Daughters

Nickel Boys

Nosferatu

A Real Pain

Saturday Night

Sing Sing

BEST EDITING

Sean Baker – Anora

Marco Costa – Challengers

Jérôme Eltabet, Coralie Fargeat and Valentin Feron – The Substance

Nick Emerson – Conclave

Louise Ford – Nosferatu

Dávid Jancsó – The Brutalist

Nicholas Monsour – Nickel Boys

Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge

Terilyn A. Shropshire – Twisters

Joe Walker – Dune: Part Two

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu

Lol Crawley – The Brutalist

Greig Fraser – Dune: Part Two

Jomo Fray – Nickel Boys

Rob Hardy – Civil War

Benjamin Kračun – The Substance

Dan Mindel – Twisters

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Challengers

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Queer

Eric Yue – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST MUSICAL SCORE

Volker Bertelmann – Conclave

Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist

Kris Bowers – The Wild Robot

Raffertie – The Substance

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Challengers

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Queer

Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow – Civil War

Alex Somers and Scott Alario – Nickel Boys

Umberto Smerilli – A Different Man

Benjamin Wallfisch – Twisters

BEST STUNT / MOVEMENT CHOREOGRAPHY

Bren Foster (action designer / fight choreographer) and Jaylan Foster, Jimmy Foster, Nick Harding, Jordan Petersen, Matthew Murgola and Mike Duncan (stunt team) – Life After Fighting

Muhammad Irfan (stunt coordinator / fight choreographer) – The Shadow Strays

Jeremy Marinas (fight coordinator and choreographer / second-unit director) – The Beekeeper

Lee Morrison (supervising stunt coordinator), Roger Yuan (fight coordinator / stunt coordinator) and Tanya Lapointe (second-unit director) – Dune: Part Two

Saifuddin Mubdy (stunt coordinator) and Brahim Chab (fight coordinator) – Monkey Man

Guy Norris (action designer / supervising stunt coordinator / second-unit director) and Richard Norton (fight choreographer / coordinator) – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Chris O’Hara (stunt coordinator and stunt designer) – The Fall Guy

Christopher Scott (choreographer) and Jo McLaren (stunt coordinator) – Wicked

Ashley Wallen (dance choreographer), Nicholas Daines (stunt coordinator), Slavisa Ivanovic (stunt coordinator), Tim Wong (fight choreographer) and Spencer Susser (second-unit director) – Better Man

Keith Woulard and Cory DeMeyers (stunt coordinators) – Rebel Ridge

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

Mike Cheslik (visual effects) and Jerry Kurek (assistant effects artist) – Hundreds of Beavers

Bryan Jones (visual effects supervisor), Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky (visual effects producer) and Jean Miel (special effects supervisor) – The Substance

Paul Lambert (visual effects production supervisor), Gerd Nefzer (special effects supervisor), Rhys Salcombe (visual effects supervisor) and Stephen James (visual effects supervisor) – Dune: Part Two

Damien Leone (writer / director), Phil Falcone (producer), Christien Tinsley (design and creation of prosthetics and makeup effects), Brian Van Dorn (Tinsley Studios production coordinator), Ryan Ward (on-set makeup effects department head), Heather Albert (on-set makeup effects artist), Josh Petrino (visual effects supervisor), Declan Boyle (lead visual effects artist), Lincoln Smith (senior visual effects artist), John Caglione, Jr. (Virgin Mary / demon sequence prosthetics supervisor), Jason Baker (Callosum Studios on-set effects supervisor) and Jason Milstein (post-production supervisor and visual effects artist) – Terrifier 3

Luke Millar (visual effects supervisor) and Scott MacIntyre (special effects supervisor) – Better Man

Kevin Smith (visual effects supervisor), Kevin Sherwood (visual effects producer), Bruce Bright (special effects supervisor) and Michael Meinardus (special effects supervisor) – Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Ben Snow (visual effects supervisor), Florian Witzel (Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor), Charles Lai (ILM associate visual effects supervisor) and Scott Fisher (special effects supervisor) – Twisters

David White (prosthetic and makeup effects design), Angela Barson (visual effects supervisor) and Pavel Sagner (special effects supervisor) – Nosferatu (2024)

Erik Winquist and Stephen Unterfranz (VFX supervisors), Paul Story (senior animation supervisor) and Rodney Burke (special FX supervisor) – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR

Joanna Arnow (director / writer / editor / performer) – The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

Mike Cheslik (director / co-writer / editor / visual effects) – Hundreds of Beavers

Vera Drew (director / co-writer / editor / performer) – The People’s Joker

Mikey Madison (performer) – Anora

Chris Nash (director / writer) – In a Violent Nature

Katy M. O’Brian (performer) – Love Lies Bleeding

RaMell Ross (director / co-writer) – Nickel Boys

Maisy Stella (performer) – My Old Ass

Julio Torres (director / writer / performer) – Problemista

Malcolm Washington (director / co-writer) – The Piano Lesson

ORIGINAL VISION

Better Man

Emilia Pérez

Hundreds of Beavers

I Saw the TV Glow

In a Violent Nature

The People’s Joker

Problemista

Sasquatch Sunset

The Substance

THE FAMILY MAN (2000) – Nicolas Cage gets a “glimpse” into a different life!

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Bradley Crain

Nicolas Cage stars as Jack Campbell, a Wall Street hot shot, who puts his success in the business world above everything else in his life. We meet him on Christmas Eve as he’s trying to close a multi-billion dollar merger. He’s making everyone work late and even calls for a work session on Christmas Day. Jack’s administrative assistant gives him a phone message from his former girlfriend Kate (Tea Leoni), who he almost married about 15 years earlier. He’s surprised to hear from her, especially since he essentially chose his career over her all those years ago. That night as he stops at a grocery store on his way home, events transpire so that a desperate man named Cash (Dan Cheadle) pulls a gun on the clerk. Jack is able to use a calm demeanor and business sense to talk to Cash in a way that diffuses the situation and the two leave the store together. As they walk down the street, Jack tries to talk to Cash and help him. When Cash starts asking Jack about his life, Jack indicates that his life is great and he has everything he needs. Interestingly, this is where Cash mysteriously tells Jack that he’s going to do something for him, something he really needs…

The next morning, Christmas morning, Jack wakes up in a different home, he’s married to Kate, and they have two kids and a dog. He’s no longer an investment banker; now he’s a tire salesman. He no longer drives a Ferrari; now he’s drives a mini-van. In panic-mode, Jack runs out of the house as his in-laws arrive, fires up the mini-van, and drives to his office on Wall Street where nobody knows him, and they kick him out of the building. About that time, Cash pulls up in Jack’s Ferrari and tells him that he’s giving him the gift of a “glimpse” into what his life could have been if he had married Kate instead of focusing on himself and his career. So Jack heads back to try life in Jersey, wondering when the glimpse will come to an end.

My wife and I are continuing to watch Christmas movies throughout the month of December to stay in the holiday spirit. THE FAMILY MAN is not necessarily a movie we watch every year, but I’m a fan of Nicolas Cage. I enjoy these types of films where a person sees what their lives could have been like if they had made different decisions at certain key points along the way. An easy comparison can be made to Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, which is my personal favorite Christmas movie, and it’s in my top 10 movies of all time. It’s not really an appropriate comparison though. These stories encounter their subjects in two very different places. In IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, George Bailey is at the end of his rope and thinking his family would have been better off if he had never been born. It takes Clarence to reveal just how important George has been to those he loves. In THE FAMILY MAN on the other hand, Jack Campbell is at the top of the world and standing at the precipice of his crowning achievement in his career. He believes his life is wonderful. Cash decides to teach him a lesson by offering a “glimpse” into a life that he could have had if he had chosen Kate and a family over his career. Would life with her be more fulfilling than all the money in the world? I think the sale is a lot easier for Clarence than Cash, and I also think that’s why I found the film to be less compelling. George Bailey’s decision was literally life with a family who dearly loves him, or death. Jack Campbell’s decision is if he wants a middle class life with a loving wife and two precious kids that he only just met, or if he wants to continue his prior life as the multi-millionaire mover and shaker with his pick of beautiful women. It doesn’t help the film’s case either that Jack’s never really presented as being completely empty on the inside or unhappy, say, the way Bill Murray is in SCROOGED. While I personally enjoy the type of life that Jack is able to glimpse, his character’s specific choice is not as obvious, or earned, the way George Bailey’s is.

Overall, as a man who wouldn’t trade my family for all the money in the world, I do appreciate what THE FAMILY MAN is going for. The execution doesn’t quite pull it off in a way that is completely satisfying, and ultimately explains why I don’t watch it every year as a holiday staple.

The Indiana Film Journalists Nominate Everything

Posted on December 10, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Indiana Film Journalists Association announced their nominations for the best of 2024 today. They kept things simple by nominating everything. The winners will be announced on December 16th.

BEST FILM

Anora

The Brutalist

Challengers

Civil War

Conclave

A Different Man

Dune: Part Two

His Three Daughters

I Saw the TV Glow

In a Violent Nature

Longlegs

Mars Express

Nickel Boys

Nosferatu

The People’s Joker

A Real Pain

Rebel Ridge

Sing Sing

The Substance

Wicked

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Flow

Inside Out 2

Look Back

Mars Express

Memoir of a Snail

The Wild Robot

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Aattam

All We Imagine as Light

Emilia Pérez

Evil Does Not Exist

Los Frikis

Look Back

Mars Express

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Daughters

Ennio

Girls State

No Other Land

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

The Sixth

The Speedway Murders

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David – September 5

Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold – The Brutalist

Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

Alex Garland – Civil War

Azazel Jacobs – His Three Daughters

Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge

Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man

Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow

Julio Torres – Problemista

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield – Sing Sing

Jay Cocks and James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes – Nickel Boys

Chris Sanders – The Wild Robot

Peter Straughan – Conclave

Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts – Dune: Part Two

Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington – The Piano Lesson

BEST DIRECTOR

Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Robert Eggers – Nosferatu

Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

Alex Garland – Civil War

Luca Guadagnino – Challengers

RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys

Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge

Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man

Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

Daniel Craig – Queer

Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

Kirsten Dunst – Civil War

Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

Demi Moore – The Substance

Aaron Pierre – Rebel Ridge

Justice Smith – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Nicolas Cage – Longlegs

Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin – Sing Sing

Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

Adam Pearson – A Different Man

Dennis Quaid – The Substance

Margaret Qualley – The Substance

Bill Skarsgård – Nosferatu

Tilda Swinton – Problemista

Denzel Washington – Gladiator II

BEST VOCAL / MOTION-CAPTURE PERFORMANCE

Tom Hardy – Venom: The Last Dance

Maya Hawke – Inside Out 2

Lupita Nyong’o – The Wild Robot

Pedro Pascal – The Wild Robot

Amy Poehler – Inside Out 2

Sarah Snook – Memoir of a Snail

Owen Teague – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Robbie Williams – Better Man

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING

Civil War

Conclave

A Different Man

Dune: Part Two

His Three Daughters

Nickel Boys

Nosferatu

A Real Pain

Saturday Night

Sing Sing

BEST EDITING

Sean Baker – Anora

Marco Costa – Challengers

Jérôme Eltabet, Coralie Fargeat and Valentin Feron – The Substance

Nick Emerson – Conclave

Louise Ford – Nosferatu

Dávid Jancsó – The Brutalist

Nicholas Monsour – Nickel Boys

Jeremy Saulnier – Rebel Ridge

Terilyn A. Shropshire – Twisters

Joe Walker – Dune: Part Two

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu

Lol Crawley – The Brutalist

Greig Fraser – Dune: Part Two

Jomo Fray – Nickel Boys

Rob Hardy – Civil War

Benjamin Kračun – The Substance

Dan Mindel – Twisters

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Challengers

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Queer

Eric Yue – I Saw the TV Glow

BEST MUSICAL SCORE

Volker Bertelmann – Conclave

Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist

Kris Bowers – The Wild Robot

Raffertie – The Substance

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Challengers

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Queer

Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow – Civil War

Alex Somers and Scott Alario – Nickel Boys

Umberto Smerilli – A Different Man

Benjamin Wallfisch – Twisters

BEST STUNT / MOVEMENT CHOREOGRAPHY

Bren Foster (action designer / fight choreographer) and Jaylan Foster, Jimmy Foster, Nick Harding, Jordan Petersen, Matthew Murgola and Mike Duncan (stunt team) – Life After Fighting

Muhammad Irfan (stunt coordinator / fight choreographer) – The Shadow Strays

Jeremy Marinas (fight coordinator and choreographer / second-unit director) – The Beekeeper

Lee Morrison (supervising stunt coordinator), Roger Yuan (fight coordinator / stunt coordinator) and Tanya Lapointe (second-unit director) – Dune: Part Two

Saifuddin Mubdy (stunt coordinator) and Brahim Chab (fight coordinator) – Monkey Man

Guy Norris (action designer / supervising stunt coordinator / second-unit director) and Richard Norton (fight choreographer / coordinator) – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Chris O’Hara (stunt coordinator and stunt designer) – The Fall Guy

Christopher Scott (choreographer) and Jo McLaren (stunt coordinator) – Wicked

Ashley Wallen (dance choreographer), Nicholas Daines (stunt coordinator), Slavisa Ivanovic (stunt coordinator), Tim Wong (fight choreographer) and Spencer Susser (second-unit director) – Better Man

Keith Woulard and Cory DeMeyers (stunt coordinators) – Rebel Ridge

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

Mike Cheslik (visual effects) and Jerry Kurek (assistant effects artist) – Hundreds of Beavers

Bryan Jones (visual effects supervisor), Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky (visual effects producer) and Jean Miel (special effects supervisor) – The Substance

Luke Millar (visual effects supervisor) and Scott MacIntyre (special effects supervisor) – Better Man

David White (prosthetic and makeup effects design), Angela Barson (visual effects supervisor) and Pavel Sagner (special effects supervisor) – Nosferatu (2024)

Erik Winquist and Stephen Unterfranz (VFX supervisors), Paul Story (senior animation supervisor) and Rodney Burke (special FX supervisor) – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR

Joanna Arnow (director / writer / editor / performer) – The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

Mike Cheslik (director / co-writer / editor / visual effects) – Hundreds of Beavers

Vera Drew (director / co-writer / editor / performer) – The People’s Joker

Mikey Madison (performer) – Anora

Chris Nash (director / writer) – In a Violent Nature

Katy M. O’Brian (performer) – Love Lies Bleeding

RaMell Ross (director / co-writer) – Nickel Boys

Maisy Stella (performer) – My Old Ass

Julio Torres (director / writer / performer) – Problemista

Malcolm Washington (director / co-writer) – The Piano Lesson

ORIGINAL VISION

Better Man

Emilia Pérez

Hundreds of Beavers

I Saw the TV Glow

In a Violent Nature

The People’s Joker

Problemista

Sasquatch Sunset

The Substance

The Seattle Film Critics Society Announced Their Nominees For The Best of 2024

Posted on December 6, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Seattle Film Critics Society has announced their nominations for the best of 2024! The winners will be announced on December 16th!

DIRECTOR
Sean Baker – Anora
Bertrand Bonello – The Beast
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two

LEAD ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Keith Kupferer – Ghostlight
George MacKay – The Beast

LEAD ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Léa Seydoux – The Beast

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Chris Hemsworth – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Josh O’Connor – Challengers
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Joan Chen – Dìdi (弟弟)
Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Margaret Qualley – The Substance
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

ENSEMBLE
Anora – Sean Baker
Conclave – Nina Gold and Martin Ware
Dune: Part Two – Dixie Chassay and Francine Maisler
His Three Daughters – Nicole Arbusto
Sing Sing – Greg Kwedar

PACIFIC NORTHWEST FILM
All We Carry – Cady Voge
Fish War – Jeff Ostenson, Charles Atkinson, and Skylar Wagner
Gasoline Rainbow – Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
Rainier: A Beer Odyssey – Isaac Olsen
Strange Darling – J.T. Mollner

INTERNATIONAL FILM
The Beast – Bertrand Bonello
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Flow – Gints Zilbalodis
Red Rooms – Pascal Plante
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad Rasoulof

DOCUMENTARY FILM
Dahomey – Mati Diop
No Other Land – Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor
Sugarcane – Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story – Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Will & Harper – Josh Greenbaum

ANIMATED FILM
Flow – Gints Zilbalodis
Inside Out 2 – Kelsey Mann
Transformers One – Josh Cooley
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park
The Wild Robot – Chris Sanders

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two – Greig Fraser
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Simon Duggan
Nickel Boys – Jomo Fray
Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke

EDITING
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Dávid Jancsó
Dune: Part Two – Joe Walker
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Eliot Knapman and Margaret Sixel
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, and Valentin Feron

SCREENPLAY
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
Conclave – Peter Straughan
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Brutalist – Judy Becker (Production Design)
Conclave – Suzie Davies (Production Design) | Cynthia Sleiter (Set Decoration)
Dune: Part Two – Patrice Vermette (Production Design) | Shane Vieau (Set Decoration)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Colin Gibson (Production Design) | Katie Sharrock (Set Decoration)
Wicked – Nathan Crowley (Production Design) | Lee Sandales (Set Decoration)

COSTUME DESIGN
Conclave – Lisy Christl
Dune: Part Two – Jacqueline West
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Jenny Beavan
Nosferatu – Linda Muir
Wicked – Paul Tazewell

ORIGINAL SCORE
The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
Challengers – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Conclave – Volker Bertelmann
Evil Does Not Exist – Eiko Ishibashi
The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers

ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY
Dune: Part Two – Lee Morrison (Stunt Coordinator) | Roger Yuan (Fight Choreographer)
The Fall Guy – Chris O’Hara and Keir Beck (Stunt Coordinator) | Jonathan Eusebio (Fight Choreographer)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Tim Wong (Stunt Coordinator) | Richard Norton (Fight Choreographer)
Monkey Man – Udeh Nans (Stunt Coordinator) | Brahim Achabbakhe (Fight Choreographer)
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In – Kenji Tanigaki (Stunt Coordinator)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune: Part Two – Paul Lambert, Stephen James, and Rhys Salcombe
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Andrew Jackson and Dan Bethell
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Erik Winquist and Sean Noel Walker
The Substance – Bryan Jones and Guillaume Le Gouez
Wicked – Anthony Smith, Jonathan Fawkner, Pablo Helman, and Robert Weaver

YOUTH PERFORMANCE
Alyla Browne – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Katherine Mallen Kupferer – Ghostlight
Izaac Wang – Dìdi (弟弟)
Alisha Weir – Abigail
Zoe Ziegler – Janet Planet

VILLAIN OF THE YEAR
Count Orlok – Nosferatu (as portrayed by Bill Skarsgård)
Dementus – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (as portrayed by Chris Hemsworth)
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen – Dune: Part Two (as portrayed by Austin Butler)
Longlegs – Longlegs (as portrayed by Nicolas Cage)
Macrinus – Gladiator II (as portrayed by Denzel Washington)

Here’s The Trailer For Arcadian, starring Nicolas Cage!

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For all the rumors that occasionally surface about his apparent desire to retire, Nicolas Cage is still making movies and we’re all the better for it. Here’s the trailer for his upcoming film, Arcadian!