Tag Archives: Nicolas Cage

The Indiana Film Journalists Nominate Everything

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

Posted on 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!

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)

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Renfield 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 later year’s Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage!

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 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.

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Honors Oppenheimer!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society announced their picks for the best of 2023!  The winners are listed in bold.

Best Picture
Barbie
The Killer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage – Dream Scenario
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Best Actress
Annette Bening – Nyad
Emma Stone – Poor Things
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Natalie Portman – May December

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Glenn Howerton – BlackBerry
Charles Melton – May December
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

Best Supporting Actress
Jodie Foster – Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Rachel McAdams – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Julianne Moore – May December
Rosamund Pike – Saltburn

Best Director
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Greta Gerwig – Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Celine Song – Past Lives

Best Original Screenplay
Air
Barbie
Maestro
May December
Past Lives

Best Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Cinematography
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Saltburn

Best Film Editing
Air
Barbie
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Score
The Killer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Society of the Snow
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Best Song
I’m Just Ken – Barbie
What Was I Made For? – Barbie
Road to Freedom – Rustin
Peaches – The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Better Place – Trolls Band Together

Best Documentary
American Symphony
Beyond Utopia
Kokomo City
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Animated Film
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Best International Movie
Anatomy of a Fall
Godzilla Minus One
Society of the Snow
When Evil Lurks
The Zone of Interest

Best Costumes
Barbie
The Color Purple
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Art Direction
Asteroid City
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Visual Effects
The Creator
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Godzilla Minus One
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Best Action Movie
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Best Comedy
American Fiction
Barbie
Dumb Money
Joy Ride
No Hard Feelings

Best Horror/Sci-FI Movie
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Talk To Me
Thanksgiving
When Evil Lurks

Best Family Film
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Barbie
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Best Ensemble
Barbie
The Color Purple
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Saltburn

Breakout Filmmaker
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Adele Lim – Joy Ride
Celine Song – Past Lives
Nida Manzoor – Polite Society
Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman – Theater Camp

Best Stunts
John Wick: Chapter 4
The Killer
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Polite Society
Silent Night

Youth In Film (Male)
Milo Machado Graner – Anatomy of a Fall
Jake Ryan – Asteroid City
Christian Convery – Cocaine Bear
Jude Hill – A Haunting in Venice
Chase Dillion – Haunted Mansion

Youth in Film (Female)
Abby Ryder Fortson – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Elle Graham – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Ariana Greenblatt – Barbie
Iman Vellani – The Marvels
Violet McGraw – M3GAN

The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
Nicolas Cage
Paul Giamatti
Hayao Miyazaki
Julianne Moore
Rodrigo Prieto

Here Are The 2023 Nominations of the Las Vegas Film Critics Society

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society announced their nominations for the best of 2023 on December 8th.  While a lot of the usual suspects make an appearance on the list, there are still a few interesting nominations, like David Fincher’s The Killer for Best Picture and Nicolas Cage for Best Actor in Dream Scenario.

The winners will be announced on December 13th!

Best Picture
Barbie
The Killer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer

Best Actor
Nicolas Cage – Dream Scenario
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Best Actress
Annette Bening – Nyad
Emma Stone – Poor Things
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Natalie Portman – May December

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Glenn Howerton – BlackBerry
Charles Melton – May December
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

Best Supporting Actress
Jodie Foster – Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Rachel McAdams – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Julianne Moore – May December
Rosamund Pike – Saltburn

Best Director
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Greta Gerwig – Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Celine Song – Past Lives

Best Original Screenplay
Air
Barbie
Maestro
May December
Past Lives

Best Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Cinematography
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Saltburn

Best Film Editing
Air
Barbie
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Score
The Killer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Society of the Snow
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Best Song
I’m Just Ken – Barbie
What Was I Made For? – Barbie
Road to Freedom – Rustin
Peaches – The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Better Place – Trolls Band Together

Best Documentary
American Symphony
Beyond Utopia
Kokomo City
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Animated Film
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Best International Movie
Anatomy of a Fall
Godzilla Minus One
Society of the Snow
When Evil Lurks
The Zone of Interest

Best Costumes
Barbie
The Color Purple
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Art Direction
Asteroid City
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Visual Effects
The Creator
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Godzilla Minus One
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Best Action Movie
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Best Comedy
American Fiction
Barbie
Dumb Money
Joy Ride
No Hard Feelings

Best Horror/Sci-FI Movie
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Talk To Me
Thanksgiving
When Evil Lurks

Best Family Film
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Barbie
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Best Ensemble
Barbie
The Color Purple
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Saltburn

Breakout Filmmaker
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Adele Lim – Joy Ride
Celine Song – Past Lives
Nida Manzoor – Polite Society
Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman – Theater Camp

Best Stunts
John Wick: Chapter 4
The Killer
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Polite Society
Silent Night

Youth In Film (Male)
Milo Machado Graner – Anatomy of a Fall
Jake Ryan – Asteroid City
Christian Convery – Cocaine Bear
Jude Hill – A Haunting in Venice
Chase Dillion – Haunted Mansion

Youth in Film (Female)
Abby Ryder Fortson – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Elle Graham – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Ariana Greenblatt – Barbie
Iman Vellani – The Marvels
Violet McGraw – M3GAN

The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
Nicolas Cage
Paul Giamatti
Hayao Miyazaki
Julianne Moore
Rodrigo Prieto

October True Crime: The Frozen Ground (dir by Scott Walker)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In the early 80s, Robert Hansen was a respected businessman in Anchorage, Alaska.  He owned a restaurant.  He was known for being a family man.  He held several local hunting records.  Almost everyone who met him described him as being friendly and good-natured.  In those days before the Internet, it wasn’t as if someone could do a Google search and discover that Hansen had a long criminal record in both Iowa and Alaska.  There was no way to know that Hansen had been a teenage arsonist and that had been arrested and charged with rape in the early 70s.  (The charges were ultimately plea bargained down to assault.)  Even those who did know about his background felt that Hansen had turned his life around and was now an upstanding member of society.

At the same time that Hansen was a respected member of the Anchorage community, he was abducting young women and, after holding them prisoner and raping him at his cabin, flying them into the Alaskan wilderness where he would then hunt them in his own version of The Most Dangerous Game.  It’s known, for sure, that Hansen murdered at least 18 women.  It’s felt that the number is much higher.  Along with his own good reputation, Hansen was protected by the fact that many of his victims were transients and sex workers.  Their disappearances were rarely reported to the police and, when they were, the police didn’t go out of their way to find them.  Much as happened with the Green River Killer in Washington State, Hansen was able to get away with his crimes for over 20 years not because he was particularly clever but because his victims were considered to be on the fringes of society.

The 2011 film, The Frozen Ground, is a fictionalized account of the investigation that led to Hansen’s arrest.  John Cusack plays Robert Hansen.  Nicolas Cage plays Jack Holcombe, a weary Alaskan state trooper who has to deal with uncooperative witnesses and beaurocratic indifference while investigating Hansen’s crimes.  Vanessa Hudgens plays Cindy Paulson, a 17 year-old sex worker who survives her encounter with Hansen but whose story is originally ignored by the police because of what Cindy does for a living.  Both Jack and Hansen comes to realize that Cindy is the only person who can positively identify the killer but Cindy has disappeared into the Anchorage underworld, working as a stripper and being manipulated by her pimp, Clate Johnson (50 Cent).

Taking full of advantage of the chilly atmosphere and the isolation of the Alaskan wilderness, The Frozen Ground is an effective journey into the heart of darkness, featuring excellent performances from Nicolas Cage and John Cusack.  Cusack smoothly alternates between being the arrogant hunter and the desperate prey while Cage’s weary expression captures the psychological toll of investigating the crimes of someone like Robert Hansen.  Of course, when the film came out, it received a lot of attention for featuring Vanessa Hudgens in a dramatic role.  Hudgens’s performance here continues the tradition of former Disney (and Nickelodeon) actresses trying to prove their range by playing an edgy role.  Though there’s a few scenes where she does seem to be trying too hard to make sure that we all know she’s capable of more than High School Musical, Hudgens is convincing for the most part.

As for the real-life Robert Hansen, he was sentenced to spend 461 years in prison for his crimes.  (Alaska has no death penalty.)  In 2014, three years after the release of this film, the 75 year-old Hansen died of natural causes while still incarcerated.

Here’s The Trailer for Dream Scenario

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, I shared the trailer for Butcher’s Crossing, a Nicolas Cage western.

Today, I’m sharing a trailer for another Nicolas Cage film.  Dream Scenario made quite an impression on the critics when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, with several critics saying that it was the best film to feature Cage since Pig.  The film features Cage as a professor who becomes famous when he starts showing up in people’s dreams and it is being distributed by A24, who triumphed at this year’s Oscar ceremony with Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Dream Scenario is set to be released in November.  Here’s the trailer!

Here’s The Trailer For Butcher’s Crossing

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Really?  We’ve got a second Nicolas Cage western coming out this year?

Actually, Butcher’s Crossing has been on the festival circuit since last year and, critically, it’s been slightly better received than The Old Way.  Based on a 1960 novel, it features Cage as a buffalo hunter who becomes a mentor of sorts to a young Harvard grad who has decided to experience the old west for himself.  None other than Cormac McCarthy cited the novel as being a favorite of his.  This could be an intriguing role for Cage.

Here’s the trailer!

Film Review: The Old Way (dir by Brett Donowho)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Oh my God!  A Nicolas Cage western!?  This is going to be great!”

That was my initial reaction when I heard about The Old Way, a film in which Nicolas Cage plays a former gunslinger who returns to his old ways while seeking revenge for the murder of his wife.  Who knew which Nicolas Cage would show up for The Old Way?  Would we get the wild, unpredictable Cage?  Would we get the soulful and haunted Cage?  Would this be one of the films that Cage cared about or would this be one of the films that Cage clearly just made for the money?  Hearing that Nicolas Cage walked off the set because of an accident with one of the guns did not fill me with confidence.  (The armorer who worked on The Old Way was the same one who went on to work on Rust and again, that did not exactly fill me with confidence.)  Still, I was definitely curious to see The Old Way for myself.

Unfortunately, The Old Way is neither Cage at his best nor Cage at his most eccentric.  Instead, Cage gives a quiet and emotionally restrained performance as Colton Briggs.  When Briggs is first seen, he’s taking part in an extrajudicial execution and then coldly killing a man who first shoots him in the back.  Jump forward 20 years and, much like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, Colton Briggs is now a married man and a somewhat uptight shop owner who rarely shows a hint of emotion.  His 10 year-old daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) is as rebellious as Colton once was and she has no idea about Colton’s past.  However, when the nephew of the man that Colton killed at the start of the film, murders Colton’s wife, Colton sets out for revenge.  His daughter follows him, along with Marshal Jarret (Nick Searcy, giving the film’s best performance).  Jarret is a former friend of Colton’s but both men make it clear that they will kill the other if they have to.  That’s the old way.

It’s a typical western and, on a purely technical level, it’s not a bad one.  The cinematography is frequently gorgeous and the members of the rival gang are made up of memorable character actors like Clint Howard and Abraham Benrubi.  Obviously, a certain amount of care went into recreating the old west.  As I said before, Nick Searcy is ideally cast as Marshal Jarret and he gives a performance that will keep you guessing as to whether or not Jarret should be trusted.  Nicolas Cage is adequate in the lead role, even if he’s never quite as eccentric as most of his fans would probably prefer him to be.  When he first shows up, he’s wearing an obviously fake mustache but that’s about as odd as his performance gets.

But, in the end, The Old Way just isn’t a particularly memorable film.  It’s one of those films that you watch with the hope that it will suddenly spring an unexpected detail or a bizarre moment on the audience but it never happens.  The Old Way is way too formulaic for its own good, borrowing liberally from True Grit and Unforgiven without ever really establishing its own identity.