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


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)

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For November


It’s that time of the month again!

December brings us to Awards Season so the Oscar race is about to become much clearer.  Until the precursors start pouring in, here are my current predictions!

Be sure to check out my predictions for April, May, June, July, August,  September, and October!

Best Picture

Anora

Blitz

The Brutalist

Conclave

Dune Part II

Emilia Perez

Gladiator II

Saturday Night

September 5

Wicked

Best Director

Sean Baker for Anora

Edward Berger for Conclave

Jon M. Chu for Wicked

Brady Corbett for The Brutalist

Ridley Scott for Gladiator II

Best Actor

Adrien Brody in The Brutalist

Timothee Chalamet in A Complete Unknown

Daniel Craig in Queer

Colman Domingo in Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave

Best Actress

Pamela Anderson in The Showgirl

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked

Karla Sofia Gascon in Emila Perez

Angelina Jolie in Maria

Mickey Madison in Anora

Best Supporting Actor

Yura Borslav in Anora

Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain

Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson

Guy Pearce in The Brutalist

Denzel Washington in Gladiator II

Best Supporting Actress

Danielle Deadwyler in The Piano Lesson

Selena Gomez in Emilia Perez

Saoirse Ronan in Blitz

Isabella Rossellini in Conclave

Zoe Saldana in Emilia Perez

Here Are The 2024 AARP Movies For Grown-Ups Nominations


The awards precursor season is getting started …. kinda.

The AARP Movies For Grown-Ups Nominations were announced last week, on the 20th.  I’m only now getting around to sharing them because I’m not a member of AARP and therefore, I had no idea these nominations had even been announced.  It seems a bit earlier than usual, for them.  Then again, you know how retired folks are about getting up early.

How influential are the AARP nominations?  Not very.  These nominations were not made being film critics or people who work in the industry.  They were made by the editors of AARP’s magazine.  That said, it’s always good to get mentioned somewhere.  If nothing else, this list might indicate which films are resonating with the over-5o set.

Or maybe I just like long lists.

Anyway, here are the nominations!  The winners will be announced on January 11th, during the Denny’s breakfast special.

Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Gladiator II
September 5

Best Actress
Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths)
Nicole Kidman (Babygirl)
Demi Moore (The Substance)
June Squibb (Thelma)

Best Actor
Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
Daniel Craig (Queer)
Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
Jude Law (The Order)

Best Supporting Actress
Joan Chen (Didi)
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys)
Lesley Manville (Queer)
Connie Nielsen (Gladiator II)
Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)

Best Supporting Actor
Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing)
Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
Peter Sarsgaard (September 5)
Stanley Tucci (Conclave)
Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)

Best Director
Pedro Almodóvar (The Room Next Door)
Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
Edward Berger (Conclave)
James Mangold (A Complete Unknown)
Ridley Scott (Gladiator II)

Best Screenwriter
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi (Emilia Pérez)
Jay Cocks and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown)
Winnie Holzman (Wicked)
Peter Straughan (Conclave)
Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts (Dune: Part Two)

Best Ensemble
A Complete Unknown
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
His Three Daughters
September 5
Sing Sing

Best Actress (TV)
Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show)
Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country)
Jean Smart (Hacks)
Meryl Streep (Only Murders in the Building)
Sofia Vergara (Griselda)

Best Actor (TV)
Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)
Idris Elba (Hijack)
Jon Hamm (Fargo)
Gary Oldman (Slow Horses)
Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun)

Best TV Series or Limited Series
The Crown
Hacks
Palm Royale
Shōgun
Slow Horses

Best Intergenerational Film
Didi
Here
His Three Daughters
The Piano Lesson
Thelma

Best Time Capsule
A Complete Unknown
The Brutalist
Here
Maria
September 5

Best Documentary
I Am: Celine Dion
Luther: Never Too Much
Piece by Piece
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will & Harper

Lisa Marie’s Early Oscar Predictions For October


It’s that time of the month again!

While the rest of us were watching horror movies, the Oscar race was finally starting to take shape.  It’s a race that still doesn’t have any frontrunners but which does now have some definite contenders.

Be sure to check out my predictions for April, May, June, July, August, and September!

Best Picture

Anora

Blitz

The Brutalist

Conclave

Dune Part II

Emilia Perez

Gladiator II

The Piano Lesson

Saturday Night

September 5

Best Director

Jacques Audiard for Emilia Perez

Sean Baker for Anora

Edward Berger for Conclave

Brady Corbett for The Brutalist

Ridley Scott for Gladiator II

Best Actor

Adrien Brody in The Brutalist

Timothee Chalamet in A Complete Unknown

Daniel Craig in Queer

Colman Domingo in Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave

Best Actress

Pamela Anderson in The Showgirl

Karla Sofia Gascon in Emila Perez

Angelina Jolie in Maria

Mickey Madison in Anora

Demi Moore in The Substance

Best Supporting Actor

Yura Borslav in Anora

Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain

Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson

Guy Pearce in The Brutalist

Denzel Washington in Gladiator II

Best Supporting Actress

Danielle Deadwyler in The Piano Lesson

Selena Gomez in Emilia Perez

Saoirse Ronan in Blitz

Isabella Rossellini in Conclave

Zoe Saldana in Emilia Perez

Lisa Marie’s Early Oscar Predictions For September


It’s that time of the month again!

It’s time for me to share my latest round of Oscar predictions.  Thanks to the summer festival season, the Oscar race is starting to become a bit clearer.  That said, there really don’t seem to be any overwhelming favorites right now.  There are contenders but there are no front runners.  So, I imagine we’ll see some surprise contenders emerge as the precursor season approaches.

You’ll notice that, unlike a lot of Oscar bloggers, I don’t have Gladiator II amongst my predictions.  That’s based on the fact that, every year, there’s a new Ridley Scott film that everyone predicts will be a contender and, with the exception of The Martian, it never happens.  The Academy just does not seem to have the burning desire to honor Ridley Scott that a lot of film bloggers do.  As well,  I’m just not convinced that a sequel starring an actor who has yet to prove he can shoulder the weight of a blockbuster is going to be the film that’s going to win Ridley Scott a Best Director statuette.  Remember that a few years ago, those same Oscar bloggers were insisting that Martin Scorsese’s Silence was going to be not only a contender but also the winner up until the end of November.

(For that matter, let’s not forget that Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon was expected to be a winner as opposed to an also-ran.  Fact of the matter is that, as much as I hate to resort to that overused quote from William Goldman, no one knows anything.)

Do I really think that Pamela Anderson is going to receive a Best Actress nomination?  She’s receiving a lot of acclaim for her role in The Showgirl but, at the same time, she’s Pamela Anderson.  There’s maybe a 2% chance that she’ll get nominated but I always like to throw in a few candidates who go against the conventional wisdom.  So — what the Hell?  Why not?  Pamela Anderson for Best Actress!

Be sure to check out my predictions for April, May, June, July, and August!

Best Picture

Anora

The Apprentice

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Dune Part Two

Emilia Perez

Maria

The Piano Lesson

Saturday Night

Sing Sing

Best Director

Jacques Audiard for Emilia Perez

Sean Baker for Anora

Brady Corbett for The Brutalist

Jason Reitman for Saturday Night

Denis Villeneuve for Dune Part Two

Best Actor

Adrien Brody in The Brutalist

Timothee Chalamet in A Complete Unknown

Daniel Craig in Queer

Colman Domingo in Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave

Best Actress

Pamela Anderson in The Showgirl

Karla Sofia Gascon in Emila Perez

Angelina Jolie in Maria

Mickey Madison in Anora

Demi Moore in The Substance

Best Supporting Actor

Yura Borslav in Anora

Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain

Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson

Guy Pearce in The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice

Best Supporting Actress

Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown

Danielle Deadwyler in The Piano Lesson

Selena Gomez in Emilia Perez

Felicity Jones in The Brutalist

Zoe Saldana in Emilia Perez

Here Are The Sequel-Dominated 2022 Satellite Nominations!


The Satellite nominations were announced on Thursday morning. 

What are the Satellites?  For years, they were like a less important version of the Golden Globes.  However, considering all of the recent controversy that has surrounded that Hollywood Foreign Press and the Golden Globes, it wouldn’t surprise me if, in a few years, the International Press Academy and the Satellites became Hollywood’s new favorite shady precursor group.

Like the Globes, the Satellites hand out awards for both film and television.  Below, you’ll find their film nominations.  If you want to see their TV nominations, Next Best Picture has got you covered.

Here are the Satellite noms for 2022!  To me, perhaps the most interesting thing about the nominations is that many of the biggest contenders — Glass Onion, Top Gun: Maverick, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Avatar: Way of the Water — are sequels.  It’ll be interesting to see if the Academy follows suit.

ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Jessica Chastain – The Good Nurse (Netflix)
Cate Blanchett – TÁR (Focus Features)
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Danielle Deadwyler – Till (United Artists Releasing)
Vicky Krieps – Corsage (IFC Films)
Viola Davis – The Woman King (TriStar Pictures)

ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Brendan Fraser – The Whale (A24)
Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Hugh Jackman – The Son (CAA Media Finance)
Bill Nighy – Living (Sony Pictures)
Mark Wahlberg – Father Stu (Columbia Pictures)

ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Margot Robbie – Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)
Janelle Monáe- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
Emma Thompson – Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Searchlight Pictures)

ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Collin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Austin Butler – Elvis (Warner Bros.)
Diego Calva – Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
Adam Sandler – Hustle (Netflix)
Ralph Fiennes – The Menu (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Daniel Craig – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jean Smart – Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Dolly de Leon – Triangle Of Sadness (Neon)
Claire Foy – Women Talking (United Artists Releasing)
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Eddie Radmayne – The Good Nurse (Netflix)
Ben Whishaw – Women Talking (United Artists Realising)
Paul Dano – The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)
Jeremy Strong – Armageddon Time (Focus Features)

MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Living (Sony Pictures)
The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Till (United Artists Releasing)
Women Talking (United Artists Releasing)
Avatar: The Way Of The Water (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
TÁR (Focus Feature)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Triangle Of Sadness (Neon)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)
RRR (Variance Films)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Elvis (Warner Bros.)

MOTION PICTURE, INTERNATIONAL
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)
Decision To Leave (Korea)
Holy Spider (Denmark)
Close (Belgium)
War Sailor (Norway)
Corsage (Austria)
Bardo (Mexico)
The Quiet Girl (Ireland)

MOTION PICTURE, ANIMATED OR MIXED MEDIA
Turning Red (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (A24)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)
Inu-Oh (GKIDS)
The Bad Guys (DWA)

MOTION PICTURE, DOCUMENTARY
The Territory (National Geographic Documentary Films)
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Neon)
Moonage Daydream (Neon)
Fire Of Love (Neon)
Descendant (Netflix)
The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile (Sony Pictures)
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Prime Video)
All That Breathes (HBO Documentary Films)
Young Plato (Yleisradio)

DIRECTOR
Baz Luhrmann – Elvis (Warner Bros.)
James Cameron – Avatar: The Way Of The Water (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans (Netflix)
Joseph Kosinski – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Sarah Polley – Women Talking (United Artists Releasing)

SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL
Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)
Tony Kushner & Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Ruben Östlund – Triangle Of Sadness (Neon)
Todd Field – TÁR (Focus Features)
Lukas Dhont & Angelo Tijssens – Close (A24)

SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED
Sarah Polley – Women Talking (United Artists Releasing)
Samuel D. Hunter – The Whale (A24)
Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
Peter Craig, Ehren Kruger, Justin Marks, Christopher McQuarrie & Eric Warren Singer – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Kazuo Ishiguro – Living (Sony Pictures)
Rebecca Lenkiewicz – She Said (Universal Pictures)

ORIGINAL SCORE
Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Terence Blanchard – The Woman King (TriStar Pictures)
Justin Hurwitz – Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
John Williams – The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Carter Burwell – The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking (United Artists Releasing)

ORIGINAL SONG
“Hold My Hand” – Lady Gaga: Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
“Lift Me Up” – Rihanna: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
“Naatu Naatu” – Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani & Rahul Sipligunj: RRR (Variance Films)
“Vegas” – Doja Cat: Elvis (Warner Bros.)
“Carolina” – Taylor Swift: Where The Crawdads Sing (Columbia Pictures)
“Applause” – Diane Warren: Tell It Like a Woman (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Linus Sandgren – Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
Roger Deakins – Empire of Light (Searchlight Pictures)
Ben Davis – The Banshees Of Inisherin (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Russell Carpenter – Avatar: The Way Of The Water (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Mandy Walker – Elvis ( Warner Bros)

FILM EDITING
Eddie Hamilton – Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Jonathan Redmond, Matt Villa – Elvis (Warner Bros.)
Sarah Broshar, Michael Kahn – The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24)
Monika Willi – TÁR (Focus Features)
Terilyn A. Shropshire – The Woman King (TriStar Pictures)

SOUND ( Editor / Mixer )
Top Gun: Maverick – Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson (Paramount Pictures)
Avatar: The Way Of The Water – Christopher Boyes (Supervising Sound Editor / Re-Recording Mixer ), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle Dick Bernstein (Supervising Sound Editors), Gary Summers, Michael Hedges (Re-Recording Mixers), Julian Howarth (Production Sound Mixer) (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Babylon – Steve Morrow, Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan, Andy Nelson (Paramount Pictures)
Elvis – David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson, Michael Keller (Warner Bros.)
The Woman King – Becky Sullivan, Kevin O’Connell, Tony Lamberti, Derek Mansvelt (Sony Pictures)
RRR – Raghunath Kemisetty, Boloy Kumar Doloi, Rahul Karpe (Variance Films)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Top Gun: Maverick – Ryan Tudhope, Scott R. Fisher, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson (Paramount Pictures)
Avatar: The Way Of The Water – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, Richie Baneham, Dan Barrett (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Babylon – Jay Cooper, Elia Popov, Kevin Martel, Ebrahim Jahromi (Paramount Pictures)
Good Night Oppy – Abishek Nair, Marko Chulev, Steven Nichols (Amazon Prime Video)
The Batman – Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, Dominic Tuohu (Warner Bros)
RRR – V. Srinivas Mohan (Variance Films)

PRODUCTION DESIGN
RRR – Sabu Cyril (Variance Films)
Babylon – Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino (Paramount Pictures)
Elvis – Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy (Warner Bros.)
Avatar: The Way Of The Water – Dylan Cole, Ben Procter (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The Fabelmans – Rick Carter (Universal Pictures)
A Love Song – Juliana Barreto Barreto (Bleecker Street Media)

COSTUME DESIGN
Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Mary Zophres – Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
Cathrine Matrin – Elvis (Warner Bros.)
Gersha Phillips – The Woman King (TriStar Pictures)
Sandy Powell – Living (Sony Pictures)
Alexandra Byrne – Empire of Light (Searchlight Pictures)

ENSEMBLE MOTION PICTURE: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For September


Horrorthon, my favorite time of year, starts tomorrow!  However, before we get lost in the scary season, I want to take one last look at awards season!  It’s time for me to update my Oscar nominations.  Fortunately, thanks to all of the recent festival premieres, the Oscar picture is finally starting to look a little bit clearer.  There’s still a lot of question marks out there and, as always, anything can happen.  But, finally, I can say that there’s more to my predictions that just lucky guesses and wishful thinking.

Below, you’ll find my predictions for September!  In order to see how my thinking has evolved over the course of the year, be sure to check out my predictions for February, March, April, May, June, July, and August.

Best Picture

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fabelmans

The Menu

TAR

Till

Top Gun: Maverick

Women Talking

A few thoughts on the (potential) nominees:

Babylon, I will admit, I’m including because of the trailer and the fact that it’s a Damien Chazelle film about Hollywood.  The Academy likes films about itself and one can argue that after what happened when La La Land was nominated, Chazelle is owed at least a little bit of recognition.  Then again, that same argument could have been made for First Man and we know how that turned out.

As for The Menu, I’ve got that in my surprise nominee slot.  There’s almost always at least one potential nominee that’s considered to be a long shot until the nominations are announced.  Now that we have a set number of ten nominees, the chances that one nominee will be a surprise seems even more certain than before.

Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, and Everything Everywhere All At Once all came out early in the year but they’ve all achieved the box office success necessary to be remembered.

Till seems like the type of film that the Academy will want to acknowledge, especially with the presidential election right around the corner.

The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, TAR, and Women Talking were all acclaimed when they made their festival debuts.  Banshees, in particular, went from being a probable also-ran to a surefire contender based on the length of the standing ovation that it received.

Best Director

Chinonye Chukwu for Till

Todd Field for TAR

Martin McDonagh for The Banshees of Insherin

Sarah Polley for Women Talking

Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans

Best Actor

Austin Butler in Elvis

Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick

Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Insherin

Ralph Fiennes in The Menu

Brendan Fraser in The Whale

Best Actress

Naomi Ackie in I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Cate Blanchett in TAR

Olivia Colman in Empire of Light

Danielle Deadwyler in Till

Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Insherin

Tom Hanks in Elvis

Woody Harrelson in Triangle of Sadness

Judd Hirsch in The Fabelmans

Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Supporting Actress

Jessie Buckley in Women Talking

Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All At Once

Sally Field in Spoiler Alert

Frances McDormand in Women Talking

Janelle Monae in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

The Films of 2020: Dolittle (dir by Stephen Gaghan)


Dolittle tells the story of Dr. Dolittle (Robert Downey, Jr.), the eccentric doctor who can talk to the animals and who hasn’t had much use for humans ever since the tragic death of his wife, Lily (Kasia Smutniak).  Dolittle would be happy to just spend his entire life locked away in his estate, talking to Poly the Parrot (voice of Emma Thompson) and Chee-Chee the Gorilla (voice of Rami Malek) and all of the other animals but Dolitle has to eventually leave his home because otherwise, there wouldn’t be a movie.

When Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) is mysteriously taken ill, only Dolittle can save her.  Dolittle quickly realizes that the Queen has been poisoned and that the only cure for the poison is to be found on a tree that’s located on an island that no one has ever seen before.  Soon, Dolittle and the animals are sailing in search of the island.  Accompanying them is Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett), a sensitive teen who hates to hunt and who hopes to become Dolittle’s apprentice.  Pursuing Dolittle is the evil Dr. Blair Mudfly (Michael Sheen), who went to college with Dolittle and who is in cahoots with the conspirators who are trying to do away with Queen Victoria.

Got all of that?  I hope so because we haven’t even gotten to the dragon with a set of bagpipes crammed up her ass.  Yes, you read that correctly.

Last year, Dolittle was one of the few major studio productions to actually get a wide release before COVID-19 closed down all the theaters.  It was released in January, which is traditionally the time when studios release the films that they hope everyone will have forgotten about by the time April rolls around.  January is traditionally the month when studios release the films that they know aren’t any good.  And, indeed, the reviews of Dolittle were overwhelmingly negative.  Not only did the critics hate Dolittle but audiences were also rather unenthusiastic and the film bombed at the box office.  Indeed, under normal circumstances, the reaction to Dolittle and its subsequent box office failure would be considered one of the year’s biggest disasters.  However, 2020 was a year of disasters.  Compared to everything else that ended up happening over the past 12 months, Dolittle’s lukewarm reception seems almost quaint now.

Earlier today, I finally watched Dolittle on HBOMax.  I was expecting the film to be terrible but it’s actually not quite as bad as I had been led to believe.  I mean, don’t get me wrong.  Dolittle has a ton of problems.  The tone is all over the place as the film tries to mix cartoonish humor with thrilling adventure in a style that owes more to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise than it does to Dr. Dolittle.  Despite a few self-consciously manic moments, Robert Downey, Jr. seems remarkably bored in the lead role.  Many of the jokes fall flat and the awkward attempts to shoehorn the usual message of “be true to yourself” into the film just felt awkward.  That said, the CGI animals were cute enough to hold my interest and that’s really the most important thing when it comes to a film like Dolittle.  Cute animals — even computer generated ones — help to make up for a lot of flaws.

Dolittle’s final scene hints at a sequel or even a franchise.  Considering the reaction to the first film, I doubt we’ll get a second.  I do think Dr. Dolittle could make for an enjoyable PIXAR film but it might be time to give the live action adaptations a rest.

Guilty Pleasure No. 50: Maid in Manhattan (dir by Wayne Wang)


Whenever I see that the 2002 film, Maid in Manhattan, is going to be playing on HBO or Cinemax, I always think to myself, “I can’t understand why everyone hates on this film.  I mean, it’s not that bad.  It may be predictable and silly but it’s kind of sweet and Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey have a tame but sexy chemistry.”

Of course, then I watch the film and I discover that Maid in Manhattan is not the film where Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey fall in love.  That’s The Wedding Planner.  Instead, Maid in Manhattan is the one where Jennifer Lopez is a maid who works in a big fancy hotel and who is a single mother to a precocious child who is obsessed with Richard Nixon.  Maid in Manhattan is also the one where Jennifer Lopez falls in love with Ralph Fiennes.  Fiennes plays a candidate for the U.S. Senate.  Everyone is worried that he’ll never make it to Washington if people discover that his girlfriend is a maid.  I think his bigger problem is that he’s a Republican running for the U.S. Senate in New York.  (At least, I assume he’s a Republican because — as we learn from his conversations with Lopez’s son — he certainly seems to know a lot about and be rather sympathetic to Richard Nixon.)

I still like Maid in Manhattan, though perhaps not as sincerely as I like The Wedding Planner.  Some of that is because Maid in Manhattan takes place during the Christmas season and I love a good wintry romance.  Some of it is because this is probably the only mainstream film to feature people discussing the good points of Richard Nixon.  There’s the fact that Jennifer Lopez is always perfectly cast as someone determined to make something out of her life, regardless of whether or not the world supports her or not.  She’s always had the ability to make steely ambition sympathetic and that’s a good ability to have when you’re playing a maid who is determined to get promoted into management.

Finally, there’s the odd romantic pairing of Ralph Fiennes and Jennifer Lopez.  It’s one of those things that shouldn’t work and yet, strangely, it does.  Fiennes always brings a certain off-center, neurotic energy to his performances, which not only explains why he’s played so many villains but also why it’s strange to see him starring in a romantic comedy.  And yet, that odd energy is exactly what Maid in Manhattan needs.  It keeps the viewer on their toes and it makes the surprising discovery that Fiennes and Lopez have romantic chemistry all the more rewarding.

Don’t get me wrong, of course.  This is a deeply silly movie and there’s a lot of less than sparkling dialogue and the plot falls apart if you even start to think about it.  The entire story revolves around mistaken identity, with Fiennes not realizing that Jennifer Lopez is a maid and …. well, it’s all a bit unnecessarily complicated.  The film also takes Fiennes’s political aspirations a bit too seriously.  It’s not quite as bad the whole thing with Matt Damon running for the Senate in The Adjustment Bureau (“Due to his charming concession speech, he will someday be elected President,” — whatever, Beto) but it gets close.

But, still — I love romance and I love New York and the pairing of Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes in Maid in Manhattan is just too strange (and oddly effective) for me to resist.

Previous Guilty Pleasures

  1. Half-Baked
  2. Save The Last Dance
  3. Every Rose Has Its Thorns
  4. The Jeremy Kyle Show
  5. Invasion USA
  6. The Golden Child
  7. Final Destination 2
  8. Paparazzi
  9. The Principal
  10. The Substitute
  11. Terror In The Family
  12. Pandorum
  13. Lambada
  14. Fear
  15. Cocktail
  16. Keep Off The Grass
  17. Girls, Girls, Girls
  18. Class
  19. Tart
  20. King Kong vs. Godzilla
  21. Hawk the Slayer
  22. Battle Beyond the Stars
  23. Meridian
  24. Walk of Shame
  25. From Justin To Kelly
  26. Project Greenlight
  27. Sex Decoy: Love Stings
  28. Swimfan
  29. On the Line
  30. Wolfen
  31. Hail Caesar!
  32. It’s So Cold In The D
  33. In the Mix
  34. Healed By Grace
  35. Valley of the Dolls
  36. The Legend of Billie Jean
  37. Death Wish
  38. Shipping Wars
  39. Ghost Whisperer
  40. Parking Wars
  41. The Dead Are After Me
  42. Harper’s Island
  43. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
  44. Paranormal State
  45. Utopia
  46. Bar Rescue
  47. The Powers of Matthew Star
  48. Spiker
  49. Heavenly Bodies

James Bond returns in the No Time to Die Trailer


Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond is almost upon us. With True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga taking over the direction this time, No Time to Die brings a mix of new faces and returning favorites. Though not much is truly known of the story, it looks like Bond’s relationship with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) may be on a rocky road, enough to bring him back into service.

Rami Malek is also on board as the villain, which I’m personally excited for, and Ana de Armas (Knives Out) teams up again with Craig, though we’re not exactly sure who’s side she’s on. Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel) looks to be a new member of the Double O ranking. Coming back are Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, and Naomie Harris.

No Time to Die opens in cinemas in April 2020.  Enjoy!