The National Society of Film Critics Honors One Battle After Another


The National Society of Film Critics have announced their picks for the best of 2025.  And here they are:

Best Picture
Winner: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (57 points)
Runners-up: SINNERS (29 points) & THE SECRET AGENT (27 points)

Best Director
Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (54 points)
Runners-up: Jafar Panahi, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (48 points) & Richard Linklater, BLUE MOON and NOUVELLE VAGUE (39 points)

Best Actress
Winner: Kathleen Chalfant, FAMILIAR TOUCH (45 points)
Runners-up: Rose Byrne, IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (39 points) & Renate Reinsve, SENTIMENTAL VALUE (37 points)

Best Actor
Winner: Ethan Hawke, BLUE MOON (57 points)
Runners-up: Wagner Moura, THE SECRET AGENT (43 points) & Michael B. Jordan, SINNERS (36 points)

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Teyana Taylor, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (56 points)
Runners-up: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, SENTIMENTAL VALUE (47 points) & Wunmi Mosaku, SINNERS (41 points)

Best Supporting Actor
​Winner: Benicio del Toro, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (54 points)
Runners-up: Delroy Lindo, SINNERS (37 points) & Stellan Skarsgård, SENTIMENTAL VALUE (30 points)

Best Screenplay
Winner: Jafar Panahi, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (53 points)
Runners-up: Robert Kaplow, BLUE MOON (50 points) & Kleber Mendonça Filho, THE SECRET AGENT (40 points)

Best Cinematography
Winner: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, SINNERS (50 points)
Runners-up: Adolpho Veloso, TRAIN DREAMS (36 points) & Michael Bauman, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (29 points)

Best Nonfiction Film
Winner: MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I — LAST AIR IN MOSCOW (56 points)
Runners-up: THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR (22 points) & ORWELL: 2+2=5 (18 points)

Best Film Not In The English Language
Winner: THE SECRET AGENT (58 points)
Runners-up: IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (57 points) & SENTIMENTAL VALUE (38 points)

Best Experimental Film: MORNING CIRCLE (Basma al-Sharif)

Film Heritage Award: The late Ken and Flo Jacobs, an irreplaceable, gravitational center of the American avant-garde, with a shared artistic sensibility that helped define experimental cinema.

Film Heritage Award: The Film Desk, for releasing key movies from all over the world, in 35mm prints and on home video, and publishing books that have enriched the public’s knowledge of cinema.

Film Heritage Award: Cinema Tropical, for its tireless efforts to distribute, program and promote Latin American cinema in the U.S.

Special Citation for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution: LANDMARKS (Lucrecia Martel)

4 Shots From 4 Films: God Bless Texas


4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

4 Shots From 4 Texas Films

Giant (1956, Dir by George Stevens)

North Dallas Forty (1979, Dir. by Ted Kotcheff)

Dazed and Confused (1993, Dir by Richard Linklater)

Song to Song (2017, Dir by Terrence Malick)

Scenes That I Love: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise


In honor of Ethan Hawke’s birthday, here is the wonderfully romantic Ferris wheel scene from 1995’s Before Sunrise.  Director Richard Lnklater considered this scene to be an homage to The Third Man.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 2014 Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we pay tribute to the cinematic year of 2014.  It’s time for

4 Shots From 4 2014 Films

Goodbye to Language (2014, dir by Jean-Luc Godard, DP: Fabrice Aragno)

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, dir by Wes Anderson, DP: Robert Yeoman)

Boyhood (2014, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014, dir by James Gunn, DP: Ben Davis)

 

Lisa Marie’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For July


As July comes to a close, the Oscar picture is still pretty fuzzy.  To be honest, it’s hard to get that excited about any of the contenders that have been mentioned.  It all pretty much sounds like more of the same, with the exception of Sinners.

Anyway, with that inspiring introduction out of the way, here are my predictions for July.

Click here for my April and May and June predictions!

Best Picture

F1

It Was Just An Accident

Jay Kelly

Nouvelle Vague

Nuremberg

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

The Smashing Machine

Wicked For Good

Best Director

Jon M. Chu for Wicked For Good

Ryan Coogler for Sinners

Richard Linklater for Nouvelle Vague

Jafar Panahi for It Was Just An Accident

Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value

Best Actor

George Clooney in Jay Kelly

Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine

Michael B. Jordan in Sinners

Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent

Jeremy Allen White in Deliver Me From Nowhere

Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked For Good

Jennifer Lawrence in Die My Love

Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Valure

Julia Roberts in After The Hunt

June Squibb in Eleanor The Great

Best Supporting Actor

Miles Caton in Sinners

Russell Crowe in Nuremberg

Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value

Christoph Waltz in Frankenstein

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt in The Smashing Machine

Ayo Edebiri in After The Hunt

Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande in Wicked For Good

Jennifer Lopez in Kiss of the Spider Woman

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Richard Linklater Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, we wish a happy birthday to director Richard Linklater.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Richard Linklater Films

Slacker (1990, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel)

Dazed and Confused (1993, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel)

Before Sunset (2004, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel)

Boyhood (2014, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel and Sheila Kelly)

 

Scenes that I Love: Low Rider From Dazed and Confused


In order to celebrate San Jacinto Day, here’s one of my favorite scenes from Richard Linklater’s 1993 Texas film, Dazed and Confused.  Not only does this montage introduce the viewer to the suburban Texas nightlife of 1976 but it’s also perfectly set to War’s Low Rider.

And, of course, it also features that classic line, “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.”

4 Shots From 4 Films: Another Special Texas Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is San Jacinto Day, which means that it is once again time for….

4 Shots From 4 Texas Films

Slacker (1990, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel)

Bottle Rocket (1996, dir by Wes Anderson, DP: Robert Yeoman)

Office Space (1999, dir by Mike Judge, DP: Tim Suhrstedt)

Primer (2004, dir by Shane Carruth)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1993 Edition


4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we pay tribute to the year 1993 with….

4 Shots From 4 1993 Films

Dazed and Confused (1993, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel)

Schindler’s List (1993, dir by Steven Spielberg, DP: Janusz Kamiński)

Trauma (1993, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Raffaele Mertes)

Indecent Proposal (1993, dir by Adrian Lyne, DP: Howard Atherton)

Scenes That I Love: Nicky Katt Meets Adam Goldberg in Dazed and Confused


Rest in peace, the great character actor Nicky Katt.  The details are still sketchy but it’s being reported that he passed away at the age of 54.

Katt was a child actor who transitioned into adult roles.  He appeared in a lot of movies but I’ll always remember him as Clint, the absolutely terrifying bully in 1993’s Dazed and Confused.  Here he is, scaring the heck out of poor Adam Goldberg.

(For a while, there were plans for a Dazed and Confused sequel in which Clint reformed and became a respected businessman while Adam Goldberg’s Mike went insane as he continued to obsess on that fight back in 1976.)