4 Shots From 4 Films: Escape Into Fantasy

Posted on November 12, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

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 Fantasy Films

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, Dir. by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones)

Legend (1985, Dir. by Ridley Scott)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, Dir by Peter Jackson)

How To Train Your Dragon (2010, Dir. by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois)

Horror Scenes That I Love: Ripley’s Last Stand in Alien

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is Sigourney Weaver’s birthday, I think it’s probably a given that today’s scene of the day would feature her defeating an alien. In this scene from 1979’s Alien, Ripley shows why she is the last human survivor of the Nostromo.

(As cool as Ripley is, she’s still nowhere close to being as much of a badass as Jonesy the Cat. Jonesy just had to hiss and the alien knew better than to mess with the ship’s cat.)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Visions of the Future

Posted on June 24, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

Who can see the future?

4 Shots From 4 Futuristic Films

Metropolis (1927, Dir. by Fritz Lang)

The Terminator (1984, Dir. by James Cameron)

Star Trek (2009, Dir. by JJ Abrams)

Prometheus (2012, Dir by Ridley Scott)

Scenes That I Love: Meet Rick Deckard in Blade Runner

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing our theme of dystopian noir, today’s scene of the day comes from 1982’s Blade Runner. In this scene, we not only meet Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) but we also get a look at the future of Los Angeles, from both the sky and the ground.

(Of course, the film takes place in 2019 so its future is our past!)

This is one of the best world-building scenes that I’ve ever seen, one that works because it takes place in a world we can recognize but which has obviously developed and changed over the years. Plus, I just like Harrison Ford wearing a trench coat and looking grumpy. He should have done more noirs.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Dystopia Noir Edition

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

I have a headache and it’s raining outside. It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Dystopian Film Noirs

Blade Runner (1982, dir by Ridley Scott, DP: Jordan Cronenweth)

Streets of Fire (1984, dir by Walter Hill, DP: Andrew Laszlo)

Inland Empire (2006, dir by David Lynch, DP: David Lynch)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017, dir by Denis Villeneuve, DP: Roger Deakins)

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For November

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

A new fighter enters the Arena in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II trailer!

Posted on July 9, 2024 by Leonard Wilson

I don’t know how or why we have a sequel to Ridley Scott’s Academy Award Winner Gladiator, but here it is in all its glory. It looks quite interesting, I have to say. In my opinion, Ridley’s films are a coin flip. This can go either way. And who knows? Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll get a Kingdom of Heaven follow up. One can only hope.

Gladiator II looks like it’s expanding on the first film, at least in terms of the fighting arena. We have naval battles in the Colesseum now. Despite the fall of Commodus in the first film (Joaquin Phoenix), Rome still has issues. A young gladiator (Paul Mescal, All of Us Strangers) seems to have an issue with General Marcus Acacius, played by Wonder Woman 84 and The Last of Us’ Pedro Pascal. Ridley’s also reunited with American Gangster‘s Denzel Washington, as well as Gladiator‘s Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi. Also on hand are Joseph Quinn (A Quiet Place: Day One), Rory McCann (Jumanji: The Next Level), May Calamawy (Marvel’s Moon Knight) and Peter Mensah (300).

Harry Gregson-Williams (Man on Fire, Kingdom of Heaven) will be scoring the film, taking over for Hans Zimmer.

Gladiator II will be in theatres this November.

Lisa Marie’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For May

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

We’re nearly halfway through the year and so far, we have two films that seem like they might still be in the Oscar conversation at the end of the year, Dune 2 and Civil War. With the Cannes Film Festival coming up this month, we should soon have some more contenders to consider.

My predictions below are a bit heavy on sequels. In fact, if the predictions below came true, it would a record year for sequels at the Oscars. Of course, it’s early and it’s totally probable that the majority of the films listed below will not be nominated. Right now, it’s pretty much a guessing game. The production delays caused by last year’s strikes have opened the door for a lot of sequels to receive consideration that they might not receive in other years.

What will happen when the nominations are announced in 2025? Who knows? For now, let’s just have fun guessing. You can check out my predictions for April by clicking here.

Best Picture

The Apprentice

The Bikeriders

Blitz

Civil War

Dune, Part II

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Gladiator 2

Inside Out 2

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

SNL: 1975

Best Director