Here Are The Nominees of the 2020 Indiana Film Journalists Assosciation!

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bad Education

The Indiana Film Journalists Association (IJA) has announced their nominees for the best of 2020! They’ll be announcing the winners on December 21st!

What I like about these nominations is that there’s a lot of them. 2020 may have been a difficult year for many but there were a lot of good films released and it does seem kind of silly (as it does every year) to limit things to some sort of arbitrary number. Why only nominate 10 films when you could nominate 20 or 30? Many of the nominees below will appear on my own personal best lists in January.

The other thing that I like about these nominees is that the include films like Bad Education and Mangrove. There’s some debate as to whether or not these films should be considered Oscar eligible. I feel that they should be so it’s nice to see that the folks in Indiana agree with me!

Here are the nominees:

BEST FILM
Da 5 Bloods
Another Round
The Assistant
Athlete A
Bad Education
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
Dick Johnson is Dead
Emma.
The Father
First Cow
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
The Nest
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
Palm Springs
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Possessor
Promising Young Woman
Small Axe: Mangrove
Song Without a Name
Soul
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The Twentieth Century
The Vast of Night

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Onward
Soul
Wolfwalkers

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
76 Days
Another Round
Bacurau
Beanpole
La Dosis
Song Without a Name

BEST DOCUMENTARY
76 Days
All In: The Fight for Democracy
Athlete A
Boys State
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
Desert One
Dick Johnson is Dead
Disclosure
John Lewis: Good Trouble
The Last Out
Miss Americana
MLK/FBI
Time
Totally Under Control
Welcome to Chechnya

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Brandon Cronenberg – Possessor
Pete Docter, Mike Jones and Kemp Powers – Soul
Sean Durkin – The Nest
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Kitty Green – The Assistant
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round
James Montague and Craig W. Sanger – The Vast of Night
Matthew Rankin – The Twentieth Century
Andy Siara – Palm Springs
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Alice Wu – The Half of It

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – The Father
Armando Iannucci and Simon Blackwell – The Personal History of David Copperfield
Charlie Kaufman – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Mike Makowsky – Bad Education
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami
Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Brandon Cronenberg – Possessor
Pete Docter – Soul
Sean Durkin – The Nest
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Kitty Green – The Assistant
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kirsten Johnson – Dick Johnson is Dead
Charlie Kaufman – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods
Melina Léon – Song Without a Name
Steve McQueen – Small Axe: Mangrove
Matthew Rankin – The Twentieth Century
Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7
George C. Wolfe – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Alice Wu – The Half of It
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

BEST ACTRESS
Haley Bennett – Swallow
Jessie Buckley – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Carrie Coon – The Nest
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigin – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner – The Assistant
Han Ye-ri – Minari
Leah Lewis – The Half of It
Rachel McAdams – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Pamela Mendoza – Song Without a Name
Cristin Milioti – Palm Springs
Elisabeth Moss – The Invisible Man
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
Aubrey Plaza – Black Bear
Margot Robbie – BIrds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Anya Taylor-Joy – Emma.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jane Adams – She Dies Tomorrow
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Toni Collette – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Olivia Colman – The Father
Olivia Cooke – Sound of Metal
Allison Janney – Bad Education
Margo Martindale – Blow the Man Down
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari

BEST ACTOR
Christopher Abbott – Possessor
Ben Affleck – The Way Back
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Kingsley Ben-Adir – One Night in Miami
Paul Bettany – Uncle Frank
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Eli Goree – One Night in Miami
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Hugh Jackman – Bad Education
Jude Law – The Nest
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Mads Mikkelsen – Another Round
Jesse Plemons – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Eddie Redmayne – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Steven Yeun – Minari

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
Bo Burnham – Promising Young Woman
Bill Burr – The King of Staten Island
Peter Capaldi – The Personal History of David Copperfield
Colman Domingo – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Aldis Hodge – One Night in Miami
Caleb Landry Jones – The Outpost
Alan Kim – Minari
Frank Langella – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Orion Lee – First Cow
Ewan McGregor – BIrds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Bill Murray – On the Rocks
Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
J.K. Simmons – Palm Springs
Dan Stevens – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
David Strathairn – Nomadland
David Thewlis – I’m Thinking of Ending Things

BEST VOCAL / MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Sean Bean – Wolfwalkers
Tina Fey – Soul
Jamie Foxx – Soul
Oliver Platt – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Donald Ray Pollock – The Devil All the Time
Ben Schwartz – Sonic the Hedgehog

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
Da 5 Bloods
Another Round
The Devil All the Time
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
The King of Staten Island
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
One Night in Miami
The Personal History of David Copperfield
She Dies Tomorrow
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Uncle Frank

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Erick Alexander and Jared Bulmer – The Vast of Night
Terence Blanchard – One Night in Miami
Ludovico Einaudi – Nomadland
Ludwig Göransson – Tenet
Emile Mosseri – Minari
Richard Reed Parry – The Nest
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Soul
William Tyler – First Cow
Jay Wadley – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Isobel Waller-Bridge and David Schweitzer – Emma.
Benjamin Wallfisch – The Invisible Man
Jim Williams – Possessor

BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR
Maria Bakalova (actress) – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Max Barbakow (director) – Palm Springs
Emerald Fennell (writer / director) – Promising Young Woman
Sidney Flanigin (actress) – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Alan Kim (actor) – Minari
Orion Lee (actor) – First Cow
Leah Lewis (actress) – The Half of It
Darius Marder (writer / director) – Sound of Metal
Andrew Patterson (director) – The Vast of Night
Tayarisha Poe (writer / director) – Selah and the Spades
Kemp Powers – co-writer / co-director for Soul and writer for One Night in Miami
Matthew Rankin (writer / director) – The Twentieth Century
Andy Siara (writer) – Palm Springs
Autumn de Wilde (director) – Emma.

HOOSIER AWARD
Athlete A
Eliza Hittman, writer / director of Never Rarely Sometimes Always and graduate of Indiana University

ORIGINAL VISION AWARD
After Midnight
Assassin 33 A.D.
Dick Johnson is Dead
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Possessor
Promising Young Woman
She Dies Tomorrow
The Twentieth Century
The Vast of Night
Vivarium

Mangrove

Lisa Marie Picks The 50 Best Films of The Past 3 Years

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As of this month, I have been reviewing films here at the Shattered Lens for 3 years. In honor of that anniversary, I thought I’d post my picks for the 50 best films that have been released in the U.S. since 2010.

Without further ado, here’s the list!

Black Swan (directed by Darren Aronofsky)
Exit Through The Gift Shop (directed by Banksy)
Hanna (directed by Joe Wright)
Fish Tank (directed by Andrea Arnold)
Higher Ground (directed by Vera Farmiga)
Shame (directed by Steve McQueen)
Anna Karenina (directed by Joe Wright)
The Cabin In The Woods (directed by Drew Goddard)
127 Hours (directed by Danny Boyle)
Somewhere (directed by Sofia Coppola)
Life of Pi (directed by Ang Lee)
Hugo (directed by Martin Scorsese)
Inception (directed by Christopher Nolan)
Animal Kingdom (directed by David Michod)
Winter’s Bone (directed by Debra Granik)
The Artist (directed by Michel Hazanavicius)
The Guard (directed by John Michael McDonagh)
Bernie (directed by Richard Linklater)
The King’s Speech (directed by Tom Hooper)
Bridesmaids (directed by Paul Feig)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (directed by Thomas Alfredson)
Django Unchained (directed by Quentin Tarantino)
Never Let Me Go (directed by Mark Romanek)
Toy Story 3 (directed by Lee Unkrich)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (directed by Niels Arden Oplev)
Young Adult (directed by Jason Reitman)
Sucker Punch (directed by Zack Snyder)
The Master (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)
Incendies (directed by Denis Villeneuve)
Melancholia (directed by Lars Von Trier)
Super (directed by James Gunn)
Silver Linings Playbook (directed by David O. Russell)
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (directed by Edgar Wright)
The Last Exorcism (directed by Daniel Stamm)
Skyfall (directed by Sam Mendes)
Easy A (directed by Will Gluck)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 (directed by David Yates)
The Avengers (directed by Joss Whedon)
How To Train Your Dragon (directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBois)
Win Win (directed by Thomas McCarthy)
Les Miserables (directed by Tom Hooper)
Take This Waltz (directed by Sarah Polley)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (directed by Werner Herzog)
Rust and Bone (directed by Jacques Audiard)
Cosmopolis (directed by David Cronenberg)
Ruby Sparks (directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valarie Faris)
Brave (directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (directed by Sean Durkin)
Jane Eyre (directed by Cary Fukunaga)
Damsels in Distress (directed by Whit Stillman)

Film Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene (directed by Sean Durkin)

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Martha Marcy May Marlene was, for me, one of the most surprising films of 2011. I wasn’t expecting much when I went to see it because so much of the film’s publicity centered on the fact that it starred Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of the Olsen Twins. Needless to say, we don’t usually associate the Olsen Twins with challenging and mature filmmaking and, even though they had nothing to do with Martha Marcy May Marlene, it was impossible to read or hear about the film without them being mentioned. For a lot of people, this led to Martha Marcy May Marlene being dismissed by association. That’s really not fair to the film or Elizabeth Olsen (or the Olsen Twins, for that matter). Martha Marcy May Marlene is a haunting and disturbing little psychological thriller and one of the best films of 2011.

Olsen plays Martha, a young woman who, one day, shows up at the home of her older sister and her husband (played by Sarah Paulson and Hugh Dancy). Though the film never gets into the specific details, it becomes apparent that Paulson and Olsen are the products of a dysfunctional background. Olsen escaped by running away from home while Paulson found her exit by marrying the rather arrogant Dancy. Hoping to repair their own strained relationship, Paulson agrees to let Olsen stay with them, despite both the objections of Dancy and Olsen’s refusal to say where she’s been. No sooner has Olsen moved in then it starts to become apparent that she’s not the same person that Paulson remembers. When Paulson asks Olsen if she wants to take a swim in the nearby lake, Olsen responds by stripping off her clothes in front of Dancy and when Paulson and Dancy are trying to conceive their first child, Olsen sees nothing wrong with casually walking into the room and laying down on the bed beside them. More ominously, Olsen soon reveals herself to be paranoid of strangers. As Paulson struggles to understand her sister, we see flashbacks of a much more open (and trusting) Olsen joining a cult-like group, led by a magnetic John Hawkes.

Director Sean Durkin makes an assured debut with this film, subtly shifting between the present and the past and filling the screen with beautifully placid images that somehow manage to leave the audience with an unshakeable sense of menace and foreboding. As a storyteller, Durkin keeps the audience guessing and wondering about both who Martha once was, who she eventually became, and who she’s going to be in the future. Wisely Durkin doesn’t provide any easy solutions as much as he poses questions and then suggests a possible answer.

If you’re like and you’re a true crime and/or exploitation junkie (I’m both), you’ll realize immediately that the character played by John Hawkes is pretty blatantly based on Charles Manson and his followers are the equivalent of Manson’s “family.” What’s interesting is how Hawkes manages to keep his character both threatening and intriguing even after this become apparent. Hawkes radiates such charisma in the beginning of the film that the scenes where he eventually reveals his true colors are shocking, despite the fact that you know they’re coming. It’s a performance that proves that Hawkes is one of the best character actors working today and Durkin skillfully contrasts Hawkes’s more subtle form of domination with Hugh Dancy’s more obvious technique with the film ultimately suggesting that both of these patriarchal characters are just two sides of the same coin.

Ultimately, though, the film is dominated by Elizabeth Olsen who gives a performance that is simply brilliant. Alternatively innocent and calculating, Martha is a fascinating character and Olsen brings her to haunting life. As a result of Olsen’s brave performance, Martha Marcy May Marlene joins with Hanna and Shame as a great modern film about the search for identity. This has been a year full of strong female performances and Olsen gives one of the strongest. The next time some shyster tries to sell you on the idea that Rooney Mara is the actress of the future, tell them to go see Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Boston Demands To Be Heard

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Los Angeles film critics weren’t the only ones to vote on their favorites of 2011 today. The Boston Society of Film Critics voted today as well. Now, as I’ve stated quite a few times on this site, I’m a Southern girl and I have a feeling that if I ever went up to Boston, everyone up there would ignore the fact that I’m an Irish Catholic and would probably just make fun of my accent. Eventually, the conversation would turn to politics and I would let slip the fact that not only am I not a Democrat but I didn’t even vote for Barack Obama in 2008. A big fight would follow and I imagine we wouldn’t even get around to talking about our favorite movies…

Sorry, I lost my train of thought there. Anyway, the BSFC voted and here’s what they came up with:

Best Picture: “The Artist”

Runners-up: “Hugo” and “Margaret”

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

Runner-up: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

Best Actor: Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Runners-up: George Clooney, “The Descendants” and Michael Fassbender, “Shame”

Best Actress: Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

Runner-up: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, “Drive”

Runner-up: Max Von Sydow, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”

Runner-up: Jeannie Berlin, “Margaret”

Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”

Runner-up: Kenneth Lonergan, “Margaret”

(If I was writing for AwardsDaily.com, I guess this is where I would say, NO MOVIE HAD A BETTER SCREENPLAY THAN THE SOCIAL NETWORK)

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, “The Tree of Life”

Runner-up: Robert Richardson, “Hugo”

Best Documentary: “Project Nim”

Runner-up: “Bill Cunningham New York”

Best Foreign-Language Film: “Incendies”

Runners-up: “A Separation” and “Poetry”

Best Animated Film: “Rango”

Best Film Editing: Christian Marclay, “The Clock”

Runner-up: Thelma Schoonmaker, “Hugo”

Best New Filmmaker: Sean Durkin, “Martha Marcy May Marlene”

Runner-up: J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”

Best Ensemble Cast: “Carnage”

Runner-up: “Margaret”

Best Use of Music in a Film: (tie) “Drive” and “The Artist”

Runner-up: “The Descendants”

Special Commendations:

Ben Fowlie, Sara Archambault and Sean Flynn of DocYard

The Museum of Fine Arts for “The Clock”

The Brattle Film Foundation

Best Rediscoveries:

“The Shooting” at the Harvard Film Achive

“The Makota Sisters” at the Museum of Fine Arts

“Deep End” at the HFA

“Days and Nights in the Forest” at the HFA

“Children of Hiroshima” at the HFA

Obviously, the Boston Film Critics were big fans of Kenneth Lonergan’s film Margaret. Margaret was actually filmed in 2007 but, because of various lawsuits between Longergan and the film’s producers, it was not actually released until September of this year. Unfortunately, it only played down here for about a week and I didn’t get a chance to see it but hopefully, I will in the future. If nothing else, I want to see it so I can have something other than politics to talk about if I ever go up to Boston.

2011 Gotham Awards Recap

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In my previous post, I announced the start of “Oscar season” by offering up a recap of the films and performers honored by the New York Film Critics Circle earlier today. However, the Oscar season was actually kicked off on Monday night with the Gotham Awards. Much like the Independent Spirit awards, the Gothams are meant to honor the best in the year’s independent films. Below is a recap of which films were honored at this year’s ceremony.

Best Feature

Beginners(tie)
The Tree of Life(tie)

The big news here has been that Beginners and Tree of Life tied for best picture. (Actually, I’m not surprised as both films pretty much explored the same themes of memory, aging, and love.) It’ll be interesting to see if either one of these films manage to maintain the momentum of their victory through the rest of the Oscar season.

As for me, I have a new mission and that is to see Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same.