Negromancer News Bits and Bites from April 21st to 30th, 2024 - UPDATE #16

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Danny and Michael Philippou, the directors of the hit horror film, "Talk To Me," are reteaming with that film's distributor, A24, for a new film, "Bring Her Back."  The film is set to star Sally Hawkins.

EMMYS - From Deadline:  I missed this, dear readers.  The nominations for the 2024 / 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards have been announced.  The winners will be announced Sat., June 8, 2024.

CANNES - From Variety:    Lily Gladstone,  Eva Green, Omar Sy, Ebru Ceylan, Nadine Labaki, Juan Antonio Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, and Kore-eda Hirokazu comprise the jury for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.  Oscar-nominee Greta Gerwig is jury president.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 4/26 to 4/28/2024 weekend box office is Amazon/MGM's "Challengers" (starring Zendaya) with an estimated take of 15 million dollars.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The fate of "NCIS: Hawai'i" is no longer up in the air. CBS has cancelled the series after three seasons, making the announcement yesterday, Fri., April 26th.

From Deadline:  CBS has renewed "The Equalizer" starring Queen Latifah for a fifth season.  However, the fate of "NCIS: Hawai'i" is still up in the air.

SCANDAL - From APNews:  The state Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction. The court found that the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.  The court ordered a new trial.  The 75-year-old Weinstein has been serving a 23-year sentence in the Mohawk Correctional Facility near Rome, New York.

From Variety:  Harvey Weinstein was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan on Saturdays, just two days after his 2020 New York rape conviction was overturned (Thurs., April 25th).

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Sources tell the site that actors Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Oscar-nominated Ralph Fiennes will star in the first film of the upcoming "28 Years Later" trilogy.  The new film will be directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, the director and writer, respectively of the original film, "28 Days Later."

ANIMATION - From Variety: This year marks the 25th anniversary of the airing of the debut episode of Fox's long-running animated series, "Family Guy," specifically January 31, 1999.  Because it was cancelled twice, the series is currently concluding its 22nd season.  Recently voice actor, Patrick Warburton, who voices one of the series main character, paraplegic police officer, "Joe Swanson," says that his parents hate the show.  He says that his mother even tried to get "Family Guy" cancelled.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, laments the end of the 20-year-old film and television production company, Participant.  Participant was behind Guggenheim and Al Gore's Oscar-winning doc, "An Inconvenient Truth."

From Variety:  The 20-year-old film and television production company whose mission was to inspire social justice and humanitarian action, Participant (formerly Participant Media), is shutting down.  Established in 2004, Participant co-produced or co-financed a number of notable movies including the "Best Picture" Oscar winner "Spotlight," as well as Steven Spielberg’s "Lincoln" and the Oscar-winning, breakthrough documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

MUSIC - From Deadline:  The 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced.  The inductees are as follows: A Tribe Called Quest, Cher, Foreigner, Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Mary J. Blige, Peter Frampton, Ozzy Osbourne, Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, Norman Whitfield, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, MC5, Suzanne de Passe, and Big Mama Thornton.

POLITICS - From Salon:  "Mainstream conservatives" never really purged the fascists, according to a wonderful piece by Salon writer, Paul Rosenberg.  Rosenberg interviews David Austin Walsh about his new book, "Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right."

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 4/19 to 4/21/2024 weekend box office is A24's "Civil War" with an estimated take of 11.1 million dollars.

MOVIES/TRAILERS - From Variety:  Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's new thriller, "Trap."  Starring Josh Hartnett, the film follows a father and daughter who attend a pop star's concert only to realize that they are at the center of a dark and sinister event.  And Hartnett's character is a serial killer known as "The Butcher."  The pop star is played by M. Night's daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, who is an actual singer-songwriter.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  American television actress, Marla Adams, has died at the age of 85, Thursday, April 25, 2024.  Adams was best known for her roles as "Belle Clemens" on the former CBS soap opera, "The Secret Storm," from 1968 to 1974, and also as "Dina Abbott Mergeron" a recurring character on "The Young and the Restless," that appeared in 235 episodes on and off from 1983 to 2021.  Adams was twice nominated in the Daytime Emmy Award category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series," winning in 2021.

From Deadline:  British art director and production designer, Ray Chan, has died at the age of 56, Tuesday, April 23, 2024.  Chan was best known for his work in art direction, production design, and additional photography for Marvel Studios, beginning with "Thor: The Dark World" (2013) to the upcoming "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024).  He was nominated for five Art Directors Guild Awards and won twice.

Review: Alex Garland's "MEN" on Men

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 of 2022 (No. 1860) by Leroy Douresseaux

Men (2022)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  United Kingdom
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPA – R for disturbing and violent content, graphic nudity, grisly images and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Alex Garland    
PRODUCERS:  Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Rob Hardy
EDITOR:  Jake Roberts
COMPOSERS:  Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury

HORROR

Starring:  Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Gayle Rankin, Sarah Twomey, and Paapa Essiedu

Men is a 2022 British horror film from writer-director Alex Garland.  The film focuses on a recently widowed young woman on a solo holiday to the English countryside who finds herself tormented by a group of strange men.

Men introduces a young woman named Harper (Jessie Buckley).  Following the shocking and unexpected death of her husband, James Marlowe (Paapa Essiedu), London-based Harper decides to take a holiday alone in the small village of Cotson, located in the English countryside.  She will be spending her two weeks staying in a pricey rental, Cotson Manor.

Not long after Harper arrives at the spacious manor house, things start getting strange.  She is welcomed by the manor's owner, an odd sort of fellow named Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear).  Later, while taking a walk, Harper has a bizarre encounter with a strange man who seems to be naked.  As things start to turn more bizarre, Harper realizes that all the men in the village look alike...

I can see why Alex Garland's film, Men, is so controversial and even considered incendiary.  Basically, Garland's film is a horror movie about toxic masculinity, and the main point of toxicity is that men want to control how women react to men, maleness, and masculinity.  Here, men think that women should downplay some acts of violence and aggression, and that women exaggerate even the most violent and threatening behavior of males.  Harper's husband, James, is emotionally abuse and manipulative, and even his threats against himself are attempts to control Harper, in addition to being an act of violence against her.

In Men, Garland does not offer answers or, at least, many of them.  He uses surrealism and tropes from the horror sub-genre known as “folk horror” (isolated English village, pagan symbolism, atmosphere music, etc.) to create a scary movie that practically yells, “Fact!  Toxic masculinity is bad, and men are controlling and manipulative just as much as they say that women are.”  And that makes Men a flashpoint work of art and entertainment in a flashpoint time, so it automatically has groups of people that will not like it or be very critical of it – even before seeing the film.

The performances are good, but not great.  It is not that the actors aren't capable; it is just that the movie does not give them many verbal showcases.  Thus, Jessie Buckley spends a lot of time looking scared, but when she can speak as Harper, the film has more dramatic impact.  Also, as Geoffrey and others, Rory Kinnear gets to look like a chameleon without getting to play a chameleon.

The politics of men and women aside, Men is yet another film that reveals Alex Garlands ability to take conventional ideas for stories and twist them into unconventional film narratives.  His films offer his audience a visceral and unforgettable experience.  In this case, Garland presents Men as a kind of magical realism; the surreal and real live side by side and are sometimes as one.  Garland is a visual stylist as a film director and a maverick as a screenwriter.  With his contentious film, Men, Garland's reach sometimes exceeds his grasp, but the movie is simply more evidence that he can take his audience in the most unexpected directions.

8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, August 19, 2022


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from February 18th to 28th, 2018 - Update #32

Support Leroy on Patreon:

COMICS-FILM - From DenofGeek:  First look at the Zachary Levi's costume in Warner Bros./DC Entertainment's "Shazam: film.

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STREAMING - From Variety:  Netflix plans 700 original series and movies for 2018.

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COMICS-FILM - From BleedingCool:  Significant reshoots for Fox's X-Men spinoff, "The New Mutants."

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CELEBRITY - From Variety:  In a wide-ranging interview, legendary Barbra Streisand talks sexism in Hollywood, the Oscars, and wanting to direct films again.  She also reveals that she has had her dogs cloned.

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OSCARS - From Yahoo:  Oscars so scandalous: leading movies hit with backlash

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CELEBRITY - From Variety:  Kevin Smith tweets that he suffered a heart attack.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 2/23 to 2/25/2018 weekend box office is Marvel Studio's "Black Panther" with an estimated take of $108 million.

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MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  Ryan Coogler explains why he isn't directing "Creed 2," the sequel to his hit film, "Creed."

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MOVIE - From ShadowandAct:  See photographic image of three generations of Shaft from the upcoming film, "Son of Shaft."

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STREAMING - From TVSeriesFinale:  Amazon is developing a TV series based on Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" book series.

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MOVIES - From Vulture:  "The First Great Movie of the Trump Era" By Jada Yuan and Hunter Harris (about Jordan Peele's "Get Out")

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MOVIES - From Collider:   Alex Garland is a hot filmmaker and is currently promoting his second film, "Annihilation."  He began as a noted novelist and revealed that there may be another film adaptation of his debut novel, "The Beach."  There was a 2000 film adaptation from director Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

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TELEVISION - From TVSeriesFinale:  Walter Goggins will star in CBS's reboot of the Oscar-winning film, "L.A. Confidential."

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CELEBRITY - From GQ:  Whatever happened to actor Brendan Fraser (The Mummy franchise)

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MOVIES - From THR:  "Jurassic World 3" has been scheduled for a 2021 release.

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ANIMATION - From Deadline:  Larry Fishburne is producing an animated TV series based on Marvel Comics' "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" comic book, which is apparently popular with young readers.

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MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  Jessica Chastain is in talks to star as "Beverly" in the sequel to the smash hit, "It."

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#PARKLANDSHOOTING - From StandardUK:  George and Amal Clooney donate $500,000 to gun control march after Florida shooting.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 2/16 to 2/18/2018 (President's Day) weekend box office is Disney/Marvel's "Black Panther" with an estimated take of $192 million, the fifth largest box office opening to date.

From BleedingCool:  Black Panther's three-day weekend total is actually $201.8 million instead of $192 million.

From Variety:  "Black Panther's four-day President's Day weekend may hit $235 million.

From THR:  All this fuss over a superhero movie? by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

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MOVIES - From CBR:  The "Transformers" film franchise may end as an unresolved film series.  Paramount has reportedly cancelled what was to be the sequel to "Transformers: The Last Knight," which apparently had an open ending. [I didn't see that film.]

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AWARDS - From Variety:  A complete list of winners at the 2018 BAFTAs.  "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" wins two best film awards.

From TheGuardian:  Bafta film awards 2018: Three Billboards triumphs as Time's Up dominates

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MOVIES - From EW:  Anne Hathaway joins Dee Rees ("Mudbound") for an adaptation of Joan Didion's 1996 novel, "The Last Thing He Wanted," a political thriller.

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CRIME-POLITICS - From Justice.gov:   Read Robert S. Mueller III's indictment against 13 individuals (Russians and one American).

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MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  Sylvester Stallone reveals the first poster for "Creed II."

OBITS:

From THR:  Oscar-nominated animator, Bud Luckey, has died at the age of 83, Saturday, February 24, 2018.  An early Pixar employee, Luckey, designed the cowboy "Woody" for the original "Toy Story."  He also created "counting cartoons" for "Seasame Street."  He received an Oscar nominations for his animated short film, "Boundin'."

From Variety:  The India actress, Sridevi Kapoor, has died at the age of 54, Saturday, February 24, 2018.  Best known by her mononym, Sridevi, was the first Bollywood superstar actress.

From TheGuardian:  British actress, Emma Chambers, has died at the age of 53, Wednesday, February 21, 2018.  Chambers was best known for her roles in the British comedy TV series, "The Vicar of Dibley," and in the 1999 film, "Notting Hill," playing "Honey," the sister of Hugh Grant's character.

From YahooNews:  Famed evangelist and ordained Southern Baptist minister and preacher, Billy Graham, has died at the age of 99, Wednesday, February 21, 2018.  Known as "America's Pastor," Graham provided spiritual counsel to every U.S. President from Harry Truman to Barack Obama.  Graham was also a supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and began "racial integration" for his revival and crusades beginning in 1953.  [Of course, he's resting in peace.]

From Deadline:  African filmmaker Idrissa Ouedraogo, has died at the age of 64, Sunday, February 18, 2018.  A native of the West African nation of Burkina Faso, Ouedraogo won the Cannes Jury Prize for his 1990 film, "Tilai."

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 1st to 7th, 2017 - Update #29

Support Leroy on Patreon.

BLM - From RSN:  Are you a "Black Identity Extremist?"

MOVIES - From Nerdist:  On the 30th anniversary of Clive Barker's film "Hellraiser" (1987), Nerdiest ranks all the films in the series.  There are ten as of this year's "Hellraiser: Judgment."

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STAR TREK - From CinemaBlend:  Would Quentin Tarantino really direct a "Star Trek" movie.

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MOVIES - From TheWrap:  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham will get their own "Fast & Furious" movie spinoff, set for 2019.

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MOVIES - From THR:  James Cameron talks about how he convinced Linda Hamilton to return for a "Terminator" revival.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Universal takes "Bride of Frankenstein" off its schedule.  Part of its "Dark Universe" line, it was scheduled to debut Feb. 14, 2019.

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MOVIES - From TheNewYorkTimes:  Decades of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein are revealed.

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MOVIES - From YahooNews:  Rooney Mara says that it was not entirely her decision not to return for the sequel to 2011's "The Girl with a Dragon Tatoo," which is entitled "The Girl in the Spider's Web," which is due in 2018.  British actress Claire Foy will take over the role of "Lisbeth Salander," from Mara.

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ANIMATION - From RollingStone:  Fox's beloved and Emmy-winning animated television series, "Bob's Burgers," will also be a animated feature film in 2020.

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HISTORY -  From TheVillageVoice:  In the wake of "Playboy" magazine founder, Hugh Hefner's death, "The Village Voice" is make available its 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning article, "Death of a Playmate."  The article is about the murder of "Playboy playmate," Dorothy Stratten, by her husband who killed himself after murdering her.  Stratten's life was fictionalized in Bob Fosse's final film, "Star 80" (1983).

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AVATAR - From THR:  Oscar-winner Kate Winslet joins James Cameron's "Avatar" universe.  Winslet starred in Cameron's Oscar-winning box office record setting film, "Titanic."

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MOVIES - From THR:  Joachim Ronning, director of the recent fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, will direct the sequel to "Maleficent," the 2014 worldwide hit starring Angelina Jolie.

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MOVIES - From SlashFilm:  Luc Besson says that "Lucy 2," the sequel to his hit film starring Scarlett Johansson, is still happening.

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MOVIES - From Collider:  Director Doug Liman provided an update on "Edge of Tomorrow 2."

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LAS VEGAS:

BREAKING NEWS - From WashingtonPost:  A gunman opened fire at a country music concert in Las Vegas on Sunday night - Breaking news and developing story.

From YahooNews:  Dark details emerge about the family history of Las Vegas mass shooter, Stephen Paddock.

From YahooNews:  Stephen Paddock was a multimillionaire!

From YahooNewsweek:  The identities of the victims of Las Vegas mass shooter, Stephen Paddock, are being revealed.

From TheDailyBeast:  Former Fox New host and serial sexual harasser, Bill O'Reilly, says that Las Vegas massacre is "the price of freedom."

From YahooFinance:  Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger announced that a Disney cast member, Carrie Barnette, was killed in the Las Vegas shooting.  Another, Jessica Milam, was injured.

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MUSIC - From TMZ:  Tom Petty found in full cardiac arrest at home in Malibu - Developing Story.

From YahooNews:  Tom Petty may have been taken off life support.

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TELEVISION - From TVLine:  Jon Hamm has joined Neil Gaiman's "Good Omens," the six-part TV adaptation of Gaiman's novel of the same name that he wrote with the late Terry Prathett.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  It is a close race for #1 at the 9/29 to 10/1/2017 weekend box office with "IT" ($17.3 mil), "American Made" ($17.01 mil), and "Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle" ($17 mil) fighting for #1.

From TheWrap:  Period pieces, "Loving Vincent," and "Victoria and Abdul," expand at indie box office.

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CELEBRITY - From People:  O.J. Simpson has been released from prison.

From BET:  Rob Kardashian can't pay his baby mama Blac Chyna the $20,000 per month in child support for their child, Dream, that he agreed to pay. 

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MOVIES - From SlashFilm:  Don Mancini, the creator of the horror movie killer, Chucky ("Child's Play"), submits to a Q&A about the "Chucky" franchise and about the new film, "Cult of Chucky," the seventh installment.

TRAILER:

From SideshowToys:  Here is the first trailer for Alex Garland's upcoming film, "Annihilation" (February 2018),

OBITS:

From YahooNews:  Rock music legend, Tom Petty, has died at the age of 66, Monday night, October 2, 2017.  Petty was best known as the front man of the band "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."  He also recorded two albums with the supergroup, "Traveling Wilburys," and he released three solo albums.  He won three Grammy Awards, one as a solo artist, one with the Heartbreakers, and one with the Wilburys.

From DeadlineTV:  Comedian Ralphie May has died at the age of 45, Friday, October 6, 2017.  He rose to fame competing on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" in 2003.

From RSN:  Peace activist and teacher, Scott Galindez, died at the age of 52, Tuesday, September 26, 2017.  He was a frequent contributor to news service, Reader Supported News.

Oklahoma Film Critics Gives "Spotlight" its Best Picture Award

The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle (OFCC) is the statewide group of professional film critics.  OFCC members are Oklahoma-based movie critics who write for print, broadcast and online outlets that publish or post reviews of current film releases.

The OFCC announced its 10th annual awards winners in early January of 2016.

2015 Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award winners:

Best Picture - "Spotlight"

Best Actor – Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"

Best Actress – Brie Larson, "Room"

Best Animated Film - "Inside Out"

Best Body of Work – Alicia Vikander, "Ex Machina," "The Danish Girl," "Testament of Youth," "Burnt"

Best Director – George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Best Documentary - "Amy"

Best First Feature – Alex Garland, "Ex Machina"

Best Foreign Language Film - "Son of Saul" (Hungary)

Best Original Screenplay - "Spotlight"

Best Adapted Screenplay – Charles Randolph and Adam McKay, "The Big Short"

Best Supporting Actor (TIE)
Michael Keaton "Spotlight"
Sylvester Stallone "Creed"

Best Supporting Actress – Alicia Vikander, "Ex Machina"

Most Disappointing Film – "Tomorrowland"

Top 10 Films
"Spotlight"
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"Brooklyn"
"Ex-Machina"
"The Big Short"
"Carol"
"The Revenant"
"Inside Out"
"Sicario"
"The Hateful Eight

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2016 Director's Guild Awards - Alejandro G. Iñárritu Wins for "The Revenant"

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is the entertainment labor union that represents film and television directors.  The DGA gives out the Directors Guild of America Award each year to honor outstanding achievement.

Winners were announced at the 68th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday evening, February 6, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The DGA Awards wias hosted by actor Jane Lynch.

2016 / 68th Annual DGA Award winners;

Feature Film

ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU
The Revenant
(20th Century Fox)

Unit Production Managers: Drew Locke, James W. Skotchdopole, Doug Jones
First Assistant Director: Scott Robertson
Second Assistant Directors: Megan M. Shank, Matthew Haggerty, Jeremy Marks
Unit Production Manager: Gabriela Vazquez (Argentina, California, and Montana Unit)
First Assistant Director: Adam Somner (Argentina, California, and Montana Unit)
Second Assistant Directors: Trevor R. Tavares, Jasmine Marie Alhambra (Argentina, California, and Montana Unit)
Second Second Assistant Directors: Brett Robinson, Kasia Trojak (Argentina, California, and Montana Unit)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director

ALEX GARLAND
Ex Machina
(A24)
Unit Production Manager: Sara Desmond
First Assistant Director: Nick Heckstall‑Smith
Second Assistant Director: Ray Kenny

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

DAVID NUTTER
Game of Thrones, “Mother’s Mercy” (HBO)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

CHRIS ADDISON
Veep, “Election Night” (HBO)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries

DEE REES
Bessie (HBO)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary

MATTHEW HEINEMAN
Cartel Land
The Orchard; A&E Indie Films, Our Time Projects, The Documentary Group, Whitewater Films

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials

DON ROY KING
Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special (NBC)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming

DAVE DIOMEDI
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “Episode #325” (NBC)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs

ADAM VETRI
Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge, “Gods of War” (CMT)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials

ANDREAS NILSSON
(Biscuit Filmworks)
Emily’s Oz, Comcast – Goodby, Silverstein & Partners NY
Time Upon A Once, General Electric – BBDO
Dad Song, Old Spice – Wieden + Kennedy

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs

KENNY ORTEGA
Descendants (Disney Channel)

Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Television Direction: JOE PYTKA

Commercial director Joe Pytka was honored with the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Television Direction in honor of his groundbreaking career.

Frank Capra Achievement Award: MARY RAE THEWLIS

Given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.

Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award: THOMAS McDERMOTT

Given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.

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Austin Film Critics Name "Mad Max: Fury Road" Best Film of 2015

The Austin Film Critics Association describes itself as a group dedicated to supporting the best in film, whether at the international, national, or local level.  Members of the AFCA contribute to such publications and outlets as Ain’t It Cool News, the Austin American-Statesman, the Austin Chronicle, The Daily Texan, DVDActive, Fandango, Film School Rejects, FirstShowing.net, KOOP Radio, Movies.com, among others.

The AFCA announced its 2015 awards winners, Top 10 films of the 2015, and special awards on Tuesday, December 29, 2015.

2015 Austin Film Critics Association Awards winners:

Best Film: Mad Max: Fury Road (dir: George Miller)

Best Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Best Actress: Brie Larson, Room

Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Best Original Screenplay: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, Inside Out
Best Adapted Screenplay: Emma Donoghue, Room
Best Cinematography: Edward Lachman, Carol
Best Score: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Best Foreign-Language Film: Son of Saul (dir: László Nemes)
Best Documentary: The Look of Silence (dir: Joshua Oppenheimer)
Best Animated Film: Inside Out (dir: Pete Docter)
Best First Film: Ex Machina (dir: Alex Garland)

The Robert R. “Bobby” McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award: Jacob Tremblay, Room
Austin Film Award: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (dir: David Zellner)

Special Honorary Award: Austin-based writer/animator Don Hertzfeldt in celebration of a career of remarkable short filmmaking and contributions to animation spanning two decades, with 2015’s award-winning “World of Tomorrow” being recognized as his best work to date

AFCA 2015 Top Ten Films:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. Spotlight
3. Carol
4. Anomalisa
5. Room
6. TIE: Ex Machina and Inside Out
8. Creed
9. The Big Short
10. Sicario

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Las Vegas Film Critics Named "Spotlight" Best Picture of 2015

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society (LVFCS) is a non-profit organization that describes itself as “progressive” and “dedicated to the advancement and preservation of film.”  The LVFCS membership is comprised of “select” print, television and internet film critics in the Las Vegas area. The LVFCS presents its "Sierra" awards each year for the best in film, including The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award, which is named for the late Academy Award winning actor.

2015 Sierra Award winners:

Best Picture
“Spotlight”

Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”

Best Actress
Brie Larson, “Room”

Best Supporting Actor
Sylvester Stallone, “Creed”

Best Supporting Actress
Elizabeth Banks, “Love & Mercy”

Best Director
Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”

Best Screenplay (Original)
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, “Spotlight”

Best Screenplay (Adapted)
Drew Goddard, “The Martian”

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “The Revenant”

Best Film Editing
Margaret Sixel, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Costume Design
Jenny Beavan, “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Art Direction
“Brooklyn”

Best Visual Effects
“Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Foreign Film
“Goodnight Mommy” (Austria)

Best Documentary
“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”

Best Animated Film
“Inside Out”

Best Family Film
“Cinderella”

Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film
“Ex Machina”

Best Comedy Film
“Trainwreck”

Best Action Film
“Mad Max: Fury Road”

Best Ensemble
“Spotlight”

Best Score
“The Hateful Eight”

Best Song
“See You Again” (DJ Frank E, Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa, and Andrew Cedar – writers) – “Furious 7”

Youth in Film
Jason Tremblay, “Room”

Breakout Filmmaker of the Year
Alex Garland, “Ex Machina”

Silver Nitrate Award
Lee Lanier (Dam Short Film Festival)

William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
Ennio Morricone

LVFCS Top 10 Films of 2015:
1. Spotlight
2. Creed
3. Ex Machina
4. Straight Outta Compton
5. Beasts of No Nation
6. The Martian
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
8. Sicario
9. Legend
10. Room

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Chicago Film Critics Chooses "Mad Max: Fury Road" as Best Picture of 2015

The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization that hands out the Chicago Film Critics Awards, hold critics roundtables, and takes on industry and artists’ rights issues. The parent association was founded in 1990 by film critic Sue Kiner after the successful launch of the Chicago Film Critics Awards in 1989.

Now in its 26th year, the CFCA announced the winners of Chicago Film Critics Association Awards during their year-end awards dinner held on the evening of Wednesday, December 16, 2015.

2015 / 26th Annual Chicago Film Critics Association Award winners:

BEST PICTURE
Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST DIRECTOR
George Miller--Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio--The Revenant

BEST ACTRESS
Brie Larson--Room

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benicio Del Toro--Sicario

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Alicia Vikander--Ex Machina

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spotlight--Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short--Adam McKay & Charles Randolph

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mad Max: Fury Road--John Seale

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Hateful Eight--Ennio Morricone

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST EDITING
Mad Max: Fury Road--Jason Ballantine & Margaret Sixel

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Son of Saul (Hungary)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Amy

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Inside Out

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Jacob Tremblay--Room

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Alex Garland--Ex Machina

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New York Film Critics Online Put on the "Spotlight" for Best Film of 2015

The New York Film Critics Online is a group of Internet film critics based in New York City that meets once a year, in December, for voting on its annual NYFCO Awards.

2015 New York Film Critics Online honorees:

FILM:
Spotlight

DIRECTOR:
Tom McCarthy

SCREENPLAY:
Tom McCarthy and Josh Springer - Spotlight

ENSEMBLE CAST:
Spotlight

ACTRESS:
Brie Larson – Room

ACTOR:
Paul Dano - Love & Mercy

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Rooney Mara – Carol

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies

CINEMATOGRAPHER:
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Son of Saul (Hungary)

DOCUMENTARY:
Amy

ANIMATED FEATURE:
Inside Out

DEBUT AS DIRECTOR:
Alex Garland, Ex Machina

USE OF MUSIC:
Love & Mercy; Atticus Ross, Composer; Featuring the Music of Brian Wilson

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE:
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina and The Danish Girl


Top 10 Pictures of 2015 (Alphabetical)
45 Years
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Spotlight
Steve Jobs
Trumbo

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"Ex Machina" Dominates 2015 British Independent Film Awards

In 1998, Raindance created the British Independent Film Awards to celebrate merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking.  The awards also honor new talent and promote British films and filmmaking to a wider public.

The 2015/18th Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced in London.  The winners were announced in a ceremony on Sunday, December 6, 2015 at Old Billingsgate. The event was live streamed on www.bifa.film.

The 2015 Moët British Independent Film Awards winners:

Best British Independent Film sponsored by Moët & Chandon
EX MACHINA - Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Alex Garland

Best Director
EX MACHINA - Alex Garland

Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films
EX MACHINA - Alex Garland

Best Actress sponsored by MAC
SAOIRSE RONAN - Brooklyn

Best Actor sponsored by Movado
TOM HARDY - Legend

Best Supporting Actress
OLIVIA COLMAN - The Lobster

Best Supporting Actor
BRENDAN GLEESON - Suffragette

Most Promising Newcomer sponsored by The London Edition
MIA GOTH - The Survivalist

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by 3 Mills Studios
THE SURVIVALIST - Stephen Fingleton

The Discovery Award sponsored by Raindance
ORION: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING - Jeanie Finlay

Best Documentary
DARK HORSE: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF DREAM ALLIANCE - Judith Dawson, Louise Osmond

Producer of the Year
PAUL KATIS, ANDREW DE LOTBINIERE - Kajaki: The True Story

Outstanding Achievement in Craft
ANDREW WHITEHURST - Visual Effects, Ex Machina

Best British Short Film:
EDMOND - Emilie Jouffroy, Nina Gantz

Best International Independent Film:
ROOM (Canada, Ireland) - Ed Guiney, David Gross, Emma Donoghue, Lenny Abrahamson

The Variety Award:
Kate Winslet
(The Variety Award recognises a director, actor, writer or producer who has made a global impact and helped to focus the international spotlight on the UK.)

The Richard Harris Award:
Chiwetel Ejiofor
(The Richard Harris Award was introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris and recognizes outstanding contribution to British film by an actor.)

Special Jury Prize:
Chris Collins
(A BFI executive who died late last year.)

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Review: "Ex Machina" More Proof of Alex Garland's Talents

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

[A version of this review first appeared on Patreon.]

Ex Machina (2015)
COUNTRY OF  ORIGIN: UK
Running time:108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes]
MPAA – R for graphic nudity, language, sexual references and some violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Alex Garland    
PRODUCERS:  Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, and Ben Salisbury
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Rob Hardy
EDITOR:  Mark Day
COMPOSER:  Geoff Barrow

SCI-FI/DRAMA with elements of a thriller

Starring:  Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Sonoya Mizuno, and Oscar Isaac

Ex Machina is a 2015 science film from writer-director Alex Garland.  The film focuses on a young programmer chosen to evaluate a female A.I. on her human qualities.  Oscar-winning producer Scott Rudin is one of this film's executive producers.

Ex Machina introduces Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson),  a programmer working for Bluebook, the world's most popular search engine.  Caleb wins a company-wide contest to visit the company's CEO, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), at his secluded home and research facility.

Shortly after he arrives, Caleb learns that Nathan has built a humanoid robot (or android) named Ava (Alicia Vikander) that possesses artificial intelligence (A.I.)  Nathan wants Caleb to administer “the Turing test” to Ava.  This test is designed to measure an A.I.'s ability to persuade the tester that it is human.  Ava is breath-taking in appearance, and Nathan discovers that he can relate to her despite knowing that she is artificial.  Ava may be an android, but her feminine wiles prove to be more formidable than Caleb could ever imagine.

Alex Garland has proved to be a talented novelist and filmmaker.  His wrote the screenplay for the film, Dredd, one of the best film adaptations of a comic book to be released this decade.  In Ex Machina, he makes use of special effects in subtle ways, and that serves to make this film seem both plausible and tangible.  Like Spike Jonze's Her, Ex Machina seems to be set in some near-future, a decade or so from now.  The manner in which Garland presents Ava makes it seem as if a sentient android A.I. is just a few years from appearing.  In fact, this movie makes me believe that somewhere in our world, in a hideaway compound, nestled in the mountains, a billionaire tech genius is probably halfway to making his own Ava.

Ex Machina is stylish, but substantive, but where it is spare, beauty comes through.  It is as if Garland uses an eye-candy aesthetic to spin his ideas and theories.  He shrewdly intertwines romance, character melodrama, dramatic conflict, and pulp thrills while composer Geoff Barrow's score enhances everything to great affect.  In fact, Barrow has invented a “soundscape” that makes Ex Machina less ethereal and speculative, but more vivid and life-like.

This shrewd, speculative science fiction film could not work without high-quality performances from its actors.  It should be no surprise that Oscar Isaac delivers a complex man who is maddeningly fascinating and repulsive in Nathan.  Isaac's presence is so strong that it is hard to believe that Nathan is apparently a “supporting character.”  Isaac is about to blast off into wider fame in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and so is his costar, Domhnall Gleeson, who is also appearing in the seventh installment of the Star Wars film franchise.

Gleeson delivers a complicated character in Caleb.  Other than realizing that he is smitten with Ava, the viewer might find Caleb hard to figure out.  The character is well written, and Gleeson translates that into a character that, like a real person, hides so much behind the facade of his face.

Alicia Vikander also seems to be close to being a breakout actress, but perhaps she will prove to be a fine dramatic actress instead of merely being a pretty face who is cast in splashy Hollywood flicks for a few years.  Her layered, textured performance makes Ava seem spare, aloof, mysterious, and even cold.  However, Vikander makes you believe that there is so much more to Ava, more than anyone, even her creator, can ever know.

With its themes that recall Frankenstein, Ex Machina is a sleek film with both Gothic and futuristic sensibilities.  As much as I like it, I find the last 10 minutes of the film to be flimsy because the ending seems tacked on more than it seems predictable (which it is).  Despite that, I still think that Ex Machina is an exceptional science fiction film that is worth watching.  Consider it a cautionary tale about our future or perhaps, consider it a sign post along the road to the Twilight Zone.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, August 18, 2015


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: "28 Days Later" is Just Short of Being Great

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 97 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

28 Days Later (2002)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
(U.S. release: June 2003)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and gore, language and nudity
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle
WRITER: Alex Garland
PRODUCER: Andrew Macdonald
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Anthony Dod Mantle
EDITOR: Chris Gill
COMPOSER: John Murphy

HORROR/SCI-FI/DRAMA

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomi Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Noah Huntley, and Christopher Eccleston

What if the Danny Boyle, the director of the sublime Trainspotting and The Beach (hey, I really like that movie), decided to make a zombie movie? If you’re like me, you were excited the first time you heard about this project. Well, we got it…sort of. Released in the United Kingdom in 2002, 28 Days Later was a big hit, but we had to wait until the summer of 2003 before Americans saw it. It’s not quite the zombie gore fest that I expected, but it’s a very creepy post-apocalyptic drama.

A group of do-gooder animal rights activists (the road to Hell…) break into an animal research facility with a lab full of monkeys that are, a captured scientist tells them, “infected with rage.” An infected monkey attacks one of the activists and unleashes an epidemic that destroys the U.K. Whenever a human is exposed to even one drop of blood or saliva from the infected, he becomes locked into a permanent state of murderous rage. In 28 days, Great Britain is a dead civilization.

On the 28th day, bike courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes from a coma he suffered after a car hit him and finds himself in a completely empty hospital. Not long after that he runs into group of infected humans, now murderous “zombies.” These “rage” creatures aren’t like the traditional foot-shuffling zombies we’ve come to love, especially in George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and its sequels. They’ll chase a healthy human down with the speed of a track star and the single-minded zeal of a crackhead. Jim meets a handful of survivors including tough girl Selena (Naomi Harris) and father-daughter team Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and Hannah (Megan Burns). Jim and a few of the survivors eventually end up at a military compound where they discover that their most desperate struggle for survival might not be against the ghouls.

28 Days Later taps into two of post-9/11 biggest worries, the threat of terrorism and lethal contagion. Arriving in America on the heels of the SARS scare, the film has dreary and sort of dreadful sense of realism. I found the “rage” disease and the speedy, raspy, blood-vomited monsters a bit farfetched (but still scary), so the entire horror genre angle of the film was mildly retarded; it simply just didn’t have the blow-to-the-gut immediacy and terror of something like Day of the Dead. The scariest thing about this film is the idea of how much harm humanity can do itself. The most potent violence in this film is simple man vs. man bloodletting, be it from sudden bloodlust or from cold, calculated murder.

If the characters appear thin, it’s because of the weight of their troubles. The audience is more focused on the both the film’s setting and concept than the characters. Besides, in a horror movie, characters of depth are largely a waste since the sole reason of characters in horror movies is to be acted upon violently. Still, I like what I saw. Brendan Gleeson always brings a strong dramatic presence to any film in which he appears. He’s the solid, archetypical father figure struggling to save his charges from the chaos of a mad world. I like Cillian Murphy’s gangly Jim, but it’s a bit hard to buy him as a hero. However, he works as a believable everyman who shows up out of the blue; at least one of that kind survives every the apocalypse in a post-apocalypse film. I really dug Naomi Harris’s Selena; she’s a warrior and the best genre heroine since The Matrix’s Trinity.

It would have been simpler just to make a cool-looking MTV-style zombie movie, but Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland went and got all-artful on us. In the film, the threat of a sudden and bloody-vicious zombie attack is a quite palatable fear that you can feel in your soul, but genre considerations apparently had to give way to a bit of social commentary. The film speaks with a lot of hopelessness concerning the state of human affairs with just enough of hopeful resolution to make it a Hollywood ending. I have mixed feelings about this film, mostly because I didn’t get what I wanted.

Still, I can’t get the ominous and grainy images of 28 Days Later out of my head. Boyle shot the film on digital video reportedly for budgetary reasons; if this is true (others say the choice was artistic), it is a happy accident for sure. The “docu-realism” look of the film will make it a memorable movie about the end of the world, as we know it.

6 of 10
B

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