Critics Choice Award Nominees 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018 at 10:13 am

As a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, I am proud to announce our nominees for this year’s Critics Choice Awards.

FILM NOMINATIONS FOR THE 24TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

The Favourite

First Man

Green Book

If Beale Street Could Talk

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale – Vice

Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born

Willem Dafoe – At Eternity’s Gate

Ryan Gosling – First Man

Ethan Hawke – First Reformed

Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio – Roma

Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns

Glenn Close – The Wife

Toni Collette – Hereditary

Olivia Colman – The Favourite

Lady Gaga – A Star Is Born

Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali – Green Book

Timothée Chalamet – Beautiful Boy

Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott – A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Michael B. Jordan – Black Panther

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams – Vice

Claire Foy – First Man

Nicole Kidman – Boy Erased

Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone – The Favourite

Rachel Weisz – The Favourite

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade

Thomasin McKenzie – Leave No Trace

Ed Oxenbould – Wildlife

Millicent Simmonds – A Quiet Place

Amandla Stenberg – The Hate U Give

Sunny Suljic – Mid90s

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Black Panther

Crazy Rich Asians

The Favourite

Vice

Widows

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle – First Man

Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born

Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

Peter Farrelly – Green Book

Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite

Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman

Adam McKay – Vice

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bo Burnham – Eighth Grade

Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara – The Favourite

Adam McKay – Vice

Paul Schrader – First Reformed

Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly – Green Book

Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski – A Quiet Place

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole – Black Panther

Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk

Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters – A Star Is Born

Josh Singer – First Man

Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

James Laxton – If Beale Street Could Talk

Matthew Libatique – A Star Is Born

Rachel Morrison – Black Panther

Robbie Ryan – The Favourite

Linus Sandgren – First Man

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Hannah Beachler, Jay Hart – Black Panther

Eugenio Caballero, Barbara Enriquez – Roma

Nelson Coates, Andrew Baseman – Crazy Rich Asians

Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton – The Favourite

Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas – First Man

John Myhre, Gordon Sim – Mary Poppins Returns

BEST EDITING

Jay Cassidy – A Star Is Born

Hank Corwin – Vice

Tom Cross – First Man

Alfonso Cuarón, Adam Gough – Roma

Yorgos Mavropsaridis – The Favourite

Joe Walker – Widows

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alexandra Byrne – Mary Queen of Scots

Ruth Carter – Black Panther

Julian Day – Bohemian Rhapsody

Sandy Powell – The Favourite

Sandy Powell – Mary Poppins Returns

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Mary Queen of Scots

Suspiria

Vice

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ready Player One

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Grinch

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

BEST ACTION MOVIE

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

Deadpool 2

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ready Player One

Widows

BEST COMEDY

Crazy Rich Asians

Deadpool 2

The Death of Stalin

The Favourite

Game Night

Sorry to Bother You

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Christian Bale – Vice

Jason Bateman – Game Night

Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

John C. Reilly – Stan & Ollie

Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool 2

Lakeith Stanfield – Sorry to Bother You

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns

Olivia Colman – The Favourite

Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade

Rachel McAdams – Game Night

Charlize Theron – Tully

Constance Wu – Crazy Rich Asians

BEST SCI-FI OR HORROR MOVIE

Annihilation

Halloween

Hereditary

A Quiet Place

Suspiria

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Burning

Capernaum

Cold War

Roma

Shoplifters

BEST SONG

All the Stars – Black Panther

Girl in the Movies – Dumplin’

I’ll Fight – RBG

The Place Where Lost Things Go – Mary Poppins Returns

Shallow – A Star Is Born

Trip a Little Light Fantastic – Mary Poppins Returns

BEST SCORE

Kris Bowers – Green Book

Nicholas Britell – If Beale Street Could Talk

Alexandre Desplat – Isle of Dogs

Ludwig Göransson – Black Panther

Justin Hurwitz – First Man

Marc Shaiman – Mary Poppins Returns

Related Tags:

Awards

The MPAA: 50 Years of Movie Ratings

Posted on December 9, 2018 at 10:46 pm

MPAA head Charles Rivkin writes about the first half century of the Motion Picture Association’s Ratings system.

It took a little time but, over the decades, the rating system gained credibility and acceptance with audiences. And this month, as we celebrate the system’s 50th anniversary, it remains the gold standard of voluntary industry self-regulation.

Given the extraordinary changes in our culture, entertainment, and society over the past half century, this anniversary feels particularly hard-earned and special. And if you can measure success by how long it has lasted, then I agree with The Center for Association Leadership which recently called the ratings system “the most famous association initiative of all time.”

We could point to many factors behind that success. But the clearest one of all comes directly from its founding mission: to maintain the trust and confidence of American parents.

I have often complained about the MPAA rating system, but Rivkin is right that it was a huge improvement over the Hays Code, which literally set a time limit for kisses and forbade portrayal of clergy as incompetent or corrupt — and, most importantly, required all movies to be suitable for all audiences. We look forward to continued refinements over the next half century.

Related Tags:

Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Win Dolly Parton’s New Album!

Posted on December 7, 2018 at 8:10 am

Dolly Parton wrote six new songs for the new Netflix film, “Dumplin'” and I have the CD to give away!

Guest stars include Mavis Staples, Macy Gray, Elle King, and Sia, and the CD features the Golden GLobe-nominated “Girl in the Movies” and a new string version of Dolly’s classic, “Jolene.”

To enter, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Dolly in the subject line and tell me your favorite winter holiday song. Don’t forget your address! (U.S. addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on December 17, 2018. Good luck!

Related Tags:

Contests and Giveaways

Ben is Back

Posted on December 6, 2018 at 5:40 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language throughout and some drug use
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	A theme of the movie, drug dealing, drug use, overdoses
Violence/ Scariness:	Peril and threats of violence
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	December 7, 2018
Date Released to DVD:	March 4, 2019

Movies about families struggling with substance abuse, like real life struggles, generally follow the same pattern. A family member gets involved with drugs (or alcohol or some other addiction) and then there is the horrified realization of how serious the problem is, hope, betrayal, hope, back-sliding, incalculable damage to other family members, anger, recriminations, tears, hope, more back-sliding, maybe some more hope. We saw that most recently in “Beautiful Boy,” based on the joint memoirs of a father and son. But writer-director Peter Hedges (“Pieces of April,””What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?”) wisely takes a different approach in “Ben is Back,” starring his son, Lucas Hedges (“Manchester By the Sea,” “Boy Erased”).

As he explained to me in an interview, Hedges has always been fascinated by the story of Orpheus, who followed the woman he loved into Hades to try to save her. As the title tells us, this movie begins when Ben (Hedges) unexpectedly shows up at home just before Christmas. We learn everything that the typical substance abuse movie takes two hours to cover in the first few minutes, from the very different reactions of his mother, Holly (Julia Roberts), who is overjoyed to see him and his sister, Ivy (Kathryn Newton), who is furious and horrified. (Nice Christmas-y names, there, Holly and Ivy). And then we see that Holly may be happy to have Ben home, but she has not forgotten who he is — she immediately empties out the medicine cabinet and hides her jewelry.

He says he got permission from the residential rehab program. It is probably not true, but what can a mother do? She wants it to be true so badly. She wants him to be home and to want to be home. And it is Christmas. Holly’s husband, Neal (Courtney B. Vance), the father of her two younger children, does not want Ben to be there. Holly persuades him to give Ben (another) chance.

And then, she must follow him into Hades. An incursion from Ben’s old life in the underworld of drug abuse means that Ben must visit many of his former contacts, and Holly insists on going with him. She may have thought she knew and had experienced the worst, that she knows how far she can go, how far she is willing to go, but she will learn that none of that is true.

Hedges, as always, approaches his characters with a deep, tenderhearted humanity. He is clear-eyed about the genuine villains in this story, including those who make and sell legal opiates, and he recognizes the mistakes even well-meaning, attentive, caring people make. He also understands how family dynamics curb and enable abuse, and how abuse distorts and damages everyone in the substance abuser’s orbit. But he has sympathy for addicts and their families, acknowledging their mistakes and their struggles but always wanting the best for them.

We go backwards through Ben’s life (and Holly’s), meeting people who used with him and people who used him. We see how he first got hooked, one of the movie’s most powerful moments as Holly confronts the now-pathetic culprit in a shopping mall food court. We see the collateral damage, the grieving mother, the near-destroyed friend. And, paraphrasing the words of the old public service ad, we know what it did to Ben, but does Holly know what it is doing to her?

Roberts, who has always been one of the most expressive of actors, gives one of her all-time best performances here. From the film’s very first moment, as she persuades her younger children to do something with a small, seemingly harmless bribe, we see how much of her energy and focus is on managing the world for the people she loves. As she and Ben are driving through their own version of Hades, she keeps assuring her family that everything is fine and that she and Ben will be home soon. It is as though she thinks that if she can only persuade everyone, she can will it into being. The skill of this movie is that while it is clear she cannot, we wish she could.

Parents should know that this movie includes themes of drug abuse, overdoses, rehab, drug dealing, sexual references, sad offscreen death, and very strong language.

Family discussion: How is this different from other stories of substance abuse? What do we learn from the scene in the food court? Why can’t Holly tell her family the truth?

If you like this, try: “Beautiful Boy” and “Flight”

Mary Queen of Scots

Posted on December 6, 2018 at 5:31 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for some violence and sexuality
Profanity:	Some language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	Peril and violence including armed battles and beheading
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	December 7, 2018
Date Released to DVD:	February 25, 2019

Gorgeous production values, magnificent costumes, a gripping historical rivalry that lasted a quarter century and ended with a beheading, and two fierce, beautiful, endlessly talented actresses giving it everything they’ve got — that takes us pretty far, but it cannot make up for a script that reduces the story of the class between two of the most powerful rules in history to a spat between mean girls over who has the cutest boyfriend.

Okay, not that bad. But it is a real shame for Mary Queen of Scots to take the story of these two women and limit the focus to their rivalry. Queen Elizabeth gave her name to an age that included innovative and very successful economic policies, resolved irreconcilable religious divisions that began when her father, Henry VIII, left the Catholic church and established the Church of England and led to decades of bloody conflict, defeated the Spanish Armada, oversaw historical world exploration (and colonization), and presided over a golden age of culture that included the greatest author in the history of the English language. Mary, Queen of Scots was able to maintain her throne for a remarkable time given the constant attacks and efforts to undermine and betray her. But too much of this film is focused on their rivalry even though (or maybe because) they were facing very similar challenges.

Saoirse Ronan is superbly regal as Mary, fire to Elizabeth’s ice. She is fierce and fearless, leading her troops into battle and confronting those who would question her fitness or her right to serve as a matter of law, divine and mortal. Having been married off to another ruler, the king of France, who died, leaving her with no place in the French court, she makes a triumphant return to Scotland, kissing the ground as she arrives to take the throne that had been occupied by her half-brother.

Margot Robbie plays Elizabeth, canny, decisive, often imperious, but also afraid — of the threats within her own court and of her cousin Mary, whose legal claim, ties to the Catholic church, and personal appeal made her jealous and uncharacteristically insecure. Co-screenwriter Beau Willimon (“House of Cards”) has a feel for the ruthlessness of courtiers jousting for power and director Josie Rourke, with a background in theater, is well suited to the pomp and, well, theatricality of the courts. Mary’s looks like a castle version of the Scottish countryside, spare and craggy, while Elizabeth’s is luxurious and draped with tapestries. In real life, the two women never met, but that isn’t very cinematic, so there is a strikingly choreographed meeting here, the two queens separated by a maze of fluttering linens. If the substance of the story matched the look of it, this movie could have done justice to two of history’s most fascinating and transformative characters.

Parents should know that this film has peril and violence including armed battles and beheading, sexual references and explicit situations, and medical issues.

Family discussion: Who was the better leader? How did being women affect the way Mary and Elizabeth saw themselves? Why couldn’t Elizabeth trust Mary?

If you like this, try: “Anne of the Thousand Days,” “Elizabeth,” and “The Young Victoria”