New Trailer for 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'

Not a lot about this film looks very interesting. All the special effects in the Marvel movies these days look so same-y, don’t they? I feel like we’ve all seen this before. Let’s just hope Kang the Conqueror delivers with a good villain, since he’s going to be around for a while.

Guild Nominations Incoming: ASC, ADG and MPSE Weigh In First

So the guild nominations are finally here and most of them drop this week, on a truncated calendar. The first batch we have here would indicate what has actual strength in the industry compared to the critics and Globes voters.

2022 MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITORS NOMINEES

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Dialogue / ADR

The Banshees of Inisherin
The Batman
Elvis
Empire of Light
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Top Gun: Maverick

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Effects / Foley

Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Jurassic World: Dominion
Nope
Top Gun: Maverick

They have six nominees here, so there will be less at the Oscars for sound, but a complete miss for a supposed heavy hitter like The Fabelmans (which was also snubbed at ASC below) is telling, while Everything Everywhere shows strength. The other nominees were mostly expected, as the sound editors are impressed by action movies usually.

2022 ART DIRECTORS GUILD NOMINEES

Avatar lands expected nominations for sound and production design

Period Feature:
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Babylon”
“Elvis”
“The Fabelmans”
“White Noise”

Fantasy Feature:
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“The Batman”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“Nope”

Contemporary Feature:
“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”
“Bullet Train”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
“Tár”
“Top Gun: Maverick”

Again with these there are three categories- two too many to predict what makes it into Oscar’s one, but The Batman seems to be doing well so far. I’d forgotten about its acclaimed techs, so that one might land some surprise nominations on Oscar morning.

2022 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS NOMINEES

Elvis showing major strength in the guilds so far- could Baz Luhrmann recognition be next?

Empire of Light
The Batman
Bardo
Elvis
Top Gun Maverick

Now this is the most important guild of the day, as cinematography, along with editing, is the biggest of the below the line technical awards. And the nominees here are surprising- Elvis made it! Elvis is clearly a top five film in the industry, and Baz Luhrmann could well be looking at his first DGA nomination after all these years (and it speaks well for Austin Butler’s chances in Best Actor, and maybe even Tom Hanks to get into supporting for a critically reviled performance). Alejandro Innaritu’s Bardo looks like it may be more popular in the industry than it was with critics as well, and again The Batman making it makes the movie three for three today in techs. And then there’s Top Gun- definitely making it into every category as well. Until recently I thought Everything Everywhere was possibly the consensus choice for Picture but now I’m thinking it might be Top Gun, as the industry recognizes it may finally be time to award a blockbuster movie the top prize again. I wouldn’t be surprised at all now if that happened. Watch out for the SAG noms on Wednesday to see whether Top Gun’s strength extends to the actors- not usually the case for action movies. We’ll see if it is now.

National Society of Film Critics Pick 'Tar'

So, the NSFC weighs in and confirms the critics decision to pretty much be sheep this year, as they rubber stamp Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell and Tar in general. I don’t think the critics felt a lot of excitement for films overall this year. Supporting actress is the one category that seems pretty wide open to me. At least until the televised awards start next week with the Globes. Then we’ll see who gains momentum there.

2022 NSFC WINNERS

Best Picture: Tar

Best Director: Charlotte Wells, Aftersun

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Tar

Best Actor: Colin Farrell, After Yang and The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Yuan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Screenplay: Todd Field, Tar

Best Film Not in the English Language: EO

Best Nonfiction Film: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Best Cinematography: EO

Nicholas Hoult Stars as 'Renfield'

This looks like it might be funny? Nicholas Hoult has proven he has real comedy chops in The Favourite and The Great, and this looks like it might work. And come on, Nicolas Cage as Dracula? Gotta give it a shot at least.

1st Trailer for 'Oppenheimer' Teases High Drama and Explosions

Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated Oppenheimer is going to tell the story of the man who invented the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. This trailer isn’t bad but the IMAX teaser played before Avatar in theaters was much better and I wonder why they chose to release this one instead. Here’s hoping Cillian Murphy finally gets some long overdue recognition next year in a big leading role.

The Teaser for 'Barbie' is Here

I had no idea what this movie was going to be but I sort of assumed it was going to be something like Enchanted, where Barbie is turned into a human woman and comes to the real world or something. But maybe it really is set entirely in the Barbie universe, complete with musical numbers? I don’t know, man. Looks like it could be a huge hit or a huge flop. Barbie and Ken do seem perfectly cast with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling though, so that’s something.

New 'Women Talking' Trailer Shows Off the Cast

This trailer is much better than that first one. The movie was delayed a few weeks and is now coming out Dec. 23rd, but it’s been showing up in most of the year end awards nominations so far. It will probably get at least a few nominations at the Oscars. Word is that Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley are the standouts in the ensemble, but there’s no real lead (as you can kind of tell from the trailer).

Brendan Fraser Stars in 'The Whale'

Finally, this movie actually has a trailer. Brendan Fraser has been getting Oscar buzz for months for The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky, but it looks like kind of a painful experience to sit through. It’s also gotten extremely mixed response from critics overall, with some loving it and others despising it. You’ll have to judge for yourself.

'Everything Everywhere' Leads the Critics Choice Nominations with 14

Well, I think every day adds evidence to my theory that Everything is the one to beat for Best Picture. Of course, my hatred for the BFCA knows no bounds, as these hacks love to call themselves the best Oscar predictors (which anyone can be if you nominate literally everything that came out this year). Ten nominees for film and director? Really?

2022 CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS NOMINATIONS

BEST PICTURE

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

RRR

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

Women Talking

BEST ACTOR

Austin Butler – Elvis

Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick

Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser – The Whale

Paul Mescal – Aftersun

Bill Nighy – Living

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett – Tár

Viola Davis – The Woman King

Danielle Deadwyler – Till

Margot Robbie – Babylon

Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans

Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Paul Dano – The Fabelmans

Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin

Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans

Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Brian Tyree Henry – Causeway

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Jessie Buckley – Women Talking

Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Janelle Monáe – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Frankie Corio – Aftersun

Jalyn Hall – Till

Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans

Bella Ramsey – Catherine Called Birdy

Banks Repeta – Armageddon Time

Sadie Sink – The Whale

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

The Woman King

Women Talking

BEST DIRECTOR

James Cameron – Avatar: The Way of Water

Damien Chazelle – Babylon

Todd Field – Tár

Baz Luhrmann – Elvis

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin

Sarah Polley – Women Talking

Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King

S. S. Rajamouli – RRR

Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Todd Field – Tár

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin

Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – The Fabelmans

Charlotte Wells – Aftersun

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Samuel D. Hunter – The Whale

Kazuo Ishiguro – Living

Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Rebecca Lenkiewicz – She Said

Sarah Polley – Women Talking

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Russell Carpenter – Avatar: The Way of Water

Roger Deakins – Empire of Light

Florian Hoffmeister – Tár

Janusz Kaminski – The Fabelmans

Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick

Linus Sandgren – Babylon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Hannah Beachler, Lisa K. Sessions – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Rick Carter, Karen O’Hara – The Fabelmans

Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, Vanessa Cole – Avatar: The Way of Water

Jason Kisvarday, Kelsi Ephraim – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn – Elvis

Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – Babylon

BEST EDITING

Tom Cross – Babylon

Eddie Hamilton – Top Gun: Maverick

Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, James Cameron – Avatar: The Way of Water

Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond – Elvis

Monika Willi – Tár

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Jenny Eagan – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Shirley Kurata – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Catherine Martin – Elvis

Gersha Phillips – The Woman King

Mary Zophres – Babylon

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Babylon

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Whale

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Everything Everywhere All at Once

RRR

Top Gun: Maverick

BEST COMEDY

The Banshees of Inisherin

Bros

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Triangle of Sadness

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

Wendell & Wild

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina, 1985

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

Close

Decision to Leave

RRR

BEST SONG

Carolina – Where the Crawdads Sing

Ciao Papa – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Hold My Hand – Top Gun: Maverick

Lift Me Up – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Naatu Naatu – RRR

New Body Rhumba – White Noise

BEST SCORE

Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Michael Giacchino – The Batman

Hildur Guðnadóttir – Tár

Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking

Justin Hurwitz – Babylon

John Williams – The Fabelmans

Babylon hasn’t even come out yet but these “critics” appear to be hedging their bets

Miles Morales Returns in 'Across the Spider-Verse'

Into the Spider-Verse was one of the best superhero movies of the last decade- it was an animated film that was able to get across the appeal of comic books altogether, which most live action movies simply cannot do. The sequel looks just as fun and there may be no better medium for this genre.

'Banshees of Inisherin' Leads the Golden Globe Nominations With 8

The Golden Globes are back. Now with a lot of new members to correct their problems with the diversity of their membership, but that doesn’t look to me to have changed much about their taste. Lots of big names, big movies, etc. The Golden Globes will be back on NBC next year, airing on January 10th (a Tuesday!) at 5:00pm (PST). They’re one of the earlier award shows this year, with the Oscars not until March, so we’ll have to see if the stars show up to give them back whatever influence they used to have. Lots of love for Babylon here from them, while snubbing Danielle Deadwyler, alongside the Spirits- seems she may have trouble getting in after all. I’m a little surprised Tom Cruise didn’t get for Best Actor, given their love of stars and Top Gun’s success, but didn’t happen.

2022 GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINATIONS

Best Picture Drama
“The Fabelmans“
“Top Gun: Maverick“
“Elvis“
“TÁR“
“Avatar: The Way Of The Water“

Picture Comedy/Musical
“Babylon”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
“Triangle of Sadness”

Films not in English Language
All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Close
Decision to Leave
RRR

Best Director
James Cameron (“Avatar: The Way of Water”)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Baz Luhrmann (“Elvis”)
Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”)

Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama 
Austin Butler (“Elvis”)
Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
Hugh Jackman (“The Son”)
Bill Nighy (“Living”)
Jeremy Pope (“The Inspection”)

Margot Robbie gets a nod for Babylon

Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)
Olivia Colman (“Empire of Light”)
Viola Davis (“The Woman King”)
Ana de Armas (“Blonde”)
Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”)

Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy
Diego Calva (“Babylon”)
Daniel Craig (“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”)
Adam Driver (“White Noise”)
Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Ralph Fiennes (“The Menu”)

Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy
Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Menu”)
Emma Thompson (“Good Luck To You, Leo Grande”)
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Lesley Manville (“Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris”)
Margot Robbie (“Babylon”)

Actor in a Supporting Role in Film
Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Brad Pitt (“Babylon”)
Eddie Redmayne (“The Good Nurse”)
Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Actress in a Supporting Role in Film
Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Dolly De Leon (“Triangle of Sadness”)
Carey Mulligan (“She Said”)

The success of RRR all around the world makes me think it will win international film

Original Song
“Carolina” – “Where the Crawdads Sing”
“Ciao Papa” – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Hold My Hand” – “Top Gun: Maverick”
“Lift Me Up” – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“Naatu Naatu” – “RRR”

Screenplay, Motion Picture
“TÁR”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Women Talking”
“The Fabelmans”

Animated, Motion Picture
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Inu-Oh”
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
“Turning Red”

Score, Motion Picture
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Women Talking”
“Babylon”
“The Fabelmans”

Avatar: The Way of Water gets its first big nomination before even coming out in theaters

'Tar' and 'Everything Everywhere' Tie for Best Picture with LA Film Critics

I don’t like ties. But this confirms to me that while Tar is undoubtedly the critics darling this season (and Cate Blanchett as well for Best Actress), Everything Everywhere is a very strong contender for the top winner, especially when we get to the Oscars. In no large part because it’s the one movie this year that is perceived as successful with the public and with critics. It was a sleeper box office hit in a year that’s had very few, and because of its art film, experimental nature it doesn’t feel too populist either (like giving Best Picture to Top Gun would, for example). I think LAFCA’s decision to go for gender neutral acting categories this year that resulted in two winners for each and still one man and one woman is a bit of a ridiculous flop (just pick one winner for each if you’re gonna do this).

2022 LAFCA WINNERS

Best Picture TIE: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE and TAR
Best Director: Todd Field, TAR; Runner-up: S.S. Rajamouli, RRR
Best Documentary/Nonfiction: ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED; Runner-up: FIRE OF LOVE
Best Lead Performance: Cate Blanchett, TAR and Bill Nighy, LIVING; Runners-up: Danielle Deadwyler, TILL and Michelle Yeoh, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Best Animation: GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO; Runner-up: MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
Best Editing: TAR; Runner-up: AFTERSUN
Best Production Design: AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER; Runner-up: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT Best Music/Score: RRR; Runner-up: EO
Supporting Performer: Dolly de Leon, TRIANGLE OF SADNESS and Ke Huy Quan, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE; Runners-up: Jessie Buckley, WOMEN TALKING and Brian Tyree Henry, CAUSEWAY.
Cinematography: EO; Runner-up: NOPE