AWARDS: Nominees for the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards

ADITYA SINGHDecember 14, 2022Review Blog No comments

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced today the film category nominees for the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards. The winners will be revealed at the star-studded Critics Choice Awards gala hosted by Chelsea Handler, which will broadcast LIVE on The CW from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 15, 2023. I am proud to be a CCA member and think the organization collectively selected stellar nominees.

The Critics Choice Awards are bestowed annually by the Critics Choice Association to honor the finest in cinematic and television achievement. Historically, they are the most accurate predictor of Academy Award® nominations. It was also announced that Hollywood icon Jeff Bridges will receive the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s show.

Follow the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards on Twitter and Instagram @CriticsChoice and on Facebook/CriticsChoiceAwards. Join the conversation using #CriticsChoiceAwards.

FILM NOMINATIONS FOR THE 28TH ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS:

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 InisherinSarah 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

About the Critics Choice Association (CCA)
The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 600 media critics and entertainment journalists. It was established in 2019 with the formal merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, recognizing the intersection between film, television, and streaming content. For more information, visit: www.CriticsChoice.com.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on "Manly Movies" Podcast talking "Casablanca"

ADITYA SINGHDecember 14, 2022Review Blog No comments

Surfing among the fans and fellow creators of the Feelin’ Film podcast Facebook group, I’ve come to break internet bread with a gentleman by the name of J.B. Huffman. He’s a voracious movie fan who has a temperament for examining and celebrating all forms of masculinity. As a fellow father, those stories and archetypes grab him the most to the point where he decided to make a podcast series dedicated to the movies that hit us dads. Welcome to Manly Movies! Like all good men, he doesn’t do anything half-ass. I was honored to participate as J.B.’s guest to talk about Casablanca.

MANLY MOVIES on TWITTER

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Are You Ready For a Relationship?

ADITYA SINGHDecember 14, 2022Review Blog No comments

Are You Ready For a Relationship?

There are many signs that you're ready to start a relationship. These can range from your willingness to compromise and commit to yourself to your partner's needs. It is also important to remember that a relationship is about giving up yourself for someone else. This can be difficult in the beginning, but over time, you'll find yourself ready for love.

What kind of relationship do you want?

The first thing you'll want to establish is what kind of relationship you're looking for. This can be anything from a committed, long-term relationship to a more casual one. You'll also want to decide if you're looking for something monogamous or not. If you want a sugar daddy relationship, you'll have to make sure your partner is on the same page.

Conversely, if you want a more committed relationship, you'll need to be willing to compromise and make sacrifices for your partner. This doesn't mean you have to give up everything you want, but it does mean that you'll need to be willing to negotiate and work together to find a solution that works for both of you.

Signs you're ready for a relationship

One of the most obvious signs you're ready for a relationship is the ability to let go and be who you really are. You're not attached to the outcome and are happy to be in the moment. You also accept change and the responsibility of personal growth. You also know what turns you on and off, so you don't waste your time trying to please someone who doesn't reciprocate your feelings.

If you and your partner are not completely comfortable spending time together, try being alone. This will give your relationship some breathing space. During this time, try to find out where your partner stands. If they seem unsure about going on date nights, you may need to ask yourself where you stand.

Compromise

When it comes to relationships, compromise can be a crucial component of your success. It allows you to open up and explore new possibilities with your partner. It can also foster growth, which is always better for a relationship. When it comes to compromising, two sides must give something up in order to find a solution that works for both. Compromise can be tricky, and you may find yourself frustrated or angry when trying to reach a compromise.

A good compromise is one that establishes mutual respect. It doesn't mean you have to compromise on everything, and it doesn't mean sacrificing important parts of yourself. Compromise is an important part of any relationship, but it can be difficult to do. If you're struggling to compromise with your partner, consider seeking advice from a third party or a relationship counselor. It can also help to know when to say no, and how to communicate that without alienating your partner.

Commitment

Commitment in a relationship requires two people to be together for the foreseeable future. However, commitment can also bring with it expectations, as well as the control of one person over another. This is known as an implicit social contract, which is a set of unspoken requirements that both partners must meet.

One of the first signs of commitment in a relationship is the time you spend together. Time is one of the few things in life that can't be replaced, so spending time together with a partner is essential for a fulfilling relationship. Commitment is not easy to achieve, but it's worth every effort.

Commitment in a relationship is also reflected in the activities that you plan to do with your partner. If you make plans to do something with your partner in a few months, that shows you're both committed. If you are planning a big event, like moving in together or getting married, this is a sign of commitment.

Self-love

The foundation for any healthy relationship is self-love. It helps people feel safe and secure during stressful times. Psychologists call this feeling an enhanced internal locus of control. As a result, a person feels more secure and confident. It also helps improve one's self-esteem.

Many people struggle to develop a strong sense of self-love. Often, we compare ourselves to others, but this is counterproductive because it reinforces the message that love is conditional and only given if someone else thinks it's worthy of it. Developing self-love is a powerful way to improve the quality of our relationships with others, including romantic partners and friendships. But family relationships can be particularly challenging. It can require extra guidance or support to develop a deep bond with family members.

Many people go into relationships with unrealistic expectations of their partners. Then, they discover that the other person doesn't share their high standards. Eventually, this leaves them in a fix.

Building memories

A relationship-defining memory is a crucial factor in fostering emotional intimacy. This memory serves as the knowledge database of both one's self and relational identity. If a relationship is diverging, memories may be the first symptom of an underlying problem. When these memories become a source of dispute, a relationship can suffer.

The process of retelling stories can build a scaffold for the relationship. It also serves to satisfy the needs of both partners. It is also helpful in alleviating the distress that is often caused by unpleasant memories. Besides providing a scaffold for the relationship, retelling stories can make the past seem more meaningful.

Final Thoughts

So are you ready for a relationship? It depends on what you're looking for. If you want something casual, then you might not need to put in as much work. But if you're looking for something long-term and committed, then you'll need to be willing to compromise, communicate, and commit. And most importantly, you'll need to have a strong foundation of self-love. Without that, it'll be difficult to build a healthy and lasting relationship.

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Avatar: The Way of Water ★★★★

ADITYA SINGHDecember 14, 2022Movie Marker No comments

Director: James Cameron Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Jemaine Clement, Edie Falco, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo & Duane Evans Jr. Release: 16th December 2022 It’s incredible to think it has been thirteen years […]

The post Avatar: The Way of Water ★★★★ appeared first on Movie Marker.

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Advantages of Filming a Documentary While Traveling For the Holidays

ADITYA SINGHDecember 13, 2022Review Blog No comments

Advantages of filming a documentary while traveling for the holidays

If you’ve got an exciting trip coming up, chances are you’ve already packed your DSLR camera. You might even have thought about keeping a travel journal or diary, or setting up a blog for the folks back home if it is a particularly long trip.

But have you thought about shooting your own travel documentary?

Vacation photos are great, but there is something truly wonderful about a trip film that captures the best of your adventure in a different, exciting, and more authentic way.

Whether you film digitally or in a more old-school way on 35mm, a travel documentary made during your vacation is a wonderful artifact of your adventures and a great addition to the memories you will make.

So if you are cruising from California next year and want to do something a little different, consider filming a documentary while traveling. Here are four reasons why it is a great idea.

A deeper way of capturing your trip

Filming a travel documentary allows you to capture the essence of your trip in a deeper, fuller, more complete way than photos or writing allow. A travel documentary lets you capture the sights, sounds, and even emotions of your adventure and helps you record a genuine expression of your travels. With a travel documentary, you can relive your trip, again and again, creating a longer-lasting memory than otherwise possible.

A great souvenir

A travel documentary makes a fantastic souvenir to share with friends and family back home. Sure, you might not be able to share memories immediately as you would with photos or blog posts, but the extra effort that goes into editing the finished product is what makes it a little more special.

Added creativity

Filming a travel documentary challenges you to be a little more creative as you explore the world, and lets you leverage your creativity in creating a document of your trip. You can experiment with different filming techniques and different styles, spread your creative wings, and use your vacation as a way to try something new.

A rewarding way to pass the time

While it can be hard work, filming a travel documentary is both fun and rewarding, and gives you an excellent project to work on while you are traveling. You won’t have to worry about long flights or boring bus journeys, as every moment can either be recorded as part of the film or spent tweaking and editing what you already have. This will double your enjoyment of your vacation as you’ll get a sense of pride and achievement as the project comes together.

A travel documentary turns an ordinary vacation into something creative and rewarding, as well as offering a chance to develop or fine-tune your filming and editing skills. The end product of a fully-fledged travel documentary makes a wonderful souvenir of your trip, as well as helping you create and maintain the memories of your adventure for years to come.

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Why Comedies Remain Such Popular Movies

ADITYA SINGHDecember 13, 2022Review Blog No comments

Why Comedies Remain Such Popular Movies

As the saying goes ‘laughter is the best medicine’, and whilst it isn’t factually correct there is certainly a lot to be said for a day getting better once you have had a giggle at something funny. We have all needed a laugh at something from time to time and often it is comedy movies that bring us that welcomed relief.

Betway Insider recently took a look at the most successful movie franchises of all time. Perhaps unsurprisingly a large number of the most successful franchises are made up of action movies. When you consider the budget that goes into making features like Marvel, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars it would be disappointing if they didn’t do well. Despite often not having the same budget as these massive Hollywood blockbusters, comedy remains a massively popular genre with moviegoers and here’s why.

Everyone Loves Laughter

However, you are feeling a bit of laughter can go a long way. We all live busy and stressful lives which means that we can be left feeling as though everything is a bit much. Watching a movie allows us to feel the rush of endorphins, which can help us feel better even when nothing else around us has really changed. Comedy movies tend to be relatable and funny, which means that we can laugh because we can imagine ourselves or those around us in similar situations

We Need a Bit of Escapism

Whilst all movies give us a bit of escapism, they don’t all give us light relief at the same time. Action movies like the ones created by Marvel (a franchise that has made $27.b) are great for escapism, but they don’t promote the feeling of being happy and relaxed. Watching comedy movies allows us a little time to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, whilst watching characters and storylines develop that help us to feel happier.

People Like Lack of Surprises

One thing that proves popular with many comedy movie series’ is the more simple storylines. It is easy to assume that movie fans want to watch complicated storylines and that offer twists and turns at every stage. However, comedy is often something different. It is often the predictability of characters and the calamities that we can see happen in front of us that make us laugh the most. When looking for a movie to watch that will make us feel better and perhaps lighten the mood it is those comedy movies that we know the storyline of that we tend to turn to; as though the feeling of watching something that is familiar is a comfort to us.

Of course, the fact that comedies are often family-friendly and can be watched in pretty much any setting really helps. Family movie nights might not be suitable for things like horror and action, but there will always be a comedy movie that you can put on that everyone will be happy with, and it is that which helps comedy movies prove popular time and time again.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Avatar: The Way of Water

ADITYA SINGHDecember 13, 2022Review Blog No comments

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER– 4 STARS

Through all the technological spectacle he creates through unmatched skill and sheer hubris– especially in his triumphant return with Avatar: The Way of Water, three-time Oscar winner James Cameron does not get enough respect as one of the best cinematic storytellers for action and emotion the medium has ever seen. With an editor’s eye for precise measurement, Cameron has crafted some of the most elaborate, dazzling, and iconic action sequences for decades now.

Whether it’s sinking a historic ocean liner, animating metallic killers from the future, or taking us to otherworldly places on this planet or beyond, no corners are cut, no details are cheapened, and no expense is spared by the 68-year-old Canadian. Avatar: The Way of Water stands, shoots, swings, soars, and swims as one more cornerstone of his boundless achievement. Thirteen years away has done little to dilute the filmmaker’s ability to punch our faces with amazement and our hearts with zealous emotion. If anything, absence away has increased the genius and made the heart grow fonder for this kind of unparalleled big-screen adventure.

The arrival of the Papyrus font signals a reestablishment of Pandora and its bioluminescent species of flora, fauna, and dexterous humanoids. The victorious Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has led and rebuilt the Na’vi settlements after forcing the retreat of the “sky people” in Avatar. He and his warrior princess mate Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) have also brought three children into this world– two strapping teen sons Neteyam and Lo’ak (Jamie Flatters and Britain Dalton) and the playful daughter Tuktirey (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss)-- and adopted another named Kiri, the lab-created mixed race daughter of the deceased Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, playing both parts).

The Na’vi paradise of peace is interrupted with the ground-scorching return of the colonizing RDA (Resources Development Administration) hellbent on the acquisition of valuable resources to aid a dying Earth light years away. Flaunting more numbers and improved weaponry, their military might is bolstered by “recombinant” avatars embedded with the memories of humans, including the dead Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and his Green Berets. While the RDA builds a new fortress foothold on Pandora and re-sparks its environmentally-damaging poaching efforts, Quaritch and his platoon target the capture of Jake Sully as retribution from their previous defeat and neutralization of the natives.

Rather than subjecting all of the forest-dwelling Na’vi to the target on his back, Jake takes his family and flees into exile. He is granted sanctuary with the reef people of Metkayina, led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet). There, Jake and his family learn ways to adapt from the forest to the ocean, opening up Avatar: The Way of Water to a whole new speed of physicality and a wondrously fresh realm of ecology. The bulk of the film circulates through this acclimation period before an inevitable confrontation with the pursuing Quaritch becomes unavoidable.

Free-diving into this aquatic menagerie, the production values of this sequel are off the charts. Cameron and his collaborators (including four editors) were wise to take their time, spending three years and several hundred million dollars on the entire process. The results show out compared to the rushed and smudged jobs lately from other name-brand blockbusters.

Feeling like a jolting novelty after the fad came and went in the years since the first Avatar film in 2009, the 3D cinematography, combined with a challenging high frame rate, creates one of the smoothest and most surreal visual experiences of recent memory. It takes a bit, but when your eyes adjust, the hyper realism is striking. The visual effects from Weta Digital ace and four-time Oscar winner Joe Letteri (and three more supervisors) feed into the extravaganza with staggering performance capture details. The unsung heroes are sure to be the army of technicians and operators on the stunt teams and underwater units in New Zealand that pulled off the tangible authenticity of shooting as much as they could in and on the water.

The sheer size of Avatar: The Way of Water does come with its challenges and limitations. Gobsmacked as you may find yourself to be, you feel its length in that middle act of new discoveries and in Quaritch’s repetitive hunt. When a character has to say “I can’t believe I’m tied up again,” you concur and wonder if a new adversary could have entered the game over a re-packaged Stephen Lang, no matter how slick his evilness stomps about. Likewise, a few supporting characters in the busy cast feel inconsequential outside of the core families at odds and tend to get in the way.

Lastly, if there is one artistic ingredient that is weak compared to the Herculean filmmaking muscle everywhere else, it’s the music. Even though the late James Horner got more repetitive with recycled musical cues post-Titanic, his ethereal instrumentation and choral voices gave Avatar a vibrant tone and stirring audio accompaniment. The score from Simon Franglen (Peppermint), one of Horner’s long-time arrangers, borrows the original themes, but cannot match that aura and power or take it to new depths.

LESSON #1: THE PROTECTIVE ROLE OF PARENTS– Returning to the saga itself, the fighting spirit of our central Na’vi heroes centers their role as parents. Borrowing an age-old instinct that is far from alien, Jake and Neytiri strive to protect their people and their children in pursuit of happiness. By Jake’s own words, this responsibility gives him meaning and gives Worthington, under all the performance capture layers, far more emotional output than the first film where he was the starstruck outsider. Lockstep next to him, Saldana’s feral resolve has only multiplied as a mother is ready to be unleashed to defend her kin.

LESSON #2: FAMILIES STICK TOGETHER– This maturation puts the theme of family solidarity front and center in Avatar: The Way of Water. Jake and Neytiri’s children are growing in this understanding and are matched with fellow teens of the Metkayina shouldering burdens of expectations. Cameron, joined in screenplay credit with recent Planet of the Apes reboot duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, mix a few sins-of-the-father dynamics into the generational issues for good measure.

Yes, Sam Worthington is about one octave away from sounding like Vin Diesel dropping the grandiose f-word every chance he gets. However, if you’re going to hate on “family” as a theme in Avatar: The Way of Water, then you have to extend your disdain to every Fast & Furious movie, two Incredibles movies from Pixar, and, shit, even The Godfather trilogy among many more rock-solid films that celebrate and emphasize family love for dramatic hold. For better or worse to the eye-rollers and cynics who have forgotten to dream, this is a fitting nucleus underneath the massive world-building.

James Cameron knows precisely how to slow the roller coaster down, loosen the perilous seat belts, and exit its riders with wobbly legs of emotional exertion. His method on that half of cinematic storytelling is completely opposite to his technical side. Cameron applies simplistic story arcs to his elaborate settings. Sure, the first Avatar gets knocked as space-y takes on FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Dances With Wolves, and Pocahontas, but those universal melodramatic themes work for a reason.

LESSON #3: WE DO NOT RESPECT JAMES CAMERON ENOUGH– That is where James Cameron goes a step further and hooks us. He is an equally effective emotional storyteller as he is a wizard for action. The man knows sweep. Titanic went to great lengths to recreate the famous vessel’s sinking only to lock us in on two star-crossed fictional lovers frozen in bonded survival. T2 heightened the menacing suspense from the original Terminator only to execute arguably the biggest face turn in film history to the point where we now “know why you cry.” Hiding underneath all the effort for sensory wonders in Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron finds uncomplicated heartstrings to tug, once again, in situations we would normally dismiss as epic entertainment for the masses.

You can hold up Baz Luhrmann’s sparkle, Michael Bay’s bombast, Steven Spielberg’s precision, and Christopher Nolan’s scope, but none of them, and no one else not named, is close to making films at James Cameron’s level of science and engineering. Just when we think we’ve seen everything possible on a silver screen, he blazes new trails that open our eyes and drop our jaws. The dazzle is always in full bloom, yet through all the kinetic movement and radiating splendor, he still hits the feels. The evocative and engrossing storytelling is never lost.