Flashback Review: Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

From the archives of  The Moving Picture Show. 

March 9, 1990 |  If, as the poet noted, most men lead lives of quiet desperation, then Joe Banks (Tom Hanks) truly is an exceptional fellow: His desperately unhappy life is as noisy and dirty as it is oppressively, soul-killingly bleak.

Joe works as an assistant catalogue clerk for American Panascope, a company that claims hundreds of thousands of “satisfied customers” for its chief  product, petroleum jelly. In his grim, gray office in the factory  headquarters, the fluorescent lighting is relentlessly irritating, the air circulation is stiflingly poor, and the coffee is unspeakable sludge. His boss is a stony-faced despot who gruffly dismisses Joe’s complaints of poor health: “After childhood, nobody feels good. It’s a fact of life.”

One day, when his shakes and headaches are even worse than usual, Joe visits a doctor. And that’s when he gets some good and bad news. The good news is, none of Joe’s varied symptoms is a sign of serious illness. The bad news  is, an intense examination reveals Joe has something called a “brain cloud,” a malady entirely unforeseen and inevitably fatal.

Joe, ashen-faced and amazed, tries to make sense of the diagnosis: “I’m not sick, except for this terminal disease.” The doctor, played with just the slightest shading of lunacy by a straight-faced Robert Stack, nods sagely. “Your brain will fail,” he tells Joe, “followed shortly by your body.”

Most men would be hopelessly distraught, maybe even suicidal, after hearing such news. But, once  again, Joe is an exceptional fellow: He accepts the diagnostic death sentence as the start of his personal liberation. And that liberation in turn is the propelling force behind Joe Versus The Volcano, an epic comedy of goofiness triumphant and nuttiness unbound.

This fine madness is the masterwork of John Patrick Shanley, the esteemed playwright (Danny and the Deep Blue Sea) and Oscar-winning scriptwriter (Moonstruck) who makes his film directing debut with the first great movie comedy of the ‘90s.

There are hints of Metropolis to the Germanic expressionism of the early scenes, and touches of Joseph Campbell to the extended myth-spinning that leads Joe on a quest to live like a king before he dies like a man. And here, there and everywhere, there are bits and pieces of Arthur, The Odyssey and The Wizard of Oz.

More often than anything else, however, there is the imprint of John Patrick Shanley, a writer with a perfect-pitch ear for comically off-kilter dialogue, and an indefatigable gift for inventing full-bodied, vitally  contradictory characters.

Shanley’s last effort as a scriptwriter, The January Man, was a shaggy-dog story posing, unsuccessfully, as a cops-and-killer thriller, though the comic elements almost redeemed it. Joe Versus The Volcano wisely avoids all genre conventions and restrictions — it doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is. And what that is, is so exhilaratingly absurd, so outrageously  inspired, it is a tonic guaranteed to lift even the most crestfallen spirits. Even Joe might have laughed at it after a particularly lousy day at the office.

As Joe, Tom Hanks gives a beautifully precise and grandly funny reactive performance, responding to the eccentrics and oddities around him with equal measures of excitement, amusement and anxious befuddlement. Hanks is an extremely generous actor throughout, instinctively withdrawing to his corner of the screen whenever a co-star or a cameo player has a moment of glory.

Not long after Joe has his fateful medical exam, he’s approached by an overwhelmingly vivacious businessman, Graynamore, played with delightfully crackpot zest by Lloyd Bridges. Graynamore has a meticulously logical, financially alluring and altogether ridiculous proposition: Since Joe is going to die anyway, why doesn’t he do Graynamore a favor, and help the superstitious natives of a remote South Seas island, by jumping into an active volcano?

But wait, here’s the beauty part: Graynamore will pay all of Joe’s expenses, give Joe unrestricted use of gold-plated credit cards, offer Joe first-class travel and accommodations until he reaches the island of Waponi  Woo. (“The name means ‘Little island with a big volcano.’”) Once he arrives, the Waponi tribesmen will treat Joe like visiting royalty — and be really, really grateful that Joe, and not one of them, will make the big leap to appease the angry, lava-spouting god.

Graynamore, who figures to gain mineral rights to the island by providing a human sacrifice, makes a splendidly energetic pitch. Joe considers it for a few seconds, and says, in the matter-of-fact tone of someone agreeing to accompany friends to a ballgame, “Aw right, I’ll do it.” Hanks is generous, yes indeed, but he can swipe back an entire scene with a single line.

Shanley is every bit as generous, spreading the funny stuff around to everyone in the cast. Meg Ryan gets more than her fair share, but that’s because she plays three different roles: DeDe, a mousy secretary who briefly  basks in the glow of Joe’s new-found verve; Angelica, Graynamore’s glossily affected daughter, a would-be artist and half-hearted libertine; and Patricia, Angelica’s disapproving half-sister, the heroine who eventually tries to woo Joe away from his date with the volcano.

Ryan artfully rearranges the equation of sexiness, silliness and sensibility for each woman, so that each adds up to a very specific characterization. If When Harry Met Sally. . . made her a star, then Joe Versus The Volcano will keep Ryan in orbit.

In addition to Stack and Bridges, the wonderful supporting cast includes Ossie Davis as a chauffeur who’s reluctant to offer educated guesses about the meaning of life; Dan Hedaya as Joe’s preternaturally sour boss; and Barry McGovern, an Irish stage actor, as an intensely solicitous salesman who says luggage “is the central preoccupation of my life.” A good thing, too, since the trunks he recommends to Joe come in very handy.

Joe Versus The Volcano is a fairy tale in the old-fashioned Hollywood tradition, informed by a subversively absurdist sensibility. Shanley and  production designer Bo Welch (Beetlejuice) have created their strange new  worlds on studio sound stages, so that everything — shipwrecks, tropical islands, a glorious moonrise at sea — is flagrantly artificial, and altogether magical.

The Waponi Woo natives are among Shanley’s most inspired inventions: Tribesmen who guzzle orange soda, count Hebrews, Druids and Polynesians among their mixed ancestors, and greet visitors to their island with a hearty rendition of “Havah Nagila!”

Joe Versus The Volcano is so audacious in its daffiness, you may have to see it twice. The first time, you might not believe anything could possibly be that funny.

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Review: Lily Topples the World

If we could all agree on a working definition of the term “nice” — one that implies bemused appreciation more than condescending disparagement — it could easily apply to Lily Topples the World, Jeremy Workman’s cheery documentary about a celebrity “domino artist” whose infectious enthusiasm and ingratiating can-do spirit are almost enough to make you forget, or willingly ignore, that the film makes little attempt to sustain dramatic tension or even indicate troublesome obstacles while following its subject on her path to success. Almost.

Of course, if Workman’s film truly is an honest portrait and not an authorized biography, it’s difficult to blame him for not manufacturing cruel doubts or crushing defeats like someone trying to hyperbolize an inspirational docudrama. Based on the what we see here, life appears to have been (so far, at least) an unbroken string of triumphs for Lily Hevesh, a 20-year-old Chinese adoptee raised in small-town New Hampshire who has written her own version of the American Success Story by becoming a world-famous domino toppler and, not incidentally, the only significant female in her field.

If Lily were any less unaffectedly charming — if she didn’t comes across as, well, so nice — it wouldn’t  be nearly so pleasant to watch her evolution from obsessed hobbyist to Internet superstar (recording more than more than 1 billion YouTube views for her domino videos) to a role model who routinely attracts hordes of awestruck admirers at public appearances. (Her eagerness to put nervous strangers at ease and encourage their own domino endeavors is, to use another hard-to-define term, quite sweet.) And when Workman offers extravagant examples of her artistry — thousands of intricately designed strings of meticulously positioned, multicolored plastic rectangles that, when push comes to shove, become chain-reaction spectacles of slow-motion, rainbow-hued visual fireworks — it’s well-nigh impossible not to empathize with her obvious sense of accomplishment.

(Of course, if you feel one display of domino toppling is pretty much like another, your mileage may vary.)

 Workman generates a surprising amount of suspense as Lily carefully navigates about her creations-in-progress, displaying a dancer’s grace in her stockinged feet while lithely stepping over and around lines of dominos, always just one miscalculated move away from disaster. On the other hand, Lily’s indefatigable determination is such that, when one project does accidentally collapse during set-up, she registers disappointment for maybe five seconds, tops — and then immediately starts to rebuild. 

So what makes Lily tick? The film fleetingly hints at childhood feelings of insecurity and abandonment after being placed in an orphanage as an infant — a result of China’s One Child Policy — which Catherine Hevesh, her adoptive mother, movingly describes when she recalls the time when Lily, then barely a toddler, tearfully begged her mom not to let anyone “take me away.” There are references to her “outsider” status while growing up in community with few if any other Asians. And it’s more-than-casually mentioned that, during her early string of YouTube videos, she remained unseen and identified only as Hevesh5, suggesting not only shyness but also a keen awareness that sexism might impede her seemingly irresistible rise. 

And yet, these revelations — which really aren’t explored as possible motivations — are practically the only dark clouds to ever appear on the blue skies as Workman’s relentlessly upbeat documentary, filmed over a period of three years,  charts Lily’s tightly focused (but somehow never off-putting) campaign to invent herself as an Internet influencer and savvy businesswoman while pursuing her art.

 That art has enabled Lily to hang with the likes of Will Smith (at 17, she created the domino sequences for his film Collateral Beauty) and Jimmy Fallon (for whom she designed an especially ambitious display to mark his reaching his 20-millionth YouTube subscriber), and empowered her to negotiate with toy manufacturers to produce her very own brand-name product — H5 Domino Creations. It should be noted that Lily conducts deal-making meetings while accompanied by Mark Hevesh, her proudly supportive dad. It should also be noted that there’s no doubt at any point about whether father or daughter has the final word on career-building decisions. By the end of Workman’s film, it’s clear Lily has earned it. 

Some thoughts on turning 69 (With Musical Accompaniment by Lyle Lovett)

On this, my 69th birthday, I cannot help recalling William Holden’s line – well, OK, Paddy Chaveysky’s line, but Holden said it – in Network: “All of a sudden, it’s closer to the end than it is to the beginning, and death is suddenly a perceptible thing to me – with definable features.”

In other words, I can no longer consider myself middle-aged. Unless, of course, I plan on making it to 140. To put it another way: I am now 17 years older than Francois Truffaut when he died, 12 years older than Humphrey Bogart when he died, 11 years older than George Harrison when he died, 10 years older than Clark Gable when he died, 6 years older than Lee Marvin when he died – and, not incidentally, 6 years older when William Holden died. 

And yes: 33 years older than my mother when she passed away.

Every time a major holiday rolls around, I find myself thinking: How many more Christmases will I get to see? How many more Thanksgivings?  How many more Independence Days?

And, perhaps more important: How many more film festivals do I get to scam someone, anyone, into picking up my tab so I can attend? (Priorities, people!)    

On the other hand: I have already fought cancer, and cancer lost. And if the SOB wants a rematch, hey, I’m ready, even if my friend Roger Ebert is no longer around to be in my corner. I remain reasonably sentient and, despite arthritic knees, ambulatory. I am still paid to do two things I love to do – writing and teaching – even though it doesn’t look like I’ll ever make the grade as full-time college faculty, and I gave up on winning a Pulitzer Prize way back when The Houston Post shut down. I can’t really think of retiring, because I owe too many people too much money. So I will press on, like those damn boats that F. Scott Fitzgerald describes at the end of The Great Gatsby, and continue to enjoy the ride whenever possible, as much as possible.

Besides: Not only do I still get paid to go to the movies, I get paid to talk about movies (to students, who have to listen). And thanks to my status as senior writer for Cowboys & Indians magazine, I still get to interview notables like Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Matthew McConaughey and Bruce Dern. Truly, as my immigrant father recognized, this is the land of opportunity.

Looking ahead, I see books yet to write (and/or revise), movies yet to see (and review), students yet to teach, people yet to meet and interview, and places yet to go. (But no friends to mourn – only lives to celebrate.) I once wrote that, if I had any choice in the matter, I would like to shuffle off this mortal coil while in the line of duty – preferably at a film festival, after seeing something absolutely terrific, or at least really, really entertaining. On the other hand, if I wind up being shot by a jealous husband at age 90, well, that wouldn’t be too shabby, either.

There’s another bit of movie dialogue I’m remembering today. From Citizen Kane: “Old age. It's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of.”

I’ll drink to that. And to this. Take it away, Lyle Lovett:

In the darkest hour, in the dead of night, 
As the storm clouds gather, and the lightning strikes,
And the thunder rolls, and the cold rain blows,
The future it holds, what God only knows.

And I will rise up, and I will rise up, 
Though I be a dead man, I said yes and amen. 
And I will stand tall, and I will stand tall, 
Until I meet my end, until I meet my end. 

Hear me! See me! Feel me!

Chalk this up as my multi-media week.

I was a guest on the highly addictive podcast How the West Was Cast, talking about the newly updated “100 Greatest Westerns” list I helped prepare for Cowboys & Indians Magazine. You can listen to it here.

But wait, there’s more: I was invited by the folks at the HCC-TV series Up to the Minute to talk about film distribution during the Age of Covid and awards bestowed by the Houston Film Critics Society. You can see my segment here, starting around the 13:44 mark.

You’d almost think I know what I’m doing.

Preview: Michael Caine IS Fagin in a new Twist on Oliver Twist

Not going to lie: I am seriously geeked to see this one. As I have noted elsewhere: Michael Caine has received name-above-the-title billing in movies spanning seven decades. How many other actors can claim that?

What’s it all about? According to Lionsgate: “Inspired by Charles Dickens’s iconic novel Oliver Twist, this action-fueled crime-thriller set in contemporary London follows the journey of Twist (Raff Law), a gifted graffiti artist trying to find his way after the loss of his mother. Lured into a street gang headed by the paternal Fagin (Michael Caine), Twist is attracted to the lifestyle — and to Red (Sophie Simnett), an alluring member of Fagin’s crew. But when an art theft goes wrong, Twist’s moral code is tested as he’s caught between Fagin, the police, and a loose-cannon enforcer (Lena Headey).”

And remember: Caine did pretty well for himself the last time he played a character created by Charles Dickens.

Look for Twist in theaters, on digital, and On Demand July 30.

My Memory of Richard Donner

 

I am feeling more than a little melancholy as I process the sad news that producer-director Richard Donner has passed away at age 91. Not just because of his many movies that I have enjoyed — ranging from the Swinging London spy-spoofery of Salt and Pepper (1968) to the slam-bang buddy-cop excess of the Lethal Weapon franchise — and his early television work that left a lasting impact on me. (Not only did he direct the classic “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” episode of The Twilight Zone — he also helmed two episodes of my all-time favorite TV series, The Fugitive.) My fondest memory of Donner involves one of his lesser-known films: Inside Moves, a criminally under-rated dramedy showcasing career-highlight performances by John Savage, David Morse, and the Oscar-nominated Diana Scarwid. (You can read Dr. Richard Jahnke’s entertaining and informative 2009 interview with Donner about it here.) 

Back in 1980, when I was an entertainment writer and second-string critic for The Dallas Morning News, Inside Moves opened at a local theater in an early test engagement. I reviewed it, very favorably, and was pleased when it wound up drawing a respectably large audience for such a small-scale, semi-indie feature. So large, in fact, that Richard Donner came to Dallas on a promotional tour just before the movie’s wide release.

When the local publicist asked if I wanted to interview Donner, I jumped at the chance. But I was initially rattled when, as she escorted me to his table in the lobby bar at the posh hotel where he was staying, Donner leapt to his feet and shouted while I was still several feet away: “I’m sorry, Joe! I’m sorry!”

What the hell?

Almost sheepishly, Donner pointed to the new poster for Inside Moves, one festooned with blurbs of favorable reviews. And there, right below quotes from Judith Crist and Pat Dowell of The Washington Star, was a snippet from my notice: “Inside Moves is a truly enjoyable little sleeper… so don’t let it slip by.” And was duly attributed to Dallas Morning News writer… Joe Layton.

I had to laugh out loud. And when I did, evidently, Donner thought it was OK to laugh as well.

We had a nice conversation — truth to tell, I think he was amused that anyone remembered Salt and Pepper — before I headed back to the paper. It was a Wednesday, the day we put the Sunday A&E section together, and I knew that, as usual, I would be working late. Indeed, this schedule was so routine that I was mildly surprised when my wife called around 9 pm to ask when I would be home. But she quickly explained her query: “Someone delivered a case of champagne for you. I saw it at the front door when I got home from work.”

Again: What the hell?

So I laughed and told Anne: “Well, open it up, put a bottle in the refrigerator, and we can drink up when I get home.” Somehow, I knew — I just knew — it was from Richard Donner. And sure enough, when I got home, I read the note that had been attached to the case: “Joe: Thanks again. Sorry again. Richard Donner.”

Postscript: I got to personally thank Donner for the bubbly years later during the junket for Conspiracy Theory (1997). He remembered. And we both had another laugh together.

Six years ago tonight: I saw “Nashville” in Nashville thanks to Seth Rogen and Kim Jong-un

On June 11, 2015, I saw Nashville in Nashville on the exact 40^th anniversary of the classic film’s release. But wait, there’s more: I saw it at the Belcourt Theatre, Music City’s premier art-house, which fleetingly was home of the Grand Ole Opry.

And I owed it all to Seth Rogen. And Kim Jong-un.

And thereby hangs a tale.

Preview: “America: The Motion Picture”

This could be amusing or insufferable — but I have a sneaking suspicion I will be laughing like an inebriated hyena throughout most of it. Thank you, Netflix, for the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter sequel I didn’t know I needed.

The logline: “In this wildly tongue-in-cheek animated revisionist history, a chainsaw-wielding George Washington assembles a team of rabble rousers — including beer-loving bro Sam Adams, famed scientist Thomas Edison, acclaimed horseman Paul Revere, and a very pissed off Geronimo — to defeat Benedict Arnold and King James in the American Revolution. Who will win? No one knows, but you can be sure of one thing: these are not your father’s Founding… uh, Fathers.”

The voice talent: Channing Tatum as George Washington; Jason Mantzoukas as Samuel Adams; Olivia Munn as Thomas Edison (well, why not?); Bobby Moynihan as Paul Revere; Judy Greer as Martha Washington; Will Forte as Abraham Lincoln; Raoul Max Trujillo as Geronimo; Killer Mike as Blacksmith; Simon Pegg as King James; Andy Samberg as Benedict Arnold.

Greetings from Twitter Jail

Looks like I am in Twitter Jail for a while. Could someone please send me a cake with a file in it? (BTW: My Tweet was in a thread noting that Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared, ahem, casually dressed -- like, suitable for shopping at Wal-Mart -- when she addressed a 2020 Dalton, Georgia city council meeting about, no joke, possible statues honoring Hitler and Satan.)

Remembering Brandon Lee... Gone Too Soon

 

On this date in 1993, Brandon Lee — the then-28-year-old son of the legendary Bruce Lee — was killed in an accident while filming The Crow.

When I interviewed him for Rapid Fire in 1992, he told me how much he was looking forward to making The Crow -- and to breaking stereotypes by becoming a bankable Asian-American leading man.

Few things in life are sadder than a promise forever unfulfilled.

Forty Years Ago...

Forty years ago yesterday, I interviewed Lee Marvin at the USA Film Fest in Dallas. I joked with him that he had shot the President – Ronald Reagan – back in The Killers (1964), Reagan’s last movie. “Yeah,” he responded with a wolfish grin, “but he wasn’t President yet when I shot him.” 

 Forty years ago today, John Hinckley tried to gatecrash into history by taking aim at the Commander in Chief. I was interim A&E editor for The Dallas Morning News, so I wound up working on the first and only “Extra” edition of my newspaper career. (It hit the streets that afternoon.) People may forget this now, but the early reports indicated Reagan was a goner. Film critic Philip Wuntch was out in L.A. for the Oscars, and he filed an absolutely brilliant overview of Reagan’s movie career on about one hour’s notice. And our theater critic Diane Werts went over to SMU where the USA Film Fest was taking place, to get a quote from Marvin. Team work, folks.

 I forget who it was, but someone showed up that afternoon, along with their publicist, for a previously scheduled interview to promote their next movie. I think I may have raised my voice few octaves when I explained that we had more important things going on. They left, but only reluctantly. Priorities, people. 

(Fun fact: The previous January, a Dallas TV station had programmed a Ronald Reagan movie each afternoon during the week of his inauguration. Trouble is, for Inauguration Day, someone at the station had scheduled – yes, you guessed it – The Killers. I pointed this out to our TV critic, Ed Bark, who wrote what I recall was one of the funniest columns of his career, taking the station to task. Within hours after the column appeared, the station changed its lineup. P.S. Considering that the station and the newspaper were owned by the same company at the time, this was an amazingly ballsy move on Bark’s part. But he remained in his job there a lot longer than I did mine.)

Update: Talking About (Another) Possible Closing of the River Oaks 3 Theatre

Looks like the Landmark River Oaks 3 — not just the last remaining vintage movie theater in Houston, but H-Town’s last dedicated arthouse of any sort — is in danger of closing again. I’ve been invited by genial host Craig Cohen to join him and Houston Film Critics Society president Doug Harris to discuss this dire situation Thursday on the KUHF radio program Houston Matters. 

The conversation begins around the 36:44 mark here.

Yes, it's true: Bill & Ted Face the Music qualifies for this year's AARP Movies for Grownups Awards. And so do Nomadland, Land, One Night in Miami...

I am now old enough to see Spike Lee, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ethan Hawke and a Bill & Ted movie all nominated for the Movies for Grownups Awards annually bestowed by AARP The Magazine. And I’m feeling good about that. No, seriously. 

Nomadland, One Night in Miami, News of the World, Minari, Da 5 Bloods, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Land and Mank are among the titles appearing in multiple categories for the latest edition of the Movies for Grownups Awards, a two-decade-old program that aims to champion movies for grownups, by grownups, by advocating for the 50-plus audience (of which I have been a member for cough-cough many years), fighting industry ageism, and encouraging films that resonate with older viewers. 

But wait, there’s more: This year, the MFG organizers have expanded their horizons to honor standout TV programs in new categories. 

 “Each year at Movies for Grownups,” AARP film and TV critic Tim Appelo said Monday in a prepared statement announcing the nominees, “we spotlight films that feature today’s crucial issues and top grownup talents. In this pandemic year, when movies loomed larger than ever in our lives, we are excited to have such a bumper crop of masterworks — and to recognize achievements on TV for the very first time.” 

Hoda Kotb of NBC’s Today will host the AARP awards ceremony aired by Great Performances at 8 pm ET Sunday, March 28 on PBS. And if you just can’t wait that long, don’t sweat: The MFG Awards winners will be announced March 4 here.   

Here is a complete list of nominees for the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards. But remember: As David Letterman used to say, this list is for informational purposes only. No wagering, please. 

Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups: Minari, Nomadland, One Night in Miami, The Trial of the Chicago 7, The United States vs. Billie Holiday 

Best Actress: Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead), Frances McDormand (Nomadland), Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit), Robin Wright (Land) 

Best Actor: Ralph Fiennes (The Dig), Tom Hanks (News of the World), Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods), Gary Oldman (Mank) 

Best Supporting Actress: Candice Bergen (Let Them All Talk), Ellen Burstyn (Pieces of a Woman), Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian), Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari) 

Best Supporting Actor: Demián Bichir (Land), Bill Murray (On the Rocks), Clarke Peters (Da 5 Bloods), Paul Raci (Sound of Metal), Mark Rylance (The Trial of the Chicago 7) 

Best Director: Lee Daniels (The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Regina King (One Night in Miami), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7), George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) 

Best Ensemble: Da 5 Bloods, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, One Night in Miami, Promising Young Woman, The Trial of the Chicago 7 

Best Intergenerational: Hillbilly Elegy, Minari, On the Rocks, The Father, The Life Ahead Best Buddy Picture: Bad Boys for Life, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Da 5 Bloods, Let Them All Talk, Standing Up, Falling Down 

Best Screenwriter: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods); Paul Greengrass, Luke Davies (News of the World), Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) 

Best Time Capsule: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Mank, One Night in Miami, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, The Trial of the Chicago 7 

Best Grownup Love Story: Emma, Ordinary Love, Supernova, Wild Mountain Thyme, Working Man 

Best Documentary: A Secret Love, Crip Camp, Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy, Dick Johnson Is Dead, Sky Blossom: Diaries of the Next Greatest Generation 

Best Foreign Language Film: Another Round (Denmark), Bacurau (Brazil), Collective (Romania), The Life Ahead (Italy), The Weasels’ Tale (Argentina) 

Best Series: Perry Mason, Succession, Ted Lasso, The Crown, This Is Us 

Best TV Movie/Limited Series: Mrs. America, Small Axe, The Queen’s Gambit, Unorthodox, Watchmen 

Best Actress (TV/Streaming): Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show), Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America), Regina King (Watchmen), Laura Linney (Ozark), Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek) 

Best Actor (TV/Streaming): Jason Bateman (Ozark), Ted Danson (The Good Place), Hugh Grant (The Undoing), Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird), Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)

Nomadland Voted Best Picture By Houston Film Critics Society

 

As a founding member of the Houston Film Critics Society, I am proud to say director Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland has been designated a multiple winner during final balloting for the 14^th annual HFCS Awards. In addition to copping the Best Picture prize, Zhao’s artful mix of fact and fiction — inspired by the nonfiction bestseller of the same title by Jessica Bruder — earned top honors in the categories of Best Director and Best Cinematography (Joshua James Richards).

Searchlight Pictures currently plans to open Nomadland Jan. 29 in a limited number of IMAX locations nationwide, expand to more IMAX theaters over the next two weeks, and then add other theaters Feb. 19 with simultaneous streaming on Hulu.

Other HFCS winners include:

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Best Animated Feature: Soul

Best Documentary Feature: My Octopus Teacher

Best Foreign Language Feature: A Sun (Taiwan)

Best Original Score: Soul

Best Original Song: One Night in Miami, “Speak Now”

Best Visual Effects: Tenet

Best Stunt Coordination Team: Tenet

Best Movie Poster Art: Da 5 Bloods

Outstanding Cinematic Achievement: Sound of Metal (for its Immersive Sound Design)

 “While 2020 may have seen changes in how we view movies,” HFCS President Doug Harris said Monday while announcing the organization’s awards, “the year should be remembered for the quality of those films that ultimately reached audiences. “It may have been a bit tougher to see some of these remarkable films, but the wait and the effort were worth it.  And that’s the message our Society members take to their listeners, viewers and readers.

“We look forward to further spotlighting all of our award winners,” Harris added, “during our first television broadcast on January 31, 4 p.m. CST, on Houston’s KUBE 57.  That programming will also celebrate our Texas Independent Film Award nominees and feature the announcement of the winners of our special honors for filmmaking in the state.”

This year’s nominees for the TIFF honor include Boys State, Miss Juneteenth, Ready or Not, The Vast of Night, and Yellow Rose.

The 40 members of the Houston Film Critics Society are working film journalists for television, radio, and online outlets, and in traditional print. Together, they reach millions of people each week across the United States with their critiques and commentaries on film. The organization’s mission is to promote the advancement and appreciation of film in the Houston community and beyond. For a list of members, visit the HFCS website.

And if you would like to cast a ballot of your own in this year’s awards race, remember: You can vote for the Fourth Annual Cowboys & Indians Magazine Movie Awards here. How do I know this? Because in my other life, I am a cowboy.

Minari leads nominees for Houston Film Critics Society Awards

This just in from the Houston Film Critics Society — an organization of which I am a founding member:

Minari – director Lee Isaac Chung’s study of a family from Korea starting a farm in Arkansas – leads nominees for the 14th annual awards from the Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS). The film is nominated for seven HFCS honors including the Best Picture of 2020.

Three female filmmakers – Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), Regina King (One Night in Miami) and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) – are nominees for Best Director. Some 18 categories of film excellence will be recognized by the prestigious body of film journalists and announced on January 18th. The winning films, along with nominees and winners in the Society’s Texas Independent Film Awards, will be spotlighted in the Society’s first televised awards programming on January 31, 2021, at 4 pm CT on Houston’s KUBE 57.

“From a year that most of us would love to forget, comes an impressive collection of movies we will always remember,” says Doug Harris, HFCS President. “For the film industry, 2020 will be recalled as much for works that nourished our souls as for the ways world events changed movie habits. The impact of the artistic expression from this year’s nominees reminds us that the size of a screen, or where we view it, matters less than the quality of what we see.”

In addition to Best Picture, Minari is nominated for Director, Actor (Steve Yeun), Supporting Actress (Youn Yuh-jung), Screenplay, Cinematography and a Cinematic Achievement honor for seven-year-old actor Alan S. Kim. Following the film in overall nominations is Sound of Metal – the chronicle of a heavy metal musician’s hearing loss – with six nods including Picture, while three films – Nomadland, One Night in Miami and The Trial of the Chicago 7 – received five nominations each, also including Picture. Other contenders for that top award are Da 5 Bloods, The Father, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Promising Young Woman and Soul, also a nominee for Animated Feature.

The late Chadwick Boseman is a double nominee for Leading Actor for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Supporting Actor for Da 5 Bloods. His performance in the lead category joins Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) and Yeun; Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7), Bill Murray (On the Rocks), Leslie Odom, Jr. (One Night in Miami) and Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) are also nominated for supporting honors.

“The performances of our nominees bring to life, through film, the strength of the human mind, body and spirit,” observes Harris. “We are invited to walk in the steps of an incredible range of people who demonstrate their resilience in the face of challenge. Imagine what this work says about the strength of the human soul in a year filled with tragedy and uncertainty.”

Competing for the 2020 award for Leading Actress are Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always; Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman; Frances McDormand, Nomadland; and Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman. Nominees for the Supporting Actress honor are Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; Ellen Burstyn, Pieces of a Woman; Olivia Colman, The Father; Amanda Seyfried, Mank; and Youn Yuh-jung for Minari.

The 40 members of the Houston Film Critics Society are working film journalists on television, radio, online and in traditional print. Together, they reach millions of people each week across the United States with their critiques and commentaries on film. The organization’s mission is to promote the advancement and appreciation of film in the Houston community and beyond. For a list of members, visit www.HoustonFilmCritics.com.

2020 Houston Film Critic Society Nominations

(With Outstanding Cinematic Achievement, Best Movie Poster Art and the HFCS Lifetime Achievement Award winners to be subsequently announced)

Best Picture

Da 5 Bloods; The Father; Minari; Never Rarely Sometimes Always; Nomadland; One Night in Miami; Promising Young Woman; Soul; Sound of Metal; The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Director

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari; Chloé Zhao, Nomadland; Regina King, One Night in Miami; Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman; Darius Marder, Sound of Metal; Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal; Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; Anthony Hopkins, The Father; Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods; Steven Yeun, Minari

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always; Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman; Frances McDormand, Nomadland; Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods; Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7; Bill Murray, On the Rocks; Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami; Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; Ellen Burstyn, Pieces of a Woman; Olivia Colman, The Father; Amanda Seyfried, Mank; Youn Yuh‑jung, Minari

Best Screenplay

Minari; Nomadland; One Night in Miami; Promising Young Woman; Sound of Metal; The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Animated Feature

The Croods: A New Age; Onward; Over the Moon; Soul; Wolfwalkers

Best Cinematography

Mank; Minari; News of the World; Nomadland; Tenet

Best Documentary Feature

Boys State; Collective; Dick Johnson is Dead; My Octopus Teacher; Time

Best Foreign Language Feature

Another Round (Denmark); Bacurau (Brazil/France); Beanpole (Russia); La Llorona (Guatemala); A Sun (Taiwan)

Best Original Score

Mank; The Midnight Sky; News of the World; Soul; Tenet

Best Original Song

All In: The Fight for Democracy, “Turntables”; Life Ahead, “Lo Si”; One Night in Miami, “Speak Now”; Over the Moon, “Rocket to the Moon”; The Prom, “Wear Your Crown”

Best Visual Effects

Tenet; The Invisible Man; The Midnight Sky

Best Stunt Coordination Team

Birds of Prey; Mulan; The Old Guard; Tenet; Wonder Woman 1984

Texas Independent Film Award

Boys State; Miss Juneteenth; Ready or Not; The Vast of Night; Yellow Rose 

Happy Birthday to The King: Elvis Presley's Top 10 Movies

Elvis Presley should have turned 86 today. Of course, maybe he will, and we don’t know it. But in any event: Back in 2017, I compiled a list of his ten best movies for Variety on the 40th anniversary of his (alleged) passing. Maybe we can argue over some of the rankings. But I still insist that his all-time greatest film is… well, you’ll find out here. 

Hanging Chads, Jumping Couches and Other Memories of Election Day 2000 in Florida

 

On Election Day twenty years ago, I was at Ground Zero in Florida’s Broward County when the chads started hanging. And thereby hangs a tale.

I was in the area to attend the 2000 Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, one of several regional festivals that once invited me to partake of their hospitality — and their films — back when I used to be somebody. On Election Day, however, a colleague and I slipped away from the festivities (at her urging, I must admit, though she didn’t have to work hard to convince me) so we could do volunteer work at the local Florida Democratic Party headquarters. Mostly, I fielded phone calls from senior citizens who needed transportation to voting places. Later in the day, I also went door to door to pass out flyers, in the hope of driving late deciders to the polls.

That night, as my colleague and I watched the election returns in my hotel room, I… I… well, I went absolutely nutzoid when the first reports came in that Al Gore had won Florida, and therefore was projected as the next President. You think Tom Cruise did some couch jumping back when he was sweet on Katie Holmes? Hah! My colleague actually tried to quiet me down, for fear people in other rooms would complain about the racket while I hopped up and down on the couch, the coffee table, the kitchen breakfast bar, etc.

But then, of course, the first reports were “corrected,” and the Florida projection was withdrawn. And then... Well, that’s when I put down my glass, and picked up the bottle. And when that one was empty, I picked up another one. And after my colleague left, I uncorked a third.

The next day, I awoke with a very bad hangover. My condition improved only slightly when colleague called to awaken me with what, at the time, seemed like very good news:  Gore had withdrawn his concession. Everything was still up in the air when I left Fort Lauderdale, but there was hope. A hope that was not dashed until a few weeks later, when, while I was at a movie junket in New York, I turned on the TV in another hotel room to learn Gore had turned in the towel.

I am not at all ashamed to admit that, for days and weeks and months and, yes, years afterward, I sporadically caught myself thinking: “Dammit! If only I had managed to get more vans out for voters! If only I had placed flyers on more doors! If! If! If!” Yep, another textbook example of Catholic guilt experienced by the eldest child of a dysfunctional family: It was all my fault.

Postscript: Seven years later, I was introduced to Al Gore at the Nashville Film Festival. Someone told him I had written a rave review of his Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth  as a free-lancer for the Tennessean newspaper — no, really, it was somebody else who did the mentioning, not me — and he smiled graciously while shaking my hand.  In fact, I swear to God, he actually bowed slightly. For about a nanosecond, I thought of telling him the story of my seven-year guilt trip. But then I came to my senses, and made polite small talk instead during our brief encounter.

So now I am telling you the story I lacked the nerve to tell Al Gore. Because as much as I feel optimistic about Election Day 2020, I can’t totally banish nagging fears that Election Night might have some nasty surprise in store. I have champagne on hand to celebrate. But I also have a few bottles of the cheap stuff to dull the pain of possible disappointment. On the other hand, this time I know: If something terrible does happen, it won't be my fault. Honest.

Yep, You Heard Right: That's Sam Elliott Narrating a Joe Biden Ad

 Saw it for the first time tonight during the World Series broadcast. Bet it won’t be the last time we see it before Election Day. Joe Biden abides.

Zooming and Broadcasting About POTUS Fest: Cinema in Chief

Along with fellow members of the Houston Film Critics Society, I am spreading the good word about our latest project: POTUS Fest: Cinema in Chief, an overview of movies about real or fictional Commanders in Chief. And as part of that project, I’ll be taking part in a Zoom discussion about depictions of American Presidents in motion pictures at 3 pm CT Sunday, Oct. 25, with my HFCS co-conspirators Joshua Starnes (Coming Soon) and Donna Copeland (Texas Art & Film). The discussion will be accessible at no charge to those who reserve a ticket — while supplies last — here. 

But wait, there’s more: At 9 am CT Tuesday, Oct. 20, I’ll be on the wireless with host Craig Cohen of Houston Matters on KUHF to talk even more about POTUS Fest: Cinema in Chief. You will be able to live stream the show here.

POTUS Fest: Cinema in Chief gives movie buffs and political junkies the opportunity to view comments and reviews by HFCS members on the organization’s website about movies dealing with U.S. Presidents (like Thirteen Days, with Bruce Greenwood as JFK, pictured above). Participating members are choosing these films — ranging from docudramas to fictional narratives — based on ways they illuminate the demands, disappointments and determination that define our Chief Executives.

“Movies take us places we may never visit in person,” says HFCS president Doug Harris, “and that includes the Oval Office… [W]e are in the middle of an extraordinary period in American politics.  And by extraordinary, I mean bizarre, unpredictable, and off the rails crazy. Another look at these exceptional films might help reset the public’s expectations of what could be.  Or should be. Maybe.”