Looking Forward to Being Heumann

Must admit: During the past few months, my bone-on-bone bad knees have forced me to sporadically rely on a wheelchair — along with friends and relatives who have volunteered to push me — so I have been especially conscious of how, even in this supposedly enlightened age, too many public places are not entirely up to speed in regard to accessibility. 

Which is why I am looking forward to seeing Being Heumann, the new drama from Oscar-winning CODA filmmaker Siân Heder. Apple Films and Regal Theaters are making the movie available Nov. 9-11 at reduced admission prices in over 100 Regal locations nationwide. And I definitely plan to wheel into a location near me for at least one screening. 

The logline: “Based on true events, Being Heumann recounts the story of Judy Heumann (played by Ruth Madely), a young disabled woman who, alongside a scrappy coalition of outsiders, led the longest occupation of a federal building in American history in 1977, spontaneously seizing the government offices and refusing to leave until the bureaucrat in their way (Mark Ruffalo) took action. 

“Bringing rebellion in all its forms to the hallowed halls, a movement’s accidental leaders struggled to find their path forward where none had ever been paved for them.”

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“The diversity of moviegoers is represented through both the programming and the audience at our theatres,” says Jack Grimes, Senior Director of Alternative Business Development at Regal.

“Being Heumann spotlights the activists who helped shape the Americans with Disabilities Act, which keeps cinema operators mindful of the diverse entertainment interests and accessibility needs for all our guests. We are proud to bring this film to Regal.” 

You can order your advance tickets for Regal Theater screenings of Being Heumann here.

Me! On the radio! Talking about Casablanca!

If you advance to the 34:00 mark on this YouTube video, you'll see me chatting with genial host Craig Cohen on the HoustonMatters podcast about Casablanca — a movie that means a lot to me.

You see, one of the first movies my late wife Anne and I saw together was Casablanca — on the big screen, the way God intended us to see it — back in the 1970s, at a New Orleans rep house. We watched and rewatched it countless times over the course of our time together because, well, it was our favorite movie. Indeed, “I’m shocked – shocked! -- to find that gambling is going on in here!” became one of our private-joke movie quotes that we tossed at each other forever afterwards. Especially while we were watching newscasts, and some phony-baloney politician would appear on camera to claim they had little or no knowledge of misbehavior by underlings (or close relatives).

 So I can’t tell you how happy I am to share Casablanca it with the River Oaks 3 Theater audience – on the big screen! – August 27, just one day short of what should have been our 50th anniversary. Here’s looking at you, Anne!

The Dead is my favorite John Huston movie

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Why is The Dead my favorite John Huston film? Well, I could direct you to my original review of Huston's adaptation of the classic James Joyce story. Or I could just show you the final scene. Back in the day: I cried so hard at the end of this movie, two colleagues had to help me out of the theater. No kidding.

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Birthday Greetings to Billy Bob Thornton

 

Wishing a very happy birthday to the Landman himself, Billy Bob Thornton, whom I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing last winter in Crockett, Texas — shortly before his Ritz Theatre concert with his band The Boxmasters.

“I can always tell the husbands who got dragged here by their wives,” Thornton told me with a mischievous grin. “They just sit there with their arms folded while their wives want to dance.” 

He laughed out loud when I told him he had a small role in one of the very first movies I ever reviewed for Variety — Chopper Chicks in Zombietown. But he laughed even harder when I asked him about appearing opposite Sam Elliott, who plays his father in Landman — despite being only 11 years older than Thornton. 

Elliott is “a friend and a mentor,” Thornton said. “But I have to say — sometimes we’ll be doing a scene where I don’t have much dialogue, and my attention drifts, and I’ll get obsessed with looking at Sam Elliott’s mustache or something. Like, I’ll just be staring and then all of a sudden they’ll say, ‘Your line. Your line.’ And I’m like, ‘Huh?’ And then I go, ‘Oh yeah, this is wonderful chicken-fried steak.’ Or whatever it is.” 

You can read my Cowboys & Indians Magazine interview with Thornton here. And here is my favorite song by The Boxmasters — “She Looks Like Betty Page.”

It Was 34 Years Ago Today: Unforgiven Premiered in Los Angeles

 

The retired gunfighter who must return to his bloody business one last time. The hotheaded youngster who must back up his bragging when push comes to shove. The small-town sheriff who must face down the hired killers riding his way. The brutally wronged woman who must rely on the firepower of a steely-eyed stranger.

Unforgiven —  which premiered at the Fox Bruin Theatre in Los Angeles on August 3, 1992 —  abounds in the time-honored archetypes that have been the staples of westerns since the heyday of Tom Mix. Which isn't at all surprising, considering the classic western — the last traditional western to win the Academy Award for Best Picture — came to us from Clint Eastwood, who played a major role in demythologizing many of these elements for the better part of four decades.

You can read my celebration of Unforgiven at Cowboys & Indians Magazine here.

Remebering my friend Bill Albright

 

Just got word this morning that Bill Albright, my best buddy from my old days at The Houston Post (1982-1995), passed away a couple days ago. For more than a decade, we sat literally face to face in the Arts & Entertainment area of the newsroom — he was the theater critic, I covered film — and I often joked that I saw more of him than most of my blood relatives (including my father) during this time. We swapped stories, made rude comments and shared gossip about various individuals (who always had it coming), and occasionally admitted to each other how ridiculously fortunate we were to get paid for doing what we loved.

After the Post shut down, we remained in touch, through sporadic lunches — though not nearly as many as I should have made time to share with him — and much more frequent emails. He was my go-to guy whenever I needed to ask a question about theater, opera and/or classical music, and would ask me about what movies he should check out on streaming platforms. He was a big guy, and could cast an intimidating glare that would shatter reinforced concrete, but he was a big ol’ softie at heart. In the last email I received from him, dated Feb. 17, he shared his response to the most recent film he had watched: “The old Wuthering Heights. Sniff.” I had no trouble at all imagining him getting teary-eyed as he watched the spirits of Heathcliff and Cathy reunite at last.

A week or two before that, he shared this comment: “Abraham Lincoln said watching Melania was the worst experience he’s ever had in a theater.” My response: “You bad.” His rejoinder: “And proud of it.”

My favorite Bill story: Way back when Operation Desert Shield was just about to escalate into Desert Storm, an editor a named Ernie Williamson (also gone but not forgotten) wandered over to our desks to talk about the situation, and his own Vietnam experiences. I admitted that I had managed to get a 4F exemption while I was in college — and I will tell you only enough of the story so that the punchline makes sense. While I was attending LSUNO (now known as University of New Orleans), a young woman I was casually dating at the time told me she was pregnant, and I was the father, so I helped her obtain a then-illegal abortion. I found out later that she had lied – my gun shoots blanks. At the time, though, I was still a reasonably good Catholic, and the experience shook me so badly that the campus shrink wrote a letter to the draft board stating I was in no mental shape to serve in the military.

I ended the story this way: “So I guess I’m the only person you’ll ever meet who dodged the draft by fucking.”

Beat.

“Well,” Bill noted dryly, “fucking a woman.”

Ernie nearly doubled over with laughter. I nearly fell out of my seat laughing. But Bill only flashed a wicked smile. Because, hey, he was a bad, bad boy.

It’s been way too long since Bill and I had lunch, and I was hoping to remedy that when I returned from SXSW later this month. You always think you’ll have enough time. But sometimes — too many times, really — you don’t.

Remembering Rod Steiger (1925-2002)

 

On the centennial of Rod Steiger’s birth — he was born April 14, 1925 in Westhampton, New York — I am reminded of bits and pieces of conversations we had over a period of years, at various film festivals and a handful of movie junkets. Please don’t misunderstand: I am not claiming  we were close friends, or even nodding acquaintances. But as I look over notes and tearsheets, I see where he where, quite often, he was quite candid and self-revelatory.

In 1991, he frankly discussed with me how, after his Oscar win for In the Heat of the Night (1967), he battled against a deep, debilitating depression spurred partly by other health issues. He snapped out it, or at least managed to control it, when his doctors finally prescribed the right medication. By that time, though, he found himself facing embarrassing questions about his career tailspin. So he did something that, in the early 1980s, folks rarely did: He spoke out loud about the chronic condition that had immobilized him.

 “My agent and everybody else screamed at me,” Steiger said. “But I said, ‘Listen, depression is a disease, just like alcoholism, just like other things. And we’ve got to get away from this thing where people think it’s insanity or something.’

“In fact, I would like to see — and I’m not joking about this — I would like to see a Depressives Anonymous, like Alcoholics Anonymous works, so a depressive person could call up and meet another group. Because the whole strength of a group like that is the sharing of pain, instead of carrying it all by yourself. And when you meet other people with the same problem, your self-pity level drops. You don't feel so sorry for yourself, or feel like God's double-crossed you.”

At the time, Steiger was in Houston was in H-Town to receive a lifetime achievement award at the WorldFest/Houston Film Festival, where he also promoted a darkly comical dramedy called Guilty as Charged, in which he authoritatively played a well-to-do vigilante who executed malefactors who had heretofore escaped justice with his very own electric chair.

“You could call it a delayed return, I guess,” Steiger said of his professional renaissance. “But I was sick for almost 10 years, and my career slowed down quite a bit. So I’m fighting to get myself re-established with a generation of executives who are about 33 years old, who came into the business while I was sick.

 “You know, I have a lunch with them, and they say, ‘Well, have you ever played a Southerner?’ And I say, ‘Well, did you see In the Heat of the Night?’ And they say, ‘No.’ So I have to swallow my pride and remind them, you know.

 “But, look — I always say that I belong to one of the smallest minorities. I’m a person who makes a living at something he loves to do and maintains his self-respect. That's as close to a definition of success that I can think of.

“I don't care if you’re a plumber or a poet or a shoemaker. If you’re doing something you love to do, and you've got a clean bed, clean food — and then, if you’re extra lucky and get somebody who has some affection for you — then you should shut your mouth. You’ve got no complaints.”

Well, maybe just a few now and then.

Over lunch at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, he copped to making what he viewed with 20/20 hindsight as “bad business decisions.” He passed on the lead role in Patton, fearing the film would glorify war. Had he played the part “half as well as George C. Scott,” he figured he might have been offered the lead in The Godfather.

And then there were the movies he did accept, but later regretted.

“I think to be an actor,” he said, “you have to be a little bit of a masochist. Because you’re putting your mistakes on view. Your mistakes are made in public, they’re not only seen by people at the office. They're seen by the entire world, eventually. When you do something that isn’t good, that's a mistake on your part — it’s too late, that picture goes out.”

Worse, it keeps returning, thanks to what Steiger called “the recurring cancer” of television.

 “What I mean by that is, you do a terrible picture — like I did a terrible picture with Diana Dors, rest her soul, called The Unholy Wife. It was a bad picture. But then I did a picture that was pretty good, called The Pawnbroker.

“So, you’re walking down the street five years later. Somebody says, ‘Hey, you’re on television tonight.’ You say, ‘Oh, The Pawnbroker?’ And they say, ‘No — The Unholy Wife.’

“See, it’s back —  the cancer is back. You thought you were finished with this picture, you thought, ‘Thank God, it’s over, no one will ever see my mistakes anymore.’ But no, there it is. And you have to live with that again.”

And yet, a man with movies like The Big Knife, On the Waterfront, Doctor Zhivago, The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night, No Way to Treat a Lady, Duck, You Sucker! and so many others to his credit really didn’t have much to complain about. And Rod Steiger knew it.

 “You know, young people always ask me how they can begin a career, because they’d like to act. But I always tell them it’s not enough to like to be an actor. You must need to be an actor. You must have to be an actor. It will make you better as a human being to be an actor. You cannot do anything else.

“I mean, I would like to be Picasso. But I’m not.”

 

But will it really be the Final Reckoning for Mission: Impossible?

 

As you can tell by this listicle I prepared (and have repeatedly update) for Variety, I have thoroughly enjoyed (almost) all of the Mission: Impossible movies starring Tom Cruise. And I certainly am looking forward to the May 23 release of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. But I can’t help thinking: This can’t really be the end. Can it?

The Brutalist, Conclave Top List of Houston Film Critics Society Awards

The Brutalist – director Brady Corbet’s Golden Globe-winning examination of post-World War II America – leads the pack with nine nominations, including Best Picture, for the 18th annual awards from the Houston Film Critics Society. (In the interest of full disclosure: I am a founding and voting member of this organization.) Closely following with eight nominations, including Best Picture: Conclave, the critically acclaimed papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes. 

Three films are nominated in six categories including Best Picture: Sean Baker’s outrageous comedy Anora, director Denis Villeneuve’s continuation of Paul Atreides’ ascension to power in Dune: Part Two, and Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked.

Other films competing for Best Picture are A Complete Unknown, an overview of Bob Dylan's early career; Nickel Boys, based on Colson Whitehead’s novel; A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s study of a complex relationship between cousins; Sing Sing, a tribute to the impact of creative arts on prison life; and The Substance, a satirical view of the challenges of aging.

“2024 was such an odd cinema year and yet the range of our nominees continues to remind us that art, commerce, and the diversity of both is what allows film to thrive,” says HFCS president Travis Leamons. “If you would have told me body horror [The Substance] could be as beloved as a Bob Dylan biopic at the start of the year, I’d say you’re mad. But leave it to our members to keep audiences informed about what movies can say. The fact we can recognize small character stories, giant studio spectacle, and a thriller where papal guidance is suggested is exciting.”

All winners will be announced by the Society on Jan. 14, 2025.

An annual highlight of the HFCS awards is the presentation of the Texas Independent Film Award honoring outstanding films made in the Lone Star State. This year’s nominees explore a complex relationship between a forgotten music star and a delivery driver in Deliveries from Eva; a former YouTube star trying to find her place in an unfriendly world in The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia; a rapper’s journey into himself and his music in Lost Soulz; the inside story of Houston’s storied 101 KLOL in Runaway Radio; and the impact of the city’s Black music scene in When Houston Had the Blues.

Here is a full list of nominees for the 18th annual Houston Film Critics Society Awards.

Best Picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Nickel Boys

A Real Pain

Sing Sing

The Substance

Wicked

 

Best Director

Anora, Sean Baker

The Brutalist, Brady Corbet

Conclave, Edward Berger

Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve

The Substance, Coralie Fargeat

Wicked, Jon M. Chu

 

Best Actor – Leading Role

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist

Colman Domingo, Sing Sing

Hugh Grant, Heretic

Ralph Fiennes, Conclave

Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown

 

Best Actress – Leading Role

Angelina Jolie, Maria

Cynthia Erivo, Wicked

Demi Moore, The Substance

Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths

Mikey Madison, Anora

 

Best Actor – Supporting Role

Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce, The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Yura Borisov, Anora

 

Best Actress – Supporting Role

Ariana Grande, Wicked

Felicity Jones, The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

Margaret Qualley, The Substance

Zoë Saldaña, Emilia Perez

 

Best Screenplay

Anora, Sean Baker

The Brutalist, Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

Conclave, Peter Straughan

Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg

Sing Sing, Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

 

Best Animated Feature

Flow

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

 

Best Cinematography

The Brutalist, Lol Crawley

Conclave, Stéphane Fontaine

Dune: Part Two, Greig Fraser

Nickel Boys, Jomo Fray

Nosferatu, Jarin Blaschke

 

Best Documentary

Daughters

No Other Land

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Sugarcane

Union

Will & Harper

 

Best Foreign Language Feature

All We Imagine As Light

Emilia Pérez

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

I’m Still Here

Kneecap

 

Best Original Score

The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg

Challengers, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Conclave, Volker Bertelmann

Dune: Part Two, Hans Zimmer

Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol

The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers

 

Best Original Song

Challengers, Compress / Repress

Emilia Pérez, El Mal

Sing Sing, Like a Bird

The Wild Robot, Kiss the Sky

Will & Harper, Harper and Will Go West

 

Best Visual Effects

Alien: Romulus

Dune: Part Two

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Nosferatu

Twisters

Wicked

 

Best Stunt Coordination Team

Deadpool & Wolverine

Dune: Part Two

The Fall Guy

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Gladiator II

 

Best Ensemble Cast

Anora

The Brutalist

Conclave

Saturday Night

Sing Sing

Wicked

 

Texas Independent Film Award

Deliveries from Eva

The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia

Lost Soulz

Runaway Radio

When Houston Had the Blues

Happy 129th Birthday to Cinema!

On December 28, 1895, cinema in projected form was presented for the first time to a paying audience by two French brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere (pictured above), owners of a photographic studio in Lyons. They went to Paris to demonstrate their cinématographe -- the name they'd given their combination camera and projector -- by showcasing short films they had shot with their hand-cranked innovation.

According to legend: At the Grand Café at 14 Boulevard des Capucines, a man stood outside the building all day on December 28, handing out programs to passers-by. But cold weather kept many people from stopping. As a result, only 33 tickets were sold for the first show.

When the lights went down that evening in a makeshift theater in the basement of the Grand Café, a white screen was lit up with a photographic projection showing the doors of the Lumiere factory in Lyon. Without warning, the factory doors were flung open, releasing a stream of workers... and, wonder of wonders, everything moved. The audience was stunned.

This first film was entitled La sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory). Ten more short scenes followed, each reel roughly 17 meters in length, including Baby's Dinner (kinda-sorta the first home movie by proud parents, later echoed by Spike Lee in Lumiere & Company) and The Sprinkler Sprinkled (arguably the first slapstick comedy, involving a man, his garden hose and a practical joker).

Within a week, with no advertising but word of mouth, more than 2,000 spectators visited the Grand Café each day, each paying the admission price of one franc. The crowds were so huge, police had to be called in to maintain order. The age of cinema had begun. Vive le cinema.

Poor Things Named Best Picture of 2023 by Houston Film Critics Society

The Houston Film Critics Society has given Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ flamboyant fable about a scientifically revivified woman’s search for her identity, top honors in the organization’s 17^th annual awards.

In addition to choosing the critically acclaimed film as Best Picture of 2023, HFCS also named Emma Stone the year’s Best Actress, and honored the movie’s visual effects.\

“In a year full of established directors making new works at a time when audiences rediscovered the joy of going to a cinema,” says Travis Leamons, president of the organization, “our critics favored the weird above all others.”

The Holdovers garnered two awards for acting — one for Paul Giamatti as a teacher examining the impact of isolation, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph as a voice of truth during the instructor’s search. Christopher Nolan was named Best Director for the epic biography Oppenheimer, which also was cited for its cinematography.

Claiming the award for Best Ensemble Cast: The actors in Killers of the Flower Moon – including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone. Chocolate Lizards, a look at a failed actor in Buffalo Gap, won the Texas Independent Film Award for the best movie made in the Lone Star State.

Here's a complete list of 2023 Houston Film Critics Society Award Winners.

Best Picture: Poor Things

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Actor, Leading Role: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Best Actress, Leading Role: Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best Actor, Supporting Role: Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Best Actress, Supporting Role: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Best Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

Best Documentary Feature: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Foreign Language Feature: The Zone of Interest

Best Original Score: Robbie Robertson, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Original Song: “I’m Just Ken,” Barbie

Best Visual Effects: Poor Things

Best Stunt Coordination Team: John Wick: Chapter 4

Best Ensemble Cast: Killers of the Flower Moon

Texas Independent Film Award: Chocolate Lizards

(In the interest of full disclosure: I am a founding and voting member of The Houston Film Critics Society. And while I don’t always agree with my colleagues, I cannot say I am not proud of their willingness to swim against the tide in many categories.)

Barbie and Oppenheimer Lead Nominees for Houston Film Critics Society Awards.

The double-barrel cultural phenomenon known as Barbenheimer —  Greta Gerwin’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer — loomed large in the list of nominees announced Tuesday for the 17^th annual awards from the Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS).

Greta Gerwig’s comic fantasy leads all films with 10 nominations, followed closely with nine nominations for Nolan’s epic biography of the physicist who changed the world. Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s exploration of the Osage County murders, and Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ outrageous look at a woman’s search for identity – each received eight nominations. All four are nominated for Best Picture of 2023.

Other films competing for the top prize include American Fiction, a seriocomic examination of Black literature and identity; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, a girl’s journey adjusting to a new community; The Color Purple, the film adaptation of the Broadway musical from Alice Walker’s novel; Godzilla Minus One, an homage to traditions of sci-fi thrillers; The Holdovers, a touching visit to personal and academic challenges in the 1970s; and Past Lives, a heartbreaking celebration of a distant friendship.

“In a year where audiences rediscovered the magic of returning to theaters, filmmakers were more than happy to deliver some incredible cinema that will be hard to top next year,” says HFCS president Travis Leamons. “For 2023, the films and talent we recognize as a collective organization remind us why while the business of movies have changed, the magic of cinema still charms.”

(In the interest of full disclosure: Yours truly is a founding and voting member of the Houston Film Critics Society.)

Contenders for the Texas Independent Film Award, honoring the best of film made in the Lone Star State, are Bolivar, a young woman’s journey to recover from her mother’s death; Breaking the Code, the work and life of artist Vernon Fisher of Fort Worth; Chocolate Lizards, a failed actor’s next steps in Buffalo Gap; I’ll Be There, people searching for connection in the midst of chaos; and A Town Called Victoria, citizens confronting how they learn to hate.

Winners of the 2023 Houston Film Critics Society awards will be announced Jan. 22.  Here is a complete list of nominees.

 

 

Best Picture

American Fiction

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Barbie

The Color Purple

Godzilla Minus One

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

 

Best Director

Greta Gerwig, Barbie

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Alexander Payne, The Holdovers

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

 

Best Actor – Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

 

Best Actress – Leading Role

Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Greta Lee, Past Lives

Margot Robbie, Barbie

Emma Stone, Poor Things

 

Best Actor – Supporting Role

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers

 

Best Actress – Supporting Role

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Rosamund Pike, Saltburn

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

 

Best Screenplay

American Fiction, Cord Jefferson

Barbie, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach

The Holdovers, David Hemingson

Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan

Past Lives, Celine Song

Poor Things, Tony McNamara

 

Best Animated Film

The Boy and the Heron

Nimona

Robot Dreams

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

 

Best Cinematography

Barbie, Rodrigo Prieto

Killers of the Flower Moon, Rodrigo Prieto

Oppenheimer, Hoyte Van Hoytema

Poor Things, Robbie Ryan

Saltburn, Linus Sandgren

 

Best Documentary Feature

American Symphony

Beyond Utopia

The Eternal Memory

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

20 Days in Mariupol

 

Best Foreign Language Feature

Anatomy of a Fall

Godzilla Minus One

Perfect Days

Society of the Snow

The Zone of Interest

 

Best Original Score

The Boy and the Heron, Joe Hisaishi

Killers of the Flower Moon, Robbie Robertson

Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson

Poor Things, Jerskin Fendrix

Spider-Man, Across the Spider-Verse: Daniel Pemberton

 

Best Original Song

“Dance the Night” from Barbie

“I'm Just Ken” from Barbie

“Keep It Movin'” from The Color Purple

“Meet in the Middle” from Flora and Son

“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie

 

Best Visual Effects

The Creator

Godzilla Minus One

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Poor Things

 

Best Stunt Coordination Team

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The Iron Claw

John Wick: Chapter 4

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Polite Society

 

Best Ensemble Cast

Barbie

The Holdovers

The Iron Claw

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

 

Texas Independent Film

Bolivar

Breaking the Code

Chocolate Lizards

I’ll Be There

A Town Called Victoria