Tag: Allison Janney

Review: ‘The Roses’ (2025), starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, Zoë Chao and Kate McKinnon

August 25, 2025

by Carla Hay

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman in “The Roses” (Photo by Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight Pictures)

“The Roses” (2025)

Directed by Jay Roach

Culture Representation: Taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area and briefly in England, the comedy/drama film “The Roses” (a re-imagining of the 1989 film “The War of the Roses”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: An architect husband and his chef wife, who are both British immigrants living in the United States, have a reversal of fortunes in their respective careers, which cause deep resentments and lead to a very bitter divorce.  

Culture Audience: “The Roses” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, “The War of the Roses” movie and book, and viewers who like dark comedies with banter-filled dialogues about relationships.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Ncuti Gatwa, Olivia Colman, Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg in “The Roses” (Photo by Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight Pictures)

As a dark satire of divorce, “The Roses” plays it much safer than 1989’s “The War of the Roses.” This re-imagining takes a little too long to get to the main couple’s major conflicts. However, there’s enough witty banter to make the movie worth watching.

Directed by Jay Roach and written by Tony McNamara, “The Roses” is a different take on 1989’s “War of the Roses,” directed by Danny DeVito and starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. DeVito had a supporting actor role in “The War of the Roses,” which was adapted from Warren Adler’s 1981 book of the same name. Perhaps because there is more sensitivity in contemporary times about homicidal domestic violence (compared to how this issue was handled in the 1980s), the marital acts of rage in “The Roses” aren’t as extreme as they are in “The War of The Roses.”

Unlike the very American “War of the Roses” movie, “The Roses” is very much steeped in the mixtures of American and British cultures. Roach (who is American) and McNamara (who is Australian) make good use of the British couple at the center of the story having a British sense of dry wit. However, there’s not nearly enough in the movie about how British and American cultures can clash.

At times, viewers might wonder why “The Roses” is primarily set in the United States (specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area), because there’s almost nothing in the story that couldn’t have taken place in the central couple’s native England, where “The Roses” was actually filmed. The couple’s immigrant status is almost never mentioned in the movie.

“The Roses” begins by showing quarreling married couple Theo Rose (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and Ivy Rose (played by Olivia Colman) in a marriage counseling session. Theo and Ivy are both strong-willed and quick-witted. The counselor asks Theo and Rose to list 10 things that they like about each other. Theo replies, “I’d rather live with her than a wolf.” Ivy responds, “He has arms.” Their comments get increasingly hostile and then turn into vicious insults.

The movie then goes in flashback mode to show how Theo and Ivy ended up at this point, and then continues to show their nasty divorce battle. Theo (an architect) and Ivy (a restaurant chef) met and started a quickie romance in their native England when both of their careers were on the rise. At the time, Theo had a higher income than Ivy, who was working in the kitchen at a hotel where he was having a business meeting. On the day that they met, Ivy told Theo that she was moving to the United States to pursue a career as a chef. Theo and Ivy use it as a reason have sex (in the kitchen cold room) within an hour of meeting each other.

Theo moved to America to be with Ivy. Theo and Ivy got married, and they settled in Mendocino, California, which is about 155 miles north of San Francisco. Their two children—fraternal twins Hattie and Roy—were born in the United States. Hattie is the more obedient child. (Delaney Quinn has the role of Hattie at 10 years old. Ollie Robinson is the character of Roy at 10 years old. Hala Finley portrays Hattie at 13 years old. Wells Rappaport depicts Roy at 13 years old.)

Theo got a job at a prestigious architecture firm, where he became a top employee. Ivy eventually quit her chef job to become a homemaker. For years, the Rose family had an idyllic life. When the twins are about 10 years old, Theo encourages Ivy to open her own restaurant, which she does. It’s called We’ve Got Crabs (a seafood eatery), which is only open a few days a week and does sluggish business at first.

Theo’s high-profile work on designing the East Bay Maritime Museum turns into a disaster when the museum’s roof (which had a giant ship sail on top) collapses during a major rainstorm and causes the rest of the building to collapse. The building collapse and Theo’s frantic reactions are filmed on bystander videos, which go viral. During this rainstorm, Ivy’s restaurant becomes crowded from people seeking shelter. One of the customers is an influential food critic named Sylvia (played by Caroline Partridge), from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Theo gets fired from his job on the same day that Ivy finds out that the food critic gave a rave review to We’ve Got Crabs. This review is the turning point for Ivy’s career, which has a meteoric rise that includes opening more We’ve Got Crabs locations. Ivy becomes rich and famous. Meanwhile, Theo’s career stalls, he becomes a homemaker, and his resentment and jealousy of Ivy begin to grow, as she becomes a busy, jet-setting workaholic who has less time for Theo and their children.

“The Roses” also shows how the different parenting styles of Theo (the disciplinarian parent) and Ivy (the lenient parent) also have a lot to do with their marital discord. For example, Theo wants Hattie and Roy to mimic his strictly healthy diet and pushes the twins to become champion athletic runners. Ivy, who smokes marijuana, makes decadent desserts for the twins to eat as late-night snacks, and she doesn’t care if the twins participate in sports.

“The Roses” has some supporting characters that bring some laughs, but this movie is mainly elevated by the believable chemistry between Cumberbatch and Colman. “The Roses” adds layers to the original “War of the Roses” movie with the addition of several new characters who are friends or colleagues of Theo and Ivy. All of these characters are American. Ivy and Theo don’t have any close British friends in the movie.

The movie’s purpose of these supporting characters is for Theo and Ivy to compare their lives to people who seem to be happier than Theo and Ivy. Needless to say, it’s a minefield of insecurities for almost everyone involved. By contrast, “The War of the Roses” main couple did not have multiple friends making commentary and giving advice about the couple’s problems.

Barry (played by Andy Samberg) is a “know it all” real-estate attorney who met Theo because of their jobs. Barry is married to Amy (played by Kate McKinnon), a self-described progressive feminist who lusts after Theo. Although Barry and Amy say they are open-minded about their own marriage, Amy sexually propositions Theo in a way that implies she doesn’t want Barry to find out that she wants to have sex with Theo. Even though Barry is not a divorce attorney, he ends up representing Theo in the divorce negotiations.

Rory (played by Jamie Demetriou) and Sally (played by Zoë Chao) are a married couple who are architect colleagues of Theo. Rory is smug and competitive with everyone, including Sally. Before Theo got fired, Theo was condescending to Sally too. But then, after Theo became an outcast in the architecture industry, Sally’s career begins to take off. And it makes Theo feel jealous.

We’ve Got Crabs employees Jane (played by Sunita Mani) and Jeffrey (played by Ncuti Gatwa), who are platonic friends, have been loyal staffers for Ivy from the beginning of her business, when Jane worked as a sous chef and Jeffrey was the head waiter at the restaurant chain’s first location. Ivy is a supportive and motivating boss, but even Jane and Jeffrey can see the changes in Ivy when success pumps up her ego. The stress of a bad marriage makes Ivy irritable and vindictive.

It’s a mixed bag to have all these supporting characters who were not in the “War of the Roses” book and movie. These supporting characters have some amusing lines of dialogue in capable performances, but the characters of Sally and Rory are not essential to the story. A supporting character who is essential is Ivy’s divorce attorney Eleanor (played by Allison Janney), who has barracuda-like skills in negotiations and brings her pet Rottweiler as a scare tactic in a negotiation meeting.

“The Roses” missed many opportunities to get more comedy out of the differences between British and American cultures. The closest that the movie comes to contrasting British and American cultures is a scene where Ivy and Theo go to a gun range with Barry, Amy, Rory and Sally. Theo and Ivy learn to use guns for the first time at this gun range. (Of course, you know where this gun use is going to go when the divorce gets ruthless.) The scene at the gun range has some slapstick elements, but there are much better scenes in the movie.

The meltdowns in the movie are symptoms of a larger, deep-rooted problem that can plague many marriages: In relentless pursuit of material success and having a perfect family image, spouses can often can be consumed by jealousy, they can neglect communication, and they can stop making an emotionally healthy relationship a top priority. “The Roses” might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But as a dramedy for adults, it’s entertaining enough in taking an acerbic and cautionary look at the effects that divorce can have on people’s lives.

Searchlight Pictures will release “The Roses” in U.S. cinemas on August 29, 2025. A sneak preview of the movie will be shown in U.S. cinemas on August 27, 2025.

Review: ‘Everything’s Going to Be Great,’ starring Allison Janney, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Bryan Cranston, Jack Champion and Chris Cooper

July 12, 2025

by Carla Hay

Bryan Cranston and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth in “Everything’s Going to Be Great” (Photo by Peter H. Stranks/Lionsgate)

“Everything’s Going to Be Great”

Directed by Jon S. Baird

Culture Representation: Taking place from 1989 to 1990, in Ohio, New Jersey, and Kansas, the comedy/drama film “Everything’s Going to Be Great” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people and on Asian person) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A husband and a wife, who have opposite personalities and work as managers of regional performing arts theaters, juggle conflicts in their marriage and conflicts between their two teenage sons, who also have opposite personalities.

Culture Audience: “Everything’s Going to Be Great” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of stars Allison Janney and Bryan Cranston and sometimes-quirky stories about people who love musical theater.

Chris Cooper and Allison Janney in “Everything’s Going to Be Great” (Photo by Peter H. Stranks/Lionsgate)

“Everything’s Going to Be Great” sometimes struggles with balancing comedy and drama in a story about an eccentric family of regional theater managers. However, the principal cast performances enliven an occasionally trite and wandering narrative. The family dynamics in the movie are consistently believable.

Directed by Jon S. Baird and written by Steven Rogers, “Everything’s Going to Be Great” had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. The movie takes place from 1989 to 1990, in Ohio, New Jersey, and Kansas. “Everything’s Going to Be Great” was actually filmed in the Canadian province of Ontario.

In the beginning of “Everything’s Going to Be Great,” it’s the spring of 1989 in Akron, Ohio. Buddy Smart (played by Bryan Cranston) is in a middle-school principal’s office with his 14-year-old son Lester “Les” Smart (played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and Principal Franklin (played by Cady Huffman) in a meeting to discuss some disciplinary issues about Les at this school. Les is a school misfit who has made some people uncomfortable.

As Principal Franklin explains to Buddy, during a physical education class that was discussing angina during a CPR training session, Les blurted out that “Vaginas make his flesh creep,” says the principal. In Les’ history class, he was assigned a one-page report on the Manifest Destiny. Instead, he turned in a nine-page musical titled “Les Wiz,” set during the French Revolution and inspired by “Les Misérables” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

Buddy scoffs at these complaints and doesn’t think that they’re serious enough for the school principal to have this meeting. “Isn’t nine pages better than one?” Buddy somewhat sarcastically asks Principal Franklin. The principal asks Les to leave the room so that she can talk to Buddy privately.

Principal Franklin tells Buddy that he has to consider the possibility that Les is gay. She says it in a tone as if being gay is something to be ashamed of or is a mental health problem. Buddy says defiantly, “In theater, we don’t care about people’s race or sexuality. [We care] only if they are talented.” Principal Franklin tries to finish the sentence by saying the word “Christian” when Buddy says “talented.”

In the hallway, outside the principal’s office, Les imagines that he sees the late playwright/composer Noël Coward (played by Mark Caven) and is having a conversation with him. Les has these types of short imaginary conversations with different deceased celebrity entertainers throughout the movie, including actress Ruth Gordon (played by Chick Reid), actress Tallulah Bankhead (played by Laura Benanti) and playwright/novelist William Inge (played by David MacLean). It’s a fairly cute gimmick that is sometimes distracting in this movie.

After the meeting with the school principal ends, Les complains to Buddy, “I hate this school. No one gets me.” Buddy tells Les, “You’re a weirdo. It’s not their fault.” Buddy also says that when he was Les’ age, he was an actor too and didn’t fit in at his school either. Buddy assures Les that Les will find “his people” when he goes to high school.

How much of a musical fanatic is Les? During live performances at the theaters that his parents manage, Les frequently walks on stage uninvited and unannounced and joins the cast in performing. An early scene in the movie shows Les doing this type of “stage crashing” during a performance of “Fiddler on the Roof.” These interruptions annoy the cast, crew and Les’ mother, but Buddy is more tolerant because he understands Les’ enthusiasm.

Things in the Smart family household are also fraught with tension because Buddy and his wife Macy Smart (played by Allison Janney) are financially struggling and are having many arguments about it. Although the spouses share a love of musical theater, they have opposite personalities. Buddy is an optimist who believes that their problems will eventually be solved. Macy is a pessimist who has become jaded and bitter that they haven’t been able to achieve their dream of producing Broadway musicals.

Buddy and Macy are also fundamentally different when it comes to religion. Buddy is an atheist or agnostic, while Macy is a devoutly religious Christian. Conversations in the movie give indications why Buddy is not religious. It’s mentioned that Buddy’s single mother abandoned him when he was 4 years old, and he was raised by two aunts who were religious fanatics and very cruel to Buddy.

Buddy and Macy have another son—16-year-old Derrick (played by Jack Champion)—who is the opposite of Les. Derrick is a popular football player with a steady girlfriend at his high school, he hates musical theater, and he’s very heterosexual. When an opportunity comes up for the Buddy and Macy to relocate to New Jersey to manage the regional Barn Theater, Derrick is the only one in the family who doesn’t want to move from where they live in Ohio. “All I want is to play football and lose my virginity,” Derrick says.

This job opportunity comes with risks and challenges. It’s a temporary job where the Barn Theater’s owner Ed Monroe (played by Michael Hanrahan) has hired them for the summer to see if Buddy and Macy can boost the theater’s dwindling business. If Buddy and Macy and turn around the theater’s fortune for the better, the spouses will be hired on a permanent basis and get the opportunity to manage his Players Theater in Milwaukee.

Buddy is the most enthusiastic person in the family about this new job offer, but Macy is worried and isn’t easily convinced that it’s is a good idea. For starters, they can’t afford a place to live in New Jersey. And if they don’t get hired on a permanent basis, they’ll be financially ruined.

After some back-and-forth arguing between the spouses, Macy agrees to this relocation. Les is obviously excited about the move because he doesn’t like his life in Akron. In New Jersey, the Smart family ends up illegally squatting in a house. Macy found out through a real-estate connection that the house’s owners will be away for a while and don’t have anyone checking up on the house.

“Everything’s Going to Be Great” shows what happens when the Smart family unexpectedly has to move in with Macy’s farmer brother Walter (played by Chris Cooper) in Macy’s home state of Kansas. The movie takes a much more serious tone during the scenes where the family is in Kansas, and the focus shifts to how Les and Derrick adjust to life at their Kansas high school. Simon Rex has a small but pivotal role as a Barn Theater actor named Kyle.

“Everything’s Going to Be Great” has many of its best-acted scenes with Cranston as Buddy, an unconventional dreamer who is a loving parent but who is often so consumed with his passion for musical theater, it’s taken a toll on his marriage. Whether Buddy is playing bagpipes with Les on a front lawn or encouraging Les’ musical aspirations, it’s a great depiction of unconditional parental love. Janney gives a realistically acerbic performance a Macy, who has become resentful that her life did not turn out the way that she expected and who has insecurities about her physical appearance.

Ainsworth’s portrayal of Les is impressive, even though the movie seems like it can’t decide between telling the story from Les’ perspective or the perspective of his parents. Les’ imaginary conversations with some of his dead idols sometimes seem out-of-place and make him look like a “twee fantasy” kid when there could have been a better exploration of his creative side. There’s that brief mention in the beginning of the movie that he wrote a “Les Wiz” musical, but then the movie doesn’t show any more indications that Les has an artistic side to him, other than being an actor. Any flaws in “Everything’s Going to Be Great” are outweighed by the movie’s mostly capable and engaging way of depicting a family that you can easily imagine as being inspired by people who existed in real life.

Lionsgate released “Everything’s Going to be Great” in U.S. cinemas on June 20, 2025. The movie was released on digital and VOD on July 11, 2025.

Review: ‘Another Simple Favor,’ starring Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Andrew Rannells, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell, Elena Sofia Ricci, Henry Golding and Allison Janney

April 30, 2025

by Carla Hay

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in “Another Simple Favor” (Photo by Lorenzo Sisti/Amazon Content Services)

“Another Simple Favor”

Directed by Paul Feig

Some language in Italian with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place on Italy’s Capri island and briefly in the United States, the comedy/drama “Another Simple Favor” (a sequel to “A Simple Favor”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A lifestyle vlogger/author, who is invited to the wedding of a homicidal friend-turned-enemy, gets involved in another murder mystery case during the wedding celebration.

Culture Audience: “Another Simple Favor” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners; the book and movie “A Simple Favor”; and sarcastic dramedies about insecure and image-conscious people.

Cast members of “Another Simple Favor.” Pictured in front: Blake Lively and Michele Morrone. Pictured in back: Alex Newell and Anna Kendrick. (Photo by Lorenzo Sisti/Amazon Content Services)

“Another Simple Favor” doesn’t have the original zest of “A Simple Favor,” but it’s still an enjoyable watch for the performances and to see how the characters deal with the inevitable murder mystery. The movie crams in too many plot twists near the end. Leading up to these turns in the story, there’s enough snappy banter and intriguing “whodunit” sleuthing to keep most fans of these types of movies interested in seeing what will happen next.

Directed by Paul Feig and written by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis, “Another Simple Favor” had its world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival. “Another Simple Favor” is a sequel to 2018’s “A Simple Favor,” which was directed by Feig and written by Sharzer, with the adapted screenplay based on Darcey Bell’s 2017 novel of the same name. Is it necessary to know what happened in “A Simple Favor” to watch “Another Simple Favor”? No, but it definitely helps because “Another Simple Favor” reveals many of the plot twists that happened in “A Simple Favor.”

In “A Simple Favor” (which took place in an unnamed U.S. city), the two friends-turned-enemies at the center of the story are neurotic and talkative Stephanie Smothers (played by Anna Kendrick) and smug and manipulative Emily Nelson (played by Blake Lively), who’ve been in a battle to outwit each other, ever since [spoiler alert] Emily faked her own murder. Emily faked the murder by staging Emily’s “disappearance,” then killing her estranged identical twin sister Faith McLanden (also played by Lively) by drowning her in a lake, and then going into hiding, knowing that when Faith’s body would be found, people would assume that the body was Emily’s. Emily tried to frame Emily’s husband Sean Townsend (played by Henry Golding) for the crime.

In “A Simple Favor,” Stephanie (a widowed mother) was a domestic lifestyle vlogger, while Emily worked in public relations at a fashion company. Emily and Sean have a bratty son named Nicholas “Nicky” Townsend-Nelson (played by Ian Ho), who was about 5 years old during the events that took place in “A Simple Favor.” Stephanie’s son Miles Smothers (played by Joshua Satine), who is about the same age as Nicky, became best friends with Nicky because they’re school classmates. Stephanie and Emily met because of the friendship between Miles and Nicky.

Why did Emily fake her own death? Sean was a one-hit-wonder novelist who became a university professor, but he wasn’t making enough money for Emily. The couple was heavily in debt, due to Emily’s overspending. Emily’s plan was find a way to get the insurance money from her faked murder and then start a new life under a new identity with Nicky.

During the investigation into Emily’s fake death, Stephanie played amateur sleuth and ended up having a romance with Sean. When Emily found out, she set out to ruin Stephanie’s life too. In the end, Emily made a confession that Stephanie secretly livestreamed, and Emily was arrested. The movie’s epilogue mentioned that Emily was convicted of murder and other crimes, and she was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

All of this background information is a lot to know before watching “Another Simple Favor,” which starts with a not-so-great summary of the previous events that took place in “A Simple Favor.” Without knowing all the nuances of how and why the relationship changed between Stephanie and Emily in “A Simple Favor,” it will be harder for viewers to connect with these characters in “Another Simple Favor.”

“Another Simple Favor” picks up five years after the events of “A Simple Favor.” Stephanie’s role in exposing Emily’s crimes has now made Stephanie semi-famous and gotten her millions of followers on social media. Stephanie’s vlog is now named “A Pinch of Murder,” a combination of lifestyle advice and true-crime case solving. Stephanie’s slogan for the vlog is “Your one-stop shop for hot home tips and cold case flips.”

The movie begins by showing Stephanie on the Italian island of Capri while she is doing a livestream to tell her audience that she is under house arrest. She says, “I want to be clear: I did not kill Emily’s husband.” How did Stephanie end up as a murder suspect who’s under house arrest? And why is she in Italy? The movie then unfolds to show to what happened.

Stephanie has written a non-fiction book called “The Faceless Blonde” about her experiences with Emily. However, sales for the book have been disappointing. And Stephanie had to temporarily shut down her vlog because she got public backlash for exploiting her role in Emily’s murder case.

To promote the book, Stephanie does a book reading. In attendance at this book reading are her book agent Vicky (played by Alex Newell); Detective Summerville (played by Bashir Salahuddin), the lead police investigator in Emily’s criminal case; and three of the gossipy neighbors who were in “A Simple Favor”: Darren (played by Andrew Rannells), Sona (played by Aparna Nancherla) and Stacy (played by Kelly McCormack). And there’s someone else who shows up at the book reading: Emily. Of course, people start filming this surprise appearance of Emily on their phones, and the videos goes viral.

Emily makes her grand entrance and explains that she was able to get out of prison because her high-priced attorneys got the conviction reversed by successfully arguing that there was evidence tampering that led to her conviction. Emily, who got divorced from Sean while Emily was in prison, is now engaged to a wealthy Italian man named Dante Versano (played by Michele Morrone), whom she met years ago when they had a fling in Italy when Emily was in her 20s. Dante, who is described as madly in love with Emily, reconnected with Emily while she was in prison, and he paid for Emily’s legal defense that got her out of prison.

Emily has shown up at Stephanie’s book reading to invite her to the lavish wedding, which will take place on Capri and will be a first-class, all-expenses-paid trip for members of the wedding party. Emily wants Stephanie to be her maid of honor. Stephanie says no to the wedding invitation at first.

But with Miles away at summer camp, and Vicky pressuring Stephanie to do something bold to promote the book, Stephanie changes her mind and says yes to the wedding invitation. Stephanie instinctively knows that Emily holds grudges and might have a devious plan in mind for Stephanie. Just in case, Stephanie does a lot of livestreaming and video posting during the trip so that her millions of followers can keep track of what’s happening.

Sean and Nicky are guests at the wedding too. Nicky is still a brat. Sean is now a very angry and bitter person. He spends most of the wedding getting drunk and complaining about how horrible his ex-wife Emily is. There’s also a lot of tension at the wedding for other reasons: Dante’s domineering mother Portia Versano (played by Elena Sofia Ricci) disapproves of Emily and isn’t afraid to show it. Dante is also feuding with Matteo Bartolo (played by Lorenzo de Moor), a longtime business rival who is at the wedding.

As already shown in the movie’s trailers, there’s also tension because Emily’s estranged mother Margaret McLinden (played by Elizabeth Perkins) is an unwelcome guest but has shown up with Margaret’s older sister Linda McLinden (played by Allison Janney), who was invited to the wedding. The role of Margaret was played by Jean Smart in “A Simple Favor.” Margaret’s different physical appearance in “Another Simple Favor” is explained as Margaret having had “work done”—in other words, plastic surgery.

Which of Emily’s husbands will be murdered? This review won’t reveal that information since it was not revealed in the movie’s trailers. However, there are plenty of suspects and motives for people to frame someone for any murder that happen in the story. “Another Simple Favor” is a bit overstuffed with new characters, which might annoy or frustrate some viewers.

By taking the story from a generic suburban American location to the gorgeous locales of Capri, “Another Simple Favor” obviously looks a lot more glamorous than “A Simple Favor.” There are scenes in private jets and five-star resorts. “A Simple Favor” had retro-chic French music for the soundtrack, while “Another Simple Favor” has retro-chic Italian music for the soundtrack. But ultimately, putting “Another Simple Favor” in more luxurious settings is just dressing up a screenplay that’s messier than “A Simple Favor.”

“Another Simple Favor” also continues a few of the provocative storylines that were in “A Simple Favor.” Both movies show that despite Emily’s and Stephanie’s hatred of each other, there’s some underlying sexual tension between Emily and Stephanie. Emily kisses Stephanie in a seductive way in both movies. And people they know describe Emily and Stephanie as being obsessed with each other.

In addition, Stephanie isn’t as squeaky-clean as she appears to be. When Emily and Stephanie started to get to know each other as friends in “A Simple Favor,” Stephanie confessed to Emily that Stephanie knowingly committed incest years before Stephanie was married to her husband Davis (played by Eric Johnson), when Stephanie had sex with a man she had recently found out was her long-lost half-brother Chris (played by Dustin Milligan). Years later, when Stephanie and Davis were married, Davis noticed that Stephanie and Chris seemed too close for comfort, and he confronted Chris about it during a car ride. The car crashed and killed Davis and Chris.

Stephanie thinks that Chris and Davis were probably arguing about her during that car ride, so she feels guilty about both of their deaths. Emily uses that information to taunt and somewhat blackmail Stephanie, including calling Stephanie a “brother fucker.” In “Another Simple Favor,” there’s another incest incident. It’s not played for laughs, but it just seems tacky and unnecessary.

“Another Simple Favor” undoubtedly has a talented cast keeping things afloat when the scenarios get too campy or ridiculous. Kendrick and Lively have many more scenes together in this sequel, which is one of the few things in “Another Simple Favor” that’s better than “A Simple Favor.” Kendrick excels at playing dorky people pleasers, while Lively seems to be having fun hamming it up as self-absorbed Emily. Janney is a scene stealer as strong-willed Linda in “Another Simple Favor,” while other new characters in “Another Simple Favor” are hollow and aren’t nearly as interesting.

“Another Simple Favor” is prettier to look at than “A Simple Favor,” but the overall personality of the movie is more superficial. The end of “Another Simple Favor” hints that the filmmakers want another sequel. The novelty of these characters is now gone, so if the saga between Stephanie and Emily continues, they’re better off being in a situation that’s more credible and lasts longer than a wedding trip.

Prime Video will premiere “Another Simple Favor” on May 1, 2025.

Review: ‘Breaking News in Yuba County,’ starring Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Awkwafina, Wanda Sykes, Juliette Lewis, Samira Wiley and Regina Hall

February 21, 2021

by Carla Hay

Allison Janney in “Breaking News in Yuba County” (Photo courtesy of Anna Kooris/MGM)

“Breaking News in Yuba County”

Directed by Tate Taylor

Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional U.S. Southern city of Stanlow, the dark comedy “Breaking News in Yuba County” features a predominantly white cast (with some African Americans, Asians and Latinos) representing the middle-class, working-class and criminal underground.

Culture Clash: A lonely, middle-aged woman pretends that her philandering criminal husband has been kidnapped (even though he really died of a heart attack), so that she can get sympathy and attention.

Culture Audience: “Breaking News in Yuba County” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Allison Janney and to people who don’t mind watching incoherent movies about people behaving badly.

Allison Janney, Mila Kunis and Regina Hall in “Breaking News in Yuba County” (Photo Anna Kooris/MGM)

Oscar-winning actress Allison Janney has worked with director Tate Taylor in all of his feature films so far, and she usually plays supporting or minor characters in these movies. The dark and violent comedy “Breaking News in Yuba County” is the first Taylor-directed film where Janney is front and center as the movie’s lead character. And it’s a dreadful misstep not only for Taylor and Janney but also for everyone involved in this embarrassing mess. “Breaking News in Yuba County” (whose producers include Taylor and Jake Gyllenhaal) is proof that having a talented cast doesn’t automatically equal a good movie.

In “Breaking News in Yuba County” (whose horrendous screenplay was written by Amanda Idoko), Janney portrays Sue Buttons, a lonely woman who feels neglected and under-appreciated and goes to extreme lengths to get attention. The movie shows obvious signs that Sue doesn’t get the respect that she thinks she deserves, to try and make her look sympathetic. But her personality and actions are so off-putting (and so are almost all of the characters in this stinker film) that the movie’s attempts to be comedic are pathetic and monotonous.

“Breaking News in Yuba County” takes place in an unnamed U.S. state in the South, in a fictional city called Stanlow, located in Yuba County. In the movie’s opening scene, viewers see Sue listening to motivational affirmations on her iPod as she goes to a supermarket. She repeats these mantras several times throughout the movie: “My story matters. I am enough. I am confident.” Sue’s self-directed pep talks do little to change the way that the outside world treats her. And something happens on her birthday that causes her to snap and go from being a mild-mannered, law-abiding citizen to being a stone-cold, heartless fraudster.

She arrives at the grocery store to pick up her small birthday cake, which is inscribed with the words “Happy Birthday, Sue.” But Sue notices that the “e” looks more like a “c.” She points out this mistake to the pastry worker behind the counter, with a tone of voice implying that she wants the error corrected. But the worker just ignores Sue’s attempt to assert herself and asks if Sue is paying by cash or credit.

Sue is married to a corrupt banker named Karl (played by Matthew Modine), who’s first seen at their home talking dirty to a woman whom he plans to meet later for a sexual tryst. Sue doesn’t know about this affair but she’ll soon find out on her birthday. She’ll also find out later about her husband’s illegal activities. In the meantime, Sue has made plans for her and Karl to have a romantic dinner at a restaurant on her birthday.

But as soon as she arrives home, Karl is out the door to go meet up with his mistress. Meanwhile, Sue takes her birthday cake and makes the correction on the letter “e” herself. She then goes to her job, a place called Sidewinder Safety Tubs, where she works in customer service at a call center. The only work on the job that the movie shows her doing is taking one phone call from a rude customer who curses at her.

Considering all the ludicrous shenanigans that Sue gets up to later that take up all of her time, the movie shouldn’t have bothered showing her having a job at all. This movie is so badly written that it’s never explained how Sue took all the time off from work that she takes to try to cover up her web of lies. But the filmmakers seem to assume that everyone who’s watching this movie is as idiotic as the characters.

Sue just happens to be driving near a motel when she sees Karl’s car parked outside. She gets out and sees him holding some flowers and going into a motel room while calling a woman inside “honey” before he shuts the door. An alarmed Sue goes to the motel’s front desk and correctly assumes that the room is reserved in Karl’s name. Sue tells the front desk clerk that she’s his wife and pretends to have accidentally locked herself out of that room, so she asks for a spare key.

Sure enough, when Sue lets herself into the motel room, Karl is having sex with another woman, whose name is Leah Norton (played by Bridget Everett), whom Sue has never met before. Sue gets angry, while Karl and Leah are naturally startled and horrified at being caught. Karl is so surprised that he falls off the bed, has a heart attack, and dies.

While Leah is freaking out and babbling, Sue finds out that Leah is also married. She slaps Leah and tells her that she will inform Leah’s husband about Leah’s cheating if Leah doesn’t leave the motel immediately. Sue also tells Leah that Sue will take care of the problem of Karl’s dead body. Leah doesn’t hesitate to quickly leave the motel.

Instead of being upset that Karl is dead, Sue forlornly says out loud as she sits on the bed, “You forgot my birthday.” Sue then hatches a plan to bury the body in a lot near the motel. This movie is so stupid, that it shows Sue digging the grave in plain view where anyone could have easily seen her. But there would be no “Breaking News in Yuba County” if she were caught that quickly and easily.

Meanwhile, Sue doesn’t find out until after Karl dies that he was involved in a money-laundering scheme with some local criminals, who used Karl to launder millions of dollars. The people in this illegal enterprise are a ruthless crime boss named Mr. Kim (played by Keong Sim); his sometimes-bungling daughter Mina (played by Awkafina), who tries to be as tough as her father; a menacing, trigger-happy thug named Ray (played by Clifton Collins Jr.); and Karl’s younger brother Petey (played by Jimmi Simpson), who’s been trying to leave his criminal life behind.

Petey works as a salesperson at a furniture store named Rita’s, owned by a sassy lesbian named Rita (played by Wanda Sykes), who manages the store with her equally feisty live-in girlfriend Debbie (played by Ellen Barkin). Rita and Debbie know that Petey has a criminal background, but he’s told them that he’s trying to “go straight” and stay out of trouble. Debbie is often suspicious of Petey and sometimes accuses him of stealing from the store. Meanwhile, Rita has a friendly rapport with Petey, and she strangely tells Petey that she wouldn’t mind too much if he was caught stealing because she would understand that he would be stealing out of desperation.

Sue is fixated on a local news/public affairs TV program called “The Gloria Michaels Show,” which has been doing constant coverage of a missing 13-year-old girl named Emma Rose. After Sue has buried Karl’s body, she goes home and watches the show. She has a silent “a-ha” moment when she sees Emma Rose’s parents Jonathan and Robin (played by Michael A. Newcomer and Liz Elkins Newcomer) being interviewed by host Gloria Michaels (played by Juliette Lewis), who tells the distraught parents that they have the unwavering support of the community in finding Emma Rose. Gloria is a TV personality who’s a mix of Nancy Grace and Deborah Norville, even down to having the same type of blonde bob hairstyle and Southern accent.

Sue decides that she can get the public’s sympathy and attention if she pretends that Karl is missing. Sue calls the restaurant to cancel the dinner reservation by saying that her husband isn’t feeling well. It’s a discrepancy (and plot hole) that a good investigation team would be able to uncover when Sue later reports that Karl is missing. She foolishly claimed that Karl disappeared during the time she said that he was too “sick” to go to the restaurant. Another big plot hole is that Sue never bothers to contact anyone to try to look for Karl. But, of course, this movie has incompetent cops who investigate and overlook many of these things that would expose her lies.

Sue goes to the local police station to report Karl’s disappearance, but the officer on duty, Detective Cam Harris (played by Regina Hall), is impatient and dismissive, especially when Sue tells her that Karl has been missing for less than 48 hours. Detective Harris doesn’t file a report and instead advises Sue to ask Karl’s friends and relatives if they know where he is, because many missing spouses usually have just gone somewhere without telling their spouses. Once again, Sue feels ignored and disrespected.

The gravity of what Sue has done begins to sink in with her. When she goes home, she has a meltdown and starts trashing her house. She picks up the birthday cake, as if she’s going to destroy it too, but she can’t bring herself to do it. It’s symbolic of how she’ll take extreme measures later in the story to save herself and destroy others, just so she won’t be exposed for committing the crimes of illegal disposal of a corpse and lying to the police.

Sue has a younger half-sister named Nancy (played by Mila Kunis), who comes over to visit shortly after Sue has her meltdown. The house looks like it’s been ransacked, so Sue pretends to be distraught that Karl is missing. Sue also plays along with Nancy’s assumption that Karl was probably kidnapped during a home invasion.

It just so happens that Nancy is a highly ambitious and competitive TV reporter who works for a local station that’s a rival to the station that has “The Gloria Michaels Show.” Sue and Nancy see Karl’s “disappearance” as an opportunity to get media attention for themselves. Predictably, Nancy offers to interview Sue on TV about the “disappearance.” Nancy doesn’t really care that Karl could be missing; she just wants to get a “news scoop” over the competition.

This TV interview is the first time that Petey finds out that his older brother Karl is missing. And that’s a problem because Karl had $3 million that he was supposed to launder, so now that money is missing too. In a panic, Petey tells Mina and Ray that he doesn’t know where Karl or the money is. And inexplicably, Mina decides to tell Petey that she and Ray have kidnapped Karl, so that they can extort $20,000 in ransom money from Petey. It’s a dumb decision by any standard, but it’s an example of how bad this movie is.

What follows is a convoluted and messy farce, with betrayals, more lies, and people inevitably getting killed in brutal ways. Detective Harris is the only cop on the case who gets suspicious of Sue. But Detective Harris is stonewalled by her dimwitted junior cop partner Officer Jones (played by T.C. Matherne) and their boss Captain Riggins (played by Dominic Burgess), who both think that Sue doesn’t seem like the type who could be a criminal mastermind. It’s a subtle commentary on how certain people, because of their physical appearance, are given a “privileged pass” with law enforcement.

The movie has a few supporting characters that don’t have much to do except be possible targets of violence. Petey has a pregnant girlfriend named Jonelle (played by Samira Wiley), who grows concerned at how strange he’s been acting lately. Her pregnancy only seems to be in the movie so there’s an inevitable scene of a pregnant woman in a vicious fight. And then there’s one of Karl’s bank colleagues named Steve (played by Chris Lowell), who doesn’t do much but act frightened when Mina and Ray predictably show up at the bank to look for Karl.

This type of low-quality movie usually has a cast of unknown actors. But it’s very disappointing to see how many talented and famous actors (who are all known for doing much better work elsewhere) are in this atrocious movie. Not even the action stunts are interesting to watch.

And the tone of the film is horribly uneven, as the actors do their performances as if they’re in very different films. Awkwafina, Barkin, Sykes, Kunis, Hall and Simpson act as if they’re in a goofy slapstick comedy. Matherene, Burgess, Wiley and Lowell act as if they’re in a serious drama. Janney, Lewis, Collins, Sim and Everett come closest to capturing the movie’s intended dark satire. Modine isn’t in the movie long enough for most viewers to care about his Karl character, who seems to be despicable anyway.

Almost as annoying as this movie’s characters is the music score by Jeff Beal, because it’s the epitome of sitcom smarm. Given how violent this movie is, the music is completely out-of-place and awkward, because it sounds like something that should be for an outdated family comedy series on TV. The overall direction of the movie is lazy, as if Taylor just let the actors do their own thing instead of having a cohesive tone for the film. And clearly, the filmmakers didn’t do enough to fix the many problems in the screenplay.

It seems as if “Breaking News in Yuba County” tried and failed to be like a Guy Ritchie crime film, by having a story where lawbreakers comically try to outdo each other in absurd ways, while they attempt to cover up everything and blame their misdeeds on other people. There are plenty of female-centric dark comedy satires that get all the elements right, including 2017’s “I, Tonya,” the movie that garnered Janney her Academy Award. Sometimes bad movies are fun to watch, but “Breaking News in Yuba County” is the type of irritating movie where viewers can’t wait for it to be over and won’t care what happens to the characters in the end.

MGM’s American International Pictures released “Breaking News in Yuba County” in select U.S. cinemas and on digital and VOD on February 12, 2021.

Review: ‘Bad Education,’ starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney

April 26, 2020

by Carla Hay

Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney in “Bad Education” (Photo by JoJo Whilden/HBO)

“Bad Education” (2020)

Directed by Cory Finley

Culture Representation: Taking place primarily on Long Island, New York, and partially in Las Vegas, the drama “Bad Education” has a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Indian Americans) representing the middle-class and upper-class.

Culture Clash: Based on true events, the movie tells the story of corrupt administrators and their accomplices, who embezzled an estimated $11 million from the school district of Roslyn High School in Roslyn, New York.

Culture Audience: “Bad Education” will appeal primarily to Hugh Jackman fans and people who like dramas based on true crime.

Hugh Jackman and Geraldine Viswanathan in “Bad Education” (Photo courtesy of HBO)

“Bad Education” follows many familiar tonal beats of true-crime movies, but the riveting performances of Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney elevate what could have been a somewhat mediocre film. Based on true events that happened in 2002, “Bad Education” portrays the investigation that led to the downfalls of several people involved in an embezzlement/fraud scam that stole an estimated $11 million over several years from the high-school district in the upscale suburban city of Roslyn, New York. It’s said to be the largest prosecuted embezzlement in the history of American public schools.

The two people at the center of the crimes against Roslyn High School are school superintendent Frank Tassone (played by Jackman) and assistant superintendent/business manager Pam Glucklin (played by Janney), who work closely together and also cover up for each other. As it’s eventually revealed in the movie, they cared about more than just increasing the prestige level of Roslyn High School, the high-ranking  jewel in their school-administration crown. They also cared a great deal about increasing their personal wealth using illegally obtained school funds, mostly by billing the district for lavish trips, homes, cars and other personal expenses.

In the beginning of the film, which is effectively bookmarked with a similar scene at the end of the film, Frank is introduced like a rock star at a school assembly, which has gathered to celebrate Roslyn High School’s achievement of ranking at No. 4 in the U.S. for being the highest academically achieving high school. The school has reached this level under Frank’s leadership, and his goal is to elevate Roslyn High School to No. 1.

Frank’s friendly charm and winning smile have made him very popular with his co-workers, parents and students. By contrast, Pam has a prickly and dismissive personality, but her strong alliance with Frank has given her a lot of clout in the school district. Their boss is school board president Bob Spicer (played by Ray Romano), who is Frank’s biggest champion.

One of the school’s goals is a skywalk proposal, which would build a multimillion-dollar skywalk bridge to link the school from end to end. A bright and inquisitive student named Rachel Bhargava (played by Geraldine Viswanathan) is tasked with doing an article about the skywalk for Roslyn High School’s newspaper, The Beacon. At first, when she does a very brief interview with Frank for the article, she thinks it’s going to be a boring puff piece.

Rachel thinks so little of the assignment that she even tells Frank that it will be a puff piece. His response: “It’s only a puff piece if you let it be a puff piece. A real journalist can turn an assignment into a story.” It’s unknown if the real Frank Tassone ever said those words to any of the real student reporters of The Beacon who broke the news of the embezzlement scandal, but those words will come back to haunt Frank in this movie.

While preparing the article, Rachel needs to get some facts and statistics about the skywalk construction proposal bids that the school district received from contractors. She has to get permission from Pam to access those documents, which are in a very cluttered storage area of the school. While Frank was accommodating and gracious in giving his time to Rachel, Pam is impatient and condescending when talking to Rachel for the article. Pam gives Rachel the room key to access the requested documents, but warns her that the area is so messy and disorganized that it will be challenging for her to find the paperwork that she’s seeking.

The storage area turns out to have a treasure trove of documents that Rachel’s assigning editor Nick Fleischman (played by Alex Wolff) happens to notice when he accidentally knocks some of the papers out of her backpack when he impatiently tries to stop her while walking down a school hallway. (It’s one of those moments in the movie that probably didn’t happen in real life, but was fabricated for dramatic purposes.)

Nick thinks she may be on to a big story, so Rachel finds out through further investigation that the documents have a lot of proof that invoices charging a fortune have been billed to the school district, but many of the companies listed on the invoices don’t exist. Rachel gets help from her father David Bhargava (played by Hari Dhillon) in doing the grunt work of making calls to investigate the legitimacy of companies that are listed on the school invoices.

Why does Rachel’s father have that much free time on his hands? In a minor subplot, it’s revealed that he lost his job because of accusations that he was involved with insider trading. In the midst of investigating corruption at her own school, Rachel at one point asks her father if he really was guilty of insider trading. His answer serves to telegraph Rachel’s decision to report what she’s found out.

What happens next has a domino effect that exposes elaborate, longtime schemes orchestrated by Frank and Pam. Because of this high-profile case, many viewers might already know about the outcome. However, screenwriter Mike Makowsky (a Roslyn native who graduated from high school seven years after the scandal) and director Cory Finley infuse the movie with enough suspense and sly comedy to make it a slightly better-than-average telling of a crime story.

“Bad Education” takes a sometimes sardonic look at how manipulative and cunning Frank was in covering up his crimes. He was a man of many faces—literally, since his vanity facelifts and meticulous application of makeup are shown in the movie—and many secrets, which he covered up with a web of lies that eventually unraveled. Even in his personal life (Frank was a closeted gay man), he deceived the people who were closest to him. The movie is also a takedown of the weak-willed enablers who knew about the corruption, but were complicit in covering it up because they didn’t want to lose their jobs and they wanted to keep up the appearance that they had an ideal school district.

Frank also mastered the art of deflection, so that when he was under scrutiny, he was able to turn it around on potential accusers to make them afraid of getting in trouble for not detecting the problem earlier. He also used, to his advantage, the administration’s fixation on increasing the prestige of Roslyn High School, which tied into many administrators’ ulterior motives of raising the property values in Roslyn too.

Janney doesn’t have as much screen time as Jackman does, but she makes the most of characterizing Pam as being more than just a selfish and greedy shrew. The movie shows how she was generous to a fault in sharing her illegally funded wealth with her family. That generosity would turn out to be her downfall, since she allowed certain family members to use school credit cards to fund their lavish personal spending. The family members who were also part of the widespread scam included Pam’s husband Howard Gluckin (played by Ray Abruzzo); Jim Boy McCarden (played by Jimmy Tatro), her son from a previous marriage; and her co-worker niece Jenny Aquila (played by Annaleigh Ashford), who relies on Pam for financial help.

All of these family members are dimwitted in some way—they didn’t do much to hide their identities in the paper trail that exposed their crimes—but Jenny is portrayed as particularly loathsome. At one point in the movie, even after some of the crimes were exposed, Jenny tries to take over her aunt/benefactor Pam’s job at the school. Jenny also makes a pathetic and botched attempt to blackmail Frank, who quickly puts Jenny in her place and reminds her that she’s no match for him and his devious manipulations.

When Pam’s world starts to unravel, Janney uses subtle cues in showing how this character’s carefully constructed façade starts to crumble, as her perfectly posh, enunicated English starts to give way to a very working-class Long Island accent. Pam is so obsessed with keeping up appearances that she makes the mistake of being too loyal to Frank when things start to crash down on them.

“Bad Education” is a very Hollywood version of a seedy true crime story. In real life, none of the people were as glamorous-looking as the actors who portray them in the movie—although, in real life, the embezzlers spent money as if they were Hollywood celebrities. The movie accurately shows that people got away with crimes of this length and magnitude because they were able to fool others by having a “respectable” image. The ending scene effectively illustrates that Frank’s inflated ego and arrogance led him to believe that he was a legend in his own mind—and the results were reckless crimes that destroyed school finances, careers and people’s trust.

HBO premiered “Bad Education” on April 25, 2020.

Review: ‘Troop Zero,’ starring Viola Davis, Mckenna Grace, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Epps and Allison Janney

January 17, 2020

by Carla Hay

Troop Zero
Allison Janney and Viola Davis in “Troop Zero” (Photo by Curtis Bonds Baker)

“Troop Zero”

Directed by Bert & Bertie

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1977, the family-friendly comedy “Troop Zero” has predominantly white American characters (with some representation of African Americans and Latinos) from the middle and lower classes of a rural, conservative community in the U.S. state of Georgia.

Culture Clash: The movie’s plot revolves around a talent competition for middle-school Birdie Scouts, with one rival troop comprised of “popular girls” and another rival troop comprised of “social outcasts.”

Culture Audience: “Troop Zero” will appeal primarily to people who like adorable, slightly kooky comedies about student angst and self-identity.

Mckenna Grace in “Troop Zero” (Photo by Curtis Bonds Baker)

In a comedy film, a cranky adult reluctantly takes on a group of pre-teen misfits to coach them in a high-stakes competition where the team will be ridiculed underdogs. Is it 1977’s “The Bad News Bears” or 1992’s “The Mighty Ducks”? No, in this case, it’s 2020’s “Troop Zero,” a decidedly different take on a familiar plot outline.

“Troop Zero,” which is set in 1977 rural Georgia, is certainly a throwback to those films from a bygone era when smartphones and social media didn’t dominate kids’ lives. The main differences between most films of this kind and “Troop Zero” is that for “Troop Zero,” the story is told from the perspective of a girl; the adult leader of the misfit group is a woman; and the movie was written and directed by women.

Directed by female duo Bert & Bertie and written by Oscar-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild” co-writer Lucy Alibar, “Troop Zero” has a cute and quirky charm that comes primarily from Christmas Flint (played by Mckenna Grace), an adolescent girl who’s obsessed with outer space and who’s still grieving over the death of her mother from the previous year. The opening scene of the movie shows Christmas trying to contact outer-space aliens with flashlight signals.

Christmas lives with her father, Ramsey Flint (played by Jim Gaffigan), a defense attorney who’s constantly having financial problems because he has many clients who can’t or won’t pay him, and he has a hard time saying no to people he thinks need his help. Ramsey’s assistant/office manager is Miss Raylene (played by Viola Davis), who’s the closest to a maternal figure that Christmas has in her life, even if Miss Raylene says she doesn’t particularly like being around children. “Little girls give me the creeps,” Miss Raylene says in one scene. “You can’t him them no more. They changed the laws.”

Ramsey’s best friend Dwayne (played by Mike Epps) is a fellow Vietnam War veteran who’s suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Back in 1977, there wasn’t a name for PTSD, so they usually called it being “shell-shocked.” Dwayne is the love interest of Miss Raylene, who’s had her heart broken in her past. She reveals the details in the movie, and it explains why she has such a hard exterior.

Viewers see early on in the film that Christmas is an outcast at her school not only because a lot of students think she’s weird, but also because her father’s financially precarious situation has branded the Flints as “poor trash” by the snobs in the community. Her best friend is Joseph (played by Charlie Shotwell), an androgynous, flamboyant child who might be gay, but the movie hints that Joseph is either gender-fluid or non-binary, because various characters in the movie keep saying that they don’t know if Joseph is a boy or a girl. And since this movie takes place in 1977, there weren’t specific terms for people who might not have a cisgender identity.

Some of the social rejection that Christmas experiences stings her a little bit, but she’s mostly content to do her own thing and hang out with Joseph. She’s not really concerned about being well-liked and joining groups until she finds out that there’s a national talent competition for Birdie Scouts where the winning scout troop will get to have their voices recorded on NASA’s Golden Record, thereby becoming part of space history.

With no way of being accepted by the established Birdie Scout troops in the area, Christmas decides to start her own Birdie Scout troop. The style-minded Joseph (who likes to wear dresses and loves David Bowie) is immediately up for the challenge and is the first recruit to this new troop. Christmas also ends up convincing these other kids to join the troop: Ann-Claire (played by Bella Higginbotham), an eyepatch-wearing nervous and shy girl who’s devoted to Christianity; Hell-No (played by Milan Ray), the school’s loudmouth bully; and Smash (played Johanna Colón), who’s practically mute and likes to destroy things when she gets angry—a lot like the Incredible Hulk. The Birdie Scout troops have numbers for their names, so Christmas chooses “zero” as the name for her troop, since “zero” can also mean infinity.

The Birdie Scouts of the school are under the supervision of Crystal Massey (played by Allison Janney), the school principal whom the students have nicknamed Nasty Massey. She’s the type of uptight and stern principal we’ve seen many times before in movies, but Janney brings a touch of humanity to the role to convey that Principal Massey must be a pathetic and lonely person for her to take so much pleasure in making life miserable for other people. (On a side note, fans of “The Help” movie should delight in seeing “The Help” co-stars Davis and Janney reunited on screen.)

Principal Massey is already counting on her favorite Birdie Scout troop, Troop Five, to win the competition. Troop Five is the group of popular girls in the school—the types who are cheerleaders, “A”-grade students, and from the communities’ socially prominent families. (The Troop Five members are also stuck-up mean girls.) But to Principal Massey’s horror, Troop Zero qualifies to become a real troop to enter the competition, as long as Troop Zero gets an adult leader. Miss Raylene completely resists the idea at first, but she eventually gives in to Christmas’ relentless pleas for Miss Raylene to become Troop Zero’s adult leader.

Another big challenge that Troop Zero faces is to raise enough money for the competition’s entry fees. They do so by selling cookies from door to door and by offering pop-up beauty salon services to local women. (Joseph is thrilled to be the troop’s best hair stylist.) One of the baking sessions ends up in a predictable food fight when members of Troop Five crash the session.

The hairstyles and clothes aren’t the only indications that this movie takes place in the 1970s. In one scene in the movie, as one of the required Birdie Scout challenges, Miss Raylene leaves the members of Troop Zero alone to camp out overnight in the woods. That’s not the kind of thing that adults could get away with nowadays. (We have to assume that the parents thought that the kids would be safe with Miss Raylene, but she ends up ditching the children to fend for themselves.)

Her reason for the abandonment is to build character and courage for the troop. It’s the kind of scene that’s cringeworthy to watch for anyone who would never do that to defenseless kids, but since this movie is supposed to be a comedy, you can almost hear the filmmakers make this excuse: “Hey, it was the ’70s!”

Speaking of the ’70s, there’s something very old-school about this kind of film with the basic plot about student angst and “misfits versus the popular ones,” but “Troop Zero” has a modern sensibility by including child characters who wouldn’t be in movies that were made back in the 1970s. (Joseph is a perfect example.)

The precocious and determined Christmas is also ahead of her time, since she has no hesitation about her goals to join NASA and go into outer space. It’s a dream that people around her discourage her from having, because the naysayers tell her that being an astronaut is a “man’s job.” And what happens during Troop Zero’s talent routine during the competition is something that wouldn’t have been in a children’s movie that was made back in the 1970s.

“Troop Zero,” which had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, is not just a movie that will appeal to girls or women. It has a message of self-acceptance and how to overcome obstacles that can resonate with a wide variety of people, if you don’t mind sitting through the retro vibe and familiarity of it all.

Amazon Prime Video premiered “Troop Zero” on January 17, 2020.

2019 Toronto International Film Festival: ‘In Conversation With’ celebrities announced

August 20, 2019

TIFF logo

The following is a press release from the Toronto International Film Festival:

The 2019 Toronto International Film Festival​​ unveiled its In Conversation With… slate.  Honoring five remarkable, multi-talented industry heavyweights, this year’s lineup stands out for the richness  and diversity of the experiences that these accomplished artists will share with Festival goers. TIFF audiences  will have the opportunity to hear about the fascinating careers — both in front of and behind the camera — of  Michael B. Jordan & Jamie Foxx, Antonio Banderas, Allison Janney, and Kerry Washington during intimate  onstage conversations at TIFF Bell Lightbox.    “Through our In Conversation With… series, TIFF is proud to give fans and film lovers an opportunity to connect  with and learn from the most talented artists working in film and television today,” said Christoph Straub, Lead  Programmer, In Conversation With… and Senior Manager, Adult Learning, TIFF. “This year’s lineup includes  award-winning creators who have helped shape the discourse in the entertainment industry, moving it forward  and charting new territory on the big and small screens. We are incredibly honoured to have these leaders join  us for a series of empowering and exciting conversations.”    This year’s series will also be more accessible to all audiences, as open-captioning will be offered onscreen in  real time.

The 44th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5–15, 2019.    The In Conversation With… programme includes:

In Conversation With… Michael B. Jordan & Jamie Foxx 

Michael B. Jordan Jamie Foxx (Photo by Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Hollywood megastars Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx are both at the top of their game. They first gained  fame for roles on television: Foxx with ​”In Living Color”​ in 1991 and later ​”The Jamie Foxx Show​,” and Jordan with  his heartbreaking turn as Wallace in HBO’s ​”The Wire​.” In 2013, Jordan made his major feature-film breakthrough  in Ryan Coogler’s acclaimed ​”Fruitvale Station​.” He has collaborated with Coogler on two more game-changers:  “Creed​,” their acclaimed expansion of the ​Rocky​ saga; and the mega-hit ​”Black Panther​.” In 2016 Jordan founded  his production company, Outlier Society, in order to focus on more eclectic and diverse stories and voices.  Outlier Society recently co-produced HBO Films’ Emmy-nominated adaptation of ​”Fahrenheit 451​,” which netted Jordan a Producers Guild Award. Foxx is renowned for powerful lead performances in ​”Ray​,” for which he won an  Academy Award, Michael Mann’s neo-noir ​”Collateral​,” and Quentin Tarantino’s “​Django Unchained​.” TIFF proudly  presents this conversation with two iconic artists and producers about their creative process, their desire to tell  inclusive stories, and ​”Just Mercy​,​” their highly anticipated new film premiering at the Festival.

In Conversation With… Antonio Banderas 

Antonio Banderas in “Pain and Glory” (Photo courtesy of El Deseo)

Antonio Banderas is a superstar of international and Hollywood cinema. An alumnus of the famed Cervantes  Theatre in Málaga, Spain, Banderas burst onto the film scene with performances in Pedro Almodóvar’s “Labyrinth of Passion”​ and ​”Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown​,” paving his way to a series of acclaimed  roles in Hollywood films directed by the likes of Jonathan Demme (​”Philadelphia”​), Neil Jordan (“​Interview with the  Vampire”​), and Robert Rodriguez (​”Desperado”​). Deftly moving between blockbuster (“The Mask of Zorro”​; the ​”Shrek” franchise) and independent films (Julie Taymor’s ​”Frida”​), and with his recent portrayal of Picasso in the National Geographic miniseries “​Genius​,” Banderas has cemented his iconic status as one of the most versatile  performers in film and television. TIFF is proud to welcome this award-winning actor, producer, director, and  humanitarian for an inspiring conversation about his career in front of and behind the camera, his numerous  philanthropic efforts, as well as his highly anticipated films at this year’s Festival: Almodóvar’s ​”Pain and Glory​,” for which he won Best Actor at Cannes, and Steven Soderbergh’s ​”The Laundromat​.”

In Conversation With… Allison Janney 

Allison Janney (Photo by Kelsey McNeal/ABC)

Allison Janney swept the 2018 Awards season with an Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe Award, Critic’s  Choice Award and SAG Award for her acclaimed portrayal of Tonya Harding’s mother, LaVona Golden in “​I, Tonya​.” Janney will next be seen opposite Hugh Jackman in director Cory Finley’s upcoming film, ​”Bad Education​,” written by Mike Makowsky about the true, twist-filled conspiracy that occurred during his middle  school years in Long Island in the early 2000’s. The film will have its world premiere at this year’s Toronto  International Film Festival. Additionally, Janney stars alongside Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie and Charlize Theron in Lionsgate’s “Bombshell” film directed by Jay Roach and written by Charles Randolph about the fall of  Roger Ailes at Fox News.  Janney lent her voice to MGM’s animated feature film ​The Addams Family​ with  Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac.  She recently wrapped production for Tate Taylor’s ​”Breaking News in Yuba  County,”​ opposite Mila Kunis, Awkwafina, and Regina Hall. She has previously starred in ​”The Help,”​ based on the  best-selling novel of the same name, where the cast won ensemble awards from the Hollywood Film Awards,  SAG, National Board of Review and Broadcast Film Critics and the film was nominated for an Academy Award  for Best Picture.  She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the Independent Spirit Awards in Todd  Solondz’s film, ​”Life During Wartime​.” Janney also delivered outstanding performances in the Oscar nominated  “Juno​,” the movie version of the Tony Award winning play ​”Hairspray​,” “Girl on The Train,​” Tim Burton’s ​”Miss  Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children​,””The Hours​”and ​”American Beauty​.” On television, Janney has won seven  Emmy Awards for her work on CBS’ “​Mom​,” Showtime’s groundbreaking drama ​”Masters of Sex​,” and for her  indelible portrayal of CJ Cregg in Aaron Sorkin’s acclaimed series ​”The West Wing​.”

In Conversation With… Kerry Washington 

Kerry Washington (Photo courtesy of BFA)

Award-winning actor, producer, director, and activist Kerry Washington is always charting new territory. Following a number of guest-starring roles in network television and a breakout role in ​”Save the Last Dance​,”  Washington starred opposite Jamie Foxx in ​”Ray”​ (2004), and quickly added a string of notable roles in such  acclaimed features as ​”The Last King of Scotland​,”​”Miracle of St. Anna​,” and 2012’s ​”Django Unchained​.” That same  year, she landed the lead role of Olivia Pope in Shonda Rhimes’ series ​”Scandal​,” on which Washington also went  on to work as a producer and director. When ​”Scandal”​ premiered, Washington became the first Black woman in  nearly four decades to headline a network television drama. A fearless and outspoken advocate for civil rights and liberties, she served on President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and is leading by  example, producing diverse and inclusive content for various platforms through her production company Simpson Street. In this in-depth conversation, Washington will speak about her remarkable career, the Festival  premiere of “​American​ ​Son”​ — in which she reprises her lauded role from the Broadway production — and her  highly anticipated adaptation of Celeste Ng’s ​”Little Fires Everywhere​.”

For synopses, images, and more information, see ​tiff.net/icw

Festival tickets go on sale September 2 at 10am (TIFF Member pre-sale August 31, 10am–4pm). Buy tickets  online at tiff.net, by phone at 416.599.2033 or 1.888.258.8433, or in person at a box office. See box office  locations and hours at ​tiff.net/tickets​.

TIFF prefers Visa.

Social Media:   @TIFF_NET   #TIFF19  Facebook.com/TIFF

About TIFF 

TIFF is a not-for-profit cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world  through film. An international leader in film culture, TIFF projects include the annual Toronto International Film  Festival in September; TIFF Bell Lightbox, which features five cinemas, major exhibitions, and learning and  entertainment facilities; and innovative national distribution program Film Circuit. The organization generates  an annual economic impact of $189 million CAD. TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by contributors  including Founding Sponsor Bell, the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the  Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation and RBC. For more  information, visit tiff.net.    TIFF is generously supported by Lead Sponsor Bell, Major Sponsors RBC, L’Oréal Paris, and Visa, and Major  Supporters the Government of Ontario, Telefilm Canada, and the City of Toronto.

2018 National Memorial Concert: Gary Sinise, Joe Mantegna, Allison Janney, Cynthia Erivo, Leona Lewis among celebrity guests

May 3, 2018

Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna
Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Capitol Concerts)

The following is a press release from Capital Concerts:

On the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day, PBS’ multi award-winning NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT returns live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise. The 29th annual broadcast of the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT airs live on PBS Sunday, May 27, 2018, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m., before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, as well as to our troops serving around the world on the American Forces Network.

A 29-year tradition unlike anything else on television, America’s national night of remembrance takes us back to the real meaning of the holiday through personal stories interwoven with musical performances. This year’s program features the following stories:

  • The show will recognize the story of two buddies – Joe Annello and Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura – dear friends now for 68 years, who helped each other survive deadly combat during the Korean War, endured the unimaginable as POWs, and became American heroes – one receiving the Silver Star and the other the Medal of Honor. This national moment of remembrance will recognize our Korean War veterans with performances by Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award-nominated actor John Corbett (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING) and star of CHICAGO MED Brian Tee.
  • Women have served our nation in times of war and peace since our country’s founding – even before they were officially allowed to enlist. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, the concert will pay tribute to the contributions of women in our military throughout history, including the story of Silver Star recipient Leigh Ann Hester, the 1st woman to receive the Silver Star for combat. The segment will conclude by honoring women representing generations of service since WWII from the 5 branches of the military on stage. Academy Award®, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning actress Allison Janney (I, TONYA, MOM, THE WEST WING) and Tony-nominated actress and star of TV’s FALLING WATER,THE WEST WING and LOADED, Mary McCormack will participate in this segment.
  • This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Khe Sanh, one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War. The show will feature the story of Bill Rider, who was part of the battalion known as “The Walking Dead.” Bill’s story will focus on his return home to fight a different war…that of post-traumatic stress. As part of his healing process, Bill found a way to pay it forward by dedicating his life to helping generations of service men and women who have experienced the trauma of war. Bill’s story will be told by Academy Award-nominated actor Graham Greene (DANCES WITH WOLVES, WIND RIVER).
  • 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day and first commemorated at Arlington National Cemetery.

The all-star line-up also features distinguished American leader General Colin L. Powell USA (Ret.)and musical performances by actor and country singer Charles Esten (NASHVILLE); Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Cynthia Erivo (THE COLOR PURPLE); three-time Grammy Award-nominee singer/songwriter Leona Lewis; Tony-nominee and star of NBC’s hit TV show SMASH, Broadway and TV’s Megan Hilty; acclaimed tenor and Broadway star Alfie Boe (LES MISÉRABLES); and Gary Sinise & The Lt. Dan Band, marking 15 years and over 400 concerts entertaining our troops, veterans and military families; in performance with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly.

Also participating in the event are the U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff with The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, The U.S. Army Chorus and Army Voices, The Soldiers Chorus of the U.S. Army Field Band, The U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters, The U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants, the Armed Forces Color Guard and Service Color Teams provided by the Military District of Washington, D.C.

The concert will also be live-streamed on PBS, You Tube, Facebook and www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert and available as Video on Demand, May 28 to June 10, 2018.

The program is a co-production of Michael Colbert of Capital Concerts and WETA, Washington, D.C.  Executive producer Michael Colbert has assembled an award-winning production team that features the top Hollywood talent behind some of television’s most prestigious entertainment awards shows including the GRAMMY AWARDS, COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, TONY AWARDS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and more.

About Capital Concerts
Capital Concerts is the nation’s leading producer of live patriotic television shows, including PBS’s highest-rated performance specials: NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT and A CAPITOL FOURTH, the premier celebrations of America’s most important holidays broadcast from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.  For more than 35 years, these two award-winning productions have become national traditions, bringing us together as one family of Americans to celebrate our freedom and democratic ideals and to pay tribute to those who defend them.  The holiday specials have been honored with over 80 awards including the New York Film Festival Award, the Golden Cine Award, and the Writer’s Guild of America Award.

Underwriters
The NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT is made possible by grants from the Lockheed Martin Corporation, the National Park Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Department of the Army, General Dynamics, PBS and public television stations nationwide.  Air travel is provided by American Airlines.

Visit the program website at http://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/home/

Connect with us on:
http://www.facebook.com/memorialdayconcert
twitter.com/MemorialDayPBS (#MemDayPBS)
instagram.com/memdayPBS

SOURCE Capital Concerts

2018 Academy Awards: ‘The Shape of Water’ wins 4 Oscars, including Best Picture

March 4, 2018

by Carla Hay

With four awards, including Best Picture, the fantasy drama “The Shape of Water” (about a mute woman who falls in love with a sea creature) was the biggest winner at the 90th Annual Academy Awards, which were presented at the Dolby Theatre on March 4, 2018.  “The Shape of Water” went into the ceremony as the leading nominee, with 13 nods.

ABC had the live telecast of the 2018 Academy Awards, which was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the second year in a row. Also returning for a second year in a row were Best Picture presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, who famously botched the winner announcement at the 2017 Oscar  ceremony. Unlike that show, the 2018 Oscar ceremony was free from major blunders. The ceremony, which almost never ends on time, went well over its allotted three-hour time this year, by running overtime for 53 minutes.

In the acting categories, there were no real surprises, since all of the winners were sweeping up prizes at previous award ceremonies. Solidifying their award-show winning streak were Gary Oldman of “Darkest Hour” (Best Actor); Frances McDormand of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Best Actress); Sam Rockwell of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”(Best Supporting Actor); and Allison Janney of “I, Tonya” (Best Supporting Actress).

Sam Rockwell, Frances McDormand, Allison Janney and Gary Oldman backstage at the 90th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 4, 2018. (Photo by Michael Baker/A.M.P.A.S.)

All of the nominees for Best Picture won at least one Academy Award, except for “Lady Bird” and “The Post,” which were shut out of winning any of the prizes. In addition to winning Best Picture, “The Shape of Water” picked up Oscars for Best Director (for Guillermo del Toro), Best Production Design and Best Original Score. “Dunkirk” went into the ceremony with eight Oscar nominations and ended up winning three: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.  “Get Out” won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while “Call Me by Your Name” was named Best Adapted Screenplay. “Phantom Thread” received the prize for Best Costume Design. In addition to Oldman’s Best Actor win for “Darkest Hour,” the movie also won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hair.

“Blade Runner 2049,” although not nominated for Best Picture, was another winner of more than one Oscar. The sci-fi sequel took the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography. It was the first Oscar for “Blade Runner 2049” cinematographer Roger Deakins after he received  14 Oscar nominations. Another movie that won two Oscars at the 2018 ceremony was “Coco,” recipient of the prizes for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.

Diversity among Oscar nominees has become a big issue, especially since the #OscarsSoWhite controversies of 2015 and 2016, when all of the actors and actresses nominated for Oscars were white. The Time’s Up and #MeToo movements were also mentioned on stage many times during the ceremony, including comments from host Kimmel, presenters and winners. McDormand made probably the biggest statement of the night when, at the end of her acceptance speech, she asked all the female Oscar nominees to stand up, and she called for the industry to hire more women. McDormand concluded by saying this about how movie contracts should change: “I have two words to leave with you tonight … inclusion rider.”

Some of the high-profile women and people of color who won Oscars this year in gender-neutral categories included the aforementioned del Toro; Jordan Peele of “Get Out” (Best Original Screenplay); “Dear Basketball” writer Kobe Bryant; “Coco” songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez; and “A Fantastic Woman” director Sebastián Lelio.

Although serious topics were part of the Oscar ceremony, the show had moments of levity and planned stunts aimed at getting a laugh. At the beginning of the show, Kimmel said that the person who gave the shortest acceptance speech would win a Kawasaki jet ski and a trip to Lake Havasu. (“Phantom Thread” costume designer Mark Bridges won the prize.)

In 2017, Kimmel surprised a group of tourists who were brought into the theater to get their unscripted reactions. In 2018, Kimmel took a similar concept but instead brought several of the celebrities at the Oscar ceremony to a nearby movie theater to surprise people who were there to see an advance screening of Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” (ABC is owned by Disney, so this was an obvious plug for the movie.) Some of the celebrities who joined Kimmel in passing out snacks to the surprised people at the movie theater were Gal Gadot (who kept exclaiming “This is better than the Oscars!”), Armie Hammer, Emily Blunt, Lupita Nyong’o, “The Shape of Water” filmmaker del Toro, Ansel Elgort, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Margot Robbie. The reactions of the unsuspecting crowd weren’t very funny or memorable, although Kimmel’s remark that the movie theater smelled like marijuana was a genuinely funny moment.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2018 Academy Awards:

*=winner

Best Picture

Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in “The Shape of Water” (Photo by Kerry Hayes)

“Call Me by Your Name” (Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito)

“Darkest Hour” (Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski)

“Dunkirk” (Producers: Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan)

“Get Out” (Producers: Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele)

“Lady Bird” (Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O’Neill)

“Phantom Thread” (Producers: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi)

“The Post” (Producers: Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger)

“The Shape of Water” (Producers: Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale)*

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh)

Best Actor

Gary Oldman in “Darkest Hour” (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”*
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Best Actress

Frances McDormand in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Photo by Merrick Morton)

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”*
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Best Supporting Actor

Sam Rockwell in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”*

Best Supporting Actress

Allison Janney in “I, Tonya” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”*
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Best Director

Director/writer/producer Guillermo del Toro on the set of “The Shape of Water” (Photo by Sophie Giraud)

Paul Thomas Anderson, “Phantom Thread”
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”*
Great Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
Jordan Peele, “Get Out”

Best Adapted Screenplay

Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg and Armie Hammer in “Call Me by Your Name” (Photo by Peter Spears/Sony Pictures Classics)

“Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory*
“The Disaster Artist,” Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
“Logan,” Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green
“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin
“Mudbound,” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Best Original Screenplay

Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Allison Williams, Betty Gabriel and Daniel Kaluuya in “Get Out” (Photo by Jason Lubin)

“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele*
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

Best Animated Feature

A still from “Coco” (Photo courtesy of Disney•Pixar.)

“The Boss Baby,” Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito
“The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson*
“Ferdinand,” Carlos Saldanha
“Loving Vincent,” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart

Best Animated Short

A still from “Dear Basketball”

“Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant*
“Garden Party,”Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
“Lou,” Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
“Negative Space,” Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
“Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer

Best Cinematography

Harrison Ford in “Blade Runner 2049” (Photo by Stephen Vaughan)

“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins*
“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel
“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema
“Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison
“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

Best Documentary Feature

“Icarus” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman
“Faces Places,” Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda
“Icarus,” Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan*
“Last Men in Aleppo,” Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen
“Strong Island,” Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Edith+Eddie,” Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright
“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel*
“Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon
“Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon
“Traffic Stop,” Kate Davis and David Heilbroner

Best Live Action Short Film

“DeKalb Elementary,” Reed Van Dyk
“The Eleven O’Clock,” Derin Seale and Josh Lawson
“My Nephew Emmett,” Kevin Wilson Jr.
“The Silent Child,” Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton*
“Watu Wote/All of Us,” Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen

Best Foreign Language Film

Daniela Vega in “A Fantastic Woman” (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)*
“The Insult” (Lebanon)
“Loveless” (Russia)
“On Body and Soul (Hungary)
“The Square” (Sweden)

Best Film Editing

Mark Rylance (center) in “Dunkirk” (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon)

“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith*
“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel
“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory

Best Sound Editing

Kenneth Branagh in “Dunkirk” (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon)

“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King*
“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini, Theo Green
“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood

Best Sound Mixing

A scene from “Dunkirk” (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon)

“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill
“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo*
“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick

Best Production Design

Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in “The Shape of Water” (Photo by Kerry Hayes)

“Beauty and the Beast” Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“Blade Runner 2049″ Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola
“Darkest Hour” Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“Dunkirk” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“The Shape of Water” Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin*

Best Original Score

Richard Jenkins and Sally Hawkins on the set of “The Shape of Water” (Photo by Kerry Hayes)

“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer
“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood
“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat*
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell

Best Original Song

A still from “Coco” (Photo courtesy of Disney•Pixar)

“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige
“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens
“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez*
“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren, Common
“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

Best Makeup and Hair

Kristin Scott Thomas and Gary Oldman in “Darkest Hour” (.Photo by Jack English/Focus Features)

“Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick*
“Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips, Lou Sheppard
“Wonder,” Arjen Tuiten

Best Costume Design

Lesley Manville (far left) in “Phantom Thread” (Photo by Laurie Sparham/Focus Features)

“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran
“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran
“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges*
“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira
“Victoria and Abdul,” Consolata Boyle

Best Visual Effects

Ana de Armas and Ryan Gosling in “Blade Runner: 2049” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

“Blade Runner 2049,” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer*
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick
“Kong: Skull Island,” Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Mike Meinardus
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,”  Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould, Neal Scanlon
“War for the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Joel Whist

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