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Archives for : Jamie Lee Curtis

Predicting the Winners: 95th Academy Awards

Best Picture

  • All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix) Malte Grunert, Producer
  • Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios) James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
  • The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures) Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
  • Elvis (Warner Bros) Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers
  • The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures) Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
  • Tár (Focus Features) Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers
  • Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures) Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
  • Triangle of Sadness (NEON) Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers
  • Women Talking (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures) Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Will Win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Could Win: “The Fabelmans”

Want to Win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” or “Top Gun”

Actor in a Leading Role

  • Austin Butler in Elvis
  • Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin
  • Brendan Fraser in The Whale
  • Paul Mescal in Aftersun
  • Bill Nighy in Living

Will Win: Brendan Fraser

Could Win: Austin Butler

Want to Win: Brendan Fraser

Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin
  • Brian Tyree Henry in Causeway
  • Judd Hirsch in The Fabelmans
  • Barry Keoghan in The Banshees of Inisherin
  • Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Will Win: Ke Huy Quan

Could Win: Barry Keoghan

Want to Win: Key Huy Quan

Actress in a Leading Role

  • Cate Blanchett in Tár
  • Ana de Armas in Blonde
  • Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie
  • Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans
  • Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Will Win: Michelle Yeoh

Could Win: Cate Blanchett

Want to Win: Michelle Yeoh

Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  • Hong Chau in The Whale
  • Kerry Condon in The Banshees of Inisherin
  • Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All at Once
  • Stephanie Hsu in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Will Win: Angela Bassett

Could Win: Jamie Lee Curtis

Want to Win: Hong Chau or Angela Bassett or Jamie Lee Curtis

Animated Feature Film

  • Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio –Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley
  • Marcel the Shell With Shoes On –Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey
  • Puss in Boots: The Last Wish –Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
  • The Sea Beast –Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
  • Turning Red –Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Will Win: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Could Win: No Contest

Want to Win: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Cinematography

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –James Friend
  • Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths –Darius Khondji
  • Elvis –Mandy Walker
  • Empire of Light –Roger Deakins
  • Tár –Florian Hoffmeister

Will Win: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Could Win: “Elvis”

Want to Win: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Costume Design

  • Babylon –Mary Zophres
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever –Ruth Carter
  • Elvis –Catherine Martin
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once –Shirley Kurata
  • Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris –Jenny Beavan

Will Win: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Could Win: “Elvis”

Want to Win: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Directing

  • Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)
  • Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
  • Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
  • Todd Field, Tár (Focus Features)
  • Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness (NEON)

Will Win: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Could Win: Steven Spielberg

Want to Win: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Documentary Feature Film

  • All That Breathes –Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer
  • All the Beauty and the Bloodshed –Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
  • Fire of Love –Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman
  • A House Made of Splinters –Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström
  • Navalny –Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Will Win: “Navalny”

Could Win: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

Want to Win: “Fire of Love”

Documentary Short Film

  • The Elephant Whisperers –Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
  • Haulout –Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
  • How Do You Measure a Year? –Jay Rosenblatt
  • The Martha Mitchell Effect –Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison
  • Stranger at the Gate –Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Will Win: “The Elephant Whisperers”

Could Win: “Stranger at the Gate”

Want to Win: “The Elephant Whisperers” or “Stranger at the Gate”

Film Editing

  • The Banshees of Inisherin –Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
  • Elvis –Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once –Paul Rogers
  • Tár –Monika Willi
  • Top Gun: Maverick –Eddie Hamilton

Will Win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Could Win: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Want to Win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

International Feature Film

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –Germany
  • Argentina, 1985 –Argentina
  • Close –Belgium
  • EO –Poland
  • The Quiet Girl –Ireland

Will Win: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Could Win: No Contest

Want to Win: “RRR” should be nominated

Makeup and Hairstyling

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová
  • The Batman –Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever –Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
  • Elvis –Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti
  • The Whale –Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Will Win: “The Whale”

Could Win: “Elvis”

Want to Win: “The Whale”

Music (Original Score)

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –Volker Bertelmann
  • Babylon –Justin Hurwitz
  • The Banshees of Inisherin –Carter Burwell
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once –Son Lux
  • The Fabelmans –John Williams

Will Win: “Babylon”

Could Win: “The Fabelmans”

Want to Win: “Babylon”

Music (Original Song)

  • “Applause” from Tell It like a Woman –Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
  • “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick –Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
  • “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever –Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
  • “Naatu Naatu” from RRR –Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
  • “This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once –Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Will Win: “Naatu Naatu”

Could Win: No Contest

Want to Win: “Naatu Naatu”

Production Design

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper
  • Avatar: The Way of Water –Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole
  • Babylon –Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
  • Elvis –Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn
  • The Fabelmans –Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Will Win: “Babylon”

Could Win: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Want to Win: “Babylon”

Animated Short Film

  • The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse –Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
  • The Flying Sailor –Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
  • Ice Merchants –João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
  • My Year of Dicks –Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon
  • An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It –Lachlan Pendragon

Will Win: “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Could Win: “Ice Merchants”

Want to Win: “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Live Action Short Film

  • An Irish Goodbye –Tom Berkeley and Ross White
  • Ivalu –Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan
  • Le Pupille –Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón
  • Night Ride –Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen
  • The Red Suitcase – Cyrus Neshvad

Will Win: The Red Suitcase

Could Win: “An Irish Goodbye” or “Le Pupille”

Want to Win: “The Red Suitcase

Sound

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte
  • Avatar: The Way of Water –Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges
  • The Batman –Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson
  • Elvis –David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller
  • Top Gun: Maverick –Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

Will Win: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Could Win: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Want to Win: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Visual Effects

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar
  • Avatar: The Way of Water –Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
  • The Batman –Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever –Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick
  • Top Gun: Maverick –Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Will Win: “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Could Win: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Want to Win: “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  • All Quiet on the Western Front –Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
  • Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery –Written by Rian Johnson
  • Living –Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Top Gun: Maverick –Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
  • Women Talking –Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Will Win: “Women Talking”

Could Win: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Want to Win: “Women Talking”

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  • The Banshees of Inisherin –Written by Martin McDonagh
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once –Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
  • The Fabelmans –Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
  • Tár –Written by Todd Field
  • Triangle of Sadness –Written by Ruben Östlund

Will Win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Could Win: “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Want to Win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

THE OSCARS SET TO AIR LIVE, MARCH 12, ON ABC

95th Academy Awards Nomination Announcement

Best Picture

All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Malte Grunert, Producer

Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios)
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)
Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

Elvis (Warner Bros)
Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

Tár (Focus Features)
Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

Triangle of Sadness (NEON)
Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

Women Talking (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures)
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Austin Butler in Elvis

Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser in The Whale

Paul Mescal in Aftersun

Bill Nighy in Living

Actor in a Supporting Role

Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin

Brian Tyree Henry in Causeway

Judd Hirsch in The Fabelmans

Barry Keoghan in The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett in Tár

Ana de Armas in Blonde

Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie

Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans

Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Actress in a Supporting Role

Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Hong Chau in The Whale

Kerry Condon in The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stephanie Hsu in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Animated Feature Film

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

The Sea Beast
Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

Turning Red
Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Cinematography

All Quiet on the Western Front
James Friend

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Darius Khondji

Elvis
Mandy Walker

Empire of Light
Roger Deakins

Tár
Florian Hoffmeister

Costume Design

Babylon
Mary Zophres

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Ruth Carter

Elvis
Catherine Martin

Everything Everywhere All at Once
Shirley Kurata

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Jenny Beavan

Directing

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)

Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)

Todd Field, Tár (Focus Features)

Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness (NEON)

Documentary Feature Film

All That Breathes
Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

Fire of Love
Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

A House Made of Splinters
Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

Navalny
Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Documentary Short Film

The Elephant Whisperers
Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

Haulout
Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

How Do You Measure a Year?
Jay Rosenblatt

The Martha Mitchell Effect
Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

Stranger at the Gate
Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Film Editing

The Banshees of Inisherin
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Elvis
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

Everything Everywhere All at Once
Paul Rogers

Tár
Monika Willi

Top Gun: Maverick
Eddie Hamilton

International Feature Film

All Quiet on the Western Front
Germany

Argentina, 1985
Argentina

Close
Belgium

EO
Poland

The Quiet Girl
Ireland

Makeup and Hairstyling

All Quiet on the Western Front
Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

The Batman
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

Elvis
Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

The Whale
Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Music (Original Score)

All Quiet on the Western Front
Volker Bertelmann

Babylon
Justin Hurwitz

The Banshees of Inisherin
Carter Burwell

Everything Everywhere All at Once
Son Lux

The Fabelmans
John Williams

Music (Original Song)

“Applause” from Tell It like a Woman
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick
Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from RRR
Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose

“This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once
Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Production Design

All Quiet on the Western Front
Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

Avatar: The Way of Water
Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

Babylon
Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

Elvis
Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

The Fabelmans
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Animated Short Film

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

The Flying Sailor
Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Ice Merchants
João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

My Year of Dicks
Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It
Lachlan Pendragon

Live Action Short Film

An Irish Goodbye
Tom Berkeley and Ross White

Ivalu
Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

Le Pupille
Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

Night Ride
Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

The Red Suitcase
Cyrus Neshvad

Sound

All Quiet on the Western Front
Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

Avatar: The Way of Water
Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

The Batman
Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

Elvis
David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

Top Gun: Maverick
Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

Visual Effects

All Quiet on the Western Front
Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

Avatar: The Way of Water
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

The Batman
Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

Top Gun: Maverick
Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

All Quiet on the Western Front
Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Written by Rian Johnson

Living
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

Top Gun: Maverick
Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

Women Talking
Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Writing (Original Screenplay)

The Banshees of Inisherin
Written by Martin McDonagh

Everything Everywhere All at Once
Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans
Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

Tár
Written by Todd Field

Triangle of Sadness
Written by Ruben Östlund

THE OSCARS SET TO AIR LIVE, MARCH 12, ON ABC

Movie Review: “Halloween Ends”

The newest “Halloween” trilogy comes to an end. This week I review reviews “Halloween Ends” and let audiences know if it’s worth the watch!

“Halloween Ends” is currently playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock.

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Movie Review: “Knives Out” & “Honey Boy”

Check out my reviews of two fall films that just might show up during Oscar season: “Knives Out” and “Honey Boy.” “Knives Out” is a whodunit with even more twists than a Bavarian pretzel and “Honey Boy” is Shia LeBeouf’s compelling revisit of his years as a child/teen star with a problematic father.

“Knives Out” is currently in theaters.

“Honey Boy” hits theaters December 6.

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Fantastic Fest Reviews: “Halloween”, “An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn” & “Cam”

Halloween (2018)

The opening night film at Fantastic Fest was none other than the highly anticipated sequel, Halloween (2018). Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode to come face-to-face with masked serial killer, Michael Myers, who has haunted her since the traumatic night four decades ago.

The film is inspired by John Carpenter’s classic. But filmmakers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride decided to ignore all the other sequels that followed the original Halloween from 1978, and create a story that changes Laurie’s past. In other words, 40 years later Laurie is a bad ass. Michael Myers is not her brother. And, she’s prepared to take on whatever he throws her way.

Laurie Strode is one hell of a grandma in Halloween (2018). Though her daughter (Judy Greer) still resents her for making her grow up as a survivalist since childhood, her granddaughter, Allyson, (Andi Matichak) adores her. This creates tension anytime the family is all together. It isn’t until Halloween night that Michael Myers returns to wreak havoc, and finally finish the job he started 40 years ago. Only this time he’s up against 3 generations of Strode women.

Halloween (2018) far from a stand out horror flick. We’re basically seeing the same formula just different ways of murder. However, this film is a lot of fun! McBride’s writing shines throughout the film, and it’s the comic relief that provides any sort of originality. But don’t get me wrong, I love this formula and it’s great to see Curtis back in action in a role she handles so naturally. The movie entertains the whole time through and will leave you satisfied.

Rating: 3.5/5

 

An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn

Surprisingly enough, the people that brought us The Greasy Strangler, which I hated; has now made An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, which I really liked a lot. Jim Hosking is back with a second feature that maintain his same style and his same personal dialect. Only this time, he let go of the nauseating grease murderers and swapped it out for characters we could actually care for.

Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) stars a Lulu Danger, a recently unemployed woman who is unsatisfied with her marriage to sleazy Shane Danger (Emile Hirsch) and life all together. In an attempt to fix the couples financial troubles, Shane steals from his brother-in-law. Which then makes him the target of the world’s worst hitman (Jermaine Clement). But Lulu sees this as an opportunity, she runs off with the hitman in hopes that he can help her track down her old flame, Beverly Luff Linn (Craig Robinson).

This offbeat comedy takes a minute to warm up to. You might not be sure of the flow it’s taking. But once it gets going, it’s actually quite delightful. The all-star cast does a fantastic job, and this might be my favorite performance by Aubrey Plaza. There’s a very unique and corky chemistry between Plaza and Clement that’s almost endearing.

An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn is the light-hearted deadpan comic relief that I was craving during a marathon of graphic horrors at Fantastic Fest.

Rating: 4/5

 

Cam

After letting Cam marinate for a bit, it quickly became one of my favorite films of the fest. Daniel Goldhaber’s feature debut is smart, sexy, and disturbing.

The film stars Madeline Brewer (Orange is the New Black and The Handmaid’s Tale) as Alice, a young web cam girl who is on the rise to breaking top 50 rank on a pornographic site.  Alice lives a normal life by day, but at night she is “Lola” and constantly comes up with wild narratives to spice up her online shows. She is anxious to reach the top and beat out the other cam girls in the network. However, she never breaks her 3 rules: No public shows, no fake orgasms, and never telling “her guys” that she loves them.

Just when Alice is moving up in her ranking, she has an unwelcoming surprise when she sees a girl who looks just like her live on her web cam profile. Frantic and paranoid, Alice is on a mission to find out who has taken her identity and stolen her top rank.

Even though 60 percent of Cam consists of a bunch of web cam girls performing erotic acts, the film is incredibly magnetizing. It’s as if you’re in a trance the minute the film begins and you can’t stop watching. The neon lighting, the shocking sequences, and the captivating performance by Brewer is enough to suck you in.

Cam is the movie you didn’t know you wanted to see. It’s a tantalizing thrill-ride with a bone-crushing end that will leave you wanting more.

Rating: 4.5/5

Top 5 Heroines Of Horror

For those of you who prefer to make Halloween a “scary movie night,” deciding on what to watch can be a difficult.  However, I have narrowed down a few choices that are equally entertaining.

Some of the best horror flicks include a fierce heroine that you don’t want to piss off.  Here are the top five bad ass “scream queens.”

5.  Anna Peterson (Maika Monroe) – The Guest

Fights the Beautiful Beast

Though this film is fairly new, The Guest is an inevitable cult classic and it features a quite memorable Anna Peterson, the teenage daughter that seems to be the only one in her family that has suspicions about their recent house guest, David.  Once she discovers the unsettling truth about David, she admirably overlooks his blazing baby-blues and irresistible charm so that she may take matters into her own hands and protect her family.

 

4. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) – Halloween

Selfless Fighter

Laurie Strode is considered by many to be the first true horror heroine.  She is a regular “girl next door” who fights off her psychotic murderous brother, Michael Myers, time and time again.  Although she struggles with her own war against Michael, helping children in danger is her first priority before her own safety.

 

3. Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) – I Know What You Did Last Summer

Haunted by Regrets

Julie and her friends thought keeping the secret of their deadly hit-and-run would prevent damage to any of the teens’ future plans.  Little did they know the man they “thought” they killed was already a wanted for murder.  Julie deals with the regrets of not calling the cops in the first place, which has led her to be stalked by a killer seeking revenge.  She stands out as the heroine who could have prevented this terror.  And of course, we can’t forget this classic line… “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, HUH? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOOOOORRRR?”

 

2. Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) – A Nightmare On Elm Street

Sleepless in Battle 

Nancy battled it out with Wes Craven’s monster masterpiece, Freddy Krueger, a burnt serial killer who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams.  Being the only one of her friends that was able to stay awake, Nancy drove Freddy into a realm where he could be defeated.

1. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) – Scream

Wrestles the Ghostfaces of her Past

In the course of four films, Sidney is terrorized by various killers who claim the Ghostface mask.  Each time these murderers make his or her way into Sidney’s life, it’s a guilty reminder of what started this crime wave to begin with.  Having your mother’s infidelity be the reason why your own boyfriend turned into a psychotic killer is a traumatic experience all in itself.  But, Sidney is forced to relieve this horror through copycat killers and a cheesy, mimicking, Hollywood slasher with infinite sequels.  Suffice it to say, there’s no escaping this never ending nightmare.  And sadly, repeatedly getting betrayed by the people you trust most and continuously making it out alive earns this heroine our top spot!