2021 Critics Choice Awards: ‘Nomadland’ Takes Best Picture, Wins Four Total Awards

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March 8, 2021

Tonight, me and my colleagues held the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards, hosted once again by Taye Diggs in a virtual/in-person hybrid ceremony. Going in, Mank led the way with twelve nominations, but David Fincher’s Citizen Kane drama only came away with one victory for Production Design. The big winner of the night on the film side belonged to Nomadland, which won four including Best Picture, Best Director for Chloe Zhao, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.

While Frances McDormand had been a frontrunner for Best Actress, that category actually went to Carey Mulligan for her challenging performance in Promising Young Woman.

Winning Best Actor posthumously was the late Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a film that ended up with three total victories.

Continuing a late Oscars push with a surge of momentum is Daniel Kaluuya, who followed up his Golden Globes win with a Critics Choice Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for Judas and the Black Messiah.

Check out the complete list of winners below!

FILM WINNERS

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Mank (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
News of the World (Universal Pictures)
*WINNER* Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR

Ben Affleck – The Way Back (Warner Bros.)
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
*WINNER* Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Tom Hanks – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Anthony Hopkins – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Gary Oldman – Mank (Netflix)
Steven Yeun – Minari (A24)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Frances McDormand – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
*WINNER* Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Zendaya – Malcolm & Marie (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
*WINNER* Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Bill Murray – On the Rocks (A24/Apple TV+)
Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

*WINNER* Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Olivia Colman – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Amanda Seyfried – Mank (Netflix)
Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari (A24)

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Ryder Allen – Palmer (Apple TV+)
Ibrahima Gueye – The Life Ahead (Netflix)
*WINNER* Alan Kim – Minari (A24)
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Caoilinn Springall – The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Helena Zengel – News of the World (Universal Pictures)

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
*WINNER* The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
David Fincher – Mank (Netflix)
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Regina King – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
*WINNER* Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
*WINNER* Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Jack Fincher – Mank (Netflix)
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Darius Marder & Abraham Marder – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt – First Cow (A24)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
*WINNER* Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Christopher Blauvelt – First Cow (A24)
Erik Messerschmidt – Mank (Netflix)
Lachlan Milne – Minari (A24)
*WINNER* Joshua James Richards – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Newton Thomas Sigel – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Dariusz Wolski – News of the World (Universal Pictures)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Cristina Casali, Charlotte Dirickx – The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
*WINNER* Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale – Mank (Netflix)
Kave Quinn, Stella Fox – Emma (Focus Features)
Mark Ricker, Karen O’Hara & Diana Stoughton – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST EDITING

*WINNER* (TIE) Alan Baumgarten – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Kirk Baxter – Mank (Netflix)
Jennifer Lame – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Yorgos Lamprinos – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
*WINNER* (TIE) Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alexandra Byrne – Emma (Focus Features)
Bina Daigeler – Mulan (Disney)
Suzie Harman & Robert Worley – The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
*WINNER* Ann Roth – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Nancy Steiner – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Trish Summerville – Mank (Netflix)

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Emma (Focus Features)
Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
*WINNER* Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Mank (Netflix)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Greyhound (Apple TV+)
The Invisible Man (Universal Pictures)
Mank (Netflix)
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Mulan (Disney)
*WINNER* Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.)

BEST COMEDY

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
The King of Staten Island (Universal Pictures)
On the Rocks (A24/Apple TV+)
*WINNER* Palm Springs (Hulu and NEON)
The Prom (Netflix)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Collective (Magnolia Pictures)
La Llorona (Shudder)
The Life Ahead (Netflix)
*WINNER* Minari (A24)
Two of Us (Magnolia Pictures)

BEST SONG

Everybody Cries – The Outpost (Screen Media Films)
Fight for You – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Husavik (My Home Town) – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)
Io sì (Seen) – The Life Ahead (Netflix)
*WINNER* Speak Now – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Tigress & Tweed – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

BEST SCORE

Alexandre Desplat – The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Ludwig Göransson – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
James Newton Howard – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Emile Mosseri – Minari (A24)
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Mank (Netflix)
*WINNER* Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste – Soul (Disney)

TV WINNERS

BEST DRAMA SERIES

Better Call Saul (AMC)
*WINNER* The Crown (Netflix)
The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Lovecraft Country (HBO)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Ozark (Netflix)
Perry Mason (HBO)
This Is Us (NBC)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Jason Bateman – Ozark (Netflix)
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (NBC)
Jonathan Majors – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
*WINNER* Josh O’Connor – The Crown (Netflix)
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul (AMC)
Matthew Rhys – Perry Mason (HBO)

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Christine Baranski – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Olivia Colman – The Crown (Netflix)
*WINNER* Emma Corrin – The Crown (Netflix)
Claire Danes – Homeland (Showtime)
Laura Linney – Ozark (Netflix)
Jurnee Smollett – Lovecraft Country (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul (AMC)
Justin Hartley – This Is Us (NBC)
John Lithgow – Perry Mason (HBO)
Tobias Menzies – The Crown (Netflix)
Tom Pelphrey – Ozark (Netflix)
*WINNER* Michael K. Williams – Lovecraft Country (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

*WINNER* Gillian Anderson – The Crown (Netflix)
Cynthia Erivo – The Outsider (HBO)
Julia Garner – Ozark (Netflix)
Janet McTeer – Ozark (Netflix)
Wunmi Mosaku – Lovecraft Country (HBO)
Rhea Seehorn – Better Call Saul (AMC)

BEST COMEDY SERIES

Better Things (FX)
The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
Mom (CBS)
PEN15 (Hulu)
Ramy (Hulu)
Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
*WINNER* Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Hank Azaria – Brockmire (IFC)
Matt Berry – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Nicholas Hoult – The Great (Hulu)
Eugene Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
*WINNER* Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Ramy Youssef – Ramy (Hulu)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Pamela Adlon – Better Things (FX)
Christina Applegate – Dead to Me (Netflix)
Kaley Cuoco – The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
Natasia Demetriou – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
*WINNER* Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Issa Rae – Insecure (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

William Fichtner – Mom (CBS)
Harvey Guillén – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
*WINNER* Daniel Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Alex Newell – Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC)
Mark Proksch – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Andrew Rannells – Black Monday (Showtime)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Lecy Goranson – The Conners (ABC)
Rita Moreno – One Day at a Time (Pop)
Annie Murphy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Ashley Park – Emily in Paris (Netflix)
Jaime Pressly – Mom (CBS)
*WINNER* Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

BEST LIMITED SERIES

I May Destroy You (HBO)
Mrs. America (FX)
Normal People (Hulu)
The Plot Against America (HBO)
*WINNER* The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Small Axe (Amazon Studios)
The Undoing (HBO)
Unorthodox (Netflix)

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Bad Education (HBO)
Between the World and Me (HBO)
The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime)
*WINNER* Hamilton (Disney+)
Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)
What the Constitution Means to Me (Amazon Studios)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

*WINNER* John Boyega – Small Axe (Amazon Studios)
Hugh Grant – The Undoing (HBO)
Paul Mescal – Normal People (Hulu)
Chris Rock – Fargo (FX)
Mark Ruffalo – I Know This Much is True (HBO)
Morgan Spector – The Plot Against America (HBO)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Cate Blanchett – Mrs. America (FX)
Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You (HBO)
Daisy Edgar-Jones – Normal People (Hulu)
Shira Haas – Unorthodox (Netflix)
*WINNER* Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Tessa Thompson – Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Studios)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Daveed Diggs – The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)
Joshua Caleb Johnson – The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)
Dylan McDermott – Hollywood (Netflix)
*WINNER* Donald Sutherland – The Undoing (HBO)
Glynn Turman – Fargo (FX)
John Turturro – The Plot Against America (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

*WINNER* Uzo Aduba – Mrs. America (FX)
Betsy Brandt – Soulmates (AMC)
Marielle Heller – The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Margo Martindale – Mrs. America (FX)
Winona Ryder – The Plot Against America (HBO)
Tracey Ullman – Mrs. America (FX)

BEST TALK SHOW

Desus & Mero (Showtime)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
The Kelly Clarkson Show (NBC/Syndicated)
*WINNER* Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL

Fortune Feimster: Sweet & Salty (Netflix)
Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (Netflix)
*WINNER (TIE)* Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (Netflix)
Marc Maron: End Times Fun (Netflix)
*WINNER (TIE)* Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia (Netflix)
Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything (Netflix)

BEST SHORT FORM SERIES

The Andy Cohen Diaries (Quibi)
*WINNER* Better Call Saul: Ethics Training with Kim Wexler (AMC/Youtube)
Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
Nikki Fre$h (Quibi)
Reno 911! (Quibi)
Tooning Out the News (CBS All Access)

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ Reveals New Teasers Focused On Aquaman And The Flash

By

Travis Hopson

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March 7, 2021

As the hype builds to the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, two more character-specific teaser videos and posters have been released. They feature Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and Ezra Miller as The Flash. Both videos feature footage we’ve never seen before, so if you want to go into the anticipated film knowing as little as possible, just be aware of that. Previous spots focused on Batman and Superman, with Cyborg and Wonder Woman still to come.

What’s interesting about this to me is that the Aquaman footage focuses a lot on Arthur Curry and his acceptance of his place both as ruler of the Atlanteans and as a hero. But we saw pretty much that entire journey play out already in 2018’s Aquaman, so it feels sorta redundant.

Footage of The Flash finally gives us the Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) rescue that has been teased, cut, and finally re-added to the film. We also see Barry Allen racing through the Speed Force faster than he ever has before.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits theaters and HBO Max on March 18th.

‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ Will Have Lola Bunny Hangin’ With The Amazons Of ‘Wonder Woman’

By

Travis Hopson

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March 7, 2021

If you pay attention to film Twitter surrounding Space Jam: A New Legacy, then you probably saw a lot of tweets about Lola Bunny, and how attractive the female member of the Toon Squad is. It’s…weird, to say the least, especially since I don’t remember this kind of attention on her during the first movie. In any case, EW has held back a little regarding her story in the long-awaited sequel, and you know what? It crosses over with another of their female-led hits: Wonder Woman.

According to director Malcolm D. Lee, when we are reintroduced to Lola Bunny, she’s not hopping around in a garden with Peter Rabbit or anything. Instead, she’s on the island of Themiscyra, the birthplace of Wonder Woman and home to the Amazons…

“We wanted to meet her with the Amazons, trying to find greener pastures for herself,” Lee said. “As she says in the movie, there’s more to her than just being a Tune.”

Weird, right? Well, Space Jam 2 isn’t just going to be a basketball comedy for kids. It’s basically a Lego Movie-style mashup of characters from the Warner Bros. brand. LeBron James gets transported to the Warner 3000 Server-verse (really) by a mad A.I. voiced by Don Cheadle, in hopes of rescuing his son and preventing his social media followers from being stolen. F’real.

It’s funny that so many people are focused on how attractive Lola is, too, because Lee, after seeing the film for the first time a couple of years ago, made an effort to make her more kid-friendly…

“This is a kids’ movie, why is she in a crop top? This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters. She probably has the most human characteristics of the Tunes; she doesn’t have a thing like a carrot or a lisp or a stutter. So we reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice. For us, it was, let’s ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others.”

Space Jam: A New Legacy hits theaters and HBO Max on July 16th.

Review: ‘Boss Level’
Joe Carnahan's Cinematic Quarter-Muncher Is Worth Playing Again And Again

By
Travis Hopson
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The other day I was playing (really, getting my ass kicked) by a new version of the video game Ghosts ‘n Goblins. I mean, this thing is hard as shit. It’s one of those side-scrollers we loved back in the day, where you slog through a seemingly endless wave of enemies to reach a boss. And if you die along the way, or even at the end, you basically have to start way back at the beginning or a far-off save point. It’s infuriating, repetitive, but ultimately rewarding when you beat it, making you feel the destination was worth the struggle. That’s the feeling Joe Carnahan is grasping at, quite successfully, with Boss Level, the long-awaited action flick that finally gives Frank Grillo the spotlight role he deserves.

While the video game callbacks are great, including a whole sectiong where Grillo’s ex-Delta Force dude Roy Pulver plays 8-bit games with his son (Rio Grillo, yep, Frank’s real-life kid), in movie terms Boss Level is a little like if Source Code and Kill Bill had a bastard child. There’s a man-on-a-mission aspect, wrapped in a time-loop adventure full of crazy, colorful villains, including a sword-swinging Asian badass who speaks in the third-person, a tiny person with a bomb fetish, and a pair of German brutes played by MMA fighters Quentin “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans. There’s even Rob Gronkowski wielding a giant helicopter machine gun. And Mel Gibson, hamming it up as the “final boss”, Colonel Clive Ventor.

While it’s the promise of Carnahan-directed action led by the credible Grillo that is the selling point, Boss Level has a legit story to tell when it probably doesn’t need to. Yes, we’ve seen our fill of time-loop films but Boss Level expertly uses it not only give Roy some actual human dimension, but to make some really funny gigs at his expense. Roy wakes up every day the same way. Some dude with a machete trying to take his head off, a helicopter raining bullets into his leased apartment (that it’s leased is a sticking point), only to escape and face wave after wave of goons out to kill him. Roy has no idea why the redneck dude keeps putting a harpoon through his chest, or why Guan Yin (Selina Lo) keeps slicing his head off. But he does find out, through, oh, a few hundred attempts, that it involves a secret project being worked on by his ex-wife (Naomi Watts), who he still holds a candle for. In the midst of all of this, Roy not only wants to reconnect with her, but also prove himself worthy of being a father to his son. In the midst of so much over-the-top carnage, Carnahan offers up a pretty good father/son story, as well. It’s a tough balance that Carnahan gets just right.

It’s clear that Carnahan, Grillo, and the entire cast, many of which Grillo has worked with before, are having a killer time on Boss Level. The script by Carnahan, Chris Borey and
Eddie Borey is jammed with one-liners and sight gags, but also inside digs like a shot Roy takes at Liam Neeson (who Carnahan worked with on The Grey and The A-Team) for being a fake tough guy. Of course, when you’re dropping jokes a mile-a-minute like Boss Level does, they aren’t all going to work. Repetition is to be expected in this kind of film but a bar sequence (involving the annoying version of Ken Jeong) is repetitive in the wrong way, and where a lot of the film’s tiring exposition takes place. There’s too much of it slowing things down and keeping us from what we want to see, which is Grillo kicking ass in increasingly bizarre scenarios. On the plus side, the bar scenes do give us Michelle Yeoh as a master swordfighter, and she can do more with a few minutes of screen time than most can in an entire movie.

Boss Level isn’t going to occupy a lot of space in your brain, and that’s fine. It’s the cinematic equivalent of the quarter-munching arcade games of the ’80s. You’ll be totally spent by the time it’s over, but the fun you had makes it all worth it and something you’ll want to play again and again.

Boss Level is available now on Hulu.

New ‘Star Trek’ Film Coming From Bad Robot And ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Writer

By

Travis Hopson

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March 6, 2021

It’s probably a good idea not to hold your breath or anything, but a new Star Trek film is in the works yet again. No, it won’t be Quentin Tarantino or Noah Hawley behind the camera as far as we know. What we are aware of is that it’ll be penned by Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez and produced by JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot.

Deadline has the news, but doesn’t have much in the way of details beyond that. It’s not even clear if Abrams will get behind the camera for it, as he did 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness. He handed the reins over to Justin Lin for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. Since then, the franchise has been on ice due to dwindling returns, contract disputes, etc.

Vazquez, who is actually named after a character from the original Star Trek series, has been a writer on Star Trek: Discovery since season 3. The report goes on to call this new movie an “original idea that she hatched”, which to me suggests it could be closely tied to the successful Paramount+ shows, and possibly even be a streaming-only project. If that’s the case, then we’re unlikely to see Chris Pine and the rest of the crew from Abrams’ prior films.

Review: ‘Boogie’
Eddie Huang's Asian American Coming-Of-Age Story Has Some Growing Pains

By
Cortland Jacoby
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Alfred “Boogie” Chin is not Holden Caulfield. Boogie writer and director Eddie Huang goes out of his way to make it clear that his lead Alfred doesn’t have the privileges as the protagonist from J.D. Salinger’s quintessential coming of age novel The Catcher in the Rye. In fact, Alfred aka Boogie lacks many of the advantages needed in order to forge his own path, away from his dysfunctional family. In Boogie, Huang takes the coming-of-age story, long used as troupe for stories about young white men, and transforms it into an original yet faulty first feature.

Boogie (Taylor Takahashi) is a hotshot basketball player, in his senior year of high school, trying to figure out what he wants to do next and how to please his always at odds parents. In order to reach his dreams of being in the NBA, Boogie knows racism and tokenism lurks around every corner. His first obstacle is beating one of New York’s best high school basketball players (Pop Smoke). It’s a lot to handle for any kid and add a girlfriend into the mix – and Boogie just feels overwhelmed.

Eddie Huang, known as a culinary giant in the food world, is no stranger to the screen. Since 2011, he has hosted many food-based television shows including Unique Eats and Cheap Eats for the Cooking Channel and Huang’s World for Viceland. His 2013 memoir, chronicling his childhood living in Florida in the 90s as the son of Taiwanese immigrants, was turned into the ABC hit TV show Fresh Off The Boat. Soon after the show’s premiere, Huang publicly renounced the show saying the network “tried to turn [his] memoir into a cornstarch sitcom and [Huang] into a mascot for America.”

With Boogie, Huang has complete ownership and control over this story. Huang brings us a fresh take on being the son of Chinese immigrants and the difficulties of balancing two conflicting cultural identities. Huang takes these previously done troupe and finds the nuance, showing us tea ceremonies traditions, not as big events but ingrained practices in Boogie’s family life. As a blogger and host of his own shows, Huang’s way of explaining is was always accessible without sacrificing his own identity. He applies this approach to Boogie. However, his script and direction teeter on melodrama. These moments don’t last long, but is perpetuated by lead actor’s Taylor Takahashi’s inexperience.

In his first major role, Taylor Takahashi falters as the titular character, giving us an inconsistent performance. Takahashi’s acting choices are too understated or over the top. However, Takahashi hits a middle ground when reacting to Huang’s character Jackie or Pamelyn Chee and Perry Yung’s Mrs. and Mr. Chin.

Takahashi at his best when he’s opposite Taylour Paige. Soon to be a household name with the upcoming Zola, Paige’s biggest role to date is as Ma Rainey’s girlfriend in the recent Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. As Boogie’s love interest Eleanor, Paige milks everything she can out of the typical “girlfriend” role. With every glare, head turn and sarcastic remark, Paige is clearly in the process of mastering her craft.

Despite some cringey dialogue, including “My d* might be trash,” Boogie is a strong attempt at a first feature from Eddie Huang. With a strong supporting cast, Huang is able to tell a completely authentic story. He hits the rim, just not the basket.

Boogie** is available in select theaters. Watch the trailer below

Review: ‘The Truffle Hunters’
Yes, There’s Actually A Truffle Hunting Industry, And It’s Fascinating To Observe

By
Khalil Johnson
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As someone who’s not necessarily a “foodie,” truffles are not on my radar for the most part (other than the occasional chocolate truffle one may get for their significant other). However, truffles turn out to be a delicacy, and like with anything that we love to consume, there’s an industry that caters to that need. Sony Pictures Classics and directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw explore the truffle industry through the ground-level eyes of the people in the woods searching for the rare fungus in The Truffle Hunters.

Right off the top, one interesting aspect of The Truffle Hunters is that the documentary while beautifully shot, kind of just drops us into a new and unique world devoid of music, archival footage, or a narrative overview complete with a voiceover. Instead, The Truffle Hunters drop us in the middle of a village in Northern Italy and follow a variety of different people within the truffle-hunting industry. All of the subjects of the documentary are gentlemen in their twilight years, who absolutely love searching the woods (mostly at nighttime to the annoyance of their spouses) to collect truffles to then sell.

At first, The Truffle Hunters seems like it may expose the exploitive nature of these old men using their canine companions as beasts of burden to sniff out the truffles and are able to then sell it and keep the cash for themselves. However, it instead showcases that these dogs truly are these guys’ partners who they love dearly. Anyone who is a dog lover will absolutely love the care and dedication these men have to their best friends. There’s even a point where one of the subjects says he has no need for a girlfriend or a wife and long as he has his dog to keep him company. The Truffle Hunters show us once again how symbiotic man and dog truly are: as these men absolutely love their dogs.

While the men and their dogs are the chief subjects of The Truffle Hunters, it also touches the industry themselves. The fact remains, truffles are worth a lot of money. There are countless scenes in the documentary where there are literally underground truffle purchases in shady-lit street corners. There are also moments where different people are hunting on another person’s “territory” as well. It almost seems as though people are dealing drugs, instead of them selling rare delicacies. And with it being a lucrative industry, there’s always a rich guy in an expensive suit that ultimately is raking in the dough. If anything, the exploitive nature of the documentary is how the businessmen use these older gentlemen’s hard labor to enrich themselves. While the older fellas in the trenches seem to be making good enough money, they aren’t the ones who in turn sell the product to presidents, executives, and corporations overseas.

Speaking of the subjects of The Truffle Hunters, they are a unique bunch, full of interesting qualities that make them entertaining to watch. One can’t help but hold their breath while one guy is giving his dog a bath and uses a hairdryer while in the tub, knowing one slip would electrocute him and his canine pal. Another guy constantly makes his wife nervous as he’s getting too old to go out at night looking for truffles alone. She constantly is screaming his name out at night looking for him, even though he promised he wouldn’t go out at night anymore. And there’s one person who’s just fed up with the industry and does nothing but drink, smoke, curse, and complain about everything. He proves to be the liveliest of the bunch. Towards the end of the film, one of the hunters’ dogs dies after ingesting a poisonous plant, and you can see his pain bleed out on the screen as once again, The Truffle Hunters is a documentary about guys and their dogs.

If you aren’t a fan of truffles, or they are out of your price range, it doesn’t matter. The Truffle Hunters is an incredible documentary really about men who should be living in retirement, but have too much passion to quit what they love doing, and their love of their dogs who they are doing it with. It helps give a perspective for you when you go and buy your food the amount of love, care, and sacrifice that goes to your food enjoyment.

The Truffle Hunters is currently available in New York and Los Angeles.

Truffle Hunters

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Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ Sequel Plans Revealed In Full: Included Injustice League, Green Lantern, & Lots Of Death

By

Travis Hopson

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March 6, 2021

When Zack Snyder was basically spear-heading the entire DCEU, he had an ambitious plan that rivaled what Marvel had been doing with the MCU. That included not only Justice League in 2017, but sequels to follow. We learned recently that the followup would’ve taken place primarily in the post-apocalyptic “Knightmare” future glimpsed by Batman. Well, there was A LOT that was going to lead in to that. While we may see some of this played out when Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max in a couple of weeks, the full scope of his plans is laid out as part of The Dreamscapes Of Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ Exhibition in downtown Dallas, with sketches by the great Jim Lee.

This is a massive undertaking, and I would say it rivals the Avengers films in scope, while also echoing some of the story beats. Snyder wanted to do at least two sequels, one that was more grounded and dealt with the heroes reconnecting with their families and tying up loose ends. The other part would be the full invasion by Darkseid, the acquistion of the power Anti-Life Equation, and Lex Luthor assembling his own team of baddies. We saw a teaser for this new team at the end of Whedon’s Justice League, with the arrival of Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke.

When people rip apart the DCEU for feeling incoherent, they fail to recognize that the movies kept changing, being delayed, or pulled altogether by Warner Bros. But the initial plan actually made quite a lot of sense, which we see in Snyder’s Justice League 2 breakdown. He accounts for Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, pulling in Dr. Maru as a part of Luthor’s squad. There’s also Leonard Start aka Captain Cold, who would’ve faced The Flash if his movie had launched in 2018 as planned. Orn and Black Manta from Aquaman are involved, and even The Riddler from the Batman film that Ben Affleck was to direct.

One other thing to note is that Justice League 2 is incredibly grim. We’re talking Avengers: Infinity War stuff here. Lex’s Injustice League manage to kill Wonder Woman (who has also glimpsed the Knightmare future, one in which she kills Superman), they murder Aquaman, The Riddler commits suicide after solving the Anti-Life Equation, Cyborg is literally torn apart protecting Flash, and then Darkseid attacks the Batcave and incinerates Lois Lane (!!!) who has just been revealed to be pregnant. This sends Superman into a rage, and he uses his heat vision to turn Lex into ash.

The film then jumps forward five years and we are in that Knightmare future with Batman leading a ragtag group that includes a few rebels, Flash, and what remains of Cyborg.

Then begins part 2A, which introduces Green Lantern into the mix and has the big showdown with Darkseid. It’s a fight that will find Batman sacrificing his life (goodbye Bat-fleck!) for the team of outsiders he assembled years earlier.

I hate this because it all reads pretty incredible, and Jim Lee’s art makes me want to see it even more. Perhaps we’ll get it in comic book form? Something tells me that’s where we’re headed, although undoubtedly Snyder’s fans will demand he get a shot to realize this as a movie, too.

Check out our friends at Bleeding Cool for the full transcript with images.

‘Party Down’ Revival May Actually Happen This Time

By

Travis Hopson

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March 5, 2021

Back when this site first started, I wrote so many damn articles about a possible revival of the Starz series, Party Down. I loved that show so so so much, and wanted it to be brought back. But then I remember that the series finale in 2010 scored a dismal rating, something like 0.0, and thinking it could NEVER happen. For what benefit? Well, it seems Starz has caved in to the most niche of fanbases, because Party Down may be returning for real this time.

THR reports that a Party Down revival is in early development, and it will run for just six episodes with “much of the cast likely to return.”

That last part is key, because Party Down had the bomb cast, led by Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr, and Ryan Hansen. They played struggling Los Angeles caterers dealing with bad relationships, a crappy job, and annoying clientele. Megan Mulally and Jennifer Coolidge also became regulars. This being a co-creation of Veronica Mars‘ Rob Thomas, the show featured guest appearances by Kristen Bell, along with JK Simmons, Ken Jeong, and more.

Paul Rudd, who also helped create Party Down, will return, joined by original showrunner John Enbom.

Look, I love this news. However, I’m not getting my hopes up until there’s set footage and a release date. Been burned too many times.

First ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ Images And Details: LeBron James Plays B-Ball In A Digital Reality

By

Travis Hopson

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March 5, 2021

Forget about the points, the rebounds, the assists, and the number of championships. There’s only one way to truly decide whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James is king of the court, and that’s who has the better Space Jam movie? After years in development, and a change in directors from Terence Nance to Malcolm D. Lee, Space Jam: A New Legacy is finally here. The film stars James and is a followup to His Airness’ 1996 hit in which he plays b-ball with Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Lola Bunny, Taz, and more to defeat the alien Monstars. Well, James’ problem is a little bit different.

It turns out that Space Jam 2 is basically LeBron James playing basketball in a virtual reality world, facing a team called the Goon Squad to rescue his son (Cedric Joe) who has been trapped there by a rogue A.I. voiced by Don Cheadle. James will need to reassemble the Toon Squad if he has a prayer of winning this game.

My advice is always the same: pass the ball to Daffy.

Also in the cast is Sonequa Martin-Green as James’ wife, while we know loads of celebrities from the NBA and Hollywood will turn up. Not only that, but this being a Warner Bros. film, there will be appearances by characters ranging from Batman to Mad Max. What the fuck is Mad Max gonna do? Is he on the post-apocalyptic team?

The film is being described as a father/son story primarily, something James and producer Ryan Coogler spoke with EW about…

“The general idea was the examination of Black fatherhood and how fatherhood could be unique to LeBron James specifically,” Coogler said.

James added, “There are parents who want to push their kids to do certain things because this is what they do, but sometimes you have to look into a kid and be able to have an open mind and ear to help them become the thing they’ve dreamed of.”

Space Jam: A New Legacy arrives in theaters and HBO Max on July 16th.

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