A Word of Advice from Jessica Biel

Arguing with conservative family members -- fiscal or social -- is never pleasant during the holidays, so here's a quick and to-the-point way* of avoiding these scenarios, via Jessica Biel:

This post is brought to you by my recent viewing of I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998) on cable, which I hadn't seen since I was in grade school. If you put aside the plot and geographical schizophrenia, toxic lead (remember when Hollywood was trying to make Jonathan Taylor Thomas happen?), and snide tone it isn't quite as cringe-worthy as you'd expect, but that's as far as I can take it. 

Biel isn't half-bad in it, though, particularly when she has something to do other than ooh and aah over J.T.T. and his deep knowledge of E.E. Cummings (i.e. the go-to E.E. Cummings pick-up line), like the above scene for instance. Tetchy and pissed off fits her surprisingly well, in the best possible since. It definitely helps her a lot here with an underwritten character whose main arc essentially boils down to: "My boyfriend is a douche, but at least he's not as big of a douche as the horndog antagonist." Allie should take her own advice and ditch the chauvinistic jerks in her life.

* Obviously I don't condone "slugging" any of your family members, but given the current socio-political landscape where sexism, racism, and homophobia are rampant, it's important to speak out against any instances of those actions, even if you're close to the person.

Tweet-Length Capsules: The Last 12 Movies I've Seen

After the unpleasantness of November, I decided to take a much-needed break from social media, particularly Twitter where He Who Must Not Be Named manages to pop up all the time. Despite the vast improvement of my mental state during my mental vacation, I decided against my best interests to begin using the site again. And I figure since I'll be using the site I might as well get some use out of it by cribbing a feature from one of my fave critics, @NicksFlickPicks, who consolidates his movie thoughts into a single tweet. His are probably better written, but I thought I'd give it a try as a way to catch everyone up on what I've been seeing. Take a look after the jump:

Quick SAG Predictions

Moonlight's convincing collection of actors is among 2016's highlights.

Ensemble

• Hell or High Water
• La La Land
• Lion
• Manchester by the Sea
• Moonlight

Alternate: 20th Century Women, considering how big and talented the cast is, but I'm worried for this one!

Dark Horse: Thought about Silence for this, but aside from how much of a stretch it is to call any Scorsese film a "dark horse" for awards consideration, I'm even more suspicious of Nocturnal Animals and the next awards-related aneurysm it'll bring me.

Female Lead Actor

• Amy Adams - Arrival
• Isabelle Huppert - Elle
• Ruth Negga - Loving
• Natalie Portman - Jackie
• Emma Stone - La La Land

Alternate: Annette Bening, as much as I want this to be her year. The sixth spot could theoretically go to any actress other than Portman or Stone, but I'm feeling a shut-out for Bening's vehicle. *sobs*

Dark Horse: Amy Adams' best shot is probably for Arrival, but you guys....what if they reeeeaaaally like Nocturnal Animals?

Male Lead Actor

• Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
• Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge
• Ryan Gosling - La La Land
• Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic
• Denzel Washington - Fences

Alternate: Tom Hanks, close but no cigar since 2013.

Dark Horse: Chris Pine, though Jeff Bridges seems to be drawing all the attention for Hell or High Water.

Molly Shannon: Great in her 70s dress and in Other People.

Female Supporting Actor

• Viola Davis - Fences
• Naomie Harris - Moonlight
• Nicole Kidman - Lion
• Molly Shannon - Other People
• Michelle Williams - Manchester by the Sea

Alternate: Greta Gerwig, who's been precariously perched at the fifth slot in the Oscar race for a couple of weeks now as precursors keep passing between her and four others.

Dark Horse: Helen Mirren for Eye in the Sky, though she's always a threat for SAG so maybe Lily Gladstone (Certain Women) would be a pleasant surprise.

Male Supporting Actor

• Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
• Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water
• Hugh Grant - Florence Foster Jenkins
• Lucas Hedges - Manchester by the Sea
• Dev Patel - Lion

Alternate: Michael Shannon who found a way to get noticed last year for a less buzzed-about film than Nocturnal Animals.

Dark Horse: On the off chance that Jackie gets recognized in Ensemble (possible), could we see Peter Sarsgaard finally surprise us here? He's only lost traction since the precursors, despite the draws of playing a beloved historical figure and being unrecognized throughout his critically-praised career. Also: Trevante Rhodes!

2016 Golden Globe Predictions - Nominations

Presented with very little commentary since I'm pressed for time. The HFPA will make their announcements tomorrow morning, and while I like most of the hunches I'm going on, I'm not sure how aligned they are with what most prognosticators are thinking.

Picture: Drama

• Arrival
• Fences
• Loving
• Manchester by the Sea
• Moonlight

Or maybe: Lion, Hidden Figures, Sully, or Silence

-- This would be the opportune moment for either Lion or Hidden Figures to gain momentum, but who misses in their place? Loving the most vulnerable.

Picture: Musical/Comedy

• Hail, Caesar!
• La La Land
• The Lobster
• Love & Friendship
• Sing Street

Or maybe: 20th Century Women, Florence Foster Jenkins, or The Nice Guys

-- RE: 20th Century Women: Is it Bening and nothing else? It's certainly the most recent of the bunch, as opposed to the other non-La La Land films which all came out during the first half of the year. Will they linger with voters?

Actress: Drama

• Amy Adams - Arrival
• Taraji P. Henson - Hidden Figures
• Isabelle Huppert - Elle
• Ruth Negga - Loving
• Natalie Portman - Jackie

Or maybe: Jessica Chastain - Miss Sloane, Rebecca Hall - Christine, Rachel Weisz - Denial, or Emily Blunt - The Girl on the Train

-- This is where Emmanuelle Riva and Charlotte Rampling both stumbled. The acting categories typically favor American performers, despite their Foreign Press title. Will Huppert just be too undeniable?

Actor: Drama

• Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
• Joel Edgerton - Loving
• Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge
• Tom Hanks - Sully
• Denzel Washington - Fences

Or maybe: Andrew Garfield - Silence, Chris Pine - Hell or High Water or Matthew McConaughey - Gold

-- I'd be surprised if anyone other than these five made it in, considering how thin the field is.

Comedy acting locks and they know it.

Actress: Musical/Comedy

• Kate Beckinsale - Love & Friendship
• Annette Bening - 20th Century Women
• Sally Field - Hello, My Name is Doris
• Emma Stone - La La Land
• Meryl Streep - Florence Foster Jenkins

Or maybe: Kate Winslet - The Dressmaker, Rachel Weisz - The Lobster, Susan Sarandon - The Meddler, or Renne Zellweger - Bridget Jones's Baby

-- These five feel set, but I could definitely see a surprise like Winslet or Weisz.

Actor: Musical/Comedy

• Colin Farrell - The Lobster
• Hugh Grant - Florence Foster Jenkins
• Ryan Gosling - La La Land
• Ryan Gosling - The Nice Guys
• Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic

Or maybe: Don Cheadle - Miles Ahead, Warren Beatty - Rules Don't Apply, Russell Crowe - The Nice Guys, or Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool

-- Going out on a limb with a double nomination for Gosling. I suspect Cheadle in one of his slots would be the more likely scenario, though.

Best Supporting Actress

• Viola Davis - Fences
• Naomie Harris - Moonlight
• Nicole Kidman - Lion
• Janelle Monae - Hidden Figures
• Michelle Williams - Manchester by the Sea

Or maybe: Greta Gerwig - 20th Century Women, Octavia Spencer - Hidden Figures, or Lilly Gladstone - Certain Women

-- I'll probably be kicking myself for excluding Gerwig (remember how they liked Frances Ha?), but Monae is probably gonna have a big boost after how great last week was as well as her strong turn in Moonlight.

Best Supporting Actor

• Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
• Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water
• Lucas Hedges - Manchester by the Sea
• Dev Patel - Lion
• Michael Shannon - Nocturnal Animals

Or maybe: Trevante Rhodes - Moonlight, Ben Foster - Hell or High Water, Peter Sarsgaard - Jackie, or Stephen Henderson - Fences

-- Even if this is how the Globes turn out, this probably won't be Oscars lineup. So hoping Rhodes surprises!

Mahershala keeps racking up prizes

Best Director

• Damien Chazelle - La La Land
• Barry Jenkins - Moonlight
• Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea
• Martin Scorsese - Silence
• Denzel Washington - Fences

Or maybe: Jeff Nichols - Loving, Pablo Larrain - Jackie, David Mackenzie - Hell or High Water, or Clint Eastwood - Sully

-- I firmly believe the general wisdom that awards bodies, no matter how mediocre the project may be, will vote Scorsese.

Best Screenplay

• Fences
• La La Land
• Manchester by the Sea
• Moonlight
• Silence

Or maybe: Hell or High Water, Loving, The Lobster, or Lion

-- I had Hell or High Water here, but swapped it for Silence since it's script has been getting a lot of citations.

Best Original Score

• Arrival
• Florence Foster Jenkins
• Jackie
• La La Land
• Lion

Or maybe: Moonlight, Zootopia, The Light Between Oceans, or The BFG

-- Will they go for such a song-heavy score with La La Land?

Best Original Song

• La La Land - "City of Stars"
• Moana - "How Far I'll Go"
• Sing Street - "Drive it Like You Stole It"
• Trolls - "Can't Stop the Feeling"
• Zootopia - "Try Everything"

Or maybe: Some other songs from La La Land and/or Moana

-- The right balance of pop and prestige?

Best Animated Feature

• Finding Dory
• Moana
• Sausage Party
• Trolls
• Zootopia

Or maybe: The Red Turtle, Kubo and the Two Strings, or Sing

-- Sausage Party's my wild card here. Am I crazy to think it might pay off?

Best Foreign Language Film

• Elle
• The Handmaiden
• Julieta
• The Salesman
• Things to Come

Or maybe: Toni Erdman, Neruda, Aquarius, or A Man Called Ove

-- Elle + Things to Come a glorious result of Huppert fever?

Huppert has two films in the Foreign Film race. Will Elle dominate the attention?

Two Redheads on Screen This Weekend

Amy (left) and Jessica (right) headline the weekend's new releases

Two* talented, intelligent and gorgeous ginger actresses, Amy Adams and Jessica Chastain, have new movies opening this weekend, Nocturnal Animals and Miss Sloane, respectively. In a just society that favors challenging, female-led (and sometimes non-U.S.) projects to perform well at the box office, two new releases that star and are about women wouldn't come as such a pleasant surprise! Still, I suspect Moana and Fantastic Beasts will be the ones to beat at the box office once again, though we can still hope both of these have good legs.

I haven't seen Animals or Sloane yet, though I've finally had the chance to see Loving and Moonlight and my experiences with both were infinitely rewarding, particularly the latter, which I have a lot to say about. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to one of the new releases this weekend, if not both. What are you planning on seeing this weekened? Have you seen any of the titles I've mentioned here?

*Three if you count Emma Stone in La La Land, but it opens in wide release next weekend!

What's Left in 2016?

Considering the kind of year it's turned out to be, surely no one wants to know the answer to that question. For the remainder of December I'm basically doing my best Heather Donahue, at once afraid to open my eyes and afraid to close them. The same could be said of the next four years, but I can't allow myself to revel in that horror. Still, Top 10s are beginning to emerge and I've only seen 65 movies from this year so, in an attempt to get myself caught up, I've drawn up a list of everything I'd like to see from 2016 before I begin devising my own Best Ofs. I'm usually much farther along, but personal and professional troubles have gotten in the way over the past few months making trips to the movies increasingly demanding. Hoping the holidays give me more opportunities to catch up.

Here's a list of titles currently in theaters that I need to see (films highlighted in red are ones I've now seen):

·         Moonlight – The year’s big critical darling that also happens to be a new queer cinema classic? Yay!

·         Manchester by the Sea – You Can Count on Me and Margaret are two of my tip-top favs. Great to have Lonergan back!

·         Things to Come – Hansen-Love’s movies are so beautifully humanistic. Viva Huppert!

·         Elle – Verhoeven’s movies are so brutally confronting. Viva Huppert!

·         20^th Century Women – Equally mature, warm and comic about 70s life as Beginners was about grief and love?

·         Fences – Been there since the “I’ve been standing with you” scene in the trailer.

·         Toni Erdman – Everyone Else totally floored me, so I’m looking forward to more people learning about Ade.

·         Julieta – Almodóvar does Alice Munro? I like. Even skeptics seem to be getting on board with this one.

·         Jackie – Trailer and director choice immediately dispelled concerns over lead and stills. Best Actress loyalties.

·         The Salesman – Which is apparently getting a one-week qualifying release? Nothing like confusing people as to whether your movie is coming out or not, right distributors?

·         Paterson – Only Lovers Left Alive was a real surprise and Driver looks like he’d fit well in the Jarmusch-verse. Golshefti!

·         La La Land – Stone and Gosling are completely adorable to me, and in a musical?

·        Voyage of Time: IMAX Experience – An experience which never graced my local IMAX screens. Better luck with Life’s Journey?

·         Neruda – As if Larraín wasn’t having a good enough year before he went and cast Gael García Bernal. Can I buy a ticket now, please?

·         Moana – The one-two-three punch of Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia certainly doesn’t hurt. Looks charming.

·         Loving – Because it’s important for these stories to be told now more than ever. Excited for Negga! Ideal material for Nichols?

·         The Edge of Seventeen – Glad to see Hailee avoiding True Grit typecasting. The trailers were funny.

·         Christine – The true story it’s based on was deeply unsettling when I read about it. Points for nerve.

·         Lion – Few things makes me happier than the notion of Kidman excelling in an emotionally tricky part.

·         Hidden Figures – One hopes for a moving, entertaining, and informative tale like The Help without patronizing. Taraji!

·         Miss Sloane – Chastain is on fire and reviews seem to be strong despite reports of a dud earlier. Mbatha-Raw!

·         Allied – Lame title and trailer, but with actors this hot and the terrible year we’ve had audiences have earned it. Emotional emergency!

·         Nocturnal Animals – Adams is an intriguing asset, but the ugliness might turn me off.

·         Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – The Force Awakens was a hoot and a half. Like seeing different stories from this universe, especially if directors keep getting more interesting.

·         Rules Don’t Apply – Prestige Actors Going Period to Hammy Results can be fun, but also enervating.

·         Silence – Scorsese is always an event, but my mileage always varies. The Departed was the last one I liked.

·         Assassin’s Creed – Video Game source is an albatross, but Kurzel’s last two were mesmerizing, as were Fassy and Cotillard in Macbeth.

·         Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Because Harry Potter is in my blood, like a horcrux or a love potion.

·         A Monster Calls – The potential for irritation is high, but as is the potential for awe and creativity.

·         Miss Pergrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Reviews were more interesting than expected. Green a big selling point.

·         Passengers – I like J-Law and Pratt enough to be curious, but is there any other reason for this movie’s existence other than to have two uber-bankable stars together?

·         Live by Night – More Town-level tautness or Argo-level drabness?

·         Almost Christmas – Top three reasons I’m excited: Mo’Nique, Mo’Nique, and Mo’Nique.

·         Collateral Beauty – Under normal circumstances I’d avoid, but seeing the state the world is in makes me wonder if some optimism might not be so bad. Can Keira at least sell it?

And now a few titles I unfortunately missed in theaters that I hope to watch on DVD or VOD:

·         American Honey

·         Certain Women

·         Aquarius

·         Little Men

·         The Handmaiden

·         Mountains May Depart

·         Right Now, Wrong Then

·         The President

·         Tikkun

·         Neon Bull

·         In the Shadow of Women

·         Chevalier

·         Bang Gang: A Modern Love Story

·         Ixcanul

·         Closet Monster

·         Morris from America

·         Queen of Katwe

·         Sand Storm

·         White Girl

·         Kubo and the Two Strings

·         Cameraperson / Do Not Resist / Fire at Sea / Into the Infero / Tickled

·         From Afar

·         Other People

·         Spa Night

·         Glassland

·         Viva!

·         Eye in the Sky

·         Tallulah

·         The Invitation

·         The Little Prince

·         High-Rise

·         Miles Ahead

·         Lolo

·         Swiss Army Man

·         The Nice Guys

·         Ghostbusters

·         The Jungle Book

·         Indignation

·         Finding Dory

·         Genius

I tried so hard to see the first five, but each had limited windows in which I could see them, despite high profiles. American Honey and Certain Women only played one and two weeks respectively while Little Men didn't even open in Nashville. Aquarius had the misfortune of opening during the week of Thanksgiving (the second busiest time of the year for me) and playing only then. I will never understand what distributors gain by making their movies impossible to see!