Saturn Awards 2018: Best Science Fiction Film Release

Alien: Covenant:  There were too many sequels this year that didn’t bring anything new to the table.  Michael Fassbender’s performance was oddly boring to me.  One of my favorite actors, Jussie Smollett, was in it, but that’s all I can say for his character. I rolled my eyes whenever Danny McBride was on screen, as I kind of can’t stand him.  I tried, though, because he was part of the “heart” of the story.  It could have been about any other actor and I would have been more invested.  Katherine Waterston is always good, though I hate to admit that I was distracted by her hair cut.  I’m sorry, but for me the Alien movies are played out, and it barely held my attention.

Blade Runner 2049:  Harrison Ford is in it, but not enough.  The premise is great, but it took way too much time getting there.  It was weird to see Sean Young, and Robin Wright, and Jared Leto, of all people, in a weird role.  I’m not in love with Ryan Gosling like everyone else.  I find him weirdly expressionless as an actor.  The atmosphere felt like a retread of the original, but the casinoish place in the wasteland was cool.  I’m pretty ambivalent.  Half of the movie could have been cut and it would have been more cohesive.  Here’s my ultimate take: it could have been structured like an extended episode of CSI.  The medical mystery was the heart, which leans itself to a fascinating, entertaining, and fantastic movie.  They added a bunch of crap to be “atmospheric” and it unnecessarily pushed up the run time and tested my patience.

Life:  Alien knock-off.  The scene where the alien first escapes was great, though.  And the ending could be setting us up for a potentially awesome sequel.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi:  “Why?  I’ve seen your daily routine – you are not busy.”  My heart broke a little when Billie Lourd was in the opening scene.  This was right after I got my usual chill hearing John Williams’ iconic score and seeing the classic STAR WARS opener.  My, how I have been trained to derive pleasure from that from an early age.  I still don’t like Adam Driver (who mumbled all the way through), and not only because he did you know what.  Then Princess Leia…the first 20 minutes of the film had my emotions swinging all over the place.  And then I was laughing again at Chewbacca and those little creatures.  Then Luke and R2…are they trying to make me cry?  I still like Daisy Ridley (who still reminds me of Keira Knightley), but Rey essentially destroys this little island and doesn’t apologize to the little nun-like creatures.  That seems weirdly out of character.  And Luke Skywalker was too melodramatic until the end, where he mellowed back out.  Is it just me, or do Luke and Leia look a lot alike now?  Like, believably twins now?  Anyway.  Well, it was the Resistance versus the Empire…First Order, whatever…again.  For some reason that never gets old.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets:  Bad acting.  A male lead that didn’t have enough swagger, even though I like Dane DeHaan in other things.  Cartoonish special effects.  Half-baked romance.  Cara Delevingne’s dead eyes.  Nonsensical plot.  I wanted so badly to like this.  I liked Rihanna, that’s about it.

War for the Planet of the Apes:  These movies are also getting old.  I don’t like war movies in general.  Historical ones like to get too graphic, and ones like this no longer feel fresh.  At this point it’s mostly just war, even though I know we’re meant to be trying to bridge the “humanity” gap in ourselves.  They just don’t make me care, which is what you need to be a successful series.

 

So… Which is Best?:  I’m not happy with my choices.  But I’ll grudgingly go Star Wars.  It had spots of humor, good vs. evil, characters that feel like family members, and it was entertaining without trying to be a horror movie.

 

image credit: movieweb.com

Saturn Awards 2018: Best Animated Film Release

Animated movies are not my favorite.  I usually feel “meh” about them, and I watch them with a sort of obligation instead of a sense of excitement.  What kind of animated film is nominated for a Saturn Award? Hopefully better-than-average!  Let’s see.  (By the way, Loving Vincent not being nominated is a travesty.  I stared at that movie.  It was so gorgeous!  Not quite a fantasy…but not quite not a fantasy, either.  Come on, Saturn Awards!)

Cars 3:  The first one was okay, the second one was okay, and the third one was okay.  Okay?

Coco:  When I saw this was coming out I thought, “Disney is remaking The Book of Life?”  The Book of Life was an explosion of color, a cute love story, and Guillermo Del Toro.  Coco is okay.

Despicable Me 3:  The first one was unexpectedly great, the second one was just as charming as the first, and the third one had a lot of humor put in there just for me.  Soooo fluffy.  The eightiesness of the villain made me laugh all the way through.  The daughters still don’t get on my nerves like I thought they would, and Gru and the minions are still trying to be a little evil, despite their other life choices.  I’d watch it again.  That’s saying a lot.

The Boss Baby:  I liked it.  It was funny, had very clever moments, and Alec Baldwin was the perfect voice choice.  I don’t remember the ending, though, which is weird.  I always liked the book, and for some reason was expecting a simpler story.

Your Name:  By far the most grown-up of the bunch, Your Name is a fantasy about body-switching across time.  It is intricate, and you have to pay attention or you may lose the story.  I kept drifting off and having to go back and rewatch.  This is the type of animation that bores me.  I think it’s the muted color pallets.  The Studio Ghibli films affect me the same way.  The story, however, is unique.  Animated films are rarely unpredictable, but I had no idea about this one.

 

The Verdict:  Despicable Me 3.  Silly and fun…not the best message about family, but did you really expect Gru to have a regular childhood?  (I can hear someone yelling at me: “Noooo!  Your Name was far superior!”  To which I say…write your own opinion pieces, then.)

 

Image credit: images.alphacoders.com

Saturn Awards 2018: Best Horror Film Release

Finally!  The 2018 Saturn Award Nominations are here!  These are my favorite awards because these are the movies I actually want to watch.  I have watched some painfully boring movies this year, and not one of them is nominated for a Saturn Award…thank God.  I love sci-fi and horror and thrillers and fantasy, so I celebrate the Saturn Awards as though they are the Oscars!

First on my list:  Best Horror Film Release

47 Meters Down:  I felt like I had seen this before.  There have been a number of “trapped by sharks/wolves/whatever-animal-lives-here” movies in the past couple years.  This one felt like…no big deal.

Annabelle: Creation:  Surprisingly good!  I liked The Conjuring…but did not like the original Annabelle movie.  My main issue?  The design of the doll.  It was not cute enough for anyone to want to keep in the first place, let alone as it started acting oddly.  Now the “actual” doll was a Raggedy Ann…and while it would have been a disaster for whatever toy company owns the rights, it would have made these movies even better!  Who didn’t have a Raggedy Ann?  Golden opportunity lost.

Anyway.  Annabelle: Creation was really original in premise.  It was convoluted…but what horror movie isn’t?  Orphans being taken in by a doll maker that had lost a little girl…a forbidden room…a woman with a mysterious illness…the whole thing was very well done.  As the scares started coming, it became less about watching for the doll, and more about the spirit of the orphans and their desperate circumstances.

Better Watch Out:  There was the twist I never saw coming…but it came way too soon.  After that it turned into my least favorite type of movie: terrorizing people just because you can.  There are too many “home invasion” type movies.  This one is barely special.

Get Out:  Not a bad movie, but I found no humor in it.  There were jokes, but they were to put us at ease.  This movie definitely works as social commentary, and I found the premise clever.  The demonizing of white suburbanites was entertaining and unique.  There are great performances, a unique story…why don’t I like this more?

I think your life experiences affect how you react to this movie.  I have come to understand that if you are black you look at this movie in a different way. I am not black.  I went in looking for a funny horror movie, maybe along the lines of the old self-aware Scream movies, but better.  This is definitely not that.

A multi-leveled movie like this deserves to be studied.  I predict there will be theses written about it’s particular take on race relations.  On the other hand, I have no desire to watch it again.  Like I said, I wish I like it more.

It:  I have ravenously read the book.  I have worshipped the miniseries.  I love Tim Curry and all his performances.  Saying I had mixed feelings about this remake is putting it mildly.  Now I feel that I can admit that I thought it was great.

Here’s the thing:  I’ve always been partial to the children’s story versus the adults’ story.  Children facing down evil has always been one of my favorite premises.  The miniseries was led Jonathan Brandis, Seth Green, and Emily Perkins as some of the children.  Their acting, in my opinion, was far superior to the adults, excluding Annette O’Toole, who I thought was great.  Skipping all the adult stories made for a cohesive movie that leaves an automatic sequel plot, and I think it was the right choice.

The new group of children is led by Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, and Finn Wolfhard.  They were fantastic.  I couldn’t get enough of watching them.  All the while I was waiting to see if they followed through on the…ummm…sexual bit of the book, if you can call it that.  If you’ve read the book, you know what I’m referring to.  Anyway, I started looking up all their screen credits so I could watch them some more.

Pennywise.  Well, I liked both versions, but during the miniseries it was Tim Curry under the make-up, and it colored my perception.  Having an actor I had not seen before take on Pennywise was very effective.  Bill Skarsgard was very menacing, as ordered, but obviously didn’t get to show a lot of range.  He was less animated that Curry, and came off as more of a monster.

mother!:  This one goes off the rails into absurdity very suddenly, and more than once!  For most of the movie I was identifying very much with Jennifer Lawrence’s character.  She didn’t want people in her space.  Her husband seems to invite everyone in.  Then everyone he invites in goes nuts.  It was particularly effective for me, as people-being-mean-just-because-they-can gets me every time.  I kind of hate it.  It comes off as a kind of bullying, and I can’t stand to watch it.  However, this goes too far.  Yup.  Too far.

THE VERDICT:

It.  It is the only one on the list that I want to watch again.  The performances by its young cast were spellbinding, the effects were seamless, and Pennywise was appropriately terrifying.  Well done.

Image credit: static.koimoi.com

Saturn Awards: Best Film Director

Best Film Director

Alex Garland, (Ex Machina)
Colin Trevorrow, (Jurassic World)
George Miller, (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Guillermo del Toro, (Crimson Peak)
J.J. Abrams, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Peyton Reed, (Ant-Man)
Ridley Scott, (The Martian)

Who deserves it?:   George Miller.

Why?:  As a director, George Miller has a schizophrenic resume.  Of course, all the Mad Max films were his, as well as…The Witches of Eastwick and…Happy Feet.  Mad Max: Fury Road may take place in a land Miller created before, but it is full of frenetic energy that is lacking in the other Mad Max films.  Stylistically, it is a great-looking movie.  The casting was spot-on.  Creatively it is fearless and amazing.  The story is quite simple, but interesting nonetheless.  All of that is ultimately the director’s responsibility.  None of the other films felt new to me.  This one did.

Just falling short:  Guillermo del Toro.  I would have possibly leaned in his direction if I hadn’t had so many issues with the movie.  Stylistically it was cool, but it was slow and the story unfolded disjointedly.  Just get to the damn house already!  It was too predictable, honestly, and that counts again him.  I’ve seen much better del Toro movies.  Pan’s Labyrinth is a perennial favorite at my house.  He knows how to be scary and tell an involved, complicated story.  It just didn’t happen with Crimson Peak.

Image from io9.gizmodo.com.

Saturn Awards: Best Actress in a Film

Best Actress in a Film

Blake Lively, (The Age of Adaline)
Charlize Theron, (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Daisy Ridley, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Emily Blunt, (Sicario)
Jessica Chastain, (The Martian)
Mia Wasikowska, (Crimson Peak)

Blake Lively in The Age of Adaline: I really liked The Age of Adaline.  Told as a fairy tale, I really liked the style and feel of the movie.  That said, Blake Lively was not the high point.  She is great at looking tragic and pretty, but I think that’s just how her face always looks.  The character made a lot of decisions that made me want to yell at her, but logically they made sense.  I do recommend seeing The Age of Adaline, but see it for Harrison Ford and Michiel Huisman.

Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road:  Mad Max: Fury Road is the most frenetic movie I’ve seen in a long time.  Charlize Theron’s Furiosa is a take-charge, ferocious woman that is willing to do anything to save the breeding women.  She vacillates from angry to violently angry, with an occasional anguished angry thrown in.  Even when she’s calm, she’s radiating anger.  I also get that vibe from Charlize Theron at awards shows, so I wonder if she connected so well with her character because that’s her inner self being let out.  Good, if overly simplistic, movie.

Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: The Force Awakens:  Daisy Ridley as Luke Skywalker…I mean Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens does her role justice.  Taking on a role that will either become reviled or revered in cinematic history had to be terrifying.  She was fun to watch, was believable in fight scenes and the more light-hearted moments, and only looked a little bit like Keira Knightley when she smiled.  Sadly, Daisy is not the reason anyone went to the movie, and not the reason anyone remembers the movie.  Once again, Harrison Ford.

Emily Blunt in Sicario:  Not the type of movie I usually enjoy, Sicario highlights issues and frustrations of world economics, war, religion, and politics.  FBI/CIA/other clandestine organizations pull off shady, immoral crap in the name of national security.  This is another role that doesn’t show a lot of range.  Emily Blunt can be funny and charming, none of which is used in this movie.  She was tough and mad and indignant.  Constantly.

Jessica Chastain in The Martian:  The Martian is Matt Damon’s Castaway.  Yes, other people were in it, and they were good, but that movie is Matt Damon.

Mia Wasikowska in Crimson Peak:  I wanted to love Crimson Peak.  I just…the twist was too obvious too early, and they took way the hell too long to get to the creepy house.  Mia Wasikowska was fine, but I actually preferred Jessica Chastain in this one.  The sister character was much more interesting.  Wasikowska is not believable to me.  I find her boring.  The last time I liked her was in the HBO show In Treatment.

Who to pick…who to pick…:  Going with Daisy Ridley.  I liked her performance the most.  It showed the most range, and she seemed real.

Image from bgr.com.

Two Months until the Saturn Awards!

One of my favorite awards is the Saturn Award!  Horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and action movies are never rewarded…except by me and the Saturn Awards.  (I got tired of removing the superfluous commas, so I decided to leave the rest as the list is found on the official website.)  I’ll work my way through as much of this list as possible.  Here are the nominees, from saturnawards.org:

Best Action / Adventure Film Release

Everest
Furious 7
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation                                                                                                     The Revenant
Spectre
Spy

Best Actor in a Film

Domhnall Gleeson, (Ex Machina)
Harrison Ford, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
John Boyega, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Leonardo DiCaprio, (The Revenant)
Matt Damon, (The Martian)
Paul Rudd, (Ant-Man)
Samuel L. Jackson, (The Hateful Eight)
Taron Egerton, (Kingsman: The Secret Service)

Best Actress in a Film

Blake Lively, (The Age of Adaline)
Charlize Theron, (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Daisy Ridley, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Emily Blunt, (Sicario)
Jessica Chastain, (The Martian)
Mia Wasikowska, (Crimson Peak)

Best Animated Film Release

Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
Kung Fu Panda 3
Minions
When Marnie Was There

Best Comic to Motion Picture Release

Ant-Man,
Attack on Titan, Part 1,
Avengers: Age of Ultron,
Kingsman: The Secret Service,
Peanuts Movie, The,

Best Fantasy Film Release

Age of Adaline, The,
Baahubali: The Beginning,
Cinderella,
Goosebumps,
Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, The,
Ted 2,

Best Film Costume Design

Avengers: Age of Ultron, (Alexandra Byrne)
Baahubali: The Beginning, (Rama Rajamouli, Prashanti Tipirineni)
Cinderella, (Sandy Powell)
Crimson Peak, (Kate Hawley)
Kingsman: The Secret Service, (Arianne Phillips)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (Michael Kaplan)

Best Film Director

Alex Garland, (Ex Machina)
Colin Trevorrow, (Jurassic World)
George Miller, (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Guillermo del Toro, (Crimson Peak)
J.J. Abrams, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Peyton Reed, (Ant-Man)
Ridley Scott, (The Martian)

Best Film Editing

Ant-Man, (Dan Lebental, Colby Parker Jr.)
Furious 7, (Leigh Folsom Boyd, Dylan Highsmith, Kirk Morri, Christian Wagner)
Jurassic World, (Kevin Stitt)
Kingsman: The Secret Service, (Eddie Hamilton, Jon Harris)
Mad Max: Fury Road, (Margaret Sixel)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey)

Best Film Make Up

Black Mass, (Joel Harlow, Kenny Niederbaumer)
Crimson Peak, (David Marti, Montse Ribe, Xavi Bastida)
Hateful Eight, The, (Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, Jake Garber, Heba Thorisdottir)
Mad Max: Fury Road, (Lesley Vanderwalt, Damian Martin, Elka Wardega)
Sicario, (Donald Mowat)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (Neal Scanlan)

Best Film Music

Baahubali: The Beginning, (M.M. Keeravani)
Crimson Peak, (Fernando Velazquez)
Hateful Eight, The, (Ennio Morricone)
Mad Max: Fury Road, (Tom Holkenborg)
Sicario, (Johann Johannsson)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (John Williams)

Best Film Production Design

Baahubali: The Beginning, (Sabu Cyril)
Crimson Peak, (Thomas E. Sanders)
Jurassic World, (Ed Verreaux)
Mad Max: Fury Road, (Colin Gibson)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (Rick Carter, Darren Gilford)
Tomorrowland, (Scott Chambliss)

Best Film Special / Visual Effects

Avengers: Age of Ultron, (Paul Corbould, Chris Townsend, Ben Snow, Paul Butterworth)
Ex Machina, (Andrew Whithurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett)
Jurassic World, (John Rosengrant, Michael Lantieri, Tim Alexander)
Mad Max: Fury Road, (Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams)
Martian, The, (Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence, Steve Warner)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, Chris Corbould)

Best Film Writing

Crimson Peak, (Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Robbins)
Ex Machina, (Alex Garland)
Jurassic World, (Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly)
Kingsman: The Secret Service, (Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn)
Mad Max: Fury Road, (George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris)
Martian, The, (Drew Goddard)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, (Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams, Michael Arndt)

Best Horror Film Release

Crimson Peak,
Insidious: Chapter 3,
It Follows,
Krampus,
Visit, The,
What We Do in the Shadows,

Best Independent Film Release

99 Homes,
Bone Tomahawk,
Cop Car,
Experimenter,
Room,
Trumbo,

Best International Film Release

100 Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, The,
Goodnight Mommy,
Labyrinth of Lies,
Legend,
Turbo Kid,
Wave, The,

Best Performance By A Younger Actor in a Film

Elias / Lukas Schwartz, (Goodnight Mommy)
Jacob Tremblay, (Room)
James Freedson-Jackson, (Cop Car)
Milo Parker, (Mr. Holmes)
Olivia DeJonge, (The Visit)
Ty Simpkins, (Jurassic World)

Best Science Fiction Film Release

Ex Machina,
Jurassic World,
Mad Max: Fury Road,
Martian, The,
Star Wars: The Force Awakens,
Terminator: Genisys,

Best Supporting Actor in a Film

Adam Driver, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Michael Douglas, (Ant-Man)
Michael Shannon, (99 Homes)
Paul Bettany, (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Simon Pegg, (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation)
Walter Goggins, (The Hateful Eight)

Best Supporting Actress in a Film

Alicia Vikander, (Ex Machina)
Carrie Fisher, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Evangeline Lilly, (Ant-Man)
Jessica Chastain, (Crimson Peak)
Lupita Nyong’o, (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Tamannaah, (Baahubali: The Beginning)

Best Thriller Film Release

Black Mass,
Bridge of Spies,
Gift, The,
Hateful Eight, The,
Mr. Holmes,
Sicario,

TELEVISION AWARDS
Best Action / Thriller Television Series

Bates Motel,
Blindspot,
Fargo,
Hannibal,
Last Ship, The,
Librarians, The,
Mr. Robot,

Best Actor on a Television Series

Andrew Lincoln, (The Walking Dead)
Bruce Campbell, (Ash vs. Evil Dead)
Charlie Cox, (Daredevil)
David Duchovny, (The X-Files)
Grant Gustin, (The Flash)
Mads Mikkelsen, (Hannibal)
Matt Dillon, (Wayward Pines)
Sam Heughan, (Outlander)

Best Actress on a Television Series

Caitriona Balfe, (Outlander)
Gillian Anderson, (The X-Files)
Kim Dickens, (Fear The Walking Dead)
Krysten Ritter, (Marvel’s Jessica Jones)
Melissa Benoist, (Supergirl)
Rachel Nichols, (Continuum)
Rebecca Romijn, (The Librarians)

Best Fantasy Television Series

Game of Thrones,
Haven,
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell,
Magicians, The,
Muppets, The,
Outlander,
Shannara Chronicles, The,

Best Guest Performance on a Television Series

Alex Kingston, (The Husbands of River Song)
John Carroll Lynch, (The Walking Dead)
Laura Benanti, (Supergirl)
Scott Glenn, (Daredevil)
Steven Brand, (Teen Wolf)
Victor Garber, (The Flash)
William Shatner, (Haven)

Best Horror Television Series

American Horror Story: Hotel,
Ash vs. Evil Dead,
Fear The Walking Dead,
Salem,
Strain, The,
Teen Wolf,
Walking Dead, The,

Best New Media Television Series

Bosch,
Daredevil,
DreamWork’s Dragons,
Man in the High Castle, The,
Marvel’s Jessica Jones,
Powers,
Sense8,

Best Presentation on Television

Cannibal in the Jungle, The,
Childhood’s End,
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song,
Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow,
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!,
Wiz, The,

Best Science Fiction Television Series

100, The,
Colony,
Continuum,
Doctor Who,
Expanse, The,
Wayward Pines,
X-Files, The,
X-No Opinion, Check here if you have no opinion in this category

Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series

Arrow,
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,
Flash, The,
Gotham,
Marvel’s Agent Carter,
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,
Supergirl,

Best Supporting Actor on a Television Series

David Tennant, (Marvel’s Jessica Jones)
Erik Knudsen, (Continuum)
Kit Harington, (Game of Thrones)
Lance Reddick, (Bosch)
Patrick Wilson, (Fargo)
Richard Armitage, (Hannibal)
Toby Jones, (Wayward Pines)
Vincent D’Onofrio, (Daredevil)

Best Supporting Actress on a Television Series

Calista Flockhart, (Supergirl)
Danai Gurira, (The Walking Dead)
Gillian Anderson, (Hannibal)
Lena Headey, (Game of Thrones)
Melissa Leo, (Wayward Pines)
Melissa McBride, (The Walking Dead)
Tovah Feldshuh, (The Walking Dead)

Best Younger Actor on a Television Series

Brenock O’Connor, (Game of Thrones)
Chandler Riggs, (The Walking Dead)
Dylan Sprayberry, (Teen Wolf)
Frank Dillane, (Fear The Walking Dead)
Jodelle Ferland, (Dark Matter)
Maisie Williams, (Game of Thrones)
Max Charles, (The Strain)

 

 

Image from withanaccent.com.