Quentin Tarantino’s wild cinematic dream of a long-gone era won over the Hawaii Film Critics Society. “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” Tarantino’s shocking, controversial 9th film, led the Best of 2019 list, winning five awards, including Best Picture, Director and Best Supporting Actor (for Brad Pitt’s wonderful turn as a seen-it-all stuntman). “Joker,” the…
The Hawaii Film Critics Society released its list of nominations for their year’s end, Best of 2019 List today. Leading the nominees are Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” with twelve nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo Di Caprio), Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt) and Best Original Screenplay (Tarantino). In the running…
In 2019, Martin Scorsese stated that Marvel superhero movies aren’t cinema, compared them to an amusement parks and lamented the kind of films young audiences have now, in contrast to the kind of films he grew up with. Well, everyone lost their minds over this, particularly those on the internet who were furious that Scorsese…
A childhood remembrance, full of wonder, horror and humanity, enthralled the Hawaii Film Critics Society. “Roma,” Alfonso Cuaron’s deeply personal, vivid and spellbinding film, led the Best of 2018 list, winning six awards, including Best Picture and Director. Also receiving six awards is “A Star Is Born,” Bradley Cooper’s remarkable directorial debut, including for Best…
The Hawaii Film Critics Society released its list of nominations for their year’s end, Best of 2018 list today. The nominations reveal a selection of the expected awards-favorites, many audience-favorite blockbusters and a handful of genuine surprise picks. Bradley Cooper’s blockbuster music drama, “A Star Is Born,” Ryan Coogler’s Marvel milestone “Black Panther” and Yorgos…
My favorite film of the year has an ending that’s almost identical to my favorite movie from the year before. The final scene in Damien Chazelle’s “First Man” involves a remarkable reunion between two individuals who, both physically and emotionally, have been living separately. In 2017, Denis Villenueve’s “Blade Runner 2049” also concluded with a…
A mother obsessed with finding justice in her town of Ebbing, Missouri and a detective on a quest in futuristic Los Angeles captured the imagination of the Hawaii Film Critics Society. Their Best of 2017 List bestowed five awards each for Denis Villeneuve’s visionary “Blade Runner 2049” and Martin McDonagh’s confrontational “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,…
The Hawaii Film Critics Society has cast their votes and nominated a wide range of films for their year’s end list. Dennis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049,” starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, led the charge with nine nominations, the most of any film on the list. “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo Del Toro’s acclaimed sci-fi/romance,…
Back before there were DVD screeners, or the Maui Film Festival’s FirstLight Academy Screenings, studios would set up special showings for critics to make such lists, in the course of million-dollar marketing campaigns for their Oscar contenders. Such campaigns were the forte of one particular pugnacious producer, whose fall from grace after decades of abusing…
In this age of nostalgia-driven entertainment, the best works explore the past rather than allow it distract us from the present. Too many bad sequels, prequels and remakes merely restaged an established story for a cynical cash-grab for those seeking easy escape or willing to accept their lowered expectation. On the other hand, some of…