13 Nights of Shocktober: House (1977)

 by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 5: Japanese Horror Night

“Any old cat can open a door. Only a witch cat can close a door.”

House (1977)

The 1977 Japanese horror film House (AKA Hausu) is weird, wild stuff, to put it mildly. This is a movie with so many peculiar cinematic choices and strange, puzzling sights that the demonic cat, floating severed head, or killer piano might make you forget about the watermelon laughing over someone’s shoulder. So much about House is intentionally off kilter that it is equally funny, interesting, creepy, silly, thoughtful, scary, but, above all, unforgettable.

The weird and bizarre nature of House comes from what happens on screen, not from how it is told. There is no toying with narrative structure, or points of view, or chronology. This goes a long way to keeping the audience engaged. At the start of summer break, teenager Gorgeous invites six of her friends to stay at her estranged aunt’s house. Unfortunately, the house is haunted by a vengeful spirit that preys on unmarried (virgin) girls. Yes, the main character’s name is Gorgeous. Her friends are: Fantasy, Mac (short for Stomach), Prof (short for Professor), Melody, Sweet, and Kung-Fu. Those names are descriptive (Prof reads a lot, Kung Fu knows kung fu, etc.) but the actresses all bring youthful energy to the roles. Each girl finds herself attacked by her fear or distinctive trait (Melody is attacked by the piano, for example). 

The making of House is a fascinating story. In 1975 Japanese movie studio Toho (the studio behind the Godzilla movies) hired Nobuhiko Obayashi to make a film that would be a box office hit like JAWS. Instead, he asked his adolescent daughter, Chigumi, what she thought was scary. She said it would be scary if her reflection in the mirror suddenly attacked her. Obayashi wisely chose his daughter’s idea over the studio’s order. “It’s not all that strange for ants or bears to attack people, but to be attacked by your reflection in a mirror is a fantasy that could only happen in a movie,” Obayashi says in a documentary included with the Criterion home video release.

Many of Chigumi’s other ideas made it into the movie and she received a story credit. Obayashi never expected for the movie to be made so he gave it an English title, something “taboo” for Japanese films at the time. When he finally did make the film two years later, Obayashi made a conscious decision to do things unlike the traditional Japanese filmmaking style of Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai) and Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story), two of not only the greatest Japanese directors but the greatest of all directors. If Obayashi thought that Kurosawa or Ozu would be offended by a stylistic choice, that was the choice he made. The result is a film unlike any that came before, or even after for that matter. 

You can enjoy House purely as a phantasmagoria of the bizarre and macabre, as I did the first time I saw it, but it is also rich with subtext. Gorgeous’s aunt has a substantial backstory that is presented as a black and white silent film with the girls watching and making comments. In short, her fiancé was drafted into the army and never returned from the war but she continued to wait for him. When they see brief footage of the atomic bomb one of the girls says that the mushroom cloud looks like cotton candy. It is worth noting that Obayashi grew up in Hiroshima and lost many of his childhood friends to the devastation of the atomic bomb. The divide between the older generation that fought and lived through World War II and the younger generation that was born after the war also looms large. Gorgeous and her friends are separated from her aunt not just because of their youth but because of their varied personalities and opportunities thanks to post war feminism. 

The generational divide played a big part in the movie’s success too. It was the movie that every kid wanted to see and no parent wanted their kid to see. It was a commercial success thanks to its younger audience but a major flop with critics. Even executives at Toho were unhappy with the success of House. One studio executive even told screenwriter Chiho Katsura, right to his face, that he was upset with House’s success because he wanted a hit but not with a movie like this. Katsura was understandably offended. Time passed and the kids that loved House grew up to be critics and filmmakers and moviegoers and its influence and place in international cinema is firmly secure.

House airs on TCM on Wednesday, Oct 26th at 1AM CT and is streaming on the Criterion Channel and HBOmax. 

13 Nights of Shocktober: Poltergeist (1982)

by A. J. 

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 4: Haunted House Night Redux

“They’re here.”

Poltergeist (1982)

Poltergeist is the rarest kind of horror movie: a non-R-rated horror movie that is truly terrifying. It also proves that a glossy mainstream studio movie can be as scary and disturbing as any indie or underground horror movie. Steven Spielberg produced and co-wrote the screenplay and it feels very much like a Spielberg movie that picked the wrong path through the forest. The dark, at times gruesome, nature of the scares can be attributed to director Tobe Hooper, most famous for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). There is controversy over who actually directed the movie, with claims that Spielberg either filled in for Hooper or micromanaged every detail of the production (the reason why depends on the source). Of course, this is all background and regardless of any behind the scenes controversy the final film is a horror movie that doesn’t pull any punches but is still widely appealing. 

Poltergeist is about a reasonably content average American family who lives in an idyllic suburb. A good portion of the movie is spent just getting to know the family on an emotional level. We don’t get much background about the parents, Steve (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane (JoBeth Williams), but thanks to the intimate moments we see and their performances, we feel as though we know them very well. Then, out of nowhere strange things start happening in their home. Their youngest daughter Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) starts talking to voices only she can hear coming through the static of the television. In one of the best non-monster scares in the movie, or maybe any movie, Diane looks away for a brief moment and when she looks back all of the dining room chairs have stacked themselves on top of the table. Things escalate quickly to terrifying levels when one night, again seemingly out of nowhere, an old spooky looking tree reaches into the son’s bedroom and takes him and tries to swallow him. Meanwhile, Carol Anne is sucked into another plane of existence by a vortex in her closet. Steven and Diane reach out to paranormal investigators at a university to try to figure out how to get Carol Ann back.  

From low key creepy touches like the flickering blue glow of the static on the television with its roar like a storm to a screaming demonic monster face to being tapped in a muddy swimming pool with corpses, there are all kinds of scares in Poltergeist. Perhaps one of the most memorable scenes involves an oversized clown doll that is already creepy to begin with before any paranormal activity starts. There are scares that involve only practical effects and makeup effects and scares that involve optical effects and composite shots. It’s no surprise that Poltergeist received Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects. They hold up very, very well and still pack tremendous shock value. It’s hard to pin down any one moment or scene as the scariest. There’s a good scare for everyone in Poltergeist and that is what makes it a great and lasting horror movie. 

As much as the special effects take center stage, the cast is great and what really grounds the film and makes all the scary moments so affecting. JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson are cast perfectly as the parents and they have a great casual chemistry. Maybe my favorite scene in the whole movie happens after they first experience the seemingly benign paranormal activity and go to a neighbor’s house to ask if they have experienced anything similar. In the middle of their question Steve and Diane become awkwardly giddy as they realize the strangeness of what they want to ask, all the while mosquitoes buzz around them. Child performances are always tricky as they can make or break an entire movie and O’Rourke does a great job as Carol Anne, too young and innocent to be suspicious of the voices she hears. A perfect example of the “there are no small parts” adage is Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina, a psychic the paranormal investigators turn to after they are totally overwhelmed. Emanating her own spooky atmosphere, she enters the film late, doesn't have much screen time and still manages to be one of the most memorable things about the movie, even along with the special effects.  

Poltergeist is a movie that a lot of kids end up watching because it is rated PG. At the time the PG-13 rating did not exist but it's still hard to believe that this movie is only PG and airs on television unedited. This was always a popular rental at Vulcan Video around Halloween in part because parents were renting it to watch with their kids or for their kids to watch on their own. It should be remembered, however, that this is a movie where, in one of the most impressive and grossest use of practical effects, a man hallucinates ripping his face apart and it’s not even the scariest thing in the movie. Horror movies that are just as scary 40 years after their first release are a rare thing indeed. It’s not a stretch to call Poltergeist a classic horror movie. 

Poltergeist airs on TCM on Friday, October 28th at 7PM CST and is streaming on HBOmax.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Night House

 by A.J. 

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 3: Haunted House Night 

“I think there’s something in my house.”

The Night House 

The Night House is a perfect movie to watch late at night when the tiny creaks and groans of your house or apartment become suspicious and ominous. Like the best haunted house stories, it creates an eerie atmosphere at odds with an ordinary setting and puts us in the same mindset as the confused and frightened protagonist. I wouldn’t be surprised if the budget was low, but the quality of the production and craft and scares are high. 

The setting, a quiet lakeside house at the onset of summer, certainly should be idyllic but for recently widowed Beth (Rebecca Hall), whose husband, Owen (Evan Jonigkeit), left a cryptic suicide note, a cloud of foreboding looms over the house. Beth has a supportive group of friends, especially Claire (Sarah Goldberg) and her neighbor, Mel (Vondie Curtis-Hall), but she spends most of her days and nights at home alone. After Beth receives mysterious phone calls and text messages that seem to be from Owen, she goes through his things and finds a picture of a woman that resembles her and a book on the occult. The most disturbing thing she discovers is a secret house identical to her own except reversed in design on the other side of the lake. The idea of the ghost of her beloved husband trying to contact her from beyond should be comforting, but it never feels right and an aura of malevolence and danger swirls around Beth’s house at night.

The Night House works as a low-key but effective psychological horror thanks to the emphasis on mood and atmosphere. Director David Bruckner shows great confidence in the character driven screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski as well as the talents of Rebecca Hall. This is the kind of role that some actors would take full advantage of to showcase their total emotive range, but Hall’s skill here is in holding back while making clear the emotions swirling just beneath the surface. Beth is not the kind of person who would show what she is really feeling to others or even herself. Hall is the rare kind of performer who, with the right role, makes you believe you are watching a real person.

Is the haunting Beth experiences a metaphor? Sure, every horror movie works as a metaphor or allegory in one way or another, even the schlock movies. However, unlike many recent arthouse or “elevated” horror movies, the subtext is where it belongs, in the background lurking like a shadow. Yes, The Night House is a horror movie about trauma and grief but it is also a creepy and scary one. It is about the search for meaning after a devastating loss, but that search leads to a spooky secret house and unseen malevolent forces. It grabs you with the scares and it stays with you because of the themes and the great performance at the center. 

Like the classic The Haunting, (1963) directed by Robert Wise, The Night House uses sound design and limited visual effects to build suspense and put you in the same unnerved state as the main character. You don’t need elaborate effects when you have a red-light filter and Rebecca Hall. As she makes one chilling discovery after another, The Night House goes from being a creepy drama to frightening horror movie. 

The Night House slipped under the radar in 2020/2021, like many films, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and confusion about what films were on what streaming services, or DVD, or theaters. It is currently streaming on HBOmax.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Picnic at Hanging Rock

 by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 2: Mystery Night

“That’s just the trouble. Nobody knows what happened.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) is not technically a horror film but it is a haunting and unsettling film. It is a mystery with an eerie tone, a mixture of ethereal beauty and dread that lingers long after the credits roll. There is no psycho-killer or monster and only the vaguest hint of the supernatural. The horror of Picnic at Hanging Rock comes from the slow realization by the characters and audience that no solution exists. The existence of the unknown is brought to the forefront, and fear of the unknown is one of the oldest fears in humankind.

To describe the plot of Picnic at Hanging Rock is, in one way, to give away all that happens in the movie. In Australia on St. Valentine’s Day, 1900, a group of students and their chaperones from an all-girls boarding school go on a picnic to Hanging Rock. Some of the girls go exploring the Rock, a series of stony volcanic formations jutting up out of the earth. Three of the girls and one of the teachers go missing. One of them is found a week later completely unscathed but with no memory of what happened. The rest are never seen again. However, this description does not do justice to what makes this such a beguiling and unique mystery picture. 

Every cinematic element (cinematography, score, sound design, editing, performances, costumes) works to sustain a subtle, surreal atmosphere without calling attention to technique. The two most striking and unforgettable elements of Picnic at Hanging Rock are the sun-drenched, soft-focus cinematography by Russell Boyd, who won a BAFTA award for his work, and the pan flute score which, together, cast a big part of the movie’s spell. Cinematographer Boyd hung a wedding veil over the camera lens to create a diffused backlit look. Sunlight catches in the girls’ hair and white dresses and seems to make them glow. For certain close ups director Peter Weir had the actors remain completely still and unblinking while they were filmed in slow motion. The result is almost an imperceptible effect that the brain cannot immediately interpret but the eye can detect and knows something is amiss.  

The potential of the supernatural exists throughout Picnic at Hanging Rock and the rock itself seems to be potentially supernatural or paranormal. On the carriage ride to Hanging Rock the girls talk about its ancient age and how it has been waiting for them for millions of years. There seem to be faces in the rock and the watches of one of the teachers and the carriage driver stop at exactly noon. Somehow all the most logical explanations of what happened to the girls (kidnapping and murder, trapped in a crevice) also feel like the most unlikely explanations. A definitive concrete explanation wouldn’t just be a disappointment, as the solutions to most mysteries are, it would completely ruin the spell that the film has cast. Even if you figured out why they disappeared you would still have to figure out where they went. 

Picnic at Hanging Rock feels like it is based on a true story but it is not. It is adapted from a novel by Joan Lindsay who based the story on a series of dreams. Like a dream, a big part of the movie’s appeal is the many interpretations and theories that can be applied. The emerging sexuality of the adolescent girls, the repressive nature of the boarding school, the imposition of English customs and culture in a place where they do not belong, the ancient nature of the rock, the young age of girls are all important themes that seem to hint at a reason for disappearance. Much has been written on these themes and others and more could be written still. This is part of why Picnic at Hanging Rock lingered despite its negative reception in 1975.  

For me, the most important scene is a conversation between a male employee of the school and the old groundskeeper. The younger man insists that an explanation will be found and lists theories, some logical, some illogical. The groundskeeper asks the younger man if he knows that there are plants that can move. The younger man shakes his head and the groundskeeper shows him a plant whose leaves close rapidly after they are touched. The younger man is left in stunned silence. The groundskeeper says, with plain, unadorned wisdom, “There’s some questions got answers and some haven’t.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock is streaming on HBOmax and The Criterion Channel. 

13 Nights of Shocktober: Mark of the Vampire

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 1: Vampire Night 

"The vampire. He is still somewhere within this house."

Mark of the Vampire

If you’ve seen the Universal Studios 1931 classic Dracula enough times, consider the 1935 film Mark of the Vampire for a change of pace. Many things about Mark of the Vampire are similar to Dracula, beginning with the director and vampire: Todd Browning and Bela Lugosi, respectively. Aside from Lugosi playing a vampiric count who lives in a castle, there is also the character of the eccentric occult expert, Professor Zelin, who is similar to Dracula’s Professor Van Helsing. As many similarities as there are to Dracula, this is actually a remake of the silent film London After Midnight, which Browning also directed. MGM was known for star studded prestige movies, not for horror movies and with Mark of the Vampire they were no doubt trying to recreate Universal’s success with the genre. This would explain the copycat elements, which are not as irksome as they might seem. Mark of the Vampire is still very enjoyable and its entertainment value is its own.

After an aristocrat is found murdered with two holes on his neck, both his friend and his doctor believe he has been killed by a vampire but Inspector Neumann (Lionel Atwell) believes something else is at play. When the aristocrat’s daughter, Irena (Elizabeth Allan), seems to be the next victim, the eccentric Professor Zelin (Lionel Barrymore) is called in to help. It takes a while for Zelin to enter the story (just like Van Helsing in Dracula) but once he does it is clear that Lionel Barrymore is the real star and he becomes the movie’s driving force. There is not much “action” in the modern sense but Barrymore’s dialogue delivery conveys an urgency that creates its own kind of excitement. Most people today know Lionel Barrymore as mean, old, corrupt Mr. Potter from Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, so it’s interesting to see him as a take-charge hero.

Unlike Dracula, the vampires (Lugosi as Count Mora and Carroll Borland as his “daughter” Luna) are more side characters with the story’s focus on the human characters. Lugosi approached the role of Count Mora as a different take on his signature Dracula. Count Mora is nearly completely silent and comes across as more of a monster, lacking the sinister allure of Lugosi’s Dracula.

There is plenty of old-fashioned spooky atmosphere thanks to the frightened villagers, the sets, especially the abandoned castle where Count Mora and Luna reside, and fog, lots and lots of fog. Of course, many of the effects are dated (fake bats have never looked good in any era), but they are just what you want to see in a horror movie from the 1930’s.

There is a plot twist late in the film which might cause some eye rolls or frustration but it works in large part because it still leads to a satisfying conclusion. Also, it is a trick played on one particular character, not the audience, and helps solve the mystery. Like many classic era horror movies, Mark of the Vampire is just over an hour long but packs in so much it feels like a full-length feature.

Mark of the Vampire airs on TCM Tuesday, October 20^th at 7:45AM CT.

Best Pictures #79: 2021 (94th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Nightmare Alley (2021)

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #79: 2021 (94th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Nightmare Alley (2021)

“Mister, I was born for it.”

I always look forward to the new Guillermo del Toro movie no matter the genre or premise. So much care and consideration and enthusiasm goes into every aspect of a movie that if it misses in one way, it still connects in another. There is always something interesting. This is true of del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. Even though I didn’t entirely enjoy it, I know I will see it again because so much about it lingers in my mind. 

Bradley Cooper plays Stanton Carlisle, a quiet drifter who lands a job at a carnival during the late 1930’s. He listens and observes and comes across as a blank. He learns about the carnival, the flashy side of showmanship and its dirty secrets. Zeena (Toni Collette), the resident psychic/mind reader, takes him under her wing. Along with her severely alcoholic husband (David Strathairn), a now retired mentalist, Stanton helps with her show, all the while picking up how they "read the minds" of the audience. Then he starts talking, finds a stage and romantic partner in Molly (Rooney Mara), finds success, and stops listening and observing. He should have quit while he was ahead, but that’s not who he is and that’s not the kind of movie this is. (If you stop the movie at a certain point about a third of the way through, it’s a happy ending for most of the characters.)

The production design, costumes, and cinematography have all received Oscar nominations which is no real surprise since they are all quite remarkable. The production design and costumes are everything you expect from a Guillermo Del Toro movie set in the 1930’s that takes place in part at a carnival. The whole film is filled with intriguing, memorable imagery whether it is in the rundown carnival (the least whimsical carnival you’ve ever seen outside of a proper horror movie) or the large open spaces of the wealthy. The cavernous office of psychiatrist Dr. Lilith (Cate Blanchett), with whom Stanton partners for a dangerously ambitious con, evokes feelings of discomfort and danger. 

This is a dark film thematically. The original 1947 version, directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Tyrone Power, and del Toro’s version both qualify as Film Noirs: exploring a dark, seedy world and its characters that proper, mainstream society turns away from. The 1947 version remains an effective, gripping, and intense movie despite the restrictions of the Production Code. It mixes in more humanity than the new version, making it more of a tragedy and giving it in some ways a more powerful ending. 

More than one source I found described the 1946 novel, written by William Lindsay Gresham, as bleak. This new adaptation, written by del Toro and Kim Morgan, does not shy away from bleakness. Both versions include the lowest of the carnival performers, the geek, who bites the heads off chickens or snakes. Of course del Toro’s version is more upfront and graphic about showing what the geek does and how someone becomes a geek. “Man or beast?” the barker asks the crowd. It is a man, of course, usually a desperate alcoholic who is manipulated into taking the job and then controlled by feeding his addiction. There aren’t many sympathetic characters here. Controlling the geek or looking the other way is routine for the carnival. Learning the tricks of mentalism, how to do a cold reading on a stranger and trick them into revealing details about themselves, is an exciting thing at first. Then comes exploitation and hubris. The world of wealthy socialites is not much different, just with nicer clothes. Guillermo del Toro has given us many movies about monsters that act like humans, now he’s given us a movie about humans that act like monsters. 

Nominees: Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, Bradley Cooper, producers

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro & Kim Morgan

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Rooney Mara

Release Date: December 17th, 2021

Production Companies:TSG Entertainment, Double Dare You Productions

Distributor: Searchlight Pictures

Total Nominations: 4, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Cinematography- Dan Laustsen; Production Design-Tamara Deverell (production design), Shane Vieau (set decoration); Costume Design-Luis Sequeira

Best Pictures #78: 2021 (94th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: King Richard

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #78: 2021 (94th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

King Richard 

“No, brother, I got the next two Michael Jordans.”

The great thing about sports movies is that you don’t have to understand or even like the sport to enjoy the movie. It helps that most sports movies, at least the better ones, aren’t really about sports but focus on their characters, fictional or real. King Richard is a biopic not really about tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, but about their father, Richard Williams and how he struggled, hustled, and charmed a path for his daughters into the world of professional tennis. Overall, this is a good story with interesting characters because both are real. Richard’s story is of course a part of Venus and Serena’s origin story, but I was caught off guard by just how little Venus and Serena feature in this movie. 

It helps that Richard is played by Will Smith in his best role giving his best performance in a long time. Richard is a big personality and Smith puts his winning on screen persona to work making Richard confident but not arrogant, determined but not obdurate, charming but not cloying. This is not a warts and all portrayal, but it fits the tone of the movie and is satisfying nonetheless thanks to Smith’s solid performance. Venus and Serena’s mother, Oracene 'Brandy' Williams (Aunjanue Ellis with an Oscar nominated performance), has some substantial and memorable scenes that elevate her role beyond the stock  “wife and mother” archetype and make clear to the audience her contributions to Venus and Serena’s training.

Richard works nights as a security guard and spends nearly every available moment taking his daughters to the local tennis courts in Compton, where they are harassed and Richard receives beatings periodically from gang members. His other available moments are spent trying to find a professional coach for Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton). His pitch is very good, but getting someone to coach two kids for free, and to do it Richard’s way, is a hard sell. The Oscar nominated screenplay by Zach Baylin makes it clear that convincing tennis pros is only part of the challenge. As you might imagine, the Williams’s stand out in the predominantly white and upper class world of tennis. Certain people in the professional circuit seem supportive at first but it becomes clear they see the uniqueness of the Williams sisters’ race, not so much their talent, as a novelty they can exploit. 

King Richard is certainly a step above the typical inspirational sports movie or biopic, true or not, about persevering and overcoming obstacles. It is not formulaic in a paint-by-numbers way, but it follows a familiar pattern. The movie does get repetitive at times with Richard charming then clashing with one trainer, Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) then the next, Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal), and the scenes of training and training. Richard holds back on letting them enter the professional circuit after seeing how kids burn out and break down from the pressure and stress of the tournament cycle. It’s the right decision, but we’ve seen them train and know what they will later accomplish so there is not much tension to the tennis match scenes later in the movie.

If you're like me and know little of the world of professional tennis, you probably, like me, know that Venus and Serena Williams are regarded as two of the greatest and most accomplished athletes in their sport. Richard was right, and that’s not a spoiler. I’ll be honest, King Richard is the film I keep forgetting is nominated for Best Picture. I don’t mean to say that the film itself is forgettable or bad, actually it's pretty good, but unlike its subjects it is not especially outstanding. If King Richard earns Will Smith a Best Actor Oscar that will be the most memorable thing about it. 

Nominees: Tim White, Trevor White, Will Smith, producers

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Screenplay: Zach Baylin

Cast: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn

Release Date: November 19th, 2021

Production Companies: Westbrook Studios, Star Thrower Entertainment, Keepin' It Reel

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actor-Will Smith; Supporting Actress-Aunjanue Ellis; Original Screenplay-Zach Baylin; Editing-Pamela Martin; Original Song-"Be Alive" music and lyrics by Beyoncé, Dixson