lights, camera...party!

Houston's toughest critics invite movie fans and cinema snobs to fab film fête and awards show

Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin

The Banshees of Inisherin leads nominees for Best Picture.

Photo by Jonathan Hession / courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Houston's film critics are set to hand out awards for the best movies of the year, and all local movie fans and film geeks are invited.

The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once lead nominees for the Houston Film Critics Society’s 16th annual awards, to be held at 7 pm Saturday, February 18 at the Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH). Tickets are available here and start at $10.

Both films are nominated for nine honors, including Best Picture. Other films competing for the top award are Elvis, The Fabelmans, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, RRR, Tár, Till, Top Gun: Maverick, and Women Talking.

“As the industry continues to debate how we should experience the magic of film, moviemakers continue to imagine creative stories about compelling people,” says Doug Harris, HFCS president. “This year, the films we honor showcase a community daring to rethink, refresh and reinvent.”

Nominated as the year’s Best Actors are Austin Butler (Elvis), Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), and Jeremy Pope (The Inspection). Competing for Best Actress are Cate Blanchett (Tár), Viola Davis (The Woman King), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once).

“The range of performances this year illustrate what actor and creator can deliver when they free themselves to imagine,” says Travis Leamons, HFCS secretary. “It’s difficult to remember a year where each performance could capture the final awards. The nominees are especially strong in 2022.”

An annual highlight of the ceremony will be the presentation of the Texas Independent Film Award, honoring the best of film made in the Lone Star State. This year’s nominees explore the choices of youth in Acid Test, a fascination with outer space in Apollo 10-1/2: A Space Age Childhood, the hopes of would-be parents in Conception, the natural beauty of the Lone Star State in Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story, and the extraordinary life of a legendary athlete in Facing Nolan.

Here is the official rundown of nominees:

Best Picture

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

RRR

Tár

Till

Top Gun: Maverick

Women Talking

Best Director

The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh

Elvis, Baz Luhrmann

Everything Everywhere All at Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg

Tár, Todd Field

Women Talking, Sarah Polley

Best Actor – Leading Role

Austin Butler, Elvis

Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick

Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser, The Whale

Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

Best Actress – Leading Role

Cate Blanchett, Tár

Viola Davis, The Woman King

Danielle Deadwyler, Till

Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor – Supporting Role

Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Mark Rylance, Bones and All

Ben Whishaw, Women Talking

Best Actress – Supporting Role

Jessie Buckley, Women Talking

Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Screenplay

The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh

Everything Everywhere All at Once, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner

Tár, Todd Field

Women Talking, Sarah Polley and Miriam Toews

Best Animated Feature

Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

Best Cinematography

Avatar: The Way of Water, Russell Carpenter

Babylon, Linus Sandgren

Nope, Hoyte Van Hoytema

The Fabelmans, Janusz Kamiński

Top Gun: Maverick, Claudio Miranda

Best Documentary

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Bad Axe

Fire of Love

Good Night Oppy

Navalny

Best Foreign Language Feature

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina, 1985

Close

Decision to Leave

RRR

Best Original Score

Babylon, Justin Hurwitz

The Banshees of Inisherin, Carter Burwell

Empire of Light, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

The Fabelmans, John Williams

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Alexandre Desplat

Women Talking, Hildur Guðnadóttir

Best Original Song

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, “Lift Me Up,” Ludwig Göransson, Tems, Rihanna

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, “Ciao Papa,” Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro, and Roeban Katz

RRR, “Naatu Naatu,” Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj

Till, “Stand Up,” Jazmine Sullivan and Dermset “D’Mile” Emile II

Top Gun: Maverick, “Hold My Hand,” Lady Gaga, BloodPop, and Benjamin Rice

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

RRR

Top Gun: Maverick

Best Stunt Coordination Team

The Batman

Everything Everywhere All at Once

RRR

Top Gun: Maverick

The Woman King

Best Ensemble Cast

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Women Talking

Texas Independent Film Award

Acid Test

Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood

Conception

Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story

Facing Nolan

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(Full disclosure: Craig D. Lindsey is a member of the Houston Film Critics Society.)

Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer visits Houston in new Christmas movie Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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