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.)

Documentary News

Netflix series Waco: American Apocalypse debuts with newly unearthed footage

Waco: American Apocalypse

ATF agents at Waco compound in 1993.

Netflix has a new series on the tragedy that took place in Waco three decades ago: Called Waco: American Apocalypse, it's a three-part series documenting the standoff between cult leader David Koresh and the federal government that ended in a fiery inferno, televised live, with 76 people dead.

The series debuts on March 22, to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the event which took place from February 28 to April 19, 1993.

It's an oft-told tale and not the only new release to try and exploit the 30-year anniversary: Jeff Guinn, former books editor at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, just came out with a book in January, also described as definitive, called Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage.

Waco: American Apocalypse is directed by another Texan: Dallas native Tiller Russell (Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer), who obtained never-before-seen videotapes of FBI negotiations, as well as raw news footage and interviews with insiders.

Those insiders include one of David Koresh’s spiritual wives; the last child released from the compound alive; a sniper from the FBI Hostage Rescue Team; the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit Chief; journalists; and members of the ATF tactical team who watched colleagues die in the shootout against the heavily armed members of the religious sect.

The FBI videotaped inside the hostage negation room, thinking they'd be there maybe 24 hours, not 51 days.

"These are video cassettes that were sitting in somebody’s closet for 30 years, that show the mechanics of hostage negotiations in an intimate setting - not the hostage negotiation scenarios you see in films, but a team of people grinding, day in and day out, for 51 days," Russell says.

He also procured footage from Waco TV station KWTX, who had a reporter embedded in the initial gunfight.

While the standoff was broadcast live on TV at the time, much of it was out of camera range. The film uses 3D graphics to recreate the details of the compound.

Russell acknowledges that the tale of the cult leader who was also a pedophile, the debate over the right to bear arms, the constitutional limits of religious freedom, dredge up painful conversations that continue today.

"It cast a long shadow, pre-saging the Timothy McVeigh bombing in Oklahoma, the shooting at Colombine, and a growing distrust of government, but I think it's important to reckon with our past so we don't repeat mistakes," he says.

"So much of what’s roiling in culture today can be traced to Waco, a story about God and guns in America with all these children at the center whose lives were determined by the adults around them," he says. "There was no playbook for what happened, everyone was out on a limb, and people made mistakes. But almost everybody was trying to do their very best."

"I think this is a story that's often recalled in politicized terms, with finger-pointing on who screwed up and how did we get here, but there's a profound humanity to it all," he says.

Watch the trailer below:

history movies

lights, camera...party!

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

Documentary News

Netflix series Waco: American Apocalypse debuts with newly unearthed footage

Brad Paisley steals hearts — and a fan's phone — in his Star Trail of Fame RodeoHouston show

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