2019 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards Nominations

Even though I am nine years into this movie critic thing, this has been my first year as a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society which means I had the honor and privilege of participating in the year end awards nominations process. Over the course of 2019, I have watched and reviewed more movies than ever before so it was quite a task going through all of it to find the best of the best.

Take a look below for the official SFCS press release that contains all the information you could ever want about this year's nominees and stay tuned for the winners to be announced on Monday, December 16th via the SFCS Twitter page (@seattlecritics).

2014 Recap - Movies and Performances

Another year of movies has come to a close and so it's time to take a look back and see which ones stood above (or below) the rest. My annual recap includes a list of my favorite acting performances, my ten favorite movies of the year, and a few other categories just for fun. Please be prepared for lots of films to show up that you may not expect as these are not your typical "Best of" lists.

Birds of Prey - Movie Review

The Movie: Birds of Prey

The Director: Cathy Yan

The Cast: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Bojana Novakovic, Chris Messina, Greice Santo, Ali Wong, Ella Jay Basco, Charlene Amoia

The Story: After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.

Extraction (2020) - Movie Review

The Movie: Extraction

The Director: Sam Hargrave

The Cast: hris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Golshifteh Farahani, Shivam Vichare , David Harbour

The Story: Tyler Rake, a fearless black market mercenary, embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he's enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord.

Rock Steady Row (Slamdance 2018) - Movie Review

The Movie: Rock Steady Row

The Director: Trevor Stevens

The Cast: Heston Horwin, Diamond White, Logan Huffman, Allie Marie Evans, Larry Miller

The Story: Rock Steady Row centers around a young college freshman who, after his bike is stolen, lands on a college campus and is compelled to take action against the reigning fraternities and ultimately the dean.

Hydra - Movie Review

The Movie: Hydra

The Director: Kensuke Sonomura

The Cast: Masanori Mimoto, Miu, Tasuku Nagase

The Story: After retiring as an assassin, Takashi leads a quiet life as a chef at a sushi bar, where he secretly watches over the daughter of a former associate. His peace is short-lived: soon, he is recruited for a final job that he simply can’t refuse.

TheTwohSix Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2023

Here its is, TheTwoOhSix Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2023. For me, this was a very strange year for cinema with a lot of heavy hitters missing the mark but still several that knocked it out of the park and more than enough in the overall lineup to keep things interesting. Out of all of those, you will find my absolute favorites in the list below. Enjoy!

Proud Mary - Movie Review

The Movie: Proud Mary

The Director: Babak Najafi

The Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Billy Brown, Jahi Di'Allo Winston

The Story: Mary is a hit woman working for an organized crime family in Boston, whose life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes bad.

Deliver Us From Evil / 다만 악에서 구하소서 - Movie Review

The Movie - Deliver Us From Evil / 다만 악에서 구하소서

The Director: Hong Won-chan

The Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jung-jae, Park Jung-min, Choi Hee-seo

The Story: An assassin goes to Thailand in order to solve a kidnapping case linked to him, and finds himself chased by a man whose sibling he killed.

Keanu - Movie Review

"From the visionary minds of Key and Peele" comes Keanu, a movie about two men who have lost a cat and must enter the world of gangs and drugs to find him. This action packed comedy stars Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Tiffany Haddish, Method Man, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jason Mitchell, Luis Guzmán, Nia Long, and Will Forte.

Mr. Long (SIFF 2017) - Movie Review

The Movie: Mr. Long

The Director: SABU

The Cast: Chen Chang, Shô Aoyagi, Yiti Yao, Runyin Bai

The Story: Professional hitman Long takes on an assignment in Japan. When things go awry, he has to flee. Badly injured, he takes refuge in a deserted part of a small town.

No Mercy (언니) - Fantasia 2019 Movie Review

The Movie: No Mercy (언니)

The Director: Lim Kyoung-tack

The Cast: Lee Jun-hyuk, Park Se-wan, Lee Si-young

The Story: A woman seeks to take revenge when her young sister disappears and she finds out that her sister suffered violence and sexual abuse from school bullies.

Nobody - Movie Review

The Movie: Nobody

The Director: Ilya Naishuller

The Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Alexey Serebryakov, Christopher Lloyd

The Story: A bystander who intervenes to help a woman being harassed by a group of men becomes the target of a vengeful drug lord.

Monkey Man - Movie Review

The Movie: Monkey Man

The Director: Dev Patel

The Cast: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Makarand Deshpande

The Story: An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless.

The Childe / 귀공자 - Movie Review

The Movie: The Childe / 귀공자

The Director: Park Hoon-jung

The Cast: Kim Seon-ho, Kang Tae-ju, Kim Kang-woo, Go Ara

The Story: In a desperate attempt to secure funds for his mother’s surgery, an amateur boxer searches for the wealthy estranged father he’s never met. But after a lead takes him from the Philippines to Korea, he is relentlessly pursued by a quirky yet highly dangerous man.

The Divine Fury (사자) - Fantasia 2019 Movie Review

The Movie: The Divine Fury (사자)

The Director: Kim Joo-hwan

The Cast: Park Seo-jun, Ahn Sung-ki, Woo Do-hwan, Choi Woo-sik

The Story: The film tells the story of a martial arts champion who gains divine powers to fight with a powerful evil force.

The Protégé - Movie Review

The Movie: The Protégé

The Director: Martin Campbell

The Cast: Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton

The Story: Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody and trained in the family business, Anna is the world's most skilled contract killer. But when Moody is brutally killed, Anna vows revenge.

2019 Recap - Favorite Films and Performances

2019 has been a very interesting year for the TwoOhSix having watched and reviewed more movies than ever before (210), going global with film festival coverage including virtual stops in Toronto and the UK, joining the prestigious ranks of the Seattle Film Critics Society, earning a press credential from Allied Global Marketing, and debuting the The TwoOhSix podcast that will be reloaded and relaunched in 2020.

Before we move into the new year, it's time to recap what we saw this year and create lists of our favorite films and performances. For those of you that know me or have followed my website over the years, you know that my favorite lists are usually quite different from the typical lists, nominees, and winners of awards season accolades so be prepared for a few unexpected films to either be included or excluded from my lists and of course, have fun exploring my perspective on a year's worth of cinema.