Movies
The 36th Annual Saturn Awards Nominees
The Saturn Awards are always a fun time as it’s a nice break from the pish-posh award season. This morning the nominees were announced for the 36th Annual Saturn Awards, brought to us by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Adam Green’s Frozen and Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell have a good chance this year, check out all of the nominations below.
Best Science Fiction Film
The Book of Eli (Warner Bros)
Knowing (Summit Entertainment)
Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Star Trek (Paramount)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (20th Century Fox)
Best Fantasy Film
Avatar (20th Century Fox)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros)
The Lovely Bones (Paramount)
The Time Traveler’s Wife (Warner Bros.)
Watchmen (Warner Bros.)
Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros.)
Best Horror Film
The Box (Warner Bros.)
Drag Me to Hell (Universal)
Frozen (Anchor Bay Films)
The Last House on the Left (Rogue / Universal)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Entertainment)
Zombieland (Sony)
Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
2012 (Sony)
Brothers (Lionsgate)
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Co.)
Law Abiding Citizen (Overture)
The Messenger (Oscilloscope Pictures)
Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.)
Best Actor
Robert Downey, Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)
Tobey Maguire (Brothers) (Lionsgate)
Viggo Mortensen (The Road) (The Weinstein Co.)
Sam Rockwell (Moon) (Sony Pictures Classics)
Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli) (Warner Bros.)
Sam Worthington (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Best Actress
Catherine Keener (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)
Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)
Alison Lohman (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)
Natalie Portman (Brothers) (Lionsgate)
Zoe Saldana (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Charlize Theron (The Burning Plain) (Magnolia)
Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson (Zombieland) (Sony)
Stephen Lang (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Frank Langella (The Box) (Warner Bros.)
Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)
Best Supporting Actress
Malin Akerman (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)
Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)
Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)
Lorna Raver (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)
Susan Sarandon (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)
Sigourney Weaver (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Best Performance by a Younger Actor
Taylor Lautner (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) (Summit Entertainment)
Bailee Madison (Brothers) (Lionsgate)
Brooklynn Proulx (The Time Traveler’s Wife) (Warner Bros.)
Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)
Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) (The Weinstein Co.)
Best Director
J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) (Paramount)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) (Summit Entertainment)
Neill Blomkamp (District 9) (Sony)
James Cameron (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)
Zack Snyder (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)
Best Writing
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell (District 9) (Sony)
James Cameron (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)
Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci (Star Trek) (Paramount)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)
Alex Tse, David Hayter (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)
Best Music
Brian Eno (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)
Michael Giacchino (Up) (Walt Disney/Pixar)
James Horner (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Taro Iwashiro (Red Cliff) (Magnolia)
Christopher Young (Drag Me To Hell) (Universal)
Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)
Best Costume
Colleen Atwood (Nine) (The Weinstein Co.)
Jenny Beavan (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)
Anna Sheppard (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)
Jany Temime (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)
Michael Wilkinson (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)
Tim Yip (Red Cliff) (Magnolia)
Best Make-Up
Barney Burman, Minday Hall,
Joel Harlow (Star Trek) (Paramount)
Joe Dunckley, Sarah Rubano,
Frances Richardson (District 9) (Sony)
Sarah Monzani (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus) (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger (The Book of Eli) (Warner Bros.)
Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)
Mike Smithson, John Rosengrant (Terminator: Salvation) (Warner Bros.)
Best Production Design
Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Scott Chambliss (Star Trek) (Paramount)
Stuart Craig (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)
Sarah Greenwood (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)
Philip Ivey (District 9) (Sony)
Alex McDowell (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)
Best Special Effects
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Nicholas Aithadi, Tim Alexander – (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)
John DesJardin, Peter G. Travers, Joel Whist, Jessica Norman – (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)
Volker Engel, Marc Weingert, Mike Vezina – (2012) (Sony)
Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton – (Star Trek) (Paramount)
Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken – (District 9) (Sony)
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones – (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)
Best International Film
District 9 (Sony)
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics)
Lorna’s Silence (Sony Pictures Classics)
Red Cliff (Magnolia)
Taken (20th Century Fox)
Thirst (Focus Features)
Best Animated Film
Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Walt Disney Studios)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (20th Century Fox)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (20th Century Fox)
Monsters Vs. Aliens (Paramount/DreamWorks)
The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney Studios)
Up (Walt Disney Studios/Pixar)
TELEVISION:
Best Network Series:
Chuck (NBC)
Fringe (Fox)
The Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
Heroes (NBC)
Lost (ABC)
The Vampire Diaries (CW)
Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series:
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Battlestar Galactica (SyFy)
The Closer (TNT)
Dexter (Showtime)
Leverage (TNT)
True Blood (HBO)
Best Television Presentation:
Doctor Who: The End of Time (BBC America)
Alice (SyFy)
The Prisoner (AMC)
Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC America)
The Tudors (Showtime)
V (ABC)
Best Actor in Television:
Josh Holloway (Lost) (ABC)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
Matthew Fox (Lost) (ABC)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter) (Showtime)
Zachary Levi (Chuck) (NBC)
Stephen Moyer (True Blood) (HBO)
David Tennant (Doctor Who: The End of Time) (BBC America)
Best Actress on Television:
Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Ghost Whisperer) (CBS)
Evangeline Lily (Lost) (ABC)
Anna Paquin (True Blood) (HBO)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) (TNT)
Anna Torv (Fringe) (Fox)
Best Supporting Actor on Television:
Jeremy Davies (Lost) (ABC)
Michael Emerson (Lost) (ABC)
Aldis Hodge (Leverage) (TNT)
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
John Noble (Fringe) (Fox)
Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) (HBO)
Best Supporting Actress in Television:
Morena Baccarin (V) (ABC)
Gina Bellman (Leverage) (TNT)
Julie Benz (Dexter) (Showtime)
Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) (Showtime)
Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) (ABC)
Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) (NBC)
Best Guest Starring Role in Television:
Bernard Cribbins (Doctor Who: The End of Time) (BBC America)
Raymond Cruz (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
Michelle Forbes (True Blood) (HBO)
John Lithgow (Dexter) (Showtime)
Leonard Nimoy (Fringe) (ABC)
Mark Pellegrino (Lost) (ABC)
DVD:
Best DVD Release:
House of the Devil (Dark Sky/Magnet)
Laid to Rest (Anchor Bay)
Not Forgotten (Anchor Bay)
Nothing But the Truth (Sony)
Pontypool (MPI)
Super Capers (Lionsgate)
Surveillance (Magnolia)
Best DVD Television Release:
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (BBC America)
Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC America)
Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season (Warner)
Primeval, Volume 2 (BBC America)
Lost: The Complete Fifth Season (Buena Vista)
Life on Mars: The Complete Series (Buena Vista)
Best DVD Special Edition:
Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (Warner)
300 Complete Experience (Warner)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-Ray) (Walt Disney)
District 9 (Two-Disc Edition) (Sony)
Terminator 2: Judgement Day: Skynet Edition (Lionsgate)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Two Disc Special Edition) (Fox)
Best Collection:
Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Volume 1 (Sony)
The Hannibal Lector Anthology (MGM)
Hellraiser Boxed Set (Anchor Bay)
Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection (Sony)
Star Trek Original Motion Picture Collection (Paramount)
The William Castle Collection (Sony)
Stage Presentation:
Best Local Stage Production: Musical:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Orange County Performing Arts Center)
Fiddler on the Roof (Pantages Theatre)
Mary Poppins (Ahmanson Theatre)
Best Local Stage Production: Play
Frost/Nixon (Ahmanson Theatre)
The Night is a Child (Pasadena Playhouse)
Parade (Mark Taper Forum)
Best Local Stage Production: Small Theater:
Big, The Musical (El Centro Theatre)
Dracula (Noho Arts Center)
Nevermore (Steve Allen Theatre)
Fellowship (Falcon Theatre)
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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