Awards Season 2019: The 91st Academy Awards

It's always nice when an Oscars ceremony keeps you on your toes. Tonight's broadcast came with a couple of surprises which kept my interest. 

Let's address this point first, because it's usually the first thing that is scrutinised post-mortem. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the show worked without a host. In fact, it proved that the event doesn't really need one (although Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, and Amy Poehler would be good choices based on their bit this year). I didn't miss the opening monologue, but then I don't think many people did with Queen and Adam Lambert kicking the show off in spectacular style. 

The links were the usual mix of pretty funny and utterly dire- I thoroughly enjoyed Melissa McCarthy's and Brian Tyree Henry's outlandish get-up to announce Best Costume Design (a mad mix of all five nominees), and Michael B. Jordan's and Tessa Thompson's little bit before announcing Best Original Score was also good. I liked the little shake-up with the presenters of each section- tradition usually has the previous year's Supporting winners giving this year's ones. I did think the way the In Memoriam section was handled was very good this year too, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra playing a piece by John Williams as the film rolled. 

I was also pleased that the Academy dropped the frankly stupid idea of presenting four awards during the commercial breaks; I know BAFTA have a truncated two-hour window but the show isn't broadcast live and they can pick and choose which awards to put in their 'also awarded' section. In fact, the show ran to around 3hrs 20mins, which isn't bad going.

Onto the awards themselves.

So what surprised me? Well, the screenplay categories for a start. Whilst I don't try and predict them, I had a sneaking thought you'd be looking at The Favourite and If Beale Street Could Talk as winners (although I'd have given Adapted Screenplay to Can You Ever Forgive Me? to be honest). I was pleasantly surprised that Olivia Colman won- as indeed was she, by the looks of things- as, like most people, I was expecting Glenn Close to finally take home an Oscar. I was also surprised at Green Book winning Best Picture, although I did enjoy it as a film (and I enjoyed it more than Roma, which I admired more than liked). A brief vandalisation of Wikipedia renamed Green Book 'Wack Ass Oscar Bait' which seems a bit harsh. I also thought the Visual Effects Oscar might have gone to Avengers: Infinity War. 

I got four out of six in my predictions. I'll take that, although I should have had the courage of my convictions and gone with Green Book for Best Picture. Mind you, I don't mind at all being wrong about Best Actress because it was worth it to see Olivia Colman's utterly endearing and very British acceptance speech. Humble, a bit scatty, and incredibly self-effacing, she will have won a lot more fans by the end of this evening. Rami Malek's acceptance speech was similarly touching, especially his heartfelt shoutout to girlfriend Lucy Boynton towards the end. 

Spike Lee won his first competitive Oscar tonight and made the most of it, even dropping in a quick MF-bomb before it could get beeped! I also loved Richard E. Grant's wonderful reaction to seeing Barbra Streisand. I'm also chuffed that Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse picked by Best Animated Feature and I thought Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's storming performance of 'Shallow' from A Star Is Born was superb. 

You can chalk this up as another surprise: Bohemian Rhapsody is the biggest winner of the night with four Oscars! Tied for second place is Green Book, Roma, and Black Panther with three Oscars each. 

Despite multiple nominations, there was nothing for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Mary Poppins Returns, Isle Of Dogs, Cold War, and The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs. 


Below is the full list of winners at the 91st Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Green Book

Best Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Best Actress: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Best Original Screenplay: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly (Green Book)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Roma

Best Cinematography: Roma

Best Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Production Design: Black Panther

Best Costume Design: Black Panther

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Vice

Best Original Score: Black Panther

Best Original Song: 'Shallow' (A Star Is Born)

Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Visual Effects: First Man

Best Documentary (Feature): Free Solo

Best Documentary (Short Subject): Period. End Of Sentence. 

Best Animated Short Film: Bao

Best Live Action Short Film: Skin

Congratulations to all winners!


So that brings awards season 2019 to a close. Thank you all for your patience and indulgence and I hope you've enjoyed our coverage. And now it's time for bed, as it's nearly 5:30am! 

Tez

Awards Season 2019: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2018 at the 91st Academy Awards. 

There is no main host this year, the first time in 30 years. The last time this happened was the 61st Academy Awards and the opening number featured- and I kid you not- a duet between Rob Lowe and Snow White to the tune of 'Proud Mary'. Talk about things being seen that cannot be unseen... Here's hoping that producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss come up with something a little less surreal! 

It has become a tradition for me to predict the nominations and the winners in the main six categories (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture).  I've done this since 2003 with varying degrees of success. Last year, I got 5 out of 6.

So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

With wins at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice and Independent Spirits behind her, King seems the most likely winner of the Supporting Actress Oscar. Her performance as Sharon, mother of the pregnant Tish, supporting her daughter through pregnancy and trying to prove her fiance's innocence, has been widely praised and has usually been singled out amongst the ensemble cast performances. 

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

He's won the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, SAG, and Crtics Choice Awards so I don't see the Oscar going elsewhere. Ali's performance as Dr. Don Shirley, the quiet, reserved, classical pianist who butts heads against the brasher Tony Lip, is superb. It's nuanced, sophisticated, and precise. He would be an incredibly worthy winner (and only the second Black actor to win two Oscars; the other being Denzel Washington). 

Best Actress: Glenn Close (The Wife)

If any other name than Glenn Close is announced for Best Actress, I will be most surprised. The Golden Globe, SAG, Independent Spirit, and Critics Choice Awards have all gone her way- and only BAFTAs British slant to spoil the clean sweep. Her performance as Joan Castleman- devoted wife and mother who starts to question her life when her husband wins the Nobel Prize for Literature- is superb. There's a scene where she's being questioned by an interviewer and it's a masterclass in subtext; so much going on behind her eyes. Surely, on the seventh time of asking, it's time for Glenn Close to get the Oscar? 

Best Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

I just want to say this before I start. I have several issues with Bohemian Rhapsody as a film- but none of them are to do with Rami Malek's central performance as Freddie Mercury. He is just sublime. Flamboyant, edgy, camp without being grating, and exuding a sensuality that's difficult to ignore, Malek's performance helps bring the larger-than-life personality of Mercury to life. He is good; the film not so much. But I do feel he should be duly recognised for his performance. 

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Cuarón's second directing Oscar seems fairly secure, after winning the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, the Critics Choice, and the Directors' Guild (DGA) Awards for his work on Roma. It's an intensely personal project for Cuarón- not only directing but writing, producing, and acting as cinematographer and co-editor. The direction is clear, and he gets strong performances for a cast largely comprised of first-time actors. Much like with Glenn Close, any other name will be a surprise. 

Best Picture: Roma

Like last year, this comes down to two films: for me, it's between Roma and Green Book for Best Picture. Both films are well-made and have strong performances and a strong aesthetic style. That said, there's arguments to be made against both too: there's been a load of negative stories about Green Book (from Viggo Mortensen using a racial slur during an interview, to the writer's re-tweeting of Donald Trump's lie about Muslims celebrating 9/11, and director Peter Farrelly's previous less-than-professional on-set behaviour) which might put the mockers on it. On the other side, a foreign language film has never won Best Picture, and the fact that it's been made for Netflix has got some cinema purists up in arms. But I think it might be time for a shake-up. Of the two films, I preferred Green Book, but I do think Roma will take the top prize tonight. 


In terms of some of the other categories, I'm thinking that Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse will take Best Animated Feature, Roma will almost certainly get Best Foreign Language Film (if it doesn't take the top prize as well) and 'Shallow' from A Star Is Born will probably get Best Original Song. 

I'll be watching the broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre tonight (well, early hours of tomorrow morning) and I'll do a post about the ceremony and my thoughts as soon as I can afterwards. Now, time for a power nap and then a vat of something caffeinated!

Awards Season 2019: Razzies Winners and Independent Spirit Awards Winners

So, we're finally here: Oscars weekend! But before I get on to my predictions for the winners at tonight's ceremony, there's a bit of other awards stuff to deal with first.

GOLDEN RASPBERRY AWARDS

Firstly, the 'winners' of the 39th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards were announced yesterday (Saturday 23rd February) on Oscars Eve, as is tradition.

Here's the full 'winners' list:

Worst Picture: Holmes & Watson  

Worst Director: Etan Cohen (Holmes & Watson)

Worst Actor: Donald J. Trump (As Himself) (Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9)   

Worst Actress: Melissa McCarthy (The Happytime Murders and Life of the Party)  

Worst Supporting Actor: John C. Reilly (Holmes & Watson)

Worst Supporting Actress: Kellyanne Conway (As Herself) (Fahrenheit 11/9)

Worst Remake, Sequel Or Rip-Off: Holmes & Watson

Worst Screen Combo: Donald J. Trump & His Self Perpetuating Pettiness (Death of a Nation & Fahrenheit 11/9)

Worst Screenplay: Fifty Shades Freed

Razzie Redeemer: Melissa McCarthy (for her performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me?)


Holmes & Watson are the big 'winners' of the night, with four Razzies. Interestingly, Fahrenheit 11/9 gets three. No doubt Trump will have tweeted about this already...

* * *

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Yesterday also saw the handing out of the 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards, in a ceremony hosted by Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West, Safety Not Guaranteed, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World). 

As you no doubt know by now, the Independent Spirit Awards honour films made (partly or wholly) outside the major film studio system. Some of the winners are below.

Best Feature: If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Female Lead: Glenn Close (The Wife)

Best Male Lead: Ethan Hawke (First Reformed)

Best Supporting Female: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Best Supporting Male: Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Best Director: Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Best Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Best First Screenplay: Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade)

Best Cinematography: Suspiria

Best First Feature: Sorry To Bother You

Best International Film: Roma

Best Documentary: Won't You Be My Neighbor?

John Cassavetes Award: On The Seventh Day [En El Séptimo Día]

The John Cassavetes Award is given to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000. The full list of winners can be found here.

I'm very pleased to see both Richard E. Grant and Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty's script for Can You Ever Forgive Me? getting some recognition. Wins for Glenn Close and Regina King should bode well for tonight. 


So, with all that done, the focus now shifts to the Academy awards. My predictions for who will win in six major categories will be coming later today. 

Awards Season 2019: Writers' Guild Awards Winners

Just a quick update today as The Writers' Guild Awards were handed out yesterday (Sunday 17th February).

The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Eighth Grade

Adapted Screenplay: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Documentary Screenplay: Bathtubs Over Broadway


Eighth Grade didn't get an Oscar nod for... well, anything, so it's good to see it noticed here. The surprise of winning wasn't lost on screenwriter Bo Burnham who exclaimed: 'To the other nominees in the category: Have fun at the Oscars, losers! How is this happening?' I'm pleased that the witty, poignant, and incisive screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me? got some love. It's unlikely to replicate that this weekend sadly, but it's good to see it getting recognised somewhere. 

Having read up about Bathtubs Over Broadway, it sounds utterly bizarre but strangely entertaining: comedy writer Steve Young discovered a hidden world of musical shows (full-on Broadway-style musicals) about some of America's most recognised corporations whilst researching a segment for The Late Show With David Letterman. This is the story of Young's search for the writers and performers of these shows. It's been generally overlooked in this awards season but it sounds quirky but fun. If this pops up on Netflix, I'd definitely give it a go. 


For those of you who aren't a fan of all this awards nonsense, you'll be pleased to know that we're almost done for this year. The peak is in sight, if you will. It's all gearing up to this coming weekend, where the Independent Spirit Awards and the Razzies will be given out on Saturday (23rd February) and then the Oscars ceremony is on Sunday (24th February).

Awards Season 2019: BAFTA Film Awards Winners

Tonight (Sunday 10th February), at the Royal Albert Hall, the 72nd  British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony, hosted by the luminously sublime Joanna Lumley for the second time. 

Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Amy Adams, Olivia Colman, Bradley Cooper, Octavia Spencer, Rami Malek, Rachel Weisz, Mahershala Ali, Alfonso Cuarón, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Barry Jenkins, Claire Foy, Melissa McCarthy, Michelle Yeoh, Spike Lee, Richard E. Grant, and Steve Coogan were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film.

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners:

Best Film: Roma

Outstanding British Film: The Favourite

Leading Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Leading Actress: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Original Screenplay: The Favourite

Adapted Screenplay: BlacKkKlansman

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Michael Pearce (writer/director), Lauren Dark (producer) (Beast)

Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Documentary: Free Solo

Film Not In The English Language: Roma

Cinematography: Roma

Costume Design: The Favourite

Editing: Vice

Make Up And Hair: The Favourite

Original Music: A Star Is Born

Production Design: The Favourite

Sound: Bohemian Rhapsody

Special Visual Effects: Black Panther

Short Animation: Roughhouse

Short Film: 73 Cows

Rising Star: Letitia Wright

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Number 9 Films (Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen)

BAFTA Fellowship: Thelma Schoonmaker


And if you're wondering how the results are out here so soon when the TV broadcast is still going on... well, the ceremony actually starts around 6:00pm and the BBC broadcast is a truncated 2 hours, so by the time the broadcast starts to air, the show is almost finished. I was following a live-blog from one of the newspaper sites. Unfortunately I'm not writing this from the Royal Albert Hall. One year...

On a personal level, I'm massively chuffed for both Letitia Wright and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse for winning their respective awards (I voted for Wright to win the Rising Star Award). 

The Favourite was by and far the runaway winner of the night, with seven awards. Roma walked away with four, whilst Bohemian Rhapsody had two. 

Congratulations to all winners!

The next Awards season post will be next weekend, to quickly update you on the winners of this year's Writers' Guild (WGA) Awards which are handed out next weekend (17th February)

Albert Finney (1936-2019)

We at the Watchers are saddened to hear of the passing of Albert Finney, who died on 7th February at the age of 82. 

A versatile character actor, Finney became known as one of the first working-class actors to hit the scene in the 1960s as the trend for kitchen sink drama came in vogue. 

Born in Salford, Finney was educated at RADA and became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company upon graduating, playing in productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and Coriolanus (where he took on the lead role to cover Laurence Olivier's illness). As well as these classical roles, Finney also originated the role of Billy in Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall's Billy Liar.  

He made his film debut in 1960, playing Mick Rice in Tony Richardson's film adaptation of John Osborne's The Entertainer, starring Laurence Olivier. Also in 1960, he played disillusioned factory worker Arthur Seaton juggling relationships with two women in Karel Reisz's Saturday Night And Sunday Morning. Finney would proudly proclaim that he was the first man to be seen sleeping with another man's wife in an English film. He was nominated for two BAFTAs for this role, winning Most Promising Newcomer. 

In 1962, Finney was cast as T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia following a successful (if elaborate, and expensive) four-day screen test. However, after all that, Finney declined the role (as he didn't want to sign a multi-year contract). The role went to Peter O'Toole, and made his career. However, the role that would shoot Finney into the stratosphere was just around the corner, playing the eponymous hero in Tony Richardson's Tom Jones (1963). Finney exudes a warmth and- it has to be said- a powerful sensuality as the high-spirited foundling. For this role, Finney was nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA, and two Golden Globes (winning Most Promising Newcomer). He also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. The film itself would win four Oscars, including Best Picture.  

Whilst his film career was taking off, Finney was still working on stage. He performed with the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London in Much Ado About Nothing and The Cherry Orchard. He received two Tony Awards nominations for Best Actor in the 1960s for Luther (1964) and A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg (1968)

In 1966, Finney directed his first (and only) film: Charlie Bubbles. Based on a screenplay by Shelagh Delaney, this was something of a passion project for Finney who produced as well as starred in the film. Also starring Billie Whitelaw, Colin Blakely, and Liza Minnelli, advance reviews of the film were positive but it wasn't shown in either the UK or America until 1968. It was written off as a box office failure despite rave reviews and Finney never directed another film. In 1970, Finney took the lead role in the musical Scrooge, Leslie Bricusse's nusical version of A Christmas Carol. Something of a departure for Finney (especially given the kitchen sink dramas he'd made his name in), he nonetheless impressed and won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Over a decade later, he would return to musicals playing Daddy Warbucks in Annie.

1974 saw Finney receive his second Oscar nomination, for playing Hercule Poirot in Sidney Lumet's star-studded adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express. Whilst not the original choice to play the Belgian sleuth (both Alec Guinness and Paul Scofield were initially preferred), Finney makes the role his own, playing up the bon vivant side to the character. Whilst this tends to chafe with Poirot purists, Agatha Christie- who had previously disliked the film adaptations of her work, and had to be talked into allowing the film to be made- felt that Finney's performance came closest to her idea of the character (although she was reportedly unimpressed with the moustache). Murder On The Orient Express was the first of the all-star Christie adaptations and Finney was offered to reprise his role in the next one: Death On The Nile. However, due to the extensive and exhaustive make-up process, Finney declined and Peter Ustinov took the role instead. 

During the 1970s, Finney was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Revival for his roles in Hamlet and Christopher Marlowe's two-part play Tamburlaine The Great. In 2018, the Royal Mail issued a set of commemorative stamps to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Old Vic Theatre. Finney's performance as Hamlet is included as one of the eight productions included. In 1977, Finney played a small role in Ridley Scott's directorial debut The Duellists, playing Joseph Fouché, the Duc d'Otrante. In the director's commentary for the DVD release, Scott confirmed a longstanding rumour that Finney was paid with a case of champagne for the role! 

In 1983, Finney played the bombastic actor-manager known only as 'Sir' in the film adaptation of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser. As the ailing actor trying to get through King Lear with the help of his devoted dresser Norman (Tom Courtenay), Finney's performance is broad when it needs to be (his wonderful roaring of 'AND WHERE WAS THE STORM?' after the stagehands were going hell for leather with the sound effects is particularly enjoyable) and heartbreakingly vulnerable at other times. Both he and Courtenay would be nominated for Best Actor Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes for their performances. 

A year later, Finney would be nominated for his fourth (and final) Best Actor Oscar for a quietly devastating turn as the alcoholic English consul Geoffrey Firmin in Under The Volcano. As the 1980s came to a close, Finney won another Olivier Award for Best Actor In A New Play in the crime drama Orphans (written by Lyle Kessler), playing the father figure to two interdependent brothers. Finney would reprise his role for the 1987 film version, directed by Alan J. Pakula

Throughout the 1990s, Finney took on varied roles- from the stubborn crime boss Leo O'Bannon in the Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990), jumping through a window then firing at two would-be assassins with a submachine gun to the strains of 'Danny Boy', to a closeted gay bus driver in A Man Of No Importance (1994). He took roles in Dennis Potter's last two TV dramas Karaoke (playing screenwriter Daniel Feeld) and Cold Lazarus (where he plays Feeld's frozen and disembodied head). He also made his final stage appearance in the original London cast of Yasmina Reza's 'Art' (1996) opposite his Dresser co-star Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott

In 2000, Finney played lawyer Ed Masry opposite Julia Roberts in the biographical drama Erin Brockovich. Initially turning the role down, he was persuaded to change his mind with an amended and truncated schedule. He and Roberts have a wonderful chemistry together, her passion butting up against his more world-weary attitude. Finney was nominated for his fifth Oscar for his role (and his first as Best Supporting Actor). He also received Best Supporting Actor nods for both a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and won the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Award. When Roberts won the Best Actress Oscar, she mentioned Finney and said she shared the award with him. The following year, he won a second SAG Award as part of the ensemble cast of Steven Soderbergh's Traffic in which he played the White House Chief of Staff. 

In 2002, Finney appeared in the TV movie The Gathering Storm. Directed by Richard Loncraine, the film focuses on Winston Churchill's years out of government during the 1930s when the threat of Nazi Germany began to rear its head. It's an absolutely towering performance by Finney who goes beyond mere impersonation (although it's a damn good impersonation). Ably supported by a brilliant cast including Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent, and Ronnie Barker as Churchill's valet Inches, it's definitely worth a watch. Finney won a BAFTA TV Award, Golden Globe, and Emmy for his astonishing turn. 

Throughout the 2000s, Finney appeared as the older version of Ewan McGregor's character in Big Fish (2003), made an uncredited appearance in Ocean's Twelve (2004), voiced a character in Corpse Bride (2005) and played Dr. Albert Hirsch, a shady physician, in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) [reprising the role in The Bourne Legacy five years later]. In 2007, Finney joined the ensemble cast for Sidney Lumet's final film Before The Devil Knows You're Dead. A crime thriller about two brothers whose plan to pull of a victimless crime goes badly awry, the cast includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Rosemary Harris, and Finney shines as the hardass patriarch. Finney's last film role was as Kincade the gamekeeper in the James Bond movie Skyfall (2012). 

Married three times, Finney turned down the offer of both a CBE (in 1980) and a knighthood (in 2000) on the grounds that he believed the honours system perpetuates snobbery. He was also Laurence Olivier's first choice to succeed him as head of the National Theatre, which he also declined. He lived life on his terms, at his pace, and recognised not only the ephemeral nature of acting but the value of such fleeting moments. 'What a lot of people spend their lives doing may not add up to a hill of beans, but their love, effort and devotion goes into doing it, and it becomes worthwhile.'

Finney's 'love, effort and devotion' are evident in every performance. The acting world has lost a legend. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. 

Awards Season 2019: Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Winners

This is just a quick awards season update, as the Directors' Guild Awards (DGAs) were handed out over this past weekend (Saturday 2nd February). The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries: Ben Stiller (Escape At Dannemora)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Tim Wardle (Three Identical Strangers)


Cuarón can add the DGA to his Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for directing and I'm fairly certain this all but seals the Oscar win. He wasn't nominated for the BAFTA or Independent Spirit Awards for directing, but the DGA win is a pretty good bellwether. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Next in awards season will be the 2019 BAFTA Film Awards, which will be handed out this coming Sunday (10th February)

The Watchers Film Show Podcast: January 2019

Our latest podcast is available here!

Starting with January 2019, we will be doing (at least) one podcast a month to talk about our recent geeky experiences, including film, TV, books, and anything else that takes our fancy.

We discuss some recent news in the film world and give our opinions on Mary Poppins Returns, Stan & Ollie, The Favourite, Bird Box, Glass, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? 

 We also have a chat about recent TV we've watched too: The Good Place, The Blacklist and The Haunting Of Hill House all get a mention, as does a Welsh-language drama with a surprising Watchers connection. Intrigued? Listen to find out more!