Well, it's about that time again... Last year, awards season crept up on me and took be my surprise (ooer, missus!). This year... I'm ready. Well, more ready than I was.
So the awards hoopla starts tomorrow (Tuesday 22nd November) when the Film Independent Spirit Awards announce their nominees, so I thought I'd have my (mostly) annual look at the films I expect to see mentioned over the upcoming months.
Hollywood likes movies about movies, and movies about movie-making. They're awards catnip. So it's no surprise that there are several of them in contention for this year.
Steven Spielberg's autobiographical family drama The Fabelmans is the kind of film awards were made for, and it seems very likely indeed he'll be on track to win his third Best Director Oscar. A drama about a young aspiring filmmaker (played by Gabriel LaBelle) dealing with family secrets, the performances by Michelle Williams (as mother Mitzi), Paul Dano (as father Burt), and Judd Hirsch (as Uncle Boris) have all been praised.
Set in the 1980s in an English coastal town, Empire Of Light sees a cinema manager (Olivia Colman) and a new employee (Micheal Ward) gain a sense of belonging as they experience the power of what cinema can actually do. Sam Mendes directs and writes the screenplay, whilst the performances by Colman and Toby Jones (as the cinema projectionist) have got attention.
Finally, let's go back to where it all began. The early days of Hollywood, in all its vivid excess and delicious debauchery, is the setting for Babylon, Damien Chazelle's latest film. Set in the late 1920s to 1930s- as cinema was going from silent films to talkies, and a new production code was being brought in to stymy the more transgressive content- it has a stellar cast, led by Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, and some truly sumptuous visuals. Definitely one to keep in mind.
I never thought I'd ever write the words "Colin Farrell" and "Oscar nomination" in the same sentence, but thanks to his frankly stunning performance in Martin McDonagh's blackly comic The Banshees Of Inisherin, it's looking more likely. Set on a remote Irish island in the early 1920s, Farrell plays Padraig, a dull but likeable-enough fellow, whose good friend Colum (Brendan Gleeson) suddenly stops talking to him one day. Padraig's confusion at this, and the drastic measures Colum will go to to make sure it is a permanent thing, make for a heady mix of laugh-out-loud comedy and some pathos. Gleeson's performance is similarly strong, whilst there's superb support from Kerry Condon as Padraig's sister Siobhan and Barry Keoghan as island resident Dominic.
Cate Blanchett's formidable performance in Tár, a contemporary drama written and directed by Todd Field (In The Bedroom, Little Children), saw her win the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, and may well see her win her third Oscar for playing Lydia, a composer-conductor whose life and career fall apart when she is accused of grooming a former female student.
Brendan Fraser is rightly back in the limelight for his extraordinary performance in The Whale. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem For A Dream) with a screenplay by Samuel D. Hunter- who adapts his own stage play- The Whale is a drama about a reclusive and morbidly obese teacher named Charlie who wishes to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Screening after screening has ended with standing ovations and a lot of praise for Fraser's central performance, along with the supporting turns by Sadie Sink as his daughter Ellie and Hong Chau as his friend Liz. Based on the trailer, I have a nagging feeling that this is going to be one of those films where the actors are very good in an overall production that might not be, but I'll reserve judgement until I see it.
Actress-turned-director Sarah Polley will surely be getting some awards recognition for Women Talking, her adaptation of Miriam Toews' 2018 novel of the same name. Set in an isolated Mennonite colony, eight female members of the community come together after the shocking truth about what the men of the colony have been doing is revealed. There's a strong ensemble cast- including Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand, and Ben Whishaw- and the weighty themes of faith and control are sure to get people talking.
Historical epic The Woman King tells the story of an all-female warrior unit who protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin) during the 17th- to 19th centuries. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Old Guard), Viola Davis gives a fierce performance as Agojie General Nanisca who helps to train the next generation of warriors. As well as Davis' performance, the action choreography has also garnered a lot of praise.
Florian Zeller's emotional drama The Father caused a bit of an Oscars upset a couple of years ago when Anthony Hopkins took home Best Actor instead of the assumed winner, the late Chadwick Boseman. Zeller's follow-up film, The Son, may seek to make such an impression again. Hugh Jackman is in the lead as a man whose busy life with his new partner gets disrupted when his ex-wife turns up with his teenage son in tow. Vanessa Kirby and Laura Dern play the two women in his life, while Hopkins reunites with Zeller to play Peter's father.
Two cannibals fall in love and go on a road trip. Now I've got your attention... Bones And All is the latest film by Luca Guadagnino (Suspiria; Call Me By Your Name). Timothée Chalamet reunites with Guadagnino to play Lee, the charismatic young man who falls for Maren (played by Taylor Russell). Whilst the mix of horror, road movie, coming-of-age drama, and romance might be too much for some, the performances have been getting attention, especially that of Mark Rylance, who plays the mysterious Sully.
It wasn't just Doctor Strange who went into a multiverse of madness this year. In the Daniels' truly mindbending Everything Everywhere All At Once, so did Michelle Yeoh. She's been getting some of the best reviews of her career for her performance as Evelyn, an overworked laundromat owner whose life alters when a multiversal rift opens during a hostile meeting with an IRS auditor. As well as Yeoh's central performance, the supporting performances by Ke Huy Quan (as Evelyn's husband Waymond) and Jamie Lee Curtis (as the auditor Deirdre) have also been praised. Perhaps all three will see their names mentioned as awards season churns on?
Rian Johnson's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery could do well. The original Knives Out was a stunning take on the well-worn murder mystery genre, and- by the looks of things- Glass Onion will be no different. An eclectic group of "disruptors" head to a private island for a weekend of fun and games; along with them is gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). A strong ensemble cast- featuring Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, and Dave Bautista- are among the suspects this time round. I'm very much looking forward to this.
Biopics tend to do well at awards time, so here's a couple of names you might get to know very well indeed over the next few months:
Blonde: despite some controversy over the film's presentation of Marilyn Monroe, Ana de Armas' performance has been praised - it's a pretty full Best Actress category this year, so she may just squeak in (or she may miss out).
Elvis: to play such a cultural icon as Elvis Presley is to take a huge weight on your shoulders, and Austin Butler's portrayal of the King has been lauded. Expect to see him in Best Actor contention.
Till: Danielle Deadwyler (The Harder They Fall, Gifted) could well see her first Best Actress nod for playing Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of 1950s lynching victim Emmett Till, who pursued justice for her son's murder.
She Said: films like All The President's Men, Spotlight, and The Post all show the importance of the press in thei bringing to light of corruption, abuse, and wrongdoing. She Said- directed by Maria Schrader- is based on the New York Times investigation by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan) into the predatory behaviour of movie producer Harvey Weinstein which brought him down and kickstarted the #MeToo movement.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody: British actress Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, Lady Macbeth) takes on the mantle of the late, great Whitney Houston in this slick biopic written by Anthony McCarten (The Theory Of Everything, The Two Popes) and directed by Kasi Lemmons (Harriet, Eve's Bayou)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: could this anarchic parody of the biopic be too rich for the blood of your average awards panels? It's likely, but there's no denying the dedication that Daniel Radcliffe has to play Weird Al Yankovic. Evan Rachel Wood's performance as Madonna has also raised some eyebrows. It'll be interesting to see what (if any) awards traction this gets.
A pair of British films which you might see mentioned a lot are Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Living. In the latter, Bill Nighy gives what has been described as "a career-best performance" as a buttoned-down bureaucrat dealing with a terminal illness in an English-language remake of Kurosawa's Ikiru (with a screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro). The former sees Emma Thompson as a widowed former teacher seeking to explore her sexuality by hiring a sex worker (Daryl McCormack). It's rare to see a film that deals with an older woman's sexual desires, let alone one that explores the subject without judgement or criticism. It's not certain if the films will travel well (meaning most likely you'll see them at BAFTA).
Three big blockbusters may well be in awards contention too. But will any of Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way Of Water, or Black Panther: Wakanda Forever get a Best Picture nod? Both the original Avatar and Black Panther did in their respective years, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility. [Full disclosure: of the three I've only seen Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and have less than no interest in seeing Dances With Smurfs 2]. All three will doubtlessly feature heavily in the craft awards, with Production Design, Visual Effects, Sound, and Costume nods expected. I also fully expect to see "Hold My Hand" (Top Gun: Maverick) and "Lift Me Up" (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) in the Best Original Song categories.
From this year, the Film Independent Spirit Awards are making their acting categories (for both film and television) gender neutral; for the film awards, the categories will be Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance (with up to ten nominees in each category).
The timetable for the major awards in 2023 is as follows:
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Nominations announced: 22nd November 2022
Awards ceremony: 4th March 2023
Golden Globes
Nominations announced: 12th December 2022
Awards ceremony: 10th January 2023
Critics' Choice Awards
Nominations announced: 14th December 2022
Awards ceremony: 15th January 2023
Directors' Guild Of America (DGA) Award
Nominations announced: 11th January 2023
Awards ceremony: 18th February 2023
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards
Nominations announced: 11th January 2023
Awards ceremony: 26th February 2023
Producers' Guild Of America (PGA) Award
Nominations announced: 12th January 2023
Awards ceremony: 25th February 2023
BAFTA Film Awards
Nominations announced: 19th January 2023
Awards ceremony: 19th February 2023
Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies)
Nominations announced: 23rd January 2023
Awards ceremony: 11th March 2023
Academy Awards (Oscars)
Nominations announced: 24th January 2023
Awards ceremony: 12th March 2023 (hosted by Jimmy Kimmel)
Quite a busy few months ahead, so - as a very wise animated meerkat one said-
