Awards Season 2017: The 89th Annual Academy Awards

Well, that was quite something. 

There's several things for which this Oscars ceremony will be remembered for, but giving the biggest award of the night to the wrong film will be right up there for years to come. Due to some form of cock-up, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly named La La Land as the Best Picture winner, only to then find out that Moonlight had won it instead! Cue a lot of embarrassment and a very gracious deferral from the producers of La La Land. 

This was the first time in a few years that I was actually able to watch the broadcast live (via Sky Cinema). I thought Jimmy Kimmel was an affable host. Despite his very self-effacing demeanour, the vast majority of his jokes hit (and he was able to admit the ones that didn't). His opening monologue was political without being tubthumping, and I did particularly enjoy his banter with Meryl Streep and the comment that, given the Trump administration, at least the Oscars don't look so racist now. I quite liked the mean tweets section and the stunt with the tour bus mostly worked, if it did drag on a little. 

As you can imagine, several of the speeches were political in nature, some more subtle than others. The most pointed came when the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year was announced. Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (who directed The Salesman) was initially unable to attend the event due to the imposed travel ban. When the ban was lifted, he chose to boycott the event and instead sent Iranian engineer Anousheh Ansari to represent him. When The Salesman won, Ansari read a politically charged statement on Farhadi's behalf. 

Other noteworthy happenings from the ceremony: sound mixer Kevin O'Connell won his first Oscar (for Hacksaw Ridge) on his twenty-first nomination; Best Documentary Feature winner O.J.: Made In America is now officially the longest film to win an Oscar (coming in at an impressive 7hrs 47mins); Damien Chazelle is now the youngest Best Director winner at the tender age of 32. 

I wasn't surprised by 'City Of Stars' winning Best Original Song, although I think of the two songs nominated from La La Land I actually prefer 'Audition'. The musical numbers were scattered nicely through the evening, with Justin Timberlake kicking the evening off with a performance of 'Can't Stop The Feeling' then a wonderfully assured performance of 'How Far I'll Go' from Moana, sung by 16-year old Auli'i Cravalho. There was also a very moving In Memoriam section, beautifully accompanied by Sara Bareilles singing 'Both Sides Now' by Joni Mitchell. 

I was also really pleased by the Best Costume Design win for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, although it still feels very wrong that you can now call Suicide Squad an Oscar-winning film (picking up Best Make-Up and Hairstyling)

As for my predictions... well, 5 out of 6 is alright (especially given the Best Picture farrago). As I said in my predictions, if any film was going to usurp La La Land from Best Picture, it would be Moonlight. All other predictions were correct and I thought Mahershala Ali, Viola Davis and Emma Stone all gave very lovely acceptance speeches. 

Despite the mistake at the end, La La Land was still the runaway winner of the night with six Oscars to its name. Moonlight had three, with Manchester By The Sea and Hacksaw Ridge both winning two. Despite multiple nominations, there was nothing for Lion, Hell Or High Water, Hidden Figures or Jackie. 

----------
Below is the full list of winners at the 89th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Moonlight

Best Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Best Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Original Screenplay: Manchester By The Sea

Best Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Zootopia

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Salesman

Best Cinematography: La La Land

Best Editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Best Production Design: La La Land

Best Costume Design: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Suicide Squad

Best Original Score: La La Land

Best Original Song: 'City Of Stars' (La La Land)

Best Sound Mixing: Hacksaw Ridge

Best Sound Editing: Arrival

Best Visual Effects: The Jungle Book

Best Documentary (Feature): O.J.: Made In America

Best Documentary (Short Subject): The White Helmets

Best Animated Short Film: Piper

Best Live Action Short Film: Sing


Congratulations to all winners!

So that's it. Awards season is over for another year (and what a way to end it too!). As William Makepeace Thackeray says at the very end of Vanity Fair: 'Come children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out.'

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. It's been something of a long night.

Tez

Awards Season 2017: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions 2017

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2016 at the 89th Annual Academy Awards, which will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the first time.

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. 

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

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Whilst an argument could be made that the role of Rose is more of lead actress one, it still doesn't take away from the intensity and passion of Davis' performance. She's won the Critics' Choice, Golden Globes, BAFTA and SAG awards, so I'm as confident as I can be that she'll be up on the stage tonight collecting a well-deserved Oscar. 

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

A finely-observed supporting turn by Ali, who plays local drug dealer and father figure to young Chiron. Again, he's been a stand out winner for most awards so I fully expect to see him named tonight. 

Best Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

With wins at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and BAFTA, it puts Stone ahead of the pack. Her performance as Mia is arguably the stronger of the two leads (sorry, Ryan). That said, I am less confident about my pick for this one, as it there's always the possibility that another actress (likely Natalie Portman or Isabelle Huppert) could win. 

Best Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Affleck has been the runaway winner for his taut, muscular turn as Lee Chandler in Kenneth Lonergan's quiet study of grief. Much like Viola Davis, I don't see any other name being called out in this category tonight. 

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Best Picture: La La Land

OK, here's the thing. I am as certain as I can get that Chazelle will win Best Director, and it will be deserved, because La La Land is a technically very accomplished film, from the amazing opening song-and-dance number on the LA freeway to the quiet and melancholic ending. La La Land has also been the stand-out winner of Best Picture awards (plus it won the PGA). Films about films, acting and the like do well at the Academy and its heady air of escapism is exactly what's needed at the moment. But that said, if there's any film that could rain on La La Land's parade, it's most likely to be Moonlight. Whilst I fully expect La La Land to take the main prize tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if Moonlight pulls off a surprise win at the end of the evening. 

Last year, I got 5 out of 6, with my Best Supporting Actor prediction going to Sylvester Stallone rather than eventual winner Mark Rylance. I feel pretty confident about 4 of my 6; Best Actress has a question mark on it and I'm wavering over Best Picture. But it's time to pin my colours to the mast as it were.

There'll be a full blog tomorrow discussing my thoughts on the ceremony and a list of all the winners.

Good luck to all nominees and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Tez

Awards Season 2017: BAFTA Film Awards Winners

Tonight (Sunday 12th February), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the 70th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony hosted once again by the utterly luminous Stephen Fry. Viola Davis, Amy Adams, Naomie Harris, Eddie Redmayne, Daisy Ridley, Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Ken Loach, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Stone were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film.

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners:

Best Film: La La Land

Outstanding British Film: I, Daniel Blake

Leading Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Leading Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

Supporting Actor: Dev Patel (Lion)

Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Original Screenplay: Manchester By The Sea

Adapted Screenplay: Lion

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Babak Arivari (writer/director), Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh (producers of Under The Shadow)

Animated Film: Kubo And The Two Strings

Documentary: 13th

Film Not In The English Language: Son Of Saul

Cinematography: La La Land

Costume Design: Jackie

Editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Make Up And Hair: Florence Foster Jenkins

Original Music: La La Land

Production Design: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

Sound: Arrival

Special Visual Effects: The Jungle Book

Short Animation: A Love Story

Short Film: Home

Rising Star: Tom Holland

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Curzon Cinemas

BAFTA Fellowship: Mel Brooks


The first award of the evening was Outstanding British Film which, unsurprisingly and deservedly, went to I, Daniel Blake. Ken Loach's acceptance speech set the tenor for the rest of the evening- many of the acceptance speeches were political in nature, either pointing out the common humanity within creative arts or criticising policies made both here and overseas. 

I was a little surprised by Emma Stone and Dev Patel winning but it's nice to see something a bit different to the usual. Hence, it was quite lovely to see Kubo And The Two Strings win Animated Film over the juggernaut that has been Zootopia. 

La La Land was the big winner of the evening with five BAFTAs, Lion and Manchester By The Sea each had two. Despite nine nominations, Nocturnal Animals walked away empty-handed, as did Moonlight

So next in awards season will be the Writers' Guild Awards which will be handed out next Sunday (19th February), just one week before the Oscars. There'll be a small post about it on Monday 20th, ahead of what's going to be a busy week.

Awards Season 2017: Directors' Guild Awards Winners

Just a quick awards season update as the Directors' Guild Awards (DGAs) were handed out yesterday (Saturday 4th February). The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Garth Davis (Lion)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries: Steven Zaillian (The Night Of: The Beach)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made In America)

I have to say, it's no surprise to see Damien Chazelle win. La La Land is a technically impressive piece of film-making and he truly deserves this award. I feel certain he'll win the Best Director Oscar as well (the DGA awards are usually a good bellwether). O.J.: Made In America is also nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar (clocking in at an impressive 7hrs 47mins, to date the longest film to be nominated for any competitive Oscar), so that bodes well for that. 

The next award season update will be next Sunday (12th February) when the BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out. 

Awards Season 2017: Producers' Guild Awards Winners and Screen Actors' Guild Awards Winners

A double whammy of awards season stuff today, so with very little ado, let's crack on with it.

PRODUCERS' GUILD AWARDS (PGA) WINNERS

On Saturday 28th January, the Producers' Guild of America announced its winners for the 2017 Producers' Guild Awards. 

The film winners are:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: La La Land

Documentary Film: O.J.: Made In America

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: Zootopia

No real surprise with either La La Land or Zootopia's wins as they've been the stand-out winners in their respective fields all throughout the awards season. All three films have been nominated in their respective categories for the Oscars so surely this doesn't do their chances of winning any harm. 

--------

SCREEN ACTORS' GUILD (SAG) AWARDS WINNERS

Yesterday (29th January), the Screen Actors' Guild Awards were announced. Here are the film winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

Hidden Figures

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: 

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Viola Davis (Fences)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Film:

Hacksaw Ridge

Interesting to see that the SAG voters went for Emma Stone and Denzel Washington over Natalie Portman and Casey Affleck, but it's always good to shake things up a little bit lest it all gets a bit predictable. No surprises with Ali and Davis' wins, which must bode well for the Oscars. 

Next up in awards season will be the Directors' Guild Awards which are announced on February 4th.

Awards Season 2017: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier today, here is a selection of the nominations for the 89th Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell Or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Manchester By The Sea

Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By The Sea)

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

BEST ACTOR

Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

BEST ACTRESS

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Ruth Negga (Loving)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell Or High Water)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea)

Dev Patel (Lion)

Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Fences)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)

Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

That's 32 out of 34 which is an all time record for me (94%)

Unsurprisingly, La La Land has swept the board with fourteen nominations (which equals the record held by All About Eve and Titanic). 

Meryl Streep also becomes the most nominated actress in Academy history, chalking up her twentieth nomination (and her sixteenth Best Actress nomination).

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story gets two nods (Sound Mixing and Visual Effects), while Doctor Strange is also nominated in the Visual Effects category. Animated film Kubo And The Two Strings pulls off a rare achievement in also being nominated for Visual Effects as well as Best Animated Feature. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them gets two nominations but sadly nothing for Deadpool. Ah well, can't win them all. 

There's more awards season stuff happening later this week with the Producers' Guild (PGA) Awards on Saturday (28th January) and the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards on Sunday (29th January). There'll be a post about both of these on Monday.

Huge congratulations to all nominees!

Awards Season 2017: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

Tomorrow, the nominations for the 89th Academy Awards will be announced.

This year, the Academy will break with tradition and dispense with the usual early morning press conference in Beverly Hills. They'll still be announcing them ridiculously early (5.18am PST/1.18pm GMT) but will instead announce the nominations via a live stream on online and digital platforms. Announcing the nominees will be actors Brie Larson, Jennifer Hudson, and Ken Watanabe, director Jason Reitman, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezski and AMPAS President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

As has been my practice for the last few years, I like to try and predict who will be nominated (this is done for Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting awards). Below is my list of who I think will be named tomorrow.

NB. Just like the last few years, the Academy rules state that there could be anywhere between five and ten Best Picture nominees. I have selected ten films. If the total number of films nominated is less than ten, but one of the movies selected is named in my list of ten, I will count it as a successful prediction.

BEST PICTURE

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell Or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Loving

Manchester By The Sea

Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By The Sea)

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

BEST ACTOR

Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

BEST ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Arrival)

Ruth Negga (Loving)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell Or High Water)

Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea)

Dev Patel (Lion)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Fences)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)

Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea)

Usually a score of 15 is adequate, but given the fact that there could be anywhere between 5 and 10 Best Picture awards, I'ill be happy with a prediction of 18 or higher. Last year, I got 28 out of 33.

As usual with my predictions, there's a few cast-iron guarantees, a few maybes and possibly a few WTFs. 

This year, it's been the Lead Actress category which has been really fluid with performances by Annette Bening (20th Century Women), Isabelle Huppert (Elle) and Emily Blunt (The Girl On The Train) also being mentioned, so I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised to see only 2 of my 5 picks nominated (Natalie Portman and Emma Stone are pretty much guaranteed a nod). If Meryl Streep is nominated for her role in Florence Foster Jenkins, that would be her twentieth- yes, twentieth- competitive acting Oscar nomination, more than any actress in the history of the Academy. I've included her in due to the Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA nods.  There's also always the chance that if Amy Adams is nominated tomorrow, it could be for Nocturnal Animals.

Joel Edgerton could get a nod for Best Actor for Loving; most likely to lose their place would then be either Viggo Mortensen or Denzel Washington.

Best Supporting Actor is fairly locked, I reckon, although there could always be a surprise nomination for Aaron Taylor-Johnson or Michael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals in place of Hugh Grant.

Best Director seems like it could be a place for surprises (see last year's nomination for Lenny Abrahamson for Room), although I'd say I think 3 of the 5 (Chazelle, Jenkins and Lonergan) are pretty secure. There could be surprise nods for Denzel Washington (Fences), Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals) or maybe even Pablo Larrain (Jackie) or Theodore Melfi (Hidden Figures)

Guess we'll find out tomorrow!

Awards Season 2017: Directors' Guild of America (DGA) Awards Nominations

Just a quick update today, as the Directors' Guild Awards announced its shortlist earlier for their Feature Film category. These awards will be handed out on February 4th.

The nominees are:

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Garth Davis (Lion)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By The Sea)

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

The big surprise here is Garth Davis' inclusion. Lion has been well regarded in this awards season, but generally in the Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories. This is the first mention of Davis as Best Director. Some have called Villeneuve's inclusion a surprise but several other bodies have nominated him (BAFTA and Critics' Choice) so it's not as if it's come out of nowhere.

We get a bit of a break from awards season for a week or so - the next instalment comes on Monday 23rd January when they'll announce the nominees for this year's Razzies. 

Awards Season 2017: BAFTA Film Awards and Producers' Guild Awards (PGA) Nominations

It's a double dose of awards season news today, so let's get right on with it!

* * *

BAFTA FILM AWARDS NOMINATIONS

This morning, the nominations for this year's BAFTA Film Awards was announced by Dominic Cooper and Sophie Turner.

Here is a selection of the nominees::

BEST FILM

Arrival

I, Daniel Blake

La La Land

Manchester By The Sea

Moonlight

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

American Honey

Denial

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

I, Daniel Blake

Notes On Blindness

Under The Shadow

BEST ACTOR

Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals)

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

BEST ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Arrival)

Emily Blunt (The Girl On The Train)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell Or High Water)

Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Dev Patel (Lion)

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Fences)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake)

Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea)

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By The Sea)

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

A full list of nominees can be found here

La La Land has the most nominations with 11, with Arrival and Nocturnal Animals on 9 apiece.

A couple of surprises here- mostly, the love for Nocturnal Animals. This is Gyllenhaal's first nomination for the film in this awards season- the film's other main cast (Amy Adams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Michael Shannon) have all been previously recognised by other award bodies. I'm really pleased to see Hayley Squires' nomination as her performance in I, Daniel Blake was stunning; I think Dave Johns can count himself unlucky not to be similarly nominated in what is a very strong field. I'm surprised not to see Ruth Negga nominated for Best Actress for Loving (but that may be down to eligibility issues if the film hasn't been released here yet; it's for that same reason that Paul Verhoeven's Elle isn't in the Best Foreign Language Film category and why Isabelle Huppert was ineligible for nomination for Best Actress).

This year's BAFTA Rising Star award nominees are Laia Costa, Lucas Hedges, Tom Holland, Ruth Negga and Anya Taylor-Joy. This award is voted on by the general public and you can vote for your favourite here.

The BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday 12th February at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, once again hosted by the frankly wonderful Stephen Fry.

* * *

PRODUCERS' GUILD OF AMERICA (PGA) AWARDS NOMINATIONS

This morning also saw the announcement of the nominees for the Producers' Guild of America (PGA) Awards. 

Below are the film nominations:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

Arrival

Deadpool

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell Or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Manchester By The Sea

Moonlight

One big surprise name on this list: Deadpool! All the rest are- or have been- tipped as potential Best Picture Oscar nominees. Maybe the Merc With The Mouth could break the duck and actually stop comic book movies from just getting technical awards? Unlikely, as AMPAS can choose anywhere between five and ten films in a year. Besides, PGA has got previous in recognising 'genre' films (having previously nominated Star Trek, Skyfall and Ex Machina)

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Finding Dory

Kubo And The Two Strings

Moana

The Secret Life Of Pets

Zootopia

Four of these five films were also nominated for the Best Animated Feature BAFTA earlier today (sorry, The Secret Life Of Pets). Zootopia's been a strong contender this year so I'd expect to see it win here.

Documentary Film

(previously announced)

Dancer

The Eagle Huntress

Life, Animated

O.J.: Made In America

Tower

Unfortunately, I'm only familiar with one of these films- The Eagle Huntress- so I'm unable to give any informed opinion on this.

The PGA Awards will be handed out on Saturday 28th January.


The next stop on the awards season trail will be the announcement of the Directors' Guild of America (DGA) Awards on Thursday (12th January)

Review: La La Land (UK Cert 12A)

Damien Chazelle's Whiplash was one of my favourite films of 2015. So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I went in to see Chazelle's latest film, La La Land.

A paean not only to Los Angeles, but to film, to music, to love, La La Land follows jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) as they meet and fall in love against the backdrop of the City of Angels.

Where do I start? Chazelle's direction is astonishing and technically accomplished right from the get-go, where a traffic jam on the LA freeway bursts into a huge song-and-dance number. There's a beautiful sequence set in the Griffith Observatory where Sebastian and Mia's relationship intensifies, but Chazelle's directorial flair can also be seen in the smaller, more intimate, scenes where the relationship drama plays out.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play off each other nicely; this is their third collaboration on screen after Crazy Stupid Love and Gangster Squad and they really sell the relationship. Gosling plays Sebastian's earnestness about the purity of jazz with passion and commitment, whilst Stone's Mia is no blushing ingenue- she's a few years into her career, still schlepping to auditions, but not yet disillusioned enough to stop her dreaming. There's able support from Rosemarie DeWitt as Sebastian's sister Laura who makes the most of her single scene, whilst there's also a cameo for Whiplash's J.K. Simmons as Sebastian's boss.

Justin Hurwitz's score is beautiful and the songs range from the upbeat- the opening 'Another Day Of Sun' and the party number 'Someone In The Crowd'- to the melancholic- the beautiful 'City Of Stars' and Mia's 'Audition (The Fools Who Dream). As with all musicals, you do have to accept the inherent ridiculousness of people suddenly bursting out in song, but, if you can't do that, then you really don't have much business seeing a musical to start with.

It's a beautiful film, visually sumptuous, cracking soundtrack, a wryly funny script (also written by Chazelle) with two wonderful lead performances and a nicely bittersweet edge to cut through the candyfloss. I know we're only just getting started with the year, but already I can see this being one of my films of 2017.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

La La Land is on general release from 12th January 2017.

Awards Season 2017: Golden Globes Winners

Last night, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of this year's Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film, in a ceremony hosted by Jimmy Fallon for the first time.

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Moonlight

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): La La Land

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Actor (Drama): Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Best Actress (Drama): Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Supporting Actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Screenplay: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

Best Original Song: 'City Of Stars' (La La Land)

Best Foreign Language Film: Elle

Best Animated Feature Film: Zootopia

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Meryl Streep


La La Land has broken the record for most Golden Globes won, winning every award it was nominated for, and coming away with an impressive haul of seven gongs.

A couple of surprises with Isabelle Huppert and Aaron Taylor-Johnson winning Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor (I still can't believe Taylor-Johnson was even nominated for his atrocious turn, let alone won) but everything else went to who was expected to win, it seems. 

Meryl Streep used her acceptance speech to launch a brilliant and blistering attack on president-elect Donald Trump for generally being a descipable human being whilst several people made the joke that the Golden Globes would be wound up under Trump's presidency because it's got the words 'Hollywood' 'Foreign' and 'Press' in it.

In the TV awards, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman all took awards for their roles in The Night Manager whilst The Crown took Best Television Series (Drama) and Claire Foy took Best Actress (Drama) for her role as Queen Elizabeth II.

Tomorrow (10th January) we get an Awards Season double-whammy (you lucky, lucky people) with the announcement of the Producers' Guild Awards nominations AND the BAFTA nominations as well. 

Awards Season 2017: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

Yesterday (4th January) saw the nominations announced for this year's Writers' Guild Awards.

As I've previously said, I don't tend to focus on the screenplay Oscars (certainly not to the same degree as the acting and directing ones; I certainly wouldn't attempt to predict what would get nominated), but- as a writer and a film fan- I do have an interest in what's been nominated.

This year's nominations are as follows:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Hell Or High Water

La La Land

Loving

Manchester By The Sea

Moonlight

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Arrival

Deadpool

Fences

Hidden Figures

Nocturnal Animals

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Author: The JT LeRoy Story

Command And Control

Zero Days

I'm really pleased to see Deadpool recognised, especially as the rest of the nominees are more traditional awards fare. Although, the WGA have previous form in this, giving Guardians Of The Galaxy a nomination in 2015.

Interestingly, AMPAS (a.k.a. The Academy) have stated that Moonlight and Loving will be classed as 'adapted screenplay' for their consideration, so hopefully the abominable script for Nocturnal Animals won't get a look in there.

More awards nonsense on Monday (9th February) with the Golden Globes results.

Awards Season 2017: SAG Awards Nominations

More awards shenanigans with today's announcement of the nominations for the 23rd Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. These are for actors voted on by actors (so are usually a pretty good barometer for the Oscar acting awards as there's a lot of crossover between AMPAS and SAG memberships).

Below is a list of film nominations:

Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture

Captain Fantastic

Fences

Hidden Figures

Manchester By The Sea

Moonlight

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role

Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role

Amy Adams (Arrival)

Emily Blunt (The Girl On The Train)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell Or High Water)

Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea)

Dev Patel (Lion)

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role

Viola Davis (Fences)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)

Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea)

A lot of the same names cropping up again, which is no surprise. I'm actually quite pleased at Meryl Streep's inclusion as I thoroughly enjoyed Florence Foster Jenkins in general (and her performance in particular). Manchester By The Sea gets four nods, with Moonlight and Fences with three.

For those of you who aren't fans of the awards season stuff, you'll be pleased to know we take a brief hiatus from it now until the new year with the nominations for the Writers' Guild Awards announced on 4th January with the Golden Globes handed out on January 8th.

Tez