The Watchers Film Show Review Of 2021

 

Here's your starter for ten: what do Last Night In Soho, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, and No Time To Die? Also, what links Venom: Let There Be Carnage, A Quiet Place: Part II, and Space Jam: A New Legacy? 

Yes, each set of three films do have the same number of words in their titles, but that wasn't the answer on the card. The correct answer is: all of them get a mention in the Watchers Film Show Review of 2021.

This is, amazingly, the 11th annual round-up of the good and the bad in film according to us three nerdy blokes. 

In this bumper edition, we talk the triumphs and turkeys of 2021, Matt gives us his round-up of the best horror of the year, and we look forward to what 2022 has in store (cinema-wise, of course). 

We hope you enjoy it!

 

 

Awards Season 2021: BAFTA Film Awards Winners and Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Winners

It's a two-for-one on awards results today, as this weekend has seen both the Directors Guild Awards and the BAFTAs given out. Lots to go through, so let's get started. 

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

On Saturday (10th April), the Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) were handed out. The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Darius Marder (Sound Of Metal)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries: Scott Frank (The Queen's Gambit)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw (The Truffle Hunters)

Chloé Zhao becomes only the second woman to win the DGA's top prize (the first being Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker). This certainly bodes well for her chances of winning the Oscar in just two weeks' time. 

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BAFTA AWARDS

This weekend also saw the British Academy (BAFTA) Film Awards. 

BAFTA did something a bit unusual this year, in that they split the event over two nights, both taking place at the Royal Albert Hall. 

On Saturday (10th April), Clara Amfo hosted the first ceremony in which several "craft" awards were handed out, along with the Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema which was given to Noel Clarke (who also won the 2009 Rising Star Award). Tribute was also paid to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away on 9th April; he was the first President of BAFTA (holding the position from 1959-1966). 

The winners from the first night were:

Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Make Up And Hair: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Production Design: Mank

Sound: Sound Of Metal

Special Visual Effects: Tenet

Casting: Rocks

Short Animation: The Owl And The Pussycat

Short Film: The Present

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Noel Clarke

On Sunday (11th April), the second ceremony- where the remainder of the awards were given out- was hosted by Dermot O'Leary and Edith Bowman.

The winners from the second night were: 

Best Film: Nomadland

Outstanding British Film: Promising Young Woman

Leading Actor: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Leading Actress: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Supporting Actress: Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Adapted Screenplay: The Father

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Remi Weekes (writer/director) (His House)

Animated Film: Soul

Documentary: My Octopus Teacher

Film Not In The English Language: Another Round

Cinematography: Nomadland

Editing: Sound Of Metal

Original Score: Soul

Rising Star: Bukky Bakray

BAFTA Fellowship: Ang Lee

Nomadland is the big winner of the evening, with four BAFTAs. Promising Young Woman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Father, Sound Of Metal and Soul all walked away with two apiece. 

Congratulations to all winners!

There's another week off awards nonsense now; we are picking back up on Wednesday 22nd April for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. 

Awards Season 2021: Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards Winners

Hello and Happy Easter! Hope you're enjoying the holiday, wherever you are and however you're spending it. 

We're back to awards season, as last night (Sunday 4th April), was the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

Unlike other awards ceremonies, SAG-AFTRA decided to pre-record the ceremony this year (meaning that the winners were known a few days in advance; and yet I didn't see any leaks anywhere- good job!) and an edited hour-long special was aired yesterday.

Here are the film winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: 

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Film:

Wonder Woman 1984

It was a night of several firsts: when the nominations were announced, the late Chadwick Boseman set a record by being nominated for four different awards in the same ceremony (he was nominated for Best Actor for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Best Supporting Actor for Da 5 Bloods, and was named in the ensemble for both films' nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast). There were no surprises in him winning Best Actor here, and it looks good for his chances of winning the Oscar. 

Youn Yuh-Jung's win makes her the first Asian winner, and first Asian female winner, of any individual SAG Award film category  

Michael Keaton- who plays Ramsey Clark in The Trial Of The Chicago 7- has set a record by winning three SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture (he was previously part of the winning ensembles for Birdman and Spotlight) 

Whilst the Actor/Supporting Actor categories have been consistent across all awards given out so far (both Boseman and Kaluuya have taken the Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice, and the SAG Award), it's a much more open situation in the Actress/Supporting Actress categories.

Each of the three awards has gone to a different actress: Andra Day won the Golden Globe, Carey Mulligan the Critics' Choice, and Viola Davis the SAG Award; in the Supporting Actress category, Jodie Foster took the Golden Globe, whilst Maria Bakalova won at the Critics' Choice, and Youn Yuh-Jung here. There are still the BAFTAs and Independent Spirit Awards to go, but- unlike previous years, where the same four names came up at virtually every award- there's still plenty of scope for some surprises come Oscars night.   

Over on the TV side, Schitt's Creek and The Crown won the Best Ensemble categories, with Catherine O'Hara and Gillian Anderson also winning Best Actress in their respective categories. The Mandalorian won Best Stunt Ensemble, whilst Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis took the Best Actor awards (for Ozark and Ted Lasso respectively) 

Congratulations to all winners!

This coming weekend is a busy one for awards stuff, with the Directors' Guild Awards being given out on Saturday (10th April), whilst the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) are holding two ceremonies over the weekend, with "craft" awards given out on Saturday, and the other awards on Sunday (11th April).

Awards Season 2021: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

 ...pation.

Tomorrow morning, the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced. This year, they will be announced by husband-and-wife duo Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Krrish, The White Tiger, Baywatch) and Nick Jonas (Jumanji: The Next Level, Midway, Camp Rock).

As has been my practice for the last few years (well, since 2003), 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. Since the 2010 ceremony, 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.

This will be the last year in which this will happen, as the Academy have committed to having ten Best Picture nominees from 2022.

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods

The Father

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

One Night In Miami

Promising Young Woman

Soul

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

Usually a score of 15 is adequate, but given the fact that there could be anywhere between 5 and 10 Best Picture awards, I’ll be happy with a prediction of 18 or higher. Last year, I got 30/34.

With Best Picture, I'm fairly secure with 7 (maybe 8) of the predictions. There's always the chance of a surprise nod for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sound Of Metal, or News Of The World. Similarly with Best Director, I'd say I'm confident on 3. It wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility for Regina King to score a nomination for One Night In Miami... (which might see Fincher or potentially Fennell shunted out?) 

Were I to be totally honest, I'm less confident with the acting awards than I have been in previous years. For each category I'd say I'm only sure of three in each. There's a lot of variables. 

Best Actor could see a surprise nod for Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round), Tom Hanks (News Of The World), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian) or Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) [most likely in place of Steven Yeun or Gary Oldman] whilst Amy Adams could get a nod for Hillbilly Elegy and Sidney Flanigan could be a major upset with a nod for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. I went with Andra Day on the strength of the Golden Globes win, but you can't be sure until the names are read out. 

In the Supporting Actor category, Boseman and Raci could be replaced by David Strathairn (Nomadland), Bill Murray (On The Rocks), Jared Leto (The Little Things) or even Alan Kim (Minari). The Best Supporting Actress race is still pretty wide open: there could potentially be nominations for Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman), Dominique Fishback (Judas And The Black Messiah), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian), and/or Helena Zengel (News Of The World) in place of any of Seyfried and/or Colman. 

The nominations will be announced tomorrow afternoon (around 1:20pm GMT) - there'll be a post up as soon as I can afterwards with the official nominations.

Awards Season 2021: Critics' Choice Movie Award Winners

More awards shenanigans to report, as yesterday (Sunday 7th March) was the 26th Critics' Choice Awards, hosted by Taye Diggs. 

Before we get into the results, this is just a heads-up: if you're not a fan of awards stuff, this week is gonna be absolutely chockful of it (there's going to be awards stuff every few days up until next Monday [15th March, when the Oscar nominations are announced]), so forewarned is forearmed. 

Anyway, here's a full list of film winners:

Best Picture: Nomadland

Best Actor: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Best Acting Ensemble: The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Best Adapted Screenplay: Nomadland

Best Comedy: Palm Springs

Best Foreign Language Film: Minari

Best Score: Soul

Best Song: "Speak Now" (One Night In Miami)

Best Production Design: Mank

Best Editing: Sound Of Metal and The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (tie)

Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Hair & Makeup: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Visual Effects: Tenet

Best Cinematography: Nomadland

Best Young Actor/Actress: Alan S. Kim (Minari)


Nomadland was the big winner of the night with four awards, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom went away with three. 

Congratulations to all winners!

You may have noticed that there are a couple of categories that haven't been included in the list this year (notably, Best Animated Feature, Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie, and Best Action Movie). 2021 saw the first annual Critics' Choice Super Awards, which honoured genre television and movies in a separate ceremony. 

The ceremony happened in January, with Da 5 Bloods winning Best Action Movie, Soul winning Best Animated Movie, The Invisible Man taking the Best Horror Movie title, Palm Springs named the Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie, and The Old Guard winning Best Superhero Movie. .

As if this wasn't exciting enough, tomorrow (Tuesday 9th March) sees two more awards bodies- BAFTA and the Directors Guild of America-  announcing their nominations for this year's awards.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Awards Season 2021: Golden Globes Winners

Last night (Sunday 28th February 2021), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film, in a ceremony co-hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the fourth time.

For the first time, the ceremony took place on both US coasts with Fey at the Rainbow Room in New York and Amy Poehler at the usual Globes venue: the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Frontline and essential workers were invited to be the socially-distanced live audiences in both New York and LA, whilst many of the winners accepted their awards at home.

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Nomadland

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Actor (Drama): Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Best Actress (Drama): Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Rosamund Pike (I Care A Lot)

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Best Supporting Actress: Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)

Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Best Original Score: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste (Soul)

Best Original Song: "Io Si (Seen)" (The Life Ahead)

Best Foreign Language Film: Minari

Best Animated Feature Film: Soul

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Jane Fonda


Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Nomadland, and Soul all took home two Globes each. 

Fey and Poehler's opening monologue was a bit hit-and-miss, but there were a couple of nice little moments, such as "if the British actors are playing British people, it's TV; if they're playing Americans, it's a movie" and "The Queen's Gambit was... whatever James Corden was up to in The Prom, I guess?". They also addressed the recent furore that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has no Black members, with a plea to getting it changed. 

As you can imagine, there were one or two technical glitches - Daniel Kaluuya was on mute for a large part of his acceptance speech which, given it was the first award of the evening, was a little embarrassing. But it more or less evened out throughout the event. There were some cute family photobombing moments (Mark Ruffalo's kids jumped on screen to help celebrate his win, and Lee Isaac Chung's adorable young daughter was overjoyed with his win for Best Foreign Language Film). Also, lots of dogs. 

Chadwick Boseman's wife Taylor Simone Ledward gave an emotional speech accepting her late husband's Best Actor award. Along with Jane Fonda's acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, it was the most impactful part of the evening. 

Couple of things of note: Chloé Zhao is only the second woman to win the Best Director Golden Globe (after Barbra Streisand for Yentl in 1984) and Andra Day is only the second Black actress to win the Best Actress (Drama). Wins for Rosamund Pike, Jodie Foster, and Day seem to put the cat amongst the pigeons in terms of wider awards stuff (whereas Day's chance at an Oscar nod were potentially a bit slim before, it's a big boost to her with two weeks before the Oscars are announced). 

On the television side, The Crown swept the board with four wins (including three for its cast, with Josh O'Connor, Emma Corrin, and Gillian Anderson honoured for their work) and I was particularly pleased to see Schitt's Creek win Best Musical or Comedy, and Catherine O'Hara winning Best Actress for playing the fabulously flamboyant Moira Rose. O'Hara's acceptance speech was quite something, with her husband sat next to her increasing the volume of the play-off music on his phone as she spoke. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Next up with awards season is the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday 7th March. 

Awards Season 2021: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

This is just a brief update to tell you about the nominees for this year's Writers' Guild Awards (WGA), which were announced earlier today. 

Long-time readers of the awards season nonsense on here will know that the screenplay categories are not ones that I try and guess nominees (or winners) for, but as a writer, I'm interested to see what's got the nod.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Judas And The Black Messiah

Palm Springs

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

News Of The World

One Night In Miami

The White Tiger

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

All In: The Fight For Democracy

The Dissident

Herb Alpert Is...

Red Penguins

Totally Under Control

Due to how the Writers Guild of America works (where non-members are not permitted to be nominated for a WGA Award), there are several major films that were ineligible (but will be eligible for the Oscars): these include Soul, Minari, Mank, Nomadland, The Father, Pieces Of A Woman, and The Personal History Of David Copperfield. 

Quentin Tarantino is famously not a WGA member, but that hasn't stopped him getting four Oscar nods for his screenplays, and two wins. So, unlike other certain guild awards, these don't have such a major impact on the Oscars.

The Writers' Guild Awards will be handed out on Sunday 21st March 2021. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

There's a brief break in awards stuff now; our next awards outing will be Sunday 28th February 2021, when the Golden Globes will be handed out. Enjoy the respite!

Awards Season 2021: Critics' Choice Movie Awards Nominations

Awards nonsense ahoy! Today (Monday 8th February) saw the announcement of the movie nominations for the 26th Annual Critics' Choice Awards.

Here are a selection of their nominees:

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Minari

News Of The World

Nomadland

One Night In Miami...

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods)

Regina King (One Night In Miami...)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Ben Affleck (The Way Back)

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Tom Hanks (News Of The World)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Zendaya (Malcolm & Marie)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Bill Murray (On The Rocks)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami...)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

Mank leads the field with 12 nominations, closely followed by Minari with 10. 

A couple of nice surprises in the list - including the first major recognition for Delroy Lindo, Zendaya, and Ellen Burstyn. For me, this confirms that- for each of the acting awards at least- there's a core of 3-4 actors who are a virtual lock for an Oscar nod. Similarly, there are 3 (maybe 4?) directors who are looking very strong too, although the Directors Guild Award nominations (due on 9th March) will pretty much crystallize that.

The 26th Critics' Choice Awards will be handed out on Sunday 7th March 2021, in a ceremony hosted by Taye Diggs (The Best Man Holiday, Equilibrium, How Stella Got Her Groove Back), who is taking MC duties for the third consecutive year. 

The ceremony will be a mix of in-person and virtual, with Diggs and some presenters in the Los Angeles studio with nominees appearing remotely. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next stop on the awards season hype train will be the Writers Guild Awards nominations which are announced next Tuesday (16th February).

Awards Season 2021: Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards Nominations

Today (Thursday 4th February), the nominations for the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards were announced. 

Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, Mank) and Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Soul) announced the nominations via Instagram Live. How modern! Despite a few (ahem) early technical issues, the nominees were announced pretty smoothly. 

This is generally considered to be a bit of a bellwether award, as the voting body for SAG overlaps quite substantially with the actors' branch of the Academy. 

Below is the list of film nominations:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Da 5 Bloods

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Minari

One Night In Miami

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Amy Adams (Hillbilly Elegy)

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Jared Leto (The Little Things)

Leslie Odom, Jr. (One Night In Miami…)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Helena Zengel (News Of The World)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Da 5 Bloods

Mulan

News Of The World

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Wonder Woman 1984

Quite a few of the same names coming out already, with several actors and actresses looking ever more likely for the Oscar nod (Riz Ahmed, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Viola Davis, Frances McDormand, Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Leslie Odom Jr., and Olivia Colman especially; I think Chadwick Boseman is in a strong position for at least one posthumous nod, and maybe two). 

Nice to see a couple of the cast of Minari being recognised here, building on the love of the Independent Spirit Awards. Despite high critical praise, still no awards love as yet for Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) or Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman) but there's still time. And the Academy have been known in the past to chuck a couple of curveballs in their nominations (Laura Dern for Wild, for instance). 

The winners of this year's SAG Awards will be announced on Sunday 4th April (moved from its previously announced date of Sunday 14th March to avoid clashing with the similarly-moved Grammys). 

Congratulations to all nominees!

There's a couple of days of a breather from awards stuff, but this coming Sunday (7th February) will see this year's Critics' Choice Awards nominations announced. 

Enjoy this brief respite!

Awards Season 2021: Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

OK, folks. Awards season is now upon us, with today's announcement of the nominees for the 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards. These awards recognise films made wholly or partly outside the traditional studio system (although there is becoming an increasingly wide overlap between these and the more 'mainstream' awards).

Below is a selection of nominations:

Best Feature

First Cow

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Minari

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Nomadland

Best Director

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Kelly Reichardt (First Cow)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Male Lead

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger)

Rob Morgan (Bull)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

Best Female Lead

Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth)

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Julia Garner (The Assistant)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Supporting Male

Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Orion Lee (First Cow)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Benedict Wong (Nine Days)

Best Supporting Female

Alexis Chikaeze (Miss Juneteenth)

Yeri Han (Minari)

Valerie Mahaffey (French Exit)

Talia Ryder (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

With seven nominations, Never Rarely Sometimes Always leads the pack, with Minari at six, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Nomadland have five apiece.

For the first time this year, the Independent Spirit Awards will honour television series as well as films, with five new categories. In this inaugural batch of nominations, I May Destroy You, Little America, Small Axe, and Unorthodox were all honoured. 

The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be given out on Thursday 22nd April 2021, breaking with the usual tradition of them being handed out the day before the Oscars. This is due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which means the traditional location for the awards (a big white marquee on the Santa Monica Beach) will most likely be unviable.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next stop on the awards season hypetrain is the Golden Globe nominations, which will be out on Wednesday 3rd February.

Review: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (UK Cert 15)

1927. On a sweltering hot Chicago day, renowned blues singer Ma Rainey attends a recording session for a new album. There are tensions between members of the band- with young trumpeter Levee, eager for his own record deal, clashing with established older members Toledo and Cutler- which escalate further when Ma arrives an hour late and begins her demands.  

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the second piece in playwright August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle [also known as the Century Cycle] which looked at the Black experience throughout the twentieth century (with each play set in a different decade). Another of the Pittsburgh Cycle plays, Fences, was filmed in 2016, directed by Denzel Washington. Washington acts as producer here, as part of an arrangement to bring Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle to the big screen. Direction duties are taken by George C. Wolfe (Nights In Rodanthe), with the script adapted from Wilson's source material by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. 

Chadwick Boseman's unexpected passing from colon cancer in August 2020 makes Ma Rainey's Black Bottom his final film role. For anyone who only knows Boseman through Black Panther and the other MCU films, you've only seen a fraction of what Boseman could do as an actor. Honestly, he has never been better on screen. Levee is a fascinating multi-faceted character: ambitious, flirtatious, forthright, deeply wounded, confident, quick to anger. A man who wants more than he's got but (perhaps) naïvely thinks he'll get it. Levee gets two big moments (what no doubt look like massive chunks of text on a page): one where he describes what happened to his parents, and one where he rails at the notion of God. Boseman is simply breath-taking in these moments. Such a magnetic and charismatic performance, and a poignant reminder of what the acting world has lost. 

Frankly, Viola Davis could read a takeaway menu and make it engrossing. Here, she's utterly superb as the rambunctious, take-no-prisoners Ma. Despite limited screen-time (27 minutes of a 94 minute film), she looms large over proceedings. There's a short, but very powerful scene, right at the beginning when Ma arrives at the studio and her car is damaged; immediately, she is out of the vehicle and starts to remonstrate with a white policeman. The cop's reaction is telling: he's never had a Black person, let alone a Black woman, speak to him in such a way before. What's also interesting is Ma has a girlfriend, Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige), but that's never made an issue of or seen to be something controversial or wrong. Ultimately, Ma knows her worth- she knows the white producers see her voice only- but she'll be damned if she doesn't get the respect she's due. In a career of fascinating performances, this stands high as one of Davis' very best. 

As with Fences, the ensemble cast all meet the high standards laid down by the leads. Colman Domingo, Michael Potts, and Glynn Turman are just superb as the old-timers in the band, laughing at Levee's naivete and wanting to get the session done to get paid and go. There's such an authentic camaraderie between the men; you can believe them as an established group. Jeremy Shamos and Jonny Coyne play Ma's manager Irvin and studio owner Sturdyvant, at odds with how to deal with Ma: Irvin knows that you catch more flies with honey when it comes to Ma, whilst for Sturdyvant, time is money. Rounding out the cast are Paige as Dussie Mae- a sensuous and flirty performance- and Dusan Brown as Ma's nephew Sylvester whose stutter causes issues with the recording of the titular "Black Bottom". 

Brandford Marsalis' incidental music and arrangements of 1920s blues songs is absolutely sublime, as are the fantastic costumes by Ann Roth, whose attention to detail- from Ma's OTT dresses to Levee's yellow shoes- is unparalleled. Wolfe doesn't pull many directorial tricks, allowing the script to do the talking, and focuses on the action in an unobtrusive way. 

Ultimately, as with Fences, this feels like watching a theatre broadcast rather than a film. That said, it certainly doesn't take away from the raw power of the performances. Expect to see this getting some major awards love in the upcoming months. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez