Awards Season 2023: Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Winners and BAFTA Film Awards Winners

After a quiet couple of weeks, we are back on the awards trail with both the Directors Guild Awards and the BAFTA Film Awards being handed out this weekend. So who were the big winners? Let's find out together, shall we?

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

On Saturday (18th February), the Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) were handed out. The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Sara Dosa (Fire Of Love)

The Daniels' win is a bit of a surprise, as I felt the high-concept what-the-everloving-fuck-is-going-on-now vibe of Everything Everywhere All At Once might have been too rich for the blood of the DGA voters, with Spielberg's thoughtful elegy to cinema The Fabelmans a much more likely candidate. Worth saying that- whilst the DGA is a fairly reliable precursor to the Best Director Oscar- it's not got a 100% conversion record, so Spielberg might still nab the Oscar, although this has put the Daniels very much in contention.  

BAFTA

This evening (19th February 2022), the 76th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony, hosted for the first time by Richard E. Grant. 

Jamie Lee Curtis, Julianne Moore, Florence Pugh, Eddie Redmayne, Ke Huy Quan. Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Cate Blanchett. Bill Nighy, Sir Patrick Stewart, Emma Thompson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Viola Davis were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film for 2022. 

Usually, the event is broadcast on the BBC with a time delay but for this year, there's a weird kind of hybrid thing going on where the final four awards of the evening (EE Rising Star, Leading Actor, Leading Actress, and Best Film) were broadcast live, whilst the rest of the ceremony was shown on a delay. 

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners.

Best Film: All Quiet On The Western Front

Outstanding British Film: The Banshees Of Inisherin

Leading Actor: Austin Butler (Elvis)

Leading Actress: Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Supporting Actor: Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Director: Edward Berger (All Quiet On The Western Front)

Original Screenplay: The Banshees Of Inisherin

Adapted Screenplay: All Quiet On The Western Front

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Charlotte Wells (writer/director) (Aftersun) 

Animated Film: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Documentary: Navalny

Film Not In The English Language: All Quiet On The Western Front

Cinematography: All Quiet On The Western Front

Costume Design: Elvis

Editing: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Make Up And Hair: Elvis

Original Music: All Quiet On The Western Front

Production Design: Babylon

Sound: All Quiet On The Western Front

Special Visual Effects: Avatar: The Way Of Water

Casting: Elvis

Short Animation: The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse

Short Film: An Irish Goodbye

Rising Star: Emma Mackey

BAFTA Fellowship: Sandy Powell

The big winner of the night was All Quiet On The Western Front with seven awards (including, somewhat surprisingly, Best Picture), with The Banshees Of Inisherin and Elvis taking home four apiece. 

I'm happy to see The Banshees Of Inisherin doing well (especially with the two Supporting acting wins), although it's been reported that there was a bit of a La La Land moment with Best Supporting Actress. Last year's Best Supporting Actor winner Troy Kotsur (CODA) presented the award using sign language... and his interpreter mistakenly said Carey Mulligan (who had been nominated in the same category for She Said) instead of Kerry Condon. This didn't make the TV broadcast, but a lot of news outlets picked it up nonetheless.

Congratulations to all winners!

There's more awards news coming up next weekend (25th/26th February 2023) with Producers Guild Awards (PGA) and the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) being handed out. 

Awards Season 2023: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier this afternoon, here are some of the official nominations for the 95th Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

All Quiet On The Western Front

Avatar: The Way Of Water

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

Triangle Of Sadness

Women Talking

BEST DIRECTOR

Todd Field (Tár)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ruben Östlund (Triangle Of Sadness)

Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

BEST ACTOR

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Paul Mescal (Aftersun)

Bill Nighy (Living)

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie)

Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)

Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Hong Chau (The Whale)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

A full list of nominees can be found here. 

If I've done my maths right, we are looking at 29/35 (83%). Better than last year, so that's a plus. 

A couple of big surprises, namely the Best Picture/Director nods for Triangle Of Sadness, and British actress Andrea Riseborough's shock (in the best possible way) Best Actress nomination for To Leslie. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her performance, but the film has had increased awareness over the last few weeks, as it's being signal boosted by several high-profile actresses. 

A couple of interesting little facts: all five of the Best Actor nominees are first-time nominees. The German-language version of All Quiet On The Western Front has nine nods, as opposed to the four given to the 1930 English-language version (which won Best Picture and Best Director). Angela Bassett's nod is the first acting nomination for any Marvel film, and Judd Hirsch receives his second Oscar nomination after a whoppping 42 years (he was previously nominated for Ordinary People in 1981).

Everything Everywhere All At Once has 11 nominations to lead the field, with All Quiet On The Western Front and The Banshees Of Inisherin tying for second place with nine apiece. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

The 95th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday 12th March 2023, at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Jimmy Kimmel will be returning to host for the third time, after his consecutive appearances MCing the 89th and 90th Oscars.

For those not interested in the awards season circus, you'll be glad to know there's going to be a brief hiatus in the proceedings; our next awards season stop on the road to the 95th Academy Awards will be the weekend of 18th/19th February. 

Awards Season 2023: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

 

Tomorrow morning (5:30AM PT/8:30AM ET/1:30PM GMT), the nominations for the 95th Academy Awards will be announced. This year, they will be announced by Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal, Rogue One, Four Lions) and Allison Williams (Get Out, M3gan, Girls).

Since 2003, I have tried to predict who will be nominated in several of the major categories (Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting awards). Below is my list of who I think will be named tomorrow.

BEST PICTURE

All Quiet On The Western Front

Avatar: The Way Of Water

Babylon

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

Women Talking

BEST DIRECTOR

Todd Field (Tár)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Sarah Polley (Women Talking)

Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

BEST ACTOR

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Paul Mescal (Aftersun)

Bill Nighy (Living)

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Danielle Deadwyler (Till)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Paul Dano (The Fabelmans)

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Hong Chau (The Whale)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

As we now have 10 Best Picture nominees (in addition to the 20 for acting and 5 for directing), I will be happy with any score over 20. Last year, it was 26/35 (74%)

I'm confident of seven (maybe eight) of the Best Picture nominees; Babylon and/or All Quiet On The Western Front may well be replaced by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and/or Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. 

With Best Director, there's been a core of four [well, technically five] consistent names (the Daniels, Field, McDonagh and Spielberg) so it's working out who would join them. I went for Sarah Polley in a rather optimistic mood that they'd continue the streak of female directors, but it's far from definite. We could easily see James Cameron (Avatar: The Way Of Water) or Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) get a nod, with Kosinski nominated at the DGAs.

Given the Academy's form over the previous couple of years, a nomination for a foreign-language film director- potentially S.S. Rajamouli (RRR), Park Chan-wook (Decision To Leave), or Edward Berger (All Quiet On The Western Front)- might not be out of the question. Hell, they may still nominate a female director: Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King). 

Best Actor seems fairly secure, although you might see Jeremy Pope (The Inspection) or even potentially Hugh Jackman (The Son) in place of Paul Mescal. Best Actress has been a wide field this year, with a lot of superb performances getting nominated across the various awards bodies. I went with the five SAG Awards nominees, although the Academy could seek to honour Olivia Colman (Empire Of Light), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), or Margot Robbie (Babylon) instead.

With Best Supporting Actor, I'm confident of three at the very least- Gleeson, Keoghan, and Quan. Dano seems fairly secure, but there's been a lot of good supporting performances which might sneak in, including Brad Pitt (Babylon), Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway), and Dano's co-star in The Fabelmans, Judd Hirsch. Ben Whishaw could get a nod for his turn in Women Talking.

As for Best Supporting Actress, Hsu is the only one I'm not very sure of. You could easily see Carey Mulligan (She Said), Janelle Monáe (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), Dolly de Leon (Triangle Of Sadness) or Jessie Buckley and/or Claire Foy from Women Talking. 


We'll see what the Academy comes up with tomorrow afternoon. There'll be a post up as soon as I can afterwards with the official nominations.

So what do you think of my predictions? Pretty solid or way off the mark? Who do you think will (or should) get a nomination tomorrow? Let me know by commenting below.

Awards Season 2023: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 76th British Academy (BAFTA) Film Awards were announced this afternoon, by Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger, Christopher Robin) and Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso, The French Dispatch). Here's a selection of the nominees:

BEST FILM

All Quiet On The Western Front

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Tár

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

Aftersun

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Brian And Charles

Empire Of Light

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande

Living

Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical

See How They Run

The Swimmers

The Wonder

LEADING ACTOR

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Daryl McCormack (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)

Paul Mescal (Aftersun)

Bill Nighy (Living)

LEADING ACTRESS 

Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Danielle Deadwyler (Till)

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Emma Thompson (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)

Albrecht Schuch (All Quiet On The Western Front)

Micheal Ward (Empire Of Light)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Hong Chau (The Whale)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Dolly de Leon (Triangle Of Sadness)

Carey Mulligan (She Said)

DIRECTOR

Edward Berger (All Quiet On The Western Front)

Todd Field (Tár)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Park Chan-wook (Decision To Leave)

Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King)

A full list of nominees in all categories can be found here.

BAFTA previously announced longlists for all categories, so you can see what was in contention for nominations here.

All Quiet On The Western Front received a record-equalling 14 nominations across the board (it ties with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), whilst The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once got ten apiece. 

Very interesting to note that, whilst The Fabelmans was longlisted in several categories (including Best Film, and Best Actress [although not for Best Director]), it only received one nomination: Best Original Screenplay. I think it may fare better when the Oscar nominations are announced next week. I was also surprised not to see Olivia Colman's name in the Best Actress category for Empire Of Light - BAFTA always tend to skew towards British talent, so I thought she may be included. There was also nothing for Sarah Polley's Women Talking.

The nominees for the 2023 Rising Star award - the only BAFTA awarded by public vote- have also been announced: this year's nominees are Naomi Ackie, Sheila Atim, Emma Mackey, Daryl McCormack, and Aimee Lou Wood. Find out more about them, and cast your vote here.

The 76th BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out in just a month's time (on Sunday 19th February) in a ceremony at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. The Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated actor Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Withnail & I) will be hosting. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

We are getting to the sharp end of the awards nominations now, with the Razzies due to announce theirs on Monday (23rd January) and the Oscars on Tuesday (24th January). As has become tradition, my Oscar nomination predictions will follow sometime on Monday.

Awards Season 2023: Producers Guild Awards (PGA) Nominations

Just a quick one today (as the actress said to the bishop) as the nominations for the 34th Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards were announced earlier.

Here they are:

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

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Banshees of Inisherin

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

The Whale

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Minions: The Rise of Gru

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures 

(previously announced)

All That Breathes

Descendant

Fire Of Love

Navalny

Nothing Compares

Retrograde

The Territory

A couple of interesting additions for Best Picture: I'm pleased to see both Glass Onion and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever mentioned, with The Whale also a surprise nominee. I think a lot of people were surprised by the omission of Women Talking and Babylon. Whether the Academy will follow suit, who knows? That's all part of the fun.

When the Documentary nominees were announced just before Christmas, there was some surprise that two highly-regarded documentaries, both hyped up for Oscar nominations, were not on the list: they are Moonage Daydream (about David Bowie) and All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (about photographer Nan Goldin and her fight to hold a major pharmaceuticals company accountable for the opioid epidemic). It has, however, been noted that the PGA is not always the best prognosticator of the Documentary Feature category at the Oscars, so both may still get a nod come 24th January. 

The PGAs will be given out on Saturday 25th February 2023

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next stop on the awards season hype-train is the Critics Choice Awards, which will be handed out on Sunday (15th January). 

Awards Season 2023: Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards and Directors Guild Awards (DGA) Nominations

 

So we've got a 2-4-1 on awards news today, with two major guilds announcing their nominations. I can see you're all positively besides yourselves waiting to find out who's been mentioned, so without further ado, here we go!

SCREEN ACTORS' GUILD (SAG) AWARDS

This afternoon (Wednesday 11th January), the nominations for the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards were announced. Again, they were announced via Instagram Live, with Ashley Park (Emily In Paris, Tales Of The City) and Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus, Split) doing the honours. 

Below is the list of film nominations:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Babylon

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fabelmans

Women Talking

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Bill Nighy (Living)

Adam Sandler (Hustle)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Danielle Deadwyler (Till)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Paul Dano (The Fabelmans)

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Hong Chau (The Whale)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Avatar: The Way Of Water

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Top Gun: Maverick

The Woman King

Both The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once have a staggering five nominations apiece. 

A couple of surprises here: Adam Sandler making up the Best Actor category, for one. This is the first time his name has been mentioned this awards season. There's also some interesting choices with Best Actress, with Michelle Williams absent for The Fabelmans. That said, there's a whole bunch of superb lead actress performances this year that someone isn't going to make the cut. A pleasant surprise to see Stephanie Hsu also mentioned in Best Supporting Actress, as her role is certainly more integral to the plot (as good as Jamie Lee Curtis is). 

Another surprise was the omission of Everything Everywhere All At Once in the Stunt Ensemble category; given the dizzying action sequences in that film, it seemed a safe bet. 

The SAG Awards will be handed out on Sunday 26th February 2022. At present, the ceremony will be broadcast online (via Netflix's YouTube page) with the show airing on Netflix from next year. 

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DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS (DGA)

Were the SAG Awards not excitement enough for one day, we also have the rest of the Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) nominees announced today as well. And here they are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Todd Field (Tár)

Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film

Alice Diop (Saint Omer)

Audrey Diwan (Happening)

John Patton Ford (Emily The Criminal)

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic (Murina)

Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary 

(previously announced)

Sara Dosa (Fire of Love)

Matthew Heinman (Retrograde)

Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed)

Daniel Roher (Navalny)

Shaunak Sen (All That Breathes)

Well, now, this is interesting... Joseph Kosinski gets a mention instead of James Cameron or Baz Luhrmann. I've got a feeling in my waters that at least three (or four) of these names will be part of the Academy's choices- a nomination for the Daniels, Spielberg, and McDonagh feels incredibly likely. I'd have liked to have seen either Sarah Polley or Gina Prince-Bythewood get a nod but (much like with the Best Actress race) there's such a breadth and depth of breathtaking directorial work this year that not all of them are going to be recognised as much as they perhaps should.   

The winners will be announced at the 75th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday 18th February 2023.

Congratulations to all nominees!

It's that time of year when there's lots of awards buzz. Tomorrow (Thursday 12th January) sees this year's Producers Guild Awards (PGA) nominations so there'll be a short post about that at some point. 

Awards Season 2023: Golden Globes Winners

 

Last night (Tuesday 10th January 2023), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film.

Last year's ceremony was not broadcast, due to NBC declining to air the show in support of the various boycotts of the HFPA (which came from the lack of diversity of the membership, and its financial malfeasance). However, a one-year contract was struck to bring the ceremony back on air, with Jerrod Carmichael (Bad Neighbours, The Carmichael Show, Rothaniel) acting as MC for the first time. 

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): The Fabelmans

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Director: Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

Best Actor (Drama): Austin Butler (Elvis)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Best Actress (Drama): Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Best Screenplay: Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)

Best Original Song: "Naatu Naatu" (RRR)

Best Foreign Language Film: Argentina, 1985

Best Animated Feature Film: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Eddie Murphy

The Banshees Of Inisherin takes away the most awards, with three. The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere All At Once have two. 

The Golden Globes have always been a more rough-and-ready affair, so it's no surprise that the ceremony was a bit less slick than one may expect. That said, there was an annoying habit of starting to play acceptance speeches off far too early, which led to several winners mentioning it (with Michelle Yeoh's "Shut up, please. I can beat you up" being the funniest quip). 

Carmichael was OK as host, addressing the HFPA's woes in his opening monologue (Carmichael was the first solo Black host of the Golden Globes, and that point was made) but he often struggled to keep control of events, and some of his jokes really failed to land (such as the jab about using Tom Cruise's three Globes- which he returned- to free the notoriously absent wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige). There was also far too many jokes about Will Smith which started to grate a little.  

Onto the awards. A couple of surprises, namely: Austin Butler's win (over the highly-favoured Brendan Fraser who [like several nominees and winners] was absent from the event); Argentina, 1985 taking the Best Foreign Language Film over Decision To Leave and All Quiet On The Western Front; and "Naatu Naatu" from Bollywood action drama RRR taking Best Original Song over "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick (which went home empty-handed) or "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (although the MCU sequel did take home one award, for Angela Bassett's stoic supporting turn as the grieving Queen Ramonda). 

Personally, I'm happy to see the love for The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

Congratulations to all winners!

As if all of this awards excitement wasn't enough for you, today (Wednesday 11th January) sees the announcement of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards AND the Directors Guild (DGA) Awards nominations. I'd very much expect to see a lot of the names featured here in those as well.  

The Watchers Film Show Review Of 2022

Our Review of 2022 is here!

In our twelfth (twelfth!) annual review of the year, we discuss what made our nice lists and our naughty lists- with one film from someone's nice list made the naughty list of another! But what was it? 

Could it be Thor: Love & Thunder? Death On The Nile? Or maybe it was Morbius? (Just kidding, it definitely wasn't Morbius)

Documentaries, awards fodder, horror movies, whodunits and comic book movies all get a mention - we are nothing if not diverse! Take a listen and let us know your best (and worst) films of 2022.

Enjoy! 
 

Awards Season 2023: Critics' Choice Awards Nominations

Yesterday (Wednesday 14th December), the film nominations for the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards were announced. 

Here are a selection of their nominees:

Best Picture

Avatar: The Way Of Water

Babylon

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

RRR

Top Gun: Maverick

Tár

Women Talking

Best Director

James Cameron (Avatar: The Way Of Water)

Damien Chazelle (Babylon)

Todd Field (Tár)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Baz Luhrmann (Elvis)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Sarah Polley (Women Talking)

Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King)

S.S. Rajamouli (RRR)

Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

Best Actor

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Paul Mescal (Aftersun)

Bill Nighy (Living)

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Danielle Deadwyler (Till)

Margot Robbie (Babylon)

Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Dano (The Fabelmans)

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)

Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Jessie Buckley (Women Talking)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At One)

Janelle Monáe (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)

A full list of nominees can be found here. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once garners the most nominations, with a whopping 14 nods. Spielberg's semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans gets 11, whilst The Banshees Of Inisherin and Babylon tie for third with nine apiece. 

The 28th Critics' Choice Awards will be handed out on Sunday 15th January 2023. Broadcast on The CW, Chelsea Handler takes hosting duties for the first time. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

Awards season takes a brief pause over the Christmas period, with the Golden Globes ceremony our next stop, on 10th January 2023.

Awards Season 2023: Golden Globes Nominations

Today (Monday 12th December 2022) saw the announcement of the nominees for the 80th Golden Globe Awards, awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Actresses Mayan Lopez (Lopez Vs. Lopez) and Selenis Leyva (Orange Is The New Black, Spider-Man: Homecoming) made the announcement.  

As longtime readers of the blog will be aware, the HFPA split their awards, giving certain categories for both Drama and Musical or Comedy, rather than just going for the out-and-out drama as most awards tend to do.

Below is a selection of the film nominees: 

Best Picture - Drama

Avatar: The Way Of Water

Elvis

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun Maverick

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy

Babylon

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Triangle Of Sadness

Best Director

James Cameron (Avatar: The Way Of Water)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Baz Luhrmann (Elvis)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

Best Actor - Drama

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Hugh Jackman (The Son)

Bill Nighy (Living)

Jeremy Pope (The Inspection)

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy

Diego Calva (Babylon)

Daniel Craig (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)

Adam Driver (White Noise)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ralph Fiennes (The Menu)

Best Actress - Drama

Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Olivia Colman (Empire Of Light)

Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy

Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris)

Margot Robbie (Babylon)

Anya Taylor-Joy (The Menu)

Emma Thompson (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brad Pitt (Babylon)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Dolly de Leon (Triangle Of Sadness)

Carey Mulligan (She Said)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

The Banshees Of Inisherin gets the most film nominations, with eight total. Everything Everywhere All At Once comes in second with six, and Babylon has five. 

I'm pleased to see The Banshees Of Inisherin doing so well, as it was a thoroughly enjoyable dark comedy. I'm also glad to see Angela Bassett's nod for her stoic and dignified performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. 

The Golden Globes will be handed out in a ceremony on Tuesday 10th January 2023. After a year away from being broadcast (due to the myriad issues the HFPA were going through), it'll be back on screens (shown on NBC), with stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael hosting. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

On Wednesday (14th December), the Critics' Choice Award nominees will be announced. 

For Your Consideration: Possible Contenders For Awards Season 2023

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-