The Watchers Review Of 2019 (Part One)

Our Review of 2019 is now available, in a handy two-part podcast!

In the first part, we discuss the films we liked/enjoyed/didn't think sucked. Matt also gives his review of the best horror films of 2019.



Part 2, where we sharpen our claws and get certain grievances off our chests, will be released shortly. 

Awards Season 2019: The 91st Academy Awards

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

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

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

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

Onto the awards themselves.

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

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

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

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

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


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

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Green Book

Best Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Best Actress: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

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

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

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

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

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

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Roma

Best Cinematography: Roma

Best Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Production Design: Black Panther

Best Costume Design: Black Panther

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Vice

Best Original Score: Black Panther

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

Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Visual Effects: First Man

Best Documentary (Feature): Free Solo

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

Best Animated Short Film: Bao

Best Live Action Short Film: Skin

Congratulations to all winners!


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

Tez

Awards Season 2019: BAFTA Film Awards Winners

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

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

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners:

Best Film: Roma

Outstanding British Film: The Favourite

Leading Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Leading Actress: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Original Screenplay: The Favourite

Adapted Screenplay: BlacKkKlansman

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

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

Documentary: Free Solo

Film Not In The English Language: Roma

Cinematography: Roma

Costume Design: The Favourite

Editing: Vice

Make Up And Hair: The Favourite

Original Music: A Star Is Born

Production Design: The Favourite

Sound: Bohemian Rhapsody

Special Visual Effects: Black Panther

Short Animation: Roughhouse

Short Film: 73 Cows

Rising Star: Letitia Wright

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

BAFTA Fellowship: Thelma Schoonmaker


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

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

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

Congratulations to all winners!

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

The Watchers Film Show Podcast: January 2019

Our latest podcast is available here!

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

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

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

Awards Season 2019: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier today, here is a selection of the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlackKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

BEST DIRECTOR

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) 

Adam McKay (Vice)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale (Vice)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Sam Rockwell (Vice)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Vice)

Marina de Tavira (Roma)

Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

By my reckoning, that's 28 out of 33 for a prediction success rate of 85%. I'll take that! 

A couple of surprise nominations for Roma in the acting categories (although Yalitza Aparicio's name has cropped up previously) and a few surprises in Best Director too- I can imagine Pawel Pawlikowski is over the moon at the moment. Otherwise, everything pretty much went as expected. I'm particularly pleased for the nomination for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse for Best Animated Feature and the love for Can You Ever Forgive Me? (two superb performances rightly recognised, along with a superb script). 

As predicted, Black Panther is the first mainstream superhero movie to get a Best Picture Oscar nod. I've just looked out of the window and- well, I never- the sky hasn't fallen and the End of Days hasn't begun. Hopefully, this will be an encouragement to the Academy members to perhaps broaden their horizons somewhat?

If my calculations are correct, Roma and The Favourite both get 10 nominations apiece, while A Star Is Born and Vice both get eight. 

The 91st Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday February 24th. It's looking likely that, for the first time in 30 years, the ceremony won't have a main host- but will still have guest presenters to announce each award.  

Huge congratulations to all nominees!

Next up for awards season is the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards this coming Sunday (27th January), so there'll be a post about that early next week. 

Awards Season 2019: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

Tomorrow (22nd January), the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced.

This year, there'll be a two-part live presentation where the nominations for all 24 categories will be announced. This'll be hosted by Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, Silicon Valley) and Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish, Girlfriends), and will start at its traditional time of 5:20am PST [which makes it the more palatable time of 1:20pm here in the UK]. I have to say, I quite liked last year's mix of video and live presentation. 

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. 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.

BEST PICTURE

A Star Is Born

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

If Beale Street Could Talk

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

Vice

BEST DIRECTOR

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Peter Farrelly (Green Book)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Adam McKay (Vice)

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale (Vice)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

BEST ACTRESS

Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns)

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Timothee Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Vice)

Claire Foy (First Man)

Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

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, it was 29 out of 34 as I didn't reckon on the love for Phantom Thread.  

As usual, there's been a solid core of nominees in each category with the occasional variation. The variation is where things are interesting. 

I went with all the DGA nominees, but Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) might get a nod in place of Peter Farrelly for Best Director. 

In Best Actor (and, in fact, with all of the acting categories), I would be confident in 4 out of 5 of the nominations- with Willem Dafoe the most likely to be replaced by another actor. You could easily see John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman), Ethan Hawke (First Reformed), or maybe even Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased) or- a bit of a longshot- Ryan Gosling (First Man) in his place. Given the Academy's propensity for chucking in at least one curveball, you might see Yalitza Aparicio (Roma) or Toni Collette (Hereditary) in place of Emily Blunt in the Best Actress category. 

In the Best Supporting Actor category, last year's winner Sam Rockwell could be nominated for his turn as George W. Bush in Vice in place of Sam Elliott (although I chose Elliott as he got the SAG nomination). Finally, in the Best Supporting Actress race, I wouldn't be surprised if Margot Robbie gets nominated for Mary Queen Of Scots in place of Claire Foy. 

So what do you reckon? Am I on the right track or barking up the wrong tree? If you were a member of the Academy, who would you vote for?

I'll update the blog with my thoughts on the official nominees tomorrow afternoon. 

Awards Season 2019: Critics' Choice Movie Award Winners

Last night (13th January), the Critics' Choice Awards were handed out. Here's a full list of film winners:

Best Picture: Roma

Best Actor: Christian Bale (Vice)

Best Actress: Glenn Close (The Wife) and Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) (tie)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

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

Best Acting Ensemble: The Favourite

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Best Original Screenplay: First Reformed

Best Adapted Screenplay: If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Comedy: Crazy Rich Asians

Best Actor In A Comedy: Christian Bale (Vice)

Best Actress In A Comedy: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Action Movie: Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie: A Quiet Place

Best Foreign Language Film: Roma

Best Score: First Man

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

Best Production Design: Black Panther

Best Editing: First Man

Best Costume Design: Black Panther

Best Hair & Makeup: Vice

Best Visual Effects: Black Panther

Best Cinematography: Roma

Best Young Actor/Actress: Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade)


Roma was the big winner of the night with four awards, whilst Vice and Black Panther took home three apiece (and Vice winning two awards for Christian Bale's performance as Dick Cheney). 

In terms of the acting awards, Golden Globe winners continue their streak (and take another step towards the Oscars) - although, sadly, Olivia Colman may get overshadowed when the awards body doesn't separate comedy and drama as the momentum is certainly behind Glenn Close at the moment. In other categories, nothing seems massively controversial. I was pleased with the wins for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, 'Shallow', and A Quiet Place (in a bit of a oh-that's-nice kind of way). 

Congratulations to all winners!

So, next up with awards season, it's the PGA Awards this coming Friday (19th January) so I'll do a quick post about that over the weekend. 

Awards Season 2019: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

Morning all!

In recent years, the British Academy have started taking a cue from their American counterpart by announcing the nominations for their annual film awards at an early morning press conference (although, thankfully, not as early as 5:30am). But it was at the slightly more respectable time of 07:30 this morning (9th January) that Will Poulter and Hayley Squires announced this year's BAFTA Film Award nominees.

Here's a selection of the nominees:

BEST FILM

BlackKkKlansman

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star Is Born

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

Beast

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

McQueen

Stan & Ollie

You Were Never Really Here

LEADING ACTOR

Christian Bale (Vice)

Steve Coogan (Stan & Ollie)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

LEADING ACTRESS

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Viola Davis (Widows)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Timothee Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Sam Rockwell (Vice)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Vice)

Claire Foy (First Man)

Margot Robbie (Mary Queen Of Scots)

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

DIRECTOR

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

The Favourite is indeed the favourite with a staggering 12 nominations, with Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, Roma, and A Star Is Born with seven apiece. Interestingly, of Roma's seven nods, Alfonso Cuaron is nominated for six of them! (Must be some kind of record, surely?). Mind you, of A Star Is Born's seven, Bradley Cooper has five. 

Pretty much the same names that you've come to expect throughout the season- although Steve Coogan's nod was a nice touch, and it was interesting to see the director choices (this is Pawlikowski's first nomination in this awards season). This is also Viola Davis' first nomination this season. Widows as a whole seems to have been overlooked somewhat. That said, it's been a strong year for film, so not everything is going to get the recognition it perhaps should.  

This year's EE Rising Star nominees are Jessie Buckley, Cynthia Erivo, Barry Keoghan, Lakeith Stanfield, and Letitia Wright. 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 10th February with the utterly radiant and sublime Joanna Lumley hosting for a second year.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next up is the Critics' Choice Awards on Sunday 13th January, so there'll be a post about that on Monday (14th January)

Awards Season 2019: Golden Globes Winners

Last night, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film, in a ceremony hosted by Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) and Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine).

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Green Book

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Best Actor (Drama): Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Christian Bale (Vice)

Best Actress (Drama): Glenn Close (The Wife)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

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

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

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz (First Man)

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

Best Foreign Language Film: Roma

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

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Jeff Bridges


Green Book was the main winner of the evening, with three awards, whilst Bohemian Rhapsody and Roma won two each. 

The Golden Globes can be a good barometer for the way awards season is going, as it is generallly one of the first major awards to be handed out. Last year, all four acting Oscar winners won at the Golden Globes (although it should be pointed out that it was the Best Actor and Actress- Drama that took home the Academy Award). So that puts Rami Malek and Glenn Close in a good position, although going into the event, I think few people would have tagged them as winners. 

In fact, many outlets are calling Close's win the biggest surprise of the night (with many assuming that it would be Lady Gaga's night). But how much of a surprise is it really that an actress of the calibre of Glenn Close giving what many critics have called the performance of her career (and with a career like hers, that's no mean feat) should win an award that she's been nominated for? If she hadn't been nominated at all and Gary Oldman had just decided to give the award to her... now that would be a surprise!

[On a connected but separate note, can we stop using the term 'snub' for when people don't win? It's frankly a bit of an insult to those that do. You may think that your person did a better job, but to use the word 'snub' is to undermine and undervalue the work of those that did win.]

Whilst Oh's and Samberg's opening might have lacked the bite of previous years, they made for an affable and pleasant pairing. Other standout moments include Regina King committing to make sure that everything she produces in the next two years will be 50% women; Jeff Bridges' humble (if not a bit bizarre) acceptance speech where he 'tagged' the audience and suggested that people be 'rudders' for society to change, and  Christian Bale thanking Satan for giving him 'inspiration' for playing Dick Cheney in Vice, which makes a change from people thanking God, I guess. 

In addition to Bale and Colman's film wins, Richard Madden and Ben Whishaw won Golden Globes for their performances in Bodyguard and A Very English Scandal respectively, so A Good Night For The Brits(TM).

Finally, the legend that is Carol Burnett was the inaugural recipient of a new Golden Globe Award which has been named after her. It's the television equivalent to the Cecil B. DeMille Award and will honour a lifetime achievement in television work. Her acceptance speech was touching and wonderful, and she deserves this plaudit. And if they're looking for nominees for next year, might I humbly suggest either Bob Newhart or Lily Tomlin?



There'll be more awards stuff tomorrow (Tuesday 8th) as the Directors' Guild Award announce their nominees, whilst the Writers' Guild Awards were announced today. I'll recap both tomorrow then share the BAFTA nominations on Wednesday. 

Awards Season 2019: Producers' Guild Awards (PGA) Nominations

And we are back to Awards Season today (4th January) with the announcement of this year's PGA Awards nominees. The film nominees are as follows:

PRODUCERS' GUILD OF AMERICA (PGA) AWARDS NOMINATIONS

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

Black Panther

BlackKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

Crazy Rich Asians

The Favourite

Green Book

A Quiet Place

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

A lot of names present and correct. In the past few years, the PGA have included genre/comic-book movies in their lists (Wonder Woman last year, Deadpool in 2017) but they've been an exception, not the rule. This definitely strengthens Black Panther's chances of a Best Picture nod. Interesting to see A Quiet Place nominated in place of some other awards favourites (such as If Beale Street Could Talk or Mary Poppins Returns), but- as noted above- the PGA will often march to the beat of its own drum. I think we'll see 8 of the above in the Oscar Best Picture category.

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Dr Seuss' The Grinch

Incredibles 2

Isle Of Dogs

Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Not really much to say on this, apart from I'm really pleased to see Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse included (and I hope the Academy see fit to follow suit on January 22nd). 

Documentary Film (previously announced)

The Dawn Wall

Free Solo

Hal

Into The Okavango

RBG

Three Identical Strangers

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

A strong year for documentary films, with four on the list I'd like to see (Free Solo, RBG, Three Identical Strangers, and Won't You Be My Neighbor?). I would like to see three of those featuring on the Academy's list. 


The PGA Awards will be handed out on 19th January. Congratulations to all nominees!


Just to give advance warning, next week is a bit heavy with the awards season stuff with the Golden Globe results, more Guild Award nominees, and the BAFTA Film nominations all to come, plus the Critics' Choice results. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say...

Happy New Year from The Watchers!

Happy New Year!

Hopefully 2019 has got off to a good start for you all, and you had a wonderful and joyful Christmas (wherever you are and however you spent it).

A whole new 12 months sit before us, full of cinematic goodies like The Favourite, Green Book, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Glass, The Lego Movie 2, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Beautiful Boy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Happy Death Day 2U, Hellboy, John Wick Chapter 3, Rocketman, Toy Story 4, IT: Chapter 2, Joker, Avengers: Endgame, and Star Wars Episode IX to look forward to. 

We'll be reviewing these and many more as the months pass by, so keep your eyes on the blog and your ears on the podcast (don't get those two mixed up - it never ends well). 

Our very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2019!

The Watchers

(Rhys, Matt & Tez)

Awards Season 2019: SAG Awards Nominations

More awards shenanigans with today's announcement of the nominations for the 25th Annual 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 the list of film nominations:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

A Star Is Born

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

Crazy Rich Asians

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale (Vice)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns)

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Timothee Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams (Vice)

Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place)

Margot Robbie (Mary Queen of Scots)

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Generally speaking, a lot of the same names are cropping up, which will make things a bit easier when it comes to predicting the Oscar predictions. 

However, there are couple of surprises (mainly Emily Blunt's two nominations). Perhaps her Leading Actress one is less of a surprise- other awards bodies have seen fit to recognise the performance, and Julie Andrews did win her Oscar for playing Mary Poppins, so... and I sadly haven't watched A Quiet Place (it was one I missed, but wanted to see) so I can't comment.

Interesting that SAG have gone with John David Washington over performances such as Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate), Ryan Gosling (First Man) and Ethan Hawke (First Reformed). A total shut-out for If Beale Street Could Talk is also surprising, as Regina King's performance has been highly praised. It's also the first mention of Margot Robbie this season, for her performance as Elizabeth I (yes, you did read that right).

A Star Is Born has four nominations, whilst BlacKkKlansman and The Favourite have three apiece.The SAG Awards will be handed out on Sunday January 27th 2019. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Those of you not disposed to awards season will be pleased to know we take a bit of a break here over the Christmas period. So this is the last awards post of 2018. The next awards season post will be on 4th January, when the Producers' Guild (PGA) Award nominations will be announced. 

Awards Season 2019: Critics' Choice Movie Awards Nominations

So, more awards season frippery today with the announcement of the nominations for the 24th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards.

Here are a selection of their nominees:

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlackKkKlansman

The Favourite

First Man 

Green Book

If Beale Street Could Talk

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle (First Man)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Peter Farrelly (Green Book)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Adam McKay (Vice)

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale (Vice)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate)

Ryan Gosling (First Man)

Ethan Hawke (First Reformed)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)

Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns)

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Toni Collette (Hereditary)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Timothee Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Vice)

Claire Foy (First Man)

Nicole Kidman (Boy Erased)

Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

A full list of nominees can be found here

 So, a lot of the same names have cropped up again, solidifying their chances of an Oscar nomination. The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) who give out the Critics' Choice Awards have followed the HFPA- the awarding body for the Golden Globes- in giving Black Panther a nomination for Best Picture. It'll be interesting to see whether other award bodies do the same. 

The Critics' Choice Awards also recognise individual categories for action movies, sci-fi/horror (bizarrely lumped in together), and comedy, so there are nods for Avengers: Infinity War, A Quiet Place, Suspiria, Deadpool 2, and The Death Of Stalin as well. As there are these separate categories, Christian Bale, Viggo Mortensen, Emily Blunt, and Olivia Colman all get two nominations for the same role (one in the Best Actor/Actress and another in Best Actor/Actress in A Comedy), whilst The Favourite is nominated for Best Picture and Best Comedy. 

The Favourite does certainly seem to be the favourite, leading nominations with an impressive 14! Black Panther is no slouch, though, with 12 and First Man is actually third with 10. 

The Critics' Choice Awards will be handed out on Sunday January 13th 2019. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Our final stop on the Awards Season trail- before we take a break over the Christmas period- is the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards which are being announced on Wednesday (12th December).