Well, would you look at that? It's almost time for awards season to ramp up again.
Starting this coming Friday (16th November) and going through til 24th February, it's going to be three months (more or less) of trophies, statuettes and gushing praise. So if you're a fan of this hoopla, welcome to the madness. If you're not, there'll still be other stuff happening on the blog, so don't worry.
As I've done nearly every year since the blog has been running- - I've had a look back at the major festivals of the year to see if I can glean potential award bait for the upcoming season. As usual, I think there's a case of some stone cold certs, a few potentials and a few never-in-a-month-of-Sundays. So here we go!
A Star Is Born is virtually guaranteed to be nominated left, right and centre. This is the fourth version of the film and all previous versions (1937, 1954 and 1976) have been nominated for- and won- several high-profile awards. Bradley Cooper's direction has been praised highly (for a debut director) and his performance and that of Lady Gaga have been warmly received by fans and critics alike. Several of the original songs might also be featured.
La La Land director Damien Chazelle reunites with leading man Ryan Gosling for First Man, a biopic of Neil Armstrong. Focusing first on the man then on the mission which saw him set foot on the Moon, it's a considered and technically accomplished piece of film-making. It should have a strong showing in the technical fields, with Gosling potentially a Best Actor nod and Claire Foy a Best Supporting Actress nominee for her turn as Armstrong's wife Janet.
Intrigue. Plotting. Sex. The Favourite has it all. In the early Eighteenth Century, in the last years of Queen Anne's reign, a struggle for the Queen's favour begins between an established courtier and a new servant. Now, I'm the first to admit that I wasn't a massive fan of Yorgos Lanthimos' last film (The Killing Of A Sacred Deer bored me rigid) so the thought of seeing The Favourite felt more like a chore than a pleasure. But there's a very strong cast- Olivia Colman won the Best Actress award at Venice for her turn as the frail Queen Anne, whilst Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone complete the triangle with their turns as the old confidante and the new blood. Expect to see all three names feature heavily.
Christian Bale gives another incredible physical transformation to play former Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice, the latest film by Adam McKay (The Big Short). Focusing on Cheney's rise to the second most powerful position in America, there's a starry cast playing the real-life figures in the White House. This year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Sam Rockwell plays George W. Bush, whilst Amy Adams takes the role of Cheney's wife Lynne.
Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Awards, Green Book is a biographical comedy-drama directed by Peter Farrelly. Yep, THAT Peter Farrelly. Shallow Hall, Dumb And Dumber, Movie 43 Peter Farrelly. But then we live in interesting times where Eli Roth can make a family film, so all bets are off. It's the chalk-and-cheese story of a fast-talking Italian-American bouncer who becomes a driver for a black pianist on a tour of venues in the American South in the 1960s. Viggo Mortensen plays Tony (although he may have inadvertently scuppered his chances by the unfortunate use of a certain racial epithet during an interview) whilst Mahershala Ali gives a nuanced and dignified turn as the pianist Don Shirley. Expect to see this film come up a lot.
Alfonso Cuaron's most personal film to date, Roma took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Not only did Cuaron write and direct the film, he also acted as his own cinematographer. A cast of relative unknowns and non-actors help tell the story of a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s. Yalitza Aparicio's central turn as Cleo has been critically acclaimed, as has the whole production. However, the fact that it's been distributed by Netflix may cause some issues in terms of wider awards recognition as some bodies won't count any streaming service films.
BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee's riotous take on the incredible true story of Ron Stallworth, a Black police officer who managed to infiltrate the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, may have the social relevance and clout to do well. Performances by John David Washington (as Stallworth) and Adam Driver (as Stallworth's workmake Flip) have been praised, as has the script and Lee's direction.
Barry Jenkins follows up Moonlight with an adaptation of the James Baldwin novel If Beale Street Could Talk. The story of a pregnant young woman from Harlem who desperately tries to prove that her fiance is innocent of assault, If Beale Street Could Talk has a strong ensemble cast, with the performances of KiKi Layne and Regina King particularly praised. The score, by Nicholas Britell, and the script, adapted by Jenkins, have also been praised highly.
Two 'Boy's may feature heavily. The first is Beautiful Boy, an adaptation of memoirs from a father and son (David and Nic Sheff) exploring the family's experience of Nic's drug addiction. It's a weighty and heavy subject and the performances by Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet have been acclaimed, so expect to see their names mentioned. The other 'Boy' film deals with a similarly weighty subject: that of gay conversion. Boy Erased, based on a memoir by Garrard Conley, tells the story of Jared Eamons, a Baptist preacher's son (played by Lucas Hedges) who is outed by his parents then forced into a gay conversion program. Hedges' central performance is a strong one, whilst there's been praise for the performances by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman as Jared's parents.
However, Kidman could alternatively be in the running for a Best Actress nod with her stunning central turn in Karyn Kusama's Destroyer, playing an LAPD detective whose past comes back to haunt her. Widows- directed by Steve McQueen (Shame, 12 Years A Slave)- updates the 1983 Lynda La Plante mini-series from London to Chicago. Early buzz has suggested stroing performances by Viola Davis and Elizabeth Debicki, which may well translate into acting nominations. Meanwhile, Glenn Close has been getting some of the best reviews of her career- no mean feat- for her role in The Wife, as the titular spouse behind a Nobel Prize-winning writer, so she may well figure.
With the success of Get Out during this year's awards season, we could see a couple of horror films feature throughout the 2019 season. One of the most likely nominations will be for Toni Collette's anguished and intense performance in Ari Aster's Hereditary. Similarly, Luca Guadagnino's retelling of Dario Argento's Suspiria may feature in the technical awards- as its soundtrack by Thom Yorke has been widely praised and some of the visual effects are impressive (if a little... squishy). I would have said there'd be a potential Supporting Actress nod for Tilda Swinton as the icy Madame Blanc but that looks less and less likely the more you find out about the film.
The awards bodies do love a biopic, so expect to see the following films mentioned:
- Can You Ever Forgive Me? - a rare dramatic role for Melissa McCarthy in the story of Lee Israel, a celebrity biographer and prolific art forger. Richard E. Grant has also been praised for his supporting turn as Lee's louche friend Jack.
- At Eternity's Gate - having won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival, Willem Dafoe may well get some awards love for his portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh during the troubled painter's final years
- Bohemian Rhapsody - Rami Malek gives an uncanny turn as the flamboyant Freddie Mercury, frontman of Queen, in this otherwise patchy and middling film.
- Mary Queen Of Scots - either Margot Robbie or Saoirse Ronan (or indeed both actresses) could well be nominated for their work in this biopic of the rivalry and the- ultimately failed- attempt to supplant Elizabeth I (Robbie) on the throne with Mary Stuart (Ronan).
This just leaves one big question: will Black Panther get a Best Picture nomination?
There's always a sniffiness to comic-book or genre movies as if they're somehow lesser artforms. Cobblers. They still require a lot of hard work and graft, just as any refined drama or biopic. But they tend to be relegated to the technical awards as a bit of a sop. Even plans to introduce a new Oscar- Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film- have been postponed (which Black Panther was widely expected to win, despite there being no criteria for what films would get a nomination- box-office gross? Rotten Tomatoes rating?), so really it's anyone's guess. On a personal level, I found the acting and the direction, the visual effects and the very tight script, to be among the best of cinema for the last year. Hopefully, the award bodies may start to think the same.
The timetable for the major awards in 2019 is as follows:
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Nominations announced: 16th November 2018
Awards ceremony: 23rd February 2019
Golden Globes
Nominations announced: 6th December 2018
Awards ceremony: 6th January 2019
Critics' Choice Awards
Nominations announced: 10th December 2018
Awards ceremony: 13th January 2019
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards
Nominations announced: 12th December 2019
Awards ceremony: 27th January 2019
Producers' Guild Of America (PGA) Award
Nominations announced: 4th January 2019
Awards ceremony: 19th January 2019
Writers' Guild Of America (WGA) Award
Nominations announced: 7th January 2019
Awards ceremony: 17th February 2019
Directors' Guild Of America (DGA) Award
Nominations announced: 8th January 2019
Awards ceremony: 2nd February 2019
BAFTA Film Awards
Nominations announced: 9th January 2019
Awards ceremony: 10th February 2019
Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies)
Nominations announced: 21st January 2019
Awards ceremony: 23rd February 2019
Academy Awards (Oscars)
Nominations announced: 22nd January 2019
Awards ceremony: 24th February 2019
So, as you can see, there's plenty going on to keep us busy over the cold winter months. So, in the words of Ed Wood's Bela Lugosi (and apologies for the vulgarity)...
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