Awards Season 2020: Razzies Nominations

Providing some much-needed levity in what can often be an awards season that takes itself entirely too seriously, this year's Golden Raspberry Awards nominations have been announced this morning. The Razzie voters have considered "a bumper crop of cinematic crud" (yep, even the Razzies thought 2019 was a bad year for film) and come up with their list dishonouring the worst in film. 

It will, I suppose, come as little surprise to most that a certain CGI-heavy feline-inspired musical features heavily. 

Here are the full nominations for the 40th Annual Razzie Awards 

WORST PICTURE

Cats

The Fanatic

The Haunting Of Sharon Tate

A Madea Family Funeral

Rambo: Last Blood

WORST ACTRESS

Hilary Duff (The Haunting Of Sharon Tate)

Anne Hathaway (The Hustle and Serenity)

Francesca Hayward (Cats)

Tyler Perry (as Madea) (A Madea Family Funeral)

Rebel Wilson (The Hustle)

WORST ACTOR

James Franco (Zeroville)

David Harbour (Hellboy)

Matthew McConaughey (Serenity)

Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: Last Blood)

John Travolta (The Fanatic and Trading Paint)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

James Corden (Cats)

Tyler Perry (as Joe) (A Madea Family Funeral)

Tyler Perry (as Uncle Heathrow) (A Madea Family Funeral)

Seth Rogen (Zeroville)

Bruce Willis (Glass)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain (Dark Phoenix)

Cassi Davis (A Madea Family Funeral)

Judi Dench (Cats)

Fenessa Pineda (Rambo: First Blood)

Rebel Wilson (Cats)

WORST SCREEN COMBO

Any Two Half-Feline/Half-Human Hairballs (Cats)

Jason Derulo & His CGI-Neutered Bulge (Cats)

Tyler Perry & Tyler Perry (or Tyler Perry) (A Madea Family Funeral)

Sylvester Stallone & His Impotent Rage (Rambo: Last Blood)

John Travolta & Any Screenplay He Accepts

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL

Dark Phoenix

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

Hellboy

A Madea Family Funeral

Rambo: Last Blood

WORST DIRECTOR

Fred Durst (The Fanatic)

James Franco (Zeroville)

Adrian Grunberg (Rambo: Last Blood)

Tom Hooper (Cats)

Neil Marshall (Hellboy)

WORST SCREENPLAY

Cats

The Haunting Of Sharon Tate

Hellboy

A Madea Family Funeral

Rambo: Last Blood

WORST RECKLESS DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE AND PUBLIC PROPERTY

Dragged Across Concrete

The Haunting Of Sharon Tate

Hellboy

Joker

Rambo: Last Blood

RAZZIE REDEEMER

Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name)

Keanu Reeves (John Wick 3 and Toy Story 4)

Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems)

Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers)

Will Smith (Aladdin)

Cats ("the widely derided feline flop"), A Madea Family Funeral (Tyler Perry's 12th- and apparently last- Madea film; guess the Razzies voters didn't want to miss their chance to let him know what they really think) and Rambo: Last Blood ("Stallone's assaulting to the senses/insulting to the intelligence blood-drenched sequel") lead the pack with eight nods apiece. 

There are a couple of films- particularly Hellboy and Dark Phoenix- who can probably thank the unmitigated disasters that are Cats and A Madea Family Funeral from keeping them out of more categories. 

A new category has been added this year to point out films that show a reckless disregard for human life and public property (so, in future years, expect to see any big-budget blockbuster that razes a city to the ground with nary a thought). It's utterly petty, I know, but man I really REALLY hope Joker wins. [Whilst there are several previous Oscar nominees and winners included in this mishagoss, Joker is the only Oscar-nominated film this year to also get a Razzie nod]

Considering the accelerated timetable for this year's Oscars, the Razzies have said "to hell with it" and are announcing things in their own sweet time. As it stands, there's no date given for the 40th Razzies ceremony but it's going to be televised!We'll definitely be covering it though.

This is the first of several awards posts for the weekend, as tonight (Saturday 8th February) is the Film Independent Spirit Awards and tomorrow is the big one- the 92nd Academy Awards. We're almost there...

Awards Season 2013: The 85th Annual Academy Awards

So last night saw the 85th Annual Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This year's Annual Giving Out Of The Little Gold Naked Men (as the Razzies call it) was occasionally funny, occasionally touching and sometimes cringeworthy but nonetheless a great celebration of film.

Seth MacFarlane took up hosting duties for the first time this year and I was a little nonplussed by him, if I'm honest. His opening schtick was nearly twenty minutes long and felt like it, and a few nice touches aside (Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron dancing, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt joining him for 'High Hopes') it wasn't great. Whilst the idea of having William Shatner come on as Captain Kirk and show MacFarlane destroying the Oscars might have sounded good in theory, in practice it didn't work so well. After he settled into the role, things improved but I don't expect the Academy to be beating his door down to host again. But I will say this: Sally Field is incredibly game for a laugh.

The theme for this year's ceremony was 'music in movies' and a lot of the incidental music was done well- I particularly liked the use of the iconic Jaws theme music as a kind of countdown to wrap the speeches up. I particularly loved the celebration of movie musicals, with Catherine Zeta-Jones vamping it up through a brilliant rendition of 'All That Jazz' from Chicago, Jennifer Hudson belting out 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going' from Dreamgirls and the cast of Les Miserables doing a medley of 'Suddenly', 'I Dreamed A Dream' and 'One Day More'. There were also storming performances by Shirley Bassey (singing 'Goldfinger' during the brilliant tribute to 50 Years Of James Bond) and Adele ('Skyfall', naturally). Barbra Streisand also gave a touching rendition of 'The Way We Were' and a personal tribute to the late Marvin Hamlisch at the end of the In Memoriam segment.

As usual, the guest presenters were very hit-and-miss: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy were deeply, almost painfully, unfunny hosting Best Animated Short and Best Animated Feature, and the cast of The Avengers just about muddled through their awards (with Samuel L Jackson proving the best of them). Mark Wahlberg and Ted were pretty good hosting Sound Mixing and Sound Editing (even with Ted's expected Jewish joke) whilst Christopher Plummer was absolutely great presenting the Best Supporting Actress award. There was also a surprise co-presented for Best Picture... none other than First Lady Michelle Obama!

So, on to the awards themselves.

I was amazed to find my predictions were 100% right. Really wasn't expecting it. I did like that each of the acting winners acknowledged their fellow nominees; it shows a certain level of class, I think. All four nominees were well deserving of their honours. Jennifer Lawrence becomes the second youngest winner of the Best Actress Oscar (second only to Marlee Matlin who won for Children Of A Lesser God) and her speech was controlled and tight, despite her tripping on the stairs on the way up. Christoph Waltz has two Oscars from two nominations, which can't be at all bad. The Best Supporting Actor award was the first one awarded in the ceremony, so at least he got it over with early. Anne Hathaway's acceptance speech was lovely and Daniel Day-Lewis's was probably the best of the evening: how I would have loved to see him play Margaret Thatcher! Day-Lewis now has a unique place in Oscar history as the first actor to win three Best Lead Actor Oscars, and well-deserved it is too.

There was no real runaway winner this year. Life Of Pi won four Oscars (Best Director, Cinematography, Original Score and Visual Effects), with Argo (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing) and Les Miserables (Best Supporting Actress, Sound Mixing and Make-Up) with three each. Lincoln, Django Unchained and Skyfall all walked away with two Oscars apiece. I was over the moon that 'Skyfall' won Best Original Song, and was pleased that Paperman won Best Animated Short- I caught that before Wreck-It Ralph recently and thought it was beautiful.

---------------- 
Below is the full list of winners at the 85th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Argo

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)

Best Director: Ang Lee (Life of Pi) 

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio (Argo)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Brave 

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Amour

Best Cinematography: Life of Pi

Best Editing: Argo

Best Production Design: Lincoln 

Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Misérables

Best Original Score: Life of Pi 

Best Original Song: 'Skyfall'

Best Sound Mixing: Les Misérables

Best Sound Editing: Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty (tied)

Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi

Best Documentary (Feature): Searching for Sugar Man

Best Documentary (Short Subject): Inocente

Best Animated Short Film: Paperman 

Best Live Action Short Film: Curfew 


Congratulations to all winners!

Tez

Programme 27: Les Miserables, Django Unchained, Gangster Squad and Musicals

The Watchers Film Show: Ep 27 from The Watchers Film Show on Vimeo.

Programme 27 is our first show of 2013... and it's a giant!

With the release of Les Miserables, Tez and Rhys discuss their favourite big-screen musicals and also cast their eye over Les Mis itself. 

To balance things out, there's also reviews of Gangster Squad and Django Unchained; plus Tez talks Oscars and there's the usual round-up of movie news.

Enjoy!

Awards Season 2013: Golden Globes Winners

Last night, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of this year's Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film. Hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the Golden Globes are often seen as a precursor to who will win at the Oscars.

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Argo

Best Motion Picture (Musical Or Comedy): Les Miserables

Best Director: Ben Affleck (Argo)

Best Actor (Drama): Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Actor (Musical Or Comedy): Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

Best Actress (Drama): Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Actress (Musical Or Comedy): Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

Best Screenplay: Django Unchained

Best Original Score: Life of Pi

Best Original Song: 'Skyfall' (Skyfall)

Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Best Animated Feature: Brave

Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Jodie Foster

The acting categories fell pretty much as most critics and pundits expected; Waltz' win here puts him slightly ahead of a distinguished field for Best Supporting Actor, although various critics circles have awarded that prize to several actors during this awards season- there's been no clear runaway winner as there has been in previous years. 

What will be interesting is to see whether the win for Argo enhances its chances for Best Picture. 

Another pretty reliable barometer for Oscars success are the various Guild Awards which are due in the coming month. The Guild Awards are usually voted for by producers, writers, directors etc. who are also a member of the Academy, so their voting patterns can be quite telling as to who picks up the Oscar.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Awards Season 2013: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

On  Tuesday 10th January, at 5:38am PST, in the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man, Gangster Squad, The Help) and this year's Oscar ceremony host Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad, Ted) will announce the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards, due to be held on Sunday 24th February. 

Usually, an Oscar-nominated or -winning actor or actress accompanies the current President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to announce the nominations, but they're trying something a little different. Incidentally, this is the first time since 1972 (and only the second time overall) that the Oscar host has been involved in co-announcing the nominations. 

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 on Tuesday.

NB. Just like last year, 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

Argo

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Life Of Pi

Lincoln

The Master

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST DIRECTOR

Ben Affleck (Argo)

Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Tom Hooper (Les Miserables)

Ang Lee (Life Of Pi)

Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

BEST ACTOR

Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

John Hawkes (The Sessions)

Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Marion Cotillard (Rust And Bone)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Alan Arkin (Argo)

Robert de Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams (The Master)

Sally Field (Lincoln)

Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy)

As usual, I think there are some definites, a few maybes and perhaps a couple of WTFs in my predictions.

The Best Director category is wide open with several names vying for the spots- I went with Tom Hooper based on his DGA nomination but we could see Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) or Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master) sneaking in. 

Similarly, the acting nominations are quite open- it's entirely possible that Denzel Washington could get nominated for his lead role in Flight (at the expense of either Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman or Joaquin Phoenix; I'd say Daniel Day-Lewis is a cast-iron cert). In Best Actress, there's also the chance that Helen Mirren could sneak it for Hitchcock or nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis for Beasts Of The Southern Wild. 

I had the most difficulty selecting the Best Supporting categories this year, with several decent performances all getting recognition by critics circles or one of the other major awards. Waltz's castmate in Django Unchained- Leonardo DiCaprio- could get a Best Supporting Actor nomination, but there's always the chance that Matthew McConaughey could sneak in for Magic Mike or even Javier Bardem for Skyfall. On the subject of Skyfall, it could also be a Best Supporting Actress nod for Judi Dench or recognition for fellow Dame Maggie Smith for her fun turn in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. 

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. I'll add the official nominations once they're announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Tez

Programme 18 - Batman Special (including The Dark Knight Rises)

Programme 18 is now available! 


In our Batman Special, we take a retrospective look at the other films in the Batman franchise (going back to the 1940s black-and-white serials right up to the Nolan era, taking in the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s on the way) and finish with a review of the eagerly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises


We also round-up some movie news from this year's Comic-Con.


Podcast versions are available here and here - for our podcast subscribers, there is also an exclusive extended (and very spoiler-y) chat where we discuss The Dark Knight Rises in greater detail


Enjoy!