Awards Season 2021: The 93rd Academy Awards

In a list of "things you'd expect to see at an Oscars ceremony", I very much doubt that "Frances McDormand howling like a wolf" and "Glenn Close twerking" would make it on the list. But these are strange times and both of those things came to pass at a slightly (read, very) surreal night.

Starting off with a very Ocean's Eleven style tracking shot following first presenter Regina King as she walked through Los Angeles' Union Station to the hall where the Oscars were being presented, it was immediately clear that this wasn't going to be the usual awards ceremony. 

For those who were unable to travel to Los Angeles to attend the ceremony in person, the Academy set up hubs around the world- including Paris, Oslo, Prague, Sydney, Berlin, Stockholm, Seoul, Rome, Kilkenny, and a major one at the BFI in London- where nominees could go and still be able to be featured in the broadcast. Broadcast and lag issues seemed to be at a minimum, which was a positive. 

For the most part, I liked how the evening was divided up, with categories paired up where possible. I also liked that unnecessary frippery was avoided, and- even when the world does go back to whatever will pass for normalcy post COVID- the Academy would do well to consider keeping the ceremony stripped back. 

Some personal highlights for me: Emerald Fennell's gloriously British acceptance speech, Thomas Vinterberg's emotional dedication to his late daughter when accepting the Best International Film award, the passionate acceptance speech given by the hair and make-up team from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Youn Yuh-jung's acceptance speech, and Harrison Ford introducing the Best Film Editing award by reading out some of the edit notes given for Blade Runner. Whether they were real or not, who knows, but the joke landed really well.

On to the awards themselves.

Four out of six in my predictions. Interestingly, they shook things up a little by announcing Best Director relatively early in the telecast (it was the seventh award handed out) and Chloé Zhao's acceptance speech was particularly dignified. It is crazy to think that she's only the second female to win Best Director, and it took 93 years for the Academy to get round to nominating two women directors in the same year. They also announced Best Picture before Best Actress and Best Actor which felt a little strange (and also meant the ceremony finished on a bit of an anti-climax when Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor and the Oscar was accepted by the Academy on his behalf).

I'll be honest, of the four Best Actress performances I saw (I ran out of time to see The United States Vs Billie Holiday), Frances McDormand's was the one that I was least taken with. It's by no means a bad performance, or unworthy, but I didn't have the same emotional connection to it that I did with Viola Davis and Carey Mulligan. Purely a matter of taste, I think. 

However, whilst Anthony Hopkins' Best Actor win was a bit of a surprise- like many, I fully expected Chadwick Boseman's powerhouse performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to seal the deal- his performance in The Father is, for me, a career high point. He gives an absolutely devastating performance as a man in the worsening grip of dementia, which left me feeling like I'd been put through the wringer. I would put The Father on a list of films that's excellent but I would never watch again.  

I was really pleased with The Father and Promising Young Woman's Screenplay nods, as well as Sound Of Metal's Sound award. 

Nomadland was the big winner of the night with three Oscars. However, in a strange kind of mirroring of the nominations, six films have the second-most awards, with Judas And The Black Messiah, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Sound Of Metal, Soul, Mank, and The Father all taking home two apiece. 

Despite multiple nominations, The Trial Of The Chicago 7, News Of The World, and One Night In Miami all went home empty-handed.

Below is the full list of winners at the 93rd Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Nomadland

Best Actor: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Best Actress: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

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

Best Supporting Actress: Yuh-jung Youn (Minari)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Original Screenplay: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller (The Father)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Soul

Best International Feature Film of the Year: Another Round

Best Cinematography: Mank

Best Film Editing: Sound Of Metal

Best Production Design: Mank

Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Original Score: Soul

Best Original Song: 'Fight For You' (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Best Sound: Sound Of Metal

Best Visual Effects: Tenet

Best Documentary (Feature): My Octopus Teacher

Best Documentary (Short Subject): Colette

Best Animated Short Film: If Anything Happens I Love You

Best Live Action Short Film: Two Distant Strangers

Congratulations to all winners!

Right, it's nearly 5:30am here in the UK and I should really get some sleep. Time to put awards season away for another year. Thank you for your indulgence with this indulgence. Normal service will resume shortly.

Awards Season 2021: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2020 at the 93rd Academy Awards. 

Delayed from February due to the COVID pandemic, the event- produced by Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh- will take place at the Dolby Theatre as well as Los Angeles' Union Station, with several international hubs (including at the BFI in London) for those unable to travel to the US. 

There'll be no main host (for the third year running) but an "ensemble cast" of 15 presenters- including Angela Bassett, Bong Joon Ho, Laura Dern, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Renée Zellweger, and Zendaya- will be on hand to give out the awards.  

It has become a tradition for me to predict the nominations and the winners in the main six categories (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture).  I've done this since 2003 with varying degrees of success. Last year, I got 4 out of 6 (not predicting Parasite's history-making Best Picture win, nor Bong Joon Ho's Best Director win).

So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Several of the major awards bodies (including SAG, BAFTA, and the Independent Spirit Awards) have gone for Youn's performance as unconventional grandmother Soonja in Lee Isaac Chung's semi-autobiographical drama as their Best Supporting Actress, so I do think the Academy will do the same. It's a strong performance which adds some levity and a certain comic relief to the sometimes heavy family drama. 

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

Kaluuya has won the vast majority of Supporting Actor awards for his soulful and intense performance as Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton in Shaka King's powerful biographical drama, so I fully expect to see him named as Best Supporting Actor tonight. 

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

The Best Actress category has been wide open this year, with four of the five Oscar nominees winning at least one other major award. However, for me, Carey Mulligan deserves to win the Oscar for her fearless, ferocious performance as avenging angel Cassie in Emerald Fennell's black comedy-drama. It's a performance (and a film) that has stayed with me long after I first watched it, which isn't really something I can say about any of the others that I've seen.

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

Despite the BAFTA going to Anthony Hopkins, I still say that the late Chadwick Boseman will win the Best Actor award. His performance as Levee in the August Wilson adaptation is an absolute powerhouse, made all the more poignant for the fact it was his last on-screen performance. Boseman was so much more than a comic-book character actor, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom demonstrates that perfectly. 

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Picture: Nomadland

Zhao has been the outstanding winner of the Best Director awards all throughout this awards, so it'll be a surprise of epic proportions if any other name than hers will be read out tonight. If Zhao does win, she will only be the second female director to win the top prize. 

Similarly, Nomadland has swept the Best Picture categories, so its success seems fairly sewn up. A slow-moving contemplative drama about the life of older people who travel around America working seasonal jobs, it's the kind of film that wins Best Picture. Whilst I liked it for the most part, there are other films that nominated for Best Picture which were better films in my opinion.

These aren't official predictions, but I'd really love to see Promising Young Woman win Best Original Screenplay, Nomadland to win Best Cinematography, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to win Best Costume Design, and Sound Of Metal to win the newly-combined Best Sound award. 

I'll be watching the Oscars broadcast tonight (well, early hours of Monday morning) and will update with my thoughts on the ceremony and all the winners as soon as I can once it finishes. 

Awards Season 2021: Independent Spirit Awards Winners

Last night (Thursday 22nd April), the 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards took place, in a ceremony hosted by Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live, Toy Story 4) for the first time. 

As I'm sure you all know by now, they recognise films made wholly or partly outside the traditional studio system. They're also the first major awards to be announced in any given awards season (as was the case this awards season back in January), and one of the last to be awarded.   

Traditionally, these awards take place on the Saturday afternoon before the Oscars, in a marquee on the Santa Monica beach. Obviously not an option in these times. So, the decision was made to bring the Spirits forward to a prime-time event a few days earlier and make it a virtual live show instead. 

Here is a full list of winners.

Best Feature: Nomadland

Best Female Lead: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Male Lead: Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Best Supporting Female: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Best Supporting Male: Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Screenplay: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

Best First Screenplay: Andy Siara (Palm Springs)

Best Cinematography: Nomadland

Best Editing: Nomadland

Best First Feature: Sound Of Metal

Best International Film: Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Documentary: Crip Camp

John Cassavetes Award: Residue

Robert Altman Award: One Night In Miami

The John Cassavetes Award is given to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000, whilst the Robert Altman Award is presented to the ensemble cast of the movie, its director, and its casting director(s). 

Nomadland was the big winner of the night with four awards, with Sound Of Metal winning three (incidentally, winning all three categories it was nominated in), and Promising Young Woman got two. 

Despite leading the nominations with seven nods, there was nothing for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom also didn't convert any of its five nominations to a win, with Riz Ahmed seen as a surprise winner for Best Actor. 

Congratulations to all winners!

There'll be more awards stuff this coming weekend, with the Razzies being announced on Saturday (24th April) and the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday (25th April). 

 

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

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

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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BAFTA AWARDS

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

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

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

The winners from the first night were:

Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Make Up And Hair: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Production Design: Mank

Sound: Sound Of Metal

Special Visual Effects: Tenet

Casting: Rocks

Short Animation: The Owl And The Pussycat

Short Film: The Present

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Noel Clarke

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

The winners from the second night were: 

Best Film: Nomadland

Outstanding British Film: Promising Young Woman

Leading Actor: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Leading Actress: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

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

Supporting Actress: Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Adapted Screenplay: The Father

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

Animated Film: Soul

Documentary: My Octopus Teacher

Film Not In The English Language: Another Round

Cinematography: Nomadland

Editing: Sound Of Metal

Original Score: Soul

Rising Star: Bukky Bakray

BAFTA Fellowship: Ang Lee

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

Congratulations to all winners!

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

Awards Season 2021: Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Nominations

 

As promised, here's a quick update on today's DGA Awards nominations:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film

Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version)

Fernando Frías de la Parra (I'm No Longer Here)

Regina King (One Night In Miami...)

Darius Marder (Sound Of Metal)

Florian Zeller (The Father)

The winners will be announced at the 73rd Annual DGA Awards on Saturday 10th April 2021.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Friday (12th March) is our next date for awards stuff, with the Producers Guild Awards naming their nominees. 

Awards Season 2021: Critics' Choice Movie Award Winners

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

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

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

Best Picture: Nomadland

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

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

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

Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Best Acting Ensemble: The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Best Adapted Screenplay: Nomadland

Best Comedy: Palm Springs

Best Foreign Language Film: Minari

Best Score: Soul

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

Best Production Design: Mank

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

Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Hair & Makeup: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Visual Effects: Tenet

Best Cinematography: Nomadland

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


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

Congratulations to all winners!

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

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

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

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

Awards Season 2021: Golden Globes Winners

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

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

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Nomadland

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

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

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

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

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

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

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

Best Supporting Actress: Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)

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

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

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

Best Foreign Language Film: Minari

Best Animated Feature Film: Soul

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Jane Fonda


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

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

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

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

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

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

Congratulations to all winners!

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