Awards Season 2024: The 96th Academy Awards

 

And there we have it, ladies and gents. The curtain comes down on the 2024 awards season with one of the strongest Oscar ceremonies of recent years. 

Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue was funny enough, but a couple of jokes- at the expense of Robert Downey Jr's past- didn't really land. However, he won a lot of good will by giving behind-the-scenes crew members a shout out as the people who kept Hollywood going during the actors' and writers' strikes. He's on his fourth time at the Oscars, and I personally think this was his best attempt yet. There was little in the way of superfluous gimmicks; the ceremony ticked along at a nice pace, and came in at around 3hrs 30m (including copious ad breaks). 

Some of my personal highlights of the evening: a very game John Cena, appearing nude(ish?) to announce Best Costume Design;  Jonathan Glazer's powerful acceptance speech on winning Best International Feature for Holocaust drama The Zone Of Interest; the winning crew of Godzilla Minus One bringing a golden Godzilla onto stage; and the truly stunning performance of "I'm Just Ken" replete with 65 Kens, Slash on guitar, and a pink-clad Ryan Gosling!

I was very happy that The Boy And The Heron won Best Animated Feature Film, and that American Fiction won Best Adapted Screenplay. Along with The Holdovers, American Fiction was one of my favourite films of this awards season. Cord Jefferson's enthusiastic acceptance speech contained a plea that I've long hoped Hollywood would listen to: take a chance on making smaller budget movies. Who knows, maybe they'll listen?

20 Days In Mariupol becomes the first Ukrainian Oscar winner; its director Mstyslav Chernov gave a stirring and emotional speech, saying he wished he'd never had to make the film. The inclusion of a clip from last year's Best Documentary Feature- Navalny- about the (recently-deceased) Russian political prisoner before the "In Memoriam" section was an interesting choice and will no doubt provoke a couple of column inches. 

Hosting pairs were the usual mix of passable and get-these-two-to-host-this-next-year; Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling were funny, riffing on the Barbenheimer "rivalry", and rightly introduced a tribute to stunt performers - which does beg the question: why the fuck aren't stunt performers getting an Oscar? Yes, casting is important, but stunt work is an intrinsic part of most films and has been from cinema's inception. Get on it, Academy. 

John Mulaney riffing on Field Of Dreams, and Ramy Youssef and Issa Rae cutting right to the chase were particular highlights, and there was an enjoyable reunion between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. They also did something interesting with the acting awards: each of the four categories had five former winners (including last year's winners) to give a short testimonial about one of the nominees. (They'd done something similar a few years ago, but refined it somewhat for this time around) 

Onto my predictions: 5 out of 6, as I expected. Emma Stone looked genuinely shocked to have her name announced, and her tearful, torn-dress acceptance speech was touching. Robert Downey Jr's speech was superb, full of what's become a familiar kind of snark disguising genuine feelings. Da'Vine Joy Randolph's win was the first award announced of the evening, and her acceptance speech was pretty lovely, and Cillian Murphy's was thoughtful and considered, giving a shout out to the "peacemakers" in the current-day. 

Unsurprisingly, Oppenheimer was the big winner of the evening, with seven Oscars. Poor Things came second with four, whilst The Zone Of Interest was the only other multiple Oscar winner, taking two. 

Despite multiple nominations, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Maestro, Napoleon, Nyad, and Society Of The Snow came home emptyhanded. 

Below is the full list of winners at the 96th Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Oppenheimer

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Best Actress: Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Best Director: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Best Original Screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (Anatomy Of A Fall)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Cord Jefferson (American Fiction)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: The Boy And The Heron

Best International Feature Film of the Year: The Zone Of Interest

Best Cinematography: Oppenheimer

Best Film Editing: Oppenheimer

Best Production Design: Poor Things

Best Costume Design: Poor Things

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Poor Things

Best Original Score: Oppenheimer

Best Original Song: "What Was I Made For?" (Barbie)

Best Sound: The Zone Of Interest

Best Visual Effects: Godzilla Minus One

Best Documentary (Feature): 20 Days In Mariupol

Best Documentary (Short Subject): The Last Repair Shop

Best Animated Short Film: WAR IS OVER! Inspired By The Music Of John & Yoko

Best Live Action Short Film: The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar

Congratulations to all winners!

Awards Season 2024: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

It's Oscar night! 

Jimmy Kimmel will be in charge of events for the fourth time, so expect jokes about the Barbenheimer phenomenon, a jab or two at Matt Damon, a pointed barb at the Academy's overlooking of Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, maybe some stuff about the writers' and actors' strikes of the last year, and probably a saucy reference or two to Saltburn. 

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 5 out of 6, plumping for Angela Bassett for Best Supporting Actress instead of Jamie Lee Curtis. I'm expecting it to be the same this evening. 

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

Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

The Holdovers was, to the surprise of nobody, one of my favourite films of this awards season. The surprisingly sweet comedy-drama directed by Alexander Payne is definitely "my kind of film". Randolph has been the runaway winner of the Supporting Actress races this year, and I think it'll be a major surprise if anyone else's name comes out for this category. Randolph's performance as Mary, the grieving cook staying at the school over the holidays, is superb, full of warmth, candour, and emotion.

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

I'll be talking more about Oppenheimer in a bit, but I genuinely do think that Robert Downey Jr's performance as Lewis Strauss is the strongest performance I've ever seen him give. He commands every moment he's on the screen, giving a strange almost reptilian warmth to this complex character. As layers of duplicity peel away to reveal a very dangerous, petty and wounded man, you can't help but admire how truly detestable he is - and how Downey never shies away from that. Other actors may have tried to soften or "redeem" Strauss; Downey revels in these contradictions. 

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone (Killers Of The Flower Moon)

Now here's where I think I may get unstuck. With no disrespect intended to Annette Bening, Sandra Hüller, or Carey Mulligan, this year's Best Actress race has been between Emma Stone (for her fearless performance in Poor Things) and Lily Gladstone for her turn as Mollie Burkhart in Scorsese's epic Killers Of The Flower Moon. It's my belief that Gladstone's win at the Screen Actors' Guild Awards puts her ahead in the Oscar race, and so that's who my pick for Best Actress is. Both performances have much to recommend them, but Gladstone's performance has more shade and nuance, it's less showy but not less impactful; Mollie's stoicism in the face of the epidemic of killings which blight her kin belies a power beneath. But, if it does happen, I won't be at all surprised if Stone gets her second Oscar tonight.

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

I'd dearly love Paul Giamatti to win in this category, but it's not going to happen. Murphy's strong central performance as the titular physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, has swept the boards throughout this awards season. It's truly deserved. In the latter stages of the film, Murphy's already solid performance kicks up a gear as he wrestles with Oppenheimer's moral crisis over the real-life application of what had originally just been theoretical. 

Best Director: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Best Picture: Oppenheimer

Plainly put, Oppenheimer is a film which is easy to admire but difficult to like. But I don't think you're meant to "like" it. I genuinely can't imagine anyone suggesting a get-together of friends and sticking Oppenheimer on for entertainment, for instance. Like a lot of big weighty films which deal with big weighty subjects (and which often win Best Picture at the Oscars), it's a well-made piece of cinema, chockful of impressive performances, detailed costumes, a moving score, immaculate production design, and beautiful cinematography. All of which comes under the aegis of director Christopher Nolan, who will almost certainly get Best Director (and deserves it, if only for recreating the Trinity test with practical effects). As a film, it's a little cool and a little sterile in places, especially at the beginning. The dual timelines can occasionally be confusing but not detrimentally so; this is definitely not a film to be passively watched. You need your brain engaged. But, it's an impressive piece of filmmaking about a fascinating event in modern history, and- as such- I think it's going to take the big prize this evening. 

So there are my predictions. What do you think? Some dead certs there, surely? Or am I right off the money? Let me know what you think.  

In the UK, the Oscars telecast is being broadcast via ITV and ITVX this evening, as they now have the rights (with Sky having had them for the past 20ish years). Will be interesting to see who and how they manage it; given how often they go to ads during the Oscar broadcast, ITV could well just do the same. Anything that spares us from inane talking heads nonsense might be welcome. 

I'll let you know my thoughts on the ceremony as soon as I can once it finishes. 

Review: The Party (UK Cert 15)

Parties and social gatherings are fertile ground for drama. When you get a group of people with differing views and opinions together in a room and give them alcohol, anything could happen. Who's going to say something inappropriate that'll offend? Who'll get drunk and divulge a juicy secret? This scenario is the set-up to The Party, written and directed by Sally Potter (Orlando, Yes)

When Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) is promoted to Shadow Minister for Health, she organises a dinner party to celebrate. What starts out as a joyous occasion spirals into chaos as announcements of pregnancy, relationship break-ups, terminal illness, and infidelity fill the air. The evening starts with champagne and ends with blood on the carpet as the guests deal with their unravelling relationships.

What a wasted opportunity The Party is. A stellar cast- Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall, Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, and Cillian Murphy- do the best with what they've got but what they've got is, in places, not worth having. And that fault lies squarely with Potter's script. 

Clarkson gets the best lines as the acerbic cynical April, about to dump her life coach boyfriend Gottfried (Ganz, sadly lumbered with an irritatingly pretentious character) and slinging out zingers with every sentence. The rest don't fare so well, dealing less with characters than stereotypes: Tom the banker (Murphy) snorts coke in the bathroom because of course he does (because that's what all bankers do). 

Mortimer gets hamstrung as the pregnant Masterchef winner whose older partner (Jones) is having second thoughts about the children. There could have been some real drama, some real pathos, in this strand but it's diluted down to posturing with no substance behind. Spall looks like he's stoned, with a wide-eyed far-off gaze and barely given much to do but be a punching bag (literally and metaphorically) whilst Scott Thomas- usually such a reliable and decent actress- is stymied with an unsympathetic role. 

I found it difficult to care about any of the characters or their dilemmas and, as more and more secrets come out and the list of issues gets longer, it lost my attention. Which, considering the running length of the film, is not a good sign.  The film is a mere 71 minutes long (which, given the price of cinema tickets these days is a bit of an insult), and it could easily have been edited to be around an hour to be shown on TV instead. It's filmed in black and white for no other reason that I can fathom other than it looks nice. It also ends with no real resolution which is frustrating in the extreme. 

There should be a perverse joy in watching the evening unravel. A room full of liberals looking to tear one another apart could have been a real delight. Instead, it's come out a half-baked recipe for disaster. This is one party that you'd be well advised to avoid.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Dunkirk (UK Cert 12A)

The evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk in 1940 is one of the best known events of the Second World War (and notably one of the few which isn't a battle or a massacre). The Allied forces were cornered on the beaches at Dunkirk, awaiting evacuation, whilst German planes took out rescue convoys heading to help. In amongst all this, civilians who owned small boats sailed across the Channel to aid in the evacuation process. This extraordinary show of determination in the face of danger, and the willingness to help each other out in times of crisis, has even led to a phrase: the Dunkirk spirit.

Now, Christopher Nolan (the Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar) brings this story to the big screen. It's not the first film to deal with the event- there have been previous films in 1958 and 2004- but this is on a huge scale.  

Three separate storylines run through the film. On land, a young British soldier (Fionn Whitehead) must wait to be evacuated from the beach; at sea, an older man and his son (Mark Rylance and Tom Glynn-Carney) use their small craft to assist in the rescue mission; in the air, two RAF pilots (Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden) seek to stop German planes from destroying the rescue convoy. 

My advice would be, see this in the cinema and see it on the biggest screen you can. You really get a sense of the vastness of the Dunkirk beach (kudos to director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema for some sterling work) which is just amazing. In the 2007 film Atonement, there's a beautiful eight minute unbroken tracking shot which follows Robbie round the beach. Imagine that but turned up to eleven and you've got the idea.

Performances are really solid across the board. There's been some canny casting with the soldiers- they all look very young. It's also a canny idea to give the lion's share of the action to new (or maybe less experienced) actors; both Fionn Whitehead (as Tommy) and Aneurin Barnard (as Gibson) are exception, especially Barnard whose performance- bar one very important line- is silent. Much was made of this film being Harry Styles' acting debut, and the One Direction singer acquits himself well in his role as a bolshy soldier. 

The more experienced cast are, as you would imagine, superb. Mark Rylance is great as Mr Dawson, a man who takes his own pleasure craft out to help the soldiers. He has such a magnetic quality to him, so much happens behind his eyes but you can't take your eyes off him whenever he's on screen. Kenneth Branagh is strong as the stoic Commander Bolton, determined to get his men to safety. Frequent Nolan collaborators Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy are similarly strong as a traumatised soldier and one of the RAF pilots accordingly, and there's even a lovely uncredited cameo by Michael Caine.  

This is not a film of earnest speechifying; in fact, there's not a great deal of dialogue throughout (the script itself ran to approximately 85 pages). Visuals and sound are used instead. There are some very tense moments, such as Tommy's run through the deserted town before he gets to the beach, and the struggle of one of the pilots to get out of his downed plane (which had me absolutely squirming). The sound design of the film is superb with every whistle, shot, and ricochet clear and crisp. I've already praised Van Hoytema's cinematography and Hans Zimmer's music is superb. He uses themes from Elgar's Enigma Variations (especially the famous 'Nimrod' at one pivotal moment) to stirring effect and- whilst it is unashamed emotional manipulation- you can't help but get swept up in that moment.

Because of the kind of film Dunkirk is, it's difficult to say I enjoyed it (much as in the same way, I can't say I enjoyed Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List). I very much admire the film and I think it's a film that a lot of people should see. It's still quite some months away but I would be surprised if Dunkirk doesn't get a lot of love in the 2018 awards season.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Red Lights (UK cert 15)

Red Lights is a psychic thriller, written and directed by Rodrigo Cortes. The advertising bills this, somewhat hyperbolically, as 'this year's The Sixth Sense'. Sadly, this film shows about a tenth of that film's style. What you have is a very neat episode of The X-Files hidden amongst a feature-length morass. 


Dr Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and Dr Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) are scientists who spend their lives debunking the paranormal, providing rational explanations for irrational events. However, when reclusive medium Simon Silver (Robert de Niro) emerges from a thirty-year hiatus- after seemingly causing his fiercest critic to die of a heart attack- Tom decides he wants to go after Silver, despite Margaret's warnings.  As Tom's investigations proceed, strange things start to happen around him, driving him into a heightened state of paranoia. Is Silver a charlatan? Or does he truly possess paranormal powers? Will you much care by the time the film winds down to the twist ending?


Performances are pretty decent; Cillian Murphy basically carries the film and despite veering into overacting towards the end as the paranoia builds up, is a solid lead. Weaver gives what can best be described as a glorified cameo, but is absolutely great in the role of Tom's mentor. De Niro sadly seems to have turned into a bit of a parody of himself; however, the slightly hammy script does little to help him out. There's decent support from Elizabeth Olsen and Toby Jones in small and slightly thankless parts as a slightly unnecessary love interest for Tom and a professor who believes in the paranormal respectively.


There's a lot being made of the 'twist' (which I won't spoil for those who may want to see it). It doesn't come so far out of left-field as to be truly implausible; you kind of buy it as an explanation even if you don't truly buy into it. It's fairly neat if not exactly original but provides an interesting denouement to a mish-mash of a movie. Theer are some arresting visuals and several very well filmed and presented set-pieces; the investigation of a supposedly haunted house which opens the film and the elaborate take-down of a fraudulent clairvoyant especially stand out. 


All said, it's a decent enough movie, hardly groundbreaking but certainly worth a look.


Rating: 3 out of 5


Tez