Awards Season 2017: The 89th Annual Academy Awards

Well, that was quite something. 

There's several things for which this Oscars ceremony will be remembered for, but giving the biggest award of the night to the wrong film will be right up there for years to come. Due to some form of cock-up, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly named La La Land as the Best Picture winner, only to then find out that Moonlight had won it instead! Cue a lot of embarrassment and a very gracious deferral from the producers of La La Land. 

This was the first time in a few years that I was actually able to watch the broadcast live (via Sky Cinema). I thought Jimmy Kimmel was an affable host. Despite his very self-effacing demeanour, the vast majority of his jokes hit (and he was able to admit the ones that didn't). His opening monologue was political without being tubthumping, and I did particularly enjoy his banter with Meryl Streep and the comment that, given the Trump administration, at least the Oscars don't look so racist now. I quite liked the mean tweets section and the stunt with the tour bus mostly worked, if it did drag on a little. 

As you can imagine, several of the speeches were political in nature, some more subtle than others. The most pointed came when the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year was announced. Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (who directed The Salesman) was initially unable to attend the event due to the imposed travel ban. When the ban was lifted, he chose to boycott the event and instead sent Iranian engineer Anousheh Ansari to represent him. When The Salesman won, Ansari read a politically charged statement on Farhadi's behalf. 

Other noteworthy happenings from the ceremony: sound mixer Kevin O'Connell won his first Oscar (for Hacksaw Ridge) on his twenty-first nomination; Best Documentary Feature winner O.J.: Made In America is now officially the longest film to win an Oscar (coming in at an impressive 7hrs 47mins); Damien Chazelle is now the youngest Best Director winner at the tender age of 32. 

I wasn't surprised by 'City Of Stars' winning Best Original Song, although I think of the two songs nominated from La La Land I actually prefer 'Audition'. The musical numbers were scattered nicely through the evening, with Justin Timberlake kicking the evening off with a performance of 'Can't Stop The Feeling' then a wonderfully assured performance of 'How Far I'll Go' from Moana, sung by 16-year old Auli'i Cravalho. There was also a very moving In Memoriam section, beautifully accompanied by Sara Bareilles singing 'Both Sides Now' by Joni Mitchell. 

I was also really pleased by the Best Costume Design win for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, although it still feels very wrong that you can now call Suicide Squad an Oscar-winning film (picking up Best Make-Up and Hairstyling)

As for my predictions... well, 5 out of 6 is alright (especially given the Best Picture farrago). As I said in my predictions, if any film was going to usurp La La Land from Best Picture, it would be Moonlight. All other predictions were correct and I thought Mahershala Ali, Viola Davis and Emma Stone all gave very lovely acceptance speeches. 

Despite the mistake at the end, La La Land was still the runaway winner of the night with six Oscars to its name. Moonlight had three, with Manchester By The Sea and Hacksaw Ridge both winning two. Despite multiple nominations, there was nothing for Lion, Hell Or High Water, Hidden Figures or Jackie. 

----------
Below is the full list of winners at the 89th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Moonlight

Best Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Best Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Original Screenplay: Manchester By The Sea

Best Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Zootopia

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Salesman

Best Cinematography: La La Land

Best Editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Best Production Design: La La Land

Best Costume Design: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Suicide Squad

Best Original Score: La La Land

Best Original Song: 'City Of Stars' (La La Land)

Best Sound Mixing: Hacksaw Ridge

Best Sound Editing: Arrival

Best Visual Effects: The Jungle Book

Best Documentary (Feature): O.J.: Made In America

Best Documentary (Short Subject): The White Helmets

Best Animated Short Film: Piper

Best Live Action Short Film: Sing


Congratulations to all winners!

So that's it. Awards season is over for another year (and what a way to end it too!). As William Makepeace Thackeray says at the very end of Vanity Fair: 'Come children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out.'

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. It's been something of a long night.

Tez

Awards Season 2017: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions 2017

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2016 at the 89th Annual Academy Awards, which will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the first time.

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. 

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

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Whilst an argument could be made that the role of Rose is more of lead actress one, it still doesn't take away from the intensity and passion of Davis' performance. She's won the Critics' Choice, Golden Globes, BAFTA and SAG awards, so I'm as confident as I can be that she'll be up on the stage tonight collecting a well-deserved Oscar. 

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

A finely-observed supporting turn by Ali, who plays local drug dealer and father figure to young Chiron. Again, he's been a stand out winner for most awards so I fully expect to see him named tonight. 

Best Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

With wins at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and BAFTA, it puts Stone ahead of the pack. Her performance as Mia is arguably the stronger of the two leads (sorry, Ryan). That said, I am less confident about my pick for this one, as it there's always the possibility that another actress (likely Natalie Portman or Isabelle Huppert) could win. 

Best Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Affleck has been the runaway winner for his taut, muscular turn as Lee Chandler in Kenneth Lonergan's quiet study of grief. Much like Viola Davis, I don't see any other name being called out in this category tonight. 

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Best Picture: La La Land

OK, here's the thing. I am as certain as I can get that Chazelle will win Best Director, and it will be deserved, because La La Land is a technically very accomplished film, from the amazing opening song-and-dance number on the LA freeway to the quiet and melancholic ending. La La Land has also been the stand-out winner of Best Picture awards (plus it won the PGA). Films about films, acting and the like do well at the Academy and its heady air of escapism is exactly what's needed at the moment. But that said, if there's any film that could rain on La La Land's parade, it's most likely to be Moonlight. Whilst I fully expect La La Land to take the main prize tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if Moonlight pulls off a surprise win at the end of the evening. 

Last year, I got 5 out of 6, with my Best Supporting Actor prediction going to Sylvester Stallone rather than eventual winner Mark Rylance. I feel pretty confident about 4 of my 6; Best Actress has a question mark on it and I'm wavering over Best Picture. But it's time to pin my colours to the mast as it were.

There'll be a full blog tomorrow discussing my thoughts on the ceremony and a list of all the winners.

Good luck to all nominees and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Tez

Awards Season 2017: BAFTA Film Awards Winners

Tonight (Sunday 12th February), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the 70th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony hosted once again by the utterly luminous Stephen Fry. Viola Davis, Amy Adams, Naomie Harris, Eddie Redmayne, Daisy Ridley, Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Ken Loach, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Stone were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film.

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners:

Best Film: La La Land

Outstanding British Film: I, Daniel Blake

Leading Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Leading Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

Supporting Actor: Dev Patel (Lion)

Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Original Screenplay: Manchester By The Sea

Adapted Screenplay: Lion

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Babak Arivari (writer/director), Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh (producers of Under The Shadow)

Animated Film: Kubo And The Two Strings

Documentary: 13th

Film Not In The English Language: Son Of Saul

Cinematography: La La Land

Costume Design: Jackie

Editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Make Up And Hair: Florence Foster Jenkins

Original Music: La La Land

Production Design: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

Sound: Arrival

Special Visual Effects: The Jungle Book

Short Animation: A Love Story

Short Film: Home

Rising Star: Tom Holland

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Curzon Cinemas

BAFTA Fellowship: Mel Brooks


The first award of the evening was Outstanding British Film which, unsurprisingly and deservedly, went to I, Daniel Blake. Ken Loach's acceptance speech set the tenor for the rest of the evening- many of the acceptance speeches were political in nature, either pointing out the common humanity within creative arts or criticising policies made both here and overseas. 

I was a little surprised by Emma Stone and Dev Patel winning but it's nice to see something a bit different to the usual. Hence, it was quite lovely to see Kubo And The Two Strings win Animated Film over the juggernaut that has been Zootopia. 

La La Land was the big winner of the evening with five BAFTAs, Lion and Manchester By The Sea each had two. Despite nine nominations, Nocturnal Animals walked away empty-handed, as did Moonlight

So next in awards season will be the Writers' Guild Awards which will be handed out next Sunday (19th February), just one week before the Oscars. There'll be a small post about it on Monday 20th, ahead of what's going to be a busy week.

Awards Season 2017: Directors' Guild Awards Winners

Just a quick awards season update as the Directors' Guild Awards (DGAs) were handed out yesterday (Saturday 4th February). The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Garth Davis (Lion)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries: Steven Zaillian (The Night Of: The Beach)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made In America)

I have to say, it's no surprise to see Damien Chazelle win. La La Land is a technically impressive piece of film-making and he truly deserves this award. I feel certain he'll win the Best Director Oscar as well (the DGA awards are usually a good bellwether). O.J.: Made In America is also nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar (clocking in at an impressive 7hrs 47mins, to date the longest film to be nominated for any competitive Oscar), so that bodes well for that. 

The next award season update will be next Sunday (12th February) when the BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out. 

Awards Season 2017: Directors' Guild of America (DGA) Awards Nominations

Just a quick update today, as the Directors' Guild Awards announced its shortlist earlier for their Feature Film category. These awards will be handed out on February 4th.

The nominees are:

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Garth Davis (Lion)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By The Sea)

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

The big surprise here is Garth Davis' inclusion. Lion has been well regarded in this awards season, but generally in the Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories. This is the first mention of Davis as Best Director. Some have called Villeneuve's inclusion a surprise but several other bodies have nominated him (BAFTA and Critics' Choice) so it's not as if it's come out of nowhere.

We get a bit of a break from awards season for a week or so - the next instalment comes on Monday 23rd January when they'll announce the nominees for this year's Razzies. 

Review: La La Land (UK Cert 12A)

Damien Chazelle's Whiplash was one of my favourite films of 2015. So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I went in to see Chazelle's latest film, La La Land.

A paean not only to Los Angeles, but to film, to music, to love, La La Land follows jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) as they meet and fall in love against the backdrop of the City of Angels.

Where do I start? Chazelle's direction is astonishing and technically accomplished right from the get-go, where a traffic jam on the LA freeway bursts into a huge song-and-dance number. There's a beautiful sequence set in the Griffith Observatory where Sebastian and Mia's relationship intensifies, but Chazelle's directorial flair can also be seen in the smaller, more intimate, scenes where the relationship drama plays out.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play off each other nicely; this is their third collaboration on screen after Crazy Stupid Love and Gangster Squad and they really sell the relationship. Gosling plays Sebastian's earnestness about the purity of jazz with passion and commitment, whilst Stone's Mia is no blushing ingenue- she's a few years into her career, still schlepping to auditions, but not yet disillusioned enough to stop her dreaming. There's able support from Rosemarie DeWitt as Sebastian's sister Laura who makes the most of her single scene, whilst there's also a cameo for Whiplash's J.K. Simmons as Sebastian's boss.

Justin Hurwitz's score is beautiful and the songs range from the upbeat- the opening 'Another Day Of Sun' and the party number 'Someone In The Crowd'- to the melancholic- the beautiful 'City Of Stars' and Mia's 'Audition (The Fools Who Dream). As with all musicals, you do have to accept the inherent ridiculousness of people suddenly bursting out in song, but, if you can't do that, then you really don't have much business seeing a musical to start with.

It's a beautiful film, visually sumptuous, cracking soundtrack, a wryly funny script (also written by Chazelle) with two wonderful lead performances and a nicely bittersweet edge to cut through the candyfloss. I know we're only just getting started with the year, but already I can see this being one of my films of 2017.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

La La Land is on general release from 12th January 2017.

Review: Whiplash (UK Cert: 15)

I’m addicted to music, but you won’t find a traditional jazz album in my collection. I can’t fault the musicians, some of whom are the most talented artists ever seen (Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis), but I like my music to have a discernible melody, something I can sing or hum along to. Call me a music fascist, but the way I see jazz, the band is having a lot more fun than the audience. So a film that is pitched as a “jazz thriller” didn’t have me rushing to hand over my money at the cinema. The only reason I gave Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash a go is because of all the five-out-of-five reviews its been getting, and that it stars the mind –bogglingly underrated J.K. Simmons.

One of Whiplash’s many strengths is that there is no straightforward hero or villain here, Miles Teller’s college student Andrew and Simmons’ music teacher Fletcher are far more complicated than that. Andrew wants to be one of the greatest drummers of all time. He’s cocky and callous sometimes, putting his dream first and rarely stopping to think about his family or girlfriend, but the thought of dying without being remembered in the history books terrifies him. All of the legendary sport and music stars have that self-belief bordering on arrogance which puts them at the top of their game, practicing non-stop for hours, and Andrew is no exception. Cinematographer Sharone Meir near enough shoves the camera in Teller’s face as we watch him obsessing over a piece’s percussion, blood and sweat staining his drum kit, or his reaction when Fletcher repeatedly tells him his timing is off. Andrew is far from a cuddly, instantly identifiable protagonist, but you are willing him to succeed, to make it, to the point where you will most likely be nervously fidgeting in your seat.

J.K. Simmons has, for most of his career, had to put up with bit parts, making the most of his limited time on screen (Juno, Spider-Man). It’s taken a while but Simmons has, at long last, been given a role that shows off how talented an actor he is (Chazelle also wrote the script). Fletcher is both mentor and adversary, literally pushing Andrew to breaking point because he wants to unlock the talent this young man has. Music is Fletcher’s passion, but he puts that passion across through profanity-fuelled rages, throwing instruments at unsuspecting band members who don’t make the grade. Simmons manages to make Fletcher cruel and intimidating one minute, then laugh-out-loud funny the next, a tricky balancing act that most actors would struggle to make convincing.

Whiplash is filmed as if virtually every scene is from a momentous live gig, the editing a frenzied pace as we go back-and-forth, back-and-forth between Fletcher and Teller. The film is littered with close ups of Teller on his drum kit, sweat pouring down his face, hands stained with blood; you feel Teller’s struggle, the agony he’s going through just to get a nod or a smile off of Fletcher. Chazelle knows his music, he knows the composition of the film’s title song, written by Hank Levy, inside-and-out, showing off the musicians, whether it’s bassist, pianist or the horn section with perfectly timed shots that zoom in or swiftly pan across the band. Guaranteed, this is some of the best editing you will see in 2015.

Sadly, Whiplash isn’t quite perfect; there are fifteen/twenty minutes where the film lulls. Andrew is on his knees, his dream of being the next Buddy Rich looking like it will never happen. Yet Whiplash near enough follows the rules and traditions of the sports film, except you have a band instead of a team, a rehearsal space instead of a ring. We know that Andrew is going to get another chance, so why does Chazelle’s script take so long to get to this? There’s an impressive scene where Fletcher and Teller sit down and explain the reasons behind their actions, but you still feel like the film wobbles, that it loses that ferocious pace. As Fletcher repeatedly barks throughout Whiplash, “Not my tempo!”

Aside from a quarter-of-an-hour where the film oddly shifts down a gear, Whiplash is one hell of an experience.  It’s emotional, has plenty of questions (for instance, are Fletcher’s methods of teaching barbaric or inspiring?), and, for most of its running time, fires along at a slick, white knuckle pace. Simmons and Teller have one of the most complex onscreen relationships of recent years; it’s primal, whilst also managing to be subtle. With awards season, where studios cynically churn out films that tick all the boxes to ensure an Oscar or a Golden Globe, Damien Chazelle’s debut is unlike anything you will see in cinemas this year. It doesn’t matter how you feel about jazz music, you need to give Whiplash a go.

4 out of 5

Matt