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: Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards Winners

Hello and Happy Easter! Hope you're enjoying the holiday, wherever you are and however you're spending it. 

We're back to awards season, as last night (Sunday 4th April), was the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

Unlike other awards ceremonies, SAG-AFTRA decided to pre-record the ceremony this year (meaning that the winners were known a few days in advance; and yet I didn't see any leaks anywhere- good job!) and an edited hour-long special was aired yesterday.

Here are the film winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: 

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Film:

Wonder Woman 1984

It was a night of several firsts: when the nominations were announced, the late Chadwick Boseman set a record by being nominated for four different awards in the same ceremony (he was nominated for Best Actor for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Best Supporting Actor for Da 5 Bloods, and was named in the ensemble for both films' nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast). There were no surprises in him winning Best Actor here, and it looks good for his chances of winning the Oscar. 

Youn Yuh-Jung's win makes her the first Asian winner, and first Asian female winner, of any individual SAG Award film category  

Michael Keaton- who plays Ramsey Clark in The Trial Of The Chicago 7- has set a record by winning three SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture (he was previously part of the winning ensembles for Birdman and Spotlight) 

Whilst the Actor/Supporting Actor categories have been consistent across all awards given out so far (both Boseman and Kaluuya have taken the Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice, and the SAG Award), it's a much more open situation in the Actress/Supporting Actress categories.

Each of the three awards has gone to a different actress: Andra Day won the Golden Globe, Carey Mulligan the Critics' Choice, and Viola Davis the SAG Award; in the Supporting Actress category, Jodie Foster took the Golden Globe, whilst Maria Bakalova won at the Critics' Choice, and Youn Yuh-Jung here. There are still the BAFTAs and Independent Spirit Awards to go, but- unlike previous years, where the same four names came up at virtually every award- there's still plenty of scope for some surprises come Oscars night.   

Over on the TV side, Schitt's Creek and The Crown won the Best Ensemble categories, with Catherine O'Hara and Gillian Anderson also winning Best Actress in their respective categories. The Mandalorian won Best Stunt Ensemble, whilst Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis took the Best Actor awards (for Ozark and Ted Lasso respectively) 

Congratulations to all winners!

This coming weekend is a busy one for awards stuff, with the Directors' Guild Awards being given out on Saturday (10th April), whilst the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) are holding two ceremonies over the weekend, with "craft" awards given out on Saturday, and the other awards on Sunday (11th April).

Awards Season 2021: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

Afternoon all!

Bit of a surprise to find that the announcement of this year's BAFTA Film Awards nominations was not done at 7:30am, but at the more sedate time of 2:00pm. This year, it was Aisling Bea (This Way Up, Live At The Apollo) and Susan Wokoma (Enola Holmes, Chewing Gum) who did the honours, at the Royal Albert Hall.  

Here's a selection of the nominees:

BEST FILM

The Father

The Mauritanian

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

Calm With Horses

The Dig

The Father

His House

Limbo

The Mauritanian

Mogul Mowgli

Promising Young Woman

Rocks

Saint Maud

LEADING ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round)

Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian)

LEADING ACTRESS

Bukky Bakray (Rocks)

Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Wunmi Mosaku (His House)

Alfre Woodard (Clemency)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Barry Keoghan (Calm With Horses)

Alan Kim (Minari)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami...)

Clarke Peters (Da 5 Bloods)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Niamh Alger (Calm With Horses)

Kosar Ali (Rocks)

Maria Balakova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Dominique Fishback (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Ashley Madekwe (County Lines)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Sarah Gavron (Rocks)

Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth)

Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round)

Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

This year, BAFTA announced longlists for all categories, so you can see what was in contention for nominations here. 

Nomadland and Rocks- a drama about a teenage girl forced to take care of herself and her younger brother when they are abandoned by their mother- lead the nominations with seven apiece, with The Father, Mank, Minari, and Promising Young Woman gaining six nods each (although that one of Promising Young Woman's nominations did not come for Carey Mulligan's central performance will no doubt raise a few eyebrows). 

A lot of the more common names thrown around this awards season- such as David Fincher, Regina King, Viola Davis, and Glenn Close- haven't shown up at the BAFTAs, although this is not necessarily a surprise; BAFTA has always skewed towards British talent and British films, so the absence of shouldn't necessarily concern anyone for next week's Oscar nods. 

Along with Carey Mulligan's non-inclusion, it is also surprising not to see nominations for Olivia Colman (The Father), Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7) or Gary Oldman (Mank). They're all likely to get Oscar nominations next week, and each of their respective films are eligible and in contention. That said, there's been a wide selection of very diverse films that have been honoured this year (50 films in total across all categories). 

The nominees for the 2021 Rising Star award - the only BAFTA awarded by public vote- have also been announced: Bukky Bakray, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Morfydd Clark, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, and Conrad Khan. Find out more about them, and cast your vote here. 

This year's BAFTAs will be given out in two separate, virtual ceremonies: the craft awards (cinematography, production design, sound etc.) will be given out on Saturday 10th April 2021, whilst the more mainstream categories (acting categories, director, Best Film etc.) get awarded on Sunday 11th April 2021. Further news on how the ceremonies will work will be forthcoming. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

There'll be another (short) post later with the nominees for this year's Directors' Guild Awards. 

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. 

Review: Black Panther (UK Cert 12A)

After the events of Captain America: Civil War, T'Challa now takes up the mantle of Black Panther and assumes the throne of Wakanda after his father's death. Wakanda is a technologically advanced place, thanks to its reserves of vibranium (the strongest metal in the world). Traditionally, Wakanda stays out of world affairs, doesn't offer aid or refuge, and keeps itself to itself. However, that may be about to change as a powerful adversary- with an unexpected link to Wakanda's past- comes to challenge T'Challa for the throne. 

Performances are really strong across the board. Chadwick Boseman gives a performance of great integrity and power as new king T'Challa, struggling with what it means to be a good ruler as Wakanda is threatened.Danai Gurira steals the spotlight several times as General Okoye, head of the Dora Milaje (the Wakandan royal guard) with a performance of wit and warmth, and Letitia Wright is great as T'Challa's sister, Shuri. A cheeky tech wizard, Shuri is essentially T'Challa's Q, creating some spectacular gadgets. Forest Whitaker provides decent support as wise old counselor Zuri, and there's a nicely dignified performance by Angela Bassett as Queen Mother Ramonda. 

As T'Challa's love interest Nakia, Lupita Nyong'o is superb and there's a real chemistry between her and Boseman. Nakia isn't just a swooning wallflower though- she's a spy for Wakanda, and a kickass heroine in her own right. Martin Freeman is given more to do this time as CIA Agent Everett Ross and acquits himself well. Daniel Kaluuya is strong as tribesman W'Kabi who clashes with T'Challa over the course Wakanda will take, whilst Winston Duke adds menace as rogue tribe leader M'Baku- and gets a couple of the funniest lines of the film. 

As for the villains, whilst Andy Serkis gets a bit broad with his portrayal of villainous arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (complete with wandering South African accent, which sometimes wanders off completely), he's clearly having a lot of fun. On the other hand, Michael B. Jordan brings a brooding intensity to main antagonist Erik Killmonger, a man full of anger and rage. Unusually for a Marvel movie, the main bad guy has a plausible- some may say, legitimate- motivation for his actions. 

Ryan Coogler showed his prowess with action sequences with the kinetic matches in Creed, and the big action set-pieces- a high-octane chase through Busan, the casino shoot-out, the ceremonial battles- don't disappoint. The entire production design of the film is superb- everything from the sets to the costumes, the make-up to the visual effects. Rachel Morrison's cinematography is sublime- from the gritty streets of South Korea to the sweeping plains of Wakanda, the film looks amazing. But it has substance too.

Critics tend to get very sniffy about comic book movies. They're low culture, popcorn fodder, sit-back-amd-turn-your-brain-off-and-watch-the-pretty-colours. Not only is this snobbery of the highest order, it's also wrong. The best comic book movies use the fantastical to examine the human condition. Black Panther touches on colonialism, empire, globalisation versus isolationism, what it means to be a good ruler as well as a good person, and the sins of the father being visited upon the son. These are weighty subjects, but they're dealt with in a sensitive manner- there doesn't feel like there's any preaching or speechifying, nor are they treated lightly or as a joke. It's powerful stuff and it sparked a conversation between my friends and I after the film finished about museums and 'civilisation'. 

In summary, Black Panther is just superb. Another triumph for Marvel Studios. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Get Out (UK Cert 15)

Meeting your girlfriend's family for the first time is nerve-wracking enough, but for Chris Washington, it literally becomes a matter of life and death. Welcomed warmly (maybe a bit too warmly) by Rose's liberal parents, the truth behind Chris' visit soon becomes apparent- and he's forced into a desperate battle for survival... 

Released in 2017, I missed Get Out during its cinema release, but it's now available on DVD/BluRay, so I've been able to catch up with it, and I'm glad that I have. I'm not a massive horror fan, as I've said before, but I thoroughly enjoyed the film (as did Matt, who spoke highly of it in our Review Of The Year). It's not a horror in the traditional sense; it's much more of a thriller in the style of something like Rosemary's Baby or the 1970s version of The Stepford Wives. There's the occasional jump-scare but they're few and far between. The final 20 minutes or so do descend into typical 'horror movie' final act tropes (with Chris as the Final Girl) but, such is the skill that's gone before in making Chris a sympathetic character, you're really behind him and you want him to escape. 

Londoner Daniel Kaluuya absolutely nails the American accent and plays Chris with a wonderful balance of nervousness and steel. Becoming slowly exasperated by everyone's niceness (which he attributes to political correctness), he soon finds out there's a much more sinister plot brewing beneath the bonhomie. You could write a whole thesis on the racial politics and representations in the film; Chris is asked several times to comment on 'the Black Experience' (as if he's some kind of spokesman) and there's a sly reference to the fetishisation of black men as sexual objects which comes out of left-field. It's an impressive central performance which has been rightly lauded throughout this awards season.

This is the first thing I've seen Allison Williams in (I haven't ever seen Girls), but she is superb as Rose. Even after the twist is revealed, there's still a magnetism to her performance which is utterly beguiling- you can understand why Chris has fallen in love with her. Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener play Rose's parents Dean and Missy as almost caricaturistally liberal (a common refrain is they would have voted for Obama for a third term if they could) but there's a definite hint of menace beneath both performances- Keener's in particular- which makes for a nicely ambiguous set-up at the beginning. Caleb Landry Jones is good as Rose's unpredictable brother Jeremy, a more ostensible threat than anything else going on at the house. 

Betty Gabriel deserves a mention for her role as housekeeper Georgina- in a pivotal scene which suggests all may not be as it seems in the Armitage household, Georgina becomes confused, starts to cry and then laugh uncontrollably all in the space of a few seconds- it's one of the most uncomfortable but powerful moments in the film. You can literally see every emotion play across Gabriel's face. It's astounding. Finally, Lil Rel Howery provides the majority of the laughs as Chris' fast-talking TSA friend Rod, providing welcome moments of levity amidst the encroaching tension. 

There's some interesting visual quirks to the film- the sequences in The Sunken Place are really trippy but nicely realised- as well as a good use of sound design; the sound of a silver spoon stirring a cup of tea might well take on a different meaning after seeing Get Out. Jordan Peele's direction is slick and his screenplay a nice balance of funny and scary. 

Get Out is a real hybrid- a blend of social commentary, family drama, comedy, horror, and even some high-concept sci-fi all mixed together to create something that starts out as Guess Who's Coming To Dinner and ends up as more of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Even if horror isn't really your thing, give Get Out a go. It's a fine piece of film-making. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez