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: 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: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier today, here is a selection of the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

The Father

Judas And The Black Messiah

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

LaKeith Stanfield (Judas And The Black Messiah)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

By my reckoning, I got 29/33 (88%). Turns out I should have been a bit more confident in my acting predictions, as it's only LaKeith Stanfield that I didn't get. I didn't get either Judas And The Black Messiah or Sound Of Metal in Best Picture, nor Thomas Vinterberg for Best Director. All said though, I'm quite happy with my predictions. And yes, it does mean Glenn Close has been nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie for the same performance... Just goes to show there's no accounting for taste.

Mank leads the nominations with an impressive 10 nods, whilst The Father, Judas And The Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound Of Metal, and The Trial Of The Chicago 7 all have six each.

Congratulations to all nominees!

The 93rd Academy Awards will be held on Sunday 25th April 2021, with the ceremony being held in Los Angeles' Union Station and its usual venue, the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center.

It's been a busy week for awards stuff, so those of you who aren't fans of this kind of frippery will be pleased to know there's a bit of a break from it. The next awards update will be Sunday (21st March) when the Writers Guild Awards are handed out. 

Awards Season 2021: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

 ...pation.

Tomorrow morning, the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced. This year, they will be announced by husband-and-wife duo Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Krrish, The White Tiger, Baywatch) and Nick Jonas (Jumanji: The Next Level, Midway, Camp Rock).

As has been my practice for the last few years (well, since 2003), I like to try and predict who will be nominated (this is done for Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting awards). Below is my list of who I think will be named tomorrow.

NB. Since the 2010 ceremony, the Academy rules state that there could be anywhere between five and ten Best Picture nominees. I have selected ten films. If the total number of films nominated is less than ten, but one of the movies selected is named in my list of ten, I will count it as a successful prediction.

This will be the last year in which this will happen, as the Academy have committed to having ten Best Picture nominees from 2022.

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods

The Father

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

One Night In Miami

Promising Young Woman

Soul

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

Usually a score of 15 is adequate, but given the fact that there could be anywhere between 5 and 10 Best Picture awards, I’ll be happy with a prediction of 18 or higher. Last year, I got 30/34.

With Best Picture, I'm fairly secure with 7 (maybe 8) of the predictions. There's always the chance of a surprise nod for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sound Of Metal, or News Of The World. Similarly with Best Director, I'd say I'm confident on 3. It wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility for Regina King to score a nomination for One Night In Miami... (which might see Fincher or potentially Fennell shunted out?) 

Were I to be totally honest, I'm less confident with the acting awards than I have been in previous years. For each category I'd say I'm only sure of three in each. There's a lot of variables. 

Best Actor could see a surprise nod for Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round), Tom Hanks (News Of The World), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian) or Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) [most likely in place of Steven Yeun or Gary Oldman] whilst Amy Adams could get a nod for Hillbilly Elegy and Sidney Flanigan could be a major upset with a nod for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. I went with Andra Day on the strength of the Golden Globes win, but you can't be sure until the names are read out. 

In the Supporting Actor category, Boseman and Raci could be replaced by David Strathairn (Nomadland), Bill Murray (On The Rocks), Jared Leto (The Little Things) or even Alan Kim (Minari). The Best Supporting Actress race is still pretty wide open: there could potentially be nominations for Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman), Dominique Fishback (Judas And The Black Messiah), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian), and/or Helena Zengel (News Of The World) in place of any of Seyfried and/or Colman. 

The nominations will be announced tomorrow afternoon (around 1:20pm GMT) - there'll be a post up as soon as I can afterwards with the official nominations.

Awards Season 2021: Producers' Guild Awards (PGA) Nominations and Razzies Nominations

Two bits of awards news today (one expected, one not) - so let's dive right in to them!

PRODUCERS' GUILD AWARDS (PGA) NOMINATIONS

This was the one that was expected; the nominations for the 32nd Producers Guild of America Awards

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Judas And The Black Messiah

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

One Night In Miami...

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Croods: A New Age

Onward

Over The Moon

Soul

Wolfwalkers

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures 

(previously announced)

David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet

Dick Johnson Is Dead

My Octopus Teacher

Softie

A Thousand Cuts

Time

The Truffle Hunters

The PGAs will be given out on Wednesday 24th March 2021.

* * *

RAZZIE AWARDS NOMINATIONS

Much like an ill-timed fart at the vicar's garden party, I was surprised by an unexpected stench this evening. The Golden Raspberry Awards- which dishonour the worst of film- snuck out their nominees for this year's Razzies in a silent-but-deadly fashion today [Friday 12th March] instead of Sunday [14th March] as previously announced. Naughty, naughty Razzies...

Here are the full nominations for the 41st Annual Razzie Awards 

WORST PICTURE

365 Days

Absolute Proof

Dolittle

Fantasy Island

Music

WORST ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway (The Last Thing He Wanted and Roald Dahl's The Witches)

Katie Holmes (Brahms: The Boy II and The Secret: Dare To Dream)

Kate Hudson (Music)

Lauren Lapkus (The Wrong Missy)

Anna-Maria Sieklucka (365 Days)

WORST ACTOR

Robert Downey Jr. (Dolittle)

Mike Lindell (The "MyPillow" Guy) (Absolute Proof)

Michele Morrone (365 Days)

Adam Sandler (Hubie Halloween)

David Spade (The Wrong Missy)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chevy Chase (The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee)

Rudy Giuliani (as himself) (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Shia LaBeouf (The Tax Collector)

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Iron Mask)

Bruce Willis (Breach, Hard Kill, and Survive The Night)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Lucy Hale (Fantasy Island)

Maggie Q (Fantasy Island)

Kristen Wiig (Wonder Woman 1984)

Maddie Ziegler (Music)

WORST SCREEN COMBO

Maria Bakalova & Rudy Giuliani (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Robert Downey Jr. & His Utterly Unconvincing "Welsh" Accent (Dolittle)

Harrison Ford & That Totally Fake-Looking CGI "Dog" (Call Of The Wild)

Lauren Lapkus & David Spade (The Wrong Missy)

Adam Sandler & His Grating Simpleton Voice (Hubie Halloween)

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL

365 Days

Dolittle

Fantasy Island

Hubie Halloween

Wonder Woman 1984

WORST DIRECTOR

Charles Band (Corona Zombies, Barbie & Kendra Save The Tiger King, and Barbie & Kendra Storm Area 51)

Barbara Bialowas & Tomsaz Mandes (365 Days)

Stephen Gaghan (Dolittle)

Ron Howard (Hillbilly Elegy)

Sia (Music)

WORST SCREENPLAY

365 Days

Corona Zombies, Barbie & Kendra Save The Tiger King, and Barbie & Kendra Storm Area 51

Dolittle

Fantasy Island

Hillbilly Elegy

365 Days (an Eastern European Fifty Shades of Grey knock-off) and Dolittle get six nods each, with Fantasy Island getting 5. Depending on how things go on Monday, Glenn Close might be joining a unique little club, being the third person to be nominated for a Razzie and an Oscar for the same performance: the other two are Amy Irving (Yentl) and James Coco (Only When I Laugh).

The Razzies will be given out on Saturday 24th April (the day before the Giving Out of the Little Gold Naked Men [a.k.a. Oscar night]), at which a "Special" Governors' Award will be given to dishonour 2020 - The Worst Calendar Year EVER! It's difficult to disagree with that assessment...

There'll still be a post on Sunday (14th March) where I'll be sharing my predictions on which films will get an Oscar nod on Monday. I see you shiver with antici...

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: 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 Awards Nominations

Awards nonsense ahoy! Today (Monday 8th February) saw the announcement of the movie nominations for the 26th Annual Critics' Choice Awards.

Here are a selection of their nominees:

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Minari

News Of The World

Nomadland

One Night In Miami...

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods)

Regina King (One Night In Miami...)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Ben Affleck (The Way Back)

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Tom Hanks (News Of The World)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Zendaya (Malcolm & Marie)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Bill Murray (On The Rocks)

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

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

Mank leads the field with 12 nominations, closely followed by Minari with 10. 

A couple of nice surprises in the list - including the first major recognition for Delroy Lindo, Zendaya, and Ellen Burstyn. For me, this confirms that- for each of the acting awards at least- there's a core of 3-4 actors who are a virtual lock for an Oscar nod. Similarly, there are 3 (maybe 4?) directors who are looking very strong too, although the Directors Guild Award nominations (due on 9th March) will pretty much crystallize that.

The 26th Critics' Choice Awards will be handed out on Sunday 7th March 2021, in a ceremony hosted by Taye Diggs (The Best Man Holiday, Equilibrium, How Stella Got Her Groove Back), who is taking MC duties for the third consecutive year. 

The ceremony will be a mix of in-person and virtual, with Diggs and some presenters in the Los Angeles studio with nominees appearing remotely. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next stop on the awards season hype train will be the Writers Guild Awards nominations which are announced next Tuesday (16th February).

Awards Season 2021: Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards Nominations

Today (Thursday 4th February), the nominations for the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards were announced. 

Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, Mank) and Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Soul) announced the nominations via Instagram Live. How modern! Despite a few (ahem) early technical issues, the nominees were announced pretty smoothly. 

This is generally considered to be a bit of a bellwether award, as the voting body for SAG overlaps quite substantially with the actors' branch of the Academy. 

Below is the list of film nominations:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Da 5 Bloods

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Minari

One Night In Miami

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Amy Adams (Hillbilly Elegy)

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Jared Leto (The Little Things)

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

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Helena Zengel (News Of The World)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Da 5 Bloods

Mulan

News Of The World

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Wonder Woman 1984

Quite a few of the same names coming out already, with several actors and actresses looking ever more likely for the Oscar nod (Riz Ahmed, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Viola Davis, Frances McDormand, Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Leslie Odom Jr., and Olivia Colman especially; I think Chadwick Boseman is in a strong position for at least one posthumous nod, and maybe two). 

Nice to see a couple of the cast of Minari being recognised here, building on the love of the Independent Spirit Awards. Despite high critical praise, still no awards love as yet for Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) or Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman) but there's still time. And the Academy have been known in the past to chuck a couple of curveballs in their nominations (Laura Dern for Wild, for instance). 

The winners of this year's SAG Awards will be announced on Sunday 4th April (moved from its previously announced date of Sunday 14th March to avoid clashing with the similarly-moved Grammys). 

Congratulations to all nominees!

There's a couple of days of a breather from awards stuff, but this coming Sunday (7th February) will see this year's Critics' Choice Awards nominations announced. 

Enjoy this brief respite!