Awards Season 2021: The 93rd Academy Awards

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

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

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

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

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

On to the awards themselves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Nomadland

Best Actor: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Best Actress: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

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

Best Supporting Actress: Yuh-jung Youn (Minari)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Original Screenplay: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

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

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Soul

Best International Feature Film of the Year: Another Round

Best Cinematography: Mank

Best Film Editing: Sound Of Metal

Best Production Design: Mank

Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Original Score: Soul

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

Best Sound: Sound Of Metal

Best Visual Effects: Tenet

Best Documentary (Feature): My Octopus Teacher

Best Documentary (Short Subject): Colette

Best Animated Short Film: If Anything Happens I Love You

Best Live Action Short Film: Two Distant Strangers

Congratulations to all winners!

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

Awards Season 2021: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

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

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

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

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

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

Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

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

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

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

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

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

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

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

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Picture: Nomadland

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

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

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

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

Awards Season 2021: Independent Spirit Awards Winners

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

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

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

Here is a full list of winners.

Best Feature: Nomadland

Best Female Lead: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Male Lead: Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Best Supporting Female: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Best Supporting Male: Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Screenplay: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

Best First Screenplay: Andy Siara (Palm Springs)

Best Cinematography: Nomadland

Best Editing: Nomadland

Best First Feature: Sound Of Metal

Best International Film: Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Documentary: Crip Camp

John Cassavetes Award: Residue

Robert Altman Award: One Night In Miami

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

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

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

Congratulations to all winners!

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

 

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

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

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

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

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

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

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

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

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

-------------

BAFTA AWARDS

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

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

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

The winners from the first night were:

Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Make Up And Hair: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Production Design: Mank

Sound: Sound Of Metal

Special Visual Effects: Tenet

Casting: Rocks

Short Animation: The Owl And The Pussycat

Short Film: The Present

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Noel Clarke

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

The winners from the second night were: 

Best Film: Nomadland

Outstanding British Film: Promising Young Woman

Leading Actor: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Leading Actress: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

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

Supporting Actress: Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Adapted Screenplay: The Father

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

Animated Film: Soul

Documentary: My Octopus Teacher

Film Not In The English Language: Another Round

Cinematography: Nomadland

Editing: Sound Of Metal

Original Score: Soul

Rising Star: Bukky Bakray

BAFTA Fellowship: Ang Lee

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

Congratulations to all winners!

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

Awards Season 2021: Producers' Guild Awards (PGA) Winners

Just a quick awards update today, to share the winners from last night's Producers Guild Awards (PGA). The film winners are:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: Nomadland

Documentary Film: My Octopus Teacher

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: Soul

No surprises with either Nomadland or Soul winning their respective categories. It feels as if the awards were theirs to lose, if you know what I mean? I think this definitely solidifies Nomadland as front runner for the Oscar Best Picture. Mind you, last year I said the same about 1917 and we all know how that ended up... 

Congratulations to all the winners!

For those not inclined to awards stuff, you'll be pleased to know there's a bit of a gap until the next ceremony: the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards are next, on Sunday 4th April. 

Due to how things are, SAG have made the decision to do a pre-recorded, one-hour special to honour the winners of this year's awards. The show will be recorded the day before the broadcast, so the winners will be known ahead of time. 

What's the bets at least one category gets spoiled ahead of time? 

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 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. 

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).