Awards Season 2023: The 95th Academy Awards

So the curtain has come down on awards season 2023 with tonight's 95th Academy Awards. No slaps, no f-bombs, no awards accidentally given to other films, and no massively major shocks. Overall, a joyous evening. 

Returning to host for a third time, Jimmy Kimmel did pretty well in his opening monologue, starting by being parachuted in by Tom Cruise's Maverick. Yes, there were mentions of the slap a few time but didn't overdo it, and also a sly dig at the traditional (over)length of the telecast [although the broadcast took about 3hrs 30m which is average], and one of two little barbs slung at Matt Damon (Kimmel's nemesis, or so he would have us believe). Kimmel was an affable presence, even if him asking Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai if she thought Harry Styles did spit on Chris Pine was one of the more WTF moments of the night. 

Musical numbers were a mixed bag - whilst the production of "Naatu Naatu" from RRR was an absolute riot, and the stripped-back version of "Hold My Hand" was sublime, I can only describe the performance of "This Is A Life" from Everything Everywhere All At Once as a sixth-form drama student's fever-dream (complete with David Byrne wearing hot-dog fingers). 

The set design for this year's even was beautifully done, very art deco (well, we are technically back in the Roaring Twenties). There was also an interesting use of technology with QR codes shown onscreen which would give more information about nominees in an upcoming category. 

Onto the awards themselves.

Five out of six ain't bad, although I expected the category I would struggle to get right was Best Actress. The audience reaction to Ke Huy Quan's win was just wonderful; he had a lot of goodwill in that room, and he was clearly very moved by it all. Jamie Lee Curtis' lovely acceptance speech highlighted the people around her, by saying "we won an Oscar". Ruth Carter very touchingly dedicated her award for Costume Design for her work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to her 101-year old mother who sadly passed away this week. Another particularly lovely bit was the cast and crew of An Irish Goodbye using part of their acceptance speech time to get the assembled audience to sing "happy birthday" to cast member James Martin.  

 

The biggest winner of the evening was Everything Everywhere All At Once, taking home seven awards. All Quiet On The Western Front won four Oscars, whilst the only other film to win multiple awards was The Whale (winning two of its three nominations)

Despite multiple nominations, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Tár, Babylon, The Batman, and Triangle Of Sadness all went away empty-handed. 

Below is the full list of winners at the 95th Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Actor: Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Director: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Original Screenplay: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Sarah Polley (Women Talking)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Best International Feature Film of the Year: All Quiet On The Western Front

Best Cinematography: All Quiet On The Western Front

Best Film Editing: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Production Design: All Quiet On The Western Front

Best Costume Design: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Whale

Best Original Score: All Quiet On The Western Front

Best Original Song: "Naatu Naatu" (RRR)

Best Sound: Top Gun: Maverick

Best Visual Effects: Avatar: The Way Of Water

Best Documentary (Feature): Navalny

Best Documentary (Short Subject): The Elephant Whisperers

Best Animated Short Film: The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, And The Horse

Best Live Action Short Film: An Irish Goodbye

Congratulations to all winners!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. It's very nearly 5:30am here. Time to pack this nonsense away until the end of the year. 

Awards Season 2023: Critics Choice Awards Winners

Yesterday (15th January 2023) saw the 28th Critics Choice Awards. Hosted by Chelsea Handler, they honoured the best of film and TV in 2022 across 37 categories. 

Here are a full list of the Critics' Choice Awards movie winners: 

Best Picture: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Actor: Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Best Acting Ensemble: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Director: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Original Screenplay: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Adapted Screenplay: Women Talking

Best Comedy: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Foreign Language Film: RRR

Best Animated Feature: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Best Score: Tár

Best Song: "Naatu Naatu" (RRR)

Best Production Design: Babylon

Best Editing: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Costume Design: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Hair & Makeup: Elvis

Best Visual Effects: Avatar: The Way Of Water

Best Cinematography: Top Gun: Maverick

Best Young Actor/Actress: Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans)

Everything Everywhere All At Once was the runaway winner of the evening, with five awards. Tár, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and RRR were the next big winners with each film taking home two awards apiece. 

Congratulations to all winners!

There's a few days off from awards stuff, with the BAFTA Film Awards nominations our next event, coming on Thursday (19th January).

Awards Season 2023: Golden Globes Winners

 

Last night (Tuesday 10th January 2023), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film.

Last year's ceremony was not broadcast, due to NBC declining to air the show in support of the various boycotts of the HFPA (which came from the lack of diversity of the membership, and its financial malfeasance). However, a one-year contract was struck to bring the ceremony back on air, with Jerrod Carmichael (Bad Neighbours, The Carmichael Show, Rothaniel) acting as MC for the first time. 

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): The Fabelmans

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Director: Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

Best Actor (Drama): Austin Butler (Elvis)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Best Actress (Drama): Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Best Screenplay: Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)

Best Original Song: "Naatu Naatu" (RRR)

Best Foreign Language Film: Argentina, 1985

Best Animated Feature Film: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Eddie Murphy

The Banshees Of Inisherin takes away the most awards, with three. The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere All At Once have two. 

The Golden Globes have always been a more rough-and-ready affair, so it's no surprise that the ceremony was a bit less slick than one may expect. That said, there was an annoying habit of starting to play acceptance speeches off far too early, which led to several winners mentioning it (with Michelle Yeoh's "Shut up, please. I can beat you up" being the funniest quip). 

Carmichael was OK as host, addressing the HFPA's woes in his opening monologue (Carmichael was the first solo Black host of the Golden Globes, and that point was made) but he often struggled to keep control of events, and some of his jokes really failed to land (such as the jab about using Tom Cruise's three Globes- which he returned- to free the notoriously absent wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige). There was also far too many jokes about Will Smith which started to grate a little.  

Onto the awards. A couple of surprises, namely: Austin Butler's win (over the highly-favoured Brendan Fraser who [like several nominees and winners] was absent from the event); Argentina, 1985 taking the Best Foreign Language Film over Decision To Leave and All Quiet On The Western Front; and "Naatu Naatu" from Bollywood action drama RRR taking Best Original Song over "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick (which went home empty-handed) or "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (although the MCU sequel did take home one award, for Angela Bassett's stoic supporting turn as the grieving Queen Ramonda). 

Personally, I'm happy to see the love for The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

Congratulations to all winners!

As if all of this awards excitement wasn't enough for you, today (Wednesday 11th January) sees the announcement of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards AND the Directors Guild (DGA) Awards nominations. I'd very much expect to see a lot of the names featured here in those as well.