Awards Season 2015: WGA and BAFTA Winners

We're on the home straight with Awards Season 2016 - just one more weekend to go. However, this weekend has seen two sets of awards handed out.

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (WGA)

The Writers' Guild Awards were handed out on Saturday 13th February. The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Spotlight

Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short

Documentary Screenplay: Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief

Both Spotlight and The Big Short are nominated in their respective categories for the Oscars so that bodes well for them (however, I would much prefer Carol to win the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar as my main issues with The Big Short stem from the script). Alex Gibney's documentary about Scientology didn't make the cut for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar- wonder why?- but it's still interesting to see it being acknowledged.

BAFTA FILM AWARDS

Tonight (Sunday 14th February), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the 69th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony hosted for the eleventh time by Stephen Fry. Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Stephen Spielberg, Julie Walters, Michael Fassbender, Maggie Smith, Benicio del Toro, Eddie Redmayne, Idris Elba and Bryan Cranston were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film.

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners:

Best Film: The Revenant

Outstanding British Film: Brooklyn

Leading Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Leading Actress: Brie Larson (Room)

Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies)

Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Original Screenplay: Spotlight

Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Naji Abu Nowar and Riper Lloyd (writer/director and producer of Theeb)

Animated Film: Inside Out

Documentary: Amy

Film Not In The English Language: Wild Tales

Cinematography: The Revenant

Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road

Make Up And Hair: Mad Max: Fury Road

Original Music: The Hateful Eight

Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

Sound: The Revenant

Special Visual Effects: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Short Animation: Edmond

Short Film: Operator

Rising Star: John Boyega

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Angels Costumes

BAFTA Fellowship: Sidney Poitier


The Revenant was the night's big winner with five BAFTAs, with Mad Max: Fury Road closely behind on four.

So, assuming Ghostbusters is wrong and the world doesn't end tonight, there's one final weekend of Awards Seasons frippery to go this year- that's in two weekends' time when the Film Independent Spirit Awards and the Razzies will be handed out on Saturday 27th February and then- the big kahuna - the 88th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday 28th February.

We're almost there, people. Almost there.

Tez

Review: The Big Short (UK Cert 15)

Based on a non-fiction book by Michael Lewis and co-written and directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman), The Big Short tells the story of some of the people who saw the impending collapse of the American housing market in 2008 (which subsequently plunged the world economy into difficulties). These include Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale), a hedge fund manager whose head for numbers first discovered the shady dealings which would eventually lead to the housing collapse; amoral trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), who found Burry's proposal and decided to make a killing on it; perpetually angry hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell) and his team who get introduced to the deal by Vennett via a wrong number call, and a pair of wet-behind-the-ears investors (John Magaro and Finn Wittrock) who are mentored by a retired banker, Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt). 

Performances are generally good. Bale gives a quirky, if slightly mannered, performance as Burry, the mastermind behind the 'short' (essentially betting against the banks). Gosling is assured and strangely likeable as the self-interested, slick Vennett. Carell's performance is maybe the strongest as Baum, angry at the venal self-serving arrogance of the banks and their practices.There are two great supporting turns by Melissa Leo as a ratings agency employee who calls Baum out on his hypocrisy and Marisa Tomei as Baum's wife who helps him through a personal tragedy.

There's a lot I didn't like about the film and most of it is stylistic. I didn't like the breaking of the fourth wall constantly (which I felt detracted from the flow of the story). There are a couple of celebrity cameos to explain some of the more technical points or jargon of the finance world, although they feel shoehorned in and- in the case of Margot Robbie in a bubble bath- slightly exploitative. There's also one of the most blatant pieces of sexposition (ie. setting an important piece of dialogue in a sexual context) when Baum and his team visit a bunch of strippers to explain that things are about to go tits up (excuse the pun). A tighter script could have easily explained these points without resorting to a Family Guy style cutaway. 

There are flickers of social commentary and the impact that the banks' recklessness would have. An investigation of an unoccupied housing estate in Florida, where people fled as soon as the eviction notices came in, and a conversation with a tenant who was about to lose his home and not even know it is powerful. Brad Pitt gets a slightly heavy-handed speech about the fact that, if his traders are right and cash in on the collapse, it's at the expense of people's jobs, homes and pensions. The final voiceover by Vennett explaining what actually happened- the bailouts, the bankers avoiding jail (only one banker faced jail time)- and some end-text which explains that the banks are starting to pull the same shit under a different name leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Having watched the film over the weekend, I'm still at a bit of a loss to describe my reaction to it. It's being marketed as a comedy but I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I actually laughed; it's also a biographical drama but it's a bit too slick and flashy. I'm also quite struggling to get the point of it all as well. The American economy went to hell in a handbasket in 2008 and caused ripples that are still being felt in the world today. We know this; we've lived it. The shady dealings of the banks and their monumental arrogance that they either a) wouldn't get found out or b) refused to acknowledge that the entire business was built on shoddy foundations is well documented. 

The film doesn't have the satirical bite of something like The Wolf Of Wall Street and it doesn't get sufficiently angry about the various injustices that the crisis unearthed. A bit of a disappointment.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Tez

Awards Season 2016: Producers' Guild Awards Winners

Last night (23rd January), the Producers' Guild of America announced its winners for the 2016 Producers' Guild Awards. 

The film winners are:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: The Big Short

Documentary Film: Amy

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: Inside Out

No surprise that Inside Out took the Animated category and I'm really happy that Amy won the Documentary category. The fact that The Big Short won the PGA's equivalent of Best Film is interesting and certainly seems to suggest that the Oscar race isn't as cut and dried as people maybe first thought it was. I'm going to see The Big Short later on today so the PGA win is going to add food for thought.

Awards Season 2016: Critics' Choice Awards Winners

Last night, the Critics' Choice Awards were handed out. Here's a full list of film winners:

Best Picture: Spotlight

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress: Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Acting Ensemble: Spotlight

Best Director: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Animated Feature: Inside Out

Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short

Best Comedy: The Big Short

Best Actor In A Comedy: Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Best Actress In A Comedy: Amy Schumer (Trainwreck)

Best Action Movie: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Actor In An Action Movie: Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actress In An Action Movie: Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie: Ex Machina

Best Documentary Feature: Amy

Best Foreign Language Film: Son Of Saul

Best Score: The Hateful Eight

Best Song: 'See You Again' (Furious 7)

Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Hair & Makeup: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Cinematography: The Revenant

Best Young Actor/Actress: Jacob Tremblay (Room)


With nine wins, Mad Max: Fury Road was the biggest winner of the night (which will cheer Watcher Rhys up no end), including Best Director. No surprises seeing DiCaprio and Larson take the lead acting honours. Spotlight taking Best Picture is also interesting, as a lot of early prognostication pointed to a sweep for The Revenant. 

After a very busy week last week (and thanks for your patience if you're not a fan of the awards season stuff), things get a bit quiet now - the next awards season post will be after the Producers' Guild Awards on January 23rd, with the SAG Awards a week later on January 30th.

Awards Season 2016: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier today, here is a selection of the nominations for this year's Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short

Bridge Of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

BEST DIRECTOR

Lenny Abrahamson (Room)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

I work that out as 28 out of 33 (for 85%) which is higher than last year. Really pleased with that.

The Revenant has 12 nominations, with Mad Max: Fury Road on 10. It's a bit of a surprise not to see Carol named in the Best Picture category, but it's been fairly represented elsewhere (in the acting and screenplay categories). Shaun The Sheep Movie and When Marnie Was There from Studio Ghibli are in contention for the Best Animated Feature, but are up against Inside Out (which also got a screenplay nomination). Star Wars: The Force Awakens gets four nominations, all in the technical departments, whilst SPECTRE gets a nod for Best Original Song for 'Writing's On The Wall'. I was overjoyed to see Amy named in the Best Documentary Feature category. 

The 88th Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday 28th February, in a ceremony hosted by Chris Rock

Massive congratulations to all nominees!

Awards Season 2015: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

Tomorrow, the nominations for the 88th Academy Awards will be announced and, like last year, the nominees for all 24 categories will be announced in the telecast. At 5:30am PST, directors Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak, Pan's Labyrinth) and Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Life Of Pi) will announce the nominees for some of the technical categories (including cinematography, make-up and hairstyling, sound editing) as well as Best Original Song and Best Documentary Feature. 

Then at 5:38am PST, Cheryl Boone Isaacs (President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and actor John Krasinski (The Office) will announce the rest of the nominees, including the acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture.

As has been my practice for the last few years, 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 on Thursday.

NB. Just like the last few years, 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.

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short

Bridge Of Spies

Brooklyn

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton

BEST DIRECTOR

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Idris Elba (Beasts Of No Nation)

Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Helen Mirren (Trumbo)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Usually a score of 15 is adequate, but given the fact that there could be anywhere between 5 and 10 Best Picture awards, I'ill be happy with a prediction of 18 or higher. Last year, I got 27 out of 33. I'm not that confident this year, and I'll tell you for why: there's a big question mark hanging over the lead Actress and Supporting Actress categories as there's a very real possibility that Rooney Mara and/or Alicia Vikander may be nominated as Best Actress for Carol and The Danish Girl, rather than in Supporting Actress. Different bodies have put them in different categories (although Mara has been more frequently placed in Supporting Actress, whilst Vikander has been equally in both). If one or both are bumped up to lead Actress then there are a couple of possibilities of what could happen; it's likely that Rachel McAdams will get a nod for her role in Spotlight or that Vikander herself will get a Supporting Actress nomination for Ex Machina. 

As for Supporting Actor, there's a lot of strong roles that have had previous nominations throughout awards season so it's the most fluid of categories in a way - you could easily see Paul Dano (Love & Mercy) or Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight) included in there, maybe even a nod for nine year old Jacob Tremblay for Room. 

In Lead Actor, I've gone for Matt Damon but wouldn't be too surprised to see Johnny Depp in his place for Black Mass (Depp got the SAG nomination ahead of Damon).

There are always sone surprises - last year, nothing for Laura Dern or Bennett Miller in the run-up and then Oscar nominations for Wild and Foxcatcher.

I'll post the nominees on Thursday afternoon so everyone can point and laugh and see how wrong I got it. Possibly.

Tez

Awards Season 2016: Directors' Guild Awards Nominees

Quick one today, as the Directors' Guild Awards announced its shortlist for their Feature Film category (to be handed out on February 6th)

The nominees are:

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Last year, the DGA nominees named four of the five eventual Oscar Best Director nominees (with Bennett Miller as the curveball). Inarritu, McCarthy, Miller and Scott have been the names most mentioned this year, but interestingly it's Todd Haynes who usually makes up the quintet for Carol. 

Tomorrow, there's going to be a bit of fun when the Razzie Award nominations are out. What's the bets that Pixels and Fantastic Four will be all over it?

Awards Season 2016: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

Yesterday morning (8th January), bright and early, although luckily not as early as the Oscar nominations, the nominations for this year's BAFTA Film Awards was announced by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Stephen Fry.

Here is a selection of the nominees::

BEST FILM

The Big Short

Bridge Of Spies

Carol

The Revenant

Spotlight

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

45 Years

Amy

Brooklyn

The Danish Girl

Ex Machina

The Lobster

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Maggie Smith (The Lady In The Van)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Idris Elba (Beasts Of No Nation)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Julie Walters (Brooklyn)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

BEST DIRECTOR

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Steven Spielberg (Bridge Of Spies)

A full list of nominees can be found here

Carol and Bridge Of Spies both have nine nominations and lead the field. The Revenant has eight, whilst Mad Max: Fury Road has seven.

A lot of the usual names here which are no surprise. I was surprised to see The Big Short and Trumbo making the nominations (as I wasn't sure if they'd had a release here to make them eligible). It's interesting that BAFTA have put Alicia Vikander as Best Actress for The Danish Girl (although they're not the first awards body to do so) but that does mean she is also nominated for Ex Machina. They've also thrown up some interesting possibilities for the Best Supporting Actor category, which is arguably the most open category so far this year.

This year's BAFTA Rising Star award nominees are John Boyega, Taron Egerton, Dakota Johnson, Brie Larson and Bel Powley. This award is voted on by the general public and you can vote for your favourite here.

The BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday 14th February at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. 

For those of you who aren't fans of this awards season frippery, you're in for a bit of a week of it. The blog's going to be teeming with the stuff until next Thursday, so at least you've got fair warning. Here's the timetable for the next week:

10/01/16 - Golden Globes ceremony
12/01/16 - Directors' Guild Awards nominations
13/01/16 - Golden Raspberry Awards nominations
14/01/16 - Oscar nominations

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, we'll have a review of The Hateful Eight for you shortly!


Tez

Awards Season 2016: Writers' Guild Awards Nominations

Today saw the nominations announced for this year's Writers' Guild Awards. As I've previously said, I don't tend to focus on the screenplay Oscars (certainly not to the same degree as the acting and directing ones; I certainly wouldn't attempt to predict what would get nominated), but- as a writer and a film fan- I do have an interest in what's been nominated. 

This year's nominations are as follows:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bridge Of Spies

Sicario

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton

Trainwreck

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short

Carol

The Martian

Steve Jobs

Trumbo

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Being Canadian

Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief

Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck

Prophet's Pray

There are several films that were not eligible for consideration due to guild rules, so films like The Hateful Eight, Inside Out, Suffragette, Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, Room, The Danish Girl and Brooklyn were not able to be considered. 

More awards nonsense on Friday (8th February) with the BAFTA Film nominations.