Awards Season 2022: The 94th Academy Awards

Well... that was certainly something...

Did anyone have "angry actor smacks award host for insulting his wife, then proceeds to win an Oscar" on their Oscar bingo? No? Nor did I. But that's one of the things about live events: anything can happen. 

The telecast began with a spectacular performance of Best Original Song nominee "Be Alive" from King Richard by Beyoncé from the Compton tennis courts where Venus and Serena Williams practiced when they were growing up. Talk about starting with a bang!

This was the first time in three years that the Oscars had a host and, if I'm honest, I really didn't feel that having a host (or hosts) added anything to the evening. And to be honest, that's nothing to do with who they had as hosts: it was always going to be a poisoned chalice for whoever took the job and Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall didn't do too badly. Let's put it this way: they were more Jimmy Kimmel than James Franco & Anne Hathaway. 

The three-act structure seemed to have gone by the wayside, with all three hosts periodically popping up throughout; the providers of the music changed each hour, but that was about it. There were a couple of funny lines (Amy Schumer referring to herself as "Melissa McCarthy said no" raised a chuckle, as did her "Did I miss anything?" when she reappeared after the Smith-Rock debacle; the not-so-subtle two fingers up to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill was also a joy), but generally the skits felt clunky and unfunny- Regina Hall playing up to being the thirsty singleton went on too long, and somehow we were meant to be OK with her feeling up Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa when you just know that if a male host tried to do the same with (for example) Helen Mirren and Zendaya, people would be frothing at the mouth.   

I actually didn't necessarily mind how they edited in the eight awards that were given out in the hour before the telecast began (although perhaps the irony of having the Best Achievement in Editing as one of the eight whilst relying on editors to seamlessly put that footage into the live show was lost on them). I did mind the utterly haphazard manner in which they interspersed them throughout, and I further minded that a lot of the material that was added in lieu of those eight awards were irrelevant puff.

The much vaunted performance of Encanto's "We Don't Talk About Bruno" was not, in fact, a full performance of the song. It started out as a performance, but then metamorphosed into this rap-heavy mishmash of "Celebrating The Oscars". That was one of a couple of utterly baffling decisions made throughout the night: why have three extreme sportsmen to host the 60 Years Of Bond montage? And why not immediately follow that montage with the live performance of "No Time To Die"? 

The whole "Oscars Cheer" moment- which, apparently, was The Flash entering speed force in Zack Snyder's Justice League- added nothing, and neither did the Fan Favourite Award (which armies of Snyder fans hijacked with Army Of The Dead after the four-hour Justice League cut was deemed ineligible as it was a re-release). I found the choice of music for the In Memoriam section to be a bit odd, but I did like the individual tributes to Sidney Poitier, Ivan Reitman, and Betty White. 

The guest hosts varied from funny to excruciating- Shang-Chi's Simu Liu and Tiffany Haddish fell into the latter camp (mostly because of Haddish's increasingly erratic behaviour), although I did like having a trio of live-action Disney princesses (Cinderella's Lily James, Aladdin's Naomi Scott, and The Little Mermaid's Halle Bailey) to announce Best Animated Feature.  

But the big talking point of the night is going to be what happened when Chris Rock presented the Best Documentary Feature award. Will Smith stormed the stage and smacked Rock in the face after Rock made a "GI Jane 2" crack about Jada Pinkett Smith (Pinkett Smith has alopecia and has been very honest and open about her struggles with the condition, and looked ever-so-slightly pissed off at Rock's remark). On Sky Cinema, the censors weren't quick enough to catch either of Smith's f-bombs, or Rock's dazed "Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me". Initially, I wasn't sure whether it was a bit, but it soon became clear that it wasn't. Smith's tearful speech as he returned to the stage to claim the Best Actor Oscar featured an apology, but to the Academy and fellow nominees. 

Onto the awards themselves.

Six out of six for the first time in a long time. Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur, and Jessica Chastain all gave very emotional acceptance speeches, all touching on themes of acceptance and finding your place in the world. I was also pleased that "No Time To Die" won Best Original Song, and I was chuffed that Kenneth Branagh- who has been nominated in seven different categories- won his first Oscar, for the screenplay of Belfast. I was also over the moon that CODA won Best Picture. It was a real feel-good end to a rocky show.  

This Oscars featured a number of firsts: we saw the first openly queer woman of colour (Ariana DeBose) win an acting award; the first Deaf actor (Troy Kotsur) win an acting award; this is the first time consecutive Best Director Oscars have been won by female directors (Chloé Zhao and Jane Campion), and it's the first time a film distributed on a streaming platform (CODA, via Apple TV+) has won Best Picture.

Unsurprisingly, Dune was the biggest winner of the evening, taking home six awards (four of which were won before the telecast started). CODA won three Oscars, winning each category it was nominated in, as did The Eyes Of Tammy Faye which won in both its categories. 

Despite multiple nominations, Don't Look Up, Nightmare Alley, Being The Ricardos, Flee, Licorice Pizza, The Lost Daughter and The Tragedy Of Macbeth all went away empty-handed. 

Below is the full list of winners at the 94th Academy Awards (the eight categories marked with the asterisks were given out ahead of time):

Best Motion Picture of the Year: CODA

Best Actor: Will Smith (King Richard)

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain (The Eyes Of Tammy Faye)

Best Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Best Director: Jane Campion (The Power Of The Dog)

Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Siân Heder (CODA)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Encanto

Best International Feature Film of the Year: Drive My Car

Best Cinematography: Dune

* Best Film Editing: Dune

* Best Production Design: Dune

Best Costume Design: Cruella

* Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Eyes Of Tammy Faye

* Best Original Score: Dune

Best Original Song: "No Time To Die" (No Time To Die)

* Best Sound: Dune

Best Visual Effects: Dune

Best Documentary (Feature): Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

* Best Documentary (Short Subject): The Queen Of Basketball

* Best Animated Short Film: The Windshield Wiper

* Best Live Action Short Film: The Long Goodbye

Congratulations to all winners!

Well, that is awards season done and dusted for another year. Thank you for coming with me on this journey. Tonight certainly hasn't been boring, that's for sure.

Until next time.

Awards Season 2022: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2021 at the 94th Academy Awards.

For the first time in three years, the Oscars will have a host. Well, actually, it'll have three. The ceremony will be structured into three "acts" with a different host overseeing each act. The three hosts will be Amy Schumer (Trainwreck, I Feel Pretty), Regina Hall (Scary Movie, Girls Trip), and Wanda Sykes (Monster-In-Law, Evan Almighty). Great choices to oversee what is likely to be a fairly controversial ceremony.

I will reserve judgement to see how it's handled in the telecast, but I think that the decision that the producers have made to give nearly a third of the awards- the three short subject awards, Make-Up and Hairstyling, Production Design, Editing, Sound, and Original Score- out an hour before the telecast begins and editing in the winners' acceptance speeches throughout the main ceremony is a short-sighted and fairly disrespectful one, especially since it seems to have come at the behest of broadcaster ABC in an attempt to bring the runtime of the telecast down and provide "more time for comedy, film clips and musical numbers" (i.e. try and get the viewership up, hence the cynical inclusion of a live performance of Encanto break-out song and TikTok favourite "We Don't Talk About Bruno"). We'll see how seamless this is tonight. 

Nonetheless, 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 (choosing Chadwick Boseman and Carey Mulligan in the lead acting categories, instead of Anthony Hopkins and Frances McDormand).

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

Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Wins at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, SAG Awards, and BAFTA, it's as certain as it can get that Ariana DeBose will be picking up the Oscar. And it will be well deserved. 

DeBose's performance as Anita is fearless, fiery, and flirtatious. She absolutely owns the screen in her two big musical numbers ("America" and "A Boy Like That") and makes the role her own, rather than an imitation of the inimitable Rita Moreno. She has a sisterly care for the young and lovestruck Maria (Rachel Zegler) and has no qualms in standing up to Bernardo (David Alvarez) if she thinks he's wrong. It's a powerful and commanding performance, made the more extraordinary for it being only her third substantial film role. 

I've a feeling that this role will do for DeBose what it did for Moreno, and she is at the start of a stellar career. An Oscar win certainly wouldn't hurt that.  

Best Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Initially, I thought that this award would be going to Kodi Smit-McPhee for his sensitive turn in The Power Of The Dog, but- much as with Ariana DeBose above- it feels as certain as these things can get that Troy Kotsur will be making history as the first Deaf actor to win a competitive acting Oscar.

His performance as Massachusetts fisherman Frank Rossi in Sian Heder's understated and quite beautiful family drama CODA is superb. He imbues the character with an Everyman likeability and a lot of the humour of the film comes from his dislike of the port authorities. There's one particular moment where he transitions from signing "testicle" to "hand grenade" which is just brilliant.  

His scenes with Emilia Jones (who plays Ruby, the hearing Child of Deaf Adults) as he realises what singing means to her are very emotional, especially when he asks her to sing for him and he touches her vocal chords to feel the song. Of the other nominated performances, I think only Smit-McPhee has the chance of taking the award from him. 

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain (The Eyes Of Tammy Faye)

Like last year, this year's Best Actress race has been very open with various people winning throughout. The only performance I've not been able to see was Penélope Cruz in Parallel Mothers, but I have caught the other four. 

Taking the lead of the SAG Awards and the Critics Choice, I think Jessica Chastain will be taking home the gold. It would have been very easy to have done a mere impersonation of disgraced televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker- she's been endlessly parodied since the 1970s- but Chastain finds the heart and soul of the woman beneath the layers of make-up and glitz, disappearing under (at first, subtle) prosthetics to give a truly captivating performance. 

Chastain also does her own singing of Tammy Faye's songs as well, and if there are things the Academy likes, it's a) real-life people, b) good make-up/prosthetic work and c) multi-talented performances. Chastain is 3 for 3 on these. Nicole Kidman might nip in and take it for her enchanting performance of Lucille Ball in Being The Ricardos, but I think Chastain will be thanking Tammy Faye tonight. 

Best Actor: Will Smith (King Richard)

Whilst I have several issues with the film- such as the downplaying of the Williams sisters' talent- and despite liking or connecting with other Best Actor performances more, it seems likely that it'll be third time the charm for Will Smith. 

As Richard Williams, father and coach to future tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, he gives a very un-Will-Smith-like performance, disappearing into a character that's occasionally pushy, often overbearing and overprotective, but utterly determined to have the girls reach their dreams (and crucially, they are their dreams). 

It is, I think, his best and most rounded character performance on-screen since Ali and- if he is going to win an Oscar- this would be the role for him to do it. Although, if Andrew Garfield's name gets announced, I'd be ecstatic.   

Best Director: Jane Campion (The Power Of The Dog)

With wins at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTA, and- crucially- the DGA, I will be absolutely shocked if any other name than Campion's comes up here. 

Her direction is crisp and clear, there are moments of true menace and beauty throughout, and she gets career-best performances from her four main actors. There's one particularly memorable scene where Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) torments Rose (Kirsten Dunst) by quickly mastering a piece of music on the banjo whilst she struggles to play it on the piano; the entire thing is done without dialogue, but it's absolutely thrilling. 

Her recent ill-judged comments about the Williams sisters may have blotted her copybook somewhat, but her response to Sam Elliott's narrowminded critique of the film will have also won her some fans. It certainly feels like it's hers to lose, if you see what I mean. And if she does win, it'll be the first time that consecutive Best Director winners will be female. Imagine that. Only taken over 90 years...

Best Film: CODA

I've a feeling I'm going to be wrong here. It seems silly to fly in the face of three major awards bodies (BAFTA, Golden Globes, and Critics Choice) but my gut feeling is that CODA is going to pull off a surprise Best Picture win (or is it wishful thinking?) If The Power Of The Dog does win, I'm not exactly going to be mad about it (as a film, it's certainly got its positives) but CODA would be a worthy winner- and its surprise win at the Producers' Guild Awards shouldn't be discounted. 

In a different year, I think Emilia Jones and Marlee Matlin would have been joining Troy Kotsur in the acting categories for their powerful performances; Jones, especially, should be heading for the stratosphere after this. The script is tight and heartfelt, shot through with humour perfectly balancing the drama; the direction is unfussy and clean (it's beautifully shot throughout); the casting of Deaf actors to play Deaf characters and the frequent use of American Sign Language is a huge step forward for representation on-screen. 

It's poignant without ever being mawkish or sentimental or twee; it highlights issues without ever feeling like a polemic (or falling into TV-movie-of-the-week clichés). It is a real feel-good film and for it to take the biggest prize of the night would be a real feel-good ending to this awards season.

These aren't official predictions, but I'd like to see Belfast and CODA win the Original and Adapted Screenplay categories, Ari Wegner win Best Cinematography for The Power Of The Dog (making her the first female cinematographer to win, after becoming only the second woman to be nominated for the award), and "No Time To Die" to win Best Original Song. That said, I won't be mad if "Dos Oruguitas" from Encanto takes it, as that means Lin-Manuel Miranda will complete the EGOT. 

I've a feeling Dune will be taking home the most awards (I think it'll do well in the craft awards) and I'd love to see Flee win something, but I think that Summer Of Soul, Encanto, and Drive My Car will take the relevant categories. 

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 2022: Razzies Winners

The 42nd Golden Raspberry Awards have been given out. Here are all the "winners" from 2021's crop of cinematic crap:

Worst Picture: Diana The Musical

Worst Director: Christopher Ashley (Diana The Musical)

Worst Actor: LeBron James (Space Jam: A New Legacy)

Worst Actress: Jeanna de Waal (Diana The Musical)

Worst Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (House Of Gucci)

Worst Supporting Actress: Judy Kaye (Diana The Musical)

Worst Remake, Sequel Or Rip-Off: Space Jam: A New Legacy

Worst Screen Combo: LeBron James & Any Warner Cartoon Character (or Time-Warner product) He Dribbles on (Space Jam: A New Legacy)

Worst Screenplay: Diana The Musical

Worst Performance By Bruce Willis In A 2021 Movie: Cosmic Sin

Razzie Redeemer: Will Smith 

Diana The Musical sweeps the field with five wins, with Space Jam: A New Legacy winning three. 

Despite multiple nominations, tone-deaf race-based "horror" Karen, Rear Window rip-off The Woman In The Window, and cringy musical adaptation Dear Evan Hansen walk away with no awards. 

Also nominated for the Razzie Redeemer Award- given to a former Razzie nominee or winner who has come back from critical and/or commercial failure- which went to Will Smith (going from a four-time Razzie winner to a potential Oscar winner for his nuanced and powerful turn in Oscar drama King Richard) were Jamie Dornan (going from the Fifty Shades... debacle to critically-acclaimed drama Belfast) and Nicolas Cage (from being an eight-time Razzie nominee to his as a truffle hunter who goes in search of his kidnapped pig in Michael Sarnoski's Pig). 

Congratulations to all "winners"!

So, that just leaves the big one: the 94th Academy Awards. I'll be posting my predictions for who will win in six major categories tomorrow afternoon. 

Awards Season 2022: Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Winners, BAFTA Film Awards Winners, and Critics Choice Awards Winners

 

Amazing, isn't it? You wait a week for some awards news and then- like buses- three lots turn up at once! Our awards cup metaphorically (and potentially physically) runneth over...

Yep, lots of awards goodness for y'all today, so let's jump in!

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

On Saturday (12th March), the Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) were handed out. The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Jane Campion (The Power Of The Dog)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries: Barry Jenkins (The Underground Railroad)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Stanley Nelson (Attica)

Campion becomes the third female director to win the DGA, and is surely odds-on favourite to win the Oscar. [Spoiler alert: this isn't Campion's first Best Director win of the weekend.] This year also marks the first time that female directors have won both the Feature Film and First-Time Feature Film awards. 

BAFTA FILM AWARDS

Yesterday evening (13th March 2022), at the Royal Albert Hall, the 75th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony, hosted for the first time by Rebel Wilson. 

Lady Gaga, Salma Hayek, Stephen Graham, Troy Kotsur, Ariana DeBose, Joanna Scanlan, Caitriona Balfe, Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Rachel Zegler, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lashana Lynch, Tom Hiddleston, and Kodi Smith-McPhee were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film in a very different ceremony to the two-day, socially-distanced, and Zoom-heavy event held in 2021.

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners.

Best Film: The Power of the Dog

Outstanding British Film: Belfast

Leading Actor: Will Smith (King Richard)

Leading Actress: Joanna Scanlan (After Love)

Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Director: Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Original Screenplay: Licorice Pizza

Adapted Screenplay: CODA

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Jeymes Samuel (writer/director) (The Harder They Fall) 

Animated Film: Encanto

Documentary: Summer of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Film Not In The English Language: Drive My Car

Cinematography: Dune

Costume Design: Cruella

Editing: No Time To Die

Make Up And Hair: The Eyes Of Tammy Faye

Original Music: Dune

Production Design: Dune

Sound: Dune

Special Visual Effects: Dune

Casting: West Side Story

Short Animation: Do Not Feed The Pigeons

Short Film: The Black Cop

Rising Star: Lashana Lynch

Dune was the big winner of the night, taking home five Baftas. West Side Story, CODA, and The Power Of The Dog all took home two apiece. 

Despite multiple nominations, there was no love for Passing, House Of Gucci, Don't Look Up, Cyrano, or The French Dispatch. 

A couple of surprises in the BAFTA results: one bloody lovely one with Joanna Scanlan taking home Best Actress (and, yes, whilst the BAFTAs do tend to skew towards British talent, it's still a remarkable achievement). By that same token, I was surprised that Will Smith won Best Actor, as I was expecting it to go to Benedict Cumberbatch. Dune's dominance in the craft awards wasn't so much of a surprise, and it's something I would think will carry through to the Oscars. 

CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

Also yesterday (13th March 2022), the 27th Critics Choice Awards were handed out. Taye Diggs returned for a fourth consecutive time as host, joined by Nicole Byer (Nailed It!, Brooklyn Nine-Nine). 

These were originally due to be given out at the start of January but the ceremony was delayed due to COVID-related concerns. It just so happened that the new date coincided with the BAFTAs. Awkward...

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

Best Picture: The Power Of The Dog

Best Actor: Will Smith (King Richard)

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain (The Eyes Of Tammy Faye)

Best Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Best Acting Ensemble: Belfast

Best Director: Jane Campion (The Power Of The Dog)

Best Original Screenplay: Belfast

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Power Of The Dog

Best Comedy: Licorice Pizza

Best Foreign Language Film: Drive My Car

Best Animated Feature: The Mitchells Vs. The Machines

Best Score: Dune

Best Song: "No Time To Die" (No Time To Die)

Best Production Design: Dune

Best Editing: West Side Story

Best Costume Design: Cruella

Best Hair & Makeup: The Eyes Of Tammy Faye

Best Visual Effects: Dune

Best Cinematography: The Power Of The Dog

Best Young Actor/Actress: Jude Hill (Belfast)

The Power Of The Dog was the big winner, with four awards. Belfast and Dune have three apiece. 

So where does all of this leave the Oscars race? Honestly, anything can happen and it's not a done deal until you hear "And the Oscar goes to..." (although even then it's not always guaranteed; hi, La La Land). That said, I would say Will Smith, Troy Kotsur, Ariana DeBose, and Jane Campion wouldn't be overly presumptuous to clear some space on the mantelpiece for a certain statuette. The big variable is Best Actress; unlike the other acting categories, there hasn't been a runaway winner (although Chastain's win here, coupled with the SAG Award, potentially boosts her chances). As it stands, I've only seen two of the five Best Actress nominees so I can't really judge at the moment. Definitely have a bit of catching up to do...

Congratulations to all winners!

We are getting to the sharp end of the 2022 awards season, with just two weeks until the 94th Academy Awards. But before we get there, next weekend (19th/20th March) will see the other major guilds- the Producers' Guild and the Writers' Guild- announce the winners of their respective awards. 

You can rest assured the update about those will be a damn sight shorter than this one!

Awards Season 2022: Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) Awards Winners

Just a quick update for you today, to let you know the film winners from the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards, held last night (Sunday 27th February) at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

CODA

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Will Smith (King Richard)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes Of Tammy Faye)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

No Time To Die

It's always nice when awards bodies shake things up and make it feel less like a coronation and more of a competition.

Whilst Troy Kotsur's performance has been nominated multiple times throughout this awards season, this is his first win (with Oscar frontrunner Kodi Smit-McPhee previously winning the Golden Globe for his turn in The Power Of The Dog). CODA's Best Cast win seemed to come as a big surprise to a lot of people, not least actress Marlee Matlin (who plays Kotsur's wife). 

Whilst we're on the subject of shaking things up, Chastain's win for playing disgraced televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker has also put the metaphorical cat amongst the pigeons, especially as a) Nicole Kidman won the Golden Globe, and b) none of the Best Actress Oscar nominees were also nominated for a BAFTA. It'll be interesting to see how things pan out over the next few weeks.  

Helen Mirren was this year's recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award, following in the footsteps of such figures as Betty White, Rita Moreno, Julie Andrews, and Lily Tomlin. 

In the television categories, Korean action drama Squid Game took home three awards whilst Ted Lasso won two, and Kate Winslet was awarded Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for Mare Of Easttown. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Next stop with awards season is this Sunday (6th March) with the Independent Spirit Awards, bucking tradition and being handed out weeks before the Oscars rather than the day before. 

[For the handful of people who may care, this is to let you know that there might be a delay with the blog featuring the Spirit Awards winners as Awards Guru (TM) Tez- i.e. the only one of the Watchers who is actually bothered about this frippery- is on holiday next week, and the results might not be available before he goes. He'll make every attempt to get the post sorted before he heads off, but- if he's not able to- he'll discuss the results when he's back on Friday 11th March] 

Review: Suicide Squad (UK Cert 15)

SPOILER WARNING! This review discusses and/or mentions a few important plot points. If you would prefer not to have these spoiled, please stop reading now and come back once you've seen the film.

Set after the events of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Suicide Squad tells the tale of Task Force X- a clandestine group of the worst of the worst- brought together to combat any further metahuman attacks. These include sharpshooting sniper Deadshot (Will Smith), Australian criminal Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), the deformed Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Latino firestarter El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), ancient witch Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and the unhinged Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). However, when a member of their own team turns against them, the squad is forced into action to save Midway City from destruction.

First off, let me say this: I enjoyed Suicide Squad more than I enjoyed Batman V Superman. Suicide Squad has several moments of levity and humour which were sorely lacking from the previous film. The camerawork has improved as well- not so much reliance on kinetic shakycam which is always a plus in my books- and there are a lot of decent performances. That said, there's still a lot that I disliked about the film.

My main gripe? An over-reliance on 'tell, don't show'- a cardinal error in any form of screenwriting- and far too many characters. A lot of characters get stiffed as far as characterisation goes (for instance, the character Slipknot is introduced only to be killed off a few minutes later). We are told about Katana's soul-sucking sword but don't really get to see it in action. We are told about the relationship between Harley and the Joker but only get to see snippets. Aside from one bit at the end where he swims beneath a flooded chamber, Killer Croc has very little to do (and that bit could have been reworked to accommodate a different character). Fewer characters would have meant a bit more time fleshing out the ones we're supposed to care about and empathise with.

The acting is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some superb performances and some pretty wooden ones. Several characters get lumbered with some pretty clunky dialogue, which it's difficult to make sound interesting or natural. The main victim of this is Joel Kinnaman. Rick Flag has a permascowl and major antagonism with Deadshot which tends to revolve around dialogue which goes 'I don't like you', 'Well, I don't like you' and... that's about it. You never once believe in his relationship with Dr. June Moone- Enchantress' alter ego and hands-down the worst archaeologist in the world- which is his primary motivation to be onboard with this crazy scheme (again, I think it doesn't work because it once again falls under 'tell, don't show'.)

Cara Delevingne is frankly miscast as Enchantress; she doesn't have the screen presence or the acting chops to pull off playing the main villain- all she has to do prior to the big showdown is spout some cod philosophy and gyrate on the spot. And whilst we are on the subject of villains, Jared Leto's Joker- who has featured very heavily in pre-release marketing and advertising- is maybe on screen for about 15 minutes, but that's more than enough as his mannered tics started to grate on me a little. Bizarrely, it felt like watching the Joker being played by Johnny Depp in a later Tim Burton movie. Leto's look is quite something- I can see cosplayers having a ball with it- but the substance is not quite there. Leto is reportedly upset with the amount of his material excised from the final cut and has distanced himself from the project somewhat.

But it's not all bad- Will Smith is at his wise-cracking best as Deadshot (it's probably his best performance in years) whilst Jay Hernandez gives a decent turn as a man desperate to keep his powers under control for fear of letting loose and hurting people again. However, my favourite performances come from Margot Robbie- who gets the lion's share of the laughs and is quirky without being annoying- and Viola Davis who is steely and strong as the Squad's boss Amanda Waller, a woman you disobey at your peril.

Stylistically, it's interesting- the introduction to the various members of the squad is done with some funky on-screen visuals. However, it falls foul of Batman V Superman syndrome in shooting the majority of the final scene in poor lighting, making it difficult to see what's going on. There's also some kind of shoddy CG work on the mindless bubble-headed creatures that Enchantress spawns towards the end. The Batman and Flash cameos work without being too intrusive and the mid-credits scene- between Bruce Wayne and Amanda Waller- hints at some interesting things to come. But, just as with Batman V Superman, it does feel as if DCEU are trying too hard to create an ongoing linked cinema franchise. A little more subtlety wouldn't go amiss.

One thing I do want to highlight is the use of music. There's an eclectic soundtrack ranging from 'Sympathy For The Devil' to Eminem's 'Without Me' with pitstops for Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid', The White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army' and a sadly pared down 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. It's frenetic and constantly chopping and changing but provides an interesting backdrop. But where was 'Ballroom Blitz'?

My gold standard for deciding how much I enjoyed a film is: do I want to see the film again in the cinema and do I want to own it on DVD? Sadly, when it comes to Suicide Squad, the answer is no. There's a lot I enjoyed about it but I don't see me coming back for repeated viewings.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Tez

Awards Season 2014: Razzie Nominations

Today saw the nominations announced for the Golden Raspberry Awards (a.k.a. Razzies). 

Dishonouring the very worst in cinema in 2013, Grown Ups 2 leads the field with 8 nominations, whilst there are nods for both Adam Sandler and Tyler Perry (the Razzie panel seriously dislike those two) and Sylvester Stallone gets his 31st Razzie nomination.

WORST PICTURE

After Earth

Grown Ups 2

The Lone Ranger

A Madea Christmas

Movie 43

WORST ACTOR

Johnny Depp (The Lone Ranger)

Ashton Kutcher (Jobs)

Adam Sandler (Grown Ups 2)

Jaden Smith (After Earth)

Sylvester Stallone (Bullet to the Head, Escape Plan and Grudge Match)

WORST ACTRESS

Halle Berry (The Call and Movie 43)

Selena Gomez (Getaway)

Lindsay Lohan (The Canyons and InAPPropriate Comedy)

Tyler Perry (as Madea) (A Madea Christmas)

Naomi Watts (Diana and Movie 43)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chris Brown (Battle of the Year)

Larry the Cable Guy (A Madea Christmas)

Taylor Lautner (Grown Ups 2)

Will Smith (After Earth)
Nick Swardson (A Haunted House and Grown Ups 2)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Salma Hayek (Grown Ups 2)

Katherine Heigl (The Big Wedding)

Kim Kardashian (Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor)

Lady Gaga (Machete Kills)

Lindsay Lohan (Scary Movie 5)

WORST SCREEN COMBO

The entire cast of Grown Ups 2

The entire cast of Movie 43

Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen (Scary Movie 5)

Tyler Perry and either Larry the Cable Guy or that worn out wig and dress (A Madea Christmas)

Jaden Smith and Will Smith on planet nepotism (After Earth)

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL

Grown Ups 2

The Lone Ranger

The Hangover Part III

Scary Movie 5

Smurfs 2

WORST DIRECTOR

Dennis Dugan (Grown Ups 2)

Tyler Perry (A Madea Christmas and Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor)

M. Night Shyamalan (After Earth)

the thirteen directors of Movie 43

Gore Verbinski (The Lone Ranger)

WORST SCREENPLAY

After Earth

Grown Ups 2

The Lone Ranger

A Madea Christmas

Movie 43

As is traditional, the Razzies will be handed out the day before the Oscars, which means this year they'll be awarded on Saturday 1st March.

Next up will be my predictions for tomorrow's Oscar nominations. I'll post them shortly.

Tez

Programme 15 - Men In Black 3, The Raid and The Dictator

Programme 15 is here (click here to view on VideoMajic.tv)!


We take a look at Indonesian action movie The Raid, summer blockbuster Men In Black 3 and outrageous comedy The Dictator. 


In the news, there's casting information for Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and the RoboCop remake.


Podcasts can be found here and here


Enjoy!