Awards Insights

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  • Final 2023 Oscar Predictions: Animated Feature, International Feature, Documentary Feature

    Final 2023 Oscar Predictions: Animated Feature, International Feature, Documentary Feature

    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

    This is one of those categories that you really can’t overthink. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio has won every single major precursor in this category and will be winning this Oscar as well. It will be the third Oscar of his career. I feel like this year sneakily had one of the best animated feature slates of the last few years. ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Marcel’, and ‘Puss’ all are some of the top 15 films of the year and are all fantastic in their own right.

    Nominees:

    Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – GG, BAFTA, PGA, Annie, CCA

    Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

    Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Annie (Indie)

    Turning Red

    The Sea Beast

    Pick: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

     

    BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

    This one seems pretty obvious. All Quiet on the Western Front is the only Best Picture nominee of the bunch and is a serious contender in multiple other categories as well; it has this in the bag.

    Nominees:

    All Quiet on the Western Front – BAFTA (Best Film as well)

    Argentina, 1985 – GG

    Close

    The Quiet Girl

    EO

    Pick: All Quiet on the Western Front

     

    BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

    No winner in this category in the past seven years has won without a nomination at both BAFTA and DGA and a win in one of the genre documentary categories at the Critics Choice Awards, and the only nominees that fit that criteria is Navalny and Fire of Love. The Academy has also shown a bias against films composed mostly of archival material in this category which hurts Fire of Love and gives the edge to Navalny, which feels like exactly the type of political documentary the Academy likes to award here.

    Nominees: 

    Navalny – PGA, BAFTA

    Fire of Love – DGA, ACE

    All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

    All That Breathes

    The House Made of Splinters

    Pick: Navalny

  • Final 2022 Oscar Predictions: Live Action Short, Animated Short, Documentary Short

    Final 2022 Oscar Predictions: Live Action Short, Animated Short, Documentary Short

    BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

    How I hate to predict these categories. The most unpredictable and, frankly, confounding categories at the Oscars are undoubtedly the shorts. While Le Pupille undoubtedly has the biggest names behind it since it’s a Disney+ short directed by Happy as Lazzaro director Alice Rohrwacher and produced by 4-time Oscar winner Alfonso Cuaron. My hesitation comes from it not having the emotional impact of usual winners in these short categories (it’s a fun and cute Christmas story about girls in a Catholic boarding school). An Irish Goodbye’s treatment of grief and family is often hilarious but also tugs at its audience’s heartstrings. Without Le Pupille’s immense pedigree, An Irish Goodbye is the clearly more affecting film and would be the clear winner. It is just that in small categories like the shorts, pedigrees do seem to carry greater weight. However, I am going to stick to my guns and go with An Irish Goodbye to take this.

    Nominees:

    An Irish Goodbye

    Le Pupille

    The Red Suitcase

    Ivalu

    Night Ride

    Pick: An Irish Goodbye

     

    BEST ANIMATED SHORT

    The campaign for Apple TV+’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse has been bigger than any other short in this category by far. However, My Year of Dicks and Ice Merchants have a pretty good chance at taking this. Both ‘The Boy’ and Ice Merchants are wintry heartfelt stories that are stunningly animated. As a result of their similarity, I think My Year of Dicks, a short that combines a variety of animation styles to tell the story of a group of girls’ quest to lose their virginities, could prevail. However, I am going to stay safe and stick with the favorite.

    Nominees:

    The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

    My Year of Dicks

    Ice Merchants

    An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I think I Believe It

    The Flying Sailor

    Pick: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

     

    BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

    The Elephant Whisperers has the biggest campaign behind it with it being backed by Netflix. Films centered around animals also often do well with the documentary branches (as shown by the success of films like My Octopus Teacher). However, Stranger at the Gate, executive produced by Malala Yousafzai, fits the mold of recent winners in these short categories as it is about a U.S. Marine who comes face-to-face with a group of Muslims after setting out to commit an act of terror on a mosque. It fits the mold of something like Two Distant Strangers, Skin, and The Long Goodbye, all films that have won in these short categories in the past few years. Malala being an executive producer is probably the biggest co-sign a film like this could get so I think it will win. Also watch out for Haulout as a dark horse pick here.

    Nominees:

    Stranger at the Gate

    The Elephant Whisperers

    Haulout

    How Do You Measure a Year?

    The Martha Mitchell Effect

    Pick: Stranger at the Gate

  • Final 2023 Oscar Predictions: Visual Effects, Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling

    Final 2023 Oscar Predictions: Visual Effects, Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling

    BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

    The last 10 winners in this category (Dune, Tenet, 1917, First Man, Blade Runner 2049, The Jungle Book, Ex Machina, Interstellar, Gravity, Life of Pi) have a few things in common. First, they were all nominated in either an above-the-line category or Production Design (except for The Jungle Book but that film won BAFTA, VES, and the CCA so it was the definite frontrunner coming in). They also are all generally critically-acclaimed (all boasting scores above 60 on Metacritic). Additionally, they are not sequels (Blade Runner 2049 is the only exception yet the Oscars clearly see the Blade Runner films as more “elevated” than something like Marvel or Star Wars). As Avatar: The Way of Water and its predecessor were both nominated for Best Picture, we can safely assume that the Academy considers the film to be “elevated” entertainment as well. This category is an absolute no-brainer since Avatar: The Way of the Water has had this in the bag basically since it was conceptualized.

    Nominees:

    Avatar: The Way of Water – CCA, BAFTA, VES (9x)

    Top Gun: Maverick

    The Batman

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

    All Quiet on the Western Front

    Pick: Avatar: The Way of Water

     

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

    2022 – Dune – CCA, BAFTA, ADG

    2021 – Mank – CCA, BAFTA, ADG

    2020 – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – CCA, ADG

    2019 – Black Panther – CCA, ADG

    2018 – The Shape of Water – BAFTA, CCA, ADG

    2017 – La La Land – CCA, ADG

    2016 – Mad Max: Fury Road – BAFTA, CCA, ADG

    2015 – The Grand Budapest Hotel – BAFTA, CCA, ADG

    As you can see from this list of the last seven winners in this category, CCA and ADG are incredibly important precursors here. This year, Babylon won BAFTA, CCA, and an ADG award so from a precursor perspective, it’s the obvious frontrunner. The one thing that gives me pause about Babylon’s chances is that all these movies were Best Picture nominees in their respective years while Chazelle’s film is not. Still, the film clearly has support and this kind of ode to old Hollywood is exactly the kind of film the Academy adores in this category (see: Mank). SDSA winner Elvis has a chance but Babylon should take this.

    Nominees:

    Babylon – CCA, ADG, BAFTA

    Elvis – SDSA

    Avatar: The Way of the Water

    All Quiet on the Western Front

    The Fabelmans

    Pick: Babylon

     

    BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

    2022 – The Eyes of Tammy Faye – BAFTA, CCA

    2021 – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – BAFTA, CCA, MUAH

    2020 – Bombshell – BAFTA, CCA, MUAH

    2019 – Vice – CCA, MUAH

    2018 – Darkest Hour – BAFTA, CCA, MUAH

    2017 – Suicide Squad – MUAH

    2016 – Mad Max: Fury Road – BAFTA, CCA, MUAH

    2015 – The Grand Budapest Hotel – BAFTA, MUAH

    The last five winners in this category went to biopic films showcasing famous actors transforming physically into famous figures partly through a good deal of makeup and hairstyling. Austin Butler in Elvis fits this trend and even though I don’t think Butler will win Best Actor, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Bombshell, and Vice all won without their nominated performers winning an acting category.

    Nominees:

    Elvis – CCA, MUAH (3x), BAFTA

    The Whale – MUAH

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – MUAH

    The Batman

    Babylon

    Pick: Elvis

  • The Final Sequence of “Black Girl” and Glauber Rocha’s Notion of Violence

    The Final Sequence of “Black Girl” and Glauber Rocha’s Notion of Violence

    In his revolutionary 1965 manifesto ‘The Aesthetics of Hunger’, landmark filmmaker and film theorist Glauber Rocha wrote “The moment of violence is the moment when the colonizer becomes aware of the existence of the colonized. Only when he is confronted with violence can the colonizer understand, through horror, the strength of the culture he exploits. As long as he does not take up arms, the colonized man remains a slave.” 

    When Rocha says violence he doesn’t mean bloody revolution but instead is defining violence as when abuse towards the oppressed is forced into the view of the oppressors. And this abuse can’t solely be forced into the sights of the oppressors, it must be portrayed in an unabashedly polemic manner, to the point where there is no doubt that what is being viewed is inhumanity. Rocha promoted this portrayal of “violence” as one of the purposes of the Cinema Novo movement, a Brazilian movement led by Rocha and filmmakers such as Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Joaquim Pedro de Andrade that dedicated itself to promoting social equality through the depiction of underdeveloped and impoverished regions of Brazil. 

    And while Cinema Novo’s relationship with the Third Cinema movement is much-discussed (one camp seems to be those who believe that Cinema Novo is an early subcategory of Third Cinema and the other sees the movement’s influence from the Italian Neorealist auteurs as evidence that the movements should be put into two different categories), there are undeniable parallels between the two. One being the common focus on the idea of a camera as a weapon capable of an artistic assault on oppression. Ousmane Sembene’s 1966 masterpiece “Black Girl” epitomizes this. The film is an explicit and unambiguous condemnation of the European neocolonialism that perpetuates the profound racism, classism, and general inhumanity inherent in colonial systems. 

    And while the entire film is centered around this, the last sequence in particular is one of the best cinematic articulations of Rocha’s goals among Third Cinema and Third Cinema-adjacent films. The sequence almost functions as an epilogue. By this point, the film has already hit its climactic moment, with Diouana committing suicide in a bathtub Marat-style, choosing death as the only way to seize her agency from who have essentially enslaved her. After Diouana’s death, one of her former employers travels to Diouana’s home in Dakar to deliver Diouana’s items, including the mask she gifted them and a sum of money, to her mother who refuses. While it’s never explained why she refuses, one likely possibility is that she is fully aware of the way Europeans treat Africans and knows that the man offering her money likely had a part to play in the death of her daughter. Once rejected, the man begins to leave and a young boy (who may or not be Diouana’s younger brother) picks up the mask to wear it and begins to follow the man. Sembene’s camera cuts between the steadily advancing child, face fully concealed, and the increasingly uncomfortable European, the cuts growing more frantic as the sequence continues. Once the European reaches the bridge, he escapes to his car and drives off, the audience seeing the vehicle swiftly escape through the eyes of the child. Sembene cuts to the boy in the mask, his visage facing the camera for the first time in the sequence. He takes the mask off slowly, revealing his face looking at the car in the distance as the credits start to play. 

    ‘Black Girl’ (Janus)

    Masks depersonalize individuals who cease to be such while hidden behind them. While wearing the mask, the boy becomes a symbol of something larger, the Senegalese people, African victims of colonial oppression, the youth growing up in a newly-independent Africa. And as the boy follows the European, never letting him leave his sight, Sembene illustrates his purpose. He wants to instill fear in the minds of his neocolonial oppressors. The fear that Africa will not sit idly by as oppression occurs. The fear that their neocolonial oppression will be put under a microscope and that vitriolic art condemning it will be released to the masses. There is nothing more powerful than knowledge and with this film, Sembene displays not only his acute awareness of the circumstances his people are being subjected to but also a vow to spread that knowledge to his fellow Africans. This is deeply angry, political filmmaking and with the last sequence, Sembene gives the many European members of his audience a warning: Your sins will remain hidden no longer.

    Ousmane Sembène once said that “Cinema is like an ongoing political rally with the audience”. The Senegalese auteur was previously a prominent figure in African literature yet switched to filmmaking as he believed it to be “a more effective tool for [his] activism”. Cinema is the most accessible of art forms and therefore in Sembene’s view the method through which to most effectively educate the masses. While lauded by European audiences throughout his career, Sembène made his art for the purpose of illustrating the preoccupations of his fellow Africans. Like Rocha, Sembene realized the importance of making neocolonial oppression impossible for the oppressors to ignore. So while he was mainly interested in making films for African audiences, Sembene wanted his work to shock European audiences, eliciting in them the fear that the people they are oppressing are conscious of the indignity of their circumstances. 

  • 6 Films You Should Watch Even Though the Academy Clearly Didn’t

    6 Films You Should Watch Even Though the Academy Clearly Didn’t

    While some of the best movies of the last 10 years (Parasite, Moonlight, Drive My Car, etc.) have done amazing with the Academy, dozens of phenomenal films (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Uncut Gems, Burning) have been snubbed entirely. Clearly, the Oscars don’t always get it right and every year they fail to acknowledge many of the year’s best, especially when it comes to non-English and independent cinema. This year was no exception and here are some I believe the Academy may come to regret (ok, maybe they won’t be regretting passing on Crimes of the Future).

    CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

    ‘Crimes of the Future’ (Neon)

    David Cronenberg’s first full length feature film since 2014’s Maps to the Stars, Crimes to the Future is a return to the director’s bread and butter, noir influenced body horror films, something he hasn’t made since 1999’s eXistenZ (though his son’s Possessor was a welcome taste of the science fiction body horror that must be in the family genetics). Crimes of the Future is the Canadian master’s best since Eastern Promises and stars Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart all in top form. If a movie whose tagline is “surgery is the new sex” is not an instant no for you, this movie has more going on than what meets the eye and is a (mostly) rewarding experience.

    NO BEARS

    ‘No Bears’ (Sideshow)

    Two of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s previous films The White Balloon and This is Not a Film (both worth checking out if you haven’t already) screened at Sewall in early February through Rice Cinema. No Bears is Panahi’s newest feature and sees the humanistic director, who has just recently been released from prison by Iran after being arrested for his polemic and essential work, at the peak of his powers. Panahi, who was censored and jailed for making “propaganda against the state” (This is Not a Film was smuggled out of the country in a flash drive hidden in a cake), has made with No Bears a must-see film that wrestles with what impact his work is really having.

    DECISION TO LEAVE

    ‘Decision to Leave’ (MUBI)

    With Parasite’s massive success in 2019, Korean cinema has received an influx of attention in the last few years. As a result, filmmakers like Bong Joon-Ho, Lee Chang-Dong, Hong Sang-Soo, Na Hong-Jin, and Park Chan-Wook who have been putting out exemplary work for over a decade are finally getting the awareness they deserve. Park, the director of modern classics like Oldboy and The Handmaiden, is back with a Hitchcockian romantic thriller following a detective that becomes captivated by the wife of the murdered man. With stunning cinematography from Kim Ji-Yong and a fantastic performance from Tang Wei, this is a film the Academy will likely regret snubbing (Explain to me how every Park film has missed an International Feature nomination?!)

    NOPE

    ‘Nope’ (Universal)

    While the Oscars didn’t nominate it anywhere, the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle awarded Nope’s Keke Palmer for her multidimensional work in the film. Jordan Peele’s latest is a mix of horror, mystery, thriller, and western that also happens to be a commentary on everything from our culture’s obsession with spectacle to animal cruelty. Does it work? YES and while it’s not on the level of Peele’s debut Get Out, this genre mashup will leave you entertained both while you’re watching and then during the hours you will be thinking about it afterwards.

    THE NORTHMAN

    ‘The Northman’ (A24)

    Tired of rewatching Game of Thrones and in need of something to satisfy your medieval action drama fix? Look no further because this movie has everything you miss from graphic gore to *ahem* interesting family dynamics! The cast is stacked featuring Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, and Bjork. With this film, The Witch, and The Lighthouse under his belt, director Robert Eggers has quickly become one of the most exciting filmmakers of his generation.

    THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS

    ‘The Eight Mountains’ (Sideshow)

    For The Eight Mountains, Felix van Groeningen, known for emotional human dramas such as the Broken Circle Breakdown and Beautiful Boy, teamed up with past collaborator Charlotte Vandermeersch to direct this incredible retelling of the acclaimed Paolo Cognetti novel of the same name. This passionate ode to platonic love is one of the most criminally overlooked films of the year and one the Academy likely would’ve acknowledged if it was in English. Both Luca Marinelli (‘Martin Eden’, ‘Don’t Be Bad’) and Alessandro Borghi (‘Don’t Be Bad’, ‘On My Skin’) deliver wonderful performances in this winner of last year’s Cannes Jury Prize.

  • SAG Awards 2023: Fraser Triumphs; EEAAO Completes PGA, DGA, SAG Trifecta

    SAG Awards 2023: Fraser Triumphs; EEAAO Completes PGA, DGA, SAG Trifecta

    Everything Everywhere All at Once has now won the guild trifecta of PGA, DGA, and SAG, something no film has done since 2015’s Best Picture winner Birdman. It also took three of the four acting awards, showing the massive amount of love that SAG had for the film. With Michelle Yeoh’s win, no contender has won all four major acting precursors, making this year one of the most up in the air in a while.

    Brendan Fraser’s SAG-winning speech was incredible, powerful, and rousing. It’s exactly the kind of speech that turns Academy members heads and his performance is the kind of transformational, head-turning work that receives Oscars. While Austin Butler triumphed at the Globes and at BAFTA, those two awards bodies award young actors in the major acting categories more often than the Academy usually does. I think Fraser has this.

    While Barry Keoghan won at BAFTA, that was a one-off and Ke Huy Quan will easily take the Oscar. Now, the other supporting category isn’t as clear cut. While Jamie Lee Curtis surprised with a win here, that is an incredibly predictable SAG pick (they have a preference for big stars). So the question is will the Academy will go with Angela Bassett (who has GG and CCA like 2019 winner Regina King) or will they go with Kerry Condon (who has just BAFTA like Mark Rylance in 2016)? At this stage, I am leaning towards Condon since I think Bassett would have been a no-brainer prediction if she had won SAG but my thoughts on this have been like a yo-yo.

    While Michelle Yeoh is the lead from the film that has unquestionably captured the zeitgeist, Tar clearly has love from the academy being the only film with Picture, Directing, Editing, acting, and Cinematography nominations. I think Blanchett will take this, though like with my Supporting Actress prediction this is subject to change.

    Here are the winners and nominees:

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE

    WINNER: Everything Everywhere All At Once

    Babylon

    The Banshees of Inisherin

    The Fabelmans

    Women Talking

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

    WINNER: Brendan Fraser, The Whale

    Austin Butler, Elvis

    Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

    Bill Nighy, Living

    Adam Sandler, Hustle

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

    WINNER: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

    Cate Blanchett, Tár

    Viola Davis, The Woman King

    Ana de Armas, Blonde

    Danielle Deadwyler, Till

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

    WINNER: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

    Paul Dano, The Fabelmans

    Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

    Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin

    Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

    WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once

    Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

    Hong Chau, The Whale

    Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

    Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES

    WINNER: The White Lotus

    Better Call Saul

    The Crown

    Ozark

    Severance

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

    WINNER: Jason Bateman, Ozark

    Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul

    Jeff Bridges, The Old Man

    Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

    Adam Scott, Severance

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

    WINNER: Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus

    Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

    Julia Garner, Ozark

    Laura Linney, Ozark

    Zendaya, Euphoria

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES

    WINNER: Abbott Elementary

    Barry

    The Bear

    Hacks

    Only Murders in the Building

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

    WINNER: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

    Anthony Carrigan, Barry

    Bill Hader, Barry

    Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building

    Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

    WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks

    Christina Applegate, Dead to Me

    Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

    Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

    Jenna Ortega, Wednesday

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES

    WINNER: Sam Elliott, 1883

    Steve Carell, The Patient

    Taron Egerton, Black Bird

    Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird

    Evan Peters, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES

    WINNER: Jessica Chastain, George and Tammy

    Emily Blunt, The English

    Julia Garner, Inventing Anna

    Niecy Nash-Betts, Dahmer- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

    Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

    WINNER: Top Gun: Maverick

    Avatar: The Way of Water

    The Batman

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

    The Woman King

    OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES

    WINNER: Stranger Things

    Andor

    The Boys

    House of the Dragon

    Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

    Source: Vanity Fair

  • PGA Awards 2023: ‘EEAAO’ Wins Another; ‘Navalny’ Cements Itself as Doc Frontrunner

    PGA Awards 2023: ‘EEAAO’ Wins Another; ‘Navalny’ Cements Itself as Doc Frontrunner

    Everything Everywhere All at Once is going to win Best Picture. There are no ifs and or buts about it. PGA is the most important precursor and with EEAAO’s win here and at DGA and Critics Choice, it has all it needs to truly truly cement it as the Best Picture frontrunner. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio which has now won at PGA, CCA, the Golden Globes, and the Annies will be winning Animated Feature with essentially complete certainty as well.

    Navalny winning here at PGA was huge. While consensus frontrunner Fire of Love won DGA, Navalny now has both BAFTA and PGA, a combo that the last two winners in this category had (My Octopus Teacher and Summer of Soul). I’ve had as my winner for a month now because of its strong showing at guild nominations and since the political documentaries that win are like this (ones that are almost completely non-controversial to the general liberal Hollywood population).

    Here’s the full list of nominees and winners.

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

    • “Avatar: The Way of Water”
    • “The Banshees of Inisherin”
    • “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
    • “Elvis”
    • “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (WINNER)
    • “The Fabelmans”
    • “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
    • “TÁR”
    • “Top Gun: Maverick”
    • “The Whale”

    Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

    • “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (WINNER)
    • “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”
    • “Minions: The Rise of Gru”
    • “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
    • “Turning Red”

    Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama

    • “Andor”
    • “Better Call Saul”
    • “Ozark”
    • “Severance”
    • “The White Lotus” (WINNER)

    Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy

    • “Abbott Elementary”
    • “Barry”
    • “The Bear” (WINNER)
    • “Hacks”
    • “Only Murders in the Building”

    David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television

    • “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”
    • “The Dropout” (WINNER)
    • “Inventing Anna”
    • “Obi-Wan Kenobi”
    • “Pam & Tommy”

    Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures

    • “Fire Island”
    • “Hocus Pocus 2”
    • “Pinocchio”
    • “Prey”
    • “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” (WINNER)

    Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television

    • “30 for 30”
    • “60 Minutes”
    • “George Carlin’s American Dream”
    • “Lucy and Desi”
    • “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” (WINNER)

    Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment, Variety, Sketch, Standup & Talk Television

    • “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
    • “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
    • “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (WINNER)
    • “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”
    • “Saturday Night Live”

    Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television

    • “The Amazing Race”
    • “Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls” (WINNER)
    • “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars”
    • “Top Chef”
    • “The Voice”

    The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture

    • “All That Breathes”
    • “Descendant”
    • “Fire of Love”
    • “Navalny” (WINNER)
    • “Nothing Compares”
    • “Retrograde”
    • “The Territory”

    The Award for Outstanding Sports Program

    • “Formula 1: Drive to Survive”
    • “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Detroit Lions”
    • “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers”
    • “McEnroe”
    • “Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Come Off” (WINNER)

    The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program

    • “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”
    • “Green Eggs and Ham”
    • “Sesame Street” (WINNER)
    • “Snoopy Presents: It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown”
    • “Waffles + Mochi’s Restaurant”

    The Award for Outstanding Short-Form Program

    • “Better Call Saul: Filmmaker Training”
    • “Love, Death + Robots”
    • “Only Murders in the Building: One Killer Question” (WINNER)
    • “Sesame Street’s #ComingTogether Word of the Day Series”
    • “Tales of the Jedi”

    Source: IndieWire

  • BAFTA 2023: ‘All Quiet’ Surprises With 7, Including Best Film

    BAFTA 2023: ‘All Quiet’ Surprises With 7, Including Best Film

    All Quiet on the Western Front won 7 awards at this year’s BAFTA Awards including Best Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography. How many of these will the film win at the Oscars? at this point it has Best International Film in the bag and is a possible winner for Cinematography, but I doubt it expands past that.

    Oscar frontrunner Everything Everywhere All at Once was held to just Best Editing while its main challenger The Banshees of Inisherin came out with four, Best British Film, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actress, and a surprising Supporting Actor win for Barry Keoghan. With these wins, and Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett’s wins in Best Actor and Best Actress respectively, none of the acting races have a clear frontrunner, making this. Though if Blanchett ends up winning at SAG that will change. Since Eddie Redmayne in 2015, every BAFTA winner in Best Actor has also won at the Oscars and if Butler wins at SAG he will have the same three major precursors (GG, BAFTA, and SAG) that fellow biopic winners Redmayne and Malek did in 2015 and 2019 respectively.

    My pick for Best Documentary, Navalny won at BAFTA, making me even more confident that it will triumph over All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and Fire of Love with the Academy as well. It’s exactly the kind of political film they like, not too extreme, highly watchable, and relevant but not at the top of the current news cycle.

    Here are the BAFTA winners:

    Best film

    “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

    “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    “Elvis”

    “‘TÁR”

    Outstanding British film

    “Aftersun”

    “The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

    “Brian and Charles”

    “Empire of Light”

    “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”

    “Living”

    “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical”

    “See How They Run”

    “The Swimmers”

    “The Wonder”

    Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer

    “Aftersun” Charlotte Wells (writer/director) *WINNER

    “Blue Jean” Georgia Oakley (writer/director), Hélène Sifre (producer)

    “Electric Malady” Marie Lidén (director)

    “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” Katy Brand (writer)

    “Rebellion” Elena Sánchez Bellot (director) Maia Kenworthy (director)todi

    Best film not in the English language

    “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

    “Argentina, 1985”

    “Corsage”

    “Decision to Leave”

    “The Quiet Girl”

    Best documentary

    “All That Breathes”

    “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

    “Fire of Love”

    “Moonage Daydream”

    “Navalny” *WINNER

    Best animated film

    “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” *WINNER

    “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”

    “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”

    “Turning Red”

    Best director

    Edward Berger, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

    Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Park Chan-wook, “Decision To Leave”

    Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Todd Field, “TÁR”

    Gina Prince-Bythewood, “The Woman King”

    Best original screenplay

    Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

    Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”

    Todd Field, “TÁR”

    Ruben Östlund, “Triangle of Sadness”

    Best adapted screenplay

    Edward Berger, Ian Stokell and Leslie Patterson, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

    Kazuo Ishiguro, “Living”

    Colm Bairéad, “The Quiet Girl”

    Rebecca Lenkiewicz, “She Said”

    Samuel D. Hunter, “The Whale”

    Best lead actress

    Ana de Armas, “Blonde”

    Cate Blanchett, “TÁR” *WINNER

    Viola Davis, “The Woman King”

    Danielle Deadwyler, “Till”

    Emma Thompson, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”

    Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Best lead actor

    Austin Butler, “Elvis” *WINNER

    Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

    Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Daryl McCormack, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”

    Paul Mescal, “Aftersun”

    Bill Nighy, “Living”

    Best supporting actress

    Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

    Hong Chau, “The Whale”

    Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

    Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Dolly De Leon, “Triangle of Sadness”

    Carey Mulligan, “She Said”

    Best supporting actor

    Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

    Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Eddie Redmayne, “The Good Nurse”

    Albrecht Schuch, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    Michael Ward, “Empire of Light”

    Best original score

    Volker Bertelmann, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

    Justin Hurwitz, “Babylon”

    Carter Burwell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Son Lux, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Alexandre Desplat, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

    Best casting

    Lucy Pardee, “Aftersun”

    Simon Bär, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    Nikki Barrett, Denise Chamian, “Elvis” *WINNER

    Sarah Halley Finn, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Pauline Hansson, “Triangle of Sadness”

    Best cinematography

    James Friend, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

    Greig Fraser, “The Batman”

    Mandy Walker, “Elvis”

    Roger Deakins, “Empire of Light”

    Claudio Miranda, “Top Gun: Maverick”

    Best editing

    Sven Budelmann, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Matt Villa, “Elvis”

    Paul Rogers, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” *WINNER

    Eddie Hamilton, “Top Gun: Maverick”

    Best production design

    Christian M. Goldbreck, Ernestine Hipper, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino, “Babylon” *WINNER

    James Chinlund, Lee Sandales, “The Batman”

    Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn, “Elvis”

    Curt Enderle, Guy Davis, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

    Best costume design

    Lisy Christl, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    J.R. Hawbaker and Albert Wolsky, “Amsterdam”

    Mary Zophres, “Babylon”

    Catherine Martin, “Elvis” *WINNER

    Jenny Beavan, “Mrs Harris Goes To Paris”

    Best makeup and hair

    Heike Merker, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    Michael Marino and Zoe Tahir, “The Batman”

    Shane Thomas, Louise Coulston, Mark Coulier and Barrie Gower, “Elvis” *WINNER

    Naomi Donne, Barrie Gower, Sharon Martin, “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical”

    Anne Marie Bradley, Judy Chin, Adrien Morot, “The Whale”

    Best sound

    Lars Ginzsel, Frank Kruse, Viktor Prášil and Markus Stemler, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

    Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Julian Howarth, Gary Summers and Gwendoyln Yates Whittle, “Avatar: The Way of Water”

    Michael Keller, David Lee, Andy Nelson and Wayne Pashley, “Elvis”

    Deb Adair, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley, Steve Single and Roland Winke, “TÁR”

    Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Mark Taylor and Mark Weingarten, “Top Gun: Maverick”

    Best special visual effects

    Markus Frank, Kamil Jafar, Viktor Müller and Frank Petzoid, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon, “Avatar: The Way of Water” *WINNER

    Russell Earl, Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy, “The Batman”

    Benjamin Brewer, Ethan Feldbau, Jonathan Kombrinck and Zak Stoltz, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

    Seth Hill, Scott R. Fisher, Bryan Litson and Ryan Tudhope, “Top Gun: Maverick”

    Best British short animation

    “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” *WINNER

    “Middle Watch”

    “Your Mountain is Waiting”

    Best British short film

    “The Ballad Of Olive Morris”

    “Bazigaga”

    “Bus Girl”

    “A Drifting Up”

    “An Irish Goodbye” *WINNER

    EE Rising Star

    Aimee Lou Wood

    Daryl McCormack

    Emma Mackey *WINNER

    Naomi Ackie

    Sheila Atim

    Source: CNN

  • DGA Awards 2023: The Daniels Win Another Major Prize on Their Way to Oscar

    DGA Awards 2023: The Daniels Win Another Major Prize on Their Way to Oscar

    The Daniels’ winning at DGA, means another major prize for Everything Everywhere All at Once on its way to presumed triumph at the Oscars on March 12th. This gives them two of the four major directing precursors (they also won for directing at Critics Choice) and are definitively in the pole position in the category.

    On the documentary side, Fire of Love’s Sara Dosa won for her work. In the last five years, every Best Documentary winner has won at least one genre documentary award at the Critics Choice Awards, and this year Fire of Love and Navalny are the only nominees with a genre documentary prize. My chips are on Navalny to win as the Academy has shown a bias against archival documentaries unless they were undeniable winners (like last year’s Summer of Soul). Navalny’s win at BAFTA further cements it in my mind as the likely winner.

    Here are the rest of the winners at DGA:

    OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM

    Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
    Everything Everywhere All at Once

    DRAMA SERIES

    Sam Levinson
    Euphoria, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird” (HBO)
    Mr. Levinson’s Directorial Team:
    Unit Production Manager: Will Greenfield
    First Assistant Directors: Valerie Johnson, Sally Brunski
    Second Assistant Directors: Cindy King, Colin Duffy
    Second Second Assistant Directors: James Chestnut
    Additional Second Assistant Director: Aaron Rose Leone

    COMEDY SERIES

    Bill Hader
    Barry, “710N” (HBO)
    Mr. Hader’s Directorial Team:
    Unit Production Manager: Aida Rodgers
    First Assistant Director: Gavin Kleintop
    Second Assistant Director: Erin Stern Linares
    Second Second Assistant Directors: Yarden Levo, Chalis Romero

    COMMERCIALS

    Kim Gehrig
    Somesuch, Inc.

    Accessibility, Apple ‑ Apple (Direct)
    First Assistant Directors: Michael Estrella
    Second Assistant Director: Brian Steffen
    Second Second Assistant Director: Shauna Frontera

    Run Baby Run, iPhone ‑ Apple (Direct)
    First Assistant Director: Matias Nilsson
    Second Assistant Director: Carl Jackson
    Second Second Assistant Director: Michael Paulson

    OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT OF A FIRST-TIME THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR

    Charlotte Wells
    Aftersun
    (A24)

    MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND LIMITED SERIES

    Helen Shaver
    Station Eleven, “Who’s There?” (HBO Max)
    Ms. Shaver’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Manager: David Nicksay
    First Assistant Director: Jennifer Wilkinson
    Second Assistant Director: Anna Vogt

    REALITY PROGRAMS

    Ben Simms
    Running Wild with Bear Grylls, “Florence Pugh in the Volcanic Rainforests of Costa Rica” (National Geographic Channel)
    Mr. Simms’ Directorial Team:
    Associate Director: Sara Brown

    CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS

    Anne Renton
    Best Foot Forward, “Halloween” (Apple TV+)
    Ms. Renton’s Directorial Team:
    Unit Production Manager: Lance W. Lanfear
    First Assistant Director: Nandi Bowe
    Second Assistant Director: Susie Balaban
    Second Second Assistant Director: Tim Neven

    DOCUMENTARY

    Sara Dosa
    Fire of Love (National Geographic)

    VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS

    Glenn Weiss
    The 75th Annual Tony Awards (CBS)
    Mr. Weiss’s Directorial Team:
    Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Robin Abrams, Susan Kopensky, Ricky Kirshner
    Stage Managers: Garry Hood, Bennymar Almonte, Phyllis Digilio, Peter Epstein, Andrew Feigin, Doug Fogel, Jeffry Gitter, Tyler Goldman, Arthur Lewis, Kevin Lishawa, Julie LoRusso, Seth Mellman, Jason Pacella, Jeffrey Pearl, Annette Powlis, Lauren Class Schneider, Eddie Valk

    VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

    Liz Patrick
    Saturday Night Live, “Host and Musical Guest Jack Harlow” (NBC)
    Ms. Patrick’s Directorial Team:
    Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Laura Ouziel‑Mack
    Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly, Eddie Valk

    Source: Deadline

  • In Bicycle Thieves, De Sica puts a human face to the noise

    In Bicycle Thieves, De Sica puts a human face to the noise

    By Arman Saxena

    People yelling, cars screeching, and crowds running. This is Bicycle Thieves’ sonic landscape, a collage of sounds used to depict the constant bustle of post-war Rome. Antonio and his family are victims of this noise, the noise allowed his bike, his livelihood, to be stolen and the noise catches him when he himself, in a moment of desperation, resorts to thievery. 

    At the beginning of the film, Antonio is separate from the noise. A crowd of bodies jostles against each other as they await the municipal employment officer, hoping that this will be the day they are offered a job. But Antonio sits apart from the crowd, he does not see himself as one of them, he will not resort to the same fervent desperation. And when he is the one offered the job, a man from inside the crowd has to go fetch him so he can receive his offer. He stands above the mass of people, though as the film will remind us, this is only for a moment, and he soon returns down the steps, back to the masses. Once Maria sells their wedding sheets and Antonio buys the bike we see the couple at their happiest, smiling wide as they cruise down the streets of Rome. Things seem hopeful for the first time in the film, as if Antonio won’t have to continue struggling so arduously to support his family. He finally has agency as a man, no longer is his eight year old son the household’s main breadwinner, he has reclaimed his position as head of the family. Of course, this does not last long. As soon as he loses his bike, Antonio becomes obsessed and desperate.

    For many, it is incredibly difficult to empathize with a crowd or a collective. They can pity them for what they represent but true empathy for those human beings is absent. What De Sica does in Bicycle Thieves is he isolates Antonio from the crowd, focusing on him and his family, while initially implying that he is in a way different from the noise that engulfs him. He is not drowned by the noise, he works towards his goals in spite of it. However, De Sica is really not interested in promoting some idea of exceptionalism triumphing over poverty. After Antonio is caught attempting to steal the bike outside the wealthy man’s home and is eventually let go, he and Bruno slowly stumble down the streets of Rome. There are tears in both their eyes and they tightly grasp onto each other’s hands as they join the masses, the camera cutting to a rearview wide shot as their identifying characteristics dissolve further and further into the sea of noise. Antonio was doomed from the start. He was never going to escape the noise no matter how hard he tried. We empathize with Antonio. And when Antonio rejoins the crowd, we begin to truly empathize with the noise, which is what I believe to be the film’s purpose. 

    Roger Ebert famously described films as “machines that generate empathy” and De Sica’s film is one of the most effective examples of that idea. Empathy is not pity. There is a barrier in pity between the pitied and who is pitying. There are no barriers in empathy, both humans are on the same level, the same playing field. I think De Sica purposefully depersonalizes the masses occupying the Rome streets. Of course, there are major exceptions to this, including the mother of the young ruffian who Antonio accuses of thievery and the old man who Antonio interrogates and threatens. It is no mistake that the people Antonio acts belligerently towards are those who are even lower on the social scale than he is, the old man is going to church solely for the purpose of a decent meal and the elderly mother has been waiting for her son to get a job for over a year. It is also no mistake that while no one runs after the man that steals Antonio’s bike, a whole mob, many of which are decked out in suits, follows Antonio once he steals the bike of a wealthy man. While neorealism’s thesis is about observation and generating empathy just through the act of depicting human experience, there is a palpable anger in the film’s margins that bleeds to the surface through scenes like these. 

    When we first see him and his impoverished surroundings, many will pity Antonio and his family. As the film goes on, however, we spend more time with Antonio. We see the smiles he shares with his wife when he gets the bike and the tears he sheds once he has accepted that he won’t get it back. We see every aspect of their lives and no matter who the viewer is, it is impossible not to find similarities between his character and themselves. And by the time the word “Fin” has appeared on the frame, that initial pity has transformed into empathy.