I’m slightly late to this one, but reviewing this awards season is an annual tradition, so I’ll post my opinions on the winners, mostly on the ones I’ve seen. But perhaps on the films I haven’t seen too. Who knows?
Best Film – drama: The Brutalist
I haven’t seen it. Hey, don’t look at me like that. The film hasn’t even been released in the UK yet. Calm yourself.
Best Film – musical or comedy: Amelia Pérez
Haven’t seen this one either. Off to a great start. I have heard that this film’s garnered a fair bit of controversy and that a lot of people don’t think it’s awards worthy. The more you know.
Best non-English language film: Amelia Pérez
See above : – )
Best animated film: Flow
Nah, I call bs on this. Robot Dreams wasn’t even nominated? DIGUSTEN’ (y’know, that funny Scottish meme? If you know, you know). I haven’t seen Flow either; it didn’t seem to have a wide release? Yep, this is going well.
Cinematic and box office achievement: Wicked
Ah, what’s this here now? Do I see a new awards category here? I do indeed. Fair, this did do a lot to support the cinema industry with its hefty financial intake. And here’s a film I’ve finally seen. Nice. Not my cup of tea, personally, but hey, it’s contribution to the film world can’t be denied.
Best actress – Drama: Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Yikes, I haven’t seen this film or any of the nominees on this list. And I saw a lot of films last year. I guess some of these still haven’t been released in the UK yet, but still. Blimey.
Best actor – Drama: Adrian Brody, The Brutalist
I would’ve leaned towards Ralph Fiennes on this one, but I guess the big awards ceremonies like their epic films, so I can see why Conclave’s isolated setting might not have appealed to the judges.
Best actress – musical or comedy: Demi Moore, The Substance
Uhh, you’re calling The Substance a musical? Or a comedy? Wild. Truly wild. I’m really annoyed I didn’t see this last year, but it sounds like Demi Moore deserved the win. Good stuff.
Best actor – musical or comedy: Sebastian Stan, A Different Man
Great to see Stan The Man finally getting some awards recognition considering his stellar acting resume. Yet another film I couldn’t track down last year, and one I really need to see.
Best supporting actress: Zoe Saldana, Emilia Pérez
Yep, haven’t seen the film. I’ve got no strong opinions on this one. Maybe Ariana Grande should’ve got it, but hey, you win some, you lose some. Literally.
Best supporting actor: Kieran Kulkin, A Real Pain
Now here’s a win I wholeheartedly agree with. I haven’t really seen the actor in anything before this (no, I haven’t seen Succession. There’s a lot of TV out there I need to watch, y’know?), but he knocks it out of the park as an enigmatic man with plenty of hurt behind his gregarious exterior.
Best director: Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
What even is this nominee list? I’m not completely sure how the eligibility works and all that, but damn. Dennis Villeneuve isn’t here? George Miller isn’t here? I know those awards folks hate their sci-fi and all that, but DAYUM. Not even nominated? I call bullshit on that.
Best screenplay: Peter Straughan , Conclave
Yeah, I’ll take that. The film was very wordy, but, you know, in a good way. I would’ve liked to see A Real Pain win as well, but that’s not how awards work. In any situation.
Best original song: El Mal, Emelia Peréz
Nah. Have I listened to the above song? No. I don’t need to. All I know is that I’ve listened the hell out of Compress/Repress at the gym when I’m pounding away on the spinning machine. And that shiz slaps. And I mean absolutely SLAPS. If there was a slapping contest, Compress/Repress would send all the nominees into the halls of Valhalla. Yeah, there’s no doubt in my mind that Challenger’s ending banger is the true number one here.
Best original film score: Challengers
THERE WE GO. Now you’ve got your head on straight. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have produced a load of great music over the years, but this soundtrack is just about my number one. Every single track pops, and it’s a great soundtrack to listen to at the gym. As explained in the above entry. No other candidate could dare challenge the king this time round. Well deserved.
Best TV series – drama: Shogun
Arrghh, I need to get Disney+. I can’t believe I haven’t seen this yet. Slow Horses would’ve got my vote with my current viewing record. But Shogun sounds like a strong winner, so I’m good with that.
Best TV series – comedy or musical: Hacks
I pretty much haven’t watched any comedy or musical kind of TV this whole year, so…yeah. No comment.
Best limited TV series: Baby Reindeer
I’ve heard plenty of good things about this, but yeah, have not watched it. That’s all I gotta say.
Best TV actress – drama: Anna Sawai, Shogun
Yep, I’m cool with that. None of the other actresses would really get a strong vote from yours truly, so I’m good.
Best TV actor – drama: Hiroyuki, Shogun
I’ve heard great things about Hiroyuki’s performance, and I really, really need to watch Shogun soon. Sure I’m rather biased towards Gary Oldman in this category because he’s great in Slow Horses and he’s my favourite actor of all time, but hey, I still think Hiroyuki is a good choice for the award.
Best TV actress/actor – comedy or musical, Jean Smart, Hacks/Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
You remember what I was saying earlier up above? In the questionably wise words of Johnny Tightlips, I ain’t seen nothing. Can’t make a judgement. It is what it is.
Best TV actress – limited series: Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country
Uhh…say what now? Don’t get me wrong, Jodie Foster’s awesome. I love the gal. But, uh, this is Cristin Militia’s award through and through. She came out of nowhere in The Penguin to become one of the most compelling antagonists in years, saying more with her eyes than words ever could. Yeah, this ain’t right.
Best TV actor – limited series: Colin Farrell, The Penguin
NICE. Well, at least the priorities are right here. One of the best things I’ve seen Colin Farrell in for a while, and all of the supporting cast are stellar too. The whole show makes you have faith in the superhero genre again, partly because the central character doesn’t have any real superpowers. Yep, a much deserved win right there.
Best supporting actress/actor – TV, Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer, Tadanobu Asano, Shogun
Yep, my TV viewing this year’s been pretty poor. Can’t deny it.
Best TV stand-up comedy performance: Ali Wong, Single Lady
Can’t say I’ve seen any of these, but if Ali Wong was as funny as she was in hit TV series Beef, I’m sure the award was well deserved.
Phew. So many 2024 films watched and yet so many that I didn’t watch. Dem’s the breaks, I guess.