2020 Academy Awards: ‘Parasite’ is the top winner and makes Oscar history

February 9, 2020

by Carla Hay

“Parasite” cast and filmmakers at the 92nd Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 9, 2020. (Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC)

As the first non-English-language film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, the South Korean drama “Parasite” made Oscar history at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 9, 2020. ABC had the U.S. telecast of the show. “Parasite,” which takes a scathing look at the class and social divisions between those who are wealthy and those who are not, also won the Oscars for Best Director (for Bong Joo Ho), Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.

“Parasite” is the first movie since 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire” to win Best Picture without any nominations in the actor/actress categories. It’s also the first time that Asian filmmakers have won in the categories for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. In addition, “Parasite” is the first movie to win the Oscars for Best International Feature (formerly titled Best Foreign-Language Film) and Best Picture in the same year. “Parasite” is also the first South Korean film to be nominated for Best International Feature and for Best Picture. Leading up to its Academy Awards victories, “Parasite” won the most awards of any movie released in 2019, including the Palme d’Or (the top prize) at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where the movie had its world premiere.

Oscar winners in the acting categories were Joaquin Phoenix of “Joker” for Best Actor; Renée Zellweger of “Judy” for Best Actress; Brad Pitt of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” for Best Supporting Actor; and Laura Dern of “Marriage Story” for Best Supporting Actress. Phoenix, Zellweger, Pitt and Dern been winning prizes in these categories at other major awards shows this season. Phoenix is the second actor to win an Oscar for playing DC Comics villain The Joker. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his Joker performance in 2008’s “The Dark Knight.”

With 11 Oscar nominations, “Joker” was the leading contender going into the ceremony, and the movie ended up winning two: In addition to Best Actor, “Joker” also won for Best Original Score. The World War I drama “1917” won three Oscars—all in the technical categories: Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. The 1960s auto-racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” was also a multiple Oscar winner, taking two: Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing. The mobster drama “The Irishman,” which had 10 Oscar nominations, ended up winning no Academy Awards, in the biggest shut-out of the ceremony.

For the second year in a row, there was no host for the Oscar ceremony. The show opened with a performance by Janelle Monáe doing a version of the “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” theme, before being joined by Billy Porter on stage for Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” and then going solo again for the rest of the performance.

There were no controversial publicity stunts or major errors. A few of the Oscar winners—particularly Pitt and Phoenix—expressed their opinions about political and social issues during their acceptance speeches. Pitt made it clear how he felt about the result of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, which ended February 5 with the majority of the U.S. Senate acquitting Trump. Pitt said: “They told me I only had 45 seconds this year, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave [proposed trial witness] John Bolton this week. I’m thinking maybe Quentin [Tarantino] does a movie about it. In the end, the adults do the right thing.”

Phoenix (a longtime animal-rights activist and environmentalist) spoke out about the need for people to go vegan and to have more respect for the earth’s natural resources: “We go into the natural world, and we plunder it for its resources … But human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and ingenious, and I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment.”

One of the ceremony’s biggest surprises was Eminem performing his Oscar-winning song “Lose Yourself” from the 2002 movie “8 Mile,” with his on-stage performance serving as a transition from a tribute montage about how songs can transform movies. When Eminem won the Oscar in 2003, he did not attend the ceremony, so this performance (which had many censor “bleeps”) took place 17 years after it could have first happened.

Elton John, Cynthia Erivo, Idina Menzel, Chrissy Metz and Randy Newman each performed their Oscar-nominated tunes for Best Original Song. The Oscar went to John and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from the Elton John musical biopic “Rocketman.” Meanwhile, Billie Eilish performed the Beatles classic “Yesterday” for the “In Memoriam” tribute segment dedicated to people in the movie industry who passed away since the previous Oscar ceremony.

In addition, the show featured a special appearance by Questlove. Eímear Noone did a guest-conductor segment for all the hyear’s Oscar-nominated film scores. She was the first woman to conduct during an Oscars telecast.

Presenters included, Mahershala Ali, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Zazie Beetz, Timothée Chalamet, Olivia Colman, James Corden, Penélope Cruz, Beanie Feldstein, Will Ferrell, Jane Fonda, Gal Gadot, Zack Gottsagen, Salma Hayek, Mindy Kaling, Diane Keaton, Regina King, Shia LaBeouf, Brie Larson, Spike Lee, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, George MacKay, Rami Malek, Steve Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ray Romano, Anthony Ramos, Keanu Reeves, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Mark Ruffalo, Kelly Marie Tran, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Wiig and Rebel Wilson.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2020 Academy Awards:

*=winner

Best Picture

Choi Woo-sik, Song Kang-ho, Jang Hye-jin and Park So-dam in “Parasite” (Photo courtesy of Neon Entertainment)

“Ford v Ferrari”
Producers: Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold

“The Irishman”
Producers: Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff

“Jojo Rabbit”
Producers: Carthew Neal and Taika Waititi

“Joker”
Producers: Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff

“Little Women”
Producer: Amy Pascal

“Marriage Story”
Producers: Noah Baumbach and David Heyman

“1917”
Producers: Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Producers: David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino

“Parasite”*
Producers: Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho

Best Actor

Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” (Photo by Niko Tavernise)

Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”*
Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”

Best Actress

Renée Zellweger in “Judy” (Photo by David Hindley/LD Entertainment/Roadside Attractions)

Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”
Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”
Saoirse Ronan, “Little Women”
Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”
Renee Zellweger, “Judy”*

Best Supporting Actor

Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Photo by Andrew Cooper)

Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
Anthony Hopkins, “The Two Popes”
Al Pacino, “The Irishman”
Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”*

Best Supporting Actress

Laura Dern in “Marriage Story” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”
Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”*
Scarlett Johansson, “Jojo Rabbit”
Florence Pugh, “Little Women”
Margot Robbie, “Bombshell”

Best Director

Bong Joo Ho on the set of “Parasite” (Photo courtesy of Neon Entertainment)

Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”
Todd Phillips, “Joker”
Sam Mendes, “1917”
Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite”*

Best Animated Feature

“Toy Story 4” (Image courtesy of Disney/Pixar)

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” directed by Dean DeBlois; produced by Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold

“I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin; produced by Marc du Pontavice

“Klaus,” directed and produced by Sergio Pablos; produced by Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román

“Missing Link,” directed by Chris Butler; produced by Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight

“Toy Story 4,” directed by Josh Cooley; produced by Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera*

Best Animated Short

“Hair Love” (Photo courtesy of Matthew A. Cherry Entertainment)

“Dcera,” directed and produced by Daria Kashcheeva
“Hair Love,” directed and produced by Matthew A. Cherry; produced by Karen Rupert Toliver*
“Kitbull,” directed by Rosana Sullivan; produced by Kathryn Hendrickson
“Memorable,” directed by Bruno Collet; produced by Jean-François Le Corre
“Sister,” directed and produced by Siqi Song

Best Adapted Screenplay

Roman Griffin Davis, Taika Waititi and Scarlett Johansson in “Jojo Rabbit” (Photo by Kimberley French)

“The Irishman,” Steven Zaillian
“Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi*
“Joker,” Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
“Little Women,” Greta Gerwig
“The Two Popes,” Anthony McCarten

Best Original Screenplay

Lee Sun Gyun and Cho Yeo-jeong in “Parasite” (Photo courtesy of Neon Entertainment)

“Knives Out,” Rian Johnson
“Marriage Story,” Noah Baumbach
“1917,” Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino
“Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho and Jin Won Han*

Best Cinematography

George MacKay (center) in “1917” (Photo by François Duhamel / Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures)

“The Irishman,” Rodrigo Prieto
“Joker,” Lawrence Sher
“The Lighthouse,” Jarin Blaschke
“1917,” Roger Deakins*
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Robert Richardson

Best Documentary Feature

Wong He, Kenny Taylor and Jarred Gibson in “American Factory” (Photo by Aubrey Keith/Netflix)

“American Factory,” directed and produced by Julia Rieichert and Steven Bognar; produced by Jeff Reichert*

“The Cave,” directed by Feras Fayyad; produced by Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær

“The Edge of Democracy,” directed and produced by Petra Costa; produced by Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan

“For Sama,” directed and produced by Waad Al-Kateab; directed by Edward Watts

“Honeyland,” directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov; produced by Atanas Georgiev

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone (If You’re a Girl)” (Photo by Lisa Rinzler)

“In the Absence,” directed and produced by Yi Seung-Jun; produced by Gary Byung-Seok Kam

“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger; produced by Elena Andreicheva*

“Life Overtakes Me,” directed and produced by Kristine Samuelson; directed by John Haptas

“St. Louis Superman,” directed and produced by Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan

“Walk Run Cha-Cha,” directed by Laura Nix; produced by Colette Sandstedt

Best Live Action Short Film

“The Neighbors’ Window” (Photo by Wolfgang Held)

“Brotherhood,” directed and produced by Meryam Joobeur; produced by Maria Gracia Turgeon

“Nefta Football Club,” directed and produced by Yves Piat; produced by Damien Megherbi

“The Neighbors’ Window,” directed and produced by Marshall Curry*

“Saria,” directed by Bryan Buckley; produced by Matt Lefebvre

“A Sister,” directed and produced by Delphine Girard

Best International Feature Film

Choi Woo-sik and Park So-dam in “Parasite” (Photo courtesy of Neon Entertainment)

“Corpus Christi,” directed by Jan Komasa (Poland)
“Honeyland,” directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov (North Macedonia)
“Les Misérables,” directed by Ladj Ly (France)
“Pain and Glory,” directed by Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)
“Parasite,” directed by Bong Joon Ho (South Korea)*

Best Film Editing

Matt Damon and Christian Bale in “Ford v Ferrari” (Photo by Merrick Morton)

“Ford v Ferrari,” Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland*
“The Irishman,” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Jojo Rabbit,” Tom Eagles
“Joker,” Jeff Groth
“Parasite,” Jinmo Yang

Best Sound Editing

Christian Bale in “Ford v Ferrari” (Photo by Merrick Morton)

“Ford v Ferrari,” Don Sylvester*
“Joker,” Alan Robert Murray
“1917,” Oliver Tarney, Rachel Tate
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Wylie Stateman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Matthew Wood and David Acord

Best Sound Mixing

Cast and crew members on the set of “1917” (Photo by François Duhamel/Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures)

“Ad Astra,” Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano
“Ford v Ferrari,” Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow
“Joker,” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland
“1917,” Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson*
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano

Best Production Design

Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Photo by Andrew Cooper)

“The Irishman”
Production Design: Bob Shaw; Set Decoration: Regina Graves

“Jojo Rabbit”
Production Design: Ra Vincent; Set Decoration: Nora Sopková

“1917”
Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”*
Production Design: Barbara Ling; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

“Parasite”
Production Design: Lee Ha Jun; Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo

Best Original Score

Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” (Photo by Niko Tavernise)

“Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir*
“Little Women,” Alexandre Desplat
“Marriage Story,” Randy Newman
“1917,” Thomas Newman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams

Best Original Song

Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman from Paramount Pictures.

“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from “Toy Story 4,” song written by Randy Newman

“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman,” song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin*

“I’m Standing With You” from “Breakthrough,” song written by Diane Warren

“Into the Unknown” from “Frozen 2,” song written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez

“Stand Up” from “Harriet,” song written by Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell

Best Makeup and Hair Styling

Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie in “Bombshell” (Photo by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle)

“Bombshell,” Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker*
“Joker,” Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou
“Judy,” Jeremy Woodhead
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White
“1917,” Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole

Best Costume Design

Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson in “Little Women” (Photo by Wilson Webb)

”The Irishman,” Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson
“Jojo Rabbit,” Mayes C. Rubeo
“Joker,” Mark Bridges
“Little Women,” Jacqueline Durran*
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Arianne Phillips

Best Visual Effects

George MacKay in “1917” (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures)

“Avengers: Endgame,” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick

“The Irishman,” Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli

“1917,” Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy*

“The Lion King,” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newma

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy

2020 Academy Awards: ‘Joker’ is the top nominee

January 13, 2020

by Carla Hay

Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” (Photo by Niko Tavernise)

With 11 nods, including Best Picture, Warner Bros. Pictures’ DC Comics-based supervillain drama “Joker” has the most nominations for the 92nd Annual Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 9, 2020. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. For the second year in a row, there will not be a host for the Oscar ceremony. The 11 nods for “Joker” make it the highest number of Oscar nominations for a comic-book-based movie.

Coming close behind in Oscar nominations this year, with 10 nominations each, are Columbia Pictures’ 1969-set retro drama “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and Netflix’s mobster drama “The Irishman”; and Universal Pictures’ World War I drama  “1917.” All of these movies are contenders for Best Picture.

The Best Picture category can have up to 10 nominated movies. This year, there were nine nominated movies. The other Best Picture nominees include Fox Searchlight’s Nazi satire “Jojo Rabbit,” Neon’s South Korean drama “Parasite,” Columbia Pictures’ remake of “Little Women” and Netflix’s divorce drama “Marriage Story,” which earned a total of six Oscar nods each. Rounding out the Best Picture nominee list is 20th Century Fox’s auto-racing drama “Ford v Ferrari,” which received four Oscar nominations.

Three of the Best Picture nominees do not have any nominations in the actor/actress categories: “1917,” “Ford v Ferrari” and “Parasite.” “Ford v Ferrari” does not have a screenplay or director nomination, therefore significantly decreasing its chances of winning Best Picture.

The nominees in the actor/actress categories all received Golden Globe nominations for the same roles, with the exception of Florence Pugh of “Little Women,” who was passed over for a Golden Globe nomination for that supporting role but scored an Oscar nod.

There were several people who received multiple Oscar nominations this year. Facing off in the same three categories (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay) are Quentin Tarantino of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Bong Joo Ho of “Parasite” and Sam Mendes of “1917.” Meanwhile, Todd Phillips of “Joker” also has three nods: Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

People who received two Oscar nods each this year are actress Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story,” “Jojo Rabbit”); producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff (“Joker,” “The Irishman”); producer David Heyman (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Marriage Story”); “Marriage Story” writer/producer Noah Baumbach; “The Irishman” director/producer Martin Scorsese; “Jojo Rabbit” writer/director Taika Waititi; special effects supervisor Dominic Tuohy (“The Lion King,” “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”); “Marriage Story” composer/”Toy Story 4″ songwriter Randy Newman; and Cynthia Erivo, who’s nominated for Best Actress and Best Original Song for Focus Features’ Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet.”

Snubs and Surprises

“The Farewell” (Photo courtesy of A24)

Despite winning several awards leading up to the Oscar nominations (including a Golden Globe for star Awkwafina), the Chinese American drama “The Farewell” was completely shut out of the Oscar race. “Rocketman” star Taron Egerton was another Golden Globe winner who failed to get an Oscar nomination for his Golden Globe-winning role. The only Oscar nod for the Elton John musical biopic “Rocketman” was the expected nomination for Best Original Song: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” written by John and his longtime songwriter partner Bernie Taupin. The song won a Golden Globe and is a strong contender to win the Oscar.

“Rocketman” scored one Oscar nomination, but other movies that won awards elsewhere were completely snubbed for Oscar nominations, including A24’s drama “Uncut Gems,” Netflix’s comedy “Dolemite Is My Name,” STX Entertainment’s drama “Hustlers” and Universal Pictures’ horror film “Us.”

Disney’s popular sequel “Frozen 2” failed to get a nod in the category of Best Animated Feature, but Netflix’s Christmas film “Klaus” got a surprise nomination in this category. “Frozen 2” got an expected nomination for Best Original Song (for “Into the Unknown), while Beyoncé’s “Spirit” from “The Lion King” remake was snubbed in that category. The only Oscar nomination for “The Lion King” remake was in the category of Best Visual Effects, and that nomination was expected.

The NASA documentary “Apollo 11” has won numerous awards, but was shut out of the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature. This snub should not come as much of surprise to observant Oscar watchers, since the documentary branch of the Academy Awards has a history of snubbing documentaries that rely heavily on archival footage that was not filmed by the documentaries’ directors.

A big surprise was that the North Macedonian documentary “Honeyland” was nominated in two categories: Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature. It’s rare for a documentary to get nominated in the Best International Feature category.

Diversity and Inclusion

Cynthia Erivo in “Harriet” (Photo by Glen Wilson/Focus Features)

It was widely predicted that no women would be nominated for Best Director, and that prediction turned out to be true. In the 92-year-history of the Academy Awards, only five women have ever gotten nominated for an Oscar for Best Director, and only one woman has won: Kathryn Bigelow for the 2009 war film “The Hurt Locker.” “Little Women” director Greta Gerwig was considered the most likely female director to get an Oscar nomination for Best Director this year. Instead, she got an expected nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie. (Gerwig’s previous Oscar nominations were for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, for the 2017 movie “Lady Bird.”)

Best Cinematography, another Oscar category that has been snubbing women for years, once again had only male nominees this year. Only one woman has been nominated in this category so far: Rachel Morrison, for the 2017 Netflix drama “Mudbound.”

“1917” director/co-writer/producer Mendes is multiracial (his father is Portuguese Creole and his mother is white), and Mendes has received his first Oscar nominations since winning for Best Director for the 1999 drama “American Beauty,” which was his feature-film directorial debut.

After a historic number of black people (five) won Oscars in 2019, black people are underrepresented in Oscar nominations in 2020. Only four black people got Oscar nods this year: British/actress singer (and double Oscar nominee) Erivo of “Harriet”; “Hair Love” director Matthew Cherry and producer Karen Rupert Toliver, both nominated for Best Animated Short; and Mali-born writer/director Ladj Ly, whose French drama “Les Misérables” (which is not an adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel) is one of the nominees for Best International Feature Film.

 Asians got the most representation with writer/director Bong Joo Ho’s  “Parasite,” which has six Oscar nods: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Film Editing and Best Production Design. “Jojo Rabbit” writer/director/producer Taika Waititi (who is of Māori descent) picked up three nominations: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. “Jojo Rabbit’s” other Oscar nods went to white nominees: Best Supporting Actress, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Filipino songwriter Robert Lopez (a two-time songwriting Oscar winner for “Frozen” and “Coco”) is once again nominated with his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez in the Best Original Song category—this time, for the “Frozen 2” song “Into the Unknown.”Jinko Gotoh, who is of Japanese descent, received a Best Animated Feature nod for producing “Klaus.” Oscar-winning “The White Helmets” producer Joanna Natasegara, who is of Asian descent, is nominated again for Best Documentary Feature—this time for “The Edge of Democracy.” She was previously nominated in this category for 2014’s “Virunga.” Japanese makeup artist Kazu Hiro, a previous winner for 2017’s “Darkest Hour,” is nominated again for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, this time for “Bombshell.”

Meanwhile, the categories for short films had a significant number of Asian filmmakers. Chinese filmmaker Siqi Song earned a Best Animated Short nomination for directing and producing “Sister.” South Korean filmmakers Yi Seung-Jun (director/producer) and Gary Byung-Seok Kam (producer) are up for Best Documentary Short for “In the Absence.” “St. Louis Superman” directors/producers Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan, who are of Indian descent, are also nominated in the Best Documentary Short category.

People of Arab descent had strong showings in the Best Documentary Feature category, which includes two nominations for movies about the war in Syria: “The Cave” (directed by Feras Fayyad, a previous nominee in this category for 2017’s “Last Men in Aleppo”) and “For Sama” (co-directed by Waad al-Kateab in her first Oscar nomination). Tunisian-born director/producer Meryam Joobeur received a Best Live-Action Short nomination for the Canadian film “Brotherhood.”

Latinos were represented in the high-profile Oscar categories with Sony Pictures Classics’ Spanish film “Pain and Glory,” writer/director Pedro Almodóvar’s semi-autobiographical film, which has nominations for Best Actor (the first Oscar nomination for Antonio Banderas) and Best International Feature Film. Meanwhile, Netflix’s “The Edge of Democracy” is up for Best Documentary Feature, the first Oscar nod for Brazilian director Petra Costa and Brazilian producer Tiago Pavan. Other first-time Oscar nominees are these filmmakers for the animated movie “Klaus”: Spanish director/producer Sergio Pablos and Venezuelan producer Marisa Román.

Also a nominee in the Best Animated Feature category is “Toy Story 4” producer Jonas Rivera, a previous Oscar winner in this category for 2009’s “Up” and 2015’s “Inside Out.” In the technical categories, Mexican director of photography Rodrigo Pietro got a nod for Best Cinematography for “The Irishman,” while Adam Valdez was part of the Oscar-nominated visual-effects team for “The Lion King.”

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2020 Academy Awards:

Best Picture
“Ford v Ferrari”
Producers: Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold

“The Irishman”
Producers: Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff

“Jojo Rabbit”
Producers: Carthew Neal and Taika Waititi

“Joker”
Producers: Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff

“Little Women”
Producer: Amy Pascal

“Marriage Story”
Producers: Noah Baumbach and David Heyman

“1917”
Producers: Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Producers: David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino

“Parasite”
Producers: Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho

Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”
Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”

Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”
Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”
Saoirse Ronan, “Little Women”
Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”
Renee Zellweger, “Judy”

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
Anthony Hopkins, “The Two Popes”
Al Pacino, “The Irishman”
Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”
Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”
Scarlett Johansson, “Jojo Rabbit”
Florence Pugh, “Little Women”
Margot Robbie, “Bombshell”

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”
Todd Phillips, “Joker”
Sam Mendes, “1917”
Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite”

Best Animated Feature
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” directed by Dean DeBlois; produced by Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold

“I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin; produced by Marc du Pontavice

“Klaus,” directed and produced by Sergio Pablos; produced by Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román

“Missing Link,” directed by Chris Butler; produced by Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight

“Toy Story 4,” directed by Josh Cooley; produced by Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera

Best Animated Short
“Dcera,” directed and produced by Daria Kashcheeva
“Hair Love,” directed and produced by Matthew A. Cherry; produced by Karen Rupert Toliver
“Kitbull,” directed by Rosana Sullivan; produced by Kathryn Hendrickson
“Memorable,” directed by Bruno Collet; produced by Jean-François Le Corre
“Sister,” directed and produced by Siqi Song

Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Irishman,” Steven Zaillian
“Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi
“Joker,” Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
“Little Women,” Greta Gerwig
“The Two Popes,” Anthony McCarten

Best Original Screenplay
“Knives Out,” Rian Johnson
“Marriage Story,” Noah Baumbach
“1917,” Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino
“Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho and Jin Won Han

Best Cinematography
“The Irishman,” Rodrigo Prieto
“Joker,” Lawrence Sher
“The Lighthouse,” Jarin Blaschke
“1917,” Roger Deakins
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Robert Richardson

Best Documentary Feature
“American Factory,” directed and produced by Julia Rieichert and Steven Bognar; produced by Jeff Reichert

“The Cave,” directed by Feras Fayyad; produced by Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær

“The Edge of Democracy,” directed and produced by Petra Costa; produced by Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan

“For Sama,” directed and produced by Waad Al-Kateab; directed by Edward Watts

“Honeyland,” directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov; produced by Atanas Georgiev

Best Documentary Short Subject
“In the Absence,” directed and produced by Yi Seung-Jun; produced by Gary Byung-Seok Kam

“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” directed by Carol Dysinger; produced by Elena Andreicheva

“Life Overtakes Me,” directed and produced by Kristine Samuelson; directed by John Haptas

“St. Louis Superman,” directed and produced by Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan

“Walk Run Cha-Cha,” directed by Laura Nix; produced by Colette Sandstedt

Best Live Action Short Film
“Brotherhood,” directed and produced by Meryam Joobeur; produced by Maria Gracia Turgeon

“Nefta Football Club,” directed and produced by Yves Piat; produced by Damien Megherbi

“The Neighbors’ Window,” directed and produced by Marshall Curry

“Saria,” directed by Bryan Buckley; produced by Matt Lefebvre

“A Sister,” directed and produced by Delphine Girard

Best International Feature Film
“Corpus Christi,” directed by Jan Komasa (Poland)
“Honeyland,” directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov (North Macedonia)
“Les Misérables,” directed by Ladj Ly (France)
“Pain and Glory,” directed by Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)
“Parasite,” directed by Bong Joon Ho (South Korea)

Best Film Editing
“Ford v Ferrari,” Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland
“The Irishman,” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Jojo Rabbit,” Tom Eagles
“Joker,” Jeff Groth
“Parasite,” Jinmo Yang

Best Sound Editing
“Ford v Ferrari,” Don Sylvester
“Joker,” Alan Robert Murray
“1917,” Oliver Tarney, Rachel Tate
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Wylie Stateman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Matthew Wood and David Acord

Best Sound Mixing
“Ad Astra,” Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano
“Ford v Ferrari,” Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow
“Joker,” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland
“1917,” Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano

Best Production Design
“The Irishman”
Production Design: Bob Shaw; Set Decoration: Regina Graves

“Jojo Rabbit”
Production Design: Ra Vincent; Set Decoration: Nora Sopková

“1917”
Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Production Design: Barbara Ling; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

“Parasite”
Production Design: Lee Ha Jun; Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo

Best Original Score
“Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir
“Little Women,” Alexandre Desplat
“Marriage Story,” Randy Newman
“1917,” Thomas Newman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams

Best Original Song
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from “Toy Story 4,” song written by Randy Newman

“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman,” song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

“I’m Standing With You” from “Breakthrough,” song written by Diane Warren

“Into the Unknown” from “Frozen 2,” song written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez

“Stand Up” from “Harriet,” song written by Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell

Best Makeup and Hair Styling
“Bombshell,” Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker
“Joker,” Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou
“Judy,” Jeremy Woodhead
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White
“1917,” Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole

Best Costume Design
”The Irishman,” Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson
“Jojo Rabbit,” Mayes C. Rubeo
“Joker,” Mark Bridges
“Little Women,” Jacqueline Durran
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Arianne Phillips

Best Visual Effects
“Avengers: Endgame,” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick

“The Irishman,” Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli

“1917,” Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy

“The Lion King,” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newma

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy

2020 Critics’ Choice Awards: ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the top winner

January 12, 2020

by Carla Hay

With four prizes, Columbia Pictures’ movie drama “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”(set in 1969) emerged as the top winner at the 25th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards, which were presented on January 12, 2020, at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. Taye Diggs hosted the show, which was televised in the U.S. on The CW.

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” won the top movie prize (Best Picture), as well as Best Original Screenplay (for writer/director Quentin Tarantino), Best Supporting Actor (for Brad Pitt) and Best Production Design (for Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh). Coming close behind  in movie wins was Universal Pictures’ World War I drama “1917,” which won three awards: Best Director (for Sam Mendes, who won the prize in a tie with “Parasite” director Bong Joo); Best Cinematography (for Roger Deakins); and Best Editing (for Lee Smith).

In the TV categories, “Fleabag” was the top winner, with three awards: Best Comedy Series, Best Actress in a Comedy Series (for Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (for Andrew Scott).

Netflix’s “The Irishman” was the top nominee overall, going into the ceremony with 14 nods. But in the end, the mob drama only one Critics’ Choice Award: Best Acting Ensemble. The cast includes Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and Ray Romano.

The ceremony also had mutliple categories that resulted in a voting tie this year. In addition to a tie for Best Director, there were ties for Best Song and Best Tall Show. The winners for Best Song were “Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” from the drama “Wild Rose” and “(I’m Gonna) Love You Again” from the musical “Rocketman.” The winners for Best Talk Show were “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden.”

Eddie Murphy received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Kristen Bell got the #SeeHer Award, which is given to a female entertainer who is a role model for female empowerment.

The 25th annual Critics’ Choice Awards show was produced by Bob Bain Productions and Berlin Entertainment.

According to a Critics Choice Association press release: “The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 400 television, radio and online critics. It was organized this year with the formal merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, recognizing the blurring of the distinctions between film, television, and streaming content.”

The following is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2020 Critics’ Choice Awards:

*=winner

MOVIES

BEST PICTURE
“1917”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“The Irishman”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Joker”
“Little Women”
“Marriage Story”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”*
“Parasite”
“Uncut Gems”

BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas – “Pain and Glory”
Robert De Niro – “The Irishman”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Adam Driver – “Marriage Story”
Eddie Murphy – “Dolemite Is My Name”
Joaquin Phoenix – “Joker”*
Adam Sandler – “Uncut Gems”

BEST ACTRESS
Awkwafina – “The Farewell”
Cynthia Erivo – “Harriet”
Scarlett Johansson – “Marriage Story”
Lupita Nyong’o – Us
Saoirse Ronan – “Little Women”
Charlize Theron – “Bombshell”
Renée Zellweger – “Judy”*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe – “The Lighthouse”
Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
Anthony Hopkins – “The Two Popes”
Al Pacino – “The Irishman”
Joe Pesci – “The Irishman”
Brad Pitt – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Dern – “Marriage Story”*
Scarlett Johansson – “Jojo Rabbit”
Jennifer Lopez – “Hustlers”
Florence Pugh – “Little Women”
Margot Robbie – “Bombshell”
Zhao Shuzhen – “The Farewell”

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Julia Butters – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Roman Griffin Davis – “Jojo Rabbit”*
Noah Jupe – “Honey Boy”
Thomasin McKenzie – “Jojo Rabbit”
Shahadi Wright Joseph – “Us”
Archie Yates – “Jojo Rabbit”

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
“Bombshell”
“The Irishman”*
“Knives Out”
“Little Women”
“Marriage Story”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“Parasite”

BEST DIRECTOR
Noah Baumbach – “Marriage Story”
Bong Joon Ho – “Parasite”* (tie)
Greta Gerwig – “Little Women”
Sam Mendes – “1917”* (tie)
Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie – “Uncut Gems”
Martin Scorsese – “The Irishman”
Quentin Tarantino – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Noah Baumbach – “Marriage Story”
Rian Johnson – “Knives Out”
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won – “Parasite”
Quentin Tarantino – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”*
Lulu Wang – “The Farewell”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Greta Gerwig – “Little Women”*
Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
Anthony McCarten – “The Two Popes”
Todd Phillips & Scott Silver – “Joker”
Taika Waititi – “Jojo Rabbit”
Steven Zaillian – “The Irishman”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jarin Blaschke – “The Lighthouse”
Roger Deakins – “1917”*
Phedon Papamichael – “Ford v Ferrari”
Rodrigo Prieto – “The Irishman”
Robert Richardson – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Lawrence Sher – “Joker”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mark Friedberg, Kris Moran – “Joker”
Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales – “1917”
Jess Gonchor, Claire Kaufman – “Little Women”
Lee Ha Jun – “Parasite”
Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”*
Bob Shaw, Regina Graves – “The Irishman”
Donal Woods, Gina Cromwell – “Downton Abbey”

BEST EDITING
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie – “Uncut Gems”
Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker – “Ford v Ferrari”
Yang Jinmo – “Parasite”
Fred Raskin – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Thelma Schoonmaker – “The Irishman”
Lee Smith – “1917”*

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Ruth E. Carter – “Dolemite Is My Name”*
Julian Day – “Rocketman”
Jacqueline Durran – “Little Women”
Arianne Phillips – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson – “The Irishman”
Anna Robbins – “Downton Abbey”

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
“Bombshell”*
“Dolemite Is My Name”
“The Irishman”
“Joker”
“Judy”
“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”
“Rocketman”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“1917”
“Ad Astra”
“The Aeronauts”
“Avengers: Endgame”*
“Ford v Ferrari”
“The Irishman”
“The Lion King”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Abominable”
“Frozen II”
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
“I Lost My Body”
“Missing Link”
“Toy Story 4”*

BEST ACTION MOVIE
“1917”
“Avengers: Endgame”*
“Ford v Ferrari”
“John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”
“Spider-Man: Far From Home”

BEST COMEDY
“Booksmart”
“Dolemite Is My Name”*
“The Farewell”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Knives Out”

BEST SCI-FI OR HORROR MOVIE
“Ad Astra”
“Avengers: Endgame”
“Midsommar”
“Us”*

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Atlantics”
“Les Misérables”
“Pain and Glory”
“Parasite”*
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

BEST SONG
“Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” – “Wild Rose”* (tie)
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” – “Rocketman”* (tie)
“I’m Standing With You” – “Breakthrough”
“Into the Unknown” – “Frozen II”
“Speechless” – “Aladdin”
“Spirit” – “The Lion King”
“Stand Up” – “Harriet”

BEST SCORE
Michael Abels – “Us”
Alexandre Desplat – “Little Women”
Hildur Guðnadóttir – “Joker”*
Randy Newman – “Marriage Story”
Thomas Newman – “1917”
Robbie Robertson – “The Irishman

TELEVISION

BEST DRAMA SERIES
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“David Makes Man” (OWN)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“The Good Fight” (CBS All Access)
“Pose” (FX)
“Succession” (HBO)*
“This Is Us” (NBC)
“Watchmen” (HBO)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sterling K. Brown – “This Is Us” (NBC)
Mike Colter – “Evil” (CBS)
Paul Giamatti – “Billions” (Showtime)
Kit Harington – “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
Freddie Highmore – “The Good Doctor” (ABC)
Tobias Menzies – “The Crown” (Netflix)
Billy Porter – “Pose” (FX)
Jeremy Strong – “Succession” (HBO)*

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christine Baranski – “The Good Fight” (CBS All Access)
Olivia Colman – “The Crown” (Netflix)
Jodie Comer – “Killing Eve” (BBC America)
Nicole Kidman – “Big Little” Lies (HBO)
Regina King – “Watchmen” (HBO)*
Mj Rodriguez – “Pose” (FX)
Sarah Snook – “Succession” (HBO)
Zendaya – “Euphoria” (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Asante Blackk – “This Is Us” (NBC)
Billy Crudup – “The Morning Show” (Apple)*
Asia Kate Dillon – “Billions” (Showtime)
Peter Dinklage – “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
Justin Hartley – “This Is Us” (NBC)
Delroy Lindo – “The Good Fight” (CBS All Access)
Tim Blake Nelson – “Watchmen” (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Helena Bonham Carter – “The Crown” (Netflix)
Gwendoline Christie – “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
Laura Dern – “Big Little Lies” (HBO)
Audra McDonald – “The Good Fight” (CBS All Access)
Jean Smart – “Watchmen” (HBO)*
Meryl Streep – “Big Little Lies” (HBO)
Susan Kelechi Watson – “This Is Us” (NBC)

BEST COMEDY SERIES
“Barry” (HBO)
“Fleabag” (Amazon)*
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)
“Mom” (CBS)
“One Day at a Time” (Netflix)
“Pen15” (Hulu)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ted Danson – “The Good Place” (NBC)
Walton Goggins – “The Unicorn” (CBS)
Bill Hader – “Barry” (HBO)*
Eugene Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Paul Rudd – “Living with Yourself” (Netflix)
Bashir Salahuddin – “Sherman’s Showcase” (IFC)
Ramy Youssef – “Ramy” (Hulu)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate – “Dead to Me” (Netflix)
Alison Brie – “GLOW” (Netflix)
Rachel Brosnahan – “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)
Kirsten Dunst – “On Becoming a God in Central Florida” (Showtime)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – “Veep” (HBO)
Catherine O’Hara – “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge – “Fleabag” (Amazon)*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Andre Braugher – “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (NBC)
Anthony Carrigan – “Barry” (HBO)
William Jackson Harper – “The Good Place” (NBC)
Daniel Levy – “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
Nico Santos – “Superstore” (NBC)
Andrew Scott – “Fleabag” (Amazon)*
Henry Winkler – “Barry” (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alex Borstein – “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)*
D’Arcy Carden – “The Good Place” (NBC)
Sian Clifford – “Fleabag” (Amazon)
Betty Gilpin – “GLOW” (Netflix)
Rita Moreno – “One Day at a Time” (Netflix)
Annie Murphy – “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
Molly Shannon – “The Other Two” (Comedy Central)

BEST LIMITED SERIES
“Catch-22” (Hulu)
“Chernobyl” (HBO)
“Fosse/Verdon” (FX)
“The Loudest Voice” (Showtime)
“Unbelievable” (Netflix)
“When They See Us” (Netflix)*
“Years and Years” (HBO)

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
“Brexit” (HBO)
“Deadwood: The Movie” (HBO)
“El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” (Netflix)*
“Guava Island” (Amazon)
“Native Son” (HBO)
“Patsy & Loretta” (Lifetime)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Christopher Abbott – “Catch-22” (Hulu)
Mahershala Ali – “True Detective” (HBO)
Russell Crowe – “The Loudest Voice” (Showtime)
Jared Harris – “Chernobyl” (HBO)
Jharrel Jerome – “When They See Us” (Netflix)*
Sam Rockwell – “Fosse/Verdon” (FX)
Noah Wyle – “The Red Line” (CBS)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Kaitlyn Dever – “Unbelievable” (Netflix)
Anne Hathaway – “Modern Love” (Amazon)
Megan Hilty – “Patsy & Loretta” (Lifetime)
Joey King – “The Act” (Hulu)
Jessie Mueller – “Patsy & Loretta” (Lifetime)
Merritt Wever – “Unbelievable” (Netflix)
Michelle Williams – “Fosse/Verdon” (FX)*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Asante Blackk – “When They See Us” (Netflix)
George Clooney – “Catch-22” (Hulu)
John Leguizamo – “When They See Us” (Netflix)
Dev Patel – “Modern Love” (Amazon)
Jesse Plemons – “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” (Netflix)
Stellan Skarsgård – “Chernobyl” (HBO)*
Russell Tovey – “Years and Years” (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Patricia Arquette – “The Act” (Hulu)
Marsha Stephanie Blake – “When They See Us” (Netflix)
Toni Collette – “Unbelievable” (Netflix)*
Niecy Nash – “When They See Us” (Netflix)
Margaret Qualley – “Fosse/Verdon” (FX)
Emma Thompson – “Years and Years” (HBO)
Emily Watson – “Chernobyl” (HBO)

BEST ANIMATED SERIES
“Big Mouth” (Netflix)
“BoJack Horseman” (Netflix)*
“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” (Netflix)
“She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” (Netflix)
“The Simpsons” (Fox)
“Undone” (Amazon)

BEST TALK SHOW
“Desus & Mero” (Showtime)
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” (TBS)
“The Kelly Clarkson Show” (NBC)
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO)
“The Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS)* (tie)
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)* (tie)

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL
“Amy Schumer: Growing” (Netflix)
“Jenny Slate: Stage Fright” (Netflix)
“Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’” (ABC)*
“Ramy Youssef: Feelings” (HBO)
“Seth Meyers: Lobby Baby” (Netflix)
“Trevor Noah: Son of Patricia” (Netflix)
“Wanda Sykes: Not Normal” (Netflix)

2020 Golden Globe Awards: ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is the top winner

January 5, 2020

by Carla Hay

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” writer/director/producer Quentin Tarantino at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2020. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
“1917” director/producer/co-writer Sam Mendes (second from right) at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2020. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

With three victories, Columbia Pictures’ “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” won the most prizes at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which were presented at the Beverly Hilton In Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2020. NBC had the U.S. telecast of the show.  “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which is set in 1969 and is about Hollywood entertainers who come in contact with members of the Manson Family, took the prizes for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy; Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (for Brad Pitt); and Best Screenplay (for writer/director Quentin Tarantino).

Universal Pictures’ World War I drama “1917” won two Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director (for Sam Mendes), triumphing other films that received more Golden Globe nominations, such as the Netflix movies “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story” and “The Two Popes.” Many pundits did not predict that “1917” would win any of the big prizes since the movie wasn’t nominated in the categories for acting or screenplay. The only other category that “1917” received a nomination for was Best Original Score.

“Marriage Story” went into the ceremony with the most nominations (six), but ended up with just one Golden Globe: Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (for Laura Dern). In fact, Netflix was shut out of winning almost all of its nominations this year. The only other Golden Globe victory for Netflix this year was Olivia Colman of “The Crown” winning Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama.

Other movies that won two Golden Globes each were Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Joker” and Paramount Pictures’ “Rocketman.” Joker” won the awards for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (for Joaquin Phoenix) and Best Original Score (for Hildur Guðnadóttir, in a rare occasion when a female composer won in this Golden Globe category). “Rocketman” won the awards for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (for Taron Egerton) and Best Original Song, for Elton John’s “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” which was written by John and Bernie Taupin. It was the first major award that longtime songwriting duo John and Taupin ever won together.

Movie winners also included Renée Zellweger of “Judy” (Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama); Awkafina of “The Farewell” (Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy); the South Korean film “”Parasite” (Best Foreign Language Film); and “Missing Link” (Best Animated Film).

“Fleabag” creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge (holding Golden Globe trophy) at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2020. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

In the TV field, the top winners (with two awards each) were the HBO drama series “Succession,” the Amazon Prime Video comedy series “Fleabag,” and the HBO limited series “Chernobyl.” “Succession” was named Best Television Series – Drama, while Brian Cox won for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama. “Fleabag” took the prize for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, while the show’s creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge won Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. “Chernobyl” took the prize for Best Television Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, while Stellan Skarsgård won for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Other TV winners included Ramy Youssef of “Hulu’s “Ramy” (Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy); Michelle Williams of FX’s limited series “Fosse/Verdon” (Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television); Russell Crowe of “The Loudest Voice” (Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television); and Patricia Arquette of Hulu’s limited series “The Act” (Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television).

Crowe was the only winner who was a no-show, and he said in a prepared speech that was read on stage that he couldn’t be there because of the raging wildfires that were happening in his native Australia. Another no-show was Christian Bale (a Golden Globe nominee this year for his lead role in the movie drama “Ford v Ferrari”), who was announced as a presenter but ended up not attending the ceremony for a reason that was not announced.

Golden Globe Awards host Ricky Gervais at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2020. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

British comedian/actor Ricky Gervais hosted the show and delivered on expectations of making remarks that would offend some people, considering he’s done that every time he’s hosted the Golden Globes. (This was his fifth time as Golden Globes host. He previously hosted in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016.) In his opening monologue, Gervais joked about notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein being a friend to many of the rich and powerful people in the audience, whom he called “perverts.” (Epstein was accused of pimping out and sexually abusing underage girls for decades, before he died in prison in 2019, while waiting to go on trial on sex-trafficking charges.) The jokes about sexual abuse didn’t end there, as Gervais commented that the past year was a year for movies about accusations of pedophilia, citing “Surviving R. Kelly,” “Leaving Neverland” and, he joked, “The Two Popes.”

Gervais also ridiculed the movie musical “Cats” for being a massive flop with audiences and critics. After making fun of “Cats” co-star James Corden’s weight by calling him a “fat pussy” (words that were not bleeped out during the telecast), Gervais made perhaps the most controversial remark of the evening: a crude joke about “Cats” co-star Judi Dench licking her genital area like a cat. In the joke about Dench, he used words that were definitely bleeped out. Gervais also took aim at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that votes for the Golden Globes and is partially responsible for hiring the show’s host. (Dick Clark Productions also produces the Golden Globes telecast.)  He joked that the Golden Globes vegan dinner menu consisted of “only vegetables … just like the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.”

Gervais pointed out the lack of diversity in this year’s Golden Globe nominees by calling the HFPA “racist” and joked that he also had a problem with the lack of diversity in the show’s “In Memoriam” segment that’s a remembrance of the entertainers who died in the past year. Awkwafina, “Parasite” director Bong Joo Ho and “Ramy” star Youssef were the only non-white winners at the Golden Globes ceremony this year, which will spark considerable conversation about the lack of racial diversity in the show’s winners.

Tom Hanks received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement. Ellen DeGeneres received the Carol Burnett Award, which is given to people who have excelled in comedy. The Carol Burnett Award debuted at the Golden Globes in 2019, and Burnett was the first recipient of the prize. Burnett was seated next to DeGeneres at the ceremony. Dylan and Paris Brosnan (sons of Pierce Brosnan) served as the 2020 Golden Globe Ambassadors.

Presenters included Jennifer Aniston, Antonio Banderas, Jason Bateman, Annette Bening, Cate Blanchett, Matt Bomer, Pierce Brosnan, Sandra Bullock, Priyanka Chopra, Glenn Close, Daniel Craig, Ted Danson, Ana de Armas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ansel Elgort, Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Will Ferrell, Lauren Graham, Tiffany Haddish, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansson, “Rocketman” Golden Globe winner John, Nick Jonas, Harvey Keitel, Zoe Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez, Rami Malek, Ewan McGregor, Kate McKinnon, Helen Mirren, Jason Momoa, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Poehler, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Golden Globe winner Pitt, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Margot Robbie, Paul Rudd, Wesley Snipes, Octavia Spencer, Rocketman” Golden Globe winner Bernie Taupin, Charlize Theron, Sofia Vergara, Kerry Washington, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz and Reese Witherspoon.

Here is the complete list of winners and nominations for the 2020 Golden Globe Awards:

*=winner

MOVIES

Best Motion Picture – Drama
“The Irishman” (Netflix)
“Marriage Story” (Netflix)
“1917” (Universal)*
“Joker” (Warner Bros.)
“The Two Popes” (Netflix)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Columbia)*
“Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight)
“Knives Out” (Lionsgate)
“Rocketman” (Paramount)
“Dolemite Is My Name” (Netflix)

Best Director 
Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”)
Sam Mendes (“1917”)*
Todd Phillips (“Joker”)
Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”)
Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”)
Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”)
Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”)
Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”)*
Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Daniel Craig (“Knives Out”)
Roman Griffin Davis (“Jojo Rabbit”)
Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Taron Egerton (“Rocketman”)*
Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”)
Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”)
Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”)
Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”)
Renée Zellweger (“Judy”)*

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Awkwafina (“The Farewell”)*
Ana de Armas (“Knives Out”)
Cate Blanchett (“Where’d You Go, Bernadette?”)
Beanie Feldstein (“Booksmart”)
Emma Thompson (“Late Night”)

Best Supporting Actor 
Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Two Popes”)
Al Pacino (“The Irishman”)
Joe Pesci (“The Irishman”)
Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)*

Best Supporting Actress 
Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”)
Annette Bening (“The Report”)
Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”)*
Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”)
Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”)

Best Screenplay
Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”)
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won (“Parasite”)
Anthony McCarten (“The Two Popes”)
Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)*
Steven Zaillian (“The Irishman”)

Best Original Score
Daniel Pemberton (“Motherless Brooklyn”)
Alexandre Desplat (“Little Women”)
Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker”)*
Thomas Newman (“1917”)
Randy Newman (“Marriage Story”)

Best Original Song 
“Beautiful Ghosts” (“Cats”)
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” (“Rocketman”)*
“Into the Unknown” (“Frozen II”)
“Spirit” (“The Lion King”)
“Stand Up” (“Harriet”)

Best Animated Film 
“Frozen II” (Disney)
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” (Universal)
“Missing Link” (United Artists Releasing)*
“Toy Story 4” (Disney)
“The Lion King” (Disney)

Best Foreign Language Film
“The Farewell” (A24)
“Pain and Glory” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Neon)
“Parasite” (Neon)*
“Les Misérables” (Amazon)

TELEVISION

Best Television Series – Drama
“Big Little Lies” (HBO)
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“Killing Eve” (BBC America)
“The Morning Show” (Apple TV+)
“Succession” (HBO)*

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
“Barry” (HBO)
“Fleabag” (Amazon)*
“The Kominsky Method” (Netflix)
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)
“The Politician” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Brian Cox (“Succession”)*
Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”)
Rami Malek (“Mr. Robot”)
Tobias Menzies (“The Crown”)
Billy Porter (“Pose”)

Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”)
Olivia Colman (“The Crown”)*
Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)
Nicole Kidman (“Big Little Lies”)
Reese Witherspoon (“Big Little Lies”)

Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”)
Bill Hader (“Barry”)
Ben Platt (“The Politician”)
Paul Rudd (“Living With Yourself”)
Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”)*

Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”)
Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Kirsten Dunst (“On Becoming a God in Central Florida”)
Natasha Lyonne (“Russian Doll”)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”)*

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Catch-22″ (Hulu)
“Chernobyl” (HBO)*
“Fosse/Verdon” (FX)
“The Loudest Voice” (Showtime)
“Unbelievable” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Christopher Abbott (“Catch-22”)
Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Spy”)
Russell Crowe (“The Loudest Voice”)*
Jared Harris (“Chernobyl”)
Sam Rockwell (“Fosse/Verdon”)

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Kaitlyn Dever (“Unbelievable”)
Joey King (“The Act”)
Helen Mirren (“Catherine the Great”)
Merritt Wever (“Unbelievable”)
Michelle Williams (“Fosse/Verdon”)*

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Alan Arkin (“The Kominsky Method”)
Kieran Culkin (“Succession”)
Andrew Scott (“Fleabag”)
Stellan Skarsgård (“Chernobyl”)*
Henry Winkler (“Barry”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Patricia Arquette (“The Act”)*
Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”)
Toni Collette (“Unbelievable”)
Meryl Streep (“Big Little Lies”)
Emily Watson (“Chernobyl”)

2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards: ‘Bombshell,’ ‘The Irishman,’ ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ are the top nominees

December 11, 2019

by Carla Hay

With four nominations each, Lionsgate’s sexual-harassment film “Bombshell,” Netflix’s mob drama “The Irishman,” Columbia Pictures’ Manson Family murder drama “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and Amazon Prime Video’s comedy series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” are the top contenders at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 19, 2020. TNT and TBS will have the live U.S. telecast of the show.

“Bombshell” earned nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture; Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (for Charlize Theron); Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (for Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie).

“The Irishman” got nods for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture; Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (for Al Pacino and Joe Pesci); and Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” received nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture; Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (for Leonardo DiCaprio); Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (for Brad Pitt); and Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” picked up nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series; Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (for Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein); and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (for Tony Shalhoub). The SAG Awards do not have supporting actor/supporting actress categories for TV shows.

Also getting multiple nominations, with three nods each, are Netflix’s divorce movie “Marriage Story,” Apple TV+’s drama series “The Morning Show” and Netflix’s drama series “The Crown.”

Several actors received three nominations each at the SAG Awards this year: Johansson is up for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (for “Marriage Story”), Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (for “Jojo Rabbit”), and she is among the nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (for “Jojo Rabbit”). “Bombshell” co-stars Robbie and Kidman are also nominated for three SAG Awards each. In addition to their individual and cast nominations for “Bombshell,” Robbie is among the cast nominated for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” while Kidman is among the ensemble nominated for HBO’s “Big Little Lies.” Pacino has cast nominations (for being in “The Irishman” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), in addition to his individual nomination for “The Irishman.”

Snubs and Surprises

Antonio Banderas in “Pain and Glory” (Photo courtesy of El Deseo)

Although “Marriage Story” scored three individual nominations (for lead actor Adam Driver, lead actress Scarlett Johansson and supporting actress Laura Dern), the movie was shut out of the category Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.  Conversely, “The Irishman” got a nod for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, but its lead actor (Robert De Niro) was snubbed by not getting a nod for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. However, De Niro will be receiving the Life Achievement Award (a non-competitive prize) at the SAG Awards this year, so he’s guaranteed to get an award at the show anyway. De Niro’s sometime co-star Leonardo DiCaprio will be presenting the Life Achievement Award to him.

These movies were completely shut out of the SAG Awards this year, even though they’ve been winning acting awards elsewhere: A24’s “The Farewell,” Sony Pictures Classics’ “Pain and Glory,” Columbia Pictures’ “Little Women,” A24’s “Waves,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Richard Jewell” and A24’s “Uncut Gems.”

In television, the biggest snub was for the FX drama series “Pose,” which didn’t get a SAG nomination this year, despite receiving several Emmy nominations, including an Emmy win for lead actor Billy Porter. Also snubbed were the broadcast TV networks, since NBC’s “The Is Us” was the only broadcast network show to get a SAG nomination this year: “This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown picked up a nod for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. All the other TV nominees are for shows on cable networks or streaming services. Meanwhile, previous SAG nominee/Emmy winner Henry Winkler of HBO’s “Barry” didn’t get a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series this year, but Andrew Scott of Amazon Prime Video’s “Fleabag” got a surprise nomination in the category.

One of the biggest surprises is the strong showing for Fox Searchlight Pictures’ “Jojo Rabbit,” the Nazi satire that has gotten mixed reviews and hasn’t been getting nominations for its cast at a lot of other award shows. The movie is among the nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, edging out “Marriage Story,” which was widely predicted to be nominated in that category. But someone who benefits either way is Johansson, who’s nominated for both movies.

Another big surprise was Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show” getting two nominations in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. Billy Crudup was expected to be nominated, but co-star Steve Carell was not. Meanwhile, in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, Reese Witherspoon of “The Morning Show” was snubbed in favor of co-star Jennifer Aniston. However, Witherspoon got an expected nomination as part of the ensemble for HBO’s “Big Little Lies.” Another noticeable snub was Sandra Oh of BBC America’s “Killing Eve,” who was edged out in favor of co-star Jodie Comer.

Diversity and Inclusion

Cynthia Erivo in “Harriet” (Photo by Glen Wilson/Focus Features)

There is very little racial diversity among the SAG Award nominees this year. The movie casts and TV ensembles that received group nominations are predominantly white, and people of color are only 14% of the 50 nominees in the SAG Award categories for individuals. People of color are about 28% of the U.S. population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, and that number is expected to be much higher for the 2020 U.S. Census.

The black nominees in the movie categories for individuals are Cynthia Erivo for Focus Features’ “Harriet” and Lupita Nyong’o for Universal Pictures’ “Us” (Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role) and Jamie Foxx for Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Just Mercy” (Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role). The TV categories for individuals have the aforementioned Brown for “This Is Us” ; Mahershala Ali for HBO’s “True Detective”; and Jharrel Jerome for Netflix’s “When They See Us.”

In the SAG Award categories for groups, the nominated  casts/ensembles are large, but usually have only a few people of color, and they’re usually black. Such is the case with Caleb McLaughlin and Priah Ferguson of Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” Zoe Kravitz of “Big Little Lies,” Kirby Howell-Baptiste of HBO’s “Barry” and Nathalie Emmanuel for HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” has the highest number of black people (four) of all the nominated ensembles: The nominated black actors in “The Handmaid’s Tale” ensemble are Samira Wiley,  O.T. Fagbenle, Ashleigh LaThrop and Bahia Watson.

Asians are represented the most with Neon’s South Korean drama “Parasite,” which received only one nomination: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Meanwhile, there is some Asian representation in the nominated casts of “Jojo Rabbit” (director/co-star Taika Waititi is of Māori descent) and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which includes Korean American actor Mike Moh. In the TV categories, the nominated ensemble of “Barry” includes Polynesian American actress Patricia Fa’asua and Turkish American actor Troy Caylak, while “The Handmaid’s Tale” has Serbian Canadian actress Nina Kiri, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” has Chinese American actress Stephanie Hsu, “Game of Thrones” has Indian Russian actor Staz Nair and “The Kominsky Method” has Chinese American actress Melissa Tang.

Latinos had very little representation among the nominees: “Hustlers” co-star Jennifer Lopez (who is Puerto Rican American) got a nomination for supporting actress, and Venezuelan actor Alejandro “Alex” Furth is among the nominated ensemble for “Barry.” Native Americans, who are always underrepresented in entertainment, were shut out of the SAG Awards this year. The LGBTQ community is represented primarily by straight actors playing gay characters, most notably Taron Egerton in Paramount Pictures’ Elton John musical biopic “Rocketman,” nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. The nominated “Jojo Rabbit” cast includes Sam Rockwell and Alfie Allen playing closeted gay Nazis. Meanwhile, “Bombshell” actresses Robbie and Kate McKinnon (who is an out lesbian in real life) play Fox News co-workers who are secret lovers.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2020 SAG Awards:

MOVIES

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“Bombshell” (Lionsgate)
“The Irishman” (Netflix)
“Jojo Rabbit” (Fox)
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Sony)
“Parasite” (Neon)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”)
Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”)
Taron Egerton (“Rocketman”)
Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”)
Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”)
Lupita Nyong’o (“Us”)
Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”)
Renée Zellweger (“Judy”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Jamie Foxx (“Just Mercy”)
Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”)
Al Pacino (“The Irishman”)
Joe Pesci (“The Irishman”)
Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”)
Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”)
Nicole Kidman (“Bombshell”)
Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”)
Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“Avengers: Endgame”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“The Irishman”
“Joker”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
“Big Little Lies” (HBO)
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)
“Stranger Things” (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
“Barry” (HBO)
“Fleabag” (Amazon)
“The Kominsky Method” (Netflix)
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”)
Steve Carell (“The Morning Show”)
Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”)
Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”)
David Harbour (“Stranger Things”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”)
Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”)
Olivia Colman (“The Crown”)
Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)
Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alan Arkin (“The Kominsky Method”)
Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”)
Bill Hader (“Barry”)
Andrew Scott (“Fleabag”)
Tony Shalhoub (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”)
Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Mahershala Ali (“True Detective”)
Russell Crowe (“The Loudest Voice”)
Jared Harris (“Chernobyl”)
Jharrel Jerome (“When They See Us”)
Sam Rockwell (“Fosse/Verdon”)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Patricia Arquette (“The Act”)
Toni Collette (“Unbelievable”)
Joey King (“The Act”)
Emily Watson (“Chernobyl”)
Michelle Williams (“Fosse/Verdon”)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
“Game of Thrones”
“GLOW”
“Stranger Things”
“The Walking Dead”
“Watchmen”

2019 National Board of Review Awards: ‘The Irishman’ is the top winner

December 3, 2019

by Carla Hay

With three prizes, including Best Film, Netflix’s “The Irishman” was the top winner for the 2018 National Board of Review Awards. The Irishman” won the prize for Best Adapted Screenplay (for Steven Zaillian). In addition “The Irishman” director Martin Scorsese and “The Irishman” co-stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have been named the recipients of the NBR Icon Award. The National Board of Review consists of filmmakers, academics and other professionals in the movie industry. The awards ceremony will take place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on January 8, 2020. NBC’s Willie Geist will be the host.

Columbia Pictures’ “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Richard Jewell” and A24’s “Uncut Gems” won two awards each. Quentin Tarantino was named Best Director, and Brad Pitt won Best Supporting Actor for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” “Richard Jewell” garnered prizes for co-stars Paul Walter Hauser (Breakthrough Performance) and Kathy Bates (Best Supporting Actress). Adam Sandler was named Best Actor, while brother duo Josh and Benny Safdie and Ronald Bronstein won Best Original Screenplay for “Uncut Gems.”

Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Marriage Story,” which has been winning several awards elsewhere, was completely snubbed by the National Board of Review.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2019 National Board of Review Awards:

Best Film: “The Irishman”
Best Director: Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Best Actor: Adam Sandler, “Uncut Gems”
Best Actress: Renée Zellweger, “Judy”
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Best Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”
Best Original Screenplay: Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, “Uncut Gems”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Steven Zaillian, “The Irishman”
Breakthrough Performance: Paul Walter Hauser, “Richard Jewell”
Best Directorial Debut: Melina Matsoukas, “Queen & Slim”
Best Animated Feature: “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Parasite”
Best Documentary: “Maiden”
Best Ensemble: “Knives Out”
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Roger Deakins, “1917”
NBR Icon Award: Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “For Sama”
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “Just Mercy”

2019 Cannes Film Festival: feature film slate announced

April 18, 2019

UPDATED May 2, 2019, after new films were added to the festival programming.

by Carla Hay

Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Photo by Andrew Cooper)

The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival—set to take place in Cannes, Frances from May 14 to May 25, 2019—has announced its lineup of feature films. As previously reported, the opening-night film is the zombie flick “The Dead Don’t Die,” directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Chloë Sevigny and Steve Buscemi. The most high-profile film at Cannes this year that is not screening in competition is the Elton John biopic “Rocketman,” directed by Dexter Fletcher and starring Taron Egerton as Grammy-winning superstar John. “Rocketman” is screening out of competition, and will premiere at Cannes on May 16. The festival is usually dominated by independent films, and Paramount Pictures’ “Rocketman” is one of the few Cannes movies this year from a major studio. “Rocketman” is due out in U.K. cinemas on March 24, and arrives in U.S. theaters on May 31.

There are 21 movies in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. As expected, they are from several different countries and include a mix of famous and lesser-known directors. The high-profile directors who have films in competition this year are Quentin Tarantino with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”; Terrence Malick with “A Hidden Life”; Xavier Dolan with “Matthias and Maxime”; Pedro Almodóvar with “Pain and Glory,” also known as “Dolor y Gloria”; Ken Loach with “Sorry We Missed You”; Ira Sachs with “Frankie”; and Bong Joon Ho with “Parasite,” also known as “Gisaengchung.”

Other well-known directors who have movies at Cannes this year include Abel Ferrara with “Tommaso” and Werner Herzog with “Family Romance, LLC.” Both movies are not in competition at Cannes and will have special screenings.

In 2019, Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Birdman,” “The Revenant”) is the president of the Cannes grand jury, while Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki is the president of the Un Certain Regard jury. Labaki’s “Capernaum” was in competition at Cannes in 2018, and the movie went on to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Diversity and Representation

Mati Diop (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

There are four female directors with movies in competition at Cannes this year, which an increase from three female directors the previous year. The three female directors are Mati Diop with “Atlantique”; Jessica Hausner with “Little Joe”; Justine Triet with “Sibyl”; and Céline Sciamma with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” also known as “Portrait de la jeune fille en feu.” The 2019 Cannes Film Festival has a total of 13 female directors with feature films. Diop (who is of French and Senegalese descent) is the first black female director to have a film in competition at Cannes. She is also an actress whose credits include the indie films “Simon Killer,” “Hermia & Helena” “Fort Buchanan” and “L for Leisure.”

There are two black directors with a film in the Cannes competition this year: the aforementioned Diop and Ladj Ly, who brings his remake of “Les Misérables” to Cannes. There was only one black filmmaker (Spike Lee) in competition at Cannes in 2018. Just like last year, there are no directors of Latin-American descent in the Cannes competition this year. Almodóvar is from Spain, and is considered a white European.

The representation numbers went down this year for directors of Asian and Arab/Middle-Eastern descent in competition at Cannes. In 2018, there were four Asian (non-Middle Eastern) directors, compared to two in 2019: Bong Joon Ho with “Parasite,” also known as “Gisaengchung”; and Diao Yinan with “The Wild Goose Lake” also known as “Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui.” In 2018, there were three directors of from the Middle East in the Cannes competition. In 2019 there is just one: “It Must Be Heaven” director Elia Suleiman, who is a Greek-Palestinian.

The Streaming Service Effect

Miles Teller in “Too Old to Die Young – North of Hollywood, West of Hell” (Photo courtesy of Amazon Prime Video)

For the second year in a row, Netflix is skipping Cannes, due to festival rules that movies allowed in the Cannes Film Festival competitions must be available for theatrical release in France for at least six months before they are released on home video or any streaming service. Netflix was at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival with “Okja” and “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” before Cannes enforced this rule. Netflix was reportedly going to world premiere director Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, but since Netflix is boycotting Cannes for now, “Roma” ended up having its world premiere at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, where it won the top prize (the Golden Lion) , and ended up winning three Oscars.

Netflix might no longer be part of the Cannes Film Festival, but Amazon Prime Video is still participating. Amazon is at the 2019 Cannes Festival with a sneak preview of the episodic series “Too Old to Die Young – North of Hollywood, West of Hell,” a crime drama directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring  Miles Teller and Billy Baldwin.

New streaming services Apple+ and Disney+ are launching before the end of 2019, and it remains to be seen if they will submit any of their original content to the Cannes Film Festival. Based on what these streaming services have announced so far, they will both have original series and movies, but the majority of movies on Disney+ content will be Disney-owned movies that were already released in theaters. Therefore, Apple+ is more likely to have original movies that could potentially premiere at film festivals. It will be interesting to see how these new streaming services will affect the film-festival landscape in 2020 and beyond.

Here is the announced lineup of feature films at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival:

IN COMPETITION

Bill Murray, Chloë Sevigny and Adam Driver “The Dead Don’t Die” (Photo by Abbot Genser/Focus Features)

“Atlantique” (Directed by Mati Diop)

“Bacarau” (Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles)

“The Dead Don’t Die” (Directed by Jim Jarmusch) **OPENING NIGHT FILM**

“Frankie” (Directed by Ira Sachs)

“A Hidden Life” (Directed by Terrence Malick)

“Intermezzo” (Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche)*

“It Must Be Heaven” (Directed by Elia Suleiman)

“Les Misérables” (Directed by Ladj Ly)

“Little Joe” (Directed by Jessica Hausner)

“Matthias and Maxime” (Directed by Xavier Dolan)

“Oh Mercy!” (Directed by Arnaud Desplechin)

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Directed by Quentin Tarantino)*

“Pain and Glory” also known as “Dolor y Gloria” (Directed by Pedro Almodóvar)

“Parasite” also known as “Gisaengchung” (Directed by Bong Joon Ho)

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” also known as “Portrait de la jeune fille en feu” (Directed by Céline Sciamma)

“Sibyl” (Directed by Justine Triet)

“Sorry We Missed You” (Directed by Ken Loach)

“The Traitor” also known as “Il Traditore” (Directed by Marco Bellocchio)

“The Whistlers” also known as “La Gomera” (Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu)

“The Wild Goose Lake” also known as “Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui” (Directed by Diao Yinan)

“The Young Ahmed” (Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne)

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Leyna Bloom (pictured at right) in “Port Authority” (Photo courtesy of Madeleine Films)

“Adam” (Directed by Maryam Touzani)

“Beanpole” also known as “Dylda” (Directed by Kantemir Balagov)

“A Brother’s Love” (Directed by Monia Chokri)

“Bull” (Directed by Annie Silverstein)

“Chambre 212” also known as “Room 212” (Directed by Christophe Honoré)

“The Climb” (Directed by Michael Covino)

“Evge” (Directed by Nariman Aliev)

“Freedom” also known as “Liberté” (Directed by Albert Serra)

“Invisible Life” also known as “Vida Invisivel” (Directed by Karim Aïnouz)

“Joan of Arc” also known as “Jeanne” (Directed by Bruno Dumont)

“La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia” (Directed by Lorenzo Mattotti)*

“Odnazhdy v Trubchevske” (Directed by Larissa Sadilova)*

“Papicha” (Directed by Mounia Meddour)

“Port Authority” (Directed by Danielle Lessovitz)

“Summer of Changsha” also known as “Liu Yu Tian” (Directed by Zu Feng)

“The Swallows of Kabul” (Directed by Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobé Mévellec)

“A Sun That Never Sets” also known as “O Que Arde” (Directed by Olivier Laxe)

“Zhuo Ren Mi Mi” (Directed by Midi Z)

OUT OF COMPETITION

Taron Egerton in “Rocketman” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“The Best Years of a Life” (Directed by Claude Lelouch)

“Diego Maradona” (Directed by Asif Kapadia)

“La Belle Époque” (Directed by Nicolas Bedos)

“Rocketman” (Directed by Dexter Fletcher)

“Too Old to Die Young – North of Hollywood, West of Hell” (Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn)

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

“The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil” (Directed by Lee Won-Tae)

“Lux Aeterna” (Directed by Gaspar Noé)*

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Waad al-Kateab in “For Sama” (Photo by Waad al-Kateab)

“5B” (Directed by Dan Krauss)*

“Chicuarotes” (Directed by Gael García Bernal)*

“Family Romance, LLC.” (Directed by Werner Herzog)

“For Sama” (Directed by Waad Al Kateab and Edward Watts)

“Ice on Fire” (Directed by Leila Conners)*

“La Cordillera de los sueños” (Patricio Guzmán)*

“Que Sea Ley” (Directed by Juan Solanas)

“Share” (Directed by Pippa Bianco)

“To Be Alive and Know It” also known as “Être vivant et le savoir” (Directed by Alain Cavalier)

“Tommaso” (Directed by Abel Ferrara)

*Addition to lineup announced on May 2, 2019.

CRITICS’ WEEK

“Litigante” (Directed by Franco Lolli)

“Heroes Don’t Die” (Directed by Aude Léa Rapin)

“Tu Mérites Un Amour” (Directed by Hafsia Herzi)

“Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains” (Directed by Gu Xiaogang)

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT

“Alice and the Mayor” (Directed by Nicolas Pariser)

“And Then We Danced” (Directed by Levan Akin)

“The Halt” (Directed by Lav Diaz)

“Song Without a Name” (Directed by Melina León)

“Deerskin” (Directed by Quentin Dupieux)

“Ghost Tropic” (Directed by Bas Devos)

“Give Me Liberty” (Directed by Kirill Mikhanovsky)

“First Love” (Directed by Takashi Miike)

“To Live to Sing” (Directed by Johnny Ma)

“Dogs Don’t Wear Pants” (Directed by Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää)

“The Lighthouse” (Directed by Robert Eggers)

“Lillian” (Directed by Andreas Horwath)

“Oļeg” (Directed by Juris Kursietis)

“Blow It to Bits” (Directed by Lech Kowalski)

“Les Particules” (Directed by (Directed by Blaise Harrison

“The Orphanage” (Directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat)

“Perdrix” (Directed by Erwan Le Duc)

“For the Money” (Directed by Alejo Moguillansky)

“Sick Sick Sick” (Directed by Alice Furtado)

“Tlamess” (Directed by Ala Eddine Slim)

“An Easy Girl” (Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski)

“Wounds” (Directed by Babak Anvari)

“Yves” (Directed by Benoît Forgeard)

“Zombi Child” (Directed by Bertrand Bonello)

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