It’s time again for my annual awards. Eligible films are those that were released in the UK for the first time in 2019.
This year, I have 135 eligible movies. Of those that I did not get to see, the most notable are Ordinary Love, Monos, Out of Blue, and Official Secrets.
MOST OVERLOOKED
Every year, there are a few films that are either unseen by audiences or overlooked by critics. Jellyfish is an example of a terrific British film that could have got a better audience. However, my winner got pretty ordinary reviews and no one went to see it…
Winner: The Front Runner
MOST OVERRATED
There are always a few critical darlings that I just don’t get. This year, it was a documentary that that I found in turns boring and irritating.
Runners Up: Holiday and The Vanishing
Winner: Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love
BEST REMAKE / REBOOT / SEQUEL
Not a vintage year in this category, with Godzilla: King of the Monsters being a particular let down.
Runners Up: Angel Has Fallen and Jumanji: the Next Level
Winner: Happy Death Day 2 U
BEST SCORE
Despite one composer supplying two of the best scores of the year, the best in my opinion was the score that contributed most to the overall feel of the film
Honourable mentions: Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross & Claudia Sarne (Earthquake Bird), Nicholas Britell (If Beale Street Could Talk), Dan Levy (I Lost my Body) and Robbie Robertson (The Irishman)
Runner Up; Max Richter (Mary Queen of Scots and Ad Astra)
Winner: Matt Morton (Apollo 11)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
A pretty strong year again in this category but the winner is comfortably ahead of the others
Honourable Mentions: Free Solo and Knock Down the House
Runner Up: The Edge
Winner: Apollo 11
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
I also enjoyed the works of John Mathieson (Mary Queen of Scots), George Steel (Wild Rose), Julie Kirkwood (Destroyer) and Hoyte Van Hoytema (Ad Astra).
Runner Up: Phedon Papamichael (Le Mans 66)
Winner: Robert Richardson (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
BEST SCREENPLAY
This is somewhat of a vintage year in this category. In most other years, Jason Reitman, Jay Carson & Matt Bai (The Front Runner), Nicole Taylor (Wild Rose), James Gardner & Simon Lord (Jellyfish), Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), Andrew Bujalski (Support the Girls) and Greta Gerwig (Little Women) would have made the top 10.
10: Adam McKay (Vice)
9: Rian Johnson (Knives Out)
8: S Craig Zahler (Dragged Across Concrete)
7: Jonah Hill (Mid 90s)
6: Steve Zaillian (The Irishman)
5: Jeff Pope (Stan & Ollie)
4: Paul Laverty (Sorry We Missed You)
3 Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
2: Pedro Almodovar (Pain & Glory)
Winner: Scott Z Burns (The Report)
WORST PERFORMANCE
Instead of some of the usual suspects, the worst performances this year have mostly come from normally good actors embarrassing themselves, such as Jennifer Lopez in Second Act, Vera Farmiga in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Stanley Tucci in Night Hunter. The worst though were a pair sleepwalking their way through a terrible movie.
Losers: Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo (Velvet Buzzsaw)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
There were notable performances this year from two actresses that were new to me: Nora Navas in Pain & Glory and Sarah Hoare in Eaten by Lions. Nicole Kidman (Boy Erased), Haley Lu Richardson (Support the Girls), Anna Paquin (The Irishman), Laura Dern (Marriage Story), Annette Bening (The Report) and Elisabeth Moss (The Kitchen) were also impressive, but none of them made my top 10.
10: Tuppence Middleton and Katherine Waterston (The Current War)
9: Merritt Weaver (Welcome to Marwen)
8: Nell Williams (Blinded by the Light)
7: Billie Lourd (Booksmart)
6: Molly Ephraim (The Front Runner)
5: Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
4: Amy Adams (Vice)
3: Katherine Waterston (Mid 90s)
2: Kate Micucci (Last Laugh)
Winner: Jessie Buckley (Judy)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
This category could almost have been filled with actors from the Irishman. In the end, though, I couldn’t separate the best performance in that movie with one by another veteran, and Bobby Cannavale can only make the honourable mentions list, along with Brian Tyree Henry (If Beale Street Could Talk), Na-kel Smith (Mid 90s), Haley Joel Osment (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile), Angus Barnett (Jellyfish), Steve Carrell (Vice) and Jake Gylenhaal redeeming himself in Sisters Brothers.
10: Sam Rockwell (Vice)
9: Colman Domingo (If Beale Street Could Talk)
8: Tim Roth (Luce)
7: Stephen Graham (The Irishman)
6: Ross Brewster (Sorry We Missed You)
5: Ray Romano (The Irishman)
4: Will Sasso (American Woman)
3: Al Pacino (The Irishman)
Joint Winners: Joe Pesci (The Irishman) and Alan Alda (Marriage Story)
BEST ACTRESS
It has been another great year for lead female performances. So good, I had to squeeze 11 into my top 10! Any of the top six on my list could be called Oscar worthy. Just missing out on my top 10 are: Emma Stone (The Favourite), Florence Pugh (Fighting with my Family), Beanie Feldstein & Kaitlin Deaver (Booksmart), Holliday Grainger (Animals), Penelope Cruz (Everybody Knows) and Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story)
10: Mia Wasikowska (Piercing) and Alicia Vikander (Earthquake Bird)
9: Saoirse Ronan (Mary Queen of Scots)
8: Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
7: Olivia Wilde (A Vigilante)
6: Sienna Miller (American Woman)
5: Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose)
4: Liv Hill (Jellyfish)
3: Nicole Kidman (Destroyer)
2: Saoirse Ronan (Little Women)
Winner: Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade)
BEST ACTOR
2019 has been notable for multiple excellent performances in the same film that fall into this category. John C Reilly & Steve Coogan (Stan & Ollie), Michael Shannon & Robert Forster (What They Had), Mel Gibson & Vince Vaughn (Dragged Across Concrete) and Johnathan Pryce & Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes), all just miss out on my top 10 though, as does Christian Bale in Vice
10: Andrew Scott (Steel Country)
9: Jamie Bell (Skin)
8: Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
7: Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
6: Christian Bale (Le Mans 66)
5: Robert de Niro (The Irishman)
4: Adam Driver (The Report)
3: Steve Carell (Beautiful Boy)
2: Antono Banderas (Pain and Glory)
Winner: Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
BEST DIRECTOR
It almost came down to a coin toss for the top two legendary directors at the top of their game. Near to the top 10 were
Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk), Tom Harper (Wild Rose), Brian Kirk (21 Bridges) and Jonah Hill (Mid 90s)
10: James Mangold (Le Mans 66)
9: Rian Johnson (Knives Out)
8: Todd Douglas Miller (Apollo 11)
7: Adam McKay (Vice)
6: Karyn Kusama (Destroyer)
5: S Craig Zahler (Dragged Across Concrete)
4: Pedro Almodovar (Pain and Glory)
3: Ken Loach (Sorry We Missed You)
2: Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Winner: Martin Scorsese (The Irishman)
WORST FILM:
The pretentious bore-fest Life Itself gave it a run for its money, but the only winner could be Dan Gilroy’s painfully baffling horror…
Loser: Velvet Buzzsaw
BEST FILM
Unusually, it was my three most anticipated movies of the year that ended up filling the top three spots with two more incredibly strong films in the next two places. For much of 2019, I would have expected Destroyer, Wild Rose, Eighth Grade, Dragged Across Concrete, The Front Runner, and Jellyfish to make my top 10 but, in the end, they all just missed out.
10: Mid 90s
9: Apollo 11
8: Knives Out
7: Stan & Ollie
6: Vice
4: The Report
2: The Irishman
Winner: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood