23rd "An Irish Person" FILM Awards RECAP!!

So I've come to an end of another year in cinema and overall this was a great year for cinema and there were lot of films I saw that I loved. Beale Street really stood out to me however it's not to say that there wasn't a close contest for what I considered the top film of the year. Before I end discussing the best of film in 2018, I have to post what I consider to be my top 10 films of the year in terms of their ranking. Also, I will provide a recap of the winners, nominees and nomination/win counts. 1. If Beale Street Could Talk 2. Burning 3. Widows 4. The Favourite 5. Cold War 6. Eighth Grade 7. Paddington 2 8. We the Animals 9. Shoplifters 10. Tully

For all those who even took time to read any of these posts I appreciate it because as a major film film I go into each movie hoping it is the greatest thing and while most are not I still cannot deny the experience of going to the cinema is something I'll never forget. Goodbye to you all and I'll see you again next year to celebrate the best in cinema.

P.S. Check out the list of the all the 2018 releases.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

Burning (Produced by Lee Joon-dong & Lee Chang-dong)

Cold War (Produced by Tanya Seghatchian & Ewa Puszczynska)

The Favourite (Produced by Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday & Yorgos Lanthimos)

If Beale Street Could Talk (Produced by Megan Ellison, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy & Barry Jenkins)

Widows (Produced by Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman & Arnon Milchan)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Lee Chang-dong for Burning

Barry Jenkins for If Beale Street Could Talk

Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite

Steve McQueen for Widows

Chloe Zhao for The Rider

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Ethan Hawke as Toller in “FIRST REFORMED”

Stephan James as Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt in "IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK"

Charlie Plummer as Charley in “LEAN ON PETE”

John David Washington as Ron Stallworth in “BLACKKKLANSMAN”

Ah-in Yoo as Lee Jong-su in “BURNING”

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Sakura Andô as Nobuyo Shibata in “SHOPLIFTERS”

Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in “THE FAVOURITE”

Regina Hall as Lisa in “SUPPORT THE GIRLS”

Carey Mulligan as Jeanette Brinson in “WILDLIFE”

Charlize Theron as Marlo in “TULLY”

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Raúl Castillo as Paps in “WE THE ANIMALS”

Hugh Grant as Phoenix Buchanan in “PADDINGTON 2”

Brian Tyree Henry as Daniel Carty in “IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK”

Russell Hornsby as Maverick ‘Mav’ Carter in “THE HATE YOU GIVE”

Steven Yeun as Ben in “BURNING”

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Mackenzie Davis as Tully in “TULLY”

Elizabeth Debicki as Alice in “WIDOWS”

Anne Hathaway as Daphne Kluger in “OCEAN’S EIGHT”

Jong-seo Jun as Shin Hae-mi in “BURNING”

Regina King as Sharon Rivers in “IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK”

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Bo Burnham for Eighth Grade

Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara for The Favourite

Tamara Jenkins for Private Life

Hirokazu Koreeda for Shoplifters

Diablo Cody for Tully

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee; Based on Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth, BlacKkKlansman

Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Based on If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

Screenplay by Paul King & Simon Farnaby; Based on Paddington Bear by Michael Bond, Paddington 2

Screenplay by Gillian Flynn & Steve McQueen; Based on Widows by Lynda La Plante, Widows

Screenplay by Paul Dano & Zoe Kazan; Based on Wildlife by Richard Ford, Wildlife

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Incredibles 2 (Directed by Brad Bird)

Isle of Dogs (Directed by Wes Anderson)

Mirai (Directed by Mamoru Hosoda)

Ralph Breaks the Internet (Directed by Rich Moore & Phil Johnston)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman)

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Cynthia Erivo (Bad Times at the El Royale/Widows)

Elise Fisher (Eighth Grade)

Helena Howard (Madeline’s Madeline)

Kiki Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Hong Kyung-pyo for Burning

Robbie Ryan for The Favourite

James Laxton for If Beale Street Could Talk

Alfonso Cuaron for Roma

Zak Mulligan for We the Animals

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Ruth E. Carter for Black Panther

Mary E. Vogt for Crazy Rich Asians

Sandy Powell for The Favourite

Caroline Eselin for If Beale Street Could Talk

Renee Ehrlich Kalfus for A Simple Favor

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY:

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (Directed by Sophie Fiennes)

Half the Picture (Directed by Amy Adrion)

McQueen (Directed by Ian Bonhote)

Whitney (Directed by Kevin Macdonald)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor (Directed by Morgan Neville)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

Crazy Rich Asians (Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Sonoya Mizuno, Chris Pang, Jimmy O. Yang, Ronny Chieng, Remy Hii, Nico Santos, Jing Lusi, Pierre Png, Fiona Xie, Victoria Loke, Janice Koh, Amy Cheng, Koh Chieng Mun, Tan Kheng Hua, Selena Tan, Kris Aquino, Tumurbaatar Enkhtungalag, Carmen Soo, Constance Lau, Peter Carroll, Daniel Jenkins)

If Beale Street Could Talk (KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, Regina King, Emily Rios, Aunjanue Ellis, Finn Wittrock)

Paddington 2 (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin)

Shoplifters (Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Mayu Matsuoka, Kairi Jo, Miyu Sasaki, Kirin Kiki)

Widows (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson, Lukas Haas)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Yorgos Mavropsaridis for The Favourite

Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders for If Beale Street Could Talk

Eddie Hamilton for Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Keiko Deguchi & Brian A Kates for We the Animals

Joe Walker for Widows

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Burning (Directed by Lee Chang-dong)

Cold War (Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski)

Roma (Directed by Alfonso Cuaron)

Shoplifters (Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Zama (Directed by Lucrecia Martel)

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:

Joel Harlow & Ken Diaz for Black Panther

Nadia Stacey for The Favourite

Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher & Jessica Brooks for Mary Queen of Scots

Mark Coulier & Jeremy Woodhead for Stan & Ollie

Mark Coulier, Lydia de Martin & Andrea Eusebi for Suspiria

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:

Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow for Annihilation

Terence Blanchard for BlacKkKlansman

Nicholas Britell for If Beale Street Could Talk

Max Richter for Mary Queen of Scots

Jonny Greenwood for You Were Never Really Here

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

“All the Stars”, Black Panther (Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyrics by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith & Solána Rowe)

“Hearts Beat Loud”, Hearts Beat Loud (Music and Lyrics by Keegan DeWitt)

“Always Remember Us This Way ”, A Star is Born (Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey & Lori McKenna)

“Shallow”, A Star Is Born (Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt)

“Suspirium”, Suspiria (Music and Lyrics by Thom Yorke)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Ethan Hawke (Blaze, First Reformed, Juliet’s Naked)

Nicole Kidman (Aquaman, Boy Erased, Destroyer, How to Talk to Girls at Parties)

Julie Walters (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Mary Poppins Returns, Paddington 2)

John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman, The Old Man and the Gun, Of Monsters and Men)

Rachel Weisz (Disobediance, The Favourite, The Mercy)

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Production Design by Mark Digby; Set Design by Michelle Day for Annihilation

Production Design by Nelson Coates; Set Design by Andrew Baseman for Crazy Rich Asians

Production Design by Fiona Cromble; Set Design by Alice Felton for The Favourite

Production Design by Gary Williamson; Set Design by Cathy Cosgrove for Paddington 2

Production Design by Eugenio Caballero; Set Design by Barbara Enriquez for Roma

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING:

Glenn Freemantle for Annihilation

Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan for First Man

Lewis Goldstein for Hereditary

Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl for A Quiet Place

Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay for Roma

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING:

Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor & Peter J. Devlin for Black Panther

Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee & Mary H. Ellis for First Man

Lewis Goldstein, Tom Ryan & Steven C. Laneri for Hereditary

Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan & José Antonio García for Roma

Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder & Steve A. Morrow for A Star is Born

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Andrew Whitehurst, Sara Bennett, Richard Clarke & Simon Hughes for Annihilation

Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl  & Daniel Sudick for Avengers: Infinity War

Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles & J.D. Schwalm for First Man

Jody Johnson for Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Matthew Beckwith & Matt Loader for Paddington 2

MOST NOMINATIONS:

11 nominations: If Beale Street Could Talk  

8 nominations: The Favourite

7 nominations: Burning  

6 nominations: Roma, Widows  

5 nominations: Paddington 2  

4 nominations: Annihilation, Black Panther, Shoplifters  

3 nominations: BlacKkKlansman, Crazy Rich Asians, First Man, A Star is Born, Tully, We the Animals

2 nominations: Cold War, Hereditary, Mary Queen of Scots, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Suspiria, Wildlife  

1 nomination: Avengers: Infinity War, Early Man, Eighth Grade, First Reformed, Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, Half the Picture, The Hate U Give, Hearts Beat Loud, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Lean on Pete, McQueen, Ocean's Eighth, Private Life, A Quiet Place, Ralph Breaks the Internet, The Rider, A Simple Favor, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Stan and Ollie, Support the Girls, Whitney, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, You Were Never Really Here, Zama

MOST WINS:

5 wins: If Beale Street Could Talk  

3 wins: Widows  

2 wins: The Favourite  

1 win: Annihilation, Black Panther, Burning, First Reformed, Isle of Dogs, Paddington 2, A Quiet Place, Roma, Shoplifters, A Star is Born, Suspiria, Won't You Be My Neighbour

OUTSTANDING PICTURE

Burning (Produced by Lee Joon-dong & Lee Chang-dong)

Cold War (Produced by Tanya Seghatchian & Ewa Puszczynska)

The Favourite (Produced by Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday & Yorgos Lanthimos)

If Beale Street Could Talk (Produced by Megan Ellison, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy & Barry Jenkins)

Widows (Produced by Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman & Arnon Milchan)

AND THE WINNER IS:

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (PRODUCED BY MEGAN ELISON, DEDE GARDNER, JEREMY KLEINER, ADELE ROMANSKI, SARA MURPHY & BARRY JENKINS) These are the first wins for Sara Murphy & Megan Ellison, second win for Adele Romanski, third wins for Dede Gardner & Jeremy Kleiner and fifth win for Barry Jenkins. Megan Ellison was previously nominated for Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Her (2013) & American Hustle (2013). Dede and Jeremy won producing 12 Years a Slave (2013) & Moonlight (2016). The two were also nominated together and separetly for producing The Tree of Life (2011) and Selma (2014).
With this win, If Beale Street Could Talk tops out at five wins and eleven nominations. The film won for picture, director, adapted screenplay, cinematography & original score. The film was also nominated for leading actor (James) supporting actor (Henry), supporting actress (King), costume design, ensemble & film editing.
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK is a film that while not fully appreciated in 2018 will be in the future I believe will be greatly appreciated. It's a film about love, passion, injustice, fear and so many other descriptive words that it would take too long to go into.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR

Lee Chang-dong for Burning

Barry Jenkins for If Beale Street Could Talk

Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite Steve McQueen for Widows

Chloe Zhao for The Rider

AND THE WINNER IS:

BARRY JENKINS FOR IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

This is the fourth win and nomination for Barry Jenkins. He previously won for directing and writing Moonlight (2016). He also won this year for writing If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). It's hard to project current film makers into legendary status but with Barry Jenkins I do believe we are living through the era of an artist who will reach all time greatness if his films continues to deliver. With Beale Street he was able to give Baldwin's work the chance to be seen on the big screen. Jenkins it seems is a great leader on the film set which is seen with how his collaborators deliver in their separate departments to equal the great film product. The way in which Jenkins talks about his craft as show in the above clip makes me care for his talent and work even more because it's clear there is great love and affection paid by Jenkins towards the art of cinema.

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Sakura Andô as Nobuyo Shibata in “SHOPLIFTERS”

Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in “THE FAVOURITE”

Regina Hall as Lisa in “SUPPORT THE GIRLS”

Carey Mulligan as Jeanette Brinson in “WILDLIFE”

Charlize Theron as Marlo in “TULLY”

AND THE WINNER IS:

SAKURA ANDO AS NOBUYO SHIBATA IN “SHOPLIFTERS”

This is the first win and nomination for Sakura Andô. She wins for her performance as Nobuyo Shibata in Shoplifters. Sakura delievered a singular performance that could never be given by anybody else in any other film. Even if I never see another performance by Ando I'll still be grateful that I was able to watch her stunning work here. Playing a woman whose choices could be seen as villlianess but this narrative shows how the heart people show while making bad choices can be the kindest ever. Sakura playing the maternal figure in Shoplifters is breathtaking to watch as early on she seems harmlessly loving and later on a heart broken protector. The above scene in the later portion of the film shows her true talent, the way in which she deliveres her defense is truly heart breaking and really sells the fantastic finale of the film.