OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR

Booksmart (Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Jessica Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Billie Lourd, Diana Silvers, Skyler Gisondo, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Austin Crute, Victoria Ruesga, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga, Mason Gooding, Mike O'Brien, Bluesy Burke, Christopher Avila, Stephanie Styles, Adam Simon Krist, Gideon Lang, Maya Rudolph)
Hustlers (Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, Cardi B, Mercedes Ruehl, Trace Lysette, Wai Ching Ho, Mette Towley, Madeline Brewer, Frank Whaley, Paul Nielsen, Brandon Keener, Steven Boyer, Jon Glaser, Gerald Gillum, Devin Ratray, Rhys Coiro, Jovanni Ortiz, Big Jay Oakerson, Usher)
Knives Out (Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Frank Oz, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, K Callan, Noah Segan, Christopher Plummer, M. Emmet Walsh, Marlene Forte)
Little Women (Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, Jayne Houdyshell, Dash Barber, Hadley Robinson, Abby Quinn, Maryann Plunkett)
Parasite (Song Kang-ho, Chang Hyae-jin, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Jeong Ji-so, Jung Hyeon-jun, Lee Jung-eun, Park Myung-hoon)

AND THE WINNER IS:

PARASITE (SONG KANG-HO, CHANG HYAE-JIN, CHOI WOO-SHIK, PARK SO-DAM, LEE SUN-KYUN, CHO YEO-JEONG, JEONG JI-SO, JUNG HYEON-JUN, LEE JUNG-EUN, PARK MYUNG-HOON)

THE GREATEST WIN OF THIS AWARDS SEASON IS THE SAG ENSEMBLE AWARD GOING TO PARASITE. There was honestly no other choice I could've made for the best acting ensemble of this past year. It's almost impossible to pick a favourite because every member is perfect.

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS

Allen Maris, Jedediah Smith, Guillaume Rocheron & Scott R. Fisher for Ad Astra

Dan DeLeeuw, Matt Aitken, Russell Earl & Dan Sudick for Avengers: Endgame

Xavier Allard, Benjamin Beziat, Pierre Buffin, Grégoire Delzongle, Diana Nikitina, Méline Pistilli & Damien Stantina for High Life

Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli & Nelson Sepulveda for The Irishman

Samson Sing Wun Wong fpor Shadow

AND THE WINNER IS:

ALLEN MARIS, JEDEDIAH SMITH, GUILLAUME ROCHERON & SCOTT R. FISHER FOR AD ASTRA

These are the first wins and nominations for Allen Maris & Jedediah Smith. Guillaume Rocheron also receives his first win after being previously nomination for Life of Pi (2012). This is Scott R. Fisher's second win and nomination, previously winning for Interstellar (2014).

The long wait for Ad Astra seemed endless that the end product was not as fully satisfying as one would assume from a film directed by James Gray. Even so it's still a beautiful film to watch. Everything taking place in space is expertly created with moments of action being stamped in my mind even long after I watched the film on the big screen.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

Laura Dern (Cold Pursuit, J.T. Leroy, Little Women, Marriage Story, Trial by Fire)

Adam Driver (The Dead Don't Die, Marriage Story, The Report, Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker)

Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame, Jojo Rabbit, Marriage Story)

Elisabeth Moss (Her Smell, The Kitchen, Light of My Life, Us)

Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family, Little Women, Midsommar)

AND THE WINNER IS:

FLORENCE PUGH (FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY, LITTLE WOMEN, MIDSOMMAR)

When I awarded Florence with my breakout award two years ago for her turn in Lady Macbeth how was I to know that she'd dominate a film year in the way she did 2019. It began with Fighting with My Family where she played real life female wrestler Paige from her humble beginnings to major breakout. I found Florence wonderful in it and while it's the most underseen of her film she's just as great in it as her other two films. Next came Midsommar in the middle of the year with another great turn by Pugh. I myself did not react overly positive to that film however nothing about my negative leaning reaction was in relation to Pugh. She held a lot of the moments I could stand the film together. The final note to her great 2019 was Little Women in which she completly redeemed Amy March in the eyes of so many. Florence was firing on all cylinders similar to her breakout in Lady Macbeth with Little Women and the greatest joy is she has received her first oscar nomination for her performance as Amy. The next decade I'm sure holds great wonders for Pugh and I cannot wait to watch it all.

P.S. If you've not seen Lady Macbeth or The Little Drummer Girl do watch as they are other work by her prior to this past year.

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT

Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

Honor Swinton Byrne (The Souvenir)

Julia Fox (Uncut Gems)

Taylor Russell (Waves)

Zhao Shuzhen (The Farewell)

AND THE WINNER IS:

TAYLOR RUSSELL (WAVES)

It's very certain that many people have not seen Trey Edward Shults' Waves because if they had more people would be talking about the greatness of Russell. In a film filled with recognizable actors it's Russell who grabs your attention. With the film being split into two distinct chapters it's not until the latter chapter that Russell really gets to shine. I do hope the best for her future career (the last two women I've given this award to are first time oscar nominees this year) because Waves showed a talent that can explode when given the opportunity to. I particularly think of scene between Russell and Brown where the breakdown of Emily is so compelling to watch.

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Frozen II (Directed by Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee)

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Directed by Dean DeBlois)

I Lost My Body (Directed by Jérémy Clapin)

Missing Link (Directed by Chris Butler)

Toy Story 4 (Directed by Josh Cooley)

AND THE WINNER IS:

TOY STORY 4 (DIRECTED BY JOSH COOLEY)

This is the first win and nomination for Josh Cooley.

The Toy story franchise at this point is just great. I wouldn't go as far as to say it gets better with each new film because this fourth installment is slightly below the quality of the previous two. So many great moments in the film that it easily wins my animated prize.

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Timothée Chalamet as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence in "LITTLE WOMEN"

Chris Cooper as Jerry Vogel in "A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD"

Song Kang-ho as Kim Ki-taek in "PARASITE"

Rob Morgan as Herbert Richardson in “JUST MERCY”
Leonardo Sbaraglia as Federico Delgado in "PAIN AND GLORY"

AND THE WINNER:

SONG KANG-HO AS KIM KI-TAEK IN "PARASITE"

This is the first win and nomination for Song Kang-ho. He wins for his performance as Kim Ki-taek in Parasite.

Over ten awards into these announcements you're probably noticing a lot of similarities in terms of winners/nominees. Parasite is just one of those films that just stands out above a lot of output from this year in cinema. Playing the father of the poor family at the center of Parasite like most actors Song gets such great material that everything he does is pure genius. For the third time now but especially with the above clip do not check out unless you have seen Parasite because a big part of the wonder the film has is the major surprise factor.

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING

Kayla Emter for Hustlers

Nick Houy for Little Women

Yang Jin-mo for Parasite

Julien Lacheray for Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Nicholas Monsour for Us

AND THE WINNER IS:

YANG JIN-MO FOR PARASITE

This is the first win and nomination for Yang Jin-mo. He has won for his editing work for Parasite.

While watching Parasite for the first time I found my entire body in such a state of happiness and this was because I was watching a definitive masterpiece. Parasite is a perfectly edited film with the above clip being the highlight of this achievement. How Jin-mo kept all of Bong's plates spinning and never letting them fall is an outstanding accomplishment. Each time I reward this film I have to feature a clip but similar to before if you've not seen the film watch it in it's entirety before deviling into individual moments such as the above expert work.

OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL FILM

Ash is Purest White (Directed by Jia Zhangke)

Pain and Glory (Directed by Pedro Almodóvar)

Parasite (Directed by Bong Joon-ho)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Directed by Céline Sciamma)

Sauvage (Directed by Camille Vidal-Naquet)

AND THE WINNER IS:

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (DIRECTED BY CÉLINE SCIAMMA)

This is the first win and nomination for Céline Sciamma.

Another mention from me goes to Portrait. It's just a wonderful film that has taken so much of my attention and made me a pure devote of the film. I was so upset that France did not choose this film as their representative for the oscars because it left the film without the opportunity to be among the list of the best international cinema released in the year 2019. I will however consider it the best of the year for all time now.

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING

Mark Taylor & Stuart Wilson for 1917
Gary Rydstorm, Tom Johnson & Mark Ulano for Ad Astra

Ken Yasumoto for Climax

Patrick Southern & Ryan M. Price for Her Smell

Vincent Cosson & Francois de Morant for Woman at War

AND THE WINNER IS:

PATRICK SOUTHERN & RYAN M. PRICE FOR HER SMELL

These are the first wins and nominations for Patrick Southern & Ryan M. Price. They have won for sound mixing Her Smell.

Now into their third collaboration together I cannot be more thrilled with the success that Elisabeth and Alex have achieved with Her Smell. The film follows the life of a troubled rock star in five distinct chapters and with each we see great artistry especially on a sound level. The film has to juggle a lot between the music performance scenes, Elisabeth's constant performance and equally balancing all the differing chapters. It's an expert film achievement from everyone involved and the clear sound throughout was well appreciated by myself.

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING

Oliver Tarney & Rachael Tate for 1917
Ken Yasumoto for Climax
Zhonglin Si for Long Day's Journey Into Night
Young Kang Hye for Parasite
Blake Leyh & Skip Lievsay for Shadow

AND THE WINNER IS:

OLIVER TARNEY & RACHAEL TATE FOR 1917

These are the first wins and nominations for Oliver Tarney & Rachael Tate. They have won for sound editing 1917.

1917 was the film that was bound to be the big surprise of the year. It seemed to come together so quickly after being initially announced. It's a great war film filmed in multiple long shots stitched to look like one long shot. The editing is your usual war sounds from guns firing to fire's burning and many planes dropping bombs on areas of great violence. Expert work by this sound duo.

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY

Claire Mathon for Atlantics
Jarin Blaschke for The Lighthouse
Yorick Le Saux for Little Women
Hong Kyung-pyo for Parasite
Claire Mathon for Portrait of a Lady on Fire

AND THE WINNER IS:

CLAIRE MATHON FOR PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

This is the first win for Claire Mathon. She wins for her work on Portrait of a Lady on Fire while also being nominated for Atlantics.

Here begins when I will be talking about the greatness of Portrait of a Lady on Fire (a sign of things to come). I'm so thankful that I was able to see Portrait early at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Had I not gotten that chance I'm not sure when I might've had the chance to watch the film. The work by Mathon is especially wonderful in this film making this love story even more epic. The locations this film was filmed at are incredible from the beach to the mountain side and of course the house where most of the films titular portrait is painted in. Incredible work by Mathon and bonus points to her equally incredible work for Atlantics.

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN

Production Design by David Crank; Set Decoration by David Schlesinger for Knives Out
Production Design by Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration by Claire Kaufman for Little Women
Production Design by Antxón Gómez; Set Design by Clara Notari for Pain and Glory
Production Design by Lee Ha-jun; Set Design by Won-Woo Cho for Parasite
Production Design by Thomas Grézaud for Portrait of a Lady on Fire

AND THE WINNER IS:

PRODUCTION DESIGN BY LEE HA-JUN FOR PARASITE

This is the first win and nomination for Lee Ha-jun. He wins for his production design for Parasite.

When I heard that the entire rich family home was not a location but in fact a built home I knew that this award would go to Parasite. As the plot unravels so to does the journey through the sets and with every new reveal I was blown away. Just watch the film and even with the knowledge the house is a completly new creation you'll find it hard to believe and only think this is a wonderful location find simply for one film.

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

Ruth E. Carter for Dolemite is My Name
Mitchell Travers for Hustlers
Jo Thompson for In Fabric
Jacqueline Durran for Little Women
Dorothée Guiraud for Portrait of a Lady on Fire

AND THE WINNER IS:

JACQUELINE DURRAN FOR LITTLE WOMEN

This is the fourth win and seventh nomination for Jacqueline Durran. She previously won for Pride & Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007) & Anna Karenina (2012). She was also nominated for Vera Drake (2004), Tinker,  Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) & Macbeth (2015).

It's no surprise that Jacqueline Durran can create incredible work. With her work on the 21st century adaptation of Little Women she has shown yet again how wonderful period costuming can be when she is responsible for them. Just listening to actors like Ronan and Chalamet talk about working with Durran it's no wonder she creates such iconic costuming. Just thinking about the beautiful colouring she puts onto the March sisters and how it carries through their lives makes me full of admiration for the craft of costuming. The standout piece that really made me choose this film as my winner is the pink party dress worn by Meg where she is insulted by childhood friend Laurie. It's a beautiful piece and how Gerwig chooses to film it adds to the greatness of the piece. I'd compare it to how effective Durran's iconic green dress is filmed in Atonement twelve years ago.

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Margot Boccia, Angel De Angelis, Dierdre Harris & Roxanne Rizzo for Hustlers
Fríða Aradóttir, Judy Chin & J. Roy Helland for Little Women
Hyo-kyun Hwang, Tae-Yong Kwak, Hee Eun Lee & Young Kim Seo for Parasite
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, Tapio Salmi & Barrie Gower for Rocketman
Camille Friend & Scott Wheeler for Us

AND THE WINNER IS:

CAMILLE FRIEND & SCOTT WHEELER FOR US

These are the first wins and nominations for Camille Friend & Scott Wheeler. They have both won for Us.

Us is a film that has stuck with me and in my honest opinion I believe it to be the better of the Jordan Peele directed films. Everything about this film worked for me which led me to sitting down and watching it twice in the cinema. In regards to its makeup and hairstyling which the film has won a prize for, it's some flashy work. The creation of the doubles in the film is great horroifying work especially those played by Lupita and Elisabeth. The look of these scary characters are unique and wickedly great. The above clip highlights the other family of the film and the moment the doubles interact with their originals. These designers have created iconic work that will stick in my mind forever.

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY

For Sama (Directed by Waas al-Kateab & Edward Watts)
Hail Satan? (Directed by Penny Lane)
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (Directed by Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman)
Maiden (Directed by Alex Holmes)
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders)

AND THE WINNER IS:

HAIL SATAN? (DIRECTED BY PENNY LANE)

This is the first win and nomination for Penny Lane.

In a film world rocked with deeply upsetting documentaries about true human tragedies a film like Hail Satan acts as a great apple in a bag of oranges. It's an easily digestible documentary and while I've only managed to watch it the one time I'm pretty sure I'll search it out again because it truly is something great.

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Agyness Deyn as Marielle Hell in "HER SMELL"

Lee Jeong-eun as Moon-gwang in "PARASITE"
Florence Pugh as Amy March in "LITTLE WOMEN"
Zhao Shuzhen as Nai Nai in "THE FARWELL"
Park So-dam as Kim Ki-jung in "PARASITE"

AND THE WINNER IS:

LEE JEONG-EUN AS MOON-GWANG IN "PARASITE"

This is the first win and nomination for Lee Jeong-eun. She wins for her performance as Moon-gwang.

There is so much I can say about what Lee does in Parasite but I really shouldn't because while I feel indifferent about being spoiled about film there are those out there who really don't care to be spoiled. The above clip which highlights her performance is a spoiler inself and if you've not seen the film then stay clear from watching this youtube clip. What I will say is that in a film full of strong performances the work that Jeong-eun is doing really stood out to me all those months ago when I was lucky enough to see the film during its festival premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

24th "An Irish Person" FILM Awards ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

To everyone new and old welcome to my blog. For the next couple of weeks, I will be posting what I consider to be the best of the cinema in 2019. I will present 24 separate categories as a sort of the lead up to the Academy Awards on the 9th of February. I want to make a disclaimer before I start announcing nominees and winners starting tomorrow. I have seen a total of 223 films released in 2019 in the United States. That may seem like a large number which it is but sadly there are were plenty of films I haven't seen yet whether it's that I missed it during its release or the film hasn't come anywhere near me to see it. This year some of those films included Clemency, Diane, Invisible Life, Les Miserables, Rafiki, Synonyms, Varda by Agnes, Wild Nights with Emily, & a few others that weren't as acclaimed during the year. I'm sure I will see these films at some stage this decade but to keep in time with the Academy Awards I have to start announcing my favourite in film now.