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

So again we've come to an end of another year (and decade) in cinema and overall this was a great year for cinema and there were lot of films I saw that I loved. Portrait, Parasite & Little Women were a few which clearly ruled my awards giving for the year. Before I end discussing the best of film in 2019, 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. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 2. Booksmart 3. Parasite 4. Hustlers 5. Little Women 6. The Farewell 7. Pain and Glory 8. Sauvage 9. Us 10. The Last Black Man in San Francisco To all of you who even took time to read any of these posts I appreciate it because as a major 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 treasure. Goodbye to you all and I'll see you again next year to celebrate the best in the first new film year of the decade. P.S. Check out the list of the all the 2019 releases. OUTSTANDING PICTURE:
01. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Produced by Véronique Cayla & Bénédicte Couvreur)
02. Booksmart (Produced by Megan Ellison, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfield, Jessica Elbaum & Katie Silberman)
03. Parasite (Produced by Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, Bong Joon-ho & Jang Young-hwan)
04. Hustlers (Produced by Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Benny Medina, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas & Jennifer Lopez)
05. Little Women (Produced by Amy Pascal, Denise Di Novi & Robin Swicord)
06. The Farewell
07. Pain and Glory
08. Sauvage
09. Us
10. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:
Pedro Almodóvar for Pain and Glory
Greta Gerwig for Little Women
Bong Joon-ho for Parasite
Lorene Scafaria for Hustlers
Céline Sciamma for Portrait of a Lady on Fire
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:
Antonio Banderas as Salvador Mallo in "PAIN AND GLORY"
Adam Driver as Charlie Barber in "MARRIAGE STORY"
Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Luce Edgar in "LUCE"
Jonathan Majors as Montgomery Allen in "THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO"
Félix Maritaud as Léo in "SAUVAGE"
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:
Adèle Haenel as Héloïse in "PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE"
Jennifer Lopez as Ramona Vega in "HUSTLERS"
Elisabeth Moss as Becky Something in "HER SMELL"
Lupita Nyong'o as Adelaide Wilson / Red in "US"
Saoirse Ronan as Josephine "Jo" March in "LITTLE WOMEN"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:
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"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
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"
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel & Katie Silberman for Booksmart
Lulu Wang for The Farewell
Pedro Almodóvar for Pain and Glory
Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won for Parasite
Céline Sciamma for Portrait of a Lady on Fire
OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Screenplay by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster; Based on "Can You Say ... Hero?" by Tom Junod, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Screenplay by Lorene Scafaria; Based on "The Hustlers at Scores: The Ex-Strippers Who Stole From (Mostly) Rich Men and Gave to, Well, Themselves" by Jessica Pressler, Hustlers
Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, The Irishman
Sceenplay by Greta Gerwig; Based on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Screenplay by Christian Petzold; Based on Transit by Anna Seghers, Transit
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)
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)
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
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
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)
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)
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
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)
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
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:
Max Richter for Ad Astra
Dan Levy for I Lost My Body
Alexandre Desplat for Little Women
Jaeil Jung for Parasite
Michael Abels for Us
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:
"Show Yourself", Frozen II (Music and Lyrics by Kristen-Anderson Lopez & Robert Lopez)
"Stand Up", Harriet (Music and Lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo)
"Control", Her Smell (Music and Lyrics by Alicia BognNNO)
"La Jeune Fille en feu", Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Music and Lyrics by Para One & Arthur Simioni)
"Glasgow (No Place Like Home)", Wild Rose (Music and Lyrics by Caitlyn Smith, Kate York & Mary Steenburgen)
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)
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
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
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
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 for Shadow MOST NOMINATIONS: 14 nominations: Parasite
13 nominations: Little Women
10 nominations: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
8 nominations: Hustlers
6 nominations: Pain and Glory
4 nominations: Her Smell, Us
3 nominations: Ad Astra, Booksmart
2 nominations: 1917, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Climax, The Farewell, Frozen II, The Irishman, Knives Out, Sauvage, Shadow
1 nomination: Ash is the Purest White, Atlantics, Avengers: Endgame, Dolemite is My Name, For Sama, Hail Satan?, Harriet, High Life, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, In Fabric, Just Mercy, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Lighthouse, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Luce, Maiden, Marriage Story, Missing Link, Rocketman, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, Toy Story 4, Transit, Woman at War, Wild Rose MOST WINS:

5 wins: Parasite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2 wins: Little Women, Us
1 win: 1917, Ad Astra, Hail Satan?, Her Smell, Hustlers, Pain and Glory, Toy Story 4, Wild Rose

OUTSTANDING PICTURE

Booksmart (Produced by Megan Ellison, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfield, Jessica Elbaum & Katie Silberman)

Hustlers (Produced by Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Benny Medina, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas & Jennifer Lopez)

Little Women (Produced by Amy Pascal, Denise Di Novi & Robin Swicord)

Parasite (Produced by Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, Bong Joon-ho & Jang Young-hwan)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Produced by Véronique Cayla & Bénédicte Couvreur)

AND THE WINNER IS:

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (PRODUCED BY VÉRONIQUE CAYLA & BÉNÉDICTE COUVREUR)

These are the first wins and nominations for Véronique Cayla & Bénédicte Couvreur. With this win, Portrait of a Lady on Fire tops out at five wins and ten total nominations. The film won for picture, director, original screenplay, cinematography & international film. The film was also nominated for leading actress (Haenel), costume design, film editing, original song & production design.

While Parasite a film I clearly also love has become the international cinema breakout of 2019 it's Portrait that is the film from a non-english speaking country that I consider the greatest achievement of the year. It had all the elements that I particularly love about cinema so you could argue the film was made for me. It's a period set story of queer love and while I've not seen the film in full since May it still holds a giant part of the heart earning my award for the year's best film.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR

Pedro Almodóvar for Pain and Glory

Greta Gerwig for Little Women

Bong Joon-ho for Parasite

Lorene Scafaria for Hustlers

Céline Sciamma for Portrait of a Lady on Fire

AND THE WINNER IS:

CÉLINE SCIAMMA FOR PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

This is third win and nomination for Céline Sciamma. She has also won this year for her original screenplay and also in the international film category.

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Adèle Haenel as Héloïse in "PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE"

Jennifer Lopez as Ramona Vega in "HUSTLERS"

Elisabeth Moss as Becky Something in "HER SMELL"

Lupita Nyong'o as Adelaide Wilson / Red in "US"

Saoirse Ronan as Josephine "Jo" March in "LITTLE WOMEN"

AND THE WINNER IS:

JENNIFER LOPEZ AS RAMONA VEGA IN "HUSTLERS"

This is the first win and second nomination for Jennifer Lopez. She was also nominated as a member of the ensemble of Hustlers. She wins for her performance as Romona Vega in Hustlers.

I struggle every year when award strategists commit category fraud and throw support behind clear leading performances by placing them in supporting. It really annoys me because it gives more opporunities for leading performers to be nominated and not for supporting/character actors to get a chance at regonition. Now that I've began with that complaint let me move towards gushing over this stellar work from Jennifer Lopez. The star charisma that Lopez displays in Hustlers is similar to the charisma a star like Julia Roberts had in her oscar winning turn in Erin Brockovich. From the minute Romona dances her way on screen your (at least my) attention is completly grapped by JLo. There are so many wonderful moments that Lopez has in this film and when returning to watch the film a second time I was again blown away by this performance. The oversight the academy had for this film is tragic but with the bad news of the snub there is always the good news that we can return to the film again and again.

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Antonio Banderas as Salvador Mallo in "PAIN AND GLORY"

Adam Driver as Charlie Barber in "MARRIAGE STORY"

Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Luce Edgar in "LUCE"

Jonathan Majors as Montgomery Allen in "THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO"

Félix Maritaud as Léo in "SAUVAGE"

AND THE WINNER IS:

ANTONIO BANDARES AS SALVADOR MALLO IN "PAIN AND GLORY"

This is the first win and nomination for Antonio Banderas. He wins for his performance as Salvador Mallo in Pain and Glory.

Antonio Bandares has never really been fully appreciated for his talent as an actor, however with Pain and Glory finally the right role at the right time led many to consider his great acting ability. Like most of the films I seem to be awarding this year I first saw the film at last years Cannes Film Festival where Antonio was awarded with the best actor prize. It's a very subtle performance and while there isn't much if any screaming scenes it's still a devestating performance. Take for example the above clip where little facial responses played by Antonio are just heartbreaking. I have seen the film a second time and I'm still confident this was the best leading male performance.

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG

"Show Yourself", Frozen II (Music and Lyrics by Kristen-Anderson Lopez & Robert Lopez)

"Stand Up", Harriet (Music and Lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo)

"Control", Her Smell (Music and Lyrics by Alicia BognNNO)
"La Jeune Fille en feu", Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Music and Lyrics by Para One & Arthur Simioni)

"Glasgow (No Place Like Home)", Wild Rose (Music and Lyrics by Caitlyn Smith, Kate York & Mary Steenburgen)

AND THE WINNER IS:

"GLASGOW (NO PLACE LIKE HOME)", WILD ROSE (MUSIC AND LYRICS BY CAITLYN SMITH, KATE YORK & MARY STEENBURGEN)

These are the first wins and nominations for Caitlyn Smith & Kate York. This is Mary Steenburgen's second win and nomination having previously won as part of the ensemble of The Help (2011).

I'm just gonna let the song speak for itself. The non nomination for this song is the biggest crime of the 2019-2020 awards season in my opinion.

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE

Max Richter for Ad Astra

Dan Levy for I Lost My Body

Alexandre Desplat for Little Women

Jaeil Jung for Parasite

Michael Abels for Us

AND THE WINNER IS:

MICHAEL ABELS FOR US

This is the first win and nomination for Michael Abels.

Spooky, scary, fearful, and many more horror related words I would use to describe the score for Us. It added so much to how captivating Us ended up being for me. The above track is just one of many examples of how special this score was standing above all others from this year.

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Screenplay by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster; Based on "Can You Say ... Hero?" by Tom Junod, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Screenplay by Lorene Scafaria; Based on "The Hustlers at Scores: The Ex-Strippers Who Stole From (Mostly) Rich Men and Gave to, Well, Themselves" by Jessica Pressler, Hustlers

Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, The Irishman

Sceenplay by Greta Gerwig; Based on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Screenplay by Christian Petzold; Based on Transit by Anna Seghers, Transit

AND THE WINNER IS:

SCREENPLAY BY GRETA GERWIG; BASED ON LITTLE WOMEN BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, LITTLE WOMEN

This is the third win and fifth nomination for Greta Gerwig. She previously won for directing & writing Lady Bird (2017). She was also nominated for writing and as a member of the ensemble of Frances Ha (2013).

It can't be easy to adapt a piece of literature that many generations care about. It also can't be easy to be questioned for adapting a piece of literature that already has multiple filmed adaptations. Gerwig under extreme expectations following Lady Bird was in my opinion able to match the greatness her previous film had. The word adaptation can be lightly thrown around but with Little Women Gerwig took our idea of traditional linear March story and completely retooled it. Moments of connection between the different points in the Little Women story were played opposite one another and for me had me fully invested in all the characters lives which is something I haven't been able to say about all the adaptations I've seen.

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel & Katie Silberman for Booksmart

Lulu Wang for The Farewell

Pedro Almodóvar for Pain and Glory

Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won for Parasite

Céline Sciamma for Portrait of a Lady on Fire

AND THE WINNER IS:

CÉLINE SCIAMMA FOR PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

This is the second win and nomination for Céline Sciamma. She also won in the category of international film.

A film as visually stunning as Portrait can be overlooked for brilliant screenwriting but thankfully with this film that is not the case. The one win the film got during it's premiere film festival was for screenwriting. Scenes are perfectly timed and paced that the film has a beautiful flow. It's a the type of romantic tale we get so rarely and the fact it's been criminally under seen by non film fanatics is criminal. Céline has really launched high into who I consider great film directors based solely on the quality of this film.