Welcome back to For Your Consideration with Reuben Schwartz! In this post, I will recap the nominations for the latest Golden Reel Awards, the various storylines going into the ceremony and look back to locate its place within LRF's history.
The Storylines:
Can Bond do it again? John Malone’s 007 series has become a juggernaut at the Golden Reel Awards. Starting with Risico in Season 20, the Bond films have won three Best Picture and three Best Director trophies, which are a part of the franchise’s 11 total GRA wins. Eidolon has set the high water mark for the franchise with 10 nominations, giving the four films a total of 33 nominations. Just staggering.
So, will it win? As always with the late round release, momentum is certainly on its side. The only question becomes whether franchise fatigue will kick in and the voters turn to something new. But is there a clear second place at the moment? Two Jimmy Ellis co-written films, Rubicon Lies and Discovery, seem to be battling it out for that position. Both films have star power in front of and behind the camera and that can certainly hold some sway with voters.
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of nominations morning was Tara’s Wrath nabbing 7 nominations, good enough for second place in the standings alongside Discovery. It is a fascinating artifact within LRF’s history, to see the third film in a franchise bounce back like this after a poorly-received sequel. And, of course, the fact that it was picked up by a new writer makes it even more of an LRF curio. While it didn’t find itself into the Best Picture race, it could still have a shot in a fairly even Best Original Story race.
Another storyline this season has been a strong international flavor within various categories. Of the four acting categories and Best Director, 12 of 20 nominees hail from outside of the United States. For a studio with a bustling stable of writers from all around the globe, it is great to see this reflected across the 35th GRAs.
And finally, the big question remains: who will win the prestigious Golden Reel of Achievement? Only handed out once every five seasons, past recipients include Tom Cruise, Mo Buck, Chad Taylor & John Malone, Christina Hendricks, APJ, and Alden Ehrenreich.
Returning Winners:
VICTORIA PEDRETTI - Tara’s Web was a revelation for Pedretti back in Season 26, amassing noms for Best Villain, Best Starring Couple, and a win for Best Actress. She now aims to join Sydney Sweeney in becoming the only actresses to win Best Actress twice for the same character.
DAN STEVENS - Stevens got his first taste of GRA gold for his supporting performance in Elysian. He has yet to win Best Actor for his turn as James Bond, with Eidolon marking his third nomination for the part.
JOSH BROLIN - Brolin was the first person to win Best Actor for Jonestown back in Season 1. He won again for The Void in Season 21 and is now vying to become the third actor to win Best Actor three or more times…
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - …speaking of, Leo still holds a firm lead at most Best Actor trophies with five. A win here would further distance himself from Tom Hardy in second with three wins.
Returning Nominees:
MICHAEL SHANNON - Shannon could slot in as a former winner as he previously won Best Villain for David Lynch’s Obsession. He has yet to win Best Supporting Actor after being previously nominated for Hated: The Ballad of GG Allin and Heavy Rain.
EMMA MACKEY - The sole nominee in the Best Supporting Actress crop to have been nominated before, Mackey was previously seen at the GRAs for her performance in Time Out!
JACOB ELORDI - While Elordi won Best Starring Couple for The Lone Ranger, he is still waiting for his first Best Actor win after two previous nominations (Starkweather, American Gigolo).
DAMIEN CHAZELLE - This marks the third Best Director nomination for Chazelle after Spider-Man and Oklahoma!, all collaborations with writer Chad Taylor.
DANNY BOYLE - Eidolon is Boyle’s second Best Director nomination after Open Hearts. He is vying to become the fourth straight James Bond director to win this award after Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, and Joe Wright won for the first three entries.
Newcomers:
JULIA ROBERTS - The 90s megastar earns her first GRA nomination after six appearances, with her LRF career starting in Season 21.
CHRIS ROCK - Rock has been nominated for the first time for his third appearance as Harvey Dent, a rare occurrence in LRF lore. Those three performances make up the comedian’s entire filmography at the studio.
HOLDEN ABBOTT - Dust Saint marks the first GRA writing nomination for Abbott for only their second film for the studio. The film’s Best Picture nomination also marks a high achievement for a relatively new screenwriter.
GEORGIA WATTS - In the Best Adaptation category, Watts pulls off the rare feat of being nominated for their first screenplay at LRF.
ROSE GLASS - The Dust Saint director debuted in Season 29 with The Woman Upstairs and now becomes just the fourth woman to be nominated for the GRA for Best Director.
JESSIE BUCKLEY - Buckley has been a part of five Best Ensemble-nominated casts (four of them X-Men films), but Dust Saint is her first individual nomination.
RENATE REINSVE and LUPITA NYONG’O - Buckley’s fellow Supporting Actress nominees have also been nominated for ensemble casts in the past and are now getting their first individual nod. An added wrinkle, per the LRF Trivia Tidbits, is that Nyongo’o turned down the role in Discovery that Reinsve would later take over.
JOSH O’CONNOR - The Discovery actor has landed his first GRA nomination for his second LRF film, after previously starring as Chuck Mitchell in Songbird.
RINKO KIKUCHI - After steadily building up her LRF resume since Season 6’s ShÅgun, Kikuchi is making her GRA debut for her sixth film at the studio.
YULIYA SNIGIR - Snigir is aiming to become Meirad Tako’s third Best Actress winner in the last eight seasons after Dafne Keen for Who Do You Trust When the World is At War? and Yuki Kato for Klitih: A Way of Life.
