For Your Consideration with Reuben Schwartz (Season 26)

 

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:

When we look back on Season 26 years down the line, I have to imagine that Last Resort Films will be pleased with the results. As my colleague Jeff Stockton noted in his last Roundup, this marks the fifth highest-grossing season at the box office in LRF history. There’s no doubt that the origins of that feat can be traced back to the high number of big-name superheroes, including first-time appearances by the likes of Captain America and Iron Man. Add on top of that the conclusion to the blockbuster Caesar trilogy and you have a very financially successful season.

On the flip side, the quality of films and performances felt a little shallow compared to other seasons. There’s no real stacked category and only two films, Caesar Part III and Green Lantern Corps: Sinestro War, achieved MUST SEE ratings. The ripple effects of that is being felt in multiple ways when looking at this group of nominees.

At the top of the mountain we have Caesar Part III, perhaps one of the biggest Best Picture favorites we have had in ages. Sure, Judas Iscariot may come to mind but it also had very stiff competition that year. While we’ll get to the other contenders momentarily, let’s try to put Caesar’s achievement in context. As has been the case since the second film, this series is quite unprecedented in LRF (and Hollywood) history. A dramatic trilogy where the final film is now the most acclaimed and the most nominated. Can it win Best Picture three times or will voters want to spread the love? How about its star DiCaprio, who is trying to win a third time for the same performance? Whether or not this was intentional, it does seem like some strategy was involved in compiling the FYC ballot for the film as Will Poulter—who may have been the Best Supporting Actor category had he been entered—was put in Best Villain while Douglas Booth, who has been in all three films, was given some shine in a category previously won by Cillain Murphy. Same goes for Uma Thurman, finally nominated for her Servilia performance.

The other highly-acclaimed film of the season, Green Lantern Corps: Sinestro War, felt like a comfortable lock for the second Best Picture slot (even with being a superhero film). It was tied for the second most amount of nominations despite having no acting nominations outside of Luke Evans as Best Villain. Is that a detriment to its Best Picture chances? It’s hard to say. Comic book films tend to be more lauded for their technical achievements and that appears to be the case here. But the film is the heavy favorite for Best Adaptation and that could give it some momentum heading into the later categories, particularly Best Director. If McQuarrie wins there, then the final award of the night might become a bit more interesting.

Outside of the top two, things shook down in a somewhat surprising manner. Tied for second-most nominations was Miracles, with a representative in every acting category yet no Ensemble nomination. When considering that alongside Sean Baker’s absence in Best Director, it is tough to see the film competing for the big award of the night. The Deadliest Night in Show Business, an awards movie itself of sorts, experienced the inverse of Miracles with most of its cast being shut out (sans Seyfried) but being one of the favorites in Best Ensemble and landing a Director nomination. Death of a Comic belongs with that group despite having one less nomination, most likely a victim of the four-nominee limit in Best Picture (as I’ll discuss shortly). Paki is another that likely just missed out on a couple of key categories while crowd favorite Tara’s Web also ended up with 3 nominations but Victoria Pedretti’s acclaimed performance gives it a shot in two of those.

As you’ll see later on in this segment, there are a large amount of first-time nominees this season and that’s great to see. Some actors and filmmakers who are long-tenured at the studio while others are making their debut. There’s even some new writing nominees, which we don’t always have. The acting categories are…intriguing this season, even if not the highest quality we have ever seen. Is Best Supporting Actress between the two Caesar nominees or will they split the votes? Best Supporting Actor, per usual, is rather strong and could realistically go to any of them, with my gut telling me Riz Ahmed. Best Actress is not the best it’s ever been but at least there is no clear front-runner from the group, leaving some suspense in the race. And then there’s Best Actor, where we have the juggernaut Julius Caesar facing off against two comedic actors and an up-and-comer who was in a much-discussed late-season film.

And if you ask me, one of the categories I’m most curious about is Best Villain. It is a very varied group of nominees from different genres. There are the two comic book villains, with Evans the more likely winner of the two given that film’s reception. There is Will Poulter playing Brutus, one of the most infamous antagonistic figures in history. And there’s Victoria Pedretti’s femme fatale in Tara’s Web, which has its own genre pedigree behind it. The three previous LRF erotic-thrillers (the Poison Ivy films and Natural Selection) have all won both Best Villain and Best Actress. Can Pedretti continue that trend? We shall see!

The Surprises & Snubs:

Snub: Death of a Comic (Best Picture) - Mo Buck’s drama notched a very respectable 6 nominations, including many of the top categories (Director, Actor, Original Story). That’s why it is perhaps most surprising that it did not make into the Best Picture category as well. I’m guessing it was a tight race for those last few spots.

Snub: Karl Glusman (Best Actor) - While there may not be a strong case for the film to be award nominated, Something and/or Nothing is a one-man-show and those tend to be friends for at least a nomination.

Surprise: Among Us (Best Adaptation) - This felt like it came a bit out of nowhere, particularly once it was announced that the film did not land a Best Ensemble award (which it could’ve been a contender in).

Snub: Made Men (Best Ensemble) - It’s hard to argue with any of the existing Ensemble nominees. But for a film that likely had little shot in any other category, I appreciated how this film had a specific vision in putting together its cast and I could’ve seen a surprise nomination for the gangster flick.

Surprise: Barry Keoghan (Best Actor) - Perhaps one of the more controversial performances in LRF in a few seasons. And that’s not because of the performance itself but for it’s compatibility with the real-life story it is telling and the differences between actor and subject. It looks like Keoghan had enough supporters to look past the discrepancies that was an issue for some.

Previous Winners:

Leonardo DiCaprio - Leo returns to the Best Actor category for the sixth time in his career, having previously won it a record four times. As previously mentioned, he’s already won the award twice for this same role. His closest competition, three-time winner Tom Hardy, missed out on a Best Actor nomination for Paki and thus will not be able to close the gap on DiCaprio this season.

Christopher Nolan - This marks the fifth time Nolan has been nominated and he has three previous wins, tied with Nicholas Winding Refn. His wins came for The Prisoner, Caesar, and Risico — but notably not Caesar Part II, leaving some potential hope for his fellow nominees.

Michael Keaton - Keaton has forged a strong (if under-the-radar) working partnership with Mo Buck, who has already landed him two Best Supporting Actor nominations. He won the award back in Season 12 for the acclaimed comedy Don’t Hang Up.

Margaret Qualley - While this is her first nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category, Qualley has a Golden Reel Award on her mantle for Season 20’s one-hander Observance.

Previous Nominees:

Christopher McQuarrie - Believe it or not, McQuarrie was actually nominated for the first Green Lantern Corps. back in Season 17. I would wager that he has a much better shot for the award this time around.

Adam Sandler - The Sandman is now a first-time nominee in the Best Actor category but he was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Season 22 for Broadway.

Emily Blunt - It’s been a long while since Emily Blunt has worked for the studio, last seen in Season 6’s Standing Back. But it’s been even longer since Blunt’s previous GRA appearance, when she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Season 2 for And Then There Were None.

Amanda Seyfried - Looking back on that second GRA ceremony, that is also the last time that Seyfried was nominated for Best Actress (for the memorable performance in Siren). She was nominated more recently for Best Supporting Actress for EP.

Jesse Plemons - Plemons returns to the GRA ceremony after Season 8, when he was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in The Tower. That was his seventh film at the studio but he's been relatively quiet as of late, appearing in Justice League Unlimited in Season 20 and now Miracles.

The Newcomers:

Rian Johnson and Thomas Vinterberg - In his seventh film for the studio, Johnson has notched his first Best Director nomination. After helping establish the Mass Effect franchise, his closest call likely came in Season 15 with surprise hit Hotel California. On the other hand, Johnson’s fellow Best Director nominee is appearing at the GRAs for his first LRF film.

Barry Keoghan and Jack Black - This is a first-time individual nomination for these two Best Actor contenders. Interestingly enough, they were both nominated for the fourth film in their respective LRF filmographies.

Victoria Pedretti and Toni Collette - These Best Actress nominees are certainly at different stages in their career but are both making their first GRA appearance here. This is Collette’s third LRF film after her Season 21 debut while Pedretti has been nominated for her first LRF role.

Riz Ahmed and Douglas Booth - Another interesting pairing of first-time nominees in the Best Supporting Actor category. Ahmed didn’t make his LRF debut with Paki but it might as well have been since it’s his first film since Season 1(!) with Sherwood. Booth, on the other hand, has now been in four straight films to be nominated for Best Ensemble and Best Picture (the Caesar trilogy and Excalibur).

Marcia Gay Harden, Matilda De Angelis, and Uma Thurman - This trio of Best Supporting Actress nominees all enter the ceremony from different angles. For Harden, Death of a Comic was her first LRF film. De Angelis first made her mark as Bond girl Azzura in Risico (also from Christopher Nolan) and is now a two-time nominee given she is also in the Best Starring Couple category. And Thurman’s eight-film LRF career is compromised of all franchises: Death and All His Friends Parts I and II, all three main series Skyrim films, and the Caesar trilogy.

Eden Townsend - Townsend debuted at the studio in Season 19 with What We Were Promised and has now been nominated for their fourth film, The Terminal Spy—which is also the highest grossing film of their filmography.

Sammy-Jo Ellis - While her brother is a mainstay in the Best Original Story category, Sammy-Jo is making her GRA debut in the category of Best Adaptation with Among Us.