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:
At the end of Season 28, it became clear that there were three front-runners for the Golden Reel Awards. They all seem fairly evenly matched on the surface, even sharing the same Metascore (85). All three are also original films, marking a strong year for that category. So let's break down these top contenders.
The film with the highest tally of nominations, The Beat Goes On, just so happens to be the one that came out the earliest (Round 2). This is surely a positive sign in the studio's effort to produce more early season awards contenders. Ryan Coogler's film is looking to chart a new high for the musical genre at LRF, which has mainly remained in the margins up until this point. Only one musical has been nominated for the Best Picture GRA: The Temptations back in Season 14. The film also scored the rare achievement of having a nominee in all four acting categories.
First up with eight nominations is AKA Billy the Kid. After Territory last season, Dwight Gallo is looking to make it back-to-back Best Picture wins. Given his signature style, Luhrmann may be the slight favorite in Best Director at the moment and that could help momentum to win the final award of the night. A western has never won Best Picture in the history of GRAs. And so there's something poetic about two of Hollywood's most classic genres battling it out to break new ground.
And then we have the most recent release, Harvard Psychology. It's certainly the most low-key of the trio, a simmering drama in the midst of two epics. That could actually turn in its favor as its understated in its nature, a drama about one of the most famous criminals of the twentieth century but before any of those crimes take place. While Fionn Whitehead doesn't have the same drawing power as Will Smith or rising star Austin Butler (and the same goes for Romanek in Best Director), a Robert Downey Jr. win in Best Villain and Best Supporting actor could bode well for this winning out at the end of the night.
And let's speak about Downey, shall we? What a story this is. He's a man already known for a major career comeback whose dramatic performances have gone a bit quiet as of late. In LRF, he hadn't been seen since Season 1 when he won Best Supporting Actor. Now he returns many seasons later with two roles and two nominations, making him 3-for-3 in terms of GRA nominations. While some actors have been nominated in Lead and Supporting in the same season, Robert Downey Jr. is the first actor to be competing against themselves within the same category. Thus, this is uncharted territory to some degree. Will he steal votes for himself? Only time will tell.
The Surprises & Snubs:
Snub: Bong Joon-Ho - The Lights had a respectable showing upon the announcement of nominations, showing up in stacked categories like Best Original Story, Actor, and Picture. Thus, it was a surprise that Bong's direction was snubbed given that it was one of the praised elements.
Surprise: Shane Black - And speaking of Best Director, what a surprise it was to hear Shane Black's name announced for this category. It's just not the typical nomination that we get for an award like this. It's one of Duke Nukem's five nominations, a surprising tally for the action-comedy video game adaptation.
Snub: The Untitled Paul Nichols Project, Victims, and Gas Bar Blues - This trio of "pretty good" films all only landed one nomination each, which feels on the light side all things considered. In particular, Paul Nichols would have been a major contender for Best Original Story in any other season (given its originality) but that category was tough to get into.
Surprise: Amityville - It was a good surprise to see this film show up quite a few times on nominations day. Horror isn't always the most awards-friendly genre so for it be recognized - and perhaps the favorite for Best Adaptation - is a positive development for the genre at LRF.
Surprise: Gillian Jacobs - Given the relative shallow field of Best Actress, we were bound for a surprise in this category. Someone was bound to come out of relative nowhere and that goes to Jacobs here. The film received a mixed reception and failed to make a dent at the box office but Jacobs' performance was one lauded element and it leads to her squeaking in here.
Previous Winners:
Florence Pugh - This is Florence's sixth nomination in one of the Big Four acting awards. She previously won for A Lost Sense of Heaven in Season 14. Five of six collaborations with writer Chad Taylor have earned Pugh a GRA nomination. A win would tie her with Brie Larson, Christina Hendricks, Emma Stone, Elizabeth Olsen, and Sydney Sweeney as two-time Best Actress winners.
Robert Downey Jr. - LRF's first Best Supporting Actor winner. Funnily (grimly?) enough, Green River was also a true crime story from Lon Charles with Downey Jr. playing Ted Bundy.
Alden Ehrenreich - The biggest homegrown star to come out of LRF is once again vying for Best Actor. He has won the award twice, for Death Dream and Elysian. When accounting for all categories, he is already the most nominated talent in GRA history (and tied for most wins). Another Best Actor win would tie him with Tom Hardy, who also has three.
Eric Bana - Look, the man knows his lane and owns it well. This is now the fourth time he has been nominated for Best Villain. He has won the award once, for The Stand in Season 11.
Haley Lu Richardson - This is Richardson's fourth individual GRA nomination. She was most recently nominated for Best Actress in Camp Manhood in Season 23, an award she won in Season 8 for Runaway. She was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Buried Child.
Mark Romanek - What an odd career that Romanek has had at LRF. In the studio's early years, he directed three films in the span of four seasons and capped that off with a Best Director win for The Price of Fame. He hasn't made a film for LRF or Hollywood since but now finds himself back nominated for Best Director.
Previous Nominees:
Nicolas Cage - Nic Cage is competing for his first GRA after two nominations in the past. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor previously for Of Rocks and Sand and more recently for Best Actor for Carpenter.
Anya Taylor-Joy - Taylor-Joy has been nominated for Best Actress twice, for Ypsilanti and Wolf. This season will be her first competing for Best Supporting Actress.
The Newcomers:
Sydney Chandler & Bill Skarsgard - It's a family affair! These two first-time nominees have famous relatives (Kyle Chandler and Alexander Skarsgard) who have 21 GRA nominations between them.
Baz Luhrmann & Ryan Coogler - These two have had differing paths to their first Best Director nominations. AKA Billy the Kid is Baz's LRF debut so he is nominated for his first film for the studio. Coogler, meanwhile, had a few films in LRF's first ten seasons (Dishonest and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) but has been absent since Season 10 despite being in contention for multiple projects.
Gillian Jacobs, Dafne Keen, & Zendaya - This trio of Best Actress nominees are all making their GRA debuts this season after debuting in seasons 9, 11, and 26 respectively.
Will Smith, Fionn Whitehead & Austin Butler - This is a rare season where a majority of Best Actor nominees have never been nominated before. Believe it or not, Whitehead is actually the most prolific of the bunch with six LRF films compared to four for Butler and two for Smith.
The Storylines:
At the end of Season 28, it became clear that there were three front-runners for the Golden Reel Awards. They all seem fairly evenly matched on the surface, even sharing the same Metascore (85). All three are also original films, marking a strong year for that category. So let's break down these top contenders.
The film with the highest tally of nominations, The Beat Goes On, just so happens to be the one that came out the earliest (Round 2). This is surely a positive sign in the studio's effort to produce more early season awards contenders. Ryan Coogler's film is looking to chart a new high for the musical genre at LRF, which has mainly remained in the margins up until this point. Only one musical has been nominated for the Best Picture GRA: The Temptations back in Season 14. The film also scored the rare achievement of having a nominee in all four acting categories.
First up with eight nominations is AKA Billy the Kid. After Territory last season, Dwight Gallo is looking to make it back-to-back Best Picture wins. Given his signature style, Luhrmann may be the slight favorite in Best Director at the moment and that could help momentum to win the final award of the night. A western has never won Best Picture in the history of GRAs. And so there's something poetic about two of Hollywood's most classic genres battling it out to break new ground.
And then we have the most recent release, Harvard Psychology. It's certainly the most low-key of the trio, a simmering drama in the midst of two epics. That could actually turn in its favor as its understated in its nature, a drama about one of the most famous criminals of the twentieth century but before any of those crimes take place. While Fionn Whitehead doesn't have the same drawing power as Will Smith or rising star Austin Butler (and the same goes for Romanek in Best Director), a Robert Downey Jr. win in Best Villain and Best Supporting actor could bode well for this winning out at the end of the night.
And let's speak about Downey, shall we? What a story this is. He's a man already known for a major career comeback whose dramatic performances have gone a bit quiet as of late. In LRF, he hadn't been seen since Season 1 when he won Best Supporting Actor. Now he returns many seasons later with two roles and two nominations, making him 3-for-3 in terms of GRA nominations. While some actors have been nominated in Lead and Supporting in the same season, Robert Downey Jr. is the first actor to be competing against themselves within the same category. Thus, this is uncharted territory to some degree. Will he steal votes for himself? Only time will tell.
The Surprises & Snubs:
Snub: Bong Joon-Ho - The Lights had a respectable showing upon the announcement of nominations, showing up in stacked categories like Best Original Story, Actor, and Picture. Thus, it was a surprise that Bong's direction was snubbed given that it was one of the praised elements.
Surprise: Shane Black - And speaking of Best Director, what a surprise it was to hear Shane Black's name announced for this category. It's just not the typical nomination that we get for an award like this. It's one of Duke Nukem's five nominations, a surprising tally for the action-comedy video game adaptation.
Snub: The Untitled Paul Nichols Project, Victims, and Gas Bar Blues - This trio of "pretty good" films all only landed one nomination each, which feels on the light side all things considered. In particular, Paul Nichols would have been a major contender for Best Original Story in any other season (given its originality) but that category was tough to get into.
Surprise: Amityville - It was a good surprise to see this film show up quite a few times on nominations day. Horror isn't always the most awards-friendly genre so for it be recognized - and perhaps the favorite for Best Adaptation - is a positive development for the genre at LRF.
Surprise: Gillian Jacobs - Given the relative shallow field of Best Actress, we were bound for a surprise in this category. Someone was bound to come out of relative nowhere and that goes to Jacobs here. The film received a mixed reception and failed to make a dent at the box office but Jacobs' performance was one lauded element and it leads to her squeaking in here.
Previous Winners:
Florence Pugh - This is Florence's sixth nomination in one of the Big Four acting awards. She previously won for A Lost Sense of Heaven in Season 14. Five of six collaborations with writer Chad Taylor have earned Pugh a GRA nomination. A win would tie her with Brie Larson, Christina Hendricks, Emma Stone, Elizabeth Olsen, and Sydney Sweeney as two-time Best Actress winners.
Robert Downey Jr. - LRF's first Best Supporting Actor winner. Funnily (grimly?) enough, Green River was also a true crime story from Lon Charles with Downey Jr. playing Ted Bundy.
Alden Ehrenreich - The biggest homegrown star to come out of LRF is once again vying for Best Actor. He has won the award twice, for Death Dream and Elysian. When accounting for all categories, he is already the most nominated talent in GRA history (and tied for most wins). Another Best Actor win would tie him with Tom Hardy, who also has three.
Eric Bana - Look, the man knows his lane and owns it well. This is now the fourth time he has been nominated for Best Villain. He has won the award once, for The Stand in Season 11.
Haley Lu Richardson - This is Richardson's fourth individual GRA nomination. She was most recently nominated for Best Actress in Camp Manhood in Season 23, an award she won in Season 8 for Runaway. She was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Buried Child.
Mark Romanek - What an odd career that Romanek has had at LRF. In the studio's early years, he directed three films in the span of four seasons and capped that off with a Best Director win for The Price of Fame. He hasn't made a film for LRF or Hollywood since but now finds himself back nominated for Best Director.
Previous Nominees:
Nicolas Cage - Nic Cage is competing for his first GRA after two nominations in the past. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor previously for Of Rocks and Sand and more recently for Best Actor for Carpenter.
Anya Taylor-Joy - Taylor-Joy has been nominated for Best Actress twice, for Ypsilanti and Wolf. This season will be her first competing for Best Supporting Actress.
The Newcomers:
Sydney Chandler & Bill Skarsgard - It's a family affair! These two first-time nominees have famous relatives (Kyle Chandler and Alexander Skarsgard) who have 21 GRA nominations between them.
Baz Luhrmann & Ryan Coogler - These two have had differing paths to their first Best Director nominations. AKA Billy the Kid is Baz's LRF debut so he is nominated for his first film for the studio. Coogler, meanwhile, had a few films in LRF's first ten seasons (Dishonest and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) but has been absent since Season 10 despite being in contention for multiple projects.
Gillian Jacobs, Dafne Keen, & Zendaya - This trio of Best Actress nominees are all making their GRA debuts this season after debuting in seasons 9, 11, and 26 respectively.
Will Smith, Fionn Whitehead & Austin Butler - This is a rare season where a majority of Best Actor nominees have never been nominated before. Believe it or not, Whitehead is actually the most prolific of the bunch with six LRF films compared to four for Butler and two for Smith.
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