SEASON 28 GOLDEN REEL AWARDS

 

Welcome to the Season 28 Golden Reel Awards ceremony! Tonight we have just over half of the season's releases, 16 to be exact, fighting it out for the 14 trophies on the line. The nominees are led by a trio of critical darlings. The Beat Goes On leads the pack with 10 nominations, followed by the eight nominations each for AKA Billy the Kid and Harvard Psychology. 

AND NOW FOR THE AWARDS....

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

The Lights is off to a quick start winning in its first of five nominations, beating out a couple of fellow Best Picture nominees in the process. That however is not necessarily the best sign of things to come as the last Best Production Design winner to also win Best Picture was Risico back in Season 20. The only other film to accomplish the feat was The Prisoner in Season 3. This is the first GRA victory for writer Sammy-Jo Ellis. The night is done for Gears of War 2, failing to win with its only nomination.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

The Beat Goes On came into the night with the most nominations with 10 and now wins its first award in the second category of the ceremony. The Beat Goes On has become the third Musical film to win the award and the sixth time a film written by Chad Taylor has taken home the trophy. Gar Bar Blues goes home empty-handed, striking out in its only category, while AKA Billy the Kid and Duke Nukem will still have more chances to get their first victory.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

Jack Brown has joined Sammy-Jo Ellis as another first time GRA winner with this victory. It was his second time nominated in the Most Wanted Sequel category. All four of these films will soon square off again in the Best Adaptation category later in the ceremony. Amityville is just the second horror film to win the Most Wanted Sequel trophy, following Wolfenstein last season.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

The Beat Goes On has becomes the first film this evening to win multiple awards, after previously being awarded the Best Soundtrack trophy. Fellow Best Picture nominee AKA Billy the Kid is still looking for its first award. This is the 6th Best Ensemble Cast award for Chad Taylor, giving him the all-time lead in the category.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

Harvard Psychology wins in its first category of the ceremony, leaving it with still seven more chances to take home gold. Surprisingly, this is just the second Best Starring Couple, previously winning all the way back in Season 15 for Kurt & Courtney: All Apologies. The night is over for Victims, failing to win in its only chance. Time is running out for Duke Nukem to get on the board, with just two more nominations left tonight for the film. Robert Downey Jr. himself, after already winning tonight in Best Ensemble Cast, still has three more shots at individual trophies. 

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

In a surprising turn of events, Amityville has now tied The Beat Goes On for the most awards so far tonight with its second victory after winning Most Wanted Sequel earlier in the ceremony. This is just the fourth time the Best Villain award has gone to a Horror film. Nick Fury and His Howling Commandos will go home empty-handed, while Superman: Exile is dangerously close to the same fate with only a Best Adaptation nomination left to possibly win. Amityville only has one more nomination tonight, while Harvard Psychology still has six more chances at gold.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

Amityville wins again with its third trophy of the night, leading all films. It finished with three wins out of the four categories it was nominated in. The ceremony is over for Superman: Exile and The Immortal Iron Fist, both going winless. Duke Nukem has just one more chance in the Best Director category. 

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

Harvard Psychology wins again, snagging its second trophy tonight, tying The Beat Goes On for the second place in the ceremony - behind Amityville's three trophies. Its victory here has to make it the favorite for Best Picture as all of these films are also nominated for the big award. This is just the third Best Original Story trophy for writer Lon Charles, following Sinatra and Believe It or Not! in Season 20 and 25, respectively.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

Harvard Psychology has now tied Amityville with three awards to lead the ceremony. Sydney Chandler has won her first GRA in her first nomination. The Untitled Paul Nichols Project will go home winless, striking out in its lone nomination. Beasts is at risk of a similar outcome with just one nomination left in the Best Actress category. 

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

Harvard Psychology is on a roll now, taking a commanding lead with its fourth win of the ceremony. Robert Downey Jr. has won the Best Supporting Actor trophy for the second time after taking home the very first Best Supporting Actor GRA back in Season 1. He joins Kyle Chandler and Tom Hanks as the only two-time winners of the award. Things continue to look not so good for AKA Billy the Kid as it is still winless tonight. It came into the ceremony with eight nominations, and has now lost in five straight categories.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

Dafne Keen wins the Best Actress GRA in her first ever GRA nomination. Similarly, Who Do You Trust When the World is at War? wins in its only nomination of the evening. Beasts and The Actors will go home tonight winless. This is also the first ever GRA victory for a Meirad Tako-penned film in an acting category, previously winning a couple of Best Production Design trophies. 

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

AKA Billy the Kid wins an award! After striking out in five categories in a row, the film has finally won its first trophy of the ceremony. This is the first GRA victory for Austin Butler as well, in his first individual nomination. The evening is over for The Lights, with the film going home with one trophy for Best Production Design. After getting off to a hot start quickly winning Best Soundtrack and Best Ensemble Cast, The Beat Goes On has since gone winless in five categories in a row.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

AKA Billy the Kid has now won its second award tonight, placing it in a third place tie with The Beat Goes On - behind Amityville's three trophies and Harvard Psychology's four trophies. Baz Luhrmann was won the Best Director GRA for his first LRF film. Duke Nukem struck out for the night, losing in all five of its nominated categories. Surprisingly, this is the first Best Director GRA victory for a film written by Dwight Gallo. 

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

AKA Billy the Kid closes out a rollercoaster of a ceremony by winning the final three awards in a row. The film closes out with three wins on the evening, making it a rare instance of a film winning Best Picture but not winning the most awards of the ceremony. In fact, in 28 seasons that feat has only happened now six times. This is the second Best Picture award in a row for Dwight Gallo, with the writer having won for Territory last season (with co-writer Jimmy Ellis), and the third overall for the writer. As Reuben Schwartz pointed out in this season's For Your Consideration article, this is the first Western film to ever win Best Picture.


Congratulations to all the winners! That's a wrap on the 28th season in the world of Last Resort Films. Stay tuned for the special GRA Edition of The Numbers on January 27th. That will be followed by a new segment, Most Streamed, on January 30th. After that will be two Writer Profile posts, leading up to the Season 29 LRF Comic-Con on February 8th.