Welcome to the historic 30th Golden Reel Awards ceremony! Tonight we will be celebrating the best Last Resort Films released in Season 30. Eighteen of the season's 30 films are vying for the 14 prestigious awards on the line this evening. The nominees are led by a trio of films - American Gigolo, Justice League Invasion, and Shatterhand - that are all tied for the most nominations this season with seven apiece.
Before we get into the regular awards, we have a little special business to get into. During the season, the Last Resort Films Board of Directors asked the academy of writers for their nominations for the 5th Golden Reel of Achievement, a special award to recognize an individual talent's contribution to the growth, sustainability and success of the studio. This award is only given out every 5th season. The past winners of the award are Tom Cruise in Season 5, Mo Buck in Season 10, John Malone and Chad Taylor who shared the award in Season 15, Christina Hendricks in Season 20, and APJ in Season 25.
The 6th Golden Reel of Achievement is hereby awarded to.... Alden Ehrenreich!
The actor was nominated for his career with Last Resort Films, becoming the studio's first homegrown megastar thanks to his collaborations with writer John Malone, which brought to life such classic films as To the White Sea, Death Dream, and Namor the Sub-Mariner, among others, and helped herald a new generation of stars and prestigious films. Here's to Alden Ehrenreich and all his achievements!
AND NOW FOR THE AWARDS....
Wonder Bean entered the night with three nominations and leads things out of the gates with the first trophy. Every film in this category has at least two more nominations tonight. Of writer Sammy-Jo Ellis' eight LRF films, Wonder Bean is already the second to win the Best Production Design GRA, following The Lights two seasons ago.
The Best Soundtrack category was dominated by past nominees this season. Jack Ryder has one previous nomination, Jacob Jones has three previous nominations, and the winning writer, Roy Horne, has a whopping seven previous nominations on top of his three previous Best Soundtrack GRA victories. Horne still has a lot of work to do though in future seasons to match the category's record of six wins - a tie between Lon Charles and Chad Taylor. The evening is over for writers Jacob Jones and Jack Ryder as their only nominations came in this category. American Gigolo, meanwhile, still has five more chances to bring home some hardware.
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This is the 10th Most Wanted Sequel trophy for the studio's DC Comics Universe, giving it the lead over the studio's other comic book universe, the Marvel Universe, which has nine trophies (all since Season 15). The four writers of Justice League Invasion - APJ, D.R. Cobb, John Malone, and Chad Taylor - make up the winners of exactly half of the trophies in the history of the Most Wanted Sequel Award, having combined to write 14 of the winning films.
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Justice League Invasion is now the first film to win more than one award in tonight's ceremony. It has also become the first of the Justice League films to win more than one GRA trophy. The only previous Justice League film GRA trophy came in Season 10 when Justice League International was awarded the Most Wanted Sequel trophy. With this victory Justice League Invasion also becomes the first superhero film in LRF history to win the Best Ensemble Cast award, although there are several previous nominations - including the two previous Justice League films.
This is the first GRA victory for Jason Momoa and the second for Hayley Atwell following her award as part of the Best Ensemble Cast GRA-winning Pulp in Season 17. This is the first win for Tarzan tonight following its loss in Most Wanted Sequel. Tarzan still has a chance for one more trophy later tonight when we get to the Best Adaptation category. The night is over now for Jeremy Allen White, striking out in both of his nominations in this one category just one season after winning the award for Five Boroughs. This win marks the third Best Starring Couple trophy awarded to a film written by APJ.
Shatterhand is finally on the board with this Best Villain victory. This is the first Best Villain trophy for the studio's James Bond film series despite both previous films having nominations in the category. This is also the first GRA victory for Guy Pearce himself, with the acclaimed Australian actor not even having any nominations prior to this season. Rosamund Pike will have another chance to win for her performance as Emma Frost in X-Men: Hellfire in the Best Supporting Actress category later in the ceremony. The night is over for Deathstroke as Mickey Rourke could not take home a trophy in the film's only nominated category.
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Jack Brown wins his second Best Adaptation GRA trophy after previously winning for Amityville a couple seasons ago. Magic becomes just the fourth horror film to win in this category. Magic still has four more chances to win award tonight, with all of those nominations coming in the final four categories of the ceremony. Meanwhile, the ceremony comes to a close for Tarzan, with the jungle adventure winning one trophy out of its three chances.
This Best Original Story GRA victory marks the first writing win for Meirad Tako. He has previous nominations for Best Adaptation (Hotel California in Season 15) and Best Original Story (1965 in Season 17). It is the first NC-17 rated film released by the studio to win any awards as well. The night is over for Wonder Bean, with the film winning in the first category of the evening - Best Production Design - and striking in the next two. The other three films - Klitih: A Way of Life, The Big Top, and Tamahagane - each have one more nomination in tonight's ceremony.
Jennifer Connelly wins her first GRA trophy in her first nomination. Eve of Destruction still has one more chance in the very next category. Sarah Paulson fails to win here in the lone nomination for Fragments of Heart. The night is also over for X-Men: Hellfire, failing to win in any of its five chances. Through nine categories, only Justice League Invasion has won more than one award in tonight's ceremony.
Eve of Destruction now joins Justice League Invasion as the only films with more than one win tonight, sweeping the Supporting acting categories. This is the second Best Supporting Actor win for Woody Harrelson in his third nomination. He previously won for Everything Will Be Alright in Season 24 following an earlier nomination in Season 8 for Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Tamahagane has struck out tonight, failing in each of its two categories.
Yuki Kato wins her first GRA award in her first nomination (and her first LRF credit). Klitih: A Way of Life has now joined Eve of Destruction and Justice League Invasion with two wins in this ceremony. The film has also become the first from writer Meirad Tako to win more than one GRA trophy. Kato is the second actress to win Best Actress for a film written by Meirad Tako, following Dafne Keen a couple seasons ago for Who Do You Trust When the World Is At War. The Ninth Hour failed to win in its only nomination, while the other two films represented here - American Gigolo and Magic - each still have at least one more chance at gold tonight.
David Dastmalchian has won Best Actor in his first solo acting nomination. He has one previous victory and three additional nominations for Best Ensemble Cast. Magic joins Eve of Destruction, Justice League Invasion, and Klitih: A Way of Life in a four way tie for the most wins tonight. The night is over for American Gigolo, only winning in Best Soundtrack out of its seven nominations.
Joe Wright wins Best Director for the first time in his second nomination - he was a previous nomination in Season 20 for Wish You Were Here. Shatterhand has joined the five-way tie for the most trophies tonight leading into the final category. All three LRF James Bond films have managed to win the Best Director GRA trophy now with Wright joining Christopher Nolan (Risico) and Denis Villeneuve (Carte Blanche). The night is over for Kill Zone, striking out in each of its three nominations. The final category of the ceremony will now determine which film comes out of tonight with the most trophies, unless of course if The Big Top wins and spoils the evening for the others.
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While The Big Top goes home winless despite being the first animated film to receive a Best Picture nomination, Shatterhand takes home the big award of the night and closes out the 30th Golden Reel Awards ceremony with the most awards on the season with three. LRF's James Bond series is now 3-for-3 in the Best Picture category as well. The series joins the Julius Caesar Trilogy as the only film series to sweep Best Picture three films in a row in a series. This victory gives writer John Malone a commanding lead in the Best Picture category, bringing his win total up to 12.
Congratulations to all the winners! That's a wrap on the historic 30th season in the world of Last Resort Films. Stay tuned to the special GRA Edition of The Numbers on September 11th. That will be followed by Most Streamed on September 14th and a new segment, Top 10 Surprises of Season 30, on September 17th. After that will be the next batch of Inside the Writers Studio segments, leading up to the Season 31 LRF Comic-Con on September 27th.
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