Top 10 Surprises of Season 30

 

Sherman J. Pearson here for an all-new post-season edition of Top 10 which will aim to rank the ten biggest surprises of Season 30. This season had a lot to unravel as the studio reached its 30th season and 900th release by season's end.

Top 10 Surprises of Season 30

10. Meirad Tako

The one-of-a-kind writer finally won his first writing award this season, winning Best Original Story for his writing on Klitih: A Way of Life (more on that later). I should also mention that Tako is 4-for-4, with a trophy for each of his last four GRA nominations.

9. Slowly Dying

A lot of surprises to unravel here - the film's surprising box office success, the film's antisemitism controversy, and even Alex Conn's response to the controversy.

8. Jeremy Allen White

Jeremy Allen White has practically come out of nowhere to garner four GRA nominations in two seasons, including one win last season, and two nominations in the same category this season - Best Supporting Couple (opposite Woody Harrelson in Eve of Destruction and Florence Pugh in Wonder Bean, respectively).

7. Profits

Based on last season's poor profit margin, it was easy to expect this season to do better, but it being more than doubled was an impressive surprise (a 120% increase in profit according to the studio's accountants).

6. The Big Top

Given the story, it really wasn't all that surprising that The Big Top was a hit at the box office. The real big surprise here was that it was written by Lon Charles, known for his hard-hitting, dramatic fact-based films. Charles starting a side career as an animated family film writer was not on my Bingo card.

5. Deathstroke

I had no clue what to expect from a JCVD-led DC Comics film, yet I still somehow felt surprised (in a good way) by Deathstroke. It played to its talent's strengths in just about every way.

4. Tarzan

Just when it seemed like the world may have moved on from great pulp adventure characters like Tarzan, APJ teams up with the two Jasons - Momoa and Wan - to deliver an unexpected mega-blockbuster adventure.

3. Shatterhand

I think we all expected Shatterhand to be a great blockbuster. But it did set some crazy GRA records in the process. It is just the second 3+ film series to win Best Picture for each film (joining the Caesar trilogy) and it is the first 3+ film series to win Best Director for each film (Caesar did not manage to match that feat).

2. Magic

There was a lot surprising about this one: David Dastmalchian's emergence as a star (even winning the Best Actor GRA trophy), another horror film winning Best Adaptation for writer Jack Brown (and upsetting the Best Picture winning film Shatterhand), the impressive box office, etc.

1. Klitih: A Way of Life

The story itself is shocking and surprising, but it was even more surprising how good the film was. It became the first writing award winner for Meirad Tako, which I covered earlier. It is the first film from Tako to win multiple GRA trophies, the second Tako-penned film to win Best Actress, and it is the first NC-17 rated film to win a GRA trophy.