The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 34 GRA Edition)

 

For this awards-centric edition of The Roundup, I will go through each category and tell you who I think should win the award, who I think actually will win the award, who I think has no chance to win, who I think may have been snubbed out of a nomination (if anyone) - followed by a brief thought on the category this season.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Who Should Win: Nineteen Eighty-Four - Part Two
Who Will Win: Superman: Doomsday
No Chance: Tears of an Angel

Snub(s): Police Story: Retribution

Thought(s): This feels like a wide-open category with a decent mix of film types/genres. Tears of an Angel feels like the one longshot here though - just a hunch though.

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Who Should Win: Full Custody
Who Will Win: Material Girl
No Chance: Doom
Snub(s): N/A

Thought(s): Not a lot of contenders for this category this season anyways, so no snubs. Doom feels like a novelty soundtrack, so I think it comes down to the other three nominees.

MOST WANTED SEQUEL
Who Should Win: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh and Blood
Who Will Win: Superman: Doomsday
No Chance: The Crow: Yomi
Snub(s): Sgt. Rock

Thought(s): This is a stacked category this year. Pretty sure they all have sequels in the works if I read the future schedule correctly last time I looked. The Crow: Yomi is the least "sexy" option here, so I don't see it winning.

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Who Should Win: Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Ruby Ridge
No Chance: Macbeth
Snub(s): Starlight

Thought(s): This seems like an easy win for Ruby Ridge to me, but I think it's biggest competition is surprisingly X-Men: Age of Apocalypse - part of series regularly praised for its balancing of the ensemble.

BEST STARRING COUPLE
Who Should Win: Eric Bana & Hilary Swank - Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence & Sydney Sweeney - Starlight
No Chance: Mike Faist & Minami Hamabe - The Crow: Yomi
Snub(s): Shane Gillis & Melanie Lynskey - Full Custody 

Thought(s): I suspect that the starring duo of Starlight are going to cancel each other out in the Best Actress category, so I think voters may throw them a bone here as a consolation prize.

BEST VILLAIN
Who Should Win: Cameron Britton - Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh and Blood
Who Will Win: Daniel Craig - Superman: Doomsday
No Chance: Tadanobu Asano - The Crow: Yomi
Snub(s): Yura Borisov - Sgt. Rock

Thought(s): Craig has won this award a couple times now - once already for playing Lex Luthor - so he's a safe bet. I must say though, I love the version of Leatherface played by Britton.

BEST ADAPTATION
Who Should Win: Superman: Doomsday
Who Will Win: Macbeth
No Chance: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh and Blood
Snub(s): The Crow: Yomi

Thought(s): This is a weird category this year - two superhero blockbusters, a Shakespeare adaptation, and a bloody horror film. It could go any way.

BEST ORIGINAL STORY
Who Should Win: Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Ruby Ridge
No Chance: Full Custody
Snub(s): Exodus

Thought(s): Ruby Ridge is the clear favorite here - deservedly so.
 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Who Should Win: Anna Baryshnikov - Convalescence
Who Will Win: Zoe Saldana - Exodus
No Chance: Nell Fisher - Tethered
Snub(s): Melanie Lynskey - Full Custody

Thought(s): No clue how this one will shake out. I'd put my money on Saldana winning due to star power though.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Who Should Win: Don Johnson - Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Chris Evans - Starlight
No Chance: James McAvoy - Macbeth
Snub(s): Ben Foster - All the Fives

Thought(s): Evans has the inside edge due to star power, but I think Don Johnson deserves this one. 

BEST ACTRESS
Who Should Win: Hilary Swank - Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Chloe Grace Moretz - Material Girl
No Chance: Jennifer Lawrence & Sydney Sweeney - Starlight
Snub(s): N/A

Thought(s): Best Actress is a stacked category this season - probably the strongest the category has been in LRF history. I think the four best leading female performances were all nominated, so no snubs - although there are a few others who would be easy nominations in any other season. 

BEST ACTOR
Who Should Win: Eric Bana - Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Eric Bana - Ruby Ridge
No Chance: Alexander Skarsgard - Coriolanus / Benedict Cumberbatch - Macbeth
Snub(s): Wyatt Russell - All the Fives / Shane Gillis - Full Custody

Thought(s): For probably the first time in LRF history, the Best Actor category is weaker than the Best Actor category. Eric Bana deserves this one, and I'd bet the voters agree.

BEST DIRECTOR
Who Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow - Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Todd Haynes - Starlight
No Chance: Robert Eggers - Macbeth
Snub(s): John Hillcoat - All the Fives

Thought(s): I think this will be Ruby Ridge's night, but I think Haynes has a legitimate shot at Best Director.

BEST PICTURE
Who Should Win: Ruby Ridge
Who Will Win: Ruby Ridge
No Chance: Full Custody
Snub(s): N/A

Thought(s): Ruby Ridge is the clear favorite in every way. I'd be stunned if it doesn't win.

For Your Consideration with Reuben Schwartz (Season 34)

 

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:

It’s a tale as old as time throughout LRF history: one of the last releases of the season gets released to mass acclaim and blows things wide open for the Golden Reel Awards. That is certainly the case with this season's Ruby Ridge. The film was already notable when announced as the first collaboration between two of LRF’s longest-tenured writers, Lon Charles and Dwight Gallo. In some ways, it is the perfect statement of the defining themes of each: a “based on a true story” narrative, moral complexity, western landscapes. Its strong performance puts it in a leading position for all of the top categories.

A pair of Round 7 releases are the closest two contenders: Starlight and Material Girl. Between the three films, Season 34 sports what some are calling the strongest Best Actress fields in LRF’s history. In most other seasons, performances like Rebecca Ferguson in MacBeth and Teyonah Parris in Assata would seem like a near-locks but there is just no room with this top four. Personally, this award is the one I am looking forward to the most!

This admittedly feels like a weaker Best Actor field compared to some seasons past, but there are multiple notable big names in the mix (including some who have never won a GRA before, as I’ll talk about below). A minor plotline of the season has been Shakespeare adaptations, which are often considered an acting showcase. That paid off for Jimmy Ellis with four nominations across the two films. With Convalescence’s two nominations on top of that, Ellis’s three films combined for a a significant portion of this season’s nominees.

As a whole, the Best Actor and Actress nominees hold a notable distinction this season: all eight have been nominated for an individual GRA in the past. Talk about some heavy hitters! Let’s take a look at who has won before, who has been nominated, and who’s making their GRA debut…

Returning Winners:

SYDNEY SWEENEY - It’s been a while since we’ve seen LRF’s starlet, when she won her second Best Actress trophy for Poison Ivy: Mind Games in Season 23. She won both Best Actress and Best Villain for the two films in that series, and was also nominated for Best Actress for Season 22’s Gracie.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH - The English thespian had a hot start to his LRF career, winning Best Supporting Actor in Season 2 for Solution and Best Actor for Cape Torment in Season 5. Nearly twenty seasons after his last on-screen role, Cumberbatch returns with another Best Actor-nominated performance.

HILARY SWANK - Swank won Best Supporting Actress for her first LRF role in Season 8 Best Picture winner Runaway. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn into more roles at the studio as Ruby Ridge marks just her second role since that win.

Returning Nominees:

BRAD PITT - Perhaps surprisingly, the long-time A-list actor has yet to win a GRA award. He was in the inaugural crop of Best Actor nominees in Season 1’s White Jazz and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Season 19 for Eye for an Eye.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE - This is now JLaw’s fourth Best Actress nomination, but she is still seeking her first win at the ceremony. She was nominated for her first three LRF roles and this is now her first since Season 10.

ALEXANDER SKARSGARD - Long-reigning as one of LRF’s top box office draws, Skarsgard has now been nominated for Best Actor twice in 16 films for the studio. His first nom was for Season 22’s Open Hearts, for which he won Best Starring Couple alongside Elizabeth Olsen.

ERIC BANA - A stalwart of the Best Villain category (four nominations, one win), Bana finally breaks through to the Best Actor category after also having been nominated for Best Supporting Actor all the way back in Season 2 for Siren.

CHLOE GRACE MORETZ - After debuting as Supergirl in Season 19’s Superman: The Last Son of Krypton, Moretz has appeared in six subsequent films as the character (including this season’s latest Superman installment). Material Girl sees her nominated for her first non-super role since Season 18; she was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Season 2 for The Secret History.

TOBY WALLACE - Another Best Villain winner, Wallace is now in his third attempt for Best Supporting Actor after having previously been nominated for Five Boroughs and Black Hole. This makes him four-for-four in GRA nominations in his LRF career.

JAMES McAVOY - McAvoy delivered one of the most memorable performances of LRF’s early seasons in The Price of Fame, for which he was nominated for Best Actor.

ZOE SALDANA - This is Zoe’s second nomination in 13 films at LRF. She was previously nominated for Best Actress for the Dogs of Winter in Season 29.

Newcomers:

CHRIS EVANS - Evans made his LRF debut all the way back in Season 1 with The Cry of the Owl, which was also his directorial debut. He has starred in seven films since and Starlight marks his first individual acting nomination.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Outside of Saldana, the other three nominees in this category are getting their first GRA nomination in a main four acting category. Rose Leslie has been nominated for Best Villain in the past (for her portrayal of Poison Ivy in Birds of Prey), while Anna Baryshnikov and Nell Fisher both made their debuts this season.

DON JOHNSON - In a season where his daughter starred in the highest grossing film, Johnson gets his first GRA nomination in his fourth film for the studio.

BEST DIRECTOR - All four Best Director nominees are making their first GRA appearance, while all have had more than one film for the studio. Material Girl is Alma Har’el’s second film after Gambit and Rogue. Todd Haynes has now made four films for the studio and came closest to a Best Director nomination for a Season 4 Best Picture nominee Guilt. This is Bigelow’s fifth film after making two Wonder Woman films most recently. And finally Robert Eggers, director of six films at LRF, including the popular Creature franchise. 

SEASON 34 GOLDEN REEL AWARDS VOTING

 

The highly competitive nomination phase is over and you, the voters, have decided who will be nominated for the Season 34 Golden Reel Awards. You may now vote to see which nominees will come out victorious at this season's upcoming award ceremony....   

SEASON 34 GRA NOMINATIONS POLL

The first step of any awards show is to determine the nominees. The choices will be announced in less than 72 hours, so vote soon.

In each category, please select your top FIVE choices. All of the categories are below, so just keep scrolling and vote.

PREMIERE MAGAZINE #340

 

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 34 Round 10)

  

 

 Season 34 ends on a high note thanks to some superhero box office thanks to Superman. Here's The Roundup.... 

3. Highest Paid of Season 34

One of my favorite parts at the end of each season is seeing which talents were paid the most by the studio. And this season sure had an interesting mix. There were more actresses than usual, and a few talents made it higher up on the list than I would have expected based on having multiple films.

2. Superman: Doomsday

While the resurrection plot line was a little too quick, I also appreciate that the filmmakers didn't try to make it a multi-part film (I think everyone knows my opinions on those). The action, as usual for LRF's Superman series, is epic with just enough drama to keep things feeling honest. 

1. Ruby Ridge

Ruby Ridge turned out to be one of the best LRF films in recent seasons - maybe the best since Judas Iscariot. It managed to thread the needle between fact and entertainment, delivering a tense but accurate film based on a tragic event. Eric Bana has to be a shoe-in for a Best Actor nomination, while I suspect Swank is a favorite for Best Actress as well in a rare loaded category.

3. N/A

2. Soundtracks

Only six soundtracks to choose from this season for the GRA race - and only a few obvious potential candidates for the Best Soundtrack awards. Thankfully my sources at the studio inform me that next season will have more soundtracks to enjoy.

1. Offside

Offside certainly wasn't terrible, but it felt a bit too safe and favored using too many cliches. It still almost for me worked thanks to Damson Idris's performance though. Almost.

On Location (Season 34 Round 10)

 

Offside

- London, England, UK

Ruby Ridge

- Lincoln, Montana, USA

Superman: Doomsday

- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

- Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Box Office Breakdown (Season 34 Round 10)

 

Offside

Budget: $24,000,000

Total Box Office: $56,856,331

Total Profit: $2,048,495

Ruby Ridge

Budget: $26,000,000

Total Box Office: $45,071,924

Total Profit: -$4,100,105

Superman: Doomsday

Budget: $242,000,000

Total Box Office: $1,375,880,901

Total Profit: $541,189,492

Box Office Facts

Offside

LRF has now released two soccer-based films - Offside and Standing Back all the way back in Season 6. Both films have managed slim profits, combining for $8 million in the black.

Ruby Ridge

The Biography genre has been a fairly steady earner in recent seasons with 6 of the last 10 films earning profits.

Superman: Doomsday

The four main Superman film have combined to gross just over $5.1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Genre Rankings

Offside

Drama: #208

Sports: #12

Ruby Ridge

Drama: #256

Biography: #49

Thriller: #119

Superman: Doomsday

Action: #14

Superhero: #14

Sci-Fi: #3

Season 34 Round 10

Total Box Office: $1,477,809,156

Total Profit: $539,137,882

Season 34 Totals

Total Box Office: $5,431,552,474

Total Profit: $1,167,205,805

Season 34 Summary

1. Superman: Doomsday : $1,375,880,901

2. X-Men: Age of Apocalypse : $923,966,438

3. Sgt. Rock : $306,851,781

4. The Flintstones : $252,498,418

5. Blade : $250,255,982

6. Robopocalypse : $242,879,106

7. Nineteen Eighty-Four - Part Two : $196,422,340

8. Police Story: Retribution : $193,264,489

9. Texas Chainsaw Masscre: Flesh and Blood : $171,968,784

10. The Guns of Peridido : $140,827,484

11. Macbeth : $139,632,495

12. Material Girl : $122,488,175

13. Starlight : $120,348,292

14. Coriolanus : $111,622,648

15. The Crow: Yomi : $104,009,701

16. DOOM : $99,875,329

17. Full Custody : $92,216,290

18. All the Fives : $77,974,884

19. Exodus : $76,164,182

20. Tethered : $72,326,511

21. The Revolution : $66,457,329

22. Tears of an Angel : $57,752,201

23. Offside : $56,856,331

24. Ruby Ridge : $45,071,924

25. Assata : $41,351,852

26. Heist Society : $33,109,892

27. Convalescence : $19,377,305

28. Test of Time : $17,123,993

29. Mises : $14,000,561

30. Blood Brothers : $8,976,856

Release: Superman: Doomsday

 

Superman: Doomsday

Genre: Action/Superhero/Sci-Fi

Director: Jeff Nichols

Writer: John Malone

Based on DC Comics characters

Cast: Aidan Turner, Dakota Johnson, Daniel Craig, Chloe Grace Moretz, Frances McDormand, Halle Berry, Colin Firth, Gary Sinise, Bradley Whitford, Noel Fisher, Hugh Laurie, Mia Kirshner

Budget: $242,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $650,007,001

Foreign Box Office: $725,873,900

Total Profit: $541,189,492

Reaction: While this Superman film is highest grossing in the series, increased costs mean it does not come in as the most profitable. Still a major (and MUCH needed) success, the costs are something to pay attention to once a franchise hits over three films (and this being the fourth Superman film).

"Director Jeff Nichols and writer John Malone do it again with their combined mastery of marrying grand-scale superhero spectacle with aching human drama. The film's middle act - anchored by the titular hero's absence on Earth - is unexpectedly moving, with Chloe Grace Moretz, Frances McDormand, and Dakota Johnson turning in soulful performances as the grieving women in Superman's life. The action is thunderous throughout, even if Daniel Craig's Lex Luthor feels a touch underutilized by the end and the resurrection arc is a bit rushed." - Gideon Pike, The Monarch Ledger

“Superman: Doomsday delivers the Man of Steel’s most emotionally grounded and thematically resonant arc since Man of Steel, blending mythic heroism with real-world paranoia and loss. Aidan Turner’s Superman is soulful and weary, and Daniel Craig’s Lex Luthor is chillingly persuasive. The death and resurrection hit with real weight, bolstered by Chloe Moretz’s strong, understated Supergirl. It drags slightly post-death and Lois deserved a stronger final act, but when Superman soars back in the black suit? Cinema." - Dexter Quinn, Cinematic Observer Newsletter

"Though it feels like two stories mixed into one and it tends to feel complacent at times, this Superman film is definitely the most emotional of the series. Malone continues to find ways to elevate his Clark Kent/Superman journey with each passing film as Aiden Turner shines as the Man of Tomorrow in his toughest battle yet. But overall, its Daniel Craig as Luther who steals the show again as the DCCU's grandest continuing villain."  - Michael Carthage, Associated Press

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action/violence and some thematic elements

Comic to Film: Superman: Doomsday

 

Welcome back for one last Season 34 edition of Comic to Film! This time around we are going to take a look at the latest DC Comics Universe offering - the anticipated fourth Superman film from director Jeff Nichols (Superman: Exile, Judas Iscariot) and writer John Malone (Starship Troopers, Lucifer).... Superman: Doomsday!