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.