Critical Week: Oscar pulls a switcheroo

The 89th Academy Awards ended with a major upset on Sunday night, as Moonlight won the Best Picture Oscar over seemingly set-in-stone favourite La La Land, which had scooped up almost everything in its path during awards season. And it was made even more memorable when this important triumph was so badly botched by officials from PwC, who gave the wrong envelope to presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty (a 50th anniversary Bonnie & Clyde reunion), who announced La La Land. And it took two long minutes to correct the error. Watching this unfold live was simply astonishing, one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Oscar history. It definitely overshadowed just how amazing Moonlight's win is.

There were hints early on that the expected La La Land sweep wasn't going to happen, as awards were handed out to Hacksaw Ridge, Arrival, Fantastic Beasts and even Suicide Squad before La La Land won its first statuette. In the end, La La Land won 6 awards to Moonlight's 3. Other than Best Picture, there were no real upsets. Speeches were terrific, with pointed political jabs and lots of wonderfully emotional moments.

Jimmy Kimmel did a solid job as host, maintaining his jokes all the way through the ceremony (something few hosts manage). He also gave his continual mocking of Trump a jokey tone. Some of his bits didn't really work (the tour bus) and others were recycled (mean tweets), but his dry approach was very funny, and the ongoing banter with Matt Damon genuinely hilarious.

---

Before leaving Los Angeles, I managed to catch up with Get Out, Jordan Peele's superbly original horror drama - witty, scary and very clever. And back in London I headed to a screening of the strikingly original superhero thriller Logan, Hugh Jackman's last outing as Wolverine. On the plane in between, I revisited one of my all-time favourites, Mel Brooks' classic Blazing Saddles, which still makes me laugh uncontrollably.

Coming up this week, we have screenings of the new mega-blockbuster Kong: Skull Island, Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper, Stephen Fry's Hippopotamus, the Argentine drama Bromance, and the dark romance Fair Haven, to start with.

Out on a Limb: Oscar picks & predictions

Once again, here are my choices and who I think will win at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday. My track record on this is a bit spotty, but I am a realist, knowing that Oscar voters often award the wrong people for the right reasons.....

P I C T U R E
Will/should win: La La Land
Dark horse: Moonlight

F O R E I G N   F I L M
Will win: The Salesman
Should/could win: Toni Erdmann
Dark horse: A Man Called Ove

A N I M A T E D   F E A T U R E
Will win: Zootopia
Should/could win:  Kubo and the Two Strings

D O C U M E N T A R Y
Will win: 13th
Should win:  Fire at Sea
Could win: OJ: Made in America

D I R E C T O R
Will win: Damien Chazelle - La La Land
Should win:  Barry Jenkins - Moonlight

A C T R E S S
Will/should win: Isabelle Huppert - Elle
Quite likely: Emma Stone - La La Land
Dark horse: Natalie Portman - Jackie

A C T O R
Will/should win: Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea
Quite likely: Denzel Washington - Fences
Dark horse: Ryan Gosling - La La Land

S U P P O R T I N G   A C T R E S S
Will win: Viola Davis - Fences
Should win/dark horse: Naomie Harris - Moonlight

S U P P O R T I N G   A C T O R
Will win: Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
Should win:  Lucas Hedges - Manchester By The Sea
Dark horse: Dev Patel - Lion

O R I G I N A L   S C R E E N P L A Y
Will/should win: Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea
Could win: Damien Chazelle - La La Land

A D A P T E D   S C R E E N P L A Y
Will/should win: Barry Jenkins - Moonlight
Dark horse: Luke Davies - Lion

S C O R E
Will win: Justin Hurwitz - La La Land
Should win:  Mica Levi - Jackie

S O N G
Will win: City of Stars - La La Land
Should win:  Audition (The Fools Who Dream) - La La Land

C I N E M A T O G R A P H Y
Will win: Linus Sandgren - La La Land
Should win:  James Laxton - Moonlight

P R O D U C T I O N   D E S I G N
Will win: David Wasco - La La Land
Should win:  Jess Gonchor - Hail, Caesar!

F I L M   E D I T I N G
Will win: Tom Cross - La La Land
Should win:  Joe Walker - Arrival

C O S T U M E S
Will/should win: Madeline Fontaine - Jackie
Could win: Mary Zophres - La La Land

E F F E C T S
Will/should win: The Jungle Book

M A K E - U P   &   H A I R
Will/should win: A Man Called Ove

S O U N D   
Should win:  Arrival
Will win: La La Land

37th Critics' Circle Film Awards: words and pictures...

These three ladies were the stars of Sunday night's 37th London Critics' Circle Film Awards, held at the May Fair Hotel. I'm the chair of the event, so spend most of the year organising it with a hard-working committee, lots of helpers and some great sponsors. And we spread the winners around this year. Above: Kate Beckinsale won British/Irish Actress, Isabelle Huppert won both Actress of the Year for Things to Come and the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film, and Naomie Harris won Supporting Actress for Moonlight.

Here's the team: me, our actor-filmmaker hosts Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, and Critics' Circle President Anna Smith.

When Isabelle Huppert was presented with the Dilys Powell Award - an honour we have wanted to bestow on her for years - the audience rose for a standing ovation.

Tom Bennett won Supporting Actor for Love & Friendship, Ken Loach won British/Irish Film of the Year for I, Daniel Blake.

Lewis MacDougall won Young British/Irish Performer for his work in A Monster Calls, while writer-director Babak Anvari won Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker for Under the Shadow.

Naomie Harris poses with her award alongside her Moonlight costar Alex Hibbert, who accepted the Supporting Actor award for Mahershala Ali. And on the right, director Brady Hood with his lead actress Jessica Barden - winners of British/Irish Short Film of the Year for Sweet Maddie Stone.

Accepting the Documentary prize for Fire at Sea were editor Jacopo Quadri and producer Donatella Palermo. And here's an intriguing couple: will we see Isabelle starring in Ken's next movie?

Some winners who couldn't be with us recorded video messages. These included Casey Affleck, who won Actor of the Year for Manchester by the Sea, and Andrew Garfield, who was named British/Irish Actor of the Year. Two winners sent written messages: Kenneth Lonergan for Screenplay accepting Manchester by the Sea, and Maren Ade accepting Foreign-Language Film for Toni Erdmann.

Damien Chazelle recorded his video to accept Film of the Year for La La Land on his phone just after landing on a flight to China. Laszlo Nemes sent thanks for Director of the Year for Son of Saul from the middle of pre-production on his new film in Hungary. And cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grovlen thanked the critics for his Technical Achievement Award for Victoria from Montserrat.

Nominees celebrating with us for the evening included Dave Johns (I, Daniel Blake), Sennia Nanua (The Girl With All the Gifts) and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo (Sing Street).

More nominees: writer-director Mia Hansen-Love (Things to Come), filmmaker Otto Bell (The Eagle Huntress) and composer Mica Levi (Jackie).

Special guests with us included Love & Friendship costars Morfyd Clark and Emma Greenwell, as well as George MacKay.

And finally, here are a couple of snaps of me - on the left with Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen, and on the right with Kate Beckinsale. The Sun ran this photo hinting that I was her "dapper" date for the evening. Hmmm!

36th Shadows Awards: Happy New Year!

There's an even wider variety than usual in my top 10 this year, but all of these are films I simply couldn't forget, mainly due to the sheer skill of the filmmakers. Pablo Larrain brought unusual depth and complexity to his exploration of legacy and celebrity in Jackie; Gianfranco Rosi's Fire at Sea is a timely documentary, a heart-pounding adventure and a heart-rending drama at the same time; Damien Chazelle's La La Land is a joyous celebration of love and aspiration in a city known for making and crushing dreams. Those are just the top three, and I feel as strongly about all the movies in my top 50 this year. (Long lists happen when you see some 500 movies a year!) Full lists and then some are ON THE SITE...

BEST FILMS

1. Jackie (Pablo Larrain)
2. Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosi)
3. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
4. Son of Saul (Laszlo Nemes)
5. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
6. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
7. Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight)
8. It's Only the End of the World (Xavier Dolan)
9. The Woman Who Left (Lav Diaz)
10. Under the Shadow (Babak Anvari)

DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

WRITER

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

ACTRESS 

Isabelle Huppert (Elle, Things to Come)

ACTOR

Geza Rohrig (Son of Saul)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Naomie Harris (Moonlight, Our Kind of Traitor, Collateral Beauty)

SUPPORTING ACTOR 

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

WORST FILMS

1. The Boss (Ben Falcone)
2. Ride Along 2 (Tim Story)
3. Stonewall (Roland Emmerich)
4. Assassin's Creed (Justin Kurzel)
5. Inferno (Ron Howard)
6. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (Jake Szymanski)
7. The Greasy Strangler (Jim Hosking)
8. Bad Santa 2 (Mark Waters)
9. London Has Fallen (Babak Najafi)
10. Warcraft (Duncan Jones)

LFF 2: Looking for trouble

The 60th London Film Festival demonstrated its size today with a blinding array of screenings all over the city. And in the press zone, our screenings were all overcrowded, vividly showing that (1) the festival has too many movies, (2) the wildly popular films are being screened too few times, and (3) there are too many journalists and industry professionals who need to see them. But then, this is a massive festival that's covered all over the world. It may not feature many proper world premieres, but it's bringing the best of the premiere festivals to an audience that's clamouring for more of this kind of programming. Some highlights from Thursday...

American Honey
dir-scr Andrea Arnold; with Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf 16/UK **. 
Filmmaker Andrea Arnold astutely slices through American youth culture with this meandering road trip, which is gorgeously photographed by Robbie Ryan and played with bracing honesty by its fresh-faced cast (pictured above). But with so little structure to the plot, the extended running time feels at least an hour too long. Especially since the events stop making logical sense and the characters stubbornly refuse to take their own internal journeys.

La La Land
dir-scr Damien Chazelle; with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone 16/US ****.
This colourful musical about Los Angeles is both a celebration and a cautionary tale about the city of dreams. Its buoyant tone and fizzy performances make it a delight from start to finish, even when things turn rather dark along the way. Writer-director Damien Chazelle proves that Whiplash was no fluke: this is a bravura display of pure cinematic joy. FULL REVIEW >

King Cobra
dir-scr Justin Kelly; with Garrett Clayton, Christian Slater 16/US ***
Based on an outrageous true story, this film grips the audience with its colourful characters and unpredictable situations. But the script struggles to find a point of view, which means that it's not easy to identify with anyone on-screen, so it's difficult to find the emotional core to what happens. A more focussed dramatic approach might have made a better film, but this is still a riveting story.

Moonlight
dir-scr Barry Jenkins; with Trevante Rhodes, Andre Holland 16/US ****
With its intimate approach and deeply resonant themes, this film gets under the skin right from the start, putting us in the shoes of the lead character at three points in his life. His journey to self-discovery is difficult, partly because he is painfully withdrawn due to his tough life experiences. And what this movie has to say is so important that it deserves all the the attention and awards it gets.

Mirzya
dir Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra; with Harshvardhan Kapoor, Saiyami Kher 16/Ind ***
Infused with music and history, this bold Bollywood epic parallels a modern story of forbidden love against a mythological romance. The settings and design work are stunning, with frequent cutaways to elaborately choreographed songs. So even if it all feels somewhat corny for Western audiences, the grand scale keeps it entertaining. FULL REVIEW >

And along with La La Land, there were two films I saw in Venice screening today in London: Francois Ozon's terrific post-war drama Frantz and Stephane Brize's deconstructed 19th century drama A Woman's Life.

Venezia 73: Swept away on day 1

Greetings from the end of Day 1 at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. This is my first time at this festival - and my first visit in Venice itself (although I was born in Venice, California, if that counts for anything). I'm staying here on the Lido, not far from the Palazzo, Casino and other rather fabulous venues, but my life consists of attending unglamorous press screenings and scrabbling around for food (there are no cafes nearby) and wifi (which seems like a luxury). Today's films included the festival opener, and I spotted Emma Stone on the red carpet...

La La Land
dir-scr Damien Chazelle; with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone 16/US ****.
This colourful musical about Los Angeles is both a celebration and a cautionary tale about the city of dreams. Its buoyant tone and fizzy performances make it a joy from start to finish, even when things turn rather dark along the way. Writer-director Damien Chazelle proves that Whiplash was no fluke: this is a bravura display of pure cinematic joy.

The Light Between Oceans
dir-scr Derek Cianfrance; with Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander 16/NZ ***
Fans of sweeping romantic epics will enjoy this florid love story, its emotive performances and picturesque scenery. Those who find tortured melodrama just a touch exhausting will find it a bit of a chore to sit through. But it’s beautifully made and well-acted by a fine cast. An even if it doesn’t have much to say thematically, there’s at least some intriguing moral twistiness. (That's Vikander and Fassbender, above.)

Heartstone [Hjartasteinn]
dir-scr Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson; with Baldur Einarsson Blaer Hinriksson 16/Ice ***., 
Dark and sometimes very grim, this Icelandic teen drama tackles a serious topic in an intensely personal way. Set in a rural area, the small community ramps up the emotions to the breaking point, pulling the audience into the story with serious force.

I'll add to this blog as I get the chance, and upload reviews to the site when possible. Tomorrow's films are Denis Villeneuve's Arrival, Alice Lowe's Prevenge, Gabriele Muccino's L'Estate Addosso and the Filipino drama Pamilya Ordinaryo.