We haven't seen all the movies that have come out last year (because that's impossible), but these are our picks of the ones we have seen.
1. Picture
The Northman. It was difficult to choose between Decision to Leave and The Northman, but overall everything about the latter simply hit us harder. It's what Hollywood epics used to be like, and goddamn we miss them. Grand in scale, yet intimate in storytelling.
2. Actor
Brendan Fraser (The Whale). A very human and nuanced performance that touched us. Fraser really brings out the empathy and emotion in his character.
3. Actress
Zar Amir-Ebrahimi (Holy Spider). This was a no-brainer. Watch her performance for its subtlety. It particularly speaks to those who have been under the yoke of religious repression.
4. Director
Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave). He did the best homage to Hitchcock we've ever seen, and it's magnificent.
5. Supporting actor
Nicholas Hoult (The Menu). This performance was surprising, because it first fooled us to think that the character was simply a buffoon so the revelation of his disturbing side was very effective.
6. Supporting actress
Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once). It was a toss up between Curtis and Kerry Condon. We decided to go with comedy once again, especially since women are rarely cast in comedic roles and are awarded for those performances even more rarely. In addition, Jamie Lee Curtis is an underrated comedic actress.
7. Original score
Jo Yeong-wook (Decision to Leave). Anytime this dude composes a film soundtrack, he should get all the awards. Unless Joe Hisaishi has worked with Miyazaki again (and since Morricone kicked the bucket). Since we knew that Park Chan-wook would obviously have his trusted buddy compose the music, we also knew that this category would have no other contestants for us. After researching how his name is spelled though, he has way too many names!
8. Soundscape
Johnny Burns, José Antonio García & Jeff Smith (Nope). Sound is really important for horror movies because they build the atmosphere and with that comes the dread for the audience. Nope excelled.
9. Visual & special effects
Sagar Adokar & Neil Champion (Men). This is how you do body horror right. The psychological aspect of it is reminiscent of Akira and the effects themselves remind you of Carpenter's The Thing.
10. Editing
Elísabeth Ronaldsdóttir (Bullet Train). Once again, we had to choose between two movies (this and The Northman). But it's so uncommon these days to have an action flick, where the editing works 100% of the time. There are no unnecessary super fast cuts or shaky cam here.
11. Cinematography
Kim Ji-young (Decision to Leave). Perfection. Utter perfection. The aerial shots were amazing. The cinematographer is an expert in film intertextuality.
12. Costume, make up & hair
Gersha Phillips, Leslie Ann Kleinhans & Louisa V. Anthony (The Woman King). This was the best part of the movie, too bad the editing couldn't live up to the rest of it. But the costumes, different hair and make up was really memorable. The colours were stunning.
13. Stunts & choreography
Timothy Eulich, Andy Le & Brian Le. We like the action maybe better in Bullet Train, but c'mon, Michelle Yeoh kicks ass! She deserves all the accolades, especially in this department.
14. Production design
Florencia Martin (Babylon). We had to give it to Babylon. The set designs are so elaborate and over the top, but they also really pay off.
15. Original screenplay
Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin). The dialogue is to die for, the black humour is skillfully outrageous and McDonagh knows when silence is needed. He is the opposite to Christopher Nolan.
16. Adapted screenplay
Zak Olkewicz (Bullet Train, based on the Kôtarô Isaka book). We can't say how faithful it is to its original work, but the movie is fantastic. All the characters are really well fleshed out, and make a great ensemble. We're against elitism and the idea that only serious movies should be considered award worthy. It's really damn difficult to write an all around entertaining and fun film.
