Team Experience Awards ... with love to Carol, Ex Machina, Girlhood, and more
Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 11:30AM Amir here, to welcome you to the 4th annual Team Experience Awards, bestowed on the year’s best in film by the Film Experience community (you can read about us here) – sans Nathaniel, our host; you can follow his personal awards here. In the past three installments, we honoured Leos Carax’s Holy Motors (France/Germany), Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (USA/UK) and Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin (UK/USA/Switzerland) as our Best Pictures.
Perhaps it won’t surprise you that the awards below, particularly in the craft categories, are more or less dominated by a couple of films that we have all been championing throughout the year, but the usual caveats of all our team posts apply to this one as well. Though the final results might be not be shocking, there were bloodbaths in most categories with many strong contenders for each prize. The best actress category’s contenders, for example, were separated by a hair, rather fittingly, given the winner and and the runner-up.
Some of these behind the scenes details are listed in the trivia section, but without further ado, here are the winners of 2015’s Team Experience Awards:
BEST PICTURE
Carol Runner-up: Brooklyn
BEST UNRELEASED FILM
The Lobster Runner-up: Chevalier
foreign film, acting prizes, and craft achievements after the jump...
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Girlhood Runner-up: Son of Saul
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
The Look of Silence Runner-up: In Jackson Heights
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Inside Out Runner-up: Shaun the Sheep
BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes (Carol) Runner-up: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Inside Out Runner-up: Spotlight
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Carol Runners-up: (tied) Brooklyn, 45 Years
BEST ACTOR
Tom Courtenay (45 Years) Runner-up: Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
BEST ACTRESS
Rooney Mara (Carol) Runner-up: Cate Blanchett (Carol)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina) Runner-up: Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria) Runner-up: Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)
BEST ENSEMBLE
Spotlight Runner-up: Brooklyn
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Carol Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Carol Runner-up: Brooklyn
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Ex Machina Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST MAKEUP
Mad Max: Fury Road Runner-up: MacBeth
BEST EDITING
Carol Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Mad Max: Fury Road Runner-up: Sicario
BEST MUSIC
Carol Runner-up: It Follows
Trivia
• A whopping 206 films were voted for in all categories, beating our previous record by more than 40 films. Sixty-one different films were voted for in the best picture category, covering all six continents, more than 20 languages, and the entire span of the globe, from The Assassin to Timbuktu to The Pearl Button.
• The earliest release for a film with a best picture vote on our ballots is January 2nd (Bruno Dumont’s L’il Quinquin), though you could argue that Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly is the oldest, given it was originally released in Iran and Europe in 2009. The latest release is Christmas Day (45 Years, The Hateful Eight, The Revenant).
• The borderline case of Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina was voted highly in the best supporting actress category, but there’s no trace of category fraud in our lead actress selection, where both Carol ladies were included. It was a tight, hard-fought battle all the way through between Mara, Blanchett and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), who in the end could not separate the two lovers.
• Frederick Wiseman continues to be Team Experience’s most beloved director. His last three films have all made our lineup: At Berkeley was the runner-up in 2013; National Gallery was the winner last year.
• Our acting awards weren’t as white as the Academy’s (this is not a call and response: our voting closed on January 8th.) Aside from the above mentioned Jordan and Isaac, Benicio Del Toro would also be included were we to expand our nominees to a full roster of twenty. Oscar acting nominees who didn’t receive a single vote from our team? Brian Cranston and Rachel McAdams. McAdams at least has the consolation prize of the best ensemble award. On the other hand, Trumbo didn’t receive any votes in any categories.
• By far the most popular film of which you can see no sign here is Diary of a Teenage Girl, a close contender in several categories, including screenplay, actress and supporting actor.
• Finally, here’s the team full top ten list:
- Carol
- Brooklyn
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- 45 Years
- Tangerine
- Room
- Inside Out
- Sicario
- Son of Saul
- Spotlight
Reader Comments (61)
I love that Best Actor pick. The Carol ladies and Rampling that's just an amazing trio
Good list! The only one I haven't seen of these that I'm dying to is 45 Years. My top 10:
1. Sicario
2. Spotlight
3. Diary of a Teenage Girl
4. Youth
5. Ex Machina
6. Steve Jobs
7. Carol
8. The Revenant
9. Mad Max: Fury Road
10. Far from the Madding Crowd
Movies that were so bad they pissed me off: Crimson Peak, Spectre, Jurassic World
Movies I kind of liked that almost no one else did: Tomorrowland, Jupiter Ascending, Fifty Shades of Grey
Most overrated: The Martian, Room, Brooklyn
Movies that were good, but I wanted to like a lot more than I did: Legend, Beasts of No Nation, Inside Out
Such great choices - particularly in the male categories, treading where Oscar and most critics groups don't consider treading.
Isaac AND Hoult - hooray! Great list. Can't wait for The Lobster to finally come out.
WOW. true story readers: I don't even see these until you do so they're as much of a surprise to me. And i love these winners. I knew the team liked BROOKLYN and 45 YEARS for example but i didn't know *that* much.
naturally the CAROL love doesn't surprise me though. Because i work with good people. ;)
SPOTLIGHT was a piece of dull smelly shit. Can't believe Ruffalo got an Oscar nod for his silly performance.
CATEGORY FRAUD!!!!!!!!
Vikander and Isaac are leading!
Great picks, but it's kinda ironic that a website which is so vocally against category fraud would award its supporting actress prize (and runner-up!) to a lead performance.
Potter- I think that film’s only lead character is Domnhall Gleeson. The story is both about him and “narrated” by him, as he’s our guide to that world. And the film begins with him, and just about ends with him as well, and he has the most screen time. Vikander I think is a borderline case that can swing either way, but Isaac is evidently not the lead.
I was shot down when I suggested Vikander was supporting in Ex Machina on another thread so I will just sit quietly in the corner :-)
how can Son of Saul be on your 10 best but not your choice of best foreign film..
Only two movies on the Best Picture list have men exclusively in the leads, and they're both at the bottom. Color me impressed.
ZV -- they don't let me vote on them. ( I agree with you that Vikander is Lead in Ex-Machina... )
... but i actually do think that Kristen Stewart is supporting. The entire story is about a movie star (Binoche) being asked to revisit her star making role from the older woman perspective and all the psychological angst that comes with that. I think Stewart's role is akin to Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs. It's a huge role but the story is never ever about her. the same cannot be said of the year's most famous fraudsters Vikander (Danish Girl) and Mara (Carol) who both star in love stories about couples. Remove either of them and you've got no story at all.
If you remove Oscar Isaac, you have no story at all either. He is the mastermind playnig with both Vikander and Gleeson and is present in every single story bit of the screenplay
I agree with Amir and Nathaniel in their two comments here. Though it's also worth conceding (as I know they agree, and are obvious backgrounds to their comments) that being against blatant miscategorization is not the same as denying that many movies feature borderline cases that truly could go either way. That is emphatically not the case with Mara, Tremblay, Segel, Taylor, and several other "supporting" players from the past year.
Really happy with these lists, especially the Courtenay/Jordan double-header in Actor and the Mara victory for Actress. Thought Mad Max would do even better than it did, though it still came through strongly. Would be fascinating to see the results as an actual Oscar ballots, with the top 5 choices in each category, though I know that'd be a lot of work for Amir!
Isaac is definitely Supporting? I remember leaving the theater and being surprised that he wasn't in it more, because the trailer indicated otherwise (to me). maybe it feels like a lead performance because his presence looms so large over the whole movie, both figuratively and literally, since we're constantly reminded of his silent, unceasing surveillance over the other two characters.
Thank you so much Team Experience for this post! I appreciate the level of effort, thought, and passion (and taste, although that's less important) that goes into these awards. Keep up the great work!
I find myself totally at odds with the world regarding Carol. I agree that it seems really perfect. I would give the acting, cinematography, costuming, sets, etc. almost perfect scores. But when I was sitting in the theater actually watching it I was utterly bored!! I just couldn't get into it, which really isn't like me.
I think the problem for me was the movie was so predictable. I knew absolutely everything that was going to happen until Carol and Teres actually get together - and that didn't happen until an hour and 15 minutes into the movie. The other people I was with said that they didn't mind the predictability because they were sucked in by the tension. But I was distracted by how much I felt Carol and Teres were terrible for each other.
I found myself being more interested in Sarah Paulson's character's story, or wondering about the lives of the lesbians we see in the records store, or what was up with Carrie Brownstein's character we saw for a hot second.
It's a very surreal experience to have almost nothing but good things to say about a movie, but have my actual experience of watching it be so dull.
DO- We have separate voting categories for picture, foreign, doc and animated films. In other words, the best foreign film winner is NOT the foreign film with the highest vote in best picture. Some voters choose to leave out their foreign/doc picks from the picture category, hence why you don't see Girlhood (which only made it to the top 15) in the top 10, but Son of Saul is there.
Nick- I can post the top fives in a comment later tonight.
I admire Team Experience's consistency. ;-)
@ the izz: I know how you feel, but I am looking forward to watching Carol again before the Oscars to make sure I wasn't temporarily insane or otherwise indisposed at my first viewing. It's definitely not my favorite Haynes, and right now it might not even make my Top 5 of 2015 (Son of Saul, Mad Max: Fury Road, Tangerine, 45 Years, Ex Machina, Room, Brooklyn, The Revenant and Inside Out are all contenders for that).
About Elly is so amazing.
These are wonderful choices!
Not factoring the incredible About Elly, since it's original theatrical release was 6 years before its US release, and I haven't seen Son of Saul yet, but here are my charts...
Picture
Carol
45 Years
Mustang
Room
Tangerine
Spotlight
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Heart of a Dog
Girlhood
Mad Max: Fury Road
Director
Todd Haynes - Carol
Andrew Haigh - 45 Years
Deniz Gamze Ergüven - Mustang
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Actress
Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Rooney Mara - Carol
Lily Tomlin - Grandma
Brie Larson - Room
Actor
Jacob Tremblay - Room
Christopher Abbott - James White
Tom Courtenay - 45 Years
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Michael B. Jordan - Creed
Supporting Actress
Kristen Stewart - Clouds of Sils Maria
Sarah Paulsen - Carol
Cynthia Nixon - James White
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs
Marion Cotillard - Macbeth
Supporting Actor
Oscar Isaac - Ex Machina
Benicio Del Toro - Sicario
James Ransone - Tangerine
Emory Cohen - Brooklyn
Harvey Keitel - Youth
Also, I don't see things like Fantastic 4 or whatever, so I wholeheartedly believe Joy was the worst movie of the year.
@Nathaniel: yeah but she's rehearsing that play by having her assistant do the role she once did when she was young. kristen stewart's role is huge in the movie and much of its juicier and core moments wouldn't exist without her. plus once she leaves the picture her absence is felt for the remainder 30 minutes of it or so (and I think that's very intentional from assayas' direction too).
my comment seemed a bit bitch in tone now that I'm reading. it wasn't meant to be at all so I apologize if I came across as snarky. (I tagged you yesterday on my line-up for best actress on facebook, which indeed includes kristen stewart in clouds of sils maria haha)
@Nathaniel: yeah but the rehearsal of the play, which is at the core of clouds of sils maria, wouldn't even be possible without kristen stewart's character standing in for the young assistant role binoche once did. I think that character is vital to the movie and nearly any of its juicier and most cathartic moments wouldn't exist without her. plus once she leaves the picture her absence is felt so intensely for those remainder 30 minutes or so (and I think that's very intentional from assayas' direction too).
my comment seemed a bit bitchy in tone now that I'm reading. it wasn't meant to be at all so I apologize if I came across as snarky. (I tagged you yesterday on my line-up for best actress on facebook, which indeed includes kristen stewart in clouds of sils maria haha)
I appreciate the effort the team makes, and like some of the choices you made, but we disagree on a few things, as friends are liable to do.
Ex Machina for visual effects over Mad Max Fury Road?? - you may like this little film but no way it was better than MMFR in that department. Ditto best editing.
I appreciate that you have thrown some recognition to Nicholas Hoult but he should have won his category. Yes Oscar Issac dances, but Hoult had a much more difficult part.
Best ensemble - again I would reverse the order Brooklyn>Spotlight
Kristen Stewart is perfect as best supporting, IMHO - Vikander is lead. Runner up should be Kate Winslet who made Steve Jobs watchable for me.
I'm still Team Ronan on best actress but they are all so good, so...it was a fun year to watch some films, and the real Oscars will not be quite as satisfying. thank you for your good taste.
These are some great pics. Especially happy for the Best Actor choices. Oscar dropped the ball on this one.
Ex-Machina is a three-hander--you take out one, there is no story. Isaac is lead.
My Top Ten: Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, Ex Machina, Brooklyn, The Revenant, Room, 45 Years, The Martian, Creed, Son of Saul
^^^ITA (been awhile since I typed those letters).
Don't get this "If you take out [said character] there is no story, so they must be lead" argument or where it came from. What exactly does that mean? If a movie starts out with a character making a pivotal decision that starts a chain sequence of events for the rest of the film, but that same character dies 15 minutes in, does that mean that that character is a lead? Does that mean that supporting roles should only constitute ones that are fluffy and dispensable to the story? That disqualifies about most of the supporting performances this year that are unanimously agreed upon as supporting - Mark Rylance in BOS, Tom Hardy in The Revenant, Sylvestor Stallone. Without their characters/performances, their films collapse from a story perspective.
Proud of our picks as always, but I find the "pat on the back for diversity" kinda distasteful. We don't set out to vote for these with the idea of being tokenists, at least I know I don't, I think what this reflects is that we watch more movies than AMPAS members, and we go outside the comfort zones of "Oscar movies". I wonder how many Oscar voters for instance watched "Girlhood" if it wasn't submitted as a Foreign Film entry...and yet, I know many of us here watched and loved it.
I'm thrilled Jordan is our Actor runner-up because I voted for him too! Not because I needed to fill a diversity quota, but because he was fucking brilliant! So no need to explain our awards not being limited to Caucasian winners.
And yes I agree that all 3 actors are lead in Ex Machina.
stella, I think the actual argument is "If you remove these so-called supporting characters from the movie itself, there is no movie." In other words, the character you described who makes a pivotal decision and dies 15 minutes in could still not appear in the movie (i.e. be reduced to a line of exposition) and the movie would function. But Ava and Nathan are part of a three-hander with Caleb: if any one of them were not there—physically and narratively—there would be no movie. As for Hardy and Rylance, the movies aren't about them, which is why they are supporting. Ex Machina is about all three of its leads. (Stallone is an interesting case, since Creed is actually Rocky VII, so he is arguably a co-lead. But that wouldn't have gotten him an Oscar nomination and likely win.)
I'm not sure I totally agree that the point to which The Danish Girl is about Vikander's character is equal to which it's about Redmayne's. If you take out the little side love affair that Vikander has with Schoenaerts, one could argue the entire movie revolves around Redmayne, including Vikander's reactions. I still think it's a lead because they added that side affair and because of the total screen time, but it's not as clear-cut a case as Mara's character as a lead.
Kinda disagree there, Paul. Nathan is a fascinating character, but if he were to suddenly disappear halfway through the movie, the movie could theoretically remain intact, albeit in a much less interesting way. Nathan and Caleb's interactions are an important parallel/showcase for interaction between humans and manifestations of masculinity, but the essential story is still about the relationship between Caleb and Ava and Ava's consciousness and morality (and lack thereof). More I think about it, the more I'm convinced that Nathan isn't super important and Ava is the true lead.
Who voted for L'il Quinquin? That movie is great. Great!
Precious couldn't exist with Mo'Nique's character, but she is in not the lead of that movie. Every character is put in there for a reason, I see lead as the film's protagonist, the film is told from their point of view/ they have their own storyline / the narrative is built around them, but no movie can exist without it's supporting players.
I love that Ex Machina won visual effects!!
that should have said 'without Mo'Nique's character'
I agree that Ava is the "true" lead (of the three leads), stella. But...
Rami, Mary is a supporting (but pivotal) role to me, because you could reduce the size of the role and still have a movie. (I really, really wonder if Ex Machina would be as compelling or complete if Nathan's role were smaller than it is.)
Jose- It wasn’t meant to be a pat on the back, just statistics. And you know, and it's mentioned in the text as well, that our deadline was before the Academy’s and the controversy surrounding their nominees.
Roark- L’il Quinquin had more than one vote across categories, but its best picture vote came from Tim Brayton.
Fantastic choices. GIRLHOOD particularly is a great choice.
What Nick said
There are all sorts of ways to split hairs on this topic to make a point but when there is no case whatsoever to say that a character is "supporting" when they're half or more of the story it should called out for what it is: fraudulent.Nick and Nathaniel,
Agreed. Except on Vikander (Ex Machina), she is not borderline, she is a true leading.
So interesting to see our consensus choices among our diverse tastes. Genuinely SHOCKED for no Sarah Paulson though, but maybe that's just my love of that performance blinding me.
Somebody tweet this good news at Phyllis Nagy! I am not on the twitters. I reckon she would be thrilled to see the Carol love here :)
Pretty solid said of winners if I say so myself, although yet again it proves that even with people as enlightened and awesome as Film Experience writers, awards are predisposed to sweeps and not at all innocent of the sway of conversation. FWIW, I'd considering Vikander a lead in EX MACHINA and I didn't vote for her in any of her films. I'd also consider Oscar Isaac supporting since.... I don't know. I just consider him as that. It's not a science (runtime is never the only thing) and subjective. Eh.
Great list! So Rampling was no.3 in the voting? & Blanchett lost by ONE vote??
It wld've been perfect had Mara & Blanchett both tied for best actress. There will be no luv story or Carol w/o either... I alws felt that they shld have both won best actress at Cannes. I believe that Blanchett's ultra goddess status worked against her somewhat in Cannes &.........maybe here?
Here are some of the top 5 lists in full:
Director
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
Tangerine
Look of Silence
Son of Saul
Original Screenplay
Inside Out
Spotlight
Ex Machina
Tangerine
Clouds of Sils Maria
Adapted Screenplay
Carol
Brooklyn
45 Years
Room
Diary of a Teenage Girl
Actor
Tom Courtenay
Michael B. Jordan
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Jacob Tremblay
Michael Fassbender (Macbeth)
Actress
Rooney Mara
Cate Blanchett
Charlotte Rampling
Saoirse Ronan
Brie Larson
Supporting Actor
Oscar Isaac
Nicholas Hoult
Silvester Stallone
Emory Cohen
Benicio Del Toro
Supporting Actress
Kristen Stewart
Alicia Vikander
Kate Winslet
Rose Byrne
Sarah Paulson
it was fun to participate and the winners are all fantastic...
My list
Best Pic
Carol
runner-up: Ex-Machina
Best Director
Todd Haynes (Carol)
ru: Christian Petzold (Phoenix)
Best Actress
Nina Hoss (Phoenix)
ru: Cate Blanchett AND Rooney Mara (Carol)
Best Actor:
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
ru: Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)
Supp Actress:
Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina)
ru: Kristen Steward (Clouds of Sils Maria)
Supp Actor:
Oscar Isaac (Ex-Machina)
ru: Emory Cohen (Brooklyn)
Screenplay:
Phyllis Nagy (Carol)
ru: Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
Cinematography:
Ed Lachman (Carol)
ru: Lee Ping Bin (The Assassin)
Costume:
Sandy Powell (Carol)
ru: Sandy Powell (Cinderella)