Best of the Critics Choice Awards: Will Smith, Melanie Lynskey and more...

by Nathaniel R 

Lady Gaga literally watching the CCAs from London. Did you watch and if so where from?

Just hours after BAFTA had wrapped last night, the Critics Choice Awards were held. That means we've reached the end of the televised precursor awards; there are still a couple of non-televised precursors next weekend (the Producers and Writers Guild) but we're now in the home stretch. So let's discuss the highs of the CCA ceremony as well as what it all means (and doesn't) for Oscar, category by category...

BEST TV WIN [TIE]

 
We've rarely been so happy with television acting wins. Out gay Australian actor Murray Bartlett, who we've loved since Looking, took Supporting Actor Drama for The White Lotus. Much deserved.

Later in the evening Melanie Lynskey, a longtime friend to The Film Experience and one of the secret weapons of numerous projects since way back to her startling debut in Heavenly Creatures, finally won a major prize. She took Best Actress in a Drama Series for her genius work in Yellowjackets. Here's to hoping that the Emmy is next. Congratulations, Melanie!

BEST GEOGRAPHICALLY-ADJACENT MOVIE WIN

Shortly after Melanie won, with her always endearing New Zealand accent warming our hearts, we got another reminder of the amazing year Hollywood's New Zealand-contingent is having when ubiquitous Taikiki Waititi presented Oscar-bound Jane Campion with her 68th Best Director prize this season (we're exaggerating... but not by much!). Campion devoted a surprising amount of her speech to stanning Venus and Serena Williams who got a lot of camera time at the King Richard table. Who knew that Campion was so into tennis?!

She surprised the room with a left-turn swerve while talking about tennis and seguewaying into her own long career -- referring to herself at one point as the 'grandmother' of the female directors movement.

'Venus and Serena, you’re such marvels, however, you don’t play against the guys, like I have to.'

The loopy joking -- celebrities do tend to get drunk at these events -- clearly didn't land with everyone but Campion has been a true pioneer in cinema and it's nice to see her collecting so many awards. 

BEST SPEECH

Billy Crystal was mahvelous when accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award honoring a 50 year career in film and on television. Between this and the joy of many years of the Cecil B DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, it's stupefying that the Academy still doesn't understand that lifetime achievement prizes are the perfect variation within the awards show format. They're an injection of often tear-inducing nostalgia that's not tied to whether or not the audience has seen the shows or films being honored, and they perform the neat hat trick of being both a break from the monotony and more of the same but on steroids. How does the Board of Governors at the Oscars not understand that people tune in to awards shows for the combo of celebrities, clips, and acceptance speeches?

BEST SPEECH -COMPETITIVE WIN

Smith has sometimes gotten himself into jams when speaking publicly over the years but this year he's played everything perfectly. In his multiple acceptance speeches he's wisely and always redirected the spotlight to the Williams family and to his costars, paying lovely tribute especially to Aunjanue Ellis (visibly moved to tears last night). It's very easy for true superstars to believe their own hype and reflect back that everything is about them. This can feel intoxicating or aggravating depending on the celebrity or the speech or the circumstances of the role/season... but Smith hasn't done this at all. He's come across as genuinely appreciative without ever indulging in any shallow false-modesty that superstars also sometimes trip on, when they try to downplay their own achievement. He's played everything perfectly this season and if he hadn't been locked up early on, he still would have gotten there with these speeches. 

BEST GROUP PRESENTERS

We've been asking for news of a Barb & Star sequel for a full year now but we'll have to make do with a reunion of the chatterbox duo (Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo) and their mutual object of affection (Jamie Dornan) as presenters. Their silly banter involved Barb & Star not knowing what Belfast was and confusing it for a biopic about the inventor of weight-loss drink Slimfast. 

BEST SOLO PRESENTER

Alan Kim (Minari), last year's winner for Best Young Performer absolutely slayed  his bit introducing the category this year. 

BEST WINNERS WITHOUT WINS

The King Richard table was a favourite of the cameras, with the goddess Venus and Serena soaking up the love in the room and the table luxuriating in Will Smith's speech. Aunjanue Ellis never had an excuse to leave her seat but boy did she provide great reaction shots. In a way, that's reminiscent of her beautiful King Richard work, elevating the whole affair from the sidelines. 

MOST SHAMELESS REMINDER THAT THE CCAS ARE ALWAYS ABOUT OSCAR PREDICTING AND RARELY ABOUT WHAT THEY ACTUALLY THINK OF THE YEAR'S "BEST"...
All four acting awards being exactly what won at SAG even though "critics" have only co-signed two of those wins in great numbers. But more on that when we breakdown the categories...

WORST OF THE NIGHT?
We were going to go there but the negativity online is getting to us as it usually does at this point in the season so we'd rather just move on. Let's just say the show, as usual, was rough and Taye Diggs and Nicole Byers struggled to find any laughs as the hosts. 

My boyfriend's cat was definitely unimpressed with the show but he's not the target audience. If awards shows would only focus on pleasing their natural audience we'd all be better off.

Full list of winners with commentary...

BEST PICTURE 

• The Power of the Dog

Still award's season's top dog.

BEST ACTOR

•  Will Smith – King Richard

BEST ACTRESS

• Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Jessica Chastain, who tends to attend everything, wasn't there. Where was she?! The only nominee we know was in the room was Kristen Stewart though Lady Gaga was present via their frequent satellite images from a CCA party in London where several of the winners were beamed in from (like Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur and Hannah Waddingham)

Real talk now as a frequently ornery CCA member who wants the organization to embrace their own point of view (the only way to have any real influence or for people to actually care about what you have to say). I LOVE Jessica Chastain, as readers know, and I was delighted for her to win because I think she's just fantastic as Tammy Faye Bakker. But at the same time, her win was a reminder that the CCA does not vote with their hearts but as a form of Oscar punditry. The ceremony was originally going to be held in January but was pushed back to March due to COVID. There is zero doubt, not even a .1% amount of doubt in my mind, that had the ceremony been held before SAG, that Kristen Stewart would have emerged as the winner here. Having met many other CCA members and seen the way critics and journalists and broadcast talking heads talked up Kristen Stewart and their love for her and her performance for MONTHS on end that they preferred her to all the other contenders this year. I never quite understood that love, even as a fan of Stewart's work in general, but it was obviously there. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Troy Kotsur – CODA

Troy Kotsur lost only the Globe on the trip to Oscar. This is another case where you could argue that the CCA abandoned their true favourite (Smit-McPhee) due to Oscar heat for another contender. Though it's more arguably in this case and not quite as obvious as the Best Actress situation.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 

• Ariana DeBose – West Side Story

Ariana DeBose has swept all the televised awards and won the most critics awards this season too.

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS 

• ★ Jude Hill – Belfast

In a mild surprise voters went with the least accomplished (but super cute) performance from the six they nominated. We really thought they'd swing Emilia Jones' way, given the new late-season heat for CODA or perhaps Rachel Zegler to chase her Globe win. But as this category has no Oscar correlative they were free to vote with their hearts rather than as pundits. 

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

• Belfast

With a much different set of nominees than SAG in their parallel category, they couldn't repeat winners and had to think for themselves. The result: Belfast.  

BEST DIRECTOR 

• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog

It's been a long time in coming since she should have won the Oscar in 1993 (you heard me). It's fun, from a trivia standpoint, that she's been up against Steven Spielberg both times she's been in the Oscar mix. 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Kenneth Branagh – Belfast

Will the Oscar go to PTA for Licorice Pizza or Branagh? Both have plentiful career Oscar nominations without a win and it still feels competitive as we head into Oscar night. CCA members were big champions of Belfast early on and despite it losing Oscar heat they surprisingly stuck with it. 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 

• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog

CODA emerged as the surprise winner at BAFTA the same night but the CCA's stuck with the Oscar frontrunner in this category. That leaves us in suspense for Oscar night. We like suspense but in this case it's not enjoyable since CODA is not particularly well written (for all its other charms). If The Power of the Dog is going to lose the Oscar it would be so much easier to take if it lost to a beautifully written piece like Drive My Car (not nominated at the CCAs) or The Lost Daughter. 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 

• Ari Wegner – The Power of the Dog

This is another category that looks competitive going into Oscar night. Will it be The Power of the Dog's gorgeous western landscapes and character attention or Dune's thrilling world-building and desert visas? Ari Wegner has the "narrative" but Oscar voters rarely pay attention to those in the below-the-line categories since the names aren't actually on the ballots, just the film titles.  

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos – Dune

This feels like it's between Nightmare Alley  and Dune  at the Oscars. 

BEST EDITING

•  Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn – West Side Story

In a surprise the CCA went with West Side Story which is NOT nominated for the Oscar. BAFTA went with No Time To Die which is also not nominated for the Oscar. The guild went with King Richard which is. This would have led to a very exciting moment at the Oscars -- anyone could win -- EXCEPT that the Academy opted to demote Editing off the main broadcast. They are truly stupid about why people watch awards shows. Suspense is important and this category definitely has it. 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN 

• Jenny Beavan – Cruella

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP 

• The Eyes of Tammy Faye

With a surprise win at both BAFTA and CCA, Eyes of Tammy Faye emerges as the frontrunner. This is not what we were expecting early in the season when Dune's memorable House of Harkonnen and House of Gucci's memorable transformations and Cruella's showy wigs all seemed more likely to triumph.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Dune

BEST COMEDY

• Licorice Pizza

Sorry but Barb & Star was the year's funniest picture. Barb and Star made my own top ten list and I stand proudly behind that call. 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE 

• The Mitchells vs the Machines

The Mitchells vs the Machines had a great weekend winning the Annie and the CCAs. But the BAFTAs went with Encanto. We think the Oscar will go to Encanto but it feels like a tight race. 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Drive My Car (Japan)

BEST SONG

• No Time to Die – No Time to Die

After decades of awards bodies (especially Oscar) largely ignoring James Bond songs, in the Craig era they've been consistent winners. The big question is will the rising popularity of Encanto, throw the parallel Oscar category to Lin-Manuel Miranda? Or will he have to wait to achieve his EGOT.

BEST SCORE 

• Hans Zimmer – Dune

With both BAFTA and CCA wins, Hans Zimmer moves towards Oscar night looking like its his to lose. Sadly, despite being one of the most famous composers alive, Oscar has demoted his category off of the live event on March 27th.

SEE HER AWARD

• Halle Berry

Like the Lifetime Achievement Award this one is non-competitive.

TELEVISION

For the television prizes the CCA mostly stuck with previous Emmy winners, showering Succession, Mare of Easttown, and Ted Lasso with prizes. The only hints as to next year's possible Emmy favourites were acting wins for Squid Game, Yellowjackets, Dopesick, and The White Lotus

BEST DRAMA SERIES

• Succession

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES

• Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES

• Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES

• Keiran Culkin, Succession

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES

• Sarah Snook, Succession

BEST COMEDY SERIES

• Ted Lasso

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES

• Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES

• Jean Smart, Hacks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES

• Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES

• Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso

BEST LIMITED SERIES

• Mare of Easttown

BEST MADE FOR TV MOVIE

• Oslo

BEST ACTOR IN LIMITED SERIES

• Michael Keaton, Dopesick

BEST ACTRESS LIMITED SERIES

• Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES

• Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES

• Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE SERIES

• Squid Game, South Korea

BEST ANIMATED SERIES

• What If?

BEST TALK SHOW

• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL

• Bo Burnham Inside

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS THIS YEAR? 

Comments

[NathanielB]

Chastain was filming in NC all week and explained in her Instagram reaction how challenging her filming schedule was and how much she appreciated the award: https://www.instagram.com/p/CbEFkCmDawW/

BTW, she's there filming George & Tammy, so, if she can't ride her momentum to an Emmy win this year for Scenes From a Marriage (which, interestingly, feels more theatrical, while The Eyes of Tammy Faye feels like a television movie), she should a be strong threat to win as Tammy Wynette.

[Ryan T.]

Speaking of missing winners, anyone know what's up with Kate Winslet? She was out at SAG because she was sick but no actual details came out right.

Also, do award shows really prefer "Winner isn't here so we'll accept this on their behalf" versus a Zoom acceptance speech? We proved the past couple years that the technology is there so why not use it esp in cases where they know they're a frontrunner and they're given plenty of time?

As for the winners, I don't have anything against them but award bodies REALLY need to stop trying to predict the Oscars. It's just so unexciting.

I did find the quirk this year of presenting almost all the movie awards (and TV Comedy) in the first half due to most of those likely winners being in London. I'm sure most of them wanted to go to sleep!

[Elazul Atwater]

Chastain is a well deserved winner but I still think the Lucille Ball nostalgia and Academy being old as noted last season is prevailing at the end.

Interesting that editing has been getting winners by several that are not in the Oscar top 5, surely that one had one of the smallest margins, both West Side Story and Licorice Pizza are just as good as the other five.

[Joe G.]

That Campion speech was more than "loopy," it was really bad. She went out of her way to call out two beloved, but often criticized, Black women to prop herself up. There's no reason she couldn't say something about "beating the boys" on her own without denigrating their accomplishments. I'll also note that Serena and Venus have battled male players on the field in mixed doubles, and frequently have battled them in the press where they openly doubt their abilities in all sorts of sexist and racially coded ways. In comparisons to other speeches, that praised others and were thankful, hers lacked taste.

Also very hard for her to claim that she's the "grandmother of the female director's" movement when there are so many others, unrecognized, who came before, like Ida Lupino, Dorothy Arzner and Agnes Varda.

If I were steering the Licorice Pizza, Coda, or Belfast campaign right now, I would put a lot of efforts behind those directors.

The goal of these speeches is to just ensure they don't hurt your campaign. She didn't do that.

[rdf]

Probably the worst televised awards show I have ever seen. The two emcees were more than intolerable. The women's clothes reminded of the Bette Midler song with
"tits and ass" in it.

With the exception of Will Smith... I thought the winners were all deserving. It is interesting that even great actors cannot get up and give a 2 minute acceptance speech. Jane Campion was beyond horrible... but she is a director ( but still )

I hope the Oscars fare better.

[Score and Cinematography]

Agree Nathaniel. Why do critics and bloggers want to predict the Oscars in their awards. You can make prediction articles to do that - but you have your own award show to show what you actually love. Stewart and Smit MacPhee so would have won if they voted their own taste.

[Score and Cinematography]

I watched the BAFTAs but not these. I always avoid the results of the BAFTAs and watch the show. Always enjoy it. More black tie. Light host banter. Couple good performances. This year Shirley Bassey for Bond tribute and Emilia Jones singing Both Sides Now.

[Mr Ripley79]

Nat I agree on the curve towards Chastain and Kotsur seems like predicting behaviour

I still can't believe that DeBose sucked all the air out of her category.

Sure she can dance has charisma but I found Mike Faist did more to completely redo his character whereas DeBose was to me less impressive due to Rita Moreno doing it perfectly in 1961.

[thevoid99]

Yay for Melanie Lynskey for winning an award!

[Lucky]

It's possible to see Dune losing Cinematography, Editing, Costumes (to Cruella) and Art Direction (to Nightmare Alley). That would still leave it with VFX and Score, but its total wins is a question mark since so many of the races are so competitive.

[Lucky]

I don't know if I buy Chastain as a winner with the Oscars, which are getting more and more highbrow and international. The films by Kidman, Cruz and Stewart are divisive and last year showed us that that matters in this category. Who's left, then? Colman, who I have a feeling will get her second.

Also, I do think Jane Campion's speech was, as the internet likes to say, problematic. Let's not drag her but let's not pretend it was a harmless joke either.

[par]

pity kate winslet wasn't there - would've been great to see the heavenly creatures duo holding their trophies together

[brookesboy]

Lucky--I think The Lost Daughter is more divisive than Parallel Mothers. Colman is good, but I will be upset if she wins a second so soon for this terrible movie. The character makes no sense. Insane..

PS. That pic of Gaga is incredible.

[Frank Zappa]

I made a thoughtless comment equating what I do in the film world with all that Serena Williams and Venus Williams have achieved. I did not intend to devalue these two legendary Black women and world-class athletes. The fact is the Williams sisters have, actually, squared off against men on the court (and off), and they have both raised the bar and opened doors for what is possible for women in this world. The last thing I would ever want to do is minimize remarkable women. I love Serena and Venus. Their accomplishments are titanic and inspiring. Serena and Venus, I apologize and completely celebrate you.

[jules]

I think Colman's character is incredibly divisive, moreso than the other four characters played by the Best Actress nominees, and would put her in last place as a result. I can imagine a lot of voters having a negative reaction toward Colman's character, whereas the other four characters are pretty likable, and in a close race, everything makes a difference.

[whunk (he/him)]

I still think Best Actress is between Chastain and Kidman, with Chastain having a huge advantage at this point. Colman is a solid 3rd, and I'd be shocked if Cruz placed any higher than 4th.

[Michael R]

So over the CC and their obsession for Oscar predictiveness. It's gross. At least there were no "ties" this year. It is insane to me that Stewart and (most egregiously) Smit-McPhee did not win from these so called critics.

[brookesboy]

jules--agree, she's quite unlikeable. She's constantly doing things that make no sense. And the most awful thing she does is never explained or justified. The film is maddening.