(Warning: Winner clips may contain mild spoilers, language and violence.)
BEST STUNT CHOREOGRAPHY
The nominees are
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Keir Beck, Jonathan Eusebio, Chris O'Hara & Sunny Sun for
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is not just a celebration of stunt performers, but it is a great example of their work as well. Nearly every kind of stunt is present here: fight scenes, car flips (breaking a record for most flips) fire stunts, wire pulls. You name it, it's here. All of these are well crafted, exciting, and impressive, and the film comes alive during these sequences.
BEST SPECIAL AND VISUAL EFFECTS
The Nominees are
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Paul Lambert, Gerd Nefzer, Timo-Pekko Nieminen, Lisa Nolan, Bernd Rautenberg & Karim Sahai for
Dune: Part Two
Much like its predcessor, Dune: Part Two proves to be a high-water mark in modern day visual effects. While many blockbusters today look murky and unpolished, Dune's effects are deliberate, phot-real and serve to enhance, not distract from, the film's narrative. Though creating a world like this obviously takes a ton of visual effects work, they never take you out of the film, and that is a credit to the brilliant special and visual effects team
BEST SOUND EDITING
The nominees are
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Christoper Flick, Richard King, Michael W. Mitchell, Jeff Sawyer & Chris Terhune for
Dune: Part Two
Great sound effects are vital to science fiction. Whether creating technology, or an undiscovered world, sound can be the difference between feeling like a saturday morning cartoon or, well, Dune. As the action steps up in this film, the sound does as well. We are shown a war taking place thousands of years in the future, and yet it sounds strange and unique, but just as real as if it was happening right here and now.
BEST SOUND MIXING
The nominees are
Howard Bargroff, Mary H. Ellis, Adam Crivener & Mark Timms for
Civil War
The goal of Civil War as a film is to force us to reckon with the civil wars that happen worldwide by setting one right on our doorstep, and the sound work is critical to this working as effectively as it does. We hear the deep rumbles of rocket launchers right next to us, the distant pops of gunfire far in the distance, the hum of U.S. citizens mobilizing to fight each other. Through all of this we understand this film's cautionary tale, this could be us.
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
The Nominees are
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David Elsey, Lou Elsey & Pierre-Olivier Persin for
The Substance
I do not want to go into too deep details for this film's makeup, as I don't want to take away from anyone who may experience this film's wild journey for the first time. I will say that the makeup team takes the film's theme of fear of aging, and takes it to a brilliant, unexpected and horrifying extreme.
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BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
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BEST PICTURE
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Nominees are
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Linda Muir & David Schwed for
Nosferatu
When you sit down to a Robert Eggers film, you know you are signing up to be transported to another time. Eggers prioritizes historical realism in the face of supernatural horror, and Linda Muir rises to the challenge. The costumes feel beautiful, yet old, worn down, and used. They tell us where the characters come from, what they are going through at each moment, and whether they are hiding strength or weakness beneath.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Nominees are
Judy Becker for
The Brutalist
Perhaps it's not a surprise that this category would go to a film about an architect. The striking sets and visuals this film accomplished would be incredibly impressive even for a big budget film, and are doubly so for this film's minuscule ten million. The stark creations of Laszlo Toth contrast with the opulence of the rich he rubs elbows with, and the run down grunginess of the poor he lives among.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The nominees are
Eric Yue for
I Saw the TV Glow
Striking pinks and greens. The light of a tv screen illuminating a child's face. An abandoned planetarium glowing spinning artistic renderings of constellations. I Saw the TV Glow never looks like the real world, but rather like a dream that may have been a nightmare. Eric Yue's meticulous, deliberate work often feels wrong in just the right way, vibrant and colorful, yet uncanny and often unwelcoming.
BEST FILM EDITING
The Nominees are
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Joe Walker for
Dune: Part Two
Despite adapting the second half of the same novel as Part One, Dune: Part Two does feel distinct. While that film set up the world these characters inhabit, this film had to pay off all of the plot threads that had been introduced. It manages to do so brilliantly, balancing several characters and storylines without any of them feeling lost in the shuffle. It slows down when it needs to develop emotional connections, speeds up when it throws its warring factions against each other, and yet still feels distinctly like its own thing. Joe Walker builds more excitement into Dune this time, but manages to do so without losing the weight, weirdness or strange emotion that made the first part so distinct.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
The nominees are
Abraham Alexander, Brandon Marcel & Adrian Quesada for
"Like a Bird" from
Sing Sing
Sing Sing is a film about finding hope in a hopeless situation. Playing during the end credits, Like a Bird mirrors this journey. The characters have no freedom, but through their artistic endeavors they find something that gives them a sense of self, a sense of accomplishment. Adrian Quesada and Abraham Alexander powerfully metaphor this, finding hope without denying the pain and struggle that coexist with it.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The nominees are
Kris Bowers for
The Wild Robot
The greatest film scores serve to enhance an emotional impact that exists within the narrative. When at its most effective, listening to a film score can take you back to that moment, allow you to once again feel the emotional weight of a scene or a story as a whole. When I listen back to Kris Bowers compositions for The Wild Robot, I once again feel the excitement of success, the threat of danger, and the sadness of saying goodbye, maybe for the last time.
BEST CASTING
The nominees are
Nina Gold and Martin Ware for
Conclave
To make an exciting thriller that is almost entirely composed of people sitting in rooms talking you need a great editor, a smart script, and a cast of magnificent actors to rise up to their challenge. Conclave succeeds on all those fronts, but especially in its cast. Made up of a mixture of established actors and lesser known character actors, the conclave feels full of personality, and of conflict. Every actor manages to make their character feel well meaning, but flawed. The conflicts in this film arise from how people with the same goal can have different methods to achieve it, and the performances from the entire cast allow this tension to achieve its highest potential.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The nominees are
Monica Barbaro for
A Complete Unknown
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Many actors, when playing real people, focus on the minutae. They try to nail the voice, the posture, the look. If Monica Barbaro is putting effort towards that, then it is invisible. What you see instead is how she inhabits the worldview, the emotional truth, and the character of Joan Baez. Barbaro makes the character as interesting for what she doesn't say as what she does. A Complete Unknown is a very good film, but Monica Barbaro is so engaging that I came away wanting the film to have been about her, or at least for her to have had a far larger role in the narrative.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
The nominees are
Jack Haven for
I Saw the TV Glow
Jack Haven (who is non binary) is an absolute revelation in I Saw the TV Glow. Though they are not the central character of the film, their Maddy is one of the most complicated, layered characters I've seen in the last several years. They have to play a drastically changing character at multiple different stages of life, upon whom the entire allegory of the film hinges. Their ten minute long monologue in the planetarium is one of the most powerful scenes in any film this year, and Haven rises to all of these challenges, and then surpasses them. It makes sense that Haven would connect personally to this material, yet even so the degree to which they can simultaneously draw fear and sympathy, feel real while feeling like a specter in a dream, draw your eyes to the screen and force you to engage with uncomfortable truths; it is absolutely incredible.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
The nominees are
Mikey Madison for
Anora
Mikey Madison is one of the great rising stars of the next generation, and Anora is a perfect example of why. She is so one of a kind, yet fits in so well to Sean Baker's New York City that you wouldn't be surprised to see her walking down the street. Her journey through this sort of real world fairytale is full of equal parts humor and heartbreak, and the success of it all hinges upon her excellent performance.
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BEST LEADING ACTOR
The nominees are
Ralph Fiennes for
Conclave
Man, Ralph Fiennes sure is one of the most consistently great actors working today. Conclave is full of excellent actors giving great performances, and yet it still feels like it is Ralph Fiennes film. He is in just about every scene of the film, has very few "big" moments, and yet you never get bored of watching him. A brilliant, emotional and understated turn from a wonderful actor who somehow still feels underrated.
The nominees are
Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve for
Dune: Part Two
Dune: Part Two has some different strengths and weaknesses than its first part. Though I think in some ways the first film is more visually distinct, this film is a notable improvement from a story and writing perspective. There is a lot going on, but it isn't hard to follow at all. The movie makes some smart changes from it source material also, recognizing that some things work well on the page, but wouldn't as effectively transition to a visual medium. However, it still absolutely nails the major points of its source material. It does so by delivering on the promises of the film's expected hero's journey, while playing with the tone those usually take. It is a film that not only asks "how do we win" but also "will it be worth it?"
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
and the Spearie goes to...
Dune: Part Two has some different strengths and weaknesses than its first part. Though I think in some ways the first film is more visually distinct, this film is a notable improvement from a story and writing perspective. There is a lot going on, but it isn't hard to follow at all. The movie makes some smart changes from it source material also, recognizing that some things work well on the page, but wouldn't as effectively transition to a visual medium. However, it still absolutely nails the major points of its source material. It does so by delivering on the promises of the film's expected hero's journey, while playing with the tone those usually take. It is a film that not only asks "how do we win" but also "will it be worth it?"
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The nominees are
Jane Schoenbrun for
I Saw the TV Glow
I can honestly say I've never seen a film quite like I Saw the TV Glow. Though the film's story is fairly easy to follow, there is so much intricacy, so much subtext, so much meaning to everything within it. This is not just a film you watch, but one you engage with, and analyze to find its meaning. The metaphor is all there in the script, conveyed through emotion and memory. This is an allegory, a cautionary tale, and a beautiful piece of surrealism all in one, filled with some of the most evocative scenes, monologues and unexpected turns of the year.
BEST DIRECTOR
The nominees are
Coralie Fargeat for
The Substance
Whatever one takes away from the film, you cannot deny that it is the full and distinct vision of a true artist. The Substance is so audacious and uncompromising. Fargeat hits the audience with a sledgehammer, and makes them laugh and cringe and drop their jaws on the floor while she does so. This is the most confident directorial work of the year by quite a long measure.
The nominees are
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Dune: Part Two
I have to be honest, I am such a sucker for a huge epic like this. The first film was my favorite movie of 2021, and from the moment this one released earlier this year, it was going to be an uphill battle for anything else to top it. The fact that it didn't sweep everything is a testament to all of the other brilliant films that came out this year.
Dune: Part Two continues everything that worked about its predecessor and works to improve upon other elements. It develops Paul Atreides rise to power in a way that is beautiful, exciting and easy to follow, but still strange, striking and challenging. It accomplishes all of this while also keeping its focus fully on emotional impact. Though ostensibly an action epic, this film nonetheless builds its narrative around a love story, and ends its tale on a note that has no small degree of sadness to it. It may not be the most unique opinion in the world, but when I look back at the many wonderful films of 2024, Dune: Part Two is the one I expect to linger in my memory the most.
