There are some pleasant surprises with the nominees for this year’s Georgia Film Critics Association awards, but also some not-so-pleasant snubs. Here are the nominees, what won, and my thoughts as a voting member.
2022 Georgia Film Critics Association Awards
Best Picture
“After Yang”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Decision to Leave”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”– Winner
“The Fabelmans”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
“Nope”
“RRR”
“Tár”
“Top Gun: Maverick”– Runner-Up
Thoughts: I may not love all of the choices as much as I do the best films, but this is a fantastic group of films that is representative of this year’s excellence in cinema. For the first time, we did Runners-Up for each category, and to say the winner, and runner-up, exemplify this year in film is an understatement.
Best Director
“Decision to Leave”, Park Chan-Wook
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”, Daniels (Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert)- Winner
“The Fabelmans”, Steven Spielberg- Runner-Up
“Nope”, Jordan Peele
“Tár”, Todd Field
Thoughts: I’ll be honest, I was maybe expecting “Decision to Leave” to get more “Runner-Up” consideration than it did, but I can’t be mad at either the winners or the runner-up here- they’re my choices, in that order.
Best Actor
Austin Butler (“Elvis”)
Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)- Winner
Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)- Runner-Up
Park Hae-il (“Decision to Leave”)
Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”)
Thoughts: They are my Top 2, as well. We done good.
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)- Runner-Up
Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”)
Tang Wei (“Decision to Leave”)
Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”)
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)- Winner
Thoughts: We really loved “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” in case you couldn’t tell. A great group of five women.
Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)- Runner-Up
Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”)
Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)
Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)- Winner
Thoughts: More love for Ke Huy Quan, whom- as I’ve said- deserves literally everything he has coming to him.
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)- Winner
Janelle Monáe (“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”)- Runner-Up
Keke Palmer (“Nope”)
Thoughts: Hsu has, inexplicably, not gotten enough traction this award season. I do wish we’d had someone from “She Said” or “Women Talking” in here, even though I love all of these choices.
Best Original Screenplay
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Martin McDonagh)- Runner-Up
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Daniels (Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert))- Winner
“The Fabelmans” (Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner)
“Nope” (Jordan Peele)
“Tár” (Todd Field)
Thoughts: This is a category of equals here, with “Everything” and “Banshees” winning out.
Best Adapted Screenplay
“After Yang” (Kogonada)
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Rian Johnson)- Winner
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Robbins, Gris Grimly, Patrick McHale)- Runner-Up
“She Said” (Rebecca Lenkiewicz)
“Women Talking” (Sarah Polley)
Thoughts: I enjoyed “Glass Onion,” but it was my least favorite of these five. I’m glad “She Said,” “Women Talking” and “After Yang” all got nods here, though.
Best Cinematography
“Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Darius Khondji)
“The Batman” (Greig Fraser)- Runner-Up
“The Fabelmans” (Janusz Kaminski)
“Nope” (Hoyte Van Hoytema)
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Claudio Miranda)- Winner
Thoughts: All fantastic choices, even if “Top Gun” is my least favorite of the five.
Best Production Design
“Avatar” The Way of Water” (Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, Vanessa Cole)
“Babylon” (Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino)- Winner
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Hannah Beachler, Lisa K. Sessions)
“Elvis” (Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Beverley Dunn)
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Jason Kisvarday, Kelsi Ephraim)- Runner-Up
Thoughts: I’m fine with “Babylon” winning this one- it’s beautifully-crafted in this respect.
Best Original Score
“Babylon” (Justin Hurwitz)- Runner-Up
“The Batman” (Michael Giacchino)- Winner
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Ludwig Göransson)
“The Fabelmans” (John Williams)
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Alexandre Desplat)
“Nope” (Michael Abels)
Thoughts: It may not have been long-listed by the Academy, but we loved Giacchino’s score enough to give it the win over “Babylon.”
Best Original Song
“Carolina” – Taylor Swift (“Where the Crawdads Sing”)
“Ciao Papa” – Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro (“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”)
“Hold My Hand” – Lady Gaga, BloodPop, Benjamin Rice (“Top Gun: Maverick”)- Winner
“Lift Me Up” – Tems, Rihanna, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
“Naatu Naatu” – M.M. Keeravani, Kaala Bhairava, Rahul Sipligunj (“RRR”)- Runner-Up
Thoughts: This had to have been a close vote. I can’t be that mad about the choice, though, because I do love “Hold My Hand.”
Best Ensemble
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”– Runner-Up
“The Fabelmans”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery– Winner
“Women Talking”
Thoughts: I get why “Glass Onion” won, but “Women Talking” should have been the choice.
Best Foreign Language Film
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Argentina 1985”
“Close”
“Decision to Leave”– Runner-Up
“RRR”– Winner
Thoughts: The winner and runner-up both make sense. I would imagine this was a tight vote.
Best Animated Film
“Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood”
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”– Winner
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”– Runner-Up
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
“Turning Red”
Thoughts: The two best ones at the top. This makes sense in every way.
Best Documentary Film
“All That Breathes”
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“Descendant”– Runner-Up
“Fire of Love”– Winner
“Good Night Oppy”
“Navalny”
Thoughts: I have some catching up to do here, but it’s hard not to love “Fire of Love.”
Breakthrough Award
Danielle Deadwyler- Winner
Stephanie Hsu- Winner
Tenoch Huerta
Gabriel LaBelle- Runner-Up
Amber Midthunder
Thoughts: I’m just glad LaBelle and Midthunder were nominated.
Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema
“Bad Dream” (short; Camilo Diaz Caro, Colby Hollman)
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole)
“Devotion” (J.D. Dillard, Jake Crane, Jonathan Stewart)
“Emergency” (Carey Williams, K.D. Dávila)
“Glitter Ain’t Gold” (short; Christian Nolan Jones)
“Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.” (Adamma Ebo)
“I Want You Back” (Jason Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger)
“The Menu” (Mark Mylod, Seth Reiss, Will Tracy)- Runner-Up
“Refuge” (Erin Levin Bernhardt, Din Blankenship)
“Till” (Chinonye Chukwu, Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp)- Winner
Thoughts: I’m overdue watching “The Menu,” but honestly, as much as I love “Wakanda Forever,” I’m glad a movie like “Till” took the win here. Seek out some of the smaller films, though, especially the two shorts, which were among my favorites of the year.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
