Bolt Awards from the Black Reel

Posted on February 8, 2023 at 1:00 pm

It was The Woman King that edged out all of the competition at The Black Reel Awards this year. With six wins out of the fourteen nominations, The Woman King nabbed wins for Outstanding Film, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Ensemble, Breakthrough Actress, Outstanding Score and Outstanding Editing.

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s sweeping epic that focused on the women warriors of Dahomey, narrowly overtook Marvel’s superhero film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which garnered 5 Black Reel wins of its own.

Going into the night, Wakanda Forever was tied with The Woman King with fourteen award nominations. With her third Black Reel Award win for Outstanding Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ruth E. Carter became the most decorated technical award winner in Black Reel history.

Legendary actress Angela Bassett also made Black Reel history, becoming the first woman ever to win an acting and honorary award in the same year. Ms. Bassett won Outstanding Supporting Actress for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and also received the prestigious Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award recognizing her career of acting excellence. Bassett joins Jamie Foxx, the only other person to be honored, claiming the Vanguard award and the Outstanding Actor award for Ray in 2005.

Independent studio A24, received 10 nominations for The Inspection and cashed in four wins, thanks to Jeremy Pope receiving two awards (Outstanding Actor and Breakthrough Actor). Not to be outdone by the Pope, writer-director Elegance Bratton also took home two awards for Outstanding Independent Film & First Screenplay.

All the stars came out to celebrate the 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards. Presenters included: Courtney B. Vance, Ruth E. Carter, Colman Domingo, Tasha Smith, Kasi Lemmons, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Quvenzhané Wallis, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Cory Hardrict, Cassie Freeman, Cheryl Dunye, Quintessa Swindell, Saddiq Saunderson, and Jahi Winston.

23rd Black Reel Award Winners
OUTSTANDING FILM
The Woman King | Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Cathy Schulman & Julius Tennon, producers
OUTSTANDING ACTOR
Jeremy Pope | The Inspection
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS
Danielle Deadwyler | Till
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR
Gina Prince-Bythewood | The Woman King
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR
Brian Tyree Henry | Causeway
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angela Bassett | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
OUTSTANDING SCREENPLAY
Till | Chinonye Chukwu, Michael Reilly & Keith Beauchamp, writers
OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Sidney | Reginald Hudlin, director
OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL FILM
Saint Omer (France) | Alice Diop
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE
The Woman King | Aisha Coley, casting director
OUTSTANDING VOICE PERFORMANCE
Zoe Saldana | Avatar: The Way of Water
OUTSTANDING SCORE
The Woman King | Terence Blanchard, composer

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG
“Lift Me Up” (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) | Rihanna (performer/writer), Ryan Coogler (writer), Ludwig Gorannson (writer),
OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT FILM
The Inspection | Elegance Bratton, director
OUTSTANDING SHORT FILM
NORTH STAR | P.J. Palmer, director
OUTSTANDING EMERGING DIRECTOR
Nikyatu Jusu | Nanny
OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR
Jeremy Pope | The Inspection
OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH ACTRESS
Thuso Mbedu | The Woman King
OUTSTANDING FIRST SCREENPLAY
The Inspection | Elegance Bratton, writer
OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOPE | Hoyte van Hoytema, cinematographer
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | Ruth E. Carter, costume designer
OUTSTANDING EDITING
The Woman King | Terilyn A. Shropshire, editor
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | Hannah Beachler, production designer
Follow the 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards on Twitter and Instagram @BlackReelAwards and on Facebook at TheBlackReelAwards.

About the Black Reel Awards (The Bolts)
The Black Reels are an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF). The awards recognize the excellence of African Americans and the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora in the global film industry, as assessed by the Foundation’s voting membership. The Black Reels are the oldest cinema-exclusive awards ceremony for African Americans. Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / YouTube / BlackReelAwards.com
(WASHINGTON, DC – February 6, 2023) – The stars turned out unlike ever before to witness the coronation of the new kings and queens at the 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards!
It was The Woman King that edged out all of the competition at The Black Reel Awards this year. With six wins out of the fourteen nominations, The Woman King nabbed wins for Outstanding Film, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Ensemble, Breakthrough Actress , Outstanding Score and Outstanding Editing.
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s sweeping epic that focused on the women warriors of Dahomey, narrowly overtook Marvel’s superhero film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which garnered 5 Black Reel wins of its own. Going into the night, Wakanda Forever was tied with The Woman King with fourteen award nominations. With her third Black Reel Award win for Outstanding Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the fantastic Ruth E. Carter became the most decorated technical award winner in Black Reel history.
Speaking of history, legendary actress Angela Bassett also made Black Reel history, becoming the first woman ever to win an acting and honorary award in the same year. Ms. Bassett won Outstanding Supporting Actress for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and also received the prestigious Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award recognizing her career of acting excellence. Bassett joins Jamie Foxx, the only other person to be honored, claiming the Vanguard award and the Outstanding Actor award for Ray in 2005.

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Awards Race and Diversity

Andrea Riseborough: See the Surprise Oscar Nominee

Posted on January 30, 2023 at 10:38 am

The biggest surprise among the acting Oscar nominations this year was Andrea Riseborough as Best Actress. There were three reasons awards-predictors did not expect to hear her name. First, the movie she starred in, “To Leslie,” was made for under one million dollars and made about $30,000. Very few people saw it. This is the kind of film that is overlooked, possibly a candidate for a Spirit award but not in the same category as big-budget, big-stars Oscar movies. Second, there was no big-budget FYC (“For your consideration”) publicity campaign to make sure Academy voters saw it. Third, her performance got unprecedented support from industry insiders like Gwyneth Paltrow who took to social media to urge Academy voters to consider her.

The part that is not a surprise for anyone who has seen her is that Riseborough’s performance was extraordinary. She always is. You may have seen her before but not realized it because she inhabits every role so completely it is easy to forget it is the same actress.

There is some controversy about the way her nomination was supported. One social media post compared her to another actor, which is not allowed under the rules. But that has nothing to do with Riseborough, who did nothing wrong. Whatever happens to the nomination, I hope audiences watch “To Leslie” and seek out some of her other performance. Here are some I especially recommend.

Luxor

I interviewed Riseborough and the director of this quiet film about one-time lovers finding each other in Egypt’s historic city.

Oblivion

Riseborough starred opposite Tom Cruise in a film set in 2077. A veteran assigned to extract Earth’s remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.

She was a hairdresser who becomes romantically involved with Billie Jean King in “Battle of the Sexes.”

She plays an awful mother in “Matilda: The Musical”

She was a woman who might be a lost daughter who was kidnapped as a child in “Nancy”

And she was the daughter of the title character in “The Death of Stalin”

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Actors Awards

Razzies Nominations!

Posted on January 23, 2023 at 10:00 am

Leading the pack of cinematic mongrels with 8 nominations for the 43rd Annual Razzie® Awards is Blonde, which movie-goers liked even less than critics did. Called a “biopic that’s not a biopic,” by its makers, it “explores” the exploitation of Marilyn Monroe…by continuing to exploit her posthumously. In addition to Worst Picture, it’s up for Worst Screenplay and Worst Director, both by Andrew Dominik, whose work here says more about him than it does about his subject.

Copping 7 dings is Good Mourning, a laugh-free stoner comedy achieving the rare feat of scoring a perfect ZERO on Rotten Tomatoes. The year’s most ridiculed movie, Morbius (with Worst Actor nominee Jared Leto in the title role) collected five nods. Disney’s wholly unnecessary (and oddly creepy) live action/CGI remake of Pinocchio pulled our voters’ strings to make it into six categories. Taking the pole position for Worst Supporting Actor is 2022’s most widely derided performance, Tom Hanks’ latex-laden, ludicrously accented portrayal of Col. Tom Parker in the otherwise critically acclaimed Elvis.

43rd Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie®) Nominations

WORST PICTURE
Blonde
Disney’s Pinocchio
Good Mourning
The King’s Daughter
Morbius

WORST ACTOR
Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) Good Mourning
Pete Davidson (Voice Only) Marmaduke
Tom Hanks (As Gepetto) Disney’s Pinocchio
Jared Leto / Morbius
Sylvester Stallone / Samaritan

WORST ACTRESS
Ryan Kiera Armstrong / Firestarter
Bryce Dallas Howard / Jurassic Park: Dominion
Diane Keaton / Mack & Rita
Kaya Scodelario / The King’s Daughter
Alicia Silverstone / The Requin

WORST REMAKE/RIP-OFF/SEQUEL
Blonde
BOTH 365 Days Sequels – 365 Days: This Day
& The Next 365 Days
Disney’s Pinocchio
Firestarter
Jurassic World: Dominion

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adria Arjona / Morbius
Lorraine Bracco (Voice Only) Disney’s Pinocchio
Penelope Cruz / The 355
Bingbing Fan / The 355 & The King’s Daughter
Mira Sorvino / Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Pete Davidson (Cameo Role) Good Mourning
Tom Hanks / Elvis
Xavier Samuel / Blonde
Mod Sun / Good Mourning
Evan Williams / Blonde

WORST SCREEN COUPLE
Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) & Mod Sun / Good Mourning
Both Real Life Characters in the Fallacious White House Bedroom Scene / Blonde
Tom Hanks & His Latex-Laden Face (and Ludicrous Accent) ELVIS
Andrew Dominik & His Issues with Women / Blonde
The Two 365 Days Sequels (both Released in 2022)

WORST DIRECTOR
Judd Apatow / The Bubble
Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) & Mod Sun / Good Mourning
Andrew Dominik / Blonde
Daniel Espinosa / Morbius
Robert Zemeckis / Disney’s Pinocchio

WORST SCREENPLAY
Blonde / Written for the Screen by Andrew Dominik,
Adapted from the “Bio-Novel” by Joyce Carol Oates
Disney’s Pinocchio / Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis & Chris Weitz
(Not Authorized by the Estate of Carlo Collodi)
Good Mourning / “Written” by Machine Gun Kelly & Mod Sun
Jurassic World: Dominion / Screenplay by Emily Carmichael
& Colin Treverrow,Story by Treverrow & Derek Connolly
Morbius / Screen Story and Screenplay by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless

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Awards

Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Awards: Banshees of Inishirin, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Posted on January 5, 2023 at 6:21 pm

As a long-time member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, I am proud to announce this year’s awards.

AWFJ Best Of Awards
(These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.)

Best Film

“The Banshees of Inisherin”

Best Director

Sarah Polley – “Women Talking

Best Screenplay, Original

“The Banshees of Inisherin”– Martin McDonagh

Best Screenplay, Adapted

“Women Talking– Sarah Polley and Miriam Toews

Best Documentary

“All the Beauty and Bloodshed” – Laura Poitras

Best Animated Film

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” – Guiilermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson

Best Actress

Michelle Yeoh – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actress in a Supporting Role (tie)

Kerry Condon – “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Jamie Lee Curtis – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actor

Colin Farrell – “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director

“Women Talking” – John Buchan and Jason Knight

Best Cinematography (tie)

“Top Gun: Maverick” – Claudio Miranda
“The Woman King” – Polly Morgan

Best Editing

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Paul Rogers

Best Non-English-Language Film (tie)

“Decision to Leave”
“RRR”

EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
(These awards honor women only).

Best Woman Director

Gina Prince-Bythewood – “The Woman King”

Best Woman Screenwriter

Sarah Polley and Miriam Toews – “Women Talking”

Best Animated Female

Connie – Isabella Rossellni “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”

Best Woman’s Breakthrough Performance

Danielle Deadwyler – “Till”

Outstanding Achievement by A Woman in The Film Industry

Viola Davis – For getting “The Woman King” made as her lifetime passion project and creating opportunities for other women creatives.

EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS

Grand Dame Award for defying ageism

Emma Thompson

Most Egregious Lovers’ Age Difference Award

“Crimes of the Future”– Viggo Mortensen born 1958 and Lea Sedoux born 1985

She Deserves A New Agent Award (NOTE: This is not a put down. On the contrary, it suggests that the actor is better than the role she’s been given.)

Ana de Armas for “Blonde”

Most Daring Performance

Emma Thompson – “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”

Time Waster Remake or Sequel Award

“Jurassic World: Dominion”

AWFJ Hall of Shame Award (Women and men are eligible)

Harvey Weinstein for everything and forever

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Awards

My Top Ten Films of 2022

Posted on December 23, 2022 at 7:18 pm

As usual, I’ve picked a favorite and the other nine are tied for second place, with some runners-up.

1. “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

“Aftersun”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“The Fabelmans”
“Living”
“Nope”
“The Outfit”
“Skies of Lebanon”
“TÁR”
“Turning Red”

Runners-up: “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Bad Guys,” “Bullet Train,” “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers,” “Devotion,” “Fire Island,” “Glass Onion,” “The Inspection,” “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” “The Legend of Molly Johnson,” “Spoiler Alert,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Strange World“

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Awards