London Film Critics Circle Award Winners (Film)
Tár and The Banshees of Inisherin top the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
Michelle Yeoh is presented with the critics’ top prize, The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film, as Cate Blanchett takes Actress of the Year and the cast of The Banshees of nisherin sweep three other acting categories.
The provocative culture-war drama Tár was a big winner at the 43rd annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, taking three major awards at a star-studded ceremony at The May Fair Hotel on Sunday night. Todd Field’s film was crowned Film of the Year, while Field and Cate Blanchett were named Director and Actress of the Year. This is the third time Blanchett has won this award, after Elizabeth in 1998 and Blue Jasmine in 2013.
Meanwhile, Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin left the ceremony with five prizes, including The Attenborough Award for British/Irish Film of the Year, Screenwriter of the Year, Actor of the Year for Colin Farrell, and both Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon. Another Irish title, The Quiet Girl, won Foreign-Language Film of the Year in a tie win alongside Park Chan-wook’s noir thriller Decision to Leave. Laura Poitras’ pointed Nan Goldin film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed was named Documentary of the Year.
The ceremony was capped with the presentation of The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film to cinematic icon Michelle Yeoh, who was accompanied by her Everything Everywhere All at Once costar Ke Huy Quan. Danny Boyle presented the honour at the end of the night.
Also in attendance were Florence Pugh and Bill Nighy, who were named British/Irish Actress and Actor for their body of work in 2022. Pugh was reunited at the event with her The Wondercostars Tom Burke and Kíla Lord Cassidy. There was also a reunion for Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, who played father and daughter in Aftersun. Corio won the Young British/Irish Performer award for her role, while Paul was on hand to accept writer-director Charlotte Wells’ Philip French Award for Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker. The Technical Achievement Award went to Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio for animation and was collected by Gregory Mann, who voiced the title character. British/Irish Short Film of the Year was Keeran Anwar Blessie’s A Fox in the Night.
The awards are given by the 200-member Film Section of the Critics’ Circle, the UK’s longest-standing and most prestigious critics’ organisation. The May Fair Hotel, part of Edwardian Hotels London, is the main sponsor of the event for the 13th year running. Awards sponsors were The House of Koko, the new private members club which is part of the iconic London music venue; leading film, television and online media school MetFilm; and creative-industry accountants Nyman Libson Paul. New sponsors this year included premium non-alcoholic sparkling wine Wild Idol; Gattertop Drinks Co; Black Crowned Gin; large-format printing specialists Wahooti; chauffer service Excel Executive; and live production company JWP.tv, which livestreamed the ceremony on the Critics’ Circle YouTube channel @CriticsCircleFilmSection.
FILM OF THE YEAR
Tár
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR (tie)
Decision to Leave
The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin)
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
The Attenborough Award:
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
The Banshees of Inisherin
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Todd Field – Tár
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR sponsored by Nyman Libson Paul
Cate Blanchett – Tár
ACTOR OF THE YEAR sponsored by The House of Koko
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR for body of work
Florence Pugh – Don’t Worry Darling, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Wonder
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR for body of work
Bill Nighy – Living
The Philip French Award:
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER sponsored by MetFilm
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER
Frankie Corio – Aftersun
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR
A Fox in the Night – dir Keeran Anwar Blessie
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Guillermo del Toro and Brian Leif Hansen, animation
DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Michelle Yeoh
2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards: The Winners (Film)
ANIMATED FILM – GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
DIRECTOR – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
LEADING ACTRESS – CATE BLANCHETT
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – KERRY CONDON
SUPPORTING ACTOR – BARRY KEOGHAN
ORIGINAL SCORE – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
CINEMATOGRAPHY – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
EDITING – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
SOUND – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS – AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION – THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE
BRITISH SHORT FILM – AN IRISH GOODBYE
Women Talking (Film)
‘Women Talking is so unique that we can declare we’ve not seen anything like it in a very long time.
The Whale (Film)
Adapted for the big screen from a 2012 play by Samuel D. Hunter (the film looks like a play), ‘The Whale’, directed by Darren Aronosky, is directed with too much precision that it becomes both sloppy and misguided and completely fails in its message. Housebound Charlie (Fraser – wearing a fat suit) conducts his college courses on zoom so his obese and grotesque body (600 pounds) is not seen by his students. He can barely get around his apartment; he uses a wheelchair to go from room to room. He has a carer who comes in to help him out (a very good Hong Chau) but is she caring for him out of obligation or love? You see, she is the sister of Charlie’s deceased lover Alan.
The music swells during the ‘dramatic‘ moments as Aronofsky plays with your emotions, and not very effectively. And we all know what’s going to happen to The Whale. Fraser tries his hardest to ‘act’ (including donning a fat suit and using a prosthetic for a shower scene) but it’s a performance, and a film, that’s unworthy of its alcolades. You’ll finish the movie shaking your head at having your emotions falsely played with and a deep resentment that this film is not as good as it should’ve been. Fraser was in the audience at the screening we saw the film at, and he received a 20 minute standing ovation. We’d like to think it was for this comeback, and not necessarily for his performance in this film, or for the film itself.
FABUK saw this film at the 2022 London Film Festival
The Fabelmans (Film)
BAFTA Nominations 2023 (Film)
The German war film All Quiet on the Western Front has emerged as the frontrunner after the announcement of this year’s BAFTA nominations. Its tally of 14 nominations is the most for any film since The King’s Speech in 2011.
The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once both have 10 nominations, with Elvis on nine and Tár on five.
Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut Aftersun, which was backed by the BFI Film Fund awarding National Lottery money, has picked up four nominations, including for outstanding British film, Wells for outstanding debut and Paul Mescal for best actor. Other films with four nominations are The Batman, Top Gun: Maverick, The Whale and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
Best film
All Quiet on the Western Front – Malte Grunert
The Banshees of Inisherin – Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
Elvis – Gail Berman, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang
Tár – Todd Field, Scott Lambert, Alexandra Milchan
Outstanding British film
Aftersun – Charlotte Wells, producer(s) tbc
The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin
Brian and Charles – Jim Archer, Rupert Majendie, David Earl, Chris Hayward
Empire of Light – Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande – Sophie Hyde, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski, Katy Brand
Living – Oliver Hermanus, Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Kazuo Ishiguro
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical – Matthew Warchus, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn, Luke Kelly, Dennis Kelly
See How They Run – Tom George, Gina Carter, Damian Jones, Mark Chappell
The Swimmers – Sally El Hosaini, producer(s) tbc, Jack Thorne
The Wonder – Sebastián Lelio, Ed Guiney, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Alice Birch, Emma Donoghue
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Aftersun – Charlotte Wells (writer/director)
Blue Jean – Georgia Oakley (writer/director), Hélène Sifre (producer)
Electric Malady – Marie Lidén (director)
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande – Katy Brand (writer)
Rebellion – Maia Kenworthy (director)
Film not in the English language
All Quiet on the Western Front – Edward Berger, Malte Grunert
Argentina, 1985 – Santiago Mitre, producer(s) tbc
Corsage – Marie Kreutzer
Decision to Leave – Park Chan-wook, Ko Dae-seok
The Quiet Girl – Colm Bairéad, Cleona Ní Chrualaoí
Documentary
All That Breathes – Shaunak Sen, Teddy Leifer, Aman Mann
All The Beauty and the Bloodshed – Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov, John Lyons
Fire of Love – Sara Dosa, Shane Boris, Ina Fichman
Moonage Daydream – Brett Morgan
Navalny – Daniel Roher, Diane Becker, Shane Boris, Melanie Miller, Odessa Rae
Animated film
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio – Guillermo Del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar, Alex Bulkley
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Dean Fleisher Camp, Andrew Goldman, Elisabeth Holm, Caroline Kaplan, Paul Mezey
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – Joel Crawford, Mark Swift
Turning Red – Domee Shi, Lindsey Collins
Director
All Quiet on the Western Front – Edward Berger
The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh
Decision to Leave – Park Chan-Wook
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Tár – Todd Field
The Woman King – Gina Prince-Bythewood
Original screenplay
The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh
Everything Everywhere All At Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
The Fabelmans – Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg
Tár – Todd Field
Triangle of Sadness – Ruben Östlund
Adapted screenplay
All Quiet on the Western Front – Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell
Living – Kazuo Ishiguro
The Quiet Girl – Colm Bairéad
She Said – Rebecca Lenkiewicz
The Whale – Samuel D. Hunter
Leading actress
Cate Blanchett – Tár
Viola Davis – The Woman King
Danielle Deadwyler – Till
Ana De Armas – Blonde
Emma Thompson – Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Leading actor
Austin Butler – Elvis
Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Daryl McCormack – Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living
Supporting actress
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau – The Whale
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
Dolly De Leon – Triangle of Sadness
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Carey Mulligan – She Said
Supporting actor
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Eddie Redmayne – The Good Nurse
Albrecht Schuch – All Quiet on the Western Front
Micheal Ward – Empire of Light
Original score
All Quiet on the Western Front – Volker Bertelmann
Babylon – Justin Hurwitz
The Banshees of Inisherin – Carter Burwell
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Son Lux
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio – Alexandre Desplat
Casting
Aftersun – Lucy Pardee
All Quiet on the Western Front – Simone Bär
Elvis – Nikki Barrett, Denise Chamian
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Sarah Halley Finn
Triangle of Sadness – Pauline Hansson
Cinematography
All Quiet on the Western Front – James Friend
The Batman – Greig Fraser
Elvis – Mandy Walker
Empire of Light – Roger Deakins
Top Gun: Maverick – Claudio Miranda
Editing
All Quiet on the Western Front – Sven Budelmann
The Banshees of Inisherin – Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
Elvis – Jonathan Redmond, Matt Villa
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Paul Rogers
Top Gun: Maverick – Eddie Hamilton
Production design
All Quiet on the Western Front – Christian M. Goldbreck, Ernestine Hipper
Babylon – Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino
The Batman – James Chinlund, Lee Sandales
Elvis – Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio – Curt Enderle, Guy Davis
Costume design
All Quiet on the Western Front – Lisy Christl
Amsterdam – J.R. Hawbaker, Albert Wolsky
Babylon – Mary Zophres
Elvis – Catherine Martin
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris – Jenny Beavan
Make Up and Hair
All Quiet on the Western Front – Heike Merker
The Batman – Naomi Donne, Mike Marino, Zoe Tahir
Elvis – Jason Baird, Mark Coulier, Louise Coulston, Shane Thomas
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical – Naomi Donne, Barrie Gower, Sharon Martin
The Whale – Anne Marie Bradley, Judy Chin, Adrien Morot
Sound
All Quiet on the Western Front – Lars Ginzsel, Frank Kruse, Viktor Prášil, Markus Stemler
Avatar: The Way of Water – Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Julian Howarth, Gary Summers, Gwendoyln Yates Whittle
Elvis – Michael Keller, David Lee, Andy Nelson, Wayne Pashley
Tár – Deb Adair, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley, Steve Single, Roland Winke
Top Gun: Maverick – Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Mark Taylor, Mark Weingarten
Special visual effects
All Quiet on the Western Front – Markus Frank, Kamil Jafar, Viktor Müller, Frank Petzoid
Avatar: The Way of Water – Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon
The Batman – Russell Earl, Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands, Dominic Tuohy
Everything Everywhere All At Once – Benjamin Brewer, Ethan Feldbau, Jonathan Kombrinck, Zak Stoltz
Top Gun: Maverick – Seth Hill, Scott R. Fisher, Bryan Litson, Ryan Tudhope
British short animation
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy, Cara Speller, Hannah Minghella
Middle Watch – John Stevenson, Aiesha Penwarden, Giles Healy
Your Mountain Is Waiting – Hannah Jacobs, Zoe Muslim, Harriet Gillian
British short film
The Ballad of Olive Morris – Alex Kayode-Kay
Bazigaga Jo – Ingabire Moys, Stephanie Charmail
Bus Girl – Jessica Henwick, Louise Palmkvist Hansen
A Drifting Up – Jacob Lee
An Irish Goodbye – Tom Berkeley, Ross White
EE Rising Star Award
Aimee Lou Wood
Daryl McCormack
Emma Mackey
Naomi Ackie
Sheila Atim
Babylon (Film)
Jack (Film)
Elvis (Film)
A description of the new film ‘Elvis’ can be summed up in two words – it’s fantastic, and Austin Butlers performance can be described as mesmerising.
Butler becomes Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmanns newly-released film on the trials and tribulations in the life of the king of rock who died at the young age of 42 in 1977.
Told through the eyes of Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks in a performance that is a bit distracting from the main larger than life character) who micro-managed every bit of Presley’s career, right down to not allowing him to travel internationally (Parker emigrated illegally to the United States at the age of 20.) But while the film begins and ends with Parker, it’s really all about Austin – I mean Presley.
It’s really hard to distinguish Austin from Presley because Austin looks like, sounds like, and acts like Presley, it’s actually like Presley himself is starring in his own movie. And the scenes of Elvis on stage in Las Vegas will send chills down your spine as Austin nails down all of Elvis’s movements, right down to his swivelling hips (which was too racy for American television at that time that he was filmed above the waist).
We get to see Elvis’s close relationship with his mother Gladys(Helen Thomson), and his father (a one-note performance by Richard Roxburgh), to when he went into the army where in a television moment he got his hair cut, to meeting 16-year old Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge) – whom he went on to marry in 1967. Then we are treated to his Las Vegas years which are the highlight of the film where you’ll get goosebumps watching Butler swivel on stage – it’s almost too much for the heart to take.
And while the film is not 100% perfect, it’s a great tribute to Elvis.
Tar (Film)
Empire of Light (Film)
DC League of Super-Pets – Film
Dwayne Johnson stars as the voice of Krypto the Super-Dog in Warner Bros. Pictures’ animated action adventure feature film “DC League of Super-Pets,” from director Jared Stern.
The film also stars the voices of Kevin Hart (the “Jumanji” and “Secret Life of Pets” films), Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live,” the “Magic School Bus Rides Again” films, “Ferdinand”), John Krasinski (the “Quiet Place” films, “Free Guy”), Vanessa Bayer (“Saturday Night Live,” “Office Christmas Party,” “Trainwreck”), Natasha Lyonne (“Show Dogs,” “Ballmastrz 9009”), Diego Luna (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Maya and the Three”), Marc Maron (“Joker,” “GLOW”), Thomas Middleditch (“Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”), Ben Schwartz (“Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Duck Tales”), and Keanu Reeves (the “Matrix” and “John Wick” films).
In “DC League of Super-Pets,” Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime in Metropolis side by side. When Superman and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped, Krypto must convince a rag-tag shelter pack—Ace the hound, PB the potbellied pig, Merton the turtle and Chip the squirrel—to master their own newfound powers and help him rescue the superheroes.
Stern, a veteran writer/consultant on the “LEGO®” movies, makes his animated feature film directorial debut, directing from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator John Whittington, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film is produced by Patricia Hicks, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Jared Stern. The executive producers are John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, Nicholas Stoller, Allison Abbate, Chris Leahy, Sharon Taylor and Courtenay Valenti.
Thor: Love and Thunder – Film
THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
Released: Thursday 7 July
Synopsis: Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Love and Thunder” finds the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But Thor’s retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late. Directed by Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Jojo Rabbit”) and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum. Bale deserves an Oscar for his performance.
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson
Director: Taika Waititi