Sunday, February 24, 2019

The 2019 Essential Film Awards

Celebrating the cinematic achievements of 2018.


Official 2018 Selections





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Best Film - Drama


IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Barry Jenkins
Annapurna Pictures

Cast:  KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, Regina King
Screenplay: Barry Jenkins; Based on If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Producers: Megan Ellison, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, Barry Jenkins
Cinematography: James Laxton

Other Nominees
Cold War
First Reformed
Roma
A Star Is Born
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Best Film - Comedy or Musical


THE FAVOURITE
Yorgos Lanthimos
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Cast: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn
Screenplay: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Producers:  Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Yorgos Lanthimos
Cinematography: Robbie Ryan

Other Nominees
Eighth Grade
Mary Poppins Returns
Paddington 2
Sorry to Bother You
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ACTING AWARDS

Best Actor - Drama


Ethan Hawke
FIRST REFORMED

Other Nominees
Christian Bale - Vice
Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born
Willem Dafoe - At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
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Best Actor - Comedy/Musical


Lakeith Stanfield
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

Other Nominees
Jason Bateman - Game Night
Robert Redford - The Old Man & the Gun
Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool 2
Nick Robinson - Love, Simon
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Best Actress - Drama


Toni Collette
HEREDITARY

Other Nominees
Yalitza Aparicio - Roma
Glenn Close - The Wife
Lady Gaga - A Star is Born
KiKi Layne - If Beale Street Cold Talk
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Best Actress - Comedy/Musical


Olivia Colman
THE FAVOURITE

Other Nominees
Emily Blunt - Mary Poppins Returns
Regina Hall - Support The Girls
Rachel McAdams - Game Night
Melissa McCarthy - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
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Best Supporting Actor


Michael B. Jordan
BLACK PANTHER

Other Nominees
Adam Driver - Blackkklansman
Hugh Grant - Paddington 2
Richard E Grant - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Anton Yelchin - Thoroughbreds
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Best Supporting Actress


Regina King 
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Olivia Cooke - Thoroughbreds
Elizabeth Debicki - Widows
Emma Stone - The Favourite
Rachel Weisz - The Favourite
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Best Ensemble


Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson, Lukas Haas
WIDOWS

Other Nominees
Annihilation
Black Panther
The Favourite
Game Night
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Best Voice Acting/Motion Capture Performance


Josh Brolin
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Other Nominees
Bryan Cranston - Isle of Dogs
Shameik Moore - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sarah Silverman - Ralph Breaks the Internet
Ben Whishaw - Paddington 2
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Breakthrough Performance


Yalitza Aparicio
ROMA

Other Nominees
Elsie Fisher - Eighth Grade
Milly Shapiro - Hereditary
Millicent Simmonds - A Quiet Place
Letitia Wright - Black Panther
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SKILL & TECHNICAL AWARDS

Best Director


Bradley Cooper
A STAR IS BORN

Alfonso Curaon - Roma
Barry Jenkins - If Beale Street Could Talk
Yorgos Lanthimos - The Favourite
Spike Lee - BlacKKKlansman
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Best Screenplay - Original


Bo Burnham
EIGHTH GRADE

Other Nominees
First Reformed
Hereditary
Sorry to Bother You
Thoroughbreds
___________________

Best Screenplay - Adapted


Spike Lee
BLACKKKLANSMAN

Annihilation
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
If Beale Street Could Talk
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
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Best Art Direction/Visual Design


Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart
BLACK PANTHER

Other Nominees
Annihilation
Avengers: Infinity War
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
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Best Cinematography


Łukasz Żal
COLD WAR

Other Nominees
Burning
If Beale Street Could Talk
Roma
Suspiria
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Best Costumes


Ruth Carter
BLACK PANTHER

Other Nominees
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Suspiria
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Best Editing


Tom Cross
FIRST MAN

Other Nominees
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
A Star Is Born
Widows
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Best Make-Up & Hair


Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney
VICE

Other Nominees
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots
Suspiria
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Best Music - Score


Nicholas Britell
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Other Nominees
Black Panther
First Man
Isle of Dogs
Suspiria
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Best Music - Song


"Shallow"
A STAR IS BORN
Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt

Other Nominees
“Ashes” - Deadpool 2
“Go!” - Teen Titans Go! To The Movies
“Home” - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” - Mary Poppins Returns
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Best Music - Song Score or Soundtrack


A STAR IS BORN

Other Nominees
Cold War
Mary Poppins Returns
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Teen Titans Go! To The Movies
___________________

Best Sound Design


A QUIET PLACE

Other Nominees
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
A Star is Born
___________________

Best Stunts


MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT

Other Nominees
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Halloween
___________________

Best Visual Effects


AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Other Nominees
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Black Panther
First Man
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
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FILM CATEGORIES

Best Action/Adventure Film


BLACK PANTHER
Ryan Coogler

Other Nominees
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Deadpool 2
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Widows
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Best Animated Feature Film


SPIDER-MAN INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
Bob Persichetti
Peter Ramsey
Rodney Rothman

Other Nominees
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mary and the Witch’s Flower
Ralph Breaks the Internet
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Best Blockbuster Film


AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Anthony Russo
Joe Russo

Other Nominees
Aquaman
Black Panther
Deadpool 2
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
___________________

Best Documentary


WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
Morgan Neville

Other Nominees
Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun
Free Solo
Minding the Gap
RBG
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Best Foreign Language Film


COLD WAR
Paweł Pawlikowski
Poland

Other Nominees
Burning - South Korea
Happy As Lazarro - Italy
Roma - Mexico
Shoplifters - Japan
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Best Horror or Thriller Film


HEREDITARY
Ari Aster

Other Nominees
Halloween
Mandy
A Quiet Place
Suspiria
___________________

Best Independent or Limited Release Film


ROMA
Alfonso Cuaron

Other Nominees
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
First Reformed
Support the Girls
Thoroughbreds
___________________

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Film


ANNIHILATION
Alex Garland

Other Nominees
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Ready Player One
Sorry to Bother You
___________________

The following films did not win any Essential Film Awards but are noteworthy for their cinematic contributions in 2018:

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
AT ETERNITY'S GATE
THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS
BLACK MIRROR: BANDERSNATCH
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
BUMBLEBEE
BURNING
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
CREED II
DEADPOOL 2
DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN?
FREE SOLO
GAME NIGHT
HALLOWEEN
INCREDIBLES 2
ISLE OF DOGS
LOVE, SIMON
MARY AND THE WITCH'S FLOWER
MARY POPPINS RETURNS
A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN
PADDINGTON 2
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET
RBG
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY
SUPPORT THE GIRLS
TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES
THOROUGHBREDS
THE WIFE
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Saturday, February 23, 2019

The Essential Films Podcast - Bonus Features - Goldblum Mania



In this Bonus Features episode, recorded before our Silence of the Lambs episode, Adolfo and Mark discuss the glory that is Jeff Goldblum. From EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY to THE FLY to THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK to... VIBES?