Hello, and welcome to the Seventh Annual Elwyns Awards, a ceremony (see: blog post) dedicated to celebrating the greatest accomplishments set to film during the past year. This is, of course, my personal chance to play god with the Oscars, righting what I perceive to be the Academy's wrongs, replacing them with my own glorious, irrefutable selections. Sounds cool, right? I knew you'd think so. Some of Oscar's favorite sections (Foreign Film, Documentary, all the Shorts) are missing here, but in their place are a few different categories dreamed up especially for this site's very own awards show. The winner of each category will receive a Collin, the highest honor that this website can offer, and a form of recognition that will be remembered for a lifetime. Let's get to it!
***Note: A special thanks to my sister, Brittany Elwyn, for creating all of the graphics featured in today's post***
Best Picture:
And the nominees are...
Arrival
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
The Witch
And the Collin goes to...
No 2016 film matched the sheer level of ambition and accomplishment of Arrival, an alien invasion movie that has less to do with extra-terrestrial visitors than language, patience, xenophobia, and embracing life in spite of grief. A truly beautiful piece of film art.
Runner-Up: The Witch
Best Director:
And the nominees are...
Jeremy Saulnier---Green Room
Damien Chazelle---La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan---Manchster by the Sea
Robert Eggers---The Witch
And the Collin goes to...
In his first feature film, Eggers reveals a depth of craftsmanship that's frankly astonishing, as masterful with tone as he is at working with actors.
Runner-Up: Damien Chazelle---La La Land
Best Actor:
And the nominees are...
Viggo Mortensen---Captain Fantastic
Casey Affleck---Manchester by the Sea
Ryan Gosling---The Nice Guys
Jake Gyllenhaal---Nocturnal Animals
Adam Driver---Paterson
It's hard to think of a more challenging role than Lee Chandler, a man who's experienced so much pain that his ability to process tragedy is irreversibly damaged, but is still tasked with gaining audience sympathy. It's one for the ages.
Runner-Up: Ryan Gosling---The Nice Guys
Best Actress:
And the nominees are...
Annette Bening---20th Century Women
Amy Adams---Arrival
Emma Stone---La La Land
Anya Taylor-Joy---The Witch
And the Collin goes to...
Quite possibly the best performance in Adams' ridiculous career, no performer accomplished more in 2016 while doing less. Each subtle movement of her face contains a million unspoken words, and one would be hard pressed to think of a more effective projection of patient, sage-like intelligence.
Runner-Up: Annette Bening---20th Century Women
(Note: Out of the five nominees at the Oscars, I have only seen the films represented by Stone and Portman. My bad is Huppert is as great as everyone says.)
Best Supporting Actor:
And the nominees are...
John Goodman---10 Cloverfield Lane
Ralph Fiennes---A Bigger Splash
Jared Harris---Certain Women
Alden Ehrenreich---Hail, Caesar!
Michael Shannon---Nocturnal Animals
And the Collin goes to...
Goodman is no stranger to playing characters so agitated that they might just burst into flames, but his Cloverfield performance tops them all through sheer force of will and mania. For an hour and a half, one of Hollywood's most lovable teddy bears couldn't be scarier.
Runner-Up: Jared Harris---Certain Women and Alden Ehrenreich---Hail, Caesar!
Best Supporting Actress:
And the nominees are...
Imogen Poots---Green Room
Rachel Weisz---The Lobster
Naomie Harris---Moonlight
Ellen Burstyn---Wiener-Dog
And the Collin goes to...
It's a testament to Harris' performance that whenever she's on screen, Moonlight becomes almost unbearable to watch. Her mess of a person is as believable as it is haunting.
Runner-Up: Laura Dern---Certain Women
(Note: Viola Davis is incredible, but I don't believe in awarding bad movies, and Fences might be my single least favorite film of last year.)
Best Original Screenplay:
And the nominees are...
Joel and Ethan Coen---Hail, Caesar!
Kenneth Lonergan---Manchester by the Sea
Todd Solondz---Wiener-Dog
Robert Eggers---The Witch
And the Collin goes to...
A brave, complicated, and challenging script that takes no prisoners, Lonergan looks long and hard at real human suffering and while somehow also cracking some of the best jokes of the year.
Runner-Up: Robert Eggers---The Witch
Best Adapted Screenplay:
And the nominees are...
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely---Captain America: Civil War
Tom Ford---Nocturnal Animals
Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese---Silence
Todd Komarnicki---Sully
And the Collin goes to...
The best aspect of the best movie of the year, Heisserer tells an awfully tricky story without ever losing his audience while simultaneously buttering you up for that final emotional wallop. I wish I could give him next year's award too.
Runner-Up: Todd Komarnicki---Sully
Best Ensamble:
And the nominees are...
Green Room
Hail, Caesar!
Manchester by the Sea
Wiener-Dog
The Witch
The Coen brothers' latest has an absolute embarrassment of talent in front of the camera, yet seemingly no one gets lost in the shuffle. Almost every performance here is memorable, no matter how small.
Runner-Up: The Witch
Best Cinematography:
And the nominees are...
Jarin Blaschke---The Witch
James Laxton---Moonlight
Bradford Young---Arrival
Linus Sandgren---La La Land
Natasha Braier---The Neon Demon
And the Collin goes to...
Despite being made on a 1.5 million dollar budget, Moonlight looks and feels like its in 3-D. With a gorgeous color palette and a keen eye for detail, Laxton creates one of the most unique, majestic looking movies ever filmed.
Runner-Up: Linus Sandgren---La La Land
Best Editing:
And the nominees are...
Stefan Grube---10 Cloverfield Lane
Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt---Captain America: Civil War
Craig Alpert, Jamie Gross, and Stacey Schroeder---Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Joe Walker---Arrival
Tom Cross---La La Land
And the Collin goes to...
Cloverfield is 90 straight minutes of pure tension, with Grube absolutely flying from one pressure-filled moment to the next, all without exhausting the viewer.
Runner-Up: Craig Alpert, Jamie Gross, and Stacey Schroeder---Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (Seriously, how the hell did they make an hour and a half long Lonely Island movie without ever getting old in the slightest?)
Best Production Design:
And the nominees are...
Jess Gonchor---Hail, Caesar!
Elliott Hostetter---The Neon Demon
Richard Bridgland---The Nice Guys
Patrice Vermette---Arrival
Stuart Craig and James Hambidge---Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
And the Collin goes to...
An absolute dream job for any production designer, Caesar packs the aesthetics of about 7 different movies into its tiny frame, and Gonchor deserves credit for fully realizing each new world.
Runner-Up: Stuart Craig and James Hambidge---Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Best Original Score:
And the nominees are...
Jóhann Jóhannsson---Arrival
Justin Hurwitz---La La Land
Mica Levi---Jackie
Cliff Martinez---The Neon Demon
Opetaia Foa'i, Mark Mancina, and Lin-Manuel Miranda---Moana
And the Collin goes to...
Step aside La La Land; the musical with the best music from last year was Moana, rocking its island vibes and catchy, funny tunes to straight to the Disney Musical Hall of Fame.
Runner-Up: Cliff Martinez---The Neon Demon
Best Costume Design:
And the nominees are...
Mary Zophres---Hail, Caesar!
Linda Muir---The Witch
Kym Barrett---The Nice Guys
Colleen Atwood---Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Madeline Fontaine---Jackie
And the Collin goes to...
Not that Atwood needs any more attention than she's already earned (she currently has 4 Oscars to go with 9 other nominations), but the Beasts outfits are gorgeous and markedly different from previous Potter affairs.
Runner-Up: Mary Zophres---Hail, Caesar!
Best Visual Effects:
And the nominees are...
Captain America: Civil War
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
A Monster Calls
And the Collin goes to...
Comparing the effects in Rogue One to those featured in The Force Awakens is almost laughable. Almost 40 years after the first Star Wars, we finally have a modern, pitch-perfect X-Wing experience for fan boys to drool all over.
Runner-Up: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Best Sound Editing:
And the nominees are...
Captain America: Civil War
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
And the Collin goes to...
Editing represents the creation of the sounds featured in a film, and no one's team was as creative and imaginative as Arrival's.
Runner-Up: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Best Sound Mixing:
And the nominees are...
The Witch
10 Cloverfield Lane
Moonlight
La La Land
The Neon Demon
And the Collin goes to...
Mixing is the literal usage of previously created sounds within a film's soundtrack, and The Neon Demon blows you away with its clear, aggressive, and propulsive audio.
Runner-Up: Moonlight
