2020 Film Awards
What a year right! If you’re reading this then congratulations for making it to the seventh circle of hell and surviving all of the trials and tribulations that 2020 had to throw at us. But it wasn’t all bad, after all we had some great films this year to keep us all busy during our lockdowns and self-isolations, right? Well…again not really. In fact, I actually had to bend my rules a bit this year so that I didn’t have a really naff awards ceremony. I normally only allow films that premiere in the year I’m doing the awards for to be contenders for the awards, however considering the disappointing turn out this year I have made concessions to that rule for two films which premiered in 2019 but released in cinemas in the UK during early 2020.
So without further ado, here’s my 2020 film awards, sponsored by COVID-19, murder hornets, wild fires, and a no-deal Brexit!
Top 5 of 2020:
#5: Tenet (Directed by Christopher Nolan)
So without further ado, here’s my 2020 film awards, sponsored by COVID-19, murder hornets, wild fires, and a no-deal Brexit!
Top 5 of 2020:
#5: Tenet (Directed by Christopher Nolan)
Tenet was, according to director Christopher Nolan, the film worth risking your life for in order to watch. It absolutely wasn’t, I mean it wasn’t even the best film of the year let alone one worth risking your life for. But Tenet was a lot better than I was expecting. It seemed like it was going to be another Inception in the trailers, and I hate Inception, but it was actually far more interesting than I expected with some great time travel (?) mechanics at play. An interesting action film that is best experienced on the big screen, but definitely not worth risking your life over.
#4: Soul (Directed by Pete Docter)
#4: Soul (Directed by Pete Docter)
Sliding onto Disney Plus just before the end of the year, Soul is the film I was waiting to watch before I put this list together because I had such high hopes for it. Telling the tale of a man who dies just before he achieves his life goal, and his fight to make it out of the spirit world to return to his body. Along the way he is put in charge of looking after a new soul that has yet to be placed into a body, and tries to help them discover why the world is such a great place.
It's got a great message to its story, the performances are excellent, the animation is superb, and the soundtrack is sublime! A great film to end the year on and definitely a great redeemer for Pixar after the underwhelming Onward earlier in the year.
#3: Cuties (Directed By Miamouna Doucoure)
It's got a great message to its story, the performances are excellent, the animation is superb, and the soundtrack is sublime! A great film to end the year on and definitely a great redeemer for Pixar after the underwhelming Onward earlier in the year.
#3: Cuties (Directed By Miamouna Doucoure)
Alright put the pitchforks down! Yes, Cuties definitely has issues regarding how it sexualises underage girls but considering that’s the whole message of the film I feel it’s silly to demonise the film for trying to educate people on why it even needed to exist. Anyway, now that’s out of the way, Cuties is actually an incredibly well-made film with fantastic performances from the cast, excellent choreography, beautiful cinematography, and just a whole lot of great all rolled into one package.
I absolutely feel like Cuties is a film that needs to be watched by as many people as possible, one because it’s great, and two so that the conversation about educating ourselves and our children about sexualised behaviour can be done properly, and not just demonise the entertainment that is provoking that conversation.
#2: Parasite (Directed by Bong Joon-Ho)
I absolutely feel like Cuties is a film that needs to be watched by as many people as possible, one because it’s great, and two so that the conversation about educating ourselves and our children about sexualised behaviour can be done properly, and not just demonise the entertainment that is provoking that conversation.
#2: Parasite (Directed by Bong Joon-Ho)
It almost feels like I’m robbing Parasite of first place because it was such an incredible film, but my number one entry I did enjoy slightly more. Although it premiered in 2019, Parasite didn’t hit the UK until 2020 so I’m including it in my list because dear lord I needed some good films.
Telling the story of the Kim’s, a poverty-stricken family who through their cunning and various means of deceit manage to land themselves jobs in the wealthy Park family home. However, as they grow comfortable in their lives working for the rich, they discover that they are not the only ones vying for such a luxurious lifestyle. Classism has never been portrayed in such brutal and horrifying ways and I’m so happy to see an Asian film gain so much traction internationally. It fully deserved its Best Picture win at the Oscars and I wholly recommend you seek it out if you haven’t yet seen it.
#1: 1917 (Directed by Sam Mendes)
Telling the story of the Kim’s, a poverty-stricken family who through their cunning and various means of deceit manage to land themselves jobs in the wealthy Park family home. However, as they grow comfortable in their lives working for the rich, they discover that they are not the only ones vying for such a luxurious lifestyle. Classism has never been portrayed in such brutal and horrifying ways and I’m so happy to see an Asian film gain so much traction internationally. It fully deserved its Best Picture win at the Oscars and I wholly recommend you seek it out if you haven’t yet seen it.
#1: 1917 (Directed by Sam Mendes)
This was a tough call between 1917 and Parasite, it really was. As I previously stated I bent my rules slightly this year and it was literally to include these two films otherwise dear lord I would have had some right crap in my top five. The reason why 1917 won out was simply because it is a one-of-a-kind film that absolutely needs to be experienced, preferably on the big screen (though obviously not at the moment). I had high expectations for the film going in and it blew them out of the water, and it’s a film I have enjoyed again and again picking up on small details here and there, as well as reliving the thrilling action sequences. 1917 was the most fun I had with a new film all year and despite technically being a 2019 release because it did premier last year, it’s the best 2020 has had to offer in terms of new releases in the UK.
Bottom 5 of 2020:
#5: Love Wedding Repeat (Directed by Dean Craig)
Bottom 5 of 2020:
#5: Love Wedding Repeat (Directed by Dean Craig)
I do love a good rom com, so it’s a shame that Love Wedding Repeat isn’t one of them because it actually had a great premise and cast. It seems to be the wedding from hell, but how much would change if just one detail was different? The film spends way too long on one scenario and then doesn’t really commit fully to its alternatives to make this an interesting watch. Whilst there are some good performances from the high profile cast it’s mostly forgettable and you could spend your time watching far better rom coms instead.
#4: Mulan (Directed by Niki Caro)
#4: Mulan (Directed by Niki Caro)
After last year’s catastrophe with The Lion King the writing was already on the wall for Mulan. But I was holding out hope, I mean I enjoyed Aladdin more than I expected so hopefully Mulan wouldn’t be completely awful right? Wrong. Mulan took everything that was good about the animated original and got rid of it. On top of that the original films message of how Mulan could be any woman so female empowerment and stuff, completely gone in favour of making Mulan a superhero who was destined to save China. If that doesn’t completely miss the point of the story, I don’t know what does. This films only saving grace was that 2020 had three more shit films to doll out.
#3: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Directed by Sacha Baron Cohen)
#3: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Directed by Sacha Baron Cohen)
I have a long-standing disdain for 2006’s Borat and that type of comedy in general. Something that calls itself satire simply to be offensive without understanding the nuance satire has to actually be funny. So, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that this year’s sequel commissioned by Amazon Prime has made it into my bottom five. That being said I found Subsequent Moviefilm to be considerably better than the original film in every way. There were also two other films that I found to be of lower quality this year so, well done Cohen, it wasn’t a complete shitshow after all.
#2: The Half of It (Directed by Alice Wu)
#2: The Half of It (Directed by Alice Wu)
Some of you may be surprised to see this film so low down on the list but I’m going to be brutally honest about this, I can’t remember anything about this film. All I remember is that when it finished, I turned to my girlfriend and we both agreed it was very underwhelming and that it wasn’t particularly interesting. I’m sure it may not have been as outright bad as some of the others on this list, but the fact that I simply don’t remember a thing about it must mean something because it clearly left no other impression other than meh.
#1: 365 Days (Directed by Barbara Bialowas & Tomasz Mandes)
#1: 365 Days (Directed by Barbara Bialowas & Tomasz Mandes)
I think this list has been somewhat divisive so far, but I feel like 365 Days is something we can all agree on regardless of whether you enjoyed it or not…it’s a crap film. The Polish equivalent to Fifty Shades of Grey hit Netflix in February and it set social media ablaze when it did. The sex was supposed to be so arousing that you simply couldn’t make it through a viewing without, well, doing something about it.
However, upon actually watching 365 Days you begin to realise that whilst the sex scenes are quite raunchy there is absolutely nothing else of substance to the film. The plot, what little there is, makes Fifty Shades look like the works of Shakespeare. The acting, what little there is, makes amateur dramatics look like a big budget performance. I will say that 365 Days is probably a great time if you’re getting drunk, but honestly avoid this film at all costs.
Best Director
Sam Mendes - 1917
However, upon actually watching 365 Days you begin to realise that whilst the sex scenes are quite raunchy there is absolutely nothing else of substance to the film. The plot, what little there is, makes Fifty Shades look like the works of Shakespeare. The acting, what little there is, makes amateur dramatics look like a big budget performance. I will say that 365 Days is probably a great time if you’re getting drunk, but honestly avoid this film at all costs.
Best Director
Sam Mendes - 1917
There was always a clear winner here. 1917 is such a spectacle of a film that the skill needed to conduct this orchestra of madness is unimaginable. My hat truly goes off to Sam Mendes for pulling it out of the bag with this film. It’s a real treat for the eyes and ears and everything comes together so masterfully that you genuinely feel as though you are in the trenches with our protagonists. I don’t really have much more to say other than congratulations Mr. Mendes, you made a fantastic film.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Choi Woo-Shik - Parasite
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Choi Woo-Shik - Parasite
There were a few potential choices for this award but when I really thought about it Choi Woo-Shik was the clear winner. Without his great performance as Kim Ki-Woo, Parasite’s entire first act would have completely fallen apart and as a result the film would never have recovered. The fact that the film’s success hinged so much on Woo-Shik delivering a great performance goes to show just how much faith director Bong Joon-Ho had in the young man’s acting abilities, and he wasn’t wrong.
All the performances in Parasite were incredible, but so much rested on Woo-Shik’s shoulders that without him the film would have greatly suffered.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Fathia Youssouf - Cuties
All the performances in Parasite were incredible, but so much rested on Woo-Shik’s shoulders that without him the film would have greatly suffered.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Fathia Youssouf - Cuties
There’s far more to Cuties than meets the eye and just one aspect of that is leading lady Fathia Youssouf. Just fourteen years of age she carries the entire film and is the audience’s eyes throughout this troubling tale. To leave the film and not appreciate just how incredible this young girl is, is simply a crime and unfortunately her fantastic performance was overshadowed by misguided criticism over the film’s themes.
I look forward to seeing what she does next as the industry has a very promising young star in Youssouf.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Song Kang-Ho - Parasite
I look forward to seeing what she does next as the industry has a very promising young star in Youssouf.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Song Kang-Ho - Parasite
Whilst Choi Woo-Shik was arguably the leading man in Parasite playing the son Kim Ki-Woo, it was without a doubt Song Kang-Ho’s portrayal of Kim Ki-Taek that was the scene stealer throughout the film. A man who had suffered with being stepped on by the upper class all his life, Ki-Taek seized his opportunity in Parasite to be a man who could be respected by those who looked down on him. Kang-Ho’s performance was simply incredible and carried with it the full range of emotions the film portrayed. He was utterly captivating in every scene he was in and makes the film such a joy to revisit.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
I won’t beat around the bush; Borat 2 was not a good film. But Maria Bakalova without a doubt delivered one of the best performances of 2020 as Borat’s daughter, Tutar. She was a great emotional core for the film, and she delivered all of the best jokes the film had to offer. I would happily take a Tutar film with Bakalova in the leading role in the future than another shot at the same tiresome old jokes with Cohen’s Borat.
Best Scene
Housekeeper Montage - Parasite
Best Scene
Housekeeper Montage - Parasite
This was probably the toughest category in this list because there were a number of great scenes from just three films this year. But the one I settled with was the montage at the end of Act 1 of Parasite where the Kim family's plan to infiltrate the Park household finally resolves by removing the Park's current housekeeper from the equation. The thrilling sequence feels like something out of a Mission Impossible film and uses the architecture of the house, as well as some incredible editing and narrated dialogue to show the Kim's success. Whilst Parasite is certainly worth your time, if you need convincing as to just how great the film is then check out this scene!
Best Action Sequence
Trench Run - 1917
Best Action Sequence
Trench Run - 1917
Almost any action scene from 1917 could have qualified for this list, but the final sprint by Schofield through the trenches and across the battlefield just as his fellow soldiers rise out from their trenches to engage the enemy in battle is one hell of a sequence. With mere minutes left to deliver his message to the General, seeing Schofield’s last ditch attempt to complete his mission is thrilling and encapsulates everything great about the film. I was also tempted to put in the approach to the snipers nest, or the escape from the ruined city at night; but the trench run comes at just the right time and has all the stakes to go with it that your pulse is pounding just as hard as Schofield's is.
Best Scare
Midnight Swim - The New Mutants
Best Scare
Midnight Swim - The New Mutants
I did not see a single new horror film this year which really frustrated me. So unfortunately, I’ve had to resort to The New Mutants for my scares. I do feel like The New Mutants got a bad rap when it released and was nowhere near as bad as people made it out to be, but that being said it wasn’t quite what X-Men fans had been hoping for.
The scene is question is arguably the only good scare in the entire film and sees Roberto hallucinate about his former girlfriend in the swimming pool. Roberto killed her by accidentally setting her ablaze and it’s a scene that really showed what The New Mutants could have been capable of if it hadn’t held itself back in terms of the horror elements.
Saddest Scene
Barley's Goodbye - Onward
The scene is question is arguably the only good scare in the entire film and sees Roberto hallucinate about his former girlfriend in the swimming pool. Roberto killed her by accidentally setting her ablaze and it’s a scene that really showed what The New Mutants could have been capable of if it hadn’t held itself back in terms of the horror elements.
Saddest Scene
Barley's Goodbye - Onward
I have mixed feelings about Onward, which you’ll read more about in the next award, but hands down the saddest scene of the year goes to the emotional climax of the film when Barley (Chris Pratt) finally gets to say the goodbye he never got to say to his dad once he and Ian (Tom Holland) slay the dragon and complete their quest. Ian’s sacrifice to meet his dad, in order to let Barley say the goodbye he never fails to leave even the driest eyes welling up, and is also the strongest scene of the entire film.
Biggest Disappointment
Onward (Directed by Dan Scanlon)
Biggest Disappointment
Onward (Directed by Dan Scanlon)
Don’t get me wrong, Onward is a good film. But I had such high hopes for the film. I’m a fantasy geek, I love Pixar, it sounded like it had an excellent emotionally driven storyline. However, what was delivered was far below Pixar’s usually exceedingly high calibre. Aside from the ending the story delivered few emotional punches that really landed. It wasted an excellent world by having a narrative that went out of its way to not delve into the rich history that was being built up throughout. Plus, it didn’t even look as good as many of the recent Pixar films. Whilst still enjoyable and a fan time, it was not anywhere close to the film I was expecting.
Biggest Surprise
Sonic the Hedgehog (Directed by Jeff Fowler) OR Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga (Directed by David Dobkin)
Biggest Surprise
Sonic the Hedgehog (Directed by Jeff Fowler) OR Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga (Directed by David Dobkin)
The only award I needed to split this year. Both of these films I was expecting to be of extremely poor quality, however I was pleasantly surprised that both of these films were generally ok. They certainly weren't amazing, but they were a good time.
When Sonic the Hedgehog was announced it became subject to international ridicule. It looked atrocious and even once the visual effects had been altered it appeared as though the film was going to be a disaster. When it released though Sonic proved itself to be a somewhat competent family film. It certainly took liberties with the video game source material, but overall it was quite an enjoyable experience.
Eurovision meanwhile is something I expected not to like all that much because I simply can’t stand Will Ferrell. Thankfully, Fire Saga is not only a great time, but it was exactly the kind of film we needed in a year that seemed to do whatever it could to remove joy from the world. It was funny, had great music, and filled the Eurovision sized hole in every European’s schedule this year.
Best Score
Soul (Composed by Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)
When Sonic the Hedgehog was announced it became subject to international ridicule. It looked atrocious and even once the visual effects had been altered it appeared as though the film was going to be a disaster. When it released though Sonic proved itself to be a somewhat competent family film. It certainly took liberties with the video game source material, but overall it was quite an enjoyable experience.
Eurovision meanwhile is something I expected not to like all that much because I simply can’t stand Will Ferrell. Thankfully, Fire Saga is not only a great time, but it was exactly the kind of film we needed in a year that seemed to do whatever it could to remove joy from the world. It was funny, had great music, and filled the Eurovision sized hole in every European’s schedule this year.
Best Score
Soul (Composed by Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)
This category was going to Reznor & Ross no matter what happened as not only did they helm Soul but they also composed the score to Mank which also sounded awesome. Soul though clinches it for some incredible jazz numbers from Batiste as well as Reznor & Ross' easily identifiable and peculiar sounding score. Soul was a true treat for the ears and I really wish I could have been able to listen to it with a cinema's sound setup!
Best Soundtrack
Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga (Composed by Atli Orvarsson)
Best Soundtrack
Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga (Composed by Atli Orvarsson)
In a year where the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled I was in dire need of some cheesy, totally overdramatic pop songs and Fire Saga not only delivered that, but provided songs so Eurovision in nature that I was genuinely surprised to discover they weren't songs song by previous contestants. I still stick the songs on occasionally several months later and love them. Play Jaja Ding Dong!
New But Old
Before Sunset (Directed by Richard Linklater)
New But Old
Before Sunset (Directed by Richard Linklater)
I am a huge fan of Linklater’s 2013 coming of age film ‘Boyhood’, but I’d never really delved into the directors back catalogue before. The ‘Before Trilogy’ is something I had heard great things about for years and so I tracked down the DVD’s and watched all three during lockdown. Whilst all three were very enjoyable dramas, it was the second film, Before Sunset that really blew me away with just how intricate and unique the film is.
Nine years after their chance meeting in Vienna, Jesse and Celine once again meet by chance at one of Jesse’s book signings in Paris. The two take an evening stroll, reminisce over their fleeting Venetian romance, and converse about their lives since. As the two walk and talk, they begin to realise that their fleeting romance was perhaps not quite so fleeting, and that fate may be willing them together with their chance meetings.
A romance for the ages and a film I feel everyone should watch, Before Sunset was simply beautiful.
Best Animated Film
Soul (Directed by Pete Docter)
Nine years after their chance meeting in Vienna, Jesse and Celine once again meet by chance at one of Jesse’s book signings in Paris. The two take an evening stroll, reminisce over their fleeting Venetian romance, and converse about their lives since. As the two walk and talk, they begin to realise that their fleeting romance was perhaps not quite so fleeting, and that fate may be willing them together with their chance meetings.
A romance for the ages and a film I feel everyone should watch, Before Sunset was simply beautiful.
Best Animated Film
Soul (Directed by Pete Docter)
This was not a difficult category to judge. I only saw two animated films this year, both of them were from Pixar. Onward was personally quite disappointing and Soul was very good. Almost everything about Soul was great and the quality of the animation was brilliant. I adored the lightning techniques and the vibrant colours, and the art direction for the spirit world was fantastic and reminded me a lot of one of Pixar's other great films, Inside Out.
Best Documentary
Miss Americana (Directed by Lana Wilson)
Best Documentary
Miss Americana (Directed by Lana Wilson)
This category really didn’t have much competition, mainly because Miss Americana was the only documentary film, I watched this year! It also helps that I’m somewhat of a Swifty, think what you will about that nugget of info, but 2020’s been a great year for Taylor Swift fans with two new albums and this documentary about the creation of her seventh studio album ‘Lover’.
Miss Americana won’t give you any reasons to like Swift if you’re not already a fan, and it doesn’t exactly give fins any new information, but seeing her pick up the pieces after the underwhelming reaction to ‘Reputation’ and go on to create music that had a much stronger emotional connection in ‘Lover’ and her subsequent albums is enjoyable to watch.
Best Rewatch
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Directed by Peter Jackson)
Miss Americana won’t give you any reasons to like Swift if you’re not already a fan, and it doesn’t exactly give fins any new information, but seeing her pick up the pieces after the underwhelming reaction to ‘Reputation’ and go on to create music that had a much stronger emotional connection in ‘Lover’ and her subsequent albums is enjoyable to watch.
Best Rewatch
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Directed by Peter Jackson)
I can count on my hands the number of times I managed to go to the cinema this year. However, something that I did very much enjoy was that once the first lockdown lifted cinemas were quick to try and get people back by showing loads of classic older films. The Lord of the Rings trilogy are among my favourite films of all time and ones I never got to experience on the big screen when I was younger, but they were the first films I saw once the lockdown lifted and it was a dream come true. Contending for this spot was also Scott Pilgrim vs the World which I also got to see on the big screen for its tenth anniversary, but the LotR films were enhanced so much by seeing them the way they were meant to be seen and it’s an experience that I’ll never forget.
Most Anticipated Upcoming Film
The Matrix 4 (Directed by Lana Wachowski)
Most Anticipated Upcoming Film
The Matrix 4 (Directed by Lana Wachowski)
This final category was a tough one to choose because almost everything that I was looking forward to in 2020 got bumped back to 2021. So, I made the tough call to just consider films that were originally slated for 2021 releases and not anything that was delayed. In that case it’s an absolute no brainer to be super stoked for The Matrix to be returning! I haven’t actually looked too much into the film but if it matches the quality of any of the previous three films then I’m going to be happy (but preferably the first film, I mean it is the best). But knowing that The Wachowski’s will return, as will Keanu Reeves & Carrie-Anne Moss, I have a lot of faith in this film