TVB Anniversary Awards 2023; ‘The Queen of News’ emerged the biggest winner as expected with 8 awards including best series while Charmaine Sheh swept all 3 best actress awards in a record-breaking outcome.

TVB Anniversary Awards 2023, honouring the best of Hong Kong’s TVB series and programmes released last year (2023) was held a moment ago at Grand Lisboa Palace Resort, Macau. This is the first time the awards ceremony took place away from its usual location in TVB studio. The emcee for the evening is Karl Ting. The show originally scheduled to take 3 hours only but ended up overrun for additional half an hour.

Without further ado, here below are the list of winners in all categories except the non-series related ones along with my comments;

Best Supporting Actress: Samantha Ko (The Queen of News)

Opinion: Once the top 5 is revealed, I knew right away it would be Samantha as she is the most experienced among the 5 and her performance in ‘The Queen of News’ is quite good.

Best Supporting Actor: Jazz Lam (The Invisibles)

Opinion: Happy for Jazz to win too but my first choice is Matthew Ho as his mute role in ‘Narcotic Heroes’ is much harder to play and he put so much effort on it (and he nailed it).

Most Improved TV Male Artiste: Mark Ma

Opinion: My pick would be Nicholas Yuen but he isn’t even able to reach Top 5 surprisingly. But Mark Ma is ok.

Most Improved TV Female Artiste: Tiffany Lau

Opinion: Very much expected as she is currently heavily promoted by TVB.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Series: The Invisibles

Opinion: Now, this is quite surprising. Didn’t expect ‘The Invisibles’ could triumph over ‘The Queen of News’. Something fishy here. I guess TVB doesn’t want all awards to go to one particular series and left many other artistes empty-handed. Anyway, ‘The Invisibles’ is still a good drama but certainly steps behind ‘The Queen of News’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Lead Actor: Kenneth Ma (The Queen of News)

Opinion: I thought this would goes to Ruco Chan since he has bigger fanbase in Malaysia. Anyway, happy for Kenneth to win.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Lead Actress: Charmaine Sheh (The Queen of News)

Opinion: Expected. Her first win of the evening. More to come…

Greater Bay Area’s Most Favourite Series: The Queen of News

Opinion: Expected too as this series gotten huge popularity in mainland China as well.

Greater Bay Area’s Most Favourite Lead Actor: Bosco Wong (Dead Ringer)

Opinion: Oohh…now this outcome is something refreshing. Didn’t see Bosco on stage for a long time. Quite happy that he did although I didn’t watch ‘Dead Ringer’.

Greater Bay Area’s Most Favourite Lead Actress: Charmaine Sheh (The Queen of News)

Opinion: Second award for her in the evening. On the route to record breaking wins. She is so far ahead everyone else in her category.

Best TV Song: ‘Crystal Clear’ by Gigi Yim (The Queen of News)

Opinion: That’s my pick too. Very simple lyrics but beautiful melody and suits very well to the series.

Best Leading Actor: Moses Chan (Narcotic Heroes)

Opinion: Same with my prediction yesterday. As there is no clear frontrunner in this category this year, there’s a feeling that this will go to Moses as the last time he had won this was 16 years ago. Time for another one. My gut feeling was right.

Best Leading Actress: Charmaine Sheh (The Queen of News)

Opinion: Wow…Charmaine broke record by sweeping all three best actress awards for the evening. She also broke record as the actress with most Hong Kong best actress wins at 3 (previous win in 2006 and 2014). Congratulations to her. A bit pity for Selena Lee who also did extremely well in ‘The Queen of News’. Whenever she emerges strong that particular year, there is always another one who did well and is of higher status and won (remember 2019 when she was so phenomenal in ‘Barrack o’Karma’ but ended up only winning Most Popular Female Character (shared with Miriam Yeung) and that year’s best actress goes to Kara Hui).

Best Series: The Queen of News

Opinion: Expected and very much deserving. The only series that truly stood out last year. Impressive production. The series became the biggest winner of the ceremony after winning 8 awards.

That’s it. I think I’m the first one to publish the winners list of the just concluded TVB Anniversary Awards 2023 in English version. Haha…efficiency right there as I wrote this post while watching the whole show just now. Good night and have a great week ahead!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ sweeps at the 95th Academy Awards.

A24’s sleeper hit, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is indeed winning almost everything everywhere all at once (just as the movie’s title) at the 95th Academy Awards held yesterday on March 12, 2023. The multiverse sci-fi, comedy and drama film won 7 Oscars out of the 11 nominations it received and became the biggest winner of the evening.

The awards ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the third time took a little over three and a half hours and went smoothly this year without any unwanted moments (no slapping incident, no wrong announcement of winner, etc). It was such a good show and I’m very excited and happy for most of the result this year, particularly to EEAAO’s sweep as I admire this film and it is certainly one-of-a-kind that truly deserves best picture.

Here are the full list of winners for the Hollywood’s biggest annual film awards, the 95th Academy Awards:

Best Picture: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actor: Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

Best Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Original Song: “Naatu Naatu,” “RRR”

Best Documentary Feature: “Navalny”

Best Adapted Screenplay: “Women Talking”

Best Original Screenplay: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Costume Design: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Best International Feature: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Animated Feature: “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Best Visual Effects: “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Best Cinematography: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Film Editing: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Score: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Sound: “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Production Design: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “The Whale”

Best: Documentary (Short Subject): “The Elephant Whisperers”

Best Short (Animated): “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Best Short Film (Live Action): “An Irish Goodbye”

You can see the full nomination list for the awards in my previous blog post that also comes along with my final prediction. Out of the 23 categories, I correctly predicted in 17 of them. That’s 73.9% accuracy. Not bad. Not bad. Will try to aim for higher accuracy next year.

All of the awards that EEAO won are above-the-line categories, taking home best picture, director, screenplay (original), acting (lead actress, supporting actor, supporting actress) and film editing. The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) won three Oscars each at the ceremony as they co-write, co-direct and co-produce (together with Jonathan Wang) EEAAO. I’m so happy that they called out Michelle Yeoh’s name when announcing the best actress winner too. She truly deserves it. I’m so proud to be Malaysian at that moment and she did mention Malaysia and KL too in her acceptance speech while mentioning about her mother watching the ceremony live in their country. She became the first Asian to win the Oscar for Best Actress, the first Malaysian to win an Academy Award in any category, and the second woman of color to win Best Actress after Halle Berry in 2002. A huge congratulation to Michelle Yeoh!

Out of the 10 nominated films in best picture, 5 films went home empty handed that evening. They are ‘Elvis’ (quite unexpected as I was expecting this film to take home at least few Oscars like best actor and best costume design), ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, ‘Triangle of Sadness’, ‘The Fabelmans’ and ‘Tar’. It is very unlikely especially in recent years that Academy would let a film to make major sweep for their awards but it does finally happen this year with EEAAO’s dominance.

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ ended the evening with second most wins at 4 (international feature, cinematography, score and production design). I never thought it won for production design as I felt it was actually the weakest among the nominees in that category. What a surprise. Well, luckily, the movie didn’t perform here as well as in the BAFTA as I don’t really enjoy the film and was quite perplexed on how it could win so many awards at the BAFTA earlier including best film. The Academy made it right. All the 4 acting winners at the Oscars also matched up with the result at the SAG awards and not the BAFTA (and I’m very happy for it!).

Once Jamie Lee Curtis won in the tight supporting actress race (she isn’t even affected from the vote splitting with her co-star Stephanie Hsu who is also nominated in the same category) in the earlier part of the ceremony, I knew it will be a big night for EEAAO and a win for Michelle Yeoh for best actress is very likely. I still prefer Angela Bassett to win though for her performance in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.

Alright. That’s the wrap for the Hollywood awards season honouring the best of films released in 2022. It concludes with the 95th Oscars that made history in several categories and delivered one of the most satisfying results in a long time. What a year!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ making sweep at PGA and SAG in the past weekend!

It’s less than 2 weeks away to the Oscars and we are now in the midst of plenty of major precursor awards from the critics and the guilds in recognizing the best of Hollywood films released in 2022. In fact, most of the precursor awards have passed including the Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA) and Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) which took place just in the past weekend.

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ made history as the first ever film to win 4 awards at the SAG. Before the ceremony, the film has 5 nominations in 4 categories and won in all the 4 categories including the coveted best cast ensemble award. Actors do really love and adore this film, particularly its cast. Who doesn’t love them? Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie-Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and several others including the legendary 94-years old James Hong. The acceptance speech at the final award (cast ensemble) which is turned into a tribute to James Hong is momentous. James himself was quite funny too on his speech.

Very well deserved win to everyone (well maybe except for Jamie-Lee Curtis as the other nominees in her supporting actress category are more superior than her in terms of performances). The film really wins everything everwhere all at once! Haha (except for BAFTA where it only managed to win editing to everyone’s shock!. British academy had poor taste in judging films). It is also very rare seeing that the 4 acting winners at the BAFTA are totally different with the 4 acting winners at the SAG. It’s going to be an exciting race at the Oscars. Close calls in all the acting categories except for maybe the supporting actor where Ke Huy Quan is the most solid frontrunner.

I’m so happy for Michelle Yeoh. She deserved this lead actress award and need to win this to stay on the race to win best actress at the Oscars. Her main competitor, Cate Blanchett had beaten her in many previous major precursor awards. Let’s hope the momentum stays on for her to become the first ever Asian to win best actress at the Academy Awards. I knew; many are saying Cate’s performance in ‘Tar’ is the best. I personally felt both Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett are equal in their respective performances. After that, I am thinking who is overdue and in need of this recognition? Cate has won Oscars twice and she would have many more future opportunities to get awards. That’s not the case for Michelle. This is her once-in-a-lifetime chance. Hence, I’m rooting for her (also partly because she is a Malaysian and I’m of course supporting my own country along the way!).

I like the way this year’s SAG Awards is being presented. The ceremony was available for live streaming on YouTube so everyone is able to watch it easily online. No commercial ads. No music playoff to cut short the time for the award’s winners to speak. Clips of all nominees are presented. And lastly…the result are so much more exciting and great!

Here’s below the result only for the film categories for the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards (didn’t bother the television categories as I do not watch any US television series):

Motion Picture Cast

Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Women Talking

Male Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture

Austin Butler, Elvis
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Bill Nighy, Living
Adam Sandler, Hustle

Female Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture

Cate Blanchett, Tár
Viola Davis, The Woman King
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Danielle Deadwyler, Till
WINNER: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Male Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture

Paul Dano, The Fabelmans
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

Female Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau, The Whale
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
WINNER: Top Gun: Maverick
The Woman King

Brendan Fraser also needed this best actor win to stay in the race for the Oscars as Austin Butler had prevailed at the Golden Globes and the BAFTA. So for best actor it will be battle between Brendan and Austin. Colin Farrell has lost a lot of momentum at this point. For best actress, it’s just between Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh (sorry for the other nominees!). Supporting actor is likely a lock for Ke Huy Quan. Supporting actress is a bit more crowded with a three-way race between Kerry Condon, Angela Bassett and Jamie-Lee Curtis (I’m still picking Angela Bassett for the Oscars win).

A24 dominated the SAG this year (as both ‘The Whale’ and ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ are from A24 studio). ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is now a clear frontrunner for best picture at the Oscars after winning SAG ensemble on top of the previous major win at Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA), Directors Guild of America Awards (DGA) and Critics Choice Awards. It is also set to win at the upcoming Writers Guild Awards (WGA) and Independent Spirit Awards which are to be held on this coming weekend.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

British academy has very odd taste on this year’s BAFTA awards’ choices.

The 76th BAFTA Film Awards (or known as British Academy Film Awards) took place few hours ago at the Royal Festival Hall in London, UK. It is the third major Hollywood film awards with two more still coming (SAG Awards in the following weekend and the Oscars on next month). This awards are being known to favour British or generally conservative films. However, it does have a major impact to shake up the race at the prestigious Oscars.

I was quite shocked with the winners list this year. A German war film ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ won big at the ceremony with 7 wins including best film. I don’t think it will repeat its success at the Oscars as it does not receive many nominations at the latter and is even excluded from some major categories in nomination such as directing and film editing. ‘Elvis’ (this film overperformed at the BAFTA too) and ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’ tied at second place with 4 wins each.

Oscars’ frontrunner in many categories, ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ was almost entirely shut out in the BAFTA. It only manage to win film editing award. Ke Huy Quan who is a clear frontrunner in supporting actor race lost to Barry Keoghan from ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’. Well, as mentioned earlier, that’s because British academy voters are biased towards their own British films. Ke Huy Quan is still going to take home the Oscars most likely. The film directors, the Daniels, also lost the best director at the BAFTA despite winning DGA (Directors Guild Awards) the day before. Conclusion; the British people just don’t like odd yet innovative movies. The result also clearly shows that while many do love this film, there are also many who dislike it too. The BAFTA hurts the film’s prospect of multiple wins at the Oscars.

Here below is the full list of winners for the 2023 BAFTA Film Awards:

Best film
“All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

“The Banshees of Inisherin”

“Everything Everywhere All At Once”

“Elvis”

“‘TÁR”

Outstanding British film
“Aftersun”

“The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

“Brian and Charles”

“Empire of Light”

“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”

“Living”

“Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical”

“See How They Run”

“The Swimmers”

“The Wonder”

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
“Aftersun” Charlotte Wells (writer/director) *WINNER

“Blue Jean” Georgia Oakley (writer/director), Hélène Sifre (producer)

“Electric Malady” Marie Lidén (director)

“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” Katy Brand (writer)

“Rebellion” Elena Sánchez Bellot (director) Maia Kenworthy (director)

Best film not in the English language
“All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

“Argentina, 1985”

“Corsage”

“Decision to Leave”

“The Quiet Girl”

Best documentary
“All That Breathes”

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

“Fire of Love”

“Moonage Daydream”

“Navalny” *WINNER

Best animated film
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” *WINNER

“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”

“Turning Red”

Best director
Edward Berger, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Park Chan-wook, “Decision To Leave”

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Todd Field, “TÁR”

Gina Prince-Bythewood, “The Woman King”

Best original screenplay
Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”

Todd Field, “TÁR”

Ruben Östlund, “Triangle of Sadness”

Best adapted screenplay
Edward Berger, Ian Stokell and Leslie Patterson, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

Kazuo Ishiguro, “Living”

Colm Bairéad, “The Quiet Girl”

Rebecca Lenkiewicz, “She Said”

Samuel D. Hunter, “The Whale”

Best lead actress
Ana de Armas, “Blonde”

Cate Blanchett, “TÁR” *WINNER

Viola Davis, “The Woman King”

Danielle Deadwyler, “Till”

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

Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Best lead actor
Austin Butler, “Elvis” *WINNER

Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Daryl McCormack, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”

Paul Mescal, “Aftersun”

Bill Nighy, “Living”

Best supporting actress
Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Hong Chau, “The Whale”

Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Dolly De Leon, “Triangle of Sadness”

Carey Mulligan, “She Said”

Best supporting actor
Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin” *WINNER

Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Eddie Redmayne, “The Good Nurse”

Albrecht Schuch, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Michael Ward, “Empire of Light”

Best original score
Volker Bertelmann, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

Justin Hurwitz, “Babylon”

Carter Burwell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Son Lux, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Alexandre Desplat, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Best casting
Lucy Pardee, “Aftersun”

Simon Bär, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Nikki Barrett, Denise Chamian, “Elvis” *WINNER

Sarah Halley Finn, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Pauline Hansson, “Triangle of Sadness”

Best cinematography
James Friend, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

Greig Fraser, “The Batman”

Mandy Walker, “Elvis”

Roger Deakins, “Empire of Light”

Claudio Miranda, “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best editing
Sven Budelmann, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Matt Villa, “Elvis”

Paul Rogers, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” *WINNER

Eddie Hamilton, “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best production design
Christian M. Goldbreck, Ernestine Hipper, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino, “Babylon” *WINNER

James Chinlund, Lee Sandales, “The Batman”

Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn, “Elvis”

Curt Enderle, Guy Davis, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Best costume design
Lisy Christl, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

J.R. Hawbaker and Albert Wolsky, “Amsterdam”

Mary Zophres, “Babylon”

Catherine Martin, “Elvis” *WINNER

Jenny Beavan, “Mrs Harris Goes To Paris”

Best makeup and hair
Heike Merker, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Michael Marino and Zoe Tahir, “The Batman”

Shane Thomas, Louise Coulston, Mark Coulier and Barrie Gower, “Elvis” *WINNER

Naomi Donne, Barrie Gower, Sharon Martin, “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical”

Anne Marie Bradley, Judy Chin, Adrien Morot, “The Whale”

Best sound
Lars Ginzsel, Frank Kruse, Viktor Prášil and Markus Stemler, “All Quiet on the Western Front” *WINNER

Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Julian Howarth, Gary Summers and Gwendoyln Yates Whittle, “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Michael Keller, David Lee, Andy Nelson and Wayne Pashley, “Elvis”

Deb Adair, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley, Steve Single and Roland Winke, “TÁR”

Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Mark Taylor and Mark Weingarten, “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best special visual effects
Markus Frank, Kamil Jafar, Viktor Müller and Frank Petzoid, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri and Eric Saindon, “Avatar: The Way of Water” *WINNER

Russell Earl, Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy, “The Batman”

Benjamin Brewer, Ethan Feldbau, Jonathan Kombrinck and Zak Stoltz, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Seth Hill, Scott R. Fisher, Bryan Litson and Ryan Tudhope, “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best British short animation
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” *WINNER

“Middle Watch”

“Your Mountain is Waiting”

Best British short film
“The Ballad Of Olive Morris”

“Bazigaga”

“Bus Girl”

“A Drifting Up”

“An Irish Goodbye” *WINNER

EE Rising Star
Aimee Lou Wood

Daryl McCormack

Emma Mackey *WINNER

Naomi Ackie

Sheila Atim

We will see how the race further shapes up with the SAG Awards coming up this weekend. That will be last major precursor before the Academy Awards (Oscars) on March 12th 2023. ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is still tipped to win best ensemble and best supporting actor on that ceremony (and I still hope Michelle Yeoh wins best lead actress too although it looks quite clear that Cate Blanchett from ‘Tar’ is unbeatable at this point after winning most of the precursor awards).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Oscars 2022: CODA won best picture but Will Smith’s slap is the highlight of the year’s Academy Awards.

The 94th Academy Awards took place yesterday (this morning here in Singapore) with CODA, a movie about a child who is the only hearing person in her deaf family winning best picture (the film also win in the other two other categories it was nominated in; best supporting actor and best adapted screenplay). ‘Dune’, the epic sci-fi film last year is the biggest winner of the night with 6 wins (all in technical categories).

The biggest highlight of the awards ceremony is not from any of the above. It was ‘the slap’. Chris Rock who was making a disrespectful joke against Will Smith’s wife (Pinkett Smith) on stage was then given a violent slap by Will Smith. Will then returned to his seat, swear and yelled at him twice to stop talking about his wife. Some sided with Chris for his professionalism especially after facing such physical assault on live television and he continued to carry on with his presentation. Some thinks that it is a violence that is uncalled for by Will. However, some supported Will’s action to protect his wife and that Chris’ joke went overboard. Will Smith did went to the stage again for winning best actor for his performance in ‘King Richard’ and he took the opportunity to apologize to the Academy for what he did earlier.

Out of the 10 movies nominated in best picture this year, I have only watched three of them; ‘Don’t Look Up’, ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Nightmare Alley’. I have also not watched most of the other movies nominated in rest of the categories this year. Hence, I didn’t really put much attention to this year’s film awards season unlike in the previous years. For now, perhaps I will find a time to watch ‘CODA’ after it had won the best picture. Anyway, below is the full list of winners for the recently concluded 94th Academy Awards (Oscars 2022) along with my comments in some of the categories;

Best Picture

• “CODA” — Winner
• “Belfast”
• “Don’t Look Up”
• “Drive My Car”
• “Dune”
• “King Richard”
• “Licorice Pizza”
• “Nightmare Alley”
• “The Power of the Dog”
• “West Side Story”

Comment: Many general audiences would not have even heard of these nominated movies. It is better for the Academy to include more mainstream films rather than giving all the 10 slots to arthouse films. General audiences are getting more detached from these awards because of the industry’s dominant preference to small drama films. My personal pick is ‘Don’t Look Up’ but I knew it has zero chance of winning.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Will Smith, “King Richard” — Winner
• Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
• Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
• Andrew Garfield, “tick, tick…BOOM!”
• Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”‘

Will Smith in ‘King Richard’.

Opinion: It is Will Smith’s year. No one else is strong enough to take that best actor win from him. I’m hoping for more great projects for Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Garfield so that they both can win some day. They are both great actors too and are certainly not only good in portraying superhero characters but also in everything else.

Actress in a Leading Role

• Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” — Winner
• Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”
• Penélope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”
• Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”
• Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”

Opinion: Congratz to Jessica Chastain! Didn’t watch her movie but have heard of all the good reviews to her performance in that movie. Well, she has been nominated twice in the past so third time is really a charm for her this year!

Animated Feature Film

• “Encanto” — Winner
• “Flee”
• “Luca”
• “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
• “Raya and the Last Dragon”

Opinion: Disney wins again for animated feature film. ‘Encanto’ is yet another solid Disney film with all the ‘promised to be successful’ similar formulas. Hmm…but I have seen enough of these formulas and start to get tired of it after watching ‘Encanto’. My own preference is ‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ but this film cannot even make it into the top 5 nominees.

Cinematography

• “Dune,” Greig Fraser — Winner
• “Nightmare Alley,” Dan Laustsen
• “The Power of the Dog,” Ari Wegner
• “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Bruno Delbonnel
• “West Side Story,” Janusz Kaminski

Directing

• Jane Campion,  “The Power of the Dog” — Winner
• Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
• Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
• Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”
• Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”

Documentary Feature

• “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” — Winner
• “Ascension”
• “Attica”
• “Flee”
• “Writing with Fire”

Documentary Short Subject

• “The Queen of Basketball” — Winner
• “Audible”
• “Lead Me Home”
• “Three Songs for Benazir”
• “When We Were Bullies”

International Feature Film

• “Drive My Car” (Japan) — Winner
• “Flee” (Denmark)
• “The Hand of God” (Italy)
• “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” (Bhutan)
• “The Worst Person in the World” (Norway)

Opinion: Very much expected since ‘Drive My Car’ is the only non-English film which is able to make it into top 10 best picture nominees.

Original Song

• “No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell — Winner
• “Be Alive” from “King Richard,” music and lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
• “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto,” music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
• “Down To Joy” from “Belfast,” music and lyric by Van Morrison
• “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell 

Production Design

• “Dune,” Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos — Winner
• “Nightmare Alley,” Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
• “The Power of the Dog,” Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
• “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
• “West Side Story,” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Visual Effects

• “Dune,” Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer — Winner
• “Free Guy,” Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
• “No Time to Die,” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
• “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

Makeup and Hairstyling

• “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh — Winner
• “Coming 2 America,” Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer
• “Cruella,” Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon
• “Dune,” Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
• “House of Gucci,” Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

Film Editing

• “Dune,” Joe Walker — Winner
• “Don’t Look Up,” Hank Corwin
• “King Richard,” Pamela Martin
• “The Power of the Dog,” Peter Sciberras
• “tick, tick…BOOM!” Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

Opinion: Wow…’Dune’ is sweeping in almost all the technical categories, leaving no place for other movies to snatch trophies.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Troy Kotsur, “CODA” — Winner
• Ciarán Hinds, “Belfast”
• Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
• J.K. Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
• Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” — Winner
• Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
• Judi Dench, “Belfast”
• Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”
• Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”

Live Action Short Film

• “The Long Goodbye” — Winner
• “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run”
• “The Dress”
• “On My Mind”
• “Please Hold”

Animated Short Film

• “The Windshield Wiper” — Winner
• “Affairs of the Art”
• “Bestia”
• “Boxballet”
• “Robin Robin”

Original Screenplay

• “Belfast” (Kenneth Branagh) — Winner
• “Don’t Look Up” (Screenplay by Adam McKay and story by Adam McKay and David Sirota)
• “King Richard” (Zach Baylin)
• “Licorice Pizza” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
• “The Worst Person in the World” (Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier)

Adapted Screenplay

• Siân Heder, “CODA” — Winner
• Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”
• Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, “Drive My Car”
• Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve, “Dune”

Original Score

• “Dune,” Hans Zimmer — Winner
• “Don’t Look Up,” Nicholas Britell
• “Encanto,” Germaine Franco
• “Parallel Mothers,” Alberto Iglesias
• “The Power of the Dog,” Jonny Greenwood

Sound

• “Dune,” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett — Winner
• “Belfast,” Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri
• “No Time to Die,” Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor
• “The Power of the Dog,” Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb
• “West Side Story,” Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

Costume Design

• “Cruella,” Jenny Beavan — Winner
• “Cyrano,” Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
• “Dune,” Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
• “Nightmare Alley,” Luis Sequeira
• “West Side Story,” Paul Tazewell

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Shaun Tam and Rosina Lam won TV King and Queen at TVB Anniversary Awards 2021 while ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ surprisingly snags best TV series.

TVB Anniversary Awards 2021 took place a moment ago to recognize the best from TVB series and programmes aired last year. Although there is no live online streaming of the event on Youtube (unlike last year), but I was still able to watch it from TVB Anywhere app via my mobile phone fortunately (but have to be patient with the unstable streaming).

This is the first time I’m not seeing Carol Cheng hosting the awards presentation ceremony. I wonder why. I’m surprised also at more number of heavyweight guests that are able to be invited to present awards this evening. I think mostly due to Eric Tsang’s (he is general manager of TVB now) many close ties in the industry. Here below are the results along with my opinions (only series related awards are shown. All non-series related awards are excluded as those are not of my interest):

Lifetime Achievement Award – David Chiang

Opinion: Very deserved win for David Chiang. He is a very solid veteran actor who has acted in TV series from 1980s all the way to the present. He had also acted in over 100 films to date. Even my father who doesn’t really remember names of popular actors of his generation also does know his name.

Best Supporting Actor – Brian Chu (Take Two)

Opinion: Disappointed with this result. Brian Chu’s performance in that drama is only average. Cheung Wing-hong or Him Law displayed much better performances last year.

Most Improved TV Female Artiste – Lesley Chiang

Opinion: Didn’t watch any of her works last year and so couldn’t comment much. I also have no particular preference for this category.

Most Improved TV Male Artiste – Joey Law, Karl Ting

Opinion: Happy for both of them winning. Both of them put a lot of effort and deserved recognition. Karl is very energetic on his works in non-series programmes and he is also very good and natural in ‘Battle of the Seven Sister’. Didn’t see any Joey Law’s works last year though.

Best Dressed TV Female Artiste – Jeannie Chan

Best Dressed TV Male Artiste – Shaun Tam

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actress – Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: She is my second choice. I prefer Ali but I’m not too disappointed with Linda winning. However, she had won this award (Malaysia) before. Ali has not if I’m not mistaken.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Yes. He is my pick. The competition is very weak last year for lead actor categories. Out of the nominees, the ones who have not win before is Owen and Shaun. Out of these two, Shaun has the edge. His acting still has huge room of improvement but is certainly much better than Owen’s stiff acting in ‘The Ringmaster’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TV Series – Kids’ Lives Matter

Opinion: Disagreed with this outcome. This series is so boring. My choice is ‘AI Romantic’ which is more fun and interesting.

Best Supporting Actress – Yoyo Chen (Plan B)

Opinion: Quite a well deserved win. She had been in the industry for over 17 years but had been always sidelined to minor roles. She finally had a breakthrough year in 2021 with her winning a voice-acting contest show and a great performance in ‘Plan B’ as a fierce mother.

Most Popular TV Partnership – Mandy Lam & Jack Hui (Come Home Love: Lo and Behold)

Opinion: Didn’t watch this long running sitcom so nothing to comment for this category. The top 5 lists are also not of my interest.

Most Popular TV Male Character – Kenneth Ma (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: Wow…this is his 4th time winning this award. He is really super popular. I would prefer Billy Luk from ‘AI Romantic’ to win instead. Kenneth Ma won too many times. He doesn’t feel anything already after this 4th win which he himself find very surprising too.

Best Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Luckily is not Owen. Like I said earlier, if between Shaun and Owen, my choice is Shaun. Although his performance is not really exceptional but is good enough in 2021. Owen delivered a very bland performance in ‘The Ringmaster’. Shaun’s character in ‘Take Two’ is more interesting and he quite succeeded in it. Looking forward to see him further improving on his acting in future works.

Most Popular TV Female Character – Ali Lee (Beauty and the Boss)

Opinion: Didn’t watch her performance in ‘Beauty and the Boss’ but I do really like her in ‘AI Romantic’. I’m still glad she win though. She never win this before despite winning best actress few years ago. A very solid young actress.

Best Leading Actress – Rosina Lam (Battle of the Seven Sisters)

Opinion: I am almost 100% certain that Linda will take this. I’m very shocked now. She is robbed. I didn’t expect Rosina Lam to win. Her performance in ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ is indeed better than in ‘Sinister Beings’ (both were aired last year). But I still felt it is not her time yet. Her emotional scenes were still quite unnatural and felt forced. Perhaps it is TVB’s way to keep Rosina to continue filming for the station while Linda is now staying mostly at Canada already. This is supposed to be Linda’s year. Her emotional scenes in ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’ were great and many were already picking her.

Best TV Series – Battle of the Seven Sisters

Opinion: Disagreed with this series winning best series. Nothing spectacular or outstanding about this series. Out of the top 5, my choice is ‘Sinister Beings’. Disappointed that ‘AI Romantic’ does not even make it into top 5. It was my personal favourite in 2021.

Ok. That wraps up TVB report card for 2021. Time for new TVB series to watch this year soon.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

93rd Academy Awards: Surprises in lead acting categories while ‘Nomadland’ took best picture and director as expected.

The 93rd Academy Awards (aka the Oscars) concluded a moment ago and I am glad that I was able to find an online platform to watch the live broadcast of the whole ceremony that ran a little over 3 hours. ‘Nomadland’ took the top honor by winning the best picture. The movie which I find mediocre also won for best director and best actress. Here are the full list of winners along with my opinions for several categories (the winners are in bold):

Best Picture
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Expected. ‘Nomadland’ have had a clean sweep in the major precursor awards in this category. I don’t get the hype of this movie and I also do not enjoy it thoroughly (I find it dull). I would have prefer ‘The Father’ or ‘Minari’.

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari

Opinion: Wow…I’m actually very happy for Anthony Hopkins. His performance in ‘The Father’ is fantastic and I’m glad that he won it which may came as a shock to many people. First, he won it before. Secondly, many felt that this should be awarded to Chadwick Boseman posthumously. Fortunately, most Academy members didn’t think that way (same goes to me). Hopkins delivered the best performance out of the five.

Best Actress
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Opinion: Looks like BAFTA is a good indicator for the outcome of lead acting categories at the Oscars. Anthony Hopkins and Frances McDormand both won at the BAFTA and the result repeated itself at the Oscars. It is still quite a shock here since many are predicting Carey Mulligan to win (including myself). Frances is good but I don’t think she deserved to win three best actress Oscars for her performances which look more or less the same. Even the legendary Meryl Streep only had won two before (and one supporting). I felt it was too much for Frances.

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Opinion: Good. More Asian filmmakers should be recognized (and not just Black or woman or LGBT). Without Chloe’s direction, ‘Nomadland’ would not even be in the spotlight in this awards season.

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

Opinion: Very happy for Yuh-Jung Youn. She deserved it. She also gave the best (and most hilarious) speech for the evening despite not being well versed in English. Such a lovely person. I would want her to become my grandma…haha. Poor Glenn Close…lost again at the Oscars. She needs to get into a brilliant film and win best actress soon.

Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

Best International Feature
Another Round
Better Days
Collective 
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon 
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Opinion: No surprise here. ‘Soul’ had a clean sweep just like ‘Nomadland’ in this awards season. A simple yet thought-provoking film, ‘Soul’ captivated me and is no doubt the best animated film in 2020.

Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

Opinion: ‘Soul’ winning score is expected. As soon as the movie started, I already knew this score is going to get some trophies. The score is simply amazing.

Best Original Song
“Fight for You,” Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik,” Eurovision Song Contest
“Io Si (Seen),” The Life Ahead
“Speak Now,” One Night in Miami

Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Didn’t watch ‘Promising Young Woman’ but I have heard of the many positive words for the daring debut of the writer of this film (who is also the film’s director) with her unconventionally wild and fresh script.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger

Opinion: Some predicted ‘Nomadland’ to win in this category too but I’m rooting for ‘The Father’. Looks like most Academy members had the same opinion as mine. The screenplay for this film is beautiful!

Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Most predicted ‘Nomadland’ too but ‘Mank’ prevailed in the end. Well, I agree too as I believe there are a lot more works on black-and-white film in terms of capturing the light to complement and enhance the film. On the other hand, lighting work from ‘Nomadland’ mostly comes from the nature itself only (the beautiful backdrop sceneries) and doesn’t require much effort.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Costume Design
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Film Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Would have prefer ‘The Father’ but ‘Sound of Metal’ is fine for me too.

Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

Opinion: It is so obvious that the movie centered on sound (and even part of its title is called ‘sound’) will win this.

Best Live-Action Short
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye

Best Animated Short
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People

Best Documentary Short
Colette
A Concerto is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

Opinion: Expected. The visual effects of ‘Tenet’ are splendid especially on its extensive use of backward shots which are critical to the story of the film (which also got the audiences confused too..haha).

Best Production Design
The Father 
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet

Opinion: Not much to comment but I have read many positive words on the production values in ‘Mank’ which delivered successfully to match the look and feel of the old Hollywood era intended in the film.

That’s all; the conclusion of the awards season for Hollywood films in 2020. Congratulations to all the winners! Most of the results are very much predictable while there are still some surprises especially in the lead acting categories as mentioned earlier. I find it weird that the Academy decided to announce best picture winner first before the best actor and actress categories. The arrangement felt weird.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal; winners of 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Recent years, the Pritzker Prize (highest honor of architecture to individuals) tend to recognize the less famous architects who still contribute significantly to the built environment. Well, at least it introduces us to these architects whom we would have not known before they won. This year’s winners are Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, founders of Lacaton & Vassal architecture office based in Paris, France.

Below are the extracts from Archdaily article on their philosophies and some of their works:

The French duo are renowned for their multiple sustainable housing projects and for the Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary art gallery in Paris. In their three decades of work, Lacaton & Vassal always prioritized the “enrichment of human life”, benefiting the individual and supporting the evolution of the city.

“Good architecture is open—open to life, open to enhance the freedom of anyone, where anyone can do what they need to do. It should not be demonstrative or imposing, but it must be something familiar, useful and beautiful, with the ability to quietly support the life that will take place within it.” — Anne Lacaton

Praised for their approach that renews modernist hopes of improving the lives of many and reexamines the definition of the profession itself, the French studio generates interventions that “respond to the climatic and ecological emergencies of our time, as well as social urgencies, particularly in the realm of urban housing”. Re-thinking the notion of sustainability, the duo believes firmly in the “never demolish” principle, taking the opportunity to upgrade and transform, while allowing enduring properties of a building to remain.

Having met in the late 1970s at École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux, Anne Lacaton (1955, Saint-Pardoux, France) and Jean-Philippe Vassal (1954, Casablanca, Morocco) built their first joint project in Niamey, Niger, a temporary straw hut, constructed with locally sourced bush branches that relented to the wind within two years of completion. At that time, they vowed to “never demolish what could be redeemed […] extending through addition, respecting the luxury of simplicity, and proposing new possibilities”. In 1987, they established Lacaton & Vassal in Paris, focusing on generous spaces and freedom of use through economic and ecological materials. So far, they have completed over 30 projects throughout Europe and West Africa, ranging from private cultural and academic institutions to public spaces, social housing, and urban developments.

Increasing living space “inexpensively”, the architects first integrated greenhouse technologies through winter gardens and balconies. Their initial application was in the Latapie House in 1993 (Floirac, France) before progressing to bigger scales, and transforming La Tour Bois le Prêtre in 2011 (Paris, France), a 17-story, 96-unit city housing project originally built in the early 1960s, alongside Frédéric Druot. Rejecting city plans calling for the demolition of social housing, they removed the original concrete façade and extended the footprint of the building to form bioclimatic balconies, making every unit bigger. This framework allowed a dramatic visual reinvention of many social housing complexes. In fact, in 2017, they transformed 530 units within three buildings at Grand Parc in Bordeaux, France, with Christophe Hutin architecture, Frédéric Druot, designing from the inside out to prioritize the welfare of a building’s inhabitants.

Always within the same concepts of maximizing usable space, in their most recent transformation of Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France 2012), Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal increased the museum by 20,000 square meters, to accommodate changing needs. On another hand, for the Atelier de Préfabrication no. 2 (AP2), a postwar shipbuilding facility, the duo chose to erect a second building, identical in shape and size to the first, instead of filling the existing void. Working with academic institutions, the architects were able to almost double the areas outlined in the brief of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Nantes in 2009 (Nantes, France), creating spaces that are deliberately un-prescribed and adaptable.

Current works in progress comprise the housing transformations of a former hospital into a 138-unit, mid-rise apartment building in Paris, France, and an 80-unit, mid-rise building in Anderlecht, Belgium; the transformation of an office building in Paris, France; mixed-use buildings offering hotel and commercial space in Toulouse, France; and a 40-unit, private housing, mid-rise building in Hamburg, Germany.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

So here are my thoughts; although I do find their works slightly too humble and simple, but I do understand the notion of ‘beauty in simplicity’ in some of them. There isn’t any imposing or awestruck designs coming out from them but I do admire their strong and consistent push for adaptive reuse. This area is getting more and more significant now due to the rising issues of abandoned or dilapidated buildings over time worldwide. Why demolish when with a careful and creative thought, an old unused building can be transformed into something spectacular and above all, useful and ‘alive’ again!

Reference:

https://www.archdaily.com/958565/anne-lacaton-and-jean-philippe-vassal-receive-the-2021-pritzker-architecture-prize?fbclid=IwAR1GE6h2MqEB87iNZB_KEYfEi6UIotzA_ZMmAe_camgOMLYaamC-DTvFD80

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Thoughts on the winner list of TVB Anniversary Awards 2020.

The ceremony for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 (萬千星輝頒獎典禮2020) had just concluded a moment ago with 18 prizes presented out to honour the best of their series and programmes for the past year. Several nominated popular artists did not turn up and there is no special or heavyweight guest presenters at all; they are signs that this awards ceremony is losing its status as one of the most anticipated and star-studded ceremonies in Hong Kong entertainment industry. What we end up seeing are TVB actors/actresses presenting gifts to their peers, even for the best actor and actress categories.

Here are the list of winners for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 alongside my personal opinions:

Lifetime Achievement: Whole team of ‘Come Home Love’ series

Opinion: This award is presented to honour veteran actor/actress every year who have contributed immensely to Hong Kong entertainment industry for many decades. However, for this year, TVB decided to do something different (and also very weird) by awarding this to the whole cast and crew of ‘Come Home Love’. It’s more like a consolation prize to this series that is not able to win the best series award later on. It’s a very strange and poor act by TVB; they should really stick to the format and reserve it to recognize a particularly deserving veteran actor/actress each year. They just want to honour this long running series (that is still running now with over 1100 episodes to date) in a way by hook and by crook. Not a fan of this move.

Most Improved TV Female Artist: Angel Chiang (Al Cappuccino, Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: The nominees in this category this year are quite weak and the other true competitor I see besides Angel Chiang is Moon Lau. Moon Lau is more deserving but she only has one series this year while Angel has two. Angel also impressed many with her character as a stern female triad senior in ‘Al Cappuccino’.

Most Improved TV Male Artist: Brian Chu (Airport Security, Al Cappuccino, Go!Go!Go! Operation C9)

Opinion: Besides than Owen Cheung, I saw Brian Chu the most in the TV series I watched in 2020. He kept on appearing everywhere with different characters. Although he portrayed mostly minor or supporting characters, but he did good in each of them. Well-built, good looking and can act (so far), so why not?

Best Supporting Actress: Winki Lai (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: This is one of the categories that I most agreed on for the night. Winki Lai nailed the role as the eldest sister in ‘Al Cappuccino’. I would have prefer Susan Tse from ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’ or Vivien Yeo from ‘Brutally Young’ to win though because they both delivered much more memorable performances but they are both not even nominated. TVB is weird.

Best Supporting Actor: Jason Pai (Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: I didn’t expect Jason Pai will win although I do hear good words on his role in ‘Hong Kong Love Stories (I didn’t watch this series). After seeing the nomination list, my pick would actually be Tsui Wing from his insane yet funny character in ‘Al Cappuccino’. I guess TVB don’t want ‘Al Cappuccino’ to win too many awards and dominate the whole night. Paul Chun should have been nominated too (and maybe even should win too) from his performance in ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’.

Most Favourite TV Theme Song: ‘Mortals Do Not Understand Love’ by Hubert Wu (The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter)

Opinion: Yes. That is what I predicted and what I hoped for too. This song stood out among the rest in 2020. The only win for ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB Leading Actress: Katy Kung (Death By Zero)

Opinion: I am in quite a shock hearing Katy’s name called as the winner. Her performance in ‘Death By Zero’ is just average and is not worthy of award. Unnecessary heavy make-up and absurd clothing choice didn’t do any help to that character too. She didn’t deliver enough depth to that role and yet she is crowned Malaysia’s best actress…No!

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB Leading Actor: Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I don’t have much objection to this because Vincent didn’t get to win this several years ago in ‘Legal Mavericks’ on Malaysia’s side. And he is as usual, solid in this role as the blind lawyer in this sequel.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB series: Al Cappuccino

Opinion: While I do like the premise of this series, but I don’t find it deserving of major win like this because I felt it didn’t quite manage to pull it off with lackluster performance by some cast members and a plot that is not engaging. Why people do not appreciate better series like ‘Brutally Young’ or even ‘Line Walker 3’? I am particularly terrified that ‘Brutally Young’ is totally ignored and snubbed in this ceremony despite it being my best series in 2020.

Most Favourite On-Screen Partnership: Vincent Wong, Owen Cheung and Brian Chu (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: I’m fine with this group winning as they are very compatible with each other in ‘Al Cappuccino’. Previously, people were already praising the chemistry between Vincent Wong and Owen Cheung in their previous collaborations. Now, with Brian Chu added in in this drama, things even get better.

Most Popular TV Female Character: Katy Kung (Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: Don’t have much comment on this because I didn’t watch ‘Hong Kong Love Stories’. My personal pick would be Ali Lee from ‘Death By Zero’ or Sisley Choi from ‘Line Walker 3’. Looks like TVB is now seriously pushing Katy Kung to be next leading actress we are going to see a lot in following years. You can’t just push it too hard. I still cannot see her as leading actress material yet.

Most Popular TV Male Character: Owen Cheung (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: I am expecting Vincent Wong to win from the same series, but it is Owen Cheung that crosses the finish line in this category surprisingly. Both are equally popular and had almost similar screen time in ‘Al Cappuccino’ but I felt Vincent should get it because he has not win this one before although he had won best actor in the past already. His character is also nicely executed and portrayed too. Another way by TVB to heavily promote Owen Cheung to leading actor status.

Best Leading Actress: Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I have to say that she really improved a lot in her acting over the years. From the same role few years ago, she had already won ‘Most Favourite TV Female Character’. Now her character matured and so does her performance as well. However, I don’t find her time has come yet for this coveted prize. I felt she needed another two years. Anyway, the competition for this category this year is very weak and I would rather see her winning than Mandy Wong (another hot favourite) because Mandy’s performance is mediocre only in ‘Line Walker 3’. Ali Lee should have won but due to political reason recently, she won’t be winning unfortunately. But in terms of performance last year, Ali should have won.

Best Leading Actor: Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I pitied Raymond Lam. Lost again. Out of the final 5, he is the only one who has not win best actor before and I do see that he gave solid performance in ‘Line Walker 3’. However, once he didn’t turn up at the ceremony, I knew his chance is very slim. Some people just don’t have luck for awards. Vincent Wong won again for second time from the same role (he last won this award based on this role too in the first series). Wow…both the main lead actor and actress for ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ are crowned best actor and actress respectively. And Vincent Wong won the most awards for the night, at 3.

Most Popular Mini-Series: Hong Kong Love Stories

Opinion: TVB purposely created this new award at the very last minute to award to the only one series eligible under this mini-series category; Hong Kong Love Stories. TVB is getting very funny. After hearing very recent positive feedback on this series, TVB decided to present yet another consolation to another series that is not going to take the best series prize (after ‘Come Home Love’). What’s the point when you decide to award almost everyone and then ignore really good quality drama like ‘Brutally Young’.

Best Series: Al Cappuccino

Opinion: Again…where is ‘Brutally Young’? I really cannot understand the taste and judgement of Hong Kong audiences. ‘Al Cappuccino’ has quite a refreshing story but it does comes with several notable poorly done aspects as well. ‘Brutally Young’ easily comes out on top for me due to the impressive acting and suspenseful plot it has. ‘Al Cappuccino’ ended up becoming the biggest winner of the night with 5+2 wins.

No comment for the other two remaining categories; ‘Best TV Host’ and ‘5 Best Variety Programmes’. For this year’s winner list, I do agree to half of the list but not the other half. Sometimes, I am really surprised and dumbfounded by TVB decision in some of the categories as explained above. It happens almost every year (such as awarding consolation prizes obviously, presenting to least deserving winners, etc).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Very excited with ‘Parasite’ winning best picture at the 92nd Academy Awards!

‘Parasite’, a South-Korean film last year that receives huge critical acclaim and international buzz and is my best film in 2019 made history by becoming the first ever foreign language film to win the coveted ‘best picture’ prize at the 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars)! Before the awards ceremony, I have looked into the major precursor awards and I have been thinking that ‘Parasite’ has been doing quite well but not to the point that it can manage to pull off this huge best picture win.

Deep down in my heart, I still wish for it to win despite knowing that ‘1917’ film is the frontrunner (I also love 1917 and placed it as my 2nd best film in 2019). My wish came true. I was so excited when ‘Parasite’ name is called during the revealing of the best picture’s envelope a moment ago. History is made!

The film is also the biggest winner of the night with 4 wins including best director, best international feature film and best original screenplay. Even Bong Joon-Ho (the director of ‘Parasite’) had told us that he thought he was done for the day at the acceptance speech for his win in the international feature film category (previously known as best foreign language film). I didn’t expect he would go up on stage two more times later. What a great result and the film totally deserves it! It is a masterpiece and it marks a huge step forward for South Korean films, or in more general, Asian film industry. Asian talents and films do deserve more attention in Hollywood.

World War I film, ‘1917’ lost out in best picture and best director categories but still managed to score 3 wins in other categories (sound mixing, cinematography and visual effects). I’m surprised for this movie to prevail in visual effects category. Among all the nominees, ‘1917’ has the least amount of work in visual effects and yet it won.

Each of the 9 best picture nominees won at least an Oscar in the ceremony except for ‘The Irishman’. The 4 acting champs (Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt, Laura Dern) from the previous major precursor awards (Golden Globes, Critics Choice, SAG & BAFTA) repeat in the Oscars with no surprise.

Here below is the full list of winners for the 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars 2020) honoring the best of films in 2019:

Best Picture
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renée Zellweger, Judy

Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Bong Joon Ho, Parasite

Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Animated Feature
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4

Best Animated Short
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister

Best Original Screenplay
Knives Out
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
The Two Popes

Best Live Action Short
Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors’ Window
Saria
A Sister

Best Production Design
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Costume Design
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Documentary Feature
American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland

Documentary Short
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk, Run, Cha-Cha

Sound Editing
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Sound Mixing
Ad Astra
Ford v. Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Cinematography
The Irishman
Joker
The Lighthouse
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Film Editing
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite

Best Visual Effects
Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917

Best International Feature Film
Corpus Christi
Honeyland
Les Misérables
Pain and Glory
Parasite

Best Original Score
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Original Song
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” Toy Story 4
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman
“I’m Standing With You,” Breakthrough
“Into the Unknown,” Frozen II
“Stand Up,” Harriet

(Images in this post are from various online sources)