‘It’s good to be back’: Australia, NZ win big at the Critics Choice Awards in LA

“It’s good to be back on an awards show,” actor Ray Romano said, seeming to capture the strange mash-up of apprehension and excitement that propelled Hollywood’s A-list down the red carpet – without masks – towards the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

It’s been two years, give or take a COVID-19 variant, where the awards telecasts looked more like Zoom video-conferencing calls, and acceptance speeches were either pre-taped, improvised using random props or dialled in from the front lawns of people’s homes.

Surging ahead towards an Oscar win ... The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion.Credit: AP

It was certainly a great night for Australia and New Zealand. Aussie cinematographer Ari Wegner won for The Power of the Dog. Actor Murray Bartlett got his long-deserved moment for HBO’s critically acclaimed The White Lotus. Actress Sarah Snook won for HBO’s Succession.

New Zealand director Jane Campion, meanwhile, secured both best director and best film for The Power of the Dog. To sweeten the win, the award was presented to her by New Zealand director Taika Waititi. And their countrywoman, Melanie Lynskey, won for the TV drama Yellowjackets.

In her acceptance speech, Campion acknowledged the historic bias of the director categories at major awards ceremonies against female directors. Gesturing to tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, who were in the audience, Campion said: “You do not play against the guys, like I have to.”

The other key winners included Will Smith (King Richard) and Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) for best film actor and actress. Both look likely to book the same slots at the Oscars, notwithstanding the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch and Nicole Kidman are still within a hair’s breadth of stealing their wins.

In many respects, the telecast went by the book. Hosts Taye Diggs and Nicole Byer were fine, but their scripted exchanges were patchy. There were no glitches, and no long speeches, though the night itself felt long, despite trimming some categories to speech-free announcements.

And the night was almost devoid of overt political commentary, though the Russian invasion of Ukraine was acknowledged several times. Actress Maria Bakalova, who starred in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, prefaced her stage presentation by acknowledging the bravery of Ukraine in “defending their right to independence and democracy”.

Later, Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham opened her speech with: “It would be remiss of us not to throw the focus to the most important thing happening in the world. Please give as much as you can. Make this stop, please.” And in his acceptance speech actor Michael Keaton acknowledged Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky.

The event, one of more than a dozen film awards nights clustered in the first quarter of the calendar year under the shambolic banner of the pre-Oscar “awards season”, was all once an awkward pastiche of telecast tropes and improvised gimmicks. But the enthusiasm for being “back in person” was palpable.

And to some extent, also, the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards were an audition as the industry wrestles to resolve the persistent challenge posed by the much older, but more scandal-plagued Golden Globes.

The 2022 Globes telecast was cancelled after their voting body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, was criticised for improper dealing and having no black members. Last year, in response, the group added 21 new members (six were black) and appointed people of colour to key positions. Whether the Critic’s Choice Awards can fill the void remains to be seen.

In terms of their value as predictor of Oscar glory, as with the Globes, the smaller-than-usual voting pool makes the CCAs a somewhat unreliable way finder. The clearer awards season signposts come from the actors, directors, writers and producers guild awards, largely because those voting memberships roughly mirror the voting blocs within the Oscar-voting film Academy.

That said, there are now clear trends established across this awards season. Jane Campion is, for example, firming from favourite to certainty to collect the director’s Oscar for The Power of the Dog. This weekend alone she secured both the best director of a feature film award at the Director’s Guild Awards, and the best director BAFTA award, as well as the CCA win.

It also bodes well for The Power of the Dog’s chances in the Oscar best picture category. All eyes will now turn to next weekend’s Producers Guild Awards, the event which – more than any other in awards season – can predict Oscar’s best picture with reasonable accuracy.

List of film winners

Best Picture: The Power of the Dog
Director: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Actor: Will Smith, King Richard
Actress: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur, CODA
Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Young Actor or Actress: Jude Hill, Belfast
Acting Ensemble: Belfast
Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Adapted Screenplay: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Editing: Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn, West Side Story
Cinematography: Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog
Costume Design: Jenny Beavan, Cruella
Production Design: Zsuzsanna Sipos and Patrice Vermette, Dune
Score: Hans Zimmer, Dune
Song: “No Time To Die”, No Time To Die
Hair and Makeup: Stephanie Ingram, Linda Dowds, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Visual Effects: Dune
Comedy Film: Licorice Pizza
Foreign Language Film: Drive My Car, Japan
Animated Feature: The Mitchells vs. the Machines

List of television winners

Drama Series: Succession (HBO)
Actor in a Drama Series: Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game (Netflix)
Actress in a Drama Series: Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Kieran Culkin, Succession (HBO)
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Sarah Snook, Succession (HBO)
Comedy Series: Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Actor in a Comedy Series: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart, Hacks (HBO Max)
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Limited Series: Mare of Easttown (HBO)
TV Movie: Oslo (HBO)
Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie: Michael Keaton, Dopesick (Hulu)
Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie: Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown (HBO)
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie: Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus (HBO)
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie: Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus (HBO)
Foreign Language Series: Squid Game (Netflix)
Comedy Special: Bo Burnham, Inside (Netflix)
Animated Series: What If ...? (Disney+)
Talk Show: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

The #SeeHer Award: Halle Berry
Critic’s Choice Lifetime Achievement Award: Billy Crystal