Yes, some movies and actors won Gotham Awards last night. Some actors, like Michelle Williams, gave exceptionally moving speeches. But the big winner of the night was Adam Sandler, who read a letter supposedly written by his teenage daughters that was the funniest thing anyone’s heard in a long time.
Sandler, like Williams, was picking up a Lifetime Achievement Award. Reading in the comic persona he’s perfect of what he calls “a strange Southern accent,” Sandler tried to explain the difference between his commercial hits and the few arthouse movies he’s done like “Punch Drunk Love” and “The Meyerowitz Stories.”
The big winners of the 2022 Gothams were the film “Everybody Everywhere All at Once,” Danielle Deadwyler (the star of “Till”) and Ke Huy Quan, the child star of “Indiana Jones 3” who is featured in “EEAO.” Quan had not really acted in twenty years when he got this job. He told me he’d been working “mostly behind the camera.” He said, “I couldn’t believe it when they said I had the part.” He almost cried during his acceptance speech.
The Gothams this year were the best produced they’d been in years. The show was elegant, ran on time, and the only person who dropped dozens of F bombs was Sandler, but they were all meant in the best way. He explained his success because “people in prison need movies too, and TBS needs content to show between all those basketball games.”
But the Gothams are not a harbinger of the Oscars. They are what they are: tributes to indie filmmaking. Last year’s winner was “The Lost Daughter,” which wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture. The best acting prize was a tie between Olivia Colman and Frankie Faison. Again, no Oscars. In a way, the Gotham winners are exactly right for the size and scope of the winners. They are prestigious enough.
Among the star studded list of presenters: Julianne Moore, Jennifer Lawrence, Baz Luhrmann, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira. Paul Dano stepped in at the last minute to present his “Fabelmans” co-star, Michelle Williams, with her award because Steven Spielberg has COVID. (Williams dedicated her award to actress Mary Beth Peil, who played her “Gran” on “Dawson’s Creek.”) And Best Lead Performance winner, Deadwyler, was absent so her sensational “Till” director, Chinonye Chukwu, accepted on her behalf.
And PS I’m reminded that everyone was drinking Blue Moon beer, and enjoying it immensely!
You can watch Sandler’s speech here== It’s a gem– an uncut gem!
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Mark Rylance (“Bones and All”)
Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”)
Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) – WINNER
Raúl Castillo (“The Inspection”)
Gabrielle Union (“The Inspection”)
Nina Hoss (“Tár”)
Noémie Merlant (“Tár”)
Hong Chau (“The Whale”)
Ben Whishaw (“Women Talking”)
Jessie Buckley (“Women Talking”)
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE
Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)
Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”) – WINNER
Dale Dickey (“A Love Song”)
Colin Farrell (“After Yang”)
Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”)
Thandiwe Newton (“God’s Country”)
Aubrey Plaza (“Emily the Criminal”)
Taylor Russell (“Bones and All”)
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
“Athena”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Corsage”
“Decision to Leave”
“Happening” – WINNER
“Saint Omer”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“All That Breathes” – WINNER
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“I Didn’t See You There”
“The Territory”
“What We Leave Behind”
BEST FEATURE
“Aftersun”
“The Cathedral”
“Dos Estaciones”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” – WINNER
“Tár”
BREAKTHROUGH TELEVISION UNDER 40 MINUTES
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
“As We See It” (Amazon Prime Video)
“Mo” (Netflix) – WINNER
“Rap Sh!t” (HBO Max)
“Somebody, Somewhere” (HBO)
BREAKTHROUGH TELEVISION OVER 40 MINUTES
“Pachinko” (Apple+) – WINNER
“Severance” (Apple+)
“Station Eleven” (HBO Max)
“This Is Going To Hurt” (AMC+)
“Yellowjackets” (Showtime)
TELEVISION PERFORMERS
Bilal Baig (“Sort Of”)
Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”)
Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary”)
Matilda Lawler (“Station Eleven”)
Britt Lower (“Severance”)
Melanie Lynskey (“Yellowjackets”)
Sue Ann Pien (“As We See It”)
Minha Kim (“Pachinko”)
Zahn McClarnon (“Dark Winds”)
Ben Whishaw (“This Is Going To Hurt”) – WINNER
BREAKTHROUGH NONFICTION SERIES
“The Andy Warhol Diaries”
“The Last Movie Stars”
“Mind Over Murder”
“The Rehearsal”
“We Need to Talk About Cosby” – WINNER
BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR
Charlotte Wells (“Aftersun”) – WINNER
Owen Kline (“Funny Pages”)
Elegance Bratton (“The Inspection”)
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic (“Murina”)
Beth De Araújo (“Soft & Quiet”)
Jane Schoenbrun (“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair”)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Kogonada (“After Yang”)
James Gray (“Armageddon Time”)
Lena Dunham (“Catherine Called Birdy”)
Todd Field (“Tár”) – WINNER
Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”)
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER
Frankie Corio (“Aftersun”)
Kali Reis (“Catch the Fair One”)
Gracija Flipovic (“Murina”) – WINNER
Anna Diop (“Nanny”)
Anna Cobb (“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair”)
