Welcome to the off-brand, no-statuette, no-glory Envy Awards
Welcome to the shiniest time of the 12 months, when the awards are (often) golden, the clothes are glowing and the honors are despatched out to all corners of the business. Well, most corners. Since 2016, The Envelope has been (metaphorically) handing out the Envy Awards, reaching out to the scenes, the folks, the concepts and the simply plain bizarre in cinema that in any other case goes with out honor — although we’ve but to provide you with our personal vivid shiny statuette. No matter: We’re positive the recipients of our awards maintain them simply as expensive to their hearts as any outdated Oscar. Presenting the 2023 Envy Awards!
Most affected person punchline pause
“Glass Onion”
Rian Johnson’s sequel to 2019’s “Knives Out” is a buffet of enjoyable on a lot of ranges, however none fairly so deep as his callback to the unique movie. In “Knives Out,” detective Benoit Blanc notes, “I anticipate the terminus of ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’” and later notes that “nobody has” really learn the ebook. Fast-forward to 2022, during which Janelle Monáe’s Andi is proven studying … Thomas Pynchon’s impenetrable (however apparently learn by no less than one individual) “Gravity’s Rainbow.”
I simply wanna direct award
David Lynch, “The Fabelmans”
In a movie concerning the rise of a fictional younger director (primarily based on the lifetime of “Fabelmans” director Steven Spielberg), precise director David Lynch has a cameo as legendary precise director John Ford. Complete with elaborate cigar ritual, eye patch and “advice” for the up-and-coming Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle), Lynch’s Ford is flinty and sharp as an arrowhead, proving you’ll be able to by no means pack too many administrators into one story.
Matryoshka doll prize
“Men”
In a 12 months when Marilyn Monroe’s (Ana de Armas) fetus chatted together with her whereas nonetheless inside her womb, and “Resurrection’s” Margaret (Rebecca Hall) found a fetus inside her (male) ex’s stomach, it’s exhausting to disregard the scene during which male characters “birth” extra male characters on the finish of Alex Garland’s “Men.” Yeah, this could be the visible illustration of Garland’s thesis about poisonous masculinity — however we’re extra unsettled by the precise visuals than anything.
Most delicate foreshadowing award
“The Menu”
It’s a second that takes a second: Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) is looking round a room for a option to radio for assist and briefly passes by some framed photos of chef Slowick (Ralph Fiennes) on the wall. One is a newspaper clipping with a photograph of Chef within the foreground and — because the digicam ever-so-quickly tells us with a quick focus shift — a bearded man within the background. Moments later, a bearded man (Matthew Cornwell, as Dale) very very like the one within the photograph exhibits up as an ostensible rescue from the Coast Guard — however who as an alternative seems to work for Chef. Though in keeping with Fox Searchlight this was apparently unintentional, it nonetheless appears like an excellent little bit of foreshadowing.
The eyes have it particular point out
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Circular objects have nice significance within the surreal actioner: bagels, a tumbling washer, Deirdre’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) scribbles on her paperwork, Joy’s (Stephanie Hsu) braided hair … and googly eyes, which seem on rocks, foreheads and over folks’s precise eyes. What do they imply, past a little bit of levity? Many theories abound — a religious “third eye,” yin and yang, perception into kindness — however there’s no query that the plastic craft objects have been a type of extra supporting character, which needs to be a primary.
Bodies, our bodies, our bodies prize
“Crimes of the Future”
Body manipulation fed a number of story traces all through the season, from the amputation scenes in “The Banshees of Inisherin” to the beforehand talked about “Men” and the bizarre sizzling canine fingers of “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” But with “Crimes of the Future,” David Cronenberg appears to have taken all of his fascination over physique horror and transformation and packed each trope into one movie. In a close to future the place nobody needs to be in ache or unwell, folks apparently like to mutilate themselves and carry out surgical procedure, publicly. Skip the theater snacks earlier than viewing!
Savviest use of the title drop
“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”
“Glass Onion” is full of celeb title drops and appearances, from Serena Williams displaying up nearly in a wealthy man’s gymnasium to “products” like Jared Leto’s Hard Kombucha and Jeremy Renner’s Small Batch Hot Sauce. “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” really options Nicolas Cage making out … with himself. But kudos to Weird Al Yankovic, who co-wrote a script (with Eric Appel) during which he parodies biopics — and rewrites his personal historical past by having “Al” (Daniel Radcliffe) not solely make out with Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood), however then turns the Material Girl into his murderer.