The 1st Annual Lane J. Lubell Film Awards — 2021

Hello. Welcome to the 1st Annual Lane J. Lubell Film Awards! This listing is a little bare bones, but I’m okay with that.

Below, you will find all of my choices in a multitude of catalogues. Each film is ranked, with #1 being the best. At the very bottom of the page is an (incomplete) list of the films I haven’t seen.

Enjoy!

A Marketing Still from “Licorice Pizza”, Courtesy of MGM/United Artists.

Best Picture:

1. Licorice Pizza (MGM)
2. Drive My Car (Janus)
3. Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
4. Last Night in Soho (Focus)
5. Eternals (Disney/Marvel)
6. The French Dispatch (Fox Searchlight)
7. CODA (Apple)
8. Belfast (Focus)
9. Tick, Tick…Boom! (Netflix)
10. Flee (Neon)

Best Actor:

1. Andrew Garfield — Tick, Tick…Boom!
2. Leonardo DiCaprio — Don’t Look Up
3. Hidetoshi Nishijima — Drive My Car
4. Denzel Washington — The Tragedy of Macbeth
5. Bradley Cooper — Nightmare Alley
6. Benedict Cumberbatch — The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
7. Javier Bardem — Being the Ricardos
8. Andrew Garfield — The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Best Actress:

1. Kristen Stewart — Spencer
2. Alana Haim — Licorice Pizza
3. Lady Gaga — House of Gucci
4. Thomasin Mackenzie — Last Night in Soho
5. Jessica Chastain — The Eyes of Tammy Faye
6. Renate Reinsve — The Worst Person in the World
7. Emilia Jones — CODA
8. Nicole Kidman — Being the Ricardos

Best Supporting Actor:

1. TIE: Troy Kotsur — CODA
2. Jon Bernthal — King Richard
3. Mark Rylance — Don’t Look Up
4. Masaki Okada — Drive My Car
5. Bradley Cooper — Licorice Pizza
6. Benicio del Toro — The French Dispatch
7. Willem Dafoe — Spider-Man: No Way Home
8. Anders Danielsen Lie — The Worst Person in the World

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Angelina Jolie — Eternals
2. Aunjanue Ellis — King Richard
3. Florence Pugh — Black Widow
4. Ariana DeBose — West Side Story
5. Kathryn Hunter — The Tragedy of Macbeth
6. Marlee Matlin — CODA
7. Tôko Miura — Drive My Car
8. Catriona Balfe — Belfast

Best Director:

1. Paul Thomas Anderson — Licorice Pizza
2. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi — Drive My Car
3. Edgar Wright — Last Night in Soho
4. Pablo Larrain — Spencer
5. Adam McKay — Don’t Look Up
6. Chloé Zhou — Eternals
7. Wes Anderson — The French Dispatch
8. James Gunn — The Suicide Squad

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Don’t Look Up — Story by Adam McKay and David Sirota; Screenplay by Adam McKay
2. Licorice Pizza — Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
3. The French Dispatch — Story by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness, and Jason Schwartzman; Screenplay by Wes Anderson
4. Belfast — Written by Kenneth Branagh
5. The Worst Person in the World — Written by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt
6. Last Night in Soho — Story by Edgar Wright; Screenplay by Krysty Wilson-Cairns and Edgar Wright
7. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain — Story by Simon Stephenson; Screenplay by Will Sharpe and Simon Stephenson
8. The Mitchells VS the Machines — Written by Mike Rianda & Jeff Rowe; Story Contributions by Alex Hirsch

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Drive My Car — Screenplay by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe; Based on the Short Story by Haruki Murakami; Extended Scenes & Dialogue from Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
2. CODA — Screenplay by Siân Heder; Based on the Film Le Familie Belier by Victoria Bedos, Thomas Bidegain, Éric Lartinau, and Stanislas Carré de Malberg
3. The Suicide Squad — Written by James Gunn; Based on Various Characters & Stories from D.C. Properties
4. Nightmare Alley — Written by Kim Morgan and Guillermo del Toro; Based on the Novel by William Lindsay Gresham
5. Tick, Tick…Boom! — Screenplay by Steven Levenson; Based on the Musical: Music & Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, Book by David Auburn and Jonathan Larson
6. The Eyes of Tammy Faye — Written by Abe Sylvia; Based on the Documentary by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato
7. Cruella — Story by Kelly Marcel, Aline Brosh McKenna, and Steve Zissus; Screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara; Based on the Novel One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

A marketing still from “Nightmare Alley”, Courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Best Cinematography:

1. Nightmare Alley — Dan Lausten
2. Licorice Pizza — Paul Thomas Anderson and Michael Bauman
3. The Tragedy of Macbeth — Bruno Delbonnel
4. Belfast — Haris Zambarloukas
5. Eternals — Ben Davis (with Joshua James Richards)
6. In the Heights — Alice Brooks
7. Last Night in Soho — Chung-hoon Chung
8. West Side Story — Janusz Kaminski

Best Costume Design:

1. Cruella — Jenny Beavan
2. The French Dispatch — Milena Canonero
3. Last Night in Soho — Odile Dicks-Mireaux
4. Coming 2 America — Ruth E. Carter
5. Eternals — Sammy Sheldon
6. Raya and the Last Dragon — Brooklyn El-Omar
7. Nightmare Alley — Luis Seguira
8. House of Gucci — Janty Yates

Best Editing:

1. Licorice Pizza — Andy Jurgenson
2. Don’t Look Up — Hank Corwin
3. Tick, Tick…Boom! — Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum
4. Spencer — Sebastián Sepúlveda
5. The Suicide Squad — Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner
6. Last Night in Soho — Paul Machliss
7. Cruella — Tatiana S. Riegel
8. Gunpowder Milkshake — Nicholas de Toth

Best Make-Up and Hairstyling:

1. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
2. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
3. Cruella
4. House of Gucci
5. Coming 2 America
6. The French Dispatch
7. The Suicide Squad
8. The Worst Person in the World

Marketing still from “The French Dispatch”, Courtesy of Fox Searchlight

FBest Production Design:

1. The French Dispatch
2. Nightmare Alley
3. Last Night in Soho
4. Cruella
5. Eternals
6. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
7. The Tragedy of Macbeth
8. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

Best Original Score:

1. The Power of the Dog — Johnny Greenwood
2. Spencer — Johnny Greenwood
3. The French Dispatch — Alexandre Desplat
4. Dune — Hans Zimmer
5. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain — Arthur Sharpe
6. The Tragedy of Macbeth — Carter Burwell
7. Raya and the Last Dragon — James Newton Howard
8. The Green Knight — Daniel Hart

Best Original Song:

1. “No Time to Die” (No Time to Die) — Music & Lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell; Performed by Billie Eilish ft. Hans Zimmer
2. “We Don’t Talk about Bruno” (Encanto) — Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Performed by Adassa, Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Rhenzy Feliz, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero, and the Ensemble Cast
3. “Just Look Up” (Don’t Look Up) — Music & Lyrics by Nicolas Brittell, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, and Tara Stanton; Performed by Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi
4. “Down to Joy” (Belfast) — Music & Lyrics & Performed by Van Morrison
5. “By the Shore” (CODA) — Music & Lyrics by Nick Baxter, Matt Dahan, Siân Heder, and Marius de Vries; Performed by Emilia Jones
6. “Dos Oruguitas” (Encanto) — Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda; Performed by Sebastián Yatra

Marketing still from “Belfast”, Courtesy of Focus Features

Best Sound Editing:

1. Belfast
2. Dune
3. The Suicide Squad
4. Free Guy
5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
6. Spider-Man: No Way Home
7. Last Night in Soho
8. Black Widow

Best Sound Mixing:

1. West Side Story
2. In the Heights
3. Eternals
4. Tick, Tick…Boom!
5. Those Who Wish Me Dead
6. Dune
7. Spider-Man: No Way Home
8. The Suicide Squad

Marketing Still from “Eternals”, Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Best Visual Effects:

1. Eternals
2. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
3. Dune
4. Free Guy
5. The Suicide Squad
6. Spider-Man: No Way Home
7. Jungle Cruise
8. Those Who Wish Me Dead

Best Ensemble Cast:

1. The French Dispatch
2. Don’t Look Up
3. CODA
4. Licorice Pizza
5. Drive My Car
6. Belfast
7. Eternals
8. Black Widow
9. The Power of the Dog
10. House of Gucci

Best Stunts:

1. The Suicide Squad
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home
3. No Time to Die
4. Jungle Cruise
5. Black Widow
6. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
7. Gunpowder Milkshake
8. Those Who Wish Me Dead

Best Use of Music in a Film (non-musical):

1. Last Night in Soho
2. Cruella
3. Licorice Pizza
4. The Suicide Squad
5. Gunpowder Milkshake
6. The French Dispatch
7. Belfast

Production still from “One Night in Soho”, Courtesy of Focus Features

Genre Awards:

Best Action-Adventure (non-superhero):

1. Free Guy (Fox)
2. Gunpowder Milkshake (Netflix)
3. The Mitchells VS the Machines (Netflix/Sony)
4. Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney)
5. No Time to Die (MGM)
6. Jungle Cruise (Disney)
7. The Green Knight (A24)

Best Animated Film:

1. Flee (Neon)
2. The Mitchells VS the Machines (Netflix/Sony)
3. Encanto (Disney)
4. Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney)

Best Comedy:

1. Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
2. The French Dispatch (Fox Searchlight)
3. Licorice Pizza (MGM)
4. Free Guy (Fox)
5. Coming 2 America (Amazon)
6. The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros./D.C.)

Best Contemporary Film:

1. CODA (Apple)
2. Drive My Car (Janus)
3. The Worst Person in the World (Neon)
4. Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony/Marvel)

Best Horror/Thriller:

1. Last Night in Soho (Focus)
2. The Woman in the Window (Netflix/Fox)
3. Spencer (Neon)
4. Those Who Wish Me Dead (Warner Bros.)
5. The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
6. Nightmare Alley (Fox Searchlight)

Best Musical:

1. Tick, Tick…Boom! (Netflix)
2. Encanto (Disney)
3. West Side Story (Fox)
4. In the Heights (Warner Bros.)
5. CODA (Apple)

Branded production still from “CODA”, Courtesy of Apple

Best Period Piece:

1. The French Dispatch (Fox Searchlight)
2. Licorice Pizza (MGM)
3. Nightmare Alley (Fox Searchlight)
4. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Amazon)
5. Belfast (Focus)
6. West Side Story (Fox)
7. House of Gucci (MGM)
8. Cruella (Disney)

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy (non-Superhero):

1. Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
2. Free Guy (Fox)
3. The Mitchells VS the Machines (Netflix/Sony)
4. The Green Knight (A24)
5. Jungle Cruise (Disney)
6. Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney)

Best Superhero Film:

1. Eternals (Disney/Marvel)
2. The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros./D.C.)
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony/Marvel)
4. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Disney/Marvel)
5. Black Widow (Disney/Marvel)

Best Film Based on True Events (non-documentary):

1. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Amazon)
2. Tick, Tick…Boom! (Netflix)
3. King Richard (Warner Bros.)
4. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Fox Searchlight)
5. Spencer (Neon)
6. Being the Ricardos (Amazon)
7. Belfast (Focus)

Marketing still from “Flee”, Courtesy of Neon

Best Film Primarily Not in English:

1. Drive My Car (Janus) — Japan (Japanese with English, German, Korean, Korean Sign Language, Indonesian, Mandarin Chinese, Tagalog)
2. Flee (Neon) — Denmark (Danish, Dari, and Russian w/ English and Swedish)
3. The Worst Person in the World (Neon) — Norway (Norwegian w/ English)
4. CODA (Apple) — USA (American Sign Language/English)

Best Documentary:

1. Flee (Neon)
2. Summer of Soul: (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Fox Searchlight)
3. The Rescue (National Geographic/Disney+)

Special Awards:

Best Scene:

1. Licorice Pizza — Fleeing Jon Peters
2. The Suicide Squad — The Climax
3. The Worst Person in the World — Julie’s Narcissistic Circus
4. In the Heights — Abuela’s Song
5. Drive My Car- Kôshi Tells Yûsuke Oto’s Story
6. Gunpowder Milkshake — The Doctor’s Office Fight Scene
7. Tick, Tick…Boom! — “Therapy”
8. Last Night in Soho — Climax

Breakout Performer:

1. Alana Haim — Licorice Pizza
2. Troy Kotsur — CODA
3. Cooper Hoffman — Licorice Pizza
4. Ariana DeBose — West Side Story
5. Jude Hill — Belfast
6. Emilia Jones — CODA
7. Saniyya Sidney — King Richard
8. Renate Reinsve — The Worst Person in the World

Most Underrated Film of the Year:

1. Last Night in Soho (Focus)
2. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Amazon)
3. The Woman in the Window (Netflix/Fox)
4. Eternals (Disney/Marvel)
5. Those Who Wish Me Dead (Warner Bros.)
6. Gunpowder Milkshake (Netflix)
7. The French Dispatch (Fox Searchlight)

Worst Picture:

1. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (Warner Bros./D.C./HBOMAX)
2. Passing (Netflix)
3. The King’s Man (Fox)
4. Red Notice (Netflix)
5. The Last Duel (Fox/Universal)
6. Dune (Warner Bros.)

Special Achievement in Craft:

• CODA — Casting: For its casting of primarily deaf actors
• The Mitchells VS the Machines — Design: For the Creation of the Katie Vision sequences
• The Tragedy of Macbeth — Production: For it’s unique, entirely studio-bound shoot

Social Justice Award:

• CODA (Apple)
• Eternals (Disney/Marvel)
• Flee (Neon)

Performer of the Year:

Andrew Garfield — The Eyes of Tammy Faye (lead); Spider-Man: No Way Home (supporting); Tick, Tick…Boom! (lead)

Behind the Scenes Talent of the Year:

Jonny Greenwood — Composer of Spencer, The Power of the Dog, and Licorice Pizza, plus a Radiohead album

Films I Haven’t Seen Yet:

The Harder They Fall, Titane, The Lost Daughter, The Hand of God, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Lamb, Candyman, Parallel Mothers, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, any doc or animated film not listed here, and many more.