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Monday, April 07, 2025
THE MOVIES, BOOKS, THEATER, CONCERTS, ALBUMS I'VE SEEN/HEARD/READ SO FAR IN 2025
Updated as of April 20, 2025
KEY: star rating is on the four star scale
meaning of "/" or "\"
*** is three stars out of four
***/ is three stars leaning towards 3 1/2
***\ is three stars leaning towards 2 1/2
The Movies, Books, Theater, Concerts, CDs I've Seen/Read/Heard So Far In 2025
BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS
(Increasingly, I am sampling books, reading 10%, 20% even 40 or 50% before deciding to move on. The books below are only the ones I've read completely. That also explains what looks like generous grading -- more and more, if I sense a book is not going to be among my favorites, I stop reading. Too many books; too little time!)
1. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield *** 1/2
2. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams *** 1/2
3. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon ***/
4. Monster in the Woods by Dave Shelton *** 1/2
5. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939) ****
6. The Sitaford Mystery (1931) by Agatha Christie **
7. Orbital by Samantha Harvey ***/
8. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) *** 1/2
9. Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen ***
10. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (1999) *** 1/2
11. Yoko by David Sheff (2025) **
12. John & Paul: A Love Story by Ian Leslie (2025) ***
13. Right Ho, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse ****
TK. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu; translated by Royall Tyler
CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS CDS (A strong emphasis on the ones I like, so don't think I love everything I listen to -- I just don't bother really listening to the ones I don't )
1. Dizzy Gillespie -- The Complete RCA Victor Recordings 1937-1949 (1995) *** 1/2
2. Traffic -- John Barleycorn Must Die (1970) **
3. Jane Weaver -- Modern Kosmology (2017) ***
4. The Lijadu Sisters -- Horizon Unlimited (1979) ***
5. Yes -- Close To The Edge (1972) ** 1/2
6. Flamin' Groovies -- Teenage Head (1971) ***/
7. Giant Sand -- Chore of Enchantment (1999) **
8. Liam Bailey -- Zero Grace (2024) *** 1/2
9. Boards of Canada -- Music Has The Right To Children (1998) ** 1/2
10. My Bloody Valentine -- mbv (2013) ** 1/2
11. Liz Phair -- Exile To Guyville (1993) *** 1/2
12. The Darkness -- Permission To Land (2003) ** 1/2
13. Ice-T -- O.G. Original Gangster (1991) **
14. Goldfrapp -- Seventh Tree (2008) *** 1/2
15. Napalm Death -- Scum (1987) **
16. The Cardigans -- First Band on the Moon (1996) **
17. The Notorious B.I.G. -- Ready To Die (1994) ** 1/2
16. The Cardigans -- First Band on the Moon (1996) **
17. The Notorious B.I.G. -- Ready To Die (1994) ** 1/2
18. The Rumble -- Stories From The Battlefield (2024) ***
19. Lady Blackbird -- Slang Spirituals (2024) *** 1/2
20. Beta Radio -- Waiting For The End To Come (2024) *** 1/2
21. Fat Boy Slim -- Better Living Through Chemistry (1996) ***
22. Kelela -- Take Me Apart (2018) ***
23. Hanoi Rocks -- Back To Mystery City (1983) **
24. The Gun Club -- Fire of Love (1981) ** 1/2
25. Echo and the Bunnymen -- Porcupine (1983) ** 1/2
26. Ducks Ltd. -- Harm's Way (2024) ***
27. Charlie xcx -- Brat (2024) ** 1/2
27. Charlie xcx -- Brat (2024) ** 1/2
28. The Softies -- The Bed I Made (2024) ***
29. Brian Eno x Bloom -- Small World (2024) (Amazon exclusive) *** 1/2
29. Brian Eno x Bloom -- Small World (2024) (Amazon exclusive) *** 1/2
30. Sabrina Carpenter -- Short 'n' Sweet (2024) ***
31. Fontaines D.C. -- Romance (2024) ***
32. The Rifles -- Love Your Neighbor (2024) ***
33. Future & Metro Boomin -- We Don't Trust You (2024) ** 1/2
32. The Rifles -- Love Your Neighbor (2024) ***
33. Future & Metro Boomin -- We Don't Trust You (2024) ** 1/2
34. Wunderhorse -- Midas (2024) ** 1/2
35. Doechii -- Alligator Bites Never Heal (2024) **
36. Yasmin Williams -- Acadia ** 1/2
36. Yasmin Williams -- Acadia ** 1/2
37. Jamey Johnson -- Midnight Gasoline (2024) ** 1/2
38. Amaia Miranda -- Mientras vivas brilla (2024) ***
39. Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel -- The Room (2024) ** 1/2
40. Nils Hoffmann -- Running in a Dream (2024) ** 1/2
41. Alvaro Diaz -- Sayonara (2024) ***
42. Shovel Dance Collective -- The Shovel Dance (2024) ***/
43. Wishy -- Triple Seven (2024) ** 1/2
44. Tyla -- Tyla (2024) ** 1/2
45. Bizhiki -- Unbound (2024) ***
46. Tierra Whack -- World Wide Whack (2024) ** 1/2
46. Tierra Whack -- World Wide Whack (2024) ** 1/2
47. Ivan Cornejo -- Mirada (2024) *** 1/2
48. Chuck Prophet -- Wake The Dead (2024) *** 1/2
49. Brittany Howard -- What Now (2024) ***
50. Silkroad Ensemble & Rhiannon Giddens -- American Railroad (2024) ***
50. Silkroad Ensemble & Rhiannon Giddens -- American Railroad (2024) ***
51. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan -- Chain of Light (2024) *** 1/2
52. Tyler, The Creator -- Chromakopia (2024) ** 1/2
53. Trentemøller -- Dreamweaver (2024) ***
54. Eels -- Eels Time! (2024) ***/
55. Ariana Grande -- Eternal Sunshine (2024) ***
56. Peso Pluma -- Éxodo (2024) *** 1/2
57. McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson -- Forces Of Nature: Live At Slugs (2024/1966) *** 1/2
58. Cher -- Forever (2024) *** 1/2
59. Joe Ely -- Honky Tonk Masquerade (1978) *** 1/2
60. Iron & Wine -- Light Verse (2024) ***/
61. Pixies -- The Night The Zombies Came (2024) ** 1/2
62. Norma Winstone & Kit Downes -- Outpost of Dreams (2024) ***
63. Laura Marling -- Patterns in Repeat (2024) *** 1/2
64. Helado Negro -- Phasor (2024) ** 1/2
65. Amos Lee -- Transmissions (2024) ***\
66. Sebadoh -- Bubble and Scrape (1993) ** 1/2
67. Orbital -- Snivilisation (1994) **
68. Shack -- H.M.S. Fable (1999) *** 1/2
69. Cymande -- Cymande (1972) *** 1/2
70. Metallica -- Metallica (1991) **
71. Rumer -- In Session *** 1/2
72. Robert Palmer -- Sneaking Sally Through the Alley (1974) *** (crappy audio file)
73. Robert Palmer -- Clues (1980) ***
74. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- Now I Got Worry (1996) **
75. The Soft Boys -- Underwater Moonlight (1980) *** 1/2
76. Screaming Trees -- Dust (1996) ***
77. 808 State -- Ninety (1989) *
78. Funkadelic -- Standing On The Verge of Getting It On (1974) ****
79. Jennifer Warnes -- Jennifer (1972) ***/
80. PJ Harvey -- Rid of Me (1993) ***/
81. Orquesta Guayacán -- Sentimental de Punta a Punta (1991) *** 1/2
82. John Moreland -- Visitor (2024) ***
83. The Runaways -- Queens of Noise (1977) ***
84. Graham Parker -- Howlin' Wind (1976) *** 1/2
85. Hugh Masekala -- Home Is Where The Music Is (1972) *** 1/2
86. Graham Parker -- Stick To Me (1977) ***
87. White Denim -- D (2011) ** 1/2
88. The Dandy Warhols -- ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down (1997) ** 1/2
89. Cymande -- Second Time Around (1973) ***
90. Captain Beefheart -- Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978) *** 1/2
91. Bobby Valentin -- Soy Boricua (1972) *** 1/2
92. João Donato -- A Bad Donato (1970) ***
93. David Gray -- Dear Life (2025) ***
94. Beth Orton -- Central Reservation (1999) ** 1/2
95. Betty Davis -- They Say I'm Different (1974) *** 1/2
96. Graham Parker -- Squeezing Out Sparks (1979) *** 1/2
97. Jalen Ngonda -- Come Around and Love Me (2023) *** 1/2
98. Dinah Washington -- Dinah Sings Bessie Smith (1958) ***
99. ABBA -- Arrival (1976) ** 1/2
100. Can -- Future Days (1973) *** 1/2
101. The Jam -- In The City (May, 1977) ***
102. The Jam -- All The Mod Cons (Nov 1977) *** 1/2
103. Tom Waits -- Heartattack and Vine (1980) *** 1/2
104. Terence Trent D'Arby -- Introducing The Hardline According To (1987) ***
105. Common -- Like Water For Chocolate (2000) ***
106. Bill Medley -- Straight From The Heart ** 1/2
107. Icecream Hands -- No Weapon But Love (2021) *** 1/2
108. Miles Davis -- Miles Smiles (1967) *** 1/2
109. Paul Thorn -- Life is a Vapor (2025) ***
110. Love -- Da Capo (1966) ** 1/2
111. Larry Young -- Unity (1966) ****
112. Eddie Palmieri -- The Sun of Latin Music (1974) ***
113. Steve Riley -- Grand Isle (2011) *** 1/2
113. Steve Riley -- Grand Isle (2011) *** 1/2
114. Os Tincoãs -- Os Tincoãs (1973) ****
115. Os Tincoãs -- O Africanto Dos Tincoãs (1975) *** 1/2
116. The Bangles -- Different Light ***
117. Ella Fitzgerald - The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (1967) ** 1/2
118. Dr. John -- In The Right Place (1973) *** 1/2 /
119. Dr. John -- Gris-Gris (1968) *** 1/2
120. Dr. John -- Desitively Bonnaroo (1974) ***
121. The Specials – More Specials (1980) ***
122. Dr. John -- Dr. John's Gumbo (1972) *** 1/2
123. The Sonics -- Here Come The Sonics (1965) *** 1/2
124. Grant Lee Buffalo -- Fuzzy (1993) *** 1/2
125. Dexys Midnight Runners -- Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (1980) ** 1/2
126. Bert Jansch -- Bert Jansch (1965) ** 1/2 \
127. Roy Ayers/Ubiquity -- Red, Black & Green (1973) *** 1/2
128. Big Youth -- Screaming Target (1972) ****
129. Parliament -- Motor Booty Affair (1978) *** 1/2
130. Jean-Michel Jarre -- Oxygène (1976) ** 1/2
131. Neil Young -- Oceanside, Countryside (1978) *** 1/2
132. Faces -- A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Dead Horse (1971) *** 1/2
133. Red Hot Chili Peppers -- Californication (1999) **
134. The Damned -- Damned, Damned, Damned (1977) *** 1/2
135. Willie Colón & Rubén Blades -- Siembra (1978) ****
136. Chick Corea -- Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 (1971) *** 1/2
136. Chick Corea -- Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 (1971) *** 1/2
137. João Gilberto -- O Amor o Sorriso e a Flor (1961) ***
138. Bob Mould -- Here We Go Crazy ***\
139. Carlton & The Shoes -- Love Me Forever (1978) *** 1/2
140. The Police -- Regatta De Blanc (1979) ** 1/2
141. Jorge Ben -- Sacundin Ben Samba (1964) ** 1/2
142. Sean Mason -- The Southern Suite (2023) ***
143. Catherine Russell & Sean Mason -- My Ideal (2024) *** 1/2
144. Fats Domino -- This Is Fats Domino! (1956) ***
145. Mahogany L. Browne & Sean Mason -- Chrome Valley ***
146. Gary Numan -- The Pleasure Principle (1979) ***/
147. Daryl Hall and John Oates -- Bigger Than Both of Us (1976) ** 1/2
148. Jason Isbell -- Foxes in the Snow ** 1/2
149. Songhoy Blues -- Music In Exile (2015) *** 1/2
150. Dr. Octagon -- Dr. Octagonecologyst (1996) **
151. Jorge Ben -- Ben é Samba Bom (1964) ***\
152. The Beta Band -- Hot Shots II (2001) ***
153. Buddy Holly -- Buddy Holly (1958) *** 1/2
154. Ringo Starr -- Look Up **
155. Brian D'addario -- Till The Morning (2025) *** 1/2
156. Bo Diddley -- Bo Diddley (1958) ****
157. Coldcut -- What's That Noise? (1989) ***
158. Ramblin' Jack Elliott -- Jack Takes The Floor (1958) ** 1/2
159. Hiroshi Yoshimura -- Flora (2006) *** 1/2
160. Chuck Berry -- After School Sessions (1957) *** 1/2
161. Billie Holiday -- Songs For Distingué Lovers (1957) ****
162. Rüdiger Lorenz -- Synrise: Early Tape Recordings 1981-1983 (2025) *** /
163. Aretha Franklin -- Jump To It (1982) ***
164. Jerry Lee Lewis -- Jerry Lee Lewis (1958) ***
165. Icecream Hands -- Icecream Hands (1992) ***
166. XTC -- Nonsuch (1992) *** 1/2
167. John Zorn -- A Dreamers Christmas (2011) *** 1/2
168. Stephen Stills -- Stephen Stills (1970) ** 1/2 (side one solid)
169. Art Tatum & Ben Webster -- The Art Tatum Ben Webster Quartet (1958) ****
170. Arthur Verocai -- Arthur Verocai (1972) ** 1/2
171. Fugazi -- Repeater (1990) ** 1/2
172. Tracey Thorn -- A Distant Shore (1982) ***
173. Robert Hunter -- Tiger Rose (1975) **
174. Johnny Mathis -- Open Fire, Two Guitars (1959) *** 1/2
175. Bobby Bare -- Bobby Bare Sings Lullabies, Legends and Lies (1973) *** 1/2
176. Reba McEntire -- For My Broken Heart (1991) ** 1/2
177. Hanna McEuen -- Hanna-McEuen (2005) *** 1/2
178. Uncle Tupelo -- No Depression (1990) ****
179. Marty Stuart -- Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions (2010) *** 1/2
180. Urban Cowboy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1980) ***
181. John Hartford -- Aero-Plain (1971) ****
182. The Alan Parsons Project -- Tales of Mystery And Imagination – Edgar Allan Poe (1976) ***
183. Doc Watson -- Southbound (1966) *** 1/2
184. Glen Campbell -- Greatest Hits (2009) *** 1/2
185. Billie Holiday -- Music For Torching (1955) ****
186. Billie Holiday -- All Or Nothing At All (1958) ****
187. The Techniques -- Little Did You Know (1966) *** 1/2
185. Billie Holiday -- Music For Torching (1955) ****
186. Billie Holiday -- All Or Nothing At All (1958) ****
187. The Techniques -- Little Did You Know (1966) *** 1/2
188. Roy Acuff -- The Essential Roy Acuff (1992) ***
189. Boz Scaggs -- Down Two Then Left (1977) *** 1/2
190. Chaka Khan -- Echoes of an Era (2005) ** 1/2
191. Alison Krauss -- Arcadia (2025) *** 1/2
192. Lee Wiley -- Night in Manhattan (1951) ***
193. Bill Monroe/Various -- Bean Blossom (1973) *** 1/2
193. Bill Monroe/Various -- Bean Blossom (1973) *** 1/2
194. Rocket From The Crypt -- Scream Dracula Scream (1995) ***
195. Eartha Kitt -- That Bad Eartha (1953) *** 1/2
195. Eartha Kitt -- That Bad Eartha (1953) *** 1/2
196. Elton John & Brandi Carlile -- Who Believes In Angels? (2025) *** \
197. Various Artists -- I Saw The TV Glow soundtrack (2024) *** 1/2
198. Eslaban Armado -- Vibras de Noche II (2025) ***/
199. Johnny Mathis -- Heavenly (1959) **
200. Michael Hurley -- First Songs (1964) *** (freak folk)
200. Michael Hurley -- First Songs (1964) *** (freak folk)
201. Billie Holiday -- Lady Sings The Blues (1956) ***/
202. Uncle Tupelo -- Still Feel Gone (1991) *** /
203. Curtis Mayfield -- Super Fly soundtrack (1972) *** 1/2
204. Jeff Beck -- Truth (1968) **
205. Billie Holiday -- Billie Holiday Sings/Solitude (1952/1956) ****
206. Irma Thomas & Galactic -- Audience With The Queen (2025) ***/
206. Irma Thomas & Galactic -- Audience With The Queen (2025) ***/
207. American Music Club -- California (1988) **
208. Stereolab -- Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996) **
209. Johnny Mathis -- I'll Buy You A Star (1961) **
210. Gene Autry -- The Essential Gene Autry (2009) *** 1/2
211. Aretha Franklin -- Aretha's Gold (1969) ****
212. Jurassic 5 -- Jurassic 5 (1998) ***
213. Steve Miller Band -- Fly Like An Eagle (1976) ** 1/2
214. Steve Miller Band -- Greatest Hits 1974-78 (1978) *** 1/2
215. Steve Miller Band -- Book of Dreams (1977) ** 1/2 \
216. Billie Holiday -- Recital (1956) compiling An Evening With Billie Holiday (1953, minus one track) and Billie Holiday (1954 minus three tracks) ***
217. Isaac Hayes -- Shaft soundtrack (1971) ** 1/2
218. Lee Ann Womack -- There's More Where That Came From (2005) *** 1/2
219. Billy Eckstine -- Once More With Feeling -- (1960) **
220. Bad Company -- Bad Company (1974) **
221. Digital Underground -- Sex Packets (1990) **
222. Roger Miller -- All Time Greatest Hits (2003) *** 1/2
223. Henry Mancini – The Pink Panther soundtrack (1964) ***
223. Henry Mancini – The Pink Panther soundtrack (1964) ***
224. Henry Mancini – Music From Peter Gunn (1959) *** 1/2
225. Cat Stevens – Harold and Maude soundtrack (1971) *** 1/2
226. Roy Ayers -- Coffy soundtrack ( 1973) ***
227. Steve Miller Band -- Sailor (1968) ***
228. The Monkees -- Head soundtrack (1968) ****
227. Steve Miller Band -- Sailor (1968) ***
228. The Monkees -- Head soundtrack (1968) ****
229. Less Than Zero soundtrack (1987) ** 1/2
230. Vince Guaraldi – Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964) *** 1/2
231. Billie Holiday – "The Lady" Sings (1956) ***/
232. Celia Cruz – Son Con Guaguanco (1966) ****
233. Paul Revere and the Raiders – Midnight Rider (1966) ***/
234. Bruce Langhorne – The Hired Hand (1971) *** 1/2
235. A Man and a Woman – Laurindo Almeida (1967) ***
236. Magnolia soundtrack (1999) *** 1/2
238. X -- Wild Gift (1981) ***
239. Ute Lemper -- Punishing Kisses (2000) **
240. Wild Style soundtrack (1983) *** 1/2
241. Victor/Victoria soundtrack (1982) ***
242. Velvet Goldmine soundtrack (1998) *** 1/2
243. Ken Boothe – Everything I Own (1974) **
244. C418–Minecraft Volume Alpha (2011) ****
245. The Great Mouse Detective soundtrack ** 1/2
246. Aguirre, the Wrath of God soundtrack aka Aguirre – Popol Vuh (1972/1975) ****
247. P.F. Sloan – Raised on Records (1972) **
248. Hank Snow -- The Essential Hank Snow (1997) ****
249.
MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES TV MOVIES
(Not TV movies, of course, but movies and TV shows -- and TV movies if it comes to that. Mostly I only list TV shows when I've tackled an entire season at once or reappraising an entire series after it's over This doesn't really capture my ongoing watching of current TV.)
(Not TV movies, of course, but movies and TV shows -- and TV movies if it comes to that. Mostly I only list TV shows when I've tackled an entire season at once or reappraising an entire series after it's over This doesn't really capture my ongoing watching of current TV.)
1. Interstellar (2014) ** 1/2
2. Myth of Man (at Cinema Village w Karl) ***/
3. A Woman Is A Woman (1961) ****
4. Fedora (1979) *
5. Weather Wizards (1939 short; dir. Fred Zinnemann) **
6. Cutter's Way (1981) ** 1/2
7. Lipstick (1976) *
8. Prime Target S1 on Apple *
9. The Marquise of O (1976) ** 1/2
10. Monster (2023) *** 1/2
11. Story of Women (1988) ** 1/2
12. Ladies and Gentlemen: 50 Years of SNL Music (2025) *** (but **** intro)
13. One on One: John & Yoko (2025) ***
14. Le Million (1931 at Film Forum) (w Noam) *** /
15. Chicken For Linda! (2023) *** 1/2
16. Universal Language (2024) ***
17. Sinners (2025) *** /
18.
THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS THEATER CONCERTS
(The names after the shows are the people who joined me at the performance.)
(The names after the shows are the people who joined me at the performance.)
1. A Guide For The Homesick (w Zoe at DR2) ** out of ****
2. Still (w Melissa Gilbert at Sheen w Noam) **
3. A Streetcar Named Desire (Paul Mescal at BAM) w Zoe **
4. Sean Mason Quartet at Side Door Jazz Club in Old Lyme, CT (w TJ) *** 1/2
5. The Swamp Dwellers at TFANA (w Noam) ** 1/2
THE 50TH IRA FILM AWARDS: Open Your Eyes To Some Great Movies
THE 50TH IRA FILM AWARDS
Date: April 5, 2025
Location: New York City and far-flung locales via Zoom
The IRAs are a mysterious but august film society launched in 1976 when it proudly named Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon the best film of 1975. Officially known as the New York Independent Film Critics Awards–but lovingly nicknamed the IRAs–it is more international and indie focused than the Oscars, more mercurial than the LA Film Critics and even more loyal to their favorites than the Golden Globes. The IRAs are proud to announce its picks for the best movies released commercially on any platform since the last IRAs in March of 2024.
Without further ado, the IRA goes to...
Best Picture: Close Your Eyes
Runner-up: Flow
Best Director: Victor Erice for Close Your Eyes
Runner-up: Gints Zilbalodis for Flow
Best Actors: Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths (co-winner)
Léa Drucker for Last Summer and Mars Express (co-winner)
Runner-up: Ilinca Manolache for Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World (tie)
Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice and A Different Man (tie)
Best Supporting Actors: Aubrey Plaza for My Old Ass (co-winner)
Mark Eydelshteyn for Anora (co-winner)
Runner-up: Yura Borisov for Anora
Best Nonfiction Film: Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat
Runner-up: Kim's Video
Damien Bona Memorial G-ddamned Cartoon Award: Flow
Runner-up: Mars Express
Best Screenplay: Victor Erice and Michel Gaztambide for Close Your Eyes
Runner-up: Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain
Best Cinematography: Valentín Álvarez for Close Your Eyes
Runner-up: Vincent Biron for Red Rooms (tie)
Robert Elswit for Ripley (tie)
Best Production Design: Suzie Davies for Conclave and Hard Truths
Runner-up: Stanislas Reydellet for The Substance
Best Score/Use Of Music: Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist
Runner-up: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Challengers and Queer
Best Editing: Chris Gill and Julian Ulrichs for Kneecap
Runner-up: Nicholas Monsour for Nickel Boys
Best Costumes: J.W. Anderson for Challengers and Queer
Runner-up: Linda Muir for Nosferatu
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Juror #2
Runner-up: Nosferatu
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Civil War
Runner-up: Reagan
Mechanical Actors: Dennis Quaid for Reagan and The Substance (co-winner)
Guy Pearce for The Brutalist (co-winner)
Runner-up: Adrian Brody for The Brutalist
This year, the 50th Annual IRA Awards took place on April 5, 2025. Films are eligible based on our newly established standards. Any film that is commercially available roughly since our last ceremony qualifies for an IRA. This includes any film you can see in any way: a streamer, a digital download, a rental, a BluRay, at a multiplex, at a drive-in or–our favorite option–an old-fashioned movie palace. Festival play does not qualify.
Want some great recommendations to check out? Here's a list of all the films that scored enough points to merit attention at the IRAs. If you want to see some of the best films of 2024, let the IRAs lead the way.
THE 2024-2025 FILMS HONORED BY THE IRAS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
All We Imagine As Light
Anora
The Apprentice
Between The Temples
The Brutalist
Challengers
Chicken For Linda!
Close Your Eyes
Conclave
Crossing
Dahomey
A Different Man
Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World
Flow
Hard Truths
His Three Daughters
How To Have Sex
I'm Still Here
Juror #2
Kim's Video
Kneecap
Last Summer
The Last Year In Darkness
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
Mars Express
My Old Ass
Nickel Boys
Nosferatu
The Old Oak
The Order
Queer
A Real Pain
Red Rooms
Ripley
The Settlers
Sing Sing
Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat
The Substance
Sugarcane
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Here's a link to The IRA What To Watch Website. You'll find many of these 2024 films and where you can find them online (Amazon, Hulu, Criterion, wherever). Throughout the year, we add in movies that members have seen and highly recommend. Why wait to the IRAs when you can discover great movies all the time?
And now, a blow-by-blow description of the night, in order of voting. Some new blood continues to course through the veins of the IRAs, much like Nicholas Hoult's in the veins of the vamp in Nosferatu. The Florida contingent was especially catty and amusing in its comments. The three members–part of the underground Resistance wing of the IRAs in enemy territory–attended by zoom. Video conferencing is great, even after a pandemic, so it was nice to have not just the ballots but the withering commentary of (alphabetically) Aaron, Greg and Robert on hand, if not in hand. Alas, our host and bride-to-be Alex was too overwhelmed with wedding planning to do any secretarial work at the IRAs and the many bon mots tossed off with Wildean rapidity remain undocumented. Or should I say unrecorded, before DOGE pulls our funding? Perhaps next year he'll resume that task or delegate it to ChatGPT.
We begin, as always, with the category of Best Costumes. Instead of our traditional first vote led by the titular Ira (whose presence was greatly missed), we began with George, a scholar as well as CEO of the accounting firm Robinson, Robinson, Marcks & Giltz. The IRA goes to...
BEST COSTUME
1. Linda Muir for Nosferatu (25 pts) RESCINDED
BEST COSTUME
1. Linda Muir for Nosferatu (25 pts) RESCINDED
2. J.W. Anderson for Challengers and Queer (24 pts) (winner)
3. Muriel Parra for The Settlers (17 pts)
4. Lisy Christl for Conclave (11 pts)
5. Emmanuelle Youchnovski for The Substance (8 pts)
POINT OF ORDER: This year, ten ballots were in play throughout the night for most categories. Voting begins with each member naming their top pick. If a majority of the ballots name the same nominee, this triumph is acknowledged as a win "by acclamation." However a winner is chosen (by acclamation or by a complete tally), the result is followed by an automatic vote to rescind.
The Vote To Rescind is offered after every category. Why? Once the totals are in, members may feel the actual winner doesn't reflect the best choice. Or perhaps they prefer the runner-up. After the winner is announced, members are asked to consider a Vote To Rescind. If a majority of the members actively voting support it, the winner is rescinded and the runner-up is made the official champion. The winner is then named the runner-up. The Vote To Rescind is seen by some as a last minute stop-gap to avoid a bland consensus pick. It is vehemently opposed by Founding Member™ Andy, who registers his displeasure over this rule with the dependable consistency of Old Faithful.
NOTE: Nosferatu was not a popular film among IRA voters. Indeed, it garners mention at the end of the night as a Sominex nominee, that is, a film that put some of us to sleep. But for all its flaws, the film is gorgeous to look at on a technical level, excelling in costume, cinematography and production design. Costume winners are not often an indicator of strength throughout the night, but Queer will be a consistent contender. Here it wins notice not so much for its costumes, perhaps, as the lack of them.
BEST EDITING
1. Chris Gill and Julian Ulrichs for Kneecap (20 pts)
2. Nicholas Monsour for Nickel Boys (19 pts)
3. Hansjörg Weißbrich for September 5 (18 pts)
4. Marco Costa for Challengers and Queer (13 pts)
5. Mike Cheslik for Hundreds of Beavers (8 pts) (tie)
Jonah Malak for Red Rooms (8 pts) (tie)
NOTE: Another technical award. It was feared the editing award would always go to a nonfiction film, since documentaries are so notable for the editing that shapes them. (Yes, many docs have a script, but these films are often "found" in the editing, not shaped by a writer.) Nonetheless, the six films honored are all works of fiction, though September 5 has a documentary feel. Kneecap is a very fun Irish comedy with the three members of the real-life hip hop Gaelic-rapping group playing themselves in this exaggerated bio-pic. September 5 actually plays a bit like a documentary. And keep an eye again on Queer (the only film mentioned in the first two categories) and Red Rooms, which is championed all night long by a fervent few. (If only they'd championed the film by adding their endorsement to Greg's in the IRA list of movies-to-watch, maybe other members would have watched it too.)
The IRAs and the Oscars rarely overlap: only twice in the 48 year history of the IRAs have both named the same film as the Best Picture of the year. 1977's Annie Hall and 2016's Moonlight each won the top prize from both AMPAS and the IRAs. While the IRAs certainly lean more indie and international, even the Oscar winner for Best International/Foreign Film has never won the IRA for Best Picture.
In fact, the IRAs overlap very little with any other awards group. The films it honors are acclaimed, well reviewed all over the world and appear on many "best of the year" lists. And yet, its top honors often go to films overlooked by the other award bodies. Eclectic, thy name is IRA. And that's a great reason to check out our winners, like the raucous Irish comedy Kneecap, a Hard Day's Night for a new generation.
BEST SCORE/USE OF MUSIC
1. Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist (34 pts)
2. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Challengers and Queer (30 pts)
3. Michael "Mikey J" Asante (score); the band Kneecap (songs) for Kneecap (15 pts)
4. Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, etc for Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (14 pts)
5. Raffertie for The Substance (12 pts)
NOTE: Oscar winner The Brutalist was not a divisive film at the IRAs: most everyone disliked it. However, many agreed the score by Daniel Blumberg was not only the film's strongest element, but the best score of the year. The excellent documentary Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat is stuffed with vintage performances by jazz greats along with classic cuts used with care throughout the film. So it's a classic example of a movie that made excellent use of music, as opposed to a film with an excellent original score, like The Brutalist. But don't underestimate how well this is done by Soundtrack. Just slapping a great song over a scene does not good use of music make.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
1. Suzie Davies for Conclave and Hard Truths (21 pts)
2. Stanislas Reydellet for The Substance (19 pts)
3. Judy Becker for The Brutalist (15 pts)
4. Stefano Baisi for Queer (12 pts)
5. Beatrice Brentnerova for Nosferatu (10 pts) (tie)
4. Stefano Baisi for Queer (12 pts)
5. Beatrice Brentnerova for Nosferatu (10 pts) (tie)
Fergus Clegg for The Old Oak (10 pts)
NOTE: We're four categories in and the voting is all over the map. Four awards and four different winners representing six different films. No reading of tea leaves among the runners-up offers any useful predictions, either. If anyone knew at this point what the big winner would be, they should head to Vegas. Our winner in Production Design is Suzie Davies and few were aware she recreated the Vatican sets for Conclave and did excellent work for Mike Leigh's Hard Truths by establishing the lived-in feel essential for its bone-deep characters. You never doubt these are their real homes you're seeing. Special mention was made of Ken Loach's similar working-class UK film The Old Oak. The title refers to a pub but it was the unused, falling apart backroom of that pub that caught the fancies of a handful of voters. It too just seemed...right.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. Valentín Álvarez for Close Your Eyes (21 pts)
2. Vincent Biron for Red Rooms (14 pts) (tie)
Robert Elswit for Ripley (14 pts) (tie)
4. Ranabir Das for All We Imagine As Light (12 pts)
5. Jomo Fray for Nickel Boys (11 pts)
5. Jomo Fray for Nickel Boys (11 pts)
NOTE: Okay, here we go. It's Cinematography, often a category snapped up by a film with flashy work, like the admirable Nickel Boys, a movie often shot from the point of view of characters. The underdog Red Rooms scores its highest position yet. But the winner and a distant nominee seem telling. Close Your Eyes is an excellent Spanish film by Victor Erice, the talent behind all-time classic The Spirit of the Beehive from 1973. But it doesn't scream "cinematography" so this seems like a planting of the flag by the film's advocates. They're not messing around. Also, the charming, low-key Indian film All We Imagine As Light feels like a telling choice, even in fourth place, for similar reasons.
Traditionalist Andy–an originalist if ever there was one–shocked the room by nominating the TV miniseries Ripley in this category. Andy! A man still kept up at night by the Best Picture win of Eyes on the Prize, a multipart TV documentary for Pete's sake. (It did have a commercial run in theaters, but still.) And yet here he is blithely extolling the excellent work by Robert Elswit on Ripley. As Divine once said, "the times they are a-changing."
BEST SCREENPLAY
1. Victor Erice and Michel Gaztambide for Close Your Eyes (23 pts)
2. Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain (19 pts)
3. Megan Park for My Old Ass (18 pts)
3. Megan Park for My Old Ass (18 pts)
4. Jonathan Abrams for Juror #2 (14 pts)
5. Levan Akin for Crossing (13 pts)
NOTE: Close Your Eyes wins again. It's the story of an actor who goes missing from a film set. Decades later, a TV show that specializes in mysteries like this interviews the film's director about the long-ago event that's left a hole in his life. (He never directed again.) Then someone says they think the missing actor is a handyman at a nursing home.... The backstory of the film is remarkable (as is the movie itself), but it's better you see the film first. Runner-up is the Oscar-winning film A Real Pain. Also popping up are three more contenders, since Screenplay is often a bell-weather category. My Old Ass has generated friendly buzz among IRA voters, Juror #2 is a likely swan song for director Clint Eastwood (not a favorite politically for IRA voters but age can turn anyone into a more likable fellow) and then there's the Georgian-Turkish drama Crossing. Is the race beginning to take shape or is Close Your Eyes a freight train gaining momentum?
DAMIEN BONA MEMORIAL GODDAMN CARTOON AWARD
FLOW BY ACCLAMATION
1. Flow (40 pts) (win by acclamation)
2. Mars Express (23 pts)
3. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (15 pts)
4. Chicken For Linda! (7 pts)
5. The Wild Robot (6 pts)
NOTE: This is the first year the IRAs are giving an award to an animated film. Bitterly contested by Michael, separate awards for Nonfiction Film and Animated Film invariably ensure those films will never win the Top Award of Best Picture, even though a great animated film or a great documentary film is just as worthy as a fictional effort. Best Nonfiction Film was begun for the films of 2015; before that, a documentary won the Top Prize only twice (Eyes on the Prize and Decasia, if you're wondering). So depending on your point of view, that means those rare wins are all but impossible now or the IRAs were essentially ignoring docs anyway so at least now they'll get well-deserved attention. **grumble grumble** The same is certainly true for animated films, which have never won a top IRA or even scored a mention in the top nominees. Damien Bona was a Founding Member™ of the IRAs and the co-author of the classic awards history work Inside Oscar, with fellow IRA member Mason Wiley. Whenever anyone had the temerity to nominate an animated film or even mention one, Bona would bark, "It's a g-ddamn cartoon!" and the speaker would slink away quietly to lick their wounds. The Animated Film award is thus named in honor the late, lamented Bona.
Flow becomes our first and only winner of the night by acclamation. Our balloting begins with each member naming their top pick. Then we go around the room again, with each member naming the nominee they give 5 pts and then 4 pts and so on. (Acting features ten nominees, all the others just five.) However, if a majority of the voters name the same nominee as their top pick, it becomes the winner by acclamation, a rare and prestigious distinction. Have members simply not seen that many animated films or is Flow really that popular. We shall see....
By the way, the French film Mars Express is an animated sci-fi noir and if that sounds remotely appealing to you, check it out. It's terrific. Fans of Blade Runner to the head of the line.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTORS
1. Aubrey Plaza for My Old Ass (39 pts) (co-winner)
1. Aubrey Plaza for My Old Ass (39 pts) (co-winner)
Mark Eydelshteyn for Anora (34 pts) (co-winner)
3. Yura Borisov for Anora (33 pts)
4. Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin for Sing Sing (31 pts)
5. Olivier Rabourdin for Last Summer (30 pts)
6. Michele Austin for Hard Truths (26 pts)
7. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for Nickel Boys (25 pts)
8. Jose Coronado for Close Your Eyes (22 pts)
9. Carol Kane in Between The Temples (19 pts)
10. Natasha Lyonne for His Three Daughters (17 pts)
NOTE: This is the third year where the IRAs treat acting like every other category. We don't vote for the best female cinematographer or the best male costumer or the best non-binary editor, so why vote for best female supporting actor and best male actor and so on? So, unlike every other category, here voters can nominate up to TEN performances, plus we announce two winners based on total points only. And we list the top ten vote getters. Reasonable concerns that women might get overlooked in this new system are happily not panning out, though every year is different. In 2022, both the lead and supporting actor winners happened to feature a man and a woman each. In 2023, again the leads happened to be a man and a woman, while the supporting category was a four-way tie. This year, the supporting actor again happens to honor two people, one of whom identifies as a woman and other as a man. So no slighting of women has resulted from this category change; plus, some vote getters were nonbinary and IRA members didn't have to wrestle with how and where to honor them. Success all around.
Michael was sent into conniptions by Yura Borisov being beat out by his co-star Mark Eydelshteyn and by a mere one point? Didn't others realize how tremendous Borisov was in the film? Alex on the other hand was astonished anyone would vote for Yura. Words were exchanged but Howard would have none of it, so the voting proceeded sans discussion and there was no need for a designation of seconds or meeting at dawn.
By the way, Aubrey Plaza was a best actor winner in 2022 for Emily The Criminal and now she's a supporting actor winner for My Old Ass. It's a rare victory at the IRAs for an actor to win in both categories. (Jack Nicholson was the first to do it, by winning lead for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and supporting for Reds. Christine Lahti was the second, winning supporting for Swing Shift and lead for Housekeeping.) Was that Close Your Eyes momentum all an illusion? Actor Jose Coronado is way down this list at #8. And we've got attention being paid to My Old Ass, two mentions for Anora, signs of life from Last Summer and Hard Truths and Nickel Boys. Plus, it's the first mention for Between The Temples, His Three Daughters and Sing Sing. My head is spinning!
FOOD BREAK
Pizza!
BEST NONFICTION FILM
1. Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat (19 pts)
2. Kim's Video (16 pts)
3. The Last Year In Darkness (14 pts (tie)
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (14 pts)
5. Dahomey (8 pts) (tie)
Sugarcane (8 pts) (tie)
NOTE: Now that it has its own category, does a nonfiction film has little chance of winning Best Picture? Well, here's one telling stat. Since the IRAs launched the award in 2015, no nonfiction film/documentary has even made the Top 5 ballot for Best Picture, much less won it. Again, they almost never won in the past, so at least now a great film like Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat gets its due, along with other worthy nominees like Kim's Video and the rest, excellent films all.
But boy, if the Nonfiction award is any indicator, the chances of an animated film even making the final ballot for Best Picture is all but impossible, never mind winning the whole enchilada.
BEST ACTORS
1. Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths (54 pts) (co-winner)
1. Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths (54 pts) (co-winner)
Léa Drucker for Last Summer and Mars Express (41 pts) (co-winner)
3. Ilinca Manolache for Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World (33 pts) (tie)
Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice and A Different Man (33 pts) (tie)
5. Mzia Arabuli for Crossing (32 pts)
6. Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain (25 pts) (tie)
6. Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain (25 pts) (tie)
Juliette Gariépy for Red Rooms (25 pts) (tie)
Mia McKenna-Bruce for How To Have Sex (25 pts) (tie)
9. Fernanda Torres for I'm Still Here (20 pts)
10. Nicholas Hoult for Juror #2, Nosferatu and The Order (19 pts)
10. Nicholas Hoult for Juror #2, Nosferatu and The Order (19 pts)
NOTE: As with supporting actor, we celebrate the two top vote getters in the lead actor category, without bothering to worry about how they identify. In this case, it means two women have triumphed. Marianne Jean-Baptiste's searing work as a deeply unhappy woman who makes everyone around her miserable (it's funnier than it sounds!) won the most points. Her fellow winner is Léa Drucker, the French actress who played a new wife in Last Summer who has an affair with her teenaged step-son. Did I mention the film is French? In a happy fact, Drucker also does a voice role in the animated film Mars Express, the runner-up in the animated category and an excellent film in its own right.
Still, the race seems unusually cloudy this year. Close Your Eyes is one of two films to win two awards so far. But it was way back in the supporting actor category and doesn't garner any attention for lead actor. Mike Leigh's Hard Truths now has two wins: a co-win for Production Design and now the top vote getter in lead actor. Plus, it was a contender in supporting. But really, the Production Design win was for the work Suzie Davies did on Conclave. Does anyone know who's going to win the top prizes of Director and Picture?
1. Victor Erice for Close Your Eyes (23 pts)
2. Gints Zilbalodis for Flow (15 pts)
3. Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine As Light (10 pts) (tie)
Catherine Breillat for Last Summer (10 pts) (tie)
5. Coralie Fargeat for The Substance (9 pts)
NOTE: Ahhh. Victor Erice wins Best Director pretty handily for Close Your Eyes. Suddenly, the clouds part and the evening comes into focus. This marvelous film now has the most wins going into the final battle for Best Picture.
But what's this? The animated film Flow is in second place, marking the first time a director of an animated film has made the short list for Best Director in the 50+ year history of the IRAs. The film is widely admired but surely the fact that Zilbalodis also did so much of the film himself was a draw: he directed it, co-produced it, co-wrote it, did the cinematography, the editing, co-scored it and presumably got the coffee.
Also, three of the five directors on the final list are women, a first in IRA history. By the way, women have won Best Director three times in the past seven years.
1. Close Your Eyes (23 pts)
2. Flow (17 pts)
3. Last Summer (10 pts)
4. All We Imagine As Light (9 pts) (tie)
Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World (9 pts) (tie)
Nickel Boys (9 pts) (tie)
Red Rooms (9 pts) (tie)
Red Rooms (9 pts) (tie)
NOTE: Yes, Close Your Eyes wins Best Picture, along with Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. The lead performance in the film is so self-effacing and quiet, it makes sense that actor Manolo Solo might not register with voters: he never seemed to be acting, after all. In retrospect, it seems Close Your Eyes dominated the evening. Yes, it won four awards and the biggies of Best Picture and Director. But many films competed for attention this year and had their adherents.
Close Your Eyes becomes the 20th film not primarily in English to be honored as Best Picture in its first 50 years. Clearly, the IRAs are fans of great movies from whatever country and in whatever language–20 times out of the past 54 wins (including ties), Best Picture went to an international film. Yet here too a trend can be spotted. Seven of the last eight Best Picture winners are international films not in English. Not only is Hollywood falling down at delivering good popcorn movies, even indie cinema in the US is struggling to offer up films good enough to triumph at the IRAs. Only three US films won awards this year: Anora, My Old Ass and The Brutalist. Will American cinema make a comeback? Yes, in a few years when the IRAs vote on the best films of the 1970s. But will any American films contend at next year's IRAs? We can only hope.
FOOD BREAK
Cake!
Cake!
SOMINEX (The movie that put us to sleep)
1. Juror #2 (27 pts)
2. Nosferatu (15 pts)
3. Wicked Part One (11 pts)
4. I Saw The TV Glow (10 pts)
5. Megalopolis (9 pts)
DRAMAMINE (The film that made us sick)
1 1. Civil War (24 pts)
2, 2. Reagan (20 pts)
3. 3. The Brutalist (6 pts)
4. 4. The Bibi Files (5 pts) (tie)
5. Inside Out 2 (5 pts) (tie)
4 Megalopolis (5 pts) (tie)
4.
5.
MECHANICAL ACTOR
1. Dennis Quaid for Reagan and The Substance (60 pts) (co-winner)
Guy Pearce for The Brutalist (40 pts) (co-winner)
3. Adrian Brody for The Brutalist (35 pts)
4. Florence Pugh for We Live in Time (33 pts)
5. Timothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown (19 pts)
6. Selena Gomez for Emilia Pérez but not for Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (17 pts)
7. Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez (13 pts) (tie)
8. Toni Colette for Juror #2 (11 pts)
9. Adam Driver for Megalopolis (10 pts) (tie)
Cate Blanchett for Borderlands and Rumours (10 pts) (tie)
THE IRA OF IRAS: THE BEST PICTURE WINNER FROM THE PAST 50 YEARS
And the IRA of IRAs goes to...
Three Colours: Red (1994; dir. Krzysztof Kieşlowski)
The Top 10
1. Three Colours: Red
2. Berlin Alexanderplatz
3. Housekeeping
4. Once Upon A Time In America
5. Moonlight
6. Tangerine
7. L’Enfant
8. Cutter’s Way
9. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
10. Nightcrawler
WHO OR WHAT ARE THE IRAS? A HISTORY
The IRAs are a mysterious but august film society that has voted on the best films of the year since 1976. Officially known as the New York Independent Film Critics Awards -- but lovingly nicknamed the IRAs -- they are more international and indie focused than the Oscars, more mercurial than the LA Film Critics, more loyal to their favorites than the Golden Globes.
The IRAs began when passionate film students and friends complained about the parade of annual awards shows, declaring, "We could do better!" What followed was an all-night, knock-down, drag-out fight to establish the very first winners of the IRAs. (One of the members is named Ira, but how his name became the name of the award is a story lost in the mist of time, alcohol and since it was the 1970s perhaps cannabis.) The IRAs group has been profiled in The New Yorker, so it is officially a New York institution, though no one has ever heard of it. Over the years, its rotating cast of voting members have included Oscar-winning writers, major directors, top studio execs, best-selling and critically acclaimed authors of books on movies, critics, screenwriters, budding playwrights, film scholars, plain old movie buffs and so on.
Every year, the IRAs shine a light on some of the best movies of the year. The secret reason the IRAs flourish is that its members are passionate film lovers. Many have careers involving the arts, but it's not always easy to stay in the swim of things, to keep on top of the flood of new releases every year, especially when the movies favored by IRA members are not always playing at your local multiplex for weeks at a time. The movies they appreciate tend to be harder to catch, playing in theaters only briefly before popping up (hopefully) eventually on some streaming service or DVD. Quite simply, the IRAs force them to stay committed to seeing new movies with the same fervor they felt in their college days when going to see a film was the only purpose in life, before jobs and family made frivolous claims on their time. So if you want to stay on top of great cinema every year or explore its history, there's no better place to start than the award winners of the IRAs.
True, the IRAs have no more claim to pronounce the best films of the year than anyone else. But they've been doing it for decades so hey, it's tradition!
PAST IRA WINNERS
THE COMPLETE IRA MOVIE AWARD WINNERS
1975 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for La Rupture and Just Before Nightfall
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Best Supporting Actor: François Perrier in Just Before Nightfall
Best Supporting Actress: Blythe Danner in Hearts Of The West
Best Screenplay: Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman for The Romantic Englishwoman
Best Cinematography: John Alcott for Barry Lyndon
1976 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Lipstick and The Marquise Of O
Best Director: Eric Rohmer for The Marquise Of O
Best Actor: Sean Connery in Robin And Marian
Best Actress: Sissy Spacek in Carrie
Best Supporting Actor: Jason Robards in All The President’s Men
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Bancroft in Lipstick
Best Screenplay: Alain Tanner and John Berger for Jonah Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000
Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros for The Marquise Of O
1977 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Annie Hall
Best Director: Wim Wenders for The American Friend
Best Actor: John Gielgud in Providence
Best Actress: Diane Keaton in Annie Hall and Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Best Supporting Actor: G. D. Spradlin in One On One
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave in Julia
Best Screenplay: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman for Annie Hall
Best Cinematography: Robby Müller for The American Friend
1978 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Days Of Heaven
Best Director: Terence Malick for Days Of Heaven
Best Actor: Jon Voight in Coming Home
Best Actress: Jane Fonda in Coming Home
Best Supporting Actor: Dom DeLuise in The End
Best Supporting Actress: Stephane Audran in Violette
Best Screenplay: Eric Rohmer for Perceval
Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros for Days Of Heaven
1979 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Fedora
Best Director: Blake Edwards for 10
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood in Escape From Alcatraz
Best Actress: Hanna Schygulla in The Marriage Of Maria Braun
Best Supporting Actor: Denholm Elliott in Cuba and Saint Jack
Best Supporting Actress: Frances Sternhagen in Fedora and Starting Over
Best Screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond for Fedora
Best Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto for Last Embrace and Remember My Name
Best Music: Miklos Rozsa for Fedora and Last Embrace
Best Production Design: Dean Edward Mitzner for 1941
1980 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Big Red One
Best Director: Sam Fuller for The Big Red One
Best Actor: Lee Marvin for The Big Red One
Best Actress: Jodie Foster for Carny and Foxes
Best Supporting Actor: (tie) Joe Pesci in Raging Bull and Harry Dean Stanton in The Black Marble, The Long Riders, Private Benjamin and Wise Blood
Best Supporting Actress: Pamela Reed in The Long Riders and Melvin And Howard
Best Screenplay: Sam Fuller for The Big Red One
Best Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth for Altered States
Best Music: Dana Kaproff for The Big Red One
Best Production Design: Tambi Larsen for Heaven’s Gate
1981 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Cutter’s Way
Best Director: Ivan Passer for Cutter’s Way
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in Cutter’s Way
Best Actress: Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson in Reds
Best Supporting Actress: Mona Washbouurne in Stevie
Best Screenplay: John Guare for Atlantic City
Best Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth for Cutter’s Way
Best Music: Georges DeLerue for The Last Metro, Rich and Famous, True Confessions and The Woman Next Door
Best Production Design: Ken Adam for Pennies From Heaven
Best Costume Design: Shirley Russell for Reds
1982 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Victor/Victoria
Best Director: Blake Edwards for Victor/Victoria
Best Actor: Jack Lemmon in Missing
Best Actress: (tie) Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria and Jessica Lange in Frances
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Preston in Victor/Victoria
Best Supporting Actress: Lesley Ann Warren in Victor/Victoria
Best Screenplay: Blake Edwards for Victor/Victoria
Best Cinematography: Xaver Schwartzenberger for Lola and Veronika Voss
Best Music: Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse for Victor/Victoria
Best Production Design: Rodger Maus for Victor/Victoria
Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris for Victor/Victoria
1983 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Berlin Alexanderplatz
Best Director: Andrzej Wajda for Danton
Best Actor: Eric Roberts for Star ’80
Best Actress: Shirley MacLaine for Terms Of Endearment
Best Supporting Actor: Jerry Lewis for The King Of Comedy
Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis for Trading Places
Best Screenplay: Bill Forsyth for Local Hero
Best Cinematography: Sven Nykvist for Star ’80
Best Music: Peer Raben for Berlin Alexanderplatz
Best Production Design: Fernando Scarfiotti for Scarface
Best Costume Design: Yvonne Sassinot DeNestle for Danton
Sominex Award: The Dresser
Dramamine Award: The Big Chill
Mechanical Actor: Matt Dillon for The Outsiders and Rumble Fish
Mechanical Actress: Nastassja Kinski for The Moon In The Gutter and Exposed
1984 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) L’Argent and Once Upon A Time In America
Best Director: Sergio Leone for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood in Tightrope
Best Actress: Helen Mirren in Cal
Best Supporting Actor: Jean-Luc Godard in First Name: Carmen
Best Supporting Actress: Christine Lahti in Swing Shift
Best Screenplay: Franco Arcalli, Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Franco Ferrini, Sergio Leone, Enrico Medioli for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Cinematography: Robby Müller for Paris Texas and Repo Man
Best Music: Ennio Morricone for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Production Design: James Singelis for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Costume Design: Mic Cheminal for Entre Nous
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1985 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Prizzi’s Honor
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for After Hours
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Actress: Mia Farrow in The Purple Rose Of Cairo
Best Supporting Actor: William Hickey in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Screenplay: Joseph Minion for After Hours
Best Cinematography: Andrzej Bartkowiak for Prizzi’s Honor
Best Music: Brian Gascoigne and Junior Hamrich for The Emerald Forest
Best Production Design: Jeffrey Townsend for After Hours
Best Costume Design: Ann Roth for The Jagged Edge and Sweet Dreams
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1986 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Eyes On The Prize
Best Director: David Lynch for Blue Velvet
Best Actor: (tie) Daniel Day-Lewis in My Beautiful Laundrette and Jeff Goldblum in The Fly
Best Actress: Laura Dern in Smooth Talk
Best Supporting Actor: Steve Buscemi in Parting Glances
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Stuart Masterson in At Close Range
Best Screenplay: Hanif Kureishi for My Beautiful Laundrette
Best Cinematography: Frederick Elmes for Blue Velvet
Best Music: (tie) George Delerue for Platoon and Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight
Best Production Design: Patricia Norris for Blue Velvet
Best Costume Design: Jenny Beaven and John Bright for A Room With A View
Sominex Award: Brighton Beach Memoirs
Dramamine Award: Crocodile Dundee
Mechanical Actor: Jon Cryer for Pretty In Pink
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep for Heartburn
1987 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Housekeeping
Best Director: Bill Forsyth for Housekeeping
Best Actor: Gary Oldman in Prick Up Your Ears
Best Actress: Christine Lahti in Housekeeping
Best Supporting Actor: John Mahoney in Moonstruck and Tin Men
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave in Prick Up Your Ears
Best Screenplay: Bill Forsyth for Housekeeping
Best Cinematography: Phillippe Rousselot for Hope And Glory
Best Music: David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su for The Last Emperor
Best Production Design: Santo Loquasto for Radio Days
Best Costume Design: Mary-Jane Reyner for Housekeeping
Sominex Award: Dark Eyes
Dramamine Award: Fatal Attraction
Mechanical Actor: Eddie Murphy for Beverly Hills Cop II
Mechanical Actress: Sean Young for No Way Out and Wall Street
1988 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Dead Ringers
Best Director: David Cronenberg for Dead Ringers
Best Actor: Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers
Best Actress: Jodie Foster in The Accused
Best Supporting Actor: Divine in Hairspray
Best Supporting Actress: Claudia Karvan in High Tide
Best Screenplay: Christopher Hampton for Dangerous Liaisons
Best Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro for Tucker: The Man And His Dream
Best Music: George Fenton for Dangerous Liaisons
Best Production Design: Dean Tavoularis for Tucker: The Man And His Dream
Best Costume Design: Van Smith for Hairspray
Sominex Award: Wings Of Desire
Dramamine Award: Mississippi Burning (by acclamation!)
Mechanical Actor: William Hurt for Broadcast News
Mechanical Actress: Maria Conchita Alonso for Extreme Prejudice and The Running Man
1989 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Story Of Women
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for Story
Of Women
Best Actor: John Hurt in Scandal
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert in Story Of Women
Best Supporting Actor: Ethan Hawke in Dad and Dead Poets Society
Best Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston in Enemies: A Love Story
Best Screenplay: Blake Edwards for Skin Deep
Best Cinematography: Jeff Preiss for Let’s Get Lost
Best Music: Michael Kamen for The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Best Costume Design: Jane Robinson for Scandal
Sominex Award: Batman
Dramamine Award: Steel Magnolias
Mechanical Actor: Spike Lee for Do The Right Thing
Mechanical Actress: Roseanne Barr for She-Devil
1990 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: GoodFellas
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for GoodFellas
Best Actor: Michel Blanc in Monsieur Hire
Best Actress: Anjelica Huston in The Grifters
Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci in GoodFellas
Best Supporting Actress: Lorraine Bracco in GoodFellas
Best Screenplay: Craig Lucas for Longtime Companion
Best Cinematography: Oliver Stapleton for The Grifters
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for The Grifters
Best Production Design: Dennis Gassner for The Grifters
Best Costume Design: Richard Bruno for The Grifters
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1991 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Man In The Moon
Best Director: Robert Mulligan for The Man In The Moon
Best Actor: River Phoenix in Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho
Best Actress: Judy Davis in Barton Fink, Impromptu, and Naked Lunch
Best Supporting Actor: Harvey Keitel in Bugsy, Mortal Thoughts, and Thelma & Louise
Best Supporting Actress: Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear
Best Screenplay: Michael Tolkin for The Rapture
Best Cinematography: Freddie Francis for Cape Fear and The Man In The Moon
Best Music: Ennio Morricone for Bugsy
Best Production Design: Dennis Gassner for Barton Fink and Bugsy
Best Costume Design: Albert Wolsky for Bugsy
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1992 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Raise The Red Lantern
Best Director: Robert Altman for The Player
Best Actor: Tim Robbins in Bob Roberts and The Player
Best Actress: Emma Thompson in Howards End
Best Supporting Actor: Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game
Best Supporting Actress: Judy Davis in Husbands And Wives
Best Screenplay: Michael Tolkin for The Player
Best Cinematography: Zhao Fei and Lun Yang for Raise The Red Lantern
Best Music: Lenny Niehaus for Unforgiven
Best Production Design: Marc Caro for Delicatessen
Best Costume Design: Alexander Julien for The Player
Sominex Award: A Few Good Men
Dramamine Award: Basic Instinct
Mechanical Actor: Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct
Mechanical Actress: ****
1993 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Six Degrees Of Separation
Best Director: Nancy Savoca for Household Saints
Best Actor: Dennis Quaid in Flesh And Bone
Best Actress: Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation
Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio in A Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Best Supporting Actress: Regina Tourney in Like Water For Chocolate
Best Screenplay: Mike Leigh for Naked
Best Cinematography: Michael Balhaus for The Age Of Innocence
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for The Age Of Innocence and The Cemetery Club
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Age Of Innocence
Best Costume Design: Gabriella Pescucci for The Age Of Innocence
Sominex Award: Heaven And Earth
Dramamine Award: Falling Down
Mechanical Actor: Richard Gere in Sommersby
Mechanical Actress: Madonna in Body Of Evidence
1994 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Red
Best Director: Krzyzstof Kieslowski for Red and White
Best Actor: Terence Stamp in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Best Actress: Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale in Little Women
Best Supporting Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas in Four Weddings and a Funeral
Best Screenplay: Steve Baranczek for The Last Seduction
Best Cinematography: Stephen Czapsky for Ed Wood
Best Music: Zbigniew Preissner for Red and White
Best Production Design: Dennis Gastner for The Hudsucker Proxy
Best Costume Design: Lizzie Gardiner and Tim Chappel for Priscilla, Queen of The Desert
Sominex Award: Wyatt Earp
1995 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Exotica
Best Director: Terry Zwigoff for Crumb
Best Actor: John Travolta in Get Shorty
Best Actress: (A three-way tie) Mia Kershner in Exotica; Alicia Silverstone in Clueless; Nicole Kidman in To Die For
Best Supporting Actor: Tim Roth in Rob Roy
Best Supporting Actress: Mare Winningham in Georgia
Best Screenplay: (tie) Atom Egoyan for Exotica and Buck Henry for To Die For
Best Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel for The Usual Suspects
Best Music: John Ottman for The Usual Suspects
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for Casino
Best Costumes: Mona May for Clueless
Sominex Award: The Brothers McMullen
Dramamine Award: Braveheart
Mechanical Actor: Dennis Miller in The Net and the cast of The Brothers McMullen
Mechanical Actress: Annette Bening in The American President
1996 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: La Ceremonie
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for La Ceremonie
Best Actor: Ewen McGregor in Trainspotting
Best Actress: (tie) Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient and Emily Watson in Breaking The Waves
Best Supporting Actor: Ian Holm in Big Night
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Kay Place in Citizen Ruth and Manny and Lo
Best Screenplay: John Sayles for Lone Star
Best Cinematography: (tie) Darius Khondji for Stealing Beauty and Oliver Stapleton for Kansas City
Best Music: Tiffany Anders, Burt Bacharach, David Baerwald, Carole Bayer Sager, Ed Berghoff, Elvis Costello, Gerry Goffin, Louise Goffin, Tonio K, Larry Klein, J. Mascis, Joni Mitchell, Boyd Rice, David A. Stewart, and J. Mayo Williams for Grace Of My Heart
Best Production Design: Harley Jessup for James And The Giant Peach
Best Costume Design: Dona Granata for Kansas City
Sominex Award: The English Patient
Dramamine Award: A Time To Kill
Mechanical Actor: All the men in She’s The One
Mechanical Actress: Maxine Bahns in She’s The One
1997 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Crash and Grosse Pointe Blank
Best Director: David Cronenberg for Crash
Best Actor: John Cusack for Grosse Pointe Blank
Best Actress: Julie Christie in Afterglow
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey in L. A. Confidential
Best Supporting Actress: Christina Ricci in The Ice Storm
Best Screenplay: Neil LaBute for In The Company Of Men
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for Kundun
Best Music: (tie) Eleni Karaindrou for Ulysses’ Gaze and Michael Nyman for Gattaca
Best Production Design: (tie) Dan Weil for The Fifth Element and Jan Roelfs for Gattaca
Best Costume Design: Denise Cronenberg for Crash
Sominex Award: The Pillow Book
Dramamine Award: Con Air
Mechanical Actor: Billy Zane in Titanic
Mechanical Actress: Elisabeth Shue in Deconstructing Harry and The Saint
1998 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Gods And Monsters
Best Director: (tie) Bill Condon for Gods And Monsters and Todd Solondz for Happiness
Best Actor: Ian McKellen in Gods And Monsters
Best Actress: Christina Ricci in The Opposite Of Sex
Best Supporting Actor: Dylan Baker in Happiness
Best Supporting Actress: Lisa Kudrow in The Opposite Of Sex
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Gods And Monsters
Best Cinematography: Maryse Alberti for Happiness and Velvet Goldmine
Best Music: Carter Burwell for Gods And Monsters
Best Production Design: Thérèse DePrez for Happiness
Best Costume Design: Bruce Finlayson for Gods And Monsters
Sominex Award: Dangerous Beauty
Dramamine Award: Stepmom
Mechanical Actor: Bruce Willis in Armageddon, The Siege and Mercury Rising
Mechanical Actress: Jena Malone in Stepmom
1999 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Fight Club
Best Director: (tie) David Fincher for Fight Club and Spike Jonze for Being John Malkovich
Best Actor: Terence Stamp in The Limey
Best Actress: (tie) Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut and Hillary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry
Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia and The Talented Mr. Ripley
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich
Best Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for Election
Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson for Bringing Out The Dead and Snow Falling On Cedars
Best Music: Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman for South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Best Production Design: Owen Paterson for The Matrix
Best Costume Design: Michael Kaplan for Fight Club
Sominex Award: The World Is Not Enough
Dramamine Award: The Green Mile
Mechanical Actor: Kevin Spacey in American Beauty
Mechanical Actress: Annette Bening in American Beauty
2000 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: L’ Humanite
Best Director: (tie) Terence Davies for The House Of Mirth and Jim Jarmusch for Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Actor: Forrest Whitaker in Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Actress: (tie) Severine Caneele in L’ Humanite and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Black in High Fidelity and Jesus’s Son
Best Supporting Actress: Lupe Ontiveros in Chuck And Buck
Best Screenplay: Kenneth Lonnergan for You Can Count On Me
Best Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin for The House Of Mirth
Best Music: RZA for Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Production Design: Gideon Ponte for American Psycho and Hamlet
Best Costume Design: Monica Howe for The House Of Mirth
Sominex Award: Mission Impossible 2
Dramamine Award: The Replacements (aka The Scabs)
Mechanical Actor: Ian Holm in Joe Gould’s Secret
Mechanical Actress: Charlize Theron in Reindeer Games
2001 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Director: Bela Tarr for The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Actor: John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig And The Angry Inch
Best Actress: Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive
Best Supporting Actor: Steve Buscemi in Ghost World
Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson in Ghost World and The Man Who Wasn’t There
Best Screenplay: Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff for Ghost World
Best Cinematography: (tie) Peter Deming for From Hell and Mulholland Drive and Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin for In The Mood For Love
Best Music: Mihály Vig for The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Production Design: Edward T. McAvoy for Ghost World
Best Costume Design: Mary Zophres for Ghost World
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
2002 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Far From Heaven and The Son’s Room
Best Director: (tie) Todd Haynes for Far From Heaven and Aleksandr Sokurov for Russian Ark
Best Actor: Greg Kinnear in Auto Focus
Best Actress: (tie) Emmanuelle Devos in Read My Lips and Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven and Samantha Morton in Minority Report and Morvern Callar
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Izzard in The Cat’s Meow
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Clarkson in Far From Heaven
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Chicago
Best Cinematography: Tilman Büttner for Russian Ark
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for Far From Heaven
Best Production Design: Mark Friedberg for Far From Heaven
Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell for Far From Heaven and Gangs Of New York
Sominex Award: Naqoyqatsi
Dramamine Award: Bowling For Dollars
Mechanical Actor: Anthony Hopkins in Red Dragon
Mechanical Actress: Catherine Keener in Lovely And Amazing
2003 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Decasia
Best Director: Bill Morrison for Decasia
Best Actor: Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The Caribbean
Best Actress: Hope Davis in American Splendor and The Secret Lives Of Dentists
Best Supporting Actor: Max Pirkis in Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Best Supporting Actress: Ludivine Sagnier in Swimming Pool
Best Screenplay: Shari Springer Bergman and Robert Pulcini for American Splendor
Best Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky for Spider
Best Music: Michael Gordon for Decasia
Best Production Design: Andrew Laws for Down With Love
Best Costume Design: Daniel Orlandi for Down With Love
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award: In My Skin
Mechanical Actor: Anthony Hopkins in The Human Stain
Mechanical Actress: Nicole Kidman in The Human Stain
2004 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Kinsey
Best Director: Bill Condon for Kinsey
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke in Before Sunset
Best Actress: Laura Linney in Kinsey and P.S.
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Sarsgaard in Kinsey
Best Supporting Actress: Kirsten Dunst in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Kinsey
Best Cinematography: Christopher Doyle for Hero, Last Life In The Universe and Days Of Being Wild
Best Music: Alberto Iglesias for Bad Education
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Aviator
Best Costume Design: Emi Wada for Hero and House Of The Flying Daggers
Sominex Award: The Village
Dramamine Award: The Passion Of The Christ
Mechanical Actor: Cate Blanchett in The Aviator
Mechanical Actress: Anthony Hopkins in Alexander
2005 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Mysterious Skin
Best Director: Gregg Araki for Mysterious Skin
Best Actor: Joseph Gordon-Leavitt in Mysterious Skin
Best Actress: Maria Bello in A History Of Violence
Best Supporting Actor: Paddy Constantine in My Summer Of Love
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in Capote
Best Screenplay: Gregg Araki for Mysterious Skin
Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit for Good Night And Good Luck and Syriana
Best Music: Howard Shore for A History Of Violence
Best Production Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046
Best Costume Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046
Sominex Award: Saraband
Dramamine Award: Crash
Mechanical Actor: Tom Cruise for War Of The Worlds
Mechanical Actress: Dakota Fanning for War Of The Worlds
Complete coverage of the 2005 IRAs here.
2006 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: L’Enfant
Best Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for L’Enfant
Best Actor: Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
Best Actress: Maggie Cheung in Clean
Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Mackie in Half Nelson
Best Supporting Actress: Carmen Maura in Volver
Best Screenplay: (tie) Guillermo Del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth and Jean- Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for L’Enfant
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Children Of Men
Best Production Design: Eugenio Caballero for Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Music: Philip Glass for Notes On A Scandal and The Illusionist
Best Costume Design: Sharon Davis for Dreamgirls
Sominex Award: The Da Vinci Code
Dramamine Award: Babel
Mechanical Actor: Robert Downey, Jr. in Fur and A Scanner Darkly
Mechanical Actress: Julianne Moore in Children Of Men
Complete coverage of the 2006 IRAs here.
2007 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Director: Andrew Dominik for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Actor: Casey Affleck in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone
Best Actress: Marina Hands in Lady Chatterley
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Schneider in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Lars And The Real Girl
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Best Screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu for 12:08 East Of Bucharest
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, In The Valley Of Elah and No Country For Old Men
Best Production Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Music: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Sominex Award: Youth Without Youth
Dramamine Award: Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Mechanical Actor: John Travolta in Hairspray
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep in Lions For Lambs and Rendition
Complete coverage of the 2007 IRAs here.
2008 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Edge Of Heaven
Best Director: Fatih Akin - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Actor: Michael Shannon - Shotgun Stories
Best Actress: Anamaria Marinca - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Best Supporting Actor: Emile Hirsch - Milk
Best Supporting Actress: Hanna Schygulla - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Screenplay: Fatih Akin - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Cinematography: Jody Shapiro - My Winnipeg
Best Production Design: Rejean Labrie - My Winnipeg
Best Music: Carter Burwell for In Bruges and Burn After Reading
Best Costumes: Danny Glicker - Milk
Sominex: The Happening
Dramamine: The Reader
Mechanical Actor: Mark Wahlberg for The Happening
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep for Doubt
Complete coverage of the 2008 IRAs here.
2009 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Hunger
Best Director: Olivier Assayas - Summer Hours
Best Actor: Sharlto Copley - District 9
Best Actress: Catalina Saavedra - The Maid
Best Supporting Actor: Liam Cunningham - Hunger
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Faris - Observe And Report
Best Screenplay: Olivier Assayas - Summer Hours
Best Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt - Hunger
Best Production Design: Philip Ivey - District 9
Best Music: Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
Best Costumes: Janet Patterson - Bright Star
Sominex: Public Enemies
Dramamine: Anti-Christ
Mechanical Actor: Peter Sarsgaard for An Education
Mechanical Actress: Hilary Swank for Amelia
2010 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Director: Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Actor: Edgar Ramirez - Carlos
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton - I Am Love
Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Supporting Actress: Dale Dickey - Winter's Bone
Best Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Cinematography: Yorick Le Saux - I Am Love
Best Production Design: Francesca Balestra Di Mottola - I Am Love
Best Music: John Adams - I Am Love
Best Costumes: Antonella Cannarozzi - I Am Love
Sominex: Cairo Time
Dramamine: Black Swan
Mechanical Actor: Vincent Cassel for Black Swan
Mechanical Actress: Natalie Portman for Black Swan
The Governor Scott Walker Award For Achievement In Political Thuggery: Waiting For "Superman"
Complete coverage of the 2010 IRAs here.
2011 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: The Tree Of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick - The Tree Of Life
Best Actor: Peyman Moadi - A Separation
Best Actress: Leila Hatami - A Separation
Best Supporting Actor: Hunter McCracken - The Tree Of Life
Best Supporting Actress: Sareh Bayet - A Separation
Best Screenplay: Ashgar Farhadi - A Separation
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki - The Tree Of Life
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti - Hugo
Best Score: Alberto Iglesias - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Skin I Live In
Best Editing: Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa - The Tree Of Life
Best Costumes: Jacqueline Durran - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Midnight In Paris
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Help
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Mechanical Actor: Owen Wilson - Midnight In Paris
Complete coverage of the 2011 IRAs here.
2012 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Best Score: Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin - Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): (tie) Les Miserables and Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Mechanical Actor: Russell Crowe - Les Miserables
Complete coverage of the 2012 IRAs here.
2013 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Laurence Anyways
Best Score: (tie) Alex Ebert for All Is Lost and Arcade Fire for Her
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Faust
Mechanical Actor: Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club
Complete coverage of the 2013 IRAs here.
2014 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Nightcrawler
Best Score: Mica Levi for Under The Skin
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Monuments Men
Mechanical Actor: The Entire Cast of The Monuments Men
Complete coverage of the 2014 IRAs here.
2015 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Tangerine
(tie) Kitana Kiki Rodriguez for Tangerine
Best Nonfiction Film: In Jackson Heights
(tie) Colin Gibson for Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Score: (tie) Junkie XL for Mad Max: Fury Road
(tie) Atticus Ross and Brian Wilson for Love And Mercy
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Assassin
Mechanical Actress: Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl
Mechanical Actor: John Cusack for Chi-Raq and Love And Mercy
Complete coverage of the 2015 IRAs here.
2016 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Moonlight
Best Nonfiction Film: O.J.: Made In America
Best Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan for Hell Or High Water
(tie) Ryan Warren Smith for Green Room
Best Score: Nicholas Britell for Moonlight
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Girl On A Train
Mechanical Actress: Nicole Kidman for Lion
Mechanical Actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals
Complete coverage of the 2016 IRAs here.
2017 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: BPM
Best Nonfiction Film: Dawson City: Frozen Time
Best Screenplay: Robert Siegel for The Founder
Best Score: Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never for Good Time
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Post
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): mother!
Mechanical Actress: Emma Watson for Beauty and the Beast and The Circle
Mechanical Actor: James Franco for The Disaster Artist, et. al
Complete coverage of the 2017 IRAs here.
2018 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Capernaum
Best Nonfiction Film: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Best Screenplay: Barry Jenkins for If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Score/Use Of Music: Nicholas Britell for If Beale Street Could Talk
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): On The Basis Of Sex
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Favourite
Mechanical Actress: Tilda Swinton for Suspiria
Mechanical Actor: Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody
The IRAs began when passionate film students and friends complained about the parade of annual awards shows, declaring, "We could do better!" What followed was an all-night, knock-down, drag-out fight to establish the very first winners of the IRAs. (One of the members is named Ira, but how his name became the name of the award is a story lost in the mist of time, alcohol and since it was the 1970s perhaps cannabis.) The IRAs group has been profiled in The New Yorker, so it is officially a New York institution, though no one has ever heard of it. Over the years, its rotating cast of voting members have included Oscar-winning writers, major directors, top studio execs, best-selling and critically acclaimed authors of books on movies, critics, screenwriters, budding playwrights, film scholars, plain old movie buffs and so on.
Every year, the IRAs shine a light on some of the best movies of the year. The secret reason the IRAs flourish is that its members are passionate film lovers. Many have careers involving the arts, but it's not always easy to stay in the swim of things, to keep on top of the flood of new releases every year, especially when the movies favored by IRA members are not always playing at your local multiplex for weeks at a time. The movies they appreciate tend to be harder to catch, playing in theaters only briefly before popping up (hopefully) eventually on some streaming service or DVD. Quite simply, the IRAs force them to stay committed to seeing new movies with the same fervor they felt in their college days when going to see a film was the only purpose in life, before jobs and family made frivolous claims on their time. So if you want to stay on top of great cinema every year or explore its history, there's no better place to start than the award winners of the IRAs.
True, the IRAs have no more claim to pronounce the best films of the year than anyone else. But they've been doing it for decades so hey, it's tradition!
PAST IRA WINNERS
THE COMPLETE IRA MOVIE AWARD WINNERS
1975 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for La Rupture and Just Before Nightfall
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Best Supporting Actor: François Perrier in Just Before Nightfall
Best Supporting Actress: Blythe Danner in Hearts Of The West
Best Screenplay: Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman for The Romantic Englishwoman
Best Cinematography: John Alcott for Barry Lyndon
1976 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Lipstick and The Marquise Of O
Best Director: Eric Rohmer for The Marquise Of O
Best Actor: Sean Connery in Robin And Marian
Best Actress: Sissy Spacek in Carrie
Best Supporting Actor: Jason Robards in All The President’s Men
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Bancroft in Lipstick
Best Screenplay: Alain Tanner and John Berger for Jonah Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000
Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros for The Marquise Of O
1977 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Annie Hall
Best Director: Wim Wenders for The American Friend
Best Actor: John Gielgud in Providence
Best Actress: Diane Keaton in Annie Hall and Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Best Supporting Actor: G. D. Spradlin in One On One
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave in Julia
Best Screenplay: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman for Annie Hall
Best Cinematography: Robby Müller for The American Friend
1978 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Days Of Heaven
Best Director: Terence Malick for Days Of Heaven
Best Actor: Jon Voight in Coming Home
Best Actress: Jane Fonda in Coming Home
Best Supporting Actor: Dom DeLuise in The End
Best Supporting Actress: Stephane Audran in Violette
Best Screenplay: Eric Rohmer for Perceval
Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros for Days Of Heaven
1979 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Fedora
Best Director: Blake Edwards for 10
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood in Escape From Alcatraz
Best Actress: Hanna Schygulla in The Marriage Of Maria Braun
Best Supporting Actor: Denholm Elliott in Cuba and Saint Jack
Best Supporting Actress: Frances Sternhagen in Fedora and Starting Over
Best Screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond for Fedora
Best Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto for Last Embrace and Remember My Name
Best Music: Miklos Rozsa for Fedora and Last Embrace
Best Production Design: Dean Edward Mitzner for 1941
1980 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Big Red One
Best Director: Sam Fuller for The Big Red One
Best Actor: Lee Marvin for The Big Red One
Best Actress: Jodie Foster for Carny and Foxes
Best Supporting Actor: (tie) Joe Pesci in Raging Bull and Harry Dean Stanton in The Black Marble, The Long Riders, Private Benjamin and Wise Blood
Best Supporting Actress: Pamela Reed in The Long Riders and Melvin And Howard
Best Screenplay: Sam Fuller for The Big Red One
Best Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth for Altered States
Best Music: Dana Kaproff for The Big Red One
Best Production Design: Tambi Larsen for Heaven’s Gate
1981 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Cutter’s Way
Best Director: Ivan Passer for Cutter’s Way
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in Cutter’s Way
Best Actress: Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson in Reds
Best Supporting Actress: Mona Washbouurne in Stevie
Best Screenplay: John Guare for Atlantic City
Best Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth for Cutter’s Way
Best Music: Georges DeLerue for The Last Metro, Rich and Famous, True Confessions and The Woman Next Door
Best Production Design: Ken Adam for Pennies From Heaven
Best Costume Design: Shirley Russell for Reds
1982 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Victor/Victoria
Best Director: Blake Edwards for Victor/Victoria
Best Actor: Jack Lemmon in Missing
Best Actress: (tie) Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria and Jessica Lange in Frances
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Preston in Victor/Victoria
Best Supporting Actress: Lesley Ann Warren in Victor/Victoria
Best Screenplay: Blake Edwards for Victor/Victoria
Best Cinematography: Xaver Schwartzenberger for Lola and Veronika Voss
Best Music: Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse for Victor/Victoria
Best Production Design: Rodger Maus for Victor/Victoria
Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris for Victor/Victoria
1983 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Berlin Alexanderplatz
Best Director: Andrzej Wajda for Danton
Best Actor: Eric Roberts for Star ’80
Best Actress: Shirley MacLaine for Terms Of Endearment
Best Supporting Actor: Jerry Lewis for The King Of Comedy
Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis for Trading Places
Best Screenplay: Bill Forsyth for Local Hero
Best Cinematography: Sven Nykvist for Star ’80
Best Music: Peer Raben for Berlin Alexanderplatz
Best Production Design: Fernando Scarfiotti for Scarface
Best Costume Design: Yvonne Sassinot DeNestle for Danton
Sominex Award: The Dresser
Dramamine Award: The Big Chill
Mechanical Actor: Matt Dillon for The Outsiders and Rumble Fish
Mechanical Actress: Nastassja Kinski for The Moon In The Gutter and Exposed
1984 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) L’Argent and Once Upon A Time In America
Best Director: Sergio Leone for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood in Tightrope
Best Actress: Helen Mirren in Cal
Best Supporting Actor: Jean-Luc Godard in First Name: Carmen
Best Supporting Actress: Christine Lahti in Swing Shift
Best Screenplay: Franco Arcalli, Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Franco Ferrini, Sergio Leone, Enrico Medioli for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Cinematography: Robby Müller for Paris Texas and Repo Man
Best Music: Ennio Morricone for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Production Design: James Singelis for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Costume Design: Mic Cheminal for Entre Nous
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1985 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Prizzi’s Honor
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for After Hours
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Actress: Mia Farrow in The Purple Rose Of Cairo
Best Supporting Actor: William Hickey in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Screenplay: Joseph Minion for After Hours
Best Cinematography: Andrzej Bartkowiak for Prizzi’s Honor
Best Music: Brian Gascoigne and Junior Hamrich for The Emerald Forest
Best Production Design: Jeffrey Townsend for After Hours
Best Costume Design: Ann Roth for The Jagged Edge and Sweet Dreams
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1986 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Eyes On The Prize
Best Director: David Lynch for Blue Velvet
Best Actor: (tie) Daniel Day-Lewis in My Beautiful Laundrette and Jeff Goldblum in The Fly
Best Actress: Laura Dern in Smooth Talk
Best Supporting Actor: Steve Buscemi in Parting Glances
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Stuart Masterson in At Close Range
Best Screenplay: Hanif Kureishi for My Beautiful Laundrette
Best Cinematography: Frederick Elmes for Blue Velvet
Best Music: (tie) George Delerue for Platoon and Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight
Best Production Design: Patricia Norris for Blue Velvet
Best Costume Design: Jenny Beaven and John Bright for A Room With A View
Sominex Award: Brighton Beach Memoirs
Dramamine Award: Crocodile Dundee
Mechanical Actor: Jon Cryer for Pretty In Pink
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep for Heartburn
1987 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Housekeeping
Best Director: Bill Forsyth for Housekeeping
Best Actor: Gary Oldman in Prick Up Your Ears
Best Actress: Christine Lahti in Housekeeping
Best Supporting Actor: John Mahoney in Moonstruck and Tin Men
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave in Prick Up Your Ears
Best Screenplay: Bill Forsyth for Housekeeping
Best Cinematography: Phillippe Rousselot for Hope And Glory
Best Music: David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su for The Last Emperor
Best Production Design: Santo Loquasto for Radio Days
Best Costume Design: Mary-Jane Reyner for Housekeeping
Sominex Award: Dark Eyes
Dramamine Award: Fatal Attraction
Mechanical Actor: Eddie Murphy for Beverly Hills Cop II
Mechanical Actress: Sean Young for No Way Out and Wall Street
1988 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Dead Ringers
Best Director: David Cronenberg for Dead Ringers
Best Actor: Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers
Best Actress: Jodie Foster in The Accused
Best Supporting Actor: Divine in Hairspray
Best Supporting Actress: Claudia Karvan in High Tide
Best Screenplay: Christopher Hampton for Dangerous Liaisons
Best Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro for Tucker: The Man And His Dream
Best Music: George Fenton for Dangerous Liaisons
Best Production Design: Dean Tavoularis for Tucker: The Man And His Dream
Best Costume Design: Van Smith for Hairspray
Sominex Award: Wings Of Desire
Dramamine Award: Mississippi Burning (by acclamation!)
Mechanical Actor: William Hurt for Broadcast News
Mechanical Actress: Maria Conchita Alonso for Extreme Prejudice and The Running Man
1989 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Story Of Women
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for Story
Of Women
Best Actor: John Hurt in Scandal
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert in Story Of Women
Best Supporting Actor: Ethan Hawke in Dad and Dead Poets Society
Best Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston in Enemies: A Love Story
Best Screenplay: Blake Edwards for Skin Deep
Best Cinematography: Jeff Preiss for Let’s Get Lost
Best Music: Michael Kamen for The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Best Costume Design: Jane Robinson for Scandal
Sominex Award: Batman
Dramamine Award: Steel Magnolias
Mechanical Actor: Spike Lee for Do The Right Thing
Mechanical Actress: Roseanne Barr for She-Devil
1990 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: GoodFellas
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for GoodFellas
Best Actor: Michel Blanc in Monsieur Hire
Best Actress: Anjelica Huston in The Grifters
Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci in GoodFellas
Best Supporting Actress: Lorraine Bracco in GoodFellas
Best Screenplay: Craig Lucas for Longtime Companion
Best Cinematography: Oliver Stapleton for The Grifters
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for The Grifters
Best Production Design: Dennis Gassner for The Grifters
Best Costume Design: Richard Bruno for The Grifters
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1991 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Man In The Moon
Best Director: Robert Mulligan for The Man In The Moon
Best Actor: River Phoenix in Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho
Best Actress: Judy Davis in Barton Fink, Impromptu, and Naked Lunch
Best Supporting Actor: Harvey Keitel in Bugsy, Mortal Thoughts, and Thelma & Louise
Best Supporting Actress: Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear
Best Screenplay: Michael Tolkin for The Rapture
Best Cinematography: Freddie Francis for Cape Fear and The Man In The Moon
Best Music: Ennio Morricone for Bugsy
Best Production Design: Dennis Gassner for Barton Fink and Bugsy
Best Costume Design: Albert Wolsky for Bugsy
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
1992 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Raise The Red Lantern
Best Director: Robert Altman for The Player
Best Actor: Tim Robbins in Bob Roberts and The Player
Best Actress: Emma Thompson in Howards End
Best Supporting Actor: Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game
Best Supporting Actress: Judy Davis in Husbands And Wives
Best Screenplay: Michael Tolkin for The Player
Best Cinematography: Zhao Fei and Lun Yang for Raise The Red Lantern
Best Music: Lenny Niehaus for Unforgiven
Best Production Design: Marc Caro for Delicatessen
Best Costume Design: Alexander Julien for The Player
Sominex Award: A Few Good Men
Dramamine Award: Basic Instinct
Mechanical Actor: Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct
Mechanical Actress: ****
1993 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Six Degrees Of Separation
Best Director: Nancy Savoca for Household Saints
Best Actor: Dennis Quaid in Flesh And Bone
Best Actress: Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation
Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio in A Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Best Supporting Actress: Regina Tourney in Like Water For Chocolate
Best Screenplay: Mike Leigh for Naked
Best Cinematography: Michael Balhaus for The Age Of Innocence
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for The Age Of Innocence and The Cemetery Club
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Age Of Innocence
Best Costume Design: Gabriella Pescucci for The Age Of Innocence
Sominex Award: Heaven And Earth
Dramamine Award: Falling Down
Mechanical Actor: Richard Gere in Sommersby
Mechanical Actress: Madonna in Body Of Evidence
1994 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Red
Best Director: Krzyzstof Kieslowski for Red and White
Best Actor: Terence Stamp in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Best Actress: Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale in Little Women
Best Supporting Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas in Four Weddings and a Funeral
Best Screenplay: Steve Baranczek for The Last Seduction
Best Cinematography: Stephen Czapsky for Ed Wood
Best Music: Zbigniew Preissner for Red and White
Best Production Design: Dennis Gastner for The Hudsucker Proxy
Best Costume Design: Lizzie Gardiner and Tim Chappel for Priscilla, Queen of The Desert
Sominex Award: Wyatt Earp
1995 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Exotica
Best Director: Terry Zwigoff for Crumb
Best Actor: John Travolta in Get Shorty
Best Actress: (A three-way tie) Mia Kershner in Exotica; Alicia Silverstone in Clueless; Nicole Kidman in To Die For
Best Supporting Actor: Tim Roth in Rob Roy
Best Supporting Actress: Mare Winningham in Georgia
Best Screenplay: (tie) Atom Egoyan for Exotica and Buck Henry for To Die For
Best Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel for The Usual Suspects
Best Music: John Ottman for The Usual Suspects
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for Casino
Best Costumes: Mona May for Clueless
Sominex Award: The Brothers McMullen
Dramamine Award: Braveheart
Mechanical Actor: Dennis Miller in The Net and the cast of The Brothers McMullen
Mechanical Actress: Annette Bening in The American President
1996 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: La Ceremonie
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for La Ceremonie
Best Actor: Ewen McGregor in Trainspotting
Best Actress: (tie) Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient and Emily Watson in Breaking The Waves
Best Supporting Actor: Ian Holm in Big Night
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Kay Place in Citizen Ruth and Manny and Lo
Best Screenplay: John Sayles for Lone Star
Best Cinematography: (tie) Darius Khondji for Stealing Beauty and Oliver Stapleton for Kansas City
Best Music: Tiffany Anders, Burt Bacharach, David Baerwald, Carole Bayer Sager, Ed Berghoff, Elvis Costello, Gerry Goffin, Louise Goffin, Tonio K, Larry Klein, J. Mascis, Joni Mitchell, Boyd Rice, David A. Stewart, and J. Mayo Williams for Grace Of My Heart
Best Production Design: Harley Jessup for James And The Giant Peach
Best Costume Design: Dona Granata for Kansas City
Sominex Award: The English Patient
Dramamine Award: A Time To Kill
Mechanical Actor: All the men in She’s The One
Mechanical Actress: Maxine Bahns in She’s The One
1997 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Crash and Grosse Pointe Blank
Best Director: David Cronenberg for Crash
Best Actor: John Cusack for Grosse Pointe Blank
Best Actress: Julie Christie in Afterglow
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey in L. A. Confidential
Best Supporting Actress: Christina Ricci in The Ice Storm
Best Screenplay: Neil LaBute for In The Company Of Men
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for Kundun
Best Music: (tie) Eleni Karaindrou for Ulysses’ Gaze and Michael Nyman for Gattaca
Best Production Design: (tie) Dan Weil for The Fifth Element and Jan Roelfs for Gattaca
Best Costume Design: Denise Cronenberg for Crash
Sominex Award: The Pillow Book
Dramamine Award: Con Air
Mechanical Actor: Billy Zane in Titanic
Mechanical Actress: Elisabeth Shue in Deconstructing Harry and The Saint
1998 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Gods And Monsters
Best Director: (tie) Bill Condon for Gods And Monsters and Todd Solondz for Happiness
Best Actor: Ian McKellen in Gods And Monsters
Best Actress: Christina Ricci in The Opposite Of Sex
Best Supporting Actor: Dylan Baker in Happiness
Best Supporting Actress: Lisa Kudrow in The Opposite Of Sex
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Gods And Monsters
Best Cinematography: Maryse Alberti for Happiness and Velvet Goldmine
Best Music: Carter Burwell for Gods And Monsters
Best Production Design: Thérèse DePrez for Happiness
Best Costume Design: Bruce Finlayson for Gods And Monsters
Sominex Award: Dangerous Beauty
Dramamine Award: Stepmom
Mechanical Actor: Bruce Willis in Armageddon, The Siege and Mercury Rising
Mechanical Actress: Jena Malone in Stepmom
1999 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Fight Club
Best Director: (tie) David Fincher for Fight Club and Spike Jonze for Being John Malkovich
Best Actor: Terence Stamp in The Limey
Best Actress: (tie) Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut and Hillary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry
Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia and The Talented Mr. Ripley
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich
Best Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for Election
Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson for Bringing Out The Dead and Snow Falling On Cedars
Best Music: Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman for South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Best Production Design: Owen Paterson for The Matrix
Best Costume Design: Michael Kaplan for Fight Club
Sominex Award: The World Is Not Enough
Dramamine Award: The Green Mile
Mechanical Actor: Kevin Spacey in American Beauty
Mechanical Actress: Annette Bening in American Beauty
2000 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: L’ Humanite
Best Director: (tie) Terence Davies for The House Of Mirth and Jim Jarmusch for Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Actor: Forrest Whitaker in Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Actress: (tie) Severine Caneele in L’ Humanite and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Black in High Fidelity and Jesus’s Son
Best Supporting Actress: Lupe Ontiveros in Chuck And Buck
Best Screenplay: Kenneth Lonnergan for You Can Count On Me
Best Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin for The House Of Mirth
Best Music: RZA for Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Production Design: Gideon Ponte for American Psycho and Hamlet
Best Costume Design: Monica Howe for The House Of Mirth
Sominex Award: Mission Impossible 2
Dramamine Award: The Replacements (aka The Scabs)
Mechanical Actor: Ian Holm in Joe Gould’s Secret
Mechanical Actress: Charlize Theron in Reindeer Games
2001 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Director: Bela Tarr for The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Actor: John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig And The Angry Inch
Best Actress: Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive
Best Supporting Actor: Steve Buscemi in Ghost World
Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson in Ghost World and The Man Who Wasn’t There
Best Screenplay: Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff for Ghost World
Best Cinematography: (tie) Peter Deming for From Hell and Mulholland Drive and Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin for In The Mood For Love
Best Music: Mihály Vig for The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Production Design: Edward T. McAvoy for Ghost World
Best Costume Design: Mary Zophres for Ghost World
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:
2002 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Far From Heaven and The Son’s Room
Best Director: (tie) Todd Haynes for Far From Heaven and Aleksandr Sokurov for Russian Ark
Best Actor: Greg Kinnear in Auto Focus
Best Actress: (tie) Emmanuelle Devos in Read My Lips and Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven and Samantha Morton in Minority Report and Morvern Callar
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Izzard in The Cat’s Meow
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Clarkson in Far From Heaven
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Chicago
Best Cinematography: Tilman Büttner for Russian Ark
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for Far From Heaven
Best Production Design: Mark Friedberg for Far From Heaven
Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell for Far From Heaven and Gangs Of New York
Sominex Award: Naqoyqatsi
Dramamine Award: Bowling For Dollars
Mechanical Actor: Anthony Hopkins in Red Dragon
Mechanical Actress: Catherine Keener in Lovely And Amazing
2003 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Decasia
Best Director: Bill Morrison for Decasia
Best Actor: Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The Caribbean
Best Actress: Hope Davis in American Splendor and The Secret Lives Of Dentists
Best Supporting Actor: Max Pirkis in Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Best Supporting Actress: Ludivine Sagnier in Swimming Pool
Best Screenplay: Shari Springer Bergman and Robert Pulcini for American Splendor
Best Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky for Spider
Best Music: Michael Gordon for Decasia
Best Production Design: Andrew Laws for Down With Love
Best Costume Design: Daniel Orlandi for Down With Love
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award: In My Skin
Mechanical Actor: Anthony Hopkins in The Human Stain
Mechanical Actress: Nicole Kidman in The Human Stain
2004 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Kinsey
Best Director: Bill Condon for Kinsey
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke in Before Sunset
Best Actress: Laura Linney in Kinsey and P.S.
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Sarsgaard in Kinsey
Best Supporting Actress: Kirsten Dunst in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Kinsey
Best Cinematography: Christopher Doyle for Hero, Last Life In The Universe and Days Of Being Wild
Best Music: Alberto Iglesias for Bad Education
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Aviator
Best Costume Design: Emi Wada for Hero and House Of The Flying Daggers
Sominex Award: The Village
Dramamine Award: The Passion Of The Christ
Mechanical Actor: Cate Blanchett in The Aviator
Mechanical Actress: Anthony Hopkins in Alexander
2005 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Mysterious Skin
Best Director: Gregg Araki for Mysterious Skin
Best Actor: Joseph Gordon-Leavitt in Mysterious Skin
Best Actress: Maria Bello in A History Of Violence
Best Supporting Actor: Paddy Constantine in My Summer Of Love
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in Capote
Best Screenplay: Gregg Araki for Mysterious Skin
Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit for Good Night And Good Luck and Syriana
Best Music: Howard Shore for A History Of Violence
Best Production Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046
Best Costume Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046
Sominex Award: Saraband
Dramamine Award: Crash
Mechanical Actor: Tom Cruise for War Of The Worlds
Mechanical Actress: Dakota Fanning for War Of The Worlds
Complete coverage of the 2005 IRAs here.
2006 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: L’Enfant
Best Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for L’Enfant
Best Actor: Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
Best Actress: Maggie Cheung in Clean
Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Mackie in Half Nelson
Best Supporting Actress: Carmen Maura in Volver
Best Screenplay: (tie) Guillermo Del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth and Jean- Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for L’Enfant
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Children Of Men
Best Production Design: Eugenio Caballero for Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Music: Philip Glass for Notes On A Scandal and The Illusionist
Best Costume Design: Sharon Davis for Dreamgirls
Sominex Award: The Da Vinci Code
Dramamine Award: Babel
Mechanical Actor: Robert Downey, Jr. in Fur and A Scanner Darkly
Mechanical Actress: Julianne Moore in Children Of Men
Complete coverage of the 2006 IRAs here.
2007 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Director: Andrew Dominik for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Actor: Casey Affleck in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone
Best Actress: Marina Hands in Lady Chatterley
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Schneider in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Lars And The Real Girl
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Best Screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu for 12:08 East Of Bucharest
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, In The Valley Of Elah and No Country For Old Men
Best Production Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Music: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Sominex Award: Youth Without Youth
Dramamine Award: Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Mechanical Actor: John Travolta in Hairspray
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep in Lions For Lambs and Rendition
Complete coverage of the 2007 IRAs here.
2008 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Edge Of Heaven
Best Director: Fatih Akin - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Actor: Michael Shannon - Shotgun Stories
Best Actress: Anamaria Marinca - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Best Supporting Actor: Emile Hirsch - Milk
Best Supporting Actress: Hanna Schygulla - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Screenplay: Fatih Akin - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Cinematography: Jody Shapiro - My Winnipeg
Best Production Design: Rejean Labrie - My Winnipeg
Best Music: Carter Burwell for In Bruges and Burn After Reading
Best Costumes: Danny Glicker - Milk
Sominex: The Happening
Dramamine: The Reader
Mechanical Actor: Mark Wahlberg for The Happening
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep for Doubt
Complete coverage of the 2008 IRAs here.
2009 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Hunger
Best Director: Olivier Assayas - Summer Hours
Best Actor: Sharlto Copley - District 9
Best Actress: Catalina Saavedra - The Maid
Best Supporting Actor: Liam Cunningham - Hunger
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Faris - Observe And Report
Best Screenplay: Olivier Assayas - Summer Hours
Best Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt - Hunger
Best Production Design: Philip Ivey - District 9
Best Music: Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
Best Costumes: Janet Patterson - Bright Star
Sominex: Public Enemies
Dramamine: Anti-Christ
Mechanical Actor: Peter Sarsgaard for An Education
Mechanical Actress: Hilary Swank for Amelia
2010 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Director: Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Actor: Edgar Ramirez - Carlos
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton - I Am Love
Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Supporting Actress: Dale Dickey - Winter's Bone
Best Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Cinematography: Yorick Le Saux - I Am Love
Best Production Design: Francesca Balestra Di Mottola - I Am Love
Best Music: John Adams - I Am Love
Best Costumes: Antonella Cannarozzi - I Am Love
Sominex: Cairo Time
Dramamine: Black Swan
Mechanical Actor: Vincent Cassel for Black Swan
Mechanical Actress: Natalie Portman for Black Swan
The Governor Scott Walker Award For Achievement In Political Thuggery: Waiting For "Superman"
Complete coverage of the 2010 IRAs here.
2011 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: The Tree Of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick - The Tree Of Life
Best Actor: Peyman Moadi - A Separation
Best Actress: Leila Hatami - A Separation
Best Supporting Actor: Hunter McCracken - The Tree Of Life
Best Supporting Actress: Sareh Bayet - A Separation
Best Screenplay: Ashgar Farhadi - A Separation
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki - The Tree Of Life
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti - Hugo
Best Score: Alberto Iglesias - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Skin I Live In
Best Editing: Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa - The Tree Of Life
Best Costumes: Jacqueline Durran - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Midnight In Paris
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Help
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Mechanical Actor: Owen Wilson - Midnight In Paris
Complete coverage of the 2011 IRAs here.
2012 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Best Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan - Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Best Actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour
Best Actress: Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue SeaBest Supporting Actor: Taner Birsel - Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Best Supporting Actress: Cecile De France - The Kid With A BikeBest Screenplay: Ebru Ceylan and Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ercan Kesal - Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Best Cinematography: Gokhan Tiryaki - Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Best Production Design: Arvinder Grewal - CosmopolisBest Score: Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin - Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Best Editing: Todd Woody Richman and Tyler H. Walk - How To Survive A Plague
Best Costumes: Kari Perkins - BernieSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): (tie) Les Miserables and Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Intouchables
Mechanical Actress: Anne Hathaway - Les MiserablesMechanical Actor: Russell Crowe - Les Miserables
Complete coverage of the 2012 IRAs here.
2013 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Laurence Anyways
Best Director: Xavier Dolan for Laurence Anyways and I Killed My Mother
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix for Her
Best Actress: Hadas Yaron for Fill The VoidBest Supporting Actor: Daniel Bruhl for The Fifth Estate and Rush
Best Supporting Actress: Nathalie Baye for Laurence AnywaysBest Screenplay: Sarah Polley for Stories We Tell
Best Cinematography: Asaf Sudri for Fill The Void
Best Production Design: K.K. Barrett for HerBest Score: (tie) Alex Ebert for All Is Lost and Arcade Fire for Her
Best Editing: Mike Munn for Stories We Tell
Best Costumes: Francois Barbeau, Xavier Dolan for Laurence AnywaysSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Faust
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Great Gatsby
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep for August: Osage CountyMechanical Actor: Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club
Complete coverage of the 2013 IRAs here.
2014 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Nightcrawler
Best Director: Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
Best Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler
Best Actress: Essie Davis for The BabadookBest Supporting Actor: Ethan Hawke for Boyhood
Best Supporting Actress: Agata Kulesza for IdaBest Screenplay: Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit for Nightcrawler and Inherent Vice
Best Production Design: Suzie Davies for Mr. TurnerBest Score: Mica Levi for Under The Skin
Best Editing: (tie) Simon Njoo for The Babadook; Jay Cassidy, Stuart Levy and Conor O'Neill for Foxcatcher
Best Costumes: (tie) Kasia Walicka-Maimone for Foxcatcher and A Most Violent Year (but not St. Vincent); Jacqueline Durran for Mr. TurnerSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Monuments Men
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Imitation Game
Mechanical Actress: Lilla Crawford for Into The WoodsMechanical Actor: The Entire Cast of The Monuments Men
Complete coverage of the 2014 IRAs here.
2015 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Tangerine
Best Director: Miroslav Slaboshpytski for The Tribe
Best Actor: Jason Segel for The End Of The Tour
Best Actress: (tie) Anne Dorval for Mommy(tie) Kitana Kiki Rodriguez for Tangerine
Best Supporting Actor: Alexander Skarsgård for The Diary Of A Teenage Girl
Best Supporting Actress: Mya Taylor for Tangerine by acclamationBest Nonfiction Film: In Jackson Heights
Best Screenplay: Donald Margulies for The End Of The Tour
Best Cinematography: Sean Baker and Radium Cheung for Tangerine
Best Production Design: (tie) Judy Becker for Carol(tie) Colin Gibson for Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Score: (tie) Junkie XL for Mad Max: Fury Road
(tie) Atticus Ross and Brian Wilson for Love And Mercy
Best Editing: Sean Baker for Tangerine
Best Costumes: Shih-Ching Tsou for TangerineSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Assassin
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Chi-Raq
Mechanical Actor: John Cusack for Chi-Raq and Love And Mercy
Complete coverage of the 2015 IRAs here.
2016 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Moonlight
Best Director: Barry Jenkins for Moonlight
Best Actor: Antonythasan Jesuthasan for Dheepan
Best Actress: Annette Bening for 20th Century WomenBest Supporting Actor: Ralph Fiennes for A Bigger Splash and Hail, Caesar!
Best Supporting Actress: Linda Emond for IndignationBest Nonfiction Film: O.J.: Made In America
Best Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan for Hell Or High Water
Best Cinematography: James Laxton for Moonlight
Best Production Design: (tie) Craig Lathrop for The Witch(tie) Ryan Warren Smith for Green Room
Best Score: Nicholas Britell for Moonlight
Best Editing: Andrey Paperniy for Under The Sun
Best Costumes: Madeline Fontaine for JackieSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Girl On A Train
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Nocturnal Animals
Mechanical Actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals
Complete coverage of the 2016 IRAs here.
2017 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: BPM
Best Director: Robin Campillo for BPM
Best Actor: Michael Keaton for The Founder
Best Actress: Daniela Vega for A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantástica)Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project
Best Supporting Actress: Lesley Manville for Phantom ThreadBest Nonfiction Film: Dawson City: Frozen Time
Best Screenplay: Robert Siegel for The Founder
Best Cinematography: Alexis Zabe for The Florida Project
Best Production Design: Stephonik Youth for The Florida ProjectBest Score: Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never for Good Time
Best Editing: Robin Campillo, Stéphanie Léger and Anita Roth for BPM
Best Costumes: Pascaline Chavanne for FrantzSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Post
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): mother!
Mechanical Actress: Emma Watson for Beauty and the Beast and The Circle
Mechanical Actor: James Franco for The Disaster Artist, et. al
Complete coverage of the 2017 IRAs here.
2018 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Capernaum
Best Director: Nadine Labaki for Capernaum
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix for Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot; Mary Magdalene; The Sisters Brothers; You Were Never Really Here
Best Actress: Sakura Andô for ShopliftersBest Supporting Actor: Brian Tyree Henry for Hotel Artemis, If Beale Street Could Talk, Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse, White Boy Rick, Widows
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King for If Beale Street Could TalkBest Nonfiction Film: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Best Screenplay: Barry Jenkins for If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Cinematography: Alfonso Cuaron for Roma
Best Production Design: Eugenio Caballero for RomaBest Score/Use Of Music: Nicholas Britell for If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Editing: Nick Fenton, Chris Gill and Julian Hart for American Animals
Best Costumes: Caroline Eselin for If Beale Street Could TalkSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): On The Basis Of Sex
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Favourite
Mechanical Actress: Tilda Swinton for Suspiria
Mechanical Actor: Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody
2019 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Director: Lucio Castro for End Of The Century
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas for Pain And Glory
Best Actress: Lupita Nyong'o for UsBest Supporting Actor: Asier Etxeandia for Pain And Glory
Best Supporting Actress: Shuzhen Zhao for The Farewell Best Nonfiction Film: American Factory
Best Screenplay: Pedro Almodóvar for Pain And Glory
Best Cinematography: David Gallego for Birds Of Passage
Best Production Design: Barbara Ling for Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood Best Score/Use Of Music: Mary Ramos for Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood
Best Editing: Kim Horton for 63 Up
Best Costumes: Arianne Phillips for Once Upon A Time...In HollywoodSominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): The Lighthouse
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Joker
Mechanical Actress: Renee Zellwegger for Judy
Mechanical Actor: Joaquin Phoenix for Joker
2020 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Kajillionaire
Best Nonfiction Film: Dick Johnson Is Dead and My Octopus Teacher (tie)
Best Screenplay: Miranda July for Kajillionaire
Best Score/Use Of Music: Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O'Halloran for Ammonite
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Tenet
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Mank
Mechanical Actress: Elizabeth Moss for The Invisible Man and Shirley
Mechanical Actor: James Corden for The Prom
Best Director: Miranda July for Kajillionaire
Best Actor: Bartosz Bielenia for Corpus Christi
Best Actress: Kate Winslet for AmmoniteBest Supporting Actor: Glynn Turman for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Supporting Actress: Robyn Nevin for Relic Best Nonfiction Film: Dick Johnson Is Dead and My Octopus Teacher (tie)
Best Screenplay: Miranda July for Kajillionaire
Best Cinematography: Benjamin Kracun for Beats and Monsoon and Promising Young Woman
Best Production Design: Mayne Berke for Sylvie's Love and Sergey Ovanov for Beanpole (tie) Best Score/Use Of Music: Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O'Halloran for Ammonite
Best Editing: Andrew Patterson for The Vast Of Night
Best Costumes: Michael O'Connor for Ammonite Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Tenet
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Mank
Mechanical Actress: Elizabeth Moss for The Invisible Man and Shirley
Mechanical Actor: James Corden for The Prom
2021 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: A Hero
Best Nonfiction Film: Flee
Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi for A Hero
Best Score/Use Of Music: Naren Chandavarkar (music producer and pre-mix) and Aneesh Pradhan (music an research consultant/muisc design) for The Disciple
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Passing
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Lost Daughter
Mechanical Actress: Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence & Meryl Streep for Don't Look Up
Mechanical Actor: Ansel Elgort for West Side Story
Best Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi for Drive My Car
Best Actor: Hidetoshi Nishijima for Drive My Car
Best Actress: Jasna Djuricic for Quo Vadis, Aida? and Kristen Stewart for Spencer (tie)Best Supporting Actor: Ethan Darbone for Red Rocket
Best Supporting Actress: Suzanna Son for Red Rocket Best Nonfiction Film: Flee
Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi for A Hero
Best Cinematography: Jessica Beshir for Faya Dayi
Best Production Design: Adam Stockhausen for The French Dispatch and West Side Story Best Score/Use Of Music: Naren Chandavarkar (music producer and pre-mix) and Aneesh Pradhan (music an research consultant/muisc design) for The Disciple
Best Editing: Jennifer Vecchiarello for C'mon C'mon
Best Costumes: Mark Bridges for Licorice Pizza Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Passing
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): The Lost Daughter
Mechanical Actress: Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence & Meryl Streep for Don't Look Up
Mechanical Actor: Ansel Elgort for West Side Story
2022 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Great Freedom
Best Screenplay: Thomas Reider & Sebastian Miese for Great Freedom
Best Score/Use Of Music: ASKA aka Aska Matsumiya for After Yang
Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): All Quiet On The Western Front
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Tár
Mechanical Actor: Tom Hanks for Elvis, A Man Called Otto and Pinocchio
Sadie Sink for The Whale
Best Director: Sebastian Miese for Great Freedom
Best Actors: Franz Rogowski for Great Freedom
Aubrey Plaza for Emily The Criminal
Best Supporting Actor: Hong Chau for The Menu and The Whale
Barry Keoghan for The Banshees Of Inisherin
Best Nonfiction Film: The Fire Within: A Requiem For Katia and Maurice Krafft Best Screenplay: Thomas Reider & Sebastian Miese for Great Freedom
Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hotema for Nope
Best Production Design: Michael Randel for Great Freedom Best Score/Use Of Music: ASKA aka Aska Matsumiya for After Yang
Best Editing: Blair McClendon for Aftersun
Best Costumes: Shirley Kurata for Everything Everywhere All At Once Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): All Quiet On The Western Front
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Tár
Mechanical Actor: Tom Hanks for Elvis, A Man Called Otto and Pinocchio
Sadie Sink for The Whale
2023 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Monster
Best Director: Celine Song for Past Lives
Best Actors: Eden Dambrine for Close and
Greta Lee for Past Lives
Best Supporting Actors: Mehdi Bajestani for Holy Spider (four way tie)
Ayo Edebiri for Bottoms, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and The Sweet East (four way tie)
Catalina Saavedra for Rotting In The Sun (four way tie)
Gustav De Waele for Close (four way tie)
Best Nonfiction Film: The Pigeon Tunnel (tie) Twenty Days In Mariupol (tie)
Best Screenplay: Celine Song for Past Lives
Best Screenplay: Celine Song for Past Lives
Best Cinematography: Frank van den Eeden for Close
Best Production Design: Jack Fisk for Killers Of The Flower Moon Best Score/Use Of Music: Robbie Robertson for Killers Of The Flower Moon
Best Editing: Kore-eda Hirokazu for Monster
Best Costumes: Jacqueline West for Killers Of The Flower Moon Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Priscilla (tie)
The Zone Of Interest (tie)
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Saltburn
Mechanical Actor: Bradley Cooper for Maestro
Mechanical Actor: Bradley Cooper for Maestro
2024 IRA FILM AWARD WINNERS
Best Picture: Close Your Eyes
Best Director: Victor Erice for Close Your Eyes
Best Actors: Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths (co-winner)
Léa Drucker for Last Summer and Mars Express (co-winner)
Best Supporting Actors: Aubrey Plaza for My Old Ass (co-winner)
Mark Eydelshteyn for Anora (co-winner)
Best Nonfiction Film: Soundtrack To A Coup d'Etat Best Damien Bona Memorial G-ddamned Cartoon Award: Flow
Best Screenplay: Victor Erice and Michel Gaztambide for Close Your Eyes
Best Cinematography: Valentín Álvarez for Close Your Eyes
Best Production Design: Suzie Davies for Conclave and Hard Truths Best Score/Use Of Music: Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist
Best Editing: Chris Gill and Julian Ulrichs for Kneecap
Best Costumes: J.W. Anderson for Challengers and Queer Sominex Award (The Movie That Put Us To Sleep): Priscilla (tie)
The Zone Of Interest (tie)
Dramamine Award (The Movie That Made Us Sick): Saltburn
Mechanical Actors: Dennis Quaid for Reagan and The Substance (co-winner)
Mechanical Actors: Dennis Quaid for Reagan and The Substance (co-winner)
Guy Pearce for The Brutalist (co-winner)
IRA BEST PICTURE WINNERS
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Lipstick and The Marquise Of O (tie) (1976)
Annie Hall (1977)
Days Of Heaven (1978)
Fedora (1979)
The Big Red One (1980)
Cutter’s Way (1981)
Victor/Victoria (1982)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1983)
L’Argent and Once Upon A Time In America (tie) (1984)
Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
Eyes On The Prize (1986)
Housekeeping (1987)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Story Of Women (1989)
GoodFellas (1990)
The Man In The Moon (1991)
Raise The Red Lantern (1992)
Six Degrees Of Separation (1993)
Red (1994)
Exotica (1995)
La Ceremonie (1996)
Crash (the David Cronenberg film) and Grosse Pointe Blank (tie) (1997)
Gods And Monsters (1998)
Fight Club (1999)
L’ Humanite (2000)
The Werckmeister Harmonies (2001)
Far From Heaven and The Son’s Room (tie) (2002)
Decasia (2003)
Kinsey (2004)
Mysterious Skin (2005)
L’Enfant (2006)
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)
The Edge Of Heaven (2008)
Hunger (2009)
A Prophet/Un Prophete (2010)
The Tree Of Life (2011)
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (2012)
Laurence Anyways (2013)
Nightcrawler (2014)
Tangerine (2015)
Moonlight (2016)
BPM (2017)
Capernaum (2018)
End Of The Century (2019)
Kajillionaire (2020)
A Hero (2021)
Great Freedom (2022)
Monster (2023)
Close Your Eyes (2024)
THE IRA OF IRAS: THE BEST PICTURE WINNER FROM THE PAST 50 YEARS
And the IRA of IRAs goes to...
Three Colours: Red (1994; dir. Krzysztof Kieşlowski)
The Top 10
1. Three Colours: Red (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1994)
2. Berlin Alexanderplatz (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1983)
3. Housekeeping (Bill Forsyth, 1987)
4. Once Upon A Time In America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
5. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016)
6. Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015)
7. L’Enfant (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, 2006)
8. Cutter’s Way (Ivan Passer, 1981)
9. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
10. Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)
For the complete list, go here.
THE IRA AWARDS: THE TOP 100 FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA
1. The Crowd (King Vidor, 1928)
2. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)
3. Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
4. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
5. Man With A Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
6. The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (Carl Theodor Dryer, 1928)
7. The Big Parade (King Vidor, 1925)
8. Pandora's Box (G.W. Pabst, 1929)
9. Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (Fritz Lang, 1922)
10. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
See the complete list of the Top 100 Films Of The Silent Era here.
THE IRA AWARDS: THE TOP 100 FILMS OF THE 1940S
1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
2. Letter From An Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)
3. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942)
4. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
5. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)
6. Shadow Of A Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943)
7. Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948)
8. It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
9. To Have And Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944)
10. The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges, 1942)
See the complete list of the Top 100 Films Of The 1940s here.
THE IRA AWARDS: THE TOP 100 FILMS OF THE 1950s
1. The Earrings of Madame de… (Max Ophüls, 1953)
2. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
3. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
4. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
5. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
6. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
7. Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959)
8. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
9. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
10. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
See the complete list of the Top 100 Films Of The 1950s here.
THE IRA AWARDS: THE TOP 100 FILMS OF THE 1960s
1. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
2. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
5. Chimes At Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)
6. Once Upon A Time In The West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
7. The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963)
8. Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, 1964)
9. When A Woman Ascends The Stairs (Mikio Naruse, 1960)
10. Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)....
See the complete list here.
THE IRA AWARDS: THE TOP 100 FILMS OF THE 1980s
1. Dekalog (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1989)
2. Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985)
3. Housekeeping (Bill Forsyth, 1987)
4. Berlin Alexanderplatz (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1983)
5. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
6. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
7. Once Upon A Time In America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
8. Eyes On The Prize (Various Directors, 1989)
9. Danton (Andrzej Wajda, 1983)
10. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)
THE IRA AWARDS: THE BEST FILMS OF THE 2000s (2000-2009) (voted in 2010)
1. The Son/Le Fils (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, 2002)
2. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
3. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)
4. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
5. The Edge Of Heaven (Fatih Akin, 2007) (tie)
In The Mood For Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000) (tie)
7. The Heart Of The World (Guy Maddin, 2001)
8. Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki, 2004) (tie)
Bus 174 (José Padilha and Felipe Lacerda, 2002) (tie)
10. The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu, 2005) (tie)
Head-On (Fatih Akin, 2004) (tie)
Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) (tie)
THE IRA AWARDS: THE BEST FILMS OF THE 2010s (2010-2019) (voted in 2021)
1. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
2. Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)
3. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016)
4. (tie) Un Prophète (Jacques Audiard, 2009/2010)
(tie) Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015)
6. Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)
7. Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, 2012)
8. In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman, 2015)
9. The Tree Of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
10. The Tribe (Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi, 2014)
THE IRA AWARDS: THE TOP 100 FILMS OF ALL TIME (voted in 2012)
1. The Rules Of The Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
2. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942)
3. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
4. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
5. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
6. Letter From An Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)
7. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)
8. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)
10. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
See the complete list of the Top 100 Films Of All Time here.
THE IRA AWARDS: THE TOP 100 FILMS OF ALL TIME (voted in 2022)
1. The Rules Of The Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
2. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
2. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
3. The Earrings Of Madame de... (Max Ophuls, 1953)
4. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
5. Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953)
6. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
4. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
5. Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953)
6. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
7. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
8. Letter From An Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)
9. Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
10. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942)
8. Letter From An Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)
9. Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
10. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942)
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