Each year my nephew Steven, a huge movie buff and critic, presents his own personal list of nominees for the best movies, actors, and scores: the “Golden Steves.” I announced his nominations on March 4, and today we have the WINNERS.
First, his humble introduction to the awards and the criteria for nomination.
Presenting…the 2022 Golden Steve Awards.
Far and away the most coveted of motion picture accolades, Golden Steves are frequently described as the Oscars without the politics. Impervious to bribery, immune to ballyhoo, unswayed by sentiment, and riddled with integrity, this committee of one might be termed in all accuracy “fair-mindedness incarnate.” Over 200 of the year’s most acclaimed features were screened prior to the compilation of this ballot. First, some caveats:
1) Owing to a lifelong suspicion of prime numbers, each category comprises six nominees, not five.
2) A film can be nominated in only one of the following categories: Best Animated Feature, Best Non-Fiction Film, Best Foreign Language Film. Placement is determined by the Board of Governors. Said film remains eligible in all other fields.
3) This list is in no way connected with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—a fact that should be apparent from its acumen. Please look elsewhere for Oscar analysis.
And now, the worthy honorees:
I’ll list the give nominees and winners in the seven categories I listed a month ago, adding “Best Animated Feature”. At the Golden Steves site, though, you’ll see winners in 12 categories.
And he told me this, which he’s quite proud of:
“I went rogue this year — zero overlap with the Academy!”
Click below to see all the nominees and winners; again I’ll include eight categories. The winners of the Golden Steves are in bold. My own comments are flush left.

Best Picture
Aftersun
Benediction
EO
The Fabelmans
Return to Seoul
Saint Omer
I saw two of these: “EO”, which I find overrated, and “The Fabelmans”, which I also find overrated. I haven’t seen any of the others, though the absence of “Tár” and “The Banishees of Inisherin” is mystifying. Remember, though that these nominations are not to be taken lightly. It’s best if you see them all.
Best Director
Davy Chou, Return to Seoul
Terence Davies, Benediction
Alice Diop, Saint Omer
Jerzy Skolimowski, EO
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
Charlotte Wells, Aftersun
Didn’t see the movie so I missed this performance.
Best Actor
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Caleb Landry Jones, Nitram
Jack Lowden, Benediction
Paul Mescal, Aftersun
Bill Nighy, Living
Mark Rylance, The Outfit
I saw only Farrell in “Banshees,” which was excellent, but missed the other peformances.
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Tar
Danielle Deadwyler, Till
Rebecca Hall, Resurrection
Vicky Krieps, Corsage
Park Ji-min, Return to Seoul
Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie
Saw only Blanchett, whose performance was great.
Best Supporting Actor
Paul Dano, The Fabelmans
Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway
Anthony Hopkins, Armageddon Time
Alex Lutz, Vortex
Matthew Maher, Funny Pages
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
I saw Dano’s and Quan’s performances (though I didn’t watch all of that vastly overrated film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”); missed the others.
Best Supporting Actress
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
Judy Davis, Nitram
Dolly de Leon, Triangle of Sadness
Nina Hoss, Tar
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Guslagie Malanda, Saint Omer
Saw Condon’s, Hoss’s, and Hsu’s performances.
Best Non-Fiction Film
All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
Bad Axe (David Siev)
Moonage Daydream (Brett Morgan)
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Bianca Stigter)
Young Plato (Declan McGrath, Neasa Ni Chianain)
Sadly, I missed all of these,
I’m adding this category because I did see the winner, and it’s a gorgeous animation. Don’t miss “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”!
Best Animated Feature
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (Richard Linklater)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson)
Mad God (Phil Tippett)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Dean Fleischer Camp)
My Father’s Dragon (Nora Twomey)
The Sea Beast (Chris Williams)
Feel free to comment on his choices. If you have a beef or question like “why on earth did you nominate this?, put it in the comments, and I’ll ask him to answer.
I will add that Steven’s taste in films is very good (i.e., he’s clued me in to many good movies I’ve missed), so you might look in on the nominees above.
Finally, below is a photo of Steven tucking into a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s Deli in NYC when I took him on a Lower East Side Jewish Eating Tour in 2010. He would have won the award for Best Deli Lunch except he chose a beer as Best Accompanying Beverage, while the real winner should be Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Tonic—a celery-flavored soft drink that’s the PERFECT match to corned beef or pastrami sandwiches. (Notice that I have one at lower right.)
