Awards Season 2026: Critics' Choice Awards and Golden Globes Winners

I'll be very honest with you all, my loves, I wasn't 100% sure I was going to cover any stuff for the 2026 awards season. The world's a raging dumpster fire of hate, division and general shittiness; personally, the end of last year and the beginning of this one haven't been the best (putting it ever so mildly), and this unashamedly self-indulgent pastime felt more hollow and more farcical than usual in the backdrop of these things. 

And yet... as shallow and as narcissistic as awards season can get, and with what little actual importance can be attached to these baubles, it's still a brief little moment of respite, a place to breathe and pause against the relentless rage-inducing nightmare we're currently going through. I shouldn't deny myself any moment of respite against this hellscape - it's sadly still going to be there when I stop looking at which movies have been awarded stuff. And if I am going to keep on with my Oscar predictions, you should at least see some of the data I'm working with. 

So, I'm not going to go backwards and discuss the nominations for awards which have already been handed out. But I will show you the winners. 

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CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

The 31st Critics' Choice Awards were handed out on Sunday January 4th 2026 in a ceremony at the Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport. Stand-up comedian Chelsea Handler returned as host for the fourth consecutive year. 

Ryan Coogler's period horror Sinners led the nominations with an amazing 17 nods across all categories, with Paul Thomas Anderson's black comedy action thriller One Battle After Another coming second with 14.

Here is a full list of the Critics' Choice Awards movie winners: 

Best Picture: One Battle After Another

Best Actor: Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Best Actress: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Best Supporting Actor: Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Best Casting/Ensemble: Sinners

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Best Original Screenplay: Sinners

Best Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another

Best Comedy: The Naked Gun

Best Foreign Language Film: The Secret Agent

Best Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters

Best Score: Sinners

Best Song: "Golden" (KPop Demon Hunters)

Best Sound: F1

Best Production Design: Frankenstein

Best Editing: F1

Best Costume Design: Frankenstein

Best Hair & Makeup: Frankenstein

Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire And Ash

Best Stunt Design: Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Best Cinematography: Train Dreams

Best Young Actor/Actress: Miles Caton (Sinners)

Sinners and Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Frankenstein share the most awards with both winning four gongs each, One Battle After Another takes three, and animated musical KPop Demon Hunters and sports drama F1 have two apiece.

Quite a bit of comment was given about the winners in the Supporting acting categories, with both Jacob Elordi and Amy Madigan winning gongs for their roles in horror films - Elordi as Frankenstein's Creature and Madigan as the malevolent Aunt Gladys. But as you're about to see, these might be outliers. 

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GOLDEN GLOBES

The 83rd Golden Globe Awards were handed out on Sunday January 11th 2026 at a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton. Stand-up comedian Nikki Glaser returned to host for a second year running. 

One Battle After Another led the nominations with nine, whilst Joachim Trier's Norwegian family drama Sentimental Value came second with eight. 

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Hamnet

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): One Battle After Another

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Best Actor (Drama): Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Best Actress (Drama): Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)

Best Supporting Actor: Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)

Best Supporting Actress: Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

Best Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson (Sinners)

Best Original Song: "Golden" (KPop Demon Hunters)

Best Foreign Language Film: The Secret Agent

Best Animated Feature Film: KPop Demon Hunters

Cinematic And Box Office Achievement: Sinners

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Helen Mirren

One Battle After Another walked away with the most Globes, winning four, whilst Shakespearean drama Hamnet, Brazilian political thriller The Secret Agent, KPop Demon Hunters, and Sinners also won two each. 

Quite a few surprises here, namely the wins for Teyana Taylor, Rose Byrne and Wagner Moura. Moura becomes the first Brazilian actor to win a Best Actor award at the Globes, his win an echo of Fernanda Torres' surprise win at last year's Globes for Best Actress (Drama) for I'm Still Here. I'd hazard to guess that the definition of "musical/comedy" was stretched to breaking point to justify Byrne being nominated in that category as the film sounds about as funny as The Martian. Oh wait... But Byrne is a great actress and, even if there has been a bit of category fraud going on, her win is deserved. 

There's a couple of things us prognosticators need to remember though, lest these results cloud things too much: firstly, the Golden Globes split a couple of the acting categories into drama and comedy/musical, and traditionally the Oscars favour drama; secondly, the make-up of the voters for the Golden Globes is a FRACTION of that which vote for the Oscars so we shouldn't necessarily read TOO much into this. 

That said, Jessie Buckley, Timothée Chalamet and Paul Thomas Anderson might be clearing a bit of space on the mantelpiece for the Little Naked Gold Men. 

In the next few days, I'll post about the nominations for the Actor Awards (previously the SAG Awards) and the PGA/DGA nods, as we have over a week until the next major awards season stop... the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards, which will be announced on Thursday 22nd January 2026!

Yes, this year the Oscar nominations are out before the BAFTAs (BAFTAs are out on Tuesday January 27th 2026, although their longlists have already been revealed) so I don't have the usual full set of nominations to work with. But it'll be fine. It's all just a bit of fun. 

Awards Season 2025: Golden Globes Winners

Happy New Year to you all! Hopefully the festive season has been fun, relaxing and stress-free for you all, and 2025 has started off on the right foot. 

Last night (Sunday 5th January 2025), the winners of the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film. were announced, in a ceremony hosted by Nikki Glaser, who was the first solo female host in Golden Globes history. It was broadcast on CBS in the US. 

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): The Brutalist

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Emilia Pérez

Best Director: Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)

Best Actor (Drama): Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Sebastian Stan (A Different Man)

Best Actress (Drama): Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Demi Moore (The Substance)

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)

Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)

Best Screenplay: Peter Straughan (Conclave)

Best Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Challengers)

Best Original Song: "El Mal" (Emilia Pérez)

Best Foreign Language Film: Emilia Pérez

Best Animated Feature Film: Flow

Cinematic And Box Office Achievement: Wicked

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Viola Davis

Emilia Pérez was the big winner of the night with four Golden Globes; the only other film to win multiple awards was The Brutalist, taking home three. Despite multiple nominations, Anora, The Wild Robot, A Complete Unknown, Gladiator II, and Dune: Part Two all went away with nothing.

After last year's host, Jo Koy, got roundly panned for his MCing stint, critical opinion has been much kinder to Nikki Glaser who made for an engaging and funny host. However, I think the best part of the evening was Demi Moore's powerful and touching acceptance speech where she explained that, despite being in the movie business for 45 years, she was described by a producer in the 1990s as "a 'popcorn' actress... I made that mean that this wasn't something that I was allowed to have, that I could do movies that were successful, that made a lot of money, but that I couldn't be acknowledged." I have a feeling that the Golden Globe for The Substance is only the first in several acknowledgements she will get for this daring and ever-so-slightly-fucked-up movie.  

There were a couple of surprises in the winners this year, particularly Flow, a Latvian film featuring no dialogue, beating Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot for the Best Animated Feature award, and Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres taking the Best Actress (Drama) award ahead of Hollywood heavyweights like Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton and Kate Winslet for her performance in Walter Salles' political drama I'm Still Here. 

I was pleased to see the Best Screenplay award go to Conclave, as I thoroughly enjoyed that movie.

Up next for awards season, we get a 2-4-1 on Wednesday (8th January) with the announcement of not only the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards nominations, but also the Directors Guild Award (DGA) nominees. 

Awards Season 2025: Golden Globes Nominations

Today (Monday 9th December 2024) saw the announcement of the nominees for the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, with Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project. The Office, Inside Out) and Morris Chestnut (Boyz N The Hood, The Best Man, Kick-Ass 2) doing the honours. 

The awards are now administered by Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries, following the disbanding of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in June 2023. A group of voters consisting of 334 journalists representing 85 countries selected the nominees. Upon taking over from the HFPA, the decision was made to keep the split between drama and musical/comedy categories (as had been the HFPA's tradition). 

Below is a selected list of the film nominees:

Best Picture - Drama

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune Part 2

Nickel Boys

September 5

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy

Anora

Challengers

Emilia Pérez

A Real Pain

The Substance

Wicked

Best Director

Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)

Sean Baker (Anora)

Edward Berger (Conclave)

Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)

Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)

Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine As Light)

Best Actor - Drama

Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)

Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)

Daniel Craig (Queer)

Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)

Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)

Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)

 

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy

Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain)

Hugh Grant (Heretic)

Gabriel LaBelle (Saturday Night)

Jesse Plemons (Kinds Of Kindness)

Glen Powell (Hit Man)

Sebastian Stan (A Different Man)

Best Actress - Drama

Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl)

Angelina Jolie (Maria)

Nicole Kidman (Babygirl)

Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door)

Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here)

Kate Winslet (Lee)

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy

Amy Adams (Nightbitch)

Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)

Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)

Mikey Madison (Anora)

Demi Moore (The Substance)

Zendaya (Challengers)

Best Supporting Actor

Yura Borisov (Anora)

Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)

Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)

Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)

Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)

Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)

Best Supporting Actress

Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez)

Ariana Grande-Butera (Wicked)

Felicity Jones (The Brutalist)

Margaret Qualley (The Substance)

Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)

Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)

A full list of nominations can be found here.

OK, before I get too far into it, I just want to point out one thing. There may be a new team heading the Golden Globes but the HFPA's naughty little habit of category fraud is still alive and well. Whilst I am pleased to see both Hugh Grant and Demi Moore recognised for their bravura performances (you can file this directly under "don't hate the player, hate the game"), I would argue that neither Heretic (thriller and psychological horror) nor The Substance (body horror and psychological drama) are musicals or comedies; you could maybe get away with an argument that The Substance (and possibly Nightbitch) could be classed as "black comedy". I don't get the thinking behind it at all. It's giving off The Tourist and The Martian vibes for those who remember those years. 

I'm really pleased to see both Daniel Craig and Ralph Fiennes recognised. I was initially unsure whether Queer (on its title alone, let alone its content) would figure, but I'm glad it did. Similarly, I'm chuffed that Conclave has got as much love as it has; it's a well-made film, expertly acted and beautiful to look at. This year's Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award nominees include Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, Wicked, and (surprisingly) Alien: Romulus. Also, in case anyone is wondering what September 5 is ('cause I sure was), it's a historical thriller which follows the ABC Sports broadcast team who find themselves covering the hostage crisis which unfolded at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.

Emilia Pérez leads the way with an amazing 10 nominations; The Brutalist (a biopic of architect László Toth) is second with seven, and Conclave has six. 

It was also announced that the brilliant Viola Davis will be the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award (for "outstanding achievement" in film), whilst Ted Danson would be getting the television equivalent with the Carol Burnett Award. 

The Golden Globes will be handed out in a ceremony on Sunday 5th January 2025, to be broadcast live on CBS with Nikki Glaser (Trainwreck, I Feel Pretty, Good Clean Filth) taking up hosting duties. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

So, next up on the awards season trail, and our last stop before the Christmas holidays, will be the Critics' Choice Awards who will announce their nominees this coming Thursday (12th December 2024).

  

Awards Season 2024: Golden Globes Winners

Last night (Sunday 7th January 2024), the winners of the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film. were announced, in a ceremony hosted by comedian Jo Koy (Haunted Mansion, Don't Make Him Angry, The Monkey King). It was broadcast on CBS in the US, after the group ended a longstanding relationship with broadcaster NBC. 

This is the first ceremony since Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries took control of the Golden Globes, following the disbanding of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in June 2023. A group of voters consisting of 300 journalists representing 76 countries selected the nominees and eventual winners. 

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Oppenheimer

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): Poor Things

Best Director: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Best Actor (Drama): Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

Best Actress (Drama): Lily Gladstone (Killers Of The Flower Moon)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Best Screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (Anatomy Of A Fall)

Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson (Oppenheimer)

Best Original Song: "What Was I Made For?" (Barbie)

Best Foreign Language Film: Anatomy Of A Fall

Best Animated Feature Film: The Boy And The Heron

Cinematic And Box Office Achievement: Barbie


Oppenheimer was the runaway winner of the evening, picking up five awards (having been nominated for eight), with French courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall, Barbie, Alexander Payne's The Holdovers, and Poor Things tying with two awards apiece. 

Despite multiple nominations, Past Lives, Maestro. May December, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Zone Of Interest went away emptyhanded. 

Lily Gladstone made history as the first Indigenous actor to win a Golden Globe, taking home the Best Actress (Drama) award for Killers Of The Flower Moon (the film's only award, despite being nominated for seven); she is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage, and spoke Blackfeet at the start of her powerful acceptance speech.

The "Cinematic And Box Office Achievement" award is for films that grossed at least $100 million domestically and $150 million worldwide, hence its rather eclectic nominations list (with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour all included along with the eventual winner, Barbie). Does smack a little bit of the Oscars' botched attempt for a "Most Popular Film" category, but it seems they've at least given it a bit more thought. 

But perhaps they should have given a bit more thought to their choice of host. Jo Koy's opening monologue has been variously described by other media outlets as "cringeworthy", "painful", "unfunny", "awkward", and "distasteful". I watched some of it online and decided that there were better things I could be doing with my time, like alphabetising my spice rack. Koy's stand-up specials are well thought of; however, I don't think many people will be going to seek them out if this hosting gig is their first exposure to him. 

No lifetime achievement awards this time round (so no Cecil B. DeMille or Carol Burnett Awards) but they may be reinstated in coming years. Fair enough. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Coming up for awards season, Wednesday (10th January) sees the announcement of this years' Director's Guild Awards.

Awards Season 2024: Golden Globes Nominations

Today (Monday 11th December 2023) saw the announcement of the nominees for the 81st Golden Globe Awards, awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Actors Cedric The Entertainer (Barbershop, Madagascar, The Soul Man) and Wilmer Valderrama (That 70's Show, NCIS, Party Monster) made the nominations announcement.  

As longtime readers of the blog will be aware, the HFPA split their awards, giving certain categories for both Drama and Musical or Comedy, rather than just going for the out-and-out drama as most awards tend to do.

Below is a selection of the film nominees: 

Best Picture - Drama

Anatomy Of A Fall

Killers Of The Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

The Zone Of Interest

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy

Air

American Fiction

Barbie

The Holdovers

May December

Poor Things

Best Director

Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

Greta Gerwig (Barbie)

Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)

Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Martin Scorsese (Killers Of The Flower Moon)

Celine Song (Past Lives)

Best Actor - Drama

Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers Of The Flower Moon)

Colman Domingo (Rustin)

Barry Keoghan (Saltburn)

Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Andrew Scott (All Of Us Strangers)

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy

Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario)

Timothée Chalamet (Wonka)

Matt Damon (Air)

Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid)

Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Best Actress - Drama

Annette Bening (Nyad)

Lily Gladstone (Killers Of The Flower Moon)

Sandra Hüller (Anatomy Of A Fall)

Greta Lee (Past Lives)

Carey Mulligan (Maestro)

Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy

Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple)

Jennifer Lawrence (No Hard Feelings)

Natalie Portman (May December)

Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves)

Margot Robbie (Barbie)

Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe (Poor Things)

Robert De Niro (Killers Of The Flower Moon)

Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

Ryan Gosling (Barbie)

Charles Melton (May December)

Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)

Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)

Jodie Foster (Nyad)

Julianne Moore (May December)

Rosamund Pike (Saltburn)

Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

Barbie gets a whopping nine nominations (with three nods in the Best Original Song category) with Oppenheimer in second place with eight. Killers Of The Flower Moon and Poor Things have seven apiece.  

The HFPA have announced a couple of changes to the awards; whilst they aren't going down the route of gender-neutral categories, each acting category now has six nominees (instead of five, as has been in the past). They have also introduced two new awards- Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy or Television and Cinematic and Box Office Achievement (which has such diverse nominees as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and John Wick: Chapter 4)

The Golden Globes will be handed out in a ceremony on Sunday 7th January 2024, to be broadcast live on CBS (who have taken over from NBC as the Globes' network home). No host has been announced as yet.

Congratulations to all nominees!

So, next up on the awards season trail, and our last stop before the Christmas holidays, will be the Critics' Choice Awards who will announce their nominees this coming Wednesday (13th December 2024)

Awards Season 2023: Golden Globes Winners

 

Last night (Tuesday 10th January 2023), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film.

Last year's ceremony was not broadcast, due to NBC declining to air the show in support of the various boycotts of the HFPA (which came from the lack of diversity of the membership, and its financial malfeasance). However, a one-year contract was struck to bring the ceremony back on air, with Jerrod Carmichael (Bad Neighbours, The Carmichael Show, Rothaniel) acting as MC for the first time. 

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): The Fabelmans

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Director: Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

Best Actor (Drama): Austin Butler (Elvis)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Best Actress (Drama): Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Best Screenplay: Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Best Original Score: Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)

Best Original Song: "Naatu Naatu" (RRR)

Best Foreign Language Film: Argentina, 1985

Best Animated Feature Film: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Eddie Murphy

The Banshees Of Inisherin takes away the most awards, with three. The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere All At Once have two. 

The Golden Globes have always been a more rough-and-ready affair, so it's no surprise that the ceremony was a bit less slick than one may expect. That said, there was an annoying habit of starting to play acceptance speeches off far too early, which led to several winners mentioning it (with Michelle Yeoh's "Shut up, please. I can beat you up" being the funniest quip). 

Carmichael was OK as host, addressing the HFPA's woes in his opening monologue (Carmichael was the first solo Black host of the Golden Globes, and that point was made) but he often struggled to keep control of events, and some of his jokes really failed to land (such as the jab about using Tom Cruise's three Globes- which he returned- to free the notoriously absent wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige). There was also far too many jokes about Will Smith which started to grate a little.  

Onto the awards. A couple of surprises, namely: Austin Butler's win (over the highly-favoured Brendan Fraser who [like several nominees and winners] was absent from the event); Argentina, 1985 taking the Best Foreign Language Film over Decision To Leave and All Quiet On The Western Front; and "Naatu Naatu" from Bollywood action drama RRR taking Best Original Song over "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick (which went home empty-handed) or "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (although the MCU sequel did take home one award, for Angela Bassett's stoic supporting turn as the grieving Queen Ramonda). 

Personally, I'm happy to see the love for The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

Congratulations to all winners!

As if all of this awards excitement wasn't enough for you, today (Wednesday 11th January) sees the announcement of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards AND the Directors Guild (DGA) Awards nominations. I'd very much expect to see a lot of the names featured here in those as well.  

Awards Season 2023: Golden Globes Nominations

Today (Monday 12th December 2022) saw the announcement of the nominees for the 80th Golden Globe Awards, awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Actresses Mayan Lopez (Lopez Vs. Lopez) and Selenis Leyva (Orange Is The New Black, Spider-Man: Homecoming) made the announcement.  

As longtime readers of the blog will be aware, the HFPA split their awards, giving certain categories for both Drama and Musical or Comedy, rather than just going for the out-and-out drama as most awards tend to do.

Below is a selection of the film nominees: 

Best Picture - Drama

Avatar: The Way Of Water

Elvis

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun Maverick

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy

Babylon

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Triangle Of Sadness

Best Director

James Cameron (Avatar: The Way Of Water)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Baz Luhrmann (Elvis)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

Best Actor - Drama

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

Hugh Jackman (The Son)

Bill Nighy (Living)

Jeremy Pope (The Inspection)

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy

Diego Calva (Babylon)

Daniel Craig (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)

Adam Driver (White Noise)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Ralph Fiennes (The Menu)

Best Actress - Drama

Cate Blanchett (Tár)

Olivia Colman (Empire Of Light)

Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy

Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris)

Margot Robbie (Babylon)

Anya Taylor-Joy (The Menu)

Emma Thompson (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Brad Pitt (Babylon)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees Of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Dolly de Leon (Triangle Of Sadness)

Carey Mulligan (She Said)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

The Banshees Of Inisherin gets the most film nominations, with eight total. Everything Everywhere All At Once comes in second with six, and Babylon has five. 

I'm pleased to see The Banshees Of Inisherin doing so well, as it was a thoroughly enjoyable dark comedy. I'm also glad to see Angela Bassett's nod for her stoic and dignified performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. 

The Golden Globes will be handed out in a ceremony on Tuesday 10th January 2023. After a year away from being broadcast (due to the myriad issues the HFPA were going through), it'll be back on screens (shown on NBC), with stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael hosting. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

On Wednesday (14th December), the Critics' Choice Award nominees will be announced. 

For Your Consideration: Possible Contenders For Awards Season 2023

Well, it's about that time again... Last year, awards season crept up on me and took be my surprise (ooer, missus!). This year... I'm ready. Well, more ready than I was. 

So the awards hoopla starts tomorrow (Tuesday 22nd November) when the Film Independent Spirit Awards announce their nominees, so I thought I'd have my (mostly) annual look at the films I expect to see mentioned over the upcoming months. 

Hollywood likes movies about movies, and movies about movie-making. They're awards catnip. So it's no surprise that there are several of them in contention for this year.

Steven Spielberg's autobiographical family drama The Fabelmans is the kind of film awards were made for, and it seems very likely indeed he'll be on track to win his third Best Director Oscar. A drama about a young aspiring filmmaker (played by Gabriel LaBelle) dealing with family secrets, the performances by Michelle Williams (as mother Mitzi), Paul Dano (as father Burt), and Judd Hirsch (as Uncle Boris) have all been praised. 

Set in the 1980s in an English coastal town, Empire Of Light sees a cinema manager (Olivia Colman) and a new employee (Micheal Ward) gain a sense of belonging as they experience the power of what cinema can actually do. Sam Mendes directs and writes the screenplay, whilst the performances by Colman and Toby Jones (as the cinema projectionist) have got attention. 

Finally, let's go back to where it all began. The early days of Hollywood, in all its vivid excess and delicious debauchery, is the setting for Babylon, Damien Chazelle's latest film. Set in the late 1920s to 1930s- as cinema was going from silent films to talkies, and a new production code was being brought in to stymy the more transgressive content- it has a stellar cast, led by Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, and some truly sumptuous visuals. Definitely one to keep in mind. 

I never thought I'd ever write the words "Colin Farrell" and "Oscar nomination" in the same sentence, but thanks to his frankly stunning performance in Martin McDonagh's blackly comic The Banshees Of Inisherin, it's looking more likely. Set on a remote Irish island in the early 1920s, Farrell plays Padraig, a dull but likeable-enough fellow, whose good friend Colum (Brendan Gleeson) suddenly stops talking to him one day. Padraig's confusion at this, and the drastic measures Colum will go to to make sure it is a permanent thing, make for a heady mix of laugh-out-loud comedy and some pathos. Gleeson's performance is similarly strong, whilst there's superb support from Kerry Condon as Padraig's sister Siobhan and Barry Keoghan as island resident Dominic.

Cate Blanchett's formidable performance in Tár, a contemporary drama written and directed by Todd Field (In The Bedroom, Little Children), saw her win the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, and may well see her win her third Oscar for playing Lydia, a composer-conductor whose life and career fall apart when she is accused of grooming a former female student. 

Brendan Fraser is rightly back in the limelight for his extraordinary performance in The Whale. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem For A Dream) with a screenplay by Samuel D. Hunter- who adapts his own stage play- The Whale is a drama about a reclusive and morbidly obese teacher named Charlie who wishes to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Screening after screening has ended with standing ovations and a lot of praise for Fraser's central performance, along with the supporting turns by Sadie Sink as his daughter Ellie and Hong Chau as his friend Liz. Based on the trailer, I have a nagging feeling that this is going to be one of those films where the actors are very good in an overall production that might not be, but I'll reserve judgement until I see it.  

Actress-turned-director Sarah Polley will surely be getting some awards recognition for Women Talking, her adaptation of Miriam Toews' 2018 novel of the same name. Set in an isolated Mennonite colony, eight female members of the community come together after the shocking truth about what the men of the colony have been doing is revealed. There's a strong ensemble cast- including Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand, and Ben Whishaw- and the weighty themes of faith and control are sure to get people talking. 

Historical epic The Woman King tells the story of an all-female warrior unit who protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin) during the 17th- to 19th centuries. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Old Guard), Viola Davis gives a fierce performance as Agojie General Nanisca who helps to train the next generation of warriors. As well as Davis' performance, the action choreography has also garnered a lot of praise. 

Florian Zeller's emotional drama The Father caused a bit of an Oscars upset a couple of years ago when Anthony Hopkins took home Best Actor instead of the assumed winner, the late Chadwick Boseman. Zeller's follow-up film, The Son, may seek to make such an impression again. Hugh Jackman is in the lead as a man whose busy life with his new partner gets disrupted when his ex-wife turns up with his teenage son in tow. Vanessa Kirby and Laura Dern play the two women in his life, while Hopkins reunites with Zeller to play Peter's father. 

Two cannibals fall in love and go on a road trip. Now I've got your attention... Bones And All is the latest film by Luca Guadagnino (Suspiria; Call Me By Your Name). Timothée Chalamet reunites with Guadagnino to play Lee, the charismatic young man who falls for Maren (played by Taylor Russell). Whilst the mix of horror, road movie, coming-of-age drama, and romance might be too much for some, the performances have been getting attention, especially that of Mark Rylance, who plays the mysterious Sully. 

It wasn't just Doctor Strange who went into a multiverse of madness this year. In the Daniels' truly mindbending Everything Everywhere All At Once, so did Michelle Yeoh. She's been getting some of the best reviews of her career for her performance as Evelyn, an overworked laundromat owner whose life alters when a multiversal rift opens during a hostile meeting with an IRS auditor. As well as Yeoh's central performance, the supporting performances by Ke Huy Quan (as Evelyn's husband Waymond) and Jamie Lee Curtis (as the auditor Deirdre) have also been praised. Perhaps all three will see their names mentioned as awards season churns on?

Rian Johnson's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery could do well. The original Knives Out was a stunning take on the well-worn murder mystery genre, and- by the looks of things- Glass Onion will be no different. An eclectic group of "disruptors" head to a private island for a weekend of fun and games; along with them is gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). A strong ensemble cast- featuring Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, and Dave Bautista- are among the suspects this time round. I'm very much looking forward to this.

Biopics tend to do well at awards time, so here's a couple of names you might get to know very well indeed over the next few months:

Blonde: despite some controversy over the film's presentation of Marilyn Monroe, Ana de Armas' performance has been praised - it's a pretty full Best Actress category this year, so she may just squeak in (or she may miss out). 

Elvis: to play such a cultural icon as Elvis Presley is to take a huge weight on your shoulders, and Austin Butler's portrayal of the King has been lauded. Expect to see him in Best Actor contention. 

 

Till: Danielle Deadwyler (The Harder They Fall, Gifted) could well see her first Best Actress nod for playing Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of 1950s lynching victim Emmett Till, who pursued justice for her son's murder. 

She Said: films like All The President's Men, Spotlight, and The Post all show the importance of the press in thei bringing to light of corruption, abuse, and wrongdoing. She Said- directed by Maria Schrader- is based on the New York Times investigation by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan) into the predatory behaviour of movie producer Harvey Weinstein which brought him down and kickstarted the #MeToo movement. 

I Wanna Dance With Somebody: British actress Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, Lady Macbeth) takes on the mantle of the late, great Whitney Houston in this slick biopic written by Anthony McCarten (The Theory Of Everything, The Two Popes) and directed by Kasi Lemmons (Harriet, Eve's Bayou)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: could this anarchic parody of the biopic be too rich for the blood of your average awards panels? It's likely, but there's no denying the dedication that Daniel Radcliffe has to play Weird Al Yankovic. Evan Rachel Wood's performance as Madonna has also raised some eyebrows. It'll be interesting to see what (if any) awards traction this gets.  

A pair of British films which you might see mentioned a lot are Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Living. In the latter, Bill Nighy gives what has been described as "a career-best performance" as a buttoned-down bureaucrat dealing with a terminal illness in an English-language remake of Kurosawa's Ikiru (with a screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro). The former sees Emma Thompson as a widowed former teacher seeking to explore her sexuality by hiring a sex worker (Daryl McCormack). It's rare to see a film that deals with an older woman's sexual desires, let alone one that explores the subject without judgement or criticism. It's not certain if the films will travel well (meaning most likely you'll see them at BAFTA). 

  

Three big blockbusters may well be in awards contention too. But will any of Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way Of Water, or Black Panther: Wakanda Forever get a Best Picture nod? Both the original Avatar and Black Panther did in their respective years, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility. [Full disclosure: of the three I've only seen Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and have less than no interest in seeing Dances With Smurfs 2]. All three will doubtlessly feature heavily in the craft awards, with Production Design, Visual Effects, Sound, and Costume nods expected. I also fully expect to see "Hold My Hand" (Top Gun: Maverick) and "Lift Me Up" (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) in the Best Original Song categories. 

From this year, the Film Independent Spirit Awards are making their acting categories (for both film and television) gender neutral; for the film awards, the categories will be Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance (with up to ten nominees in each category). 

The timetable for the major awards in 2023 is as follows:

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Nominations announced: 22nd November 2022

Awards ceremony: 4th March 2023

Golden Globes

Nominations announced: 12th December 2022

Awards ceremony: 10th January 2023

Critics' Choice Awards

Nominations announced: 14th December 2022

Awards ceremony: 15th January 2023

Directors' Guild Of America (DGA) Award

Nominations announced: 11th January 2023

Awards ceremony: 18th February 2023

Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards

Nominations announced: 11th January 2023

Awards ceremony: 26th February 2023

Producers' Guild Of America (PGA) Award

Nominations announced: 12th January 2023

Awards ceremony: 25th February 2023

BAFTA Film Awards

Nominations announced: 19th January 2023

Awards ceremony: 19th February 2023

Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies)

Nominations announced: 23rd January 2023

Awards ceremony: 11th March 2023

Academy Awards (Oscars)

Nominations announced: 24th January 2023

Awards ceremony: 12th March 2023 (hosted by Jimmy Kimmel)

Quite a busy few months ahead, so - as a very wise animated meerkat one said-