Awards Season 2021: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2020 at the 93rd Academy Awards. 

Delayed from February due to the COVID pandemic, the event- produced by Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh- will take place at the Dolby Theatre as well as Los Angeles' Union Station, with several international hubs (including at the BFI in London) for those unable to travel to the US. 

There'll be no main host (for the third year running) but an "ensemble cast" of 15 presenters- including Angela Bassett, Bong Joon Ho, Laura Dern, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Renée Zellweger, and Zendaya- will be on hand to give out the awards.  

It has become a tradition for me to predict the nominations and the winners in the main six categories (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture).  I've done this since 2003 with varying degrees of success. Last year, I got 4 out of 6 (not predicting Parasite's history-making Best Picture win, nor Bong Joon Ho's Best Director win).

So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Several of the major awards bodies (including SAG, BAFTA, and the Independent Spirit Awards) have gone for Youn's performance as unconventional grandmother Soonja in Lee Isaac Chung's semi-autobiographical drama as their Best Supporting Actress, so I do think the Academy will do the same. It's a strong performance which adds some levity and a certain comic relief to the sometimes heavy family drama. 

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Kaluuya has won the vast majority of Supporting Actor awards for his soulful and intense performance as Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton in Shaka King's powerful biographical drama, so I fully expect to see him named as Best Supporting Actor tonight. 

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

The Best Actress category has been wide open this year, with four of the five Oscar nominees winning at least one other major award. However, for me, Carey Mulligan deserves to win the Oscar for her fearless, ferocious performance as avenging angel Cassie in Emerald Fennell's black comedy-drama. It's a performance (and a film) that has stayed with me long after I first watched it, which isn't really something I can say about any of the others that I've seen.

Best Actor: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Despite the BAFTA going to Anthony Hopkins, I still say that the late Chadwick Boseman will win the Best Actor award. His performance as Levee in the August Wilson adaptation is an absolute powerhouse, made all the more poignant for the fact it was his last on-screen performance. Boseman was so much more than a comic-book character actor, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom demonstrates that perfectly. 

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Picture: Nomadland

Zhao has been the outstanding winner of the Best Director awards all throughout this awards, so it'll be a surprise of epic proportions if any other name than hers will be read out tonight. If Zhao does win, she will only be the second female director to win the top prize. 

Similarly, Nomadland has swept the Best Picture categories, so its success seems fairly sewn up. A slow-moving contemplative drama about the life of older people who travel around America working seasonal jobs, it's the kind of film that wins Best Picture. Whilst I liked it for the most part, there are other films that nominated for Best Picture which were better films in my opinion.

These aren't official predictions, but I'd really love to see Promising Young Woman win Best Original Screenplay, Nomadland to win Best Cinematography, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to win Best Costume Design, and Sound Of Metal to win the newly-combined Best Sound award. 

I'll be watching the Oscars broadcast tonight (well, early hours of Monday morning) and will update with my thoughts on the ceremony and all the winners as soon as I can once it finishes. 

Awards Season 2021: Independent Spirit Awards Winners

Last night (Thursday 22nd April), the 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards took place, in a ceremony hosted by Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live, Toy Story 4) for the first time. 

As I'm sure you all know by now, they recognise films made wholly or partly outside the traditional studio system. They're also the first major awards to be announced in any given awards season (as was the case this awards season back in January), and one of the last to be awarded.   

Traditionally, these awards take place on the Saturday afternoon before the Oscars, in a marquee on the Santa Monica beach. Obviously not an option in these times. So, the decision was made to bring the Spirits forward to a prime-time event a few days earlier and make it a virtual live show instead. 

Here is a full list of winners.

Best Feature: Nomadland

Best Female Lead: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Male Lead: Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Best Supporting Female: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)

Best Supporting Male: Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Screenplay: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

Best First Screenplay: Andy Siara (Palm Springs)

Best Cinematography: Nomadland

Best Editing: Nomadland

Best First Feature: Sound Of Metal

Best International Film: Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Documentary: Crip Camp

John Cassavetes Award: Residue

Robert Altman Award: One Night In Miami

The John Cassavetes Award is given to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000, whilst the Robert Altman Award is presented to the ensemble cast of the movie, its director, and its casting director(s). 

Nomadland was the big winner of the night with four awards, with Sound Of Metal winning three (incidentally, winning all three categories it was nominated in), and Promising Young Woman got two. 

Despite leading the nominations with seven nods, there was nothing for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom also didn't convert any of its five nominations to a win, with Riz Ahmed seen as a surprise winner for Best Actor. 

Congratulations to all winners!

There'll be more awards stuff this coming weekend, with the Razzies being announced on Saturday (24th April) and the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday (25th April). 

 

Awards Season 2021: BAFTA Film Awards Winners and Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Winners

It's a two-for-one on awards results today, as this weekend has seen both the Directors Guild Awards and the BAFTAs given out. Lots to go through, so let's get started. 

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

On Saturday (10th April), the Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) were handed out. The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Darius Marder (Sound Of Metal)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries: Scott Frank (The Queen's Gambit)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw (The Truffle Hunters)

Chloé Zhao becomes only the second woman to win the DGA's top prize (the first being Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker). This certainly bodes well for her chances of winning the Oscar in just two weeks' time. 

-------------

BAFTA AWARDS

This weekend also saw the British Academy (BAFTA) Film Awards. 

BAFTA did something a bit unusual this year, in that they split the event over two nights, both taking place at the Royal Albert Hall. 

On Saturday (10th April), Clara Amfo hosted the first ceremony in which several "craft" awards were handed out, along with the Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema which was given to Noel Clarke (who also won the 2009 Rising Star Award). Tribute was also paid to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away on 9th April; he was the first President of BAFTA (holding the position from 1959-1966). 

The winners from the first night were:

Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Make Up And Hair: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Production Design: Mank

Sound: Sound Of Metal

Special Visual Effects: Tenet

Casting: Rocks

Short Animation: The Owl And The Pussycat

Short Film: The Present

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Noel Clarke

On Sunday (11th April), the second ceremony- where the remainder of the awards were given out- was hosted by Dermot O'Leary and Edith Bowman.

The winners from the second night were: 

Best Film: Nomadland

Outstanding British Film: Promising Young Woman

Leading Actor: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Leading Actress: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Supporting Actress: Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Adapted Screenplay: The Father

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Remi Weekes (writer/director) (His House)

Animated Film: Soul

Documentary: My Octopus Teacher

Film Not In The English Language: Another Round

Cinematography: Nomadland

Editing: Sound Of Metal

Original Score: Soul

Rising Star: Bukky Bakray

BAFTA Fellowship: Ang Lee

Nomadland is the big winner of the evening, with four BAFTAs. Promising Young Woman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Father, Sound Of Metal and Soul all walked away with two apiece. 

Congratulations to all winners!

There's another week off awards nonsense now; we are picking back up on Wednesday 22nd April for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. 

Awards Season 2021: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Winners

Just a quick post today, to update y'all on some awards nonsense. Yesterday (Sunday 21st February), the Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) were given out. 

The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman 

Adapted Screenplay: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Documentary Screenplay: The Dissident

Very happy to see Emerald Fennell's win here. I think a lot of people were surprised that Aaron Sorkin didn't win the Original Screenplay category for The Trial Of The Chicago 7. Sorkin has previously won a screenwriting Oscar (for his adapted screenplay of The Social Network), and also been nominated three further times. I would love to see Fennell take the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Whether it'll happen is another matter. 

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's win has surprised a few people, who considered it a bit of a dark horse in a category that also featured Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, One Night In Miami, News Of The World and The White Tiger (all of which were based on plays or novels, rather than characters). Also, given the very improvised nature of the film, one could argue that the script was essentially non-existent prior to shooting (although Sacha Baron Cohen and the writers will have come up with the broad strokes of scenes etc.). Will it repeat this at the Oscars? I'd say it's unlikely given that both Nomadland and The Father have nods for the Academy Awards. But never say never... 

For anyone interested, The Dissident (which got a BAFTA nomination for Best Documentary, but didn't get one at the Oscars) is a documentary about the murder of Washington Post journalist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which is directed by Bryan Fogel and written by Fogel and Mark Monroe. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Next up: Producers Guild Awards (PGA) are given out on Wednesday (24th March). I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that Nomadland will win the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. But we shall see...

Awards Season 2021: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier today, here is a selection of the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

The Father

Judas And The Black Messiah

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

LaKeith Stanfield (Judas And The Black Messiah)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

By my reckoning, I got 29/33 (88%). Turns out I should have been a bit more confident in my acting predictions, as it's only LaKeith Stanfield that I didn't get. I didn't get either Judas And The Black Messiah or Sound Of Metal in Best Picture, nor Thomas Vinterberg for Best Director. All said though, I'm quite happy with my predictions. And yes, it does mean Glenn Close has been nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie for the same performance... Just goes to show there's no accounting for taste.

Mank leads the nominations with an impressive 10 nods, whilst The Father, Judas And The Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound Of Metal, and The Trial Of The Chicago 7 all have six each.

Congratulations to all nominees!

The 93rd Academy Awards will be held on Sunday 25th April 2021, with the ceremony being held in Los Angeles' Union Station and its usual venue, the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center.

It's been a busy week for awards stuff, so those of you who aren't fans of this kind of frippery will be pleased to know there's a bit of a break from it. The next awards update will be Sunday (21st March) when the Writers Guild Awards are handed out. 

Awards Season 2021: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

 ...pation.

Tomorrow morning, the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced. This year, they will be announced by husband-and-wife duo Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Krrish, The White Tiger, Baywatch) and Nick Jonas (Jumanji: The Next Level, Midway, Camp Rock).

As has been my practice for the last few years (well, since 2003), I like to try and predict who will be nominated (this is done for Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting awards). Below is my list of who I think will be named tomorrow.

NB. Since the 2010 ceremony, the Academy rules state that there could be anywhere between five and ten Best Picture nominees. I have selected ten films. If the total number of films nominated is less than ten, but one of the movies selected is named in my list of ten, I will count it as a successful prediction.

This will be the last year in which this will happen, as the Academy have committed to having ten Best Picture nominees from 2022.

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods

The Father

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

One Night In Miami

Promising Young Woman

Soul

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

Usually a score of 15 is adequate, but given the fact that there could be anywhere between 5 and 10 Best Picture awards, I’ll be happy with a prediction of 18 or higher. Last year, I got 30/34.

With Best Picture, I'm fairly secure with 7 (maybe 8) of the predictions. There's always the chance of a surprise nod for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sound Of Metal, or News Of The World. Similarly with Best Director, I'd say I'm confident on 3. It wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility for Regina King to score a nomination for One Night In Miami... (which might see Fincher or potentially Fennell shunted out?) 

Were I to be totally honest, I'm less confident with the acting awards than I have been in previous years. For each category I'd say I'm only sure of three in each. There's a lot of variables. 

Best Actor could see a surprise nod for Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round), Tom Hanks (News Of The World), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian) or Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) [most likely in place of Steven Yeun or Gary Oldman] whilst Amy Adams could get a nod for Hillbilly Elegy and Sidney Flanigan could be a major upset with a nod for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. I went with Andra Day on the strength of the Golden Globes win, but you can't be sure until the names are read out. 

In the Supporting Actor category, Boseman and Raci could be replaced by David Strathairn (Nomadland), Bill Murray (On The Rocks), Jared Leto (The Little Things) or even Alan Kim (Minari). The Best Supporting Actress race is still pretty wide open: there could potentially be nominations for Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman), Dominique Fishback (Judas And The Black Messiah), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian), and/or Helena Zengel (News Of The World) in place of any of Seyfried and/or Colman. 

The nominations will be announced tomorrow afternoon (around 1:20pm GMT) - there'll be a post up as soon as I can afterwards with the official nominations.

Awards Season 2021: Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Nominations

 

As promised, here's a quick update on today's DGA Awards nominations:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film

Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version)

Fernando Frías de la Parra (I'm No Longer Here)

Regina King (One Night In Miami...)

Darius Marder (Sound Of Metal)

Florian Zeller (The Father)

The winners will be announced at the 73rd Annual DGA Awards on Saturday 10th April 2021.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Friday (12th March) is our next date for awards stuff, with the Producers Guild Awards naming their nominees. 

Awards Season 2021: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

Afternoon all!

Bit of a surprise to find that the announcement of this year's BAFTA Film Awards nominations was not done at 7:30am, but at the more sedate time of 2:00pm. This year, it was Aisling Bea (This Way Up, Live At The Apollo) and Susan Wokoma (Enola Holmes, Chewing Gum) who did the honours, at the Royal Albert Hall.  

Here's a selection of the nominees:

BEST FILM

The Father

The Mauritanian

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

Calm With Horses

The Dig

The Father

His House

Limbo

The Mauritanian

Mogul Mowgli

Promising Young Woman

Rocks

Saint Maud

LEADING ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round)

Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian)

LEADING ACTRESS

Bukky Bakray (Rocks)

Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Wunmi Mosaku (His House)

Alfre Woodard (Clemency)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Barry Keoghan (Calm With Horses)

Alan Kim (Minari)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami...)

Clarke Peters (Da 5 Bloods)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Niamh Alger (Calm With Horses)

Kosar Ali (Rocks)

Maria Balakova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Dominique Fishback (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Ashley Madekwe (County Lines)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Sarah Gavron (Rocks)

Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth)

Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round)

Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

This year, BAFTA announced longlists for all categories, so you can see what was in contention for nominations here. 

Nomadland and Rocks- a drama about a teenage girl forced to take care of herself and her younger brother when they are abandoned by their mother- lead the nominations with seven apiece, with The Father, Mank, Minari, and Promising Young Woman gaining six nods each (although that one of Promising Young Woman's nominations did not come for Carey Mulligan's central performance will no doubt raise a few eyebrows). 

A lot of the more common names thrown around this awards season- such as David Fincher, Regina King, Viola Davis, and Glenn Close- haven't shown up at the BAFTAs, although this is not necessarily a surprise; BAFTA has always skewed towards British talent and British films, so the absence of shouldn't necessarily concern anyone for next week's Oscar nods. 

Along with Carey Mulligan's non-inclusion, it is also surprising not to see nominations for Olivia Colman (The Father), Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7) or Gary Oldman (Mank). They're all likely to get Oscar nominations next week, and each of their respective films are eligible and in contention. That said, there's been a wide selection of very diverse films that have been honoured this year (50 films in total across all categories). 

The nominees for the 2021 Rising Star award - the only BAFTA awarded by public vote- have also been announced: Bukky Bakray, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Morfydd Clark, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, and Conrad Khan. Find out more about them, and cast your vote here. 

This year's BAFTAs will be given out in two separate, virtual ceremonies: the craft awards (cinematography, production design, sound etc.) will be given out on Saturday 10th April 2021, whilst the more mainstream categories (acting categories, director, Best Film etc.) get awarded on Sunday 11th April 2021. Further news on how the ceremonies will work will be forthcoming. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

There'll be another (short) post later with the nominees for this year's Directors' Guild Awards. 

Awards Season 2021: Critics' Choice Movie Award Winners

More awards shenanigans to report, as yesterday (Sunday 7th March) was the 26th Critics' Choice Awards, hosted by Taye Diggs. 

Before we get into the results, this is just a heads-up: if you're not a fan of awards stuff, this week is gonna be absolutely chockful of it (there's going to be awards stuff every few days up until next Monday [15th March, when the Oscar nominations are announced]), so forewarned is forearmed. 

Anyway, here's a full list of film winners:

Best Picture: Nomadland

Best Actor: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Best Acting Ensemble: The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Director: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman

Best Adapted Screenplay: Nomadland

Best Comedy: Palm Springs

Best Foreign Language Film: Minari

Best Score: Soul

Best Song: "Speak Now" (One Night In Miami)

Best Production Design: Mank

Best Editing: Sound Of Metal and The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (tie)

Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Hair & Makeup: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Visual Effects: Tenet

Best Cinematography: Nomadland

Best Young Actor/Actress: Alan S. Kim (Minari)


Nomadland was the big winner of the night with four awards, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom went away with three. 

Congratulations to all winners!

You may have noticed that there are a couple of categories that haven't been included in the list this year (notably, Best Animated Feature, Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie, and Best Action Movie). 2021 saw the first annual Critics' Choice Super Awards, which honoured genre television and movies in a separate ceremony. 

The ceremony happened in January, with Da 5 Bloods winning Best Action Movie, Soul winning Best Animated Movie, The Invisible Man taking the Best Horror Movie title, Palm Springs named the Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie, and The Old Guard winning Best Superhero Movie. .

As if this wasn't exciting enough, tomorrow (Tuesday 9th March) sees two more awards bodies- BAFTA and the Directors Guild of America-  announcing their nominations for this year's awards.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Awards Season 2021: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

This is just a brief update to tell you about the nominees for this year's Writers' Guild Awards (WGA), which were announced earlier today. 

Long-time readers of the awards season nonsense on here will know that the screenplay categories are not ones that I try and guess nominees (or winners) for, but as a writer, I'm interested to see what's got the nod.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Judas And The Black Messiah

Palm Springs

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

News Of The World

One Night In Miami

The White Tiger

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

All In: The Fight For Democracy

The Dissident

Herb Alpert Is...

Red Penguins

Totally Under Control

Due to how the Writers Guild of America works (where non-members are not permitted to be nominated for a WGA Award), there are several major films that were ineligible (but will be eligible for the Oscars): these include Soul, Minari, Mank, Nomadland, The Father, Pieces Of A Woman, and The Personal History Of David Copperfield. 

Quentin Tarantino is famously not a WGA member, but that hasn't stopped him getting four Oscar nods for his screenplays, and two wins. So, unlike other certain guild awards, these don't have such a major impact on the Oscars.

The Writers' Guild Awards will be handed out on Sunday 21st March 2021. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

There's a brief break in awards stuff now; our next awards outing will be Sunday 28th February 2021, when the Golden Globes will be handed out. Enjoy the respite!

Awards Season 2021: Critics' Choice Movie Awards Nominations

Awards nonsense ahoy! Today (Monday 8th February) saw the announcement of the movie nominations for the 26th Annual Critics' Choice Awards.

Here are a selection of their nominees:

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Minari

News Of The World

Nomadland

One Night In Miami...

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods)

Regina King (One Night In Miami...)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

BEST ACTOR

Ben Affleck (The Way Back)

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Tom Hanks (News Of The World)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Steven Yeun (Minari)

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Zendaya (Malcolm & Marie)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Bill Murray (On The Rocks)

Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami...)

Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Ellen Burstyn (Pieces Of A Woman)

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

Mank leads the field with 12 nominations, closely followed by Minari with 10. 

A couple of nice surprises in the list - including the first major recognition for Delroy Lindo, Zendaya, and Ellen Burstyn. For me, this confirms that- for each of the acting awards at least- there's a core of 3-4 actors who are a virtual lock for an Oscar nod. Similarly, there are 3 (maybe 4?) directors who are looking very strong too, although the Directors Guild Award nominations (due on 9th March) will pretty much crystallize that.

The 26th Critics' Choice Awards will be handed out on Sunday 7th March 2021, in a ceremony hosted by Taye Diggs (The Best Man Holiday, Equilibrium, How Stella Got Her Groove Back), who is taking MC duties for the third consecutive year. 

The ceremony will be a mix of in-person and virtual, with Diggs and some presenters in the Los Angeles studio with nominees appearing remotely. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next stop on the awards season hype train will be the Writers Guild Awards nominations which are announced next Tuesday (16th February).

Awards Season 2021: Golden Globe Nominations

Today (Tuesday 3rd February) sees the announcement of the nominees for the 78th Golden Globe Awards, awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Sarah Jessica Parker and Taraji P. Henson announced the nominees at an early(ish) morning ceremony (8:35 EST/13:35 GMT)

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 the full list of film nominees:

Best Picture - Drama

The Father

Mank

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Hamilton

Music

Palm Springs

The Prom

Best Director

Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

David Fincher (Mank)

Regina King (One Night In Miami…)

Aaron Sorkin (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Actor - Drama

Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)

Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Gary Oldman (Mank)

Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian)

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy

Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

James Corden (The Prom)

Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)

Dev Patel (The Personal History Of David Copperfield)

Andy Samberg (Palm Springs)

Best Actress - Drama

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)

Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)

Kate Hudson (Music)

Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit)

Rosamund Pike (I Care A Lot)

Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma.)

Best Supporting Actor

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Jared Leto (The Little Things)

Bill Murray (On The Rocks)

Leslie Odom Jr (One Night In Miami…)

Best Supporting Actress

Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)

Olivia Colman (The Father)

Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)

Amanda Seyfried (Mank)

Helena Zengel (News Of The World)

Best Original Score

The Midnight Sky

Tenet

News Of The World

Mank

Soul

Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language

Another Round

La Llorona

The Life Ahead

Minari

Two Of Us

Best Screenplay

Promising Young Woman

Mank

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

The Father

Nomadland

Best Original Song

"Fight For You" (Judas And The Black Messiah)

"Hear My Voice" (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)

"Io Sì [Seen]" (The Life Ahead)

"Speak Now" (One Night In Miami...)

"Tigress & Tweed" (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Best Motion Picture - Animated

The Croods: A New Age

Onward

Over The Moon

Soul

Wolfwalkers

With six nominations, Mank leads the field, closely followed by The Trial Of The Chicago 7 with five. The Father, Nomadland, and Promising Young Woman all get four. 

Minari has been tipped as a major awards player, but there was some controversy that the HFPA placed it in the Best Foreign Language category (as the primary language of the film is Korean, despite being filmed in the USA). Other awards bodies may be slightly more lenient. And after several years of not nominating a female director for the Best Director category, HFPA have nominated three this year: Emerald Fennell, Regina King, and Chloé Zhao. See, wasn't so hard, was it? 

It's also been announced that Jane Fonda will be recipient of this year's Cecil B. DeMille Award.

The winners will be announced on Sunday 28th February 2021, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning to host duties, but with a little twist: Poehler will host from Los Angeles, whilst Fey will host in New York .

Congratulations to all nominees!

There's more awards shenanigans coming tomorrow (4th February) when the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announce the nominations for this year's awards.