Awards Season 2015: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions 2015

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2014 at the 87th Annual Academy Awards, which will be hosted for the first time by Neil Patrick Harris. 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. So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Arquette's performance as Olivia Evans, beleagured mum to Mason and Samantha, is a real tour de force. A woman constantly in wrong relationships with unsuitable men, her love and devotion to her kids is paramount. Her warmth and humanity shines through and there's more than a couple of 'Oscar' moments throughout the film, none more so than her tearful conversation with her son as he prepares to leave for college. She's won every other major award she's been nominated for, so it's a pretty clear indicator that she might be going home with an Oscar.


Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

It feels a bit odd to say but it feels like, this awards season, that several actors are finally getting their due. J.K. Simmons is one of those actors. A truly fine character actor who has been the highlight in some of the films he's been in (Juno and Burn After Reading come to mind), he's finally getting the recognition he deserves for his role in Whiplash. His performance as Terence Fletcher is electrifying as he pushes his students with learning techniques that are less Dead Poets Society and more Full Metal Jacket. Again, he's won everything so far as an Oscar seems a foregone conclusion and damn well deserved.


Best Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

I haven't been able to see Still Alice yet (it doesn't open in the UK until the beginning of March) but I really think it would be a shock if Moore didn't win. Like Arquette and Simmons, she's been the runaway winner in her category throughout all the major awards- Golden Globe, SAG, Critics' Choice, BAFTA- so I think she'll finally get her Oscar (on the fifth nomination). 


Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

With no disrespect to any of the other nominees, the Best Actor plaudits have been shared between Eddie Redmayne and Michael Keaton throughout the awards season. However, Redmayne's SAG win probably puts him in the lead. If I'm being cynical, it ticks all the usual Oscar-bait boxes: it's based on a real person, struggling with insurmountable odds, with a pronounced change in physicality. Whilst I had a few issues with the film as a whole, Redmayne's performance as Stephen Hawking is affecting and poignant. But if it's not him, it'll be Keaton. Any other name called out would be a big surprise.


Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Best Picture: Boyhood

Linklater has taken all bar one of the major directing awards (Independent Spirit, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, BAFTA) but the DGA's choice of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (his only win of the major awards) could mean Inarritu gets the Best Director gong. Frankly, the direction of Birdman is excellent and the mesmeric camerawork making it look like one continuous shot is extraordinary, so if Inarritu does win it won't be a bad decision. However, Linklater's passion and dedication to Boyhood cannot be understated. To have the faith to spend twelve years of your life on a project is astounding and the end result is something special. 

Boyhood is a thoughtful, exacting piece. To see Ellar Coltrane literally grow up before your eyes is amazing. The dedication that every actor and member of crew gave to this film cannot be understated. It doesn't feel like a gimmick, it doesn't feel like a cheap trick. It's an authentic, occasionally funny, occasionally moving chronicle of a young man's life and it deserves the big prize.


Last year, I got a clean sweep of 6 out of 6. I think Best Actor and Best Director may be open for debate, as might Best Picture. Birdman and Boyhood have been sharing the Best Picture and Best Director plaudits throughout the awards season, so it'll be interesting to see what happens tonight. This is one year where I won't exactly mind being wrong if my predictions aren't correct.

There'll be a write-up of the ceremony and a full list of the winners tomorrow.

Tez

Awards Season 2015: DGA and BAFTA Winners

Awards Season is now approaching the final straight, with one big weekend left. This weekend, however, has seen two sets of major awards handed outs.

DIRECTORS' GUILD AWARDS

The DGAs were handed out yesterday (Saturday 7th February). The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Laura Poitras (Citizenfour)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television: Lisa Cholodenko (Olive Kitteridge)

With this win, it's looking likely that Inarritu might sneak in for the Best Director Oscar, in place of the highly-fancied Richard Linklater. Both films have their merits: the sheer timescale and commitment Linklater took to get Boyhood on the screen can't be underestimated, whilst the continuous camera movements and overall style of Birdman is a technical tour de force. Both would be worthy winners.

Citizenfour also got a Best Documentary Feature nod at the Oscars, so this looks good for that.

BAFTA FILM AWARDS

Tonight (Sunday 8th February), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the 68th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony hosted for the tenth time by Stephen Fry. Rosamund Pike, Eddie Redmayne, Edward Norton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, JK Simmons, Keira Knightley, Reese Witherspoon and Amy Adams were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film.

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners:

Best Film: Boyhood

Outstanding British Film: The Theory Of Everything

Leading Actor: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

Leading Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel 

Adapted Screenplay: The Theory Of Everything

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Stephen Beresford and David Livingstone (writer and producer of Pride)

Animated Film: The Lego Movie

Documentary: Citizenfour

Film Not In The English Language: Ida

Cinematography: Birdman

Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Editing: Whiplash

Make Up And Hair: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Original Music: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Sound: Whiplash

Special Visual Effects: Interstellar

Short Animation: The Bigger Picture

Short Film: Boogaloo And Graham

Rising Star: Jack O'Connell

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: BBC Films

BAFTA Fellowship: Mike Leigh

Stephen Fry was on top form as host, with a couple of nice little jokes; I also love how embarrassed he got after being kissed by Cuba Gooding Jr! I'm overjoyed to see the writer and producer of Pride get a BAFTA, as well as The Lego Movie winning Best Animated Feature. There was a very touching tribute to the late great, Richard (Lord) Attenborough and Mike Leigh's Felllowship acceptance speech was probably the highlight of the night, thanking those who have backed his films and also those who didn't- as they would have only interefered!

The biggest winner of the night was The Grand Budapest Hotel, winning five BAFTAs with The Theory Of Everything, Boyhood and Whiplash all taking home three. Congratulations to all winners!


Awards Season will culminate in two weeks' time, on the weekend of 21st/22nd February. Both the Independent Spirit Awards and the Razzies will be handed out on Saturday 21st February with the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday 22nd February.

And then we can forget about this trivial nonsense until the end of November.

Awards Season 2015: Producers' Guild Awards and SAG Awards Results

Well, after a brief respite, Awards Season rears its head for a brief moment as two important Guild Awards were handed out over this last weekend.

PRODUCERS' GUILD AWARDS 

The Producers' Guild Awards were handed out on 24th January. The film winners were:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: Birdman

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: The Lego Movie

Documentary Film: Life Itself

The fact that Birdman got the PGA over Boyhood has been seen as a sign that the tide is starting to shift away from Linklater's epic. Of course, there are no guarantees- but a win at the PGA is a pretty good indication of Oscar success (if you're nominated, unlike The Lego Movie and Life Itself).

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

The Screen Actors' Guild Awards were announced on 25th January. The film winners were:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

Birdman

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: 

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: 

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

No surprises with Moore, Simmons and Arquette adding to their impressive haul of silverware, but a win for Eddie Redmayne in the awards voted for by actors (many of whom are also Academy members) puts him ahead in the Best Actor race (with Michael Keaton probably the second-placed runner). Birdman's win for Best Cast (essentially the SAG's Best Picture) adds to the speculation that it might be a triumph for Birdman come late February.

Up next in awards season is the Directors' Guild Award on 7th February and the BAFTA Film Awards on 8th February.

Awards Season 2015: Critics' Choice Awards

Aside from the announcement of the Oscar nominations yesterday, there was another awards ceremony to contend with. The Critics' Choice Awards were given out. Below are a list of selected film winners:

Best Picture: Boyhood

Best Actor: Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Best Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Best Acting Ensemble: Birdman

Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Animated Feature: The Lego Movie

Best Original Screenplay: Birdman

Best Adapted Screenplay: Gone Girl

A full list of winners can be found here. 

The Critics Choice Awards also have categories for action movies, sci-fi/horror (which are inexplicably lumped together) and comedies, so Michael Keaton walked away with two trophies last night as he was named both Best Actor and Best Actor In A Comedy. 

Wins for Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette do no harm to their Oscar chances at all, whilst wins for Boyhood and Richard Linklater do likewise. Whilst it's far from sewn up, at least there's an indication on which way the wind is blowing.

After a busy week, the Awards Season mercifully takes a break until next weekend, with the announcement of the Producers' Guild Awards on 24th January and then the Screen Actors' Guild Awards on 25th January.

Awards Season 2015: Academy Award Nominations

As announced earlier today, here is a selection of the nominations for this year's Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory Of Everything

Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)

Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)

Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

BEST ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)

Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything)

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Duvall (The Judge)

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Laura Dern (Wild)

Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Emma Stone (Birdman)

Meryl Streep (Into The Woods)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

I got 27 out of 33 (which I make as 82%) which is the same as last year. Not too bad.

Meryl Streep gains her nineteenth nomination for Into The Woods. There's a lot of love for American Sniper, and both Morten Tyldum's and Bennett Miller's nod for Best Director are interesting to see. The Lego Movie misses out on a Best Animated Feature nod but does get a nomination for Best Original Song ('Everything Is Awesome!') whilst one of Studio Ghibli's last films The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya does get a nomination.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days Of Future Past get nominated for Best Visual Effects along with Guardians Of The Galaxy and Interstellar.

The 87th Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday February 22nd in a ceremony hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

Awards Season 2015: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

Tomorrow, the nominations for the the 87th Academy Awards will be announced. But they're doing things a little differently this year.

At 5.30am PST, directors J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron (last year's Best Director winner) will take to the stage and announce the first twelve categories, which will be mostly technical (Best Sound Design, Best Visual Effects and such). Then at 5.38am PST, Cheryl Boone Isaacs (president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and Chris Pine (Star Trek, Into The Woods) will announce the other twelve categories (which will include Best Picture and the acting awards). It is the first time that all 24 categories will reveal their nominations in the broadcast- usually it's just the major awards with the technical awards being announced by a press release shortly afterwards.

As has been my practice for the last few years, 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 on Thursday.

NB. Just like the last few years, 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.

BEST PICTURE

Birdman

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

Gone Girl

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Nightcrawler

Selma

The Theory Of Everything

Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Ava DuVernay (Selma)

Clint Eastwood (American Sniper)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

BEST ACTRESS

Jennifer Aniston (Cake)

Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything)

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Duvall (The Judge)

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)

Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Emma Stone (Birdman)

Meryl Streep (Into The Woods)

American Sniper could well sneak in a Best Picture nomination (with Selma looking to be the most likely replacement if it does). Best Director has been a bit of a crapshoot, given the DGA's announcement yesterday; I've still included Ava DuVernay but it's open.

Best Actor could see Steve Carell bumped in favour of David Oyelowo or possibly Ralph Fiennes. It could well be that Academy voters see Carell's performance as more of a supporting role and place him accordingly. The Academy do have previous on this; the year that Kate Winslet won, in every other awards ceremony, she'd been a Best Supporting Actress nominee for The Reader. The Academy bumped her to Best Actress. If Carell does get placed in Supporting Actor, the most likely casualty will be Robert Duvall. 

Best Actress seems fairly settled, although a surprise nomination for Amy Adams (Big Eyes) or Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night) in place of Jennifer Aniston could happen. Similarly, whilst the Supporting Actress category is pretty fixed, Carmen Ejogo (Selma) or even Rene Russo (Nghtcrawler) could get named. 

Usually a score of 15 is adequate, but given the fact that there could be anywhere between 5 and 10 Best Picture awards, I'ill be happy with a prediction of 18 or higher. Last year, I got 28 out of 34. I'm not that confident this year.

I'll add the official nominations once they're announced on Thursday afternoon.

Tez

Awards Season 2015: Guild Awards Nominations

When I report on Awards Season, I don't tend to mention the Guild Awards (or, if I do, it'll only be to mention the winners). Because the Guild Awards tend to be voted on by members of the Academy, it's a good barometer of the way the Oscar nominations may go. This year's Guild nominations have thrown up some interesting things so I thought I'd go through them. 

PRODUCERS' GUILD AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The nominations were announced on 5th January, and will be awarded on 24th January.

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

Gone Girl

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Nightcrawler

The Theory Of Everything

Whiplash

Selma's lack of nomination was a bit of a surprise, as was the inclusion of American Sniper. It's the first real serious shot the film has had during awards season, so it could sneak in for a Best Picture nod. That aside, the usual suspects are in attendance and I fully expect to see at least 9 of these names on Thursday.

WRITERS' GUILD AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The nominations were announced on 7th January, and will be awarded on 14th February.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Nightcrawler

Whiplash

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Sniper

Gone Girl

Guardians Of The Galaxy

The Imitation Game

Wild

I don't tend to focus on the screenplay Oscars, but- as a writer and a film fan- I do have an interest in what's been nominated. Whiplash has had a bit of controversy over where to put the script (the full-length film was originally based on a short directed by Damian Chazelle and expanded from that short) but the WGA have declared it original. The main reason I want to bring it up is Guardians Of The Galaxy getting recognised in the Adapted Screenplay category. It makes me happy.

DIRECTOR'S GUILD AWARD NOMINATIONS

The nominations were announced on 13th January, and will be awarded on 7th February.

FEATURE FILM NOMINEES

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Clint Eastwood (American Sniper)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

Right... now this is where things get interesting. Anderson, Inarritu and Linklater have been fixtures on the Best Director lists from the start so their nominations are no surprise. However, this is the first mention for both Eastwood and Tyldum in this awards season, over others such as Ava DuVernay (Selma) and David Fincher (Gone Girl).  I think it means the Best Director nominations are far from locked and Thursday might see some curveballs.


Tomorrow (Wednesday 14th) will see the nominations for the Razzie Awards and I will get off the fence and come up with my official Oscar nomination predictions.

Tez

Awards Season 2015: Golden Globes Winners

Last night, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of this year's Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film, in a ceremony hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the third- and sadly final- time.

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Boyhood

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Actor (Drama): Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Best Actress (Drama): Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Amy Adams (Big Eyes)

Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Best Screenplay: Birdman

Best Original Score: The Theory Of Everything

Best Original Song: 'Glory' (Selma)

Best Foreign Language Film: Leviathan

Best Animated Feature Film: How To Train Your Dragon 2

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: George Clooney

I honestly don't know what they were thinking, giving Animated Feature to How To Train Your Dragon 2. I mean, it was a good film (and a decent sequel) but The Lego Movie is clearly a superior film. Birdman was widely tipped to get Best Musical or Comedy, so The Grand Budapest Hotel's win has been a bit of a surprise. Amy Adams gets a rare back-to-back Golden Globe win (having won the same award last year for her performance in American Hustle). The Best Actor (Drama) category was a tough one so it's a real hats off to Eddie Redmayne for his win. 

Awards Season Week rumbles on as there's going to be a short piece tomorrow about the various Guild Award nominations and what they might mean for Thursday's Oscars announcements.

Tez

Awards Season 2015: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

Today (Friday 9th January) saw the nominations for this year's BAFTA Film Awards. Below is a selection of the nominations:

BEST FILM

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

The Theory Of Everything

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

'71

The Imitation Game

Paddington

Pride

The Theory Of Everything

Under The Skin

ACTOR

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Big Eyes)

Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything)

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Rene Russo (Nightcrawler)

Imelda Staunton (Pride)

Emma Stone (Birdman)

DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Damian Chazelle (Whiplash)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

James Marsh (The Theory Of Everything)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

The Grand Budapest Hotel got 11 nominations, with Birdman and The Theory Of Everything with 10 apiece and The Imitation Game with 9. Most of the familiar names are present and correct, but there were a few surprises- Amy Adams' nomination for Best Actress being one (although I don't think Cake has had a UK release yet), with Steve Carell's Foxcatcher performance nominated for Supporting Actor another. There's a chance that the Academy might follow suit, to free up a Best Actor slot for David Oyelowo (although Selma failed to get a single BAFTA nomination). Also intriguing is Damian Chazelle's nod for Best Director. 

The BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday 8th February, in a ceremony hosted by the inimitable Stephen Fry. 

Next week is a busy one for Awards Season, starting with the Golden Globes on Sunday (11th). Tuesday (13th) sees the Directors' Guild Awards nominations, which will pretty much lock the Best Director Oscar category. Wednesday (14th) will see the nominations for the Razzies (if there's any justice in the world, Transformers: Age Of Extinction and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will sweep the boards), whilst on Thursday (15th) this year's Oscar nominations will be announced.

Enjoy your weekend!


Tez

Awards Season 2015: Critics' Choice Movie Awards Nominations

Another week, another awards nomination announcement. Today saw the nominees annouced for the 20th Annoual Critics Choice Movie Awards, handed out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. 

Here is a selection of their nominations:

Best Picture

Birdman

Boyhood

Gone Girl

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Nightcrawler

Selma

The Theory Of Everything

Unbroken

Whiplash

Best Director

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Ava DuVernay (Selma)

David Fincher (Gone Girl)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Angelina Jolie (Unbroken)

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Actor

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Michael Keaton (Birdman)

David Oyelowo (Selma)

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

Best Actress

Jennifer Aniston (Cake)

Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)

Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything)

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Best Supporting Actor

John Brolin (Inherent Vice)

Robert Duvall (The Judge)

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)

Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Emma Stone (Birdman)

Meryl Streep (Into The Woods)

Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

What is cool about the Critics' Choice Awards is that, aside from the usual cinema awards that most ceremonies give out, they also give out separate awards for genre films (eg. Best Action Movie,  Best Comedy, Best Sci-Fi/Horror) and also have Best Actor and Actress categories for some of these films as well.

There is some overlap this year with Michael Keaton and Ralph Fiennes both nominated for in the Best Actor and Best Actor In A Comedy categories for their roles in Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Birdman leads the way with a whopping 13 nominations with The Grand Budapest Hotel coming in second with 11. Boyhood got 8 while The Imitation Game got 6.

Some column inches have been given to the fact that, even in an expanded field of six nominees, Fiennes was nominated for Best Actor in the place of Steve Carell for Foxcatcher. However, given the Academy's notorious snobbery towards broadly comic roles, the chances of Fiennes getting an Oscar nod are slim- although not impossible. 

Those who follow these awards season blogs- and bless you if you do- will recognise a lot (and I mean A LOT) of the names and films. 

Awards season gets a bit quiet for the next few weeks, over the Christmas and New Years period, but the next big announcement will be the Producers' Guild Awards nominations on January 5th (always a good indicator of some of the Best Picture Oscar nominees) with the BAFTA nominations later that week (January 9th).

Tez

Awards Season 2015: Golden Globe Nominations

Today (Thursday 11th December) saw the nominations announced for the 72nd Golden Globes. 

 

The Golden Globes split the films into Drama and Musical/Comedy strands for some awards, which does mean that films and performances that may generally get overlooked when it comes to the Oscars do get recognition (it's rare that a purely comedic role will get an Oscar nod - the last one probably being Melissa McCarthy's turn in Bridesmaids). As usual, there's a high level of correspondence between these and some of the other award nominations announced meaning that several films and performances take another step closer to the coveted Oscar nomination.

Here are a selection of the Golden Globes' film nominations:

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory Of Everything

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Into The Woods

Pride

St Vincent

Best Director - Motion Picture

Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Ava DuVernay (Selma)

David Fincher (Gone Girl)

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

David Oyelowo (Selma)

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Jennifer Aniston (Cake)

Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything)

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Bill Murray (St Vincent)

Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice)

Christoph Waltz (Big Eyes)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Amy Adams (Big Eyes)

Emily Blunt (Into The Woods)

Helen Mirren (The Hundred-Foot Journey)

Julianne Moore (Maps To The Stars)

Quvenzhane Wallis (Annie)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Robert Duvall (The Judge)

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)

Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)

Emma Stone (Birdman)

Meryl Streep (Into The Woods)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

The Supporting Actor category brings all five nominees from the SAG Awards over, as does the Best Actress (Drama), with four of the five SAG nominees in Supporting Actress also appearing on the list (here, Chastain- who received an Independent Spirit Award nominee for the same role-  is favoured over Naomi Watts). 

It's abolutely brilliant to see Pride get a nod for Best Musical/Comedy. It's also nice to see The Grand Budapest Hotel get some recognition, garnering four nominations overall (three more than Interstellar that got one nod for Hans Zimmer's score). 

Next up in awards season is the Critics' Choice Awards whose nominations are announced on Monday (15th December)