Awards Season 2026: The 98th Academy Awards

So the curtain has fallen on the 98th Academy Awards. The winners and losers will now be on their way to the myriad Los Angeles parties to celebrate or drown their sorrows whilst, here in the UK, it's gone 3am and I'm struggling to stay awake to form cogent sentences about my thoughts on the ceremony. It's a very different life I lead. 

Conan O'Brien returned to host for a second year and the show began with an amusing- if slightly overlong- pre-recorded skit showing Conan (in similar make-up to Aunt Gladys from Weapons) being chased by a pack of ravenous kids through some of this year's nominated films. His opening monologue was, much like last year, hit-and-miss but there were a couple of good lines (I particularly liked the dig about the alternate Super Bowl half-time show and I genuinely snort-laughed with his comment about the response to the lack of British acting nominees), although the flight of fancy about what he'd do if he won an Oscar- replete with a Josh Groban cameo- fell flat for me. 

In fact, it felt like this was not a good year for the "guest host banter" sections. Many felt painful and just not very funny, and some went on way too long. There were a couple of standouts: Will Arnett's anti-AI bit when hosting the Best Animated Short Film award was pretty good, and I liked Kumail Nanjiani's quip about the Live Action Short tie. This certainly isn't going to be a banner year for those listicles of "best zingers from the Academy Awards".   

It wasn't all bad. The "In Memoriam" section was beautifully observed, starting with a heartfelt tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner by Billy Crystal (and featuring many stars from Reiner's films). After some VT, Rachel McAdams gave a touching eulogy to Diane Keaton. The last section ended with a tribute to Robert Redford from none other than Barbra Streisand, concluding her tribute with a short rendition of "The Way We Were". It was very sobering to see just how many losses the film industry has endured over the last twelve months. 

The two musical performances- "I Lied To You" from Sinners (recreating the powerful performance from the film live on stage) and "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters- were both polished, accomplished and energetic. I liked how they presented the inaugural Best Casting award, by having an actor from each of the nominated films to pay tribute to the individual casting director. I hope that's something they keep going forward. 

How did I do with my predictions? 3/6 as expected. I should have stuck my neck out a bit more. 

Amy Madigan gave a wonderfully flustered acceptance speech, the first award of the evening. Sean Penn was not in attendance at the event, so Kieran Culkin accepted the Oscar on his behalf; Penn is notoriously anti-awards campaigning and schmoozing. I was absolutely delighted that Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor, not just because his performance as the Smokestack Twins is superb but because it meant that the fairly odious Marty Supreme got totally shut out (Chalamet was the movie's best chance of taking home any gold). Hey, schadenfreude can be quite cathartic. Jessie Buckley's acceptance speech was also beautiful. Much like last year with Conclave, I'd liked to have seen Hamnet get a bit more awards love but I'm glad it got recognised in such an important category, and for such a powerful performance.

This ceremony has also seen a couple of "firsts". In addition to the first Best Casting award being handed out, Autumn Durald Arkapaw becomes the first female cinematographer to win the Best Cinematography Oscar, for her stellar work on Sinners (her acceptance speech was one of the highlights of the evening). "Golden" also becomes the first KPop song to receive a Best Original Song Oscar. 

One Battle After Another is the big winner of the night with six Oscars, with Sinners coming second with four, and Frankenstein in third with three. Despite multiple nominations, Marty Supreme, Bugonia, The Secret Agent, Train Dreams, Blue Moon and It Was Just An Accident all walked away empty-handed. 

Below is the full list of winners at the 98th Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: One Battle After Another

Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Best Actress: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan (Weapons)

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

Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

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

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: KPop Demon Hunters

Best International Feature Film of the Year: Sentimental Value

Best Cinematography: Sinners

Best Film Editing: One Battle After Another

Best Production Design: Frankenstein

Best Costume Design: Frankenstein

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Frankenstein

Best Original Score: Sinners

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

Best Sound: F1

Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire And Ash

Best Casting: One Battle After Another

Best Documentary (Feature): Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Best Documentary (Short Subject): All The Empty Rooms

Best Animated Short Film: The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Best Live Action Short Film: The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva (tie)

Congratulations to all winners!

So that's awards season 2026 done and dusted for another year. Now it's time for bed. Goodnight, my loves. 

Awards Season 2026: BAFTA Film Awards Winners

Last night (Sunday 22nd February), the 79th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony, hosted by Alan Cumming for the first time. 

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners.

Best Film: One Battle After Another

Outstanding British Film: Hamnet

Leading Actor: Robert Aramayo (I Swear)

Leading Actress: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Supporting Actor: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Supporting Actress: Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Original Screenplay: Sinners

Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Akinola Davies Jr. (director) and Wale Davies (writer) (My Father's Shadow)

Animated Film: Zootropolis 2

Documentary: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Film Not In The English Language: Sentimental Value

Cinematography: One Battle After Another

Costume Design: Frankenstein

Editing: One Battle After Another

Make Up And Hair: Frankenstein

Original Score: Sinners

Production Design: Frankenstein

Sound: F1

Special Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire And Ash

Casting: I Swear

Short Animation: Two Black Boys In Paradise

Short Film: This Is Endometriosis

Children's & Family Film: Boong

Rising Star: Robert Aramayo

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: Clare Binns

BAFTA Fellowship: Donna Langley (chair of Universal Pictures)

One Battle After Another was the biggest winner of the evening with six BAFTAs, whilst Frankenstein and Sinners are tied for second place with three each. The only other films to win multiple awards were Hamnet and I Swear with two apiece. 

Despite multiple nominations, Marty Supreme, Bugonia, The Ballad Of Wallis Island, Pillion, and The Secret Agent didn't win anything. Marty Supreme joins Women In Love (1969) and Finding Neverland (2004) as the films to have the most BAFTA nominations (11) without any wins.

In some respects, the results are what may have been expected. In many, however, the BAFTAs have provided a couple of curveballs. Oscar voting is still going on until the start of March, so the results here- and the upcoming Actor Awards- could have some sway on the final result. This is more in the case of the supporting acting categories rather than the leads (which I'll go into in a bit). 

Unlike last year, where Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin were the runaway supporting acting winners throughout the entirety of the 2025 awards season, this year, it's been much more fluid. Of the three major awards bodies that give Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards, there have been three different winners in each: Jacob Elordi and Amy Madigan at Critics' Choice, Stellan Skarsgård and Teyana Taylor at the Golden Globes, and now Sean Penn and Wunmi Mosaku at the BAFTAs. It's always nice when things aren't just a straightforward coronation, even if it might play merry hell with my predictions

That said, it feels like a couple of races are now secure, with Paul Thomas Anderson and One Battle After Another needing a La La Land-scale upset to not hear "And the Oscar goes to..." in a couple of weeks' time. Same with Jessie Buckley whose anguished and emotional performance in Hamnet grounds the movie.  

Robert Aramayo's Best Actor win was probably the biggest surprise of the evening, but it's a feat that obviously won't be repeated on 15th March (I still think Timothée Chalamet is the most likely Best Actor winner). Also, the BAFTAs do tend to favour British talent so it's not a massive shock that Aramayo won. Aramayo plays the Tourette's campaigner John Davidson in the bopic I Swear and puts in a truly committed performance, also winning the Rising Star Award (the only BAFTA voted for by the public).  

On that note, Davidson's attendance at the event has sparked something of a controversy (putting it mildly). Davidson has an element of Tourette's known as coprolalia, which is the impulse to swear and use other inappropriate language. Whilst it's probably the most often depicted presentation of Tourette's, it's less common than you might think (only around 10-15% of those with the condition actually have coprolalia). The main thing to remember with this is it's involuntary; the person hasn't got control over what they tic and- due to brain chemistry and other things- the tics will usually be the worst things you can think of in the given situation.  

At the ceremony, and in the Sunday night telecast, Davidson can be heard cursing heavily at several points and used a racial slur when Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the Special Visual Effects award. Attendees at the ceremony were advised that they may hear some strong and offensive language due to Davidson's condition. Host Alan Cumming also mentioned it and apologised for any offence caused twice as part of his hosting duties.

Understandably, people are upset. Rightly so. It's a fairly horrendous situation. But here's the thing: the BAFTAs are not broadcast live; they have a two-hour delay. And the telecast apparently edited out a political statement from Akinola Davies Jr. when he accepted his award. So, whilst Davidson's language was unacceptable (and he appearently left the ceremony of his own volition about 25 minutes in after his outbursts), it was involuntary. 

The BBC's choice to let it go to air wasn't. 

That was a conscious decision made, and a bloody stupid one too. The knives are out for the BBC on multiple fronts and making a deliberate choice to air one of the worst slurs a person can be called plays right into the hands of those who wish to criticise our national broadcaster. They have pulled the show from iPlayer and have now edited the slur out but, really, that should have been done straight away. It doesn't minimise the effect that word had on those in the room, but it would have stopped further controversy. The right-wing morons have just been given another stick to beat the BBC with, and the Corporation willingly handed it to them. 

In any case, congratulations to all winners!

The next clutch of awards season news comes this coming weekend, with the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday 28th February and the Actor Awards on Sunday 1st March. 

Awards Season 2026: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 79th British Academy (BAFTA) Film Awards were announced this afternoon, by David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus, Rye Lane) and Aimee Lou Wood (Living, Sex Education). 

Here's a selection of the nominees:

BEST FILM

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

28 Years Later

The Ballad Of Wallis Island

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy

Die My Love

H Is For Hawk

Hamnet

I Swear

Mr. Burton

Pillion

Steve

LEADING ACTOR

Robert Aramayo (I Swear)

Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)

Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)

Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Jesse Plemons (Bugonia)

LEADING ACTRESS 

Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)

Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)

Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)

Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)

Emma Stone (Bugonia)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)

Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)

Paul Mescal (Hamnet)

Peter Mullan (I Swear)

Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Odessa A'zion (Marty Supreme)

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value)

Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)

Carey Mulligan (The Ballad Of Wallis Island)

Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

Emily Watson (Hamnet)

DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Yorgos Lanthimos (Bugonia)

Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)

Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)

Chloé Zhao (Hamnet)

A full list of nominees in all categories can be found here.

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

One Battle After Another leads the pack with an astonishing 14 nominations, followed by Sinners with 13, and Hamnet and Marty Supreme tied for third place with a thoroughly respectable 11 each.

No real shocks or surprises here, to be honest. As expected, BAFTA voters will go for British-made films and performances therein, so it's nice to see that being reflected with acting nods for both The Ballad Of Wallis Island (a quirky comedy about an eccentric lottery winner who invites his favourite musicians to perform a private gig for him) and I Swear (a biopic of John Davidson, the Tourette's campaigner who brought widespread attention to the condition when he appeared in a documentary as a teenager). 

I'll be honest, it does feel a bit weird doing this after the Oscar nominations have been announced, like things are out of order. That said, it was only in 2001 that the BAFTA Film Awards moved to be handed out before the Oscars. The first BAFTA Film Awards ceremony was held in May, with subsequent ceremonies happening anywhere between February and July (although mostly held in March and April). Hopefully just an outlier and we'll go back to things as usual next year. 

It has also been announced that BAFTA's Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award will go to Clare Binns, the creative director of Picturehouse Cinemas. 

The nominees for the 2026 Rising Star award - the only BAFTA awarded by public vote - have also been announced: this year's nominees are Robert Aramayo (I Swear), Miles Caton (Sinners), Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another), Archie Madekwe (Lurker), and Posy Sterling (Lollipop). Find out more about them, and cast your vote here.

The 79th BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday 22nd February in a ceremony to be hosted by the force of nature that is Alan Cumming.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Awards Season 2026: Academy Award Nominations

 

As reported earlier this afternoon, here are some of the official nominations for the 98th Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)

Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)

Chloé Zhao (Hamnet)

BEST ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)

Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)

Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)

BEST ACTRESS

Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)

Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)

Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)

Emma Stone (Bugonia)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)

Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)

Delroy Lindo (Sinners)

Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value)

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value)

Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)

Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

With regards to my predictions, I got 31/35 (89%). I did much better than I expected to, so I'm obviously very chuffed with that. 

Here's the big news: Sinners becomes the most-nominated movie in Oscars history, garnering an absolutely astounding 16 nominations across 21 feature film categories (there are now 24 Oscars awarded with the new Casting award, with three for short films). The previous record was 14, held jointly by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land. Coming second is One Battle After Another with 13 nods, with Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value tying for third with nine apiece. 

A lovely surprise to see Delroy Lindo nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category, metaphorically coming out of nowhere (ie. no previous awards nods) to bolster Sinners' record-breaking number. Another record-breaker is Amy Madigan, who is now the actress with the longest gap between Oscar nominations, racking up an impressive (albeit approximate) 40 years between her first and second nods. 

Interesting that there was absolutely nothing for Wicked: For Good (not even in Original Song or any production categories). Avatar: Fire And Ash mustered two awards, the lowest amount any movie in that franchise has got. 

The 98th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday 15th March 2026, at the Dolby Theatre at the Ovation Hollywood, hosted by Conan O'Brien for the second year running.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Usually there'd be a bit of a break now as the awards ceremonies start rolling in, but this year is different - we have the BAFTA Film nominations coming on Tuesday (27th January 2026). 

Awards Season 2026: Tez's Official Academy Award Nomination Predictions

On Thursday morning (22nd January 2026, 5:30AM PT/8:30AM ET/1:30PM GMT), the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced. This year, the nominations will be announced by Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple [2023], Peacemaker, Orange Is The New Black) and Lewis Pullman (Thunderbolts*, Top Gun: Maverick, The Testament Of Ann Lee). 

Since 2003, I have tried to predict who will be nominated in six of the major categories (Best Picture, Best Director and the four acting awards) with various levels of success. Below is my list of who I think will be named. 

BEST PICTURE

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein)

Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)

Chloé Zhao (Hamnet)

BEST ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)

Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)

Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)

BEST ACTRESS

Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)

Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)

Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value)

Emma Stone (Bugonia)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)

Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)

Paul Mescal (Hamnet)

Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Ariana Grande-Butera (Wicked: For Good)

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value)

Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)

Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

As we now have 10 Best Picture nominees (in addition to the 20 for acting and 5 for directing), I will be happy with any score over 20. With regards to my predictions last year, I got 29/35 (83%). So, time to explain my thinking....

Best Picture: I'm confident on eight of my ten predictions, with question marks over F1 and The Secret Agent. 

I've included F1 for two reasons. First is the PGA nod. Yes, I know there's rarely a 100% conversion rate between the two but I was struggling with my last two picks. Secondly is a bit of precedent (James Mangold's Le Mans '66 [Ford V Ferrari] surprised many with its Best Picture nod in 2020). It's virtually guaranteed to garner some below-the-line technical award nominations, so it's entirely likely that goodwill extends towards the top of the list. I also picked The Secret Agent (an international movie) to pad out the list, as the Academy have shown a willingness over the last five years or so to include international movies in the Best Picture category. 

Other movies who might claim a spot on this most coveted list (although they feel less likely to be named) are the Lorenz Hart biopic Blue Moon, Noah Baumbach's showbiz comedy-drama Jay Kelly, Jafar Panahi's It Was Just An Accident, Zach Cregger's horror Weapons and musical Wicked: For Good. 

Best Director: I went with the five DGA nominees, but there's a question over Josh Safdie in my mind. He could very well lose out to Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value)

Best Actor: A solid core of four actors have dominated this awards season (Chalamet, DiCaprio, Hawke, and Jordan). I've included Wagner Moura following his Golden Globe win, but he's perhaps my least sure pick. There might be a surprise nod for either Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams) [one of only two Independent Spirit Award nominees to be featured in more mainstream awards lists; the other being Rose Byrne] or Jesse Plemons (Bugonia). As the Actor Awards completely shut out any international performances, Plemons made the list there. He may do it again here. 

Best Actress: This, to me, is the category that is the most wide open. There have been a lot of great performances that have made various Best Actress lists, so it's a crowded field. The only one I think I can absolutely state with certainty is Jessie Buckley; everyone else could well be replaceable. High profile and powerful performances by Amanda Seyfried (The Testament Of Ann Lee), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), and Tessa Thompson (Hedda) could provide some surprise nods, and- whilst it's sadly feeling less and less likely- I'd love to see Cynthia Erivo get a nomination for Wicked: For Good (though I feel Ariana Grande-Butera will be leading the charge for that film from an acting point of view).

Best Supporting Actor: I'm fairly confident with this set although we shouldn't discount a curveball or two. Maybe Miles Caton (Sinners)? Or possibly Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly)? No, I'm not kidding with the latter. The Critics' Choice and Golden Globes both gave Sandler a nod for playing Jay Kelly's long-suffering manager Ron. Skarsgård's Golden Globe win, however, puts him slightly ahead for me. 

Best Supporting Actress: Confident on three (Grande-Butera, Madigan, Taylor). Sentimental Value could get a double nomination in this category with Elle Fanning joining the fun as an American actress hired by Gustav Borg to appear in his film. Odessa A'zion got an Actor Award nod for Marty Supreme (they also nominated Monica Barbaro last year for A Complete Unknown which translated to the Oscar nod) so she could sneak in. 

Fun fact for y'all: if Amy Madigan DOES get an Oscar nomination, she'll become a record holder as the actress with the longest gap between Oscar nominations, racking up an impressive (albeit approximate) 40 years between her first and second nods; she was nominated at the 1986 Oscars for her supporting role in romantic drama Twice In A Lifetime. [And if you're wondering, the actor with the longest gap between Oscar nominations is Judd Hirsch, with a 42-year gap between his nods for Ordinary People and The Fabelmans]

So there we have it. Predictions done. What do you reckon? On the money, way off, somewhere in between? We will soon find out. As usual, I'll get a post up as soon as I can on Thursday afternoon with the official nominations.

But before then, we will have a bit of a point-and-laugh at the Razzie nominations which are due to drop tomorrow (Wednesday 21st January 2026)

Awards Season 2026: Directors Guild Awards (DGA), and Producers Guild Awards (PGA) Nominations

So the last little bit of catch-up admin I wanted to do before I do my Oscar nominations predictions was to detail and briefly discuss the nominations from two of the major guilds which came out last week. These will certainly help with my predictions for two major categories, being as they are the nominations from the Directors Guild Awards and the Producers Guild Awards. 

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS (DGA)

The film nominees for the 78th Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards were announced on Thursday 8th January 2026:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein)

Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)

Chloé Zhao (Hamnet)

Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film

Hasan Hadi (The President's Cake)

Harry Lighton (Pillion)

Charlie Polinger (The Plague)

Alex Russell (Lurker)

Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary 

Mstyslav Chernov (2000 Meters to Andriivka)

Geeta Gandbhir (The Perfect Neighbor)

Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni (Cutting Through Rocks)

Elizabeth Lo (Mistress Dispeller)

Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus (Cover-Up)

In my mind, Anderson, Coogler, del Toro, and Zhao are virtually confirmed for the Oscar nod; the sticking point is going to be whether Safdie joins them or whether the fifth place will go to Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value. Whilst Trier misses out here, he has received Best Director nods at the Critics' Choice and the Golden Globes. Safdie also received a nod at the Critics' Choice. Either way, it feels a bit superfluous to be worrying: it's almost certainly going to be Paul Thomas Anderson who wins in the end. 

The DGA Awards ceremony is on Saturday 7th February 2026.

* * *

PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS (PGA)

The film nominees for the 37th Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards were announced on Friday 9th January 2026:

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

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Weapons

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Bad Guys 2

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle 

Elio

KPop Demon Hunters

Zootopia 2

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures 

(previously announced)

The Alabama Solution

Cover-Up

Mr Nobody Against Putin

My Mom Jayne

Ocean with David Attenborough

The Perfect Neighbor

The Tale of Silyan

So the surprises here are F1 and Weapons; for the rest of awards season, the latter has been flagged up for Amy Madigan's performance whilst the former has been recognised in many below-the-line technical awards (usually sound and editing). It's the first either film has received a Best Picture equivalent nod. I don't know if the Academy will necessarily follow suit but we have less than a week to find out. 

The PGA Awards will be handed out on Saturday 28th February 2026.

Before I forget, there's one last stop we will be making on the awards season trail before we get to the Oscar nominations, and that will be the nominations for this year's Razzies which- as is tradition- are due out the day before the Oscar nominations (so the cinematic crocks of crap they're dishonouring will be revealed on Wednesday 21st January 2026). 

As I now have all the information I will have to do my Oscar nomination predictions, I might do them early next week rather than waiting til Wednesday. Keep your eyes out for them.  

Awards Season 2026: Actor Awards Nominations

In my attempt to catch up on some awards season nonsense before the Oscar nominations next week, here are this year's nominations for the Actor Awards. 

But what are the Actor Awards, you may ask? Is this a new award added to what could be considered an already bloated season? Nope - the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) have decided to change the name of their awards. The statuette that winners receive is called "The Actor" so they decided that, from this year, they are The Actor Awards. Fair enough.  

"The Actor" award - you can see where they got the name from

Anyway, here are this year's nominations, which were announced on Wednesday 7th January 2026:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)

Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon)

Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Jesse Plemons (Bugonia)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)

Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)

Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)

Emma Stone (Bugonia)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Miles Caton (Sinners)

Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)

Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)

Paul Mescal (Hamnet)

Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Odessa A'zion (Marty Supreme)

Ariana Grande-Butera (Wicked: For Good)

Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)

Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

F1

Frankenstein

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

One Battle After Another

Sinners

One Battle After Another cements itself as a 2026 Awards Season juggernaut by become the most-nominated film in the history of the Actor Awards with seven nods covering all six categories (the first film to do this since the Stunt Ensemble award was introduced in 2007). Sinners has a perfectly respectable five nominations, with Frankenstein, Hamnet and Marty Supreme joint third with three apiece.

Couple of things to discuss here. The major elephant in the room is the complete and utter shutout of any foreign-language/international films. The Secret Agent and Sentimental Value, two of the most high profile international movies of the year, nowhere to be seen despite strong showing for both in other award nominations. I don't necessarily think the Oscars will repeat this; the last couple of years have seen films like Emilia Pérez, Anatomy Of A Fall, Past Lives, Drive My Car, Parallel Mothers and Minari all major contenders, so I think we'll see them mentioned there. 

However, with the absence of these films, in each of the solo acting categories, there was one pleasant "oh really?" nominations. It was good to see Jesse Plemons, Kate Hudson, Miles Caton, and Odessa A'zion included in the awards conversation. Whilst both Plemons and Hudson received Golden Globe (Musical/Comedy) nods for their lead performances in Bugonia and Song Sung Blue respectively, this is the first major awards recognition for both Caton (in his film debut) and A'Zion. 

 

The 32nd Actor Awards will be handed out on Sunday 1st March 2026, with the ceremony broadcasting on Netflix for the third year running. 

Next with my catch-up will be the Directors Guild Awards (DGA) and Producers Guild Awards (PGA) nominations. This will probably be at some point over the weekend. 

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.