Category: Awards

Who Will, Could And Should Win At The Golden Globes?

The annual Golden Globe Awards are tomorrow night. We’ve heard from the critics, and received nominations from the various guilds, but this is the first major awards body that is anointing winners.

It’s important to note that the HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) does not vote on the Oscars, and wins here have little indication as to who is going to win with the guilds or the Academy. What the Globes do, however, is indicate where the heat/buzz is in the race. Sometimes they can be an indicator of which films have the most passionate support, and that can be useful when looking at the Oscars.

Also important: Winners here can make an impression on voters with really memorable speeches. I’m not saying it has everything to do with winning an Oscar, but it has something.

So, who will win it all tomorrow night? Who could win? And more importantly, who should win? And who was snubbed? Let’s take a look at all of the nominees from the film and television categories.

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“Carol” and “Bridge of Spies” Lead BAFTA Nominations; “JOY” Ignored

The British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) nominations are the last set of nominations we’ll hear from before the Academy’s set next Thursday morning. Save for some wild card nominations (Amy Adams in Big Eyes) they’re usually a very good indicator of where Oscar is headed.

Some surprises here: Carol and Bridge of Spies led the nomination count with 9 each. After underperforming with some of the guilds, this is great news for Carol; Hopefully this translates into the same kind of success with Oscar (though their recognizing Rooney Mara in Supporting Actress is EXTREMELY frustrating).

The Big Short‘s late surge is unstoppable, and a bit bewildering because the reception for the film early on was muted. But it landing a Best Picture and Best Director nomination here essentially cements its status as one of the top films.

Mad Max: Fury Road underperformed here, however, it’s important to note it snagged a lot of tech/below the line nominations. This could translate into support with the bigger categories with the Oscars (American productions like this film tend to get snubbed out of the major categories with BAFTA anyway).

JOY was completely ignored here, thankfully, though I expect at least one or two lone nominations from Oscar just because they love David O.Russell.

Alicia Vikander could potentially be a double Oscar nominee. She’s unexpectedly been winning a lot of traction for Ex-Machina (a film that’s been performing very well in general as of late) but both of her performances in that film and in The Danish Girl were nominated here. While I think hope that they’ll pass on the film entirely, it’s a possibility after today.

Last tidbit: HOORAY FOR BENICIO DEL TORO FINALLY LANDING A MAJOR NOMINATION FOR SICARIO. 

Also, where in the WORLD is Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years?! (okay, I’ll stop now).

Take a look at the full list of nominations below. The winners of the BAFTAs will be announced on February 14th.

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“Ex-Machina” and “Straight Outta Compton” Among PGA Nominees

It really has been the strangest awards season in recent memory. Where it’s been almost too predictable in the past, this year it’s been the exact opposite. None of the precursor awards have given any real sort of consensus as to who the frontrunners are.

We’ve heard from the critics, the Globes and now comes the guilds. Following the announcement from the Screen Actors Guild, the Producer’s Guild has announced their list of nominees. In the past few years, winning a nomination here has almost always correlated to a Best Picture nomination. You’d have to go back to 2006 where the winner of the PGA did not win Best Picture.

Some surprises here: Straight Outta Compton, Ex-Machina and Sicario. The former received a SAG ensemble nomination, now coupled with this makes it a pretty formidable contender. It was also one of the most profitable films of the year, raking in $160 million at the box office this summer. I’m really starting to think a Best Picture nomination is very likely, especially with a lot of the higher profile contenders (The Danish Girl) underperforming.

Seeing Sicario, my favorite film of the year, here after being ignored all year was the highlight of this awards season, for me. Though I think the film is too under the radar (sadly) for Oscar contention, this does boast its chances. Hopefully voters caught up with it on a screener; It really does blow away half of the films that are probably going to be nominated.

The biggest surprise to me, however, is Ex-Machina. Star Alicia Vikander has been winning more notices for her work in the film than in The Danish Girl, but the film has also found love for its screenplay and several other elements through various critics awards and voting bodies. If some of the other guilds throw their support behind the film (like the writers, for example) I think it’s a dark horse contender.

Also worth noting, Carol and Room are both absent from this line up. Not sure how Carol missed here (Room is a Canadian production and a real small film, which might have something to do with it). It would be embarrassing, on the Academy’s part, if it missed somehow.

See the full list of nominees below. The winner of the PGA will be announced on January 23.

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National Society of Film Critics Announce Winners

The National Society of Film Critics are the last of the big precursor awards before we get into the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

At this point, it’s really tough to pin down any of the frontrunners in the categories. It’s been a really tough year; All of the awards have been pretty spread out between Carol, Mad Max: Fury Road and Spotlight. A lot of the higher profile contenders (Joy, The Revenant, The Danish Girl) not dominating in the way we previously expected. They could still resonate with the Academy, however, because as well all know, the critics do not vote on the Oscars.

In any event, the NSFC adds a nice little boost to some contenders that really needed it, especially Michael B. Jordan. Creed is a bit of question mark in the Oscar race. It has the critical love and the box office, but the only member of the film that’s received any attention at all is Sylvester Stallone. Again, that’s not to say the Academy won’t embrace the film, but it’s nice to see Jordan get a shout out here over Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp.

Check out the full list of winners below.

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