Tuesday, December 8, 2015

What the Critics Are Saying: 2015 CRITICS AWARDS ROUND-UP


Awards season is underway, and while quirky choices from the National Board of Review (NBR) are fun to look at, and Oscar prognosticators no doubt have their eye on the upcoming guild award nominations, various critical organizations are weighing in, too. This is a website very much devoted to critics and criticism, and as such, we’re rounding up the year-end awards of the top regional critics’ groups in the country, from Boston to Los Angeles to New York and beyond. In doing so, we hope to provide a glimpse of which films, actors, directors, writers and cinematographers are being determined as the year's most worthy from the country’s top critics. We’ll be updating regularly, with the caveat that less-established groups – like Boston’s online group, or the critics’ circle in Iowa – aren’t being included here for the sake of concision. 

 Awards included so far (click links for full lists):
New York Film Critics Circle (runner-ups unofficial)

Best Picture
Thus far, three very different films – Carol, Mad Max: Fury Road and Spotlight – are duking it out for the top prizes. A healthy edge for Spotlight notwithstanding, the trio are clearly leading the pack thus far, with no other film emerging particularly strong.
Spotlight: 7 wins in 11 nominations
Mad Max: Fury Road: 2 wins in 11 nominations
Carol: 2 wins in 9 nominations

Brooklyn: 4 nominations
Inside Out: 3 nominations
The Revenant: 3 nominations
Trumbo: 3 nominations
45 Years: 2 nominations
The Big Short: 2 nominations
The Martian: 2 nominations
Room: 2 nominations
Sicario: 2 nominations
Bridge of Spies: 2 nominations

Single nominations for...
Amy
Anomalisa
The Look of Silence
Love and Mercy
Steve Jobs

Best Director
Essentially narrowing the Picture race to two, George Miller (Mad Max) and Todd Haynes (Carol) are dominating the director’s circuit, with Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) a fair distance behind in third. No one else has approached.
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road: 6 wins in 9 nominations
Todd Haynes, Carol: 4 wins in 11 nominations
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight: 1 win in 7 nominations

Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant: 4 nominations
Adam McKay, The Big Short: 2 nominations
Ridley Scott, The Martian: 2 nominations
Single nominations for...
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
John Crowley, Brooklyn
Andrew Haigh, 45 Years
Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight

Best Actor
You know it’s a weird race when the top player on the critics’ circuit is trying to fit into the Supporting lineup at the Oscars, but here we are: Paul Dano has snagged two major critics’ wins, as well as victories from the Gothams and Boston Online critics (a minor group), while leading Oscar contenders Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender and Bryan Cranston try to gain steam behind.



Paul Dano, Love and Mercy: 3 wins in 4 nominations (combined 3 wins in 6 nominations)
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant: 3 wins in 6 nominations
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs: 2 wins in 6 nominations

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo: 1 win in 3 nominations
Michael B. Jordan, Creed: 1 win in 2 nominations
Tom Hardy, Legend: 1 win in 2 nominations
Michael Keaton, Spotlight: 1 win (combined 1 win in 2 nominations)
Johnny Depp, Black Mass: 2 nominations
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl: 2 nominations
Jacob Tremblay, Room: 2 nominations
Tom Courtenay, 45 Years: 2 nominations
Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul: 2 nominations
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight: 1 nomination (combined 2 nominations)

 Single nominations for...
Christopher Abbott, James White
Matt Damon, The Martian
Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes
Jason Segel, The End of the Tour

Best Actress
Much unlike Best Actor, this is a dense category lacking wiggle room. Saoirse Ronan seems to be the consensus candidate with Charlotte Rampling and Brie Larson running close behind. Multiple mentions have also gone to Oscar champs Cate Blanchett and Charlize Theron.
Brie Larson, Room: 4 wins in 7 nominations
Saoirse Ronan: 3 wins in 11 nominations
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years: 3 wins in 6 nominations

Cate Blanchett, Carol: 6 nominations
Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road: 4 nominations
Nina Hoss, Phoenix: 1 win in 2 nominations
Rooney Mara, Carol: 3 nominations (combined 1 win in 5 nominations)

 Single nomination for...
Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back

Best Supporting Actor
Another thin male acting category, this one has been absolutely dominated by Mark Rylance while Dano and Spotlight co-stars Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo are getting recognized in lead (against their campaign’s wishes). Michael Shannon has snagged a couples big wins from Los Angeles and San Francisco, though, while Sylvester Stallone is quietly putting together a deep resume.
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies: 5 wins in 10 nominations
Sylvester Stallone, Creed: 2 wins in 7 nominations
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes: 2 wins in 5 nominations

 Benicio del Toro, Sicario: 1 win in 4 nominations
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation: 1 win in 2 nominations
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy: 2 nominations (combined 3 wins in 6nominations)
Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina: 2 nominations
Tom Hardy, The Revenant: 2 nominations
Michael Keaton, Spotlight: 1 nomination (combined 1 win in 2 nominations)
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight: 1 nomination (combined 2 nominations)

 Single nominations for...
Sam Elliot, Grandma

Best Supporting Actress
As category confusion has prevented Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander from sweeping the critics’ awards, Kristen Stewart – of the sadly-forgotten Clouds of Sils Maria – has carved out a surprising niche, while Vikander is earning several prizes for another film entirely. Will Oscar take note?
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina: 6 wins in 8 nominations (combined 6 wins in 10 nominations)
Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria: 4 wins in 7 nominations

Rooney Mara, Carol: 1 win in 2 nominations (combined 1 win in 5 nominations)
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs: 6 nominations
Mya Taylor, Tangerine: 1 win in 2 nominations
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight: 3 nominations (combined 4 nominations)
Elizabeth Banks, Love and Mercy: 3 nominations
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl: 2 nominations (combined 5 wins in 9 nominations)

 Single nominations for...
Olivia Colman, The Lobster
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
Tilda Swinton, Trainwreck
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Cynthia Nixon, James White

Best Adapted Screenplay
Room holds an edge over several top Oscar contenders.

Room, by Emma Donoghue: 3 wins in 6 nominations
The Big Short, by Adam McKay & Charles Randolph: 2 wins in 5 nominations
Carol, by Phyllis Nagy: 1 win in 6 nominations
Brooklyn, by Nick Hornby: 1 win in 4 nominations
Anomalisa, by Charlie Kaufman: 4 nominations
Steve Jobs, by Aaron Sorkin: 4 nominations

The Martian, by Drew Goddard: 2 nominations

 Single nominations for...
The Diary of a Teenage Girl, by Marielle Heller
45 Years, by Andrew Haigh

Best Original Screenplay
Critics’ favorite Spotlight is dominating the race.

 Spotlight, by Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer: 6 wins in 11 nominations
Inside Out, by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Ronnie del Carmen and Josh Cooley: 2 wins in 4 nominations
Ex Machina, by Alex Garland: 4 nominations

Love and Mercy, by Michael Alan Lerner & Oren Moverman: 1 win
The Hateful Eight, by Quentin Tarantino: 2 nominations
Bridge of Spies, by Matt Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen: 2 nominations
Sicario, by Taylor Sheridan: 2 nominations

 Single nominations for...
Tangerine, by Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch
Trainwreck, by Amy Schumer

Best Animated Feature
An unusually deep year for animated film, the rousing crowd-pleaser Inside Out holds a slight edge over Charlie Kaufman’s indie triumph Anomalisa. The back-and-forth between the two thus far has been swell.
Inside Out: 7 wins in 9 nominations
Anomalisa: 3 wins in 8 nominations

Shaun the Sheep: 1 win in 6 nominations
The Peanuts Movie: 4 nominations
The Good Dinosaur: 3 nominations

 Single nominations for...
Boy and the World

Best Documentary
Perhaps the most unexpected result of the critics’ awards, Amy has handily outdone Joshua Oppenheimer’s lauded The Look of Silence. Indeed, the Amy Winehouse documentary has all but swept the circuit thus far.
Amy: 7 wins in 10 nominations
The Look of Silence: 2 wins in 9 nominations

In Jackson Heights: 1 win in 2 nominations
Listen to Me Marlon: 1 win
Best of Enemies: 4 nominations
Cartel Land: 3 nominations
Going Clear: 2 nominations
Where to Invade Next: 2 nominations

 Single nominations for...
Meru
The Hunting Ground
Palio
Seymour: An Introduction
A Syrian Love Story

Best Foreign Language Film
Aside from isolated wins for a documentary (The Look of Silence) and a film that competed for Oscar last year (Timbuktu), it has rightly been all Son of Saul, all the time.
Son of Saul: 7 wins
Timbuktu: 2 wins in 3 nominations
Phoenix: 1 win in 4 nominations

The Look of Silence: 1 win in 3 nominations
The Assassin: 4 nominations
Mustang: 3 nominations
The Tribe: 3 nominations
Goodnight Mommy: 2 nominations
White God: 2 nominations

 Single nominations for...
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch
Eden
Hard to Be a God
The Second Mother
The Tale of Princess Kayuga
Victoria

Best Cinematography
Another great Carol versus Mad Max battle – thus far, John Seale’s imaginative work has won out, but both have found ample (and, together, near-exclusive) love. Perhaps the more surprising outcome has been the also-ran status of Emmanuel Lubezki, left to settle for a single win for his revelatory Revenant work.
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road: 5 wins in 8 nominations
Ed Lachman, Carol: 4 wins in 8 nominations

 Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant: 1 win in 5 nominations
Roger Deakins, Sicario: 4 nominations
Ping Bin Lee, The Assassin: 2 nominations
Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight: 2 nominations

 Single nominations for...
Yves Bélanger, Brooklyn
Luca Bigazzi, Youth

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