Tell Them What You Love, St. Louis Film Critics!


Inside_Out_(2015_film)_poster

The St. Louis Film Critics announced their nominations yesterday and they gave a lot of love to one of my favorite films of the year, Inside Out!  Love you, St. Louis!

BEST FILM

Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

BEST DIRECTOR

Todd Haynes, “Carol”
Alejandro G. Inarritu, “The Revenant”
Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”
George Miller, “Mad Max”
Ridley Scott, “The Martian”

BEST ACTOR

Abraham Attah, “Beasts of No Nation”
Matt Damon, “The Martian”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”
Ian McKellen, “Mr. Holmes”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl”

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
Brie Larson, “Room”
Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”
Charlize Theron, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Paul Dano, “Love and Mercy”
Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation”
Mark Ruffalo, “Spotlight”
Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”
Sylvester Stallone, “Creed”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh, “The Hateful Eight”
Rooney Mara, “Carol”
Kristen Stewart, “Clouds of Sils Maria”
Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs”
Alicia Vikander, “Ex Machina”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Clouds of Sils Maria,” Olivier Assayas
“Ex Machina,” Alex Garland
“The Hateful Eight,” Quentin Tarantino
“Inside Out,” Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen
“Spotlight,” Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“Brooklyn,” Nick Hornby
“Creed,” Aaron Covington and Ryan Coogler
“The Martian,” Drew Goddard
“Room,” Emma Donoghue
“Steve Jobs,” Aaron Sorkin

BEST EDITING
The Big Short
Max Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Spotlight

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Beasts of No Nation,” Cary Joji Fukunaga
“Carol,” Edward Lachman
“The Hateful Eight,” Robert Richardson
“Max Max: Fury Road,” John Seale
“The Revenant,” Emmanuel Lubezki

BEST ART DIRECTION

Brooklyn
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Max Max: Fury Road

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
The Walk

BEST MUSIC SCORE

“Carol,” Carter Burwell
“The Hateful Eight,” Ennio Morricone
“Inside Out,” Michael Giacchino
“It Follows,” Rich Vreeland (as Disasterpeace)
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” Junkie XL

BEST SOUNDTRACK

Amy

Dope
Love and Mercy
The Martian
Straight Outta Compton

BEST SONG

“See You Again” Furious 7
“Til It Happens to You” The Hunting Ground
“Feels Like Summer” Shaun the Sheep
“Writing’s on the Wall” Spectre
“Simple Song #3” Youth

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep

BEST COMEDY

Inside Out
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Spy
Trainwreck
What We Do in the Shadows

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Amy
Best of Enemies
Cartel Land
The Hunting Ground
The Look of Silence

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

The Assassin
Goodnight Mommy
Phoenix
Son of Saul
Wild Tales

BEST SCENE

Creed’s first fight, “Creed”
Paul Walker farewell, “Furious 7”
Bear attack, “The Revenant”
Jack’s escape and rescue, “Room”
Walk between the Twin Towers, “The Walk”

SPECIAL RECOGNITION: Stunt work in “Mad Max: Fury Road”

The Chicago Film Critics Society Rounds Up The Usual Suspects!


 The Chicago Film Critics Society announced their nominations for the best of 2015 yesterday and it’s pretty much the usual suspects, with a few unexpected names tossed in as well!  Check them out below and try not to get on the Mayor’s bad side because I hear he’s one scary guy.

BEST PICTURE
Carol
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes–Carol
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu–The Revenant
Tom McCarthy–Spotlight
Adam McKay–The Big Short
George Miller–Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ACTOR
Christopher Abbott–James White
Leonardo DiCaprio–The Revenant
Michael Fassbender–Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne–The Danish Girl
Jason Segel–The End of the Tour

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett–Carol
Brie Larson–Room
Charlotte Rampling–45 Years
Saoirse Ronan–Brooklyn
Charlize Theron–Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benicio Del Toro–Sicario
Sam Elliott–Grandma
Mark Rylance–Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon–99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone–Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh–Anomalisa
Jennifer Jason Leigh–The Hateful Eight
Cynthia Nixon–James White
Kristen Stewart–Clouds of Sils Maria
Alicia Vikander–Ex Machina

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies–Matt Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen
Ex Machina–Alex Garland
The Hateful Eight–Quentin Tarantino
Inside Out–Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley
Spotlight–Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Anomalisa–Charlie Kaufman
The Big Short–Adam McKay & Charles Randolph
Brooklyn–Nick Hornby
Room–Emma Donoghue
Steve Jobs–Aaron Sorkin

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol–Edward Lachman
The Hateful Eight–Robert RIchardson
Mad Max: Fury Road–John Seale
The Revenant–Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario–Roger Deakins

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Carol–Carter Burwell
The Hateful Eight–Ennio Morricone
Inside Out–Michael Giacchino
It Follows–Disasterpeace
Mad Max: Fury Road–Junkie XL

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Assassin
Brooklyn
Carol
Crimson Peak
Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST EDITING
The Big Short–Hank Corwin
Mad Max: Fury Road–Jason Ballantine & Margaret Sixel
The Martian–Pietro Scalia
The Revenant–Stephen Mirrione
Spotlight–Tom McArdle

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
The Assassin
The Look of Silence
Phoenix
Son of Saul
White God

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Amy
Cartel Land
The Hunting Ground
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade Next

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
The Shaun the Sheep Movie

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Christopher Abbott–James White
Bel Powley–The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Geza Rohrig–Son of Saul
Amy Schumer–Trainwreck
Jacob Tremblay–Room

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Alex Garland–Ex Machina
Marielle Heller–The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Josh Mond–James White
Laszlo Nemes–Son of Saul
Bill Pohlad–Love & Mercy

Here Are The Confusing San Diego Film Critics Society Nominations!


The San Diego Film Critics Society announced their nominees for the best of 2015 and … well, there’s a little bit of confusion.  As Paddy Mulholland of Screen on Screen points out, the San Diego film critics did not list their nominees alphabetically.  But, at the same time, the SFDC hasn’t acknowledged that the nominees were listed as a ranked slate either.  So, when they list Ex Machina as their first nominee for Best Picture and Brooklyn as their second, were they announcing that Ex Machina was their pick for best picture and Brooklyn was the runner up?  Or did they just decided to randomly list the nominees?

The official winners will be announced on December 14th, at which point we will have clarity!

Anyway, here are the San Diego nominees.  And again, h/t on this goes to Screen on Screen:

Best Picture
1. Ex Machina
2. Brooklyn
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Room
5. Spotlight

Best Director
1. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
2. John Crowley (Brooklyn)
3. Lenny Abrahamson (Room)
4. Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
5. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Best Actor, Male
1. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
2. Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)
3. Matt Damon (The Martian)
4. Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
5. Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Best Actor, Female
1. Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
2. Brie Larson (Room)
3. Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
4. Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)
5. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Best Supporting Actor, Male
1. Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
2. Tom Noonan (Anomalisa)
3. Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
4. Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)
5. R. J. Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)

Best Supporting Actor, Female
1. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
2. Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
3. Helen Mirren (Trumbo)
4. Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)
5. Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)

Best Original Screenplay
1. Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig (Mistress America)
2. Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
3. Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows)
4. Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)
5. Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
2. Emma Donoghue (Room)
3. Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)
4. Donald Margulies (The End of the Tour)
5. Drew Goddard and Andy Weir (The Martian)

Best Cinematography
1. Roger Deakins (Sicario)
2. Yves Belanger (Brooklyn)
3. Dariusz Wolski (The Martian)
4. John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)
5. Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Editing
1. Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)
2. Joe Walker (Sicario)
3. Pietro Scalia (The Martian)
4. Michael Kahn (Bridge of Spies)
5. Nathan Nugent (Room)
6. Stephen Mirrione (The Revenant

Best Production Design
1. Colin Gibson (Mad Max: Fury Road)
2. Mark Digby (Ex Machina)
3. Arthur Max (The Martian)
4. Francois Seguin (Brooklyn)
5. Adam Stockhausen (Bridge of Spies)

Best Sound Design
1. The Martian
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Ex Machina
4. Sicario
5. Love & Mercy

Best Visual Effects
1. The Martian
2. Ex Machina
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. The Walk
5. Jurassic World

Best Use of Music in a Film
1. The Hateful Eight
2. Love & Mercy
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Sicario
5. Straight Outta Compton

Best Ensemble
1. Spotlight
2. The Hateful Eight
3. Straight Outta Compton
4. Inside Out
5. The Big Short
6. What We Do in the Shadows

Best Animated Film
1. Inside Out
2. Anomalisa
3. Shaun the Sheep Movie
4. The Good Dinosaur
5. The Peanuts Movie

Best Documentary
1. Amy
2. He Named Me Malala
3. Cartel Land
4. Meru
5. The Wrecking Crew

Best Foreign Language Film
1. Phoenix
2. Taxi
3. White God
4. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
5. Goodnight Mommy

Best Breakthrough Artist
1. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl / Ex Machina)
2. Jacob Tremblay (Room)
3. Emory Cohen (Brooklyn)
4. Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)
5. Sean Baker (Tangerine)

 

The Detroit Film Critics Announce Their Nominations! Congratulations, Liev Schrieber!


Awards seasons continues as, earlier today, the Detroit Film Critics announced their nominations for the best of 2015!  Like almost all the other film critics groups, Detroit showed a lot of love to Spotlight.  However, unlike previous groups, Detroit did not nominate Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, or Rachel McAdams.  Instead, they nominated Liev Schrieber who, up until this point, had not really figured into the awards race.

If nothing else, the current confusion over who, if anyone, should be nominated for Spotlight might inspire someone to ask why the Academy doesn’t give an award for Best Ensemble.

Another question raised by Detroit: why does the Academy only allow actors to be nominated for one performance per category.  Detroit nominated Alicia Vikander twice for best supporting actress, for both The Danish Girl and Ex Machina.  And why not?  As we saw with Jessica Chastain in 2011, sometimes one performer delivers several great performances in one year.

Here are the Detroit nominations!

BEST FILM

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ACTOR

  • Christopher Abbott, James White
  • Michael Caine, Youth
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
  • Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
  • Tom Hardy, Legend

BEST ACTRESS

  • Cate Blanchett, Carol
  • Brie Larson, Room
  • Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
  • Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
  • Saorise Ronan, Brooklyn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST ENSEMBLE

BREAKTHROUGH

  • Sean Baker, Tangerine (director)
  • Emory Cohen, Brooklyn (actor)
  • Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl (actress)
  • Jacob Tremblay, Room (actor)
  • Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, The Danish Girl (actress)

BEST SCREENPLAY

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Here Are The Online Film Critics Society Nominations and They’re Great!


Sicario_poster

I love the Online Film Critics Society, I really do.  Every year, when they announce the nominees for their end-of-the-year awards, they always seem to honor the films that truly deserve to be honored.  For instance, this year, they found room to not only nominate the Academy front runners — like Spotlight, The Martian, Carol, Brooklyn, and Mad Max — but they also gave nominations to Ex Machina, Sicario, and Inside Out.  Ex Machina, Sicario, and Inside Out all deserve to be in the Oscar conversation and hopefully, these nominations will help them stay there.

Here are the nominations from the Online Film Critics Society!

Best Picture:
Brooklyn
Carol
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Room
Sicario
Spotlight

Best Animated Feature:
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Film Not in the English Language:
The Assassin (Taiwan)
Goodnight Mommy (Austria)
Mustang (France)
Phoenix (Germany)
Son of Saul (Hungary)

Best Documentary:
Amy
Best of Enemies
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
The Look of Silence

Best Director:
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)
Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)

Best Actor:
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes)

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Brie Larson (Room)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Supporting Actor:
Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress:
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Cynthia Nixon (James White)
Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay:
Ex Machina (Alex Garland)
Inside Out (Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley)
Mistress America (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach)
Sicario (Taylor Sheridan)
Spotlight (Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Brooklyn (Nick Hornby)
Carol (Phyllis Nagy)
The Martian (Drew Goddard)
Room (Emma Donoghue)
Steve Jobs (Aaron Sorkin)

Best Editing:
Mad Max: Fury Road (Margaret Sixel)
The Martian (Pietro Scalia)
The Revenant (Stephen Mirrione)
Sicario (Joe Walker)
Steve Jobs (Elliot Graham)

Best Cinematography:
The Assassin (Ping Bin Lee)
Carol (Edward Lachman)
Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale)
The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Sicario (Roger Deakins)

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Goes Mad For Max But Even Madder For Spotlight!


MadMaxFuryRoad

Boston and New York were not the only critics to vote today!  The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2015 as well!  Mad Max: Fury Road won best director but Spotlight won best picture with Fury Road as the runner-up.  In other words, the LAFCA liked Fury Road but decided to play it safe.  Let’s not forget that this is the same group of people who once named The Descendants best picture with The Tree of Life as the runner-up.

(Dear award-giving groups: Just so you know, playing it safe is really freaking boring.)

Here’s all that what won:

Best Picture
Winner: Spotlight
Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director
Winner: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Roard
Runner-up: Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Actor
Winner: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Runner-up: Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul

Best Actress
Winner: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Screenplay
Winner: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa

Best Cinematography
Winner: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Ed Lachmann, Carol

Best Production Design
Winner: Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Judy Becker, Carol

Best Editing
Winner: Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Runner-up: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Music Score
Winner: Carter Burwell, Anomalisa and Carol
Runner-up: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Son of Saul
Runner-up: The Tribe

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
Winner: Amy
Runner-up: The Look of Silence

Best Animation
Winner: Anomalisa
Runner-up: Inside Out

New Generation Award: Ryan Coogler for Creed

The Boston Society Of Film Critics Honors Spotlight!


Spotlight

With three major groups of critics scheduled to announce their picks for the best of 2015, today is a big day for those of us who love Awards Season.  First off, here are the picks of the Boston Society of Film Critics!  While the awards are nicely spread around, it’s not surprising that the Boston Society of Film Critics picked a Boston film for best picture.

Best Picture  – Spotlight (runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actor – Paul Dano, Love & Mercy and Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant (TIE)

Best Actress – Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn)

Best Supporting Actor – Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies (runner-up: Sylvester Stallone, Creed)

Best Supporting Actress – Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria (runner-up: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, The Danish Girl, Burnt, Testament of Youth)

Best Director – Todd Haynes for Carol (runner-up: Tom McCarthy for Spotlight)

Best ScreenplaySpotlight (runner-up: Carol)

Best CinematographyCarol (runner-up: The Revenant)

Best Editing – Mad Max: Fury Road (runner-up: Spotlight)

Best DocumentaryAmy (runner-up: The Look of Silence)

Best Foreign-Language Film  (awarded in memory of Jay Carr)The Look of Silence (runner-up: White God)

Best Animated FilmAnomalisa and Inside Out (TIE) (runner-up: Shaun the Sheep Movie)

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer)Mad Max: Fury Road (runner-up: Spotlight)

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) – Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl (runner-up: Alex Garland for Ex Machina)

Best Ensemble Cast – Spotlight (runner-up: The Big Short)

Best Original Score – Love & Mercy (runner-up: Creed)

The Boston Online Film Critics Are Mad for Max!!!!


The Boston Online Film Critics announced their picks for the best of 2015 earlier today and once again, my expectations have been defied!  I figured that since Spotlight is a Boston-story, it would be an easy pick for the Boston critics.

But no!  The Boston Online Critics went for … MAD MAX: FURY ROAD!  According to Awards Circuit, Creed was the runner-up.  (Though, to be clear, the Boston Online Critics definitely did like Spotlight, naming it the 5th best film of 2015 and giving it awards for screenplay and ensemble.)  Now again, that doesn’t mean that either Fury Road or Creed is going to be Oscar-nominated.  But, every bit helps.  With each victory, the idea of a Fury Road best picture nomination becomes just a little more plausible.

Here’s my question — one month ago, would you have believed that the early critics awards would be dominated by Mad Max, Sylvester Stallone, and Kristen Stewart?

Here are the winners!

BEST PICTURE:
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST DIRECTOR:
George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ACTOR:
Michael B. Jordan, CREED

BEST ACTRESS:
Saoirse Ronan, BROOKLYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Sylvester Stallone, CREED

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

BEST ENSEMBLE:
SPOTLIGHT

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, SPOTLIGHT

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
SON OF SAUL

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
AMY

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

INSIDE OUT

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
John Seale, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST EDITING:
Margaret Sixel, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Junkie XL, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

  1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
  2. CREED
  3. BROOKLYN
  4. CAROL
  5. SPOTLIGHT
  6. CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
  7. BRIDGE OF SPIES
  8. THE MARTIAN
  9. ANOMALISA
  10. TANGERINE

Carol Wins In New York!


mara_blanchett_carol

Earlier today, the New York Film Critics Circle announced their picks for the best films and performer of the year!  And the big winner was … Carol!

Best Picture
Carol

Best Director
Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Screenplay
Carol

Best Actor
Michael Keaton, Spotlight

Best Actress
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress
Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Animated Film
Inside Out

Best Foreign Film
Timbuktu

Best Non-Fiction Film
In Jackson Heights

Best Cinematographer
Ed Lachman, Carol

Best First Film
Son of Saul

SPECIAL AWARD #1: Posthumous Award honoring the legacy of William Becker and Janus Films

SPECIAL AWARD #2: Ennio Morricone, Composer

Lisa’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For February


Brooklyn

Well, tonight’s the night!  Soon, we will know which 2014 films have won Oscars.

And, as soon as the ceremony ends, it will be time to start speculating about which 2015 films will be nominated next year!  I am sharing and updating my predictions on a monthly basis and below you’ll find my latest predictions.  You can read my predictions for January by clicking here.

Some of these films and performers — like End of the Tour and Grandma — were acclaimed at Sundance.  (The recently concluded Berlin Film Festival, on the other hand, mostly just served to confirm that Knight of Cups and Queen of the Desert will probably not be contenders.)  Kristen Stewart recently won a Cesar Award for Clouds of Sils Maria.  Otherwise, the majority of predictions below are the results of my own wild guesses.

A year from now, we’ll probably look back at these predictions and laugh.

Best Picture

Black Mass

Brooklyn

The End of the Tour

Grandma

The Hateful Eight

In The Heart of the Sea

The Revenant

St. James Place

The Walk

Woman in Gold

Best Actor

Bryan Cranston in Trumbo

Matt Damon in The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

Michael Fassebender in Steve Jobs

Jason Segel in The End of the Tour

Best Actress

Blythe Danner in I’ll See You In My Dreams

Jennifer Lawrence in Joy

Helen Mirren in Woman in Gold

Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn

Lily Tomlin in Grandma

Best Supporting Actor

Jim Broadbent in Brooklyn

Albert Brooks in Concussion

Paul Dano in Love and Mercy

Tom Hardy in The Revenant

Kurt Russell in The Hateful Eight

Best Supporting Actress

Julia Garner in Grandma

Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight

Kristin Scott Thomas in Suite Francaise

Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria

Meryl Steeep in Suffragette

Best Director

John Crowley for Brooklyn

Ron Howard for In The Heart of the Sea

James Ponsoldt for The End of the Tour

Steven Spielberg for St. James Place

Robert Zemeckis for The Walk

Clouds of Sils Maria