Oscars 2022: The Catch-Up

Well, I’m all out of sorts this year. A lot’s been going on and I’ve just barely had time to watch stuff the past few months. So whereas most years, I’m all over everything that’s out and ready to go with a Top Ten list for December 31st, I’m thinking I’m gonna be late on that this year. I still need to watch about 45 movies (and that’s before I even get started on the shortlists). The major ones on that list include Bones and All, Tár, Triangle of Sadness, The Wonder, My Father’s Dragon, The Eternal Daughter, Bardo, Decision to Leave, Emancipation, Aftersun, The Menu, Devotion, The Inspection, The Son, White Noise, The Pale Blue Eye, The Whale, Empire of Light, A Man Called Otto, Living, Women Talking and Avatar. I’m not even gonna attempt a Top Ten list before I watch most of those. So I think mid-January is probably the best time to expect that. Which I don’t really mind. I’d rather get it right than get it posted.

All that being said, because I’m so behind on simply watching stuff (since this time of year, I’m usually only looking to watch about 5 or 6 movies and already on my rewatch portion before I finalize my list), I haven’t even begun to think about Oscar season. To the point where I legitimately didn’t even know it had started until I saw the Golden Globe nominations were out… the day after they were announced. Legitimately it hadn’t even crossed my mind that we’d even be into that stuff yet. That’s how busy I’ve been.

So this article is just me catching up on all that’s happened thus far (minus the shortlists. That’s gonna be its own thing), plus me making a list of all the things that are to come, so at least I have it as a reference for when I invariably have to catch up and need to know what I’ve missed.

Like I said, Oscar season’s gonna happen, it’s just gonna be a bit weird. So let’s embrace the weird.

National Board of Review

You know I love me some NBR. Though this year, they announced before I even got to see so many things that I can’t even really have an opinion of, “Oh wow, so they left (this film) out.” So mostly I’m just gonna see what they pick and see over time how well it all aligns with my opinions.

Best Film: Top Gun: Maverick

Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that. I mean, sure. Movie was awesome, but top ~~gun~~ film…. that’s… interesting. I wanna see what their top ten list is past this. I wonder if they’re in the same place I am.

Top Ten Films

Aftersun

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion

RRR

Till

The Woman King

Women Talking

Oh hey, I’ve seen most of these. Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans were all amazing. I liked The Woman King and Glass Onion a lot. RRR was fun. And Till I thought was fine, but wasn’t overly in love with it. Perfectly solid, though. Still haven’t seen Aftersun, Avatar or Woman Talking. Three of those I know I will see within the next ten days. Women Talking is the only one that may take a bit more time.

But this seems like a solid list overall. Though it does feel a bit more… mainstream than I’m used to with NBR. But I can also see, from what’s come out this year, that it is a bit more of a divisive ‘awards’ field than most other years. There are films there that may not appeal to everyone. So it does make some sense. Plus, we know NBR loves that singular filmmaker vision/voice, so Cameron, McDonagh, Spielberg, Johnson and Polley all make total sense for them.

I think it’s the RRR and Everything Everywhere All at Once inclusions that make me look at this as ‘including the films everyone was talking about’ thing. But that just also may be my own sensitivity about that stuff, having constantly been around people who made their own opinion whatever the prevailing one was rather than having their own. Still, it’s a solid list and the films they chose are all legitimately good. The only thing that really does make me curious is the fact that Top Gun was their #1 movie. That’s not a typical NBR kinda move. I don’t hate it, it’s just different for them.

My guess is this will end up as most years do for me and NBR — at least half the list will be in either my Top Ten or Top 20, with most of the rest in tier two, maybe one in tier three and then one that I don’t have on my list but go, “Yeah, it’s not a bad choice, I just don’t like it like that.” This is why I love NBR. They’re consistent in matching my own tastes more than almost any other place.

Top Ten Independent Films

Armageddon Time

Emily the Criminal

The Eternal Daughter

Funny Pages

The Inspection

Living

A Love Song

Nanny

The Wonder

To Leslie

I’ve seen Armageddon Time (liked it, but it was disappointing), Emily the Criminal (very solid), Funny Pages (fine), To Leslie (fine, but mostly because of Andrea Riseborough), Nanny (wasn’t for me) and A Love Song (nice little movie). The Eternal Daughter and The Wonder I’ll see within the next few weeks. The Inspection and Living I’m still waiting on. But I’ll get to them eventually. I’m very excited for Living in particular.

Best Director: Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

That tracks for them. No arguments here. Spielberg’s kind of on that plane at this point where you judge his wins and nominations among his other work. So, while I don’t think this ranks among his all-time efforts (dude has at least a half-dozen of those when most people barely have one or two), I think it’s a perfectly reasonable choice. I’m sure, when all is said and done, I’ll have him among the ten or so I would think about putting on my own personal ballot, if not in that top five.

Best Actor: Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Love that as a choice. He was incredible in that and I’ve been waiting for awards groups to finally start giving him his due for his incredible work these past 15 years. Very happy about this and I hope he actually does get nominated (we can discuss a win later).

Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

I don’t hate this. A lot went into that performance that isn’t really measured in the typical ‘acting’ sense by which awards are usually measured. I also wouldn’t be wholly upset if she actually got nominated. It’s not something that’ll ever win (but it could make some interesting waves, sort of like how Johnny Depp did with Pirates in 2003, winning SAG, which is always fun when it happens), but I don’t think this would look terrible if she actually did get nominated. It’ll just be a referendum on the people who think nominated performances have to be of that ‘Oscar’ type or else it’s a sacrilege. I also don’t think she actually will get nominated though, either. Maybe we get to a place where I’m convinced once all the precursors come in, but right now, I’m looking at this as a “wouldn’t that be awesome” situation more than anything. Because there’s always one boring nominee most years that could easily be swapped out for something like this to benefit the category. So I’ve got no issues here.

Best Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Guess they really liked this one. Good for him. Feels like a standard Brendan Gleeson performance, but a standard Brendan Gleeson performance is great. So I’m fine with this.

Best Supporting Actress: Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion

I saw this win before I saw the movie, so I immediately went, “Whoa… that’s interesting.” Now, having seen the movie, I get it. She’s awesome in it. Is she ‘best supporting performance of the year’ good? No. But it’s Janelle Monáe, and she’s incredible. So I’ve got no beef here.

Best Original Screenplay: The Banshees of Inisherin

And yet… Top Gun was the #1 movie. I wonder what their voting system is.

But yeah, I don’t think most people would argue with this as a choice.

Best Adapted Screenplay: All Quiet on the Western Front

Wasn’t expecting this. Especially since that movie is more about the visuals and tone more than it is the writing. But hey, cool. Shows they actually watched things outside of the usual 25 that become the pool for all voters.

Breakthrough Performance: Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans & Danielle Deadwyler, Till

LaBelle was really good in The Fabelmans, and Deadwyler — love her as a choice. I had no clue who she was last year until I saw The Harder They Fall. That alone told me she was a force to be reckoned with. I’m happy she so quickly got such a high-profile ‘standard fare’ awards role to get that segment of people to notice her. Sadly I think the next step is them putting her in a superhero movie to get that last segment of the audience to know who she is. But hopefully she can find some alternate route to get there, because she’s really good.

Best Directorial Debut: Charlotte Wells, Aftersun

I’ve been tracking this movie for months, knowing nothing about it, and now I’m seeing it on all these awards lists. I’m starting to get excited to see it. Still don’t even know anything about it, and kinda don’t want to before I see it. So I guess I’ll have an opinion on this in the next two weeks. Part of me is hoping this turns out like Waves did for me a few years ago. Where I saw it knowing nothing and came out going “holy fuck.” I long for those types of experiences.

Best Animated Feature: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

I loved that movie. I’m glad it got picked here and hope it ends up getting nominated. I might even go so far as to say I hope it wins, but I don’t yet know what we’re dealing with in terms of a full slate of contenders. I remember seeing even the trailer for this and going, “I’m gonna love this movie.” And then I saw it and thought, “I hope people see this.” Never in a million years would I think it could even contend for a nomination. And yet I’m thinking this might actually have a shot? Be still, my heart. I deal with disappointment from the animation branch every single year, so maybe let’s not get our hopes up just yet. (Good thing this is a fake documentary and not a real one, because you know that documentary branch would be waiting with spears to not nominate this and give a giant middle finger to everyone about it.)

Best International Film: Close

I’ve seen this among the lists of highly-touted foreign films and fully expect to see this on the shortlist… whenever I actually look at those. But otherwise, cool. If it’s on the shortlist, I’ll see it. Otherwise I’ll just mean to and forget and never get around to it. Like it’s been every other year.

Top Five International Films

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina, 1985

Decision to Leave

Saint Omer

I hope EO is just a longer version of Captain EO. I will be taking no further questions.

Best Documentary: Sr.

I heard good things about this.

Top Five Documentaries

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

All That Breathes

Descendant

Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb

Wildcat

I’ve encountered like no documentaries this year. I don’t even know what these are. So for now — sure.

Best Ensemble: Women Talking

Makes sense.

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick

Movie looked awesome. Interesting they specifically gave an award to him, though.

Freedom of Expression Awards: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Argentina 1985

Cool, cool.

Seems like a solid list. Most years I’m more educated about everything by this point, so I don’t really have all that much to add here.

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AFI Awards

Avatar: The Way of Water

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Nope

She Said

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

The Woman King

Women Talking

Special Award: The Banshees of Inisherin

I wonder if they had to go back and add Banshees of Inisherin just because they tallied their votes and realized, “Wait, we all voted for this. How did it get left off?”

This also fully fits what I’d have expected out of AFI, though. Nope was basically a guaranteed inclusion for them. Most of these make absolute sense for them? Elvis? Totally them. Tár is the one that surprises me. That feels like more of an NBR choice. But the rest of them are extremely on brand.

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– – – – – – – – – –

Golden Globes

I truly have no idea what to expect from these at all. So I’m just gonna dive in and react because it’s all gonna be completely new to me, probably not even having seen the majority of what they’re gonna nominate.

Best Picture – Drama

Avatar: The Way of Water

Elvis

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

There’s Top Gun again. Hmm. And Elvis. Surprised to see it in Drama, not surprised to see it here. The Fabelmans makes total sense, as does Avatar. Avatar won this category in 2009. Tár is an interesting inclusion, just because of what’s around it, but otherwise based on its pedigree I’d have fully expected to see it here.

Best Picture – Musical/Comedy

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Glass Onion

Triangle of Sadness

Do most of these qualify as comedies? Banshees of Inisherin I can see. Glass Onion, I get. Triangle of Sadness I’ve heard is a comedy. Everything Everywhere All at Once is as much a comedy as Elvis is a drama instead of a musical. And Babylon… is that just because Damien Chazelle is the guy who makes movies with music in them? Because it’s funny, but it doesn’t feel like a comedy.

Best Director

James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water

Daniel Scheinart/Daniel Kwan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Baz Luhrmann, Elvis

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

I love that the Daniels were nominated here. Otherwise, solid category. Baz Luhrmann is a fun inclusion too, even though he’s probably the only divisive person on this list, in terms of how people feel about the film.

Best Actor – Drama

Austin Butler, Elvis

Brendan Fraser, The Whale

Hugh Jackman, The Son

Bill Nighy, Living

Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

Most of this list is amazing. Though admittedly the only performance I’ve seen to this point is Butler’s. The rest is just based on actors and material. I can’t speak to Jeremy Pope, since all I know about The Inspection was the trailer. Didn’t seem like the kind of movie that would get nominated here. But seeing the Globes these past couple of years and those #5 inclusions… I think I get it. I’m sure this is exactly like Tahar Rahim in The Mauritanian — good actor, really good performance, but more something that’s here for reasons outside what they actually thought about the film and/or performance. But hey, good for him. And honestly, it’s not really doing much to change the category, so him being here over whoever else isn’t the biggest deal in the world and is probably even better in the long run.

Best Actor – Musical/Comedy

Diego Calva, Babylon

Daniel Craig, Glass Onion

Adam Driver, White Noise

Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Ralph Fiennes, The Menu

This tracks. No real surprises. Colin Farrell better win this. I hope we all agree on that. Calva’s nomination I like, even though I think the character is a little thankless and doesn’t get the showcase the other stars get. Craig is great as Benoit Blanc, plus I bet he gets more of a chance to do fun stuff with the character this time. The other two, I’m sure it’s their usual good stuff. Still, I hope this is Farrell’s category to win.

Best Actress – Drama

Cate Blanchett, Tár

Olivia Colman, Empire of Light

Viola Davis, The Woman King

Ana de Armas, Blonde

Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

Yeah, this all feels like something we all could have guessed six months ago. Not that it’s a bad list. Just feels like the one we’d all have figured on. I’ve seen three of these to this point. Viola Davis is very good, as always (though I’m not sure I put this on the level as some of her other nominated performances). I really loved what Ana de Armas did with Blonde. That was not an easy film to carry and she was tremendous in it. And Michelle Williams — I’ll admit, in the first half of that film, I thought they were gonna start nominating her for having that typical 40s ‘mother’ part, where most of the performance is just the film idealizing her and her standing there in scenes and getting close ups of her smiling as the rest of the film goes on around her. But as that film goes on, you do see a real, rounded performance, and you start to see how she layers things in those early scenes where there’s not much to do on the surface and lets it pay off later. I was really impressed by her work.

Cate Blanchett I assume is good as she always is. The only question really is whether or not it’s something good enough to win/vote for. I’ll watch that soon and know for sure. Same for Olivia Colman,. But I know so little about that film (because after hearing “Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins,” I really didn’t need to hear anything else. I only know vague notions of a plot and am just figuring this him trying to make his Cinema Paradiso) that I can’t tell if there’s a real performance there or this is just Olivia Colman in a high profile film getting nominated. Still, this looks like a really strong list and I feel like, if this were the final category, most of us would be okay with that.

Best Actress – Musical/Comedy

Lesley Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Margot Robbie, Babylon

Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu

Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

I knew, back in July when I watched Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, that Emma Thompson was a lock to be nominated here. If there were places that take bets on this stuff, I’d have laid a bet down then and made a bunch of money. Also, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris was/is amazing and I’m thrilled about Lesley Manville. Michelle Yeoh — nothing to add there from what everyone else has already said and what’s obviously on the screen, so I’ll just leave it at… definitely not a comedic performance, but love that she’s nominated. Robbie — legitimately great in Babylon. The role is written for her to knock it out of the park and she does. And Anya Taylor-Joy… I’m sure she’s very good because she always is.

(Also, just saying — now’s a good time to throw a bet down on Margot Robbie being nominated here for Barbie next year. Odds are only gonna go down from here.)

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin

Brad Pitt, Babylon

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

I knew Brendan Gleeson was gonna be nominated everywhere (and I’m thrilled at the prospect of him finally getting his first nomination after all his years of great character work), but I am overjoyed that Barry Keoghan is here too. Because his character sneakily walks away with that entire movie. It’s interesting how it’s the opposite dynamic of Three Billboards. The flashy, ‘dumb’ character is the one not getting all the notice and the more subdued performance is. Also love that Ke Huy Quan got nominated. I honestly hope he wins.

Redmayne — are people all over that performance? Because he’s good in it, but I wasn’t overly blown away by it. How much of this is just because of who he is and them liking him? I guess I’ll see on the other lists. But I don’t expect to see that performance anywhere else. I expect either BFCA or SAG but not both. But I could also see it not appearing anywhere else. Again, solid enough performance but… weird inclusion. And then Pitt — very good in that role. Not something that should win, but good enough to be nominated and deserve to be nominated. He’s always done good work, but he’s doing some of the best work of his career these past few years.

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness

Carey Mulligan, She Said

Kerry Condon — she is so goddamn good in that movie I’m almost at the point where I hope she wins the Oscar. Jamie Lee Curtis, very happy for her (though I also thought Stephanie Hsu was also worthy of being nominated). Carey Mulligan, sneaky great work in She Said. Not sneaky because she’s not always good (because she is always good), but sneaky because the movie isn’t geared toward performances and really does try to play those down in favor of the story and what it’s trying to convey. And at first glance, you may not think she’s doing all that much. But she is, and it’s really good work.

Haven’t seen the other two yet… and admittedly I did look a bit sideways at that Bassett nomination. She’s amazing and does fine in the role, but I definitely saw that and went, “Really, guys?” There’s not really all that much there to nominate. It’s Marvel. We’re not grading on a curve. If we want to nominate Angela Bassett for being Angela Bassett, I’m totally fine with that. But pretending like it’s for this specific performance… come on, guys.

Best Screenplay

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Women Talking

Wait, are four of these original? Because I think they are. That’s amazing. Also, of the three I’ve seen, great choices. And the other two are Todd Field and Sarah Polley, so I fully expect those to also be worthy. I never thought the one Globes category I’d be happiest about would be the Screenplay category. Yet here we are.

Best Original Score

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

The Fabelmans

Pinocchio

Women Talking

Justin Hurwitz, Carter Burwell, John Williams, Alexandre Desplat and Hildur Guðnadóttir. Great list based on composers. I haven’t stated listening to all the scores yet (but I’ve got like 160 of them all teed up to do so), but I imagine these will all factor in highly for me. So I’m excited to listen to them all.

Best Original Song

“Carolina,” from Where the Crawdads Sing

“Ciao Papa,” from Pinocchio

“Hold My Hand,” from Top Gun: Maverick

“Lift Me Up,” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Naatu Naatu,” from RRR

Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Rihanna. That tracks. RRR makes sense for them too. Yeah, this is what I’d have expected. Also sounds like another weak year for film songs, huh?

Best Animated Feature

Inu-Oh

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Pinocchio

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

Well this is exciting. No Lightyear, plus Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Inu-Oh? The other two I fully expected to see here, but I didn’t think Marcel the Shell struck any kind of chord with people, so that’s fucking awesome. And Inu-Oh I’m really excited to see. I know nothing about it, but I loved The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl and really liked Ride Your Wave. So I’m fully in on that hopefully being good and worthy of nominating. Puss in Boots — sure. Do your thing, Globes.

Best Picture – Non-English Language

All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)

Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)

Close (Netherlands/France/Belgium)

Decision to Leave (South Korea)

RRR (India)

These all seem like the obvious choices. The Globes are typically good to get you the choices that are the consensus best ones.

– – – – –

Ah yes, and now the part I always enjoy… speeding through all the TV categories, which I do not care about and have not watched a single episode of.

Best Series – Drama

Better Call Saul

The Crown

House of the Dragon

Ozark

Severance

This tracks. Mostly my question is — is the dragon show actually good or are we just treating it like it is because of the lineage?

Best Series – Musical/Comedy

Abbott Elementary

The Bear

Hacks

Only Murders in the Building

Wednesday

Also tracks. This fits their exact model for nominating comedies.

Best Actor – Drama Series

Jeff Bridges, The Old Man

Kevin Costner, Yellowstone

Diego Luna, Andor

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Adam Scott, Severance

This category is always fun. I assume they’ll give it to Bridges, though I’d love to see Costner get to go up there.

Best Actor – Musical/Comedy Series

Donald Glover, Atlanta

Bill Hader, Barry

Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building

Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Well this is obvious.

Best Actress – Drama

Emma d’Arcy, House of the Dragon

Laura Linney, Ozark

Imelda Staunton, The Crown

Hilary Swank, Alaska Daily

Zendaya, Euphoria

Hilary Swank is doing a TV show? Okay, then.

Best Actress – Musical/Comedy Series

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant

Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building

Jenna Ortega, Wednesday

Jean Smart, Hacks

Let’s see how they fuck this one up.

Best Supporting Actor – Series

John Lithgow, The Old Man

Jonathan Pryce, The Crown

John Turturro, Severance

Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Henry Winkler, Barry

Turturro. Nice to see him included in something.

Best Supporting Actress – Series

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

Hannah Einbender, Hacks

Julia Garner, Ozark

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary

Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

This’ll be interesting.

Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

Black Bird

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

The Dropout

Pam & Tommy

The White Lotus

It’s a rule that they have to nominate Ryan Murphy shows, isn’t it?

Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

Taron Edgerton, Black Bird

Colin Firth, The Staircase

Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven

Evan Peters, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy

Legitimately have no idea what two of these are.

Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

Jessica Chastain, George & Tammy

Julia Garner, Inventing Anna

Lily James, Pam & Tommy

Julia Roberts, Gaslit

Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

Ooh. I’m curious who they give this to.

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

F. Murray Abraham, The White Lotus

Domhnall Gleeson, The Patient

Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird

Richard Jenkins, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy

Hell yeah. F. Murray Abraham.

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus

Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble

Daisy Edgar-Jones, Under the Banner of Heaven

Niecy Nash, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Aubrey Plaza, The White Lotus

That Dahmer show name is so stupidly long.

– – – – –

Okay, so those were the Globes. Nothing too nuts, which I guess is saying something, considering what they usually do.

Onto BFCA…

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Critics Choice Awards

This’ll be interesting. This mixed with the Globes

Best Picture

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion

RRR

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

Women Talking

This is extremely Critics Choice. It’s the full gamut of what I’d expect from them. No notes.

Best Director

James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water

Damien Chazelle, Babyon

Todd Field, Tár

Baz Lurhmann, Elvis

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Sarah Polley, Women Talking

Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Woman King

S.S. Rajamouli, RRR

Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

Ten directors. Is this new? I can’t even remember. I wonder if they did it for more inclusion. But also this is their exact Picture list but with Gina Price-Bythewood there instead of either Rian Johnson or Joseph Kosinski. Which I think we’re all perfectly okay with. Honestly I don’t even hate the ten director list thing, just because it does get more interesting choices on there. I dislike it from a voting standpoint, because I’m sure that’s gonna be a disaster. But outside of that, the category having ten is great.

Best Actor

Austin Butler, Elvis

Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick

Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser, The Whale

Paul Mescal, Aftersun

Bill Nighy, Living

Cruise… that’s… honestly that is a prime #6 nominee from BFCA. That’s extremely them. Otherwise the other five are the ones I’m seeing all over the place. So that all tracks.

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Tár

Viola Davis, The Woman King

Danielle Deadwyler, Till

Margot Robbie, Babylon

Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

No Olivia Colman, but Margot Robbie, Michelle Yeoh and Danielle Deadwyler are all on. This… SAG and BAFTA are gonna be interesting. I wonder what our final category is gonna be here. We got some good people up this year.

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Dano, The Fabelmans

Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans

Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway

Happy for Dano. Between that and The Batman, he’s had a year worthy of nominating somewhere. Gleeson and Keoghan… love that we might get both of those in the category. Rooting so hard for Ke Huy Quan all season. Judd Hirsch… it’s one scene. He’s in like three, but it’s really one scene they nominated him for. But I mean, sure. Go nuts, BFCA. As long as the Oscars don’t fall for that (because it’s not like that one scene stays with you the rest of that movie), I don’t mind this because they nominate six people.

I also haven’t seen Causeway yet, but Brian Tyree Henry is always good, so I’m sure he doesn’t disappoint. Also interesting that Pitt didn’t make it on here. I wonder if that’s because they considered him lead or if the performance just wasn’t for them.

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Jessie Buckley, Women Talking

Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion

There’s Janelle Monáe again. That’s cool. And Angela Bassett. I mean, sure, but I don’t see it in the performance (just the person). Love that Hsu got on with Curtis, and Kerry Condon… she might walk away with the Oscar if this is her primary competition.

Still gotta see Women Talking, but Jessie Buckley can do almost no wrong. So I’m sure she’s great in it, as I’m sure a lot of people are as well.

Best Young Actor/Actress

Frankie Corio, Aftersun

Jalyn Hill, Till

Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans

Bella Ramsey, Catherine Called Birdy

Banks Repeta, Armageddon Time

Sadie Sink, The Whale

LaBelle is legitimately really good in The Fabelmans. Bella Ramsey is also incredible in Catherine Called Birdy. Between that and her being in the Last of Us show coming out next month, she’s gonna be on a lot of people’s radars soon. Repeta was good in Armageddon Time, especially as a lead at such a young age. Sink I know people know from Stranger Things, and since I’m assuming the role is partially like Evan Rachel Wood’s from The Wrestler, I’m sure she stands out in The Whale. Hill… he’s fine, but he’s playing Emmett Till. Kind of at a disadvantage compared to everyone else. He makes the most of his screen time, though. And Corio I haven’t seen, so I can’t discuss that performance yet.

Best Acting Ensemble

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Glass Onion

The Woman King

Women Talking

Babylon deserved better. But all of these make total sense, so I can’t quibble too much.

Best Original Screenplay

Aftersun

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Cool. Seems like all good choices. Gotta see the last two before I can fully have an opinion, but at the moment no complains.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Glass Onion

Living

She Said

The Whale

Women Talking

Seems like a good set. No complaints here either at the moment.

Best Editing

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

There are a lot of great choices for Editing this year. This is gonna be one of the most interesting categories to track this year, which is not something you say most years.

Best Cinematography

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

Empire of Light

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

Also a great year for cinematography. I’d be happy with ten nominees here if they wanted to.

Best Original Score

Babylon

The Batman

The Fabelmans

Pinocchio

Tár

Women Talking

Haven’t listened to scores yet, but these all sound like they’ll rate highly for me, so thumbs up.

Best Original Song

“Carolina,” from Where the Crawdads Sing

“Ciao Papa,” from Pinocchio

“Hold My Hand,” from Top Gun: Maverick

“Lift Me Up,” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“Naatu Naatu,” from RRR

“New Body Rhumba,” from White Noise

So… in the only two places that nominate songs, we got the exact same list. Okay then. I also fully expect Taylor Swift to be left off the final category in favor of Diane Warren.

Best Production Design

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

These are all pretty much yeses all around. Another category we could increase to ten this year and fill in easily.

Best Costume Design

Babylon

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Glass Onion

The Woman King

Resounding yes on four of these. The Woman King is also solid, but probably wouldn’t be in my top five. Glass Onion… looks nice, and the costumes are memorable, and honestly we can use a really good contemporary nominee once in a while.

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Babylon

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Whale

Big yes on all of these. Great year for tech categories.

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Everything Everywhere All at Once

RRR

Top Gun: Maverick

RRR is questionable. Black Panther less so, but also… we all know the deal with Marvel effects these past couple of years. The other four, top notch.

Best Animated Feature

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Pinocchio

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

Wendell & Wild

Hell yeah, Marcel the Shell! Nice that Wendell & Wild made it. Pinocchio and Turning Red were guarantees. Interesting how Lightyear is just snubbed everywhere to this point. Not that I’d necessarily nominate it, but I didn’t think it was as creatively bankrupt as some of the Pixar sequels have been.

Best Foreign Language Film

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina, 1985

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

Close

Decision to Leave

RRR

Yeah, they hit all the major notes, seemingly.

Best Comedy

The Banshees of Inisherin

Bros

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Glass Onion

Triangle of Sadness

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

The Bros inclusion just feels so tacked on and insincere. Happy for it to get some recognition, because it was a lovely film, but come on.

Overall, not bad. Mostly I’m interested in revisiting this once all the precursors are in. These lists always look difference once you see the totality of the season.

– – – – – – – – – –

Independent Spirit Awards

And now the Independent Spirit Awards. I won’t really have a whole lot to say here. Mostly I’m always just curious to see what actually qualifies as an indie nowadays.

Best Feature

Bones and All

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Our Father, the Devil

Tár

Women Talking

No Aftersun? That’s not an indie? I see it in the next category. (Also legitimately have never heard of Our Father, the Devil. Did enough people really see that to vote for it?) I’ll never understand how they come up with these lists. But still… sure.

Best First Feature

Aftersun

Emily the Criminal

The Inspection

Murina

Palm Trees and Power Lines

I know three of these. That’s something.

Best Director

Todd Field, Tár

Kogonada, After Yang

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Sarah Polley, Women Talking

Halina Reijin, Bodies Bodies Bodies

This tracks. Also, nice diverse list with actual good efforts. This is kinda the template, though. Given the limitations of the category (since I assume there are limits as to how the funding was raised on the films, etc), it is possible to have diversity in the nominees and actually have them be worthy nominees. I’ve seen three of these efforts and they’re all very well-directed films. And the other two, I know the directors are good at what they do. It’s not rocket science, people. It’s literally just watching more than the same 30 movies that some weird buzz machine decides are the ones to watch and use as the voting pool.

Best Lead Performance

Cate Blanchett, Tár

Dale Dickey, A Love Song

Mia Goth, Pearl

Regina Hall, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

Paul Mescal, Aftersun

Aubrey Plaza, Emily the Criminal

Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie

Taylor Russell, Bones and All

Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

Oh cool, they went genderless. That’s fun. I mean, makes it impossible to vote for, but I at least support what they’re trying to do. I also like that this list is 80% female. And a lot of really great performances here too. A voting nightmare, but as a category, it’s a good one.

Best Supporting Performance

Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway

Nina Hoss, Tár

Brian d’Arcy James, The Cathedral

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Trevante Rhodes, Bruiser

Theo Rossi, Emily the Criminal

Mark Rylance, Bones and All

Jonathan Tucker, Palm Trees and Power Lines

Gabrielle Union, The Inspection

Why is Stephanie Hsu not on here? Come on now, guys. Otherwise, I haven’t seen enough of these yet to have a real opinion. Rooting for Ke Huy Quan, just because that feels like it would be the best story and make the most people happy.

Best Breakthrough Performance

Frankie Corio, Aftersun

Gracija Filipović, Murina

Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Lily McInerny, Palm Trees and Power Lines

Daniel Zolghadri, Funny Pages

Oh, so they put her here which means she couldn’t get in the last category? That seems like some bullshit.

Best Screenplay

After Yang

Catherine Called Birdy

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Tár

Women Talking

After Yang feels a bit iffy, but I really liked Catherine Called Birdy and the other three have appeared everywhere else.

Best First Screenplay

Bodies Bodies Bodies

Emergency

Emily the Criminal

Fire Island

Palm Trees and Power Lines

Oh nice. Fire Island gets some love. That was actually a nice little movie. Emergency was fun, even though it went a bit off the rails (not in a good way). Emily the Criminal was also really solid and Bodies Bodies Bodies was like 85% really good (and then 15% a letdown based on how good the rest of it was, but still overall very solid).

Best Cinematography

Aftersun

Murina

Neptune Frost

Pearl

Tár

I love to no end that people are all over the prequel film to a horror movie that can literally just be treated as its own thing if you want. I have no idea how that happened but I love that it did, because that’s precisely the weird shit that happens that make introducing people to certain films so much more fun. Having to be like, “Okay, so there’s this one movie, and then the character got its own prequel spinoff… but it all happened within the same year and wasn’t like some money grab after the first one was successful…”

Best Editing

Aftersun

The Cathedral

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Tár

Hell yeah, Marcel the Shell.

Also, what an open and shut category this one is.

Best Documentary

All That Breathes

All the Beauty and the Blodshed

A House Made of Splinters

Midwives

Riotsville USA

Well three of these are shortlisted, so there’s that.

Robert Altman Award: Women Talking

Makes sense.

Best International Film

Corsage

Joyland

Leonor Will Never Die

Return to Seoul

Saint Omer

4/5 shortlisted. Nice to know. The more shortlisted films I see elsewhere makes me more interested in seeing them all.

John Cassavetes Award

The African Desperate

A Love Song

The Cathedral

Holy Emy

Something in the Dirt

Something in the Dirt! That’s fun. It’s weird that Benson and Moorehead haven’t gotten more attention to this point.

Producers Award

Liz Cardenas

Tory Lenosky

David Grove Churchill Viste

Cool, cool.

 Someone to Watch Award

Adamma Ebo, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

Nikyatu Jusu, Nanny

Araceli Lemos, Holy Emy

Also cool.

 Truer Than Fiction Award

Isabel Castro, Mija

Reid Davenport, I Didn’t See You There

Rebeca Huntt, Beba

I like that they do these awards. These get people exposure to make their next movies and grow their talents and ultimately diversify the industry in a much needed way.

– – – – – – – – – –

And now the Documentary Awards. This’ll be quick. This is largely for me to look at later when I try to guess what’s gonna be nominated from the shortlist.

BFCA Documentary Awards

Best Doc Feature

Aftershock

The Automat

Descendant

Fire of Love

Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down

Good Night Oppy

The Janes

Moonage Daydream

Navalny

Sidney

That’s 1/3 of the shortlist. So that’s something. Descendant, Fire of Love, The Janes, Moonage Daydream and Navalny.

Best Director

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Descendant

Fire of Love

George Carlin’s American Dream

Good Night Oppy

Moonage Daydream

Navalny

Sidney

Love that George Carlin’s American Dream is on here. I mean, it’s purely because it’s Apatow, but I like that it got some love.

Best First Doc Feature

Cow

The Automat

My Old School

Lucy and Desi

The Territory

Bad Axe

Three Minutes: A Lengthening

Lucy and Desi is Amy Poehler, is it not? And Cow is Andrea Arnold. So basically this is a celebrity category. Also, The Automat… that’s twice it’s been on these lists. That’s one of those where, I saw it because I like documentaries about weird shit like automats (or that one from a few years ago that was just about delis), but I assume nobody else, especially awards voting bodies, would ever give a shit about them. So it’s weird to see that here.

Best Cinematography

All That Breathes

Cow

McEnroe

Nuisance Bear

Our Great National Parks

The Territory

Nuisance Bear is a short, isn’t it? I guess it’s all fair game here.

Best Editing

The Beatles: Get Back

Fire of Love

George Carlin’s American Dream

Good Night Oppy

Moonage Daydream

Navalny

Three Minutes: A Lengthening

Wait, Get Back counts? Wasn’t that last year? And… a miniseries? Because if it counts at all, why isn’t it up in like, every category?

Best Score

The Automat

Fire of Love

Good Night Oppy

The Janes

Lucy and Desi

Navalny

There’s The Automat again.

Also, remember a few years ago when Philip Glass did that incredible score for Jane that went so much harder than it needed to and was amazing?

Best Narration

Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story

Fire of Love

Good Night Oppy

Our Great National Parks

Riotsville USA

Three Minutes: A Lengthening

This feels like that Annie category that’s basically just ‘who’s the biggest name someone got to do voiceover’.

Best Archival Documentary

Beatles: Get Back

Fire of Love

Moonage Daydream

Nothing Compares

Riotsville USA

Three Minutes: A Lenghtening

Oh right, the Sinead O’Connor documentary. I heard it was good. And yet one measly nomination.

Best Historical Documentary

The Automat

Descendant

The Janes

Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power

Still Working 9 to 5

Three Minutes: A Lenghtening

The U.S. and the Holocaust

Oh boy. I bet that last one is a doozy.

Best Biographical Documentary

George Carlin’s American Dream

The Last Movie Stars

Lucy and Desi

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams

Sidney

Sr.

I’m so interested to know what wins this. Above literally all the other categories. This is the only result I care about on this list. What are they gonna pick (and by extension… why).

Best Music Documentary

The Beatles: Get Back

Haleluljah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey a Song

If These Walls Could Sing

Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues

Moonage Daydream

Nothing Compares

The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile

This is the only category where I look at all the subjects and go, “Yeah, I’d watch all of these.” I know my tastes.

Best Political Documentary

Aftershock

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down

The Janes

Navalny

Retrograde

Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Wait, wasn’t the Ukraine documentary already nominated? Is it a sequel with a similar name? Is it part of a series? Like Paris Je T’aime? I could’ve sword there was a documentary with almost that exact title nominated in like, 2015.

Best Science/Nature Documentary

All That Breathes

Cow

Fire of Love

Good Night Oppy

Nuisance Bear

Return to Space

The Territory

I saw a trailer for Cocaine Bear today.

That’s all I got for this.

Best Sports Documentary

Citizen Ashe

Hockeyland

Kaepernick & America

McEnroe

The Redeem Team

Welcome to Wrexham

I look at all these and go, “… ehh.” Apparently sports docs are hit and miss for me. Music docs, though? Put that shit in my veins.

Best Short Documentary

38 at the Garden

Andola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison

The Flagmakers

My Disability Roadmap

Nuiscance Bear

Stranger at the Gate

Well one of these is nominated in like three other categories.

But hey, at least almost all of these are shortlisted. So there’s that?

– – – – – – – – – –

IDA Doc Awards

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