'Mad Max' Leads the Critics Choice Nominations with 13

The Broadcast Film Critics Association announced their nominees today, and for whatever reason, they're always worth looking at because they happen to match closest with the Oscar Best Picture nominees due to a similar taste. They usually leave out one or two at most from the eventual BP lineup, so in looking at these, I'd say we have a pretty solid top nine- this list minus Sicario is probably what will happen. A snub of any of these other films at this point would be surprising. I really can't believe that Mad Max is on its way to a Best Picture nomination, but it certainly looks like that's the case. As always, we'll know more when the guilds announce, but the BFCA BP lineup is usually pretty solid.

BEST PICTURE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Sicario
Spotlight

BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Matt Damon – The Martian
Johnny Depp – Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
Tom Hardy – The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone – Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara – Carol
Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
Helen Mirren – Trumbo
Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation
RJ Cyler – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Shameik Moore – Dope
Milo Parker – Mr. Holmes
Jacob Tremblay – Room

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Big Short
The Hateful Eight
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes – Carol
Alejandro González Iñárritu – The Revenant
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott – The Martian
Steven Spielberg – Bridge of Spies

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

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay – The Big Short
Nick Hornby – Brooklyn
Drew Goddard – The Martian
Emma Donoghue – Room
Aaron Sorkin – Steve Jobs

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol – Ed Lachman
The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson
Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale
The Martian – Dariusz Wolski
The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario – Roger Deakins

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Bridge of Spies – Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo
Brooklyn – François Séguin, Jennifer Oman and Louise Tremblay
Carol – Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
The Danish Girl – Eve Stewart, Michael Standish
Mad Max: Fury Road – Colin Gibson
The Martian – Arthur Max, Celia Bobak

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

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Brooklyn – Odile Dicks-Mireaux
Carol – Sandy Powell
Cinderella – Sandy Powell
The Danish Girl – Paco Delgado
Mad Max: Fury Road – Jenny Beavan

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Black Mass
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Ex Machina
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
The Walk

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

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Furious 7
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Sicario

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Daniel Craig – Spectre
Tom Cruise – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Tom Hardy – Mad Max: Fury Road
Chris Pratt – Jurassic World
Paul Rudd – Ant-Man

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Sicario
Rebecca Ferguson – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Bryce Dallas Howard – Jurassic World
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST COMEDY
The Big Short
Inside Out
Joy
Sisters
Spy
Trainwreck

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale – The Big Short
Steve Carell – The Big Short
Robert De Niro – The Intern
Bill Hader – Trainwreck
Jason Statham – Spy

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Tina Fey – Sisters
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Melissa McCarthy – Spy
Amy Schumer – Trainwreck
Lily Tomlin – Grandma

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Ex Machina
It Follows
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Assassin
Goodnight Mommy
Mustang
The Second Mother
Son of Saul

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Amy
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
He Named Me Malala
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade Next

BEST SONG
Fifty Shades of Grey – Love Me Like You Do
Furious 7 – See You Again
The Hunting Ground – Til It Happens To You
Love & Mercy – One Kind of Love
Spectre – Writing’s on the Wall
Youth – Simple Song #3

BEST SCORE
Carol – Carter Burwell
The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone
The Revenant – Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto
Sicario – Johann Johannsson
Spotlight – Howard Shore

Obviously these guys like to cover their bases withe six nominees in each category- they basically only exist to see if they can predict the Oscars most accurately. That doesn't give the BFCA a whole lot of integrity as its own organization, but since that is its mission statement, they're worth scanning to see if any potential surprises might be coming. I'd say that Charlize Theron has a really excellent chance to land a surprise Best Actress nod at the Oscars, especially if Mad Max is really strong. Watch out for her- which would be the coolest nomination of all time, very Sigourney Weaver-esque.

BOX OFFICE 12/11-12/13: 'In the Heart of the Sea' Bombs with 11 million

A really slow weekend at the box office left the top four movies all scrambling for first place with earnings between 10 and 11 million. In the end, it was the Hunger Games movie that landed its fourth week on top, pulling in just a tad more than Ron Howard's epic In the Heart of the Sea, which crashed and burned with a measly opening in second place. The movie had close to a 100 million budget too, which is just the latest flop for WB this year, having opened Jupiter Ascending, Pan and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to similarly awful numbers.

The Good Dinosaur came in third with 10 million, but the movie will end up being one of Pixar's lowest ever grossers, with a total so far of just 89 million. Creed held well in fourth, also bringing in 10 million and looking to end up crossing 100 million in the end if it can withstand the pummeling all movies are going to take from Star Wars opening next weekend. And in fifth was Krampus, which fell over 50 percent and has earned 28 million for its trouble.

Top 5:

1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2- 11.3 million
2. In the Heart of the Sea- 11 million
3. The Good Dinosaur- 10.5 million
4. Creed- 10.1 million
5. Krampus- 8 million

In limited release, The Big Short had a terrific opening this weekend from 8 locations, earning a 90k pre screen average for a 720k total, second only to the opening of Steve Jobs this year. Of course, we all know what happened to that film when it expanded, so we'll have to see what happens when The Big Short goes wide on December 23rd. Next week is the big one, guys. Star Wars: The Force Awakens finally comes out and we'll see if it really does manage to break all the box office records it's being rumored to- my guess is that it actually won't beat Jurassic World, although that's a minority opinion. But I have a hunch. We'll see.

More Critics Weigh in as Toronto, San Francisco and the Online Society Split It Up Between 'Carol,' 'Spotlight' and 'Mad Max'

It seems obvious now there are three critical darlings in the race this year, as three more critics groups announce and go different ways for the top prize, one for each pick. 

TORONTO

These guys loved Carol as the year's best and picked a variety for the rest, including nods for the direction of Ex Machina and Phoenix. A nice touch in choosing Shaun the Sheep for best animated film too.

• Best First Film: Ex Machina
• Best Foreign Language Film: Phoenix
• Best Documentary: The Look of Silence
• Best Animated Feature: Shaun the Sheep Movie
• Best Screenplay: The Big Short
• Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
• Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
• Best Actress: Nina Hoss, Phoenix
• Best Actor: Tom Hardy, Legend
• Best Director: Todd Haynes, Carol
• Best Picture: Carol

SAN FRANCISCO

The Bay area critics went with Spotlight up top but also loved Brooklyn and Love and Mercy to some extent, showering both with screenplay and acting wins, along with Mad Max in the tech and director categories. 

• Best Picture: “Spotlight”
• Best Director: George Miller, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
• Best Original Screenplay: “Love & Mercy”
• Best Adapted Screenplay: “Brooklyn”


• Best Actor: Paul Dano, “Love & Mercy”
• Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”
• Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”
• Best Supporting Actress: Mya Taylor, “Tangerine”
• Best Animated Feature: “Anomalisa”
• Best Foreign Language Film: “Son of Saul”
• Best Documentary: “Listen to Me Marlon”
• Best Cinematography: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
• Best Production Design: “Carol”
• Best Film Editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road”

ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

The OFCS went all in for Mad Max, as could be expected, but they also liked Carol quite a bit and yay- another one for Michael Fassbender in Best Actor. If Fassbender was the kind of guy who agreed to campaign, I do believe he could win that Oscar for this- right now Leo Dicaprio appears the frontrunner, but only as a default choice, since the movie isn't exactly beloved. It's definitely up for grabs if Fassy wanted it.

• Best Picture: Mad Max: Fury Road
  
• Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
  
• Best Film Not in the English Language: The Assassin (Taiwan)
  
• Best Documentary: The Look of Silence
  
• Best Director: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
  
• Best Actor: Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
  
• Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Carol)
  
• Best Supporting Actor: Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
  
• Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara (Carol)
  
• Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight
  
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Carol
  
• Best Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
  
• Best Cinematography: Mad Max: Fury Road 

Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman Return in Trailer for 'Independence Day: Resurgence'

So, the latest entry in our nostalgia-crazed culture is the sequel to 1995's Independence Day, and call me crazy but whatever this is looks nothing like the cheesy, B-movie fun of that disaster epic, even with Roland Emmerich at the helm again. Doesn't this look overly self-serious and drab? Funny, that's not what I remember that movie being like at all. No Will Smith in this one, but we do get Liam Hemsworth, so...yay?

X-Men Are Back in Trailer for 'Apocalypse'

So Jennifer Lawrence doesn't feel like putting hours worth of makeup on, even though she's playing a comic book character who's entirely blue, so the answer to that is shapeshifter Mystique is now a blond girl all the time who looks jut like Jennifer Lawrence and no one else. That's bullshit. That's the most annoying thing about this trailer. I don't even care about anything else.

The Turtles Are Back in the Trailer for 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2'

I just can't get over how incredibly ugly these turtles look. They do the jokes and the flips and everything, but they look like complete shit. Shudder. Arrow's Stephen Amell makes his major movie debut as Casey Jones in this, but why he wanted his first big movie role to be the sequel to the Ninja Turtles mess, I have no idea. I'll be staying far, far away from this one.

'The Legend of Tarzan' Gets a Trailer

Oh boy- I think we may be looking at a Pan-type bomb here. Just about everything in this trailer is a dark, washed out, ugly CG mess- kinda reminds me of Peter Jackson's King Kong, at least the parts on the island. If you've been wanting a new Tarzan movie for a while, I wouldn't get your hopes up for this one.

'Carol' Leads the 2015 Golden Globe Nominations

The Hollywood Foreign Press today somewhat mitigated the flat out wackiness of yesterday's SAG nominations, by choosing many of the full-blooded Oscar contenders here, including Spotlight, Carol, The Revenant, Room and The Martian in major categories. But they did leave some films out, most surprisingly Brooklyn, which got a sole Best Actress nomination for Saoirse Ronan, undoubtedly leaving Brie Larson the frontrunner for the Globe win, since Room landed Best Picture AND Best Screenplay noms. Looks like Ronan's not running away with that like I thought. The Big Short was also on the rise again, landing noms for Screenplay, Picture, Steve Carell and Christian Bale, so we definitely need to look out for that one as a latebreaker. And even though Spotlight got the major nominations it was supposed to, its actors were completely shut out today, with no one from its praised ensemble getting in due to vote-splitting. Time for Open Road to move Michael Keaton into lead I think, in order to try to get at least one of these guys in, instead of crowding everyone into supporting, where they're cannibalizing each other. But it's important to remember that the HFPA is NOT the industry, so even though I expect many of these films to get recognition, the Academy and the guild voters are going to go their own way- maybe they'll love Brooklyn a lot more, for example.

Best Film Drama
"Carol"
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"The Revenant"
"Room"
"Spotlight"

Best Film Drama Actor
Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"
Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl"
Will Smith, "Concussion"

Best Film Drama Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
Brie Larson, "Room"
Rooney Mara, "Carol"
Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn"
Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"

Best Film Comedy/Musical
"The Big Short"
"Joy"
"The Martian"
"Spy"
"Trainwreck"

Best Film Comedy/Musical Actor
Christian Bale, "The Big Short"
Steve Carell, "The Big Short"
Matt Damon, "The Martian"
Al Pacino, "Danny Collins"
Mark Ruffalo, "Infinitely Polar Bear"

Best Film Comedy/Musical Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, "Joy"
Melissa McCarthy, "Spy"
Amy Schumer, "Trainwreck"
Maggie Smith, "The Lady in the Van"
Lily Tomlin, "Grandma"

Best Film Supporting Actor
Paul Dano, "Love and Mercy"
Idris Elba, "Beasts of No Nation"
Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"
Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"
Sylvester Stallone, "Creed"

Best Film Supporting Actress
Jane Fonda, "Youth"
Jennifer Jason Leigh, "The Hateful Eight"
Helen Mirren, "Trumbo"
Alicia Vikander, "Ex Machina"
Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs"

Best Director
Todd Haynes, "Carol"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "The Revenant"
Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight"
George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road"
Ridley Scott, "The Martian"

Best Screenplay
"Room"
"Spotlight"
"The Big Short"
"Steve Jobs"
"The Hateful Eight"

Best Score
"Carol"
"The Danish Girl"
"The Hateful Eight"
"Steve Jobs"
"The Revenant"

Best Song
"Love Me Like You Do" - "Fifty Shades of Grey"
"One Kind of Love" - "Love and Mercy"
"See You Again" - "Furious 7"
"Simple Song #3" - "Youth"
"Writing's On the Wall" - "Spectre"

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

Best Foreign Language Film
"The Brand New Testament"
"The Club"
"The Fencer"
"Mustang"
"Son of Saul"

In the comedy categories, I'm predicting Amy Schumer will likely take that Globe win over Jennifer Lawrence and Melissa McCarthy, although kudos to the Globes for finally nominating McCarthy, along with Spy for Best Picture. About time. Another fun fact here: Aaron Sorkin has been nominated by the HFPA for every single film he's ever written- no kidding. Best Picture comedy is between The Big Short and The Martian, obviously, but The Martian missed a Screenplay nod, so that's going to be a tight race. I actually think the Best Director nominees here may match Oscar exactly, when they're revealed in January, and another kudos to the Globes for nominating Mad Max in Best Picture drama. It's still a fight for that Oscar nod though, even if George Miller gets in for director.

'The Big Short' is coming up strong with SAG and HFPA- will the industry follow their lead?

First Trailer for Steven Spielberg's 'The BFG'

Here's a first look at Spielberg's adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic The BFG, which was scripted by the now late Melissa Mathison. Who knows if it'll be any good- it's been a while since Spielberg played in the children's fantasy genre, but maybe it'll have an air of magic to it.

2015 SAG Nominees Include 'Trumbo,' 'Beasts of No Nation' and 'Straight Outta Compton'

Well, these are some of the wildest SAG nominees we've seen in a long time, perhaps since 2007, when the Ensemble award matched 1 for 5 with the Oscar Best Picture nominees. Seriously, Trumbo? Straight Outta Compton? There a some TV actors in the mix here, including Sarah Silverman, Bryan Cranston- the Screen Actors Guild is about 100,000 members, by far the biggest and most diverse guild that includes mostly actors from television, so that may explain some of this, including the attention paid to Netflix's Beasts of No Nation. But if anything can be gleamed from this, it looks like Spotlight being the only potential Oscar movie to hit the nominees in Ensemble, may mean the movie's already won Best Picture. Not since 1995's Braveheart has there been a film that won that failed to even get nominated at SAG.

BEST ACTOR

• Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"
• Johnny Depp, "Black Mass"
• Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"
• Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"
• Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl"

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
• Brie Larson, "Room"
• Helen Mirren, "The Woman in Gold"
• Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn"
• Sarah Silverman, "I Smile Back"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Christian Bale, "The Big Short"
• Idris Elba, "Beasts of No Nation"
• Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"
• Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"
• Jacob Tremblay, "Room"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Rooney Mara, "Carol"
• Rachel McAdams, "Spotlight"
• Helen Mirren, "Trumbo"
• Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"
• Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs"

Some other random things to note- The Big Short might be a much bigger Oscar player than anyone thought, only Rachel McAdams and none of the men from Spotlight were nominated, meaning there may be vote splitting going on there, The Martian was completely snubbed despite not being a late release and definitely being seen by everyone in the nominating committee- that's a warning sign, and not one of the female led Oscar movies- Carol, Brooklyn or Room- made it into the Ensemble category. I wouldn't be surprised if Brooklyn is the only one that makes it to Best Picture of that trio now. The Golden Globe nominations come out tomorrow morning and could well look completely different, so we could be in for a chaotic, totally up in the air race this year.

DC Critics Go for 'Spotlight;' AAFC Likes 'Straight Outta Compton'

From now on we're heading into the regional critics phase of awards season, with announcements coming almost every day. First, it's the Washington D.C. critics group, which also gave Spotlight the top prize, followed by George Miller in director, Leo Dicaprio in Best Actor, and another one for Saoirse Ronan in Actress.

WASHINGTON DC FILM CRITICS

• Best Film: Spotlight
• Best Director: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
• Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
• Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
• Best Supporting Actor: Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
• Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)
• Best Acting Ensemble: Spotlight
• Best Youth Performance: Jacob Tremblay (Room)
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Room
• Best Original Screenplay: Inside Out
• Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
• Best Documentary: Amy
• Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
• Best Original Score: Sicario
• Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
• Best Cinematography: The Revenant
• Best Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road

AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

• Best Picture: "Straight Outta Compton"
• Best Director: Ryan Coogler, “Creed”
• Best Ensemble: "Straight Outta Compton"
• Best Actor: Will Smith "Concussion"
• Best Actress: Teyonah Parris "Chi-Raq"
• Best Supporting Actor: Jason Mitchell "Straight Outta Compton" 
• Best Supporting Actress: Tessa Thompson "Creed"
• Best Independent Film: "Chi-Raq”
• Best Screenplay: “Dope”
• Breakout Performance: Michael B. Jordan “Creed”
• Best Animation: "The Peanuts Movie"
• Best Documentary: "A Ballerina’s Tale"

BOX OFFICE 12/04-12/06: 'Mockingjay' and 'Krampus' Lead a Slow Post-Thanksgiving Weekend

The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally pretty sleepy, and this one was no exception, as Mockingjay-Part 2 topped for the third week in a row, bringing in another 18 million for a new total of 227 million domestic. It was followed by the only new wide release, the Christmas themed black comedy film Krampus, which came in ahead of expectations with about 16 million on top of middling reviews, for second place.

Following them was Creed, which had a decent hold, earning another 15 million for a total of 65 million so far, while The Good Dinosaur fell off a cliff from last week, coming in with just 15 million after opening in the mid-50's. This will make it Pixar's first film never to hold the number one spot at the box office. Spectre rounded out the top five, bringing its own domestic total to 184 million.

Top 5:

1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2- 18.6 million
2. Krampus- 16 million
3. Creed- 15.5 million
4. The Good Dinosaur- 15.5 million
5. Spectre- 5.4 million

In limited release, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq opened pretty well, with over a million from 305 screens, while of the Oscar contenders in theaters, Spotlight and Brooklyn seem to be holding up the best, along with Carol, although that one is waiting a good long while before expansion in order to maximize its box office prospects from awards boosts. Next week, amid extremely muted fanfare, Ron Howard's Moby Dick story In the Heart of the Sea comes out, and a few more limited releases in The Big Short, Legend and The Lady in the Van. See you then.