You might remember that I really hate the Critics Choice awards. The Broadcast Film Critics Association, or the BFCA, is not comprised of actual critics, so the name of this ceremony is a complete lie. It's really just anyone who pays for a membership and includes radio and TV personalities, bloggers, entertainment writers, etc. And their nominations are pretty much always about what they think is going to be nominated for Oscars rather than what they actually like best- and boy do they cover their bases, just look at the number of nominations in each category. So yeah, it's a joke to my mind, but they're giving out their awards earlier than anyone else this year so they can try to up their influence if possible. It is nice to see Arrival with so many nods, right behind La La Land. And the appearance of Hacksaw Ridge in a bunch of categories is kind of surprising- do they think Mel Gibson is ready to be embraced by Hollywood again? I don't know- the truth is it's a very weak year overall, and there a lot of open slots for nominations, so several different movies are vying for attention. The BFCA seemed to go for a lot of them, with even Loving making a comeback after it's been ignored by real critics so far. There's no way this Best Picture lineup of theirs is going to look exactly like Oscar's this year. Loving, Lion, Sully, Hacksaw Ridge- none of those are guaranteed or even that well reviewed (some critics these guys are). And what's with their insistence on having these stupid "people's choice" categories in there like Best Action movie, Best Action movie actor, etc? How many awards do they need?

Best Picture

“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Loving”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”
“Sully”

Best Director

Damien Chazelle – “La La Land”
Mel Gibson – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Barry Jenkins – “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan – “Manchester by the Sea”
David Mackenzie – “Hell or High Water”
Denis Villeneuve – “Arrival”
Denzel Washington – “Fences”

Best Actor

Casey Affleck – “Manchester by the Sea”
Joel Edgerton – “Loving”
Andrew Garfield – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling – “La La Land”
Tom Hanks – “Sully”
Denzel Washington – “Fences”

Best Actress

Amy Adams – “Arrival”
Annette Bening – “20th Century Women”
Isabelle Huppert – “Elle”
Ruth Negga – “Loving”
Natalie Portman – “Jackie”
Emma Stone – “La La Land”

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali – “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges – “Hell or High Water”
Ben Foster – “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges – “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel – “Lion”
Michael Shannon – “Nocturnal Animals”

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis – “Fences”
Greta Gerwig – “20th Century Women”
Naomie Harris – “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman – “Lion”
Janelle Monáe – “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams – “Manchester by the Sea”

'Fences' gets acting, directing, writing and picture nods

Best Original Screenplay

Damien Chazelle – “La La Land”
Barry Jenkins – “Moonlight”
Yorgos Lanthimos/Efthimis Filippou – “The Lobster”
Kenneth Lonergan – “Manchester by the Sea”
Jeff Nichols – “Loving”
Taylor Sheridan – “Hell or High Water”

Best Adapted Screenplay

Luke Davies – “Lion”
Tom Ford – “Nocturnal Animals”
Eric Heisserer – “Arrival”
Todd Komarnicki – “Sully”
Allison Schroeder/Theodore Melfi – “Hidden Figures”
August Wilson – “Fences”

Best Cinematography

Stéphane Fontaine – “Jackie”
James Laxton – “Moonlight”
Seamus McGarvey – “Nocturnal Animals”
Linus Sandgren – “La La Land”
Bradford Young – “Arrival”

Best Costume Design

Colleen Atwood – “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
Consolata Boyle – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Madeline Fontaine – “Jackie”
Joanna Johnston – “Allied”
Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh – “Love & Friendship”
Mary Zophres – “La La Land”

Best Film Editing

Tom Cross – “La La Land”
John Gilbert – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Blu Murray – “Sully”
Nat Sanders/Joi McMillon – “Moonlight”
Joe Walker – “Arrival”

Best Hair & Makeup

“Doctor Strange”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Jackie”
“Star Trek Beyond”

'Jackie' gets several noms but not in Best Picture

Best Production Design

“Arrival” – Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte/André Valade
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” – Stuart Craig/James Hambidge, Anna Pinnock
“Jackie” – Jean Rabasse, Véronique Melery
“La La Land” – David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
“Live by Night” – Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh

Best Song

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” – “La La Land”
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” – Trolls
“City of Stars” – “La La Land”
“Drive It Like You Stole It” – “Sing Street”
“How Far I’ll Go” – “Moana”
“The Rules Don’t Apply” – “Rules Don’t Apply”

Best Score

Nicholas Britell – “Moonlight”
Jóhann Jóhannsson – “Arrival”
Justin Hurwitz – “La La Land”
Micachu – “Jackie”
Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka – “Lion”

Best Visual Effects

“A Monster Calls”
“Arrival”
“Doctor Strange”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“The Jungle Book”

Best Animated Feature

“Finding Dory”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“The Red Turtle”
“Trolls”
“Zootopia”

'Moana' goes up against other Disney juggernaut 'Zootopia' for Best Animated

Best Foreign Language Film

“Elle”
“The Handmaiden”
“Julieta”
“Neruda”
“The Salesman”
“Toni Erdmann”

Best Ensemble

“20th Century Women”
“Fences”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

Best Young Actor/Actress

Lucas Hedges – “Manchester by the Sea”
Alex R. Hibbert – “Moonlight”
Lewis MacDougall – “A Monster Calls”
Madina Nalwanga – “Queen of Katwe”
Sunny Pawar – “Lion”
Hailee Steinfeld – “The Edge of Seventeen”

Best Action Movie

“Captain America: Civil War”
“Deadpool”
“Doctor Strange”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Jason Bourne”

Best Actor in an Action Movie

Benedict Cumberbatch – “Doctor Strange”
Matt Damon – “Jason Bourne”
Chris Evans – “Captain America: Civil War”
Andrew Garfield – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Reynolds – “Deadpool”

'Deadpool' lands some acknowledgment in comedy and action categories

Best Actress in an Action Movie

Gal Gadot – “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”
Scarlett Johansson – “Captain America: Civil War”
Margot Robbie – “Suicide Squad”
Tilda Swinton – “Doctor Strange”

Best Comedy

“Central Intelligence”
“Deadpool”
“Don’t Think Twice”
“The Edge of Seventeen”
“Hail, Caesar!”
“The Nice Guys”

Best Actor in a Comedy

Ryan Gosling – “The Nice Guys”
Hugh Grant – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Dwayne Johnson – “Central Intelligence”
Viggo Mortensen – “Captain Fantastic”
Ryan Reynolds – “Deadpool”

Best Actress in a Comedy

Kate Beckinsale – “Love & Friendship”
Sally Field – “Hello, My Name Is Doris”
Kate McKinnon – “Ghostbusters”
Hailee Steinfeld – “The Edge of Seventeen”
Meryl Streep – “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie

“10 Cloverfield Lane”
“Arrival”
“Doctor Strange”
“Don’t Breathe”
“Star Trek Beyond”
“The Witch”

'La La Land' Leads Critics Choice Nominations with 12

The Movie Seasons