Lady Gaga and 'House of Gucci' Crash the SAG Nominations

I should not have underestimated House of Gucci (though it is a blind spot for me since I have yet to see it for myself). But given the fact that it was the only adult audience film that did anything at the box office last year, of course it was going to be acknowledged. I’m thinking it gets into Best Picture for sure now, which means that Lady Gaga, believe it or not, has a real chance to win the Oscar for Best Actress. But Nicole Kidman appears to be a threat as well. Kristen Stewart is not however, as her “shocking” snub this morning (not so shocking if you’ve actually seen that terrible film) means she’s fighting for a nomination in the category. I think there’s a real chance she misses entirely for someone like Penelope Cruz or maybe Jennifer Hudson, who took the slot here at SAG.

2022 SAG NOMINATIONS

BEST ENSEMBLE
“Belfast”
“CODA”
“Don’t Look Up”
“House of Gucci”
“King Richard”

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”)
Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”)
Andrew Garfield (“tick, tick…BOOM!”)
Will Smith (“King Richard”)
Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”)

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”)
Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”)
Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”)
Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”)
Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck (“The Tender Bar”)
Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”)
Troy Kotsur (“CODA”)
Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Caitriona Balfe (“Belfast”)
Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”)
Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”)
Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”)
Ruth Negga (“Passing”)

BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE
“Black Widow”
“Dune”
“The Matrix Resurrections”
“No Time to Die”
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”

The cast of Don’t Look Up made it, but none of the individual actors pulled off a nod

'Cruella' and 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' Make a Strong Showing in the Makeup & Hairstyling Guild Nominations

The first guild noms are here! Everyone will pretend that SAG tomorrow is the first, but let it be known here that the makeup & hairstyling guild did actually make the first showing. Despite the, let’s say, questionable prosthetics in both The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Being the Ricardos, both films landed nominations here, as well as Cruella and The Suicide Squad, which will likely land Oscar nods as well (the first Suicide Squad actually won the makeup Oscar- anyone remember that?)

2022 MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING GUILD NOMINATIONS

Best Contemporary Make-Up, Feature-Length Motion Picture

Black Widow

Coming 2 America

Don’t Look Up

No Time to Die

The Suicide Squad
Best Period and/or Character Make-Up, Feature-Length Motion Picture

Being the Ricardos

Cruella

Dune

House of Gucci

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Best Special Make-Up Effects, Feature-Length Motion Picture

Coming 2 America

Dune 

House of Gucci

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

The Suicide Squad

Best Contemporary Hair Styling, Feature-Length Motion Picture

Coming 2 America

In the Heights

No Time to Die

The Matrix Resurrections

The Suicide Squad

Best Period Hair Styling and/or Character Hair Styling, Feature-Length Motion Picture 

Being the Ricardos

Cruella

House of Gucci

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

West Side Story

This idiotic look was apparently irresistible to the makeup guild

'The Power of the Dog,' and 'West Side Story' Win Top Golden Globes

What, the Golden Globes happened tonight? Well, yes, they did. But they were of course not televised or attended, thanks to a silly and frankly hypocritical boycott by NBC and cowardly celebrities, so the HFPA decided to tweet out their winners anyway and here’s what they chose (I never made predictions for these due to the lack of a show, but I’ll be back for SAG and Oscar). The Power of the Dog was big on the drama side, while Spielberg’s West Side Story took Best Comedy/Musical, along with two acting awards. I think Nicole Kidman’s Best Actress win was big for her, as her Lucille Ball performance in Being the Ricardos was pretty towering and exactly the kind of acting the Academy tends to appreciate, so that could be a bellwether. Of course, the big question is, without speeches and a show, do the Globes matter? Well, they were still the first ones up and they got their headlines all over the entertainment sites. So it matters about as much as it did last year, when everything was virtual. We shall see.

2022 GOLDEN GLOBES WINNERS

BEST PICTURE DRAMA: The Power of the Dog

BEST PICTURE MUSICAL/COMEDY: West Side Story

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA: Will Smith, King Richard

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA: Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL/COMEDY: Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick, Boom!

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL/COMEDY: Rachel Zegler, West Side Story

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

BEST ANIMATED FILM: Encanto

BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: Drive My Car

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Dune

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: “No Time to Die,” Billie Eilish

BEST SCREENPLAY: Belfast

BEST DIRECTOR: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Nicole Kidman’s win for Being the Ricardos gives her a leg up in the Oscar race- this movie is about the industry and her performance is big, transformative and commanding

National Society of Film Critics Also Choose 'Drive My Car'

It’s a very short list of films that have won the New York, LA and National Society of Film Critics Best Picture awards and you can now add Drive My Car to the list, but honestly I don’t quite understand why. I can’t imagine this movie getting an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and there’s almost no way for anyone to see it. But Penelope Cruz gets another big boost and hopefully she’ll land that Oscar nomination next month. This group announces second and third runners up so you can see the full spectrum of movies they liked.

2021 NSFC AWARDS

Best picture: Drive My Car
Runners up: Petite Maman
The Power of the Dog

Best actor: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Drive My Car
Runners up: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Simon Rex, Red Rocket

Best actress: Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Runners up: Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World
Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza

Best supporting actress: Ruth Negga, Passing
Runners up: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Best supporting actor: Anders Danielsen Lie, The Worst Person in the World
Runners up: Vincent Lindon, Titane
Mike Faist, West Side Story
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Best director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
Runners up: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Céline Sciamma, Petitite Maman

Best screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, Drive My Car
Runners up: Pedro Almodóvar, Paralell Mothers
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

Best cinematography: Andrew Droz Palermo, The Green Knight
Runners up: Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Memoria

Best nonfiction film: Flee
Runners up: Procession
The Velvet Underground

'Raya and the Last Dragon' Leads the Annie Nominations

This was a relatively weak year for animation, with Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon leading the Annies with 10 nominations, and Encanto behind it with 9, while Pixar’s Luca collected 8 total. My guess is Encanto is probably the favorite, although in this weak field, Luca is the one that’s underrated in terms of quality. The full list of feature nominations is below.

2021 ANNIE NOMINATIONS

Best Feature

Encanto

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

Sing 2

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Best Indie Feature

Belle

Flee

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

Pompo the Cinephile

The Summit of the Gods

Best FX 

Belle

Encanto

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Vivo

Best Character Animation 

Encanto

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Boss Baby: Family Business

Wish Dragon

Best Character Design 

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

Ron’s Gone Wrong

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Vivo

Best Direction 

Belle, Mamoru Hosoda

Encanto, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Charise Castro Smith

Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Kenneth Ladekjær

Luca, Enrico Casarosa

The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe

Best Music 

Encanto, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Germaine Franco

Luca, Dan Romer

Poupelle of Chimney Town, Youki Kojima, Yuta Bandoh

Raya and the Last Dragon, James Newton Howard, Jhené Aiko

Vivo, Alex Lacamoire, Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best Production Design 

Belle

Raya and the Last Dragon

Ron’s Gone Wrong

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Vivo

Best Storyboarding 

Encanto

Raya and the Last Dragon

Spirit Untamed

The Addams Family 2

Vivo

Best Voice Acting 

Encanto, John Leguizamo

Encanto, Stephanie Beatriz

Luca, Jack Dylan Grazer

Raya and the Last Dragon, Kelly Marie Tran

The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Abbi Jacobson

Best Writing 

Belle

Flee

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Best Editorial

Encanto

Flee

Luca

Raya and the Last Dragon

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

The Disney + release cut the legs off Encanto’s box office, which almost hit $100 million over the holidays, but won’t now

Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum Rip Off 'Romancing the Stone' in 'The Lost City'

Seriously, it’s such a rip off that I feel like they owe that movie money. Wasn’t this the exact plot of that 1980’s hit? Bullock is a romance novel author who lives out an adventure that could be straight from one of her books, and Tatum is the Fabio-esque cover model she’s stuck with throughout. Okay, Michael Douglas wasn’t a model, but Kathleen Turner was a romance writer trapped on a quest from her books too, wasn’t she? Weird. Who knows, maybe it’ll work (again) but it seems like straight up plagiarism to me. Also, where’s Channing Tatum been? Seems like forever since we’ve seen him in anything.

Dr. Strange Teams Up With Scarlet Witch in 'Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'

I’m wondering if Dr. Strange just got a huge profile boost thanks to the billion dollar grossing Spider-Man movie. The timing on his sequel couldn’t have worked out better, could it? As the next one up in the MCU in May, it looks like he’s teaming up with Wanda, fresh off her WandaVision success on Disney+ (why does no one take her to task for enslaving all those people, by the way? Now Dr. Strange doesn’t care either, but she may as well be a villain). I don’t like the title change from “and” the multiverse of madness to “in”- the first one was better.

Armie Hammer Featured in 'Death on the Nile' Trailer

He’s not in it a lot, but given the recent reports of him being Christopher Plummer’d in Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins by Will Arnett reshoots, I’m surprised they didn’t figure out a way to edit him out of this one too. The long delayed Agatha Christie-verse sequel to Murder on the Orient Express is finally coming out next month, but I don’t have high hopes (Murder on the Orient Express was dreadful).

'Drive My Car' Wins Best Picture at LA Film Critics, Penelope Cruz Takes Best Actress

The critics are really going hard for this Drive My Car movie, and yet it’s hard for me to see it gaining much momentum for Oscars, given its tiny exposure. Penelope Cruz on the other hand, got a big boost here, as Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers seemed to be a critical favorite for a while and yet also doesn’t appear to have been seen enough. That one I could see gaining traction though, given the legendary director’s track record. The strength of The Power of the Dog on the other hand, in the winners and runners up, continues to be an underrated story, as that to me is likely to gain a huge Oscar haul in March.

2021 LA FILM CRITICS WINNERS

• BEST PICTURE: “Drive My Car” Runner-Up: “The Power of the Dog”

• BEST DIRECTOR: Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog” Runner-Up: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”

• BEST ACTRESS: Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers” Runner-Up: Renate Reinsve, “The Worst Person in the World”

• BEST ACTOR: Simon Rex, “Red Rocket” Runner-Up: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: (tie) Vincent Lindon, “Titane” and Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” Runner-Up: Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”

• BEST SCREENPLAY: “Drive My Car,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe Runner-Up: “Licorice Pizza,” Paul Thomas Anderson

• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: “The Power of the Dog,” Ari Wegner Runner-Up: “Dune,” Greig Fraser

• BEST SCORE/MUSIC: “Parallel Mothers,” Alberto Iglesias Runner-Up: “The Power of the Dog” and “Spencer,” Jonny Greenwood

• BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” Steve Saklad Runner-Up: “Nightmare Alley,” Tamara Deverell

• BEST EDITING: “Summer of Soul,” Joshua L. Pearson Runner-Up: “Licorice Pizza,” Andy Jurgensen

• BEST ANIMATION: “Flee” Runner-Up: “Belle”

• BEST DOCUMENTARY: “Summer of Soul” Runner-Up: “Procession”

• BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: “Petite Maman” Runner-Up: “Quo Vadis, Aida?”

Indie Spirit Nominations Steer Clear of Oscar

This list of Independent Spirit Awards nominees couldn’t be further from Oscar buzz if it tried. Which is a good thing, I think, as the’ve tried really hard for the last couple years to go back to being their own clear cut awards organization (after years, it should be noted, of being accused of copying the major buzzed about players). The Lost Daughter is probably the frontrunner here, although it’s interesting that even in nominating that and C’mon C’mon, they refused to acknowledge bigger name leads Olivia Colman and Joaquin Phoenix.

2021 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS NOMINATIONS

Best Feature

“A Chiara”
“C’mon C’mon”
“The Lost Daughter”
“The Novice”
“Zola”

Best Director

Janicza Bravo, “Zola”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”
Lauren Hadaway, “The Novice”
Mike Mills, “C’mon, C’mon”
Ninja Thyberg, “Pleasure”

Best First Feature

“7 Days”
“Holler”
“Queen of Glory”
“Test Pattern”
“Wild Indian”

Best Female Lead

Isabelle Fuhrman, “The Novice”
Brittany S. Hall, “Test Pattern”
Patti Harrison, “Together Together”
Taylour Paige, “Zola”
Kali Reis, “Catch the Fair One”

Best Male Lead

Clifton Collins, Jr., “Jockey”
Frankie Faison, “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
Michael Greyeyes, “Wild Indian”
Udo Kier, “Swan Song”
Simon Rex, “Red Rocket”

Best Supporting Female

Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
Amy Forsyth, “The Novice”
Ruth Negga, “Passing”
Revika Anne Reustle, “Pleasure”
Suzanna Son, “Red Rocket”

Best Supporting Male

Colman Domingo, “Zola”
Meeko Gattuso, “Queen of Glory”
Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
Will Patton, “Sweet Thing”
Chaske Spencer, “Wild Indian”

Best Screenplay

“C’mon, C’mon”
“The Lost Daughter”
“Swan Song”
“Together Together”
“Zola”

Best First Screenplay

“Cicada”
“Mass”
“Pig”

“Test Pattern”
“Wild Indian”

Best Cinematography

“A Chiara”
“Blue Bayou”
“The Humans”
“Passing”

“Zola”

Best Editing

“A Chiara”
“The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
“The Novice”
“The Nowhere Inn”
“Zola”

Robert Altman Award

The Director, Cast, and Casting Director of “Mass”

Best Documentary

“Ascension”

“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Procession”
“Summer of Soul”

Best International Film

“Compartment No. 6”
“Drive My Car”
“Parallel Mothers”
“Pebbles”
“Petite Maman”
“Prayers for the Stolen”

Someone to Watch Award

Alex Camilleri, “Luzzu”
Gillian Wallace Horvat, “I Blame Society”
Michael Sarnoski, “Pig”

Truer Than Fiction Award

“North by Current”
“Faya Dayi”
“Try Harder!”

John Cassavetes Award

“Cryptozoo”
“Jockey”
“Shiva Baby”
“Sweet Thing”
“This Is Not a War Story”

Producers Award

Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
Lizzie Shapiro

Ruth Negga is on the verge of getting nominated for Passing, but it depends how manny people watch the movie

More Batman/Catwoman Action in New 'The Batman' Trailer

This is coming out March 4th, and this is the most complete trailer we’ve seen for this movie yet. I still think Robert Pattinson is woefully miscast and looks to be doing his terrible Twilight performance, so…yikes. But Zoe Kravitz doesn’t look too bad (aside from that awful “cat burglar” mask? Wtf is that?) and this so-called “Riddler” looks, sounds and appears to have adopted entirely the storyline of Batman’s “Hush” villain, so I’m thinking Matt Reeves wanted to do the Hush plot but the studio forced him to use a more famous villain instead. But that sure doesn’t look like the Riddler.

2021 Critics Choice Nominations: Complete List

I’m posting these with minimal commentary because I do not respect the BFCA in any sense and their nominations are always garbage. They call themselves critics but they are NOT. They’re entertainment and radio reporters and interviewers who don’t watch movies or TV, don’t write reviews, and have zero knowledge of movie history, so what they really are are a bunch of frauds and awards pundits calling themselves “critics” to get attention. (Would an organization comprised of actual critics have the dreadfully reviewed Don’t Look Up all over its nominations list? Yeah, didn’t think so). I just really hope the Academy goes its own way this year and ignores the precursors entirely. If ever there was a year to do it, it’s this one.

2021 BFCA NOMINATIONS

BEST PICTURE

“Belfast”
“CODA”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“tick, tick…Boom!”
“West Side Story”

BEST ACTOR

Nicolas Cage – “Pig”
Benedict Cumberbatch – “The Power of the Dog”
Peter Dinklage – “Cyrano”
Andrew Garfield – “tick, tick…Boom!”
Will Smith – “King Richard”
Denzel Washington – “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain – “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
Olivia Colman – “The Lost Daughter”
Lady Gaga – “House of Gucci”
Alana Haim – “Licorice Pizza”
Nicole Kidman – “Being the Ricardos”
Kristen Stewart – “Spencer”


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Jamie Dornan – “Belfast”
Ciarán Hinds – “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur – “CODA”
Jared Leto – “House of Gucci”
J.K. Simmons – “Being the Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee – “The Power of the Dog”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Caitríona Balfe – “Belfast”
Ariana DeBose – “West Side Story”
Ann Dowd – “Mass”
Kirsten Dunst – “The Power of the Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis – “King Richard”
Rita Moreno – “West Side Story”

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Jude Hill – “Belfast”
Cooper Hoffman – “Licorice Pizza”
Emilia Jones – “CODA”
Woody Norman – “C’mon C’mon”
Saniyya Sidney – “King Richard”
Rachel Zegler – “West Side Story”

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

“Belfast”
“Don’t Look Up”
“The Harder They Fall”
“Licorice Pizza”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson – “Licorice Pizza”
Kenneth Branagh – “Belfast”
Jane Campion – “The Power of the Dog”
Guillermo del Toro – “Nightmare Alley”
Steven Spielberg – “West Side Story”
Denis Villeneuve – “Dune”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Paul Thomas Anderson – “Licorice Pizza”
Zach Baylin – “King Richard”
Kenneth Branagh – “Belfast”
Adam McKay, David Sirota – “Don’t Look Up”
Aaron Sorkin – “Being the Ricardos”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Jane Campion – “The Power of the Dog”
Maggie Gyllenhaal – “The Lost Daughter”
Siân Heder – “CODA”
Tony Kushner – “West Side Story”
Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth – “Dune”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Bruno Delbonnel – “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
Greig Fraser – “Dune”
Janusz Kaminski – “West Side Story”
Dan Laustsen – “Nightmare Alley”
Ari Wegner – “The Power of the Dog”
Haris Zambarloukos – “Belfast”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Jim Clay, Claire Nia Richards – “Belfast”
Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau – “Nightmare Alley”
Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo – “The French Dispatch”
Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo – “West Side Story”
Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos – “Dune”

BEST EDITING

Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn – “West Side Story”
Úna Ní Dhonghaíle – “Belfast”
Andy Jurgensen – “Licorice Pizza”
Peter Sciberras – “The Power of the Dog”
Joe Walker – “Dune”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Jenny Beavan – “Cruella”
Luis Sequeira – “Nightmare Alley”
Paul Tazewell – “West Side Story”
Jacqueline West, Robert Morgan – “Dune”
Janty Yates – “House of Gucci”

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

“Cruella”
“Dune”
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
“House of Gucci”
“Nightmare Alley”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

“Dune”
“The Matrix Resurrections”
“Nightmare Alley”
“No Time to Die”
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”

BEST COMEDY

“Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Free Guy”
“The French Dispatch”
“Licorice Pizza”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“Encanto”
“Flee”
“Luca”
“The Mitchells vs the Machines”
“Raya and the Last Dragon”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“A Hero”
“Drive My Car”
“Flee”
“The Hand of God”
“The Worst Person in the World”

BEST SONG

Be Alive – “King Richard”
Dos Oruguitas – “Encanto”
Guns Go Bang – “The Harder They Fall”
Just Look Up – “Don’t Look Up”
No Time to Die – “No Time to Die”

BEST SCORE

Nicholas Britell – “Don’t Look Up”
Jonny Greenwood – “The Power of the Dog”
Jonny Greenwood – Spencer”
Nathan Johnson – “Nightmare Alley”
Hans Zimmer – “Dune”