The Online Film Critics Society, founded in 1997 back when there was still a noticeable divide between print and web (there's zero difference anymore... it's only size and reputation of outlets since everything is online) have announced their nominations for the film year. They'll announce their winners on January 25th at which point we'll update this post. Da 5 Bloods led the nominations but only managed one win.
UPDATED -- NOMINEES & WINNERS are after the jump...
Best Picture
- Nomadland (6 nominations) ★
- Da 5 Bloods (8 nominations)
- Promising Young Woman (5 nominations)
- Never Rarely Sometimes Always (5 nominations
- First Cow (4 nominations)
- Minari (6 nominations)
- Sound of Metal (4 nominations)
- I'm thinking of ending things (3 nominations)
- Soul (3 nominations)
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4 nominations)
Their Best Picture list is we think a possibly neat little summation of where the critical heat is right now while also being an imperfect prophetic picture of what the divide might look like between critics and Oscars. Some movies that DON'T make their top ten that surely have high Oscar hopes (and have good reviews as well): Mank, One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, News of the World, and The Father.
Best Director
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods
Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
★ Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
The buzziest female directors plus Spike Lee. This has been such an exciting year for female directors but it's a pity that the attention has been so narrowly focused on only these four (plus Regina King) because Heidi Ewing (I Carry You With Me) and Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth) among others also did notable and deeply impressive work this year and are almost never mentioned. But I guess you can't name everyone.
Best Actor
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
★ Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun – Minari
Best Actress
Jessie Buckley – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
★ Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
Davis, McDormand, and Mulligan are your Oscar frontrunnrs but Flanigan has done surprisingly well in precursors, don't you think? Never Rarely struck us, while watching it, as more of a writer/director flick than an acting achievement but variety of opinion is what makes movie discussions beautiful.
Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods
Bill Murray – On the Rocks
★ Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
Best Supporting Actress
★ Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Colman – The Father
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari
Best Original Screenplay
Da 5 Bloods
Minari
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
★ Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Adapted Screenplay
First Cow
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
★ Nomadland
One Night in Miami
I've been meaning to compare the play to the screenplay because I didn't notice any significant "adaptation" in Ma Rainey... though one of the things I loved about it was that it was basically the play filmed. I realize this irks a lot of people who have the exact opposite reaction. But as someone who loves plays, I enjoy seeing them get permanently fixed versions for posterity.
Best Editing
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
★ Nomadland
Tenet
The Trial of the Chicago 7
It's possible that this list has not a single film I'd personally nominate for Best Editing even though I like two of those movies and love one of them. More soon when The Film Bitch Awards begin to roll out next week.
Best Cinematography
Da 5 Bloods
First Cow
Mank
★ Nomadland
Tenet
They're really into Da 5 Bloods ! 8 nominations.
Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
★ Soul
Tenet
Best Debut Feature
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version
★ Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
Andrew Patterson – The Vast of Night
Congratulations to these five though Fennell will obviously win (UPDATE: she did) since she's the only one nominated in Best Director as well. (I admit I continue to be a bit mystified by the critics awards love of The Vast of Night. A solid, even intriguging effort, and I'll happily sit to watch the next Patterson film to see his career develop. But I can't figure why people who've seen The Father (as OFCS clearly has) aren't noticed how amazingly confident and special Florian Zeller's debut is. I dont think I've seen him mentioned once as a debut of note.)
Best Film Not in the English Language
Another Round
Bacurau
Collective
La Llorona
★ Minari
Best Documentary
Boys State
Collective
★ Dick Johnson Is Dead
The Painter and the Thief
Time
Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
★ Soul
The Wolf House
Wolfwalkers
We like Soul a lot but it's a pity that once again Pixar is going to have an easy walk to the Oscar. It almost never matters what their competition is which is so frustrating. (Yes, I'm bitter because I thought this would finally be Cartoon Saloon's year -- Wolfwalkers is so gorgeous! -- but once again the critics have rallied to insure that Oscar voters need never feel guilty about their default Disney/Pixar setting. We wouldn't care so much (especially since Soul is quite good) if critics didn't do this all the time. There's been so many years where Pixar really didn't need or deserve another win when the critics still boosted them (last year it was agonizing to watch Toy Story 4, which shouldn't have existed at all, just stroll to another win) The Mouse House has won 13 of the 19 Oscars in this category while great animation creators like Les Armateurs, Laika, Cartoon Saloon, Tim Burton, and American Empirical Pictures are still Oscarless.
SPECIAL AWARDS (NON-COMPETITIVE)
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
- Sound of Metal - sound design
- Emma - costume design
- Tenet - visual effects
- Mank - production design
- Invisible Man - visual effects
BEST NON-US RELEASES
- A Beast in Love (Japan)
- The Disciple (India)
- Ghosts (Turkey)
- Mogul Mowgli (UK)
- New Order (Mexico)
- Notturno (Italy)
- Rocks (UK)
- Saint Maud (UK)
- Summer of 85 (France)
- Undine (Germany)
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
- Small Axe
- Distributor Kino Lober
- Indie theaters that launched virtual cinema
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
- Rob Bottin (makeup artist)
- David Byrne (composer)
- Jane Fonda (actor)
- Jean-luc Godard (director)
- Frederick Wiseman (documentarian)