Film Bitch Awards ~ Oscar Parallel Categories Complete!
Monday, February 7, 2022 at 1:10PM by Nathaniel R
The Oscar-adjacent portion of our annual Film Bitch Awards is complete (i.e. if Nathaniel had a ballot)...
BEST ACTRESS / SUPPORTING ACTRESS
It surely won't surprise you to see Jessica Chastain, Kathryn Hunter, Kirsten Dunst, Martha Plimpton, and Ruth Negga name-checked give our long and noisy enthusiasms for those performances. But that's just five of the ten fine actresses honored. We also made room for Polly Draper, Aunjanue Ellis, Olivia Colman, Reinata Reinsve, and Tessa Thompson so click over for those write-ups.
VISUALS - all categories now announced, each with write-ups.
SOUND & MUSIC - Score (we have two category types there) were added as well as writeups for each category to complete this page.
Would love to hear your 'best of's or comments on these of course!
Please to note: These are not and have never been predictions in all their years (Final oscar nom predictions are here) but, rather, personal choices. Punditry and naming your own "bests" are two things that should never be confused for each other which is why precursor awards season can be so disorienting for us here at TFE (how do so many -- including critics groups -- get these different impulses confused?!?)
OVERALL NOTES
Power of the Dog led with ten nominations (which is surely no surprise given the top ten list). Dune and Zola were tied for second with 7 nominations each. Benedetta is the sole film from the top ten list to receive no nominations. But that doesn't mean we don't love it. There are only five spots in each field available!
WHAT'S NEXT?
There are still more fun i.e. "Off-Oscar" categories to come like "diva of the year", "best action sequence", "best limited performances or cameos" and more but we'll have to take a few day break now to discuss Oscar nominations. They hit tomorrow morning. May all your wishes for Oscar nominations come true... unless they conflict with mine.
Reader Comments (22)
Great call on Diane Weist in I CARE A LOT. I had forgotten all about that netflix film until you mentioned it. She was totally watchable in that.
I am obsessed with your Best Supporting Actress lineup. I’m not sure if this would be my exact same quintet, but damn, yours is solid!
Absolutely fantastic to see Plimpton nominated even though I have her in supporting.
Why did they pin everything on Dowd only,is it current stardom as we all know who the other 3 are,if you've been around since the 80's Plimpton should hold a special place in your heart as the smart girlfriend you wished you had.
Overall a a fine set of nominees from you Nat and seeing it's list making week here are my acting finalists
Actress - Olivia Colman,Jessica Chastain,Frances McDormand,Isabelle Fuhrman and Tessa Thompson who wins in a small margin from Jessica.
Supporting Actress - Ruth Negga,Aunjanue Ellis,Nina Arianda,Bree Elrod and Martha Plimpton winning by a small margin ahead of Negga
Actor - Nicolas Cage,Benedict Cumberbatch,Will Smith,Simon Rex and Andrew Garfield who wins with ease
Supporting Actor - Troy Kotsur,Reed Birney,Jamie Dornan,Andre Holland and Smitt McPhee who easily wins by a mile.
I was really hoping for an Olga Merediz nomination in supporting actress, especially after you nominated In The Heights for Best Picture.
Great set of nominees as always, not budging to simply predicting the nominations, but highlighting your favorites, even if they have no hope of a nomination tomorrow.
"May all your wishes for Oscar nominations come true... unless they conflict with mine."
Haha!
*Eyeing my Kristen Stewart wish*
Happy Christmas Eve, Nathaniel!
How many times has Kirsten Dunst been recognized in the final 5 of your Film Bitch Awards? I'm curious!
If I recall correctly, you cited her for Melancholia and All Good Things - or am I making that up?
No longer feeling a case of the Mondays after seeing these. Love reading all your write-ups, especially the one on Olivia Colman's performance. You really captured what's so special about her Leda.
My christmas morning is here!
Love the shoutout to Dianne Wiest - did you only manage to see it this year?
Impeccable line-ups, descriptions and thought put into these as ever!
I haven't had the opportunity to see THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, but I'll say this, if there's an award for best male body in a nude scene in 2021, it would go to Anders Danielsen Lie for BERGMAN ISLAND. That is all.
I thought The French Dispatch was going to get more Film Bitch nominations since this is one of the rarest corners of the internet in which the movie was well-received, but you snubbed Canonero and Yeoman! The reason you gave to nominate the Make-Up artists of the movie was more than enough to nominate Canonero, too.
I hate when great directors make two terrific movies in a row and awards fall in love with the first one and forget the second one is also great. I'm frustrated with this cold reception to The French Dispatch. I only got to love it the second time, but, now I think it may belong to the top 3 of Wes Anderson, probably his best since The Royal Tenembaums.
Yay Polly Draper! Such a funny performance and definitely one of the main reasons the movie works so well
morgan -- I CARE A LOT is a 2021 film. It came out on Feb 2021 with no qualifying release before that. I stayed with the calendar year, unlike Oscar! If i catch a movie a year late, i do not include it. I am very strict about these things ;) It was on the Oscar eligibility list last seaon but that's because they used a 14 month release window.
guardian -- nice to see Draper fans ... every time she is in anything i'm like WHY ISN'T SHE IN MORE THINGS? but maybe she's just passed the torch to her sons (who work a lot)
Cal -- the problem is always that there are only 5 slots. I love Canonero forever.
I'm quite surprised that you have Negga, someone who seems like a clear lead, in supporting. Did you always consider her supporting or did a rewatch make you have a change of heart?
Cal -- I am trying to be more relaxed about it if there is an argument to be made. And since she's in half as much of the movie as Thompson, I decided it was okay to be supporting (more like an antagonist, or inciting character.... kind of the way Henry & June is actually about Henry & Anais though June keeps popping up and stirring shit up. i hope that makes sense.
Wouldn't it be amazing if your director lineup was the Oscar lineup, one can only dream.
@ CALonBway92: Also, in support of Nathaniel's placement of Ruth Negga in Supporting, Screen Time Central took a stopwatch to Passing and it turns out she's not actually in the movie as much as you'd think; less than a third of the total runtime. By contrast, Tessa Thompson is in over three-quarters of the film.
She just feels like she's in it more because her presence is so potent.
I really don’t understand the argument that Ruth Negga is a lead in Passing … yes, she’s the catalyst, but she’s not even in it that much, and we barely even know that much about her character. We don’t even really explore her inner world, whereas we are totally living through Tessa Thompson’s perspective, and even getting some of her husband’s. Her character majorly drives the plot, but she’s definitely supporting in my opinion.
BTW, can we congratulate Bruce Willis on those Razzie nominations?
I came late to the Top Ten post so I'm gonna share here my top 10 mexican films released in México in 2021 just because.
1. ¡Ánimo Juventud! (Go Youth!) dir. Carlos Armella
2. Ayer Maravilla Fui (Yesterday Wonder I Was) dir. Gabriel Mariño
3. Los Lobos (The Wolves) dir. Samuel Kishi
4. Selva Trágica (Tragic Jungle) dir. Yulene Olaizola
5. Blanco de Verano (Summer White) dir. Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson
6. Sin Señas Particulares (Identifying Features) dir. Fernanda Valadez
7. Una Película de Policias (A Cop Movie) dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios
8. Territorio dir. Andrés Clariond
9. Identidad Tomada (Faking) dir. Gabriel Retes
10. Los Paisajes (Landscapes) dir. Rodrigo Cervantes
Cosas Imposibles haven't been released in the U.S.? because Nora Velázquez would it be a terrific choice in the Best Actress category
The Film Bitch Awards are my favourite awards.
I love the way Nathaniel shares with us his appreciation for a wide and varied array of wonderful artistic skills.
LOVED Polly Draper - what a true supporting role, like imagine anyone else in this role and how different the movie would be. Great call out!
Wonderful line up choices. I mostly agree with you especially in the lead actor category. Truly solid.
Same with supporting actress especially for Kathryn Hunter who in a parallel world somewhere should be the frontrunner along with Ruth Negga. I haven't seen Shiva Baby though.
For lead actress, I like it that Reinsve and Tessa Thompson were both there. By the way, the correct spelling of Reinsve's name is Renate.