Gotham Awards Nominations: "Killers" Unsubmitted but Gladstone still IN
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 2:30PM 
Though the Gotham Awards rarely correlate with the Academy, their nominations announcement often feels like the beginning of the awards season proper. That is especially true in a year like this, when the erstwhile champions of independent cinema have foregone budget caps, meaning studio productions are allowed into consideration. Still, some big Oscar contenders chose not to submit themselves for the Gothams, giving space for smaller pictures to thrive. Such was the case for Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon. Nevertheless, even with these limitations, the selection committee managed to honor Lily Gladstone…
BEST FEATURE
- PASSAGES (Sundance REVIEW)
- PAST LIVES
- REALITY
- SHOWING UP (REVIEW)
- A THOUSAND AND ONE (Sundance REVIEW)
It's wild how few nominations some of these amassed, all of them beaten by the four-time nominated All of Us Strangers. Reality is the biggest shock of all, however, only getting into this race. One would assume Past Lives is the clear favorite to win, but stranger things have happened at the Gothams than, for instance, a victory for Passages or A Thousand and One. By the way, all these films are available to stream or rent, so check them out.
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE
- Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, ORIGIN (TIFF REVIEW)
- Lily Gladstone, THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY (SXSW REVIEW)
- Greta Lee, PAST LIVES
- Franz Rogowski, PASSAGES
- Babetida Sadjo, OUR FATHER, THE DEVIL (REVIEW)
- Andrew Scott, ALL OF US STRANGERS
- Cailee Spaeny, PRISCILLA (Venice REVIEW)
- Teyana Taylor, A THOUSAND AND ONE
- Michelle Williams, SHOWING UP
- Jeffrey Wright, AMERICAN FICTION
Even though Gladstone was ineligible for the unsubmitted Killers of the Flower Moon, she makes it with The Unknown Country, for which she has also earned stellar reviews. Ellis-Taylor makes her claim on the race after Venice and Toronto, Lee basks in Past Lives love, Rogowski's narcissist devil proves irresistible, and Babetida Sadjo is my favorite surprise. Scott gets in for the nomination leader, so no shock there, and Spaeny continues her golden path started with the Volpi Cup. Taylor and Williams feel like the kind of smaller performances in smaller films bound to be forgotten later in the season, so it's terrific to see them here. Finally, Wright is receiving the plaudits he has deserved for decades now.
Regarding snubs, the biggest head-scratchers are Emma Stone and Sandra Hüller, whose films received love from the Gothams elsewhere.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
- Juliette Binoche, THE TASTE OF THINGS (Cannes Coverage)
- Penélope Cruz, FERRARI (Venice REVIEW)
- Jamie Foxx, THEY CLONED TYRONE
- Claire Foy, ALL OF US STRANGERS
- Ryan Gosling, BARBIE (REVIEW)
- Glenn Howerton, BLACKBERRY
- Sandra Hüller, THE ZONE OF INTEREST (TIFF REVIEW)
- Rachel McAdams, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME MARGARET. (REVIEW)
- Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER (Cannes REVIEW)
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS (TIFF REVIEW)
Binoche is a mighty surprise, as is Cruz, though both received sterling notices during their festival runs. Foxx capitalizes on a great comeback year while Foy is again doing the trophy-hunting routine – hopefully, for her, it ends differently than the bids for First Man and Women Talking. Gosling and Randolph are the likeliest to repeat with the Academy, though he is one of multiple cases of potential category fraud. After all, it's hard to argue that Howerton and Hüller are anything other than protagonists in their respective pictures. Seeing McAdams here is a delight, and Charles Melton's trajectory from Riverdale hunk to critically acclaimed thespian remains awe-inspiring.
Once again, it's surprising that none of the Poor Things fellows made it in. Other, quietly devastating performances in Gotham-nominated films include John Magaro in Past Lives and Ben Whishaw in Passages. Also, justice for Hong Chau in Showing Up!
;)
BEST SCREENPLAY
- ALL OF US STRANGERS, Andrew Haigh
- ANATOMY OF A FALL, Justine Triet & Arthur Harari (Cannes REVIEW)
- MAY DECEMBER, Samy Burch
- R.M.N., Cristian Mungiu (Cannes REVIEW)
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST, Jonathan Glazer
Mungiu's nomination is the standout of this bunch, with all the others feeling like expected choices. That being said, Glazer's presence on this ballot feels like a way to honor him despite his ineligibility in the Best Breakthrough Director category.
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
- ALL OF US STRANGERS
- ANATOMY OF A FALL
- POOR THINGS (Venice REVIEW)
- TÓTEM (REVIEW)
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Between All of Us Strangers, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest, this is a very British-produced shortlist. Personally, I love seeing Mexico's Oscar submission Tótem getting some well-deserved love, even though it's the lowest-profile title in the quintet.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL
- AGAINST THE TIDE
- APOLONIA, APOLONIA
- FOUR DAUGHTERS (TIFF REVIEW)
- OUR BODY (IndieLisboa Capsule + REVIEW)
20 Days in Mariupol and Four Daughters are vying for Best International Film nominations at the Oscars, representing Ukraine and Tunisia, respectively. Still, I'm rooting for Our Body, which is, by far, my favorite 2023 doc.
BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR
- Raven Jackson, ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT (Sundance REVIEW)
- Georgia Oakley, BLUE JEAN (REVIEW)
- Michelle Garza Cervera, HUESERA: THE BONE WOMAN
- Celine Song, PAST LIVES
- A.V. Rockwell, A THOUSAND AND ONE
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this marks the first time in Gotham Awards history when all their nominees in this category are women. Clearly, the Best Feature representatives have frontrunner status, but I wouldn't be too shocked if Jackson took the cake for her acclaimed All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.
BREAKTHROUGH TELEVISION OVER 40 MINUTES
- BEEF, Netflix
- HIGH SCHOOL, Amazon Freevee
- I'M A VIRGO, Prime Video
- RAIN DOGS, HBO Max
- SWARM, Amazon Studios
As someone who hasn't kept up with TV, I assume this is Beef's to lose.
BREAKTHROUGH TELEVISION UNDER 40 MINUTES
- ANNE RICE'S INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, AMC
- DEAD RINGERS, Prime Video
- THE ENGLISH, Prime Video
- THE LAST OF US, HBO Max
- A SMALL LIGHT, National Geographic
- TELEMARKETERS, HBO Max
The Last of Us feels like an incongruity within an award's history once defined by a celebration of independent production. Nevertheless, I can't say I'm not overjoyed at seeing Interview with the Vampire here, and you could say the same about that AMC Anne Rice adaptation.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SERIES
- Jacob Anderson, ANNE RICE'S INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
- Dominique Fishback, SWARM
- Jharrel Jerome, I'M A VIRGO
- Natasha Lyonne, POKER FACE
- Bel Powley, A SMALL LIGHT
- Bella Ramsey, THE LAST OF US
- Chaske Spencer, THE ENGLISH
- Rachel Weisz, DEAD RINGERS
- Ali Wong, BEEF
- Steven Yeun, BEEF
At long last, nonbinary thespian Bella Ramsey can be nominated without classifying themselves into gendered categories. It's remarkable how many of these names can also be found on the Emmy's ballot.
What do you think of the Gotham Awards nominations? Who are you rooting for?
Reader Comments (13)
Yay for Ryan Gosling though I kind of consider him to be a co-lead instead of supporting.
Not to be too cynical but I’m sure Celine Song will win breakthrough director here and everywhere else since it seems like now only one person is allowed to win that award each season. Rubber stamping winners has literally ruined awards seasons for me.
These are great nominations. Wish William Catlett couldn't snagged Gosling's slot, and I don't know how Hong Chau couldn't have snuck in, but still, super list!
Do we consider Whishaw and Exarchopoulos supporting in PASSAGES?
Binoche supporting in THE TASTE OF THINGS? What a joke! Categories have become meaningless.
I know the Gothams have no real oscar impact, but I would love for Penelope to land another rando Nine-esque supporting nomination.
I hate non-gendered categories. I hope the oscars never implementatie them.
Ten nominees in one acting category and only one winner?? I'm sorry but it's really ridiculous..
Watched it last night. What can I say? A typical Scorsese movie with typical DiCaprio and De Niro performances. Like ... after following the academy awards race for so many years and regularly getting mostly the same over and over and over again, sooner or later you're bound to embrace sci-fi / horror or anything that's not typical drama. Immediately after Flower Moon ended in the theatre, I was super excited to get back home and finish binging Midnight Mass.
Matthew Stewart timed out everyone's performances in BARBIE, and Ryan Gosling is only in the film for 28:59, or 25% of the film's running time. That's less time and percentage than Bryan Tyree Henry, Kodi Smit-McPhee AND Jesse Plemons, and Troy Kotsur...just to name a few. And that's without naming the real category fraud people like Ke Huy Quan (42%), Kaluuya and Stanfield (35-40%), Leslie Odom (47%), Brad Pitt (34%), and Mahershala Ali (51%).
When you look at those numbers, Gosling seems very safely in the supporting category. I think our perception of him as a lead comes mostly from what a big star he is, the fact that he usually is cast as a lead, and of course because his contribution to the film is so big. It's such a far more inspired and interesting performance than what we get from Downey and De Niro, and I still think Gosling could win that category. It seems like whoever starts winning the first award or two here will probably make a long, boring roll to the Oscar stage?
EricB - I agree that, even though supporting actor has some strong names that could make the race very interesting, it seems like as soon as the first awards decide who's the winner that person will take it all the way.
Gosling maybe this years Kevin Kline.
Really happy for the nods for Passages, Past Lives and All of Us Strangers.
And YES to that nod for Gosling! Look, I don't need him to win the Oscar for this, but a nomination is the least they could do for such a role. We need more comedic nods!
charlea -- In the end, we were both wrong :)