DGA, CCA, PGA: Has the race changed or was it always a free-for-all?

by Nathaniel R

Chicken or egg? Egg or chicken? Have the last two weeks of the Oscar race and the very recent prizes from the Directors Guild, Producers Guild, and Critics Choice Awards changed the game or were the upcoming 97th Academy Awards always this much of an "anyone's game" free-for-all wherein Anora, The Brutalist, and Emilia Perez all felt possible as the dominant film?  I myself would argue for the latter. The Golden Globes (Emilia Perez dominated with 4 wins) are never the final chapter in any Oscar race, just one of its booziest most memorable chapters.

The dominant story for a week or so was the deflation Emilia Perez's, done in by a social media scandal which opened a very large window for the film's many naysayers to crash through. But it's important to remember that first industry voters loved the trans cartel musical to the breathy tune of 13 Oscar nominations...

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"Conclave" leads the BAFTA nominations

by Cláudio Alves

Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes are both nominated for CONCLAVE. | © Focus Features

The BAFTAs are upon us, and this year's nominations are a return to the institution's 2000s penchant for precursor-ism. By that I mean that its choices are keeping in tune with the Oscar favorites in most races. That's unsurprising considering that, for the first time since 2020, the British Academy did away with juries and committees in the acting and directing categories. Many may rejoice at this populist comeback, but I miss the more unexpected choices we enjoyed during those years. In any case, Conclave leads the nomination tally with 12 mentions, while Emilia Pérez is a close runner-up with 11, including a Supporting Actress double dip. Next comes The Brutalist with nine nods, Dune: Part Two, Wicked and Anora have seven, A Complete Unknown six, while The Substance and Nosferatu each nab five…

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ADG, AMPS, and the BSC close the 'Guilds Week'

by Cláudio Alves

The guilds are coming together in support for CONCLAVE.

To talk about awards in the face of such a catastrophe as the LA fires feels fundamentally wrong. And yet, we need to acknowledge them to explain why this past week has been so odd for those following the Oscar race. Amid the ongoing calamity, various Hollywood guilds have delayed their announcements and extended voting periods. This includes the Academy, but for this post's purpose, the PGA, WGA, and ASC are the organizations we're specifically referring to. Not all guilds followed suit, of course. The Art Directors Guild and the Association of Motion Picture Sound have shared their slate of honorees for the season. Also, since they're not based in California, the British Society of Cinematographers was unaffected. Let's consider their nominees…

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"Wicked" and "A Complete Unknown" are hits with SAG

by Cláudio Alves

The Screen Actors Guild couldn't resist Jonathan Bailey in WICKED. Could you?

The "guilds week" continues with SAG revealing their nominations and shaking up the Oscar race. Wicked is today's biggest champion, scoring in five categories, including a surprise Best Supporting Actor nomination for Jonathan Bailey. A Complete Unknown also got a major boost, as did The Last Showgirl, while The Brutalist and Sing Sing underperformed. The Screen Actors Guild has a more populist taste than almost any of the major awards-giving organizations, including AMPAS, so expect some discrepancies between these and the Oscar lineups. Still, when it comes to winning, it's difficult, though not impossible, to take home Hollywood's most coveted trophy without a SAG nod to match.

Find the complete nomination lists for both film and TV after the jump…

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Weekend Awards Wrap-Up: New Year, New Winners

by Cláudio Alves

Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin are keeping HARD TRUTHS in the awards conversation.

It's been a while since our last Weekend Awards Wrap-Up. So long that the year changed, as we all bid adieu to 2024 and welcome 2025 with open arms. Mayhap inspired by a sense of annual renewal, critics groups varied up their game a tad. Colman Domingo is now leading in the number of wins, trumping Adrien Brody in Best Actor, while Margaret Qualley is pulling ahead of her other co-leads masquerading as supporting actresses. Yet, the week's biggest story is Marianne Jean-Baptiste securing the critical trifecta of the NYFCC, LAFCA, and NSFC. This feat has never before been achieved by a woman of color and has only once been given to an actress who AMPAS didn't then herald with an Oscar nomination of their own…

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