Critics Choice Award Winners, Blanchett's Speech, and More

by Nathaniel R

Last night the Critics Choice Awards were held and broadcast on the CW. They copied and pasted many of the winners from the Golden Globes, though not quite all. To their credit, though, the repeat acting winners mostly seemed to understand this (a stark change from years past where you'd hear the same speech at every show) and didn't copy and paste their own speeches. There were also a few differences in attendance that varied things up (most noticeably Cate Blanchett who didn't attend the Globes; she won at both). But it was a dull night, overall, if you weren't in the room. We've gone before of course but it's been a few years and it does feel different if you're inside the room. Especially if you manage to get a seat at a fun table. 

For the low energy, maybe we should blame the absence of awesome cheerleader Jamie Lee Curtis whose enthusiasm was very much missed since Everything Everywhere All At Once kept winning awards (it took five in total, the most prizes for anything)  The winners and a few more comments after the jump...

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"Banshees" and "Everything Everywhere" lead the SAG Nominations

by Nathaniel R

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE scores 5 SAG nominations. One for each hot dog finger on a hand

It’s a rapidly changing world. This year’s 29th annual SAG Awards are leaving their usual home on cable for a live stream on Netflix’s YouTube channel. The 30th edition a full year from now will set the new norm (?) as SAG will begin streaming live globally on Netflix. That potentially means more viewers given Netflix’s popularity and reach, and it potentially means less as awards shows continue their trending to more niche entertainment that's exclusively for us obsessive awards nerds despite its annual attempts to appeal to everyone.

But we’re here to discuss the nominations which are upon us...

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Chaotic SAG Predictions. You ready?

by Nathaniel R

BABYLON

Beyond the Golden Globes, the most unpredictable of the major awards historically, in terms of nominations, has been the Screen Actors Guild. Their nominations will be announced on January 11th which is just a few days away. The nominating committee rotates each year so it's never the same group of people doing the judging. Sometimes they'll spring for a performance no one (at all) saw coming ("Naomi Watts in St Vincent" / "Sarah Silverman in I Smile Back") and sometimes they'll stump for a major star and give us false hopes that their delicious work won't be too outré for Oscar voters (hello, "Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy"). Sometimes they seem a month or two behind the general Oscar buzz or contrarian and other times they fall right in line like they've been studying prediction charts from pundits. In short, which kind of year will it be for them?

You won't want to hear this but our crystal ball keeps saying "Babylon" despite its harsh reviews and tepid box office. Is this thing broken? Anyway, ON TO THE PREDICTIONS...

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Split Decision: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

No two people feel the same exact way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of each of the big awards season movies this year. Here’s Abe Friedtanzer and Baby Clyde talking about Everything Everywhere All at Once.

ABE: Baby Clyde, I hope all is well! I'm eager to start talking about a film that I absolutely loved, Everything Everywhere All at Once. I actually am very late to the party on this one. I wasn't seeing films in theaters yet back when it was originally released. I finally caught it about two months ago in early November and was impressed that it more than lived up to the hype. The performances are all phenomenal, and it's just drowning in creativity in a way that so few films are these days. But, if I'm to understand correctly, you don't agree. Before I get in to what else I loved about it, can you tell me what you didn't?

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Critics Choice. Nominations for Everything Everywhere and for Everyone!

by Nathaniel R

The Critics Choice Award Nominations have been announced for the 2022 film and television year with Everything Everywhere All At Once (14 nods), The Fabelmans (11 nods), and Babylon (10 nods) leading the pack. (They said "long movies only!"). I have yet to meet any critics who were totally wild for Babylon though I do know one industry person that is. The CCA have not heard our moans and groans that if you nominate everything, nominations aren't that special or exciting. They've taken their mode of choosing one more than the Oscars or SAG or Guilds do in their categories (to help them with their predictions... sigh) and applied it even to the now ten wide field of Oscar's Best Picture race by choosing 11 titles. (double sigh).

Here are the nominations...

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