Best of the 80th Golden Globes. Plus: Complete Winners List

by Nathaniel R

Colman Domingo presenting "Best DIrector" to Steven Spielberg

An awards shows on a Tuesday night? Chaos. But we kinda liked it. As the 80th Golden Globes evening began on the red carpet we learned (among other things) that red was the color of the moment, Jenna Ortega choreographed her own (viral) dance for Wednesday, Letitia Wright's favourite movie is I Tonya (of all things!) and Margot Robbie can cry on cue as precisely as Nelly does in Babylon. The night that followed was hit and miss. The hits were familiar: the palpable joy that so many stars expressed at being back in rooms together, the sight of very enthusiastic and possibly drunk tables (Abbott Elementary, Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere All At Once showcased most prominently), and as ever moving speeches, and even a few stellar presenter “bits”.

There were misses, too, including at least four absent winners (Zendaya, Costner, Seyfried, Blanchett) which always brings the mood down...

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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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ADG Nominees

by Nathaniel R

The Art Directors Guild have named their film nominees in four categories (Period, Fantasy, Contemporay, and Animated). While the nominations are of note themselves, of course, they are also key tells in the tale of the year's Oscar race as the Best Production Design ogenerally come from a combo of three of those four categories; Sadly Oscar's branch members have never honored an animated film in the category, even a stop motion film which of course built actual sets with set decoration, just like live-action movies do...

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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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Chicago, Phoenix, and Boston online critics agree...

by Nathaniel R

We've reached the portion of film critics awards season where the groupthink is really kicking in despite a plethora of options avaiable to voters. I don't blame the critics groups so much as the process. Critics groups tend to be a lot more interesting if they all vote in a room together on winners (where they can discuss) than they do when they name nominations and do simple vote counts... you're bound to end up less adventurous with the second system. There is shockingly little variation in the winners from Chicago, Boston (Online) and Phoenix. The three latest groups to announce have the exact same winners for Picture (Banshees) Director (EEAAO), Actress (Blanchett), Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), Screenplay (Banshees), Score (Babylon), and Animated Feature (Pinocchio). There is no single category in which all three groups have a different winner....

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