Movie News

Awards Season 2020/2021 Roundup – Part 10

Tristan FrenchFebruary 14, 202131144 min

2020 has been an eventful year for the film industry, as it has faced many significant changes. While most theatres were closed throughout the majority of the year and many highly anticipated releases were postponed, 2020 was a very solid year for film all things considering and there are still a handful of spectacular films that deserve awards recognition. Despite a shifted eligibility date, online guild screenings and a remote Oscars broadcast, awards season has quickly adapted to the new climate and fortunately remains mostly in tact. The staff here at keithlovesmovies are following awards season closely this year, by covering all of the major precursors. and frequently providing our updated Oscar predictions. This is part ten of a regularly scheduled segment.

The 26th annual Critics Choice Awards nominations were announced recently, having a major impact on the trajectory of awards season. Similar to critics circles, the Critic Choice Awards celebrate the best in film from the past year and are voted on by certified critics across the nation. However, they represent the opinions of a much larger body of critics and in turn are one of the most significant ceremonies throughout awards season. Unlike other major awards bodies, the Critics Choice includes 6-8 nominees in each category and is the most accurate precursor in terms of predicting what will eventually be nominated at the Oscars (although its track record in terms of predicting wins is not quite as steady).

For the past several years, the Best Film lineup at the Critics Choice Awards has often included every film that will eventually earn a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. There have been a few exceptions of course (i.e. Bohemian Rhapsody), but typically the lineup indicates which films will be competing at the Oscars, while the exclusions indicate which films may not make the cut. The Best Picture race in particular has been incredibly difficult to predict this year, but the Critics Choice nominees help to narrow it down significantly. It is very possible this year’s 8-9 nominees are among this lineup. The Critics Choice Awards are also the first major precursor to include below-the-line categories, so the announcement of the nominees allow us to finally view the Oscar race more clearly and begin to form finalized predictions. Without further ado, lets discuss this year’s nominees.

David Fincher’s polarizing love letter to classic Hollywood, Mank, received the most nominations with 12, including: Best Film, Best Director (David Fincher), Best Actor (Gary Oldman), Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Score, Best Hair/Makeup and Best Visual Effects. A few weeks ago, many Oscar fanatics were predicting that the film was beginning to fizzle out of the Oscar race in many above-the-line categories, due its polarizing reception and lack of a passionate campaign. However, the film has been over-performing at every major awards body (minus the SAGs), and it once again earned a staggering amount of nominations. It is clear now that Mank will earn the most nominations at the Oscars and will likely dominate in the below-the-line categories. While it is unlikely that it will win Best Film, Gary Oldman’s performance does not have enough weight to it to be a serious contender to win, and David Fincher will have a difficult time dethroning Chloe Zhao in the Best Director category, the film has a chance to win 3-5 Critics Choice Awards, which would be a huge deal and would significantly boost its Best Picture odds at the Oscars.

Despite premiering at last year’s Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews, Minari began this season as an underdog. Many were worried that the film could end up in a similar situation to last year’s The Farewell, but it has fortunately emerged as one of this year’s fiercest competitors. It dominated at the critics circles, it was included in this year’s SAG ensemble lineup, and now it has earned a whopping 10 Critics Choice Awards nominations, which is a huge deal considering its budget and the lack of A-list stars. The film received nominations for Best Film, Best Director (Lee Isaac Chung), Best Actor (Steven Yeun), Best Supporting Actress (Youn Yuh-Jung), Best Young Actor/Actress (Alan Kim), Best Acting Ensemble, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Score and Best Foreign-Language Film. The film will most likely win Best Foreign Language Film, and considering its acclaim it has a legitimate shot at winning Best Film, which would significantly boost its Oscar chances.

Much like Mank, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is another film that did very well in both the above-the-line and below-the-line categories. The film earned 8 nominations, including Best Film, Best Actor (Chadwick Boseman), Best Actress (Viola Davis), Best Acting Ensemble, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Hair/Makeup. While the film isn’t a huge threat in the Best Film category, it will likely dominate in the acting categories and could take home the awards for Best Costume Design and Best Hair/Makeup as well.

News of the World was almost completely counted out of the Best Picture race after underperforming at the Golden Globes, SAGs and critics circles. However, the fact that the film was nominated in the top category at the Critics Choice Awards is a huge deal and it indicates that the film could very likely earn itself a Best Picture nomination. Its awards season trajectory is very similar to Ford v. Ferrari, another film that received a major boost from the Critics Choice Awards and eventually ended up earning a Best Picture nomination. News of the World received 7 nominations including, Best Film, Best Actor (Tom Hanks), Best Young Actor/Actress (Helena Zengel), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Score.

After being officially revived by the SAGs, Spike Lee’s polarizing Da 5 Bloods had a major showing at the Critics Choice Awards, picking up 6 nominations including, Best Film, Best Director (Spike Lee), Best Best Actor (Delroy Lindo), Best Supporting Actor (Chadwick Boseman), Best Acting Ensemble and Best Cinematography. The film seems to have cemented itself firmly in the Oscar race, as it received several nomination here that it was previously unclear whether it would receive. Delroy Lindo in particular was seemingly very vulnerable as he was snubbed at both the SAGs and the Golden Globes, but this nomination indicates he’s clearly still in the race.

Nomadland has been a frontrunner since the very beginning of the Oscar race and it continues to be an extremely strong contender, as it hasn’t missed a beat throughout awards season. The film was nominated for 6 awards including, Best Film, Best Director (Chloé Zhao), Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Editing.

Regina King’s directorial debut One Night In Miami is another film that premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and has been a frontrunner ever since. While the film lost some steam during the critics circles and missed out in the top category at the Globes, it has surged recently as Regina King scored a Best Director nomination and the film received a Best SAG ensemble nomination. The film received 6 Critics Choice Award nominations including, Best Film, Best Director (Regina King), Best Supporting Actor (Leslie Odom Jr.), Best Acting Ensemble, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Song (Speak Now). One significant omission was Kingsley Ben-Adir, who has been inconsistent all season, but was expected to be revived at the Critics Choice Awards. Unfortunately, he has lost any chance of earning an Oscar nomination.

Promising Young Woman has been doing extremely well on the awards circuit as of recently and it once again had a very strong showing here. The film received 6 nominations including, Best Film, Best Director (Emerald Fennell), Best Actress (Carey Mulligan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Hair/Makeup. The latter two were completely unexpected and indicate the film could have a stronger showing at the Oscars than initially expected.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 has also managed to sustain Oscar buzz since the very beginning of awards season, scoring big at both the Golden Globes and the SAGs. The film received 6 Critics Choice Award nominations including, Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Sasha Baron Cohen), Best Acting Ensemble, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. While the film did perform well, it missed out on a second Best Supporting Actor nomination, as well as Best Song and Best Score nominations, all of which were expected.

Sound of Metal was showered with awards and nominations at the smaller precursors, but many were unsure whether the film would have a big showing at the major awards ceremonies. However, the fact that it earned 5 Nominations at the Critics Choice Awards including, Best Film, Best Actor (Riz Ahmed), Best Supporting Actor (Paul Raci), Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing, indicating that it could have a legitimate chance of sneaking into the Best Picture lineup. Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay in particular came as unexpected surprises

Three films that are in danger of potentially falling out of the Best Picture conversation due to the results of the Critics Choice Awards nominees are Judas & the Black Messiah, The Father and Soul. Judas & the Black Messiah entered the Oscar race much later than most of its competitors, so despite rave reviews, it has had trouble finding its footing. It received 3 nominations including, Best Supporting Actor (Daniel Kaluuya), Best Acting Ensemble and Best Song (Fight For You). The nomination for Best Acting Ensemble is certainly a big deal, but it missed out on Best Film, as well as Best Cinematography and Best Editing. The Father isn’t in as much hot water, as it did exceptionally well at the Golden Globes and will likely thrive at the BAFTAs, but its snub in the Best Film category certainly sends red flags. Soul was initially in talks as a potential Best Picture frontrunner, but its very weak showcase here indicates it has lost steam. Soul was not only snubbed in Best Film, but also in Best Original Screenplay.

Let’s take a look at the list of nominees:

BEST FILM

BEST DIRECTOR 

BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTRESS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

BEST EDITING

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST COMEDY

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BEST SONG 

BEST SCORE

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