Awards Season 2015 Commences: Intro, Gotham Awards Nominees, and Hollywood Film Awards Honorees

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So it begins.

I’m going to do things a little differently this year. Previously, I typed out the full roster of nominees from every awards group (or at least most of them), but this turned out to be an impractically time-consuming and repetitive process, and certainly not one which made keeping track of what was being recognized by who as easy as it should be.

So I decided to take a page from Awards Daily’s book. I’m going to set up a table of sorts, ordered by category and by film. Next to each film will be listed each awards group that nominated or awarded it in that category. Nominations will be represented by regular type, wins by bolding.

For example:

Picture:

• The Revenant: AA, GG, NBR, NYFCC, NSFC
• Mad Max Fury Road: AA, GG, NBR
• Steve Jobs: AA, GG, NSFC

Each awards group will represented by an acronym. I’ll provide a chart, though most will be readily apparent: “AA” is the Academy Awards, “GG” the Golden Globes, “NBR” the National Board of Review, and so on.

I’ll update this chart every time an awards group announces either their nominees or winners. I will profile the full rosters of certain awards groups, but I won’t try to get all of them. I’m sure you don’t mind.

Anyway, since these two groups are the first out of the gate, I’ll give you the full rundown on them. The Gotham Awards (I’ll code them as “GOT”) are under the aegis of the Independent Film Project. I profiled their winners last year, but not their nominees.

Best Feature:

• Carol
• The Diary of a Teenage Girl
• Heaven Knows What
• Spotlight
• Tangerine

Tangerine is my #2 film of the year to date, and while Diary (my #12) hasn’t stuck in my memory as much as I’d like, it’s a well-done little film. Carol and Spotlight are both among my most anticipated films of the rest of the year. Heaven Knows What I hadn’t really heard of; it’s an addiction drama which has received strong reviews.

I’ll root for either Carol or Tangerine, but this is, at least on paper, a very solid lineup.

Best Screenplay:

• Carol
• Diary of a Teenage Girl
• Love & Mercy
• Spotlight
• While We’re Young

I’m not sure I would consider the script of Love & Mercy its most nomination-worthy aspect, but it’s nice to see it get some attention. Tangerine’s script was decidedly better, though.

Best Actor:

• Christopher Abbott, James White
• Kevin Corrigan, Results
• Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
• Peter Sarsgaard, Experimenter
• Michael Shannon, 99 Homes

Dano has been my #1 (well, him and Cusack) since I saw the film. So I’m totally rooting for him. I love Sarsgaard and really want to see that film, and Shannon is awesome (and I should see that film, though it’s not as high a priority), but Dano is my vote all the way. I haven’t seen Abbott or Corrigan’s films, but I doubt either of them will top Dano.

Best Actress:

• Cate Blanchett, Carol
• Blythe Danner, I’ll See You in My Dreams
• Brie Larson, Room
• Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
• Lily Tomlin, Grandma
• Kristen Wiig, Welcome to Me

Six nominees? That feels odd. I feel like a couple of these performances could easily be subbed out (especially Wiig, since that film wasn’t terribly well received) for, say, Rooney Mara, but whatever. Powley is currently my #3, but I’m more inclined to root for Larson, who won this award, as well my own, two years ago for Short Term 12. I, and I believe others, are rather shocked Room didn’t get more recognition.

Breakthrough Actor:

• Rory Culkin, Gabriel
• Arielle Holmes, Heaven Knows What
• Lola Kirke, Mistress America
• Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Tangerine
• Mya Taylor, Tangerine

Apparently Holmes is the MVP In her film. Of the two Tangerine nominees, I really preferred Taylor (my #8 in Actress, though she’s apparently being pushed Supporting) to Rodriguez (my #13), though that might have been in part due to Taylor playing the more likable character. I’d be fine with either one winning, though.

As IndieWire noted…where the hell is Jacob Tremblay?

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director:

• Desiree Akhavan, Appropriate Behavior
• Jonas Carpigano, Mediterranea
• Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
• John Magary, The Mend
• Josh Mond, James White

Heller does a very good job with her film (she’s currently my #8 for Director and #4 for Adapted Screenplay), but I’m honestly rooting for Akhavan. I really want to see her film. Very subjective choice, though, and I have no real prejudice in this race.

Best Documentary:

• Approaching the Elephant
• Cartel Land
• Heart of a Dog
• Listen to Me Marlon
• The Look of Silence

I’m intrigued to see Heart of a Dog, but The Look of Silence is awfully fucking good.

Look into my eyes. Look into my soul. (Source)

And now, the Hollywood Film Awards. Which are generally regarded as something of a joke, but have managed to hang around since 1997. They actually televised their awards ceremony last year, and it was apparently a ratings dud. But hey, it’s an awards group, and profiling these is just plain fun for me.

Unlike the Gothams, the recipients of these awards have already been chosen.

Producer Award: Ridley Scott, The Martian

I assume this is their Best Picture equivalent. It’s a good choice–my #6 of the year, an extremely entertaining film and the best Ridley Scott has made in quite some time. Will this help its Oscar chances? Not necessarily, but it probably can’t hurt them, either.

Director Award: Tom Hooper, The Danish Girl

Haven’t seen it yet, but…yawn.

Actor Award: Will Smith, Concussion

I actually do think it looks like he’s doing a good job here, so this might be a reasonable choice.

Actress Award: Carey Mulligan, Suffragette

She’s not winning the Oscar, I’ll tell you that much. The buzz on the film has been awfully shaky, with a recent controversy hampering it and the reviews being somewhat more mixed than a major contender’s should be. But I like her, so good for her.

Supporting Actor Award: Benicio Del Toro, Sicario

He is good (my #7 at the moment), but I don’t think he was really award-worthy.

Supporting Actress Award: Jane Fonda, Youth

Sure? Seems like a veteran nod more than anything else to me. The film also doesn’t sound all that compelling to me, which doesn’t help.

Screenwriter Award: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight

It sounds like the kind of film that would (and should) win this. So I’m cool with it.

Cinematography Award: Janusz Kaminski, Bridge of Spies

Kaminski did a hell of a job here (it’s my #3 right now), so I don’t mind him winning at all. It’s not like it’s the Oscar.

Editor Award: David Rosenbloom, Black Mass

The editing is fine, but it’s only my #19. So even though I liked the film overall, I can’t root for it here.

Production Design Award: Colin Gibson, Mad Max Fury Road

Any attention given to Max is fine by me.

Costume Design Award: Sandy Powell, Cinderella

This JUST got bumped down to #2 by Crimson Peak (ditto with Max in the previous category, actually), but it’s hardly an unworthy winner.

Make-Up & Hair Styling Award: Lesley Vanderwalt, Mad Max Fury Road

The makeup in Max was extraordinary. How can I not approve?

Film Composer Award: Alexandre Desplat, The Danish Girl and Suffragette

Does either film have a notable score? I wasn’t aware.

Song Award: Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, “See You Again” from Furious 7

No clue. Didn’t see the movie, haven’t heard the song.

Sound Award: Gary Rydstrom, Bridge of Spies

It’s a decent soundscape (my #7 in Mixing and #9 in Effects), but compared to Max it doesn’t measure up.

Visual Effects Award: Tim Alexander, Jurassic World

My own #5, but $650 million at the box office speaks awfully loud.

Animation Award: Pete Docter, Inside Out

But of course.

Documentary Award: Asif Kapadia, Amy

I’d heard good things, but I haven’t seen it, so I cannot say.

Blockbuster Award: Furious 7

Didn’t see it. Ought to, but haven’t.

Comedy Award: Trainwreck

Ditto.

Breakthrough Director Award: Adam McKay, The Big Short

Because he hasn’t been directing for years. Because this movie is, apparently, watchable. I’m as shocked as anyone.

Breakout Actor Award: Joel Edgerton, Black Mass

Also been around for years. Good in the movie, but come on.

Breakout Actress Award: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

I guess I can allow this. She is my #1 for Actress right now for Ex Machina (even though the studio is apparently going to push her Supporting).

Breakout Ensemble Award: Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Jason Mitchell, Straight Outta Compton

They were all good, though I had reservations about the film (rewatching it would help, but I never got around to it)).

New Hollywood Award: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Not sure what the award represents, but I do want to see this movie.