THE BIG SHORT WINS THE 2015 USC SCRIPTER AWARD

Not much to report here. One award went to one film that no-one doubted would win. Adam McKay and Charles Randolph have won the USC Scripter award for their adaptation of Michael Lewis' book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. The great thing about this award is that the person responsible for the winning screenplay's original source (since this is an award for adapted works only) also wins, so Lewis can claim the prize too. If this meant another step forward in the Oscar campaign for anything but The Revenant, I'd be much happier, but since The Big Short was wholly expected to triumph here, let's say this is, at least, not a step backward. Check out the Scripter nominees here.

WGA AWARDS GO AS PLANNED: SPOTLIGHT AND THE BIG SHORT WIN

Oh, look! The Writers Guild of America held its 2015 awards ceremony yesterday! You didn't notice? You didn't hear the awards season tectonic plates shifting? You didn't hear Hollywood's collective jaw dropping? Funny, that. Anyway, here were their nominations, and there are their awards:

Best Original Screenplay

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph - based on the book by Michael Lewis (The Big Short)

Best Documentary Screenplay

Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief)

GONZALEZ INARRITU, MCCARTHY, MCKAY, MILLER, SCOTT - DGA NOMINATIONS

In the 2015 Boys' Club nominations, five big boys got nominations for their big boy films. There's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for his angsty big-boy Western The Revenant! There's Tom McCarthy for his working-boys drama Spotlight! There's Adam McKay for his banker-boy comedy-drama The Big Short! There's Ridley Scott for his space-boy thriller The Martian! And there's George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road, which isn't rly a boys' movie, and that's why PLZ MOVIE GODS LET IT WIN! But look: a new category, for debut directors, and the movie gods are already at work, nominating a w-, a wo-, a... w-o-m-a-n? Is that what they're called? Winners announced at the ceremony on the 6th of February. Noms, including for the Documentary category, can be viewed below:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Meru)
Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?)
Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief)
Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land)
Asif Kapadia (Amy)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director

Fernando Coimbra (A Wolf at the Door)

Joel Edgerton (The Gift)

Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Nemes Laszlo (Son of Saul)

REVIEW - THE BIG SHORT (ADAM MCKAY)

We're being mocked. It's easy to miss, what with all these boorish white heterosexual men collectively showing their pasty asses, that it's these same people who are mocking us. The Big Short is set up like a mirror, reflecting the truth of the events leading up to the financial crash in 2008, but it's a cannily-constructed mirror: as unflattering as that truth may be, see for yourself the spin that these people put on themselves in the process of that reflection. After all, you caught bits and pieces, little nuggets here and there, but just how much of what was reflected back onto you did you actually understand? Face it, we're all being mocked. It's the easy, uncomfortable, thematically-appropriate course for Adam McKay to take - after all, he's another of those white heterosexual men, regardless of his sympathies - and it makes The Big Short as fantastic as it is inherently flawed. So this is boorish cinema, but it has brains, if not much heart, and it has a pleasing sense of rhythm - thank editor Hank Corwin for that - and space - thank cinematographer Barry Ackroyd for that. McKay comes from directing comedies, so he knows how to construct a punchline, but he's equally keen on the delivery of the more dramatic moments, and knows how to employ sound and silence (both sonically and visually) in service of this. The nuts and bolts of The Big Short are sound, the conceit upon which it stands clear, cruel and completely unyielding. So what's the problem? You remember, don't you? We're being mocked, that's the problem. Well, suck it up. This film will open your eyes, so just lie back and take it.

TORONTO CRITICS RIGHT SOME WRONGS, HONOUR CAROL

The Toronto Film Critics Association pulled its usual shtick, tapping into the genuine best of 2015, rather than what's being dictated as 'best' by other critics, with its year-end awards. Carol took top honours and was cited as a runner-up in several categories. The Best Actress award went to Nina Hoss for Phoenix, a very pleasant surprise, and there were wins for Ex Machina and Tom Hardy in Legend too. Take a look at all the details below:

Best Picture

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

Spotlight

Best Director

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)

Best Actor

Tom Hardy (Legend)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Best Actress

Nina Hoss (Phoenix)

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Best Supporting Actress

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)

Best Screenplay, Adapted or Original

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Best Animated Feature

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Anomalisa

Inside Out

Allan King Documentary Award

The Look of Silence

Amy

Listen to Me Marlon

Best Foreign-Language Film

Phoenix

The Assassin

Son of Saul

Best First Feature

Ex Machina (Alex Garland)

Sleeping Giant (Andrew Cividino)

Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

Rogers Best Canadian Film

The Forbidden Room (Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin)

My Internship in Canada (Philippe Falardeau)

Sleeping Giant (Andrew Cividino)