SPOTLIGHT DOMINATES THE SPIRIT AWARDS

Big news for Spotlight, as Tom McCarthy's film wins every Spirit Award it was nominated for. It achieves an easy victory over Carol, which had the most nominations, though tonight's results were far from disappointing on the diversity front: three people of colour and one trans person won acting awards, including two prizes for Beasts of No Nation. It's an encouraging step from Film Independent, although somewhat dismaying if one looks closer - these were the only main categories where Oscar contenders were not represented, and given their recent trend of consistently awarding Oscar nominees where nominated, I wonder if we'd have seen the same slate of winners had these fields not been empty of Oscar-nominated talent. Let's not dwell on negative suspicion, and let's celebrate positive facts: slight Carol shut-out aside, the Spirit Awards 2015 were almost certainly far superior to what tomorrow night's Oscars look destined to be.

Best Feature

Spotlight

Best Director

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Best Female Lead

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Male Lead

Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)

Best Supporting Female

Mya Taylor (Tangerine)

Best Supporting Male

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Best Screenplay

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Cinematography

Edward Lachman (Carol)

Best Film Editing

Tom McArdle (Spotlight)

Best Documentary

The Look of Silence

Best International Film

Son of Saul

Best First Feature

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Best First Screenplay

Emma Donoghue (Room)

John Cassavetes Award

Krisha

Robert Altman Award

Spotlight

COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD ANNOUNCES ITS AWARD WINNERS FOR 2015

If you ask me, the Oscar is no longer down to Sandy Powell vs. Sandy Powell - it's down to Sandy Powell vs. Jenny Beavan. The bag lady wins a Costume Designers Guild award for Mad Max: Fury Road, adding to the BAFTA she won just over a week ago, while fellow Oscar nominee Paco Delgado pulled off a slight surprise, winning for The Danish Girl. The double win was facilitated by the CDG's splitting of the Costume Design category, and it wasn't a double win - it was a triple, with Beasts of No Nation's Jenny Eagan also winning. I'm still calling Powell for the Oscar (for Cinderella, not Carol), but it could be a close one, with four potential winners in the one category. Have a look at this guild's nominees here, and their award winners below.

Excellence in Period Film

Paco Delgado (The Danish Girl)

Excellence in Fantasy Film

Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Excellence in Contemporary Film

Jenny Eagan (Beasts of No Nation)

Distinguished Service Award

Edwina Pellikka

Distinguished Collaborator Award

Quentin Tarantino

Lacoste Spotlight Award

Cate Blanchett

Career Achievement Award

Ellen Mirojnick

DIVERSITY DOMINATES AT SAG AWARDS; SPOTLIGHT WINS ENSEMBLE CAST

We have ourselves an Oscar race! The feeling that The Big Short could have the Best Picture category locked down after its PGA award a week ago was upset tonight by closest rival Spotlight's Ensemble Cast prize at the Screen Actors Guild awards. SAG rarely gives this award to a film that doesn't win one of its four individual acting categories, but this was far from the biggest surprise of the evening: Idris Elba's Supporting Actor win for Beasts of No Nation (one of two for Elba, including a TV award for Luther) makes him the first person in history to win a SAG award for film without a corresponding Oscar nomination. Pair that with the fact that only one TV award for which no POC were nominated went to a white person, and you have quite the statement to the Academy... Check out SAG's film nominations here, and their film awards below:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Brie Larson (Room)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Billy Crudup, Brian d'Arcy James, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery and Stanley Tucci (Spotlight)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Mad Max: Fury Road

SPOTLIGHT PULLS IT OUT WITH LAS VEGAS CRITICS AWARDS

We couldn't have seen it coming - it may be the Best Picture Oscar frontrunner, but that was the only category in which Spotlight appeared to lead when nominations were announced for the Las Vegas Film Critics Society. That is, ofc, due to the fact that those nominations appeared to be in ranked order. The film won four awards from LVFCS, including a rare Best Director prize for Tom McCarthy. Btw this group has horrible taste, as you'll see. Have a look below:

Best Picture
1. Spotlight
2. Creed
3. Ex Machina
4. Straight Outta Compton
5. Beasts of No Nation
6. The Martian
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
8. Sicario
9. Legend
10. Room

Best Director
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress
Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress
Elizabeth Banks (Love & Mercy)

Best Original Screenplay
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Drew Goddard (The Martian)

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Film Editing
Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Art Direction
Irene O'Brien and Robert Parle (Brooklyn)

Best Costume Design
Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Visual Effects
Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Score
Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Best Song
'See You Again' (Furious 7)

Best Ensemble
Spotlight

Best Animated Film
Inside Out

Best Documentary
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

Best Foreign Film
Goodnight Mommy

Best Action Film
Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Comedy
Trainwreck

Best Family Film
Cinderella

Best Horror / Sci-Fi Film
Ex Machina

Breakout Filmmaker Award
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

Youth in Film Award
Jacob Tremblay (Room)

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2015 LAS VEGAS FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS

There's one thing I greatly appreciate the Las Vegas Film Critics Society for this awards season: championing black cinema. Three of their five Best Picture nominees feature black leads, and two of them almost entirely black ensembles. Otherwise, these are some fairly dire choices, with a near-total absence for Carol and an unusually weak showing for Mad Max: Fury Road - neither film makes it into the LVFCS's top five. Nominations were revealed on the society's Twitter page, in an order that appears to be ranked by number of votes, rather like the San Diego critics did too! Winners are set to be announced on the 18th of December. Have a look at their nominees below:

Best Picture

1. Spotlight

2. Creed

3. Ex Machina

4. Straight Outta Compton

5. Beasts of No Nation

Best Director

1. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

2. Ridley Scott (The Martian)

3. Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

4. Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)

5. Ryan Coogler (Creed)

Best Actor

1. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

2. Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

3. Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

4. Matt Damon (The Martian)

5. Michael B. Jordan (Creed)

Best Actress

1. Emily Blunt (Sicario)

2. Cate Blanchett (Carol)

3. Brie Larson (Room)

4. Lily Tomlin (Grandma)

5. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

2. Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

3. Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

4. Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

5. Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Elizabeth Banks (Love & Mercy)

2. Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
3. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

4. Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

5. Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Best Screenplay (Original)

1. Ex Machina

2. Inside Out

3. Spotlight

4. Trainwreck

5. The Hateful Eight

Best Screenplay (Adapted)

1. Steve Jobs

2. The Martian

3. Room

4. Brooklyn

5. The Big Short

Best Cinematography

1. Roger Deakins (Sicario)

2. Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

3. John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)

4. Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)

5. Robert Richardson (The Hateful Eight)

Best Film Editing

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. The Martian

3. Spotlight

4. Steve Jobs

5. The Revenant

Best Art Direction

1. The Hateful Eight

2. Brooklyn

3. The Danish Girl

4. Mad Max: Fury Road

5. The Martian

Best Costume Design

1. The Hateful Eight

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

3. The Danish Girl

4. Carol

5. Cinderella

Best Visual Effects

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Ex Machina

3. The Martian

4. The Walk

5. In the Heart of the Sea

Best Score

1. The Danish Girl

2. The Revenant

3. Spotlight

4. Sicario

5. The Hateful Eight

Best Song

1. ‘See You Again’ (Furious 7)

2. ‘One Kind of Love’ (Love & Mercy)

3. ‘It’s My Turn Now’ (Dope)

4. ‘Simple Song #3’ (Youth)

5. ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ (Spectre)

Best Ensemble

1. The Big Short

2. The Hateful Eight

3. Straight Outta Compton

4. Trumbo

5. Spotlight

Best Animated Film

1. Anomalisa

2. Inside Out

3. The Good Dinosaur

4. Shaun the Sheep Movie

5. The Peanuts Movie

Best Documentary

1. Meru

2. Amy

3. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

4. Cartel Land

5. Best of Enemies

Best Foreign Film

1. Goodnight Mommy

2. Mustang

3. Phoenix

4. Respire

5. Tu Dors Nicole

Best Action Film

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

3. Kingsman: The Secret Service

4. Avengers: Age of Ultron

5. Ant-Man

Best Comedy Film

1. Trainwreck

2. The Big Short

3. Dope

4. Sisters

5. Spy

Best Family Film

1. Goosebumps

2. Cinderella

3. Pan

4. Ant-Man

5. Tomorrowland

Best Horror / Sci-Fi Film

1. Ex Machina

2. The Martian

3. Jurassic World

4. It Follows

5. Krampus

Best Breakout Filmmaker

1. Rick Famuyiwa (Dope)

2. Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

3. David Robert Mitchell (It Follows)

4. Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Youth in Film Award

1. Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)

2. Jacob Tremblay (Room)

3. Milo Parker (Mr. Holmes)

4. Shameik Moore (Dope)

5. Imogene Wolodarsky (Infinitely Polar Bear)

AAFCA FLIES THE FLAG FOR BLACK AMERICAN FILMMAKING WITH 2015 AWARDS

Doing what they're designed to do, and for which I sure can't fault them, the African-American Film Critics Association rewards a full slate of African-American themed films with its 2015 awards. Some of their choices might be more popular with the critical elite than others, and I can't say I'd have voted for Straight Outta Compton myself, but this is exactly the right response to last year's blanched-out awards season. Check out all the AAFCA's winners below:

Best Picture

1. Straight Outta Compton

2. Creed

3. Mad Max: Fury Road

4. Beasts of No Nation

5. The Martian

6. 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets

=  Dope

8. Chi-Raq

9. Carol

10. The Big Short

11. The Danish Girl

Best Director

Ryan Coogler (Creed)

Best Actor

Will Smith (Concussion)

Best Actress

Teyonah Parris (Chi-Raq)

Best Supporting Actor

Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton)

Best Supporting Actress

Tessa Thompson (Creed)

Best Screenplay

Rick Famuyiwa (Dope)

Best Song

'See You Again' (Furious 7)

Best Ensemble

Straight Outta Compton

Best Animation

The Peanuts Movie

Best Documentary

A Ballerina's Tale

Best Independent Film

Chi-Raq

Best Breakout Performance

Michael B. Jordan (Creed)

CAROL LEADS THE 2015 SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS!

Look out for this to be a recurring theme this awards season: Todd Haynes' Carol leads the nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards for 2015. Traditionally an early announcer of nominees, the group actually waits until the eve of the Academy Awards to hand out its main prizes. Last year, they mirrored Oscar with their choice of Best Feature, which has also been more common in recent years than in those gone by. But if Film Independent's choices of winners aren't especially inspiring come February, they'll at least likely be deserved. And we can enjoy a rich feast of surprises and smart decisions today: true independent spirit celebrated in the likes of Tangerine and Songs My Brothers Taught Me, the latter of which also represents for female-directed films like The Diary of a Teenage Girl. International fare shows up with films like Mediterranea, and innovations in filmmaking (Anomalisa) and production (Beasts of No Nation) are given prominent Best Feature slots. The ceremony will take place on the 27th of February 2016.

Best Feature

Anomalisa

Beasts of No Nation

Carol

Spotlight

Tangerine

Best Director

Sean Baker (Tangerine)

Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

David Robert Mitchell (It Follows)

Best Female Lead

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez (Tangerine)

Best Male Lead

Christopher Abbott (James White)

Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)

Ben Mendelsohn (Mississippi Grind)

Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)

Koudous Seihon (Mediterranea)

Best Supporting Female

Robin Barlett (H.)

Marin Ireland (Glass Chin)

Jennifer Jason Leigh (Anomalisa)

Cynthia Nixon (James White)

Mya Taylor (Tangerine)

Best Supporting Male

Kevin Corrigan (Results)

Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Richard Jenkins (Bone Tomahawk)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Best Screenplay

Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)

Donald Margulies (The End of the Tour)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk)

Best Cinematography

Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)

Michael Gioulakis (It Follows)

Edward Lachman (Carol)

Reed Morano (Meadowland)

Joshua James Richards (Songs My Brothers Taught Me)

Best Film Editing

Ronald Bronstein and Ben Safdie (Heaven Knows What)

Tom McArdle (Spotlight)

Nathan Nugent (Room)

Julio C. Perez (It Follows)

Kristan Sprague (Manos Sucias)

Best Documentary

(T)ERROR

Best of Enemies

Heart of a Dog

The Look of Silence

Meru

The Russian Woodpecker

Best International Film

Embrace of the Serpent

Girlhood

Mustang

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Son of Saul

Best First Feature

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

James White

Manos Sucias

Mediterranea

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Best First Screenplay

Jesse Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)

Jonas Carpignano (Mediterranea)

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph and John Magary (The Mend)

John Cassavetes Award

Advantageous

Christmas, Again

Heaven Knows What

Krisha

Out of My Mind

Robert Altman Award

Spotlight

REVIEW - BEASTS OF NO NATION (CARY FUKUNAGA)

No nation, no responsibility. The temptation to accuse first world filmmakers of exploiting third world problems must be avoided; Beasts of No Nation is a problem of its own kind, and of their making. In establishing its specific setting as an unspecified one, Cary Fukunaga's film glides through its subject of the experiences of child soldiers in an indistinct haze. Fukunaga's direction both reflects and encourages this, and in so doing neglects to depict these experiences with any sense of clarity. They occur, and that's all there is to it; the film is related to us from the perspective of a child soldier himself, and such inconclusive objectivity would seem fitting when considered thus, but the filmmaking is comprehensively from the perspective of an adult artist. Fukunaga finds many impressive techniques with which to relate these experiences, though fails to find any means of relating the technique to them, thereby negating any potential power inherent in the material. Beasts of No Nation strives so hard to be an indelible, immersive experience for its viewer that it ends up a rather distancing one, in spite of its basic technical prowess and of its fine performances. You can feel the cogs turning, spinning a story that resembles the truth, but is too concerned with establishing universality to acknowledge the real truth in such an endeavour: universality is achieved through utmost specificity and honesty, neither of which Beasts of No Nation possesses.

2015 OSCAR PREDICTIONS AT THE 2/3-YEAR POINT

Just under four months before nominations are announced, here's an updated set of possible contenders for Oscar nods in January. Just for fun, like the last set.

Best Picture

Beasts of No Nation

Carol

Inside Out

Joy

The Revenant

Spotlight

Steve Jobs

Youth

Best Director

Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation)

Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Thomas McCarthy (Spotlight)

Paolo Sorrentino (Youth)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Michael Caine (Youth)

Johnny Depp (Black Mass)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett (Truth)

Brie Larson (Room)

Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

Harvey Keitel (Youth)

Robert Redford (Truth)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay

The Hateful Eight

Inside Out

Joy

Spotlight

Youth

Best Adapted Screenplay

45 Years

Beasts of No Nation

Carol

The Revenant

Steve Jobs

Best Cinematography

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Sicario

Best Editing

Bridge of Spies

The Hateful Eight

The Revenant

Steve Jobs

Youth

Best Production Design

Bridge of Spies

By the Sea

Carol

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Best Costume Design

By the Sea

Carol

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Macbeth

Best Sound Mixing

Bridge of Spies

In the Heart of the Sea

The Revenant

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Sound Editing

The Hateful Eight

In the Heart of the Sea

Inside Out

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Visual Effects

In the Heart of the Sea

Jurassic World

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Makeup

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Best Original Score

Bridge of Spies

By the Sea

The Danish Girl

The Good Dinosaur

Inside Out

Best Original Song

Dope

Freeheld

Love & Mercy

Southpaw

Spectre

Best Animated Feature

The Good Dinosaur

Inside Out

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet

The Little Prince

Phantom Boy

Best Documentary

Cartel Land

The Hunting Ground

Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words

Iris

The Look of Silence

Best Foreign Language Film

The Assassin

Rams

The Second Mother

Son of Saul

Theeb