TWO NOMINATIONS FOR SANDY POWELL AT COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD AWARDS

...and most worthy of them is she! Both Carol and Cinderella see Sandy Powell in competition for Costume Designers Guild awards this season. It's a packed year for quality design, with memorable work on films like Brooklyn, Crimson Peak, The Danish Girl, Ex Machina and Joy making the cut. Fittingly, Cate Blanchett, who stars in both of Ms. Powell's nominated titles, will receive this year's Spotlight Award. Winners will be announced on the 23rd of February. See all the film nominees right here:

Excellence in Period Film

Paco Delgado (The Danish Girl)

Odile Dicks-Mireaux (Brooklyn)

Kate Hawley (Crimson Peak)

Daniel Orlandi (Trumbo)

Sandy Powell (Carol)

Excellence in Fantasy Film

Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Michael Kaplan (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Bart Mueller and Kurt Swanson (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2)

Sandy Powell (Cinderella)

Sammy Sheldon (Ex Machina)

Excellence in Contemporary Film

Jenny Eagan (Beasts of No Nation)

Arianne Phillips (Kingsman: The Secret Service)

Carlo Poggioli (Youth)

Michael Wilkinson (Joy)

Janty Yates (The Martian)

ART DIRECTORS GUILD ANNOUNCES 2015 NOMINEES

The Art Directors Guild fucks up too! At least, they could have nominated Carol, one of the year's finest achievements in production design, wouldn't you agree? At least Judy Becker picked up a nomination for Joy, and another Cate Blanchett movie, Cinderella, looks set to slay the competition in the Fantasy category... unless the idiocy that inspired the Carol snub rears its head again. Winners announced on the 31st of January.

Excellence in Production Design – Period

Jack Fisk (The Revenant)

Mark Ricker (Trumbo)

Thomas E. Sanders (Crimson Peak)

Eve Stewart (The Danish Girl)

Adam Stockhausen (Bridge of Spies)

Excellence in Production Design – Fantasy

Rick Carter and Darren Gilford (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Scott Chambliss (Tomorrowland)

Dante Ferretti (Cinderella)

Colin Gibson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Edward Verreaux (Jurassic Park)

Excellence in Production Design – Contemporary

Judy Becker (Joy)

Mark Digby (Ex Machina)

Dennis Gassner (Spectre)

Arthur Max (The Martian)

Patrice Vermette (Sicario)

ART DIRECTORS GUILD ANNOUNCES 2015 NOMINEES

The Art Directors Guild fucks up too! At least, they could have nominated Carol, one of the year's finest achievements in production design, wouldn't you agree? At least Judy Becker picked up a nomination for Joy, and another Cate Blanchett movie, Cinderella, looks set to slay the competition in the Fantasy category... unless the idiocy that inspired the Carol snub rears its head again. Winners announced on the 31st of January.

Excellence in Production Design – Period

Jack Fisk (The Revenant)

Mark Ricker (Trumbo)

Thomas E. Sanders (Crimson Peak)

Eve Stewart (The Danish Girl)

Adam Stockhausen (Bridge of Spies)

Excellence in Production Design – Fantasy

Rick Carter and Darren Gilford (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Scott Chambliss (Tomorrowland)

Dante Ferretti (Cinderella)

Colin Gibson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Edward Verreaux (Jurassic Park)

Excellence in Production Design – Contemporary

Judy Becker (Joy)

Mark Digby (Ex Machina)

Dennis Gassner (Spectre)

Arthur Max (The Martian)

Patrice Vermette (Sicario)

REVIEW - JOY (DAVID O. RUSSELL)

One scrappy opportunist succeeds, another fails. The difference is sincerity: Joy Mangano had it, David O. Russell does not. His tribute to hard-working women, Joy, is so overly keen to imprint its importance upon its audience that it comes off as calculated from the first, ill-advised text card; Russell's general ineptitude ensures that all this calculation fails to pay off, and the overall sensation of watching Joy is equal parts disappointment and despair. It's a forced misfire, a poor attempt at fakery, and an opportunity undone by its scrappiness. Joy deserves better, and Jennifer Lawrence deserves better. You sense her investment in the integrity of her role, detecting a devotion to verisimilitude, no matter how unbecoming, that the rest of the film can't quite nail. Joy is cold, unyielding, out of her depth and resilient - an invaluable characteristic that doesn't merely maintain audience sympathy, it engenders it and builds it up to fleeting ecstatic highs that somehow feel all the higher for that they're almost wholly unearned. The guilty pleasure that one often experiences watching a David O. Russell film - that of succumbing to the artless messiness of his mise-en-scene and convincing oneself that it's as legitimate an approach as any other director's - is somewhat lost here, unfortunately. Russell tries to construct this feeling of deconstruction, over-editing in places and under-editing in others, jolting the film too quickly, pointlessly and unsuccessfully from drama to comedy, making Joy a decidedly difficult film to latch onto, despite Lawrence's efforts. It's also a shoddy piece of work, blighted by clunky ADR, terrible makeup, and the world's most immovable forehead, perched above Bradley Cooper's equally immovable cheeks.

2015 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED - CAROL LEADS WITH FIVE

Today's Golden Globe nominations cleared the picture up a little for the current awards season. They seem to clarify what, of the disparate strands of advocacy we've observed so far from both critics awards and the Screen Actors Guild nominations yesterday, is likeliest to stick. Spotlight looks to be the only contender to win the Best Picture Oscar, being the only one among the favourites with either a SAG Ensemble nod or a Globe Screenplay nod (it has both!). Mad Max: Fury Road is, indeed, a contender for the top awards, even if the bulk of its mentions will undoubtedly come from the tech categories (the Globes don't rly bother with those). Carol remains popular, but its Screenplay snub is worrying. And the late-breakers, The Hateful Eight, Joy and The Revenant will probably see their stock start to rise as more voters get the chance to see them and more buzz gets the chance to build. But only The Revenant seems to stand much of a shot at scoring a Best Picture Oscar nomination. The Golden Globes will take place on the 10th of January, broadcast live in the US on NBC at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

The Big Short

Joy

The Martian

Spy

Trainwreck

Best Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

Todd Haynes (Carol)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Best Performance by an Actor – Drama

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Will Smith (Concussion)

Best Performance by an Actor – Musical or Comedy

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Steve Carell (The Big Short)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Al Pacino (Danny Collins)

Mark Ruffalo (Infinitely Polar Bear)

Best Performance by an Actress – Drama

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Performance by an Actress – Musical or Comedy

Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Melissa McCarthy (Spy)

Amy Schumer (Trainwreck)

Maggie Smith (The Lady in the Van)

Lily Tomlin (Grandma)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Jane Fonda (Youth)

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Helen Mirren (Trumbo)

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Screenplay

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)

Best Original Score

Carter Burwell (Carol)

Alexandre Desplat (The Danish Girl)

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Carsten Nicolai and Sakamoto Ryûichi (The Revenant)

Daniel Pemberton (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Song

Scott Bennett and Brian Wilson – ‘One Kind of Love’ (Love & Mercy)

Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charlie Puth and Cameron Thomaz – ‘See You Again’ (Furious 7)
Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, Ali Payami and Ilya Salmanzadeh – ‘Love Me Like You Do’ (Fifty Shades of Grey)
David Lang – ‘Simple Song #3’ (Youth)

Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith – ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ (Spectre)

Best Animated Feature Film

Anomalisa

The Good Dinosaur

Inside Out

The Peanuts Movie

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Foreign Language Film

The Brand New Testament

The Club

The Fencer

Mustang

Son of Saul

Cecil B. DeMille Award

Denzel Washington

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