SAN DIEGO CRITICS WINNERS REVEALED - HELL OR HIGH WATER WINS BEST PICTURE

Some suspected it, few predicted it, but enough about the election. Another vote has yielded a surprise victory, this time for precisely the type of film that would win Best Picture in Trump's America, whether or not it were ever intended to ignite such interest. Hell or High Water sweeps the San Diego Film Critics Circle awards, advancing its standings in the Oscar race by a notch or two perhaps, and likely winning more awards than its projected total Oscar nominations. So there's that! Check out their nominations right here, and their award winners below.

Best Picture

1. Hell or High Water

2. La La Land

Best Director

1. David MacKenzie (Hell or High Water)

2. Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Actor, Female

1. Sonia Braga (Aquarius)

2. Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Actor, Male

1. Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

2. Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Best Supporting Actor, Female

1. Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

2. Judy Davis (The Dressmaker)

Best Supporting Actor, Male

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Ben Foster (Hell or High Water)

Best Original Screenplay

1. Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)

2. Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship)

2. Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)

Best Cinematography

1. Giles Nuttgens (Hell or High Water)

2. James Laxton (Moonlight)

=  Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

Best Editing

1. Blu Murray (Sully)

2. Joan Sobel (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Production Design

1. Jess Gonchor (Hail, Caesar!)

2. David Wasco (La La Land)

Best Costume Design

1. Mary Zophres (La La Land)

2. Madeline Fontaine (Jackie)

Best Visual Effects

1. The Jungle Book

2. Arrival

Best Use of Music

1. Sing Street

2. Jackie

=  La La Land

Best Ensemble

1. Hell or High Water

2. Hidden Figures

Best Animated Film

1. Kubo and the Two Strings

2. April and the Extraordinary World

Best Documentary

1. Weiner

2. Gleason

Best Foreign Language Film

1. Mountains May Depart

2. Mother

=  Neruda

Best Breakthrough Artist

1. Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)

2. Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Comedic Performance

1. Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys)

2. Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!)

Body of Work Award

Michael Shannon (Elvis & Nixon / Loving / Midnight Special / Nocturnal Animals)

SAN DIEGO FILM CRITICS SOCIETY NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

How's about this for some variation? Last year's San Diego Film Critics Society nominees disclosed a particularly unsurprising factor about cultural tastes behind the Orange Curtain with their dismissal of Carol; not so this year, as Moonlight is present and correct, though alongside a host of fellow contenders whose inclusion likely hadn't been forecast. The SDFCS will announce its award winners on the 12th of December - two days from now.

Best Picture

Hell or High Water

La La Land

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Nocturnal Animals

Best Director

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

David MacKenzie (Hell or High Water)

Best Actor, Female

Annette Bening (20th Century Women)

Sonia Braga (Aquarius)

Ruth Negga (Loving)

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Best Actor, Male

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Adam Driver (Paterson)

Joel Edgerton (Loving)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals)

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Chris Pine (Hell or High Water)

Best Supporting Actor, Female

Judy Davis (The Dressmaker)

Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women)

Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Supporting Actor, Male

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Ben Foster (Hell or High Water)

Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Original Screenplay

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Luke Davies (Lion)

Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Eric Heisserer (Arrival)

Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship)

Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)

Best Cinematography

James Laxton (Moonlight)

Seamus McGarvey (Nocturnal Animals)

Giles Nuttgens (Hell or High Water)

Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

Bradford Young (Arrival)

Best Editing

Tom Cross (La La Land)

Blu Murray (Sully)

Jake Roberts (Hell of High Water)

Joan Sobel (Nocturnal Animals)

Joe Walker (Arrival)

Best Production Design

Jess Gonchor (Hail, Caesar!)

Anna Rackard (Love & Friendship)

Jean Rabasse (Jackie)

Shane Valentino (Nocturnal Animals)

Patrice Vermette (Arrival)

David Wasco (La La Land)

Best Costume Design

Suzy Benzinger (Cafe Society)

Marion Boyce and Margot Wilson (The Dressmaker)

Madeline Fontaine (Jackie)

Eimer ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (Love & Friendship)

Mary Zophres (La La Land)

Best Visual Effects

Arrival

Doctor Strange

The Jungle Book

La La Land

A Monster Calls

Best Use of Music in a Film

Everybody Wants Some!!

Hell or High Water

Jackie

La La Land

Sing Street

Best Ensemble

20th Century Women

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

Moonlight

Nocturnal Animals

Best Animated Film

April and the Extraordinary World

Kubo and the Two Strings

Long Way North

Moana

Zootopia

Best Documentary

de Palma

Gleason

O.J.: Made in America

Tower

Weiner

Best Foreign Language Film

Aquarius

The Handmaiden

A Man Called Ove

Mother

Mountains May Depart

Neruda

Best Breakthrough Artist

Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)

Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar! / Rules Don't Apply)

Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch)

Best Comedic Performance

Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)

Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!)

Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys)

Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters)

Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)

SAN DIEGO CRITICS NAME MAD MAX: FURY ROAD THE BEST FILM OF 2015

The nominations for the San Diego Film Critics Society's 2015 awards weren't exactly met with much enthusiasm in some parts, so it's nice to see these critics redeem themselves with their winners. Mad Max: Fury Road and Room are big hits with the society, and Anomalisa puts in a good performance too, including a Supporting Actor win for voice actor Tom Noonan. Oh, and ftr, my deduction is that, indeed, they did post their nominees in ranked order so yeh, lol. You can peruse the SDFCS's nominations here, and their winners on this very post:

Best Picture

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Ex Machina

Best Director

1. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

2. Lenny Abrahamson (Room)

Best Actor, Male

1. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

2. Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)

Best Actor, Female

1. Brie Larson (Room)

2. Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Supporting Actor, Male

1. Tom Noonan (Anomalisa)

2. Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)

Best Supporting Actor, Female

1. Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

2. Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)

Best Original Screenplay

1. Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows)

2. Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig (Mistress America)

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Emma Donoghue (Room)

2. Donald Margulies (The End of the Tour)

Best Cinematography

1. Roger Deakins (Sicario)

2. Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Editing

1. Jason Ballantine and Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

2. Joe Walker (Sicario)

Best Production Design

1. Francois Seguin (Brooklyn)

2. Colin Gibson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Sound Design

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Love & Mercy

Best Visual Effects

1. The Walk

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Use of Music in a Film

1. The Hateful Eight

2. Love & Mercy

Best Ensemble

1. What We Do in the Shadows

2. The Hateful Eight

Best Animated Film

1. Anomalisa

2. Inside Out

Best Documentary

1. Cartel Land

2. Amy

Best Foreign Language Film

1. Taxi

2. White God

Best Breakthrough Artist

1. Jacob Tremblay (Room)

2. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl / Ex Machina)

Body of Work

Alicia Vikander (Burnt / The Danish Girl / Ex Machina / The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)

Kyle Counts Award

Ralph DeLaro

SAN DIEGO FILM CRITICS SOCIETY THROWS AWARDS SEASON MORE CURVEBALLS

The San Diego Film Critics Society doesn't officially list the following nominees as a ranked slate. But this is the order in which each set of nominees appears in their respective categories - not alphabetical by film name nor nominee, not in order of release, nor even seemingly random - the same films consistently perform well in expected places. What's not expected is the complete shut out of Carol, which effectively reduces this group's credibility to zero for me - one of the most universally acclaimed films of the year with a serious wave of awards-related hype behind it, and it gets 100% snubbed? Not cool, SDFCS. Award winners will be confirmed on Monday the 14th of December; we'll see if they match up with the current 1st place finishers then...

Best Picture
1. Ex Machina
2. Brooklyn
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Room
5. Spotlight

Best Director
1. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
2. John Crowley (Brooklyn)
3. Lenny Abrahamson (Room)
4. Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
5. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Best Actor, Male
1. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
2. Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)
3. Matt Damon (The Martian)
4. Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
5. Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Best Actor, Female
1. Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
2. Brie Larson (Room)
3. Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
4. Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)
5. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Best Supporting Actor, Male
1. Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
2. Tom Noonan (Anomalisa)
3. Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
4. Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)
5. R. J. Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)

Best Supporting Actor, Female
1. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
2. Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
3. Helen Mirren (Trumbo)
4. Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)
5. Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)

Best Original Screenplay
1. Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig (Mistress America)
2. Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
3. Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows)
4. Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)
5. Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
2. Emma Donoghue (Room)
3. Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)
4. Donald Margulies (The End of the Tour)
5. Drew Goddard and Andy Weir (The Martian)

Best Cinematography
1. Roger Deakins (Sicario)
2. Yves Belanger (Brooklyn)
3. Dariusz Wolski (The Martian)
4. John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)
5. Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Editing
1. Jason Ballantine and Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)
2. Joe Walker (Sicario)
3. Pietro Scalia (The Martian)
4. Michael Kahn (Bridge of Spies)
5. Nathan Nugent (Room)
6. Stephen Mirrione (The Revenant)

Best Production Design
1. Colin Gibson (Mad Max: Fury Road)
2. Mark Digby (Ex Machina)
3. Arthur Max (The Martian)
4. Francois Seguin (Brooklyn)
5. Adam Stockhausen (Bridge of Spies)

Best Sound Design
1. The Martian
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Ex Machina
4. Sicario
5. Love & Mercy

Best Visual Effects
1. The Martian
2. Ex Machina
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. The Walk
5. Jurassic World

Best Use of Music in a Film
1. The Hateful Eight
2. Love & Mercy
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Sicario
5. Straight Outta Compton

Best Ensemble
1. Spotlight
2. The Hateful Eight
3. Straight Outta Compton
4. Inside Out
5. The Big Short
6. What We Do in the Shadows

Best Animated Film
1. Inside Out
2. Anomalisa
3. Shaun the Sheep Movie
4. The Good Dinosaur
5. The Peanuts Movie

Best Documentary
1. Amy
2. He Named Me Malala
3. Cartel Land
4. Meru
5. The Wrecking Crew

Best Foreign Language Film
1. Phoenix
2. Taxi
3. White God
4. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
5. Goodnight Mommy

Best Breakthrough Artist
1. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl / Ex Machina)
2. Jacob Tremblay (Room)
3. Emory Cohen (Brooklyn)
4. Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)
5. Sean Baker (Tangerine)