MOONLIGHT & FENCES DOMINATE THE BLACK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS

No big shockers here, as the Black Film Critics Circle gets right behind the best in black filmmaking in its year-end awards. And what a year it was, with voters not having to look beyond major awards contenders - with wins for Fences, Loving and Moonlight, this could easily be the slate for any other critics group this season. Check it all out below.

Best Film

1. Moonlight

2. Fences

3. La La Land

4. Hidden Figures

5. Arrival

6. Manchester by the Sea

7. Hell or High Water

8. Miss Sloane

9. Eye in the Sky

10. Miss Sharon Jones!

Best Director

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Actress

Ruth Negga (Loving)

Best Actor

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Original Screenplay

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Adapted Screenplay

August Wilson (Fences)

Best Cinematography

James Laxton (Moonlight)

Best Ensemble

Fences

Best Animated Film

Zootopia

Best Documentary

13th

Best Foreign Film

Elle

Rising Star Award

Janelle Monae

Pioneer Award

Mahershala Ali

Special Mention

I Am Not Your Negro

KANSAS CITY FILM CRITICS CIRCLE'S TOP 10 FILMS OF 2016

The Kansas City Film Critics Circle won't reveal its 2016 award winners until the 18th of December, but until then, you can mull over their top ten films of the year. It's the only slate of nominees announced by the circle, who'll otherwise simply declare winners for the remainder of their categories. With the same films turning up near everywhere so far this season up top, it's interesting to note the differences among the apparent filler entries, as you'll see below...

Best Film

Arrival

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Jackie

La La Land

The Lobster

Loving

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Swiss Army Man

EARLY BIRDS MISS A FEW WORMS TOO: 2016 CRITICS CHOICE NOMINATIONS

In their latest desperate attempt at appearing 'relevant,' the Broadcast Film Critics Association has bumped its awards dates way up, resulting in nominations arriving today, the 1st of December, and awards next week, on the 11th. Subsequently, this group has not had the chance to catch all of the titles that would otherwise have been eligible; that hasn't stopped them before, though, and it didn't stop them shunting Star Wars: The Force Awakens into their already-announced Best Picture lineup after it turned out to be a huge hit, despite no members having even cast a vote for it. That decision prompted resignations from the BFCA, and their choice to push their 2016 dates so far forward (and thereby surely only diminishing their potential to maintain relevance to the Oscar race) has prompted more still. It's a laughable situation from a laughable organization, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Nominations and awards for documentaries have already taken place. Take a look at all the new announcements below:

Best Picture

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

La La Land

Lion

Loving

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Sully

Best Director

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

David MacKenzie (Hell or High Water)

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Actress

Amy Adams (Arrival)

Annette Bening (20th Century Women)

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Ruth Negga (Loving)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Actor

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Joel Edgerton (Loving)

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Tom Hanks (Sully)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Janelle Monae (Hidden Figures)

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Ben Foster (Hell or High Water)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Dev Patel (Lion)

Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Original Screenplay

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Jeff Nichols (Loving)

Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Luke Davies (Lion)

Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Eric Heisserer (Arrival)

Todd Komarnicki (Sully)

Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures)

August Wilson (Fences)

Best Cinematography

Stephane Fontaine (Jackie)

James Laxton (Moonlight)

Seamus McGarvey (Nocturnal Animals)

Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

Bradford Young (Arrival)

Best Editing

Tom Cross (La La Land)

John Gilbert (Hacksaw Ridge)

Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders (Moonlight)

Blu Murray (Sully)

Joe Walker (Arrival)

Best Production Design

Stuart Craig, James Hambridge and Anna Pinnock (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh (Live by Night)

Paul Hotte, Andre Valade and Patrice Vermette (Arrival)

Jean Rabasse and Veronique Melery (Jackie)

Sandy Reynolds-Wasco and David Wasco (La La Land)

Best Costume Design

Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

Consolata Boyle (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Madeline Fontaine (Jackie)

Joanna Johnston (Allied)

Eimer ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (Love & Friendship)

Mary Zophres (La La Land)

Best Visual Effects

Arrival

Doctor Strange

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The Jungle Book

A Monster Calls

Best Hair & Makeup

Doctor Strange

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Hacksaw Ridge

Jackie

Star Trek Beyond

Best Score

Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O'Halloran (Lion)

Nicholas Britell (Moonlight)

Johann Johannsson (Arrival)

Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

Mica Levi (Jackie)

Best Song

'Audition (The Fools Who Dream)' (La La Land)

'Can't Stop the Feeling' (Trolls)

'City of Stars' (La La Land)

'Drive It Like You Stole It' (Sing Street)

'How Far I'll Go' (Moana)

'The Rules Don't Apply' (Rules Don't Apply)

Best Acting Ensemble

20th Century Women

Fences

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Best Animated Feature

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

The Red Turtle

Trolls

Zootopia

Best Foreign Language Film

Elle

The Handmaiden

Julieta

Neruda

The Salesman

Toni Erdmann

Best Action Movie

Captain America: Civil War

Deadpool

Doctor Strange

Hacksaw Ridge

Jason Bourne

Best Comedy

Central Intelligence

Deadpool

Don't Think Twice

The Edge of Seventeen

Hail, Caesar!

The Nice Guys

Best Sci-Fi / Horror Movie

10 Cloverfield Lane

Arrival

Doctor Strange

Don't Breathe

Star Trek Beyond

The Witch

Best Young Actor / Actress

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Alex R. Hibbert (Moonlight)

Lewis MacDougall (A Monster Calls)

Madina Nalwanga (Queen of Katwe)

Sunny Pawar (Lion)

Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen)

Best Actress in an Action Movie

Gal Gadot (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice)

Scarlett Johansson (Captain America: Civil War)

Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad)

Tilda Swinton (Doctor Strange)

Best Actress in a Comedy

Kate Beckinsale (Love & Friendship)

Sally Field (Hello, My Name Is Doris)

Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters)

Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Best Actor in an Action Movie

Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange)

Matt Damon (Jason Bourne)

Chris Evans (Captain America: Civil War)

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)

Best Actor in a Comedy

Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys)

Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Dwayne Johnson (Central Intelligence)

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)

REVIEW - LOVING (JEFF NICHOLS)

Such a gentle story of such a ferocious fight. Alas, one can hardly help but feel that Jeff Nichols settles too comfortably into a particular groove with Loving, one of unmannered restraint and unforced empathy. Largely removed from the courtroom bluster that defines most dramas about momentous legal battles, the film is instead a portrait of the ordinary love of the ordinary folk engaging in this most extraordinary case, and for ordinary reasons. That's potent, but entirely plain in Loving, and the warm calm with which Nichols paints this portrait never even threatens to ignite into the kind of blaze, if only a temporary one, that surely must have burnt beneath this struggle. The roles of Richard and Mildred Loving, the interracial couple whose Supreme Court case struck down anti-miscegenation laws throughout the U.S., are inhabited by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga with simple grace; Negga is particularly unpretentious in her refusal to relent to easy characterization. It's a trait that she shares with her writer-director, though one may yearn, on his part, for some more of the verve that he has displayed in previous films - even inferior ones - and which all too infrequently emerges in Loving. Nichols' earnest, unassuming picture of rural life in America's South possesses a beautiful, genuine palpability in its authentic accents and in Adam Stone's cinematography, but little of the artistic nor conceptual purpose that might bolster its political purpose, itself already understated. This film might claim to know the Lovings, but its knowledge exceeds its understanding; in merely showing, rather than co-opting, their boldness, it eventually does them a minor disservice.

OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR JEFF NICHOLS' LOVING

Jeff Nichols' Loving is in an undeniably tricky position as a potential Oscar contender, as which is had been hailed months in anticipation of first being seen - at Cannes, critics claimed it was too 'Oscar-y' for the festival, and now critics claim it's not 'Oscar-y' enough. But reviews from Cannes were generally strong, and the buzz remains, unlikely to be dampened by this promising trailer. Out in the US on the 4th of November and in the UK on the 3rd of February, and if that isn't the most 'Oscar-y' release strategy you'll see this year...