REVIEW OF 2015 - WORST FILM

1. Mortdecai (David Koepp)

2. Pixels (Chris Columbus)

3. Fantastic Four (Josh Trank)

4. Seventh Son (Sergey Bodrov)

5. Unfinished Business (Ken Scott)

6. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Wes Ball)

7. Solace (Afonso Poyart)

8. 13 Minutes (Oliver Hirschbiegel)

9. The Danish Girl (Tom Hooper)

10. Irrational Man (Woody Allen)

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

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD WINS FIVE SOS CRITICS' TALLY AWARDS!

Nearly three months after the first critics group announced its choices, here are the results of the 2015 Screen On Screen Critics' Tally. Carol claims the most nominations with eight, but wins none, as the competition is steamrolled by Mad Max: Fury Road, which wins five of seven nominations. Of the five films nominated for Best Picture, only three appear on Oscar's list of eight, and neither The Big Short nor The Revenant, each tipped to win Oscar's top award by many pundits, appear here. The only category to perfectly match the Academy's is Leading Actor, where Eddie Redmayne secures a nomination for The Danish Girl despite his co-star Alicia Vikander missing; never mind, she wins the Supporting Actress award for Ex Machina. These awards were devised by assigning point values to awards and polls from critics groups, with more influential groups carrying greater values to less influential ones.

Best Picture

Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, Doug Mitchell and P. J. Voeten)

Carol (Todd Haynes, Elizabeth Karlsen, Tessa Ross, Christine Vachon and Stephen Woolley)

Inside Out (Ronnie del Carmen, Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera)

Room (Lenny Abrahamson, David Gross and Ed Guiney)

Spotlight (Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Tom McCarthy, Nicole Rocklin and Michael Sugar)

Best Director

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Alejandr Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Brie Larson (Room)

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Matt Charman, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (Bridge of Spies)

Josh Cooley, Pete Docter and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out)

Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

Best Cinematography

John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Roger Deakins (Sicario)

Edward Lachman (Carol)

Lee Ping Bin (The Assassin)

Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Editing

Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Hank Corwin (The Big Short)

Tom McArdle (Spotlight)

Stephen Mirrione (The Revenant)

Pietro Scalia (The Martian)

Best Production Design

Colin Gibson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Judy Becker (Carol)

Thomas E. Sanders (Crimson Peak)

Francois Seguin (Brooklyn)

Eve Stewart (The Danish Girl)

Best Music

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Carter Burwell (Carol)

Bryce Dessner, Carsten Nicolai and Sakamoto Ryuichi (The Revenant)

Tom Holkenborg (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Johann Johannsson (Sicario)

Best Ensemble Cast

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

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Louis C. K., Bryan Cranston, David James Elliott, Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Michael Stuhlbarg and Alan Tudyk (Trumbo)

Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Melissa Leo, Hamish Linklater, John Magaro, Brad Pitt, Rafe Spall, Jeremy Strong, Marisa Tomei and Finn Wittrock (The Big Short)

Demian Bichir, Bruce Dern, Walton Goggins, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth and Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight)

Neil Brown, Paul Giamatti, Corey Hawkins, Aldis Hodge, O'Shea Jackson and Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton)

Best Animated Feature

Inside Out (Ronnie del Carmen and Pete Docter)

Anomalisa (Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman)

The Good Dinosaur (Peter Sohn)

The Peanuts Movie (Steve Martino)

Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton and Richard Starzak)

Best Documentary

Amy (Asif Kapadia)

Best of Enemies (Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville)

Cartel Land (Matthew Heineman)

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

The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)

Best Foreign Language Film

Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

The Assassin (Hou Hsiao Hsien)

Goodnight Mommy (Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz)

Mustant (Deniz Gamze Erguven)

Phoenix (Christian Petzold)

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

GALECA ANNOUNCES DORIAN NOMINEES FOR 2015

Here are the nominations for the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association's Dorian Awards for 2015. Female-focused films fare well, as do LGBT+ films, naturally. There are mentions for The Danish Girl and Stonewall, unfortunately, but they're more than balanced out by welcome recognition for Carol in top categories. Winners are due to be announced on the 19th of January, refreshingly earlier than GALECA has made their decisions in some past frames. Check out what voters have nominated below:

Film of the Year

The Big Short

Brooklyn

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

Spotlight

Director of the Year

Sean Baker (Tangerine)

Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Performance of the Year – Actor

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Tom Hardy (Legend)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Performance of the Year – Actress

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Screenplay of the Year

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

Documentary of the Year

Amy

Best of Enemies

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

Making a Murderer

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Foreign Language Film of the Year

The Assassin

Mustang

Phoenix

Son of Saul

Viva

LGBTQ Film of the Year

Carol

The Danish Girl

Freeheld

Grandma

Tangerine

Campy Flick of the Year

The Boy Next Door

Fifty Shades of Grey

Jupiter Ascending

Magic Mike XXL

Stonewall

Visually Striking Film of the Year (honouring a production of stunning beauty, from art direction to cinematography)

Carol

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Unsung Film of the Year

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Ex Machina

Grandma

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Tangerine

Wilde Artist of the Year (honouring a truly groundbreaking force in the fields of film, theatre and/or television)

Andrew Haigh

Todd Haynes

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Tig Notaro

Amy Schumer

The ‘We’re Wilde About You’ Rising Star Award

Rami Malek

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez

Mya Taylor

Jacob Tremblay

Alicia Vikander

Wilde Wit of the Year (honouring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)

Billy Eichner

Rachel Maddow

Tig Notaro

John Oliver

Amy Schumer

Timeless Star

Jane Fonda

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)

REVIEW - THE DANISH GIRL (TOM HOOPER)

Hollywood's most definitive social statement of 2015 is only that: a statement. The Danish Girl normalises not to encourage respect and acceptance, but as a shorthand approach to filmmaking and as a condescending approach to sanctification. It gives us a by-the-numbers portrait of an extraordinary figure in history, and displays a deeply reductive opinion of what made her extraordinary by perpetuating those outmoded notions surrounding gender and sexuality that still mar the progression of the transgender movement today. It's a movie for conservative 2015 that somehow presents 1926 as a more liberal era, if only in its ignorance toward the complexity of the process of self-identification for trans people. If Lili Elbe's interpretation of femaleness understandably amounted to no more than an exaggerated representation of conventional femininity, The Danish Girl needn't indulge in a similar interpretation, effectively condoning the same societal strictures that cause a great deal more harm to trans people today than the occasional bloody cheek. Aside from its benevolent transphobia and sexism, The Danish Girl is also a dubious piece of filmmaking. One marvels at the glorious production and costume designs, at least until realising the extent to which they overpower all else about the film, but questions most every other element of its construction - Tom Hooper directs with brutish indifference and reliance on hideous shot compositions, and Lucinda Coxon's screenplay is bizarrely insensitive. These two follow Biopic Blueprint #101, a most curious and irresponsible strategy when dealing with such a remarkable story.

PHOENIX FUCKS IT UP WITH THEIR 2015 FILM CRITICS SOCIETY NOMINATIONS

And here comes the Phoenix Film Critics Society to really brighten up your Christmas! Among the many odious details in their award nominations for the year: Carol secures one nomination, the same number as The Visit; The Danish Girl is declared a better film than Carol; not a single POC is nominated for an acting award, The Martian makes the top three for cinematography (over Carol and The Assassin); 'Writing's on the Wall' from Spectre is named one of the best three film songs of the year; The Look of Silence isn't even nominated for Best Documentary; The Walk is nominated for its ensemble, indicating that perhaps these voters didn't even see The Walk; fs will people stop claiming Alicia Vikander broke through with Ex Machina? Have they literally not even gotten out of bed for the last four years? Winners will be announced on the 22nd of December. The disaster in full below:

Best Picture

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

The Danish Girl

Inside Out

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Best Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Johnny Depp (Black Mass)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)

Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Helen Mirren (Trumbo)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Julie Walters (Brooklyn)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Spotlight

Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material

The Big Short

Brooklyn

The Martian

Room

Best Cinematography

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Best Film Editing

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

Spotlight

Best Production Design

Brooklyn

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Costume Design

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Visual Effects

Jurassic World

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

Best Original Score

Bridge of Spies

The Hateful Eight

The Revenant

Spotlight

Best Original Song

‘One Kind of Love’ (Love & Mercy)

‘See You Again’ (Furious 7)

‘Writing’s on the Wall’ (Spectre)

Best Ensemble Acting

The Big Short

The Hateful Eight

Spotlight

Trumbo

The Walk

Best Animated Film

Inside Out

The Peanuts Movie

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Documentary

Amy

He Named Me Malala

Where to Invade Next

Best Foreign Language Film

The Assassin

Mustang

Son of Saul

The Overlooked Film of the Year

Ex Machina

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Z for Zachariah

Best Breakthrough Performance

Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)

Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Best Performance by a Youth

Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)

Ed Oxenbould (The Visit)

Jacob Tremblay (Room)

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)

2015 BIFA NOMINATIONS - FILM4 BREAKS STUDIO RECORD

In an impressive performance for the British studio, Film4 backed all five of the Best British Independent Film nominees in today's British Independent Film Award nominations - the BIFA's top award. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster leads among films with seven nominations, followed by Andrew Haigh's 45 Years and Justin Kurzel's Macbeth, both of which earned mentions for their leads in the acting categories. There, BIFA voters righted what is sure to be a slew of wrongs come awards season in December, as they rejected category fraud by recognising Tom Courtenay, Marion Cotillard and Alicia Vikander (for The Danish Girl) in lead. The 2015 BIFAs will be presented at their ceremony on the 6th of December, where Kate Winslet will receive the Variety Award for Global Achievement. All the nominations below:

Best British Independent Film
45 Years
Amy
Ex Machina
The Lobster
Macbeth

Best Director
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Andrew Haigh (45 Years)
Asif Kapadia (Amy)
Justin Kurzel (Macbeth)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

Best Actor
Tom Courtenay (45 Years)
Colin Farrell (The Lobster)
Michael Fassbender (Macbeth)
Tom Hardy (Legend)
Tom Hiddleston (High-Rise)

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard (Macbeth)
Carey Mulligan (Suffragette)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Supporting Actor
Luke Evans (High-Rise)
Brendan Gleeson (Suffragette)
Domhnall Gleeson (Brooklyn)
Sean Harris (Macbeth)
Ben Whishaw (The Lobster)

Best Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter (Suffragette)
Olivia Colman (The Lobster)
Anne-Marie Duff (Suffragette)
Sienna Miller (High-Rise)
Julie Walters (Brooklyn)

Best Screenplay
Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Andrew Haigh (45 Years)
Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
Amy Jump (High-Rise)

Best Achievement in Craft
Adam Arkapaw (Macbeth) - cinematography
Mark Digby (Ex Machina) - production design
Chris King (Amy) - editing
Fiona Weir (Brooklyn) - casting
Andrew Whitehurst (Ex Machina) - visual effects

Best Documentary
Amy
Dark Horse
How to Change the World
Palio
A Syrian Love Story

Best Foreign Independent Film
Carol
Force Majeure
Girlhood
Room
Son of Saul

Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director
Ben Blaine and Chris Blaine (Nina Forever)
Corin Hardy (The Hallow)
Paul Katis (Kajaki: The True Story)
John MacLean (Slow West)
Stephen Fingleton (The Survivalist)

Most Promising Newcomer
Agyness Deyn (Sunset Song)
Mia Goth (The Survivalist)
Abigail Hardingham (Nina Forever)
Milo Parker (Mr. Holmes)
Bel Powley (A Royal Night Out)

Raindance Discovery Award
Aaaaaaaah!
Burn Burn Burn
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
The Return
Winter

Producer of the Year
Andrew de Lotbiniere and Paul Katis (Kajaki: The True Story)
Cecil Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos and Lee Magiday (The Lobster)
James Gay-Rees (Amy)
Tristan Goligher (45 Years)
David A. Hughes and David Moores (The Violators)

Variety Award
Kate Winslet

Best Short Film
Balcony
Crack
Edmond
Love Is Blind
Manoman