DETROIT CRITICS STAKE THEIR CASE WITH 2016 NOMINATIONS

Now this is more like it! This is what I've been craving, here in the heart of the critics-led section of awards season! A bit of variety, courtesy of the Detroit Film Critics Society. Not a lot of categories, but with choices such as The Edge of Seventeen in Best Picture, Elle Fanning in Best Supporting Actress, and Alden Ehrenreich and Ralph Fiennes in Best Supporting Actor, there's plenty in their nominees on which to reflect. Winners announced on the 19th of December. All the info below:

Best Picture

The Edge of Seventeen

Hell or High Water

La La Land

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Best Director

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

David MacKenzie (Hell or High Water)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Actress

Amy Adams (Arrival)

Annette Bening (20th Century Women)

Rebecca Hall (Christine)

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)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Elle Fanning (20th Century Women)

Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women)

Felicity Jones (A Monster Calls)

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!)

Ralph Fiennes (A Bigger Splash)

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Screenplay

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Eric Heisserer (Arrival)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)

Best Ensemble

20th Century Women

Everybody Wants Some!!

Hell or High Water

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Best Documentary

13th

Gleason

Life, Animated

O.J.: Made in America

Tickled

Weiner

Best Breakthrough

Mahershala Ali (Hidden Figures / Moonlight) - actor

Kelly Fremon Craig (The Edge of Seventeen) - director / writer

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) - actor

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) - director / writer

Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight) - actor

Trey Edward Shults (Krisha) - director / writer

REVIEW - THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (KELLY FREMON CRAIG)

Is it because I'm close enough to seventeen as it is? The Edge of Seventeen is a rare teen movie that's probably better appreciated by those past their teen years - Kelly Fremon Craig's first film as director, and only her second as writer, captures the essence of that particular teenage ennui with an honesty striven for by few of its ilk. Maybe its revelations just weren't quite revelatory enough for me; maybe I'm in the sour spot between familiarity and nostalgia - it simply didn't quite work for me. If Fremon Craig's intentions were to expose the ugly truths behind the comfortable conventions of this genre, she succeeds only in concept. In execution, The Edge of Seventeen's balance of reliance upon and criticism of these tropes is an awkward, unfulfilling one, depriving itself of both the potential potency of its message and the easy fun upon which all teen movies are built. And yet Fremon Craig is indeed perceptive, her honesty bolstered by the accuracy of her portrayal of life for a 17-year-old young woman, whom one might describe as troubled, though arguably no more so than most others of her age. The visuals are pedestrian, but the dialogue is sharp and pleasantly unfiltered, and the cast evidently relishes the opportunity to inhabit characters they've likely known before, but never with this level of depth. It's such intelligent details that make Fremon Craig a filmmaker to watch in future, even if her debut is, on the whole, a film to sit out.