SAG AWARDS: HIDDEN FIGURES WINS ENSEMBLE CAST!

You didn't see this coming, did you? With La La Land out of the way, the Ensemble award from the Screen Actors Guild was perceived by most to be a race between almost any of the nominees, though few predicted Hidden Figures, not least with its lack of wins in the individual categories. Alas, this likely only strengthens La La Land's Oscar potential, given that its closest rival, Moonlight, continues to lose the big guild awards. A largely predictable SAG ceremony was closed out by two big shockers, in the Ensemble Cast choice and in a surprise pick for Lead Actor  - Denzel Washington in Fences, winning alongside his costar Viola Davis. Check out SAG's film nominees here.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Viola Davis (Fences)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast

Mahershala Ali, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Taraji P. Henson, Aldis Hodge, Janelle Monae, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)

Outstanding Stunt Performance by an Ensemble

Hacksaw Ridge

Lifetime Achievement Award

Lily Tomlin

REVIEW - FENCES (DENZEL WASHINGTON)

The legacy of a people is told through the voice of that people, viewed through the lens of lifetimes of accumulating pain. August Wilson's portrait of black America is a definitive one in essence, in character, in its realization here in the hands of some of the country's most estimable black artists. A stage play initially, the coarse, vivid realism of Fences' style is one of theatrical immediacy, rather than gritty cinematic naturalism. Wilson and Denzel Washington foreground those features that reside normally in the background of the people they portray - not the characters, the people. History floods through Fences in its prose, in its participants, in its plot, in its cumbersome metaphors and its brilliantly burdensome messages. The film is a stark, unambiguous address of the formation and the development of a particular racial identity, and a cruel critique of its meanest manifestations. The manner in which neither writer nor director / lead actor insist upon teasing out the true reason behind all this anger and all this pain is Fences' most persuasive exhibit of its surprising subtlety - a necessary component in such a dense study. So it's cruel, but not unkind, a tough love reflection, and a simple celebration of this people and their legacy in the plain fact that, as is all too rare in the media, we're not merely seeing them here but understanding them too. Washington is an uncommonly astute director of actors, but he struggles to adopt a more fitting technique for handling anything more abstract than their emotional expressions. Alas, the film needs little else, entrusted as it is to this exceptionally fine cast, led by the magnificent Washington and Viola Davis. Theirs is a legacy, alongside Wilson's, which will shape that of their people for many lifetimes to come.

CENTRAL OHIO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION - 2016 NOMINATIONS

The Central Ohio Film Critics Association brings in 2017 with its award nominations for last year. And the new year provides new choices from these critics, ranging from The Nice Guys and Sing Street in their 12-strong Best Film lineup (the latter lacking a single other mention), Laura Dern alongside Lily Gladstone in Best Supporting Actress for Certain Women, and The Magnificent Seven recognizing the late James Horner in Best Score, to Viola Davis' first citation in lead for Fences - will it be her last? Winners due some time this year, I suppose.

Best Film
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Jackie
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
The Nice Guys
Nocturnal Animals
Sing Street
The Witch

Best Director
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
David MacKenzie (Hell or High Water)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Best Actress
Amy Adams (Arrival)
Viola Davis (Fences)
Rebecca Hall (Christine)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen)
Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Actor
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Colin Farrell (The Lobster)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Tom Hanks (Sully)
Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Supporting Actress
Laura Dern (Certain Women)
Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Lupita Nyong'o (Queen of Katwe)
Rachel Weisz (The Light Between Oceans)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Original Screenplay
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Robert Eggers (The Witch)
Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)
Eric Heisserer (Arrival)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship)
August Wilson (Fences)

Best Cinematography
Chung Chung Hoon (The Handmaiden)
James Laxton (Moonlight)
Giles Nuttgens (Hell or High Water)
Linus Sandgren (La La Land)
Bradford Young (Arrival)

Best Film Editing
Tom Cross (La La Land)
John Gilbert (Hacksaw Ridge)
Jennifer Lame (Manchester by the Sea)
Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders (Moonlight)
Jake Roberts (Hell or High Water)
Joe Walker (Arrival)

Best Score
Nicholas Britell (Moonlight)
Simon Franglen and James Horner (The Magnificent Seven)
Andy Hull and Robert McDowell (Swiss Army Man)
Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)
Johann Johannsson (Arrival)
Mark Korven (The Witch)
Mica Levi (Jackie)

Best Ensemble
Hell or High Water
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Nocturnal Animals

Best Animated Film
Finding Dory
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
Sausage Party
Zootopia

Best Documentary
13th
Cameraperson
I Am Not Your Negro
O.J.: Made in America
Weiner

Best Foreign Language Film
Elle
The Handmaiden
A Man Called Ove
Toni Erdmann
Under the Shadow
The Wailing

Best Overlooked Film
10 Cloverfield Lane
Christine
The Edge of Seventeen
Green Room
Krisha

Breakthrough Film Artist
Robert Eggers (The Witch) - directing and screenwriting
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) - acting
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) - directing and screenwriting
Sunny Pawar (Lion) - acting
Anya Taylor-Joy (Barry / Morgan / The Witch) - acting

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work)
Amy Adams (Arrival / Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / Nocturnal Animals)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land / The Nice Guys)
Michael Shannon (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / Complete Unknown / Elvis & Nixon / Frank & Lola / Loving / Midnight Special / Nocturnal Animals)
Michelle Williams (Certain Women / Manchester by the Sea)

SFFCC AWARDS: MOONLIGHT WINS AND FENCES BREAKS THROUGH

The San Francisco Film Critics Circle has announced its award winners for cinema in 2016, having announced its nominees earlier this week. As with so many critics groups, Barry Jenkins' Moonlight is a big hit with the SFFCC, though a couple of ties ensure that there's plenty of room for other films to pick up awards. And Denzel Washington's Fences wins two acting prizes, one for the director and one for his co-star, Viola Davis. All the details below.

Best Picture

Moonlight

Best Director

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Actress

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Best Actor

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Screenplay, Original

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Screenplay, Adapted

Eric Heisserer (Arrival)

Best Cinematography

James Laxton (Moonlight)

Best Film Editing

Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders (Moonlight)

Joe Walker (Arrival)

Best Production Design

Ryu Seong Hee (The Handmaiden)

Best Original Score

Mica Levi (Jackie)

Best Animated Feature

The Red Turtle

Best Documentary

I Am Not Your Negro

Best Foreign Language Picture

The Handmaiden

Special Citation

The Fits

Marlon Riggs Award

Peaches Christ

TRAILER #2 FOR DENZEL WASHINGTON'S FENCES

Come and collect your Oscars, Denzel and Viola! Fences comes out in the US on Christmas Day and in the UK on the 10th of February, then wins all the Oscars on the 26th.

TEASER TRAILER FOR FENCES: VIOLA DAVIS / DENZEL WASHINGTON DRAMA

Paramount hopes to hit hard this awards season with Fences, August Wilson's adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play. It's directed by Denzel Washington and also starring him; alongside the two-time Oscar-winner is two-time nominee Viola Davis, each actor reprising their Tony-winning roles in the hopes of securing Academy Award glory this time around. You get the message: this has awards written all over it, and the above trailer goes a good way toward proving why Paramount must be so confident that Fences will reap what it's attempting to sow. Released in the US on Christmas Day.