Critics Choice Awards Tonight! What to Expect, What They Mean, Why Tho!

Are we having fun yet? We must be, right? In the words of the great Iggy Pop, “It’ll all be over soon!”

The Critics Choice Awards will be the second televised awards show in the march towards the Oscar telecast in – wait for it – late April. That’s almost two months away. We had the Globes. That was, um. That was — what was that? Now we’ll have the Critics Choice, which is usually a fun show to tease. But now? How can anyone tease anyone about anything? We are all just too freaked out for a wide variety of reasons.

Here is how the whole thing will shake out:

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced today the film nominees for the 26^th annual Critics Choice Awards.  The winners will be revealed LIVE on The CW on Sunday, March 7, 2021 from 7-10pm ET/PT, with acclaimed film, television, and stage star Taye Diggs returning to host for his third consecutive time.  The show will continue its combined Film and Television awards format, honoring the finest in both cinematic and televised/streaming achievement.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 26^th annual Critics Choice Awards show will be an in-person/virtual hybrid, with Diggs and some of the evening’s presenters filming from a stage in Los Angeles, and nominees appearing remotely from various locations around the world.

Basically, the Critics Choice are people who cover entertainment, write reviews, run Oscar blogs, etc. They are kind of critics but not really. Members who belong do write film reviews but they also run other kinds of sites and have their fingers in many different pies, so to speak.

When they win the awards contenders often say “we thank the critics,” but we tend to think of critics as the New York Film Critics or the Los Angeles Film Critics or the National Society of Film Critics. The Broadcast Film Critics are slightly different. More populist/pop culture perhaps.

Because a lot of the members also cover the Oscar beat, there is often a direct correlation between the nominees and winners here and the nominees and winners at the Oscars. In the old days, the Globes tended to be more influential where the BFCA were more predictive of the Oscars. But in recent years, they’ve shifted their awards back to being earlier in the race to be more influential and thus, less predictive of the Oscars.

Nothing can really be as big of an indicator as the major guilds. The Producers Guild has around 8,000 or so members. The DGA has around 18,000 members. The SAG/AFTRA has around 120,000 members. The Globes has around 90 members and the Critics Choice, last time I checked, has around 300-400 members. They’re big but not as big as the biggest voting bodies.

The BFCA has always had ten nominees, unlike the Oscars and PGA which had five until 2009. To tell the truth, I am not sure they use the preferential ballot system to find their winners or not.

Here are the recent winners for Best Picture – you can see how once the Academy shifted to the preferential ballot they became harder to predict, or certainly match with the BFCA :

2019-Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Oscar – Parasite)
2018-Roma  (Oscar – Green Book)
2017-The Shape of Water
2016-La La Land (Oscar – Moonlight)
2015-Spotlight
2014-Boyhood (Oscar – Birdman)
2013-12 Years a Slave
2012-Argo
2011-The Artist
2010-The Social Network (Oscar – The King’s Speech)
2009-The Hurt Locker
2008-Slumdog Millionaire
2007-No Country for Old Men
2006-The Departed
2005-Brokeback Mountain (Oscar Crash)
2004-Sideways (Oscar Million Dollar Baby)
2003-Return of the King
2002-Chicago
2001-A Beautiful Mind
2000-Gladiator
1999-American Beauty
1998-Saving Private Ryan (Oscar – Shakespeare in Love)
1997-LA Confidential (Oscar – Titanic)
1996-Fargo (Oscar The English Patient)
1995-Sense and Sensibility (Oscar Braveheart)

Here are the nominees and our predictions:

FILM NOMINATIONS FOR THE 26^TH ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Mank (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures) — Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR
Ben Affleck – The Way Back (Warner Bros.)
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) — Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson
Tom Hanks – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Anthony Hopkins – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Gary Oldman – Mank (Netflix)
Steven Yeun – Minari (A24)

BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Frances McDormand – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson
Zendaya – Malcolm & Marie (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)— Sasha Stone
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.) — Mark Johnson
Bill Murray – On the Rocks (A24/Apple TV+)
Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Olivia Colman – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Amanda Seyfried – Mank (Netflix)
Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari (A24)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ryder Allen – Palmer (Apple TV+)
Ibrahima Gueye – The Life Ahead (Netflix)
Alan Kim – Minari (A24)— Sasha Stone
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Caoilinn Springall – The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Helena Zengel – News of the World (Universal Pictures) — Mark Johnson

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
David Fincher – Mank (Netflix)
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Regina King – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Jack Fincher – Mank (Netflix)
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Darius Marder & Abraham Marder – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt – First Cow (A24)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Christopher Blauvelt – First Cow (A24)
Erik Messerschmidt – Mank (Netflix)— Sasha Stone
Lachlan Milne – Minari (A24)
Joshua James Richards – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures) — Mark Johnson
Newton Thomas Sigel – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Dariusz Wolski – News of the World (Universal Pictures)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Cristina Casali, Charlotte Dirickx – The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale – Mank (Netflix)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson
Kave Quinn, Stella Fox – Emma (Focus Features)
Mark Ricker, Karen O’Hara & Diana Stoughton – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson
Kirk Baxter – Mank (Netflix)
Jennifer Lame – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Yorgos Lamprinos – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alexandra Byrne – Emma (Focus Features)
Bina Daigeler – Mulan (Disney)
Suzie Harman & Robert Worley – The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
Ann Roth – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) — Mark Johnson
Nancy Steiner – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Trish Summerville – Mank (Netflix)— Sasha Stone

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Emma (Focus Features)
Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) — Mark Johnson
Mank (Netflix)— Sasha Stone
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Greyhound (Apple TV+)
The Invisible Man (Universal Pictures)
Mank (Netflix)
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)— Sasha Stone
Mulan (Disney)
Tenet (Warner Bros.) — Mark Johnson
Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.)

BEST COMEDY
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson
The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
The King of Staten Island (Universal Pictures)
On the Rocks (A24/Apple TV+)
Palm Springs (Hulu and NEON)
The Prom (Netflix)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Collective (Magnolia Pictures)
La Llorona (Shudder)
The Life Ahead (Netflix)
Minari (A24)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson
Two of Us (Magnolia Pictures)

BEST SONG 
Everybody Cries – The Outpost (Screen Media Films)
Fight for You – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Husavik (My Home Town) – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)
Io sì (Seen) – The Life Ahead (Netflix) — Mark Johnson
Speak Now – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)— Sasha Stone
Tigress & Tweed – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Ludwig Göransson – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
James Newton Howard – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Emile Mosseri – Minari (A24)
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Mank (Netflix)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste – Soul (Disney)— Sasha Stone; Mark Johnson