ANNOUNCEMENT: Chicago Film Critics Association 2015 Awards Nominations….
No, we have not seen “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” yet! Nevertheless, the votes were turned in last night and they have all been tallied – here are the nominees for the ‘Best of 2015’ as selected by the members of the Chicago Film Critics Association….
It had been more than thirty years since Mad Max, the post-apocalyptic loner hero created by filmmaker George Miller, last graced movie screens but his return proved to be more than worth the wait, according to the Chicago Film Critics Association. “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the action spectacular that arrived in theaters this summer after years of rumors and false starts, landed in the pole position for the groups 2015 film awards by beating all competitors with seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Miller, Best Actress for Charlize Theron (who won the group’s prize in 2003 for “Monster”) for her instantly iconic performance as Imperator Furiosa, Best Cinematography for John Seale, who came out of semi-retirement for the shoot and additional nods for Original Score, Editing and Art Direction/Production Design.
Following close behind with six nominations was “Carol,” Todd Haynes’ 50s-set drama about the unexpected romance that develops between two women from quite different background. In addition to nominations for Picture and for Haynes’ direction, Cate Blanchett was nominated for Best Actress (her 6th nomination to date from the group) and the film was shortlisted in the Cinematography, Score and Art Direction/Production Design categories. “The Revenant,” the harrowing tale of a frontiersman who manages to survive a vicious bear attack and then endures the brutal elements to track down and get vengeance on those who left him for dead, was next with five nominations, including Picture, Director for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Cinematography for Emmanuel Lubezki (who was the co-winner of the prize last year for Inarritu’s “Birdman”) and Editing.
Rounding off the Best Picture category are two films that each scored four nominations in total. “Inside Out,” the delightful Pixar animated film that introduced viewers to the emotions controlling the life of an ordinary girl, was also nominated for Animated Feature, Original Screenplay and Score. “Spotlight,” the gripping drama about the Boston Globe’s investigation into a scandal involving pedophile priests that revealed a massive coverup that extended to all areas of the Catholic church, also received nods for Tom McCarthy for Director and Original Screenplay (the latter shared with Josh Singer) and Editing.
Two other films also received four nominations–the indie drama “James White” earned slots for Christopher Abbott for both Actor and Most Promising Performer, Cynthia Nixon for Supporting Actress and Josh Mond for Most Promising Filmmaker. “The Hateful Eight,” Quentin Tarantino’s epic-sized western/mystery hybrid scored nods for Tarantino for Original Screenplay, Robert Richardson for Cinematography, the legendary Ennio Morricone for Original Score and Jennifer Jason Leigh for Supporting Actress. In fact, in a rare double-header, Leigh received two nominations in the Supporting Actress category, where she was also cited for her heartbreaking vocal turn in the stop-motion animation drama “Anomalisa.”
Among the other films receiving multiple nominations, the aforementioned “Anomalisa” received two more for Adapted Screenplay and Animated Feature, tying it with “The Big Short” (Director and Adapted Screenplay for Adam McKay–the latter with Charles Randolph–and Editing), “Brooklyn” (including Saoirse Ronan for Actress, Adapted Screenplay and Art Direction/Production Design), “Ex Machina” (including Alex Garland for Original Screenplay and Most Promising Filmmaker and Alicia Vikander for Supporting Actress), “Room” (including Brie Larson for Actress, Emma Donoghue for Adapted Screenplay and Jacob Tremblay for Most Promising Performer) and “Son of Saul” (which received nominations for Foreign-Language Film, Geza Rohrig for Most Promising Performer and Laszlo Nemes for Most Promising Filmmaker). Receiving two nominations each were “Assassin” (Foreign-Language Film and Art Direction/Production Design), “Bridge of Spies” (Mark Rylance for Supporting Actor and Matt Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen for Original Screenplay), “Diary of a Teenage Girl” (Most Promising Performer for Bel Powley and Most Promising Filmmaker for Marielle Heller), “The Look of SIlence” (Foreign-Language Film and Documentary), “Sicario” (Benicio Del Toro for Supporting Actor and Roger Deakins for Cinematography) and “Steve Jobs” (Michael Fassbender for Actor and Aaron Sorkin for Adapted Screenplay).
Now in its 26th year, the CFCA will announce its winners during their year-end awards dinner to be held on the evening of December 16, 2015. Follow @ChicagoCritics on Twitter for the real-time announcements.
BEST PICTURE
Carol
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes – Carol
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – The Revenant
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Adam McKay – The Big Short
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ACTOR
Christopher Abbott – James White
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl
Jason Segel – The End of the Tour
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Carol
Brie Larson – Room
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Benicio Del Toro – Sicario
Sam Elliott – Grandma
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone – Creed
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh – Anomalisa
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Cynthia Nixon – James White
Kristen Stewart – Clouds of Sils Maria
Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies – Matt Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen
Ex Machina – Alex Garland
The Hateful Eight – Quentin Tarantino
Inside Out – Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley
Spotlight – Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman
The Big Short – Adam McKay & Charles Randolph
Brooklyn – Nick Hornby
Room – Emma Donoghue
Steve Jobs – Aaron Sorkin
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol – Edward Lachman
The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson
Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale
The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario – Roger Deakins
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Carol – Carter Burwell
The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone
Inside Out – Michael Giacchino
It Follows – Disasterpiece
Mad Max: Fury Road – Junkie XL
BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Assassin
Brooklyn
Carol
Crimson Peak
Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST EDITING
The Big Short – Hank Corwin
Mad Max: Fury Road – Jason Ballantine & Margaret Sixel
The Martian – Pietro Scalia
The Revenant – Stephen Mirrione
Spotlight – Tom McArdle
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
The Assassin
The Look of Silence
Phoenix
Son of Saul
White God
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Amy
Cartel Land
The Hunting Ground
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade Next
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
The Shaun the Sheep Movie
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Christopher Abbott – James White
Bel Powley – The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Geza Rohrig – Son of Saul
Amy Schumer – Trainwreck
Jacob Tremblay – Room
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Alex Garland – Ex Machina
Marielle Heller – The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Josh Mond – James White
Laszlo Nemes – Son of Saul
Bill Pohlad – Love & Mercy
Nominations By The Numbers
7 – Mad Max: Fury Road
6 – Carol
5 – The Revenant
4 – The Hateful Eight, Inside Out, James White, Spotlight
3 – Anomalisa, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Ex Machina, Room, Son of Saul
2 – The Assassin, Bridge of Spies, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, The Look of Silence, Sicario, Steve Jobs
1 – 45 Years, 99 Homes, Amy, Cartel Land, Clouds of Sils Maria, Creed, Crimson Peak, The Danish Girl, The End of the Tour, The Good Dinosaur, Grandma, The Hunting Ground, It Follows, Love & Mercy, The Martian, The Peanuts Movie, Phoenix, The Shaun the Sheep Movie, Trainwreck, Where to Invade Next, White God.
