The San Diego Film Critics Society, of which Moviewallas is a proud member, just announced its nominations in all categories. This represents our take on the best in film this year. And in keeping with a particularly rich and diverse year for cinema that 2015 has turned out to be, the picks are wonderfully varied. The blockbusters are represented (THE MARTIAN, MAD MAX:FURY ROAD) as are smaller gems of movies that need a wider audience (EX-MACHINA, ROOM, BROOKLYN). Soon to be released major releases (THE REVENANT, THE HATEFUL EIGHT) figure on our nominations as do films that swim away from the mainstream (ANOMALISA, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, TANGERINE). All deserve your attention.
The films to receive BEST PICTURE nominations were EX-MACHINA, a sly, sexy-cool examination of the meaning of artificial intelligence, BROOKLYN, a warmly nostalgic film about an Irish immigrant in the fifties, MAD-MAX: FURY ROAD the high-octane fourth entry in the franchise in which the veteran director George Miller showed an entire new generation of action filmmakers how it is done, ROOM, a searing and heartfelt meditation on the need for recovery, and SPOTLIGHT, based on the rigorously painstaking Boston Globe investigations of priest-related sexual abuse cases in the area. We couldn’t have picked a more different group of films had we tried. We even have a brand new category this year in the form of BEST NEW BREAKOUT ARTIST. Our group will be doing the final voting on Monday, and winners will be posted here.
Here then are the nominations in each category:
Best Picture
EX MACHINA
BROOKLYN
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
ROOM
SPOTLIGHT
Best Director
George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
John Crowley, BROOKLYN
Lenny Abrahamson, ROOM
Tom McCarthy, SPOTLIGHT
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, THE REVENANT
Best Actor, Male
Leonardo DiCaprio, THE REVENANT
Jason Segel, THE END OF THE TOUR
Matt Damon, THE MARTIAN
Bryan Cranston, TRUMBO
Jacob Tremblay, ROOM
Best Actor, Female
Saoirse Ronan, BROOKLYN
Brie Larson, ROOM
Charlotte Rampling, 45 YEARS
Charlize Theron, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Alicia Vikander, EX MACHINA
Best Supporting Actor, Male
Mark Rylance, BRIDGE OF SPIES
Tom Noonan, ANOMALISA
Oscar Isaac, EX MACHINA
Paul Dano, LOVE & MERCY
RJ Cyler, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
Best Supporting Actor, Female
Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL
Jennifer Jason Lee, THE HATEFUL EIGHT
Helen Mirren, TRUMBO
Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
Olivia Cooke, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
Best Original Screenplay
Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, MISTRESS AMERICA
Alex Garland, EX MACHINA
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
Quentin Tarantino, THE HATEFUL EIGHT
Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, SPOTLIGHT
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nick Hornby, BROOKLYN
Emma Donoghue, ROOM
Charlie Kaufman, ANOMALISA
Donald Margulies, THE END OF THE TOUR
Drew Goddard, Andy Weir THE MARTIAN
Best Documentary
AMY
HE NAMED ME MALALA
CARTEL LAND
MERU
THE WRECKING CREW
Best Animated Film
INSIDE OUT
ANOMALISA
SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
THE GOOD DINOSAUR
THE PEANUTS MOVIE
Best Foreign Language Film
PHOENIX
TAXI
WHITE GOD
A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE
GOODNIGHT MOMMY
Best Editing
Margaret Sixel, Jason Ballantine MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Joe Walker, SICARIO
Pietro Scalia, THE MARTIAN
Michael Kahn, BRIDGE OF SPIES
Nathan Nugent, ROOM
Stephen Mirrione, THE REVENANT
Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins, SICARIO
Yves Belanger, BROOKLYN
Dariuz Wolski, THE MARTIAN
John Seale, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Emmanuel Lubezki, THE REVENANT
Best Production Design
Colin Gibson, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Mark Digby, EX MACHINA
Arthur Max, THE MARTIAN
Francois Seguin, BROOKLYN
Adam Stockhausen, BRIDGE OF SPIES
Best Sound Design
THE MARTIAN
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
EX MACHINA
SICARIO
LOVE & MERCY
Best Visual Effects
THE MARTIAN
EX MACHINA
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
THE WALK
JURASSIC WORLD
Best Use Of Music In A Film
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
LOVE & MERCY
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
SICARIO
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
Breakthrough Artist
Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL, EX MACHINA
Jacob Tremblay, ROOM
Emory Cohen, BROOKLYN
Abraham Attah, BEASTS OF NO NATION
Sean S. Baker, TANGERINE
Best Ensemble
SPOTLIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
INSIDE OUT
THE BIG SHORT
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
