Precursor: 21st Broadcast Critics Nominations (2015)

The Critics Choice awards nominations have been announced. This is the last of the major televised pre-Oscar awards groups. It’s noteworthy that this is the only major group that gives out genre-specific awards. As such, several of the top nominees (including Mad Max‘s 13) need to be taken with a grain of salt. To help you understand what their actual totals were, I’ve put an (*) next to each and put the accurate total in parentheses after each.

For the main awards, Carol, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant each received three nominations followed by Spotlight and The Martian with eight each. The Hateful Eight was next with 6 nominations, none of which were in Best Picture. Trumbo‘s actors continue with traction, making them likely Oscar nominees, much to the chagrin of many (the film wasn’t very well reviewed). Category fraud was also a big winner with both Alicia Vikander and Rooney Mara relegated to support in spite of being the co-leads of their films. Likewise, Paul Dano has been bouncing back and forth between lead and support, but ultimately ends up in support here.

NOTE: By a special vote of the membership of the BFCA, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was awarded a Best Picture nomination in arrears. This highly unusual step has happened once before with this group, but the general consensus was that it was a cheap and tacky decision that hurts the groups reputation. Even a few members resigned over the decision.

Award Tallies

(13) Mad Max: Fury Road* (9)
(9) Carol, The Martian* (8), The Revenant
(8) Spotlight
(7) The Big Short* (4)
(6) The Hateful Eight
(5) Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Danish Girl, Jurassic World* (1), Sicario* (3)
(4) Room
(3) Ex Machina* (2), Inside Out, Joy, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation* (0), Spy* (0), Steve Jobs, Trainwreck* (0), Trumbo

The Awards

Best Picture

The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Sicario
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Added in arrears, see note above)

Best Animated Feature

Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Director

Todd Haynes – Carol
Alejandro González Iñárritu – The Revenant
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott – The Martian
Steven Spielberg – Bridge of Spies

Best Actor

Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Matt Damon – The Martian
Johnny Depp – Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Carol
Brie Larson – Room
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
Tom Hardy – The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara – Carol
Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
Helen Mirren – Trumbo
Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

Best Original Screenplay

Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
Spotlight

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Big Short
Brooklyn
The Martian
Room
Steve Jobs

Best Score

Carol
The Hateful Eight
The Revenant
Sicario
Spotlight

Best Song

“Love Me Like You Do” – Fifty Shades of Grey
“See You Again” – Furious 7
“Til It Happens To You” – The Hunting Ground
“One Kind of Love” – Love & Mercy
“Writing’s on the Wall” – Spectre
“Simple Song #3” – Youth

Best Editing

The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Spotlight

Best Cinematography

Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario

Best Art Direction

Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian

Best Costume Design

Brooklyn
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Makeup

Black Mass
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

Best Visual Effects

Ex Machina
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
The Walk

Best Foreign Language Film

The Assassin
Goodnight Mommy
Mustang
The Second Mother
Son of Saul

Best Documentary Feature

Amy
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
He Named Me Malala
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade Next

Best Young Actor/Actress

Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation
RJ Cyler – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Shameik Moore – Dope
Milo Parker – Mr. Holmes
Jacob Tremblay – Room

Best Acting Ensemble

The Big Short
The Hateful Eight
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

Best Action Movie

Furious 7
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Sicario

Best Actor in an Action Movie

Daniel Craig – Spectre
Tom Cruise – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Tom Hardy – Mad Max: Fury Road
Chris Pratt – Jurassic World
Paul Rudd – Ant-Man

Best Actress in an Action Movie

Emily Blunt – Sicario
Rebecca Ferguson – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Bryce Dallas Howard – Jurassic World
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road