Category: Precursors

The Costume Designers Guild have finally added Sci-Fi to their Fantasy description to better distinguish where certain films should compete. Their contemporary category has picked up a few such films in the past, which makes it difficult to defend. As for what we’ve expected to be in contention this year, the notable omissions include The…

Soul was the clear leader at the Annie Awards, but Wolfwalkers gave it a run for its money. Meanwhile, Onward also did well, but The Croods: A New Age, Over the Moon, and non-Oscar contender The Willoughbys also had solid totals. Most nominations usually means most wins at the annual ceremony, so Soul is likely…

This year’s diverse batch of Rising Star nominees is a minor list of actors in films that did not reach a broad cross-section of international audiences, so the choice might be difficult to make, at least in terms of prediction. The Nominations Rising Star Award Bukky Bakray Kingsley Ben-Adir Morfydd Clark Ṣọpẹ́ Dirisu Conrad Khan…

A group with selections like any other. There’s nothing revolutionary or out of the norm here. Awards Tallies (3) Nomadland, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2) Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, One Night in Miami, Soul The Awards

The least theatrical list of live action nominees I’ve seen from this group. No referenced to Birds of Prey or Wonder Woman 1984 or even Bad Boys for Life. Greyhound is the closest to a traditional action thriller, but this list could easily translate over to the Oscars. The Nominations

A strange assortment and no longer an active precursor, this award can also help give a clue as to how the Sound Mixing Oscar might go with the Effects/Foley category more likely to figure than the Dialogue/ADR category. Nominations Tallies (3) News of the World, Sound of Metal The Nominations

Soul was the top nominee among animated films with Onward and Trolls World Tour also doing well, while the top live-action choice is…a TV show, The Mandalorian. Outside of that, Mulan, Project Power, and The Witches did well in the nominations. The confusion now is what will earn the Oscar nomination based on this list?…

If any group was going to land on Promising Young Woman for Best Film, I would definitely have expected it from this group, which is great. Chloé Zhao managed to top Emerald Fennell, though, but she got two other awards, so it’s probably a wash. Awards Tallies (4) Promising Young Woman (3) Never Rarely Sometimes…

Precursors to the Academy Awards come in many different types and they can appear all year from festivals and national awards to critics groups and other organization. Each month, we’ll take a look at all of the upcoming events that could have some small impact on the Oscars so you can plan out what to…

If ever there were a year that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association could make some odd choices, this was it. From leading Oscar contenders to non-contenders alike. I fully doubt that more than half of these will carry over to the Oscars. Heck, Andra Day, Rosamund Like, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Jodie Foster aren’t even…

The Southeastern Film Critics Association hasn’t done much new with these selections. Award Tallies (5) Nomadland (3) Minari (2) The Trial of the Chicago 7 The Awards

The most honored film wasn’t even Best Film-nominated and the two nominations leaders came up light on wins with The Trial of the Chicago 7 topping them all for the top award. Awards Tallies (4) Tenet (3) Mank, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2) Da 5 Bloods, Nomadland, One Night in…

What’s most surprising is that Sound of Metal managed to tie Mank for most nominations while season leader Nomadland ended up with a scant 3. Beyond that, this group has matured a bit since it began, but the dearth of members doesn’t make them terribly representative. Nominations Tallies (9) Mank, Sound of Metal (8) News…

Four films topped this year’s nominations with all of their top selections, except one, coming form underrepresented minority directors. Not a bad list. Nominations Tallies (6) Minari, Nomadland, One Night in Miami, Promising Young Woman (4) First Cow (3) Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Never Rarely Sometimes Always The Nominations

The Art Directors Guild has a large advantage in predicting the Oscar race. With twenty nominees (the five in animated really don’t have a chance), they have a pretty sterling track record. You usually have to take at least 3 of the period nominees and add in one or two of either the fantasy or…