Days after this year’s Golden Globe nominations were revealed, the Critics Choice Award (CCA) nominations are here. As usual, CCA has so many nomination slots in each category that shocking misses are few and far between. Still, those extra slots brought in a few surprises, both perplexing and exciting. Even so, this lineup gives us a good idea of which films are entirely out of the conversation and which are vying for those precious few Oscar nominations. Let’s dive into the nominations and see what it could mean for the Oscar race.
“CONCLAVE” & “WICKED” LEAD THE NOMINATIONS
With eleven nominations each, “Conclave” and “Wicked” dominated the Critics Choice nominations, picking up every expected nomination and more. Both films appeared in Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, alongside plenty of craft categories and two acting nominations each (Fiennes & Rosellini, Erivo & Grande). Best Adapted Screenplay is a surprise for “Wicked,” which hasn’t shown up among many predictions in the category. Very few stage musical adaptations have ever received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, so this has a tough road ahead toward the Oscar nomination. Even more surprising for “Wicked” was the nomination for Best Cinematography. Alice Brooks’ cinematography has become somewhat of an online meme, with Twitter commenters calling the film colorless and bland. It’s such a pervasive conversation that the film seemed entirely out of the running for the category. Nevertheless, critics of all people chose to nominate it here. It’s undoubtedly a sign of the overall strength of “Wicked” among this crowd, more than a true sign of strength in the category.
None of the nominations for “Conclave” can genuinely be considered surprises. Perhaps the category in which it was predicted the least was Best Production Design, where it’s been a bit outshined this year. Even so, the work to recreate the Vatican has been lauded since the film’s release. Again, this nomination haul indicates strong support from the critics and will undoubtedly help it in its campaign.
“DUNE: PART TWO” & “EMILIA PÉREZ” SHOW STRENGTH
Just behind “Conclave” and “Wicked” were “Dune: Part Two” and “Emilia Pérez,” tied with ten nominations apiece. Much like “Conclave,” none of these films’ nominations are shocking, just a strong showing. “Dune: Part Two” has been slowing down in the Best Director conversation, where voters have shown signs of another snub for Villeneuve. Even so, he showed up among the eight nominees at Critics Choice. The movie also showed up in every single craft category in which it was eligible (no Best Original Song, but could you imagine?), including Best Original Score. Hans Zimmer’s score was officially ruled ineligible at the Oscars and BAFTA, leaving a CCA nomination as his last hope for a nomination this season.
The ten nominations for “Emilia Pérez” are undoubtedly decisive, though it wasn’t without a miss or two. It appeared in Best Picture, Foreign Language Film, Director, and more, along with a Best Actress nomination for Karla SofÃa Gascón and Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña. Missing from the acting nominations was Selena Gomez, who had picked up a Globe nomination earlier this week. She’s been a bubble contender, right on the edge of being either in or out, so this is a brutal miss for her. Still, she scored a Best Original Song nomination for “Mi Camino” alongside “El Mal.”
EIGHT DIRECTOR NOMINEES??
Critics Choice never misses an opportunity to over-nominate where they can. Instead of the expected six nominees for Best Director, they inexplicably chose eight directors. As mentioned earlier, Edward Berger, Denis Villeneuve, and Jacques Audiard all made the cut, as was generally expected. Chu’s nomination was a little surprising, as he missed the Globe nomination. Widely predicted were Sean Baker for “Anora” and Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist,” who both made it in. Coralie Fargeat made the cut for “The Substance,” the only female director in the bunch. “The Substance” is astonishing thus far in awards season, scoring major nominations left and right, far more than was expected for Fargeat’s gruesome horror-comedy. Finally, rounding out the eight nominations was RaMell Ross for “Nickel Boys.” His boundary-pushing first-person shooting style would always be a calling card to get Ross some attention in directing categories, but the film has been a bit low-key. This is a good boost for him; hopefully, the Academy’s directors branch will take note.
A REAL PAIN FOR “A REAL PAIN”
After NBR, AFI, and the Golden Globes, around twelve films seem to be vying for the final ten Best Picture slots. While “The Substance” missed NBR and AFI, and “Sing Sing” missed the Globes, “A Real Pain” missed the cut here at Critics Choice. Jesse Eisenberg’s film had a meager showing at CCA, picking up nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Comedy, and Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin. While Best Picture is the only genuinely surprising miss, Eisenberg himself has been hovering around that last spot in Best Actor, so failing to snag that sixth spot here doesn’t help.
“SING SING” SINGS
After a rough go at the Golden Globes, only nabbing a single nomination for Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing” rebounded with a solid nomination haul at Critics Choice. The film appeared in Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Ensemble, Actor for Domingo, and Supporting Actor for Clarence Maclin. It’s just about as good a day as the film could’ve expected to have, only missing Best Original Song for “Like a Bird.” While the film’s hopes of winning Best Picture have been somewhat dashed by its Globe misses, the film has had an otherwise excellent week, picking up notices from AFI, NBR, and now Critics Choice.
ACTING SURPRISES
Even with six nominees in each acting category, there were a couple of surprising omissions and a few unexpected surprises. Perhaps the most surprising acting miss of this year’s Critics Choice nominations is Felicity Jones missing out on a Best Supporting Actress nomination. “The Brutalist” had an otherwise strong showing at Critics Choice, not really missing anywhere else, making Jones’ miss even more perplexing. Margaret Qualley, following up on a surprising Globe nomination for “The Substance,” also showed up here, solidifying her as a legitimate contender. On the other hand, Danielle Deadwyler received a nomination at CCA after the Globes overlooked her on Monday.
Perhaps the most surprising name in the Supporting Actress lineup is Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor from “Nickel Boys,” who hasn’t shown up much elsewhere. Her role is a bit limited, thanks to the film’s first-person perspective, but this nomination will likely give her and the film a boost.
The leading categories didn’t hold too many surprises. While a handful of actors have been vying for that last spot in Best Actor, including Jesse Eisenberg (“A Real Pain“), Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice“), and even Glen Powell (“Hit Man“), it was Hugh Grant (“Heretic“) who surprised instead. It’s a one-two punch after his Globe nomination, putting him squarely into the awards conversation for A24’s religious horror flick.
In Best Actress, many predicted Nicole Kidman would score a nomination from the critics for her performance in “Babygirl,” but she couldn’t pull it off. Instead, Marianne Jean-Baptiste scored a much-needed nomination for “Hard Truths.” She’s been just hanging on so far this season, and the small film needs every boost it can get.
The 30th Critics Choice Awards will be handed out on January 12th, where we’ll truly see who is surging ahead in these races. We’re inching closer and closer to the Oscar nominations, and each step helps us get a clearer picture of our future Academy Award nominees.
What was your biggest surprise of this year’s CCA nominations? Is “Wicked“ even stronger than we think? How does this change your Oscar predictions? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account, and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.
