Alas, you can't always rely on film critics to pick the best in film. Today sees the announcement of the Music City Film Critics Association's award nominations. As one might expect from a young critics group with a silly name, they've evidently watched only a small few of the year's bountiful crop of great movies, and those few are but the most high profile. So we see films like The Trial of the Chicago 7 undeservedly score multiple nominations, while films like Never Rarely Sometimes Always are conspicuously absent. At least they haven't turned their noses up at Mank. Winners - unlikely to be much more impressive - will be revealed... in the future, I guess.
Best Picture
Da 5 Bloods
The Father
First Cow
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Mank
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Director
Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
David Fincher (Mank)
Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods)
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Florian Zeller (The Father)
Chloe Zhao (Nomadland)
Best Actress
Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)
Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman)
Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man)
Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
Best Actor
Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)
Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)
Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods)
Gary Oldman (Mank)
Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)
Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)
Olivia Colman (The Father)
Amanda Seyfried (Mank)
Youn Yuh Jung (Minari)
Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Bill Burr (The King of Staten Island)
Bill Murray (On the Rocks)
Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami)
Paul Raci (Sound of Metal)
Best Screenplay
Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)
Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
Jack Fincher (Mank)
Charlie Kaufman (I'm Thinking of Ending Things)
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Best Cinematography
Erik Messerschmidt (Mank)
Joshua James Richards (Nomadland)
Newton Thomas Sigel (Da 5 Bloods)
Hoyte van Hoytema (Tenet)
Dariusz Wolski (News of the World)
Best Editing
Alan Baumgarten (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Kirk Baxter (Mank)
Andy Canny (The Invisible Man)
Jennifer Lame (Tenet)
Yorgos Lamprinos (The Father)
Chloe Zhao (Nomadland)
Best Production Design
Donald Graham Burt (Mank)
Cristina Casali (The Personal History of David Copperfield)
Kave Quinn (Emma.)
Mark Ricker (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)
Wynn Thomas (Da 5 Bloods)
Best Score
Terence Blanchard (Da 5 Bloods)
Ludwig Goransson (Tenet)
Emile Mosseri (Minari)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Mank)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Soul)
Best Song
"Hear My Voice" (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
"Husavik" (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga)
"Just Sing" (Trolls World Tour)
"The Plan" (Tenet)
"Rocket to the Moon" (Over the Moon)
"Speak Now" (One Night in Miami)
Best Acting Ensemble
Da 5 Bloods
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
One Night in Miami
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Animation
Onward (Dan Scanlon)
Over the Moon (Glen Keane)
Scoob! (Tony Cervone)
Soul (Pete Docter)
Wolfwalkers (Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart)
Best Documentary
Collective (Alexander Nanau)
Dick Johnson Is Dead (Kirsten Johnson)
The Social Dilemma (Jeff Orlowski)
Time (Garrett Bradley)
You Cannot Kill David Arquette (David Darg and Price James)
Best Foreign Language Film
Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)
Bacurau (Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonca Filho)
Collective (Alexander Nanau)
I'm No Longer Here (Fernando Frias)
The Platform (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia)