Talk about playing both sides! The Denver Film Critics Society has announced the nominees for its 2021 awards, with winners due to be announced a week today, on the 17th of January. And they've chosen a couple of strikingly different cinematic success stories to join usual Best Picture nominees from this awards season, Belfast, Dune and The Power of the Dog. Hamaguchi Ryusuke's Drive My Car, which has been derided as a Best Picture pick by comic book movie fans all over Twitter, makes the cut, though so too does the year's ultimate comic book movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home. It's an interesting lineup for Best Picture, though chances are neither wins the award - as is typical this year, The Power of the Dog has the most nominations here, with 7. All the details below.
Best Picture
BELFAST
DRIVE MY CAR
DUNE
THE POWER OF THE DOG
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Best Director
Kenneth Branagh (BELFAST)
Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Joel Coen (THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH)
Hamaguchi Ryusuke (DRIVE MY CAR)
Denis Villeneuve (DUNE)
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain (THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE)
Alana Haim (LICORICE PIZZA)
Nicole Kidman (BEING THE RICARDOS)
Lady Gaga (HOUSE OF GUCCI)
Kristen Stewart (SPENCER)
Best Actor
Nicolas Cage (PIG)
Benedict Cumberbatch (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Peter Dinklage (CYRANO)
Will Smith (KING RICHARD)
Denzel Washington (THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH)
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett (NIGHTMARE ALLEY)
Ariana DeBose (WEST SIDE STORY)
Kirsten Dunst (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Aunjanue Ellis (KING RICHARD)
Ruth Negga (PASSING)
Best Supporting Actor
Ben Affleck (THE TENDER BAR)
Ciaran Hinds (BELFAST)
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
J. K. Simmons (BEING THE RICARDOS)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Best Original Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson (LICORICE PIZZA)
Zach Baylin (KING RICHARD)
Kenneth Branagh (BELFAST)
Mike Mills (C'MON C'MON)
Michael Sarnoski (PIG)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Joel Coen (THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH)
Hamaguchi Ryusuke (DRIVE MY CAR)*
Sian Heder (CODA)
Jon Spaihts, Eric Roth and Denis Villeneuve (DUNE)
Best Visual FX
DUNE
GODZILLA VS. KONG
THE GREEN KNIGHT
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Best Score
Germaine Franco (ENCANTO)
Jonny Greenwood (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Jonny Greenwood (SPENCER)
Jeymes Samuel (THE HARDER THEY FALL)
Hans Zimmer (DUNE)
Best Original Song
"Be Alive" (KING RICHARD)
"Dos Oruguitas" (ENCANTO)
"Guns Go Bang" (THE HARDER THEY FALL)
"Just Look Up" (DON'T LOOK UP)
"No Time to Die" (NO TIME TO DIE)
Best Animated Film
ENCANTO
FLEE
LUCA
THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
Best Documentary
THE FIRST WAVE
FLEE
PROCESSION
SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
Best Foreign Language Film
DRIVE MY CAR
FLEE
A HERO
PETITE MAMAN
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
Best Comedy
BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR
DON'T LOOK UP
FREE GUY
THE FRENCH DISPATCH
THE SUICIDE SQUAD
Best Sci-Fi/Horror
DUNE
THE GREEN KNIGHT
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
A QUIET PLACE PART II
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
*where's Oe Takamasa?