Inaugural Sunset Circle award nominees announced
The Sunset Film Critics Circle is yet another fledgling critics group springing up out of nowhere for no other purpose than to dole out a set of irrelevant, inconsequential and - in this case at least - uneducated year-end awards. But I'm a member of such a group, so I've nothing against them, save for the fact that their 2020 slate of nominees is unfortunately light on non-English language fare after a year in which mainstream American cinema has been rather the supporting player. They don't even have a category for it!
Of interest is that the Sunset Critics have reversed the presumed category placement for the Hillbilly Elegy female leads - so these six critics won't likely have much influence on Academy members when they vote several months from now, but these nominations may be among only a few that the critics bestow upon these particular actors and that might be a sign. Could this be Amy Adams' year at last, and not Glenn Close's?
Winners announced a week from today - 1 December.
BEST FILM
The Father
The King of Staten Island
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Minari
Nine Days
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Saint Maud
Sound of Metal
BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
David Fincher – Mank
Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
Florian Zeller – The Father
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
BEST ACTOR
Ben Affleck – The Way Back
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Winston Duke – Nine Days
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
BEST ACTRESS
Morfydd Clark – Saint Maud
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bill Burr – The King of Staten Island
Bill Murray – On The Rocks
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
Stanley Tucci – Supernova
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Hillbilly Elegy
Zazie Beetz – Nine Days
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari
BEST ENSEMBLE
Hillbilly Elegy
The King of Staten Island
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
The Prom
BEST SCREENPLAY
The Father – Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller
Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
Nine Days – Edson Oda
Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
Sound of Metal – Derek Cianfrance & Darius Marder
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Gretel & Hansel – Galo Olivares
Mank – Erik Messerschmidt
Nomadland – Joshua James Richards
Sound of Metal – Daniël Bouquet
Tenet – Hoyte Van Hoytema
BEST SCORE
First Cow – William Tyler
Gretel & Hansel – Robin Coudert
Minari – Emile Mosseri
Soul – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Tenet – Ludwig Göransson
BEST BREAKTHROUGH
Kiera Allen – Run
Nicole Beharie – Miss Juneteenth
Joe Kerry – Spree
Orion Lee – First Cow
Jo Ellen Pellman – The Prom
SCENE STEALER
Michael Keaton – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Gabourey Sidibe – Antebellum
Toby Wallace – Babyteeth
Wil Wheaton – Rent-A-Pal
DIRECTORS TO WATCH
Radha Blank – The 40-Year-Old Version
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Rose Glass – Saint Maud
Edson Oda – Nine Days
Jon Stevenson – Rent-A-Pal