San Diego Film Critics Society announces its 2020 award nominations

Orion Lee and John Magaro in First Cow

Nominations are up for the 2020 San Diego Film Critics Society awards! Sound of Metal leads with an impressive eight mentions, including a spot in the six-strong Best Picture lineup. The biggest surprise there is the nod for Black Bear, joining an otherwise familiar (if broadly deserving) slate of titles. As usual, the SDFCS hasn't exactly skimped on idiosyncratic picks, and as usual, some few are substantially better than many others. Ugly oversights abound! Winners will be announced on Monday the 11th of January.

Best Picture BLACK BEAR FIRST COW NOMADLAND ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN SOUND OF METAL

Best Director Darius Marder, SOUND OF METAL Kelly Reichardt, FIRST COW Aaron Sorkin, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Florian Zeller, THE FATHER Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND

Best Actor Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL Chadwick Boseman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Brian Dennehy, DRIVEWAYS Anthony Hopkins, THE FATHER Steven Yeun, MINARI

Best Actress Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Vanessa Kirby, PIECES OF A WOMAN Frances McDormand, NOMADLAND Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Aubrey Plaza, BLACK BEAR

Best Supporting Actor Sacha Baron Cohen, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Frank Langella, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Peter Macdissi, UNCLE FRANK Bill Murray, ON THE ROCKS Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL

Best Supporting Actress Maria Bakalova, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM Ellen Burstyn, PIECES OF A WOMAN Olivia Cooke, SOUND OF METAL Amanda Seyfried, MANK Youn Yuh Jung, MINARI

Best Comedic Performance Maria Bakalova, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM Sacha Baron Cohen, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM Radha Blank, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION Bill Murray, ON THE ROCKS Andy Samberg, PALM SPRINGS

Best Original Screenplay Lee Isaac Chung, MINARI Derek Cianfrance, Abraham Marder and Darius Marder SOUND OF METAL

Sofia Coppola, ON THE ROCKS Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Aaron Sorkin, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Best Adapted Screenplay Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, THE FATHER Charlie Kaufman, I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt, FIRST COW Ruben Santiago-Hudson, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND

Best Documentary ATHLETE A MY OCTOPUS TEACHER REWIND THE SOCIAL DILEMMA TIME

Best Animated Film ONWARD OVER THE MOON SOUL TROLLS: WORLD TOUR WOLFWALKERS

Best International Film ANOTHER ROUND THE LIFE AHEAD MARTIN EDEN THE PLATFORM SPUTNIK

Best Editing Alan Baumgarten, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Andy Canny, THE INVISIBLE MAN Andrew Dickler and Matthew Friedman, PALM SPRINGS Jennifer Lame, TENET Matthew L. Weiss, BLACK BEAR

Best Cinematography Christopher Blauvelt, FIRST COW Erik Messerschmidt, MANK Joshua James Richards, NOMADLAND Hoyte van Hoytema, TENET Dariusz Wolski, NEWS OF THE WORLD

Best Production Design Donald Graham Burt, MANK Nathan Crowley, TENET Molly Hughes, I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS Kave Quinn, EMMA. Shane Valentino, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Best Visual Effects BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN GREYHOUND THE INVISIBLE MAN THE MIDNIGHT SKY SPUTNIK TENET

Best Costumes Erin Benach, BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN Alexandra Byrne, EMMA. April Napier, FIRST COW Ann Roth, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Trish Summerville, MANK

Best Use of Music DA 5 BLOODS DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA HAMILTON MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM SOUND OF METAL

Best Ensemble DA 5 BLOODS ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI PALM SPRINGS THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 UNCLE FRANK

Breakthrough Artist Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL Maria Bakalova, BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM Radha Blank, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION Sidney Flanigan, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS Vanessa Kirby, PIECES OF A WOMAN