The awards season contenders were just starting to firm up before the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) announced their nominees, solidifying several popular favorites (Carol, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian) and throwing some real monkey wrenches into the mix (Sicario, Mr. Holmes, Mistress America).
Carol, a period drama about a lesbian romance, tied for the most nominations with Sicario, the acclaimed crime drama that has mostly been ignored so far this awards season, except for cinematographer Roger Deakins. Sicario earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Benicio Del Toro), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing and – of course – Best Cinematography. Carol earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
The association – of which, full disclosure, this writer is a member – declared that both Rooney Mara (Carol) and Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) were “Supporting” roles, despite significant evidence to the contrary. These nominees, both of them serious Oscar contenders, have been the source of significant confusion and debate amongst voters across multiple voting bodies. Some argue that these are lead performances, others argue that they are supporting, and many argue that they are only being positioned in one category or another to improve their odds of winning, since the Best Actress category is crowded this year. (We will discuss this issue in more detail at another time.)
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Other surprises emerging from the OFCS nominations include a strong showing for Alex Garland’s sci-fi drama Ex Machina, which earned itself a spot in three major categories – Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Oscar Isaac) – but not, surprisingly enough, a nomination for breakout star Alicia Vikander. (The actress is, again, nominated instead for The Danish Girl.)
Related: These Six Movies Deserve a LOT More Oscar Buzz
Noah Baumbach’s largely overlooked comedy Mistress America made an unexpected appearance in the Best Original Screenplay category (Baumbach co-wrote the script with the film’s star, Greta Gerwig), and Sir Ian McKellan and Michael B. Jordan each earned a nomination for Best Actor, for Mr. Holmes and Creed (respectively). The actors both gave laudable performances but have, thus far, been largely absent from awards season. Nominations here could give both actors a significant boost in visibility throughout the rest of the season.
Check out the complete list of OFCS nominations below, and come back on Monday, December 14 for the winners!
[Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article referred to the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) as the Online Film Critics Association (OFCA). We apologize for this inaccuracy.]
BEST PICTURE:
Brooklyn
Carol
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Sicario
Spotlight
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
The Assassin (Taiwan)
Goodnight Mommy (Austria)
Mustang (France)
Phoenix (Germany)
Son of Saul (Hungary)
BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Amy
Best of Enemies
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
The Look of Silence
BEST DIRECTOR:
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)
Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)
BEST ACTOR:
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes)
BEST ACTRESS:
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Brie Larson (Room)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Cynthia Nixon (James White)
Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Ex Machina (Alex Garland)
Inside Out (Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley)
Mistress America (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach)
Sicario (Taylor Sheridan)
Spotlight (Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Brooklyn (Nick Hornby)
Carol (Phyllis Nagy)
The Martian (Drew Goddard)
Room (Emma Donoghue)
Steve Jobs (Aaron Sorkin)
BEST EDITING:
Mad Max: Fury Road (Margaret Sixel)
The Martian (Pietro Scalia)
The Revenant (Stephen Mirrione)
Sicario (Joe Walker)
Steve Jobs (Elliot Graham)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Assassin (Ping Bin Lee)
Carol (Edward Lachman)
Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale)
The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Sicario (Roger Deakins)
Top Photo: Lionsgate
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
