Dig Them Threads -- and That Sound: 2015 Hollmann Awards, Day Two

It's Day Two of the Hollmann Awards! Yesterday, we saw Mad Max: Fury Road go home with two awards, with Best Picture nominees Tangerine and Spotlight also making their mommas proud. Today: Best Director, Best Actor, and more...starting with Best Ensemble.

(By the way -- if anyone knows the names of the casting director/sound department/makeup department of the Korean films The Beauty Inside/Northern Limit Line/The Throne, do drop me a line so that I may give the credit where it's due)

BEST ENSEMBLE

5. Straight Outta Compton

Victoria Thomas/Cindy Tolan
A great mix of knowns, unknowns, and familiar faces, anchored by the lead trio -- O'Shea Jackson, Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell. In choosing between acting ability or biographical resemblance, the filmmakers score a coup with an ensemble that can be both. And bless Paul Giamatti, who fits right in.

4. Tangerine

Sean Baker/Chris Bergoch
First of all, the chemistry between Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor is perfection, the kind of comic sparring that made iconic films out of It Happened One Night, or anything with Abbott and Costello. But they're joined by a game supporting cast, starting with Mickey O'Hagan as Kiki's "real fish" rival, all the way down to Clu Gulager's cameo as a taxi passenger.

3. The Beauty Inside

Give it props for casting 123 different people and pulling off the conceit that they are, indeed, all one person. Everyone has electric chemistry with Han Hyo-ju, one of the most natural actresses you've ever seen in a fantasy-romance. And a special shout-out to Shin Dong-mi, hilarious as Han's boss.

2. Brooklyn

Fiona Weir
The mark of a great ensemble: you can easily imagine each of these characters living lives outside the movie. Whether it's the girls of the boarding house, Jessica Paré's department store floor manager, or the Irish gossip back home.

1. Spotlight

Kerry Barden/Paul Schnee
A generous ensemble -- like true journalists, the A-List actor -- Ruffalo, McAdams, Keaton -- cede entire scenes over to the character actors making up the witnesses, victims, priests, cops, officials. But it is all about the newsmen (and women) at the center, working as a team...a true ensemble.

Best Costume Design and more, after the jump....

SAG Award Wackiness!

Everybody's calling this morning nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards weird. I'm one of them. But let's be clear -- what we really mean is that few of the pre-ordained "front-runners" were included. The nominating committee, the members of which change every year, voted with their hearts, and it took everyone by surprise. For me, the system worked -- even if there are nominations that drive me absolutely crazy.

I'll get to the movies in a bit, but re: television: no Grace and Frankie and no Empire make me very skeptical of this year's committee. That's all I'm gonna say.

Ok. So.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

I told y'all Mirren was in. Told. Y'all. In fact, I successfully called four of the nominees, missing out on McAdams. Indeed, McAdams placement gave me hope for the rest of her cast, which made the next set of nominees a shocker.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Jacob Tremblay, Room

Not a Spotlight to be found, and the nods for Bale and Shannon left me shocked SHOCKED.

ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Here's the thing. Kristopher Tapley pointed out that, except for The Revenant, all these films screened for SAG before November. And Leo doesn't always get nominated at the SAG Awards. So the fact that they went out of their way to nominate him tells me this really could be his year, though part of me is still holding out for a Fassbender surprise.

ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Helen Mirren, Woman in Gold
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back

Sarah Silverman! Good for you, girl! Work that nod into something more! But everyone needs to calm down with the Mirren love. I gave you The Last Station. I put up with Hitchcock. I predicted Trumbo because why not? But I will not stand for Woman in Gold.

ENSEMBLE
Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

Ooh, they loved Trumbo, didn't they? I was surprised with how much I liked it, though it isn't a movie I think about often. Very very very happy about Spotlight and Straight Outta Compton. But boy does this lineup remind me of 2007 -- remember that? No Country for Old Men won against 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, Hairspray and Into the Wild.

***KEEP EVERYTHING BELOW THIS MESSAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH POST - DELETE MESSAGE BEFORE POSTING**
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The Awards So Far

Derelict in my duties, I have been! I haven't talked about the National Board of Review, the New York Critics, or the Los Angeles Critics. I don't remember if I have before, but I definitely keep charts of all three.

Here's what happened:

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW: Mad Max: Fury Road won Best Picture; The Martian won Best Actor (Matt Damon), Best Director (Ridley Scott), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Drew Goddard). This immediately reminded me of my trip to South Korea, mostly because that's where I saw Mad Max, but also because the friend I was visiting at the time wound up loving The Martian so much, he saw it thrice (at least) in theaters. So that was interesting. Meanwhile, Brie Larson (Room), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) round out the actors; Quentin Tarantino wins Original Screenplay for The Hateful Eight.

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE: Carol, which I plan to see a second time this week, dominated with four wins, including Film, Director (Todd Haynes), Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy), and Cinematography (Edward Lachman). The big shocker: Michael Keaton winning Actor for Spotlight, an ensemble film full of supporting actors/actresses. Supporting Actor, instead, went to Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies (deserved); Supporting Actress to Kristen Stewart for Clouds of Sils Maria (the only movie I saw during my one week in New York City, which I visited for the first time a week before South Korea); Actress to Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn, a dream of a film, a phenomenal performance.

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION: Spotlight may be the best movie of the year -- certainly LAFCA thought so, since, in addition to Screenplay, that's what it won. Then the rest of the categories spread the love: Mad Max: Fury Road's George Miller for Best Director, Steve Jobs' Michael Fassbender for Best Actor, 45 Years' Charlotte Rampling for Best Actress, 99 Homes' Michael Shannon for Best Supporting Actor; Ex Machina's leading lady Alicia Vikander for Best Supporting Actress.

Joe Reid pointed out on Twitter that this is the first time since 1988 all three critics' bodies split in every category. By the way, Oscar awarded Rain Man for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay that year -- total mentions by any of these groups: 0.

In the morning, another group will announce their nominees -- the Screen Actors Guild. My predictions, after the jump.

25 Films in 2015 I'm Rawther Excited About

Well, it's time for my annual OMG SO EXCITED list of films I'm excited about! This one is coming especially, unfortunately late -- I had it written up and everything, neglected to post it, and now I've had to go and replace two of the films on the original list -- Chappie and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel -- with other flicks.

Sigh...

That's all right. We'll make do. Incidentally, I saw Chappie and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel this weekend, and was a fan of both. Contrary to what I've been reading, I think the last act is actually what made Chappie so fascinating. As for Second Best, I must say it surpasses its own titular ranking -- not to say it's better than the first one (which was nominated, ahem, for three Hollmann Awards), but I certainly think it's equal!

So what else does 2015 have in store for us?

Honorable Mentions: Black Mass, Bridge of Spies, Dope, The Founder (2016?), The Free State of Jones (2016?), Magic Mike XXL, Mr. Holmes, Silence (2016?), Trainwreck

25. Pan

Dir: Joe Wright
Wri: Jason Fuchs
Release: July 24
To play off of an obnoxious hashtag, #InWrightWeTrust. Yes, yes, I admit that I was part of that brigade of hand-wringers shouting "problematic" at the Rooney Mara casting, but I tell you who's got me intrigued: Hugh Jackman. What's going on there?

24. Spotlight
Dir: Thomas McCarthy
Wri: Thomas McCarthy/Joshua Singer
Inspired by the Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the sex abuse scandals of the Catholic Church in Massachusetts. It sells itself.

23. Mad Max: Fury Road

Dir: George Miller
Wri: Brendan McCarthy/George Miller/Nick Lathouris
Release: May 15
Sometimes, it's the pitch. Sometimes it's the cast. Sometimes, it's the mind-blowing trailer. This one is the third option, though you know I love me some Charlize Theron (Hollmann Award Winner for Best Actress, Young Adult). Is it just kooky enough to work? Should I watch the first three Mad Max films?

22. Cinderella

Dir: Kenneth Branagh
Wri: Chris Weitz
Release: March 13
I quite liked Maleficent, and think Kenneth Branagh is becoming quite a solid studio hack -- Thor was great, and even if I don't remember Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, I tell you what I don't remember: hating it. But let's be real: everyone's coming just to see Cate Blanchett be bitchy in gowns.

21. Irrational Man

Dir/Wri: Woody Allen
Release: July 24
The annual Woody Allen Slot.

The top 20...after the jump