BEST PICTURE

Da 5 Bloods
Minari
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Regina King, One Night in Miami
Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

--Everyone nominated is new except Spike Lee, who won this category two years ago for BlacKkKlansman.

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield

-- Possibly the toughest category for me this year. All wonderful performances. Boseman's death adds poignancy to his nomination, but I went with the legendary Hopkins doing some of his best work. Hopkins is actually a two-time winner in this category, having won for The Silence of the Lambs and Nixon (with another win in support for Amistad). Ahmed was nominated a few years ago for his supporting role in Nightcrawlers. Patel won in support for Lion.

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis, 

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Diane Lane, Let Him Go
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Elizabeth Moss, The Invisible Man
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

-- Davis won in support for Doubt (2008) and Fences (2016). Lane was nominated for Unfaithful (2002). McDormand won here for Fargo (1996) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). Mulligan as nominated for An Education (2009) and in support for Shame (2011).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
Billy Crystal, Standing Up, Falling Down
Bill Murray, On the Rocks
Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

-- I debated whether this would seem too calculated. In my defense, I did very much like Boseman's performance when I saw the film so I'm not merely giving this as a consolation prize. However, I was so strongly moved by Hopkins in The Father that I felt I couldn't resist awarding him in lead over Boseman. His role is what a true supporting part should be, and he gives Da 5 Bloods some its best emotional scenes.
Some will wonder about the choice of nominating Crystal. I think it's his best work in years, and some scenes resonated with me since I was close with someone who had been diagnosed with clinical depression -- something that affects his character's life in the film. Murray was nominated here in support for Get Low and won in lead for Lost in Translation.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Candice Bergen, Let Them All Talk
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Olivia Coleman, The Father
Youn Yuh-Jung, Minari
Helena Zengel, News of the World

-- Coleman was nominated here for The Favourite, though she won the Oscar for lead that year.  Everyone else is on their first nomination.




BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Father
News of the World
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Mank
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

All In: The Fight for Democracy
Boys State
Crip Camp
The Social Dilemma
Time

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Another Round (Sweden)
The Disciple (India)
I Carry You with Me (Mexico)
The LIfe Ahead (Italy)
Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Da 5 Bloods
Gretel & Hansel
Minari
News of the World
Nomadland

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Emma
Enola Holmes
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
The Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST FILM EDITING

The Father
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST MAKEUP

Bill & Ted Face the Music
Emma
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Pinocchio


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Blizzard of Souls
Mank
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Soul
Wolfwalkers

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"The Square Root of Possible," from Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
"Lo Si (Seen)," from The Life Ahead
"Rain Song," from Minari
"Speak Now," from One Night in Miami
"Rocket to the Moon," from Over the Moon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Mank
Mulan
News of the World
The Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST SOUND EDITING

Greyhound
The Invisible Man
Mulan
Tenet
Wonder Woman 1984

BEST SOUND MIXING

Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Greyhound
The Invisible Man
Love & Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Sonic the Hedgehog

AUDIENCE AWARD (voted on by the public):

The Invisible Man
Minari
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
Soul



___________________________________________________________________
TALLY:

7 Nominations:

News of the World (0 wins)

6 Nominations:
Nomadland (3 wins)

5 Nominations:

Da 5 Bloods (1 win)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (0 wins)
Mank (0 wins)
Minari (Audience Award)
One Night in Miami (1 win)
The Personal History of David Copperfield (2 wins)

4 Nominations:

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (3 wins)
The Father (2 wins)

3 Nominations:

Greyhound (1 win)
The Invisible Man (1 win)
Jingle Jangle (0 wins)
Sound of Metal (1 win)
Soul (2 wins)

2 Nominations:

Emma (0 wins)
The Life Ahead (0 wins)
Mulan (0 wins)
Over the Moon (0 wins)
Wolfwalkers (0 wins)

***NEW REVIEWS***

The Father ✮✮✮✮

Anthony (played by Hopkins) is an aging Welshman with a fierce determination to fight what is happening to him. He is experiencing a mental decline due to dementia. His daughter Anne (Olivia Coleman, who recently won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in "The Favourite") tries to help him with this struggle but becomes increasingly frustrated as the situation grows worse.

The film seeks to deepen our understanding of Anthony's confusion and paranoia by taking us into his experience through fluid camera work and editing that suggest time lapses and murky realities. It is an immersive approach that enhances our empathy for the character. 

Mr. Hopkins gives one of his strongest performances here, diving into a complex and proud man who is fighting an unwinnable battle with his mortality. It certainly belongs up there with his humanizing portrait of "Nixon" and his iconic Hannibal Lecter from "The Silence of the Lambs" in a career that has now spanned six decades.

Florian Zeller, the author of the French play this is based on, makes an impressive directorial debut. Taking a fairly simple concept and revealing the complicated realities of the dynamics of a horrible disease, he avoids making a stagy or distant film. It is rich with emotion and flows naturally in a way that maximizes audience participation. It is one of the best films of the year.

The Witches ✮✮

Dangerous business, remaking well-respected films. Some soar to new heights, like 2007's "3:10 to Yuma." Others, such as "Carrie" (2013), just fade into the background of history. 

Roald Dahl's literary classic, "The Witches," was made into a film in 1990 with direction by Nicolas Roeg ("Walkabout," "Don't Look Now"). It did poorly at the box-office but gained critical raves and a cult fan following over the years. Now comes a new version that transports the setting from modern-day (1990) England to the Alabama of 1968.

The tale remains the same: A young boy (this time played by Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) who moves in with his grandmother after the death of his parents. After an encounter with a strange woman trying to lure him with treats, his grandmother (here played by the always delightful Octavia Spencer) tells him about witches. Fearing further encounters, they decide to take residence in a hotel, which turns out to be currently serving a coven of witches gathering to plan evil doings. This sets up the main confrontation in which the boy and grandmother must attempt to stop the witch leader, known as the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway), from destroying the children of the world. 

I found this new version of the story to be lacking in the overall feeling of wonder and danger of the first adaptation. There seemed to be no real need to change the period setting, and not much is done with that aspect. Anne Hathaway appeared to be trying to do an impression of Anjelica Huston's interpretation of the role. Aided by decent but familiar visual effects, Hathaway is fine but never really makes the role her own. The boy hero is adequate, voiced as an older man by Chris Rock, and I did enjoy Octavia Spencer as the grandma.

Yet the whole movie felt unnecessary, never achieving a reason for being aside from retelling the story to a new generation. Many scenes, such as the one where a young boy -- expecting a chocolate treat from an old lady, is turned into a rat by the witches -- fall flat and don't pop to life as they did in the earlier film. You're better off streaming that version and let this one fade away.