"Da 5 Bloods" leads the Online Film Critics Society nominations... but fails to win
Friday, January 22, 2021 at 12:15PM 
The Online Film Critics Society, founded in 1997 back when there was still a noticeable divide between print and web (there's zero difference anymore... it's only size and reputation of outlets since everything is online) have announced their nominations for the film year. They'll announce their winners on January 25th at which point we'll update this post. Da 5 Bloods led the nominations but only managed one win.
UPDATED -- NOMINEES & WINNERS are after the jump...
Best Picture
- Nomadland (6 nominations) ★
- Da 5 Bloods (8 nominations)
- Promising Young Woman (5 nominations)
- Never Rarely Sometimes Always (5 nominations
- First Cow (4 nominations)
- Minari (6 nominations)
- Sound of Metal (4 nominations)
- I'm thinking of ending things (3 nominations)
- Soul (3 nominations)
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4 nominations)
Their Best Picture list is we think a possibly neat little summation of where the critical heat is right now while also being an imperfect prophetic picture of what the divide might look like between critics and Oscars. Some movies that DON'T make their top ten that surely have high Oscar hopes (and have good reviews as well): Mank, One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, News of the World, and The Father.
Best Director
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods
Kelly Reichardt – First Cow
★ Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
The buzziest female directors plus Spike Lee. This has been such an exciting year for female directors but it's a pity that the attention has been so narrowly focused on only these four (plus Regina King) because Heidi Ewing (I Carry You With Me) and Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth) among others also did notable and deeply impressive work this year and are almost never mentioned. But I guess you can't name everyone.
Best Actor
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
★ Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun – Minari
Best Actress
Jessie Buckley – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
★ Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
Davis, McDormand, and Mulligan are your Oscar frontrunnrs but Flanigan has done surprisingly well in precursors, don't you think? Never Rarely struck us, while watching it, as more of a writer/director flick than an acting achievement but variety of opinion is what makes movie discussions beautiful.
Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods
Bill Murray – On the Rocks
★ Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
Best Supporting Actress
★ Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Colman – The Father
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari
Best Original Screenplay
Da 5 Bloods
Minari
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
★ Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Adapted Screenplay
First Cow
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
★ Nomadland
One Night in Miami
I've been meaning to compare the play to the screenplay because I didn't notice any significant "adaptation" in Ma Rainey... though one of the things I loved about it was that it was basically the play filmed. I realize this irks a lot of people who have the exact opposite reaction. But as someone who loves plays, I enjoy seeing them get permanently fixed versions for posterity.
Best Editing
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
★ Nomadland
Tenet
The Trial of the Chicago 7
It's possible that this list has not a single film I'd personally nominate for Best Editing even though I like two of those movies and love one of them. More soon when The Film Bitch Awards begin to roll out next week.
Best Cinematography
Da 5 Bloods
First Cow
Mank
★ Nomadland
Tenet
They're really into Da 5 Bloods ! 8 nominations.
Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
★ Soul
Tenet
Best Debut Feature
Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version
★ Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Regina King – One Night in Miami
Darius Marder – Sound of Metal
Andrew Patterson – The Vast of Night
Congratulations to these five though Fennell will obviously win (UPDATE: she did) since she's the only one nominated in Best Director as well. (I admit I continue to be a bit mystified by the critics awards love of The Vast of Night. A solid, even intriguging effort, and I'll happily sit to watch the next Patterson film to see his career develop. But I can't figure why people who've seen The Father (as OFCS clearly has) aren't noticed how amazingly confident and special Florian Zeller's debut is. I dont think I've seen him mentioned once as a debut of note.)
Best Film Not in the English Language
Another Round
Bacurau
Collective
La Llorona
★ Minari
Best Documentary
Boys State
Collective
★ Dick Johnson Is Dead
The Painter and the Thief
Time
Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
★ Soul
The Wolf House
Wolfwalkers
We like Soul a lot but it's a pity that once again Pixar is going to have an easy walk to the Oscar. It almost never matters what their competition is which is so frustrating. (Yes, I'm bitter because I thought this would finally be Cartoon Saloon's year -- Wolfwalkers is so gorgeous! -- but once again the critics have rallied to insure that Oscar voters need never feel guilty about their default Disney/Pixar setting. We wouldn't care so much (especially since Soul is quite good) if critics didn't do this all the time. There's been so many years where Pixar really didn't need or deserve another win when the critics still boosted them (last year it was agonizing to watch Toy Story 4, which shouldn't have existed at all, just stroll to another win) The Mouse House has won 13 of the 19 Oscars in this category while great animation creators like Les Armateurs, Laika, Cartoon Saloon, Tim Burton, and American Empirical Pictures are still Oscarless.
SPECIAL AWARDS (NON-COMPETITIVE)
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
- Sound of Metal - sound design
- Emma - costume design
- Tenet - visual effects
- Mank - production design
- Invisible Man - visual effects
BEST NON-US RELEASES
- A Beast in Love (Japan)
- The Disciple (India)
- Ghosts (Turkey)
- Mogul Mowgli (UK)
- New Order (Mexico)
- Notturno (Italy)
- Rocks (UK)
- Saint Maud (UK)
- Summer of 85 (France)
- Undine (Germany)
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
- Small Axe
- Distributor Kino Lober
- Indie theaters that launched virtual cinema
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
- Rob Bottin (makeup artist)
- David Byrne (composer)
- Jane Fonda (actor)
- Jean-luc Godard (director)
- Frederick Wiseman (documentarian)
Reader Comments (21)
Bakalova! She really needed to score here... this is kind of the first transition from critical darling to Guilds and Industry...
Also, LOVE Da 5 Bloods, and I really wish it could upset at the Oscars... it's high time for Lee to win Picture AND Director...
On the "variety of opinion": I despise filmed plays. It is such a different media and requires different acting, pace... I think Regina King did a great job lessening the "play feel" of her movie and the actors are also to praise for not overplaying every note of the screenplay. Cannot say the same for Ma Rainey's in either point.
Have not seen The Father yet but it looks like Zeller was able to make a movie and not a filmed play.
I am surprised at Kirby and Winslet picking up no steam at all.
Wow- Meryl 3rd tier now on your Best Actress predictions?
A lot of people, including Nathaniel, seem to be underestimating Da 5 Bloods as a serious contender. It’s one of the few films that has mass appeal.
"As someone who loves plays, I enjoy seeing them get permanently fixed versions for posterity." Me, too, Nathanial, but that doesn't mean they're Oscar worthy in the adapted screenplay category. Up to almost the end of his life, Edward Albee was annoyed that Ernest Lehman got an Oscar nomination for the screenplay for the WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF film, considering, as Albee puts it, all Lehman did was add the lines, "let's go down the the roadhouse" and "let's go back home from the roadhouse" to the play he (Albee) had written. Probably a bit of an exaggeration, but it always made me laugh when Albee offered that appraisal, year after year in interview after interview. I guess he thought he should have gotten screenplay credit and an Oscar nomination, too.
They either did not watch or did not like PIECES OF A WOMAN. Poor Vanessa Kirby...I like this Actress line up but 2-3 of these performances are nowhere near Kirby.
So confused as to how Flanigan is all the way on Tier 4. In my opinion she's easily Tier 2 with a very likely shot at getting nominated. Kirby really deserves the Oscar and it's sad that she hasn't really won since Venice.
Nathaniel, agree with you on filmed play. Love Ma Rainey.
Also agree on NRSA being a writing (so economical) and directing achievement.
Dan -- i dont disagree with you. I'm struggling to understand the Ma Rainey nods for adaptation but perhaps there's some shift from the play that im not remembering.
1. Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
2. Frances McDormand, Nomadland
3. Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
4. Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
5. Meryl Streep, The Prom
The Golden globe nomination ( possible double nomination or win) will help Streep. Sorry but if Meryl gets the SAG nomination she is in! And one of these spots are usually lighter material. Never bet against Streep in terms of voting academy members - not critics or pre cursors.
I am also very into Da 5 Bloods. I would be thrilled if the Oscars mirrored these nominations (though I agree that The Father should be getting more attention... I do wonder if all the voters have seen it, despite the acting nods).
Sebastian -- i would be *shocked* if Flanigan were nominated at the Oscars. It is such a low key performance in a very small film from a previously unknown actor. But i think every year we all get misled as to what Oscar might like with critics awards since critics awards by their nature tend to go more obscure when they aren't just underlining the presumed Oscar frontrunners.
NRSA is...so...slow...there's no way most voters will make it all the way through the movie. it's a perfect example of a critical darling that doesn't translate to a wider audience. i too would be *shocked* if Flanigan got an Actress nod from any of the industry awards bodies.
Huh. I love Spike Lee and also super love Delroy Lindo but man, I did not like Da 5 Bloods at all. It was Didactic Spike, who often forgets about entertainment over the message. I dunno, maybe I'll revisit it.
Toy Story 4 didn't really cruise to its win last year, I'd say. Missing Link and especially Klaus were both very viable winners given the precursors. It definitely won due to Pixar familiarity though. A real shame.
I am thisclose to taking Kirby out of my top 5. What is going on here? People are not responding to Pieces of a Woman I guess. It is also a much more internal performance than people were expecting. Thoughts?
Same with Winslet not showy enough,Frances is a pet and Nomadland is steamrolling ahead so Frances gets in with her least showy role ever but Kirby and Kate not getting much love puzzles me as both are way ahead of Davis and Flanagan.
As an OFCS member myself--just know that I think there were about six categories where my no. 1 on the ballot wasn't even nominated. It really is true that consensus occurs. Although saying that, I was surprised to see Hittman in director and Ryder in supp actress and a few other surprises in there. Conversely, I hadn't even seen THE FATHER or SOUL by time of voting.
Re Zeller, I agree he should be in contention for debut director, but perhaps the film is SO confident that people just... assume it isn't a first film? And unlike Fennel, there's not much noise about it being so. Although I do love that VAST OF NIGHT was able to get a nod as a consolation. I really dug that. I watched THE FATHER yesterday and SPC are doing it dirty by hiding it so much. I only got a screener through another critics group. Never heard a peep otherwise.
That is a heavenly best actor line up. Oldman is overrated and might be this year’s De Niro in Irishman.
OLdman is fantastic in Mank, also is WInslet for ammonite. Its gettin real frustrating. Also Kirby is so great and getting vulnerable now! WHYYYYY????