2018 AWARDS NEWS CONTINUES

The nominations for the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced and what is most notable is what was not nominated. The Outstanding Performance By a Cast, which is the equivalent of Best Picture, is missing the popular titles that have received plenty of award attention like "Green Book", "The Favourite", "Vice", "Mary Poppins Returns", "Roma" and "If Beale Street Could Talk". The most surprising movie that received a nomination in this category was "Bohemian Rhapsody" which besides Rami Malek (who did earn a well-deserved nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actor) did not seem to stand out with many noteworthy performances. But the biggest head-scratcher is in the Outstanding Performance By an Actress in a Supporting Role. It's not much of a surprise of Emily Blunt receiving a Best Actress nomination for her work in "Mary Poppins Returns" which has received plenty of great buzz but she got a second nod for her performance in the hit horror film, "A Quiet Place". And Margot Robbie also received an unexpected nomination for playing Queen Elizabeth I in "Mary, Queen of Scots". Nobody saw these nominations coming and for good reason. While both actresses gave reliably strong performances in their respective films, neither one would I consider the most outstanding performances of this year nor even the best in their careers.

The 25th annual SAG Awards will be presented on January 27 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Megan Mullally will host the show.

Here is the list of nominations for the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards (Motion Pictures):

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:

"A Star Is Born"
"Black Panther"
"Blackkklansman"
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
"Crazy Rich Asians"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:

Christian Bale, "Vice"
Bradley Cooper, "A Star Is Born"
Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Viggo Mortensen, "Green Book"
John David Washington, "BlacKkKlansman"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:

Emily Blunt, "Mary Poppins Returns"
Glenn Close, "The Wife"
Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"
Lady Gaga, "A Star Is Born"
Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Mahershala Ali, "Green Book"
Timothee Chalamet, "Beautiful Boy"
Adam Driver, "BlacKkKlansman"
Sam Elliott, "A Star Is Born"
Richard E. Grant, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Amy Adams, "Vice"
Emily Blunt, "A Quiet Place"
Margot Robbie, "Mary, Queen of Scots"
Emma Stone, "The Favourite"
Rachel Weisz, "The Favourite"

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:

"Ant-Man and the Wasp"
"Avengers: Infinity War"
"The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"
"Black Panther"
"Mission: Impossible: Fallout"

"Cold War", Pawel Pawlikowski’s black-and-white romantic drama, was the big winner at the 2018 European Film Awards, receiving four major prizes for Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Actress for Joanna Kulig. I think Mr. Pawlikowski's chances of getting another Oscar nomination (which the Polish director won the Best Foreign-language Oscar in 2015 for his mesmerizing film, "Ida") has improved greatly and "Cold War", which is loosely based on his parent's relationship, reaches stateside on December 21st.

Here is the list of nominations and winners from the 2018 European Film Awards. Winners are highlighted:

Best European Film:

"Border" (Sweden)
"Cold War" (Poland)
"Dogman" (Italy)
"Girl" (Belgium)
"Happy as Lazzaro" (Italy)

Best European Director:

Ali Abbas, "Border"
Matteo Garrone, "Dogman"
Samuel Maoz, "Foxtrot" (Israel)
Pawel Pawlikowski, "Cold War"
Alice Rohrwacher, "Happy as Lazzaro"

Best European Screenwriter:

Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklof, and John Ajvide Lindqvist, "Border"
Matteo Garrone, Ugo Chiti, and Massimo Gaudioso, "Dogman"
Gustaav Moller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen, "The Guilty"
Pawel Pawlikowski, "Cold War"
Alice Rohrwacher, "Happy as Lazzaro"

Best European Actress:

Marie Baumer, "3 Days in Quiberon" (Germany)
Halldora Geirhardsdottir, "Woman at War" (Iceland)
Joanna Kulig, "Cold War"
Barbara Lennie, "Petra" (Spain)
Eva Melander, "Border"
Alba Rohrwacher, "Happy as Lazzaro"

Best European Actor:

Jacob Cedergren, "The Guilty" (Denmark)
Rupert Everett, "The Happy Prince" (United Kingdom)
Sverrir Gudnason, "Borg/McEnroe" (Sweden)
Tomasz Kot, "Cold War"
Marcello Fonte, "Dogman"
Victor Polser, "Girl"

Best European Comedy:

"C'est La Vie" (France)
"Diamantino" (Portugal)
"Death of Stalin" (United Kingdom)

Best European Documentary:

"Bergman: A Year in A Life" (Sweden)
"The Distant Barking of Dogs" (Denmark)
"Of Fathers and Sons" (Syria/Lebanon/Qatar)
"The Silence of Others" (Spain)
"A Woman Captured" (Hungary)

Best European Animated Film:

"Another Day of Life" (Poland/Spain) 
"Early Man" (United Kingdom)
"The Breadwinner" (Ireland)
"White Fang" (Luxembourg)

And here are winners by more critics groups from Los Angeles, Toronto and San Francisco with "Roma" being the unanimous choice for the Best Film of the Year:

Here is the list of the winners from 2018 Los Angeles Film Critics Association:

Best Picture: "Roma"
Best Director: Debra Granik, "Leave No Trace"
Best Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed"
Best Actress: Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"
Best Supporting Actor: Steven Yeun, "Burning"
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Best Documentary: "Shirkers"
Best Animation: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"
Best Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón, "Roma"
Best Editing: Joshua Altman and Bing Liu, Minding the Gap"
Best Production Design: Hannah Beachler, "Black Panther"
Best Music/Score: Nicholas Britell, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Career Achievement Award: Hayao Miyazaki

Winners from the 2018 Toronto Film Critics Association:

Best Film: "Roma"
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, "Roma"
Best Screenplay (Tie): Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, "The Favourite" and Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"
Best First Feature: Boots Riley, "Sorry to Bother You"
Best Actress: Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, "First Reformed"
Best Supporting Actor: Steven Yeun, "Burning"
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Best Animated Film: "Isle of Dogs"
Best Documentary: "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
Best Foreign Film: "Burning" (South Korea)

Winners from the 2018 San Francisco Film Critics Circle:

Best Film: "Roma"
Best Director: Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"
Best Debut Director: Boots Riley, "Sorry to Bother You"
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"
Best Actress: Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, "First Reformed"
Best Supporting Actor: Michael B Jordan, "Black Panther"
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Best Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón, "Roma"
Best Production Design: Hannah Beachler, "Black Panther"
Best Editing: Bob Murawski and Orson Welles, "The Other Side of the Wind"
Best Animated Film: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse"
Best Documentary: "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
Best Foreign Film: "Roma"
Best Original Score: Terence Blanchard, "BlacKkKlansman"