San Diego Film Critics 2015 Nominations – ‘Mad Max,’ ‘Brooklyn’ Among the Nominees

Mad Max Fury Road Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy
TOM HARDY as Max Rockatansky and CHARLIZE THERON as Imperator Furiosa in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (Photo © 2015 WV Films IV LLC and Ratpac-Dune Entertainment)

The San Diego Film Critics Society just voted on their 2015 nominees, with the winners set to be announced on Monday, December 14, 2015. As usual, the group marched to its own drummer, awarding nominations to a diverse group of films and filmmakers including the wild action thriller, Mad Max: Fury Road; the beautiful character-driven romantic drama, Brooklyn; the thought-provoking sci-fi film, Ex Machina; and the riveting drama, Room.


Here’s the complete list of nominees. And for purposes of full disclosure, I’m the President of the San Diego Film Critics Society so, yes, some of these represent my picks for the best of 2015.

Best Picture

EX MACHINA
BROOKLYN
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
ROOM
SPOTLIGHT
Best Director
George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
John Crowley, BROOKLYN
Lenny Abrahamson, ROOM
Tom McCarthy, SPOTLIGHT
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, THE REVENANT

Best Actor, Male

Leonardo DiCaprio, THE REVENANT
Jason Segel, THE END OF THE TOUR
Matt Damon, THE MARTIAN
Bryan Cranston, TRUMBO
Jacob Tremblay, ROOM

Best Actor, Female

Saoirse Ronan, BROOKLYN
Brie Larson, ROOM
Charlotte Rampling, 45 YEARS
Charlize Theron, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Alicia Vikander, EX MACHINA

Best Supporting Actor, Male

Mark Rylance, BRIDGE OF SPIES
Tom Noonan, ANOMALISA
Oscar Isaac, EX MACHINA
Paul Dano, LOVE & MERCY
RJ Cyler, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL

Best Supporting Actor, Female

Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL
Jennifer Jason Leigh, THE HATEFUL EIGHT
Helen Mirren, TRUMBO
Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
Olivia Cooke, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL

Best Original Screenplay

Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, MISTRESS AMERICA
Alex Garland, EX MACHINA
Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
Quentin Tarantino, THE HATEFUL EIGHT
Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, SPOTLIGHT

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nick Hornby, BROOKLYN
Emma Donoghue, ROOM
Charlie Kaufman, ANOMALISA
Donald Margulies, THE END OF THE TOUR
Drew Goddard, Andy Weir THE MARTIAN

Best Documentary

AMY
HE NAMED ME MALALA
CARTEL LAND
MERU
THE WRECKING CREW

Best Animated Film

INSIDE OUT
ANOMALISA
SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
THE GOOD DINOSAUR
THE PEANUTS MOVIE

Best Foreign Language Film

PHOENIX
TAXI
WHITE GOD
A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE
GOODNIGHT MOMMY

Best Editing

Margaret Sixel, Jason Ballantine MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Joe Walker, SICARIO
Pietro Scalia, THE MARTIAN
Michael Kahn, BRIDGE OF SPIES
Nathan Nugent, ROOM
Stephen Mirrione, THE REVENANT

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins, SICARIO
Yves Belanger, BROOKLYN
Dariuz Wolski, THE MARTIAN
John Seale, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Emmanuel Lubezki, THE REVENANT

Best Production Design

Colin Gibson, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Mark Digby, EX MACHINA
Arthur Max, THE MARTIAN
Francois Seguin, BROOKLYN
Adam Stockhausen, BRIDGE OF SPIES

Best Sound Design

THE MARTIAN
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
EX MACHINA
SICARIO
LOVE & MERCY

Best Visual Effects

THE MARTIAN
EX MACHINA
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
THE WALK
JURASSIC WORLD

Best Use Of Music In A Film

THE HATEFUL EIGHT
LOVE & MERCY
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
SICARIO
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

Breakthrough Artist

Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL, EX MACHINA
Jacob Tremblay, ROOM
Emory Cohen, BROOKLYN
Abraham Attah, BEASTS OF NO NATION
Sean S. Baker, TANGERINE

Best Ensemble

SPOTLIGHT
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
INSIDE OUT
THE BIG SHORT
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

And the winners are…