Critics Choice Awards 2021 Film Nominees: ‘Mank,’ ‘Minari’ Top the List

Gary Oldman in Mank
Gary Oldman stars in Netflix’s ‘Mank’

Members of the film branch of the Critics Choice Association (of which I’m one) have spoken and it appears we really love Mank and Minari. Mank topped the list of the 26th Annual Critics Choice Awards film nominees, scoring 12 nominations. Minari followed close behind with 10. Both will be competing in the Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay categories.

Other big winners include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with eight nominations and News of the World with seven. Da 5 Bloods, Nomadland, One Night in Miami, Promising Young Woman, and The Trial of the Chicago 7 each picked up six nominations.

“What a year it has been for film! We are honored to have the opportunity to recognize the tireless work of so many who overcame unprecedented obstacles to deliver these beautiful, challenging, nuanced pieces of art to our screens,” stated Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin. “The stories told by this year’s nominees will continue to resonate and we congratulate each and every one of them for their extraordinary accomplishments.”

Winners will be announced during a live ceremony airing on The CW on Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 7pm ET/PT. Taye Diggs returns to host the awards show for his third consecutive year, however, this year’s show will be dramatically different. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the 2021 Critics Choice Awards to opt for an in-person/virtual hybrid format, with some presenters joining Diggs to shoot their portions on a stage in LA. The nominees will appear remotely.

FILM NOMINATIONS FOR THE 26TH ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE
Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Mank (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR
Ben Affleck – The Way Back (Warner Bros.)
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Tom Hanks – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Anthony Hopkins – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Gary Oldman – Mank (Netflix)
Steven Yeun – Minari (A24)

BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Frances McDormand – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Zendaya – Malcolm & Marie (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Bill Murray – On the Rocks (A24/Apple TV+)
Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Olivia Colman – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Amanda Seyfried – Mank (Netflix)
Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari (A24)

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ryder Allen – Palmer (Apple TV+)
Ibrahima Gueye – The Life Ahead (Netflix)
Alan Kim – Minari (A24)
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Caoilinn Springall – The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Helena Zengel – News of the World (Universal Pictures)

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
David Fincher – Mank (Netflix)
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Regina King – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari (A24)
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Jack Fincher – Mank (Netflix)
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Darius Marder & Abraham Marder – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt – First Cow (A24)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Christopher Blauvelt – First Cow (A24)
Erik Messerschmidt – Mank (Netflix)
Lachlan Milne – Minari (A24)
Joshua James Richards – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Newton Thomas Sigel – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Dariusz Wolski – News of the World (Universal Pictures)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Cristina Casali, Charlotte Dirickx – The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale – Mank (Netflix)
Kave Quinn, Stella Fox – Emma (Focus Features)
Mark Ricker, Karen O’Hara & Diana Stoughton – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Kirk Baxter – Mank (Netflix)
Jennifer Lame – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Yorgos Lamprinos – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alexandra Byrne – Emma (Focus Features)
Bina Daigeler – Mulan (Disney)
Suzie Harman & Robert Worley – The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
Ann Roth – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Nancy Steiner – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Trish Summerville – Mank (Netflix)

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Emma (Focus Features)
Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Mank (Netflix)
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Greyhound (Apple TV+)
The Invisible Man (Universal Pictures)
Mank (Netflix)
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Mulan (Disney)
Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.)

BEST COMEDY
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)
The King of Staten Island (Universal Pictures)
On the Rocks (A24/Apple TV+)
Palm Springs (Hulu and NEON)
The Prom (Netflix)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Collective (Magnolia Pictures)
La Llorona (Shudder)
The Life Ahead (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
Two of Us (Magnolia Pictures)

BEST SONG
Everybody Cries – The Outpost (Screen Media Films)
Fight for You – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
Husavik (My Home Town) – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)
Io sì (Seen) – The Life Ahead (Netflix)
Speak Now – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Tigress & Tweed – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Ludwig Göransson – Tenet (Warner Bros.)
James Newton Howard – News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Emile Mosseri – Minari (A24)
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Mank (Netflix)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste – Soul (Disney)