Kansas City, Missouri – The Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the second oldest film critic organization in the country, released their nominees for the 50th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards, recognizing the best in film for 2015.
Sicario, a fall release that addressed the war on drugs in both the United States and Mexico, led all films with five nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Denis Villeneuve. The film also earned nods for Emily Blunt for Best Actress, Benicio Del Toro for Best Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay.
Right behind are the summer action film Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant, which each earned four nominations, including Best Picture. Also earning Best Picture nominations: Room and Spotlight. DiCaprio was nominated as one of the year’s Best Actors, along with Steve Carell (The Big Short), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and last year’s Academy Award winner in this category, Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl).
Charlize Theron was nominated as Best Actress for her role as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. Nominated alongside her and Blunt are Cate Blanchett (Carol), Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).
Besides Del Toro, the list of nominees for Best Supporting Actor include Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Michael Shannon (99 Homes) and Sylvester Stallone, reprising his role of Rocky Balboa in Creed. In 1976, the group named Stallone the year’s Best Actor for playing Balboa in Rocky.
Blanchett’s Carol co-star, Rooney Mara, earned a nod for Best Supporting Actress, alongside Elizabeth Banks (Love & Mercy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs).
Directors joining Villeneuve in competition for the Robert Altman Award for Best Director are Alex Garland (Ex Machina), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) and George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road).
The group also handed out nominations for Best Animated Feature, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Film, Documentary Feature and the Vince Koehler Award, which is chosen as the year’s best Science Fiction, Horror or Fantasy Film.
Winners will be voted on and the results released this Sunday, December 20.
Below is a complete list of nominees:
BEST PICTURE:
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Room
Sicario
Spotlight
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR:
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant
Denis Villeneuve, Sicario
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
BEST ACTOR:
Steve Carell, The Big Short
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
BEST ACTRESS:
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Emily Blunt, Sicario
Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Benicio Del Toro, Sicario
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Elizabeth Banks, Love & Mercy
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Ex Machina
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
Sicario
Spotlight
Trainwreck
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Big Short
Carol
The Martian
Room
Steve Jobs
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Anomalisa
Inside Out
Minions
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
The Assassin
Goodnight Mommy
Phoenix
Son of Saul
The Tribe
White God
BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Amy
Best of Enemies
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade
The Wrecking Crew
VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY or HORROR FILM:
Ex Machina
Goodnight Mommy
It Follows
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian