Attention by anyone who is panicked that “La La Land,” “Jackie,” “Hell or High Water” or a movie that hasn’t been released yet didn’t earn a nomination for Best Film (or something else) when the 2016 Gotham Awards nods were announced this morning. Newsflash for you, the Gothams are chosen by panels made up of just five to six critics or industry figures. Most are from the New York area and most are deeply connected to the city’s indie filmmaking scene. And, that’s why they are the Gotham Awards (and, um, some have very narrow taste).
Now, breathe deeply. Relax. “La La Land” is still the frontrunner for Best Picture. Really.
Yes, the Gotham’s surprised by not including Damien Chazelle’s movie musical, but even though it’s “independent” in spirit, it still had a substantially larger (over $30 million) studio financed budget than many of the other films recognized. Sure, the exclusions of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the acting categories are curious, but, again, the committees probably didn’t consider it a truly indie movie. It’s one reason “Certain Women” and “Patterson,” legitimate independent productions, made the Best Film cut.
Of course, while the Gothams might not directly line up with this year’s Academy Award nominees (let alone Independent Spirit Award nods) it’s still the first legitimate awards show of the season. The IFP membership votes on the winners and they have many legitimate industry members (along with a lot of aspirational filmmakers and cinephiles).
Keep all this in mind, here are some quick thoughts on each category.
BEST FEATURE
Certain Women
Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (IFC Films)
Everybody Wants Some!!
Richard Linklater, director; Megan Ellison, Ginger Sledge, Richard Linklater, producers (Paramount Pictures)
Manchester by the Sea
Kenneth Lonergan, director; Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. Walsh, producers (Amazon Studios)
Moonlight
Barry Jenkins, director; Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, producers (A24)
Paterson
Jim Jarmusch, director; Joshua Astrachan, Carter Logan, producers (Amazon Studios)
Lowdown: The fact the committees remembered Linklater’s spring release is a major heads up that the seemingly forgotten “Everybody” could be a mainstay on a lot of critic’s end of year top 10 lists. “Certain Women’s” inclusion is somewhat surprising as I expected “The Fits” or “La La Land” to make the five (it reportedly almost made it along with “Hell or High Water”) and am disappointed that “Jackie” was ignored here, but this award was always going to be between “Manchester” and “Moonlight” anyway and it still is.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Cameraperson
Kirsten Johnson, director; Marilyn Ness, producer (Janus Films)
I Am Not Your Negro
Raoul Peck, director; Rémi Grellety, Raoul Peck, Hébert Peck, producers (Magnolia Pictures)
O.J.: Made in America
Ezra Edelman, director; Caroline Waterlow, Ezra Edelman, Tamara Rosenberg, Nina Krstic, Deirdre Fenton, Erin Leyden, producers (ESPN Films)
Tower
Keith Maitland, director; Keith Maitland, Megan Gilbride, Susan Thomson, producers (Kino Lorber, Independent Lens)
Weiner
Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg, directors and producers (Sundance Selects and Showtime Documentary Films)
Lowdown: This was an important nomination for “O.J.: Made in America.” The ESPN production needs to prove to the Academy’s still somewhat old school doc committee that it qualifies as a film and the Gotham inclusion certainly doesn’t hurt.
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Robert Eggers for The Witch (A24)
Anna Rose Holmer for The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert for Swiss Army Man (A24)
Trey Edward Shults for Krisha (A24)
Richard Tanne for Southside with You (Roadside Attractions and Miramax)
Lowdown: Eggers feels like he should have qualified last year, but we’re thrilled Kwan and Scheinert got the recognition they deserve. Notable that Nate Parker did not make this list. If the controversy over “Birth of a Nation” had never irrupted he would have been here.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan (CBS Films)
Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman (Amazon Studios)
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan (Amazon Studios)
Moonlight, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Screenplay by Barry Jenkins (A24)
Paterson, Jim Jarmusch (Amazon Studios)
Lowdown: These are fantastic nominees and all five will likely find a way into the Original and Adapted Oscar categories this January. This pundit isn’t as much of a fan of “Paterson” as a number of other critics but would be more than happy with any of the other four taking the honor home.
BEST ACTOR*
Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)
Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water (CBS Films)
Adam Driver in Paterson (Amazon Studios)
Joel Edgerton in Loving (Focus Features)
Craig Robinson in Morris from America (A24)
Lowdown: Gosling is another startling “La La Land” omission. Overall though, this is an intriguing group even though a number of major male performances have not screened yet.
BEST ACTRESS*
Kate Beckinsale in Love & Friendship (Amazon Studios)
Annette Bening in 20th Century Women (A24)
Isabelle Huppert in Elle (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ruth Negga in Loving (Focus Features)
Natalie Portman in Jackie (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Lowdown: Huge coup for Beckinsale to make this five and head scratching for Emma Stone not to (yikes). Then again, with arguably the most competitive Best Actress year upon us it’s easy to argue for any of these performances to make the cut.
BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR*
Lily Gladstone in Certain Women (IFC Films)
Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)
Royalty Hightower in The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Sasha Lane in American Honey (A24)
Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch (A24)
Lowdown: Impressive that four out of the five actors here are women. Personally rooting for Lane, but won’t be surprised if Hedges takes it.
* The 2016 Best Actor/Best Actress and Breakthrough Actor nominating panels also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Moonlight, “in which actors at all levels of experience give outstanding performances that speak eloquently to one another both within and across each chapter of the story.” The awards will go to actors Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, and Ashton Sanders.
Lowdown: This is a nice honor, but also an easy way for the committee not to recognize any of the actors in in the other categories. I actually would call foul on this one.
BREAKTHROUGH SERIES – LONG FORM
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rachel Bloom & Aline Brosh McKenna, creators; Marc Webb, Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna, Erin Ehrlich, executive producers (The CW)
The Girlfriend Experience, Lodge Kerrigan, Amy Seimetz, creators; Steven Soderbergh, Philip Fleischman, Amy Seimetz, Lodge Kerrigan, Jeff Cuban, Gary Marcus, executive producers (Starz)
Horace and Pete, Louis C.K., creator; M. Blair Breard, Dave Becky, Vernon Chatman, Dino Stamatopoulos, executive producers (louisck.net)
Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Melissa Rosenberg, creator; Melissa Rosenberg, Liz Friedman, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, Jim Chory, Jeph Loeb, Howard Klein, executive producers (Netflix)
Master of None, Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, creators; Michael Schur, David Miner, Dave Becky, executive producers (Netflix)
Lowdown: Some very New York centric nominees here. Who wins? I’d expect “Master of None” to take it, but you have to love the recognition for “Horace and Pete,” “Jessica Jones” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (which needs all the support it can get). Also, how is “Ex-Girlfriend” breakthrough if it debuted before last year’s nominees were announced?
BREAKTHROUGH SERIES – SHORT FORM
The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, Brian Jordan Alvarez, creator (YouTube)
Her Story, Jen Richards and Laura Zak, creators (herstoryshow.com)
The Movement, Darnell Moore, Host (Mic.com)
Sitting in Bathrooms with Trans People, Dylan Marron, creator (Seriously.TV)
Surviving, Reagan Gomez, creator (YouTube)
Lowdown: So excited for “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo”! It’s a quintessential Los Angeles centric series that should be earning honors on Logo if that network had any taste outside of RuPaul’s Drag Race (that’s not a read). If you haven’t checked it out you should.
The Gotham Awards will be handed out in New York Ciy on Monday, Nov. 28.
