Eligible films are those that were released in the UK for the first time in 2021 whether that is in the cinemas or on the ever increasing numbers of streaming services. This year, I have seen a record number of 440 eligible films but still there are a few that potentially could have featured below that I did not manage to squeeze in…Card Counter, Mothering Sunday, Petite Maman, Alice and the Mayor, The Truffle Hunters, Undergods and Sequin in a Blue Room
MOST OVERLOOKED
With so many films popping up on Netflix or Amazon Prime with no fanfare, this category is becoming increasingly hotly contested
Honourable Mentions: Willy’s Wonderland, Good on Paper, Anonymously Your’s, Werewolves Within, In for a Murder, Dancing Queens
Winner: Worth
MOST OVERRATED
Honourable mentions: Antebellum, Tick, Tick, Boom, Rare Beasts, In the Heights, The Nest
Winner: The Green Knight
BEST SEQUEL/REMAKE/REBOOT
Honourable mentions: Candyman, A Quiet Place Part 2, the Forever Purge, Halloween Kills, Fear Street Part 2: 1978
Winner: No Time to Die
BEST POPCORN MOVIE
Re-instated after a couple of years because of a larger number of purely fun films than in recent years.
Honourable Mentions: Those Who Wish Me Dead, Freaky, Greenland, Willy’s Wonderland, Beckett, Copshop, The Marksman, Halloween Kills, Thunder Force, Werewolves Within, The Ice Road
Runner Up: Red Notice
Winner: Nobody
BEST SCORE
Honourable mentions: Stefan Gregory (The Dig), Angus MacRae (School’s Out Forever), Mark Canham (I Care a Lot),
Yeong-wook Jo (The Man Standing Next), Robert Aiki & Aubrey Lowe (Candyman), Hans Zimmer (No Time to Die), Pawel Lucewicz (In for a Murder), Devonté Hynes (Passing), Nick Lloyd Webber (Last Bus), Steve Jablonsky (Red Notice)
Runner Up: Mark Mancina (Cry Macho)
Winner: Ludovico Einaudi (Nomadland)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
This has been another very strong year for documentaries. Nothing quite to the magnificent The Collective last year, but an impressive list nevertheless
Honourable Mentions: Seaspiracy, Assassins, King Rocker, The Way I See It, The Velvet Underground, 76 Days
Runner Up: Procession
Winner: The Human Factor
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Honourable Mentions: Mike Eley (The Dig), Marcell Rév (Malcolm & Marie), Paul O’Callaghan (Justine), Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Beckett), John Gulesarian (Candyman), Linus Sandgren (No Time to Die), Chung-hoon Chung (Last Night in Soho), Ben Davis (Cry Macho), Eduard Grau (Passing)
Runner Up: Joshua James Richards (Nomadland)
Winner: Andrey Naydeno (Dear Comrades)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Honourable Mentions: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), Joe Penna and Ryan Morrison (Stowaway), Rachel Borgo and Kendall Goldberg (When Jeff Tried to Save the World), Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller (The Father), Harry MacQueen (Supernova), Vanessa Block & Michael Sarnoski (Pig), Claudia Llosa (Fever Dream), Ben Sharrock (Limbo)
10: Iliza Shlesinger (Good on Paper)
9: Clare Dunne and Malcolm Campbell (Herself)
8: Tomás Downey and Francisco Márquez (A Common Crime)
7: Daan Windhorst (The Columnist)
6: Andrey Konchalovskiy and Elena Kiseleva (Dear Comrades)
5: Aaron Sorkin (Being the Ricardos)
4: Lili Horvát (Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time)
3: Jasmila Zbanic (Quo Vadis, Aida?)
2: Ji-min Leea and Min-ho Woo (The Man Standing Next)
Winner: Max Borenstein (Worth)
WORST PERFORMANCE
There was only ever going to be one winner this year. Someone who single handedly tried to ruin two good films with a pair of absurd performances!
Dishonourable Mentions: Matheus Nachtergaele (Get the Goat), Kristin Davis (Deadly Illusions), Kea Peahu ( Finding ‘Ohana), All the cast (A Week Away) Mickey Rourke (Take Back), Alex Mills (Original Gangster), Christopher Walken (Wild Mountain Thyme), William Shatner (Senior Moment). Christopher Lloyd (Senior Moment), Timothée Chalamet (The French Dispatch), All the cast (The Red Carpet), Antonio Banderes (The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard), Linnea Quigley (Triassic Hunt), Sienna Farall (Triassic Hunt)
Runner Up: Rita Ora (Twist)
Loser: Jared Leto (The Little Things and House of Gucci)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Honourable Mentions: Jasmine Blackborow (School’s Out Forever), Sophie Reid (Justine), Lauren Tsai (Moxie!), Alycia Pascual-Peña (Moxie!), T.J McGibbon (The War with Grandpa), Rachel Brosnahan (The Courier), Mary Lynn Rajskub (The Tomorrow War), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Woman in the Window), Laura Benanti (Worth), Darci Shaw (The Colour Room), Sidse Babett Knudsen (Limbo), Ruth Negga (Passing), Abigail Breslin (Stillwater), Cate Blanchett (Don’t Look Up), Melanie Lynskey (Don’t Look Up), Teresa Saponangelo (The Hand of God), Diana Rigg (Last Night in Soho)
20: Alicia Witt (I Care a Lot)
19: Naomi Harris (No Time to Die)
18: Betty Gilpin (The Tomorrow War)
17: Abigail Lawrie (Our Ladies)
16: Fiona Shaw (Ammonite)
15: Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips (Off the Rails)
14: Shunori Ramanathan (Worth)
13: Amy Poehler (Moxie!)
12: Monica Dolan (The Dig)
11: Sidse Babett Knudsen (The Exception)
10: Ellen Burstyn (Pieces of a Woman)
9: Shailene Woodley (The Mauritanian)
8: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari)
7: Amy Ryan (Worth)
6: Lola Petticrew (Here are the Young Men)
5: Anya Taylor-Joy (Last Night in Soho)
4: Charlene Swankie (Nomadland)
3: Ana de Armas (No Time to Die)
2: Dianne Wiest (I Care a Lot)
Winner: Jessie Buckley (Lost Daughter)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
20: Stanley Tucci (Worth)
19: Bill Camp (Passing)
18: Kenneth Collard (Limbo)
17: Anton Lesser (The Courier)
16: Bill Nighy (Minamata)
15: Jason Bateman (Thunder Force)
14: Ken Stott (The Dig)
13: Bob Wells (Nomadland)
12: Vikash Bhai (Limbo)
11: Lars Erdinger (Persian Lessons)
10: Benedict Cumberbatch (The Mauritanian)
9: Peter Dinklage (I Care a Lot)
8: Toni Servillo (The Hand of God)
7: J K Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
6: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
5: Will Patton (Minari)
4: Paul Raci (The Sound of Metal)
3: Colman Domingo (Candyman)
2: Terence Stamp (Last Night in Soho)
Winner: Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
BEST ACTRESS
It feels like I say this every year, But this is the category with the most impressive list of contenders. Anyone in the top 10 would have easily been in the top 5 most years. The honourable mentions list is also stuffed full of fantastic performances.
Honourable Mentions: Nika McGuigan (Wildfire), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Kate), Anna Smolowik (In for a Murder),
Ruth Wilson (Oslo), Alicia Witt (Modern Persuasion), Iliza Shlesinger (Good on Paper), Molly Nutley (Dancing Queens),
Kate Winslet (Ammonite), Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs), Zendaya (Malcolm & Marie), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian), Sophie Rundle (Rose: A Love Story), Keeley Hawes (To Olivia), Aubrey Plaza (Black Bear), Laura Calamy (My Donkey, My Lover & I), Mélanie Laurent (Oxygen), Tessa Thompson (Passing), Sandra Bullock (Unforgivable), Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
20: Noée Abita (Slalom)
19: Nell Barlow (Sweetheart)
18: Clare Dunne (Herself)
17: Niamh Algar (Censor)
16: Emilia Jones (CODA)
15: Joanna Scanlon (The Power of the Dog)
14: Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman)
13: Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho)
12: Rosamund Pike (I Care a Lot)
11: Olivia Coleman (Lost Daughter)
10: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
9: Saorise Ronan (Ammonite)
8: Annie Cabello (Anonymously Your’s)
7: Lady Gaga (House of Gucci)
6: Katja Herbers (The Columnist)
5: Natasa Stork (Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time)
4: Elisa Carricajo (A Common Crime)
3: Yuliya Vysotskaya (Dear Comrades)
2: Jasna Djuricic (Quo Vadis, Aida)
Winner: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
BEST ACTOR
It was almost impossible to separate the top 2 in this category. An acting legend in probably his last major role and an established TV actor making the move to the big screen
Honourable Mentions: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (Persian Lessons), Jérémie Renier (Slalom), John David Washington (Malcolm & Marie), Tahir Rahim (The Mauritanian), Logan Lerman (End of Sentence), Steve Zahn (Cowboys), Lee Byung-hun (The Man Standing Next), Michael Smiley (The Toll), Stanley Tucci (Supernova )
20: Andrew Scott (Supernova )
19: David Strathairn (Oslo)
18: John Hawkes (Nomadland)
17: Ralph Fiennes (End of Sentence)
16: Tom Hanks (The Dig)
15: Lakieth Stanfield (News of the World)
14: Timothy Spall (Last Bus)
13: Justin Timberlake (Palmer)
12: Colin Firth (Supernova )
11: Amir El-Masry (Limbo)
10: Clint Eastwood (Cry Macho)
9: Joel Fry (In the Earth)
8: Michael Keaton (Worth)
7: Nicolas Cage (Pig)
6: Riz Ahmed (The Sound of Metal)
5: Ben Whishaw (Surge)
4: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
3: Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
2: Michael Caine (Best Sellers)
Winner: James Norton (Nowhere Special)
BEST DIRECTOR:
20: Antoine Fuqua (The Guilty)
19: John Krasinski (A Quiet Place Part 2)
18: Aneil Karia (Surge)
17: Francisco Márquez (A Common Crime)
16: Ridley Scott (The Last Duel)
15: Ilya Naishuller (Nobody)
14: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (Beckett)
13: Tom McCarthy (Stillwater)
12: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
11: Paul Greengrass (News of the World)
10: Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time to Die)
9: Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy (Rose Plays Julie)
8: Andrei Konchalovsky (Dear Comrades)
7: Lili Horvát (Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time)
6: Claudia Llosa (Fever Dream)
5: Paolo Sorrentino (The Hand of God)4:
4: Clint Eastwood (Cry Macho)
3: Jasmila Zbanic (Quo Vadis, Aida)
2: Edgar Wright (Last Night in Soho)
Winner: Min-ho Woo (The Man Standing Next)
WORST FILM:
Most people seeing the runner up this year will probably think they have seen the worst movie of the last 12 months. I would encourage (sort of) them to go to Netflix and try the excruciatingly embarrassingly bad winner!
Dishonourable Mentions: Twist, The Old Ways, Bad Trip, A Castle for Christmas, Righteous Villains, Snow Black, Me You Madness, Triassic hunt, A Killer Next Door
Runner Up: Music
Loser: A Week Away
BEST FILM
Numbers 2 to 7 could almost be shuffled into any order, but after seeing my number one film there was little chance of anything beating it this year
50 Don’t Look Up
49 Sweetheart
48 Censor
47 Copshop
46 Beckett
45 Oslo
44 Passing
43 The Forever Purge
42 Supernova
41 A Quiet Place Part 2
40 Willy’s Wonderland
39 The Mauritanian
38 The Last Duel
37 Red Notice
36 Greenland
35 I Care a Lot
34 Shiva Baby
33 Last Bus
32 Freaky
31 The Dig
30 Limbo
29 Those Who Wish Me Dead
28 The Courier
27 Pig
26 Fever Dream
25 Assassins
24 Judas and the Black Messiah
23 The Father
22 Stillwater
21 Nobody
20 Being the Ricardos
19 News of the World
18 Herself
17 Last Night in Soho
16 Cry Macho
15 Nowhere Special
14 Seaspiracy
13 The Hand of God
12 A Common Crime
11 Promising Young Woman
10 The Columnist
9 Procession
8 No Time to Die
7 The Human Factor
6 Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
5 Worth
4 Dear Comrades
3 Nomadland
2 Quo Vadis, Aida?
1 The Man Standing Next