Precursor: 24th Satellite Awards Nominations (2019)

The International Press Academy is a most bizarre organization. They regularly change some dates, refuse to announce others, and generally feel like an utterly disorganized mess. A strange parallel to the far more organized Golden Globes, it’s surprising that the group is still giving out awards. When asked to provide a date for their awards, they said it would be announced when their nominees were announced. Of course, their press release did not announce a date and worse, for their television nominations, they specifically hedge their bets due to a Dec. 6 screening of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisal.

Gone this year are the separated Major/Independent categories, but back is the non-alphabetical nomination listing and the occasional typo. What’s worse is that it seems clear that they have not seen a lot of late-year films like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker or Frozen II and have over-sampled non-contenders like Motherless Brooklyn. The Globes were accused years ago of taking bribes for nominations and while I would hope that the IPA wouldn’t succumb to such things, the multiple nominations for Edward Norton’s film would suggest that it’s a possibility, even if a remote one. The strong performance of Alita: Battle Angel is also questionable. As to the nominations themselves, The Irishman did incredibly poorly here in spite of its solid frontrunner status while films like Burning Cane and The Lighthouse earned Best Picture nominations in its place. Bombshell and Marriage Story continue to perform well while Ford v Ferrari and The Two Popes perform better than they have so far this season. It will be very interesting to see just how many nominations this group entirely misses due to their poor screening schedule.

Nominations Tallies

(10) Ford v Ferrari, Joker
(8) 1917, Marriage Story
(7) Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Rocketman
(6) The Irishman
(5) Pain and Glory, The Two Popes
(4) Bombshell, The Farewell
(3) Alita: Battle Angel, Hustlers, Knives Out, The Lion King, Motherless Brooklyn, Parasite

The Nominations

Best Picture (Drama)

1917
Bombshell
Burning Cane
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
The Lighthouse
Marriage Story
The Two Popes

Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)

The Farewell
Hustlers
Knives Out
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Rocketman
Uncut Gems

Best Animated or Mixed Media

Alita: Battle Angel
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
The Lion King
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Toy Story 4
Weathering With You

Best Director

Pedro Almodóvar – Pain and Glory
Noah Baumbach – Marriage Story
Bong Joon-Ho – Parasite
James Mangold – Ford v Ferrari
Sam Mendes – 1917
Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Best Actor (Drama)

Christian Bale – Ford v Ferrari
Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
Adam Driver – Marriage Story
George MacKay – 1917
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
Mark Ruffalo – Dark Waters

Best Actress (Drama)

Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
Helen Mirren – The Good Liar
Charlize Theron – Bombshell
Alfre Woodard – Clemency
Renee Zellweger – Judy

Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)

Daniel Craig – Knives Out
Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Taron Egerton – Rocketman
Eddie Murphy – Dolemite Is My Name
Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems
Taika Waititi – Jojo Rabbit

Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)

Awkwafina – The Farewell
Ana de Armas – Knives Out
Julianne Moore – Gloria Bell
Constance Wu – Hustlers

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe – The Lighthouse
Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Wendell Pierce – Burning Cane
Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz – Pain and Glory
Laura Dern – Marriage Story
Nicole Kidman – Bombshell
Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers
Margot Robbie – Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen – The Farewell

Best Original Screenplay

The Farewell
Ford v Ferrari
Marriage Story
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Pain and Glory
Parasite

Best Adapted Screenplay

Dark Waters
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Motherless Brooklyn
The Two Popes

Best Original Score

1917
Ford v Ferrari
Harriet
The Irishman
Joker
Marriage Story

Best Original Song

“The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy” – Toy Story 4
“Don’t Call Me (Angel)” – Charlie’s Angels
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” – Rocketman
“Into the Unknown” – Frozen II
“Spirit” – Lion King
“Swan Song” – Alita: Battle Angel

Best Film Editing

1917
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Joker
Marriage Story
Rocketman

Best Cinematography

1917
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Joker
Motherless Brooklyn
Rocketman

Best Art Direction & Production Design

1917
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
Motherless Brooklyn
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
The Two Popes

Best Costume Design

Dolemite Is My Name
Downton Abbey
Joker
Judy
Rocketman
The Two Popes

Best Sound Mixing & Editing

1917
Avengers: Endgame
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Rocketman

Best Visual Effects

Alita: Battle Angel
Avengers: Endgame
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Joker
The Lion King

Best International Film

Atlantics – Senegal
Beanpole – Russia
Les Misérables – France
Pain and Glory – Spain
The Painted Bird – Czech Republic
Parasite – South Korea
Portrait of a Lady on Fire – France
Truth and Justice – Estonia