Jeff Stockton here once again. The nominations are in, and unlike some years where the Golden Reel Awards field feels wide open, Season 36 has developed a pretty clear pecking order. As I did last season, rather than go category by category, I'm going to take a look at every nominated film and see where each one stands heading into the awards. Here's the Season 36 GRA Edition of The Roundup....
ONE NOMINATION
THE HULK 3
Timothy Olyphant picked up The Hulk 3's lone nomination for Best Villain, and honestly, that's not a bad place to plant your flag. The movie itself didn't exactly storm the GRA ballot, but Olyphant was one of its strongest elements and this is the kind of category where one big, memorable performance can carry the whole thing. I wouldn't call him the favorite, but he's got a much better shot than most films limping into the ceremony with only one nomination.
LOBO
Tom Hopper is carrying the entire awards-season burden for Lobo, which feels appropriate for a guy playing Lobo. He certainly had the kind of loud, oversized role that usually gets noticed in Best Villain, but unfortunately he's sharing the category with Timothy Olyphant, Matthias Schweighöfer and Javier Bardem. That's a rough neighborhood. Hopper getting nominated makes sense; Hopper actually winning feels like a much tougher sell.
ECHOES OF RED
Echoes of Red's lone nomination comes in one of the automatic categories, which makes me suspect somebody forgot to do their GRA homework. Cate Blanchett never even appeared on the Best Actress nominations poll, and in this year's field that feels like leaving points on the board. Instead, Echoes of Red has to put all its eggs in the Best Original Story basket, where The Chain, Pirouette and 1995 are waiting for it. Good luck with that.
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY
For one of the season's bigger success stories, Donkey Kong Country sure didn't leave much of a footprint on the GRA ballot. Its lone nomination is Best Adaptation, where it gets the pleasure of going up against Fletch, Gray and The Song of Roland. I liked what the movie did with the source material, but this feels like one of those cases where making the final four is probably the award. Somebody had to be the fourth nominee.
HEARTBEAT
Carey Mulligan gives Heartbeat its only nomination, which isn't especially shocking considering Best Actress was practically begging people to come inside and sit down this season. Mulligan is obviously talented enough to win an acting award in her sleep, but she's facing Sydney Sweeney, Suki Waterhouse and Monica Barbaro, all of whom come attached to films with much stronger overall GRA support. Could Mulligan steal it? Sure. Am I betting on Heartbeat to suddenly become the story of GRA night? No.
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY
The Midnight Library only managed one nomination, and even that came in the automatic Best Production Design category. Jessie Buckley not appearing on the Best Actress nominations poll at all is a pretty good clue that the proper GRA submissions never happened here. That's especially unfortunate in a year when Best Actress wasn't exactly overflowing with contenders. Buckley absolutely could have made some noise. Instead, The Midnight Library gets one swing in Production Design against Boba Fett, Fletch and Gray. Better than nothing, I guess.
TWO NOMINATIONS
1995
1995 only picked up two nominations, but at least it picked the right two. Best Original Story was always going to be where this movie lived or died at the GRAs, and I think it has a real chance there despite having to stare down The Chain and Pirouette. Best Soundtrack is a little tougher, especially in a category featuring a Fleetwood Mac biopic, which feels borderline unfair to everybody else. I don't see 1995 cleaning up, but stealing one trophy would hardly shock me.
BOBA FETT
Boba Fett made a mountain of money and somehow walked away with just two nominations. Welcome to awards season. Production Design is the obvious one and probably its best shot, since if a Star Wars movie can't compete there, somebody has really screwed up. Most Wanted Sequel also seems like fertile territory for a movie that audiences clearly showed up for. Two nominations may look modest, but Boba Fett could very easily turn both of them into wins and make the nomination count look a lot less important.
LUKE CAGE: THE PURPLE MAN
Luke Cage: The Purple Man got exactly the two nominations you'd expect: one for the villain whose name is in the title and another asking whether people want more of this. Matthias Schweighöfer has a very real shot at Best Villain, although Javier Bardem and company aren't exactly rolling over for him. Most Wanted Sequel is harder to predict because that category is basically a popularity contest — which, come to think of it, is pretty much what the name advertises. Luke Cage only has two chances to win something, but neither feels remotely decorative.
THREE NOMINATIONS
ASSASSIN'S CREED: ETERNAL
Assassin's Creed: Eternal lands in a category all by itself with three nominations, and none of them are exactly the kind that scream "major awards contender." Best Ensemble Cast is probably its toughest road with The Chain, Fletch and The Song of Roland all sitting there, while Jacob Elordi and Emma Mackey have a better chance in Best Starring Couple if voters bought into their chemistry. Most Wanted Sequel may actually be Eternal's best shot, which isn't a bad consolation prize for a franchise entry — basically the voters saying, "We may not give you a trophy for this one, but go ahead and make another." I wouldn't expect a big night here, but one win is definitely within reach.
SEVEN NOMINATIONS
FLETCH
Fletch racked up seven nominations, which is a very respectable haul for a movie that somehow missed both Best Director and Best Picture. That's a pretty strange combination — apparently voters loved the cast, the soundtrack, the adaptation and just about everything else, but stopped short of inviting the movie itself to the grown-ups' table. Glen Powell has a real shot in Best Actor, Christina Hendricks is firmly in the Supporting Actress race, and the film should be competitive in Best Adaptation and Best Soundtrack as well. Most Wanted Sequel also feels tailor-made for it. Seven nominations without the two biggest categories probably puts a ceiling on how dominant its night can be, but Fletch has enough chances that I'd be surprised if it went home empty-handed.
PIROUETTE
Pirouette also comes in with seven nominations, but unlike Fletch, it has the full prestige package: Picture, Director, acting nominations and Original Story. That's the good news. The bad news is that The Chain and Gray are sitting above everybody else with 10 nominations apiece, so Pirouette enters the ceremony looking a lot like the third wheel in a very serious relationship. Monica Barbaro, Johnny Depp and Emma Mackey all have legitimate chances in their respective categories, and Original Story may be another place where the film can sneak through. I don't think Pirouette is the favorite for Best Picture, but seven nominations means voters clearly liked it enough that a surprise win somewhere shouldn't be considered much of a surprise.
THE SONG OF ROLAND
The Song of Roland rounds out the seven-nomination club and may have the best chance of crashing the apparent Chain-Gray party. It's nominated for Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Villain, Ensemble Cast and Adaptation, which is basically every serious category except the ones requiring women to show up. Jonathan Bailey, Russell Crowe and Javier Bardem give it three separate acting-related chances, and Bardem in particular feels dangerous in Best Villain. Brady Corbet is also in the Director field, while Adaptation and Ensemble give the movie a couple more ways onto the board. Seven nominations is enough to make Roland a major contender. Whether it's enough to actually knock off the two films with 10 is another question.
TEN NOMINATIONS
THE CHAIN
And now we get to the big dogs. The Chain tied for the season lead with 10 nominations, and unlike some movies that pile up technical nods on their way to a big number, this thing is nominated basically everywhere that matters. Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, both Supporting categories, Original Story, Ensemble Cast, Soundtrack and Starring Couple — somebody clearly liked this movie. Joe Keery and Sydney Sweeney both have legitimate shots in the lead acting races, while Saoirse Ronan and Toby Kebbell give it two more chances to pick up hardware before we even get to the major categories. Best Soundtrack also feels like a category specifically designed for a Fleetwood Mac biopic, so if The Chain somehow loses that one, somebody should probably check the ballot box. The real question is whether all this support carries over to Best Picture, because with Gray matching it nomination-for-nomination, this has officially become a two-horse race whether Pirouette and The Song of Roland like it or not.
GRAY
Gray also finishes with 10 nominations, so congratulations to everyone who enjoys an awards race where two movies spend the entire night staring at each other across the room. Timothée Chalamet, Suki Waterhouse, Jared Leto and Uma Thurman all landed acting nominations, while Luca Guadagnino is up for Director and the film itself is obviously in the Best Picture field. Gray also has strong chances in Adaptation, Production Design and Soundtrack, so there are plenty of ways for it to start piling up wins before the big trophies are handed out. On paper, Gray and The Chain are dead even at 10 apiece. Now we get to find out whether that actually means a close race or whether one of them is about to spend GRA night beating the other over the head with a trophy.
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