The 26th Annual Satellite Award Nominations – Belfast, Dune and The Power of the Dog show Strength

The 26th annual Satellite Award nominations are here. The internationally based awards body has a decent to obtuse track record of matching up with the Oscars. Chloe Zhao walked away with director and picture last year, but in 2019, Ford V. Ferrari won best Drama. It’s a mixed bag.

The award ceremony will announce winners on January 5th, 2022

Here are the list of 2021 nominees with notes attached

MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• Belfast (Focus Features)
• CODA (Apple Original Films)
• Dune (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• East of Mountains (Quiver Distribution)
• King Richard (Warner Bros / HBO Max)   
• Spencer (Neon)
• The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
• The Power of the Dog (Netflix)

Notes: outside of East of Mountains, almost every nominee here comes as no surprise. Spencer with a show of strength but ultimately the split best picture category allows it to get a spot. It likely gets kicked out by either Licorice Pizza or West Side Story…that missed here. No Tragedy of Macbeth the only surprising miss.

MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Cyrano (MGM / UA)
• In The Heights (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Licorice Pizza (MGM)
• Respect (MGM / UA)
• The French Dispatch (Searchlight Pictures)
• tick, tick… Boom! (Netflix)

Notes: West Side Story was released a week before this announcement, so hard to take anything from it missing here. Same can be said for Nightmare Alley

DIRECTOR

• Denis Villeneuve – Dune (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog Netflix)
• Kenneth Branagh – Belfast (Focus Features)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda – tick, tick… Boom!(Netflix)
• Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza (MGM / UA)
• Reinaldo Marcus Green– King Richard (Warner Bros / HBO Max)

Notes: The Oscar five is included in this group of nominees. Lin-Manuel Miranda likely the one to miss, but I doubt the favorites change anytime soon.

ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA

• Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Searchlight Pictures)
• Kristen Stewart – Spencer (Neon)
• Lady Gaga – House of Gucci (MGM / UA)
• Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos (Amazon Studios)
• Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
• Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers (Sony Picture Classics)

Notes: Penelope Cruz! The same way Antonio Banderas got in for a Pedro Almodovar lead performance, we could maybe get the same here for Parallel Mothers.

ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA

• Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
• Clifton Collins Jr. – Jockey (Sony Picture Classics)
• Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth (A24/Apple Original Films)
• Joaquin Phoenix – C’mon C’mon (A24)
• Tom Skerritt – East of Mountains (Quiver Distribution)
• Will Smith – King Richard (Warner Bros / HBO Max)  

Notes: Will Smith is running away with this category at every awards show. Any questions? No? GOOD.

ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza (MGM / UA)
• Jennifer Hudson – Respect (MGM / UA)
• Melissa Barrera – In the Heights (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Renate Reinsve – The Worst Person in the World (Neon)

Notes: One of my favorite categories of the show: Renate Reinsve and Alana Haim both getting recognition.

ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Andrew Garfield – tick, tick… Boom! (Netflix)
• Anthony Ramos – In the Heights (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Peter Dinklage – Cyrano (MGM / UA)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Caitriona Balfe – Belfast (Focus Features)
• Judi Dench – Belfast (Focus Features)     
• Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
• Marlee Matlin – CODA (Apple Original Films)
• Ruth Negga – Passing (Netflix)

Notes: Belfast has four acting nominations at the Satellite Awards. SAG ensemble anybody?

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Ciarán Hinds – Belfast (Focus Features)
• J.K. Simmons – Being the Ricardos (Amazon Studios)
• Jamie Dornan – Belfast (Focus Features)
• Jared Leto – House of Gucci (United Artists Releasing)
• Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
• Robin de Jesús – tick, tick… Boom! (Netflix)

Notes: The dumbest category of awards season with nothing close to resembling a favorite.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Asghar Farhadi – A Hero (Amazon Studios)
• Kenneth Branagh – Belfast (Focus Features)
• Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon (A24)
• Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza (MGM / UA)
• Pedro Almodóvar – Parallel Mothers (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Zach Baylin – King Richard (Warner Bros / HBO Max)  

Notes: Asghar Farhadi and Pedro Almodóvar getting a nod is the best news possible. Fingers crossed one or both get nominated at the Oscars. Two of the best screenwriters in the world.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts – Dune (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
• Joel Coen – The Tragedy of Macbeth (A24 / Apple Original Films)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter (Netflix)
• Rebecca Hall, Nella Larsen – Passing (Netflix)
• Siân Heder – CODA (Apple Original Films)

Notes: Jane Campion is a previous Oscar winner in this same category, however, the script for The Power of the Dog stands alone as a high-profile film, based on a famous writers novel (Thomas Savage), and with the most complex character writing of any script in the race. The Oscar five should be a combination of these six films.

ORIGINAL SCORE

• Alberto Iglesias – Parallel Mothers (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Alexandre Desplat – The French Dispatch (Searchlight Pictures)
• Hans Zimmer – Dune (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Harry Gregson-Williams – The Last Duel (20th Century Studios)
• Jeymes Samuel – The Harder They Fall (Netflix)
• Jonny Greenwood – Spencer (Neon)
• Jonny Greenwood – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)

Notes: The best category of the entire season, stacked with big names. However, Harry Gregson-Williams and Jaymes Samuel might not last long. To me, it’s a battle between the two Greenwood score, Hans Zimmer for Dune, and Nicholas Britell

ORIGINAL SONG      

• “Be Alive” – Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Dixson – King Richard (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• “Beyond the Shore” – Nicholai Baxter, Matt Dahan, Siân Heder, Marius de Vries – CODA (Apple Original Films)
• “Colombia, Mi Encanto” – Lin-Manuel Miranda – Encanto (Walt Disney)
• “Down to Joy”- Van Morrison – Belfast (Focus Features)                            
• “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” – Jamie Alexander Hartman, Jennifer Hudson, Carole King – Respect (MGM)
• “No Time to Die” – Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell – No Time to Die (MGM / UA)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Alice Brooks – tick, tick… Boom! (Netflix)
• Ari Wegner – The Power of the Dog Netflix)
• Bruno Delbonnel – The Tragedy of Macbeth (A24 / Apple Original Films)
• Greig Fraser – Dune (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Haris Zambarloukos – Belfast (Focus Features)
• Robbie Ryan – C’mon C’mon (A24)

Notes: Three black-and-white films nominated. I love the work of all three, but using B&W cinematography is the easiest way to land a nomination.

FILM EDITING

• Andy Jurgensen – Licorice Pizza (MGM / UA)
• Joe Walker – Dune (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Myron Kerstein, Andrew Weisblum – tick, tick… Boom! (Netflix)
• Pamela Martin – King Richard (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Peter Sciberras – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
• Úna Ní Dhonghaíle – Belfast (Focus Features)

SOUND (EDITING AND MIXING)

• Belfast – Simon Chase, James Mather, Denise Yarde, Niv Adiri (Focus Features)
• Dune – Mac Ruth, Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, Ron Bartlett (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• The Harder They Fall – Doug Hemphill, Ron Bartlett, Clint Bennett, Anthony Ortiz, Richard King (Netflix)
• The Last Duel – Oliver Tarney, Paul Massey, David Giammarco, William Miller, Daniel Birch, Stéphane Bucher (20th Century Studios)
• The Power of the Dog – Robert Mackenzie, Richard Flynn, Leah Katz, Tara Webb, Dave   Whitehead (Netflix)
• tick, tick… Boom! – Paul Hsu, Todd A. Maitland (Netflix

Notes: The Dune sound design is immaculate. Every other film get the hell out of the way

VISUAL EFFECTS

• Dune – Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, Gerd Nefzer (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Eternals (Walt Disney Studios / Marvel)  
• Godzilla vs. Kong – Adam Wingard, Kevin Smith, Dave Clayton, Kevin Sherwood (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Walker, Dan Oliver (Walt Disney Studios / Marvel)
• The Suicide Squad – Kelvin McIlwain, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• The Tomorrow War – James E. Price (Amazon Studios)

ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Belfast – Jim Clay, Claire Nia Richards (Focus Features)
• Dune – Patrice Vermette, Richard Roberts, Zsuzsanna Sipos (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Spencer – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Yesim Zolan (Neon)
• The French Dispatch – Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo (Searchlight Pictures)
• The Power of the Dog – Grant Major, Amber Richards (Netflix)
• The Tragedy of Macbeth – Stefan Dechant (A24 / Apple Original Fims)

Notes: The French Dispatch should mop up in this category, but of course, the Wes Anderson shtick will go underappreciated

COSTUME DESIGN

• Charlotte Walter – Belfast (Focus Features)
• Jacqueline Durran – Spencer (Neon)
• Jacqueline West – Dune (Warner Bros / HBO Max)
• Kirsty Cameron – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
• Massimo Cantini Parrini – Cyrano (MGM / UA)
• Ruth E. Carter – Coming 2 America (Amazon Studios)

Notes: A powerhouse of a costume design year with some major names in the discussion. Nice to see Ruth E. Carter again – she’s becoming an awards season fixture

MOTION PICTURE: INTERNATIONAL

• A Hero (Iran)
• Compartment No. 6 (Finland)
• Drive My Car (Japan)
• Flee (Denmark)
• Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico)
• The Good Boss (Spain)
• The Hand of God (Italy)
• The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
• Titane (France)

Notes: In the past week, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car has won the Gotham award for Best International Feature and gets another nomination at the Satellite Awards. Momentum steadily building for the Japanese auteur.

MOTION PICTURE: ANIMATED

• Encanto (Walt Disney)
• Flee (Neon)
• Luca (Pixar)
• The Mitchells vs the Machines (Netflix)
• Vivo (Netflix)

MOTION PICTURE, DOCUMENTARY

• Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
• Introducing Selma Blair (Strand Releasing)
• Brian Willson: Long Promised Road (Screen Media Films)
• Flee (Neon)
• Julia (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Procession (Netflix)
• Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Searchlight Pictures)
• The Rescue (National Geographic)
• The Velvet Underground (Apple Original Films)
• Val (Amazon Studios)

Nomination Leaders:

1. Belfast: 13

2. The Power of the Dog: 12

3. Dune: 10

4. King Richard: 7

5. Licorice Pizza: 5

6. The Lost Daughter: 3

7. The Worst Person in the World: