AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 318 – The First Week of Awards Season with Critics Choice, Spirit Awards Nominations; NYFF, NBR, Gotham Winners
It’s been a big first week of December with no less than five sets of critics groups announcing winners and nominations as we kick off the next three months of nonstop awards season. On episode 318 I am joined by AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello to break down the awards landscape and more.
Before we get into that we have to talk about the other huge piece of news this week and that was yesterday’s announcement that Netflix had won the battle to buy Warner Bros and all of its properties, which includes the DC Universe films and HBO/HBO Max. Unsurprisingly, there is no one on the podcast thinks this move is a good idea and sees the Netflix model as intentionally destructive of the theatrical model.
Next we move the Critics Choice Awards nominations, announced this morning, where Sinners and One Battle After Another lead the way, where Sentimental Value and Hamnet made comebacks and where Wicked: For Good faltered. Then it’s onto the AFI and NBR lists, the New York Film Critics and the Gotham Awards, where Sophia gives her in the room insight of the event.
This podcast runs 1h 18m You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2026 Cannes Film Festival Winners: Cristian Mingiu’s ‘Fjord’ Takes the Palme, Seventh Win in a Row for NEON - May 23, 2026
- Cannes 2026: Sandra Wollner’s ‘Everytime’ Wins Un Certain Regard Grand Prize - May 22, 2026
- ‘Coward’ Review: Belgian Soldiers Find Love in Lukas Dhont’s Hidden Romance Masterpiece [A] Cannes - May 21, 2026
AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 345: Recapping the 79th Cannes Film Festival and Looking to the Awards Future 
‘The Beloved’ Review: Javier Bardem Makes a Meal Out of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Movie-Making Buffet [B] 
‘The Dreamed Adventure’ Review: Valeska Grisebach’s Observant Thriller Examines the Grey Zones of Morality [B+] 
‘Minotaur’ Review: Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Timeless, Domestic Epic is an Unflinching Look at Putin’s Russia [A] Cannes