‘Dune,’ ‘Belfast,’ ‘CODA,’ ‘Spencer’ top 5th Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) awards nominations

Dune topped the nominations for the 5th Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) announced today, with 10 nods including Best Picture and Best Director for Denis Villeneuve and despite no acting or writing mentions. Belfast and CODA and Spencer followed closely with 8 apiece with King Richard and tick, tick…BOOM! rounding out the top noms with seven each.

The group’s honorary award recipients will be Natalie Morales (Filmmaker on the Rise Award), Simu Liu (Game Changer Award), Jude Hill (Newcomer Award), the cast of CODA (Spotlight Award) and Greig Fraser(Artisans Achievement Award).

King Richard star Aunjanue Ellis will receive this year’s Inspire Award. The award, which was previously given to Deon Taylor and Lin-Manuel Miranda, is presented to an individual within the entertainment industry whose work inspires others. Kenneth Branagh, the writer and director of Belfast, will receive this year’s Excellence in Artistry Award. The award highlights and celebrates Branagh’s expansive career as an actor and filmmaker. Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos) is being feted with the group’s inaugural International Icon Award, which recognizes extraordinary artists whose outstanding work have transcended all barriers, impacting a worldwide audience with the universal language of excellence. 

Presenters at the 5th Annual HCA Film Awards will include Robin de Jesús, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Demi Singleton, Sophia Ali, Cooper Raiff, Jay Pharoah, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Brian d’Arcy James, Ron Perlman, Tia Carrere, Sandra Mae Frank, Alexandra Shipp, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Marlee Matlin, Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Doug Jones, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Kaitlyn Dever, and Ciarán Hinds.

The ceremony will be held on February 28 at the Avalon Hollywood and live streamed on the official HCA YouTube Channel beginning at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET and hosted by Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford. The organization will also stream a red-carpet pre-show hosted by HCA members Kiyra Lynn and Rick Hong at 5:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. ET.

All attendees, presenters, nominees and winners were required to have COVID vaccinations and a negative test within 48 hours of the ceremony.

Here is the full list of nominations for the 5th Hollywood Critics Association.

Best Picture

• Being the Ricardos
• Belfast
• CODA
• Dune
• King Richard
• Last Night in Soho
• Licorice Pizza
• The Power of the Dog
• Spencer
• tick, tick…BOOM!

Best Director

• Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
• Sian Heder – CODA
• Denis Villeneuve – Dune
• Reinaldo Marcus Green – King Richard
• Guillermo del Toro – Nightmare Alley
• Rebecca Hall – Passing
• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
• Pablo Larraín – Spencer
• Lin-Manuel Miranda – tick, tick…BOOM!
• Steven Spielberg – West Side Story

Best Actor

• Nicolas Cage – Pig
• Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
• Peter Dinklage – Cyrano
• Andrew Garfield – tick, tick…BOOM!
• Will Smith – King Richard

Best Actress

• Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
• Emilia Jones – CODA
• Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
• Lady Gaga – House of Gucci
• Kristen Stewart – Spencer

Best Supporting Actor

• Jamie Dornan – Belfast
• Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
• Jason Isaacs – Mass
• Robin de Jesus – tick, tick…BOOM!
• Troy Kostur – CODA

Best Supporting Actress

• Caitriona Balfe – Belfast
• Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
• Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
• Marlee Matlin – CODA
• Ruth Negga – Passing

Best Cast Ensemble

• Belfast
• CODA
• Don’t Look Up
• The Harder They Fall
• King Richard

Best Animated or VFX Performance

• Stephane Beatriz – Encanto
• Abbi Jacobson – The Mitchells vs. the Machines
• John Leguizamo – Encanto
• Sylvester Stallone – The Suicide Squad
• Jacob Tremblay – Luca

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Siân Heder – CODA
• Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
• Rebecca Hall – Passing
• Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
• Steven Levenson – tick, tick…BOOM!

Best Original Screenplay

• Aaron Sorkin – Being the Ricardos
• Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
• Zach Baylin – King Richard
• Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns – Last Night in Soho
• Fran Kranz – Mass

Best First Feature

• Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
• Rebecca Hall – Passing
• Fran Kranz – Mass
• Lin-Manuel Miranda – tick, tick…BOOM!
• Michael Sarnoski – Pig

Best Film Editing

• Belfast
• Dune
• King Richard
• Last Night in Soho
• tick, tick… BOOM!

Best Cinematography

• Dune
• The Green Knight
• The Power of the Dog
• Spencer
• West Side Story

Best Costume Design

• Cruella
• Dune
• House of Gucci
• Last Night in Soho
• Spencer

Best Production Design

• Dune
• The French Dispatch
• Last Night in Soho
• Nightmare Alley
• Spencer

Best Hair and Makeup

• Being the Ricardos
• Cruella
• Dune
• The Eyes of Tammy Faye
• House of Gucci

Best Score

• Dune
• The French Dispatch
• Last Night in Soho
• The Power of the Dog
• Spencer

Best Original Song

• “Be Alive” from King Richard
• “Beyond the Shore” from CODA
• “Down to Joy” from Belfast
• “Every Letter” from Cyrano
• “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die

Best Visual Effects

• Dune
• Eternals
• Free Guy
• Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• The Suicide Squad

Best Stunts

• Black Widow
• Dune
• No Time to Die
• Nobody
• Shang Chi v

Best Animated Film

• Encanto
• Flee
• Luca
• The Mitchells vs. the Machines
• Raya and the Last Dragon

Best Documentary Film

• Flee
• The Rescue
• The Sparks Brothers
• Summer of Soul
• Val

Best International Film

• Drive My Car (Japan)
• Flee (Denmark)
• A Hero (Iran)
• Titane (France)
• The Worst Person in the World (Norway)

Best Indie Film

• CODA
• Mass
• Pig
• Shiva Baby
• Spencer

Best Comedy or Musical

• Cryano
• Free Guy
• In the Heights
• tick, tick… BOOM!
• West Side Story

Best Action Film

• The Harder They Fall
• No Time to Die
• Nobody
• Shang Chi
• and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• The Suicide Squad

Best Horror Film

• Fear Street
• Last Night in Soho
• Malignant
• The Night House
• A Quiet Place Part II

Best Short Film

• Blush
• Far From the Tree
• Nona
• Robin Robin
• Us Again

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) 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.

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