Houston Film Critics Society nominations: ‘The Power of the Dog’ leads

The Houston Film Critics Society announced their 2021 nominations on Monday morning and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog received the most nods from the group’s 15th annual awards. The movie is up for nine honors including best picture, director, actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), supporting actress (Kirsten Dunst) and supporting actor Kodi Smit-McPhee (supporting actor).

Other films with multiple nominations include Belfast, Dune and CODA with five each, Licorice Pizza with four and Nightmare Alley, Flee, Parallel Mothers, King Richard, Don’t Look Up and The Tragedy of Macbeth with three each.

The HFCS introduced a new category this year honoring the best ensemble and those nominations include Belfast, CODA, Mass; Nightmare Alley and The Power of the Dog.

The previously announced nominees for the Texas Independent Film Award, given to an independent film shot in Texas, are: “12 Mighty Orphans”; “Amaraica,”; “Playing God”; “Red Rocket” and “Test Pattern.”

The 40 members of the Houston Film Critics Society work in Houston, San Antonio and Southeast Texas in online, print, radio and TV. For more information, go to houstonfilmcritics.com.

Winners will be announced January 19.

Picture: “Belfast”; “CODA”; “Don’t Look Up”; “Dune”; “King Richard”; “Licorice Pizza”; “Parallel Mothers”; “The Power of the Dog”; “tick, tick … Boom”; “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”; Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”; Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”; Guillermo del Toro, “Nightmare Alley”; Denis Villeneuve, “Dune”

Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”; Peter Dinklage, “Cyrano”; Andrew Garfield, “tick,tick…Boom”; Will Smith, “King Richard”; Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

Actress: Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”; Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”; Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”; Alana Haim, “Licorice Pizza”; Emilia Jones, “CODA”; Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”

Supporting actor: Andrew Garfield, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”; Ciarán Hinds, “Belfast”; Troy Kotsur, “CODA”; J.K. Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”; Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”

Supporting actress: Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”; Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”; Ann Dowd, “Mass”; Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of Dog”; Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”

Ensemble cast: “Belfast”; “CODA”; “Mass”; “Nightmare Alley”; “The Power of the Dog”

Screenplay: “Belfast”; “CODA”; “Don’t Look Up”; “Licorice Pizza”; “The Power of the Dog”

Animated feature: “Encanto”; “Flee”; “Luca”; “Raya and the Last Dragon”; “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”

Cinematography: “Dune”; “Nightmare Alley”; “The Power of the Dog”; “The Tragedy of Macbeth”; “West Side Story”

Documentary feature: “Flee”; “The Rescue”; “The Sparks Brothers”; “Summer of Soul”; “Val”

Foreign language feature: “Drive My Car”; “Flee”; “Parallel Mothers”; “Riders of Justice”; “The Worst Person in the World”

Original score: “Dune”; “The French Dispatch”; “The Harder They Fall”; “The Power of the Dog”; “Spencer”

Original song: “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto; “Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall; “Just Look Up” from “Don’t Look Up”; “No Time to Die” from “No Time to Die”; “Wherever I Fall – Pt. 1” from “Cyrano”

Visual effects: “Dune”; “The Matrix Resurrections”; “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”

Stunt coordination: “Black Widow”; “The Matrix Resurrections”; “No Time to Die”; “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”; “Spider-Man: No Way Home”

Photo: Kirsty Griffin/Netflix