‘Shirley,’ ‘Da 5 Bloods’ lead Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards nominations

Hulu’s The Great, PopTV’s Schitt’s Creek, FX’s What We Do In the Shadows among television nominees

The Hollywood Critics Association has revealed its full list of nominees for the 3rd Annual Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards. 

Every June, the members of the HCA vote on the best in film, television, and streaming for the first half of the year. “We weren’t 100% certain that we were going to do the Midseason Awards due to the coronavirus, but after seeing that there were hundreds of series and films released in 2020, we knew that we had to push forward and celebrate the work of the actors, filmmakers, and storytellers who released films and series during this incredibly difficult time,” notes HCA co-founder Ashley Menzel. 

“After the entire world was forced to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, it became very apparent as an organization how much streaming platforms such as Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix have impacted and changed the industry. And with the recent launch of streaming services like Apple TV+, Disney Plus, HBO Max, and Quibi, streaming will only continue to change the traditional landscape of how we watch film and television,” adds HCA founder Scott Menzel. For this reason, the Hollywood Critics Association is pleased to announce that it has created two new award categories that will focus exclusively on streaming series. 

For the Midseason Awards voting, the members of the Hollywood Critics Association organized a list of all 2020 films that were released theatrically, on VOD, and on various streaming platforms. There were over 195 feature length films in consideration and more than 100 series, between traditional television networks and streaming platforms. 

Leading the nominations is Neon’s Shirley with a total of seven nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor. Several films tied for second place including Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, and Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. 

Among the nominations for new streaming series, Hulu leads the way with a total of four nominations, followed by Netflix and Amazon with two nominations each. 

The winners of the HCA Midseason Awards will be revealed on July 1, 2020.

Best Picture:

Bad Education 

Birds of Prey:  And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn 

Blow the Man Down 

Da 5 Bloods 

Emma 

Never Rarely Sometimes Always 

Onward 

Shirley 

The Invisible Man 

The Vast of Night 

Best Actress:

Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma 

Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man 

Elisabeth Moss, Shirley 

Margot Robbie, Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn  

Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always 

Best Supporting Actress:

Allison Janney, Bad Education 

Marisa Tomei, The King of Staten Island 

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn 

Odessa Young, Shirley 

Tracee Ellis Ross, The High Note 

Best Actor:

Ben Affleck, The Way Back 

Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods 

Hugh Jackman, Bad Education 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 7500 

Pete Davidson, The King of Staten Island 

Best Supporting Actor:

Bill Burr, The King of Staten Island 

Clarke Peters, Da 5 Bloods 

Ewan McGregor, Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn  

Jonathan Majors, Da 5 Bloods 

Michael Stuhlbarg, Shirley 

Best Female Director:

Autumn de Wilde, Emma 

Cathy Yan, Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn 

Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Josephine Decker, Shirley 

Kelly Reichardt, First Cow 

Best Male Director:

Andrew Patterson, The Vast of Night 

Cory Finley, Bad Education 

Judd Apatow, The King of Staten Island

Leigh Whannell, The Invisible Man 

Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Bad Education

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn 

Emma

The Invisible Man

Shirley 

Best Original Screenplay:

Da 5 Bloods

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

The King of Staten Island

The Half of It 

The Vast of Night

Best Indie Film:

Blow the Man Down 

First Cow

Shirley 

The Assistant 

The Vast of Night 

Best Documentary:

Beastie Boys Story

Crip Camp

Dads

Miss Americana

Spaceship Earth

Best New Streaming Series (Drama):

Defending Jacob (Apple TV+) 

Hollywood (Netflix)

Hunters (Amazon) 

Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu) 

Mrs. America (Hulu) 

Best New Streaming Series (Comedy):

High Fidelity (Hulu) 

Love Life (HBO Max) 

Never Have I Ever (Netflix) 

The Great (Hulu) 

Upload (Amazon)

Best Broadcast Network Series (New or Reoccurring):

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)

Evil (CBS)

The Good Place (NBC) 

This is Us (NBC)

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC) 

Best Cable Network Series (New or Reoccurring): 

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

The Outsider (HBO)

Schitt’s Creek (POP) 

Westworld (HBO) 

What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

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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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