In the past few days, we saw the award nominations come in from both the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes). As usual, they do a good job of honoring the best performances in film throughout the year. But, as usual, they also left out some glaring snubs. Here are the nominations, who should win, and what the nominations might have missed.
Best Motion Picture – Drama, Golden Globes
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Room,” “Spotlight,” “The Revenant,” “Carol”
Who Should Win: “Spotlight” is very good, but “The Revenant” is the most consistently captivating film of the year.
Who Was Snubbed: “Sicario,” director Denis Villeneuve’s thrilling cartel story, released in September. Aside from “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the spring-release that was pretty hard to forget, the rest of the nominees released in either late November or December.
“Steve Jobs” was met with controversy when it released in October, but that doesn’t take away from the impeccable performance from Michael Fassbender or the revolutionary Aaron Sorkin script. It deserves to be here. “Carol,” despite a beautiful story and two award-worthy performances, wasn’t memorable enough to take this spot from two deserving contenders.
Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, Golden Globes
“Joy,” “Spy,” “The Big Short,” “The Martian,” “Trainwreck”
Who Should Win: “The Big Short” told a tense financial true story with hilarious asides that made us laugh when we’re not crying over the sad state of the American economy.
Who Was Snubbed: “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” was perhaps the year’s most heartfelt and original comedy, one with layers of narrative and drama simply not found in “Spy.” It never dips into vulgarity or cheap laughs. It worked hard for it.
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, S.A.G.
“Beasts of No Nation,” “The Big Short,” “Spotlight,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Trumbo”
Who Should Win: “Straight Outta Compton” wasn’t the best movie of the year, but when it comes to cast chemistry I can’t see a better option.
Who Was Snubbed: “Black Mass” boasts a cast chemistry that many of 2015’s offerings couldn’t match. But more importantly, it has a consistently strong cast of performances not seen in “Beasts of No Nation” or “Trumbo.” Johnny Depp, of course, but also Bacon and Edgerton and Johnson and Plemons and Cumberbatch. The bench is just as strong as the starters.
“The Martian,” another film with a cast of several great performers. Smaller roles from Donald Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristen Wiig helped out Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain and Kate Mara. In “Trumbo,” Cranston stole the show. In these snubs, show-stoppers just kept coming out of the woodwork.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Golden Globes – Drama: Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”; Cate Blanchett, “Carol”; Rooney Mara, “Carol”; Brie Larson, “Room”; Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”
Golden Globes – Comedy or Musical: Lily Tomlin, “Grandma“; Jennifer Lawrence, “Joy”; Melissa McCarthy, “Spy”; Maggie Smith, “The Lady in the Van”; Amy Schumer, “Trainwreck”
S.A.G.: Blanchett; Larson; Ronan; Helen Mirren, “Woman in Gold”; Sarah Silverman, “I Smile Back”
Who Should Win: Blanchett, Lawrence, Blanchett. Blanchett’s captivating titular role in “Carol” was full of emotional complexity. Lawrence isn’t nearly as good, but she’s the best this comedy field has to offer.
Who Was Snubbed: Emily Blunt gave a career-topping performance as the kick-ass heroine in “Sicario.” I love seeing Sarah Silverman getting a nomination, and her performance in “I Smile Back” is the best thing about that film, but Blunt should have had a fighting chance.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Golden Globes – Drama: Will Smith, “Concussion”; Michael Fassbender, “Steve Jobs”; Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”; Bryan Cranston, “Trumbo”
Golden Globes – Comedy: Al Pacino, “Danny Collins”; Mark Ruffalo, “Infinitely Polar Bear”; Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, “The Big Short”; Matt Damon, “The Martian”
S.A.G.: Bryan Cranston, “Trumbo”; Johnny Depp, “Black Mass”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”; Michael Fassbender, “Steve Jobs”; Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl”
Who Should Win: While I would love to say Leonardo DiCaprio, the prize must go to Eddie Redmayne, for his flawless portrayal of the transgender icon Lili Elbe in “The Danish Girl.” For comedy, Matt Damon’s endlessly entertaining role as Mark Watney in “The Martian.”
Who Was Snubbed: In a strong year for this category, I can’t complain about the choices made. Bravo. If someone was left out, it was Ian McKellen, who gave us what I think is the most respectable portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in a long history of sleuthy films. He makes “Mr. Holmes” a period piece for the ages.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Golden Globes: Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs”; Jennifer Jason Leigh, “The Hateful Eight”; Helen Mirren, “Trumbo”; Jane Fonda, “Youth”; Alicia Vikander, “Ex Machina”
S.A.G.: Rooney Mara, “Carol”; Rachel McAdams, “Spotlight”; Helen Mirren, “Trumbo,” Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”; Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs”
Who Should Win: Kate Winslet is the level-head in the twisty twirly Sorkin-scripted “Steve Jobs.”
Who Got Snubbed: Honestly, nobody. Unlike the Supporting Actor category (which you’ll see next), I was happy with the names presented.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Golden Globes: Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”; Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation”; Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies“; Sylvester Stallone, “Creed“; Paul Dano, “Love & Mercy”
S.A.G.: Christian Bale, “The Big Short”; Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation”; Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”; Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”; Jacob Tremblay, “Room”
Who Should Win: Idris Elba, for a commanding performance in one of the year’s most daring films.
Who Was Snubbed: Literally everyone I thought might be nominated. Let’s start with Benicio del Toro, whose chilling turn in “Sicario” was, I thought, a lock for any Supporting Actor field. Then there’s Tom Hardy, who blew me away with his rough-around-the-edges method performance in “The Revenant.” Depending on how the voting groups consider the stars of “Spotlight” (as leading roles or supporting roles), nominations for Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Stanley Tucci, and/or Liev Schreiber all would have been acceptable. And what about Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac in “Ex Machina”?!
Best Director, Golden Globes
Todd Haynes, “Carol”; George Miller, “Mad Max: Fury Road”; Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”; Ridley Scott, “The Martian”; Alejandro Inarritu, “The Revenant”
Who Should Win: Inarritu, without a doubt, just like he should have won last year in this category (thankfully, he did at the Oscars).
Who Was Snubbed: I sound like a broken record, but I’m shocked that “Sicario” isn’t getting more recognition where it deserves to be recognized. Denis Villeneuve directed a stellar cast, suggested increasingly more beautiful camera angles, and told the story the way that built the most tension. That said, everyone nominated also deserves to be there.
Best Screenplay, Golden Globes
“Spotlight,” “Steve Jobs,” “The Big Short,” “The Hateful Eight,” “Room”
Who Should Win: Not having seen “The Hateful Eight” (and you can never underestimate a Tarantino script), I can only say that both “Spotlight” or “Steve Jobs” are both more than deserving of the honor.
Who Was Snubbed: “Ex Machina” had a smart, sexy, and thrilling original story to tell. “The End of the Tour” was full of poignant nuggets of wisdom and realistic back-and-forth dialogue. Also “Sicario.” But you already knew I’d say that.
Cinema or Cine-meh 
I am also stunned at the lack of recognition for Sicario.
The first time I saw it the first time and I thought, “Maybe it’s not great, maybe it’s just my kind of movie.” Then I saw it again and I knew it was stellar, in a very real way.