After last week’s nominations were revealed for the 22nd Annual SAG Awards and 73rd Golden Globes, it feels like it could be anyone’s game at this point. This morning the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) announced their 21st Critics’ Choice Awards nominees with George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road leading the charge with 13 nods. Hosted by T.J. Miller, the winners will be revealed during a live broadcast from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on A&E, Lifetime, and LMN on Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.

Mad Max: Fury Road has undoubtedly become the underdog favorite of this awards season, as it has become one of the most revered features of the year by critics, myself included – my review. The big topic of conversation, aside from gaining Best Picture recognition, is Charlize Theron’s nods for both Best Actress and Best Actress In An Action Movie. Tom Hardy, of course, is nominated for Best Actor In An Action Movie, but it’s George Miller for Best Director that has really invested my interest into whether he could be a contender come Oscars. The film has also garnered nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Action Movie, and Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie.

Trailing behind the whirlwind, critically acclaimed hit is Carol, The Martian, and The Revenant with nine nominations each. While this year’s big favorite, Spotlight, has earned itself eight nominations from critics, followed by The Big Short and The Hateful Eight with six each. Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Danish Girl, Jurassic World, and Sicario each earned five nominations and Room obtained four. Charlize Theron isn’t the only actress up for multiple Best Actress categories, as Jennifer Lawrence is up for three for her work in Joy and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, while Rachel McAdams is up for two awards for Spotlight and True Detective.

And while the film categories are all up in the air, the television categories prove that the increasing output of excellent programming continued this year with FX, ABC, and HBO both gaining 14 nominations each; FOX is close on their heels with 12 nods. The big standout series this year, as determined by critics, is FX’s Fargo with eight nominations. The Leftovers (HBO) and Transparent (Amazon) are not far behind with five nominations each; Black-ish (ABC), Mr. Robot (USA), and Penny Dreadful (Showtime) each earned four.

So what can we takeaway from this year’s 21st Critics’ Choice Awards nominees? For starters, no other awards group has seen more movies this year than the critics, assumably. It’s their jobs to assess the year in film. Who better has a sound voice of reasoning than those who sit in dark rooms and watch movies multiple times per week? In the long run, sure, all awards are practically meaningless gold statues, and the varying award categories the BFCA and BTJA have set have little influence when it comes to the Oscars, but if these voices of reason can help sway voters to at least make an earnest decision at the polls we can be safe in knowing we won’t have another year where a Shakespeare in Love wins against a Saving Private Ryan.

21st CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS NOMINEES – THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

BEST PICTURE

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Room
• Sicario
• Spotlight
• Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

BEST ACTOR

• Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
• Matt Damon – The Martian
• Johnny Depp – Black Mass
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett – Carol
• Brie Larson – Room
• Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
• Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
• Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
• Tom Hardy – The Revenant
• Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
• Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
• Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
• Sylvester Stallone – Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
• Rooney Mara – Carol
• Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
• Helen Mirren – Trumbo
• Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
• Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

• Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation
• RJ Cyler – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
• Shameik Moore – Dope
• Milo Parker – Mr. Holmes
• Jacob Tremblay – Room

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

• The Big Short
• The Hateful Eight
• Spotlight
• Straight Outta Compton
• Trumbo

BEST DIRECTOR

• Todd Haynes – Carol
• Alejandro González Iñárritu – The Revenant
• Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
• Ridley Scott – The Martian
• Steven Spielberg – Bridge of Spies

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen – Bridge of Spies
• Alex Garland – Ex Machina
• Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight
• Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley – Inside Out
• Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Charles Randolph and Adam McKay – The Big Short
• Nick Hornby – Brooklyn
• Drew Goddard – The Martian
• Emma Donoghue – Room
• Aaron Sorkin – Steve Jobs

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Carol – Ed Lachman
• The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson
• Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale
• The Martian – Dariusz Wolski
• The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
• Sicario – Roger Deakins

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Bridge of Spies – Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo
• Brooklyn – François Séguin, Jennifer Oman and Louise Tremblay
• Carol – Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
• The Danish Girl – Eve Stewart, Michael Standish
• Mad Max: Fury Road – Colin Gibson
• The Martian – Arthur Max, Celia Bobak

BEST EDITING

• The Big Short – Hank Corwin
• Mad Max: Fury Road – Margaret Sixel
• The Martian – Pietro Scalia
• The Revenant – Stephen Mirrione
• Spotlight – Tom McArdle

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Brooklyn – Odile Dicks-Mireaux
• Carol – Sandy Powell
• Cinderella – Sandy Powell
• The Danish Girl – Paco Delgado
• Mad Max: Fury Road – Jenny Beavan

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP

• Black Mass
• Carol
• The Danish Girl
• The Hateful Eight
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Ex Machina
• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• The Walk

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Anomalisa
• The Good Dinosaur
• Inside Out
• The Peanuts Movie
• Shaun the Sheep Movie

BEST ACTION MOVIE

• Furious 7
• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
• Sicario

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE

• Daniel Craig – Spectre
• Tom Cruise – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
• Tom Hardy – Mad Max: Fury Road
• Chris Pratt – Jurassic World
• Paul Rudd – Ant-Man

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE

• Emily Blunt – Sicario
• Rebecca Ferguson – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
• Bryce Dallas Howard – Jurassic World
• Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
• Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST COMEDY

• The Big Short
• Inside Out
• Joy
• Sisters
• Spy
• Trainwreck

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

• Christian Bale – The Big Short
• Steve Carell – The Big Short
• Robert De Niro – The Intern
• Bill Hader – Trainwreck
• Jason Statham – Spy

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

• Tina Fey – Sisters
• Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
• Melissa McCarthy – Spy
• Amy Schumer – Trainwreck
• Lily Tomlin – Grandma

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE

• Ex Machina
• It Follows
• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• The Assassin
• Goodnight Mommy
• Mustang
• The Second Mother
• Son of Saul

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Amy
• Cartel Land
• Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
• He Named Me Malala
• The Look of Silence
• Where to Invade Next

BEST SONG

• Fifty Shades of Grey – Love Me Like You Do
• Furious 7 – See You Again
• The Hunting Ground – Til It Happens To You
• Love & Mercy – One Kind of Love
• Spectre – Writing’s on the Wall
• Youth – Simple Song #3

BEST SCORE

• Carol – Carter Burwell
• The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone
• The Revenant – Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto
• Sicario – Johann Johannsson
• Spotlight – Howard Shore

Continue Reading to see the the Television Category Nominees–>>