GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics 10th Annual Dorian Awards nominations with quick thoughts

Late last night GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, (I am a very proud advisory board member) announced our 10th Annual Dorian Awards nominations.

I'm so happy that we came through for "Can You Ever Forgive Me" with noms for Film of the Year, Actress, Supporting Actor, LGBTQ Film, Screenplay and Marielle Heller for Director of the Year. Very happy to see her nominated as well as Spike Lee for "BlacKkKlansman."

I'm also thrilled to see "Schitt's Creek" and "Pose" with so many nominations. "Pose" stars Billy Porter (TV Performance of the Year - Actor) and Indya Moore and MJ Rodriguez (The “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award) as well as TV Drama of the Year, LGBTQ TV Show, and TV Musical Performance of the Year ("Home.")

"Schitt's Creek" landed 3, with the wonderful Noah Reid's "Simply the Best" being nominated for TV Musical Performance of the Year, TV Show of the Year and Unsung TV Show.  I had wished we could have nominated some of the performers, particularly Catharine O'Hara, but we only made room for one comedic performance, the unstoppable Rachel Brosnahan, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

I'm very glad to see Timothee Chalamet get in for "Beautiful Boy." Timothee is not a sure thing for the Oscar, unfortunately. You will see that GALECA nominated Michael B Jordan. I'm feeling that the Oscars will as well. But who gets left off? We left off Adam Driver, which seems right to me. Time will tell.

Some other disappointments:

Toni Collette over the likes of Rosamund Pike and Glenn Close

Christian Bale...going to have to get over that one, I guess.

And my favorite film of the year, "Suspiria" having to settle for "Campy Film of the Year."

The biggest disappointment for me is "1985" not being nominated for LGBTQ Film of the Year. In my opinion it is not only the best LGBTQ film of the year, it is one of the best, period. I'm glad that I was able to honor it in my Top 10. Also a bit sad that "Alex Strangelove" didn't make it in. That goes to show that this is a great year for LGBTQ films.

I had also hoped we would come through for the incredible "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" for Film of the Year. That was wishful thinking. I'm honestly surprised we nominated "A Star is Born," which goes to show me that a vocal few doesn't count when it comes to adding up the numbers

FULL LIST OF 10TH DORIAN AWARDS NOMINATIONS (press release below)

Film of the Year
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
THE FAVOURITE
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
ROMA
A STAR IS BORN

Director of the Year (Film or Television)
ALFONSO CUARON, ROMA
MARIELLE HELLER, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
BARRY JENKINS, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
YORGOS LANTHIMOS, THE FAVOURITE
SPIKE LEE, BLACKKKLANSMAN

Film Performance of the Year — Actress
YALITZA APARICIO, ROMA
TONI COLLETTE, HEREDITARY
OLIVIA COLMAN, THE FAVOURITE
LADY GAGA, A STAR IS BORN
MELISSA MCCARTHY, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

Film Performance of the Year — Actor
CHRISTIAN BALE, VICE
BRADLEY COOPER, A STAR IS BORN
ETHAN HAWKE, FIRST REFORMED
RAMI MALEK, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON, BLACKKKLANSMAN

Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actress
ELIZABETH DEBICKI, WIDOWS
REGINA KING, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
EMMA STONE, THE FAVOURITE
RACHEL WEISZ, THE FAVOURITE
MICHELLE YEOH, CRAZY RICH ASIANS

Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actor
MAHERSHALA ALI, GREEN BOOK
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, BEAUTIFUL BOY
SAM ELLIOTT, A STAR IS BORN
RICHARD E. GRANT, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
MICHAEL B. JORDAN, BLACK PANTHER

LGBTQ Film of the Year
BOY ERASED
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
DISOBEDIENCE
THE FAVOURITE
LOVE SIMON

Foreign Language Film of the Year
BURNING
CAPERNAUM
COLD WAR
ROMA
SHOPLIFTERS

Screenplay of the Year
BO BURNHAM, EIGHTH GRADE
ALFONSO CUARON, ROMA
DEBORAH DAVIS AND TONY MCNAMARA, THE FAVOURITE
NICOLE HOLOFCENER AND JEFF WHITTY, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
BARRY JENKINS, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Documentary of the Year
FREE SOLO
RBG
SHIRKERS
THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

LGBTQ Documentary of the Year
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRE
MCQUEEN
SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD
STUDIO 54
WHITNEY

Visually Striking Film of the Year
ANNIHILATION
BLACK PANTHER
THE FAVOURITE
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
ROMA

Unsung Film of the Year
COLETTE
DISOBEDIENCE
THE HAPPY PRINCE
TULLY
WE THE ANIMALS
WIDOWS

Campy Flick of the Year
AQUAMAN
BOOK CLUB
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN
A SIMPLE FAVOR
SUSPIRIA

TV Drama of the Year
AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
HOMECOMING
KILLING EVE
POSE

TV Comedy of the Year
BARRY
GLOW
THE GOOD PLACE
THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
SCHITT’S CREEK

TV Performance of the Year — Actor
DARREN CRISS, THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY
HUGH GRANT, A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
BILLY PORTER, POSE
MATTHEW RHYS, THE AMERICANS
BEN WHISHAW, A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL

TV Performance of the Year — Actress
AMY ADAMS, SHARP OBJECTS
RACHEL BROSNAHAN, THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
JODIE COMER, KILLING EVE
SANDRA OH, KILLING EVE
JULIA ROBERTS, HOMECOMING

LGBTQ TV Show of the Year 
A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE
KILLING EVE
POSE
QUEER EYE

Unsung TV Show of the Year
THE BISEXUAL
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
THE GOOD FIGHT
ONE DAY AT A TIME
SCHITT’S CREEK

TV Current Affairs Show of the Year
THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH
FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER
THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW

TV Musical Performance of the Year
ADAM LAMBERT, “BELIEVE”, 41ST KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
BILLY PORTER, MJ RODRIGUEZ AND OUR LADY J, “HOME”, POSE
NOAH REID, “SIMPLY THE BEST”, SCHITT’S CREEK
KEALA SETTLE, “THIS IS ME”, 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS
SUFJAN STEVENS, “MYSTERY OF LOVE”, 90TH ACADEMY AWARDS

Campy TV Show of the Year
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: APOCALYPSE
CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA
QUEER EYE
RIVERDALE
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE

The “We’re Wilde About You!” Rising Star Award
AWKWAFINA
ELSIE FISHER
HENRY GOLDING
INDYA MOORE
MJ RODRIGUEZ

Wilde Wit of the Year(Honoring a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse)
SAMANTHA BEE
HANNAH GADSBY
KATE MCKINNON
JOHN OLIVER
MICHELLE WOLF

Wilde Artist of the Year(Honoring a truly groundbreaking force in film, stage and/or television)
BRADLEY COOPER
HANNAH GADSBY
LADY GAGA
NICOLE KIDMAN
RYAN MURPHY

Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019 - Hollywood, CA - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has named its nominees for its milestone 10th Dorian Awards for the best in film and television of 2018. Leading in the movie categories with eight nominations is “The Favourite,” followed by “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me” and “Roma” with six nods each, and “A Star is Born” with four. The stars of the latest “Born” remake—Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga—are both up for Film Performance honors as well as the group’s Wilde Artist of the Year award.

Many of the nominations add some excitement to this year’s film awards season. On GALECA’s short list for best actor: “First Reformed” star Ethan Hawke and “BlacKkKlansman” lead John David Washington. “Hereditary”’s Toni Collette and Yalitza Aparicio of “Roma” vie alongside Gaga for best actress. “Widows” upstart Elizabeth Debicki and “Black Panther” standout Michael B. Jordan up the ante in supporting performance races. And former YouTube star turned “Eighth Grade” writer-director Bo Burnham scored a nomination for Screenplay of the Year.

The spectacular, practically candy-coated Marvel adventure “Panther” is one of the titles up for Visually Striking Film of the Year, while the Diane Keaton comedy “Book Club” and “Aquaman” are in the running for (or from?) the Campy Flick honor.

In TV categories, FX’s transgender-empowering drama “Pose” and BBC America’s biting cat-and-mouse thriller “Killing Eve” lead among drama series. “Eve” headliners Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, true to their hit’s storyline, vie against each other for TV Performance—Actress, while Hugh Grant and his “A Very English Scandal” paramour Ben Whishaw face each other on the gentlemen’s side. Also making a fresh impression with GALECA, comprised of over 200 members in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K.: HBO’s hitman comedy “Barry,” Pop network’s rich-family satire “Schitt’s Creek,” and Julia Roberts and her cryptic new Amazon conspiracy tale “Homecoming.”

“We’re thrilled by the strong variety of films and TV performances our diverse group of members has chosen to praise,” said GALECA President Diane Anderson-Minshall, Editorial Director of The Advocate. "In a lovely compliment to the Time’s Up movement, several categories, including Wilde Artist of the Year, Wilde Wit of the Year and Rising Star, are dominated by women this year. And it’s inspiring that the majority of our Director of the Year nominees are people of color, including Spike Lee, Barry Jenkins, and Alfonso Cuarón.”

“It’s hard to believe this is our 10th go-around of giving out our Dorian Awards,” added GALECA’s Executive Director John Griffiths. “In such oddly combative times, that’s really something to covfefe.”

Speaking of cheeky, along with its latest nominations, GALECA has announced that comedian and radio personality Frank DeCaro (“The Daily Show”, Sirius XM’s “The Frank DeCaro Show”) will preside as Master of Ceremonies at its invitation-only 10th Dorian Awards Winners Toast. The event will be held Saturday, January 12, noon to 2:30 at Paley restaurant in Hollywood’s historic Columbia Square.

De Caro, fondly remembered for his turn as the campy movie critic on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” embodies “the perfect mix of wit and sincerity that suits our freewheeling Toast format,” said Griffiths. “He’s not only charming and funny, he has a deep respect for what it takes to make quality entertainment, remains sweetly starstruck even in these jaded times, and keeps his eye and heart on the big picture too.” DeCaro’s latest book, “Drag: Combing Through the Big Wigs of Show Business,” comes out from Rizzoli this spring.

Since GALECA’s first film and TV favorites were named in 2010, over 200 artists and productions have received a Dorian Award, while over 1000 have received nominations. Among its Film of the Year winners are “Argo” and “12 Years a Slave,” as well as two movies directed by Luca Guadagnino, “I Am Love” and “Call Me By Your Name.” With five Dorians each across various categories, “Moonlight” and “Carol” stand as the most awarded films in GALECA history, while “Transparent,” with six wins in best-series categories alone, reigns as the most honored TV title.

Performers? Jessica Lange, Cate Blanchett and Jeffrey Tambor rank as GALECA’s most honored so far, while MSNBC news personality Rachel Maddow and filmmaker Jordan Peele have each been recognized with three Dorian wins in non-performance categories.