The First Annual Miles Awards For Achievement In Film

Oscar nominations are going to be announced in a little over a week, and I should have my predictions posted soon. It's a tough batch to predict--this year has been especially unpredictable, with a lot of movies doing much better than expected in the precursor awards, and several movies not doing as well as expected. But, as always, it's a mixed bag. There are some movies that I feel deserve the attention they're getting, and some that I think are really not deserving of accolades of any kind. So, before I shift my focus to what WILL get nominated, I decided to think about what I think SHOULD get nominated. And I figured that the best way to do this is to hold an awards ceremony of my own. I should be clear that this is entirely my opinion--no one else is choosing who wins, just me.

You know, like the Oscars should be.

Below you'll find the results of the first annual Miles Movie Awards. Each category has six nominees, with the exception of Best Picture, Best Ensemble Cast, and Best Scene, which have ten nominees each. I've designated one winner in each category, and the other nominees are listed in order from first to fifth runner up. For the acting categories, there has been a bit of controversy over some performances being classified as either leading or supporting, but I made my own judgments (hence why Jason Segel and Rooney Mara are listed in the Leading categories even though they have been ludicrously classified as Supporting roles at some awards ceremonies). Also, the Best Picture and acting categories shouldn't be a surprise for anyone who has already read my countdown for the best movies and best performances of the year. And now, without any further ado, the winners and nominees are...

BEST PICTURE:

Winner: Phoenix

Other Nominees:
Anomalisa

Room

Creed

Clouds of Sils Maria

Ex Machina

The Martian

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

The Walk

Spotlight

BEST DIRECTOR:

Winner: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Other Nominees:
Robert Zemeckis, The Walk

Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, Anomalisa

Paolo Sorrentino, Youth

Christian Petzold, Phoenix

Ryan Coogler, Creed

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner: Tom Hardy, Legend
Other Nominees:
Jason Segel, The End of the Tour

Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Johnny Depp, Black Mass

Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner: Nina Hoss, Phoenix

Other Nominees:
Brie Larson, Room

Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

Emily Blunt, Sicario

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Rooney Mara, Carol

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner: Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Other Nominees:
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes

Harvey Keitel, Youth

Emory Cohen, Brooklyn

David Morse, Concussion

Ezra Miller, The Stanford Prison Experiment

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner: Nina Kunzendorf, Phoenix

Other Nominees:
Jessica Chastain, Crimson Peak

Emily Browning, Legend

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa

Imogene Wolodarsky, Infinitely Polar Bear

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A CHILD ACTOR:

Winner: Jacob Tremblay, Room

Other Nominees:
Imogene Wolodarsky, Infinitely Polar Bear

Oona Laurence, Southpaw

Abraham Attah, Beasts of No Nation

Güneş Şensoy, Mustang

Milo Parker, Mr. Holmes

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST:

Winner: The Hateful Eight (Demian Bichir, Bruce Dern, Walton Goggins, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen, James Parks, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, & Channing Tatum) 

Other Nominees:
Ex Machina (Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno, & Alicia Vikander)

Clouds of Sils Maria (Juliette Binoche, Lars Eidinger, Johnny Flynn, Chloe Grace Moretz, & Kristen Stewart)

Phoenix (Nina Hoss, Nina Kunzendorf, & Ronald Zehrfeld)

The Stanford Prison Experiment (Michael Angarano, Moises Arias, Matt Bennett, Nicholas Braun, Jesse Carere, Gaius Charles, Billy Crudup, Brett Davern, Nelsan Ellis, James Frecheville, Keir Gilchrist, Miles Heizer, Jack Kilmer, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Mann, Callan McAuliffe, Ezra Miller, Logan Miller, Benedict Samuel, Chris Sheffield, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby, & James Wolk)

Creed (Tony Bellew, Michael B. Jordan, Phylicia Rashad, Sylvester Stallone, & Tessa Thompson)

Infinitely Polar Bear (Ashley Aufderheide, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, & Imogene Wolodarsky)

Anomalisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan, & David Thewlis)

Spy (Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Miranda Hart, Allison Janney, Jude Law, Melissa McCarthy, Peter Serafinowicz, & Jason Statham)

Mustang (Erol Afşin, İlayda Akdoğan, Doğa Doğuşlu, Elit İşcan, Nihal Koldaş, Ayberk Pekcan, Güneş Şensoy, & Tuğba Sunguroğlu, )

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Winner: Olivier Assayas, Clouds of Sils Maria

Other Nominees:
Alex Garland, Ex Machina

Woody Allen, Irrational Man

Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, Mississippi Grind

Michael Alan Lerner & Oren Moverman, Love & Mercy

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Winner: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa

Other Nominees:
Christian Petzold & Harun Farocki, Phoenix

Donald Margulies, The End of the Tour

Drew Goddard, The Martian

Emma Donoghue, Room

Aaron Covington & Ryan Coogler, Creed

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Winner: Crimson Peak

Other Nominees:
Mad Max: Fury Road

Ex Machina

Brooklyn

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

The Martian

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner: The Walk

Other Nominees:
Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Sicario

Crimson Peak

Creed

BEST SOUND:

Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road

Other Nominees:
Creed

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Hateful Eight

Love & Mercy

The Martian

BEST ISOLATED SCENE IN A MOVIE:

Winner: Phoenix-- Nelly sings Speak Low

Other Nominees:
99 Homes--The Nashes get evicted from their home

Creed--Adonis Johnson fights Leo "The Lion" Sporino

The Walk--The titular walk

Anomalisa--Michael and Lisa sleep together

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence--The horrific giant musical copper roasting drum deathtrap

Ex Machina--Nathan and Kyoko dance

Black Mass-- “I gotta have this recipe…"

Crimson Peak--The porridge scene

Spectre--Opening tracking shot

STATISTICS:

Phoenix 7 nominations, 4 wins
Mad Max: Fury Road 4 nominations, 2 wins
Creed 8 nominations, 1 win

Anomalisa 6 nominations, 1 win

Crimson Peak 4 nominations, 1 win

The Hateful Eight 4 nominations, 1 win

Room 4 nominations, 1 win
The Walk 4 nominations, 1 win

Clouds of Sils Maria 3 nominations, 1 win
Legend 2 nominations, 1 win

Ex Machina 6 nominations
Infinitely Polar Bear 4 nominations
The Martian 4 nominations

Brooklyn 3 nominations

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence 3 nominations

99 Homes 2 nominations

Black Mass 2 nominations
The End of the Tour 2 nominations

Love & Mercy 2 nominations
Mississippi Grind 2 nominations

Mustang 2 nominations
Sicario 2 nominations

The Stanford Prison Experiment 2 nominations
Youth 2 nominations

Beasts of No Nation 1 nomination
Carol 1 nomination
Concussion 1 nomination
Irrational Man 1 nomination
Mr. Holmes 1 nomination

The Revenant 1 nomination

Southpaw 1 nomination
Spotlight 1 nomination

Spectre 1 nomination
Spy 1 nomination
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1 nomination
Trumbo 1 nomination