Awards Race: Black Panther scores major NAACP noms, God of War wins top DICE prize, Oscars kicks up another fiasco

With the Oscars a little over a week away, awards season is really heating up.

The final awards for achievements in 2018 are being doled out, but not everything is warm and fuzzy. The Academy has come under fire for axing certain awards from the ceremony proper, which has been plagued with controversy for the last two months. 

With that said, Black Panther is still chugging along on some nice momentum, clawing at even more prizes to add to its trophy shelf made of Vibranium.

Hell, even the gaming industry is getting in on the awards action!

Here's what you need to know about the latest awards-season developments...

The NAACP has announced the nominees for this year's Image Awards, and Black Panther is among the top contenders.

Ryan Coogler's Marvel movie is up for Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (Chadwick Boseman — also up for Entertainer of the Year), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Winston Duke and Michael B. Jordan), Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Soundtrack.

The category for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture is dominated by Black Panther actors: Lupita Nyong'o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoye), and Letitia Wright (Shuri). Wright and Duke (who played M'Baku) are also competing for Outstanding Breakthrough Role in a Motion Picture. In addition, the entire cast could take home Best Ensemble like it did at the SAG Awards just a few weeks ago.

Other genre standouts include:

• Sorry to Bother You (Outstanding Independent Motion Picture)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - Shameik Moore)
• Incredibles 2 (Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance - Samuel L. Jackson)
• Marvel's Luke Cage (Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series - Alfre Woodard)
• Westworld (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Thandie Newton)
• Fahrenheit 451 (Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited Series or Dramatic Special - Michael B. Jordan)
• Black Lightning (Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Television Series - Erika Alexander)

The 50th annual NAACP Image Awards will be televised live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 30. You can catch the post-Oscars action on TV One. 

For the full list of nominees, click here.

Last week, the Academy announced that the Oscar winners in technical categories like cinematography, editing, hair and makeup, and live-action short would be given out during ad breaks. 

While this was done in an effort to shorten the event's runtime (the Oscars are notorious for usually running over their allotted network time slot), the decision sparked outrage from some of the biggest players in Hollywood like Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright, Seth Rogen, Spike Jonze, Ang Lee, and Damien Chazelle. 

To help stem the flow of negativity publicity, the Academy released an official statement, which was published by Deadline:

“As the Academy’s officers, we’d like to assure you that no award category at the 91st Oscars ceremony will be presented in a manner that depicts the achievements of its nominees and winners as less than any others,” said the Academy. “Unfortunately, as the result of inaccurate reporting and social media posts, there has been a chain of misinformation that has understandably upset many Academy members. We’d like to restate and explain the plans for presenting the awards, as endorsed by the Academy’s Board of Governors.”

The statement goes on to clarify that while the awards for editing, cinematography, hair and makeup, and live-action short will be part of the live broadcast, the "walk-ups" to the stage (as well as the exits) will be edited out in an effort to cut down on time. Nevertheless, the winners' speeches will be aired. For future ceremonies, four to six categories will be given the same treatment, but the four mentioned above will be exempt next year.

The 91st Oscars will be held on Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. In a deviation from the usual format, there will be no main host, only presenters.

Kevin Hart was originally tapped to host the telecast but backed out after old tweets of his, which included homophobic jokes, resurfaced and spurred a massive backlash. Hart eventually apologized, but later announced that he would not host the show to prevent the controversy from overshadowing the ceremony itself.

The world of video games is also enjoying awards-season buzz with the winners of the annual D.I.C.E. Awards given out last night in Las Vegas.

Sony Interactive Entertainment took home the most prizes of the night for God of War, which nabbed:

• Game of the Year
• Achievement in Game Direction
• Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
• Adventure Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Story
• Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
• Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
• Outstanding Achievement in Character, and Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Other victors were Fortnite (of course), Red Dead Redemption 2, Marvel's Spider-Man, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Monster Hunter: World, and Mario Tennis Aces.

(D.I.C.E. winners via Variety)