Alright, I’m off to the show. Remember, the awards are televised live on VH1 at 9pm EST, 6pm EST. If you haven’t given it a go yet, try your hand at predicting tonight’s festivities. The original nominations announcement can be found here.
Obviously I won’t be around to comment as the winners come down, so feel free to discuss them in this space while I’m gone. And enjoy the show!
Comments
51 responses to “Discuss the Critics’ Choice award winners here!”
Why do they always flaunt about how good predictors they are of the oscars? They did real good last year *rolls eyes*
We’re five in, and so far, two went to Slumdog Millionaire’s Beaufoy and Patel, perhaps a sign of a lovefest yet to come.
The other categories are notable because of who lost, rather than who won — the cast of Milk won over Doubt’s, another blow to the actor-driven religion drama; and Tropic Thunder won the comedy award despite the awards-hopeful Vicky Cristina Barcelona was also in the mix.
Finally, The Dark Knight won in the unfortunate action category, where Iron Man would perhaps be more fitting.
I didn’t think any of the comedy competitors were exceptionally well done, but I thought Tropic Thunder was a disaster.
I genuinely didn’t feel it was funny at all.
To each his own, I guess.
D.,
Why would Iron Man be more fitting? It’s their way of awarding TDK without having to give it anything important.
D,
I felt that Iron Man (as well as all three other nominees) was much more action-centered, and the action in it (also, in Wanted) was, to me, better executed than that in The Dark Knight.
Still, I’m against awarding films in such specific genres — then you get The Dark Knight, an ‘action film’, and In Bruges, a ‘comedy’, when really, things are much less simple.
Iron Man was no more action-centered than The Dark Knight. It’s actually a pretty character driven movie, much like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. As for the execution of the action, the chase scene in TDK is hands down the best action scene of the year IMHO.
haha, poor Aronofsky, no one actually knows what he looks like.
To each his own, and meanwhile, we’ve a further trio of winners, all somewhat to have been expected.
The Wrestler’s Bruce Springsteen for best songwriting and Man on Wire as best documentary feature is something we got used to this season, and the BFCA didn’t surprise.
Also, the third win for Slumdog Millionaire in the form of an award for the score of A.R. Rahman.
Glad to see Springsteen win. It’s a hell of a song. Hope it wins the Oscar for Best Song too.
Heath got a standing ovation.
After Heath Ledger’s win, the first mild surprise of the evening: the foreign picture award winner is the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir, recently appearing more and more prominently in various awards’ various categories other than ‘Best Animated Feature’.
Ironically, that might just push it past Bolt in the ‘Best Animated Feature’ category come Oscar nominations morning.
Kate Winslet, a very deserving win. Excellent.
Each year, as the Oscars crawl nearer and nearer, the supporting actress race seems to be getting all the more confusing. Last year, we had two, three, then four frontrunners, only for the fifth lady to take the prize. It seems this year will be no less complicated with Winslet beginning to creep up on the strong Davis, Tomei and Cruz, and tonight’s supporting actress win can’t but help her.
Also, WALL·E, best animated feature.
Heath Ledger’s standing ovation ruled. That win pretty much cements his win at the Oscars. And it will be even more so when he wins the Golden Globe this weekend.
Oh, and Richard Gere’s speech was too long.
Awarding an actress with a mainly light, comedic resume and not much work under her belt, who’s living through her first major award season after having excelled in an indie film about family relations is brave!
…But not if you honor alongside her a woman who has won all she could’ve, and for a role in a film just tailored for awards nights. Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep have tied for the best actress trophy.
That’s an intriguing juxtaposition.
After some awards love for The Devil Wears Prada, things continue as per planned.
Sean Penn beats Rourke to the best actor award, inching closer to a somewhat comfortable lead, while Boyle and Slumdog Millionaire win the main awards of the evening, raising the film’s awards tally to five and sending it off to the Oscars with a generous head start. And — here we are, no smarter that three hours ago. The frontrunners still the frontrunners, elsewhere even more confusion.
My question is, and it has to do with my perception of relevance of tonight’s BFCAs: is it just me or is the typeface messed up here on the incontention blog lately? In the centre column, fonts garbled up, no kerning or hinting? Hmh.
christ, i hate the BFCA so much. They’re revolting, quite frankly.
Im getting kinda bored with the race. I hope Rourke wins the globe making it more interesting or theres a lone director nod. Arronofsky? Woody Allen? If Brolin got nommed for W. I would be in heaven.
I love that Meryl won. She does amazing in Doubt, and after losing for 20-something years, I think it will be nice to see her at the podium a third time (hopefully). Anne Hathaway’s speech (titled “Ode to Meryl”) was very respectful, due to the fact that she shared an award with probably the most prolific actress to ever grace the screen.
Wonderfully surprising is the Kate Winslet win! She is such a talented actress, and after a great year, it is only befitting for her to win for such a fantasticly nuanced performance.
Very sad that Frank Langella did not take home an award for the best lead actor performance of the year! So much more dynamic and engrossing than the other nominees, I believe. Hopefully he can score at the Oscars, but I doubt it. Sean Penn, who is also very very great in Milk, is on a long road of victories for his second win this decade.
Slumdog love is now at an all time high, but I say nay. Maybe it will wear off and another movie that is more deserving can sweep in and pull the win. I mean, I liked it. But Best Picture? Nah…
Does anyone else think that Slumdog is the most overrated film of the year? Just me? I really didn’t enjoy it, maybe my hopes were too high.
I love Danny Boyle so I’m glad to see all the attention on him. I loved Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler but I’m glad Penn won. It shakes things up a bit.
Anne Hathaway?? Really? I found her performance quite annoying, too forced. Meryl is also perfect so that’s a no brainer. I wish there was more love for Kristin Scott Thomas, she was absolutely brilliant. Oh well. Awards never really get it right I guess. We’re always looking back years later and saying “Oh so and so should have won, Why did he/she win? What an awful year! What were they thinking?”
Glad to see the love for Kate Winslet!
Hopefully the Slumdog love will die down and Milk will take over! (a girl can dream…)
Is anyone getting the feeling that the Best Picture race is coming down to TDK vs. Slumdog? Absolutely no love for Button (which is fine by me) or Frost/Nixon. It seems more of a TDK/Slumdog/Milk race at this point, doesn’t it?
@ Kate
Totally agree on the Slumdog thing. Way overrated. Definitely not the best of the year.
Way, way, wayyyyyy overrated, such that it’s ruined the film for me. THERE WERE BETTER CHOICES, ASSHOLES.
Yeah… I think that Ben Button, if any movie, still has a chance to beat it. It’s right up the Academy’s alley, as far as its epic scope and gradeur. It really is a great film. Unlike ALOT of people though, I would like to see a DOUBT nomination, but that gets more unlikely by the day. I seriously thought the movie was brilliantly done. I don’t think that TDK could pull a win, but I do think MILK is a very serious possiblity. I would be fine with Milk, but I think that with tonight’s awards, the Academy envelope for Best Picture for Slumdog has officially been signed, sealed and delivered.
Yes, Kate, Slumdog Millionaire is the most overrated movie of the year (if you couldn’t tell) =]
I agree with J. I’ve actually been thinking of TDK’s possibilities of winning. People generally laugh at that or think it’s ridiculous, but if Crash can beat Brokeback Mountain and Munich, and The Departed can win over Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima and The Queen, I think TDK’s chances are greater than people assume. Slumdog seems to be the most expected to win, but it really wouldn’t bother me at all if TDK made a surprise win. I mean, Christ, they’ll get plenty of viewers as it is for nominating it, but imagine what it’ll get if it actually won the Oscar.
Plus, it would make things more interesting. Slumdog is too predictable.
Milk and TDK are my two favorites of the year, so either of them winning is fine by me.
J, you have it nailed perfectly. It will be TDK vs. Dog. Shutout for BB (fine by me also…)
Go Sean, Meryl, Heath and Kate. 4 well-deserved choices.
Well said, Chris….
I totally agree. TDK and Milk are the two best films of the year. Hopefully the Slumdog ass-grabbing will end quickly enough before ballots are due. You know it’s ridiculous when Slumdog wins for best score.
Unlike many of the others, I’m happy to see the ‘Slumdog’ train continue to roll. I would agree that it’s a boring award season if you’re not a ‘Slumdog’ fan like myself, but you happen to be one… does the smile on your face get wider (almost Joker-like) as well each time the film picks up another major win?
They can’t give a 2nd Oscar to Sean Penn. Although they can, but still…
Does anyone think that Benjamin Button could be snubbed for a BP nomination? It seems like TDK is stealing its “epic” thunder and its precursor tally thus far is mediocre. I think the GG will be a big test for Button.
I’m affraid that this is going to be another year where some of us are going to be highly disappointed. I, like others here, feel that Slumdog Millionaire is highly overrated. It was underwhelming for me.
I would rather see either The Dark Knight or Milk get Best Picture and garner the most of the wins during award season.
@ Matt
That’s the point I was making. For all the talk about Benjamin Button, it sure doesn’t seem to have a lot of traction. Even the reviews are mediocre. It almost seems that it’s there simply because of the “epic” factor you were talking about. 3 hours doesn’t mean great, although the Academy would like us to believe that.
According the BFCAs own website, they had a higher rating for The Dark Knight (96) than Slumdog Millionaire (92).
It makes ABSOLUTELY No sense that they awarded Slumdog as Best Picture tonight. Are these awards even legit?!
I know that it’s not the Oscars but it’s these kinds of award shows that help create buzz and momentum for a film.
Cat in the Hat…just because it has a higher score doesn’t mean it would automatically win. They send ballots to all the members, which result in winners independent of a movie’s score. TDK may have had a higher score, but it also may have had more members who thought it wasn’t great.
I’m sure the academy will not follow suit. Critics are one species while voting members are another.
Streep, Penn, Winslet and Ledger would all make excellent Oscar winners – they’re all (were) big time names that lead their respective ‘generations’ in terms of talent and/or Oscar respect.
Don’t underestimate BB (big money maker, big stars, big studio) nor continue to trash Slumdog (must be frontrunner for Cinematography, Score and Editing, no?)…remember, nobody knows anything.
I forgot to mention; if Shakespeare in Love can beat Saving Private Ryan, then TDK surely has a fair shot at the big award.
ok…so I guess this may be a sign that supporting actress is where the Academy will probably award Kate Winslet this year. O and did everyone see how pissed Penelope Cruz looked after they announced the winner to supporting actress?
Frankly, Sean Penn has it in the bag. I think he’s on his way to a (well-deserved) 2nd win. And his speech was great.
I love Anne Hathaway, but her speech annoyed the crap out of me. But I can’t dismiss that I was very happy with her win–one of my favorite performances of the year. It’s a two-way race between her and Meryl Streep (another great performance). Right now, I’m going to give the edge to Hathaway…we’ll see on Sunday night @ the Globes…watch Kate Winslet win for Rev Road and then the best actress race will be REALLY interesting…
Heath Ledger has it sealed…it’s not even a contest…
…and I too agree with everyone about Slumdog. It’s a really good movie, but in no way was it the best of the year. COME ON! Even though it was a Slumdog Millionaire lovefest tonight, I truly have a gut feeling it won’t win the Oscar. I, too, think The Dark Knight might be able to pull an upset.
…biggest surprise of the night, for me, was Milk’s win in Best Ensemble. I thought Doubt had it in the bag.
Anne rambled on, but it was her first major win for anything (I think?) so I cut her some slack.
Basically, the BFCA are hedging their bets that Winslet will be snubbed at the Oscars for “Rev Road” and will be nominated in Supporting for “The Reader”. And they figure the Best Actress race is between Streep and Hathaway and what better way to keep those predictors tally accurate than to give it to both of them!
Did the entire group of BFCA members get up on stage this year to announce the Best Picture winner? What a despicable, revolting awards body.
Agreed that “Slumdog” is incredibly overrated. Just once I would like the critics “indie” choice to be one I can truly 100% get behind. “Slumdog”, “Juno”, “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Sideways”… neither hit the spot entirely with me.
I think the fact that kate won shows that she has a greater chance in the lead category than people think. I think people voted for her in supporting because the BFCA didn’t give her a lead nomination when she deserved it and it was the only outlet to reward her for an outstanding year. I hope she wins at the globes…..
I see some people here are afflicted with “Hatethefrontrunneritis”, a bug some people catch between December and February of every year. How Unfortunate!
These winners were pretty much expected. With that said, I don’t think Winslet will win the Supporting Actress Oscar, and I’m not convinced that Hathaway or Streep will win the Lead Actress Oscar. At the moment, I’m staying with Winslet (for lead) and Cruz (for supporting).
David, the’ll get over it. In my opinion, this is the first time the frontrunner has been deserving of the honor in years.
The Oscars ratings will continue to decline as long as it airs after all these other awards shows honoring the same people for the same films.
The only problem I have with Slumdog is it winning for best score. That was ridiculous. TDK, Button, and Milk all had much better music.
But the music was so much more pivotal to “Slumdog Millionaire”s success than the other movies. Not that I care for “Slumdog” all that much – I like it, I just don’t care for it as much as others – but the music was definitely its most vital aspect. I got the soundtrack the very next day.
Kris, I don’t think the issues people are raising about “Slumdog” are the sort of ones that will go away with time. Faux-“feel good” mentality, stolen stylistic devices and sleepwalking actors will always be there for the people who don’t like it as much as those who do. It’s not just a “i prefer another movie so that one sucks” attitude.
Stolen? Do tell.
Well, I like to call the movie “City of Slumdog” for a reason. Even the general premise – young man trying to get himself out of the slums – is the same.
Oh give me a break. There are only five stories in drama anyway. Boyle was much more creative and thematically resilient with his stylistic choice than Meirelles, and that’s coming from an outright adorer of “City of God.”
And thus proves my point that just because somebody says it’s so doesn’t mean it is. You’re entitled to your opinion, but just because some people don’t care for “Slumdog” doesn’t mean they’re haters or whatever. Just means we don’t particularly like it. Nothing sinister going on there.