I have to say, this year’s list of awards nominees from the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association is even more uninspired and Oscar-guessing than last year’s slate. But they kick off the critics’ awards circuit nevertheless.
Winners will be announced Monday, but I imagine “The Social Network,” which racked up a field-leading eight nominations, will be declared Best Film and continue to be rather dominant as the critics’ darling of the year. The Oscar question, however, is whether the critics can force the issue like they did last year.
Or is there just not a sexy enough narrative as 2009’s battle of the exes to get it there?
You know what I think. But anyway, head on over to The Circuit to see what they’re springing for in the nation’s capital.
[Photo: Columbia Pictures]
Comments
71 responses to “D.C. critics apparently saw only 33 films this year”
Speech is still the front runner, but anyone thinking that The Social Network doesn’t have a chance is crazy. If it keeps rolling like it has been, we could see a change in the front runner over the next month. The buzz for The King’s Speech already seems to be dwindling, while The Social Network is regaining the buzz it had when it was first released. If Speech loses its buzz, there isn’t enough time to regain it.
Yeah, that’s mostly pretty dull, but it’s encouraging to see Hawkes in there. I’d love to see critics take up his cause, and I think he’s got a better shot than most people have predicted. Winter’s Bone is coming on increasingly strong, so it’s not looking like it’s going to be a struggle to get voters to pop the screener in. And if you watch that film, I’ve got to believe that’s a performance you’re going to remember.
“The buzz for The King’s Speech already seems to be dwindling…”
Says who? And how? It made a killing in limited release. Can’t just throw statements out there like that.
And by the way, no one expected “The King’s Speech” to be a critics’ darling so there will be NOTHING to glean from the critics’ awards unless “The Social Network” somehow manages a sweep akin to “The Hurt Locker,” but with so many alternatives for the groups to choose from this year, that isn’t likely.
I wouldn’t call these nominations uninspired. They did, after all, put Black Swan in and left King’s Speech out.
That’s also an amazing best director lineup. Arguably one of the best I’ve seen.
That’s gotta be the best lineup of directors I’ll ever see…
It’s just so early. I’m expecting GG, BAFTA, BFCA, and the Guilds to really dig ‘The King’s Speech’. And as Kris said, it’s doing well so far with audiences.
I continue to believe that critic awards/support only matters in very specific circumstances. And I don’t think TKS will be hurt by tepid American critic awards reactions (in the BP category).
I actually agree with their picks, in my opinion theses are the best films and performances of the years.
#5 — the best director lineup is just epic, hope this is what the oscars end up with.
It’s just the feeling I’m getting. I could be completely wrong. It made a killing in limited release last week, but that was bound to happen. Black Swan is doing much better in limited release, but I doubt that is indicative of anything. 127 Hours opened big in limited as well, but has since performed poorly. Precious last year made a killing when it opened, but it didn’t make a lot of money and the buzz never really took off.
There just doesn’t seem to be much talk about Speech anymore. Maybe it’s just because I don’t live in LA or NY. Or maybe it is just the case of the buzz for TSN coming around again, when a lot of people expected it to die off.
Why does everyone keep insisting that The King’s Speech isn’t doing well with critics? Its 93% on Rotten Tomatoes puts it at the same level as 127 Hours and ahead of Black Swan and Inception. It’s sitting at an 84 on Metacritic is even more impressive. Granted, not all the reviews are in yet, but unless the stragglers uniformly bash it, those scores are going to hold up.
yeah I gotta agree with evan and Historicus above – that Best Director lineup is pretty impressive and I would agree with all of the picks (even if I haven’t seen True Grit yet obviously).
Also go Black Swan! (Which I think tied with The Social Network with 7 nominees as well.) I just happen to have seen Black Swan in DC today as a matter of fact and it made a killing even at a 1pm matinee (and the audience was extremely receptive to say the least.) Films like that definitely deserve to be championed by critics and I hope this is the start of many more recognition throughout the season.
Not the most exciting list (Anne Hathaway?). But at lease Biutiful was nominated under foreign films. It is the only of the films in that category that can actually be nominated for an Oscar.
El Duderino: If you talk to Academy members, then there is PLENTY of TKS talk. Just sayin’.
And what half empty said.
Well, being the insider that Kris is … I’d take his word, right now. Gahh, can’t wait for your top 10 next week. :)
Does The Way Back’s absence everywhere signify that it isn’t being seen at all OR just not well-liked OR are the critics just picking what they think AMPAS will do, etc..
I know it’s not like critics awards to do that (the latter), but sometimes you see what you see.
??
Good stuff. Part of the reason why I made that statement was to see what other people thought the current status of it was. Seems like it is pretty clear that the buzz is high. It just doesn’t seem like it is as high as it was a month or so ago. But I’m sure you’re right considering you’re the one talking to the people making the decisions.
And I didn’t say that critics didn’t love it. It seems that most do, but most seem to like TSN more.
Kris Tapley apparently saw only 3 nominees for Art Direction…
Jackie Weaver has picked up ANOTHER nom!
I guess NBR wasn’t a fluke! Seems more like a sure thing to me – my question is… will she win it like NBR?
I also think John Hawkes may also score a nom with all this heat Winter’s Bone is getting! Fingers crossed!
Great amount of noms for Black Swan! Only worry for it is that none of its supporting players have been nominated anywhere yet. Lets hope that changes!
Bummer: I left off True Grit and Inception. Oops!
Didn’t the social network get 8 nomination not seven?
Overall, I’m happy with the nominees. I’m glad that Black Swan got a Cinematography nom and that Harry Potter 7 got an Art Direction nom. I’m mad that Miranda Richardson didn’t get nominated in the Supp. Actress category.
Annnnd, I can’t count. Thanks Ann.
The King’s Speech is this year’s “Better Movie That Got the Short End Of the Stick” at the Oscars… Past recipients of this unfortunate honor include Up in the Air, The Aviator, There Will Be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine, Brokeback Mountain, Lost in Translation, The Insider, and Saving Private Ryan.
The best thing is the John Hawkes got the Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Considering how little the press he got when the film was released, this is a big deal right after the Indie Spirit Award.
I’m gonna FYC Winter’s Bone’s Cinematography.
Louis, don’t forget Goodfellas and The Shawshank Redemption.
“The Shawshank Redemption” wasn’t better than anything.
Louis: What an interesting set of choices.
I don’t know who comprises this organization, but I’m from D.C., so it’s interesting for me to note how closely the Best Film nominees line up with the preferences of Ann Hornaday, the lead critic for the Washington Post. She gave the only four-star review of the year to The Social Network, while the others all got 3 1/2, except Toy Story 3, which got 3. Several films ( The King’s Speech, for example) haven’t opened here yet, but I just thought I’d throw that out there.
“D.C. critics apparently saw only 33 films this year”
Maybe they only liked 33?
Not a bad showing for Black Swan either. Gotta respect those 7 noms.
So i guess they should have nominated Scott Pilgrim and Harry Potter to be exotic enough since nominating the most acclaimed movies and performances of the year is ”uninspired”.
I guess predicting Ryan Gosling instead of Jesse Eisenberg is your definition of inspiring…even though the later has an incredibly acclaimed performance in the front runner of the year.
Anyway,great nominations with one or two exceptions.
I’d be willing to bet good money that the Documentary category falls just like that come February.
Lets just say it, fuck you Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association. These are not nominations at all, these are just predictions.
Is it possible that save for one or two in every category, a critics line-up would match up exactly with the academy? Year after year we talk about the significant disconnect between critics and the Academy but these lesser insignificant awards which are devoid of any personality give the impression that the Academy is pretty much in tune with the critics since the Academy is going to end up nominating much of this same slate.
And Kris I do believe we are looking at a Hurt Locker type sweep for The Social Network. TSN is THE choice for critics. Honestly what else will they choose? Specially these lesser critics awards, they are ALL probably gonna choose TSN. The Big 3 (LA, NY, NSFC) might inject some variety into the race.
I disagree that there are many alternatives to choose from in English language films and all these lesser critic awards don’t award foreign language films. I hope it doesn’t become a very boring season with every alternate day announcing a new gong for TSN.
List of noms is okay this year. Can’t agree with Kris’s statement from last year’s crop of nominees. You REALLY got to hand it to any list that included Maya Rudolph and Star Trek’s ensemble.
I don’t even have 33 films to award this year, so I can’t complain about that…
And I kinda think NYFCC is going to go for “Another Year”…and that’s going to be a bust for TSN sweep
33 sounds like a fairly impressive number, actually.
Great to see those Weaver and Hawkes citations!
“The buzz for The King’s Speech already seems to be dwindling, while The Social Network is regaining the buzz it had when it was first released.”
Aaand there’s still three months to go! If the buzz remains the exact same on both of these movies as it is right now until Oscar night then I will do a Herzog and eat my shoe. Peaks and valleys, my friend. Peaks and valleys.
Wayne: Eisenberg will probably be in the mix come the next update. Thanks for your concern.
I think Washington film critics are watching the oscar forums a bit too close.
It’s strange that hardly any odd choices here and there made it in. John Hawkes for Winter’s Bone (YAY!) is the only one that seems like something of a surprise, especially since the film wasn’t one of the top five films.
The love for Black Swan is encouraging though, and that’s probably a lot more than it’ll get at the Oscars. The score nominees are fantastic as well, the Academy won’t be able to match that.
How to predict Best Picture: Pick talented, artistic directors who built a brand name for over a decade and starred in/directed crazy, wild, too much for the Academy type films in their early career. If the film they now have in contention happens to be much more mature, subdued, and appealing to the Academy, you got your Best Director. Odds are increased if they’ve been nominated before and have yet to win. 1 = 1 since Best Director gets Best Picture 90% of the time. Examples at hand: Bigelow (Near Dark, Point Break), Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later), Howard (Cocoon, Willow), Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, & Videotape), Jackson (Bad Taste, Dead Alive), The Coens (The Big Lebowski), Eastwood (Dirty Harry), Scorsese (Cape Fear), Spielberg (Jaws), Cameron (T2, Aliens), Zemeckis (BTTF). The next in line with a 10 year brand and a portfolio of wild movies that happened years ago is Mr. David Fincher and his more mature and subdued movie this year is The Social Network. If Tarantino made a more mature and serious movie, he would be in line for Oscar Gold as well… Jason Reitman, on the other hand, needs to start loosing up with more risky material while he’s young and should come back in 10 years to make the great movies he’s been pumping out so far. Come on Jason, make a horror movie or something!
The idea/prospect of Critics Awards turning into Oscar predics is depressing.
And on TSN sweeping. Well, it’s kinda hard to not think that way when it has a – what? – 95 or 96 on metacritic?
JJ1, Metacritic (and RT numbers for that matter) mean zilch. Ratatouille had 96 in 2007, the highest of all movies, it won nothing.
Mulholland Dr had 81 on Metacritic, and there were atleast 10 movies with a higher score, but Mulholland absolutely owned the critics that year and became the most celebrated film of the new century.
I totally agree with red wine (comment 31)! TSN is going to sweep the critics’ awards just like HL last year! Absolutely. Kris, what alternatives do you see, that I don’t? Come on. You’re just being stubborn here because you want to maintain TKS’ frontrunner status for as long as possible.
By January, though, TSN will emerge as the clear frontrunner, no matter what…
red_wine, OK , I concede, very good statistics (on Mulholland owning critics with only an 81).
That makes me feel better about TSN possibly NOT owning. I love the movie, but Geez … another year with no variance (No Country, Slumdog, Hurt Locker, TSN)? I sure hope there are some surprises along the way. It just comes across as so lazy.
I have not seen TKS yet, but I put trust in the many prognosticators (like Kris) who believe in it’s power.
The good:
Great director line-up.
Lots of Black Swan love.
Inception still going strong.
King Speech snub.
The bad:
No Leo nomination for either Shutter Island or Inception.
No Matt Damon in BSA for True Grit.
Jackie Weaver really might factor into this race now, huh. That Best Picture line-up matches exactly with my own, so…I’m pleased.
The critics did indeed “force the issue” last year, pushing the Academy to reward a film which they loved and people everywhere couldn’t have cared less about. That will not be the case should “The Social Network” take the prize this year – it may not be the highest grossing film of the year but with a box office tally nearing $100M it obviously holds appeal for a wider audience than just film snobs…
^In rereading this post it occurs to me that I should point out that I don’t believe the critics are the only reason for “The Hurt Locker”‘s triumph last year – obviously Hollywood politicing always plays a huge part in the Academy’s choices…
But King Speech and Benning won`t win no matter what politics work in their favor. There. Not going to happen. Others are so much better that even AMPAS who usually falls for mediocre s*** won`t be able to resist.
Yeah, I think ‘The Hurt Locker’ is a good film. It wasn’t even in my top 10. But I appreciate it. It won for a host of reasons. That said, there is not one person I know who saw ‘The Hurt Locker’. It really was a film for critics/Oscar prognosticators/and serious fans of “cinema”.
They did not nominate A Prophet last year, so that means they go by domestic release, right? If so, nominating garbage like Girl With the Dragon Tattoo over A Prophet is crazy.
I know people who saw THL on DVD/BD and didn`t get the hype. They thought it was nothing special, certainly not one of the best of the year or the best. I don`t think anyone will remember it in a few years save for a handful of its fanatical devotees like Sasha Stone or people who are still pissed that it proved politics, not real best picture, win every time.
I think Hurt Locker is a glorious magnificent film. I think a major reason that why it won is simply because it is so damn good. The producers guild championed its 16 million gross over the biggest movie of all time which grossed 2.8 billion dollars, nearly 200 times the gross of The Hurt Locker.
I honestly think it was the be-all end-all movie of 2009, that is why it swept the Top 3 critics awards.
JJ1, if you notice these small awards can be misleading. Going by 2008, you’d think that the Critics No. 1 film was Slumdog. Not so, not by a long shot, in most critics poll, it failed to make the Top 20 of the year and did not win a single one of the Top 3 critics awards. The runaway critical darling was Wall-E which is now regarded as one the great masterpieces of the decade.
These lesser critics awards should mainly be ignored because they mostly just garland the Oscar favorite.