Since 1975, the People”s Choice Awards have been sidestepping the critics, guild members, Hollywood insiders, and anyone who could potentially earn the “professional” label to play litmus test of the general public. Anyone can vote using the PCA”s online, paving the way for a populist read on pop culture. What can we gather from the 2014 results? For one, the country is watching different movies.

“Maleficent,” “Divergent,” “22 Jump Street,” and actors like Melissa McCarthy, Adam Sandler, and Jennifer Lawrence. all earned love from the 2015 People”s Choice Awards, which hand out a bevy of genre-specific awards. There”s a little crossover with the circuit – “Gone Girl” picked up a Best Thriller statue – and then there are wins that feel a bit more artificial. “The Judge” star Robert Downey Jr. hasn”t been in the Best Actor conversation since people saw “The Judge” in September. But, hey, a PCA pick-me-up never hurt anyone.

See the full list of winners below, including highlights from the TV and Music categories, below.

Favorite Movie
“Maleficent”

Favorite Movie Actor
Robert Downey Jr.

Favorite Movie Actress
Jennifer Lawrence

Favorite Movie Duo
Shailene Woodley & Theo James – “Divergent”

Favorite Action Movie
“Divergent”

Favorite Action Movie
Actor Chris Evans

Favorite Action Movie Actress
Jennifer Lawrence

Favorite Comedic Movie
“22 Jump Street”

Favorite Comedic Movie Actor
Adam Sandler

Favorite Comedic Movie Actress
Melissa McCarthy

Favorite Dramatic Movie
“The Fault in Our Stars”

Favorite Dramatic Movie Actor
Robert Downey Jr.

Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress
Chloë Grace Moretz

Favorite Family Movie
“Maleficent”

Favorite Thriller Movie
“Gone Girl”

Head to the next page for TV and Music winners.

TV

Favorite TV Icon
Betty White

Favorite TV Show
“The Big Bang Theory”

Favorite Network TV Comedy
“The Big Bang Theory”

Favorite Comedic TV Actor
Chris Colfer

Favorite Comedic TV Actress
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting

Favorite Network TV Drama
“Grey”s Anatomy”

Favorite Dramatic TV Actor
Patrick Dempsey

Favorite Dramatic TV Actress
Ellen Pompeo

Favorite Cable TV Comedy
“Melissa & Joey”

Favorite Cable TV Drama
“Pretty Little Liars”

Favorite Cable TV Actor
Matt Bomer

Favorite Cable TV Actress
Angie Harmon

Favorite TV Crime Drama
“Castle”

Favorite Crime Drama TV Actor
Nathan Fillion

Favorite Crime Drama TV Actress
Stana Katic

Favorite Network Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
“Beauty and the Beast”

Favorite Cable Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
“Outlander”

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor
Misha Collins

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress
Kristin Kreuk

Favorite Competition TV Show
“The Voice”

Favorite Daytime TV Host
Ellen DeGeneres

Favorite Late Night Talk Show Host
Jimmy Fallon

Favorite Dramedy
“Orange Is the New Black”

Favorite TV Duo
Nina Dobrev & Ian Somerhalder

Favorite TV Character We Miss Most
Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang – “Grey”s Anatomy”

Favorite Actor In A New TV Series
David Tennant

Favorite Actress In A New TV Series
Viola Davis

Favorite Sketch Comedy TV Show
“Saturday Night Live”

Favorite Animated TV Show
“The Simpsons”

Favorite New TV Comedy
“Jane the Virgin”

Favorite New TV Drama
“The Flash”

MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist
Ed Sheeran

Favorite Female Artist
Taylor Swift

Favorite Group
Maroon 5

Favorite Breakout Artist
5 Seconds of Summer

Favorite Male Country Artist
Hunter Hayes

Favorite Female Country Artist
Carrie Underwood

Favorite Country Group
Lady Antebellum

Favorite Pop Artist
Taylor Swift

Favorite Hip-Hop Artist
Iggy Azalea

Favorite R&B Artist
Pharrell Williams

Favorite Album
“x,” Ed Sheeran

Favorite Song
“Shake It Off” – Taylor Swift

In my opinion, there are better documentaries than “CITZENFOUR” in the Oscar race this year. Much better. But to judge by the circuit, they were nary a blip. Really unfortunate, I feel, but a steamroller is a steamroller. Laura Poitros' film dominated tonight's Cinema Eye Honors, which I honestly didn't expect from a group that has spread things a bit in the past and found interesting crevices in the documentary landscape.

Check out the nominees here, the full list of winners below and the rest of the circuit at, well, The Circuit.

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
“CITIZENFOUR”

Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Laura Poitras, “CITIZENFOUR”

Outstanding Achievement in Editing
“CITZENFOUR”

Outstanding Achievement in Production
“CITIZENFOUR”

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
(TIE) “20,000 Days on Earth” and “Virunga”

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
“Finding Vivian Maier”

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score
“20,000 Days on Earth”

Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation
(TIE) “Jodorowsky's Dune” and “Particle Fever”

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Films Made for Television
“The Price of Gold”

Spotlight Award
“1971”

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
“The Lion's Mouth Opens”

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910358046001

Covering the awards season beat means you are often lucky enough to spend some time moderating post screening Q&As with some of the most talented filmmakers and actors in the world.  I've seen some amazing reactions from audiences to some great films and some incredible talent on hand.  What I hadn't seen before this season was a sold out theater give a standing ovation to a star at the beginning of a Q&A and then give another standing o after the Q&A was completed. That, ladies and gentlemen, was for the one and only Julianne Moore.

It's been something of a foregone conclusion that Moore will not only earn her fifth Academy Award nomination, but finally take home a coveted Oscar statue this February.  Yes, considering her amazing career she's absolutely “due,” but to chalk up her expected win as some sort of lifetime achievement (as some are trying to do) is simply silly.  I've raved about Moore's performance in “Alice” since reviewing the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.  Moore chronicles her character's slow but steady decline into early onset Alzheimer's while triumphantly keeping Alice's spirit in tact.  It's truly one of the top five performances of her career.

Speaking to Moore during an extended video interview you can watch at the top of this post, the recent Cannes winner revealed that early on she told co-directors Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer that she wasn't going to perform anything she hadn't actually witnessed.  

“I feel like even if I've read it about it and haven't seen it I don't know how to be completely accurate,” Moore says.  “All the behaviors in the movie were things I had seen or things had discussed with me.”

She continues, “You know how I have that speech and [Kristen Stewart's character asks] 'What's it like?' and [Alice] says, 'It's not always the same'?  That was something I heard a lot. The good days and bad days thing. There isn't a consistency to the disease that you might expect. Someone might be doing well and then have a sudden decline. And then go back up again and they would have periods where they just seemed better or worse. That being said, she does move through stages of the disease and it was like, 'How verbal was she? What spatial skills?'  I just had to watch all of that.”

Moore also spoke to as many experts as she could before the shoot and often learned a perceived Alzheimer's symptom was actually something else.

“In doing my research I actually spoke to a neuropsychiatrist and clinicians at Mount Sinai [Hospital in New York] and there were some behaviors I asks them about,” Moore says. “I'd say, 'What about this particular behavior?' And they would say, 'That's probably an age related behavior and not an Alzheimer's related behavior.'”

One of the strengths of “Still Alice” is its supporting cast which includes Alec Baldwin (who Moore recruited to star as Alice's husband), Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parish and Kristen Stewart.  The latter plays one of Alice's daughters and she becomes particularly important during this family crisis. Moore has known Stewart for years and in our conversation she pulled out a pretty good impression of her.

Moore recalls, “We had like two days of rehearsal and we were talking about it which means sitting there and saying hi and the nature of their relationship and the thing that I love about Kristen is, 'I mean, I know about this.  I have a mom.' (Laughs.) She's such a delight. Such a wonderful actor and person it was easy to connect with her.”

“Still Alice” finally hits theaters in limited release on Jan. 16.  Moore's road to Oscar continues with the Golden Globes this Sunday and with the announcement of the Academy Award nominations on Jan. 15. Look for complete coverage of both events on HitFix.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910358163001

As Ava DuVernay's “Selma” moves out into wide release Friday, just 10 days shy of the Martin Luther King holiday on Jan. 19, the film finds itself in a tug-of-war over accuracy and dramatic license. If you've only skimmed the headlines or caught wind peripherally, here's a quick timeline of some of the debate's highlights.

***

December 22: Things begin just before the holiday, when Mark K. Updegrove, director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, blasts the film's depiction of the King/Johnson dynamic at Politico. “'Selma' misses mightily in faithfully capturing the pivotal relationship – contentious, the film would have you believe,” he writes. He then details how Johnson's feet-dragging on the issue of voting rights was less about simple trepidation than politicking and finding the best way to time out the series of events so that Congress wouldn't stop it cold:

“Yes, Johnson advocated stripping a potent voting rights component out of the historic Civil Rights Act he signed into law in the summer of 1964. A master of the legislative process – and a pragmatist – he knew that adding voting rights to the Civil Rights Act would make it top heavy, jeopardizing its passage. Break the back of Jim Crow, Johnson believed, and then we'll tackle voting rights.

“And yes, King kept the pressure on Johnson to propose voting rights legislation. But Johnson, the political mastermind, knew instinctively that Congress would reject it. As King's former lieutenant, Andrew Young, recalled earlier this year at the LBJ Presidential Library's Civil Rights Summit: 'Right after [Dr. King won] the Nobel Prize, President Johnson talked for an hour about why he didn't have the power to introduce voting rights legislation in 1965, and gave very good reasons. [H]e kept saying, 'I just don't have the power. I wish I did.' When we left, I asked Dr. King, 'Well, what did you think?' He said, 'I think we've got to figure out a way to get this president some power.'”

December 26: Joseph A Califano Jr. – Johnson's top assistant for domestic affairs from 1965 to 1969 – is compelled to write an op-ed in The Washington Post denigrating the film's depiction of the nation's 36th President. After asking “what's wrong with Hollywood,” he writes that “the film falsely portrays President Lyndon B. Johnson as being at odds with Martin Luther King Jr. and even using the FBI to discredit him, as only reluctantly behind the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and as opposed to the Selma march itself.” Furthermore:

“In fact, Selma was LBJ's idea, he considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement, he viewed King as an essential partner in getting it enacted – and he didn't use the FBI to disparage him. On Jan. 15, 1965, LBJ talked to King by telephone about his intention to send a voting rights act to Congress: 'There is not going to be anything as effective, though, Doctor, as all [blacks] voting.'”

He lays out his rebuttal with links to history throughout, but closed with the curious demand, “The movie should be ruled out this Christmas and during the ensuing awards season.”

December 28: DuVernay fires back. “[The] notion that Selma was LBJ's idea is jaw dropping and offensive to SNCC, SCLC and black citizens who made it so,” she Tweets. Her assertions go to the “now, not later” importance of the movement. “LBJ's stall on voting in favor of War on Poverty isn't fantasy made up for a film,” she writes, pointing to a 2013 New Yorker story that covered the issue in detail. The “bottom line,” she concludes, “is folks should interrogate history. Don't take my word for it or [an] LBJ rep's word for it. Let it come alive for yourself.”

December 31: Writing for The New York Times, Jennifer Schuessler gets a few historians on the record, including Diane McWhorter, author of “Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama – The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution,” who says, “Everybody has to take license in movies like this, and it can be hard for nit-pickers like me to suspend nit-picking. But with the portrayal of L.B.J., I kept thinking, 'Not only is this not true, it's the opposite of the truth.” Others, like Julian E. Zelizer and Gary May, join the chorus by noting the delicacy of the debate over how credit for the movement has been disseminated. Offering context, Schuessler writes:

“Julian E. Zelizer, the author of the new book 'The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress and the Battle for the Great Society,' said it recalled the moment in the 2008 primary when Mrs. Clinton declared that Dr. King's dream of equality only 'began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act' of 1964, prompting accusations that she was playing down Dr. King's role as part of her own effort to best an African-American political rival…Johnson has been the focus of a rehabilitation campaign among historians and others eager to burnish a legacy shadowed by the Vietnam War and by a lingering popular view of him as 'a Southern racist in liberal clothing,' as Professor Zelizer put it.

More heatedly, the notion that Johnson “had anything to do with the [FBI surveillance] tape” is “truly vile and a real historical crime against L.B.J.,” author David J. Garrow adds, before settling on this statement with which most interviewed seem to concur: “The real story wasn't about a president who didn't want voting rights. It was about a president who couldn't get them through. And it was the civil rights movement that made that possible.”

December 31: The grist mill keeps turning at The Washington Post, where writer Karen Tumulty interviews former Atlanta mayor, U.N. ambassador and one of King's young lieutenants, Andrew Young. “It was not very tense at all,” Young says of the King/Johnson relationship. “He and Martin never had a confrontation.”

January 2: The hits keep coming in the new year as May gets his own op-ed space at The Daily Beast to promote his book on the events depicted in the film and take umbrage with factual points. Despite the film expressly being about the people on the ground in Selma, he curiously bemoans that “except for a few scenes, we see little of the bravery Selma”s citizens displayed.” He nit-picks things like showing Americans watching the Selma events unfold on television live when in fact they did not see that footage for a number of hours.

January 5: Things stay heated at The Washington Post as opinion writer Richard Cohen chimes in. Again leaning on a “what's wrong with Hollywood” tone, the paper forwards further dissatisfaction. Calling DuVernay's response a “so's-your-mother” one that “ought to be beneath” her, then casually disrespects with “maybe it's not.” To wit:

“She not only impugned Califano as an LBJ mouthpiece but she also ignored her other critics…An earlier tweet from DuVernay was even worse. 'Notion that Selma was LBJ's idea is jaw dropping and offensive to SNCC, SCLC and black citizens who made it so.' Arguably, the idea that a march should be held in Selma – as opposed to some other place – was primarily King's. But to turn a disagreement over who came up with the idea, King or Johnson, into something 'offensive' to virtually the entire civil rights leadership is itself 'jaw dropping.' Both the civil rights movement and Lyndon Johnson wanted the same thing – to kill Jim Crow dead.

January 5: Different fuel is tossed onto the fire when Leida Snow, writing for The Jewish Daily Forward, charges that the film “airbrush[es] Jewish contributions to civil rights.” Expanding on that:

“In the new film, Dr. King makes a dramatic appeal to people of all races and religions to come and join him in Selma. Hundreds do, as though for the first time, and Dr. King is shown embracing a Greek Orthodox priest*. Also visible among many whites is a Catholic priest and a minister. This is a deeply moving and dramatically effective scene. But I looked in vain for the embrace of a man with a yarmulke, a scene that would reflect the historical moment when Dr. King marched with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a leading Jewish theologian and philosopher widely respected beyond the Jewish community. He may be present in the grainy documentary footage at the end of the film, but he is not visible in the body of the film, nor are any other Jews openly recognized.”

*This is in fact Archbishop Iakovos, at the time the highest ranking orthodox clergyman in the Americas and notably included in this scene for being featured on the Life Magazine cover with King after the Selma march.

January 5: In an interview with Rolling Stone, DuVernay finally responds to the criticisms at some length:

“This is a dramatization of the events. But what's important for me as a student of this time in history is to not deify what the president did. Johnson has been hailed as a hero of that time, and he was, but we're talking about a reluctant hero. He was cajoled and pushed, he was protective of a legacy – he was not doing things out of the goodness of his heart. Does it make it any worse or any better? I don't think so. History is history and he did do it eventually. But there was some process to it that was important to show.”

January 6: Team “Selma” fires back in the op-ed sector. Stating flatly in the pages of USA Today that “'Selma' does not distort history,” NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President and Director Sherrilyn Ifill charges that King's “extraordinary work and words have been subjected to a nearly 50-year campaign of distortion.” She echoes DuVernay's position that Johnson wasn't exactly pure-hearted in the circumstance:

“He told Vice President Humphrey, 'if we don't pass anything but education, and medical care, and Appalachia, we have had a record that the Congressmen can be re-elected on.' The reference to 'Appalachia' was to his poverty bill…To be sure, Johnson was a champion of voting rights and pushed for it in 1965. But the film also portrays Johnson as what he was, a man who was political to his bones, and who also had a deep understanding of the awfulness of Southern resistance on race.

She also contends that the film “is not meant to be a documentary any more than '12 Years a Slave' or 'Unbroken,' two recent historical films in which artistic liberties were taken” and refocuses, noting that “'Selma's' power lies in its unique portrayal of the humanity and interior life of black people who sacrificed greatly to free themselves from unimaginable oppression.” But more to some of the above points:

“The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) represented King at the trial along with brilliant Alabama attorney Fred Gray, portrayed in the film by Cuba Gooding Jr. … After Gov. George Wallace tried to appeal Judge Frank Johnson Jr.'s order permitting the march to go forward, LDF briefed and argued the opposition in court. Our lawyers developed the march route and logistics to comply with the judge's order, working on the floor of their Alabama motel room with local activists.”

January 6: Former New York Times reporter Gay Talese, who was on the ground for much of the events depicted in the film, writes a letter to the editor of the Times addressing material presented in Schuessler's piece. “In my opinion, there is nothing in Ms. DuVernay's film that significantly distorts this historic event or the leadership role played by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” he writes, before referencing one of his sources at the time “who helped [him] understand the situation in Selma.” Quoting his own memoir:

“Before the march, Chestnut had admitted to having concerns that the promotion of black people's rights were being politically exploited by the Democrats in the White House in order to allow President Johnson to singularly dominate the daily headlines, and Chestnut was then bothered by the possibility that 'King was no longer the number-one civil rights leader in America; Lyndon Johnson was … and we'd been outfoxed and were in danger of being co-opted.' … But the successful completion of the Selma to Montgomery march allayed all of Chestnut's earlier anxieties.”

As Chestnut later co-wrote in his book, “Black in Selma,” Talese concludes, “'The march to Montgomery was the first enterprise I'd ever seen involving black and white people where the black people set the agenda and ran the show.'”

January 6: DuVernay attends a press and Academy event in New York on behalf of the film with Talese in attendance. “I was there, you weren't,” Talese says to her. “I was there. I saw it. She wasn't there,” he tells the crowd, “but she got it … I was seeing what I truly remembered.” DuVernay, meanwhile, again responds at some length to the debate:

“I think everyone sees history through their own lens and I don't begrudge anyone from wanting to see what they want to see. This is what I see. That should be valid. I'm not going to argue history. I could, but I won't. I'm just going to say that, you know, my voice, David's voice, the voices of all of the artists that gathered to do this, of Paramount Pictures, which allowed us to amplify this story to the world, is really focused on issues of justice and dignity. And for this to be reduced – reduced is really what all of this is – to one talking point of a small contingent of people who don't like one thing, is unfortunate, because this film is a celebration of people, a celebration of people who gathered to lift their voices – black, white, otherwise, all classes, nationalities, faiths – to do something amazing.”

She also embosses perhaps the most notable zeitgeist element of the entire situation, that voting rights remain under fire to this very day.

January 6: In an interview with Variety, King's son, Martin Luther King III, addresses questions regarding the depiction of King and wife Coretta Scott King's relationship and how the FBI surveillance is used dramatically in the film:

“I don't know that it happened the way that the film characterized it. We don't know where the truth meets the lie. What I heard my mom always say was that, while she was never naive, she understood the FBI's intent was, obviously, to break up the family … How would Ava DuVernay know what existed in the bedroom of my mom and dad? You really have to create some of that. Under the circumstances, I think that the film did the best it could.”

January 6: Finally something positive out of The Washington Post outside of film critic Ann Hornaday's rave review. Opinion writer Katrina vanden Heuvel, countering Califano's demand that the film be dismissed from the Oscar season, declares “it should sweep the Academy Awards.” She attempts to insert some nuance into the conversation:

“The conflicting perspectives reflect very different angles of vision. Dr. King and the courageous citizens who were putting their lives on the line in non-violent demonstrations were demanding action at the federal level. President Johnson and his predecessor John F. Kennedy, however sympathetic, were worried about sustaining a Democratic coalition still anchored by powerful Southern senators. Both felt pressured by the demonstrators. This wasn't a love fest. Attorney General Robert Kennedy authorized J. Edgar Hoover's FBI's wiretaps of King, which continued during Johnson's administration.”

And:

“Reform presidents – Franklin Roosevelt, Johnson, Barack Obama – are often depicted as saying to movement allies: 'I agree with you, now go out and make me do it.' But no president likes to be pressured from citizen movements, particularly from his base. The White House values control; movements are uncontrollable. Washington is cynical and values those who understand compromise. Movements require moral vision that inspires citizens to abandon normal life and take risks for change. And movement leaders often face popular pressures that are invisible from the beltway.”

January 7: After being interviewed by The Washington Post and brought up in a number of the pieces used to further the debate, Andrew Young takes to CNN with his own unfiltered thoughts. Like Ifill, he refocuses the conversation away from “historic, social and political facts” and onto “the spiritual phenomenon that enabled us to come together to change the South and the nation in 1965.” His ringing endorsement of the film adds to DuVernay's sentiment, revealing a plea to look at the bigger picture:

“MLK, LBJ, SNCC, SCLC, NAACP, churches, synagogues, universities, trade unions, United Nations, federal courts, FBI and even Congress came together in spite of historic conflicts and differences to create one of the greatest occasions in the history of our nation. That's miraculous. This complex story has evolved into a visual psalm of spiritual power that leads us to the truths of democracy that defy, but also reveal, the ultimate power that occasionally breaks into our lives and lifts us to new cultural heights. This is Selma the movement and 'Selma' the movie.”

January 8: Journalist Jim Naureckas deals a somewhat crushing blow for Team “Selma” on the far.org website. After refuting critical takedowns of the history presented in the film with a deep dive into quoted sources, she writes that the film's LBJ is “a white man who has something to learn from a black man. Fifty years after the events portrayed in 'Selma,' that's still evidently something some people don't want to see.” And earlier in the piece:

“The thing about the attacks on the film 'Selma' is that they not only distort the actual relationship between King and Johnson, they distort the film's portrayal of the relationship. LBJ is not the villain of the movie; the movie presents him as a complicated figure who under prodding accomplishes something great. (The speech he gives in support of the Voting Rights Act near the end of the film is an emotional high point.) But he's not the moral center of the film–that's King.”

January 9: Yes, there seems no end to the column space. Elizabeth Drew, writing for The New York Review of Books, echoes much of the previous grievances with the film's depiction of the King/Johnson relationship.

January 22: The pro-“Selma” op-eds continue, now at The New Yorker, where Amy Davidson joins the cause. “The movie does not, for example, portray L.B.J. as 'only reluctantly behind' the Voting Rights Act, which would indeed be a gross distortion,” she points out. “(See Robert Caro”s work for the best analysis of Johnson”s stealthy passion for the cause of equality.) It does portray him as disagreeing with King about the timing of the bill-which, to be fair, he did. On other points, though, Califano is simply rewriting history.”

January 28: Finally, at Grantland, Mark Harris comes in and bats clean-up for the film. “DuVernay”s most strident critics have failed not only the movie but history,” he writes. “Califano”s risible claim, for instance, that 'Selma was LBJ”s idea' is a great-white-father view of civil rights history that would do far more damage to veracity if it were to enter a high school curriculum than this movie would; it is thoroughly debunked in At Canaan”s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968, the last of a definitive three-volume history of America in the King years by the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Taylor Branch…So you have a choice: the fictional version of Johnson that is created in one moment of a dramatic movie, or the different, more fictional version of Johnson being retailed as fact by some of the movie”s detractors.”

***

Members of the North Carolina Film Critics Association have joined their Southeastern Film Critics Association counterparts in handing Wes Anderson's “Grand Budapest Hotel” the award for best narrative film of the year. Richard Linklater picked up Best Director for “Boyhood,” while Michael Keaton (“Birdman”) and – in a nice twist – Essie Davis (“The Babadook”) took top acting honors.

Check out the nominees here, the full list of winners below and the rest of these shenanigans at The Circuit.

Best Narrative Film
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Director
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

Best Actor
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”

Best Actress
Essie Davis, “The Babadook”

Best Supporting Actor
Edward Norton, “Birdman”

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”

Best Adapted Screenplay
James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, “Guardians of the Galaxy”

Best Original Screenplay
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Documentary Film
“Life Itself”

Best Animated Film
“The LEGO Movie”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Force Majeure”

Tar Heel Award
Special recognition to a performer or film with special ties to North Carolina.
Zach Galifanikas, “Birdman”

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) nominations announcement is always an interesting bend in the Oscar road if only because of the various awards season players that find themselves ineligible. “Selma,” “Mr. Turner” and “The Theory of Everything” were among the non-signatory DQs this year, as was “Birdman” – a fact I cop to completely missing somehow when I first wrote about the scripts that would not be competing this year. (*facepalm*) Those gaps are a beautiful thing for fringe players looking for a foothold, however.

Another intriguing twist (boy did the writers keep it exciting this year) is the revelation that the Academy has ruled Damien Chazelle's “Whiplash” an adapted screenplay, where the WGA considers it original. So it's nomination in that category with the guild will obviously leave a hole in the Academy's original race.

With the day's guild mentions complete, we're left with “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Imitation Game” as the only films to be chalked up across the board. And seeing as the casting directors now have their own Academy branch, I should probably include the Casting Society of America in all of this. If so, then Wes Anderson's critically acclaimed box office hit is the one film to have been cited by each industry group so far.

Check out the full list of nominees below. Previously announced, the television nominees are here. And keep up with what else has happened so far this season at The Circuit.

The 2015 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Feb. 14.

Original Screenplay
“Boyhood,” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher,” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler,” Written by Dan Gilroy
“Whiplash,” Written by Damien Chazelle

Adapted Screenplay
“American Sniper,” Written by Jason Hall; Based on the book by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and James Defelice
“Gone Girl,” Screenplay by Gillian Flynn; Based on her novel
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” Written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman; Based on the Marvel comic by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
“The Imitation Game,” Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book “Alan Turing: The Enigma” by Andrew Hodges
“Wild,” Screenplay by Nick Hornby; Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed

Documentary Screenplay
“Finding Vivian Maier,” Written by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel
“The Internet”s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz,” Written by Brian Knappenberger
“Last Days in Vietnam,” Written by Mark Bailey & Kevin McAlester
“Red Army,” Written by Gabe Polsky

(Previously announced TV nominees and more on the next page.)

TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA

Drama Series
“Game of Thrones”
“The Good Wife”
“House of Cards”
“Mad Men”
“True Detective”

Comedy Series
“Louie”
“Orange is the New Black”
“Silicon Valley”
“Transparent”
“Veep”

New Series
“The Affair”
“The Knick”
“Silicon Valley”
“Transparent”
“True Detective”

Long Form Original
“Deliverance Creek”
“Return to Zero”

Long Form Adapted
“Houdini”
“Klondike”
“The Normal Heart”
“Olive Kitteridge”
“Pilot” (“The Leftovers”)

Short Form New Media – Original
“Apocalypse No” (“Bad Shorts”)
“City of Angels” (“Caper”)
“Episode 1 – Nature” (“F to the 7th”
“Episode 113: Rachel” (“High Maintenance”)
“Episode 204” (“Vicky and Lysander”)
“Episode 207″ (Vicky and Lysander”)

Animation
“Bob and Deliver” (“Bob's Burgers”)
“Brick Like Me” (“The Simpsons”)
“Covercraft” (“The Simpsons”)
“Pay Pal” (“The Simpsons”)
“Steal This Episode” (“The Simpsons”)
“Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl” (“Bob's Burgers”)

Episodic Drama
“A Day's Work” (“Mad Men”)
“Devil You Know” (“Boardwalk Empire”)
“Donals the Normal” (“Rectify”)
“Friendless Child” (“Boardwalk Empire”)
“The Last Call” (“The Good Wife”)
“The Lion and the Rose” (“Game of Thrones”)

Episodic Comedy
“The Cold” (“Modern Family”)
“Landline” (“New Girl”)
“Low Self Esteem City” (“Orange is the New Black”)
“So Did the Fat Lady” (“Louie”)
“Three Dinners” (“Modern Family”)
“The Wilderness” (“Transparent”)

Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) – Series
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
“Inside Amy Schumer”
“The Colbert Report”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live”
“Saturday Night Live”
“Real Time with Bill Maher”

Comedy/Variety – Music, Awards, Tributes – Specials
“The 68th Annual Tony Awards”
“71st Annual Golden Globe Awards”
“2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards”
“Bill Maher: Live from D.C.”
“Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles”

Quiz and Audience Participation
“Hollywood Game Night”
“Jeopardy!”

Daytime Drama
“Days of Our Lives”
“General Hospital”

Children's Script – Episode and Specials
“Girl Meets 1961” (“Girl Meets World”)
“Haunted Heartthrob” (“Haunted Hathaways”)
“Haunted Sisters” (“Haunted Hathaways”)

Documentary Script – Current Events
“Losing Iraq” (“Frontline”)
“United States of Secrets: Privacy Lost (Part Two)” (“Frontline”)
“United States of Secrets: The Program (Part One)” (“Frontline”)

Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
“Episode Five: The Rising Road (1933-1939) (“The Roosevelts: An Intimate History”)
“League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis” (“Frontline”)
“Standing Up in the Milky Way (Episode 1)” (“Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey”)

TV News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
“50th Anniversary of JFK's Assassination” (“CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley”)
“CBS This Morning”
“Nelson Mandela: A Man Who Changed the World”

TV News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
“Nowhere to Go” (“60 Minutes”)

RADIO

Radio Documentary
“Three Shots Rang Out: The JFK Assassination 50 Years Later”

Radio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
“6AM News,” (1010 WINS Radio)
“8PM Hour,” (WCBS-AM)
“New York City Loses a Radio News Legend” (CBS Radio/1010 WINS)
“World News This Week,” (ABC News Radio)

Radio News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
“Civil Rights at 50”
“Remembering Nelson Mandela”

PROMOTIONAL WRITING

On-Air Promotion (Television, New Media, or Radio)
“How I Met Your Mother”
“WABC-TV On-Air Promos”

The Denver Film Critics Society has announced nominees for the year, and it was “Birdman” that came away with the most mentions with eight. “American Sniper” and “Inherent Vice” weren't far being with six each. They liked “American Sniper” so much they even nominated Sienna Miller's somewhat wasted performance.

Check out the full list of nominees below. The rest at The Circuit. Winners will be announced Jan. 12.

Best Picture
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“Inherent Vice”
“Whiplash”

Best Director
Clint Eastwood, “American Sniper”
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
Christopher Nolan, “Interstellar”

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
Ralph Fiennes, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Scarlett Johansson, “Under the Skin”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, “Inherent Vice”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Sienna Miller, “American Sniper”
Rene Russo, “Nightcrawler”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Katherine Waterston, “Inherent Vice”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
Anthony McCarten, “The Theory of Everything”
Nick Hornby, “Wild”
Jason Hall, “American Sniper”

Best Original Screenplay
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guiness, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Jeremy Saulnier, “Blue Ruin”

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Benoit Delhomme, “The Theory of Everything”
Hoyte Van Hoytema, “Interstellar”
Daniel Landin, “Under the Skin”
Tom Stern, “American Sniper”

Best Original Song
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
“Ordinary Human” from “The Giver”
“The Last Goodbye” from “The Hobbit” The Battle of the Five Armies”
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The LEGO Movie”
“Glory” from “Selma”

Best Score
“Birdman”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Inherent Vice”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Under the Skin”

Best Animated Film
“Big Hero 6”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The LEGO Movie”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”

Best Science Fiction/Horror Film
“The Babadook”
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
“Edge of Tomorrow”
“Interstellar”
“Under the Skin”

Best Comedy
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
“Neighbors”
“Top Five”
“22 Jump Street”

Best Documentary
“CITIZENFOUR”
“Jodorowsky”s Dune”
“Keep on Keepin” On”
“Life Itself”
“The Overnighters”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Force Majeure”
“Ida”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
“Two Days, One Night”
“Winter Sleep”

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) has announced 14 films nominated across seven categories – Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress – for the 4th AACTA International Awards. For those following the circuit, the nominees should look familiar and preditictive of what we”ll see come Oscar time.

“Birdman” earned the most love with seven nominations in almost each of the seven categories (earning two nominations for Best Supporting Actress). “Boyhood” and “Imitation Game” trailed with five, with “Whiplash” earning a heap of praise that, thanks to the Academy haziness, it may have trouble replicating.

The nominations saw a few outliers squeeze their way in, including Essie Davis for “The Babadook” and Andy Serkis for “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

Winners will be announced in Los Angeles on Jan 31, 2015 at the G”Day USA Gala featuring the 4th AACTA International Awards.  

Check out the full list of nominees below:

AACTA International Best Film
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Whiplash”
 
AACTA International Award for Best Direction
“Birdman,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
“Boyhood,” Richard Linklater
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game,” Morten Tyldum
“Whiplash,” Damien Chazelle
 
AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay
“Birdman,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
“Boyhood,” Richard Linklater
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game,” Graham Moore
“Whiplash,” Damien Chazelle
 
AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
 
AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actress
Essie Davis, “The Babdook”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
 
AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
Andy Serkis, “Dawn Of The Planet of The Apes”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
 
AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Meryl Streep, “Into The Woods”
Naomi Watts, “Birdman”

The Costume Designers Guild joined the guild chorus Wednesday morning with a list of nominees across three categories: contemporary, period and fantasy designs.

On the list, and finally joining the guild party, is “Selma” from legendary outfitter Ruth E. Carter. It's the first guild mention for the film so far and obviously a warranted one. Carter was joined on the period side by “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game,” “Inherent Vice” (yay!) and “The Theory of Everything.”

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out what makes “Interstellar” a contemporary film rather than a fantasy film (which is how the art directors classified it). Either way, I'm sure the team is happy to be included.

I can't believe, though, that “Mr. Turner” has been excluded from both this list and the art directors'. Though it feels like this kind of thing has happened before, only to be righted by the Academy. It's an immaculate example of design this year so I have to imagine it's still strong.

Check out the full list of nominees below and the rest of the madness at The Circuit.

The 17th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards will be held on Feb. 17.

FILM

Excellence in Contemporary Film
“Birdman” (Albert Wolsky)
“Boyhood” (Kari Perkins)
“Gone Girl” (Trish Summerville)
“Interstellar” (Mary Zophres)
“Wild” (Melissa Bruning)

Excellence in Period Film
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Milena Canonero)
“The Imitation Game” (Sammy Sheldon Differ)
“Inherent Vice” (Mark Bridges)
“Selma” (Ruth E. Carter)
“The Theory of Everything” (Steven Noble)

Excellence in Fantasy Film
“Guardians of the Galaxy” (Alexandra Byrne)
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” (Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor)
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” (Kurt and Bart)
“Into the Woods” (Colleen Atwood)
“Maleficent” (Anna B. Sheppard, Jane Clive)

TELEVISION

Outstanding Contemporary Television Series
“House of Cards” (Johanna Argan)
“Ray Donovan” (Christopher Lawrence)
“Saturday Night Live” (Tom Broecker, Eric Justian)
“Scandal” (Lyn Paolo)
“True Detective” (Jenny Eagan)

Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series
“Boardwalk Empire” (John Dunn)
“Game of Thrones” (Michele Clapton)
“The Knick” (Ellen Mirojnick)
“Mad Men” (Janie Bryant)
“Masters of Sex” (Ane Crabtree)

Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Mini Series
“American Horror Story: Freak Show” (Lou Eyrich)
“Houdini” (Birgit Hutter)
“The Normal Heart” (Daniel Orlandi)
“Olive Kitteridge” (Jenny Eagan)
“Sherlock” (Sarah Arthur)

Excellence in Commercial Costume Design
Army – 'Defy Expectations, Villagers' (Christopher Lawrence)
Direct TV – 'Less Attractive' with Rob Lowe (Mindy Le Brock, Jessica Albertson)
Dos Equis – 'Most Interesting Man in the World Walks on Fire' (Julie Vogel)
Kia Soul – Hamster Commercial Featuring 'Animals' (Anette Cseri)
Smirnoff – 'The Mixologist' (Laura Jean Shannon)

It was a pretty stellar year once again for cinematography and I don't envy the members of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) their duty of narrowing it down to the top tier. Last year they didn't even bother narrowing – they settled on a whopping seven nominees. Why not? The more the merrier when the work is this good.

No such luck this year, however, as we're back to five. And I must say, with two excellent pieces of work this year, I'm super bummed that Robert Elswit didn't make this list. I would have liked to see Bradford Young get the love, too, but I have no doubt he'll get his laurels in due time.

“Birdman,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Imitation Game” remain strong as the only films so far to pick up nods from all guilds (we'll see how that shifts throughout the day). “The Imitation Game” showing up here in particular should give an indication of how well-liked that movie is. “Mr. Turner” and “Unbroken” from legends and real-life buds Dick Pope and Roger Deakins respectively also unsurprisingly joined the mix.

But this is Chivo's to lose, right? For the second year in a row, it really seems like Emmanuel Lubezki is cruizing to both the ASC prize and the Oscar for the dynamic work in “Birdman.”

Check out the full list of nominees below and the rest of the whirlwind at The Circuit.

“Birdman” (Emmanuel Lubezki)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Robert D. Yeoman)
“The Imitation Game” (Óscar Faura)
“Mr. Turner” (Dick Pope)
“Unbroken” (Roger Deakins)

Previously announced, television nominees are:

Episode of a Regular Series
“Viking” – “Blood Eagle” (P.J. Dillon)
“Boardwalk Empire” – “Golden Days for Boys and Girls” (Jonathan Freeman)
“Game of Thrones” – “The Children” (Anette Haellmigk)
“Gotham” – “Spirit of the Goat” (Christopher Norr)
“Manhattan” – “Perestroika” (Richard Rutkowski)
“Game of Thrones” – “Mockingbird” (Fabian Wagner)

Television Movie, Miniseries or Pilot
“The Trip to Bountiful” (David Greene)
“Manhattan” (John Lindley)
“Gotham” (David Stockton)
“Deliverance Creek” (Theo Van de Sande)

The 29th annual ASC Awards will be held on Feb. 15.

Hand it to the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle for not conforming to categorical tradition. Yes, they hand out Best Actor and Actress (this year: Michael Keaton and Rosamund Pike), director (Richard Linklater), and Best Picture (“Boyhood”), but they also throw out a Best First Feature award a la the Independent Spirit Awards, accolades for Body of Work and Best Guilty Pleasure and dissbombs in the form of Obvious and Not So Obvious Worst Films of the Year. It”s a colorful announcement.

The OFCC”s best films list is an eclectic round-up. With “Boyhood” taking the top spot, the group”s list rounded out with “Birdman,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Whiplash,” “Gone Girl,” “Nightcrawler,” “The Imitation Game,” “The LEGO Movie,” “A Most Violent Year,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” 

See the full list of winners below:

Best Picture
“Boyhood”

Top 10 Films of 2014
“Boyhood”
“Birdman”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Whiplash”
“Gone Girl”
“Nightcrawler”
“The Imitation Game”
“The LEGO Movie”
“A Most Violent Year”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”

Best Director
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

Best Actor
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”

Best Actress
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”

Best Supporting Actor
Edward Norton, “Birdman”

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”

Best Original Screenplay
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl”

Best First Feature
“Nightcrawler”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Force Majeure”

Best Documentary
“Life Itself”

Best Animated Film
“The LEGO Movie”

Best Body of Work
Chris Miller & Phil Lord, “The LEGO Movie” and “22 Jump Street”

Best Guilty Pleasure
“Edge of Tomorrow”

Not So Obviously Worst Film
“The Monuments Men”

Obviously Worst Film
“Transformers: Age of Extinction”

The Iowa Film Critics Association announced Tuesday that “Boyhood” was the organization”s Best Picture of 2014. The film took three awards, including nods to director Richard Linklater and Patricia Arquette”s supporting actress performance.

With familiar faces cropping up in most of the main categories, Iowa critics strayed from expectations by awarding Reese Witherspoon Best Actress and bestowing the disenfranchised “Birdman” score with top honors. Take that, Academy!

Below are the full results, including runners-up in each category:

Best Picture
Winner: “Boyhood”
Runners-up: “Birdman,” “The Imitation Game”

Best Director
Winner: Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Runners-Up: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman” and David Fincher, “Gone Girl”

Best Actor
Winner: Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Runners-Up: Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything” and Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”

Best Actress
Winner: Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
Runners-Up: Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything” and Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Runners-Up: Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood” and Edward Norton, “Birdman”

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Runners-Up: Emma Stone, “Birdman” and Tilda Swinton, “Snowpiercer,” “Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Only Lovers Left Alive”

Best Documentary
Winner: “CITIZENFOUR”
Runners-Up: “Life Itself” and “Last Days in Vietnam”

Best Animated Film
Winner: “The LEGO Movie”
Runners-Up: “Big Hero 6” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2”

Best Score
Winner: “Birdman”
Runners-Up: “The Imitation Game” and “The Theory of Everything”

Best Song
Winner: “Everything Is Awesome” from “The LEGO Movie”
Runners-Up: “Glory” from “Selma” and “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”

Best Movie Yet to Open in Iowa
Winners: “American Sniper” and “A Most Violent Year”

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910543635001

The BAFTA Awards Rising Star honor is the one award the British public gets to vote on and in the nine years it's been handed out, their choices have, at times, been surprising. Well, at least to those of us on this side of the Atlantic.  

Previous winners include familiar faces such as James McAvoy, Eva Green, Kristen Stewart, Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy. The last three winners might not be so recognizable. Three years ago British actor and rapper Adam Deacon defeated Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Chris O'Dowd and Eddie Redmayne. Juno Temple won over Elizabeth Olsen, among others, in 2013. And last February found Will Poulter defeating Dane DeHaan, Lupita Nyong'o and Léa Seydoux.

BAFTA announced this year's class a day earlier than the rest of its nominees and, frankly, it's the most competitive group of nominees the category has seen in some time. Without further ado, the 2015 Rising Star Award nominees are…

Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jack O'Connell
Margot Robbie
Miles Teller
Shailene Woodley

Teller partially earned his nomination because of his impressive work in “Whiplash,” but he finds himself at odds with his “Divergent” and “Spectacular Now” co-star Shailene Woodley. The duo are the only American nominees this year. Aussie Margot Robbie probably should have been nominated for “The Wolf of Wall Street” last year, but considering her upcoming slate (“Focus,” “Z for Zachariah”) she certainly warrants the attention. Brits Jack O'Connell (“Unbroken”) and the very deserving Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Beyond the Lights,” “Belle”) round out the field.

The complete list of BAFTA Award nominations will be announced at 11:35 PM PST Thursday night, 2:35 AM EST Friday morning. Oh, and that's 7:35 AM London time for our friends across the pond.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910338016001

As we inch closer and closer to the end of Oscar nomination voting, it's sometimes the little things we've learned over the season that stick with us the most. One nugget I always associate with James Marsh's “Theory of Everything” is how intricately the filmmaker and Eddie Redmayne had to plan out the latter's portrayal of Stephen Hawking. Ever since I sat down with Redmayne in Toronto for an extended interview, it's stuck with me. If you've read about Redmayne's breakdown of Hawking's condition scene by scene, you might think it left little room for improvisation or discovery on set. That was hardly the case.

While moderating a Q&A with Marsh and producer Lisa Bruce on Sunday, I asked the Oscar winner about one particular scene that seemed more poignant upon a second viewing. Stricken with ALS, Hawking loses more and more of his motor skills. In this particular scene his wife (wonderfully played by Felicity Jones) brings a wheelchair into their home for the first time. Once Hawking sits in it both he and the audience know he'll never get out of it again.

Marsh said that when they got on set that particular day the staging described in the screenplay didn't work with the space of the room. They completely reconfigured it, which included putting the chair off-camera and dropping a significant amount of dialogue. The result is a touching moment of almost no dialogue where Jane (Jones) walks out of the room and rolls the chair in as Hawking just stares at it. Eventually he puts himself in the chair (with a loud thud) and makes sure to say something akin to “This is temporary” as Jane just smiles at him.  

With that context in mind, Focus Features has provided HitFix with an exclusive featurette which, it turns out, centers on another scene in the movie that was shot differently than originally intended. In the video, which is embedded at the top of this post, Marsh praises Redmayne and Jones for their improvisation in what turns out to be one of the sweetest moments in the film. Trust, it's well worth watching.

“The Theory of Everything” is still playing nationwide.

Because the Casting Society of America shifted the date of its Artios Awards, this year”s nominees include films released theatrically from July 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2014, paving the way for last year”s Best Picture winner to nuzzle its way into contention along with 2014 hopefuls like “Birdman,” “Boyhood,” and “Selma.”

With categories ranging from Big Budget Drama to Low Budget Comedy, nearly every film that one expects to make the cut made the cut. And then some. The CSA”s nominees put “Guardians of the Galaxy” side by side with “Wolf of Wall Street,” “Whiplash” with “Inside Llewyn Davis,” and Disney”s “Planes” with “Frozen.” If you were dreaming of a re-evaluation of “We”re the Millers,” your time is now.

2015″s bicoastal Artios Awards will be hosted by Patton Oswalt (Los Angeles) and Michael Urie (New York City). The evening will also honor two-time Academy Award®-nominee Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”) with the Career Achievement Award; Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy Award®-winning director Rob Marshall (Into the Woods) with the New York Apple Award; and Emmy Award®-winning casting director Ellen Lewis with the Hoyt Bowers Award. Francine Maisler leads the film contenders with four nominations for her work in casting: “Into the Woods,” “Birdman,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Captain Phillips.”

Check out the full list of film nominations below:

Big Budget Comedy
“Guardians of the Galaxy” – Sarah Finn, Reg Poerscout-Edgerton, Tamara Hunter
(Associate)
“Into The Woods” – Francine Maisler, Bernard Telsey, Tiffany Little Canfield
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” – Rachel Tenner, Charlene Lee (Associate), Bess Fifer
(Associate)
“This is Where I Leave You” – Cindy Tolan, Adam Caldwell (Associate)
“We”re the Millers” – Lisa Beach, Sarah Katzman, Lisa Mae Fincannon (Location
Casting), Jeremy Gordon (Associate), Beth Lipari (Associate), Dana Salerno
(Associate)
“The Wolf of Wall Street” – Ellen Lewis
 
Big Budget Drama
“12 Years a Slave” – Francine Maisler, Meagan Lewis (Location Casting), Melissa
Kostenbauder (Associate)
“American Hustle” – Mary Vernieu, Lindsay Graham, Angela Peri (Location Casting)
“Captain Phillips” – Francine Maisler, Donna M. Belajac (Location Casting)
“Foxcatcher” – Jeanne McCarthy, Rori Bergman (Location Casting), Donna M. Belajac
(Location Casting), Matthew Maisto (Associate)
“Gone Girl” – Laray Mayfield, Annie Hamilton (Location Casting)
“Selma” – Aisha Coley, Robyn Owen (Associate)
 
Studio or Independent Comedy
“Big Eyes” – Jeanne McCarthy, Nicole Abellera, Coreen Mayrs (Location Casting), Heike
Brandstatter (Location Casting)
“Chef” – Sarah Finn, Tamara Hunter (Associate)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Douglas Aibel, Jina Jay, Henry Russell Bergstein
(Associate)
“Pride” – Fiona Weir
“St. Vincent” – Laura Rosenthal
“Top Five” – Victoria Thomas, Matthew Maisto (Associate)
 
Studio or Independent Drama
“Birdman” – Francine Maisler
“Blue Jasmine” – Juliet Taylor, Patricia DiCerto, Nina Henninger (Location Casting)
“Dallas Buyers Club” – Kerry Barden, Paul Schnee, Rich Delia, Tracy Kilpatrick (Location
Casting), Allison Estrin (Associate)
“Inside Llewyn Davis” – Ellen Chenoweth, Amelia McCarthy (Associate)
“The Theory of Everything” – Nina Gold
“Whiplash” – Terri Taylor
 
Low Budget Comedy
“Adult World” – Jennifer Euston
“Believe Me” – JC Cantu, Beth Sepko (Location Casting)
“Dear White People” – Kim Taylor-Coleman
“The Double” – Douglas Aibel, Henry Russell Bergstein (Associate)
“Space Station 76” – Eric Souliere
“Two Night Stand” – Angela Demo, Julie Schubert (Location Casting)
 
Low Budget Drama
“Boyhood” – Beth Sepko
“Cake” – Mary Vernieu, Lindsay Graham
“Camp X-Ray” – Richard Hicks
“Lonely Boy” – Howard Meltzer
“Short Term 12” – Kerry Barden, Paul Schnee, Rich Delia, Allison Estrin (Associate)
“The Spectacular Now” – Angela Demo, Tracy Kilpatrick (Location Casting)
 
Animation
“Big Hero 6” – Jamie Sparer Roberts
“The Book of Life” – Christian Kaplan
“Frozen” – Jamie Sparer Roberts
“Monsters University” – Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon
“Planes” – Jason Henkel
“Rio 2” – Christian Kaplan

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910325021001

We've been writing about Ava DuVernay's fantastic drama “Selma” since it first debuted at the AFI Film Festival on Nov. 11. While many have been able to catch the Best Picture player in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and other select cities since Christmas, the rest of the nation will finally get their chance to experience it on Friday. Paramount Pictures has provided HitFix with an exclusive clip which comes at a pivotal moment in the film.

Early on audiences are introduced to three residents of the city, Cager Lee (Henry G. Sanders), his daughter Viola Jackson (Charity Jordan) and his grandson, Jimmie Lee Jackson (Keith Stanfield). They, like many African-American residents of the area, were peacefully protesting the fact that a civil rights leader was being held in county jail when they were attacked by police officers. Lee and his family sought refuge in a local restaurant when police found them and tragedy struck. In the embedded clip, Dr. Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo) meets Lee at the mortuary to console him.  

Speaking to Sanders this weekend, he says he credits Oyelowo for helping pull off the emotional moment.

He notes, “I mean it's kind of unexpected. Why would Dr. King come see these just regular people? Why would he be so interested in that? And with David it was just so wonderful and easy because he was there in the scene and he gives you so much and you just have to trust that the work pays off.”

Sanders isn't a household name, but he has his own place in cinema history. A veteran actor and director he starred in the classic American indie “Killer of Sheep.” The 1977 Charles Burnett drama was one of the first 50 films on the Library of Congress' National Film Registry and, recently, Steven Soderbergh helped raised funds to make sure a restored print would be available for future generations. The 72-year-old has also had notable roles in films such as “Bull Durham” and “Rocky Balboa” and was a regular on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

Given his 40-plus years in the business, I asked him what stood out about working with DuVernay and he immediately replied, “She knew what she wanted. That's one of the things you can really tell the brilliance of a director when they've thought this thing through and they know the characters. They're comfortable, which makes you comfortable, as opposed to a director that doesn't quite know what he wants but he knows it if you give it to him. So if you're not clear about what [they] want then you're a little confused and you just try to find something to bring. I mean, she's amazing in that sense.”

He also credits his Oyelowo with some good advice about playing Lee.

“We had talked about my age and that I didn't look as old as 82 years old,” Sanders recalls. “We were thinking about making him in his '70s. And David said that he thought that was a bad idea because you would feel more sympathy for an 82-year-old than you would a 72-year-old going through the same thing. And I thought, 'Wow, what a brilliant idea.' That was really good and it helped me a lot.”

While he only has a supporting role in a very large ensemble, it's clear that the film has a special place in Sanders' heart.

“I've seen it five times and every time the reaction is the same,” Sanders says. “I still walk out emotional about what I've seen and just kind of thoughts of what people had gone through, especially Dr. King's last speech. It still gives me chills every time I hear it.”

You can watch Sanders' work in the embedded clip at the top of this post.

“Selma” opens nationwide on Friday.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910338040001

Landing at an opportune time with phase two of the awards season right around the corner, Richard Linklater's “Boyhood” arrives on DVD/Blu-ray today. It's a good time to catch up with the film, if you haven't already at the theater or via Digital HD.

At this point, Linklater's opus has picked up 15 critics awards prizes for Best Picture. That's far and away the most baubles on the year. I asked Linklater at Variety's 10 Directors to Watch luncheon (where he was on hand to present an award to Chris Rock) whether he was tired of winning trophies yet. Cool and collected as usual, he simply offered that he and the team – who according to Ethan Hawke feels like they crashed the party – are just trying to take it all in stride.

Speaking of Hawke, he features prominently in an exclusive clip from the film provided to us by Paramount Home Media Distribution. You can check it out at the top of this post.

How many Oscar nominations with the film end up landing next week? Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing seems like the likely haul, but is anything possible beyond that? Moreover, does the film have a date with destiny at the Dolby Theater next month? Time will tell.

“Boyhood” is now available on Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital HD.

What happens to war movies when soldiers stop going to war? Andrew Niccol”s “Good Kill” is a glimpse at modern battle tactics, piloted drones taking out the Taliban from afar, as well as a hint at the task films face when examining the 21st century soldier. By nature, sitting behind a computer is far more introverted and introspective than engaging in on-the-ground military operations. As we see in the first trailer for “Good Kill,” it really is all quiet on the Western front.

In “Good Kill,” Ethan Hawke stars as Tom Egan, a fighter jet pilot relocated to a Las Vegas for drone piloting. In the mornings, Tom goes to work, logs in to his computer, blows up his required targets for the day – buildings, tanks, people. At night, he heads home to his family, lights up the grill, sits down for a cozy a meal, and heads to bed. That”s life. And it”s driving him nuts.

In his review from the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, our own Drew McWeeny praised the film for its stripped down, forceful approach in understanding the all-too-easy task of dropping bombs from a drone. “['Good Kill'] has one thing on its mind, and as a result, there's nothing especially subtle about its approach,” he writes. “It is an angry movie, and it's not interested in pulling that punch it's throwing. It also doesn't offer any answer about the questions that it raises, and how could it?”

Voltage Pictures picked up “Good Kill” after its TIFF premiere with the intention of releasing sometime in 2015. Check out the new trailer below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGpSemB_hs&w=890&h=501]