Holding pattern. And maybe it’s time to revamp the ole’ website? Every time I go there I expect to find that Julian Fellowes has won Best Screenplay for “Gosford Park.” Anyway, the announcement should drop within the hour.
In the meantime, here are the Southeastern Film Critics Association’s picks.
The most striking thing about this year’s slate of BFCA nominations is that, to go by the films listed in the various categories, apparently there were only 30 or so movies released this year. And most categories were dominated by the same five films, which is disappointing, if a bit predictable.
When the organization added below-the-line categories last year, though, it was probably asking for this kind of distillation. I’m not sure a great many of the membership knows from quality sound in a motion picture, but this is their (our — I am a member) platform. You’ll see my ballot Wednesday, but it’s considerably different than this.
Anyway, “Black Swan” led the field with a record 12 nominations. “The King’s Speech” and “True Grit” weren’t far behind with 11 each. “Inception” netted 10, “The Social Network” landed nine and “127 Hours” nailed down eight. Those are clearly the favorites throughout.
Check out The Circuit for the list of winners.
UPDATE: The St. Louis critics have announced their nominees. I won’t bother with a separate post. Check them out here.
Okay, let’s lead with the really interesting news. By handing their Best Supporting Actress award to Juliette Lewis for her barnstorming, dialogue-jiggering hammery in “Conviction” (I mean that in wholly admiring terms, by the way), the Boston Society of Film Critics officially take the title for the coolest go-your-own-way pick of this admittedly young season. Is this win a one-night-only deal, or is Lewis a fun new name to add into the Oscar mix? The latter, I’m hoping.
Beyond that, it was back to regular business, as “The Social Network” furthered its reputation is this year’s critical darling by sweeping the top categories — Best Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay, as well as a citation of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score. Jesse Eisenberg toppled Colin Firth by a single vote to claim yet another handy precursor: that Oscar nomination is looking ever more comfortably in his grasp.
Guy’s updated Oscar predictions here.
Just one week on from the first formal awards announcements of the season, the Oscar season may still be taking its first steps, but my personal interest in the precursor trail is nonetheless set to peak this very weekend.
That, of course, is when the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association weigh in with their selections of the year’s best, showing up the likes of the nominee-naming Washington group as the pretenders they are, while classing up the season with some unapologetically idiosyncratic film smarts.
Or so we hope – for as much as the major critics’ groups often delight us by throwing caution (and Oscar-soothsaying cred) to the wind with rebellious left-field picks, they are equally capable of falling dully into line behind pre-anointed favourites. I was recently chased by Tom O’Neil’s resurrected Gold Derby site for my NYFCC and LAFCA predictions, and while I’m as game as anyone for a spot of light-hearted, consequence-free punting, the irony of the exercise still nagged away at me: the day I predict either group’s set of winners accurately is the day they’ll cease to matter to me.
The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association will officially announce its winners tomorrow (after releasing a list of nominees yesterday), but we’ve got them for you in advance at The Circuit.
David Fincher’s “The Social Network” took the Film/Director/Screenplay trifecta, while Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” was the big winner over all, taking four awards including Best Original Screenplay.
Also notable was Melissa Leo and Christian Bale’s wins in the supporting categories, a one-two punch for “The Fighter” that could well be reflected by the Academy in a couple of months. Meanwhile, “The Town” has taken its second ensemble award (along with last week’s National Board of Review honor). Could this all be prelude to a SAG ensemble nod and, eventually, a Best Picture nomination? I’m thinking yes.
Courtesy of Jeff Wells, here’s Meryl Streep accepting Best Actress from the New York Film Critics’ Circle. Streep should really offer tutorials in award acceptance — the format of a critics’ award dinner allows her to ramble more than at more formal ceremonies, but her wit and sincerity hits home every time. I loved this zinger:
I’d like to thank Sony and Amy Pascal for sending me to REAL Paris, unlike Fox on “The Devil Wears Prada,” who sent me Midtown…
Their top 10:
1. “Up in the Air”
2. “Up”
3. “An Education”
4. “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
5. “Inglourious Basterds”
6. “The Hurt Locker”
7. “In the Loop”
8. “(500) Days of Summer”
9. “A Serious Man”
10. “A Single Man”
Superlatives listed at our Circuit page.
Check out the full list of winners at our Precursor Circuit page.
Okay, “A Serious Man” gets a nod for Best Film…and nothing else? Alrighty:
Best Film
“The Hurt Locker”
“A Serious Man”
“Up in the Air”
Best Actor
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
The rest at our Precursor Circuit page. Thanks to Ed Douglas at Coming Soon for the tip.
FINALLY Paul Schneider gets some much-deserved love. And a production design victory for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is inspired. Otherwise, zzzzzz…
Then again, I guess it’s worth noting that this is the first time since 1997 that a single film made the hat trick of NYFCC, LAFCA and NSFC.
The main categories:
Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor: Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress: Yolande Moreau, “Seraphine”
Check out the full slate, plus the rest of the year’s kudo collectives, over at our Precursor Circuit page.
Best Picture
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”
Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Neill Blomkamp, “District 9”
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Joel & Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Sharlto Copley, “District 9”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Joaquin Phoenix, “Two Lovers”
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress
Mélanie Laurent, “Inglourious Basterds”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Tilda Swinton, “Julia”
Check out the rest at our Precursor Circuit page.
Just a heads up, we’ve been keeping track of all the precursor announcements at our Precursor Circuit page. The latest additions are the London, Phoenix, Oklahoma, Florida and Houston. I hope everyone’s having a fun and relaxing holiday week so far.
We’ve added the Screen Actors Guild, Las Vegas and Utah film critics, as well as Detroit’s winners, to our precursor collective, FYI. Have a look here.
Check out the latest additions at our precursor page. More on the way.
The winners, more after the jump:
Best Picture
“Up in the Air”
Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Best Actress
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”