Critic Awards: LA, NY, Broadcast Film, AFI, Boston, NBR, SF, London

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:12pm

from oscarwatch.com:

Picture: Brokeback Mountain (over A History of Violence)

Director: Ang Lee (over David Cronenberg)

Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote (over Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain)

Actress: Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone (over Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents)

Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, for four films (Capote, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The Interpreter), over Amy Adams of Junebug

Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence (over Frank Langella, Good Night, and Good Luck)

Screenplay: Dan Futterman, Capote (over Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale)

Cinematography: Robert Elswit, Good Night, and Good Luck (over 2046)

Production Design: 2046 (over Good Night, and Good Luck)

Music: Joe Hisaishi, Howl's Moving Castle

New Generation Award: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow

Documentary: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (over Alex Gibney's Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room)

Animated Feature: Wallace + Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Foreign Film: Michael Haneke's Cachet (over 2046).

Updated On: 12/16/05 at 09:12 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:22pm

How absolutely brilliant would it be if Brokeback Mountain won Best Picture? I just want to see Pat Robertson's head explode.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:49pm

Decidedly good winners....although I think the screenplay for CAPOTE is an unshapely mess (HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is sooooo much better, cut like a diamond) and Keener's win (I love her, too, but...) feels knee-jerk. Why not Tilda????

[fflagg]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 10:09pm

The best perf by an actress in a leading role is Felicity Huffman. I look forward to seeing her win an Oscar and demand a raise to stay on HOUSEWIVES with Teri Hatcher spitting nails. I wonder if the LAFC even saw TRANSAMERICA?

I think the best film of the year so far is MARCH OF THE PENGUINS.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 11:56pm

Variety has given MUNICH a bad review.

Now the only sure lock for a Best Picture Oscar nod is BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (and maybe KING KONG, but that depends more on the Academy's opinion of fantasy blockbusters than on anything regarding quality). Hopefully the marketers of BROKEBACK can take this newly-earned advantage and run with it.

(On a related topic, check out http://www.oscarwatch.com/FYC/ . Why are all the BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN "For Your Consideration" ads so heterosexual? How weird.)

Updated On: 12/11/05 at 11:56 PM

[Luscious]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:16am

Regardless of how good it may or may not be, the Academy will not honor King Kong with a Best Picture Oscar. First off... Peter Jackson and the final installment of the LOTR triolgy just won last year. Award the same Director with a Best Picture Oscar two years in a row? Highly doubtful. In addition, the Academy will not award Best Picture to a big budget modern day remake of a classic American film, regardless of how well it may have turned out. That said, I'm very much looking forward to seeing Jackson's Kong, and if it's as good as word has it, I hope it gets an Oscar nod.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:21am

Lucious, Million Dollar Baby was last year.

And, just like with LOTR's being a fantasy film, I think Jackson has the great potential of defying the odds with a remake winning Best Picture. I think KK is gonna win it.

Updated On: 12/11/05 at 01:21 AM

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:24am

First off... Peter Jackson and the final installment of the LOTR triolgy just won last year. Award the same Director with a Best Picture Oscar two years in a row? Highly doubtful.

Actually, Jackson won two years ago. (Last year was the yawn year of MILLION DOLLAR BABY.) But I agree with you: KONG has strong odds against it. Someone on OscarWatch.com had an interesting to say: if Jackson and KONG were to win again, Hollywood would have to admit that a New Zealand creative team makes better movies than Hollywood does in L.A. And Hollywood isn't going to admit that their movies suck.

That said, it looks like KING KONG is going to be one of best-reviewed films of the year.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:25am

Well, now that is an interesting point, Bluey. I wonder if that will indeed go against it. I'll be happy if Brokeback gets the Oscar--and it very well may.

[Luscious]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:37am

Oops. You are so right Jerby. My bad. My how time flies. And how could I ever forget a gem like Million Dollar Baby? (Sarcasm intended) But I still contend that the Academy will not overshadow a classic American film by awarding a Best Picture Oscar to a modern day remake. (Has a remake ever won a Best Picture Oscar? Seriously wondering.)

In addition, Munich is sounding less and less like the strong Oscar contender that it was being touted to be. Besides, Steven Spielberg is not an Academy favorite. I could see Capote being recognized for it's screenplay and Philip Seymour Hoffman perhaps being awarded a Best Actor Oscar, but it's not going to win Best Picture. Neither is History of Violence (too subversive and the Director is Canadian), The Producers (although, it will walk away with the Golden Globe for Best Picture in the Musical/Comedy category), Walk the Line (although, Joaquin and Reese stand a good chance of receiving recognition for giving first rate performances), Memoirs of a Geisha (mixed to disappointing reviews. best chance it has is in the cinematography, scenic design, and costume categories), or Rent (forget about it. no nominations. they didn't even write a new song for the movie so that it could qualify in the Best Original Song category). So what does that leave us with? If ever there was a year that a movie like BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN stood a chance of winning Best Picture, this is the year. Go Brokeback!

Updated On: 12/11/05 at 01:37 AM

[zzannahk]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:43am

or "go for broke" back

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:50am

I think right now, today, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is the top contender, with news of the record-breaking per-screen average, the L.A. Film Critics' thumbs-up and the Variety's panning of MUNICH.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:13am

Jesus H. Christ...VERA FARMIGA???

I went to college with her...we did several shows together (including THE SEAGULL). ATTA GIRL!

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:21am

the fyc posters for brokeback are a huge disappointed. huge. disappointment.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:31am

People, you all seem to be forgetting the fairly high marks Capote and Good Night...both received, specifically for their leading actors. And don't forget Walk the Line.
Those three, much moreso than Brokeback and KK, seem to be the kind of films the Academy most likes to honor.
I'm reserving final judgment on King Kong until I see it, but right now I'd put my money on Walk the Line.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:35am

I keep changing my predictions with each hour. Currently, I would guess that the following will be nominated for BP:

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (the only 100% lock at this point)
MUNICH (it'll survive the Variety pan)
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
WALK THE LINE
CRASH/KING KONG

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:39am

Wait wait wait. William Hurt won for his atrocious cameo in History Of Violence? Dear oh dear.

And yes, those Brokeback "For Your Consideration" posters are a travesty.

[Therese]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 12:02pm

Yay, one in for Wallace & Gromit!

While reading all the Oscar speculation and discussion of critical reactions, there's a story I keep wanting to bring up. I know this has happened many times, but 1999 is the year that sticks with me. Premiere Magazine does a critical chart every spring, ranking all the movies of the previous year by how they were reviewed by a selection of major critics.

The 5 best-reviewed films of 1999, according to Premiere, were:
1. Election
2. The Dreamlife of Angels
3. Toy Story 2
4. (tie) Being John Malkovich
4. (tie) Topsy Turvy

None of these were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The nominees that year were:

American Beauty (winner)
The Insider
Cider House Rules
The Sixth Sense
The Green Mile

On the Premiere chart, American Beauty and The Insider were the highest ranked of the nominated films, tying for 8th. The other three films appeared on the critics' chart in various spots ranging from the mid-20s to mid-40s. Point being, middling reviews won't necessarily stop an "Oscar-bait" movie like Munich, and the Academy Award nominees don't always match the critics' choices (more's the pity, usually).

[DG]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 12:18pm

Concerning the BROKEBACK FYC posters - it might be well to remember the societal influences that make this project so groundbreaking from a main-stream perspective. And that homophobia is rarely as insidious as it is in Hollywood. These posters don't surprise me a bit.

[Dolly_Levi]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 12:49pm

I believe that I read that there was a TIE for the screenplay award, Futterman's "Capote" and Baumbach's "Squid & the Whale"

Let me check. (Edit, looks like it was indeed a "rare" tie.)




LA FILM CRITICS AWDS

Updated On: 12/11/05 at 12:49 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 1:16pm

We'll know more after Nat'l Board of Review and NY Critics Awards are announced. The LA group is sometimes more eccentric and quirky. But I would've thought BROKEBACK the NY winner, not LA, so this indeed paves the way for BROKEBACK's chances as the Big Picture of the year. (I think BROKEBACK is the only movie to have near consensus in NY.) I also think Ledger could eclipse Hoffman in NY, making that race tighter. But who knows? And of course, the Globes, which are interesting and now far more coveted than the old days ... but not always a sure forecast.

Friends and I were saying last night: Ledger is sort of a male Charlize. The pretty one who's exceeded the demands of the genre he usually appears in. (And in inane Hollywood-think: playing gay is like gaining 50 pounds and wearing a fake nose.) Hoffman is probably more beloved on the East coast. But who doesn't enjoy a battle between two straight actors playing gay characters in Bush-era America?

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:01pm

Jrb, it should be noted that the actual wording of the LA Critics Awards is not (over so-and-so) but "runner-up."
I may be splitting hairs, but for me it does sound pretty nice that Heath Ledger is runner up to Philip Seymore Hoffman. A silver medal ain't half bad.
Wins for Best Picture and Best Director!!! Go Brokeback!
And isn't this the first time that both front runners for Best Actor are for gay roles?
Amazing year 2005!

Updated On: 12/11/05 at 11:01 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:55pm

esl--that was a direct copy and paste from oscarwatch.com. I didn't choose the wording. :)

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:56pm

The 2005 NYFCO (New York Film Critics Online) Awards
Awards Meeting held at Mo Pitkin's Resturant in the East Village


Picture - The Squid and the Whale
Actor - Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Actress - Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice)
Director - Fernando Meirelles (Constant Gardener)
Supporting Actor - Oliver Platt (Casanova)
Supporting Actress - Amy Adams (Junebug)
Breakthrough Performer - Terrence Howard (Hustle and Flow, Crash, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Four Brothers)
Debut Director - Paul Haggis (Crash)
Screenplay - Paul Haggis (Crash)
Documentary - Grizzly Man
Foreign Language - Downfall
Animated - Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Cinematography - March of the Penguins


Top 9:
The Best of Youth (Miramax)
Brokeback Mountain (Focus)
Capote (Sony Classics)
The Constant Gardener (Focus)
Crash (Lions Gate)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent)
Munich (Universal/DreamWorks)
The Squid and the Whale (Samuel Goldwyn)
Syriana (Warner Bros.)

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/11/05 at 11:57pm

Broadcast Film Critics Announce
From the press release:

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominees for the 11th annual Critics’ Choice Awards. “Brokeback Mountain” leads in nominations with eight nods including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Actress and nominations for Best Composer, Writer and Song. “Crash” received six nods including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Writer and two nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Matt Dillon and Terrence Howard. Howard received three nominations, in addition to his Best Supporting Actor nomination for “Crash,” he received Best Actor and Best Song nods for “Hustle & Flow.”

NOMINEES FOR THE 11TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Walk the Line

BEST ACTOR:
Russell Crowe – “Cinderella Man”
Philip Seymour Hoffman – “Capote”
Terrence Howard – “Hustle & Flow”
Heath Ledger – “Brokeback Mountain”
Joaquin Phoenix – “Walk the Line”
David Strathairn – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

BEST ACTRESS:
Joan Allen – “The Upside of Anger”
Judi Dench - “Mrs. Henderson Presents”
Felicity Huffman – “Transamerica”
Keira Knightley – “Pride & Prejudice”
Charlize Theron – “North Country”
Reese Witherspoon – “Walk the Line”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
George Clooney – “Syriana”
Kevin Costner – “The Upside of Anger”
Matt Dillon – “Crash”
Paul Giamatti – “Cinderella Man”
Jake Gyllenhaal – “Brokeback Mountain”
Terrence Howard – “Crash”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Amy Adams – “Junebug”
Maria Bello – “A History of Violence”
Catherine Keener – “Capote”
Frances McDormand – “North Country”
Rachel Weisz – “The Constant Gardener”
Michelle Williams – “Brokeback Mountain”

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE:
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Rent
Syriana
Sin City

BEST DIRECTOR:
George Clooney – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Paul Haggis – “Crash”
Ron Howard – “Cinderella Man”
Peter Jackson – “King Kong”
Ang Lee – “Brokeback Mountain”
Steven Spielberg – “Munich”

BEST WRITER:
Noah Baumbach – “The Squid and the Whale”
George Clooney and Grant Heslov – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Dan Futterman – “Capote”
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco – “Crash”
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana – “Brokeback Mountain”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
“Chicken Little”
“Corpse Bride”
“Howl’s Moving Castle”
“Madagascar”
“Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”

BEST YOUNG ACTOR:
Jesse Eisenberg – “The Squid and the Whale”
Alex Etel – “Millions”
Freddie Highmore – “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
Owen Kline – “The Squid and the Whale”
Daniel Radcliffe – “Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire”

BEST YOUNG ACTRESS:
Flora Cross – “Bee Season”
Dakota Fanning – “War of the Worlds”
Georgie Henley – “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”
Q'Orianka Kilcher – “The New World”
Emma Watson – “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”

BEST COMEDY MOVIE:
The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Mrs. Henderson Presents
The Producers
The Wedding Crashers

BEST FAMILY FILM (LIVE ACTION):
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dreamer
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
Into the West
No Direction Home
Rome
Warm Springs

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Cache
Kung Fu Hustle
Oldboy
Paradise Now
2046

BEST SONG:
“Hustle & Flow” – Terrence Howard – “Hustle & Flow”
“A Love That Will Never Grow Old” – Emmylou Harris – “Brokeback Mountain”
“Same in Any Language” – I Nine – “Elizabethtown”
“Seasons of Love” – Tracie Thoms, Jesse L. Martin and Cast – “Rent”
“Travelin’ Thru” – Dolly Parton – “Transamerica”

BEST SOUNDTRACK:
Elizabethtown
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Producers
Rent
Walk the Line

BEST COMPOSER:
James Horner – “The New World”
Gustavo Santaolalla – “Brokeback Mountain”
John Williams – “Memoirs of a Geisha”
Nancy Wilson – “Elizabethtown”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
Enron – The Smartest Guys in the Room
Grizzly Man
Mad Hot Ballroom
March of the Penguins
Murderball