67th Annual Directors Guild Awards

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced the 67th annual awards on February 7th with giving away the top prize to Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Birdman. Now, this comes off as a total surprise and the greatest news of the day as Birdman has now become the front-runner for both Best Picture and Best Director Oscars. Sorry, Boyhood. I’m not saying you weren’t good. It’s just, Birdman was way better.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

FEATURE FILM

ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Mr. Iñárritu’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: James W. Skotchdopole, Robert Graf
First Assistant Director: Peter Kohn
Second Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen
Second Second Assistant Director: Catherine Feeny
Location Manager: Joaquin Prange

This is Mr. Iñárritu’s third DGA Award nomination. He was previously nominated in this category for Babel in 2006. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for “Best Job” (Proctor and Gamble) in 2012.

DRAMATIC SERIES

LESLI LINKA GLATTER
Homeland, “From A to B and Back Again”
(Showtime)

Ms. Glatter’s Directorial Team:
• Unit Production Managers: Angela Phillips, Michael Klick
• First Assistant Director: Nick Heckstall Smith
• Second Assistant Director: Wendy Bledsoe

This is Ms. Glatter’s fifth DGA Award nomination. She previously won in this category in 2009 for Mad Men, “Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency.” She was also nominated in 2013 and 2012 for Homeland episodes “The Star” and “Q & A,” as well as in 1990 for Twin Peaks, “Episode 32006.”

COMEDY SERIES

JILL SOLOWAY
Transparent, “Best New Girl”
(Amazon Prime)

Ms. Soloway’s Directorial Team:
• Unit Production Manager: Victor Hsu
• First Assistant Director: Bill Purple
• Second Assistant Director: Allan Monteiro Fortes

This is Ms. Soloway’s first DGA Award nomination.

MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI SERIES

LISA CHOLODENKO
Olive Kitteridge
(HBO)

Ms. Cholodenko’s Directorial Team:
• Unit Production Manager: David Coatsworth
• First Assistant Director: Jesse Nye
• Second Assistant Director: Mark Constance
• Second Second Assistant Director: Elizabeth MacSwan

This is Ms. Cholodenko’s first DGA Award nomination.

DOCUMENTARY

LAURA POITRAS
Citizenfour
RADiUS
Praxis Films
Participant Media
HBO Documentary Films
Bertha Foundation | BRITDOC Circle | Channel 4
Norddeutscher Rundfunk NDR
Bayerischer Rundfunk BR
Deutscher Filmförderfonds

This is Ms. Poitras’s first DGA Award nomination.

VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS

GLENN WEISS
The 68th Annual Tony Awards
(CBS)

Mr. Weiss’s Directorial Team:
• Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Robin Abrams, Stefani Cohen, Ricky Kirshner
• Stage Managers: Garry Hood, Phyllis Digilio-Kent, Peter Epstein, Andrew Feigin, Lynn Finkel, Doug Fogel, Jeffry Gitter, Arthur Lewis, Jeffrey M. Markowitz, Joey Meade, Seth Mellman, Cyndi Owgang, Jeff Pearl, Annette Powlis, Elise Reaves, Lauren Class Schneider

This is Mr. Weiss’s twelfth DGA Award nomination. He is also nominated this year for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series, together with Rob Ashford, for Peter Pan Live! He previously won the DGA Award in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 for the 61st, 64th, 65th, 66th and 67th Annual Tony Awards. He was also nominated in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008 for the 55th, 56th, 59th, 60th, and 62nd Annual Tony Awards.

VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

DAVE DIOMEDI
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, “Episode #1″
(NBC)

Mr. Diomedi’s Directorial Team:
• Associate Director: Maureen Smith
• Stage Managers: Nicka Tolmasoff, Mike Kilkenny

This is Mr. Diomedi’s second DGA Award nomination. He was nominated in this category last year for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, “#799.”

REALITY PROGRAMS

ANTHONY B. SACCO
The Chair, “The Test”
(Starz)

This is Mr. Sacco’s third DGA Award nomination. He previously won in this category in 2006 for Treasure Hunters, “Episode #101” and was nominated in 2007 for Project Runway, “Fashion Giant #403.”

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS

JONATHAN JUDGE
100 Things To Do Before High School, “Pilot”
(Nickelodeon)

Mr. Judge’s Directorial Team:
• Unit Production Manager: Debra Spidell
• First Assistant Director: Julian Petrillo
• Second Assistant Director: Katey Wheelhouse
• Second Second Assistant Director: Ceci Mak

This is Mr. Judge’s third DGA Award nomination. He was previously nominated in this category in 2013 for Swindle and in 2012 for Camp Fred.

COMMERCIALS

NICOLAI FUGLSIG
(MJZ)

Sapeurs, Guinness AMV BBDO
• First Assistant Director: Bob Wilkins

Waiting, FEMA Deutsch NY
• First Assistant Director: Bob Wagner
• Second Assistant Director: Rafa Sanz

This is Mr. Fuglsig’s second DGA Award nomination. He previously won in this category in 2007 for Tipping Point (Guinness), It’s Magic (JC Penney), and TJourney (Motorola)

9th Annual Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards

The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle (OFCC) announced its awards in January, 2015 with giving away the Best Picture award to Boyhood, written and directed by Richard Linklater who also won the Best Director award.

Last year, 6 OFCC winners won the Oscars, i.e. Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Animated Film. Let’s see how it goes this year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film: “Boyhood”

Top 10 Films:
“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 Animated Film: “The Lego Movie”

Best Body of Work: Christopher Miller & Phil Lord (“The Lego Movie” and “22 Jump Street”)

Best Documentary: “Life Itself”

Best First Feature: “Nightcrawler”

Best Foreign Language Film: “Force Majeure”

Best Guilty Pleasure: “Edge of Tomorrow”

Not-So-Obviously Worst Movie: “Monuments Men”

Obviously Worst Movie: “Transformers: Age of Extinction”

Best Original Screenplay: “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Adapted Screenplay: “Gone Girl”

Best Supporting Actor: Edward Norton, “Gone Girl”

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”

87th Academy Awards Nominations

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the nominations of 87th Academy Awards with so many surprises and shocks that one would be like, “WTF is wrong with these guys?” The award ceremony will be held on February 22th, 2015 and it will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. I have a feeling he’d do good at the Oscars.

NOMINATION SHOCKS

1. The most disappointing thing the AMPAS ever did was totally ignoring the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself. The Oscars are becoming more and more irrelevant every year.
2. WHERE THE HELL IS THE LEGO MOVIE? LIKE SERIOUSLY? The Lego Movie was probably the best animated feature of 2014 and the AMPAS failed to recognize that. One of the directors Phil Lord even tweeted about it. That’s such a shocking news when you look at the Best Animated Feature nominations and go like, “I have never heard of these movies.” Well, I have but that doesn’t make any difference because the Lego Movie isn’t there.
3. GONE GIRL. No Best Director, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score [the most deserving one, probably] nominations. It’s surprising to see Rosamund Pike getting nominated for Best Actress though. She was so good in it. But she is not going to win.
4. SELMA. UNBROKEN. NIGHTCRAWLER. Jennifer Aniston for CAKE.
5. AMERICAN SNIPER getting nominations for no reason. NIGHTCRAWLER should’ve gotten nominated instead, at least in Best Actor and Best Picture category.

SURPRISES

1. WHIPLASH. I freaking love this movie and it’s so great to see it getting nominated in the Best Picture category along with Best Adapted Screenplay nomination and best Supporting Actor nomination [which is an absolute win, btw]
2. THE IMITATION GAME. Scoring the important nominations is already a win for this film as it won’t be winning anything major. Let’s see.

Here is the complete list of nominations along with my 1st and 2nd guesses:

Best Picture

• American Sniper, Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan
• Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole
• Boyhood, Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland
• The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven M. Rales and Jeremy Dawson
• The Imitation Game, – Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman
• Selma, Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner
• The Theory of Everything, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten
• Whiplash, Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster

Best Director

• Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood
• Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
• Bennet Miller, Foxcatcher
• Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Michael Keaton, Birdman
• Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
• Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
• Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
• Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Julianne Moore, Still Alice
• Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
• Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
• Reese Witherspoon, Wild
• Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
• Robert Duvall, The Judge
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Edward Norton, Birdman
• Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
• Emma Stone, Birdman
• Laura Dern, Wild
• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game

Best Original Screenplay

• Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo, Birdman
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood
• E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
• Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Jason Hall from American Sniper by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice, American Sniper
• Graham Moore from Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges, The Imitation Game
• Paul Thomas Anderson from Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice
• Anthony McCarten from Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Wilde Hawking, The Theory of Everything
• Damien Chazelle from his short film of the same name, Whiplash

Best Animated Feature

• Big Hero 6, Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
• The Boxtrolls, Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
• How to Train Your Dragon 2, Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
• Song of the Sea, Tomm Moore and Paul Young
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Best Foreign Language Film

• Ida (Poland), Paweł Pawlikowski
• Leviathan (Russia), Andrey Zvyagintsev
• Tangerines (Estonia), Zaza Urushadze
• Timbuktu (Mauritania), Abderrahmane Sissako
• Wild Tales (Argentina), Damián Szifrón

Best Documentary – Feature

• Citizenfour, Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutsky
• Finding Vivian Maier, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
• Last Days in Vietnam, Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
• The Salt of the Earth, Wim Wenders, Lélia Wanick Salgado, David Rosier, Julia de Abreu, Fakhrya Fakhry, Andrea Gambetta and Christine Ponelle
• Virunga, Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara and Jon Drever

Best Documentary – Short Subject

• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
• Joanna, Aneta Kopacz
• Our Curse, Tomasz Śliwiński and Maciej Ślesicki
• The Reaper (La Parka), Gabriel Serra Arguello
• White Earth, J. Christian Jensen

Best Live Action Short Film

• Aya, Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
• Boogaloo and Graham, Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
• Butter Lamp (La Lampe au beurre de yak), Hu Wei and Julien Féret
• Parvaneh, Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
• The Phone Call, Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Best Animated Short Film

• The Bigger Picture, Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
• The Dam Keeper, Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
• Feast, Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
• Me and My Moulton, Torill Kove
• A Single Life, Joris Oprins

Best Original Score

• Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
• Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
• Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner
• Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory of Everything

Best Original Song

• Everything Is Awesome from The Lego Movie – Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
• Glory from Selma – Music and Lyric by John Legend and Common
• Grateful from Beyond the Lights – Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
• I’m Not Gonna Miss You from Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
• Lost Stars from Begin Again – Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best Sound Editing

• Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman, American Sniper
• Martin Hernández and Aaron Glascock, Birdman
• Brent Burge and Jason Canovas, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Richard King, Interstellar
• Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro, Unbroken

Best Sound Mixing

• John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin, American Sniper
• Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga, Birdman
• Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten, Interstellar
• Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee, Unbroken
• Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley, Whiplash

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
• Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Costume Design

• Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
• Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
• Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent
• Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner

Best Film Editing

• Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, American Sniper
• Sandra Adair, Boyhood
• Barney Pilling, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• William Goldenberg, The Imitation Game
• Tom Cross, Whiplash

Best Visual Effects

• Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould, Guardians of the Galaxy
• Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher, Interstellar
• Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer, X-Men: Days of Future Past

4th Annual Georgia Film Critics Association Awards

The Georgia Film Critics Association (GFCA) announced their awards on January 9th, 2015 with giving away the top prize to Boyhood, written and directed by Richard Linklater who also won the Best Director award.

The critics showed love to Nightcrawler and awarded it with Best Actor and Best Screenplay.

Last year, 7 GFCA winners won the Oscars, i.e. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Animated Feature. Let’s see how it goes this year

Here is the complete list of winners, along with nominations:

Best Picture

• “Birdman”
• WINNER: “Boyhood”
• “Gone Girl”
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• “Ida”
• “A Most Violent Year”
• “Nightcrawler”
• “Selma”
• “Snowpiercer”
• “Whiplash”

Best Director

• WINNER: “Boyhood” – Richard Linklater
• “Gone Girl” – David Fincher
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Wes Anderson
• “Selma” – Ava DuVernay
• “Whiplash” – Damien Chazelle

Best Actor

• Ralph Fiennes (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”)
• WINNER: Jake Gyllenhaal (“Nightcrawler”)
• Michael Keaton (“Birdman”)
• David Oyelowo (“Selma”)
• Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”)

Best Actress

• WINNER: Marion Cotillard (“Two Days, One Night”)
• Scarlett Johansson (“Under the Skin”)
• Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”)
• Lisa Loven Kongsli (“Force Majeure”)
• Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”)
• Rosamund Pike (“Gone Girl”)

Best Supporting Actor

• Riz Ahmed (“Nightcrawler”)
• Ethan Hawke (“Boyhood”)
• Edward Norton (“Birdman”)
• Mark Ruffalo (“Foxcatcher”)
• WINNER: J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”)

Best Supporting Actress

• Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”)
• Jessica Chastain (“A Most Violent Year”)
• Rene Russo (“Nightcrawler”)
• Emma Stone (“Birdman”)
• WINNER: Tilda Swinton (“Snowpiercer”)

Best Original Screenplay

• “Boyhood” – Richard Linklater
• “Calvary” – John Michael McDonagh
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
• WINNER: “Nightcrawler” – Dan Gilroy
• “Selma” – Paul Webb

Best Adapted Screenplay

• WINNER: “Gone Girl” – Gillian Flynn
• “The Imitation Game” – Graham Moore, Andrew Hodges
• “Inherent Vice” – Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon
• “Snowpiercer” – Bong Joon-ho, Kelly Masterson, Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, Jean-Marc Rochette
• “The Theory of Everything” – Anthony McCarten, Jane Wilde Hawking
• “Wild” – Nick Hornby, Cheryl Strayed

Best Cinematography

• WINNER: “Birdman” – Emmanuel Lubezki
• “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Robert Yeoman
• “Ida” – Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski
• “Inherent Vice” – Robert Elswit
• “Interstellar” – Hoyte van Hoytema

Best Production Design

• WINNER: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
• “Inherent Vice” – David Crank, Amy Wells
• “Interstellar” – Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
• “Into the Woods” – Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
• “Snowpiercer” – Ondrej Nekvasil, Catherine George
• “Under the Skin” – Chris Oddy, Emer O’Sullivan

Best Original Score

• “Birdman” – Antonio Sánchez
• “Gone Girl” – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
• WINNER: “Interstellar” – Hans Zimmer
• “Life Itself” – Joshua Abrams
• “Under the Skin” – Mica Levi

Best Original Song

• “Everything is Awesome” – Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, The Lonely Island (“The Lego Movie”)
• WINNER: “Glory” – John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith (“Selma”)
• “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” – Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond (“Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me”)
• “Something so Right” – Bret McKenzie (“Muppets Most Wanted”)
• “We Will Not Go” – J. Ralph (“Virunga”)

Best Ensemble

• “Birdman”
• “Boyhood”
• WINNER: “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• “Gone Girl”
• “Selma”

Best Foreign Film

• “Force Majeure”
• WINNER: “Ida”
• “Sepideh”
• “Two Days, One Night”
• “We Are the Best!”

Breakthrough Award

• Ellar Coltrane (“Boyhood”)
• Ava DuVernay (“Selma”)
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Belle,” “Beyond the Lights”)
• WINNER: David Oyelowo (“Default,” “Interstellar,” “A Most Violent Year,” “Nightingale,” “Selma”)
• Jenny Slate (“The Longest Week,” “Obvious Child”)
• Tessa Thompson (“Dear White People,” “Grantham & Rose,” “Selma”)

Best Animated Film

• “Big Hero 6”
• “The Book of Life”
• “The Boxtrolls”
• “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
• WINNER: “The LEGO Movie”

Best Documentary

• “Citizenfour”
• “Finding Vivian Maier”
• “Keep On Keepin’ On”
• WINNER: “Life Itself”
• “Sepideh”

 

Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema

• “Selma” – Ava DuVernay, Paul Webb

49th Annual National Society of Film Critics Awards

The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) announced their awards on January 3rd, 2015 with giving away the Best Picture to Goodbye to Language by Jean-Luc Godard. That’s probably the  most irrelevant choice of the year, but hats off for making such a bold decision. Best Director went to Richard Linklater for Boyhood.

Last year, only 1 NSFC winner won the Oscar, i.e. Best Actress. So that explains it. Let’s see how it goes this year.

Here is the complete list of winners along with nominations and total votes:

BEST PICTURE
WINNER: 1. Goodbye to Language 25 (Jean-Luc Godard)
2. Boyhood 24 (Richard Linklater)
3. Birdman 10 (Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
3. Mr. Turner 10 (Mike Leigh)

BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER: 1. Richard Linklater 36 (Boyhood)
2. Jean-Luc Godard 17 (Goodbye to Language)
3. Mike Leigh 12 (Mr. Turner)

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
WINNER: 1. Citizenfour 56 (Laura Poitras)
2. National Gallery 19 (Frederick Wiseman)
3. The Overnighters 17 (Jesse Moss)

BEST SCREENPLAY
WINNER: 1. The Grand Budapest Hotel 24 (Wes Anderson)
2. Inherent Vice 15 (Paul Thomas Anderson)
2. Birdman 15 (four co-writers)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: 1. Mr. Turner 33 (Dick Pope)
2. The Immigrant 27 (Darius Khondji)
3. Goodbye to Language 9 (Fabrice Aragno)

BEST ACTOR
WINNER: 1.Timothy Spall 31 (Mr. Turner)
2. Tom Hardy 10 (Locke)
3. Joaquin Phoenix 9 (Inherent Vice)
3. Ralph Fiennes 9 (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

BEST ACTRESS
WINNER: 1. Marion Cotillard 80 (The Immigrant; Two Days, One Night)
2. Julianne Moore 35 (Still Alice)
3. Scarlett Johansson 21 (Lucy; Under the Skin)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER: 1. J.K. Simmons 24 (Whiplash)
2. Mark Ruffalo 21 (Foxcatcher)
3. Edward Norton 16 (Birdman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER: 1. Patricia Arquette 26 (Boyhood)
2. Agata Kulesza 18 (Ida)
3. Rene Russo 9 (Nightcrawler)

FILM HERITAGE AWARD
1. To Ron Magliozzi, associate curator, and Peter Williamson, film conservation manager, of the Museum of Modern Art, for identifying and assembling the earliest surviving footage of what would have been the first feature film to star a black cast, the 1913 “Lime Kiln Field Day” starring Bert Williams.

2. To Ron Hutchinson, co-founder and director of The Vitaphone Project, which since 1991 has collected and restored countless original soundtrack discs for early sound short films and features, including the recent Warner Bros. restoration of William A. Seiter’s 1929 “Why Be Good?”

13th Annual Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards

The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) announced their awards on December 8th, 2014 with giving away the Best Film award to Boyhood, directed by Richard Linklater who also won the Best Director award for his brilliant work. The biggest surprise is obviously the Best Adapted Screenplay for Gillian Flynn which is the first she has won. Other than that, there are no big surprises or shocks.

Last year, 11 WAFCA winners won the Oscar, notably Best Picture and Best Director. Let’s see how it goes this year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film:
Boyhood

Best Director:
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Actor:
Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Actress:
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Best Supporting Actor:
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress:
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Best Youth Performance:
Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl)

Best Original Screenplay:
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Animated Feature:
The LEGO Movie

Best Documentary:
Life Itself

Best Foreign Language Film:
Force Majeure

Best Art Direction:
Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen, Set Decorator: Anna Pinnock (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Editing:
Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione, ACE (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Original Score:
Mica Levi (Under the Skin)

The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

40th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) announced their awards on December 7th, 2014 with giving away the Best Picture award to Boyhood, directed by Richard Linklater who also won the Best Director award. The surprise of the awards was Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel getting some recognition.

Last year, 6 LAFCA winners won the Oscar, i.e. Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Editing.

BEST PICTURE 
“Boyhood”
Runner-up:”The Grand Budapest Hotel” 

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Runner-up: Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” 

BEST ACTOR
Tom Hardy, “Locke”
Runner-up: Michael Keaton, “Birdman”

BEST ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Runner-up: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Runner-up: Edward Norton, “Birdman”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Agata Kulesza, “Ida”
Runner-up: Rene Russo, “Nightcrawler”

BEST SCREENPLAY
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson
Runner-up: “Birdman,” Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo

BEST EDITING
“Boyhood,” Sandra Adair
Runner-up: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Barney Pilling

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Birdman,” Emmanuel Lubezki
Runner-up: “Mr. Turner,” Dick Pope

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Adam Stockhausen
Runner-up: “Snowpiercer,” Ondrej Nekvasil

BEST MUSIC/SCORE (tie)
“Inherent Vice,” Johnny Greenwood
“Under the Skin,” Mica Levi

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
“Ida”
Runner-up: “Winter Sleep” 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
Runner-up: “The Lego Movie”

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION FILM
“Citizenfour”
Runner-up: “Life Itself” 

CAREER ACHEIVEMENT
Gena Rowlands

14th Annual New York Film Critics Online Awards

The New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) announced their awards on December, 7th, 2014 with giving away the Best Picture award to none other than Boyhood, directed by Richard Linklater who also won the Best Director award. The acting awards are really spot on, and it’s safe to say that J.K. Simmons is one of the front-runners for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year for his role in Whiplash.

Last year, 7 NYFCO winners won the Oscar, i.e. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Let’s see if NYFCO gets it right this time as well.

Here is the complete list of winners:

FILM: Boyhood

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

ACTOR: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, (Two Days, One Night)

SCREENPLAY: Birdman (Amando Bo, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone, Alejandro G. Inarritu)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman (Emmanuel Lubezki)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

ENSEMBLE CAST: Birdman

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Two Days, One Night

DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself

ANIMATED FEATURE: The Lego Movie

DEBUT AS DIRECTOR: Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)

USE OF MUSIC: Get On Up (Score: Thomas Newman; Music Supervisor: Budd Carr)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, Starred Up)

TOP TEN PICTURES

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Imitation Game
• A Most Violent Year
• Mr. Turner
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• Under the Skin
• Whiplash

3rd Annual Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards

The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) announced their awards on December 6th, 2014 with giving away the Best Picture award to Snowpiercer which is a complete surprise and such a bold decision by the critics to give the top prize to that film. Best Director went to Alejandro González Iñárritu for his marvelous work in Birdman. Also, it’s great to see Calvary getting some love from the critics.

Last year, only 5 BOFCA winners won the Oscar, i.e. Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Animated Feature. I’m sure Snowpiercer isn’t going to win anything big at the Oscars, so let’s see what happens this year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture
“Snowpiercer”

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”

Best Actor
Brendan Gleeson, “Calvary”

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”

Best Supporting Actor
Edward Norton, “Birdman”

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, “Snowpiercer”

Best Screenplay
“Calvary” (John Michael McDonagh)

Best Foreign Language Film
“Two Days, One Night”

Best Documentary
“Life Itself”

Best Animated Film
“The LEGO Movie”

Best Cinematography
“Birdman” (Emmanuel Lubezki)

Best Editing
“Edge of Tomorrow” (James Herbert, Laura Jennings)

Best Original Score
“Under the Skin” (Mica Levi)

Best Ensemble
“Birdman”

Top 10
1. “Snowpiercer”
2. “Under the Skin”
3. “Boyhood”
4. “Only Lovers Left Alive”
5. “The Babadook”
6. “Two Days, One Night”
7. “Birdman”
8. “Calvary”
9. “Inherent Vice”
10. “Selma”

35th Annual Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) announced their awards on December 6th, 2014 with giving away the Best Picture award to Boyhood, directed by Richard Linklater who also won the Best Director award. This is one of the many awards Boyhood will win this year.

Last year, only 3 BSFC winners won the Oscar, i.e. Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Let’s see what happens this time.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture  – Boyhood

Best Actor – Michael Keaton for Birdman

Best Actress – Marion Cotillard for The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night

Best Supporting Actor –  J. K. Simmons for Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress –  Emma Stone for Birdman

Best Director – Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Screenplay –  (tie) Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo for Birdman & Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman

Best Documentary – Citizenfour

Best Foreign-Language Film  (awarded in memory of Jay Carr) –  Two Days, One Night

Best Animated Film – The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer) – Sandra Adair for Boyhood

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) –  Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler

Best Ensemble Cast –  Boyhood

Best Use of Music in a Film – Inherent Vice