Black Film Critics Circle

PICTURE: Selma
DIRECTOR: Ava DuVernay, Selma
ACTOR: David Oyelowo, Selma
ACTRESS: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Carmen Ejogo, Selma
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Selma
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Keep On Keepin' On
FOREIGN FILM: Ida
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman
ENSEMBLE CAST: Selma

Southeastern Film Critics Association

PICTURE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Top 10 of 2014:

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• Foxcatcher
• Gone Girl
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Nightcrawler
• Snowpiercer
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash 

DIRECTOR:  Richard Linklater, Boyhood  (runner-up: Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel)
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman  (runner-up: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything)
ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, Still Alice  (runner-up: Reese Witherspoon, Wild)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash  (runner-up: Edward Norton, Birdman)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood  (runner-up: Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel   (runner-up: Birdman)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl  (runner-up: Wild)
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie  (runner-up: Big Hero 6)
DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself  (runner-up: Citizenfour)
FOREIGN FILM: Force Majeure  (runner-up: Ida)
ENSEMBLE CAST: The Grand Budapest Hotel
GENE WYATT AWARD (For a film that best evokes the spirit of the South): Selma  (runner-up: Cold in July)

Women Film Critics Circle

BEST MOVIE ABOUT WOMEN: Still Alice
BEST MOVIE BY A WOMAN: Selma- directed by Ava DuVernay
BEST ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
BEST ACTOR: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything 
BEST YOUNG ACTRESS: Mira Grosin, We Are the Best!
BEST COMEDIC ACTRESS: Jenny Slate, Obvious Child 
BEST FOREIGN FILM BY OR ABOUT WOMEN: Two Days, One Night
BEST WOMAN STORYTELLER (Screenwriting): Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Ida
BEST FEMALE IMAGES IN MOVIES: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
WORST FEMALE IMAGES IN MOVIES: Horrible Bosses 2
BEST MALE IMAGES IN MOVIES: Love Is Strange
WORST MALE IMAGES IN MOVIES: Dumb and Dumber To
BEST THEATRICALLY UNRELEASED MOVIE ABOUT WOMEN: Girlhood
WOMEN'S WORK (Best Ensemble): The Homesman
BEST ANIMATED FEMALE: Winnie, The Boxtrolls
BEST FAMILY FILM: Big Hero 6

SPECIAL AWARDS
COURAGE IN FILMMAKING: Citizenfour
DOCUMENTARY BY OR ABOUT A WOMAN: Citizenfour
COURAGE IN ACTING: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
INVISIBLE WOMAN AWARD: Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD: Anita: Speaking Truth to Power
KAREN MORLEY AWARD: Belle 
MOMMIE DEAREST WORST SCREEN MOM OF THE YEAR AWARD (tie): Charlotte Gainsbourg and Uma Thurman, Nymphomaniac
BEST SCREEN COUPLE: The Skeleton Twins
WOMAN'S RIGHT TO MALE ROLES IN MOVIES: Jessica Chastain, Interstellar
FEMALE ACTION STAR: Oprah Winfrey, Selma
ACTING AND ACTIVISM AWARD: Rosario Dawson
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Orpah Winfrey  

Utah Film Critics Association

PICTURE: Birdman  
(runner-up: The Imitation Game)

DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman  
(runner-up: Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin)

ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman  
(runners-up: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game; Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel)

ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl  
(runner-up: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash  
(runner-up: Edward Norton, Birdman)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year  
(runner-up: Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Birdman
(runner-up: Nightcrawler)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: (tie) Inherent Vice; Snowpiercer

ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
(runner-up: The Boxtrolls) 

DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
(runner-up: The Overnighters)

NON-ENGLISH FEATURE: We Are the Best!
(runner-up: Two Days, One Night) 
 
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nightcrawler
(runner-up: Under the Skin)

Nevada Film Critics Society

FILM: Gone Girl
DIRECTOR: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
ACTOR: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: (tie) Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year; Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ANIMATED FEATURE: Big Hero 6
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Interstellar
VISUAL EFFECTS: Interstellar 
ENSEMBLE CAST: Guardians of the Galaxy
YOUTH PERFORMANCE: Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood

Las Vegas Film Critics Society

PICTURE: Birdman

Top 10 of 2014:

1. Birdman
2. Boyhood
3. Whiplash
4. Nightcrawler
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Wild
7. Selma
8. The Imitation Game
9. Snowpiercer
10. Under the Skin 

DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, Wild
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer
ENSEMBLE CAST: Birdman
SCREENPLAY: Birdman- Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone, Armando Bo
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
FOREIGN FILM: Ida 
ART DIRECTION: The Grand Budapest Hotel
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman
COSTUME DESIGN: Guardians of the Galaxy
FILM EDITING: Edge of Tomorrow
SCORE: Birdman
SONG: "I Love You All," Frank
BREAKOUT FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
YOUTH IN FILM: Jaaeden Lieberher, St. Vincent 
ACTION FILM: Guardians of the Galaxy
COMEDY FILM: Top Five
HORROR/SCI-FI FILM: The Babadook
FAMILY FILM: The LEGO Movie
WILLIAM HOLDEN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Bill Murray

Florida Film Critics Circle

PICTURE: Birdman  (runner-up: Boyhood)
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood  (runner-up: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman)
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman  (runner-up: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler)
ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl  (runner-up: Julianne Moore, Still Alice)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash  (runner-up: Edward Norton, Birdman)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood  (runner-up: Emma Stone, Birdman)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel  (runner-up: Birdman)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl  (runner-up: Inherent Vice)
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie  (runner-up: How to Train Your Dragon 2)
FOREIGN FILM: The Raid 2  (runner-up: Force Majeure)
ART DIRECTION: The Grand Budapest Hotel  (runner-up: Interstellar)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Interstellar  (runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel)
SCORE: Under the Skin  (runner-up: Gone Girl)
PAULINE KAEL BREAKOUT AWARD: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash  (runner-up: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle, Beyond the Lights)
GOLDEN ORANGE: The Borscht Corp (for outstanding contribution to film in Florida

Austin Film Critics Association

FILM: Boyhood

Top 10 of 2014:

1. Boyhood
2. Whiplash
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Birdman
5. Snowpiercer
6. Nightcrawler
7. Selma
8. The Imitation Game
9. Inherent Vice; Gone Girl 

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Nightcrawler- Dan Gilroy
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
FOREIGN FILM: Force Majeure
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki
SCORE: Birdman- Antonio Sanchez
FIRST FILM: Nightcrawler- Dan Gilroy
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST: Jennifer Kent, The Babadook
AUSTIN FILM: Boyhood
SPECIAL HONORARY AWARD: Gary Poulter, Joe

Phoenix Film Critics Society

PICTURE: Birdman

Top 10 of 2014 (in alphabetical order):

1. A Most Violent Year
2. Birdman
3. Boyhood
4. Gone Girl
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. The Imitation Game
8. The LEGO Movie
9. The Theory of Everything
10. Whiplash  

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
ENSEMBLE ACTING: Birdman
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler 
YOUTH PERFORMANCE- MALE: Jaeden Lieberer, St. Vincent
YOUTH PERFORMANCE- FEMALE: Lilla Crawford, Into the Woods 
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
FOREIGN FILM: Ida
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki
COSTUME DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Milena Canonero
PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
FILM EDITING: Birdman- Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
ORIGINAL SCORE: Birdman- Antonio Sánchez
ORIGINAL SONG: "Everything is Awesome," The LEGO Movie
VISUAL EFFECTS: Interstellar
STUNTS: Edge of Tomorrow
LIVE ACTION FAMILY FILM: Into the Woods
OVERLOOKED FILM OF THE YEAR: Edge of Tomorrow 

Toronto Film Critics Association

FILM: Boyhood
runners-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel; Inherent Vice

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, The Grand Budapest Hotel
runners-up: Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice; Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

ACTOR: Tom Hardy, Locke
runners-up: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler; Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel

ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
runners-up: Julianne Moore, Still Alice; Reese Witherspoon, Wild

SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
runners-up: Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice; Edward Norton, Birdman

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
runners-up: Katherine Waterston, Inherent Vice; Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
runners-up: Boyhood- Richard Linklater; Inherent Vice- Paul Thomas Anderson

ANIMATED FEATURE: The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
runners-up: The LEGO Movie; Big Hero 6; How to Train Your Dragon 2

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Force Majeure
runners-up: Ida; Leviathan

DOCUMENTARY: The Overnighters
runners-up: Citizenfour; Manakamana

FIRST FEATURE: The Lunchbox
runners-up: Nightcrawler; John Wick

Chicago Film Critics Association

Home court advantage for Oscar-bound documentary Life Itself about late film critic Roger Ebert

PICTURE: Boyhood
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Wes Anderson
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself
FOREIGN FILM: Force Majeure 
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
ART DIRECTION: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
CINEMATOGRAPHY: (tie) Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki; The Grand Budapest Hotel- Robert Yeoman
EDITING: Whiplash- Tom Cross
SCORE: Under the Skin- Mica Levi
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER: Jack O'Connell, Starred Up and Unbroken
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

Make-Up and Hairstyling Shortlist

Seven films advance to compete for the Best Make-Up and Hairstyling Oscar.  This is the category that in years past have made films like Click, Norbit and Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Oscar nominees.  With that a sign must be expressed before reading the list.  The films advancing are:

• The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• Foxcatcher
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Maleficent
• Noah
• The Theory of Everything

Aw, relief, sort of.  Nothing too extreme or embarrassing to report, even though The Amazing Spider-Man 2 still sucks...and Maleficent and Noah (one was expected, the other, perhaps not) are meh, at best, even considering strong presumably CGI-enhanced design elements.  Strangely no Into the Woods, no Unbroken (all the wound make-up) and, shudder, no Snowpiercer, a film that should (but won't) deal with the technical branches of the Academy.  At least Tilda Swinton showed up in some form.

Detroit Film Critics Society

FILM: Boyhood
DIRECTOR: Richard Linkater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
SCREENPLAY: Boyhood- Richard Linklater
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour 
ENSEMBLE: (tie) Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Guardians of the Galaxy
BREAKTHROUGH: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

San Diego Film Critics Society

PICTURE: Nightcrawler
DIRECTOR: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
ACTOR: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Rene Russo, Nightcrawler
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Nightcrawler- Dan Gilroy
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Boxtrolls
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
FOREIGN FILM: Force Majeure 
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nightcrawler- Robert Elswit
FILM EDITING: Edge of Tomorrow- James Herbert, Laura Jennings
PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
SCORE: Nightcrawler- James Newton Howard
ENSEMBLE: Birdman
BODY OF WORK: Willem Dafoe, The Fault in Our Stars, The Grand Budapest Hotel, John Wick, A Most Wanted Man, Nymphomaniac: Vol. II

St. Louis Film Critics Association

FILM: Boyhood
DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
ACTOR: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Birdman
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: Force Majeure 
ART DIRECTION: The Grand Budapest Hotel
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman 
MUSICAL SCORE: Birdman
SOUNDTRACK: Guardians of the Galaxy 
VISUAL EFFECTS: Interstellar
ART-HOUSE OR FESTIVAL FILM: Whiplash
COMEDY: Guardians of the Galaxy
SCENE: X-Men: Days of Future Past- Quicksilver escape from the Pentagon

Indiana Film Journalists Association

FILM: Boyhood

Top 10 of 2014:

1. Boyhood
2. Whiplash
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
4. The Grand Budapest hotel
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. The Imitation Game
7. Life Itself
8. Locke
9. A Most Violent Year
10. St. Vincent  

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood (runner-up: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash) 
ACTOR: Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel (runner-up: Tom Hardy, Locke)
ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, Wild (runner-up: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash (runner-up: Ethan Hawke, Boyhood)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year (runner-up: Melissa McCarthy, St. Vincent)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel (runner-up: Boyhood) 
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Whiplash (runner-up: The Imitation Game)
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie (runner-up: The Boxtrolls)
DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself (runner-up: An Honest Liar)
FOREIGN FILM: Two Days, One Night (runner-up: Ida) 
MUSICAL SCORE: Under the Skin (runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel)
ORIGINAL VISION AWARD: Boyhood (runner-up: Under the Skin)
THE HOOSIER AWARD: Eric Grayson, film historian and preservationist 

Online Film Critics Society

FILM: The Grand Budapest Hotel
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR:  Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Edward Norton, Birdman
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Wes Anderson
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself
FOREIGN FILM: Two Days, One Night
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Robert Yeoman

Best Non-US Release (non-competitive)

• ' 71
• 10,000 KM
• Entre Nos
• Han Gong-Ju
• Hard to Be a God
• The Look of Silence
• The Salt of the Earth
• What We Do in the Shadows
• Timbuktu
• The Tribe 

Dallas/Ft. Worth Film Critics Association

FILM: Birdman

Top 10 of 2014:

1. Birdman
2. Boyhood
3. The Imitation Game
4. The Theory of Everything
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Whiplash
7. Gone Girl
8. Selma
9. Wild
10. Nightcrawler

DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, Wild
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
FOREIGN FILM: Force Majeure
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki
RUSSELL SMITH AWARD: Boyhood 

San Francisco Film Critics Circle

FILM: Boyhood
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Edward Norton, Birdman
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Birdman
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Inherent Vice
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
FOREIGN FILM: Ida 
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ida
PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Grand Budapest Hotel
EDITING: Boyhood
SPECIAL CITATION: The One I Love

Kansas City Film Critics Circle

BEST FILM: Birdmn
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR 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: Birdman
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Obvious Child
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Citizenfour
VINCE KEOHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR FILM: The Babadook

European Film Awards

EUROPEAN FILM: Ida
DIRECTOR: Pawel Pawlikowski, Ida
ACTOR: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner
ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
SCREENWRITER: Pawel Pawlikowski, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Ida
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Art of Happiness
DOCUMENTARY: Master of the Universe
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
COSTUME DESIGNER: Natascha Curtius-Noss, The Dark Valley
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Claus-Rudolf Amler, The Dark Valley
EDITOR: Justine Wright, Locke
COMPOSER: Mica Levi, Under the Skin
SOUND DESIGNER: Joakim Sundström, Starred Up
SHORT FILM: The Chicken
EUROPEAN COMEDY FILM: The Mafia Only Kills In Summer- directed by Pierfrancesco Diliberto  
EUROPEAN DISCOVERY: The Tribe- directed by Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT: Steve McQueen 
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Agnés Varda
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD: Ida

AFI Best of 2014

 

• American Sniper
• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Boyhood
• Foxcatcher
• The Imitation Game
• Interstellar
• Into the Woods
• Nightcrawler
• Selma
• Unbroken
• Whiplash

Golden Globe Nominations

Julianne Moore mediates over her two Golden Globes nominations.

BEST PICTURE (Drama)
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

BEST PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Into the Woods
Pride
St. Vincent 

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood 

BEST ACTOR (Drama)
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything 

BEST ACTRESS (Drama)
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

BEST ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix, Internal Vice
Christoph Waltz, Big Eyes 

BEST ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
Helen Mirren, The Hundred-Foot Journey
Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars
Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie

Screen Actors Guild Nominations

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything

Analysis: Huge break for The Grand Budapest Hotel and a horrible showing for any late-breaking film-- Paramount couldn't get screeners out to SAG for Selma, which is an unfortunate loss, but no Unbroken or Into the Woods hurts too.  Curious, that Imitation Game and Theory (the two battling genius Brit pics) got in with such ease.

BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Analysis: Cumberbatch, Keaton and Redmayne are untouchable.  Big boost for Carell, considering a softening buzz for Foxcatcher and a much bigger one for Gyllenhaal.  Missing: David Oyelowo from Selma, Timothy Spall from Mr. Turner, Chadwick Boseman from Get On Up, Ralph Fiennes from The Grand Budapest Hotel, Jack O'Connell from Unbroken and Bill Murray from St. Vincent.

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Anaylsis: Aniston's late-entry work in Cake actually worked-- this is major (could Oscar be possible?), but Moore is likely so far ahead that she may prove unbeatable.  Curiously, Marion Cotillard's recent critical cred didn't catch on with SAG members.

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

Analysis: Likely Oscar roster, including the lazy Duvall mention.  Simmons is likely frontrunner.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Naomi Watts, St. Vincent

Analysis: Watts' mention is truly jarring (Murray couldn't have been that far behind in Lead Actor), but the rest seems pretty much in line with how things will go down including the default Streep mention.  Jessica Chastain's A Most Violent Year performance and Laura Dern's Wild role, not acknowledged by SAG, should take Watts' place with Oscar         

Mommy

Perhaps Mommy, Canada's 2014 Oscar submission, is the ultimate therapy through filmmaking endeavor.  Clearly, 25-year-old Quebecois wunderkind Xavier Dolan is working out deeply wrought  personal issues with his latest feature, a beautifully alive, utterly heartbreaking and vibrantly original piece of work, returning to a theme that has dominated his films since the beginning-- the relationship between mothers and sons.  Dolan's first feature-- 2009's I Killed My Mother-- traversed similar terrain and unleashed a promising new discovery.  Mommy expressively shows the advances Dolan has made formally as a director and writer and further establishes a talent whose cinematic voice has been sharpened to an entirely and exciting new level.  For that and for so much more, Mommy feels like essential viewing.

Mommy grabs your attention from the very beginning.  The first thing one is likely to notice is how different it looks.  Dolan shot the film in a 1.1 aspect ratio-- a square (though it looks more rectangular on the big screen) forcing the audience to stare right dab in the center of the screen.  At first it's rather jarring, but the visual conceit puts you right in the center of the turbulent space of Diana (Anne Dorval) and her troubled son Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon), and their devastatingly lived-in dynamic.  In truth, with the emotional fireworks on display, and all the pain and wonder attached to them, Mommy can't at all be contained in a caged box-- they couldn't even if Dolan had shot the film in CinemaScope and the film were shown on the largest screens in the world.  Yet that closeness, that intense intimacy bonds the film in such an unusual and euphoric way that even if some of cinematogrpher André Turpin's compositions seem condensed or slighted, the emotional connection to the characters and the performers playing them within an inch of their lives register so deeply and so honestly, the experience is never distracting or unwelcome.

Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association

FILM: Boyhood
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman
ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Birdman
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gone Girl 
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself 
FOREIGN FILM: Force Majeure
ART DIRECTION: The Grand Budapest Hotel
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman
FILM EDITING: Birdman
ORIGINAL SCORE: Under the Skin
ENSEMBLE: Birdman
YOUTH PERFORMANCE: Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
JOE BARBER AWARD FOR BEST PORTRAYAL OF WASHINGTON, D.C.: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

British Independent Film Awards

BEST FILM: Pride
BEST DIRECTOR: Yann Demange, '71
BEST ACTOR: Brenden Gleeson, Calvary
BEST ACTRESS: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Andrew Scott, Pride
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Imelda Staunton, Pride 
BEST SCREENPLAY: Frank- Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan 
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Next Goal Wins
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM: Boyhood
BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT: Catch Me Daddy- Robbie Ryan (cinematography)
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION: The Goob
BEST BRITISH SHORT: The Karman Line
THE RAINDANCE AWARD: Luna
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER: Sameena Jabeen Ahmed, Catch Me Daddy
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: John Boorman
VARIETY AWARD: Benedict Cumberbatch
DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard, 20,000 Days on Earth

New York Film Critics Online

FILM: Boyhood

Top 10 of 2014:

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

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
SCREENPLAY: Birdman- Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
ENSEMBLE: Birdman
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself
FOREIGN FILM: Two Days, One Night
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki
USE OF MUSIC: Get On Up
DEBUT DIRECTOR: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Jack O'Connell, Unbroken

Boston Society of Film Critics

FILM: Boyhood (runner-up: Birdman)
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood (runner-up: Clint Eastwood, American Sniper)
ACTOR: Michael Keaton, Birdman (runner-up: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner)
ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night and The Immigrant (runner-up: Hilary Swank, The Homesman)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash (runner-up: Edward Norton, Birdman)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Emma Stone, Birdman (runner-up: Laura Dern, Wild)
SCREENPLAY: (tie) Birdman and Boyhood (runner-up: Mr. Turner)
ANIMATED FAETURE: The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (runner-up: The LEGO Movie)
DOCUMENTARY: CitizenFour (runner-up: Jodorowsky's Dune)
FOREIGN FILM: Two Days, One Night (runner-up: Ida)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki (runner: Mr. Turner- Dick Pope)
FILM EDITING: Boyhood- Sandra Adair (runner-up: American Sniper- Joel Cox & Gary Roach)
NEW FILMMAKER: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler (runner-up: Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child)
USE OF MUSIC: Inherent Vice (runner-up: Whiplash)

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

BEST FILM
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, Hugo Guinness
runner-up: Birdman- Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
runner-up: The LEGO Movie

BEST DOCUMENTARY
CitizenFour
runner-up: Life Itself

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Ida
runner-up: Winter Sleep

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki
runner-up: Mr. Turner- Dick Pope

BEST FILM EDITING
Boyhood- Sandra Adair
runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Barney Piling

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel- Adam Stockhausen
runner-up: Snowpiercer- Ondrej Nekvasil


BEST SCORE
(tie) Inherent Vice- Jonny Greenwood; Under the Skin- Mica Levi

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
The David Whiting Story- Walter Reuben

NEW GENERATION AWARD
Ava DuVernay

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
Gena Rowlands 



             

Best Documentary Short-List

Fifteen movies move forward to compete for the Best Documentary Oscar.

• Art & Craft (directed by Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman, Mark Becker)
• The Case Against 8 (directed by Ben Cotner, Ryan White)
• Citizen Koch (directed by Carl Deal, Tia Lessin)
• Citizenfour (directed by Laura Poitras)
• Finding Vivian Maier (directed by John Maloof, Charlie Siskel)
• The Internet's Own Boy (directed by Brian Knappenberger)
• Jodorowsky's Dune (directed by Frank Pavich)
• Keep on Keepin' On (directed by Alan Hicks)
• The Kill Team (directed by Dan Krauss)
• Last Days of Vietnam (directed by Rory Kennedy)
• Life Itself (directed by Steve James)
• The Overnighters (directed by Jesse Moss)
• The Salt of the Earth (directed by Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders)
• Tales of the Grim Sleeper (directed by Nick Broomfield)
• Virunga (directed by Orlando von Einsiedel)

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Nominations

BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
Selma
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejando Gonzalez Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Oscar Isaac, A Most Violent Year
Michael Keaton, Birdman
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Laura Dern, Wild
Emma Stone, Birdman
Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

Boston Online Film Critics Association

PICTURE: Snowpiercer

Top 10 of 2014:

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 

DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
ACTOR: Brendan Gleeson, Calvary
ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Edward Norton, Birdman
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer
SCREENPLAY: Calvary- John Michael McDonagh
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
DOCUMENTARY: Life Itself
FOREIGN FILM: Two Days, One Night
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Birdman- Emmanuel Lubezki
FILM EDITING: Edge of Tomorrow- James Herbert & Laura Jennings
ORIGINAL SCORE: Under the Skin- Mica Levi

Visual Effects Shortlist

Ten films have survived to contend for the 2014 Best Visual Effect Oscar.  A lot of big-budget moneymakers (but of course) and usual plays like the Marvel flicks, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Interstellar and The Hobbit (no Hobbit or Lord of the Ring film has missed in this category.)  Snubs, surprising and otherwise include Edge of Tomorrow, Lucy, Noah, Exodus: Gods and Kings and Under the Skin-- okay the last one wasn't a really a surprise, but c'mon!!!!

Look for a major race between Apes and Interstellar.

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Godzilla
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Interstellar
• Maleficent
• Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
• X-Men: Days of Future Past

New York Film Critics Circle

PICTURE: Boyhood
DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
ACTOR: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner
ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant; Two Days, One Night
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
SCREENPLAY: The Grand Budapest Hotel- Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
ANIMATED FEATURE: The LEGO Movie
FOREIGN FILM: Ida
NON-FICTION FILM: Citizenfour
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Immigrant- Darius Khondji
FIRST FILM: Jennifer Kent, The Babadook
SPECIAL AWARD: Adrienne Mancia

PGA: Docs and Televison Nominations

The Producers Guild of America announced a partial list of nominations.  The big one for Best Picture will be announced on January 5, 2015.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• The Green Prince
• Life Itself
• Merchants of Doubt
• Particle Fever
• Virunga 

NORMAN FELTON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PRODUCER OF EPISODIC DRAMA

• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones
• House of Cards
• True Detective

DANNY THOMAS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PRODUCER OF EPISODIC COMEDY

• The Big Bang Theory
• Louie
• Modern Family
• Orange is the New Black
• Veep

PRODUCER OF NON-FICTION TELEVISION

• 30 For 30
• American Masters
• Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
• Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey
• Shark Tank

PRODUCER OF LIVE ENTERTAINMENT/TALK

• The Colbert Report
• Jimmy Kimmel Live
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
• Real Time with Bill Mahar
• The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

PRODUCER OF SPORTS PROGRAM

• 24/7
• Hard Knocks: Training Camp with The Atlanta Falcons
• Hard Knocks: Training Camp with The Cincinnati Bengals
• Inside: U.S. Soccer's March to Brazil
• Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

PRODUCER OF CHILDREN'S PROGRAM

• Dora the Explorer
• Sesame Street
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Toy Story of Terror
• Wynton Marsalis: A YoungArts Masterclass

PRODUCER OF DIGITAL SERIES

• 30 For 30 Shorts
• Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
• Cosmos: A National Geographic Deeper Dive
• Epic Rap Battles of History
• Video Game High School Season 3              

Annie Awards Nominations

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
Cheatin'
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The LEGO Movie
Song of the Sea 
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

BEST DIRECTOR
Don Hall, Chris Williams, Big Hero 6
Bill Plympton, Cheatin'
Dean DeBlois, How to Train Your Dragon 2
Tomm Moore, Song of the Sea
Jorge R. Gutierrez, The Book of Life
Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable, The Boxtrolls
Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Chris McKay, The LEGO Movie
Isao Takahata, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya 

BEST VOICE ACTING
Dee Bradley Baker, The Boxtrolls
Andy Garcia, Rio 2
Ben Kingsley, The Boxtrolls
Cyndi Lauper, Henry & Me 

BEST WRITING
Big Hero 6- Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson, Jordan Roberts
The Boxtrolls- Irena Brignull, Adam Pava
How to Train Your Dragon 2- Dean DeBlois
The LEGO Movie- Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Song of the Sea- Will Collins

Golden Satellites Nominations

BEST MOTION PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Love is Strange
Mr. Turner
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro González Inárritu, Birdman  
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game 

BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything 
Miles Teller, Whiplash

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Anne Dorval, Mommy
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher 
Andy Serkis, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman 
Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer
Katherine Waterston, Inherent Vice

Cahiers du Cinema's Top 10 of 2014

Li'l Quinquin

1. Lí'l Quinquin (Bruno Dumont)
2. Goodbye to Language 3D (Jean-Luc Godard)
3. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
4. Maps to the Stars (David Croenberg)
5. The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)
6. Nymphomaniac (Lars von Trier)
7. Mommy (Xavier Dolan)
8. Love is Strange (Ira Sachs)
9. Le Paradis (Alain Cavalier)
10. Our Sunhi(Hong Song-Soo)

Sight and Sound's Best of 2014

1) Boyhood (Richard Linklater)
2) Goodbye to Language 3D (Jean-Luc Godard)
3) Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
(tie) Horse Money (Pedro Costa)
5) Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)
6) The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)
7) Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
8) The Tribe (Myroslav Slaboshypytskiy)
9) Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski)
(tie) Jauja (Lisandro Alonso)
11) Mr. Turner (Mike Leigh)
(tie) National Gallery (Frederick Wiseman)
(tie) The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
(tie) Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)
15) The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland)
16) Birdman (Alejandro Gonzalez Inárritu)
(tie) Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
18) CitizenFour (Laura Poitras)
(tie) The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)
(tie) The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)

European Film Award Nominations

Ida earns the most 2014 European Film Award nods.

BEST EUROPEAN FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Nymphomaniac - Director's Cut
Winter Sleep

BEST EUROPEAN COMEDY
Carmina y Amén
The Mafia Only Kills in the Summer
Le Week-End

BEST EUROPEAN DIRECTOR
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Winter Sleep
Steven Knight, Locke
Ruben Ostlund, Force Majeure
Pawel Pawlikowski, Ida
Paolo Virzi, Human Capital
Andrey Zvyagintsev, Leviathan

BEST EUROPEAN ACTOR
Brendan Gleeson, Calvary
Tom Hardy, Locke
Alexey Serebryakov, Leviathan
Stellan Skarsgard, Nymphomaniac - Director's Cut 
Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

BEST EUROPEAN ACTRESS
Marian Alvarez, Wounded
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Nymphomanic - Director's Cut
Agata Kulesza, Ida
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Human Capital
Agata Trzebuchowska, Ida  

BEST EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ebru Ceylan, Winter Sleep
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Two Days, One Night
Steven Knight, Locke
Pawel Pawlikowski, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Ida
Andrey Zvyagintsev, Oleg Negin, Leviathan

BEST EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY
Just the Right Amount of Violence
Master of the Universe
Of Men and War
Sacro Gra
Waiting for August
We Come as Friends 

BEST EUROPEAN ANIMATED FEATURE 
The Art of Happiness  
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart
Minuscule - Valley of the Lost Ants

BEST EUROPEAN SHORT FILM
The Chicken
The Chimera of M.
Daily Bread
Dinola
Emergency Calls
Little Block of Cement with Dishevelled Hair Containing the Sea
The Missing Scarf
Pride
Shipwreck
Still Got Lives
Summer 2014
Taprobana
A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log
Wall

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY
'71
10,000 KM
Party Girl
The Tribe
Wounded    

Best Animated Feature

Twenty features have been submitted to vie for the 2014 Best Animated Feature Academy Award.  With no clear frontrunner and no Pixar this year, this has a fair chance of being a fairly competitive category this year, despite my personal indifference to the slate.  What are you rooting for this year?

• Big Hero 6
• The Book of Life
• The Boxtrolls
• Cheatin
• Giovanni's Island
• Henry & Me
• The Hero of Color City
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart
• Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
• The Lego Movie
• Minuscule -- Valley of the Lost Ants
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman
• Penguins of Madagascar
• The Pirate Fairy
• Planes: Fire & Rescue
• Rio 2
• Rocks in My Pockets
• Song of the Sea
• The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Gotham Independent Film Award Nominations

BEST FEATURE

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Love is Strange
• Under the Skin

BEST ACTOR

• Bill Hader, The Skeleton Twins
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Oscar Isaac, A Most Violent Year
• Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Miles Teller, Whiplash

*The Gotham Award jury decided to give the male ensemble of Foxcatcher (Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo) a Special Jury Prize for Best Actor. 

BEST ACTRESS

• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Beyond the Lights
• Julianne Moore, Still Alice
• Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin
• Mia Wasikowska, Tracks   

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• Actress
• CITIZENFOUR
• Life Itself
• Manakamana
• Point & Shoot

BINGHAM RAY BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR

• Ana Lily Amirpour, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• James Ward Byrkit, Coherence
• Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
• Eliza Hittman, It Felt Like Love
• Justin Simien, Dear White People

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR

• Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler
• Macon Blair, Blue Ruin
• Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
• Joey King, Wish I Was Here
• Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
• Tessa Thompson, Dear White People  

'The Imitation Game' Wins TIFF's People's Choice Award

The 2014 Toronto Film Festival has come to a close and with it their top prize-- the People's Choice Award.  Toronto is somewhat different than other major film festivals (Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Berlin) in that their top prize is chosen by festival filmgoers rather than a designated jury.  They do hand out a few smaller jury prizes, but the biggie is the People's Choice Award.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD
The Imitation Game- directed by Morten Tyldum

1st runner-up: Learning to Drive- directed by Isable Coixet
2nd runner-up: St. Vincent- directed by Theodore Melfi

The Imitation Game from Headhunters director Tyldum stars Benedict Cumberbatch as mathematician Alan Turing, who cracked the German enigma code during WWII.  Branded a hero until his homosexuality was discovered.  Keira Knightley and Mark Strong co-star in the awards hopeful coming to cinemas this November courtesy of The Weinstein Company.  Last year, eventual Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave won the same prize in Toronto.  Other eventual Best Picture winners that have won the People's Choice in Toronto include Slumdog Millionaire, American Beauty and The King's Speech, a comparable title to The Imitation Game, or at least its distributor hopes so.  Curiously, The Imitation Game had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival before playing Toronto, the same year Toronto organizers made a big fuss about Telluride premieres being sidelined to the back end of the Toronto slate.  The win for The Imitation Game sort of renders that decision even sillier, perhaps.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD (Documentary)
Beats of the Anotonov- directed by Hajooj Kuka
1st runner-up: Do I Sound Gay?- directed by David Thorpe
2nd runner-up: Seymour: An Introduction- directed by Ethan Hawke

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD (Midnight Madness)
What We Do in the Shadows- directed by Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement
1st runner-up: Tusk- directed by Kevin Smith
2nd runner-up: Big Game- directed by Jalmari Helander

BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM: Felix & Maria- directed by Maxime Giroux
BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM: Bang Bang Baby- directed by Jeffrey St. Jules

FIPRESCI PRIZE (PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICS):
Special Presentation Section: Time Out of Mind- directed by Oren Moverman
Discovery Section: May Allah Bless France!- directed by Abd Al Malik

NETPAC AWARD FOR BEST ASIAN FILM: Margarita, With a Straw- directed by Shonali Bose

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM: A Single Body- directed by Sotiris Dounoukos
BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM: The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer- directed by Randall Okita

Lucy

The first ten minutes of Lucy, Luc Besson's absolutely berserk new film, will likely reveal your patience for this insane, fever dream mash-up of metaphysical blather and grand spectacle.  We meet American party girl Lucy (Scarlett Johansson), a blonde tart studying abroad in Taipei, and she's being courted (and then some) to courier a briefcase of unknown contents by her sketchy beau-of-the-week.  She does so, delivering this package to the unrepentantly evil Mr. Jang (Min-sik Choi, the original Oldboy.)  For an action movie it seems like a fairly standard set-up, like a generic variant of Taken (another Besson property.)  To no surprise, the briefcase contains drugs and Lucy, against her will, becomes a mule carrying the mysterious CPH4, which has been sewn into her abdomen.  The drug leaks and Lucy turns into a god-like creature with the ability to use more than 10% of her brain capacity.  She literary becomes the girl with kaleidoscope eyes.  With me so far?

But there's stranger things afoot.  For starters, Besson's cuts the first sequence with nature footage of wildlife animals luring and attacking their prey.  What is this movie?  When Lucy is offered cash, we cut to a shot of mouse nearing its trap.  Lucy never had a chance from the start, but Lucy is something else entirely-- a nutty exercise in style, one that abandons its generic action film traits nearly as quickly as it establishes them, unleashing a beast of movie, one that if isn't exactly smart, is certainly alluring in its confidence.  Maddening and mined with pseudo-science that might make Neil deGrasse Tyson's head explode, Lucy is strangely exhilarating and nearly unfathomably weird.  Besson throws imagery and madcap violence with such reckless abandon; he's genre bursting to such a heightened degree that Lucy plays like The Tree of Life meets Looney Tunes.

Television Critics Association Awards

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Breaking Bad
BEST NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Orange is the New Black
BEST COMEDY SERIES: (tie) Louie; Veep
BEST DRAMA SERIES: The Good Wife
BEST MINISERIES: True Detective
BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE IN A DRAMA: Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
BEST NEWS AND INFORMATION PROGRAM: Cosmos
BEST REALITY SERIES: RuPaul's Drag Race
BEST YOUTH PROGRAM: The Fosters
HERITAGE AWARD: Saturday Night Live
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: James Burrows

Los Angeles Film Festival

The Los Angeles Film Festival closed yesterday-- Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys was the closing night film.  Here are the winners of the fest, this year celebrating their 20th Anniversary.

Stray Dog, the new documentary from Winter's Bone director Debra Granik

Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature)
Man From Reno, directed by Dave Boyle
 
Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature)
Stray Dog, directed by Debra Granik

LA Muse Award
Los Ángeles, directed by Damian John Harper

Best Performance in the Narrative Competition
The Ensemble Cast of Recommended by Enrique, directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel García

Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature
The Young Kieslowski, directed by Kerem Sanga

Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Meet the Patels, directed by Geeta V. Patel and Ravi V. Patel

Audience Award for Best International Feature
Someone You Love, directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen
Country: Denmark

Award for Best Narrative Short Film
The Runaway, directed by Jean-Bernard Marlin. France

Award for Best Documentary Short Film
The Queen, directed by Manuel Abramovich. Argentina

Award for Best Animated/Experimental Short Film
Butter Lamp, directed by Hu Wei. China/France

Audience Award for Best Short Film
The Gunfighter, directed by Eric Kissack

Audience Award for Best Music Video
“Turn Down For What”, Lil Jon and DJ Snake; directed by Daniels
Music: Lil Jon & DJ Snake