National Society of Film Critics

Inside Llewyn Davis wins big with the National Society of Film Critics; Oscar fate still uncertain

PICTURE: Inside Llewyn Davis (23 points)
runners-up: American Hustle (17); 12 Years a Slave (16); Her (16)
DIRECTOR: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis (25)
runners-up: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity (18); Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave (15)
ACTOR: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis (28)
runners-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave (19); Robert Redford, All is Lost (12)
ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine (57)
runners-up: Adéle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color (36); Julie Delpy, Before Midnight (26)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: James Franco, Spring Breakers (24)
runners-up: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club (20); Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips (14)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle (54)
runners-up: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave (38); Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine (18), Léa Seydoux, Blue is the Warmest Color (18)
SCREENPLAY: Before Midnight- Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke (29)
runners-up: Inside Llewyn Davis- Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (26); American Hustle- Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell (18)
NON-FICTION FILM: (tie) The Act of Killing; At Berkeley (20)
runner-up: Leviathan (18)
FOREIGN FILM: Blue is the Warmest Color (27)
runners-up: A Touch of Sin (21); The Great Beauty (15)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Inside Llewyn Davis- Bruno Delbonnel (28)
runners-up: Gravity- Emmanuel Lubezki (26); Nebraska- Phedon Papamichael (17)
BEST FILM(S)  STILL AWAITING U.S. DISTRIBUTION: Stray Dogs; Hide Your Smiling Faces
FILM HERITAGE: Too Much Johnson; American Treasures From the New Zealand Film Archive; Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios; The Hitchcock 9

Writers Guild Association Nominees

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Hustle- Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell
Blue Jasmine- Woody Allen
Dallas Buyers Club- Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
Her- Spike Jonze
Nebraska- Bob Nelson

Holy cow!  Dallas Buyers Club rackets yet another guild mention and thus so far is tied with American Hustle as the only film to receive top nods from the PGA, WGA and SAG.  In this shocking development, Inside Llewyn Davis, the latest sublime work from the Brothers Coen was snubbed yet again.  Gravity also failed to make the grade.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
August: Osage County- Tracy Letts
Before Midnight- Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips- Billy Ray
Lone Survivor- Peter Berg
The Wolf of Wall Street- Terence Winter

Whereas in the Adapted Screenplay category, a butt load of top contenders were deemed ineligible (12 Years a Slave, Philomena, Rush, Blue is the Warmest Color, Mandela) so it was spare parts.  Lone Survivor, Peter Berg's wartime flick got the consolation prize.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Dirty Wars- Jeremy Scahill & David Riker
Herblock-- The Black & the White- Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens
No Place on Earth- Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin
Stories We Tell- Sarah Polley
We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wiki-Leaks- Alex Gibney

Central Ohio Film Critics Association

PICTURE: Gravity

Top Ten of 2013:

1. Gravity
2. Her
3. American Hustle
4. Frances Ha
5. The Wolf of Wall Street
6. 12 Years a Slave
7. Inside Llewyn Davis
8. Before Midnight
9. Upstream Color
10. Nebraska

DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
ACTOR: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
ACTRESS: Adéle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color
SUPPORTING ACTOR: James Franco, Spring Breakers
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Her- Spike Jonze
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Wolf of Wall Street- Terence Winter
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Wind Rises
FOREIGN FILM: The Wind Rises
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gravity- Emmanuel Lubezki
SCORE: Her 
ENSEMBLE CAST: American Hustle
MOST OVERLOOKED FILM: Short Term 12
ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club, Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street
BREAKTHROUGH FILM ARTIST: Adéle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color

2013: The Year in Coin

TOP 10 GROSSING FILMS OF 2013

1. Iron Man 3- $409.0
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- $393.4
3. Despicable Me 2- $367.8
4. Man of Steel- $291.0
5. Frozen- $271.8
6. Monsters University- $268.4
7. Gravity- $254.5
8. Fast & Furious 6- $238.6
9. Oz: The Great & Powerful- $234.9
10. Star Trek Into Darkness- $228.7

Superheroes, sequels, re-boots, Katniss and one true work of art consist of the top-ten moneymakers of the 2013.  Was it a good year?  Too soon to tell, but with the exception of Gravity, all that's old is new again on terms of the demigods of 2013's box office.  Marvel is king, again.  DC hopes to catch up, and animation (despite a depressing year) had three solid mega-bucks earning blockbusters.

TOP 10 OPENING AVERAGES

1. Frozen- $243,390 (1 theater)
2. American Hustle- $123,409 (6 theaters)
3. Blue Jasmine- $102,011 (6 theaters)
4. Inside Llewyn Davis- $101,353 (4 theaters)
5. Spring Breakers- $87,667 (3 theaters)
6. The Place Beyond the Pines- $69,864 (4 theaters)
7. Enough Said- $58,200 (4 theaters)
8. Fruitvale Station- $55,184 (7 theaters)
9. Before Midnight- $49,383 (5 theaters)
10. The Spectacular Now- $49,354 (4 theaters)

Okay, so the top two are essentially cheats-- big films with immediate wide releases just teased for a short limited run to garner a headline or two, but the rest is an eclectic mix of high-end art house films, auteur-driven works and one trashy freak show (guess which is which!)

And Now Things Get Serious (PGA Nominations)

Happy New Year.  Musings and Stuff took an unexpected break for the holidays, and all the exhaustion that comes with this time of year, but it's time to start fresh as the 2013 Oscar Race is ever solidified (for better or worse) by today's announcement of the nominees of the best of the year from the Producers Guild Association of America.

The nominees are:

• 12 Years a Slave
• American Hustle
• Blue Jasmine
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• Her
• Nebraska
• Saving Mr. Banks
• The Wolf of Wall Street

The PGA have been a streak with the Best Picture Oscar since No Country For Old Men's victory in 2007, so the outcome here will more than likely be our eventual king of 2013.  Some the usual suspects (Captain Phillips, American Hustle, Gravity, Nebraska, 12 Years a Slave) arrive and are safe, but the remaining line-up is a bit harder to read, prompting confusion and more questions.

Is Blue Jasmine, long ago abandoned as the Cate Blanchett-only show, now a possible Best Picture nominee?

Can Dallas Buyers Club, fresh from its inexplicable SAG Ensemble nomination, join the fray?

Are Wolf of Wall Street and Her, passionately loved (and some corners hated) auteur projects, safe?

Just how telling is that lazy nomination for Saving Mr. Banks?

And of the snubs-- neither Inside Llewyn Davis, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Fruitvale Station, August: Osage County, Prisoners or All is Lost made the cut.  Are they DOA?  Interestingly, the Weinstein Company and their typically plentiful crop of prestige films didn't make the cut this year.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE (Almost didn't feel the need to include because it's just so depressing)

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Epic
• Frozen
• Monster's University