Chicago Critics Choose 'Boyhood'

Oof. The Chicago critics just produced a list of very boring frontrunners down the line, so I'm going to check in on what's happening with the Foreign Language Film category. Critics awards seem to be splitting between three contenders, with each of them winning several prizes so far- Two Days, One Night, Force Majeure (below) and Ida. I think we should expect all three to make the Foreign Film cut at the Oscars, and that might be a tough one to call on Oscar night, with none of them particularly audience friendly (Sweden's Force Majeure comes closest).

CHICAGO CRITICS WINNERS

  • 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: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
  • Adapted Screenplay: Gillian Flynn, "Gone Girl"
  • Animated Feature: "The Lego Movie"
  • Documentary: "Life Itself"
  • Foreign: "Force Majeure"
  • Editing: Tom Cross, "Whiplash"
  • Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, "Birdman," and Robert D. Yeoman, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
  • Original Score: Mica Levi, "Under the Skin"
  • Art Direction: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
  • Promising Filmmaker: Damien Chazelle, "Whiplash"
  • Promising Performer: Jack O'Connell, "Starred Up," "Unbroken"

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TRAILER: "Knight of Cups"

It was announced this morning that the next film from the illusive Terence Malick will be playing in competition at the Berlin Film Festival next March. All I can say is that it looks like a Malick movie, alright. I'm actually a big fan of the director's films, but after To the Wonder I'm worried that he's only repeating himself at this point and everything he does is on the verge of parody now. This one looks set in a different kind of environment at least, but I'd prefer it if he were to try to change up that style a bit and tell an actual story again.

'Nightcrawler' Sweeps San Diego; Detroit and St. Louis Join the 'Boyhood' Train

Congratulations to San Diego critics for doing something different, even if their overwhelming love for Nightcrawler was a little bit out of control (score- did that movie even have a score?).

SAN DIEGO FILM CRITICS

Picture: Nightcrawler
Director: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
S. Actor: Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
S. Actress: Rene Russo, Nightcrawler
A. Screenplay: Gone Girl
O. Screenplay: Nightcrawler
Editing: Edge of Tomorrow
Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Score: Nightcrawler
Animated: The Boxtrolls
Foreign Film: Force Majeure
Documentary: Citizenfour
Ensemble: Birdman

ST. LOUIS

Best Film: “Boyhood”
Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (“Birdman”)
Best Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal (“Nightcrawler”)
Best Actress: Rosamund Pike (“Gone Girl”)
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”)
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”)
Best Original Screenplay: “Birdman” (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Gone Girl” (Gillian Flynn)
Best Cinematography: “Birdman” (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Best Visual Effects: “Interstellar”
Best Musical Score: “Birdman”
Best Soundtrack: “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Best Art Direction: “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Best Animated Film: “The Lego Movie”
Best Art-House or Festival Film “Whiplash”
Best Comedy: “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Best Documentary: “Citizenfour”
Best Non-English Language Film: “Force Majeure”
Best Scene (favorite movie scene or sequence): “X-Men: Days of Future Past” – Quicksilver Escape from the Pentagon

St. Louis splits Boyhood and Birdman in Picture and Director, and they also liked Jake Gyllenhaal for Best Actor- I guess there's a real chance he could maybe sneak into the Oscar race, but who does he knock out? Steve Carell is most vulnerable I guess.

DETROIT

Film: Boyhood
Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Actress: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
S. Actor: JK Simmons, Whiplash
S. Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Ensemble (tie): Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Guardians of the Galaxy
Breakthrough: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Screenplay: Boyhood
Documentary: Citizenfour

Nothing new to report here, aside from the Midwest going all in for Rosamund Pike today- that's pretty cool.

Indiana, Dallas and the Online Film Critics Society Choose Best of 2014

More regional groups today, all of which are more legit film critics than any member of the BFCA. Indiana became the first to like Reese Witherspoon for Best Actress, and Ralph Fiennes in Best Actor (could he actually get a last minute surge on the coattails of all the Budapest love?)

INDIANA FILM JOURNALISTS

Film: Boyhood
Animated: The Lego Movie
Foreign-Language: Two Days, One Night
Documentary: Life Itself
Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Adapted Screenplay: Whiplash
Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Actor: Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Supporting Actor: JK Simmons, Whiplash
Score: Under the Skin

Dallas went gaga for Birdman, but also liked Reese in Best Actress. Otherwise, not a lot of surprises there.

DALLAS FT. WORTH CRITICS

Picture: Birdman
Director: Alejandro Innaritu, Birdman
Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Wild
S. Actor: JK Simmons, Whiplash
S. Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Foreign-Language: Force Majeure
Screenplay: Birdman
Documentary: Citizenfour
Animated: The Lego Movie
Cinematography: Birdman
Score: Interstellar

Finally, the Online Film Critics Society went nuts for Budapest, actually giving it Best Picture, which is a nice change of pace from Boyhood and Birdman. And chalk up another win for Rosamund Pike as well. But all this Budapest stuff is entirely about perception- I don't think this would even be happening if the Golden Globe and SAG nominations last week hadn't confirmed that it was okay to still like something that came out way back in March. Critics are such sheep.

ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

Picture: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Animated: The Lego Movie
Foreign-Language: Two Days, One Night
Dcumentary: Life Itself
Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Actress: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
S. Actor: Edward Norton, Birdman
S. Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Adapted Screenplay: Gone Girl
Editing: Birdman
Cinematography: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Kansas City Critics like 'Birdman,' Rosamund Pike; San Francisco Goes for 'Boyhood'

Two more regional critics groups weighed in today, and only one of them did anything interesting. Kansas City basically went for Birdman everywhere, but they also gave Gone Girl's Rosamund Pike her first Best Actress prize, and refreshingly rewarded Obvious Child (!) with Adapted Screenplay.

Kansas City Film Critics Winners

Animated: The Lego Movie
Documentary: Citizenfour
Foreign Language Film: Ida
SF/Fantasy/Horror Film: The Babadook
Adapted Screenplay: Obvious Child
Original Screenplay: Birdman
Sup. Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Sup. Actor: Edward Norton, Birdman
Actress: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Picture: Birdman

Meanwhile, San Francisco did virtually nothing interesting, anointing Boyhood and the expected acting winners right down the line, aside from Edward Norton, who won twice today- meh. Looks like the creative Oscar picks this year are going to come from the technical categories, unless they decide to buck the trend somewhere (Best Actor, perhaps? I still think there's a chance Michael Keaton won't necessarily win out in the end there).

San Francisco Film Critics

Best Picture:“Boyhood”
Best Director: Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Best Original Screenplay:“Birdman”
Best Adapted Screenplay:“Inherent Vice”
Best Actor: Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Best Supporting Actor: Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Best Animated Feature:“The Lego Movie”
Best Foreign Language Film:“Ida”
Best Documentary:“Citizenfour”
Best Cinematography:“Ida”
Best Production Design:“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Best Film Editing:“Boyhood”

TRAILER: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

A new look at next year's Mad Max movie with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. I'm noticing all the excessive CG in this one, that's a little worrying. The original two Mad Max movies were these low budget, bare, gritty and brutal action flicks- but then the third one became all about the extravagant sets and you could tell the Hollywood money kind of dwarfed the essence of the originals. Now, I'm worried this one could do the same thing (George Miller's the same guy who's done all three, but we saw how he could get carried away before). It's coming out next summer.

TRAILER: "Inside Out"

The trailer for Pixar's new movie Inside Out is here- at least it looks a lot more ambitious than anything they've done in long time (not another sequel to one of their old favorites). It's also from the the director of Up, so maybe there's some hope for this one. Based on this look at it though, it's hard for me to see how they make a full length feature out of it, but they must have something.