DC Critics Go for 'Spotlight;' AAFC Likes 'Straight Outta Compton'

From now on we're heading into the regional critics phase of awards season, with announcements coming almost every day. First, it's the Washington D.C. critics group, which also gave Spotlight the top prize, followed by George Miller in director, Leo Dicaprio in Best Actor, and another one for Saoirse Ronan in Actress.

WASHINGTON DC FILM CRITICS

• Best Film: Spotlight
• Best Director: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
• Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
• Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
• Best Supporting Actor: Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
• Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)
• Best Acting Ensemble: Spotlight
• Best Youth Performance: Jacob Tremblay (Room)
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Room
• Best Original Screenplay: Inside Out
• Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
• Best Documentary: Amy
• Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
• Best Original Score: Sicario
• Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
• Best Cinematography: The Revenant
• Best Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road

AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

• Best Picture: "Straight Outta Compton"
• Best Director: Ryan Coogler, “Creed”
• Best Ensemble: "Straight Outta Compton"
• Best Actor: Will Smith "Concussion"
• Best Actress: Teyonah Parris "Chi-Raq"
• Best Supporting Actor: Jason Mitchell "Straight Outta Compton" 
• Best Supporting Actress: Tessa Thompson "Creed"
• Best Independent Film: "Chi-Raq”
• Best Screenplay: “Dope”
• Breakout Performance: Michael B. Jordan “Creed”
• Best Animation: "The Peanuts Movie"
• Best Documentary: "A Ballerina’s Tale"

BOX OFFICE 12/04-12/06: 'Mockingjay' and 'Krampus' Lead a Slow Post-Thanksgiving Weekend

The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally pretty sleepy, and this one was no exception, as Mockingjay-Part 2 topped for the third week in a row, bringing in another 18 million for a new total of 227 million domestic. It was followed by the only new wide release, the Christmas themed black comedy film Krampus, which came in ahead of expectations with about 16 million on top of middling reviews, for second place.

Following them was Creed, which had a decent hold, earning another 15 million for a total of 65 million so far, while The Good Dinosaur fell off a cliff from last week, coming in with just 15 million after opening in the mid-50's. This will make it Pixar's first film never to hold the number one spot at the box office. Spectre rounded out the top five, bringing its own domestic total to 184 million.

Top 5:

1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2- 18.6 million
2. Krampus- 16 million
3. Creed- 15.5 million
4. The Good Dinosaur- 15.5 million
5. Spectre- 5.4 million

In limited release, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq opened pretty well, with over a million from 305 screens, while of the Oscar contenders in theaters, Spotlight and Brooklyn seem to be holding up the best, along with Carol, although that one is waiting a good long while before expansion in order to maximize its box office prospects from awards boosts. Next week, amid extremely muted fanfare, Ron Howard's Moby Dick story In the Heart of the Sea comes out, and a few more limited releases in The Big Short, Legend and The Lady in the Van. See you then.

'Ex Machina' Wins Big at the British Independent Film Awards

The BIFAS tonight loved Alex Garland's Ex Machina, giving it four big prizes instead of spreading the wealth this year. But again, Saoirse Ronan taking Best Actress here over Charlotte Rampling indicates that she's going to have the British bloc behind her and should be favored to win the Bafta, helping her along on her road to the Oscars- I really loved Brooklyn, so I have to say that's my favorite awards story this season so far.

• Short Film: Edmond
• International Indie Film: Room
• Achievement in Craft: Ex Machina
• Promising Newcomer:Abigail Hardingham, Nina Forever
• Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, Suffragette
• Supporting Actress: Olivia Colman, The Lobster
• Screenplay: Ex Machina
• Producer of the Year: Kajaki
• Debut Director: Stephen Fingleton, Survivalist
• Actor: Tom Hardy, Legend
• Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
• Director: Alex Garland, Ex Machina
• Picture: Ex Machina

'Spotlight' Sweeps Top Prizes at LA, Boston and New York Online Critics

Well, this is turning out to be an interesting year. Spotlight did indeed take Best Picture at all three of these critics groups today, but that did not necessarily correspond with Best Director for any of them, and if you look on down the line at the other major categories, there wasn't much overlap at all in places like Best Actor, Actress, Screenplay or anything else. This is the opposite of a consensus year, even if it looks like Spotlight is kinda out in front. Still, the fact remains that NBR, NYFCC and LA- three of the four major critics groups, since the NSFC doesn't announce until January- all awarded a different movie in Best Picture. We may have to wait for the industry awards and guilds to see what's really going on this year, because critics are split up all over the place.

LA FILM CRITICS

• Best Picture: Spotlight (Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road)
• Best Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Todd Haynes, Carol)
• Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs (Runner-up: Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul)
• Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn)
• Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes (Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies)
• Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina (Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria)
• Best Screenplay: Spotlight (Runner-up: Anomalisa)
• Best Cinematography: Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Carol)
• Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Carol)
• Best Editing: The Big Short (Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road)
• Best Score: Anomalisa & Carol (Runner-up: The Hateful Eight)
• Best Foreign-Language Film: Son of Saul (Runner-up: The Tribe)
• Best Documentary: Amy (Runner-up: The Look of Silence)
• Best Animation: Anomalisa (Runner-up: Inside Out)
• New Generation: Ryan Coogler, Creed

The most interesting and impactful thing the all important LA critics did today was award George Miller in director- I now think he's a lock to get an Oscar nomination now, even if Mad Max is still fighting for one in Picture. Michael Fassbender also got a boost for Steve Jobs, which hasn't shown up much in the critics awards so far, and needed some extra attention.

BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS

• Best Original Score: Love & Mercy (Runner-up: Creed)
• Best Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Spotlight)
• Best Cinematography: Carol (Runner-up: The Revenant)
• Best New Filmmaker: Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Runner-up: Alex Garland, Ex Machina)
• Best Animated Film: Anomalisa & Inside Out (tie)
• Best Documentary: Amy (Runner-up: The Look of Silence)
• Best Screenplay: Spotlight (Runner-up: Carol)
• Best Ensemble: Spotlight (Runner-up: The Big Short)
• Best Supporting Actress: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria (Runner-up: Alicia Vikander)
• Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies (Runner-up: Sylvester Stallone, Creed)
• Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn)
• Best Actor: Paul Dano, Love & Mercy and Leonardo Dicaprio, The Revenant (tie)
• Best Director: Todd Haynes, Carol (runner-up: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight)
• Best Picture: Spotlight (Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road
• Best Foreign-Language Film: The Look of Silence (Runner-up: White God)

These are the real Boston film critics, and they did go for the hometown Spotlight up top, but decided, along with LA, to support Charlotte Rampling as a dark horse to get an Oscar nod in Best Actress for the critical fave, 45 Years. What's more interesting there, frankly, is that Saoirse Ronan came in second at both critics groups, after winning New York the other day and picking up the BIFA in London tonight as well. People, I really think she's becoming the favorite to win the Oscar for Brooklyn, and become one of the youngest Best Actress winners ever. The tea leaves are being spilled.

NEW YORK ONLINE

• Breakthrough Performance: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl & Ex Machina)
• Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara, Carol
• Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
• Screenplay: Spotlight
• Cinematography: Mad Max: Fury Road
• Use of Music: Love & Mercy
• Debut Director: Alex Garland, Ex Machina
• Director: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
• Actress: Brie Larson, Room
• Actor: Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
• Ensemble: Spotlight
• Foreign-Language Film: Son of Saul
• Documentary: Amy
• Picture: Spotlight
• Animated Feature: Inside Out

The online NY critics stayed mostly middle of the road and went for Brie Larson, but again, tellingly, Saoirse Ronan was the runner-up. It might be notable that Amy and Son of Saul seem to have a strong handle on winning the documentary and foreign language film categories at all of these groups as well, but Amy is still fighting for that Oscar nod from the snobby doc branch of the Academy, which looks down on the "entertainment" docs. And Paul Dano winning for Best Actor here and at Boston is more a sign of the Best Actor race being weak this year for the first time in a while, as no one seems to want to award the genuinely placed "lead" performances and are reaching outside the box for other options.

Boston Online Critics Go For 'Mad Max' as Year's Best

Boston has two critics groups, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the online group, so this one is the lower tier- the BSFC hasn't announced yet. But these guys certainly loved Mad Max and Creed, and this is Saoirse Ronan's second Best Actress win, as well as Kristen Stewart's second in supporting. I didn't mention the Stewart thing at the NYFCC the other day, because frankly, Clouds of Sils Maria was a tiny movie that about 4 people saw in total, so even if critics decide to make a weird rally for her in this, there's no guarantee that could happen at the Oscars. Certainly didn't work out for Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer last year. I am liking the tilt towards mainstream genre appreciation from critics in the bigger categories this year, at least, so far. I would assume the BFSC would have some more appreciation of the hometown set Spotlight though, right? We'll see. Boston, LA and the New York Online critics are set to break on Sunday.

BEST PICTURE:

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST DIRECTOR:

George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ACTOR:

Michael B. Jordan, CREED

BEST ACTRESS:

Saoirse Ronan, BROOKLYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Sylvester Stallone, CREED

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

BEST ENSEMBLE:

SPOTLIGHT

BEST SCREENPLAY:

Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, SPOTLIGHT

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

SON OF SAUL

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

AMY

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

INSIDE OUT

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

John Seale, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST EDITING:

Margaret Sixel, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

Junkie XL, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

2. CREED

3. BROOKLYN

4. CAROL

5. SPOTLIGHT

6. CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

7. BRIDGE OF SPIES

8. THE MARTIAN

9. ANOMALISA

10. TANGERINE

Robert Loggia 1930-2015

Academy Award nominee and veteran actor Robert Loggia passed away today at the age of 85. He started acting in the late 1950's, and his many screen credits included An Officer and a Gentleman, Scarface, Prizzi's Honor, Independence Day, Jagged Edge and Big, for which he participated in the famous piano scene with Tom Hanks. He was nominated for an Oscar for Jagged Edge, but in remembrance, we have to show the scene from Big that everyone will always remember.

Loggia and Tom Hanks dancing on the piano:

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe Team Up for 'The Nice Guys'

This movie looks like almost an exact replica of Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, except set in the '70's with a different buddy team. Which isn't to say it looks bad exactly- I liked that movie, and this one looks just as funny, action-filled and violent. But still, more or less the same exact material, right?

Helen Mirren Takes on Drone Warfare in 'Eye in the Sky' Trailer

This will probably be no good, despite Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman's involvement, but I do like that it's a movie that is at least acknowledging the grey areas of using drones to combat terrorism in place of ground troops, instead of labeling it as inherently bad or good. Still, Aaron Paul has yet to be in a decent movie after Breaking Bad, so I won't get my hopes up too high.

DC Heroes Unite in Full 'Batman v Superman' Trailer

Wow. That was...something, alright. I think I'm just in awe at whatever the hell Jesse Eisenberg thinks he's doing with his performance as Lex Luthor in this movie, that I didn't even notice the crappy CGI Doomsday the first time around- or that Wonder Woman looks like she wandered out of Sucker Punch. Seriously though, what's more surprising- that Zack Snyder let Eisenberg get away with attempting to mimic Jim Carrey's Riddler from 1995's Batman Forever, or that whoever made this trailer actually thought it was good enough to show something of an extended scene of Lex making his presence known to Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, who are both played as bland non-entities by Affleck and Cavill? This may actually be one of the worst, most memorably bad movies ever made. The campy stuff was hidden from the first couple teasers, but man- I can't wait for the reviews to hit on this one.

10 Classic Christmas Movies for December

It's the last month of the year and time to celebrate Christmas, so here we are with my ten favorite holiday films, complete with the trailers for each one. To read more about the selections, you can head over to the Movie for Every Month page, and then click here for the full list of ten, which includes such perennials as Love Actually, The Shop Around the Corner,  Elf, and Home Alone, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody- enjoy the season with these classics, some cocoa and a warm fireplace if you can.

New York Film Critics Name 'Carol' as Year's Best

The NYFCC weighed in today and pretty much went all in for Carol, a critics darling if ever there was one- it's an astounding 98 on Metacritic. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if this will have a heavy influence as far as Oscars go- it's good for drawing attention to the film, but no Todd Haynes movie has ever been nominated, and the last time there was one in the race, with 2002's Far From Heaven, it was also anointed by the New York Critics and then snubbed for everything except Julianne Moore's performance. The biggest impact today's vote will have is in their surprise win for Saoirse Ronan as Best Actress in Brooklyn, a huge boost to her chances to actually win the televised awards for a film that's beloved. She was my favorite female performance of the year, so I'm all for it. Go Saoirse.

• First Film: Son of Saul
• Foreign-Language Film: Timbuktu
• Supporting Actress: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria
• Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
• Cinematography: Carol
• Screenplay: Carol
• Non-Fiction Film: In Jackson Heights
• Animated Film: Inside Out
• Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
• Actor: Michael Keaton, Spotlight
• Director: Todd Haynes, Carol
• Picture: Carol

Pixar Leads the Annie Award Nominations with 'Inside Out' and 'The Good Dinosaur'

For the first time, Pixar has two movies competing against itself with Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, both of which are up against The Peanuts Movie, Shaun the Sheep Movie and the Charlie Kaufman film Anomalisa. They added a new category this year for Independent Animated Feature, and curiously, Anomalisa missed out on a writing nod of all things.

201 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS:

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Anomalisa
• Inside Out
• The Good Dinosaur
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• The Peanuts Movie

BEST INDEPENDENT ANIMATED FEATURE

• Boy and the World
• The Prophet
• The Boy and the Beast
• When Marnie Was There

VOICE ACTING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
• Amy Poehler, Inside Out
• Phyllis Smith, Inside Out
• Pierre Coffin, Minions
• Jon Hamm, Minions
• Alex Garfin, The Peanuts Movie
• Hadley Belle Miller, The Peanuts Movie
• Tom Kenny, The SpongeBob Movie- Sponge Out of Water

WRITING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• Inside Out
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• When Marnie Was There

DIRECTING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnsons, Anomalisa
• Raul Garcia, Extraordinary Tales
• Pete Docter, Inside Out
• Roger Allers, The Prophet
• Mark Burton and Richard Starzak, Shaun the Sheep Movie
• Steve Martino, The Peanuts Movie
• Hiromasa Yonebayashi, When Marnie Was There