One of the oldest and most prestigious film critics groups in the country announced their awards today. In a very surprising result, they voted American Hustle the top prize, along with Screenplay and Supporting Actress. This provides a major boost for American Hustle in the Oscar race, and this, along with the Gotham awards shutting out 12 Years a Slave last night, seems to indicate some surprising resistance to the film, despite its amazing reviews, although Steve McQueen was touted as Best Director.
- Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): Stories We Tell
- Best First Film: Fruitvale Station
- Best Cinematography: Inside Llewyn Davis
- Special Award: Frederick Wiseman
- Best Screenplay: American Hustle
- Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises
- Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
- Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color (France)
- Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
- Best Director: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
- Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
- Best Actor: Robert Redford (All is Lost)
- Best Picture: American Hustle
Gravity was totally shut out by the New York critics (not even cinematography, really?), but it has a chance to rally with other groups, most notably the L.A. film critics (the second most prestigious critics group), who vote this Sunday, and often go out of their way to vote the opposite of New York. Other boons from this are Robert Redford's chances in Best Actor and Jennifer Lawrence in Supporting Actress. But American Hustle is the big story, and a possibility here is that the New York critics just set it up as the lightweight "alternative" to 12 Years a Slave in Best Picture, ala Argo last year. We'll see. Next up it's the National Board of Review, which announces their winners tomorrow.
