The second most important critics' group in the country has voted today, and has crowned both Gravity and Her as the Best Pictures of the year. That was one of three ties, as Jared Leto tied with James Franco for Supporting Actor, and Cate Blanchett tied with Adele Exarchopoulos for Best Actress. The L.A. critics are hugely influential as far as nominations for Oscars go, so this is a good sign for Exarchopoulos and for Her's chances in Best Picture, after winning both L.A. and NBR, two of the top four critics groups (only the National Society of Film Critics is left).
- Best Production Design: Her (runner-up: Inside Llewyn Davis)
- Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave; (runner-up: June Squibb, Nebraska)
- Best Editing: Gravity (runner-up: Upstream Color)
- Best Cinematography: Gravity (runner-up: Inside Llewyn Davis)
- Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club; James Franco, Spring Breakers (tie)
- Best Animation: Ernest & Celestine (runner-up: The Wind Rises)
- Best Music: Inside Llewyn Davis (runner-up: Her)
- Best Documentary: Stories We Tell (runner-up: The Act of Killing)
- Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity; (runner-up: Spike Jonze, Her)
- Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska; (runner-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave)
- Best Screenplay: Before Midnight (runner-up: Her)
- Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine; Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color (tie)
- Best Picture: Gravity, Her (tie)
- Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color; (runner-up: The Great Beauty)
Alfonso Cuaron received his first kudos from a major critics group, and there was pretty much no love for either American Hustle or The Wolf of Wall Street from the L.A. voters. Because there's no real consensus among the critics this year, the industry and guild awards are going to tell the real story as to who's ahead, and those get started this week, when the Screen Actor's Guild unveils their nominations on Wednesday. Stay tuned.
