I have to confess, of all the awards bodies I kind of hate the BFCA the most. These are the Broadcast Film Critics Association, although they shouldn't be calling themselves "critics" since most of them are bloggers, entertainment reporters, people who talk about movies on E! (not kidding) and pretty much anyone can get in. It's a joke to think of these guys as critics. It's the People's Choice Awards of so-called critics (they even have categories like Best Action Movie, etc). But they're a bigger group, they have a televised awards show, and their only goal is to consider themselves Oscar predictors, so their nominations' sole purpose is in trying to match up with what the Academy might do. I'm not even convinced they vote on what they think is actually good. But Budapest continues its resurgence here with 11 nominations, as you can see.
BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash
BEST ACTOR
- Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
- Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
- Michael Keaton – Birdman
- David Oyelowo – Selma
- Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
BEST ACTRESS
- Jennifer Aniston – Cake
- Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
- Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
- Julianne Moore – Still Alice
- Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
- Reese Witherspoon – Wild
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
- Robert Duvall – The Judge
- Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
- Edward Norton – Birdman
- Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
- J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
- Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
- Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
- Emma Stone – Birdman
- Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
- Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
- Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
- Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
- Mackenzie Foy – Interstellar
- Jaeden Lieberher – St. Vincent
- Tony Revolori – The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Quvenzhane Wallis – Annie
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
- Birdman
- Boyhood
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- The Imitation Game
- Into the Woods
- Selma
BEST DIRECTOR
- Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Ava DuVernay – Selma
- David Fincher – Gone Girl
- Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman
- Angelina Jolie – Unbroken
- Richard Linklater – Boyhood
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- Birdman
- Boyhood
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Nightcrawler
- Whiplash
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- Gone Girl
- The Imitation Game
- Inherent Vice
- The Theory of Everything
- Unbroken
- Wild
BEST CINEMATOGRAPY
- Birdman
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Interstellar
- Mr. Turner
- Unbroken
BEST ART DIRECTION
- Birdman
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Inherent Vice
- Interstellar
- Into the Woods
- Snowpiercer
BEST EDITING
- Birdman
- Boyhood
- Gone Girl
- Interstellar
- Whiplash
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Inherent Vice
- Into the Woods
- Maleficent
- Mr. Turner
BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
- Foxcatcher
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- Into the Woods
- Maleficent
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- Edge of Tomorrow
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- Interstellar
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
- Big Hero 6
- The Book of Life
- The Boxtrolls
- How to Train Your Dragon 2
- The Lego Movie
BEST ACTION MOVIE
- American Sniper
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Edge of Tomorrow
- Fury
- Guardians of the Galaxy
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
- Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
- Tom Cruise – Edge of Tomorrow
- Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Brad Pitt – Fury
- Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
- Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
- Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
- Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
- Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy
- Shailene Woodley – Divergent
BEST COMEDY
- Birdman
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- St. Vincent
- Top Five
- 22 Jump Street
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
- Jon Favreau – Chef
- Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Michael Keaton – Birdman
- Bill Murray – St. Vincent
- Chris Rock – Top Five
- Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
- Rose Byrne – Neighbors
- Rosario Dawson – Top Five
- Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent
- Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
- Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
- The Babadook
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- Interstellar
- Snowpiercer
- Under the Skin
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- Force Majeure
- Ida
- Leviathan
- Two Days, One Night
- Wild Tales
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- Citizenfour
- Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
- Jodorowsky’s Dune
- Last Days in Vietnam
- Life Itself
- The Overnighters
BEST SONG
- Big Eyes – Lana Del Rey – Big Eyes
- Everything Is Awesome – Jo Li and the Lonely Island – The Lego Movie
- Glory – Common/John Legend – Selma
- Lost Stars – Keira Knightley – Begin Again
- Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
BEST SCORE
- The Imitation Game
- The Theory of Everything
- Gone Girl
- Birdman
- Interstellar
The fact that this group is the one that chose to resurrect Unbroken (a move that did NOT get good reviews) tells me they've turned into bigger star fuckers than the Hollywood Foreign Press. That's embarrassing. Other than that, Foxcatcher did very poorly, which means Steve Carell and that film are still on the bubble, and I guess I shouldn't shut my eyes anymore to Jennifer Aniston's possible Oscar nomination (gulp) for a movie no one has seen. But the precursor combo of SAG, GG and BFCA is a powerful one, and very few actors miss with Oscar after having hit all three. It does happen, but she'd be one of the few. It still seems unimaginable to me though. There's usually one or two movies on their BP list that don't translate to Oscar- this year I'm thinking it could be Nightcrawler and hopefully Unbroken. The BFCA awards take place on January 15th.
