On the listing and awarding front, the biggest news since yesterday’s roundup is surely Indiewire‘s poll of over 220 critics from around the world. Considering that there are thirteen separate categories, with 50 titles listed in each, and that you can browse individual ballots and the results for each and every film, a hardcore list junkie could easily lose a day or two in there. Criticwire‘s Sam Adams has done some pre-sorting and analysis for us, though, and here, even more briefly:
- Best Film: Boyhood. Runner-up: Under the Skin.
- Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood. Runner-up: Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Best Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night. Runner-up: Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin.
- Best Lead Actor: Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Runner-up: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler.
- Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood. Runner-up: Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer.
- Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash. Runner-up: Edward Norton, Birdman.
- Best Documentary: Citizenfour. Runner-up: Life Itself.
- Best First Feature: The Babadook. Runner-up: Nightcrawler.
- Best Undistributed Film: Hill of Freedom. Runner-up: Journey to the West.
- Best Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel. Runner-up: Boyhood.
- Best Original Soundtrack or Score: Under the Skin. Runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Best Cinematography: Birdman. Runner-up: Mr. Turner.
- Best Editing: Boyhood. Runner-up: Whiplash.
A list of a very different sort but with considerable potential for shaping future lists for years to come is the Black List, presented yesterday via Twitter and as a handsome PDF booklet. Casey Cipriani for Indiewire: “The 10th annual list, announcing the year’s best in un-produced scripts, was chosen by a group of 250 development executives, agents and other insiders. Films featured on the list in previous years include Best Picture winners like Slumdog Millionaire, Argo and The King’s Speech, plus 2014 favorites like Foxcatcher, Whiplash and The Imitation Game.”
The Chicago Reader‘s J.R. Jones has begun rolling out his 2014 top ten, writing about one film a day and beginning with #10, E.L. Katz’s Cheap Thrills.
Matt Singer‘s at ScreenCrush now and topping his list is Boyhood.
“This year has turned out to be one of take-me-seriously films,” writes Alison Willmore at Buzzfeed, “stories of all sorts of artists—actors, writers, painters, musicians, and chefs—making a grab for recognition and authenticity. Of course, artistic angst isn’t a new topic, but in 2014, it erupted from multiple founts.”
The AV Club revisits the best scenes of the year, while Slant‘s posted its list of the “20 Best Film Performances of 2014” and the Dissolve considers the best performances by women.
Little White Lies has posted its writers’ and contributors’ individual ballots and the Guardian‘s unveiled the results of its readers’ poll.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s Cinematographers Roundtable: Dion Beebe (Into the Woods), Jeff Cronenweth (Gone Girl), Roger Deakins (Unbroken), Benoit Delhomme (The Theory of Everything), Matthew Libatique (Noah) and Dick Pope (Mr. Turner)
At RogerEbert.com, Glenn Kenny looks back in the year in Blu-ray releases.
BOMB contributors are looking back on the year in art and culture.
AWARDS
“Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner leads the field for the 35th London Film Critics’ Circle Awards,” reports LFCC member Guy Lodge for Variety. “The painterly biopic received nominations in seven categories, including Film of the Year, Director of the Year and Actor of the Year for Timothy Spall. While the total for Leigh’s film was boosted by two citations in the group’s separate British-only categories, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman scored six nods, with five apiece for Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything. All are among the 10 pics shortlisted for Film of the Year, alongside Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler, Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash and a pair of foreign-language titles, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida and Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan.”
The Toronto Film Critics Association doesn’t just name names, it also adds a few words on each of its award-winners:
- Best Film: Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, a cinematic masterpiece that evokes beauty in life and the inevitable passage of time.
- Best Director: Richard Linklater, for the singular achievement that is Boyhood.
- Best Actor: Tom Hardy, for playing a Welsh builder in crisis in Locke.
- Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, for her performance as a Polish woman navigating 1920s America in The Immigrant.
- Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, for his role as a tyrannical conductor in Whiplash.
- Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, for her role as the mother of Mason Jr. in Boyhood.
- Best Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel, for its nuanced humor and intricate narrative dollhouse.
- Best Animated Feature: Isao Takahata’s delicate fable The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
- Best First Feature: Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox.
- Best Foreign-Language Film: Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure.
- Best Documentary Film: Jesse Moss’s The Overnighters.
The Chicago Film Critics Association, founded in 1990, has announced its awards:
- Best Picture: Boyhood.
- Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood.
- Best Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman.
- Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice.
- Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash.
- Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood.
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Gone Girl.
- Best Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Best Art Direction/Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Best Cinematography: (tie) Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Best Editing: Boyhood.
- Best Original Score: Under the Skin.
- Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie.
- Best Foreign Film: Force Majeure.
- Best Documentary: Life Itself.
- Most Promising Performer: Jack O’Connell, Starred Up and Unbroken.
- Most Promising Filmmaker: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash.
THR‘s Actors Roundtable: Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner) and Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher)
The San Diego Film Critics Society‘s award-winners:
- Best Picture: Nightcrawler.
- Best Director: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler.
- Best Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler.
- Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night.
- Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher.
- Best Supporting Actress: Rene Russo, Nightcrawler.
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl.
- Best Original Screenplay: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler.
- Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit, Nightcrawler.
- Best Editing: James Herbert and Laura Jennings, Edge of Tomorrow.
- Best Production Design: Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pincock, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Best Score: James Newton Howard, Nightcrawler.
- Best Animated Film: The Boxtrolls.
- Best Foreign Film: Force Majeure.
- Best Documentary: Citizenfour.
- Best Ensemble: Birdman.
- Body of Work: Willem Dafoe (John Wick, The Fault in Our Stars, The Grand Budapest Hotel, A Most Wanted Man and Nymphomaniac: Part 2).
From the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association:
- Best Film: Boyhood.
- Best Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman.
- Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Wild.
- Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash.
- Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood.
- Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman.
- Best Foreign-Language Film: Force Majeure.
- Best Documentary: Citizenfour.
- Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie.
- Best Screenplay: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman.
- Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman.
- The Russell Smith Award, named for the late Dallas Morning News film critic and presented annually to the best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film: Boyhood.
The St. Louis Film Critics‘ choices:
- Best Film: Boyhood.
- Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 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 Adapted Screenplay: Gone Girl.
- Best Original Screenplay: Birdman.
- Best Art Direction: The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman.
- Best Musical Score: Birdman.
- Best Visual Effects: Interstellar.
- Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie.
- Best Non-English Language Film: Force Majeure.
- Best Documentary: Citizenfour.
- Best Art House or Festival Film: Whiplash.
- Best Comedy: Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Best Soundtrack: Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Best Scene: X-Men: Days of Future Past, Quicksilver Escape from the Pentagon.
The Detroit Film Critics Society:
- Best Film: Boyhood.
- Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood.
- Best Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman.
- Best Actress: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl.
- Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash.
- Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood.
- Best Screenplay: Boyhood.
- Best Documentary: Citizenfour.
- Best Ensemble: (tie) Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Breakthrough: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash (director, screenplay).
THR‘s Actresses Roundtable: Amy Adams (Big Eyes), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Laura Dern (Wild), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Hilary Swank (The Homesman) and Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
From the Indiana Film Journalists Association:
- Best Film: Boyhood (Runner-up: Whiplash).
- Top 10:
- Boyhood
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- The Imitation Game
- Life Itself
- Locke
- A Most Violent Year
- St. Vincent
- Whiplash
- Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood (Runner-up: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash).
- Best Actor: Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel (Runner-up: Tom Hardy, Locke).
- Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Wild (Runner-up: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl).
- Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash (Runner-up: Ethan Hawke, Boyhood).
- Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year (Runner-up: Melissa McCarthy, St. Vincent).
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Whiplash (Runner-up: The Imitation Game).
- Best Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Runner-up: Boyhood).
- Best Animated Feature: The Lego Movie (Runner-up: The Boxtrolls).
- Best Foreign Language Film: Two Days, One Night (Runner-up: Ida).
- Best Musical Score: Under the Skin (Runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel).
- Original Vision Award, recognizing a film that is especially innovative or groundbreaking: Boyhood.
- The Hoosier Award: Eric Grayson.
The 2014 Lists and Awards Index. For news and tips throughout the day every day, follow @KeyframeDaily. Get Keyframe Daily in your inbox by signing in at fandor.com/daily.
