Hot off the heels of the New York Film Critics Circle (Best Film: American Hustle) and the National Board of Review (Best Film: Her), voting groups that jump started the 2013 awards season last week, both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) and the Boston Society of Film Critics gave out their awards for the best in 2013 film yesterday, December 8th. After heated debate from both groups – for an inside look in LAFCA’s process I recommend looking back at Glenn Whipp’s, critic for the Los Angeles Times, twitter (@GlennWhipp) – winners were selected and they vary widely.
The narrative from pundits and fans leading into last week was that the Best Picture race was firmly between Gravity and 12 Years a Slave. The two films could not be more different nor could they be more critically celebrated, with both posting scores in the 90s on Rotten Tomatoes and MetaCritic. If one thing has become clear though, much to the delight of this film fan, it is that 2013 will be a more diverse and exciting race than year’s past with new films entering the fray and that so-called “set in stone narrative” looking less immediately likely. Don’t get me wrong, both Gravity and 12 Years are still major players, but whereas Argo and Zero Dark Thirty dominated almost everything last year, 2013 has already seen the love more widely spread. Keep in mind that both NYFCC and LAFCA are decently strong early looks into how the Oscars will unfold, with Boston and the National Board of Review less so.
The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association announced their awards early this morning, and they will be mentioned below.
Furthermore, the season will keep on trucking with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announcing their nominations on Wednesday, December 11th and the Golden Globe nominations will announce the day after, Thursday, December 12th.
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LAFCA Winners
Best Picture: Gravity and Her (TIE)
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity; Runner-Up: Spike Jonze, Her
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Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska; Runner-Up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine and Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color (TIE)
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club and James Franco, Spring Breakers (TIE)
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave; Runner-Up: June Squibb, Nebraska
Best Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight; Runner-Up: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity; Runner-Up: Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Production Design: K.K. Barrett, Her; Runner-Up: Jess Gonchor, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Editing: Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger, Gravity; Runner-Up: Shane Carruth and David Lowery, Upstream Color
Best Music: T. Bone Burnett, Inside Llewyn Davis; Runner-Up: Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett, Her
Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color by Abdellatif Kechiche; Runner-Up: The Great Beautyby Paolo Sorrentino
Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film: Stories We Tell by Sarah Polley; Runner-Up: The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, Christine Cynn
Best Animation: Ernest & Celestine by Stephanie Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner; Runner-Up: The Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki
New Generation: Megan Ellison (of Annapurna Pictures)
Legacy of Cinema: Criterion Collection
The Douglas Edwards Experimental/Independent Film/Video Award: Cabinets of Wonder: Films and Performances by Charlotte Pryce
Special Citation: The Creative Team of 12 Years a Slave
What is immediately striking about these LAFCA winners are the ties. If you look to Whipp’s twitter, it is clear that voters stayed strong with their choices and were not willing to compromise or change sides. In fact, 2 particularly passionate 12 Years a Slave fans abstained from the final Best Film vote, allowing the tie between Gravity and Her to occur. The Special Citation award at the end seems like a consolation to that film in order to appease all voters, since a 3 way tie was impossible and likely deemed ridiculous. I love that LAFCA mentions runner-ups as it allows one to see what other films/performers had support from this group and who remains on people’s mind as the season progresses. In terms of the larger awards narrative, Gravity and 12 Years continue strong but Her may end up a bigger player than originally expected. Personally I’m a bit hesitant about that fact; Her is quirky and indie and may be too strange or provocative for the relatively “safe” Oscar voters. By awarding Alfonso Cuarón best director it shows that this group was most impressed by his inventive command of film from a technical standpoint versus Steve McQueen’s (who was noted as being 3rd in the votes) more classical, artistic approach to 12 Years a Slave.
The continued wins for Jared Leto in Supporting Actor makes him the clear front-runner in that category. Finally, it is no surprise to see Nebraska do well in various acting awards here. The work of Alexander Payne has always done well with LAFCA, and in fact although Nebraska apparently had quite a few votes leading into the final Best Film tally, this is the first film of Payne’s not to win LAFCA in quite a while. The Descendants won in 2011; Sideways won in 2004; About Schmidt won in 2002. What this says about Nebraska’s overall chances when even a body that has notoriously loved his work didn’t award him this year remains to be seen, but Bruce Dern and June Squibb are both solid players and sure bets for Oscar nominations at this point. Looking at the animation category is also fascinating; The Wind Rises has received some concern over its morality in regards to its depiction of Japan’s involvement in World War II, and thus seeing a different, non-Frozen film take the win here may speak of things to come.
Boston Society of Film Critics Winners
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Best Supporting Actress: June Squibb, Nebraska
Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Best Foreign-Language Film: Wadjda
Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises
Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer): Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill, Rush
Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy): Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
Best Ensemble Cast: Nebraska
Best Use of Music in a Film: Inside Llewyn Davis
There is less to be said here than there was with LAFCA, both because Boston is less of a note of things to come and also because 12 Years a Slave almost made a clean sweep here, taking Film, Director, and Actor. Perhaps my favorite wins of this bunch are James Gandolfini for his lovely, robust, against-type work in Enough Said. (R.I.P, Mr. Gandolfini) and that film for Best Screenplay. If you haven’t seen Enough Said it comes highly recommended, even if it doesn’t end up a true player in the Oscar race. This group does not present Runner-Ups.
WAFCA Winners
Best Film: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Acting Ensemble: 12 Years a Slave
Best Youth Performance: Tye Sheridan, Mud
Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Animated Feature: Frozen
Best Documentary: Blackfish
Best Foreign Language Film: The Broken Circle Breakdown
Best Art Direction: Production Designer: Catherine Martin, Set Decorator: Beverley Dunn, The Great Gatsby
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Best Editing: Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger, Gravity
Best Original Score: Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave
The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC: Lee Daniels’ The Butler
For all intents and purposes, D.C. split the top between Gravity and 12 Years a Slave, but once again there is Her again making a strong showing with Original Screenplay. If the Academy ends up being “too afraid” to award Her in the major categories, screenplay is a terrific (and frequently utilized) way for them to award something deemed more “dangerous.” At this point Her may be the front-runner in Original Screenplay.
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