The Brief Thrill Of The Phoenix Film Critics Nominations

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I have to admit that, when I first looked at the just-released Phoenix Film Critics Nominations for 2014, I got really excited. I saw The LEGO Movie listed among the nominees for best picture and I thought to myself, “Oh my God! Could The LEGO Movie be set to be the fourth animated film to score a best picture nomination from the Academy!?”

Seriously, my inner movie trivia lover was so excited!

Then, of course, I remembered that critical recognition doesn’t necessarily translate into Oscar nominations. And I was forced to admit that The LEGO Movie probably will not be nominated for best picture, though it definitely remains a front runner for best animated feature.

But, for a few moments there, I was truly an excited Oscar watcher.

Anyway, here are the Phoenix Film Critics Nominations!

(h/t to Awards Circuit)

BEST PICTURE/ TOP TEN FILMS OF 2014

A Most Violent Year
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Imitation Game
The Lego Movie
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Brendon Gleeson, Calvary
Tommy Lee Jones, The Homesman
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Hilary Swank, The Homesman
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Logan Lerman, Fury
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J. K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Carrie Coon, Gone Girl
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman

BEST ENSMEBLE ACTING

Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Into the Woods

BEST SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN

A Most Violent Year
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash

BEST SCREENPLAY ADAPTED FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM

American Sniper
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Wild

BEST LIVE ACTION FAMILY FILM

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Guardians of the Galaxy
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Muppets Most Wanted

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie
How to Train Your Dragon 2

OVERLOOKED FILM OF THE YEAR

Calvary
Edge of Tomorrow
Obvious Child
The Skeleton Twins
Snowpiercer

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Force Majeure
IDA
Mood Indigo
The Raid 2

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Life Itself
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Everything is Awesome, The Lego Movie
Immortals, Big Hero 6
Lost Stars, Begin Again
Miracles, Unbroken

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Birdman
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
The Theory of Everything

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

A Most Violent Year
Birdman
Interstellar
Into the Woods
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken

BEST FILM EDITING

Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
Interstellar
Into the Woods

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Snowpiercer

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
The Theory of Everything

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 STUNTS

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
John Wick
Need for Speed
The Raid 2

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE ON CAMERA

Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BEHIND THE CAMERA

Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child
Jon Stewart, Rosewater

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH – MALE

Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
Daniel Huttlestone, Into the Woods
Jaeden Lieberber, St. Vincent
Ed Oxenbould, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH – FEMALE

Lilla Crawford, Into the Woods
Mackenzie Foy, Interstellar
Sterling Jerins, And So It Goes

Here Are The Independent Spirit Nominations!

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Independent Spirit Nominations were announced today! Over the course of the last few years, the Spirit Awards have turned into a fairly accurate Oscar precursor. That’s good news for Boyhood, Whiplash, and Selma. (Birdman was also nominated for a lot of Spirit Awards but everyone’s known that it’s going to be a definite Oscar contender for several months now.)

I was happy to see both Ethan Hawke and Jake Gyllenhaal nominated. Both of them are dark horses in the Oscar race and, hopefully, this will help both of them.

Among the more surprising snubs: The Imitation Game and Wild.

Also, please note that Foxcatcher, Inherent Vice, and The Grand Budapest Hotel were all ineligible for the Spirit Awards because of their budgets were deemed to be too high. Foxcatcher and Inherent Vice both receive honorary awards.

Check out the nominees below!

BEST PICTURE
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“Love is Strange”
“Selma”
“Whiplash”

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Ava DuVernay, “Selma”
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
David Zellner, “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter”

BEST ACTOR
André Benjamin, “Jimi: All Is By My Side”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
John Lithgow, “Love is Strange”
David Oyelowo, “Selma”

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, “The Immigrant”
Rinko Kikuchi, “Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Jenny Slate, “Obvious Child”
Tilda Swinton, “Only Lovers Left Alive”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Riz Ahmed, “Nightcrawler”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Alfred Molina, “Love is Strange”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”
Carmen Ejogo, “Selma”
Andrea Suarez Paz, “Stand Clear of the Closing Doors”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”

BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski, “Big Eyes”
J.C. Chandor, “A Most Violent Year”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
Jim Jarmusch, “Only Lovers Left Alive”
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias, “Love is Strange”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji, “The Immigrant”
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Sean Porter, “It Felt Like Love”
Lyle Vincent, “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”
Bradford Young, “Selma”

BEST EDITING
Sandra Adair, “Boyhood”
Tom Cross, “Whiplash”
John Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
Ron Patane, “A Most Violent Year”
Adam Wingard, “The Guest”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“20,000 Days on Earth”
“CitizenFour”
“Stray Dog”
“The Salt of the Earth”
“Virunga”

BEST INTERNATIONAL PICTURE
“Force Majeure” (Sweden)
“Ida” (Poland)
“Leviathan” (Russia)
“Mommy” (Canada)
“Norte, the End of History” (Philippines)
“Under the Skin” (United Kingdom)

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”
“Dear White People”
“Nightcrawler”
“Obvious Child”
“She’s Lost Control”

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Desiree Akhavan, “Appropriate Behavior”
Sara Colangelo, “Little Accidents”
Justin Lader, “The One I Love”
Anja Marquardt, “She’s Lost Control”
Justin Simien, “Dear White People”

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (best feature made for under $500,000)
“Blue Ruin”
“It Felt Like Love”
“Land Ho!”
“Man From Reno”
“Test”

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Ana Lily Amirpour, “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”
Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia, “H.”
Chris Eska, “The Retrieval”

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Amanda Rose Wilder, “Approaching the Elephant”
Darius Clark Monroe, “Evolution of a Criminal”
Dan Krauss, “The Kill Team”
Sara Dosa, “The Last Season”

Here Are The Gotham Nominations!

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Under the Skin

Here are the nominations for the Gotham Independent Film Awards! It’s debatable just how reliable the Gothams are as an Oscar precursor. For one thing, the majority of the big studio productions are not eligible for the Gothams. However, when you’re an indie film trying to win mainstream awards, any recognition is good recognition.

As far as the nominees go, Birdman and Boyhood are already Oscar front runners. However, the Gotham nominations will perhaps remind some people that The Grand Budapest Hotel is eligible for Oscar consideration as well.

Here are the Gotham nominations!

Best Feature

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood – Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Love Is Strange – Ira Sachs, director; Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
Under the Skin – Jonathan Glazer, director; Nick Wechsler, James Wilson, producers (A24 Films)

Best Documentary

Actress – Robert Greene, director; Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, Robert Greene, producers (The Cinema Guild)
CITIZENFOUR – Laura Poitras, director; Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky, producers (RADiUS, Participant Media, and HBO Documentary Films)
Life Itself – Steve James, director; Zak Piper, Steve James, Garrett Basch, producers (Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films)
Manakamana – Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez, directors; Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel, producers (The Cinema Guild)
Point and Shoot – Marshall Curry, director; Marshall Curry, Elizabeth Martin, Matthew Van Dyke, producers (The Orchard and American Documentary / POV)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Kino Lorber)
James Ward Byrkit for Coherence (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)
Eliza Hittman for It Felt Like Love (Variance Films)
Justin Simien for Dear White People (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)

Best Actor*

Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood (IFC Films)
Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year (A24 Films)
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Miles Teller in Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

* The 2014 Best Actor nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum for their ensemble performance in Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics).

Best Actress