Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s feature wins Best Picture, Best Actor honors
Gotham has a new hero: Birdman. The Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed feature, the full title of which is Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), won the Best Picture and Best Actor (Michael Keaton) honors this evening at the 24th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. The ceremony was held at Cipriani Wall Street.
Backed by the Independent Filmmaker Project, the Gotham competition provides critical early recognition and media attention to worthy indie films. The awards also assist in catapulting award recipients prominently into national awards season attention, including recent winners and ultimate Oscar contenders. Past years have included such prime examples as The Hurt Locker and Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Joining Keaton in this year’s Gotham winners circle for actors were: Julianne Moore as Best Actress for her performance in Still Alice; and Tessa Thompson as Breakthrough Actor for Dear White People.
Additionally, the nominating committee for the Best Actor category voted to award a Special Jury Award jointly to the three leading actors in director Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher–Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum–for their ensemble work.
Director/producer Laura Poitras’ CITIZENFOUR earned Best Documentary distinction.
And taking the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award was Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.
In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes were given to actor Tilda Swinton, director Bennett Miller and Industry Tribute recipient Ted Sarandos of Netflix.
The Gotham Audience Award was bestowed upon director Richard Linklater's Boyhood.
Here’s a rundown of 2014 Gotham Independent Film Award winners:
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)
Best Documentary
CITIZENFOUR
Laura Poitras, director; Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky, producers (RADiUS, Participant Media, and HBO Documentary Films)
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)
Best Actor
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Best Actress
Julianne Moore in Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics)
Breakthrough Actor
Tessa Thompson in Dear White People (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)
The 2014 Best Actor nominating panel also voted to give a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum for their ensemble performance in Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics).
Audience Award
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More