By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --The Los Angeles Film Critics Association split between the space odyssey "Gravity" and the futuristic romance "Her," lending no more certainty to an awards season that's so far been full of contenders.
The two films shared best picture in the awards announced Sunday by the L.A. critics, but "Gravity" was the top award-winner. The innovatively made, lost-in-space drama won for best director (Alfonso Cuaron), best editing (Cuaron and Mark Sanger) and best cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki).
"Her," which is about a man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his computer operating system (voiced by Scarlet Johansson), also won for K.K. Barrett's sleek, near-future production design. But the critics otherwise spread its honors around.
Dual winners were the theme. Best actress was shared by Cate Blanchett for her fallen socialite in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," and Adele Exarchopoulos for the lesbian coming-of-age tale "Blue Is the Warmest Color." (The later film also won for best foreign language film.)
Best supporting actor was also a two-fer, with the group jointly honoring Jared Leto's performance as an HIV-positive transsexual in "Dallas Buyers Club" and, more surprisingly, James Franco's performance as the cornrowed gangster Alien in "Spring Breakers."
Best actor went to Bruce Dern for his performance in Alexander Payne's father-son road trip "Nebraska."
Early movie awards can help sort out the Academy Awards race, but they've been particularly varied this year. Last week, the New York Film Critics Circle named David O. Russell's Abscam fictionalization "American Hustle" best film. The National Board of Review picked "Her." The Gotham Awards elected the Coen brothers' folk tale "Inside Llewyn Davis" best film.
On Sunday, both the New York Film Critics Online and the Boston Film Critics named the slavery epic "12 Years a Slave" best picture. The LA critics also voiced its strong support for the film naming Lupita Nyong'o best supporting actress, and giving a "special citation" to the film's creative team.
Other awards included: "Before Midnight" for best screenplay, "Stories We Tell" for best documentary, and "Ernest & Celestine" for best animated film.
Last year, the LA critics chose as best picture Michael Haneke's aging drama "Amour," which went on to win the Oscar for best foreign language film. The association, a group of several dozen film critics, will hand out the awards in a Jan. 11 ceremony in Los Angeles.
Hollywood's awards season continues Wednesday with the Screen Actors Guild nominations, followed Thursday by the Golden Globe nominations.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More