Director Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) are the early headliners on the awards show circuit, thus far spanning the Film Independent Spirit Award nominations, and the winners at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
This past Monday, Boyhood won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette) honors from the NY Film Critics. Later that same day during an evening gala, Boyhood scored the Audience Award at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
Birdman, though, was the big Gotham winner, named Best Picture as well as earning Best Actor distinction for Michael Keaton.
Birdman also topped the Film Independent Spirit Award nominations announced last week, leading the pack with six: Best Film, Director, Cinematography (DP Emmanuel Lubezki) Lead Actor (Keaton), Supporting Actor (Edward Norton) and Supporting Actress (Emma Stone). There were three films with five Spirit noms each, including Boyhood for Best Film, Director, Supporting Actor (Ethan Hawke), Supporting Actress (Arquette) and Best Editor (Sandra Adair), and Selma for Best Film, Director (Ava DuVernay), Leading Actor (David Oyelowo), Supporting Actress (Carmen Ejogo) and Cinematographer (Bradford Young).
The Spirit Awards, NY Film Critics and Gotham honors all have a track record of Oscar prognostication in terms of noms and at times the award winners themselves. A prime case in point would be the Spirit Awards bestowed earlier this year–winners went on to garner Oscars in major categories including Best Film (12 Years a Slave), Leading Actor (Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club), Leading Actress (Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine), Supporting Actor (Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club), Supporting Actress (Lupito Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave) and Screenplay (John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave).
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 examples as The Hurt Locker and Beasts of the Southern Wild.
As for the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the Best Picture winner has gone on to receive at least a Best Picture Oscar nomination nine of the past 10 years–the only exception being United 93 in 2006.
Other category winners also gained momentum this week for their New York Film Critics Circle Award wins–The LEGO Movie as Best Animated Feature, Laura Poitras’ documentary CITIZENFOUR as Best Non-Fiction Film, and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish entry Ida as Best Foreign Language Film.
Special honors
Not to be overlooked in the early awards season going are the special awards bestowed, including a pair of Spirit honors–the Robert Altman Award, and a Special Distinction Award.
The latter is being given to director Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher for its “uniqueness of vision, honesty of direction and screenwriting, superb acting and achievement on every level of filmmaking.” Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice was named recipient of the Altman Award, which goes to the film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.
Foxcatcher also copped a special honor from the nominating committee for the Gotham Awards’ Best Actor category–a Special Jury Award recognizing the film’s three leading actors, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum, for their ensemble work.
Annie Awards
The aforementioned The LEGO Movie is one of eight Best Animated Feature nominees in the International Animated Film Society’s 42nd Annual Annie Awards.
Additionally in the running for the Best Animated Feature Annie Award are: Big Hero 6, Cheatin’, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea, The Book of Life, The Boxtrolls, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
Annie winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on Saturday, January 31, 2015, at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
Also on the awards season docket, the Film Independent Spirit Award winners will be announced and honored at a luncheon ceremony on the beach in Santa Monica, on February 21, the day before the Oscars.
National Board of Review
Birdman figured prominently in the National Board of Review (NBR) award tabulations with Keaton and Norton scoring Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor honors. But Keaton tied with another actor for the top prize, Oscar Issac for his performance in director/writer J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year. Furthermore, the NBR named A Most Violent Year as the 2014 Best Film of The Year.
“A Most Violent Year is an exhilarating crime drama with a compelling story, outstanding performances, and an elegant cinematic style,” said Annie Schulhof, NBR president. “J.C. Chandor has given us a new and provocative perspective on the American Dream.”
Additionally the NBR voted Jessica Chastain as Best Supporting Actress for A Most Violent Year.
Other prime NBR winners were Julianne Moore as Best Actress for Still Alice, Clint Eastwood as Best Director for American Sniper, Life Itself as Best Documentary, Wild Tales as Best Foreign Language Film, and How to Train Your Dragon 2 as Best Animated Feature.
NBR voting yielded a tie for the Best Actor honor between Isaac for A Most Violent Year and Keaton for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Chastain earned Best Supporting Actress distinction for her performance in A Most Violent Year. Best Actress was Moore for Still Alice. And Norton took the Best Supporting Actor mantle for Birdman.
This is the fourth in a multi-part series with future installments of The Road To Oscar slated to run in the weekly SHOOT>e.dition, The SHOOT Dailies, SHOOT’s December and January print issues (and PDF versions) and on SHOOTonline.com. The series will appear weekly through the Academy Awards. The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 15, 2015. The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.
(For information on SHOOT’s Academy Season “FYC Advertising” print, digital and email blast marketing opportunities, please visit https://www.shootonline.com/pdfs/RoadToOscar20142015)
