It was a good day for the Spotlight team on this very busy kudos day. On top of winning the top prize from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Boston Society of Film Critics (not to mention the Gotham Awards earlier last week), the journalism drama directed by Tom McCarthy snapped up four prizes from the New York Film Critics Online. The film took Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Ensemble Cast and perhaps most surprisingly, McCarthy earned the Best Director prize.
Other big winners included Brie Larson for her lead performance in the indie Room and Mark Rylance for his acclaimed supporting turn in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. The two other acting winners were Paul Dano (for Love & Mercy) for Best Actor and Rooney Mara (for Carol) for Best Supporting Actress- both of those victories, however come with a bit of a caveat. Dano is campaigning as supporting while Mara has been in the midst of a mild scandal due to her co-lead performance in Todd Haynes’ lesbian romance (opposite Cate Blanchett) being campaigned as a supporting turn. Earlier, Mara was denied as a supporting player by the Golden Globes.
The New York Film Critics Online was founded in 2001 with a membership consisting of web-based film critics. Last year, they selected Boyhood as their Best Picture. Check out the full list of winners below:
- PICTURE: Spotlight
- DIRECTOR: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
- ACTOR: Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
- ACTRESS: Brie Larson, Room
- SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
- SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Rooney Mara, Carol
- SCREENPLAY: Spotlight– Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
- ANIMATED FEATURE: Inside Out
- DOCUMENTARY: Amy
- FOREIGN FILM: Son of Saul
- CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mad Max: Fury Road– John Seale
- USE OF MUSIC: Love & Mercy– Atticus Ross; featuring the music of Brian Wilson
- DEBUT AS DIRECTOR: Alex Garland, Ex Machina
- BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina; The Danish Girl
- ENSEMBLE CAST: Spotlight
TOP TEN OF 2015 (in alphabetical order)
- 45 Years
- The Big Short
- Bridge of Spies
- Brooklyn
- Carol
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Sicaro
- Spotlight
- Steve Jobs
- Trumbo