Critics’ Choice Awards Nominations

The Critics’ Choice Award nominations have landed. Voted on by members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, it’s the largest film critics group in North America, with a membership that consists of upwards of 250 television, radio, and online critics. As such, historically their picks can usually be seen as a fairly accurate bellwether for the Academy Awards. And while the nominations for their favorites of the past year in cinema did spur a few surprises here and there, largely the BFCA went with the consensus already set by the nominations by the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes. As with those two groups, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s showbiz comedy Birdman led the field, netting a fairly staggering 13 nominations.

Also as expected, Richard Linklater’s twelve-years-in-the-making coming-of-age drama Boyhood continued its awards season dominance with 8 nominations. The surprise – and perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far – is the late-season surge for Wes Anderson’s period confection The Grand Budapest Hotel, which earned second best 11 mentions from the BFCA, including nods for Best Picture, Director, and for Ralph Fiennes’ lead performance. After the film earned a surprise Best Ensemble Cast nomination from the Screen Actors Guild a week ago (getting in over more high profile, “awards bait” titles like Unbroken, Foxcatcher, Selma, and Into the Woods in the process) and a surprise showing with the Golden Globes, Anderson’s comedy, which was released last March and is still the top-selling art house title of the year, is starting to look like a serious threat for a strong Oscar showing – something which has eluded the quirky filmmaker throughout his career (while Anderson has earned Oscar nominations for Screenplay more than once, none of the films have every earned a Best Picture nomination).

The remaining nominees for Best Picture included expected players The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything, plus an added bit of steam for movies like Gone Girl (which while major hit and a certain Oscar player to some degree has yet to garner a major Best Picture nod before today), and Selma, Paramount’s late-breaking Martin Luther King Jr. historical drama. That title, which was snubbed by SAG, is starting to rebound nicely with 5 Critics’ Choice mentions following its fine showing with the Golden Globes last week. Unbroken, Angelina Jolie’s biopic of Olympic runner turned WWII prisoner of war Louis Zamperini, also made the Best Picture line-up along with three other nominations (including one for Jolie in the Best Picture category) after failing to score any nominations with either SAG or the Golden Globes.  That title, which is opening on Christmas Day, is just hoping to stay alive in the awards season despite being touted as a sight-unseen awards frontrunner for the better part of the year.  Also included in the expanded Best Picture field include quirkier entries Nightcrawler and Whiplash. Missing in action from the Best Picture line-up are Foxcatcher (even stranger, Steve Carell’s acclaimed against-type SAG and Globe nominated performance was snubbed), Into the Woods (even though Meryl Streep netted Supporting Actress mention), and American Sniper.

The Critics’ Choice Awards will be handed out on January 16, 2015 (the very same day Oscar nominations will be announced) and will be broadcast on A&E. Full list of nominations below:

BEST PICTURE

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Boyhood
• Gone Girl
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Nightcrawler
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• Unbroken
• Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

• Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Ava DuVernay, Selma
• David Fincher, Gone Girl
• Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Angelina Jolie, Unbroken
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR

• Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
• Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
• Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• David Oyelowo, Selma
• Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS

• Jennifer Aniston, Cake
• Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
• Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
• Julianne Moore, Still Alice
• Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
• Reese Witherspooon, Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice
• Robert Duvall, The Judge
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
• Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
• Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
• Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

• Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
• Ansel Elgort, The Fault in Our Stars
• Mackenzie Foy, Interstellar
• Jaeden Lieberher, St. Vincent
• Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Quvenzhane Wallis, Annie
• Noah Wiseman, The Babadook

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Into the Woods
• Selma

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)– Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
• Boyhood– Richard Linklater
• The Grand Budapest Hotel– Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
• Nightcrawler– Dan Gilroy
• Whiplash– Damien Chazelle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Gone Girl– Gillian Flynn
• The Imitation Game– Graham Moore
• Inherent Vice– Paul Thomas Anderson
• The Theory of Everything– Anthony McCarten
• Unbroken– Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson
• Wild– Nick Hornby

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Big Hero 6
• The Book of Life
• The Boxtrolls
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• The LEGO Movie

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• Citizenfour
• Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
• Jodorowksy’s Dune
• Last Days in Vietnam
• Life Itself
• The Overnighters

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Force Majeure (Sweden)
• Ida (Poland)
• Leviathan (Russia
• Two Days, One Night (Belgium)
• Wild Tales (Argentina)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)– Emmanuel Lubezki
• The Grand Budapest Hotel– Robert Yeoman
• Interstellar– Hoyte Van Hoytema
• Mr. Turner– Dick Pope
• Unbroken– Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)– Kevin Thompson, George DeTitta Jr.
• The Grand Budapest Hotel– Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
• Inherent Vice– David Crank, Amy Wells
• Interstellar– Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
• Into the Woods– Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
• Snowpiercer– Ondrej Nekvasil, Betric Brentnerova

BEST FILM EDITING

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)– Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
• Boyhood– Sandra Adair
• Gone Girl– Kirk Baxter
• Interstellar– Lee Smith
• Whiplash– Tom Cross

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• The Grand Budapest Hotel– Milena Canonero
• Inherent Vice– Mark Bridges
• Into the Woods– Colleen Atwood
• Maleficent– Anna B. Sheppard
• Mr. Turner– Jacqueline Durran

BEST SCORE

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)– Antonio Sanchez
• Gone Girl– Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
• The Imitation Game– Alexandre Desplat
• Interstellar– Hans Zimmer
• The Theory of Everything– Johann Johannson

BEST SONG

• “Big Eyes,” Big Eyes
• “Everything is Awesome,” The LEGO Movie
• “Glory,” Selma
• “Lost Stars,” Begin Again
• “Yellow Flicker Beat,” The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1

BEST HAIR & MAKE-UP

• Foxcatcher
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Into the Woods
• Maleficent

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 ACTION MOVIE

• American Sniper
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Edge of Tomorrow
• Fury
• Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE

• Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
• Tom Cruise, Edge of Tomorrow
• Chris Evans, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Brad Pitt, Fury
• Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE

• Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow
• Scarlett Johansson, Lucy
• Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1
• Zoe Saldana, Guardians of the Galaxy
• Shailene Woodley, Divergent

BEST COMEDY

• 22 Jump Street
• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• St. Vincent
• Top Five

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

• Jon Favreau, Chef
• Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Bill Murray, St. Vincent
• Chris Rock, Top Five
• Channing Tatum, 22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

• Rose Byrne, Neighbors
• Rosario Dawson, Top Five
• Melissa McCarthy, St. Vincent
• Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
• Kristen Wiig, The Skeleton Twins

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE

• The Babadook
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Interstellar
• Snowpiercer
• Under the Skin