New York Film Critics Circle Awards

I was expecting Boyhood to do well, and it did. J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette, along with CITIZENFOUR, Ida, and The Lego had all staked their claims as early contenders, pre-awards. So no surprises there. I wasn't even that surprised by The Grand Budapest Hotel winning screenplay. Wes Anderson has always been a critical favorite in the screenplay categories, and I figured it would hit some high points to try to relaunch an Oscar campaign. But I was pretty shocked to see the Best Actor and Best Actress prizes go to Timothy Spall and Marion Cotillard. The Best Actor race is so stacked, and I figured Michael Keaton would be a shoo-in. It shows us that we should not underestimate Mr. Turner, and that Timothy Spall could be a true challenger, even in that stacked Best Actor race. The Marion Cotillard win is an interesting one. She has been an outside contender for Best Actress all year, basically being left out because neither of her films have been seen by enough people. But she is a previous winner, and could become a major player in a race that is in desperate need of some competition. Or it could end up being a nice honor that doesn't lead to much more. Tomorrow is NBR, and tonight after work I will post Annie Nominations, PGA TV and Documentary Nominations, and the Golden Satellite Nominations. The race is on!!!

Best Film - Boyhood
Best Director - Richard Linklater "Boyhood"B
Best Actor - Timothy Spall "Mr. Turner"
Best Actress - Marion Cotillard "The Immigrant/ Two Days, One Night"
Best Supporting Actor - J.K. Simmons "Whiplash"
Best Supporting Actress - Patricia Arquette "Boyhood"
Best Screenplay - Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Best First Film - Jennifer Kent "The Babadook"
Best Cinematography - Darius Khondji "The Immigrant"
Best Nonfiction Film - CITIZENFOUR
Best Foreign Language Film - Ida (Poland)
Best Animated Film - The Lego Movie
Special Award - Adrienne Mencia