The awards season shifts into high gear with the Broadcast Film Critics Association's announcement of its nominees.
The Broadcast Film Critics Association, of which I am a voting member, announced its nominees for the 17th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. The winners will be announced on Thursday, January 12 at the Hollywood Palladium and broadcast live on VH1.
The BFCA awards have proven to be a good gauge of what will draw votes in the Oscar race (the Oscars will be given out next year on February 26) and because of that they are important to the studios.
In line with what some early critics awards have been highlighting, “Hugo” and “The Artist” top the list of nominees. Those film also top the nominations from the San Diego Film Critics Society (of which I am not a member). The nominations skew toward the Hollywood mainstream with smaller indie films mostly gaining recognition in the documentary and foreign film categories. Nice to see Andy Serkis get an acting nod for his motion capture performance of Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." But the fact that it's in the supporting category seems wrong. But the studio is pushing for the nomination as supporting because they know he'd have no chance of winning in the best actor category. I'm also very happy to see Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk about Kevin") and Albert Brooks ("Drive") get well deserved nominations for acting.
The BFCA distinguishes itself by having separate categories for genre films such as Action and Comedy in addition to the more tradition Animated, Foreign, and Documentary.
Here is a complete list of the nominations.
BEST PICTURE
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Drive"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"
BEST ACTOR
George Clooney – “The Descendants”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “J. Edgar”
Jean Dujardin – “The Artist”
Michael Fassbender – “Shame”
Ryan Gosling – “Drive”
Brad Pitt – “Moneyball”
BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – “The Help”
Elizabeth Olsen – “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Charlize Theron – “Young Adult”
Michelle Williams – “My Week With Marilyn”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh – “My Week With Marilyn”
Albert Brooks – “Drive”
Nick Nolte – “Warrior”
Patton Oswalt – “Young Adult”
Christopher Plummer – “Beginners”
Andrew Serkis – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo – “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids”
Carey Mulligan – “Shame”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – “Hugo”
Elle Fanning – “Super 8”
Thomas Horn – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Ezra Miller – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Saoirse Ronan – “Hanna”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
"The Artist"
"Bridesmaids"
"The Descendants"
"The Help"
"The Ides of March"
BEST DIRECTOR
Stephen Daldry – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
Nicolas Winding Refn – “Drive”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Steven Spielberg – “War Horse”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius
“50/50” – Will Reiser
“Midnight in Paris” – Woody Allen
“Win Win” – Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
“Young Adult” – Diablo Cody
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” – Eric Roth
“The Help” – Tate Taylor
“Hugo” – John Logan
“Moneyball” – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Artist” – Guillaume Schiffman
“Drive” – Newton Thomas Sigel
“Hugo” – Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” – Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” – Janusz Kaminski
BEST ART DIRECTION
“The Artist” – Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” – Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” – Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“The Tree of Life” – Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank
“War Horse” – Production Designer: Rick Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales
BEST EDITING
“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion
“Drive” – Matthew Newman
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” – Thelma Schoonmaker
“War Horse” – Michael Kahn
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“The Artist” – Mark Bridges
“The Help” – Sharen Davis
“Hugo” – Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” – Michael O’Connor
“My Week With Marilyn” – Jill Taylor
BEST MAKEUP
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"
"J. Edgar"
"My Week With Marilyn"
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Super 8"
"The Tree of Life"
BEST SOUND
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Super 8"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"The Adventures of Tintin"
"Arthur Christmas"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"
BEST ACTION MOVIE
"Drive"
"Fast Five"
"Hanna"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Super 8"
BEST COMEDY
"Bridesmaids"
"Crazy, Stupid, Love"
"Horrible Bosses"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Muppets"
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"In Darkness"
"Le Havre"
"A Separation"
"The Skin I Live In"
"Where Do We Go Now"
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Buck"
"Cave of Forgotten Dreams"
"George Harrison: Living in the Material World"
"Page One: Inside the New York Times"
"Project Nim"
"Undefeated"
BEST SONG
“Hello Hello” – performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga/written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin – Gnomeo & Juliet
“Life’s a Happy Song” – performed by Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“The Living Proof” – performed by Mary J. Blige/written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Jr. – The Help
“Man or Muppet” – performed by Jason Segel and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“Pictures in My Head” – performed by Kermit and the Muppets/written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman – The Muppets
BEST SCORE
“The Artist” – Ludovic Bource
“Drive” – Cliff Martinez
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
“Hugo” – Howard Shore
“War Horse” – John Williams
