On the heels of the Oscar nominations, the 20th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards were handed out last night at the Hollywood Palladium.
As expected, Birdman took over the ceremony, racking up seven wins out of thirteen nominations. Though it was Richard Linklater’s Boyhood that took home the top prize of Best Picture. As the award season plays on towards the Academy Awards, it appears to be coming down to a two-man race between Birdman and Boyhood for the Best Picture Oscar.
The night seemed to right (or at least nudge) a few wrongs cast by yesterday’s Oscar nominations. Gillian Flynn won Best Adapted Screenplay for her Gone Girl, which she scripted from her own novel. The Lego Movie, woefully snubbed by the Academy despite widespread critical acclaim, won Best Animated Feature.
The Critics’ Choice Awards, handed out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, features several categories not found in the Oscars or the Golden Globes. The CCAs recognize outstanding achievements in genre films – action and sci-fi/horror – complete with Best Actor and Actress categories for action films. Emily Blunt, who stood no chance in other award ceremonies, won Best Actress in an Action Movie for her work in Edge of Tomorrow. As straight sci-fi films continue to be roundly rejected by the Academy for the big prizes, the Critics’ Choice Awards allows those films to receive due recognition for their achievements. Is it time for other award ceremonies to add new categories to recognize works outside of drama and comedy? (And let’s face it, comedies rarely take home the biggest prizes.)
Several individual honors were also handed out by the BFCA. Kevin Costner was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award and Jessica Chastain received the inaugural Critics’ Choice MVP Award. The MVP honor recognizes an actor for their work in multiple movies in a single year. This past year Chastain was featured in A Most Violent Year, Interstellar, Miss Julie, and The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby. Ron Howard received the Critics’ Choice Louis XIII Genius Award, which honors an icon for their unprecedented excellence in the cinematic arts.
The complete winners:
Best Picture
BOYHOOD
Best Actor
Michael Keaton | BIRDMAN
Best Actress
Julianne Moore | STILL ALICE
Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons | WHIPLASH
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette | BOYHOOD
Best Young Actor/Actress
Ellar Coltrane | BOYHOOD
Best Acting Ensemble
BIRDMAN
Best Director
Richard Linklater | BOYHOOD
Best Original Screenplay
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Armando Bo | BIRDMAN
Best Adapted Screenplay
Gillian Flynn | GONE GIRL
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki | BIRDMAN
Best Art Direction
Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Anna Pinnock (Set Decorator) | THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Editing
Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione | BIRDMAN
Best Costume Design
Milena Canonero | THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Hair & Makeup
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Best Visual Effects
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Best Animated Feature
THE LEGO MOVIE
Best Action Movie
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Best Actor in an Action Movie
Bradley Cooper | AMERICAN SNIPER
Best Actress in an Action Movie
Emily Blunt | EDGE OF TOMORROW
Best Comedy
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Actor in a Comedy
Michael Keaton | BIRDMAN
Best Actress in a Comedy
Jenny Slate | OBVIOUS CHILD
Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie
INTERSTELLAR
Best Foreign Language Film
FORCE MAJEURE
Best Documentary Feature
LIFE ITSELF
Best Song
“Glory” | SELMA, Common and John Legend
Best Score
Antonio Sanchez | BIRDMAN
Emily Schmitt | Managing Editor
