The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has just finished announcing their nominations for best achievement in film for 2014, with Wes Anderson's quirky comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel leading the pack with 11 nominations. Not far behind are Birdman and The Theory of Everything with ten nods apiece. All three films have earned nods in many of the same top categories, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and in their respective Best Screenplay categories.
People often ask me why I don't include the Writers Guild of America in the "top guilds" when it comes to discussing awards, but the answer is very simple, with this morning's nominations being a prime example. Every year, because of their silly and narrow-minded rules, they leave out several contenders for their screenplay awards, and this year is no exception.
Earlier this afternoon, the Producers Guild of America announced their nominations for 2014. As one of the three major guilds, these awards end up having a large effect on the Oscars, with the winner of the guild's top prize having around a 75% chance of winning Best Picture (they've matched 18 out of 24 times thus far).
This morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations for the 72nd Annual Golden Globes. Again we have Birdman at the head of the pack, earning seven nominations (all categories it was eligible for), including Best Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score. Boyhood and The Imitation Game followed behind with five nods apiece, which included Best Picture - Drama, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay.
The nominations for the 21 annual Screen Actors Guild Awards have just been announced with Birdman leading the way, earning all four of its possible nominations out of the five film categories. Boyhood, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything followed right behind with three.
With the Screen Actors Guild nominees just around the corner, I thought it’d be fun to try and guess what we’d be seeing in the five film categories. Obviously we have a lot that seems like 100%-certain locks, but, as usual, there are spots that are a toss-up between several potential nominees, making this a fascinating guessing game based on the awards we’ve seen thus far and what picks seem to have a lot of buzz behind them.
This morning, the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association announced their annual awards, naming Richard Linklater's Boyhood the best film of 2014, continuing its dominance in awards season thus far. The film also received Best Director (Linklater), Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette), and Best Youth Performance (Ellar Coltrane).
Today saw the Los Angeles Film Critics Associate, the New York Film Critics Online, and the Boston Film Critics Association all announcing their year-end awards, with all three groups concurring that Richard Linklater's Boyhood is the best film of 2014. The movie also received Best Director from all three groups, in addition to Best Actress and Best Editing from Los Angeles, Best Supporting Actress from New York, and Best Screenplay (tied with Birdman), Best Editing, and Best Ensemble from Boston. As predicted, it's looking like Linklater's incredible film is going to be the favorite throughout awards season (a la The Artist and 12 Years a Slave).
Hot on the heals of the New York Film Critics Circle's announcement yesterday, the National Board of Review has named their picks for the best achievements in film for 2014, naming J.C. Chandor's crime drama A Most Violent Year as the year's best movie. The film also won for Best Actor (Oscar Isaac), tying with Michael Keaton for Birdman, and Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain).
Awards season kicked off this morning with the New York Film Critics Circle Announcing their year-end awards, with the major victor being Richard Linklater's Boyhood, an incredible portrait of a young boy growing up from ages 5 to 18. The film took three awards total: Best Picture, Best Director (Linklater), and Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette). Boyhood's victory here was one that was highly expected and is sure to be the first of many for the film, which is the highest rated film of the year, currently sitting at 99% (9.4/10) on Rotten Tomatoes and maintaining a score of 100 on Metacritic.
