BFCA 'Critics Choice' Nominees: It's Hugo vs. The Artist
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 8:37AM
NATHANIEL R in BFCA, Oscars (11), critics awards, precursor awards

As you may or may not know, I am a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. So this weekend, I rushed to turn in my ballot hoping against hope that my tiny voice will save them from their own relentless interest in predicting the Oscars above all else. I hoped, for example, that here is where you'd see a bit of Off Oscar movement for some of the interesting divisive movies such as Melancholia or critical hit only performances like Olivia Colman's in Tyrannosaur or things only critics have seen but that they lovedlovedloved like A Separation (Trust: I'm far from the only one.) While hope springs eternal, this year they held on tight to just what you'd expect: Oscar predictions! There are about 250 members of the BFCA -- you can see a list here --  and remarkably none of us are named Peter Travers though as a group we seem to collectively share his Oscar-hewing choices under the guise of "My opinion - screw Oscar!" (teehee). But what can you do?!

Movieloving duo The Artist and Hugo led the nominations with 11 nods apiece. Let's look at each category. The "Critics Choice" Awards will be held on January 12th, 2012 and broadcast on VH1 as per usual. This year's hosts will be Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer.

BEST PICTURE

(SOLE) SURPRISE / BAD NEWS FOR: I really thought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 would place her given that so many media types (many of them BFCA members) are obsessed with those massive franchises - especially when/because they're ending. Otherwise this is just what you'd expect for an Oscar prediction + DRIVE which, yes, I voted for. Duh!
THREAT TO WIN: I think you're looking at Hugo vs. The Artist and not just due to the nomination count. 
COMPLETELY 100% SNUBBED IN NOMINATIONS: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Coriolanus 
ALMOST 100% SNUBBED IN NOMINATIONS: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo... might this year have been even more "too crowded" for late bloomers and one week qualifiers than other years?

It's HUGO vs. THE ARTIST, each with 11 nominations

BEST DIRECTOR

SURPRISE: Refn's genre effort paid off. And Spielberg's schmaltz-a-thon? That's not a surprise but: Yikes. I guess the BFCA really thinks War Horse will score big with Oscar. Perhaps it shall. Otherwise, it's exactly as you'd expect though I'm pleased to see Refn squeeze in to the Oscar predictions.
BAD NEWS FOR: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris. He hasn't been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars in a very long time. One wonders if they'll want to welcome him back this year given the "comeback" story with his film's surprise hit status. 
THREAT TO WIN: I'm assuming the BFCA members will swerve towards Scorsese with a combo of hero worship and genuine love for his new film. 

BEST ACTRESS 

SURPRISE: This is good news for Olsen and Swinton who are both still in the fight for an Oscar nod despite films that are more alienating than Oscar goes for. 
BAD NEWS FOR: From an Oscary standpoint this is another nail in Glenn Close's Albert Nobbs coffin. From the needed a boost file, this is a tough blow for Olivia Colman and Kirsten Dunst.

THREAT TO WIN: The BFCA likes to give Meryl Streep best actresses wins and, extraordinarily, they like to do it with ties. It keeps happening (tied with Anne Hathaway in 2008, tied with Sandra Bullock for 2009). so expect her to win her third in 4 years in January... but...

 

poll by twiigs.com

 

 

COMPLETE NOMINATIONS AND MORE COMMENTARY AFTER THE JUMP.

BEST ACTOR

SURPRISE: Ryan Gosling's mask-like brilliance in Drive got a nod!
BAD NEWS FOR: Woody Harrelson (Rampart) and Michael Shannon (Take Shelter) who needed this boost but I guess the mainstream types needed their Leo even whilst drowning in prosthetics and a bad movie.
THREAT TO WIN: The BFCA will try to predict Oscar here but does that mean Clooney, Pitt or Dujardin.... it's tough to say right now.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

SURPRISE: None... though this is good news for Carey Mulligan given how infrequently she seems to show up in Shame honors despite the turn being so revelatory. Who knew she had that in her?
BAD NEWS FOR: Vanessa Redgrave. Someone this year will fall victim to the strange pile-up of one-week qualifiers (more than usual this year). It's sad if it's her given the quality of the performance but I can't ever 100% root for films that aren't really in theaters.
THREAT TO WIN: I'm assuming they'll want to be cute and go for a big moment like (TIE) Melissa McCarthy & Octavia Spencer.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

SURPRISE: Andy Serkis! Yay. It's category fraud (Cesar is the lead of the film. Or at least he becomes it with Franco as the other lead) but we still dig it since Serkis is to MoCap as Lillian Gish was to silents or Marlon Brando was to the Method.
MILDLY BAD NEWS FOR:  Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud) and Ben Kingsley (Hugo) but they both need coattails from their growing films to pull them into the discussion and that still could happen since both films are still picking up steam.
THREAT TO WIN: I'm guessing Albert Brooks in a walk.

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

SURPRISE: None... unless you expected to see Chloe Moretz, a perennial, here again.
BAD NEWS FOR: Any young performance who isn't already famous or headlining a picture. That's how it goes every year. I spend a lot of time on my ballot thinking about this one since you *have to* since there's no Oscar punditry or buzz to help you. This generally results in consensus picks that are fame or lead character driven (Butterfiled for Hugo. Really?) which I think is sad. I don't usually share my ballot (since you get all my favorites at the annual Film Bitch Awards but only one of my choices made it. I also voted for Taissa Farmiga from Higher Ground and Kaden Leos from Drive. Though if I had remembered that Ronan was underage I would have voted for her. It's funny how young actors who have adult sized talent like Saoirse Ronan never seem like teenagers. You want to group them in the with the adults and not leave them at the kiddie table. Shailene gets to sit at both this year.
THREAT TO WIN: I assume this is Shailene's to lose by virtue of The Descendants and with Horn vs. Butterfield splitting the "led the movie we love" votes.

ACTING ENSEMBLE


SURPRISE: Ides of March is the only thing that qualifies as a surprise here. 
THREAT TO WIN: I'm guessing... actually I have no idea. What'cha think?

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

You'll notice with the screenplay categories and from here on out the BFCA limits themselves to 5 nominees. I really would implore them to be more consistent. This is a transparent display of the unseemly desire to predict the Oscars correctly rather than voting on the best of the year, else why would the "important" (in mainstream eyes) categories get an extra slot to make your prediction ratio better? (Sigh). The big shocker here might well be that Bridesmaids couldn't manage a screenplay nod despite love for the ensemble and Melissa. Do people feel it's too ad-libbed for screenplay honors?

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Such is the power and name brand recognition of Pedro Almodóvar that the BFCA will nominate him even though he isn't eligible for the Foreign Film prize with Oscar. We need more foreign auteurs with name brand recognition in the States. Not that Pedro Almodóvar's are regular occurences. Go Pedro! For what it's worth I voted for A Separation in more than one category but this is the only place it showed up. I really blame Sony Pictures Classics on this one for not knowing what they have. It's the type of film where had they released it properly it would have become a cause and could have nabbed Screenplay nods and the like. Instead they're sitting on it until New Year's Eve practically, trusting that Oscar will give it a foreign film nod. Why settle for one when you're movie is good enough to compete in more than one category?

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

ART DIRECTION

Hmmmm. I'd love to see Drive repeat this cinematography nod though I think it's unlikely with Oscar -- they tend not to like the excessively theatrical and night time city stuff and prefer big landscapey epics (see War Horse... though if you ask me that tilts into parody of what constitutes "best cinematography").  They don't pass these awards out at the ceremony (boo!) but I assume Hugo is taking both.

COSTUME DESIGN 

MAKEUP

VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST SOUND 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

If you're wondering why this list is so mainstream friendly given such an interesting field of possibilities that are up for Oscar please to note that screenings are hard to come by for the foreign films that have qualified for Oscar. I'm dying to see Chico & Rita and Wrinkles and A Cat in Paris. 

BEST ACTION MOVIE

My drawring of Drive. I had to illustrate my review, don'cha know.

Take that dumbass Michigan woman who sued Drive for false advertising when she expected another Fast and Furious style movie! It's nominated alongside Fast Five. 

BEST COMEDY

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

BEST SONG

 

 WHOA. Score for The Muppets with three songs nominated.

BEST SCORE

Strange selections to an extent here. Reznor and Ross's score doesn't feel like an original revelation the way their work on The Social Network did. Are people responding to Martinez's music in Drive or the synth pop songs? At the Oscars this list will look somewhat different of course as they'll have to make more room for the new John Williams and the old John Williams (That's Alexander Desplat who scored a bajillion things including Extremey Loud and John Williams who could double dip via Tintin)

How are you feeling about these nominations? 

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