"Critics Choice" Winners From Viola to The Artist
Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 11:36PM 
Kirsten Dunst presented Best Supporting Actress to Octavia SpencerWe tried a live blog experiment which was very chaotic though conversational if you'd like to relive it vicariously through us if you weren't here. But otherwise, let's review the big speeches and the winner's roster.
Do you think all five of the major acting wins will translate to Globe and SAG hoopla... and then on to Oscar? It's been a surprising season to date so will it suddenly become a normal season where the same films and performances win each time?
SUPPORTING ACTRESS -Octavia Spencer for The Help
Okay um. Well I'm not prepared. I wasn't a Girl Scout. I guess the operative word here is Best Supporting becasue I was truly supported by the most amazing cast and crew. Oh my god this is really kind of crazy. Okay. Uh. I'd like to thank everyone at Dreamworks -- Stacey Snyder thank you for giving me this chance. Holly Barrio. Chip Sullivan. Everyone at Disney. Rich [series of names that all blurred together for us] ...and then of course my two champions Tate Taylor and Brunson Green who have always believed in me. And thank God you believed in me enough to give me a job that actually paid this time!
But thank you so much to the BFCA. I am truly truly humbled by this. Thank you.
SUPPORTING ACTOR - Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Christopher Plummer, young againWinners and a Tearful Viola after the jump...
Being honored by a critic is like being on a three week binge with the enemy. But it's pretty heady stuff but I'm cool about it. It's rather like going back to school and the headmaster comes in and gives you a good report. It's also like beginning your career all over again and waiting for your first decent review. Anyway I'm completely turned on. I feel terribly young tonight suddenly and at my age I need all the help I can get in that department. Thank you indeed. You've brought back my youth!
ENSEMBLE - The Help
Octavia spoke again.
Team Help
Well, um. They elected me to give the speech. I don't think they realized how ill prepared I was. ----[lots of stuff about Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus] Tate taylor, Kathryn Stockett, this amazing cast. You can see that there's a lot of love here and that translated to screen and we really appreciate your recognizing our work. But it's more of a celebration of us as a unit and it's a proud moment for us all. So thank you from Team Help.
ACTRESS - Viola Davis for The Help
Viola is shocked to hear her name as "Best Actress"
I am absolutely so humbled. You know they say that the two most important days in a person's life is the day you were born and the day you discover why you were born. And, you know, five hours on the bus going to acting classes when I was 14 years old and coming from very challenging circumstances...
Viola's speech = she's winning the Oscar. Octavia's reaction = what everyone is feeling.
I absolutely knew I wanted to be an actor because I wanted to be somebody. I wanted to dream big and make a mark somehow. And that's something that absolutely Aibileen was not afforded. I considered it my honor to pay homage to these women at this time period who were not allowed to dream and not allowed to find their purpose. But thank god and praise God that they gave birth to me my mother my grandmother and I thank Kathryn Stockett for writing The Help I thank Dreamworks and Disney and 1492. Brunson Green. And Tate Taylor for being the most incredible leader. I absolutely am so honored to be in the company of so many women and so many sizes and ages and races and to be such a part of a story that is such an incredible part of american history... even despite the atrocities that can happen in the past, friendship and love can help us find our way. Thank you very much.
ACTOR - George Clooney for The Descendants
Ahhhh. Well, thank you. You know I was thinking listening to Viola talking about her life. A few years ago -- just before ER started I was talking to my father and I was on my seventh series and it wasn't one of the greatest series ever known. My father said to me 'you know, your grandfather was a share cropper. He worked very hard and he bought a piece of land and he bought a home and your mother and I came from the Depression and we didn't have running water and electricity... your mother made your clothes for you' -- which she did! I will say that in 6th gade she made me a naugahyde leisure suit. In sixth grade. That was a fun year...
He said "if you are not proud of what you're doing then do it better or do something else. You didn't have to be a sharecropper and you didn't have to make your own leisure suit. We would hope that you are happy about that and we hope that the work you do you would be proud of."
I have to say that I'm very proud to be in this film. I'm very proud of our association with Fox Searchlight in making this film. I'm very proud of the actors I got to work with on this film who make everyone better . I'm incredibly proud that I got to work with Alexander Payne who I adore as a director and as a perfect storyteller. And I'm very proud to get this award. Thank you to the Broadcast Film Critics. Have a good night.
George Clooney is very proud, Y'all. But can he take it all the way to the Kodak for a second Oscar? Or will Brad Pitt find some new surge between here and Oscar. The Globes are next?
Complete list of BFCA Winners
PICTURE The Artist
DIRECTOR Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTRESS Viola Davis
ACTOR George Clooney
SUPPORTING ACTRESS Octavia Spencer
SUPPORTING ACTOR Christopher Plummer
YOUNG ACTOR Thomas Horn for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
ENSEMBLE The Help
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Midnight in Paris
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Moneyball
ANIMATED Rango
ACTION Drive
COMEDY Bridesmaids
FOREIGN FILM A Separation
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE George Harrison: Living in the Material World
ART DIRECTION Hugo
COSTUME DESIGN The Artist
MAKEUP Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
VISUAL EFFECTS Rise of the Planet of the Apes
EDITING Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
CINEMATOGRAPHY The Tree of Life AND War Horse
SONG "Life's a Happy Song"
SCORE The Artist
SOUND Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Reader Comments (83)
Nathaniel - Obviously the majority opinion was that the Descendants was great and Clooney great in it, but have you read a single well-argued review of that film yet? It seems to me that the film is bound to age poorly, whereas Moneyball and Tree of Life more than likely will have good shelf lives. Most bloggers/critics have praised at least one of Brad's performances and films enthusiastically, many both.
Am I projecting my own opinions onto this issue (I am admittedly a member of Team Brad, both lifelong and 2011) or has the praise for the Descendants seemed transparently superficial?
Fair point there Nathaniel re: your membership. Just to be clear I don't have a bad word to say about Plummer - what he does in Beginners is extraordinary and Im just glad he's survived in the conversation this long. But I don't think a pedestrian film like The Help should be winning anyone any Oscars - especially as there wasn't anything revelatory going on there. Davis and Spencer were both very good, don't get me wrong, but best of the year, really?
Even if the film is pedestrian, people are voting on the performance NOT the film itself, I think as acting goes the ensemble in the Help was probably the one I enjoyed watching the most after Midnight In Paris (and even that film was hindered by Rachel McAdams who I usually adore)
Viola's speech is hardly canned. I don't think it's a plea for Oscar at all. She simply knows how to speak honestly about gratitude. It's an extension of her genuine Tony speech for "Fences" and the upward trend she's had in visibility in the last few years (thanks to her own work and Meryl's onstage plea for people to make use of her talent). It's not the best performance of the year in my book, but she's got this one sewn up. I like her shimmer.
I think you're all jumping the gun by saying these winners will all repeat at the Oscars. It's certainly possible, but maybe I'm just doing some wishful thinking by predicting that the wins will be more sporadic from here on out, and both Best Actor and Best Actress will be close up until Oscar night.
Plausible scenario, from my point of view:
BEST ACTOR:
Clooney won BFCA and will also win SAG.
Pitt wins the Golden Globe over Clooney.
Dujardin wins the Golden Globe in the comedy category (duh) and also wins the BAFTA.
BEST ACTRESS:
Davis won BFCA and will also win the Golden Globe this Sunday
Streep, however, wins the SAG.
Williams wins the Golden Globe in the comedy category (again, duh) and also wins the BAFTA.
If that is how it works out, there will definitely be some suspense on Oscar night.
I think Best Supporting Actor is the only category in which the winner will remain consistent all throughout the awards season. Supporting Actress could too, but I frankly just don't see Spencer sweeping. I think Chastain could pull off a win or two, and I'm not counting Bejo out either.
John -- i'm as guilty as anyone of going there so i gladly bend for this spanking. But nothing makes Oscar irrelevant. People have been saying he's lost relevancy for decades and Oscar is doing just fine. People still obsess over him. People still view him as THE pinnacle. Nobody remembers who won all the precursors.
if people get tired of winners and such being forordained the best bet is to ignore the early ceremonies and just watch and enjoy on Oscar night since that's the one that goes into the history books.
Nat,
Because my blog was so randomly given, I don't think you quite understood my confusion about the critics....
I meant the awards among the critics themselves ... not as Oscar predictors.
Williams and Streep got most awards .. Viola very few.... yet she prevails at the CRITIC'S AWARDS???????
Nat,
Because my blog was so randomly given, I don't think you quite understood my confusion about the critics....
I meant the awards among the critics themselves ... not as Oscar predictors.
Williams and Streep got most awards .. Viola very few.... yet she prevails at the CRITIC'S AWARDS???????
I felt Davis's speech was more dramatic than her performance... spent a lot of time on that sucker ... if, indeed, she wrote it herself.
I didn't watch the show, so I all I can say from reading this list is that I'm glad the group seemed to go for Best Acting, and not just Most Acting. I think there was a lot of subtlety in the winning performances.
I work in Hollywood (just barely ;-), but I have to say that universally everyone I spoke to loved The Descendants. I really liked it as well. Most people I spoke to preferred it to Sideways (I'm the opposite). The Descendants feels grown up and substantial despite what other people are saying.
PS most people I have spoken to were baffled by The Tree of Life.
"And finally, when Meryl gets to that Geraldine Page/Jessica Tandy age they'll reward her for whatever she did before she dies... overlooking the actual best performance of that year."
Um, hello, when this was going to happen in 2009 (she was going to win for Julie & Julia - really?!? Kramer v. Kramer, Sophies Choice, and Julie & Julia.....uh) until Sandra Bullock came in, and the real deserving performances were Carey Mulligan and Gabby Sidibe, but I didn't hear anyone complaining then.
Streep needs to choose a good director, and be in a film people love. She. Will. Win. An. Oscar. Then. Trust. If she made good choices in films, not just roles, she would have such a better chance of winning. Meryl Streep is loved and it's definitely getting to this point where people know she should win again. So she needs to pull out all the stops and be in a great movie! A best picture nominee, so people have no question in voting for her. It's not rocket science.
Streep, Plummer, Spencer are all locks. Only uncertain will be Best Actor. Hopefully it will be Leo!!!!!!!
@ Philip, Meryl was in Adaptation in 2002. And in The Hours. To me (and many out there) she was the best of the five that year in a performance that I ADORE. Did she win? She had the quality project and the great performance. Did she win?
And then again please think about that: why does Meryl always need to be in the great film? Julie & Julie was no way a movie much different from The Help. Yet we see what happens. And what really makes me angry is that right now I do think that it'll be easier for Sandra Bullock to win a second best actress Oscar than for Meryl to win a third and second in lead. Don't you think that it could even turn out to be easier for somebody like Sally Field to get a third?
@ Nathaniel, yes, Hepburn won her second and third two years in a row, but if you actually check, she was actually YOUNGER than Streep when she won her third. And she never really got that 'next year' treatment obviously. Many deserving actresses were snubbed and she got wins.
And STOP THE NEXT YEAR NONSENSE! NEXT YEAR YOU'LL SAY IT AGAIN! You people said it in 2009 as well. And now again.. You know how Meryl can win:
According to you Meryl can win IF:
1. She's in a best picture nominee - a movie everybody adores.
2. It's NOT a comedy or a dramedy. It has to be heavy drama.
3. She has to win every award out there. And according to most of you she can't, because she's won them in the past.
4. She has to be the absolute center of the film. (This never hurts other actresses.)
5. The other nominees are all newcomers in so-so movies and don't really deliver performances that are even remotely Osacr-worthy.
I really don't get it anymore.
1) You really need to calm down, lolol. You're scaring me a little.
2) Yes, she was in Adaptation. And she was probably in second place to Catherine, who won for the Best Picture WINNER Chicago. See what I mean? She won the globe for that and clearly was close to Oscar because she was great in a great movie that people liked. And the person she lost to was in the best picture WINNER. If anything, that just helped prove my point. And she wasn't nominated for The Hours, so that's a different story completely (though I lovvved her in that).
Zooey, basically Meryl needs a Best Actress year like 2005.
It's such a shame DEVIL WEARS PRADA didn't happen in 2005. She'd be a slamdunk win. AND she'd win for an iconic performance.
@ Philip, and you need to be a bit more respectful of other people's opinions. I'm simply proving my argument because I don't see much point in what you say. Yes, Zeta-Jones was in Chicago, but it's a performance category, not a movie category. And actually Chicago was a so-so movie that won because of the Weinstein campaigning. Streep was much better than Zeta-Jones. And what do you prove with stating that she probably came in second. She probably came in second in 2008 and 2009 as well, even in 2006.
And it's not entirely true that Streep would have defeated Reese Witherspoon - not for a comedy (no matter how great she was in The Devil wears Prada) with no other nods besides costume design. Reese was the big comedy star going dramatic. Meryl would have lost. but even if you're right, we have to wait for a very bad year with nobody overdue or somehow due? It's not gonna happen. And people will say next year, next year, next year. There's probably the scenario of Meryl not working for five-six years and coming with a big film then, but how easy is it to find a movie for somebody over 70? I mean - a good leading part. She'll probably get a supporting actress win for a lousy movie and do you think that such a win should represent her strong work over the years?! As I said, Bullock would get a second Oscar much easier, which isn't fair.
And the comparisons to Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver, Glenn Close, Annette Bening - WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, NONE OF THESE ACTRESSES - NO MATTER HOW GREAT MOST OF THEM ARE - has the career Meryl has. None of them has been snubbed as many times as well.
Zooey -- agreed that none of those actresses have a career as rich as Meryls. But it's worth noting that none of them even have one Oscar (which was the point) and Streep already has two. AMPAS has always been reluctant to give out third Oscars (except in the case of Walter Brennan but that was before many of their habits were in place.) I actually wish they'd be stingier about second Oscars! (which very few people deserve. though i fully agree that Meryl's career warrants three.)
it's true that i have said "next year" a lot with Meryl. But in my defense I have also repeatedly told fans not to get too confident about her winning this year. It was never going to be easy for her what with another formidable biopic mimicry performance against her AND a presumed frontrunner in a movie that's easy to want to reward who gave a great performance and who Meryl herself has told Hollywood to adore. (as well they should as Viola's always been a fabulous actor... since her first roles onscreen even in itty bitty parts.)
at any rate I want Meryl to win for a comedy in the worst way. But it's even harder to win for comedies so perhaps I should give up that dream.
Jorge -- ugh. 2005 was so weird. They had such a great performance from an overdue lady and they just weren't paying any attention. (sigh)
rick -- again. The BFCA is not a group of film critics in the traditional sense. It is a collection of journalists ranging from regular critics to pundit/bloggers to talking heads from those entertainment segments, to junketeers. "critics choice" is a weird moniker for their awards.
"and you need to be a bit more respectful of other people's opinions. I'm simply proving my argument because I don't see much point in what you say."
I'm sorry if you feel that way, but I was saying you need to calm down because your random ALL CAPS that came off as yelling freaked me out, lol. How can you say you don't see much point in what I'm saying, yet tell ME I need to be more respectful of others opinions? Uh, okay.
"Yes, Zeta-Jones was in Chicago, but it's a performance category, not a movie category. "
Never said it was. But people will vote if they love the movie too, and clearly they loved it enough to give it the top prize, so that was my point. I don't see how that wasn't clear, or how it didn't make sense. Being in a best picture nominee will help her chances. The year she was, she was most likely in second place to someone in a best picture winner. That was all I was saying. Being in a BP nominee or winner will do nothing but help her chances. Shit movies like Julie & Julia and The Iron Lady won't.
"And actually Chicago was a so-so movie that won because of the Weinstein campaigning. Streep was much better than Zeta-Jones."
And that's where I'll stop because my problem is you don't even take into consideration what I say, and you speak your opinions as if they're facts. I hope Meryl wins just so I don't have to listen to this anymore. And that's coming from a strong Viola supporter. ;)
"WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, NONE OF THESE ACTRESSES - NO MATTER HOW GREAT MOST OF THEM ARE - has the career Meryl has."
Exactly. So why are you complaining about a little trophy (especially when she already has two)? I'm sure those other actresses wish they had the career she had. You look at it in such a negative light simply because she hasn't won another Oscar. Awards aren't everything.
Thanks Zooey....you saved me alot of writing.
I really wish streep would say...."No more nominations please. I have 2 and I just want to saty at home. I am the best anyway....do I really need your award to say I was the best in ONE single year. I am the BEST EVERY YEAR!!!!!!
But I know she is not the diva I secretly hope her to be :) She should be tearing the other nominees apart (that would be fun)....in her prime she could have played all the other nominee roles this year without breaking a sweat.....DIVA MERYL!
@Zooey
I find myself (for the most part) in complete agreement with you. But I would go further. Clearly Streep continues to lose because of some sort of mass-subconcious resentment towards her. I do not think this thought should be controversial in the least. It is absolutely absurd that Sally Field and Hilary Swank have two Best Actress oscars, and Streep has one. I believe that voters like to see themselves as potential history making giants. Keeping Streep in her place is probably an unintended affront, but who are we kidding? It is grotesque. There is more at work in this cast of insecure dreamers, but speculating on the drama is probably best ignored. Perhaps a film exploring these themes will be made (hopefully by David Cronenberg, starring Meryl Streep).
At any rate, I will continue to watch the Oscars, but until all voters smoke crack or meth in unison, the results, most likely, will continue to be predictable and suspect. The bloom is definately off of the rose.
Does every actress who won an Oscar been in a movie for best picture??? OR is that just a "meryl" requirement for a third? IF so does it matter more when Oscars only had 5 or had 10 nominees which let pics like The Reader and Blind Side join the elite???
Nathaniel -- The 2005 overdue lady is Joan Allen, isn't it? I'm not sure, there's one almost every year... you could even create a series!
Peggy Sue: It is, for sure. Nathaniel constantly mentions Joan Allen performance in THE UPSIDE OF ANGER as one of the greatest of last decade.
Thanks Jorge! By the way I plan to watch José y Pilar this weekend. I believe you loved it...
Peggy Sue: Yes I did. I get why people weren't particularly into the movie, especially since most people who are very fond of it are also great fans of Saramago's work, but I've yet to see a bad review to it. It is a documentary but it's about so much more, the meaning of life, the power of love, the fear of death... I thoroughly recommend it.
I've been trying to convince Nathaniel to watch it too :) I hope he does.
"Does every actress who won an Oscar been in a movie for best picture??? OR is that just a "meryl" requirement for a third?"
That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just saying clearly she's having problems winning and I think that would be the cure to that problem.
Or she could do an auteur film, or at the least choose a good director since she seems to have trouble doing that too.
Nathaniel I am 100% with you on The Descendants. Once I saw it, I thought the whole critics organization had fallen under some mass hypnosis or voodoo spell.
The teenage girl was fine, but does she really deserve an Oscar nom? That will make me even angrier that Christian Bale ( Empire of The Sun) Natalie Portman's best ever performance in The Professional, Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood were all snubbed for their adolescent performances....which were far superior!
I have never thought Clooney was Oscar acting material, and, in this case, I think he made a better, albeit flawed film then the Descendants this year, it's called Ides Of March.
I hope Alexander Payne will go back to co-writing with Taylor now. This most recent script was just bad.
Nat,
I do understand about the "critics" Thank you for your patience.
SBG: Yeah. Those are all undeniably adolescent leads, though. It's not something the Academy is comfortable with. No matter the gender, they don't like 'em that young in lead.
OMG, Brad was so bad in Troy lol, but he can be really good too, haven't seem Moneyball yet but after all this talk i'm going to have to watch it soon...but I'm suprised that everyone's loving it over Fassbender, isn't he supposed to be amazing in that film??? God have got to see more movies!! Stupid country not releasing movies till way after everone else...but of course we get The iron lady early...
Jamie -- it it not a requirement but being in a best picture nominee has ALWAYS helped people win Oscars. General love for a film goes a long way in every category. How else did Gandhi win costume design ;) ?
I've updated my list of predictions for the Oscar 2012 (on every category!!!!): http://www.mondoglam.com/search/label/Oscars