10 More Critics Prizes: "Argo" & "The Master" Fight For "Zero Dark" Scraps
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 12:50AM I haven't done the math but why count with my fingers when The Wrap is a born calculator and reveals that as the critics prizes have shaken down Zero Dark Thirty leads the race with 8 while Argo is in second for Best Picture prizes with half as many triumphs thus far. The Master is the only other film that's managed multiple "Best Film" gongs (3) in this thankfully divided year. Licking the crumbs off the critics awards plate we have Amour, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook and... Safety Not Guaranteed? Well, ok, Indiana! You go your own way.
Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, and The Master are the critics win leaders
Les Misérables is the only film from Oscar's presumed big five that hasn't managed a Best Picture win from a critics group though it's surprising to realize that Lincoln hasn't done much better in terms of taking the top prize. Another casualty is Beasts of the Southern Wild. That gloriously original moving indie has recovered from its first weeks in the precursors where it couldn't win "first film" or "breakthrough performer" prizes with the unexpected strength of How to Survive a Plague and Middle of Nowhere blocking its pathway with critics or at the Gothams respectively. It's won a few things here and there. But I'd argue it's the biggest casualty of the critics weeks since it hasn't managed even one Best Picture win. It deserved and needed them so it's no surprise that it's outsider shot at a Best Picture nomination which once seemed totally doable now looks like a true long shot.
Supporting Actor Disappointments and more after the jump...
The critics have also failed Matthew McConaughey in his career peak year despite a role that feels like both a perfect fit and a true career-best stretch. Instead they've opted to rubber stamp previous Oscar winners Tommy Lee Jones and Philip Seymour Hoffman with the bulk of their prizes (they're nearly tied with 7 and 6 wins). The tragedy is that neither of them needed any help whatsoever to secure an Oscar nomination for what are typically awardable roles in serious dramas. I've been pleased with the variety we've seen from the critics prizes overall this year but I'd argue that Supporting Actor is the category in which the media has totally dropped the ball. For once we had a fascinating field of contenders for what is traditionally the dullest annual Oscar acting category but then the buzz and traction lazily surrounded just a small handful of men, and left all sorts of deserving players out of the conversation entirely. In addition to an almost total shut out for McConaughey three different groups have wasted their prize on Christoph Waltz despite his new performance being both a true leading role (he steers at least 75% of the picture) and something of a rehash of his Hans Landa routine. It'd be easier to live with Waltz as a leading player hogging supporting prizes if he weren't also blocking his own co-star Samuel L Jackson, who gives the best and most clever performance in Django Unchained. I'll go so far as to prophesy that in ten years time when Django is as old as, say, Kill Bill is now, that the consensus will have long since formed that Jackson is easily best in show. I feel certain that he's the sole player in the new film that'll show up on future 'top ten best performances in a Tarantino picture' lists once the initial "New Tarantino Picture!" thrills have died down.
Here's ten awards groupings we haven't yet shared, many of them announcing in the past 24ish hours.
Chicago Film Critics Association
Film Zero Dark Thirty
Director Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Actress Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Actor Daniel Day Lewis Lincoln
Supporting Actress Amy Adams The Master
Supporting Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman The Master
Original Screenplay Zero Dark Thirty
Adapted Screenplay Lincoln
Most Promising Filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Most Promising Newcomer Quvenhzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Animated Feature ParaNorman
Foreign Film Amour
Documentary The Invisible War
Art Direction Moonrise Kingdom
Score The Master
Editing Zero Dark Thirty
Cinematography The Master
Austin Film Critics Association
Film Zero Dark Thirty
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
Actress Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Actor Joaquin Phoenix The Master
Supporting Actress Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Original Screenplay Looper
Adapted Screenplay Argo
First Feature Beasts of the Southern Wild
Breakthrough Artist Quvenhzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Animated Feature Wreck-It Ralph
Foreign Film Holy Motors
Documentary The Imposter
Best Austin Film Bernie
Special Honorary Away: Matthew McConaughey for Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike, and The Paperboy
Dallas-Fort Work Film Critics Association
Film Lincoln
Director Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Actress Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln
Supporting Actress Sally Field, Lincoln
Supporting Actor Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Screenplay Lincoln
Russell Smith Award (Indie) Beasts of the Southern Wild
Animated Feature ParaNorman
Foreign Film Amour
Documentary Searching For Sugar Man
Cinematography Life of Pi
Florida Film Critics Circle
Film Argo
Director Ben Affleck, Argo
Actress Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln
Supporting Actress Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Supporting Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Original Screenplay Looper
Adapted Screenplay Argo
Animated Feature Frankenweenie
Foreign Film The Intouchables
Documentary The Queen of Versailles
Visual Effects Life of Pi
Art Direction Anna Karenina
Breakout Quvenhzane Wallis Beasts of the Southern Wild
Cinematography Skyfall
Toronto Film Critics Association
Film The Master (ru: Amour)
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master (ru: Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty)
Actress Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea (ru: Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty)
Actor Denis Lavant, Holy Motors (ru: Day Lewis: Lincoln)
Supporting Actress Gina Gershon, Killer Joe (ru: Amy Adams, The Master)
Supporting Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master (ru: Javier Bardem, Skyfall)
Screenplay The Master (ru: Lincoln)
First Feature (tie) Beasts of the Southern Wild and Beyond the Black Rainbow (ru: Cabin in the Woods)
Animated Feature ParaNorman (ru: Brave)
Foreign Film Amour (ru: Holy Motors)
Documentary Stories We Tell (ru: The Queen of Versailles)
Canadian Film Bestiare, Goon, and Stories We Tell
Indiana Film Journalists Association
Film Safety Not Guaranteed (ru: Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Director Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained (ru: Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty)
Actress Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty (ru: Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook)
Actor (tie) Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook and Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln
Supporting Actress Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables (ru: Helen Hunt, The Sessions)
Supporting Actor Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln (ru: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained)
Original Screenplay Safety Not Guaranteed (ru: Django Unchained)
Adapted Screenplay The Perks of Being a Wallflower (ru: Silver Linings Playbook)
Score Skyfall (ru: Life of Pi)
Animated Feature Rise of the Guardians (ru: ParaNorman)
Foreign Film The Raid: Redemption (ru: Amour)
Documentary Searching For Sugar Man (ru: Room 237)
Original Vision Award Beasts of the Southern Wild (ru: Django Unchained)
The Hoosier Award Jon Vickers, Founding Director of Indiana University Cinema
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association
Film Argo
Director Ben Affleck, Argo
Actress Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln
Supporting Actress (tie) Ann Dowd, Compliance and Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Original Screenplay Zero Dark Thirty
Adapted Screenplay (tie) Lincoln & Silver Linings Playbook
Animated Feature Wreck-It Ralph
Foreign Film The Intouchables
Documentary Searching For Sugar Man
Visual Effects Life of Pi
Arthouse or Festival Film (tie) Compliance and Safety Not Guaranteed
Comedy (tie) Moonrise Kingdom & Ted
Music Soundtrack (tie) Django Unchained & Moonrise Kingdom
Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Film Life of Pi
[top ten now in descending order: Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, The Impossible, Les Misérables, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and The Master]
Director Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Actress Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln
Supporting Actress Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Supporting Actor Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Screenplay Looper
Cinematography Life of Pi
Editing Zero Dark Thirty
Score Life of Pi
Production Design Prometheus
Costumes Anna Karenina
Visual Eeffects Life of Pi
Song Skyfall
New Filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Youth In Film Award Suraj Sharma Life of Pi
Lifetime Acheivement Award Alan Arkin
Animated Feature ParaNorman
Foreign Film Amour
Documentary Bully
Southeastern Film Critics Association
Film Argo (and in descending order for a top ten: Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Master, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, and The Dark Knight Rises)
Director Ben Affleck, Argo (ru: Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty)
Actress Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook (ru: Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty)
Actor Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln (ru: Phoenix, The Master)
Supporting Actress Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables (ru: Sally Field, Lincoln)
Supporting Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master (ru: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln)
Original Screenplay Moonrise Kingdom (ru: Zero Dark Thirty)
Adapted Screenplay Argo (ru: Lincoln)
Ensemble Lincoln (ru: Moonrise Kingdom)
Animated Feature ParaNorman (ru: Frankenweenie)
Foreign Film The Intouchables (ru: Amour)
Documentary The Queen of Versailles (ru: Bully)
Cinematography Life of Pi (ru: Skyfall)
Gene Wyatt Award (Spirit of the South) Beasts of the Southern Wild (ru: Bernie)
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association
Film Zero Dark Thirty
Director Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Actress Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Actor Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln (ru: Phoenix, The Master)
Supporting Actress Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Supporting Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Original Screenplay Looper
Adapted Screenplay Silver Linings Playbook
Ensemble Les Misérables
Animated Feature ParaNorman
Foreign Film Amour
Documentary Bully
Art Direction Cloud Atlas
Cinematography Life of Pi
Score The Master
Youth Performances Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
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Detroit, San Diego, San Francisco, Kansas, African American
Los Angeles, Boston, New York Online
Boston Online
New York Film Critics Circle
Reader Comments (38)
But what if critics really did find TLJ's and PSH's performances superior? Category fraud aside in the case of PSH, shouldn't we be celebrating the fact that they're going with true great performances and actual best of the year material?
People complain about supporting actor but the category has a freaking brilliant recent streak of winners, better than any other acting category. The last non-brilliant winner was Arkin in 2006 and every winner had this critics consensus.
I do think McConaughey is terrific (even better in Killer Joe), but,Tommy Lee Jones is a genius.
Now, best actor dropped the ball. Why the best performance of the year didn't manage to win a single prize? I know and I think Daniel is great as Lincoln, excelling in a biopic without the mimicry (he researched but we can't be sure, so it feels like a original creation), but Denzel Washington was just earth-shattering in a contemporary drama role in Flight. People are really taking him for granted after ten years of paychecks, but his performance here is as brilliant as his work in Malcolm X, for exampke, with the benefit of being original.
If there must be somebody winning a third Oscar, he is the one. #teamdenzel
I hope Leo DiCaprio gets the Supporting Actor. McConaughey will get his Actor next year anyway.
carl -- but Leo is not even as good as Samuel L in the movie!
Cal -- oh i get that sometimes it's just a matter of groups voting for what they think is best (I heartily agree that Tommy Lee Jones is genius in Lincoln) but one of the reasons for "awards" in criticism -- since they really have no place in traditional "criticism" beyond being fun to do is as advocacy. So it's disappointing when everyone feels the need to award the same things, many of which don't even need advocates to begin with.
Metacritic has a even better score board (more comprehensive and better presented):
http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-awards-and-nominations-2012
Why does McConaughey need awards recognition? Is he pushing himself in the latter half of his career because being the laid back guy no longer appeals to the masses? I like Matthew and love his ass — but it doesn't mean he needs a Sandra Bullock good job boost. I know I'm being sexist in my reasoning but he's a man who'll always have work and his physical beauty will only go up in appreciation with age.
What about the way everyone has dropped the ball in Supporting ACTRESS and bowed down before Anne Hathaway? I haven't seen Les Mis, and by all accounts she's tremendous, but why is she the only name in the game?
^ what ... lol
the what was at 3rtful
Nathaniel, for my money DiCaprio gives the better and more exciting performance, and he hasn't done it for me that often in years. Too often you catch Leo acting, and that quality actually works for this role. I couldn't take my eyes off him. I keep hearing that this is a return to form for Jackson after all the franchise roles and the trash, but I don't see him doing anything here I haven't seen before. (And he is great.) This is just a more "acceptable" project (God help us).
Anyway, it was Jamie Foxx who was the real pleasant surprise for me. Without the gravitas--yes, gravitas--he brought to much of the film, it would have been impossible to be invested in the proceedings, much less sit through the interminable length.
It makes no sense to give McConaughey a Special Honorary Award (!) instead of voting him in the supporting category for Magic Mike.
Anyway, I've just read Rachel Weisz loved Cody Horn in that movie. So did I.
I'm kind of in love with Indiana awards. Was Leslie Knope president of the jury? Or has Ron Swanson bullied the critics to show some love to April Ludgate? I don't care, I'm all in as Safety Not Guaranteed was my absolute favorite film of the year and The Perks deserve some shout-outs as well. Poor, poor Riva, though. Hopefully, come Oscar time this injustice will be fixed.
/3rtful -- if anyone is getting a lame "good job!" push it's Robert DeNiro for finally trying again. you should not get points for not caring for years and years. As for McConaughey. I'm not suggesting to hand him awards cuz he's handsome and a big star. I'm suggesting handing him awards because he's freaking amazing in that movie (and I'm not talking about his ass)
Really? TLJ and Hoffman winning critics awards over Matthew M. is tragic? Tragic!?!
Another award for Rachel Weisz? Yes! I haven't seen the film yet but I really want to. I have no idea why I'm rooting for her to be nominated. Maybe because of the surprise factor? It's exciting when someone comes completely out of left field. She's definitely helping the film get more recognition and it doesn't hurt that she's a previous Oscar winner ;)
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Meryl Streep are considered the greatest actors of their generation, yet De Niro woke up to the fact that only Streep and Pacino (for television work) are still receiving accolades, and the best he can muster is lifetime achievements — it's a frustrating thing to veteran performers when they don't see themselves as the problem.
McConaughey's performance in Magic Mike like the film itself is grossly over praised for not being the train wreck it promised to be on paper. Magic Mike doesn't suck — one of the year's best films?! Outside of the detached ironic we're better than the movie factor and of course the cheap thrill of seeing McConaughey ass — what repeat value does Mike have over a genuine piece of art?
I'm with cal roth on Best Actor. Honestly, Lincoln is just another Daniel Day-Lewis performance. Granted, an average DDL performance is better than approximately 99% of performances by any other actor, but I didn't see anything particularly ZOMG AMAZING in this particular performance. Especially when you put his performance up against Denzel's bigger arc, Denis Lavant's sick commitment to transformations, and Joaquin Phoenix's simmering slow build. Not to mention John Hawkes, who has to act with ONLY HIS FACE, and Hugh Jackman in Les Miz, who does everything everyone else does and also sings amazingly. I would award any of those performacnes before I even started thinking about Day-Lewis.
But yes, Supporting Actor has dropped the ball. Dwight Henry, anyone? Ezra Miller? McConaughey's performance in Magic Mike is genuinely amazing, not just for his ass, but in the way he acknowledges and subverts his own persona. It's not just a quintessential McConaughey performance - it's THE quintessential McConaughey performance, and not in a terrible rom-com to boot!
I'm also kind of shocked at Jennifer Lawrence's strength in Best Actress. Granted, I liked Silver Linings Playbook and thought she was damn good in it (there was one moment in particular where she hit me like a ton of bricks), but it's more of a "very good" performance than a "great" one, much less one that would typically win critics' prizes. Especially with a performance like Emmanuelle Riva's in Amour. I would expect Lawrence's performance to win a Globe, or a SAG maybe, but not critics' awards.
McConaughey has been aces this year, but i do believe his glory will be next year. Come on guys look what he did to himself for dallas buyers club. but he definitely disserves a nom for magic mike. he really brought something to that role that no other actor can bring. And he adds to his persona. He doesn't let it drive the film. I feel like his acting has been more intense recently as opposed to his laid back persona. I don't think he is the same actor at all now.
Filmmakers will respond to Beasts' charms. Whether it will be enough to make Best Picture is unclear now, but no way its a long shot.
/3rtful -- i guess we'll have to disagree. I've seen it three times and love it more each time. Totally one of the year's best. People only don't think so because it's the kind of movie and topic that people are conditioned to not take seriously. This is one of my biggest pet peeves about criticism and just praise in general: subject matter is not qualitative. Execution is.
fun movies almost never get a fair shake until they're like 10-20 years old and people realize they haven't been able to live without them ;)
The entire awards season is about fluctuating hype and psychological ebbs and flows and the coolness of reputations. "Beasts" was so highly praised that now it's not winning many awards even though it was a very special movie. What's happening with "Les Miserables" seems exaggerated because of all the reasons this blog has discussed (although the Academy will probably still love it). The "Zero Dark" torture controversy, ditto.
And I wish I could have seen "Silver Linings" without the hype. I actually liked it more than "The Fighter," but it was still disappointing. I was expecting just major revelation from Jennifer Lawrence, and what I got was a vivid performance in a very thin role.
Sometimes I think one last critic's circle should be created, but it would award prizes for the best movie and acting and directing from TEN YEARS AGO, long after the hype and drama and partisan fluffing have disappeared. (I guess the Sight & Sound list is sort of like this.) My soul feels a little eaten away by our culture's emphasis on now, now, now.
/3rtful & roark -- i guess we'll have to disagree. I've seen Magic Mike 3 times and love it more each time. Totally one of the year's best. People only don't think so because it's the kind of movie and topic that people are conditioned to not take seriously. This is one of my biggest pet peeves about criticism and just praise in general: subject matter is not qualitative. Execution is.
"fun" movies only ever get their due 10 years later when people realize they still watch them and have long since forgotten the SOBER IMPORTANT FILM they were so into at the time.
The Best Actress race, a duel between Chastain and Lawrence, is shaping up a lot like 2007, when Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard went toe to toe and split most of the critics' prizes. Julie should have prevailed. Sigh.
It's about his ass. This is how I would describe my reaction to that stain defining scene. Someone collected my most perverse private fantasy with a celebrity as an avatar as object of my desire and then filmed it and placed it into a movie. I was embarrassed, shocked, and aroused. I can't look at Matthew McConuaghey in the face and therefore I protest.
"Sober important film"--exactly, Nathaniel. "Gandhi" is barely watchable except as a Wiki entry for those uninformed about Gandhi. WTF was the Academy thinking? On the other hand, movies like "Vertigo" and "North by Northwest" seem sober and important now but didn't back then. So it's not just fun but reputation and genre and all the other extraneous crud that you'd think critics and filmmakers would train themselves to discern and see their way through. But they never do.
Owen: Gandhi is a great example. In retrospect, Tootsie should have had a clear line to the prize. It's a perfect repeat-viewing classic, it has something to say, etc. But it would NEVER have happened at the time. Gandhi has to win that kind of prize (especially in the 80s).
It's a nice reminder of how lucky we were with The Artist last year. Traditionally, something that delightful would be your runner-up at best.
ZZZZZZZZ
I have never seen Gandhi. I'm predisposed against it...and I LOVE epics! But this one, I'll pass. Just can't get over how Paul Newman was robbed of an Oscar that year. Blech.
Magic Mike is a lot of fun, it's true, but it also gets bitter towards the end. I really like that duality.
PS I demand the retroactive Best Picture Oscars for Tootsie and Moonstruck!
Iam all for Matthew being recognized in Magic Mike... I really did not want to see it, but my wife did. I was loving every minute of it ... and not is ass ( I am not into that )... I also think like other actors in the past, he had a nice round of movies out this year... so why not recognize him with an award ... he deserves one more than Arkin!
Academy: Please consider Michael Pena, Ezra Miller, Dwight Henry, or Michael Fassbender.
SURPRISE us...we need a shakeup in this tired category. Sorry, Hoffman, Jones, Arkin and DeNiro. Hope we don't see a BSA category filled with previous winners. Just sayin'.
That's actually an interesting observation, Nathaniel, and I hope it gets it's own post
I am hoping these Amy Adams mentions do not translate into a nod. I like her well enough, and she was good in the film, but I'm hoping Kidman grabs that 5th slot.
Also, four Oscar nominations for Amy Adams just seems a bit much. She's talented, but ... four?
Right, well my point wasn't that MM shouldn't be recognized. My point is that the failure of critics group to properly award him for his efforts is not tragic. There are enough actual tragedies in the world that we hardly need to trivialize the term by applying it to awards handed out by movie critics.
I´m on team Denzel too!!!
Joe -- agreed. She has basically been nominated every time she was good in a movie (with the exception of Enchanted) ;)
Roark -- another word I can't use? DAMNIT. We'll soon be robbed of hyperbole altogether. And TFE is hardly even in the top 70 percentile of Hyperbole Abusers as movie sites go.
Joe -- Well, if she's talented why not four?
About Best Supporting Actor: I'll take anything other than Alan Arkin!
Also, if there is the most promising young newcomer it's not Wallis, it's Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi. People really overlook him.