Do the NYFCC Hustle
Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 6:27PM The New York Film Critics Circle, the oldest such organization in the country, provided us with a surprise bang this morning. Like Jennifer Lawrence playing with her "science oven" in American Hustle their announcement leaves visible scorch marks, as if awards season has just blasted off like a rocket.
Whether or not these prizes have a lasting impact is yet to be determined. Some will say that the one-two punch of the Gotham Awards and NYFCC not awarding 12 Years a Slave with their best feature is a sign. But it may well just be a coincidence and could even be good for the film; it's better to be a wildly special underdog than a frontrunner with heavy baggage when you have three whole months left to carry oneself across the finish line.
Picture American Hustle
Director Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Actress Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Actor Robert Redford, All is Lost
Supporting Actress Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Supporting Actor Jared Leto, Dallas Buyer’s Club
Critics prizes, even the once holy trinity (NYFCC, LAFCA, and NSFC) don't mean as much as the internet likes to pretend. With roughly 30 other critics organizations handing out prizes each year now, and those same critics groups often behaving like Oscar pundits instead of critics, I'd argue that the value of critics prizes has greatly depreciated from market saturation and loss of identity. The thing that constitutes bragging rights these days seems to be domination (who can win the most?) rather than key victories.
Screenplay American Hustle
Foreign Film Blue is the Warmest Color
Animated Film Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises
Non Fiction Film Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell
First Film Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station
Cinematography Bruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis
Special Award Frederick Wiseman, documentarian
Do you think they did the "special award" for Frederick Wiseman solely because they didn't give him best documentary for At Berkeley? And, referencing the most recent podcast, am I the only person who isn't wild for the cinematography in Inside Llewyn Davis?
For what it's worth, American Hustle (which is under critical embargo until tomorrow), is very entertaining and also very fresh in the minds of voters having been screened just this past weekend. And Jennifer Lawrence is also very fresh (and entertaining) in it.
[More on their voting and runners up here]
Reader Comments (59)
Flickah, this is the reason why I take commentary on the Internet with a boulder of salt. This is the sole arena for this kind of irrational mudslinging. You don't find it in other media.
is the Internet just a vessel for cinema/young actress-obsessed hooligans? What starts out as interesting film commentary from Nathaniel and others turns into such vitriolic spew in short order.
I wish movies were released all throughout the year, as it makes no sense getting worked up about an award for a performance that 99.9% of the world hasn't seen.
Except for last year's Oscar glitch I quite like J-Law and her acting and I'm looking forward to seeing (tomorrow night!) what looks like a fun performance in American Hustle.
Bitch better not snatch another Oscar from one of my ladies, though. ;-)
Pam, you speaketh the gospel truth.
I am not sure I understand the voting of NYCC. As Lisa said this - http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rsqsec shows how the voting goes on in the rounds. Lupita was leading the second ballot then she fell. Foreign Language - Blue was leading by 14 yet they still went to a third ballot. Same with Blanchett and then by 3rd ballot Adams gained 11 votes? Why not just one ballot and if it is too close to call then go to the second ballet.
Truthfully as Nathaniel said - "Critics prizes, even the once holy trinity (NYFCC, LAFCA, and NSFC) don't mean as much as the internet likes to pretend."
I think people are making way too many predictions based on 1 critic awards so far. This is not necessarily on this blog. I've seen it elsewhere where people are saying ____ isn't favourite anymore or this makes ____ favourite. Can we at least wait to see if it things are consistent across other awards. Plus the only one that matter is the Oscars.
As for JLaw - I am indifferent - I am neither here nor there for her. What I know is that she knows how to choose good projects .
JAMES FRANCO TIED FOR SECOND PLACE IN THE VOTING FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR/Why are we not talking about this constantly?
Jennifer Lawrence is one of the reasons why I am looking forward to American Hustle. This anticipation leads to the fact that people pay special attention to her performance. It seems as if everyone has an opinion when it comes to the topic of Jennifer Lawrence.
I can not tell you how excited I am for Cate Blanchett. Leads in Woody Allen movies are usually boring in comparison to the supporting cast. This year is the fabulous Sally Hawkins in Cate Blanchett's shadow.
The fact that one critic's award has gone out and people are talking about Jennifer Lawrence winning a second Oscar is hilarious to me. No way! It's definitely still between Oprah and Lupita, but Jennifer has a great chance at being nominated of course.
It's funny because I began to extremely dislike JLaw during last awards season and I didn't think her Oscar win or the movie was worthy of anything (aside from praise for Bradley Cooper's performance) and I felt she was annoying and ignorant. I'm not as much on that train as I was before, and I say if she gave a better performance in American Hustle (which it looks like) then good for her. I'm excited to see it. I still with Lupita would've won though.
M, it's not enough to have the most votes, you also have to appear on the majority of the ballots (1-3 placements on the second round) in order to win. Otherwise you'll go to the next round when proxies are dropped and people vote again. Lupita lost votes, so it was the fact that her supporters weren't there but voted by proxy that seemed to have made her in. Jennifer was able to win after third round so her name was on 1-3 placement at the majority of the ballots since they didn't move to the next round.