Toronto ♥ Tom Hardy, "Carol" and "Phoenix"

The Film Experience loves Toronto. Not only is it home to the best festival, TIFF, but it's also full of Canadians and our own Amir Soltani. On top of those two pluses, the Toronto Film Critics Association includes great critics like Calum Marsh, Bill Chambers and Angelo Murrada (the latter two have guested on "Smackdowns" right here!). The TFCA was established in 1997 and gave their first Best Film prize to Atom Egoyan's brilliant movie The Sweet Hereafter. This year double prizes for Carol, Ex Machina, and Phoenix and a prize for Tom Hardy for playing double as the twin Krays in Legend.

Best Film Carol
Best Director Todd Haynes, Carol
Best Actress Nina Hoss, Phoenix
Best Actor Tom Hardy, Legend

This is the second year in a row that Tom Hardy has won TFCA's Best Actor prize. He took it last year for his solo act Locke. He really should attend their awards dinner as double-thanks. Or pop in on next year's live vote debate to put in his two cents about his successor.

Best Supporting Actress Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Best Supporting Actor Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Best Screenplay The Big Short, adapted by Charles Randolph & Adam McKay from the non-fiction book
Best First Film Ex Machina d. Alex Garland

Best Animated Film Shaun the Sheep Movie (Aardman) d. Mark Burton & Richard Starzak
Best Documentary Look of Silence d. Joshua Oppenheimer
Best Foreign Language Film Phoenix (Germany) d. Christian Petzold

Phoenix, one of the year's biggest foreign hits, took two prizes

The TFCA also hands out a Best Canadian Film prize but that one comes with nominations and is announced at their awards dinner. Here's hoping Closet Monster gets a nomination.

35 Days Until the Critics Choice Awards. Nominations Tomorrow.

Actor/comedian TJ Miller (Silicon Valley and "Tuffnot Thorston" in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise) is hosting. Though I usually attend funds are low this year so I haven't yet made the travel decision. (It will be tough to beat last year's experience with Jessica Chastain at any rate.)

Do you think these films will get the boost they need tomorrow?The nominations for the 21st annual Critics Choice Awards will be announced tomorrow. Since there are six nominees in each acting category (which you'll know annoys the purists like me and probably many of you -- the correct number is always FIVE) you can safely bet that most of the Oscar frontrunners will be accounted for so what's interesting is the fifth and sixth free-for-all spots in each lineup. I'm perhaps most curious to see how films on the bubble perform  (like Steve Jobs, Bridge of Spies, and Creed) or whether films that risk being forgotten (like Sicario) come roaring back to life. This is the second to last clue in precursor season about which films and performances are well loved as we approach Oscar nominations (the last clue being the various guild nominations to come).

I shan't predict these BFCA "Critics Choice" nominations since I vote but rest assured that I did my part for Carol, Mad Max, Room and the other movies we've showered love on here. But how about you? Any predictions.

Viola & Edie

Viola Davis and Edie Falco, who are both in their early 50s and SAG Award nominated again for their show carrying work on How to Get Away with Murder (S2) and Nurse Jackie (S7, the final season) were interviewed together for the New York Times on their early days as actors and success coming when you're older.

Here's one interesting tidbit on embracing acting in their youth.

You both had rough childhoods. Viola lived in extreme poverty, and Edie’s parents kept marrying and divorcing, lots of family instability. Why choose careers that put you right back in that place?

EF: It seems cuckoo, doesn’t it? I haven’t seen Robert [Iler], who played my son on “The Sopranos” since the show wrapped. We come together so intimately as actors, then break apart, which was the exact narrative I grew up in.

VD: I stumbled onto the best profession to heal my childhood. The only one that lets you release and express whatever is ugly and messy and beautiful about your life. We’re in the business of creating human beings. The more we spew, and the more honestly we do it, the better. Try that on Wall Street. It’s why they throw all the kids with bad behavior into drama. We don’t care how screwed up you are. We actors love it. You can use it.

You felt that release as kids?

VD: No, I just wanted out. As much as I loved my parents, I wanted an escape.

EF: Same here. My parents did the best they could. But I grew up with so much craziness and turmoil at home, and I was in charge of fixing all of it. Being at school, or in plays, was a relief to me. I had such responsibility beyond my years at home.

You can read the whole interview here.

74 Songs Eligible for "Best Original Song"

Will LADY GAGA return to Oscar's stage? You know we always kind of thought that Brian Wilson song from Love & Mercy wasn't going to be eligible. It seemed like it had been written before the movie and not for the movie. It's not on the Oscar longlist this year but 74 other songs from the movies are.

Some of the tunes are from obscure movies we haven't even heard of (such is always the case with this category) some are from Bollywood pictures which got stateside release. And a couple of handfuls of songs from Oscar contenders in other categories such as Anomalisa, Cinderella, Shaun the Sheep Movie and Youth are also in the mix.

Lady Gaga, who performed a medley from The Sound of Music last time she was on Oscar's stage, might be back as a nominee if they love her song from the documentary The Hunting Ground . She's not the only famous singer who could grace the stage. Songs written and/or sung by Eminem (already an Oscar winner), Miley Cyrus, Jessie J, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, and Rihanna are also possible contenders. Famous actors that sang their movie's eligible songs onscreen this year include Amanda Seyfried (Ted 2), Meryl Streep (Ricki and the Flash), Tessa Thompson (Creed), and Al Pacino (Danny Collins) though they're far less likely to repeat the trick onstage should those songs be nominated since actors rarely do that on the Oscar stage unless they started as musicians.

The complete list (with any embeddable videos we could find) is after the jump...

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Candid Charlotte Rampling

Rampling for NYTimes Magazine

Murtada here. Charlotte Rampling’s performance in 45 Years is a quiet storm of volatile emotions, holding attention with understated intimations that hint much more than show. Inexplicably left off both the Golden Globe and SAG nominations list, she might become this year’s Marion Cotillard, missing the early nominations and getting in at the Oscars. She’s already won the LA Film Critics Association best actress award and here’s hoping more regional critics notice her in the coming weeks. We will talk about the movie and performance once the movie is released.

One glorious result from being in the awards conversation is that Rampling was in Hollywood and New York recently giving good quote. And unlike her 45 Years character, Rampling is not holding back and is quite candid in these interviews.

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