'The Shape of' the Critics Choice Winners List

by Nathaniel R

The Critics Choice Movie and Television Awards voted on by the BFCA members were held last night in California with Olivia Munn hosting. Aside from the color of the dresses and the Best Picture winner (Shape of Water) the night was faithful to the template set by the Golden Globes on Sunday in terms of the winners list and the political slant. Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot,  even got to make a speech with a special award (now that they've axed the acting in action film prizes).

In the night's most predictable turn of events, James Franco was a no-show (despite winning Comedy Actor again) after this past week of sexual misconduct claims. In the night's most upsetting development Lady Bird was entirely shut out of the winner's circle. In the night's "Biggest Waste of a Prize" moment, for some reason the group chose Three Billboards for Best Ensemble despite awarding McDormand and Rockwell trophies. (Aside from Woody Harrelson does anyone else in the cast demand a kind of "well, we gotta give this an ensemble prize, too!" enthusiasm? Especially when they had Mudbound, The Post, Dunkirk and Lady Bird right there as the other options!). Winners and a few more comments are after the jump...

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"Shape of Water" way way out front at the Critics Choice Awards

by Nathaniel R

As always, full disclosure: I am a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. So this award announcement is always filled with anxiety for me because I want to be heard. We all want to be heard. Nevertheless most of the longer shots I rallied for didn't make it, he said, pushing away a single tear. The Shape of Water led with 14 nominations... and it was so far out front it nearly doubled the nominations afforded to its nearest rivals (a clump of them jammed together with 8 nominations each:  Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Dunkirk, and The Post).

As ever I'm disappointed that the nominations double so heavily as "general Oscar pundit predictiveness" but here they are in their fullness with very immediate and perhaps too impulsive commentary after the jump.

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FYC: Young Performer Award 2017

by Nathaniel R

Remember when the Beguiled girls did that charity lipsynch to "Schuyler Sisters" from HAMILTON?

Each year one of our awards traditions here at The Film Experience is to help fellow BFCA members choose more wisely when it comes to the "Young Performer" category at the Critics Choice Movie Awards by sharing an eligibility list. Ballots don't come with lists of eligible choices so it's up to each member to think up a list and since the category is "under 21" it takes a bit of research for the teen/young adult performances; as is Hollywood tradition almost everyone playing high schoolers in Lady Bird or Spider-Man Homecoming are in their early-to-mid 20s. It's just a guess but I'm betting some members even leave that category blank on their ballots. If true that's a pity because there are always enough strong options to fill out a ballot. This year, in fact, has several high profile movies with options to choose from like the blockbuster horror film It, the controversial remake of The Beguiled, the Todd Haynes puzzle Wonderstruck, and Wonder is a star vehicle for Jacob Tremblay, a previous winner in this very category for Room (2015). 

Ballots go out to the BFCA today so here's a cheat sheet to help them vote after the jump. The actors are listed alphabetically (asterisks by their name indicate a previous nomination in this category). So which of these performances would make your ballot? Let us know in the comments...

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Critics Choice Documentary Winners

by Nathaniel R

"Jane," now in theaters, took the top prize at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards

Perhaps if I'm too stay in the BFCA (home to the "Critic's Choice Awards") I should run for actual office within them. Why? Well, change from within. I literally never understand their decisions like awards ceremonies where there are no rules as to how large a category is or isn't. They have this same problem in their main movie awards to a small degree but their documentary competition is even more unruly/nonsensical. These awards, held last night in Brooklyn, had (pause for shuddering) 16 nominees for Best Documentary Feature but 10 nominees for Best Director and only 6 nominees for Debut Documentary and so on and so on. No rhyme or reason! 

But herewith, this year's winners (links go to reviews if we've covered them). All of the feature film winners are on Oscar's long list (previously shared):

Documentary: JANE
Director: [tie] Frederick Wiseman for EX-LIBRIS and Evgeny Afineevsky for CRIES FROM SYRIA
First Documentary: KEDI
Political Documentary: ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL
Sports Documentary: ICARUS
Music Documentary: CLIVE DAVIS: THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES
Most Innovative: [tie] LAST MEN IN ALEPPO and DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME 
Best Song: "Jump" from STEP 
Limited Series: THE VIETNAM WAR on PBS
Ongoing Series: AMERICAN MASTERS on PBS

There was also a non-competitive category called "Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary" and the following people/creatures were honored: The cats of KEDI, Al Gore for AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL, Etty for ONE OF US, Dolores Huerta for DOLORES, Gigi Lazzarato for THIS IS EVERYTHING: GIGI GORGEOUS, and The Sung family for ABACUS

Related:
Oscar Prediction Documentary Chart
Glenn's series "Doc Corner"

Save the Date(s) ~ Awards Season Calendar

The Awards Happy months begin! Your guide to the remaining important calendar dates of the year. Televised ceremonies, crucial influencer nominations, and all actual Oscar-related events are in bold. 

NOVEMBER

2 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards

3 Thor Ragnarok, Lady Bird, and Last Flag Flying open

5 European Film Award Nominations
5 The Film Experience's "Supporting Actress Smackdown" of 1944

10 Three Billboards, Murder on the Orient Express, and Thelma (Norway's Oscar submission)

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