Breaking awards news

[cleolinda]

I just got an email about the LA Film Critics awards--as far as I can tell, the first shot in the Oscar race:

From Anne Thompson's Risky Business blog:

Here are the LA Film Critics Winners:

Picture: Brokeback Mountain (over A History of Violence)

Director: Ang Lee (over David Cronenberg)

Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote (over Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain)

Actress: Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone (over Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents)

Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, for four films (Capote, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The Interpreter), over Amy Adams of Junebug

Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence (over Frank Langella, Good Night, and Good Luck)

Screenplay: Dan Futterman, Capote (over Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale)

Cinematography: Robert Elswit, Good Night, and Good Luck (over 2046)

Production Design: 2046 (over Good Night, and Good Luck)

Music: Joe Hisaishi, Howl's Moving Castle

New Generation Award: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow

Documentary: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (over Alex Gibney's Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room)

Animated Feature: Wallace + Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Foreign Film: Michael Haneke's Cachet (over 2046).

-- Sasha
www.oscarwatch.com

Keep in mind that this is still very early, if you're not used to playing the awards season--remember how Sissy Spacek was all but a lock that year, and then the tide turned towards Halle Berry (I think that's who it was that year?). Part of the fun is watching how the race evolves, so don't take this as any declaration of This Is Who Will Win. But quality-wise? Yeah, I would say that Brokeback Mountain is the one to beat this year, and if it is beaten, cultural politics will likely play a very large part.

Comments

[stepliana.livejournal.com]

vera farmiga? oh my god, i love her! i had no idea she was in a movie recently.

[fierywaif.livejournal.com]

But how can it be when 2005 isn't even over yet, and a lot of Oscar-baiting films haven't even opened yet?

[fierywaif.livejournal.com]

I mean, how can awards season even begin yet.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don't know. I mean, even by Oscar rules, a movie just has to play a certain amount of time (a week?) in LA before 12/31. How some of these critics' awards come out so soon, I don't know.

[morrigan_anne]

Two words: Critics Screenings.

Two More: Academy Screenings.

If you're a movie critic or a member of the guilds and the academy, you get to view a movie - that the studio may want to push for Oscar consideration - weeks, sometimes months, in advance.

[scornedsaint.livejournal.com]

My "Howl's Moving Castle" had better win Best Animated Feature, I don't care what they say (even if it didn't follow the book at all and lacked sense. The movie was pretty and Christian Bale and Lauren Bacall rocked it)

[bluekermit.livejournal.com]

But what about Kitten??? Not that I've watched any of the movies, and I saw a Capote trailer that was really good, but... Kitten!!!

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

Excellent about Brokeback Mountain, but I'd also like to see Good Night, and Good Luck get some recognition. Syriana, too, if it's in the running. Ah, my politics (and affection for activist!George Clooney) are showing...

[takekammuri.livejournal.com]

Icon love. Total icon love.

[cran.livejournal.com]

I think Walk the Line will be some serious competition for best picture. It's just excellent, and we all know the Academy loves a good bio-pic/love story. Oh, and my friend saw Memoirs of a Geisha the other night and says it will most likely get a nomination, too (he said it was gorgeous and wonderfully acted).

A History of Violence was... weird. I didn't hate it, but I found it almost ridiculous. There's no question the acting was good, but the story went along well for a while and then just veered off into this crazy ultra-violent, not-very-well-explained territory. I'd be surprised if it gets nominated for a best picture Oscar.

[lotusbiosm.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think Joaquin is definitely up for Best Actor. He was fantastic.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think HOV has a snowball's shot in hell at an actual Oscar nom--LA is much more out there, while the Academy is more conservative. I would have thought Memoirs would have been a shoo-in for at least a Best Picture nomination, but rottentomatoes.com seems to indicate some violently mixed reviews, so I don't know. And I do think Phoenix is basically the actor to beat, at this point--a slam-dunk real-person performance is usually hard to beat.

[cran.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think Phoenix and Witherspoon practically have their categories won already -- Witherspoon especially, as there haven't been many "best actress"-worthy performances this year. She could easily beat Gwyneth and Charlize due to no one really seeing their movies (sadly, the Academy is often influenced by popularity), and you're right, Memoirs only has a 28% (wow), while Walk the Line is at 82%. I'd love to see Keira get a nomination -- I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice yet, but I do love her, and I haven't heard a bad thing about P&P from my friends list. I dunno... who else is there?

[maverickgirl.livejournal.com]

I've gotta agree on Reese, but while she was very good, she... just... completely wasn't June Carter. She was nice and Nashville-y, but Carter was a down-home tomboy who wasn't - well, Reese Witherspoon. They played up her girlishness too much and sacrificed too much of who June Carter really was. But she's still got it in the bag, since again, no one saw Gwen or Charlize.

[mechamummy.livejournal.com]

I smile at Joe Hisaishi showing up. That man is awesome.

[greenwitch.livejournal.com]

*Actress: Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone (over Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents)*

*squees*

She's my mom's friend's neice :D

[theferrett.livejournal.com]

I concur. I picked the top four right last year, if I recall correctly (switching my vote at literally the last minute to Million Dollar Baby), and Brokeback Mountain is the one to beat right now.

Of course, I still have to actually see it.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah--I'm in Alabama, and *the* art theater in Birmingham just closed last month. So... I have no idea when we're going to get it.

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

I usually just lurk around here, but I have to just say, I saw "Brokeback Mountain" Friday night, and dear god was it amazing.

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

Oooh...and I have to say, if you've not seen "Capote" yet, you've gotta! Phillip is literally breathtaking. Yeah. I'm done now. *crawls back into her corner*

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

You know, I have yet to hear from anyone who did not think that BM was awesome, which bodes well.

Is Capote in town? I wanted to see it, particularly after I read the Vanity Fair article on it; Em saw it in Montgomery.

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

Er...I live (attend college) in New York City, so I saw it back in September...I'm not sure where else it's playing...I hope it's playing everywhere,cause it's just.that.good, but I'm not sure.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh... for some reason I got the impression you were down here, and that's why you were telling me to go see it. Yeah, it's not going to be here for a while. I don't think it's in wide release at all.

[sweetdaddydavid.livejournal.com]

Capote is playing at Brookhighland.

[newsong.livejournal.com]

The only one I've even heard of was Wallace and Grommit. WOW.

[sadasi.livejournal.com]

Maybe a little OT, but on the subject of Brokeback Mountain as well as your love for o rly? owls, check out ruffians current default icon.
(I didn't want to just hot-link it, but it's too cute to miss.)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh. I kept waiting for Anne Hathaway to pop up. "NO WAI!!!"

[sadasi.livejournal.com]

you and mycenae beneath you have just killed me from the funny.

[mycenae.livejournal.com]

There can never be enough of either Brokeback Mountain or the O RLY owls. NEVER.

[maverickgirl.livejournal.com]

HOLY SHIT I LOVE YOUR ICON. I haven't laughed out loud like that since the "I can smell your spicy brains" kitten.

[maverickgirl.livejournal.com]

I heard William Hurt's character in HoV was fantastic. Not seen it yet, but that's just an issue of time.

And Brokeback? I've got tickets for opening day, which I've been waiting for since... um... this time last year? Maybe?? If it's any good - and I hear Heath is amazing - I imagine it's the one to beat.

[whitewithsnow.livejournal.com]

Joe Hisaishi, Howl's Moving Castle

Yay!

(and i will always hate halle berry. just can't help.)

[ginnyrenee.livejournal.com]

Off topic but... did you ever find Dorthy shoes for your sister? If not try http://www.hottopic.com/store/product.asp?LS=0&M=1488947098&ITEM=301683&RN=529

saw them and thought of yew because I'm just that rad..

[im-so-awkward.livejournal.com]

this is OT, sorry. but everytime i go to try and play kingdom of loathing, i get a "The system is currently down for nightly maintenance" page. can you only play at a certain time? because its only 3:30 in the afternoon.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

That's weird--I don't know what timezone you're in, but I'm in CST (5:30 pm right now), and nightly maintenance has usually been somewhere between 10 pm and 12 pm.

[drpeprfan.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised that Wallace and Gromit would beat out Madagascar for the animated feature nomination...those penguins were hilarious. But then again, maybe it's because it's a classic. (Did you know that the warehouse with all the original models for Wallace and Gromit burned down right after they filmed the movie? So sad.)

[cheezypoof27.livejournal.com]

I agree - Brokeback is totally going to snag Best Picture this year. I even made a list of the top ten reasons why over at my journal.
I referenced you - is that OK?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, I said it was "the one to beat," i.e., the frontrunner at this moment--not that it wouldn't or couldn't be beaten at all. ; )