LA Film Critics award winners reward Gravity AND Her!

Great announcements! Gravity got its biggest traction to date, and it may look like that we all have been underestimating what people thought of when it came to Her. This is an odd critics award session, because rewards were all over the place for so many films. I honestly have no idea where this award season is going.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Her, runner-up Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave, runner-up June Squibb, Nebraska

BEST EDITING:

Gravity, runner-up Upstream Color

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Gravity, runner-up Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Tie! James Franco, Spring Breakers (YES!), Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ANIMATION:

Ernest and Celestine, runner-up The Wind Rises

BEST MUSIC:

Inside Llewyn Davis, runner-up Her

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Stories We Tell, runner-up The Act of Killing

BEST DIRECTOR:
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity, runner-up Spike Jonze, Her

BEST ACTOR:
Bruce Dern, Nebraska, runner-up Chiwetel Ejiofer, 12 Years a Slave

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight (YES!!!), runner-up Spike Jonze, Her


BEST ACTRESS:
Tie!! Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine, Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

BEST PICTURE:
TIE!!! Gravity AND Her!


BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM:
Blue is the Warmest Color, runner-up The Great Beauty (YAY!)

NEW GENERATION PRIZE:
Megan Ellison (Annapurna Pictures)

LEGACY OF CINEMA:
The Criterion Collection

SPECIAL CITATION:
Creative team of 12 Years a Slave

LAFCA predictions!

Tomorrow the LAFCA is announcing their winners. This is the third of the big four critics groups, the first two being NYFCC (New York) and NBR (National Board of Review, where Her upset with a best picture win). Who'll win? Let's predict!

When it comes down to Best Picture, LAFCA chooses films that happen to be highly critically acclaimed, many times leaning toward the foreign side. Last year, Amour broke Zero Dark Thirty's streak, and The Master settled with Best Director and Picture runner-up. For the critically acclaimed film, I'm going to predict 12 Years a Slave, because it is still the film to beat, and for foreign, I will predict Blue is the Warmest Color.

Best Director and Picture correlate usually, so I'll say Steve McQueen will win the director prize, and Abdellatif Kechiche on his tail. I predict McConaughey to win again for Dallas Buyers Club, and Chiwetel Ejiofer being his alternate. Best Actress will go to Adele Exarchopolous, because the LAFCA has an odd tendency to side with foreign performances when it comes to the Best Actress category, including wins for 2008's Seraphine and 2009's Mother. For an alternate, I'll say Sandra Bullock in Gravity.


Supporting Actor will go to Michael Fassbender for his tremendous work in 12 Years a Slave or maybe Jared Leto, and Supporting AcHer, and Lupita Nyong'o settling for second. To reward the best film of the year, Before Midnight will probably take the screenplay prize (it sure deserves it!). Foreign Film will definitely go to Blue is the Warmest Color. A complete, uncluttered list of predictions are below.
tress will go to Scarlett Johansson for

Best Film
12 Years a Slave (alt. Blue is the Warmest Color)
Best Director
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave (alt. Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue is the Warmest Color)
Best Actor
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club (alt. Chiwetel Ejiofer, 12 Years a Slave)
Best Actress
Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color (alt. Sandra Bullock, Gravity)
Best Supporting Actor
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave (alt. Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Supporting Actress
Scarlett Johansson, Her (alt. Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave)
Best Screenplay
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight (alt. Spike Jonze, Her)
Best Foreign Film
Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue is the Warmest Color (alt. Paolo Sorrentio, The Great Beauty)
Best Cinematography
Bruno Del Bonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis (alt. Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity)
Best Documentary
The Act of Killing (alt. Stories We Tell)
Best Editing
Gravity (alt. The Wolf of Wall Street)
Best Music Score
Arcade Fire, Her (alt. Steven Price, Gravity)
Best Animated Film
Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises (alt. Frozen)
New Generation
Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station

Amour wins Best Film, The Master takes 4 prizes, including Best Actor... all at LAFCA!

This is the first critics group that did not give the top prize to Zero Dark Thirty, and I'm extremely happy with The Master winning 4 prizes. Also, Skyfall won an award, and The Dark Knight Rises got a mention. Awesome.

(Oddly, Lincoln and Life of Pi) both got shut out.

Best Picture
"Amour"
(Runner-up: "The Master")

Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"
(Runner-up: Denis Lavant, "Holy Motors")

Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook" and Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour" (tie)

Best Supporting Actor
Dwight Henry, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
(Runner-up: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained")

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, "The Master"
(Runner-up: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables" and "The Dark Knight Rises")

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master"
(Runner-up: Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty")

Best Screenplay
Chris Terrio, "Argo"
(Runner-up: David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook")

Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins, "Skyfall"
(Runner-up: Mihai Malaimare Jr., "The Master")

LAFCA predictions!

Today the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is announcing, and this could be a make or break for many movies. If Zero Dark Thirty wins, it would become the frontrunner. If The Master wins, it would basically be a Best Picture nominee lock. If Lincoln wins, not much would happen. If Amour wins, it would make itself a Best Picture nominee. If Les Mis wins, god save us.

Best Picture:
The Master (alt. Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Director:
P.T. Anderson, The Master (alt. Michael Haneke, Amour)

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln (alt. Joaquin Phoenix, The Master)

Best Actress:
Emanuelle Riva, Amour (alt. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Supporting Actor
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master (alt. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln)

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Master and Trouble with the Curve (alt. Sally Field, Lincoln)

Best Screenplay
Tony Kushner, Lincoln (alt. Michael Haneke, Amour)

Best Foreign Film
Amour (alt. Rust and Bone)

Best Animated Film
Frankenweenie (alt. Wreck-It Ralph)

Best Score
Johnny Greenwood, The Master (alt. Alexandre Desplat, Zero Dark Thirty)

CHECK BACK LATER TODAY FOR COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS!