New York Online Film Critics, and Boston announce winners!

BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS
Best film: Zero Dark Thirty

Best director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best actress: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

Best supporting actor: Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Best supporting actress: Sally Field, Lincoln

Best ensemble cast: Seven Psychopaths

Best animated film: Frankenweenie

Best documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Best foreign-language film: Amour

Best screenplay: Tony Kushner, Lincoln

Best cinematography: Mihai Malaimare, Jr., The Master

Best editing: William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor, Zero Dark Thirty
Best use of music in a film: Moonrise Kingdom

Best new filmmaker: David France, How to Survive a Plague

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE
Best picture: Zero Dark Thirty

Best director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best actress: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

Best supporting actor: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Best supporting actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Best ensemble cast: Argo
Best animated film: Chico and Rita

Best foreign language film: Amour

Best documentary: The Central Park Five
Best screenplay: Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Best cinematography: Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Best use of music: Django Unchained
Best debut director: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Breakthrough performance: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

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")

Masterpieces Classics: The Man who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

John Ford crafted iconic westerns like The Searchers, Stagecoach, and in a way, The Grapes of Wrath. However, John Ford's best western doesn't have a ride into the sunset, a big shootout, or much of anything dealing with travel, be it coach or car. His best western is slow-moving, political, and perfect. It is known by the name The Man who Shot Liberty Valance.

In 1962, The Man who Shot Liberty Valance was the bottom half of a double bill. The film stars Jim Stewart, John Wayne, and Vera Miles, which is a top-notch cast for a bottom half. Was the film too boring, perhaps? Less than 10 shots are fired in the whole movie, and John Wayne was a supporting actor, not a lead. Perhaps the film defied 'the myth of the Old West'.

1956 brought The Searchers, a movie synonymous with the Old West. It was technicolor, VistaVision, and glorious. The Man who Shot Liberty Valance was black and white, and spent most of its time in a town named Shinbone. Shinbone is dominated by the cynical Liberty Valance, the sheriff is constantly drunk, and most everyone is illiterate. A bone is typically strong, but Shinbone isn't.

This film isn't your typical western. It begins with a flashback, with presidential nominee Ransom Stodard visiting Shinbone for the funeral of a mysterious marksman Tom Doaphin, played by the iconic John Wayne. Ransom is accompanied  by his wife Hallie. Journalists from Shinbone ask why Ransom is going to this funeral. He starts his story and the past swims onto the screen.

Washington Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) nominees!

Skyfall nominations!

Best Film:

Argo

Les Misérables

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director:

Ben Affleck (Argo)

Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)

Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Tom Hooper (Les Misérables)

Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

Best Actor:

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

John Hawkes (The Sessions)

Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Denzel Washington (Flight)

Best Actress:

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Helen Mirren (Hitchcock)

Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

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!

Looper (2012): A drama with sci-fi aspects, and one of the best films of the year.

Rian Johnson's Looper is vivaciously original, undeniably futuristic,  and surprisingly human. Joesph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and young child actor Pierce Gagnon fire on all cylinders, and make what could've been this year's Source Code into an undeniably important template for sci-fi films in the years to come.

The story starts off with Gordon-Levitt narrating what 2044 will present to us. It will have Loopers, time travelers from 2074 as hired assassins to kill mafia targets of the 30 years ahead. To retire a looper, the future self is sent to 2044 and killed by their past self. This happens to Gordon-Levitt's Joe, and his older self (Bruce Willis) flees.

Old Joe explains of a mob boss called the Rainmaker, who's evil in 2074 has inspired Old Joe to warn young Joe when his loop is closing. Old Joe has a list of three young children who could potentially be the Rainmaker. It just so happens that reluctant young Joe meets the Rainmaker, and Old Joe is out potentially killing two innocent children.

National Board of Review announces the Top 10 films of the year.

Zero Dark Thirty has won, defying expectations.
(I mean, I thought it was Argo/Les Mis!)

Best Film:  ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, DJANGO UNCHAINED

Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd, COMPLIANCE

Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson, LOOPER

Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

MORE AFTER THE JUMP:

NYFCC: what does it all mean?

The Oscar tables have been turned, and we know a few things:

1. Don't underestimate Zero Dark Thirty. It  might be a graphic war film, but it might be a great one.
2. Les Mis was a whole lot weaker than we thought. If National Board of Review and Golden Globes don't help, I don't know what will.
3. Lincoln is going to win Adapted screenplay and Best Actor. No bones about it.
4. Life of Pi is slipping. I don't think it got any mentions from NYFCC, except a 2nd or 3rd place for cinematography.
5. Don't count out The Master. It accumulated a good amount of #1 votes at the votings for NYFCC, and is probably going to be a BP nominee.

So what does New York mean? Nothing really. But it's a start. After LAFCA on Friday, things will get intense. I can't wait.

NYFCC winners! Zero Dark Thirty takes the big prize!

I'm afraid a bombed my predictions. BOMBED. The Master took home nothing, but Zero Dark Thirty won at least. Full winners below.

(Also, The Master will win LAFCA. Just a prediction.)

Best Picture: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln,
Best Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea (WOW! Big (pleasant) surprise!)
Best S. Actor: Matthew McCougney, Magic Mike and Bernie (NYFCC loves multiple roles in a single year)
Best S. Actress: Sally Field, Lincoln (They liked her, they really really liked her)
Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner, Lincoln
Best Cinematography: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie 
Best Foreign Film: Amour

New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) predictions!

NYFCC is announcing tomorrow, which is nothing less than exciting. I remember last year when I was so happy that Chassy and Pitt won acting prizes for The Tree of Life, and I thought that the film had a real shot at winning the top prize. Alas, it lost to The Artist. This year, I'm going all out for The Master. Members of NYFCC include AO Scott and Lisa Schwarzbaum, who both have given the film equivalents of 100%.


And since the film is my bet for Best Picture, it will probably win Best Director. Predictions below.

Best Picture- The Master (Alt. Zero Dark Thirty)
Best Director- PT Anderson, The Master (Alt. Steve Spielberg, Lincoln)
Best Actor- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln (Alt. Joaquin Phoenix, The Master)
Best Actress- Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty (Alt. J. Law, Silver Linings Playbook)
Best Supporting Actor- Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master (Alt. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln)
Best Supporting Actress- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables (Alt. Amy Adams, The Master)
Best Screenplay- The Master (Alt. Lincoln)
Best Cinematography- The Master (Alt. Life of Pi)
Best Foreign Film- Amour (Alt. The Intouchables)
Best First Film- Beasts of the Southern Wild (Alt. The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Judging from my predictions, the big ones out of the gate tomorrow will be The Master, Zero Dark Thirty, and Lincoln, a race that I am perfectly content with.

Check back tomorrow for complete list of winners!