Category: Precursors

Apart from Daniel Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway, Detroit went a completely different than most of the other groups, heaping five trophies on Silver Linings Playbook. Whether this was intended to give the film a push it hadn’t gotten so far this year from other critics groups or shows a genuine love of the film is…

The Golden Globes are typically the biggest fame seekers in Hollywood. But for once, they have no truly embarrassing choices, though Bill Murray comes close. Some quick observations: David O. Russell did not get nominated for Silver Linings Playbook nor did Tom Hooper for Les Misérables. If this pattern holds at the DGA awards, both…

The first group to give Life of Pi any major support, naming it in six categories, one of the most lop-sided tallies so far this precursor season. The rest of the selections are unoriginal. Award Tallies (6) Life of Pi (2) Lincoln The Awards

Another group that has gone a different path with a number of its nominations, including a heavy favoring of The Impossible, Take This Waltz and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. While the latter film has received its share of attention, the first two have been largely ignored outside of Watts and minimally McGregor. Two…

So, they love a great deal of Beasts of the Southern Wild, but it’s not good enough to nominate for Best Film. They nominated Lincoln in several categories, but Steven Spielberg is too cool for school. Apart from these conundrums, it was clear they went over big for Django Unchained, a film that few other…

Apart from the surprise inclusion of Nicole Kidman in the critically lambasted The Paperboy, these results are largely what we expected. Some noteworthy exclusions: Joaquin Phoenix failed to enter the race for Best Actor, making him seem like the most vulnerable of this year’s competitors. SAG went for Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone, but…

This is the kind of list I like to see. Other than a couple of names, there are no duplicates with other critics groups. Argo‘s dominance is heartening as is the double win for The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Sadly, I don’t think San Diego, one of the oldest critics groups that began proliferating…

There’s something almost self-destructive about adding categories to your awards like acting in comedy or action films and then adding a category for sci-fi. While it’s nice to recognize the different aspects of filmmaking, especially in light of the sequestration of the Best Picture category to mainly dramatic pictures, the organization risks looking like a…

It’s hard to know what films will qualify for the American Institute honor and which won’t. They have a strict U.S. only selection process, which eliminates films like Amour, but the New Zealand-based The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey could be eligible, but was it too foreign for them? The original trilogy was on their list,…

The accolades for Zero Dark Thirty continue to roll in. Anne Hathaway’s awards traction has finally begun, though it may be short-lived if other groups decide it’s not the kind of film for them. ParaNorman picks up another Animated Feature award and Philip Seymour Hoffman nabs his first. Award Tallies (3) Zero Dark Thirty (2)…

It’s strange that after all of this attention on Emmanuelle Riva that her name doesn’t appear on the Best Actress slate. They saw the film or it wouldn’t be in the Foreign Language race, but hers wasn’t included. Was it a decision not to highlight her without being able to recognize her co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant…

Taking a completely different approach than its East Coast counterpart, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association go completely unique directions, giving its top prize to Michael Haneke’s Amour, along with top prizes for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress to The Master. Noteworthy here is that it wasn’t the young star of Beasts…

Nearly matching the awards given out by the New York Film Critics Circle, Boston differs on the big awards to Emmanuelle Riva for Best Actress and Ezra Miller for Best Supporting Actor. Nothing new comes out of these awards. Award Tallies (3) Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty (2) Amour, How to Survive a Plague The Awards…

Another good showing for Zero Dark Thirty, Amour and Lincoln. Anne Hathaway picks up her first award of the season for Les Misérables. Award Tallies (3) Zero Dark Thirty (2) Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lincoln The Awards Best Picture Zero Dark Thirty