LA Film Critics Changes Things Up, Picking Amour for Best Pic, and Many New Acting Winners!

If you thought the critics group winners had become stale and boring, then you thought wrong.  Most of the critics groups have anointed Zero Dark Thirty and helmer Kathryn Bigelow as the winners, but LA went with a different track.

LA picked the French film Amour, which is a favorite in the Best Foreign Language category at this oscars.  The big question on the table is does this film stand a chance in the Best Picture race?  Over the last twelve years (starting in 2000) 9 of the 12 films were nominated for Best Picture.  The films that missed out were About Schmidt (2002), American Splendor (2003), and Wall-E (2008).  Splendor is the only film that did not, or was not ever taken seriously for an Oscar.  Splendor was obviously in consideration, but was not an "Academy" film.  Does this bode well for Amour, or because the Academy sees it as a genre picture will they keep it out of top ten, and give it a bunch of other nominations?  This helps get the film more attention, but does not guarantee a nomination.

Paul Thomas Anderson won his first critics award this year (although Bigelow was the runner up).  Anderson's The Master, which was seen as early threat at the critics awards, finally made it to the big show.  The film won for Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams), and Best Production Design.  The film was a runner up in many other categories including Best Picture.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman being left off the proves that many critics may not be fooled into thinking he is a supporting player.  

jennifer Lawrence finally won her first award this year, for Best Actress.  I am a bit surprised she bested Emmanuelle Riva, who starred in the Best Picture winner Amour, but this win proves how disjointed opinions are within this category this year.  The critics are all over the map with this category, proving that this award can go to anyone, although my money is on Jessica Chastain.

Beasts of the Souther Wild did quite well her also, winning three prizes including Best Supporting Actor (Dwight Henry), Best Score, and the New Generation Award for director/composer Benh Zeitlin.

Skyfall's win in Cinematography can't be ignored, and shows Roger Deakins may finally get that unattainable Oscar win, which I hope he does.

Three things to take stock of Zero Dark Thirty only had one win, Best Editing, Lincoln was nowhere to be found, and Argo claimed its first victory at critics awards with Best Screenplay.  LA certainly shook things up and made this race a little more interesting.

Best Film: Amour
(runner-up:  The Master )
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
(runner-up: Kathryn Bigelow)
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
(runner-up: Emmanuelle Riva)
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
(runner-up: Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
Best Supporting Actor: Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
(runner-up: Christof Waltz, Django Unchained)
Best Supporting Actress:  Amy Adams, The Master
(runner-up: Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises and Les Miserables)
Best Editing: Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg, Zero Dark Thirty
(runner-up: William Goldenberg, Argo)
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, Skyfall
(runner-up: Mihai Malaimare Jr., The Master)
Best Score:  Benh Zeitlin & Dan Romer, Beasts of the Southern Wild
(runner-up: Jonny Greenwood, The Master)
Best Screenplay: Chris Terrio, Argo
(runner-up: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook)
Best Production Design: Jack Fisk, The Master
(runner-up: Adam Stockhausen, Moonrise Kingdom)
Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie
(runner-up: It’s Such a Beautiful Day)
Best Documentary: The Gatekeepers
(runner-up: Searching for Sugar Man)
Best Foreign Language Film: Holy Motors
(runner-up:  Footnote)
New Generation Award: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild