London Critics Love: A Separation, Drive, Tinker Tailor
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 12:32PM The London Film Critics will not name their winners, as far as I can tell, until a ceremony on January 19th. I wonder if that's correct? Do they really have enough clout to get celebrities to show without winning in advance? (That's how most critics organizations get celebrities at their events. They come specifically to receive awards they've already won). But here are their nominees. It's good news for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Drive which led the nominations with six each including Best Film. A Separation also did really well as it continues to build momentum. It's just so sad that it didn't get an earlier and harder push. It should've been in the Best Picture discussion and lord knows it's about time we had an instant foreign language classic in the Best Picture discussion again. Remember when that was happening regularly for a few years about ten yeras back.
I don't want to keep you or myself -- I have things to type up -- but how about these actress categories? It's like one amazing woman after another.
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia (interview... not on this film)
Anna Paquin - Margaret *
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn
* NYC readers should note that Margaret, which has been causing such a no screeners / no campaign year-end critical fuss is reopening at Cinema Village on December 23rd. That theater is microscopic so expect sell-outs. I can't say whether I'll end up on #TeamMargaret or not but I appreciate the chance to see it before I publish my lists.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Sareh Bayat - A Separation
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Vanessa Redgrave - Coriolanus
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom INTERVIEW
BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Olivia Colman - The Iron Lady & Tyrannosaur INTERVIEW
Carey Mulligan - Drive & Shame
Vanessa Redgrave - Anonymous & Coriolanus
Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin
Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue Sea
I've never quite understood British Award groups tendencies to have specifically British prizes. Can't we just assume they'll prefer the Brits and be as patriotic as other countries in their homegrown awards? The Oscars don't have a "Best American Actress" category. The London Critics regular "Best Actress" category is two American blondes who were once teen star co-stars, a Canadian/New Zealander, a Jersey Girl (that'd be Streep) and a Scottish alien goddess.
Reader Comments (13)
Ugh, I really wish they hadn't listed "Anonymous" for Vanessa Redgrave. That was such a piece of crap (and her performance was nothing to write home about) that I hate to see it tarnishing her deserved nomination for "Coriolanus."
Their director list is really amazing!
Another small, across the pond critics' group picked their winners. This time, Dublin picked Drive, Refn, Gosling (I may be wrong but it's his first critic win ever?) and Chastain. The Guard was the best of the Irish.
Odd that they double up all the sexy categories for British and Overall versions and then clump all the techies into one anything-goes Technical Achievement category of 10 nominees.
I know all these critics groups take themselves very seriously, but the need for a nominee announcement and a winners announcement to follow seems excessive. They could have awarded winners for cinematography, sound design, editing, production design, f/x, and score from that group, but instead they're just all nominated with each other.
So glad for A Separation. Its release date is totally inexplicable. Given the writers' branch's often commendable tendencies, it could have scored a nomination for script at least.
Best supporting actress is to die for. Love they inclued Sareh Bayat from "A Separation". She blew my mind!
I guess they separate british from the rest just to be slightly protective. I'm sure you're aware of your predominancy.
I do wonder if an undecided group of oddball NY/European voters ready to throw a wrench into the mix are so unimpressed by the leaders of this year's pack that they WILL go for A Separation. I think it's at least been screening in NYC and it's been out in the UK for a while. It's an instant masterpiece and perhaps the only classic this year after The Tree of Life, after all.
I get the sense if it were in English and had a major star like Clooney it'd be unquestionably sweeping the board.
Jack -- that's so true but it's also kind of damning to critics and media types. If something is great why do you need it to be in English language and feature major stars. (sigh)
freelance writer
Jack: I saw The Tree of Life. I've seen three other Malick's and I don't get why the acclaim is so high here. (The New World is the only one I haven't seen.) The character study in it is obtuse (I could tell what the character study was on every other Malick), I can't get what themes these successions of, admittedly beautiful, images are trying to state (again, the themes are clear on every other Malick if you pay attention and are also clear on 2001, which The Tree of Life is often compared to) and the ending was a poorly chosen homage to a powerful scene from Edgar Reitz's Heimat. It's good (B+), but I don't get calling it another Malick masterwork.
I think the reasoning behind the separate awards for 'all' and 'British only' stems from them making sure that British talent is recognized even if the 'main' awards seem to neglect them. I guess they want to have their cake and eat it too. I can understand the Best British Film award at the BAFTAs for example as there is a danger that homegrown films are overshadowed by the big Hollywood stuff unless its something as big as The Kings Speech , which is fair I guess when you come from a smaller (comparatively) market but with films that share mainly the same language.
To answer Robert's question, since I was on the committee that decided the Technical Achievement nominees, this is the first year we're giving out this award, thanks to a new sponsor for it. In a perfect world, it'd be great to have awards for all the technical categories, but practicalities have to be considered. As it is, most critics' groups don't recognize any technical categories besides cinematography, so I'm glad we're offering a slightly broader perspective.
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