"La La Land" leads the Critics Choice Nominations

The BFCA has spoken and as per usual the results are a mix of beautiful support of outstanding motion pictures and a few pockets of embarrassment! Under the beautiful support umbrella we find three terrific pictures leading the nominations with 12 for La La Land and 10 each for Arrival and Moonlight. Under the pockets of embarrassment portion of our programming in what universe is Captain Fantastic a "comedy" (Viggo Mortensen, who gives one of the year's best dramatic performances is nominated as best comedy actor but  not as best actor. What a world).

The BFCA's special categories, which aren't as well defined as the Globes, usually carry with them lots of weird and empty-headed calls. How, for instance, do you have 6 nominees for most categories but only 4 for Best Actress in an Action picture and only nominate supporting actresses for that prize and leave out two leading women who really carried their films with aplomb: Mary Elizabeth Winstead in 10 Cloverfield Lane and Blake Lively in The Shallows. Why even have these categories if you're not going to do them justice? 

All the nominations (film & tv) with comments are after the jump...

FILM AWARDS

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Got any FYCs ?

Ballots went out today for the Critics Choice Movie Awards (so early. too early) and though I've already reminded fellow voters who is eligible for Young Performer (since you need lists / reminder jogs for the less discussed categories) it occurs to me that I don't keep the best records about some my own awards categories.

This is where you can FYC at me! Why not share yours in our off-Oscar categories like Cameo, Diva, Villain, Hero, Sexpot, Musical Sequence, Credit Sequence, Opening Scene, Ending, Best Kiss and Best Sex Scene to jog my memory so I make good decisions. And what sort of "year in review" lists would you most love to read? All of that starts in December so let your voice be heard.

After the jump, for the curious without twitter, the FYCs I shared today...

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'Critics Choice' Winners List & Oscar-Calling Post-Mortem

the night doubled as a live tribute to Amy SchumerDespite the disdain many members of the media, including some within the BFCA, seem to hold for the HFPA, the organization that runs the Golden Globes, everyone seems to want to be them. The Critics Choice Awards, now in their 21st year, have had trouble emerging from that institution's shadow.

Though the CCMAs had seemed to be on a slight upswing around the turn of the decade (the Meryl Streep years of Doubt and Julie & Julia seemed to go well in terms of media interest, comparatively at least), things have been since trending downward and went truly haywire this year.  In addition to the "never take us seriously!" self-sabotage to change a nominee lineup after nominations had been announced, there are the strange impulses that can only come from not trusting the voting body such as the need to give Amy Schumer a special prize in the year when she's already going to win a normal prize.

Meanwhile the continued expansion of categories over the past several years has created a clusterf*** that requires that very few of them be televised live. Which is a pity because if they were they might be worth discussing. Mad Max Fury Road won 9 prizes but it didn't even remotely emerge from the night feeling like a big winner since only one of the nine was televised! [More...]

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CCMA Live Blog

08:00 I was going to boycott the show this year because of The Shark Jump Awakens but I'm an addict. Awards shows. Red Carpets... excuse me Blue carpets. So I watch. TJ Miller begins the show with an okay monologue without many jokes. The recurring joke is the physical gag of his "four dancing critics." In comedy theory this is one fo those jokes that gets funnier and funnier as it goes from the sheer commitment and silliness but it's probably too early in the evening (read: everyone is too sober) to pull this off just yet.

Suddenly picturing a team of 4 puppets typing with me. Enjoying the fantasy.

08:03 There are approximately 1000 reaction shots of Matt Damon already. Which is weird since there are so many celebrities to choose from in the house. 

Netflix and Chill. I'd rather HBO Go Down on Someone."

08:05 That's a joke I laughed at. I am only human.

08:07 At some point critics are called "professional sifters"? Which hmmm. Semantic comedy? There's also an aside about Oscar Isaac that I didn't get. Miller also congratulates everyone in the room

All of you are in here. You're in the room. You already did it. you won.

I lost, I guess. I'm not in the room this year. But Kirsten Dunst and Rachel McAdams are. [More after the jump]

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LAFCA Winners (Plus: NYFCO Madness)

 With today's announcement of the Los Angeles Film Critics Associations winner the die is set for critics awards. People can argue until pigs fly about whether and how and to what extend critics awards affect Oscar voters but here is a fairly universal consensus among people in the know: these things only matter to the extent they convince voters to attend that particular screening or put that specific screener on top of their to-watch stack. And the two critics groups that voters hear most about and are thus most likely to be influenced by are the two most prestigious coastal giants, LAFCA and NYFCC (who already announced with Carol winning big).

Will Oscar voters take MAD MAX: FURY ROAD seriously or just think "action film"

LAFCA 2015 Winners
Film Spotlight (ru: Mad Max: Fury Road)
Director George Miller, Mad Max Fury Road (ru: Todd Haynes, Carol)
Actress Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (ru: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn)
Actor Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs (ru: Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul)
Supporting Actress - Alicia Vikander - Ex Machina (ru: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria)
Supporting Actor - Michael Shannon, 99 Homes (ru: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies) 

More and a very cool bit of trivia after the jump via Joe Reid...

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