Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Broadcast Film Critics Association

Or... as I like to call them "The Talking Heads You See on TV or Columnists at Papers and Popular Web Destinations and a Smattering of Film Critics Association" though that doesn't sound as prestigious as just "Film Critics" and the acronym is unwieldy. Like the NBR, the BFCA only exist to anticipate the tastebuds of and prepare meals for the great Oscar beast. I believe in my heart of hearts that the Golden Globes would go on existing and being their weirdass star-f***ing selves if the Oscars ceased to exist [shudder -no!] and, so too, would the big city critics awards since film critics are by and large loudmouths about what constitutes "the best" in cinema... as they probably should be. But the BFCA and NBR would be the first to die, their purpose in life snuffed out.

That's it! I'm done mocking* I'm not so longwinded this year, huh?

PICTURE: (10 Nominees) American Gangster, Atonement, The Diving Bell and Butterfly, Into the Wild, Juno, The Kite Runner, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood
Snubbed in this category... Before The Devil Knows You're Dead which did reasonably well with them otherwise, but I guess since they know it's not going to be a Best Picture nominee...
DIRECTOR: Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd), The Coen Bros (No Country For Old Men), Sidney Lumet (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead), Sean Penn (Into the Wild), Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and Butterfly), Joe Wright (Atonement)


ACTOR: George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Ryan Gosling (Lars and the Real Girl), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Viggo Mortenson (Eastern Promises)
ACTRESS: Amy Adams (Enchanted), Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth the Golden Age), Julie Christie (Away From Her), Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose), Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart), Ellen Page (Juno)
Bad news for The Lovely Laura Linney who is much stronger in The Savages than Cate Blanchett is in Elizabeth duh-- I mean deux. Ah well. Let's see what the Globes do.
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilsons War), Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)
I know I'm not the most unbiased person when it comes to Phillip Seymour Hoffman but he really showboats in Charlie (lots of smug screaming and joking) and I really wish they'd shown some discernment and rewarded the legendary Max von Sydow instead for his sensitive work in The Diving Bell and Butterfly (which they clearly loved) --his role is every bit as moving as Holbrook's lovely Into the Wild moment. Damnit. Still this is very conceivable as the eventual Oscar list.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There), Catherine Keener (Into the Wild), Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
Keener is an interesting choice and she's dependably good in that film. Otherwise it's the expected suspects. I suspect Blanchett, Ryan and Swinton are good to go for Oscar but the race for the 4th and 5th slots might see some surprises. We shall see.

for the rest of it you'll have to go here (they have a ton of categories... this helps their "predictive ratio" which they're so found of touting) --oops, I promised to be nice! hugs and kisses BFCA. You rule!


P.S. I kid, I kid.
*Maybe tis but jealousy since I'd love to spread my opinions far and wide on internets (oh wait I already do that) and televisions (next!) everywhere. Good for them I suppose.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

They gave supporting to Redgrave and snubbed Saiorse???

Damb you, heathens!!!

Anonymous said...

I actually quite like the most of the choices. Wow. Ecstatic about Redgrave making it in - I can't believe the performance is getting traction for the Oscars. I just thought it'd be too subtle for most awards bodies.

So happy about Swinton and Wilkinson joining Clooney in the frontranks of their categories.

Keener and Holbrook from Into the Wild - again great news, thought they'd be too slight and missed altogether this season.

Biggest faux-pas for me: McAvoy, Knightley and Linney are missing. That's a real shame. I wonder if they'll make it in now. For Actress, Christie, Cotillard, Page and Jolie are pretty much locked now. One spot left...

Picture and Director - basically we have the frontrunners status' solidified now. The same names/titles are recurring.

adam k. said...

They nommed Saiorse in young actress, which is what they also did for Abigail last year. So I think the Atonement supporting actress thing is still up in the air, but with Saiorse as the most likely still.

And WTF about the James and Keira snubs. I'm a little bit stunned. But the globes will see them rebound, I'm sure of it.

And I've been worried about Linney for a while now. It just seems like it could be SO easy for her to fall through the cracks this year. She may not get a globe nod either. In that category? Good luck.

Anyway, there's plenty to bitch about here, but I don't have time. Meh.

Anonymous said...

I know how could they snub Christ incarnate and English rose gone brittle. They're such surprising, archetype-skewing performance. Damn BFCA.

Atonement's so not winning BP Oscar.

Also, I no mention for Ruby Dee either. I really, really liked her too. Is her campaign over? Anyone else like that perf? That bitchslap scene was phenomenal (like Beatrice Straight-worthy).

Anonymous said...

Sorry to be spamming on here lately (can you tell I don't have a job right now?), but so f-ing happy about Eddie Vedder's 'Guaranteed' getting in for Song and Desplat for Score. Amazing - again I thought they'd be overlooked this whole season.

Pablete said...

I hope James McAvoy, Keira Knightley and Nicole Kidman appear in the Golden Globes' lists on Thursday. I am very glad for Vanessa Redgrave; she gives the best female supporting performance this year. We could still see a double nomination for "Atonement" in the supporting actress category.
I think one of the best male supproting performances was alo snubbed; that of Irfan Khan from "The Namesake". Viggo Mortensen seems to be ready for his first Academy Awards' nomination. I am glad for Ryan Gosling. I do not think that "Michael Clayton" is that deserving of all the praise it has been getting. George Clooney getting a new nomination is fine, but I would rather prefer to see James McAvoy and other more deserving actors recognized.

Anonymous said...

I'm not that surprised about Keira's snub. Critics have failed to see understand the movie, and since Keira's screentime is very short and her performance very subtle and understated, it'l be shocking for me if she gets nominated.

Now, James McAvoy's snub is really disappointing. It makes me despair if these critics actually can recognise great screen acting, or did they just look at his last name and cast him off as an outsider, once again.

How they also failed to give a writing nod for Christopher Hampton, is beyond me.

J.D. said...

I'm really hoping they just ghettoized Ronan to the Young Actress category, and that if it didn't exist, she would be so in.

LET ME DREAM!!!!!

Pablete said...

I thought that Wei Tang and Tony Leung, both of then from "Lust, Caution" gave also some of the best performances of the year. They should get more recognition apart from the Independent Award nomination, especially hers. By the way, the case of "Atonement"'s performances is similar to what happen to "Chicago" in the Broadcast Film Critics Awards; they only got two nominations in the acting categories, athough "Chicago" was able to get a Best Ensemble Cast nomination. "Chicago" won both Best Supporting Actress for Zeta-Jones and Best Ensemble Cast. "Atonement" will find its better chanes at the Globes, the BAFTAS and, I hope, the Guilds, just like the other great European, especiallyy British, romances, such as "The English Patient", "Shakespeare in Love" and "Doctor Zhivago". "Atonement" could any of the roles that those movies played in their respective Oscar ceremonies.

Anonymous said...

The day Tony Leung finds wider Hollywood recognition, i'd be in heaven (although i do think hes too good for them). I dont think theres any other actor out there, who i want to make it mainstream than him.

Romola Garai is also quickly becoming another actress, i hope gets to break out soon. She reminds me of a young Kate Winslet and has always given great performances. She's doing well in European cinema, so i'm sure her time will come at some point.

NATHANIEL R said...

i just noticed: DENZEL WASHINGTON is missing too. curious that they still nominated the film.

oh no wait. Duh-- they were covering the best picture basis (are those not the top 10...for realz? their predictive skill is pretty good there, so, uh. congrats...

Anonymous said...

I'm with you on Max von Sydow, Nathaniel. I was really pulling for him. He was only in two scenes in that moving and they were amazing. So was the movie.

Beau said...

Finally! They actually give Keener and Hirsch some love for their brilliant performances.

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking Casey Affleck is going to be the Peter Sarsgaard of this year. Lost of critic love, but in a film that just doesn't register with the Academy.

Anonymous said...

If Catherine Keener gets another nomination for another nothing performance like in Capote or Vanessa Redgrave gets in with 5 minutes over Jennifer Jason fucking brilliant Leigh, I'm gonna cut people.

Pablete said...

Vanessa Redgrave gave one of the best performances of the year in just five or eigth minutes of movie. That is quite remarkable; it is impressive indeed.

Beau said...

Keener does nothing in 'Into the Wild'?
I don't suppose you were watching the bloody picture?

Anonymous said...

Pablete and Beau - couldn't agree more with you both.

Anonymous said...

WOW, Good to see Keener nominated. Based on all the talk this season, I didn't think she was even a consideratin. When I saw the movie I was wondering why she was not being talked about. Good Nomination

Anonymous said...

Really surprised with the Keira Knightley and James McAvoy snubs. I'm hoping that this film doesn't fall through the cracks like other frontrunner Oscar pics (aka Memoirs of a Geisha and Cold Mountain) did. REALLY surprised with the Laura Linney snub but VERY excited with Angelina Jolie's inclusion. I think Saoirse Ronan will be fine come Oscar time: Breslin wasn't nominated for Supp Actress at the BFCAs and she still snagged a nomination. The Best Supporting Actor category=Oscar lineup. Best Actor is still a tossup...I think Denzel has become very vulnerable. Clooney, Day-Lewis, and Depp are sure shots. I'm thinking Mortensen might be able to sneak in and (hopefully!) Emile Hirsch. I liked Catherine Keener in Into the Wild but still not sure about a nomination, especially since great performances like Marisa Tomei in Before the Devil and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Margot. We'll see what happens...

Anonymous said...

Keener's nomination is certainly exciting! She won't touch my Supp. Actress shortlist (I thought she was extremely effective and reliably moving, but this is such an excellent year for this category already), but it's great to see an awards body (particularly this one) make such an unexpected choice. Gosling is also a fun choice.

I'd say I'm disappointed about Knightley's and McAvoy's snubs, but I haven't seen the film yet, so I guess that would be inappropriate.

Glenn Dunks said...

I routinely give Dave Poland a hard time about his constant prattling on about how the NBR and the Globes and everyone else is irrelevent yet he thinks the BFCA are the best predictors. It's only because the BFCA, as you say, live and die by how well they correlate with Oscar. Nobody outside of oscar watching circles even knows who they are (at least New York and LA film critics have a big city mystique).

They're just desperate awards baiters. I am 100% positive that Ratatouille and Hairspray received better reviews than American Gangster and The Kite Runner. And if people commenting on Poland's blog are true a lot of members didn't even receive There Will Be Blood and Sweeney Todd on screener.

Aagh. I hate this group the way other people hate the NBR.

Glenn Dunks said...

Oh, and they snubbed Bridge to Terabithia in family film. What's that about? That's one of the (surprising) best films of the year and it can't even manage a measly "family film" nom. Stupid pathetic awful waste-of-space group.

Anonymous said...

They nommed Cate and Amy Adams in Best Actress? I haven't seen either film to be fair, and I know lots of people loved Amy's perf, but...Cate in elizabeth? Puh-leez. The trailer told me all I needed to know - enough scenery-chewing and showboating in those two minutes to make my teeth ache. What, no love for Kidman or Jason-Leigh? *sigh*

RedSatinDoll

Glenn Dunks said...

But Cate has more of a chance than Nicole so, in the BFCA's eyes, she gives the better performance.

YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW!

:p

Christ, I hate the BFCA. Was it Jon Lovitz they had hosting the other year and every five minutes he was gasbagging about how great they were at predicting the Oscars?

NATHANIEL R said...

that's because Kidman isn't going to be Oscar nominated and they couldn't bear to throw their votes away when they have a chance to PREDICT!

aaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggghhh I hate the bfca

Notice how films that got rave reviews early in the year are completely missing too. for the exact same reason. no ZODIAC. no RATATOUILLE (because they can honor it elsewhere even though you'll notice JUNO --which does have a chance at a BP nom is included in two lineups) and nobody can tell me that these same people didn't all go apeshit for RATATOUILLE when it came out.

so why isn't it in their top ten?

cuz they know no BP nod is coming.

Anonymous said...

Posted this in the wrong place yesterday....so, I'm moving it here.
I know you all may not care about this, but I think it was crap to leave Evan Rachel Wood off the list of young performances female since they only had 4 chosen. After all, she did sing her own songs and there were some really good scenes in Across The Universe even though her character was badly written. ( Watch her face in the Let It Be scene.)

BUT, she was 17 turning 18 when she filmed the movie so.....that just seems like an unfair over sight to me!

I mean, they nominated Emmy Rossum for Phantom for Christ's sake!

Also, Keisha Castle Hughes was nom'd at BFCA for young performer and still got a Best Actress nomination, so I think Saiorse Ronan will win here and still be nominated for a Supporting Oscar.