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Critics Choice Awards highlight top two of this season’s favorites.

Critics Choice Awards highlight top two of this season’s favorites.

Monday saw the announcement of this year’s Critics Choice Awards nominations, with the two films expected to sweep this award season leading the way.  American Hustle, David O. Russell’s historic crime dramedy, and biopic 12 Years a Slave each received a whopping thirteen nominations.  Both films have been receiving recognition ad nauseam, and both are expected to be competing for the top prize at the Oscars early in March.

Early favorite Gravity, arguably the most critically acclaimed film of the year, was a “close” second with ten nominations.  All three films received nominations for Best Picture, along with Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, Saving Mr. Banks and The Wolf of Wall Street.  This is nearly identical to last week’s “Top 10 Films of the Year” from AFI, changing out Spike Jonze’s Her for Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station.

Her, however, has won top prizes at both the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Society, and is expected to give American Hustle a run for the Golden Globes’ Best Picture for comedy/musical.  None of the other films listed are expected to win any major Best Film prizes this year…for now.

(Un)Fortunately, the CCA gives nominations to not only ten films for Best Picture, but also six different performers in each acting category for the most possible recognition.  The only thing possibly more pretentious than this are those of us who force themselves to see all of the films BECAUSE they’re nominated.  The good news is; the nominations are nearly identical to the SAG nominations this year, with the added sixth in each category.

Here a list of the major categories this year:

BEST PICTURE


American Hustle


Captain Phillips


Dallas Buyers Club


Gravity


Her


Inside Llewyn Davis


Nebraska


Saving Mr. Banks


12 Years a Slave


The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR


Christian Bale – American Hustle


Bruce Dern – Nebraska


Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave


Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips


Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club


Robert Redford – All Is Lost

BEST ACTRESS


Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine


Sandra Bullock – Gravity


Judi Dench – Philomena


Brie Larson – Short Term 12


Meryl Streep – August: Osage County


Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR


Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips


Daniel Bruhl – Rush


Bradley Cooper – American Hustle


Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave


James Gandolfini – Enough Said


Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS


Scarlett Johansson – Her


Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle


Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave


Julia Roberts – August: Osage County


June Squibb – Nebraska


Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE


American Hustle


August: Osage County


Lee Daniels’ The Butler


Nebraska


12 Years a Slave


The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR


Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity


Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips


Spike Jonze – Her


Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave


David O. Russell – American Hustle


Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY


Eric Singer and David O. Russell – American Hustle


Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine


Spike Jonze – Her


Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis


Bob Nelson – Nebraska

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY


Tracy Letts – August: Osage County


Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight


Billy Ray – Captain Phillips


Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena


John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave


Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

Blue is the Warmest Color

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

Wadjda

If you’re noticing one strange thing, it’s possibly because Scarlett Johansson received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Her, in which, she never actually appeared on-screen.  Her voice-only role as Joaquin Phoenix’s robotic love interest was deemed ineligible for consideration by HFPA for the Golden Globes, but since it IS a performance, she is deemed eligible for Oscar consideration.

This year, you will be able to watch the 19^th annual Critics Choice Awards on you local CW station.  The ceremony will be held January 16^th, 2014.

New York Film Critics kicks off Award Season 2013!

December 3^rd marked the 79^th annual New York Film Critics awards, to officially begin the Oscar race.  In a surprise turn, the currently unreleased American Hustle took away the top prize, as well as Best Screenplay.  David O. Russell’s fictional depiction of the FBI’s Abscam of the late 1970s, came into the new award season with a lot of questions as to its Globe/Oscar potential, despite having a cast full of previous winners and nominees.  Now, after winning the first major critics award, its limited release ten days from now has more anticipation than ever.

Jennifer Lawrence, after having won numerous awards last year for her first dance with David O. Russell in Silver Linings Playbook, was also awarded Best Supporting Actress for American Hustle.  With each award she wins, expect J. Law continue to climb Time’s 100 Most Influential People list as well, en route to taking over the world.

This year’s tightest race in this year’s award season is arguably Best Actor, of which, the NYFCC awarded Robert Redford for his one-man-show All is Lost (not in any way related to what everyone thought of his career).  Redford, an Oscar winner for Best Director, has never before won a major acting award aside from a BAFTA early in his career (for playing the Sundance Kid among other roles).

Cate Blanchett earned what looks to be the first of several critics’ awards this year for Best Actress in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.   Blanchett has always been a critical darling, having been nominated for 5 Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator.  She is potentially this year’s victim of the tiring marathon of acceptance speeches.  Time to hire a writing assistant, Cate.

Dallas Buyer’s Club’s Jared Leto nabbed Best Supporting Actor to round out the acting categories.  The film has definitely gained some excellent press leading into this year’s Oscar season, but probably would not do as well during a stronger year.

12 Years a Slave’s Steve Mcqueen scored an expected win for Best Director, for the intricately pieced-together, power-house slave biography.  Of all the “for your consideration” films, this is the only guaranteed regular at every ceremony and every shortlist, and with good reason.  A definite must-see this year.

The race to the Oscars continues tomorrow with the National Board of Review announcing their annual awards, including “the top ten films of the year,” just in case you needed a better idea of what movies to spend your hard earned money at.  Happy viewing!