2014 BFCA’s Critics’ Choice Nominations: Unbroken Reborn

The Broadcast Film Critics Association, comprised of 240 entertainment journalists from television, radio and the web, dropped their 2014 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards nominations this morning and with it a resurgence in the seemingly dead Oscar chances of Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken. Where the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes snubbed the film (and Jolie) entirely, the BFCA embraced it with nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Jolie), Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography. The film, which was late to be screened for critics, has been met with mixed reviews and while some pundits (including yours truly) saw it as an early frontrunner over the summer and fall, most had written it off after last week. The BFCA’s revival of the film could be a bellwether for its Oscar prospects next month. Jolie’s director nomination, along with Selma‘s Ava DuVernay, does put the BFCA in history for nominating two women in the same year.

Some notable misses and hits today were the pair of Foxcatcher snubs in Best Picture and Steve Carell for Best Actor. Even with six nominees, and a SAG and GG nom under his belt, he couldn’t break through. Gone Girl, despite landing Best Picture, Best Director (David Fincher) and Best Actress (Rosamund Pike) missed out on yet another Best Ensemble nomination.

The Imitation Game, The Weinstein Company‘s main Oscar horse performed well, nearly the same as it did at the Golden Globes, right down to the snub of its director Morten Tyldum.  Paramount‘s Selma also managed the same nominations as it did at the Golden Globes, including missing Screenplay. With the WGA ineligibility and the controversy over Paul Webb’s refusal to share screenwriting credit with director Ava DuVernay, it’s looking more and more likely that that decision is coming back to haunt him and his chances of an Oscar nomination are definitely in jeopardy now. Paramount’s other Oscar hopeful, Interstellar, made nary a bump on the radar today. It was snubbed for Best Picture and Best Screenplay but managed mentions in Art Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Score, Best Younger Actor/Actress (Mackenzie Foy) and Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie.

Nightcrawler performed well, earning citations in Best Picture, Best Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Best Original Screenplay. Clint Eastwood’s Oscar vehicle American Sniper was relegated to in the 2nd tier category of Best Action Movie and for Bradley Cooper as Best Actor in an Action Movie. With snubs at SAG, GG and now here, Cooper’s shot at an Oscar nomination seems all but gone.

Tilda Swinton enjoyed a surprise nomination in Best Supporting Actress for Snowpiercer today. The film also earned mentions in Best Art Direction and Sci-Fi/Horror Movie, where it battles Interstellar, The Babadook, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Under the Skin.

Let’s take a look at crossover for a minute. The BFCA has always prided itself on being strong Oscar predictors and when a Critics’ Choice nom follows SAG and Golden Globe noms, you can probably count on an Oscar nomination to match. When you look at the last 19 years, since the inception of the Critics’ Choice Awards, only 12 performances have ever received noms from the first three but lost out on Oscar.

They are:
Cameron Diaz, Vanilla Sky (2001)
Paul Giamatti, Sideways (2004)
Russell Crowe, Cinderella Man (2005)
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed (2006)
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart (2007)
Mila Kunis, Black Swan (2010)
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar (2011)
John Hawkes, The Sessions (2012)
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips (2013)
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Daniel Bruhl, Rush (2013)

What’s interesting about this is that it seems the Oscars have become more and more willing to break from the pack, even when it comes to seemingly locked contenders like Hanks and Thompson, both former double-Oscar winners.

Now let’s look at this year and see who appears to be on safe ground:

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

So who is the most vulnerable here? For the last three years someone has missed out. To me, Robert Duvall feels like the nominee who gets snubbed Oscar morning. Right now it feels like he’s coasted on a slew of nominations that have all come out within a week of each other and a lot can change in the month until the Oscar nominees are announced (exactly a month, actually). Although Jennifer Aniston has secured all three precursors she still feels like she could fall to 5-time nominee Amy Adams in Big Eyes. Adams has missed out on SAG noms before only to still make it on Oscar nomination morning. But, she does feel weaker this year, missing out on two chances of a nomination here. And what about Jake Gyllenhaal? How locked is he? He sort of feels like he could go the way of Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl. But, a nomination for Gyllenhaal secures that no all-newbie Best Actor stat. Then again, with the resurgence of The Grand Budapest Hotel, Ralph Fiennes could be the piece of that puzzle as well. Meryl Streep? Naw, that’s happening. Let’s not kid ourselves.

The full list of Critics’ Choice Awards nominations:

BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
David Oyelowo – Selma
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston – Cake
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy – Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher – St. Vincent
Tony Revolori – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Quvenzhané Wallis – Annie
Noah Wiseman – The Babadook

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Selma

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman
Angelina Jolie – Unbroken
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman – Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Unbroken – Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson
Wild – Nick Hornby

BEST CINEMATOGRAPY
Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Interstellar – Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION
Birdman – Kevin Thompson/Production Designer, George DeTitta Jr./Set Decorator
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Inherent Vice – David Crank/Production Designer, Amy Wells/Set Decorator
Interstellar – Nathan Crowley/Production Designer, Gary Fettis/Set Decorator
Into the Woods – Dennis Gassner/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Snowpiercer – Ondrej Nekvasil/Production Designer, Beatrice Brentnerova/Set Decorator

BEST EDITING
Birdman – Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Boyhood – Sandra Adair
Gone Girl – Kirk Baxter
Interstellar – Lee Smith
Whiplash – Tom Cross

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard
Mr. Turner – Jacqueline Durran

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Into the Woods
Maleficent

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

BEST ACTION MOVIE
American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
Fury
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Tom Cruise – Edge of Tomorrow
Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt – Fury
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy
Shailene Woodley – Divergent

BEST COMEDY
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jon Favreau – Chef
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Bill Murray – St. Vincent
Chris Rock – Top Five
Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Rose Byrne – Neighbors
Rosario Dawson – Top Five
Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Babadook
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Last Days in Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters

BEST SONG
“Big Eyes” – Lana Del Rey – Big Eyes
“Everything Is Awesome” – Jo Li and the Lonely Island – The Lego Movie
“Glory” – Common/John Legend – Selma
“Lost Stars” – Keira Knightley – Begin Again
“Yellow Flicker Beat” – Lorde – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

The Critics’ Choice Awards ceremony will take place at the Hollywood Palladium and air live on A&E.