‘Boyhood’ is the Critics Choice, Birdman Soars with 7 Wins

Erik Anderson January 16, 2015

BOYHOOD win the Critics Choice for Best Picture – Image Credit: Lester Cohen/WireImage

To no one’s surprise, Boyhood won the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Best Picture at the Critics Choice Movie Awards, but also took home trophies for Best Director (Richard Linklater), Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette) and Best Young Actor/Actress (Ellar Coltrane). But, it was Birdman who ended up taking home the most awards of the night, with seven, including two for Michael Keaton (Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy). It dominated the tech awards, including Cinematography and Editing and Score (neither of which it was Oscar nominated for, the latter being ineligible). The film benefited by the group’s additional comedy categories where Keaton was able to pick up his two acting awards.

The evening began with awards being given on the red carpet, as the BFCA does, and was a strange start as the winners announced for Foreign Language Film, Adapted Screenplay and Documentary (Force Majeure, Gone Girl and Life Itself, respectively), were all snubbed by the Oscars that morning. Considering the BFCA’s self-professed claim to be the best Oscar predictors with their awards it had to strike a bittersweet note. The LEGO Movie also won their Animated Film award and was also not Oscar nominated. Jessica Chastain received the organization inaugural MVP award for body of work in a single year. She was also snubbed for an Oscar. She did, however, seemingly in the face of the lack of diversity of the actual Oscar nominees, use her moment to profess the need for change within the industry. It shone a light on the much-discussed whitewashing of the Oscar acting nominees, all 20 of which exclude people of color.

“Today is Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, so it got me thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry,” she said. “It got me thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry,” she continued. “And to stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and racist agendas.” “Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,’ and I would like to encourage everyone in this room to please speak up. Thank you.”

The Grand Budapest Hotel continued its awards streak as well, nabbing Best Comedy, Art Direction and Costume Design. Selma repeated its Golden Globe win for Best Song by winning here as well. The song is Oscar-nominated and at this point is the favorite to win there.

Full list of winners:

Best Picture
Boyhood

Best Director
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Best Actor
Michael Keaton, Birdman

Best Actress
Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Best Acting Ensemble
Birdman

Best Young Actor/Actress
Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood

Best Adapted Screenplay
Gone Girl

Best Original Screenplay
Birdman

Best Editing
Birdman

Best Cinematography
Birdman

Best Score
Birdman

Best Song
“Glory,” Selma

Best Art Direction
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Hair and Makeup
Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Visual Effects
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Best Animated Feature
The LEGO Movie

Best Documentary
Life Itself

Best Foreign Language Film
Force Majeure

Best Action Movie
Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Actor in an Action Movie
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Best Actress in an Action Movie
Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow

Best Comedy Movie
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Actor in a Comedy
Michael Keaton, Birdman

Best Actress in a Comedy
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie
Interstellar

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.