Critics roundup, part 3: Super Monday!

Erik Anderson December 16, 2014

Critics of America, what is this? This is not the general election. Is this your Super Monday?

On Monday, seemingly all critics group collectively decided to announce their winners for 2014. Detroit, San Diego (a.k.a. The Nightcrawlers), St. Louis, Indiana, Dallas-Fort Worth, and the Onnine Film Critics. That’s a whole lot of winners. Of course it’s Boyhood and Birdman all over the place, but we also see the continuing trend of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Nightcrawler doing very well with critical America this year. Given the former’s early release date, that is certainly impressive. How does this bode for its Oscar chances? Certainly in the case of Budapest, with its possibility to score well in the tech categories, expect it to do better than most people did at the start of the season.

In the acting department, Amazing Amy had a good day, as Rosamund Pike nabbed three wins and a runner-up mention. Strongest competitor for Julianne Moore (who also got a win)? This looks most likely. On the male side, it’s mostly Michael Keaton, though it’s nice to see Ralph Fiennes pick up an award for his fine work in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Category confusion might be his biggest problem. In the supporting categories, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette continue their reign, only relenting three awards between them to also-rans.

Wade through the lists at your pleasure, but don’t call us if you get RSI from all the scrolling.

DETROIT FILM CRITICS SOCIETY
BEST FILM
Boyhood

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR
Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST ACTRESS
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
JK Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

BEST ENSEMBLE (TIE)
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

BREAKTHROUGH
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash (director, screenplay)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST DOCUMENTARY
CitizenFour

ST. LOUIS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
BEST FILM
Boyhood

BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman

BEST ACTOR
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

BEST ACTRESS
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Interstellar

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Birdman

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ANIMATED FILM
The Lego Movie

BEST ART-HOUE OR FESTIVAL FILM
Whiplash

BEST COMEDY
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Citizenfour

BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure

BEST SCENE
X-Men Days of Future Past – Quicksilver Escape from the Pentagon

INDIANA FILM JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
BEST FILM
Boyhood
Runner-up: Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Runner-up: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

BEST ACTOR
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Runner-up: Tom Hardy, Locke

BEST ACTRESS
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Runner-up: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Runner-up: Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Runner-up: Melissa McCarthy, St. Vincent

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Runner-up: Boyhood

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Whiplash
Runner-up: The Imitation Game

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Two Days, One Night
Runner-Up: Ida

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Life Itself
Runner-Up: An Honest Liar

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Lego Movie
Runner-Up: The Boxtrolls

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Under the Skin
Runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel

ORIGINAL VISION AWARD
Boyhood
Runner-up: Under the Skin

DALLAS FORT-WORTH FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

BEST PICTURE
Birdman

BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman

BEST ACTOR
Michale Keaton, Birdman

BEST ACTRESS
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Particia Arquette, Boyhood

BEST SCREENPLAY
Birdman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman

BEST SCORE
Interstellar

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure

BEST DOCUMENTARY
CITIZENFOUR

BEST ANIMATED FILM
The Lego Movie

ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY
BEST PICTURE
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR
Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST ACTRESS
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edward Norton, Birdman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl

BEST EDITING
Birdman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Two Days, One Night

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Life Itself

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Lego Movie

CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

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 ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Lego Movie

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Life Itself

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure

BEST EDITING
Tom Cross, Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (TIE)
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Under the Skin

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Grand Budapest Hotel

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Jack O’Connell (Starred Up, Unbroken)

Author
Recent Posts

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.