NYFCC Winners: Boyhood Rules, The Immigrant Surprises

The New York Film Critics Circle are announcing their awards for 2014 this morning and it looks to be a fantastic combination of predictable wins (Simmons and Arquette) to some surprising and even shocking ones. The resurgence of The Immigrant, a film that Harvey Weinstein dumped like an unwanted prom baby has been quite fascinating. With nominations at the Indie Spirits last week and now two wins at NYFCC, could we be seeing a new (old) wave right at the beginning of awards season?

Ultimately, it was Boyhood that prevailed, winning three awards today; Best Picture, Best Director (Richard Linklater) and Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette). The Grand Budapest Hotel’s screenplay win brings its chances back to life but what to make of the snub of Fox Searchlight‘s main contender Birdman? The New York-set film about movies and theater came up with a giant zero today with Mr. Turner‘s Timothy Spall besting favorite Michael Keaton here. The other acting surprise came in the form of the above mentioned The Immigrant in which Marion Cotillard bested Julianne Moore in Still Alice (and possibly also Maps to the Stars) for a win in Best Actress. Cotillard’s win was shared with her other 2014 film, Two Days, One Night. Moore had come in as the favorite but has never won the NYFCC despite garnering wins from virtually every other critics group in the country and film festival in the world.

Jennifer Kent’s brilliant horror film The Babadook won Best First Feature over the likes of Nightcrawler and Dear White People and a special award was given to MoMA curator Adrienne Mancia.

The full list of winners:

Foreign Language Film: Ida

Nonfiction Film: CITIZENFOUR

Animated Film: The LEGO Movie

Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Cinematography: Darius Khondji, The Immigrant

Best Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

Special Award: MoMA curator Adrienne Mancia

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night

Best First Film: Jennifer Kent, The Babadook

Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Best Picture: Boyhood