Bloated BFCA Nominations Solidify the Season

I’ll try to keep my intro here brief, firstly because I have a whopping and unnecessary 28 categories to lay out in a moment, and secondly because there isn’t really a whole lot to say here. The somewhat dubiously named Critics’ Choice Awards seem to take pride every year, not in making interesting/daring picks, but summarizing the Oscar race as it currently stands; and, well, they certainly did that this year. To perfection. There may be a couple acting candidates still floating around that didn’t get included here (namely the “Django Unchained” duo of Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio), but overall the BFCA’s expanded categories – they choose six nominees instead of five, except when they don’t for inexplicable reasons – allowed the group to basically list all the major contenders without really taking a stand on what they actually liked.

Yes, “Lincoln” set a record with 13 nominations here, but “Les Mis” was right behind with 11 and “Silver Linings Playbook” had 10. That’s basically what happens when you decide to transform your award show into the bastard child of the Oscars and the Golden Globes. The new genre categories this year for comedy and action films add nothing but a chance for the BFCA to invite some more big names to their red carpet. If this were really about giving some “overlooked” names some attention, you might not want to just double up your nominations from the regular drama categories (or imply that Christian Bale and Channing Tatum are somehow under-appreciated). It’s nice that Jake Gyllenhaal gets to show up now and everything, but when you’re labeling his intense indie police drama “End of Watch” an ‘action film,’ you’re just being disingenuous .I am fully aware of how farcical it is that I’m accusing an awards show for being disingenuous, but there it is.

So, check out the awards seasons as it stands below with the 18th annual Critic’s Choice Movie Awards nominations.

Best Picture:

• Argo
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Django Unchained
• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• The Master
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director:

• Ben Affleck, “Argo”
• Tom Hooper, “Les Miserables”
• Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
• Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
• David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Actor:

• Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
• John Hawkes, “The Sessions”
• Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”
• Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
• Denzel Washington, “Flight”

Best Actress:

• Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
• Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”
• Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
• Quvenzhane Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
• Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”

Best Supporting Actor:

• Alan Arkin, “Argo”
• Javier Bardem, “Skyfall”
• Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
• Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
• Matthew McConaughey, “Magic Mike”

Best Supporting Actress:

• Amy Adams, “The Master”
• Judi Dench, “Skyfall”
• Ann Dowd, “Compliance”
• Sally Field, “Lincoln”
• Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”
• Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• Chris Terrio, “Argo”
• David Magee, “Life of Pi”
• Tony Kushner, “Lincoln”
• Stephen Chbosky, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
• David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Best Original Screenplay:

• Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”
• John Gatins, “Flight”
• Rian Johnson, “Looper”
• P.T. Anderson, “The Master”
• Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, “Moonrise Kingdom”
• Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Art Direction:

• Anna Karenina
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln

Best Cinematography:

• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• The Master
• Skyfall

Best Costume Design:

• Anna Karenina
• Cloud Atlas
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Les Miserables
• Lincoln

Best Editing:

• Argo
• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Zero Dark Thirty

Best Makeup:

• Cloud Atlas
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Les Miserables
• Lincoln

Best Score:

• Alexandre Desplat, “Argo”
• Mychael Danna, “Life of Pi”
• John Williams, “Lincoln”
• Jonny Greenwood, “The Master”
• Alexandre Desplat, “Moonrise Kingdom”

Best Song:

• “For You,” from “Act of Valor”
• “Learn Me Right,” from “Brave”
• “Skyfall,” from “Skyfall”
• “Still Alive,” from “Paul Williams Still Alive”
• “Suddenly,” from “Les Miserables”

Best Visual Effects:

• The Avengers
• Cloud Atlas
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Life of Pi

Best Animated Feature:

• Brave
• Frankenweenie
• Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
• ParaNorman
• Rise of the Guardians
• Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film:

• Amour
• The Intouchables
• A Royal Affair
• Rust and Bone

Best Documentary Feature:

• Bully
• The Central Park Five
• The Imposter
• The Queen of Versailles
• Searching for Sugar Man
• West of Memphis

Best Young Actor/Actress:

• Elle Fanning, “Ginger & Rosa”
• Kara Heyward, “Moonrise Kingdom”
• Tom Holland, “The Impossible”
• Logan Lerman, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
• Suraj Sharma, “Life of Pi”
• Quvenzhane Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

Best Acting Ensemble:

• Argo
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Les Miserables
• Lincoln
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Silver Linings Playbook

Best Action Movie:

• The Avengers
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Looper
• Skyfall

Best Actor in an Action Movie:

• Christian Bale, “The Dark Knight Rises”
• Daniel Craig, “Skyfall”
• Robert Downey Jr., “The Avengers”
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Looper”
• Jake Gyllenhaal, “End of Watch”

Best Actress in an Action Movie:

• Emily Blunt, “Looper’
• Gina Carano, “Haywire”
• Judi Dench, “Skyfall”
• Anne Hathaway, “The Dark Knight Rises”
• Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games”

Best Comedy:

• Bernie
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Ted
• This is 40
• 21 Jump Street

Best Actor in a Comedy:

• Jack Black, “Bernie”
• Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Paul Rudd, “This is 40”
• Channing Tatum, “21 Jump Street”
• Mark Wahlberg, “This is 40”

Best Actress in a Comedy:

• Mila Kunis, “Ted”
• Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
• Shirley Maclaine, “Bernie”
• Leslie Mann, “This is 40”
• Rebel Wilson, “Pitch Perfect”

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie:

• The Cabin in the Woods
• Looper
• Prometheus