They’ve only been around since 1975, but Los Angeles has, in its own funny way, carved out its own identity from the New York critics — perhaps part of that nowadays is due to the New York Times critics, inexplicably, not being part of the New York Film Critics circle. The New York Times. Also, we sort of deal in a more global film criticism community now so how do we start to distinguish one from the other? There is so much overlap. People who write about films and Oscars also vote in awards like the Critics Choice and the New York Film Critics Online and the Online Film Critics. The Critics Choice have always been a bit strange to me — simply because the people who vote on them are people like me — Kris and David Poland and Jeff Wells and every Tom, Dick and Harry out there – that they refer to themselves as “critics,” is misleading. I would never call myself a critic, for instance, which is why I never have joined that group. I am a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists — and I and I can barely call myself a journalist. If the BFCA called themselves Broadcast Film Critics and Bloggers that would more accurately reflect their voting membership. As it is, they aren’t critics, and you are not a cop.
How the BFCA becomes influential is that they have a live show. And whenever any contender takes the mic that can be a powerful campaign tool or it can totally derail a campaign. Of course, anyone going to their site and digging up their scores, as we do, just gives you a number but once you realize who is voting on those scores, how few of them who have had access to some of the upcoming Oscar movies, you’ll have a clearer understanding why the scores are what they are – and trust me, most of the time, they’re way way off. For an informal poll of unbiased voters I prefer Yahoo movies – because you’re just getting an impartial audience rating.
The New York, the National Society, the Southeaster, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles appear to be among the key influencers when it comes to critics awards. I think New York help put the Kids Are All Right in the race last year. And though There Will Be Blood was headed for a Best Picture nomination, that the LA Film Critics named it their Best Picture before it was even released.
Either way, lately, Los Angeles has proven to be the more daring group of critics compared not just to New York but to everyone else. They are the least likely to go with the general consensus, unless faced with a film that is clearly superior to everything else, like The Social Network (sorry, having a little fun). Sure, New York went for Mulholland Drive and Far From Heaven, two great choices, but the LAFCA went for Letters from Iwo Jima and Wall-E. If The Artist weren’t one of the films to choose from I’d guess that this year, the critics awards are going to be divided all over the place. But I sense an Artist sweep of the critics — simply because there aren’t many other films they all agree on. For instance, Turan is in the LAFCA and he gave both Hugo and Drive bad reviews. But he is one of The Artist’s biggest champions. Try fighting THAT tide.
Please tell me your predictions. But for now I’d go:
Best Picture: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Woody Harrelson, Rampart
Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Tree of Life
Screenplay: Moneyball
I have no idea, truth be told, how they will vote. Here is how they went last year – it’s amazing how the King’s Speech was a runner-up for Supporting Actor and Screenplay.
LAFCA | New York Film Critics | Oscar – Best Picture
*Also nominated for best picture
2010 | The Social Network | The Social Network | The King’s Speech |
2009 | The Hurt Locker | The Hurt Locker | The Hurt Locker |
2008 | Wall-E | Milk | Slumdog Millionaire |
2007 | There Will Be Blood* | No Country for Old Men+ | No Country |
2006 | Letters from Iwo Jima* | United 93 | The Departed |
2005 | Brokeback Mountain* | Brokeback Mountain* | Crash |
2004 | Sideways* | Sideways* | Million Dollar Baby |
2003 | American Splendour | Return of the King | Return of the King |
2002 | About Schmidt | Far From Heaven | Chicago |
2001 | In the Bedroom* | Mulholland Drive | A Beautiful Mind |
2000 | Crouching Tiger* | Traffic* | Gladiator |
1999 | The Insider* | Topsy-Turvy | American Beauty |
1998 | Saving Private Ryan* | Saving Private Ryan* | Shakespeare in Love |
1997 | L.A. Confidential* | L.A. Confidential* | Titanic |
1996 | Secrets & Lies* | Fargo* | The English Patient |
1995 | Leaving Las Vegas | Leaving Las Vegas | Braveheart |
1994 | Pulp Fiction* | Quiz Show* | Forrest Gump |
1993 | Schindler’s List+ | Schindler’s List+ | Schindler’s List |
1992 | Unforgiven+ | The Player | Unforgiven |
1991 | Bugsy* | The Silence of the Lambs+ | Silence of the Lambs |
1990 | Goodfellas* | Goodfellas* | Dances With Wolves |
1989 | Do the Right Thing | My Left Foot* | Driving Miss Daisy |
1988 | Little Dorrit | The Accidental Tourist* | Rain Man |
1987 | Hope and Glory* | Broadcast News* | The Last Emperor |
1986 | Hannah and Her Sisters* | Hannah and Her Sisters* | Platoon |
1985 | Brazil | Prizzi’s Honor* | Out of Africa |
1984 | Amadeus+ | Passage to India* | Amadeus |
1983 | Terms of Endearment+ | Terms of Endearment+ | Terms of Endearment |
1982 | E.T.* | Gandhi+ | Gandhi |
1981 | Atlantic City* | Reds* | Chariots of Fire |
1980 | Raging Bull* | Ordinary People+ | Ordinary People |
1979 | Kramer Vs. Kramer+ | Kramer Vs. Kramer+ | Kramer Vs. Kramer |
1978 | Coming Home* | The Deer Hunter+ | The Deer Hunter |
1977 | Star Wars* | Annie Hall+ | Annie Hall |
1976 | Network* | All the President’s Men* | Rocky |
1975 | Dog Day Afternoon* | Nashville* | One Flew Over/Cukoo’s Nest |
1974 | Armacord | Godfather II | |
1973 | La Nuit Américaine | The Sting | |
1972 | Viskningar och rop | The Godfather | |
1971 | A Clockwork Orange* | The French Connection | |
1970 | Five Easy Pieces* | Patton | |
1969 | Z* | Midnight Cowboy | |
1968 | Lion in Winter* | Oliver | |
1967 | In the Heat of the Night+ | In the Heat of the Night | |
1966 | A Man for All Seasons* | A Man for all Seasons | |
1965 | Darling* | the Sound of Music | |
1964 | My Fair Lady+ | My Fair Lady | |
1963 | Tom Jones+ | Tom Jones | |
1962 | none | Lawrence of Arabia | |
1961 | West Side Story+ | West Side Story | |
1960 | The Apartment+ | Billy Wilder, The Apartment | |
1959 | Ben Hur+ | Ben Hur | |
1958 | THe Defiant Ones* | Gigi | |
1957 | Bridge on the River Kwai+ | Bridge on the River Kwai | |
1956 | Around the World in 80 Days+ | Around/World in 80 Days | |
1955 | Marty+ | Delbert Mann, Marty | |
1954 | On the Waterfront+ | Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront | |
1953 | From Here to Eternity+ | From Here to Eternity | |
1952 | High Noon* | The Greatest Show on Earth | |
1951 | Streetcar Named Desire* | An American in Paris | |
1950 | All About Eve+ | All About Eve |
LA Film critics are:
Robert Abele
David Ansen
ANDREW barker
Charles Champlin
Justin Chang
Peter Debruge
Alonso Duralde
David Ehrenstein
Stephen Farber
F.X. Feeney
Scott Foundas
Todd Gilchrist
Mike Goodridge
James Greenberg
Ray Greene
TIM Grierson
Kirk Honeycutt
Mark Keizer
Leonard Klady
Andy Klein
Robert Koehler
Christy Lemire
Emanuel Levy
Sheri Linden
Lael Loewenstein
justin lowe
Wade Major
Leonard Maltin
Willard Manus
Todd McCarthy
Myron Meisel
Joe Morgenstern
AMY Nicholson
Jean Oppenheimer
HJ Park
John Powers
Claudia Puig
Peter Rainer
Michael Rechtshaffen
Harriet Robbins
James Rocchi
Richard Schickel
Henry Sheehan
Brent Simon
Charles Solomon
Bob Strauss
Ella Taylor
Kevin Thomas
Luke Y. Thompson
Kenneth Turan
Glenn Whipp
Chuck wilson
Agreed, brainypirate.
I sometimes think there’s too much of a line drawn between “art” and “entertainment,” as if the former can’t also entertain or the latter can only be popcorn or populist movies. I’m completely honest when I say that I was much more entertained by “The Tree of Life” (entertained as in captivated, riveted, eyes glued to the screen) than I was with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Gallows.” I know not everyone had that same experience. I just wish more people understood that being “entertained” by a movie doesn’t have to mean only a loud popcorner where people laugh and cheer. Some of us are also captivated (entertained) by a movie that leaves us in kind of a mesmerized silence.
@Robert A.:
I agree with your statement too.
Film is neither exclusively art nor exclusively entertainment. It has elements of both, and some films aim for both while others aim more for just one. And fans have a right to prefer one of the two as well.
Creative expression always juggles a variety of components: artistic technique, ability to provoke thought, ability to generate emotional responses, ability to make the non-connosieur feel some sort of pleasure (e.g., laughter, beauty), etc. Every artist decides how much emphasis to place on each one of these. And there’s room in the universe for all types of art.
So ignore the trolls who trash you because you’re too populist or because you’re too highbrow or because you hate everything after 1979 or because you hate everything before 1980 or….
1, “Rolls eyes”. More teenage behaviour. Teenage girl, in this case.
2. “I have an of 130”. That you actually go around saying “I have an IQ of…” is hilarious and, frankly, a little pathetic.
3. The list of films you like pretty much explains everything. Really, no further comment is necessary,
*and sex comedies
So I just went through and checked and the following are the only films in my Top 100 which aren’t certified fresh…
Top Gun
Happy Gilmore
Secondhand Lions
The Girl Next Door
The Notebook
Billy Madison
American Pie 2
A Walk To Remember
Pearl Harbor
So yeah, I used to like Sandler (he hasn’t made anything good since the 90’s) and I’m a sucker for the melodramatic or romantic sometimes, but otherwise I think I have more then adequate taste in film.
I would change the wording from “The Tree of Life stretches the definition of what a film should be” to “The Tree of Life stretches the definition of what a film can be.”
Funny thing is most of my family/friends consider me a “snob” because I tend to try to avoid most of the crap that they watch. I mean aside from comedies (because critics can’t be trusted on these) I generally will not watch a film that hasn’t been certified fresh on RT and/or have a decent score on IMDB.
“Oh, and I think it bears repeating that I’m typically not a hard one to please…it’s rare for me dislike a film. My average rating is probably a B/B+ so for me to give a film a D really says something.”
But it doesn’t say much other than you think the movie is bad. It doesn’t mean the film is bad, since of course that’s a subjective opinion.
“Tree of Life isn’t a complete failure, but it definitely tests one’s patience and stretches the definition of what a “film” should be.”
I’ll agree that “The Tree of Life” stretches the definition of what a film should be. That’s why a lot of us like it. Jodie Foster once said in an interview about the business of moviemaking: “95% of the people want to stick with the status quo. It’s the other 5% that have to push the art form forward.”
Testing patience? I challenge you to watch The Turin Horse or something else that Béla Tarr has directed. That is really hard for me. The Tree of Life is not hard at all, and I can’t wait to see the 6hr cut by Malick (the film’s first cut was 8hrs).
Verdict- it should be hung on a wall, not viewed in a cinema or as home entertainment
Oh, and I think it bears repeating that I’m typically not a hard one to please…it’s rare for me dislike a film. My average rating is probably a B/B+ so for me to give a film a D really says something. Tree of Life isn’t a complete failure, but it definitely tests one’s patience and stretches the definition of what a “film” should be.
Jeremie,
Ignore the trolls. You won’t change their minds about you anyway.
Enjoy the films you enjoy and don’t let others try to convince you you’re a snob because you don’t rank the populist films higher.
Thanks brainypirate.
You know I wouldn’t be surprised if many just don’t have the balls to admit they enjoy some of the less “artsy” and “award worthy” fare. Maybe amongst other circles they don’t hold their noses so high in the air…
Scott,
Ignore the trolls. You won’t change their minds about you anyway.
Enjoy the films you enjoy and don’t let others try to convince you you’re inferior because you don’t rank the arty films higher.
Besides, my film viewing this year has been more limited…I’m sure once I view most of the other Oscar contenders and/or those from my Top 10 most anticipated my list will look a lot different. For example this was my Top 20 for last year-
1. Inception- 95
2. True Grit- 94
3. The King’s Speech- 93 (a quality production all around with a moving story and incredible performances from some of Britain’s best)
4. The Social Network- 92
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1- 91
6. Shutter Island- 90
7. The Fighter- 89
8. The Town- 89
9. Black Swan- 88
10. Love and Other Drugs- 87
11. Easy A- 86
12. The Ghost Writer- 85
13. The American- 85
14. Harry Brown- 84
15. 127 Hours- 84
16. Kick-Ass- 83
17. Green Zone- 82
18. The Kids Are All Right- 82
19. Get Low- 82
20. The Other Guys – 81
Never said they are amazing…just far more entertaining, which is what film should be first and foremost, entertainment. FYI I have an IQ of 130 so please stop it with the not “intellectually able” bullshit.
My bad, I got confused between with Water for Elephants, No Strings Attached and Sucker Punch. All amazing films of course. So much more to offer than Tree of Life. Oh dear, you’re such a laugh Scott.
And by the way, it’s fine not to be intellectually able to process Tree of Life. Nothing wrong with that. Personnally, my brain can’t process No Strings attached. I guess in the end it just all depends on what you have been feeding it with.
This was my Top 10 Most Anticipated BTW at the start of the year-
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2. Tree of Life
3. Hugo Cabaret
4. Contagion
5. War Horse
6. A Dangerous Method
7. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
8. The Ides of March
9. Young Adult (banking here on the fact that this is being directed by Jason Reitman and I loved his prior work: Up in the Air and Juno )
10. Crazy Stupid Love
And no, I’m 24 and I’ll repost this for everyone that missed it-
Wow, 500 films a year Tero? With college I simply don’t have that much time. I suppose when you add in all the films from prior years that I’m watching now though my total is likely over 100.
favorite directors…
Alfred Hitchcock (at last count I’ve seen 25 of his films)
Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Witness for the Prosecution, Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, Sabrina, Seven Yeah Itch, Sunset Blvd.)
Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, You Can’t Take it With You, Meet John Doe, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, It’s A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
Howard Hawks (The Big Sleep, Bringing Up Baby, Sergeant York, Ball of Fire, Monkey Business, Scarface (so much better then the Pacino version), To Have and Have Not, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, His Girl Friday)
Stanley Kubrick (not exactly a fav, but I’ve seen The Killing, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Lolita, 2001, and Dr. Strangelove…it’s been a mixed bag)
now for more modern…
Christopher Nolan (seen all 8 of his films)
Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones Trilogy, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, Jurassic Park, Catch Me If You Can, Jaws, E.T.)
Martin Scorsese (including him under modern because I don’t really care for his older stuff with the exception of Raging Bull. Seen everything from the last decade)
Oh BTW, I’m not really a fan of fantasy outside of Harry Potter and LotR :p
And my list for this year since Jeremie seems to be confused-
1. Deathly Hallows: Part 2- 95
2. Moneyball- 91
3. Crazy, Stupid, Love- 90
4. Water for Elephants- 89
5. Super 8- 88
6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes- 87
7. No Strings Attached- 86
8. The Way Back- 85
9. The Adjustment Bureau- 82
10. Source Code- 80
11. Sucker Punch- 70
12. The Tree of Life- 56
….I furiously agree with Scott’s Tormented Spleen.
……Other Scott,
I am Scott’s Tormented Spleen.
…Leave Britney Alone!
*rolleyes*
Other Scott, perhaps you haven’t noticed how personally abusive Jeremie has been over the past few months.
Scott — are you 15 years old? Why are you so personally abusive towards people who like a film you didn’t, or dislike a film you did like? It’s like being in a schoolyard with a bully.
Whether you like it or not, film IS an art form as well as a popular entertainment. There’s room in the world both for films that are serious efforts to create challenging works of art that truly try to do something interesting in the medium of film (and maybe, because of their ambitions, do not always succeed 100%) and for films that are skillfully made popular entertainments. I loved The Tree of Life for the very powerful way it used cinematography and editing to convey, more accurately than any film I have ever seen, how young boys inter-relate and how they see and respond to the world. I can admire it for what it was trying to do there, and ignore the “origins of the world” segment that didn’t really work. A person can be engaged and intellectually transported by the film without being a pretentious, artsy fartsy snob (all epithets commonly used by snarky, bratty teenagers, by the way).
I can also enjoy superbly made entertainments like Harry Potter, and recognize that it takes talent to make something that people are swept up by.
Tossing around adjectives in a bitchy tone of voice is not discussion or meaningful debate about film — it is just empty name-calling and childish behaviour.
Man, I must agree with Scott. The Tree Of Life is NOT that good at all. And, Jeremie, it is not a question of being “intellectually able to process a film like Tree Of Life”. Actually, the film is not a hard one to understand – at least it’s not very hard. It’s just a hard film to enjoy, because it’s so boring, that’s all.
I guess…
Picture: The Artist
Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Actor: Gary Oldman, Taylor Tinker Soldier Spy
Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Begginers
Supporting Actress: Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Foreign Film: A Separation
Screenplay: Moneyball
Cinematography: The Tree of Life
Music: The Artist
Documentary: Project Nim
Production Design: Hugo
Animation: Rango
New generation: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
And I’m certainly more then intellectually capable. Inception is a far more complex film and I understood it perfectly. But I’m a technical type, not an artsy fartsy sort.
Jeremie, I haven’t seen Friends with Benefits or Jack and Jill, lol…and I don’t even have desire to see the latter. So fuck off once again.
Found it: Katrina Onstad’s entry in the NYTimes’s “The Year in Movies”, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/magazine/riffs-the-year-in-movies.html
Onstad likes the films, but she points out they do tend to cross artistic genres. Here’s the money quote:
—
Part of the problem was that everyone was talking about these movies as movies. The debate might be better framed like this: “Meek’s Cutoff,” in which almost nothing happens but dread, is something closer to a feature-length video installation. The tiny details of “The Mill and the Cross,” a meditation on painting, require the kind of silent scrutiny usually reserved for paintings themselves. And the dinosaurs in “The Tree of Life” weren’t in service of a story so much as they lent visual weight to the film’s experimental poetics. These three films demanded great patience but also promised great beauty in return. They weren’t vegetables or video games, or even fully films, but simply art.
—
Someone posted an article on one of the film sites recently about how films like Tree of Life and two others this year really aren’t films but are more like gallery art-installations. Did anyone else here read that piece? I can’t remember where I saw it.
Well your reaction is not that surprising, Scott, coming from somebody who’s got Friends with Benefit and Jack and Jill in his top ten. I don’t think people like you are intellectually able to process a film like Tree of Life. And it also makes sense that you would be so fond of Harry Potter. Surely a film which lasts more than 1h30, doesn’t feature Adam Sandler and contains sentences of dialogue longer than 3 words, isn’t going to be absolutely mesmerizing for you.
Best Picture – The Artist
Best Director – The Artist
Best Screenplay – Moneyball
Best Actor – Clooney
Best Actress – Swinton
Best Supp Actor – Plummer
Best Supp Actress – Mulligan
Cinematography – Tree Of Life
Foreign Film – A Separation
Score – The Artist
Production Design – Hugo
No, I’m simply appalled by the praise this ridiculous “film” has received.
You’re on fire today, Scott.
And for anyone else that has their film snob head too far up their ass and needs clarification the Film Event of the Year (actually of an entire Generation, exactly as stated in the trailer) was obviously Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
But luckily these Sight and Sound folks rarely align with the AMPAS.
“Film event of the Year”
BAHAHA, those guys are so out of tune with reality. I talked to 2 other film fans today who agree Tree of Life is a worthless film…it’s boring abstract art that belongs in a museum not on the silver screen.
While we wait, I noticed last night that we forgot to mention Sight and Sound’s best list (from a poll of 101 critics/curators) that was released last week:
“Our film of 2011 is The Tree of Life (by a country mile).”
For the full list: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49804
Past chart toppers:
2010 – The Social Network
2009 – A Prophet
2008 – Hunger
2007 – 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
2006 – Hidden
2005 – Brokeback Mountain
Hopefully, LAFCA can meet the standard and stay away from the thrill rides and magic shows that have found their way onto some of the lists we’ve seen so far.
Wrong Sasha, the BFCA is more then just people like you. Sure, Dave Poland and Steve Pond are members…but so are Emmanuel Levy, Peter Howell, Scott Bowles, Anne Thompson, etc. They’ve got a full list-
http://www.criticschoice.com/members/bfca
I have no clue who wins this and I messed up totally with my NY Critics-Predictions (had a feeling “Shame” could win), but the one thing I would bet money on is that the LA Critics will vote for Christopher Plummer as the best supporting actor.
Would nice to see some shockers. “Girl with the dragon tattoo” needs some mentions here and there to build some steam – that´s what I hope for.
And please – no offense to the myriad supporters – no Best Actress for Meryl Streep. I like her, really, but in some roles her acting style just makes me laugh (hello, Mrs. Thatcher) … 😉
Drive
Von Trier
Fassbender
Dunst
Brooks
Chastain
The Artist
I really hope Dunst wins Best Actress
LA Film Critics
Picture: The Tree of Life
Director: Terrance Malick-The Tree of Life
Actress: Olivia Coleman-Tyrannasour
Actor: Peter Mullan-Tyrannasour
Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave-Coriolanus
Supporting Actor: Max Von Sydow-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Screenplay: The Tree Of Life
LA Film Critics
Picture: A Separation
Director: Asgar Farhadi, A Separation
Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Actress: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
Supporting Actor: Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus
Foreign Film: A Separation
Screenplay: Moneyball
Cinematography: The Tree of Life
Music: Hugo
Documentary: Buck
Production Design: Hugo
Animation: Rango
Oh, and Jeong-hee Yoon perfectly fits their outré actress choices but they just went with a Korean last year and Turan raved Kevin, so maybe Tilda can eek it out (I’d be thrilled either way).
I have a feeling they’re going to pump me up the way that they did by choosing WALL·E a few years ago by choosing something like A Separation, which I’m convinced would easily sweep the Oscars if it was in English and had a star or two in there for good measure (maybe Shohreh Aghdashloo could have played the faithful Muslim nanny).
But I think the safe bet is for The Descendants considering that NY already called dibs on The Artist (and they’ll surely want to differentiate themselves from NY to make themselves look better) and that LA constantly kisses Alexander Payne’s D. Think Dujardin will win for Actor, though.
I thought they (LAFCA) hit the bullseye last year with their heavy votes behind of TSN, Carlos, Arestrup and Weaver. I hope they continue what they started way back when they selected Brazil as their BP.
My guesses would be:
The Artist (Drive – runner-up)
Malick (Hazanavicius – runner-up)
Fassbender (Pitt – runner-up)
Dunst (Williams – runner-up)
Redgrave (Chastain – runner-up)
Serkis (Plummer – runner-up)
Tree of Life (cinematography)
Moneyball (screenplay)
Foreign Film (Le Havre)
Boston used to be interesting, but they’ve joined the herd lately, the only thing that made them interesting was their early date. San Francisco had made more interesting choices of late. Other two smaller critics that made bolder choices in recent years were San Diego and Toronto. But seriously, none of them are influencers of the race. Only ones of some importance are NY, LA and maybe Chicago. Smaller critics may reflect part of the public/critic opinions, but voters and industry insides don’t really care about what the Boston film society or Austin vote for.
Ah, I get it.
Mr. Rudin, sir, if you or your many wonderful associates are surfing this site, my opinions are based purely on the extremely moving trailer for the film and your long track record of excellence. Did I mention just how much I’m looking forward to The Corrections on HBO?
The Boston and San Francisco critics are also voting on Sunday.
They are going to throw one category into far left field, I can just feel it.
I’m guessing Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) or Olivia Colman (Tyrannosaur) for Best Actress.
For the record, I haven’t rated any films at the BFCA website this year (usually I forget to do so — I think I’ve only done it a couple of times in the past). So I don’t know what Sasha is insinuating.
Sorry, Kris, my mistake…
Sasha, any of the films under embargo that you’ve seen are very good and made you cry a lot? Any of those are headed to a BP nom, but maybe too “bait-y” for a win?
Say perhaps for YES!
I would love to see my #1 film of this year (THE TREE OF LIFE) win the LA prize, but I am thinking you are right that the very fine THE ARTIST (a Top Ten film for sure) will probably win. MELANCHOLIA, OF GODS AND MEN, HUGO, WIN WIN, POETRY, THE MILL AND THE CROSS, DRIVE, JANE EYRE would all be great choices.
LA’s greatest moments?
Going with the out-of-left-field LITTLE DORRIT in 1987, and then with WALL-E a few years ago.
Class.
Actually, the choice of IWO JIMA was also buffo. It was the last Eastwood film that fully resonated.
I loved the LAFC choice in 1985 – “BRAZIL”. That film should have been nominated in multiple Oscar categories. I think LAFC was the only organization with the balls to recognize that movie: a true, timeless classic if there ever was one.
They also saw fit to recognize LA CONFIDENTIAL in a year where AMPAS was embracing the embarrassing TITANIC (a truly dreadful movie to win Best Picture).
LAFC also hit the nail on the head with GOODFELLAS in a year where AMPAS thought DANCES WITH WOLVES was a better picture. I’ve seen GOODFELLAS probably 7 or 8 times, but I can’t seem to sit through another showingof DANCES WITH WOLVES. It simply wasn’t that good. Not Best Picture standard anyway. Another goof by the Academy.
I also liked their choice of IN THE BEDROOM – a movie which should have gotten a lot mroe love from AMPAS than it did.
So my respect for the LAFC group is rather high. Their choices are certainly more daring (and they usually pick the better film.)
I’m excited to see their choices this year.
I hope I’ll be surprised! They usually do surprise me.
I’ve never really understood what separates a random member of a city critics group than most of the members of the BFCA and why they are so looked down upon as being “not real critics”. Tapley votes for the BFCA, Tapley writes thoughtful reviews, Tapley runs a site and his opinion carries a modicum of weight, so why should he be considered less than one of the random members of the Dallas Fort Worth Film Critics or whatever?
Tapley runs a site and his opinion carries a modicum of weight, so why should he be considered less than one of the random members of the Dallas Fort Worth Film Critics or whatever?
True enough. The line is clearly blurred but I’m sort of old fashioned when it comes to film critics. I really do believe that there is such a thing as actual film criticism. I don’t think even Kris would refer to himself as a critic. Most of them are in that group to get the free screeners. I could have joined the BFCA but it always felt like a slippery slope to me – a snake eating its own tail. The critics groups that want their critics to be published film critics are perhaps the ones to take more seriously, imo. Like Guy Lodge who writes for In Contention IS, I think, a film critic and should be seen as such. Kris is not. Nor is Jeff Wells, nor David Poland nor Brad Brevet, also a member, etc. Btw, same goes for the Online Film Critics — in most of these cases the word blogger should be used instead.
Lately the have been going extremely foreign with 3 major prizes given to foreign films last year – Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director. Infact, by god, if not for The Social Network last year, Carlos would have swept the board and The Social Network barely managed to beat it in Best Picture, tying it for Best Director.
This year we are in the strange position of the Oscar front-runner and critic’s darling being a foreign film to begin with – so The Artist takes Best Picture I think. But they might want to show their daring in the Best Director field and might give it to Malick.
Best Picture – The Artist Alt. The Descendants
Best Director – Tree Of Life Alt. The Artist
Best Screenplay – The Descendants Alt. A Separation
Best Actor – Dujardin Alt. Pitt
Best Actress – Williams Alt. Dunst
Best Supp Actor – Plummer Alt. Brooks
Best Supp Actress – Chastain Alt. Bejo
Cinematography – Tree Of Life Alt. Melancholia
Foreign Film – A Separation Alt. Le Havre
Score – The Artist Alt. Rango
Production Design – The Artist Alt. Hugo
It might not be with the LA Critics, but “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is going to make a major splash soon, perhaps at the Golden Globes. I think everyone’s buying “The Artist” as the Oscar winner far too early.
I am under strict embargo about that movie so I can’t say anything one way or the other.