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Checking in with the Best Contenders in the Early Part of the Race

Sasha Stone by Sasha Stone
December 5, 2014
in BEST PICTURE, featured
10

birdman-review-feature-image

If you go by who’s been nominated for and who has won what – here is how it’s looking so far. The Gurus of Gold have also put out their Best Picture and Best Director picks for the week, before the big film critic week that’s coming up and all of the big announcements. Here we go. You ready?

Precursor list with the major and minors so far – first without Peter Travers:

TIFF audience award Gothams NYFCC NBR Golden Satellites
Boyhood ++ * *
Birdman ++ * *
The Imitation Game ++ * *
Gone Girl * *
A Most Violent Year ++
ALPHABETICAL
American Sniper *
Inherent Vice *
Fury *
The Grand Budapest Hotel *
Love is Strange *
Mr. Turner *
Nightcralwer *
Selma *
The Theory of Everything *
Unbroken *
Whiplash *

Next, if you factor in Peter Travers:

TIFF audience award Gothams NYFCC NBR Golden Satellites Travers
Boyhood ++ * * ++
Birdman ++ * * *
The Imitation Game ++ * *
Gone Girl * * *
A Most Violent Year ++
The Grand Budapest Hotel * *
Selma * *
Unbroken * *
Whiplash * *
American Sniper *
Inherent Vice *
Foxcatcher *
Fury *
Interstellar *
Love is Strange *
Mr. Turner *
Nightcrawler *
The Theory of Everything, Focus Features *

And here is how the films that have opened are stacking up so far with the critics.

Metacritc Rotten Tomatoes BFCA  Total Box Office
Boyhood 100 99 96 295 24m
Whiplash 87 96 93 276 3m
Birdman 89 94 91 274 17m
The Imitation Game 91 85 91 267 579K*
The Grand Budapest Hotel 88 92 87 267 59m
Love is Strange 83 97 86 266 2m
Nightcrawler 76 95 88 259 28m
Gone Girl 79 88 90 257 161m
Foxcatcher 83 86 85 254 2m
The Theory of Everything 72 81 87 240 10m
Interstellar 74 73 80 227 149m
Fury 64 78 83 225 82m

And the ones that haven’t opened yet and still have limited information because not all of the critics have rung in.

Have not yet opened: Metacritic  RT  BFCA Total
Selma 98 100 93 291
Mr. Turner 95 96 77 268
A Most Violent Year 86 93 86 265
American Sniper 66 79 85 230
Inherent Vice 84 74 67 225
Unbroken 59 53 82 194

 

The only suspense right now in the race is whether or not David Fincher’s smash hit will be a big Best Picture player or not. I guess you could ask the same thing about several other movies out there in the mix. But smart money is on the Fincher pick as being one of the sure bets of the season. At least, that’s how I see it but I could be blinded by love – you all know how I get.  Ahem.

Beyond that, the first three are solid picks from all pundits.  Then you have the word of one pundit against the other. In this corner — Anne Thompson, Kris Tapley, Scott Feinberg, Mike Hogan, Thelma Adams, Thom Geier, Tariq Kahn, Jenelle Reilly Dave Karger all saying “no” to Gone Girl.

In the other corner, Yours Truly (of course), Susan Wloszczyna, Glenn Whipp, Peter Travers, Jeff Wells, Nicole Sperling, Keith Simanton, Anne Thompson (who is having it both ways – on her site she says no but on Gold Derby and Movie City News she says yes), Paul Sheehan, Steve Pond, Kevin Polowy, Tom O’Neil, Michael Musto, Mary Miliken, Scott Mantz, Matt Atchity, Mike Cidoni at Gold Derby.

And here is how it’s shaking down at Gurus of Gold:

gurus1

Either way, let’s see how it all goes down after the weekend. We will continue to check in with our precursors chart as the season wears on. And on. And on.

Tags: BEST PICTURE
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