Hold onto your Butts: Critics Weekend Preview – Los Angeles, Boston, Boston Online, New York Online

You would not believe the sheer volume of critics awards that are about to come at you. For our purposes, the most important critics are: the New York Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the National Society of Film Critics, the AFI’s Top Ten and the Broadcast Film Critics. You could maybe add Chicago and Boston if you wanted to. The other groups mostly serve to form a critical consensus but these really are the big ones. As they come in, there will be a certain point where people stop caring. I can’t really tell when that point happens but jokes will be made at the expense of the smaller groups because by then it will seem like everyone and their brother and their mother had critics awards to announce. Essentially these groups are all pretty much the same people rescrambled in a different order.

Either way, this weekend, believe it or not, Los Angeles makes their big statement. Last year they opted, as did New York and the National Society, not to award the best reviewed film of the year, 12 Years a Slave, going instead for a tie between Gravity and Her. They stepped outside the box a bit with James Franco for Spring Breakers… remember that? Bruce Dern won Best Actor while Cate Blanchett won Best Actress.

This year, there will be some speculation, I’m sure, as to which direction they will go. I would expect them to go for Birdman, Boyhood or something outside the consensus, like Under the Skin or even something foreign, like Ida. You just never know how those wacky voting members will go.

Tomorrow, the Boston Critics Online announce their awards. Sunday, LAFCA and Boston, plus New York Film Critics online. Monday the AFI announces. After that, the bigger announcements of the SAG awards and the Golden Globes. We will be putting up a contest for LAFCA and AFI in just a little while.

In the meantime, here is a great rundown of the coming awards from Maverick’s Movies:

Saturday, December 6th- Washington DC Area Film Critics Award Nominations

Sunday, December 7th – Los Angeles Film Critics Awards

Sunday, December 7th- British Independent Film Awards

Sunday, December 7th- Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

Sunday, December 7th- New York Film Critics Online Awards

Monday, December 8th- AFI Top 10 List Announced

Monday, December 8th- Washington DC Area Film Critics Awards

Monday, December 8th- Online Film Critics Society Nominations

Wednesday, December 10th – SAG Awards Nominations Announced at 6 AM PT

Thursday, December 11 – Golden Globe Nominations Announced at 5 AM PT

Friday, December 12- Detroit Film Critics Society Nominees