'Boyhood,' 'Birdman' share top Critics' Choice honors

LOS ANGELES -- "Boyhood," Michael Keaton and Julianne Moore were among the top winners at the 20th annual Critics Choice Movie Awards on Thursday, winning best picture and director, actor and actress.

"Boyhood," which earlier in the day received six Oscar nominations including best picture, was named the year's best film by the more-than 250 members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest U.S. and Canadian film critics' group.

The critics honored "Boyhood" director Richard Linklater, who in a virtually unprecedented move made the film over 12 years with the same actors, and awarded Patricia Arquette the best supporting actress prize.

The critics twice awarded Michael Keaton for his acclaimed performance in "Birdman," in which he plays a fading action film actor trying to make a go of it on Broadway, with both its best actor in a comedy and best actor awards. The film also won for best ensemble among a total of seven awards.

"I'll take anything, to be honest with you," quipped Keaton, who has already won many awards, including the Golden Globe, and is considered a favorite for the best actor Oscar when Hollywood's top honors are handed out on Feb. 22.

Moore, another Oscar nominee and favorite to win, won best actress for "Still Alice," in which she plays a professor with Alzheimer's disease.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" was named best comedy film, also winning for art direction and costume design, while best comedy actress went to Jenny Slate for "Obvious Child."

Supporting actor Oscar nominee J.K. Simmons won the critics award for his turn as a hard-driving music teacher in "Whiplash," while Ellar Coltrane was named best young actor or actress for "Boyhood."

"A year ago I really didn't think anyone was going to care about this movie," he said.

Best action film went to the box office hit "Guardians of the Galaxy," while Bradley Cooper won best actor in an action film for the true-life war film, "American Sniper." Emily Blunt won best actress in an action movie for "Edge of Tomorrow."

The award for best animated film was won by "The Lego Movie," which was snubbed in the Oscar nominations.

Screenplay awards went to "Gone Girl" and "Birdman." Best foreign language film was "Force Majeure," while "Life Itself" won the best documentary prize.

Among honorary awards, Kevin Costner received a lifetime achievement award, Jessica Chastain was presented with the group's first MVP, or most valuable player, honor, and director Ron Howard received the Louis XIII Genius Award.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Boyhood, 'Grand Budapest' take top Golden Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Coming of age tale "Boyhood" won the coveted Golden Globe for best drama on Sunday, while the quirky period caper "The Grand Budapest Hotel" was the surprise winner for best comedy or musical, in a big upset to awards season front-runner "Birdman."

The first major awards for the Hollywood film industry this year were scattered widely among many films, potentially setting up a complex race towards the industry's top honors, the Oscars on Feb. 22.

"Boyhood" took three Globes, including the night's top honor, a reward for the unprecedented cinematic venture of making a film over 12 years with the same actors. The man behind the low-budget experiment, Richard Linklater, won best director and Patricia Arquette won best supporting actress.

"Birdman," a satire of show business that led all nominees with seven nods, picked up best screenplay and best actor in a comedy or musical for Michael Keaton, embodying a comeback in film and real life.

"Alejandro, there is not a person in this room who won't show up for your next gig," said Keaton of "Birdman" director Alejandro Inarritu.

But "The Grand Budapest Hotel" from director Wes Anderson was the big surprise of the night as best comedy or musical, although it only took home that one award.

Civil rights drama "Selma" won one award, for best song, while "The Imitation Game" walked away empty-handed.

The outcome of the 72nd Globes will not influence the Academy Awards slate, since voting for next week's nominees announcement is closed. But it can give crucial momentum to the Oscar race.

Other top actor awards went to performers who portrayed the pain of illness.

Julianne Moore won best actress in a drama as an early-onset Alzheimer's patient in "Still Alice," while Eddie Redmayne took best actor in a drama for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything."

It was a more somber night than usual for the Golden Globes, usually one of the more rambunctious events in the awards season, organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Politics played heavily into acceptance speeches, from support for the Hispanic and transgender communities to calls to protect freedom of expression and solidarity after the deadly attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

George Clooney, receiving a lifetime achievement award and sporting a lapel pin declaring "Je suis Charlie," noted the "extraordinary day" in Paris and around the world as millions of people and world leaders marched to pay tribute to victims of Islamist militant attacks.

"They marched in support of the idea that we will not walk in fear," said Clooney. "Je suis Charlie."

The following are film and television winners at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Sunday.

FILM

BEST DRAMA
"Boyhood"

BEST COMEDY OR MUSICAL
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Michael Keaton, "Birdman"

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Amy Adams, "Big Eyes"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Leviathan," Russia

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"

BEST SCREENPLAY
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, "Birdman"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Johann Johannsson, "The Theory of Everything"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Glory," for "Selma" - John Legend, Common

TELEVISION

BEST DRAMA SERIES
"The Affair"

BEST COMEDY SERIES
"Transparent"

BEST MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
"Fargo"

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES
Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES
Ruth Wilson, "The Affair"

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent"

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Gina Rodriguez, "Jane the Virgin"

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

New York critics pick 'Boyhood' as best film

NEW YORK -- "Boyhood," a coming-of-age drama filmed over 12 years with the same actors, dominated the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on Monday, winning best picture of 2014, best director for Richard Linklater and the best supporting actress category.

Actor Timothy Spall was named best actor for his portrayal of one of Britain's greatest painters, J.M.W. Turner, in "Mr. Turner," and Marion Cotillard nabbed the top actress honors for roles in two films, "The Immigrant" and "Two Days, One Night."

With presentation set for on January 5 in New York, these are the first major movie awards in the run-up to the Oscars, the film industry's highest accolades.

Actor J.K. Simmons picked up the best supporting actor prize for playing a music teacher who terrorizes a student in "Whiplash," while Patricia Arquette won best supporting actress as the mother in "Boyhood," which follows a boy growing up from age 5 to 18.

The New York Film Critics Circle, founded in 1935, is among the oldest such groups in the country and its members represent newspapers, magazines and online publications.

The awards are regarded as a bellwether for the Oscars, which will be bestowed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on February 22.

The NYFCC selected "The Lego Movie" as the best animated film and "Ida," the story of a young woman on the verge of taking her vows as a nun in 1960s Poland, as best foreign film.

"Citizenfour," a documentary by director Laura Poitras about former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who released tens of thousands of classified documents to the media, was named best non-fiction film.

The best screenplay award went to Wes Anderson for "The Grand Budapest Hotel," a tale about a concierge in a famous fictional hotel between the first and second World Wars, and the best cinematography prize to Darius Khondji for "The Immigrant."

Jennifer Kent won the best first-film prize for her thriller "The Babadook."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com