If you recall from when we posted the nominees for the Broadcast Film Critic Awards (BFCA) a month ago, we mentioned how they can often serve as a surprisingly effective preview of what the Oscars might bring. For instance, last year they were able to predict nine eventual Oscar winners, including all of the major categories, after “Slumdog Millionaire” connected with both the critics and the Oscar voters alike. The year before “No Country For Old Men” was the film that was able to align itself with both audiences, and the BFCA used it to predict seven Oscars. And so a recent trend has seemed to arise where the favorite film amongst the critics is also that with the Academy. Will this year be the same? Let’s hope so, as these already look like many of the favored Academy winners.
BFCA Winners:
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Best Acting Ensemble: Inglourious Basterds
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges
Best Actress: tie! Meryl Streep & Sandra Bullock
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious
Best Young Actress: Saoirse Ronan
Best Documentary: The Cove
Best Foreign Language Film: Broken Embraces
Best Animated Movie: Up
Best Comedy Movie: The Hangover
Best Action Movie: Avatar
Best Score: Up
Best Song: The Weary Kind
*newly added tech categories not previously done by the BFCA
Best Costume Design: The Young Victoria
Best Make-Up: District 9
Best Cinematography: Avatar
Best Visual Effects: Avatar
Best Art Direction: Avatar
Best Editing: Avatar
Best Sound: Avatar
We must admit the winners couldn’t have gotten any better in our opinion, and we are happy with every category (save for the lame tie with the Actresses). If the Oscars go down like this we’ll be pretty much pleased as punch. “The Hurt Locker” has been chosen as the critics’ favorite film this year, so now let’s see if the Academy has the balls to follow suit. The same goes for its director, Kathryn Bigelow, who will be the first female to win the Directing Oscar if she does (and lord she and that film do deserve to win those top two awards). Most of us were fans of “Inglourious Basterds,” so we’re content with the three awards it received (even if it did prevent Marc Boal, the writer of “The Hurt Locker,” from winning). We’re also glad to see Jeff Bridges finally get his due for “Crazy Heart” and Ryan Bingham (ironically the name of George Clooney’s character in “Up in the Air”) awarded for its theme song. “Up” of course proved not even a witty, inventively animated movie with a hip soundtrack like “Fantastic Mr. Fox” can crack Pixar’s winning strategy, while “Up in the Air” was pretty much left down and out. Also worth noting, is how “Nine,” the film that had the most nominations to its credit with ten, was left completely in the cold. Finally, the BFCA added the technical categories for the first time this year, but we can’t tell if it was a good idea. They basically gave most of them to “Avatar,” so we don’t know if the critics actually know what they’re looking for or were just giving in to the hype. Either way, we’re just glad they kept the film isolated to tech awards honestly. It is a technical achievement for sure, but it belongs in those categories and nowhere else.
VH1 has a pretty good recap of the night if you’re looking for video and photos. Though no, as much as they’d like to frame it that way, Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock did not really make out. — Jonathan Helm
