Sunday was a busy day for film awards watchers, with the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association both meeting to decide the best movies of 2013. The Boston Online Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Online groups also met. 12 Years A Slave was the big winner on the East Coast, but the LA critics felt differently, giving out Best Picture honors to both Gravity and Her.
The BSFC became the first group to give 12 Years A Slave the top prize. The film appeared to lose some steam after the New York critics named American Hustle their favorite film and the National Board of Review liked Her. Steve McQueen’s film also won Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Best Director.
Other top awards went to Blue Jasmine’s Cate Blanchett for Best Actress and June Squibb for her supporting role in Nebraska. The Boston group also gave the late James Gandolfini recognition for his supporting performance in Enough Said. Nicole Holofcener won for her screenplay for the film as well.
Nebraska won best ensemble cast and Inside Llewyn Davis won a special Best Use of Music in a Film award. Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler won Best New Filmmaker.
The LAFCA saw things a little differently and gave out several ties. Gravity and Her tied for Best Picture, while Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director. (Her’s Spike Jonze came in second.)
Their Best Actor went to Nebraska’s Bruce Dern, while Blanchett tied with Blue is the Warmest Color’s Adele Exarchopoulos for Best Actress. Best Supporting Actor was another tie, with Spring Breakers’ James Franco surprisingly getting recognition alongside frontrunner Jared Leto from Dallas Buyers Club. Lupita Nyong’o of 12 Years A Slave won for Best Supporting Actress.
The Boston Online Critics and the New York Online Critics also gave 12 Years A Slave Best Picture.
It’s worth noting that the Boston critics may have handed out more awards to Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street if they had seen it. The Boston Globe’s Ty Burr tweeted throughout the day that the film came in second in many categories, but others could not make it to a Friday screening of the film.
image: image.net/Jaap Buitendijk