The LA Film Critics are usually the first to give their picks for the year-end best of film awards. I'm happy to see them award Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote. He was outstanding. I will be seeing Brokeback Mountain soon. They also awarded best documentary to one of my favorite films of the year, Grizzly Man (penguins be damned!). It's a great movie, and the Academy has deemed it ineligible for Oscar contention. Fuckers.

Anyway, here's the story from IMDB.


L.A. Film Critics Pick Brokeback Mountain

Heralding the opening of this year's awards season, the Los Angeles Film Critics bestowed their honors this weekend, naming Brokeback Mountain as Best Picture. The western, about two cowboys who fall in love, also won the Best Director award for Ang Lee, and star Heath Ledger was the runner-up for Best Actor. Besting Ledger was Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose portrayal of Truman Capote in Capote was voted Best Actor, and Hoffman's co-star, Catherine Keener, was named Best Supporting Actress for that film and three others in which she appeared this year: The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and The Interpreter. For Best Actress, the critics group went far against the grain, choosing Vera Farmiga for the indie film Down to the Bone. Best Supporting Actor went to William Hurt for A History of Violence, and Screenplay honors were shared by Capote and The Squid and the Whale. The official awards ceremony is scheduled for January 17. Here's the entire list of winners:
Picture: Brokeback Mountain

Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Actress: Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone

Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence

Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, Capote, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and The Interpreter

Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Screenplay: Capote & The Squid and the Whale (tie)

Foreign Language Film: Cache

Documentary/Nonfiction Film: Grizzly Man

Animation: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Music/Score: Howl's Moving Castle

Cinematography: Good Night, And Good Luck

Production Design: 2046

New Generation: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow

Career Achievement: Richard Widmark

Independent/experimental: La Commune (Paris, 1871)

What's Grizzly Man about?

Ace said:

Crazy fucker who lived with the Alaskan grizzly bears every summer for 13 years. He got himself and his girlfriend killed in 2003 by a bear that ate them alive. Great film by legendary director Werner Herzog.

http://www.grizzlyman.com/

More picks from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review.


NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE:

Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Actor: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence
Supporting Actress: Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Screenplay: The Squid and the Whale
Non-Fiction Films: Grizzly Man and White Diamond
Foreign Language Film: 2046
First Feature: Capote
Animated Feature: Howl's Moving Castle
Cinematography: 2046


NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW:

Picture: Good Night, and Good Luck
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Supporting Actress: Gong Li, Memoirs of a Geisha
Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Ensemble Acting: Mrs. Henderson Presents
Breakthrough Performance: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow, Crash, Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Original Screenplay: The Squid and the Whale
Adapted Screenplay: Syriana

National Board of Review's Top 10 Movies of 2005: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, A History of Violence, Match Point, Memoirs of a Geisha, Munich, Walk the Line

Let's not forget the Golden Globes, even if people think they are a joke. I think "Brokeback Mountain" leads the list of nominees. I highly doubt this movie will make money, though. I'm surprised "A History Of Voilence" is doing so well...that movie looked like low budget nonsense to me. The Globes certainly have interesting nominees, in movies and in TV (although, all of the female comedy spots being taken by "Desperate Housewives" and "Mary Lousie Parker" for a short lived cable comedy about pot and the suburbs suggest that the sitcom is probably dead). Lots of inidies. I look forward to seeing "Captoe" and hope it gets a wider release. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the best actors out there!

Here is the list of nominees
http://apnews1.iwon.com/a...FIAO0.html

RipHer2Shreds said:

It's my favourite film right now.

By the way, I wouldn't call him crazy. He was extremely passionate about what he was doing and prepared to take great risks to pursue his dreams. This is something he shares with Herzog, but at the same time the two represent opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of background and attitude towards life, and the encounter between them is part of the reason why this is essential viewing.
[Edited 12/13/05 9:08am]

retina said:

I would call him crazy. I shouldn't be so flippant about it, but I truly believe he was mentally ill. Some of his rants were a bit on the scary side. But the film itself was completely fascinating, and is a definite favorite of mine this year.