Three major critics groups announced their 2015 winners today, and all three—the Los Angles Film Critics Association, the Boston Film Critics Society, and New York Film Critics Online—chose Tom McCarthy’s excellent drama Spotlight as their pick for the Best Picture of the year. They also chose McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer for Best Screenplay, and BSFC and NYFCO gave it Best Ensemble (LAFCA doesn’t have that category).
Outside of that, it was hard to find any consistency among the groups outside of Best Documentary for Amy, which is kind of a bummer since there are way better docs that were released this year. While I would definitely stay tuned to Awards Beat since Adam is our resident pro at breaking down the awards race, I’ll personally say it’s at least refreshing to see a lack of frontrunners, and it should make things interesting while it lasts.
Check out the list of winners below.
LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
BEST PICTURE: Spotlight
BEST DIRECTOR: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ACTRESS: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
BEST ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
BEST SCREENPLAY: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST EDITING: Hank Corwin, The Big Short
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Son of Saul
BEST ANIMATION: Anomalisa
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy
BEST MUSIC SCORE: Carter Burwell, Anomalisa & Carol
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Editor Anne V. Coates.
BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS
BEST PICTURE: Spotlight
BEST DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes, Carol
BEST ACTOR: (Tie) Paul Dano, Love & Mercy, Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
BEST ACTRESS: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ed Lachman, Carol
BEST SCREENPLAY: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
BEST EDITING: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Atticus Ross, Love & Mercy
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Spotlight
BEST ANIMATED FILM: (Tie) Inside Out & Anomalisa
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy
BEST NEW FILMMAKER: Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Look of Silence
NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE
BEST PICTURE: Spotlight
BEST DIRECTOR: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
BEST ACTOR: Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
BEST ACTRESS: Brie Larson, Room
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Rooney Mara, Carol
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
BEST SCREENPLAY: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Atticus Ross, Love & Mercy
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Spotlight
BEST ANIMATED FILM: Inside Out
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy
BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR: Alex Garland, Ex Machina
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Son of Saul
