The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, now in their 35th year, hosted a battle between Carlos the Jackal and Mark Zuckerberg the punk. genius. billionaire. The Social Network co-founder won. But not without some concessions... including a tie.
Picture: The Social Network[Runner up:
Carlos]
Director: (tie) Olivier Assayas for
Carlos and David Fincher for
The Social NetworkActress: Kim Hye-Ja in
Mother[Runner up: Jennifer Lawrence in
Winter's Bone]
Actor: Colin Firth in
The King's Speech[Runner up: Edgar Ramirez in
Carlos]
Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver in
Animal Kingdom *check out this acceptance speech*[Runner up: Olivia Williams in
Ghost Writer]
Supporting Actor Neils Arestrup in
A Prophet[Runner up: Geoffrey Rush in
The King's Speech]
Screenplay Aaron Sorkin for
The Social Network[Runner up: The King's Speech]
Cinematography Matthew Libatique for
Black Swan [Runner up: Roger Deakins for
True Grit]
Music (tie)
The Social Network and Alexandre Desplat
The Ghost WriterProduction Design Guy Dyas for
Inception [runner up:
The King's Speech]
Documentary Last Train Home [Runner up:
Exit Through the Gift Shop]
Experimental Jean Luc Godard's
Film SocialismeForeign Film Carlos (France)
[Runner up:
Mother (South Korea)]
Animated Film Toy Story 3[Runner up:
The Illusionist]
New Generation Lena Dunham for
Tiny Furniture
Legacy of Cinema Award Serge Bromberg,
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno, and the F.W. Murnau Foundation and Fernando Pena for the restoration of
MetropolisCareer Achievement Paul Mazursky
The win for Jacki Weaver is good news for that fine Australian film. They did a good thing, sweetie. Though
Animal Kingdom was the first or near-first screener out, it didn't necessarily have a strong "watch me" hook for Academy voters who hadn't been paying attention to Sundance buzz. I've said ever since January that if people watch this movie, she'll be nominated. Simple as that. But you have to get the voters to watch. This vote of confidence from Los Angelenos can't hurt.
I'm also thrilled for
Last Train Home which is my choice for Best Documentary of the Year ...unless
Prodigal Sons counts as this year... I get so confused. I'm totally horrified that it didn't make
Oscar's finalist list.
Unless of course it wasn't eligible for some reason. It's so tough to track with docs and shorts and whatnot, these eligibility requirements and windows.
Finally, it's good to see LAFCA staying true to their own impulses with all the foreign film love. This group tends to not be as beholden to Oscar frontrunners as many other critics groups are. That said, I'm still unsure about how I feel about
Carlos winning film prizes. I know it was released theatrically but wasn't it made as a TV miniseries?
ONE FINAL IMPORTANT NOTE: South Korea's
Mother & France's
A Prophet, which both won awards today with Los Angeles critics, represent flip sides of the same Oscar coin. Both were submitted for
Oscar consideration last year in the foreign film category but were
not released in Los Angeles theaters in 2009 rendering them ineligible for other Oscar nominations that year. They both received theatrical releases in 2010, and because of Oscar rules on that matter, only
Mother is now eligible for Oscar consideration (in all categories EXCEPT foreign film since it had its shot last year).
A Prophet, having been nominated in its only eligible category last year, is not eligible for any further consideration. Make sense?
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