HollywoodElsewhere
Jeff Wells
How NYFCC Balloting Went Down
A guy who was right in the thick of today’s New York Film Critics Circle balloting (which took almost five hours to complete) shares the following: “For four ballots the Best Picture vote was essentially a tie between American Hustle and 12 Years A Slave, and then Hustle finally won in a run-off vote against Slave. So it basically took five ballots. Inside Llewyn Davis was a contender all day long but it didn’t have the votes. At least it did better than The Wolf of Wall Street, which didn’t compete strongly in any category.“The Best Supporting Actress vote went on for three ballots, and was very close between Hustle‘s Jennifer Lawrence and 12 Years A Slave‘s Lupita N’yongo. Nebraska‘s June Squibb was in there but not very strongly.
“The Best Director voting was very strongly for Steve McQueen, David O’Russell, Alfonso Cuaron and the Coen brothers but McQueen and Russell were very close…and then McQueen took it on the fourth ballot.
“There was no strong challenge against Cate Blanchett for Best Actress although there was some support for Adele “whatsername” (i.e., Exarchopoulos) and Hustle‘s Amy Adams.
“Robert Redford‘s Best Actor trophy was decided on a second ballot. The bulk of the first-ballot votes went to Redford and Slave‘s Chiweitel Ejiofor. A certain level of support was also there for Oscar Isaac, Bruce Dern and Matthew McConaughey.
Jared Leto took Best Supporting Actor on the second ballot. His closest competitors were 12 Years A Slave‘s Michael Fassbender and Spring Breakers‘ James Franco. Jonah Hill got a couple of votes but nothing to speak of.
“After the Best Screenplay win for Eric Singer and David O. Russell’s American Hustle, the strongest runner-up was Before Midnight followed by Spike Jonze‘s Her screenplay and the Coen brothers’Inside Llewyn Davis.
“Sarah Polley‘s Stories We Tell was a third ballot win for Best Non-Fiction. The Act of Killing and 20 Feet From Stardom were the runners-up.
“There was no formidable competition for the Best Cinematography award won by Inside Llewyn Davis‘s Bruno Delbonnel. The strongest runners-up were for Gravity and Nebraska. The Wolf of Wall Street got one or two votes.
“The Wolf of Wall Street was not a contender for Best Picture or in any other category,” he says.
“There never any debate or discussion about anything — people just come in and vote. The first ballot and then if there’s no winner it goes to a weighted second ballot (3, 2, 1) and then the proxies drop out on the third ballot.”
showbiz411
NY Film Critics Awards: They Get it Mostly Right (and White) with Redford, Blanchett, Leto, Lawrence
The New York Film Critics got it mostly right– and white– choosing their award winners today. They did pick Steve McQueen for Best Director of “12 Years a Slave,” but didn’t give that movie Best Picture or award any of its actors. They also sort of skipped right over “The Butler” and “Mandela.” They awarded “Fruitvale Station” Best First Feature, which is better than nothing.
The group’s choices for the best actors are, I think, three for four with the ultimate Oscar outcome: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence. I love JL, but I do think Best Supporting Actress will go either to Oprah Winfrey or Lupita N’yongo.
David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” a movie I loved, won Best Picture. Russell is going to benefit from “Silver Linings Playbook” not getting the big awards last year. He’s going to get a lot of love on the splash back.
Could the NYFCC have been edgier? Yes. But they want stars at their proceedings. And they may have cut the idiotic National Board of Review off at the pass with these choices. When the NBR’s supreme high commanders make their fandecisions tomorrow, I still say they will err toward “Gravity” and other Warner Bros. fare. George Clooney will be presented with a virgin at their ceremony in January.
Best Film
American Hustle
Best Actor
Robert Redford, All Is Lost
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Director
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Foreign Language Film
Blue Is The Warmest Color
Best Supporting Actor
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Animated Film
The Wind Rises
Best Screenplay
American Hustle
Special Award
Frederick Wiseman
Best Cinematography
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best First Film
Fruitvale Station
Best Non-fiction Film (Documentary)
Stories We Tell
