The Bataan Red Carpet March of awards season trudges grimly on, as the miles-long caravan of celebrities—their gowns tattered, their starving burros laden with gift bags, their barely masked hostility at having to talk to Giuliana Rancic beginning to slip—made its latest stop at the Critics’ Choice Awards last night. More than the People’s Choice Awards, the Kids’ Choice Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, the Healthy Choice Awards, the Sophie’s Choice Awards, etc., the Critics’ Choice Awards mean the most because they come from the critics, who are given this one, annual chance to say what movies they like. And this year, the critics said they liked Birdman, a movie that said that all critics are preening, pretentious, vindictive assholes. But, ’twas all in good fun.
While Birdman took home the most of the Critics’ Choices—including two awards for Michael Keaton, one for its entire acting ensemble, and nods for its screenplay, cinematography, editing, and drum-pounding score—Boyhood arguably had the strongest showing. Richard Linklater’s film added to its awards haul with another win for Best Picture, as well as Best Director, Best Supporting Actress for Patricia Arquette, and Best Young Actor/Actress for all the various ages of Ellar Coltrane.
That domination of Birdman and Boyhood echoed the Golden Globes, as did the wins for Still Alice’s Julianne Moore, Whiplash’s J.K. Simmons, Selma’s Best Song team of Common and John Legend, and the Best Comedy victory for The Grand Budapest Hotel. But the Critics’ Choice strategy of awarding movies according to more narrowly defined genres—thus extending the amount of time celebrities have to hang out with them—also saw some under-recognized films and performers take home trophies. Most notably, Jenny Slate won Best Actress In A Comedy for her role in Obvious Child, while Guardians Of The Galaxy finally won something for Best Action Movie. (Though even lovable Chris Pratt couldn’t overcome American Sniper’s Beard-ley Cooper for Best Actor In An Action Movie.)
Similarly, Emily Blunt’s performance in Edge Of Tomorrow was singled out for praise, giving that movie its first taste of awards season, while Interstellar’s win for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie finally gave Christopher Nolan’s space epic an accolade for something other than its score (even if it had to crawl over the arguably more deserving likes of Under The Skin and Snowpiercer to do it). The Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself—which resonated with movie critics, for obvious reasons—also triumphed in its category. And The Lego Movie overcame its Golden Globes loss and complete omission from the Oscars to win Best Animated Feature, proving that, at least once a year, critics get something right.
Elsewhere, Jessica Chastain received the 2014 MVP Award for starring in seemingly every movie in 2014; Kevin Costner was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for doing the same for most of the 1990s; and Ron Howard took home the LOUIS XIII Genius Award, presumably for his efforts at suppressing the French nobility.
Also, host Michael Strahan kicked off the show with strippers, an interpretive dance that perfectly evoked the dignity of awards season.
Here’s the complete list of nominees, with winners in bold. Only 100 more of these to go!
Best Picture
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory Of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash
Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory Of Everything
Best Actress
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory Of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Best Director
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
Angelina Jolie, Unbroken
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Comedy
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street
Best Actress in a Comedy
Rose Byrne, Neighbors
Rosario Dawson, Top Five
Melissa McCarthy, St. Vincent
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig, The Skeleton Twins
Best Actor in a Comedy
Jon Favreau, Chef
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Chris Rock, Top Five
Channing Tatum, 22 Jump Street
Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer
Best Young Actor/Actress
Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
Ansel Elgort, The Fault In Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy, Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher, St. Vincent
Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Quvenzhane Wallis, Annie
Noah Wiseman, The Babadook
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Book Of Life
The Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie
Best Action Movie
American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge Of Tomorrow
Fury
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Best Acting Ensemble
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into The Woods
Selma
Best Actor in an Action Movie
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Tom Cruise, Edge Of Tomorrow
Chris Evans, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt, Fury
Chris Pratt, Guardians Of The Galaxy
Best Actress in an Action Movie
Emily Blunt, Edge Of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson, Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Zoe Saldana, Guardians Of The Galaxy
Shailene Woodley, Divergent
Best Song
“Big Eyes, ” Lana Del Rey (Big Eyes)
“Everything Is Awesome,” Jo Li and The Lonely Island (The Lego Movie)
“Glory,” Common and John Legend (Selma)
“Lost Stars,” Keira Knightley (Begin Again)
“Yellow Flicker Beat,” Lorde (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1)
Best Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson, The Theory Of Everything
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Best Original Screenplay
Birdman, Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood, Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy
Whiplash, Damien Chazelle
Best Adapted Screenplay
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game, Graham Moore
Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory Of Everything, Anthony McCarten
Unbroken, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson
Wild, Nick Hornby
Best Cinematography
Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Robert Yeoman
Interstellar, Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner, Dick Poop Pope
Unbroken, Roger Deakins
Best Art Direction
Birdman, Kevin Thompson/Production Designer, George DeTitta Jr./Set Decorator
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Inherent Vice, David Crank/Production Designer, Amy Wells/Set Decorator
Interstellar, Nathan Crowley/Production Designer, Gary Fettis/Set Decorator
Into The Woods, Dennis Gassner/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Snowpiercer, Ondrej Nekvasil/Production Designer, Beatrice Brentnerova/Set Decorator
Best Editing
Birdman, Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Boyhood, Sandra Adair
Gone Girl, Kirk Baxter
Interstellar, Lee Smith
Whiplash, Tom Cross
Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice, Mark Bridges
Into The Woods, Colleen Atwood
Maleficent, Anna B. Sheppard
Mr. Turner, Jacqueline Durran
Best Hair and Makeup
Foxcatcher
Guardians Of The Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Into The Woods
Maleficent
Best Visual Effects
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Edge Of Tomorrow
Guardians Of The Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Interstellar
Best Sci-fi/Horror Movie
The Babadook
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Under The Skin
Best Foreign Language Film
Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales
Best Documentary Feature
Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Last Days In Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters