Critics Choice Awards: ’12 Years,’ ‘American Hustle’ Earn 13 Nominations Each

Tim Gray

With “12 Years a Slave” and “American Hustle” leading the pack (13 bids each), plenty of films have reason to celebrate their nominations from the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, because it’s one of the more reliable Oscar gauges around.

The best pic contenders are: “American Hustle,” “Captain Phillips” (six nominations), “Dallas Buyers Club” (three), “Gravity” (10 noms), “Her” (six), “Inside Llewyn Davis” (four), “Nebraska” (six), “Saving Mr. Banks” (four), “12 Years a Slave” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (six).

Last year, eight of the org’s 10 best-picture nominees also earned Oscar nominations, a great batting average considering the Academy Awards only had nine best-picture slots. From 2009-2011 (when Oscar had more than five contenders for best pic), the Film Critics Assn. saw nine, nine and seven out of their 10 proceed to Oscar noms. From 2003-2008, when Oscar had five slots, all five of them had been included in the critics’ 10 choices.

While this is good news for today’s nominees, there is still plenty of hope for the absentees. First, there’s no logical reason for the correlation since there is no overlap in the voters between the two groups (unlike guild voting, where there IS some overlap with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences).

More important, this year is an oddity by all standards, since there are at least 15 movies that have a credible shot at an Oscar nomination. In the recent past when Oscar had five to 10 slots, it was pretty safe to predict a nomination for five or six hopefuls; the others were just possibilities. This year, there’s no way to predict how closely Oscar will parallel today’s top vote-getters, since the 2013 film slate offered ”an embarrassment of riches,” in the words of Broadcast Film Critics Assn. president Joey Berlin.

Also earning multiple noms were “The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug,” with five; “August: Osage County,” “Enough Said,” “Iron Man 3” and “Rush,” with four each.

As always, the org has some unique touches in its categories. For example, Christian Bale’s performance in “Hustle” earned him three nominations: best actor, best actor in a comedy and as part of the film’s ensemble nom. Sandra Bullock in “Gravity” has bids for best actress as well as best actress in an action movie; she’s also up for her comedy perf in “The Heat.” And James Gandolfini in “Enough Said” is cited as supporting actor overall, but best actor in a comedy.

“Gravity” is up for both film and sci-fi/horror film. Jennifer Lawrence is cited both for her supporting turn in “Hustle” and as action-film lead actress for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” Scarlett Johansson was nommed as supporting actress for “Her,” in which she is prominently heard but not seen.

With six noms, “The Wolf of Wall Street” made a strong showing, gaining momentum after being sidelined in other recent awards tallies because it was a late-year arrival with fewer screenings and screeners for voters. “Saving Mr. Banks” also rebounded, after getting a few isolated recognitions by other critics groups, and “Rush” continues to gain speed in the awards conversation. Proving that nominations make strange bedfellows, “Rush” and “Lone Survivor” are cited also in the action-film category, alongside such titles as “Catching Fire,” “Iron Man 3″ and “Star Trek Into Darkness.”

The nominations are given out by the BFCA, which began in 1995 and includes about 300 reviewers from TV, radio and online in the U.S. and Canada. Additional news for omen-seeking kudos watchers: Oscar’s eventually best-pic winner was in sync with the Broadcast Critics’ selection in seven of the last 10 years.

The 19th annual rite will be held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and telecast on the CW network, starting at 5 p.m. PST and airing live on the east coast. Aisha Tyler will host the show, produced by Bob Bain Prods. and Berlin Entertainment.

During the ceremony, a “Hottest Star” award will be announced, as voted on by the online audience of Defy Media’s digital entertainment news brand, Clevver.

It takes place on the evening of Jan. 16 — the same day that Oscars make a predawn nominations announcement and the day that Sundance opens.

A complete list of Critics Choice nominees:

BEST PICTURE

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Saving Mr. Banks

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford – All Is Lost

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Brie Larson – Short Term 12

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Scarlett Johansson – Her

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color

Liam James – The Way Way Back

Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief

Tye Sheridan – Mud

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

American Hustle

August: Osage County

Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Nebraska

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Spike Jonze – Her

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O. Russell – American Hustle

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Eric Singer and David O. Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Spike Jonze – Her

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Tracy Letts – August: Osage County

Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis

Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska

Roger Deakins – Prisoners

Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave

BEST ART DIRECTION

Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) – Gravity

Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) – The Great Gatsby

K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) – Her

Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) – 12 Years a Slave

BEST EDITING

Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers – American Hustle

Christopher Rouse – Captain Phillips

Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger – Gravity

Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill – Rush

Joe Walker – 12 Years a Slave

Thelma Schoonmaker – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Michael Wilkinson – American Hustle

Catherine Martin – The Great Gatsby

Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Daniel Orlandi – Saving Mr. Banks

Patricia Norris – 12 Years a Slave

BEST MAKEUP

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Rush

12 Years a Slave

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

BEST ACTION MOVIE

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Iron Man 3

Lone Survivor

Rush

Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Henry Cavill – Man of Steel

Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man 3

Brad Pitt – World War Z

Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Gwyneth Paltrow – Iron Man 3

BEST COMEDY

American Hustle

Enough Said

The Heat

This Is the End

The Way Way Back

The World’s End

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Simon Pegg – The World’s End

Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Sandra Bullock – The Heat

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said

Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE

The Conjuring

Gravity

Star Trek into Darkness

World War Z

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Blue Is the Warmest Color

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

Wadjda

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Stories We Tell

Tim’s Vermeer

20 Feet from Stardom

BEST SONG

Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Happy – Pharrell Williams – Despicable Me 2

Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen

Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver – Inside Llewyn Davis

Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby

BEST SCORE

Steven Price – Gravity

Arcade Fire – Her

Thomas Newman – Saving Mr. Banks

Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

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