Broadcast Film Critics Awards 2004

Awards Page Index * OSCAR coverage here
'04 BFCA Nominations
by Nathaniel R

with commentary

Best Picture

Here's where things in the Oscar race start to go from interesting to boring... (it usually coincides with the release of the BFCA nominations) The Aviator * Collateral * Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind * Finding Neverland * Hotel Rwanda * Kinsey * Million Dollar Baby * The Phantom of the Opera * Ray * Sideways

You can predict the BFCA top ten in your sleep --really you can. Not for them any of the bizarre left field choices that the NBR sometimes throws in (even if the NBR is sometimes obviously fixed to represent each studio). Not for them any of the options that don't have any chance with Oscar like the AFI (who do actually seem to be thinking about 10 pictures that are the best and most representative of that year even if they sometimes fail miserably) will toss in to their mix. No the BFCA will invariably go for the easy --these are the Oscar finalists call. Note the non-presence of The Incredibles which does have something of a consensus as one of the year's best. And the absence of any foreign language films despite high scoring. (The BFCA does not have rules against these types of films appearing. They just don't because it would be inconvienent to their predictive status) When it becomes obvious that a film will not be able to muster the big show Oscar nomination, the BFCA won't touch it. Or as one of my films so eloquently put it when we were discussing the BFCA nominations "me hate."

More than any group their existence seems to be entirely about predicting the Oscars. Predicting the Oscars is fun. I live for it. But when it comes to doling out my own awards about what is the "best" of the year, which films and performances have a chance with Oscar is of no interest to me during that exercize. I'm only interested in what I consider "best" --The BFCA is only interested in what the AMPAS voters will consider "best" --this is also undoubtedly why they have 6 wide categories in each of the lead acting fields... all the better to insure that they have predicted 100% of the nominees.

What I'm betting will win: The Aviator or Million Dollar Baby or whichever other film seems to be looking like it is the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar by the time they have their ballots in hand.

Best Actor

Their nominees Bardem - Sea Inside * Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda * Depp -Neverland * DiCaprio - Aviator * Foxx - Ray * Giamatti - Sideways Like the Globes they are hopelessly enamored by famous man who can mimic real people (5 of their 6 nominees are biopic draws). Therefore the shocking snub has to be Liam Neeson, whose performance in Kinsey is superior to some of these. But again... the BFCA is all about where the current buzz is and Kinsey has been fading. And where is Jeff Bridges, The Door in the Floor ? I hope none of these BFCA columnists dare attempt to use that dusty cliché about AMPAS voters short term memories this year in the Oscar articles. Pot meet kettle.

Best Actress

Their nominees Bening - Being Julia * Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace * Staunton - Vera Drake * Swank - Million Dollar Baby * Thurman - KBv2 * Winslet - Eternal Sunshine Covering their bases with six nominees. And these are obviously the six leaders after the Globe announcements and the critical precursors announced. I would be surprised if someone else could rise up at this point for Oscar. The egregious snub here? I'd say Julie Delpy who was definitely a "critical choice" for much of the year but nowhere to be found in the "critics choice (snort)" awards. Still, I suppose I should give the BFCA voters props for recognizing Uma Thurman. Now, let's hope Oscar follows.

Best Supporting Actor

Thomas Haden Church - Sideways
Jamie Foxx - Collateral
Morgan Freeman - Million Dollar Baby
Clive Owen - Closer
Peter Sarsgaard - Kinsey

Other than that CATEGORY FRAUD for Jamie Foxx in Collateral, this is a respectable lineup... and probably similar to Oscars. Notice they dumped Carradine which is more shocking here than in other places because they did think to include Uma.

Jamie Foxx is obviously the 2004 winner of "whose ass we'd most like to kiss" since they keep making up awards or situations where they can throw awards at him. In fact, I'm VERY surprised that they didn't make the Acting Ensemble award five nominee deep and throw in Collateral just so they could give him another one.

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
Laura Linney - Kinsey
Virginia Madsen - Sideways
Natalie Portman - Closer
Kate Winslet - Finding Neverland

This was my Oscar prediction prior to the BFCA announcement and I believe it's the final AMPAS lineup as well. Nobody when cornered thinks Winslet's Neverland performance is among her best work... but everybody seems to like the movie so therefore she's in. Again... it's all about the buzz. (Performance being secondary to movies themselves when it comes time to award acting prizes). Linney is just about the strongest lock for an Oscar nod and most people don't feel Kinsey is among her best work ever either --but awards entities LOVE with an unbridled passion the "woman as helpmeet" role so therefore she's been a frontrunner all season long. But in fairness to the BFCA this category has been weaker than in previous years (I believe Portman is a lead but at least it's not FRAUDULENT in the way Jamie Foxx's Collateral nomination is... you can after all read Closer in all sorts of ways when it comes to who is the lead and who supports)

Best Acting Ensemble

Closer

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Ocean's Twelve

Sideways

Also known as the "How do we boost our ratings to insure we keep getting to have a televised ceremony?" award. Note that they chose two acting exercizes (to legitimize their prize) Closer and Sideways. And then threw in two films with the hugest ensembles they could find.

I think the BFCA is attempting to bring Julia Roberts out of maternal hiding with her two nominations in this category... and if they do so, they've definitely helped boost their ratings.

Question: Why is this category only four deep? Odd. Throwing in a fifth would get you even more stars at your ceremony. How about I Heart Huckabees? That's more hipster stars AND a good acting ensemble. The Manchurian Candidate -that'd get you awards fixtures Streep and Washington at the ceremony! Or The Aviator --that'd get you the non nominated and huge supporting cast... maybe even a rock star at your ceremony? Spider-Man 2 for Dunst, Molina, and MacGuire? It's a rare moment of restraint that they only went with four nominees.

Best Director


Clint Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby Marc Forster - Finding Neverland Taylor Hackford - Ray Alexander Payne - Sideways Martin Scorsese - The Aviator No comment. OK. I did comment but it's over in the Oscar Diary...

Best Writer
Bill Condon - Kinsey
Charlie Kaufman - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
John Logan - The Aviator
David Magee - Finding Neverland
Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor - Sideways

Best Animated Feature
The Incredibles
The Polar Express
Shrek 2

Best Young Actor
Liam Aiken - Lemony Snicket
Cameron Bright - Birth
Freddie Highmore - Finding Neverland
Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter and...
William Ullrich - Beyond The Sea

Best Young Actress
Emily Browning - Lemony Snicket
Dakota Fanning - Man on Fire
Lindsay Lohan - Mean Girls
Emmy Rossum - The Phantom of the Opera
Emma Watson - Harry Potter and...

Best Popular Movie
The Bourne Supremacy
The Incredibles
Napoleon Dynamite
The Passion of the Christ
Spider-Man 2

Best Family Film (live action)
Finding Neverland
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Miracle
Spider-Man 2

Best Documentary Feature
Control Room
Fahrenheit 9/11
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Super Size Me

Best Foreign Language Film
House of Flying Daggers
Maria Full of Grace
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Sea Inside
A Very Long Engagement

Best Song
"Accidentally in Love", Counting Crows - Shrek 2
"Believe", Josh Groban - The Polar Express
"Old Habits Die Hard", Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart - Alfie

Best Soundtrack
Alfie
Beyond The Sea
De-Lovely
Garden State
Ray

Best Composer
Michael Giacchino - The Incredibles
Rolfe Kent - Sideways
Howard Shore - The Aviator




Here's where things in the Oscar race start to go from interesting to boring... (it usually coincides with the release of the BFCA nominations) The Aviator * Collateral * Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind * Finding Neverland * Hotel Rwanda * Kinsey * Million Dollar Baby * The Phantom of the Opera * Ray * Sideways You can predict the BFCA top ten in your sleep --really you can. Not for them any of the bizarre left field choices that the NBR sometimes throws in (even if the NBR is sometimes obviously fixed to represent each studio). Not for them any of the options that don't have any chance with Oscar like the AFI (who do actually seem to be thinking about 10 pictures that are the best and most representative of that year even if they sometimes fail miserably) will toss in to their mix. No the BFCA will invariably go for the easy --these are the Oscar finalists call. Note the non-presence of The Incredibles which does have something of a consensus as one of the year's best. And the absence of any foreign language films despite high scoring. (The BFCA does not have rules against these types of films appearing. They just don't because it would be inconvienent to their predictive status) When it becomes obvious that a film will not be able to muster the big show Oscar nomination, the BFCA won't touch it. Or as one of my films so eloquently put it when we were discussing the BFCA nominations "me hate." More than any group their existence seems to be entirely about predicting the Oscars. Predicting the Oscars is fun. I live for it. But when it comes to doling out my own awards about what is the "best" of the year, which films and performances have a chance with Oscar is of no interest to me during that exercize. I'm only interested in what I consider "best" --The BFCA is only interested in what the AMPAS voters will consider "best" --this is also undoubtedly why they have 6 wide categories in each of the lead acting fields... all the better to insure that they have predicted 100% of the nominees. What I'm betting will win: The Aviator or Million Dollar Baby or whichever other film seems to be looking like it is the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar by the time they have their ballots in hand.


Their nominees Bardem - Sea Inside * Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda * Depp -Neverland * DiCaprio - Aviator * Foxx - Ray * Giamatti - Sideways Like the Globes they are hopelessly enamored by famous man who can mimic real people (5 of their 6 nominees are biopic draws). Therefore the shocking snub has to be Liam Neeson, whose performance in Kinsey is superior to some of these. But again... the BFCA is all about where the current buzz is and Kinsey has been fading. And where is Jeff Bridges, The Door in the Floor ? I hope none of these BFCA columnists dare attempt to use that dusty cliché about AMPAS voters short term memories this year in the Oscar articles. Pot meet kettle.


Their nominees Bening - Being Julia * Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace * Staunton - Vera Drake * Swank - Million Dollar Baby * Thurman - KBv2 * Winslet - Eternal Sunshine Covering their bases with six nominees. And these are obviously the six leaders after the Globe announcements and the critical precursors announced. I would be surprised if someone else could rise up at this point for Oscar. The egregious snub here? I'd say Julie Delpy who was definitely a "critical choice" for much of the year but nowhere to be found in the "critics choice (snort)" awards. Still, I suppose I should give the BFCA voters props for recognizing Uma Thurman. Now, let's hope Oscar follows.


Cate Blanchett - The Aviator Laura Linney - Kinsey Virginia Madsen - Sideways Natalie Portman - Closer Kate Winslet - Finding Neverland This was my Oscar prediction prior to the BFCA announcement and I believe it's the final AMPAS lineup as well. Nobody when cornered thinks Winslet's Neverland performance is among her best work... but everybody seems to like the movie so therefore she's in. Again... it's all about the buzz. (Performance being secondary to movies themselves when it comes time to award acting prizes). Linney is just about the strongest lock for an Oscar nod and most people don't feel Kinsey is among her best work ever either --but awards entities LOVE with an unbridled passion the "woman as helpmeet" role so therefore she's been a frontrunner all season long. But in fairness to the BFCA this category has been weaker than in previous years (I believe Portman is a lead but at least it's not FRAUDULENT in the way Jamie Foxx's Collateral nomination is... you can after all read Closer in all sorts of ways when it comes to who is the lead and who supports)