The members of the Georgia Film Critics Association (yep, there are apparently enough film critics in Georgia to make up an association) made their top picks in 2014 film today, with several surprises making the list.
Proving that even a locally-filmed movie isn't guaranteed an automatic Best Picture pick, the group chose "Boyhood" over "Selma" for its favorite film of the year, though "Selma" did take the Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema Award (maybe not such a huge accomplishment when you consider that many of the year's worst movies were also filmed in-state).
Another eyebrow-raiser was the choice of Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in the little-seen but highly lauded "Nightcrawler" over other heavy hitters including David Oyelowo in "Selma" and Michael Keaton in "Birdman," though the most glaring omission is a lack of a nomination for Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Imitation Game," who seems to be an odds-on favorite to at least score an Oscar nomination.
And Marion Cotillard picked up an award for Best Actress for her performance in "Two Days, One Night" (which hasn't yet opened in Georgia) over Julianne Moore in "Still Alice."
Check out the full list of the group's picks below and let us know what you think in the comments section.
Best Picture
- "Birdman"
- "Boyhood"
- "Gone Girl"
- "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
- "Ida"
- "A Most Violent Year"
- "Nightcrawler"
- "Selma"
- "Snowpiercer"
- "Whiplash"
Best Director
- "Boyhood" - Richard Linklater
- "Gone Girl" - David Fincher
- "The Grand Budapest Hotel" - Wes Anderson
- "Selma" - Ava DuVernay
- "Whiplash" - Damien Chazelle
Best Actor
- Ralph Fiennes ("The Grand Budapest Hotel")
- Jake Gyllenhaal ("Nightcrawler")
- Michael Keaton ("Birdman")
- David Oyelowo ("Selma")
- Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything")
Best Actress
- Marion Cotillard ("Two Days, One Night")
- Scarlett Johansson ("Under the Skin")
- Felicity Jones ("The Theory of Everything")
- Lisa Loven Kongsli ("Force Majeure")
- Julianne Moore ("Still Alice")
- Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl")
Best Supporting Actor
- Riz Ahmed ("Nightcrawler")
- 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")
- Rene Russo ("Nightcrawler")
- Emma Stone ("Birdman")
- Tilda Swinton ("Snowpiercer")
Best Original Screenplay
- "Boyhood" - Richard Linklater
- "Calvary" - John Michael McDonagh
- "The Grand Budapest Hotel" - Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
- "Nightcrawler" - Dan Gilroy
- "Selma" - Paul Webb
Best Adapted Screenplay
- "Gone Girl" - Gillian Flynn
- "The Imitation Game" - Graham Moore, Andrew Hodges
- "Inherent Vice" - Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon
- "Snowpiercer" - Bong Joon-ho, Kelly Masterson, Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, Jean-Marc Rochette
- "The Theory of Everything" - Anthony McCarten, Jane Wilde Hawking
- "Wild" - Nick Hornby, Cheryl Strayed
Best Cinematography
- "Birdman" - Emmanuel Lubezki
- "The Grand Budapest Hotel" - Robert Yeoman
- "Ida" - Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski
- "Inherent Vice" - Robert Elswit
- "Interstellar" - Hoyte van Hoytema
Best Production Design
- "The Grand Budapest Hotel" - Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
- "Inherent Vice" - David Crank, Amy Wells
- "Interstellar" - Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
- "Into the Woods" - Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
- "Snowpiercer" - Ondrej Nekvasil, Catherine George
- "Under the Skin" - Chris Oddy, Emer O'Sullivan
Best Original Score
- "Birdman" - Antonio Sánchez
- "Gone Girl" - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
- "Interstellar" - Hans Zimmer
- "Life Itself" - Joshua Abrams
- "Under the Skin" - Mica Levi
Best Original Song
- "Everything is Awesome" - Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, The Lonely Island ("The Lego Movie")
- "Glory" - John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith ("Selma")
- "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" - Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond ("Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me")
- "Something so Right" - Bret McKenzie ("Muppets Most Wanted")
- "We Will Not Go" - J. Ralph ("Virunga")
Best Ensemble
- "Birdman"
- "Boyhood"
- "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
- "Gone Girl"
- "Selma"
Best Foreign Film
- "Force Majeure"
- "Ida"
- "Sepideh"
- "Two Days, One Night"
- "We Are the Best!"
Breakthrough Award
- Ellar Coltrane ("Boyhood")
- Ava DuVernay ("Selma")
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw ("Belle," "Beyond the Lights")
- David Oyelowo ("Default," "Interstellar," "A Most Violent Year," "Nightingale," "Selma")
- Jenny Slate ("The Longest Week," "Obvious Child")
- Tessa Thompson ("Dear White People," "Grantham & Rose," "Selma")
Best Animated Film
- "Big Hero 6"
- "The Book of Life"
- "The Boxtrolls"
- "How to Train Your Dragon 2"
- "The LEGO Movie"
Best Documentary
- "Citizenfour"
- "Finding Vivian Maier"
- "Keep On Keepin' On"
- "Life Itself"
- "Sepideh"
Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema
- "Selma" - Ava DuVernay, Paul Webb
MORE ON "SELMA":
