Boston Society of Film Critics Announces 2014 Award Winners

Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke in Boyhood via IFC Film / Emma Stone in Birdman via Fox Searchlight

The Boston Society of Film Critics announced their award winners for the 2014 season Friday night, and if these awards give any indication of how well movie frontrunners will do at the Oscars—for which nominations come out January 15 of next year—then audiences probably won’t see any surprises.

Between Boyhood, Foxcatcher, The Imitation Game, Birdman, and the like, 2014 undoubtedly had a number of buzzed-about movies. While sites like Vulture and the LA Times say that none of them stand out as an Academy Award Best Picture frontrunner, the BSFC pegged Boyhood as the year’s Best Picture. This is hardly shocking considering the movie gained a lot of attention for being filmed throughout an 11-year period with the same lead actors and director. The BSFC also gave Michael Keaton a nod for Best Actor for his lead role in Birdman, a movie that follows a washed out Hollywood star known for playing a blockbuster superhero, also starring Emma Stone.

Two movies that surprisingly didn’t make the cut were Foxcatcher and The Theory of Everything. The prior is a biographical drama about an Olympic wrestling champion and his paranoid-schizophrenic mentor, a film that might bring Steve Carell his first Oscar for his chilling transformation into John du Pont. The Theory of Everything stars Eddie Redmayne (Les Misérables) and Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) as Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde Hawking, and follows their relationship as they handle Hawking’s motor neuron disease. Redmayne’s performance is quite graceful and extraordinary, perhaps underrated.

Again, not many surprises in tow here from the Boston Society of Film Critics, but it’s just the beginning of awards season buzz. Here is the full list of winners from this year’s awards:

Best Picture Boyhood

Best Actor Michael Keaton for Birdman

Best Actress Marion Cotillard for The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night

Best Supporting Actor J. K. Simmons for Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress Emma Stone for Birdman

Best Director Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Screenplay (tie) Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo for Birdman, and Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman

Best Documentary Citizenfour

Best Foreign-Language Film Two Days, One Night

Best Animated Film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Best Film Editing Sandra Adair for Boyhood

Best New Filmmaker Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler

Best Ensemble Cast Boyhood

Best Use of Music in a Film Inherent Vice