Critical Consensus 2013

For the past few years, I've been keeping tabs of all of the critic groups around the country and their picks of best of the year. This is mostly to satisfy my OCD-ness with regards to awards season, but it's also fun to see it all laid out in the end and see what it could mean for Oscars, etc. Speaking of, Oscar nominations are tomorrow morning and tomorrow night is the Critics Choice Awards where the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) aka the last critics group to chime in will be picking their winners. Before that here's what the rest had to say...

This final list of 36 critics groups include the Alliance of Women Journalist (AWFJ), African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), Online Film Critics (OFCS), Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC) as well as critic groups from the following regions: Los Angeles (LAFCA), New York (NYFCC), Boston (BSFC), Washington D.C (WAFCA), New York Online (NYFCO), Boston Online (BOFCA), Southeastern (SEFCA), Indiana (IFJA), San Francisco (SFFCC), Austin (AFCA), San Diego (SDFCS), Toronto (TFCA), Dallas-Forth Worth (DFWFCA), Las Vegas (LVFCS), Utah (UFCA), Detroit (DFCS), Houston (HFCS), Chicago (CFCA), Denver (DFCA), Florida (FFCC), St. Louis (SLFC), Phoenix (PFCS), Oklahoma (OFCC), Kansas City (KCFCC), Central Ohio (COFCA), North Texas (NTFCA), Nevada (NFCS), Iowa (IFCA), Georgia (GFCA), North Carolina (NCFCA), and Vancouver (VFCC). Meanwhile, the National Board of Review (NBR) winners are marked with an asterisk.

BEST PICTURE

• 12 Years A Slave (23) - BSFC, NYFCO, BOFCA, OFCS, CFCA, WAFCA, KCFCC, HFCS, SFFCC, AAFCA, SEFCA, IFJA, SLFC, DFWFCA, LVFCS, PFCS, BFCC, AWFJ, FFCC, NFCS, VFCC, IFCA, NCFCA
• Her* (6) - LAFCA, SDFCS, DFCS, AFCA, OFCC, GFCA
• Gravity (5) - LAFCA, UFCA, COFCA, NTFCA, DFCA
• Inside Llewyn Davis (2) - NSFC, TFCA
• American Hustle (1) - NYFCC

Notable exclusions: Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street, Captain Phillips, Saving Mr. Banks, Dallas Buyers Club, Philomena

BEST DIRECTOR

• Alfonso Cuarón (21) - LAFCA, NYFCO, OFCS, WAFCA, SDFCS, DFCS, KCFCC, HFCS, SFFCC, DFWFCA, TFCA, PFCS, AFCA, UFCA, COFCA, OFCC, NFCS, NTFCA, DFCA, GFCA, VFCC
• Steve McQueen (15) - NYFCC, BSFC, BOFCA, CFCA, KCFCC, AAFCA, SEFCA, IFJA, SLFC, LVFCS, BFCC, AWFJ, FFCC, IFCA, NCFCA
• Joel & Ethan Coen (1) - NSFC
• Spike Jonze*

Notable exclusions: David O. Russell, Paul Greengrass, Martin Scorsese, Alexander Payne

BEST ACTOR

• Chiwetel Ejiofor (22) - BSFC, NYFCO, BOFCA, OFCS, CFCA, WAFCA, KCFCC, HFCS, SFFCC, SEFCA, IFJA, SLFC, AFCA, BFCC, UFCA, COFCA, OFCC, FFCC, NTFCA, GFCA, IFCA, NCFCA
• Matthew McConaughey (7) - DFCS, DFWFCA, LVFCS, PFCS, AWFJ, NFCS, DFCA
• Oscar Isaac (4) - NSFC, SDFCS, TFCA, VFCC
• Bruce Dern* (1) - LAFCA
• Robert Redford (1) - NYFCC
• Forest Whitaker (1) - AAFCA

Notable exclusions: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix, Christian Bale

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett (24) - LAFCA, NYFCC, BSFC, NSFC, NYFCO, BOFCA, OFCS, CFCA, WAFCA, SDFCS, SFFCC, SEFCA, SLFC, DFWFCA, TFCA, PFCS, AWFJ, OFCC, FFCC, DFCA, GFCA, VFCC, IFCA, NCFCA
• Sandra Bullock (4) - KCFCC, HFCS, AAFCA, NTFCA
• Adèle Exarchopoulos (4) - LAFCA, IFJA, UFCA, COFCA
• Brie Larson (3) - DFCS, AFCA, BFCC
• Emma Thompson* (1) - LVFCS
• Meryl Streep (1) - NFCS

Notable exclusions: Judi Dench, Amy Adams, Julie Delpy, Greta Gerwig

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Jared Leto (25) - LAFCA, NYFCC, NYFCO, BOFCA, CFCA, WAFCA, SDFCS, DFCS, HFCS, AAFCA, SEFCA, SLFC, DFWFCA, LVFCS, TFCA, PFCS, AFCA, BFCC, AWFJ, OFCC, FFCC, NFCS, NTFCA, DFCA, VFCC
• Michael Fassbender (5) - OFCS, KCFCC, GFCA, IFCA, NCFCA
• James Franco (4) - LAFCA, NSFC, SFFCC, COFCA
• Barkhad Abdi (1) - IFJA
• James Gandolfini (1) - BSFC
• Bill Nighy (1) - UFCA
• Will Forte*

Notable exclusions: Daniel Brühl, Bradley Cooper, Jonah Hill

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Lupita Nyong'o (20) - LAFCA, NYFCO, BOFCA, OFCS, CFCA, WAFCA, KCFCC, HFCS, SEFCA, SLFC, DFWFCA, LVFCS, PFCS, AFCA, BFCC, AWFJ, FFCC, GFCA, IFCA, NCFCA
• Jennifer Lawrence (11) - NYFCC, NSFC, SFFCC, IFJA, TFCA, COFCA, OFCC, NFCS, NTFCA, DFCA, VFCC
• Scarlett Johansson (2) - DFCS, UFCA
• June Squibb (1) - BSFC
• Oprah Winfrey (1) - AAFCA
• Shailene Woodley (1) - SDFCS
• Octavia Spencer*

Notable exclusions: Julia Roberts, Sally Hawkins

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Her (17) - NYFCO, OFCS, CFCA, WAFCA, SDFCS, DFCS, KCFCC, IFJA, SLFC, LVFCS, TFCA, AFCA, AWFJ, COFCA, OFCC, FFCC, GFCA
• American Hustle (5) - NYFCC, SFFCC, SEFCA, BFCC, DFCA
• Inside Llewyn Davis* (2) - VFCC, NCFCA
• Nebraska (1) - PFCS
• Enough Said (1) - BSFC
• The World's End (1) - UFCA

Notable exclusions: Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• 12 Years A Slave (17) - OFCS, CFCA, WAFCA, KCFCC, HFCS, SFFCC, AAFCA, SEFCA, SLFC, DFWFCA, PFCS, AFCA, BFCC, AWFJ, OFCC, FFCC, NCFCA
• Before Midnight (6) - LAFCA, NSFC, BOFCA, SDFCS, IFJA, UFCA
• The Wolf of Wall Street* (2) - COFCA, DFCA
• Short Term 12 (1) - GFCA

Notable exclusions: August: Osage County, Captain Phillips, Philomena, Lone Survivor

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• Frozen (23) - WAFCA, KCFCC, HFCS, SFFCC, AAFCA, SEFCA, IFJA, SLFC, DFWFCA, LVFCS, PFCS, AFCA, BFCC, UFCA, OFCC, FFCC, NFCS, NTFCA, DFCA, GFCA, IFCA,
• The Wind Rises* (8) - NYFCC, BSFC, BOFCA, OFCS, CFCA, SDFCS, TFCA, COFCA
• Ernest & Celestine (1) - LAFCA
• Monsters University (1) - NCFCA
• Despicable Me 2 (1) - KCFCC

Notable exclusions: The Croods, Epic

So what does this all mean for the Oscar nominations tomorrow? Everything and nothing. You have to realize that critics are not Oscar voters. The best critics could do is give their recommendations of which films and actors Oscar voters should be watching. It is a bit disheartening then that every year most of the categories seem to coalesce into a single front-runner thereby limiting what's being showcased. This year isn't any different as every main category above had one film or performer garnering an overwhelming majority of critic groups. The one relatively competitive category is Best Director where Cuarón and McQueen won every single critics group save one and even then Cuaron is way out front. Other frontrunners include 12 Years a Slave, Frozen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cate Blanchett, Lupita Nyong'o, Jared Leto, and the screenplays for Her and 12 Years a Slave. I would be shocked if any one of these missed out on an Oscar nomination tomorrow.

What's more interesting to me, of course, is seeing the other names supported by critics especially if their Oscar chances are less certain. For example, Her and Inside Llewyn Davis were definitely critical favorites though their place in the Best Picture lineup is precarious at best. Likewise, critics showed their love for Oscar Isaac, Brie Larson, Adèle Exarchopoulos, James Franco, and Scarlett Johansson among others even though an Oscar nomination for any of them would be quite a big, but pleasant surprise. I wish more of these unlikely names showed up with the critic groups.