‘Boyhood’ sweeps LA Film Critics Awards

BY LINDSAY BAHR

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — “Boyhood” is on a roll. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association named Richard Linklater’s 12-year experiment their best picture of 2014 on Sunday.

Linklater also earned a best director honor for his film, while Patricia Arquette picked up best actress — an interesting choice, since IFC will be pushing her performance in the supporting actress category for all major awards.

Julianne Moore, meanwhile, who is largely considered an Oscar frontrunner for her portrayal of an Alzheimer’s patient in “Still Alice,” was awarded runner-up in the category.

In the past week, “Boyhood” has become the consensus choice for critics groups. The Boston Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the New York Film Critics online have all picked chosen the film as the year’s best. The only outlier is the National Board of Review, which gave that prize to “A Most Violent Year.”

The LA Film Critics Awards often overlap with eventual Oscar nominees, and sometimes winners, but are also known for some quirky choices as well. Just take best actor recipient Tom Hardy, whose nearly solo performance in the little-seen thriller “Locke” earned him critical raves, but is notably absent from any serious awards conversation.

Conversely, J.K. Simmons, who is very much in the Oscar conversation, was awarded with best supporting actor for his portrayal of a sadistic jazz instructor in the indie “Whiplash.”

Beyond “Boyhood’s” four wins, including film editing, only two other films were multi-honorees: The Polish drama “Ida” which won best foreign language film and best supporting actress for Agata Kulesza, and Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” for screenplay and production design.

Also noteworthy, outside of the cinematography award for Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman,” a favorite among critics awards, was only given runner-up recognition in a variety of categories, including best actor for Michael Keaton, best supporting actor for Edward Norton.

The Edward Snowden film “Citizenfour” picked up best documentary, with Steve James’s ode to Roger Ebert “Life Itself” taking the runner-up position. Both films are on the shortlist for Oscar consideration.

Studio Ghibli’s fantasy “The Tale of Princess Kaguya,” won for best animation. “The Lego Movie” was the runner-up.

Awards mainstays such as “Wild,” ”The Theory of Everything,” and “The Imitation Game” were completely shut out. The Martin Luther King, Jr. pic “Selma,” narrowly missed this distinction since director Ava DuVernay was given the New Generation award.

Gena Rowlands was previously announced as the career achievement award recipient.

“Originality was honored in this year’s awards from LAFCA,” said LAFCA president Stephen Farber in a statement. “Our group again honored a range of films from around the world and an impressive array of emerging and veteran talents.”

Awards will be handed out at the 40th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association ceremony on Jan. 10 in Los Angeles.