We’ve already told you what films the LA and NY critics awarded this year, and while those are the two most important of the field in terms of what’s a bellweather for the Academy Awards, there’s a lot of other cities out there with their own opinions. Instead of listing them all, which would just waste a bunch of space and probably cause you to tune out, we’ve decided to do the work for you. Here’s the final tally — who won which awards in what city — to give you an idea what films lead the pack.
Best Picture:
“The Hurt Locker” – 8 (Las Vegas, Austin, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, Chicago, NY, LA)
“Up in the Air” – 5 (Utah, Dallas, Southeastern, Indiana, Florida)
“Inglourious Basterds” – 2 (Toronto, San Diego)
“Up” – 1 (Detroit)
“The Hurt Locker,” which is definitely starting to feel like the “Slumdog Millionaire” of this year, is in the lead (it has won all the big, important cities) with “Up in the Air” desperately trying to close the gap. “Inglourious Basterds” is still some people’s favorite, while “Up” somehow managed to nab a win from the Detroit critics. You’ll notice “Precious” is nowhere to be found which is fine by us, but all of these films (including “Precious”) should easily nab a nomination for the Oscar 10 (though “Up” still feels like the question mark here and it could very easily be simply relegated to the animated slot come Oscar time).
Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow – 10 (Las Vegas, Toronto, Austin, San Francisco, Southeastern, Boston, Houston, Chicago, NY, LA)
Jason Reitman – 3 (Utah, Dallas, Florida)
Quentin Tarantino – 1 (San Diego)
Pete Doctor – 1 (Detroit)
Spike Jonze – 1 (Indiana)
Kathryn Bigelow has more of a lead on Jason Reitman than we thought she would have, which could mean we’re about to witness history in the making. What we mean by that is, and we didn’t realize this until recently, that she could become the first woman director in Oscar history to win the Best Director award (only three females have been previously nominated). Judging from the critics’ standpoint, she’s going to get it, despite never having made anything award-worthy before. But her time might be due. Could we see a split at Oscar, “Up In The Air” wins Best Picture, Bigelow wins Best Director? Maybe, but it’s not like the Academy makes those calls. They add up the votes and whoever wins wins (though it’s conceivable the collective Academy conscience could work with the same voting thinking; one for him and one for her).
Best Actor:
George Clooney – 6 (Dallas, Southeastern, Indiana, Houston, Florida, NY)
Colin Firth – 4 (Detroit, Austin, San Diego, San Francisco)
Jeremy Renner – 3 (Las Vegas, Boston, Chicago)
Jeff Bridges – 1(LA)
Viggo Mortensen – 1 (Utah)
Nicolas Cage – 1 (Toronto)
George Clooney and Colin Firth seem to be neck and neck right now, which begs the question; where is Jeff Bridges? Apparently, only one city felt he deserved the win, which is surprising considering he was being built up as the front-runner. With more wins than Bridges however is Jeremy Renner, who is definitely the dark-horse here but will hopefully make it into the Oscar five. We don’t really expect him to win, but just a nomination would mean a lot at this point in his career. Not a part of this group is Morgan Freeman which actually doesn’t surprise us because “Invictus” was so average and forgettable (yes, we still have to run our belated review).
Best Actress:
Carey Mulligan – 6 (Utah, Dallas, Toronto, Indiana, Houston, Chicago)
Meryl Streep – 4 (San Francisco, Southeastern, Boston, NY)
Gabourey Sidibe – 3 (Las Vegas, Detroit, Florida)
Melanie Laurent – 1 (Austin)
Michelle Monaghan – 1 (San Diego)
Yolande Moreau – 1 (LA)
According to the numbers, Carey Mulligan has the slight advantage over Meryl Streep right now, and we agree she should. Not that we think Streep isn’t worthy, but her performance in “Julie & Julia” seemed slight compared to her towering turn in “Doubt” last year. Not to be counted out though is newcomer, Gabourey Sidibe, but her success might ride on how “Precious” does as a whole. We’re actually shocked at how the critics have pushed “Precious” to the sidelines, but again, we’re sort of grateful (though if anyone should win awards from “Precious” its the actresses who are very deserving).
Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz – 14 (Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Toronto, Austin, San Diego, Southeastern, Indiana, Boston, Houston, Florida, Chicago, NY, LA)
Christian McKay – 2 (Utah, San Francisco)
Not surprisingly, this is the category displaying the biggest division between the leader and the others. Christoph Waltz has a staggering 14 wins compared to Christian McKay’s 2. That may seem pretty meager, but when you consider McKay is the only other actor represented and the fact that he isn’t even nominated for a Golden Globe, you’ve got to hand it to him. Because of this, we can see him being put on the Oscar ballot much like Michael Shannon was last year. Still, for the win, Waltz is the absolute sure thing.
Best Supporting Actress:
Mo’Nique – 12 (Las Vegas, Detroit, Utah, Dallas, San Francisco, Southeastern, Indiana, Boston, Florida, Chicago, NY, LA)
Anna Kendrick – 3 (Toronto, Austin, Houston)
Samantha Morton – 1 (San Diego)
Again, like with the supporting actors, the supporting actress category has one clear leader with just only one other real competitor who’s way behind. Mo’Nique has racked up most of the wins for “Precious,” while her surprise competition is the young Anna Kendrick who seems to be stealing all the “Up in the Air” credit from Vera Farmiga. It’s not quite a lock, but pretty damn close.
Best Animated Film:
Up – 7 (Dallas, Austin, Southeastern, Boston, Houston, Florida, Chicago)
Fantastic Mr. Fox – 6 (Las Vegas, Utah, Toronto, Indiana, NY, LA)
Coraline – 1 (San Francisco)
Just when you thought “Up” had it in the bag and were actually considering it for Best Animated Picture, it looks like Fantastic Mr. Fox might give it a run for its money as the animated category is the closest race so far. As much as we enjoyed Up, we liked Fantastic Mr. Fox more and would be delighted to see Wes Anderson win an Oscar for it, more than likely the only one he might ever get.
Best Documentary:
The Cove – 9 (Utah, Dallas, Toronto, San Diego, Indiana, Boston, Houston, Florida, LA)
Anvil – 4 (Las Vegas, Austin, San Francisco, Chicago)
Food Inc. – 1 (Southeastern)
Like with all the other categories we’ve covered, the documentaries basically come down to two films. The only problem is, “Anvil” was excluded from the Academy Awards’ shortlist, so it’s not eligible to win an Oscar. We guess that makes predicting this one pretty simple then, even though we’re saddened to see Oscar’s rules screw yet another great film. But the Academy could go another way, just cause “The Cove” has the slot here doesn’t mean it’s a shoo-in.
We’re still waiting on St. Louis to announce their winners, so we’ll add them when they come in, but it doesn’t look like they’ll change the game at this point. And again, critics and Oscar voters aren’t always in synch. In fact, often they’re not. The last two years have been different. Critics and voters both loved Best Picture winners “No Country For Old Men” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” but just because there’s overwhelming support of “The Hurt Locker” by the scribes doesn’t mean it’s a lock for Best Picture at Oscar. But we would be pleased as punch if somehow that film would the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture. – Jonathan Helm