Critics Choice
A Review of How Professional Film Critics Rated Films of 2004
As
they ponder their choices and options for which films and performances
to nominate for the Fifth Annual Cosmique Movie Awards, many will be
closely watching the other major awards for ideas of films to see and
reminders of favorites worthy of nomination.
To make it a little easier, the Cosmique Movie Academy's Board of Governors has compiled several lists showing the opinions of professional film critics and their associations:
Film Critics Associations
Best Film |
Best Director |
Best Actress |
Best Actor |
|
Boston Society of Film Critics |
Sideways |
Zhang Yimou for House of Flying Daggers |
Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby |
Jamie Foxx for Ray |
Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics' Choice Award) |
Sideways |
Martin Scorsese for The Aviator |
Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby |
Jamie Foxx for Ray |
Chicago Film Critics Association |
Sideways |
Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake |
Paul Giamatti for Sideways |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association |
Sideways |
Alexander Payne for Sideways |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake |
Liam Neeson for Kinsey |
National Board of Review |
Finding Neverland |
Michael Mann for Collateral |
Annette Bening for Being Julia |
Jamie Foxx for Ray |
National Society of Film Critics |
Million Dollar Baby |
Zhang Yimou for House of Flying Daggers |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake and Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby |
Jamie Foxx for Ray and Collateral |
New York Film Critics Circle |
Sideways |
Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake |
Paul Giamatti for Sideways |
San Diego Film Critics Association |
Vera Drake |
Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake |
Jim Carrey for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
San Francisco Film Critics Circle |
Sideways |
Alexander Payne for Sideways |
Julie Delpy for Before Sunset |
Paul Giamatti for Sideways |
Seattle Film Critics |
Million Dollar Baby |
Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake |
Jamie Foxx for Ray |
Southeastern Film Critics Association |
Sideways |
Alexander Payne for Sideways |
Annette Bening for Being Julia |
Jamie Foxx for Ray |
Toronto Film Critics Association |
Sideways |
Michael Gondry for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake |
Paul Giamatti for Sideways |
Washington DC Film Critics |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
Michael Gondry for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake |
Jamie Foxx for Ray |
Further Down the List
A few critics associations gave awards for additional categories. Here are additional winners that correspond (more or less) to Cosmo categories:
Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics Choice Awards)
-
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas Hayden Church for Sideways
-
Best Supporting Actress - Virginia Madsen for Sideways
-
Best Screenplay - Sideways
-
Best Documentary - Fahrenheit 9/11
-
Best Ensemble - Sideways
-
Best Soundtrack - Ray
National Board of Review
-
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas Hayden Church for Sideways
-
Best Supporting Actress - Laura Linney for Kinsey
-
Best Original Screenplay - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
-
Best Adapted Screenplay - Sideways
-
Outstanding Film Composition - Finding Neverland
-
Best Documentary - Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
-
Best Ensemble - Closer
New York Film Critics Circle
-
Best Supporting Actor - Clive Owen for Closer
-
Best Supporting Actress - Virginia Madsen for Sideways
-
Best Screenplay - Sideways
-
Best Cinematography - Hero
-
Best Animated Film - The Incredibles
Top 10 Lists
In general, film critics don't give awards in numerous categories like the Oscars and Golden Globes do. Instead, they prefer to do top 10 lists. Here, then, are the top 10 from some of the more influential movie critics. Most prefer to put them in order of their favorites; when they have done so, we've placed their favorite first. But some prefer just to select their favorite 10 without further ranking them. For those, we've provided their list alphabetically.
Roger Ebert |
Richard Roeper |
MSNBC |
Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwartzbaum |
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman |
1. Million Dollar Baby |
1. Hotel Rwanda |
The Aviator |
1. Sideways |
1. Sideways |
2. Kill Bill, Volume 2 |
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
Before Sunset |
2. Million Dollar Baby |
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
3. Vera Drake |
3. The Aviator |
Blind Shaft |
3. The Incredibles |
3. The Incredibles |
4. Spider-Man 2 |
4. Sideways |
Fahrenheit 9/11 |
4. Maria Full of Grace |
4. Maria Full of Grace |
5. Moolaade |
5. House of Flying Daggers |
The Incredibles |
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
5. Kinsey |
6. The Aviator |
6. Million Dollar Baby |
Kinsey |
6. Moolaadé |
6. Before Sunset |
7. Baadasssss |
7. The Ternimal |
Maria Full of Grace |
7. Collateral |
7. Osama |
8. Sideways |
8. Kill Bill, Volume 2 |
Sideways |
8. The Aviator |
8. Open Water |
9. Hotel Rwanda |
9. Spanglish |
Strayed |
9. The Return |
9. 13 Going on 30 |
10. Undertow |
9. Collateral |
Touching the Void |
10. Bright Leaves |
10. Ray |
Runners Up: Control Room; The Corporation; Finding Neverland; In Good Company; Mean Creek; Million Dollar Baby; The Return; Tarnation; Vera Drake |
Worst of the Year: Spanglish; Surviving Christmas; Napolean Dynamite; Ocean's 12; When Will I Be Loved |
Worst of the Year: Dogville; She Hate Me; Taxi; Control Room; Van Helsing |
Aggregating the Top 10 Lists
Another excellent approach is to compare top-10 lists to see how many times a particular film appears on critics' lists, and to see how many times it appears as the critic's first choice. Gennin.net provides us with two variations - one that just looks at the most respected critics, and another that is more expansive covering almost 300 film critics. This is what they've provided as of December 31:
Cream of the Crop
|
|
Critical Scoreboard |
||||||
Rank |
Film |
# of Lists |
Ranked #1 |
|
Rank |
Film |
# of Lists |
Ranked #1 |
1 |
Sideways |
40 |
16 |
|
1 |
Sideways |
178 |
45 |
2 |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
38 |
3 |
|
2 |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
163 |
34 |
3 |
Million Dollar Baby |
33 |
6 |
|
3 |
Before Sunset |
121 |
20 |
4 |
Before Sunset |
27 |
2 |
|
4 |
The Incredibles |
98 |
3 |
5 |
The Incredibles |
23 |
- |
|
5 |
Million Dollar Baby |
96 |
16 |
6 |
The Aviator |
17 |
3 |
|
6 |
The Aviator |
96 |
13 |
7 |
Maria Full of Grace |
17 |
1 |
|
7 |
Kinsey |
71 |
3 |
8 |
Kinsey |
17 |
- |
|
8 |
Kill Bill, Volume 2 |
66 |
3 |
9 |
Bad Education |
16 |
2 |
|
9 |
Dogville |
60 |
10 |
10 |
Vera Drake |
15 |
2 |
|
10 |
Vera Drake |
58 |
3 |