By Ray Bennett
Entertainment Film’s “The Master” and Artificial Eye’s “Amour” topped the 33rd London Critics’ Circle Film Awards nominations with seven each including film of the year.
“The Master”, which Entertainment in Video will release on Blu-ray and DVD on March 11, also received nominations for Paul Thomas Anderson as best director and screenwriter, best actor for Joaquin Phoenix, best supporting actor for Philip Seymour Hoffman and best supporting actress for Amy Adams.
“Amour”, the Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Festival de Cannes, that Artificial Eye released in UK cinemas on Nov. 16, also was nominated as best foreign-language film. Other nods went to Michael Haneke as best director and screenwriter, Jean-Louis Trintignant as best actor, Emmuanelle Riva as best actress, and Isabelle Huppert as best supporting actress.
The latest James Bond picture, “Skyfall,” which has been a massive hit for Sony in the UK and elsewhere, picked up five nominations including best British film, best British actor for Daniel Craig, best supporting actor for Javier Bardem, and best supporting actress for Judi Dench, who also was nominated as best British actress for her work on the 007 film and Fox’s “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”.
The other nominees for film of the year are “Argo” (Warners), “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (StudioCanal) and “Life of Pi” (Fox) and for foreign-language film of the year “Holy Motors” (Artificial Eye), “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” (New Wave), “Rust and Bone” (StudioCanal) and “Tabu” (New Wave).
British film of the year nominees also include “Berberian Sound Studio” (Artificial Eye), “The Imposter” (Picturehouse/Revolver), “Les Miserables” (Universal) and “Sightseers” (StudioCanal).
Also in contention for the best actor prize are Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln” (Fox), Hugh Jackman for “Les Miserables” (Universal), and Mads Mikkelsen for “The Hunt” (Arrow). Best actress nominees include Jessica Chastain for “Zero Dark Thirty” (Universal), Marion Cotillard for “Rust and Bone” (StudioCanal), Helen Hunt for “The Sessions” (Fox) and
Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Linings Playbook” (Entertainment).
The London Film Critics’ Circle membership includes more than 120 critics, broadcasters and writers and Chairman Jason Solomons noted that this year’s selections illustrate “the great variation of extraordinary work” in film over the last year.
He said, “In all categories, the films are of outstanding quality this year, indicating how the London critics view all films from around the world on a level footing – brilliance is the only benchmark. Choosing winners will be harder than ever, but never will they have been more deserving.”
The 33rd London Critics’ Circle Film Awards take place at the May Fair Hotel in London on Sunday Jan. 20 in aid of charity partner Missing People, which provides a 24/7 lifeline when someone goes missing.
This story appeared in Cue Entertainment. A complete list of nominees follows:
The Sky Movies Award: FILM OF THE YEAR
Amour (Artificial Eye)
Argo (Warners)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (StudioCanal)
Life of Pi (Fox)
The Master (Entertainment)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Amour (Artificial Eye)
Holy Motors (Artificial Eye)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (New Wave)
Rust and Bone (StudioCanal)
Tabu (New Wave)
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
The Imposter (Picturehouse/Revolver)
London: The Modern Babylon (BFI)
Nostalgia for the Light (New Wave)
The Queen of Versailles (Dogwoof)
Searching for Sugar Man (StudioCanal)
The May Fair Hotel Award: BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR
Berberian Sound Studio (Artificial Eye)
The Imposter (Picturehouse/Revolver)
Les Miserables (Universal)
Sightseers (StudioCanal)
Skyfall (Sony)
The Spotlight Award: ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln (Fox)
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables (Universal)
Mads Mikkelsen – The Hunt (Arrow)
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master (Entertainment)
Jean-Louis Trintignant – Amour (Artificial Eye)
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty (Universal)
Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone (StudioCanal)
Helen Hunt – The Sessions (Fox)
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook (Entertainment)
Emmanuelle Riva – Amour (Artificial Eye)
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Alan Arkin – Argo (Warners)
Javier Bardem – Skyfall (Sony)
Michael Fassbender – Prometheus (Fox)
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master (Entertainment)
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln (Fox)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Amy Adams – The Master (Entertainment)
Judi Dench – Skyfall (Sony)
Sally Field – Lincoln (Fox)
Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables (Universal)
Isabelle Huppert – Amour (Artificial Eye)
BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR – In association with Cameo Productions
Daniel Craig – Skyfall (Sony)
Charlie Creed-Miles – Wild Bill (The Works/Universal)
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln (Fox)
Toby Jones – Berberian Sound Studio (Artificial Eye)
Steve Oram – Sightseers (StudioCanal)
BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Emily Blunt – Looper (eOne) and Your Sister’s Sister (StudioCanal)
Judi Dench – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox) and Skyfall (Sony)
Alice Lowe – Sightseers (StudioCanal)
Helen Mirren – Hitchcock (Fox)
Andrea Riseborough – Shadow Dancer (Paramount)
YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Samantha Barks – Les Miserables (Universal)
Fady Elsayed – My Brother the Devil (Verve)
Tom Holland – The Impossible (eOne)
Will Poulter – Wild Bill (The Works/Universal) Jack Reynor – What Richard Did (Artificial Eye)
The American Airlines Award: DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master (Entertainment)
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty (Universal)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (New Wave)
Michael Haneke – Amour (Artificial Eye)
Ang Lee – Life of Pi (Fox)
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master (Entertainment)
Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty (Universal)
Michael Haneke – Amour (Artificial Eye)
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained (Sony)
Chris Terrio – Argo (Warners)
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILM-MAKER
Ben Drew, writer/director – Ill Manors (Revolver)
Sally El Hosaini, writer/director – My Brother the Devil (Verve)
Dexter Fletcher, co-writer/director – Wild Bill (The Works/Universal)
Bart Layton, writer/director – The Imposter (Picturehouse/Revolver)
Alice Lowe & Steve Oram, writers – Sightseers (StudioCanal)
The Sky 3D Award: TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran, costumes (Universal)
Argo – William Goldenberg, film editing (Warners)
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Ben Richardson, cinematography (StudioCanal)
Berberian Sound Studio – Joakim Sundstrom & Stevie Haywood, sound design (Artificial Eye)
Holy Motors – Bernard Floch, makeup (Artificial Eye)
Life of Pi – Claudio Miranda, cinematography (Fox)
Life of Pi – Bill Westenhofer, visual effects (Fox)
The Master – Jack Fisk & David Crank, production design (Entertainment)
My Brother the Devil – David Raedeker, cinematography (Verve)
Rust and Bone – Alexandre Desplat, music (StudioCanal)
DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM: Sponsored by PREMIER
Helena Bonham Carter
NB: Irish films, filmmakers and performers are eligible in British categories.