Beantown Scribes Choose Anora Best Pic

Mark Eydelshteyn and Mikey Madson in
Anora, Boston critics' choice for Best Picture

The 2024 film award sweepstakes just blew wide open. The Boston Society of Film Critics parted ways from their New York counterparts and the National Board of Review by voting Anora, the comedy about a sex worker hitching up with the son of a Russian oligarch, Best Picture Actress, and Best Director and Original Screenplay (both Sean Baker). The New York Film Critics Circle chose The Brutalist best and the NBR went with Wicked. Both groups voted the directors of best their top choice as best of the year. This widens the field for Hollywood's Biggest Prize, the Oscars. (Note: The Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association will also announce their winners today. More in separate blog posts.)

The Boston scribes' acting choices also did not match up with those of the NYFCC or the NBR. The Beantown acting champs are: Actor: Timothee Chalamet, A Complete Unknown; Actress: Mikey Madison, Anora; Supp. Actor: Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown; Supp. Actress; Danielle Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson. (We did catch The Piano Lesson on Netflix. Deadwyler was fabulous and I hope she get more recognition since she was robbed of an Oscar nom for Till.)

A complete list of winners follows:

Boston and DC Crix Chose Holdovers and American Fiction as Best Pix

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Paul Giamatti, and
Dominic Sessa in
The Holdovers

The 2023 film award season continues to spread the wealth among a variety of pix, making this year's Oscar nominations harder to predict. The Boston Society of Film Critics and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association voted for their awards on Sun. Dec. 10 (same day as the Los Angeles Film Critics Association) and went in two directions. The Beantown scribes chose The Holdovers, Alexander Payne's comedy-drama about a misanthropic school teacher spending the holidays with a rebellious student and the school's cook, as best picture. The DC critics went for American Fiction, first-time director-writer Cord Jefferson's satire about an African-American novelist. Da'Vine Joy Randolph who plays the cook in Holdovers, continued her dominance of the Supporting Actress category, winning from both groups.  

Killers of the Flower Moon took top prizes from the NY Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review, while Zone of Interest won the Best Picture slot from the Los Angeles reviewers.