The initial flurry of Brokeback Mountain award wins seems to have abated, at least a little. Some of the most recent critics groups to announce their picks have gone other directions. The latest is the National Society of Film Critics, who announced their awards this weekend and picked Capote as 2005’s Best Picture.
Capote is one of the few Oscar contending films I still haven’t seen, and unless someone wants to send me a screener (hint hint) I don’t know how I’m going to. But Philip Seymour Hoffman is money, and any movie with him in it has to have something going for it, especially one getting so much awards consideration. In fact, Hoffman also won the group’s prize for Best Actor, awarded for his portrayal of quirky, high-pitched Truman Capote.
Noticeably absent from their list of winners were movies like the aforementioned Brokeback Mountain or the ensemble drama Crash. Instead, they named the mafia drama A History of Violence the year’s second best film and the surreal foreigner 2046 as third best.
Reese Witherspoon continues to be the easy favorite to win this year’s Best Actress Oscar winner, with another award here as the National Society of Film Critics’ Best Actress. History of Violence director David Cronenberg won Best Director honors and Violence star Ed Harris won a Supporting Actor nod.
Best Screenplay went to The Squid and the Whale, written by Noah Baumbach.
Werner Herzog’s bear food movie Grizzly Man won Best Documentary.
