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In NYC film circles, the awards season officially got underway this morning with the announcement of the nominees for the 24th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. Do these awards move the needle in the Oscar race? Perhaps. Among the nominees for Best Film, Boyhood got a nod, further inking its legitimate chance at an Academy Award. More significantly, highly touted movies like Whiplash and Foxcatcher did not make the bracket of five, though both earned mentions, the former for Miles Teller's performance, the latter for a special ensemble prize. And, most gratifying to critics, two esteemed films from early 2014, The Grand Budapest Hotel (pictured) and the near-experimental Under the Skin, both secured nominations. (Full disclosure: I served on the selection committee for Best Film and Best Breakthrough Director. I stand by our panel's choices proudly.) The Gothams will be held on December 1 at Cipriani Wall Street, the same day that the New York Film Critics circle will announce its 2014 winners. The full list of nominations follows.
Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Love Is Strange
Under the Skin
Best Documentary
Actress
CITIZENFOUR
Life Itself
Manakamana
Point and Shoot
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
James Ward Byrkit for Coherence
Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
Eliza Hittman for It Felt Like Love
Justin Simien for Dear White People
Best Actor*
Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Miles Teller in Whiplash
*The 2014 Best Actor nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum for their ensemble performance in Foxcatcher.
Best Actress
Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Beyond the Lights
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin
Mia Wasikowska in Tracks
Breakthrough Actor
Riz Ahmed in Nightcrawler
Macon Blair in Blue Ruin
Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood
Joey King in Wish I Was Here
Jenny Slate in Obvious Child
Tessa Thompson in Dear White People