"Boyhood," "Nightcrawler" Win Big as Georgia Film Critics Split the Board

Richard Linklater takes top honors for both Picture and Director; "Nightcrawler," "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Selma" all take home two each.

For their 4th annual awards presentation, the Georgia Film Critics Association have decided to distribute the love pretty evenly. Of the ten Best Picture nominees, nine of them took home at least one award.

"Boyhood" took home the big prizes, Best Picture and Best Director for Richard Linklater. "Nightcrawler" won Best Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal and Best Original Screenplay for Dan Gilroy. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" won awards for Best Production Design and Best Ensemble. "Selma" won the Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema and Best Original Song for "Glory," performed by John Legend and Common.

Marion Cotillard won Best Actress for "Two Days, One Night," while Tilda Swinton and J.K. Simmons took home Supporting prizes for Best Picture nominated films "Snowpiercer" and "Whiplash," respectively. "Gone Girl" took home Best Adapted Screenplay honors, while "Birdman" won for Best Cinematography (This is Emmanuel Lubeski's third GFCA win, after "The Tree of Life" and "Gravity"). Hans Zimmer's score for "Interstellar" provides the film's sole win out of three nominations.

Best Foreign Film went to "Ida," Best Documentary to "Life Itself" and Best Animated Film to "The LEGO Movie." David Oyelowo won the Breakthrough Award, with all five of his films from 2014 sharing the mention.

Check out the full list of winners after the jump.

The Goods: 13 Should-Be Oscar Contenders from 2014

Enough about the middle-of-the-road "The Imitation Game." We should focus on the best and most deserving films and not just the films that best fit into the Oscar cannon. Some of these 13 films, actors and actresses are already being mentioned—just not enough as they should be. For instance, Bill Plympton's animated feature "Cheatin'" has made the shortlist for a nomination, but can it overcome big studio films like "Big Hero 6" and "How to Train Your Dragon 2" to get one of the five slots? It very well should. Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" might get some craft category nods, but why isn't anyone talking about just how great Ralph Fiennes is?!

We have compiled a baker's dozen of should-be contenders this awards season. Who do you think should be in the conversation? Check out our list and leave a comment with yours!

"We Need to Talk About Kevin" Georgia dates

Lynne Ramsay's striking film "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is finally coming back to Georgia after playing the Savannah Film Festival last November. You can check out my review of the film here and you can see it for yourself when it opens in Atlanta this Friday, March 2nd at Landmark Art Cinema. 

My dream Oscar ballot, 2012

The 84th Academy Awards are this Sunday and though you've already seen my top 20 films of 2011, I also want to share what I would've nominated in other categories. While my ten Best Picture nominees are my top ten films; my other 'nominees' have shifted a lot in the past couple of months since I've been able to revisit certain films, catch some that I missed earlier and really get to see certain players make their case on the press circuit. It's a fun time of year, but I'm looking forward to some resolution on Sunday. Anyway, here is my 'dream Oscar ballot.'

The Best Films of 2011

A lot of movie pundits have agreed to label 2011 as a weak year. I suppose I see where they are coming from. I can only claim to love just a few of 2011's releases, but I sure did like a lot. Titles like "Certified Copy," "Melancholia," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin" showcased crisp and intelligent European cinema as good as anything else in the past several years. Commercial American films such as "Contagion," "Hugo" and "Moneyball" paired sharp screenplays with excellent visuals. Independent cinema shined too, with films like "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "Take Shelter" and "Sahkanaga" standing out. One film, however, stands heads and tails above the rest.

After years of doing this, one usually develops a sense of how strong or weak the year in film is pretty early on. But once you start going back and compiling a list of accolades, each year seems strong in it's own right. Check out my top twenty films of 2011 after the jump.

Savannah: "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (****1/2)

Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly star in "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Ever since Scottish director Lynne Ramsay's “We Need to Talk About Kevin” premiered to critical acclaim in Cannes this past May, I've been one of many with high, high hopes. Going back to 2008 when star Tilda Swinton won her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for “Michael Clayton,” I was a bit of a sore loser over her beating out Cate Blanchett's Bob Dylan in “I'm Not There.” I think Swinton is a gifted actress, but I've only really become a fan with her post-Oscar roles. Her stunning performance in “Kevin” is all the more rewarding because it anchors such a powerful film.