Los Angeles Film Critics Association 2005 Winners
by Andre Soares
I’m not a fan of Brokeback Mountain, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association choice for Best Picture of 2005 (and Best Director, Ang Lee), but at least I find it a major improvement over their Best Picture of 2004, Sideways. True, both films have been well received in nearly every quarter, but I’m almost invariably a contrarian (though not by choice). In fact, I was quite surprised that I agreed with several of the L.A. Critics’ other choices - even if they weren’t my top picks - including Best Actress runner-up Judi Dench in Mrs. Henderson Presents (I haven’t seen winner Vera Farmiga in Down to the Bone); Best Supporting Actor 
winner William Hurt, as Viggo Mortensen’s delightfully psychopathic brother in David Cronenberg’s superior A History of Violence (both Cronenberg and the film landed in second place); and Best Foreign Film Caché / Hidden, Michael Haneke’s highly disturbing look at the urban bourgeoisie in our turbulent times. (Caché has also deservedly won the European Film Award for Best Picture.)
Noticeably absent from the L.A. Critics’ list of winners and runner-ups were Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Woody Allen’s Match Point, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, Terrence Malick’s The New World, and Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha.
"We really did end up not going with anything big," said Henry Sheehan, president of the L.A. Film Critics Assn. "There was some support for King Kong for cinematography and production design, but there was almost nothing for Munich, maybe a couple of acting votes, but very scattered."
The 31st L.A. Film Critics Assn. awards ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 17 at the Park Hyatt in Century City.
Sheehan’s quote is from Susan King’s article for the Los Angeles Times.
Brokeback Mountain picture is from Focus Features, Kimberly French
Complete list of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association 2005 winners
Press release: Sundance Film Festival 2006 Lineup
Complete list of winners and nominees for the 2005 European Film Awards
List of winners and nominees for the 2005 British Independent Film Awards
Complete list of winners at the 16th Stockholm International Film Festival
Independent Spirit Awards 2005 Nominees
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