Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone. Debra Granik’s low-budget indie drama set in a drug-infested, poverty-stricken area of the United States that is hardly ever seen in American movies – or in American news – has put a stop to this awards season’s Facebook steamroller known as The Social Network. Jennifer Lawrence stars as a young woman in search of her missing father.
Jennifer Lawrence vs. David Fincher: Winter’s Bone puts an end to The Social Network awards season Best Film sweep
Starring Golden Globe nominee Jennifer Lawrence, Debra Granik’s drama Winter’s Bone may have received a single nomination at the 2010 Golden Globes early this morning, but it did top the San Diego Film Critics Society Awards. The Best Film rule of David Fincher’s Facebook drama The Social Network this awards season is no longer absolute.
And that’s good not only for the low-budget indie drama but also for the San Diego Film Critics Society, which usually manages to avoid coming down with groupthink disease. (See the full list of the San Diego Film Critics’ winners further below.)
Besides its Best Film win, Winter’s Bone earned Jennifer Lawrence the Best Actress award for her performance as an all-but-destitute young woman looking for her missing father in the Ozark Mountains, while John Hawkes was picked as the year’s Best Supporting Actor.
Curiously, Debra Granik failed to be singled out for either her direction or screenplay. Darren Aronofsky was the Best Director for the psychological thriller Black Swan, while the Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay awards went to, respectively:
- Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network.
- Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, and Christopher Morris for Four Lions, a British comedy about bumbling terrorists. Morris also directed Four Lions.
Surprise Best Actor Colin Farrell + Lesley Manville returns
In an even more unusual move than the selection of Winter’s Bone as Best Film, Colin Farrell was chosen as Best Actor for Neil Jordan’s little-seen Ondine. In the Irish romantic drama, Farrell plays a fisherman whose catch (former real-life Farrell companion Alicja Bachleda) may or may not be a selkie (a sort of Celtic mermaid/swan maid).
Lesley Manville, the 2010 National Board of Review‘s Best Actress winner and basically ignored elsewhere this awards season, was named Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a lonely secretary in Mike Leigh’s British drama Another Year.
Another surprising San Diego Film Critics choice: Malcolm Venville’s British-made 44 Inch Chest came out victorious in the Best Ensemble category. In the cast:
Ian McShane. Stephen Dillane. Ray Winstone. John Hurt. Tom Wilkinson. Joanne Whalley. Melvil Poupaud.
Conventional ‘Toy Story 3’
A more conventional choice was Lee Unkrich’s blockbuster Toy Story 3, featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, among others, as the Best Animated Film of 2010. But really, the free-thinking San Diego Film Critics are certainly allowed to go for a couple of mainstream picks.
Other winners included Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop as Best Documentary, Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love as Best Foreign Language Film, and a 2010 Body of Work Award for Rebecca Hall for her work in The Town, Please Give, and Red Riding 1974.
Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda in Ondine. The San Diego Film Critics has selected Colin Farrell as the year’s Best Actor for Neil Jordan’s little-seen Ondine, in which he plays an Irish fisherman whose catch may turn out to be a selkie – a Celtic mermaid or swan maid. Best Actor Farrell is surely one of the biggest – if not the biggest – surprise this awards season.San Diego Film Critics Awards
Best Film: Winter’s Bone.
Best Foreign Language Film: I Am Love.
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan.
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone.
Best Actor: Colin Farrell, Ondine.
Best Supporting Actress: Lesley Manville, Another Year.
Best Supporting Actor: John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone.
Best Ensemble: 44 Inch Chest.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, and Christopher Morris, Four Lions.
Best Original Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network.
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3.
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Best Cinematography: Wally Pfister, Inception.
Best Score: Rachel Portman, Never Let Me Go.
Best Editing: Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Shutter Island.
Body of Work: Rebecca Hall for The Town, Please Give, and Red Riding 1974.
Kyle Counts Award: Film critic Duncan Shepherd.
Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics join ‘The Social Network’
Following a hiccup (that’s the San Diego Film Critics Society awards), David Fincher’s The Social Network resumed its (near-)absolute dominance among U.S. film critic’ groups this awards season.
The Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association has been the latest group to give its Best Picture of the Year citation to Fincher’s drama about the creation of the online phenomenon known as Facebook. (Full list of Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics winners further below.)
In addition, The Social Network was singled out in the Best Director and Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) categories. Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Facebook topdog Mark Zuckerberg, was a Best Actor runner-up.
James Franco & Natalie Portman win
James Franco was the Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics’ Best Actor for playing real-life hiker Aron Ralston, who is forced to amputate his own arm in Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours. Natalie Portman was Best Actress for her unbalanced ballerina in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.
In the supporting categories, the winners were Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for David O. Russell’s The Fighter.
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful was the Best Foreign Language Film, Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for ‘Superman’ the Best Documentary, and Toy Story 3 the Best Animated Feature.
Chris Cooper surprise of sorts
All in all, the Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics mostly opted for the tried-and-true choices of their fellow critics’ groups. There were, however, a couple of surprises.
Instead of critics’ fave Matthew Libatique for Black Swan, they gave the Best Cinematography award to the duo who shot 127 Hours, Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle.
Also, Chris Cooper, whose performance in The Company Men has been ignored this awards season, was one of the runners-up in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Admittedly, the Chris Cooper “surprise” is likely due to the fact that the Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics announce up to four runners-up in the various categories, whereas other groups announce none, or at most one or two.
Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics winners & runners-up
Best Film: The Social Network.
Runners-up: The King’s Speech. Black Swan. 127 Hours. Winter’s Bone. Inception. The Fighter. True Grit. The Town. The Kids Are All Right.
Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful.
Runners-up: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Mother. Lebanon. I Am Love.
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network.
Runners-up: Danny Boyle, 127 Hours. Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan. Christopher Nolan, Inception. Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech.
Best Actor: James Franco, 127 Hours.
Runners-up: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech. Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network. Robert Duvall, Get Low. Michael Douglas, Solitary Man.
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan.
Runners-up: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone. Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole. Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right. Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine.
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter.
Runners-up: Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech. Jeremy Renner, The Town. Bill Murray, Get Low. Chris Cooper, The Company Men.
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter.
Runners-up: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom. Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech. Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit. Mila Kunis, Black Swan.
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network.
Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, Inception.
Best Documentary: Waiting for ‘Superman’.
Runners-up: Exit Through the Gift Shop. Restrepo. The Tillman Story. Marwencol.
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3.
Runner-up: How to Train Your Dragon.
Best Cinematography: Enrique Chediak & Anthony Dod Mantle, 127 Hours.
Runners-up (tie): Roger Deakins, True Grit & Wally Pfister, Inception.
Russell Smith Award ‘for the year’s best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film’: Winter’s Bone.
Amy Adams in The Fighter, with Mark Wahlberg. Melissa Leo has been this awards season’s top Best Supporting Actress choice for David O. Russell’s real-life-inspired drama The Fighter. Leo is also the shoo-in Oscar pick in that category. Even so, fellow The Fighter actress Amy Adams has already won two U.S. critics awards.Detroit Film Critics winners: Facebook movie tops, but Danny Boyle Best Director
The Detroit Film Critics Society selected David Fincher’s Facebook drama The Social Network as the top movie of 2010. Danny Boyle, however, was named Best Director for 127 Hours, in which James Franco must saw off his arm after getting it pinned under a rock.
Unlike two years ago, when he was winning awards left and right for the Bollywoodesque Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle has been placed in the back burner this awards season. American critics’ groups have mostly honored Fincher, or else, Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky. (See further below the full list of Detroit Film Critics winners and nominees.)
The clear front runner this awards season – at least as far as U.S. critics are concerned – The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, plus Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara, and Max Minghella.
Colin Firth & Jennifer Lawrence win acting awards
Spreading the love around, the Detroit Film Critics gave the Best Actor award to Colin Firth for Tom Hooper’s period drama The King’s Speech, while the Best Actress award went to Jennifer Lawrence for Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone.
Christian Bale and Amy Adams –the latter in place of critics’ fave Melissa Leo – topped the supporting categories for their work in David O. Russell’s The Fighter, which, besides Leo, also stars Mark Wahlberg.
Additionally, Jennifer Lawrence won a second award, for Breakthrough Performer, while Winter’s Bone was also shortlisted in the Best Ensemble category.
Curiously, the Detroit Film Critics don’t hand out awards to foreign-language films, animated features, or documentaries.
Detroit Film Critics nominations
As for the Detroit Film Critics’ nominations, Winter’s Bone and The King’s Speech had topped the list with six nods apiece.
The biggest surprise was the omission of Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) from the Best Actress category.
The second biggest surprise was the omission of both the psychological drama Black Swan and director Darren Aronofsky from the Best Film and Best Director shortlists – especially considering that the latter category contains six names.
The third biggest surprise was the inclusion of Edgar Wright in the Best Director shortlist for the – generally well-received – box office flop Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
One of those curious things: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was also shortlisted for Best Ensemble even though none of the film’s performers – among them, Michael Cera, Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, and Kieran Culkin – was singled out in the individual acting categories.
Detroit Film Critics winners and nominations
Best Film
127 Hours.
Inception.
The King’s Speech.
* The Social Network.
Winter’s Bone.Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – True Grit.
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network.
* Colin Firth – The King’s Speech.
James Franco – 127 Hours.
Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine.Best Actress
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole.
* Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone.
Carey Mulligan – Never Let Me Go.
Natalie Portman – Black Swan.
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine.Best Supporting Actor
* Christian Bale – The Fighter.
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network.
John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone.
Sam Rockwell – Conviction.
Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right.
Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech.Best Supporting Actress
* Amy Adams – The Fighter.
Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech.
Greta Gerwig – Greenberg.
Melissa Leo – The Fighter.
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom.Best Director
* Danny Boyle – 127 Hours.
David Fincher – The Social Network.
Debra Granik – Winter’s Bone.
Tom Hooper –The King’s Speech.
Christopher Nolan – Inception.
Edgar Wright – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.Best Ensemble
The Fighter.
The Kids Are All Right.
The King’s Speech.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
* Winter’s Bone.Breakthrough Performance
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network & Never Let Me Go.
Greta Gerwig – Greenberg.
* Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone.
Chloë Grace Moretz – Kick-Ass & Let Me In.
Mia Wasikowska – The Kids Are All Right.
Rooney Mara in The Social Network. David Fincher’s Facebook movie remains the U.S. film critics’ favorite this awards season despite San Diego’s surprising Winter’s Bone pick. In The Social Network, Rooney Mara plays the young woman who dumps Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), leaving him emotionally scarred for all eternity.Las Vegas Film Critics’ Best Film: ‘The Social Network’ – again
The Las Vegas Film Critics Society’s 2010 winners were all “safe” mainstream names and titles.
David Fincher’s The Social Network won Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin). James Franco was voted Best Actor for Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours. Natalie Portman was the Best Actress for Darren Aronofsky’s sleeper hit Black Swan. (Full list of Las Vegas Film Critics winners further below.)
Additionally, Christian Bale was the Best Supporting Actor for The Fighter, Toy Story 3 was the Best Animated Feature, and Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for ‘Superman’ was the Best Documentary.
Best Foreign Language Film blockbuster & Amy Adams
Even their Best Foreign Language Film was a “mainstream” title: Niels Arden Oplev’s Swedish mystery thriller and international blockbuster The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which, apart from a handful of nominations, hasn’t been getting much awards season traction elsewhere.
And finally, the Las Vegas Film Critics’ Best Supporting Actress was Amy Adams for David O. Russell’s The Fighter‘. This is Adams’ second win in a category that has been dominated by fellow The Fighter player Melissa Leo. Although somewhat of a surprise, Adams’ victory is hardly what one would call “offbeat.”
Las Vegas Film Critics winners
Best Picture: The Social Network.
Top Ten Films of 2010
1. The Social Network.
2. Inception.
3. Black Swan.
4. 127 Hours.
5. The King’s Speech.
6. The Fighter.
7. True Grit.
8. Winter’s Bone.
9. The Town.
10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.Best Foreign Language Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network.
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan.
Best Actor: James Franco, 127 Hours.
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, The Fighter.
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter.
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network.
Best Documentary: Waiting for ‘Superman’.
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3.
Best Cinematography: Inception.
Best Film Editing: Inception.
Best Score: The Social Network.
Best Art Direction: Black Swan.
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland.
Best Visual Effects: Inception.
Best Song: Tangled.
Best Family Film: Toy Story 3.
Youth in Film: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit.
Best DVD: Alien Anthology.
William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award: Thelma Schoonmaker.
Las Vegas Film Critics winners via Movie City News.
Rooney Mara The Social Network image: Merrick Morton / Sony Pictures.
Jennifer Lawrence Winter’s Bone image: Sebastian Mlynarski / Roadside Attractions.
Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams The Fighter image: Paramount Pictures.
Alicja Bachleda and Colin Farrell Ondine image: Magnolia Pictures / Paramount Vantage.
“Jennifer Lawrence vs. David Fincher: End of Absolute Awards Season Rule + Colin Farrell Surprise” last updated in May 2018.