Chastain + Day-Lewis + Lawrence: Awards Season Front-Runners

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty. With ten wins – and three nominations – to date, relative film newcomer Jessica Chastain is the top Best Actress pick this awards season for her portrayal of a dogged CIA analyst in Kathryn Bigelow’s political thriller Zero Dark Thirty. Initially a TV and stage performer (notably as Salome opposite Al Pacino’s King Herod in a 2006 rendition of Oscar Wilde’s play), Chastain made her big-screen debut in the title role in the little-seen 2008 indie Jolene. Her movie career remained uneventful until a trio of 2011 releases – The Help, Take Shelter, and The Tree of Life – earned her multiple Best Supporting Actress wins and nominations.

Awards season front-runners Jessica Chastain & Jennifer Lawrence + Daniel Day-Lewis

Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence, Daniel Day-Lewis, Kathryn Bigelow’s political/action thriller Zero Dark Thirty, and Michael Haneke’s old-age drama Amour are some of the front-runners in the 2012–2013 movie awards season.

Whether or not they’ll also be the top choices at the 2013 Oscars isn’t yet clear. Even so, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have your “For Your Consideration” ad filled with “Best of the Year” and/or “Best [Actress/Actor/etc.]” reminders from, for instance, the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the New York Film Critics Circle.

Bear in mind that the also influential National Society of Film Critics will not be all that influential this year, as they’ll be naming their 2012 winners on Jan. 5 – two days after the polls close for the 2013 Oscar nominations. (Don’t be too surprised if a year from now the NSFC decides to announce their 2013 winners in late December instead of early January 2014.)

Little variety among 2012–2013 awards season choices

As has been happening year after year, out of approximately 250–300 eligible films, only about half a dozen titles have been singled out in the vast majority of categories for the 2012-2013 awards season.

Of course, it could be that each year only six or seven really good movies are released, and that only six or seven actors and actresses deliver outstanding performances in lead roles, and so on. But it could also be that, with rare exceptions, North American awards-season voters enjoy being part of the herd and that groupthink is as widespread a condition among movie critics, guild members, “film scholars,” and the like as it is among the world’s population as a whole.

2012–2013 awards season top picks

Below and in the next couple of posts you’ll find this awards season’s top choices. Next to each film title are the critics groups (city or state) and, when applicable, the organizations (or “awards” – e.g., “Golden Globes”) that selected it.

With the exception of the populist Broadcast Film Critics Association, which has its own p.r.-boosting, star-studded, televised Critics’ Choice Awards ceremony, critics’ awards nominees and runners-up have been left out.

When relevant to the North American film awards season, we’ve also listed winners at the Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, and Venice film festivals, besides the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), the Dublin Film Critics, and the European Film Awards (EFA).

Note: The New York Film Critics Circle is listed as “New York,” while the New York Film Critics Online is listed as “New York Online.”

Best Actress favorites: Jessica Chastain vs. Jennifer Lawrence

Initially, Jennifer Lawrence was this movie awards season’s top Best Actress choice for her work in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook. Just recently, however, Zero Dark Thirty leading woman Jessica Chastain surpassed Lawrence to become the no. 1 Best Actress pick – for now.

Perhaps because of all the secrecy surrounding Kathryn Bigelow’s depiction of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Chastain was rarely mentioned as a top contender until a few weeks ago. Jennifer Lawrence, for her part, has been a major possibility for quite some time, even though she has what amounts to a supporting role in Russell’s film – which revolves around Bradley Cooper’s unbalanced character.

The third wheel in the 2012–2013 Best Actress race is 85-year-old Amour co-star Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour, Kapò). In addition to her Best Actress European Film Award, Riva was the top choice of four (including a tie) U.S.-based critics groups. Absurdly, but not unexpectedly, she has been bypassed by both the SAG Awards and the Golden Globes. But as proof that there’s hope for humankind (and for awards seasons), Riva can be found among the six contenders for the Best Actress Critics’ Choice Award.

Also worth noting, nine-year-old Beasts of the Southern Wild star Quvenzhané Wallis has been all but ignored in this year’s Best Actress race (note: her film was ineligible for the SAG Awards). On the other hand, Wallis has been cited in several Best Newcomer categories.

See below the list of this awards season’s Best Actress favorites.^[1]

Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook. So far this awards season, on Jessica Chastain’s Best Actress heels is Silver Linings Playbook leading woman Jennifer Lawrence with nine wins and four nominations. Why four vs. Chastain’s three nominations? A Weinstein Company release, the David O. Russell-directed Silver Linings Playbook was eligible for the indie-oriented Spirit Awards despite its more-than-modest budget. A Columbia/Universal co-production, Zero Dark Thirty was ineligible for that particular award.

List of Best Actress favorites

• Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty, with 10 wins: Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Florida, Indiana, National Board of Review, Oklahoma, Phoenix, St. Louis, Utah (tied with Jennifer Lawrence), Washington. Plus 3 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards.
• Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, with 9 wins: Austin, Detroit, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles (tied with Emmanuelle Riva), Nevada (tied with Helen Hunt), Satellite Awards, Southeastern, Utah (tied with Jessica Chastain). Plus 4 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Spirit Awards.
• Emmanuelle Riva for Amour, with 6 wins: Boston, Dublin, European Film Awards, Los Angeles (tied with Jennifer Lawrence), New York Online, San Francisco. Plus 1 nomination: Critics’ Choice.
• Rachel Weisz for The Deep Blue Sea, with 2 wins: New York, Toronto. Plus 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Helen Hunt for The Sessions, with 1 win: Nevada (tied with Jennifer Lawrence). In addition to 2 wins and 4 nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category.
• Michelle Williams for Take This Waltz, with 1 win: San Diego.
• Marion Cotillard for Rust and Bone, with 3 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards.
• Naomi Watts for The Impossible, with 3 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards.
• Helen Mirren for Hitchcock, with 2 nominations: Golden Globes, SAG Awards.
• Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild, with 2 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Spirit Awards.
• Emily Blunt for Salmon Fishing in Yemen, with 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Linda Cardellini for Return, with 1 nomination: Spirit Awards.
• Emayatzy Corinealdi for Middle of Nowhere, with 1 nomination: Spirit Awards. She was also the Gotham Awards’ Breakthrough Performer
• Judi Dench for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, with 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Maggie Smith for Quartet, with 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Meryl Streep for Hope Springs, with 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead for Smashed, with 1 nomination: Spirit Awards.

Best Actress omissions

The list of Best Actress omissions is long, but it could have been much longer had there been more good roles (or just roles, period) for women in major (or even low-budget) American movies.

Here are a few of the bypassed – mostly “name” – actresses who were featured, for better or for worse, in some of the year’s most notable movies, whether hits, flops, or little-seen critically acclaimed efforts:

• Keira Knightley, Anna Karenina.
• Laura Linney, Hyde Park on Hudson.
• Melanie Lynskey, Hello, I Must Be Going.
• Anna Kendrick, Pitch Perfect.
• Barbra Streisand, The Guilt Trip.
• Rachel McAdams, The Vow.

And let’s not forget Jennifer Lawrence in Gary Ross’ worldwide blockbuster The Hunger Games – a performance that earned quite a bit of praise back in March but that now seems to belong to another movie-world reality.

Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln. Whereas Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence have been facing each other off in this awards season’s Best Actress race, Daniel Day-Lewis is the absolute Best Actor favorite for his portrayal of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s domestic box office hit Lincoln. So far this century, the London-born Day-Lewis’ greatest acclaim has been for his all-American roles: besides the man known as The Great Emancipator, he brought to life the rabidly xenophobic Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting in Gangs of New York (2002) and the rabidly greedy oilman Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007).

Best Actor favorite Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays iconic U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s well-received and quite popular (in North America) historical drama Lincoln, is the clear Best Actor front-runner this awards season.

It just remains to be seen whether or not Day-Lewis will become the first performer to win three Best Actor Academy Awards. His two previous Oscar victories were for Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot (1989) and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood (2007).

Day-Lewis’ chief competitors so far are Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook and an actor starring in another Paul Thomas Anderson movie, Joaquin Phoenix, who plays a troubled World War II veteran in The Master.

To date, the only other Best Actor winners in North America this awards season are Denis Lavant for Leos Carax’s widely acclaimed French effort Holy Motors and John Hawkes as a physically disabled virgin eager for his first sexual experience in Ben Lewin’s The Sessions.

By the way, Joaquin Phoenix and fellow The Master player Philip Seymour Hoffman received a joint Best Actor Award at the 2012 Venice Film Festival. Elsewhere this awards season, Hoffman has been listed in the Best Supporting Actor category.

See below the list of this awards season’s Best Actor favorites.^[1]

List of Best Actor favorites

• Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, with 16 wins: Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Detroit, Florida, Indiana (tied with Bradley Cooper), Kansas City, Las Vegas, New York, New York Online, Oklahoma, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Diego, Southeastern, Washington. Plus 3 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards.
• Joaquin Phoenix for The Master, with 5 wins: Austin, Dublin, San Francisco, Utah, Venice (along with Philip Seymour Hoffman). Plus 2 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes.
• Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook, with 3 wins: Indiana (tied with Daniel Day-Lewis), National Board of Review, Satellite Awards. Plus 4 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, Spirit Awards, SAG Awards.
• John Hawkes for The Sessions, with 1 win: Nevada. Plus 4 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Spirit Awards.
• Denis Lavant for Holy Motors, with 1 win: Toronto.
• Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables, with 3 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards.
• Denzel Washington for Flight, with 3 nominations: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, SAG Awards.
• Jack Black for Bernie, with 2 nominations: Golden Globes, Spirit Awards.
• Richard Gere for Arbitrage, with 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Thure Lindhardt for Keep the Lights On, with 1 nomination: Spirit Awards.
• Matthew McConaughey for Killer Joe, with 1 nomination: Spirit Awards.
• Ewan McGregor for Salmon Fishing in Yemen, with 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Bill Murray for Hyde Park on Hudson, with 1 nomination: Golden Globes.
• Wendell Pierce for Four, with 1 nomination: Spirit Awards.

Jean-Louis Trintignant & other Best Actor absentees

In North America, the most glaring Best Actor omission of all is that of Amour leading man Jean-Louis Trintignant (Z, The Conformist, Three Colors: Red). At least Trintignant has already taken home the Best Actor European Film Award, and in a couple of months he’ll likely be taking home the French Academy’s Best Actor Prix César as well.

Below are other notable actors (or actors in notable films) missing from this awards season’s Best Actor shortlists:

• Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock.
• Ben Affleck, Argo.
• Christian Bale, The Dark Knight Rises.
• Robert Pattinson, Cosmopolis.
• Garrett Hedlund & Sam Riley, On the Road.
• Matthias Schoenaerts for either Bullhead or Rust and Bone.
• Nanni Moretti & Michel Piccoli, We Have a Pope.
• 2012 César winner Omar Sy & François Cluzet, The Intouchables.

ParaNorman with Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Sam Fell and Chris Butler’s 3D stop-motion animated mix of comedy and horror, ParaNorman is the clear favorite in the Best Animated Feature category this awards season. A box office flop in relation to its cost, ParaNorman is set in the Massachusetts town of Blithe Hollow, where the all-but-friendless boy Norman Babcock lives with his family and, à la Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, sees (and chats with) dead people. Things in Norman’s life change dramatically after a dead uncle tells him to perform some cleansing ritual at the old grave of a witch; else, Blithe Hollow will be invaded by the evil dead.

‘ParaNorman’ is Best Animated Feature favorite

Among the animated features listed below, Sam Fell and Chris Butler’s ParaNorman, about a small-town Massachusetts misfit (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), leads the pack.

Others in the voice cast of this 3D stop-motion animated mix of comedy and horror:

Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, 2009).

Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2007).

Tucker Albrizzi. Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Leslie Mann. Jeff Garlin. John Goodman. Bernard Hill. Jodelle Ferland. Tempestt Bledsoe. Alex Borstein.

Stage and film veteran Elaine Stritch (on Broadway, Company and A Little Night Music; on film, Alain Resnais’ Providence and Woody Allen’s September).

Note: Chico & Rita was in contention for the 2011 Academy Awards. All other titles found below are eligible for the Best Animated Feature Oscar 2013.

• Chris Butler and Sam Fell’s ParaNorman with 9 wins: Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, Southeastern, Toronto, Utah, Washington. Plus 2 nominations: Annie Awards, Critics’ Choice.
• Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie with 6 wins: Boston, Kansas City, Florida, Los Angeles, Nevada, New York. Plus 3 nominations: Annie Awards, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes.
• Rich Moore’s Wreck-It Ralph with 5 wins: Austin, National Board of Review, Oklahoma, Phoenix, St. Louis. Plus 3 nominations: Annie Awards, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes.
• Peter Ramsey’s Rise of the Guardians with 2 wins: Indiana, Satellite Awards. Plus 3 nominations: Annie Awards, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes.
• Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, and Tono Errando’s Chico & Rita with 1 win: New York Online.
• Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, and Brenda Chapman’s Brave with 3 nominations: Annie Awards, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes.
• Genndy Tartakovsky’s Hotel Transylvania with 2 nominations: Annie Awards, Golden Globes.
• Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, and Conrad Vernon’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted with 1 nomination: Critics’ Choice.
• Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits with 1 nomination: Annie Awards.
• Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux’s The Rabbi’s Cat with 1 nomination: Annie Awards.

Two notable absences from this awards season’s Best Animated Film selections are two of the year’s biggest hits: the domestic blockbuster Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and the worldwide blockbuster Ice Age: Continental Drift.

“Jessica Chastain & Daniel Day-Lewis + Jennifer Lawrence: Awards Season Front-Runners” follow-up post: “Top Awards Season Choices: Zero Dark Thirty & Argo + Amour & Anne Hathaway.”

Check out: “More Awards Season Favorites: Kathryn Bigelow & Benh Zeitlin + Chris Terrio.”

Golden Globes’ & Critics’ Choice Awards’ profusion of acting nominees

^[1] The Golden Globes list a total of (at least) ten Best Actor and ten Best Actress nominees in two categories, Drama and Comedy/Musical.

The Critics’ Choice Awards have mostly six nominees per category, including Best Actor and Best Actress. (Tellingly, the Critics’ Choice Awards’ “more esoteric” Best Foreign Language Film category has only four nominees.)

Golden Globes website.

Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty image: Columbia Pictures / Universal Pictures.

Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook image: The Weinstein Company.

Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln image: Touchstone Pictures / Walt Disney Studios.

ParaNorman image: Focus Features.

“Jessica Chastain & Daniel Day-Lewis + Jennifer Lawrence: Awards Season Front-Runners” last updated in August 2018.