Richard Linklater's decision to shoot a film over the span of 11 years in order to see the natural progression of its child protagonist paid off in a big way with the Washington Area Film Critics Association: Boyhood took home four wins, including best picture and best director. But Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) was no slouch, picking up five awards of its own, including best actor for Michael Keaton and best acting ensemble.
Boyhood and Linklater have now taken home the best picture and best director awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the Washington Area Film Critics Association, suggesting the 166-minute indie has a real shot at Oscar gold. Given the film's 100 percent fresh rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes—only 99 percent fresh among ALL critics, tsk—these can hardly be considered surprise or upset wins, of course. Boyhood also saw wins at the WAFCAs for Patricia Arquette in the supporting actress category and Ellar Coltrane in the youth performance category.
Birdman scored nods from the WAFCAs for editing and cinematography, not terribly surprising since the film's great artistic achievement is to mimic a single shot for the middle 90 minutes or so of the picture. It's not a single shot, of course, hence the win for editing. The film also took home best original screenplay for Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., and Armando Bo.
J.K. Simmons won best supporting actor for his portrayal of the intense jazz drumming instructor in Whiplash, while Julianne Moore won best actress for Still Alice. Neither of these wins are huge surprises and both will likely win the Oscar. However, I must admit to a bit of sadness that Reese Witherspoon didn't take home the gold for best actress. She's really quite good in Wild, and often the only character onscreen for long stretches of the film. Gillian Flynn won best adapted screenplay for Gone Girl (my personal choice for best film of the five nominees, by the way).
The award I'm happiest with is probably The Grand Budapest Hotel's victory for best art direction. I rewatched it this weekend and was again blown away by Wes Anderson's meticulously—fastidiously, even—crafted version of Europe on the brink of World War II.
The award I'm least happy with is Under the Skin's victory in best original score. I mean, it was fine, I guess. But it was, at best, the fourth-best option among the nominees. And Hans Zimmer's score for Interstellar is pretty darn amazing. I haven't been able to get the track "Mountains" out of my head since purchasing the soundtrack. So I shall leave you with this and hope that the Academy is able to right this injustice.