Critics’ Choice Awards: ‘Boyhood’ Wins Best Picture; ‘Birdman’ Leads With 7 Nods

Richard Linklater‘s 12-years-in-the-making Boyhood strolled away with Best Picture and Best Director at the 20th Critics’ Choice Movie Awards tonight at the Hollywood Palladium. Its awards-season archrival Birdman led the field with seven wins, including three for Michael Keaton: Best Actor, Best Comedy Actor and Best Acting Ensemble. Julianne Moore kept up her trophy show hot streak, winning Best Actress for Still Alice., as did J.K. Simmons, who drummed up a Best Supporting Actor win for Whiplash. The Grand Budapest Hotel took three awards including Best Comedy, and Guardians Of The Galaxy took two.

Three of tonight’s winners were notable in their being AWOL from this morning’s Oscar nominations. The Lego Movie took Best Animated Feature, the Roger Ebert pic Life Itself snagged Best Documentary, and Sweden’s Force Majeure won Best Foreign Language Film. “What a roller coaster of emotions today has been,” Lego Movie co-director Christopher Miller said onstage. Among the contenders shut out tonight were The Imitation Game, which came in with six nominations, and The Theory Of Everything, which had five. The Broadcast Film Critics Association honored cinematic achievement in 28 categories, including several — Best Young Actor/Actress, Best Comedy, Best Acting Ensemble, et al. — that the Academy eschews.

Kevin Costner, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, took time during his speech to thank his crews, assistants, drivers, stuntmen, even crafts services people. After also thanking his fellow thespians, he said, “Nobody has it better than the actors, so try to act grateful.” Jessica Chastain accepted the inaugural Critics’ Choice MVP Award, which recognizes an actor for their work in several standout movies throughout a single year (she was in Interstellar, Miss Julie, The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby and A Most Violent Year).

During her acceptance speech, Chastain hit on a touchy subject that cropped up in the wake of today’s Oscar noms announcement. “Today is Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday,” she said, “and it got me to thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry and to stand together against homophobia, sexism, misogynistic, anti-Semetic and racist agendas. I’m an optimist, and I can’t help but feeling hopeful about the future of film, especially looking at all the beautiful people in this room.”

In accepting the Louis XIII Critics’ Choice Genius Award, Ron Howard name-checked his dad, his wife and his longtime collaborator. “His curiosity, his talent, his ability to move mountains — it’s is incredibly exciting to watch in action; it’s a helluva show,” he said of Brian Grazer. “But it’s even better to be able to say that he’s a partner and he’s my friend.”Talk show host, NFL Hall of Famer and Magic Mike XXL actor Michael Strahan hosted the event, which aired live on A&E and took place on Oscar noms night for the third consecutive year.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 20th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards:

BEST PICTURE
Boyhood

BEST ACTOR
Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, Still Alice

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Birdman

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman

BEST COMEDY
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SONG
“Glory,” Common/John Legend, Selma

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Lego Movie

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood

BEST SCI FI/HORROR MOVIE
Interstellar

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Life Itself

BEST CINEMATOGRAPY
Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

BEST EDITING
Birdman, Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Milena Canonero

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST SCORE
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure (Sweden)

Wins by film:
Birdman – 7
Boyhood – 4
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 3
Guardians of the Galaxy – 2
American Sniper – 1
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – 1
Edge of Tomorrow – 1
Force Majeure – 1
Gone Girl – 1
Interstellar – 1
Life Itself – 1
The Lego Movie – 1
Obvious Child -1
Selma – 1
Still Alice – 1
Whiplash – 1