Boston Film Critics Award Winners, Analysis: 'Boyhood Wins Best Picture, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 'Birdman' Wins Four Awards

By Francisco Salazar Dec 07 2014, 21:07 PM EST

The Boston Society of Film Critics have named "Boyhood" the Best Film of the Year.

The Richard Linklater picture had an extraordinary showing with the critics as it also won the Best Director award for Linklater, the Best Ensemble award and the Best Editing award for Sandra Adair. The film also tied with "Birdman" for the Best Screenplay award.

"Birdman" also was a Boston favorite as the critics gave Michael Keaton the Best Actor award, and Emma Stone took home the Best Supporting Actress Award. Emmanuel Lubezki also won the Best Cinematography prize.

The Best Actress award once again went to Marion Cotillard for "Two Days One Night" and "The Immigrant." Cotillard's victory once again solidifies her strength in the category and is also one more loss for front-runner Julianne Moore who is sure to win the Oscar.

"Two Days One Night" upstaged "Ida" and "Wild Tales" as it gave another victory to Belgium for the Best Foreign Film Award. However, the Dardenne brothers' films have never been of the Academy's taste, and unless it continues to win critics prizes, this will not transfer over to the Oscars.

J.K. Simmons continued to become the front-runner in the Best Supporting Actor race as he won for his work on "Whiplash."

"The Tales of Princess Kaguya" won the Best Animated film, and "Citizenfour" won the Best Documentary award. "Kaguya" has not been on most pundits' radars, but after a win from Boston, it seems like an Oscar nomination will happen.

The Boston Societ of Film Critics are not always the best predictors of the Academy Awards, but the past 10 Best Picture winners have went on to get nominated for the Best Picture award. Out of those 10 films, six went on to win the Oscar. Those films were "12 Years a Slave," "The Artist," "The Hurt Locker," "Slumdog Millionaire," "No Country for Old Men" and "The Departed."

The society has also been accurate with the Best Actor and Best Actress race. As of a matter of fact, nine of the past 10 winners have gone to get nominated for the Oscars, and five of the past winners have went on to win the Best Actor race. Keaton is sure to get nominated for the Academy Award especially with Boston's track record.

The Best Actress race has seen nine of the past 10 winners also go on to get nominated for the actress award at the Academy Awards. Six of those winner have went on to win the Oscar. Sally Hawkins is the exception for her work in "Happy Go-Lucky." However, Hawkins was nominated for the Golden Globe and won the award in the comedy category. Cotillard was once seen as a dark horse in the race. But it is evident that critics are embracing her work, and she could possibly end up in the Oscar race.

The Boston Film Critics also confirmed that the year may be shaping up to be a matchup between "Bidman" and "Boyhood." The fact that "Birdman" won four awards while "Boyhood" won five shows that there is a lot of support for both films.

The "Citizenfour" win in the Best Documentary race also furthered its front-runner position but also made it clear that this documentary race will be between "Life Itself" and "Citizenfour." The ultimate Oscar winner will be defined on whether the academy is feeling sentimental or political. If they feel sentimental, "Life Itself" will win, but if the group wants a political and timely documentary, "Citzenfour' will be its choice.

Full List of Winners:

Best Picture: Boyhood

Best Director: Richard Linklater-Boyhood

Best Ensemble: Boyhood

Best Actor: Michael Keaton-Birdman

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard-Two Days, One Night

Best Supporting Actor: J.K Simmons-Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress: Emma Stone-Birdman

Best Screenplay: TIE-Alejandro Gonzelaz Inarritu-Birdman & Richard Linklater-Boyhood

Best Animated Film: The Tale of the Princess Kayuga

Best Documentary: Citizenfour

Best Foreign Film: Two Days One Night