Sure, the Oscars are the main focus of this weekly column, but if you follow the awards race you know there are so, so many prizes that come first, from awards handed out by various critic's groups to independent film awards like the Indie Spirits to the dreaded Golden Globes. And this week two of those smaller awards-giving groups were getting all the headlines. First up was the New York Film Critic's Circle, a group usually thought to be above the fray, when they pushed up the date of their awards voting by several weeks. They'll vote and announce their picks on November 28, making them the first critic's group out of the gate but also meaning they'll almost certainly miss some of the late-season releases that they barely had time to catch in the first place.
And today, much less obnoxiously, the Gotham Independent Film Awards announced their nominees, choosing among both tiny indies with no shot at Oscar glory-- like Bellflower and Meek's Cutof-- and much bigger fish, like The Descendants and The Tree of Life. The Gothams don't typically predict the Oscar race all that well-- though in 2009 they handed their top two prizes to The Hurt Locker and last year rewarded Best Picture nominee Winter's Bone, they also lean heavily toward performers you'll only be hearing more about many years from now, like last year's Breakthrough Performer award for Ronald Bronstein. But this year's nominations do suggest that The Descendants has real staying power among indie film fans in addition to the general audiences who are really likely to love it when it hits theaters next month. And the two nods for Beginners, a May release struggling to hang on to attention this late in the season, might mean that the movie-- especially the potential Best Supporting Actor nomination for Christopher Plummer-- is hanging on there better than we think.
With all the focus on awards and nominations already being handed out it's hard to remember that there are films in competition still coming to theaters, but hey, there's a solid two and a half months left in this year. This week I got the chance to catch My Week With Marilyn, which is pretty much a bore beyond Michelle Williams's performance (more on that later), and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which should be as formidable in the Best Supporting Actor race as I expected (more on that later too). And indeed, it's on to the charts, where for now, the Gotham Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle aren't making much of an impact… yet.
As mentioned above, The Descendants got a small but maybe symbolic boost from The Gotham Awards, meaning that even though it's a George Clooney made by a studio, it's got the indie cred to appeal to even skeptics-- so far. As for the films I saw this week, My Week With Marilyn seems like a non-factor for the Best Picture race, while I'm left wondering about Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a very twisty and very refined movie that still doesn't have that super passion that gets people screaming "Best Picture!" (think of Syriana compared to Crash). So we'll see how excited critics get, and how much positive buzz about the performances can carry this.