San Diego Film Critics Society announces nominations for the best in cinema in 2014

How quickly the year is coming to its last reel. Since the past two weeks, film reviewer communities everywhere have been announcing their year end picks for the best of the year. Closer home, the San Diego Film Critics Society announced today their final nominations in various categories.

The San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) consists of 18 members (including Moviewallas) who write about film in our city, and include the major print and online film outlets in San Diego.

This year's SDFCS nominations includes a diverse list that is likely to have something for everyone. In fact, we had ties in the tie-breaker round (!) for Best Film and Best Male Actor, and hence have 6 names instead of the usual 5 in those two categories. Some picks are similar to those from other critics groups in the country (including those from New York, Los Angeles, and Boston). And then there are some unique picks such as nominations for Venus In Fur and Heli in the Best Foreign Film category.  The SDFCS may also be the first critics group to hand a Best Male Actor nomination to the redoubtable Brendan Gleeson for his work in Calvary. Personally, I am just glad that Marion Cotillard made the cut for Best Female Actor for her remarkable work in Two Days, One Night, a film that deserves a wide, wide audience.

Without further ado, here are the final 2014 SDFCS nominations. Do not forget to provide us your feedback on the nominations in the Comments section.

   BEST FILM
   BOYHOOD
   GONE GIRL
   NIGHTCRAWLER
   SELMA
   THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
   THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

   BEST DIRECTOR
   Alejandro González Iñárritu, BIRDMAN
   Dan Gilroy, NIGHTCRAWLER
   David Fincher, GONE GIRL
   Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD
   Wes Anderson, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

   BEST ACTOR, MALE
   Brendan Gleeson, CALVARY
   Eddie Redmayne, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
   Jake Gyllenhaal, NIGHTCRAWLER
   Michael Keaton, BIRDMAN
   Ralph Fiennes, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
   Tom Hardy, LOCKE


   BEST ACTOR, FEMALE
   Felicity Jones, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
   Hilary Swank, THE HOMESMAN
   Marion Cotillard, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
   Mia Wasikowska, TRACKS
   Rosamund Pike, GONE GIRL

   BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, MALE
   Edward Norton, BIRDMAN
   Ethan Hawke, BOYHOOD
   J.K. Simmons, WHIPLASH
   Mark Ruffalo, FOXCATCHER
   Riz Ahmed, NIGHTCRAWLER

   BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, FEMALE
   Carrie Coon, GONE GIRL
   Emma Stone, BIRDMAN
   Keira Knightly, THE IMITATION GAME
   Patricia Arquette, BOYHOOD
   Rene Russo, NIGHTCRAWLER

   BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
   Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacabone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, BIRDMAN
   Dan Gilroy, NIGHTCRAWLER
   Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD
   Steven Knight, LOCKE
   Wes Anderson, Hugo Guiness, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

   BEST ADAPATED SCREENPLAY
   Anthony McCarten, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
   Gillian Flynn, GONE GIRL
   Joel Coen, William Nicolson, Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, UNBROKEN
   Nick Hornby, WILD
   Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

   BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE
   FORCE MAJEURE
   HELI
   IDA
   TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
   VENUS IN FUR

   BEST DOCUMENTRAY
   CITIZENFOUR
   ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME
   GLEN CAMPBELL: I’LL BE ME
   LIFE ITSELF
   THE LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM

   BEST ANIMATED FILM
   BIG HERO 6
   BOXTROLLS
   HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
   THE LEGO MOVIE
   THE NUT JOB

   BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
   Fredrik Wenzel, FORCE MAJEURE
   Hoyte Van Hoytema INTERSTELLAR
   Jeff Cronenweth, GONE GIRL
   Robert Elswit, NIGHTCRAWLER
   Roger Deakins, UNBROKEN

   BEST EDITING
   Barney Pilling, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
   James Herbert, Laura Jennings, EDGE OF TOMORROW
   John Gilroy, NIGHTCRAWLER
   Kirk Baxter, GONE GIRL
   Sandra Adair, BOYHOOD

   BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
   Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pincock, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
   Dennis Gassner & Anna Pinnock, INTO THE WOODS
   John Paul Kelly, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
   Maria Djurkovic, THE IMITATION GAME
   Nathan Crawley, INTERSTELLAR

   BEST SCORE
   Alexandre Desplat, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
   Alexandre Desplat, THE IMITATION GAME
   James Newton Howard, NIGHTCRAWLER
   Antonio Sanchez, BIRDMAN
   Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, GONE GIRL

   BEST ENSEMBLE
   BIRDMAN
   BOYHOOD
   SELMA
   THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
   THE IMITATION GAME