Leading the field for the Golden Globe awards, for which it received seven nominations on Monday, Alexander Payne's sharply observed serious comedy Sideways swept the boards in the awards from the key US critics' groups this week, writes Michael Dwyer
It was named best film of the year by the critics in New York, Los Angeles and Boston. It also took the prizes for best screenplay and best supporting actor (Thomas Haden Church) in LA and Boston, along with best supporting actress (Virginia Madsen) in New York and LA, and best actor (Paul Giamatti) in New York. It opens here on January 28th.
The LA critics named Liam Neeson best actor for Kinsey, while the Boston critics opted for Jamie Foxx in Ray. The New York and LA critics voted Imelda Staunton best actress for Vera Drake, and the Boston critics went with Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby, for which Clint Eastwood was named best director in New York. The New York critics voted Clive Owen best supporting actor for Closer, and they agreed with the LA critics that the award for best first feature should go to Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace.
It ought to be borne in mind, of course, that however often the Golden Globes and awards from critics are heralded as harbingers of the Oscars that follow in February, there is no overlap in the electorate. In the past 20 years, only three winners of the New York Critics' Circle (NYCC) award for best film went on to win the best picture Oscar: The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Schindler's List (1993) and The Return of the King (2003). And three of the past five NYCC choices as best film were not even nominated for a best picture Oscar: Topsy-Turvy, Mulholland Drive and Far from Heaven.
Detractors claim that the only reason the NYCC voted Cameron Diaz best actress for There's Something About Mary was that the male-dominated group wanted to meet her at the awards dinner. And it has been noted that in 2001, one NYCC member voted Tom Cruise best actress for Vanilla Sky.
