Winners Announced for 2nd Annual Seattle Film Awards

Courtesty of www.shouldiseeit.net, included below is the full press release for the 2014 Seattle Film Critic Awards, the winners list and the full run-down of nominees. As a voting member of the critical community, I’m thrilled to see my own preferences align with that of the Seattle film critic populace, going toe-for-toe with our number one pick from our Top Ten Films of 2014 list. The following release was authored by Should I See It?’s very own Mike Ward.

“Seattle, Wa. – Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s dramatic satire Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) was named the Best Picture of 2014 by the Seattle film community, as part of the 2015 Seattle Film Awards, honoring the best films of the previous year. Leading the pack with 11 nominations, Birdman walked away with five wins overall.

Designed to resemble a film shot with one continuous take, voters recognized the skill of the film’s innovative editing tricks and techniques, naming it the winner of Best Film Editing. Emmanuel Lubezki earned a second consecutive Best Cinematography win from Seattle critics (Gravity won last year), while Antonio Sanchez’s percussion-heavy score, disqualified by the Academy for blending classical music with original compositions, was named Best Original Score.

While no actors from the film won individual acting awards, Birdman’s cast featuring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, and Zach Galafianakis were awarded the Best Ensemble Cast award, while three of the four winning acting performances represented the lone victory of their respective films.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s blistering performance in Nightcrawler won Best Actor honors, while J.K. Simmons in Whiplash and Jessica Chastain in A Most Violent Year earned Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively. Rosamund Pike’s lead turn in David Fincher’s Gone Girl earned her a Best Actress win, while Gillian Flynn’s self-authored adaptation of her own best-selling novel landed a win for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel landed four wins for Production Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, Costume Design, and Best Original Screenplay. The film came into the Seattle Film Awards with 10 total nominations.

On the heels of its winning Best Picture (Drama) at the Golden Globes on Sunday evening, and viewed by many as a frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars in February, Boyhood earned Richard Linklater a win as Best Director.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s inventive The LEGO Movie won Best Animated Feature Film, Steve James’ tribute to Roger Ebert, Life Itself, was named Best Documentary Feature, while Indonesian action sequel, The Raid 2 was a surprise winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

The winners for the 2^nd Annual Seattle Film Awards are listed below:

Click here to see the full list of nominees.

THE 2^nd Annual SEATTLE FILM AWARD WINNERS:

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

BEST ACTRESS: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl