‘Brokeback’ picks up honors, nominations
It was a great weekend for “Brokeback Mountain.â€
The Ang Lee-directed western tragedy picked up best picture honors Saturday from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and was named Sunday as an official selection by the American Film Institute’s AFI Awards 2005. The drama also received eight nominations Sunday -- the most of any film -- for the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s 11th annual Critics’ Choice Awards.
AFI’s choices in both film and television are the organization’s almanac of the year’s most outstanding achievements and memorable moments in both mediums. The selections are made through two 13-member juries -- one for film and one for television -- that are made up of scholars, artists, critics and AFI trustees. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan was a member of the film jury.
Besides “Brokeback Mountain,†the AFI’s selections for the 10 outstanding motion pictures of 2005 are “Capote,†“Crash,†“The 40 Year-Old Virgin,†“Good Night, and Good Luck,†“A History of Violence,†“King Kong,†“Munich,†“The Squid and the Whale†and “Syriana.â€
On the television side, the selections are “24,†“Battlestar Galactica,†“Deadwood,†“Grey’s Anatomy,†“House,†“Lost,†“Rescue Me,†“Sleeper Cell,†“Sometimes in April†and “Veronica Mars.â€
The rationales for the juries’ selections for the sixth annual awards will be announced at the honorees lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on Jan. 13.
The best film nominees for the Critics’ Choice Awards are “Brokeback Mountain,†“Capote,†“Cinderella Man,†“The Constant Gardener,†“Crash,†“Good Night, and Good Luck,†“King Kong,†“Memoirs of a Geisha,†“Munich†and “Walking the Line.â€
The BFCA will pay special tribute to George Clooney with its Freedom Award for “illuminating our shared values of freedom, tolerance and democracy†with “Good Night, and Good Luck.†Clooney is also nominated for three Critics’ Choice Awards: for supporting actor for “Syriana†and best director and writer for “Good Night, and Good Luck.â€
The 200 members of the organization represent television, radio and online critics who selected nominees in each of the 19 categories.
The winners will be announced Jan. 9 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Dennis Miller will host the gala, which will be televised on the WB.
The New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review announce their choices today.
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