The 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards will air Sunday Jan. 14 on The CW. You could make an argument that any of the 10 movies nominated for Best Picture this year could win. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” may be the favorites, but watch out for “American Fiction”, “The Holdovers”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Maestro”. “The Color Purple” and “Past Lives” may pull-off surprise victories. I see “Poor Things” and “Saltburn” towards the back of the pack, but hey, you never know.
The first Critics Choice Best Picture Award went to 1995’s “Sense and Sensibility”. The next year it was “Fargo” over Oscar winner “The English Patient”, and then “L.A. Confidential” over “Titanic”. For ’98 movies, the critics chose “Saving Private Ryan” over “Shakespeare in Love”. 1999’s “American Beauty” was the first time the CCA (then known as the BFCA — Broadcast Film Critics Association) and The Academy agreed on the best movie of the year. That continued for “Gladiator”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Chicago” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”.
In 2004, the BFCA chose Alexander Payne’s “Sideways”, which also won the SAG Best Ensemble Award. “Million Dollar Baby” earned the Best Picture Oscar. In 2005, “Brokeback Mountain” became Ang Lee’s second Critics Choice Best Picture winner. 2006-2009 were BFCA and Oscars matches, for “The Departed”, “No Country for Old Men”, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Hurt Locker”.
In 2010, Critics Choice’s Best Picture winner was also the Golden Globe Best Drama recipient, “The Social Network”. But “The King’s Speech” took SAG, BAFTA and the Oscars by storm. 2011’s CC Best Picture: “The Artist”. 2012 was the year I joined the organization, with “Argo” taking top honors. “12 Years a Slave” was the big winner the next year, and “Boyhood” (over “Birdman”) the year after.
For 2015-2018, Critics Choice selected “Spotlight”, “La La Land”, “The Shape of Water” and “Roma”. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” won for 2019, even though Quentin Tarantino lost in the Best Director category to Bong Joon-Ho (“Parasite”) and Sam Mendes (“1917”), who tied. 2020’s winner was “Nomadland”, followed by “The Power of the Dog” for 2021 and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” last year.
In the previous 11 years of my Critics Choice membership, the CCA and Oscars Best Picture winners have only matched six times. So this year will either make it 7-5 or a 6-6 tie. I could see it going either way.