“Birdman,” “Boyhood” the Top Winners at Critics’ Choice Movie Awards

“Birdman” -Fox/Searchlight(LOS ANGELES) — Birdman was the leading winner Thursday night at the 20th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards in Hollywood, but Boyhood took the top prize, Best Picture.

Boyhood director Richard Linklater accepted the Best Picture award to close the ceremony, remarking, “It means so much to us that this little intimate film…has connected with you and resonated.”

Linklater spent 12 years shooting his Oscar-nominated drama, which follows the ups and downs of a boy and his family as he grows up.

Boyhood also received the awards for Best Director, for Linklater; Best Supporting Actress, for Patricia Arquette; and Best Young Actor/Actress, for Ellar Coltrane.

Birdman won seven awards — three of them for its lead star, Michael Keaton. He was named Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy, and he helped accept his movie’s award for Best Ensemble.

At one point Keaton quipped onstage, “Everybody keeps talking about what a grind this is. If you ask me, man, this is fun. I’m digging this.”

The award for Best Actress went to Julianne Moore for her performance in Still Alice.

Kevin Costner was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Ron Howard was given the Critics’ Choice LOUIS XIII Genius Award for demonstrating “unprecedented excellence in the cinematic arts.”

Jessica Chastain was handed the Critics’ Choice MVP Award for her work in several movies released last year, including Interstellar and A Most Violent Year.

Noting that it was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Chastain said she was thinking about the need for the film industry to “build the strength of diversity” and stand up against racist, homophobic, sexist and misogynistic agendas. It was an interesting comment, since some critics felt the Oscar nominations announced earlier in the day lacked diversity.

While serving as presenter, Judd Apatow took another shot at Bill Cosby, joking that the comedian is like Wilt Chamberlain, the basketball legend who allegedly slept with 20,000 women. Apatow has criticized Cosby on Twitter in light of the growing number of sex assault allegations made against Cosby. The 77-year-old comedian has never been criminally charged in connection with the allegations.

Michael Strahan hosted the two-hour telecast on A&E, which he opened by stripping off his pants and briefly dancing, in a nod to his role in the upcoming Magic Mike sequel. Later in the night he dressed as characters from Maleficent, The Hobbit and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards are staged annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, an organization of television, radio and online critics.

Here’s a list of this year’s winners:

Best Picture: Boyhood
Best Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Young Actor/Actress: Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
Best Acting Ensemble: Birdman
Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Original Screenplay: Birdman
Best Adapted Screenplay: Gone Girl
Best Animated Feature: The LEGO Movie
Best Action Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Actor in an Action Movie: Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Best Actress in an Action Movie: Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow
Best Comedy: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Actor in a Comedy: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best Actress in a Comedy: Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie: Interstellar
Best Foreign Language Film: Force Majeure
Best Documentary Feature: Life Itself
Best Song: “Glory,” Common and John Legend, Selma
Best Score: Birdman
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Art Direction: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Editing: Birdman
Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Hair & Makeup: Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Visual Effects: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

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