Winners!! 83rd Academy Awards

Utah critics: For once The Social Network isn’t alone

"127 Hours" shared film's top honor with "The Social Network" in Utah.

In a surprisingly tie-filled ceremony, the Utah Film Critics Association (UFCA), yesterday, gave both 127 Hours and The Social Network “Best Picture” accolades. The director and foreign-film races were ties as well. Natalie Portman and Christian Bale continue to prove they’re guaranteed future, bigger awards — unless the infamous too-many-awards backlash kicks in. James Franco continued to challenge the notion of a “frontrunner” in the “Lead Actor” with his win. In an odd switch Lesley Manville (Another Year) was placed in the “Supporting Actress” field, where she lost to Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom), in favor of Hailee Steinfeld for “Lead Actress,” where Portman continues to reign. Though it didn’t receive stellar reviews nor heavy awards buzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has recently appeared in multiple races from multiple critics groups — maybe there’s more to come for the comedy, though it’s doubtful the movie will break free of the smaller, regional awards.

Best Picture

• 127 Hours and The Social Network (tie)

Nominees:
Inception
Toy Story 3
True Grit

LVFCS Sierra Awards: The Social Network, American actors light up The Strip

The LVFCS announced the winners of the 14th edition of its Sierra Awards today.

Adding still more accolades to The Social Network‘s burgeoning trophy case, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society (LVFCS) Awards — known as the Sierra Awards — awarded the Facebook-focused feature “Best Picture,” “Best Director” (David Fincher), “Best Screenplay” (Aaron Sorkin), and “Best Score” (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) — the most wins from this year’s ceremony. With 3 of the 4 main acting awards going to Americans from races in which British actors are heavy contenders, the awards season seems to be steering toward nationalistic lines. Early favorites — all from Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech — Colin Firth (Lead Actor), Helena Bonham Carter (Supporting Actress), and Geoffrey Rush (Supporting Actor) have fallen by the wayside yet again for American actors and winners here: James Franco (Lead Actor), Amy Adams (Supporting Actress), and Christian Bale (Supporting Actor). On a sidenote, Amy Adams’ win has given her a fighting chance in the “Supporting Actress” ring that threatened to give co-star Melissa Leo the KO win.