"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was one of a very few films added to the awards circuit by the BFCA.

"War Horse" was another one of those (un)expected nominees.

The BFCA Awards, more popularly known as the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, decided that this year was not the year to change it up. They usually don’t though. With a 10-nominee listing for movies and 6 nominees apiece for the acting and directing categories, the BFCAs usually provide that one hopeful/forgotten/unexpected nominee while still staying well within the bounds of expected nominees. In very expected fashion, Hugo and The Artist lead all nominees with 11 each. There are a few surprises, though. 9/11 family drama with a Hugo-esque father-son dynamic Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, directed by always Oscar-nominated director Stephe Daldry, and War Horse, Steven Spielberg’s World War I epic adapted from a novel and stage play of the same name, are recent additions to the “Best Picture” and “Best Director” fields; they’ll be showing up more often in future awards shows. Charlize Theron, Ryan Gosling, and Carey Mulligan were surprising but not entirely unexpected finds among the acting nominees. One glaring omission from the directing list is Terrence Malick, who about ties Martin Scorsese for most wins thus far. The more expected fare appears below. Continue reading →