Detroit Film Critics Society offers up 2014 nominations

By Jeff Meyers

Dec 12, 2014 at 12:23 pm

Audio By Carbonatix

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As the outgoing president of the Detroit Film Critics Society, I have been long proud of the fact that we tend to zig when other critic groups zag. Though we might not have had the chutzpah to hand out "Best" awards to actresses in little-known foreign films (as the L.A. Critics have done on occasion), we often show affection for smaller, more independent movies.

This year was no exception.

Like most critic groups, many members of the DFCS fell in love with Ajejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman (a love I did not share) , giving it seven nominations. Predictably, Richard Linklater's Boyhood and Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (two movies I greatly admire) came close behind. But alongside those mainstream nominations was an appreciation for far more daring fare — Jonathan Glazer's experimental science fiction Under The Skin, Jennifer Kent's low budget scarefest The Babadook, Damien Chazelle's physically grueling Whiplash, and acting nods to Thomas Hardy's performance in Locke and Brendan Gleeson's in Calvary all demonstrated our society's knack for honoring work that's a little off the beaten path.

What and who will bring home the final awards for 2014? Final votes are due Sunday noon and announcements will come Monday morning. I'm hoping for a few surprises.

Nominees in alphabetical order.

Best Film