’12 Years a Slave’ leads female-voted AWFJ nods, as ‘The Counselor’ is shamed

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists have revealed their long, long list of nominations. As usual, it’s a mix of fairly standard picks in the conventional categories — “12 Years a Slave” leads the way with 13 nominations — and more distinctive choices in categories created to celebrate female filmmakers and denigrate industry sexism.

Not all of them make a lot of sense: why on earth does Melissa McCarthy “need a new agent” when “The Heat” and “Identify Thief” were so successful? And calling out the “egregious age difference” between Dermot Mulroney and Abigail Breslin seems somewhat pointless, given that the film does the same. They also made plain their disapproval of “The Counselor,” though I’m not sure I’d call it sexist per se — it’s a female character, after all, who holds all the cards in it. But I guess they mean well.

Lake Bell, Sarah Polley and Nicole Holofcener, Julie Delpy and “Frozen” director Jennifer Lee are among the female directors and screenwriters singled out for their achievement, though I think the AWFJ could dig a little deeper when championing their own gender. Shouldn’t “Concussion” director Stacie Passon be here, for starters? (Meanwhile, of those, only Holofcener, Polley and “Blackfish” director Gabriela Cowperthwaite received nods in the mixed-gender categories.) Anyway, full list below:

Best Film
“American Hustle”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“12 Years a Slave” 

Best Director
Joel and Ethan Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Spike Jonze, “Her”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
Alexander Payne, “Nebraska”
David O. Russell, “American Hustle”

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine” 
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity” 
Judi Dench, “Philomena” 
Brie Larson, “Short Term 12”
Emma Thompson, “Saving Mr. Banks”

Best Actor

Bruce Dern, “Nebraska” 
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave” 
Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis” 
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club” 
Joaquin Phoenix, “Her” 
Robert Redford, “All is Lost”  

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine” 
Scarlett Johanson, “Her” 
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle” 
Lupita Nyong”o, “12 Years a Slave” 
Oprah Winfrey, “Lee Daniels” The Butler”  

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips” 
Bobby Cannavale, “Blue Jasmine” 
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club” 
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave” 
Will Forte, “Nebraska”  

Best Original Screenplay
“American Hustle”
“Enough Said”
“Her”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”

Best Adapted Screenplay
“Captain Phillips”
“Philomena”
“Short Term 12”
“The Spectacular Now”
“12 Years a Slave”  

Best Non-English Language Film
“Blue is the Warmest Color”
“The Grandmaster”
“The Hunt”
“The Past”
“Wadjda”

Best Documentary
“The Act of Killing”
“After Tiller”
“Blackfish”
“20 Feet From Stardom”
“Stories We Tell”

Best Animated Film
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“The Wind Rises”

Best Ensemble
“American Hustle”
“August: Osage County”
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
“Nebraska”
“12 Years a Slave”

Best Editing
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Rush”
“12 Years a Slave”

Best Cinematography
“All is Lost”
“Gravity”
“Nebraska”
“Prisoners”
“12 Years a Slave”

Best Music
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“12 Years a Slave”

Best Woman Director
Lake Bell, “In A World…”
Gabriele Cowperthwaite, “Blackfish”
Nicole Holofcener, “Enough Said”
Jennifer Lee, “Frozen”
Sarah Polley, “Stories We Tell”

Best Woman Screenwriter
Lake Bell, “In A World…”
Julie Delpy, “Before Midnight”
Nicole Holofcener, “Enough Said”
Jennifer Lee, “Frozen”
Sarah Polley, “Stories We Tell”

Best Female Action Star
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
Chloe Grace Moretz, “Kick Ass 2”  

Best Animated Female
Anna (Kristen Bell), “Frozen”
Eep (Emma Stone), “The Croods”
Elsa (Idina Menzel), “Frozen”  

Best Breakthrough Female Performance
Brie Larson, “Short Term 12”
Lupita Nyong”o, “12 Years A Slave”
Shailene Woodley, “The Spectacular Now”

Best Actress Defying Age and Agism
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County”  

AWFJ Female Icon Award 
Sandra Bullock, for the strong, capable and very positive female image presented in “Gravity”
Angelina Jolie, for continued commitments to humanitarian causes, and for promoting awareness about breast cancer.
Jennifer Lawrence, for “American Hustle” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” and for handling her high degree of celebrity extremely well

Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry
Haaifa Al-Mansour, for directing “Wadjda” and challenging the limitations placed on women within her culture
Cheryl Boone Isaac, for becoming President of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Jahane Noujaim, for risking life and limb to document the Egyptian revolution in “The Square”

AWFJ Hall of Shame Award
“The Counselor” 
“Grown Ups 2”  
“Movie 43”

Actress Most in Need of a New Agent
Cameron Diaz, “The Counselor”
Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgins, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, “Spring Breakers”
Melissa McCarthy, “Identity Thief,” “The Heat”  

Movie You Wanted to Love But Couldn’t
“All is Lost”
“Blue Is The Warmest Color”
“The Counselor”  

Unforgettable Moment Award
“Gravity” – George Clooney reappears
“12 Years A Slave” – Patsy pleads for soap
“Her” – Phone sex sequences
“Nebraska” – “That”s not my air compressor”
“12 Years A Slave” – Solomon hanging

Best Depiction of Nudity, Sexuality or Seduction
“Blue Is The Warmest Color,” Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos
“Her,” Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix
“The Spectacular Now,” Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller

Sequel or Remake That Shouldn’t Have Been Made
“Carrie”
“Grown Ups 2”
“The Hangover”
“Kick Ass”
“Oz the Great and Powerful”  

Most Egregious Age Difference Between Leading Man and Love Interest
“August: Osage County,” Dermot Mulroney and Abigail Breslin
“The Invisible Woman,” Ralph Feinnes and Felicity Jones
“Last Vegas,” Michael Douglas and Bree Blair
“The Lifeguard,” Kristen Bell and David Lambert
“Oblivion,” Tom Cruise and Andrea Reisborough/Olga Kurylenko

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