‘Birdman’ leads Chicago critics nods with ‘Life Itself’ love meaning a little more

“Birdman” is coming out really strong with the critics awards nominations lately, heading up another list this weekend with the Chicago Film Critics Association. The film picked up nine tips of the hat, with fellow critical darlings “Boyhood” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” not far behind. And a lovely note: naturally, “Life Itself,” about the life of Chicago staple Roger Ebert, was nominated for Best Documentary as it continues to be one of the top contenders of that field. I picture him giving a hearty thumbs up to that.

Check out the full list of nominees below. Winners will be announced on Dec. 15. And remember to track it all at The Circuit.

Best Picture
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Under the Skin”
“Whiplash”

Best Director
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
David Fincher, “Gone Girl”
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Christopher Nolan, “Interstellar”

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
David Oyelowo, “Selma”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Scarlett Johansson, “Under the Skin”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, “Inherent Vice”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J. K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”
Laura Dern, “Wild”
Agata Kulesza, “Ida”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
Walter Campbell and Jonathan Glazer, “Under the Skin”
Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl”
Nick Hornby, “Wild”
Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”

Best Original Screenplay
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Armando Bo, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone and Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Martin McDonagh, “Calvary”

Best Cinematography
Robert Elswit, “Nightcrawler”
Ryszard Lencewski and Lukasz Zal, “Ida”
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Hoyte van Hoytema, “Interstellar”
Robert D. Yeoman, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Editing
Sandra Adair, “Boyhood”
Kirk Baxter, “Gone Girl”
Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione, “Birdman”
Tom Cross, “Whiplash”
Barney Pilling, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Art Direction/Production Design
Marco Bittner Rosser, “Only Lovers Left Alive”
Nathan Crowley, “Interstellar”
Dennis Gassner, “Into the Woods”
Ondrej Nekvasil, “Snowpiercer”
Adam Stockhausen, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Imitation Game”
Mica Levi, “Under the Skin”
Antonio Sanchez, “Birdman”
Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”

Best Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The LEGO Movie”
“The Tale of Princess Kaguya”

Best Documentary
“CITIZENFOUR”
“Jodorowsky”s Dune”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“Life Itself”
“The Overnighters”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Force Majeure”
“Ida”
“Mommy”
“The Raid 2”
“Two Days, One Night”

Most Promising Filmmaker
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
Jennifer Kent, “The Babadook”
Jeremy Saulnier, “Blue Ruin”
Justin Simien, “Dear White People”

Most Promising Performer
Ellar Coltrane, “Boyhood”
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, “Belle / Beyond the Lights”
Jack O”Connell, “Starred Up / Unbroken”
Tony Revolori, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Jenny Slate, “Obvious Child”
Agata Trzebuchowska, “Ida”