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By Sandra Olmsted

The local film critics, who have been making a name for themselves in awards circles, released their nominations for the 2013 films. One of the most unusual awards the St. Louis Film Critics (SLFC) give is for Best Scene. These are the nominations for this year: 12 Years a Slave – The hanging scene; Captain Phillips – The scene near the end of the film where Tom Hanks is being checked out by military medical personnel and he breaks down. Gravity – The opening tracking shot; Her – Off-screen OS sex scene. The Place Beyond the Pines – The opening scene where Ryan Gosling is walking through the carnival.

Some of the films in theaters now which are heavily nominated are 12 Years a Slave with ten nominations, including Best Scene, and Nebraska with nine. 12 Years a Slave is nominated for Best Film, Steve McQueen  — Director, Chiwetel Ejiofor — Actor, Lupita Nyongo — Supporting Actress, Michael Fassbender — Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, Musical Score. Nebraska is nominated for Best Film, Best Comedy, Alexander Payne — DIrector, Bruce Dern — Actor, Will Forte — Supporting Actor, June Squibb — Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, and Musical Score.

Some films still in theater which the SLFC also nominated are Gravity, Captain Phillips, and Dallas Buyers Club. The critics nominated Gravity for Best Film, Alfonso Cuaron — Director, Sandra Bullock — Actress, Cinematography, Musical Score, and Best Visual Special Effects. Captain Phillips receives nominations for Best Scene, Barkhad Abdi — Supporting Actor, and Adapted Screenplay; and Dallas Buyers Club garnered two acting nominations for Matthew McConaughey — Best Actor, and for Jared Leto Supporting Actor. Philomena also received two nominations for Dame Judi Dench — Best Actress, Adapted Screenplay.

The animated films nominated by the local critics are: Despicable Me 2, Frozen, Monsters University, The Croods, and The Wind Rises, which is the last film by famed Studio Ghibli animator Hayao Miyazaki, who is retiring and who is known for Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away. All but The Wind Rises are in theaters or on DVD now or shortly, but The Wind Rises will open here in February.

OPENING DECEMBER 18:  AMERICAN HUSTLE (Sony) Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner star in director David O. Russell’s drama, which is loosely based on the 1970s Abscam government sting. Rated R For pervasive language, some sexual content and brief violence. 138 minutes. SLFC nominations: Best Film, David O. Russell — Director, Christian Bale — Actor, Amy Adams — Actress, Jennifer Lawrence – Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, and Soundtrack.

OPENING DECEMBER 20:  SAVING MR. BANKS (Disney) P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), he creator of Mary Poppins, proves unshakable in her resolve to thwart Walt Disney’s (Tom Hanks) desire to turn the popular children’s book into a film. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images. 125 minutes. Emma Thompson — Best Actress, Original Screenplay, and Musical Score.

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (CBS Films) Joel and Ethan Coen explore the New York City folk music scene of the 1960s through the eyes of a struggling, bohemian musician (Oscar Isaac), who can’t accept any compromises in his life or his music. such that they are. Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake also star. Rated R for language, including some sexual references. 105 minutes. SLFC nominations: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Soundtrack

St. Louis Film Critics Nominations:

Best Film

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

 

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Spike Jonze (Her)

Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)

Alexander Payne (Nebraska)

David O. Russell (American Hustle)

 

Best Actor

Christian Bale (American Hustle)

Bruce Dern (Nebraska)

Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)

Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

 

Best Actress

Amy Adams (American Hustle)

Cate Blanchette (Blue Jasmine)

Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

Judi Dench (Philomena)

Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)

 

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)

Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

Harrison Ford (42)

Will Forte (Nebraska)

Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

 

Best Supporting Actress

Scarlett Johannson (Her)

Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

Lupita Nyongo (12 Years a Slave)

Lea Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Colour)

June Squibb (Nebraska)

 

Best Original Screenplay

American Hustle

Enough Said

Her

Nebraska

Saving Mr. Banks

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

12 Years a Slave

Before Midnight

Captain Phillips

Philomena

Short Term 12

The Spectacular Now

 

Best Cinematography

12 Years a Slave (Sean Bobbitt)

The Grandmaster (Philippe Le Sourd)

The Great Gatsby (Simon Duggan)

Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)

Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel)

Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael)

 

Best Visual Special Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Thor: The Dark World

 

Best Musical Score

12 Years a Slave

Gravity

Her

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Nebraska

Saving Mr. Banks

 

Best Soundtrack

American Hustle

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

The Great Gatsby

Inside Llewyn Davis

Muscle Shoals

 

Best Art Direction

12 Years A Slave

The Grandmaster

The Great Gatsby

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

 

Best Documentary

20 Feet from Stardom

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Muscle Shoals

Stories We Tell

 

Best Non-English Language Film

Blue Is the Warmest Colour

A Hijacking

The Hunt

No

Wadjda

 

Best Comedy

Enough Said

The Heat

Nebraska

The Way Way Back

The World’s End

 

Best Animated Feature

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

 

Best Art-House or Festival Film

For artistic excellence in independent, international or smaller-budget films that played at film festivals, film series or had a limited-release run in St. Louis, playing one to three cinemas.

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Before Midnight

Blue Is the Warmest Colour

Frances Ha

In a World…

Short Term 12

 

Best Scene

– A favorite movie scene or sequence

12 Years a Slave – The hanging scene

Captain Phillips – The scene near the end of the film where Tom Hanks is being checked out by military medical personnel and he breaks down.

Gravity – he opening tracking shot.

Her – OS sex scene.

The Place Beyond the Pines – The opening scene where Ryan Gosling is walking through the carnival.