New York Film Critics Circle name ‘Boyhood’ 2014’s best film

The annual film award flood is upon us, though one of the first critics bodies to weigh in is among the most prestigious. Today the New York Film Critics Circle announced their picks of the year’s finest, which tend to sit just outside the mainstream choices of the Oscars. No doubt that their pick for the year’s finest film — Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” filmed over 12 years — will pick up a Best Picture nod but probably not a trophy. Ditto its choices of lead actress and actor, Marion Cotillard (for both “The Immigrant” and “Two Days, One Night”) and Timothy Spall (for Mike Leigh’s “Mr. Turner”).

One interesting note that over half of its picks don’t hail from awards season. “Boyhood” was a summer release, “The Immigrant” came in February and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (which nabbed the screenplay win) in March. Theaters may be clogged with sleepy Oscar-bait like “The Imitation Game” and “The Theory of Everything,” but the goodies are really spread year-round. (And it’s great that “The Immgirant” — dumped and ignored by its distributor — is picking up some major, noticeable accoaldes.)

Here’s the full list of winners:

Picture: “Boyhood”
Director: Richard Linklater
Actress: Marion Cotillard, “The Immigrant” and “Two Days, One Night”
Actor: Timothy Spall, “Mr. Turner”
Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Screenplay: “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Cinematography: “The Immigrant”
Nonfiction Film: “Citizenfour”
Foreign Language Film: “Ida”
Animated Film: “The Lego Movie”
First Film: “The Babadook”
Special Award: Adrienne Mancia