The early out of the box (too early IMHOP) Boston Online Film Critics have given out their awards. 12 YEARS A SLAVE swept a number of major awards including Best Picture, Director and Actor.

SF films GRAVITY and THE WORLD'S END (WTF!!??) made their Top 10 List for the year. Hayao Miyazaki's superb THE WIND RISES tied with FROZEN for the Best Animated Film. The excellent disturbing THE ACT OF KILLING won the Documentary award. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR took the Foreign Language prize.

Full Story: http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/12-years-sweeps-boston-online-film-critics/

The Razzie nominations are out. The big "winners" are GROWN UPS 2 and A MEDEA CHRISTMAS. THE LONE RANGER was also tapped as a Worst Picture contender.

The sci-fi classic to be (not!) AFTER EARTH got nominations for both Smiths and M. Night Shymalan.

Oscar nominations tomorrow. Should be a big day for GRAVITY. HER's odds are more iffy.

L.A. Connection wrote on Jan 15^th, 2014 at 11:44am:

The Razzie nominations are out. The big "winners" are GROWN UPS 2 and A MEDEA CHRISTMAS. THE LONE RANGER was also tapped as a Worst Picture contender. The sci-fi classic to be (not!) AFTER EARTH got nominations for both Smiths and M. Night Shymalan. Oscar nominations tomorrow. Should be a big day for GRAVITY. HER's odds are more iffy.

Sandler should be a shoe-in for a lifetime achievement Razzie in a couple of years.

2014 OSCAR PREDICTIONS:
As always, I give you what I think is the BEST in each category, plus my Prediction (PICK). This was a pretty darn good year. At the bottom, I list my Top 10 Films of the Year. Most are nominated in one category or another, but, ALL are worth seeking out on DVD, Cable or Streaming. Happy Oscar nite!

Costume Design: The grandiose and the musical often take the prize.
Best: THE GRANDMASTER Pick: THE GREAT GATSBY

Art Direction: Ditto.
Best: HER Pick: THE GREAT GATSBY

Cinematography: Yet another year where the voters favor a CGI post-production heavy shoot in this category. This is fast becoming more a Tech category than a purely artistic one. And, why did the cinematographers nominate NEBRASKA for its lousy digital “Black & White” with faux “film grain”? Roger Deakins’ work fully imbued PRISONERS with a mood and atmosphere that set the template for one of the more intense films of the year.
Best: Roger Deakins, PRISONERS Pick: Emmanuel Lubezki, GRAVITY

Visual Effects: There is only one. The lock of the night.
Best & Pick: GRAVITY

Sound Editing & Sound Mixing: More tech nods for GRAVITY
Best: CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Picks: GRAVITY

Musical Score: Steven Price’s music for GRAVITY impressed many. It’s good, but too emphatic.
Best: Alexandre Desplat, PHILOMENA Pick: Steven Price, GRAVITY

Best Song: This isn’t the star-f#ckers from the Golden Globes who wanted to see Bono at the podium. The others will be frozen out.
Best: ‘The Moon Song’, HER Pick: ‘Let it Go’, FROZEN

Animated Film: There will be surprises on Oscar night, but, this won’t be one of them. A damn shame, too. The great Hiyao Miyazaki’s farewell Masterpiece THE WIND RISES will lose to another lite-weight toy merchandise friendly Disney pic. An artistic crime.
Best – by a mile!: THE WIND RISES  Pick: FROZEN

Film Editing: If 12 YEARS wins this one, it’ll likely take Best Picture. GRAVITY could add one to its tech total, but let’s go with the actual best.
Best: CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Pick: CAPTAIN PHILIPS

Makeup & Hairstyling: It would be a kick if BAD GRANDPA could tout itself as an “Oscar Winning Film!”, but.......
Best & Pick: DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Documentary Feature: Two of the films, THE SQUARE and ACT OF KILLING are among the very best films of any kind from last year. Unfortunately, the more audience friendly 20 FEET FROM STARDOM seems to be the likely winner.
Best: THE SQUARE Pick: 20 FEET FROM STARDOM

Foreign Language Film: One of the 5 nominees has still not be commercially released. But, of those that have been, one is an absolute standout, the great Italian film by Paolo Sorrentino, THE GREAT BEAUTY. The best film I saw in 2013. Period. The spoilers could be BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN or THE HUNT.
Pick: THE GREAT BEAUTY, Italy

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence is getting a lot of buzz, and there’s no doubt she’s had an extraordinary early career. Still, Lupita Nyong’o’s searing work must be honored.
Best & Pick: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 YEARS A SLAVE

Best Supporting Actor: This has seemed a lock for a while. I honestly had little thought about Jared Leto as an actor before seeing his showy, by heartfelt performance.
Best & Pick: Jared Leto, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Best Actress: With so many great under the radar performances such as Brie Larrson (SHORT TERM 12), Adele Exarcopolous (BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR) and Berenice Bejo (THE PAST) why did the actor’s branch have to reflexively give Meryl Streep yet ANOTHER nomination? Come on, thespians, think outside the box (and see a wider range of movies!) And, Sandra Bullock for GRAVITY? Really? All this shouldn’t take away from Cate Blanchett and her gifted work in Woody Allen’s BLUE JASMINE.
Best & Pick: Cate Blanchett, BLUE JASMINE

Best Actor: Never have been much of a DiCaprio fan, but his work in WOLF OF WALL STREET was a career best. Christian Bale delivered as usual when he’s not behind a Bat-Mask. Chiwetel Ejiofor has a shot, but the time has come for cool smooth, Matthew.
Best & Pick: Matthew McConaughy, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Best Original Screenplay: If Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t win, then this category might be multi-nominee AMERICAN HUSTLE’s best chance. But, the sentiment seems to be that HUSTLE was too improvised, and Spike Jonze’s more supple work should take the day.
Best & Pick: Spike Jonze, HER

Best Adapted Screenplay: WOLF OF WALL STREET may be a dark horse here, and there is certainly sentiment on the side of indie fave BEFORE MIDNIGHT, but, this will honor the prose and skill of John Ridley’s adaptation of Solomon Northup’s extraordinary life and tale.
Best & Pick: John Ridley, 12 YEARS A SLAVE

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron’s extraordinary technical skill will take the day over Steve McQueen’s more nuanced work.
Best: Steve McQueen, 12 YEARS A SLAVE Pick: Alfonso Cuaron, GRAVITY

Best Picture: The numbers seem to add up to a GRAVITY win. But, it’s thin storyline certainly doesn’t make it the sure frontrunner. AMERICAN HUSTLE is probably the most fun of the top contenders, but is seen as lite. 12 YEARS A SLAVE has the passion and the gravitas. But, this is one of the CLOSEST races in years!
Best & Pick (though hesitant): 12 YEARS A SLAVE

No official picks, but to fill out your ballot:
Live Action Short Subject: The Voorman Problem
Animated Short: Get A Horse
Documentary Short: Lady in Number Six

My Top 10 Films of the Year:
10. PRISONERS
9. BLANCANIEVES
8. THE PAST
7. FRUITVALE STATION
6. THE SQUARE
5. 12 YEARS A SLAVE
4. SHORT TERM 12
3. THE ATTACK
2. THE WIND RISES
1. THE GREAT BEAUTY

21 outta 24 in my picks, and only Editing loss amongst the non-shorts categories.

Glad to see THE GREAT BEAUTY win.

GRAVITY got 7 and HER got 1, so that's 8 for SF films.

Please note that Mr. Hublot, a lovely little robot/Steampunk bit of whimsey, won for best animated short.
It didn't have the exposure of the Disney piece, Get A Horse, which was shown in theaters with Frozen, but it obviously charmed the viewers.
Could people in the industry be getting tired of Disney?