I judge “The Hateful Eight” the best movie of the year, but I guess no one else does. Okay, Papa Vinyard does too.
But the clear winner among American film critics generally this winter is “Spotlight.”
Among the 17 critics organizations surveyed here, the Tom McCarthy drama is way out ahead in the best-picture arena:
11 Spotlight
5 Mad Max: Fury Road
1 Carol
Two thoughts:
I love “Spotlight,” but John Patrick Shanley’s 2008 drama “Doubt” – also about Catholic clergymen who can’t quite keep their mitts off tiny parishioners – was at least a little better. “Doubt” starred Oscar darling Meryl Streep and was not ignored during award season seven years ago, but it got nowhere near the kind of best-picture love currently afforded “Spotlight.” This may or may not owe to the hero-sleuth in “Doubt” being a nun instead of a reporter; journalists love movies about journalism.
As for the strong showing for George Miller’s excellent “Fury Road,” I’m obliged to point out that 1981’s “The Road Warrior” remains the superior entertainment -- and I think the only thing Mad Max got from American critics 34 years ago was a “best foreign film” trophy from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
Who voted what:
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
BOSTON FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
WASHINGTON DC AREA FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
SAN FRANCISCO FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
INDIANA FILM JOURNALISTS
Spotlight
ST. LOUIS FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
DETROIT FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
PHOENIX FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
LAS VEGAS FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
NORTH CAROLINA FILM CRITICS
Spotlight
CHICAGO FILM CRITICS
Mad Max: Fury Road
FLORIDA FILM CRITICS
Mad Max: Fury Road
AUSTIN FILM CRITICS
Mad Max: Fury Road
ONLINE FILM CRITICS
Mad Max: Fury Road
SAN DIEGO FILM CRITICS
Mad Max: Fury Road
NEW YORK FILM CRITICS
Carol
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