Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip - Jason Lee, Justin Long
Sisters - Tina Fey, Amy Poehler
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley
Local film critics Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing and Sean O'Connell of CinemaBlend.com will join host Mike Collins for a discussion of the big year-end holiday movies on Charlotte Talks at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, on WFAE 90.7 FM.
The group will discuss major movies that are currently playing in theaters, such as The Good Dinosaur and the final Hunger Games installment, as well as films opening between now and Christmas, including The Hateful Eight, Carol and, of course, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) yesterday named Spotlight the Best Picture of 2015 in its 24th annual voting. Writer-director Tom McCarthy's drama about the Boston Globe’s investigation into widespread child molestation within the Catholic Church earned a total of three awards, with its other victories coming in the categories of Best Ensemble and Best Original Screenplay (McCarthy and Josh Singer).
Mad Max: Fury Road and Room, which respectively placed second and third in the tallying for Best Picture, were the only other movies to score multiple wins, each winning two prizes apiece.
In the acting categories, Bryan Cranston won Best Actor for Trumbo, Brie Larson was named Best Actress for Room, Sylvester Stallone nabbed Best Supporting Actor for Creed, and Alicia Vikander scored Best Supporting Actress for Ex Machina.
The Wyatt Award, given annually to the "film that best evokes the spirit of the South" (past winners have included Beasts of the Southern Wild, Winter's Bone and Selma), this year went to the North Carolina-set Finders Keepers.
The Southeastern Film Critics Association is comprised of film journalists from nine states representing the Southeastern section of the United States. This year, 55 members participated in the voting, including Charlotte critics Lawrence Toppman, Sean O'Connell, Harvey Burgess and me.
In addition to naming its Best Picture, SEFCA also releases its Top 10 for the year. The complete list of winners and runners-up in all categories is below.
BEST PICTURE
1. Spotlight
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Room
4. Brooklyn
5. Carol
6. The Big Short
7. The Martian
8. Inside Out
9. Bridge of Spies
10. Trumbo
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Runner-up: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Brie Larson, Room
Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Runner-up: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
BEST ENSEMBLE
Winner: Spotlight
Runner-up: The Big Short
BEST DIRECTOR
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer for Spotlight
Runner-up: Bob Petersen, Pete Docter for Inside Out
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Emma Donoghue for Room
Runner-up: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for The Big Short
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Amy
Runner-up: Best of Enemies
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: Son of Saul
Runner-up: The Assassin
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Winner: Inside Out
Runner-up: Anomalisa
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: John Seale for Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Luca Bigazzi for Youth
THE GENE WYATT AWARD FOR THE FILM THAT BEST EVOKES THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH
Winner: Finders Keepers
Runner-up: 99 Homes
In the Heart of the Sea - Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland
CHI-RAQ - Teyonah Parris, Samuel L. Jackson
Krampus - Toni Collette, Adam Scott
A Royal Night Out - Sarah Gadon, Rupert Everett
Brooklyn - Saoirse Ronan, Jim Broadbent
Creed - Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone
The Good Dinosaur - Animated; voices of Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand
Trumbo - Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren
Victor Frankenstein - James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 - Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore
The Night Before - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen
Secret In Their Eyes - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman
Spotlight - Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton
All Things Must Pass - Documentary
Love the Coopers - Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried
My All American - Aaron Eckhart, Finn Whitrock
Room - Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay
The 33 - Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche
Labyrinth of Lies - Alexander Fehling, André Szymanski
Miss You Already - Toni Collette, Drew Barrymore
The Peanuts Movie - Animated
SPECTRE - Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz
Suffragette - Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter
With SPECTRE hitting theaters this Friday, the time seems right to bring back a pair of Creative Loafing articles centered on Bond, James Bond.
To see all 25 previous Bond flicks ranked from worst to best, check out Taking Stock of Bond here.
For ample lists about everything Bond-related, including Best Theme Songs, Best Villains, Best Character Names and more, go to The Double-Oh Dossier here.
And come back to the site this Friday for a review of SPECTRE.