The Broadcast Film Critics Association reveals the nominations for the Critics Choice Awards

After the SAG Award nominations and the reveal of the Golden Globe nominations late last week, the BFCA (Broadcast Film Critics Association) revealed their nominations today for the best films of the year. With many unique categories (Best Action Movie, Best Rising Star, etc), the Critics Choice Awards is one of the more intriguing award shows around. The show is also an important Oscar precursor, dropping lots of hints about who could be nominated in January. Without further delay, here are the nominees for the 2014 Critics Choice Awards:

BEST PICTURE

Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
Angelina Jolie, Unbroken
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTOR

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS

Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Selma

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giaccobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson, Unbroken
Nick Hornby, Wild

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Interstellar
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins, Unbroken

BEST ART DIRECTION

Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Snowpiercer

BEST EDITING

Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione, Birdman
Sandra Adair, Boyhood
Kirk Baxter, Gone Girl
Lee Smith, Interstellar
Tom Cross, Whiplash

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard, Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Into the Woods
Maleficent

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The LEGO Movie

BEST ACTION MOVIE

American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
Fury
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Tom Cruise, Edge of Tomorrow
Chris Evans, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt, Fury
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johannson, Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1
Zoe Saldana, Guardians of the Galaxy
Shailene Woodley, Divergent

BEST COMEDY

Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Jon Favreau, Chef
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Chris Rock, Top Five
Channing Tatum, 22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Rose Byrne, Neighbors
Rosario Dawson, Top Five
Melissa McCarthy, St. Vincent
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig, The Skeleton Twins

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE

The Babadook
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
Jodorowsky's Dune
Last Days in Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Big Eyes" from Big Eyes
"Everything is Awesome" from The LEGO Movie
"Glory" from Selma
"Lost Stars" from Begin Again
"Yellow Flicker Beat" from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannson, The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar

BEST YOUNG RISING STAR

Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood
Ansel Elgort, The Fault in Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy, Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher, St. Vincent
Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Quvenzhane Wallis, Annie
Noah Wiseman, The Babadook

After sorting through these nominations, I'm not sure how I really feel. For one, I'm ecstatic that the BFCA decided to recognize some of my favorite films of the year. Interstellar may not have been nominated in many of the big categories, but it received plenty of nominations and Gone Girl was well-represented as well. I also enjoyed seeing the love for Snowpiercer and Nightcrawler and the fact that The Grand Budapest Hotel received the second-most nominations (11). But it gets to the point where there's almost too many categories. Almost every major 2014 film received recognition here somewhere, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing. In the end, this won't majorly affect the Oscar race, but it's interesting nonetheless.